#also the quotes are paraphrased from memory

[lopposting]

So, I noticed that people tend to notice P is not human, not from the way he looks, but from the way he sounds.

I can hear your springs even if you try to hide them. We musicians have a keen ear, you know. (White lady)

I hear the sound of springs inside you... You're a puppet too! (The Survivor)

[btw I'm going to be paraphrasing quotes and details from memory so I can get this out rather rapidly, so my apologies if they're somewhat incorrect]

Claudia and Lucio give no indication that they know about P not being human. Up until mid-game, they only really treat him as another stalker to con. The black rabbit brotherhood seem to know, but mainly because they know we're specifically "Geppetto's puppet."

I think that Claudia and Lucio find out because they either hear the brotherhood during the fight or Simon tells them as much, because Lucio calls us a "goddamn talking rag-doll" before he attacks us if you choose to fight.

The Black Rabbit Brotherhood and their connection to Carlo

And speaking of which - the brotherhood seems to know immediately that we are "Geppetto's puppet". Which makes me wonder... they seem to have known Carlo or known of Carlo while he was alive, which is probably how they put two and two together and guessed the obvious conclusion of how we came to be, which is the case with Antonia:

Oh, I knew you were Geppetto's puppet the moment I saw you (Antonia)

Is that Tenma's boy? > It can't be Tenma's boy. Holy cow, Tenma must have lost his mind (From Astro Boy 2009)

They also have Carlo's painting and the gravesite which is guessed to perhaps contain Carlo's empty grave has the mark of the black rabbit brotherhood on it. Geppetto also says he had no idea the BRB had stolen the painting.

A child who was a blessing to their family lies here. May he rest in peace. (Malum grave)

[Also I'm wildin now but korean pronouns are usually non-gender specific, so maybe it wasn't a "he" originally? this throws a whole bunch of other things into question though which I actually really don't like]

So, I thought of ways that ALL of these things could be true: That this IS carlo's grave in the malum district (which is strange because why would an aristocratic son be buried in Malum), the grave is empty because Carlo's body is still in the suitcase, the brb mark on his grave makes sense, AND the BRB having the painting is more than just a coincidence.

I have the most bizarre headcanon now. The BRB are a bunch of awful thugs for issuing "protection fees", but still, what IF:

They seem very hostile to us, particularly because we are a puppet, but maybe also because of our resemblance to Carlo - not because they resented him, but because Carlo was dear to them somehow. And the empty grave in the district was set up by them privately to commemorate his death when they heard what happened, (and the "family" they are referring to are themselves!). It's also worth noting that in the original story, The rabbits are aligned with the blue fairy (which would be Sophia in this iteration). [They're also associated with coffins and graves.]

I had no idea the black rabbit brotherhood had stolen it. (Geppetto on the painting)

The black rabbit brotherhood! I hate these guys. <- Gemini immediately remembers them. [They also appear very early on in the game, I guess to show they were watching us?]

So maybe their resentment and disgust for P comes from the fact that they know Geppetto has made an artificial replica of someone they knew into something they hated (puppets!), which they would see as repulsive. Perhaps there's an actual reason why the BRB has the painting. What exactly went down at the monad charity house?

...

extra notes

[The BRB knowing about Carlo doesn't mean they personally knew Carlo (since Geppetto must've been famous), but it's something. The thing is, both Eugenie and Venigni don't seem to recognize who we're "supposed" to be at all, even Venigni who is said to have been a close colleague to Geppetto. Maybe Eugenie and Venigni are just super polite and don't want to mention Carlo at all to us, but I kinda get the feeling that the public never really knew Carlo existed, Geppetto did dump him off at a boarding school early on after all]

[also also!! the golden stargazer next to the grave for DLC, Carlo being associated with ships, and the DLC showing a nautical theme?]

#look away theres BRB apologia here #lies of p #liesofp #lop #spoilers #lies of p spoilers #carlo #brb #black rabbit brotherhood #pinocchio #theory #more crack theory #speculation #btw i also love that they bring out a coffin for us to get into and WE END UP PUTTING ONE OF THEM IN IT INSTEAD #lore

[vamppilled]

‘murder family’ is such an interesting part of nbc hannibal especially within the fandom because theres a weird idea of it ingrained into half the fandom’s brains and i think it skews people’s perception of some parts of the show. i feel like i’ve seen so many people talking about the idea of ‘murder family’ running away together post mizumono if will hadn’t betrayed hannibal, and a lot of hannibal fans genuinely believe their dynamic would have worked and they would all live happily together which makes,,, absolutely no sense. a lot of the fandom has this idea that hannibal and will loved abigail and she loved them which is a nice idea but it’s just so far from the truth. abigail was a traumatized teenage girl who lost her father and was desperately trying to survive in a world where everyone was after her. she and hannibal were both keeping each other’s secrets and she was close with him because that was her only option for survival. i can see the argument for abigail caring about hannibal, she clearly was bonded with him since he offered her the possibility of a new life. her relationship with will is so much more complicated because it’s the one that the fandom gets the most wrong in my opinion. will clearly cared deeply for abigail, but this wasn’t born out of love. he obviously felt immense guilt because he enjoyed killing her father, and he says very early on in s1 that he feels responsible for her. he also says himself in his discussion with alana in episode 1 that he knows his idea of his relationship with abigail is in his head, she says “dogs keep a promise people can’t” (might be getting that quote wrong i’m writing this all from memory) and he says (very loosely paraphrasing here) that he knows his idea of who abigail is to him isn’t who she really is. as he desperately tries to connect with her and assume a weird sort of parental role throughout s1 we see abigail become visibly uncomfortable. she doesn’t love him or even care about him the way she cares about hannibal, he killed her father who she loved despite his crimes and their fucked up relationship and she can’t forgive that. she physically flinches away and looks scared when he holds her hands in s1 (don’t remember the episode but it’s during the discussion about how she enjoyed killing nick boyle i think?? the lighting is greenish and it’s in the psychiatric facility). hannibal found abigail interesting and used her to manipulate will, she was just an instrument in his plan and he couldn’t love her because he didn’t see her as an equal.

#wrote this on an 8 hour flight sorry if it’s incoherent #hannibal #nbc hannibal #hannibal nbc #hannibal lecter #will graham #abigail hobbs #murder family #hannigram #murder husbands #mizumono

[vivacissimx]

well anyway i don't see adwd!theon's time in winterfell as a reckoning to the tune of too late does this heedless villain see the error of his ways or any such narrative justice. personally i find it the most thematically interesting and, stay with me here, hopeful of theon's three "returns" i.e. his return to pyke, his acok return to winterfell, and finally the adwd return in question. this probably hinges on how of late i've grown more comfortable identifying winterfell as a decimated metropolis, yet a thriving necropolis—a place where the dead have been dead longer than the living have been living. without getting too much into that, i'll leave it with how siri hustvedt paraphrases lewis mumford: "people want to live close to the burial places of their ancestors, to whom they are drawn with mingled feelings of worship and dread, and that is how the city is born."

in acok, winterfell died when it was divested of starks (a symbolic death of winterfell as there are none left to inherit it) and burnt to the ground (a physical death). my point in all this is to say there is mutuality, a symbiosis that characterizes theon's third and final "return." he comes as reek, horrified to hell by ramsay and roose. theon's dehumanization has taken from him both a physical identity—his looks have changed so drastically that he is unrecognizable—and a metaphysical one—he is no longer afforded even the nominal identity of theon greyjoy. the reason i keep putting return in quotes, which i will now stop doing, is because obviously that's a myth. in reality, return occurs in the memory, and if memories contradict then returns cannot happen even there. theon cannot go back to a time prior to his torture. on pyke his family rejects him ("your blood and your heir." lord balon grunted. "we shall see."), in acok winterfell refuses any memory of him in lieu of classifying him as an invader (she gaped at him as if he were some stranger), and in adwd he remarks that winterfell is no longer "the castle he remembered from the summer of his youth." there are no homecomings.

however, a big thing that occurs in adwd is that we see both theon and winterfell being raised back to life. these two plots are connected or perhaps even the same. reek is forced to reclaim theon greyjoy in order to renew the stark claim via jeyne-as-arya. by doing this, by becoming theon, the stark return is recognized, and winterfell is revived. the proof is in the pudding: winterfell rapidly becomes a site of conflict thanks to it's value being restored. we see that jon is unwilling to renounce his vows in order to be named lord stark until the situation with ramsay and jeyne-as-arya comes to a head. elsewhere in the north, it's suddenly time to dust off those banners and rescue valiant ned's precious little girl. wyman manderly makes his way to winterfell only after sending davos on a quest to retrieve rickon stark. in each case, it requires a living stark to make winterfell any sort of prize.

back to theon. thanks to a nifty sidequest with barbrey, theon is also the one to find the entryway to the crypts, which represents a limb of sorts to the structure of winterfell. he is the one the heart tree speaks to. two bodies destroyed yet they know one another / know each other's names. what does the beating heart of winterfell say to him? "theon." what does he say back? "the old gods... know me." okay. self-recognition through the other. love it. love it so much in the face of that whole spiel tyrion once gave:

Tyrion had only the vaguest memory of Theon Greyjoy from his time with the Starks. A callow youth, always smiling, skilled with a bow; it was hard to imagine him as Lord of Winterfell. The Lord of Winterfell would always be a Stark.

