#inane ramblings on character development

[homosexual-fast-dancer]

No one's awake post cringe-

Howdy is so cute it makes me mad- He likes puns, owns a store, and has a transatlantic accent, they had to make him my exact type and for what? For what?

[graham--folger]

it's a great day to love my ocs. it's also a great day to inflict just. so much pain and suffering on them

[trashbatistrash]

,

[caeca-iustitia]

Okay so like...

I went down a thought process about the way Vincent comprehends emotions and relationships...

I am probably going to spend a while formulating a new headcanon/introspective into Vincent's psyche because it is interesting to me...

[phannamime]

More Mava!

The inquisitor is known for taking 5 minute power naps standing up and then just GOING for days. How she’s still functional is a mystery.

My character ramblings below the cut.

For the most part Mava and Solas get along well and on the topic of the fade the two chat all the time. Mava admires his knowledge of magic as well of his painting skills which she secretly finds most impressive. She comes to him for any magic advice first and quietly learns through the conversation he has with Dorian and Vivianne. That being said if Solas starts trashing the Dalish Mava will argue with him ALL DAY annoying anyone within earshot and each other. She also doesn’t completely trust him, his lack of history too suspicious to ignore.

Mava has a certain affection for Cole. She finds the boy endearing and takes him out often, encouraging him to talk with their companions. His existence between spirit and human fascinates her. After specializing in the way of the rift mage she felt even more comfortable with him as he sees the responsibility she has on her shoulders. She comes to him to hear gossip, the inane unimportant kind. A hold over of when she used to eavesdrop as a child that developed into a sort of guilty pleasure. Mava also enjoys when she hears other’s talk of his gentle presence, even if they don’t know it. It makes her oddly proud and she sees him as a little brother.

Mava’s relationship to her commander is… complicated. Mava was initially evasive towards Cullen, a human ex-templar is not exactly comforting to a Dalish mage. The two were polite but not close, though Mava appreciated his banter with her other advisors. Things became unavoidable when Mava allowed the Mage rebellion to join the Inquisition as equals, a choice that she worried might make him, and some others of the inquisition grow angry or even leave. Cullen’s support despite him disagreeing made Mava respect him and the two found they had more in common then they once thought. Mava can see the weight he puts on himself and finds comfort in someone who understands her and checks in. His stories of this family reminds her of her own and the two grow to appreciate each other’s company despite their disagreements. Though Cullen’s love of the game chess will forever allude her.

[unusualindigo]

Alright, so, having achieved the max friendship bond and mastery of the fighting styles of both Chun Li and Juri, I am having thoughts.

Going through each master route, I couldn’t help but notice that Chun Li is always very relaxed, very calm, and open about herself and what she enjoys, seeking to share it with the player avatar. Being a kung fu/kenpo instructor for Metro City’s Chinatown residents, she is quick to take you on as a student and encourages you every step of the way. She sends you texts about shows she’s watching, instructs you to do part time work, and even invites you to go shopping with her at the end of the quest. This all implies to me that Chun Li is keeping herself open to forming new bonds and is even taking on a sort of big sister role to you, much like she’s done with Li Fen, who she also encourages you to look after. Chun Li seems to have come to a place of peace and prosperity after the end of her journey for revenge on Bison. Her parting words stuck out to me. Each master answers your question of what is strength differently. Her answer is thus: “Whether the skills you’ve learned will lay fallow or continue to grow… that is up to you.” Overall, I think this speaks to the depths of which she has grown and matured over the series, and I adore how she, in true leading lady fashion, seeks to pass this peace and knowledge down to others.

Juri, meanwhile, lives in a back alley with her beloved motorcycle being her only companion. She seems to only take you on as a student due to being interested in your ability to mimic her fighting style and your determination to learn under her. She sends you phishing mail, orders you to commit wanton destruction of barrels around the city, instructs you to defeat a local gangster and photograph his beaten body, and showers you with criticism and feigned boredom. However, later on down the line, she all but insists on crashing at your apartment later, implying a level of loneliness and desperation on her part. Twice she focuses on telling you of her time with other cast members, depicting them as a team, using C. Viper and Cammy as examples. This speaks to me of Juri unconsciously seeking companionship and a sense of fellowship that she’s lacked since the start of her journey for revenge. She even opens up about the tragedy that started her down this path, though she insists the story she tells is nothing but a lie, I have my doubts. Her answer to your question is: “Weren’t you babbling on about finding strength? Maybe you’ve found enough to earn a kick or two from me.” This speaks to me of her still burning anger and need for conflict now that the object of her vengeance is seemingly forever beyond reach. Overall, I quite like how the developers have chosen to show that Juri’s reckless quest for revenge on Bison has left her alone and constantly lashing out whilst subconsciously looking for her own place in this new, vexing world.

Both of these routes show characters who started out on a quest for revenge with very different outcomes, and whilst Chun Li is all the better for the bonds she made and the relationships she’s forged, Juri is at a very low point in her life, taking on all kinds of dirty work in order to maintain that which she has, having spent her quest spurning almost every helping hand held out to her.

But these are just my inane ramblings. I hope they’re at least somewhat coherent.

[v3ros]

I got this ask on my alt (most likely since I turned off asks for this blog) but I felt like it was important to answer here.

Dayshift at Corny's is NOT dead!

