#maybe you all could educate me on some hidden lore?

[metalomagnetic]

I asked a question about your house elf lore a while back, are you still sitting on that one or did it not get to you? or maybe you don't want to answer it? sorry to bother you I just wanted to see if I should resend it or not

I'm sorry! I looked back through my inbox until I found your question.

Sometimes asks pile up and I lose track of them! I hope no one thinks I am ignoring them on purpose.

Now, with that out of the way, here is your initial question (I hope this is yours, at least):

I love the world building you did around house elves/goblins/the fey in "it runs" all the little tidbits that get dropped make me hungry for more. Can you possibly elucidate on the full story behind the fey vs wizard kind conflict? was the black family and astral magic actually instrumental in the war or is that just black propaganda? i'm not sure how reliable of a narrator a black family elf should be considered.

So, I picture the High Elves more like the elves from Lord of the Rings. As human societies started developing and advancing, the high elves diminished in numbers, losing forests and also they were very sensitive to materials humans started using, like iron and copper and such, that was slowly poisoning them.

I like to imagine they started fucking around with humans sometimes in ancient times. Muggles weren't too perceptive to what was going on, since the elves used magical trickery, but wizards took notice. At the time, wizards coexisted together with muggles in the Harry Potter universe.

There were attempts made to accommodate both species, treaties brokered and then broken, on both sides, until the first war started.

It ended with high casualties on all sides, and with no clear victor. New 'borders' were agreed upon, places for the elves to dwell into, where humans weren't allowed, and vice versa.

Of course, as centuries passed, and muggles especially developed more and more, their villages spreading into larger areas, their needs greater, cities being raised all around, things escalated again. It didn't help that most muggles either didn't believe in the existence of elves, either considered them plights/enemies sent by their gods. Muggles have shorter life spams, and shorter memory. Besides, education and written history wasn't easily available to muggles at large. Elves, on the other hand, have incredible life spans, and while wizards don't come close, they, too, live longer than muggles and they do 'see' magic, so wizards were always more aware of such things, as they are aware of werewolves and vampires etc.

In the second war, the Black family and other great wizarding families were already established powers around Europe, far more organised than their ancestors; by now wands were much more in use, which was a vast improvement from the past, allowing all magical people easier access to magic.

Because they had means of quick communication, unlike muggles, and because the elves were far lesser in numbers than they've been previously, the second Elvish war was mostly between wizards and elves, with very little muggle involvement.

The elves didn't think they could survive as a species in this new, polluted world, so this time there will be no end to the war.

They fought to extinction levels.

The Blacks and their use of astral magic were, indeed, a big part of the war ( in my backstory for this, it was a man named Helix Black the First that was in charge of the family back then). But other families were as instrumental as them. Many great houses perished in the war, and even the Blacks were decimated in numbers, losing nine direct family members, and many other distant relatives or in-laws.

As the war was drawing to a close, and wizards were emerging on the winning side, they started hunting down what remained of small clusters of elves still surviving in deep forests .

They found the elvish children, having been kept hidden during the war (elvish children age far slower than human ones).

Some wizards wanted them killed, to end this once and for all. Others weren't so keen on this plan. A great council was made to decide on their fates.

The side against the slaughter won, but everyone agreed it wasn't a good idea to just leave them be, risking another uprising in the future.

A witch of great power came up with the idea of cursing the elvish younglings, and forcing them into complete obedience. The curse affected the development of the elves, leaving them stunted, emotionally, mentally, and physically.

A Sacred Circle was made out of witches and wizards that gave their lives to power the curse. From England, twenty eight wizards and witches participated in the Circle, including a Black (And because of this, all the families that lost members to this curse, are now know as the Sacred Twenty-Eight. I know that's not what they are in canon, and it was simply a list made by one Mr. Nott, but this is just my head canon to give more depth and history to the wizarding world).

As the curse was cast (I like to imagine it took like two days of casting to manage such a feat of magic) some of the older elvish children managed to escape their makeshift prisons. They sought refuge underground. The curse still reached them, but because of their age (say around 30 years olds, which was still child by elven metrics) they managed to resist at least the compulsions and they remain hidden underground. Their bodies naturally adapted to the environment. They eventually became goblins.

The younger children that didn't escape, including a twelve year old Tessuth, were fully affected by the curse. They never grew properly, their bodies shifted, too, the dark magic wrecking havoc on them. They were then enslaved to wizards. There weren't that many children, but the Sacred Families that fought hardest in the war, and that sacrificed their own to cast the curse, had priority in picking. Helix Black demanded two elves. Tessuth, and her even younger sister (who will eventually become Kreacher's grandmother). People just thought he's a greedy dick for wanting two.

In reality, Helix had deep trauma from the war, had developed a begrudging respect for the elves in the years spent fighting them, but he had also lost his twin children in one battle. When he went to take one elf, he found Tessuth cradling her younger sister, and on an impulse, with his twins in mind, he didn't want to separate them, so he took them both.

Unlike many other houses that took their anger for the losses they suffered on the now newly made house elves, Helix never could put aside the tragedy of it all. He saw the extinction of elves as necessary, he never regretted it, it was wizards (in fact, all humans, not just wizards) or elves, and he served proudly in the war, but the horror of it all stayed with him, and he treated Tessuth and her sister more as prisoners of war than slaves.

He killed himself when his only surviving grandson, who was Tessuth's age, reached adulthood, leaving him in charge of the family.

Eventually, a century or two later, when goblins resurfaced, no one wanted another war. Concessions were made, goblins were allowed to live in the wizarding world, but it was never an easy peace, and that, too, led to many goblin rebellions.

In one of life's ironies, in the last goblin rebellion, the Head of House Black was another Helix.

By that time, however, house-elves had been completely brainwashed into hating goblins. The very old house elves like Tessuth and Kreacher's grandmother, were not only brainwashed, but held resentment for being abandoned by their fellow elven siblings, during the first war, that they escaped without them. The newer generations of elves, completely unaware of this history, simply hated goblins because their masters told them so. House elf magic was used heavily in goblin rebellions, to guard wizarding homes, because goblins and house-elves obviously share the same type of magic.

A true tragedy, and the story of the High Elves, regal, powerful, arrogant, that died off to make way for humans.

Some of the magic in the world died with them, which also affected wizards, turning them weaker. Wizards of today will never be as powerful as the wizards that lived in the time of the High Elves.

There will be short mentions about this in the fic, just a sentence or two, as we already had, but not very much. It is of no importance to Sirius and his journey, and we already know he doesn't care much about house- elves, even if he is fully aware of their history. He doesn't spend time thinking of this, he just barely learned to get along with Kreacher and he's a little scared of Tessuth, so there is no reason to have much of this mentioned.

[fleetingfigures]

GIVE ME A CHARACTER; Hien Rijin

Little disclaimer, I'm an opinionated individual, so if any of my words about the character are rather harsh, try not to take it personally. Media exists to be criticized, and I'm definitely a critic!

How I feel about this character

I'm gonna be honest with you chief, but in finally starting to play FFXIV seriously at about the end of Stormblood, much of its story was rushed through by yours truly, so some of these opinions might be completely wrong to someone who knows STB's lore much better than I. Beyond that, a good chunk of the expansion's NPCs are some of my least enjoyed throughout the entire game, especially on the Garlean side of things. However, the lore and worldbuilding this expansion gave is still some of my favorite, and opened up a lot of doors for speculation, especially for characters on my end (note: see Luo Qiang lol). Though with that out of the way... My first impression of Hien was not a good one. I thought he was pretty stereotypical and one-note, and supposed he was fine to fit the narrative role he was created for. But if there's anything to know about me, I'm not the kindest critic to things that simply exist in their bubble. I think I spent most of the expansion waiting for some sort of character reveal or twist on Hien's part, something to spice him up a bit, but sadly it never really came. That's why among my friends, I refer to Hien as 'White Bread' as he's okay, but he's very bland.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I don't ship NPCs in this game romantically much at all tbh, outside of maybe a stray WoLx(insert name here) relationship here and there. As such, I never even gave this any thought. Though, I think for story purposes, Hien would be better off not being shipped with anyone at all, so that story potential is instead shifted inwards and fleshes out the personal struggles of rebuilding Doma in the wake of their second fight for independence.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

OTP is a strong phrase, so here's some pairings I enjoy thinking about for him: - I think Hien and Thancred would make wonderful drinking buddies. - Hien and his retainers is obviously a good dynamic, especially imagining Yugiri having to play Mom as Gosetsu and Hien get a bit too merry while drinking. - Hien and Lyse having to rely and learn from the other as they're both young royals thrust into the duties of rebuilding their war-torn countries.

My unpopular opinion about this character

I believe my above criticism of Hien being bland is an unpopular opinion? But like... That's another thing I find annoying about Hien - it's that I'm almost incapable of forming any opinions at all about him. All I can say is that he's a bit boring and did his role fine, but I can't even go beyond that, and it pisses me off to no end! Maybe I just didn't read his lore enough or something, but sometimes I find it easy to forget he exists. And that's unfortunate, seeing as he's quite literally the figurehead of Doma. If it weren't for my own fascination with Yanxia and the crumbs of Chinese inspiration within it, I would pay no mind to Doma at all, especially with Hien as its leader.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Something at all? Maybe a moment of weakness in the face of dire straits, something that makes him recall the struggles his father suffered under around 25 years ago. A moment of personal weakness like that, one connected to not only his country's struggles, but ones he's struggled with for most of his life, the same ones that lead him to flee towards the Steppe.

With that my criticism is finished. Overally, I'd give Hien a 5/10 grade as a character. He exists, I guess.

Anyways, thanks for the ask! @placesyoucallhome And I hope this didn't read as too negative lol

[sirenprincess15]

Please Don't Leave Me Chapter 1

Title: Please Don’t Leave Me

Author: SirenPrincess

Description: What if Aleksander hadn’t answered the door when Ivan interrupted the war room kissing? What if Aleksander and Alina had a bit more time to get to know each other before Baghra told her his true identity? Alina is the only one who can comfort Aleksander through his nightmares. Will she leave once she knows who he is?

This story is based on the show version and features a soft on the inside, hard on the outside Aleksander with an emphasis on emotional hurt/comfort and angst. If you are looking for lots of hurt!Aleksander thoughts, then this story is for you. Mal exists but pretty much solely to cause Aleksander some angst. Don’t worry. It will be a Darklina ending.

Chapter 1 is a missing scene at the end of Ep 4 (a bit of a prequel to the real story but I just NEEDED this scene to set them up), and Chapter 2 takes place alongside Ep 5 and then diverges from canon there. I have 14 chapters (49 pages) written so far that I am in the process of editing, and I will be writing a lot more.

Pairings: Aleksander Morozova/Alina Starkov, bits of Ivan/Fedyor

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Grisha are oppressed in this universe, and I don’t shy away from showing the horrors of that. There may eventually be mentions of canon-typical torture (Fjerdan pyres), death of family members, and cruelty to Grisha children. It’s not the focus, but that backdrop is definitely there and comes up as characters discuss their past.

Chapter 1

It was already several hours past a reasonable time to be asleep, but Aleksander sat at his desk pouring over books on the Stag and amplifiers. He had read them all before; he even had some memorized, but he kept hoping that he would glean some hint he had missed before or understand a detail in a new light after recently reading something else. It was likely a futile effort, but he kept trying.

The night before, Alina had stumbled into his war room. He had been distraught over the likely loss of Nina. The rumors of West Ravkans helping the Druskelle capture her, of them turning on Grisha as their kin had before … they were enough to pull him back into the nightmares of the past. But then she had just been there, standing in his doorway. As embarrassed as he was that she had seen him lose control of his power and seen his eyes fill with tears, having her there was exactly what he’d needed. She had reminded him that he wasn’t alone anymore, that he didn’t have to fight to save Grisha with his power alone anymore. He had hers now. The strength of her light, her warmth when she grabbed his wrist was amazing. It had been enough to banish his shadows away. She was getting more powerful as she adjusted to using what she had always hidden. Together they were strong, but it still wasn’t enough. But if they found the Stag and he worked with her, together they would be powerful enough to protect Grisha. Not to mention what an amplifier that strong would do to her lifeline.

A soft knock at his door surprised him. He’d sent Ivan to bed hours ago. Perhaps an update on Nina? “Come,” he called.

“Alina,” he couldn’t help the smile that came over his face at seeing her standing in his doorway. “Come in.”

She looked more comfortable tonight entering his rooms. He liked that she seemed more at ease with him and his proximity. Gone were the days of her backing away in fear when he moved towards her. Tonight, though, she seemed different than even the night before, more confident somehow. Perhaps it was just that Genya had retouched her undereyes to get rid of the tiredness there, but that wouldn’t account for her more relaxed body language.

“Still having trouble sleeping?” he asked with concern. “I can get you some kvas,” he offered, rising to go get her some.

“No, thank you. I … I’m feeling much more relaxed tonight, actually.”

So he wasn’t imagining things. “To what do I owe this pleasure, then? Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad you’re here. But, two visits in two nights, careful, I might come to like this,” he teased.

She matched his smile but blushed a little. It looked good on her. “It sounds silly when I put words to it.”

“Tell me,” he commanded.

“I just wanted to check on you,” she admitted. “I talked to Genya, and she said she’d heard rumors that you often have trouble sleeping, weight of the world on your shoulders and all that. I hope you don’t mind that she shared that. She was just trying to put my mind at ease. But, last night you just seemed … Well, I worried you might need a little light tonight.” She glanced nervously over at him for his reaction.

All he could do was laugh. “You’re checking up on me?” It was unbelievable, unexpected, and adorable.

“Are you laughing at me?” she demanded.

He shook his head. “I’m laughing at me. Here I’m worried if I intimidate you, and you think I need tucked in for the night.”

“What? Is the great General Kirigan too important to have someone care how he’s feeling?”

“No,” he whispered, amazed at how she had this way of cutting right through to him. “Not at all. Quite the opposite.” It was just that no one ever cared to even notice, unless you counted when the others feared they would anger him.

“Please, join me,” he offered. He pulled a chair for her next to his at the desk.

She took it and glanced at the desk full of books. “You’re interested in the Stag, too!” she said with surprise.

“You know the lore of the Stag?” Of course he’d seen her sketches and read her letters, but he wasn’t sure how much she actually knew about the object of her dreams.

“Must you always be shocked when I know history? I am educated, you know. Perhaps not as a Grisha, but I am well-read.”

“Perhaps you’d like to help me, then,” he offered and gestured at the pile of books. “I’ve read them until the words swirl in my head, but maybe you have a different perspective. You might notice something different.”

Her eyes scanned the books and one of them caught her eyes. “This one,” she said, pulling a book of text written entirely in Old Ravkan.

He remembered Genya mentioning in one of her debriefs that Alina spoke Old Ravkan. It was a useful skill for the court, but their accents grated his nerves. Alina’s voice, though? He smiled at the thought of speaking Old Ravkan with her. “So, read it to me?”

He closed his eyes as he listened to her beautiful voice read to him in his native language. “This is different from my dreams,” she murmured as her fingers brushed a line.

“You dream of the Stag?” He hoped she would open up and tell him more.

She nodded. “I know it’s silly. Mal would tell me it’s just a fairytale, but …” she trailed off.

“It’s a sign, Alina,” he said with confidence. He reached out and took her hand. “I believe the Stag is real, and I believe it’s meant for you. People might think me a fool, too, but I can feel it. It’s meant for you. Your dreams just prove it. I want to find it for you, to amplify your powers. I know you’re scared to face the Fold, but with me and the Stag, you will be powerful enough. For the first time, Alina, I have hope.”

She was still frightened, unsure if she would be enough; he could see it in her eyes, but it was less so than before. “I did much better calling the light on my own today,” she shared.

“You did? Show me.”

She looked a little nervous, but there was more sureness in her as she stood and called a large ball of the light. “I know it’s not a lot yet, but I’m getting stronger.”

“I can tell. You’re doing great. Do you mind if I ask what changed? You do seem different tonight.”

She took a deep breath. “I think I just had to accept who I am, to stop hiding her. I’ve spent my entire life hiding. I had to accept I am Grisha, and I have a place in all this.”

He wanted to say ‘by my side’ but he worried it would be too much for her. He had probably said too much thanks to the kvas the night before, not to mention nearly kissing her. And, yet, look at how she had responded. Strong. Confident. It suited her. “Together we will have the strength to make sure Grisha never have to hide again.” He looked her in the eye. “I will not let us fail. Now, tell me about your dreams.”

[honey-milk-depresso]

3: The Crow

Aepper’s lore in NRC!

Part 1 

Part 2

Part 4

Part 4.5

Part 5

=============================================================

The first time Aepper had met Crowley was all the way back when he was 12.

Crowley had a heavy amount of relationships with others, much more than you think he has.

He’s had many partners that helped him maintain the school’s reputation, that he somehow got many outsiders to help him, that being Aepper’s master themselves.

Aepper’s master had treasured education, and magically got along with Crowley. Aepper found it unbelievable.

He always thought the bird man was a clown, and very annoying. He tried hugging the young Aepper and cooing about what “a polite looking child” Aepper was, much to the poor boy’s dismay. 

And when he heard such about an agreement made with Crowley and other people of some high power revolving around him, he was a little nervous of what might happen to him. He felt like he was being... sold? But he trusted his master, and when they told him what the deal was all about, he slightly cringed. What was even more bizarre was that his master told him the deal on the very same day his master had fell into the stirring chaos, as if they knew what would happen to them...

Aepper shook those thoughts.

Now is not the time.

Walking into Crowley’s office, a chair floated to his direction and went behind Aepper, to which he sat down.

A key shaped walking stick hovered above, Crowley grips onto it as he sat down on his chair as well.

“Well, Aepper. Welcome to NRC!” Crowley greeted with dramatic enthusiasm.

Aepper looked at him unamused, to which the headmaster sighed.

“I get it, Aepper. Not a really good way to start the year, I know. I’ve heard of what happened, that’s why I called you to come here.”

Aepper looked down. 

(News spread that fast?)

Crowley just scratched the back of his head. “Yes, unfortunately. Your master was too infamous, and their death simply couldn’t be ignored. Seems that they took note where they were heading and immediately reported afterwards.”

Aepper frowned. 

Is like they wanted that ship to crash and sink.

(Why didn’t you let me go through the Dorm Sorting?)

Crowley’s smile seemed to falter. “I... You were too late for it..? Sort of..”

