#it doesnt mean that everything in the story that the characters are doing is meant to be right

[mx-paint]

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[trans-luis-serra-navarro]

Knowing me I’m gonna absolutely make this into a longer post but like. Isn’t it just SOOOOOOOO SILLY AND SO GOOFY that Luis bestowed the role of Sancho Panza onto Leon even though they’d only JUST met

Like,,,, Don Quixote isn’t just a book Luis loves a lot- he bases his ENTIRE MORALITY on his own ideas of what Don Quixote means and what the messages behind it are. He SURROUNDS himself with chivalric ideals and so, obviously, he holds that book and it’s characters VERY near and dear to him- hell, he doesn’t even let Ada or Ashley in on just how much this damn book means to him!!!!!!! The other scientists who he worked with during his time with Los Illuminados also called him Don Quixote, but realistically, how much would they have known of Luis’ deep-seeded love for that novel??????

So like. Clearly. There is NO WAY IN HELL Luis doesn’t understand the impact of Alonso (Don Quixote himself) and Sancho’s relationship. He ABSOLUTELY understands the importance of it and how vital to the tale each other are and how intrinsically intertwined they are in each others lives and how one would quite literally have not survived without the other and how they’ve gone through hell and back for each other (in Alonso’s eyes LITERALLY) and how Sancho was there for him when his illusions of fantasy finally faded away

So. Like. Luis picking Leon to call his Sancho HAD to be purposeful right????????

He HAD to have understood the weight of his words and the weight of his decision. Maybe Leon didn’t quite understand at first but Luis????? Luis knew DAMN WELL that Don Quixote and Sancho Panza’s relationship went further than two people who just happen to be on the same adventure. Luis picking LEON to be his Sancho was PURPOSEFUL.

He’s not just any old chum he happens to he stuck with; Leon is a man who fully encompasses EVERYTHING GOOD Luis believes in in the world. Leon is EVERYTHING his chivalric ideals want him to be. He’s an inherently kind and caring and selfless human being and he’s everything Luis wants to see in himself. He saved him from certain death and now they’re connected more by just the circumstances of their situation- they’d go through hell and back for each other and they HAVE. He wants Leon not just to like him but to LOVE him. Because Leon sees past his actions; he sees past his mistakes and up until now, nobody has ever given him that privilege. Just like how Sancho still believed in Alonso and still believed that there was worth in his fantastical delusions.

So how does Luis express this gratitude without just straight up saying ‘I love you’????

By using language he understands and is comfortable using, of course.

By projecting a story that has meant SO MUCH to him onto the both of them.

And GOD. THATS SO POIGNANT TO ME. HES TELLING LEON HE LOVES HIM IN A WAY HES BEST AT AND MOST COMFORTABLE DOING. HES SAYING ‘I LOVE YOU’ IN ALL OF HIS ACTIONS AND PROJECTIONS. WHICH MEANS MORE THAN THOSE THREE WORDS EVER COULD. HES USING HIS OWN LOVE FOR THAT BOOK TO PROJECT HIS LOVE ONTO THE PEOPLE HE CARES ABT GODDAMNIT‼️‼️‼️

(ALSO SIDENOTE THIS DOESNT JUST APPLY TO LEON!!!!! THIS APPLIES TO ASHLEY AND ADA TOO!!!!!!!!!!! HE PROJECTS THIS SAME LAMGUAGE ONTO THEM AS WELL, JUST NOT TO THEIR FACES!!!!!!!!!! HE SHOWS THEM KINDNESS AND LOVE IN HIS ACTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!)

And I think on some level Leon knows this too. He probably hasn’t analysed Don Quixote from every angle possible like Luis has, but he knows- in those final actions, when he takes up the mantle of his Sancho and confirms to Luis that, yes, he WAS a fine knight, he WAS his Don Quixote- I think he knew exactly what Luis had been trying to say to him this whole time. Just…. Using words that best describes it in his own way.

[infamous-if]

"The ROs are fully fleshed people (well, I hope) with their own thoughts and feelings" (i would like to clarify ahead of time, idt you should put up w it)

i think that because the ROs are their own people with thoughts and emotions, and that this doesnt revolve around MC because the ROs have their own actions, people start to think that their MC is a loner because they see the other characters super put together (um. as they should, its chapter two??) and this makes people feel bitter/annoyed because they feel like since they control everything abt MC, that MC is a loser because they dont APPEAR to be as composed as the other ROs and characters are, and it pisses them off (which sucks because, how lame can u be? its literally the second chapter. do people break down crying to you at ur second week of friendship? no babe, they dont)

so, in short, you write your OC's so well that when the other people get to compare the ROs to MC, they feel like MC's a loser because they know ALL of MC's feelings, and forget the ROs are their own people that ren't gonna relay all their thoughts and emotions out for MC

this is not meant disrespectfully <3 if it seems rude my bad

hahaha thank you. I realized that I think the root cause of most of the complaints? disappointment? comes from things that people would only know if we weren't in MC's POV. A lot of this is one-sided, because we don't know what the other characters are thinking. All we see is MC's inner turmoil so it makes it seem like MC is the only one struggling, which...I mean I showed that Rowan is going through his own inner struggle when they had their talk, so I did want to show that it's not just MC who feels a bit out of their depth.

The story is always going to feel biased or leaning a certain way because we're in MC's head. MC has no idea what the other people are thinking/feeling (aside from the POVs and even then, I have to sanitize it so I don't spoil the routes).

If people expect a power fantasy or a wish fulfillment story where the characters fawn over MC, please don't haha. I don't like those, and I don't like reading main characters who are perfect. MC is not the center of any of their worlds, and they have a lot of problems that MC has no idea about yet.

Once the romance starts, it'll be different obviously, and they'll start treating MC in a way we haven't seen before, but they're still their own people!

I think the only RO who thinks about MC to an extreme is Seven Lawless....surprise surprise.

It wasn't rude at all! Very insightful and you're right! ^^

[liquidstar]

wait speaking of getting isekia'd via truck, a couple weeks back me and a friend on were talking abt portal fantasy/isekai tropes (mostly bc i was infodumping abt rz again), and it made me think abt a fun concept for an ocverse. tho its possible similar things have been done obvs with just how inflated the genre is, just hear me out OK

story starts in the normal world, with a typical Nerdy Guy going about his daily life, expositing about how he feels bored and longs for adventure and magic, just like in all of his favorite media. as he's crossing the street, distracted by his mobile game, he doesn't notice The Truck(tm) coming straight towards him. except he's not hit by it- he's pushed out of the way in the last second, saved by a passing girl who gets hit in his place. this is who the story is about now.

