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altocat · 4 months

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THE FIRST SOLDIER: CHAPTER 6

It's time, folks! After five agonizing months of waiting, we FINALLY get a story update. And I'm here to recap for your convenience! So, spoilers below under the cut.

Story opens up ten days after Shinra reinforcements arrived on the island. They're building a reactor via a site dig. Glenn and crew have been watching Rosen's smoke for days now just in case.

Lucia remarks that Sephiroth did most of the heavy lifting in terms of prep. Glenn is getting ready to celebrate with their upcoming bonus. Sephiroth isn't interested in pay though according to him.

An engineer calls them over and tells them they need to go kill monsters in the area. When Glenn asks where Sephiroth is, the engineer tells him that he's out scavenging corpses and that it's kind of creepy.

Seph has apparently been going off on his own for a while. Lucia suggests they go look for him while they take care of the monsters.

Ugh. More filler monsters. And of course the level cap is trillions of numbers ahead that of the last chapter's. This fucking game smh.

The music on this section is nice. EC has a good soundtrack ngl. Better than it deserves, in my opinion.

After an incredibly tedious fight with a recolored ostrich monster, the gang comes across a shard of materia in the ground. This comes into play later.

They find Sephiroth digging around corpses at the old Rhadoran base. He clarifies that it might LOOK creepy but he's actually looking for the picture of his mother. Like most children with precious comfort items, he ended up dropping it somewhere and he's looking through the bodies to see if it's somehow under them.

So here's some clarification, the photograph is NOT a photograph so much as a locket/necklace that Sephiroth wears. So it's not in his front pocket, he's wearing it around his neck. Neat.

The gang offers to help him look for it, taking out filler monsters in between. Sephiroth mentions that he feels the need to protect the team as the leader. That's his job. There's some cute banter between Seph and the trio. Awww.

All the Rhadorans except Rosen are gone now. Matt keeps going on and on about their religion--Planetology. Lucia is unfamiliar with this concept and Matt explains the concept of mana and souls returning to the planet to Sephiroth.

Glenn feels REALLY guilty now about what they did to the Rhadorans, worried they'll just be forgotten since they're gone now. Kinda too late for that, bud. And now it's just Rosen left alone.

Hojo mention from Seph btw. Hojo told Sephiroth "No matter how logically you explain something, there will always be people who don't understand because they have a different view of the world."

When Glenn worries about the Rhadorans being forgotten, Sephiroth takes what he learned from Glenn earlier about compassion to heart, saying that the PLANET will remember them.

Glenn understands how important mana is now. It's life force, life energy. That's why the Rhadorans hated what Shinra was doing.

They can't seem to find the necklace anywhere. Sephiroth is glumly resigned to accept that it's gone for good.

Instead, thanks to Glenn's sudden moral dilemma, they decide to bury the Rhadorans as a means of "apologizing". Sephiroth eagerly offers to help.

While they're burying the bodies, the island starts shaking. The reactor dig is going to start soon. And THAT'S what will awaken the mana overflow Rosen mentioned earlier. They'll set off explosives that will start a chain reaction. Sephiroth says they're going to have to evacuate.

They're blocked by a bunch of branches. Seph finds the materia fragment from earlier and uses it to incinerate the area to make a path. Glenn gushes over how cool Seph is.

Seph cuts down a big tree to make a bridge too. Glenn thinks Seph is SUPER FUCKING RAD OKAY. Seph asks if he's impressed with his "cyborg powers" and Glenn says no, not wanting to hurt Seph's feelings again.

Seph says that he feels he can say anything to the group and that he doesn't want them to hold back. Glenn is in full support mode now and he and Seph seem very in sync with each other. It's very cute. They've gotten close during the gap.

They find another materia shard during a blocked path of rushing water. Sephiroth uses it to freeze the water to move across.

Seph is eager to get his team back to the chief engineer, but Glenn is worried about Rosen. He wants to see if there's a way to make sure Rosen's safe but Seph says there's no time. Glenn seems to be ready to ask Seph something but then drops it.

This section is called "Inseparable". They arrive at the helicopters. Glenn wants to delay the dig so he can warn Rosen in time. But they've already started.

Glenn gets agitated and then punches the engineer, who threatens to tell HQ. Glenn doesn't give a fuck. Matt and Lucia decide to support Glenn. Sephiroth doesn't stop them.

Lucia hijacks one of the choppers and kicks a soldier out after holding them at gunpoint. They're going to fly over to Rosen's Island with it.

A monster shows up just as shit starts to get crazy. It's Stamp the goblin-frog! He's huge and mutated because of the mako. Glenn wants to finish him off for good.

They take care of Stamp and the group is going to go rescue Rosen and Refu. The other chopper throws down a ladder for them for the evacuation but the trio is basically defecting.

Matt said Sephiroth isn't fired because the chief knows that it was the trio's idea, not his. But they're going to have to leave Seph behind so he isn't dragged into this.

Glenn tells Sephiroth to stay safe as the trio departs. Sephiroth is visibly hesitating on whether or not to accept the ladder or follow the group after they've left.

The trio gets ready to take off in their hijacked chopper. And Sephiroth. Is going. WITH them.

Holy fucking shit Sephiroth tried to defy Shinra asrdfghkjgfd just so he could stay with his friends. I'm gonna cry. Fuck, I already am. INSEPARABLE. AHHHHH.

Overall, a decent chapter. Much better than I was expecting. Babyroth is so endearing and it's clear he's now very attached to the trio. Even more than Shinra. Him just suddenly losing the picture/necklace is kind of bullshit but whatever. I guess he had to lose it somehow? Maybe it'll turn up again later.

Sephiroth's rebellion will obviously have consequences later.

#ff7 #ffvii #final fantasy 7 #sephcanons #sephiroth #ffvii first soldier #first soldier #ever crisis #ffvii ever crisis #spoilers #ff7ec #glenn lodbrok #matt winsord #lucia lin #hojo #holy fuck #an unexpected fucking twist if ever there was one

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swinging-stars-from-satellites · 3 years

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idk how many people would even want to see this BUT i wanna yell about Leela and Brax so here's a list of all their scenes togethr/scenes pertainng to them that i can recall (pLEASE add on if i missed anything/ you have any additional thoughts!! i could talk about these two all day!)

right off the bat in Weapon of Choice when Leela is on the outskirts of the Citadel and Brax goes to bring her back (which is interesting in and of itself, bc usually i would imagine a chancellery guard would go do that so what made Brax decide to instead??), Leela kinda goes off at him bc she's hurting and instead of trying to actually explain what's going on Brax doesn't even try to argue he just says "we need you" which is great bc Leela has that instinctive desire to be needed and to help people and he's speaking right to that -- also as far as we know, this is Leela and Brax's first actual meeting in canon? it's implied that they know of each other, which makes sense, but it doesn't seem like they've ever directly interacted before: Brax seems almost slightly uncertain, and Leela is combative, but when he's gentle with her she's actually quite receptive

the literal next scene after that, where the OT4 is all in one room for the first time (they still kinda hate each other at this point but still !!!). Narvin explaining Gryben and being a real jerk about it and Leela (understandibly!) questions if Gryben is a prison world, and Brax (who to this point has been mostly quiet as Narvin and Romana brief Leela) jumps in to both clarify Narvin's previous xenophobic statements while also maintaining the inherent questionable/negative connotations

(btw it's actually pretty important to note that Romana self-edits herself a lot when talking to Leela, especially in the earlier seasons; you can actually hear her revising the things she says to put it in terms that she thinks Leela will better understand. and i mean she does it out of genuine consideration for her friend associate but it often comes across as varying levels of patronizing. Narvin also obviously "dumbs things down" when dealing with Leela early on, but like... Brax never does that on any level. the only difference i can tell in how he addresses Leela vs how he talks to anybody else is that he seems much more kind with her than almost anyone else???)

their conversation about the Matrix in The Inquiry: this is REALLY important (and if you've ever talked to me on ao3 i've probably gone off to you about it lol) because it's layered. they're talking about the Matrix but they're also not because in answering Leela's question Brax is making a very thinly veiled allegory (which he outright states a minute later) to Time Lord society/politicians/most importantly HIMSELF -- he's actually strangely open about his morals/beliefs in this scene and i'm living for it tbh -- and i find it very interesting that even though he does directly explain what he means ("how do you know all this?" / "because i am a politician.") he also leaves it for Leela to work out the implications. like it's a very nuanced conversation bc there's double meaning in it and most people on Gallifrey seem to think that Leela is tone-deaf and can't pick up on that stuff (even Romana sometimes oversimplifies things to her) but Brax totally just lets her take from it what she will bc he believes her intelligent enough to understand. he doesn't think her any lesser because she's human.

ALSO on a secondary note to the above: the fact that Leela has a question/needed clarification (sorry, haven't listened to this in a while i forget how it actually happened) and actively sought out Brax to talk to about it?? like she knows Romana better she could have gone to her but i feel like Leela kinda imprinted on Brax and someone she can go to for help if she needs it; maybe it's partly bc she knows he's under marginally less pressure than Romana is but also the truth of the matter is that Brax was the most genuinely helpful person to her in the previous stories and that probably means a lot to her (esp. bc he acts like the essence of everything she hates about Gallifrey but he doesn't treat her the way she would expect from that). btw this topic is gonna come up again in a hot minute

that part where Brax gives her that information that might help her re: the Andred thing, even though he really probably shouldn't have done that -- it kinda makes me think about what he must have been like with Theta tbh???

actually this is mostly my own conjecture but there's some neat stuff in Spirit bc during the *waves hand vaguely* bodyswap dream sequence thing, Romana is very "!!!! Brax can help us !!!" which is tecnically Leela brain talking, so like there's the implications of the stuff i've said above about Leela having this idea of Brax where she knows he's someone she can go to for help

can u tell i'm soft for them

Leela sounding really sad/distracted when she talks about how Brax isn't there YES i'm grasping at straws but a lot of this relationship really is conveyed through the voice acting bc of how little direct focus there is on the characters. there's actually several scenes in Mindbomb where she mentions him and she outright says that she misses him during her discussion with Matthias

that implied scene with them in Mindbomb!! i have a Lot of thoughts about that!!! it's all conjecture and fanfic fodder!!! but the reason i mention this is because it seems pretty meta that out of the whole Gally Gang, it's Leela who first sees Brax when he comes back to Gallifrey and in turn she's the first person (besides Matthias, i guess) that he sees upon his return?? idk i just feel like that's somehow a meaningful detail??? also her reaction of utter shock after spending the entire episode missing him and how worked up she is when she tries to tell Romana, like I desperately need to know what happened in this missing scene MR RICHARDS PLEASE TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED

Leela insisting on going with Brax when Pandora starts hurting him and their whole conversation there is just. so good. like they're both just so soft and then when Darkel comes in Leela instantly goes into protective mode. like they just have such an open relationship bc Brax doesn't even try to be all pretentious with her, like he doesn't even try to keep up any facades when he's with her he's just very genuine and it really says a lot about both of them -- Leela is so good at seeing people, like getting down to the core of who people are and what makes them them (which is why she's good for Romana, btw, bc Romana has a lot of identity issues) and Brax is so tangled up in who he presents himself as that he barely knows who he actually is anymore but Leela can see that and she makes it so he can truly be himself and he doesn't have to hide. also she's so gentle with him when they talk about Pandora, she's very caring and empathetic and wants to make sure he's okay and i am WEAK

it's been a hot while since i listened to Panacea but I think i remember Brax being really soft with Leela when he first brings the gang to the Axis, like just sounding really glad to see her

ok other than the fact that Brax is lowkey relatable in Reborn (daydreaming fanfic about yourself/people you know? simping for Mary Tamm Romana? yeah mood, my man) there's that scene where they're first appraoching the Citadel on the alt!Gallifrey and it seems like none of them, and Brax specifically, have seen it from the outside in a good long while bc he's very in awe and he tells Leela that he wishes she could see it and he sounds sO hEcKiNg sOFT oh my word-

and once again with Leela thinking of Brax as someone she trusts for help: in Dissassembled when everything is going to crap she straight-up says that she wants to go find Brax bc he'll know what to do/be able to help

at the beginning of Annihilation when Romana is depressed and questioning if Brax truly was her friend and Leela INSTANTLY, NO HESITATION assures her that he was; i lost where i had her exact lines written down but she actually kinda goes off to make sure Romana gets the point

literally forcing myself to talk about this bc it makes my brain stall out but like,,, the Brax Hound in Annihilation,,, Leela being like "goodbye, Braxiatel... again" she sounds so sad and like UGH i always kinda forget how sad it actually is for them to lose Brax in Dissassembled bc like, it was so sudden and they didn't get to say goodbye and Leela is always losing people and i have many many feels about this scene and how all that emotion is made very clear in how they each respond to the Hound (might make a separate post abt this later if anyone is interested ::eyes::)

Enemy Lines is utter bullcrap about these two and I will never stop being salty about how they not only sidelined the very good, very subtle friendship they had in s1-4, but they??? made Leela acutally not trust Brax??? when literally this entire time she's been the one person who probably genuinely trusts him the most?? what the heck, David

I haven't heard TW3 or 4 yet but i'm assuming there's nothing worthwhile in those with regards to this duo (correct me if i'm wrong tho lol, i would love to be mistaken in this assumption)

TL;DR Leela and Brax mututally imprinted on each other and have probably the most open and healthy relationship within the OT4 and it is an absolute CRIME that nobody besides Gary Russell and Justin Richards cared enough to actually build on it in canon

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rosepetalwings · 3 years

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Oh I'm More Than Glad To Talk About Deeprune

ok so lets run through the au in sections

DEEPRUNE

Story:

The cast are now all mythological mermaid/siren creatures.

The Light World is the epipelagic zone (and upper half of mesopelagic zone) of the ocean and live in ignorance of the strange creatures that look as they do in the twilight below...

Dark World is mid-mesopelagic and below, full of frightening sea creatures those so blessed to live in sea reef coral homes could never hope to fathom... and should never hope to meet.

One day, one of the 4 kings of the ocean basins drew help from a powerful, unknown force and imprisoned his peers at the bottom of the deep sea trenches... And to this day, he rules his little area, biding his time for the day the Dark can take over the Light.

That is, of course, unless a very human looking siren, a sea crocodile tough girl, a bioluminscent jellyfish(?) fluffy boy, and a villainous... cloaked hybrid thing can fulfill a very familiar prophecy...

Locations:

Light Zone

Hometown - A bright and cheerful coral reef with a good amount of merfolk in the community.

School ‐ Building constructed out of stone and hidden amongst normal marine foliage and coral. Normal congregations of school akin to what the land-dwellers (or terrans, as the merfolk might call them) do for their own children.

Hospital ‐ Made in the same way as the school and serves the same function as its land counterpart. The hospital does have different instruments to serve its marine patients, however.

QC's diner - Hidden under a rock shelf and is more of an open seating arrangement. Fan coral serves as a sort of decorative barrier to keep the seating plan from being too open.

ICEE's p"e"zzeria - Incredibly conspicuous and placed between the brightest coral on the reef for the attention-grabbing colors. High visibility means free advertising, no?

The Graveyard - In a clearing among the kelp forest, there lies a set of engraved stones covered in algae. It's especially quiet there. Peaceful when you focus on the sunlight filtering in through the kelp stalks.

The bunker - Placed just before the continental shelf begins to fall off into complete and utter darkness. The merfolk in town warn their children to never near that area.

