#should i actually do an indepth analysis?

[oh-no-bummer]

Tomorrow I'm gonna be told I don't contribute enough to class conversations.

[theladyofbloodshed]

I see these amazing indepth analysis of themes and characters and motifs in acotar and it saddens me that it just doesn't matter. Like she didn't intend any of that when she was writing those books, it's all accidental, there's no intent there, I'm pretty sure the work I put into developing an au for a fic I'll never write is more than she put into her actual published books.

You look at these characters and their backstories and they're so fucking hollow?? These 500 years old fossils are STILL holding grudges about things that happened 500 years ago? Dude so much happened in only 1-2 years the acotar series is set in, you expect me to believe none of these enemies became friends? No friends became enemies? What did Rhysand do as high lord in 500 years? Why is Keir still alive? Mor and Eris couldn't solve their issues in this time? Cassian still feels worthless because of his childhood, the fuck were his friends doing? Azriel still needs healing and she'll probably try to convince us that it'll happen in the span of one book, something that hasn't happened for 500 years. Why are there still evil generals in charge of Illyrian war camps? 500 years and no progress in women's rights in Illyria ? What about the people living in the Hewn City? You expect me to believe they're all evil? What was the necessity to rule over them with fear or to present this evil image of the night court to the rest of the courts?

There is no actual logical answer to any of these cause no thought was put into any of it and we're all just living in fanon cause the canon is horseshit

I completely agree with you on everything here. In 500 years, the IC have done literally nothing. There's only the odd tidbit from Cassian about monsters and hook ups in his chapters. They've had no other friends. Azriel spent the first decade of his life imprisoned and it's still affecting him over 500 years later but in one book he will magically be better. They have made no allies, no progress, nothing in all that time.

This is one of the issues with immortal characters. They should have more history. Big sigh. These books had so much potential.

[heartbeatbookclub]

I absolutely adore all of your analysis so far, they are so indepth and it feels like you’re able to explain stuff that I’m only able to vaguely think in an abstract sense when it comes to ddlc and dhdhdj so so good

I do wanna say that for you mc analysis, there’s one thing missing. I’m someone who got into ddlc cause of plus so I have hyperfixated on all the lore. While the employees imply that Monika made MC, I don’t think that’s actually true based on what we know about Monika. If she could make a whole character then why couldn’t she make herself a route? Heck in one of her act 3 convos, she can barely change the music before saying “well I just break everything anyway”.

So I believe based on other emails, that it was Ive Laster who made MC since they were the one who wanted to make ddlc a game. In the first meeting notes, we are told that Ive tends to ramble a lot. But in the next one when MC is mentioned in a meeting, they are silent. Another thing is that in one of the ddlc plus trailers, ive is the name of the MC.

It could be said that Ive based it on the stuff in the control group, but the control group was made AFTER the main vm (That’s not how a science experiment should work but ya know, I don’t think they are smart). So really the control group is based on main game first. Honestly so much of the issue of the plus lore is how it’s so convoluted to get, but reading it all on the wiki helped me alot.

Plus seemed to add a new sense of horror to the og, the horror of knowledge that one plagued Monika is now plaguing the player as we have all this information but can do nothing to help them. I think the idea of MC being made by someone else adds this new layer to him along with this new layer of horror. But that’s more just my own thoughts on it that I thought you may find interesting along with all the lore from above.

Anyway, I hope you have a good day! Your post are great and I’ll make sure to keep up with coil more!

aw, thanks anon! i often find it difficult to find the exact way to explain what i'm thinking when i do analysis like i have on this blog, so i'm glad i can at least help to put it into words for other people who have even more trouble with it than i do.

as for the rest of your statement...i think you make a compelling point. full disclaimer; a lot of my knowledge on what's presented in + outside of the full text of the side stories is secondhand, and when talking about the original game, i think it's important to keep in mind that my reference for most of this is my playthrough with my friends back in like...2017-18ish a little after the game came out...? aheh, i won't lie, though i am rather obsessive in the course of scouring information i remember via the wiki/elsewhere to verify i'm not just making it up, putting off my replay of the og game has not been helpful for me.

i think it's very much up in the air as to how much influence that Monika actually has over the game, which is something i talked about in my analysis of Natsuki in the Side Stories. in my opinion, what + demonstrates more than anything is that in whatever she DID do in the main game, she mostly worked with material that was already there to make things easier on her. one of the things i based that claim on was the reference of the Protagonist in the Side Stories, but it's not a necessary claim, and in fact, i think you do make a good point in how it's unlikely that she'd be able to do this (at the very least, by herself) based on what's been shown of her ability in the game.

i think, in regards to your comment on the reference to MC in the Side Stories, it's important to consider the wider conceit of DDLC--i have a deeper analysis i'm tinkering around with on terms of it as an exploration of fiction vs the concept within the "universe", but that's another story--namely, all of the girls aren't (or at least, are heavily implied not to be) just static fictional characters following a pre-written script, they're genuine artificial intelligence!

this is part of what i meant when i said that the Side Stories demonstrate the raw character of each of the girls independently of any 4th wall shenanigans--within the world of Doki Doki Literature Club, they're essentially just people living in the confines of a computer, and therefore have essential, largely immutable character traits which exist within some fundamental essence of what makes them who they are. i think there are a shitload of really, really terrifying things this opens the door to if you really think about its nature (independently of DDLC, i've personally had longform discussions with a friend about the morality and potential horrors which would exist within a similar universe concept, and it's somewhat ubiquitous in a lot of sci-fi universes), but like i said, that's a different discussion entirely!

what i'm trying to suggest here is that it's likely that Sayori's relationship to the Protagonist is something inherent to her character, so it doesn't necessarily have to be something gleaned entirely from the Side Stories.

of course, this is all post hoc reasoning with what we're given! occam's razor suggests that it's actually just likely that (given that DDLC was written and released a long while prior to the Side Stories) they didn't necessarily plan every part of this from the outset, so some things just naturally seem to fit together a little weirdly, with little details added here and there just for flavor! i think that given the nature of the entire thing (and how Dan Salvato has talked about DDLC and the statements he's given with about in universe details in the past), it's unlikely that every single element of this was planned out from the word go.

this might be a bit of a controversial opinion, but there's a lot about how + handles the lore of ddlc that i didn't really like, just because it adds a whole new layer of lore and context, which soured a lot of my impressions, because the original game really flourished in its simplicity. that said, with all that's been given in the Side Stories and the deeper layers to the actual horror which are now visible in the original game, i think it pretty well makes up for it!

awa, i didn't plan for this to become an entire essay in itself...but i do appreciate this kind of thing! i really like digging deep into what's explicitly provided in canon to get a deeper understanding of the characters and universe as it's actually been shown, so any encouragement and correspondence related to either my analysis or my opinions in general are welcome! honestly, i'm also welcome to read others' analysis like this, because i like to see when people read deep into it like i do! typically it ends up reshaping how i see the entire thing, and it sorta just makes my heart happy to get people thinking about this stuff!

i think, as a last thought, if MC is actually conscious in any way similar to the other girls (which I think is a definite possibility, given his ability to respond in contexts impacted by Monika's manipulation, even if barebones), it actually makes him a very interesting character in his simplicity. i know that Dan Salvato doesn't see him as one, but i think it'd make for an interesting study in a fanfic or something.

i hope you also have a good day anon (even though it's 2 am here as i'm writing this...) and you BETTER KEEP UP W/IT I PUT MY HEART N SOUUL INTO THAT BABY (/lh /hj i'm just glad other people are liking it, even if it's just silent kudos :))

[dansantcaparet]

Maiden of the Planet: Canon or not?