mc gets sent to that sort of intermediary dimension that some isekai have, where she meets the Goddess Lady or whatever that was in charge of the whole isekai situation. goddess lady proceeds to freak out, because she nabbed the wrong person, and she's going to be in SO MUCH TROUBLE. she starts questioning the mc, only to find out that this kid has a good social life, does well in school, is in sports, and has barely ever played a video game. basically the opposite of the socially introverted, underachieving, repressed, genre-aware guy she was supposed to have reincarnated. for the sake of fulfilling somekinda hero prophesy or whatever. and the mc kinda bargains to be sent to the fantasy world anyway bc, well, its that or death i guess. so the two of them kinda have to team up to course-correct this mix-up.

mc is kinda given a list of tasks to do that basically mirror how a typical story like this Would Go, expected to fall in line with the tropes in order to achieve the ultimate goal, but kinda ends up failing at all of them... or not? failing backwards, maybe. doing it in a way different from how its meant to go- using the wrong formula, but somehow getting the right solution. while sort of continuing to question the insanity of the whole situation, and the nature of this whole fantasy world. just fucking up all the tropes.

but a layer i'd wanna add on top of all that is the fact that the hero prophesy (or whatever) called for a man. so upon arriving to this new world, the mc is basically put into a "gender swapped" body and... doesnt seem to mind. this isnt an uncommon isekai trope either, but i hardly see it tackled with much care to really explore whole Gender Thing beyond gags about the "mismatch" (which can be in poor taste) or the conclusion that "well because their Body is now this gender, their gender identity changes to match" which i feel is a pretty shallow and binary take-away to draw abt bodies and identity.

but i think there can be more to explore w the prospect if you actually wanna get into gender stuff. in this case, i'd particularly wanna get into the idea of imposter syndrome. the main character was not MEANT to be... the main character. seen as a phony fighting tooth and nail to meet expectations, and constantly fumbling. not a real hero, or a real man. but its meant to be an act anyway, so why does that bother her? it was like that back on earth too, trying as hard as possible to be the perfect girl. a good social life, does well in school, is in sports.... but that good girl thing always felt fake too. or desperate. what was she trying to prove? how long as this BEEN bothering her, actually? why does it feel easier to breathe in this body, despite everything? the way this whole act makes her happy is scary, because its fake isn't it? but wait, which part was fake? the before or after? is it all fake? isn't this all just a mistake?

was it really a mistake? who is more heroic; a guy too focused on a mobile game to pay attention to those around him, or the person who risked their life to save a stranger? but the hero prophesy was for a "man," right? what does that even mean?

[dungeonmeshi-confessions]

I wanna do more kabumisu positivity following that other anon. it really brightened my day so much.

bc really I dont want to bash other ships to lift mine up!!! and I actually also really love and respect labru, and know the majority of labru shippers arent Like That, just like most kabumisu shippers arent Like That. every group has some annoying, loud, opinionated people and they dont represent the average person who likes the ship, you know? I would love to see some labrus follow suit and send in some positivity as well!!! If the positivity keeps going I will come in here and post all my fave things about labru, labru art, and labru shippers as a kabumisu. lets ditch the bitching and hold hands instead!

anyway, some reasons I really love kabumisu

- as a neurodivergent disabled person dating another neurodivergent person, this is like. THE couple to me. and like its not just about mithrun being taken care of. taking care of mithrun actively helps kabru be more mindful of his own needs. In my life, I may struggle to feed myself, but I can make breakfast if my partner is hungry. other times she may do the same for me, it depends on who is doing worse.

-they both struggle with insomnia also

-from everything we've seen, pre-dungeon mithrun wasn't entirely dissimilar to kabru (high masking people pleaser) and thats Fascinating to me.

-kabru's job seems pretty stressful (no matter how much fulfillment it brings him, its a lot of responsibility for one person!) so I feel like coming home to that one guy he can take his mask off around and not even have to try and impress must be such a huge relief. also add mithrun with cooking experience to this, making kabru a nice meal after a long day of work.

-Mithrun is actually very perceptive and sees straight through kabru's bs multiple times and doesn't hesitate to call him out. Laios isnt the only character that forces kabru to be honest. ("unless theres someone else?" "theres someone you want to tell that story to.") mithrun is also the one who gives kabru the information he's been seeking this whole time.

-I am very interested in exploring mithruns whole desire situation. what desires does he gain? I think it is probably a lot of little ones that weave together. oh also I think sometimes things may seem more mithrun centric bc in any story where he is going to end up in a relationship he is going to have a much more dynamic arc than whoever he is paired with. literally dynamic as in like. he requires a lot more growth to achieve the outcome. and there are ways to skip it or gloss through it but. a lot of these stories require that in some way you show the progress has happened.

-to me, kabumisu is more often queeplatonic than romantic. but Im aroace so that could just be my aroace glasses. ALSO kabru is vaguely aro to me. you mean the guy thats super desirable that doesnt really seem interested in anyone particular outside of pursuing friendship? that guy? (also the way he did rin omfg)

-random but I dont think kabrus PTSD is talked about enough and also like the extent of his trauma. its not just utaya/monsters/his mom dying; its being raised by a single mother, its his blue eyes, its being adopted, its being raised by an elf, etc!!!! a lot of things he does bc of ptsd get attributed to autism (I also hc kabru as autistic, and some is symptom overlap. but it is secondary to the ptsd! he is traumatized first and foremost ty) I really love kabru so much. ty for the ptsd rep <3

-also out here to say I know an amount of kabumisu content is mithrun centric. I will tell you from my pov specifically though its bc I deeply relate to mithrun (as someone who once told a therapist many years ago I desired nothing and truly meant it. she said I was like a puppet without strings. of course I saw mithrun and was like. oh.) and Im in love with kabru. kabru reminds me of all the people who gave me a reason to pull through. people who saw good in me and treated me like a person when I didnt feel like one. I also really relate to kabru though as someone with complex trauma, even if my traumas are not the same. thats why I say I think not enough is attributed to his ptsd. anyway, once I just opened a notebook and wrote kabrus name over and over again with hearts. I have never done this to mithrun. so dont tell me kabumisus dont like kabru !!!

-kabru and mithrun are both so gender. Ive seen so many variants on their gender and gender expression in the ship. some people hate this and insist they must be one way or the other. I think theyre neat lots of different ways. I love when theyre both feminine men. I love when mithrun is super masc. I love when theyre butch4butch. I love when theyre both trans. and so much more. its all beautiful. a very good variety of food. the other day on my dash I had a tallman art of mithrun with the biggest tits imaginable and the very next post he was like a little porcelain doll. keep up the good work guys. I love you.

.

[residentialsinyomakai]

Obligatory refs + Info of my Yokai Watch Ocs (*＾▽＾*)

Under a cut because there's gonna be a lot of yapping and art stuffs....explodes +□+

Caspian Hernandez || Any Prns || Watcholder

Basics:

The 15 year old 'basically Nate replacement' of this universe!

Lives in Blossom Heights mostly alone, parents are gone pretty often for one reason or another.

In addition, she lives with Baddinyan who is the only reason they're always out of Chocobars

Can see yokai through their glasses (ability can't be deactivated, but he has to focus on yokai for a few seconds in order to actually see/identify them)

Summons them w/ the Yopple-Brand summon band :'] (Customizable! That's why it looks like a disc attached to a Brute Bracer; because it basically is.) Insert disc into a slot in the side!! Whoopie!!!

