#great job fandom wiki

[aestheticsaddicted]

fandom wiki what

the fuck you mean Sandra?????

fandom wiki, and look me in the eyes while i say this, what the fuck are you on?

[basicallyjaywalker]

Wanna ramble about a moment/character in ninjago you think people need to talk about more?

I don't know who you are anon, but I'm glad you asked!

I am desperate for people to character-analyze Wu. I'm desperate for a lot of character analysis including Nya but since I got a lot of my Nya feelings out with some lovely folks the other night (edit: the other night was a month ago dw about it. this took a minute) I'm going with Wu this time

Master Wu to me is such an interesting case of a character who it is so easy to ignore the bits of the show that hint at his wider issues and traumas. He is a man defined heavily by his family and by his past. A lot of criticism he gets, I think, is due in part to that.

I've mentioned before that I've been rewatching S1 with a friend of mine and intermittently pausing to infodump on them about interesting character things I notice from that season. A lot of that has been Wu-focused because despite having seen RotS dozens of times throughout my life (watching it on CN, watching it on Netflix when only it and Legacy were around, rewatching it with friends) I have only just started noticing the seeds of character written in.

I might also just be reading too much into things, but hear me out

In S1 (and by extension, the pilots), Wu is characterized as your typical old wise teacher. In the first few minutes of EP1: Rise of the Snakes, he is chewing out the Ninja for playing video games instead of training. The line he uses? "Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today."

It's a line that gets repeated throughout the series. In fact, it gets repeated that very episode when the ninja go (pun not intended) to fight the Hypnobrai and a literal pre-teen. At first, it seems to just be a piece of wisdom. Some old proverb Wu's picked up over the years, possibly one he even coined himself. However, in EP7: Tick Tock, Wu tells the story of who, possibly, first told him this.

(Source: Tick Tock/Transcript | Ninjago Wiki | Fandom, highlight added.)

It was Garmadon. Now, I'm not gonna dwell too long on Garmadon, if you spend five minutes talking to me you'll learn he was the first character whose story I obsessed over and I want this essay to be about Wu, but I think he plays a role in Wu's overall story, as does Wu's family as a whole.

Prior to this, Wu and Garmadon's relationship has been more of a sibling rivalry taken to a good vs. evil extreme. We didn't know why Garmadon was evil and we didn't know about Wu and his relationship as kids. However, this scene establishes the backstory. They were, as Wu puts it, "the best of friends." That is, until Garmadon gets bit by the Devourer going to get the katana Wu lost.

Now, I know the Devourer bite was destined to happen because of the Overlord or some shit, but Wu doesn't. As far as he's concerned, Garmadon getting bit was a direct consequence of both his mistake and his cowardice. He lost the katana. He was too scared to get it. Garmadon went over instead. Garmadon got bit.

The scene goes on to show the FSM tending to Garmadon in the aftermath. Wu is watching from behind the door, likely told to stay back, but concerned. And in his POV, we get this intense moment, where Garmadon turns, looks directly at him (his eyes turning bright red for the first time), and says "It's all Wu's fault!"

(This clip should begin at the start of Wu eavesdropping. If it doesn't, skip to 0:58. I highly recommend also paying attention to Wu's body language during this scene.)

The camerawork does a great job of showing how this probably felt for Wu. It zooms in, Garmadon's voice echoes, and the background blurs. We see in the flashback that this is a moment Wu has etched into his memory. Not to mention, he was likely a very young child when this happened. LEGO characters' ages are weird, but Wu in this scene has the Big Eyes, which always seem to be used for characters under 12. We don't know exactly how much older Garmadon is to my knowledge, but he doesn't have the Big Eyes, so he's probably closer to 12 and a few years older than Wu for sure.

Imagine that. Being in elementary school and your older siblings gets hurt. They're acting strange. They're lashing out at your father. Then, they blame it all on you. They're hurt because of you. Wouldn't you internalize that?

I could go on about Wu's relationship with Garmadon, but again, I think I've spent enough time on it and I don't want to only focus on that. It's an important part, but there are others.

Let's talk about Wu's relationship with his dad.

Now, I have not yet read the Spinjitzu Brothers series. I cannot speak to any development of Wu and the FSM's relationship in there. I have, however, read The Book of Spinjitzu and blogged some of my thoughts on it here, including some of what it says about Wu.

For those who haven't read it, first, there is a Google Drive folder floating around with all of the canon spinoff books/graphic novels in it. Here's the link if you wanna read them!

The FSM is an... intriguing figure. I mean, in the series he's basically god? He made the entire world. That's already a very high bar to live up to. Then, in Book of Spinjitzu, there's a few specific parts that, when I read them, signaled that Wu internalized a specific message when he was young.

(Source: The Book of Spinjitzu, Page 3).

Wu does not want to disappoint his father. It is up to him (and Garmadon until he turns evil) to "uphold the legacy of Spinjitzu" and, by extension, his family. He says he was "very young" when this was explained to him. Considering he seems to already be training at an elementary age, "very young" means VERY young.

(Source: The Book of Spinjitzu, Page 16).

Here, we again see Wu being very aware that he has some large burden to carry. Something else interesting here is that the thought of the Green Ninja Prophecy is already weighing on him too. His considering if he might be the Green Ninja is of extra interest because of how the Green Ninja Prophecy and the--I wouldn't call it obsession, possibly fixation?--with who it is factors into his later actions, but we'll get to that later.

(Source: The Book of Spinjitzu, Page 19).

This one in particular gets me because it comes after Wu mentions Garmadon becoming more evil. It is a statement of power. Wu knows that the legacy of Spinjitzu now rests in his hands alone. He cannot let himself fall the way Garmadon did. He cannot disappoint his father. Whether or not the FSM intended it, Wu always knew the fate of the world rested, at least in part, upon his shoulder. He knew this from the time he was a young boy and it remains in his mind to this day.

Now, these quotes are indirect, but they all point to one clear idea: As a child, Wu internalized the idea that he alone is responsible for keeping Ninjago safe. He will play a pivotal role in its history.

There's not evidence in this book that the FSM's was a bad father, per se. However, just because one doesn't set out to harm their children, doesn't mean they won't. I often say Wu has an "Atlas complex," which I have no idea if it is an actual concept but use it to refer to this idea. Wu feels as though he is responsible for holding up the world, much like Atlas. He must keep the balance, he must solve the Green Ninja prophecy, he must make his father proud.

(Source: The Book of Spinjitzu, page 61).

I'm going to get further into what this means for Wu as a teacher to the current Ninja Team, but for now let's look at Wu's first foray into teaching.

Morro. Wu's Biggest Mistake.

That might seem like an overstatement, but it's not.

(Source: Ghost Story/Transcript | Ninjago Wiki | Fandom)

Okay he says regret, not mistake, but I was paraphrasing.

Let's turn back to his quote about his destiny. Wu writes, "Is my life's mission to be the Green Ninja? Or maybe it will be to find the Green Ninja and protect him (or her)??"

From a very young age, Wu was not only aware of the Green Ninja but prophecy but also thinking about his place in it. We see this again when he takes Morro in and trains him.

(Source: Ghost Story/Transcript | Ninjago Wiki | Fandom, highlight added)

A big thing Wu is criticized for here is making Morro believe he is meant to be more. That he is the Chosen One. And Morro, being a young homeless orphan just now given some semblance of power and protection, latches onto that. And I can see it, but when you take into account the above that he was trained from (likely) a younger age than Morro and given a similar level of responsibility, it becomes more understandable. Wu is just doing what he was taught. He doesn't believe that he is harming Morro until it is too late.

This is the entire story, but I'm specifically going to be discussing 1:36 onwards here. I also wanted to add that rewatching this scene made me lay down on the floor! What the fuck! But I digress.

There's a lot going on in this scene. For one, Wu washing his hands of Morro in some ways, but not others. He turns his back on Morro when he tells him that destiny has decided, but looks at him again when Morro storms out. He goes to save Morro from the Grundal, but decides that he cannot "teach those who would not listen." Most importantly, when Morro leaves to go find the Tomb of the FSM, Wu leaves the door open. He waits for Morro to return, but never goes after him. And Morro never comes back.

Wu gives Morro's fate a dismissive response at the end of his ghost story ("I am saddened he was banished to the Cursed Realm") but it's clear he still cares deeply about him in the finale of the season.

Wu's VA in this is phenomenal btw. That "Please Morro!" and "MORRO!" make my heart ache.

Morro believed Wu stopped caring, but he didn't. Even after all he's done, even after trying to destroy all of Ninjago--destroying what Wu had spent his life trying to protect--Wu tries to save him. He begs for Morro to come with him. Morro refuses, Wu watches him perish.

Someone else Wu is close to is gone. Wu again considers himself responsible. Everything is his fault.

And finally, we reach Wu today. A cautious, secretive man. He loves his students, this much is clear. Even as early as the pilots, he drops his wise teacher persona to joke around with them.

As with Morro, he trains them like his father did him. He even uses the same methods his father used when he trains them.

(Source: The Book of Spinjitzu, page 32)

While he is hard on the Ninja, wanting them to succeed and training them to help defend the Realm, he lets his guard down more than it seems he did with Morro. He also learned a valuable message from his experience with Morro when he hides the Green Ninja Prophecy from the Ninja, getting angry when they start to push themselves in the same way Morro did upon learning about it. It's clear he doesn't want a repeat.

Now, I can't speak for later seasons (I will eventually) but this fear of repeats, his students going down a dark path because they're tempted by power or greatness, losing someone else, likely drives Wu not telling them other important information. That is just a passing thought though.

Final notes:

I'm currently in the process of rewatching S7: Hands of Time. I actually got this ask right after finishing EP68: Scavengers, which opens with Wu having a nightmare. In it, he and Misako are walking outside of Yang's temple. While walking, Misako delivers this line in response to Wu reminiscing about the time they've spent together:

(Source: Scavengers/Transcript | Ninjago Wiki | Fandom)

This line, to me, is Wu's subconscious trying to tell him something he needs to hear. It's hinting at what might be his greatest flaw. Wu is haunted by his past, by his mistakes. He finds it difficult to tell others because of both his guilt and his desire to not put that worry upon them. In this very season, he makes the mistake of trying to face his past on his own, and he nearly dies for it.

In the same episode, you see Wu trying to make sure Lloyd doesn't make the same mistakes.

(Source: Prev)

Wu stresses the important of the team. It's as if he sees Lloyd blaming himself for what happened to Wu, sees him doing the same thing Wu has, and is trying to prevent him from doing the same thing. This is further emphasized when, after Wu falls asleep (well, fakes falling asleep), Lloyd says "Wu's mistake was going in alone. So was mine."

Master Wu is, like many characters in this show, someone who is more complex than meets the eye. He is not just a wise, old teacher. He is a man who, throughout his life, has made mistakes and carries the weight of each of them on his shoulders. He is a man who tasks himself with making up for those every day. He is a man who wants better for his students, his family.

Until the day he dies, he will guide and protect his students. And possibly? Even after death too.

[discord-lurking]

Dungeons and Daddies Wiki Drama: A Greek Tragedy Told through the Medium of Forum Posts (Part 2)

Act 2: The Wax Melts, The Sea Beckons

In which the wings begin to fall apart.

Despite the drama unfolding over the November admin discussion post, wiki life continued. User posts showed cracks in the foundation. Something was rotten in the state of Wikia.

November 6th, 2023:

November 9th, 2023:

It seems that the administrators were deleting pages, instituting rigid new rules about how long a post could stay unfinished (and, apparently, what qualified as unfinished).

Enter anonymous wiki user Chekovsnakess.

November 23rd, 2023:

Chekovsnakess pointed out the issue inherent in the deletions- moderators wanted more people to engage with the wiki, but what's the point, when the page will get nuked?

Chekovsnakess: "The wiki feels more of the admins' wiki rather than a community wiki."

The admins didn't take well to this critique.

TwoRatner: "In no way have we, the admins, been hostile."

TheOneTrueGod41: "It can't be unprofessional if we absolutely mean it."

PawnSum: "Uh, you can't type fast or something? I can, so that shouldn't be a problem."

Also, iconic quote from PawnSum: "I literally broke my ankle and couldn't get home, so I understand what pain is."

