#hoping to see him in the new event... dude is a walking plot device

[baconplasm]

drawing for myself and idk 2 other fans

[nabrizoya]

TLH; theories, expectations and hopes.

Kinda want to talk about downworlder appearances here. A little more than a long post. 

» 2. Downworld Denizens.

note: to all those who haven’t yet read TDA, GOTSM etc. (because ik a few who haven’t read them yet) this post is not for you. 

TL;DR this post talks about the proportion (no math here) of downworlder appearances in each of the series and novellas we have read. The Bane Chronicles not included.

For understanding’s sake, I’ll divide the downworld as the shadow market does. Into four major segments: warlocks, faeries (with sub-divisions), vampires and werewolves. While we do see other groups of non-shadowhunters and mundanes like the irfits, the djinns, the kelpies, sprites and wights, the mermaids, witches etc. we haven’t seen much of them be a major part of the plot as the above mentioned four do. 

That being cleared, let’s start series wise. 

▸ In The Mortal Instruments, we saw all the four interact. More than interact, actually. Every one of them played a major role in turning the series around. 

Vampires, we know what Simon Lewis, Raphael and Lily did. What antagonists Camille Belcourt and Maureen did and how they shaped the series. 

Werewolf packs, there were revolutions and the emergence of newer and stronger packs.

Warlocks, Magnus Bane, of course, but Ragnor played a part in the first trilogy and we saw Catarina’s abilities in the later half. Tessa was briefly mentioned and the timeline added up by the time COHF ended. 

In TMI, the Seelie Court entirely turned the tables while TDA picked up the thread from its counterpart, the Unseelie Court. Mark was taken away by the wild hunt which sets the precedent to TDA.

And, The End. 

[It’s been two years since I’ve read TMI and I barely remember things from it. All those I do remember is from vague readings that I did from wikia or see Dani’s rereading posts. There are inaccuracies here, but the jist remains the same.]

▸ Walk over to The Infernal Devices. 

Magnus Bane was a crucial character in the series, with a random appearance from Ragnor Fell. We saw Mortmain’s parents too, the warlocks whose deaths Mortmain wanted to avenge. Tessa is not a major warlock character. She’s the protag.

The Dark Sisters, a pair of witches, who unethically and literally shaped Tessa because she possessed the ability to shape-shift. 

Vampires, Alexie deQuincy, the guy in association with the Pandemonium, the club that Mortmain ran. Camille orchestrated the attack on him besides being a side character. 

Werewolves; we saw them both attack and defend Will Herondale on his way to Cadair Idris. Woolsey Scott was the head.

And that’s pretty much where downworlder appearance subsides. No mention of faeries. 

▸ On to The Dark Artifices now. 

Faeries played a MAJOR role in the events of TDA, which makes sense because the Cold Peace greatly influenced the beginning of the series. 

Mark’s return and the eventual discovery of the alliance that Malcolm had with that dude, [for real, I actually forgot his name and I can’t remember or be bothered enough to look it up], who used Mark and Kieran as their pawns to get what they wanted. 

The Unseelie King is dead, the Seelie Queen yeed her last haw and we saw the whole business with the first heir, that took its origins from Ghosts of the Shadow Market. 

Oh, not to forget the ruthless Riders of Mannan. 

And Thule, but we don’t talk about that here. 

Vampires, well, only Nightshade and his drugs. 

Werewolves, nope. None at all. 

Warlocks, yesss, what with the warlock fever and such. The major warlocks we noted are Magnus, Shade Fell, Tessa and, of course, Malcolm Fade. 

Hypatia Vex and Barnabas Hale also were instrumental to the plot since they detailed the tensions of the market. There’s sourness that we saw between Magnus and Hypatia, which should hint towards something. 

▸ Going forth with the Novellas, in Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy, we saw each one of them be mentioned to connect the dots between TMI and TDA and then draw the strings from TID. 

We noted the Uprising and the news of Lucian’s turning in the werewolf part. 

Vampires, I don’t think there was any mention of them at all. 

Warlocks, we saw our little Max Bluebell, Magnus and Alec as a family. Tessa is a warlock who has settled with her and our long lost love, Jem Carstairs. 

Faeries, now, aah, Helen’s inhumane exile, Andrew and Arthur’s torture in the Land Under the Hill, Lady Nerissa, the brief Wild Hunt stunt when Simon got imprisoned and Mark Blackthorn *sob* etc. 

▸ Ghosts of the Shadow Market:

Faeries, yet again, who, out of their spite, destroyed Matthew Fairchild’s life and we don’t how much more detrimental it is going to be ahaha pain my old fren, they harmed Jem too along with Rosemary Herondale, almost killed Tessa etc. 

Vampires, still none. But we did get to see Raphael and Lily’s interactions (The Son of Dawn) and Lily’s past (The Land I Lost). 

Warlocks, yes Tessa! Malcolm Fade and the weird book he was looking for in Every Exquisite Thing. (👀) Catarina Loss and her excellent healing prowess. Leopolda and her stains. Yeah, nothing more.

Werewolves, oh yes Mr. Scott, who helped end Leopolda Stain’s plans. And oh, the smuggling of yin-fen ofc in The Son of Dawn, and the kind werewolves who helped Alec, Lily, Tessa and Jem in The Land I Lost. 

That’s pretty much it. 

The real requirement that the post will satisfy is to see how each of them will make an appearance in The Last Hours.

Warlocks: 

Magnus will not play a major role (nor do I want him to which I will explain in a further post).

Tessa is minimally using her warlock magic. You know, for the smallest of things like some healing powers, lighting a candle with magic. The small stuff. She will, also, play a major role in defeating Belial because she is Belial’s daughter though currently, she is choosing to not use her demonic powers. 

Hypatia Vex is rumoured to be Magnus’ girlfriend? But I’d also like to see her as the authority of Hell Ruelle. Let’s not reduce her to being a simple love interest please.

Malcolm Fade.

I’d also like to see Catarina please Miss Clare, make it happen. 🥺

Land Under the Hill: 

Faeries shall certainly make an appearance. But most of all, they’ll be more inclined to destroy the Herondale lineage. The same happened with Matthew (as we found out in The Land I Lost from Auraline’s guardian): to end the Herondales.

There is a snippet in COI wikia where Cordelia freezes when a faerie tells her not to marry a man who does not love her. I’m ready to believe this is Mother Hawthorn, Auraline’s guardian.

There are also theories that Grace is Nene. Which is a possibility, and if it is true, we can see another faerie plotline.

I’m grasping at straws at this point but,,, Jesse speaking about the Land Under the Hill when he first meets Lucie will probably mean something? This is not my strongest bet, because in Chapter 3, the idea is diminished. Jesse tells Lucie that shadowhunters know about faerie traps too. But, just in case, some food for thought. 

Vampires & Werewolves: 

Vampires and Werewolves WILL play an important role in shaping the series here. With little to no involvement of theirs in TID (and TDA), it is a heavy possibility. 

The series took off with Elias’ punishment for being the person responsible for the deaths of werewolves in Idris. This will come back and bite the families, I’m sure. 

There are theories Matthew might be stripped of his marks to either become a vampire or a werewolf. Strong bets, but I hope not. (is this how werewolves will take their revenge? who knows).

Woolsey Scott and Camille Belcourt are set to make an appearance and we do not know why. 

Pandemonium is coming back too, lads and ladies and everybody else. 

Lily Chen is already present and she is set to become friends, or at least acquaintances, with Camille because they spend the 1920s together. 

Cordelia is going to save Lily and I cannot wait for it. 🥺

And, the end. 

This will also lead more towards the building up of The Wicked Powers too. 

. . .

One last warlock to talk more about is Malcolm Fade. 

Around the timeline of TLH, he has a connection with the Blackthorns and for the most part, is trusted by Magnus and Ragnor as a good and virtuous man. I should believe he was, until the truth is dug out, either in 1903/04, or sometime before 1936 when Jem inquires with Sister Emilia about Annabel Blackthorn. 

As per the information from TDA, Malcolm already was associated with the Unseelie King in the early 1800s, before the Accords that granted peace between downworlders and shadowhunters. He took the Black Volume of the Dead, though he is not possession of it. Yet.