He remembered their godswood; the tall sentinels armored in their grey-green needles, the great oaks, the hawthorn and ash and soldier pines, and at the center the heart tree standing like some pale giant frozen in time. He could almost smell the place, earthy and brooding, the smell of centuries, and he remembered how dark the wood had been even by day. That wood was Winterfell. It was the north. I never felt so out of place as I did when I walked there, so much an unwelcome intruder. He wondered if the Greyjoys would feel it too. The castle might well be theirs, but never that godswood.

so yes. i am contextualizing theon's final return as a rebirth, actually. worship and dread.

#asoiaf #valyrianscrolls #theon greyjoy #winterfell #winterfell crypts #acok #adwd #text

[sneef-to-a-snorf-fight]

Totally Spies! S1 E5-10 Tier

Alright so. Yeah the show is not getting better. I am optimistic that it will get better in later seasons. Ok let's go this is gonna be a long one. Here's the current tier.

As a lil reminder, I'm watching this with my girlfriend Ivy (@twigsprout) to definitively find the worst Totally Spies! episode. This show is notorious for showing teenage girls in very horny situations.

I'm not optimistic that the top tier will ever have anything in it. "Abductions" almost made it but the last 5 minutes took a big turn for the worse.

I'll also note that this show is skewing my sense of normal. I almost put the episode "Spy Gladiators" into the "ok sure fine i guess" category. Luckily Ivy reminded me that a middle aged man with a jock fetish putting a mind control collar on a teenage girl to force her to be a gladiator is not in fact normal.

Anyway here's some notes.

The Eraser: blobs attach to people's faces and erase their memories, sam got gooped and brain erased*, very horny wording for the hatching of the goop??, characters shackled and collared again**

The Fugitives: guy makes clones of the main 3 and does crimes, the main 3's guardian finds out and says he's going to "reprogram" them with his lobotomy machine***, favorite quote "i'm so sorry i tried to lobotomize you"

Abductions: drowning/breathplay, trapped in a glass thingy, brain sucking, gross kid brain getting so big it almost explodes???????????

Model Citizens: some weirdos kidnap girls and forcibly swap their body parts with their own models' to make "perfect beauties," some mild inflation? (does it count if they just wear suits that inflate? i doubt it but i wrote it anyway), Clover gets big legs and sits on villain to stop him from getting away

Spy Gladiators: see the collar thing i wrote above, also the guy keeps prisoners and keeps them shackled to workout equipment in his dungeon to "keep his island running" but honestly i think he's just harvesting and drinking their sweat or something

*So at this point, Ivy and I decided to start a tally for how many times the theme of an episode involves brainwiping/hypnotizing/etc as well as a separate tally for how many times one of the main 3 gets brainwiped/hypnotized/etc. SO!

Current Brain-fuck count: 6 (out of 10 episodes!)

Sam: 3

Clover: 1

Alex: 0

**We also decided to keep a tally for how many times characters are collared. Cuz it just keeps happening.

Collar Count: 3

***Ok so. When we got to this part I started theorizing. Jerry doesn't hesitate to try to reprogram the girls as soon as he thinks they're acting up. That got me thinking: what if he already programmed them before? What if that's the reason the characters are so one-dimensional? I mean. I know it's just because the writers just didn't know how to give the girls any personality beyond "girl" but. In the canon of the show, it's kinda make sense if he gave the girls (who I'm pretty sure are orphans that WOOHP adopted and forced to work as spies for free?) just enough skills to be spies and high school students but no brain power beyond that so they can't rise up against him.

Actually. This is just the bimbo show. Whatever.

Anyway, once again, this show could be so iconic if it wasn't So Bad. Like. The aesthetic of everything. I mean. There's a moment in episode 6 where they're about to do this really important mission but then Clover is like "WAIT!!! I forgot my new sunglasses at my house and I'm not going anywhere without them" and so WOOHP send the girls in a helicopter to get her sunglasses before going to save the world from bimbo slimes or whatever. like. That's iconic!!!

To paraphrase Ivy, "It's such a cool idea to just do James Bond but with 3 high school girls from y2k ass Beverly Hills." It could be so good but it's just. not. I really hope the new stuff is better. I have a lot of hope for the new season coming out.

Also, on the whole character thing. Episode 10 feels like they might be starting to give Alex her own character maybe finally? Only barely tho idk.

Also, for a second I thought 9/11 didn't happen in this universe cuz I saw the twin towers but. They made that episode before 9/11 even though it came out a less than a month after 9/11 in France (over a year later in the US). And also the girls crash a plane into a building.

Anyway 16 episodes left in Season 1!

#totally spies! tier list #totally spies #totally spies!

[pemberlyprose]

If We Were Villains

I just finished reading M.L. Rio's If We Were Villains for the second time and there is a prevalent feeling in my chest over it. Thus, I must express~~

As a character, Oliver Marks is very thought-provoking and there is a quote regarding his character that stuck with me this time around. Since I don't have the book right next to me as I write this (tragic blunder for someone who studied literature, but I don't want to walk upstairs lol) I am going to paraphrase.

When Oliver tells Meredith he doesn't understand why she wanted to be with him in the first place, Meredith responds by telling Oliver that he is "so good," and his goodness makes others feel seen. A similar sentiment was also expressed at the beginning of the novel by James when Oliver mentions he has no specialty in acting.

I do not know why this moment is ringing in my ear, but it makes me wonder if, like Oliver's friends, I also feel seen by him and take comfort in his goodness. There's a loveliness and sensitivity to Oliver that makes you sigh a breath of relief-- not only for him but for yourself. I don't think it's because he is steadfast or morally pious, but because he knows there is room for fault and there is room for forgiveness. It seems to me, that Oliver (and Filippa tbh) possesses genuine character, while the others simply align themselves with the first one assigned to them.

Which brings me to my own introspections: Why do I take comfort in this character? Because I am a actor wanting to be seen beyond my performance, or because I have yet to appreciate my own character, and posses a semblance of goodness that I never fail to see in others but fail to recognize in myself? Perhaps both? (*In John Mulaney* "we don't have time to upack all of that!").

Nonetheless, it is an interesting question i've been contemplating.

In any case, Oliver does have a quality that all the characters notice... even Richard. And, when he tells this story, and I experiance it through his eyes, I feel this overwhelming--vivid-- sense of love and grief. Bizzarely, the feeling makes me want to squeal excitedly at the impact of literature, because that is what this novel is talking about! This is the power of words and story telling.

Maybe its the influence of Shakespeare, maybe it is just the phenomenal writing of this brilliant novel (certainly), but when I reflect on my experiance as a reader this time, I find myself even more entrenched in the sensation of losing something I never had. Melancholy is a good word... but a hopeful melancholy.

Oliver reflects on his time at Dellecher as if its a past life, and in a way, when I finished the book a few nights ago I felt the same way. Like waking up from a dream you didn't want to end and having to remind yourself that this is a different world... this is the one you live in... and all of that, those feelings and emotions were just a moment not a memory.

And it is precicely that feeling that has me reaching for that novel over and over again.

#literature #books & libraries #dark academia #romantic academia #books #words #classic academia #if we were villains #personal #ramblings #book review #bookblr #reading

[otmaaromanovas]

There is a popular quote attributed to Princess Xenia Georgievna about Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, claiming that she was “‘frightfully temperamental,” “wild and rough”, and "cheated at games, kicked, scratched, pulled hair, and generally knew how to make herself obnoxious" - yet the letters between Xenia and Anastasia suggest they had a good, familial relationship - so, where did it come from?

Turn to Peter Kurth's book 'Anastasia: the life of Anna Anderson' - the title alone should give a hint at the context behind this quote! Page 202 states that:

"Although Xenia and [sister] Nina had left Russia in 1914, passing the war years with their mother in England, they both retained vivid memories of their “‘frightfully temperamental,” “wild and rough” cousin Anastasia, who cheated at games, kicked, scratched, pulled hair, and generally knew how to make herself obnoxious. “‘Anastasia was madly jealous of me because I was taller than she was,” Princess Nina recalled. “As the daughter of the Emperor she thought she ought by rights to tower over everyone.”"

