#and then I Think the timeskip between seasons 3&4 is something like two months?

[topaz-mutiny]

Folks seem to be interested in my random and extremely sporadic word vomit (and my tempo is unlikely to change - it may be I even just go silent for a couple months) so I’d thought I’d gather some of my guessworks for the upcoming Season 3 of Vox Machina.

Having seen the campaign already and knowing what points they need to hit gives me some ideas on what might happen.

The first thing to note is that what will happen likely depends pretty strongly on if the Chroma Conclave arc extends into Season 4 or not. If CC ends in Season 3, thats one dragon dead every 4 episodes. Which doesn’t sound bad until you account for everything that happens in between - 3 more people need vestiges, potential plane-hopping, downtime scenes, romance scenes, villain scenes, character progression scenes (like the Twins finding out it was Thordak that killed their mom). Is a lot. But it could be done - a lot would probably need to get cut or condensed.

So, with that in mind, here’s what I think is going to get cut and changed if the Conclave ends in S3:

Kynan Leore is cut entirely. Vax already has plenty of storypoints on his plate, adding in Syndrome isn’t too necessary especially since Ripley can just hire anybody she wants. There’s also not been any buildup to it, and while it could happen entirely in S3, that would be time better served to the other members of Vox.

Hotis is cut entirely. Again, Vax has already had a lot happen and while Hotis’ conclusion didn’t happen until after the Conclave, what we’ve seen of Hotis seemed to just purely be an easter egg for fans of the actual-play. So this also would mean Vox Machina Does Not Go To Hell. Percy may make a deal with a devil somewhere else.

City of Brass might be cut. We’ve just seen two major moments of Scanlan (jumping from a height with Mythcarver in order to save his friends and getting a devastating hit (from Hotis’ attempted assassination), and Awakening Mythcarver by standing his ground and not running away (killing blow on a devil in the City of Brass)) so the only really important thing left there is the Plate of the Dawnmartyr, which could be moved. I can see the City of Brass staying but being greatly changed, especially if the Conclave extends into S4.

Keyleth’s Earth Aramente will be shown. This is something that happened pre-stream and during a timeskip, so no one but Matt and Marisha really have had details on this before. But the show has indicated that Keyleth still needs to go to Terra for her Aramente, so it seems like it will be shown here and she will gain her Keyteor Earth Elemental form here. Possibly could also be combined with getting the Spire of Conflux, depending on what happens with Vorugal.

Vorugal is a big heaping question mark. I have doubts they will ever show Draconia (and the ravine tree was used as their entry to Vasselheim), and a straight assault on Whitestone seems unlikely (what with the magic barrier and Raishan’s alleged help), so it’s really up in the air as to where they’ll be taking his fight (beyond being near a forest for that Anything Can Happen In the Woods scene post-battle, if it maintains its place in the timeline (it might move, honestly, as it seems too quick to have All Them Ripley Scenes in the first 3-4 episodes and then kill Vorugal since he’s definitely the second dragon that will be taken down)). Possibly the dragon fight I’m most interested in since it’s such an unknown.

Ripley might have more vestiges. For the sake of condensing things, Ripley could not only start stealing Cabal’s Ruin and Whisper, but the Plate of the Dawnmartyr as well and maybe even the Spire of Conflux. She seems WAY more involved in the show than in the streams and we’ve gotten to see her perspective fairly frequently. Having more than 1 or 2 vestiges (some part of me thinks Whisper might be cut since Show Vax is fast enough that teleporting on a knife hit seems redundant, plus it would work better having 1 vestige per character) on hand would also make her and her crew an even more interesting and dangerous Mirror Match for the party. It will also help lead the show party into discovering she’s involved, discovering she’s making guns, and letting Percy feel like shit for multiple episodes.

I do expect the Thordak and Raishan fights to go pretty much like they did on stream (barring the deaths, which all but one will be removed). Speaking of deaths...

While I really, really, REALLY want it to happen, it is still possible Percy’s Glintshore death will be replaced with something equally dire, like Orthax kidnapping his soul or something and torturing him a little, and after Orthax is gone his soul is separated from his body and is contemplating going with the Matron of Ravens until Someone calls his soul back to his body.

Unlike by brother, I still think Scanlan’s FIX HIM death is still going to happen. They’ve really been focusing on giving Scanlan a five-star treatment during the show (which, not gonna lie, I’m a little annoyed at), and that death and his team’s prank cements his decision to leave Vox Machina. It would also be a great point to allow Pike to perform her first resurrection rite, based off of how she saw Kashaw perform one, and set up for how Vax’s upcoming death is a death Pike cannot fix.

And then they might do something to set up the Whispered One / return of That Bitch arc, but I’m not sure what it could be. A villain scene, perhaps.

So, that’s it for my thoughts on the major plot beats.

#critical role #tlovm #tlovm spoilers #legend of vox machina #the legend of vox machina #yes I know it seems like I changed a lot but so has the show so far #vox machina

[starbuck]

Am I missing something or like... where do people get Years of time out of the ‘present’ Black Sails timeline?

Does the entire show not take place over Spring/Summer, 1715 to Winter, 1716? Which leaves us with something like 9-10 months total?

#I’m CERTAIN people with more knowledge than me have discussed this before so I’m super interested in what others have to say #ik that this throws historical accuracy out the window re: the dates but since when is the show concerned with that? #s1 is honestly the most confusing since it’s supposedly Easter (so March/April) but then at the start of s2 it’s suddenly June #so that’s why I say Spring/Summer for the beginning... I tend to mentally split the difference and call it May #with its having made its way to June by the time we get an actual date in... 2.03 I believe? #(there are still like... Technically issues with that but the Easter shit is sexy re: resurrection imagery so I don’t really care) #if Common Loons can be in Charles Town in July then Easter can be in late May I don’t give a shit #but back to the point #s2 goes by pretty quick so it’s presumably still June/early July by the end #and then we get the timeskip between seasons 2&3 which is vaguely referred to as ‘months’ #so I tend to take that as about three months which puts us around October #and then 3.01-3.05 take about a month on their own since they were becalmed for three weeks in 3.03 #so now we’re in November #just in time for Jack’s line in 3.06 that he intends to have shaken English control from Nassau ‘by Christmas’ #so it’s November-ish for the second half of the season which goes by comparatively quicker #and then I Think the timeskip between seasons 3&4 is something like two months? #I feel inclined to argue for more but I feel boxed in by the fact that it’s Winter in Philly in the second half of s4 #and the first half alone takes at least three weeks to a month #so for it to still be That Snowy in Philly dates it to February imo #and so we close out in February/March #that’s my understanding of the timeline #I might be slightly off with the length of timeskips/how long individual seasons take but as far as the bookends go I’m solid #but I have heard people mention Years of time and it makes me feel like I’ve missed something so please help me lol #between this and the Terror timeline... istg I don’t have a Thing about timelines - I don’t care THAT much about accuracy #I just like to have things in context when considering character arcs and months vs. years makes a big difference to me

[meandmyechoes]

So I've been trying to make sense of Ahsokas timeline in s7 considering the growth of her lekku when we first see her again in Coruscants underworld and I thought you'd be the best person to ask😂

Do you think her design is a design error that animators didn't think through as they like to do or do you think it actually indicates she's been away from the order for idk 3 months or something before she stumbles into the sisters? Also how much time do you think she spent with Bo-Katan (lekku growth again, new armor, they are kinda familiar with each other too) I have some thoughts but I'm not aware of any canon info on this. :')

okay let's break this down.

Design

No, the design is definitely intentional, considering Ms. Ahsoka 'D' (7.05-08) and 'E' (7.09-12) exist. They are two different 3D models and the lekku growth is noted on the character sheets. (and no, I have no idea what the Ahsoka C model is. Not mortis adult ver., not youngling ver., not Rebels adult ver., not monkey boots/original walkabout outfit)

Timeline

Actually, this problem is pretty simple, by using Anakin as a benchmark. Ahsoka met Anakin on Coruscant before he leaves for the Outer Rim Sieges in 7.06, and she saw him again during the Siege on Yerbana. So, Ahsoka stayed with Bo-Katan roughly as long as the Outer Rim Sieges has gone on.

