#i may have rambled a bit

[faustmic]

👀 for anyone you wish to gush about!

This might get super sappy because I have been in a weird super nostalgic kind of sad mood lately, just a warning--

Hizashi has been a blessing in my life. He helps me understand how amazing I truly can be (even if I am not quite to seeing my own worth yet) He helps me out of my shell and helps me truly enjoy moments of my life without worry whether they be loud and big moments or small and intimate moments. He has always been there to offer support and love to me and I return it with all I can. We have such a loving and tender partnership that no one ever expected, not even us, but I wouldn’t ever want it any other way! I love everything about him, truly everything and I am extremely grateful for him in his entirety. 

I bet you thought I’d only talk about one but here I am

Sho and I have a relationship that is very complicated kind of to explain. We take comfort in each other’s presence and touch without needing to verbally express much. We spend a lot of time working near each other when possible, spend a lot of time sort of doing our own things but with the other within reach in case we need anything. We sleep and cuddle close to each other and provide a comfort and peace that we can’t find anywhere else in the world and it’s beautiful I think. We have a very calm and warm intimacy that would be seen as kind of odd elsewhere I suppose

[enchantment1385]

My most magnificent mega must (have) mods memo.

So, I’ve been putting this off (big surprise!), but the time has come! I am going to try and provide some recommendations of my favorite mods. Mods I will not play the game without, or mods I love so much, I can’t recommend them highly enough! Hopefully some of you will find a new excuse to play one of these games again! I will split the list up into games so you skip if you don’t play a certain game. Again, these are my personal recommendations, so please don’t get all bent out of shape over this people. I also won’t be adding the very amazing utility mods (such as SkyUI or mcm or mod organizers) as I feel these are required mods. Today's installment -  

~Skyrim~

VIGILANT  +  VIGILANT Voiced - English Addon Okay, where do I start with the amazingingness of the mod? It’s massive, compelling, scary (chapter 3 holy fucking shitballs, batman!), and just absolutely perfectly executed on every level horror mod! This is not a mod you complete in a couple of hours, this you need to put aside a day or 2 and go through all 5 chapters! 1 guy made this. 1 awesome japanese dovha, alas it’s not as adored as it should be as, when originally released, the english subtitles (literally translations from Google) didn’t really translate well... or at all at some points. Hence why you need the voiced addon which makes this mod a 15+ hour, fully awesomely voiced adventure to seek out daedra, and be physically, and morally tested by the one and only Daedric Prince of domination, Molag Bal. Your choices WILL affect the outcome. This mod gives you everything you want from a mod. New weapons, new armour, new enemies, dark soul like boss battles, new places, new people, new land. With Halloween quickly approaching, this is the perfect time to give this a shot! 

Legacy of the Dragonborn

I stayed away from this mod for SO long thinking it was just a massive oversize player home to put all your crap on display. I was wrong. I was SO wrong. This mod is the ultimate scavenger hunt turned up to 11. It adds some of the best mods out there and puts them all together to make you WANT to go find that bloody staff, or helm, because A, it now looks amazing, and B, there’s a place for EVERYTHING in the museum, it must be filled! It adds old relics, new quests, a very gorgeous fair sized player home, you get to go to Elsweyr, and even get an airship you CAN use later! And trust me when I say, there is nothing that looks quite as impressive as your dovah walking around a city with your massive ass airship looming overhead. The way everything gets placed into the world is fucking flawless, and if you’re bored or just want more out of Skyrim, this is the mod that does that, and WAY more. Also a massive bonus, it has several patches for other mods that didn’t get incorporated (vigilant being among them) to add extra wings for you to display the items from other mods! 

Interesting NPCs

Another mod I stupidly avoided to begin with. So as we know, vanilla followers are... meh. But now with all these new battles and exploring you have to do, you might want someone watching your back, right? Forget vanilla, time to go interesting! This mod adds -

• 250+ Voiced NPCs • 25+ Followers with Location Based Commentary • 15+ Marriage NPCs 

This mod makes Skyrim feel inhabited, but with REAL people. People who you can, should, and will want to talk to. The voice acting is just fantastic, the characters are an absolute joy, they fit into the world so perfectly you’d never know they weren’t there all along! Well... Except for the fact they’re actually interesting, and have more than 5 things to say! It also has something called ‘Super Followers’. These followers actually comment on what’s happening in your story. Just about to go kill your first dragon? They have something to say about it. Just joined the college of mages? Have a chat to see what they think! I can not express how much this will change your game, but 151% for the fucking better! Oh! And just in case you were running short on things to do, this also adds 50+ more quests! *(footnote) Pleaaassssee go to Soljund's Sinkhole and take Rumarin with you. What he says when you clear that place out has me laughing my ass off every time.

