#i REALLY like the characterization of vincent

[my-thoughts-and-junk]

Watching a playthrough of dead plate and I'm at the dinner party part AND I think it'd be really funny if the attendees to the dinner party assumed rody was vincent's boyfriend and that's why he was helping out

[die-die-mydarling-xx]

Hewo! Saw y’all are taking requests :3

What would the Sinclair Brothers, Brahms, and Billy Lenz do if they see their s/o being made fun of by someone? How would they react?

Thank you and have a good one!

Hi there! Sorry it took me a little while to get around to this

How They Would React to Seeing Their S/O Being Made Fun Of

SFW, GN!Reader (sort of implied to be female in Billy Lenz)

Vincent Sinclair

They're dead the minute they decided to make fun of you

He wouldn't be too aggressive in the moment, probably just glaring at them from across the room

Or he'd move to your side, the silent anger in his face enough to shut them up

Later on they will die slowly and painfully <3

Once he's done with them he would come to comfort you, holding you in his arms and making sure you know how perfect you are and that you're the best thing that ever happened to him

Bo Sinclair

Again, they're dead. Duh

He'd come over to give whoever was making fun of you a piece of his mind, you could see him getting quite worked up

These people were just passing through, and you could tell they wanted to leave after that altercation, but their car had broken down just outside of Ambrose and Bo was their only hope of fixing it

He'd tell them he had to order the part and let them know where to stay nearby

So he could catch them off guard later. He wouldn't prolong their suffering that much, his anger overriding that urge

He'd come find you once they're dead as well, holding you a little closer to him that night. He doesn't strike me as someone who would give a lot of verbal reassurance, but you still can tell he cares

Lester Sinclair

He's the only one of the three who wouldn't outright kill them. Maybe directs them to his brothers though

He'd definitely step in in the moment as well, but he's a little calmer than Bo: he would defend you and try to make the people making fun of you ashamed of their behaviour

Would be sooo comforting afterwards, giving you lots of physical affection and telling you everything he loves about you

Brahms Heelshire

I don't imagine there'd be a lot of times where he'd see this happening, so I think he'd be a lot more volatile in this situation

You're perfect in his eyes, he's literally obsessed with you, so seeing you being made fun of would make him very angry

Honestly I think he'd just kill them right then and there. 😶

Unless you told him not to but he'll still leave them injured

After they were gone he'd be holding you, stroking your hair, and giving you all kinds of compliments

Billy Lenz

If you were being made fun of by specific sorority sisters, they would immediately become his next targets

I don't think he'd want to really step in; he doesn't like leaving the attic, especially when there are people up and about

He would call the house phone to try and interrupt their taunting

When they pick up, he'd immediately go into a tirade of profanities and threatening them

The sisters would hang up, shaking their heads in disgust, and you just smiled to yourself, knowing that this was his way of defending you

Later, after everyone's asleep, you go into the attic to see him. Like Lester, he's going to be very physically affectionate, stroking your face, your hair, your body and telling you how pretty you are and how important you are to him

I hope this is okay! I definitely struggled with the characterization of some of them, especially Billy 😭

[retrieve-the-kraken]

Okay, so I’ve finished my taxes, and I’m basically out of the woods with some overwhelming work stuff, and everything turned out well with a medical situation with my mum, but I am still very tired, but I also cannot keep going without putting my preliminary thoughts on my very first viewing of season 3 down on a post…

It seems my worst characterization so far is assuming that these two idiots would learn to communicate. They haven’t, they’re stupid teenagers, they’re really bad at it, they get mad at each other for everything, and they don’t listen. And that needs to change soon if we want Wilmon endgame.

Boris, do you do couples therapy? PLEASE HELP THEM.

I think a big reason Wilhelm lashes out, besides getting caught up in his own head, is the fact that he’s also constantly afraid of saying the wrong thing and pissing Simon off. But the stakes for Simon are clearly higher. Wilhelm really needs to learn to communicate, but he’s dragging a whole life of terrible communication and zero support, so HOW is he supposed to learn, if he naturally feels afraid to open up?

It shows in the way he reacts to learning about Erik. Simon might be right, and Erik maybe just gave in to peer pressure, like everyone else in that school (which we see over and over again, like with the strike, and that guy who just repeats ‘yeah hilarious’ when Vincent tells him, and the graduation rituals and basically everything that everyone does at that fucking school), and maybe he wasn’t particularly homophobic. Or maybe he was, but if he had found out about Wilhelm maybe he would have changed his views (after all he was a stupid kid too)… But how would Wilhelm know? Erik is dead, there’s no way of asking him, confronting him about it. And people still call him perfect, and still compare him to his brother.

It must be so traumatizing to have held this person in your head as the one you trusted for everything, the one who would support you most, the one who probably knew you better than anyone else, who would love you and be there for you no matter what, and it turns out that he might not have accepted you at all. And just like that Wille is all alone and angry and afraid again.

(This is why it’s extra cruel that August posted that fucking video, especially how premeditated it was to share it over the whole world, but also then tell Wilhelm that his brother was possibly a homophobe. It doesn’t matter that he went through that horrible hazing, it doesn’t matter that he put a stop to it, and it doesn’t matter that he’s a stupid kid too, the fact that he did THAT to someone, anyone, is awful and he should have known better.)

So that scene in season 1 when Erik teases Wilhelm about his crush potentially changes completely. Maybe he didn’t suspect anything, maybe it was just a coincidence that he never used any pronouns…

And that makes it even more traumatizing that his parents still think of Erik as the figure of perfection, and Wilhelm, who is queer and scandalous and rebellious, is the real thorn on their side. Fucking Ludvig saying that Erik really was perfect, that he didn’t have “that darkness inside of him”, to his surviving son… But for all we know maybe Erik’s death was not accidental, maybe he did have “a darkness” inside of him.

On the other hand, that “darkness” doesn’t excuse Kristina at all. I am convinced that this depression/burnout that she’s going through is absolute bullshit. Sure, she might be depressed, she’s still grieving her “perfect” heir, and she’s going through a lot. But it’s like Wilhelm says, how convenient that she shuts down and breaks down now. She wasn’t like this when the video happened, because she could still cover it up. And she wasn’t like this when Wilhelm called her to scream that he was going to abdicate, because she could still drag him out of Hillerska. It was only when he told the whole world, and there was no covering it up anymore, that she suddenly became fragile with grief.

And even if it were true, even if she’s going through a severe depression or burnout, as a result of everything that’s happened, that doesn’t excuse her previous lies and manipulations. And it makes the fact that she still really wants Wille to become her successor, despite knowing what it could do to him, despite knowing that he’s already extremely anxious and that he does not know how to manage his own emotions, is evil.

(And even if she wants August to be the backup too, knowing how he is, knowing his own family history, and how it could affect him too, is evil too.) MORE on this later.

Kristina uses her breakdowns to emotionally manipulate Wille into trying to do his best to be the perfect crown prince, now indirectly through Farima and Ludvig. And Wille’s so concerned with her and her fragility that it affects his relationship with Simon. Because he’s anxious about the possible imminence of having to take over, of being the new monarch, when he can barely control his own feelings, when he just wants to enjoy his first relationship and just be in love.

Of course he made things worse for himself and Simon when he publicly revealed their relationship, but we can understand where that’s coming from. He didn’t want to hide anymore, he didn’t want to not be able to be himself anymore, not be able to be with the boy he loves. But they’re still forced to hide, because people start hating on Simon, because people won’t stop talking about them (as much as I HATED Wille shushing Simon, I also understood that he didn’t want anyone to hear their argument, because he didn’t want to give people more reason to talk about them, but also there’s probably a lot of ‘keeping up appearances’ embedded in his mind), because they are very different and almost incompatible for many reasons, and because being the crown prince means conforming to a lot of things (no tattoos, no cutting your hair shorter than, no nail polish, no expressing political opinions, etc etc), and so he has to remove the nail polish and he doesn’t want his foundation to be geared toward LGBTQIA+ people or mental health issues… He can’t express himself, he can’t be himself, because what he is or who he is for real is not compatible with his role or what is expected of him… he’s so repressed still.

(The whole nail polish scene, and the scene where Simon suggests that Wille’s foundation could be geared toward LGBTQIA+ youth, reminded me a little of Isak in SKAM saying that he wasn’t just going to start marching in the Pride parade or wearing makeup. Wille is not necessarily about identity expression, or at least he doesn’t think that he should be. He just wants to be himself, and be with the boy he loves, and that’s it).

