#i just love coh so much i can't help it

[pharawee]

It's not even been one day and already my heart can't take people bashing Chains of Heart so they can praise Laws of Attraction 😭

[powdermelonkeg]

hi there! as someone who can't play CoH but is extremely interested in the game's story and worldbuilding, this is ur excuse to infodump as much as u want abt it if you have the energy bc i'll love you forever. pls tell me more abt it!

remember to hydrate and i hope you have a good day!

Okay so the very first thing that comes to mind:

The music.

I've talked about this once before (well over a year ago) here, but I need to gush about it more in-depth.

Obviously, it's the most important part of the game. It's a RHYTHM game. But it's not just a mechanic, it's something acknowledged in-world:

“This world does have some surprising similarities to my own. For example, whenever there are monsters nearby, you have to move to the beat! You’ll get used to it… Trust me.

"But at least in your world, if there are no enemies around, you can move as fast or as slow as you want. Handy!”

Cadence says this if you talk to her next to Link's house. Not only is this confirmation that the music is present, but that it's also a force in the world that works differently in other dimensions, like magic.

A good number of entries to the series have different music if enemies are around. Some examples:

Ocarina of Time

Wind Waker

Twilight Princess

Skyward Sword

Breath of the Wild

Not to mention that virtually ALL of the games have their own boss and miniboss music.

To have this acknowledged in-game is such a neat bit of worldbuilding if you run with it. My headcanon is that it's a form of synesthesia; ie, something from one sense is causes an unrelated reaction in a different sense. Smelling certain things when you see colors, seeing patterns when you touch materials, and so on.

In this case, I believe it's telepathic synesthesia. Hylians are known for their ability to hear "the voice of the gods," though this most commonly manifests by Zelda talking to Link to ask for help.

Telepathy is the ability to read minds. Enemies, presumably, have the ability to think (at least with enough capacity to see Link as a threat and attack him). With music being acknowledged as an in-world force, my theory is that Link (and by extension Zelda, Cadence, Yves, and any other playable character) interprets the thoughts of the various around him as their own kind of music.

The forest takes on a different theme if it's under attack, because the wildlife is trying to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. People have themes as they come into view, because their thoughts invoke a specific feeling in Link. That's how you get bad-news music for someone who's later going to be revealed as a boss, or pleasant tunes for someone guaranteed to be a friend, or leitmotifs for related characters.

All the Links have this to some degree. The original Legend of Zelda only really has two themes: the theme of the world, and the theme of the monster-infected dungeons. His telesthesia is very low-key.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, Cadence of Hyrule has themes for every area, with both peaceful and monster-infested variants. On top of this, he gets a visual indicator as well; there's a rhythm counter at the bottom of the screen that tells you when and how to step, and when it's not around, you're out of danger.

What's really interesting is looking at this beyond the game convenience, because it's both an asset and a disability. On the positive side, Link will always know when he's in danger, or when a place has different life in it from areas he's been to before. In Cadence of Hyrule specifically, though, it lets him predict his enemies' moves, recognizing patterns and dodging in time with their thoughts.

On the negative side, telepathy is, presumably, an at-will power. Zelda isn't always reading minds and sending thoughts to the people around her, as far as we can tell. But with Link hearing the music constantly, this means that he both cannot read or send thoughts himself and cannot turn the ability off. The only way for him to get peace and quiet is to isolate himself, and being in a place with a lot of people walking around can be incredibly overwhelming over time. And even barring that, in Cadence of Hyrule, you're punished for not being on beat; Link is very much dependent on this ability to keep his fighting prowess, something other Links don't have to suffer through.

In that regard, I think it's no coincidence that Age of Calamity has such a vibrant and varied soundtrack, while Breath of the Wild limits itself mostly to piano. BotW is an empty world, full of ruins and quiet, where enemies are remnants rather than an active force. Meanwhile, Age of Calamity is a literal warfront. If the music reflects the people in the setting, Breath of the Wild's Link is experiencing the first real quiet he has in over a century. It's a shame he can't remember it, isn't it?

[emerwenaranel]

You know, after that amazing moment in Coh where Nienor has this dialogue with Glaurung, I loved Nienor even more. But I cannot help but wonder what happened to her mother when the horse ran away from the rest of the group out of sheer terror for the dragon. So, I wrote a fanfic for Morwen because she is one of my favorite characters in Tolkien's legendarium. It is a pure speculation, so you do not have to agree with what I just thought that could have happened.

I am lost in Ered Gorgoroth. The horror of this place cannot be described with words. I do not know if I survive this dread. My uncle, Beren, survived when he was here once but I don't think I can. I am too scared of this place and too tired. I don't know where to hide. I am hunted down like am animal. My feet ache too much and some of my teeth are broken because I keep falling after the orc attack against me. I cannot describe the sheer pain and horror of this place. I am too depressed to continue to live. But I have to stay alive for my children and for my husband. The orcs that live here are the least of my problems right now. The children of Ungoliant, the giant spiders, scare me the most. I do not know how to escape from them. I just managed to hide from them right now. But I fear that they will find me soon.

