#this is actually one of the alternate realities from rebirth

[soggy-fishsticks]

i drew cloud as utena tenjou from revolutionary girl utena! :D

[sarucane]

OFMD Spiral Parallels 53: Ed's Suicidal Spiral

Intro: What I love most about how season 2 builds on season 1 of OFMD is the spiral narrative structure. Ground is repeatedly and explicitly re-trod from s1 to s2, but in s2 everything goes deeper than s1. Meanings are shuffled, emotions are stronger and truer, and transformation is showcased above everything. The first season plucks certain notes, and the second season plucks the same ones--but louder, alongside some new notes, and then weaves them all together to create a symphony.

---

"Shouldn't let go/ if I let go/ all will fall

Fingers bleeding/ down to the bone now...

hold on/ hold on/hold on"

Ed says those lyrics to Lucius in S1E10. And in S2E3, he falls.

In ep 10, Ed's song comes across as a fairly straightforward adolescent break-up song. But when Ed tells Lucius about the lyrics, he says the alternative to holding on is to "curl up into a ball and die." Ed's looking at living as a binary choice: one or the other, be strong or be dead. And in season 1, Ed thinks rather a lot about death.

But as Lucius points out: maybe letting go now won't be real death. Maybe being in pain isn't the only way to be. Maybe he can survive this pain that feels un-survivable. Maybe falling isn't death. Maybe this is all more complicated than he thinks.

Ed embraces this as best he can. Tries to believe it. He adds lyrics asking himself to let go. He embraces vulnerability, embraces a purely metaphorical death that breaks down the life and death binary ("life's a hard sad death"), and tries to move through this towards life "beginning again"--but this time a life on his own terms, the rebirth he's been seeking all along.

But then Izzy tells Ed what he really fears deep down: this is wrong. That actually, things do make sense, and there is a binary choice: he can be strong and hold on to Blackbeard--can hold onto Izzy, who will not change or accept change--or he can be worthless, and fall.

But accepting Izzy's worldview there means, right from the beginning, embracing death. Because as long as Ed's holding on like that, fingers bloody to the bone, all alone, he is going to fall. Sooner or later. And that's going to be death.

Because he isn't the kind of person who gets to be reborn.

For the next two episodes, Ed is torn between wanting to hold on to the pain that means strength...

...wanting to let go of everything...

...and wanting to believe there might, somehow, be another option than being a devil or a weak human. And yet, even then, all he can imagine is constant motion. Flying, forever, above everything that brings pain.

Unable to let go himself--still too conflicted and fearful of the reality of death with no hope of rebirth--and unable to fly forever, he sets out to be forced to let go.

And since he doesn't believe Lucius's advice about rebirth anymore, letting go means dying. He isolates himself until he's sure no one will try to make him hold on like Izzy did. He sets out to get himself into a situation where he isn't stronger. Where he can't hold on anymore.

And then he ends up in the gravy basket, and he's stuck alone with a version of himself he hates--and which has the power of life and death over him. And Hornigold tells him the ugliest truth Ed himself believes about what it means to be a human man: that in the big picture, there are only two choices. Anything else is just delay.

"Strength" or death. And Ed already knows he isn't strong enough to stop feeling, to just move on, to keep holding on. Worse than that, deep down he doesn't think someone like him is worthy of living.

Ed doesn't want to die, but he also doesn't believe a life after letting go is possible for him. And in the gravy basket, where the impossible is inevitable, he can make himself let go.

So, finally, Ed falls.

and falls.

But here's the thing: Ed was never as bad as he feared he was. He was never unworthy of rebirth. Holding onto strength was never in itself living, and falling was never in itself a death.

And not only is there someone waiting for him, there is in fact someone desperate to see him. Ed's core fear of worthlessness...

...the rock that drags him down and makes him fall in still waters, is wrong. Because sometimes life isn't strength: it's weakness. And that's where help comes in.

Underlying this entire binary of "strength or death," and even the possibility of being reborn, is the idea that Ed is alone in this. He doesn't ask Lucius for help, he just accepts it when it's offered--and even that was enough for him to want to kill Lucius later. He doesn't ask the crew for help, even when he's being his most open right after the breakup. All the help he seeks is connected to being killed. All the help he thinks he's worthy of--or feels safe enough to dare seeking--ends with death.

But when he's underwater and he hears Stede, Ed opens his mouth as if he's shouting--and the first finger that moves is his ring finger, knocking against the wood.

And just like that, Ed isn't holding on. He's being held.

By the person who first showed him that "hold onto this pain or die" was wrong.

And he isn't falling. He's floating.

The only binary that matters is literal life and death. Rebirth and transformation are bigger than that--and they're always possible, as long as living goes on.

Ed's let go of what he was holding onto. And now life begins again.

[honeysylvan]

River Blake for Rock of Love, the bachelor challenge by @rainymoodlet!

Information under the cut!

BIOGRAPHICAL

Name: River Blake Age: 29 Pronouns: they/she Gender: Nonbinary Sexuality: Bisexual Traits: Music Lover, Loyal, Adventurous, Perfectionist*, Foodie*, +Domestic | Headstrong, Argumentative, Compassionate, Brave Aspiration: Big Happy Family Degree: N/A Career: Head Mixologist (Chef - Mixologist branch) Likes & Dislikes: black, blue, alternative music, retro music, singer songwriter music, family-motivated sims, idealist sims, emotional decision-makers, physical intimacy, stories, cooking, mixology, photography, rock climbing, singing, snowboarding, writing | pink, winter holiday music, egotistical sims, deception, malicious interactions, bowling, gardening, knitting, mischief Skills: Baking - 4 | Charisma - 6 | Comedy - 4 | Cooking - 7 | Dancing - 3 | Fitness - 3 | Guitar - 5 | Mixology - 9 | Photography - 3 | Rock Climbing - 6 | Snowboarding - 7, Writing - 6

*more traits in CAS mod

STORY

River had a perfectly normal, happy, boring childhood in Copperdale—up until they were 13, and a drunk driver robbed River of their parents, older sister, and left eye. They spent the next five bouncing from foster home to foster home as a traumatized, difficult teen with a penchant for getting into trouble. The day they turned 18, they moved to San Myshuno to become a singer-songwriter. But making it big is easier said than done, and the occasional gig doesn’t pay the bills. Struggling to make it on their own, they got a job as a bartender, and ended up loving it—not just the chance to meet new, interesting people and make fun drinks, but also to lend an ear to those who need it. Singing and writing songs became a hobby rather than a career, and River began saving up money to finally get the university degree that they never had the funds to pursue. No one expected River—headstrong, argumentative, thrill-seeking River—to announce that they wanted to become a music therapist, but to River, it just made sense: where else could they combine their love of music with their desire to help those who had been through traumatic situations like them?

But a career wasn’t the only thing River was after. At the end of the day, creating music, working as a bartender, becoming a therapist—it was all River’s way of searching for connection. Their real dream was having a big, happy family of their own. They’ve had a few failed relationships—ones that haven’t been very long-term—and despite wanting to make things work, they can’t seem to find the right person.