As for Simon, he can do no wrong, and I absolutely agree with everything he says and does, but he has always been very idealistic, and he does come across as a little more naïve than I expected, especially with the whole social media comments and his song. It wasn’t the first time he experienced it, because things went south for him when he appeared on the video, so for him now to think that people are magically not going to be cruel.

But I understand how much he’s sacrificing for Wille, and Wille not appreciating it at all must sting. Just like he points out that he didn’t have contact with Micke for years, for Sara’s sake, and suddenly she’s living with him… that fucking hurt. Simon has always been very opinionated and outspoken, and he’s very authentically and proudly himself, but he’s also always molded himself to what other people need, like being a parented child and taking on too much in the house to relieve Linda, and taking care of Sara, and worrying about his father, and letting himself be manipulated by Marcus, and now basically giving up a lot of himself to be with Wille. And as a result Linda treats him like he’s a drug addict, and Sara goes to the father she didn’t want to have contact with, and Marcus talks shit about him to the press, and Wille doesn’t listen to him…

Sara saw the light (sort of), so maybe hopefully Wille will too. More on that later too.

Anyway, it would have been nice for someone from the royal court to sit Simon down and explain to him what being the boyfriend of a royal involves, so that Wille doesn’t have to figure out how to tell him all these difficult things himself. Wille is so used to some of these things, they seem so obvious to him, that he might not immediately think of how weird or outlandish it might seem to Simon. (THat scene with the cake, I mean… it was funny in a way, but I wonder how many terrifying thoughts crossed Simon’s mind, the obvious “wait what??? did I just eat poison???” but also “wait what??? someone’s trying to poison my boyfriend????” and “there are kids here, have they also accidentally been poisoned????”).

I really really hope that, since he’s being forced to go to Boris with August, that Wille will think about going with Simon, and trying to work things out. They need to be able to say all these things to each other, get on the same page.

More importantly, I need a callback to what Boris said to him in season 2, about the expectations of his family, about being able to make his own choices. Which Wille internalized beautifully with that speech to Simon outside his house.

Anyway, this is already very long. Moving on to more general thoughts:

- I did think that the fact that they sort of resolved the whole issue with the police report and the drugs felt a little anticlimactic. It was built up and built up and the whole season 2 finale was about that, and we had a cliffhanger and everything, and then… bye. I wonder if it will come back (more on that later).

- And for that matter, Alexander just became a background character. Did he even have any lines? I could barely spot him.

- August telling Wilhelm in front of everyone at the table that he’s sure Wille will fuck up on his own… rich.

- Also Stella and Rosh was sort of hinted at, it happened in a blink, and then Fredrika was… jealous? Confused? Homophobic? All of the above? But then… NOTHING. Stella was even missing in the last episode, because she was “sick”… (scheduling conflicts for Felicia? Actually sick?)

- I think it’s interesting that Sara preached and preached to Simon about giving people a second chance, including their dad, and then she… goes and does it? It wasn’t the first time she did, she was with August despite the awful thing he did. And then she goes and… gives August ANOTHER chance????

- Someone needs to tell Sara that she needs to stop getting wtih August, because every time they get together somehow, Wilmon go south… It seems these two couples cannot exist simultaneously…

- So I still have to rewatch, but… is August then in the middle of selling his father’s estate to pay Simon? Are any of his friends aware of this?

- I have a cultural question: what was the whole deal about travelling to the US? I mean, I thought they were asking if these kids have never travelled abroad, but they mentioned the US specifically, several times… Is that a thing in Sweden, traveling to the US? Not any other part of Europe? Not Asia? Just wondering. Made me curious.

- Still waiting for this season’s Elias song… just one episode left… If we don’t get one, or a callback to Revolution, I might claw my face off…

- Nils repeating that maybe Wille would have been better off with someone from the inner circle. Seriously, Nils, who do you mean? WHO? Who could you be referring to? Hmm?

- Something else about Nils… a part of me really wished that Wille would have asked Nils for confirmation on the Erik thing. Wille obviously doesn’t want to believe it at first, but then he does, and hearing it from August makes it even worse, so maybe hearing it from someone like Nils would be the final confirmation that he would need, that his brother was the worst. On the other hand, for him to ask Nils to confirm something like that, as a gay, and possibly hearing what happened to him as a result of it… that would have probably made it even worse.

- Really hate that Marcus was mentioned, that he came back to haunt Simon in a way, even if it was minimal. But props to Simon for not rising to the bait in that moment.

- Simon, my love, i understand that you’re upset and heartbroken, but… it would have been nice if you tried to get Wille to talk to you one last time, before breaking up with him on his birthday… especially seeing everything he’s going through. Not that your feelings are any less important than his, of course, but… are you trying to get him to jump out the window????

-Eternally saddened by the disappearance of the orange sweater. Eternally saddened by the fact that Wilhelm did not set foot in or around Simon’s house this season. Although who knows, still one episode left…

Things that I liked most:

- Seriously the chemistry between Edvin and Omar is OFF THE CHARTS. The intimacy coordinator this season was very good.

- Especially that sex scene. Not just because it makes me immensely happy when my favorite ship fucks, because holy shit that was hot, but also because there’s a whole theme around all the hate mail and messages and classism and homophobia and toxic masculinity that Simon is a target of, especially being Latino, whilst Wille, being white and privileged and high class and the heir to the throne, is probably seen as the “man” of the relationship (especially since in the video he’s also the one “in control” whilst Simon is the receiver), so it’s very VERY satisfying to see that they are both top and bottom at times, and they both equally enjoy it.

- Also the use of choir music during the sex scene, giving it a very holy feel, much like Elias’s Holy playing when they have sex again in season 2… seriously I NEED my Elias song this season or I WILL START A REVOLUTION.

- At first I was annoyed at the whole “school possibly closing” plotline, because I thought it was unneeded. Or that maybe it would play a bigger role in the whole video-drugs controversy. But the truth is that it was really good, how it highlighted these kids’ privilege and the absurdity of wanting to cover things up and uphold traditions, and it also worked wonderfully to highlight the divide between Simon and Wille. As Simon says to Wille, he only takes a stand when he has nothing to lose.

- Felice. Felice this whole season was magnificent. Her whole breakdown over the end of her friendship with Sara, showing how truly important it was to her. And Madison saying that sometimes breaking up with a friend is worse than getting dumped, and I AGREE SO MUCH. But then I also think she loses her sense of self, because despite being popular and beautiful, she still gets used and treated badly, by August (obviously), but also by Wille (the kiss), and worst of all by Sara (who in a way used her for her horse, but also for the clout). And in the meantime, she’s treated differently than the other students for being one of the few black girls, and she gets singled out for her hair… and yet, the school is using her to make themselves look good. And now she decides to give Sara a second chance, because she really missed her, because it really hurt to lose that friend, and Sara goes and… does that…

- One of my favorite things about Simon is how he is proof that just because you’re gay doesn’t mean that you have flawless fashion sense. And i can’t help but wonder how fashion and style icon/ELLE’s Best Dressed Man/OMR Beauty founder Omar feels about Simon’s fashion choices. Never change, Simon, never change.

- Vincent was every bit of the tremendous asshole that I hoped he’d be this season. Did not disappoint. I wanted to punch him in the face every time he opened his mouth. Marvellous.

- I’m happy that we got more Madison, but still not enough. Still, iconic. Forever one of my favorite characters.

- I don’t know what to say about Sara and Micke. Just maybe that, when he played that song in the car, even before they started singing, i just knew “oh fuck, it’s all going to shit soon…” I guess Sara felt lost enough that she was suddenly willing to give him a second chance. And the whole “is that going to happen to me?” bit really made me sad. That she understands that mental health and mental illness is unfortunately many times hereditary, and worries that she might become just like him… But despite not being entirely like him, with addiction problems and such, she was still unreliable like him, she did bad things to her family like he did… I was rooting for you, Micke, we were all rooting for you.

