#also a lot of these are books & idk how accessible they'd be

[alicewhimzy]

Willy Wonka and Lego Dimensions! 🍫🎩🏭

@321spongebolt and I have talked a lot about this, so here we go!

(Disclaimer! I've unfortunately never played LEGO dimensions, instead I have to look things up online, so please excuse me if it seems like I don't know precisely how things work. Because I don't. I have however played LEGO Batman 2 DC superheroes, and Lego the Hobbit, so I'll also be drawing from my experiences with those a lot. 🤪)

I love this idea and I want it to happen. Here are my suggestions. 😁

There's a lot under here just so you know.

I like the idea of including the whole tour group. Willy Wonka of course, plus all the kids and an Oompa-loompa for good measure (for the sake of fun I'll call them Ginger).

Willy Wonka could use his cane as a sword for a melee weapon and he could throw exploding candy for your enemies as a ranged weapon that could destory silver bricks. I think I like the round-truffle-cartoon-bomb better than the licorice dynamite design. A lit fuse or a clock is good because that's how we know when it goes off, but it's not a must-have. He could throw his cane into a wall and then swing on it (pole vault), solve matching puzzles (intelligence), and use control panels (technology). His featured vehicles would include the great glass elevator, the boiled-sweet boat, and the Wonka-mobile. The Wonka-mobile could shoot lavender-colored venom, but maybe that's a bit much.

The kids can be their own characters with their own abilities.

Charlie could have the fizzy-lifting-drink flight mentioned in the original post (flight), throw newspapers or Wonka bars (boomerang) and since he's Wonka's apprentice he could solve the same kinds of matching puzzles (intelligence).

Augustus could function like sandman or clayface, turning into liquid chocolate to transform (shapeshift) or slip through vents or something (slurp access).

Violet could control her blueberry transformation, similar to the hulk, and this would give her more strength, a smashing attack, and she'd be able to move faster by rolling on her side, maybe she could use gyrosphere switches (big transformation, gyrosphere).

Veruca could scream loud enough to break glass like the original post said (sonar smash), and maybe she could throw garbage at people or imitate a squirrel burying a nut, idk (dig).

Mike would be the only kid with guns (target) as well as the shrink ability and maybe he could hack stuff (hacking).

Ginger the Oompa-loompa could have a wrench that they use as a weapon. They'd be able to fix things (fix-it) and do acrobatics by throwing their wrench maybe (pole vault).

All of the children and Ginger would have access to mini hatches (mini access).

Each member of the group would be able to change into different versions of themselves like doctor who. The book versions, the 1971 film, the 2005 film, and the west end musical (my favorite).

Wonka's idle animations could be a somersault like Gene Wilder did, or he could do a little dance or do a maniacal laugh or play around with his hat and cane.

The kids' idle animations could be variations on them finding their golden ticket. Charlie pulls out a Wonka bar and is very hesitant in opening it, when he finds it he jumps for joy and runs in a circle. Augustus eats a Wonka bar before sticking his tongue out and pulling out the ticket. Violet has a pack of gum in one hand and a Wonka bar in the other, after thinking about it she chooses the Wonka bar, finds the ticket and strikes a victorious pose. Veruca pulls out an entire pile of Wonka bars, dives in and resurfaces with the ticket. Mike types on his phone and a purple air drone with a W on it delivers a Wonka bar, Mike examines it, opens it and finds the ticket before firing his guns in celebration.

Ginger the Oompa-loompa's idle animation would be the Oompa-loompa dance, naturally.

The Wonka prequel film could be a dlc (thanks 321spongebolt)! This means new characters! Noodle could fly using the balloons (flight). Lofty the Oompa-loompa could show up with his gadgets, maybe his wing-jet-pack (glide). The chocolate cartel would also be there, idk what abilities they'd have. 🤷‍♀️

There could be puddles of chocolate all over a level, like acid in Lego Batman, and it would need the hazard cleanup ability.

Doctor who might be able to access the dlc Wonka world via the TARDIS, back in time and whatnot.

Anyone who has any other ideas for this concept, please let me know! I'm fascinated!

#I'd love to play this game #please make this happen #@321spongebolt #charlie and the chocolate factory #catcf #willy wonka #charlie bucket #augustus gloop #violet beauregarde #veruca salt #mike teavee #oompa loompa #lego #legos #lego dimensions

[soggypotatoes]

nobody tagged me but i'm doing it anyway

Favorite RotE book: fool's fate, like everyone else said, because it's GOOD.. the pacing, the tying together of the last two trilogies.. also, i really like glaciers. i first read this 10 years ago, before the series was finished, and this book stuck in my head the most. i have bad memory for media retention so tbh the main thing i remember was all the descriptions of their hike across the glacier and the outislands, but i just really liked that!! you never see that kind of biome, really, much less in fantasy. it's a very clever, heart-wrenching, addictive book to read, and the one i'd most like to reread. also, the resolution from The Quarrel, which upsets me.