River’s never been one for reality TV, dating apps, or any combination thereof, but when they saw the advertisement for Rock of Love, they decided to give it a shot—there was just something about Jackson Roth that called out to them. Could this be their chance to find that real, genuine connection they keep searching for?

FUN FACTS

Is an excellent mixologist and makes a mean cocktail, but their own favorite drink is whiskey neat

While they mostly mix drinks, they are a good cook and baker as well

Never had a pet before, but thinks the company would be nice

Has quite a few scars: one on their face (which blinded their left eye) and several on their body from the accident, as well as scars from their top surgery/reduction they saved up for when they were 21

Got a snake tattoo on the left side of their torso/hip when they were 18, to represent renewal/rebirth, and might get more tattoos in the future

Slow to trust, but loyal as hell once they do

Loves Halloween, and loves finding costumes that incorporate eye patches because they think it’s hilarious (they have a good sense of humor about the whole “blind-in-one-eye” thing, despite the circumstances)

Sometimes people mistake their eyes for black, but they’re actually a very dark blue

Has had multiple different hair colors before, but their natural (and current) color is black

Dislikes Christmas music because they haven’t had a good Christmas since their family died

Private DL if chosen. Thank you so much for considering them!

[silver-wield]

Is it really confirmed by the Rebirth Ultimania that there are multiple timelines as they say through translations or is it a translation hoax ?

No, they're not timelines. It doesn't say timelines.

They're described as "worlds" because let's be honest, the devs don't even know how to describe them without going into a long winded explanation.

If you've watched Doctor Who's episode Turn Left this'll be much easier to understand.

Basically these are all "the choices not taken" by the planet.

Everything that happens, every single person's life from beginning to end is dictated by the planet to enrich its own life.

The planet is also a character and not just a setting. It's always been a character, but people constantly attribute its actions to Aerith because they're morons who think fleas make dogs walk.

The first "world" is our canon world where everyone is going against Sephiroth and Aerith dies and it all links up to AC like Nomura said.

The Yorkie is the first choice the planet discarded. Everything plays out in layers upon itself. They're not accessible to each other because as we saw in Sephiroth's lil speech with Cloud, when those layers merge, the planet screams in pain.

The planet cannot have more than one canon lifeline. It'd be like bursting open its major aorta and expecting it to maintain a circulation still.

It will die. It will very likely go insane and die from all the pain and confusion it's in.

Yeah, so the Yorkie is the first discard, but some elements linger longer than others because they're unresolved and haven't accepted their fate to rejoin the planet. We hear Zack making statements to that effect. Biggs does too for a bit but then before he gets shot he's come to accept he can't change anything, and by the time Zack encourages him again it's too late.

Zack's choices cause further branches because he has accepted his fate, but all of those branches taper off and go nowhere, like tributaries in a river.

The only branch that's different is the one Aerith causes, although we don't actually know where Zack is in that one. He's just described as "gone" and so are Elmyra and Marlene. It's possible the final shot of Zack in the church is the same place Aerith was, but I doubt it matters in the end.

So, yeah, not timelines. Not alternative realities. It's the potential of that untaken choice being played out in some what if subconscious dream layer within the planet. It's like when you imagine what happened if you took another choice. You didn't, but you imagine it happening. That's pretty much what the planet is doing. It's imagining what if, but with the people living on it. It's imagining what if Zack Fair lived? It plays out that scenario within the consciousness of the lifestream, but it doesn't really happen because Zack Fair actually died.

This is why the devs just say different worlds 🤣

[crimsonxe]

FF7 Rebirth spoilers below the cut:

I don't have a clue wtf just went on with Cloud deflecting Masamune but also not leading to Aerith's death but not. Its a such a bullshit thing that tries to have its cake and eat it too; but at least the other Aerith is still technically alive waiting to be woken up in one of the multiple worlds. And I guess "ghost Aerith" is technically still around too. Regardless to the "Aerith has to die" crowd: FUCK YOU. The reality is that she didn't actually need to die, there's not a damn thing that required that outside of edgelord incel shitbags that have a death kink. Which ironically fucking enough the ending of Rebirth even backs up cause there's even fucking LESS shown as to why she died. She sure as hell isn't going to be stopping Meteor nor would that require her dying; instead she does so because incel shitbags wanted it & the OG game did it. Interesting originality be fucked, instead stick to the same goddamn bad end route bullshit as the OG game. I'll stick around to see the trilogy finished, but I'm openly stating now that I'm 1/3rd checked the fuck out. Also just going to put this out there: don't even mention Cloti anywhere near me cause that's been thoroughly ruined and I don't look forward to whatever happens in part 3. And just ftr no I'm not a Clerith and actually ship Cloti in OG, but not in the R-trilogy where Aerti has shined far more via their closeness.

Hope it was worth it writers, you had the chance to actually do an interesting alternate route that rewards people that have been hoping for a "good end route" and who liked/loved Remake for its unique interesting new storyline. But instead chose to throw it away in such a bullshit manner to appeal/line up with the same shitheads that bashed Remake for daring to do its own thing; or to repeat the same goddamn story as before rather than forge a new path. And I can't stress enough how the way it was done is such a shitty ass manner. Either Cloud deflects Sephiroth's sword and Aerith lives or he fucking doesn't and she dies; either fate is changeable or its not; either there's a multiverse of unlimited potentials including Aerith living or there isn't; etc. Fuck 5% of Rebirth, the other 95% is great. Such a goddamn waste. If Nomura is the one responsible for Remake's "fuck Fate, let's make our own path" aspect, then plz let him be the main one heading up Part 3 to try to course correct back from the betrayal of the concept that Rebirth's last 5% did. Show the timeline where Cloud did indeed save Aerith and have that Aerith join the team; have them break Fate instead of treating it as some immutable thing cause fuck that; and no more bullshit like having someone block a strike then having the story backhand via shitty ass reality rewrites (a la Masamune stuck in the ground to the side from an unharmed Aerith that suddenly is reality warped to have blood on it and Aerith being hit with a phantom stabbing cause "Fate"). I'll easily take Remake's vision over Rebirth's last 5% (I have to stress this cause 95% of Rebirth is fantastic, its only the last 5% that is incel edgelord nihilistic garbage to justify killing off a character cause "that's what happened in OG".

And let me be clear on this: my anger isn't where it should be which at Sephiroth as the one that did the deed as the villain aka proper narrative writing. My anger instead is aimed at the bullshit method of how it was done, which isn't how a narrative should come across. All I see if the very blatantly check off box that was bent to reach. Remake was 95% good, 5% mindblowing and getting me heavily invested; Rebirth 95% great, 5% bullshit and throwing away an entire section of investment. I really am having to work to give a shit about the remaining characters, cause the writing's failing caused that level of collapse.

Since this is the rant post: While I give credit for mostly shying away from sexist incel tropes in regards to the femme characters; don't even think for a second I didn't notice the little things that are there still. Shiva having jiggle physics; and even Tifa being hit with them during particular side quests. Edit: So from what I've gathered the main case of Tifa having them is a matter of you're expected to have her swimsuit on at that point, instead of her regular one; so while still annoying cause jiggle physic shouldn't be there at all its at least not in defiance of her sports bra that'd be more egregious.