Let me give you map of MF connections (mf connections lmao): 

Blackthorns 

Necromancy 

Black Volume of the Dead 

Warlock Magic aka Portals and Death Magic 

Cornwall Gardens and Institute

Avenging to vengeance 

Shadow Markets 

Sisterhood 

... This will then lead us to more interesting theories. Cassie did mention in one of her asks/answers that Malcolm is going to be a major character in this series. And you bet I’m making a theory about this too. 

That concludes the post. That’s it. If you’ve managed to read this entirety, you’re either too excellent or you’re just as jobless as me. Either way, here’s your reward for bearing with me. Trust me, you won’t regret opening it.

[vitanes]

say it’s okay when it’s not

chapter 1: replacement

One unfortunate event results in Lucas ending up sick for a week. Once he’s back to school, there’s a new addition to his friend group and he isn’t very happy about it.

(a/n: remember those promo pics that made some of us believe eliott would join the boys n we would have an enemies-to-friends-to-lovers? well.)

Lucas isn’t drunk. He is high and drunk. Because there’s nothing better than getting wasted in order to ignore important matters. Mom in the psychiatric clinic? Dad being a dick? Not having money to pay the rent? Who cares.

And before anyone says that it’s a wrong way of coping, Lucas is aware. It’s not like he’s doing it on purpose. It’s just that when an occasion comes, he isn’t going to say no, right? He’s at a party, with his friends. He’s having fun.

The guys are talking about girls, because of course they are. Lucas isn’t paying much attention to their words, only nodding when someone addresses him. Mostly, he’s occupied with his beer.

His eyes keep straying over to a guy who’s standing in the corner of the room, chatting with someone, but glancing time and time again towards him.

It’s not often that Lucas has a chance to flirt with boys. Or, actually, be even near the boys that could be possibly interested in him. He’s nowhere close to being open about his sexuality. Unlike this dude, as it seems. And Lucas is intrigued.

He might have made out with like two boys in the past, but he was so piss-drunk he doesn’t remember half of it. He doesn’t even recall how it came to be and how exactly he managed to keep it secret. That’s why he isn’t about to go out of his way this time. He’s pretty sure some tension loaded looks is all it’s going to be. Lucas is way too scared of his friends picking up on him ogling someone that isn’t a girl to be bold.

But then the guy’s companion leaves and all that’s left is a pretty boy leaning against the wall, looking straight through Lucas, sending shivers down his spine. The boy cocks his eyebrow, his mouth stretched in a lazy smile. He nods his head towards the exit and winks at him.

Lucas is left dumbfounded, his throat dry. He looks over to his friends, but they are still engrossed in their conversation. He glances back towards the empty wall. His pulse picks up. Be it fear or excitation, he isn’t sure.

He should follow him. No one would even notice him slipping away.

He takes a step and well, there’s a hand on his shoulder in an instant. He looks up.

“Everything good?” Yann asks, those big brown eyes full of concern. And Lucas remembers just how long it’s taken him to get over them.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Need some fresh air.”

Yann nods and lets him go. Lucas sends his way a reassuring smile and gets out of the room before he literally bolts out of the house. He doesn’t know where the guy is, but something tells him that he’s going in the right direction.

His instincts don’t fail him.

Once he rounds the corner of the house, someone tugs on his sleeve and pulls him further into the shadows. Lucas yelps, initially, before realising he’s facing the same boy from the party. Now grinning widely, only centimetres away from his face. Lucas can’t help but smile back at him, feeling giddy.

He’s pushed against the wall of the house, the boy’s fingers making their way towards Lucas’ hair and tangling in the strands on the nape of his neck.

“Can I?” the boy whispers, his lips brushing against Lucas’.

Lucas doesn’t usually kiss strangers, not for himself at least, only when he has to put on a show for his friends. But this time, just like the other two times he was too intoxicated to be scared, he lets his guard down and leans in.

***

The morning after the party, Lucas wakes up with a sore throat, aching muscles and the temperature so high that Mika seriously considers taking Lucas to the doctor. Which he obviously declines because he’s strong and will get over it. Duh.

Plot twist: he doesn’t get over it as quickly as he wishes.

***

Lucas wipes his running nose, scrolling through social media. He is finally present enough to catch up with everything he’s missed in the days he was dying.

In retrospect, Lucas admits that hooking up with handsome boys on some random parties has its perks – mainly the hooking up part, but Lucas can’t say this outweighs him having a fever and being stuck in the bed for the whole week. Now, when he’s almost healthy again and no longer horny, he knows that making out and humping someone for good two hours straight, outside, can never be a good idea. Especially when it’s still February, it was night and he wasn’t properly dressed nor sober. Lucas only hopes the other guy’s got at least a cough. Solidarity, right?

Lucas doesn’t even have a name for the person that put him in such a situation. To be fair, though, Lucas hasn’t revealed his personal information either. His mouth was rather preoccupied. It was a nice fling, but that’s all it was. A fleeting thing, nothing he’s going to mull over.

Maybe one day kissing a boy will be ground-breaking for him, who knows.

For the most part of his feverish days, he was out of it. He’s had enough energy to inform the boys he’d be absent as well as school and then he fucked off and left his phone on silent. Mika and Lisa would check up on him, bring him food, but other than that he didn’t accept other human interactions.

To be quite honest, there hasn’t been that much happening. Only some common room gathering that apparently was interesting enough for Yann, Arthur and Basile to attend. Lucas thinks it’s nothing out of ordinary, that they will probably tell him all about it when he comes back to school, but then he stumbles across something on Yann’s and Basile’s Instagram accounts.

That something being various selfies, the kind that they take whenever they’re fucking around as a group. This time, though, there’s a face Lucas has never seen before.

In one picture, the four of them are doing some poses, in another Basile is attempting to climb the new guy, the next one shows Arthur making a kissy face at him and the guy grinning widely, his whole face scrunched up. In the last one that Lucas sees, Yann has his arm thrown over the guy’s shoulder, a lazy smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Lucas sits up in his bed, feeling hot all over again. He’s staring at the pictures of them all having fun and his heartbeat speeds up.

He can’t believe he’s been replaced in only about a week. Lucas closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. No need to freak out. There must be a good explanation for this.

Lucas scrolls further and sees pictures of his boys and Emma’s girls, and the guy. Common room mentioned in the captions. Oh God, he’s everywhere.

Lucas’ door flings open and he drops his phone.

“How are we feeling today?” Mika asks, plopping down onto Lucas’ bed and Lucas glares at him, hoping that the fact he’s nearly been through an emotional breakdown doesn’t show on his face.

“Fuck, you scared me,” Lucas mumbles, trying to kick Mika off the bed. Mika only grabs his ankle and pushes it back.

“Do you want some more chicken soup?”

Lucas grimaces the second these words leave Mika’s mouth.

“That’s the only thing I’ve been eating for the past week.”

“Oh, wow, okay. I nurse you back to health and you complain? Fine, next time you will beg me to bring you that soup,” Mika whines, crossing his arms over his chest. Then he glances down at Lucas’ phone and before Lucas can react, he snatches the device to himself. “Who is that?” Mika asks, his eyebrows pulled up. His thumb swipes on the screen a couple of times and he whistles.

“How the fuck would I know,” Lucas mutters, reaching his hand out for Mika to give him the phone back. Mika looks at him out of the corner of his eye, suspicious.

“New friend?” He wriggles his eyebrows and Lucas sighs in exasperation.

“No. Give me my phone back,” he demands, flexing his fingers for emphasis. Mika squints at him, but eventually obeys and places the phone in Lucas’ palm. He stands up and slowly moves towards the door. Only stops right before leaving.

“Rest up, so tomorrow you can go to school without fainting,” Mika throws over his back and then he’s gone. As is all of Lucas’ motivation for anything.

He falls down on his pillow.

***

Arriving to school on Monday has never been as nerve-wracking as it is today. All because Lucas doesn’t know what he’s going to be met with.

Like, logically, Yann and Lucas have been friends since they were little, Arthur and Basile have never shown an indication that they didn’t want Lucas there. They all have been a tight group for a few years now. They wouldn’t just find a replacement for Lucas in a week. And it would take much more than a flu for them to kick him out.