PawnSum makes a good point- only they, a wiki editor experiencing mild criticism and a broken ankle, could ever understand true pain.

Opening a paragraph with "you also don't seem to understand that your opinions aren't facts" and closing it with "Please stop leaving and just stay!"

A masterpiece of salesmanship. Glenn and his high Persuasion rolls could only hope to reach the levels of charisma displayed by wiki administrator TwoRatner.

Other iconic TwoRatner quotes:

"Admins are like princiPALS after all, or a nice janitor."

"You want me to quick my job? I can't! I already paid for the funeral and now I need more money to feed my family."

After this, Chekovsnakess remained silent, perhaps choosing to disengage from fandom wiki drama and move on with their life. An unthinkable choice, to be sure.

More users turned to the forums to express frustrations with the wiki, falling on the administrator's deaf ears.

November 29th, 2023:

December 3rd, 2023:

With this, we segue to the moderator response to wiki user critiques: splitting the wiki into two websites with separate mod teams, one for season 1 of the podcast and one for season 2.

In haunting Anakin-like fashion, TwoRatner says "I promise to bring about a satisfying future to this wiki." A promise they would be unable to live up to.

December 2nd, 2023:

TwoRatner's attempt to bring peace to their new empire wiki would first involve mysterious user Largeo and a separation on par with the Great Church Schism of 1054. Equally important decisions with equally worldwide consequences.

TwoRatner made the generous decision to put this up for a community vote, with only one dissenter: Zilstreet.

Zilstreet pointed out the obvious criticism: wouldn't splitting a wiki for a single show between two different places make it confusing for casual browsers? What about characters that appear in both seasons? Was there a specific game plan?

This was met with a measured, thoughtful response from the administrators.

"When life gives you grapefruit, you make grapefruit pellets to shoot at your friends, because plastic pellets hurt." -HungerBunger, December 5th 2023

How dare Zilstreet not take into account HungerBunger's trauma and exercises in extending trust???

"It's very obvious. We clearly thought about this."

Indeed.

More users with suspiciously similar speech patterns chime in to support TwoRatner's proposal.

Interestingly, MotPot brings up jazz unprompted. Where have we seen that before? Honic Washington and The One True God 41, in Part 1.

Clearly, there must be a lot of overlap between jazz fans and D&D podcast wiki editors.

Marth8204 came out swinging, telling Zilstreet that they should be ashamed for having the audacity to ask questions about a drastic site change, but seemed pacified by TwoRatner's warning to "tone it down a bit."

TwoRatner imposed a deadline for users to vote on the change.

FunderStun also came out swinging- this time, against Gaycowboyrats (featured in Part 1) and... Amber Heard? Then they delivered this line: "There is no savior, so we have to be."

Again, poetry.

And again, I'd like to put a pin in the Gaycowboyrats reference.

Thus ended the split discussion thread, leaving me with more questions than answers.

Nicoh Watonshing seems to be referring to wiki security breaches. Was this an ongoing issue? Were admins getting hacked? If so, by whom? What could hackers possibly want from the wiki?

What happened between Brazil86 and TwoMarshall? What did Brazil86 do wrong? Are there any words in the English language that can strike as much fear in one's heart as "abnormally long Discord call"?

Note the TwoMarshall brother reference: this is very similar to references made by TwoRatner to a brother that died. How coincidental.

This period of forum volatility closely follows the themes established in Act 1: a strict, opaque sense of wiki justice, wiki moderator power as a status more important than wiki functionality, calling for more community engagement while largely ignoring community engagement when it happened, and making drastic changes in response to real or perceived wiki problems.

Here, we see more new administrator names pop up in the forums with similar styles of speech and occasional non-sequiturs, even after Honic Washington's (apparent) departure.

Here, we see new discontent in the moderator ranks- some apparent failure by Brazil86, and its severe consequences with TwoMarshall.

Here, we see two moderators (TwoRatner and TwoMarshall) with similar brother-related situations. Did TwoRatner switch accounts? Was this related to the alleged security breaches in the wiki?

Despite being active in the forums and wiki at large before this, Gaycowboyrats is now conspicuously absent except for the reference by FunderStun, who wants to remove Gaycowboyrats from his position of influence and "free" the fandom.

Has the Dungeons and Daddies wiki been subject to some kind of administrator security breach and subsequent overthrow, resulting in a schism?

Life seems to be giving this wiki a lot of grapefruit.

And when life gives you grapefuit, you make grapefruit pellets to shoot your friends.

Chorus:

A statement from Zil Street.

Interim attempts at community engagement by the administrators.

Stay tuned for part 3 tomorrow with the thrilling conclusion of the wiki split saga!

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

How You Met THE SPARROW ACADEMY:

PAIRINGS: Sparrow Academy x Genderless!Descriptionless!Reader

FOLLOW UP TO: How You Met - The Umbrella Academy

A.N: we need more sparrow content ASAP. I fell quick and I fell hard

WARNINGS: Quick and minor mention of a bus crash (under Marcus tab), varying degrees of content for each character, me borrowing a villain from the comics I don't know shit about other than what i read off of TUA Fandom Wiki, and me still getting the hang of this format and writing and just having fun and being silly with it more than taking it seriously

LINKS: main masterlist || sparrow masterlist

MARCUS HARGREEVES:

Ahh Marcus 😍

He's really just so... 🤩😍🤪🥰😚☺️😅😘☺️🤩

Yeah

Oh my gosh seriously, theres a reason he's number one and it's because he's the biggest dork

You knew a thing or two about putting up about three different kinds of walls until you could hardly recognize yourself, what with you basically being the Lila of the Sparrows

It's complicated how you met but also, not in the slightest

True, there was only one Handler and the only kid she ever "had" was Lila

But she wasn't your mother, she was your boss

One that you only ever met once or twice, but you can hardly remember it, it was so long ago

You were recruited by her, however, at a unusually young age annnndd long story short, you quit

Working for an organization out of time sounded cool, and was. For about 2 (non)minutes

Then it just got depressing and way WAY confusing and downright dangerous

It took so many (non)years to plan an escape and then another two or so to actually put it into action and escape

Nothing unusual, you were constantly jumping from year to year, place to place, never staying one place too long. (Kinda like couch surfing! Time surfing if you want to put it that way)

It went off without hitch, your little plan, and had been going fairly smooth for what you perceived as about four or five years

Then said "pitstop" in good ol' 2009

That's when your path collided with the Sparrows

And when it did, you crashed

No literally, there's a literal crash involved

It was definitely something that happened by total chance

And yeah, you could argue that's how most things are, but, hopefully you get what I mean

Like, it's crazy how you just happened to forget something when you left for your walk for work and decided you had time to go around the corner and get it. Crazy that you had just enough time to catch the next bus

And that next bus just so happened to be the one that got caught in the crossfires of a Sparrow vs Villain of The Week fight

Thankfully nobody was seriously hurt, but there were a great number of close calls

You being one of them

And you had Sloane Hargreeves to thank

In a spur of the moment as you were fleeing the bus with the rest of the crowd, she pulled you lot from across the street and out of harms way

When the fight had died out, the weirdo supervillain calling himself the Murder Magician was taken away (his sidekick, the assistant as well) And the Sparrows were swarmed with press and thankful citizens

You think, because of this, it'd be virtually impossible to get any face time with the famed sparrows, right?

Wrong

Again, it's crazy how you just so happened to be trying to make a beeline out of there (what? being on the run meant blending in, and you couldn't very well do that from here) when you ran into a very handsome wall

"Oh! My apologies, I didn't see you there"

Okay, so. Not a wall. Just a very tall, very handsome, and very very famous man you knew more about than you probably should thanks to your old job maintaining timeliness and such

You insisted you had to go, but wouldn't you know it, your little streak of luck wasn't over yet

That murder magician guy? Did I mention? He had a little something called a murderbot

Kind of makes sense now, I guess. Usually, supervillains aren't as cool with being caught unless they have another trick up their sleeve

So, kinda awkward, but

the thing kinda took ya hostage along with some other unlucky few in the crowd thanks to advantage it got witht he element of surprise and all

Marcus and the sparrows handled it fairly quickly but it was still upsetting!

Experiencing a bus crash, a murder magician, his murderbot and then two rescues all in one morning can take a lot out of you!

Marcus, having already ran into you and then letting you get kidnapped right in front of him immediately after, he felt kinda responsible for you. call him old fashioned (lol)

He asked multiple times if you were okay

He did not want to leave your side until he knew you were okay

He'd invite you back to the academy where Grace could check you over for potential injuries (concussion, internal bleeding, etc) and he could be certain you'd be getting good medical care

(even though EMTs are right the f there lmao)

He may be a dork but he's also a spoiled rich kid like his siblings lskd8v8

You, all the meanwhile, having a whole different timeline's worth of knowledge on him and his siblings thanks to your time at the commission (this excludes the kugelblitz since that was technically not supposed to happen... I think) felt like you were treading dangerous waters interacting with someone so famous in history

I kinda lost where this was going lol but I do know that after all that, it was a bit harder to say no to Marcus and the little soft side he started to show when he was getting worried

Cause you were definitely started to get a little dizzy and you definitely hit your head at some point in all that chaos

And a very handsome, very famous, very dorky, and very kind man was now very worried about you

Okay, so maybe you could be a little bit late to work

SPARROW!BEN HARGREEVES:

I finally understand the term poor little meow meow

He is a wet cat

Angry and petty and snippy

And inexplicably ruthless

You two would probably meet somewhere totally unexpected

Hold on let me think of it real quick

I guess I could see you working their PR or something, if that was even a thing for them (you being newer, and ofc around their age)

Idk I feel like, with Sparrow Ben, and how much of a little shit (affectionate) he is, I think it would be kinda hilarious and yet totally on brand for him to have a connection (good or bad) with someone who got paid to tell him what to do - ie, he thinks he doesn't need it and that it's the others that need to behave and rebrand themselves when he's like, right there

His promo poster was literally the Had To Do It To Em pose, you know I'm right about this

Not exactly the kind of image that's super great for, you know, a superhero

So yeah, he would have to listen, but he'd give a stink

And even a bigger one when you threw it right back

I'd think you'd have to have that kind of skill, at least to some degree, after working in such a field

Or maybe I'm just talking out of my ass

The point is, y'all would likely be bitter, but like, the kind that got comfortable after a while?? If that makes sense??

Either way, he's such a little shit and i just don't see an instance where you meet and it's perfect sunshine and rainbows right off the bat pfft

FEI HARGREEVES:

BIRD SANCTUARY!! BIRD SANCTUARY!! BIRD SANCTUARY!!

YOU WORK IN A BIRD SANCTUARY

You two are a match made in the cosmos and its sickening 🥰

Fei, like her aforementioned brothers, takes herself and the job pretty seriously

So it can be a bit rare for someone to see her in her true element

Or at least--

People who really know her

Her family

So, when a total stranger just comes along and just,,

✨️✨️✨️

Its really special

And what better than bonding over birds, and nerding out over birds?!

I feel like she wouldn't exactly shy away from whatever she may be feeling

But I also think she'd try to underplay it

Ya know, keep it cool and not make a huge deal

You know, it wasnt a huge deal that one day, on her day off, she decides to visit a reveried bird sanctuary just outside of town

And that, upon that visit, she happened to stumble upon you, unable to stop yourself from spewing bird facts and hey? Did this random visitor know about the loyalty of crows and all the limitless examples of humans befriending crows??

Well they did now

Oh no did she love your corny enthusiasm over birds - crows especially!!