Dark Zone

????? - A craggy mess of rocks on the outskirts of the continental shelf. The light begins to grow strange here for whatever reason...

Castle Town - A shipwreck amongst the craggy rocks in the dark where a strangely kind shadowy figure lives.

Field - A seemingly endless stretch of ocean in which a Lightner's vision alone cannot be used to find one's way in the dark, lest they be horribly lost until the end of time. Or lest they stray further down, where it grows darker, yet darker...

The Scarlet Forest - Not really a forest, per se. More a jestful remark over the collection of sea creatures that have evolved to have a red tone to their skin as camouflage in the watery depths. The creatures are so very frightening and strange with their sharp-toothed open maws and flashy photophores. Strange to think how normal this all is down in the depths...

Great Board - The inlets and caves that checker the continental slope and house very many deep sea merfolk. Very many large tunnels dug out to house many of the population and keep them interconnected as a society. Alas, this stationary grouping also makes them vulnerable to the power of kingly apex predators.

The Castle - Hidden within the depths of the Mariana Trench. None of the Board have seen the castle in such grave depths and lived to tell the tale. None but a strange barreleye and his hyper young ward...

Characters:

Lightners

Kris - A mostly human-shaped siren, save for fishy bits, including but not limited to, gills and an iridescent shine to their hair. Always sneaking off to play tricks on unsuspecting beach goers. Kind of a quiet kid but their mischievous grin says it all for them.

Susie - A rude, rough-and-tumble kind of sea crocodile gill girl that does not appreciate nautical wordplay. She will appreciate your lunch money, though.

Noelle - The most nervous kelpie you'll ever meet. Easily provoked but she's very sweet and intelligent and perhaps she's a shade dorky, but it's through that dorkiness she'll find a way to make you smile.

Asriel - Sweet and effortlessly loveable and smart and talented capricorn brother to Kris who's just gone off to do independent study in a different sea basin! He's coming back to town next week; Kris seems a little downcast as of late, though...

Alphys - Marine iguana teacher at the reef's local school. Please don't ask her for her reviews on neat human media she's managed to salvage, we'll be here all week.

Undyne - The undying undine on everyone's minds! ...Because she's likely tried to tackle you for minor offenses like littering or jay-swimming in the humdrum life of this little reef town. She's somewhat of a vigilante, working by her own judicial metrics and warning the reef of any terran sightings or other such troubles. Not much to report on though, these days...

Toriel & Asgore - The capricorn divorcees. Haven't you heard; the news has spread all over the place! What a shame too, they looked just like the perfect reef family...

Sans and Papyrus - The strange brothers that just moved into the reef... Coelacanth merfolk with mottled, skeletal appearances. The shorter brother "runs" the reef market. ...If you can get a fin in the door, anyway. The taller one hasn't made much of a public appearance in town yet; hard to comment on him.

Darkners

Ralsei - The prince of the prophesy, as well as the bringer of Light to the Dark, as symbolized through his charmed hat and cloak, to make him appear as though he is but a jellyfish that sways with the currents. Seems to be as soft in personality as a jellyfish's bell though.

Lancer - A hooded, mischievous figure that's always up to no good. It's kind of hard to tell what he is, with his short, stubby tentacles and furry, webbed paws, but he's kind of too adorable and personable to care much about it. Popular vote's on dumbo octopus though.

Rouxls - A vigilant barreleye with his haunting eyes always to the sky in search of tributes to pay his king or danger from which to protect the child of a royal bloodline he's been entrusted to care for. He's ditzy and kind of an asshole, but deep down, he's got a good SOUL... that glows through his transparent chest.

Seam - Ah? Looking for wares? Seam's will definitely have something to cure what ails you. The old anglerfish sits behind the shop counter, items lit only by the faint light of small jellies and the wisened shopkeep's lantern-like forehead protrusion. Go for the low prices and stay for the enchanting tales.

Jevil - A laugh sounds in the dark before you could ever approach his cell. He's nothing but needle teeth smiles when he explains to you the nature of the game. Numbers game. Must be a couple of sharks to have gotten down there in the first place. And this freed jester wouldn't have it any other way - sharks to goblin shark.

King - He is, by all accounts, imperceivable. He is larger than life and covered in shifting, writhing appendages that do not keep the shape you once thought them to be, no matter how hard you attempt to keep your focus on any point of his form. He is Leviathan, and the fact that you are before him means that you are incredibly fucked.

Knight - [REDACTED]

PREVIOUS DRAWINGS

Rouxls and a mysterious man

Unmasked Lancer

okay... i think that's about it! don't be afraid to ask for more clarification on anything, i know i gave general overview/musing blurb of... kind of everything i could think to describe! hope this is fine!

or ask me to infodump on another of my AUs! ;3c

#deltarune #utdr #safeutdr #deltarune au #deeprune #long post #spooky writes #body horror mention

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gglitcha · 3 years

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there are times where she doesn’t feel the need to seek out her favoured company in this universe right away ; her streak of morbid curiosity and her natural urge that stirs in her to investigate each world she pokes her head into cannot always be denied . independent exploration is a private thing ...

tucking herself away from judging eyes and the mortifying ordeal of being known , however briefly , to take the guise of somebody else . it’s a simple series of edits to her code that manage to conceal her otherwise unmistakeable identity . though the gentle glow she exudes cannot be dulled , the rest of her defining characteristics strip away under her ministrations .

bigger , peakier eyes , lined with dark shadows , their gaze nothing short of lifelessly haunted . darker hair , straighter , limper , shorter , less flouncy from the static electricity that clings to her build like one of the leeches that plague this place . her feet are bare . the dress is dull in colour , patched all over and grubby , with all the flattering appeal of a potato sack in it’s design . her nose is longer in length and her mouth is a grim , determined line ... and the complexion of this disgusting human skin is pallid and sickly .

couldn’t look less like herself if she wanted to . she keeps her feet planted on the floor , suppressing the almost innate urge to kick off from the ground and float through each area , and instead paces softly from area to area within the boundless hellhole that is this little nightmare .

it smells like shit . the poignant odour of death , no , outright slaughter , clings to every corner of every room . an inhuman sound of intermingled disgust and horror croaks from the depths of her throat as she clambers over a cart of body bags , entombed , frail little carcasses , and leaps to snag her grip around the door handle . it swings open to reveal yet more corridors . she presses on . data swims in her head , details of the code are all but murmured into her ear as she drinks in her surroundings .

it is around here that she finds them .

roger , with his freakishly overgrown appendages , is busying himself wrapping up ... something . a very bloody , fleshy looking something . better not to confirm her suspicions , she figures , though there might not be too much harm in throwing him off his meticulous work for a while . luring him into a chase . smashing things over his great big head in the hopes it’ll shatter his thick skull . curling her fingers into him and wiping him from existence altogether in a torturous blaze of white hot agony as his code is frittered and burned and bled out of this pathetic world , why not , why NOT ,

a faint shifting at her side pulls her attention from the grotesque janitor , and glitch glances across , form tensing and bracing to make tracks under the assumption it’s something hostile . maybe a leech ... or just one of those strange little oddities that flee before her . nomes . what awaits her expectant gaze is something else entirely ; a shivering child , hugging their knees closer , cowering in a cage like an unruly animal long since beaten down into something fearful and docile .

her brows knit . her eyes dart upwards , and there are yet more of them . tear - streaked cheeks , resigned posture , and perhaps the heaviest , most forlorn silence she’s ever had the displeasure of contributing to . it’s almost suffocating , the despair they exude . revolting , sneers something within her almost instantaneously . a kneejerk reaction . pathetic . leave them to it .

but she can’t stop staring .

one of them must sense her staticky eyes boring into their hunched form so intently ; they eye her , then sit up and stick their starved fingers through the meagre spaces in the bars . they don’t say a word . can’t say a word , she assumes , on account of that blind bastard flapping his ears only a few feet away . but a cry for help , unspoken or otherwise , is a universal language that needs no further clarification once one bears witness to it . the other child blinks out at her , and glitch swallows .

her fingers itch . she wants to tear this shivering captive to pieces for the crime of even breathing , just like she always does , with every single one of these primitive humans she stumbles across , but ------ but , perhaps all the destructive intent crackling in her magic , the ruinous power of her touch alone , can be directed toward ... something else .

“ ... ” glitch draws closer . “ ... move back , ” she instructs under her breath , making a slight ushering , shooing motion with her hand to indicate . uncertain , timid , the other kid obliges , backing up against the other side of the pint - sized prison . her fingers close around the cold , oppressive steel , trembling with the desire to eradicate , and they will , they will , but not in the way they’re so accustomed to ,

she feels them burning under her touch . splintering , buckling , the code bleeding into nonexistence , the act of damage as easily enacted as breathing itself , and the cage is wide open to rush out from . a tremulous , artificial breath heaves from her lungs . the other child stares , wondering , taken aback , caught off guard ------

------ before skittering out , shoving past glitch full force without so much as a word of thanks . they don’t look back . their footsteps are soft , almost muted , they tiptoe with care and skirt meticulously around every grievous creak in these telltale floorboards .

some of the others look to be sleeping . they jerk awake fearfully when she crumbles their cage with a faint crackle of distorted static , the shattering of endless neat lines of binary , though they catch on quickly and make similar reckless mistakes . as though the act of uttering a word to their saviour might make her think twice about what she’s done for them . and honestly , it might . so she’s glad they put plenty of distance between her and them .

it’s for the best .

one of them , however , is utterly unresponsive . for a moment , she thinks they’ve died in there . that they’re rotting away , beyond help already . frowning deeply , glitch touches a hand to their shoulder , and gives them a gentle shake .

“ hey . get up . ” ... nothing . yet a quick check of their vitals , their code status , indicates they’re very much alive . a huff of impatience heaves from the girl as she shakes the captive child again , more firmly , now .

“ c’mon , you’ve got to go while you still can . before that freak of a janitor comes to snap your neck and bag you up ... are you listening ? i know humans are pretty stupid , but this really freaking takes the cake ------ not leaving when the chance to is served up on a silver platter , ”

their stifled sob interrupts her insistent nagging . the child shoves her away with one hand , turns away so as not to face her , scrubbing fiercely at their face as though simply hiding the evidence of their bout of weeping will cause this intruder to forget she heard it entirely . a moment of hesitance , on her part ; she’ll just leave them to it . you can lead a horse to water , but you can’t make them drink ... in the words of some undoubtedly feeble - minded , perfectly average human she hardly cares to credit for the sentiment .

------oh , please . she’ll be wondering what the hell became of them for the rest of her miserable farce of existence if she doesn’t do something . with an unintelligible yet rarely understanding murmur , glitch slips her hand into theirs , and tugs imploringly once more . “ please . please , come with me , come with me right now , before ------ ”

... roger’s been very quiet over there , now that she’s thinking about it . doesn’t he like to still and swivel his ears when he hears the slightest disturbance going on ? not quite daring glance over her shoulder , far more aware of how quickly he’ll snap this stupid toerag in half as apposed to fearing for herself , glitch yanks without warning , pulling the other child from their prison with a startled yelp , a brace for impacting the hard floor wracking their frail form ,

glitch grips their hand , still caught in midair , hovering , and they barely graze their nose against the ground . they look up at her wildly , demanding explanation , but there’s hardly time for that .

“ we’vegottagowe’vegottagowe’vegottago , ” she gabbles , leaping to the floor and landing beside her newfound company , and a mangled shriek escapes her as a huge hand that dwarfs both children slams down close by , intent on cupping around them . perhaps they finally got their shit together , or perhaps the commotion finally kickstarted some sense of panic or drive to live that got them going ------ regardless , the escapee grips her hand tightly as she rushes them through the area , blipping in and out of existence to make subtle jumps forward and put as much space between them and him with the dumb little human in tow .

the weight of what she’s doing , what she’s done , almost chokes her .

they escape his pitiful attempts at searching easily , his sluggish pace hindering any chance of keeping up with the crazed bundle of mismatched code donning features that aren’t anywhere close to her preferred human guise lest ... somebody ... catch her doing this . her hands are shaking . this other child must notice , because they offer her comforting squeezes and bump against her lightly as she continues pulling them through the endless stretches of environments , not sure how to disengage , detach , what to do with herself .

they thank her with a soft voice , hoarse from misuse , scratchy with dehydration , croaky from earlier tears . glitch pretends not to hear . they tell her they hate it here . glitch pretends not to hear . ( THEY’D BE BETTER OFF DEAD . THEY SAY IT THEMSELVES , ) they tell her she sure is quiet . glitch can feel her eyes stinging with terrible , terrible , wet , hot things ,

they ask for her name . glitch shakes her head .

i have to go now .

go ? go where ? you’re leaving me ?

well , sure i am . you can take care of yourself . or if you can’t , well ... you know . some tragic fate will befall you .

don’t leave .

no , i have to . and--- and don’t tell ANYONE about this . about me . i mean , it doesn’t matter , because ... they wouldn’t know it’s me , even if you ... just ------ button it . and don’t you dare die , you little cretin . not after i went out of my way . see you around .

see you around , see you around . it feels like a command . an instruction . a wordless , desperate , choked up cry of i’d better see you around .

#we all stare directly at her #i get to do whatever i want and you all just have to deal with it . / glitch ic #child death tw #death tw #murder tw

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sepublic · 5 years

Text

Ideas for potential future Hazbin Hotel episodes...

So in the event that Hazbin Hotel gets greenlit by some outside studio, or continues to function and thrive with fan support, I think there are a couple of important ideas/concepts that are worth exploring and forming episodes and subplots around;

-An episode about a second visitor (Alastor doesn’t count as he’s a benefactor and Niffty and Husk are employees, not guests) would be VERY important and I feel a good starting point for the next episode. We already have Angel Dust, but he admits that he only signed up for a free room (not that this won’t change...). For the show’s themes of redemption, we need to actually see someone else, probably someone who saw Charlie’s ad on TV, actually sign up to stay at the hotel. By having this happen, it’ll show that, yes, there ARE people who are legitimately interested in the Hazbin Hotel and its offer of redemption, and this can pave the way for more guests. Having the Hazbin Hotel gain traction (along with reactions from other demons to Alastor’s sponsorship) would move the plot along.

Based on the official art by Vivzie, I think characters such as Mimzy, Crymini, or Baxter would work. Rosie is a demon lord, so I don’t see her signing up anytime soon, Arackniss is unrepentant, and I think Molly might be saved for later. We’ve already had cameos of Mimzy and Crymini (the latter even watching Charlie’s advertisement), and considering how prevalent the aforementioned three are in art, they’d probably be good starting points for the hotel. Likewise, Cherri could possibly join later, but I’m not entirely sure.

-It’s mentioned in a Q&A that Demons can actually ‘level up’, increasing their rank and power in the process. Considering Alastor seems to be vying for the spot of a demon lord (or at the very least started off concerningly powerful for someone who hadn’t yet leveled up), this would be a good subplot to explore not only Alastor and his motives and abilities, but also introduce Rosie and potentially Lillith, Valentino, and Vox. Ideally, we’d be introduced to leveling up as a concept, and see how it works and what it does.

Likewise, we could also explore the demon hierarchy in general, and how it works. How does Lucifer, Lillith, Satan, and Beelzebub’s authority extend? How do other demons feel about them? Have there been attempts to overthrow them, and how loyal are the Demon lords, assuming they have any allegiance whatsoever? We see a Bat Demon Lord and Dinosaur Demon Lord with Lillith when she looks at Charlie’s fireworks, so it seems THOSE two at least have it good with the ruling family.