- I feel that August’s love for status and for the monarchy might be starting to fray at the edges. First with the fact that he was reminded of his own traumatizing initiation, and reminded of how the crown prince, his cousin and friend and idol, himself was part of that. Second with the fact that Simon points out that he might have an eating disorder, how he would probably not fare any better than the queen if he were in such a stressful position as crown prince or king, how difficult it is for him to handle stress and anxiety. And third with seeing how it affects Wille and Simon and realizing that something similar might still happen to him and Sara. And the fact that he reveals to Sara why he is the way he is, that he lets his guard down with her, might point to even more growth (even though I hate that Sara sort of gave him a “second chance” again). Also I feel the reality of how they, the Royal Court, would control his life is finally sinking in. Hopefully he will also soon realize that they also use him as a manipulation tool. So maybe he won’t let himself be manipulated by them much longer.

- I loved Wille’s ultimate outburst at his mother and father, i love that he told them everything they needed to hear, about their emotional abuse, their neglect. Unfortunately they still refused to acknowledge how terrible parents they have been, and walked off, instead of trying to resolve it. So Wille throwing around the gifts, as impulsive and tantrum-ish it might come across, makes perfect sense. He tries to talk and gets nothing in return. If he’s repressed it’s bad, but if he expresses himself then nothing happens either.

- And I love that Simon got to see what Wille is really dealing with. As privileged as he might be, he’s still lacking the most important things: unconditional support and love. No amount of money or status can make it better, and Wille is broken. The only thing is that, Simon saw how broken Wille was over the death of his brother, whom he loved very much, but I don’t think he quite grasps the gravity of Wille learning that maybe that beloved brother wouldn’t have been so cool with him, because he has never had to deal with a parent or sibling rejecting him for his sexuality. It’s something very different to be rejected by society at large than it is to be rejected by your own family, and not everyone has the emotional strength to deal with that. So for Wille’s parents to still like his potentially homophobic dead brother more than him, is heart-wrenching. But I don’t think Simon really gets that because he’s probably not surprised that Erik might have been like that, because in his eyes those privileged kids in that school (except obviously Wille, and Felice and Madison, who is asking about the non-binaries) are probably all massive homophobes.

- Despite this, I love that Simon sets boundaries nonetheless. I mean, it hurt like fucking hell for him to tell Wille, on his fucking birthday, that maybe they shouldn’t be together. But just because Wille is hurting doesn’t mean that Simon has not also been hurting too. And if they can’t comfort each other, and try to support each other when they both obviously most need it, then maybe they’re just not going to work. And it took a lot of guts for Simon to bring it up in that moment, in Wille’s bed, in the palace, where he’s basically trapped, with nowhere to go, no way to get away (I doubt he called Linda in the middle of the night to come pick him up more than two hours away in Stockholm).

My hopes for the final episode (I don’t think I have any predictions other than, open ending or not, Wilmon will be endgame and there will be a revolution, I just don’t know how):

- Wilmon talk. An actual, healthy, heartfelt talk. A reconciliation for the ages.

- That the fucking school will close and August won’t be able to graduate, and he’ll realize that maybe he shouldn’t have “lived for that school”, as Erik once put it.

- That Wille will realize that, if Erik was not the person he thought he was, then maybe he no longer has to live up to his legacy anymore. @foreverunraveling pointed out how, now that the big Erik revelation is confirmed, then maybe the queen’s trump card to manipulate Wille into being the ideal crown prince is gone. Wille doesn’t care about the monarchy really, but he did care about not disappointing his brother, the “perfect crown prince”, and now we know that he was far from perfect. Erik lived a double life, as Wille points out, there was “public Erik” or crown prince Erik, and there was “private Erik”, or the real Erik (or so Wille thought, now we know there was a “secret Erik” which was the real Erik) and Wille struggles so much with the idea of having to split himself in two, . Wille cannot live a double life, he withers away when he has to hide himself, and now he gets the opportunity to leave that stifling life behind, and blossom.

- That Simon will get a fucking break. I hate that his whole life was turned upside down from the moment the video was leaked, and it’s just never going to be the same, whether he stays with Wille or not, he’ll always be the boy from the crown prince sex tape, he’ll always be the crown prince’s ex, or the crown prince’s boyfriend. But I want some positive feedback for him, someone bigger than the woman and the little boy wanting a selfie. I want him to have his own fanclub or something. Maybe that’s too idealistic…? (I may be imagining something like that scene in Red White and Royal Blue, when they realize that there’s a whole crowd outside the palace all excited to the the Prince and his First son boyfriend… one can dream).

- I want whatever Felice said during the interview to be taken seriously, and for her to stop doubting herself.

- I want a genuine apology from August.

- Also one from Kristina.

- I get the feeling that the fact that August leaked the video might still come out publicly, what with the whole school issue. And in that case, I would like for it to be Simon might to do it, tossing the money from the settlement in his face. It looks like Simon still feels guilty about accepting it, especially when he chided Wille about his privilege and Wille (figuratively) threw the money back in his face. What if Simon does it literally?

- I really wanna know what’s going to happen between Felice and Sara now. The outlook is not good.

- Is it too much to ask to know what’s going on between Stella and Fredrika?

- Most importantly, is the whole thing with Erik going to come out eventually? And how will people react? With support for the monarchy, or with support for Wille?

I have so many more thoughts, but I’m slightly burnt out, and I really should take a break. Also this is way too long. Might have more thoughts once I’ve rewatched the first five episodes, calmly over the weekend…

Also this is very long and I’m sorry.

[getvalentined]

What’s your opinions of the various ffvii compilation games?

Oh I am a huge proponent of the Compilation as a whole; I know that opinion is rare for someone who's been in the fandom from the beginning, but I'm an insufferable lore gremlin and I just eat up everything the series has to offer. I have three different copies of Advent Children (the original on DVD, ACC on DVD, and ACC on blu-ray) and even still watch Last Order on occasion.

The series itself is really fascinating and staggeringly consistent (I've talked about how the implied timeline of the Jenova Project as presented in-game is so consistent that it matches up with real-world human gestational science), with the exception of the FF7Re series—which I can deal with, since it's canonically on a different timeline and therefore any retcons there are literal in-universe retcons, which is pretty brilliant.

That said, I'mma put ratings for the pieces of the Compilation individually under a cut!

OG FF7: 9/10. would be 10/10 if the English localization were better. Where it all started, still one of my favorite games of all time.

Advent Children (+Complete): 8/10. Not a game, but part of the Compilation! Anyone who says the plot makes no sense doesn't realize that they're watching a sequel that relies very heavily on people understanding the history and characterization of every single character shown.

Last Order: 6.5/10. Also not a game, also part of the Compilation. Love that this is implied to literally be Tseng's coverup of what happened with Zack, presented in anime form. Makes no sense in multiple places as a result, but if you know that's what it is then you can 100% see why it's portrayed that way! Honestly I really enjoyed it and wish more people would appreciate it for what it is.

Dirge of Cerberus: 7/10. The gameplay kinda sucks but honestly the storyline is super good—or it would be, if the entire fucking prologue hadn't been cut from any release outside Japan, thereby leaving the entire issue with DeepGround completely unexplained to all other audiences. Once you know what is going on, the storyline here is fantastic, and I've never really forgiven SE for not releasing the rest of it. I love that Dirge fills in the lore for Vincent that was cut when he was relegated to "optional" in the OG, and that it also helps to clarify why Midgar could have 9 functional mako reactors while every other reactor in the world is either sputtering to nothing or exploding. (It's Omega. Midgar is built over Omega. It's the place where all lines of the Lifestream converge so that Omega can draw it all in and carry it away at the end of the world, and Shinra never discovered that's why the mako well there is so expansive. I love good worldbuilding, and Dirge is a beautiful example of that.)

Before Crisis: N/A. I want this game so bad man where is it give it to meeeee. Honestly tho I've watched playthroughs and read scripts where available, and while I don't think it looks like much fun from a modern gameplay perspective, I have huge respect for it as far as development goes. This is one of the first really mainstream mobile games ever made, it was made for flip phones, and it's super extensive! Also it gave me Veld, who is one half of my favorite ship ever, which means it automatically gets a 7/10 even if I've never played it.

Crisis Core (+Reunion): 9/10. As fun to play as the OG. When I first played this on PSP over a decade ago, it hit me with such an intense feeling of nostalgia that it almost took me off my feet. In spite of the dramatic difference between game mechanics in CC versus the OG, it felt exactly like playing the OG again, and that feeling never really left. Humanized Sephiroth in a beautiful way that pissed off a bunch of fanboys and made me fall in love with him all over again. Also introduced my second favorite FF7 character ever, Genesis, who is one half of one of my core FF7 ships, so A+ on that too!

