#in order to CREATE the interpretation they’re going with

[subterra-rose]

Thinking about Luz yet again, but I really think if you interpret The Owl House as a story about grief and how it changes people, it really changes the way you understand the interactions between characters. Luz, who is still struggling with the death of her father, tries so hard to make friends at home and feels as though she’s rejected by her peers for her behaviour. Camila is trying so hard to uplift Luz as a single mother but can only manage so much and feels as though she can’t connect to her daughter as strongly as she could. Eda has lost most significant relationships in her life because she pushes people away in order to protect herself and them. King has never truly known what or who he is. Lilith partially destroyed her relationship with Eda and was frantically trying to rebuild it. Hell, Belos’ whole backstory is about his obsessive need to bring back the brother who would never be what he wanted.

Seeing how these characters grapple with their feelings of grief, isolation, and inadequacy is really interesting when you think about what they’re mourning is so different, yet they can understand on some level what the others are going through and how these feelings are transformative whether or good or for worse. It’s fundamental to their characters, but they change and grow from this in order to create a new understanding of their world or reject it and stagnate

[tac-bat]

Why I hate how the elders are treated and misinterpreted in a big chunk of the fandom. Rant!

Before we start

I mention fat phobia, and talk about how certain hair types and cultural clothing is described as "food" as a response to what some of the elders are perceived by alot of the fandom. These comments are not only directed at some elders, but many folks who have gotten representation from them are also affected these comments that many thrown around freely.

I’m at my breaking point and will get heated on an array of things but I don’t care

You're entitled to your own opinion, even if i heavily disagree with it. If you don't wanna read then just scroll, because I will rip apart the interpretations I talk about under the read more tag.

If you "don't see this happening" or believe this "doesn't happen" that doesn't mean it didn't happen, Tumblr isin't the only social media I have. I've dabbled in the official Discord, on Instagram, and god forbid Pinterest too, i've seen it all.

Let’s go in order, most issues I have a bone to pick with are more prevalent in some elders more than others.

Daleth

They’re just forgotten, really. Even with knowing what Isle looked like before. Flourishing even, populated seen in the switch trailer and even making an appearance in the Auroras' concert for runaways, they’re pretty much never talked about. And if they are they're just kinda only the butt of pee-paw jokes

Ayin

Their characterization is just confusing to me. I've seen a lot of them portrayed as happy-go-lucky. I’m not saying they can’t be happy, but from what I’ve seen, that’s all they are to a lot of folks in the fandom that I’ve seen. Which really confuses me because in their cutscene they wake up in a daze, notice us, are sort of like "ah, hi," and get straight to work. And they’re gentle, tipping the pot to the butterfly they make to enter. But then there's their orbit cutscene, where they look tired and a tad grouchy after being woken up—not mean, just tired. Again, nothing wrong with it, but it’s pretty one-dimensional to me to just see them as all that.

On a more bitter note, i've seen alot of "fat jokes" or straight up fatphobia in art and comments alike about their body, "Why are they so fat?" -a comment i've actually seen in the discord regarding Ayin. it's disgusting.

Teth

I have so much shit to say about them.

They're not mean simply because they took your light.

"But they snatched it away." Motherfucker, you're looking surface level. THINK!

Imagine you're dead, stuck in limbo for god knows how long, rotting away without anything to do. And you enjoy building and creating, and you were possibly the catalyst for the production of darkstone; your temple could be a goddamn factory for it! So much so that your anvil and hammer are in your constellation; they're a part of you. It’s what you love. And now that you're dead, with no light to fuel, no life to live, forced to sit there with broken shards, it'd bore you, drain you. And then a child appears with a flame; and for the first time in thousands of years, if not more, you can create, build, make something.

And you do.

You take the light without a second thought, regaining your strength and setting to work to help this child pass through your realm to the other elder. You just put all your focus on making the diamond, and when you finish and are proud of it, you send it up to the sky. You’ve created again. And in your orbit cutscene, you're much gentler, no longer bound to that soul-sucking abyss of nothing, so you honour the children who gave you light, your gift. Taking your time and presenting it to them with grace.

That’s what Teth does; that’s what they do. Yes, they seem like a more serious person, but they’re in no way mean. Did they take your light away? Yes. But putting yourself in their shoes for just a moment can make you understand why.

Samekh

I love the twins; I’m a fan of them, and I love Sah in particular with all my being. Which is why this one I will get very passionate about.

It baffles me how those two got the impression of being idiots who share a single brain cell. I don’t mind the jokes, but some people think that’s all they are. Which is just so wrong, like? How can you be so wrong? Would a ruler who built their fucking realm, Valley Triumph of all names, in a goddamn mountains? Would the most prosperous, decorated, and successful realm be led by idiots? Let me repeat that, They built the realm Valley of Triumph, in the fucking MOUNTIANS! Do you know how hard it is to make a city that size in those conditions? MOUNTAINS ARE FUCKING BRUTAL, WITH LESS OXYGEN, EVEN LESS WITH MASK'S, AND FOR HOW UNPREDICTABLE THE WEATHER IS ITS INSANE. Yet valley thrived! They thrived in those mountains, creating impossible architecture, floating buildings, and sports ranging from sliding to flying to manta racing.

Would idiots who share a brain cell accomplish that? No! It's incredible what the twins achieve—an amazing realm and, in my opinion, the capital of the sky. Eden, on the other hand, seems more like a sacred place where you ascend. Not to mention the Citadel? Hello??? It's fucking fantastic; it's incredible how they created such a beautiful realm in the mountains. They wanted races; they got them; they wanted enrichment; they have theatre, gondolas, even the coliseum, and races too.

The twins can be silly and serious, and they are shown to have the same rivalry as all siblings do. But they are not dumb idiots, not in the least.

Tsadi

Tsadi, like Ayins, is just confusing. I’m not too well versed, but I’ve seen iterations of them where they side with "Resh," who is really just a concept art character that has definitely changed from the base game in concept art. Even then, they've never officially appeared in-game; you just have those statues in Wasteland. And in those interpretations of seeing Resh as a full-fledged character, they’re seen as "evil," which I don’t agree with at all. I mention them because most of the time, Tsadi would side with Resh in the war to mant; them seeing Resh as pro-Darkstone in the war (the diamonds Teth makes, and that we light up, basically the main power source for sky), this would imply Tsadi destroyed their realm because they followed the "king." However, their sun shield is right there; based on the memories of wounded warriors, it shows that they were on the "sun side" of their friend. If they we're pro darkstone and was on the same side as the hypothetical "king" wouldn't they have a diamond shield?

"But the spear falling in warrior's and seeds memory could be them," would you expect Tsadi to attack their own realm, where civilians are in warrior memory? Attack their own PEOPLE for the reasons I stated above?

Lamed

Like most of the elders, they're pretty much forgotten. And frankly, I haven’t seen any character interpretations that stick out, so their section is more about how they’re mistreated. Mostly on their headscarf, which is confirmed to be based off a hijab by one of the devs, Ash. Who explains why we should be respectful about it.

And god, so many POC deal with shit already because their hair or cultural clothing are described as food or even worse which many hate. It's disheartening to see almost every joke or comparison refer to Lamed being an "Egg".

More stuff that piss me off

"Bad rulers"

I despise when folks call the elders "evil" or "bad rulers," not seeming to care for their people or even being seen as lazy, which baffles me. Have you watched the vault cutscene?

ALL OF THEM ARE ASSISTING ANCESTORS, AND EVERYONE IS LEADING, GUIDING, OR CREATING THINGS FOR THE ANCESTORS IN SOME WAY.

For fuck's sake, Flight Guide is Ayin's apprentice! Would someone who doesn't care about their people bother with an apprentice? Even a flight guide shares the same pattern on their pants as Ayin, and the same pattern on the flight post's. It's ridiculous how folks can spew the most disproven zero reading comprehension ever when this shit is right here.

And they're not saints; they made mistakes, of course, but I see them wanting the best for their people and the kingdom. But in the process, they made huge mistakes that piled up and spilled over, resulting in the kingdom's downfall. But it wasn’t done out of malice; they tried and messed up big time, but they weren't evil, not one bit.

How many treat Lamed and Teth when it comes to shipping

I can’t stop who you ship; as long as it’s not weird and illegal, it’s whatever for me. Some pairs are not for me because of personal preferences/ familial head cannons, but I do dabble in ships. Yet it’s more mellowed out to me just saying "cute" when I see fanart and moving on. But it irritates me that when Teth or Lamed are shipped with most people, they appear to be more submissive in some ways. I’m not saying they can’t be happy, but to me, in so much ship art, it seems like just because they look more feminine, they’re suddenly almost always a blushing or shy mess, or (and I hate to use this term) a tsundere for Teth in some other cases. But that’s completely my biased opinion.

Fucks sake in my earlier time in the fandom, I was a Lamed/Tsadi fan, but again, it’s mellowed out to me just seeing fanart and thinking it's cute and moving on if it comes naturally. But I didn’t make one meek and the other an alpha male or some dumb shit when I used to draw them as I've seen many do. I mention this because I can see some folks calling me hypocritical for pointing this out. But the reason it irritates me is when Teth or Lamed are paired with someone (who often appears to be masc) almost always seem out of character simply because they're with said person. Which rubs me the wrong way since they are usually almost always seen as fem presenting in many folks eyes. Again, I don't have an issue with the pairs themselves; it just irks me when only their personalities seem to be changed for the sake of it, where it's just out of character.

How some elders greatly overshadow others and leave them in the dust

I'm guilty of this, fucks sake most of my content is twin stuff. And while I can feed on alot of twin content here, many folks who are fans of any other elder's barely get crumbs, even less so with Daleth, Ayin, And Lamed who are pretty much left do the dust. Which I hate because i know why.

The reason, Twins and Teth and even Tsadi are so popular when they others aren't is because they're "conventionally attractive", all are fit, all are gorgeous and can be attractive to many. Yet so can the others be appreciated, yet they aren't. Again, i know a hypocrite because of my blog being mostly twin stuff, yet even blogs like mine that don't focus on a single elder barely draw Daleth, Ayin, and Lamed. It sucks ass.

I think that’s all. I’m just sick of how the elders are treated by everyone.

[oc-challenges]

WELCOME TO THE OC HALLOWEEN CHALLENGE!

Calling all the monsters, it's time for the OC 2023 Halloween Challenge! This challenge has been hauntin' you for five years, and we're wantin' you to participate!

If you're new here, here's what you need to know: This is an event that takes place over the 31 days of October and presents oc creators with Halloween-themed challenges to get the creative juices dancing. It is open to creations for both fanfiction and original ocs, and if you want to participate you don't have to every one or even in order. It is brought to you by @purpleyearning / @aliverse, @elmunson, and includes suggestions by members of our discord! (special thanks to @endless-hoppington for helping with some descs)

Rules

DO NOT copy others edits.

If you are doing crossovers, PLEASE make sure that the creator of the other oc is okay with crossovers.

If you want your post to be reblogged onto this blog, it must contain the hashtag ohc2023.

Feel free to ask questions, I promise I’m more treat than trick.

Everything is up to the creators interpretation, although I have tried to include some examples for help!

Have fun!

RANDOM/THEMELESS (1st–5th) Some of the challenges that don't coincide with each other.

Day One: Life In Plastic

It's fantastic! Is your OC more of a Barbie or a Bratz? Maybe they go to Monster High, or they're an American Girl Doll with an inspiring story? Perhaps you want to make a Funko version of your OC? To put it simply, this day is about dolls as an ode to the best movie of 2023; Barbie.

Day Two: Lights, Camera, Action!

For day two, we're combining oc as canon, oc as celebrity, and oc's social media into one day where you get to choose which of those challenges you would like to do... maybe even all of them!

Day Three: Born In The Wrong Century

Movies depend on a lot of things, but time and place helps create the ominous feel for it. Like Crimson Peak that belongs to the revival gothic period of 1880s or Jason Voorhees waking up on a spaceship in the year of 2455, give your character(s) a new decade to explore and even monsters to face.

Day Four: Twisted

From reality episodes where two people experience switching roles with one another to an alternative reality where their roles are different from their home's universe, make your character experience life through a whole new perspective by making your hero the villain or your villain the hero.

Day Five: Vampires, Werewolves, and Witches... Oh My!

From Godzilla to Dracula to The Mummy, the monster-verse is rich with lore. Today we focus on those monsters that never go out of style, after all they’re called classics for a reason. Is your oc Frankenstein or his monster?

OH, YOU WANNA PLAY PSYCHO KILLER? CAN I BE THE HELPLESS VICTIM? (6th–12th) Due to its popularity last year, we're bringing back the horror character tropes week.

Day Six: The Harmless Antagonist

Ah, a classic in more than just horror; the mean gorgeous holier-than-thou character; more specifics of this are often The Jock, The Cheerleader, The “Slut”, The Bitch, The Rich Kid, etc. While they may annoy the main character or make their everyday life difficult with academic rivalry or teasing, they’re really nothing compared to the new enemy; the thing or person killing everyone. Which one of your ocs is getting brutally knocked down a peg… or the stairs?

Day Seven: The Comedic Relief

Honestly, they make even the scariest movies bearable. They're almost never the main character but almost always the most liked. They say laughter is medicine for the soul, so which of your ocs soothes the characters and the situation with a joke made at the worst of times?

Day Eight: The Denier/Non-Believer/Skeptic

It doesn’t matter the subgenre, there’s always one. They don’t believe a killers out to get them or their friends despite the fast growing pile of bodies, they claim there’s a natural explanation for the supernatural event terrorizing everyone, they just refuse to get with the program. This often combines with the cop or older-than-everyone-else character. Which one of your ocs will get killed by their stubborness before their loyalty?

Day Nine: The Harbinger

We hear about omens of death in every kind of mythology. Irish folklore warns you of hearing the wailing woman and German myth tells you to never find your doppelganger. Even Western Society in America will drift from their path if they see a black cat on the way. So which of your ocs stands outside of the haunted house and tells the redheaded twins “you’re going to die in there”?

Day Ten: The Accomplice

You never saw it coming, but you should’ve. There’s not just one killer you have to worry about, there’s two. This is the person whose been helping the killer since the very beginning, pretending to be your friend the entire time until the plot reached its rising action. You’re heart broken and the very ground shakes under your feet, the good person you once thought you knew is gone… or worse, had never truly existed. Which of your ocs is not only willing to help a friend hide the body, but kill it too?

Day Eleven: The Killer

They’re haunted and bloodthirsty, compelling in a dangerous way. Everyone has a monster within but due to some tragic backstory of abuse, hate, or ridicule, these people – or things– let the monster win. Whether they done a mask or turn your dreams into sentient nightmares, they’re the main reason why anybody shows up to movie night. Which one of your ocs looks into the reflection of the knife in their hand, and pictures themselves chopping up human bodies instead of vegetables?

Day Twelve: The Final Girl

It’s all come down to this, the last stand. There’s two people left, or at least two important people left; the killer and the final girl. She’s fought tooth and nail, and grief has made way for rage. At first she was just another potential victim, now she’s in the killers way and she won’t go down easy. In the beginning she just wanted to survive, but like Laurie Strode now she wants revenge. Which oc becomes the monsters monster?

WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME We're exploring classic horror locations. Throw your ocs into a horror story that take place in these locations, or make up your own story.

Day Thirteen: Have Killer Fun At Summer Camp! (Location: Summer Camp)

It's Friday The Thirteenth... literally. For today, the location is a summer camp like the one Jason Voorhees terrorizes. Counselor, killer, or camper? Whatever role your oc plays, they certainly didn't read this in the brochure.

Day Fourteen: Vacation Nightmares (Location: Hotel/Island/AirBnB, etc.)

An island that magically speeds up your aging, a hotel with corridors that lead to nowhere, a psychotic airbnb host; Today is about horror in locations that are supposed to be a break from the horror of everyday life, but instead introduces you to whole new horrors.

Day Fifteen: Home Is Where The Haunt Is (Location: House or Apartment)

A home can be a place to make memories and some memories leave a scar. Focus on your characters when a place they call home is threatened.

Day Sixteen: She Doesn't Like It In The Barn (Location: Farm/Ranch)

Samara Morgan was forced to stay in the barn's hayloft to keep her burning images out of her adoptive parents minds. Framer Graham Hess had to defend his home and family from aliens that threatened to kill his son. Pearl craved to be a movie star and experienced a psychotic break where she killed those who denied her her dream. What deadly passages does the farm bestow to your characters?

Day Seventeen: Death is a Mystery and Burial is a Secret (Location: Cemetery or Tomb)

Cemeteries and tombs are the places we put our loved ones to rest, but in horror movies we find that final resting places are not so restful after all. Whether it’s ghosts, zombies, psychotic gravekeepers, or grave robbers ensuring no witnesses; how do your ocs go from mourning to trying to survive until morning?

Day Eighteen: What's The Opposite Of Miracles? (Location: Places of Worship)

Places of worship are supposed to be places of good, where people go for guidance and safety, places full of good beings and devoid of sin. But what if the bad beings sneak in or the sinless place is just a hiding place for those full of sin?

Day Nineteen: This Won't Hurt A Bit (Location: Hospital and/or Asylum)

In season two of American Horror Story, we were welcomed to Briarcliff, an asylum that became ‘home’ to the misunderstood and the criminally insane. Much like other hospitals of the past, many attempts of healing were there to disguise the evil hiding in plain sight. How does your character deal when the place that was supposed to heal them becomes the place that harms them?

Day Twenty: The Trees Have Eyes (Location: The Woods/Forest)

Shadows of the trees cast illusions, the cracking of sticks cause hairs on the back of your neck stand. The wind howls which sounds of a voice, and the birds no longer sing. The woods are creepy, desolate, and you find yourself lost in the sea of their trunks. What happens when your ocs are stuck in the woods?

RANDOM OUTLIER

Day Twenty-One: I Want To Play A Game

Some of the most recent hits in horror history have been not movies, books, or shows, but video games. From Dead By Daylight to Until Dawn, horror fans have been able to experience immersion at a whole new level by trying to make all the right choices as a character. Now, it's time to put your oc into a horror game AU. Will they live, or will they die? Only their stats and choices will tell.

STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED (22nd–27th) Character tropes are fun and all, but for the next six days we're focusing on genre tropes.

Day Twenty-Two: Solitude Causes More Wounds Than It Was Meant To Heal (Trope: Isolation)

Fear is increased when one is alone by themselves, or cut off from civilization like an reclusive island. Focus on your characters in the horror of isolation; are they forced to recognize who they truly are on the inside? Do they practice the law of nature or nurture? Do they keep their morals or own laws?

Day Twenty-Three: The Apocalypse Is The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me (Trope: Apocalyptic)

Just as everything must begin, it also must end. This, unfortunately, includes humanity. What will happen when the world as your oc knows it ends, when that world goes from millions of people to tens or perhaps even one? Will they be forced to adapt, doomed to die, or perhaps even thrive?

Day Twenty-Four: You've Killed Me Before (Trope: Time Loop)

The best thing about the sun setting is that it will come up again in the morning, and a new day will begin. But what if the sun comes up and an old day begins? Whether your oc must solve their own murder, solve somebody else’s murder, or face difficult truths about those around them, it’s time to put them into a time loop.

Day Twenty-Five: Better You Die Than I (Trope: Doppleganger)

In real life, seeing your “doppleganger” is said to be an omen of misfortune or good luck. In horror movies, dopplegangers usually take a more direct approach in ruining the lives of their lookalike. Whether they’re an omen of bad things to come or trying to steal ones life, give your oc a doppleganger and explore the horrors of a stranger that shares your face.