ROTS novel states the Sieges to be 'five months' long (Ch 9). That is no longer Disney canon and does not comply with events of TCW really. so I suggest we compress the number to 3, the minimum for Padme's a baby bump to show. With 2021 Character Encyclopedia listing the Lawless arc as the earliest event in 19BBY,

it gives us the feasible timeline of: (month.week)

1.1-2 Lawless arc (5.14-16)

1.3-4 Wrong Jedi arc (5.17-20)

(2-3 Season 6, Utapau arc, Son of Dathomir, Dark Disciple Part 2, Thrawn Alliances)

3.3 Ahsoka's Walkabout (7.05-08)

3-6 Outer Rim Sieges

~5 Bad Batch arc (7.01-04)

6.3-4 ROTS/Siege of Mandalore (7.09-7.12)

In conclusion, after leaving the Order, Ahsoka spent about two months on her own, maximum two weeks with the Martez sisters and a little under three months with Bo-Katan and the Nite Owls. The Siege of Mandalore, as concurrent with Revenge of the Sith, takes about 10 days, as established in the rots timeline by allthingskenobi.

this rough work of course, neglects all hyperspace travel time.

Comments

After solving the problem, I realize it is not an intuitive reading. the lekku growth between models B and D (S5-S7) is greater than D and E (walkabout-siege), logically, then so should the B-D timeskip be longer than D-E. The feasible timeline says otherwise: B-D is 2 months apart while D-E is 3. Now I have to work backwards and suggest B-D is Ahsoka's growth spurt to explain the non-linear increase.

Last year, I initially based Bo-Katan and Ahsoka period together to be a month long based on similar observation: Not just the in-S7 growth is relatively shorter than between S5-S7, it was barely noticeable on the first watch, definitely so to the untrained eye. So I don't assume much time has passed. Especially, since Maul is an elusive target, and Bo-Katan claims, 'every minute we waste here, gives Maul an opportunity to slip away' (7.09) to highlight the urgency of the matter.

What did Ahsoka do in the blank months?

The Walkabout arc is written about an Ahsoka fresh from leaving the Order. Then, there was the Sith Temple arc in the original season 8, that was suppose to fill up the blank months after, and reconnects her back to the GAR for Siege of Mandalore. With the cancellation and revival, the Sith Temple arc is no longer compatible and thus Walkabout is pushed back to the brink of EP III. Therefore, we can only assume she travels across Coruscant, meditating and finding herself in the Force.

(concept art for original walkabout arc, by Tara Rueping)

#the clone wars #ahsoka tano #sw ref #my sw meta #lightasthesun #replies #echoesinbox #sw timelines #i have to rearrange DD again but not too much since it's already in range #forever sour about the Sith Temple arc squad #i'll literally bring it up in every conversation #1732

[rhetorical-ink]

Haikyuu!! SPOILERS: Chapter 401, How We Connect the Dots.

**PENULTIMATE SPOILERS BELOW**

I just posted a video with my live reactions to the chapter, but here are my highlights, because FURUDATE YOU MADMAN GENIUS. This chapter connected so much together. So, let’s do:

My Top 10 Thoughts on Haikyuu!! Chapter 401:

10. Of course. In true Furudate fashion, he has Kageyama block the spike from Hinata, BUT, what Kageyama doesn’t realize is all the training on the beach Shoyo has done to prepare for such a moment. And that heel kick! *swoons* Also, someone reacting to Season 4, Episode 9 of the anime, where Hinata kicks the ball back to himself called this happening all those months ago...Furudate is next level at foreshadowing. Not that we didn’t already know that.

9. Hey, remember how in the VERY FIRST chapter of Haikyuu!! Shoyo did this crazy run across the court to score? Yeah, Furudate knows we remember. And he pulls this -- and Kageyama’s beautiful reaction, only for --

-- Only for it to all be a DECOY. Kageyama, you made this monster, you know. I love that Shoyo has come all this way from wanting to score all the points to accepting that the decoy DOES have a vital role to play, and in this instance, it’s allowing Bokuto to score the winning point for the MSBY Black Jackals. Just look at that smile! And of course, Tanaka and Asahi KNOW the power of Hinata as a Decoy...because they’ve been in Bokuto’s shoes before. 

8. UGH, the aftermath of that moment is glorious, which will detail down below -- but I love Shoyo and Kageyama’s interaction, though. How they’re still keeping track of each other’s wins and losses, exhausting Miya, hilariously, and showing that they’re on equal footing now, after all these years. This chapter is just cementing the last several chapters’ worth of character development. 

7. ARE YOU SHIPPERS READY FOR YOUR FOOD?!

Because these next few pages were healing my shipper heart. I mean, yes, the Kagehina fanbase is raving right now, but let’s talk about THESE ships below, starting with:

Tsukishima x Yamaguchi:

So, Tsukishima, of course, is not sappy about any of this and just points out how the season’s just getting started (ready the fanfics, y’all). 

And of course, Yamaguchi wants to watch Tsuki play! Yachi says she’ll come too! I LOVE how just like he was with Akiteru, he doesn’t want them to come watch (even though we all know he’ll love it when they’re there). Now, some people have commented that Yamaguchi could be with Yachi, but y’all...Yachi is in Tokyo. Yamaguchi and Tsuki both live in Miyagi. I can’t wait for all the Sendai Frog/TsukiYama fanfics!

If you’re looking for an extra Kagehina crumble, just look at the end of this adorable exchange between Romero, smol adorable Rubens, and Shoyo (who perfectly crouches down to talk to him MY HEART I CAN’T), to see Kageyama notice that Shoyo can speak multiple languages...oh, honey! If only you know about Hinata and Pedro’s marathons of DBZ in Portugese and English! ^^

Also, Furudate WE SEE YOU. We see you being meta and implying that now Haikyuu!! is over, he’s moving on...Akaashi’s line about going forward hit me hard...it’s like he’s telling us, the fandom, that going on to start something new isn’t so bad. SO YOU SAY. 

BOKUAKA NATION -- WE CANON NOW, RIGHT?!

I love that Akaashi gets to interview Bokuto (IS HE GOING TO BE THE STAR of the Volleyball manga Tenma Udai is writing?! He would be PERFECT for it!) and how happy Akaashi looks, even if he and Bokuto realize how differently they view the term “normal.” 

ALSO, it’s implied above that Akaashi, Bokuto, and Tenma were going out for drinks...which now....we know that it’s just Bokuto and Akaashi, since Tenma was going home. Uhm, FAN FIC WRITERS ASSEMBLE!

I also love that Udai joins the club, along with Fukurodani’s coach and manager, of people who realize that Bokuto and Akaashi are weirdos but they are weirdos together, so it’s fine. 

Keeping the “Ship Train” going, we get little bits of Shimizu x Yachi from the bathhouse before the Inarizaki Match, where Kiyoko finally acknowledges she is okay showing her legs...thanks to Yachi’s words. I also find Suga wanting to know “the tea” on the situation to be adorable. 

AND FINALLY, YES, Y’ALL:

I was spoiled with Kuroo’s return, but seriously, Furudate, you saved him for the end here so INTENTIONALLY. 

Because OF COURSE Kuroo would work for the JVA. As a promoter. CONNECTING people...with Volleyball...because that’s the Nekoma way.

And FURUDATE ARE YOU SUGGESTING TO US THAT KUROO AND KENMA ARE BUSINESS PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS BECAUSE MY KUROKEN HEART IS SOARING -- 

-- and let it be known Atsumu Miya rightfully doesn’t trust Kuroo, and neither does Sakusa. A nice SakuAtsu crumb where we actually see Sakusa agree with Miya without sacrasm or question! Poor Shoyo is a salesman’s dream, though. I mean, Kuroo does look a little sketchy in some of those shots...BUT....

6. Kuroo’s speech about sports was SO fitting. Seriously, everything he says here is BASICALLY what makes Haikyuu!! such a great series. I DID laugh out loud at the line about “hardly anybody dies.” 

*Flashbacks to “Dead Daichi” meme*

5. It’s taken us the ENTIRE series, but Kageyama finally talks to Kindaichi and Kunimi. This was so heartwarming, seeing Kageyama wanting to play WITH THEM. AS A TEAM. This made my heart expand three sizes. The character development on Kageyama, and Kindaichi, is through the roof.

I also LOVE Kunimi the most in these panels. Kunimi is a MOOD. 

Y’ALL. I’VE WAITED 400 CHAPTERS FOR THIS PANEL OF THESE THREE HAPPY AND BECOMING FRIENDS AGAIN.

4. I love that Hoshiumi doesn’t see Hinata as a Rival, but as someone that is going to help him show the rest of the world the strength of someone who doesn’t have height. I also find it interesting that we see the Japanese Olympic Coach walking out just as Hoshiumi gives us that beautiful gaze. So...does Hoshiumi know he’s going to be on the Olympic team, with Hinata, maybe? Foreshadowing, perhaps?

3. Okay, okay, I held it together until this page. 

It wasn’t Ushijima’s panel with Washijo that got me.

It wasn’t Saeko and Akane reuniting, though that was sweet. 

It wasn’t the three “Pure Captains” reuniting, though it made my heart happy.

It honestly wasn’t the five first years together, either. They’re all so happy and having a laugh at Kageyama’s expense, and as beautiful as that panel is.