Immersive Citizens - AI Overhaul

Are you tired of being the only one is Skyrim who actually seems to DO anything? Are you weirded out by the fact when you walk into an inn at 4am everyone is doing the same thing as they were at 2pm last week? Confused as hell by the comment ‘Do you hunt? The plains outside Whiterun are ripe with game.’ How the fuck would you know, Anoriath?! You never leave Whiterun, dude! EVER! That ends with this mod. Now people have routines. They sleep, they eat, they walk around, they don’t just stay in one place all the time! It makes the npc’s go from a static feature and changes them into actual people, or goes a long way to help! Even people like carriage drivers now have a lil tent near the carriage, and will even take shelter under cover if it starts raining. (if it’s not too far from the carriage!) Random people will now not try and fight the big dragon who is burning everything to a crisp, but instead run away and take shelter, you know, like a normal person would? Which is helpful, as I tend to hit them with a stray spell then get into shit for accidentally electrocuting the blacksmith or someone who shouldn’t have stood in the way of the MASSIVE FUCKING DRAGON IN THE FIRST PLACE! Anyway... This mod is awesome and makes all the vanilla npc’s less static and weird!  

Relationship Dialogue Overhaul - RDO

Don’t know about you but, I’m kinda bored with the dialogue in this game. The same 5 lines on repeat, over and over and OVER again. I want people who hate me to say something a bit more nasty that ‘What do YOU want?’ This mod adds over 5000 lines of dialog that was never used. Braith finally has more insults to throw at you! Which is great, because I hate that kid and now you will too! Your rivals will be rude to you. Your friends will compliment you. And your spouse will finally say more than a handful of lines to you! With this and the AI overhaul Skyrim will finally feel like it’s come alive. It seems like such a small addition, but it makes a huge impact when you hear lines that you’ve never heard before! 

PC Head Tracking and Voice Type &  Expressive Facial Animation (M)  (F)

So we’ve finally got a living breathing Skyrim, and holy shit, it’s a beautiful thing, right? Time to focus on bringing you to life. Don’t know about you, but I found it plain fucking odd that I didn’t ever look at the person who’s talking to me. Like, not even accidently. I also found it creepy the only time I ever made any sound whatsoever was when I shouted. So the first mod is going to fix that shit. You’ll finally look at the person talking to you, or at that dagger you’re just about to steal. What's more, you’ll be able to assign a voice to yourself, so you’ll greet people who talk to you. Fun doesn’t stop there! You can download voice packs such as, Ciri, Yenifer and loads of others! But... What if you know who you want them to sound like and there isn’t a pack for them? Well, make your own! The page is really good and explains how. So we’re not a clueless goon anymore, we look and talk, but that basically makes us no better than the T 800 terminator. The second mod will make you actually have emotions, instead of constant blank face. You’ll smile at friends and loved ones, and scowl at people who you hate, like you Elrindir. For the last time, I didn’t mean to steal the fucking apple pie! But I think me spending HUNDREDS of gold should have made up for that and did NOT warrant you sending a group of thugs to come kick the shit out of me!  Sorry. Just... Some unfinished business between me and that bastard bosmer. 

Enhanced Lights and FX

I have a potato as a laptop, as such a lot of these amazing ENB’s are totally off the table for me. But... We all deserve a pretty Skyrim, right? Fuck yes we do! And this is the mod that does that for me. So there are two versions of this bad boy, and you will really want to think about which one you want to go for. You’ve got standard, or hardcore. The MAIN difference is, the hardcore version will make dungeons dark. No, I mean pitch black darkness. Really think you know bleak fall barrow? Install hardcore then go run through it. It make sense that it would be dark down in these places, but fuck me dark is now really dark, which I personally love, but you might not. Install at least the main file and the weather mod and I guarantee when you boot your game back up you’ll be saying ‘wow’.  

Enhanced Character Edit  OR  RaceMenu

Okay, first off you only need one or the other NOT both. Here’s the difference. If you want to make a character that looks like they’re from FFXV or korean mmo, you’ll want to get Enhanced character edit. They’re all so damn pretty! Even the men are pretty! If you want something a little less cute looking and maybe more mature, Racemenu is character creator for you. Both give you a TON more customization when creating your new oc, down to finger and toe length and what’s not to love about that?? 

Enhanced Camera

You finally have a body in first person mode. not just hands when attacking. Which FYI Bethesda, is creepy as fuck. Next mod. 

Familiar Faces

Right, last one as we could be here forever, but I need to do more of these things for other games so let's finish with something stupid, but awesome, shall we? You know who’d make the best companion? That spellsword character you made. Or the sneaky archer. Or that tanky as fuck warrior, but they’re on that other save.. No more! When you fire up the game with this mod installed, you get a portal stone placed in your inventory. Use it and get get warped into this empty hall. Go to any of the books on the pedestals and hit yes when prompted. You, your abilities, spells, shouts, game progress and inventory has just been recorded. Load up another save and do the same in a different book, then you can go recruit... you! You can even make yourself marribale! Got that perfect otp? Create them both and have them travel around with you! Want them to use their shouts? No problem! Want them to not use shouts? That’s fine too! Isn’t that overpowered? Who gives a flying fuck?! 