-Having an episode dedicated to a new arrival at Hell would also be interesting, as we’d see what it’s like to suddenly die, only to be reincarnated as a demon (potentially as an animal you hate, no less) immediately afterwards. Having a subplot of the Hazbin crew welcoming in a new demon would be a neat way of exploring how Hell works, how one gets introduced and acclimated to the area, and the lifestyle. It could also be used to explore the origins of other characters, or at least the circumstances in which they died and/or arrived. Additionally, it’d be in Charlie’s best interest to immediately invite new arrivals to Hell, as presumably they’d be in a vulnerable, disoriented state and want to leave Hell ASAP. It might be taking advantage of someone else’s predicament, but it’s probably in anyone’s best interests to leave Hell, and we can also explore Charlie’s character flaws later.

-Speaking of arrivals and new guests, having the story focus on how the redemption and rehabilitation process actually works would be pretty important.

-Character backstories and origins are pretty key, and exploring Angel Dust’s family and mobster origins would be vital regarding his redemption. Likewise, a proper introduction to Valentino (and the Hazbin crew possibly dealing with him, a bit VIOLENTLY might I add...) is begging to be animated. We could answer various questions, such as what exactly ARE the Egg Bois, Vaggie’s hostility to other demons, the origin of Alastor’s power, why Niffty seems rather obsessed with men, and so forth.

-Twice, Alastor has offered Charlie’s hand, and both times she’s declined a handshake/deal. This seems like foreshadowing towards an inevitable ‘deal’ she’ll make with him, so an episode about this (probably later in the series) would be an interesting concept.

-Similarly, Alastor always smiles because he sees anything else as a sign of weakness; So obviously, preferably as late into the series as possible, we need to have the show’s most major ‘All hell is loose’ moment in which Alastor frowns.

-More Sir Pentious antics... that’s really all I have to say. Presumably these would be Wile E. Coyote subplots as he attempts to destroy the Hazbin Hotel and repeatedly fails, with some plots failing without the main cast even being aware Pentious was trying.

-Charlie backstory, alongside her family dynamics with Lucifer and Lillith, as well as her thought process in creating the Happy Hotel. A meeting with Vaggie and explanation of the two’s relationship origins would also be neat, and the introduction and clarification of Satan and Beelzebub as separate entities from her father is also neat.

-I think an episode actually showing if it IS possible to be redeemed and go to heaven would be very important regarding, again, the show’s themes and Charlie’s motives and goals. Perhaps it’d happen later in the series, or earlier, depending on the answer to the age-old question; If you CAN go to heaven, we’ll definitely need an episode exploring a demon that rehabilitates, and the process of ascension. If you CAN’T go to heaven after redemption, then this would probably be revealed as some devastating reveal later down the line that forces Charlie to question herself.

-Likewise, an episode(s) focusing on Charlie’s flaws and misunderstanding of redemption would be great for her character. Charlie is definitely well-meaning and optimistic, but at the same time you get the idea that she’s a bit naive and doesn’t quite fully understand how people end up in Hell, and how tricky of a process it is to actually rehabilitate oneself. Charlie learning that she can’t push people into becoming better just by being all happy and sunshine-y would be relevant as a character arc, and it’d motivate her into approaching redemption more subtly. People can and ARE messed up in Hell and are dealing with intense issues, and Charlie needs to learn to recognize this and give people the space they need to improve.

-We see the results of the Exterminator Angels’ annual massacres, but we have yet to see one in action. Thus, an episode that showcases what an extermination actually looks like would be both fascinating and also utter nightmare fuel as the characters try to survive and protect the guests at the Hazbin Hotel, who may not be any more exempt from extermination than anyone else. Likewise, seeing how the Demon Lords and others prepare for an extermination would be neat world-building.

-Mobster, crime-ring shenanigans with Angel Dust, Cherri, Arackniss, etc., would also be fun to see. It could be used to explore what the demon underground looks like, what ‘laws’ there are in Hell, if any, and how society functions. It could also explore the idea of Exterminator weapons being a major thing in the black market due to their ability to actually, permanently kill a demon.

-What happens if a demon dies from an Exterminator weapon? Vivzie may or may not answer this, but going into speculation, I think a slain demon might actually reincarnate into a new life outside of Hell, thus given another ‘chance’ but as a different person entirely.

-Somebody dies permanently; Again, we know demons can be taken out completely by the Exterminator weapons. I think this could make for some interesting drama, or it could just be reserved for some one-off, one-shot character in order to explain how Exterminator Weapons work.

-An episode about Charlie just completely, UTTERLY losing it and revealing her true demon form in all of its hellish entirety would also be amazing.

-More Niffty and Husk interactions!

-Another musical number isn’t NEEDED, but it would admittedly be pretty great. Potentially, there could even be an entire musical episode dedicated to all of the characters singing, which explores their motives, backstories, etc.

-Additionally, having filler subplots of the cast trying to deal with and rehabilitate the episodic, demon-of-the-week and dealing with said demon’s flaws and making them a better person could be entertaining.

-How much of Hell IS there? Overpopulation is an issue, so presumably there are boundaries... And if so, what ARE those boundaries? Does Hell just end at a cliff hovering over an empty void, or is it contained at the bottom of a giant pit?

#hazbin hotel

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pynkhues · 4 years

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Since you're a writer, I'm hoping you can shed some light on this. IMO the writers were chasing viewers in S2 and trying not to get canceled. Personally, I hate when writers toy with their audience, it means they don't have a clear picture of their characters and narrative. How do you feel about writers making it up as they go?

Ah, this post got really long, anon! Since you asked me as a writer, I’m answering as one (I hope you don’t mind! I also hope this doesnt come out as too Creative Writing 101 for people either. This is just lessons I’ve learned and use in my own practice, so I’m applying them here.)

(Also I have drawn horrible diagrams on my very pink notebook paper - I am so sorry, haha)

So first thing’s first - no. I don’t think the writers were chasing viewers (at least not beyond the way any writer is wanting an audience), and I don’t think they were making it up as they go really, but I can understand why you would think that way!

It won’t be a surprise to anyone that I love this show a lot, but coming from it as both a writer and editor - this show does have narrative problems, and the biggest ones, particularly in s2, are in execution, escalation and pacing.

I think heading into the season they had certain character arcs they wanted to follow which married well with the story they wanted to tell. In particular, I actually think the writers have a very strong handle on the girls (I will say that I’ve had a few asks telling me Beth’s characterisation is all over the place, which I’m curious about, just because I personally find her very consistent, and when I’ve asked for clarification, I’ve never gotten any reply, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

I mean, look at their s2 arcs on paper, right?

Ruby tries to negotiate Stan’s lowered opinion of her after the reveal of what she’s done, then has to negotiate him telling her to turn Beth and Annie in. She manages the situation painfully but pulls them through and they’re close again as Ruby navigates the increasingly lower depths of their crime life. When Stan acts to save Beth for Ruby and is arrested, it only escalates – the case on him driving Ruby to extremes to try and save him, including robbing a Quick Cash and using counterfeit money to bribe a lawyer. On top of that, she’s being targeted by an FBI agent who’s after her best friend who she gives up and then saves and then who tries to sacrifice herself for them. Ruby finishes the season the most morally compromised she’s ever been.

Annie gets back together with her ex only to find out that he’s gotten his not-quite-separated-wife pregnant. She splits up with him, but is heartbroken and it’s only amplified by the fact that they’ve been given a job by their Crime Boss to murder a man who tried to rape her but who’s grandmother she has a relationship with. Her sister can’t kill him, and Annie doesn’t get the chance as MP beats her to it. Upon disposing of the body though she endures a whole lot of pain as a result of both her ex’s new family and knowing she’s robbed a woman of her own. Annie goes on a guilt tour – tells her son, helps Marion, helps Nancy only to eventually find an absolver of her guilt in Noah, who builds her up and tells her she’s more than what life has given her. She lets herself have it for a while, before realising he’s FBI and there to trap her, and Annie tries to use him only to realise she can’t, and she finishes the season in a lot more hurt than she started it.

Beth struggles with guilt after getting Dean shot, gets the job to kill Boomer from Rio, can’t do it, gets support and encouragement from him (in various states of animosity), but in the end doesn’t have to find out if she can do it because MP does it instead. She’s rewarded by Rio in a way she probably never has been by anyone, her husband further subjugates her, so she has sex with Rio, starts to entertain a future with him, but he undermines her, so she seizes control from him. They work together. Dean forces her to break up with him due to jealousy, she struggles, goes back, but Rio’s stung, so unhelpful, and they play a little cat and mouse before he bails then kidnaps her and she shoots him.

With the exception of that very last sentence, I think all of those are narratively really strong pathways to have explored. Like I said above though, the issue is in execution, escalation and pacing.

But to talk about those things, I think I probably need to talk about story.

SO!

Stories have a shape.

Kurt Vonnegut talks extensively about this, and while he’ll talk about a few different types of story shapes, they really all boil down to this bad boy here:

Look at this guy.

What a beautiful thing.

He’s a story.

It doesn’t matter if you’re reading Dr Seuss or Charles Dickens, when you read a story – when you strip away its words and its characters and its settings – this is what it looks like.

Or, well.

Not quite.

Really, it’s this guy:

But we’ll talk about him in a sec.

Right now, let’s talk about that first little inch:

The Beginning

The fact that stories have a beginning is not a surprise to anyone. Stories need them. In some ways, they’re the most important part of your story. After all, the job of the beginning is to set up the world your protagonist is about to leave behind. That is essential in grounding a reader / viewer – orienting them to the world that they’re in, and getting them invested in the story you’re about to tell, if not the protagonist.

Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Game of Thrones are all excellent example of this (and frequently used in teaching) because in each of these cases it’s literal. Frodo leaves Bag End, Harry leave Privet Drive, Luke leaves Tatooine, the Starks leave Winterfell. There is a literal departure from the world before the crux of the story, and that departure is what signifies the start of the ‘hero journey’ aka the main part of your narrative.

Of course, it’s not always literal – in fact, it’s usually not. Usually that world is symbolic – it’s the single, uncertain world before the Bingley’s buy the house next door in Pride and Prejudice or the dry domestic sphere of Breaking Bad before Walt decides to make meth. It’s a marked shift, whether that’s internal or external.

In Good Girls, it’s internal.

The beginning is actually pretty perfect. The world it sets up that we’re about to (try to) depart is one of struggle and invisibility.

Beth’s in a loveless marriage promptly discovering that her husband is not only cheating but about to leave them destitute, Ruby’s getting ignored by the healthcare system and can’t afford to pay for her daughter’s wellbeing, and Annie is in a dead end job about to lose custody of her child.

Writing-wise – as a beginning, I honestly think 1.01 is close to perfect.

It sets up who these characters are, their personal conflicts, and the story world they share together, and the worlds they have on their own i.e. Ruby at the hospital and the diner, Annie at Fine and Frugal, Beth with Dean and Boland Motors.

Then:

BOOM

Inciting Incident.

The inciting incident is also often called The Point of No Return.

When I’m teaching, I personally like to call it the “You’re a wizard!” moment.

It’s when something happens that means everything set up in the beginning will be changed forever. It’s Romeo meeting Juliet, it’s Katniss volunteering for Prim, it’s Frodo deciding to take the ring to Mordor, it’s Jaimie pushing a child out a window, it’s Beth – deciding to take her little sister’s joke seriously and rob a grocery store.

(Again, I like to use Harry Potter because it’s literal – there is no return for Harry after hearing Hagrid tell him he’s a wizard. Everything is changed forever).

Inciting incidents are probably the most singularly important narrative moment, because they’re what everything else tumbles out of. Pretty much everything that happens in the story should be a direct or indirect result of the inciting incident. The inciting incident is ultimately the key of the story and what should unlock the overall arc.

When it comes to a series – whether that be a TV series, movie series or book series, each individual instalment (see: season of a show) should have its own inciting incident which – preferably – builds off the one established in the first instalment.

The Hunger Games does this really well. Katniss and Peeta being brought back into the games in Catching Fire is both an imitation inciting incident which allows the author to explore the story world further in an exciting way, and also an inciting incident that’s directly borne out of the first book / film – aka Katniss pissed enough people off during the first games that they’re going to try and kill her for real this time, which in turn gives us the opportunity to explore Katniss’ trauma, the ramifications of her actions in the first book on the broader story world, and to generate a new, compelling chapter based off of both.

Good Girls has a terrific inciting incident in s1 – which is Beth realising she’s about to lose everything.

That is our narrative point of no return.

And it works on a lot of levels – it establishes Beth as the driving engine of the story, fuelled by the chorus motivations of Annie and Ruby, rounding off both their collective and individual stakes, it sets us up for a strong narrative spine and solid characterisations.

Good Girls actually also has a terrific inciting incident in s2, which operates strongly on its own while also building firmly off the character arcs of s1.

The s2 inciting incident is Rio showing up on that park bench with Marcus, a gun and an order.

The story pivots here – giving Rio a lot of narrative thrust (get your minds out of the gutter kids), and making him a sort of secondary story engine. The core engine is still Beth, but her life is different now. She’s been traumatised and she’s exhausted, but Rio revealing his son to the girls (and tying their motivations up together in a neat little package) while forcing her to act, re-establishes her as the person who’s decisions are going to be the driving force of the narrative.

Ruby and Annie are, of course, story engines in their own right too, but they fall into line behind Beth usually, and their narrative push is actually usually away from the story throughline, but we’ll talk about that in a sec.

Rising Tension / The Middle

Okay, this is where things get a little tricky.

Do you remember this guy?

When we talk about stories, rising tension / the middle is the big guy. It’s the bulk of your narrative. It’s Where Things Happen. It’s where all the ugly stuff set up in your beginning and exploded by your inciting incident just - - grows a life of it’s own.

Or - -

Well.

Maybe not.

Forget about this guy.

Rising tension is this:

Rising tension is a series of ‘mini climaxes’ on the way to the main climax that raises the stakes, lets you know characters better, and pushes your characters onwards to the main climax.

Each of these little climaxes should be followed by a ‘narrative rest’. (that’s the dip after each spike)

Which - - I don’t know, might sound weird? I know when I started writing I was like ?? but it’s true! The closer you get to a big narrative climax, the more important rests are! Rests are – I personally think – one of the most important components of storytelling, because they re-ground an audience, remind them of what’s at stake, before thrusting everyone back into danger.

Again, Harry Potter is a gift in this sense because this is all really clearly paced out. Think about the first instalment – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s / Sorcerer’s Stone.

Harry and Ron save Hermione and Ron from the troll!!!

Then they become friends and enjoy school and quidditch.

Harry loses control of his broom during a quidditch game!!!!

He’s okay and then it’s Christmas and Harry gets the invisibility cloak and feels connected to his parents for perhaps the first time in his life.

Harry, Hermione and Ron go through the trapdoor to get the philosopher’s stone!!!

And - - okay, you get the point.

Each mini climax ups the stakes, but we feel those stakes upped because of the time we spend with characters during the ‘narrative rest’. For instance, while Harry and Ron saving Hermione from the troll might have sparked an interest in her, it’s the narrative rest scenes between that and her setting Snape on fire during the quidditch game that makes us invest in her as a character.