So, one riddle is already solved: the much quoted note about Anastasia cheating "at games, kicked, scratched, pulled hair..." etc was not said directly by Xenia Georgievna, but rather was Kurth's interpretation and paraphrasing.

Kurth cites two sources here: the first, for Xenia, as being one of the two trials surrounding Anna Anderson in Hamburg. Hence, the quotes came from Xenia Georgievna's testimony to the court. The second, for Nina claiming that Anastasia was "madly jealous" because of her height is noted as coming from an "Interview with Princess Paul Chavchavadze (Princess Nina)" - Peter Kurth's own interview with Nina Georgievna.

Let's look closely at these two quotes.

Xenia's, saying that Anastasia was "wild and rough", came directly from a court setting, a legal testimony. As someone who knew Anastasia growing up, her opinion over the Anna Anderson affair would have been one of great interest. It's therefore quite likely that, in illustrating their apparent closeness as children to the extent that Xenia knew Anastasia's "wild" side, she was more reliable as a witness. This, of course, neglects to mention that Xenia and her sister departed Russia with their mother in 1914. They never got to see Anastasia mature into a teenager, whilst her tutors, close family, and entourage did - and they unanimously agreed that Anna Anderson could not have been Anastasia.

Similarly, Nina's quote about Anastasia's jealousy over her height appears to be somewhat accurate - Anastasia was indeed self-conscious about her height, writing in a letter to her father that she was very pleased to discover that she was taller than an officer that the sisters met. However, it also appears to be somewhat exaggerative.

For a more balanced perspective of Xenia and Nina, when they left Russia in 1914, they never saw their father again. He was shot by the Bolsheviks in 1919. No amount of money, status, or lavish upbringing can bring back a loved one: I don't think that it would be too drastic to say that, having lost her father to the Revolution, she was hopeful that there could be some hope that someone in their family might have escaped. Xenia, the younger child, just eleven years old when she saw her father for the last time, was unable to convince her elder sister that Anna Anderson was Anastasia.

Photo, left to right: Nina Georgievna, Anastasia Nikolaevna, Alexei Nikolaevich, Olga Nikolaevna, Tatiana Nikolaevna, Xenia Georgievna, Maria Nikolaevna

#Anastasia Nikolaevna #Anastasia Romanov #Anna Anderson #Nina Georgievna #Xenia Georgievna #Nina Romanov #Xenia Romanov #quotes #sources #Peter Kurth #cousins

[sanctuaryforalluniverses]

I keep seeing takes about how the Roy/Keeley reunion was too sudden, or too manipulative, and how Roy hasn't been working on himself at all. Since you guys clearly haven't been watching the same show I have all season, let me do a quick run through:

3x2 - Roy's WHOLE SPEECH about leaving Chelsea early because he could see the end coming and didn't want to drag everyone down and become an embarrassment was such an obvious metaphor for his relationship with Keeley that Trent points it out to us IN THE EPISODE. His wistful (for Roy at least) thought that maybe he should have just stayed and enjoyed it while he could is equally painfully obvious regret that is even MORE obviously for Keeley ends with "but that's not the kind of man I am." (Not a direct quote, but an accurate paraphrase). As the season continues, we will see that that isn't a line of arrogance. It's a line that highlights the fact that Roy's self esteem is complete shit.

(Before you argue with me, let's go back to his confrontation with Trent earlier in the episode. Would someone with GOOD self-esteem carry a negative review about himself in his wallet for DECADES? Not as some kind of motivation, but as something that genuinely upsets him to this day? Can you picture Sam doing this? Or Dani? Or even Isaac? I absolutely CAN picture Jamie doing this, but frankly that only confirms the picture of a cocky man whose self esteem is secretly garbage.)

Speaking of Jamie. The show has paralleled the two men the ENTIRE TIME, and it's quite possible to say that Roy's growing acceptance of Jamie goes hand-in-hand with a growing acceptance for his inner self. His agreeing to train Jamie in the face of Zava's Zava-ness is a recognition of Jamie's value (and maybe in some distant way his own), and even though he's very brusque about it that's also how Roy's been treating himself all season.

Then we get to 3x6 and Roy's insight about how never learning to ride a bike was probably an insult to his grandfather's memory. Rephrased, it hits Roy that a time he shut down because of strong emotions (in order to protect himself from those emotions) would have hurt a person he loved very much. (This will be important later.)

(Also in this episode -- Rebecca's comment to Roy about "someone who feels they're worthy of her." Rebecca has read him like a book this WHOLE TIME. Their friendship is such an underrated treasure.)

Then we get to 3x9, and Roy's talk with Isaac about how he isn't really angry about this, and how he needs to fix it before it screws up something he DOES care about. Roy's speaking from personal experience here, and what's the big thing Roy has screwed up this season?

Also in that episode, Rebecca yelling at Roy about the press conference. She tells him to pull his head out of his ass, and once again talks about Roy not feeling like he's worth anything and how he needs to accept the fact that he deserves good things. He then proceeds to deliver such a fucking beautiful press conference that it brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it. One he was apparently capable of this whole time. He was just so focused on escape before that he'd never let himself.

And in 3x10. To clarify -- neither the letter or the realization was about getting Keeley back. He said he was a mess, and the nice teacher lady said she hoped the mess didn't cause any damage. In that moment, in part because of everything that had come before, he realized that him trying to keep his mess away from Keeley might have caused her damage instead.

(Should he have figured that out well before now? Of course he should have. But when your self-esteem is garbage you don't see depriving someone of your presence as damaging them. In fact, you might even think of it as making their life easier.)

The letter was apologizing for THAT. And he was planning on just leaving it under her door, since a genuine apology demands no response. In fact, he probably kind of hoped he WOULDN'T be there when she read it, but his terrible handwriting made it impossible. And when he's done yes, he does stay a bit, because who WOULDN'T hope that Keeley Jones would suddenly fall into their arms. But when she doesn't, he goes. And if Keeley hadn't called him back, he would have kept going.

You just have to LOOK.

#TedLasso #ted lasso #ted lasso season 3

[ideas-on-paper]

Monster Hunter Tri Diary, Part 2: Day cycles & Nighttime hunt in the Moga Woods

For previous entries, search for #monster hunter tri diary

Disclaimer: Text is paraphrased from my localization and might slightly deviate from the English version.

Moga Village (night)

Yay, we have day cycles! This is actually a feature that got scrapped in MH3U; while there were day and night versions of each map (probably a leftover from this mechanic), it was always day in Moga Village. In Tri, however, time advances in the village too, and you actually get to explore Moga at nighttime! (I believe the only previous time they tried something like this was in MH Dos, with the seasonal cycles.)

And look, fireflies! Or are those Thunder Bugs? (Given that this is Monster Hunter, probably Thunder Bugs.)

Also, there is a nighttime version of the village theme! I've never heard it before, due to there being no day/night cycle in 3U. It's a tad softer and more tranquil than the daytime version - I like it!

Chief's Son: "To restore the base camp, we need to dig new latrines, rebuilt the tent, cover the old latrines, delouse the bed..." Sounds like a really pleasant job. Might be easier to just throw the lousy bed into the trash and get a new one, though.

Okay, so the Chief’s Son tells me I have to report to him what I hunted in the forest, since he’s responsible for keeping tabs on that. Makes sense, since you kinda need to keep an eye on the monster population to prevent an imbalance in the ecosystem if you want to ensure a sustainable economy.

Actually, this reminds me... I remember there's an in-lore explanation that the Guild keeps records of the monster population in each area, to prevent certain species from going extinct and others from growing too large in number. (I think the only time they integrated this into the gameplay was in MH Dos; there was some kind of "bounty system", and the more often you hunted a certain monster, the less money you'd get for it.) So, are the reports I give to the Chief's Son sent to the Guild as well? (I suppose that would be like constant surveillance; but maybe, that's the exact intention behind it.)

At first, I thought the Jumbo Pearl might be a reference to MH Dos (since the village from that game is called Jumbo). However, after checking the Japanese item name, the kanji indicates that it's just an extraordinarily large pearl, rather than a pearl found near/associated with Jumbo Village. (Pity, though; that would've been so cool.)

Chief's Son: "Go report to my dad, will you? He LOVES reports." Okay - well, at least that shows he's taking his job seriously.

Chief: "There are no hopeless causes... Just lost confidence!" That's actually a damn good motivational quote right there.

Gossipy Lady: "It's obvious whenever the Chief is in a pensive mood. He stands at the left pier and gazes out at the sea." I wonder if there's a story behind this habit...