SUGAWARA IN LINE TO GET KAGEYAMA’S AUTOGRAPH.

That is what got me. 

Him in line, so meekly, to get the autograph of his kouhai, the man Suga joked would have to tell about how much he learned from HIM when he was giving out interviews and autographs...I just...Sugawara made me cry. That is all. 

2. Then there’s this last page. 2021. 

"We overcame difficulties and stand here.”

Furudate really said “screw you” to Covid messing up the timeline.

Yes, seeing Kageyama and Hinata in their original jersey numbers was amazing, but I think we all saw that coming if these two happened to get on the Olympic team. 

What I want to focus on are the two countries we see included in the bottom corner here. We see: 

Brazil -- and some fluffy haired man carrying the flag for the team.

And we see the United States -- there’s several American Flags and stars and stripes on the shirts of the crowd, there.

SO, HEADCANON TIME: 

* Oikawa was on the Argentinean League, so could he play for Brazil? It’s not likely, but not impossible....BUT, I don’t think that’s it.

I don’t think Oikawa is on Japan’s National Team for the Olympics.

If he is on the Olympic Team, I think he’ll be on America’s. 

Why? Because, and this could be because I’m the biggest IwaOi shipper, but Iwaizumi was still in the United States with Ushijima’s father at the end of Chapter 395. And if he’s still there, there is no reason why Iwaizumi couldn’t be a physical trainer alongside Ushijima’s father for the U.S. Olympic team. And why wouldn’t Oikawa trek over to the States to be on the same team as Iwa-Chan’s working with? I’m probably wrong, BUT -- 

We also still need to see Seijoh’s banner, and as others have theorized, how fitting would it be to see Hinata, Kageyama, and (probably) Ushijima on the team facing Oikawa? I just....I’m betting money that Oikawa shows up in 402. I hope we at least see him on the Olympic Stage. OIKAWA DESERVES IT. 

1. So, who are we missing that hasn’t been shown yet?

We still need to see the rest of Nekoma (Lev, Yaku, Yamamoto, Kai....could they be in the stands or on the Japan team? I guess we’ll find out!)

We haven’t seen Daishou and Mika -- I would love to see them watching or narrating in the audience during the Olympic game.

And finally, yes, we’ve seen Tendo in the Chapter 395 flashback, but we’ve never seen what he’s DOING. Furudate has shown us with every character what they’ve been doing since the timeskip....EXCEPT TENDO. I’m calling it that he’ll appear one more time next chapter, too.

So....guys....I’m staying off of Social Media from Wednesday to Sunday next week, to prep for the last chapter and not be spoiled. I’m going to do a live reaction for YouTube, and I’ll post it here. You can see the one I did for 401 now. 

Furudate, this series has been immaculate. Time for one more round.

Let’s all cry together next week.

#Haikyuu!! #Haikyuu spoilers #Haikyuu 401 #Haikyuu 395 #Haikyuu theory #Haikyuu time skip #Hq spoilers #thank u furudate #furudate you genius #Y'ALL I CAN'T #Kagehina #Tsukiyama #Atsusaku #Bokuaka #Tenma Udai #Bokuto #Akaashi #kageya #hinata shoyo #ushijim #Iwaizumi #Iwaoi #Oikawa #Tendo #Sugawara #Suga made me cry #yamaguchi #tsukishima #sendai frogs #MSBY Black Jackals

[forever-animated]

TDP Season 4 Preliminary Predictions, Part One (1-12)

So with S4 in production, no trailer in sight, and a TBA release date, it looks like there’s still a wait before we get any news on the upcoming season.

That being said, we do have some information to go on regarding what might be in store for our favorite characters. (Previous SDCC interviews, the recent Instagram Live and Reddit AMA with the creators, Callum’s Spellbook, and of course, Through the Moon.)

So I decided to put together some preliminary predictions based on the info we have so far. My desire is to create a TDP S4 bingo board just before the season airs, so that gives me 24 guesses/predictions to come up with (not including the free space). I’ll probably tweak most of these once we get our trailer, since I’m sure it’ll provide more insight as to the direction of the show.

So without further ado, here are my first 12 TDP S4 preliminary predictions...

1. Spring 2021 Release

During the Reddit AMA at the beginning of October, the creators gave the following update:

Since it’s been over a month, we can safely assume they’re in production now.

From what I understand, pre-production is mostly writing and storyboarding, possibly voice recording as well. If they’re in the production phase, that means animation has begun.

Let’s consider the turnaround time for past seasons. S1′s airdate was September 14, 2018; S2′s was February 15, 2019; and S3′s was November 22, 2019. This means that there was only a five month gap between S1 and S2, and a nine month gap between S2 & S3. 

The gap between S3 & S4 has been longer than both of those. But considering that we’ve had a global pandemic and that we’ve been waiting on Netflix to greenlight more seasons, this is to be expected. We only heard about the renewal back in July. Assuming the team started work around that time, they’ve already been working for about four months. 

If we estimate that it’ll be another five months before we see S4, (nine months in total, same as the wait between S2 and S3), that means it will air around April 2021. Of course, it could air before or after - depending on how long production takes. But I believe it’s safe to say that we could be seeing TDP S4 air in spring 2021. 

2. Timeskip < 6 Months

We know from interviews that there will be a timeskip between S3 & S4. If you’ve read Through the Moon, you know that there’s a few weeks in between the end of S3 and the beginning of the graphic novel, and that the events of the story happen in the span of about two weeks. So we can estimate that it’s been about a month between the end of S3 and the end of TTM.

We also know there will be a bit of a timeskip between TTM and the start of S4, per the Reddit AMA, but we’re not sure how long that will be.

My guess? The timeskip between S3 & S4 will be six months or less. 

I was initially going to play it safe and say “less than three years,” because anything more than that would require a recast to account for teenage Ezran. (And given how much the creators and fans LOVE Sasha, I doubt a recast will ever happen in the show.) 

But realistically, I don’t think the timeskip will be more than a half a year. The events of TTM imply that the story is very much moving forward, and anything too far in the future would give the audience too much to be caught up on. So it’ll likely be only a few months of a gap between seasons, and definitely less than six.

3. New Clothing & Hair for Characters

Many of the characters in ATLA received either new hairstyles or clothing between the seasons. So following that logic, and given that Ehasz is behind both shows, it stand to reason the same will hold true for TDP.

The creators have confirmed that Callum will be going “sun’s out, gun’s out” for S4. (Their words, not mine.) This makes sense since he now knows how to cast mage wings, and he wants them to be readily accessible at a moment’s notice.

We also see that Rayla’s sporting a new cloak when she leaves at the end of TTM, so she’ll likely have this for S4 as well. 

Ezran may get new garb as well, as he settles into his new role as king.

I also think it’s possible that their hair could change as well. Rayla’s on her own now, so her hair will probably just get longer. Maybe she’ll braid it or wrap it up in a ponytail to keep it out of her face. If Callum returns to Katolis, he might get a haircut in-between seasons. But if he goes straight out to search for Rayla, his hair might be even longer.

Either way, new hair and clothes seems like a given.

4. Older Zym

The creators have assured us in prior interviews that Zym is still very much a part of this story. It is called The Dragon Prince after all.

That being said, I think it’s possible we’ll see a slightly older Zym next season, especially due to the timeskip. I doubt he’ll get much bigger. He’ll probably go from being the size of a puppy to the size of a full-grown dog. And I don’t think he’ll talk yet. That seems like it won’t be for many years in the future.

Still, I think we can reasonably look forward to seeing an older Zym.

5. Mid Season Rayllum Reunion

I already have a post highlighting the reasons why I think Callum and Rayla will definitely reunite in S4, as I know many fans are wondering if they’ll spend the whole season apart. 

But I think this reunion may happen sooner rather than later. By that, I’m guessing it’ll happen at the midway point - either episodes 4 or 5.

This gives us the chance to have three or four whole episodes with them apart, which seems like a reasonable amount. Then we get their reunion, which’ll likely be it’s own episode. Then we get four or five whole episodes with them together again, dealing with the fallout of Rayla’s decision, working together, and hopefully reconciling by the season’s end. This seems like it could be a nice, tidy arc for them to have for the season, so that’s what I’m going to guess will happen.

Plus, it’ll have us feeling all the feels.

6. Janai’s Brother Wants the Throne

It’s been confirmed that Janai and Khessa have a younger, unnamed brother. We know nothing about him, and the creators decided not to comment when asked about him during the AMA. This means that he’ll likely be an important player for S4.

One of the writers (I believe it was Devon) also confirmed via Twitter that Janai is next in line for the throne after her sister’s death, calling her Queen Janai. 

