#i read the books when i was a teenager tbf but they are so different it doesnt even count

[coldflasher]

currently so unable to be alone with my own thoughts that im 10+ episodes into a podcast about the vampire diaries, a show i have never watched

[autumnrory]

i have consumed so many fairytale retellings but there are so few good ones

[dude1818]

Kiriona Gaia Isn’t Gideon Nav

That’s an extreme claim, I know. And we’ve clearly seen a lot in common between the two. However, the differences are stark enough that I don’t believe that it can be explained purely as off-screen character growth over the course of several months.

Let’s review what we’ve seen of Kiriona in Nona the Ninth. She’s extremely possessive of and in love with Harrow still (“Get in line, thou big slut”); she’s besties with Ianthe (friendship bracelets, secret handshake); and she’s deeply loyal to the Emperor, her father (going on secret missions that even the other Lyctor Prince doesn’t know about).

The first one makes sense. When John brought Gideon back and bound her soul to her corpse, it was still her soul, only a little worse for wear for being killed twice already. The only way John seems to be able to create new souls is the old fashioned way (which tbf is how he created Gideon the first time). However, he clearly put his own spin on the body. The titanium bones, unbreakable skin, and leaving the hole through her chest are his mark of Cain upon Kiriona.

Kiriona’s friendship with Ianthe feels like a major stretch for Gideon. We know she can be temporarily swayed with puns (“gall on gall” -> “let’s get married”), but it’s a far cry from merely cooperating with someone you don’t like to becoming best friends with them. While I can see Gideon continuing to work with Ianthe like at the end of Harrow the Ninth for a significant period time, I find it impossible to believe they could actually become friends given how diametrically opposed they are. (I don’t think Ianthe can have friends at all, but this isn’t about her.)

I think the hardest part to swallow is her loyalty to John. Gideon wasn’t loyal to the Ninth House or the Houses as a whole a day in her life; her only loyalty was to Harrow personally, and even that was self-serving. Gideon was definitely a schemer; she wasn’t book smart (although even she picked up enough skeletal knowledge on the Ninth), but she spent a lot of time making intricate plans for escape, and they got pretty good. If Gideon knew that Harrow’s body was walking around on New Rho, it’s reasonable to think that she maneuvered things to get planetside to rescue her.

But she didn’t. Kiriona was a Lyctor Prince for a good deal before the New Rho operation, and I’m not sure how much she knew about Harrow’s body’s presence when the planning for that began. Instead, it turns out the whole thing was actually John’s plan to get Alecto back to the Tomb. The same John who’s only prior interaction with Gideon was ordering the death of her girlfriend necromancer. And even without the personal slight, Gideon hates authority figures. John is Crux turned to 10,000, and Kiriona took great pleasure in finally finishing him off.

Except, she didn’t. And while her response could be read as “revenge is hollow because it doesn’t get you back what you lost,” Kiriona seems to react as though she can tell her empty response doesn’t feel legitimate. This is my central thesis: John fucked with her mind when he rebuilt Gideon. He didn’t want a loose cannon teenage daughter, he needed a new Lyctor who would actually remain loyal after everyone else had turned on him. And so he ensured that Kiriona would be a better soldier than the ones he had just lost.

The biggest piece of evidence is actually the simplest: her name is Kiriona now. One of the major revelations in Nona the Ninth is how he built the crew that would later become the Lyctors post-Resurrection. Those sixteen people who were largely his friends and colleagues before the end of the world were not quite the same people that became the Lyctors and cavaliers afterwards. When he first animated Ulysses and Titania, he gave them new names to signify that they were new people. When he killed his friends and resurrected them, he gave them new names too. Their personalities were generally the same (Alfred was still the peacekeeper; Cristabel was still a martyr; Augustine and Mercymorn were still kismesises), but they explicitly didn’t remember who they were before. The same is true of Kiriona: she still had the same general personality as Gideon, but now her ideals are John’s ideals. She was resurrected with the same loss of agency that the rest of John’s people suffered.

[thegoodomensdumpster]

I WATCHED GOOD OMENS IN FRENCH SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO

and it wasn’t that bad. Here are my thoughts, barely edited as I wrote most of them while watching the show.

EP 1

OK i like god’s voice so far

possibilité d’embarras gastrique is a good formulation, I wonder if it’s the same in the book ( I think I kinda need to read it in french now...)

aghghdhgs « primo-délinquants »

of course subtitles don’t match the audio for a variety of technical reasons but when you get things that have very different underlying meanings i find it… not good This one about Crowley being evil / a demon : subtitles : « c’est ton travail » - « it’s your job » audio : « c’est dans ta nature » - « it’s in your nature » i mean dang

crowley sounds like a little shit asking az about his sword

« T’AS FAIT QUOUA » - he just loses his shit (kinda giving me some le coeur a ses raisons vibe)

ok crowley sounds very nerdy when he tries to explain that he took down the phone network, i think i actually like this voice acting

ligur sounds… very suave (im a little ill at ease)

crowley getting called mon chou by satan freddie mercury is a thumb up from me

i see the part where aziraphale speaks japanese wasn’t dubbed over and we can still hear michael sheen. it’s a bit disturbing considering french aziraphale has a higher pitched voice (and he sounds soooo much more anxious than sheen, give this angel a xanax )

“sandwich bœuf cresson” ( beef and cress sandwich ) deirdre really who makes this kind of sandwiches

im being reminded that the chattering nuns prepared little cut outs for their explanation about the antichrist switch… such dedication to useless crafts (it made me laugh on my first viewing and it’s still funny to imagine that some of them either ordered or built these things themselves just so they could make this two minutes long presentation for the most important act of their satanic nun careers)

retire-toi vil démon infernal, créature des abysses XD i swear az doesn’t sound even remotely convinced when he is saying the « get thee behind me foul fiend » line in french, it’s just too over the top for credibility, it sounds like it’s straight out of some super intense dnd session

they still can’t say bouillabaisse (which, like, weird because french, but still valid). nice touch is crowley couldn’t say soupe de poisson (fish stew) either and said poupe de soisson (sish ftew)

warlock mah boy how can you be a teenager and not like dinosaurs

c’est un dinosaure un nullosaure plutôt - apply burn heal

La façon dont warlock s’est exclamé « C’EST NUL » m’a fait penser au nain de naheulbeuk

the english version has nothing on french speaking aziraphale for the second hand embarrassement during the magic tour. it’s over 9000 i literally hid my head in my jumper when he was presenting harry the bunny. Horrible experience, 0/20, would not recommend