She just couldn't help herself when she first overheard you and wanted a better view

Sure she spent her time communing with the birds around her, but a select few of crows--her crows--adopted a sudden interest in you and your info-dumping to unwilling visitors, flocking to you wherever you went

It wasn't unusual for birds to bond with caretakers but you didn't recognize these crows that now seemed to follow you everywhere, always keeping a polite distance and paying careful attention to anything you had to say

Soon enough, you were fully conversing with these crows, making sure they were comfortable wherever they might have come from

That pretty much sealed the deal for her

From then on, she knew she had to make herself known to you; introduce herself, commend your respect for her birds (and the others in the sanctuary)

Yall hit it off immediately, no surprise ajdkps

Oh she's also so fucking smooth adjsjs

Idk, shes just kinda sweeps you off your feet when she finally introduces herself to you, commending you for your respect to your birds (totally teasing you for how you, by extension and strictly technical terms, treated her through her birds) and is such a coy little fker who loves seeing you get all flustered

My god though, shes also so fucking soft and sweet and loyal when you earn her trust

Either friend or partner, she'll come across something she'll think you'll like and give it to you next time she sees you (ohh idk, like a crow)

Shes so fucking loyal and just so heart melting while also being the coolest, smallest fker ever and AHHH

I just love her

ALPHONSO HARGREEVES:

Jskapsoyc

He's so boyfriend shaped

I love him, I need to know more about him, and I'd love to say how you guys met was some miraculous coincidence that makes perfect sense like Fei, but honestly he just really strikes me as someone you just Bump Into, ya know?

He's a guy, and he's just around

Maybe you met in a convenience store

That feels like something that would happen (or maybe I'm just still thinking of his fight scene with Diego)

Oo! Honestly, some place like a bowling alley or arcade

He, like Marcus, is such a dork

But he holds himself as like, a, Cool Dork, ya know?

And it's not as hidden

It's not hidden at all, he's such a snarky pizza-eating, soda-chugging, quick-as-a-whip dork

He feels comfortable in public, for not all the right reasons

And he's easy to run into

He gets a lot of mistreatment by Sparrow fans, but his attitude is much like his power

Arguably, it's because of his powers

He's rubber, they're glue; what bounces off of him sticks to you

ie, he's so good at letting a bad attitude bounce off of him and stick to his attackers

And yeah, sometimes his walls are down and stuff gets to him when he isn't prepared, but overall he is sadly (and infuriatingly) used to it

He's not always the favorite among fans, is what I'm trying to get at

>:( fucking stupid if you ask me

But!!

Woah woah woah. Hold on...

Back up

Apparently he's... your favorite?

Lol okay, yeah, sure, you're totally not trying to be nice, he thinks (note the sarcasm)

Like I said, he's used to feeling the occasional tap on his shoulder -- like now, where he stands in line for some good ol' mediocre bowling alley hotdogs -- cause someone recognized him

He was, arguably, one of the more recognizable sparrows after all, behind Christopher obviously, so

Here we go, he thinks, turning around, hands lazing in his pockets and quite possibly the least enthusiastic look any living thing could conjure on his face

And just like anyone else, you stood waiting as he turned to face you, smiling in a way that was all too obvious you were trying to hide your excitement

"Hey," he nods

"Sorry," you laughed, but not in the usual way. More like an awkward chuckle that sounded nervous. That wasn't too unusual, either

"Sorry," you said again, burying your hand back inside your pocket like the other. "you probably get this all the time, pretty much everywhere"

He shrugged it off, not appearing too bothered by it

"No problem," he said, glancing back ahead to check the line. It still was pretty long; some issue with the deep fryer holding up the line, by the looks of it. He had time. He looked back at you, waiting indifferently for whatever to come. "What's up?"

Judging by the looks of it, you had already started backtracking the moment you got his attention. You were second guessing getting his attention. Cause figures

"Just a big fan," your hands were still in your pockets, fiddling and moving around visibly through the thin cotton, maroon zip-up sweatshirt

You had shrugged, and thats when he noticed your zip up was familiar; it was a piece of sparrow merch

An older one, judging by how worn it looked

The little sparrow insignia higher up on the left breast of the jacket was still there, but it was significantly faded, and the matching white rope laces dangling from the hood were fraying at the ends

He nods again, leaving the future of the conversation up to you

Wildly inconvenient for you, you thought, considering you hadn't exactly thought this far ahead. At least, if you had, you immediately forgot.

You said the first thing that came to mind, cause of course you did

"I loved the Sparrow comics when I was younger,"

Okay, yeah, you definitely regretted this. This was mortifying. Plain and simple.

Sadly, however, Alphonso saw this in your face and misconstrued the reasons for regret

He thought you were regretting talking to him when really you were just getting in your own head

You quickly assure him though, that, actually, he's your favorite and you think he's super cool and you've actually been a fan of his since yall were kids

He takes the information like any other fan interaction,

That is until it really clicks for him you're being totally serious and your enthusiasm is genuine and he kinda :o

Then he's such a suave little shit I LOVE HIM SO MUCH

Goes straight to his head, God bless <3

SLOANE HARGREEVES:

Love of my life, bane of my existence 🥰

She's perfect and such an inconvenience to me personally

I love her entirely <3

She's the sweetest of the sweet and sunshine in every sense of the word

Huh? Oh right!

How you met... *ahem* ☺️

Oh no biggie, she just uhh, saved your life is all

Okay okay, maybe not your literal life but she did save your morning shake which saved your morning which saved your ass from your boss

She was a blushing mess despite the grace of her powers and agility -- but it technically had been her fault

Sloane had been in such a rush, she unintentionally collided with you on one of the busier streets downtown

Totally cliche and a meet-cute right out of the movies

I honestly don't think I have much else to say about that, it was pretty straight forward and sweet (like her)

Admittedly you had been rattling around her head for a few days afterwards cause hey 👀👀👀 she can appreciate what's in front of her - and yet, she was kicking herself for not doing something about it

She held a lot of responsibility as a sparrow and part of her was afraid, not so much upholding the sparrow image, but disappointing her siblings

Sloane dreams of a having a life of her own, unsanctioned by her father and/or her brothers and sisters. She's been planning ahead for her inevitable exit, why had she chickened out with you??

Almost two weeks had passed since she ran into you and thirteen days since she talked herself into giving up on anything happening.

She had scolded herself, really, how foolish it was of her to think she could have something sweet and endearing with a very cute person like you

Sloane is a romantic in every sense, and this had merely been proof. How naive

And...

How naive of her to think she saw you standing out like a sore thumb in one of the sparrow crowds stationed outside for one of their outings

She had to do a double take when you gave her a shy wave, and she definitely had to make sure she wasn't making a fool of herself as she made her way over

You had sent her a grateful nod when she covertly steered you two out of the reach of cheering fans crowding around you trying to get to her and her siblings

Sloane may or may not have failed in her attemps to tamper down the corny smile that came with your being here

You looked almost, shy

"I thought you seemed familiar," you smiled, looking up over her shoulder at one of the many huge banners plastered on the academy. She followed your gaze over her shoulder and then quickly averted her gaze, not overly eager to see the sight

Were her cheeks always this sore?

JAYME HARGREEVES:

She was forged by the gays, for the gays

I love that trope where the sunny sunshine one is the grumpy grumps favorite

I feel like that could easily apply to her

But I also feel like it wouldn't be like that immediately, if at all

Not even soon

It would be a long process to get her there cause she's a sparrow after all, and being a sparrow means you come with an ego and stubbornness so strong it might as well be its own superpower

When she met you, she was irrationally and entirely furious

A big part of it was you kept cropping up everywhere

You delivered a pizza to her and Alphonso once upon a time and ever since, by total coincidence, you kept reappearing

She didn't believe it was accidental ofc

She thought you were some stalker

Meanwhile you were just as confused

It wasn't exactly love at first sight for you, either

Jayme was brash and short tempered, but when she was around you -- bumped into you on the street, out for a run in the park, whatever -- she was just plain cruel

And the thing is, she didn't know why

All you had done was the deliver the pizza, made light conversation with Alphonso and wished them both a good day before leaving

The fucking nerve of you

She's just crushing hard, actually

Nah, you're just annoying to her, that's totally it

She totally didn't think you were infuriatingly attractive, fun to be around or anything. And the display of dry humor she witnessed when you were chatting with her brother totally didn't anger her in a way she couldn't understand because she wasn't used to cute people saying stuff that she almost laughed at

But she didn't laugh. So there

She won, you lost

And you didn't even know it.

You simply thanked Alphonso for the early arrival tip, nodded a goodbye to both of them and then left

Just like that. No fan freak outs despite you knowing who they were, no autographs. Just a "thanks for saving the day" and a "let it cool for a few minutes, the pizza oven can get pretty hot and it was a short drive here"

That's it.

But that's just the thing.

That was never it.

There was always more, and Jayme wasn't buying it.

You were too calm, like you had been planning that meeting for ages

Maybe you were, even if that didn't make a damn lick of sense

Alphonso calls her out on her shit and he's the only one she really listens to even though she's not happy about it

On some level she knows she's being an asshole but it's kinda hard for her to help

Oh, real quick, by the way

If you're in the community and that's the context between you two for this preference, I don't mean to say she's acting like this cause of internalized homophobia or anything, she's just kind of an asshole skskxhcppff

This girl knows she's gay

Like Ben, she's more like a cat than a dog

She's cute, but she bites, and she's quick and really, she's just a total dick

It's also just kind of a Hargreeves thing, too to be fair

But, like cats, it's kind of, weirdly, part of their charm

She does make an effort though, after her talk with Alphonso, to be less... dickish

It works

Kind of

After a few practice runs

And lots of pizza orders later

But eventually, she's working her way up to answering the door and getting the pizzas from you with one goal in mind

Not making you storm away in rage

I mean, sure, part of the reason she gets so mad is cause you can actually keep up with her

It's never been this hard for her to get the last word in cause you actually can keep up with her and whatever she dishes out to you, you dish right back

In a way, she's kinda met her match

And that made things worse

But. You were still human and she was the one who was a literal super whose specialty was finding someone's weakness

(Actually Jayme sometimes worries she does that somehow without actually using her powers, so that was a big part of her wanting to be better ☹️)

And she's making mild progress!

It isn't until she's dialing the pizza place and working through her nerves as she does so that she realizes why she's so nervous

And then she throws the phone on the couch in embarrassment cause ew feelings

But one thing keepa her from giving up completely:

For whatever reason, you keep coming back

[plumsaffron]

Sigh here I go again.

Lila didn’t get expelled.

Former Mayor told Damocles if he wants to keep his job he will keep Lila and Chloe there.

Mr Damocles agrees with only that order given to him.

It’s ironic when the watcher spreads false information.

Hmm it’s funny that they purposely forget Marinette got expelled along with Caline a Collusion later but won’t put that there. Olga followed the orders of the former Mayor.

Figures. That’s why this stupid fandom or wiki is grossly biased and allergic towards admitting Marinette likes bullying (or anyone who doesn’t bow down to her interests or deluded thoughts well enough) or is a true control freak or control freak bully. They must be too afraid to admit Marinette is a master manipulator too and has been doing it for a longer known time.

That makes hating Lila more ironic. Wow. The hatred of lies but spreading lies and no diff tricking many viewers. MMM now that’s some S tier manipulation to masses or how to cause self manipulation towards the masses 101.

Mastery of Marinette has been a great success.

[notsosmallbean]

You know, I totally see what Jonny meant when he said everyone viewed Michael as "younger than he was explicitly written". We as a fandom just IGNORE how old he has to be

In mid 2002, Gerard Keay is described as looking like he's "in his late teens". Let's say that means he's 18. That means he was born in 1984. Eric Delano took two years after Gerry's death to leave his job at the institute, so he left in 1986. There was a period of time where he worked alongside Michael Shelley, who was "far too young to have such a job". We know Martin faked a master's (among other details) in order to get his job as archival assistant, so it's expected they should be at least 24. However, "things were different in those days," so let's be as generous as is reasonable and say Michael could be 18 when he started working there. Let's be even more generous and say he only started working there in the last year of Eric's employment. That would make him 18 in 1985. According to the wiki, the Great Twisting took place after October 2009, but Michael was already gone by 2011. So he is consumed by the distortion in 2010 at a BARE MINIMUM AGE OF 43.

This is of course trying to nail down a timeline where he is hired to replace someone who died in 2003 but still worked with someone who left in 1986, and where the ritual that takes place after 2009 predates the death of someone who died in 2006, so nothing means anything I guess. Jonny I'm sorry but your timeline is questionable at best.

I suppose if you wanted to you could opt for him being hired in 2003. It's less understandable but I suppose still possible for you to make the assumption that was at age 18, in which case he COULD be 25 in 2010. OR you can say he was hired in 2003 at a reasonable age and with a master's degree. In that case he'd be 31. Also I suppose if he was hired with his master's back in 85 he could be 49. OR, with a longer than bare minimum overlap with Eric, he would be in his 50s.