I'm fucking done.

The really infuriating part is that I'd STILL give Rebirth like an 8/10 or even 9/10; cause as I've repeatedly mentioned 95% is just THAT damn good.

[dutchdread]

Hello, I have a question for you, do you think they will make Clerith canon through some bizarre timeline multiversal stuff in the remake trilogy?

Warning, this will have massive spoilers for Rebirth. No, for one that would heavily diminish the themes of the OG as well as the weight behind Aeriths death. Maybe this is just the well hidden optimist in me speaking but I don't think they'd ruin their own story quite that much. Let's be honest, "no, she's not alive, so we didn't betray our themes, she's just alive.....somewhere else, so everyone can be happy and we don't have to make a choice because whatever you want to have happened has happened" is the most cowardly writing ever, and I doubt they'd sink to it. More importantly though, Rebirth already seems to be hinting that this will not be the case. We've seen from the Zack alternative timelines that Rebirth is essentially following a very "final destination" type ruleset. In remake we saw that the whispers tried to course correct any mistakes in the timeline, such as by pushing Wedge off of Shinra HQ. If they fail to correct the changing of destiny a new timeline seems to be created. But as we can see in rebirth these timelines are unstable and destined to be destroyed. Biggs and Zack both survive their deaths in the original timeline break, but Biggs still gets gunned down. Zack breaks timelines several times but consistently runs into squads of Shinra grunts trying to gun him down. And all the broken off timelines have the same tear in the sky. Now whether these "alternate dimensions" are real physical dimensions or just dreamlike manifestations of hopes and dreams in the lifestream doesn't matter that much. What matters is that they are unstable and doomed to end, which is indicated by the huge sky tear. By the end of Rebirth Cloud alone can see Aerith, seemingly live in front of him. But he alone can also see the giant tear in the sky. The most likely reason for this is that Cloud himself, in his deluded state, is keeping this alternate dimension alive, it is a manifestation of his desires, his desire to protect, to not be a failure. He rejects reality and substitutes his own, a reality where he didn't fail to Save Aerith but was in time. This reality, which exists in the form of lifestream inside his head, can be argued to really exists according to the rules of FFVII, where the lifestream is more than just imaginary. Or rather, where imaginary is more meaningful than it perhaps is in the real world. I don't know yet if there is an actual second dimension where Cloud saved Aerith, and that Clouds deluded mind sees that dimension because he believed that's the one he's in, or if it is ALL in his mind. But really it doesn't matter. What matters is that there is only one "real" dimension. One dimension without a sky tear, and in that dimension Aerith is dead. And all other dimensions, be they pocket dimensions with an altered fate, or completely imaginary, are doomed to be destroyed, as shown in Rebirth through Zack. Zacks segments have been stated to have the intention of showing us how the world of FFVII operates, so the fact that his worlds are all destroyed is rather significant, and with it having been stated twice that the remake project will "link up" to Advent children it seems very unlikely that there is a way to postpone destiny for ever. One of the biggest themes in FFVII is acceptance. Acceptance of the past, and oneself. And the most likely thematic core of Aeriths seeming spiritual "survival" is that Cloud will have to accept her death, accept the past, and move on. Right now, in typical Cloud fashion, Cloud is not accepting reality. This is the same flaw that led to his fake persona. The theme there was never "fake it till you make it". It's almost certain that this change is a continuation of the same concept. Cloud has to live in reality, and not deny it over and over again until his delusions become reality. That would be the message given by Cloud continuing to not accept Aeriths death, and eventually get her back somehow, and that message would conflict with literally everything FFVII has ever taught us.

[pwecie]

The Republic of Latvia, Sky: Children of the Light, and the Power of Signs

Yeah, so, that was an out-of-pocket title. Anyway, hi! I’m Pwecie, it is currently 2:52 AM, and for the past 24 hours, this has been my life. Now, those who know me… and also those who don’t, all probably saw the title and are probably thinking “Pwe, did you fucking snort Focalin?” And the answer to that is, no, not yet.

Anyway, a little while back, I made this post to my alt blog:

To which my dear friend @unhonestlymirror saw the designs of the characters I drew and said:

To which I pretty much replied, “No shit Sherlock! Get the goddamn game!” (Lighthearted)

But then it got me thinking. Are these similarities surface-level, or is there something fundamentally similar about the clothing of the inhabitants of the kingdom, and a real-life place here on earth? So my ass did what anybody with autism would do and kept thinking about it ever since. What I found was honestly exciting and a little terrifying. What I mean is, I don’t know if the devs actually took inspiration from Baltic/Latvian tribes and history or if this is the BIGGEST fucking coincidence in the history of game design, but here’s what I discovered.

As many players both new and old have noticed, the clothing in sky more-or-less follows a general design motif in which most of the outfits have at least one common pattern out of 3: stripes, triangles, and a diamond, sometimes encased in two half-diamonds.

Much like the residents of Sky, Latvians have these design motifs, but they are much more numerous and intricate because, unlike Sky, reality doesn’t run on the hardware of a mobile device and is therefore not limited by data.

As you may have guessed, these designs, commonly known as “signs” each have their own distinctive meaning. Shit can range from the moon, to pagan deities, snakes, tons of shit. But for the sake of simplicity, we’re just going to be focusing on a few basic signs. To start, let's go with the repeating triangle symbol on the clothing of many of the residents of Sky

Dievs, also known as “God” represents the primary Baltic pagan deity of the same name and somehow the Christian God because of crusades and shit adding to the meaning. It is also important to mention that Dievs is the pagan Baltic god of many things, but most importantly in this case, the sky, light, prosperity, ruler of gods, and the creator of the universe.

Alternatively, there is another similar sign, this one being a row of triangles all connected at the corner with no bottom.

This is Māra’s water sign. It represents "The changeable, unsettled. Fleeting time. Ascendancy. Protector of life."

Light, rebirth, transience, life, and ascension are all central themes within Sky's story long before the player even started their journey. There are murals of this higher power made of light, either in the form of stars or the aquatic-looking light creatures that inhabit the land.

For those who know, there is a creature seen at the end of the game and throughout sky's concept development called "Megabird". It is a giant bird in space made of creatures of light and people who have ascended to the great beyond.

Considering that Megabird along with a lit candle and the literal fucking solar system is the last thing we see before we are reborn at the end of the game, being sent down to the earth as a ball of light in a shooting star, leads me to believe that the triangle symbol on the clothing of the people of Sky, players and NPCs alike, represent this abstract, non-humanoid, possibly non-sentient and non-self-aware power that rebirths souls and encompasses basically everything that is, that will be, and everything that has come before.

There is also another sign known as Māra’s earth sign, which is just a straight line.

The website describes it as "The material world. The land. The dark and unknown. Femininity and security." Aside from the fact that majority of Sky's playerbase is female, Sky has major themes of the consequences of pollution, the desire for power, and the fact that the semi-abstract physical representation of darkness serves as the main antagonist. This sign is commonly paired with an inverted Dievs in Latvian culture, representing the mirror of Dievs. I'm just going to assume that means darkness and/or the earth. However, I don't think that the people of sky would worship the thing that literally likely killed everyone and turned them into spirits, and the triangles are not upside-down, so I'm going to argue that, in my personal interpretation, the triangles above the earth sign in sky means the connection between the land and the sky as the entire game takes place within the clouds on a crap ton of floating islands. These two designs being on top of one another likely represents the cycle as a whole. Life, death, rebirth, repeat.