Guild Sweetheart: "The good news is that the Guild apparently has completely forgotten about us. So, you're not missing out on anything!" Well, I guess that's the bright side of it... xD Still, a bit odd if you consider the Guild is technically responsible for protecting the village - all they do is send one rookie hunter here and that’s it. They don’t even bother helping the villagers repairing the damage in any other way.

Outfitter: ""No weapon is perfect. Every one has its strengths and weaknesses." Maybe grandpa was right after all..." Well... A fault confessed is half redressed, or so they say. xD

The shy kid tells us about a goblin with a mask living in the Moga Woods (his older brother also says he's "constantly talking nonsense about an elf"). If my memory serves correctly, that has to be Cha-Cha.

Blacksmith: "I'm gonna to tell you - but just this once!" Except when you cycle through the dialogue by repeatedly talking to him, you can select "yes" again. xD

The Bowguns are completely different in Tri. Instead of the usual two classes (Light and Heavy Bowgun), you have to assemble your Bowgun out of individual parts (stock, frame, barrel), each influencing the stat values and overall performance. I guess this was done in an attempt to make the Bowguns more customizable, so you can have a sort of in-between as opposed to just light/heavy. I'm not a Gunner myself, but I think the idea is kinda cool; ultimately, they didn't stick with it, though.

Btw, there are some weapons that are completely missing from Tri: Dual Blades, Hunting Horn, Gunlance and Bow are all unavailable in this game (despite being available in Freedom Unite).

Also, the Switch Axe and the Long Sword are not available from the start; you have to unlock them later on (you have to do the 3-star Urgent Quest to hunt a Gobul to get access to Long Swords). I was a bit confused when I saw that I couldn't make any Long Swords, since I was sure I heard they existed in Tri. However, the selection of Long Swords in this game is very limited: Minus the weapons from online events, there are only seven Long Swords you can make in the game. That's right: seven. A bit of a bummer for me as a Long Sword main, especially since there are not even blades for every element. (There isn't a single Ice Long Sword you can forge offline.)

So, seems like I'll have to get a little creative here - I think I'll make myself a Great Sword when I get the chance, since that's a weapon I'm at least moderately accustomed to. I also might try out a Switch Axe against Gobul, since you already unlock these after the 2-star Urgent Quest. (Can't say I'm looking forward to it, though. xD)

Btw, I don't know if it's just a translation error in my localization, but when explaining weapon sharpness, the smith says orange is sharper than yellow which is sharper than green. Of course, it's the other way around, with yellow being sharper than orange and green being the sharpest. So, this is a small pitfall for anyone who might be new to the game - just wanted to mention it.

"Fuel for the furnace, chemicals for forging... All of that costs money, so you gotta pay something." I think this is the first time I've seen it mentioned that the smithies in MH are using chemicals to make weapons/armor. Guess that makes sense, since a lot of the equipment pieces are composed of both organic and inorganic materials, so it probably wouldn't hold together otherwise.

"My life's goal? To forge a weapon beyond anyone's imagination! I've tried again and again, but failed. One day, I'll succeed - just you wait!" Well, as long as you have a goal and dedication, you can achieve anything. Better luck next time! :-)

I really like the smith in general - such a lively and spry guy. ^^

What the?! How did the smartass kid get into my house? Who let you in? WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY SWAMPHOUSE?!?

"Did you know you can skip conversations? That way, you can skip boring conversations with people you don't even want to listen to. Very handy!" I wish this was a feature in real life.

"But some things you'll get to hear only once. And then you'll say: "Oh no! Why did I press the cancel button? Now I can never hear this again! Buhuuuu!" Unironically me every time I want the text to scroll faster and accidentally end up missing dialogue. xD

"Oh, some conversations you can't skip, like important village info and lectures from your mom..." Pity - I'm sure everyone would appreciate the latter. xD

"Do you believe there is life on the moon?" I dunno, kid - I've never read sci-fi literature from the MH universe myself.

"Why don't hunters use their huge airships to fly to the moon? Did no one get this idea before?" Well, maybe they did - I just doubt they got very far. xD

Yay! I can actually give my Poogie a name! (Actually, I think this is the first time in the series you can do this.) Though it's curious that the list includes both male and female names - is Poogie's gender just whatever you want it to be?

The cuddle timing for the Poogie is WAY more lenient than in Freedom Unite (seriously, that was hardcore).

Moga Woods (night)

"Hello, it's me, the Chief's Son! Not Junior! Nobody calls me that!" Yep, definitely daddy issues. (Nice to see the Chief's Son inherited his dad’s telepathic skills, though.)

"Oh, nice attack! Maybe you're not such an inexperienced hunter after all..." Shit, they've caught onto my ruse - they know I'm too good to be a noob! xD

It will never not be funny to me that the "So tasty!" when you make a Well-done Steak is the only voice line they ever bothered to record for the old games. In fact, it was so important that they even recorded it in different languages. xD

I appreciate how there's a brief display of "MAX" at the end of the stamina gauge - that way, you know when you're at max stamina.

Okay, so the monster list also works differently in Tri. Instead of buying the books with the info at the item shop, you have to gather the infos yourself while being out in the field. It feels a bit like a spiritual predecessor to MH World; I guess they did this to add more to the "exploration" feeling. It's a little tricky to do though, so I understand why they got rid of it. (You have to open the monster list in the menu, point the Wiimote at the monster and then add the info to your list via drag-and-drop. I can imagine this is going to be rather difficult with large monsters, since you kinda have to pay attention that you don't die while gathering data. xD)

Honey: "Full of nutrients, but indigestible in this form." What? Last time I checked, honey was a perfectly digestible type of food. What makes MH honey different?

Okay, so I've picked up an item called "Firedouse Berry". It increases fire resistance, apparently. The logical conclusions would be that there are other berries in Tri to counter the other elements (water, thunder, ice). Either way, I've never seen these in any MH before.

I’ve always wondered what the "houses"/windows carved into the cliffs of Area 7 are. I suppose this is what the Head Farmer meant when he was saying that the statue in the cave had something to do with the "forest ruins". Is this where the ancestors of the sea people lived? If so, why are these great buildings in ruins? What brought about their demise?

You see, it's the little things that always kept me fascinated in Monster Hunter. You can find these ancient ruins in all of the old MH games, but it’s never explained who built them. It's like a dark mystery of the past, constantly looming over you - and perhaps, a silent threat that this might happen again.

It's funny how the Jaggi were my literal introduction to Monster Hunter. If I hadn't read an article about there being "raptors" in MH4U - despite the Jaggi looking more dilophosaurs with their frills (which is ironic, since they're the bird wyverns that don't spit poison) - I probably wouldn't have picked it up. xD

After playing Lies of P for so long, I have to get used to MH combat again. Although I adjusted the controls of LoP so it was basically the standard MH controls (because I literally can’t play with anything else xD), the combat itself feels very different. MH’s is a lot more mobile in comparison, involving lots of dodging and repositioning; since there’s no target lock-on (targeting for large monsters only got introduced in MH3U if I remember correctly), you can’t just lock onto your target to circle around them.

Also, I don't think there’s a pause button in Tri? A bit strange since Freedom Unite had one, but I guess you're supposed to use the Wii Home button for this.

There was a young Aptonoth in Area 1, probably the one who fled from Area 3 when I killed its parents (cool that the monsters move to other areas, though!). I briefly contemplated to let it live, but then I told myself "well, it's probably not gonna survive without its parents anyway" and did the mercy kill. (I'm such a cold-blooded murderer, guys. xD)

One thing that never fails to make me laugh is how there are wooden struts sprouting from the ground if you place the BBQ spit on uneven terrain. xD (That BBQ spit is so important, it even gains the magical ability to support itself if need be.)

So, in summary, I killed 15 Jaggi, while also gathering some stuff along the way. I would've needed 30 resource points at minimum, I delivered 90 - so, thrice as much. Well, there's no kill like overkill. xD

Moga Village (day)

As far as I know, 3rd Gen is the first to have its own kinds of fertilizers for mushroom and insect farming spots on the farm (Shroom Germ and Funky Pheromones, respectively).

Dung: "That's right: Monster poop. The odor reveals (too) much about the monster's diet." Must be really pleasant to carry that around in your pockets (or store it in your item box). xD

The item description says you can only sell Pittance Fangs for "pocket change" - that "pocket change" being 180z per piece, which is quite a lot by early game standards. (I've been wondering about the name, though; could it be that monster parts like fangs, teeth etc. are used as currency in some places in the MH universe? Is it custom to give these kinds of fangs to beggars so they can buy themselves something for it?)