Top three favorite characters: I literally have a tattoo of the Fool lmao. so obvs he's my fave. I reeeeally really like Bee, I relate to her a lot. I'm not counting Fitz here bc he's obviously fave because I've lived in his head so much. My other favourite... maybe Paragon, actually. Paragon is very special to me.

Top Three Least Favorite Characters: TATS, god I hated Tats. I haven't actually finished the series yet, still in Fool's Quest, but Lant really upsets me - I had teachers exactly like that, who treated me like shit for no reason. Maybe he'll get better, idk. I'm not sure about others - obviously there are dirtbags, but I like reading about them, as awful as they are. They're interesting!!! Maybe Regal, because he upset me more than the other villains lol

Favorite Ship (of the floating kind): Paragon obvs

Top Three Favorite Ships (of the people kind): If fitz/fool doesn't count.. uhhh... Chivalry/Burrich? even tho we obvs don't see them interact at all. i like the vibe

Would you rather be Witted or Skilled? witted, is this even a question, the skill sounds like a nightmare

If you were Witted, what animal would you bond with? that is soooo hard... either a snake (specifically a woma python) or a great white shark. bonding to a shark would be hard, especially a fuckoff big one like that, but scuba diving is my favourite activity so. and, i've had a recurring dream since childhood about having a great white shark best friend who i get to hug. they're so huggable!!! it'd make me sad being bonded to one though because they'd be off swimming around the world, and i like to be comfortable in one place. we'd have a special kind of relationship, i think.

Would you rather live in the Outislands, the Mountain Kingdom, the Six Duchies, Bingtown, The Rain Wilds, Kelsingra, Jamaillia, The Pirate Isles, or the Fool's Homeland? rain wilds might be the worst option here but. rain wilds. it's the place i felt the most jealousy at the thought of living in, because god... big trees, man... we don't really have them in australia so i've never seen a Big Tree irl. i like the idea of climbing up and down the trees, gently swinging treehouses... ugh. the people, though... so much prejudice and politics. i'm not there for the people :/

How were you introduced to the books? my ex lol, and two friends who were into it. this was like 10 years ago. i also met robin hobb, before i'd read any of them. i got her to sign page 69 of the book i was reading then (one of the witcher books) cause i'm an idiot.

Share a quote you love: my brain is short circuiting. i don't have access to it right now, but my friend wrote the paragraph where fitz holds the fool at the end of fool's fate on the top of my window, which i found much later and had a breakdown over. the 'i have never felt less of a man that i did so' quote. fuck that

#ed mumbles #rote

[worldlydesiretemple]

I think you mentioned D. Coomer & Benry friendship hcs, do you mind elaborating?

ya sure !!

i see a lot of people who are like " oh yeah if anything bubby was the one to help ' raise ' benry since they're both fucked up experiment things " and i like those takes !! and it's very plausible considering how fucked up black mesa is LMFAO although considering they were both like. idk " New Inventions " ?? they wouldn't want the perfect human to kill their new guard alien or vice versa so i think in early development they'd have limited contact to prevent any major incidents.

you know who i do think was there for majority of benrey's youth at black mesa? dr. coomer.

because let's face it. coomer was [ probably? i don't ... remember if this is canon or not LMAO ] there for bubby's whole Existence Arc, and he's good at interactions without like, alienating and dehumanizing them. so when introduced to " Project BENREY ", and seeing oh that's just a fucked up little alien child, i bet coomer would be there to make sure nothing horrific is happening to him -- not that he can control it, so even if something happens at least coomer is there to distract him from the awful reality of their situation.

coomer introduced benry to the concept of being a kid. along with this, he also brought benrey toys and books to play with and read after stressful tests and experiments

he read and sang to benrey, especially when benrey got more active with sweetvoice. enriching the alien son boy !

coomer got reprimanded like a Lot and was always warned to not get attached to the subject but that never stopped him once. sure they tried reassigning him places or just flat-out removing his access to that part of the facility but he always somehow ended up coming back around after a few months

benrey knew him before the bodily upgrades he underwent like the superlegs and extendo-arms so coming to visit him after recovering was a shock. literally. coomer tried to give benrey a hug like normal and benry almost fried him with alien powers because his once warm arms were now cold and metallic and it scared him

because of coomer introducing him to being a kid and just children in general through books and storytimes, and because coomer was one of the only nice scientists that didn't hurt benry, he learned how to mimic traits to cover his alien form - like skintones and human bodies! it was Very Weird for everyone when benrey was just figuring out how that worked and ended up becoming a mini coomer, but coomer found it very endearing that benrey even did that in the first place.