Day Twenty-Six: No Wonder Everyone Keeps Invading You (Trope: Extraterrestrial)

Whether your oc was a believer before or not, life from another planet has arrived to Earth on this day. These so-called aliens come in all shapes, sizes, and colors; They can even come in a human disguise, as a deadly plant, as a machine, or even as little green men. No matter where they came from or what they look like, humanity is not ready for them. Whether we try to hurt them or they try to hurt us, how does your oc deal with extraterrestrial life on Earth and the problems this arrival presents?

Day Twenty-Seven: All Politics Is A Personality Cult Now (Trope: Cult)

What simply starts as a simple dinner meal, a visit to a secluded area where people celebrate, or deciding to reunite with the estranged side of your family, can easily be your steps toward a cult. Have your characters fight to stay alive against those who have welcomed them with sinister intent.

COSTUMES TELL A STORY

Day Twenty-Eight: Let's Be Weird Together

We all know of an iconic squad that so many people are just dying to be a part of. Well, it’s your ocs and their friends chance! Day 28 is group costumes!

Day Twenty-Nine: That Could Be Us

Love isn’t in the air but maybe it’s in the fabric of costumes! It’s time for couples costumes!

Day Thirty: I Can Be Anybody I Wanna Be

If your oc could be anybody, who would they wanna be? Well, for one night only, they can be! It's time for your oc to dress up!

TRICK OR TREAT!

Day Thirty-One: I'm Just Here For The Boos

Halloween is a time for tricks and treats, for ghost to walk among the living and us to disguise ourselves. But it can be killer, and the transference of evil can be achieved. Give your shape to another, gift them and you shall receive in turn. Ocpotluck awaits.

[absynthe--minded]

I’m less interested in the business of hot takes these days but I do think that it’s a little crazy that a major part of Tolkien fandom discourse is still centered around the assumption that we, the readers, are supposed to think that the narrative believes the Valar are correct instead of trying their best and just as fallible as anybody else.

Not only do we have on the page canonical statements from the Valar that they wonder if bringing the Eldar to Aman was a mistake (in the various debates on the Statute of Finwë and Míriel) but we also have Manwë admitting he doesn’t know what is going to happen in the future and the many many things they attempt that are in fact failures or mistakes or consequences that they are responsible for. Not foreseeing that Melkor hadn’t reformed was a mistake. Assuming that they had any right to try and meddle in elvish marriage was a mistake. Positioning themselves as kings and rulers instead of governing powers was a mistake. Refusing to take action to help Men or to more proactively fight Morgoth after the Darkening was a mistake.

I think a lot of people assume the Valar are evil or malicious or malevolent because they look at a lot of textually fallible gods and demigods who canonically don’t know the future and are making the best possible guess at what they should do and go “oh, they’re presented as authorities, so that means Tolkien thinks they’re correct”, but every other king or queen in the Legendarium is on a spectrum from “good person who occasionally fucks up spectacularly” to “selfish abusive bastard”; even someone like Aragorn isn’t perfect all the time and takes himself over the coals for his mistakes. Ruling is about being fallible. No one but Eru makes no errors, and in fact the Valar fail so spectacularly at being in charge that their punishment at the end of the Second Age is to have their influence reduced. They had a hand in letting the situation in Númenor and in Eregion get as bad as it was, and they aren’t any less in need of correction. Magic leaves the world gradually but it starts with the rounding of Eä and the declaration that things will change. (Also, Eru has a known Mannish bias, and Men aren’t Valarists and don’t revere the Valar as gods; they have a place in the order of creation but the relationships between Men and Ainur are very different from those between elves and Ainur)

I don’t think the Valar are evil, I think they’re trying their best, but it’s possible to try your best and even to be right about some things (or be more correct than Fëanor, which isn’t that hard) and still be a mess and still ultimately overstep your bounds. But that’s kind of the point - they aren’t uniquely positioned as ultimate moral authorities, they’re spirits of nature and fundamental forces who interpret their mandate to guard and guide the world as “we have the authority to make major decisions that are ultimately correct because we made them”. (this is another post, really, but I do think they made a mistake in creating Valinor and not trusting that Eru put the Eldar on the Hither Shores for a reason)

idk this is all very messy but I think both the “the narrative praises the Valar and says they can do no wrong, and look at all the objectively imperfect things they do, so clearly the narrative is advocating for immoral stuff” and the “the Valar actually are infallible and perfect and everyone who disagrees is wrong” crowds are missing the point - everyone in the Silm is messy, the Powers included

[accirax]

DRDT Secret Swap AU: For Better and Worse

The following is an ask sent to me that, while numerically present in my inbox, is invisible and inaccessible, and thus, I was only able to read it through its corresponding notification email. Tumblr be a functional website challenge; level impossible.

What a great question! Up to this point, I’ve been more of an AU enjoyer than an AU creator (other than the BNHA thing), so this will be an exciting foray into the realm of possibility! The task of creating both the best and worst outcome also provides a lot to think about when it comes to characterization. I’m excited to get talking about this! But first, some rules.

(And the usual CW for DRDT spoilers, as well as mentions of murder, suicide, self harm, eating disorders, and implied homo/transphobia. You know, standard business for DRDT secret discussion.)

To keep things simple, I’m going to be assuming that the true owners of the secrets are as follows:

While I’m by no means asserting that this interpretation of whose secret is whose is 100% accurate, it’s what I see widely agreed upon by the fandom, and what I currently believe myself. Having to factor in a bunch of different permutations of secret distribution seemed terribly complicated, so I decided to avoid it. If anybody disagrees with where I’ve placed any of the secrets, please just consider it as another facet of the alternate universe.

Additionally, I’ve kept up the “rule” that no one is allowed to receive their own secret. I’m also assuming that everything is the same up until when MonoTV hands out the motives, such that Xander and Min are still dead. However, a different distribution of secrets could have changed the details of the Chapter 2 murder, so I kinda have to speak about it in hypotheticals. I was just talking about how I didn’t want to make things needlessly complicated, so I’m not throwing in a bunch of speculation about how the secrets may have factored into the AU killer’s motives when I can’t even say for certain who the canonical killer was.

I also decided to interpret the prompt as “what’s the best/worst overall shuffle” as opposed to “who is the best/worst recipient for each individual secret.” The latter seemed like it might repeat characters too many times, and “the ch2 secrets [getting] swapped in a different way” implied to me that each character was still limited to receiving one secret. Hopefully that’s what you were going for with your ask!

Okay, I think that’s it. Let’s get started with the best case scenario, given that I think that’ll be easier. I’ll go through the characters’ secrets in the order they’re listed in on the board, so that it’ll hopefully be easier to follow along.

The Good Timeline

Eden receives Levi’s secret

If someone was going to have remorse for the remorseless killer, I think it would be Eden. Even if the concept of someone killing in cold blood might frighten Eden, the pair is already off to a good start with the conversation they shared at the beginning of Chapter 2. Eden knows a bit more about Levi’s family situation (which may have been the cause of his callous killing) and how he is trying to be a good person, even if he feels like he might be failing. Compared to others in the cast, I feel like Eden might be more willing to hear Levi out.

Specifically, we know from canon that (under David’s encouragement, at least) Eden planned to share her secret– which was a pretty severe one already– in a closed environment with just her and the secret’s owner. Of course, we haven’t yet seen from canon how Levi would react to getting assigned this secret, so it’s possible he could flip out in a similar manner to how Arturo did when Eden confronted him. However, I think there’s a good chance that he would be more resigned or neutral, which might also give Eden hope that he isn’t a lost cause… again, under the assumption that he isn't. This secret does have a chance of backfiring, but I’m making the choice to have faith in Levi– much like I think Eden would if she saw his secret!

Nico receives David’s secret

Now this is kind of an unconventional one, but, hear me out.

I don’t know if there really is a “good option” for David’s secret in the sense that I think anyone who would choose to reveal the information to the group would be the type to do so in an accusatory, non-constructive way. Similarly, a lot of people who wouldn’t reveal the secret might face problems if it caused them to quietly simmer in their distrust. That suppression of emotions could lead to a big blow up in the future.

Because of that, you might be wondering why I didn’t assign this secret to one of my throwaway slots– namely, Xander, Min, or Rose. Well, it’s because I also wanted to consider what would happen if, even in this good universe, some number of students still needed to attend a Class Trial where the secrets are unknown. Certain secrets, if left unassigned, would lead to paranoia and distrust amongst the students. And, by throwing this secret away, this secret could basically never be confirmed as David’s other than by process of elimination or (highly unlikely) self-assignment. Therefore, all of the students would have to assume that anyone whose secret isn't known has a decent chance of believing that everyone exists to be manipulated. In my opinion, that would make productively discussing a murder really difficult.

So, I decided that the best course of action would be to give this secret to the person who would make the smallest deal out of it, and that turned out to be Nico. Nico already believes that socially interacting with other humans is a complicated and confusing process, the rules of which force you into expressing yourself in a specific, “acceptable” way. Basically, I think that Nico might already see a lot of conversation as manipulation, and themselves as the manipulee. The secret says that David is really good at interpreting those rules and acing the bullet points of “acceptable” conversation? No shit, he’s the Ultimate Inspirational Speaker.

I’m not trying to say that Nico is “dumb” enough to not realize that this secret is generally threatening, but I think that, if word of it were to come out, Nico would present it in a subdued enough manner that it wouldn’t make things worse than they need to be.

Hu receives Ace’s secret

Oh boy, this is a dangerous choice given Ace and Hu’s tumultuous relationship. Although, to be fair, I don’t remember exactly how established that rivalry was prior to the distribution of the canonical secrets. To the extent that they didn’t already hate each other to the point of no return, I chose this one because I think that Hu having the context of Ace’s secret might actually help to mend their relationship.

As I said up top, this AU is predicated on Hu having the “hopeless child” secret. Thus, in this AU, we can say for certain that Hu has a prior history of self harm/self destructive tendencies. If hopeless child Hu does turn out to be canon, it would support the theory that part of the reason why Hu won’t share the “harm yourself for fun” secret is because she knows that mental health is a sensitive subject, and doesn’t want to force someone to open up about it. Given that eating disorders are a form of self harm, we can rest assured that this isn’t a secret Hu would share, no matter how much David suggests that she does.

Given Hu’s history, she might be one of the people in this cast who could best understand Ace’s plight. With this additional context, his quest for power over something in his life might feel more sympathetic, and Hu might be able to muster more concern for him. And, I’m not gonna lie, part of this assignment was granted in the slim hope that the Ultimate Mom Friend Hu would be able to make a big grandma-style meal for Ace to enjoy. They could be an improbably wholesome duo if not for… The Circumstances.

Those circumstances won’t fade anytime soon in canon, but exploring hypotheticals like this are the whole reason why AUs exist!

J receives Eden’s secret

Compared to everyone else, Eden’s secret is a pretty nonthreatening one that, especially among this pretty queer cast, shouldn’t raise a whole lot of issues. The biggest problem I can see arising from it is if someone decided to out Eden, sort of like what happened to Nico. Therefore, I wanted to give Eden’s secret to someone who would be unlikely to share it without Eden giving the okay. And, J seemed to fit that description pretty well.

Obviously, some of J’s canon behavior was spurred on by the fact that Arturo non-consensually revealed her secret (which, spoilers, will not be happening in the blessed half of this AU). But, given J’s preference for privacy, I don’t think J would jump to sharing even a “harmless” secret. We directly saw that J only revealed Charles’ secret once he gave express permission for her to do so, which is what I would ideally want for Eden. Eden’s secret being given to a girl who would presumably be cool with her lesbianism is an added bonus to assuage her fears that (straight) girls who know she’s gay wouldn’t want to be her friend.

Unless, of course, J is also a girlkisser… then maybe the motive secrets could turn into a meet-cute…….. (/j)

Rose receives J’s secret

Finally, our first throwaway slot. After what J’s been through, I think she deserves to have her secret not be a topic of discussion at all– or at least not until all of them are listed out on the board.

There is also some logic behind which secret I gave to Rose as opposed to Xander or Min. We didn’t really see this in canon, but if Whit had let his secret go unclaimed, I could see some people being mad at Rose for inadvertently throwing away valuable information. This sentiment would only increase if Rose’s secret was something more relevant to the case at hand. Like, could you imagine how mad Teruko would have been if Rose had received the “murderer without remorse” secret? They could have had the answer to which person among them was a murderer without remorse, but Rose just carelessly threw it away because she was worried about people’s privacy?!

Therefore, I think the best case scenario for Rose is to receive one of the low-stakes secrets. In the case of J’s secret, it’s possible that someone like Arturo would be able to figure out that it was J’s secret without any confirmation from Rose as long as he had the information that someone in the cast was Mariabella’s daughter. No harm, no foul if Rose throws out the secret only for it to be instantly solvable anyway.

By giving J’s secret to Rose, J gets the blessing of privacy for as long as the secrets don’t become public knowledge, but Rose also doesn’t garner any backlash if they do, for one reason or another.

“Xander” receives Arei’s secret

Just to clarify, there isn’t any meaning behind which secret Xander vs Min got; they both just mean that the secret is un-confirmable.

Arei’s secret is a good one to bury because of how easily it can be misinterpreted. From the phrasing of the secret, nobody would know that Arei’s sisters abused her unless Arei told them herself, and without that context, Arei appears quite villainous. Hell, some people believe that learning of this secret was a reason why Levi would have chosen to kill Arei! If this information about Arei just isn’t out there to be known, then nobody could make that fatal oversight.

Also, Arei already knew what the vague contents of her secret would be, presumably without having seen the actual text. In Ace’s flashback, she quotes David’s secret from memory (because she read it), but when she unveils her own secret, she throws in the detail about reform school which isn’t at all present in the secret’s text. I think it was really important for Arei’s development that she had the agency to reveal her secret at her own pace. By making her secret inaccessible, it removes the possibility that someone else would reveal it before she’s emotionally ready.

Arturo receives Min’s secret

Look at me, pairing Arturo and Min together yet again. What is it about these two that causes me to keep coupling them…? Well, at least this time, they’re paired up because they, like, never talk in canon.

Arturo has proven himself to be a problem when it comes to revealing secrets. Even if he hadn’t been handed Miss Rosales’ dirty laundry, I would believe that he would air out the secrets of whichever nobody he learned about simply due to disrespect. Therefore, I think that giving Arturo a secret that really doesn’t matter is the best course of action. Whether he reveals it on the day the motives were distributed or the day of the Class Trial, most people probably wouldn’t make much of a fuss about an already-dead student’s secret, least of all Arturo. If he doesn’t care about what Min was up to, he wouldn’t stir up any drama by revealing or concealing information.

David receives Xander’s secret

Not gonna lie, I mostly gave this one to David as a form of damage control. I don’t know what he’s going to do with the secret he did canonically receive in the future– whether it belongs to Teruko or someone else, or whether he’s dying immediately or in it for the long haul– but giving David the silver bullet of “the killing game is all your fault” seems like way too much power to hand over. With a dead student’s secret, he doesn’t gain much by telling the truth or have much of a basis to execute a good lie.

The elephant in the room, of course, is that David received Xander’s secret, which is all about the tragically heroic backstory that probably led him to find comfort in David’s speeches in the first place. (And it does paint Xander in a decently positive light– “it wasn’t your fault” erases the possibility that Xander killed his family or whatever.) I imagine that, had David received this secret on the first day, basically a little buffering symbol would appear over his head and he would have to go lie down and stare at the piece of paper for a few hours. Or days.

By distracting David, we can hopefully avoid any of the decidedly negative side effects that him attempting to deduce and reveal everyone else’s secrets caused. While everyone else is growing as a person and whatnot, David can just be… looping the Literature Girl Insane MV in his head, or something. Is that really good for him? Probably not, but these are the heights you can reach when you set out to cause problems.

Arei receives Whit’s secret

Arei already didn’t reveal whose secret she had to anyone, as far as we know. So, if she had the secret belonging to Whit, arguably her closest friend at the start of Chapter 2, I really don’t think she would say anything. That’s good for Whit, because, similar to what I said about Arei herself, I think it’s better for him to have the ability to come forth with his secret when the time is right. Anything else and it might shake up his persona too suddenly and send him fight or flight mode.

I think the biggest potential flaw here is that we don’t know how Arei felt about her mom. Arei is willing to go confront other people about their secrets, so if Arei either really loved or really hated her mom, maybe that would lead her to go confront Whit about what his secret meant. And then, that could lead into him deflecting and looking shady.

That’s not really a huge liability to me, though, so I think this one will be fine.

Veronika receives Charles’ secret

Veronika is a weird case, because whether or not she reveals a secret seems to be based solely on entertainment value. In canon, we’ve seen that she hasn’t yet revealed the “hopeless child” secret because, for whatever reasons, she thinks that’ll make the killing game more interesting. But presumably, if she thought that revealing someone’s secret would make the game more interesting instead, she would have done that.

Because Charles doesn’t remember his brother’s death himself, I don’t think Veronika would see much value in holding it over his head, saving it for a dramatic reaction down the road, or whatever the hell she was trying to accomplish by not revealing Hu’s secret. Therefore, I think Veronika would find it most entertaining to see Charles’ reaction to learning about his amnesia, and tell him pretty quickly.

On the surface, that seems bad. However, I actually think that Charles learning about his secret is… for the best? If you assume that Charles is going to have to learn about this factoid someday, it’s probably better for him if he does it before a Class Trial is called, so that he can be in a more stable mental state. It’s also better for him to do it while he has Whit there to support him, and who knows what could happen between those two in future chapters? Much like Arturo’s assignment, we defuse Veronika’s chaotic power with this one, with the added benefit of potentially helping Charles on his journey to self-understanding.

Levi receives Arturo’s secret

Arturo’s secret was a hard one, because I think most people would react to it pretty negatively, especially with the confirmation that it belongs to Arturo of all people from the start. You could leave it with Eden as someone who seemingly didn’t judge, but given how poorly that situation played out in canon, it felt wrong to leave it in her hands.

Therefore, I gave it to someone who could potentially relate: Levi. He, too, came from a tense family background which he had to leave, and as such, he might better be able to put himself in Arturo’s shoes. While it is possible that Levi could resent Arturo for “ruining” a “good(?)” relationship with his sister (given how Levi struggled to coexist with his siblings), I don’t think it would irk Levi so much that he’d take drastic action against Arturo.

At the very least, we saw that Levi didn’t spill the beans about Arei’s similarly anti-sister secret. By that logic, he probably wouldn’t tell anyone about it, possibly including Arturo. In that case, we avoid Arturo blowing up on whoever was unlucky enough to have to break the news. And, even if Levi did tell Arturo, and Arturo decided to attack, I trust that even an injured Levi could defend himself far better than Eden could.

Ace receives Veronika’s secret

I just don’t think anything particularly bad would happen here. When I imagine Ace receiving this secret, I kinda just think of him going, “what the fuck?!”, and then putting the paper away. As someone who cares immensely about his own safety and image, I can definitely see this secret confusing Ace, but I don’t think to a point where it would really mess him up. It might make him think that Veronika is dangerous and weird, but… well, he already thought that.