Aepper quirked an eyebrow, unconvinced by Crowley’s answer. It sounded as if he was questioning himself. 

(Was I to be rejected like that student, Yuu?)

Crowley shook his head, frantically waving his hands in the air.

“No, no, no! It’s not that! You do possess magic, yes! But... I just can’t tell you my reason..”

Aepper could only sigh, deciding not to pry his new master any further.

(Okay, fine.)

Another thing Aepper always knew about Crowley was the secrets he’s hidden.

To the naked eye, Crowley seems like a useless, carefree person who doesn’t know what responsibilities are.

But knowing more of Crowley, he’s a man full of secrets. And he hides them well.

Sometimes Aepper wonders if that carefree attitude of his was to mask all the secrets he’s kept from many, to hide how knowledgeable he is. If so, it would be a mystery as to why. Perhaps the truth he holds would hurt others? Aepper wouldn’t know. 

But again, better not to pry his new master.

Crowley cleared his throat to steer them back to the main focus.

“Anyways! Ramshackle! Your requirements and daily job to do!”

The sudden outburst almost made Aepper fall out of his chair, as if a quiet rooster started crowing loudly in the very break of dawn.

“I need you to take care of the new student of Ramshackle, Yuu! And maybe keep an eye on that cat..”

Aepper’s mouth when slightly agape.

(Are you kidding me?)

“No!” 

The oblivious and straightforward response from Crowley, his awfully brilliant smile mostly made Aepper twitched an eye.

That cat was very annoying to deal with, trying to burn Aepper’s tail coat and then using him as a means to escape from the students. Aepper’s not one to speak, since he’s also used others to his advantage, but still.

That cat was annoying.

Yuu was just... there. They didn’t even had a clue to how they came to NRC in the first place. In the eyes of Aepper, he thought Crowley made a mistake to bring them in.

Too bad for Aepper, those were orders. If he were to serve Crowley and tolerate the education system of NRC, once he graduates, he’ll be able to have his criminal records erased, and then avenge his master’s death. He won’t be merciful to the killer, he swears.

(Fine. What do they need? Sunlight for photosynthesis?) Aepper states sarcastically.

“Now, now, Aepper. Yuu needs someone like you to get used to the school.”

(I’m new here myself.)

“Yes, but you possess magic!”

(So does the cat. Just release him already.)

“I’m not having my school on fire, Aepper.”

(Touche.)

“Just... you know my reasons are quite bizarre, but... it’s necessary. And I don’t wish to share much, you know?”

Aepper simply sighed, as he threw his head back, using a hand to make his reply.

(Yes.)

“Excellent! I’ll drop you off at Ramshackle! I’m sure Yuu is looking forward to meeting you!”

Aepper rolled his eyes.

If they even were enthusiastic to meet me, I’m sure as hell I wouldn’t be able to relate.

Aepper followed Crowley outside, the headmaster closed the door shut, locking it with a key.

[snowwhitelass]

New Outlander Game Coming – Talking with the Game Designers

By:  Erin Conrad, June 15, 2021

Gamers Corner, TV News

Outlander game, Sony, Starz Outlander, Variable Outcomes

Who wouldn’t want to dash around the Highlands with Jamie, trying to be his favorite, and rescuing him from trouble on the way? That definitely sounds like a fun time, even if all you can do is dream about it. Or IS that all you can do?

NO! Sometime this fall, a brand new board game will debut – Outlander The Series! Designed by the husband and wife team of Matthew and Ashley Killeen, the game will let you play with a bunch of your friends, meeting familiar faces along the way, and getting in and out of all kinds of scrapes. The game will be available for holiday shopping, so you can start to set up your Outlander game nights now. I had the opportunity to talk with Matthew and Ashley about the development of this new game, and learned some details.

From the game’s marketing information: “His fate is in your hands! Step through the stones of Craigh Na Dun and run through the Scottish Highlands with the handsome Jamie. The year is 1743, and the outlaw James Fraser is at your side as you navigate the thrills and dangers of the Highlands. Use your wit, reach the right locations, make the right friends, and gather the items you need, all while keeping Jamie out of the hands of the many who would do him wrong. The gallows await fair Jamie (or worse!) should you fail. Fulfill your destiny, and win his heart. Only then will victory be yours!”

Outlander is the Killeen’s first big franchise game. “From a business point of view, it’s something I always wanted to do,” Matthew said. “I enjoy games with an IP license attached, TV show or movie, and I have designed prototypes that might be good for Ghostbusters or Star Trek. I really wanted to get into that.” Ashley knew Matthew was interested in trying a licensed game, and said “I’ve been watching Outlander, you should make a game based on that.” Matthew hadn’t yet seen the show, so he said “you do it” – and she did.

Ashley didn’t get into the show until season three. “The first version (of the game) was based on the book, because I thought that might be the avenue to go. But it ended up being more layers to secure the book rights than TV. We heard back from Starz/Sony quickly, and the show and book were similar enough that I didn’t have to change too much from initial design. I swapped out characters and items that didn’t translate from one to another. Jamie still has same event encounters, the same enemies. It’s nice to look at both sides, to really put in all those little hidden tidbits from show. I’m hoping that fans of the show will enjoy all those subtle things that I’ve put in. But the other thing we wanted to make sure was that it was not dependent upon being familiar with the show, because the last thing you want is a game with Outlander masked on top of it that doesn’t play as anything on its own. And having a lot of friends who knew nothing about Outlander, how could I get them to the table?”

Matthew said, “One of philosophies for the board game stuff was that I’ve seen games that were maybe like a movie spin on top. Is this fun or exciting because of the game, or just because of the movie or tv show tie in? And one reason, the biggest reason why I got excited was when I first played it, I had never seen the show. I knew nothing about it. I had never seen the characters, and yet, I still enjoyed it. It was a good game.” Ashley added, “He has since seen the show.” Matthew continued, “That’s another thing that’s always bothered me. I feel like if a certain publisher or game designer makes something but doesn’t know the back story, that’s lazy. As soon as I found out we were going to do this, I watched the show. I know all my lore now. I was obviously able to play the game again once I knew the show and the lore, and it made the game play better.” “You understood my decisions,” said Ashley. “Exactly,” said Matthew. “Whether you know the show or not, it’s a good game.”

Ashley discussed their process: “I started December 2019. This past December, we were finally able to go forward. We got the contract from Sony in November. It was a long process! We got approvals for the design of the game, and access to the virtual library. We could figure out images that would go with the components we had.” Once they had that, Matthew figured out the graphic design for the game.

Was Sony/Starz helpful? Enthusiastic? Ashley said, “They were enthusiastic. They didn’t really have a board game. They had Destiny Dice, but that wasn’t the same thing.” (For my review of Destiny Dice, a game that came out a couple of years ago, click here.) I’ve had reservations about this previous game, so I asked how they overcame the failings of that one to make this new game. My concern with a platform like this is that the show is so big and layered – a group of women will come together over a glass of wine or three, and are they going to be able to figure it out easily enough to have a good time in an evening? Ashley feels that the new game will let us do that. “The idea behind this was that we wanted to bring everybody to the table – people whose board games lives consisted of Scrabble for their whole lives, and those who have played campaigning, like Mage Knights, epically, every week. We want to bring both those sets to the table. It should be intuitive enough once you’ve figured out the first turn order. It’s the repetition of that, it’s just your personal strategy that changes on what you choose to do, but the game play isn’t going to change on you as you go.”

She added, “But there’s enough in there that if you are an experienced board game player, you’re not sitting there bored waiting for the next thing to happen. That was our goal, as many people at the same table as possible enjoying it at the level they’re at. You can have the game player who knows nothing about Outlander, and you can have the Outlander fan who doesn’t play board games, and they will have a good evening. We also tried to be strategic about the length, because you don’t want to have just a tease of a game, because then you can’t be really invested and immersed in that world, but we also know, especially being parents now, you don’t have time to spend four hours on a game. That’s not going to happen any more. What’s a good length? If you can watch an episode of Outlander, you can play a round. So we wanted to find something that made sense. A lot of these pieces, once you apply a little logic to it, they fell together really nicely.”

This is the first “franchise” game the Killeens have designed. The fascination with board games started in 2004, and in 2011, Matthew began to design games as hobby. “I enjoyed playing, but in between then I was going to school and forgot about it. As school was winding down, I really got into it. I created an educational game called Witchful Thinking. We’re both teachers, and when doing practicum, the teacher (that he was working with) had kids doing games for math. but they were really boring, and the kids didn’t like it at all. I remembered I had a game that worked for this! I started looking at my business from a professional point of view, filling in gaps in the market. I wanted to bring people to a table they hadn’t been to yet. Witchful Thinking is a card game – witches brewing potions, teaching math – subtraction, addition, pre-algebra, and more advanced math. It was a great educational tool.” The company has more ideas – they have an upcoming Kickstarter for a game called Tennessee James, an Indiana Jones parody (learn more here). Matthew says that the company expects to bring out many more titles – “Between the two of us, we have a backlog of designs.”

When do they expect to have this out? Matthew said definitely for the Christmas season. “I am working with manufacturers right now, trying to iron out some of those details, but we’re going to be moving into manufacturing right now. It depends on how long it takes to do the mass production plus shipping, but I would estimate this would maybe in stores (or online retailers) by October. That’s probably a good estimate.”

Did they do a lot of testing? “We needed especially non-Outlander fans to play this game. The Outlander fans, it didn’t take a lot of convincing to get them to play,” said Matthew. “Even before there were pictures on the cards, they knew the board, they knew the characters. So even if you had a blank piece of paper that just said Murtagh on it, they know what it means. I wasn’t worried about the Outlander fans, and the game play is pretty intuitive, once you go through the steps. So once you’ve done a round, you can keep going around, no problem. So we were just like, ok, you don’t know what these names mean and where these places are, but you’ve got a bit of the information, are you on board? And so far the reaction has been, yes, I feel like I’m playing a game, even if they don’t know who Jamie is or anything like that.”

He continued, “The tall and short of it is that this that this has been play tested thoroughly. It’s not broken, and the most important part is that it’s fun.” Ashley added, “It’s a nice balance of cooperative, nobody wants Jamie to come to any harm, but you still want to be his favorite. So you can get a little catty, and that’s what makes the fun. You’ll be adding something a little stronger to your tea nights once you start playing that way.”

Matthew said, “One of my strategies for play testing is that I like to try different strategies each time and see what works and what doesn’t .Ashley laughed, “You played mean one time.” “Yeah, it’s my wife, I’ve got to play nice, right? But one time, I didn’t play nice, and I took a competitive edge, and it was awesome,” he said. So players, remember that!

“When I was working on Witchful Thinking, I was looking to put it into Walmart and Target. But they don’t want to talk to the independent company, they want to make sure they’re getting multiple products from the same distributors. So we want to make sure that the distributors that we get are also trying to get the game out there. I do have distribution in the US for Witchful Thinking, and they’re excited to take on this one.”

What was your favorite part of the game, as you play it, I asked? Ashley said, “I like the QuickSave. This is a component we have because Jamie is always going to move in a predictable pattern, and the three villains he’s trying to avoid – Black Jack Randall, the Redcoats and the Watch – those are all the Meeples that are going to be moving around. As you are collecting friends along the way, if you happen to be en route to an Encounter, you can use the special abilities from your friends. So maybe it’s Dougal who is going to be discarded, and that will be a Quicksave to put Jamie back in hiding, so the game’s not over, you haven’t captured him yet. I like that idea, the Quicksave. So you’re strategizing, not just for what’s going to give you a lot of Favor from Jamie to try to win his heart in the game, but where are these people going to help me if Jamie is in a pickle. Because he’s going to get himself in a lot of pickles.”

As he does on the show, I said! Ashley continued, “And as a designer, that’s a fun way for me to tie in the personality of the characters. There’s a reason why they have the values that they do. There was a little argument between us in the design phase, because I made Willie – Willie Mackenzie from the first season – he has this hidden kind of superpower that most of the time, he’s a bit weaker, but when the danger level’s up, he’s strong. Matt was criticizing that, ‘he’s a minor character, why is he so strong?’ But you haven’t been paying attention. Because when Jamie’s in Wentworth, it’s Willie who’s willing to go. So that’s his power, when things are toughest, he’s the one that can save the most. I was having fun finding those little nuggets, the lore, that fans love, and if you’re paying attention to how I’ve designed it, you’ll start seeing like why you get more Favor in some places, or more Wit, or why you have the saving abilities.”

The women playing will like seeing that, I agreed. “I think that we’ve got it so that your favorite characters, from S1 at least, this is just in the Highlands, you’re going to see them, I think they’ll do you proud,” Ashley says. “We’re still excited about it, even though it’s been a year and a half doing it, so I think that says something about it, that we can still be passionate about it, little choices like that, I think the game has life.” Ashley told me that she has ideas for additional Outlander games to follow each season, so this may go on for quite a while!

As their cute kids came into the room, I asked if game design was full time, or is this an extra job? Ashley said, “I’m a full time teacher, so I’m squeezing this in between the report card writing and the classroom stuff. With a bunch of changes with Covid, it’s made more sense for Matthew to stay home, so we decided to go all in, make this run for itself.” Matthew said, “I can speak from the graphic design standpoint – I didn’t design the gameplay, Ashley did that, but I offered suggestions here and there, it was her decision on things, and she made some great decisions. And between that, I did the playtesting and the graphic design in January and early February, I’ve put in hundreds of hours, not just with the graphic design, but also the business stuff too, figuring out social media posts, getting things approved by Sony, talking with the distributors. So this has been not just like a full time job, but overtime, I’ve put in some serious hours for this.”

Since this is the company’s first big license, I asked if is this something they want to continue. “Absolutely,” Matthew said. “And I knew that when I turned this into a hobby back in 2011. I enjoy making board games. I enjoying making movies, watching movies, reading books, all that stuff. I needed some sort of creative outlet. And this was it. I enjoy tabletop games, so I found a business that I’m passionate about. But I found over the years, since I am a small business, I had to learn everything. I can do the game design, I can do the graphic design, the IP stuff, social media, the PR, distribution. I have all those experiences, so if I can continue this, I’ll be very happy.”

Price point for the game should be $48.99 CA (US equivalent is about $40). And it will be available in the US, and more – Matthew says, “The territories we have with Sony are Canada, USA, UK, Australia and France. We’re a small family run company, but at the same time, this is a big license. So we want to do the fans proud, we want to do this IP proud, so we want to give the biggest reach that we can.” Ashley said, “We’re limited because we’re not the distributors, so once we put it in those hands, it’s really up to those stores that want to put it on their shelves. So until we know where they’re placing it, I can’t tell you ‘oh, pick it up here.’ ” Matthew agreed. “I have experience with all of that, so when I made Witchful Thinking and released that, I had a hard time getting distribution. So I went store to store, city to city, and I made those contacts myself. For me as a business owner, I’m not just one of those owners who throws money out and does it. I have experience in all these aspects. So when this game comes out, let’s say that distribution doesn’t have as far of a reach as possible, I’ll make it happen. With Covid especially, the online market is important.”

“From a business standpoint, we’re a new company,” Matthew said. “It seems that we’re very new to this but that’s not really the case. This game has been been in development for a long time, and between the two of us we have 20+ games in prototypes. So we definitely know how to make games, and make games fun. And the fact that we’re both teachers, I think makes it even better. Because as teachers, we have to know how to sell to an audience.” ” And explain the games,” Ashley added.

PRE-ORDER THE GAME RIGHT HERE! Three if by Space has the game available for pre-orders in our Collectibles shop!! Click here to go to the pre-order page!

[hunterguyveriv]

Hidden Beauty

Here is my submission for Days 1(First Sunrise/Set) & 2(Late Night Adventure) of Kacxa Week I had this plan to do quick ficlets for these 2 days but no matter what I did they merged into one and Kind of ties in with “The Promise.”

This post would have been up sooner, but I kind of pepper sprayed myself. Harvested hot pepper seeds from plants I grew earlier and apparently I didn’t wash the oils off well enough xD xD xD 

Anyway, here is my submission for days 1 & 2 titled Hidden Beauty

"Let me take you somewhere in which you will feel young and take your mind away from all this..."

It was nighttime on Verolgah-VI. The two planetoid moons did their annual dance across the evening sky as shooting stars streaked the upper atmosphere. The devastated planet's temperature was chilly, but nothing like what most of the Paladins were used to, save for one.

He looked to the lions with 3 out of the 5 charged up, Red was in the final stages of charging up. He let out a sigh; some things were going to plans, but he had to remain on edge as the leader. Shit tends to hit the fan when one least expected it, and with friends still about 2 maybe 3 more days away, anything could go wrong.

Since they first landed on, well, more or less crashed when the lions collapsed from low energy, the Paladins all slept in the cave with Acxa. But tonight was different; it was cold enough to drive them to the lions that were charged. Hunk, Lance, Shiro, and Coran were sleeping in the Yellow Lion. Allura, Pidge, and Romelle were sleeping in Green, with Blue-Powered down to preserve power. Krolia and Keith's wolf were snuggled up in Black, which was somewhat comfier than the ground from the Star-whale, but nothing close to temperature.

Keith only grabbed his red & white jacket from Black's storage locker, from when he grabbed what little belongings he left on the Castle when he took a sabbatical from the Voltron-Force. Krolia was ready to get some sleep when she asked if he would turn in. His response was he had too much on his mind and was going for a walk. When his mother saw Acxa walk out of the cave, she gave him her sly "mother knows all" smirk and responded with "you kids don't stay out too late" before turning and taking his wolf with her.

Blushing and stammering at her, he turned to see Acxa wearing something similar to an Earth styled tank top in the moons' light, which her blue skin radiant. When he got within range of her, she gestured her head to follow her. He threw his jacket on which even over his Paladin Armor slightly loose. He put his belt with his Marmoran blade on and started walking with her. She took him to her favorite spot in silence. It had been three long years since she saw him last and even though she had so much to tell him, opening up was something relatively new for her. Even taking him to a spot she had grown to love in her mind was a huge gamble, that she was surprised she was doing.

It was one of the most stunning sights next to her that he had ever seen. It was a massive valley with a small creek like waterfall leading into a small shallow lake. Further behind were some of the most gorgeous mountain ranges he had ever seen with millions of stars. Even the nearby Argola nebula was just barely seen. Its blues, greens, purples, & reds intensified by the planet's atmosphere. His mouth agape, Acxa finally broke her silence. "I found this place about a year and a half after I was left here by the coalition."