CloTi nonsense: "Maiden of the Planet isn't canon, so you can't use it for proof!" This argument should automatically be suspect considering that 99.9% of the people spouting this are rabid CloTi fans. Why would they try to discredit an obviously canon novella? Simple- it crushes many of their CloTi ideas It proves that Aerith is over Zack and loves only Cloud, Aerith knows "the real Cloud", and Aerith didn't love Cloud because of Zack. It also strongly hints at Cloud's feelings for Aerith being much more than mere friendship. I will discuss these ideas further in a later essay. Studio Bentstuff and Benny Matsuyama.... Not long after the first chapter of Case of Denzel appeared on the movie website, a complete guidebook to FFVII was also published by Studio Bentstuff named Final Fantasy VII: Ultimania Omega. Besides an indepth guide to the game, it also contained a short story (not related to "On a Way to a Smile") named Hoshi wo Meguru Otome , "The Maiden who Travels the Planet". This story written by Benny Matsuyama focuses on Aerith as she travels the Lifestream and is set about midway through the original FFVII game. Although not written by the original FFVII scenario writer Nojima himself, the work was under the supervision of Square-Enix. Before the release of FFVII:AC, Nomura had approached the staff of Bentstudio and said he wanted a new book made for FFVII so that fans can enjoy the game once again. As the original game is now obsolete (unless you check some old second hand stores), this was probably the best thing to do. Besides an in-depth walkthrough of the game, this 592 paged book contains huge amount of details about FFVII such as detailed analysis of the story and locations, original concept art along with an introduction to the recent Compilation of FFVII series. (Source: http://xcomprandomness.co. uk/ff7novels/) Although not written by Nojima, Maiden of the Planet (MotP) was commissioned by S-E, who then carefully supervised its progress. This means that there is nothing contained in this novella that was not approved by Nojima and Nomura. Why would they commission a novella to be written just to toss it aside as a mere fanfic, as so many CloTi fans claim? Talk about wasting their money. In the weeks before the release of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega was released to coincide with the fact that many fans would be replaying the original game as a way of refreshing their memories. Final Fantasy VII Ultimania was originally released as a deluxe strategy guide and gaming Bible. However, as has happened with other Square Enix titles, such as Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts, whenever a new edition of the game is released, an updated version of the book is published, entitled Omega, the final letter of the Greek alphabet (used in this case to denote the final version of the book). These updated strategy books often contain new information, side stories or strategy guides to help players beat new bosses or get past newly added sections to the games. Director Tetsuya Nomura approached Studio BentStuff about reissuing the book, and Benny Matsuyama was commissioned to write a short story told from Aerith's perspective, entitled Hoshi wo Meguru Miko, which literally translates as The Holy Maiden who Travels the Planet. Despite the fact that the tale itself was not written by the scenario writer Kazushige Nojima, it was written under the watchful gaze of Square Enix. (Source: http://www.animefringe.com/magazine/2005/12/feature/01-4.php) Once again, Nomura approached Matsuyama about writing the story for him and then S-E kept a watchful eye on what he wrote. So, you can be assured that everything in that novella had to pass inspection before being allowed to be published in the FFVII Ultimania Omega. I would also like to point out that Benny Matsuyama is not just another writer at Studio Bentstuff, he is actually co-director of the company, along with Tezuka Ichiro. Benny has also written more than just MotP for S-E. He also wrote the following: * Musei Renu Haito, Tōbae wa Onore Mazu ("in the abandoned capital where mist never clears up, the first howling comes from me")- a short story set during FFXII's continuity and published in the FFXII Ultimania Omega. * The Whistle You Called With- a short story set from Yuna's point-of-view and describing her reunion with Tidus, published in the FFX-2 Ultimania Omega. * The diary entries in Final Fantasy Dismantled. Matsuyama was also in charge of Dismantled itself, and the whole book was supervised by Square who also gave the materials for it. So, does anyone question the validity of these other written works? No, actually, they don't (not even CloTis). Funny that it is typically CloTis that question the validity of MotP, especially when it slaps a crack in their CloTi doctrine. Double standards much? Why only question this one novella and not the others? Are they really that threatened by it? Studio Bentstuff itself is S-E's primary workhorse when it comes to publishing guidebooks. Actually, Bentstuff has produced a staggering 38 Ultimania guidebooks for Square-Enix, which encompasses not just Final Fantasy, but SaGa, Legend of Mana, Chrono Cross, Chrono Trigger, Vagrant Story, and Kingdom Hearts. Benny Matsuyama has also had a hand in writing portions of some of these Ultimanias as well. Other Written Final Fantasy Works.... CloTis like to assert that MotP cannot be canon because it was written by someone other than Nojima. Well, guess what? MotP isn't the first Final Fantasy novella not written by Nojima. And it sure isn't the only one written for S-E by Matsuyama. * Final Fantasy II - Tsū Muma no Meikyū 1989- novel. Notes: Novelization of Final Fantasy II written by Kenji Terada. The title roughly translates as "Labyrinth of Nightmare." Never released outside of Japan. * Final Fantasy III Yūkyū no Kaze Densetsu - 1992- manga. Notes: Manga adaptation of Final Fantasy III by Yū Kinutani (art) and Kenji Terada (story). The title roughly translates as "Eternal Legend of the Wind." Never released outside of Japan. * Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within 2001- novel. Notes: Novelization of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within by John Vornholt. * Final Fantasy: Unlimited After Spiral 2002- collection of short stories. Notes: A series of web novels published on the official Japanese Final Fantasy: Unlimited website (which has been taken down), which continued the story of the anime. The stories have later been included in a single anthology published by Digicube.   * Sō no Kizuna 2002- novel. Notes: A side story to Final Fantasy: Unlimited. The title literally translates to "The Bonds of Two". * Final Fantasy XI ~Hoshi no Chikai i~ 2003– novels. Notes: Series of novels set in the Final Fantasy XI continuity, written by Miyabi Hasegawa. The title roughly translates as "Oath of the Star." Released in Japanese, German and French. * Final Fantasy XI ~The Out of Orders~ 2004- manga. Notes: Manga set in the Final Fantasy XI continuity, by Kim Byung Jin (art) and Kim Sungjae (story). Never released outside of Japan. * Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles ~Hatenaki Sora no Mukō ni~ 2004- manga. Notes: Manga adaptation of Final Fantasy Chronicles by Ryunosuke Ichikawa (3 volumes). The title roughly translates as "Beyond the Endless Sky." Never released outside of Japan. * Maiden who Travels the Planet 2005- novella. Notes: Novella set in Final Fantasy VII's continuity, written by Benny Matsuyama and published in the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Ω guidebook. Never released outside of Japan. * On the Way to a Smile 2005- novella. Notes: Collection of two novellas set in Final Fantasy VII's continuity, written by Kazushige Nojima and published in the book Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Prologue. The first novella is titled "Case of Denzel" and the second "Case of Tifa." These were later published in English with the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Limited Edition DVD set, along with another novella, Case of Barret. Later, more novellas followed: Case of Yuffie, Case of Nanaki, Case of Lifestream: White, and Case of Lifestream: Black. * Kingdom Hearts 2005-2007- manga.   Notes: Manga adaptation of the Kingdom Hearts series by Shiro Amano. Released in Japan and North America. Kingdom Hearts- 4 volumes (2005-2006) Kingdom Hearts: Chains of Memories- 2 volumes (2006-2007) Kingdom Hearts 2- 5 volumes (2007) * Musei Renu Haito, Tōbae wa Onore Mazu 2006- short story. Notes: Short story set in Final Fantasy XII's continuity, written by Benny Matsuyama and published in the Final Fantasy XII Ultimania Ω guidebook. Never released outside of Japan. The title roughly translates as "In the abandoned capital where mist never clears up, the first howling comes from me". * Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Ring of Fates 4 Komaansoroji Komikku 2008- manga. Notes: Manga adaptation of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates (2 volumes). The title roughly translates as "Ring of Fates 4-Panel Anthology Comic." Never released outside of Japan. * Adventure Log 2007- Present- webcomic. Notes: Official Final Fantasy XI webcomic. Written and drawn by Scott Ramsoomair. * Final Fantasy IV 2008- novels. Notes: Two-volume novelization of Final Fantasy IV. Never released outside of Japan.     (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Final_Fantasy_media) I would like to point out that the validity of these other written works is never called into question by anyone, not even CloTi fans. Once again, it sort of makes one wonder what the CloTi angle is, and why they assert that only Nojima can write canon works. Guess what? Nojima didn't write Dirge of Cerberus. It was written by Chiba Hiroki. Are you going to tell me now that an official Compilation game isn't canon because it wasn't written by Nojima? FFVII wasn't written by Nojima either. It was written by Hironobu Sakaguchi (with Tetsuya Nomura). Is FFVII not canon now, too? Contradictions? Does Maiden of the Planet contain contradictions to the original canon? Actually, it is quite fluid with the original storyline and contains very few, if any, contradictions. The ones people bring up are actually contradictions to their interpretation of the original game, typically CloTi fans. I have to say that Maiden fit in just fine with my interpretation of the original game and I can say that for many other ClAeris fans as well. If Maiden contradicts someone's interpretation, then they need to consider that maybe, just maybe, their interpretation is wrong. Also, I'd like to point out that pretty much every addition in the Compilation of FFVII contradicts the original game. At this point, Square-Enix contradicts themselves left and right. It has left a lot of fans angry and disillusioned. But, I digress.... A few examples of other contradictions: * Before Crisis: A female of Red XIII's species, named Dinne, is shown living in Cosmo Canyon at one point. And, yet, in the original game, Red XIII is constantly shown being in despair over being the last of his kind. He and Bugenhagen discuss this together and wonder if Red's species will become extinct after Red passes. And yet Dinne is supposedly right there, according to BC, living in Cosmo Canyon with Red and Bugenhagen and they know all about her. Seriously, S-E? o_0 That is the biggest retcon I found from that game but, believe me, there are plenty more, mostly revolving around the Nibelheim incident. * Crisis Core: This game changed the way Cloud and Zack escaped from Nibelheim as well as Zack's entire death scene. It also changed up the Shinra uniforms and Tifa's outfit (degrading her further by having her dress like a stripper- stupid fanboys! >_<+ ). * Case of Tifa: This novella states that Avalanche went to Kalm to see Elmyra and it was then that Cloud told her about Aerith's death. However, in FFVII, Cait Sith tells