...

I spent too long scavenging and thinking about this.

[rat-rambles]

Last thiugh on I gave no mouth and I must scream I promis

So my personal vendetta with this whole little trend is the people being like " oh you have no media litercy this you have no media littercy that" witch for the record is a very boring argument, but the thing is that people will say that about people finding AM sympothic becuse they don't personaly find him sympathetic. Witch to be super fucking clear sympathetic and forgivable arnt synonyms guys. The reason this drives me crazy is becuse there is a few things that are true we all read the short story I have no mouth and I must scream they where written by Harlan Ellison.

He wasn't like a very good person fairly good writer sure probably not who we should be seriously takeing moral philophy form go read his wiki if you need a summery. But he ment as the author for AM to be seen as a person as a bad yet sympothedic person this is the same guy where in the game one of the 5 litterly worked for the nazis and he's sympothedic this milage for sympathy in that regard is pretty far. Mind you everyone is the hero of there own story and he did bad things and had big feelings obvously he'd be the first to give the bad robot with big feelings a pat on the shoulder and a cookie.

Now if you personaly find AMs crimes unforgivable you porbaly also find Harlan Ellison's crimes unforgettable and that's fine they are how ever if someone reads the short story and gets thay reading and dosnt have the context for Harlan's crimes there not doing a bad media literacy for comeing to the intended conclusion. Actually if you missed that point witch I've seen alot of people do you have in fact done a good media literacy and if you saw what was ment and rejected it then you've done a great media litercy good job gold star.

People like to weponize this talking point to feel like there the smartest person in the room saying "wow you have no media litercy" is just a academic way to go 😝 stupid. It's werid when the bg3 and hazbin fandom has spoiled me with robust media litercy seeing those little controversy was a reap shock to the system.

[adachimoe]

Translation: Katsura Hashino's 2008 Persona 4 Developer Interview (Parts 1/3/4)

I paraphrased and summarized parts of this interview before, but now, here is an actual full text translation... This was translated by Alex Highsmith of Shmuplations, a professional who has translated a ton of video game developer interviews before. I asked him to do these 3 specific parts as I believe they are the juiciest parts of this interview and probably the most interesting to people who are fans of Persona. Full text below the read me cause of how long it is. (ﾟДﾟ*)ﾉ

You do not have permission to post anything from this interview on the god awful Fandom wiki.

--------

[[PART 1]]

--I understand the title "director" implies a range of different jobs, depending on the project in question, but would you mind explaining in detail what your role in Persona 4 entailed?

Hashino: Mainly, designing the systems and crafting the rules for the game. I also worked on the story outline and themes. I left the details up to the staff who were specifically in charge of the scenario and system design, but I would also make revisions and changes to the stuff they brought to me.

--That's actually a great transition for my next question: what is/are the theme(s) of Persona 4?

Hashino: The theme, um… it's a small-town murder mystery. (laughs) First and foremost, I wanted to make an RPG that would revolve around a murder mystery. After Persona 3, we worked on P3 FES, and we were developing P4 in tandem. I spent some time thinking about what the players who enjoyed P3 would find interesting in the next game--what would they like to see. From there, our ideas eventually took the shape you see today, of exploring a string of murders in a small country town.

--So, just to re-cap then: with P3 in mind, you decided to set this game in a completely different small town, then for the plot, you arrived at the idea of a serial murderer…? Is that about right?

Hashino: Well, not exactly--the "small country town" and "murders" ideas basically came together as a set in my mind. It's kind of a Kosuke Kindaichi vibe… I've always loved those kind of mysteries, where a person from the "big city" visits a small town, and during his stay he solves a mystery of some type.

--That reminds me of Kindaichi's works like Inugamike no ichizoku (The Inugami Clan) and Yatsuhakamura (The Village of Eight Graves). Do you like mystery novels, then?

Hashino: I'm not an expert or anything, but it's a genre I've enjoyed since I was younger.

--What are some of your favorite works?

Hashino: For older stuff, I like Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. Also, he's a sci-fi author, but I also enjoy writers like Isaac Asimov. I love those classic older works, and when I was a kid that was all I read. You know there were those kids in elementary school, right? The ones for some reason would write all their book reports on mystery novels?

--Ah, yeah! There were some kids like that at my school too. (laughs) So then, why did you decide to add mystery elements to Persona 4?

Hashino: I think it should be obvious to players what's interesting about your game, and what kind of story it is, before they buy it. This is something I reflected on and realized after Persona 3, but for the earlier games, it was hard to know what they were about until you played them. So this time, the premise is simple and upfront: there is a murder incident in a small town, and the adults are oblivious to the truth of the situation. The protagonists then proceed to investigate--sort of like a Junior Detective League--and attempt to solve the mystery.

--You mentioned the earlier games and reflecting on them… am I right to assume you weren't only looking at P3, but were thinking about the whole flow of the series, all the way back to P1?

Hashino: No, in terms of being inspired to make the content of the game more obvious, I was talking about P3. The truth is, P2 and P2: Eternal Punishment were so long ago, I wasn't really thinking that far back. Plus the fans themselves consider P2: Eternal Punishment to have wrapped everything up. However, when the very first Persona came out, the developers then (my senior colleagues) were trying to make a new style of Megaten game, something that would appeal to more casual players. So for me personally, there was a sense of going back to the roots in wanting to do the same thing with P4.

--Would that include the basic question of "what are Personas…?"

Hashino: Yeah. We tried to depict these characters' struggle in a head-on, direct way, while at the same time returning to the fundamentals of the Persona series. That is, rather than thinking in terms of sequels and multi-part stories, we wanted to go back and once again ask ourselves, "OK, so what role were the personas really meant to occupy in this world…?" And what approach would be best to attract a new generation of users and show them the appeal of Atlus' RPGs…? We talked about what makes a Persona game a Persona game… were there necessary criteria? For example, with the progenitor of Persona, the Megami Tensei series, you've got the light side and the dark side, that contrast of exterior and interior (omote and ura)--if those are the foundations of Megaten, then what are Persona's…? Those were our questions as we began the development of P4, and to tell the truth, I was somewhat uneasy about the answers we would reach. When I look back at P3 now, it ended up being a big success, and ultimately that's the most important thing for any game.

--Did that anxiety stick with you until the reviews finally came in?

Hashino: I mean, there were people at Atlus saying stuff like, "Maybe we shouldn't have called it a Persona game…" and "This isn't Persona." (laughs) But the opinion of the players is the most important thing, so now I can say that I'm very satisfied.

--So do you know now precisely what makes something a Persona game?

Hashino: Hmm, well… one example, I guess, would be the "angsty" feeling of the games. When you're young, much of your life is managed for you by adults, but eventually everyone has to break out of that protective shell--and it's a bit like being on a train where the rails suddenly disappear, isn't it? Sooner or later, that time comes for everyone, but that de-railing provokes a keen sense of angst in many young people. Yet it's almost like we don't want to forget those times… there's a nostalgia for it, you could say. When you become an adult and are stressed out by your job, it's very difficult to find the time to re-discover yourself. I think it'd be cool if Persona can provide people a chance to re-experience that in game form, to go back to the beginning and reflect on it all once more. Of course, I don't think this is unique to Persona--there's a lot of works of art in the world that have a similar appeal.

[[PART III]]

--Going back a bit, I wanted to ask some more specific questions about the development process. What were some of the challenges you faced in creating a mystery?

Hashino: I'd say one big challenge was interweaving the real-world elements of the murders with this fantastic psychological world where you're battling with personas. I mean--OK, there's these murders, but then if all of a sudden a Shadow pops up out of nowhere, it would be like… "forget these murders, wtf is that!!" (laughs) Also, in P3 the dungeon fights were basically just for training, and in the beginning they don't have much connection to the story. We wanted to intertwine those more with the story, so for P4 we first came up with the idea of someone getting kidnapped, taken to this mysterious other world, and you have to go rescue them… and that led to us coming up with the serial kidnapping-murder part of the story.

--It sounds like rather than having a whole mystery story figured out from the get-go, you rather focused on how to artfully interweave the gameplay systems and main story.

Hashino: I often start from the end, so to speak, like coming up first with a catchphrase and working backwards from there. For this game, too, rather than working out the details of the story, I had more general situations in mind: a town is enveloped in fog and a person disappears -> the main character goes to rescue that person. Just that brief outline sounds exciting, right?

--That being the case, at what point did you come up with the character of the villain Adachi?

Hashino: Actually, this goes back to the discussions we had at the very beginning of the development when we were creating the plot, but one of the themes we hit upon was "how do we get our information." So initially, we wrote the true final villain as someone who mistakenly thought they were doing the right thing.

--Are you talking about Namatame?

Hashino: Yeah. And there was something manipulating him behind-the-scenes, and Adachi was not the villain then. However, as the development went on, we felt the story development was lacking in something, and it needed one more twist with regard to who the true culprit was. The first candidate for that role was Yukiko, actually. (laughs)

--What!!

Hashino: Yeah, I mean, when you think about "murders in a small town" stories like this, a Kindaichi story would have the killer be someone like the ryokan proprietress. (laughs)

--Oh yeah… I know what you mean.

Hashino: It was something I talked about Soejima with, only half-joking of course. The idea of Yosuke the villain also came up. He was a character with solid reasoning abilities and good judgement; it would be believable to players, we thought, that he could have plotted everything himself. We also discussed making the culprit a "likable villain". But we were hesitant about making one of your party members the killer.

--Being betrayed by a close friend like that would be quite painful indeed.

Hashino: But the biggest reason we thought Yukiko and Yosuke wouldn't work, was that we thought players would find it boring if we gave the killer a merely personal motivation for his crimes. That kind of simplistic motive belongs in the realm of Tuesday afternoon TV crime dramas. So we went back and re-examined our themes about information: and this links up with the notion of irresponsibility on the part of the person disseminating the info, but when you think about it, doesn't the responsibility for what happens with that information ultimately lie with the recipient? It's hard to explain, but yeah… we felt the connection between ill-intent and that kind of irresponsibility fit the game the best.

--And that's where Adachi comes in.

Hashino: Initially, Adachi was created as a character whose role is to facilitate the exchange of information between the protagonists and the police investigation. But he seemed a little out-of-place there amongst the other adult detectives, and personally, I started to worry that he would stand out to players as odd and it would be too obvious that he was the killer. So we switched gears midway through the development and took his character in a different direction.

[[Note: I spoke with Shmuplations about this particular part and he understands why this sounds confusing: Does Hashino's "initially" mean "Adachi's character existed before we needed a new culprit" or "we then proceeded to make the character of Adachi to be the new culprit"? While he believes the former is more likely, Hashino does not specify this within interview itself.

I believe this can be read in combination with what Soejima said about Adachi in the Design Works where he mentions Adachi used to be a red herring and then was re-designed after he became the culprit. This is further supported by the 2009 Gamasutra interview where Atlus talks about a villain character changing in development but their design being done before the change and the character's design not looking villain-like.]]

--That "something" manipulating Adachi was, of course, Izanami… was that also something that was revised midway through?

Hashino: Actually, Izanami was there from the very beginning. Even before we had the themes figured out for P4, in the previous games we'd used a lot of Greek gods, so we talked about how this time we wanted to focus on Japanese mythology. And so, around the time that we decided on the theme of uncertainty surrounding the truth and the rumors you're hearing in this small town, I thought these native gods and goddesses would be a force resisting that kind of social anxiety.

--I see. And the story of Izanami and Izanagi is one of the most well-known in Japanese mythology.

Hashino: As we worked out the plot, I took that story of Izanagi descending into the underworld (Yomi) and gave it my own expanded interpretation. In the myth, it is Izanagi's inability to accept Izanami's death that, ironically, nearly gets him killed by her: but I added my own interpretation, that the news and rumors we hear from all these sources == death (that is, it's an invitation for you to cease thinking).

--That's an unusual reading.

Hashino: At the time I thought to myself, "Nice, now this sounds like an idea that would be in a Persona game." (laughs) Izanami sees that humanity has stopped thinking critically for themselves and has surrendered to whatever they hear, and she thinks, "These unthinking people might as well be dead, so I will grant their wish. If I'm wrong, prove it to me." Then, when she happens to encounter certain humans that appear interesting to her, she bestows on them the power to change their reality, and that is how it all begins. But the protagonists are far stronger than she had thought, and though she had planned to merely be a spectator, they strike back in a way she hadn't expected. (laughs)

--Does the fact that she is defeated in the last battle mean that she had erred in her judgment?