Keith walked forward, taking in the beauty of the water, reflecting the moons and stars. The water droplets flying into the air reminded him of fireflies he used to catch with his father when he was a small boy, "It's beautiful." She walked up to match his location, slowly wrapping her arm around his. She sensed him tensing a little and then relax, but she knew he was much like her. Both introverted warriors, just starting to let their feelings show on the surface. "In the morning this spot reminds me of my homeworld, before it was officially... 'indoctrinated' into the Empire."

He looked to her, seeing a sorrowful look on her face. "Tell me about it?" She looked at him softly, smiling, seeing the sincerity in his eyes. She started to sit down, but he stopped her taking his jacket off, laying it on the ground gesturing for them to sit on it. She slowly sat down on his coat. She looked at him. "Won't you get cold?" He shook his head, "Nah, I grew up in the desert for the most part. I am used to brutally hot and brutally cold temps."

Acxa nodded and looked up to the stars and looked back at him. "From what I remember, it wasn't like this planet. For the better part of a deca-phoeb the planet was a relatively fridgid planet, but it was no barren froze wasteland. My mother's people were born in a region in which it was neither barely above freezing or frozen. The closer you got to the planet's polar region the darker blue their skin got, towards the equatorial sections they were either a lignt blue almost white color almost like that little girl & those two Alteans. But regardless of our skintone we all loved Aaenergola..."

Keith continued to listen to the Acxa tell him of her homeworld. The architecture, the lore, some of the history, the customs, and so much more emphatically. But when it came to the story of the Empire coming to her world, her demeanor and tone changed. Her planet had fought the best it could but ultimately was indoctrinated into the Empire.

She revealed her father was a doctor and her mother a Galra Lieutenant who he had saved from dying. Both harbored no ill will towards the other's race. When she was born, both parents wanted her yo have a decent education despite being a half-blood. But it wasn't until she got to her parents' death when she was 9 that she became bitter. When Aaenergolan Terrorists executed her parents for helping Galran citizens while Aaenergolans were starving. She trailed off as she remembered coming out of her hiding place. Finding her father brutally murdered, protecting the area she was hiding.

Keith, for the first time, saw tears streaking down her face and her lip trembling. He placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to scoot closer to him. He had asked if she wanted to stop, and she nodded her head, wiping some of her tears away, asking about his homeworld.

As she did to him, he told her of Earth and his life on the distant planet they were trying to get back to. Of the blue skies and oceans, everything that made the planet one of the most beautiful he has ever lived on. Growing up with just a father before he died fighting a fire. His life before his adopted brother Shiro came into it.

Keith told her it wasn't until he was on a Blade mission did he learn who his mother was and later on in the Quantum Abyss, the reasons why he grew up without her in his life. Just hearing his voice caused her to relax and snuggle up to him. He felt her wrap an arm around his waist, prompting him to wrap an arm around her shoulders. When he stopped talking about Earth, she was fast asleep, snoring softly on his shoulder. Not long after, he fell asleep after repositioning, so her head was on his chest armor.

Many Vargas later, Acxa sat right up as one of the suns started to rise. She was expecting to be alone, which typically happened when she let her guard down, showing a side people typically never see. But was relieved seeing Keith still sleeping next to her. She pulled her legs to her chest and started watching the suns rise.

He started to stir, feeling the warmth on his face. When he woke up, he saw Acxa sitting up, his jacket draped over her shoulders. He slowly sat up and beheld one of the most stunning sights as the twin suns started to dance across the sky. The water, especially the waterfall, looked like it was molten lava. Like the sky, the vegetation itself looked like it was ablaze, swaying in the wind with colors of reds, blues, greens, and purples.

Both half breeds talked a little while enjoying the beauty of the sunset heads perched against each other. When the bottom of the second sun was just barely over the distant mountains, they decided it was time to head back to the group. But before leaving, he took one last look at their surroundings and turned to her.

She had a nervous look on her face, "About last night..." He had a delicate look on his face and softly smiled, "I want to thank you for last night. You bringing me to this beautiful place was as if you were opening your true self to me." She closed her mouth, being a little surprised at being thanked; she started to blush purple. "It takes great courage and trust to open up to someone, and I hope I am worthy of both."

Almost 2 hours later: The group was starting to freak out that Keith was nowhere to be found, nor was Acxa. Most of the group was searching the compound, while others were searching the immediate area. Some were worried that the pirates took them, one worried that their host handed him over to the pirates, while another knew all too well where they were. She refused to answer anyone's questions about why she wasn't worried. But Coran soon put two and two together, once being a parent himself.

When the group regrouped, it wasn't until his wolf snapped his head up, ears perked that everyone put their attention elsewhere. With their leader and hostess missing, The Paladins drew their bayards ready for anything. If it were an ambush like last time, they'd be prepared to fight.

Two figures were walking towards them with the suns at their backs, nearly blinding everyone. When the wolf bolted and teleported, everyone got on edge, waiting for the inevitable attack. But it never came. Instead, they could barely make out one figure stopping greeting the wolf and the three of them walking back.

As they got close, enough everyone realized that it was Keith with Acxa wearing his jacket. But what really caught their attention was that they were both holding hands and that their demeanor was different. It was no longer of two socially awkward Galrans who tried hiding there was something there to clearly having broken the ice with each other.

[anneapocalypse]

Chorus Rewatch: Season 13: The Temples & Dr. Grey

Crossposted from dreamwidth. Back in the spring, I did a full rewatch of the Chorus Trilogy with the purpose of studying its worldbuilding more closely. This series of posts is from that rewatch.

There are going to be several posts for this season, because we get a ton of worldbuilding clues in 13, and there is just so much to unpack. So I wanted to start with the thing that pushed me to do a full rewatch in the first place (aside from wanting to take my shiny new blu-rays for a spin): a line of dialogue I caught while listening in on the RT TV stream a couple weeks ago. I’d never picked up this one line, buried in a block of very fast talking by Dr. Grey, and it had me wondering what else I might have missed.

To investigate the alien temple Charon’s been studying, yes dear, you told me on the radio. Not surprising, really; emerged from the ground shortly after UNSC pulled out, never did anything sadly but that doesn’t mean that they won’t! Thankfully, I spent time brushing up on their history in between college internships.

I’m posting this whole because the rest is going to be important later, but first let’s look at the biggest “Wait, WHAT?” buried in the middle.

“[the temples] emerged from the ground shortly after UNSC pulled out”

WOW. OKAY.

Let’s unpack this.

So, Chorus was chosen for colonization due to its high concentration of alien artifacts, but at the time of colonization, the temples were under the ground. The UNSC later abandoned Chorus (which I assume means they withdrew funding and material support for the colonization mission), leaving the colonists to fend for themselves. It was only after the UNSC withdrew that the towers rose out of the ground and into the sky.

So, I have one big question here.

WHY?

And I mean that in a Doylist sense sense as well as a Watsonian.

This phenomenon is never mentioned again by any other character, yet we have no reason to doubt Dr. Grey’s word on this; she is demonstrably the resident expert, so I think we have to take it as canon. But what a weird curveball of a piece of a canon. So the whole time the UNSC were trying to extract useful artifacts from Chorus, the towers were… underground. Presumably they were detectable, the colonist just couldn’t do anything with them. And then after the UNSC pulled out, the towers emerged from the ground.

What an Event that must have been.

Again, the big question is why. What triggered this event? Unfortunately, we’ll probably never have a canon answer to that, so it’s anyone’s guess. One possibility is that the towers were activated simply by the planet’s population reaching a critical mass, which happened to occur only after the UNSC withdrew support. Another possibility is that with UNSC oversight gone, the colonists disregarded safety protocols and became more aggressive in their excavation efforts and managed to trigger something. Personally, I’d lean toward the latter as it’s more interesting, but your mileage may vary.

Anyway, we don’t know exactly when the UNSC pulled out of Chorus, only that it happened before the beginning of the war. But that line about Dr. Grey studying the towers’ history is important also. Back in season 12, Dr. Grey comments on her experience with alien archeology:

Sarge: Plasma?

Grey: Alien energy source. I've seen it countless times in archaeological digs.

Simmons: Wait, I thought you were a surgeon?

Grey: I have an IQ of 240. A prodigy can only cut people open so many times before she needs to find a hobby!

So alien technology is Dr. Grey’s hobby, kind of a special interest of hers, and she appears to be quite knowledgeable about it. Dr. Grey is also a doctor, specifically a surgeon, and she doesn’t say anything about not finishing medical school so we can assume she did. I’m going to say she probably got her doctorate before the civil war consumed the whole planet, because by the time we meet Chorus, whole cities are abandoned and institutions of higher education probably haven’t survived the war. And even if she breezed through medical school (she is, as she reminds us, a genius), it takes some time to get that degree. She also told us back in 12 that during grad school she volunteered at a remote research facility designed to study wildlife. Emily certainly kept herself busy during her education.

Even if we want to say Dr. Grey completed her medical degree in half the usual time, we’re still looking at 4-5 years of study and that before the war got so bad that institutions broke down. She was in college when she studied the history of the temples on her own time. Their history. In order for a thing to have history, it has to have been around for a while, so I’d say that the temples must have emerged from the ground at least a few years before Emily was “brushing up on their history.”

Putting all that together, it’s a rough estimate but I’d say the Event of the temples’ emergence has to have been, at minimum, maybe twelve years ago.

But that's not our only clue.

A couple of Fed soldiers remark on having visited the temples as tourist attractions when they were kids. If they’re around 18 years old, that’s probably at bare minimum, six years ago; potentially more like 8-12 years. And by that time, the Event has slipped into the realm of History, and the towers have gone from potential threats to scientific curiosities to tourist traps. I would note that no one except Dr. Grey, who spent time studying the temples’ history, even mentions the Event of their emergence. To the young soldiers of the Federal Army and the New Republic, they’ve just always been there. That, to me, pushes the Event back even further; 20 years begins to sound like a more reasonable minimum than 10.

There’s one more clue I want to pull in here, also involving Dr. Grey. When Carolina’s team goes out to the coordinates shown to them at the Temple of Arms, they find themselves at the jungle temple with the mysterious portal that will test them to find a true warrior. (Temple of Trials, seriously why didn’t they canonically call it the Temple of Trials? It’s a perfect name!)

At this temple, Grey remarks, “The government spent ample time studying these relics and we’ve only been here a few hours!” When Tucker asks if they made any progress, Grey replies, “Actually they got fed up and abandoned all of their work!” On cue, the camera cuts to some crates bearing a note that says: “Will return in:” with a handwritten “FUCK YOU!”

Originally, I had assumed this was the UNSC, based on all the other dialogue we get about the UNSC abandoning Chorus. But in light of Dr. Grey’s remarks about the temples emerging after the UNSC’s withdrawal, this now presents a problem. If this temple was hidden underground during the UNSC’s colonization of Chorus, how could they have been inside the temple studying it? I mean, you could probably make up something about the UNSC excavating around the buried structure and getting inside it, but I’d say the simplest explanation is that Dr. Grey is referring not the UNSC but to the government of Chorus.

(The other explanation is that, well, Miles made a mistake and contradicted his own lore, but uh. We’re trying to get a watsonian reading here, so we’ll ignore that one for now.)

So, here’s a quick sequence of events:

UNSC surveys Chorus and discovers evidence of alien artifacts.

UNSC colonizes Chorus.

UNSC withdraws from Chorus, leaving colonists to fend for themselves.

Alien temples emerge from the ground and into the sky.

The Chorus government studies the temples but makes no progress in activating them further.

Emily Grey studies the history of the temples in between college internships.

Chorus descends into civil war.

Malcolm Hargrove hires Locus and Felix to perpetuate the civil war.

The New Republic hires Felix, paying him in nonfunctional alien weapons excavated from the ground.

The Federal Army hires Locus.

Vanessa Kimball is promoted to an officer rank.

Vanessa Kimball succeeds to the position of General.

The Hand of Merope crashes on Chorus with the Reds and Blues aboard.

These are, obviously, not the only events we know about, nor the only timeline clues we have, but this is about all I can say for certain in terms of what happens in what order. If I put in just about anything else, I’d have to take something out, for lack of clarity as to order. For example, I can say with a fair amount of confidence that Donald Doyle succeeded to the position of General after Locus was hired by the Federal Army, but I can’t say for sure whether he became General before or after Kimball did. I would guess after, but I don’t have specific canon to back that up other than the fact that Doyle just… seems less experienced.

But the upshot of what we’re looking at her is that it has been quite a few years since the UNSC pulled out and the temples emerged from the ground. I would say at least 20 years is reasonable, honestly. Enough time for Emily Grey’s life and the world of Chorus as a whole to drastically change several times over, and enough time for the temples themselves to become mundane curiosities in the public view.

[cienie-isengardu]

Salazar Slytherin and pure-blood ideology? [part 1]

(OR: A Long Rant about Slytherin, Chamber of Secrets, beginning of Hogwarts, purebred wizards and witches, the situation of Middle-Age magic society, Merlin and his Order and in general everything that makes me think too much about Harry Potter lore)

The Harry Potter book series (from the Chamber of Secrets beyond) made it pretty clear pure-blood ideology is unmistakable linked to Slytherin - one of four Houses of Hogwarts. Salazar himself didn’t want to teach muggle-born wizards and witches, what was a source of conflict between him and Gryffindor - to the point Salazar left the school for good. Later, one of his descendants, Tom Riddle a.k.a. Voldemort, for years terrorized magical Great Britain and spread the hate for Muggle-born people. Like him, many, if not most Death Eaters who believed in pureblood superiority over Muggles and Muggle-born wizards grew up in Slytherin House.

By his choice and the effects it has on the Harry Potter story, Salazar seems to be the black sheep between all founders of Hogwarts, right?

But frankly, I think the reasons why he was so against teaching muggle-born wizards and witches aren’t exactly the same reasons for the hate that happened later on, from International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy (1692) to modern times. After all, many things change over the centuries, some turn into legends, others are forgotten. And so could happen with Salazar’s reasons too.

So, let see what we know about beginnings of the Hogwarts and about the Salazar Slytherin.

The main source of knowledge is The Sorting Hat, who sang few times about the Four Founders. In 1991 [Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone] the song told us that:

[...]

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

if you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folks use any means

To achieve their ends.

[...]

The first time Sorting Hat described Slytherin House as a place in which You'll make your real friends, and that those cunning folks use any means to achieve their ends. So, loyalty, cunning & ruthlessness are the traits related to Slytherin House (thus favored/possessing by Salazar himself).

Nothing much about blood purity but since it was the first book from seven, it is understable such detail was omitted.

The second song happened in 1994 [Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire] and told more about schism between founders:

A thousand years or more ago

When I was newly sewn,

There lived four wizards of renown,

Whose names are still well known:

Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,

Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,

Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,

Shrewd Slytherin, from fen.

They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,

They hatched a daring plan

To educate young sorcerers

Thus Hogwarts School began.

Now each of these four founders

Formed their own house, for each

Did value different virtues

In the ones they had to teach.

By Gryffindor, the bravest were

Prized far beyond the rest;

For Ravenclaw, the cleverest

Would always be the best;

For Hufflepuff, hard workers were

Most worthy of admission;

And power-hungry Slytherin

Loved those of great ambition.

While still alive they did divide

Their favourites from the throng,

Yet how to pick the worthy ones

When they were dead and gone?

Twas Gryffindor who found the way,

He whipped me off his head

The founders put some brains in me

So I could choose instead!

Now slip me snug about your ears,

I've never yet been wrong,

I'll have a look inside your mind

And tell where you belong!

This time we learn more about both the founders and the sorting system itself.

The Four Founders were born (and represent) different part of Great Britain: Godric - England, Helga - Welsh, Rowena - Scotland and Slytherin most likely Ireland.

There is not many information about how wizards and witches educated themselves prior to Hogwarts. From Chocolate Frog Cards we know about Queen Maeve (whose title of Queen suggest connection to Muggleborn royalty, since Lupin assured Harry in HBP that “There are no Wizarding princes”) who was involved in the training of young wizards and witches in her native Ireland.  There is no certain date when, but we know the Queen Maeve’s magical education happened for sure before Hogwarts was built and since Slytherin most likely came from Ireland, he could be aware of such events. Of course, one may wonder if the idea of Hogwarts wasn’t partially related to the Maeve’s practice of passing down her magical knowledge - and more important, did he agree with such practice at court of Muggle-born king/husband of the great witch?

The song keeps mention Founders in the same order: Gryffindor - Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff - Slytherin. If that was intentional, then Hogwarts was shared a wish [Godric], a hope [Rowena], a dream [Helga] and daring plan [Salazar], which I guess suits ambitious nature of Slytherin just fine.

And who knows, maybe Slytherin was inspired by Queen Maeve after all, while being ambitious to make the school available to every young wizard and witches in whole Great Britain?

Here is one thing more to think about - building Hogwarts (the castle) wasn’t the most difficult problem the founders faced. Children (students) must be found and brought safely to school and after finishing the education, taken home. They must be feed, provided with necessary accessories (ingredients for potions, a sheet of paper, ink, and so on) and of course some children are gonna be from poor families, thus required additional material help. There is so many logistic problems the school needed to face to function properly that I can’t imagine the four great sorcerers of their time never talked about the issue who should be taken into their care before education started. Fine, Godric may not think too much about that since he seems like the type of doing first, thinking later but Rowena and most likely Salazar did pay attention to such detail, since both character emphasize intelligence / thinking ahead. The fact that all agree to form their own Houses (that represents different values) seems to me they came to some decisions about how the teachings is gonna happen once Hogwarts will be open for good.

At first the four great sorcerers chose by themselves their future students. We don’t know how that happened, if those young wizards and witches were put on some trials or if there were sort of interview with them? Because somehow the Founders have to see if those young and untested/unknown people have in them something “worth” their time and effort, right? While still alive they did divide their favourites from the throng kind of make it quite clear all founders selected students, so their judgment must have been based on something, right?

And frankly, I think in the first years of Hogwarts, students didn’t start at the same age. It seems to be quite weird to take only those children at the age of 11. If the school was something new in Great Britain, then some older wizards & witches could came there too, couldn’t they? I mean, who wouldn’t want to be educated by one of the greatest sorcerers, especially if there is limited way to gain knowledge and skills under competent teachers?