But Lucas’ logic has long flown out of the window, right around that time he wasn’t enough for his father to even consider staying. That’s why he expects the worst.

His steps are deliberate when he’s crossing the schoolyard. They slow down even more once he notices his friends, hanging out on a bench. Arthur is talking over Basile and Yann is shaking his head at their shenanigans, but the second Lucas walks up to them the chatter stops.

They look over him and simultaneously stand up.

The guys hugging and high-fiving him is not what Lucas has been thinking of, so he’s a little bit caught off guard. And also feeling stupid for doubting them.  

“What’s up?” Yann asks, nudging him in the shoulder all the while Arthur and Basile sit back down on the bench.

Lucas sends them a small smile. “Good.”

“All healthy?” This time it’s Arthur’s voice and Lucas nods.

He clears his throat. “What about you, guys?”

Basile takes a deep breath and is about to go on a rant when Arthur covers his mouth with his hand.

“We are great,” Arthur says. Basile’s muffled whining can be heard from behind Arthur’s fingers, but Lucas can’t make out any sense out of it. “So much happened in the week you’ve been gone,” Arthur adds and takes his hand off Basile’s face, looking at him with daggers in his eyes. “You were going to say something stupid without thinking, no need to thank me.”

Basile pouts and sighs.

“Don’t mind them,” Yann snorts. “You haven’t missed that much, but we can catch up on everything during lunch break?”

“Yeah, sure. So,” he clears his throat, “are we getting in or?”

“We are waiting for Eliott!” Basile exclaims and all blood drains from Lucas’ face. There’s an ugly feeling coming to life inside of him.

“God, do you ever listen to me? Now you’ve ruined the surprise,” Arthur groans, moving his hands aggressively.

“Who… who’s Eliott?” Lucas asks, scowling. His voice sounds small and he hopes none of them hear that.

Both Arthur and Basile get a love-stricken looks on their faces the moment Lucas finishes his question.

Yann interrupts whatever either of them was about to say with a short, “He’s a new guy in school. We met him last week, he’s cool and we’ve been hanging out.”

Lucas hums.

“He’s in one of your classes, then?”

“Unfortunately, no. He’s older,“ Arthur says.

“So, why are we waiting for him?” Lucas asks, feeling like an idiot.

“Dude,” Basile whispers, his head tilted to the side.

“Because that’s what friends do?” Arthur asks, putting a finger to his lips.

“You’ve known him for a week,” Lucas deadpans.

“It’s like as if we didn’t wait to go into the school for Yann. You don’t leave a bro like that,” Basile says with strong emotion in his voice and Lucas frowns.

“You are comparing some stranger to Yann?”

Yann tugs on Lucas’ elbow, turning Lucas’ attention to himself.

“He doesn’t know anyone here and he’s a lot of fun. So we thought he can hang with us. Why are you getting so worked up over this?” Yann’s voice is gentle, but firm and Lucas opens his mouth to answer, but before he can get anything out, Basile squeals.

“It’s him,” Arthur supplies, all the while Basile is swinging his arm left and right in a poor imitation of waving, not caring that he could hit someone really hard.  

Lucas turns his head and it’s like the whole world slows down for a minute. There’s the guy from the pictures. He’s smiling towards the group in the same way Lucas has seen on Instagram. He’s wearing a beige jacket and his hair is a mess. Lucas notices a weird bounce in his steps. All of the things for some reason look unnatural, but at the same time effortless on this guy. Watching him come up to them feels like a fucking slow motion sequence from a movie, not something that happens in real life.

He comes to a stop and still smiling, shrugs. Only when his eyes land on Lucas, does he realise he’s been gaping and he closes his mouth.

“Hi,” Eliott says, rather shyly. He says it to all of them, but somehow it feels like it’s directed right at Lucas.

Lucas nods and looks away, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jacket. That’s when Basile and Arthur jump up from their places and nearly tackle Eliott to the ground with excessive hugging.

What the fuck has gotten into them.

Yann claps Eliott on the back, letting the other two torture him with questions about his weekend and whatnot.

They still have a couple of minutes to spare before the first bell, so the guys engage in the conversation. Lucas, on the other hand, sits down on the bench that’s now empty and pulls out his phone.

He isn’t very interested in getting familiar with Eliott. Basile, Arthur and Yann getting all over him are enough. He busies himself with a game on his phone, thank you very much.

Unfortunately, he can’t be left alone for too long.

“Lucas, Lucas, Lucas,” someone calls out for him after some time passes and he looks up, just to be met with four pairs of interested eyes. “Come here,” Basile urges him.

With a lot of effort, Lucas eventually tucks his phone in and stands up.

“Lucas, Eliott, Eliott, Lucas,” Arthur points at them respectively and Eliott sends Lucas a small, more private smile. That annoys Lucas for some reason and he sets his teeth, the muscle in his jaw ticking.

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Eliott admits, the apples of his cheeks tinted pink.

“Cool. Can we go to classes now?” Lucas asks, his tone harsher than he intended to and something flashes across Eliott’s face making his smile lose its brightness. Lucas chooses to ignore it.

Not waiting for a response, he pushes past Eliott and Basile, who’s standing next to Eliott, and steps towards the entrance, leaving his friends completely baffled.

Lucas only realises he must have made a fool out of himself once he’s already in class. He should have contained all of his emotions instead of letting them spill out like that. Now he’s made things awkward. And by the time the first lesson is over, he’s already gotten confused texts from his friends.

He sighs deeply, moving a hand over his face. How is he supposed to show up at the lunch break now?

***

Turns out he doesn’t have to, thanks to someone having an awful aim and decking Lucas in the head with a ball during his PE class. Is he happy about being sent to a nurse and spending a whole hour on an uncomfortable bed there because they have to check whether he got a concussion? Absolutely not. But he’s definitely not hating the fact that they tell him to go home earlier and get some rest.

His head is throbbing, but he’s mostly numb to the pain considering he wasn’t all that fresh for the past week anyway. Still, it’s annoying and makes him pretty irritated.

Despite all of that, he doesn’t want his friends to think he’s avoiding them. That’s why he deems sending a guess who got a mild concussion eyyy to their group chat as appropriate. He adds a dozen emojis, just to make sure he comes off as normal as possible. They seem to buy it, if their partly sympathetic and partly mocking responses are anything to go by.

He comes back to the apartment rather happy with about the universe having been on his side today. He doesn’t think about how his friends will be spending yet another day with Eliott and not him. Lucas is focused on how he doesn’t have to spend time with the dude.

He hangs his jacket by the door and takes his steps towards his bedroom when there’s a noise coming from the kitchen. Then Lisa emerges from there with two plates full of sandwiches in her hands. They both stop in their tracks, frozen and stare at each other for a long moment.

“Shouldn’t you be at school?” she asks eventually.

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” he retorts.

There are a few beats of silence.

She shrugs one of her shoulders. “Yeah. Want a sandwich?”

“Sure,” Lucas replies just in the right time for his stomach to remind him he hasn’t eaten anything in the last few hours.

They settle in the living room. Lisa turns on the TV, all the while Lucas reaches out for one of the sandwiches and lies down on the couch.

“If you leave crumbs all over the place, Mika will kill you,” she says, sitting in the remaining space on the couch. She proceeds to bite down on her sandwich. Seeing how soon enough she’s brushing the crumbs off herself, not looking where they fall, Lucas concludes that frankly, she doesn’t care about Mika’s anger.

Well. Lucas shrugs to himself and continues eating, his eyes moving towards the TV. The good thing about a flatmate who isn’t very keen on socialising is that they both can enjoy the silence together without feeling pressured to talk.

Besides, there wouldn’t be really anything to talk about anyway.

***

The next day, Lucas comes to school prepared. He tells himself he won’t be outright rude and will just ignore anything considering their new addition to the group. Hopefully, if he’s got any functioning brain cells, Eliott will get the memo. He’s got enough of affection coming from Arthur and Baz, so he shouldn’t be upset over Lucas not falling head over heels for him as well. Unless he’s shameless and self-centred. Who knows, Lucas expects anything from someone with hair like that.