And now, the player's chest diamond. Known as Saule or Sun in English, represents "Harmony, health, corpulence. Unity, safety, light. The eternal. Returning, repeating."

Many people, mostly spirits, have a lone diamond upon head accessories, or on their clothing.

It is also visible in gravestones, weapons (namely shields), and infrastructure.

For the lone diamond, I think it's very straightforward. This symbol within sky represents either the kingdom itself, or safety. It is used in buildings that provide protection and shelter, shields that are scattered throughout the Golden Wasteland, and the final eternity: death. But what's with the two sideways triangles on the edge of the player's diamond? The most similar thing I found, and the comparison that makes the most sense is Krupītis (toad), described as "The subconscious, intuition. Strength. Knowledge and wisdom. Linked to Aizsaule ("beyond the sun"), mythical habitation of ghosts."

It's a stretch, but another theme of sky is growth. Each realm literally represents a different age in one's life from birth all the way to death. Along the way, we free spirits by literally witnessing their memories. We do so by using our light that is stored in the center of our chest, right where the symbol is. We also use this light to fight off the darkness by melting dark plants. We grow, we get stronger, and then we die. I think it's a combination of this and Saule. All the same concepts apply, even if it is a bit of a stretch design-wise.

Every time I play Sky, I'm always amazed by how much there is to be discovered, especially when the developers decided to keep the lore intentionally open-ended. Maybe they did take inspiration from Latvia and Baltic culture, or maybe this is just a big coincidence. I've been playing video games for my entire life and I can wholeheartedly say that there are very few that come close to the amount of time and care that ThatGameCompany puts into their work. I'm still playing even after 5 whole years and finding new stuff to this day. I highly recommend anybody who reads this post and has not played Sky yet to give it a try. Maybe you'll find something that reminds you of your world, too.

[drsilverfish]

What’s with all the claws? The Winchesters

There are a lot of talons and claws and tentacles and spines in The Winchesters monster-parade so far (episodes 1-6)

Is that just because monsters are generally claws-and-teethy or is there a symbolic function to all these claws in the narrative?

In the pilot we see the long talons of what? An Akrida, the Akrida leader, a Wicked Witch of the West-esque entity?

In SPNWin 1x01 Pilot we meet a Loup-garou with its very long werewolfy talons:

Image credit: http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/Loup-Garou 

It was placed as a guard by the Men of Letters over the mysterious, trans-dimensional box which can entrap demons, and, apparently, the alien Akrida.

In SPNWin 1x02 Teach Your Children Well, La Tunda has tentacle-vine talons which seek to suck the life-force from her victims:

She is an abusive parent feeding on the life-force of rebellious children, and her lair is other-dimensional (like the Akrida’s, who come from another world).

Second image credit: http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/File:LaTundaVines.png 

In SPNWin 1x03 You’re Lost Little Girl, the Bori Baba emerges, talons first, from its portal-sack into a child’s bedroom:

It also seems to feed particularly on children and young people (judging from the number of stuffed toys in its lair) and its sack is a portal to another alternate realm/ dimension.

SPNWin 1x04 Masters of War has the God Mars-Neto as the monster, so no physically manifest talons there. But the theme of an alternate reality is present, as Mars Neto creates an illusionary return to Vietnam, within which he traps John and Carlos, forcing them to relive and re-experience the traumatic effects of the war.

In SPNWIn 1x05 Legend of a Mind we learn that the Akrida have stingers which they inject into some people’s brains in order to control them:

This appears symbolic of the hold childhood trauma has on the mind (a claw/ spine/ talon/ tentacle of poison, hooked into the self) given that we explore Mary’s childhood trauma at the hands of her hunter parents (with the help of Ada’s Djinn son as a healing mind-guide) after she is brain-injected with an Akrida stinger herself.

And in SPNWin 1x06 Art of Dying Darla is found dead in a barn, mutilated by claw marks, and Carlos finds a claw embedded in the ceiling. The team initially think a werewolf is responsible (this theme of misrecognition of monsters is a recurring one; Mary thought that the monster in 1x03 Teach the Children Well was a shapeshifter). Another taloned creature is responsible, a Soucouyant:

All of which makes me think of the expression, “to get your claws into someone”, meaning to gain a controlling hold over them.  

Psychologically speaking, The Winchesters is exploring the way trauma, in particular the trauma parents visit on their children, gets its claws into the psyche. The claws, talons and tentacles of the monsters symbolise the dark hold that such abuse has on the mind.  

In terms of the recurring themes of alternate dimensions and misrecognition, that may be symbolic of the larger frame of the narrative (which, as I’ve explored in earlier 1x06 meta) might suggest that the entirety of The Winchesters is actually taking place in Dean’s mind, in a liminal state between dying and rebirth, where he works through the main themes of his life; parent-imposed trauma being fundamental.   

[raidhosketchonhematite]

The [previous post] is archived for the purposes of clarity, but this theory, given recent insights, is clearly wrong. So, let's rephrase it right, this time.

So, let's talk karma. You are trapped. So is everybody else. Mind follows the soul in endless rebirth. Ultimately, just like energy or angular momentum, information is conserved. However, this is not the sole consequence of this situation. Using the resonance built up when living, the separating soul also imprints an echo of its memory into its alternate self, pushing them back in their enlightenment by further defining their self. (One can even induce this phenomenon to gain passage to the alternate worldlines at its peak.) This resonance can be reinforced by sufficient experiences or practices (from simple sleep to asceticism to consuming hallucinogens), and decayed by straying away from the bigger picture (consumed by the world, unable to let go) - thus, some may never awaken from the dream to try again (though they would still wake up, albeit in a different body, and with memories more and more diffuse as their definition of self broadens enough), and some may yet be so tenacious as to claw back to reality even from the void (which, by the way, confers the ability - or, rather, a unique perspective - that allows to reinforce their resonance in others). Though, to be fair to the latter, unless they actually will themselves to return, they are stuck in a half-realized state that, while capable of providing a bigger perspective to other beings, is in itself frayed, unable to meaningfully interact with the material world. "Speaking" in this form is more like intertwining their being with the other's - rather enlightening, but always brief, pushing away as soon as possible, temporarily breaking their superposition with the affected worldline. And when immersed in the void, the one affected escapes the confines of reality, and is crossed out from the endless cycle in this tightly shut box, with all their alternate selves. Unless, of course, they don't actually want to die.