Sorting Hat became a way to decide to which House students should go after death of Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. The Four Founders put “some brains” in it, which means the thing carry inside the combined magic (and thoughts and values?) of all of them. It makes me wonder then if Salazar was the “black sheep” of their little group, does the “power hungry” description is objective or more subjective (as in: colored by Godric, Rowena or Helga’s feelings toward Salazar?)

According to Rowling’s: Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide / Pottermore (x) the “The Sorting Hat is one of the cleverest enchanted objects most witches and wizards will ever meet. It literally contains the intelligence of the four founders, can speak (through a rip near its brim) and is skilled at Legilimency, which enables it to look into the wearer’s head and divine his or her capabilities or mood. It can even respond to the thoughts of the wearer.” According to informations from Pottermore, Legilimency was Salazar’s area of expertise (x). So he definitely put some of his own magic in the Sorting Hat - and mind you, Slytherin’s magic is pretty important part, since Legilimency is what allows the Hat to look inside students’ heads!

So, we heard that Salazar was “power hungry” wizard who loved those of great ambition. He was also described as shrewd (“having or based on a clear understanding and good judgment of a situation, resulting in an advantage. Synonyms: astute, calculating, clever [Cambridge Dictionary]). Which is gonna be important soon.

What is important for now to remember, all four Founders valued different traits, thus I guess, have different way to perceiving magic (and humanity?).They also made some plans (like sorting students) for future, when they are dead and gone, so the school could still work and function properly under someone’s else guide.

The next (and last) song - that I’m gonna split in smaller parts -  happened in 1995 [Harry Potter and the Phoenix Order] and gave us another informations worth to examine:

In times of old, when I was new,

And Hogwarts barely started,

The founders of our noble school

Thought never to be parted.

United by a common goal,

They had the selfsame yearning

To make the world's best magic school

And pass along their learning.

"Together we will build and teach"

The four good friends decided.

And never did they dream that they

Might some day be divided.

For were there such friends anywhere

As Slytherin and Gryffindor?

Unless it was the second pair

Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw,

So how could it have gone so wrong?

How could such friendships fail?

Why, I was there, so I can tell

The whole sad, sorry tale.

Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those

Whose ancestry's purest."

Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose

Intelligence is surest."

Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those

With brave deeds to their name."

Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot

And treat them just the same."

These differences caused little strife

When first they came to light.

For each of the four founders had

A house in which they might

Take only those they wanted, so,

For instance, Slytherin

Took only pure-blood wizards

Of great cunning just like him.

And only those of sharpest mind

Were taught by Ravenclaw

While the bravest and the boldest

Went to daring Gryffindor.

Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest

and taught them all she knew,

Thus, the houses and their founders

Maintained friendships firm and true.

Once again we are told that Helga, Salazar, Rowena and Godric were A) good friends who shared the same ambitious dream - to build the best magic school, a place to teach young wizards and witches and to pass their own knowledge B) never thought they are gonna be divided by anything.

The fall of their friendship is mainly related to Salazar’s lack of will to teach Muggle-born wizards and witches but the song make it clear that all Founders had their own idea of what kind of students should be taught:

Slytherin, "We'll teach just those Whose ancestry's purest."

Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose Intelligence is surest."

Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those With brave deeds to their name."

Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot And treat them just the same."

and ALL of those differences caused little strife.

Hufflepuff was the only one willing to teach ALL students, while others looked in children for special traits (either social/blood status and/or abilities they had/respected themselves). The previous song though make it clear that Helga once too favored certain kind of people: hard workers were most worthy of admission. The same as Hufflepuff changed mind to teach ALL, the description of Salazar switched from “power-hungry Slytherin loved those of great ambition” to caring mainly for blood status. A blood status that did not mean that much in Middle Age:

Slytherin’s discrimination on the basis of parentage was considered an unusual and misguided view by the majority of wizards at the time. Contemporary literature suggests that Muggle-borns were not only accepted, but often considered to be particularly gifted. They went by the affectionate name of ‘Magbobs’ (there has been much debate about the origin of the term, but it seems most likely to be that in such a case, magic ‘bobbed up’ out of nowhere).

Magical opinion underwent something of a shift after the International Statute of Secrecy became effective in 1692, when the magical community went into voluntary hiding following persecution by Muggles. This was a traumatic time for witches and wizards, and marriages with Muggles dropped to their lowest level ever known, mainly because of fears that intermarriage would lead inevitably to discovery, and, consequently, to a serious infraction of wizarding law. (x)

Not to mention an example of so called pure blood families, like Malfoys, who might always look down on Muggles but did not mind hang out with their nobility and have been on speaking (or marrying) terms with Muggles (x) prior to International Statute of Secrecy (1692)

To be fair, it may be just author’s inaccuracy due to progress of the story. Salazar Slytherin was already connected to pure blood ideology since Chamber of Secrets, so of course he must be the source of problem that give a ground for the conflict happening in times of Harry Potter.

But at the same time, the song states clearly that even though Salazar wanted to teach only those whose ancestry’s purest* he still took only pure-blood wizards of great cunning just like him. So, even between those of “proper social/blood status”, Slytherin still looked for the smartest kids to deal with. With raises question - did Salazar care more for pure-blood of students or the skills/smartness? As someone described as “power hungry”, I tend to think the lack of proper blood could be omitted by Salazar if he met a truly ambitions & cunning child. Did Salazar truly took only pure-blood students into his House? Blood Baron** may suggest otherwise, but for now let’s finish all the info from the song.

*what kind of doesn’t make much sense in light of newest Rowling’s writing for Pottermore since Muggle and wizarding worlds were intertwined for ages so how Salazar could check family line of all children in Great Britain? How he understood purest ancestry anyway? Did family with three magic generation counts as such? Four? More? Or maybe the children of parents that both are sorcerers were okay, regardless if one of parents was half-blood or Muggle-born themselves? I’m gonna come back to this soon.

**Took only pure-blood wizards… but Bloody Baron, one of the first Salazar’s students may not be pure-blood himself, if once again Lupin’s words may be recalled into discussion. Baron was born into nobility, but aristocrats are Muggle thing. Sooo, either this is simply error on Rowling’s part or in Salazar’s time, pure-blood status could be seen in different way. Not as status / blood connection to certain families, but the magic in someone’s blood? Living close and/or in magic world? Anything else?

The “little strife” between Founders seems to prove that they indeed talked about what kind of students they are gonna teach. Frankly, if they were great friends (Godric & Salazar were close to each other), I have hard time to imagine that issue of Muggle-born sorcerers was never bring into discussion before. Especially since back in Middle-Age - and in general, in past - sorcerers and no-magic people live along each other and there were plenty half-blood witches and wizards. The mixed marriages were much more common than they are in modern times, so there is a big chance that all of Founders could be half-blood or Muggle born themselves or have blood relatives between no-magic people; this is not topic that was hushed down back in their times, so I don’t think there would be reason for such great friends to not talk about Muggle-born & half-blood wizards and witches and what is their view of them, the situation of magical world and about potential future students. The songs seems to agree with me, because despite all their differences, the “houses and their foundersmaintained friendships firm and true.”

(Also, please note, this is third time when Sorting Hat connects Slytherin to true friendship which means despite power-hungry, ruthless and ambitious nature he wasn’t the back-stabbing type of person and was capable of loyalty / connecting to other people).

Now, time for the part focused at the schism:

So Hogwarts worked in harmony

For several happy years,

But then discord crept among us

Feeding on our faults and fears.

Sorting Hat once again provides important facts, like

A) Despite different values on which all Houses were built, Founders worked in harmony for many years.

B) Salazar did not resign just after school opened and pick up his students and taught them for more than at least two years

C) most likely something must happened to bring back the discord between them (maybe the tragedy of Helena Ravenclaw and Bloody Baron? I think it would fit timeline-wise)

D) Slytherin wasn’t solely responsible for the end of their friendship, since Hat says it cleary our faults and fears. This is pretty interesting that along faults (stubbornness? harmful ideology?), the fears played main role in their downfall. The Hat did not mention that Hogwarts was built in difficult times when magic people were persecuted by Muggle-born ones. Whatever happened to rise the conflict may be related to this persecution.

The Houses that, like pillars four

Had once held up our school

Now turned upon each other and

Divided, sought to rule.

And for a while it seemed the school

Must meet an early end.

What with duelling and with fighting

And the clash of friend on friend.

E) The conflict turned Founders against each other and there was fight how to rule the school; we aren’t told if Slytherin was the only one trying to impose his will/ideology on others making him vs three Houses, or if the conflict was much more complex. We don’t know how those fights affected students albeit song says it clearly that the schism put school in danger of being closed for good.

F) The fight between friends weren’t just verbal arguments; they dueled with each other, so it was pretty bad.

And at last there came a morning

When old Slytherin departed

And though the fighting then died out

He left us quite downhearted.

The way song described Slytherin as old may suggest he was much older than rest Founders. Pictures of the Founders on Pottermore (x)() suggest that too, since Salazar is presented there with white/grey hair. This of course may give him different life experiences when it comes to Muggle-born/no-magic people; the repetitive persecution of mages could influence Salazar’s perception of reality. Mind you, as someone specialized in Legilimency (what allows to enter another person’s mind), Salazar was most likely called shrewd for a good reason. Fear of no-magic community wasn’t totally unfounded and we may only wonder what kind of relationship (life experiences) with Muggles Slytherin could have to form such negative idea out of the standard acceptance.

So, Slytherin departed albeit the song does not say if that was his own idea or if he was given to understand he is no longer welcome there. I tend to think it was solely his decision, not to spite the others nor to make the ostentatious show. The school, the ambitious plan & dream, was in danger of closing for good. Maybe the departure was Slytherin’s hope to save something great he and his friends worked hard to make true? In a way, his decision saved Hogwarts but his departure wasn’t welcomed with relief. It stopped the fight, but seems like no one was truly happy when Salazar left the school.

And never since the founders four

Were whittled down to three

Have the Houses been united

As they once were meant to be.

The departure of Slytherin was a blow to other Founders. Interesting thing is that, the lack of unity isn’t specified for Slytherin & Gryffindor “rivalry” alone. So maybe the fight between Founders wasn’t that one-sided as it’s usually painted. In the end, they all never recovered from that fight & lost of friend and Hogwarts never again have been united as it meant to be.

The rest song is Sorting Hat’s warning that Hogwarts Houses must unite against upcoming dark times. Songs alone gave as a lot things to think about. Of course, Sorting Hat has limited time for its stories and rhymes,that is why I wish to bring one more (in universe) source, namely the history lesson with professor Binns:

‘You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago – the precise date is uncertain – by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution.’

Thanks to professor Binns, we have another important pieces about situation of magic people in Middle Ages, omitted by the Sorting Hat. Namely:

Hogwarts was built in secret in times when magic was feared by common (Muggle) people. The ”far from prying Muggle eyes“ may even suggest that Muggles were suspicious about anyone and anything that may be related to magic and hunted down the witches and wizards on their own. Not only evil ones, but anyone who was “weird” (different) and did not fit their idea of society. We know that hunt for witches wasn’t one-time event and happened through the ages; the panic and mass hysteria spread easily and many innocent people were killed in brutal way. The darkest times, the inquisition, happened few centuries after Hogwarts was opened, but we must remember that when Christianity became dominated religion, a lot pagan tribes were forced to accept (and submit to) a new religion. According to wikipedia, in England The laws of King Athelstan (924-40), corresponsive with the early French laws, punished any person casting a spell which resulted in death by extracting the extreme penalty (x). The law was passed some decades prior to beginning of Hogwarts, so Founders may not be witnesses of what happened to all witches and wizards in result (were they even born yet?), but then again, Sorting Hat called “old” only Salazar, so who knows how much older*** he was than rest ? Even if he was born and raised in Ireland, the stories of purge may reach him pretty fast, considering magic means of fast travel & communication via animals.

*** and hey, Dumbledore was 100+ years old and still kicking ass, Professor Bathilda Bagshot died at 124, Newt  at 119 and others are good examples that old age is not so big deal between magic people

And not forget that in Ireland, druid (magic) tradition already collapsed due to spreading & dominating Christianity. Did Salazar despite how new, so anti-magic religion was destroying the older, pagan faith that keep magic and no-magic people in somehow symbiosis relationship? Magic always was feared to some degree, but in pagan tribes no less respected, seek more in need than greed, while the sorcerers themselves were respected and had high(er) social status between Muggles. The symbiosis may never be truly perfect, sure, but definitely better than Christian law killing any person casting spell, even the good (healing) ones. Frankly, I wonder if Salazar himself wasn’t somehow connected to old (magic) tradition/faith and how this could add to his refusal of teaching Muggle-born (Christian) children?

Another thing to take into account is the way Hogwarts was built. How many castles with solid walls are really changed into schools for children? Did Founders from the start felt they must fortify their school? Did they build the castle themselves or did they get the building somehow? Did all those charms to protect school (and its students) were put there by them from the start or was it later addition? Because there is so many security stuff, to the point that Hogwarts is now considered the safest place in modern Great Britain.

Did Founders worried that putting all magical children in one place may provoke Muggles to do something nasty? Were they afraid of no-magic people?

Another part of the lesson:

He paused, gazed blearily around the room, and continued, ‘For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school.’

Once again we learn that Founders worked in harmony for a few years, which most likely means Slytherin objection to teaching Muggle-born wasn’t anything strong or even not born yet.

Here is very useful and important part: Founders personally seek out youngsters who showed signs of magic and took them to the castle to be educated. Which means that Salazar and his friends did have contact with Muggles****, seeking between them young (untrained) wizards and witches. Since the law against witchcraft in England (and maybe in other parts of Great Britain too) has been working for years we may only imagine how the meeting with Muggle-born parents went. Did they reacted with fear? Hate? Keep thinking how their children’s magic may be useful for them? That those children are little devils that should be killed? Even in modern times, some families aren’t accepting magic but back in the Middle Ages? When magic was satan’s thing? How many people enjoyed such news or just accepted it without fuss? And hey, even seeking the half-blood children could be dangerous to their magic parents, if out of nowhere their identity of witch/wizard has come to light. Unless their Muggle partner knew about it, the surprise could bring tragedy to family. There are histories about, for example, man killing his wife cause he thought she was witch.

****Since many witches & wizards were living between no-magic people, Salazar and his friends most likely met a lot Muggles, even when they seek children of sorcerers. Professor Binns said, they seek out their students, so I’m guessing they weren’t rely on “searching/tracking spells” alone, if it existed yet at all. Maybe while travelling from one human settlement to another, they heard stories that sounded as someone’s using magic thus finding Muggleborn wizards & witches along the way?

Frankly, I’m surprised that Founders didn’t think / argue to take away those children for good, Jedi-like style. That way school could gain a talented students, while children would be far away from potential abuse. Then again, this is of course only my assumption that Hogwarts worked then in similar fashion to modern times, with the vacations between teaching when childs are sent back to their families for summer & winter (christmas*****) breaks. And even so many years later, the problem of putting back students into abusive families / unpleasant environments was never truly solved. Harry Potter may be seen as a special case, but Severus & Tom (half-bloods) were forced to come back to unhappy family / orphanage that cut them away from magic world. Okay, Severus had witch for a mother, and by some time magical friend (Lily), but being sorcerer between Muggles is pretty hard thing. Especially if Muggles hate the magic (Harry with Dursley, Lily with her own sister hating her).

***** Okay, I’m still not sure why the wizarding world even celebrate Christmas if no one seems to be Christian themselves, nor the religion plays any role or appear in the background at all.

Of course, if the no-magic parents were the trouble, why refuse children an access to education that will keep them safe and between their own folks? Why Salazar wanted cut them off, be more selective? A good question with not clear answer. On one hand, we should ask how many Muggle-born wizards and witches were back in Salazar’s days? In Harry Potter’s times, there weren’t that much Muggle-born sorcerers in his and younger class we are aware of, right? What if in Salazar’s time Muggle-born wizards and witches were even less happening, mainly due to fact

there wasn’t any law forbidding marrying no-magic people, thus

the amount of half- and quarter-blood (from half-blood & Muggle-born no-magic parents) was much bigger than later so

even if magic genes skipped a generation or two, some children still had magic blood in them due to having magic ancestor(s)

and let’s not forget the Squibs (children of wizards who do not have magic), who chose (or were shunned) to live between Muggles  could pass the magic gene to next generations******

There is also question how people gained magic in the first place. I mean, magic has been with mankind since the dawn of time. The wizards and witches aren’t different from no-magical people (except for magic, of course), so wouldn’t it make sense if even the purest magical families come from Muggle-born wizards and witches that passed down the magic gene? I wish to see some in-universe research about that.

******Frankly, I wonder if wizards are capable of checking if supposed Muggle-born student was truly a rarity or simply had distant magic ancestor? Especially since Squibs were living between Muggles for a long time and had their own childrens, then shouldn’t magic appear in some at some point? How Hermione (or rather magic teachers / officials) can be so sure she is Muggle-born witch and not some very distant descendant of Squib or wizard/witch? Does magic allow to check someone’s family tree that far in the past to be so sure about it?

On three song, none stated Salazar’s reasoning. We know whom he wanted to teach (Whose ancestry is purest; Took only pure-blood wizards Of great cunning, just like him) and what he seek in his students (Loved those of great ambition; of great cunning) but we’re not told why. Professor Binns, as the only one source, gave short passage: He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy.

At first, the all-magic families sounds as pure-blood ideology, right? But once again, what counts as all-magic family? What pure-blood meant in Middle-Ages and in time prior to Statute of Secrecy became effective (1692)? How many magic generation after generation family should have to to satisfy Slytherin? And if, let’s say, a Muggle-born wizard/witch married another magical person and they have magic offspring would the child(s) meet Salazar’s requirement? Both parents are wizards thus kid is raised in all-magic family, both understand to some degree magic and how it works, both need to watch out for Muggle prying eyes and keep hidden identity safe due spreading Christianity & anti-magic laws.

And what about children of Muggle-born person married into “pure-blood” family with magic generation after generation? What about half-bloods who are still born and raised in families in 99% full of wizards and witches? Would they count or not?

Would Slytherin refused such childrens, if they showed ambition and cunning nature he so much loved?

Also, the single argument given us by professor Binns is very important. Because Salazar’s choice of students didn’t come from sense of superiority (that I don’t see it in songs & history lesson provided by series) but from the feeling that students of Muggle parentage were untrustworthy.