This is where things get a bit hairy with Good Girls. Good Girls does a tremendous job of giving us both great climaxes and wonderful moments of narrative rest. The issue, for me at least, is that it’s not always the best at balancing them. When I talk about escalation and pacing, this is a big part of what I mean.

Remember how I said this was the shape of a story?

Well, I think Good Girls s2 looked more like this:

We had a lot of solid movement in the first half of the season that sort of flattened out into a lower stakes, more meandering middle (which gave us 2.08 through 2.12). Which - -

Look.

The story changed gear, and it didn’t work.

Think of it this way:

2.01 – mostly character-based fallout from s1 + inciting incident of Rio handing them the gun

2.02 – almost entirely rising tension culminating with the girls bribing Boomer and Beth lying to Rio

2.03 – which thrusts us straight back into rising tension with the girls trying to kill Boomer and ‘succeeding’ via Mary Pat

2.04 – which gives us a very satisfying narrative rest as we explore Rio and Beth’s relationship outside of an overall narrative thrust – he gives her a key, she shies away from him, only to fall entirely back into him culminating in sex which itself brings about a new climax (no pun intended!) in the scene with Beth, Rio and Dean at the dealership. It’s also a strong character episode in closing certain plot threads – ending Annie and Greg’s relationship + ending Ruby lying to Stan about what they’re doing – while establishing major new threads – i.e. really colliding Turner and Mary Pat.

2.05 – and after the rest, we’re back to almost entirely satisfying rising tension! Building off of the threat of finding Boomer’s body and the new tensions that Rio and Beth’s intimacy brings.

2.06 – a mix episode! Very much building to the strong climax of Beth seizing power, but also an episode that plays around with character, has a lot of strong ‘rest’ moments i.e. the girls sorting pills and talking which gives us a lot of information as to state of minds, etc.

2.07 – again, very strong mixed episode which is focused on one single, extreme climax – Jane being missing, but building a very character-centric episode around it. Also introduces Noah though? Which is a mistake. He should have been introduced - I think, in 2.05, but that feels like a whole other post.

2.08 – narratively speaking the same as 2.07 in the sense of a single climax (the girls failing to get the money back / the Beth-Ruby confrontation), but has the added bonus of flashbacks.

2.09 – we have a slight narrative thrust with the robbery of the Quick Cash but it proves very quickly to be low stakes. This is an alllll emotional stakes episode, which means narrative tension is slowing.

2.10 – again, a character-focused, narrative rest episode devoted to Beth struggling with getting square. A few small climaxes – Annie and Ruby in Canada and Turner at the dealership being the big ones, but both quickly prove toothless. The heft / strength of the episode again is in character moments, not narrative thrust. Again - slowing it down.

2.11 – oh, what do we have here? Another character-focused, narrative rest episode? I love this episode – it’s one of my favourites of the show, but it’s intensely character focused. Very much centred in waving away the smoke around both Noah and Rio for Annie and Beth respectively. No dramatic climaxes. Slowing the story down even further.

2.12 – another narrative rest episode. A lot of slow exposition of Mary Pat and Jeff, which is good to know, but I’d argue placed badly in the season. This season’s already been slowing down despite the narrative timeline tightening, but this episode only further pushes on the brakes for Dean’s new job, Beth and Dean’s divorce, Beth and Rio’s break up. Two very small climaxes - the lawyer telling Ruby he knows about the money and the Boomer reveal but - in the context of the season - actually pretty low stakes. Again. Slowing down the narrative.

2.13 – A BIG CLIMAX EPISODE WHAT IS GOING ON???

What I’m saying in this is that the pacing in the back half of the season was, to me at least, fundamentally off. They hadn’t steered a strong enough narrative spine to take us through the season, and got heavily invested in character moments and not-entirely-thought-out-fallout in the back half of the season – it didn’t understand it’s own narrative thrust well enough to get us through. It also established a certain pacing with us in the first half of the season and shifted gears halfway through.

You can’t have your first three or six episodes be high-stakes-high-action, and then make the back end of your season same-stakes-low-action and top it all off with an explosive, poorly built-up finale in the way that they did.

There wasn’t enough thrust to push us through to the scene in Rio’s loft – neither narratively or in a character sense, and as a result, those last few episodes fall apart. Even beyond that though, the season escalated quickly then - - didn’t really know what to do with those escalations? It plateaued, which is indicative of bad pacing across the season.

I actually do think it’d be a relatively easy fix? I’d bring the Noah arc forwards and actually fiddle with the Beth and Rio break ups - get one even closer the tinale and make it more painful. Make it a climax in itself.

But anyway, haha:

The Resolution

All stories have a resolution too of course.

The resolution can be 30 seconds or 30 minutes – it’s a time to tie up loose ends and to reassure your audience that the journey they’ve been on is worthwhile.

(After all – you’ll notice the story diagram is not symmetrical – we never finish where we began).

I’m not going to talk too much about resolutions because at the end of the day – resolutions should fall fairly naturally out of your beginning, your inciting incident, your rising tension. It should tumble out like the double wedding at the end of Pride and Prejudice, but I will say that the s2 resolution was...err, not good. In no small part because it didn’t fall out of what we’d been told all season. They’d established a certain throughline and then taken it back, and that was nagl to be honest.

On the plus side though - it wasn’t a finale, so I have my fingers crossed they can fix it!

But yes, back to your ask, anon.

No, I don’t think that the writers were pandering. I think they went in with a sketched outline and that they probably got lost in the back end of the season and weren’t quite sure how to drum up the final act, which meant that final act didn’t work.

Ah, this post got so long! I hope it wasn’t boring or too self-indulgent or silly, and that you got something out of it! I am, of course, always happy to answer writing questions, and I hope you liked reading my story ramblings ;-)

#writing posts #gg season 2 #welcome to my ama

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lucalicatteart · 5 years

Photo

I am absurdly not so great at stuff like logo/symbol design since I have an unshakable sketchy disorganization inherent in everything I do (if it wasn’t evident from my handwriting, which I am trying SO hard to make it look neat ghghg), but... here’s some vaguely sloppy versions of possible symbols across the realm! I was thinking about how different organizations or groups may represent themselves and what all the different meanings behind the symbols would be and etc. Especially since flags and stuff are generally a part of worldbuilding I tend to accidentally overlook lol.. ( short explanation of above referenced groups under the read more )

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This isn’t going to be very long or detailed info about each group, since most of them I plan on having their own separate posts, but I just wanted to define them really quick since some of them I haven’t mentioned before!

The Collection Of Southern Jhevona:

Though the Jhevona aren’t really represented by any one group in particular and tend to live in separate smaller scattered territories without many allies, The Collection is probably the closest thing to a unified alliance of Jhevona that exists. Jhevona are thought to have originated as a species from somewhere down in lower Nanyevimi, and a lot of the oldest, largest, and most powerful cities/countries/territories/etc. of them exist in that region. The Collection is basically just a group of these civilizations who formed a sort of loose alliance, usually for the sake of helping other Jhevona groups with trade or conflict.

The relatively small size of the species, their historical conflicts with certain powerful groups of elves (thus it’s easy for a conflict with them to end up impacting your entire reputation across many different areas, etc.), and other issues specific to them (like species wide problems with premature death, disease, and infertility due to higher levels of magic expose),, means that many Jhevona groups can tend to exist in a somewhat vulnerable state. The Collection seeks to... help them with that, lol..

While The Collection was started by and is mostly made up of only like five primary countries/groups/etc. of Jhevona, you don’t have to be a part of the organization to still receive aid and cooperate with them and etc. They form casual alliances and help out pretty much any group of Jhevona, regardless of it they officially join the collection or not (of course excluding like, if some random jhevona group was trying to start a genocide or something that obviously most jhevona wouldn’t be okay supporting lol). Really they just exist to help promote the interests and safety of their species as a whole, whenever and wherever they can, despite how diverse and un-unified most groups of Jhevona tend to be.

(I also referenced some things about “multi-realm theory” and etc. in the description of their symbol in the image of above, which I won’t explain here, but for clarification on why those symbols are important to them, there’s more info on the Jhevona species and culture HERE (link))

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The Elven Alliance:

I’ve talked about them before in a few other posts lol, but this is basically the main influential group of elves in the world. About 10,000 years ago or so, many of the most prominent elven societies at the time decided that it’d be helpful for them to all ally together and mutually aid each other (sharing resources, technology, giving money loans to smaller elven countries to help them build, defense aid, etc.), so they formed The Alliance. Though, there were disagreements on a few big issues (notably the interpretation of the elven religion, but some other things as well), so while it was initially meant to be for ALL elves, it ended up becoming more exclusive.

Now there’s kind of a pretty distinct cultural line between countries/groups/etc. of elves that are inside of the Elven Alliance, vs. outside of it. Any group of elves is still allowed to join the alliance at any time they want, but they have to meet certain cultural and religious standards, and must be approved by a vote of all current elven alliance nation representatives. There are about 38 countries/groups in the elven alliance at this date, though of course not all of them are the same size or have the same amount of political influence.

Since elves are the majority population in the world, and also most of the groups within the Alliance are like.. very big very rich very powerful nations, the Elven Alliance is probably the most influential group in all of Nanyevimi, at least in terms of global politics and trade. Though of course, Nanyevimi is so scattered and isolated, it’s kind of impossible for any one group to control too much lol.. Like, they’re the most influential compared to everyone else, but everyone else usually barely has any influence at all. There are still plenty of groups down south (most elven countries are up north or near the middle of the globe) that are entirely out of reach of the elven alliance, or at least can ignore them without much consequence. However if you live in or near the primary elven territories of the world (or if you are elven, even if you live far in the south), it’s likely their activities and policies have a much bigger impact on your life.

The Alliance is GENERALLY seen as neutral (depending on who you ask), though they do have a bad reputation in certain places due to various historical events (the fact that Fanyin is still allowed as a member of the Alliance just because they helped found it despite the government of the country being known as like.. a conflict-hungry dictatorship that has an insane class system and 0 rights for like 70% of it’s citizens.. A group of Alliance allied scientists/mages almost killed the entire world by introducing a magic plague one time whilst trying to engineer biological warfare against a relatively small defenseless group of people over a religious conflict lmao... The primary technology that brought the Alliance to have most of it’s shared wealth and power (Iriminel crystals, which can be used to basically generate magical electricity) was later found to have been stolen from a group of Jhevona after they were murdered just because they wouldn’t agree to let a group of elves mine crystals from their lands.. you know, stuff like that..).

There are plenty of groups within the alliance who disapprove of the past actions of other alliance members, who work to do good across the world, etc. But people usually still end up questioning their intentions. There are so many moving parts and complex dynamics within the Alliance, it’s hard for people to have a concrete opinion on it as a whole (since most of the groups within it are pretty different from each other), but needless to say, their reputation across the realm can be quite controversial.

(For more info on the elven religion, there’s a post HERE (link), which could clarify stuff like who Inaashi is and why it’s a part of the symbol of their flag )

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International Union Of Non-Allied Elves:

Basically kind of like the Elven Alliance, except for ... made up of elves outside of the Alliance. They function very similarly to how the Collection Of Southern Jhevona operate, in the sense that they basically are just a loose collaboration of elves who ally with each other for resources and protection, and really seek to help all elves in general. Unlike the Alliance, there are no guidelines or regulations you have to meet to join, or for them to come to your aid, basically any group of elves is welcome.

Since there are no cultural or religious guidelines to join, non-alliance elves tend to have MUCH more variety in their religious practices, general daily life, diet, technology, customs, etc. since it’s not regulated by a central power like in the case of Elven Alliance countries. Though this does mean they generally have less cohesion, less stable defense/resources, and less sense of collective unity, they still usually stick together pretty well if needed.

Though you would think so, there actually isn’t much conflict between Alliance vs. Non-alliance elves. The only things would probably be religious disagreements (the alliance having adopted a new monotheistic version of the elven religion, while non-alliance groups still practice having many gods and are much more open to wide variations on rituals and interpretation), and also certain cultural disagreements (elven cultures in general tend to focus a lot on glorifying their own history, proud of the advancements of ancient elves and etc. etc. So BOTH groups want historical artifacts, ancient religious texts, etc. But since the Alliance is the more powerful group of elves, they basically kind of get to hoard all of that stuff. Non-alliance elves end up weirdly distanced from their own culture and lacking any meaningful connection with their history (despite desiring it), since Alliance elves have kind of taken control as the One Single Authority On All Things Elven and basically own nearly all historical records and information on the elven species. Which of course non-alliance groups aren’t always happy about, especially since some of them are not keen to just trust whatever historical ‘facts’ the Alliance puts out there when they’d rather just have access to the records or other resources that would allow them to explore the information for themselves).

But other than those two things, relations between The Alliance and non-alliance groups like the Union really aren’t too strained (of course this depends on the group). The Alliance generally also wants to support elves just because they’re elves, and at the end of the day they want to help the success of their own species, so they rarely mistreat non-alliance groups, and if anything usually are overly welcoming to them, since they aim for all groups of elves to eventually join the alliance as well, and don’t want to scare potential members off lol. They’re actually known for reaching out to non-alliance groups, giving them gifts, offering them aid (mostly with no strings attached), but of course this is met with mixed reception, and sometimes suspicion.

(also, random note: none of these names are like.. actually what they’re called in the species’ native language. I’m writing in english so I’m just giving them easy to remember English names but, they’d all have their own actual names for themselves.

Like for example “The Elven Alliance” in the actual elven language would just be “The Alliance” referred to as “Ane Kiivastye” or just “Kiivastye”. ‘Ane’ meaning ‘Those/they/a group of people’, ‘kii’ being a prefix to mean ‘inside/within’, and ‘Vastye’ meaning something along the lines of ‘grace/good faith/favor’. So basically ‘Those who are in grace’, implying ‘Those who have good favor with the gods’ , since one of the main reasons for the split was religious disagreement. Likewise, anyone outside of the alliance would be natively called something like ‘Ane Nekiivastye’, or ‘those who are outside of grace/those who do not hold good favor with the gods’.

So basically all the names would be different in the actual languages of the people I’m referring to, but I’m just using these since it’s much easier to remember and reference lol)

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Nanyevimi Global Representatives:

Like mentioned before, the entire world in general is VERY scattered, mostly made up of small isolated groups that kind of just mind their business. Most people just stay within their own territories and generally there isn’t a lot of global cohesion, for a lot of different reasons. But, groups like the Nanyevimi Global Representatives are some of the few that actually seek to better unite the realm.

It’s kind of just an alliance of a few different governments from various places worldwide, who seek to do things like: maintain trading routes that span the entire world, construct global areas where many different people can come together and trade/communicate, provide ease of access for those who seek to travel (like keeping international roads safe, giving out language learning resources and compiling info on local cultures, etc.), promote conflict resolution/peace and easy communication between various disconnected groups in the realm, sharing of technology and resources worldwide, etc. This is also the group that sets standards for/manages both Global Learning Centers and Global cities/areas in general.

Despite being able to accomplish a lot in the realm (even introducing one or two cohesive trade routes is a miracle, considering how isolated everything tends to be), The Representatives still really don’t have that much power. The governments that make up the group, while extremely varied (from all different species, areas of the world, etc.), really aren’t big political powers or anything. The group doesn’t have much wealth or influence, but simply gets by on being able to communicate goals and collaborate with others effectively. All of their projects are basically just people working together for their own benefit of their own will.