"But V3ROS," I hear you saying, "You haven't posted about it in a while, and your blog isn't Corny's themed anymore!" And in response I say shuddup and sit down ya slimey little creechurs because Papa Veros has got some shit to explain!

Firstly, clearing the air.

Dayshift at Corny's isn't going anywhere. I absolutely adore all of the characters and the little world I've built for them, and I still wish to share that world with whoever is willing to listen to the inane ramblings of a zombie-obsessed sock. I don't plan on scrapping the project anytime soon.

Where did it go then?

I would say that the production DSaC is on a temporary hiatus. Currently, I have a lot of stuffs that's weighing on me. I'm not going to go into detail because it's not the internet's business, but I've been trying my hardest to refocus my ever-shrinking attention span back on the project, because I really do want to keep working on it!

On a more positive note, one of the reasons it's sort of... poofed is that I'm trying to adapt to using RPG Maker MV, the software that DSaF and Dialtown were made in! However, from where I see things right now, I don't think DSaC will be made in RPG Maker. It's not as intuitive with visual novel mechanics (and one might say "well duh Veros, you need the plugins" and to that I say shooosh and let me keep explaining). DSaC is a VN-focused game, first and foremost. That is the means in which the world of Corny's will be conveyed, and that is the way I feel it should stay. With that in mind, it doesn't make much sense to spend time learning a new software to achieve what I was already doing in something that's easier for me to understand and that has much less setup. That whole escapade was a perfect example of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

When will it be coming back?

With November coming up very soon, Halloween will have passed and I'll have finished working on my costume. This means I'll have much more energy and patience to dedicate to development (or, hyping myself up to do so at the very least). My goal is that I'll have an update on the progress for you all come the end of November!

Now, I feel I've answered all of the important things, however there's some smaller Q&As I thought of that I'll answer below.

"Why are your asks closed / Will you ever respond to the ask I sent in?"

I closed the asks because there were so many of them, I was quite overwhelmed--mind you that this is the first project of mine that has received any attention at all, it was quite jarring (in a good way). I've seen your asks though, don't worry! I'm going to answer every last one of them, and once I do my asks box will open once again.

"Why is your blog no longer Corny's themed?"

It all started because of Salem's bald head. I'm being serious, him being bald on the banner long after I had given him hair pissed me off so much that I said "to hell with it" and changed it. The image of Godred was the first one I had readily available. That's the only reason he's my banner. Yup. As for the sock, that's my persona. I had been planning on changing my profile photo to a drawing of it for a while. The current one is a spooky rendition for spooky month :> I still plan on following the same format for answering asks as I did before.

A final thought before departure, thank you for whoever sent this ask in (I have a feeling who it is, however it's just a hunch). Having a question that blunt asked to me seemed to unclog whatever blockage my brain had built up that prevented me from thinking about working on DSaC. I can feel the creative juices flowing. Let that be a warning of you all seeing more from me very soon. Until then, I shall retreat back to my cozy dumpster and continue mashing my face into the keyboard until a game comes out.

[lakesbian]

how do i learn to read like you do it's amazing

aww i keep getting so many nice asks i can't even answer them all without spamming up the dash so i have a little collection going now. y'all are sweet. i dunno dude my brain just does this. i just wake up and say shit and you guys like it. i like this post as an articulation of what i do when i'm having book opinions. it is abt analyzing media analysis vs analyzing books themselves but it does work as a useful checklist for making your own analysis. i'm tragically incompetent at explaining my reading process in a useful way because it's not so much something i consciously built up so much as it is just. me saying shit. but the main things i did while reading worm were

- shuffles flashcards. uh. taking notes? i don't take traditional notes for anything but my version of taking notes is immediately shouting any and all thoughts i have in my book nook discord channel, causing them to immediately become at least 50% more coherent in the process. doing some form of jotting down which details you found most relevant and or interesting + your Thoughts is a good way to start figuring out what you actually think and piecing together details that support it instead of just keeping everything swirling around in your brain. every alec essay i've made stems from thoughts that were generated via a series of inane rambles on discord. and u would not believe how many taylorposts i get notes for are just shit i said at 5 am and cleaned up for tumblr

- make sure you like. haven't Lost The Fucking Plot while you're reading. i occasionally stop while reading to make sure in my head that i could accurately explain what's happening wrt plot and/or character developments to another person, and if there's something i don't either Get or feel like i'm in the successful Process of getting, then i sit there and rotate it in my mind until i've caught the fucking plot again. when i was reading the end arc of worm i did a lot of stopping and staring into space while i shuffled the details around in my head like a jigsaw puzzle to decide what i thought was happening and how i felt about it

- lookit what other ppl are saying and decide if you agree or disagree and then figure out Why. ask for opinions from other ppl even. most of my more detailed wormthoughts stemmed from seeing other ppls posts and thinking "i agree with all of this except this part, which i think could be extended further because xyz" or "i disagree with this entirely because abc" or "oh this is fully true actually. my opinion now." power of book club lets u add patch notes to your own worm thoughts by having more details & theories 2 consider and shape into the most defensible position

also i recommend entering autistic fugue states all of my best posts are made in autistic fugue states

[ihatetaxes99]

 Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Hot off the heels of a ramble over what I consider to be the biggest issue facing the BNHA manga currently, I figured I would rather like to make another post, similar in nature, discussing what I consider to be one of the manga's worst plot points.