Not worse than pure-blood students. Not unworthy of magic and learning under the greatest wizards and witches of their time. Not lesser.

Salazar believed he can’t trust them (and rest of Founders shouldn’t either). But trust with what?

The use of magic? Yeah, I can see how children who were picked up for years for being different, if not straight out abused as “spawn of devil” would rely on magic for their own protection or maybe even revenge of some sort. Which is rather connected to the (still unsolved) problem of sending back children to Muggle families / environment that aren’t always the safest or happiest places and well, some people love to have power and control that magic gives. Muggle- and magic-born alike.

The safety of Hogwarts and other wizards? Did the school was already Unplottability from the start? Did Salazar worried that Muggle-born students, willingly or accidently or under pressure(torture?), will betray the location of the magic school putting everyone in danger? Or spread the information that there is place full of still not fully trained wizards and witches, an easy prey to destroy due to their young age and limited knowledge?

Or, if Bloody Baron was Muggle-born (or at least half-blood born into Muggle nobility), would his action changed Salazar’s mind? Lack of control that resulted in death of Baron (Salazar’s own student) and pure-blood/half-blood Helena Ravenclaw (daughter of Salazar’s close friend) and may speed up death of Rowena (Salazar’s close friend)? Since Baron was one of Slytherin’s first student, that for sure could be a real blow to Salazar’s sense of trust (pride).

Salazar did not trust students of Muggle parentage, but in contrast to later pure-blood supremacist, there is not sources in which he would dehumanized those students or Muggles in general. Chamber of Secret is, mind you, covered up with so many myths and legends, so it’s hard to tell what was true and what was added later to the story. I’m gonna cover up this issue next time. For now let me bring passage:

Several works of dubious scholarship, published around the early eighteenth century and drawing partly on the writings of Salazar Slytherin himself, make reference to supposed indicators of pure-blood status, aside from the family tree. The most commonly cited signs were: onset of magical ability before the age of three, early (before aged seven) prowess on a broomstick, dislike or fear of pigs and those who tend them (the pig is often considered a particularly non-magical animal and is notoriously difficult to charm), resistance to common childhood illnesses, outstanding physical attractiveness and an aversion to Muggles observable even in the pure-blood baby, which supposedly shows signs of fear and disgust in their presence.

Successive studies produced by the Department of Mysteries have proven that these supposed hallmarks of pure-blood status have no basis in fact. Nevertheless, many pure-bloods continue to cite them as evidence of their own higher status within the wizarding community. (x)

After International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy (1692) the pure-blood was more political statement than true biological facts, supported by many of wizards and witches who were against voluntary hiding of wizarding community, so stuff published around the early eighteenth century are already connected to political ideology of supremacist and not always were stricte scientific research. Thus Several works of dubious scholarship is already a clear warning that reader should critically evaluate them

So, those dubious “historians” connected their pure-blood ideological theories to Slytherin by drawing partly on the writings of Salazar Slytherin himself. Mind you, they did not quoted directly his work, but only used those partly, which most likely means they took what fitted their theories, quite possible out of original context. What unfortunately happened through the ages in our world too; Nietzsche's philosophy & Nazi’s racism comes to mind.

We don’t have an idea what Salazar wrote nor in what form. Was that his personal journals? His magical research/studies? Did those writings even survive to modern times and are - in universe - available to historians or do we  - and wizarding world - know about them only due to dubious, biased reference? Slytherin for sure must be controversial historical figure, but how much of his dark reputation comes from his own doing and how much from over-interpretation, manipulation or straight propagating racist ideas by using his person?

Also, He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage… that kinda sounds that despite his personal disliking, he still took (and taught?) some. So, did Sorting Hat lied with the Took only pure-blood wizards Of great cunning, just like him line? Or was that more about general finding and bringing Muggle-born students to school?

I think my biggest problem with perception of Salazar Slytherin through the story is that he lived around 1000 years before the big conflict of main story happened. People, and thus society, change really fast, ideologies comes and goes, so are wars, political clashes, idea of comfort and inappropriate behavior. Generation after generation the changes happen so it is really hard to me to imagine that what Salazar thought and did and what motivated him 1000 years ago will be the literally the same thing for pure-blood supramcist now. When even the context of dislike for Muggle-born wizards and witches switched from general terror against magic to a sense of superiority or even a desire to enslave or exterminate no-magical people.

What is pretty big switch of reasoning, don’t you think?

I’m not gonna say Salazar did nothing wrong, but I think calling him pure-blood supremacist in the modern (in universe) sense may be quite far from the truth.

I imagine most likely everyone brave enough to read my meta to the end at least few times hissed but the Chamber of Secrets! I did not forget nor omitted it. This and Salazar’s students & family is gonna be topic of the next part, I promise.

[e-one-seven]

Warning: this post is long. If you are interested on my theories on DST lore you can click on  “Keep reading” below. If you don’t you can skip it. This whole post is the ultimate evidence that studying Foreign Literature at university was a really bad idea as now I see hidden subtexts everywhere! And having had some years to work on this theory didn't help either... I will be happy to see it crushed by Klei guys themselves with the release of the actual lore in a few weeks, because they are up to something big and I'm ready to have my mind blown! 

I think it's time for me to confess a little Don't Starve Together headcanon of mine I never really revealed to anyone until now: I seriously think that Wilson might be Charlie and Winona's younger brother, or at least a younger half-brother. I am not saying this just because their haircuts bear some similarities. There are some serious clues in game leading to that direction, and I found basically no counterarguments strong enough to deny the theory. I don’t know if these are funny coincidences or not, but they were enough to fill more than four Words pages and I am not one to believe in coincidences.

So the evidences I gathered could be summed up like this:

Charlie and Wilson act like they know each other in A New Reign Cinematic; she is the Night Monster, so of course they know each other! However, why did she choose to set him free revealing her true form despite her wanting to hide it and why did she let Wilson live to tell the tale?

It is confirmed that Charlie has one sister, but there might be other siblings or family members no one mentioned yet. And thanks to the information released by Klei it is possible to confirm that Wilson is young enough to possibly be Charlie and Winona's brother;

There are clues that Winona might be born into a rich family she estranged herself from because of her lifestyle (and possibly guilt for Charlie's supposed demise); the same applies to Wilson too, though the reasons of his estrangement are not clear;

We still have no way to know exactly where all these characters are from exactly, but it is implied that Winona traveled through all the USA and that Wilson at least completed his education in the USA.

It is confirmed that Wilson is a European immigrant; if we take Charlie’s Rose species name in account, her and Winona could possibly be of Anglo-Irish descent.

Wilson and Shadow Charlie share a similar haircut (and so does Winona to a lesser extend); Winona and Charlie's face structure is similar and it looks totally different from Wilson's, but there is an example in game that blood relatives could not look like each other at all (Maxwell and Wendy).

Wilson's new darkness quote is very similar to one of Maxwell's quotes about Abigail.

Wilson seems to have personality traits and interests in common with both Charlie and Winona;

We were told that Winona went to the Constant to save someone: despite their relationships being known, Charlie and Robert Wagstaff might not be the person she was looking for, at least according to her original character quotes.

The explanations and the results of some researches I made to confirm or deny my theory are better expressed below divided in four parts.

1) A New Reign Cinematic

This less than two minutes cinematic is mute like almost every Don't Starve related animation, but it's so full of emotion it's simply beautiful. And it is the only time we can see Charlie being herself before becoming the Shadow Queen, so I watched it again and again, even slowed down so I could fully enjoy every seconds of it (and a lot of DST fellow fans out there probably did too).

I have to admit that I always had the impression that Charlie booped Wilson's nose before setting him free, and that was for sure a factor in developing this theory as you boop your boyfriend or your little brother's nose, not a unknown person you just met. But Wilson being Charlie's brother would explain why she chose to set him free in the first place: before Wilson there was Maxwell, and despite all the powers he gained by being the Shadow King him being trapped on the Throne was still a torture. Wilson did not want to become the new King and so he was desperately fighting against Them and their corruption. Charlie hates to be seen, yet she chose to reveal herself to Wilson and she became the new Queen to prevent him to become like herself and Maxwell and this is a thing that every good big sister would do for their little brother. Furthermore, Charlie had to muster some serious self-control before doing that stunt because I am seriously convinced that any other character in Wilson's place would have died there and then. Charlie was smiling at the beginning of the cinematic, but her eyebrows betrayed her being extremely worried too. When Wilson is not in the Throne Room anymore she is much more relaxed, because she did what she came for and Wilson survived: it doesn't matter what will become of her from then on, and maybe that factor made the fusion with her Shadow self possible.

And about Maxwell, I think that dragging her theoretical little brother in that hellish world where Charlie herself could be the cause of his death would be a more than valid reason for Charlie to hate Maxwell's guts even more than she did before. That could be the reason why Maxwell’s death caused by Darkness is listed as "Charlie" instead. I checked it, despite Winona is canonically able to recognize Charlie as the Darkness like Maxwell, her death cause is still listed as "Darkness". But it is impossible to tell if it is a developers' oversight.

2) What we know about their backgrounds

Digging into the William Carter Puzzles Charlie's ad requisition caught my curiosity. It says "should have a curious demeanor and a keen interest in the mysteries of the universe." This description could fit Wilson too. We know next to nothing about who Charlie used to be before she became the Night Monster, aside that she was William Carter's assistant and she cared a lot about him. In her letters Charlie mentions only one sister, Winona, because she frequently visited her (or, more likely, they lived together when she was not working with Maxwell). But frequent visits to her sister don't exclude the possibility of other relatives or siblings existing somewhere else. This happened in 1905 and Charlie disappeared the following year, exactly fifteen years before the events of Don't Starve in 1921. Charlie and Winona were young adults and they probably moved away from their family. According to Charlie's last letter her family owned a cabin used as holiday house in BC, implying that Charlie and Winona's birth family was been rich enough to afford a holiday house in the first place.

BC commonly stands for "British Columbia" in Canada, a popular place for a family to have a holiday cabin nowadays. But it can also stand for Bay City, Michigan. Bay City is located near Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron, so it could be a possible place to locate a holiday cabin for the family. For some bonus points, Bay City merged with West Bay City in 1905; West Bay City was created in 1877 from the union of the villages of Banks, Salzburgh and Wenona. Wenona is an alternative spelling of the name "Winona": if the Bay City theory is correct she might have been born during a time where the old name of the area could have been still used by population and her parents might have liked it enough to name their first daughter like the old village. I wanted to see if BC could have another meaning and that was the result. But it might be just a funny coincidence.

Back to the job question, Charlie actually replied for an application that actually has not a great paycheck (during that time most performers were barely able to sustain themselves and Maxwell himself got some debts during his first years) and that required a cultured person who knew how to appear in front of an audience: during that time having an education was still a luxury for wealthy families and same goes with clothes dapper enough to look good by Maxwell's side. Her Shadow Queen's form fancy dress seems to confirm this theory. So the only real reason she could need to work is her living really far away from her family and that required her to look for any kind of job to be able to survive for the long run.

What do we know about Wilson? As he is in his 30s in 1921, he was a likely teenager in 1906, and as Klei recently said, "maybe a European USA Immigrant? We never really picked a home land for him." Thinking about this last statement, we can say that during that time that description could fit basically most of the American population back in the 1920s. They actually said nothing. BUT, in 2014, a fan posted on Tumblr another message from Klei that gives us some interesting information: these are the evidences that despite it all it might be legit:

I checked on DS and DST credits, there really is a Jan Hatchings.

The first thing Jan says is that Klei prefers to be the fan finding out about the past of the characters exploring the game: a nice way to say they are not allowed to spill too many beans. (I want the character updates and the new characters! I want to know what they are hiding!)

He confirmed some information we already knew (Wilson being in his 30s, the game being set in early 1920s) adding that he was living in New England at the time of the trailer: New England is the Northeastern area of the United States, it is bordered with Canada, three of the most important colleges of the United States are there (Yale, Harvard and the MIT) and there are a lot of woods. The perfect area for a lonesome scientist to live in.

He mentions his family not wanting to talk to him;

Jan invites the person who originally shared the message to join the official forum.

So Wilson most likely completed his instruction in the United States or he sought affiliation with American colleges, and that would be weird for a person who grew up in the United Kingdom, as he would be already close to some of the most prestigious and oldest colleges and academic associations in the world. That's why I think the "immigration" part might mean that he was born into a British family immigrated in the US and he actually grew up in the United States (and maybe not even Klei knows if Wilson's family moved in before or after he was born). As he had a nanny as a kid and, as already pointed out, college education was something that only wealthy families could afford back then, we can assume Wilson was born into a rich family that for some reason moved to America.

Like BC, New England area is pretty popular for its holiday cabins so it makes sense for Wilson to have lived into one of them. He was isolated, yet possibly close to a scientific center of interest like a university. Even if he bought the house or someone else did it for him, for sure Wilson needed some money to live in there and being a Gentleman Scientist is a risky profession for a safe paycheck. Quoting Wikipedia:

"An independent scientist (modern gender-neutral term historically also known as gentleman scientist) is a financially independent scientist who pursues scientific study without direct affiliation to a public institution such as a university or government-run research and development body. [...] Most independent scientists have at some point in their career been affiliated with some academic institution, such as Charles Darwin, who was affiliated with the Geological Society of London. [...] Self-funding has the disadvantage that funds may be more restricted; [...] It also permits the scientist to have greater control over research directions, as funding bodies direct grants towards interests that may not coincide with that of the scientist. [...] Scientists may choose to work on unusual projects with high risk of failure also when the grant system does not fund them. A scientist could be attributed the status of independent scientist if they work on such projects during a gap between two academic positions, for example."

So Wilson being a Gentleman Scientist means that he was the one and only person who worked on his own projects with no external funds from government and scientific institutions. If his research failed he could have ended in some serious economic trouble. He might have had some help from universities, but that could have not be enough. But it makes sense for Wilson being a Gentleman Scientist if his parents died and he inherited their money or a part of it. That would make him economically independent enough to perform his experiments with no considerable help.

But then, if his parents are presumably dead, who is the family who doesn't want to speak to him? It would be easy to say that his extended family thinks him to be a mad scientist and decided they don't want to have nothing to do with him. But this doesn't deny the theory "Wilson is Charlie's brother": if we take this theory in account, his only currently known immediate family members are Charlie and Winona. Charlie was presumed dead in 1906, while Winona probably got estranged from her parents because of her lifestyle and maybe even accused to have caused her sister's death. Even if their parents are dead, why Winona should think that her brother would be different? To her he is just a spoiled child who attended a fancy university and that probably spends all the day talking nonsense with other eggheads. Also her constant moving through the country will make keep contacts really difficult, so she simply didn't. Sadly a lot of people do it for even pettier reasons.

And, for some bonus point, Wickerbottom recognizes Charlie's Rose as a "Rosa Macdub", or a "Dublin Bay climbing rose". A rich Irish family immigrating from a country where uprisings were a Tuesday for at least one century would make sense. And it would not even directly conflict with the theory as the richest families residing in Ireland were of English descent and all Ireland was a part of the United Kingdom until 1919. So despite Wilson being a perfect "British gentleman" kind of character, the possibility of Charlie and Winona being Irish or Anglo-Irish descent doesn't deny the theory. But I don't know if this could count as a clue about Charlie's family origin as the Dublin Bay climbing rose was actually bred for the first time in 1975 in New Zealand, with peculiar characteristics and resistance that make me think that they might be the reason for it to be chosen as Charlie’s symbol despite its anachronism. And just because of this the thing that concerns me more about this rose is not the possible reference to Charlie's birthplace, but an explanation of how Wickerbottom is able to recognize a flower from 1975 without knowing what is a license plate!

3) The similarities between the characters in game 

One of the things most evident in the cinematic was that Wilson and Charlie shared a similar haircut and hairline. Haircuts are not hereditary, but unmodified hairlines and hair textures are. Winona looks a lot like Charlie, but she doesn't resemble Wilson at all except their being two light skinned people with dark hair and solid black eyes in game. Also, Winona seems to have a different hairline than Wilson and Charlie when uncovered (except in the Gorge's vignette where she sports a small widow's peak), but the hairstyle is still similar to theirs, with only one "point" out of three. However, there are even deeper similarities between these characters: Charlie is the "bookworm" sister, interested in the "mysteries of the universe"; Winona hates books and prefers to work on her mechanical creations with a trial-and-error approach. And then there is Wilson, who sits perfectly in between these mindsets. That was one of the reasons why at first I was shocked by Winona when she was released: when I already suspected that Wilson and Charlie might be related it is revealed that Charlie's sister is a work-alcoholic engineer with a weird haircut and basically a female Wilson with a tape and the ability to dodge. (Piccolo approves.) Their similarities could be attributed to lazy developers, but what if that was actually a clue of them being actually related? Also, it is implied that Winona was grown up in a estranged wealthy family and it is confirmed that she dislikes fancy things and formalities: the same could be said about Wilson! Seriously, there are too many coincidences to be a random chance. (And that, ladies and gentlemen was the point where the theory became a full fledged headcanon. But I am not related to Klei in any way, so this is still the theory of a deluded fan that loves to make theories and Klei will destroy it in a few days with the new lore.)

And what about avoiding Charlie? Well, this could have a pretty simple explanation, reflected by their body shapes: Winona spent the last fifteen years of her life enduring all the kinds of manual jobs, so she actually gained some muscle mass and speed movement that she uses in game to avoid the attacks of her beloved sister. Not to mention that she seems to be closer to Charlie's age than Wilson is, so probably they spent some time playing together as kids (and probably back then Winona was the one winning the fight game). Wilson is more of a couch potato and according to the official timeline he is some years younger than Charlie and Winona. In case we take the theory "Wilson is Charlie's brother" in account, it means Wilson could not play with his older sisters like they used to do when they were younger and this causes him to be unable to dodge Charlie's attacks even if now he knows who is attacking him.

Another interesting possible clue is the new sentence Wilson says in DST when he is attacked by Charlie: "That presence... it's familiar! Hello?". Sure, he finally met her so he can recognize her presence... but the choice of words bears some uncanny resemblance to another quote from another character: "Hm? What a familiar presence." But maybe it's just another coincidence that this is almost the inversion of the words order of the sentence of a certain uncle recognizing the flower of his dead niece. Or I'm so into this theory that I'm seeing clues everywhere.