Okay, the smith now wants me to bring him some Iron Ore to prove that I’m “worthy” of being his customer - at least he was so kind as to lend me his Mega Pickaxe for it. (Remember, kids? The time when you still had to carry pickaxes and bug nets with you to gather ore and insects?)

Village Chief: "All wyverians are hard to please. And this one is the worst. I know him since my early youth. I got into more brawls with him than the sky has stars!" Sounds like the Chief and the smith were best friends. xD It's charming to see the Chief reminiscing about his youth, though.

Chief: "My son still has a lot to learn... But you have to overcome barriers to grow." That's true - ngl, the Chief does have some pretty deep quotes.

Guild Sweetheart: "Drum roll... The Guild says: absolutely nothing!" Man, they sure are taking their time... Okay, how about this: I'm gonna go out to get some Iron Ore for the smith (and for myself), and you see if you can get through to the Guild in the meantime, alright? Don’t worry, sweetie - I’ll be right back!

To be continued

#monster hunter #monster hunter tri #monster hunter tri diary #gaming diary

[sarah-sandwich-writes]

yo sara i gotta know more baout we were gods fic and also robot apocalypse dream sounds very much intriguing and i would also like to formally request info about that if u would like to share o7

@the-gayest-tree-you-ever-did-see WEEE thank you both!!

I got some duplicates so I'll respond to robot apocalypse dream here and then talk about We Were Gods (we were kids) in a different answer and tag both of you (∩^o^)⊃━☆

Robot Apocalypse Dream was an actual dream I had lol I don't usually have story-like dreams so it was pretty cool just to have it and then I couldn't stop thinking about what a cool story it would make.

In-dream me was part of a family where dad was dead, mom was adrift, very lonely, and super into following fads and trends. My in-dream sister was a scientist. No people skills. Envious of machines. All about that “no maintenance” lifestyle. Eating, bathing, sleeping—who has the time??? And she sees how badly mom is hurting after losing dad. Wouldn’t it be nice to just… cut out that little bit of gray matter that makes it hurt so much?

Here is a rough snippet!

There’s a robot in the center of the room. Hovering. It has four arms--harsh steel, with pincers at the ends corrugated for griping. It speaks with my mother’s voice. It says things I've heard her say before. I can’t tell if it is quoting her--an imitation of the real thing--or if my sister has done something horrible. “Where's mom?” “I’m right here, silly,” says the robot. It flits around the space like it’s comfortable here. Like it belongs here, surrounded by my mother’s things. “What did you do?” She killed our mother. She explains it to me as though it was not murder. As though it was not a heinous thing to generate a code based on our mother’s consciousness and transfer it into this dithering contraption. When I ask after the body she tells me it was disposed of, no longer necessary, as though a human being must be “necessary” to be allowed life. As though this thing paraphrasing my mother is a desirable replacement. It’s not my mother. When I hug it in a desperate attempt to leach comfort from its motor-warmed metal, it asks why I'm restraining it. The more I converse with the thing that is not my mother, the more I learn of what my sister did. It thinks machines are a new fad. It assures me it's at the front of the trend for now, but sister promised before long the entire city will be following it's example. I ask if it remembers that time, years ago, when my mother fell down the stairs. It was an ordeal. She broke her leg and spent four months on a scooter. It remembers… at first. It recalls the incident, but quickly grows confused. How could it fall when it has stability thrusters and hover tech? There must be a malfunction with its recall ability because it doesn’t even have lower appendages to break! It logs the incident with some central computer program before I can say anything to stop it and the memory is wiped entirely within seconds. My sister thanks me for spotting the error and asks if I would keep the thing that is not my mother company and identify any further oversights. She admits most of her attention was on erasing my father so small things like having legs were missed in the conversion process. “You ship of theseus-ed our fucking mother.” “I don’t know what that means.” “If you did we wouldn’t be in this mess!”

#ask games #wip ask game #sswrites #robot apocalypse dream #original fiction

[felassan]

A few more snippets of interest and insight from Mark Darrah, from an older Mark Darrah on Games YouTube video where he was livestreaming playing Dragon Age: Origins some months ago -

"Solving the endings of Mass Effect 3 [for the Next Mass Effect], I don't know, I don't know what you do. I mean, looks like from the trailers to me like maybe they've moved it pretty far into the future, so, that would let you kind've collapse the probability spaces maybe, I don't know, it is a problem for sure".

"I'm curious to see what the Mass Effect TV adaptation ends up looking like because they've taken a crack at it a couple of times". [note this video was streamed ~1 year ago]

[source]

He also talked more generally about DA:O and the franchise and things in general. These bits are collected under a cut due to length -

"I don't remember how long the pre-Fade part of the Mage Tower is, all I remember is that Luke filled it up with stuff"

The Deep Roads in DA:O "probably could have been half as long as they are"

There are so many interactables in the Mage Tower in DA:O, "probably a bit much"

"I have one memory expansion mod installed to make it a bit more stable. The reason it crashes and is so unstable on modern computers is because you crank up the fidelity which makes it use more memory, and it's a 33-bit executable and it literally can't use more than 2 gig of memory and then it explodes. So yeah there are a couple different patches that let it use more memory, that definitely improve the stability"

Early in the Broken Circle quest, you can talk to a blood mage that you've just fought while she lies on the floor, and she asks you not to kill her. At this point in the quest, Mark said "Yeah, I feel like this bit, in a modern BioWare game would've been a little bit more circumspect. They wouldn't have been labelled 'Blood Mage' and maybe there would have been a conversation before the fight"

Chat asked "What do you think about canon endings in games like DA or ME?" Mark replied, "I mean you need to have canon endings. My feeling on canon, I don't really like what we did with some of the comics and that for DA where they just assumed things about Alistair. DA:O in particular, well ME3 is the worst, DA:O of the DAs is the most divergent, so if you wanna reuse some of these characters you kind've have to decide what canon is for those. The games have tried to respect peoples' choices. The comics and that have been a lot less good than that because I think the writers wanted to use Alistair, Wynne, Isabela or whatever. So you kinda have to treat those as if they are, y'know, multiverse a little bit if your canon is divergent. I don't love that but DA:O in particular is so divergent that to use the characters at all we had to do something. I kind've feel like maybe we should've just not used the characters but I wasn't the one driving the narrative on the comics"

[in the Mage Tower in Broken Circle] chat asked "So what exactly are those darkspawn flesh sack things on the wall?" Mark replied, "Blight corruption. I guess, demon pods.. unclear. Just something to differentiate it from Mage Origin I think, to be truthful"

DA:O is a little "confused in terms of magical sources and what goes with what. The team started to disentangle some of the magic sources since DA:O. It's a bit confused here, like is all magic from the Fade? Then what about blood magic, what about the Blight, what about lyrium? And so it's been sort've a [effort to reduce these a bit]"

Because the PC can be a healer, solo fights like against Duncan in the Fade in DA:O had to be balanced super-easy

(pls note that in places there is a bit of paraphrasing of the info, the best source is always the primary source with full quotes in their original context)

[source]

#dragon age #bioware #video games #mass effect #alistair theirin #fav warden #next mass effect #long post #longpost

[stnaf-vn]

Hi!! I am hoping for clarifications, and I wanted to share my theories & analysis. I'm bad at paraphrasing and getting to the point, so please be patient with me. (I'm so glad asks don't have character limits anymore lol This will be long)

In the very beginning of the demo, a voice colored with an unsaturated purple says "...you better do as I say...", "...I can ruin your life, you know?" The next phrase is has red (threatening?) colored text, "I can make you wish you were never born." The MC wonders who is speaking. The faded purple reappears with "Yeah, that's what I thought. It shouldn't be too much trouble right?" You are then given a choice to open your eyes or not. If you select "Open your eyes?" the MC sees nothing but darkness, but they feel something touch their shoulder in a soothing manner. The unidentified person(?) cuddles the MC, saying "Shh. Go back to sleep, my dear." and the MC falls back to sleep to the sound of humming. If you select "Don't." the result doesn't change. After falling asleep, the MC has a nightmare. The nightmare involves running away from something in a dark, foggy, cold, and empty city. There is a quote on a nearby building wall: "They who walk into the lion's den will surely be swallowed whole." The sidewalk has the word "R U N" on it. There is also an upside-down stop sign that says "Wrong Way". The MC is lost, out of breath, and terrified. Any cry for help echos around them without a response. Eventually, MC begins hearing footsteps. A hooded figure with a bit of blonde hair peaking out approaches from across the road. MC begs the stranger for help from a distance. Glitched thought text appears saying, "Wait, that's not right... Something isn't right... "

The faded purple text reappears, labeled as "Stranger" and glitching as well, "Where do you think you're going?" The stranger laughs and causes the MC to shiver. "You can't get very far without me!!" He(?) yells. "YOU NEED ME!!!!" MC's heartbeat rushes with fear. Glitched red text appears, "You have to hide." "... No..." Then a glitched purple colored text that is more saturated (I think like the color of Friend's regular text) says "Y o u nee d to ru n." You are then given the option to run or hide. Regardless of which you choose, you are met with a flashed cg, like a jumpscare, of the Stranger close to the screen with a hand reached out to grab you. At the sound of an alarm clock, MC shoots up in their bed, covered with sweat and alone.