 So, without further ado and with spoilers abound, let us reflect on the redemption of one Tomura Shigaraki.

 I will stake my opinion on the matter very clearly. Tomura Shigaraki is not capable of a redemption arc and to attempt one is, in fact, insulting to who his character once was. His story was not about redemption, it never was; It was about growth and emancipation. Shigaraki was enabled by All for One, without his shadowy mentor he would likely never have gotten as far as he did, but he was not brainwashed or turned into a villain, as some may suggest. Such a notion deprives Tomura of his autonomy and dynamism as a character, to just make him a puppet of a larger force. It, essentially, makes him a goon on the same level of the Kurogiri; A plaything of All for One's who needs to be rescued because he has never shown any signs of being a truly fearsome villain were it not for that cruel Shigaraki Senior.

 Except there is. In fact, there are numerous examples. The most blatant is that Tenko willingly made the decision to murder Kotaro and laughed as he did so. A childish fit of rage brought on by the latter's abhorrent parenting, yes, but also an example of the depravity that, even as a child, the being who would become Tomura Shigaraki is capable of, without any input from his adopted father. Tenko Shimura did not die when he was taken in by All for One; Tenko Shimura died with the rest of his family. The boy who emerged from the wreckage was very much capable of becoming the villain he is today and all without any nudging, assuming that you don't subscribe to that dreadful fan theory about him being given Decay.

 Then, we have his moment of clarity during the Hospital Raid. In his comatose state, he is confronted by the demons of the past. He has pleasant memories of his mother, he forgives Hana; He sees Kotaro as a towering demon. And, his body evolving into the adult Tomura Shigaraki, he walks towards All for One. His family, even Nana, grabs him, tries to pull him back.

 And his response?

 "Don't deny who I am."

 He destroys their visages in an instant, he frees himself of the clouds they cast over his life. This is where his character development peaked, because Shigaraki's story was never about being a lost child who fell to the dark side; It has been about a broken man coming to terms with just how broken he is and, in spite of how ugly the reality is, facing it head on, accepting who he is and what his role in this world shall be.

 Tomura Shigaraki will shake up the natural order. He will go down in the history books. He won't ever again be that lost, nameless child. He's grown beyond that.

 Midoriya and All for One, and Horikoshi, however, are all too eager to snatch him back. They infest his body, override his consciousness, make him into a meat puppet and raise the absolutely inane idea that Tomura needs saving, perish the thought that he doesn't actually want that.

 Now, some would be inclined to provide the writing with the maximum benefit of the doubt. Perhaps, Midoriya's blind faith in Tomura's redemption is something that is supposed to be challenged. At some point, Shigaraki will shatter that delusion and knock Midoriya from his ego in a way that forces him to face reality. It's a common trope. King Lear. Jay Gatsby. Jimmy McGill. All fictional characters stemming from the classic trope of the tragic hero archetype, who needed to be knocked down in order to fully face their anagnorisis. Midoriya, when viewed from the perspective of a tragic hero, which I may well further explore at some point, is well overdue his.

 However, I find this unlikely. Horikoshi has made clear in the past his reluctance to call into question the ethics, mental state or likability of his precious hero students in the past, and I do believe that while genuinely fascinating, the interpretation of Midoriya as a tragic figure is entirely unintended. As such, it can be inferred that the rescuing Tomura plot line is intended to be played completely straight and that Shigaraki shall be in some way redeemed by the end of the manga. I do not like this fact, but it's not something any of us have the power to alter.

 So, why talk about this?

 'Cause I'm bored.

 Heh, I'm not quite at the point of such a copout ending yet. No, the reason why I speak about these things, why I make critical posts in general, is because I wish to express my frustrations at a series that has floundered at most every step since 2020. A series that suffers both from objectively poor writing and my own frustrations at things that only annoy me personally. The redemption of Tomura Shigaraki is emblematic of a strict barricading of storytelling that holds writers to the whims of the publisher and the general public. It's not controversial to say that Shonen Jump is not a good company, and perhaps under better circumstances, I would be singing the manga's praises right now.

 Because Horikoshi is not a bad writer. He deserves a lot more than his superiors and particularly the Japanese fanbase have dealt him. I can see so clearly where he was going with Shigaraki's character, a wonderfully unique evolution and it's blatantly obvious that he has been constrained into railroading the narrative into one where the "good guys" can win without having to reflect on their own ethics. Because that is what sells.

 Thank you for taking the time to read through my bizarre ramblings, ladies and gentlemen and as always, if you disagree, don't hesitate to explain why. Cordial discourse is, as I say, the keystone of keeping strong media alive.

[cswizzledizzle]

Random observations of the trophies in Super Smash Bros. Melee, because I thought they were interesting - Part 1

I have decided to contribute to this site by dragging over some random junk I've written before. I guess this is also my excuse to try and contribute to the site? Well, """contribute""" in more quotation marks than I let on. Anyway, I'm just gonna more or less repost something I made before, but now I don't have a godforsaken text limited forced upon me AND I can edit spelling errors, woo. This is also probably going to look like a mess, because I have never used Tumblr in my entire life, so uh... woops.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Also to get something out of the way, I'm not covering every trophy from every series. I love this games' trophies, but I don't love 'em THAT much. I'm just going to talk about the ones that piqued my curiosity. To begin, let's start with Mario stuff, since that's the big name.