[queerfox-tales]

WIP (Work in Progress) Theme Tag

So I have been tagged and now need to learn how to bold things. So here I am on my desktop instead of my tablet so that I can actually see my options. Rules: bold the themes that appear in your WIP and italicize those that appear loosely

I’ll do my Portae Inter Nos series. My 2nd one, Iter Liberti, will be maybe 60% similar. It’s not out yet so. The Portae Inter Nos series is out for novellas 1-4 and I’m still working on 5 and 6.

addiction | beauty I betrayal | change vs. tradition | chaos vs. order | circle of life | coming of age I communication | convention vs. rebellion | corruption | courage | crime and law | dangers of ignorance | darkness and light | death | desire to escape | dreams | displacement | empowerment | facing darkness I facing reality I faith vs. doubt | fall from grace I fame and fortune I family | fate | fear | fear of failure | free will I friendship | fulfillment | good vs. bad I government | greed I guilt and forgiveness | hard work I heroism | hierarchy | honesty I hope | identity crisis | immortality | independence | individual vs. society I inner vs. outer strength I innocence I injustice I isolation | knowledge vs. ignorance | life | loneliness I lost love | love | man vs. nature | manipulation I materialism | motherhood | nature | nature vs. nurture I oppression | optimism | peer pressure I poverty I power | power of words | prejudice | pride | progress | quest | racism | rebirth | relationships | religion I responsibility | revenge | sacrifice | secrets | self-awareness | self-preservation | self-reliance | sexuality | social class structure | survival | technology I temptation and destruction | time I totalitarianism I weakness | vanity | war | wealth | wisdom of experience I youth

So that was not as exciting as I thought. Turns out this would have been much better for my 2nd series and everything from 1 applies except love. My 1st series is just light. Friends, siblings, romantic couples being sent to other dimensions and time lines or getting sucked into alternate dimensions by accident. And a bunch of akwardness in one of my couples as they deal with expressing their emotions and desires. Anyway, this was still kind of cool. It just didn’t suit my first series much 

Oh ya, umm I don’t know who to tag. Apparently someone else I follow writes too but I’m blanking. So open tag. If you see this and want to do it, then I tag you.

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

I can explain Dialga and Palkia's types! In the mythology of many ancient cultures, the world is depicted as coming from a vast Primordial Ocean-and Space is often associated with ocean travel in certain media. Meanwhile, a lot of clocks use crystals to tell time-and tuning forks, like what Dialga's head-spikes resemble, were used in clocks.

[ Anonymous: (Alternatively, Palkia is a Water-type and Dialga a Steel-type because those Types are what their Domains NEED instead of what they are. Time is fluid, but it needs structure and stability. Meanwhile, space has stability, but it needs a certain elasticity and flexibility.) (I'm not sure, though, since space is ALREADY flexible and fluid, as it can be bent by basically anything-heck, gravity is just the way spacetime warps and folds around celestial bodies. But it is still a decent explanation.)

Anonymous: (Also, Time is weirdly rigid in reality. We know space can be warped and twisted, but we can't change the past, we can only go forward, and Time is only slowed by gravity-and even then, it only stops in the face of black holes, which we don't really understand that much about.) (Of course, GameFreak could have just gone with the "Cosmic Ocean/Crystals and Clockwork" explanation for the Spacetime duo, which works very well from a mythological standpoint.)

Anonymous: (Sorry for rambling, but I've had A Lot of thoughts about the Spacetime dragons and their types-more than is probably healthy.)]

the Swift Nemesis Vibe Checker™ pronounces these vibes INVALID, sorry. this one only works from a mythological standpoint if you get EXTREMELY picky about which myths you’re looking at.

like first off, water’s most prominent symbolic meaning, broadly speaking, is that of change and rebirth. things that can’t happen without... y’know... the passage of time. moreover, dialga’s pokedex entries consistently make reference to “the flow of time” being dialga’s primary influence on the world, reinforcing the connection between time and river. laventon’s dex even specifically SAYS “The birth of Dialga was what caused the vast river of time to begin flowing in our world.“ time, in pokemon, is symbolically associated with the concept of rivers/flowing water. in addition, dialga’s powers over time consist of warping and bending it, so the “time is rigid”/”dialga’s power comes from holding time rigid” doesn’t really hold up either.

on the flipside, steel. does not represent crystals i don’t know why bulbapedia says this so confidently it’s like very obviously not true. steel represents... metal. steel. rock is for crystals. see: carbink and diancie, the crystal onix. and it’s not like dialga is The Clock Pokémon, it’s The Temporal Pokémon, those are Different Things. the best argument for dialga being steel is actually the existence of the time gears, but like, those don’t even exist in the main series, so they don’t outweigh all the dex entries for me. and basing dialga’s typing on its physical design and not its purpose doesn’t feel right, like, one of those had to have come after the other, right.

on palkia’s side, just for. point of clarification. there’s a BIG difference between “space as a physics concept” and “outer space, like things that Aren’t Earth.” if we are discussing Outer Space, that can be an ocean, but the type most strongly associated with both space and spatial manipulation is psychic. solrock and lunatone, the cosmog line, cresselia, elgyem, hoopa, gardevoir, etc etc. things that can manipulate space, or are from outer space, are generally psychic typed. so really palkia should be dragon/psychic but that’s kind of uninspired. and the lake trio are already psychic bc of the association with human spirit, so that type is Taken. so if we take away psychic, what’s left?

well, going back to dex entries, i would actually like to propose an entirely new option: flying. “huh?” you say, and “bear with me,” i say. if we’re nixing the psychic connection due to the lake trio already taking psychic, the only other possible symbols/powers the dex makes reference to is 1) “space becomes more stable with Palkia’s every breath.“ and 2) “The birth of Palkia was what caused the walls of our world to disappear, creating a sky that spans for infinity.” so we can argue there’s an association with air, breath, and the boundless sky for palkia, and nothing fits that better than flying. there’s also the more tenuous connection of flying with traversal and speed, which suits for a pokemon that spans all of space.

the only point against it is that rayquaza is dragon/flying, but lunala and hoopa, and celebi and tapu bulu, there is precedent for legendaries sharing a type, and palkia and rayquaza would have the order reversed (palkia being flying/dragon while rayquaza is dragon/flying).

this has been my impromptu essay about the Correct Types For The Creation Trio, thank you for coming

[natinkart]

to my 20-ish followers, i hope you'll enjoy me rambling about one of my favorite band EVER. SUBSONICA. no art on this one sorry

they are a late nineties Italian band from Torin that my father follow since their debut, so i literally was raised with their music and HOLY FUCK IT'S AMAZING. honestly, even if you don't understand the lyrics, their songs are a vibe.

they are a alternative pop rock electronic music band (yeah that's a lot) but they experience with sounds so much, so their songs aren't one single genre, they are a mix of everything and it's all blended perfectly in EVERY SONG. it can also be classified as dance music, it follow the nineties alternative vibe, kinda like the music some guy play in a garage with only one computer and a fuck ton of electronic sound effects. described like that may seems like a clutter of sounds BUT IT'S NOT LIKE THAT. the flow of every song is phenomenal. all the sounds blend into a rhythm always based on some other genre but with that futuristic alternative felling to it.

for example, on of the songs from their latest album from last year "Realtà Aumentata" (augmented reality) is "Arfica su Marte" (Africa on Mars) and, it's even in the name of the song, it's inspired by afrobeat.