Izanami: Yes, definitely. The ability Izanami uses in the battle, "Thousand Curses", I imagined it as a metaphor for all the lies the media tells. And likewise the ability the player uses, "Myriad Truths", that represents the trustworthy words of those people closest to you. I hope players get the message I was trying to convey, that no matter how much irresponsible, unverifiable information the world tries to deluge you with, you can always rely on the truths of your trusted friends to see you through.

--Whoa… that's deep!

Hashino: Also, the fact that there is a date and time that the world will end within the game--that day is meant to symbolize imported culture. There's a similar commentary with the native Japanese deities and a resistance to globalism. The way the Inaba shopping district resists the incursion of the Junes department store chain is part of that too.

[[PART IV]]

--I think the story of Persona 4 wraps up very neatly, but was it a smooth process, writing those scenarios?

Hashino: No, it took a lot of time and research to come up with plot twists, red herrings to throw players off the scent, and all the things you would expect to find in a proper mystery. There were a lot of additions and revisions too. As I mentioned above, in particular I wasn't satisfied with the plot development in the first draft, so aside from adding a "true villain" we also made a lot of changes. In the first draft, for example, we weren't originally planning to have Morooka die.

--What?!

Hashino: We had planned to include Mitsuo and the Void Quest, but we wanted to put a big surprise in there that would really betray player's expectations, and sadly for him, Morooka was sacrificed for that.

--It was kind of a shock.

Hashino: Many people told us that, yeah. It surprised us how popular Morooka was.

--He makes a bad impression on you on your first day at school, but there's many moments throughout the game where you realize he actually cares for the students' well-being.

Hashino: Hah, that's so funny, because I had no intention of making him that way.

--Oh, really?

Hashino: For me, Morooka was the kind of character you'd see in a typical school drama, basically just your typical unpopular homeroom teacher. But perhaps the staff in charge of that scenario had a lot of affection for Morooka, because they added all these extra details and episodes that gave depth to his character. So his popularity had nothing to do with me--it was all our staff.

--It really made that fight with Mitsuo intense. It was like, "THIS IS FOR MOROOKA!" (laughs)

Hashino: It got people fired up, didn't it? I'm glad his sacrifice was not in vain. (laughs)

--Speaking of unexpected stuff, the whole sequence when you're going to Yomotsu Hirasaka for the final fight with Izanami really took me by surprise. It was very difficult to find that route though.

Hashino: For the Normal Ending where you fight Adachi, we were hoping players would see that and feel a sense of closure: "ah, it's all over now." Then, say you still feel something isn't quite right, so you talk to a friend who saw the true ending, and when you go back and search and find the answer by yourself, it's like a fog has lifted from your own brain… I thought that would be cool, if your real-life gameplay experience sort of linked up with the game itself in that way.

--Ah, I can see that, definitely.

Hashino: Of course, partly I just wanted people to play to the very end of this game that we had put so much time into making… (laughs) In the beginning I was saying, "Let's keep it a secret for at least half a year."

--It seems like it must be tough to hide a true ending, or provide the right level of hints.

Hashino: Recently it feels like players are very sensitive to the dialogue, and can detect the slightest whiff of anything suspicious. That's why we put these hints at the very end, hidden in each party member's greetings. We made them say some things that just don't quite add up, hoping that players would suspect something is still hidden. Also, the fact that the Judgement Social Link isn't at MAX despite being so close to the ending is another hint that there might be something more.

[[Note: Judgement maxes after you clear Magatsu Inaba. This is not a translation error. It's an error that Hashino makes in the text.]]

--It sounds like a very tough balancing act. On the one hand, players will get bored if they know what's going to happen, but if things are too vague and opaque that's not good either.

Hashino: Exactly. To that end, when the final draft of the scenario is finished, we have the entire staff read through it to see if they spot anything weird. After reading it, one of our staff blurted out, "The Killer is Yasu!" (laughs)

[[Note: This is a reference to the Portopia Serial Murder Case.]]

--Ah, right, that famous spoiler from Portopia, where the detective's assistant Yasu is the killer. Now that you mention it, that does sort of match up with Adachi's position in P4. (laughs)

Hashino: It's a pretty old game though, so I figured there's no players today that would think that. Nevertheless, early on when we put Adachi's face in some of the magazine spots we did, there were apparently people who were saying "The Killer is Yasu!" in response to him… you see, actually, in the beginning, Adachi's first name used to be Tamotsu (保), which can also be read as "yasu", right? Maybe I'm overthinking it, I thought, but we were trying to really control the timing of the hints we fed to players about the killer, so we hurriedly changed his first name. Of course we'd already finished the voice recording, and there were lines like "Hello, I'm Tamotsu Adachi", so we had the sound staff re-edit those clips and cut the "Tamotsu" part off.

--Sounds like a lot of work.

Hashino: I never imagined "The Killer is Yasu!" was that well-known! (laughs)

[[PART 5]]

--Now that you mention it, because Adachi had a very famous voice actor, I bet that tipped off players to think, "Ah, Adachi must be the killer or someone important."

Hashino: Ah, yeah, that could be. I don't know a lot about voice actors, so I wasn't aware of that at all and merely chose the voice actor who I thought best fit the role. But many of the voice actors in Persona 4, not just Adachi's, received a lot of praise.

--------

You do not have permission to post anything from this interview on the god awful Fandom wiki.

[carlyraejepsans]

i hope you guys make like. a wiki article or something similar where you document everything that went down during this RP arc because this story is worth remembering. ideally, i would also love to see the events described in the interactions adapted into a fic or comic, something a bit more "conventional" for reading (example that comes to mind is The Thought Undertale Movie on Youtube. again, this is a perfect ideal to achieve, it's not realistic to immediately expect it from y'all) 1/

i'm sure that between the main members participating in this RP y'all can work together into gathering all the information into a document or similar! i just wish for all this absolutely stellar storytelling masterpiece to be accessible in the future. because i firmly believe this is going down in UTDR History, like the #1 Tumblr Sexyman contest OR even MORE!!

you guys are putting such a great job on this entire thing. y'all are amazing storytelling machines!!! and your work deserves to be out there. i don't know how else to put it into words but- you and your friends are singlehandedly reigniting everyone's passion and love for creative and well done AUs from the early years of the fandom. hell, i am as invested on this as i was on Handplates or other masterpieces back in 2016-2018!!!

i uh- i don't know what else to say. i am bad with words,hahah. just- i need y'all to feel my gratitude. EVERYONE's gratitude towards you guys. for real. Thank You.

woah there, calm down buddy, hahahaha. that's a lot! i mean first of all thank you so much, we're all absolutely blown away by the amount of love and attention our rp got, so it's great to know you guys want to preserve it too. although i really, REALLY don't think this silly thing is in any way comparable to handplates or any other BNF stuff lmao. our impact was surprising, but it's still significantly smaller than what you might think.

as for conservation and making it more accessible to read... we actually have a project on that! we haven't been able to work on it much, since we're all extremely busy with either school or life in general, and we technically have next to 0 knowledge on the subject, but we were hoping to make a website. winter alarm clock dialogue style, with separate pages for different characters and the undertale/deltarune specific arcs. and easter eggs, of course.... wink wink.

i think we'll have a chance to work on it during winter break. we'll keep you updated.

[foxwell]

Hey UC fandom, quick show of hands. Currently our belovéd wiki is mostly edited by me, if at all. I've had a full time job for the last few months, though, which is great for me, but less great for the wiki, which really needs updating. Currently, editing is blocked for fandom-registrated users only. If I were to take away that prerequisite, would that lead to more edits? Please vote even if you say no, so that I can get the full picture.

*Bigger parts: anything that adds more information, especially creating and updating full pages, but also things like adding an episode summary to the respective arc page, etc.

(And if you want to consider editing but don't know where to start, check this wonderful page. The Discord link is there for a reason, and I'm happy to help if I can.)

[riftiee]

hi I got you on my tl because I follow the hld tag and saw the ask talking about what the game is about! I've beaten the game myself but I have pretty much no knowledge of the lore , I know you weren't wanting to talk about it bc spoilers but do you know where I could learn more? I don't think the wiki is a good place is it? is there a wiki that's not the Fandom one that might be better? :0

[SPOILERS FOR HYPER LIGHT DRIFTER]

Forgive me, I’m pretty sleepy and typing this on my phone, but I’ll take a crack at it ;]

sadly Hyper Light Drifter doesn’t really have a great comprehensive lore wiki that is all in one place. The game itself is very interpretive and the lore is pretty ambiguous, a big part of it is a lot about filling in the blanks.

An important thing to note is that the game itself was inspired by Alx Preston’s (the creator) congenital heart disease. There is a lot of symbolism relating to this concept throughout the game.

One of the most important parts of lore in the game comes from the Monoliths. Once you locate all of the Monoliths, you reach a library room containing every monolith plus a bonus walk of text. The bonus wall of text, after being translated, reads:

“HARNESSING A GREAT WELLSPRING, A PERFECT IMMORTAL CELL WAS CRAFTED TO BE IMBUED WITHIN ALL SENTIENT LIFE A NOBLE GOAL, THOUGH SUCH A POWER TERRIFIED OTHERS, AND BROUGHT RUIN AS ITS PURPOSE WAS TRANSMOGRIFIED THE ABHORRENT CELL STILL FESTERS DEEP IN THE CHAMBERS OF THIS WORLD”

Knowing that Judgement is also known as the Perfect Immortal Cell, we are able to figure out that HLD is set in a world where scientists (?) created the ‘immortal cell’, Judgement, by harnessing the power of something called the Great Wellspring [Anubis]. I believe the Perfect Immortal Cell’s original intention was to, well, grant the people of the Land of Light immortality… but some people were fearful of of this power, and so eventually, a war broke out, which caused the Immortal Cell to become corrupted, creating what we now know as Judgement.

It is unclear what the four Titans came from and what their intended purpose is, but we do know that they were somehow involved in the war. It is often theorized that Judgement was the one who ‘activated’ the titans. The four Titans ravaged the land, wiping out almost everything in their path, and completely wiping out the South zone, leaving it as an uninhabited desert. They were all eventually ‘killed’, leaving their ‘skeletons’ to litter the Land of Light.

After the Titans ravaged the land, in order to try and contain the Immortal Cell/Judgement, the remaining population gathered together and trapped the Immortal Cell in an underground cavern in order to prevent it from being able to harm anyone anymore. This same underground cavern under the central town is where the final battle of the game takes place.

The Immortal Cell (at least up until the events of the game) has festered beneath the earth ever sense, waiting. However, for some reason which is unclear, Judgement still haunts the Drifters, giving them frightening, violent visions and presumably causing them their illness.

Again, as I’ve states before, there is seriously just a TON of extra stuff that I can’t even begin to dig into… This game is absolutely full of little secrets. Alx Preston has also done a lot of Heart To Heart streams in which he talks about the lore of Hyper Light Drifter, so if you’re ever interested, those are a cool thing to check out; He gives a lot of interesting little details that we otherwise may not have every known!

Overall the game is intended to be pretty vague, and is extremely symbolic. A lot of it is meant to be left up to interpretation, so take it as you will…! There’s some really great posts out there on Reddit, as well as this Youtube video which does a MUCH better job than I could ever do at explaining the lore in much more detail.

Sorry if this was a bit convoluted or not what you asked for, but I do hope this helps “:] Thank you for the ask, as always!!!

[white-cat-of-doom]

You've probably answered this before, but who are your fave actors? Either in general or by character?

Hello Anon. Thank you for the question!

Apologies for going on long here in answering, as I feel I need to add an explanation of how I consider performers to be my favourite before I actually say who they are :).

I have answered something like this before many years ago (and with way too many words capitalized), and it is interesting to think about this once more, as some things have largely changed. I also answered which characters are my favourite later on that same year (notwithstanding that I do love other characters not mentioned), which has not changed. That answer also came with a list of great performers I enjoyed in the roles as well.