One thing I really like about these trophies is that the main player trophies you get from Classic Mode are based on their standard designs in their home series. For example, the Mario cast are based on their N64 appearances, such as Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, or Mario Party.

The "Red Smash" and "Blue Smash" trophies are gained through clearing Adventure Mode and All Star, respectively. Red Smash trophies uses the characters' design in game while the Blue Smash trophies always uses an alt color. Both describe the character on how they play. Interestingly, while Brawl does not do this, Smash 4 does. Depending on the version of the game, the character will use a different alt color as seen here.

Going back to the Mario cast, I think it's really cool seeing how characters that would later have their designs tweaked later on in the GameCube's life be modeled with their original designs. Daisy, of course, is the most noteworthy one of these four.

A few personal favorites of mine for the Mario trophies is that this is the only game where they show off the power ups with Mario while later games would just show the item that gives you the power up.

Might be commonly known by this point, but here's a fun little fact; Metal Mario's reflection is the Yoshi's Island stage.

I'm also a fan of the trophies that are very odd "deep cuts" to the series, such as the Bucket and Plum.

Now for the Donkey Kong series. While Donkey Kong, Dixie Kong, and King K. Rool all get their own trophies, Diddy is strangely absent despite being mentioned. I'm not sure why that is.

Another thing I really like about these trophies is that there's some fun interpretation of these characters in 3D, such as DK Jr. and even Stanley of all characters.

Another fantastic example of the developers interpenetrating characters that were never in 3D by this point would be Marin of the Zelda series.

Something to note is that she is depicted as a blonde instead of a red head like her appearance in Hyrule Warriors.

I can only assume this may be based more on her sprite than her artwork? Her artwork seems to lean on her being a red head.

But then the remake goes with the blonde hair, so... Marin, you confuse me, you cute lil' lady you.

Welp, it appears I can't add more images to this, as much as I'd like to make this one cohesive post. So I'll probably make a Part 2 whenever I get the chance. To those that have gotten this far, thank you for giving this post the time out of your day/night to read my inane ramblings.

[huskyheroine]

I cannot believe I am actually considering adding Nermal as a supporting character in The Coverups... literally what is wrong with me.

I'll put my idea under the cut in case you don't want to read my inane ramblings.

Here's the idea. Nermal is an angel, the cutest angel, God(field)'s favorite!!! Until Nermal started getting too comfortable and shirking his responsibilities. Godfield didn't like this, so he tested Nermal. Nermal failed :( So he had his halo broken, his wings clipped, and himself sent to Earth. Kicked out of heaven until he could prove that he was actually a worthy angel. How? By granting a wish to someone deserving of course! Godfield gave him one wish, one last chance to do shit right.

Nermal, still not grasping the severity of the situation and thinking this would be easy just picked the first person/people he saw when he landed on Earth...and guess which fucked up children he met. Yep! The Warners! Nermal told them he could grant them any wish (within reason) to share. So...after much deliberation (30 seconds) they made their wish. It was for Nermal to stay and hang out with them for a full month. (maybe longer I haven't decided yet)

Unfortunately for Nermal, any wish asked, is granted immediately if it meets the criteria, which it did. So Nermal, one of the most powerful and well-regarded angels, is now essentially The Warners new friend/babysitter*/plaything. (we on some Billy & Mandy shit I guess but I swear it's different. Didn't even think about the comparison until I typed it out just now ajlfhnalfj)

*Ari doesn't like this one

Nermal understandably fucking hates this and is incredibly bitter, Ari isn't too happy about someone taking her place either which leads to the two developing a bitter rivalry and hijinks ensue and whatever whatever I have more but I want to save it for if I actually fucking make this thing. idk it seemed like a fun idea, I've been theory-crafting it all day when my brain has decided to work with me but I really need to stop making episode ideas based off hyperfixations. Speaking of...I need to rewrite the Over The Garden Wall episode.

[elder-dragon-93]

Dragon's Inane Flame-Type Ramblings: First Edition, DMC

Hello everybody, welcome to the Hoard.

Yes, I'm starting another new blog segment and this time involving a fandom that I'm not sure how many of my current crowd are familiar with, but hey, maybe hearing me cackle maniacally over a recent realization I had might get people to take a closer look.

So, Katekyo Hitman Reborn, or just Reborn for the English-speaking crowd, is a manga that started as a "comedic" parody of typical Shounen, before evolving into straight Shounen at around the 60-chapter mark. There are a great many things about it (mostly a never-ending mantra of "Go fuck yourself on a rusty railroad spike Iemitsu!!!") but the important thing to know is the power system, Dying Will Flames. The main Spectrum that gets the most focus during the Shounen portion is the Dying Will Flames of the Sky (There's also an Earth Flame Spectrum, but that one doesn't get nearly as much worldbuilding outside the arc it was introduced in. I've also developed my own fanmade Sea Flame Spectrum. Neither of these is important to today's topic) There are seven Flame Types to a Spectrum, and the Flames of the Sky each have a different color of the rainbow, and are associated with a different range of personality types and mental quirks, as well as a different thing that they can do.