And for some more bonus point, look at Maxwell and Wendy in game: unless you know Don't Starve lore all you could say about them after looking at their designs and reading their quotes is "are these two guys in the same Shakespeare emo fanclub?" Their quotes have a similar dramatic tone, but there is almost nothing that suggests an actual family relationship between them. They don't even look anything alike!

4) The identity of the person Winona was trying to save

We were told from the beginning that Winona went into the Constant on her own because she wanted to save someone. We were also informed that she is Charlie's sister and she used to work for the Voxola Radio Company, so Charlie and Robert Wagstaff seem to be the only possible options as the person she was trying to save. Or aren't they?

As for Charlie, she disappeared in 1906 during a huge disaster that caused a lot of victims (the event overlaps with San Francisco's earthquake in 1906), and Winona came into the Constant fifteen years later. Probably on Earth Charlie was presumed dead and Winona went with it, as her quote of the Tragedy Marble Statue suggests ("We thought she was gone"). She grieved her but then she went on with her life. In 1919 she started to work for Wagstaff's Voxola until it burned down. However, unusually for a character who is supposed to be canonically playable only in the multiplayer version of the game, Winona has Adventure Mode related quotes that even got modified at some point. According to her original Adventure Mode quotes we can understand that she was actually shocked to find out that Maxwell's plots were behind Voxola's fire and Wagstaff's disappearance. Then Robert Wagstaff might not be the person Winona was looking for. Two years or more pass by and Winona joins the fun in the Constant, yet she never mentions her looking for someone, meaning that she already found the one person she was looking for. If this person is not Charlie or Wagstaff, who could they be? Wilson not only could be a valid answer, but if she knew where he lived and she found the Maxwell's Door inside his house she even had the mean to reach the Constant with no help at all!

But if they are estranged how did she know Wilson went missing? Well, some newspapers or radio transmissions might have announced his sudden disappearance, or the police went look for Winona because she might be the only family he has left. And the news did not leave her indifferent, so she went to his place looking for clues and found out about the Maxwell's Door. And for some bonus points, if Wilson left some notes behind (and he probably did as he used the typewriter when he was creating the portal during the cinematic!) she might have recognized something Charlie could have told her about fifteen years before that convinced her that Wilson was in trouble. So she activated the door. We know how it went.

[cerberus253]

It’s shameful about how much work I put into Dark Souls than my actual school work

Ey, another lore speculation for Dark Souls, this time on the worst family since Greek mythology. Anyways, I’ll explain why I think who is related to who.

Lloyd’s relation to Gwyn: It was explicitly stated that Lloyd was Gwyn’s grandfather, therefore Gwyn most likely had a parental figure who was siblings with one of them.

Gywn’s maybe Wife and their relation with the Fabulous Four: It was NEVER stated Gwyn had a wife, at least not when I was researching, but it would have felt off if he was the only dude that had offspring and didn’t have one when everyone else in the line had parents. But hey, maybe his children did just spawn into the world by some Deus ex Machina way. But there is one thing to be sure of: He has at least four children of blood; Nameless King, Gwynevere, Gwyndolin, and Filanore.

Yorshka’s place in the family: I did believe that she was related to Gwyn by blood, but boy was I stupid:

She looks absolutely different from the other four, even compared to Gwyndolin

She states that she knows nothing of the outside world and expresses to be quite gullible when you tell her you can fly. Thus, expressing she was never educated on the world, probably because she never went outside (locked away, just like Gwyndolin)

“Brother“ and “Father“ are used when you are part of a family, not if you are connected by blood or not

Gwyn hates dragons, so why would he have another child of dragons? Why would he keep it? The answer is Gwyndolin and his loneliness. Gwyndolin found this similar freak child, gave it a name (!explicitly stated!), hid it from Gwyn so he wouldn’t kill it on the spot, and called it his sis. No wonder he gave her the title Captain because he felt so close to her; his father kept him locked away and hidden from the world, he had no other siblings to interact with, and because of how he looked, people would be so confused (as they should be)

If Yorshka was related by blood, that would make her part god, meaning she would also be on the menu for Aldrich. But no, Sulyvahn just trapped her. He knew some scrawny dragon wasn’t good for his god eater because she was no god

Biological wise, she honestly could be another Seath experiment, but mixed with a human (presumed an Undead because they cannot truly die) instead of a god to try out immortality, which also explains why she is smol and has tentacles around her neck/face. And yes, I am aware that she has scales and Seath does not. Here’s the thing, Seath was born deformed, and in comparison to other Everlastings, what he has are recessive genes. So, when he mixed his DNA with some maiden he captured, because recessive genes are rare and therefore would most likely not show up, he got Yorshka. Or maybe he just threw shit together and made a Not Powerpuff girl IDK

Gwynevere and Flann: Explicitly stated she left Anor Londo and married Flim Flam Flann, God of Flame.

Dancer, Rosaria, and the Queen of Lothric:

Dancer: Explicitly stated to be a distant relative to the royal family, as well as you can transpose her soul into Soothing Sunlight miracle. Yes, miracles can be learned by anyone, but in this universe, the body is not what makes the individual, it is the soul itself. So, when you are making Boss Weapons and stuff, you are turning their entire being into something else that they are specially related to (refer to the insanity that is DS2 and talk to Ornifex).

Rosaria: I’m honestly not too sure about this because the only evidence expressed is you can transpose her soul into Bountiful Sunlight (refer to Dancer reasoning), you retrieve her stolen soul in Gwynevere’s chamber, and Leonhard refers to her as a goddess. However, that last one could just be how Leonard himself sees her. But oh well, I’m not closed off to the idea and quite like it.

Queenie: Fuck English translation the Japanese version explicitly stated she was compared to Gwynevere. Even so, if she wasn’t related how the fuck did all her children look so larger than normal? If she was originally Gwynevere herself, why would she abandon Flann just to get back into the the exact thing she wanted to escape from?

Oceiros and sons (and daughter): All four were explicitly stated to be the offspring of the King and Queen. It’s pretty obvious, really.

Seath and his other ‘daughter‘: Same thing with Yorshka, Priscilla was most likely an experiment from Seath. However, he used the DNA of a goddess, which is assumed to be Velka because: Those of Anor Londo feared Velka, and what they fear, they get rid of + Ariamis is the dumpster of Lordran= Throw everything about Velka down the shitter. You find so much of her stuff in there, including her crow friends, and one must wonder why didn’t Gwyn just, I don’t know, KILL Priscilla? My answer is they didn’t want to upset Velka by killing a child born from her DNA. Who knows if Velka even knew about it, but no one wanted to try and find out. Also, it is considered a sin to hurt Priscilla. Just sayin’

The Mysterious Painter: Okay, hear me out, I have my reasons for Priscilla and Pyromancer Dunnel to maybe have bore the Painter:

For obvious reasons, she has the scales, slit eyes, paleness, and she lives in a painted world

In depth wise, the Painter is smol. Smoller Smaller than Priscilla herself. It would only makes sense for a human to be able to tone down the hugeness that is in the genes

It was explicitly stated that Dunnel attempted to offer his fire magic as an offering after he “lost his hideous spouse.” In DS1, when describing Priscilla, she was called an abomination because, at the time, she was the only creature of her kind to exist.

Painter wanted/needed a flame to begin her painting about a new, kind world. Someone (Dunnel) already offered a flame (”[Dunnel] gave his own pyromancy flame as an offering...”), but failed

How else did she know that her world was artificial (in a sense)? Who else would have told her the nature of a painted world. You think Friede? The one that knew about the end of the painted world and didn’t want it to burn? That would be teasing

Dunnel was at the same building where you fought Priscilla and he is a wandering ghost, so who knows how old he is. Therefore, age is thrown out the window

Dragons age differently than humans. Like, way slower. So Painter could be old in human years, but still a child in dragon years

Ooooo, maybe she fell in love with him because he was the loving flame to her icy world??? (so cuuute~)

This one is a definite stretch, but eh, it makes sense, at least to me it does. I do agree it is out of place for some dude to get with a deity when everyone else was deity on deity. I don’t like it either, but it is the closest to making sense.

Anyways, insert a conclusion here about how I should be doing other art instead of the most forbidden lore

[drekenx1]

Liars of the Dawn Compagny - Q&A

Q: What is Liars of and what's plained for this series ?

"Liars of" is a series of RPG kind of open air / open world with many creative options in combat and crafting, especially in the 3d genre. The 2d games could also be part of the project, more like a 2D-HD themed one. I want to try to open games to another level of game design. All my thoughts are pretty rough at this moment, and I can't handle this alone, it's a fact. Could you imagine if Zelda Breath of the Wild was made by just one person ? Or even Skyrim ? Pretty tough task.

To resume: The 2d games are more like a final fantasy / octopath traveler open world themed whereas the 3d games are more like a zelda breath of the wild / no man's sky approach in an "open air" like nintendo named their latest zelda since the liars of, at least the first will contain islands, floating islands, underwater content and full land territories.

Q: Gameplay functions for the Dawn Compagny ?

A: About weaponary, you can craft as much weapons as you can with your materials, giving them buffs, debuffs of what type you want. Mixing weapons to create more powerfull ones… Reforge if you need it… When it comes to equipement it's a very cool innovation:

You can craft each part of your armor and clothes, and color it like you want. But in combat it's very practical. Imagine you craft an elbow held by a strap, if an enemy break it, it's badly damaged, then if he touches again, it breaks. But there are other cases where he just break the strap, then you can catch it on the ground and choose the option to reassemble it. This way, you can use a strap to recraft the item on the battle field, or shooting it at your ennemy, and even tide it in your inventory.

Speaking of Inventory, you'll get a limited inventory in places, no in weight and since you're travelling by boat, you can stock everything here and take it when you land.

Your boat is very  customizable in every way, you can go on islands, having what I call "entrances" which are similar to Zelda Breath of the Wild shrines, but more hidden. Ruins can be entrances, holes in an cavity can be an entrance, underwater temples can be hidden,…

Plus you can discover real temples, grand and enigmatic. Imagine a mix between a huge bay containing a whole jail and an ancient realm of a pyramid, that's what I call real temples, more Zelda-ish, less Skyrim-ish being very long. I already thought about how would work the very last dungeon, and it's almost a straight 10 hours hide and seek, fight and heal situation, the last is the only dungeon to be a straight save walkthrough. You save before entering and then you can't until before the final boss.

Q: Can we have a little of lore ? What will tell Liars of the Dawn Compagny ?

We're in a steampunk / pirate / medieval world containing many islands… big islands being the size of a village plus an entire wild zone. A good comparison is Breath of the Wild Great Plateau, about this size. A long time ago, Hell raises from the ground, letting the only remaining goddess to fight against him. At this time, she selected the bravest, wisest and powerful hero of the land to help her defeating the Hell king with a sword crafted by her hand known as the Dawn Blade. She sends all the people on floating islands, allowing them to live in peace, but one day they suceeded to fly to their original land to reconquer it again. At this moment, the Hell Lord rises again… and after, it's the game you now know about.

Q: Could you speak about the main hero, Hail Earth ?

Hail Earth is a young 20 yo boy. He was confined in the Castle-Jail of Hargolyn land for no apparent reason and then trained by the ancient king, or should I say actual king released soul from his demon part. His goal is to defeat lord of hell, which is in possession of the entire land of Hargolyn, letting the hero alone in a set of islands, far from it. (the continent will be a post-game content). A long time ago (8 years) he was friend with the aeon seal holder which today educates our hero's little brother. (Maybe we'll get a two sides quest, I don't know since I want the game to be the most opened as it can).

Q: What type of combat is in your game ?

A: Well that's a little complicated, let me try to explain, at least for the 3d games. The game won't work with hearts nor health bar, not in the way you think of it in fact. Each part of your body will have strike resistance, health and bleeding affectation. If the opponents strikes you in the forearm, depending on his weapon, his attack and some other effects, you will receive differents debuffs. The weaker you get is just reducing health of that part of the body. Depending if it touches a muscle, a bone, an articulation, you'll receive damages, slowness, bleeding. You can even see your limb gone but since we're in a steampunk civilisation, you will have a bleeding effect since you lost your arm and will have to do a garrotte, a bandage or anything, each reducing a percentage of bleeding effect, garrotte being a 100% reducing one. In each fight you'll have to ensure to survive longer. Imagine you're in front of a colossal titan. I mean, don't put a heavy armor since you will be slower… but since it's a giant, he'll just have to grab and break you in his hand, depending on his mood and injury. More aggressive, depressive or I don't know. The AI have to be very detailed to do so. The way I think of it is somelike dark soul but different. In DS, if an ennemy touch you, even in the nail… you receive all damages and die. In Liars of, you can survive, even after receiving a critical hit, but in counterpart, a headshot and you die. Even if the weakest enemy touches you, an arrow or a bullet in the head, that's it for you.

[koffeefrkeleven]

Thoughts

I’m sure just about everyone has heard some relatively affluent person (middle class job, couple kids, suburban house) grumble about feeling financially pinched. Usually these people have crappy conservative views they share with their co-workers at the office, and together they grumble about anybody getting social services “must be nice,” they’ll say, “they (people on welfare) probably live better than I do...” Not sure why I am thinking of this. Maybe they just don’t know anyone who lives in poverty, or maybe the people they know they assume are outliers and “special cases” and “not like the rest of the freeloaders“. Maybe they even have their own experience of a job loss, or financial setback and they even view themselves as the exception to the rule that justifies their socioeconomic status and that of everyone below them.

...

I’ve read that it is true in America that the middle class only make comparisons of their situation to the people above them. Their boss that has a newer car or gets more vacations or has a larger house it a classier zip-code. I don’t watch much television as an adult, but it seems TV only ever portrays people of a certain affluence. You can tell by the gleaming counter-tops and the spacious imaginary rooms. To be poor in America is to be invisible. Maybe the Bundy’s in Married With Children or the TV family of Rosanne Bar, --but neither depicted poverty even if they were more recognizable. A little scrappy, but not poor. I think I am floored by this line of thinking, I mean, middle class folks rent space to store their shit because even though they live in a massive house they still need room to store their shit. They buy houses with enough room (with an empty room) in case they need to “grow their family.” The counterpoint to this (using myself here, disabled since 2001, I have worked at least part time all but a couple years since then). I have, --what is to me-- a very pleasant, cozy 2br apt for my son and I. I would imagine people with more money would be unused to quarters this cramped, but otherwise, coming to my apartment wouldn’t be that much unlike walking into a home of an affluent friend, --if scaled down. There’s the usual TV (a CTR for my son to play video games) a game system or two (gifts, often) and other electronics I use for my living. In the kitchen, the fact that consumer goods are cheap means I have either thrifted or been gifted all the things they would likely recognize in their own kitchens. Perhaps the basics, anyway, since I largely don’t buy small appliances. Still, there’s nothing here that screams to most people “dire poverty” (--to be fair, I don’t live in dire poverty, I’m just a hair below the poverty line with my income for selling art teaching and hosting events). Even though consumer goods are cheap, most of my clothes are years old, and I wear them until they fall apart. Even if you are poor, you can’t afford to look poor --especially as a teacher or artist. I have to have some suit jackets, and I have an abundance of ties. My furniture, like my clothes, are repaired again and again, until they can’t be any more. Gifts, dumpster-diving, bought second hand. There is maybe a half-dozen pieces of furniture I bought from an actual furniture store. There are some valuable things related to my occupation, or (frequently) gifted by more affluent family or gotten second-hand from friends.

I eat very well, but there’s a couple factors to this. There’s a the federal subsidy I financially qualify for, and I go regularly to food pantries (imagine if you will the unspeakable horror of off-brand cereals and peanut butter, --shocking to the affluent? Maybe?). Joking aside, being disabled I have more time than food budget so I stretch my dollars by buying no pre-made foods at all. A bag of potatoes in the long run is cheaper/more versatile than a bag of tater-tots. I make my own breads, pizza dough, and (often) my own crackers and tortillas.

If I am painting a rosy picture of “poverty,” --that’s intentional. I’m well aware there are many, many people clicks down the economic ladder. I’m protected from “dire poverty” by two things: federal disability and my education (which assures the work I do when I am able is paid at a much higher rate than minimum wage). My disability is also higher than most, because disability is calculated based on your last wage (ie: my last year teaching full-time). Interestingly enough, it is the people that live in “dire poverty” that the middle class maligns. Poverty cuts across racial lines and demographic concerns like the urban/rural divide that defined so much of this last election cycle. In Western Saratoga County (where I grew up) poverty was obscured by the fact it as down a driveway in a trailer park hidden by stands of trees to obscure it from the road. Trailer parks are tucked on side roads and dilapidated farmhouses with sagging porches. It’s part of American’s ugly legacy of racism that the popular imagination puts a brown face and Africanized name on poverty. But even where poverty is deeply entrenched it’s hidden because more affluent neighbors find it unsightly. They re more worried about their property values than homeless having a bed when the temperature dips during a NY winter.  The max amounts for TANF (public cash assistance) for a family size of 2 or 4 people is $363 or $763 (assume single adult, kid, or 2 adults, two kids).  On that, it would be hard to find an apartment I could live in in the city I live in. There’s a paltry $100 dollars more if you qualify for a “special housing need” which at the household of 4 is  $711 a month, --which might get me a decent studio apartment, --might-- and with nothing left over for the month. And that is the first major problem of dire poverty, right there. Poverty means you’re pretty much always going to go from one crisis situation to another to keep living in doors. There’s a paltry $100 dollars more if you qualify for a “special housing need” which at the household of 4 is  $711, --which might get me a decent studio apartment, --might.

“But why don’t they just get jobs?” Thanks for paying attention, Jimmy, --they do work. All public assistance recipients are required to work to get benefits. It’s been that way for years. Because you have a charmed life and have never needed assistance, you are lucky enough to avoid finding out that “just getting a job” doesn’t cure poverty when wages have been stagnant for so long that people are working their 40 and still can’t make ends meet or get ahead. Assuming they can get a full-time gig, because we in the US allow profitable companies to hire many PT workers have them work just enough so they don’t qualify for health care and benefits. If and when they get a bit ahead, their gain will be lost if they or a child gets sick or some other emergency expense arises.