Now go have fun in Tamriel, Bahlaan fahdonne!

[anipgarden]

Things to Do that Aren't Related to Growing Plants

This is my second post in a series I’ll be making on how to increase biodiversity on a budget! I’m not an expert--just an enthusiast--but I hope something you find here helps! 

Some of us just don’t have much luck when it comes to growing plants. Some of us simply want to aim for other ways to help that don’t involve putting on gardening gloves. Maybe you've already got a garden, but you want to do more. No problem! There’s a couple of options you can look into that’ll help attract wildlife in your area without even having to bring out any shovels!

Provide a Water Source

Oftentimes when I see ‘add a water source’ in informational articles about improving your backyard for wildlife, it’s almost always followed by an image of a gorgeous backyard pond with a waterfall and rock lining that looks expensive to set up, difficult to maintain, and overall just… not feasible for me. Arguably, not feasible for a lot of people. And that’s okay! There’s still ways to add water in your garden for all kinds of creatures to enjoy!

There’s tons of ways to create watering stations for insects like bees and butterflies. A self refilling dog bowl can work wonders! Add some stones into the receiving tray for insects to land on or use to climb out, and you’ve got a wonderful drinking spot for all kinds of insects! You can also fill a saucer or other dish with small stones and fill it, though it’ll likely need refilling daily or even several times a day during hot times. 

I've seen people online use all kinds of things to make water features. Some go with terra-cotta pots, pebbles, and a cheap pump to get a small and simple fountain. Others use old tires, clay, and a hole in the ground to create an in-ground mini pond system. If all else fails, even a bucket or watertight box with a few plants in it can do the trick--though do be wary of mosquitoes if the water isn’t moving. In situations like these, a solar-powered fountain pump or bubbler are great for keeping the water moving while still making it a drinking option for wildlife (it not even more appealing for some)--and these items can be obtained fairly cheap online!

Bird baths are an option as well--a classic way to provide for birds in your area, they can be easy to find online or in a gardening store! The only downside is that a good, quality bird bath can be pricey up-front. However, a nice stone bird bath should last a long time, be easy to clean and refill, and be enjoyed by many birds! I’ve also seen tutorials on how to make your own with quickcrete! Bird baths will be a welcome sight to birds, as they provide a space for them to drink and bathe to regulate the oils in their feathers for flight and insulation. Putting a stone in the middle will also help insects to escape if they fall in, and provide a place to perch so they can get their own drink. You’ll want to change the water and clean the baths regularly--as often as once a week, if you can manage it.

If possible, it’s highly encouraged to fill and refill water features with rainwater instead of tap water. Tap water is often treated, so instead of using hoses or indoor kitchen water, collecting some rainwater is a great alternative. Collecting rainwater can be as simple as leaving cups, bins, or pots outside for awhile.

Butterflies and other creatures will also drink from mud puddles. If you can maintain an area of damp soil mixed with a small amount of salt or wood ash, this can be fantastic for them! Some plants also excel at storing water within their leaves and flowers (bromeliads come to mind), making them an excellent habitat for amphibians as well as a drinking spot for insects and birds.

Bird Feeders and Bird Houses

Some of the fancy, decorated bird feeders are expensive, but others can be pretty low-cost--I got my bird feeder from Lowe’s for around 10 dollars, and a big bag of birdseed was around another 10 dollars and has lasted several refills! If you don’t mind occasionally buying more birdseed, a single birdfeeder can do a lot to attract and support local birds! If you’re handy, have some spare wood, and have or can borrow some tools, you may even be able to find instructions online to make your own feeder. You may not even need wood to do so! Even hummingbird feeders, I’ve found, are quick to attract them, as long as you keep them stocked up on fresh sugar water in the spring and summer!

An important note with bird feeders is that you have to make sure you can clean them regularly. Otherwise, they may become a vector for disease, and we want to avoid causing harm whenever possible. Also keep an ear out and track if there’s known outbreaks of bird diseases in your area. If local birding societies and scientists are advising you take your birdfeeders down for awhile, by all means, do it!

Bird houses are naturally paired with bird feeders as biodiversity promoters for backyard spaces, and it makes sense. Having bird houses suited to birds in your area promotes them to breed, raise their young, disperse seeds, and generally engage in your surrounding environment. Setting them up takes careful selection or construction, preparation, and some patience, but sooner or later you might get some little homemakers! Keep in mind, you will need to clean your birdhouses at least once a year (if not once per brood) to make sure they’re ready and safe for birds year after year--you wouldn’t want to promote disease and parasites, after all. But they could be a valuable option for your landscape, whether you purchase one or construct your own! 