^ that's the reason why benrey even has a human " disguise " as a guard in the first place. shoutout dr. coomer!

eventually though benrey's project began to get more under wraps as he grew up and figured out more fucky alien abilities like teleporting and whatnot. one day dr. coomer tried to visit benry but that department was nowhere to be found anymore

and then they met up when benrey wasn't a child anymore and they were still friends and yada yada yada etc etc they were happy the end

#dr coomer #benrey #hlvrai #bubby & benrey are betrayal duo and are close friends but also shoutout whatever the fuck coomer & benrey duo is

[baylardo]

threshold au ive had this character idea brewing for a while of like, a medical officer who BARELY outranks philippa while she's an ensign(?) that she just DOENST get along with and loathes and they disagree on EVERYTHING because he's very By The Book where shes like, an outside the box type of thinker, takes risks, gets results etc. theyd have served on one or two ships together when they were younger, and he ends up NOT being on the ship that philippa's a Commander on. (internally shed be like thank CHEESE) and like,,, while they butted heads a lot, i think it'd end up being one of the more POIGNANT crew member relationships that philippa has.

personality-wise i was thinking he'd be grumpy and stubborn, but coolheaded (unlike philippa) and probably manages to make philippa feel both angry and insecure by simply existing and disagreeing with her and maybe insulting her intelligence lol.

when she'd achieve captaincy like, he ends up being her CMO (whether chosen or designated idk haha), and by this point she's a little more like, radiating that humble pie about following starfleet protocol, and they still bicker but i think theyd genuinely have come to care for one another by this point in their careers. :)

((((((this ones cringe and goes out to my friend @mytardisisparked lmao who feeds my sick brain)))))) but omg with that IDEA ;) we'd discussed about philippa getting WOMPWOMP like i keep thinking about how philippa, having come from a medical background, is probably pretty diligent about getting her medical checkups/examinations done at the beginning of a mission (unlike her mother).... BUT THIS TIME she's like, putting it off and avoiding going to sickbay for some reason, and he'd probably pick up on it, but not say anything. :~) they'd talk about it later hehe, might be the first person she confides in, which she'd think is weird yet she's comfortable disclosing her condition to her CMO at this point lol good for her

anywayyyy i was never set on a species,,,, i wanna do Vorta but i get the impression that their lore is kinda Restricting lol,,,,,,,,,, memory BETA implies that they dont reproduce and theyre all clones, memory ALPHA's more vague about it. i was thinking if he was a Vorta he'd be like an adopted baby raised in the AQ or something, cut off from the gamma quadrant or w/e haha. maybe he's another weird anomaly kid idk lol. i was also thinking that IF they were only clones and didnt reproduce, he could be a defective one that got his lil Termination implant removed or w/e. maybe somehow wouldnt have access to his prior incarnations' memories....... shrug......... idk if their clones are born fully-grown or not i havent finished ds9 or even gotten to the vorta yet lol i just like the idea of working with purble color scheme :3

#threshold au

[poisonouswritings]

Ok, be warned, you did ask

Consider the fact that Astraea is a land of magic. Extend it to general fantasy. What is a popular creature in fantasy? DRAGONS. MC LEARNS THAT DRAGONS ARE REAL AND GOES ON A QUEST TO TAME ONE (if they aren't already used as some method of transport (akin to horses) (idk about fully domesticated dragons tho, I feel like feral/wild dragons are a given here but then again it seems like Astraea could potentially have domesticated ones))

Sage: MC you don't know what you're getting yourself into.

MC: I read the how to train your dragon book series. I'm practically an expert.

While funky /pos as a concept, I find it even better to think about it worldbuilding wise as this opens up a very exciting idea, exploration, and how it affects the developments of civilizations (along with various other choices to talk about but I'll get there lol).

We earthbeings were grounded for a significant portion of our existence and only started flying a little more than a century ago which is small in the amount of time that humanity has existed (for this I'm specifying builders (stone wall in Theopatra cave, about 23000 years ago, humanity has been around for a while and even then there could be older structures)). Anyway my point with that was flight is a highly new concept in human history, it potentially wouldn't be with dragons in the mix.

The existence of dragons also opens up ideas for social structures, conflict, and statuses. Not to mention professions and how people interact with this species (and making those species omfgggg my writer brain and inner child are having a field day (seriously there is so much fun to have with this concept :D)).

There's also fun cultural stuff that one can play with. Religion, fashion, art, etc.

Dragons in hunter gatherer and neolithic societies would be especially useful for tools and war. Clothing out of hides, armor out of scales, weapons made of the strong and sharp materials, would maps be easier to make?