EP 2

oooh agnes has a lovely voice !

why is young newton having such a quality dub for the three sentences he has to say

dick turpin’s name is jesse james (tbf dick turpin is not known AT ALL in france, i discovered him reading good omens)

shadwell is pure chaos (as expected). No particular accent for him though, the chaotic energy was probably enough. Would have made me laugh if he had like, a chti or a marseilles accent.

aziraphale is so fucking stressed out by crowley’s driving i thought he was gonna explode

« tu es un gentil garçon » => « you’re a nice boy » said az to crowley DANG THAT’S SO INFANTILIZING AZIRAPHALE YOU’RE TALKING TO A DEMON FROM HELL NOT TO PINOCCHIO

ARGH FIRST MON ANGE OF THE SERIES i’m hit straight in the heart

anathema’s mom doesn’t have a spanish / latino accent at all when talking in spanish…. why...

dog being called toutou is definitely adorable (it’s basically « doggy » but way cuter imo)

tickety-boo has become ça gaze. that’s valid. it’s corny but i still use it unironically from time to time so ... i stan

EP 3

« je répands la fomentation » « i’m here spreading foment » « quoi tu fais des crêpes au froment ?????? »  « what you’re making crêpes with wheat ??? » love the fact that we shoehorned in one more ref to crêpes

az called crowley mon cher camarade, unintentionnal communist propaganda ftw

« pas de repos pour les… bah, pour les bons » « no rest for the… good »  – az was so deflated about the ineptitude he realized he was saying, he felt zero percent commited to his sentence

i was wondering how they would play aziraphale not being able to speak french in the bastille and they opted to have him stutter a bit and say to his executionner « excuse me i’m anxious » XD

« vous êtes le 999e aristo à mourir par mes soins. Mais vous êtes le premier en costume beige » « you’re the 999th aristocrat I’m going to kill, but the first one in beige attire » yeah i guess now that az isn’t english anymore his most noticeable feature is his cream aesthetic

« c’est au cas où ça tournerait en eau de boudin » « j’ADORE le boudin » => « in case it all goes pear shape » - the literal translation featuring food in french is « turning into black sausage water ». I don’t know what pear shaped inspires to english native speakers but the mere mention of boudin always make me giggle, it’s such a funny word and such a funny food

OH !!! no terrence rampa for the tv series, we’ve got anthony J. rampa. Rip terrence petit démon parti trop tôt :’(

« tu roules trop vite pour moi rampa » SERIOUSLY i know we can still infer « rouler » (here as in driving, but literally rolling) as a metaphor for their relationship but you could have said TU VAS TROP VITE that would have been so much better argh

has anathema got an emergency stock of potteries to break in case of emotionnal crisis ?

« Rampa, un démon très futé, il m’oblige à redoubler d’effort » « crowley, a very clever demon, he forces me to make double the amount of effort » oh so admitting you’re making an effort there aziraphale ? :))))))

dang i really want to know how shadwell said that major milk bottle died because not only did he die in combat but aziraphale’s reaction is a bit intense, it must have been quite a tale (this could be a crack fic prompt : «The Epic Tale of the Death Of Major Witchfinder Milk Bottle, by Sargent Witchfinder Shadwell» )

des sorcières et des phénomènes sorciéreux x)

CROWLEY CALLED AZIRAPHALE DUCON ?????? EXCUSE ME ????? #NotMyCrowley #CrowleyWouldNeverDoThat  #CancelAnthonyJRampa2K20  => ducon would be an insult, the gathering of du and con, con being a very nasty but common swear word, and associating it with du- makes it extremely patronizing. it’s like « absolute pathetic digraceful moron +++ ». thanks i hate it *frowny face *

EP 4

l’apocalypse c’est pour aujourd’hui juste après le goûter : it could be translated as « apocalypse is scheduled for today right after tea time » except that « goûter » is not quite tea time but rather the little sugary snack kids take when they come back from school and that most adults drop out of (i haven’t and i’m sure az hasn’t either). thanks aziraphale for having exclusively food related notion of the time because tbh same

ligur has no right to be this sexy between ariyon bakare and his french voice actor that’s just not allowed

radio crowley’s voice vs french ligur’s voice, who has the sexiest voice : FIGHT

(jk french agnes nutter’s voice is by far the sexiest)

gender neutral doesn’t ‘quite’ exist in french but pollution has been assigned a female voice actress and masculine pronouns (i’m saying it doesn’t quite exist because officially we have no gender neutral, but it’s a serious wip among lgbt+ circles to the point where it’s started being used in a few medias)

hastur « en attendant qu’un plombier vienne » / « while waiting for a plumber to come » does hell have a special plumber unit or do demons have to call on human plumbers for their pipes damages ? Dang hastur having to call a human plumber for hell’s plumbery is another damn good writing prompt for a crack fic

Michael is called Michel in the subtitles but Michael in the audio *shrug emoji*

EP 5 

to get a wiggle on has become « il faut qu’on se remue les fesses », literally « we need to shake our butts » like, yes, se remuer les fesses is a common expression to say « we need to act in order to get things done » but it really casts the image of people shaking their booty to some music and obviously crowley thinks the same Weirdly enough I have almost nothing to say for that episode. Sorry. But we’ve discovered most voice actors and actresses so far and no bit of dialogue really struck me as worth discussing or pointing fingers to mock it.

EP 6 

« on va BROUTER quelques derrières » - « we’re gonna lick some butts » OK THIS IS UNQUESTIONNABLY FAR SUPERIOR IN FRENCH THAN IN ENGLISH you thought LICKING butts was good ??? you really thought that ???? AZIRAPHALE HERE SUGGESTS TO GRAZE BUTTS. TO NIBBLE THEM. TO EAT THEM. TO. MUNCH. ON. THOSE. BUTTS!!!! not just licking, guys. This is as serious step beyond licking. (oh yeah he should have said « botter » instead of brouter btw, which is really just kicking, fyi)

« moi je crois en la paix, pétasse ! » wow, language, pepper (fyi i think « pétasse » is far far worse than « bitch » even if it means roughly the same, pétasse is almost never used while bitch is rather common, so it’s a swear word +++)

Dagon sounds like she’s got a nasty cold. #GetDagonIbuprofen2K20

I can confirm that Crowley offers Aziraphale to not just stay at his place, but to move in with him. « tu peux t’installer chez moi si tu veux ». omg they were roommates.