In the end, it turns out Lucas has done all of that bracing for nothing because Eliott doesn’t come to school that day. He’s absent on Wednesday as well, much to his friends' dismay. Well, Lucas isn’t the one to complain and thankfully, he almost goes a full day without having to hear about Eliott.

Almost.

***

Lucas is a fan of biology, no matter how uncool it may sound. He gets the subject and its logic. Besides, sharing the desk with Arthur is okay even if the guy can be distracting from time to time. But Lucas is good at biology, he gets grades that satisfy him and he doesn’t get as stressed over that class as he gets over the other ones.

His peace is disrupted when he’s getting ready before the class starts and someone who isn’t Arthur sits down next to him.

He clears his throat, confused. “Imane, you know you don’t sit here?” he asks.

She raises an eyebrow at him. “Thanks, genius. Don’t worry I’m not about to be your desk buddy,” she assures him.

“Okay, so what are you doing here?”

“You know Eliott, right?”

“Not really,” he replies, looking away and going back to putting things out of his backpack.

“He’s been hanging around you and your friends, hasn’t he?”

“I wasn’t at school last week.” He shrugs.

She hums. “Well, he’s an old friend of mine. Anyways, you didn’t come to the common room meeting last Friday, I’m aware. But your friends were so I guess you’re all in, yeah?”

Lucas isn’t sure where it’s going and why she needed to mention Eliott before jumping to another topic, but he nods cautiously. If the guys like the idea of the common room that much, they are going to drag him in anyway.

“Okay, so there’s this hideous mural. And Eliott volunteered to paint it. But he hasn’t been at school and we wanted to talk about the details. So I thought you may know something.”

He looks up at her, his eyes narrowed. The bell rings in the distance, but he ignores it.

“Can’t you like, text him?”

“I don’t have his phone number. Or any other way of contacting him,” she says, her fingers tapping on the desk. Lucas’ eyes fall to the movement briefly and then back up at her face.

“Didn’t you just say you were friends?” he asks, each word measured.

Now it’s Imane’s turn to look to the side. She bites on her lower lip before saying, “It’s complicated.”

Hm. Suspicious.

“Anyway,” she breathes out. “I assume that we could talk it out? If you’re involved as well. Then you could just tell Eliott everything?”

Lucas opens his mouth, but he’s interrupted by, “Lucas, Imane, the lesson has started. You can talk later.”

He looks over at the teacher.

“Yes, of course. I’ll go to my seat,” Imane says, her tone apologetic. She starts gathering her things.

“Oh, you can stay there. Everyone’s already settled in their place. And I’m sure some separation from his friend will be beneficial for Arthur over there.”

Imane sags down in resignation and nods. Lucas isn’t sure what exactly has just happened, but he looks over his shoulder just to see Arthur sitting next to Alexia, his expression agitated.

***

Thursday comes and goes uneventfully. Before Lucas knows, it’s Friday and he just can’t wait to go home.

He is playing with his food, bored all the while the guys are talking. Sometimes he’ll look up at them, but that’s about that. They don’t really demand his attention and he doesn’t feel like engaging in their discussions. That’s it until Eliott’s name is dropped and he perks up, the weird conversation with Imane still apparent in his mind. He hasn’t told his friends about it yet even though it’s been two days since then.

“What’s going on with this guy, anyway?” he asks out of the blue, interrupting Basile. He straightens his back a little. “He volunteered for something, but then he’s skipping school.” By the time it’s been another day when Eliott hasn’t turned up, for a second Lucas thought to himself that maybe he was just a feverish dream. A manifestation of Lucas’ fears.

“I texted him and he said he isn’t feeling well,” Arthur says.

“I see,” Lucas answers, dragging his fork over his pasta.

“Maybe he got the flu from you, Lucas,” Basile suggests and Lucas looks up at him, frowning.

“Oh, sure, because I’ve been hanging off of him like you,” he says bitterly and gets a snicker in return.

“Cranky because the parents got another kid they’re showering with affection instead?” Basile asks, his mouth full of food.

“First of all, you’re disgusting,” Lucas points his fork at Basile, “Second of all, no. I just don’t get what’s the big deal. He’s just a guy. Irresponsible, on top of that, since Imane had to track me down to talk about some mural.”

“He’s not just a guy. He’s so fucking cool, dude. Give him a chance. And you have no idea how excited he was about that mural. You’ve missed out on Monday. He shared his vision with us. Just because he’s not feeling well, it doesn’t mean you have to judge him.” Arthur flicks a piece of peas at Lucas once he’s finished. It lands in his hair. Lucas rolls his eyes and picks the thing out just to throw it at Basile.

“You need to chill,” he concludes.

“You need to chill,” Basile repeats.

“Okay, we need to keep going,” Yann says, standing up.

Everyone begins collecting their plates, but Lucas sluggish moves make him the last to follow. The guys are almost out of the cafeteria when he’s only started getting up. He’s about to leave as well, but there’s buzzing in his pocket. Three times. He thinks it’s probably his mom as he pulls his phone out and unlocks it.

“You coming?” Yann calls out to him.

“Give me a minute,” Lucas replies, not looking up.

The messages are from an unknown number and Lucas frowns as he taps on them. The moment he sees what they contain, he exhales sharply and his heart skips a few beats before picking up its speed. He’s scowling at what’s just been sent to him, not really comprehending what it is. His grip on the phone tightens and he swallows roughly. He doesn’t hear anything around him besides the consistent ringing. His knees give up under him and he falls back on his chair, still staring at the messages.

Two pictures showing him kissing the guy at the party and right under them a for now, I’m only letting you know I have these, have a good day! are staring back at him.

[taiblogcomics]

Earth, But Worse

Hey there, a plane for bats. Got more Red Hood this week, and surprisingly it's something we've been waiting for a while. Which is surprising that we want anything from Red Hood, but here we are~

And here's the cover:

This cover actually reminds me a lot of the cover to Red Hood and the Outlaws #1. Except a bit more boring, since they're not doing anything on this one. Bizarro--or Beardzarro, as I prefer to call him now--can't even be bothered to pose. Yeah, this cover is terrible, but surprisingly it still manages to sell itself with its text. Because, to be perfectly honest, the actual fate of Bizarro and Artemis is something I was honestly invested in. I don't like Jason, but I do want to know what happened to his friends~

Well, if you remember two issues ago, there was a minor plot thing where Jason discovered a hole that he figured could only be made by his missing friend Artemis. He hasn't seen them in a long while and believes them to be dead. We know better, but the specifics of their disappearance hasn't been revealed. Anyway, at the end of last issue, Jason intended to go back to Gotham with his new compatriots, but he had something to take care of first. And here it is! Jasen enters a park and talks to a creepy kid on the swingset. Yeah, you know it's concerning when the kid is creepier than the strange adult coming over to talk to the kid. This kid's name is Caden, and he has the powers to sync up with and copy the powers of the dead. Jason asks him to borrow Artemis and Bizarro's powers, and when he can't, it confirms for him that they're still alive.

And indeed they are! We rejoin them back on the last time we saw them. Which means we can also segue over here with this classic phrase: "Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice...!" Except not quite. Being an alternate Earth, this building is named the Hall of Punishment, and has a bunch of spiky red rocks jutting from it. Naturally, they decide to explore it. And as they enter, we find them being watched. The first is a creepy-looking dude in a classic milkman uniform, whose art seems to be really awkward about him being able to hold things. Like an old video game model that can't close its hands. He is the Dairy King. The other is a teen girl named "Air Quote". Her "quirk" is that she uses a lot of "unnecessary quotation marks". She can also use her "hand" as a "phone" to "contact people" "long distance". I hope that's not "confusing" or anything~

Inside the Hall of Punishment, Bizarro and Artemis discover a big set of statues of the whole Justice League, all of which have been desecrated or partially destroyed in some way. Artemis figures it's a message. A museum guard happens by them, and quickly figures out they're legitimate superheroes. And since they don't know about Hero Day, they must not be from around here. He leads them into another room, where they find Superman. Or rather, Superman's corpse, his head crushed beneath the famous Daily Planet globe. The guard explains that just one day something happened, nobody knows what or why. But suddenly, everyone with powers just lost them--and everybody without powers gained some. This is punctuated by the guard suddenly turning red and spiky like the spires bursting out of the Hall of Punishment.