^^^ A link so that I don't have to spend most of this post explaining everything, though it's bare bones and doesn't go into fanon which is most of what I'm using to match people to Flames. If you'd be interested in a not-so-brief rundown of everything Fanon Flame Lore let me know.

And now that I've given that brief explanation (with key points left out for now to maximize suspense) I can explain why I've been cackling since last night.

Because you see, ever since I got into the KHR fandom one of the things I like to do when entering a new fandom is construct Flame AUs, or else imagine how these new characters would adapt to the KHR World, and that involves figuring out people's Flame Types... and last night I pinned down Vergil and Dante's Flame Types. The reason I am cackling is that the Flame Type that I feel best fits Vergil is a Storm Primary and a Cloud Secondary, and the one I think best fits Dante is a Rain Primary and a Cloud Secondary. Why do I find that hilarious? Because Storm Flames are red and Rain Flames are blue. Yeah I know it's dumb, but I can't help but giggle over their color choices being opposite of their Flames! Oh, also Vergil might also be Misty because V is definitely a Mist and you cannot tell me otherwise.

Other people matched to Flame Types:

Nero: Cloudy Sky and you can pry Sky Nero from my cold dead hands. I mean, look at 5. Look at how he handled Dante and Vergil at the top of the Qliphoth! That is such a Cloudy Sky move!!

Patty: Sunny Sky. This is mostly me headcanon-ing Patty's pushiness with Dante and her trying to keep Devil May Cry clean as Latent Baby Sky trying to help the depressed Rain on instinct. And Sun + Sky = Chaos Gremlin, which I just adore for Patty.

Lady: Lightning, because of her hyper-fixation on killing Arkham and her sheer durability as the one pure human keeping up with all the devils, half-devils, and quarter-devils in the Demon Hunting business.

Trish: Mist, mostly because of her personality. And before anyone says "But she has lightning powers", Lightning Flames do not automatically equal lightning powers. There were several Lightnings in the KHR canon who did not use lightning powers and the one who did, Lambo, is arguably more known for being the indestructible kid with a very strong case of undiagnosed and unmedicated ADHD.

Lucia: Lightning with either a Rain or Sun Secondary, based on what little personality the DMC2 devs gave her.

Credo: Lightning... again. Possibly Cloudy Lightning. Mostly because he fits the fanon interpretation of the Italian Brainwashed Meatshield Lightning very well, but he pulls himself out of it in the end through the sheer protectiveness of his younger sibs, which is a very Cloudy thing (in that he might view Nero and Kyrie as his "territory"... I swear it's not as creepy as it sounds.

Kyrie: Sun. It just... it just fits okay. She's a ray of sunshine. (Plus it opens up an arc for her to do the whole "Sun pigeonholed into the team healer" thing, only for her to realize that that is not the route she wants to go.)

Nico: Cloud. Her territory is her inventions. It also gives some Cloud rep to the Science! based Flame Actives.

Morrison:... I'm honestly still workshopping that. He might just be a Null (Somebody who doesn't have Flames, and is a term that may only be specific to a few KHR fic authors. At least I haven't seen it used a lot outside of my KHR friend group's fics.)

And that's it for now. Let me know if that rundown of the Flame Lore I'm using would be of any interest to you.

[fauning]

*thrusts microphone at your face * TELL ME ABOUT 999: CONCEPTS

OKAY!!!!

Below is my inane rambling about some of the main ideas that I have for this series. I’m reading it back now and I think I sound a bit unhinged but oh well! Sorry everyone it’s crazy long I don’t think I can do a read more for asks :/

999:concepts refers to the loose plot of my imagined sequel to 9 involving the original cast of characters with the inclusion of my original character zero, the first homunculus created by “the scientist”. The story follows the attempts to resurrect each of the characters, the eventual accidental second resurrection of the fabrication machine, and unpacks many of the questions I felt were unanswered by the original movie. I imagine it being divided into 10 episodes. I think about this a lot because of the way my brain is.

Understandably, many 9 fans have created OCs named Zero- it just seems like the most logical name for an additional character to have. I first started imagining Zero as a self-insert when I was maybe 10 or 11 (I’m 23 now, and Zero has transitioned with me over the years, I originally imagined him to be female.) Zero was the first soul consumed by the machine, and is desperate to understand its motivations. Why was it created to serve multiple purposes- create machines and consume souls as well? Can it be controlled? Zero’s ultimate downfall is his hypocrisy and hubris. He dislikes 9 for his responsibility in awakening the machine and resents him for his carelessness and the trauma it has caused the other characters, but succumbs into the same pitfall in his attempts to understand what makes the machine tick.

The instigating conflicts of the series revolve around Zero being resurrected by 3 and 4 who mistakenly figure out how to use the talisman to reincorporate a soul into it’s vessel. (I’ve toyed with the idea of there being two talismans- one that removes souls and one that reinstates them). 3 and 4 are naturally curious, and their inquisitive nature further drives the plot of returning characters to their bodies. Many of the characters would be unable to return to their vessels- 2 and 8 for example, and I have some pretty fun ideas for how they could return in an almost supernatural capacity. I imagine that characters who sustained significant damage wouldn’t be able to awaken because the specific component that houses their souls would be impossible for the other characters to repair or produce on their own. This would lead to 8, for example, who’s body was completely destroyed in the factory explosion, being effectively dead. How does this effect 1, who was deeply attached to him? What would 1 do besides give into his stubborn nature and try to bring him back anyways?