Good try though, buck-o. This has been long. I could spill a lot more ink (or computer pixels --as it were) on this topic. There is an idea among the middle class that poverty should be made so mollifying and humiliating that people would be shocked into doing everything it takes to uplift themselves so they are never poor again. If you have spent time at DSS, look around at the tired, worried faces. It is exactly as humiliating and mollifying as Conservatives want it to be. But these are people with almost no way out. A job hasn’t gotten them out of poverty. The benefit they’re seeking won’t do it. These are people just being ground up and sent to their graves early by a broken economy with a dead safety net. If you ask a poor person how you strike it rich in America, --they will probably take you to a corner store or market and tell you to buy a scratch off. And economists that study social mobility in America will likely agree with them. Because the American dream is dead, and the dollar and a dream is what they got now. The American middle class is pinched as well, and feeling resentful. The middle class has been swallowing a meanly crafted folk-lore about poverty and supposed “generous benefits” that barely keep people in housing and alive for 30 years now. Even without any idea of what poverty is like, most middle class Americans are too scared to lose what advantage they have and are fighting like hell to keep it. Fighting for the status quo that grinds up the people below them. The middle class has almost no interaction with the poor, --generally. I wish I felt better about my country. I wish I liked people that are economic “winners” more than I do. (I do have many friends that are pretty affluent, --owning their own homes even in a city like Albany with it’s relatively high cost of living, --but most are urbanites who see the poor daily, and they get it. They are usually very aware of how good they have it and often I find they pick up the tab when we go out together --because money doesn’t matter, or at least not more than the company does, I hope).  The question of whether “they have it better than I do” is pretty easily answerable, --however.

[obsidianruneblog]

Crisis 4: Forever Clear

Principle 4: Serenity represents a type of energy that allows for certain individuals to perform powers not of this world. The source of Serenity comes from the core of the individual. - V

“Jade, relax they it’s all going to be fine. Focus on Veritas.”  Zay mumbled to me as we walked Veritas to the pike. But I couldn’t help but feel the anxiety as if something bad was going to happen. The last time Vera was alone with Gran, things got out of control and they didn’t speak for months. I still don’t know what happened but she stopped her studies and even attended the university at the valley completely away from the rest of us. Maybe it was wrong of me to leave the two of them alone. In her anger she may cause an accident like bef-

“Jade, did you know about the Lore as well.” Veritas said as he walked behind Zay, his hands in his jacket pocket with a gaze that could best be described as … lost.  I haven’t seen him like this since I told him about what happened to his parents.

“Only the first chapter. I couldn’t read beyond that… It became too much for me.”

“Mhm..”  he replied, coldly. Zay turned and looked at him before looking up and grinning at me with his look what you’ve done expression. But I couldn’t help it, I can’t lie to him. I can’t lie to anyone for that matter.

“I know it is overwhelming but try not to think too much into it okay?”  I don’t know what to say to him. He has finished two chapters of the Lore and I wasn’t able to get back the first one without feeling  like I was going to go completely insane. The information was too much, knowledge about energy and the world and how it works. Information that was ambiguous at best and what it represents. The information contradicts itself through and through. Frankly I feel as though it was the cause of my anxiety… but it’s also responsible for the progress I've made in the science foundation. Head of the void studies. Maybe telling Veritas about what RuiMel and I are researching would make him feel better.

“Not sure what I should do going forward.” Veritas said as he paused in his steps. Zay and I stopped and tried to think of what we could do to make him better but he just stood looking up at the red sky.

“The pike is just above this hill here. Why don’t we talk when we get there?” Zay said as Veritas’ mood dwindled further. We were losing him. The happy boy who was always interested in nothing more than learning more about everything. Nothing feels more painful. I have known him longer than any of the others and yet, today he feels more distant than ever. I have to bring him back.

“What if I told you that we may be orbiting another planet? Just like the one that we live on.” I uttered. His eyebrows lowered as he fixed his vision onto me.

“Another planet?” He asked as I nodded softly with a smirk. I got him.  I started walking slowly as we almost got to the pike.

“That’s right.”  I motioned for him to follow me as Zay smirked and joined behind us. I smiled and teased him, placing my arms behind my back as I looked up to our trademark red sky.

“Well don’t just leave me in suspense. Continue.” He said as he followed closely behind me.

“Do you see our star there?” I asked, pointing to the red ball in the sky. He nodded as I continued.

“See...Picture a small sphere..” I raised my right hand making a fist. “This represents our star Vega, half of Vega’s surface produces heat which travels all across our home planet Eupheme. That represents the crimson glow you see in the sky which creates the colored red sky.”

“Wait, in my science class we learned that our star Vega was a complete surface of fire which heated the planet and space around it.” He stated sternly.

“Yes and that was the truth, in the past before the Constellation storm.”

“The storm that occured over a decade ago right?”

“Correct...” I crossed my arms. “See in school they taught you that the Constellation storm was the effect of an excess amount of flame radiation coming from Vega right?”

“Yeah, the sun reduced in size from the storm and has continued producing heat ever since. The storm also brought physical flames which managed to reach our planet's surface.” He replied as I nodded. I could not help but fight the smile that was spreading across my face. I always loved talking about science with him. Even more so than RuiMel.

“What your school didn’t tell you was that research shows the Constellation Storm was the product of something known we researchers call the emergence. Vega didn’t create the storm it simply acted as a door which opened bringing about the various stardust and energy from another dimension. Not only that, the storm caused half of Vega to become completely cold and inactive. That is the half that is invisible to us.  According to our studies, the storm is the cause of the creation of the void which represents the area at the dark side of Vega.” I finished. I could see Zay dwindled a bit behind Veritas and I. He never really enjoyed my science talks. I always had a habit of going on and on and he always had to remind Gran to stop me when I got lost in my words. But Veritas was with me through the whole thing. His eyes opened and eyebrows raised as he continued to look upwards processing the whole thing. We arrived at the pike overlooking the view of the Hernoco Valley. Two giant mountains with a valley containing a giant city split by a large river. The wind pushed all of us back as we walked towards the cliffside.

“Are you certain, how do you know that for sure? Why would education systems keep that from the students?” He asked as I reached into my suitcase and brought out my diagram.

“Because there are long term effects of the Constellation storm that we still don’t understand. The Lore represents studies of those who are able to harness and control Serenity brought upon us by the storm.”

“But the energy of Serenity has been around for over a century according to the first two chapters, along with the void. The storm was recent only about eleven years ago.” He replied.

“The effects of the storm are displayed at different points in time.” Vera said as she stood behind us. Veritas gasped as excitement grew more on his face.

“H-how do you know that for sure?”  He asked as she approached us to share the view of the valley.  She looked worn out but had large traces of pink scattered across her face which meant she was either yelling or baffled at something. She walked passing Zay and Veritas and stood closely on the edge of the pike, almost too close.

“It’s written in chapter three. Along with some other things.” V said as she sighed and looked off at her school in the distance.  The University of Hernoco. That school was the best thing for her when she stopped continuing her lessons with Gran. Though Gran wanted or should I say expected far more from her. V has always had an interest in the more simple things. She herself is too much of a complicated character. With a major in English she has learned to articulate her words and communicate better over the past few months.

“So then the storm…” Veritas paused as he turned to me.

“That’s right, the storm brought another planet which is hidden completely in the void of darkness behind Vega. Our mission at the science center is to find a way of proving it exists.” I said as I pointed to the mountain in the distance. It held a giant satellite which pointed upwards towards the sky, behind it various tall buildings which served as our research and conference centers. I can’t wait until Veridas turns eighteen and I can bring him to our research centers. I looked at him as he gazed taking a deep breath as he absorbed the view of the valley and smiled.

[arisirie]

yikes, mood spikes are the worst

source

sleep: what is the most comforting thing at night time for you?

fluffy pillows; i have at least two with me at all times :D

visitor: what creature visits your dreams most often?

hmmm, i suppose cats?

chimes: what sounds are your favorite?

crackling fireplace, pages turning, soft breeze, low frequency white noise. music-wise, i like orchestral strings and bells

times: when do you normally awaken?

oh! differs a lot. usually midnight to three in the morning, but that's because i sleep early

marking: describe your tattoos, or tattoos you would like in the future?

nope! no tattoos. but if i had to get one, it'd be a black and white phoenix on my right shoulder

reverie: think of somewhere otherworldly u wish to be within, what is it like there?

some hidden forest with a clearwater spring. i'd probably be a forest nymph if i could

warmth: what do you find most charming in others?

smiles and positive attitudes! selflessness and altruism also makes my heart melt

treat: your favorite sweets?

toblerone, gummy bears, ferero rocher, chocnut, stickos, mentos, maltesers, kit kat, and candy canes! i'm a sweet tooth, remember? <3

nestle: your most precious plush toy?

i have two; they come as a pair! a stringed tiger called hankertie and a pink bunny that i got when i was a baby (creatively named bunnie). i've had them for a really, really long time!

posy: your favorite herbs?

parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme (yes, i do enjoy my scarborough fairs OuO)

stories: books you remember from your childhood?

i remember their stories, but i don't remember their titles. there was a series of educational kids books i always reread. oh, and the little prince!

folk: who is the most fantastical being u have known?

assuming this is about mythology, i'm going to go with cthulu

elder: what do u expect to be like in your elder years?

just. chill. i'd be the one who bakes cookies for their grandchildren whenever they come over

home: in what type of environment do you feel most safe?

where i'm by myself. preferably has carpet. and books. maybe an empty library

finds: what kind of item would you most likely buy from an antique store?

a typewriter! or some really cool-looking clocks

offering: how do you show others you are fond of them?

smiling at them a lot and trying to make them laugh with my lame jokes. that, and i might get touchy-feely (since i’m uncomfortable with that stuff)

lore: if your life were a tale, how do u expect it would end?

bittersweet, probably. that, or it'd be uneventful. nothing bad happens, but nothing overly exciting either

[recentanimenews]

THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH Encounters A Star In Episodes 176-182!

Welcome to THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH! I’m Jared Clemons and I’ll be your host this week as we barrel on through all 220 episodes of the original Naruto anime adaptation. Last week in episodes 169-175, we got perhaps the best arc out of the filler thus far when we learned about Anko’s backstory and her history with Orochimaru. This week, it’s time to learn about how the postal service works and how dangerous meteorites can be in episodes 176-182.

  I really enjoy the idea behind showcasing how regular jobs are handled within Naruto, like we’ve seen with the Chef Ninja and now the Delivery Ninja. It’s the right kind of goofy that you need when you’re as knee deep in filler as we currently are. We then transition out of that into another arc that takes us into the Hidden Star Village where they have quite a few secrets and a way to make their ninja incredibly powerful, but at a steep price. This arc was surprisingly grounded and I’m almost surprised we didn’t get something like aliens being behind the power of the meteorite. I think at this point, the filler could go completely off the rails and I wouldn’t be too shocked. 

  Before we see if Naruto and his pals can get to the bottom of what’s going on in the Hidden Star Village, let’s find out what the rest of the Crunchyroll Features team had to say about this week’s slate of episodes!

    Jiraiya makes his return and we are also introduced to another regular job ninja in the Delivery Ninja. If you could have a one-off episode devoted to a random job that is now made for ninjas, what job would you choose?

  Paul: Judging by how hardcore the ninja postal service is, I have to imagine that ninja tax collectors would be even more hardcore. Can you imagine trying to collect taxes from villages populated entirely by professional shinobi, who know every stealth and evasion trick in the book, not to mention having access to Genjutsu that could make you think a pile of leaves was a fresh stack of bills?

  Danni: I want to see ninja athletes. Not really for any particular sport, I just want to see what kind of professional sports they’d come up with to utilize jutsu and what rules they’d have to put in place to regulate it. Kind of like how The Legend of Korra turned bending into its own sport. 

  Joseph: Ninja garbage men. 

  Carolyn: Kiba’s dog walking service. Shino’s flea circus. Ooh, ooh, Tsunade runs a gambling ring, Sasuke’s famous disappearing act with Naruto as a carnival barker, Jiraiya runs a burlesque show. Basically, Naruto goes to Vegas. This is a filler episode, after all.

  David: Honestly I’d like to see the opposite - someone doing a completely mundane job that doesn’t require being a ninja at all, and when Naruto and friends try to help them with their ninja skills, they manage to make things worse every time and learn that not all problems need to be solved with jutsu.

  Kara: Funny, I just went into a monologue on this on Twitter. I want to see the shop where villages go to get their ninja headbands. They probably have a three-ring binder of laminated pages of available symbols, which are all getting slowly used up so at some point you’re either gonna have to be the Village Hidden in the Dolphins or the Village Hidden in the Tribal Butterfly Design Things. Also I bet they have novelty ones for bachelor/ette parties.

  Noelle: One thing I’d want to see is a general supply shop. The villages act like small cities, but where do they get food from, and how is all of that transported? Who protects the transports? Stuff that aids the day to day going more smoothly is something I’d like to see explored.

  Kevin: I would want to know about something mundane but necessary for the main cast, like how paper bombs are made or the process of creating ninja tools, or some kind of jutsu research and creation facility if we’re allowed to go away from the silliness of ninja postmen. For something less educational and more insane and fun, maybe a ninja carnival where all of the attractions and employees are just using jutsu in really creative ways?

    Speaking of Jiraiya, he comes and goes very quickly as he’s still too tied up with other missions to train Naruto. Has his absence been felt throughout a lot of these arcs or had you forgotten about him until this episode?

  Paul: Jiraiya is the worst recurring character with the worst throwaway episodes, and I wouldn't notice the difference if they replaced him with a wet sack of compost wearing a kabuki wig. I'm still waiting for Jiraiya to demonstrate sufficient redeeming qualities to make up for him being a huge creep. At this point, I'm not holding my breath.

  Danni: I like Jiraiya whenever he gets serious about something, but he’s the absolute worst whenever there’s any downtime. Considering most filler is downtime, I can’t say I miss him. It’s more that I miss having plot worth him getting serious about.

  Joseph: I liked Jiraiya in the manga and I think he gets better, but as it is now he just makes for even worse filler episodes than usual. I’ll also never not be grossed out every time he’s turned on by Naruto’s Sexy Jutsu. 

  Carolyn: Yeah, I didn’t really notice he was gone and I don’t really care for him being back. He basically just stole from Naruto and disappeared last time around.

  David: No, I didn’t think about him until he showed up again. In the series proper the adults tend to show up for important things, so it made sense for him to not be around for all this filler, and I don’t think he needed to show up in this capacity either.

  Kara: For me, Jiraiya’s like the “little girl with the curl” in the old nursery rhyme. When he’s good, he’s very very good; when he’s bad, he’s an irredeemable pervert. That's how the rhyme went, right? It’s a shame, because I really like the older generation in this show for the most part and I really want to like him without having to hand-wave a bunch of gross stuff.

  Noelle: I think Jiraya is best when he’s actually doing something, and we can see some of his power. When he’s not in the spotlight, he’s just hanging around, and isn’t too missed.

  Kevin: As someone who really likes Jiraiya and is eagerly awaiting the start of Shippuden… the vast majority of the time I completely forget that that’s why Naruto’s still in the village and not out training. Generally once or twice a week, I’ll remember Jiraiya is supposedly off on various missions, then go back to wondering why no one remembers that they can walk on water, so they don’t need to use boats. 

    We dive into a lengthy arc after that with a trip to the Hidden Star Village. A fallen meteorite grants great power to those who train beside it, but that has dire consequences as we learn later on. What are your initial thoughts on this story in comparison to the other filler stories we’ve had thus far?

  Paul: The Hidden Star Village arc has been pretty solid as filler arcs go, not only because of the central dilemma (the meteorite boosts Chakra, but slowly kills the people who train with it), but also because of the internal political conflicts within the Hidden Star Village and the ethical quandary faced by Naruto, Neji, and company. They're required to complete their mission, even though their employer is a complete heel, and that’s not a type of pressure that they've faced before.

  Danni: It’s not a bad arc, but I haven’t found it near as interesting as some of the better filler arcs we’ve been through. The most interesting aspect has been them having to come to terms with the fact that they’re essentially mercenaries who have been hired by the bad guy. They still have to complete the mission for him. Though I feel like once he literally tried to murder Naruto, the Leaf shinobi should’ve taken that as a severance of contract if not a full blown declaration of war. 

  Joseph: I like some aspects of this arc, but overall it just reinforces the feeling that Naruto used to be a highlight of my week but has since turned into a mostly mediocre Saturday morning cartoon. It’s like I’m stuck in a time loop and each trip through is only slightly different. 

  Carolyn: I mean, it does seem somewhat meatier than past filler arcs, like the Ramen-making. And it actually does have a bit more of a story than the weird Scooby-Doo arc (as much as I liked that one) but in the end it is just filler and doesn’t quite capture the same interest as the earlier Naruto-focused episodes.

  David: It feels weird because if it weren’t filler, the meteorite probably would have been really important lore information, but here it just seems like nonsense. Maybe there will be a twist, but generally I prefer filler that doesn’t try to seem more important than it is.

  Kara: This would be throwaway for me except it goes straight for my morbid fascination with this ninja culture of absolutely destroying yourself to be Best Ninja Possible. Most of all I think it’s interesting to see a place where people draw the line. Hacking your Hayflick Limit or ripping out your own spine is fine, but we draw the line at running yourself ragged with meteor chakra.

  Noelle: I definitely agree with everyone else; it has a lot of potential, but in the end, it’s filler and won’t be brought up again. What is chakra and is chakra universal or just set to the ninja world is something that I’d really like to find out more of, but alas…

  Kevin: Honestly, I’m actually more invested in this arc than the vast majority of the rest of the filler. Sure, I know that the star will break or something, rendering it impossible to use later (it wouldn’t be filler, otherwise!), but for me this arc is working pretty well as a self-contained narrative about a group of people using whatever means necessary to survive and become the next respected hidden village.

    Naruto meets an individual with similar aspirations as him in Sumaru. They both are stubborn and want to become the leader of their respective villages. How did you feel about Sumaru’s arc with regards to him and what eventually happens with the reunion with his mother?

  Paul: I need to reserve judgment on this until I see how the arc concludes. A traditional ending would have Sumaru triumph over Akahoshi, implying that Sumaru will grow up to be a great leader for Hidden Star Village one day. I'm not sure that they're going in that direction. I wasn't expecting them to kill off Natsuhi...assuming she's actually dead, that is. If that detail sticks, the conclusion could be surprisingly dark.

  Danni: Same as Paul said I can’t really speak to his arc given that it hasn’t finished yet. I would also like to see him and the rest of the children defeat Akahoshi of their own volition.