FF7 Remake (+InterMISSION): 8/10. Had a lot of fun with this one, and it's beautiful, but it doesn't have a lot of replayability in my experience, which is a shame. Would have been 6 or 7/10 if not for InterMISSION, which was a fucking delight.

FF7 First SOLDIER: 6/10. This applies to both the Battle Royale and the title in Ever Crisis. I am not a fan of Glenn & Co. but I love 14 year old Sephiroth and really appreciate that extension of lore and worldbuilding, so it's a decent balance. I love that the opening cutscene for the battle royale literally filled a 20+ year old plot hole in under two minutes.

FF7 Rebirth: 9.5/10. The only things that could make me like this game more would be if Vincent were playable (although I understand why he's not and, in spite of him being my favorite fictional character ever, I agree with this decision), and fewer required minigames. Just cut like one or two. Or fix the controls, maybe. Glide de Chocobo is even more broken now that it's been patched.

[sharksandjays]

nobody understands how much lloyd's theme means to me. Yes im a HUGE music lover and i have come to analyze the hell out of it for you guys.

I implore you to listen to this. Specifically at 1:46

Personally, the choice of instruments intruiges me. To me, this sounds like training. The little flute? To me that is little Lloyd. The brass? The ninja. It represents how Lloyd is just learning to use his power. How the ninja are helping him hone it. It shows how young lloyd is, and how most of his strength comes from the older people behind him. The echo just REALLY speaks to him "mimicking" them to learn.

And this just makes me so emotional.

Because think about how his theme evolves?

The best example would be in Sons of Garmadon. Go to 1:41

This makes me want to cry.

No more echoing. Its just his theme in a strong, brass key. He's grown up. He can fight now. He's harnessed his power. He isn't a child anymore.

This is why i LOVE lightmotiefs. Seeing the theme change with the character is always something I look for when I watch a show. And its something i certainly did not expect with this show, a kids show. But they did it, and they did it well. The fact that (to me at least) I can see Lloyd's development as an unsure kid who just learned about his powers to the now legendary Green Ninja who is confident in his abilites and prowess.

And Lloyd is not the only one. If you pay attention, Zane's "Built to Protect" theme changes to a slower, minor key whenever he is in the Never-Realm. Cole's/Lily's "Master of the Mountain" theme changes from piano to orchestra depending on if Cole is remembering his mother or realizing his own strength. It's such an important part of characterization in a show and im SO glad Jay Vincent and Michael Kramer made sure to do that with Ninjago!!!

[hiddentrails7]

Midnight thoughts:

So like. What if a big reason Veld cares so much for his Turks has to do with Vincent.

Has to do with the fact that, no matter how much he asked and pleaded, the previous Turk leader refused to look for Vincent or even ask any higher power about what might've happened to him.

Veld likely has no idea what happened to Vincent. Why would Hojo tell him? And Lucrecia couldn't of, considering she was working on Vincent in her lab and furthermore having a mental breakdown.

Veld would never forget, though.

Everytime he lost a Turk, it ate at him. Of course it did.

But at least he knew how they died.

At least he could mourn properly, in most cases.

Plus, this is the same man who thought he lost his fucking daughter, thinking she was dead for a while too– but, as far as I know, he doesn't seem too affected. Veld is so mentally strong, or at least really good at acting like his life is put together.

He is a fucking mess. And he still cares for his Turks and is so damn proud of them??

...Damn, this turned into a rant about Veld. I love him. He's great, I really want him to get characterization outside of Before Crisis.

(5 minute later update/edit: I'm crying thinking about this VELD JUST HURTS ME GIVE HIM VINCENT BACK I'M)

[lebenspurpur]

the slahsers with a Gothic S/O please ??

AN: I feel like I've done this before, but I didn't find anything in my archive, so who knows.

Slashers: RZ Mikey, Vincent, Bo, Lester, Otis, Baby, Brahms, Thomas, Josef, Jason and Amanda.

RZ! Michael Myers

Oh boy, he is whipped for you.

I know we always characterize Vincent as the goth boy, but I think Michael would be much more enamored. You just look different from the others, and that interests him.

He would let you paint his nails and do his eyeliner. (Michael with smudged eyeliner- 😳)

Even though Michael is one of the most introverted slashers, he likes showing you and your style off. The idea of other people finding interest in you while you're completely his, entices him.

Halloween is the holiday for the both of you. You're looking forward to it every year.

Vincent Sinclair

Vincent loves your style, but he can't put a name on it. He's simply never heard of the gothic subculture. (let's not forget that he's an old man living in the middle of nowhere)

But he's not only interested in style, the history and lifestyle of the gothic culture speak to him as well.

I see Vincent as someone who adores dark romanticism, so gothic literature and art really speak to him.

He is way too lazy to ever dress like you would, so he helps you get ready if you need help. It's really funny how under-dressed he looks, compared to you.

Vincent likes listening to goth music, too, now and then.

Bo Sinclair

He's a little boomer-y about it in the beginning, but he's just trying to suppress his curiosity.

Bo supports you, don't get me wrong, but he definitely teases you for it.

Don't even think about getting that make-up near him.

If anyone makes fun of you, he'll start a fight.

(I also feel he'd sexualize the whole thing a little, so yeah, there's that.)

Lester Sinclair

He has never seen anyone who looks like you!

I firmly believe that Lester would be the golden retriever boyfriend who just supports you, no matter what.

You can use your make-up on him, too, just don't let his brothers see.

Heart eyes when he looks at you, heart eyes.

Otis Driftwood

Another slasher who will definitely tease you.

But Otis is also really proud that he has a partner who's brave enough to be themselves. Confidence is something really attractive to him.

Gothic music is so not his thing, but he will watch a few gothic movies with you, if you want.

Otis also kind of wants to show you off. He will take you out, just so he can present his gothic partner.

Baby Firefly

If you're interested in any kind of fashion, Baby is interested in you.

She's like, the exact opposite of you, and she adores it.

Doing each other's make-up!!!

Baby definitely steals your clothes.

If she's shopping, and she sees something you might like, it's coming with her. Baby adores making you gifts.

Brahms Heelshire

He's scared and intrigued.

God, what would his mother say about you?

I feel like Brahms supports your style, but he doesn't want anymore to do with the culture itself.

The internalized hate for everything different inside of him, given to him by his mother, makes it difficult for him to be nonjudgmental.

On the other hand, it's kind of enticing to break the rules.

If you wear eyeliner, he will want to watch you do it every time. How do you do it, Y/N?

(I am sorry, but he will also sexualize quite a lot.)

Thomas Hewitt

It's not him, who you got to be scared of, it's his family.

Thomas will support anything as long as it makes you happy, but Hoyt would rather see you dead than wearing gothic clothing.

Even Luda is rather distrusting towards you.

The whole family is just very prejudiced.

However, Thomas is the sweetest soul.

He will keep victim's clothes if he thinks they'll fit you, and he'll collect jewelry.

Even if he doesn't understand the subculture or its purpose, he's glad that something makes you happy, and he will try his best to protect that happiness.

Josef

Very, very intrigued.

Josef's entire life is based on finding more or less interesting people he can kill befriend.

And you look so interesting.

He will absolutely go shopping with you. Josef waits in front of the changing room and claps whenever you walk out.

Compliments, pet names, he will go crazy with both of them.

Josef just cherishes the ground you walk on, to be honest.

Jason Vorhees

He would be curious, but also suspicious.

I feel like his mom might've warned him of people who dress like you do.

However, after he gets to know you, he's reassured enough to stop worrying.

He will support you, but he rarely knows anything about the gothic subculture.

Amanda Young

She's in awe.

Amanda likes to dress a little edgy as well, so she appreciates her partner doing the same thing.

You can go shopping together, but don't expect her to be patient because she won't be.

She likes listening to you talk about the subculture while she works on traps, it's like a podcast.

Amanda subconsciously adapts to your style by matching her outfits with yours. It's super sweet.

[xerith-42]

pls talk more about doll shadowknight headcanons i love hearing about them

Hey council, I uhh, I may have cooked something up @gonedreaminggg @cinnamontoastcroonch @laurencezvahlslefteyebrow I'm gonna mash my two favorite headcanons together watch this--

Shadow Knight Musician Struggle Time!!