Not very socially aware due to doing online school up until the age of like 12 (EVIL CAT interactions early on are constantly like 'lol that thing they said actually meant this you dork ahah you fool' 'hush weirdo I'm trying to focus')

((^ i mean in addition to that hes also based on me so like. Neurodivergent canon?? Maybe?? Idk i unintentionslly write characters like me sometimes

A bit goofy and switches moods easily. Some days can be pretty apathetic if she's in a slump.

Gameverse Friend Team of 6: Baddinyan (duh), Badude, Casanuva, Babblong, Tut'n'K'mon, and Rawry

VC: Unbearaboy! from the 'Yo-Kai Watch!' Sub (the blue one in this scene) ((yes I know it's goofy but it's the only clip I could find, skip past the beginning flashback 😭));

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Kerosque || He/Him || Formerly-Alive Yokai

Basics:

Water-Attributed Rank-B yokai of the Tough Tribe

Phrog is about in his upper 40's.

Inspirit; is kinda like when people tend to be kinda cold/curt in the mornings for seemingly no reason.

Runs a ramen stand someplace on the outskirts of Yo-kailafornia. (He's a pretty good chef too)

((He also has little custom pins you can get for free depending on who you are ^u^ a few of his customers/friends tend to.))

Uses his ladle (however you spell it) as a bit of a weapon thing. Comically large goofy ahh 😭

Doesnt go to the human world more often than he needs to. Too much everything

This man HATES stepping foot in downtown he does NOT wanna be there ever-

Kinda perpetually grumpy, resting mildly angry face. He tries to be polite but isn't very talkative at all lol

He does in fact croak. I love frog

Not pictured cause I forgot but like. Has a little swirly stomach pattern

Reoccurring yokai at his stand tend to be: Roughraff, Sick-Kun, Quinn, Ebi, Caspian, Master Oden, and occasionally Bruff.

VC: No clue yet, something along the lines of a higher version of Walrus Captain from A hat In Time, or a less enthusiastic Captain Caviar from Cookie Run? (If you got ideas, feel free!)

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Dread || He/They/Xe || Human-Born Yokai

Basics:

Drain-Attributed Rank-S yokai of the Shady Tribe

Inspirit; kinda similar to intrusive thoughs. Worse case scenario stuff, things that make you think you're an awful person, dreading situations or overthinking anything, etc etc

Is sighted quite a bit around high-schools. Hormones+anxiety+prime place for embarassment? Makes his job too easy

He has low empathy, but isn't completely incapable. Doesn't make a lot of friends and honestly he could care less either way.

Rather flippant, dry humor kinda guy, kinda similar to Jax from tadc for reference

He does have hair under there (i thought thatd be obvious but then again you'd probably also expect him to have skin and a chest/stomach under his hoodie so aifkwod), but it's usually kinda greasy.

Heart is a weak point in battle. If he ever let's it be exposed in the first place, that is

Cannot be seen by Caspian earlier in the story. Around the point I'd expect him to be in most of my drawings, he's at 'watch' Rank-B

Likes to taunt people, the easier to provoke the better. He feeds off of negative reactions and emotions for both entertainment and soul food nom nom

Usually a sad reaction is better than an angry one for him. If he finds someone's emotional weakness he most likely Will Exploit it XnX

While he doesn't care for anyone, he tends to harass Fuwhirl and Negatibuzz the least.

VC: Dont kill me but Raggedy Andy from Raggedy Anne's Musical Adventure

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Swiss || He/Him || Human-Born Yokai

Basics:

Electic-Attributed Rank-C yokai of the Eerie Tribe

Inspirit; is why people (usually kids) are picky eaters. This can look like randomly losing an appetite/ just finding several things repulsive/I'm bald/nuance/ref

Wanders around wherever. Lives in one of the Tranquility Apartments officially tho.

(Fuwhirl lives w him after they reunite <333 long story short they know him)

Has pretty poor eating habits himself tbh

Is edible!! Technically!!! He would not reccomend it (he's cake roll flavored :'])

The swirl in his hair can be dyed different colors.)

Going off of that, he can regenerate. Useful, but kiiiinda painful

He's a bit of an a-hole, and absolutely doesn't know when to shut up. He doesn't like to fight tho surprisingly (°>°)

Sarcastic and quick to snap back at someone =u=

(There's a strange old man he helps with experiments concerning his odd biology....he hasn't been posted yet but he belongs to my friend @sketchdeath22)

VC: lol idk

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Fuwhirl || They/Them || Object-Born Yokai

Basics:

Wind-Attributed Rank-D yokai of the Mysterious Tribe

Inspirit; Makes people dizzy either randomly or after standing up ×□×

Lived at a circus for a while, but eventually it moved out of town. After a bit of aimless wandering they found their way to Blossom Heights 🌸!!!

Kinda stumbles when they walk, it's worse when they're distressed but a bit more easy to navigate when they're happier &u&

Naive, likes to think anyone's nice under the surface +▽+

Is kinda like Tattletell's in the way he had to be latched on to you to be effective. Typically via a backpack

Has one of those build-a-bear hearts inside him!!! Whoopie :)

VC: Uhhh I forgot atm but I will come back and edit lol

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Anyways, that's not including my like 'ocified versions of pre-existing characters' agsgydirofor I love yapping about ocs!!! Wahoo :)

[enden-k]

i’m absolutely hooked on your grimms games story.. feel like an orphaned kid (youri) begging for more scraps! please sir... can i have some more 🙏🙏. i have a good load of questions though tehe... feel free to ignore any, i know its a lot

1. you mentioned that the games are all played for the entertainment of others, but i wondered what you meant by that? does this mean there’s a higher organisation that watch these games for fun... or are the games broadcasted to the people of the city for their entertainment?

2. how long do these games typically last? i assumed they happen every year.. but do the teams have a set time frame to complete the game by, or are there no time restrictions + the game simply ends when there’s only one team standing?

3. do the games only consist of fighting, or are there external forces involved in tricking and endangering the players? for example.. collapsing buildings, natural disasters, acid rain? (which makes me wonder whether the games are held in a controlled arena, distant + abandoned grounds, or within the city and among the ppl)

4. shorter question! but how do people enter the games? the fighting siblings and the surrounding team members?

5. does kaia like women.. would she perhaps be interested in kissing girls.. just asking... for a friend.. 🫣🏳‍🌈..

ALSO I’M REALLY SORRY, I KNOW THERE’S A LOT OF QUESTIONS... i’m not expecting an answer for all of them dw, only answer whatever u feel like answering 🫶 but omg i am SO hooked on this story, on ur characters.. (particularly izayah, kaia and tay) sending u all the love!!!

!!!!!!!!! thanks for the interest and asking!!!!