Speaking of, especially with this information, Ace is too afraid of Veronika to try to bully her in the same way that he did with Nico. I don’t see any reason why Ace would benefit from revealing this secret, so it would likely remain hidden, which is probably for the best. Honestly, I don’t know if Veronika would care if this secret of hers got out, given that the main reason why people think this is hers is because of the similar sentiments that she already shared with Teruko in a public location. But, regardless, it takes away any ammo Ace might have by making his only target someone who he’s too afraid to take shots at.

Teruko receives Hu’s secret

Completing our little triad of sadness, this is the third instance of me giving a secret involving self harm to someone else who engages in self destructive practices– first Hu with Ace, then Ace with Veronika, and now Teruko with Hu. It obviously sucks that there are so many people in this cast who are struggling with this same issue, but I think it works out well to have them overlap. They’re probably the ones who best grasp the severity of each other’s problems, so they understand the gravity of sharing the information and would take steps to avoid doing that unnecessarily.

But, yeah, there wasn’t much of a reason beyond that for me to assign Teruko here. As a further extrapolation of the above point, though, if Teruko decided to ask Hu about her secret in the same way that she did with Rose, maybe Teruko could provide Hu some comfort about the situation and they could become friends.

Although, thinking about it more, that would actually have a decent chance of backfiring, as Hu might not appreciate having to take on the role of the helped as opposed to the helper, and Teruko might freak out if she felt herself letting her walls down around Hu. But that’s only if Teruko chose to talk to her about it, which is dubious in the first place. I don’t think Teruko would intentionally use this as any sort of weapon against Hu, which is the main criteria I was looking for.

Charles receives Rose’s secret

More unproblematic people being unproblematic. I don’t know if anything weird would happen as Charles’ upper-class upbringing came into contact with Rose’s cash-strapped past, but if it did, it would probably be a positive development for Charles. Y’know, like “realizing that it’s not only wealthy academics who can have talent” or “further learning to recognize his privilege and have sympathy for other people.” Much like what Charles canonically did with Eden’s secret, this one would probably go under the public radar until a Class Trial occurred, at which point Charles would reveal it. And, hey, that’s kind of like Rose’s secret’s canonical fate as well.

I also don’t think that we’d run into any trouble with Teruko possibly learning this one from the note that Charles passed her either, because… again, this was Teruko’s canonical secret, and nothing bad happened. Sometimes no reaction is the sweetest reaction of all.

Whit receives Nico’s secret

Yup, like you implied, Whit receiving Nico’s secret would probably be one of the best options for them. It’s not too much of a surprise. Whit seems to be a pretty securely out bi guy, so he would obviously support of Nico���s identity, and possibly even be someone Nico could look up to for being confident in who they are. On top of that, Whit greatly values privacy, and thus wouldn’t go around immediately shouting, “wow, Nico, it’s so awesome that you’re nonbinary!” He’d only do that if Nico wanted him to, after asking them first. I’m not even sure if Whit would contact Nico about it directly, but even if he didn’t, I feel like Whit would try to find ways to subtly encourage Nico so that they would feel safe coming out themselves. At least, that’s what my bias is telling me.

As a side note, I’m still playing with the rule that Arei sees whatever Whit’s secret is over his shoulder, which is actually what gave Nico’s secret the nod here over Eden’s. We saw that Ace, along with some others, were confused about what exactly the text of Nico’s secret meant. Meanwhile, if attached to Eden, her secret is pretty explicitly about her being sexually attracted to women, and therefore homosexual. I’m not at all calling Arei homophobic (in fact, the concept of doing so makes me very uncomfortable, so please don’t joke about it), but given that the two had been fighting beforehand, it’s possible that Arei would have tried to use the content of Eden’s secret against her somehow (but again, not in a homophobic way).

At the very least, Arei would know something about Eden that Eden might not want her to know, which is bad. I’m not sure if Arei would inherently understand Nico’s secret enough to gain anything of use from it, while Whit and his intuition would definitely understand what’s going on.

“Min” receives Teruko’s secret

Here we go; our other throwaway secret! Part of the appeal of leaving this one in the dark is because… well, we don’t know if it’s true. While the secret doesn’t explicitly state that its owner is the mastermind of the killing game, it’s definitely designed to make you think that’s the case. And, uh, I don’t know if Teruko is the mastermind or not. I recently wrote 1000 words about it, which is equal to one picture.

So, let’s explore both avenues. If Teruko isn’t the mastermind, then sharing this secret around is obviously bad. It would cause people to unwarrantedly distrust Teruko, and possibly even cause Teruko to distrust herself. That could impede the progress of Class Trials, if people don’t trust Teruko’s reasoning anymore, and the progress of deducing the actual mastermind. Therefore, by taking this secret out of circulation, we stop the misinformation from spreading.

Alternatively, if Teruko is the (evil) mastermind, then… aren’t I doing a disservice by not allowing the students to encounter this information? Well, yes, and no. I am preventing them from accessing the deus ex machina of David just outright saying, “oh, and by the way, Teruko is the mastermind!”; that much is true. But, by leaving that information out… aren’t I just leaving them in the same position that most killing game casts are in? They know that one of them is the mastermind, they just don’t know who. And, actually, they have a leg up on the other casts because the mastermind’s identity would still be a logically deducible fact that they could basically confirm if they all worked together. I don’t think it’s too much of a blow to the innocent students if we leave this one out, is what I’m saying.

So, that’s the good ending! A quick graphic to show how everything shook out:

(I swear, I didn’t mean to make it look like Whit was laughing at Nico’s identity. I just reused the sprites from my archetype analysis because I was too lazy to go get new ones…)

Now, on to the bad ending. This one was a lot harder to assign. Given that these secrets were meant to sow discord, there are only so many ways that things can play out well. There are lots of ways that things can play out poorly.

But, hopefully I’ve found the aggregate worst answer! Given that this is, you know… the one where things go horribly wrong, things may get pretty dark in this section, so proceed with caution. Nobody’s going to die or anything like that, but know that your faves may not be depicted in the most positive light in this section. Grab something comforting and put on some happy music, or lean hard into the angst, ‘cause we’re about to get started.

The Bad Timeline

Ace receives Levi’s secret

Look. I 100% agree that the whole Ace/Nico situation is a Major Yikes Situation /pos. However, I’m hopeful (in the sense of trying to craft the worst possible outcome) that we could still get a More or Less Yikes Situation even without the pair obtaining each others’ secrets.

Although Ace revealing that he was in possession of Nico’s secret closely preceded Nico’s death threat, that wasn’t actually what specifically led Nico to intimidate Ace. It was Ace’s comment that Nico was such a weakling that they could only solve their problems by getting people like David to help them, as well as the culmination of several days of Ace’s torment beginning in Chapter 1, which led them to do it. What I’m saying is, Ace and Nico were already rivals before the secrets even came out, so even without the direct connection to one another via the motive, it’s possible the high tensions would still cause similar events to unfold.

All that preamble hopefully helps to justify my choice to put Ace on Levi’s secret, because, my god, you can open a whole other can of worms with this one. Ace gaining the knowledge that Levi is a killer without remorse the day after Levi threatened to kill him would freak Ace out like nothing else. Being as loud as he is, I would think that Ace wouldn’t be able to stop himself from sharing this one with the class, starting a conflict right from the start.

While do I think the other students would believe Ace in the end– especially if he showed them the paper on which Levi’s name was printed– I also think that some people might doubt Ace’s words at first, thinking he’s overexaggerating as usual. However, that moment of being Boy Who Cried Wolf-ed by everyone else would also really fuck with Ace. He’s literally right, and has the paperwork to prove it, and yet people are still disinclined to believe him because they see him as a fool. It would draw an even deeper wedge between Ace and his classmates than we saw in canon.

Tying back around to the beginning, I think that this extra layer of powerlessness would just make Ace even more inclined to seek out a feeling of power elsewhere. So, I’m thinking that would still result in Ace bullying Nico, and, assuming he still keeps it up for long enough and calls Nico a weakling, we might be able to loop back around to Nico’s death threat anyway. Major Yikes Situation not averted!

Veronika receives David’s secret

Here’s a chaotic choice. Given how open-ended and accusatory David’s secret is, I definitely think it’s one that Veronika would have chosen not to reveal. However, just because she doesn’t want to reveal it doesn’t mean that the information won’t get out… in a way.

We’ve seen time and time again that Veronika is fascinated with morally questionable people, first with Arturo and later David himself once she knew about his secret. Therefore, if she knew about David’s secret from the start, I don’t think she would be able to stop herself from following him around and making some clever comments here and there. Can you imagine how concerning it would be to watch David try to give hope speeches and guide people while Veronika is peering over his shoulder and grinning at him, refusing to elaborate?

It would definitely be worrying, but I don’t think it would fully stop everyone from listening to him– but in this case, that’s a good thing! David’s tactics wound up causing more harm than good, so it was important for me to give his secret to someone who wouldn’t call him out immediately and stop him from enacting these bad policies. Veronika is a great choice for allowing that to happen, but also causing a lot of stress and doubt speculating as to what exactly Veronika could know about David that would make her act this way. Honestly, it might be the worst for David himself…

Levi receives Ace’s secret

This one isn’t that terrible on its own, but in the context of Ace also having Levi’s secret, I think it gets pretty hairy. I can’t really see any scenario where Levi knowing Ace’s greatest secret goes over well for them. If Ace blows up at Levi right out the gate, there’s a definite possibility that Levi can’t keep his cool and winds up firing off Ace’s secret in front of everyone else as retaliation. Betraying Ace’s trust like that (even if Ace was the one to mouth off first) would make their relationship even more unsalvageable.

Even if Levi did manage to keep his mouth shut, knowing Ace’s secret would just generally make it harder for Levi to talk to Ace when explaining himself or trying to make amends. Like I discussed with Hu in the good timeline, there’s a lot you can learn about Ace in the contents of his secret and the way it’s phrased. I feel like Levi would be able to pick up on some of that knowledge, but he would then find it even harder to interact with Ace without accidentally spilling the beans on some of that newfound understanding. This secret shuffle would make their relationship basically irreparable in my opinion, and the increased frustrations from both boys might make one of their tempers flare and lead them to do something inadvisable.

“Xander” receives Eden’s secret

First of all, giving “Xander” this one means there’s one less problematic person who could draw a relatively harmless secret, which is a pro in this scenario. Leaving this secret unconfirmed could also cause problems in a Class Trial. Given that this secret doesn’t include murder, blackmail, manipulation, etc, it’s a pretty nice secret to claim for yourself, even if it can basically only be claimed by one of the girls. This means that, even if Eden tried to be truthful about her secret, people might believe that she’s lying.

Furthermore, the DRDT cast seems to be a pretty queer group of people overall. 6/15 of the non-Edens are confirmed LGBTQ+ themselves (even if not all of them are out), and everyone has treated Nico and Whit’s identities with respect since learning about them. Canonically, I would say that Eden has nothing to worry about with regards to the other girls treating her differently for being a lesbian.

So, by making Eden’s secret far less accessible, it becomes less likely that she’ll ever get that moment of recognition and affirmation. Instead, as Eden’s secret remains hidden and irrelevant, it becomes easier for her to stick to what she knows is safe. An accepting environment was right there in front of her, but with the convenience of periphery, she might not ever see it.

Arturo receives J’s secret

Yeah, I agree with you on this one– J truly did roll a crit fail. I did consider giving J’s secret to someone else, as long as they would definitely publicly spill the beans, if it meant that Arturo could learn the content of J’s secret while receiving an additional bad secret as well. However, I couldn’t think of anyone who would be so guaranteed to tell everyone about J’s secret that I could be confident Arturo would hear of it, nor could I think of any particularly catastrophic secrets I’d rather give to Arturo. So, this one stays. J really is living in the worst timeline already– like if you cry every time.

Hu receives Arei’s secret

Hu was a tough nut to crack, because I think the ideal bad situation for her is that she gets a secret that’s problematic enough that it would cause major issues if news broke, but not so problematic that she wouldn’t be willing to share it as a part of David’s “let’s tell each other about our secrets” plan. Operating under the logic that the mention of self harm was the reason why she wasn’t willing to share the secret she got in canon, 3/15 options immediately disappear. More options vanish when you start eliminating not-super-problematic secrets like Xander's family, Charles’ brother, or Rose’s debt.

After some consideration, I landed on Arei’s being the best balance of thorny and not. It’s a secret that discusses a serious crime without incorporating murder, and there’s lots of room for public interpretation that could cause things to go really poorly for Arei if folks jump to conclusions. Given that Hu already didn’t super like Arei (I’m basing this off of her chastising Arei for bullying Eden), I could totally see her being willing to share this secret publicly in order to help everyone see that Arei is someone not to be trusted.

Making Arei’s secret publicly aired also removes the very important aspect of Arei’s agency that I wrote on in the good section. If Hu is sharing this secret, it’s probably pretty early in the chapter, which means that Arei might not be prepared whenever the news drops. The context of the secret sharing doesn’t involve Eden at all, so Arei might have a harder time putting two and two together about why she acts the way she does and how she wants to change. Not to mention, if Hu shares the secret in a way that directly agrees with David’s scheme, it automatically pits David against Arei, which means that he can’t offer her any help (to the extent that what he said helped her canonically). It’s just bad all around. But that’s why I’ve come to feel pretty confident in this choice.

Rose receives Min’s secret

Following up on Rose’s last entry, this is not one of the secrets that the rest of the students could either easily deduce or ignore. It would be very easy to assume that the owner of the poison secret was a murderer– possibly a mass murderer, and even one who didn't regret what they did. Even if poison wasn’t used in the Chapter 2 murder, people might suspect this person of being the killer, and/or it could throw suspicion on Charles as the only one (who we know of) who has a poisonous custom weapon.

Now, obviously, this secret did not cause much of a scene in the canonical Chapter 2 trial, but I think at least part of that is because it was Xander’s. Everyone knows that the person who has that secret can only be determined by process of elimination no matter who they ask. The same would be true if it were the secret Rose got, but people might grow upset that Rose threw away such a valuable piece of evidence. And, with Min incapable of claiming her secret, it might appear even more that someone was trying to hide something when nobody spoke up to claim it. It’s not much, but Rose made it difficult to come up with something bad.

Teruko receives Xander’s secret

Funnily enough, the logic behind me giving Xander’s secret to Teruko is quite similar to the logic behind me giving it to David. Much like how David would be taken out of commission by reading this secret, I think that Teruko would act the same– it would just be worse for her and the group as a whole.

Like I said for David, Xander’s secret paints him out as a tragic hero. He loved his family to pieces, and regrets their passing so much that he wishes he could have died with them. Even though it was textually not his fault, Xander still beats himself up every day for not being around to do the right thing and save people when it counted. …What does it mean that the guy with this secret was the one who felt he had to kill Teruko for the greater good?!

Reading Xander’s secret would only pull Teruko deeper into anger, self-hatred, and confusion. She was already pretty off kilter in this Chapter from trying to ignore her mixed emotions regarding Xander, and I think that having to relive her trauma and his betrayal any time someone brought up the mere concept of secrets would basically take her out of commission. I mean, check out how many times I was able to say the word secret in these three paragraphs alone. I don’t imagine Teruko would be able to fare much better in the hellish environment of this terrible swap, which might lead her to hole up in her room all day and grow increasingly bored and bitter.

Now, I’m not saying that Teruko needed to be up and at ‘em in the daily life because her running around and pressing knives to people’s throats was just so helpful. But at least, unlike David, she wasn’t actively making the situation worse. Her presence may have even made potential friends like Eden, Charles, or Rose feel better. At the very least, Teruko learned some key social context in the Chapter 2 daily life prior to the Trial, so removing Teruko from those interactions would make it much harder for her to fully grasp what was going on should she be forced to solve a murder once again.

Charles receives Whit’s secret

I agree with you here as well– Charles acquiring Whit’s secret is probably the worst case scenario for Whit. As one of two people who actually heard Whit talk about his mom in Chapter 1, Charles is one of the only people who would know that Whit doesn’t just “omit that truth” by not talking about his mom, he actively talks about her like she is alive. This would raise a very big question for Charles at a crucial point in their friendship. Charles has just come to start trusting this guy, so what do you mean he was lying about something so odd…?

There’s a chance that the reveal of this concealment of the truth would cause Charles to determine that he couldn’t trust Whit anymore, and it would drive them apart. But, I think that’s pretty unlikely. More likely is the option where Charles (who’s in a fragile state from his meltdown yesterday and only JUST started learning how to be a good friend) tries to question Whit about it, only for Whit to panic. I don’t really think that Whit would try to keep the ruse going, seeing as Charles literally has the answer right in front of him, but he still might be full of deflections, or try to avoid the subject with jokes. (“Huh? No, I totally said that my mom passed away a few years ago! You must’ve just not heard me– did you fling some detergent into your ears with that laundry machine?”)

I’m not sure if this distribution of secrets would fully split them up, but it would definitely cause a rift in their conversation and bonding that might stop Charles and Whit from growing as close as they did. And, all this isn’t even taking into account that–

Whit receives Charles’ secret

Did you ever notice that Whit and Charles’ secrets are both about a hidden dead relative? I didn’t put two and two together until now, but boy does it work out poorly for purposes of this AU.

Much like Levi with Ace’s secret, I don’t think this is an inherently bad draw for Whit, but it kinda sucks in this context. Whit gets placed into a really weird trolley problem: do you tell and comfort Charles about his dead brother when it’ll definitely segue into discussions of your own dead mom, or do you keep it hidden, not helping Charles and leaving yourself open to the possibility of him feeling betrayed later that you kept this secret from him? It’s these kinds of questions that Whit would be forced to ask himself in the moment that Charles first confronts him, and the time needed to process would only throw him off his game and make him appear more suspicious to Charles.

To be fair, a lot of this does depend on how deep in the lie Whit is. Is he usually pretty quick to admit that his mom is dead to anyone who digs deeper into the issue, or has he been lying about his mom’s status to everyone, his father included? If it’s more like the former, then maybe the two of them could actually come to bond over the tragedy of losing someone you care about. But, if it’s more like the latter, then this distribution of secrets could get in the way of one of the (seemingly) most stable and healthy relationships in the killing game.

Arei receives Arturo’s secret

At first, I actually considered giving Arturo’s secret to Arei in the good universe, because I thought that Arei could understand having complicated relationships with your sisters. But then I remembered something critically important. Arei herself is the younger sister. She wouldn’t relate to Arturo; she would relate to Felicity. And then, all hell would break loose.

Arei knows what it’s like to be a younger sister who, even if she never considered it herself, had other people try to pressure her into committing suicide. So, to have a younger sister lucky enough to actually have a big brother she cared about, only for him to leave her alone and cause her death? Arei would be furious. She would absolutely call him out for it immediately, and use all of the bullying tactics she learned to make his life a living hell.

Despite all that I wrote about what Hu would do with Arei’s secret, I don’t actually know if Hu would be more or less likely to share Arei’s secret if Arei was acting this way. Would Hu take it upon herself to join in shaming Arturo for his actions, or feel that Arei was being a hypocrite and want to share Arei’s own truth? Either way, with both of these secrets, I think that the option of Arei’s character growing at all (or becoming friends with Eden) any time soon is pretty much dead.

And then there’s Arturo himself. While we’ve seen that Arturo does genuinely seem remorseful and haunted by Felicity’s death, I doubt Arei would know or care. I also totally think that J would join Arei in absolutely demolishing the man. Having Arei’s offense be backed by the Julia Rosales might just break him. Whether it would be in a victim way or a killer way I’m not sure, but it would definitely be bad for funni beauty standards man. The good news is that it might stop Arei from dying…? Unless Arturo just decided to kill her. There really isn’t a lot of good news.