  Joseph: I gotta echo Paul and Danni here. Sumaru is fine, but I’m not holding out hope for his eventual rule of this rinky dink village. I like the concept behind his people in general, but I got a little beat down by an arc that could have been two or three episodes tops. 

  Carolyn: It’s a little odd that he didn’t realize she was his mother without basically being told that. That sort of removes some of the emotion from that story. 

  David: “Look at this character Naruto just met, they’re a lot like Naruto!” happens in literally all of these longer filler arcs, and it rings more hollow each time.

  Kara: I like the parallels when Naruto can bring his experiences to these new and different people. He’s had to work through a lot and is finding success against the odds (or at least the assumed odds), and I think when it’s played right, it’s a good reminder that he actually does have the chops to be Hokage because he remembers the human element. I didn’t see as much of that this time, so past the “Ohoho, wanna be the Ho(shi)kage” it didn’t do much for me this time.

  Noelle: Parallels are interesting, but they really need some meat to actually work. I think Sumaru has potential, but I’ll need to see his arc in full to allow for a proper judgment. 

  Kevin: While I praise the arc in general, Sumaru is the part where I just tune things out and go back to looking at my phone. He’s not bad, per se, but everyone’s seen the “character brainwashed by the obvious bad guy who’s actually a good person, just on the wrong side of things” before, and outside of that trope, Sumaru’s basically another character that’s like Naruto, which we’ve seen at least a half dozen times at this point. His reunion with his mother is probably the most interesting part of his arc, because there’s some lingering resentment that they need to work through, instead of just immediately being on the same side because they’re family. 

    Near the end of this week’s run of episodes, we see a split with regards to how to proceed with the mission. Naruto wants to bring Akahoshi to justice for what he’s done while Neji believes they should leave that matter to the Star Village. Given what we’ve seen in other filler arcs over the last couple of weeks and with what happens at the end of our final episode, should they have been more gung ho with confronting Akahoshi or was Neji in the right to hold Naruto and Lee back?

  Paul: This was the most interesting conflict in the arc. The Leaf Village shinobi have been charged with a single task: retrieving the stolen star. Everything else outside of the purview of their mission, and their conduct – no matter how righteous – could reflect poorly on their village and damage its social standing. Since peace among the ninja villages is so fragile, a loss of reputation could have dire consequences. Naruto and company are caught between a rock and a hard place, and I love it.

  Danni: Honestly, they’re both right. Naruto is correct in that the just thing to do would be to stop Akahoshi, and Neji is right in recognizing that shinobi are hired guns and not vigilantes. It’s an interesting conflict that Naruto has always danced around from the start, and I have full confidence that Naruto’s view will ultimately win out and this conflict will never become a factor ever again.

  Joseph: This is definitely an interesting dilemma, and I’d like to see more of it in these missions. I agree that both sides are right, but it’s going to come down to what’s more important to Naruto. I suspect he’ll land on the side of confrontation, reputation be damned. 

  Carolyn: I’m a Gemini so I see both sides and will agonize over this answer for 30 years. Neji is definitely right in a way, it’s not exactly their place. But Naruto isn’t wrong, either. Morals are morals.

  David: Neji is completely right, but this isn’t the kind of story that will give the pragmatic character his due.

  Kara: I think that first begs the question of what is valued higher: justice overall, or faithfulness to your village and assignment. Considering previous episodes, it seems their lives will be most affected by their adherence to the latter. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not, but there it is.

  Noelle: It’s tricky, because they both bring up good points. While there’s no doubt that Akahoshi deserves to face some justice, the Leaf Village is not the world police; they don’t have full jurisdiction over what happens outside their territory. In the end, the Star Village ultimately has the right to the final say. It’s a tough call. 

  Kevin: In terms of actual mission rules and how professionals would handle the situation, Neji is almost certainly correct. Their employer was releasing them and saying that their mission was concluded, so the Leaf team should have headed back home right then. But this is Naruto, so screw the rules, we have a Nindo, a ninja way, to uphold.

    Open up your flip phone and give me your highs and lows from this week’s episodes.

  Paul: My high point is all of the intrigue surrounding Hidden Star Village, which was grounded in concepts such as duty, ambition, and obligation. My low point was the conclusion to the face-stealing shinobi mini-arc, which began as a serious threat but concluded as an episode of Looney Tunes. The set-up didn't match the pay-off, although I like the idea of a perfect impersonation Jutsu being used for something as mundane as dining-and-dashing.

  Danni: My high point was watching the treasure hunting arc go from serious threat to goofy chase hijinks from last week to this week. I found it pretty humorous in the end. My low point was, of course, Sexy Jutsu. I’m so, so tired of it.

  Joseph: My low point was pretty much everything with Jiraiya in what was yet another pointless episode that landed back at square one. Second low honors go to a totally wasted Rock Lee. My high point was the brief intrigue at the beginning of the Star Village arc, which quickly dissipated as more was revealed. 

  Carolyn: Neji’s growth and that entire conflict was definitely an interesting high point for me. Also, “Creeeeping.” Because Rock Lee is a very good boy. Low point is always sexy jutsu and just the weird amazement the characters always display when they realize a super-strong awesome ninja is a woman. They’ve been punched in the face by super strong women the whole series.

  David: My high point and low point are both when Naruto used Rasengan to propel his boat he was on forward to catch up to the postman’s boat. High because it is such an amusing use of what is supposed to be an extremely powerful, Chakra-intensive attack, but also low because of that wastefulness. Did the writers forget these guys can literally walk on water?

  Kara: My high point was Naruto’s garbage smutfic bringing peace to the land. My low point was the rest of that episode.

  Noelle: The Star Village intrigue was definitely something I enjoyed, with both the concepts it introduced and the morality conundrum it pushed towards. I like it when things aren’t clean cut. Low point: Sexy Jutsu… haven’t we gotten tired of this by now?

  Kevin: 

High - The concept of the Hidden Star arc. I really like the idea of a group of people trying to become the next Hidden Village, but even more than that, I like that the previous village Kage banned star training because of how dangerous it is but the current villain brought it back because if even a handful of people master it, then their position as a powerful village is secured. It’s a bit more of a nuanced narrative than we’ve seen in previous arcs. 

Low - The conclusion of the one-shot with Jiraiya and the Ninja Postmen. I get that it’s a gag, but a Nation’s Lord reading whatever genre “Make-Out Paradise” is in and deciding to not go to war as a result is not a satisfying ending. It would’ve made more sense if one of the following happened. Either a) he didn’t particularly like it, was disappointed and then Jiraiya and Naruto showed up to explain what had happened, giving him the secret documents and a promise to send the manuscript when Jiraiya finished it; or b) the Ninja Postmen accepted that there had been a mixup and swapped the documents back.

    COUNTERS:

  This Week:

Ramen: 3 cups

Hokage: 3

Clones: 28 + 2 variable scenes + 2 uncountable scenes

  Total So Far:

Ramen: 171 bowls, 12 cups

Hokage: 58

Clones: 711

  And that’s it for this week! Remember that you’re always welcome to watch along with the Rewatch, especially if you’ve never seen the original Naruto! Watch Naruto today!

  Here’s our upcoming schedule:

-Next week, JOSEPH LUSTER is back to continue the Star Guard mission!

-On July 26th, KARA DENNISON returns to guide us through the end of the Peddlers Escort Mission!

-Finally on August 2nd, NOELLE OGAWA shows us the formation of the Konoha 11!

  CATCH UP ON THE REWATCH!

Episodes 169-175: Anko’s Backstory At Sea

Episodes 162-168: The Tale of the Phantom Samurai

Episodes 155-161: Quickfire Curry

Episodes 148-154: The Forest is Abuzz With Ninjas

Episodes 141-147: Mizuki Strikes Back!

Episodes 134-140: The Climactic Clash

Episodes 127-133: Naruto vs Sasuke

Episodes 120-126: The Sand Siblings Return

Episodes 113-119: Operation Rescue Sasuke

Episodes 106-112: Sasuke Goes Rogue

Episodes 99-105: Trouble in the Land of Tea

Episodes 92-98: Clash of the Sannin

Episodes 85-91: A Life-Changing Decision

Episodes 78-84: The Fall of a Legend

Episodes 71-77: Sands of Sorrow

Episodes 64-70: Crashing the Chunin Exam

Episodes 57-63: Family Feud

Episodes 50-56: Rock Lee Rally

Episodes 43-49: The Gate

Episodes 36-42: Through the Woods

Episodes 29-35: Sakura Unleashed

Episodes 22-28: Chunin Exams Kickoff

Episodes 15-21: Leaving the Land of Waves

Episodes 8-14: Beginners' Battle

Episodes 1-7: I'm Gonna Be the Hokage!

  Thank you for joining us for the GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH! Have a great weekend, and we'll see you all next time!

  Have anything to say about our thoughts on Episodes 176-182? Let us know in the comments! Don't forget, we're also accepting questions and comments for next week, so don't be shy and feel free to ask away!

---

Jared Clemons is a writer and podcaster for Seasonal Anime Checkup where he can be found always wanting to talk about Love Live! Sunshine!! or whatever else he's into at the moment. He can be found on Twitter @ragbag.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[ninjabachelorparty]

OPEN WORLD VIDEOGAMES: A LOVE STORY

My first exposure to video games, a beginning that set into motion a life of love and sometimes obsession, was not a typical one. I was no NES kid at the start, back when Nintendo ruled the world, and the hearts of children. Neither was I a Spectrum or a Commodore 64 convert. My gaming education began with one of Commodore’s more obscure machines, the 16 + 4. This was a machine aimed more toward the business market (the + 4 referring to a package of office tools that came with the machine). But it played games also, and so it was that I received a battered and mysterious cardboard box, filled with a loose collection of tapes and wires. The origins of this box and who it came from is lost to time, but that stranger played an essential part in shaping my life and my interests.

TREASURE ISLAND

Two games stand out from this formative time in my gaming life. The first was Fire Ant, a fairly simple single screen maze game. A slower-paced Pacman with insects, that has the honour of being the first game I ever completed.  But another game, despite being one that I could never finish, cemented within me a love of open-world games that persists to this day. It was a game called Treasure Island. The gameplay was simple, still involving walking through some type of maze, this time however on multiple interconnected screens. Standing in place were pirates, who would throw swords at you if you ventured too close to them. Avoid the throw, and you could pick the swords up and throw them back. Fairly simple stuff indeed, with one caveat; after the initial screen, the choice of progression was handed to you– do you go to the left screen, or the right? A simply choice to be sure, but it was my choice. For Fire Ant, there was only one correct route to finish a level, with minor variations on the way. Treasure Island gave the impression of a much deeper and mysterious choice. One way might lead to a dead end, requiring a retracing of steps to find a new path that allowed progress. Sound familiar? The same roadblocks inhibit every open world game. “Go where you like, but this door is locked until the main quest gives you the key”. Exploration is the allure, and finding a working sequence to progress is the result of this exploration (and still in 2016, the newest Hitman gives me essentially the same feeling. Here’s a huge open level with so many possibilities, now to find the perfect sequence of execution within). Going back to Treasure Island now, it seems a very simple game, and maybe not as open as I once thought. But to an 8-year old seeing the possibilities of the medium laid before them for the first time, it was a revelation.  

MOONSTONE

Eventually the love for my Commodore 16 faded somewhat. Being a relatively obscure machine eight or so years removed from its release, it was almost impossible to find new games for. The lustre of the games eventually went away, the few times new tapes were found being marred by incompatibility and broken software. A future obsession might have been nixed right there, if it were not for the arrival in my life of, in my humble opinion, the greatest games machine of all time: The Commodore Amiga 500. It was Christmas of 1993, and I was 12, receiving, as I am sure many were that Christmas, the Cartoon Classics pack. It was love at first sight, and a massive expanding of my gaming horizons. I could talk for days, combing over every incredible game that I played, but one stands out as a natural progression of my taste for open-world games: Moonstone.

Mention this game to most that hold it dear and they will undoubtedly mention the gore. This game was brutal, making Mortal Kombat look like child’s play.  This game is essentially a single-screen beat-em-up in execution, 2D sprites moving about a plane and fighting. You control one of four knights, battling creatures of all shapes and sizes. And you will be eviscerated, over and over again. Eaten, decapitated, hung, and splattered in to the ground, your deaths were plenty, and brutal.

However there was another aspect to this game, an openness, which despite its fairly simple presentation drew me in. The overworld, if it can be called that, was a single-screen map of what seemed to be an entire continent. Littered around were icons showing places where you could enter a gameplay screen to fight monsters and collect treasures and keys. You avatar was a simple sprite of your knight’s head. It was basically the world map for a modern open world game, but interactive, and completely open for your exploration, in whatever order you wished. Looking back, it’s a very simple set-up, with maybe two dozen places to actually enter. My imagination filled in all the blanks it needed to though, and I spent hours lost as a noble knight, venturing across fields and plains, into dark and dank swamps and beyond.

GRAND THEFT AUTO

Another game from my Amiga days was a top-down driving game called APB. In the game, you drove a police car and apprehended criminals. Any further mechanics of the game are honestly lost to me, as I simply spent my time with the game driving around the fairly open map and ignoring any real objectives. It felt like a glimpse at something truly open-world, but would not be fully realised to me until I played a game for the PlayStation known as Grand Theft Auto. Another sprite-based top down game like APB, but in this game, you were free to go anywhere and do anything. Sure there were missions and critical paths, but no game prior to this had given the option to so freely disregard them and still have a complete and satisfying experience regardless. In APB I could drive around freely, but it was an aimless driving with no purpose. In Moonstone I could move my sprite around the map as much as I wanted, but to have a gameplay experience I still needed to enter the arenas dotted around.

Grand Theft Auto changed this in a major way. Firstly, you could leave your car, and then hijack any other vehicle you wanted. Get spotted, and the police are on your trail. You can leave the car behind and just wander the map, watching the city go about its business around you. Nowadays this is the common standard for open world games, but in this simpler time it was revolutionary. Exploration, police chases, stealing random cars, all of this had no bearing on the overall path, and didn’t push the story forward, but this was the game, or at least a tangible part of it. It was something to actively participate in; instead of something that you felt you had to push yourself away from the real game to experience. Other games needed their limits pushed to experience some freedom. Grand Theft Auto removed the limits and relished in it.

Grand Theft Auto continued to impress as the series continued, especially with the transition to Grand Theft Auto 3, which felt like the true realisation of the concepts on display from the first game. The original top down view obviously gave the game some hard limits, but these were shattered with the transition to a 3D environment. It truly felt like a limitless experience, with no corner unreachable and with every option you could imagine realised. The proceeding games are all fantastic experiences, but there was nothing quite like that feeling of starting up Grand Theft Auto 3. Some special mention must however be given to Grand Theft Auto 5, as it featured a city that felt truly lived in, alive and vibrant. The addition of the first person camera made this element of the game shine through, and it was an absolute pleasure to simply take in the world as it went about its business around you.

MORROWIND

I was never a PC gamer in my youth, and so many games that provided unique and very open worlds were hidden from me. That all changed one day when reading an article online about an adored PC game that would soon be coming to Xbox, a game in which it was claimed you could literally go anywhere and do anything. That game was of course, Morrowind.

This game was a revelation to me. The early games I loved were open essentially in map and your choice of direction, but still had clear and defined paths to completion. The Grand Theft Auto games pushed this further and allowed a sandbox of toys to play with, but whose core was still comprised of the basic building blocks of randomly generated, faceless characters and disposable vehicles, with little permanent consequence for their destruction or death. Morrowind allowed an unseen (to me) level of granular interaction, with a persistent world that granted limitless options.

Steal a car in Grand Theft Auto, and at worst, you’ll get in a police chase, and either get away or be killed. That car has no permanence in the world; it’s simply one of many toys for your sandbox. Steal an item in Morrowind, and that singular, tangible thing is affected forever. You can keep it, and another won’t respawn in its place, or take it somewhere and drop it where it will remain indefinitely. You are no longer causing trouble with generic pedestrians that repeat and respawn around you. Each character in Morrowind is a crafted individual with their own place in the world. When one dies, no algorithm generates a new one in their place when you return, to the point that you can completely cut yourself off from the main quest if you murder certain NPCs.

This level of detail, coupled with a fantastic fantasy setting, and a deep and interesting lore, combined to create something truly special that hooked me for dozens upon dozens of hours. Video gaming can be a good source of escapism, and at that time Morrowind was the closest realisation of another world, that I could enter and inhabit. Countless hours were spent simply roaming the land, on an unrivalled quest of discovery and wonder. I felt part of the world, and able to affect and influence it in at my choosing. It was often the smallest of interactions that left the longest lasting impression, as these gave the world that sense of tangibility that was so enticing.

HITMAN

The idea of open world games has become an industry standard in modern video gaming. Many games utilise the concept now, and has reached a point of much eye-rolling as a new or existing franchise goes that route. Games nowadays have maps that are saturated with icons and objectives and quests to complete, which can be extremely tiring. It might be that sense of wonder and awe has abated somewhat because of this, as developers seem too eager to point out all the awesome stuff that lies before you. The excitement at simply exploring and discovering the world has been lessened somewhat by many clichés and tropes that now come baked into almost all open worlds.

The 2016 release of Hitman seemed to be the perfect antidote to the bloated world maps of many recent games. It could be argued that it does not even qualify for the genre, but I see it as an open-world game that consists of six perfectly crafted, small open worlds. Its openness and freeform nature ignited in me the same love that all the games on this list provided. It has the detail and small-scale interaction of Morrowind, not quite as granular but still persistent and permanently affected on each playthrough. Once you leave a map and then return, everything resets, allowing endless chaos with little consequence in the same way as Grand Theft Auto. It feels like a perfect amalgamation of everything that appeals so much to me in an open world game.

Each map is so well crafted, with the smaller scale allowing a level of detail not present in many games, and is testament to the games design that it is a joy to simply walk the maps, noticing the details and discovering the world you currently inhabit. The size of your sandbox may be reduced, but the sense of wonder at wandering and learning the levels is not.

This list is not presented as some ultimate reference for the best of the genre, and is far from exhaustive in its history. Many games I hold dear are not present here, such as Just Cause, Saints Row, and Deus Ex. It is simply my way of paying tribute to a genre that I love by choosing those games that had the most impact and shaped the kind of experience I look for in my games. In much the same way as music, playing video games can help soothe a troubled mind, and being able to escape for a while into some other world and roam its lands can help immensely when our world might seem a bit too much to bear.