This raises a very interesting potential plotline for S4. What if Janai decides to ally with the humans that helped during the battle at the Storm Spire? What if her brother is not happy about this? Letting a human into Lux Area was the reason Khessa died, after all.

What if Janai’s brother decided to make a play for the throne - either by contesting Janai’s rule, threatening civil war, or by trying to usurp the thone?

The creator’s have mentioned that despite the Zym being returned to Xadia, there is still a long road to peace between the elves and humans. They alluded to an “event” that makes Ezran aware of this.

Unrest / war between the Sunfire elves could very easily be what they’re talking about. And Janai’s brother wanting the throne could very easily be the catalyst for that.

7. Aaravos in the Shadows

Many fans are speculating that our main characters may now finally become aware of Aaravos’s existence in the series. As for me? I’m not so sure.

Keep in mind, outside of Viren, Claudia, and perhaps a handful of Sunfire elves, no one else in the show knows of Aaravos’s existence. He’s been keeping to the shadows, pretty clearly using Viren as his puppet. 

With the end of S3, he’s in the cocoon, leaving Viren and Claudia on their own. We don’t know how long it’ll take for him to emerge, or even what form he’ll take when that happens. But we do know that he’ll be back for S4, per Erik Todd Dellums. (And apparently, he’ll have an even sexier voice.)

I imagine he and the dark mage fam will have their own arc in S4, which may eventually intersect with whatever the main cast is up to, but not for awhile yet. As for Aaravos himself, I think he’s playing the long game. And I think part of that means staying in the shadows as much as he possible can, while he consolidates power. The goal it seems is to make his form stronger and stronger, and eventually finding a way to leave the mirror realm entirely. Why would he want to play his cards too early?

So with Viren and Aaravos out of the way for much of S4, who does this leave as the main antagonist?

8. Sol Regem, Main Antagonist

Enter Sol Regem. It’s been confirmed that we’ll see him again, after all. And we know just how much hatred he has for humans. He was hellbent on frying Callum to a crisp, even after he had agreed to return the human kingdoms.

It was revealed that Sol Regem was once revered by the Sunfire elves, before he became a symbol of rage and bitterness. Still, this reverence is an important part of Sunfire history.

This is something Janai’s brother could leverage if he’s looking to usurp the throne and pit the human-hating Sunfire elves against those that are loyal to Janai. With the literal Sun King on his side, he becomes a formidable foe.

This could be the event that leads Ezran to act. Will the humans who fought at the Storm Spire come to the aid of Janai and her people? Will the Dragon Queen weigh in on this matter? Will they need to gather the other elemental dragons together in hopes of defeating Sol Regem? (If so, this is a way we could bring Rex Igneous into the story.)

This might be a bit of a stretch, of course. But it does lead for an interesting direction for S4, and S5 as well, and would be a way to introduce more dragons and keep Zym and his mother in the story. 

And, as I stated in my Rayllum S4 reunion post, this gives Rayla incentive to stop hunting Viren and shift gears to focus on the more emergent threat. Which in turn could reunite Team Zym once again.

9. Rex Igneous Eats a Jelly Tart

It’s pretty much a given that we will meet Rex Igneous (the Earth dragon) in this season. You can see a sneak peak of him in Callum’s Sketchbook, which has the following caption:

It was also revealed by the creators that some “very important figures” would be eating jelly tarts in upcoming seasons.

Given this information, it doesn’t seem farfetched to imagine that Rex Igneous will be one of those figures.

10. Soren & Ezran Adventure / Bonding

Soren used to share his screen time with Claudia, but now that she’s out on her own with her dad, he’ll need a new buddy to share screen time with.

I nominate Ezran, mostly because S3 dealt a lot with their relationship, and it just makes sense to continue to develop this in S4. Plus, Ezran’s the king and Soren’s the guard. Where he goes, Soren follows.

So it makes sense that they’ll have an adventure together in S4.

11. Dramatic Claudia Reveal / Confrontation

I had this on my list for awhile, but Ehasz tweeted this and nearly confirmed it:

I think we’re going to get either a really dramatic reveal or confrontation between Claudia and another character. Either Viren, Soren, or possibly Callum. (I don’t think it’ll be Rayla, since she has no real connection to Claudia.) Or perhaps it’ll simply be a dramatic reveal for us, the audience.

Either way, stuff’s going down.

12. Callum Learns Moon Arcanum

The creators have mentioned that Callum will be learning more of the primal sources in future seasons. I think it stands to reason that moon will be next for him.

S3 already showed him starting to grasp a lot of the fundamentals of the source - both in their evasion of Sol Regem and in casting the spell to see Rayla’s parents. Through the Moon builds on this even more, with him using moon opals to cast more moon magic, and learning even more from Lujanne regarding the nature of the primal.

Being separated from Rayla might be the push he needs to finally unlock the arcanum once in for all. Perhaps it’ll be key to tracking her down, if he goes after her.

If not, perhaps understanding Rayla’s past and the decision that she made, and their reconciliation is what will trigger it.

Hard to say for sure, but I feel like this will relate to Rayla in some way. And it will definitely happen in S4.

Okay, that’s it for now. I’ll do a part 2 eventually and go through my last 12 predictions.

#tdp #the dragon prince #tdp season 4 #tdp speculation #tdp season 4 predictions #is it season 4 yet? #through the moon #through the moon spoilers #rayllum #ezran #rayla #callum #zym #soren #claudia #tdp fandom

[fuyupeach]

In The Works // Ryuji Sakamoto x Reader - chapter 5

prologue / ch.1 / ch.2 / ch.3 / ch.4

follow/keeo track on ao3 ! i always post there first (which is why this is being posted after MANY months here despite already being on ao3 lmao)

Your first year at Shujin finally ends, the feeling of what must’ve been weights on your shoulders finally dissipating as your footsteps increase the distance from you and the campus.

“Whoa, slow down, ____! I’m just as eager to leave as you, but the ramen shop can wait a little bit.” Ryuji chuckles behind you. You turn slightly to look at him, a small guilty look forming on your face as he limps slightly.

“Sorry,” you say, stopping for a moment as Ryuji makes his way next to you, school bag hanging loosely on his shoulder, the messenger strap on yours gripped tightly between your hands as it flops in front of you from the sudden stop. “Seeing Kamo shit a on the way out ticked me off.”

“But, the last day of school isn’t supposed to be about him. It’s about… ” you shake off the last remnants of your annoyance, jumping and latching onto Ryuji’s arm--Ryuji letting out a small, “Oof.”--as you finish your sentence. “ Ramen! ”

It had become a promise between the two of you to eat ramen as a celebration at the end of the school year since he had come back your third year of middle school. Though you weren’t a big fan of ramen, you would still eat it with him. Maybe you could convince him to let you guys find a place with great ramen and sushi as a compromise between the two of you for the end of your second year.

“Ha, yeah, the douchebag had that ugly smirk on his face, as usual.” Ryuji continues walking with your arm looped through his, the two of you almost at the station. “ Bleh, just thinkin’ ‘bout him puts a bad taste in my mouth. But, you’re right, let’s go. RAAMENN! ” he shouts, pumping his free arm in the air, a laugh escaping you.

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

Your summers had become much more eventful thanks to Ryuji, but it didn’t stop you from your homebody tendencies, you still needed a break from the fun, and the competitive atmosphere that couldn’t be beat when it came to the arcades during the summer. How all these people could be constantly worked up about Gun About beats you, but to each their own. You had finally managed to win one of the electronic prizes from the claw machine with Ryuji’s help, so you were content for a while.

The very same plum colored headphones you had won were on your head as you sit on your bed, back against the wall as you scrolled mindlessly on your phone for cat videos. Your actual cat, Luna, lays at your feet, unperturbed by the lamp that dimly lit your room and her black fur in turn, her ears already accustomed to the sound of Ryuji’s voice that floated into your room from the bathroom. Your mother had already knew Ryuji almost as long as you did, surprisingly agreeing on Ryuji sleeping over for the night, more than likely because of the few all nighters you would spend with him helping him study for finals. Your mother and brother were just like Ann and Shiho, taking opportunities to tease you about Ryuji, your mother winking as she agreed.

“--____! ____!” You hear Ryuji’s voice cut in from your headphones. You check your phone to see it’s past midnight.

“ Shh! ” You say, putting your headphones down on your bed and striding quickly to the bathroom. “Everyone’s already asleep--” You peek into the bathroom, cutting yourself off as you see Ryuji. You had known he was in the process of bleaching his hair--you were actually the one to encourage him to do it as he tentatively brought it up to you one day--, but actually seeing it in the process was something in itself. “Wow.” You bring yourself to say after staring for a few moments.