David receives Veronika’s secret

Alright, back to David and Veronika. This is the third time I’ve had two people just swap their secrets, I guess? And, it’s kinda for the same reasons again. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

Since we’ve been through a lot since we last discussed this pair, let’s get a quick recap: Veronika knows that David is a manipulative bastard, but won’t tell anyone that yet because she thinks it’ll be more interesting if she keeps her mouth shut. Thus, everyone is kind of wary of David, and David is definitely wary of Veronika, but not so much that it stops David from doing his information-seeking “let’s all share our secrets” plan.

I think that learning this about Veronika would make David pretty confused, very concerned, and extra conscious of Veronika in a way that would be hard to conceal. He could probably guess from the way Veronika was acting that she had some kind of dirt on him, and therefore conclude that, if he ever tried to share her secret, she might just fire back at him. David does not want that. So, the two of them remain at an uneasy stalemate that would make everyone else increasingly troubled.

Furthermore, I think that Veronika’s secret is a good balance of an unexpected yet potentially relevant piece of information about a living student that David would want to seek more of, while also not being so grim that it would appeal to whatever morals David may have. (Don’t get me wrong, Veronika’s secret is very worrying and tragic, but at least the inclusion of “for fun” makes it less grim than Arturo’s or Hu’s, to me.) David would be inclined to continue on his quest of acquiring the most knowledge-as-power as possible, and Veronika would be thrilled to watch! Both of them would just be giving off… really weird vibes about it.

Nico receives Hu’s secret

(extra suicide TW just in case)

If I say anything offensive or incorrect in this section, I deeply apologize. I don’t mean to portray either of these characters, their issues, or people who relate to them or their issues in a bad light, and I definitely don’t mean to demonize mentally ill people. The reasoning behind why I think it would be bad for Nico to get Hu’s secret is complicated, and may be based on uninformed thoughts or unfounded projections. However, based on what I do “know,” I think it makes sense, so I’ll try to explain myself as best I can.

Basically, I think that receiving Hu’s secret would be bad for Nico because it might make Nico less likely to speak up for themselves when Hu talks over them. If I were Nico, I might be worried about reacting too strongly to what Hu is doing, and accidentally sending her back into the hopeless state of her childhood. Just interacting with Hu in general might lead someone (like David) to start questioning Nico about the secret they received, and cause the information to accidentally leak out. It would make Nico saying anything on how Hu was acting difficult.

Again, I am not trying to villainize Hu, or mandate that you have to walk on eggshells around suicidal people because they’re loose cannons or whatever. I just think that, especially for someone as uncomfortable with socialization with Nico, navigating the sensitive subject of past suicide attempts in this incredibly hostile bad AU environment might prevent them from speaking up for themselves when they’re feeling belittled. And, that would be bad for their personal development.

I wish we could move on to something happier to combat these bad vibes, but unfortunately, we still have a couple more to go.

“Min” receives Rose’s secret

Well, at least we can cool down a little bit with this one. Not a ton going on here; basically just that Rose’s secret is pretty lowkey and I could cause more damage with other secrets elsewhere. I don’t think it would cause a particular stir with either other students becoming paranoid or Rose’s characterization and growth. I suppose that, without the excuse of being able to explain her past, Rose probably wouldn’t have had that chance to vent to Teruko, which was probably a good experience for her? The conflict-avoidant Rose will be suffering enough with all the turmoil going on around her, methinks.

Eden receives Nico’s secret

Make no mistake, this is not a decision made to hurt Nico. It’s meant to hurt Eden. With her compassionate heart and non-judgmental attitude, Eden is a great draw for any secret-holder to have in order to not cause trouble. That’s why I thought that the best move here was to use the secret as an offensive weapon to lessen her impact, as well as preventing a more problematic secret from being absorbed into her positive vibes.

Eden’s greatest secret is that she’s a lesbian, and she fears that people will come to hate her or discriminate against her if they find out about her identity. Therefore, the worst thing to do to her is to affirm those fears by shoving the homophobia someone else suffered in her face. Learning that Nico was mocked for their identity would make Eden less confident in hers, and might dampen her spirit enough that some of the good effects of her optimism are negated. She might become more hesitant to discuss secrets and more fearful of her peers, knowing that one of them probably knows about her identity and could use it against her at any time. Little does she know, it’s actually in the morgue alongside the Ultimate Rebel.

But, the fact that is just further feeds into my idea from Xander’s section. If Eden has just been reminded of how cruel the world can be to LGBTQ+ people, she wouldn’t be jumping at the opportunity to reveal which secret was hers. This would 1) allow another troublemaker to perhaps successfully claim it as their own, 2) make Eden look suspicious as she tries to come up with a solid lie of her own, and 3) postpone or deny (if Eden dies on a short timeframe) Eden’s ability to feel comfortable in herself.

Also (not to say that David forcing Nico to share their secret was a good thing), if Nico’s secret never becomes available to the public, they might have to go through the rest of their time in the killing game getting misgendered. Diversity loss!

J receives Teruko’s secret

J could stay quiet for a lot of things, but I feel like if she knew who the mastermind was (assuming she doesn’t know that she herself is the mastermind), that’s something she wouldn’t stay quiet about. I think that J at least wanted to see Teruko as her friend, given that she approached Teruko on the day she tested out her universal remote and roped Teruko in as part of her plan to get away from Arturo. Teruko double-crossing J by “being the mastermind” would, I think, be enough of a betrayal that J would set out seeking answers. Publicly.

Teruko, having just seen Xander’s secret, is also in a terrible mood, meaning that her ability to defend herself against J’s accusations and keep a cool head would be lessened, and possibly devolve into a screaming match. This would send the students down the incorrect(?) path as to the mastermind’s identity, further encourage Teruko to distance herself from everyone else, and cause J to lose faith in one of the few people she liked just before Arturo starts to get on her ass. Needless to say, the group would be in shambles.

That was rough, but we’re finally done. Let’s take a look at how things shook out.

(Once again, I really didn’t mean to make it look like Whit was laughing at Charles’ dead brother? A little treat for everyone who believes Whit is evil, I suppose.)

Blech. Even though torturing characters can be fun sometimes, speculating about the worst case scenario isn’t usually the kind of energy that I like to bring to this blog. Hopefully I was able to deliver something satisfactorily devastating, though!

As a final note, assigning all these secrets to everyone did get me thinking a little about what would have happened in this chapter if the motive had gone as planned, and everyone had gotten their own secrets. While it obviously wouldn’t have been as good as the good universe, I do think that people learning of their own secrets is a lot better than many of the bad scenarios that could have been created with a shuffle. Charles and Teruko definitely would have been a bit thrown, but at least in Charles’ case, I don’t know if it would have resulted in murder.

In my opinion, I think it’s probably most likely that David or Nico would have killed? David obviously cares a lot about his career and the prospect of his secret being shared with the world, so he could have tried to ride his good social graces and fake “family history of depression” secret to a Class Trial clear. Nico also has a lot to worry about with their secret getting out, and, already facing pressure from Ace’s bullying, it’s possible they would have made the same decision to kill Ace if Ace’s harassment continued. I suppose this is a question I can ask back at ya, Gremlyn, if you feel inclined to answer! :D And, thank you for the ask. Even if it got a little bleak, I had fun with it.

Stay safe and happy out there, everyone, and make sure your deepest, darkest secret doesn’t get handed to your worst enemy. Or really, just try to avoid entering a killing game at all. Until next time~

[esther-dot]

What upsets me the most about the dumbass Sansa vs Arya thing (other than it only existing because antis hate Sansa that much) is that... what does it add to the story? This isn't fandom stuff, this is something antis genuinely want for the story, but what does it ADD? What is the POINT? What value does these 2 siblings fighting against each other would give to the story? To the message and theme? It's even more worthless than the boring Cleganebowl shit.

Sansa and Arya, two siblings from the main family of the series that the story centers on, fighting and hating each other is detrimental to literally EVERYTHING. ASOIAF is LOADED with family dynamics that are actually toxic and destructive to the members. We have the Targaryens, we have the Greyjoys, we have the LANNISTERS. Westeros is so bereft of families that love each other, making the ONE family that genuinely love each other and doing their best to reunite hate each other is so... just spit on GRRM and the effort he put into House Stark, why don't you?

I don't want to sound like a pretentious ass, but these people should not read a series like ASOIAF if they're gonna let their petty feelings and opinions impact the series as a whole. They can hate Sansa, but if they hate her to the point where it impacts their reading of the series, then put it down and go read something simpler. Or just stick to fanfics because their disturbing hate fantasy will never be canon, sorry antis

(about this ask)

I talked about this before and now can’t find the post, but Arya and Jon fans who hate Sansa are holding her responsible for the problems with society that Martin is criticizing. They are missing that society is being criticized from different angles to allow us to see all the ways it’s hurting people. Rather than realizing it isn’t the little girl who caused their pain, with them we are getting two critiques (coming from different directions) of their world. Jon is excluded, Arya is expected to conform.

Jon wants in, Arya wants out.

And of course, Sansa suffers as well. She may fulfill the ideal in a way that Arya cannot, but that doesn’t save her. We have Elia and Lyanna which is another picture of conformity/non-conformity —both of them die. There is a much larger part of the story here that is the driving force of what these characters suffer, it’s a shame to dismiss all of that in order to hate on Sansa.

I have no gatekeeping instinct. I’m happy to read different takes (within reason — absolutely no Sansa hate which is why I don’t do much with anyone beyond our corner), I have read and written Martin critical stuff, I don’t mind people coming away with different interpretations. I enjoy that (within reason), and that’s a part of who I am beyond fandom so that isn’t gonna change. I simply decide, “well, I certainly never want to hear from that blogger/that part of the fandom again,” but as far as I know, they’re an angry 13yo who will reread the series in a year or two and realize, oh, the Sansa and Arya conflict is created by external forces, and actually, they can understand the pressures Sansa struggled with as well. I’m a big fan of leaving room for growth, and literature has a special way of allowing us to see things in new ways and helping us evolve as I individuals. I’d never be in favor of taking it away from anyone no matter how much I think they misunderstand it. You never know what the future holds and if one day, they’ll get it.

Also, I don’t have a perfect grasp on what Martin is doing myself. The endgame of some of the characters strikes me as….uh, less realistic, and more, whimsical, so unless I’m gonna throw out my books, I’m not gonna pretend to be more deserving than any one else. I will filter and block though because when it comes to Sansa haters:

making the ONE family that genuinely love each other and doing their best to reunite hate each other is so... just spit on GRRM and the effort he put into House Stark, why don't you?

So, uh, not to annoy you further, anon, but I didn’t call what I had written “wish-fulfillment” for nothing. 😬 I definitely think expecting the Starks to kill each other is absurd, but as a Jonsa, I’m not sure how Arya would be able to accept that relationship, and I do wonder if it’s Martin’s way of allowing tension and conflict within the Starks even upon their reunion. Maybe I worry for nothing, but Jon is Arya’s person, he made her feel love and accepted, for him to be in love with Sansa…I worry that Arya would feel displaced, and how quickly Martin would find a resolution there.

Many others have previously looked at how Martin seems to have no problem writing brothers / guys having healthy relationships, but likes to have sisters at odds. There’s a dearth of healthy female relationships, so it’s an opportunity for him to break that pattern, and if Arya was accepting of it I suppose it could be a contrast to the Cat/LF/Lysa mess. That may be the goal he’s working towards, and to your point, that adds to the story in sadly lacking area. All the same, while I do think the Starks love and will be loyal to each other, I’m not sure how warm and cozy things will be on the page? I have some concerns about what he’s making room for. But that is the benefit of being in a fandom with so many emotionally mature fic writers who value and prioritize female relationships. I get to read healthy relationships either way!

[teecupangel]

Hi this Jasmine Miles from AO3! I was wondering how you might interpret this following setting:

Its 2020 and Desmond Miles has awoken held captive by a really minor front of Templars, here he meets Leonardo Da vinci and they not only become friends but because of already seeing him in Ezio's memories, they become lovers. In time Desmond learns Leo was an assassin and they meet up with Altaïr and Ezio who are also here. They eventually escape and they form a new group of loyalists with Desmond as mentor, gaining confidence as he goes.

You say minor front of Templars and my brain immediately goes for the Templar team that kidnapped Noa Kim in the Black Flag webtoon but that happened around 2023 XD

2020 is the year Valhalla’s plot starts so we can set this up to be a case of “While Layla and team were checking the mysterious message that led to Eivor’s remains, Desmond wakes up in an unknown Abstergo facility”.

The plot would be less like the webtoon’s Templars but more like the movie’s Templars.

Hell, we can even put Sofia Rikkin as the leader of the Templars that have ‘taken’ Desmond.

This sounds like Leonardo Da Vinci is an Assassin in this one which he wasn’t in canon so this could be a case of the Leonardo Da Vinci Desmond is introduced to is said to be a descendant of Leonardo Da Vinci who came from an Assassin family.

He’s a fellow captive who is being forced to watch the past Leonardo Da Vinci’s memories.

To be more exact…

How Leonardo Da Vinci was forcibly made to use the Apple by Cesare Borgia.

Desmond was in the same boat. They’re not looking for certain POEs or anything.

They want to see the memories of Altaïr using the Apple.

It didn’t take long before Desmond realized that they were looking for those memories because they have an Apple in their possession (kept in a different location because Sofia Rikkin is not an idiot, Desmond Miles is the most dangerous Assassin to ever wield an Apple easily after Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad) and they’re using data they gathered from the Animus sessions to try and create a ‘device’ that would control the Apple while they control the device because…

The Apple has a corrupting influence on everyone that wields it. Sooner or later, the user starts changing mentally and emotionally.

The only exception they could find to this rule were…

Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and…

Desmond Miles.

Leonardo was being used as a ‘control’ subject, to give a more accurate reading to compare to Desmond.

Because reliving the times Leonardo Da Vinci used the Apple aggravate Leonardo’s Bleeding Effect.

But Desmond hasn’t had any negative effect at all.

That’s when Sofia Rikkins orders from two other test subjects to be brought in and to be given the same setup.

To see if Desmond Miles is the exception or…

If it’s his bloodline.

Now, this is where the plot separates into two routes you can take:

Route 1: This is really a case of historical AC characters being reborn in modern day

This is the less sci-fi and untwist-y plot. Ezio and Altaïr are reborn into the modern day. If you want to hammer in the ‘history repeats itself’, they are both from Assassin families that got hit by the Great Purge and are related to Desmond in some way. Ezio actually calls Bill ‘Uncle Bill’ and the Great Purge killed his father and brothers and Ezio only learned about his Assassin heritage after their deaths. He had been on the run with his mother and sister and he got captured because he stood his ground to buy them some time. He doesn’t know if they’re safe or they’ve been captured. Altaïr, on the other hand, was raised to be an Assassin from the get go in a facility very similar to the Farm. He’s related to Desmond’s mother (his late father is Desmond’s mother’s distant thrice removed cousin or something) and perhaps is even the grandson of the previous mentor (or so it’s hinted because Daniel Cross describes him as looking like his grandfather). If you really want to hammer some kind of past that will create conflict between him and Desmond, they’re both from the Farm and Altaïr is actually the only one who survived the failed rescue attempt back in AC1 so Desmond feels guilty and Altaïr is too awkward to clear any misunderstanding Desmond might have.

Because, technically, Desmond has more experienced among them (as Altaïr’s experience is more akin to an elite foot soldier), Desmond takes on a leadership role and that’s the start of the ‘let’s plan how to escape this place’ arc.

Route 2: This is a cloning plot that gives a ‘reborn AC characters’ red herring

Leonardo would note early on that “they say I’m Leonardo Da Vinci’s descendant and an Assassin. I don’t feel like either of them” which Desmond (and the narration) would mistake as Leonardo saying he feels like a failure.

No.

Leonardo has no memories of his life before waking up in the Abstergo facility.

That’s because he is one of the clones made from Leonardo Da Vinci’s remains using the technology left behind by the Phoenix Project.

Desmond has all his memories and believes he’s Desmond Miles but he actually isn’t and he finds this out when Altaïr and Ezio are placed in the same facility.

Altaïr only has memories up to that fateful night he spent with Maria.

Ezio only has memories of a night of passion with Sofia.

If they were reborn, why would they only have memories up to the ‘time’ of conception of Desmond Miles’ ‘next’ ancestor?

Sofia Rikkins didn’t bother to lie to Desmond when he confronts her and he learns the bitter truth.

Leonardo, Altaïr and Ezio are all clones.

As well as Desmond.

Altaïr, Ezio and Desmond were cloned after Sample 17 because Desmond Miles’ actual corpse went missing for some reason.

Cue existential crisis here, a callback to the whole ‘what makes us who we are but our memories?’ and hurt/comfort all over.

Because Altaïr and Ezio are pretty much ‘newborn’, Desmond takes on a leadership role and that’s the start of the ‘let’s plan how to escape this place’ arc.

Unorganized Notes:

I picked the movie’s type of Abstergo facility because (1 if this is reborn route) this gives you the choice of doing other possible reborn characters to include to the new group of loyalists Desmond’s gonna lead or (2 if this is cloning route) to keep the audience from fully guessing that this is actually a cloning facility by making them remember the movie’s setup

Altaïr calls Desmond ‘Al Mualim’ once and Desmond felt so disturbed everyone laughs. ‘Al Mualim’ now becomes their pet name for Desmond whenever they want to tease him or when they think he’s planning to do something stupid

Leonardo and Desmond’s relationship is slowly blooming when Ezio enters the fray and, well, with Ezio there, there’s now this awkward love triangle thing going on with Desmond believing that Leonardo would fall in love with Ezio again, Leonardo being torn by his feelings for Desmond and the Bleeding Effect’s feelings for Ezio and Ezio not actually realizing he’s part of a love triangle because he just sees Leonardo as his BFF.

Altaïr in the background, suffering through these three idiots’ drama and wishing he could just kill every last security personnel around… just to get away from all of these.

Sofia Rikkins is colder and more professional in this one. Cal killing her father after she and he got sorta close really fucked her up.

Up to you if you want Cal and his team to show up. I placed Sofia as the ‘main Templar’ because she’s one of the few Templars high enough in Abstergo to be able to do commandeer an entire facility, she has knowledge of the Animus, and is part of the Templar inner circle in some capacity.

[30fishmen]

Unknown / Nth analysis

My post got some notes so now you must all read my Hozier lecture. You have no choice.

SOME DISCLAIMERS: I am currently in the process of reading Dante’s The Inferno so most of the information about it is pulled from the internet/prior knowledge that might be completely wrong. Feel free to correct me/add to the post with more information that I left out because I am sure I will leave out something. Also, most of this is my own personal feelings on the matter, art is subjective!! And if you disagree, I would love to hear it, discussion is what makes art and music and fandom fun. With that, onto the lecture.

BACKGROUND: As Hozier himself says in this interview, the song is about Treachery, the ninth circle of hell as Dante describes it in his Inferno. It depicts feelings of betrayal, loneliness, and longing as told from the perspective of God freshly betrayed by the one he most trusted, Lucifer. This is where most of the imagery in the song comes from. (I think that is super cool). I’m also gonna talk about my own interpretation of the song from when I first listened to it, since even without the background knowledge it’s such a powerful song. For convenience, the person singing the song is gonna be called “the speaker” and the person they’re singing to is gonna be called “the betrayer.”