Artemis tries to call her axe to her, but instead it just sort of rends her soul. Wherever they are, whatever Earth this is, her axe is not here, and the effort of trying to call it exhausts her, leaving Bizarro to deal with Spiky Guard Man. The guy also confesses that basically everyone on this Earth is a dickbag. Apparently everyone felt opressed by superheroes, so when they lost their powers, they all rose up against them and killed them, flashbacks showing the defeats of Green Lantern John Stewart and Wonder Woman. Which, oh boy, has some problems not unlike the infamously bad "JLA: Act of God". I'll get into that at the end, but in short, Bizarro tells the guy that power doesn't make you a somebody--but it helps. And then he literally throws the guy into the sun. Damn.

Artemis wakes up, and she's pretty okay with Bizarro taking out that guy. The pair retreat, and catch sight of Dairy King, Air Quote, and some other goons looking to kill them. Of this group (including the ones already named), the only one of consequence is Flutterby, a woman with giant flaming butterfly wings. Like, what was even the point of setting up Dairy King earlier? No joke, he's not in the rest of the comic. Anyway, the pair begin to make a plan of what to do next, but are interrupted by a man in a purple waistcoat with a wide grin. He introduces himself as Jack Knife, and he'd like them to join his Resistance.

So we cut to six months later. This is right at the middle of the comic, so you could actually think of this as designed as being two separate issues they compiled into an annual to not interrupt Jason's ongoing story. This is especially evident by Jack Knife's appearance being followed with some "Will Artemis and Bizarro join the resistance!?" caption boxes that make little sense when you can just turn the page and find out that yes, they do. Anyways, six months later, and that Flutterby woman is being attacked by a man wearing an Iron Man suit made of cars. His name is Kennel, which is a pretty weird name for a guy who doesn't have dog powers.

Bizarro appears and destroys Kennel's suit with one punch. Flutterby begs Bizarro to finish the job, but Bizarro promised Artemis no killing. He takes a jewel from her, and walks away, deliberately pretending like he's not noticing her lingering behind to roast Kennel alive. After all, he promised he won't kill anybody. Bizarro is clever enough to figure out loopholes, I'm impressed. We cut over to the Pentagon, where Artemis is trying to get through a cell. Jack Knife is rambling to himself, and two guards show up. Artemis and Jack beat them up, but Artemis has to pull Jack away from getting more vicious.

Flutterby and Bizarro return to their own friends, which appears to be inside the fallen top of the Washington Monument. But enough of that scene! All we needed to see was them reuniting with their friends, I guess, because we then cut back to Artemis and Jack fighting their way deeper into the Pentagon. They've found the guy they're looking for: General Samuel Lane, Lois Lane's father. See, he's tired of imposing his will on this Earth. All the superheroes are dead, and the world is orderly now. So he's going to turn his attention elsewhere--or should I say elseworlds. He's planning to tunnel into Bizarro and Artemis' home Earth and kill all the superheroes there too.

But he can't do this alone. Enter the Lex Luthor of this planet, who has been turned into a giant mangled brain with a face, fused to an ATV. Lex reveals he was the one behind Hero Day, which also accounts for his current... condition. Like, I mean, at least MODOK or Hector Hammond still had arms. I'd also say they at least still had hair, too, but Lex was never particularly blessed in that department. Anyway, that's the past. What's important is the future, given Lex's plans and all. So how is he planning to get to Earth-Prime and kill the mainstream universe? Simple. Remember the Quantum Doorway that Bizarro and Artemis used to get here? Remember how it exploded? Lex has spent all this time putting it back together. Only took him six months, too! Guy must be a whiz at jigsaw puzzles. Or not--again, no arms~

He does, however, have psychic powers--because when you're a giant brain, you gotta have something--and zaps Artemis. While his guard is down during the zapping, though, the Resistance suddenly jumps in and attacks. They have a teleporter on their team, they just need someone to link between the two places. So it was all about getting Artemis in there, and having them follow. They also brought a big ol' sword for Artemis, who plunges it into Lex's brain--which is all of him--and kills him. They then slot that gemstone Flutterby retrieved into a device, hoping it'll undo the whole Hero Day event. The original heroes may be dead, but it beats having everyone else have powers, if they're all such psychos about it.

And... That's the end! Artemis and Bizarro say their farewells, and they go leaping into the Quantum Doorway, hoping that this leap will be the one that takes them home. We won't find out, however, because the ending tagline then promises to see if they return in Red Hood #37. Considering the last one I reviewed was issue 31, maybe I did this one a little early. But it's where it was in my stack, so why shouldn't it be correct~? Seemed like a great place for a break in the arc to me. Well, whatever. Come back in... mid-April, I guess, and we'll see if they made it back~

So, yeah. Let’s start with the Act of God problem first: not all superheroes have superpowers. They specifically show John Stewart getting killed here, and John is just a regular guy. The ring gives him abilities, but he is not himself a superhuman. A magic gene bomb--as it’s revealed to be the eventual cause of the mass depowering/empowering--should not have turned off his ability to use the ring. This also doesn’t account for other superheroes who don’t have powers--DC being pretty famous for this. There’s a desecrated statue of Batman in the Hall of Punishment, but shouldn’t Batman have gained powers from this event?

There’s one other question I would like to address. Jack Knife. His name, his appearance, his creepy grin, insane ramblings, violent demeanor... His entire physique (save for not having the white skin or green hair) and mannerisms call to mind the Joker. But there’s never any reveal of him being, like, a Joker who lost his superpower of being insane. I mean, that’d be bullshit, but at least it’d be an explanation for why he’s so... Jokery. That’s my big gripe here. The comic sets up this whole world for Artemis and Bizarro to struggle in, and then doesn’t want to explain any of the details of this world. This goes as far as Flutterby being one of the people hunting them down on one page, and then six months later, being part of the Resistance at the turn of a page.

We wanted to know what happened to Bizarro and Artemis, but I gotta say... the answer was extremely unsatisfying. And as a minor note, for a thing that only names Jason in the series title anymore (notice the switch to Red Hood: Outlaw), this issue sure barely had him factor into it in any significant way~

[astroellipse]

live blogging but it’s all one post and not actually live at all. this one is really long open at your own peril.

This has to be one of my favorite cutscenes in the game... I skipped most of the cutscenes in this questline with “Tsuyu” and whatever else went on because I don’t care for it, aside from some funny Asahi bits. And this cutscene is the KING of funny Asahi scenes, him just getting straight up murdered. It’s even funnier the second time around because now I realize... he was never actually acknowledged by Zenos. That was Elidibus controlling his body, simply using Asahi’s devotion for his own devices. And I realize now that Elidibus was trying to back up Emet-Selch’s own carefully laid plans, which... is something to keep in mind for later. I can’t wait to see more of Fandaniel later I love his/Asahi’s voice actor. And I know it’s fairly negative in this case but I can’t help but enjoy the campy villains...

And now I can finally stop skipping cutscenes! I realize I just now skipped the part where Alphinaud set out on his doomed journey to Garlemald, but... man I didn’t want to hear Gosetsu cry about Tsuyu I just hate that plot point so much. They really shoulda just let them die.

Oh my god I forgot that Gosetsu is bald now. I know it’s like a tradition thing and serious and everything but. Hhhh he looks so silly without it... Doesn’t help that it lets you see the outlines of all the polygons comprising his head...

Oh man I appear to have gotten events swapped around. Is it now that we see that energy source on the Azim Steppe? We’re about to go and put up that barrier in the Brume, which I’m pretty sure i thought came after ShB for whatever reason. I think I’ve mentioned it in a previous post... though that one I also think I deleted for an unrelated reason, I think because I was tired and got some details wrong and in my frustration and exhaustion threw the whole thing out. I’ll have to write down those particular thoughts again, after I see whatever it is that’s about to happen.