everyone in Disc 2 that he'd been to Kalm to deliver the news about Aerith's death to Elmyra. * Advent Children/Complete: The main inconsistencies I've seen here revolve around Materia. Not only are they bigger now than their original marble size, but the colors seem to have changed as well. Kadaj uses a green Materia to summon Bahamut-Sin in AC/C, but in the original game Summon Materia was red. * Last Order: Most of this Anime was completely inconsistent with the original game. The largest retcons, though, involve the actual Nibelheim incident. For example, in the original game, Tifa gets slashed, goes unconscious and never knows that Cloud showed up to fulfill his promise (which is why she reminds him to fulfill it later, when he joins Avalanche). In LO, Tifa gets slashed but stays conscious and sees Cloud there. So, she knows all about Cloud being there and not being a First Class SOLDIER and yet she later lies to him about it? The retcon made Tifa appear to be a liar, like she intentionally deceived Cloud. At least in the original game, she never saw him and had an excuse for deceiving him, because she simply got confused about the events. Also, in the original game, Cloud and Sephiroth struggle in the reactor. Cloud gets impaled, but overcomes the pain, lifting Sephiroth over the railing and tossing him into the reactor below. In LO, Sephiroth impales Cloud and then does a lemming impersonation, committing suicide into the reactor. Way to go... you just took away Cloud's first defeat of Sephiroth and the entire reason Sephiroth was so dead-set on making Cloud suffer (because he was defeated by a "failed experiment" like Cloud). Thanks for ruining the scene and Cloud's entire twisted relationship with Sephiroth, jackwagon. Note: Last Order has since been confirmed as not being a part of the Compilation. I just included it because CloTis cling to it so much with its cheek-stroking and all. XD If you really want to see a list of all of the contradictions throughout the Compilation, I will refer you here. Simply do a search for "The lists [8.2Co]". I haven't read further into this essay, though, so I cannot say if I agree or disagree with other parts of it besides this list. Considering the person who compiled this essay was a CloTi, I am sure there are things in there we wouldn't agree on. ;) One thing we do agree on is that Maiden contains far less inconsistencies than other canon entries in the Compilation of FFVII. Taking all of these inconsistencies into consideration, Maiden actually fits better into the original game's canon than most of the other Compilation entries listed here. It follows the original mythos and storyline (Discs 2 and 3) of the original game and establishes a foundation for AC/C. So, what are the so-called "contradictions" in Maiden? Honestly, the only real inconsistencies I could find that actually mattered and weren't some CloTis nitpicking some inconsequential little things were the following: "Hey Aerith, did you see Cloud's finishing?" Zack guided his energy into the second wave as Meteor was thrown back losing its force. "That was one my sword techniques too. Doesn't it charm you again?" (Maiden of the Planet) CloTis take Zack's boasting to mean that he taught Cloud Omnislash, but he actually says nothing of the sort. He doesn't actually say that he taught Cloud anything, even though it is common knowledge that Zack at least taught Cloud Meteorain. If you read the excerpt again, you'll notice that Zack simply stated that one of Cloud's "finishing" moves, used during Omnislash, was a technique Zack had once created. As we all know, Omnislash is a series of 15 sword attacks. Since Cloud and Zack were once best friends, doesn't it make sense that Cloud might have learned one of the sword slashes used during Omnislash from observing Zack? It is also possible that Cloud learned the whole of Omnislash from observing Zack. Or perhaps Zack did teach Omnislash to Cloud at some point, since Zack is also shown using this particular attack in Ergheiz. This website states (search for "Omnislash" within the document) "You should hold the buttons until Cloud, or Zack, does Omnislash just to be safe". So, no, this excerpt shows no contradiction, despite what some CloTi fans may be saying. Let's move on to the next... "The mad apostate angel smiled boldly. But the damage he had taken was far beyond what he could endure and his spiritual body started to fall apart as he laughed. Beams of light blasted out from inside his body as if they were cutting him apart." (Maiden of the Planet) Maiden insists that Sephiroth smiles and laughs after his defeat in the original game. Fans claim that this does not occur. However, given the quality of the graphics used, how would one know for sure? The expressions on the faces of the characters never changed during a battle. Plus, this game did not contain voice acting. So, how would one know whether Sephiroth smiled and whether he laughed? The technology used to create the game did not allow for such expressions of emotion anyways. So, IMO, this scene in Maiden does not directly contradict the original game. And, honestly, if it did, who cares? Considering the staggering amount of contradictions present throughout the Compilation in other canon entries, trying to prove that inconsistencies exist in Maiden doesn't equate to it being canon or not. More absurdities... Another reason I have heard CloTis mention in regards to Maiden not being canon in their eyes is that it isn't mentioned as an official part of the Compilation of FFVII. Personally, I think this is a ridiculous reason to not consider something canon, but I will cover it anyways because they continue to insist upon it. First of all, I think I should bring up the fact that there is a distinct difference between "being canon" and "being a part of the Compilation of FFVII". "Canon" materials consist of all things that are official. This includes the entirety of the Compilation as well as the Ultimanias (official guidebooks), interviews with the creators, etc... In other words, something doesn't have to be a part of the Compilation to be "canon". For example, the Ultimanias are canon and yet they are typically not considered part of the "Compilation of FFVII". The Compilation of FFVII includes the original game, the On the Way to a Smile novellas, and all of the spin-off games (no matter how craptastic they are). So, if there are materials out there that are canon, but not part of the Compilation, then why does "being a part of the Compilation" mean so much to CloTi fans? Obviously, being categorized as part of the Compilation of FFVII does not denote canonicity. This is just one more reason why I think this argument is absurd and someone really needs to be slapped for saying it. CloTi fans further make themselves seem foolish by claiming that Maiden isn't canon because it isn't mentioned again. Clearly, in their minds, unless something is mentioned constantly in official sources, it isn't canon. o_0 I know, once again, this really makes no sense. Last Order: In the Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary Edition, on page 226, it stated "'Last Order', is an original anime work depicting the situation of Nibelheim event by one's own explanation." There was also a footnote there, which stated that it was "A work outside the Compilation of FF7". In Reunions Files, this was stated about Last Order: "The 'Advent Children Advent Pieces Limited' box set includes an animation entitled 'Last Order'- approximately 30 minutes in length. Last Order's production and script were done by Madhouse. Zack's escape and the Nibelheim incident are explored further in this production, while certain scenes differ slightly from the game's storyline (such as the scene in which Tifa looks at Cloud when he comes to save her). Since a single scene can be subject to multiple interpretations, it was agreed upon to portray them in this way. (p.95) Also, in the FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania, it said, "The most distinguishing feature of 'LO' is that, after completing the supplement of FF7 story, it initiated an independent one. For example, 5 years ago, in the Reactor of Nibelheim, Cloud runs to Tifa and their faces meet at each other; Sephiroth flies downward the Reactor. If you consider it a new interpretation to start FF7, then this work can furthermore be enjoyed." Also, from the FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania: The feature of 'LO' is that it partially has its own unique interpretation based on 'FFVII'. (Tifa's profile) So, not only is Last Order not considered a part of the Compilation, its canonicity has been called into question. It was called an "original anime work" and the scenes within are called a mere "interpretation" of the events of FFVII. It was also referred to as an "independent" work. It even clearly stated that the script and production were done entirely by an outside source, the animation studio Madhouse. Just how much guidance were they given, if any? It never says. Not only that, but no one who has actually seen LO would actually consider it an accurate representation of the Nibelheim events. It completely bastardizes that sequence of events and warps the storyline to such an extent that the events of the original game no longer make sense. And, then, there is Crisis Core, which came along after Last Order, and actually changed the events back to fit more closely with the original game's canon. So, why am I bringing up Last Order? To make a point- that when something isn't canon, it not only doesn't fit at all with the original game's events, but the creators themselves make statements that ostracize that particular piece of work from the current canon. Have they ever stated anything like this for Maiden? Actually, no. Like I said before, it was commissioned by S-E, who then carefully supervised its creation (unlike LO, which was completely dropped on an outside entity and may or may not have been supervised by S-E). Maiden also fits in almost perfectly with the original game's canon, the novellas, and AC/C (unlike LO, which completely screwed up the entire plot basis for FFVII). Themes from Maiden are also followed-up later in another novella about Aerith, Case of Lifestream: White, which was written by Kazushige Nojima himself. The bottom line is this: Last Order is mentioned quite often, although it was confirmed as not being a part of the Compilation and it's canonicity is highly questionable. So, why would the amount of times something is mentioned matter at all in trying to determine whether something is canon or not? So??? Is Maiden canon or not??? Now that I have proved that all of the CloTi "reasons" for Maiden being not canon are completely bogus, let's focus on why it definitely should be considered canon. It's quite simple- Maiden of the Planet was published in the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega. As I've stated before, all of the Ultimanias are considered canon. They may or may not make it into the list of being a part of the Compilation of FFVII, but they are canon nonetheless. The Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega, however, is not only canon but it is considered a part of the Compilation of FFVII. In fact, it is referred to as "the literal edition of 'The Compilation of FF7'" within its own pages (p.3). Since Maiden is contained within the FFVII: UO itself, then it is safe to say that, not only is it canon, it is considered a part of the Compilation of FFVII. What is so amusing is that some CloTis believe all of the Ultimanias are canon except for this one, even when it has been made painfully obvious that is, indeed, canon. Others believe it is canon, but not the story published within it. It's hard for them to accept the truth when Maiden is so brutally ClAeris-slanted, but there it is. If the UO is canon, which it undoubtedly is, then everything within it should be taken as canon, including Maiden.