Again, do make sure you're putting up the right kind of boxes for the right kinds of birds. Bluebird boxes are some I see sold most commonly, but in my area I believe they're not even all that common--a nesting box for cardinals or chickadees would be far more likely to see success here! And some birds don't even nest in boxes--robins and some other birds are more likely to use a nesting shelf, instead! Research what birds live in your area, take note of any you see around already, and pick a few target species to make homes for!

Solitary Bee Houses

A bee house or bee hotel is a fantastic way to support the solitary bees in your area! For a few dollars and some annual cleaning, you can buy a solitary bee house from most big box nurseries. Alternatively, you can make one at home, with an array of materials you may already have lying around! You can even make them so that they’ll benefit all kinds of insects, and not necessarily just bees.

Though you don’t even necessarily have to break out the hammer and nails, buy a ton of bricks, or borrow a staple gun. Making homes for tunneling bees can be as simple as drilling holes in a log and erecting it, or drilling holes in stumps and dead trees on your property. You might even attract some woodpeckers by doing this!

Providing Nesting Area

There are tons of different kinds of bees, and they all make different kinds of homes for themselves. Not all of them make big cavity hives like honey bees, or will utilize a solitary bee house. Bumblebees live in social hives underground, particularly in abandoned holes made by rodents--some others nest in abandoned bird nests, or cavities like hollow logs, spaces between rocks, compost piles, or unoccupied birdhouses. Borer, Ground, and Miner bees dig into bare, dry soil to create their nests. Sparsely-vegetated patches of soil in well-drained areas are great places to find them making their nests, so providing a similar habitat somewhere in the garden can encourage them to come! I do talk later in this document about mulching bare soil in a garden--however, leaving soil in sunny areas and south-facing slopes bare provides optimal ground nesting habitat. Some species prefer to nest at the base of plants, or loose sandy soil, or smooth-packed and flat bare ground. They’ve also been known to take advantage of soil piles, knocked over tree roots, wheel ruts in farm roads, baseball diamonds and golf course sand traps. You can create nesting ground by digging ditches or creating nesting mounds in well-drained, open, sunny areas with sandy or silty soil. However, artificially constructed ground nests may only have limited success. 

Providing Alternative Pollinator Foods

Nectar and pollen aren’t the only foods sought out by some pollinators! Some species of butterflies are known to flock to overripe fruit or honey water, so setting these out can be an excellent way to provide food to wildlife. You may want to be cautious about how you set these out, otherwise it can help other wildlife, like ants or raccoons. Butterflies may also drop by to visit a sponge in a dish of lightly salted water. 

Bat Houses and Boxes

Big or small, whether they support five bats or five hundred, making bat boxes and supporting local bats is a great way to boost biodiversity! Not only will they eat mosquitoes and other pest species, but you may also be able to use the guano (bat droppings) as fertilizer! Do be careful if you choose to do that though--I’ve never had the opportunity to, so do some research into how strong it is and use it accordingly.

Provide Passageway Points

If you want your area to be more accessible for creatures that can’t fly or climb fences, allowing or creating access points can be an excellent way to give them a way in and out. Holes in the bottom of walls or fences can be sheltered with plants to allow animals through. 

In a somewhat similar manner, if you’re adding a water fixture, it’s important to provide animals a way to get into and out of the pond--no way in, and they can’t use the water. No way out, and they may drown. Creating a naturalistic ramp out of wood beams or sticks, or stepped platforms out of bricks, stones, or logs can do the trick. 

Get or Keep Logs and Brush Piles

I’ve already mentioned logs a good handful of times so far in this post. To be used as access ramps, or as nesting areas for solitary bees. But they have value as much more than that! Logs on the ground provide shelter for all kinds of animals, especially depending on size--anything from mice, reptiles, and amphibians to things like turkey vultures and bears will use fallen logs as shelter. Inside of a decaying log, there’s a lot of humidity, so amphibians are big fans of them--meanwhile, the upper sides of them can be used as sunning platforms by things like lizards. Other animals can also use the insides of logs as nest sites and hiding places from predators too big to fit inside. Fungi, spiders, beetles, termites, ants, grubs, worms, snails, slugs, and likely much more can be found inside rotting logs, using the rotting wood as food sources or nesting places. They can then provide food for mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and birds. They can also be regarded as a landmark or territory marker as wildlife get more familiar with your space.

So how do you get logs for cheap? Try Chip Drop! I talk about them more in a future post, but you can mark saying that you’d like logs in your drop, so they’ll give you any they have! In fact, you may even get a drop faster if you're willing to accept some logs. You may also be able to approach arborists you see working in your area and ask for logs. There may also be local online listings for people selling logs for cheap, or just trying to get rid of them. If there’s land development going on near you, you may be able to snag logs from trees they cut down to make space. Do keep in mind, you don’t need to have huge gigantic logs laying around your property to make an impact--even small logs can help a lot.