Bad translation strikes again : i don’t know why, but the french dub doesn’t have the « tickety-boo » / « ça gaze » being referenced as Rampa / Aziraphale is being knocked down, which is… a real mistep. It was narratively significant and I’m quite mad the translators missed it.

The Jesse James explanation from Newt has become very nonsensical, instead of the neat and to the point pun « wherever I go I hold up trafic » we’re getting a circonvoluted « because it’s a crime to mechanic’s diligence ». I’m not judging that one too hard, I have no idea how to make it better, and that’s probably how it was translated in the book as well thirty years ago, but it definitely doesn’t have the same impact. On the other hand, it definitely IS a very bad joke that doesn’t even deserve a chuckle, so Anathema’s embarassement really matches the audience’s (aka mine).

OVERALL :

I wasn’t convinced by Crowley… I mean, Rampa’s voice at first, but as the nerdiness showed up it really grew on me. I still think that french dubs have often problems with some voice inflexions every here and there, and for instance in Rampa’s case it was when he was annoyed or frustrated ( at the Globe when complaining about horses and Shakespeare’s plays that aren’t comedies, and also when discussing Azirphale’s magic tricks, it’s like… there is a step between having the right amount of grumpy complaining and overdoing it that is overlooked. It’s overacted, it should have been a bit quieter imo. I don’t mean to criticize voice actors too hard either but as an audience watching french dubs this is a very recurring problem and it always feels off to me. It’s actually one of the main reasons I avoid french dubs whenever possible.)

I have a hard time judging Aziraphale’s voice dub because it clashes so much with both the idea I had formed with it when I read the book and Sheen’s delivery that I just… kinda filtered it. It was too high pitched for me, and too anxious (though for this last point I must admit it could be funny at times, but I’m not fond of this character portrayal). The rest of the cast was rather good, nothing to complain about. There wasn’t anything stellar either, but everything that needed to be conveyed was and it was professionnal. It was also very homogeneous, no voice really struck me as being way too bad or way too good compared to the others, so it was really consistant.

So I don’t have much to complain about overall despite a few wonky translations here and there, BUT there is one thing I felt very robbed of : Crowley calling Aziraphale « mon ange » happens only once, when giving a lift to Anathema, and I’m almost certain they translated it that way because otherwise the joke about Anathama mistaking them for a couple wouldn’t work. So, they were forced to make it that way. The rest of the time Crowley calls Aziraphale « l’angelot », and despite being literally translated by « little angel », it feels sarcastic more than anything else ( the « L’ » in front of « angelot » is part of the reason why, it creates some distance, the other reason being that this word in itself has a very corny vibe and people being affectionnate to each other wouldn’t use it as a term of endearment). So, that’s a shame.

I like the English dub much much MUCH better than the French, but the french wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting it to be. The voice actors and actresses were quite good, the dialogues mostly faithful and endearing despite a few really missed steps. It really had its moments. Props to brouter des derrières, that one was fantastic.

[vorthosjay]

Let’s Talk About Glimpse the Far Side of the Sun

Magic Story is back today with a Glimpse the Far Side of the Sun, and man is this another excellent (and vindicating) story!

As always, more after the keep reading line.

Azor, the Lawbringer by Ryan Pancoast

Angrath rolled his shoulders, bull head tipping side to side with a pop. "You just want to get to the top of the anthill and congratulate yourself on the view."

I really like Angrath’s attitude in all of this. He’s very Black-Red without being evil.

“Kaldheim," Angrath said forcefully. "Another plane. Do you understand what I mean, now?"

Alison already confirmed that this is not Angrath’s home plane. It just happens to be a plane nearby. But it’s still important! In A Whole Lotta Woad I mentioned there is lot of ‘Viking World’ art popping up lately, and the offhand mention of a random minor plane like Kaldheim seems important. Since we already had Chandra’s home/origins plane in Kaladesh, outside of her adopted plane of Regatha, Kaldheim is important to Chandra in that it’s where she fought Ramaz in DotP 2014. Ramaz being a planeswalker working for Nicol Bolas who led Chandra to the Dragon Scroll and ultimately Zendikar.

"Fourteen years," Angrath growled. For a moment Huatli was moved. She was about to express her condolences, but was interrupted by Angrath's addendum: "They'd drink the blood of your emperor with glee, idiot."

FOURTEEN YEARS. No wonder he’s so angry. And wrathful.

Imagine having your daughters grow up without you, trapped and helpless to get back to them. Return is in sight, and nothing will stand in his way.

Huatli pointed at the structure in front of them. It was covered in vines and weathered with time, and the door in front had been jumbled ajar. "There's a legend that says the bat of the East met Aclazotz . . ."

So wait, is Aclazotz an actual demon? Becuase the art book implied it was just a place where the bat-god temple is. I’m so confused...

Nearly all tales spring from truth, and Huatli reasoned quickly that the legend of the Bat of the East began with this very real vampire centuries before.

I suggested this very thing in Rivals of Ixalan: Lore and Flavor. Which makes the last bit more confusing. Is Elenda the bat-god of night?

The vampire bared her teeth. "I left the Church with the knowledge of the ritual to take on my burden, and they used that to become invaders?"

Huatli glared. "What were they meant to do with your gift?"

"They were meant to learn humility."

Huatli's jaw fell open. The Legion of Dusk? Humble?

"They were meant to search for salvation for us all," Elenda continued. "I see I must teach them what they forgot."

Elenda straightened, and a great shadow fell across her face. She stepped forward, past Huatli and Angrath, and vanished into a dark slice in the air.

A few cool things here. First, it’s nice to see the progenitor of vampires on Ixalan having a different view than the conquistadors. It gives the hope of a resolution that does not involve conquest.