[firespirited]

Good news, bad news, boring, interesting kind of day.

Bad: Flare up started again, off for three-ish days of swollen glands, fevers and tiny sores hurting like they're on fire - really hoping it's over soon. I got up, took the special meds and 'sulked'/moped/grinched for a while then caught up on photo editing. This time I've promised to not reinstall paintshop so I have to learn the gimp/photopea/ps portable menus instead.

Then went back to sleep once my body calmed down a bit with the over reaction.

Felt horrid when I woke but had to walk the dogs and didn't feel like doing one for each dog when I'm wobbly. Mum was available to meet and walk before the sun could get above the roofs so that was lovely.

She turns 65 tomorrow. She's been a warrior of a mum. With a few blindspots. We didn't really hash out our differences and actually become friends until starting when she was 50. She's an incredible woman. We're as similar as we are different so there are things we barely have to communicate and others take a lot of delicacy and working out exactly what we both mean and if there's any common ground. But I'm really lucky to have had a good mother AND a good friend.

Random current event: she's been a redditor for a few months so I asked how she's been holding up. She moved back to the indepth literary reference and analysis of discworld in podcasts and articles since the sub closed, she tried Discord and found it boring. *shrug*

I'm kind of hoping the internet will fracture with social media issues and craft/fandom/whatever groups will band together to create or repopulate forums again. Discworld community wasn't quite a great fit with redditor community (downvotes apparently made it newbie unfriendly)

--------------

Chose 4 dolls who's hair wasn't too felted (very tangled but not quite felt masses) from the bundle to cif wash, condition and detangle using the hair iron and comb. Because there was no point degluing the inside if the outside (hair) isn’t salvageable. They are savable, it's not obvious until you clean and detangle a small strand but it's worth doing that initial check so not to waste your time. Now I've got 4 heads in cups hanging out in the bathroom to deglue the inside. 5 felty heads still quarantined in baggies.

Accidentally melted torelei to my desk while using an abs melt fluid on her knees to see if damage could be repaired. What a mess. I should have used heat instead. It sanded out but I panicked slightly as how shortsighted that was.

Then most of the day stuck in bed.

Fixed my white noise fan and that's a very big deal. I had to replace a part (thick metal pin - pulled out of a wallhook) and had bought compressed air for the job. Finally no more sleeping in earplugs.

Groceries ordered online, meds for the week done.

--------------

The reason I didn't address 'hyperempathy' yesterday is that I don't use that word for myself and haven't really found where it fits between stronger focus on others than myself, eggshell parent and a form of identification bordering on ocd like intrusive thoughts in it's vividness. Hyperempathy seems to vague, doesn't address how crippling it is and has implications about compassion I find a little distasteful so I've been using 'empathy disorder' to talk about my bad stuff instead. I reacted badly to the stupid sub because i'm not coping with regular asylum seeker deaths and had to word filter it all a while back.

—----------

Dolls and dog posts maybe tomorrow? 💖💖💖

[inkintheinternet]

Mind and Genetics

By Arjuwan Lakkdawala

Ink in the Internet

There are some famous quotes that have very powerful observations and wisdom in them. They are eloquent, skillfully crafted communication with the world, and a window to the psyche of the author.

I have chosen the first quote as an example of the human mind's ability to examine the variables in a situation and conclude what are the requirements of a solution, and know that there is a higher level of understanding. The second quote I chose to demonstrate how the mind can think into the future by studying present trends and developments. Both quotes articulate elequenty these very astute mental analysis.

The quote by Albert Einstein:

"No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it."

If I were to try and give a human intellect explanation of this quote it could be infinite in its derivatives. So I will to simplify it give a mechanical example:

The engineer has a higher level of consciousness than the machine that has only specific functions it can understand.

Another quote which I think is visionary is from science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke:

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

This quote explains itself in this era of advancing technology.

(Side note: I don't agree with the complete views of the authors of each quote. But I do agree that we humans could be experts and knowledgeable at somethings and not at others.)

Intelligence and the vast expanse of the human mind is infinitely complex, with multiple dimensions of time, layers of understanding and meaning. Human cognition is certainly on levels, to understand each mind the recipient of the output has to be just as skilled intellectually as the source of the communication, otherwise the wisdom is lost and the words are not understood in their true context.

What is the innovative power of the human psyche, to have visions for the future, to have imagination, to be able to express oneself in a multitude of meanings. A sentence could be written to be nuanced. These are precisely the abilities that have and always will make artificial intelligence nowhere near a competition to the human mind.

In this era which I like to refer to as the New World (year 2000 to present day), there has never been such an interaction of minds. It is the first time in our recorded history.

If having a slightly indepth understanding of psychology was never a relevant thing in the past, unless you were in the profession. I would say it is in the New World.

Mentalities world-wide are on display, and we now get exposed to millions of thoughts our ancestors did not have to deal with. Those thoughts unlike books or movies, are actual humans in real time posting their ideas, propaganda, activism, whatever we can think of. It's all there on the internet by living people. So there are consequences and effects of our online interactions. And from the news we can see that those communications are most of the time not of friendly nature, and neither do they yield progressive results. So what this says to us is that ignorant and primitive minds, who are not thinkers are the majority online as it is open access.

I sometimes feel its like watching the zombie apocalypse unravelling. This aspect of the Internet - namely social media is extremely disturbing.

I feel like I'm writing entries in my diary at the end of the world times.

So it should be no surprise that mental illness is on the rise (as I stated in my previous article.) It is an alarming issue, and I recently read that IQ scores have gotten low in the US.

Could it be that the delusional narrative on the internet has caused mass psychosis. The medical definition of psychosis is "levels of detachment from reality. The more detatched the more severe the psychosis." We can see this very clearly in this era as men pretend to be women, or adults who think they are animals,. We are in fact seeing many different manifestations of what can be objectively described as psychosis.

Anarchy, a form of criminal mentality is also on the rise. The crime rate around the world is going through the roof. Senseless killings, violence, and hateful aggressive attitudes.

I think holding on to sanity could be the greatest challenge of this era. And it is paramount to understand psychology, as we are when online in a battlefield of psychological warfare. This is not actual war of course, however, the traps and pitfalls of its negative impact on our mental health or that of our children makes it a serious threat.

Why are there humans inclined towards criminal and aggressive behavior and others are not. There are several questions like this in psychology, is it the environment and society that influences good or criminal inclinations or is it genetics.

If you are interested in the subject of stupidity in itself, I recently read an article by Professor Brian Klaas about it. "The Evolution of Stupidity (and Octopus Intelligence).

What causes genuise and what causes stupidity. How does the genuise mind work, and what about a "dumb" mind does it work at all.

What about "Mind over Matter" or in the case of AI "Machine over Mind" there is no denying artificial intelligence is changing our reliability on memory and thinking. Information is now stored on a memory card, if we want directions there is Google and the same for searches. Unlike before when we had to think back on bits of information stored in our memory to answer a question, as it was easier and faster then to search the yellow pages, or find an expert to ask.

For me to have a higher level of understanding of any subject, I must go to the roots or the very start of it. In the case of psychology I cannot imagine that man was ever like an ape - un-thinking. From the cave paintings to the very first writings that we have records of. It all indicates that man is a born thinker.

According to records the oldest system of recording knowledge is the cuneiform - developed in Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq.) At around the same time writing was independently also developed in ancient Egypt and ancient China, with the Mesopotamian tablets being the oldest.

A fascinating new discovery on a decoded Mesopotamian Tablet narrates a story very similar to Noah's Ark, and says that a type of fossil was used in building the ship. This tablet is a 1000 years before the Bible, and it had a dramatic effect on understanding ancient history. It also raises the question of "fossils" how can it be so early in the history of the world. This is unanswered and not explained yet.

Archealogists and linguists have many theories of what motivated ancient writing. The primary theory is economics and that symbols of numbers were in use before words.

In present day there is ongoing studies of the effects of genetics and environment on a person's psychology. Scientists have so far established that genetics and environment interect - that is genetics could be a factor in how a certain person reacts to trauma from a different reaction of another person. Overall, studies at this time state that genetics are not the main driving force of psychological behavior.

Mind over matter: we have to here discuss the Placebo Effect. It's a psychological phenomena that has been observed for a millennia and is still not properly understood. A few things that have been concluded that a placebo does cause the brain to release feel good hormones like endorphins and dopamine, and this has pain and stress relieving effects.