2) the game starts once both siblings set foot into the city and ends when the first sibling dies. the losing sibling will be eaten by the entity, finishing the ritual and once it hungers again, the games will be repeated and hosted by the winning sibling. until then, they rule (usually nothing less than 10 years), having all their wishes fulfilled

1) for this, i have to babble a bit abt the story/inspiration behind it. when i first drew this story, i was 14 and inspired by a fairytale my adoptive father used to read to us every evening when we were younger. idk if the story of hansel and gretel is known to all of you (i think it should?) but its literally the story my comic used to be heavily based on until i made changes over the years n stuff.

in my comic, i mentioned a ritual and sacrifice etc. its all for a strange, demonic entity who lured the first siblings into the woods centuries ago and the games were eventually made for. the sacrifices, the deaths are all for its entertainment, the souls to feed it. in return, it nurtures, powers and protects the cursed city

3) the entire cursed city is their battlefield and there are few safe zones where theres no fighting allowed and where they can encounter each other on a neutral basis (hospital, central part/main business district, ...). other than that, its pretty much purge-style. no rules, everything is allowed

4) the siblings are chosen by the entity itself early on, destined (cursed) to find their way into the woods and the city, lured by the entity. this goes only for the siblings, the main players.

for fairness, each team has fixed, same roles where the possible players are lit raised for it (like youri. he was taken in and raised to be the "guardian" among many other orphans). all members get picked by the siblings themselves, theyre responsible for their teams quality and quantity

5) kaia doesnt like much, shes entirely driven by hatred................but to answer that, yes she does jkjsbdjk

some answers are quite short, i came home from work and am a lil dead tbh but yea maybe ill pick these up some time again and elaborate more or so!!

[castlebyersafterdark]

hello! I love your blog and the way you have fun here while also speaking eloquently about the dynamics and mechanics of the show. bravo for such a great space!

what do you think of people who don't see will as a main character? i've found my first on tumblr:

'i get he has importance. but also like, he is very much a plot device of Bad Stuff in at least the first 3 seasons, if not the 4th as well. (kidnapped, possessed, ominous Warnings that dont really matter except for building up tension) - we very much do only care about him because other characters do.'

this is less a comment on how they wrote will than his overall meaning in the narrative. even without the whole noah confirmation that will is BACK and BIG in s5, why do you think so many people, including GA, couldnt pick up on will's importance?

i recall first watching the show in s1 2016. even before ship wars existed, even before i knew about 'byeler' as it was called, i felt in my soul that will was important. there was a magic about him! he felt so intriguing and special. i even wrote in my journal that 'will byers is an iconic figure'. i have that old journal somewhere, and there's no elaboration! just that one sentence! haha

will was so mystical and powerful to me. i am not queer and did not pick up on this part of him, at least consciously, until s3. but something about him i adored and he mattered to me. these viewers who don't see will as important... do you think they truly missed the point of the show? if so, its a shame, but theyre very adamant that it's others who are missing the point and that we're not supposed to care for will, and i just can't see how that would ever be something the creators would want for any of their original characters. + will isn't an extra, or even a secondary character despite his lack of screentime because the heart of the story and narrative hinges around him. he is subtextually, implicitly important - this is storytelling 101!

(many of these will-indifferents also want fics of mike where will is only background/not important, even though they see mike as gay. they want a s5 gay mike arc, but where will doesnt figure in it, and i dont understand how that can make sense in this show when mike and will have always been part of each other's lives, even as friends???)

what are your thoughts my friend?

Hello!!! Glad you're here!

I honestly cannot understand Stranger Things fans who don't like Will. Or view him as non-important. Yeah, even though he was in so little season one, he is sooooooo so vital and if you don't care about that little boy, what are you doing here? The show failed you and its purpose. I cared so much from the moment he ran from that monster and disappeared, hooked for life on this silly little show. Will did that! Plot device? Sure, of course. All characters are plot devices to an extent. But to say that's all he is? We learn so much about who he is from little snippets in s1, he's a real character. Sure, we care about the story of finding him, but why do we care? Defined haunting the narrative. That's so sad if people only see him as this afterthought to move the story along.

Did people not watch season 2? I can kiiiiiind of get what people meant if we were thrown back in time to pre-s2 times and we only know what we know and as a casual watcher, maybe you just saw the show and didn't think too deep. (Not me, I loved Will and was looking forward to what else was in store with him after that s1 cliffhanger with the slug, are you kidding??? How interesting!) How can you still view Will this way after season2?

I think these people missed the point of the show. Truly. Surface level watching, I honestly don't know. I can excuse the fandom colloquial and snarky read of the "GA" because these are just people who like the show but with everything they like, it's not deeper thinking. Still goofy how they miss so many points I feel are blatant in the show, but a lot of people barely absorb what they're watching ("omg I love ST, Dustin and Steve are so funny haha I hope they bring Eddie back haha the show is so scary haha") <- like that's honestly how randos sound.

The fandom fandom people who are actively on sites like tumblr and into actual fan shit??? How do you hate Will if you're not a milkvan stan? Why?? What is the reason to care about a Mike sexuality storyline and think it has nothing to do with Will?????? Whose arc thus far has that play a huge role in his character? They are so entwined. Just say you're a FW stan and stop pretending to be anything deeper, that's totally fine, but just admit that. The rest of us aren't crazy for analyzing deeper and understanding the point of the show - that Will has always been and will always be the heart of the storyline. Season 5 gonna be a huge wake up call for a lot of people. But I try not to think about or indulge those people too often. Stay positive, ignore dumbass interpretations and takes. We know what and who are important.

[bthump]

This causality and idea of evil is all confusing to me. Can you explain it to me in a simpler way? thank you so much

If the existence of Griffith is preordained by the IoE, doesn't that make him a victim becoz he basically doesnt have a choice? If Griffith is the manifestation of IoE, what is even "human/real" about Griffith if everything about him (feelings, desire, encounters, choices, actions, personality, genetics) is designed/manipulated in a certain way? manipulated to feel this way, act this way, dream this way etc.

It feels artificial. Yet tragic. How does he even differ to a robot. Does this mean his feelings for Guts is also artificial? Becoz thats the last straw that cemented his decision to sacrifice.

I can try.

I definitely see it a lot different than you do. I don't think the concept of fate in Berserk negates the idea of personal agency. In a way it makes Griffith a victim, but that's true of everyone in the universe in Berserk's world.

It doesn't mean that anything about the people in Berserk's world is artificial though.

Flora describes fate as "encounters" in chapter 203. "God bestows upon us fate. The fate called encounters."

The way I see it the characters are all people the same way people are in our world. They're not being puppeteered or programmed by fate, all their feelings come organically from a combination of genetics and life experience the way all of ours do.

What fate does is ensure the necessary encounters happen to shape people into who they need to be. Fate didn't force Guts to leave the Hawks by bodyjacking him and making him want to leave, but fate ensured that Shizu saw him at the side of the road and Gambino raised him, which gave him self-esteem issues, which meant that when he overheard Griffith's speech he would choose to leave.