Oh man. i wonder if Hien doesn’t realize that Y’shtola is blind. They get to the Azim Steppe and he’s immediately like “Let me show you my favorite spot where you can see the pretty fields and sky :)” and she returns with “Yeah yeha okay let’s get on with what we came here to do”. Very funny. Actually Hien and Y’shtola are in general very funny together I like seeing him react to her talking to him like he’s an idiot.

So, the legend goes that a “wayfaring soul” came to the Steppe and received a sliver of Nhaama’s power in the form of a shard, and used it to cleft the earth and raise it to the heavens to avert calamity, then made an offering of blood. The sliver of power is Allagan technology, which was used to raise Azys Lla and create Dalamud. The dialogue has been very particular about referring to the person in this story as “wayfaring soul” and not shorter synonyms like “traveler”, which i think is probably deliberate? Especially with this now being the lead-up to ShB.

I guess now would be a good time to re-write some of my thoughts about the Steppe. It is not an original theory that Azim the god and Azem the ancient are related if not one in the same. They are both light, and related to travel. The WoL is expressly referred to as a traveler by Cirina’s grandmother, and iirc Azem is as well. Azim descended from the heavens to walk amongst his children, who are all nomadic. If they do have a relation, then the people of the Azim Steppe might be thought of as Azem’s people. I say this because I’ve been wondering why the Empire hasn’t touched the Azim Steppe, the real reason. The Xaela would make incredibly useful conscripts, and could be easily trounced by a suitably large magitek army during any one of their squabbles, or I’m sure the Empire could destabilize them in any other way. And that isn’t even to mention the large energy source hidden away in its cliffs, which have to be giving off some kind of signal. I wonder if the Empire ignoring the Steppe has anything to do with Solus and his sentiment for Azem.

I suppose I should actually get on with re-seeing this part, then.

God. I love y’shtola the bit with Magnai is so good. The voice acting. He sounds so hurt with his “Little...?”. “Look into my eyes” She’s blind you absolute dumbass.

Alright. Well. I didn’t actually gleam anything new. We’re about to go into the meeting sequence and. God. This is another one of my favorite cutscenes in the game. the visual effect used to represent the WoL’s soul being torn from their body is so cool... I wonder which outfit I should wear? I’ve changed all of them I think since uploading screenshots last. AST is cute and what I’ve been using for the last few quests to soak what little exp I can, but... this is a bit too serious for a cute healer in a skirt and glasses, plus the collar on the shirt would cover his face in some of the shots... DRG it is again then, I guess. It has sort of taken over as my primary class. I enjoy playing it more than BRD :\

“Let us hope that the coming meeting passes more peacably than the last such gathering in ala Mhigo” jfc Y’shtola. Hhhhhooooo here we go!!!!!!! Hhhhh I love Alisaie I remember this was the part that solidified her as precious little sister numero uno.... god... the scene where she gets taken away I’m already nearly tearing up I love Shadowbringers man holy shit.

Raha you dumbass!!!!! Endangering everyone like that. Literally takes five tries before he gets it right, and trying to explain everything while the WoL can’t rightly hear. I know he’s desperate but goddamn dude. Just. God. I’m so excited. I’m excited to see Urianger get to be an actual character again. I’m excited for the Scions to actually care about each other and especially the WoL. Also to see Doran grapple with these troubles as Secret did, finally finally learning why the hell he’s here, what Secret is and what he is, and... coming to terms with it. He was excited when it first happened, before his memory was sapped, mostly a product of being fused with Secret for so long without a will of his own, but... after experiencing all this, seeing these people as his friends. Learning to accept his place in the story much more easily than Secret...

There’s a reason I’ve kept the title “The Last Resort” on him. It’s for my own purposes. Secret has still not accepted that she as a person, though not her soul was created for the sole purpose of being a hero. If she can’t accept this in time... she might resort to letting Doran take the reins. Forfeiting her personhood altogether. This path would rely on unofficial lore about Fantasia, about how it warps reality to make it so that you were always this race or that... I might actually do it, too. I’ve done more things right with Doran, and I have friends on this server. I... suppose Secret would take Doran’s place in my personal narrative then. Which. Feels bad. Like a disservice to Secret, though... I suppose it doesn’t have to be. At this point Doran is still no less relevant to her. Secret will have simply gotten literally washed away with her memories.

I’m uh. Starting to think I might be too attached to Secret. The thought of having her not be my main character, of neglecting her in any way, of having to make this choice is. Making me genuinely emotional... though I suppose I’ve seen enough people on here talk about how they cry about ocs and whatnot.

Anyhow. I think I might change Doran’s hairstyle for Shadowbringers. might make it longer. It seems only appropriate, it having been so long... and something more elegant would be fitting. Maybe I’ll finally find and settle on an AST glam that is suitably pretty. I adore my current one for how cute it is but it doesn’t exactly fit ShB’s vibes.

Oh wait back to serious stuff. It’s funny that Lyse didn’t get called. G’raha explained it as the people closest to the WoL were called, and... for even Urianger to be called and not Lyse. It has funny implications.

MAN....... WHY does this game put Alisaie through so much :(((((((( Endwalker had BETTER give her and Alphinaud some damn good development like they implied. LET THE WoL BE THEIR OLDER SIBLING OR SOMETHING...... The WoL and Alphinaud were so good together during HW, and then them and Alisaie in this sequence and a few other scenes before now and during ShB but... it just doesn’t feel like it’s there during ShB, not with all the other adult characters around.

Granted I do this with every kid in this game. I saw Myste and even before I knew what their deal was it was just

this plays in my head every single time i see a kid. Let me adopt Unukalhai. Game. Game I am demanding now let the WoL care about others. That poor kid has just been sitting in the Solar for two entire expansions then some, and not even as a result of being a necessary quest npc stuck in a time bubble like Urianger’s double in the Waking Sands like he’s aware of what’s going on. I... actually imagine he might be relevant in Endwalker. Reaper comes with your very own voidsent, which means the void will be relevant again which might mean Unukalhai will be relevant!!! At the very least to the Reaper questline, if it has one.

Continuing the story again. Actually you know what LET THE WOL HUG THEIR FUCKING FRIENDS!!! It wouldn’t take THAT long to set it up for each different race which I assume is what keeps them from having the WoL physically interacting with much of anything but it would be SO GOOD!!! IT WOULD BE WORTH IT!!! I wanna give Alisaie a hug she’s suffering so much :(

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH IT’S HIM HIM HIM HIM IT’S EMET-SELCH FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES! HELL YES I’VE BEEN WAITING!!!!!!!!!I forgot he was introduced here!!!!!!!!!!! It sounds like his voice actor hasn’t settled into his voice yet at this point though :0 And his theme!!! i love his theme I thought it was so weird at first but it’s fitting...

Oh my god did they not update Varis’s model since his debut? Look at this shit

Why are his pupils square... and blown up as it is on my screen it’s like... i can see individual splotches of color on his texture??? Incomparison Emet-Selch’s eyes are still sharp up close and instead of weird splotchy skin you can see individual pores. I just. Why. Didn’t they update him???

OH LMAO RIGHT AND THEN VARIS JUST SHOOTS HIM! GOD. And the FACE they have him make. Emet-Selch is such a good character.

Actually I’ve decided that Garleans are just ugly. I think that’s just it actually.

And then there’s... Black Rose, was it called? This would be confusing to see if you didn’t do those sidequests in Gyr Abania. Granted they were to unlock aether currents but I imagine plenty of people skipped them. This would have been a very abrupt introduction, and it loses relevance so soon after...

Hmm. With the story bringing back what I now realize are forgotten/resolved tidbits about the Empire, I can’t help but wonder if they’ll bring back the Optimates, what with us finally seeing the Garlemald in person in Endwalker. They would make for a good enough rival faction.

I have... changed Doran’s hair... it’s really just his old hairstyle but longer, the highlights are even in the same place though they’re fainter. He has gone through subtle changes between expansions. First I changed his lips to a darker color, flip flopping between not wearing lipgloss to a peach color then to as dark as you can get without wearing actual lipstick. Then I changed his eyebrows, still short but angled slightly downwards. And now his hair is long... the implication is that he’s let it grow out over time. It looks nice with most of his outfits, even plays nice with DRG’s hood, though as I expected my previous AST glam is a no-go. It actually looks cute from the front but it sticks right through them hem in the back and we can’t have that.