Imagine a social/political conflict. Let's say the American civil war, now imagine how that would go if they had dragons. Everything has a trade. But I digress, warfare in this case is quite the interesting idea. At least in the socioeconomic state of the current time in the game the warfare status is easy, swords, magic, maybe a battle-axe if we're feeling particularly lethal. However if we were to go centuries into the future, would their technology be like ours?

Could dragons have access to magic? What could one do with their body parts? Are dragons more valuable alive or dead? (I'm answering this question, alive for sure but then that answer also depends on the profession of the person being asked). What kinds of technological advancements could be made with those parts? (I could very easily go off into a tangent but thankfully I won't)

Unfortunately there are fallacies to my headcanons. Dragons would be presumably large, and if were in fact part of civilization, Porrima, Rivath, Mournfall, and other populated areas are lacking in such a resource. At least from what has been given to us by the game. We don't even have mention of dragons.

But fortunately that doesn't mean that we can't make up our own worldbuilding ideas and hopefully you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. :3

Ooh this is a lot of interesting ideas! I like how you tied in real-world concepts and conflicts. It helps ground everything in reality (or as much reality as you can get when talking about dragons and magic).

The only canon reference we have to dragons (as far as I remember) is in Sage's route, Chapter 2, during the Two Truths and a Lie game (star choice). MC says they slayed a dragon and Sage says that's a lie because they 'would be burnt to a crisp' if they'd tried. Which is. Uh. Not a lot to go off of. But that does tell us dragons are canon and they probably are not domesticated, at least not widely. Everyone has a different canon, though, so I guess that's besides the point.

I'm fascinated by the way that dragons - specifically domesticated ones - could have shaped various societies. It makes me think of the movie April and the Extraordinary World (2015). It takes place in a world where electricity was never discovered (kinda - it's hard to explain because it takes a sci-fi turn into Lizard People and stuff) so coal and steam engines still rule the planet. As the world's population completely stripped the Earth of trees and subsequently polluted the air to the point where people carried around gas masks. Obviously the world's political powers shifted. It's a French movie so the focus is Paris but it gives you an idea of the rest of the world. It's a good movie and I recommend it. Maybe it'll even give you some more ideas?

I loved reading your thoughts!/gen Thanks for sharing. It's always really fun to see what you guys come up with, and there's something heartening about so many people still loving LL enough to think about it like this.

Idk. I kinda wanna write about dragons now. If we can have cat/rabbit/bull/deer/etc. ilephtas then presumably we can have dragon ilephtas too. That could be fun.

#last legacy #fictif last legacy #anon asks #dragon anon #ozzy answers #ozzy speaks

[the--highlanders]

I'm not anon & no pressure, but if you were serious about the references thing I'd gladly take some (not in a 'prove it' kinda way just in a more general 'i like reading about the jacobites' way)

oh I am absolutely serious about the references thing dfhgklf

some ones which are more relevant to what I was talking about:

Bowditch, Lyndsey, Andrew Mackillop, Tony Pollard, and Hilary Horrocks. 2014. Cùil Lodair = Culloden. Edinburgh: National Trust for Scotland.    

this is the national trust for scotland guidebook you can buy at culloden & it’s a great little source. doesn’t matter if you don’t know anything or if you’re doing like, actual academic work (I have used it for the latter, I literally took the title of my honours thesis from a primary source quote in this book). unfortunately I cannot for the life of me find this for sale online but if you’re ever actually at culloden. pick it up for sure. there’s a matching one from the glenfinnan monument which is also v good but less relevant here

Craig, Maggie. 1997. Damn’ Rebel Bitches: The Women of the ’45. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing.   ||   Craig, Maggie. 2010. Bare-Arsed Banditti: The Men of the ’45. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing.  

these are very engagingly and accessibly written, and do a great job of humanising the stories in them. relevant to the rout of moy stuff I was writing about. I do think maggie craig can be a little uh. heteronormative and binaristic in talking about the relationship between men and women, especially in damn rebel bitches, but on the whole they’re very enjoyable books

Black, Ronald, ed. 2001. An Lasair: Anthology of 18th Century Scottish Gaelic Verse. Edinburgh: Birlinn.   ||   Campbell, John Lorne, ed. 1933. Highland Songs of the Forty-Five. Edinburgh: John Grant.

both of these are compilations of highland poetry. an lasair is general 18th century stuff, though it does have jacobite poems; highland songs of the forty-five is obviously specifically jacobite (or hanoverian!) stuff. they have poems from a pretty broad spread of poets (men and women, various classes, literate/illiterate). great for getting a view of what actual highland people thought about the ‘45 on both sides, and their response to the aftermath.