Ryuji dismisses you with a wave before looking away from the mirror and turning to you. “Their doors are closed anyway; I doubt I was that loud. Didn’t know how high you had your headphones up.” He smiles. “But anyways, do ya mind helping me get the rest of this bleach on the back of my head? I wanna make sure everything is covered. Extra gloves are in the box over there.” Ryuji nods over to the box he’s sitting to the right of on the bathtub counter.

You reach over and pluck the gloves from the box that read ‘Palty’, pulling an extra plastic seat from the corner of the bathroom and plopping behind Ryuji, gloves now on. Ryuji hands you the container with the bleach, quickly running you through what to do. You apply the bleach to his hair as he bounces his knees, tapping his fingers against them as he hums a tune. “Thanks.” Ryuji says, turning to you for a second while you put more bleach on the brush, sending a grin your way.

“No problem, Ryu.” You mumble, focused on applying the sections as well as you could.

“This is gonna turn out awesome!” Ryuji exclaims. You can tell by his voice alone the excitement he’s holding back so you can finish, fist pumping the air once you are.

“I definitely think it will.” You smile back at him as he pulls the plastic cap over his head. “Shouldn’t be too hard to manage since your hair is short.”

An hour passes as you help Ryuji wash and tone his hair, the both of you staring in awe, him through the mirror and you at him. His hair was still a little damp, but the change was one you thought suited Ryuji really well, a small flush tinting your cheeks.  

“For real?” Ryuji smiles as he inspects his hair. “This is so cool.”

“See?” You smirk, eyes closed in a smug expression. “Told you it’d turn out great. You’re welcome.” You open your eyes just in time to see Ryuji holding out his hand, giving him a high five before you two clean up settle down for the night.

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

Timeskip 4/11

“What’s taking him so long…?” You tap your feet against the floor, the turtleneck underneath your uniform coat doing a somewhat good job at staving off the cold that came with this morning’s rain. You had remembered that with the early spring season often came rain, so you had snagged an umbrella before you left. If it rained, great, if it didn’t, well then you’d be carrying an umbrella around for the rest of the day. Lucky for you, it was. Knowing Ryuji however, he more than likely won’t have one when he arrives… But seriously, where was he? You take a quick glance around the outside of Aoyama-Itchome Station before shifting your umbrella in your hand, getting ready to take out your phone so you could text him.

You don’t get a full word in before you hear Ryuji’s voice calling out to you.

“___!” You turn to see him jogging towards you and ducking for cover--because just as you guessed, he had no umbrella. “Sorry, slept in a bit.”

“Hah,” You shake your head. “Should’ve known. Well, let’s go, sleepyhead, don’t wanna be late. Get under.” You motion for Ryuji to follow you, hand raising the umbrella just a bit higher. You were on the taller side, so there wasn’t that big of a gap between Ryuji and you.

“Who’re you calling the sleepyhead?” Ryuji pokes your rib as he walks alongside you. “I’m not the one who sleeps over 9 hours on weekends--”

Ryuji’s voice cuts off as he sees something in front of him catch his attention, running ahead and leaving you in confusion. You turn your head in the direction he ran off towards, connections clicking in your head as you see Ann get in the car you both knew well as Kamoshida’s. Oh boy. You sigh. You had asked Ann on multiple occasions about Kamoshida, and if there was anything you could do to help, but she had refused countless times, saying she could handle it on her own, making you promise not to tell Shiho. This didn’t stop you from making up and excuse whenever you would see her being harassed in the school hallways, your method of “girl related things” or “family emergencies” more effective than Ryuji’s that tended to be on the aggressive side. As angry as you are at Kamoshita, the both of you needed to stay on campus; if passive aggressive words were all you could fight with, then so be it.

You jog after Ryuji, careful not to slip in your sneakers against the tiled floor as the car drives off before he could reach it. He passes by another student that seems to be seeking shelter from the rain, his hair and glasses already covering half of his face.

“Dammit...screw that pervy teacher.” Ryuji mutters as he slows to a stop. You follow not too far behind, bringing the umbrella up over his head again, slightly winded. Man, you hated exercise…

“Pervy teacher..?” The student mumbles, gaining the attention of the two of you.

“...What do you want?” Ryuji snaps at the boy, a scowl forming on his face, his classic “vulgar” expression. “You plannin’ on rattin’ me out to Kamoshida?”

“Kamoshida?” The boy calmly asks, slightly confused, phone in his hand moving as he does so.

“Huh?” Ryuji blinks back, now confused. “In that car just now. That was Kamoshida.” Ryuji looks away in irritation. “He does whatever the hell he wants. Who does he think he is--the king of a castle? Don’t you agree?”

“Which castle?” the boy inquires, bringing a chuckle out of you.

“Uh, it’s just a sayin’...” Ryuji trails off as you can’t help but chuckle some more. He pauses for a few seconds before speaking again. “...Wait, you don’t know Kamoshida?” he scoffs, scrutinizing the boy. “Are you for real? You’re from Shujin, right?”

“I think so.” the boy nods.

Hm… “Are you a transfer student?” you ask, peering silently at the boy. He nods as you zone in on his uniform coat. More specifically the ‘2’ on his collar. “Oh, you’re a second year too.”

Ryuji chuckles darkly. “Then no wonder you don’t know him.” You check your phone before notioning your head in the direction of the school.

“As great as this introduction is,” you drawl out sarcastically. “We should get going, I don’t want to be late.”

Ryuji lets out a huff of laughter before turning back to the boy. “This rain ain’t too bad. We better hurry up or we’ll be late.”

You all take a step to move before a wave of pain flashes against you. “Ngh!” You cry out, almost dropping your umbrella. It seems the boy and Ryuji had felt it too, hands both on their heads. You feel light-headed as Ryuji speaks.

“Are you okay?” he asks as you nod slowly. You ask him the same. “Yeah, I’m fine, my head just hurts.. Dammit… I wanna go home.” Ryuji sighs as you keep walking, the boy following silently a few steps behind you.

-------

You make your way through the backstreet shortcut you and Ryuji knew well, the walkways casted in a purple hue that was different that what you usually saw. Maybe it had something to do with that sudden head pain earlier…? You hoped the light-headedness you had felt wasn’t involved with it. You follow by Ryuji, stopping firmly in your tracks as you both gape in disbelief at what was supposed to be the school that was currently in front of you.

A giant castle stands tall in front of you, the skies and clouds around in casted in the same murky purple you had saw on the walk over.

“Um…?” you mumble, confused.

“We didn’t… come the wrong way though…” Ryuji speaks, looking behind him, the boy joining him. “Yeah, this should be right.” you all see the school sign in front.

“What’s going on here? I guess we’ll just have to go and ask.” Ryuji walks ahead as the boy follows him, you still stuck in place.

“I don’t have a good feeling about this… At all.” You state, taking tentative steps behind them as you follow, closing your umbrella.

-----

“Th-That’s weird… Where’s the school…?” Ryuji trails off.

“Did we make a wrong turn?” The boy pipes up.

“No,” You say firmly. “We didn’t. And there’s never been a castle in this town, this just doesn’t make sense.” You bring your arms around you. “Where are we?”

Ryuji pulls out his phone, his eyes widen. “Out of service..?” He puts it in his pocket. “The sign was for the school, right?” You nod. The boy vocalizes his agreement. “Right?! You saw it too!”

A sudden armored figure appears in front of you all, a creepy blue mask as it’s face, wielding a sword and a worn shield just as big as it. You take a step back.

“Geez, you scared me…” Ryuji mutters. “Who’re you? You a student?” Ryuji takes a few steps closer to the silent figure. “Ryuji…” you caution as he waves you off. “Man, your costume’s impressive… Is that armor real?”

The figure still doesn’t respond, moving up and down slightly as it stares down at all of you. Ryuji crosses his arms and leans on one leg. “C’mon, don’t just stand there. Say somethin’.”

“Ryuji.” you say more firmly, taking his arm as another one approaches you. “I think we should go.”

“...H-Hey, what;s goin’ on?” Ryuji questions.

“Is he school staff?” The boy asks. You turn to him with an exasperated sigh. “If they were, they would’ve said something already, don’t you think?”

“...This shit’s real.” Ryuji frowns. “We better run. Go!”

“Got it.” The boy nods.

You all break for the exit to no avail, more knights surrounding you.

“Ugh, what’s with these guys!?” Ryuji exclaims before he’s hit in the back by one of the knights. “Oww… Y-You’re gonna break my bones, dammit! The hell you think you’re--Aagh!”

“Ryuji!” you try to make your way to him before another knight does the same to you, the breath knocked out of you as you fall forward.

“Take them away!” you hear one of the knights say as your surroundings go black.