You know the distance never made a difference to me – right off the bat Hozier is crushing our souls. This first line establishes so much love and longing its almost painful- feelings that have persevered despite past obstacles and will continue to persevere for the foreseeable future. The speaker has been separated from the betrayer before (past tense MADE implies this is not a new struggle to them), and the betrayer knows that.

I swam a lake of fire, I’d have walked across the floor of any sea – again, the speaker is proving their devotion by professing the things they have done, and what they are willing to do in the future (I SWAM a lake of fire, I’D HAVE WALKED across the floor of any sea; past tense to future). What I realized after Hozier talked about the inspiration for the song is: this line is referencing how Lucifer got into hell. The “lake of fire” refers to the punishment/imprisonment he received for his betrayal and what he has already endured by being separated from God, the literal and metaphorical hell that he had to go through in order to be in the position he is in. The “floor of any sea” refers to the frozen ocean he is trapped in, the one he is constantly trying to escape. God created this prison, and yet he would have been willing to traverse it.

Ignore the vastness between all that can be seen/and all that we believe/so I thought you were like an angel to me – This line is talking about the reality of the situation versus the image the speaker has in their mind of the betrayer. If they ignore what is actually happening (all that can be seen), they can still remember the betrayer as an angel (all that we believe). Incorporating the divine a little bit, this line could also be talking about the distance between heaven, the mortal realm/earth, and hell.

Funny how true colors shine in darkness and in secrecy – Pretty straightforward as far as the verses in this song go; a slightly ironic tone that acknowledges a betrayer’s tendency to never fully reveal themselves until it’s too late.

If there were scarlet flags, they washed out in the mind of me – Though again ironic and slightly self-deprecating, the message is heart-wrenchingly simple. The speaker loved the betrayer so much they couldn’t see the warning signs of their deceit/ chose to ignore it in favor of looking at all of their goodness. This line begins a phenomenon that I like to call “the Humanization of God.” God is supposed to be all knowing/all-powerful/whatever else you attribute him with. Yet he didn’t see the warning signs of betrayal from his closest friend, something painfully human.

Where a blinding light shone on you every night/and either side of my sleep/where you were held frozen like an angel to me – The “blinding light” this is referring to could mean three things (or all of those things at the same time): 1)it represents a pedestal/spotlight that the betrayer was put upon by the speaker, which is why red flags were so easily ignored. The speaker looked up to the betrayer so much they couldn’t fathom them possibly being anything other than perfect. OR 2) In the third installment of the Divine Comedy, Dante is enveloped by a “blinding light” that raises him up to heaven and allows him to see God. Therefore, the blinding light could reference the divinity Lucifer held before his betrayal, something that God thought would mean he was stuck as (FROZEN, even) an angel, and therefore unable to betray him. OR 3) this verse is talking about Lucifer after he’s already been trapped in hell, with the “blinding light” being the surface he’s trying to escape to. This interpretation would be especially sad because of the line “you were held frozen like an angel to me”, implying that even after his betrayal, God still sees Lucifer as an angel, not as a sinner or a demon. Even without the biblical context, the speaker still holds good memories of the betrayer after all is said and done, choosing to remember them as an “angel” rather than reflect on their horrible acts.

CHORUS TIME- there’s a quote that I always think about when I listen to this chorus: “To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God.”

 It ain’t the being alone/It ain’t the empty home baby/You know I’m good on my own -  the speaker has very clearly been alone before, which is sad because it implies that the betrayer is the one who alleviated this loneliness, providing company where there previously was none. Now that they’re gone, they’re back to being alone. Also the implication that the speaker confided in the betrayer about this past loneliness (YOU know I’m good on my own) makes their abandonment so much more heartbreaking.

Sha-la-la, baby, you know, it’s more the being unknown – Something new to the speaker, though, is the feeling of being unknown. God has always been placed on a pedestal, with no one to keep him company except his angels. Lucifer was the first angel, known as the angel of Light, and was someone God trusted and confided in. God thought he knew Lucifer, just as Lucifer knew him, and now with his closest friend gone, he must return to that lonely position of power, unknown to any other angel or worshipper as anyone other than God- distant, all powerful, unapproachable God. And maybe this betrayal is what forced God up into heaven in the first place, doomed to never again be known as he was by Lucifer. In a way, that’s almost exactly like the punishment he’s given to his betrayer.

So much of the living, love, is the being unknown – This line reads surprisingly hopeful to me. It’s an acknowledgement of the situation, sort of saying “oh well, that’s life” to the most famous betrayal of all time. The most important part about this line is the tone; there’s no bitterness, no resentment of the circumstances or the people that have led them to this situation.

You called me angel for the first time, my heart leapt from me – This line is talking about the first time the betrayer and the speaker met, and how that interaction affected the speaker. It also speaks to how much one person can be changed by another’s affection. As soon as the speaker was called angel, their heart was no longer their own, trusted entirely to the betrayer to use as they will. It also seems the decision was at least a little bit unwilling on the speaker’s part (the phrase “leapt FROM ME” implies unwillingness; the speaker didn’t GIVE their heart away, it jumped from their grasp). Point is, the speaker was definitely in denial about how close they were to the betrayer. Another instance of humanizing God in the context of the story, for though he is often depicted as loving, you never really think of him as having a heart to be broken or to be given away to his most trusted.

You smile now, I can see its pieces still stuck in your teeth – the imagery in this line is insane; the speaker’s heart was literally chewed up and spit out by the betrayer by their act. The fact that literal scraps are seen in a SMILE shows the betrayer still deceiving, trying to placate/make friends with the speaker even as their heart is in literal pieces because of their mouth. This is also another reference to the Inferno- Lucifer is described as a three-headed demon, with each of his mouths chewing on the bible’s/history’s greatest betrayers: Brutus, Longinus, and Judas. Brutus and Longinus are being punished for their role in Julius Caesar’s assassination by being stuck feet-first in Lucifer’s mouth. Judas receives the worst punishment of the three; his head is being chewed on while his back gets scraped up by Lucifer’s claws.

And what’s left of it, I listen to it tick/every tedious beat/going unknown as any angel to me – This. Line. Oh my god. Even in the teeth of their betrayer, torn to shreds, the speaker’s heart is still beating and alive, just as their love for the betrayer is. And after thinking it over (“listening to their heart”), they realize that maybe they don’t know their own heart as well as they thought. Because what heart would love a betrayer? (A HUMAN ONE, PROBABLY. HUMANIZATION OF GOD.) Also, the use of angel, not as a term of endearment as it was previously, but in reference to a group (unknown as ANY angel, rather than MY angel or THE angel) indicates both God’s realization that he didn’t know Lucifer as well as he thought and a resolution to never trust or hold another angel as close ever again.

AND NOW FOR MY FAVORITE PART!!!!!!!! BY FAR THE BEST PART OF THE WHOLE SONG IN MY OPINION. Setting aside the lyrics and the meaning of the song, just the pure power of Hozier’s voice in this section gets me every time. So much of a change from the easygoing guitar that’s made up the rest of the song- there’s like a heavenly chorus behind him, he’s singing at the top of his lungs louder and higher than any other part, it’s just so…. I don’t even know how to explain it. It’s so good.

Do you know I could break beneath the weight?/Of the goodness, love, I still carry for you – Personally, I think the “goodness” that is being described here is the speaker’s hope that the betrayer is still a good person, deep down inside. It’s a hope that is futile and slowly “breaking” the speaker, because the deed has already been done, yet the speaker still carries it. In addition to that, I like to think that the responsibility of heaven was shared between God and Lucifer before his betrayal, and now without him, God is forced to carry the weight and pressure of being the divine creator of the universe all alone.

That I’d walk so far just to take/The injury of finally knowing you – Referencing the line earlier in song (I’d have walked across the floor of any sea) and again stressing the lengths the speaker is willing to go for the betrayer. The best part about this line is, again, the acknowledgement of pain by the speaker. They specifically say “the INJURY of finally knowing you”, meaning that fully, truly knowing the betrayer as they want to would cause lasting harm. Also, the realization that, as things currently stand, the speaker DOESN’T know the betrayer (hence the use of the word finally, implying future), and to know them completely would mean to know the reasons WHY they betrayed the speaker, which would certainly cause “injury.” Yet the speaker DOESN’T CARE. They don’t CARE how hurt they are by the betrayer, how much it WILL HURT in the future, they just want to be with them and if that isn’t the saddest thing-

The closing chorus is mostly the same as it was before (it ain’t the being alone/it ain’t the empty home baby/you know I’m good on my own/sha-la-la, baby, you know, it’s more the being unknown) except for the final line.

And there are some people, love, who are better unknown – my initial reaction to this line was that it sounded surprisingly hopeful considering the rest of the song, much like the line in the first appearance of the chorus. I took it to mean that the speaker accepted the fact that the betrayer was bad for them, and maybe it’s better off that they don’t know them. But looking back at all the analysis about how far the speaker would go, all the injury they are willing to put themselves through, that just doesn’t make much sense (Plus the fact that the speaker still says “love”). No, that wouldn’t be the Hozier way. Instead, I think this line is the speaker blaming themselves. Saying that THEY are the ones who are better unknown, because they’ve tried the whole love and trust thing and look how that turned out. Consider the character of the speaker that’s been built throughout the entire song: someone who gone through hell and is still willing to go farther for someone who clearly won’t do the same, someone who ignored red flags in favor of focusing on the good, someone who trusted their heart to a person who chewed it up without a second thought. This is definitely a person to take betrayal personally, to turn on and blame themselves rather than get angry at the betrayer, the actual person at fault. The rest of the chorus and previous analysis supports this too (speaker is ok with being alone/on their own, but they are NOT ok with being unknown. So, to inflict that on themselves is a fitting punishment). Also, the speaker being the self-blaming person they are, this line could be read as sort of an apology; if they hadn’t let themselves be known, let themselves open up to the betrayer, maybe neither of them would be hurting this much in the first place. It might’ve been better if the speaker had STAYED unknown and alone as they were before knowing the betrayer.

This whole analysis is a cumulation of all the thoughts that have been fermenting in my brain for the past month, so if it’s a bit nonsensical I do apologize. Also, huge shoutout to my friend for listening to my insane ramblings and also helping me edit this, she doesn’t have a tumblr but I appreciate her immensely.

That’s all I got for now, if this gets some traction maybe I’ll post my thoughts about some other Hozier songs (because holy shit are his songs amazing). If you got this far down thank you so much for reading! It feels really good to put all the words down and actually organize them, and knowing that there are people who actually want to read it is so cool.

people who asked to be tagged: @freddykicksasses @allegedlyunmagical @iwillgotoheavenforyou

[furiousgoldfish]

I just realized there’s a fundamental difference in people I do and don’t feel comfortable around. It has to do with the way they interpret the world.

The ones I don’t feel comfortable around, are usually people older than me, but that is not what I take issue with; it’s their manner of speaking to me. These people will speak their views of world as if it’s final, the only correct way to think They will also attempt to force this view of the world on you, with the complete assurance that you will. If you try to correct them, they’ll respond with almost a threat in their voice if you don’t immediately comply and validate that you agree. Their values, the ‘old values’, are the only ones that are true, and they don’t wait to see if you think differently, they’ll state it as if it was a timeless fact and dare you to confront them on it. I will sometimes, carefully, try to point out inaccuracies or research that has proven it wrong - and they’ll fight me on it.

For instance, I’ve had an elderly person complain to me about the ‘today’s youth’ and ‘how they’re ruining everything’. The problem was that the children in the park were loud, and sometimes, they would see teenagers late at night in the park, and they assumed these teenagers were doing drugs (can’t confirm if this is true). The elderly person got upset, yelled, and insisted it would all be better if some physical violence was thrown at those children. I couldn’t listen to that kind of line without interfering, so I pointed out, hey, that would only make the children more likely to become mentally unhealthy, depressed, and learn that the violence is the only rule in life. I also pointed out that even if the teenagers in the park were doing drugs, they cannot be the source of the problem; after all, they’re not the ones who invented drugs, or circulated it here, or would be easily able to buy them; it was the older generations that created this problem, and gave them to the teenagers. The elderly person pretended not to hear any of it, and stuck to their original opinion, while now seeing me as the enemy. After all, if I didn’t conform to their worldview, I was the problem, one of those who need to ‘get some common sense’ and be ‘persuaded’. Because blaming kids and teenagers on problems created by the older generations, is the only way they can keep seeing themselves and their contribution to the world, in a positive light. The only way to keep control.

The other type of person is the one who doesn’t attempt to enforce their worldview on you, instead they try to see where you’re at. They’ll tell you what they think, add ‘at least that is how I see it’, and then ask you ‘What’s your view on this? What do you think?’

Sometimes we’ll find pretty soon that our views differ, and we’ll agree to disagree and talk about something else. Sometimes, we’ll display our information, how we know it, and offer arguments that lead us to believe what we do, sometimes we’ll have little anecdotes to tell. Sometimes we’ll find out some new information, be encouraged to research it, and come back to revisit the subject in order to decide on a new, more informed standpoint. Sometimes we’ll find out we’re completely on the same page, and then be glad to have found out. But we don’t assume. We don’t see each other and go ‘yes, this person I don’t yet know perfectly, must have the exact stance on every issue in the world, they must have this specific information and subscribe to the same ideas and thoughts’, because that is presumptive, rude, and creating impossible expectations.

I wonder if the first kind are people who shared their perception of the world with their entire generation, and then project that idea on the entire world, believing those who disagree can only be blind and stupid? And in that case, assuming someone would disagree, is the same as assumption they’re lacking in intellect? My generation has vastly different views on everything, I can find people my age who disagree with my every view, and people younger than me who agree with me. I can’t assume for anyone that they would adapt my views, but I also can’t assume them clueless, because we all form our view based on information we gather thru life, and different people will have different information and experiences at their disposal. So it’s necessary to not assume, to find out where people stand, and then meet them where they’re at.

[cosmicatta]

"I could tell you about canon moments that made me love them, but I could also list a very extense number of things that I’ve just mostly made up myself, including the way I personally interpret those canon moments. "

I would love to hear about those !

Oh my oh my, I hope I don’t overwhelm you with my nonsense, anon, but here I go! ❤

One thing that has always interested me about lawlu is the fact that they seem to be opposites, yet you can draw so many parallels between them. In a way, they really are Sun and Moon, contrasting but, at the same time, more alike than you’d think at first, and inevitably nurturing each other. Together, they create this perfect balance of freedom and logic, light and darkness. They make each other grow, and I think this is especially noticeable from Law's perspective, because Luffy is exactly what he needs: honest, kind, blunt, and so loving. He gives Law the chance to be better and show who he really is, he insists that "Torao is a good guy" despite his reputation of being cruel and terrible. This is the chance that I don't think Law even believed himself to deserve. He probably still struggles to accept that kindness, seeing that he's so determined to deny their friendship, even after proving many times in the past that he cares about Luffy, through his actions.

Their relationship intrigued me from the very start, but what really sealed the deal for me was (unsurprisingly) the Dressrosa arc. You can see very clearly there how much they mean to each other, in many different levels:

They have both seen each other at their worst moments, and yet neither of them ever took that vulnerability as a proof of weakness. Quite the opposite, they see the other's pure strength and power in their resilience, and choose to act as support for that strength. Law was there to save Luffy’s life in Marineford, when he didn’t have his crew at his side, and Luffy is also there in what’s probably the most climatic point of Law’s journey, taking down Doflamingo. Luffy has said it before, that he owes Law his life, but at this point Law is also seeing Luffy as a savior. He is the ray of hope he’s desperately needed all his life, and that’s why this moment specifically hits so hard for me:

Law knows he’s the one who “dragged Luffy into this fight”, even explicitly saying so himself. He tried to break the alliance in order to protect the Strawhats from Doflamingo, he feels responsible. But this scene here is much more than just basic decency or honor, this is him putting all of his trust in Luffy, allowing himself to have faith even if he says he doesn’t believe in anything anymore. This is so big for him that even Doflamingo notices, he seems surprised that Law can still trust someone so much. And he knows Law is important to Luffy too, which is why he mocks their friendship to rile Luffy up (see this post).

There is mutual trust, mutual understanding and mutual worry.

In this sense, I also really like the fact that they always stand as equals. Not only because they are both capitains of their own crews, meaning that there is no internal hierarchy between them, but also because that’s just how they treat each other. Even if they’re both kind of selfish and arrogant sometimes, they respect each other very deeply.

I don't know, I could go on for hours, I just think there's so much to say about their dynamics, they are so interesting together, the way they function as a duo is very unique within the series.

I will try to resist the urge to come back to this post to add more random thoughts because I don't want to be too intense :'') But thank you so much for this question, anon! ❤ I always love every opportunity I get to ramble about them!

[autumn-may]

Ngl I'm thinking so hard abt the comic u made with isa and how he got the scar do you have thoughts on it? I'm rotating it in my brain....

Hm.. Well I guess I could share a bit on how I interpret the pre 358/2 days Akusai relationship, (and how beserk/the scar throws a wrench into it). this ended up being considerably longer than I thought It would be so the rest is under the read more (543 words under cut) 

A big reason I find this era interesting is because it kinda plays into how nobodies function as a whole? If that makes sense. Like the idea of how nobodies replicate the experiences/emotions of their past lives, without having the proper feelings to truly emulate them, and I think that’s really interesting with a relationship such as what was presented in bbs era Lea+isa. They really were close, and I’d suspect that after getting pretty-much-killed they’d still be close, either from a legitimate want or a urge to keep some norm from when they were somebodies. This would probably result in the slow deterioration of their relationship as they attempt to replicate an experience from a memory that’s around eleven years old by 358/2, and eventually their relationship becomes distorted (like trying to paint a portrait through a funhouse mirror). This is my main hc for how they got to the point seen in 358/2. 

A major thing that I think would ‘break’ this is Xemnas/the scar. It’s seen as abnormal by the other members that Saïx was able to reach his position as second-in-command, and that makes me wonder what sacrifices he had to make. The scar itself is what I’m using in the comic, but lunatic (and how he’s somewhat possessed by it when berserking if his nobodies are anything to go off of) is also a thing I think about a lot here. The scar itself is kinda unnecessary when you consider the fact that saïx. Already has a recusant's sigil in his name idk. It kinda feels like possessive if I’m being honest which is neat in reference to how kh2 saïx acts. (NOT suggesting saïx was 100% possessed, or unwilling to do what happened in kh2 that kinda weakens him as a character to me. But bro literally was a highly prioritized member of a cult at the age of 16 there is no way he wasn’t manipulated.) so yeah the scar and what it represents (greater importance in the running of the org) probably fricked them up a lot. 

And one final thing, subject X and loyalty. Just, saix runs on loyalty, he devotes himself wholeheartedly to a cause and loses himself to it. He *literally* gave up his humanity for a girl he doesn't even know the name of, and continued the search for her until he lost even the shadow of what he once was. I don’t know if I can attribute that level of devotion to Axel, and I think that conflict could create some interesting ideas. Specifically, the point in which Axel’s already started to doubt that subX is even real, and Saïxs is at the beginning of a downward spiral. There’s conflict in that! It’s interesting! 