Withers, Charles W. J. 1988. Gaelic Scotland: The Transformation of a Culture Region. Historical Geography Series. London ; New York: Routledge.

my BELOVED. basically a compilation of stats, facts, figures, census data, maps, anything you can think of relating to the highlands from the late 17th century through to the 19th. a lot of the detail about like... highland life from that post came from this (average family size, property inheritance, that sort of thing). I have a document full of notes for when I finally write my post-war games fic and at least 50% of it is from this book. it’s not specifically jacobite, though it Does talk about the impact of the post-culloden reprisals - it’s just great for giving a good picture of the highlands at the time

some ones that are less relevant to that post, but are just good sources:

Donaldson, William. 1988. The Jacobite Song: Political Myth and National Identity. Aberdeen, Scotland: Aberdeen University Press.

REALLY good source on jacobite poetry and what it says about people’s opinions at the time. doesn’t talk so much about highland poetry, but it does talk about how people in the rest of britain conceived of highlanders/the highland image of the jacobite army

Guthrie, Neil. 2013. The Material Culture of the Jacobites. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.  

more about material culture and not super relevant to people in the highlands of jamie’s class but it’s a good read. a lot of the objects he talks about is now in private collections/otherwise inaccessible/is theoretically accessible but a curator misplaced it in the 80s so nobody knows where it is (yes this is a real example. the 80s were a weird time for every museum ig). but more generally it’s really good for like... the feeling of the times and the ideas kicking around in jacobite discourse

Livingstone of Bachuil, Alastair, Christian W. H Aikman, Betty Stuart Hart, and Bruce P Lemann, eds. 2001. Muster Roll of Prince Charles Edward Stuart’s Army, 1745-46. Glasgow: Neil Wilson Publishing.  

just a list of names and posts in the jacobite army during the ‘45! not a huge amount to say about this one but if you want to look at 18th century name spellings/see all the regiments/anything else like that. it’s a handy compilation

Pittock, Murray. 2009. The Myth of the Jacobite Clans. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.  

only putting in this one reference but. ANYTHING by murray pittock. he’s very prolific. this one really unpacks a lot of the common preconceptions around/stereotypes of jacobitism and how jacobite history got adapted and rebuilt over time, but he’s got you covered for general overviews of jacobitism/material culture/poetry. one thing I will say is that he can be a bit uhhh philosophical and dense. you just gotta skimread it and pull out the relevant bits

just recc’ing for the sake of it:

Carnegie, Elizabeth. 1996. “Trying to Be an Honest Woman: Making Women’s Histories.” In Making Histories in Museums, edited by Gaynor Kavanagh, 54–65. London; New York: Leicester University Press.  

about trying to present jacobite history at the culloden visitor centre, and the biases people have when approaching jacobite history. this one’s a bit more specialist but it’s another one that’s very engagingly written & as someone in the museums industry it’s right up my street

Gold, John R, and Margaret M Gold. 2002. “Understanding Narratives of Nationhood: Film-Makers and Culloden.” Journal of Geography 101 (6): 261–270.  

again not really related to actual jacobite history - it’s a study of a couple of different takes on culloden in film. I’m mostly including this one bc it’s interesting to put the highlanders in the context of what they say!

if a lot of these seem material culture/women-focused it’s bc that’s what my thesis was on & I’m just pulling from my referencing program ghjfdkgd. these are just some of the ones which are more relevant to like,, what I’ve written about w/ jamie!

#replies #galacticlamps #also a lot of these are books & idk how accessible they'd be #w/ the articles tho. scihub etc etc #get yourself a crusty old pdf #jacobite ramblings

[oswald-privileges]

ALL RIGHT BUT YOU ASKED FOR IT

Power of Three as a series is just. full of weaknesses, most of which come down to poor continuity and structure. I'm not gonna try and fix ALL of those, bc that'd be laborious as hell, but I will pick out things that I feel are the most egregious as case studies.

What Po3 does have, tho, is an absolutely shining strength in the concept of its three main characters. After twelve books of Blandly Heroic Protagonist Syndrome, Jayfeather is an absolute godsend. He's angry! He's rude! He's unhappy! He's not nice. I Love Him And He's My Son. Lionblaze has his invincible pride (hah) and emergent bloodlust, and Hollyleaf has her moral absolutism and certainty. These are good starting points for characters. Sadly, the lack of continuity undermines what could have been three really good character arcs.

So! I present to you:

HOW TO MAKE "WARRIORS: THE POWER OF THREE" NOT COMPLETELY SUCK ACCORDING TO MY PERSONAL TASTE; A NON-EXHAUSTIVE, NON-CONSECUTIVE LIST BY ME

ONE

- Have there be a persistant, overarching series threat. Sol is a character with amazing villain potential who does literally nothing except hang around, and do exactly 2 Bad Things completely off-screen. This Is Not Good.