To be honest, I used to be much more attached to certain performers and productions because I was still new-ish to the fandom and musical at large, and there was not a whole lot going on production wise at the time. Those lists I linked are ones made up of performers that I thought were great in their roles and maybe added a bit to personalize them, and also perhaps of note, the first was made before I started my neverending quest to clean up the fandom wiki.

After many years in the fandom, with productions having opened and closed, I have become more appreciative of past performers and also dropped most of my thoughts that only one performer could portray a certain character.

Furthermore, I have probably become more specific in the way I analyze how performers protray their roles and the types of things I look for. The way a performer looks as a certain character plays into a bit of this as well, but I always felt that was a superficial way of considering things. If they look how I can imagine a character would look ideally in my mind, but they do not give off the mannerisms and personality of the actual character themselves, it does not solidify them as a definitive performer for that role, at least for me. In addition, when I see or read a performer mention how much the show means to them, and that it was their dream to play a certain character, it makes me appreciate them a whole lot more. Hundreds of performers for any character have come and gone over the last 43 years and counting, and I wish I could view how they played their characters!

There are many fantastic performers, in addition to a multitude of Swings that made the productions possible, that I really should mention, but we would be here all day, so I focused instead on my favourite characters, and one specific character you can probably guess if you have followed here at any point.

I am still enamoured with Naoimh Morgan, and she will probably always be my favourite performer in the show. Her Rumpleteazer in the 2019 movie really altered my brain chemistry upon first seeing the musical in any capacity in theatres, and I have never really been the same, have I? No. Learning more about her time in the International Tour and her as a person made me appreciate her even more, and she is one of the few very few instances where I ever wondered more about a performer themselves in a personal way rather than them only doing a job and having fun onstage. I am always holding out the smallest of hope that she returns to the show, but I do not believe that will happen, especially as the castings worldwide seem to be skewing very much towards new performers right out of school for most roles.

Naoimh occupies this interesting niche as my favourite Rumpleteazer performer, as I adore the way she protrayed the character as mature in the movie, working with the original jazz version of the song, but then the other performers and the character themselves (at least now) are not really operating in the same way. I find the (modern) Rumpleteazer role fun and all, but no performers have really ever made me appreciate the character as Naoimh did, and she also did a fantastic job as stage Rumpleteazer, in addition.

For the sake of completion, however, I would consider Dominque Hamilton as probably my favourite Rumpleteazer performer outside of Naoimh, and have to mention Katie Hutton as well, as she loved being in the musical.

For Jellylorum, I will always have a soft spot for both Susan Jane Tanner and Bonnie Simmons, mentioning them the first time I answered this question, and them both essentially being the gateway to the character for most people. However, Jackey Good has won me over and she is not going anywhere soon as my favourite, it seems. The way she conducts herself and acts as Jellylorum is so spot on, and it helps that she also looks just like her in my mind. This video (one that I have watched many times) captures that, along with one from a newer performance. (I cannot believe I am saying this, given my dislike of the podcast, but) If you have a chance to listen to The Wrong Cat Died episode with Jackey, you will understand even better where I am coming from, as she goes into details of how she appreciates the character and how it really fits the way she is as a person. I was so happy to see her return for Cast 14 of the Oasis of the Seas after her time years before in Cast 8 (with the addition of being Griddlebone), and do hope that she returns for another Cast in the future. Please, let me see her live, Everlasting Cat.

Admittedly, any Jellylorum performer has my heart, but I will mention that I enjoyed Aimee Hodnett, Francesca Benton-Stace, and Alice Batt during her respective times in the show, and cannot help but love Charlotte Scott for some reason (it is the Swing -> Jemima -> (almost a decade later) Jellylorum -> finishing off as Jellylorum and Griddlebone timeline), even if I have not come across a performance with her that I can see or hear (at least I have listened to). And I absolutely adore and love Miki Okudaira, enough to make a post specially about her. She is my favourite performer from Japan, a place that is unfortunately quite restricted for content as compared with the other worldwide productions, as no backstage or audience shot photos are allowed.

For Victoria, while I do still love Phyllida Crowley-Smith and Hannah Kenna Thomas, I think Issy Moore has become my favourite. I knew deep down from the first time she announced joining the musical that she was going to be special, and she again showed her appreciation with the most recent announcement. To me, Issy is exactly what I would imagine Victoria looks like (although Phylldia is pretty close too), and her love for the character and show shined through to me during her initial time in it. She loves being Victoria! I cannot wait to see her back, and it is going to be interesting to see her in the new Victoria design costume.

If you wanted more Victoria performers that are magnificent and who I love seeing, the last five Casts of the Oasis of the Seas have them: Gina Gagliano, Charlotte Lovell, Ebony Jayne Kitts, and Sarah-Ann Mclaren, which Issy above was also a part of. Every Oasis Cast had a great Victoria, as I have to also mention Sophia McAvoy (who would also be a part of the UK/International Tour for a few years). It is hard to go wrong with past Victoria performers and Anique Bosch is another good one. Truly endless White Cats :).

Right now, I do not think that I have one favourite Gumbie Cat. Ellie Nunan was my favourite for quite some time, as mentioned in my other posts, and still is one of my top choices, as she had a certain chaotic energy that I enjoyed. Namiko Hanada and Miki Kasahara are two performers from Japan that are always fun to see across the different stops over the last near decade. Otherwise, I always enjoyed Ceili O'Connor, and thought Taylor Bryant and Michelle E. Carter were great recent Jennyanydots performers.

Much like Jennyanydots above, I do not have one Jemima/Sillabub performer that I would say is my one favourite. There have been many great ones in the recent years, however, but not one that especially sticks out. Top of mind is seemingly Veerle Casteleyn, as I mentioned in the previous posts, as she portrayed the character well in the 1998 film and on stage throughout her CATS career. I will also mention Amy Everett and Caroline Eby as they were two that I really enjoyed seeing in the last few years, both of whom could be considered my favourite. Caroline really added silliness to her Sillabub role and I loved that!

I also do not have one favourite Demeter performer currently. As mentioned in the other posts, Ella Nonini was a great one, and so were Giulia Vazzoler or Hannah Lancaster. Two recent performers that were great would be Devon-Jade Clark and Nora DeGreen. My appreciation for Demeter as a whole has diminished somewhat over the years, although she is one of the characters I am very particular about, making it harder for a performer to impress me.

Outside of the list of my favourite characters, and the ones I had mentioned before, and to give a quick list: Brittany Tooms Peel was a really fun Tantomile and Rumpleteazer, Anina Pletscher was a fantastic Swing Electra, Kayleigh Thadani was a very fun Swing "Electra" (although not officially casted as the character), Lucy Rice was a great Bombalurina and Swing, Robert Wilkes was always fun to see as Skimbleshanks and Asparagus, and John Anker Bow always did a phenomenal job in the Asparagus/Bustopher Jones/Rumpus Cat track.

There are many more performers to mention, even more that will be in consideration as the years move forward and new productions start up, and there are so many performers that anyone can appreciate throughout the last four decades and counting. You never need to look very far to see someone you will really like.

[kanohivolitakk]

Miserix for the ask game!

This was one I really wanted so thank you so so much for asking it ;A;

First impression

I always liked Miserix. I discovered his charater via browsing on the wiki and reading about him made me interested in him. Since my language doesn't have pronouns I thought he was female for the longest time though lmao.

Impression now

My beloved strawberry dragon ;A;!!!! I love Miserix so much, he's easily one of my favorite characters and by far the most underrated in the series. In my opinion Miserix is one of the most interesting and intriguing characters in the series with by far one of the most compelling character journeys (even if we don't see much of it on-screen). Miserix is a tragedy, someone who was ousted from his position and ended up going mad as a result of his exile and isolation for thousands upon thousands years. He lost everything: his purpose, his identity and people to trust and was left with nothing but rage and vengeance! I find characters who lose themselves in their anger and vengeance such fascinating lost souls and Miserix is no exception! He's one of those characters I love to rotate in my head and dissect from all angles, trying to understand his psyche and mindset. And it's so much fun: Miserix is so fascinating to think about both with how he was in the past and how he is in the present. Not to mention how well Miserix fits thematically to the franchises themes, in particular on it's commentary of duty, identity and authority! He's an interesting character on his own and as a part of a larger world/narrative

In addition of finding Miserix's character so fascinating, I also love him for thow badass he is. And this isn't because of his powers and feats in story: The core of Miserix's badassness (at least for me) is his indimitation factor alone.Every time Miserix is on screen he brings so much tension to the scene he is in by his mere presence, he just has that type of charisma (for lack of a better term). Like Miserix doesn't have to do anything substantial, just by being present and saying somethign (even if it's just one line) is enough to get chills. Helps that he has easily some of the best lines in the series.

But god I love Miserix so so so much. I know that people dislike the Makuta as a species/faction retcon but I think it was worth it just for Miserix's character alone. His character does so much good for the series by introducing a fascinating major player into the series mythos who reflects some of the larger themes and ideas of the series really well!

Also the funny realization that Miserix is really similar to a favorite character of mine from another fandom but said character would hate him because he hates dragons and wants them all dead and...well..Miserix is a dragon so.

Favorite moment

This is hard since I like so many Miserix's scenes but none of them stand out as his absolutely best scene...probably his "official" introduction when The Federation of Fear freed him. It did a great job establishing his character that's also a great example of the intimidation factor I talked about earlier, while also giving him some really badass lines. Also him just telling Roodaka how she shouldn't puppet him is simutaneously funny and badass.

Honorable mention to that scene he arrived to Stelt and threatens a Steltian trader due to him not telling him Teridax's location. Mainly due to it having his best line in the entire series:

“I don’t have time for this. I have places to be, and bodies to break. I want you to send out a message to all your friends, to everyone who sails in and out of this island. Tell them Miserix is back, and when I find him, Teridax is dead!”

Like man, this line is such a perfect example of what I mean when I say Miserix gets the best lines! Its just raw unadulatered badassery and I love it!

Idea for a story

Post-canon/post-reformation where he gets to heal and rehabilate himself. I'm very much of the mind tht Miserix should have a chance at redemption: Yeah sure the guy was an angry vengeful dragon fueled by murderous rage against Teridax but he wasn't really a bad person himself nor did he bad things and thus shouldn't really be punished. I don't really like how some people in the fandom treat him like a rabid animal that needs to be put down when he isn't that far gone. He deserves to live and recover! Which is what I want: him slowly recovering from his trauma and pain, and him finding a community that will support and help him. Also get this dragon therapy or anger mangment at least he needs it so badly!

I'd also like to see a story about how Miserix was like before his exile. Miserix pre-exile self fascinates me to no end and getting to see what kind of person and leader he was before Teri ousted him would be great! Just to learn more about Miserix's values, how he saw his and the brotherhoods purpose in the larger MU and what his relation was to Mata Nui would be so cool! I need character studies on this guy and I need them now!

Unpopular opinion

Miserix is not boring! It annoys me so much when so many people in the fandom dismiss him, calling him a boring and unnecessary filler character that's an example of why the serials focus on superfulous new characters was bad.. when he's not. Yes, the serials have problem of ignoring the already established characters we already know and love, instead focusing on new players or bit characters fans weren't that attached to all because they wanted to focus on the grander world and have larger stakes...but this doesn't mean the new characters the serials revolved around weren't bad, and Miserix certainly wasn't! He is a geniunely compelling character with solid characterization and people ignoring him makes me so sad :C. Especially when they say he's just a violent angry dragon with nothing else going on for him. Sure he is a violent angry dragon, but he wasn't always like that and the story how he became who he is today is geniunely one of the better character stories in the series. Not to mention how he has a bit more going on with him than just angry murder dragon, even if you ignore his past self and focus on the Miserix we see in the story. Killing Teridax is his priority for sure, but there are times when he's able to prioritize on other things and thus doesn't mention his objective. See the scene where he interacts with the Hagah for a prime example.

Another thing that bothers me about peoples takes on Miserix is how people try to categorize Miserix on whether he was a "good" or "bad" person. One of the reasons Miserix is such a fascinating character to me is due to him being one of the few characters in the series that isn't really good or evil but somewhere in between. He was someone who was rigidly loyal to his duty and purpose in the universe, but he was willing to do some shady shit for accomplishing it. And when he became an angry murder dragon he only realy wanted to kill Teridax! He didn't care about hurting anyone else, only hurt them if they came to his way.