If possible, creating and leaving brush piles on the edge of your property can be a great boost to biodiversity--even if you may not see the wildlife using it. They’ll provide shelter from weather and predators, and lower portions are cool and shady for creatures to avoid the hot sun. The upper layers can be used as perch sites and nest sites for song birds, while lower layers are resting sites for amphibians and reptiles, and escape sites for many mammals. As the material decays, they also attract insects, and as such they’ll attract insect-eating animals too. As more small animals find refuse in your brush pile, their predators will be attracted to them as well. Owls, hawks, foxes, and coyotes are known to visit brush piles to hunt. Making a brush pile can be as simple as piling branches and leaves into a mound, as big or as small as you want. You can even use tree stumps or old fence posts near the base, and keep stacking on plant trimmings and fallen branches. Do note that you don’t want to do this near anything like a fire pit.

Don't forget, with all of these, your mileage may vary for any variation of reasons, so don't worry if you can't take all of even any of these actions! Even just talking about them with other people may inspire someone else to put out a bat box, or leave a few logs out for wildlife!

That's the end of this post! My next post is gonna be about ways to get seeds and plants as cheaply as possible. For now, I hope this advice helps! Feel free to reply with any questions, success stories, or anything you think I may have forgotten to add in!

[fickdichistwarum]

Passive and active ability are concepts within the study of language acquisition. Passive ability refers to the ability to understand language, and typically develops faster and hangs around longer, while active ability refers to the ability to produce language. If you've ever studied another language, or if you have family members whose first language is different to yours, you may have noticed that you can understand it better than you can speak/sign it. It's not uncommon for people to have wholly passive ability with dialects or registers of their main language - eg. I understand American English pretty much perfectly, but I am entirely unable to produce it. I also understand Broad Australian (bogan) English, but am also unable to produce it.

The “bats can do calculus” thing is funny, because if you play around with synths for a while, you realize a lot of what humans perceive as “natural” sounds are just us directly perceiving certain complex mathematical things as big gestalt gestures. Like recognizing a multiplied wave as sounding like a woodwind. Hearing individual notes within a chord is basically Fourier analysis. Feeling how naturally a note decays is perceiving how linear or exponential the curve is. The fact that a sine wave sounds smooth but a sawtooth wave sounds nasally, and a square wave has a certain hollow fuzz to it. Is someone doing “math” there? Once you get the flavor of what each of those qualities are like, listening to the world becomes like directly perceiving math. Also, listening to birds becomes very strange. Because you realize some goofy easy weird sound you can squelch out of an analog synth is the same thing a bird is doing. Then sometimes they make a sound you can’t make. What kind of math is that bird on? Makes you wonder.

[blueskiesandstarrynights]

concept- a leverage pushing daisies au

Eliot Spencer is a pie maker with a secret- with a single touch he can bring dead things back to life. But it comes with rules: the second touch means permanent death, and if he doesn't rekill them in a minute, another life in the area is taken, as a form of balance, a life for a life. He learned these rules through an unfortunate bout of trial and error as a kid.

His gift was exploited by many people over many years, after all, a mercenary who can bring people back and rekill them with a single touch has incredible power over their opponent. Rumors of his abilities in both fighting and death are spread like wildfire, though nothing is said for certain, leaving his ability a secret for the most part.

When he finally finds an opportunity to defect, he settles down and opens a pie shop and only uses his ability to ripen any old or rotten fruit.

Things had fallen into a peaceful routine until one day he wasn't careful and accidentally brought back and rekilled a min in front of one Nate Ford and Sophie Deveraux. The two spend their time conning and taking down the rich and powerful, or more accurately, whichever of the rich and powerful they can take down with only two people. So with that, they offer for him to join him, opening an opportunity for more and bigger cons, and in spite of everything, he agrees.

Things fall into a steady rhythm for the three of them until one day they attempt to con an exploitive funeral director couple and find two recently deceased individuals under his care that wouldn't be under normal circumstances.

Eliot heads in and intends to revive them for only a minute but he's so entranced by the two who supposedly fell off a building after a parachuting accident gone wrong but were instead shoved off before they could put on the proper equipment that he forgets to rekill them, and the married funeral directors drop dead. Nate and Sophie rush in to the room to find Parker and Hardison, he learned thier names are, are still awake. Eliot feels immensely guilty if only because there was an equal chance Nate or Sophie could've been taken instead of the funeral directors.

thus Hardison and Parker follow eliot home and a series of conning and pining ensue as he cannot touch them or they will once again die

[whenthewallfell]

The lackluster romance and overemphasised 'love triangle' in The Hunger Games movies makes more sense when you frame it as Peeta's hijacked memories after the war.

Katniss being super cold towards him? The terrible cave scene? The emotionless 'I need you' on the beach? The general lack of chemistry between them? All the Gale angst?? Peeta's entire character being reduced to a damsel in distress and very much feeling like a spare part??? The totally weird and unsatisfying epilogue where the distance between them in the field is emphasised and something about the lighting and framing makes it feel like a Bad Ending????

boom hijacking it's all in his head

[catlliecal]

I think what’s interesting to me about Yor is that Yor Briar/Forger isn’t just a front to hide Thorn Princess, that Thorn Princess alone isn’t her “true self,” nor is Yor Briar/Forger alone her “true self.” They both make up her. She’s compassionate. She may be a bit aloof, but she’s also very intelligent and knows the best place to attack someone to kill them as quickly as possible. I think that makes her a very wonderful character.