- Instead, have him be present from the second book onwards- initially introduced as a friendly but enigmatic outsider who is slowly revealed across the series to be a complete black hole of a personality, a social parasite quietly rearranging whatever community he's a part of to just-so-happen to benefit him as much as humanly possible. His "preach individualism not starclan" methods are not so much values as one strategy out of many. (to those who know me- yes i have a type. no i will not apologise.)

- Maybe his ultimate goal is to dissolve and centralise the clans or something so that he can live out his life as a political puppetmaster in all the cat-luxury he likes. idk it's hard to imagine overall stakes for this rewrite BECAUSE THE ORIGINAL DOESN'T HAVE ANY

TWO

- For gods sake you don't have a series based on the premise of "the main characters develop super powers" and then only have the second power confirmed by the end of the fourth book. I understand the first book mostly focusing on Jayfeather- his powers are obvious from the start, he's got the strongest personality of the three, he gets access to most of the prophecy plot stuff because of them. But you NEED to have the other two show an interest in something concrete happening to them beyond that, and you need to at least hint towards the other two having something unique to them even if nobody clocks it yet.

- Have Jayfeather tell his siblings about the prophecy by the end of book two at the latest. The amount of time he spends noodling around not sharing it with them is inexcusable. It's not that it's out of character for him to hang onto a secret for a bit, it's just that there's no point and it slows everything down. It would be equally in character for him to go to his siblings and be like "look, i'm SPECIAL. well you as well but ALSO ME". Boy starts off as desperate for recognition, what can I say

THREE

- Have Jayfeather discover that StarClan don't withhold signs or information on purpose for the sake of "building courage and faith" or whatever nonsense. Seeing and communicating the future is metaphysically very difficult, so interpreting signs and messages is a genuine skill, or even an art. The cats of StarClan, however, really are just ghosts, much more similar to living cats than the currently living believe. This is the impotus for Jayfeather's discarding of his reverence for StarClan, which remains consistent throughout the series.

- Have Hollyleaf and Jayfeather both still change their cat careers in the first book, but put place more attention on the fact that they basically switched jobs. Have a scene where they end up yelling at each other, because can't the other see how lucky they have it? The tension breaks when they realise they've both lost something important to them- Jayfeather his chance to prove he's as capable as a sighted cat, and Hollyleaf her path to helping her clan in the way she thinks is best. They commiserate together, and reluctantly promise to do the best they can with their lots, so they don't waste the path the other wishes they'd taken. This closeness is eroded over the series as they disagree more and more on the subject of StarClan and its role in their moral choices and obligations.

FOUR

- Speaking of Hollyleaf! I nearly threw my phone across the room when the first Omen of the Stars book claimed that Hollyleaf "worked so hard to discover her power to help her clan". Where, Ms Erins??? I would have LOVED to have seen that!! Hollyleaf expresses absolutely no concern over the details of what power she has/will develop, and only has a couple of scenes even touching on her ambitions to help her clan. She has some vague ideas about becoming leader and like one scene where she gets to do some leadery things, but that never gets followed up on. What does happen is that the whole "warrior code" thing becomes more and more a part of her personality (for no clear reason) until she snaps.

- Hollyleaf going off the deep end is something I wanted so badly to get into and be moved by, because I could see where it comes from! Her moral certainty is fascinating, especially since it's based in something as abstract as the warrior code- which, when you think about it, isn't really... anything. There's no concrete set of rules that make it up, no traditional wording or cat philosophers, not even any fables. It's a handful of agreed-upon, common sense rules- don't cross boundaries, don't take prey that isn't yours, respect your ancestors, and don't murder. That's it!

- So, combining the above points, I think Hollyleaf not being one of the Three should stay, but both the audience and the characters are given good reason to believe she is. By around the third volume, make it so that Hollyleaf has found that her power is to get cats to "Do The Right Thing"- i.e. what she wants them to do. She sneaks off often to see Sol, who teachs her how to use this power. Her siblings are concerned about this new power, having already gotten a glimpse at what Sol can do, but she's confident that she can only use this power for good. Volume-specific plot happens, Sol manipulates her into causing him to win, she is shocked and horrified, and vows to stick ridgedly to what she knows is right i.e. The Warrior Code

- However, the more fervently she tries to stick to this abstract idea, the less it gives her results, the more her power seems to be failing. Believing that StarClan is taking her power away from her, she becomes caught up in a faith-guilt spiral that puts her in the position to snap at the end of the series. By that point it's clear to her siblings that Hollyleaf has no power- she was just very, very good at persuading people to do what she wanted.

FIVE

- Lionblaze is a girl now because I Said So. This Cat Is Trans And There's Nothing You Can Do About It.

- Her relationship with Heathertail stays the same- childhood sweethearts who are torn apart as they begin to understand the nature of the societal divides that exist between them.