Fate didn't force Griffith to make the sacrifice, but fate ensured that Griffith met Guts, that he had a chip on his shoulder as a kid from living on the street that made him want to pursue a dream, etc.

How fate arranges those encounters is handwaveable imo. We're not meant to think that fate puppeteers people into meeting each other either, those also happen organically based on choices each character makes. Guts wasn't forced to overhear Griffith at Promrose Hall either, Guts chose to seek Griffith out because he was feeling miserable and self-hating after accidentally killing a kid.

Whatever fate does involves a very light touch that doesn't negate any characters' own choices.

And on a more Doylist level, it's not something I think we're meant to care about. The story isn't written like the characters have no agency and fate is making them dance like puppets, and if it was it'd be a shitty story full of characters acting ooc. The characters are all organic and fate isn't an excuse Miura leans on to justify any stupid character decisions, fate is a metaphysical concept being explored as part of one of the main themes of Berserk. The point of fate is really just to explore how humanity instinctively wants someone external to blame for bad things happening.

So imo questioning whether the characters' personalities are real or fake is kind of beside the point and not something the story itself ever suggests as a takeaway from fate as a concept. The characters still make organic decisions based on their personalities which have been sculpted from life experience, because they're very well-written characters.

And it's important to the themes of the story that the characters do still have personal agency, because like, fate isn't framed as good lol. It exists because people want to believe in it, so they have someone other than themselves to blame, and that belief is framed as negative. So it's important in Berserk for people to take personal responsibility for their own choices regardless of fate's existence. And you see that sentiment a few times in significant moments:

So yeah, basically I don't see fate in Berserk as ruining the characters because they're still written well and make perfectly believable choices based on their personalities and backstories. Whatever fate does is too subtle to worry about, because it doesn't make the characters feel less real.

I also have a couple of other posts that get into this that I'll link, in case those get my point across better lol, because I feel like I was a little rambly here.

Thanks for the ask, hope that gives you another way of looking at it!

[th4tsj4zzy]

will stetson and i have a bone to pick

I WILL NEVER FORGIVE HIM FOR MAKING Going, Going, Gone THAT SONG MADE ME CRY AND BAWL MY EYES OUT.

ESPECIALLY THE LAST PART WHERE IT GOES, “i know i’ll dream about this moment ‘till im going, going—“

WILL YOURE SUCH A BXXCH FOR THAT. YOUR BEAUTIFUL GODDARN VOICE AND THE LYRICS AND GORGEOUS ART WILL PAY FOR THEIR SINS.

AND ALSO THE JOURNAL??? AND HOW IT GETS “RIPPED OUT” EVENTUALLY???1?1???1 i just wanna talk abt it bc like it had a bunch of things firefly wanted to do (its implied she wanted to do them before she dies: her bucket list) and at the end of the song she rips it out because she wants to do everything she wants to do to live, not do everything bc she’ll die.

also i wanna talk abt this frame, its the one that shows up in the parts where firefly is “ripping out” (ill get back to it) the pages of the bucket list journal. it shows during the lyrics,

“Let me stay awhile, stop the world from moving on / And I’ll cherish all the memories ‘til they’re going, going, gone”

and at first, i thought the top part was skirt folds from firefly’s outfit but after i rewatched it a few times, i realized they’re actually firefly’s bangs, and we’re basically looking through her eyes as she rips apart the journal and i just think thats such a powerful few seconds because it dips in focus a lot and shows just how emotional she is, how much hurt she feels about the hand she was dealt.

ok i described it as “ripping out” earlier but the way her hands are placed looks like shes just crumpling the paper, and doesnt actually plan on ripping them out, and i feel like theres so much nuance in that bc it shows that even though she holds the memories she made in bittersweet regard, she wouldn’t just reduce them to shreds in a fit of indignation. that conclusion is even further supported by the fact that we never see the notebook being ripped; this is the last time we ever see it (but lets not think about the implications that brings).

ok i also wanted to talk about these because the entire time, the mv is presented in an alternate universe where the characters go to school and arent, yk, traveling the cosmos. but we can still see how the trailblazer is wearing their iconic jacket and fingerless gloves, so it tells us that we’re back in the star rail universe we know and love. we also know that we’re in penacony when TB fights SAM for the first time bc of the fire around them and the scenery behind the TB. thats not the main point tho.

notice how there are green marks on the left photo; it looks like we’re looking at the trailblazer from SAM’s point of view, and the text saying “DESTROY” repeatedly means that SAM is going haywire. so perhaps, the mv’s story is meant to parallel the main story?

anyway my phone’s gonna die bye yall

[melodyfsoul1]

Sth I find interesting after watching the Loki Series Finale, and seeing everyone's reactions to it, is that you can immediately tell what someone's priorities were for the ending (ships aside)

Because depending on what your priorities for the Story or Loki as a Character were, people are either really hyped / optimistic for the future ... or just really freaking depressed right now.

Like on the positive side we have Loki:

- finally finding his "Glorious Purpose", his place in... well "outside" the world/ universe, becoming an even greater being, while his story comes full circle

- reaching his full potential, unlocking new powers, new magic, and being the God of Stories

- becoming one of the most powerful beings in the MCU, and hey maybe he's even able to travel freely through time now and not trapped at the space outside of time

- creating Yggdrasil and protecting it, and by that, saving his friends and the Multiverse, being a true hero

__________

But then on the other side we have the more pessimistic view of Loki:

- finding his "Glorious" Purpose, taking over the burden of a throne he realized he never wanted, but doing it because it was the only option he saw to save his friends and the multiverse ( though I wouldnt even call it a choice, he just resigned himself to accept it because the other options where helping the current HWR, killing Sylvie, risking a universal war or death by spaghettification....)

- making the ultimate sacrifice by chosing to "give everyone else a chance at life" over his own needs, his own future, his desire to be with his friends...

- now having the huge responsible of keeping the multiverse alive & intact for all eternity

And do we even know if he can travel freely through time? (I hope so), but how much power does it take him? What if protecting Yggdrasil means he cant leave the space outside time? That would mean he is trapped there, for all eternity, alone, having to watch over his friends without actually being able to interact with them. He will be able to see that they are okay (hopefully), but he will never be a part of their lives again.... Loki, the very character who explicitely said he doesnt want to be alone...

So depending on how you view it, the ending was either really epic, with Loki getting several upgrades and creating a new era for the MCU

or

Somewhere between bittersweet and incredibly dreadfully tragic with Loki making the ultimate sacrifice, losing everything he just worked so hard to keep (after all the struggles of his original timeline too with Thanos) with Loki probably never being part of any of their stories again, damned to eternal loneliness.

(I'm personally more the 2nd type... I do get the others point of view, it was epic and Loki unlocking his true potential as the God of Stories is insane, GOS Loki is one of my faves in the comics. And my GOD the imagery of Yggdrasil was freaking gorgeous.