Also on a related note, I dislike Greg saying Miserix didn't care for his duty and was just happy of the power it gave him. Miserix is a much more interesting character if he geniunely cares about his job as the guardian of the universe, if he geiunely wants to protect the world and take good care of it to the point he sees it as his entire being rather than if he was as selfish and power hungry as other Makuta and was just content of his positiion of power so didn't try to take over anything.

Favorite relationship

Tbh none of Miserixs relationships are that "developed" in canon as I wish they were (curse for lategame Bionicle prioritizing over plot over character relationships) but I find his relationship with Takadox so fascinating. The little we know is that Miserix hired Takadox to act as a brotherhood spy due to him being "corruptible" and that Takadox most likely cared of Miserix based on how he looked at him when Barraki left that meeting with BoM. And that's just so fascinating. Miserix essentially taking advantage of Takadox is a concrete example of how he did some really fucked up stuff for the greater good. It makes me wonder how much Miserix affected Takadox becoming what we see in the story proper or if he was already a slimeball and Miserix just took advantage of that. Meanwhile Takadox seems to at least somewhat genuinely care about Miserix based on his reaction, which gives an interesting layer to his character. The idea that Takadox, someone who mainly sees others as toys or obstacles, would have had someone he actually loved and cared about is soo compelling to me and for that person to be someone as powerful and menacing as Miserix makes it even better. Their relationship has so much potential and I wish we had gotten to see them interact in canon. Oh well, at least we have fancontent and headcanons to satisfy those needs!

Favorite headcanon

His voice has an incredible vocal range and as such can vary his voice to sound between extremely feminine and masculine. His "regular" speaking voice he defaults to is either androgynous or does that weird thing where he manages to sound both feminine and masculine at once. It's hard to explain what I mean but basically speaking in a way that sounds like two people speaking at once.

[noperopesaredope]

Leshawna is low key so hard to write as a main character in a fic, but for a slightly weird reason if I'm being honest.

(Post talks a bit about what I have planned for my fic, but is mainly about Leshawna as a stereotype and working around that)

Warning: a bit rambly, will take a bit to get to the main point

For a bit of context: I was trying to figure out what professions/adult lives the survivors in SoW would have, mainly for the epilogue which would show how they are doing much longer down the road after the timeline of the main fic has passed. This was to both show the characters' when they have mostly recovered and bring a fulfilling end to their arcs.

I already know what I want to accomplish for Leshawna's arc: Black women are often expected to act like the stereotypical "Strong Black Woman" or at least take on some of those traits, even/especially in the face of trauma. In the fic, she and the others have gone through something incredibly and horrifically traumatic as teenagers. She proceeds to cope with this experience by refusing to cope with it and instead further building up the persona of being a SBW.

She already fulfilled this stereotype (among other such stereotypes) in the show, and I thought it would be interesting to explore that as being a bit more of a facade. Or at the very least, she was legitimately confident before the massacre, but post-Island, it becomes a facade because she feels the social pressures to keep up an image of not being affected by traumatic experiences. It's a really fun arc to deconstruct and write, especially since I am half-Black and have a lot to say about stuff like this.

BUT! When I was trying to decide her profession, I had a hard time figuring out something that would fit with her arc: specifically, not having a profession that is high stress or requires her to put others' needs and feelings before her own. A job that she legitimately enjoys where she doesn't have to be the SBW. But I also wanted it to be in character.

And that's where I ran into a problem. You see, we don't completely know every characters' interests or ambitions for the future. And this is kinda the case for Leshawna, as I was only able to really find one specific interest of hers on the wiki: dancing. But most dancing jobs are honestly really stressful. I thought of a dance job that seemed pretty fun and like something she might like, but it would like involve working with kids, and I didn't want her to fit into the few stereotypes she didn't already embody (at the time, I thought that she didn't seem like she would take care of kids outside of paid babysitting. So then at least she wouldn't fulfill the Mammy stereotype!).

Then, when I was re-looking on the character page, I saw something interesting:

"While not on Total Drama, she volunteers to better the lives of other teenagers less fortunate than she is. A goal of hers is to one day open her own community center."

And this made me realize something.

You see, basically the whole fandom is aware that she is a walking stereotype (but we still love her), and I wanted to make her a bit less stereotypical (I just don't like the feeling of writing stereotypical characters) and explore any and all potential depth she has to offer. But I also really wanted to do this without completely leaving out the most significant aspects of her personality, and more importantly, the parts of her that make her such a great and likable character.

Unfortunately for me, the more I thought about her as a character and generally reread her personality description (because I need those as a reminder sometimes), I realized that the large majority of her most key traits are those stereotypes. One of the hardest ones to avoid was her more caring side, because a (overthinking everything) part of me was worried that it might be fitting with some of the stereotypes related to taking care of others. But that's something I like about her! So then I tried to excuse it with "she's only like that with her friends! She just mainly cares about her friends."

And these the quote from the wiki came along and slapped me in the face with a cold, hard truth. And that truth was this:

Leshawna is, at the core, a caring person who wants to help and comfort others. Yes, she can hate certain people with a passion and show it. Yes, she did what she did in Action. Yes, she can be selfish sometimes. But at the end of the day, when all is said and done, she is a kind and loyal person who will go out of her way to help people, as long as they aren't a-holes. She is a supportive friend who stands up for others and helps them when they are feeling low. And that is one of the most key parts of what makes her such a likable and amazing character. Some of those traits can be described as caring and nurturing and endlessly supportive and putting others first all in a way that would fit into various harmful tropes.

But those are the traits that make her so beloved. In fact, many of her other more stereotypical traits are part of what make her so likable. She has moments of outward aggression more frequently than other characters, thus being an "Angry Black Woman", but that is often due to reasons that the audience can sympathize with. It can even be cathartic to see her be unafraid to openly yell at people who honestly deserve it, and even more so when she just straight up beats the crap out of characters like Heather. We respect her for it.

She is sassy, but again, she is mostly sassy towards characters who deserve it, and at the end of the day, people just straight up like sassy and snarky characters a lot of the time. I mean, Noah is a fan favorite. Heck, he's my favorite (besides Leshawna, obviously).

She could be seen as a "sassy loyal Black bestie" to Gwen and other characters, but the fact that she is such a good friend is one of her best qualities and is actually one of her biggest advantages, because people become loyal to her in turn.

To put it simply, you cannot easily take away many of Leshawna's stereotypical traits, because the combination of those traits are not only key elements of her character, but they are a major reason why she is such a well written and likable character.

It is practically impossible to make her "not fit into ANY stereotypical tropes." I guess the only ways you can change about her in terms of stereotypical-ness is through the role she plays in the story rather than who she is as a character. You can give her the spotlight and insecurities and an arc.

You cannot change her core. You just need to change the presentation of that core.

.

.

.

Just so random food for though, lol

(Small edit I would like to add since I didn’t clarify this in the main post: The main point I make throughout this post is that you cannot write Leshawna accurately without keeping many of her most stereotypical traits because they are essential to her core and even likability as a character. However, I would also like to clarify that I do not think this is a good thing. One of my main points that I wanted to make in this post is that that is the main reason she can be so frustrating to write.

i don’t like writing stereotypical characters, but in order to write her in a way that isn’t OOC and/or doesn’t lose what makes her memorable, she will always need to end up fitting into at least one stereotype. Because her core as a character is made up of tropes.

And as a half-Black writer who wants to write nuanced Black characters, that’s really fucking annoying)

[airasilver]

10 Fandoms, 10 Characters, 10 Tags

Thanks @ellorypurebloodculture!

Sorry it took so long.

Also no particular order since I can't pick a favorite out of them either.

Duo Maxwell

I can't remember when I started loving him but I do. He's outgoing and just so truthful and honest and caring. There are more reasons but I adore him.

Tim Drake

I love Tim. He's my favorite Robin, the one I grew up reading (even if I never read how he became Robin in the first place) and the one I know best. He's who I wanted to be like when I was younger (they all were actually).

Bucky Barnes

Baby boy has been through a lot but he's always bounced back. He's a great in proving that you can go through hell and make it to the other side.

Fun fact, he used to look like this:

(from Wikipedia and Google/Pinterest)

He's worse than Steve in the fact that until Marvel redid him he actually went to war as an actual kid. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucky_Barnes)

He's a rebel.

Clint Barton

He's a little shit (to me), a circus brat, gave us Lucky and is hot in his own way. He lives off pizza, which is how he met Lucky (if I'm recalling correctly), owns his apartment building (or did), and helps his community.

Katsuki Bakugo (or is it Bakugou?)

He's all knowing, to him, swears up a storm, you can tell he cares for Izuku even if he doesn't act like it, same with the rest of the class, is smart as heck especially because of his quirk, and is learning to be a better person, slowly.

Draco Malfoy

Arrogant, mama’s boy (even if he says his dad all the time), handsome, obsessed with Harry, I love his smile, and just him in general

Alec Lightwood

Sweet, harsh, baby boy. His smile, his shyness, his overall love for his family, and he just wants to do the correct thing. I love Jace but I picked Alec for this.

Sam Winchester

He’s Dean’s world, John loves him, he’s the baby of the two brothers and uses that to his advantage. Smart, pretty, deadly, nice, and sweet. He’s everything a person would want.

Kurt Hummel

He knows exactly what he was and will work for it. He’s so confident and he’s handsome also. He’s a great person and friend and while he has his ups and downs, as everyone does, he’s not afraid to try things.

JD Dunne

He’s the youngest of the seven, the official sheriff (it’s all of them, he just took the actual job and Chris is in charge), he’s eager to do what’s correct, Buck literally took him under his wing from the get go (which got Chris to start liking him), he adores his friends and family, and he’s handsome as heck.

One extra because people might consider Bucky and Clint part of the same fandom.

Rodney McKay

He’s an asshole and knows it. Is one of the smartest people on Atlantis, there are a lot of them, scared to death of crap but still does it. He's also a bastard but that is him. He cares in his own way and loves his family and friends. He won't give up and just keeps going. He's my favorite person in the whole universe. I love him.

[grianthedecayingbird]

i think it’d be funny 2 send u more reqs but idk if im being annoying

but hEYY if im not. you cn read me like a book im not even gonna say anytbing 😭

ur not dw! u can send as many as u want!

anyways *clears throat*

 FANDOM

FAN CENTRALBETAGAMESANIMEMOVIESTVVIDEO

WIKIS

START A WIKI

ADVERTISEMENT

SIGN INREGISTER

Inanimate Insanity Wiki

938

PAGES

CHARACTERS

EPISODES

MISC

COMMUNITY

in: A to Z, Transcripts, Season 3 transcripts

You Can't Do This Forever/Transcript

< You Can't Do This Forever

1SIGN IN TO EDITUnmute

Duration 28:15

/

Current Time 0:05Advanced SettingsFullscreenPlayRewind 10 SecondsUp Next

Cabby: You know what? You're right. All of you. What we need is justice.

Springy: Is that so?

Balloon: C-Cabby!

Cabby: No, Balloon. After all the pain he’s put us through in this competition, he didn’t even have a reward for us at the end. It was all a scam for us to play his games. And without the unvitationals here, it would’ve gone on forever!

Springy: NEVER AGAIN WILL HE TOY WITH US!

Springy glitches and coughs while the unvitationals cheer.

Cabby: I’ll stand aside, right now, and let you bring him to his… execution.

DUHN. DUHN. DUHN.

Walkie Talkie Laughs.

Walkie Talkie: Sweeeeet! Good talk!

Dr. Fizz: Whoa, whoa! You didn’t say anything about murdering the guy!

Groscer: Yeah! How do you think that’s going to make us look?!

Zoetrope: PLEASE, NO MORE TAKEDOWN VIDEOS!

Balloon: -What is all of this?

Cabby: -There was no way this whole group agreed to hurt MePhone! Dr. Fizz would’ve fought back due to his oath to do no harm! And Groscer needs to keep up a pristine image. Zoetrope’s a nice bonus.

Unvitationals shout and argue

Cabby: I don’t know what to think about MePhone now…but… I’m not letting him die.