Also, Elenda has some cool powers outside of the norm for Vampires. Shadow teleportation? Awesome.

(Gold scales. Sandstone. Heat. Rough sand on his lips and in his eyes and in his throat. Broken, doomed friends. He was trying to break into a dragon's mind. Sense what the dragon's plan was, stop him from doing harm, and for a brief moment, he had done it, he saw the goal, the endgame—)

Jace saw Bolas’ Endgame? If he really does get back all his memories this block, we might finally see it!

(Ugin was unfurling himself inside a great cavern. "Good fortune, Jace Beleren," he said in farewell, curling his immense silvery tail around himself.)

Jace blinked. Ugin. That name came to him easily, but the texture of this memory was strange. He felt for the conversation in his mind and thumbed around its edges, inspecting its sides with the same care he had when Alhammarret had meddled with his memory years before. Never trust your memory around anything older than yourself. Jace grimaced to realize he never would have thought to investigate if he hadn't remembered learning that the hard way.

There. A hair trigger. A line waiting to be tripped, a clever bit of obfuscating mental magic that the spirit dragon must have implanted without him noticing. The spell left behind was a simple command. If someone were to try and read my mind and find this encounter with Ugin, the memory would be shrouded, and I would be compelled to instantly planeswalk away. To here. To Ixalan.

Jace became worried. Why did Ugin need to hide my memory of him? Why command me to come here, of all places? Was I meant to be a lure?

VINDICATION! I suggested this waaaaay back in Ixalan: A First Look seven months ago, and it’s been my go-to answer for why Jace went to Ixalan ever since. TBF, Wil got there first, stupid queue.

Okay, so why did Ugin send Jace to Ixalan? Well, that moment Jace remembers? That’s not quite how we saw it back in Revelation at the Eye, but the implication is that this is from that scene (both the unfurling and saying good fortune happen then). So this is when Ugin planted the trigger, even before the Gatewatch killed the Eldrazi Titans. What did Jace learn in this meeting that Ugin didn’t want shared? I’ve speculated before it was the mere fact that Ugin was alive. He doesn’t want Bolas to know and come back after him before he’s ready.

I really love the call back to Jace’s Origin Story in this story. The way this weaves together threads that have been laid over the last three years is very rewarding.

I’m glad my image of Ugin being a cunning dragon himself, someone who COULD rival Bolas, has panned out. Ugin prepared in advance for Jace revealing him by accident.

It also means that Ugin was aware of Ixalan, and that he either wanted Jace to discover something there, or wanted to imprison Jace to keep him from screwing up Ugin’s plans. But if Ugin knows of Ixalan, and knows it would trap Jace, did he once work with Azor? In The Mysteries of Ixalan I had posited that ‘the winged beast’ being Azor wouldn’t rule out Ugin’s involvement.

Think about it. You’re Ugin. Bolas nearly kills you, and you wake up to a former pawn of Bolas that saved you, and reveals Bolas has undone your greatest work. You head to Zendikar, and Jace comes upon you in the Eye. In his mind, you find another being who helped release the Eldrazi, and whose path has crossed Bolas’s more than once. What do you do, humanely? You plant a trigger to erase yourself from Jace’s mind in case he runs into Bolas again, and if he’s trouble, you squirrel him away on a plane he can’t leave.

. . . And what did I find in the golden dragon's mind before he erased my own?

I really hope we find out by the end of the block.

Vraska stretched out her hamstrings, holding on to a golden pillar for support.

Every third word when describing Orazca is ‘gold’. Between that, the gold veins, and the golden elders, there’s something up there. Maybe an inherent feature of the plane?

Jace pulled a wave of illusion over the two of them. It came easily now, somehow even more so than before he had come to Ixalan.

(Another memory: hours and hours spent memorizing text and technique, his teenage self staying up late in bed with a lamp to study by. The hum of a mage ring outside. Millard's Procedure. Circumstantial Manipulations. Tricien's Law. Over and over until the names, techniques, and executions of psychic maneuvers came as easily as breathing.)

The implication here is that the sudden additional years of experience Jace can draw upon, plus the formal training he had in the time he forgot, has made Jace a vastly more powerful mage.

In the span of a moment, Jace was surprised at himself, and then realized his earnestness of late, of Ixalan, was not manufactured, nor was his mindfulness something he could only access in a state of amnesia. That was who he had always been. He had just forgotten.

I’m very glad we’ll be seeing more of Ixalan Jace.

(A memory: his mother, arriving home from a day at work, dressed in her healer's smock, looking out the open window at a storm in the distance with a cup of coffee nestled in her hands and a little smile on her tired face. He heard fat raindrops rattling the tin roof. The air smelled like wet concrete and home.)

Jace’s coffee obsession, explained. It reminded him of his mother, in its own way.

"Well, your best is incredible," Vraska said, turning toward the central tower and approaching a large gate on what appeared to be its back side.

Liliana never told Jace he was incredible.

Liliana would have scoffed. She would have made a dismissive joke, rolled her eyes, and called him a show-off. She would not bother to talk to him for days. She would consume the body of a demon with a crocodile's jaws and laugh over the sound of its flesh tearing off. She would do all sorts of things, but she would never call him incredible.

Oh sweetie. I’m so glad Jace is realizing just how toxic that bullshit was.

"It's a maze," Vraska said at the same time as Jace. They glanced at each other briefly, awkwardly.

Vraska gestured toward Jace. "Have at it," she said. "You're the maze guy."

UGH.

Of course Jace is the Maze guy. My gripe about Azor being behind Ixalan was that it meant Jace was solving another freaking puzzle by Azor.

Was Azor a sphinx? he asked Vraska in her mind with hushed terror.

I’m so glad they don’t know. It works better because it doesn’t retcon anything, just confirms that no one on Ravnica really knew.

He is so much like Alhammarret, Jace thought, his chest tightening with the ache of memory. He stowed his fear. He was not ruled by a sphinx. Not anymore.

I love the Alhammarret comparison, and that the art direction on Azor being a human headed sphinx like Alhammarret wasn’t a coincidence.

I guess we now see how Jace will react to Azor! He’s not a fan.

"You will refer to her as Captain," Jace said in a measured tone.