Aside from the actual music, the other greatest thing about their songs are the lyrics and the themes. here a short runout of some of the songs from this album talk about:

Cani umani (human dogs): how the pain from a toxic relationship makes you stronger

Mattino di luce (morning of light): It's about transitioning, both the personal felling of rebirth and the judgment of others

Pugno di sabbia (handful of sand): how 2gen immigrants, born and raised in Italy, are still discriminated against

Nessuna colpa (no blame): the government not taking accountability of the tragedy of people dying at sea trying to escape their country

Missili e Droni (missiles and drones): do I have to specify how this is about war?

but also some of their older songs like:

Aurora sogna (Aurora dreams): a girl unsatisfied with her life dreaming of becoming something beyond human

nuova ossessione (new obsession): becoming obsessed with someone and wishing to be numbed by that felling

tutti I miei sbagli (all my mistakes): someone being all your mistakes but still giving you the thrill of being alive

together with deep themes there's also the actual lyrics itself that it's literally just a poem. let's look at Aurora sogna:

that its literally poetry come on!!

OR OR EVEN BETTER, mattino di luce, the song about being trans written by 50yo cis men, how good could it be?!

LIKE OMG THIS IS JUST POETRY!! THE WORDS THE RHYMES THE SONG EVERYTHING ITS PERFECT

anyway, this is just a random rant about this amazing band. even if you don't understand italian pls give them a listen.

[whispered-into-the-void]

It's fucking weird that DC keeps making new anti-batmen, evil-batmen, that sort of thing, and just ignoring the ones that already exist?

Like they kind of touched on this in the Dark Knights Metal event - Owlman (Earth 3's Evil Batman) gloating to Evil Baby Batman that Evil Baby Batman, the Evil Lantern Batmen, all these Dark Multiverse Batmen were "dumb ideas," but he's the "original" Evil Batman and so he'll survive the next Multiversal Rebirth - but I'd say even Owlman is a step further than I'm happy with.

Like one of the current antagonists of Absolute Power is Failsafe, Batman's Batman, essentially a robot Bruce designed to stop him if he ever killed (it's slightly more complicated but whatever). The last major villain in the Batman solo was the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, a split personality he developed that was Just Batman, that lacked the human elements of Bruce Wayne, so it could continue The Mission if Bruce Wayne started to fail (it eventually took over the robot)

The last Major Multiversal Villain was The Darkest Knight, also known as The Batman Who Laughed, who used an army of evil Batmen from the Dark Multiverse to take over all of reality in Dark Knights: Death Metal (that's where the Owlman interaction earlier came from). The Batman Who Laughed was a Batman who killed Joker, got infected by Joker Venom in a kind of Dead Man's Switch scenario, and became a Jokerised Batman. Interestingly, we actually learned all of this in a crossover event from 2018, Dark Knights: Metal, where he arrived on Earth Prime as part of an Evil Justice League from assorted worlds in the "Dark Multiverse," gathered by the god Barbatos. Specifically, an Evil Justice League composed entirely of Evil Batmen filling each role.

This is ignoring the fact that Flashpoint Batman became a significant villain for a time during the City of Bane arc; ignoring the Infected arc between Metal and Death Metal where TBWL "Jokerised" a bunch of characters like Shazam, Supergirl, and Jim Gordon; ignoring the fact that the New Team in Absolute Power (the current event), Task Force VII, are a bunch of Amazos filled with Alternate Universe versions of the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh; ignoring the Joker War, where Joker got his hands on all of Bruce's tech, gear and money; DC just can't stop making Evil Batmen! And it already had more than enough!

As mentioned, you've got Owlman, Thomas Wayne Jr. of Earth 3, an Evil Batman from a Morally Inverted World with its whole Evil Justice League, the Crime Syndicate of America/Amerika, if you're wanting a straight-up Evil version of Bruce Wayne; if you want a highly-trained, highly-skilled tactician who can go toe-to-toe with metahumans that he has no right to beat, you've got Prometheus; if you're looking for someone with a brutal streak and a mission opposite to Batman's, you've got Wrath, a lesser-known Anti-Batman who's kinda of somewhere between Prometheus and Killer Moth; and speaking of which, if you want someone with the gimmicks, gadgets, and over-the-top theatrics of Batman but with a decidedly more Villainous streak, Killer Moth is right there!

Honestly, I feel like DC needs to buckle down and either reintroduce all of them separately or find some way to put Wrath, Prometheus and Killer Moth in a comic together, maybe in a sort of Battle For The Cowl situation. I think it could be fun, watching Bruce struggle to combat three different "Anti-Batmen" with vastly different motives and methods. Hell, bring back Lincoln March, the New 52's Owlman, and you can even have a fourth. Failing that, just use each of them, and really stress the things that make them different.

[planckstorytime]

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: A World Beyond Anger (Part Five)

V. A Generous Interpretation…

Ordinarily, I eschew theories and predictions about where an ongoing story might lead, because I prefer to withhold a holistic reading of a text until the text is… well, whole. But at the risk of doing exactly what the marketing team wants from me, I must make an exception. To be honest, I don’t actually believe that we’re dealing with alternate timelines or discrete universes in the traditional (i.e. dumb mass media) sense. Upon visiting Cosmo Canyon, a nameless NPC has some easily missed dialogue that sheds some light on how we’re meant to interpret what’s happening:

“So… my parents are no longer with us – here, that is – but I believe they’re still out there, on another plane. I’ve been reading a bunch of theories on this alternate world in the hope of going there someday. And over the course of my studies, I stumbled across a fascinating theory. It addressed the issue of what the lifestream is, arguing that spiritual energy is actually a manifestation of our knowledge and memories. Like I said, it’s a fascinating theory… but it’s incomplete. What about our hopes and dreams? We remember those, don’t we? So what if spiritual energy doesn’t distinguish between our real, lived memories and the unrealized desires buried deep in our hearts? What if coming into contact with that energy allowed us to ‘peer through the looking glass,’ so to speak? It’s just an idea, but… I hope to find the truth someday.”

A tagline for Rebirth is “What is fact and what is fiction?” While this cryptic ad copy definitely alludes to Cloud’s false memories, I suspect it also hints at the nature of these alternate worlds – namely, that they’re illusory.

The world we explore through Zack’s eyes doesn’t add up. Supposedly, all of the events of Remake occurred just prior to his arrival, but that doesn’t account for why he’s arrived several months later than he should have, or how he carries a comatose Cloud in tow. Biggs, who also seemingly died, likewise appears in this world. He remembers Cloud from his adventures in part one. As if this asynchronous timeline wasn’t enough, both Zack and Biggs mention that their internal clocks seem broken – they can’t tell how much time has passed since they arrived. Meanwhile, the world has suddenly withered without anyone noticing, and an ominous crack of doom looms in the sky. Far from the radiant golden glow that we saw in the closing cutscene of the first installment, this Midgar evokes a fanciful dream morphed into a nightmare.