Now let’s talk about 5 for a minute.(btw John C Reilly is the only voice I could ever imagine for him, he just does a fantastic job in the movie). I think that any 9 fan worth their salt can agree that the movie did him so dirty. 5’s greatest downfall is his fear, and no one can blame him for that. His entire life has been spent hiding from devestating forces much larger than him, and it ended with him alone and terrified while his companions were unable to stop his death. 5 awakens with more trauma than he had already (which is a lot) but over the course of the series his penchant for caution is actually what saves the others in multiple circumstances. In the movie, 5’s “best moments” are those of temporary bravery. But what I think is even more compelling about his character is his survival through fear. Even though 5 is terrified of the world he lives in, he struggles through it because he doesn’t have the option not to. Although a lot of time was spent on developing 5 and 9’s relationship in the movie, I imagine that after his death 5 is left with a bitterness towards 9, which would be important to explore. I do think that 9 and 5 both care enough about each other that their falling out won’t be permanent.

Really quick, also, I want to talk about 7. 7 is consistently the most capable character in the movie (she’s arguably the best fighter in the group, independent enough to live on her own for god knows how long, and wary enough to survive almost any situation and get her friends out safely too.) Her worst downfall is that she’s stubborn, but I would say that it’s still a trait that serves her well occasionally, as her assertions typically tend to be correct. (That last bit isn���t really supported by the content of the movie but it’s how I would want to characterize her.) I wanted to explore internal conflicts with 7. Most of what we see from her as a character is her battling externally and physically. I want to juxtapose that with an antagonist that represents her internal struggles

There are SO many more ideas I have for this- the Ouiji board, 6’s prophetic abilities and how they work, Franken-8, the ideas I have for incorporating the twin’s methods of communication…. Mecha-0… but I’ve already rambled so much and I know perhaps I sound a bit unhinged so I’ll call it here for now. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to be absolutely wild for a minute or five or six paragraphs

[forestsagess]

If you don’t mind me asking, what do you think makes chrobin work so well?

That’s a thought provoking question.

I’m not even sure I’m properlyconveying my thoughts here. I thought long and hard on it. I lookedat my own notes. I wrote, deleted, and wrote again. So here, aftermuch editing, is a mini-essay of character development ramblings foryou! Read below!

It should be acknowledged that Robinis, in some ways, a form of self-expression for the players. As theavatar, players are free to impress themselves on the plot and fillin the gaps for Robin’s personality. So for each fan, they candevelop their own private reasons why such a relationship formed asit did! Every Chrobin pairing has it’s own unique moments that makeit work in their respective Outrealm.

Since you are asking my personalopinion, I based most of my reasoning off of key elements I saw inthe narrative to point out why these two work so well together. I saythat not just as romantic partners, but as the famous dynamic duothey are. It’s how I built the dynamic of Chrom and Robin for mystory, anyhow. It’s a basis that allows Robins of all genders,personalities, and orientations to maintain such a strong bond withChrom while all being different characters. Because, hey, let’s faceit, the Robin starring in my story is far different from thetactician in the games! Yet, I still needed to convey that bondsomehow.

The game doesn’t have the luxury of afull blown plot like cinematic ones, but there’s plenty to see insupports and the main chapters. From that, I see two key pillars thatmake up the foundation to their success: loyalty and trust.

Robin embodies loyalty. They awaken onthe ground destitute of anything save for their name. No past and nopeople to turn to. Chrom shows up and asks for nothing in return, yetoffers Robin the world. A home, a sense of purpose, and a shoulder torely on. As the story progresses, that never changes. No matter whatrevelations come to light about their past, Robin is never turnedaway. For that, Robin’s loyalty to Chrom remains steadfast and true.No Emperors or Khans can bribe them away. No temptations of powercould sway their interests. Robin was given a gift to pursue a lifehowever they pleased and free of prejudices that may have driven themdown the worst of paths. Chrom saved Robin in more ways than what isobvious, a fact someone as perceptive and intelligent as Robin wouldunderstand, especially in late game. That loyalty is freely given andthe greatest of gifts Robin could offer in return. Because in doingso, it allows Chrom to rely on Robin in a special way.

That way is trust, Chrom’s greatestvirtue in the relationship. He enjoys a bit more freedom for a royalin that he can travel with his war band away from Court. However,he’s always under the critique of his title. There’s a wall thatprevents him from socializing and acting as he’d like. With Robin,there isn’t anything hidden between them. Robin’s loyalty towardChrom means they remain steadfast at his side. Robin will conversewith Chrom with no fear or inhibition. Chrom is not a prince, nor ishe on a pedestal, untouchable thanks to his lineage with Naga. Chromknows that Robin will always speak the truth with him and converse ona level that isn’t with tainted intrigues or appeals. Robin is alwaysgenuine and working to make Chrom’s goals come true. Robin isn’t aretainer, they are comrade-in-arms. They aren’t just his tactician,they’re his confidant. Chrom can let go of his mantle as prince andsimply be himself with Robin. I’m sure there’s no greater relief thanbeing free to act as he desires without the judgment of the Court andpopulace on him.