Like instead of coming into an area with an army and being like “Hey, we’re making a trade route here, you idiots” and paying off/threatening a bunch of locals to let them do it.. It’d be more like, a handful of various diplomats show up and have a long talk with the locals about if they’d want a road through their territory, if so what it would look like, what area they’d be comfortable with it passing through, them explaining to the group what benefits they could see from it and how it could help them access more resources, etc. then all cooperatively working together to build it if enough people decide they’d like to, no use of force or monetary incentive required.

So they have a good bit of connections all across the realm and are very skilled at reaching out to groups and communicating in a peaceful and understandable way, but they’re not necessarily the most influential group around. Though, they are the only organization that’s even been attempting stuff like this, and the fact that they’ve been able to make the progress that they have (introducing multiple global areas and learning centers, maintaining a few patches of neutral and safe trade routes, etc.) is considered by some to be impressive.

( Information on what a global learning center is HERE (link), and information on the state of the world as a whole/what global areas are HERE (link). )

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Council Of Navyete:

This is the primary government of Navyete, the homeland of the Avirre’thel/vampires and where most of the members of that species live. I obviously plan on making a separate post about this sometime soon, so I don’t need to explain much lol.. Also just... the council system is really complicated and it’s going to be extremely long whenever I do explain it ghgjhgj.... But it’s basically just the main group of people who exist to make certain final decisions on law and policy and help with the functioning of Navyete.

There can be 600 - 800 council members at a time, who all specialize in particular areas, and also don’t have that much power. They exist more as a mediating group who can help other groups communicate with each other, represent their people when meeting with outside governments, resolve conflicts between groups who can’t resolve it on their own, aid in the ease of distributing resources, etc. They don’t necessarily rule anything, as much as they just help manage the whims of the country and try to keep things running smoothly.

Ultimately the people hold a majority of the power (most actual decisions are made on a local level by smaller councils of the citizens who live in a particular area, or other affiliated groups (like if people do labor, they collectively own their workplace and make decisions and rules about it, generally having nothing to do with involvement from the higher council, etc.)) , The Council just kind of helps aid the citizens rule their own country, providing a bit of extra cohesion and organization so it’s easier for all these smaller governing groups to communicate between each other and do things collectively as a nation.

Despite their somewhat minor role in terms of actually controlling Navyete, since they do represent the entire country (like at meetings with foreign governments and etc.) and also because of the circumstances and purpose under which they were originally founded, the Council still is kind of seen as a symbol of Navyete and of the Avirre’thel as a whole, and are often interpreted as very significant. A version of the flag of the council is also the flag of the country (which is also often used to represent their entire species), and the people of Navyete are culturally generally proud of the progress their species/ country has made since their rocky beginnings, so they also see the Council as a positive representation of themselves, and kind of allow it to take on the symbolic meaning that it has.

(for more information on the Avirre’thel to understand some of the symbol meanings referenced in the flag thing , their info directory is HERE (link))

---

And that’s pretty much everything lol.. Of course there are a lot more groups in the realm that would have their own info and flags and etc., but I just focused on a few that I already knew a bit about lol. Sorry my writing on the flag images is probably like.. barely legible.. hopefully the information is still clear enough ggh

#worldbuilding #sketches #avirre'thel #irithoas #jhevona #i guess that's all that i need to tag #me *constantly forgets how i organize my own blog*#i KNOW im supposed to be working on my game instead of typing a bunch of worldbuilding posts but.. rghhrjhjHH #sometimes... I must...#i have a region in my brain that will go funky if I don't produce at least 45 paragraphs of needless exposition a month #I'm still trying to not do a bunch of worldbuilding or art stuff until I finish my other projects but.. this is.. jouste a little treate #a small gift for my brain

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fluffyseapancakes · 5 years

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Hi! I was wondering if maybe you could do a fic where Peter finds out that the reader gets really flustered when he even says "tickle" or wiggles his fingers, or gives the reader THAT look. And lots of teases ensue "Im not even touching you!, Why are you giggling?" Ect. Thank you! I love your fics so much ❤

My heart was fluttering the whole time I was writing this. Thank you!

_____________________

Peter Parker was the bane of your existence, you loved him and he was like a brother to you, but sometimes you thought about throwing him off of the Stark Tower. Like any brother he teased you often and acted as if it was his job to make you blush and squirm. You were usually a stoic person so his attempts at embarrassing you were unsuccessful, until he found out a little secret you have been keeping.

It was a rather peaceful weekend with the Avengers, everyone was dispersed around the Tower doing their own thing and you were hanging out in the living room working on homework with Peter. Every now and then one your friends would come up and grab a drink or snack from the kitchen, Bruce gave you some helpful tips on your math homework and Steve told you some pretty neat stories that you could put in your history essay about World War II. Peter drummed his pencil against his textbook and endlessly chatted to you about his favorite comic book heroes. As he was ranting that the best heroes didn’t need to use calculus, he started coughing and got up to get a glass of water.

“Ugh I got a little tickle in my throat,” he took a sip of the drink and noticed that you had cringed slightly.

“Did I say something?” He raised his eyebrow, he turned his body so he was directly looking at you. Your cheeks started to burn and you shifted uncomfortably.

“Nothin’,” you mumbled, you quickly went back to doing your homework and prayed that Peter would drop it.

“All I said was I had a tickle in my throat,” he repeated his words, he noticed that you blushed even harder and bit your lip when he said the word tickle.

“Oh no way,” Peter grinned, he walked over to where you were sitting and plopped down next to you, “are you ticklish Y/N?”

You flinched and glared at your best friend, “Do not say that word.”

“This is priceless,” he laughed and wiggled his fingers teasingly, “how ticklish are you?”

You couldn’t help but start giggling when you saw his wriggling fingers, you immediately tried to get up but Peter wrapped his arms around you and brought you back down to the couch. “I’m not even touching you and you’re already laughing,” Peter said amusingly, “this is going to be fun.”

“O-Oh screw you,” you giggled, he wasn’t even tickling you yet but you felt electricity flowing through your body that caused your chest to bubble up with high pitched giggles.

“You need to respect your elders Y/N,” with that he suddenly dug his fingers into your belly and you bucked up with a squeal. You quietly cursed his Spider-Man strength as you tried to squirm out of his grasp but he had you securely trapped. His fingers explored your sides and ribs, then travelled back down to your belly and gently poked and prodded at the soft skin. Your loud laughter filled the entire room and you were mortified when a snort escaped from your nose. Peter cackled with glee and started to trace around your bellybutton as your shirt rose up from the struggling. Uncontrollable giggles poured from your mouth and you kicked your legs in protest.

“W-We’re only a few months apart!” You gasped out, he started to squeeze your ribs again and you cried with laughter. Knowing that you were about to explode, he stopped his attack and you curled up into a ball with breathy giggles.

“Then you better respect me or else I would have to take drastic measures,” Peter winked. You groaned and buried your head into a pillow, already knowing that he was going to take full advantage of your weakness.

Unfortunately your prediction was correct. Peter knew better than to actually tickle you in public, but all he had to do was wiggle his fingers or say the word and you were reduced to a blushing mess. When he waved at you in the hallway or called you over to a lunch table, he would wiggle his fingers oh so slightly that no one else noticed but you. In every conversation he would casually slip in the dreaded word and pretended not to notice you turning red.

“I’m so tickled to train with Mr. Stark tonight, how about you Y/N?”

“Hey Ned can you pass me your juice? I have a tickle in my throat.”

“Maybe I’ll take up the piano as a hobby so I can tickle some ivories.”

“Y/N have you heard of a color called Tickled Pink? You should paint your bathroom that color!”

“Mr. Stark keeps on telling me to stop tickling the dragon’s tail, but I want to be more than just a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man you know?”

MJ and Ned noticed the weird way Peter was talking, but they just shrugged it off and assumed it was an Avengers inside joke. You hoped that the more he uttered the word, the less impact it would have on you, but to your horror the effects were getting worse and it was getting more difficult for you to hide your reactions.

The end of the day was finally approaching and you took your seat in your Anatomy&Physiology class. Peter was already sitting in the desk next to you and gave you a little wave, you saw his fingers wiggling slightly and you felt intense heat rise up into your cheeks.

“You better run when we get to the Tower,” you hissed at him. Peter smiled innocently and cocked his head to the side.

“I haven’t done anything bad Y/N,” he said in a sickly sweet voice, “I barely even touched you all day.” You glared at him and proceeded to focus on the lecture. Today your teacher was going over the central nervous system and you were feverishly taking notes as he spoke about the brain, spinal cord, neurons, and nerves. You were starting to regret signing up for the advanced class, as soon as you grasped the structures of the brain, the teacher was already ten steps ahead with the spinal cord. Your hand was starting to ache from writing and your usually neat handwriting turned into illegible scribbles.

I definitely need to borrow Peter’s notes, you thought. Tony wasn’t happy that your grades have been dropping so you needed to really step it up. As the teacher was explaining the peripheral nervous system, a familiar voice interrupted his droning.

“Sir?” He raised his hand and you looked over at your best friend in confusion. Peter never needed to ask for clarification in class so you couldn’t come up with a reason why he needed to ask a question.

“Yes Peter,” even the teacher seemed mildly surprised and nodded towards the enthusiastic teen.

“Since we’re talking about how our bodies respond to certain stimuli,” he started to ask, you slowly pieced his words together and your eyes widened in disbelief.

He wouldn’t dare, you thought. As if he heard you, Peter turned his head and grinned at you devilishly.

“Is it possible to be tickled to death?”

You let out a tiny scream that only he could hear and you put your forehead against the desk. The teacher chuckled in amusement and started answering his question. In nearly every sentence your teacher said the word and you felt like you were living your worst nightmare. It’s not that you were hurt or traumatized by tickling, it was because you actually enjoyed it and you were too mortified to admit it to your best friend. You knew Peter and the Avengers would never judge or mock you for it, but deep inside you felt the tugging fear that they would take you less seriously.

Your belly was starting to ache from all the cringing and you were sure that by the end of the day, you were going to have rock hard abs like Thor’s. The bell finally rang and you nearly knocked over all the students by barreling out the door. You rammed through the school doors and took a deep breath of fresh air.

“Y/N!” Peter caught up behind you and put a hand on your shoulder, you stared at his hand to find movement in his fingers but they stayed still.

“I didn’t push you too hard did I?” He looked at you with concern and you smiled up at him.

“I’m fine Pete,” you reassured him, “I’m just not used to being on the other end of the teasing, it’s kinda fun actually.”

“Good,” Peter grinned, “because there’s one donut left in the kitchen and I was gonna give it to you but since you’re fine, I’ll gladly take it.”

You gasped and stomped your foot playfully, “I was going to have it as a snack!”

“Then you better get there first,” checking to make sure there were no students, Peter put on his web slinger and disappeared up into the buildings. You shook your head and smiled, Peter Parker may be the bane of your existence, but you knew he was the reason why you smile everyday.

#prompt #ticklish!reader #spider-man #peter parker #reader insert #reader x peter parker #avengers

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archer3-13 · 5 years

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GUNDAM SEED DESTINY EPISODE 3: ATHRUN ZALA IS BAD AT DRESS UP

idk man, im kinda shocked. another episode thats actually pretty neat. i feel like im in the twilight zone because these first few episodes are honestly, in my opinion, better then the original seeds initial episodes.

its a matter of pacing honestly, well seeds first few episodes felt dragged out and artificially lengthened for no real purpose destiny gets going alot faster and with a lot more purpose/gas in the tank. the colony gets fucked up, gundams are stolen, and a chase is on only with the subversion of being with the pursuers rather then the pursued and the looming threat of full blown war if this isnt clamped down quickly enough.

granted this does come at a bit of a cost towards character building as stated previously, but considering its only the first few episodes i can forgive that. for now. plus what character i have seen i... honestly really like. mostly from the minervas crew mind. the bridge captain i dont remember the name of, but she reminds me a lot of natalie from the archangel who was definitely my fave of the officers because she had her shit together and was generally really awesome, even during the shit show that was seeds second half.

the background crew members have their little quirks that makes them oddly endearing, including that one random black suited officer who seems to be captain ladys number 2. lunamarie looks like she wants to kick some ass as well which is always a plus in my book.

shinn continues to somehow endear himself to me. part of that is the kamille aspect of barely contained rage and fury towards the world, but i like that well he doesnt immediately flip out on seeing cagalli and even tries to restrain himself, his outburst only comes when cagalli starts talking about orbs idealistic neutrality which shinn has personal experience with and the problems of said neutrality. he aint just angry at orb as a nation, hes angry at the hypocrisy baked into orbs ideals and practices, hence why he calls cagallis words sugar coating/bullshit.

for some clarification before we go further, what is the hypocrisy baked into orb as a concept? because we have real world prescient for nations that remain stubbornly neutral in times of war. and if anything orb is simply an extension of the total neutrality pacifism of the peacecrafts of gundam wing and gundams general give peace a chance moralizing. what makes seeds orb so much worse? simple, their condescending liars. say what you will about the peacecraft philosophy of total neutrality, and i have my quibbles, but they stuck by their stupid philosophy and even made it kinda poignant even if how they got there was stupid. Orb? they regularly build up military strength and can only get by on their neutrality stance because they have big enough guns to scare people off, not because they have good diplomats or the like. the peace that orb preaches is an isolationist one, a fuck you got mine approach, and well its an interesting contradiction and flaw to orb that could make for interesting story telling it never really gets seriously taken to court in seed. cagallis father even gets a heroic sacrifice, and instead of wondering if their isolationist approach to peace is wrong seed instead waxes about how orb building its military up at all was wrong. id give cagalli credit for atleast trying to reach out, but the only reason she was there at all was to frown disapprovingly at zaft for using orb tech and personnel/refugees to help build up military strength because its making the earth alliance rattle sabers towards orb (ignoring that the earth alliance was going to be rattling sabers anyways because none of the problems that started the first war have actually been addressed or dealt with, and if anything have probably gotten worse what with the disastrous end of the first war). and sure, thats a legit concern but that still feels like a fuck you got mine approach to things. so its very half hearted approval really.

ugh, getting out of that quagmire though we get some nice animation again, some repeated shots but they arent to obnoxious this episode and give the brief fight a nice flare. some neat tech show off such as the anchor, and some neat tactics like using the extra fuel cartridges to cover ‘bogey 1′s’ escape (zaft your still terrible at coming up with names). dont know why the specific part of the bridge can fall into a battle mode sub bridge when you could just build it there to begin with, but its neat. the blast impulse is really cool looking and hopefully looks good in action.

athrun, if you were going incognito you should have actually bothered to dress up beyond a pair of shades. still, maybe the next episode will let you explain yourself and start building on that character of yours.

holding my breath in vain really.

#gundam #gundam seed #gundam seed destiny #episode 3 #lets watch

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thecoroutfitters · 5 years

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vagrantblvrd · 7 years

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Something Strange (1/1)

Summary: They meet on a dark and stormy night, and things just kind of go from there.

Notes: For @miss-ingno who wanted who wanted something spooky with vampire!Ryan and utterly unimpressed Gavin, and gets this instead. (Sorry??? ;D)

AO3

Gavin's meant to be meeting with Michael and the others at a little dive bar they've found. His flight back to the states was late getting in and by the time he'd found the motel they were staying at for the night, they'd wandered into the city to have a few drinks before turning in.

And because Gavin arrived later than expected, the others had had a bit of time to get a head start on their drinking. As a result the directions Michael texted him are incomprehensible. Followup texts to him for clarification have only gotten worse. Jeremy and Jack are no better, and Geoff's simply not answering his phone, which means he most likely has his hands full keeping the others out of trouble.