The sphinx growled and looked past Vraska at Jace. "And what does that make you?"

"I am Jace Beleren, the Living Guildpact," he said with confidence.

The sphinx's wings flinched. "The fail-safe?!"

"The pirate."

Okay, who can’t love this scene? Standing up to an oldwalker, someone who  abuses the powers you yourself hold, I love it.

Azor’s flinch is interesting. His shock that the Living Guildpact there makes it clear this was no where in his plans, ever. Remember: Azor has no way of knowing what went down on Ravnica. I’m very excited to see how this relationship evolves.

Jace’s response is equally great.

[obscurum-passagium]

#cluecrewquestionnaire

hot damn i actually got tagged in an ask meme! cheers m8

rules: copy and paste, answer the questions, tag 10 mutuals to do the same!

1. What is your favorite Nancy Drew game and why?

It’s probably SSH tho SAW’s really been doing it for me lately. SSH feels like it has the biggest in-game world to me, it’s really realistic, the theme of “slightly sinister Maya history” is so unique and nothing in any other game really has something like it. SAW also has that great spooky atmosphere & fuckin amazing music. something about it is really soothing to me

2. Have you played all 32 games in the series? If not, which ones haven’t you played? If yes, which one did you play first?

i haven’t played all of them actually. i missed ICE, TRN, WAV and TOT, but i’ve seen walkthroughs of all of them & i don’t feel like i’m missing much

3. What is your favorite line from any character in the series?

all of Professor Hotchkiss’s dialogue from TRT pretty much, though there’s a lot of great banter in FIN too

4. If you could change the ending to any game, which one would it be (no spoilers, though)?

i’d change the culprit of CUR. great game but fucking weak ending.

5. Which game is your least favorite, and why?

LIE. i’ve talked about it before but it’s just so not my thing. in any way. it was  very unenjoyable to play

6. Which character is your favorite? Why?

professor hotchkiss for sure. she was a huge role model for me as a kid. and now i’m my own weird version of absent-minded (amateur) historian who gets fixated on certain foods and subjects (tho tbf this is probably my autism)

7. Which character is your least favorite? Why?

lisa from TRT is fucking terrible, though in a really laughable way. the entire cast of LIE kinda cheeses me off in different ways (maybe more how badly they’re written than any judgement on character, if that makes sense i guess. LIE is just written very very badly to me) i want to punch enrico from VEN right in the fucking face. i know scopa is rigged you fuck ass

8. How do you feel about the whole Nancy/Ned vs. Nancy/Frank situation? Do you ship her with someone else? Who, and why?

i don’t take shipping very seriously unless someone else takes it way too seriously and starts talking shit towards someone else. like chill out my dudes. no one needs to be nasty over these fuckin fictional slices of teenaged whitebread. that said, i have my own ideas and fondness for nancy and ned that doesn’t translate to the idea of frank and nancy. shipping is always projection, too, whether we’re aware of it or not, so to me, nancy’s also a queer pansexual person so shipping her w just one person doens’t make sense. she could date the entire cast of every game i don’t really give a shit. just don’t be nasty to other people over it.

9. Do you have any fun headcanons about any of the games or characters?

everyone is gay

10. If you could visit any of the locations of the games, which ones would they be and why?

the ryokan hiei, wickford castle, castle malloy, deception island

11. Did you read any of the original Nancy Drew books? If yes, do you like them? If no, would you consider reading one?

i read them as a kid yeah, but i can’t remember any of them for the life of me

12. What is one thing any good detective can’t live without?

a boyfriend with a big juicy ass

13. Which game had the best soundtrack?

SAW, HAU, FIN, SSH, TRT, CUR

14. What is one thing you wish HER would’ve included in any of the games (a conversation, interaction, location, feature, etc)?

dracula

I VANT TO SUCK YOUR BLOOD

15. Do you have any ideas for a future game? What is it?

ned gets kidnapped my dracula (see above)

16. How long does it take you to finish a game from start to finish?

i like really taking my time with them these days. wandering around, trying to get all the dialogue out of everyone. not really into speedy playing. i like savouring a game over a few days or week. no idea how that translates into hours tho

17. Did any of the games scare you? If yes, which ones? If no, why?

MHM made me cry when i was 12 (ghost in the mirror)

SSH made me cry when i was 12 (mummy ending)

CUR gave me the willies when i was around 15. dreams, hallway ghost, spOoKy red eyes!

GTH was a bit spooky but mainly jump scares (nancy gasping suddenly being the jump scare more than the ghost)

SAW was definitely unnerving too. the shoji puzzle with the ghost coming after you… yikes

18. Why did you join the Nancy Drew fandom here on tumblr?

just wanted to get in on all the sweet memes u know? but really, it was cool to find a whole bunch of people who i could talk to about the games. when i was a kid i played them with one of my best friends, but we grew apart and you know, whenever you find someone irl who’s played some ND it’s always like “oh yeah i tried one once but don’t remember it” or “yeah my cousin loves those! never played one myself!”

19. What is your favorite Nancy Drew joke (from in-game or even floating around the internet)?

that any of them are straight

20. Who is someone in the clue crew you’ve always wanted to get to know?

i’m not super social but i have gotten to know… almost everyone i’ve wanted to here? there are prob some cool kids that i could talk to more but i’m very shy

21. What are three unpopular opinions you hold about the games?

1) LIE is shit

[that specifically means “it is not a game for me” not “if you like it you are also shit” just to be clear]

2) HAU is great

3) dracula should be in  agame

(i don’t have a third)

22. Do you have any fun theories about any of the games?

everyone in them is gay

23. Who was your favorite animal character featured in the games?

gonna have to go with the phantom horse i think

24. Do other people in your life know about your love for Nancy Drew?

all like three thousand of my twitter followers know about this shit cause i talk about ND a lot lmao (i’m constantly trying to get other ppl into them). and my family knows of course, they consistently got me the games as birthday & xmas presents

25. How long have you been playing these games?

i started playing them when i was about 10 or 11 so that’s 17 or 18 years by now! 

i’m tagging uhhhh anyone who wants to do it? to be fucking honest i can’t for the life of me remember anyone’s handle here. or anywhere online. ever. my brain is made of wind. i can remember avatars but sadly those aren’t taggable. if you read this and want to do it, i tagged you.