#ryuji sakamoto x reader #ryuji x reader #persona 5 x reader #persona 5 #persona 5 fanfiction #peach writes

[themikewheelers]

I saw this idea on another blog (can’t remember what the name sorry) that the “major change” at the end of s3 could be a cliff hanger sorta and s4 would be a time skip When you look at it COULD be something they could pull off I mean by now you can tell the kids (and the teen’s actors!) have grown just from stopping production s3 then you have 4 months until s3 THEN a couple months of press THEN writing the scripts, finally filming s4 A time skip could be possible but the only thing I fear (1/2)

(Continued) would be how LONG of a time skip? How exactly would it affect the show? I guessed I’d have to wait till s3 but what do you of a time skip? Interesting? Dumb? Impossible? Possible? (2/2)

Also I’d like to add that the theory would be like a MAJOR time skip not a usual 1 year ordeal like 2-3 year skip. Just wanted to make it clear

I mean I’m sure they’re gonna do another time skip as always, but I don’t really know if they would do one that big. There gets to a point where too large of a time skip is just…. awkward. Like I’ve seen shows do it where characters are much older so there’s not as much of an effect. I’ve seen shows do it for a final season, but where it’s kinda established waaay in advance that the time skip is gonna be the end (if they did this for s3, even if s4 is the final season, we wouldn’t know until /after/ season 3 is released, and they would likely hint to the timeskip at the end of s3 or it would be like the first detail of s4 we learn right after the release). I feel like it would just be very awkward, especially because the only reason they do the timeskips is to keep up with the child actors growing up and crap, but if they did a time skip like that with a cliffhanger, they would have to film flashback scenes to explain everything that has changed in so many years, and it would just be….. super awkward bc then the kids would look exactly the same between the flashbacks and 2-3 years into the future. It would be like the s2 scene of Mike when the government was interrogating him about El only,,,, several ties worse. Doing that would ultimately look worse than if they just did no timeskip or the regular year-long one. Idk. I wouldn’t rule it out as a possibility but it just doesn’t strike me as something they’d do, it also just doesn’t rlly strike me as fitting with the style of the show. Like I know I’ve been asked about it before, but when it comes to cliffhangers in s3, I don’t think there will be any cliffhangers in the sense that it’s a direct stop in the action and we don’t know how anything resolves. That’s completely out of style compared to the past two seasons and how they’ve written it. But I do 100% think there will be cliffhangers in terms of unanswered questions and parts of the plot that may be knowingly or unknowingly unresolved. Like for s2, we had it good. No cliffhangers, no questions, everything was wrapped up nice and tightly. But for s1 what we had was everything was finished and resolved and there were no direct cliffhangers, but even after the dust settled, there were still all these questions and things people didn’t know and aspects of the plot that carried over into the set up for s2. That’s what I’m expecting to be the case again for s3. Everything will be resolved enough to the point where there’s no more action occurring, but there will be parts of the plot leftover to stretch into season 4. 

[theclacks]

Angel Thoughts - Season 3

So these were super delayed because of stuff. And mildly tainted because I’ve already gone on and watched the first 7-8 episodes of Season 4. But I’m writing them down anyway. (Also at least my predictions for Season 4 are pure/aka written down right after I finished watching.)

Previous Seasonal Recaps: BtVS S1+S2, BtVS S3, BtVS S4 + AtS S1, BtVS S5 + AtS S2, BtVS S6

I’m going to try and keep this short and sweet. 

On Darla and the pregnancy arc:

I thought the Darla pregnancy storyline was going to repetitive of last season’s Darla arc, but I liked it. I liked the conclusion and how Darla had to stake herself and that’s her death = redemption arc. Actually, I think I was like “HOLY SHIT, SHE’S NOT-- OH MY GOD SHE IS--!” when she staked herself but yeah.

On Fred:

So it took me awhile to warm up to her, but now I love Fred. And OH MY GOD, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop in the episode with her parents but I LOVE THE FACT THAT HER PARENTS ARE JUST COOL WITH IT AND LOVING AND SUPPORTIVE AND OH MY GOD IT IS JUST THE BEST TWIST.

On Fred/Gunn/Wesley love triangle:

I also loved it. I loved how they made Fred/Gunn a thing (they remind me of Rey/Finn is a lot of ways) and how cute they are compared to all of the seriousness around them. I like how it’s a relationship with two completely different... well, not brain types because Gunn is smart, he’s just not book smart. But no one is like “Fred is inherently better because she’s college educated” or “Gunn’s not good enough for her”. They just like each other and they work. Also there isn’t an episode where there’s drama because they don’t share the same interests (in fact they go the opposite way by introducing Gunn to ballet, which was the BEST).

Which speaking of the ballet episode and the Wesley part of the love triangle, I like how they resolved in that one episode and Wesley just backed off. I was legit scared they were going to go the jealous!Wesley is possessed by the count’s spirit or something, but no. Wesley is a BAMF and he knows when to let go.

On the supportive Cordelia/Angel as team Mom/Dad + baby relationship:

Again I loved it. (Plus Uncle Lorne stepping in as baby sitter and singing resentful lullabies about not getting invited to the ballet.) I think part of that was balanced out by the stark contrast to Season 6 Spike/Buffy that was going on at the time. Like the blondes are having wall to wall angry sex, knocking down entire buildings, and a couple hundred miles away in LA, the brunettes are lying down all chill with a bottle of milk and baby Conner between them, just talking. Like they were two completely different relationships and they worked like that. (Well, Spike/Buffy was self-imploding, but yeah). And yeah... then things started tanking...

On the Angel/Cordelia romantic relationship:

I was totally behind Angel suddenly developing these feelings and Cordelia having no clue/being dismissive. And I didn’t even mind Groo popping back up and essentially being a romantic cockblocking cliché (mostly because Groo is plain awesome).

BUT. I hated the final episode where Cordelia just talks to vision of herself as is like “okay yeah. i’m in love with angel. totally.”

NO. NO. NO.

THAT IS NOT HOW YOU DO ROMANTIC DEVELOPMENT/REALIZATION. NO.

And I was about ready to forgive it (a little) because of how cute their phone conversation was when Cordelia said she wanted to meet him, but then they got cockblocked again by the Powers That Be, so wtf???

On Wesley’s betrayal:

So I’m super fine with the fact that Angel didn’t forgive him, but I’m not sure why every single other member of the team followed suit? Well, I mean, Fred pretty much instantly forgave him so four for you, Fred. You go, Fred.

But yeah, it’s not like Wesley was directly in league with Holtz, planning to hand Conner over. And, it’s like, I could see them giving Wesley a cool off period out of support to Angel if Wesley was physically fine, but he wasn’t. HE GOT HIS THROAT CUT. HE NEEDED SUPPORT TOO. And, like, yes Cordelia was gone during the immediate aftermath of this and was Team Mom but am I really supposed to believe she was like “oh wesley thought angel was prophesied to kill conner so he tried to take him away to save him but got his throat cut? hmmm... well, i guess wesley deserved it. i won’t check on him to make sure he’s still alive or anything, even though we’ve known each other for the past four years”??? Like COME ON.

On the ep where Cordelia becomes a demon:

This was my favorite episode after the ballet ones. Cordelia is still my fave and this was a much needed episode in a season where it kind of felt like she got picked up and put back down whenever the plot remembered/forgot about her?

On Conner timeskipping to be a teenager:

AAAAAANGST. I did like his interactions with the druggie girl though. Nice, tragic one-off character.

On predictions for next season:

(as i mentioned, i’ve already started watching the next season, but these were written the minute i finished season three (aka a month or so ago))

- Angel will spend the entire summer at the bottom of the lake

- and Cordelia's a literal angel thing now? and Fred and Gunn are 100% clueless about what's going on… but Wolfram and Hart would be on the whole "where the fuck is angel?" cluetrain, and they'd send Wesley to do something, or Wesley would learn about it, and he'd team up with Fred and Gunn

- and with the powers of Wolfram and Hart they’ll find Angel somehow

- IDK the only other option would be Cordelia coming back all "lol i'm here temporarily to help you out" and she’d light them a beacon in the sea to find Angel (and I know she comes back because she's on the cover of the DVDs)

- anyway, Angel will be free and there's going to be drama with Connor; i'm predicting a mid-season climax/turn back to the light side

- I'm guessing Angel/Cordelia angst in the form of her going, "i'm only here temporarily. i'm going to reascend soon. we can't be together" and Angel will be all "i could never be with you physically anyway so can we just watch netflix and chill?"