In conclusion Akusai/leaisa is awesome because you get like twoish hours of them interacting in the whole series but every minute of that is so packed with implication and you know the characters individually and you know how the series functions enough to piece together what has to happen in order to get to how they’re shown in [insert cutscene here]. It’s cool and lets me think a lot about the ramifications™ thank you for coming to my Ted talk

[gxilds]

the borderlands

for dummies

I guess

now that we have reached the conclusion of the original manga series in the show, a lot of my friends seemed to be confused about the ending or what exactly the borderlands is. And while I haven’t finished the show (wether I am or not is debatable, granted i’m just dramatic and will get over my qualms with it fairly quickly) I have read the manga which gives you more clues as to how you should interpret it.

the mass majority of this post will be the last few chapters of the manga which stay relatively true to what the show has in it (other that some stuff that is not relevant to this post) so take that how you will.

this post will be divided into a few parts

what created the borderlands

what we can interpret the borderlands is

how it affected the players

in the last chapter we are met with this group of panels at the start

We are informed of a meteorite attack that happened two years prior to the events of this final chapter. we can grab two things from this:

this meteorite attack is relevant to the story

the story probably spans over two years

Using that first and second point, we can assume that it is not just relevant but that it is probably what the fireworks were in the beginning of the series was.

and in chapter 63 they also use fireworks for parallel as to them finishing all of them games and show is a meteorite hitting what we can assume to be shibuya

so a meteorite hit them? cool, I guess… what can we do with this information?

I’m so glad I asked, narrator me!

this leads me to the second question

how can we interpret this?

I guess… it’s more simple now that I put it into words.

Essentially,

it’s a collective state of limbo.

I guess?

It’s a point between life and death where it seems the borderlands are used to create judgment as to if the characters should really die or not.

in order to prove this we have to mix the third point into this

how has it affected the players?

in the end we find the players in the hospital with no memories of what happened in the borderlands but clearly affected

(For some reason I can’t find any panels online for this but I do still have the one of chishiya stocked up because I’m so not normal about him)

for example, Chishiya is affected emotionally and is left feeling better after his clear change of heart in the end of the series.

Niragi lays next to him burnt to a crisp and as far as we know chishiya seems to be hurt as well from the damage caused by niragi. so they’re all obviously somewhat affected by what happens inside when they leave.

Everyone else wakes up from their 2 year (supposedly) coma and is left without memory of the borderland but totally cool with each other. Arisu and Usagi ask each other out (my parents fr fr, thank you AIB Retry), Kuina is being my pookie and they’re all having fun… other than those who aren’t there.

People who died in the borderlands seem to have not made it (Karube, chota, etc), which puts the limbo theory into prospective.

as for the collective part of it… I thought that was obvious

all the meteorite victims are in the borderlands with each other and interact in ways that leave impressions on each other

duh

Look, I know the way I word this makes the writers sound dumb but I actually think it’s creative and kind of refreshing. I half expected to have them turn this shit into as the gods will when I first read the manga…and then I would’ve been left disappointed. and while there is a sequel series to cover I’m glad there’s a happy (albeit, tentative and not long lasted) ending.

I don’t think they’re going to do the sequel manga in the show, sadly. I also feel like it goes without saying that if they continue the show without using the source material other than to give us tooth rotting chishiya fluff and him living his best life after the borderlands then I’m not tuning in 😮‍💨 sorry to whatever this joker bullshit is that i’m hearing about but… lawd 😭😭

🏷️: @clearskiesandmistyeyes @irehluvr

[purinrinrin]

A guide to AI art for artists

When AI art first hit the web I was amazed by the technology. Then later, when it came out that these image generators were trained on images by living artists scraped from the public web with no consent or compensation, my opinion of it was soured. It took a lot of effort for me to push past that distaste in order to properly research the technology so that I could help myself and others to understand it. This is why I’m compiling all the information I’ve found here. I hope you find it helpful.

Terminology

To start off, there are a lot of different terms out there when it comes to AI nowadays so I’m going to try to define some of them so you can understand what people mean when they use them (and so you can tell when they’re full of shit).

AI

Artificial Intelligence. AI is a big buzzword right now in the tech sector and at times feels like it’s being thrown at anything and everything just to attract investors. Cambridge Dictionary defines it as:

the use or study of computer systems or machines that have some of the qualities that the human brain has, such as the ability to interpret and produce language in a way that seems human, recognize or create images, solve problems, and learn from data supplied to them

It’s kind of what it says on the tin - an artificial, that is, human-created system that has abilities similar to those of intelligent life forms. (I’d argue comparing the abilities of AI solely to those of humans does a disservice to the intelligence of many non-human animals but I digress.)

At the moment when you read things online or in the news, AI is likely being used to refer to machine learning which is a type of AI.

Algorithm

The word algorithm describes a process based on a set of instructions or rules used to find a solution to a problem. The term is used in maths as well as computing. For example, the process used to convert a temperature from Fahrenheit to Celsius is a kind of algorithm:

subtract 32

divide by 9

multiply by 5

These instructions must be performed in this specific order.

Nowadays on social media “the algorithm” is used to refer to a specific kind of algorithm - a recommendation algorithm - which is a kind of machine learning algorithm.

Machine Learning

Machine learning is a term used to refer to the the use of a computer algorithm to perform statistical analysis of data (and often large amounts of it) to produce outputs, whether these are images, text or other kinds of data. Social media recommendation algorithms collect data on the kind of content a user has looked at or interacted with before and uses this to predict what other content they might like.

I’ll explain it in very simple terms with an analogy. Consider a maths problem where you have to work out the next number in a sequence. If you have the sequence 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 you can predict that the next number would be 12 based on the preceding numbers each having a difference of 2. When you analyse the data (the sequence of numbers) you can identify a pattern (add 2 each time) then apply that pattern to work out the next number (add 2 to 10 to get 12).

In practice, the kind of analysis machine learning algorithms do is much more complex (social media posts aren’t numbers and don’t have simple relationships with each other like adding or subtracting) but the principle is the same. Work out the pattern in the data and you can then extrapolate from it.

The big downside to these algorithms is that since the rules behind their decision making are not explicitly programmed and are instead based on data it can be difficult to figure out why they produce the outputs they do, making them a kind of “black box” system. When machine learning algorithms are given more and more data, it becomes exponentially harder for humans to reason about their outputs.

Training Data and Models

Another term you’ll come across is “training” or talking about how an AI is “trained”. Training data refers to the data that is used to train the model. The process of training is the statistical analysis and pattern recognition I talked about above. It enables the algorithm to transform a dataset (collections of images and text) into a statistical model that works like a computer program to take inputs (a text prompt) to produce outputs (images).

As a general rule, the bigger the dataset used for training, the more accurate the outputs of the resulting trained model. Once a model is created, the format of the data is completely different to that of the training data. The model is also many orders of magnitude smaller than the original training data.

Text-to-image model AKA AI image generator, generative AI

Text-to-image model is the technical term for these AI image generators:

DALL-E (OpenAI)

Midjourney

Adobe Firefly

Google Imagen

Stable Diffusion (Stability AI)

The technology uses a type of machine learning called deep learning (I won’t go into this here. If you’d like to read more; good luck. It’s very technical). The term text-to-image is simple enough. Given a text prompt, the model will generate an image to match the description.

Stable Diffusion

Stable diffusion is different from other image generators in that its source code is publically available. Anyone with the right skills and hardware can run this. I don’t think I’d be incorrect in saying that this is the main reason why AI art has become so widespread online since stable diffusion’s release in 2022. For better or worse, open-sourcing this code has democratised AI image generation.

I won’t go deep into how stable diffusion actually works because I don’t really understand it myself but I will talk about the process of acquiring training data and training the models it uses to generate images.

What data is used?

I already talked about training data but what actually is it? And where does it come from? In order to answer this I’m going to take you down several rabbit holes.

LAION-5B

Taking stable diffusion as an example, it uses models trained on various datasets made available by German non-profit research group LAION (Large-scale Artificial Intelligence Open Network). The biggest of these datasets is LAION-5B which is refined down to several smaller datasets (~2 billion images) based on language. They describe LAION-5B as “a dataset of 5,85 billion CLIP-filtered image-text pairs”. Okay. What does “CLIP-filtered image-text pairs” mean?

CLIP

OpenAI’s CLIP (Contrastive Language-Image Pre-training) is (you guessed it) another machine learning algorithm that has been trained to label images with the correct text. Given an image of a dog, it should label that image with the word “dog”. It does a little bit more than this as well. When an image is analysed with CLIP it can output a file called an embedding. This embedding contains a list of words or phrases and a confidence score from 0 to 1 based on how confident CLIP is that the text describes the image. An image of a park that happens to show a dog in the background would have a lower confidence score for the text “dog” than a close-up image of a dog. When you get to the section on prompting, it will become clear how this ends up working in image generators.

As I mentioned before, the more images you have in the training data, the better the model will work. The researchers at OpenAI make that clear in their paper on CLIP. They explain how previous research into computer vision didn’t produce very accurate results due to the small datasets used for training, and the datasets were so small because of the huge amount of manual labour involved in curating and labelling them. (The previous dataset they compare CLIP’s performance to, ImageNet, contains a mere 14 million images.) Their solution was to use data from the internet instead. It already exists, there’s a huge amount of it and it’s already labelled thanks to image alt text. The only thing they’d need to do is download it.

It’s not stated in the research paper exactly which dataset CLIP was trained on. All it says is that “CLIP learns from text–image pairs that are already publicly available on the internet.” Though according to LAION, CLIP was trained on an unreleased version of LAION-400M, an earlier text-image pair dataset.

Common Crawl

The data in LAION-5B itself comes from another large dataset made available by the non-profit Common Crawl which “contains raw web page data, metadata extracts, and text extracts” from the publicly accessible web. In order to pull out just the images, LAION scanned through the HTML (the code that makes up each web page) in the Common Crawl dataset to find the bits of the code that represent images (<img> tags) and pulled out the URL (the address where the image is hosted online and therefore downloadable from) and any associated alternative text, or “alt text”.

A tangent on the importance of image alt text

Alt text is often misused on the web. Its intended purpose is to describe images for visually impaired users or if the image is unable to be loaded. Let’s look at an example.

This image could have the alt text: “A still image from the film Back to the Future III depicting Doc Brown and Marty McFly. They are stood outside facing each other on a very bright sunny day. Doc Brown is trying to reassure a sceptical looking Marty by patting him on the shoulder. Marty is wearing a garish patterned fringed jacket, a red scarf and a white stetson hat. The DeLorean time machine can be seen behind them.” Good. This is descriptive.

But it could also have the alt text: “Christopher Lloyd and Michael J Fox in Back to the Future III” Okay but not very specific.

Or even: “Back to the Future III: A fantastic review by John Smith. Check out my blog!” Bad. This doesn’t describe the image. This text would be better used as a title for a web page.

Alt text can be extremely variable in detail and quality, or not exist at all, which I’m sure will already be apparent to anyone who regularly uses a screen reader to browse the web. This casts some doubt on the accuracy of CLIP analysis and the labelling of images in LAION datasets.

CLIP-filtered image-text pairs

So now, coming back to LAION-5B, we know that “CLIP-filtered image-text pairs” means two things. The images were analysed with CLIP and the embeddings created from this analysis were included in the dataset. Then these embeddings were used to check that the image caption matched what CLIP identified the image as. If there was no match, the image was dropped from the dataset.

But LAION datasets themselves do not contain any images

So how does this work? LAION states on their website:

LAION datasets are simply indexes to the internet, i.e. lists of URLs to the original images together with the ALT texts found linked to those images. While we downloaded and calculated CLIP embeddings of the pictures to compute similarity scores between pictures and texts, we subsequently discarded all the photos. Any researcher using the datasets must reconstruct the images data by downloading the subset they are interested in. For this purpose, we suggest the img2dataset tool.

In order to train a model for use with stable diffusion, you would need to go through a LAION dataset with img2dataset and download all the images. All 240 terabytes of them.

LAION have used this argument to wiggle out of a recent copyright lawsuit. The Batch reported in June 2023:

LAION may be insulated from claims of copyright violation because it doesn’t host its datasets directly. Instead it supplies web links to images rather than the images themselves. When a photographer who contributes to stock image libraries filed a cease-and-desist request that LAION delete his images from its datasets, LAION responded that it has nothing to delete. Its lawyers sent the photographer an invoice for €979 for filing an unjustified copyright claim.

Deduplication

In a dataset it’s usually not desirable to have duplicate entries of the same data, but how do you ensure this when the data you’re processing is as huge as the entire internet? Well… LAION admits you kinda don’t.

There is a certain degree of duplication because we used URL+text as deduplication criteria. The same image with the same caption may sit at different URLs, causing duplicates. The same image with other captions is not, however, considered duplicated.

Another reason why reposting art sucks

If you’ve been an artist online for a while you’ll know all about reposts and why so many artists hate them. From what I’ve seen in my time online, the number of times an artist’s work is reposted on different sites is proportional to their online reach or influence (social media followers, presence on multiple sites etc). The more well known an artist becomes, the more their art is shared and reposted without permission. It may also be reposted legitimately, say if an online news outlet ran a story on them and included examples of their art. Whether consensual or not, this all results in more copies of their art out there on the web and therefore, in the training data. As stated above, if the URL of the image is different (the same image reposted on a different website will have a different URL), to LAION it’s not considered duplicated.

Now it becomes clear how well known digital artists such as Sam Yang and Loish have their styles easily imitated with these models - their art is overrepresented in the training data.

How do I stop my art being used in training data?

Unfortunately for models that have already been trained on historic data from LAION/Common Crawl, there is no way to remove your art and no way to even find out if your art has been used in the training.

Unfortunately again, simply deleting your art from social media sites might not delete the actual image from their servers. It will still be accessible at the same URL as when you originally posted it. You can test this by making an image post on the social media site you want to test. When the image is posted, right click the image and select “open image in new tab”. This will show you the URL of the image in the address bar. Keep this tab open or otherwise keep a record of this URL. Then go back and delete the post. After the post is deleted, often you will still be able to view the image at the URL that you saved.

If you have your own website where you host your art you can delete your images, or update their URLs so that they are no longer accessible from the URLs that were previously in web crawl data.

HTTP Headers

On your own website you can also use the X-Robots-Tag HTTP header to prevent bots from crawling your website for training data. These values can be used:

X-Robots-Tag: noai

X-Robots-Tag: noimageai

X-Robots-Tag: noimageindex

The img2dataset tool is used to download images from datasets made available by LAION. The README states that by default img2dataset will respect the above headers and skip downloading from websites that use them. Although it must be noted this can be overridden, so if an unscrupulous actor wants to scrape your images without your consent, there is no technical reason they cannot do this.

Glaze

If you can’t prevent your images from being crawled, you can prevent all new art that you post from being useful in future models that are trained from scratch by using Glaze. Glaze is a software tool that you can run your art through to protect it from being copied by image generators. It does this by “poisoning” the data in the image that is read by machine learning code while keeping the art looking the same to human eyes.

Watermarks

This defence is a bit of a long shot but worth a try. You may be able to get your art filtered out of training data by adding an obvious watermark. One column included in the LAION dataset is pwatermark which is the probability that the image contains a watermark, calculated by a CLIP model trained on a small subset of clean and watermarked images. Images were then filtered out of subsequent datasets using a threshold for pwatermark of 0.8, which compared to the threshold for NSFW (0.3) and non-matching captions (also 0.3) is pretty high. This means that only images with the most obvious watermarks will be filtered out.

Prompt engineering and how to spot AI art

We’ve covered how AI image generators are trained so now let’s take all that and look at how they work in practice.

Artifacts

You’ve probably gotten annoyed by JPEG compression artifacts or seen other artists whine about them but what is an artifact? A visual artifact is often something unwanted that appears in an image due to technologies used to create it. JPEG compression artifacts appear as solid colour squares or rectangles where there should be a smooth transition from one colour to another. They can also look like fuzziness around high contrast areas of an image.

I’d describe common mistakes in AI image generations as artifacts - they are an unwanted side effect of the technology used to produce the image. Some of these are obvious and pretty easy to spot:

extra or missing fingers or otherwise malformed hands

distorted facial features

asymmetry in clothing design, buttons or zips in odd places

hair turning into clothing and vice versa

nonsense background details or clothing patterning

disconnected horizon line, floor or walls. This often happens when opposite sides are separated by an object in the foreground

Some other artifacts are not strange-looking, but become obvious tells for AI if you have some experience with prompting.

Keyword bleeding

Often if a colour is used in the text prompt, that colour will end up being present throughout the image. If it depicts a character and a background, both elements will contain the colour.

The reason for this should be obvious now that we know how the training data works. This image from LAION demonstrates it nicely:

This screenshot shows the search page for clip-retrieval which is a search tool that utilises an image-text pair dataset created using CLIP. You will see the search term that was entered is “blue cat” but the images in the results contain not just cats that are blue, but also images of cats that are not blue but there is blue elsewhere in the image eg a blue background, a cat with blue eyes, or a cat wearing a blue hat.

To go on a linguistics tangent for a second, part of the above effect could be due to English not having different adjective forms depending on the noun it’s referring to. For example in German when describing a noun the form of the adjective must match the gender of the noun it’s describing. In German, blue is blau, cat is Katze. “Blue cat” would be “blaue Katze”. Since Katze is feminine, the adjective blau must use the feminine ending e. The word for dog is masculine so blau takes the ending er, making it “blauer Hund”. You get the idea.

When a colour is not mentioned in a prompt, and no keyword in the prompt implies a specific colour or combination of colours, the generated images all come out looking very brown or monochrome overall.

Keyword bleeding can have strange effects depending on the prompt. When using adjectives to describe specific parts of the image in the prompt, both words may bleed into other parts of the image. When I tried including “pointed ears” in a prompt, all the images depicted a character with typical elf ears but the character often also had horns or even animal ears as well.

All this seems obvious when you consider the training data. A character with normal-looking ears wouldn’t usually be described with the word “ears” (unless it was a closeup image showing just the person’s ears) because it’s a normal feature for someone to have. But you probably would mention ears in an image description if the character had unusual ears like an elf or catgirl.

Correcting artifacts

AI artifacts can be corrected however, with a process called inpainting (also known as generative fill). This is done by taking a previously generated image, masking out the area to be replaced, then running the generation process again with the same or slightly modified prompt. It can also be used on non AI generated images. Google Pixel phones use a kind of generative fill to remove objects from photographs. Inpainting is a little more involved than just prompting as it requires editing of the input image and it’s not offered by most free online image generators. It’s what I expect Adobe Firefly will really excel at as it’s already integrated into image editing software (if they can iron out their copyright issues…)

Why AI kinda sucks

Since AI image generation is built on large scale statistical analysis, if you’re looking to generate something specific but uncommon you’re not going to have much luck. For example using “green skin” in a prompt will often generate a character with pale skin but there will be green in other parts of the image such as eye colour and clothing due to keyword bleeding.

No matter how specific you are the generator will never be able to create an image of your original character. You may be able to get something that has the same general vibe, but it will never be consistent between prompts and won’t be able to get fine details right.

There is a type of fine-tuning for stable diffusion models called LoRA (Low-Rank Adaptation) that can be used to generate images of a specific character, but of course to create this, you need preexisting images to use for the training data. This is fine if you want a model to shit out endless images of your favourite anime waifu but less than useless if you’re trying to use AI to create something truly original.

Some final thoughts

The more I play around with stable diffusion the more I realise that the people who use it to pretend to be a human artist with a distinctive style are using it in the most boring way possible. The most fun I’ve personally had with image generation is mixing and matching different “vibes” to churn out ideas I may not have considered for my own art. It can be a really useful tool for brainstorming. Maybe you have a few different things you’re inspired by (eg a clothing style or designer, a specific artist, an architectural style) but don’t know how to combine them. An image generator can do this with ease. I think it’s an excellent tool for artistic research and generating references.