- This can be used to contextualise the whole "half clan/outsider blood" thing as a cultural contradiction. In reality, inter- and outer- clan relationships aren't at all rare. They can't be, otherwise the whole society would be inbred out of existence in like five generations. But if at least one society of humans can spend a good 200 years pretending Sex Is Bad And Sinful Actually then cats can have persistant cat-racism in the face of all logic. Heathertail clocks this contradiction, Lionblaze doesn't.

- Her relationship-to-power arc doesn't need changing all that much either, other than starting much sooner and being more consistent. At first, she's completely overjoyed by her power, since unlike her siblings, it lines up so well with her ambition- become the finest warrior any of the clans have to offer. As the berserker rage aspect becomes more prevelent, she becomes more and more disturbed by the fact that she isn't disturbed by what she can do, and that she doesn't want the escalation of her power to stop.

- Tigerstar still does his thing, but Brambleclaw knows about it. He recognises the signs from when his father used to visit him, and tries to train Lionblaze in his own way. She ends up caught between wanting to be a good warrior, and testing the limits of her power.

SIX

- Jayfeather can stay basically the same because he's my perfect little angy boy and nothing needs to change. His arcs can be strengthened by having a more robust relationship with Yellowfang where they try to out-bitch each other, and coming to terms with his internalised ablism. Maybe he has a chat with Mothwing about faith a couple of times. Him furiously lashing out at being offered help transitions into an acceptence and understanding of his abilities more naturally. He never stops being A Grumpy Old Man.

- All fucking past-lives unexplained time travel goes in the BIN. Doesn't fucking happen. You can have that lore dump sprinkled across the books, or come from going deep into the tunnels and having a surreal meeting. Make it properly eldritch-level scary, shake Jayfeather's confidence in the idea of them being just a bunch of ghosts.

SEVEN

- Have the way Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight present very clearly as parents to the Three be explicitly, textually unusual. One of the things I liked so much about the first series was an almost total lack of emphasis on who was mated with who, and who was related or not. It felt very real to how feral cat colonies form, where raising kittens is a communal job. This gets completely dropped the moment series 2 starts and now the cats have monogamy.

- This emphasis on the family unit and fostering close relationships between parents and kittens is deliberate on the part of both Leafpool and Squirrelflight. Their aim is to cover for Leafpool so she doesn't lose her role as medicine cat- something she already gave up Crowfeather for before she was pregnant.

- In that little bit of backstory, have a robust reason for both Leafpool and Squirrelflight to leave the camp while Leafpool is pregnant and giving birth, possibly one that ties into the present day story in some minor way. I don't know how, it would just make that element of the story a lot more ground than "we left, the kits were born, then we came back and everyone was cool with it"

- When it comes to the "I am Not your mother" reveal, Jayfeather and Lionblaze are confused and hurt that they were lied to, but come to the reasonable conclusion that well, since they were raised mostly by Squirrelflight, saw Leafpool often, and are loved by both, they don't hate her. Lionblaze has something of a crisis over being half-clan, possibly initiating an attempted reunion with Heathertail. Jayfeather is more concerned with how other cats will think it makes him lesser, something he's still sensitive too.

- Hollyleaf, meanwhile, completely fucking snaps at the way her mother Violated Part Of The Code. It's a completely irrational reaction, but expected because she's been growing more and more reliant on The Code for the whole series, and less and less stable in her attempts to aid her clan and train to be its new leader.

- Squirrelflight is the one to murder Ashfur. This is easy to work out while reading- she's literally the only one of the four with a motive who isn't a perspective character. The mystery is less around finding out who did it, and more about why she did it (it's very ambiguous as to whether it was an accident or not). The main tension comes from who finds out when.

- Lionblaze is shocked, awed by how far she'd go to protect the three of them, and reassures her she did the right thing (as a way to salve her own uncertainty over her own longing for violence). Jayfeather makes it all about himself because he's Jayfeather- upset that he didn't know immediately, instead of, you know, figuring it out in a few hours because he can basically read minds. They try their best to hide it from Hollyleaf, who is already rattling around the final volume as a full-on antagonist, but are unsuccessful. This almost costs them something incredibly important- possibly Squirrelflight's life.

EIGHT

- the whole plot with the Tribe Of Rushing Water is a MASSIVE can of worms that could be removed from the series without issue. As it is:

- Characterize the Tribe as uncertain of how to fight other cats, because yes, they haven't had to do this before. DON'T characterise them as pathetic, doing whatever their leader says without thinking, and with ancestors who have Given Up

- Have some of the Tribe be really good at the violence. Worryingly good. Have others be sickened by what they're being asked to do.