So, now that everyone reading has the details, let's discuss! Feel free to tell me what you can, and let me know if an answer is too spoiler-y.

First set of questions, did the beginning dark part before the city nightmare actually happen? Was it a memory? Was it a part of the dream? If it did actually happen, was it actually current Friend watching, touching, and talking to a sleeping MC? If it was a memory, could it be something MC heard from Kegan?

It would make sense if Friend was there that night, for two reasons: 1) he is in your apartment when you wake up, 2) his license plate says "ICUzzzBBY" lmao

It confused me a bit how the faded purple text went from threatening manipulation to comforting the MC back to sleep. That detail led me to believe that perhaps it was part of the dream OR the person was attempting to drill these things into MC's subconscious mind OR they were speaking their true thoughts that they are not ready for MC to hear out of fear of scaring them...

Is the red text only used for threatening emphasis or is there more significance?

Was the "Y o u nee d to ru n." actually a different shade of purple? Was it Friend's purple? If so, was it purposeful and significant to the lore? I know Friend wants to protect and be close to MC more than anything else...

Who is faded purple text?

I believe the faded purple text, eventually revealed as "Stranger", belongs to either the Original Friend (who was ultimately retconned for being too mean), or a nightmare version of Friend made from MC's subconscious worries about his strange behaviors. I have watched the original animation you made with Original Friend that started STNAF, and from what I can tell Stranger behaves and speaks very similarly to OG Friend.

The faded purple text could also just be indicating Friend speaking with a more sinister tone.

(Also, it's a little funny to me that he's called "Stranger" and Friend is "Friend", cause the names make it sound like Stranger is a dark version of him in a Markiplier-Darkiplier kind of way.)

Stranger is dressed in all black, with a hoodie and a face mask. Even while mostly disguised, I believe the physical traits that are visible (hair, skin color, eyes, body size) all match up with the person MC knows as Friend. Is there a reason the MC did not recognize the Stranger? I guess it's fair if they were just too panicked, but *looks at the blonde bangs* you would think they would recognize their best friend. If not in the moment, then retroactively.

How did MC know something was not right? Was it just a feeling, something they saw, or did they start to realize they were dreaming? Was the Stranger the "thing" MC was initially running from?

Will the choices made in the beginning (opening eyes, run or hide) have significance for the full game? Does it already have significance in the demo? (Significance as in will it influence the ending or the storyline the player gets, does it affect the MC's personality.)

Why did you want to include this beginning sequence? (Don't get me wrong, I love it! I am genuinely curious.)

Perhaps it was to make the player less trusting of Friend, or to give them a spook and a taste of OG!Friend?

I believe what we see in the city nightmare is a warning and a commentary on having a relationship between MC and Friend. With the quote on the building "They who walk into the lion's den will surely be swallowed whole", Friend is the lion, and walking into the den refers to time spent with him, getting close. Being swallowed whole probably has a few meanings... Friend will get rid any competition for MC's attention, and he will manipulate them until he has them exactly where he wants. Friend wants to be the only person in their life. He wants them to be kept close, and to be the one to take care of all their needs. Under certain conditions he will kidnap MC and completely isolate them. (Correct me if I'm wrong)

The "R U N" on the sidewalk, the Wrong Way sign, and the "Y ou nee d to ru n" are obvious warnings of 'Danger! Quickly go in the opposite direction you are going!'. I think the warnings were applying to Stranger who is about to approach from ahead of them in the nightmare, and also a warning about entering a relationship with Friend. They make me want to always choose the "Run." option.

There was also an Edgar Allan Poe quote at the beginning I forgot to mention before: "I was never insane except for instances in which my heart was touched." The quote was accompanied by the sound of static, and a tape(?) beginning to play (lore or just spooky sound design?). I believe the quote is just fitting for Friend's character. He is willing to do anything for MC, because he loves them.

Additional Comments & Questions:

-I love the art style!!

-I melt when he calls me sweetheart or love 😍

-He's so cute and kind!

-I am very in love, consider me thoroughly wooed. I have considered the potential consequences & outcomes, and tbh I would still be willingly obedient to his every desire.

-Should I be worried about how pale he is? Also, the black eye bags! He needs to sleep more!

-I really want to write something for the contest, but I've had terrible writer's block for months 😭 I have ideas, it's just the actually writing part... I still have time to try! I hope to get inspiration by replaying the demo and listening to music. (Friend: 🎶 I wanna be your boyfriend, I wanna be your boyfriend~ I wanna go on walks with you, I wanna have long talks with you~ You can be my [partner], you can be my [partner]~ I'll compliment you frequently, I wanna treat you decently~ 🎶)

-I love the banter <3 Makes me happy

-I'm scared of driving, so it works out that he is willing to drive me places!

-When he pats MC's knee in the car and then asks if they're comfortable with it?? Then if they give the go ahead he puts his hand on their thigh and strokes it with his thumb... Hhhhhh 🤭

-The intimate scenes are very well written, I'm still blushing...

-I am sending this on anon, because I am an anxious person. If I want send another ask after your response, I need to be identifiable. I would like to be recognized with this emoji combination: 🐻🌻 It's a bear head and a sunflower emoji. Let me know if it's already taken.

I hope you are doing well!!

- 🐻🌻

Words cannot express how much I love theory asks, it's like eating a good meal. Just so satisfying. I've built this world with the intent to have some story with enough wiggle room for theorization. So some things will be left up to your own personal interpretation because I find it more fun that way. I will say that the beginning before the nightmare(?), Friend was actually on the phone with your boss threatening him to give you the morning off. (He only "asked" for the morning off because he assumed you would fight him when it came to taking the WHOLE day off, but he wanted to spend time with you.) Also, thank you so much for noticing the small details I put in there! And I'm so glad you enjoyed the demo! Chapter 1 is currently in the works, and I hope you and others will catch on to the small details once again.

Thank you Sun-bear for this awesome theory ask.

#♡-stnaf lore #🔪-stnaf scenarios #​💾​- see thru need a friend game

[the-owl-tree]

Fallen leaves pet peeve anon back again, its said in po3 dark rivers prologue and is continued on page 215-221!

To paraphrase what happens, fallen leaves is lead by a patrol to the caves with his mom and two other unnamed cats(presumably one is his mentor, as they boast about training him well) with the other cat with them warns fallen leaves of the smell of rain on the wind

When Fallen goes down, he meets rock who gies over how he must find a tunnel that leads out, and also ask if its going to rain, to which fallen, quote from book “Should he mention the tingling in the air that hinted rain might come? No. Rock might tell him to go back and wait until another day. He couldn’t put off becoming a sharpclaw any longer. “The sky is clear” he promised”

And then rock tells him to begin

So as fallen leaves runs through the tunnels(followed by jaypaw, as he’s seeing this from memories) fallen leaves gets stuck at a dead end and has to take random turns in the tunnels to flee as the tunnel floor becomes increasingly wet from rain outside until a wave of water rushes in starts to sweep him away and he drowns

Checked and yep! I actually quite like that. Adds to the tragedy of the character, that if he'd just been patient he could've survived.

[husky-and-starch]

It’s almost 4am so I’ve decided to talk about my Starsky and Hutch childhood headcannons. (Any quoting I’m using is really paraphrasing from memory so they wont be 100% accurate)

Hutch I think he grew up Upper Middle Class based on the fact that in Las Vegas Strangler he mentioned his high school friend is was rich rich and he was just well off. I also think he didn’t go to a private school but he DID go to one of those public high schools in rich people areas. In my area the government support schools get is partially from surrounding property value (or they’re in some way correlated I don’t entirely remember) and idk if that was true in the 70s but I weren’t alive back then so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ anyway I also think that Hutch’s family tried to be like that classic nuclear family and possibly held some believe that divorce was worse than a rocky marriage. Some religions condemn divorce, some condemn remarrying, and some condemn both or neither so I think it was either religion or stubbornness (maybe even greed) but I think Hutch’s parents for at least the majority of his young live his parents just did not love each other so he like adopted a new family basically ie the family he apparently helped out a lot as a kid that we meet in Terror On The Docks. I also this that’s why he’s been divorced before the series even started. He was surrounded by rotten love so when he got married he didn’t have any reason to believe it was a problem and idk if it was just my head cannon or if the show confirms it but the reason they divorced is because of her and not Hutch. I also think Hutch still has a strained relationship with his family.