[fly-sky-high-bug-games]

It's June. Already. Somehow?

Happy pride! Share some your aro and/or ace bugs with me~

[averlym]

"oh my soul, is it here? or is it rotting somewhere with my head?"

[caruliaa]

if i loved this ship less i might be able to read fanfiction about them more

[manic-pixie-dream-dude]

woe. scrapped wip be upon ye.

[phantom-of-the-501st]

Character Revivals in SW

Okay, so I just reblogged one of my own posts talking about this and I wanted to touch more on it so let's go on a bit of a ramble.

I know that there are a lot of people who argue that they bring back too many characters from the dead in this franchise and I do kind of get it but I also want to touch on character deaths and what they mean for the greater stories in SW because I actually think that some characters benefit from being brought back.

A lot of the weight of a character's death is defined by the weight that that fate holds on the story as whole. The ones that stick the most are the ones that resonate and have lasting effects throughout the story, or mark a significant turning point. There are a lot of deaths in SW that do this but also some characters who grew more after their revival, so I'm going to touch on a few characters and why the fate that they have works.

Vader

We all know why Vader's death is so significant. It was the final chapter in Anakin's story and it came to a close just where it needed to. That narrative was done, it was complete. It never needed anything after that because his story already has such a strong impact on SW and Luke's story. It made perfect sense for that to be the end of the character. The stories set before solidify this end, but there's no need for anything after.

Maul

Yes, Maul dying worked perfectly fine in the Prequels. There was nothing particularly wrong with having him "die" in the first place, but I think most of us can agree that Maul's revival ended up adding so much to the story of Star Wars. The entire Siege of Mandalore arc alone is reason enough to have brought him back. But it isn't just about enjoying having that character on our screens again, it's that bringing him back added something to the franchise.

The actions of Maul had lasting consequences and some of his actions marked huge turning points for the characters. The resonating effects of what he did are why this character coming back works so well. His legacy is so much stronger now for that story added.

Waxer

While Waxer doesn't get brought up a whole lot, I actually think that his fate is a good example of why some of the less discussed character deaths mean so much. The death of Waxer marked such a deep tragedy. Yes, the loss of so many clones on Umbara was already so heartbreaking, but the loss of a clone that we recognised, and one from so early on in the show, really solidified that catastrophe in our hearts. It was brutal and unjust and perfectly encapsulated why that story was so tragic. They couldn't bring Waxer back after that because it would've undermined what that casualty meant.

Fives

Oh Fives... we miss you dearly. But the Domino Twins are actually perfect examples of demonstrating this point, which is why I'm bringing Echo up right after this!

We all wish we could bring Fives back, as implausible as it would be, but him dying is exactly why this character has had such a firm chokehold over the fandom. We love him. He brought so much to TCW and we would be overjoyed to still have him around. But let me play the Devil's advocate and explain why he should remain dead (for the sake of the show, not our sanity).

The tragedy of what happened to Fives is why that story has left as much of an effect as it has. Fives tried so hard to protect all of his brothers and to prevent Order 66 from happening, but he couldn't do it. At least, not at the time. His death works because we see the long-lasting effects of what he discovered knowing full well that he will never get to see it. He should be there. That's why he stills sticks with us, why we can never let him go. Because we know that he should be there. If anyone deserved to see what he did for the clones, it's him.

And that's why it was a fitting end for his character. It's heartbreaking, it's tragic, it hurts, but the ripples left from that death are still spreading. That death meant something to the legacy of the show and the unfairness of it is why it cuts so deeply. Fives still gets brought up because the sacrifice he made was so powerful. Honestly, him being dead will always be more impactful than him still being here. I would love to see him fighting alongside Echo and Rex, but the tragedy of it is why it was the perfect end. It was a great chapter for him to end on. It's the perfect example of how to have a character be cut down in their prime while not having it feel like it was too early in the narrative. It was too soon for the character, but the perfect time in his story if that makes any sense.

Echo

And while we're on the topic of the Domino Twins, here's why Echo coming back was the better decision!

As I just mentioned, Fives' death has a legacy. It had a huge, unforgettable impact on the overall story. No-one can deny what Five's sacrifice meant. Echo's? No so much.

Look, Echo's death was tragic and people who love him will not forget it, but it would not have had the same everlasting impact as his brother's did. It doesn't even hold the same weight as Waxer's death in the fact that while it shows the unfairness of the lives of the clones, it doesn't quite have the same level of heart wrenching unjustness. Let's be completely honest here, how much of an influence would Echo's death specifically have on the overall story? Echo would've never have held the same legacy as Fives if he had stayed dead.