- Have some of the clan cats reflect on what they've done. Hollyleaf would be all for introducing this society to jesus The Code, but even she might be horrified at being thanked by a tribe cat who can't wait to get out there and win themselves glory, only to be killed a few hours later

- The Tribe begin a new tradition of marking the walls in the mud they use as camoflage in order to commemorate their battles, and memorialise the fallen. One of the characters reflects on the fact that in a generation or two, the Tribe will feel like it's always been this way. How many of their own traditions- those that feel almost like natural law- started out the same way?

- Have Sol as the leader of the invaders, or maybe having insinuated himself into the tribe as a "mediator" and doing his charismatic cult leader thing.

NINE

- Cinderheart isn't a reincarnation of Cinderpelt. She's just named after her bc Cinderpelt saved her mother from a badger. this is because I think the reincanation thing is stupid and I can't think of a way to make it good.

TEN

- No more using tails as hand gestures like covering people's mouths. Never. None of it. It's expunged from existence.

Disclaimer: I haven't read Omen of the Stars yet, so I can't account for anything that might happen in that series that's grounded in Po3. I'm like... two thirds of the way through the first volume. I'm Not Impressed.

#Warrior Cats #warriors #The Power of Three #Jayfeather #Hollyleaf #Lionblaze #long post

[rorykillmore]

if your characters suddenly were granted magic, how do you think they'd react to it? and what do you think they'd use it for?

i guess siobhan. TECHNICALLY already has it.  and already kind of had a canonical arc about “what would she do if she was suddenly granted magic” (spoilers: it wasn’t good) so i’ll leave her out. actually, technically i can leave out catra for the exact same reason. although, catra’s by no means totally altruistic even if she’s not actively destroying things anymore, but i like to think she hopes she’s making zero proud by at least occasionally putting her magic to good use on the auriga guard

sly is also soooort of magical, depending on your definition of magic, but i don’t know another word to describe some of what the cooper clan can do  (turning invisible, stopping time, etc.) if he ever got a more offensive brand of magic where he could like, outright throw it around and cast spells and stuff, he’d probably just use it to aid him in Thieving 

nightcloud would probably be extremely leery of it! by this point she’s lived through all the power of three bullshit + the battle with the dark forest, so she doesn’t really Love like... supernatural stuff? she’s very grounded in the natural, physical world, and prefers to stay that way. if she ever got magic, i don’t think she’d ever want to use it, unless she went through some arc of like learning that she could use it to protect the people she loves

villanelle. well, funny you should ask, she MIGHT be a part of a plot entailing this coming up, idk. i’m always torn over opportunities of handing villanelle powers, depending on what they... Are. in almost any situation, she’d be very inclined to use them at least selfishly if not dangerously (the risk and challenge of her job is part of the fun, for her, so i wouldn’t see her using them against regular targets, but the appeal of going after SUPERPOWERED targets is undeniable), but the interesting thing about maiden powers is that there’s already this whole conflict in the rwby universe about maidens who stray from their path and use their powers really selfishly, and with how wrapped up in the rwby cast she is ALREADY it could be. Interesting. we’ll see

muriel is only 22 and only human, and i think she might be prone to immediately getting caught up in like. not using magic for EVIL purposes, but maybe selfish ones. using it to get what she wants instead of using it for any grander goal. on the plus side, she’d also probably be very inclined to use it to help her friends whenever they needed it. just basically, if muriel was a charmed witch, i feel like she’d CONSTANTLY be breaking the “personal gain” rule

marisa i think... well arguably, she is already kind of magical too. the books never explain exactly why or how, but the “she has witch blood” theory is pretty popular. but all of her magical qualities are comparatively pretty subtle, to be fair. if she had, like, access to the FULL scope of a witch’s power, or if she gained some other kind of power on denny, i don’t think it would be... great news for anyone. she’s still the kind of person who is really motivated by power and the pursuit of knowledge, so she wouldn’t be above abusing special abilities if she could use them to get what she wanted

amy is such a grounded person that i don’t think she’d have a lot of interest in obtaining magic, and if she had it, she’d probably use it pretty... sparingly? like she wouldn’t go out and save the world with it, and she wouldn’t even really use it for like, Bigger things in general. she’d probably be content with using it occasionally to help out in hers and her family’s day to day life, and that’s about it. although. she Does have a temper, so maybe amy with magic is not such a great idea,

and debbie... well, at the rate things are going on denny, she’d use magic to be an ACTUAL superhero. no but, as you saw in her icc with cloud, magic is a very foreign concept to denny and one she is. kind of baffled by! tbf she’s pretty new to denny, at this point. but if she was ever actually granted magic, surprisingly, she might be one of the people on my roster who... Actually goes out and tries to use it to do some objective good. to what result i’m not sure, but she’s ambitious and headstrong enough that she’d probably at least try.

#thanks giz this was fun!! #cuts dennys lvad wire #tailsthesales