- and then, yeah, Cordelia will re-ascend at some point because I'm 90% she's not in season 5

- Fred and Gunn will continue being cuties but because this is a Whedon show, something will happen externally to break them up. I've heard there's a character named Illyria who eventually exists, and Amy Acker also plays her so Fred becomes Illyria or something? And then the Fred/Gunn/Wesley love triangle re-ignites? Except for now it's Illyria/Gunn/Wesley? (i am more stoked to figure out what the hell happens with this vs any sort of angel/conner/apocalypse drama)

- Holtz's girlfriend will die at some point because she's a terrible person

- Lilah will continue to kick ass, rise above Daniel Dae Kim, and get an offer to become a senior partner aka some sort of devil demon

- the show will cease to follow Angel and instead follow Lilah and Cordelia as they become two giant opposing forces on a higher plane and… okay, yeah, that's not going to happen but a girl can dream

- Lorne will live because... alright, I don’t have a reason, I just want him to live because he’s my second favorite character and I want a scene with him and Spike together next season

#btvs #ats #angel the series #//// #///// #clacks from theclacks

[shellfishsteam]

Generator Rex’s timeline

I’m not trying to set up dates for occurrences in the past. Nothing on Alpha’s creation or Rex’s accident.

Just the show.

(For the sake of this timeline, we will assume episodes are in chronological order. The happenings of episode 2 occur after those of episode 1, and so on.)

We have several clues in reference to the school year:

-Episode 3 apparently happens during Spring Break, which would put it somewhere in March or April. -Episode 11 has Noah’s  junior prom as its main storyline. Prom is either in May or June. -In Episode 17, Noah spends several days at Bootcamp. This implies it’s school break, and if episodes are in chronological order, it’s most likely during summer vacation. -S2E1, S2E11, and S3E8 all occur during Noah’s senior year. “Hermanos” must have happened during a break for Noah, Claire and Annie to be available for several days. Given that many seniors (particularly ambitious ones like Noah) spend most of their breaks before graduation studying, the episode most likely occurs during the summer after they have finished high school. So yes, Noah probably graduated during S3, and we completely missed it.

Noah still being in school (during “Guy vs Guy”) after the 6-month timeskip also sets a date on the S2 finale. Depending on which state Noah goes to school in, vacation can begin from late May to late June, so the pre-time travel parts of “Lions and Lambs” could not have happened after January. (I assume “6 months” means somewhere between 5.5 - 6.5 months. Not that much room for inaccuracy.)

Then there’s character’s comments on how long something has been:

In S2E3, Six says Rex only remembers the past 18 months.

The earliest moment Rex can remember is when he first meets Six in the flashback during “Promises, promises”. That is also the day Rex celebrates his birthday, and the one year anniversary of his time at Providence.

You heard me right. Only 1 year went by between the flashbacks and the present. He hasn’t even been around for two years, aka 24 months, by “Waste Land”, and that’s several episodes later.

Even if you ignore the “18 months”, it’s evidently Rex’s first birthday at Providence. Six says he’s “surprised [Holiday] chose that day” to celebrate (why would he say that if Rex has had other birthdays with them?), and the way Holiday says “Rex has changed everything” also strikes me as said change being pretty recent.

And “Promises, promises” contains a further clue as to its date! 

The throwaway line that Rex is about to get his flu shots.

According to most sources, you are supposed to be injected with the flu vaccine by early fall. There’s some debate on whether it’s a good idea to get them by mid-summer, so just to be sure, we’ll be generous and place the episode somewhere between July and October.

Given that Episode 1 takes place a bit before March/April, this gives us at a minimum 4, at a maximum 9 months between Episode 1 and the events of the “Promises, promises” flashbacks. Not a whole lot of time.

An aside on the “18 months” comment:

If Six is being precise, this is at the very earliest the January (July two years ago + 18 months)  of the year after Ep1. However, if E1 was really 5 years after the Nanite Event (aNE), this would put “Waste Land” at almost 6 years aNE. If “Mixed Signals” happens after the episode, it would either make Caesar being lost for 5 years nonsense, or mean he’d already been around on Earth for a year. Yeah, I don’t think so.

Furthermore, remember how I said ‘Lions and Lambs’ could happen no later than January? The earliest possible date for Six to say it’s been 18 months is the same January. And there’s almost an entire season between the two episodes.

What I’m saying is: the only straightforward “fact” we have for the timeline is completely useless. It’s up to you to decide if Six is being grossly inaccurate or to pretend the entire comment is non-canon.

The timeline I’ve created happens to cohere with the continuing comments made on how long it’s been since the Nanite Event (which have always bugged me). So here you go:

In early spring, about 5 years after the Nanite Event, Rex makes his first public appearance.(Ep. 1) About half a year later, he celebrates his “birthday”. S1’s last two episodes and S2 happen in relatively quick succession. The time aNE, when rounded, is still 5. At the latest in January, Rex disappears with Breach. Sometime before the school year ends, he’s found in the desert. From this point on, it is more accurate to say it’s been 6 years aNE.

Basically: E1 (pre-March) E19 (sometime between July and October) S2E19 (at the latest, January)

Season 3 also takes a few months, which would put the finale somewhere in summer or fall.

Given that Rex doesn’t celebrate his second birthday/anniversary, the finale may have happened before whenever that is, in-story. But it’s also possible everyone forgot about it, or they decided against celebrating it because they were busy, or because of Six’s memory loss, or some other reason. tldr; I have nothing certain on “Endgame”.

By the way, this also implies the Nanite Event took place during spring or early summer. I didn’t expect to figure out anything about it, so I’m really pleased.

However, no matter how I look at it, Caesar saying the time-warp took him ahead 5 years still doesn’t seem quite right. It’s five and a half. Nothing else makes sense. He may have been hiding something, but it’s way more likely MoA just can’t do numbers. (or they don’t think half a year matters. Yes it does)

I could attempt to make the timeline even more exact, but the complete lack of specific dates in the entire series makes that nigh impossible. We don’t even have any holiday specials! (I hate that this works as a pun.) And there’s pretty much no way of knowing how much time passes between subsequent episodes.

A lot happens before the series that’s only alluded to. When was Providence founded? How much time went by between Rex selling out the gang and him being found by Six? etc, etc. But that is outside of the scope of this post, which is already long enough as it is.

#Generator Rex #genrex meta #the Nanite Event #uh #I hope this is coherent

[xavidotron]

Chuubo’s Book 1 Thoughts

Quests

Quests! Quests are great. I love quests. A++, would quest again.

I guess I should probably say more than that.

Storyline quests are this brilliant evocative point of conveying worldbuilding/feel through symbolism and narrative elements without getting bogged down in specifics. Finding a spring of clear water or telling stories about the death of the sun or whatever helps establish a certain part of the Chuubo’s feel, but is also super-flexible so you don’t feel like you’re tied to some railroad tracks of the True Jenna Story.

Anytime quests were cool too, but less distinctive from other systems I’ve played.

Pacing was a bit weird for quests relative to our natural progression of play. One of my players said “For Chuubo’s I thought that the lack of convergence between the quests we had and the events in the story was a problem in that there wasn't any reason for a quest to end when we achieved what we were working towards in-story or vice versa.” The first arc quests seemed a bit long, in that they stopped being interesting before we hit XP targets. The second quests ended up being the other way around, where we hit XP targets before the quest felt narratively complete. (I don’t know if we just got better at generating XP or what.) Obviously in this second case being on more quests at once is an option, but it still ended up feeling a bit weird narratively.

It does make me wonder how the XP targets for storyline quests are determined, other than the “about half of XP can come from major goals” guideline. They seem pretty variable and arbitrary. It also makes me wonder if it’d make sense to have XP targets/totals for arcs but not individual quests, and move onto the next quest based on narrative appropriateness.

(I also have vague ideas for a quest progression more general than the eight arcs, but that’s for another time.)

Issues

Issues I’ve had a lot of trouble with. They’d hang around for a while, and it wouldn’t seem like it was ready to move to the next step yet, and then they’d get lost track of. Or the next step wouldn’t seem to make sense, like “It Never Stops” requiring making commitments for some reason despite the summary making it seem like it was more about irrational stuff happening to you.

Part of this might be that I should’ve been using Issues for smaller stuff, not for major Book plot stuff. Honey’s Calling issue got stuck because her relationship with Fairyland was a major, long-term plot that’s been gradually evolving, not something that should be pressed to resolve quickly. Maybe discussing smaller and/or more pastoral stuff for issues would’ve worked better.

But also, I think a lot of my trouble was that I was treating the cards as if they should be sufficient information for how to play the issue, like they are for quests, when actually the guidance from the book would’ve helped me conceptualize things a lot better. (I also had the “Which Issue Should I Give?” table on a reference sheet, but that didn’t prepare me for later levels of an issue either.) I’ve prepared one-pagers for issues that I’m going to try for Book 2, hopefully those will help things go more smoothly.

Issues are also weird in that they play in a similar space to Quests, but in a different way. They remind me of the Bond/Affliction dichotomy in that respect. For example, if a character gets poisoned and eventually finds a way to turn that into a source of strength, is that the Sickness Issue or a quest like Poisoned? It’s not necessarily bad to have two different mechanics for a character’s narrative progression, but I think this helped make Issues, in some ways the more general/less tailorable/less active mechanic, harder to grasp for me.