[comicteaparty]

October 18th, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on October 18th, 2018, from 5PM - 7PM PDT.  The chat focused on The Origin Story by Carolin Reich.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB START!

Good evening, everyone~! This week’s Thursday Book Club is officially beginning! Today we are discussing The Origin Story by Carolin Reich~! (https://tapas.io/series/The-Origin-Story)

Remember that Thursday discussions are completely freeform! However, every 30 minutes I will drop in OPTIONAL discussion questions in case you’d like a bit of a prompt. If you miss out on one of these prompts, you can find them pinned for the chat’s duration. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is fun and respectfully appreciating the comic. All that said, let’s begin!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

one of my favorite scenes is actually really depressing XD but i really like the small part of a scene after cosima beats joreal and velver passes by her looking for her. https://tapas.io/episode/974705 something about the illustration on this page is so expertly crafted. like, you can just take one look and see cosima is in shock and kind of dead instead, and the fact its conveyed in such a brief and brillaint way amazes me.

Superjustinbros

Hi there!

RebelVampire

hey SJ

Superjustinbros

Glad to be here

RebelVampire

feel free to share any scenes that you were found of.

Superjustinbros

https://tapas.io/episode/1182515

Here's a pretty silly one

RebelVampire

yes! i really liked the relationship between chaze and his brother. theyre so different in personality. and you kind of have to wonder what happened in the past that caused his brother to leave home and essentially leave chaze in charge. cause chaze is not exactly whod i was as a king necessarily XD

Superjustinbros

Heehee X3

Pretty much

RebelVampire

did you just like it for the silliness or was there something else?

Superjustinbros

the silliness

RebelVampire

any part of the silliness that particularly entertained you or just the whole package?

Superjustinbros

I'd say the "head shake" bit

RebelVampire

yeah thats definitely a great illustration right there~!

Superjustinbros

Indeed

And giant draco daddy

RebelVampire

yeah i liked how the dragon was treated more like a pest than as a dragon XD

Superjustinbros

Dragon jsut wants his pumpkins for Halloween

RebelVampire

in the meantime, another scene i liked was in the elven court where velver did manipulative mumbo jumbo towards nocturne by playing to her fears on being the proxy for chaos. that was just some beautiful a-ok emotional stake driving right there. though i do wonder how much of it was on purpose or if velver was being a jerk. but i like the fact that i dont know for sure because it keeps velver as a bit enigmatic

Superjustinbros

https://tapas.io/episode/1152958 Ooh, so there's some type of modern tech in this world too?

RebelVampire

ummm, well in that part of the world its just cause cosima brought her phone

Superjustinbros

lol right

RebelVampire

another scene im fond of is when nocturne she tells Chaze "nope you gotta figure out how to get yourself out" after freeing him. Chaze has some really great expressions. But i also like the story itself turns my expectations on their head by having Chaze really actually mostly figure out how to escape himself.

Superjustinbros

XD

Yeah that's a good scene

RebelVampire

speaking of head turns, and not so much a scene, but i like that cosima orchestrated her own escape from the brothel and noped out. like im used to stories where the protagonist misbehaves only a fraction (like explore the brothel after being told no dont do that). but cosima just nopes out of there and heads for home, which is a fitting reaction for someone her age.

Superjustinbros

Yeah.

At least it's appropriate for Cosima's age.

Since I see lots of story make the young characters far more intelligent/capable for someone their age

RebelVampire

yes, so i like that she decided to try and nope after all. granted it backfired as it should have, but still the attempt was made

mathtans

I will be another... 15-20 minutes. FYI.

RebelVampire

kay take your time. well be here but i hope you can make it.

mathtans

I liked the rattling off of "chosen one" artifacts like mascots and silver crystals and then be all, if I don't get those, then nevermind.

Superjustinbros

Oh hey Math(edited)

RebelVampire

oh yeah i forgot about that moment in the larger scheme. but that was a really great moment. and again, kind of a more realistic reaction in a sense. cause i think those sorts of things are what ppl expect if they get told theyre the chosen one.

QUESTION 2. Throughout the comic, Velver seems to be up to his own sorts of goals. What do you think Velver’s goals even are? Are they personal, or is this the will of the supposed Church? What do these goals have to do with manipulating the elves to war with the merpeople? What outcome do you think people are hoping to achieve by starting it? Who is Kader, and what’s their intent with Cosima/Riga? Do you feel Velver is loyal to Kader, or is Velver playing the field to achieve his own ends? Lastly, how does Velver know Jorel, and why did Jorel call Velver a traitor?

i will try and tackle the last one first. i feel as if velver must not have always been part of the church by the fact hes a traitor. instead, he joined the church later when he saw the people he was with were "evil." though personally i feel like jorel's group wants to stop the prophecy a different way versus what the church is up to? but this is mostly based on the fact i cant necessarily picture jorel as part of this so-called church

i could be wrong and its totally opposite and the hunters dont realize velver is a double agent who hates the church

im gonna go out on the limb and say i think velver is playing both fields and trying to decide for himself what the best outcome is. and that while he's doing kader's bidding for now, he ultimately is after something else that makes following kader necessary.

Superjustinbros

I second the "prophecy a different way" part, seems like a possible reason.

RebelVampire

i definitely also feel that kader is definitely for sure evil. cause something about the breaking of strings and velver's reactions makes me pretty sure they're a tyrant. XD which makes me pretty sure that they actually dont care about light beating the dark. they just want cosima's powers to do cool power things. maybe take over a kingdom

actually thatd make sense for why they want the elves and the merpeople to war

let the elves and the merpeople tire themselves out

then swoop in with cosima/riga saying "were here to take over"

insta win

Superjustinbros

I mean who doesn't want to rule over a kingdom

mathtans

Okaaaay, hiiii. Busy week, didn't get all the way through "Destiny", but very impressed by the German origins here. Gonna scroll up and make random remarks now.

Re: The scene after the dead parents, yeah, that whole section somehow rang really true, the whole "my parents will be so annoyed I don't want to have to deal" morphing into the "what is even my life now". Also, kudos on illustrations in general.