But... my main priority was "Loki, for ONCE, getting a chance at life, to be himself, live, with his new found friends/ family at his side..." so you can guess how freaking sad I am over the ending... hell I dont even care about the ships, I just didnt want him to be alone... I just wanted him to have a friend...

Its like, no matter what or where, whether its the OG Timeline Loki, or L1130 or even in the comics... Loki is meant to be a sacrifice for the "greater good" or to suffer trying change or even help, like he did in the comics as Kid Loki and Agent of Asgard.

That being said, I still cling to the hope that Loki can either freely travel through time now or somehow find a way to get in contact with his friends again... of them finding a way to get to him... please, Marvel, I need a Loki who is allowed to be happy, he certainly deserves it.

[rutadales]

Do you not think cDream is the villain? Sorry this is not at all meant to be agressive or anything, I just have trouble understanding that interpretation. I’m genuinely interested in what you think bc I’m not as well versed in lore as many dsmp fans but from what I’ve seen, cDream is a pretty unequivocally bad person. I think few of the characters aren’t to be fair, but though cDream is more complex than the common interpretations, he doesnt necessarily seem to be morally better? Again, don’t mean to sound rude or anything!! Just kinda trying to understand :)

So this question kinda expands into several branching off points for me, but I'll try to keep it simple and break it down into sections as best I can. this is going to get long

So do I think c!Dream is a villain? Depends on what definition you're using first of all but also in what context, in which storyline, and from whose perspective you're consuming the story from. A strength of SMPs as storytelling devices is that the concrete plot and hard facts of the story are often pretty fluid; what happened when, who was there, who saw what, and who is a villain or a hero is all dependent on which stream you chose to tune into at the time. But as much as this is a strength, it's also a detriment. Entire character beats and motivations can be missed or obfuscated by simply not tuning into a creators stream. A big example of this is how many people missed the Staged Finale reveal, anyone who didn't watch Punz stream will still be operating under the belief that everything Dream did in the disc finale was his true nature, and not an act. Completely changes how to interpret those characters and the entire finale as a scene.

The nature of stream based storytelling is audiences are consuming completely different stories, simultaneously, and there's no hard copy of this story. It's not a book you can go pick up at Barnes and Noble or a movie you can stream on Netflix. To get caught up and engage with the fiction you either have to go back and rewatch hundreds of hours of live content (with dead space and parts that have been completely ret-conned), watch recaps edited by third parties who are at liberty to cut out anything they deem irrelevant to the story, or get it exclusively word of mouth by the audience. A character being more loved by the audience now means that character's narration is given higher value in contrast to other characters. Even supposedly non-biased sources, like the fan wiki, meant to lay out bare bone facts of the story are riddled with un-sourced fan interpretations of the media. Look here

Now, reading a characters unreliable narration as reliable isn't a failing as it is more just engaging with the media as intended. The intent of utilizing unreliable narrators is often to "trick" the audience or to showcase how that character sees the world. Its fine and is used is a lot of different mediums, I'm actually a huge fan. Love me some bitches who just lie. The thing is, due to everything I've laid out above, having a character who is unreliable, like c!Tommy often is, in this medium means fans who only consume the content via world of mouth are getting an unreliable narration without the context that its unreliable. This completely changes entire swaths of the fiction and more, to our point, who is the villain.

A really, kind of neat phenomena in the fandom is how fans bought into c!Wilbur's lies about L'manberg the same way the characters he was manipulating did. Fans became part of the narrative in a strange way. Which is actually a perfect example for how other characters shape the narrative around Dream, both within the fiction and within the fans trying to engage with it.

With that in mind, I don't even read the dsmp as a story with "villains" or "heros", its a story with a lot of different perspectives that clash with each other. Those terms don't really lend themselves to the kind of questions I'm asking about the story.

I think the question you're really asking is "Do you think c!Dream is a good person". You bring up being "unequivocally bad" and moral a couple different times, which to me flags as a question about fictional morality. Because the question of who is a villain in the dream smp is completely dependent on who you watch, which streams you've watched, and whosever narration you decided to subscribe to-- and is why I find the label villain in dsmp analysis fairly mute. It's kinda a pointless exercise to try and determine who earns that label and who doesn't. Not the kind of analysis I'm interested in.

But to answer the question I think you imply here, no I don't think c!Dream is a good person. I don't think anyone on the smp is. Maybe Michael? Well he tried to break into a prison for information, so by some moral standards, absolutely not! I'd certainly agree with you that Dream is more complex than common interpretation would lead us to believe, but that complexity does lend itself to morality in some cases.

Is Dream wrong to want to prevent his home from being split up into countries and thus filled with conflict? Is it worse to threaten, torment, and assault someone because you're pathologically obsessed with them or because you have a larger goal in mind and find those actions beneficial to the goal at hand?

To me, that's it's just pointless hole to get sucked into. I am personally uninterested in ideas of a character possessing or gaining moral purity and much more interested in characters learning to move on from the harm they've caused. C!Dream is interesting to me, not because he's a good person, but because hes a complex one. TL;DR: I am uninterested in using villain as a term within the context of dsmp and find the discussions of the moral goodness of characters reductive.

If you have any other questions feel free to shoot me an ask! I actually quite enjoy breaking down how I think about characters and media and am always open to (friendly) discussions on the matter. <3

[uriekukistan]

Got one for you: top 5 writing pet peeves?

THANK U FOR THE ASK I MEANT TO ANSWER THIS LIKE TWO DAYS AGO BUT I FELL ASLEEP SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG

okay top5 for myself

the word “shrugged”: i swear my characters shrug more in one chapter than i have in my entire life, but i cant seem to get away from the word…although when i put my work into this thing that counts word recurrence, it never makes the top 10, i still feel like i overuse it sm

proofreading: i hate hate hate proofreading….like reading my own writing is just frustrating to me, especially bc i actually write way in advance of when i actually publish it, so things i may have thought were good a month and a half ago i usually end up hating by the time i actually publish them…idk i think a lot of creators are their worst critics, im sure there’s not as much actually wrong w my stuff as i think

mixing action with dialogue: i dont even mind this much when im reading, but seeing a huge section of just dialogue in my own writing has me foaming at the mouth…and i have a hard time visualizing things so it takes me so long to add realistic actions in between certain lines, otherwise i feel like the scene flows weird if i dont do this…

figurative or overly descriptive language: no one has ever said anything bad abt this so i’m not sure why it but i always worry that parts of my writing will come off pretentious? like i’ll write it and be like “wow i cooked” and then i’ll read it back and be like “who tf do u think u are to be writing like that”

writing environment: i swear i need everything just so to be able to write efficiently, its so annoying. perfect caffeination level (not enough = no brain, too much = can’t focus), perfect playlist, comfy clothes and comfy seating position, not hungry but not full etc etc. i can still write without these things but it ends up being slow af. so annoying

top5 for reading others’ writing (ghhhh hope this doesnt come out mean)

poorly formatted dialogue: genuinely if i see dialogue lumped in with paragraphs of text I CLICK OUT im not reading that i’m sorry. it’s a visual thing like it’s overwhelming to read and makes the story flow weirdly, like pleasseeedseese put your dialogue on a new line