But if Echo died now? Holy shit would it be the most heartbreaking thing. His death wouldn't just be felt by the Bad Batch and Rex but also by every single clone that he helped saved. Echo holds so much greater of a legacy now than he ever did back then. He has been instrumental in helping the clones during the rise of the Empire and his impact on the story is so much bigger now than it ever was. Yes, Echo's "death" was tragic, but if we lost him now then the aftereffects of that would be so much greater. Echo's story has improved exponentially from having him back (not to say it was bad beforehand).

Tech

Which brings me on to Tech. Do I think he's dead? Nope. And as much as I joke that it's out of denial, I genuinely do not think that he is for the exact reason that I've discussed here. Yes, Tech's death means a whole lot to his brothers and to us, but to the greater story of Star Wars? Ehhhhh... not so sure.

Now, if the Empire started experimenting on Tech and turned him into another Clone X? Now we have something. It would be dark and horrific but it would also have huge consequences in terms of what this means so characters in Star Wars. It would just highlight even more than now just how powerful and horrific the Empire were.

Tech sacrificing himself is brutal in the moment, but I don't think it has the long-lasting impact on the franchise that people think it does. And it doesn't feel right for him at this point in time. I said earlier that Fives' death was too early because no-one should die at that age, but it felt like a fitting conclusion to his story arc. Tech feels like he was killed off in the middle of his. Even Mayday's death has a greater impact on the overall story than I think Tech's does. Yes, we're more attached to Tech, but what does his sacrifice really mean in the grand scheme of things? It's not like they got any information because Tech died. They still have nothing.

I truly believe that Tech coming back has so much more story potential than him dying and that's why I don't think he's gone just yet.

[dw-companion-bracket]

Bit late now but I think separating classic who and new who would have been a good idea and a bit fairer.

well yeah, but also that would have been kinda less interesting, i've loved watching certain classic companions narrowly gain victories from what i thought would have been obvious nuwho sweeps (thinking especially about the ian/clara match) and also seeing which classic characters have ended up being winning and iconic (hi ian). tbh if there was one thing i'd change going back to the start, it would be not putting four characters from any category through, because that's what made it possible for there to (technically only potentially but probably certainly) be an rtd-only semifinal and final, although that's also in part a problem of assuming equality across nuwho eras and classic who eras as two broad categories, and then splitting every group across the four corners of the bracket rather than, say, putting two rtd characters into two of the semifinal feeders. idk, there's lots of ways it could have been done differently, but the "unfair" results are also part of the interesting bits for me

[quibbs126]

I feel like the more we see the Ancients and Dark Enchantress Cookie, the more the prologue doesn’t make sense

Like, from what the prologue tells us, the Five Heroes fought against Dark Enchantress Cookie, then Dark Enchantress takes the five Soul Jams and they’re shattered, and in the wake of her and Pure Vanilla’s spell clashing, the five heroes, Dark Enchantress Cookie, and the Vanilla Kingdom all disappear (also the rest of their kingdoms are supposed to essentially crumble over time, but that’s less important)

And the game seems to go for the most part with this up until the reveal of Dark Enchantress Cookie’s true identity as White Lily Cookie. But honestly, I think that’s fine. Honestly I think it does work with what the prologue shows of her. Yes there’s now the confusion of why there’s essentially two White Lilies, but there’s also been evidence to show that there’s more to this story that we don’t know, and that there will be an explanation. Everything else however seems to be as we were told

In Pure Vanilla’s storyline, things seem to still line up. Now that Dark Enchantress Cookie has been freed, so have Pure Vanilla Cookie and the Vanilla Kingdom, and while we don’t see it, you could assume so have the others, but perhaps they were just scattered to other corders of Earthbread, hence why we don’t see them. Nothing contradicts that they disappeared too. Pomegranate also mentions how the Soul Jams are in shattered pieces across Earthbread, which we also know from the prologue. She also says that the spell going wrong between him and DE cursed the other Ancients, and yes, he calls it lies initially, the following dialogue implies that it’s true and that he was just telling himself that he didn’t

There is the question of how he suddenly has his whole Soul Jam back, but that’s like the only major contradiction, and it’s not one that’s really touched on. But overall things generally hold up

It’s at Hollyberry’s story that things start to get confusing. Now it does still use the “Soul Jam is shattered” thing (and is frankly the only one to keep that fact, aside from at the end where the Soul Jam suddenly becomes whole again but shush), with her shield’s pieces having been reconstructed over the years, but it’s the other things that start to contradict. For starters, Hollyberry didn’t seem to disappear as a result of the Dark Flour War, rather her disappearance seems to be that she left of her own accord, presumably sometime after the Dark Flour War, implying that she did not disappear. Also her memory problems aren’t like Pure Vanilla’s, since she seems to remember who she is, at least to some degree (I feel like it was very selective what she did and didn’t know, and the whole thing confuses me), but I suppose that doesn’t really matter as Pure Vanilla’s amnesia may just have been some sort of trauma defense thing, and thus just personal to him. I mean, Dark Enchantress remembers who she is