All that being said, I strongly believe use of AI image generation for profit or social media clout is unethical until the use of copyrighted images in training data is ceased.

I understand how this situation has come about. Speaking specifically about LAION-5B the authors say (emphasis theirs):

Our recommendation is … to use the dataset for research purposes. … Providing our dataset openly, we however do not recommend using it for creating ready-to-go industrial products, as the basic research about general properties and safety of such large-scale models, which we would like to encourage with this release, is still in progress.

Use of copyrighted material for research falls under fair use. The problem comes from third parties making use of this research data for commerical purposes, which should be a violation of copyright. So far, litigation against AI companies has not made much progress in settling this.

I believe living artists whose work is used to train AI models must be fairly compensated and the law must be updated to enforce this in a way that protects independent artists (rather than building more armour for huge media companies).

The technology is still new and developing rapidly. Changes to legislation tend to be slow. But I have hope that a solution will be found.

References

“Adobe Firefly - Free Generative AI for Creatives.” Adobe. Accessed 28 Jan 2024.

https://www.adobe.com/uk/products/firefly.html

Andrew. "Stable Diffusion prompt: a definitive guide.” Stable Diffusion Art. 4 Jan 2024.

https://stable-diffusion-art.com/prompt-guide/#Anatomy_of_a_good_prompt

Andrew. “Beginner’s guide to inpainting (step-by-step examples).” Stable Diffusion Art. 24 September 2023.

https://stable-diffusion-art.com/inpainting_basics/

AUTOMATIC1111. “Stable Diffusion web UI. A browser interface based on Gradio library for Stable Diffusion.” Github. Accessed 15 Jan 2024

https://github.com/AUTOMATIC1111/stable-diffusion-webui

“LAION roars.” The Batch newsletter. 7 Jun 2023.

https://www.deeplearning.ai/the-batch/the-story-of-laion-the-dataset-behind-stable-diffusion/

Beaumont, Romain. “Semantic search at billions scale.” Medium. 31 Mar, 2022

https://rom1504.medium.com/semantic-search-at-billions-scale-95f21695689a

Beaumont, Romain. “LAION-5B: A new era of open large-scale multi-modal datasets.” LAION website. 31 Mar, 2022

https://laion.ai/blog/laion-5b/

Beaumont, Romain. “Semantic search with embeddings: index anything.” Medium. 1 Dec, 2020

https://rom1504.medium.com/semantic-search-with-embeddings-index-anything-8fb18556443c

Beaumont, Romain. “img2dataset.” GitHub. Accessed 27 Jan 2024.

https://github.com/rom1504/img2dataset

Beaumont, Romain. “Preparing data for training.” GitHub. Accessed 27 Jan 2024.

https://github.com/rom1504/laion-prepro/blob/main/laion5B/usage_guide/preparing_data_for_training.md

“CLIP: Connecting text and images.” OpenAI. 5 Jan 2021.

https://openai.com/research/clip

“AI.” Cambridge Dictionary. Accessed 27 Jan 2024.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ai?q=AI

“Common Crawl - Overview.” Common Crawl. Accessed 27 Jan 2024.

https://commoncrawl.org/overview

CompVis. “Stable Diffusion. A latent text-to-image diffusion model.” GitHub. Accessed 15 Jan 2024

https://github.com/CompVis/stable-diffusion

duskydreams. “Basic Inpainting Guide.” Civitai. 25 Aug 2023.

https://civitai.com/articles/161/basic-inpainting-guide

Gallagher, James. “What is an Image Embedding?.” Roboflow Blog. 16 Nov 2023.

https://blog.roboflow.com/what-is-an-image-embedding/

"What Is Glaze? Samples, Why Does It Work, and Limitations." Glaze. Accessed 27 Jan 2024.

https://glaze.cs.uchicago.edu/what-is-glaze.html

“Pixel 8 Pro: Advanced Pro Camera with Tensor G3 AI.” Google Store. Accessed 28 Jan 2024.

https://store.google.com/product/pixel_8_pro

Schuhmann, Christoph. “LAION-400-MILLION OPEN DATASET.” 20 Aug 2021.

https://laion.ai/blog/laion-400-open-dataset/

Stability AI. “Stable Diffusion Version 2. High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Models.” Github. Accessed 15 Jan 2024

https://github.com/Stability-AI/stablediffusion

[phoenixtakaramono]

Fanfiction Tropes Tier List (Reader Edition)

Thank you for the tag, @deliciouskeys! (Here's their tier list!)

I tag: @fuckingpajamas, @phtalate, @tzeentchs-secretary-tea-time, @digitalbath1988, @vanshoundd, @tocadoguara, and anyone who wants to do this! I’d be very interested to see how y’all would rank ‘em :) but ofc no pressure if you don’t want to or have already done this!

…So I feel like I need to give some context🧍🏻‍♀️🙈 The tl;dr is: I will read almost anything, but I have certain standards/ expectations that must be met in order for me to continue.

I tried to organize these tropes from top ➡️ bottom, have strong feelings about (would more likely read) ➡️ am less passionate about going from left ➡️ right. For the bottom tiers with asterisks, I arranged them from “this specific trope represents the tier description” ➡️ “eh, it fits here but I don’t really hold strong opinions about these” from left ➡️ right.

⬇️Expand for a detailed breakdown below the line break ⬇️

My Tier List for fanfic tropes I consume as a Reader differ in some areas from tropes I’d like to write or would be open to writing as a Writer. As a reader, I usually give almost every fanfic a chance with my own arbitary criteria—although what I read is very ship dependent according to their canon dynamic (for example, I will devour Enemies to Lovers for one specific OTP in one fandom, but would NEVER read that trope applied to a different fav ship of mine in a different fandom). I also tossed in some danmei BL tropes, for funsies and because I want more people to know about them <3.

And remember, if you like any of these that I personally don’t, that’s great! Everyone has their own preferences. Please don’t take offense. These are just how I view these tropes specifically according to me, haha. It says less about you and more about me being picky with what I like to read and gives context about what kind of bibliophile (person who likes reading) I am.

Tier 1 (SSS Level)

Slowburn: Just as context, I regularly read light novels (hetero, danmei, and baihe) which can easily range from 100ch-300ch each. So slowburns is the quintessential demisexual experience for me, and I love it when they’re long fics where we get to see characters grow and relationships develop, with worldbuilding and an interesting plot. I think the longest I’ve ever read was +2.8K chapters of a story I was addicted to. Typically if I see it’s a slowburn, I know I’m gonna have a good time.

Fix-It Fic: As much as I love canon of the original source material, there are certain canon story decisions and/or plotholes that hurt me—so it’s always great to see someone write their own interpretation to try to “fix it.” You get banger fics and it’s just so creative and a nice catharsis.

Canon Divergence: Same as how I regard a Fix-It.

Dark Fic: Irl I obviously do not condone any of the things that typically happen in Dark Fics. But as someone who has consumed your usual wholesome healthy Lifetime Original style romance stories for a loooooong time, that type of milquetoast wholesomeness has become bland and predictable for me—which is why the wild and crazy shenanigans that happen in Dark Fics spices things up for me and I like that it keeps me guessing. I don’t want to read about things from my life. I think screwed up characters can offer so much more interesting stakes than a Good Guy. I like the tension and uncertainty. Ex. this is why I tend to prefer the protag/villain ships over the protag/childhood friend ships; it’s why a princely character who is secretly yandere is so much more interesting than a sidekick character with a bland and forgettable personality. The writers of Dark Fics, 9/10 times, produce something so interesting that I can’t put my phone down and I just have to binge through their entire fic because the suspense is k*lling me.

Conspiracy & Schemes: Mysteries? Political intrigue? Palace drama? Yes, please, inject it into my veins.

Strong Protagonist & Strong Love Interest: It’s similar to how I’ve come to prefer reading Dark Fics. The market’s too oversaturated with the damsel in distress trope being saved by his/her prince charming. I’ve read too many novels and fanfics about that dynamic, it’s gotten a little stale for me, haha. Give me the clever, scheming, morally grey or villainous MC with a strong backbone. I like badasses. As for the ML or FL, I also prefer them to be strong or scheming as well so they can be a power couple with the MC—and curb-stomp the world and their enemies. …*holds face like a blushing maiden* Don’t they sound like the equivalent of a fairytale couple?

Mutual Pining: Yes, yes, yes. It’ll never be not good.

Revenge-Rebirth: I love underdog characters plotting their secret machinations and getting their revenge. Pair it with a rebirth, where a previous villain(ess) or cannon fodder who’d suffered before learns from the mistakes of their previous life and uses their second life to faceslap their enemies and turn their destiny around? Yes, yes, yes.

Survival Game: I love the Infinite Flow (survival horror/ death game) genre, what can I say? If you’ve read the famous ones, you know why. The writing is almost always superb and so interesting (seeing all the unique horror instances that the MC has to figure out in order to survive). It’s just so imaginative.

Obsessive Love: Same as how I regard a Dark Fic. I do not condone it irl, but an unhealthily codependent partner in my fictional romances? Yes. I want them to be even more obsessed with my favorite character and fall deeper and deeper in love.

Misunderstanding: There is a difference between how I view misunderstandings versus how I view miscommunication (which can grate on my nerves if not executed well). I believe you fundamentally cannot have a good long fic without some misunderstandings that the MC or Love Interest has to clear up, and it’s always so good once the cat is out of the bag and the truth is revealed.

Isekai/ Transmigration (World-Hopping): Yes. Gimme. It’s like 10 stories in one. I like it when your ordinary layperson gets transported into a different fantastical world or pseudohistorical world or into a different modern world of much different circumstances depending on their new identity. I like these duck out of water stories.

Historical AU & Royalty AU: There’s just something about pseudo-medieval settings that can be so charming and interesting to read. If you’ve got royalty thrown in, there’s the additional seasoning of power struggles between members of royalty and aristocracy, and political intrigue, and seeing how a kingdom is run. Writers tend to do a good job worldbuilding these types of stories with characters I like moved into this new setting.

Established Relationship: The domesticity and PDA of it all can make my heart go dokidoki (especially if they’re a powerhouse couple). It can fall into the danger of coming across as bland, so this depends on the plot and writer’s execution of their relationship. I gotta have some stakes.

Enemies to Lovers: I love it for certain pairings.

Forbidden Love: It’s the tabooness of it that makes it interesting to read.

Friends to Lovers: As long as it’s not milquetoast or bland, I think most of the time this is executed well. It’s a step below an Established Relationship, so they’ve got wiggle room to develop into that.

Soulmate AU: It’s inherently romantic, what can I say? I will REALLY LOVE it though if the writer gives it a unique twist.

First Kiss & Sharing a Bed: It’s tender and sweet (or hot) and I will never get tired of it. You can’t go wrong with it.

Magic AU & Fairytale AU: It’s a fantasy world. As long as it’s not bland and there is a serviceable magic system, I will generally like it. (One caveat: it cannot be a HP AU. C’mon. As much as I like HP, you can do better as a writer than transporting these characters into the HP universe. Come up with your own magic system.) For fairytale AUs, it’s basically your Hans Christian Andersen/ Disney fairytale with your favorite characters. I don’t think you can go wrong with it. I just love any AUs in general.

Huddle for Warmth: Same as First Kiss & Sharing a Bed & PWP.

Tier 2 (A Level)

Fluff: Oftentimes reading cute fluff (like sneaking quick kisses or holding hands) can make me blush and giggle more than reading p0rn or smut on my phone in public. HOWEVER, unlike a oneshot where I can tolerate it, for me fluff has be spread sporadically throughout if it’s a long fic. If the long fic is just too fluffy and sweet all the way throughout (force-feeding me “meng” and “dog food” (PDA)), I get the equivalent of a sugary overdose and any interest I have for the fic dries up into “ugh, that’s enough”—which usually ends up with me dropping the fic if the fluff had oversaturated everything (all sugar/ fluff, no real meaty substance). There’s only so much cutesy uwu, descriptions of someone’s soft coquettish voice scratching the Love Interest’s heart like a cat’s paw, etc that I can stomach at a time. It’s like junk food; I can’t eat too much of it.

PWP: As a connoisseur of all things slowburn and a demisexual irl, I have to be in the mood to read a PWP. It’s p0rn without plot; I don’t expect to be reading much plot (although it’d be a pleasant surprise if the p0rn came with some serviceable-enough plot 👌). It is what’s written on the tin. I’m not here expecting a Shakespearean masterpiece. A writer was gripped by the h0rny and decided to share, and this was the result. I’m here to turn my brain off, have fun, and read about two of my favorite fictional characters banging each other stupid.

Im Vino Veritas (Drunken Confessions): Yes, gimme. I’m picky about the execution and the follow-up scene that comes after the drunken confession though (after the drunk character sobers up). The writer has to be skilled enough for me to root for the character and not cringe (unless the whole point is to cringe at the drunk confessing because it’s established they’re a cannon fodder character who won’t get together with the MC or Love Interest).

Missing Scenes: I generally like it when writers come up with a What-If scenario that happens between Point A and Point C of canon. It can be fun and believable—especially if they get the characterization right. Then it’s like reading a little bonus content (like, you know it’s a person’s headcanon but, dang, it’s written so well I could almost believe it was canon).

Office AU: I love me my rich Sugar Daddy AUs and doting CEO husbands pampering and spoiling their lovers. I enjoy reading about a business expanding into a powerful corporation and the power struggles that come with. It’s a guilty pleasure. (I do have to try not to think about HR though.)

Showbiz AU: It’s a guilty pleasure. Sometimes I learn something new about the acting or modeling or fashion industry, and it’s interesting. I also like seeing the journey of the unknown underdog MC rising like a phoenix from a nobody to a well-respected powerhouse of their industry.

Reincarnation: Same as how I regard almost other AUs here (inject it into my veins). With reincarnation though, I usually like to see the rebirth have an affect on the story. It’s an important plot device after all. If it seems like the whole rebirth part could be omitted and it wouldn’t even impact the story with that aspect removed, then…well, sorry, the story didn’t execute it well.

Cold Love Interest: Depends on the execution, but I like it when you have this character who’s known to be cold slowly be thawed out the more and more they start opening up to the Main Character—until they inevitably fall in love. It’s essentially reading about an ice cube that has melted into warm spring water. The transformation can be so beautiful and moving, because you’ve been following them on their journey of self-discovery and finding happiness. (However, my tolerance toward Cold Characters does have a limit; they can’t be irredeemable at the start. Because if it’s the equivalent of the Wife Chasing Crematorium trope, where the Love Interest is a cheating (?) murderous (?) selfish abusive assh0le who has essentially traumatized the MC and still gets together with them at the end…….ugh, 9/10 times I will dislike it even if the ML or FL realizes how much their actions have hurt the MC and tries their best to make up to it for the rest of their lives.)

Dense Protagonist: A protagonist who is oblivious to the Love Interest character pining and simping hardcore after them can be hilarious. However, I am generally picky about its execution. It can teeter the fine line between endearing and dumb/ annoying. At some point, their denseness can become too much (to the point where it’s no longer funny or amusing) that my suspension of disbelief drops and it’s no longer fun to read the story for me personally.

Unrequited Love: Depends on the context. Is it the writer’s intention to make it bittersweet and unresolved? Is the character pining after their unrequited love, and it’s the early stage of the story where the MC or ML/FL have yet to reciprocate? Is the intention to make me cry? For all of these, I usually like to know before I jump into a fic—because I’m a sappy woman who gets easily teary-eyed and I easily get touched by moving depictions of the human connection. So I don’t want my young glass maiden heart to be hurt too much, haha; there’s only so much abuse my heart can handle.

Crossover: At some point, I run out of fics (the good ones) to read for the specific ship I like. So I turn to crossovers, to see how my favorite MC can be shipped with someone else. If the writer’s good, they can blend the worlds and these cast of characters together seamlessly. It’s like a brain puzzle—so I have countless admiration for those who can execute crossovers well.

Time Loop: This is your usual Nicholas Sparks’ (a romance writer) type of story; a time loop is basically Groundhog Day where the MC has to figure out how to break the time loop—and I’m usually invested in the mystery of how they’re gonna pull it off. I’d like to say when I’m in the mood to read this, writers tend to execute the trope well (my logic: if you’re going to introduce a plot device, make it relevant to the story; if it can be omitted and it doesn’t detract from the experience, then it doesn’t need to be there).

Hurt/ Comfort: To an extent. It’s the same as Fluff or Angst for me. Moderation is key.

Sex Pollen & Bang or Die: Similar to how I regard PWPs.

Arranged Marriage: Generally I will like if executed well. I almost put this in Tier 3, because I more often than not don’t usually click on a fic if I see this trope tagged (because my brain thinks about the irl implications). BUT…it is the premise of almost every transmigration (isekai) light novel or manhua/manhwa I read—and they work because it’s a fish out of water story where the MC finds out there they have an arranged marriage to a king, prince, duke, noble, knight, etc with a certain cruel or perfect reputation, and you get to read about them learning about their real selves and falling in love over time with their fiancée/fiancé. And it’s so cute. This is my expectation when I read fics with this trope: a fairytale-like romance, where the arranged marriage managed to work out in this couple’s favor instead of it being loveless.

Baby Fic & Pregnancy Fic: I would not go out of my way to read oneshots where the whole premise is specifically only about either of this. It has to be just one of the ingredients in the whole long fic. Writing children is tougher than you think (you have to be so careful writing about them because you can toe the line between making them precocious and making them annoying), and some people are unable to respectfully write pregnancy characters, choosing instead to focus on the humor of pregnancy stereotypes—but the gags can come across as shallow writing than giving it the proper respect it deserves. So it depends on 1) the execution and 2) my mood. I’ve read a couple good ones, but that’s because the writer is good at delivering the concept that is easily digestible and frames the whole process of birth and child rearing as a beautiful process of nature and life.

Tier 3 (B Level)

A/B/O: I will not intentionally go out of my way 99/100 times to read Omegaverse stories. Shocker, I know. It’s just, for me, I tend to find a majority of these general A/B/O fics…shallow and of little substance. Most of the time, I find the writing can also be a bit distasteful, especially when it comes to the omega and alpha dynamic in this kinda story (in the wrong hands, the writer can make their story come across as r@pey and sexist/ misogynistic, especially if an alpha’s being aggressive and forceful with the MC because they’ve been affected by the smell of an omega’s heat—and now I’m reading descriptions of the omega character sobbing and crying out “no, no, no” and “please stop” and I’m in disbelief why people find this hot). I also don’t like the submissiveness of the omega character where it’s like I’m reading about a milquetoast wet rag who has all their fight drained out and has no personality other than being a hole that produces slick and blushes constantly. Also, for me, predictability is not something I like; if I can predict everything that’s going to happen in a fic, I will become bored. I need some kinda serviceable plot for me to be emotionally invested in an A/B/O fic or there’s some kinda hook that keeps me coming back. I can enjoy the rare one A/B/O fic out of one hundred similar A/B/O fics, but I am INCREDIBLY PICKY about what I choose. The premise itself is also very important to what makes or breaks an A/B/O fic experience for me (for example, if it’s a Dark fic, then I can be more forgiving because it’s expected for there to be dark themes).