I need to be calm and quiet in order to survive. If survival is possible in these Mountains of Terror. I have to fight in order to stay alive for my children, however. I wish to see them again and they are the only reason why I am still alive in this cursed world. I love them too much. But I don't know how to escape from that land. Because my life is hell because I am away from my family. Why do I have to suffer from pain? I don't know. But I wish I could be happy again.

Like the times when I was a child and I used to play with Baragund, my dear father. After his death, I blamed myself for that and I became too cold and distant. However, I knew that I could not save him. I was only a child when I was sundered from him. And now, I am separated from my children. I chose to send Turin to Doriath but I didn't choose to be separated from my dearest daughter. I don't know if I ever see Hurin Thalion ever again. They all are away from me, and I feel trapped in Ered Gorgoroth. I wish none of this had happened but I can't change my life because I am cursed. Life is misery and death is freedom. But I cannot die before I see my family again.

[mikk1n]

Ooh do Vesna!!

How I feel about this character:

My horrible baby, my evil little child, I love her.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

No one, really! Or at least, no one in the "I'm definitely rooting for them" sense.

In COH she enters a polycule with Delilah and Breanna (when she's an adult, of course), but there's no real romance in it; she's using them, and Delilah is using her.

I was also thinking about her maybe having a similar "I'm using you" fling with a boy her age in Shadow of Tyvia (mostly explored in the Makarov-centric COH spinoff I'm kinda sorta planning), though that's not set in stone rn.

Vesna is very much like her father in that she manipulates more than she allows herself genuine relationships, so she usually enters a relationship under the premise of getting something out of it.

Gonna put the rest of this under a readmore. It's gonna contain a HUGE spoiler for Call of Honor (specifically Part Four: The Shadow of Tyvia and Part Five: The Unquiet Grave), so keep that in mind!!

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

I'm gonna go familial relationship with this one and talk a bit about Vesna's relationship with her dad. Like...they are devoted to each other deeply, and in canonverse and COHverse it's to an unhealthy degree.

I'm gonna ramble a bit about their relationship in Call of Honor, because it's the timeline I've developed the most in terms of their relationship and I'm just *vibrates*

BIG ole spoilers for COH incoming!

Makarov dies again in Part 4 of COH (after kickstarting a revolution in Tyvia that results in the establishment of the pseudo-USSR government that's canon to Dishonored), and Vesna just...can't let go of him. She wants to resurrect him, and she learns the magic necessary to do it (as well as does...other things, lol), but since bodies are usually cremated in the Isles, there is no body to bring Makarov's spirit back to.

So Vesna literally rebuilds him, magic Frankenstein-style, and goes to extreme lengths to bring her father back. Her primary plan in UG is to achieve godhood, and she quite literally refuses to achieve godhood and become god-empress without her father by her side. Not just because she needs him to use the Knife, but also because she wants him there. Her idea of a perfect world is one where her father is with her, always. And when Makarov is resurrected, he will go to any and all lengths to help Vesna achieve her goal—not just because he stands to gain something out of it, but because he loves her and he always intended on giving her the world—literally—once he was through with it.

Makarov and Vesna are a foil to Corvo and Emily; they're both examples of familial love and devotion between father and daughter, but Makarov and Vesna's devotion to each other drives them to do unspeakably horrible things. Which makes it all the more ironic that Makarov originally didn't even want Vesna; it was the idea of an heir that made him warm up to having a child. But now he wouldn't trade her for the world.

Spoilers ended!

I just *clenches fist* familial devotion taken to the extreme. They would and have killed and committed atrocities for each other.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

I don't really have one? Mainly because she's an OC, so all my opinions on her are the right ones (/j), but also because I haven't seen very many misconceptions about her from people who are interested in her. I'm pretty open about the fact that she's a horrid little child, lol.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

She lives :(

Right now my "canon" for her mostly relates to COH, which demands that she die right around the time of Dust to Dust so that she can appear in DHverse. She dies in COH because her convoy was ambushed by Price and Yuri and their crew; they intended to capture her to bring Makarov out of hiding, but it went horribly wrong and she dies during the operation instead. It’s possible for the same to happen in canonverse, though it’s also just as likely that Vesna manages to get away safely and gets to grow up, albeit without her father.

my OTP:

None!

my cross over ship:

I guess Vesna/Delilah (again, once she's grown)? Though again, that's less an "I'm rooting for them" ship and more of a "this serves the plot" relationship.