Players can fill in the events betweenchapters that form the little steps that build such rapport, but thegame provides the right time frame to do so. As a decision maker inthe alliance, Chrom is going to spend a fair amount of his wakinghours with Robin. Some days Robin is probably the first and last facehe sees. The two are going to talk, philosophize, and dream together.More than anyone, aside from his sisters and maybe Frederick, Chromis going to have very private moments with Robin. Ones where each canfreely share the darkest fears or tenderest wishes. There’s anintimacy that builds in those sheltered moments where the horrors oftheir reality fade away to a small world built only around the tentthey inhabit and the individual opposite them. In this time, they areat their most vulnerable. A bond is built that runs deeper than most.Combined with such trust and loyalty towards each other, I think itallows a type of love to form. It’s a selfless, unconditional onethat is universal and separate from others. In this, the foundationfor any type of additional attachments could form.

Romantic attachments would be ano-brainer for Chrom once he realized his own feelings. He has hisperfect partner already. There’s no doubt in his mind that acourtship with Robin would end in anything but marriage. With thepressure of Emmeryn’s loss and the fatigue of war, passion would burnquick and hot. However, because the strongest aspects of trust andloyalty have already been built, the relationship could only prosper,not flounder when the embers cool down.

Annnnyway, that about sums up my mostbasic thoughts on why the pairing is so strong. It’s not just aboutbeing romantically attracted to each other. There’s a whole separatelevel of strength the two draw from.  

(Also, “best friends to lovers” is afavorite trope of mine. I’d say it works just because of that ;)  )

[fermented-writers-block]

PART 1 of 6 of the Owl Deity Hooty Theory

[NEXT PART]

[OWL DEITY HOOTY THEORY MASTERPOST] (in development)

(TLDR at bottom of post)

Over several long months of research and analysis since March of 2020, I have been following an utterly fascinating thread of potential misdirection and subtle details throughout The Owl House, and today, I would like to start weaving together of what I believe could become one of the biggest and most cleverly disguised twists in the entire show.

To begin, let’s take a look at the B plot of Understanding Willow:

On first glance, it’s an ultimately inconsequential sidestory with the sole purpose of justifying an excuse to keep Luz and Amity in Willow’s mind, as well as providing some well-needed room to breathe and release tension after the veryemotionally charged confrontation with Inner Willow. After half an episode of Eda and King outdoing the other in ridiculous ways to win Gus’ vote and Gus running off in frustration at the end of the episode from Hooty’s inane rambling, it’s easy to laugh off Gus’ pick and assume that nothing/of value was said when he closed the door for the interview.

However, if one pays close attention to that very scene, Hooty actually canstill be heard (if faintly) underneath Eda and King’s grumbling, interestingly talking about how “It all started with a hunt. Blood red skies. That’s right, I was created-.”

Now, while it may seem silly to focus on dialogue from Hooty of all characters, this A) tells us that there was an event in the past involving blood red skies and a hunt of some kind, B) that Hooty had been created close to said event, and C) implies that what he knows but can’t tell as a story worth a damn is EXTREMELY important to be included and be hidden in such a manner.

For comparison, the only other instance of dialogue being tucked away in the background in the entire show is in Wing It Like Witches:

During the lecture at the beginning of the episode, the history teacher openswith lore on Belos appointing a head witch to each coven over 50 years ago, immediately cluing in the audience to try and decipher the rest of the lecture as it moves to the background. Adding to this is how the musical sting when Luz shows off her movie obscures what he says even further, making it even more of a intriguing puzzle that the creators clearly intended for viewers to pick up on and attempt to solve.

In contrast, the hidden dialogue of Hooty’s interview is much shorter and not as hard to decipher as the teacher’s history lesson, but at the same time, there are few to no indicators whatsoever in that scene to clue in the audience to even check for something like that. It comes at the end of an episode where most viewers would have been paradoxically tired out and driven abuzz by the revelations of Amity and Willow’s relationship, doesn’t attempt to draw much attention to itself, and frames itself as a comedic subversion of audience expectations with neither the “greatest witch who ever lived” or the self-proclaimed king of demons being picked by Gus.

Instead, he picks someone that the show portrays constantly as an oblivious and gullible idiot after being described as a “state of the art defense system” at the very beginning of the series. Someone who, despite it being played for laughs, is scarily capable of casually subduing Lilith offscreen one episode and then beating her and an entire squad of Emperor’s Coven members without even the slightest change in personality or temperament.

Someone who, due to being the Owl House itself, could be considered the titular character of the entire show, yet is taken for granted by those who inhabit him and barely gets any respect from even the cutely patronized King - including when Hooty could be interpreted as having potentially been full on DEAD for a time given the use of extremely cartoony X eyes and a lack of vital signs in The Intruder.

And someone who Eda at best tolerates and at worst abandons in personal interactions and only occasionally acknowledges him when he’s actually doing his job. Yet at the same time is so implicitly trusted beyondprotecting her home to the point where - when up against the closest person Eda has to an equal outside of likely Belos - the only actually recognizable spells Eda used in combat were 1) stereotypical energy blasts, 2) a single shield spell in Covention, and 3) a noticeably large reliance on imitations of Hooty above any other spells she could have decided to use instead.