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh may have just spent 800k gil on a nice shirt. On the bright side my AST glam is now just about as pretty as I can get it. I took the vibe I liked from the old one and now Doran’s a little... uh... maybe I shouldn’t have given him long hair.....

Ah shit I haven’t put together a GNB glam yet and I’m running low on funds... the only reason I could even afford that shirt was bc one of my fc members gave me and the only other guy that was on 1mil one night at random :| I really like the current glam but... it’s too cartoony for ShB!!!! hhhhhhhh Maybe I’ll be able to utilize some of the next Scion set once I get it...

hhh back to story... there’s this person in my FC that’s super talkative, but 56 and married and getting into over-sharing territory :| not like... weird oversharing but man I don’t need to know you get hives that was unprompted. Chill otherwise and it IS like 12 but wtv.

Aw man if that guy in the most recent trailer really was the twins’ dad then no wonder Alphinaud is out here looking to make any man who’s nice to him out as a father figure. There’s Estinien, Arenvald, now Gaius... and you might count Urianger and Thancred, and maybe the WoL.

Oh, Ascian lore! There’s a hierarchy. Red masks stand above black, already knew this. Those joined to the Source stand above those adrift in the shard. I don’t think I would have understood this the first time.

“A silent agent of death... Now that I think on it, Black Rose may well possess the perfect aspect.” I... is this him pondering whether this is how the Calamity will take shape, or deciding it?

Oh I really don’t like Varis’s voice acting. I’m glad he dies soon. Although, that “... It was by design!?” was pretty good. So is that information that Garlemald is an Ascian construction is absolutely hilarious, as is Emet-Selch toying with Varis.

OH. Emet-Selch has all these clones because Varis choose him as a test subject while messing around with Allagan cloning technology. I thought for some reason that the clones had been Emet-Selch’s doing.

“I’ve a feeling this won’t be the last time his bravery in the Empire will serve us here in Eorzea.” Said by Raubahn about Alphinaud setting back Black Rose production. Probably obvious foreshadowing for Endwalker.

Sharlyan... attempted to negotiate peace with the Empire? That’s not exactly surprising, though it is still new to me. Tucked in optional standing-around dialogue from Alisaie

Oh my GOD I hate Varis and his idiot hat. This scene is so uncomfortable and not just because I have to hear Varis speak. All of the city-state leaders act like monumental shitheads just to create tension and let Varis put them down it’s stupid. You idiots you’re supposed to be engaging in peace talks not venting about the Empire. Put aside your pride and play parley with the single most hated man in the world. It’s literally all just to stall for time, why would they do any of this. And oh my god, who even let Aymeric speak here. He brings up his stupid little battle with the dragons or his daddy issues at every opportunity. Yes yes we all played Heavensward but I can assure you it was not for its politics or message about war. Like yeah that whole ordeal ended terribly. We just killed the evil people/dragons and that was that. Solved purely through force.

Hhhh I forgot about this. That Varis AGREED with the Ascians. “There will be but one race--a perfect race--as we were when time began.” HHghghh. Oh right and he freely admits the bit about Garlemald being built by an Ascian.

Hm. Currently the Ascians’ plan is to bring about more Calamities which would be terrible and kill lots of people. Fandaniel... wants to kill everyone. I wonder how he accounts for the other shards. Wouldn’t it have made sense to at least try and work with his fellow Ascians? Either to round all up all the souls in one place before blowing it all to hell, or by sabotaging their plans and creating more situations like the one that created the Void. Or if decimating the Source would kill everyone anyways.

“Don’t you dare leave me alone.” ALISAIEEEEEEEEEEEEE AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I HATE THIS PART! I HATE IT! DON’T TAKE HER AWAY THAT SCENE HURTS SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!

Taking a break to do my dailies for poetics bc I BARELY make the ilvl requirement for the next dungeon. anyhow. In this prae run there’s a Haurchefant look-alike called “Haurchefant Corpse”. He’s wearing a white suit and a halo, and is a scholar. I’m still laughing man wtf!!! Dude kinda sucks though he didn’t summon his fairy before the battle with Nero and only got out like two offensive spells lmao

Alright. Story again. G’RAHA. STOP BEING A CRYPTIC ASSHOLE!!! ALISAIE!!!!!!!!! HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I KNOW THEY REUNITE SOON BUT... HER REACHING FOR THE WoL... WHO LET THEM BOTH ONTO THE BATTLEFIELD!!!!! I’ll fucking cry man... this is cruel...

Oh my god I was looking to see if there were any story sidequests at this level i skipped the first time and saw that there IS story with Unukalhai that I haven’t seen, currently. Because I haven’t been able to do all of the savage trials with him... maybe once I get to 80 I’ll be able to convince someone to unsync them with me for first clears... the questline is called “Void Quests” too... Ah. To do this last questline you have to have ALSO done all the role quests. Good thing I’m leveling one of each currently lmao... wait. I don’t have a caster. I suppose I’ll have to level summoner on him after all...

“But no one is invincible, Doran. Not even you. So please, take care of yourself out there.” Foreshadowing of the WoL nearly getting merc’d on the battle field. Side note I had to look that up because I’ve been thinking of that word a lot lately. And now realize that it is not a real word but a gaming term? Also that it’s written like that. It comes from CoD4. Or. Actually. reading more I have no clue where it comes from though I did know it was in relation to mercenaries at its root even if its meaning doesn’t.

Ah... speaking of this is probably the last story bit I’m going to do before bed. Though. I... think this leads right into entering Norvrandt. Oh holy shit Doran’s forehead is so big now. he looks so goofy in this shot they took away his fucking eyebrows.

I’ve mostly been wearing his new AST glam since I changed his hair and that at least has glasses... and GNB wears a full-face mask and BRD has a half-face mask. But this. This looks like a lil bit silly ngl.

Ohhh I forgot you fight as Hien against Elidibus/Zenos... While waiting for the WoL to arrive. i love fighting as DRG against Zenos. Same reason as I enjoy using SMN. Fighting using the power of a beast, it’s fitting. Also goddammit G’raha... Why are you so stupid. My guy. Thank goodness Estinien is some kind of stalker because my god. Ohhhh riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight it’s later you actually go to Norvrandt. Rn you just get a lil peek at G’raha. Again, waaaay too recognizable. Literally not even a secret.

Hhhgh... hearing Aymeric speak to the WoL.... they are Friends it is Cute. He like... actually tries, I realize. He makes it clear that he’s fond of the WoL past the obvious hero stuff. Godddddddd this is adorable... Aymeric is still an idiot but he is an incredibly endearring idiot. Ah... and Count edmont comes to visit too. His fatherly relationship with the WoL is adorable as well... I still remember their moment during the DRK questline.

Hhhhhhhhhhhhhggggggg and Tataru crying about seeing the WoL... fwiends... ShB is GOOD. And the WoL goes and kneels in front of her.. ghghhh

Ahh that WAS finally the end of the intermediate stuff. Oh my god I love this game. Jesus christ this is so good. And I finally got the new travelling outfit! Hopefully this’ll give me an idea for a GNB glam... I... can’t use the body piece cause it’s too gaudy but the others would work maybe.

Oh shit I finally lost my sprout too! I’m gonna stop writing now just gotta finish up some business...

[occupyvenus]

Deus Ex Machina to the rescue!!!

!!!This post will contain some spoilers from the leaked episode 6 AT THE VERY END. I will put those under a cut and warn you before I get to them You can safely read until that point as long as you are caught up on 7x05!!!

As a book-reader ooc-disease and not giving a shit about the setting and rules established in asoiaf upsets me. But I can kinda live with that, it’s an adaptation and has to be changed for mass-appeal. I’m not happy about it all, don’t get me wrong, but I can simply take the show as a simplified fanfiction-version of the book series. 

But what really pisses me off as a mere show-watcher(!) is that Douchebag&Dipshit have been creating fake tension by ex machina-ing the shit out of the series since season 6. It’s bad writing in any show or movie, but it’s especially appaling here, because that’s exactly what the show is NOT SUPPOSED TO BE. This is connected to them not working with the source material anymore, but it mostly shows how bad story-writers they themselves are. 