Laurance trying to play the lyre after the doll effects start kicking in and his hand just goes limp mid song. He can't do anything about it and just feels so ill about the whole situation. Garroth tells him that it's okay, that his playing before was great, but it's still kinda a cowabummer.

Vylad practicing his ocarina along and suddenly their lips get stuck around it as Vylad's body just freezes. He's on his own at this point, but it still sucks. He had a real jam going.

Hatsune help me, what if Sasha was a musician before her death? I could totally see Sasha playing the violin when she was younger, giving up on it so she could become a guard or whatever, but when she comes across an abandoned violin, she decides to take it and practice it again. And while she's playing one day, her hand stops moving, as does her arm. Just frozen in place. Her grip on the bow was loose in the first place, and in the silence left by the sudden stop of her music, the bow clatters to the ground.

If she's unlucky, it could even fall from the roof of the fortress she's playing on and land in the lava pools below. Then again if that happened, the instant Sasha got control of her body again she would go beat the fuck out of the Shadow King with her bare hands. It's hard to get musical instruments when you're literally stuck in hell and it's one of the few things that brings her solace.

Just had a wicked and evil thought, we characterized Gene with his porcelain scar, but what if we applied that same idea to someone else? Zenix is like a puppet on his strings, right? What if one day he glanced down at his wrists and found red lines wrapped around them? As if the strings are digging into his skin. And this is after he's already "cut himself free" from the Shadow King's control and is killing Shadow Knights. A chilling reminder that he still isn't in control.

After a bad fight his healing powers come into play, but it leaves a permanent stitch mark where his flesh came back together. Not the way a scar from stitching normally looks, but like a rushed stitch you did on a piece of fabric to get it functional but not pretty. It never goes away, nobody can see it from under his armor, but Zenix knows. He knows it's there.

I know before I said Vylad has compeltely limp states like Laurance, and that's still a thing, but I want to tweak the flavor. I'm imagining Vylad as like a

This fucking thing. That's Vylad. Sometimes only one of his joints stops working instead of the entire limb. Bro will be climbing trees and then their left elbow just goes backwards. Whoops it's not supposed to do that! Vylad is honestly not too bothered by this after the third time it happens, bro just gets used to it.

Everyone else (especially Garroth) is understandably very thrown off by this suddenly happening. Like it's one thing for Laurance's arm to go numb and act like it's out of socket, it's another thing for Vylad's arm to be able to bend backwards with seemingly no physical pain caused to him. He keeps trying to assure everyone that this is just ab symptom of being a shadow knight, and it's only Laurance who really gets it. The phrase "all dolled up" might as well be a universal trigger of Shadow Knights. Cadenza says it in reference to Laurance while she's helping him get ready for Kenmur's wedding, and while she instantly knows she fucked up and Laurance can see that, it still makes him stiff. His hands twitch as if to make sure it didn't start just from her saying the phrase. References to dolls start to fade out of the vocabulary of the alliance and its members over time. Largely because everyone has respect for either Vylad, Laurance, or Vincent and doesn't want to potentially upset them. The whole doll thing is a pretty sensitive subject.

Speaking of Vincent, as we've established, the doll stuff happens regardless of whether they're premature or not. I think that it happens less if you've answered the calling, but it still happens. Vincent gives me the vibes of like a voodoo doll almost. So he definitely gets the randomly limp limbs sometimes, but sometimes he just can't open his mouth, as if it were sewn shut. Oh that's awful oh my Irene this headcanon has caused so much pain.

I have other stuff to say on the Vincent as a voodoo doll thing but... Wow what the fuck that's horrifying. Like the first time that happens is maybe after he's answered the calling but still doesn't fully understand what he is. He's trying to explain it, nearly screaming to try and fight against it, clawing at his face to try and tear it off-- Wowie Minecraft Diaries really lends itself to body horror. I didn't even plan to write that sentence but as I was writing it I remembered the very popular headcanon about Shadow Knights having claws or at least sharper nails that could easily tear skin and yeah wow what the actual fuck.

Uhm, on a better (??) note, I think this means Vincent sometimes just gets random stabbing pains in his body with seemingly no cause. I feel like this might be connected to the Shadow King, but then also could somehow connect to the other divine? Idk about that part I just think the idea of Aph growing her angel wings causing Vincent to feel some form of pain in his back as a response would be weird and net. Vincent is weird and neat, sorry for low key mutilating him.

Have fun incorporating those scars into your next redesign!

[michanvalentine]

Things about Vincent Valentine that I read around and piss me off. Vol.3

"Vincent is boring, doesn't talk and does nothing but mope around."

EXCUSE ME?!?! Seriously, I think this is the worst. I understand that not everyone may like a character, and rightly so, but this type of comment often denotes a lack of in-depth analysis of the character. Or even a lack of simple understanding. And since I now feel like Vincent Valentine's defense lawyer, I think I will continue my speech, your honor! Personally I don't find it boring at all, quite the contrary. Vincent Valentine is a mysterious character. Even now, years after the release of DoC, we discuss, question and fantasize about the thousand things that are still unclear about him. And with the release of Rebirth the questions and doubts have only increased, although the character has clearly been expanded in his characterization. The roots of his story run deep into the heart of FFVII's plot, where it all began, and Vincent Valentine boasts strong connections to characters like Hojo, Lucrecia, and Sephiroth himself. Not to mention the Turks and Shinra. This alone should arouse interest, even just to understand how the character of Vincent Valentine can enrich the game's plot and the characters he interacts with. Furthermore, Vincent Valentine has the superpower of being unintentionally comical, starting from his inability with modern technology. His serious, dark, cold and stoic nature sometimes clashes so much with the context or with the characters around him that it almost makes him seem ridiculous. And that's something I find funny. As well as all the interactions he can have with characters who are markedly more exuberant/cheerful than him, such as Yuffie, Cid or Barret. But ok, tastes are tastes, there's no arguing about that. For me Vincent is far from boring, but I can understand that for some he is. What I can't stand is thinking of him as a person who does nothing but "mope around".

Apart from the fact that Vincent Valentine is a righteous person who cares about his friends and is always there to support them in his own way. And as much as he tries to stay away from everything and everyone, he can never resist when it comes to helping someone. We saw this in AC when he promptly saves Cloud from Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo. We saw him in DoC, when he shielded Reeve or Yuffie on several occasions. We even saw him in Rebirth, when he shielded Tifa or rushed to support Cloud during the Queen Blood quest. Let's say that the role of bodyguard is still powerful in him! But I really can't read that his flaw is being silent. Or that he dwells too much on the past and mopes around. My eyes bleed when I read these comments. I'll make a quick list why Vincent Valentine can't be a cheerful and jovial person who gets along with everyone:

He is heartbroken. The love of his life left him like this, from one moment to the next, and without a valid reason. Not for him, at least.

Lucrecia chose Hojo. Of all people. This is a great blow to his self-esteem, not because Hojo is a toad but because he is a person with an abominable soul.

He's been killed. But then he rose again. And already here there is something very wrong.

The experiments that brought him back to life were not exactly a walk in the park. And if we think of Hojo, only abominable scenarios like him can come to mind.

He is a monster. Inside him he has four uncontrollable and angry entities that he has to live with night and day every day.

The world outside could welcome him with torches and pitchforks.

He lost thirty years of his life and found himself in a world he no longer knows, people, places, technology. Everything changed.

He is immortal. This means that he will see all the people he loves die, one after the other, inevitably. Over and over.

The woman he loves lies in a crystal, eternally unattainable.

One of the entities he harbors within himself is Chaos, a primordial god of death who will cause the end of the world.

His long-term life prospect is to witness the end of all life. Only to be left behind on a dying planet. Alone.