One of my friends also suggested Vesna/Emily and ykw that's cute too. Absolutely not in Unquiet Grave (or canon COH in general, Vesna would be a horrible partner and it would be akin to canonverse Makayuri), but perhaps in an AU where she and Makarov are a little more hinged and capable of healthy relationships :D

a headcanon fact:

Vesna is extremely well read from an early age because Makarov would read her "adult" books instead of typical children's books (and by "adult" books I mean books geared toward adults and higher reading levels, not smut or anything of the sort). When she was little, she was one of those kids who used words almost too big for her to wrap her mouth around, lmao.

[quixoticanarchy]

Húrin and/or Morwen for the character meme?

-@outofangband

thank you @outofangband!! I'll do both of them, I can't choose, nor can I be concise :)

1-3 things I enjoy about them

the sheer guts? Húrin mocking Morgoth?? Morwen facing off with the dragon in the BoLT version?? no one is doing it like them

doom! I don't like this for them of course but I sure love cursed and doomed characters trying very hard anyway. or like, Húrin resisting evil so successfully he gets cursed, and then Morwen not knowing she's doomed, trying to survive and find her kids again

Something interesting about them based on tenuous circumstantial evidence

okay this is all Lost Tales but I am fascinated with Morwen's attitude when leaving Doriath to seek Túrin - she's very plainly indifferent to death, or even seeking it; she brings a knife to use on herself if need be; she tells Glaurung she doesn't care if he tortures her. Which I think, by the nature of the curse, arguably protects her from death, since that would be too easy and appreciated of a way for her story to end

A question I have about them

what happens to Morwen post-dragon while Niënor has lost her memory and all of that goes down? she's wandering around somewhere but doing what? was her memory affected?

A random relevant line I like

ahhh I mean, just read the entire 'the words of Húrin and Morgoth' chapter in CoH... and then the 'you lie' parallels, and of course 'she was not conquered'

My preferred version, if there is more than one version of their story

I like the CoH version very much (the Silm 'Of Túrin Turambar' chapter doesn't exist to me anymore after I realized there was so much more). But the BoLT version has some bits I love too... and I haven't read the whole Lay version yet

Favorite relationship(s)

with each other! and their kids, especially Morwen & Niënor

How would they react to Tom Bombadil

...in what context do they meet him? If he showed up to help get them out of trouble, then he's just a mildly odd ally. he could sing with Húrin, but I think their vibes would clash horribly... also have to wonder who would win, Bombadil's safety wards and general imperviousness to encroaching evil, or Húrin and Morwen being cursed

Optional: Something about them that I think people forget

hm I think Morwen fleeing as a kid from Dorthonion is pretty crucial background info for understanding her as grim/proud/unwilling to go beg for help or sanctuary in Doriath - she's already been a refugee once, and had to rebuild her life and learn to rely on herself. and arguably her decisions are also inflected by doom and all, but even absent that, I think she's one of the many characters who might be criticized for making 'bad' choices that actually have a solid logic given her life

[optimisticaboutyou]

the end of another chapter

By now, I've managed or supported all of the disease teams under the hematology department but today felt extra special handing off leukemia

It came as a surprise but was nice to be acknowledged in my final meeting, and this reaffirmed the impact I've made in bringing structure to a disconnected team <3

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The weeks leading up to this, I've been in endless back to back meetings and training the new PM and PCs, and I think the attachment to this team just grew, along with my anxiety

this sorta wore me out

I guess I always feel this way because I've put so much work and poured so much of myself into building these teams up to where they are now

and the perfectionist in me always wants to make sure I hand off something clean and complete - contrary to what I always inherit

and the pressure I put on myself makes no sense, as the work always continues and there's no real stopping point

but somehow I feel that if the new people I'm passing my portfolio over to make mistakes of any kind, that the burden of this "failure" will be on me - even if I have no hand in it at all

and it's just so ridiculous when I think it out loud- like why do I put myself through this, instead of stepping away like any other person and let people make their mistakes

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I take great pride in the work I do,

and maybe I just care way too much

and I feel like many lack that these days and lose the sense of accountability - they just want to coast by and seem like they've put in the time for the day (that really bugs me- and I shouldn't be upset at that because everyone is different but I don't have the tolerance for it)

so that's why when I train new people, I hope to instill within them a sense of responsibility - to see that they are part of a whole that together bring (with a sense of urgency) groundbreaking clinical trials, compassion, and collaboration to our cancer patients

[this isn't some HR spiel - it honestly is one of the reasons I love COH; our values match and that's typically hard to find in any institution. trust me, I've been through toxic, and you just gotta get yourself away from that; recognize there is better out there]

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All in all, I ultimately just want to bring my best in everything, and it's the sense of control that I can't let go of because it's always gotta be 100 or nothing at all

not sure if this is what uplifts me or to my detriment

I can't help but just care too much