#starsky and hutch #ken hutchinson #hutch #starsky/hutch #I’m about to fall asleep #so I’m not gonna get to my young starsky headcannons #but like there’s always next evening #goodnight everybody!

[loregoddess]

Okay, I wanted type up some Octo2 theories before TotK drops and I have to juggle thinking about that as well as thinking about all the other games I'm thinking about. Everything is below the cut bc major endgame spoilers, and also this is literally an essay in length alone.

Specifically, the theories are about Temenos, but there's lots of spoilers for Throne's entire route, parts of Osvald's route, Hikari's final chapter specifically, some details from the Crossed Paths, and details from the actual endgame Extra Story chapters.

Just as a note I'm not really trying to argue for or against any particular theory--this is really more of a mental exercise for me to try and organize my own thoughts. While I might have personal preferences for one theory or another, I don't actually like, care or mind which theories other people enjoy or want to headcanon or stuff. Also, like all theorycraft, what I've written is drawn from my own interpretation of the text and isn't like, canon or word of god or anything. I'm basically writing a lit. analysis essay for funsies. Without further ado then...

So, like many, I've been wondering about Temenos and whether he's secretly Throne's half-brother bc Claude was...Claude. And, as I turned the theory over in my head, I eventually came up with more theories, and lots of evidence for and against nearly...all of them.

Before I get to the theories proper, some things of note.

It's interesting that both Temenos and Ophilia, as the "clerics" of their respective games, were children brought up by the church rather than their biological families. But unlike Ophilia, where we know she lost her family in a war before the game's story, we're just barely given the information that Temenos is a foundling (from his Travel Banter "Memories of Roi" with Agnea in Crackridge, which also reveals that Roi was a foundling as well). From this Banter we get the impression that Roi and the Pontiff Jorg were essentially Temenos's family, as Jorg raised them both, but aside from this Temenos doesn't talk much about the concept of "family" or show any interest in his biological parents, which makes sense, given that he was probably raised from birth by the church. Also, Temenos is very closed-off about his emotions, so even though he's on a journey to solve the murder of the person who was almost like a parental-figure to him, he never speaks of Jorg in a familial manner outside of the smallest bit of grief he shows in his Banter with Castti in Canalbrine.

As an aside, foundling isn't a term or narrative element I often see used in media (surprisingly), but the definition is...intriguing given the game's story. In short, a foundling is a child "abandoned by their parents" and often refers to a "baby left at a convent or other safe space" (quotes paraphrased from Wiktionary's page for "foundling"; Merriam-Webster just defines foundling as "an infant found after its parents abandoned it"; links to both pages provided at the end).

So, Temenos's parents are entirely a mystery, and all we know is he was likely left at the church when he was a baby.

The other thing of note before I dive into the theories is that Throne and Temenos are the only characters with a Talent that activates at night, with Throne having "Blessing of Darkness" and Temenos having "Moonlight Judgment". Throne's Talent offers buffs for the party, while Temenos's offers the blindness debuff on enemies, so the Talents are opposite in a way. But while Temenos's Talent can be attributed to aiding his "Coerce" nighttime Path Action, none of Throne's Path Actions actually benefit from her having a night-activated Talent, which is...interesting. Given that she's a very close descendant of D'arqest, and the daughter of Claude (who is conditionally immortal bc of Vide's blood), it makes sense that her Talent activates at night, due to the connection to Vide. But Temenos isn't directly shown or stated to have that connection, making his Talent either "it's not that deep, the game dev's just wanted to make it easier for players using his Path Actions" OR possibly "this doubles as a useful game mechanic and narrative hint".

So! with that segue, let's get to the theories. They can be divided into two categories:

Temenos and Throne are biologically related to each other, likely as half-siblings.

There is no relation between the two, and Temenos has something else going on with his biological family (this set of theories is highly speculative on my part).

So, exploring the "Temenos and Throne are half-siblings" we have at least two different ways this could happen:

Temenos is one of Claude's children and his mother managed to escape and leave him w/ the church before the Blacksnakes could get to him. This is the simplest, most straightforward possibility for how Throne and Claude could be half-siblings. Aside from the similar Talents, and maybe Temenos's hair color, there's not much to support this. Granted, Throne makes several remarks about how much the kid from her Oresrush chapter, Pirro, and Claude all look alike, but never makes any comment of Temenos reminding her of Pirro. However, considering that all the Blacksnakes are implied to be her half-siblings, and plenty don't seem to remind her at all of Pirro or Claude, this isn't much of an argument for or against this explanation of the half-siblings theory. The fact that Temenos's mom is MIA isn't much of an issue either, since if she fled the Blacksnakes to escape Claude, it's entirely possible she was killed by them or died of some other related causes shortly after leaving him at the church.

Marietta is actually the mother of both Throne and Temenos. This one's a bit of a stretch on my part, but the fact is, we don't actually learn much of who Marietta is as a person. All we learn about her are through flashbacks or reminiscences from Father/Sebastian and Claude, neither of whom are reliable sources of information, as both are very subjective about how they feel about and remember Marietta. But we do know that, according to Marietta, a baby was the only thing she believed couldn't be stolen which is...a really odd statement given everything that happens to her. Most likely this was the writers' attempt at having her marriage to Sebastian be romantic in its own way, if Marietta believed her child with Sebastian was something no one could take from them (which possibly means that Marietta wasn't directly responsible for killing her first child, as Claude may have killed the child and manipulated or blackmailed Marietta to leave Sebastian, and she then told Sebastian that she killed the child as a way of trying to protect him from Claude by pushing him away from her). OR, Marietta's belief that a baby is the only thing that can't be stolen reflects a deeply protective maternal drive on her part, and if she was threatened by Claude in some way, then she might have secreted the child off, told both Claude and Sebastian that she had killed the child, and this child was in fact Temenos. Sebastian/Father doesn't specify a gender for the child (in the English localization at least), but he also notes that "some time later" Marietta bore Claude's child, Throne. The thing is...there's a seven year age gap between Throne and Temenos, and while Temenos is the older of the two, seven years is just...a lot of time. Probably more than the "some time later" that Father references. So while some of the details for this explanation of the half-sibling theory fit, it honestly feels like there's more evidence against this explanation than the former, but it was fun to explore and so I figured I'd share it anyhow.

Now, next we have "Temenos and Throne are not related, and Temenos has something else going on." The quickest, simplest explanation for this is that Temenos is the child of just some random, unnamed, not important in any way, characters who don't even exist in the game data, and that he was left at the church as as baby and raised by Jorg alongside Roi.

However, I think Temenos might be related to the same "clan who bears the blood of Aelfric" that Alpates is related to, and to which Rita and Elena are implied to be related to via the Lumina family line, and Kura and Hikari are implied to be related to through their "lineage/bloodline of light" from a clan said to have once fought "the Shadow".

As a quick recap of the info we learn at the end of Throne and Temenos's Crossed Paths 2: the original Alpates was "left" by Aelfric to consort with humans, and she had more than one child (based on the use of "children" in the legend Temenos recounts). Aelfric turned her body into the mirror to ease the sadness of her children, and Temenos mentions that the clan of Alpates "posseses the blood of the Flamebringer" which makes them the direct antithesis to Vide, and specifically D'arquest and Claude (as Claude's immortality allegedly comes from Vide's blood according to Ori's Journals, though how D'arqest got a hold of it is never explained; however, considering D'arqest could apparently wield enough of the "power of the Shadow" to leave behind the Pit of D'arqest, and given how his bloodline affects Hikari in relation to Hikari's shadow, it's safe to assume that D'arquest was somehow related to Vide via a blood connection as well).

Given that Alpates left descendants, it makes sense that her bloodline may have spread out across Solistia, possibly with the "main" bloodline guarding the relic mirror and passing it down along with the name "Alpates". This would explain how Rita and the Lumina bloodline could exist as well as Kura and her bloodline of light, if they both shared the same ancestor, but neither possessed the mirror nor bore the name "Alpates" because they were not part of the "main" bloodline.

Likewise, I don't think Temenos is directly related to whatever the "main" bloodline of Alpates is, since that seems to be the in-game character Alpates herself who's the heir of that bloodline, as she possesses the mirror and bears the sacred name. Alpates also doesn't indicate that she knows of Temenos in any way despite living in the church for some time, and it seems more like she trusts him and Throne bc she can sense the "flame" within each of them.