I believe that these separate takes on reality are manifestations within the lifestream – demi-realities given the illusion of form through the echo of subconscious desires. Keeping with the Freudian theme, we can surmise that such desires materialize as dreams. Aerith likely left some sort of metaphysical impression when she zapped the plot ghosts at the end of Remake. Everyone who shows up in this nonsensical dream world are people that she knew, pantomiming their lives through the ever darkening scenario. Just as we populate our dreams with the people we know in the waking world, I believe most of the individuals in these worlds are projections based on how Aerith views them, acting as she unconsciously directs them. The exceptions are Zack and Biggs, who appear more like errant ghosts, drawn in by her unfulfilled desires for their survival. If we compare this evidence to the narrative’s broader conflict between the pleasure principle and the death drive, we can deduce the following: To deny death is to master desire; to master desire is to live in a dream.

The original story’s lifestream sequence provides us with the smoking gun for this explanation – the presence of the same golden rift across the sky that we see in both Zack’s world and Cloud’s perspective during the ending cutscene. Within the demi-realities, this crack in the fabric of the universe portends the coming apocalypse. But perhaps it really symbolizes the fleeting succor that these delusions provide before crumbling to the inescapable truth? Fate seems determined to correct these worlds (perhaps reflective of the grieving process), as different iterations still end with Biggs dead and Zack facing an onslaught of Shinra gunfire.

The previously linked chart of the “timelines” posits that Cloud creates a new timeline where he saves Aerith during the finale. As explained, I disagree with this being a logical, causality-driven event, and suggest that it’s instead fundamentally illogical. Aerith’s apparent survival comes from Cloud’s denial of reality – his inability to cope with failure and loss. Whether she’s a projection on a transitory plane or entirely a figment of Cloud’s imagination, the point stands that it’s an unnatural, unhealthy, artificial existence. I do not think she is alive in both body and spirit somewhere, or that the confluence and sundering of worlds somehow sends one spirit to the afterlife and leaves the other alive and conscious. If that’s the case, then that is extremely stupid, and would paint the party’s inability to see what Cloud sees as a deficiency on their part. Cloud is not red-pilled; he does not see an omniverse while all the plebeians stare at shadows on the wall of a cave. Making him perceptive of real, tangible worlds beyond normal observation would devastate his character arc, which hinges on him accepting his weakness and shattering his delusions.

With all due respect to other theorists, I believe that the rainbow light denotes not the splitting of timelines, but instead points of interference within the lifestream. We see the rainbows appear when summoning entities from materia, when interacting with lifesprings, and even when transitioning into the Fort Condor minigame (consider the authenticity of those literal toys in relation to the memory-images of people in these alternate worlds). I can see why some players interpret the rainbow as a path of divergence, since it recalls the image of light passing through a prism. But I think that rainbows can have many meanings: unity, inclusion, hope, etc. For this reading, though, I’d like to draw attention to what rainbows really are – tricks of light, illusions toward which humans commonly ascribe superstitious awe. From Biblical covenants to viral internet videos that you haven’t thought of in over a decade, rainbows captivate onlookers, who assign them phenomenal importance. Rainbows, however, lack substance – they cannot be touched, they cannot give you that promised pot of gold. They provide temporary bliss and then fade, as all insubstantial novelties do. Seeing one in an oil spill doesn’t mean the environment’s not in danger. Thus, I think Rebirth’s use of rainbows factors into ideas of perception, delusions, and coping mechanisms.

If there’s any validity to this interpretation, then where should the story go from here? Well, Kitase said in an interview with Vandal that, although the final entry in the trilogy will culminate in a happy ending, it won’t be “sunshine and rainbows.” Perhaps that’s a hint, perhaps it���s a Freudian slip, or perhaps I am projecting my own desires onto my reading. Regardless, I think the dissolution of these dream purgatories is the only satisfying way to close this plotline. The worlds seem condemned to perish soon after their nascence. They’re only born when fate’s boundaries are breached, which can’t be an everyday occurrence. Cloud even describes the planet as “screaming” in agony as a response to this fission and fusion.

Cloud and Aerith’s dream worlds seemingly emerge as wishful fabrications where their loved ones live on, but the latter goes on to explain that death is a natural part of life:

“Y’know… If you think about it, life and death are just two sides of the same coin. Our bodies may disappear when we die, but our spirits still live on. We return to the planet, rejoin the lifestream, and – in time – give rise to new life.”

Aerith rebukes Sephiroth’s desire to forge an everlasting world, claiming there’s no such thing as “forever.” Cheating death comes naturally for him, and so the conflict won’t end until he, like everyone, accepts his mortality. Far ahead of him, the apparition of Aerith at the end refers to her current location as a “second home” – alluding to the multiple references of death as a “homecoming” and confirming her acceptance of her passing.

Cloud’s repression has taken root, and he must learn the truth in order to dissolve the false reality that he’s conjured. Through a veil of static interference immediately following her death, the player can see Cloud silently mouthing the words that he initially uttered there in the 1997 title. I believe he gives the same speech here, too, only to erase it from his conscious memory and escape into his delusions. As with Zack, so with Aerith.

This is why I really appreciate what they did with Tifa in the Gongaga section. At first, I was hesitant toward the premature revelation about her mother’s death, but now I see it as a potential setup for an emotionally resonant scene in part three. Cloud and Tifa will inevitably fall into the lifestream, where she will help him reconstruct his memories and accept his true self, as dictated by the source material. However, I think now she will also aid him in overcoming his grief about Aerith.

“You saved me before; now it’s my turn.”

Tifa says this to Cloud after recounting their shared childhood trauma. Unknowingly marching toward her death, Tifa believed that her departed mother was waiting for her across the Mount Nibel. Cloud intercepted her and tried to free her from her delusions. I hope that we see her repay him in the final game – she will bring him back to reality and help him to move on. The dead are gone forever. The best way to honor their memory is not repression, or regression, or Reunion – but progression, living for the future, and pacifying that drive toward death (inevitable though it may be).

In the end, Aerith says it best:

“I get it, I really do. Knowing that the people we love aren’t really gone? It doesn’t make it any easier to let them go. It still hurts. So we can’t just think of it as a ‘homecoming.’ ‘Cause it’s not that simple. We’ve all experienced pain. We all have our regrets. What we’ve done – what’s been done to us – that’s set in stone. The past is forever. But the future – even if it has been written – can be changed.”

Should the writing of the third entry opt to follow this path, rather than the full-on comic book multiverse option, I’ll find it more agreeable – maybe even moving.

Something is still missing, though. For some reason, those assurances still aren’t enough for me.