And maybe I even forgot to consider some other aspects! Just to put it all in perspective: we ordinary people complain about our cuticles or because it's raining or because there's a test at school. Or for any other triviality. And we are often in a bad mood simply because we are. Vincent Valentine has been through hell. He literally died and then came back to life. I think this abberation alone would be enough to drive anyone crazy. And then he spent almost thirty years alone in the basement of the Shinra Mansion, when isolation is considered a form of torture for us human beings. And this too would drive anyone mad. Death is a liberation, which was denied to him in exchange for a new, damned existence made of nightmares, demons, regrets, remorse, etc. And in the future for him there is nothing, only death and destruction. No love, no family, only ephemeral bonds, destined to be lost over time. No wonder he's afraid to let people get close. There is no hope for Vincent Valentine, only a dark destiny awaits him. With such a rosy outlook it would almost be unnecessary to remember that people who lose a limb or are disfigured suffer psychological damage that requires years of therapy, so we can only imagine how Vincent Valentine rebuilt his self. Alone, in the dark. After being dissected on an operating table, genetically manipulated and put back together in a way he wasn't. Life, dignity, humanity, all stripped away. Nonetheless, Vincent Valentine got back on his feet. Also thanks to the help of the right people at the right time, of course, but after everything he has been through, reacting is not something to be taken for granted. Indeed, not only did he remain a "functioning" person but he also managed to retain his big heart and his strong sensitivity. Vincent Valentine is a person with incredible resilience, who managed to draw from trauma and suffering the strength necessary to put himself at the service of good. To protect instead of destroy, when he could simply drown his conscience and his pain in the beast's rage and let it be. Only a great man can do this.

So leave him alone. He has every right and reason to be depressed or to remain silent without being judged for it. The guy is already doing a great job.

[lovingoverwatchguys]

Soldier 76 and Tracer [warning: long post]

A lot of this boils down to headcanon, because this storyline is clearly incomplete (and will probably be expanded upon later...hopefully) and also is often implied rather than said aloud, but I really do think Soldier and Tracer have the kind of father-daughter dynamic in canon, the same way people give him and Dva one in fanon.

At this point, I think it’s pretty well-established that Jack wants to look out for Lena’s safety. Consider what he says when you select her in the Uprising event:

(This line truly touches my cold, dead heart.)

And when he sees her get killed in-game: (I believe the ‘seeing teammate get killed’ voicelines were taken out of the game because there’s already so much audio clutter. Which is understandable, but a bummer, because there was so much relationship insight in them)

Plus the iconic:

A lot of the time, people have the idea of the new generation of Overwatch being the ‘kids’. The thing is, while someone like Cassidy might have been Overwatch’s kid, I’d say Lena was Jack’s kid in particular. He quickly takes a liking to her, and she admires him a lot. I think she even still would defend him. In the London Calling comic, despite her polite smile, she doesn’t seem to like the public perception of other Overwatch members:

When you look at someone like Angela, who clearly holds resentment or at least regret towards Overwatch’s fall, versus Lena, who seems to remember it fondly and hate how people perceive it...it’s clear to me that she still believes in it. And not just in the abstract sense of ‘likes its original ideas’; she believes in how it was, including the leadership.

Including the Strike Commander. 

As of right now, we haven’t gotten a ton of canon material regarding the relationships between the characters between the time of Retribution and the Zurich explosion. We have the Ana comic where she ‘dies’, but that doesn’t really go very deeply into anyone’s mindset other than Ana herself. The scraps we have at least seem to imply that Lena fit right into the Overwatch ‘family’. 

With that thought in mind, I wouldn’t be surprised if she formed a bond with the Strike Commander, even with the bubble he put himself in. She was certainly at least in touch with the people closer to him. She also seems to be quite familiar with Ana. 

I think Jack cares about Lena and has a specific protectiveness of her, moreso than the other ‘next generation’. Like some kind of father, if you will. (Also, the gay and lesbian thing might be a coincidence, but it’s still worth considering...)

Now, let’s talk about parallels. (Thank you to @lenaperseveranceoxton for inspiring parts of this post, echoing a lot of how I already felt, but giving a couple new details I hadn’t thought of, in this post )

There are a lot of things about Soldier 76 and Tracer that are similar, and I don’t think this was an accident or excessively basic characterization. And I think Jack picks up on this. (I’m unsure about if Lena does)

Now, I could talk about how he refers to her ‘potential’, but I think the biggest piece of direct evidence here is this part of the Uprising comic. Lena comes to try and convince Jack to put troops in London, despite the fact that many governments are very deadset on not doing that. (When you think about it, that probably does mean he put his surrogate daughter over the law...be gay do crimes moment.)

The thing that informs Jack to make the decision to send troops into London is this after his conversation with her: 

The implication I got was that Tracer, with all of her spirit and belief in doing what was right, reminded Jack of himself when he was younger and more idealistic. It reminded him what he originally created all of this for.

And while this is hopeful and all, Jack does eventually lose that type of idealism (well, to some extent, but I already went off about that elsewhere). Meanwhile, Lena is left with it.

Now, there’s also Vincent and Emily. Lena is still with Emily, and her decisions are often influenced by her caring for her girlfriend. Lena will do things to protect her and retain their happy relationship.

Meanwhile, Jack split with Vincent over his job. Unlike some people, I don’t think Jack is still in love with Vincent as a person; Vincent represents the life he gave up for the Commander position, and how sad he is about that. It’s not even about who Vincent is now. Who knows if they’d even still be together? What it’s about is living a life with a family and not constant stress. Something simpler.

So, Lena is someone who hasn’t given up that life yet. But she’s still young enough that she someday could.

But all of that just leads me to the speculation that Jack doesn’t want Lena to go into this, because he fears that she’ll end up the same way he did. The idealistic person getting their dreams crushed by the cruel world of politics. He wouldn’t want her to be part of new Overwatch, because he thinks she’s putting herself in danger.

You know what I think would be cool? If ultimately, that was what pulled him back into this whole fight once and for all. Obviously he has plenty of reasons to want to go back, but I’d love if what pushed him over the edge was protecting Lena and feeling responsible for keeping her from what he went through. It’d be a nice parallel, and a moment where he could show how much he genuinely does care. And most importantly, it would show that he still has something to learn from the younger people. I think that’d be a good growth moment for him, and could even be a nice theme for the audience.

Okay, maybe I also just want them to have cute moments together. Maybe I want him to try and take her fishing or some other lame old man thing. Is that so wrong?

In conclusion: sometimes a family is a gay old man, his lesbian daughter, and her cute girlfriend.

[professional-sephiroth-scrungler]

I finally finished rebirth! Here is my unsolicited review cause i don’t want to melt my brother’s ear drums with my rambling

First off, Rebirth is a wonderful game. It’s not perfect by any means but it’s still great. The graphics are stunning, the soundtrack is absolutely amazing, and all the issues i had with story flow and confusion in the OG are basically fixed.

Story: I’ve got so much to say but thats mostly theories so i’ll keep it brief. I love where they are taking things. They’ve done a wonderful job of blending the OG story with the new stuff and the new directions its going. We arent really gonna full know whats happening until its all wrapped up but I am here for it!

Gameplay: its a good improvement on what they did for the first part. I however, have slow reflexes with the bumper and trigger buttons so they milliseconds they give you to block for immunity is not great for me. Dodging around is really fun though

Side quests/world intel: the side quests and world intel are hit or miss for me. Most of the stuff that doesn’t enhance the story, give lore, or deepen character relationships feels like a chore sometimes. Getting all the lifesprings, phenomenons, summon alters, and intel fights is repetitive and annoying sometimes but its easy to fall into the groove of if you have something playing in the background for the dull bits and running around the world to get to another story/side story beat.

Characters: Wonderful, amazing, exceptionally characterized. The nuances of the cast have been fleshed out a lot and it’s great. Even with their limited screen time, Vincent and Cid have so much substance and i am extremely excited to see where the story takes them. No, i am not ignoring one character in particular, what do you mean? None of the characters have made me seethe and mald at all and make me want to stop playing because of how annoying they are! And im definitely not afraid of the wrath my opinion of the character will bring if i say who! … Fuck it.