…I felt like I had more contradictions for her, but now I feel like the only major one here is that it’s implied that she didn’t disappear, but she stayed and went back to her kingdom

Oh wait, there’s also the fact that the Hollyberry Kingdom is fine and prospering, other than the whole dragon thing but no one seems too bothered by that. The whole idea that the world is suffering without the Ancients, specifically their own kingdoms, or that they were ever absent, just doesn’t feel like it’s there

But now let’s move on to Dark Cacao’s storyline, which I feel has the most contradictions

Hollyberry’s story feels a bit ambiguous whether the Ancients disappeared, but in Dark Cacao’s it outright says no they did not. Dark Cacao has been here and nothing implies he ever left, at least not for a significant period of time. Also, he has his whole Soul Jam, and again, nothing implies that he lost that or had to reconstruct it. He’s just had it the whole time. Both of these directly contradict the prologue

And while yes, his kingdom is suffering, and it’s partially because he lost his way, it wasn’t because of the Dark Flour War, rather this seems to have been a much more recent development with Affogato Cookie and particularly Dark Choco’s betrayal and exile. While some evidence may suggest things got worse for them after the Dark Flour War (in Dark Choco’s memories, his younger self seems to imply that the kingdom is isolating itself and is worse off for it), but things didn’t reach that breaking point until after Dark Choco’s banishment

Maybe that’s why the Dark Cacao storyline feels weird to me, because the conflict didn’t start because of things that happened in the Dark Flour War, nor does that seem to have had much effect on Dark Cacao or the kingdom, but rather it was because of something entirely separate

But yeah, going back to how things are presented to us now, the Ancients, other than Pure Vanilla alongside Dark Enchantress Cookie, never disappeared, their Soul Jams might have remained whole and with the heroes, and all the kingdoms seem to be doing fine (Dark Cacao’s not so much, but that’s due to external forces). So basically, pretty much all the points we see in the prologue don’t add up

Honestly at some point I start to feel like what happened in the prologue didn’t actually happen and rather that was just a fabricated story, and that we end up seeing what really happened

[yume-fanfare]

today a year ago i got into enstars........... this is the part where i'd try to count how many toris ive drawn in the span of a year but i'd die. that is so many toris

[fulcrum-art-fox]

Because you’re a jinx. Mylo was right. I was rewatching arcane and had a thought about this scene. It suddenly occurred to me how Powder/Jinx must have applied these words back across her life. Now, that may sound obvious, so let me explain. I had assumed that Powder thought (Powder thought being the key words here: characters internal narratives and actual narrative are different things), that Vi only just came to this decision that night, in light of this most recent moment: the “success” of the monkey bomb. That she had just accidentally proved Mylo’s words to her sister. But that’s not necessarily true. Rather than Vi lashing out and saying things she doesn’t mean, Powder/Jinx interprets it as the truth revealed. This is what Vi always thought of her. When she insisted Powder stay behind when they went to rescue Vander, when she told her she wasn’t ready, it wasn’t truly because Vi was worried about her safety. It was because she already agreed Powder was a jinx, and she didn’t want to bring her along and risk her screwing it all up. Which obviously isn’t true. Vi’s earlier sentiment was truer to her heart. She was aware they were going into danger and she was frightened to risk her younger sibling. But Powder/Jinx thinks it’s true. She applies it back, and back and back. It corrupts her memories of her sister, because she’s seeing them through that filter

Yes, she brought her along on the heist, still a dangerous outing but far less so than what they are about to attempt. And, since then, she’s had both Vander’s “Anything that happens is on you” and “Who’re you willing to lose?” speeches. She’s trying to be a more responsible sister and leader. In any other story it would pay off and be good character development. But this is Arcane, The Grand Tragedy. So when it all goes to hell, and when all bar one of her loved ones are dead, she finds out that Powder was involved? And she asks “Why did you leave me?” Vi does not calmly and explain again what she said earlier. She lashes out, with the first thing that came to her mind.

It was an awful moment, and difficult to watch, but Vi is painfully human in this regard. How many of us could have stayed calm and reasonable, we’re we in Vi’s shoes? How many of us can say we have never said things in anger that we didn’t truly mean? How many of us can say that we have not behaved in ways we are ashamed of in times of intense stress or grief? And even if we do not truly mean what we do or say, even if we feel wretchedly guilty afterwards, we cannot take the words back. They are out there, ugly and polluting, and we have to try and deal with the fallout. Vi obviously never gets the chance, or rather, gets the chance too late. She does not get to be around in that immediate aftermath to assure Powder that she didn’t truly mean it, that she’s sorry. Maybe if she had, if they had had that chance, things could have been different. But then, arcane is a tragedy