UNDERuse of the word “said”: ik this is contrary to most writing advice, but it bothers me fr when ppl go out of their way to avoid words like “said” “asked” “replied”…like sometimes they’re genuinely the best words for the situation, or the synonym that gets used is just not appropriate. when you get into more specific words like that it’s gotta fit well. i’m a big advocate for using modifiers rather than synonyms, like “whispered” “said softly” “said, a hint of softness creeping into their voice” are all different. anyway i hate when im reading and someone uses a synonym for “said” that doesn’t fit the situation

over reliance on physical description for characters: again like the synonyms- time and place. maybe it’s just me, it just feels kinda depersonalizing if youre constantly using physical descriptions when they aren’t relevant, especially in romance. ex: in dancing with a stranger, megumi notices yuuji’s muscles bc he purposely flexes, or the way his eyes catch the sun as part of the “view” on a sunny day, but the rest of they time, he’s thinking of yuuji as kind, warm, talented, etc. it just makes characters feel shallow, and especially in romance, makes the relationship feel shallow. if all megumi noticed about yuuji were his big muscles and loserboy puppy eyes, it kinda cuts the meaning and intimacy from the relationship. also noah fence but it also comes off as kinda lazy characterization

im a liar i cant come up 5 for this i already feel mean for saying what i said 💀 thank u again for the ask !!!! sorry for rambling so much skdjdk

[liquidstar]

i think that on here we've kinda talked a lot about how the traditional "coming out" narrative presented in popculture is flawed in reality. because it always presents this idea that you have to tell everyone who you Really are, that youre Hiding parts of yourself, that you can never be You until you bare your Secrets to the world. and that actually this isnt because people feel entitled to your personal business but that its hurting YOU when they dont know your personal business so you should really just tell them. (but also dont be "too" proud because thats annoying :( act mostly cishet please but dont lie about it! hehe!) it will work out every time for sure :)

but ofc thats not how real life works. i mean, naturally i understand that there are OF COURSE people out there who want to be loud and proud about who they are, and that this is incredibly important to their identity which theyve suppressed for so long. but that "coming out" narrative is harmful because it ignores many of the reasons it had to be suppressed to begin with. its fucking dangerous! its dangerous to a lot of people for a lot of reasons. they can lose their support system, family, job, house, and their entire life. both in the sense that they'll be completely uprooted from it, and in the sense that they could be killed. so constantly presenting the notion of "coming out is good for you no matter what because its the Only way to be your Real Authentic Self and also you HAVE to do it eventually because thats how this narrative is just Meant to go. be a good little queer and please dont stray from this path."

and the problem is that plenty of young LGBT+ people completely internalize it too! ive had so many convos with young people worried about coming out to their conservative family because, well, theyre supposed to! and their minds are completely blown when i tell them that actually they dont have to do that. that theyre under no obligation to tell everyone their business and its okay to just keep being them w/o making an announcement about it. ESPECIALLY IF IT PUTS THEM IN DANGER!!!! and to be clear this issue doesnt stop at age 18 or at moving out or anything like that either, there continue to be many obstacles for many people that make coming out unsafe, or just a bad life decision to uproot everything Right Now. it's okay to just be in the closet and it isn't a moral failing like cishet media wants to convince us. we all agree, right?

good! but here's what my actual real point is:

when we talk about this, for some reason, we seem to only reaaaallly be talking about the gay side of it, right? like im sure lots of people imagined, like, teenage gay boy movies. maybe a couple lesbian and bi characters too perhaps. and that makes sense because thats like the most common narrative for this sort of trope, so ofc those are the first examples we imagine. and ofc theres the more complex addition of "passing" when it comes to trans versions of this story, the idea that you gotta look a certain way to be "valid" adds another layer.

so i think its time more people started to acknowledge this about trans people too, right? i think we can all agree with this on paper already; no trans person is obligated to come out or present a certain way if theyre not in a place where they currently are able to do so. physically, mentally, financially... or just because they dont wanna! whatever the circumstances are, there is no criteria they have to meet to be vindicated in this. it doesnt only apply to 14 year olds living with shitty parents who plan to move out soon and become "Really Trans" (as if they didnt count before conforming to The Narrative), the person could be 40 and never planning to be completely out, and its the same. they dont owe you this "showing the world who you Really are in order to [earn the right to] Be Yourself" crap. thats their choice only.

however, i also think that even if most ppl on here in lgbt circles on here agree with the general sentiment... sometimes it doesnt always get applied it practice. though the whole "truscum" thing kinda died down (thank god) i still think that rampant transmedicalism has left its scars on lots of people and the things they internalize, combined with similar cisheteronormative messages in popular media about how your narrative Should go and how you Should act and look to be respected, and its Morally Wrong not to fit that mold.

so when encountered with people who dont pass, who dont TRY to pass and instead actively choose to look like their agab due to the fact that they are literally in the closet irl (lest we forget people have whole entire complex lives outside of the net) this sort of short circuit happens in ppls heads, where that internalized idea of "but you're supposed to be THIS WAY! youre not doing it RIGHT!" pops back up and they end up labeling that person as fake or Not Trans Enough for this reason.

and i do also think part of this stems from people not having enough sympathy for those whose paths are different, because they were told not to. theres a Right way, and they did it the right way. and likely they struggled for it a lot, so isnt it unfair that people are doing it the Easy Way (as if its easy to be closeted to begin with) and claiming theyre like you? thats Wrong. they have to Earn it. you lgbts should all get mad at EACH OTHER actually! this will help your community be better [in the eyes of cishetero society that doesnt really want you to exist to begin with]

additionally the reason im emphasizing the internet side of this so much is because... well, in this day and age, thats the space lots of people go to to NOT be in the closet. to at least microdose on being "out" while in real life they very much arent. like i said before, being in the closet is rough and taxing, suppressing yourself hurts which is why so many people wanna be loud and out and proud! not everyone can though, so turning to a place with relative anonymity to get that is great, and i think its probably saved a lot of people. but also because of this, its pretty much the only way to get the scenario this is positing to begin with- where you know a stranger can know that youre trans even if youre otherwise closeted completely, just so they can tell you that youre Not. but how many people in the past do you think lived lives where they never let these feelings out at all? how many alive today do you think dont even express them online?

you know that sort trope (often stereotypes in media) of a trans person "crossdressing" only when alone, in order to get a short bit of relief or euphoria that they cant in their closed life? i think that today we have the internet to do that. i think its kind of the same thing. but its also very different, because its not as private. its still secret, because its anonymous, but its also something shared with plenty of strangers at the same time. they dont know you irl, so its safe, distant, and gives you that rush of being yourself, and being referred to correctly by others too. theres community, theres support, and theres friendship too, once you get to know those strangers. its not a "second life" or a "persona" is just a side of yourself you dont show elsewhere, an identity that needs to be let out one way or another.