Yuffie: Yuffie definitely has more character than in OG and has sure been fleshed out since Intergrade… In the sense they took the happy go lucky, hyper, materia obsessed kid and multiplied it by 1000. It doesn’t help that she is also inserted into situations she 100% does not belong in. What could have been bonding moments for Aerith, Tifa, Barret, or Nanaki, what would’ve fit well in those situations, have Yuffie instead. And it seems her story is not until part 3 so why is she here so much? During tense or sad moments, she says stuff that ruins the vibe or is just irritating. Many time, she would say something during the story, and right after i would think that the moment would’ve been 10 times better if she was not inserting herself into it. Sometimes it feels like the writers are partially writing her as the main character when in the OG, she was an optional side character. Its not to say its all bad, she can have some funny moments. Except those where near when she just joins the party and the more those “silly moments” happen, the more grating they become. I hope that whenever her story arc happens in part 3 or a dlc (god i hope not a dlc the game is already $70), she has some growth and mellows back at least a bit. But who knows, maybe this is just a personal thing and she is actually a fine character. If you like her, thats fine. In the end, her character just isn’t for me and i just dont understand. These were just things that annoyed me personally and if you are fine or like how much more Yuffie there is in the remake trilogy, thats perfectly ok. Anyways

Expectations vs Reality: my only real gripe with the advertising is around Sephiroth and him being called a “protagonist” and supposedly us learning more about him in some english translations ive seen of interviews. I don’t quite understand where the protagonist thing came from. He is still very much the penultimate antagonist. But i expected to at least be able to read some in the manor about his childhood and play as him in combat a bit more. Maybe some TFS promo material got mixed up in my brain. If not, the best i can come up with from where the protagonist thing came from is that Sephiroth believes he is the protagonist, that he is doing the right thing, that he is the hero saving the planet and all other worlds through his twisted vision. And i guess through that, we have learned a lot about his motivations now and how he currently sees things. Not the backstory stuff i was hoping fore, but still really cool to see and analyze.

Over all, i would say Rebirth is an 8.5/10 for me. Some stuff dragged, was fluffed out a bit much in parts and such but over all a great game!

Actually, no. Sephiroth didn’t fast ball a materia at us in the basement. Maybe that will happen in Part 3. But that loss makes it a 0/10. RIP baseballiroth

[autisticempathydaemon]

A friend of mine's been tryna get me into Redacted and shit and told me bout your matchups so Imma give it a go

DO 4 LOVE by Snoh Alegra. Specifically the part "And in my world, only you / Make me do for love, what I would not do"

Had to look up what you were talkin bout, my friend said Id be a 2? So Imma take their word and go with that

I don't really watch things unless someone else is showing me?? But I'm pretty sure I saw this one vid about the best cocktail and fresh herb pairings which was pretty fucking cool

Is that a thing people have...? I guess I didn't have one really?? Friends were kinda hard to keep when I was younger

I don't really sleep if I can help it. If I do, it's usually cuz I'm around the right people y'know? And usually cuz I'm bout to pass out or some shit

My name isn't changed across the board or anything but I chose my other name cuz I wanted something that felt like it represented what I wanna be. I like being a guide in a weird way, and there was something bout my name that just feels right now. I dunno, it's kinda weird cuz I still vibe with my first name too

Had to pull it up again so I didn't fuck up the title but "Baking A Cake With Your Incubus Boyfriend" for sure. I pretty much learned how to cook cuz someone else taught me and the audio reminds of one of my friends. Plus I crack myself up thinkin bout how badly another friend fucked up a cake this one time

I don't really fuck with Sam honestly? Don't really like Vincent either but that's more of a dislike kinda situation. Sam's real hard headed bout certain things and it's exhausting sometimes. He's not bad when he quits actin like he ain't holdin onto the same shit he scolds other people for, but as a whole I don't see what other people do in him

Sat next to a friend reading Circe out loud and then borrowed it from them the next day. They let me keep it after I asked to re-read it for the 5th time

If I had to pick? Vega or Brachium. Both of them remind me a lot of a old friend of mine so I fuck with most of their audios. I think they'd be cool to kick it with if they didn't have a bunch of plot shit goin on

Don't really have a go-to cuz I like tryin new shit. I tend to let someone else pick for me and roll with it. Last time I got something they gave me strawberry lemonade and hard pretzels. Was pretty good ngl

Been really into disco music lately! I think it's disco. That's what they called it, I dunno, it's fun to jam to. Really into Night To Remember as of late

Uh I dunno, maybe cooking shows? I don't really get what they're sayin half the time but it looks good on the screen

Hmmm, Type Twos are characterized as a giving, open- hearted sort of people, leaning towards those who are similarly inclined. With that in mind, I’d pick Camelopardalis for you.

Another reason I like him for you is because of what you said about sleep. Sleeping in the presence of another person is so vulnerable and trusting so I wanted to pair you with the most trustworthy Redacted man I could think of. Also, I think Cam would be the most appreciative of the trust and love that that gesture would wordlessly express, you know? Also, I like what you said about “being a guide”; like, I feel Cam would hear that and resonate with that.

Overall, you’d have such a peaceful, serene life, and I love that for y’all. Cam would be so well fed in more ways than one, because I can see him being such a supportive, helpful sous chef once he gets the idea. I can clearly imagine you introducing him to cooking and disco, music playing while he watches you dance around the kitchen while also watching whatever’s in the pot on the stove. (I’m so sure the daemon powers and speed will be so helpful in the kitchen.) (Also, I think he was totally old enough to be around for disco, but he was more of a classical/jazz guy. This would make it even more fun to show him the genre he missed.)

Song:

Give me the simple life/ Some find it pleasant dining on pheasant/ Those things roll off my knife/ Just serve me tomatoes and mashed potatoes/ Give me the simple life/ A cottage small is all I'm after

Like I said, Cam’s a classics and jazz kind of guy in my head. I think he’d have a wonderful time showing you the music he likes, the kind that brings him serenity. This song, specifically the Ella Fitzgerald version is deffo an example. I can see this playing in the morning as he gets ready for work in the morning making you breakfast since you always cook for him.

Runner-ups:

Morgan is a good runner-up for you because he also strikes me as a guiding, helpful figure, just not as much as Cam, ya know? David is a runner-up because I think it’d be really cute for y’all to cook with each other~

Note: I totally agree with you about Sam you’re so real for that~

Read this post and send me an ask if you’d like a match-up of your own! 💌

[andreal831]

Depiction of Jayley in The Great War

This is going to have spoilers for my fic, The Great War, up to the most recent chapter 28 (both parts on WP). Do not read if you are not caught up.

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I have not been shy that my fic has a haylijah endgame. If you follow me on anything, you know they are my favorite ship in the entire TVDU. I've also been fairly obvious with my feelings on Jackson in the show. That being said, I've also always prefaced conversations surrounding Jackson by saying most of my reasons for not liking Jackson are for lack of screen time and lack of development.

I started writing The Great War because I felt like most of the characters' development gets ruined at some point and I wanted to fix it. This includes for Jackson.

Many of you were surprised that I didn't have Jackson die by Tristan like he did in the show, but I felt like that was incredibly unfair to his character. It made his character's entire purpose just an obstacle for haylijah and when it wasn't needed anymore, they killed him off. I hated that they did it to Gia and I didn't want to do it to Jackson. Their characters deserved more than that.

I think Jackson had the potential to be a good complex character. We are watching a show where most of the characters are easily described as morally grey if not straight-up villains. Jackson's character should have been the opposite of that. We see in TVD the evil vamps are balanced out by Bonnie. We don't really have a good balance out in the first couple of seasons of TO, not until Vincent becomes a main character. I think Jackson was meant to be this character but Nathan Parsons had other projects going so he couldn't be in the show as much as he needed to be.

Nathan Parsons' schedule left me feeling like Jackson was an absentee character. He is really only present in the realm of the wolves, leaving Hayley to broker peace with the other factions by herself. He never felt like the alpha of the pack to me. He let Oliver take over the pack, let Klaus manipulate him, didn't even notice Aiden betraying him, didn't stop the witches from turning the kids, etc.

When I write, I try to keep the characters from the show in the back of my head. The two biggest moments I think of for Jackson that I feel define his character are:

One, when he didn't even check in on Hayley after she died and lost her baby. This was also while the pack was being taken over by the witches. I couldn't even wrap my head around how he just abandoned her and the pack. They needed to give him more of a backstory as to why he did that. Hayley had to go track him down and he made an offhanded comment about her death and the baby showing that he did know it happened. This is just poor writing, not even due to scheduling conflicts since there was already a time jump. They could have easily said Jackson had come to check on Hayley and she turned him away. It just felt like he had no interest in Hayley or Hope outside of what they could do for him and the pack.

Two, when Jackson threw a fit that no one was at Oliver's funeral. Oliver had betrayed the whole pack, was the reason Hayley's child was "dead," why Eve was dead, why the pack was under the control of witches, and why the pack had to send their children away. I wouldn't have been at the funeral either. He was mad at the pack for not showing up, but he hardly even showed up to save Oliver's life. Hayley, who again, lost her life and child because of Oliver, attempted to save his life on her own and tried to be there for him. Jackson couldn't even manage to thank her for the efforts she was making to the pack.