FULL ESSAY: https://planckstorytime.wordpress.com/2024/05/11/final-fantasy-vii-rebirth-a-world-beyond-anger/

[streetlights-was-taken]

I've been ideating and writing LIKE A HOOK INTO AN EYE. for maybe... nine months now? and it's just really not coming together the way I want it to, so I think I should shelve the idea for now. I don't know if I'll come back to it, and if I do, I don't know if I'll write it for the same characters or not.

the first time I got the idea for it was around july 2023 with venti as a dionysus figure. western theater started in dionysian festivals, so that's probably where the theater aspect came in. and it just spiraled from there.

draft plot:

the idea is that lumine has a witch's curse that pulls her to death, while venti has a god's curse that makes him mad with life. lumine's backstory with the curse was already explained in the draft for the fic. I was thinking for venti that the blood that runs in him literally makes him go mad with life, so he kinda uh. has to let that blood out from time to time. his music makes people feel good; but when people drink his blood, they get into wild party mode! and if they drink too much, it can drive them mad too. but it's how venti stays Normal and he doesn't know any other alternative. (mika has a peculiar effect in that, when he drinks it, he becomes less self-conscious. childe gets into his battle crazy mode and goes to fight clubs to sweat it out.)

lumine gets venti to act out aether's last play with her, like in the draft. they're supposed to stage it in the immernachtreich theater with fischl as the director (she competes with furina from fontaine as best director every year in some prestigious film awards). this is basically how described the theater in my drafts:

The Immernachtreich Theater is infamous for its pointed archways and hauntingly gothic architecture. It is a small theater, certainly not like the blockbusters that line up Thousand Winds street on the East End. It sits out of the way of traffic, tucked by the cliffs of Cape Oath like a true gothic house. Even so, Immernachtreich Theater enjoys a successful albeit controversial reputation. All of the plays performed in this theater go on to be immensely successful, but the cast always pays a price for it in the form of injuries, nightmares, or financial trouble. It is the theater’s cruel rite of passage. Though, thankfully, the audiences are never affected by this unlucky curse. The Immernachtreich Theater is thus known as the “black cat” of Mondstadt’s drama scene. Some say that the building itself is alive and sentient, influencing actors, writers, prop masters, and directors to change different parts of the play until it is deemed “perfect” by the house. Others say that the building is cursed to bring the casts’ ghosts to life. Those who step on the stage are guaranteed fame, but doomed to be haunted for it. Fischl is known to have been a victim, describing the theater as, “a tomb for those who cannot face reality.” She goes on to become a famous director after that, taking charge of the staff and all the plays that are tenacious enough to be performed onstage. Lumine hopes that all of these rumors are true.

there are some vague ideas of incorporating the dionysian mysteries to the fic. something about lumine and venti working on the play and spooky things happening in the immernachtreich theater. lumine thinks aether is haunting her, venti still "needs" to party or else he'll go mad, etc. at the climax of the story, cult-y magic-y things happen, and venti and lumine kind of negate their own curses by (literally) swapping one of their eyes, so they both "see" life and death together. something something death and rebirth themes in play.

the original story of the temptation of thanatos ends in a lovers' suicide, because the protagonist was actually in love with thanatos themselves. this was the inspiration for the play aether writes, but because he left it open-ended, lumine and venti have to finish it for him. lumine wants the play to end the same way the original story did. venti wants it to end with the protagonist seducing thanatos away into living with them.

I'm still not sure what ending they'll choose, or if they come up with a new ending now that they "see" both sides.

critique:

I think that the premise is interesting, and there is a clear direction of where I want the story to go, but I was getting nowhere after that. the story is also set up to have terrible pacing imo. like, why didn't venti just hand out the script in the beginning? why am I starting the story where lumine is producing the play with fischl, when we can just skip straight to the table read and rehearsals? I also wasn't really happy with the dialogue between venti and lumine.

there were a lot of poetry references because, uh, I was in a poetry reading mood when I was writing. but idk if they help the story or not. it feels like more metaphors on top of metaphors. I've been realizing lately that I need to work on making my writing clearer (in general) so. this isn't going to help me achieve that.

I think the ideas and direction of the story are fine, but I probably need to change the setting, and I need to develop lumine and venti's relationship with other characters. I was reading if we were villains and playing jack jeanne lately (on top of looking up other theater-related stuff, like how hadestown took ten years to get to broadway... I was really into theater media for a while) and I'm wondering if the story will work better if they're in a performance/drama school? it would lead to a more structured way of getting more characters together and develop their stories together, and we can always throw in a secret dionysian society within the school.

I really don't know. I'm also wondering if this doesn't end up as a venlumi story after all, even though the premise started with the idea of venti as dionysus. I'm still shaky on how I characterized them and wrote their dialogue in the draft.

maybe the idea suits other characters or other fandoms more? like, if I wanted to, I really could rewrite this idea into a nejikisa fic for the jj fandom instead instead lmao. or a chui fic. chui is already the cursed theater kid who will die for theater so like. ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

but I'm tired and I really just want to not think of this fic anymore. maybe next time I'll revisit this. :(

anyway. I did try to do some world building through fake social media posts for the fic. I'm not sure if I will use them in the future or not. it's more of an exploration of their careers in the fic, and highlights how lumine worked as a paramedic (because I wanted her to be an anti-psychopomp to contrast her own curse).

[crimsonxe]

Spoilers for FF7 Rebirth under the cut:

It truly does say something that I can and have watched Remake's ending probably over 10 times now with full interest in continuing to do so. Rebirth's ending on the other hand is one I never want to touch again and will actively avoid.

Remake ending:

weaves old and new into a unique tapestry so to speak that pays off its own story

instills hope and possibilities via a multiverse that it engages with

creates a sense of enjoyment of a new yet similar multiverse filled with creativity

takes a "fuck fate" message

amps my investment in the characters, world, and bonds between said characters

vs.

Rebirth ending:

betrays all of Remake's concepts to pay off at least in part OG story beat

at best hedges between the "save Aerith" and "wishing death of Aerith" sides or at worst is just full on diving into an edgelord "Aerith must die cause reasons" shit parade that puts in a backhand to "save Aerith" via a bullshit reality rewrite to potentially kill her off regardless of numerous steps that should save her

stifling creative freedom cause OG in having creativity sacrificed to have a scene similar to OG

has a "fate is immutable" message, which also manages to ruin the multiverse potential cause what does it matter if "fate is immutable"

shuts off a sizable portion of my care and want to invest in the world, characters, and bonds between characters (made worse cause 95% of Rebirth actually makes me crave more from them cause it does such an amazing job with their interactions and the characterizations) via a bullshit reality rewrite bit.

Really hope that in the years ahead that they re-gain Remake perspective and I can be saying how "Part 3" (since there isn't an official name yet) has Rebirth's 95% fantastic start + middle w/ Remake's intriguing and I'll fucking say great in comparison ending that isn't beholden to OG but filled with creative original yet similar-ness. Hell let the theories about Aerith living in either the Rebirth world while Cloud floats between it and OG timeline, so that Aerith gets revealed as actually alive the whole time later; or having an alternate Aerith that was saved by Cloud or can be saved by him is and continue the journey with the main crew turns out to be true. That Cloud getting there in time, having knowledge of her being in danger, and the successful deflection DID stop her death in at least one branch with "fate" not being immutable and Aerith living. That there is a reason and purpose to the multiverse concept being utilized. Admittedly the more theory vids I watch, the more I'm gradually moving into hoping this is accurate; cause there's things there to indicate it. Especially Zack's "save her" to Cloud, which would be complicated if having Aerith dead.

I want a return to form from Remake's ending as well as kicking sand in the direction of the one crowd that shits on Remake's ending cause it dares to do its own thing. May part 3 have more of Remake in its ending path vs. Rebirth's. A good portion of this is tbd based on how part 3 goes and if its revealed that Aerith actually did survive or not, but the core idea remains regardless that I easily prefer Remake's style of ending over Rebirth's.