“For the love of God,” Gavin mutters, ducking under a tattered awning for a moment, little enough shelter against the storm that sprung up half an hour ago, but it's better than nothing.

Wiping rainwater off his phone, Gavin squints at the original text from Michael and tries to make sense of it once more. Hoping the jumble of letters and numbers and occasional special character will suddenly reform in recognizable words, with no luck. There are any number of dive bars dotted along this street, little glittering spots of light tucked around pockets of darkness and the entire area is just. Odd.

Eerie under the heavy rain and driving wind of the storm, flashes of lightning and booming cracks of lightning.

Annoyed, he shoves his pone in a pocket and looks around for any landmarks that resemble the ones Michael described in his text. ...Or look like they could resemble them, to a certain drunk idiot from Jersey who's also blind as a bat...

Gavin's about to give it up as a bad job, call a taxi to take him back to the motel when there's movement at the corner of his eye.

When he turns to look at it, he catches a glint of metal in the hand of a stranger strolling towards him. Thinks, not ideal, when the stranger smirks, eyes flicking up and down the deserted street before landing back on him.

“Hey pal,” the man says, voice nasally and grating as he looks Gavin up and down. “I like your jacket.”

Gavin takes a small step back, and the man follows.

“You give me that, and whatever else you got, I don't use this. Sound like a good deal?”

Gavin opens his mouth to answer – absolutely no idea what's about to come out – when something slides out of the shadows and tosses the mugger against the wall of a building.

He sees a flash of red, hears a low growl, something inhuman to it, and then the mugger's flailing. Striking out against whatever grabbed him, strangled yell escaping him before he goes abruptly, disturbingly, quiet and still.

Gavin's heart is trying to beat its way out of chest, hands fumbling for his phone. What pocket did he put it in, where the bloody hell is it -

“You should run,” the shadowy figure says, darkly amused. He tips his head, light from nearby lamppost falling on his face. The bloody smirk he's giving Gavin and the sharp, sharp fangs he has as he shakes the would-be mugger for emphasis. “I'm feeling a bit...peckish.”

A flash of lightning streaks across the sky chased by a crash of thunder, and honestly, the timing is just ridiculous, isn't it?

And then what the shadowy figure said actually registers, Gavin's mind processing the words. Gavin frowns, tipping his head to the side as he mouths 'peckish' to himself.

Looks up at the shadowy figure, who doesn't look nearly as intimidating as he seems to think he does, now that Gavin can see him better. Nice looking face sure, fine. Lovely features and all that, and deep voice that seems like it's made for the kind of dramatics the man obviously has a penchant for.

Still.

“'Peckish'?” Gavin asks before he can think better of it. “Really?”

The man blinks, caught off-guard by the sheer incredulousness in Gavin's voice.

“What's wrong with 'peckish'?” he demands, annoyance slipping into his voice, further dispelling the dark aura he's wrapped himself in. “It's a perfectly good word!”

Gavin rolls his eyes. “Of course it is.”

He can see the man gearing up for a retort, but the mugger chooses that moment to groan weakly, head lolling to the side.

There are two neat puncture marks on the side of his neck, small beads of blood welling up that serve to remind Gavin that this is hardly a typical way for people to meet. That this is, in fact, something very much out of a horror movie, complete with undead creature of the night, no matter how melodramatic he is.

“You're, ah,” Gavin says, suddenly realizing that he's holding a man half again Gavin's size with no visible strain, that he was clearly drinking his blood mere minutes ago. And frowns when the mugger groans again, one hand coming up to bat ineffectually at his captor. “He doesn't look well.”

The man glances down at the mugger for a moment, head cocked like he's listening to something, and then he looks up at Gavin.

“No,” he says mildly, clearly toying with Gavin now, waiting to see what he'll do next.

And Gavin -

There are so many things he could, should, do here, but -

“Well, then,” he says, and finally manages to find his phone tucked away safely in one pocket of his jacket where he'd put it earlier before the mugger approached him.

The man shifts, something impatient in it. Almost annoyed, when Gavin taps in the cab company's number on his phone. Only one he knows in this city that isn't the motel's front desk the others booked for the night.

“What are you doing?”

Gavin looks at him, sees the frown on his face, and says, “Calling a cab?”

“...What?”

And Gavin – he sighs, because clearly this man is a bit...slow.

“Well, you haven't killed him yet, and I doubt you're going to now,” Gavin says, since the man's had ample time to finish the mugger off and hasn't. Who hasn't made a genuinely threatening move towards Gavin. “I wouldn't begin to know what number to call for the police here since – and this may surprise you to learn – I'm not from around here, and we can't just leave him here.”

Gavin gets a raised eyebrow at that and, “He tried to mug you,” the man points out, holding up the mugger's knife as though Gavin somehow missed that part of the evening.

“And then you went for his throat,” Gavin says, all too aware of the position he's in here. Alone in an alley with an unconscious mugger, a man who is clearly not human, and yet unable to stop the words tripping off his tongue. “So I think that makes things even, yeah?”

The man - vampire - gives Gavin a pained look, as though he cannot fathom the depths of his stupidity, which. Quite rude, actually.

“No,” he says, utterly bewildered. “Not even a little bit.”

========

Gavin would like to say he's surprised when the cab driver who pulls up some time later doesn't bat an eye when they shove the mugger into the back of his cab but he's not, really.

The man has a look about him as though he's seen everything the world has to throw at him and nothing could possibly surprise him again. He mumbles out a number when Gavin asks what it will cost to take the mugger to the nearest police station. Hands over a notepad with out a single word when Gavin pats himself down for so much as a scrap of paper to write a note to the police.

“Is that normal for this city?” Gavin asks, because it would explain so much about the reason Geoff and the others are here. Why Gavin flew directly here after sorting out some personal business of his own.

The vampire shrugs, seeming a bit unsettled by the cab driver's lack of reaction to a very suspect series of events and even more suspicious people.

“Eh,” he says with a shrug, giving Gavin a it is what it is sort of look. “It's not not unusual, if that's what you're asking.”

Gavin squints up at the vampire, who has seemed to realize his creature of the night act was having zero effect on Gavin, and is coming across as more of a socially awkward person who has no idea what the protocol for this kind of situation is.

“Yes, well - “ Gavin starts to say, just as a door slams open a block down and he hears the oh, so familiar sound of Geoff yelling at Michael and Jeremy.

It's a very, very distinct sound. Easily made out even over the soft patter of the rain still falling after the brunt of the storm.

“Someone you know?” The vampire asks, amused at Geoff's tirade. The sound of the others laughing at him, which just makes Geoff more annoyed at them, and so on and so on in a neverending cycle.

Gavin sighs, annoyed that he was this close to those idiots the whole time, and turns to the vampire to thank him for the unexpected rescue -

“Oh, come on,” Gavin mutters, glaring at the spot where the vampire was just standing before looking around although he knows the prick is long gone.

========

The drive out to the creaky, ghost-ridden bed and breakfast a town over is a bit of an adventure.

Michael, Jeremy, and Jack are all hungover and Geoff is taking a vindictive sort of satisfaction at the way they flinch and make little pained noises at every slammed door or sharp turn. The way he talks just a bit louder than strictly necessary as he runs over the place's history.

Built as a mutil-story hotel at the turn of the century, located at the edge of a lake high up in the mountains at the end of a winding road that's a bit tricky to navigate in the winter months. Various unexplained deaths and people going missing on its grounds over the years, something, something, something. Odd sightings and goings on and the like until it was closed down decades ago. New owners coming along a few decades back who turned it into a quaint little bed and breakfast.

Things being quiet for a bit, until the sightings and a few other unexplained phenomena took place around five years ago. The current owner reaching out to them to quell concerns their regular guests had stared to voice, nervous and uneasy about the rumors whispered about the place. Nervous and uneasy, and so they've been hired to spend at least a week here to do some investigating, hope to do some filming while they're at it. Maybe even get a bit of a series going on, if things work out.

“Christ, Geoff, you're killing us. Could you like, shut the fuck up for five minutes maybe?”

Geoff smirks at Michael in the van's rearview mirror, and turns to Gavin, speaking even louder this time.

========

The man who greets them at the bed and breakfast's front desk is a quiet-spoken, polite, and obviously bored out of his mind.

“Oh, man, is that the newest Pokemon game?” Jeremy asks, leaning over the counter to get a look at the poor man's 3DS.

Jack sighs, grabbing Jeremy by the back of the collar and pulling him back as Geoff steps forward, all friendly charm and easy-going smile as he handles the introductions.

The guy - “Hey, I'm Matt. Nice to meet you, I guess?” - gives them a brief tour of the premises, complete with muttered comments about the people who died in various rooms.

“That's fucking creepy, dude,” Geoff says, eyeing him with concern because Matt seems a little too into the story-telling aspect of it. “Like. Seriously.”

“Eh, we get people who come out here just for a chance to see the ghosts, you know? Boss said to put some theatrics into it to sell it.”

Michael clears his throat, glancing at them before he leans forward and puts a hand on Matt's shoulder. “Still fucked up, dude.”

Matt shrugs, unbothered, and leads them back down to the first floor. “Boss will be here a little after sundown, but he said it'd be okay for you to set up before then if you want.”

That's...an odd way of phrasing things - telling time - isn't it? But this is a small American town, and the others don't seem phased by it so Gavin doesn't comment on it.

“C'mon, asshole,” Michael says, catching his eye. “Might as well get your shit out of the van while it's still light out.”

========

Gavin's setting up one of their cameras with Jeremy helping when he hears a voice filtering up to them from the first floor through the vents.

A very familiar voice, although there's some kind of accent to go along with it this time. Something that's vaguely familiar from the traveling they've done to the southern half of the states investigating hauntings and other supernatural phenomena for their internet audience.

“Gav?”

“I forgot something in the lobby, I'll be right back!” Gavin calls behind him, following the voice downstairs where he sees that familiar face having a pleasant chat with Geoff over coffee.

The vampire from the night before, looking the average harmless bed and breakfast owner. Charming smile and a soft southern accent that no doubt works a charm on most people.

Geoff, however, is not most people. (None of them are, when it comes down to it.)

He is, in fact, watching the vampire with sharp eyes despite the easy smile on his face. Trading anecdotes with the vampire but very much away something is very subtly off about him.

Despite the precariousness of their position here at a secluded location known for people mysteriously going missing never to be seen again, for unexplained deaths and other alarming incidents, Gavin doesn't think they're in danger. (But there's a large part of him that's so very grateful Geoff's as wary, suspicious, as he is because there have been incidents in the past.)

The vampire looks up when Gavin steps into the room, Geoff turning to see what's caught his attention.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Gavin says, making a grab for a random bit of equipment on one of the side tables in the lobby as pretense. “Forgot to bring this with me.”

He's about to duck out, make his way back to Jeremy with some excise or other, but Geoff calls him back. Gestures at the vampire who's watching him, little uptick to the corner of his mouth when Gavin looks at him.

Smug. Annoyingly so, really.

“This is Ryan, he owns the place,” Geoff says, look on his face like he doesn't quite know what to make of 'Ryan', but is leaning towards tolerable asshole, which is high praise indeed coming from Geoff. “He mentioned some of the sightings have been up in the attic.”

Because of course they have.

Regular hot spot for supernatural activity, attics.

“We haven't had a chance to go up there yet,” Gavin says. Matt had warned them it was off limits until Ryan arrived to oversee things up there.“But we can get things together to film in a bit, if you'd like?”

There's a bit of a pause, Ryan tipping his head to the side as though he's considering it. Mouth pulling into a smile when Geoff clears his throat, a wee bit annoyed at the man's unnecessary theatrics, which, ha.

“I think that can be arranged, yes,” Ryan says. “I just need to have a word with Matt first.”

========

The bed and breakfast's attic is, well.

Damn creepy, to put it bluntly.

No matter how many lights they set up, it doesn't seem to push the darkness back completely. Little pools and spots of the stuff here and there in defiance of any known science or logic, and Gavin's starting to think there may well be some truth to some of the reported ghost sightings here. That it isn't all Ryan and his sense of drama, feeding on people's fears and superstitions to appeal to thrill-seekers and amateur ghost-hunters. Add a bit of mystery to the place, let people think what they will about this tired little bed and breakfast hidden away in the mountains. (Star-crossed romances that ended in tragedy, ghosts forever walking the earth in search of their loved one, is an ever popular one for places like this. Bitter betryal and broken hearts that turn to bitter regret for hasty actions that can never be taken back are a close second.)

“Ah, yes. That will be a bit of a problem.”

Gavin starts at Ryan's voice behind him, somehow still surprised at it even though he's been expecting something like this all night.

“The ghosts are real, then?” Gavin asks, turning around to see Ryan poking curiously at one of their light setups.

A mishmash of tech, duct-taped together after an incident at the last site they'd investigated. A combination of bad luck and poor construction, and honestly they were lucky to make it out of there with that being the worst of the damage.

“Interesting.”

Gavin rolls his eyes, reaching out to swat his hand away.

“You didn't answer the question,” he says, putting his phone away.

Ryan rolls a shoulder in a graceful shrug, at ease here the way he hasn't seemed to be anywhere else in the building from what Gavin's seen of him. Like this, unexplainable darkness and whatever's causing that uncomfortable crawling sensation along Gavin's skin is where he's meant to be, not the warm kitchen of a cozy little kitchen.

“Depends on what your concept of a ghost is,” he says, and laughs at the look Gavin gives him for that bit of bull. “But yes, a few of them are real.”

Gavin hums, wondering if Ryan will ever actually tell them which ones those might be, and where they tend to be found.

“You're an interesting one,” Ryan says, something like confusion in his voice as he looks at Gavin. “Most people would have been a bit...alarmed last night.”

Gain feels his eyebrows go up, incredulousness reaching new heights as he waves a hand around them at the lights and various cameras. Odd little meters and gadgets that have come into Geoff's possession over the years. The ones Michael and the others helped build when they came on board.

“Ah,” Ryan says, and if he was human, Gavin swears there'd be a blush warming his cheeks. As it is, he's studying his feet with odd sort of intent. “True.”

Gavin snorts, leaning against the wall facing Ryan. Feels a bit of his own smugness when the man looks up at him after a moment. Curious, slightly apprehensive.

“You realize,” Gavin says, “that we're going to be here longer than a week when we catch some of those ghosts on film, don't you?”

Geoff and the others will want to turn the place upside down hoping to uncover it's mysteries and secrets. Gavin knows for a fact that they'll realize something's odd about Ryan aside from his questionable fashion choices. (Not that Jeremy would notice that bit, the color-blind bastard.)

Ryan gets a look on his face that says he obviously hadn't. Had probably expected them to be like the other hokey, so-called paranormal hunters on the internet. People who felt a bit of editing magic was enough to satisfy their audience. Who didn't know the first thing about how to go about investigating a haunting or anything else they'd happen to stumble upon.

And, oh, this is lovely, isn't it. Seeing realization hit that Ryan may have gotten in over his head with them. Didn't expect them to know what they're doing, to know what to do with a real ghost or anything else if they happened across one, but they do.

They really do.

It feels like a bit of payback for Ryan's annoying, exasperating smugness that's been present all evening as he watched them at work. Clearly someone who hadn't done his homework in regards to them, didn't know the places they'd been before this.

Still.