What do neurons do. The brain explores thoughts and sends signals to the body through electrical impulses generated by neurons.

"In short, our nervous systems detect what is going on around us and inside of us; they decide how we should act, alter the state of internal organs (heart rate changes, for instance), and allows us to think about and remember what is going on. To do this, it relies on a sophisticated. - network — neurons." Medical News Today.

Arjuwan Lakkdawala is an author and independent science researcher.

X/Twitter: Spellrainia Email: arjuwan.writer@gmail.com

Copyright ©️ Arjuwan Lakkdawala 2024

Sources:

Harvard Health Publishing - The power of the placebo effect

Medical News Today - All you need to know about neurons

Medically reviewed by Seunggu Han, M.D. — By Tim Newman — Updated on July 18, 2023

Language Insight - A short history of writing

World History Encyclopedia - Cuneiform - Definition

by Joshua J. Mark

published on 17 November 2022

Study.com - Writing History, Invention & Evolution

Contributors: Sasha Blakeley, Kevin Newton

[thatblueshade]

Okay so I'm gonna let it to the smart ones to make full in depth analysis but I'm just gonna say:

HIS LITTLES SNORES, THE SOUND EFFECTS, THE ALICE IN WONDERLAND REFERENCES, HIM NOT BEING INTERESTED ON ANYONE BUT. HIS. MALE. DATE. ALL THE GAYS, HIM BEING EXPOSED ON AN INTIMATE SETTING ON A BED WITH AN UNINTERESTED LOOKING BLONDE GIRL AND A HIDDEN GUY WE CAN BARELY SEE BEHIND HIM, THE PRETTY INTIMATE DATE IN THE DARK WITH PROBABLY THE SAME GUY OR AT LEAST A SIMILAR LOOKING ONE FROM THE ONE IN THE GALLERY WHERE THEY ARE EATING PASTA WITH SAUCE (THAT A CERTAIN SOMEONE HAS APPARENTLY BEEN OBSESSED WITH LATELY) AND IT ALSO KINDA LOOKING LIKE A THE LADY AND THE TRAMP REFERENCE, EVERYONE THEN BEING SHOCKED THAT HE IS YET WITH ANOTHER GIRL AND ALL OF IT BEING FOR THE PUBLIC ON THE SPOTLIGHT AND WITH EVERYONE WATCHING ON THE THEATER BC THEY. ARE. IN. A. FUCKING. THEATER. (HELLO??? CINEMA??). HIM MARRYING THE QUEER COUPLE BC YOU CAN'T TELL ME THEY AREN'T QUEER, THAT COUPLE ALSO PROBABLY REPRESENTING US AND THEN THEM SAYING “WHAT THE FUCK” WHEN THE STORM STARTED, THE FUCKING STORM, HIM FALLING FROM THE SKY BEING YET ANOTHER REFERENCE, ALL THE CUTE LITTLE PICTURES OF HIM SLEEPING WHERE THE GUYS ARE MOSTLY HIDDEN AND HE IS ALWAYS THE LITTLE SPOON. SO MUCH LOUIS BLUE. HIS BABYGIRLISM.

HIM SEEMING RELAXED AT THE END BC EVEN THOUGH HE IS FALLING IN THE MIDDLE OF A STORM AND IT MIGHT SEEM DANGEROUS HE KNOWS HE IS GOING TO BE OKAY.

Anyway, i loved this music video.

here are some of my favorite stills:

[gibbearish]

i think a lot of ppl on here forget that you can just like. not talk abt an issue until you have a better understanding. youre not a politician whose opinion effects this stuff, youre a random tumblr blog, you can just kind of. not say anything about stuff

[nyerus]

Hi Nyerus, ive found out your blog is interesting for indepth analysis! How are u? I want to ask ..

First thing is.... During Xie Lian last 800years banishment, how come Hua Cheng could not find him? I assume that he could enforce lowly ghosts to be spread around their world to look for Xie Lian's sign... Why he must wait for the sign of re-ancesion? Considering his power and wealth, that should not be too hard....

Second thing, what is your personal guess for Hua Cheng's personal password?... I myself cannot think other than "I really really want to marry you, Xie yu tan hua..".. this phrase will blush Xie Lian and no creatures dare to mention this. But i dunno.. haha whats your opinion?

Third thing is... After marrying Hua Cheng and joining rich household, do you think Xie Lian change his fashion style? E.g. even if he still wears white robe, at least the material will be different quality :D

Thank you very much Nyerus! Sorry im asking soo many questions. Im just a big big ship of hualian ><

Hello there! Thanks for reading my stuff, I'm glad you found it interesting!! I'm also doing well, thank you~

So according to what MXTX said about the matter, Hua Cheng couldn't find Xie Lian not for lack of trying, but because Xie Lian's luck was horrendous enough to prevent them from meeting. In fact they had a lot of times where they were roughly in the same location, and Hua Cheng almost would have found him, only for something to happen and for Xie Lian to vanish again. :( It makes sense, I suppose. Meeting Hua Cheng would have been the "luckiest" thing for Xie Lian, back during his 800 years of penance. Meanwhile, Hua Cheng was fighting an uphill battle, and looking for a needle in a haystack. No matter how many of his scouts or spirit butterflies he may have sent, it's very difficult to find someone who's constantly on the move. (And we know that Xie Lian rarely stayed in one place for long, because he was afraid to bring misfortune to people. Not to mention, he had a knack for getting inexplicably lost, which is difficult to account for if you're trying to find someone.)

As for Hua Cheng's password... I really don't have any idea! It probably isn't anything offensive or too crude, as he would never want to make Xie Lian outright uncomfortable with it. I agree that it's probably something like marriage or otherwise slightly lewd hahaha. Enough for Xie Lian to blush and struggle to say it, and for Jun Wu to find it amusing.

Personally, I really want to believe that Xie Lian would opt to wear nicer white robes post-canon. Maybe when he goes out on certain missions to answer prayers, he "dresses down" and wears the old plain ones. So at home, or when going to Heaven on official business, he wears nicer ones made of higher quality material. Maybe he'd even get a little bit dressed up for the latter! I just can't imagine that Hua Cheng wouldn't take the chance to try and convince His Highness to at least wear more comfortable stuff! And if Hua Cheng was the one doing the asking, Xie Lian might actually acquiesce.

Thanks for sending in the ask! I love to talk about Hualian haha :D

[comingyourlugubriousness]

For your TWST character Meme ask prompt: Uhh the Octatrio? (Maybe also how your Yuu might react towards any of my OCs/Yuu? Only if ya feel like)

(Yume doesn't like when ppl compare them and Azul, but it happens)

(I'm lacking so hard in the Jade meme department.)

I've given a little insight into how Yume feels about the twins and and indepth post about Azul. I really should do a more in depth analysis eventually for the twins...(maybe someday)

Mmm all of them look intresting but I think Yume would be most curious about Lázaro because of his unique magic! Seeing as Yume doesn't remember much about their life before NRC. They might ask him to help...not for him though!

For Yume's brother Yuuta, who actually can remember things and struggles to cope with it!

[gayspock]

I see you posting Odo and I'm curious: What do you think about Odo autism? I've heard a lot of autistic ppl relate to him and I was sceptical but now watching ds9 I'm kinda relating to him in that way soo. Julian and Odo autistic kings? (And honestly everyone else on ds9 as well but we'll leave that analysis for later 😳) sory for the long ask

i say autism bc im autistic and i like him and thats what happens to any fictional cunt i like 😁 but ehrm here's my lil strings of thoughts

BUT fr! no, no, no- i see it. granted, it still does feel like super early days for me to write anything truly indepth on that - not to mention, that kinda thing isnt my forte (i just talk to meself a lot innit<3 and those thoughts arent always so coherent or wonderfully put) but i think its like...

well, tip of the iceberg: he's an alien, yah? and quite specifically, one not amongst his kind - and therefore kind of an outsider, who doesn't have a blueprint on how he's supposed to be. and instead, he has to try and integrate into a predominantly humanoid society. and that setup really lends itself to, like, being analogous with autism narratively. LIKE... it's kind of a thing, isnt it, honestly, where aliens (and androids/ai too!) are often incidentially read as autistic. which sometimes that's- yknow. i'll drop a thought on that at the end. BUT, spock and data are the obvious examples - even if u strip back some of their more "stereotypical autistic mannerism" or whatever. bc this idea of, like... learning social standards, as odo would have had to, yeah.

but furthermore. he's quite lliterally being taught to redefine his existence, to present as humanoid. you can read that as a metaphor for masking, easy. and granted - i havent even finished this ep yet - but with how The Alternate elaborates a bit more on his past... i know a lot of autistic people (myself included) have had a traumatic experience with being forced to mask in certain ways. being pushed into it, because it's what's best for us as Dr Mora says - even though the "best" is just the expectation of how a person should act, which is totally arbitrary.

and with Dr Mora, also, you can extrapolate more parallels: with how he insists that Odo wasn't ready to be let out into society, that he wouldn't cope on his own, that he wasn't yet meeting this necessary standard, that he won't be accepted and accomodated for... and again lotsa ppl ik have that experience!

and it's not just that. i think... ok, going back to data and spock: again i say they're very "stereotypically autistic" in their mannerisms. yknow how it is. odo doesn't always read so overtly, but there's some habits he has? that i think also apply.

cant remember what episode it was. but it was, ehrm.... he was talking about lying and how he could tell ppl were doing it- and the way he analysed ppl was, like, by cataloguing very specific movements. not emotions or expressions. instead he methodically deconstructed it.

and... with justice. ok. personal fave there bc he does have a fixation on it? and idk- I GET THAT TOO, YAH? unsure if one track minded is the most appropriate term, bc its not like a lack of nuance even if it sometimes feels like tht to ppl... but that kinda thought process.

and just general social mannerisms. some detachment tht i also kinda vibe with. and when lwaxana came onto him and he LITERALLY had no clue what to even do, bc he was so outta his depth like - OKAY, SAME BESTIE? SAME, SAME, SAME... and again these lil bits at the end are all more, like. small lil things that i dont think are indicative full stop but i do find they RESONATE, yknow!!!!!!