who the fuck are we to deny others the right to this life-saving connection just because they arent out? because they dont pass or dress the Right way irl? because we decided they arent trying hard enough to "fit in"? because they dont plan to change their lives to fit the right narrative anytime soon?

should they not be allowed into the community then? that would be perfect wouldnt it? leave many who need support out to die, because they did it Wrong. fight within our community over who is doing it Right until we've broken it in half. the righteous ones [according to cishet standards] are surely going to be treated with respect once they get rid of the Bad ones, right?

yeah, i dont think so. thats horseshit. we're stronger together than we are apart, thats why infighting is so useful to those who dont want us to be strong to begin with. its important to help each other, boost each other up, even if some of us arent playing the "right" part irl. are we really just going to sit around and accept the cishet norms as rules to live by? fuck that. not everyones story will reflect it, and you have to accept them anyway if you want a strong community. it doesnt matter how much they might look/act like their agab irl, if theyre telling you otherwise take it at face value, respect them the way you would any other. again, many of us agree with this on paper, but i think we still have to put work into acting on that too.

the end <3

[snoopyliker]

time to qsmp talk

theres multiple things about the new server that i do enjoy i love the new mods and i mean lootr is so awesome for dungeons and theres a lot more cool blocks and decorations to build with and i think bounties are actually fun to give people stuff to do and i love the new world and everyone starting from zero and new builds.

but theres also the cons! i truly would not have minded the economy system if it wasnt so invasive to the gameplay. i dont mind “money” being established when it comes to buying silly things like cosmetics or the plushies or generally things that dont impede you being unable to craft. i understand why everything is behind a paywall, i get it, they want to really promote this system and get the players involved but its such a drastic shift from being able to simply craft a waystone.. to having to pay for every single one you want. it’s rough. it dont see the point really in having a mod in the game but locking it behind money and removing essentially its utility to the players. with every con though theres pros like its interesting to see how players develop transportation for themselves to get around easier i mean points towards foolish have you ever seen a man so dedicated to breeding fast horses. but again that doesnt lessen the unfortunate aspect of waystones, warpstones, and such being less available.

i dont see the point in putting the nether behind a paywall i dont get why they have to grind for it as if they havent waited long enough and tried millions of things go get the nether already. its odd. though again i think these choices make sense in the story like the island is being run by a new character mr bunny and he’s obsessed with money so it makes sense for the players to live in this capitalistic hellscape where they need to even pay to teleport. i think it reinforces the power and imbalance between the federation and the islanders. they thought they had it bad but they continue to make their lives worse. i think all of this works actually really well in the story my issue is that when you look at it from any other lens its not fun. it feels unnecessary and forced onto the players, which again makes sense in the story, to partake in. idk i think if the admins wanted to delay the nether being opened then they couldve just done that without the collective spending. it feels really weird. i always wanted the nether opening to be this cool grand lore moment but it feels like its just going to be “woo u wasted money congrats here u go” not nearly as thrilling as if the players idk uncovered information from the federation and the bunnies and found a way to make a permanent functioning portal that would lead to this opening moment.

the whole thing with the coins is such a shame because i wanted it to be good but as of right now it doesnt bode well with me. also makes me question what about all the players duck coins they had earned prior to the reset? where did those go? once they go back to their old builds can they deposit that money?

i wouldnt even say earning coins is hard like the admins have offered a variety of ways to get coins my main issue is all the things behind these payments with the coins. i dont get the nerf with waystones i dont get why. i dont know. i’d like to have a genuine chat with the admins over what the future of the smp looks like to them and what their aim is with all these features. i want to understand better so im able to watch and know what the point is before simply criticizing ignorantly. but im sure they’ve received a lot of negativity already and i dont want them to be discouraged. im just honestly curious like the beginning of purgatory was confusing and jarring but once we got the premise of what it is and what its purpose is meant to be in relation to the server i personally ended up enjoying it throughly.

anyways peace and love on planet earth ily admins and qsmp team (please set us free)

[scalproie]

I've been seeing lots of debate regarding the Tekken 8 character endings, especially compared to MK 1, and since I'm not that big on the lore, I wanted to ask how you feel about the different approaches these games went for those endings?

Honestly its a matter of personal preferences I would say!

MK12 decided to make every character ending canon, thru them you get to learn what the characters have been up to post-story mode, and if you have additional questions, you may find an answer in the dialogue intros. It's pretty straighforward even if you do have to do a bit of research to get the full picture. Mortal Kombat also doesnt have a clear-cut protagonist (even if fire god Liu Kang is the closest we get to that role) so it's easier for it to divide the focus on it's multiple characters, and the fact that it's very much a fantasy setting means that you have an infinite amount of lore to establish, so you never run out of things to say and do with characters.

Mortal Kombat is trying to build a world, but that means that everything the characters do are meant to move this worldbuilding forward, and the future story, along, you dont really get "fluff" out of MK12's endings. And also, MK12 doesnt exist in a vaccum, it's a new timeline so it's obviously going to be compared with its predecessors, and sometimes it's like "look we're making a callback to a previous thing!" or "look we're doing this thing completely different!", and let's just say that if you DONT like those choices and changes, well you're fucked. Because it's here to stay. And sadly Im in that category.

As for T8, the story mode and the characters endings are NOT related, every single T8 character ending is non-canon, BUT. the characterization is. It's all "fluff". And it's honestly not a problem bc it makes things more focused: the characters episodes have a clear beginning meant to establish the character's motivation, a few dialogues between the different fights, and an ending, and out of all of that you get a clearer picture on who the character is, on their relationships with other characters... the endings dont NEED to advance the story forward bc that's what the story mode is for, the endings are here for presentation, for spectacle, for fun. And they're MAD fun.

As opposed to MK, Tekken has a clear set of protagonists: the titular tournament hosts, the Mishimas, and I'm lucky enough to find their story really interesting and to have them as my favorite characters. Some other people don't, however, and that's where you usually get the "oh [...] didnt do anything in the story!"

In MK12, that can be a problem, bc the story is ALL you're gonna get about your fav, but in T8, it's like... yeah? This is Jin's story, why the fuck would Feng (chinese kenpo master wanting to be the strongest) be relevant. And imo, his inclusion in the actual story was the best it couldve been (he lost to a wing chun master who chose to support Jin so he joined the bad guys team to get revenge, we see him for one fight and thats it). Not ALL characters have to be relevant, and if you want to see more of your fav: well they have an entire episode dedicated to them, with a fun little cgi cutscene at the end!

Tekken is like a movie: you dont need every character to be fully developped to drive the message of the story across, Mortal Kombat is like a franchise: every character has something to contribuate to build the world and move the story forward. Tekken wants to be Fast And Furious and Mortal Kombat wants to be Star Wars. They're different with both positives and negatives.