Miscommunication: For me there’s no in-between. I will either hate or love this trope, depending on its execution in the fic. On the extreme end of hatred, I am ticked off when a conflict in the story can be easily resolved had the character(s) communicated properly—and it’s just so incredibly dumb. On the opposite end, miscommunication can be done well as a funny gag or a plot device that shows how differently characters can interpret a situation or words. So depending on which one of these the fic delivers, it determines how much I can enjoy a fic.

Love Triangle: See my opinion on Harem Fics, and now make my aversion less strong. I’m a wee more forgiving on this trope because it’s a love triangle where you start off with the MC, the ML/FL, and the love rival—and the story is about the MC choosing one of them. The other Love Triangle I’m okay with is if it’s obviously a poly ship where the MC ends up with two people—but it has to be executed well (I generally have to like both options for the MC). I’m more of a monogamous soulmate type of gal, so I’m kinda picky on the execution when a story focuses on the love triangle. It can’t drag on to the point where I find it to be insufferable. The danger with a love triangle is I, your reader, might come to like the Second Male Lead or Second Female Lead—and think they were a better fit for the MC than the actual Fe/Male Lead that was chosen just because this character was the writer’s favorite. In this case, the moment the wrong candidate is chosen, my interest in the fic dwindles and I feel like I’m reading a lesser version of what initially drew me to the fic in the first place. So now it’s the writer’s responsibility to show me why their choice is the correct one.

Angst: It’s like junk food; the key is moderation. I can’t have too much of it—otherwise it’s too angsty and the poignant emotional knives become laughable.

Humor: Humor is subjective, and differs for each person. What the writer finds funny might not be what I find funny. I’m more of a subtle gal. So if a fic’s meant to be funny throughout, it runs the risk of teetering towards me feeling secondhand embarrassment and cringing—because it’s too much and unfunny. But if a writer genuinely writes something surprising that makes me laugh, I do appreciate their talent at grasping the opportunity and having the know-how to effectively inject some lighthearted humor.

Fake Relationship: …My enjoyment level HEAVILY depends on its execution. It’s the characterization, their chemistry, and plot that have to save it for me.

Amnesia Fic: See, I understand it’s a plot device—which is why I’m a lil more forgiving. But don’t you hate it when all of a sudden a character gets memory wiped after all that progress? (I feel like I wasted my time just as the story was turning good, and now they have to start over? Kinda feels like unnecessary filler and it can drag on, and I feel like banging my head against the wall.) On a lesser extent of my pickiness, I don’t like it as much when it’s used as an exposition framing device, with the MC or Love Interest having no recollection of anything—and they’re lied to at the start about who they’re supposed to be…because you know there will be a dramatic fallout happening when they inevitably find out and that predictability (they fall out, and then you know sometime later something will bring them back together…the fakeout dramatic “breakup” is just so contrived and mechanical and formulaic) is what turns me off. (I don’t mind the amnesia trope as much if it’s used in a psychological horror/ thriller story though.)

Shizun F*cker: It’s your master (teacher) x disciple Chinese classic. I went through a phase of binging these stories and I find they’re generally all very good, but there does come a point where you start seeing similarities and not enough freshness with this trope and they all blend together (especially if it feels like it’s a pale imitation inferior copycat version of certain shizun f*cker classics). Nowadays this kinda premise has to be accompanied by something fresh and unique in order for me to keep reading—and turn my brain off from thinking about the irl teacher-student implications.

Secret Identities: If executed well, I like the reveal of their true identity in the story. It’s like you have this lowkey cute crush who has been helping you all this time—and you find out he’s, like, a mafia don or the CEO of a conglomerate or an international spy. It’s the gap moe contrast of who they pretend to be versus the secret badass they really are. It does come with the risk of some predictability for me though which can ruin my immersion (y’know…the typical MC’s outrage when finding out their Love Interest’s real identity: “You lied to me?! How can I believe you now when all you’ve done is lie to me?!” ➡️ A genuine apology ➡️ Fallout ➡️ Some sort of dramatic reconciliation after the MC or ML/FL was kidnapped).

Tier 4 (C Level)

Dubcon: It’s teetering on the verge between what I find tolerable and what I find unacceptable. As long as it does not fall into the Non-Con territory and isn’t written distastefully, I can read dubcon stories where the consent is a blurry line between these two characters.

Major Character Death: I usually don’t seek this out—because I’m a big weepy baby and I don’t want to grow attached to these characters and bawl at the end when the inevitable happens. But on the super rare instances where I do click on a fic despite this warning tag, it means I have mentally and emotionally prepared myself to get knifed in the heart.

Mary Sue Fic: As much as I love power scaling fics and OP MCs, it does get boring if there’s no setback or conflict for the MC to learn from. I mean, sure, it’s fine for them to steamroll over everyone but if I’m reading +1K chapters of them just steamrolling, they’ve become a Mary Sue. I want flaws. I want setbacks. There’s only so much chuunibyou I can tolerate. There’s only so much descriptions of how ungodly beautiful or how shockingly genius the MC is at everything before I start rolling my eyes. Fatigue has set in and the OP character has become an insufferable milquetoast Mary Sue/ Gary Stu who can do no wrong. My suspension of disbelief has finally been worn away into nothingness. This can also apply to the Love Interest character (I understand their role in the story is to satisfy the ideal dream lover trope—but please give dimension to the character). I want three-dimensional characters with backstory and flaws and an interesting personality, not Mary Sues or Gary Stus.

Y/N (OC Fic): If I’m reading fanfic about my favorite character(s), I don’t want to spend my time reading about a writer’s Original Character or Self-Insert character being shipped with my favorite. I went in to read stories with my fav ship—and only that. There have been the few exceptions to this—but me liking a Y/N or a fic with OCs is ultra rare.

Breakup: Similar to my thoughts on Unrequited Love. But taken up to a hundred. If there’s been a breakup between the main couple in the fic—and it’s not in the beginning exposition chapter where we don’t yet know enough information about these characters—in the middle or near the end, chances are I think the relationship is f*cked anyway and therefore lose interest in the main ship itself in the fic. Even if they get back together at the end, I just think, “Honey…you can do so much better than him/her.” Which is why I usually don’t like reading breakups between the main couple in my fics. (And if the breakup is because the MC or Love Interest is in a precarious situation and they think pushing them away is the best way to protect them, it’s a cliché that makes me roll my eyes because it’s been so overdone and ugh, why pretend to be awful INSTEAD OF COMMUNICATING?)

Body Swap: …It depends SO MUCH on the execution. I cringe so hard if a character (usually the guy in the body of a girl) is feeling up their developed chest like a perv. There’s only a handful of Body Swap stories that do this trope well. If two characters are swapping bodies, I want to read about how they’re trying not to OOC (lol) and see how this body swap impacts the story and cast of characters in any meaningful way.

College AU: I’ve long since graduated from college. Nuff said. Might give a fic a try if it’s well-written or a short PWP (it is what’s written on the tin) but, as a working adult, reading about petty school drama wears on my patience. There has to be plot to keep me invested. Might also read if it dives into college controversies or campus scandals—but the suspense has to be executed well. Most of the time, it works if there’s some kinda big mystery like there’s been a crime committed. Because now you have a whodunnit mystery. And that’s so much more interesting than reading about students studying and doing homework, going to parties, crushing on the professor (also, here, yikes…if you want me to turn my brain off and not think about the real life implications (the teacher’s immediate suspension (hopefully) and losing their teaching privileges and license), you gotta reel me in with the plot or characters), or the typical student college experience.

Gen Fic: It’s bland, milquetoast, mid and forgettable. It’s like sucking out all the fun elements out of a fic—and that’s not my idea of a good time. I think the only way to pull this off is if it’s a Character Study fic.

Tier 5 (F Level)

High School AU: Give me real men or women; get out of here with the kiddy stuff. I’m outside the age range to be able to enjoy this. As a working career-woman, I really don’t want to spend my free time reading about minors and teen romance and teen drama. And if there’s adult content, sorry, just—no. My brain more often than not associates it to underage s3x—and it squicks me out. It’s also so much harder for me to suspend my disbelief that this inexperienced kid from high school is like this super genius hacker or ultra cover model beauty whom grown wo/men salivate over. (Because…god no, I DON’T want to read about a minor’s “milky thighs” or “coquettish voice.” They’re, like, 14-16 y/o. Who wants to read about a predator who has designs on a teenager?) Also, unless it is at the hilarious peak levels of highschool romcom like Kaguya-sama: Love is War but in fanfiction form, reading about two high school students crushing on each other is 99/100 times so boring and milquetoast to me. I am not the target audience for this trope.

Non-Con: The real life implications ruin any chance for me to want to do anything with this trope. Consent is king, y’all. Non-con is a personal squick—and therefore I will not read if it’s what’s gonna happen between the main couple no matter how sweet and regretful the ML or FL acts after the act. It’s r@pe; I do not find SA and being forced sexy in any way. The moment I see that there’s non-con between the main couple, that’s ruined any chances of me enjoying that ship in the fic. (The only exception I can think of for this is if the ML/FL was mind-controlled or didn’t have autonomy over their body due to some kinda magic shenanigans. Or if it’s non-con framed as a horrifying traumatic experience between a character and the unimportant cannon fodder who’s there in the story to be punished as a villain and won’t be forgiven in any way.) I will not seek it out if I see a fic’s been tagged with this. And if I encounter surprise non-con in my reading, I will immediately drop the fic.

Unhappy Ending: I have a glass maiden heart. I tear up easily when characters die or suffer in a book. I don’t want to get emotionally invested in a story and its characters, only to end up with an Unhappy Ending at the end. It just feels so unsatisfactory, like I’d wasted my time on this long fic when I could’ve spent that time productively reading something else that has a much happier and better conclusion.

Crack Fic: Now, the one exception to this is if a writer jokingly says their story revolves around a crackship, but the writing’s so dang unbelievably good you don’t even think it’s a crackship in a crack fic (it’s a bonafide good story). But aside from that, 99 out of 100 times, I will not read crack fics. A crack fic is a writer’s attempt at humor. And humor is so subjective. What they find funny or entertaining might not be what I find funny or entertaining. Most of the time, it’s also of little substance and random and the writing is all over the place (which…y’know, I get it; I notice a lot of people mention they had a wild dream about this and that’s the reason why they’re writing a crack fic.) I’m happy that they’re writing what they find funny and I’m hoping it’s fun for them, but crack fics are not my cuppa tea.

Coffeeshop AU: It’s so mid and blah to me. It’s the most milquetoast Meet Cute out of all the Meet Cutes they could have chosen. I think the only one I recently read in, like, years, is because of a Art & Fic Exchange Bang I’d participated in. It’s so long ago. Basically unless it’s a stalker or secret identity or psychological horror story to make it interesting, I’d rather read anything else than a bland Coffeeshop AU.

Next Generation: Similar to how I regard OC Fics or OCs in general. I’m here to read fanfiction to read about canon characters of a show or book. I did not come here to read about a writer’s cast of Original Characters or Self-Insert characters. If 99% of the fanfic is about the OCs who are the sons and daughters of the canon characters, I just won’t read it. Won’t touch it. Won’t come anywhere near it. They might as well have written an original story of their own instead of a fanfic. (But 99/100 times, it’s poorly written and you can tell it’s written by a younger writer…eeesh. The good thing is, the more they write, the more practice they’re getting, so the better their writing will be.)

Bonus (F Level)

Cheating/ NTR: my brain automatically associates irl with this—and I find it despicable. The 1% chance I would read this trope is if the MC/ Love Interest is shown the consequences of their actions and the story promises that the person who’s been cheated on breaks up with them. Or if it’s a Mindlessly Self-Indulgent PWP oneshot—so I know to turn my brain off and lower my usual standards coming in.

Harem Fic: It’s Love Triangle—but taken up a notch. It’s so hard to write stallion (er0tica) protags that come across as endearing and not a playboy scummy f*ckboi. It annoys me if I’ve developed attachment to a ship or character and am interested in their relationship development (my waifu or husbando), but the story suddenly shifts to Side Character No.50 whom I couldn’t give two hoots about. The only exceptions to this, for me to keep reading a harem fic, is 1) if I like the storytelling, worldbuilding, and/or protagonist or main ship that makes it worth it. It’s very rare but there have been handful of writers who have actually made a harem where I care for and like ALL of the waifus. 2) I also enjoy harem dramas where the MC face-slaps every love rival, evil concubines, white lotus conniving mistresses, jealous queen/ mother, etc—and gets The Wo/Man.

Fanfiction Tropes (Writer Edition)

I’m much more open-minded writer usually 😅, so I’m usually open to try almost anything—but my criteria of tropes I will write for the story depends on my mood and the story’s premise. They usually have to pose some relevancy to the fic (which depends on its premise and characters) and satisfy my want to contribute something fresh/ interesting to the fandom if I decide to write that trope.

The biggest two changes are: 1) I’d move most of these tropes up into Always Down to Write and a few into If the Plot Calls for It. I’d also probably reorder a couple tropes if I look at them from a writer’s perspective (left ➡️ right, arranged from tropes I feel strongly about ➡️ the tropes I consider mid and don’t hold much strong opinions about). 2) I’d change the categories to:

Always Down to Write tier (probably 90% of these)

If the Plot Calls for It, or if I’m Curious and Want to Try Experimenting with It tier (I typically don’t go out of my way to read these, but would be willing to challenge myself and see what the writing experience would be like)

You’d Never Catch Me with My Pants Down Writing It tier (fun fact: there’s only maybe 4 or 5 of these I’d put here)

If you happen to be a writer whose tropes fall into ones I do not like and you know I’ve gushed about your fic before, know that you were one of the rare exceptions and I hope knowing this makes you happy. ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

[chirpsythismorning]

I just read a new fic that comes off as unrequited byler at first, but it ended up being a trick by vecna. Basically all of Will and Mike’s major moments were changed slightly in Will’s memories, to give the impression that Mike definitively didn’t feel the same about Will in any of the moments between them in the past seasons.

And all I could think while reading it was WOW this is probably how milkvans think the show is framed and how they also think it’ll go down in s5…

It just goes to show that their interpretation of things being that it’s apparently so obvious that Mike is in love with El and has no feelings for Will, doesn’t track at all with what we actually see in the show..

Another reason I enjoy reading milkvan fics for fun bc it just comes off OOC and it’s so abundantly clear that they’re having to create completely new characters in order to fit with what they want to believe.

[crescentfool]

recently, i’ve been thinking about what a 100% social link/confidant run is like from the perspective of the persona protagonists, rather than the player. i’ve always been a sucker for thinking about the type of narrative created by a person’s gameplay choices (it can be so fun and deep) so!! i wrote this analysis / musing.

some notes before we start: this was written with the lens of persona 3 being the most recent game i played- but the concepts are applicable to the p4/p5 protagonists as well! no spoilers for any of the games are mentioned; this is moreso a general discussion of ludonarrative dissonance with the game mechanics and narrative and how it makes for fun angst (ft. personal interpretation).

(more under the cut!)

the framework: game mechanics

in all of the games, the social link system’s existence coincides with the social stats mechanic. certain social links require a specific set of stats in order to initiate it, or surpass a certain rank. each game has around 20 of these- each of which represent the major arcana (+ some bonuses, e.g. aeon / jester / faith / councilor).

for any players going for a 100% social link run, this basically requires each social stat to be maxed out. anyone who’s followed a guide for a 100% run would know that the beginning of the game tends to be very “strict” with how time can be used, most of which involves getting the stats raised  as soon as possible.

outside of characterization and worldbuilding, completing social links are incentivized for a variety of gameplay reasons. so how could this completionist play style affect the protagonists?

prioritizing social stats over everything else: a general view

regardless of which protagonist you want to put under a petri dish, with a 100% run, you’re essentially asking the protagonist to form amicable bonds with 20 or so people, give or take. granted, not everyone becomes adjoined to the hip to the protagonist.

personally, i feel that forming 20 different bonds over the course of a year would be rather strenuous. during these 100% runs, the protagonists may feel that they’re spreading themselves thin trying to dedicate their resources to multiple different people as well as raising their “social stats.” i find the implications that this has on said bonds is so, utterly fascinating.

while this isn’t reflected in the game and would be better represented within a fic, i find it difficult to believe that this type of behavior doesn’t have any ramifications on the quality of the protagonist’s closer relationships (or their self-image, for that matter).

just… imagine calling one of your close friends but then they consistently give responses along the lines of “lmao sorry i’m busy doing other things,” and they rarely make the time of day for you. how would you feel? gameplay-wise, this deterioration of the relationship is best represented in persona 3 with social links reversing if you haven’t spent time with them in awhile.

part of my fascination with this concept is influenced by my own experiences. trying to maintain so many relationships can be difficult to keep up with and it quickly gets overwhelming (see dunbar’s number for more information). jumping between so many people also makes it difficult to focus on a few relationships meaningfully- meaning that relationships may be limited to being simple pleasantries. even then, ‘successfully’ keeping every relationship satisfying comes at the cost of being unable to pursue your own development and interests.

overall, i think that trying to do so many things ends up lowering the quality of the relationship(s) involved, especially when you also consider the fatigue from going to school as well as fighting shadows.

playing the therapist friend / listening role: a general view

another aspect of the 100% run that i think about is how the protagonists rarely open up to other people. a good chunk of SLs follow a storyline of the protagonist acting as a therapist friend/helping the other person through one central issue. some SLs are an exception to this and have a more casual “we’re just hanging out vibe.”

basically, SLs tend to be weighted toward the other character’s growth, moreso than the protagonist’s (which is handled by the main story). that said, the idea of mostly playing a listening role across most of your relationships and not having many that you feel comfortable to speak freely about your own stuff… feels really unbalanced and unhealthy?

i do think that part of the lack of “input” can be attributed to the silent-protagonist approach taken in the games (which is a whole ‘nother topic). but!! i find that each protagonist’s options, while limited, are fun to think about! some of the traits and interpretations i’ve seen for the differing protags, to name a few, include:

being afraid to open up / get attached and keeping people at arm’s distance as a result

needing to be around other people, even if it’s just listening them, to distract from their own struggles / pretend nothing’s wrong with them

enjoying helping others, being a good and careful listener who can provide an appropriate and helpful response

the willingness to prioritize others over themselves; a lack of self-preservation

compulsive people pleasing

at its worst, the lack of “protagonist talking” or equal reciprocation in response could be misinterpreted by the other person as disinterest (like they’re talking to a wall). alternatively- the lack of “personal tidbits” could be taken as, “you don’t trust me enough to be able to open up, huh.” and i just think that seeing this in a fic would be the biggest shitshow ever (and i would read that).

concluding thoughts:

overall, i feel that the protagonists taking a predominantly listening approach to several relationships at once can lead to compassion fatigue and general burnout. the protagonists are rarely at the receiving end of being listened to and/or having their issues worked through… and that’s kind of sad?

while the 100% social link run can provide great power to any persona fusions (and other cool battle abilities + hijinks)... i ultimately think that there’d be a lot of mental strain that would make achieving this much more difficult when you take a narrative-emphasized approach.

i do realize that it is possible to see the general vibe of this post as “100% social link is bad,” but like… there’s something i find really appealing about the messiness of attempting to manage so many relations at once- only to fall short in several of them and attempting to salvage the last bits of their sanity. when you think about the complications of the 100% SL run from the shoes of the protagonist… yeah!! that’s the good shit!

anyways! if anyone knows of any fics with this kinda vibe for the p3/4/5 protags… feel free to drop it in my askbox… i like them all VERY much :3c… and if this raised any food for thought- i’d be equally honored! let the protags go through shit i wanna see their emotions and coping mechanisms damn it! 👏