#pumpkin johnny tlsq

[missnight0wl]

So the latest TLSQ was... something. Once again not surprised Merula was involved considering what a fucking nightmare she is to share oxygen with but I'm really disappointed by a very clear plot direction not being taken.

(!! Spoilers for "The Tale of Pumpkin Johnny" TLSQ !!)

MC has a nightmare of Pumpkin Johnny attacking them in the Forbidden Forest. Later, when the group is talking about how Barnaby also had a nightmare, MC is given the option to say if they had a nightmare as well or not.

I chose not to tell. We later find out and see that people get attacked in locations they saw in their dreams. Much later, MC goes with Merula to the Duelling Room, where they both get attacked after finding a note that says they are next.

It's when I thought to myself "A-ha! MC getting attacked in the Duelling Room instead of the Forbidden Forest like they dreamt shows that this isn't something supernatural! I bet this is that pumpkin seller dude pulling a Scooby-Doo scheme or Merula doing a prank!" I can't remember if we learn about the pumpkin dude before or after the attack but my suspicions laid between him and Merula.

Except... this never comes up. Our decision to whether tell we too had a nightmare or not did not matter, and MC never mentions it.

I also have issues with the supposed moral of the story but I was like "Whatever, this TLSQ blows" by that point with how the writers clearly missed out on actually showcasing MC's intelligence.

I now get why MC is such a moron if their writers are like this.

(I don't get why the idea of Pumpkin Johnny is so odd considering this story is of fantasy/supernatural genre? We have curses, ghosts, ghouls, all with such insane origins that the idea of a student being teased into running away into the Forbidden Forest, dying there and returning as a vengeful spirit is the most basic story ever.

The moral of the story is also fucking stupid and unfair considering how the person who called him forth is not only the biggest bully of the cast, but she also got away with everything. MC & Co. were terrorized emotionally and actually got physically injured, but Miss Merula Snyde gets to eat pumpkin pasties with a slap on the wrist! Fuck this bullshit.)

I was actually planning to do this quest because I thought I’m missing some points for this month’s Magical Milestone. But then I opened my game yesterday and it turned out I completed it already after all, so… I don’t think I want to waste my time on Pumpkin Johnny anymore, to be honest. Because it’s not the first negative opinion about it I see.

Seriously, I don’t know what it is with Halloween TLSQs, but if you ask me, none of them was good so far. The first one wasn’t bad, but I can’t stand the stupidity of first-year MC defeating Fenrir Greyback. I believe on the second Halloween, we got only Chiara’s friendship TLSQ, which is admittedly not a seasonal quest, but I’m still gonna count it. And here, I just can’t accept that Remus Lupin would tell a twelve-year-old child: “The power of friendship will help you survive the night with a deadly werewolf!”. Then we had the Deathday Party TLSQ which was just boring, and the one where Merula decided to steal Gryffindor’s Sword which was just a hot mess. And like… why they’re all so bad?? Halloween is such a great topic to work with!

I’m sorry I’m not addressing your plot-related comments, but… I don’t even know if I want to learn about this plot. That being said, I do think that your concerns sound valid, even without this knowledge. Especially the one about the supernatural genre.

It just…

*sighs*

[agatha-in-hogwarts]

[alexandros-deathwood]

Can I talk about how this Merula almost did the pumpkin johnny tlsq but ultimately stopped when she heard her boyfriend had a nightmare?

She's definitely okay with mentally messing up other people, but not him. He already has trouble sleeping with nightmares that's why he likes cuddles!

So she said "yeah no fuck that. This would be too far."

Didn't stop her from throwing a pumpkin at Ben.

[carewyncromwell]

First off, I do like the outfit you picked out for Carewyn for the Hallowe'en TLSQ. Fashionable as ever. Secondly, why doesn't Jam City just give us a "Slap Merula" option or something already? They gotta know by now she is working our last nerve with her petulant sociopath attitude.

Aw, well, to start, thank you! I thought it was very "fall-esque." (Carewyn herself mentally refers to these pieces as her "HarVest" and her "Cafe Latte" skirt.😏)

As for Merula...yeah, I'm beyond tired of how much Jam City seems to want to deprive Merula of character development. It's not like I exactly wanted Merula to follow the exact same storyline as the Godric's Hollow quest and get cursed again due to her own stupidity...but I still feel really irritated that nobody called her out on the fact that she terrorized people while dressed up as someone who themselves had been a victim of bullying! It seems like Pumpkin Johnny really should've taken some offense to that, or if the writers didn't want to take that angle, MC and crew giving her a taste of her own medicine -- which, as I said, is basically what Pumpkin Johnny himself did, to HIS bullies -- could've just been regarded as proper justice, instead of somehow being "just as bad" as what Merula did. Because guess what -- it's not. Confronting someone on their bad behavior and forcing them to see first-hand how scared they made people is not the same as bullying and terrifying people for your own entertainment.

But yeah. This exchange really couldn't have been more appropriate to Merula and Carewyn's dynamic, even in my own canon where Merula does grow the hell up and actually evolve past this sort of selfishness and stupidity --

There are multiple reasons resident Slytherin paragon Carewyn was chosen to be Slytherin Prefect over you, Merula, and this is one of them. She was perfectly willing to accept the consequences for the rules she broke (or should I say, rule: namely, going into the Forest without permission) and was ultimately given mercy because she had good intentions, while you even now feel the need to blame and attack everyone else for you being held accountable for your actions.

(As a side, I currently have a vision of my Aunt-Josephine-esque mother like a shoulder angel on my shoulder muttering sourly about the absolutely atrocious grammar of that section. "Me and my friends -- it's my friends and I, come on!!" 🤣)