RebelVampire

yeah. i like that it continues as well to when cosima got caught by the hunters. and she just sits there like "what is life what do i do"

mathtans

I'm not at the brother scene yet. ^.^ Did not expect the dragon thing. I wonder how people who do the swimming/water thing end up with dragons, that we associate with the air.

Yeah. I mean, not only are your parents dead, you come face to face with their killer. Yipes.

Yeah, Cosima's portrayed well as a teenager.

RebelVampire

i did wonder that too. we havent seen the merpeople yet in the sense of their city, so maybe they actually live above water unlike all past precedent merpeople or something

i did think it was ironic

but i also thought it was ironic anyway cause how does chaze of all ppl have a dragon XD

mathtans

Velver's an interesting cookie. Joining up later makes sense, particularly if that made him a "traitor" to some. I feel like he's his own agent, rather than working for anyone else... not necessarily that he's trying to engineer the best outcome either, just that he thinks he has some role to play, prophecy wise.

Superjustinbros

I wonder what the merpeople even look like

unless they already appeared and I jsut missed it

mathtans

Seahorses are called dragons of the sea, right? Maybe that's how they hatch.

RebelVampire

chaze is a mer person

Superjustinbros

ooh

RebelVampire

as is his brother XD

Superjustinbros

Okay then X3

RebelVampire

and i guess thats possible if the dragons are secretly just sea horses

mathtans

I think Velver's been reading the ancient runes. I also have my own crazy theory...

Namely that which one of them is good/order or evil/chaos hasn't necessarily been decided yet. Velver's pegging Cosima for the former, but it could be the other girl, so he's goading her too.

RebelVampire

oh thats a really good theory. that either one is capable. cause i mean tbf chaos doesnt have to be evil nor does order have to be good

mathtans

It's like, "I'm going to start a war, and let's see which of them handles it better".

Superjustinbros

lel

mathtans

It also might explain why Jorel wanted Cosima dead, he (or others of his kind) have pegged her as the chaotic one.

RebelVampire

could be

tbf maybe jorel wasnt even ordered to kill cosima

maybe hes just like velver and think he has his own role to play

Superjustinbros

Maybe so

RebelVampire

and he chose the psycho role

mathtans

Could be. I'm not sure I totally buy he's a psycho though... he's strangely ordered in his thinking. It's like, I gotta do this, and this, and tie up loose ends. He just, I dunno, has no soul?

(Maybe that's the same thing.)

RebelVampire

i mostly label him psycho cause he heartlessly killed her parents XD

mathtans

OH, hmmmm... what if Velver and Jorel were originally the rebirth of order and chaos, and they messed it up, so now it's up to the women? How old are they anyway?

Rebel: Fair.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. Many of the events of the comic come about for one reason: Cosima and Nocturne are destined to fight according to a prophecy and past precedence of their past selves. Do you think The Origin Story about Riga and her sister is true, or do you think there’s some critical information missing from it? Do you believe the prophecy is destined to come to pass, or are Cosima and Nocturne going to find a way to avoid fighting each other? Why do you think Cosima was kidnapped as a child but not Nocturne? In present times, what do you think will happen when Cosima catches up with Nocturne? Do you think Cosima will learn to control her powers inherited from Riga better, or will they ultimately be her undoing? What about Nocturne? Will she overcome her own issues regarding the prophecy?

i dont think that old. but i mean i guess its possible. though they must of messed up real bad cause neither velver or jorel killed each other.

so im saying it now cause of that flashback cosima had at some point (which i dont remember where). i think this is one of those situations where what ppl believe is a lie. someone else hurt riga and someone kept turning the new incarnations against each other. and eventually it devolved into a myth and such, as myths tend to do

mathtans

Well, the killing each other is just how things are now, once it's all escalated. ^.^

There's probably key missing information... maybe they're actually TRIPLETS.

RebelVampire

dun dun dun without the 3rd sister there are no negotians. jsut blind filled rage

mathtans

Yeah, there has been some interesting flashback/imagery stuff. Like when she reached for someone, and the image shattered and it was Velver (if memory serves).

I wonder if Cosima's friends have a role to play too. Maybe in a big twist, it was really one of them.

RebelVampire

they definitely have a role to play. they are suspicious af, though idk if you got to that part yet

mathtans

Ahh, if they appear in "Destiny" then no. I only got to the bit after Velver and Jorel talked. (I feel like they're related, incidentally.)

Speaking of though, the plot has been very clever in rolling out it's cast. Gradual enough to come to terms with each new character, but teasing others that end up with bigger roles later on. I'm reminded of an early scene when Velver was spying on Cosima - and Nocturne was spying on him. Layers.

RebelVampire

yeah i really like the pacing on it too. i dont have to spend an immense time memorizing a billion names at once.

Superjustinbros

At least the names aren't too hard to memorize.

mathtans

I'm still horrible with names. It's a gift.

I imagine it scans differently too when you're seeing it as it comes out versus binging, but I felt like the pacing was done well for the cast.

Superjustinbros

i feel ya Math (edited)

RebelVampire

on the side topic of nocturne, i feel like left to their own devices she and cosima wouldn't fight it out to the death. instead theyd be all sister bondy bond, have some tea, etc. so i think for sure its not they themselves who bring the prophecy to pass, its the plans of others who try to grab at the power and turn them on each other. but i also think cosima and nocturne will be obstinate and keep hugging each other screaming no

mathtans

I'm not so sure about that. Mainly because they might not always have control over their bodies. Like when Cosima went crazy on Jorel for self preservation. Could happen again with unintended consequences.

Nocturne probably also resents Cosima for growing up without so much responsibility, maybe also for having actual parents who aren't apparently trapped in crystals.

(...is reading a bit further in the background btw...)

RebelVampire

idk if nocturne would resent cosima for it. cause i mean, at least nocturne's parents are still probably alive in their crystals and werent viciously murdered. though youre right that riga may have other ideas about their bonding and just take over. but then again riga seems to know what velver is up to so riga might not act either.

the bigger danger on seeing nocturne i think is seeing the queen of elves

cause shes the one who might not take kindly to cosima XD

mathtans

Well, yeah, once Nocturne learns of the murdering that might change things. ^.^ There's a lot of variables in play I suppose.