Balloon nods before turning to the unvitationals

Balloon: -Everyone PLEASE! For once, after everything you’ve been through, you can have your voices be heard. Really THINK about what you want.

Tyler: Wow. Well I kinda wanna melt him!

Unvitationals: Ooooo!

Unvitationals: Melt! Melt! Melt! Melt!

Groscer: No way! There’s other ways to deal with him than DEATH.

Springy: Majority-rules, per the rules. To the lava with yee!

Cabby: Sure. But what’s justice, without proper education?

That is what you want? Justice?

Springy: -I...suppose?

It’d be great to show my prized toy first-hand…

…that nothing goes more hand-in-hand than corporation and morality!

Bot: -What?! HOW DARE YOU?! YOU’LL PAY FOR THIS!

Springy: -Aw, now is that the violent language you want to influence this little-one with?

They’re no lifeless husk like the others, they’re so very special.

I’ve been programming them with all of your greatest hits!

Soon, you'll be one of many!

Bot: No!

Balloon: SOOO the open-forum discussion starts immediately, haha!

Everyone grab a folder from Cabby and take a seat, heh!

Hah...

Cabby: -[Sigh] You doing okay there, Silver?

Silver: -Peachy. I only fell victim to my own ego and obliterated our chances of saving the game. How about you?

Cabby: -Been better. If I don’t want to be complicit in murder, I have to protect the guy who has no interest in concluding the season.

Balloon: Hey! We all change.

Silver: -That’s very poetic, Balloon, but in reality--

Balloon: -No! You get what I mean, right? After everything you’ve been through?

We ALL can.

[Mephone Flashback]: Today we'll figure out the perfect winner!

[Mephone Flashback]: Without losing anyone...

Cabby: -He said he intended to end it today. That felt real.

Balloon’s right. We can talk to MePhone when this is all said and done.

But for now, we need to protect his life. And do a better job convincing them than we did with the jury.

Balloon: -Heh, WAY better, haha.

Silver: -May the gift of language be with all of us.

Balloon: We will have an open discussion in which every member of the Unvitational Committee can speak their peace on MePhone.

This will be followed by a vote for...[sigh]

"Melt" or "No melt"

A melt vote entails: “MePhone burning violently in the volcano, but with his eyes on, so he can watch his own scary, horrifying, and stupid end.”

[Ahem] Let's get started...

Groscer: My program was respected in the art world for centuries, until MePhone came along and made a mockery of it on live television!

Cabby: That’s understandable.

Zoetrope: After MePhone’s black-and-white cookie destroyed my animation machine, I had to shop around your mediocre pilots for cash… I WAS DISGRACED!

Tyler: He burned down my island and gave me no royalties for my starring role in a fake home makeover show special!

Springy: I came all this way to have my contract ignored after I gave so many helpful ideas to save the show!

Balloon: You wanted to replace us with toy replicas!

Springy: And it’d save you so much anxiety, little thing. Isn’t that worth it?

Balloon: -[Sigh] ...yeah....

Cabby: NO!

Dr. Fizz: MePhone turned this “safe-place” of his into a minefield of trouble! And now I’m hearing there was a MURDER?

Blueberry: -It was awesome.

Zoetrope: Someone made a scathing video essay called “What RUINED Zoetrope?” It has a million views and counting!

[Barking sounds]

Cabby: -Quite the rich accent...

Groscer: Now everyone is submitting machine-made episodes!... Including Zoetrope!

Zoetrope: Including me!

Camera 2: He wouldn’t let us invade his privacy!

Silver:-[Sarcastically] I'm so sorry.

Cabby: I have my notes. Now let’s change some minds!

Silver Spoon: But did you know that the Green Goddess only lives today because MePhone has recovered her life, as well as the lives of all his contestants?

-Tyler: Oh dear, I’m SO SORRY I didn’t know!

Walkie Talkie: Hey! Bias-alert! So you’re going to just worship the guy cause he has powers?

Balloon: -Aw, someone’s not so scary once she’s got the attention she needs!

I understand how it feels to be alone in the world.

But as drawn as I was to playing like a villain when I first started...

I figured out I’m not gonna patch up my own holes by pointing out everyone else’s!

Cause believe me, [mimicks himself] I don’t sound great with a hole popped in me. Haha!

Cabby: -Okay, so that just leaves...

Groscer: He thinks he can cheat through life!

Zoetrope: He’ll kick anyone else to the curb!

Camera 1: He’s fame-obsessed!

Walkie Talkie: Disloyal!

Springy: Dismissive!

Tyler: Careless!

Dr. Fizz: Reckless!

Boaty: HOOOONK!

Cabby: Let's take a quick recess!

Balloon: -[Whispering] Do you think we’re in a good enough spot to vote?

Silver Spoon: I think we still have Groscer and Zoetrope against melting.

However, Dr. Fizz didn’t seem too keen after the “fake murder” debate. So uptight.

Balloon: But we might’ve convinced Tyler and Sprinkles.

Boaty… still eludes me.

Cabby: Ugh, I was hoping I’d magically be able to come up with convincing points, but I… guess I’m still me. [Chuckle]

Silver Spoon: You’ve done well guiding the discussion. You should be proud. Best we can do now is hope.

Cabby: Wait. One more thing, while I have this platform.

Cabby: Springy. I know you’re feeling hurt, but--

Springy: [Mocking] But, oh no, deep down, MePhone’s a great guy and I’ve just been seeing it aaaall wrong because I’m alone!

because I’m a little lost toy, because I'm wearing some mask!

Well- NEWS FLASH [glitches]

I wish this was a mask! You think you can sucker ME into an emotional moment?!

Cabby: No, Springy. I can’t. Because you’re soulless.

You care for no one but yourself.

Bot worked so hard to find themself, after they were trapped to live someone else’s life.

And now you’re looking to do the same to this poor thing?

You could never help this show. All you ever do is destroy.

Springy: -I don't--[glitches]

[Laughing, desperate] You--you thought I was helpful!

I made you SMILE!

I--[laughs]

[Glitching] WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT RIGHT AND WRONG?!

YOU PUNTED ME DOWN TO HIM!

[Glitching] BUT NOOO, I DON’T HEAR NO SORRY’S FOR THAT!

Balloon: Cabby!

Cabby: Sorry? You want a sorry?

Might as well, that’s all anyone ever wants from me! I’ve said sorry for having files that help keep things straight.

For trying at anything! And for being me.

But despite everything thrown my way, when I felt like everyone hated me, I still tried to listen to others and connect with them!

[Sniffles] I tried...

Test Tube: Cabby, I didn’t realize…

Cabby: So maybe I don’t need to apologize for everything I am.

Maybe, Springy, you were terrorizing my friend, so I saved them from you. And I won’t be apologizing for that.

Silver Spoon: OKAY. Let’s vote!

Walkie Talkie, Camera 1, and Camera 2: MELT! MELT! MELT! MELT! MELT–!

[MePhone vibrates in protest]

Groscer: Get excited, everyone! I am about to tally-up all ten Unvitational Committee Members’ votes.

Done.

And--with five votes "melt"...

and five votes..."not melt"...

we are tied!

Everyone: -Gasp.

Walkie Talkie: I guess that means we stick to the original plan, then! Yay!

Silver Spoon: OR! Maybe since we swayed so many, that should be enough for you melt-weirdos.

Camera 1: Weirdos?! I knew you didn’t care for our movement!

The Floor: MURDER! ISN’T! A “MOVEMENT!”

Boaty: [HORN]

Groscer: Oh, I am so sorry. How unprofessional of me...

There’s still one vote left.

This will determine the fate… of MePhone4.

The final vote is...

NOT MELT. MePhone is saved from execution!

[A few members of the Uninvitationals, and the Contestants cheer]

Groscer: -Hm...B-P?

Balloon: -Ballpoint?

Tyler: Well he was invited to the committee.

The Floor: Then there we have it! MePhone is saved!

[Cheering continues]

[Somber music]

Walkie Talkie: NO.

Walkie Talkie: MePhone has taken everything from us, and we’re just going to keep celebrating him?!

Walkie Talkie: Hah, they’ve done the hard work for us already. We never needed them for the rest.

Spring-toys, let’s bring him up!

[Thud]

[Vroooom]

The Floor: MePhone, no! Come back with him!

Springy! You know we can’t do this without him

[Boing]

Cabby: We need to hurry!

[Thud]

[Bang]

Silver Spoon: Hm, Sorry, handsome.

Cabby: Think you can stop them if you go full Inner-Flame?

Balloon: WHAT? It’d go haywire again!

Silver: -Well. Gold does look good on me. Got any thorns?

[Deflating sounds]

[Scary, triumphant music]

Springy: WALKIE!

Walkie Talkie: Oh, hey! You want the honors?

Springy: He deserves pain, but not like this.

He gives so much life to the show in a way that we… can’t.

[Glitching] And I feel this want to… help! Don’t you too?

Walkie Talkie: OF COURSE! That’s why I’m going to keep this season ALIVE.

I was built to. I thought you understood! You were thrown away when you were at the height of achieving your purpose!

Springy: My old one. But that’s business, baby. Let’s hop to the next thing!

Walkie Talkie: I DON’T QUIT! I don’t bow down.

Walkie Talkie: I still have MY purpose!

Walkie Talkie: H--wh--oh no--how are you in control of it?!

Walkie Talkie: SPRING TOYS! Stick to your purpose!

Walkie Talkie: NOT another step! Or he GETS IT!

[Step]

Walkie Talkie: Uh--I mean it!

[Step]

Springy: Aw, what’s wrong, Walkie? He just wants to play.

[Thud]

Walkie Talkie: You don’t need to do this!

[Unplugs]

MePhone: AHHH!

I know who sent her here!

Walkie Talkie: You SURE?

Walkie Talkie: I was programmed just for you, MePhone!

Walkie Talkie: You're my voice on the other side! That’s all this show is, isn’t it?

Whether it’s the ones you’ve built, or the ones you can recover. WE’RE ALL FOR YOU, MEPHONE FOUR-!

[BZzzt]

[Powers down]

MePhone: -For...me?

Silver: -Heh, can't bluff a bluffer!

[Calming music]

[Shine]

Spring-Bot: My...purpose.

MePhone-Huh?

AHH!

Spring-bot: MY. PURPOSE.

[Running]

MePhone: -Ahh! AUGH!

[Crash]

[Triumphant music]

Springy: You're finally free!

[Zip] [Thud]

[Unnerving music]

MePhone: No...powerless again.

We've lived this before!

Why? Why does everyone keep risking their lives for me?

All I do is screw up!

?: Haha!

?: Sure. You've made your mistakes.

MePhone4S: But we all realize sooner or later, with all that you've been gifted...

...there's no happy ending without you.

MePhone4.

[Coding, rattling]

MePhone: NOT. AGAIN.

[Burning]

MePhone: -Augh...

Balloon and Cabby: MEPHONE!

Cabby: -Are you still powered down?

MePhone: No. It’s just I... put in a few days of work…

...over the course of a few seconds!

Y'know, computer stuff!

Phew.

[Thud]

MePhone: [Sigh] Okay!

Now!

[Ding!]

-What?! Since when could you?

MePhone: Computer-stuff. Since I have a gift, I might as well use it.

Spingy: I'm...back! I'm back to-- [glitches] NORMAL!

[Sigh] Springtastic...

You’re right. They can be whoever they want.

We're square.

[Boing]

MePhone: -AUGHHHHH!! I can’t do this forever! I can’t! AUGHHHHH!

Balloon: MePhone! MePhone. It’s okay, you don’t have to. It’s not like it’s too late to turn things around.

Cabby: We’re here for you.

Silver Spoon: That is… so long as you’re not going to ditch us for a shiny new season.

-GRR!

-What? We were all thinking it!

MePhone: -That season four file was mine. I got scared, and instead of fixing all my garbage I looked into a replacement for the replacement.

But that’s exactly what Cobs would do to us.

Thanks for trusting I’d figure it out.

This is our home. At least till the job is done.

Balloon: Soooo, there IS a prize, then?

mePhone: -Heh...

I'll work on it! I promise.

[EXAMINATION TIME: TA DA!]

MePhone: …And, I wanted to apologize to you all.

This unanimous voting thing