For those of you who don’t know what “deus ex machina” means, here are some lines from wikipedia: 

The term has evolved to mean a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly resolved by the inspired and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability or object. Its function can be to resolve an otherwise irresolvable plot situation, to surprise the audience, to bring the tale to a happy ending, or act as a comedic device. 

It is generally deemed undesirable in writing and often implies a lack of creativity on the part of the author. The reasons for this are that it does not pay due regard to the story's internal logic (although it is sometimes deliberately used to do this) and is often so unlikely that it challenges suspension of disbelief, allowing the author to conclude the story with an unlikely, though perhaps more palatable, ending. 

To put it in simpler terms: It’s when some random bullshit happens to get our protagonists out of a tricky situation. It’s strongly connected to the term “plot-armour”.

It’s a plot device tv-watchers and moviegoers are so used to that we are expecting it every time our protagonists are in danger. “He’s the main character. He can’t die.” *Some bullshit happens* “See? Of course he didn’t die.”

We all expected some deus ex machina to swoop in and save Ned from the executioner's block, Robb and Cat at the Red Wedding and Jon when he was stabbed by his brothers. But it didn’t come. That’s what made these events so shocking and surprising. Because they went against our expectations, acquired after consummating hours of mainstream-media, completely. That’s what made GoT famous and shocking and fresh. Everyone was in danger, everyone could die, because grrm and GoT DON’T DO DEUS EX MACHINAS. If you can’t find a solution that has been carefully set up, there probably is none and our characters are fucked. Not only are Dickhead&Dumbass ruining the characters and the world-building, they are ruining the core narrative concept of what made this show so successful. Turning it into a 0815, predictable, action, fantasy TV-show. 

Having one every now and then is fine, but if it happens too often ... you stop giving a shit about what happens on screen. Because why should you be scared for a character if he gets out of every situation somehow anyway? It’s bad writing if you resolve most conflicts with it. Mostly because it happens because the author wanted it to happen, not because it makes the most sense within the story. You might not be aware of it, but your brain is. 

All of this wouldn’t bother me if this was about anything else, but again: THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT GOT IS NOT MEANT TO BE. THE SERIES IS FAMOUS FOR NOT BEING LIKE THAT. 

I’ve been scratching my head to think of a real, obvious deus ex machina moment prior to season 5 or 6. If you can name one please let me know. The thing coming closest to it might have been the wildfire-trick in the battle of blackwater, but it doesn’t really fit the bill because Aerys and the pigshit were properly established before it was used. Stannis attacking the Wildling camp might come pretty close, but we knew that Stannis received the letter from the Night’s Watch and we knew that Melisandre cares about the all the stuff happening beyond the wall. 

There are a few events that have some characteristics, but I can’t come up with a single instance really worthy of that title from previous seasons, but a handful from season 6 and season 7. That’s not good

Here are a couple of Deus ex machinas from season 6 & 7 I can come up with from scratch (7x06 under the cut): 

Brienne saving Sansa and Theon from the Bolton men.

Brienne missing Sansa’s candle in the broken tower is like the opposite of a deus ex machina. Some random bullshit happens in the perfect moment for our heros to miss something important. 

Benjen - the ex machina - Stark saving Meera and Bran. 

The Knights of the Vale ride in to ex machina the shit out of the battle of the bastards. 

Lady Crane can stitch up a bunch of really deep stab-wounds once Arya reaches her. You know Arya should be dead, right? 

Sam healing Jorah by following the instructions in a fucking book. 

Both Bronn and Jaime getting away from the Field of Fire unscared because they jumped in a fucking river. 

I’m sure there are more, but those are the ones that come to mind right away.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! SPOILERS FOR 7x06 AHEAD !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You wanna know why everyone but Thoros got out of that stupid wight hunt alive? Why the only human characters dying by the hands of the Dead were nameless side-characters no one gives a shit about? Because this fucking episode was littered with ex machinas of variable sizes and proportions and the GoT-characters have apparently achieved plot armour by now. Thoros himself isn’t even an important side-character. He’s not on the same level as Tormund or the Hound. Fuck, all beloved characters made it out of this shit alive. What the fuck. What am I even watching anymore. 

Thoros gets bitten by giant undead ice bear??? He dead. But wait, what’s this? Beric to the rescue !!!! He did die later, so this might not count, but I’ll keep it in because it perfectly portrays how all the fight scenes this episode went down.

Tormund almost gets killed by Wights. I was pretty sure that’s it for a second, they’re going to drag him underwater, I was already writing his eulogy in my head but ... what’s that? Hound to the rescue!!!!

The D flying in to save them all on her dragons. Just when all seemed lost, after the army of the dead was hold off for the perfect amount of time. Dragons to the rescue!!!!

Jorah almost falls down from the dragon? Somebody (forgot who... the hound again?) to the rescue !!!!

Benjen literally only shows up to ex machina Jon out of that situation. Them meeting had no other purpose, didn’t further the plot in anyway, didn’t achieve anything at all, but to create some cheap cheap tension, resolved within a heartbeat by another fucking ex-machina. They wrote him into that scene for the only purpose of being a fucking deus ex machina. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was *this* close to crying when he showed up, what have they done to this show? What Jon got separated from the group, he has to get by on his own beyond the wall? Don’t worry, EX MACHINA UNCLE BENJEN TO THE RESCUE!!!! Jon could have just get on that fucking dragon with anyone else, wouldn’t have made any difference. 

While we’re at it: Them finding a single, lonely white walker talking a handful of wights for a walk in the park was ex-machina-ish as well. How will the catch a wight? Oh look, a manageable amount has split from the massive army for whatever reason. And when Jon kills the WW all but one drop dead. When they only need one. How convenient. How very fucking convenient. 

If this was still the Game of Thrones we grew to love in the first seasons, most of these characters would be dead. Tormund would be dead, the Hound would be dead, Gendry would be dead. Hell, I was hoping that the Hound would die and Beric would give him the last kiss to bring him back to life or some other shit like that. Giving their “why are you still alive you asshole?” conversation from episode 1 some depth. But no, all main-ish characters have plot-armour now, tell me why I should give a shit about any of this anymore? 

It’s pretty obvious what their thought process was... Well, someone has to die. First the Wights can pick off all nameless dudes, you know so the audience knows this is serious business .... but someone with a name ...Not Jon, obviously. Not Jorah either, we just brought him back and he still has that Samwell Tarly, the-D-burned-the-father-and-brother-of-the-man-who-saved-his-life issue to sort out, he also has *whatever role* to play in the future.... Tormund? No, people love Tormund. He’s funny. But make it look like he’s going to die because of the “tension”. Gendry? We just brought him back and *some bullshit still has to happen with him*... Leaves us with The Hound, Beric and Thoros. mmmhhhh 

They picked Thoros, because they knew that the audience cares about him the least. That’s why HE had to go. It’s shitty writing and it’s only one of the reasons ( the fucking stupid plot itself, the fucking stupid starkbowl and the fucking stupid targcest ... though I still have hope that the later two are bait-and-twist’s) why this episode sucked balls. It was a nonsensical, badly written piece of shit hour of television. I can’t even tell you how disappointed I am in the show right now.

Seriously this episode followed the most simple action-movie-climax pattern there is: Main character and a bunch of main-ish characters go on a dangerous mission. All extras die. Least interesting main-ish side character dies for a tear inducing scene. Rest of the characters all get super close to dying at one point, but get safed in the last second. puuuhhhh that was close. They get into a hopeless situation they could never get out of by themselves or in any other conceivable way. A really powerful semi-ally, whose trustworthiness or availability was unclear until now, flies in (literally this time) to save them in the last minute, just when all seems lost. Earning their trust and coming on board with their cause in the process. Hero wants to sacrifice himself, but gets out alive because of some bullshit. Shows up at the very end, when everyone else thought he was dead and were about to leave. They ultimately accomplish their goal. End with a “romantic” - ugh - scene. 

Cut. 

Bullshit.