That said, I will willingly ship Nocturne with Cosima's friends.

RebelVampire

LOL i dont think i can get behind that ship. mostly cause i expect cosima's friends to die. :"D

mathtans

That light haired girl is kind of precious though, with her theories.

I wonder what she'd make of seeing the town.... ... and now I'm picturing her at the brothel, I shouldn't do that.

Also, shipping all the girls in the brothel.

RebelVampire

yes those are more acceptable ships. the brothel girls are probably safe. and head brothel girl has a whip.

also i found it, that scene with cosima's friends being super suspicious. it was actually in puppeter

https://tapas.io/episode/915705

mathtans

Right, the fact that they knew Jorel. I thought that was weird.

It's fine though, I'll still ship them with each other! All the ships!

RebelVampire

yeah. whatever organization jorel is from theyre clearly from

QUESTION 4. Among the larger threads rests a plethora of other possible curiosities to be solved. Who exactly were Cosima’s parents? Were they working for someone from the beginning, or did they somehow get wrapped up in everything? Who are Cosima’s friends considering they lament that their comfortable lives have changed since Cosima left? Who is Jorel, and why are his orders to kill Cosima? What is the deal with the elves trapped in crystals? As far as the plot goes, how might the Hunters affect what’s going on in general? What about Chaze? Will he be able to stop the war, or is his destiny meant to be something greater than that? In general, what are your theories for the future? What do you think or want to see happen?

mathtans

Are they from that organization though? Because if so, they know where Cosima is. Why bother sending Jorel.

RebelVampire

i think jorel is more firmly acting on his own

since the friends didnt know of any death order

mathtans

He was saying he couldn't go back without being sure she was dead though, or someone would be upset.

I think.

RebelVampire

so maybe the friends didnt get the message? and theyre going to show up going wtf guys

mathtans

Holy Hannah! Kader's more psychotic than Jorel, she doesn't even kill directly. (Just got caught up.) Like geeeeeez.

Rebel: Maybe. There was the implication that they could return as well.

I suspects events will prevent that, but they thought it was an option.

RebelVampire

maybe. idk. i need more data in this case. i still think jorel is working more on his own though. cause maybe the person who was gonna be upset is actually gonna be upset regardless. and be like wtf jorel why did you kill riga you dolt

but yeah kader is psychotic, or at the very least tyrannical

velver did not necessarily make a good switch

i really want to know whats up with the elves in the crystals. like was there a spell that backfired and the queen just doesnt care O_O

mathtans

Maybe, yeah... also that mention of having the same problem in another 10 years makes me think once again that if the battle doesn't happen the spirits move on again. Or something.

Yeah, maybe the elves in the crystals had a disease? So it's like suspended animation? Because it was mentioned that there were fewer elves than merfolk.

Or maybe they just couldn't make enough food for the city, so this means fewer mouths to feed. Swords apparently grow in the crystals, but I guess vegetables don't.

RebelVampire

maybe it is a disease. or maybe this is actually why riga was kidnapped. cause riga caused it and jorel's group was like "welp we found riga. did you see that giant crystal explosion?"

im not sure what mention youre talking about with the 10 years thing tho

i must of missed it

mathtans

The most recent update. Third panel from the end.

Riga likes making crystals. Everyone needs a hobby.

RebelVampire

hmmm from the phrasing i feel like the implication is more that nocturne will kill riga? and kader will have to wait a decade for riga to be reborn again so they have to restart the kidnapping process. but i could be wrong.

mathtans

As to the future, I really don't think I can call it. Too many moving pieces. I also wonder a bit if maybe the Circle's hiding elements of the prophecy, accidentally or otherwise.

Ahh, I see... no, that's possible. Doesn't necessarily negate the Velver/Jorel reincarnation issue though, maybe the host doesn't need to die.

(Yes, I'm back to that theory.)

RebelVampire

its a possible theory. though like i say theyd really have to mess it up for this to be a thing. i do think parts of the prophecy are hidden

though maybe its a bit of both

in that theyre purposefully hiding some of it

but then theres parts that they just missed

and are gonna go through their archives and go "oops"

mathtans

It was censored by the clerics.

Incidentally, just want to shout-out here too for the translator. I noticed the comic's originally in German, and gets translated. Can't be simple coming up with the terms like for the "virtual loop" forest.

(Maybe the original German prophecy got translated so many times it's being misinterpreted. )

RebelVampire

i am curious what the original german says now XD

mathtans

I can't speak German. They have neat words for things though.

Okay, final theory. In a massive plot twist, Cosima's cat app saves the day. All the outside world needed was technologies to unify the different groups.

Oh! And shout-out to some of the fun cartoony poses. I feel like those would be fun to draw. (Or maybe not draw, but see once drawn?)

RebelVampire

haha i did kind of hope it would go that way tbh. that by the end the worlds recombine and they figure out that technology is awesome and puts less pressure on the whole magic business.

so i mean if cosima's cat app requires this to happen, so be it

mathtans

I wonder if there's anywhere for her phone to charge. Or if she can use magic for that.

RebelVampire

i wonder if vampire guy we saw briefly who seemed to be from cosima's world has the cat app

that would be hilarious. has all these great goddess powers, uses them to recharge her phone

mathtans

It's the simple things in life sometimes.

RebelVampire

well if cosima visits the brothel again, she cant disappoint. theyll want to see that cat app again

mathtans

Yis. That will be after the Origin Story... the Sequel Story.

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB END!

Sadly, this wraps up this week’s Thursday Book Club chat for now. Thank you so much to everyone for reading and joining us! We want to give a special thank you to Carolin Reich, as well, for making The Origin Story. If you liked the comic, make sure to support Carolin Reich’s efforts however you’re able to~!

Read and Comment: https://tapas.io/series/The-Origin-Story

Carolin Reich’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/CarolinReich

Carolin Reich’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/A212D0X

Carolin Reich’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ensyis

Comic Tea Party- Thursday Book Club

Next week’s Thursday Book Club will be about A Drift of Souls by Davpow. For participants, you have the next week to read as much of the comic as you would like~! We hope to see you on Thursday, October 25th, from 5PM to 7PM PDT for the chat in #thursday_bookclub!

Comic’s Main Site: https://adriftofsouls.com/