SO YEAH LIKE. MY POINT IS. i see where ppl are coming from!! me too<3 i'd like a lil autstic reading of odo 😁

(BUT: as i did briefly say earlier... i am verastile with, like, autistic readings when it comes to inhuman characters. and the same applies to gender/sexuality, actually - although i find it easier to explain why with the latter as thats a lil different for sure. basically im v much of the omg yesss soooo true bestie when it comes to my own projections and most other ppl's but also there are . yknow . sticking points when it comes to using inhuman behaviour as a parallel for autism that makea me go 🤨 which i mention in PASSING bc idk if i can unpack that whole moving van of stuff by myself in a silly little aside but YOU KNOW. just feels like some comment on tht has to be said here since im going on a big long rambley anyways 😁

[chorusnihili]

Plot Ideas

This post will grow, but for now I’m just making it to give myself a kick in the rear. 

If you want to plot one of these, just let me know!

OR--feel free to just leave the spiel in my inbox and I’ll just jump straight to writing a starter for you!

Original Form

For muses that can explore space-time, encountering him before his accident.  Or if you want to go further back, before Chara and Asriel die.

Or if you want to go really far back, while he’s still on the surface.

Through some experiment/glitch in space, he ends up in a different timeline.  

Muses that visit other timelines also have the ability to visit timelines where things...... progressed differently.  For better or for worse.  

Muses that are old enough can interact with him while he was on the surface.  He’d be a teenager or child.

Muses that are old enough could interact with him before Chara and Asriel died.  You’d get to see the one time in his life he was genuinely happy.

Canonically speaking, no one ever knew that Gaster killed Asgore.  But, I’m more than happy ( >:) ) to explore a potential timeline of someone finding out or him telling someone.  

I’m also happy to explore timelines where the “accident” was different, or where the accident didn’t happen.  

Unbound Form

For human muses, accepting his “offer” to absorb his soul.  Usually this results in the muse getting most of his powers, as well as a vaguely naggy dad-Gaster voice in the back of their head.

If you’re into horror plots, Gaster can fit the role sometimes.  It varies strongly by muse so we’d have to discuss what it is he wants from your muse.

Your muse somehow getting lost in the Void and encountering him.

I’m open to other muses helping him become Refused Form.  It depends on the muse, but Alphys, or other science-heavy or magic muses, or maybe Frisk / Chara / Flowey / Asriel can do something.

Deltarune muses can encounter him as the God of their universe, if that’s something you’re into.  

Or if you want to explore some other ‘constructed reality’ plot.  

Refused Form

Exploring / experiencing his Determination / Void issues.

Your muse following the ‘conspiracy theory’ of Gaster and eventually following the rumors to his lab...and actually encountering him.

He needs friends.  Be his friend.

He can visit your muse’s timeline.  He does that a lot.  

Your muse ends up in an alternate timeline and Gaster goes to retrieve them...but doesn’t have the power to pull them back so they need to figure out how to do so.

This can also involve Original Gaster.  I’m willing to write them both at once.  

Gaster is experimenting with Determination even though it’s illegal to do so, feel free to confront him.

Gaster intends to try to fix the Amalgamates as well as revert Flowey back to Asriel.  Will he succeed ... ?  Remains to be seen.  

He’s level 9, despite not fighting in the war.  Maybe someone should confront him about that.

Gaster accidentally launches both himself and your muse into an alternate timeline, likely in response to a threat.  Where are they?  Will they figure out how to get home?

Gaster is dusted after he jumps in front of an attack meant for your muse.  Of course, he’ll come back after a few days...but does your muse know that?  Just what kind of monstrosity is Gaster?

Humans have captured Gaster for study and your muse has found and freed him.  But why hasn’t he freed himself?

He accidentally teleports himself through your muse’s table / roof / whatever.  One hell of a way (but a fun one) to start an interaction.  

Pokémon Verse

Scientific / curious muses studying Gaster / the Gamumu line.  

Plots where Gaster is reverting between pokemon and human form and needs help figuring out what’s going on.  

The Gamumu showing up somewhere they shouldn’t, like the thieves they are.  

Mermaid Verse

He’s a friendly sea monster, it’s OK.

AU where he’s existed in the Underground since before the monsters arrived and the activity is drawing him to the shallower waters of Waterfall.  

Little Mer G has escaped evil biologists that are trying to study him and encounters your muse.  The scientists are not far behind, though.

Your muse finds Little Mer G in their bathtub.  Or bed.  Or car.  Or anywhere he logically shouldn’t be but somehow is.  

Scifi Verse

He’s also capable of accidentally skipping across timelines.

He crash lands on your muse’s planet.

The more important question here is... what does YOUR MUSE want from him?

Other Verses

A Fell!Gaster, Swap!Gaster, Human!Gaster and AmalGaster all have tentative backstories and are available for plotting.

Lord Gaster AU -- Timeline where he has killed all humans on the surface, but only really gave the monsters something else to fear.

King Gaster AU -- Timeline (usually a Fell verse) where Gaster has murdered Asgore and took the throne.

Professor Gaster AU -- Timeline post-pacifist where Gaster (regrettably) finds himself teaching humans Science because god their education system is fucking awful. 

Other Plots / Misc

These were originally intended to be Dungeon Master style Plots where I don’t necessarily tell you everything that’s going on, but I’m more than happy to actually plot them out with you, as well!

Another Skeleton in Town:  Gaster claims he has always lived here, in this quaint little house in this strange corridor in Waterfall.  The problem is, he’s not lying.  So why is he here, how did he get here and why doesn’t he remember anything?

Indepth Reversion:  Your muse wakes up one day to realize that the world is nothing like they remember.  And yet, no one seems to realize anything is wrong.  What could have possibly happened, and what does a soft-spoken Professor named Gaster have to do with it?

Null Terminator:  It started simple--with sections of the Underground simply...disappearing.  With nothing but an empty blackness to take its place.  Then strange wolf-like creatures, incoherent and staticy began to emerge, the darkness grew, and the entire timeline is in danger.  Can your muse and Gaster fix it, or are they doomed to be the only survivors?

Civil War:  Life on the surface is far from peaceful, but things have gotten even worse after a series of attacks on monsters.  Analysis show traces of magic at the scene, implying that the culprits were other monsters.  But why are monsters attacking other monsters...or is something much more sinister at play?

Cooperation:  Under growing pressures by humanity to release the technologies he’s invented, Gaster is growing more and more aggressive towards the surface world.  Maybe your muse can talk him down...or provoke him into starting another war.

Ascension:  Growing more dissatisfied with Asgore’s submission to humanity, Toriel’s reclaiming of the throne, and monster-human relations, Gaster begins a secession from the monster kingdom, using space-warping abilities to make a surface, monster-only sanctuary for any monster that doesn’t wish to be in touch with humanity.  Will Gaster’s erratic behaviors doom the possibility of peace?  Can your muse get through to him?

Egregious Hatred:  On the surface, several high-profile anti-monster activists have suddenly gone missing.  Given the odd nature of the crimes, Gaster is the prime suspect.  But did he do it?

[artsy-hobbitses]

There was a fascinating post going around about Terminus and how maybe he wasn't as kind and good a mentor as he seems to be at first sight, backed with a lot of analysis based on his actions during the LL run in the functionalist verse, if you're interested?