Issue timing is also a bit weird for me. I was attempting to use the “Simplified Implementation”, as recommended for tabletop games focused on in-character play, which has you assign Issues once per chapter or natural breakpoint. In practice for us, this mostly meant between sessions. This worked weirdly with the “Lowering an Issue” rules, which would have each player also lose a point from some issue after each session. I pretty much ignored lowering issues, mainly because it seemed like it’d result in an issue that didn’t feel ready for, say, Level 4 ping-ponging between levels 2 and 3, which would generate lots of MP but not make a lot of sense. Certainly there are some issues that should’ve gone away at this point that I’ll probably clear for book 2, though.

Intentions

Intentions I was familiar with from Nobilis. That doesn’t mean I’m actually good at them. Largely we formed intentions backwards: a player says “I want to convince the Duke to set the rabble rousers free and have them accompany me as ambassadors.” and I look at the ladder and figure out what level of ladder success that seems to need and any relevant Obstacles and say “well, you’d probably need an intention N”. I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with this, but it doesn’t really use the full expressiveness of the ladder, and it doesn’t seem to be the intent.

Also, I’m really bad at remembering the “get 1 Will back when you succeed or fail” rule.

Miraculous Arcs

Arc powers were really cool in an evocative metaphysics way, providing flexibility while also giving you lots of guidance and idea seeds. They also have lots of hair. I think we definitely used miracles less than we otherwise might because that meant paging through the arc printouts, finding the relevant power (possibly among several versions), reading the text to make sure it applies properly, and trying to remember how many times we’ve used this power and how long ago that was. I definitely feel like simpler cost structures would make it easier to use arc abilities in play. (Or at least, if cost structures tended to work the same way for different powers, it’d be easier to remember.) And I still like the idea of simplified “playbook” reference sheets so it’s easier to find a power and quickly get an idea of what it does.

That said, the miraculous arcs definitely added a lot to the game narrative-wise. At Arc 3, it creates a feel of “the PCs can solve pretty much any problem, but it’ll be interesting to see how they do it”, which I quite enjoyed. But it seems like it would have played similarly with more simply-worded and -costed abilities.

Genre

When I went into this game, I had the intention of trying to stick closely to the Pastoral genre, as it seemed the most different from what I’ve played in the past and it reminded me of, like, Ghibli movies, which I love. I was… partially successful? In practice, we ended up swapping into another genre, maybe Adventure Fantasy, periodically. Our miraculous powers and the arc baggage, plus the ambient excitement in the setting, plus our natural inclinations made it easy to get into exciting situations that didn’t want to play out over the course of weeks with Pastoral actions. But I do feel like having the default be “two XP actions a week, skip time between scenes” really helped me get a handle on pacing for tabletopping, which is something I’ve struggled with before, and that default structure, the festival calendar, and the other incidentals made us hew much closer to a Pastoral feel then we’d have gotten otherwise, even if we didn’t stick strictly to it.

(I’m inclined to formalize the genre split for Book 2, though I’ll see how the players feel.)

For a bit, I was trying to be more aggressive about bonus XP for in-genre XP actions, because the Quest 1s felt like they were taking too long to complete. But it ended up feeling intrusive and disruptive to play to prompt players with the bonus XP conditions, so I gave up on that. The Quest 2s felt too short, and XP actions work fine without paying attention to the bonus XP conditions, so I feel like leaving them out entirely is totally fine.

Despite it being helpful, I’m still a bit mixed on the strict week schedule. It lead to pretty strict tracking of what week of Spring it was and what day of the week, which felt a bit out of place; in Steven Universe or Totoro you have time passing and seasons progressing, but you don’t pay attention to exactly how many days have passed. Having chapter transitions vary between “it’s several days later” and “some weeks have passed and it’s now the night before Celdinar Day” and “some months pass, and the days are getting longer, and the flowers are blooming on the cliffs by Big Lake” seems potentially more evocative and natural, but possibly harder to systematize.

Also, particularly in the Adventure Fantasy sections, tying XP action refresh to Will refresh seems a bit weird. Being out of XP actions is comparatively boring, so I’d be tempted to call a new chapter even if exciting stuff was in the middle of going on. But, that could make a character go from “exhausted and battered” to “doing pretty well” without in-game passing, which is pretty uninspiring. One option that might work for this game structure is that you only get Will/MP refresh at the start of a Pastoral chapter; if you’re off storming the Bleak Academy you can take lots of Wicked and Decisive actions but you’re not going to get your Will back until you get home and get a good night’s sleep, or at least find time to have some Slices of Live or Shared Reactions in the shadow of the Bleak.

(Another concept I had was, rather than having XP Actions be a resource, just have a dinosaur or something you pass around with the person with the dinosaur next in line for an XP action. I feel like this tears out the structure supporting Pastoral timeskips, though. A related concept is doing bonus XP actions at or during genre-shifts.)

Another thing that I think would’ve worked well with a Pastoral feel was more focus on little problems somewhat easily solved but with emotional content or other significance. Lost kids, outside storms, a confused fire elemental. Stuff not necessarily or obvious connected to a Big Book Plot. We did some of this (Honey going to Fairyland to get Hope Flowers for the school festival, Nicholas getting Sessily enrolled in School), but maybe in my habit of trying to tie everything together I missed out on opportunities for more stuff along these lines.

With this, something that felt missing because of my preconceived notions of Chuubo’s was system support for things going wrong and unintended consequences. If you’ve got Chuubo as a PC, his MWGE has built-in ways and parameters for wishes to backfire, but the Chuubo's rules as written generally seem to assume that miraculous abilities will work according to your intention by default. Having mechanical support or incentive for powers to go wrong, have unintended consequences, or complicate things in general seems like it’d work well with Pastoral Chuubo’s’s juxtaposition of simple, honest life and reality-breaking powers. It'd give lots of opportunity for simple Pastoral exploration of the consequences of over-the-top things. At least, it seems like you should get an MP discount when you use your powers in a way that makes things worse. (To be fair, we did a fair amount of this anyways with Honey’s involuntary uses of her Called Away powers to get her into trouble.)

(Hmm, maybe this is part of the concept of how Frantic is supposed to go? I don’t think our Frantic PC ever used it.)

On an unrelated note, one thing I like doing is having players whose characters aren’t in a scene temporarily adopt NPCs, particularly NPCs they have a connection to. Having XP actions be explicitly a player-level so you can use them even when acting as an NPC or whatever could be interesting support for that, though it’d also be a little weird, and it doesn’t seem like it’d come up enough to be important.

Narritivism

One thing that I really liked that might be more subtext than actual text in Chuubo’s is player-driven scene framing. The XP actions and quest stuff motivates players to sometimes say “can we have a scene where X happens?” instead of focusing just on in-character actions, and I quite liked that collaborative approach.

Beyond that, and mostly outside the system, we ended up with some “dictated scenes” (a term from Microscope) where one player talks about what happens when they’re off on their own, including the environment and what NPCs do. This most notably happened with Honey, in part because her player has a much clearer concept of Fairyland than I do, but I think Nicholas did something similar at some point, and I as HG did a similar thing a few times as a sort of “cut scene” to bridge to a scene I actually wanted to play.

Rituals and Transitions

Rituals are a good way of advancing the plot when no one has a predefined power that does what you want and are fun and collaborative. The rituals we used tended to be improvisational one-offs, rather than set predefined things, but that was fine. I certainly could’ve used them more, but with the amount of miracles we were throwing around and not being Full Techno there didn’t seem to be much need to. Like, we could’ve done the Sailing Big Lake ritual every time we went through Big Lake, but it seemed like it’d slow things down in a way that wasn’t quite right for Nicholas’s implausibly-effortless approach to sailing.

Transitions I often ended up in one of two situations: not having appropriate material prepared when I wanted to do one or forgetting to use my material when it would be appropriate to have a transition. I mean, I prepared all this Charon stuff before the first session and never used it despite all the Charon-flavored Underworld nonsense we got up to! But it’s all good. I feel like they’re cool conceptually, but also not all that different from a more standard described transition (which has some conceptual overlap with “cut scenes”).

Conclusion

Chuubo’s has a lot going on and has certainly given me a lot to think about. It’s certainly up there with Wisher, Theurgist, Fatalist in opening new venues of thought on game design for me. While I’m sure sooner or later I’ll try to abstract some of my favorite parts into something simpler, the mechanical elaborateness hasn’t kept it from being amazing, and it’ll be interesting to see where Book 2 goes with perhaps a bit better understanding of things.

#cmwge #tabletopping