“I didn't get a chance to say it last night, since you decided to borrow a page from Batman and all, but thank you for stopping that mugger,” Gavin says, honest and sincere. Very much aware of how that could have ended if Ryan hadn't intervened for whatever reason.

Ryan looks surprised at that. Like he hadn't expected Gavin to bring the matter up, to thank him, and Gavin sighs. Shakes his head as he starts to climb down, and pauses with his head just above the trapdoor opening.

Feels sheer amusement at the wary look Ryan's giving him, and flashes a cheeky grin at him. "Looks like we'll be seeing a lot of each other in the coming days!"

He drops out of sight and goes on his merry way because there's ever so much work to do, after all.

#freewood #miss-ingno #prompt fills #vagrant fic #kings of nowhere #ghost hunter au

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clonerightsagenda · 7 years

Text

I was looking at old tj posts trying to decide which to move to ao3 (a project I will deal with later) and like, the old ones had multiple scenes and some gesture at a narrative arc. Then the semester showed up and started kicking my ass. However, I tried to put a little more effort into this one with some type of character movement, but I ran out of time to really make that *work*. Obviously Aradia was perfect for Halloween.

tuesjade prompt: Halloween

You've been exploring for a few weeks, and when you come back, the house's decor has changed. The leaves of the trees nearby have turned vivid colors. There are bright orange gourds set out on the front porch which, after you sample one, don't taste particularly good. There's also a cartoonish skeleton dangling from a hook on the front door. You give it a friendly nod as you walk inside.

Jade is the only one in the living room. "You're back!" she says. "Did you find anything interesting out there?"

"It's all interesting," you say. "Not as interesting as here right now, though. What's going on? Are we displaying one of our kills to intimidate the neighborhood? I thought we were taking a more conciliatory stance."

"Oh no." Jade frowns and sniffs the air. "Did Jaspers leave something dead outside again?"

"No, I meant the skeleton."

"Oh." She laughs. "It's for Halloween. That isn't until the end of the month, but we've started early. There was a lot of debate over that addition, actually. Some people thought it might be tasteless. But since it's the first time a lot of us have celebrated, we're going all out. You should see all the tacky shirts we've found at the store.” She taps her chest, which is currently emblazoned with the slogan, “Witch, please.”

Now you remember. Halloween is one of those seasonal human holidays. You've heard it mentioned before, but either it hadn't come up again or you'd been out in space when it had. If it involves decorating things with skeletons, you're all for it, although the gourds you could live without. "What is this tradition about, anyway?"

"I'm not sure I'm the best person to ask. I've never celebrated it myself. It's hard to trick or treat when you're living alone. But in general... it's a chance to get spooky!" She giggles. "And more importantly to dress up and eat yourself sick."

"A lot of your holidays seem to involve eating yourself sick," you observe.

"America is a culture of excess," she says, deadpan. "That is Rose's official position on the matter."

"What's yours?"

She purses her lips for a moment and then nods. "I'm new here, but I think it's kind of fun. I'm going to be Marie Curie. Roxy is going as Ada Lovelace, we will be classy and educational."

You frown, left behind. "Wait, you're going to *be* someone?"

"That's part of the point! Well, you don't actually "be" them." These clarifications are important. You've learned, in your attempts to communicate cross-species, never to assume understanding. "But you dress up and pretend to be someone else! That's part of Halloween, being in disguise. I think it goes back to trying to scare ghosts away by being scarier? But now it's just for fun. Younger kids go around asking for candy, it's called trick or treating."

Scaring away ghosts is a strategy you'd never considered. You'd tried to help, although as a young troll your abilities had been limited. Instead, you'd practiced being polite and understanding. The few times you could make things right (putting a warning sign up by a patch of crumbling cliff, retrieving a favorite token for a grieving moirail) even more spirits had crowded around you, desperate for aid or just someone to talk to. Had humans felt similar pressure, to make a whole tradition off frightening the dead away?

"We have something a little similar," you explain. "Normally it's a cullable offense to disguise yourself as another caste, but we have one day when it's encouraged. You can try to move up a few rungs and claim special privileges for a while. Of course, if your disguise isn't good enough and a highblood notices, they’ll still punish you, probably fatally. I guess that's our version of tricks or treats."

"It's not that high stakes here." Jade frowns. "Is every holiday from your planet that messed up?"

"More or less. At least then the disguises had a point.” You settle onto the back of the couch. Maybe you’re weightless off-planet, but it’s nice to sit down. “You do something similar, when you're younger. I'm not sure I understand why you'd keep doing it. Is the purpose to get away from yourself?”

Jade shrugs. “I guess some people might want to escape being them for a while. But I just like science, and Marie Curie made some important discoveries, even though I'm glad I won't get radiation poisoning. Looking back it's probably a good thing I went God Tier, otherwise all that uranium wouldn't have been good for me."

"I would be dead young myself," you say cheerfully. Jade's eyebrows draw together, and you guess you've misjudged your response, or your tone. That happens a lot. "Thanks for explaining this to me," you say, to move the conversation along. "It sounds interesting."

"Sure. Do you have anything you'd like to dress up as? I bet Alternia must have had some neat intellectuals, although most people would say that's a boring idea." Jade plucks at the fabric of her sleeve. "Mostly I just think it'll be easy to get a lab coat."

You touch your own shirt protectively. "I'm not so sure about that part. I'm happy as myself."

“Whatever suits you.” She picks up her phone. “I’ll let everyone know you’re here. Welcome back!”

Apparently you didn't miss *all* the Halloween prep, because a few days later everyone makes a trip to the Halloween store. (Almost everyone. Calliope and Kanaya insist on making their outfits by hand and split off to the fabric store instead.) The building is noisy and filled with distractions, plastic skulls that laugh when you press a button, enormous coffins that swing open and closed. It seems like humans save up all their gruesome and grisly impulses and unleash them at once. No wonder the holiday has begun slipping outside its proper temporal bounds. One day isn’t nearly enough.

Everywhere, of course, are costumes. Jade is trying on a pair of fake wolf ears as a joke when Hal shows up with a silvery outfit in a package. You're nearby examining a bust with curled horns a lot like yours, so you overhear. "Check it out," he says. "Sexy robot. Do you think this would make Dirk regret we were born?"

"Halloween is an opportunity to dress up as something you want." Jade returns the ears to the shelf. "Do you want to waste that chance annoying Dirk?"

Hal scowls. He'll give you two the time of day as honorary members of the once prototyped club, but Jade has a tendency to not put up with his excesses. It's hard for him to carry on when she starts using the reproving voice. "I admit I'm not feeling the robo-tits," he says. "But the skirt ain't bad. Not like I can wear an outfit with pants."

"As someone who was a sexy robot for a while out of necessity, I'd vote against it," you say.

"Hmmm." He turns the package over in his hands. "I've got it, what about a Minion?"

Jade brightens. "Oh, those cute yellow guys from Despicable Me? I only ever saw the ads, the world ended before the movie came out. They looked nice, though."

Hal tosses the package back onto a nearby shelf. "That's right, you were spared before their reign of marketing terror. Only Dirk and Roxy would comprehend the full scale of horror. Maybe I'll split the difference, go as a sexy minion."

Jade rolls her eyes. "How about you go tell Dave the animatronic raven over there isn’t alive and he should stop trying to intimidate it.”

He retreats, and Jade wanders off. Before you move on, you reach out and slide the sexy robot costume far back on the shelf, where no one will see it.

"I'm surprised you didn't come back with three bags of junk from that Halloween store," Sollux says. You've brought some food up for him, since he didn't come down for group dinner again, involved in some sort of project or Internet discussion. He’s accumulated a cult following online, even if he hasn’t made as many inroads as you here. That's not so different than before - back on Alternia he told you and the rest of his long-distance friends that most of his neighbors wanted to kill him. "It's stupid, but it sounds like the kind of intercultural thing you'd be into. No offense. It's even got your aesthetic."

"None taken. I do appreciate the more relaxed attitude toward the morbid. I think hangups like those are counterproductive. That part doesn't bother me." You bite into one of the rolls you brought up for him, and he grumbles and snatches the plate away. "It's the costumes I'm not sure about."

"Hell, you ran around dressed as Troll Indiana Jones half the time anyway," he says, through a mouthful of crumbs. "I don't think it's any different."

"I don't know. Maybe." You're not sure why it feels different now. Only that there's an aversion in you bone deep to pretending you're something you're not. "I'll think about it."

And you do.

Here is what it is to be a Maid: you are made. Grown in a society where you are told what you are and who to be, propaganda pushed from every angle. Reduced to a shade by a vengeful former friend with whatever feelings that were yours buried under the demands of the summoned dead. Game knowledge pumped into your mind accompanied by the reminders that you are meant to play a role and do what the game asks of you. All else is secondary. Even you. Your soul bound in circuitry with programming trying to guide your affections until you tore yourself apart. You'd betrayed friends and doomed timelines and watched thousands of copies of yourself get destroyed by a vengeful demon because you had to, and because so many forces beyond your control had set you on that path. So when you rose, transcendent, from a cracked disc of stone, you were done. No one else would tell you who to be. Especially not some human tradition fixated on hiding what you’ve worked so long to bring to the surface.

The next time you pass through the common room, Calliope has taken it over with a sewing machine and newspaper patterns spread all over the floor. "Hello!" she says when she sees you, narrowly avoiding swallowing a pin. "Would you mind holding this flat for me?"

You hold two pieces of fabric steady while she guides them through the sewing machine. Several other brightly colored pieces have already been stitched together and piled up. "What are you making?"

"Jake and I are going as superheroes. I suppose we already are that, in a manner of speaking, but we're dressing as our characters from that comic we've made. If this silly hood will sew up right," she adds, as the sewing machine jams.

"Do you think they're better than you?" you ask as she wrestles with it.

She frowns, spitting out a pin onto the table. "What?"

"I don't understand why everyone is excited to pretend to be something else. Aren't you happy with being you?"

"Oh, I see where you're coming from." She pops open the top of the sewing machine and starts extricating a tangled mess of thread. "You know, I used to dress up all the time because I hated the way I looked. I wished I could be a troll, because I thought you were lovely, and I envied you the lives you led."

"You envied us?"

"I had a romanticized notion, to be sure, but anything was better than being chained to a wall." She yanks, and the thread snaps out. "I envied that you weren't alone."

"And you're not anymore."

"I'm not! And everyone has seen my face, and it no longer seems quite so monstrous. I'm not hiding it. That's not what this is all about. It's about... well, I guess it's almost about showing yourself off."

You glance at the sketch she's working from. "That neckline does look a little low."

"Oh, there's going to be a fabric insert, not that I have anything to flaunt. What I meant is, it's a chance to highlight something about yourself. What you like, what you care about. Something you created. It's not self-deprecation, it's self-expression." She flicks the machine on again. "Luckily in my case the skills are transferrable. Now, mind helping me with this last seam?"

You do, and she adds the component to the pile. It’s hard to tell how they’ll go together to form the outfit she’s sketched as a guide. It’s clear she’s put a lot of care into it, though. "I appreciate you trying to explain.”

"Happy to be of help. We're all learning about this world together." She smiles, an expression full of teeth, and you don’t know why she ever would’ve wanted to hide it.

You never participated in the one day on Alternia when lowbloods went in disguise. It didn't seem worth the risk, and you had no desire to take your turn at bossing people around. You remember the atmosphere though, shot through with dread, people pretending to grasp at what they could never have. The wanting gave them away more than sloppy costuming. Those born into higher castes took it as their due.

The mood here is different. People mill around laughing and talking, running down the halls adjusting wigs or asking someone to zip them up. The doorbell rings over and over, and Jane's father has stationed himself there with a bowl of candy and an obligatory pair of disguise spectacles. Everyone is... happy. Even Sollux has emerged, dressed in what looks like formal wear and still using his husktop, which he's balanced atop a platter. "What are you doing?" you ask.

"I'm a web server," he says drily. "This is what happens when you don't volunteer any ideas."

"I thought you thought this was stupid."

"It is, but everyone else is doing it, and I got bored." He snickers. "You should see what KK got talked into. Bet it itches."

You take a look around, but you don't see Karkat. You do see Calliope in her finished outfit, beaming as Kanaya compliments her on her stitching.

"You're the odd one out, AA," Sollux says.

You roll your eyes and dash off.

Jade is already in her lab coat costume. "Hey," she says when you approach. "How a-"

"I know it's last minute," you interrupt, "but can you find me a hat?"

"A hat?"

"The kind troll Indiana Jones wears." You shape the outline of its brim on your head. "A fedora, I think it's called."

"I don't think we have any in the house." She bites her lip and then snaps her fingers. "It's too late to go out and buy one. We'll borrow one for the night, but try not to damage it, ok?"

The hat appears in a flash of green, and you grab it out of the air. It'll sit awkwardly over your horns, but that's ok.

"So you've decided to do a costume after all, huh?"

"I used to do this one all the time." You have a jacket that'll work, and of course your whip is always on hand. "I misunderstood before. I thought it was about hiding yourself, but I get it now. You're expressing yourself even more than usual. It’s a day when you can put things in plain sight."

“That’s a nice way of putting it.” She reaches out and settles the hat evenly on your head, businesslike. “We’re going to see if anyone’s willing to give a bunch of teenagers free handouts. See you downstairs in five?”

“I’ll be there,” you say, and race upstairs.

#tuesjade #i only have three characters left!#however i'm.... not sure the blog is still active?#we'll see if i can complete my quest I guess

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the-royal-courier · 7 years

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Azeroth Works: Writing is Fullfilling Work

By Sky Stoneseat

(Editor’s OOC Note: This interview was conducted on a real life author who just so happens to find interest in our little roleplaying community. She does not play World of Warcraft but we wanted to share this in the hopes of inspiring all of you out there who write on tumblr or in game. Please take the IC as a little tongue in cheek.)

While we here at the Royal Courier strive to be the best source of news in Azorth, today we offer up something a bit different. We bring you something that is from another realm in the hopes that you may find it interesting.

We know that many of you write in your spare time, so I sat down with an author from "Earth" who was kind enough to share some tips that she uses. J.M. Frey is an author, fanthropologist and professional smartypants on AMI Radio’s Live From Studio 5. She’s appeared in podcasts, documentaries, and on television to discuss all things geeky through the lens of academia. She also has an addiction to scarves, Doctor Who, and tea, which may or may not all be related. Her life’s ambitions are to have stepped foot on every continent (only 3 left!)Her debut novel TRIPTYCH was nominated for two Lambda Literary Awards, won the San Francisco Book Festival award for SF/F, was nominated for a 2011 CBC Bookie, was named one of The Advocate’s Best Overlooked Books of 2011, and garnered both a starred review and a place among the Best Books of 2011 from Publishers Weekly.

Lucky for us dear readers that she found time to sit down and chat.

Any tips for getting into the mood for writing?

For me, writing is a full time job, so to get in the mood to write I get up, get dressed, have tea, and basically prepare to sit down at the computer as if it is a real dayjob. That gets me into the headspace required, that “this is work, so work” mode.

But in terms of environment, I like it as uncluttered as possible. Nice lighting, daylight, and only the notes for the project that’s currently on the docket pinned to the board beside me. I really prefer silence, too. I absolutely cannot write in public spaces, and if there’s any noise at all, it’s got to be white noise – either from outside of my window or an online digital generator.

The only raging, noisey mess should be inside my head. When creating a character what are some ways to build an interesting back story's that feel fresh?