I’ve definitely seen that one around before and it’s an interesting and indepth take! And tbh I agree to some extent. The main issue is we don’t actually get to see a whole lot of what went on in the Functionist Verse while Megatron and Co. were doing their rebellion/revolution work there, it’s just like they’re starting it at one point when Megs is left behind and BAM next thing we know, Megs is back and Terminus has apparently died fighting there alongside Orion Pax. We don’t actually get to see if there was a chance that Megatron over the centuries there found out that Terminus had (pressumably) tricked him into staying, or how that would have played out which would have been really interesting. (I like to think that Megatron DID find out at some point and they probably had a big fight about it and a heart to heart later about the legacy Megs is leaving behind/why Megs would want to return to a world where they cannot fix or take back all the things he’s done, not like here where Megs could be the person Terminus likely believes he should have been. I like to think that he did in the end somehow help Megatron go home to the Lost Light at the cost of his own life)

I definitely feel like there’s also an element of guilt in his decision to do so (pressuming he did!) since he might blame himself at least partially for putting Megatron in this path and he sees this as a chance for both of them to redeem themselves, until someone probably tells him that Megs is like in the human equivalent of late 50s-60s now, not the wide-eyed miner boy he knew and what happened isn’t about him or what he could have/didn’t do.

There is definitely some shade of self-serving or at least borderline controlling behaviour evident while Terminus was bed-ridden especially and it does make me wonder if what happened to him (the loss of his legs, the knowledge that he was slowly being starved to death because the higher ups didn’t see any point in feeding him any more now that he couldn’t work) didn’t make him marginally more bitter about the world to the point of pushing young!Megatron, even when Megatron was uncertain on whether to continue, to be someone he believed could change things. Break the system, burn it down because someone has to and it can’t be him—-he’s going to die a slow, lingering death, he’s probably made his peace with that by that point (before Censere came into the picture) but damnit he’s going to make sure that his boy’s dream to change the world is ironclad with an unshakable ‘No, you move’ conviction. No compromise.

It’s a complicated relationship with good and bad sides I think! One I definitely would like to explore more from Terminus’ side.

[suped-up]

So I decided to have a look at the first 2 books of this new series that been roaming around for a bit because I’m desperate for SuperSons content. So here’s my quick thoughts on it before I do a more in depth analysis on it.

Its very important to clarify that this book series was made for kids (the rating did say grades 3-7, so like, primary/middle schoolers). This is evident by how the conflicts are like hella loose, and how some dialogue is out of place. Theres not really much character building like what you see in the other SuperSons comics.

Some quick character stuff, theres 4 main characters, Jon, Ian, Cadance and Tilly. Damian “Ian” Wayne, he prefers to go by Ian, he’s the Damian of this story. Character wise, I don’t know about the hair colour change (they even gave Bruce brown hair), but I do really like Ian’s rich kid smugness that Damian can sometimes lack. HOWEVER, I REALLY hate how lame he can be when he’s doing his hero fighting. Especially his outfit, it’s really bad. The writers basically made him less of a serious character and just, like, ugh, they just downgraded him. Like where is the usual “I don’t give 2 shits about your life I’ll snap your neck” Damian? I feel like that personality was given to Jon. Jon in this series, for one, looks hella nice (I think overall the two super sons had pretty neat character designs), but he’s really angry??? Like literally not even joking, one of the main characters also states that Jon should stop before he kills someone?? He’s rather emotional, which I mean ok?? But like, even though in this new series he has a thing against using his powers to cause harm, he just immediately brushes it off, which kind of goes against the original Jon. As for Cadance and Tilly, I really don’t care for those characters. Especially Tilly. Cadance at least has this whole plot going for her, shes some African royalty and these 4 other leaders are chasing her and stuff, but they’re coming off as evil although I don’t actually think they are?? It’s weird. But Tilly? Useless, literally there as comedic relief, a love interest, and just a plot device. She’s annoying, poorly written, and for some reason is the smarts of the group? Which I thought would have been Ians job, because in the original it was like Jon is the heart and brawn of the duo, while Damian was the cold and smart one? But yeah, really don’t like Tilly, her hero costume is extremely stupid as well, at least Ians is useful.

Overall, I think it is important to remember this is for a younger audience. However, I do think many people would appreciate if it was a little more faithful to the original SuperSons, because all they did was practically repurpose the characters (looking at that downgraded Damian and useless character Tilly). Like, at least with Teen Titans Go, yes it was for a different audience from Teen Titans, but they at least attempted to keep most of the aspects of the original series, it was just more fun and butt jokes because of the different audience. 

I’ll post some indepth analysis of the characters and story later if I’m feeling up for it. There are places online where you can read this series for free, I’m gonna see later if I can find the 3rd book online, if not I won’t bother.  

[brittie-frog]

Haunting of Bly Manor

Right.

I love horror and after spending sometimes days watching video essays on gay history, specifically in (horror) movies and film, I now kinda understand why so with the Haunting series and its gay rep and them not being the villain of the story, I loved it.

(Quick note I have only rewatched the show twice and can only take from my own experience of media)

My phone also knows me so will suggest news stories on things I've recently watched or current murder cases. So it suggested me this story today:

I went in open minded knowing that some people were angry about the ending falling into the 'kill the gays' trope (which I will come back to).

At first it was fine, talking about the ghost story/love story comment and how it relates to the show and has good analysis that I agree with. Then it goes on to basically summarise the show.

It keeps mentioning that all the gay subtext is implied:

why Dani broke up with her fiance

why Jaimie is reluctant to be vulnerable with Dani (before the monologue)

And that there needs to be a “lot of filling in between the lines” to understand their romance despite their practically constant flirting (Jaimie's 'Poppins' for Dani is the cutest nickname) and multiple kissing scenes. However, I digress, it can be sometimes hard to understand certain attitudes to each other at the beginning.

It also states that its like they want on the pat on the back for "making them queer, without making anything about them very queer". I don't know what this means, but I took two interpretations:

That not all queer people need to stereotypically look queer to be and that is a step forward for gay rep (I prefer)

That the creator wants to be celebrated for making gay rep without truely showing their queerness (which I think is pretty false)

Then it talks about the fireside chat and Jaimie's backstory, describing the monologue as "shoehorned" into the scene and "devoid of any mention of her sexuality". This is where the first part of my 10 minute research for context comes in. This is set in 1987 in a small town in England with an American. In charge of England at the time was the famously homophobic Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher that implemented Clause 28. No one in this setting and right mind - especially after being ridiculed for most of her life - would come out to any one, flirting or not, that they have known for at most a month or two. Also, this entire scene resolves around Jaimie's attitudes towards people, and why she's reluctant to get close to people, favouring taking care of her flowers over interacting with others.

Then it talks about Owen and Mrs. Grose having "more meaningful screen time and backstories that continue throughout multiple episodes".

First Hannah. We basically get Hannah's entire backstory in episode 5: how she met Owen, scenes of her working at the Manor (in non-chronological order) and how she died in the first episode. Then that continued into the final episode when she finally comes to terms with her death and her love for Owen to save everyone. We don't actually get much backstory in the way of her childhood or even how she met the family (from what I remember, correct me if I'm wrong).

Now Owen. His backstory is that he grew up in Bly, left to go to France and became a Sous Chef, only coming back because his mum got diagnosed with dementia and he needed to take care of her despite her constantly mistaking him for other people. That is also only explored through Hannah's memories of the interview and the bonfire-side chat.

Those are both sad backstories but you can't call them any more or less meaningful than Jaimie's of in depth about how her and her family were ridiculed and bullied throughout her life and even spent time in juvie. They all have points mentioned in their stories that I would love more indepth on: how Hannah met the family/met Sam, either Owen's childhood in Bly or his time in France and why Jaimie spent time in juvie. But I also realise this is a short series that has to make fleshed out characters and tell an entire story in 8 episodes.

The article then talks about how even the ghosts got an entire episode to themselves when they barely show up. If you look in the background of the majority of scenes you'll see them and personally I really enjoy getting their stories of how they died. However, that episode is about more than just finding out about the ghosts and Viola's life, it’s mainly about what led to her being the first ghost and causing other dead people to stay as ghosts and the origin of those specific words that give a ghost access to an alive person’s body, to help explain the majority of the show. If I showed my friend this show and removed that episode I would have more questions asked than when my mum finished it.

Now I don’t know what to say. I agree there is no law on art so it can be anything and I usually think that the haunting series are in a slightly different universe (it’s how sleep at night knowing that someone can’t be so stubborn they become a murdering ghost) but also yes, trans-roles should be given to trans people more often. However they are actors and their job is to play some they aren’t for entertainment so for the most part I agree with Scarlett about being able to play anything. Also yes the self-congratulatory approach after playing an LGBT+ character when you’re cishet is kinda bad unless you have the full support of the community telling you it was a good portrayal and accurate representation. It won’t be enough for minorities if our representation, that people outside the communities are calling great, are just surface level characters that are just there for tokenism but you can’t compare Bly Manor characters to those types of characters. All of them have so much development and are well done that the majority of the community that has watched the show have no problem with and love their representation.