So, it's entirely possible that one of Temenos's parents was distantly related to the Alpates bloodline of light, and this may have also influenced the decision to leave him at the church, though what became of his parents remains a mystery (though possibly, given that the Moonshade Order is aware of the bloodlines of light, they may have killed some of the bloodline's descendants to remove them as potential future threats, which might explain why Temenos was left in the safety of the church, if one of his parents was being hunted because of their bloodline, but this is speculation with basically no supporting evidence).

Despite the lack of in-game evidence, I'm partial to this theory because it would set up some interesting narrative parallels really well. It would have Throne, a very close descendant of D'arquest/Vide mirror Temenos, a (potential) descendant of Alpates/Aelfric, whilst Hikari is a bit of both.. The fact that Throne isn't Vide's vessel is...another post, but it could be because she was chosen by Aeber, or some other reason related to Marietta in some way, but again, different essay.

Anyhow, there is some potential evidence to support the theory that Temenos is related to the bloodline of light, depending on how the text is interpreted. First, when you choose to play through his Ch1, you begin not as Temenos, but as Aelfric, who is a fully playable character which is...entirely unique to Temenos. I know this ties in with his paper play, but the fact remains that the game makes you play as Aelfric when you select to play as Temenos. It would make sense, in a weird way, to have the two conflated if Temenos was in some way related to Aelfric outside of just "being a cleric of the church and also Aelfric's chosen".

Second, when Temenos is trying to piece together evidence (the thing where he says, "The truth lies in the Flame"). It's very likely this was implemented as a game mechanic to more fully immerse the players in Temenos's mental logic (a step up from the multiple choice question game that Cyrus got in Octo1), as according to other characters, it looks like Temenos just spaces out entirely for a few minutes before coming back with some answer. But at the same time, when Temenos is in this "mental logic" state, he's able to walk around a scene and interact with various things, almost as if he's in a state of astral projection to investigate. The color effects of this ability match both his personal color for his Latent Power, and the actual Sacred Flame itself, which he invokes before using this ability. So rather than being just a game mechanic, it's possible this is a power of some sort, unique to Temenos because of his bloodline, that makes it appear to other characters that he's simply spacing out. This is...a stretch, admittedly, but it is interesting that Temenos is essentially the only character to get a unique game mechanic for his story route.

Finally, there is his Talent, the one that share's similarities to Throne's. While it does activate only at night, it notably also references the moon with its name "Moonlight Judgment". The moon is essentially a mirror, reflecting the light of the sun, not unlike how the mirror of Alpates is able to reflect the light of the Sacred Flame (from the hearts' of the travelers possibly?) to relight the various Flames after they've been snuffed out (which are only relit during the eternal night). To be fair, I haven't see "moon as a mirror" used as a narrative element...basically ever, but it would be an interesting narrative theme if Temenos was distantly related the the Alpates bloodline and his Talent being connected to the moon doubled to reference the relic mirror.

Of course, the ideas that "there's possibly something weird going on with Temenos's parentage" and "Temenos and Throne are half-siblings" aren't technically in competition, since it's entirely possible Temenos is Throne's half-sibling via Claude, and his mother just happened to be of the bloodline of light. It's also possible there is simply no relation or significance whatsoever, that the writers never intended it to be that deep, and that I'm reading waaay to far into things. After all, "family and blood" are huge themes in Throne's narrative, but not in Temenos's narrative (which focuses on "truth and trust"), so it could be that "Temenos is a foundling raised by the church" was just the writers way of giving him a quick backstory without needing to think too hard (which would make some sense, given that most of the characters have some sort of general backstory set up, although Osvald or Castti never talk about their parents at all which is...interesting).

And that...is that, I suppose. As I said, this was more a mental exercise to organize and record my thoughts on some of the theories bouncing around my head. I'm not trying to prove any theory right or wrong. For the most part, the narrative of Octo2 is extremely well-woven, with nearly all the loose ends tied up when all is said and done, but I'm still hoping we get some sort of extra material for Octo2--like how the timeline from the guidebook for Octo1 revealed weird tidbits of information about the worldbuilding lore--to clear up some of the mysteries that were left unresolved.

If you've read all this, thanks!

Citations:

Wiktionary's page on "foundling": https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/foundling

Merriam-Webster's page on "foundling": https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foundling

#octopath traveler #octopath ii #octopath ii spoilers #this was the ''I'm trying to organize my unhinged thoughts on theories'' post I've been ranting about #I do not know the word count and I have no intention of learning the word count but it's...long #it's basically an essay w/ vague citation but w/out properly structured citation so take fair warning #at least my theories on this particular subject don't feel...nearly as unhinged and certainly not unorganized anymore #oracle of lore

[flags-planes-and-fire]

Hey! I know you know a lot about the uruguayan accident in los andes so I wanted to ask.... I've heard the survivors hated the film Alive!, and I've also seen pictures of some of them on the set of the movie. What have they said about it?

The only responses I'm aware of (from the suvivors anyway) are that of Carlitos, Nando and Roberto, and I'm paraphrasing heavily here.

Nando actually worked on the film, and Carlitos was also on set for a little bit (There's a video of him talking to Bruce Ramsey), so I think their response was a mixed bag.

Similar situation with Canessa, I can't find the quote but he did talk about Alive! in his book, it was a little vauge but he seemed extremely neutral about it.

There have been many discussion, especially on Facebook regarding how the suvivors and the families of the dead felt about the film, and the feeling ranges from neutral to negative as far as I've seen.

Most of what I know comes from this documentary: Alive : A Survivors Documentary & Making Of

I know that a lot of the families of the deceased didn't approve for the use of their names, look at Vicent Spano's role for example, in the film he is called "Antonio", although if we're looking at reality, their captains' name was Marcelo Perez.

People like Numa's and Arturo's name's were also changed if my memory is correct.

I wish I could give you more information! But I really don't know, if I ever find out more I'll come back edit this post with the relevant information.

Again, sorry I couldn't really answer the question, your guess is probably as good as mine, thank you so much! x

#uhhh i would suggest to check out Grupo Re-Viven on Facebook. they discuss it here and there. Not in a great light either to be fair #i i cant remember who said it but i saw a tweet that said “Alive was made for/by YANKS” and that's honestly the best way to put it #max is a mess #There's a couple photos floating about on my blog of the cast of Alive w the suvivors (mostly w Nando). #There's like.... One of Canessa w Hamilton. #I only use Spano as an example because he's the only one I can think of rn #I have it in the back of my mind that people like Zerbino and Tintin have negative opinions on the film but I have nothing to back that up #I promise to edit this if i find out anything else but i'm literally clueless. #I've seen Alive a couple times. many inaccuracies and sometimes it's just a Sully situation #where it's just dramatized for special effect. But yeah I wish I had something else to tell you!

[ishallbelife]

Scarcity: What Tipped Me Off {We Shall Remain + Oliver Enjady}

In roughly 2013, I watched something I’ll never forget. It was somewhere in the We Shall Remain documentary, part of PBS’s American Experience series.

But I’m 95% sure that the speaker was Oliver Enjady. In the film, he was listed as a Chiricahua Apache, but I’ve also seen him identified as Mescalero.

(Mr. Enjady, if this was not you, I sincerely apologize. You were quite memorable in We Shall Remain, and I also sincerely enjoy your paintings—and the song Lyla June Johnston wrote based on your words.)

Anyway, moving on, here’s a paraphrased version of what was said:

In a healthy village, before the Europeans came to colonize this continent, barring famine or disaster, all needs were met in indigenous villages, because everyone had different talents. If an individual had more skill in gathering food from the plants around them, they take what they needed and harvest what was appropriate; then they would share the bounty with others in the village. A talented hunter may kill more animals than he could personally consume, but he would share with those in the village who didn’t have enough, like a widow and her children.

Now, if a hunter were to come in and hold on to more than he needed, that didn’t make any sense. That food would go to waste. Therefore, it was considered a sickness among his people, and the rest of the village would look after him and try to treat his illness.

{In my memory, the video’s graphic was quite powerful, because the graphic showed the hunter literally on top of a hill made of all his food, which looked a bit like a painted hambone. I think the food even started to rot.}

Now, when the Europeans first came to this land, it was well known and understood among the people already living on this continent: not only did the white men HAVE this sickness, they were rife with it.

Here is the reason why this isn’t a direct quote: My Memory Doesn’t Match.

#culture #scartending #scarcity #scarcity scar #quote #Chiricahua #Chiricahua Apache #Apache #native people #indigenous #native americans #cultural scars #cultural studies #colonization #imperialism #Europeans #turtle island #quotes #Oliver Enjady #Lyla june Johnston