I have tried to keep the characters very similar to how they are depicted in the show and I've gotten some mixed reviews on the characterization of Jackson. I think I've kept him relatively similar to what we saw in the show. But I know everyone perceives characters differently. I personally didn't see him as a strong alpha or a great husband to Hayley. But I also didn't see Hayley as a great wife in return. Mainly because they were never meant to be romantic. The unification was a political arrangement that was forced to be romantic. They were also in their very early twenties at the time with little life experience. Hayley had been in and out of foster care, never seeing a healthy relationship. Jackson had spent his entire adult life as a wolf, never learning how to be an adult. Of course they struggled to communicate.

Jackson would have been such a neat character to explore how this all has impacted his growth. He essentially would have mentally been frozen at the age he turned into a wolf because of the Crescent curse. His backstory was completely missing. We don't know how he was turned, where his parents are, how he grew up, etc. A lot of the reasons people love Jackson are based on headcanon of his past or of how he treated people off screen (which is usually headcanon).

Some people have realized that I've been giving Jackson more of a backstory in my fic. Not a whole bunch because he's very much a side character. But even in the conversations with Hayley or Hayley's inner thoughts are meant to give Jackson much more understanding than the show offered.

I don't think he should be a hated character, there are much worse characters on the show. But at the same time, I always perceived him as a kind of entitled, immature character who needs a lot of development. So that's how he is being depicted at the moment in my story. But again, character development is possible for everyone.

I wanted to explain the reasoning for how Jayley and Jackson are depicted in my fic. I tried very hard to give them a better ending than the show, but I do think they needed to end and would have even if Jackson hadn't died. After all, I didn't think it was fair to either of them to be in a forced relationship.

[the-writing-mobster]

From all of your fanfics and maybe even original works, who was the most difficult character to write?

Thank you for the ask, dear heart! Hmmm, most difficult character to write? ... Out of alllll my works? Even the original stuff?

I CAN FINALLY TALK ABOUT MY BOOK!!!

Usually I don't have any issues writing character. I can just click into their headspace and take off. Even with the really evil characters..

Except...

Vincent fucking Gallagher

THIS GUY is probably the hardest character I've ever had to pin down. I've had to go through like 3 drafts of the exact same chapter just trying to get him right.

So what's his deal? He has a crippling fear of vulnerability (man moment). So I'm trying to do this thing where even the audience is kept at an arm's length. But I'm also trying not to make him too broody. He still has to be likeable. We still have to root for him (I mean, he's the love interest, of course we have to root for him) So it's like walking this delicate balance of characterization to get him just right and BOY is he kind of pissing me off!

But it's okay! I finally wrangled him in! Now I've synced with him, and all is well! See? He's cooperating now!

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[getvalentined]

Don't worry fren I got you!

🥤🍄❄️

🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love

The Evil That Men Do by CharlieTheUnicorn is the single best VinVeld fic (series) that I've ever read. It's a trilogy, with the third part being incomplete thus far, but regardless of completion status I literally cannot recommend it highly enough. The pacing is excellent, the characterization is fantastic, the worldbuilding is solid—genuinely, it's the best VinVeld work I've ever read, and as the first person in the English speaking side of the fandom to have posted fanart of that ship way back in 2005, that means something.

🍄 ⇢ share a headcanon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

I did this for Vinesis earlier so this time I'm gonna do Tseeve: Reeve has photos of his loved ones on his desk at work, and when he needs to focus in preparation for a particularly important or difficult meeting, he puts just the photos of Tseng facedown so he stops getting distracted looking at him. (This comes from a long, silly conversation with @takenbynumbers, and is a headcanon shared between us!)

❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

Honestly this is hard to say—I have a lot of different things I'd like to read, but most of them are things that I accept I'd have to write myself if I ever want them to exist, and I write specifically to indulge myself and/or my friends so that's usually my mindset on it. Smoke and Mirrors is basically the Sephesis fic I've always wanted, and the VinVeld AU I'm working on is pretty much the Vincent-centric fic I've always wanted. If you want something done you've gotta do it yourself!

For things I'd love to see that I don't want to write myself for whatever reason, I would love a long time-travel fix-it fic based around someone other than Cloud going back in time—Vincent or Genesis would be my preference, since they actually had much more important roles in the Crisis coming to pass. I know there are a couple out there with Vincent, one of which I am pretty fond of, but they tend to focus on ships I avoid (the two most popular ships for Vincent are NOTPs for me) or end up falling into tropes and story concepts I'm not really into. I don't have a solid enough concept of the exact plot that I'd like to see there to write it myself, but maybe someday...

[ writers' truth & dare ask game ]

[mr-laveau]

20 Questions for Fic Writers Game

Tagged by a darling, @autisticempathydaemon! Thanks for the tag!

Tagging @agentplutonium because I wanna pull some SH style interrogative shenanigans/lh

1 - How many works do you have on AO3?

Seventeen, not a lot but it's to be expected somewhat I suppose since I'm busy writing NeXus.

2 - What's your total AO3 word count?

64,509-Oh look I beat Lexi/j/pos

3 - What fandoms do you write for?

Redacted mostly, I have some unreleased Castle Audios fics, an unfinished JJBA SDC fic to finish and a Scott Pilgrim fic to start.

4 - What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

#1 is an Ironpanther Marvel Fic of Avenger's Academy I have not touched in forever called "How Tony Stark landed a king and how T'Challa landed a genius". It was fun tho cuz my hc of T'Challa being demisexual was really well received to my knowledge. #2 is "Spitfire", which admittedly is a good FL/Damien fic and people should read it. #3 is "Ghost of the Past", my Sam/SH fic where they both used to be roommates in DUMP. #4 is "Friends...Am I right?" which was a really fun Darlin/Sam & BE+Fred fic. Finally, #5 is "Moments That Flash By" which is a really good Darlin/David fic for my soul.

5 - Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do respond when I remember...ADHD makes me do silly silly things like forget that stuff exists. I like comments and they let me know I'm doing s good job.

6 - What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Easy! "Shattered Glass Makes a Good Weapon" Gods, I love that fic so much. It was really fun for me to reach deep down and write Darlin and Quinn like that.

7 -What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

uhhhhhhh I dunno, probably a Marvel fic called "Crossing Buckies and Dotting Hawkeyes", I am a winterhawk girlie and I had fun writing that, others might think it's "Spitfire" or "Break time, Gorgeous" but subjectively, it's that fic.

8 - Do you get hate on fics?

If I have then I haven't seen it. I don't really engage much with fandom to care about hate comments because "haha, look at you getting mad over words about fictional characters kissing", like shut your goofy ass and move on.

9 - Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I have but I'm not releasing it. I don't feel compelled to do it-mostly cuz it's for me and I like toying with the idea in my head and the people of my current fandom are not ready for the depravity I could unleash.

10 - Do you write crossovers?

No? I have ideated one but I'm still not sure if I want to do it.

11 - Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope.

12 - Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nuh uh.

13 - Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Uhhhh no but I have ideated with Lexi about one and I have been too busy to finish the first chapter.

14 - What's your all time favorite ship?

My redactedsona/redacted men What? who said that? It's Darlin/Sam/David/Angel/Damien/Asher/Baaabe/SH/Milo. It's my ship and yes, they're all poly, yes, they're a network and yes, I am happy with myself.

15 - What's a WIP that you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

"Platinum Portrait", It was an old JJBA fic with my OC/Jotaro and I really liked how it was going. Dunno, we'll see how it goes.

16 - What are your writing strengths?

I'm good at dialogue and characterization as well as pacing(?).

17 - What are your writing weaknesses?

Gore, writing long fics, Dead Dove Do Not Eats (I wanna do those at some point with Quinn or Hush OR Porter OR OR OR Imperium Vincent) I like dark shit, idk what to tell y'all and I wanna get better at exploring darker topics properly in my writing.

18 - Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Gods, I love doing it. If you've read "Break Time, Gorgeous" then I want you to know, I love you and it was fun as hell to write.

19 - First fandom you wrote for?

Marvel. Specifically it was my Ironpanther fic.

20 - Favorite fic you've written?

An unreleased Sam/Darlin smut fic where they fuck in an alleyway. I think it's fun.