Personally I love both Theo Crain and Jaimie and Dani because they represent different things. Theo Crain is on a basic level. as a lothario, a stereotypical butch lesbian, constantly hooking up and struggles to actually open up and love people. Dani and Jaimie are soft, domestic cottage core lesbians in a flower shop AU. This is not a bad thing and just because they have a “tepid romance” doesn’t mean it’s a step back. Also more context time:

 As said before Thatcher was in charge and heavily homophobic, creating laws to stop people from teaching children about homosexuality since gay sex had been decriminalised recently

 It was the middle of the AIDs epidemic. Dani was coming from a country that was doing nothing about the deaths of thousands and going to a country where hysteria about AIDs was rampant but they were doing more, like the ‘AIDs: don’t die of ignorance’ information leaflet despite it not being as huge with 46 deaths by 1984. (That assumes that the AIDs epidemic happened in this universe)

Dani clearly had some form of internalized homophobia before even coming to England because she spent so long with her fiance hoping to feel the way she’s supposed to (I think the ghost of him is her guilt and internalized issues personified as it constantly appears when she’s trying to move forward.)

Also in the final episode it shows that is probably at least some homophobia in America as they kiss in the shop then look outside and go to the back so no one can see. (This could be interpreted as seeing if anyone is planning on coming in so they can escape without having to stop early for customers but Jaimie had already changed the sign to closed.)

Now onto the ‘kill the gays’ trope. Yes this is a huge trope that is so damaging to the community that we’re constantly the ones killed off for views or when their tokenism is no longer important, that is fucked up! However this doesn’t mean that we should give every gay character plot armour, cause that’s also unrealistic, just to please the select few that will call it out as a damaging trope. There is huge difference between say, The 100 killing Lexa and Bly Manor killing Dani as one has plot relevance and brings the story to a close while the other enraged an entire generation so much they started a brand new convention to celebrate queer relationships/characters in media. It’s also not like she was the only one to die, it’s horror after all, Hannah, Rebecca and Peter, the parents and all those ghosts died or were already dead.

Like many of the comments on the article - If all you got from this show was it falls into kill the gays, you have completely missed the entire point of the show.

[hall-of-merlin2]

Magic, Monsters and Merthur - 1x02 - (Magic)

Episode 2! Whoop!

It’s a shame that the magic is my favorite subject in this “analysis”. It doesn’t get interesting until much, much later. But I do rant a bit, so a warning for that ahead of time.

Short version of what we know already - two prophecies for the world, we got the bad timeline. Magic is a living being that blessed humans, but humans didn’t like that it didn’t give them god-like powers, so they made their own blessings and then fought something that shouldn’t even be fight-able, and won.

Somehow.

And... Immediately I’m making more changes to what I put in certain sections... Merthur is not only Merthur, it is also all characters, the Monsters isn’t just the magical creatures, it’s also the villains, and the Magic isn’t just the magic, but also about the history of Camelot, and certain tidbits about universe-expanding.

It’s either this or I make yet another post after all of the “original” ones, just called “Random Observations”, which I don’t think is necessary.

<_><_><_>

<_><_><_:>

09:11

This guy always intrigued me. The Knights of Camelot have a very limited fighting style, usually one sword and one shield, no shield if it’s not available and very minimal theatrics or hand-to-hand combat. Also not very good with several opponents, they’re best against a single strong enemy that they can clash with endlessly. They’re quick, but not incredibly, they’re durable, but still have limits, they’re strong, but flawed in certain areas. Versatile, but at so many things that they end up just being average at everything.

This guy, on the other hand, is officially a knight. And his fighting style – his armor and weapons too – are from a completely different continent. My question is how he adopted this style, where he adopted it from, how he ended up close enough to Camelot to hear of the tournament and then enter it, and how the fuck he got himself knighted. We don’t see many people like this in the future, and it’s not because Uther doesn’t allow them, he’s clearly rooting for this guy to win, but there’s still an abundance of knights that fight like Camelot’s – versatile, but average.

I just want to know why we didn’t get more different styles, why Gwaine or even Lancelot, Percival too, ELYAN, people who first fought with what they had, not the fancy swords Camelot provided them with, didn’t have their own styles of fighting independent from what knighthood had forced upon them. I know Gwaine still has some of his brawler instincts, using words more than fists to win a fight with wit, I’m not sure that Lancelot had professional knight training, but he should have picked up a few cheeky tactics from his time traveling around the whole island, I dunno where Percival came from but… Have you seen him hold a sword? He looks so awkward with it, it’s so small in his hands! He definitely needed a giant mace or a club that he could bash people over the head with. And Elyan! He was a blacksmith, you cannot tell me that while he wasn’t in Camelot he didn’t pick up even the tiniest wind of swords being made differently – with curves, sharp or dull edges – and didn’t try to make and practice with one himself! Maybe he knew of the “quota”, of how swords are generally made, and maybe he was taught to make swords in this specific way and he didn’t want to deviate…

But do all of these travelers, while traveling through places that have never even heard of the name Camelot, always found the perfect run-of-the-mill Camelot knight sword to fight with?

I just don’t believe it.

More variety in sword fights dammit.

<_><_><_>

39:36

So… There’s a spell that can… Revive stone?

Surely the dog wasn’t made into stone to make that statue, that would be magic and you know how the big bad thinks of it. That’s just literal stone, and there’s a whole spell that just… Makes stone into a living being? How the hell does that work.

…the afanc uses the same principle.

So making living things out of dead material seems to be a trend, with several different spells usable. Which is cool, it’s probably just an exchange of life-force between the summoner and the summoned, would be simple if not for the “a life for a life” thing that the Cup of Life is based on.

To create a life a life must be taken – but it only applies to humans?

I think I go more indepth into the Cup of Life in… Oh fuck in another season. But yeah, it’s life-force exchange, so… it’s either only humans are considered “lives” which is just bullshit and I don’t accept it or it’s literally taking ANYTHING to create that life and the “a life for a life” thing is absolute ridiculousness thought up by somebody.

It’s just taking anything, anything at all, and using the life-force in that object, paired with the one that the summoner has to create literal life.

Clay? Usable.

Stone? Usable.

Another human? That’s going overboard for a bit of drama.

So Arthur could have lived if there was like a flower used to revive him.

The anthill theory is valid! Merlin needs to chuck one into Avalon as soon as possible.

(The anthill theory is… again, something that someone more clever than me thought up. There was a talk about Avalon and the equivalent exchange of lives that it proposes, how a beetle is worth a worm and three worms makes a cat and four cats makes a prat, or something along those lines. Then it was suggested that ANY life works, which then spiraled into an idea that if Merlin would just throw a whole anthill into Avalon, he could bring back Balinor, Will, Lancelot, Gwaine, Elyan, and anyone else he wanted. It was a fun little idea, but it seems to have more value than I originally thought.)

Also… Quite of a rant incoming.

This scene makes me sad – because Merlin is losing his instinctive magical abilities. He has enough wit to understand that this is possible and this is how the shield works, but not confident enough in himself to just… Force the stone to turn into what he wants it to. He’s confined himself to spells and that makes me sad because he could actually probably revive more than stone, more than plants or wildlife when they die, but probably even people. (This is yet another idea proposed by someone more intelligent than me, I just took it and ran.) And it wouldn’t even be considered necromancy, Merlin would literally be a human Cup of Life but without needing to take anything from anything because there’s just so much power within him already.

This is why I wanted to study and document and theorize about the Magic of Merlin. Not because there wasn’t enough told, not because it was barely used, not because it’s lame and I want it to be cool. It’s the direct opposite of all those things – these was so much shit told about the past and the Old Religion and the Faction Wars and so many amulets and necklaces and spells were used it’s actually incredible how fleshed out it is! And it being a key point of nearly episode did not make me miss it when there were pure dramatic episodes. Magic in Merlin is cool, what isn’t cool is that they didn’t do anything with it. I don’t mean that it wasn’t used for plot points and fun episodes, I mean that that was it – just a running gag, a convenient way to think of new ideas and keep the episodes going, it was never Magic just for the sake of being Magic. There wasn’t a magic reveal until the very end, where it didn’t matter what happened after, we weren’t going to see it. There wasn’t a kingdom that just accepted magic and didn’t kill people for having it, Merlin never went to such a kingdom for reprieve, there wasn’t a secret sorcerer underground that Merlin and other sorcerers could consult to help on various tasks or just talk and be happy that there’s so many of them despite everything. Magic wasn’t the wondrous and mystical and amazing thing that the show made it out to be, it was incantations pronounced correctly and rituals that could kill you if you messed up one thing and magical items that weren’t even that magical, the most mysticism that’s come out of them being “You don’t know what we will actually do if you use us, beware the consequences” which is bullshit and not magical at all. Magic was made out to be this scary and dangerous thing, and seen by people as something evil in a world where royals could literally cut off food for their people during a plague – that was seen as more normal than someone probably not magical talking to possibly magical people once.

It’s just… Why are people so afraid to make magic this overpowered, convenient plot point that’s just fun to see without putting a thousand limitations and incantations and rituals and complications and consequences on top of it just so it’s “used sparingly” and “not for messing around” and “for a greater purpose” rather than just being something you can fill 5 pages of a book that’s lacking action with?

Let Magic be fun. Let it be mystical, understandable but still something that people question the legitimacy of in real life terms.

Let it be the genre it was supposed to be – pure, colorful, tooth-rotting fluff fantasy.

But if no one else is gonna do it, I will.

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The Monsters

The Merthur