There’s a idiom that creatives use about avoiding the low-hanging fruit. The thought is that the first idea within grabbing range might be the most appealing, but it’s also probably going to be the most obvious and the most over-used.

However, sometimes your first instinct is the right one. I always grab the low-hanging fruit, but then – to stretch the metaphor – figure out the best way to turn it into fruit salad. Clichés are clichés because they work, but that should always and only be a starting point.

I like to come at my stories from the perspective of the person who is least often allowed their own voice in common narrative. For example, my series The Accidental Turn is a standard sword-and-sorcery epic fantasy. But instead of making the muscle-bound hero or the scrappy sidekick the narrator, I chose the hero’s overlooked, overshadowed little brother.

The low-hanging-fruit approach to this brother character says that he ought to be craven, cowardly, perhaps even sneaky or secretly the villain. So I thought, yes, okay, let’s give him those traits. Because that’s what’s expected. But let’s figure out a different reason for them. Why does he behave like that? What made him like this? How much is nature, how much is nurture?

Instead of being craven because he’s “just a bad person”, the little brother is quiet and withdrawn because his older brother used to bully him. Instead of being sneaky because he’s plotting, it’s because he’s actually secretly a spy for the king, on the side of good. This led to all sorts of neat things to explore in his backstory – who chose him to be a spy? Why? Who trained him? How? What purpose is there to have a spy planted in the home of the hero?

When you try to find different motivations for common traits, then you start to get into really interesting territory for backstory and character creation. And their reactions are going to be totally different, too – the way these characters address problems or react to violence will be fascinating, because the motivations and backgrounds you’ve created for them is new and interesting.

Any thoughts on a character who a bit go big or go home vs a slow burn sort?

For me, characters fit the kind of story I am telling and the kind of narrative and growth arc they need to have.

Kintyre Turn, the hero of my fantasy series, is defiantly a Go Big guy. He starts out with being gifted a magic sword at the age of eighteen, and the complete inability to ever lose. He’s got a big ego, big muscles, bit personality. And he’s great, he fits what I needed from him perfectly; but I also found with him that there was nowhere left to go. He was too big. There was no upward growth available. I found an arc for him by letting him shrink inside his own skin again. He puts away the sword, and the mantle of the hero, and starts to attend to his own mental health, in repairing and nurturing the relationships around him, and swapping places with his little brother to become the caretaker of their family estate, in allowing himself to stop running from commitment and finding domestic peace and a loving partner. Pulling Kintyre away from the Big and Bold gave him growth.

His brother Forsyth was the opposite. He started small – physically skinny, shorter than Kintyre, swaddling himself in too many house robes and the mantel of the prim, fastidious Lord of the Manor. He even stooped and stutters. He’s the King’s secret Spymaster, but even then he works from behind a desk and lets others do the legwork. He is a Slow Burn character. He grows by increments as he becomes surer of himself and his worth. He stands straight. He learns not to be ashamed of his stutter. He goes out into the world and wields a sword and becomes a hero.

But, going back to what I said about backstory above, his background and motivations mean that he is a Ravenclaw hero rather than a Gryffindor. He would rather talk his way out of things, or think through loopholes, or outwit his opponents than beat them down with a blade.

Both Go Big and Slow Burn types of characters are useful. It’s just a matter of knowing (or learning as you go) which kind is better for the sort of story you’re telling and where you need it to go. And always remember that there’s always an avenue of growth available somewhere; you just need to find it.

Dialogue can be tricky to get right, how do you create conversation that both moves the plot but is not an info dump? My first rule is to completely avoid “As you know…” or “As I said before…” or “I just remembered that…” in dialogue. If the characters already know, then the audience should already know. And if the audience knows already, there’s no need to repeat it. If they don’t know it already, then you’re telling the story in the wrong order, or writing the wrong moments.

Focus your scenes on the moment when the character learns the information, rather than on the scenes where they report the information.

If you can’t do that, then try to keep as much of a natural flow in the dialogue as possible. Listen to people in coffee shops or pay attention at your own family dinners. Note the natural ebbs and flows, where people interrupt for clarification or pause to gather their thoughts. Watch what they do with their hands, their bodies. Watch how they fidget, or pace, or tap their sugar packets on the table top. Describing the body language will help break up large paragraphs, especially if you can use that body language to convey the character’s emotions or reactions to the news. To show instead of tell.

When I’m not sure if the dialogue is working, I strip it down into a script – dialogue only – and ask a friend to read the scene out loud with me. If it sounds unnatural or repetitive, it trips and jams in my ear. Reading your dialogue out loud, either alone or with a friend you trust to be brutally honest with you, is a great way to catch unnatural errors.

There’s also the trick of giving the characters something to do. They don’t have to be sitting in an office, or in a car, or at the kitchen table. They could be hiking, or chasing a suspect, or fighting off a barbarian horde, or slaying a dragon, or skulking through an abandoned spaceship. There’s nothing saying that the info dump has to come at a moment of stillness and quiet.

And remember that the moment of revelation should be the climax of the scene. Each scene should have its own mini-plot-mountain-rising-action-course. Instigating, rising action, climax, and then either cut to a new scene or a brief denouement. Something should happen in every scene – some information discovered or revealed, a character changes or grows, there’s a scene of action, or the plot leaps forward, etc.

Scenes that do more than one of those things are even better. Info-dump scenes don’t feel so boring if they’re happening in the middle of a sex scene, or a fighting scene, or a scene in a laboratory, or a travelling scene.

Is the look of your characters set before you start writing or do they change as you get to know them? Sometimes my character walk into my head fully formed –Forsyth strolled in one day, prim as you please, a skinny ginger amalgamation of Eddie Redmayne, Mark Gatiss, and David Thewliss. But some characters I deliberately sit down to design to compliment the world and what I need from them. For example, if Forsyth was the skinny ginger kid, then Kintyre had to be big, buff, tanned, and straight from the cover of a Harlequinn novel.

From there they sometimes change as the need arises – like, knowing a certain physical trait would be useful to solve a problem, so I go back and retroactively put it in.

But I try to be deliberate about my choices too. In the final book of The Accidental Turn series, our heroes step off the pages and into “the real world”. So I made a point of making every other character around them non-white. Fantasy tradition, which is what the series is commenting on, dictates that the heroes are always white and the PoC-representative characters are always monsters or half-something-or-other. I wanted the “real world” to reflect the world I actually live in. And choosing a variety of ethnicities for each character meant that I had an idea of how they would look and – stereotypically, based on their social standing, religion, personal culture, and country of origin – how they might dress.

But even then, I had a great time flouting those stereotypes. One of my favorite new characters is a first-generation Indian girl living in Toronto named Ahbni, who is totally into both respecting her parent’s home culture and a rainbow unicorn pastel-punk.

Once the character has been nebulously envisioned in my head, I write down the basics so I don’t forget them – eye color, hair color, height, weight, identifying features like freckles or piercings or tattoos – but then I don’t worry too much about it. If something important to their appearance comes up in the text (like Forsyth’s fear that his little tummy paunch means that he’s getting fat) then I describe it. But after I’ve described the character on the page for the first time, I don’t really bother doing it again.

I know that no matter what I say, the audience will envision them how they like, and I don’t mind that. Though I do make a point of trying to give a really clear, and quick, and immediate description of the character when we first meet them, something that really stands out to the reader.

And I try to avoid describing my narrator characters except in the comments of others. Nobody stands in front of a mirror and describes themselves or evaluates their own bodies for sexiness in real life. Please, can we chuck that narrative trope straight out the window?

There’s no need to tell the reader outright exactly what the narrator looks like, unless it is an extremely important narrative reason. Reveal it through showing, not telling. Reveal it in the character’s choices, what other characters say about them, how they react to situations. Find a way to be active about it, not passive.

Your readership is clever – let them put the clues together themselves. Trust them.

You can find out more about J.M and her work at http://jmfrey.net/books/ or follow her @scifrey here on Tumblr.

Editor Note: Do you have an interesting job? Is your work something out of the ordinary? Do you simply take great pride in what you do? Columnist Sky Stoneseat wants to interview you!

Reach out today and be a part of this exciting new column. We want to highlight you and your line of work!

(OOC Note: We are looking for individuals who want to share the ins and outs of their RP job. These interviews will be conducted solely over tumblr. You’ll be sent a set of questions and asked to reply in private to Sky. Once she has your responses, you may get a few follow up question over Tumblr chat. The responses will be used to write up short and sweet profiles of interesting jobs around Azeroth. Contact @skystoneseat today to schedule your profile!)

#WRA RP #rp #wra people #Skys

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ace-and-ranty · 7 years

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On Nuns and Witches

So there seems to be a bit of confusion on what’s the deal with the conflict between Witches and Nuns, and, as always, I’m here to ramble about Sister Claire and explain it all to you in a nicely sourced Tumblr post.

So many sources this could be a damn academic paper.

A couple disclaimers first:

Some of it will be speculative, but I’ve got Ash’s seal of approval on this post, so rest assured. You’re in good hands.

If you’re not reading the Missing Moments, it’s no wonder you’re lost. That’s like only reading every one page of a book. Why are you doing that to yourself. Go read the MiMos. Then get back here.

Now let’s get to it!

So, the conflict between Witches and Nuns comes primarily from Three (3) Things:

Witches Attract Shards

Witches Have Scary Powers

Historical Context

TL;DR: The conflict between Witches and Nuns is rooted in old, systemic prejudice against Witches. Witches are discriminated against because they’re so dangerous and the world is already such a hostile place.

For a better explanation, let’s break each of these factors down:

Witches Attract Shards

One of our very first introductions to Shards comes from the early Missing Moment, “Pezzi Rotti — Broken Pieces” (geddit? Geddit? Ahem). And in there, Jackson gives us a very important piece of information:

“See, they’re mostly drawn to high energia — to Witches, people with magick.” (x)

Energia, as Mother Yolanda kindly explains in Chapter 5, Page 78, is the “spiritual power that flows in all creatures”. In other words, it means one’s Life Force. Everyone has it.

Witches have lots of it.

Because Witches have lots of Energia, they’re a homing beacon for Shards. Energia’s often compared to light in SC — see Clementine being hailed as the Bright One — and Witches are Lighthouses that have Shards swarming to them. The more powerful you are, the brighter you are, the more Shards you attract.

Is there a way to prevent this? Well...

Olga gives Claire a neat sum of all I’ve been telling you in Chapter 6, Page 118:

Witches often refuse to ward their magick quiet, and magick draws Shards. Shards destroy everyone. Sometimes, we have to pick... destroy a Witch or doom the rest?

So for Witches, the choice is: either Ward your magick, or...

But as it’s been explored throughout the comic, Magick’s not just a fun trick for Witches. For many, it’s part of their identity. Think of Hana, who’s been shamed and taught to suppress her magick. Think of the Flock, whose magick allows them at least the safety of being able to fly the fuck away from there. Think of the Wolfwitches, whose magick’s intrinsically a part of their culture.

Take a minute to check out this Livewrite about Magpie, where it’s implied her previous guardians wanted to ward her.

So on one side, you have Nuns wanting Witches warded to avoid Shards and keep people safe — and on the other, you have Witches to whom magick’s precious and part of their identity.

Yikes?

Yikes.

2. Witches Have Scary Powers

There’s more to Witches’ magick than their Shard-attracting effect.

The general populace’s wary of Witches for the same reason people are scared of the X-Men. If you’re just a humble little human trying to farm your potatoes — how do you feel about your neighbor John over there, who can start fires by snapping his fingers?.

How do you feel about Clementine, who can make the trees fucking walk just to fuck your shit up?

Or how do you feel when that friendly bird up on a branch could be a human being spying on you?

All of the while you’re standing there holding your pitchfork. Fear the might pitchfork.

We’ve had an entire Missing Moment devoted to the ways magick can be scary, inconvenient, and make people want to run you out of the village.

Think that’s bad enough? Oh, we haven’t even covered mind fuckery yet.

Cause remember, some Witches have mind powers. And what’s scarier than knowing you’re not safe even in your own mind?.

But you know, you have a pitchfork. You should be just fine.

3. Historical Context

Here’s one thing y’all have to understand: Sister Claire is not Ye Old Medieval Magic AU.

Sister Claire is the fucking zombie apocalypse.

The SC world had huge, advanced civilizations. Big ass cities. It had Jaegers Machina. Hell, it still has electricity — Maman has an electrical fan.

But, as Abraham and Clementine explained in “Non Svegliarle — Don’t Wake Them”, around the same time Shards first appeared, those old civilizations all went to hell. The Sister Claire world we know today is all but a corner of the world with very small pockets of civilization scattered throughout it.

The biggest of those pockets we know of, Salvation, has to be walled in, warded to its teeth, and continuously kept by a rotation of Nuns. The world is overrun by Shards. How are you gonna get anywhere as a society when things such as big gatherings of people, electricity, light, all attract the zombie Shard horde upon your head?

Not exactly welcoming to commercial routes, if you know what I mean.

Now, when you’re living in the middle of the damn zombie apocalypse, how are you gonna deal with, you know — those people, that attract the zombies Shards to your home by virtue of simply existing? You realize this is not a very welcoming reality at all — not the sort of place where you'll see people practicing tolerance and acceptance.

And you know what? There’s precedent.

Mother Abraham tells us that, in the wake of Shards, the Old Civilizations used Witches to pilot Machinas. Essentially used them as cannon fodder. Fast-forward centuries later, to pre-Eden era, and Witches are still facing systemic prejudice.

The Flock’s not allowed to drink water from a village well. Remember when Maman referred to her home as “This place full of whores and Witches”? Remember Oscar screaming at King Michel because the organizations he supports, all organizations that come from the upper rings of Thronum Mare, “routinely and proudly turn away people with magick”?

The attitude towards Witches in the pre-Eden era is riddled with prejudice. “We’ll let you exist, as long as you do it the fuck away from us”, more or less.

And then?

Then comes along Clementine.

Clementine’s the most powerful Witch to exist in her time. She builds a huge city that’s a sanctuary for Witches, gathering dozens, maybe hundreds of Witches in a single place. Can you imagine the terror? The thought of this gigantic Shard beacon filled with powerful Witches?

In a society that ostracizes and fear Witches, can you imagine the panic that caused?

And then the worst happens: Eden falls. Eden totally self-destructs, I mean, it really fucking explodes. On the wake of its fall, Thronum Mare, one of the last and oldest pockets of civilization left, also crashes and burns in spectacular fashion.

Do you know what that creates? Shards. A fuckton of Shards set free. And what else? Refugees. Dozens, maybe hundreds of Witches turned refugees.

And there’s backlash.

Leaving Witches be clearly didn’t work, so the fall of Eden and TM sets off years of pent-up prejudice and hatred. Enough tolerance. Enough letting Witches run rampant. They’re too dangerous to be left alone.

Cue a massive Witch hunt, tensions breaking out, war breaking out, the whole world going to absolute fucking shit — until, mysteriously, the day Baby Claire’s found, the Witches all go into hiding to escape persecution.

Reiterating:

The conflict between Witches and Nuns is rooted in old, systemic prejudice against Witches. Witches are discriminated against because they’re so dangerous and the world is already such a hostile place.

For any questions, please hit my askbox!

For clarification on another, related topic — why are the Mercy Nuns acting like such Witch hunters in the comic, when they were all pretty chill in the MiMos — please check out this post.

#Sister Claire

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