In short, the show repeatedly tells us he is just an idiotic gag character through and through, but at the same time demonstrates he has immense power through both onscreen and offscreen demonstrations, implicitly tells us his importance ahead of time through Eda’s imitations in actually serious situations, and treats his interview and origin story as - if not even more- important to keep secret than a long lore dump about how Belos’ reign works.

After all, there being only two instances of hidden background dialogue in the entire season is already intriguing on its own, but for one to get plenty of clues to draw in people’s attention and for the other to be treated as just another gag about a “mere comic relief character” - aka a good way to draw away attention and lower one’s guard - heavily suggests a far deeper significance buried under layers of misdirection, comedy, and conditioned audience expectations.

I mean, when Eda bragged about being “a bad girl living in a secret fortress,” Hooty followed with a remark about how “I’m the secret.” While that line may sound like Hooty simply being confused as part of a one-off on the surface, it’s an odd dialogue choice for the writers to pick when you think about all the other reminders of his nature as the house itself throughout the season. With the precedent these moments set, it would have been much more appropriate for him to latch onto the “fortress” side of “secret fortress” AND it would have been just as equally funny of a joke about his awareness skills, but instead, Hooty broke away from the established trend to say something that would make people suspicious were it to come from anyone else.

In a way, this reminds me much of the many subtle bits of foreshadowing strewn across the show, like Luz unknowingly describing Amity in Witches Before Wizards and Eda burning a hole through Luz’s coven type quiz that coincidentally selected the same track she had taken at Hexside as “a punky potionist.” At the time of airing, these initially seemed like one-off jokes, but eventually came back in full force several episodes later with Amity’s hidden sensitive feelings and love for the Azura books becoming clear in Lost in Language, and the reveal of Eda’s school track in Something Ventured, Someone Framed with her school misdemeanor pictures.

That said, compared to these individual bits of minor foreshadowing, the jokes about Hooty in Understanding Willow appear to simply be the most obvious pieces in a giant puzzle, implicitly and outright telling attentive viewers that there’s a major mystery to be uncovered here.

In fact, I feel bold enough to say that we could be looking at a twist on a similar scale to that of the Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz and Stanford Pines twists in Steven Universe and Gravity Falls respectively, what with this particular puzzle piece coming from how Gus wanted to make THE greatest interview of all time, and how he was looking for someone who was “interesting, accomplished, AND noteworthy:”

Note the emphasis on the ‘and’ here, as Gus had made a big deal that “people aren’t meantto be all those things” at the beginning of the episode, so as a result, stripping away all the comedic framing of his subplot leaves the intriguing implication that whoever - and, perhaps, what- Hooty is, they really are the most interesting, accomplished, AND noteworthy person out of everyone.

I could go further and talk about why I suspect the mystery surrounding King’s origins, whether true or not, is partially meant to misdirect us from paying attention to Hooty, or how the TOH crew’s could be disguising legitimate clues to his nature among made up and highly meme-able joke answers in order to proliferate said concepts throughout the fandom - thus letting us do all the dirty work of getting ourselves used to the ideas and used to dismissing them at the same time - but to bring things to a close for now, I’d like to leave you all with a question that I’ll start answering next time:

What does it mean when both the most powerful and notorious witch on the Boiling Isles and the possible actual king of demons/the Titan itself/something don’t match up to a house? And what do you think it is that makes him so special to warrant such misdirection?

TLDR: Between Eda’s golem spells, the show stressing his nature as the titular house, his implicit strength, and the odd dialogue and structure of Understanding Willow‘s subplot in relation to him, I believe I have good reason to suspect the show has been giving us many hints towards Hooty being much, much more important than it would like us to currently believe or even joke about. Particularly, through clever uses of comedy to establish and enforce a strong audience bias against looking closely at him or unironically taking him seriously, and to potentially plant the seeds for something I will start exploring in Part 2.

[quia-nominor--leo]

Hi so. I just can't get your post about Eskel out of my mind so I'm going to ramble a little bit, sorry about that😅. But. It's just. I love Eskel so damn much. I mean, granted, I only know about him bc of the third game and whatever knowledge I have from the books and previous games (which is very casual lbh). But. Damn. There is something like a softness and steadiness to him that make him so...endearing and solid? And in a story like the witcher 3, it feels reassuring to have a character like him as an ally (I'm not sure if that makes sense tho?). I'll admit that at first I was a bit sad about him not getting as much attention as Lambert did (not complaining tho bc I adore him too, but it is striking that he got 2 quests that manage to develop him a fair bit while Eskel's one is more "standard"). However, after finishing the game I began to think about the whole thing and how when it comes to Eskel it's more about the subtle things than the "in your face" ones. And then I read your post and yeah. It all made so much sense. So...yep. Not sure what the intention of this is but. Yeah. Hard agree on your reading👏🏽👏🏽

Hello friend! I’m glad you enjoyed my inane rambling - I don’t pretend to be an expert on the characterization of the different individuals we meet in the Witcher universe, but I find Eskel very interesting for me, even more so because his motivations aren’t immediately clear for me which means that I have to actually think about him, as his actions and words are quite different from what would come naturally for me. But yeah, I think that its very easy to over look him and his place in the story and to perhaps write him off as a Vesemir 2.0. or to just stop at putting everything down to his scars, and its good to know that there are others who look past that. There’s a lot of talented writers out here that have really dug into his character so let me know if you would like recommendations, and my inbox is always open to just have a little scream x.