#i just keep mentioning it because Chess Important to Theme of Game

[justanotherstarlightmonger]

Helsinki Ch 9: The flowers he gave.

Helsinki syndrome is a term sometimes used incorrectly in place of Stockholm syndrome. It’s use in literature is often ironic and deliberate and literally means when a captive refuses to cooperate with their captor.

Summary: A war of wits does have some rules too. But if one party refuses to acknowledge the sacred rule of leaving family out of it, the other must retaliate stronger to quell any such advances for the future… Or at least that’s what Min Yoongi told himself when he abducted Kim Namjoon’s younger sister. That was before he realized that this elaborate game of chess didn’t have just two players and before he had promised Namjoon he’d keep her safe, But also before he realized that one month was enough to leave his whole life in chaos.

Genre: MAFIA AU, slight yandere themes, smut, a happy sprinkling of fluff/comfort, and a truckload of ANGST.

WARNINGS: None ⊙.☉

A/N: It's here! My pretty, precious, favorite chapter. Be nice to her y'all.

Pairing: Main pairing: Mafia!MIN YOONGI X READER

Others include: Collegeboyfriend!Hosoek x reader + Mafia!Taehyung x reader + Kidnapper!Seokjin x reader.

Word count: 2.6k words

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“I asked her in passing once if there was some hobby she’d like to resume, but she just shrugged and said she didn’t have many hobbies in the first place.” Mrs. Fen stood in front of Yoongi, who was sitting cross-legged on his bed. They both looked a little agitated.

“Then are you sure she said she was bored?” Yoongi sounded a little annoyed.

“Positive.” Mrs. Fen nodded.

“God…” Yoongi ran a hand through his already distressed hair. “Ok, thank you for telling me. I’ll figure something out.”

Mrs. Fen smiled. “So, is there something you’d like to have for dinner?”

Yoongi considered it for a minute. “Let’s just order pizza yeah? Taehyungie would like that. Run it by Y/n first.” he hastily added, suddenly remembering that he had no idea what your food preferences were.

Mrs. Fen nodded and made to leave the room, but she stopped and turned back, “How long is Ms. Kim going to be staying here?”

Yoongi frowned. “Why do you ask?”

“She seems to be good for you.” Mrs. Fen smiled, bowing her head as she swiftly left, leaving Yoongi to think about what she had just said.

.

The next morning, as you made your way downstairs, hair still damp from your morning shower, you saw a singular baby blue hydrangea flower sitting on the ornamental table in the main entryway.

A piece of paper stuck out from under it, and it piqued your curiosity. You approached it, curious but still cautious. After all, this wasn’t something that was yours.

“Dear y/n,” the note read, from the top corner that peeked out.

Oh, was it for you? You frowned and lifted the flower, taking the note.

“Dear y/n, Mrs. Fen mentioned that you get bored here easily. I thought it’d be a good idea to play a little game then. Every morning, I’ll leave you a flower right where you found this one. And every evening I’ll ask you something important you learnt about it that day. You have full access to the internet on my computer in the study. Use this freedom wisely because one wrong move and it will easily be snatched away. Be good and I’ll be better to you.

I hope you understand the rules well,

Y.”

You reread the note. What was this new shitshow? But you had to admit, it excited you a little. Like a little spark of adventure in your otherwise mundane life in these four walls.

You liked flowers. Though you weren’t very good at identifying them, you held them in fondness, and often took walks to admire the new flowers in spring. It was definitely a coincidence, but it was a fun coincidence that the game Yoongi had decided to occupy you with was something you felt you would actually enjoy.

You sat down for breakfast with a small smile on your lips that morning, something that Yoongi was quick to observe, and something that (he’d never admit) made him much happier than it should.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You hadn’t needed to do much research for hydrangeas, since you vividly remembered planting them in your own backyard. As you sat on the stool in the kitchen, thinking about what to tell Yoongi about it, as Mrs. Fen bustled about, humming a sweet tune, you couldn’t help but realize that the memories you were sifting through, didn’t hurt half as bad as you thought you would. You remembered that day fondly, rather than miserably. You reassured yourself that this muted reaction to thinking about your family was because earlier you hadn’t known if you would ever return to them. But now, you knew you would. No matter how Hellish this month would be, you’d go back to them.

You trusted Yoongi about that.

So when you awkwardly knocked on the door next to yours, and Yoongi opened up with a soft expression and wearing an oversized black tshirt rather than his usual tailored dress shirts, you found it easier to tell him, “Hydrangea flowers are probably the most common house shrubs. Um… I grew them in my backyard. My appa told me that they change color depending on the soil’s acidity. The blue one you left me, was probably grown in alkaline soil.”

Yoongi had listened quietly, mesmerized by the sweet sound of your voice, that for once didn’t hold any malice for him. He looked intently at your eyes that were turned down towards the rug, not looking at him.

He nodded, though you couldn’t see it.

“Would you like to come in?” he asked gently.

“No thank you.” you replied, without missing a beat, and turned around to leave, still not looking back at him.

Yoongi stood in his open door, till yours closed behind you. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, smiled slightly and decided he needed a drink.

.

A dainty little white flower sat on the table the next morning, with delicate overlapping petals and a densely packed center. It looked familiar to you, but you didn’t know its name. Maybe you’d have to use those computer privileges today. You picked it up, caressing the feather soft petals and sniffed. It didn’t have a strong scent, either. That made you curious.

Scabiosa, the pincushion flower, Google told you.

Hundreds of thousands of pictures of the flower in many different colors and hundreds of articles about it greeted you. And then you stumbled upon pinterest boards where it was used in many flower arrangements, and before realizing it, you spent hours, scrolling through the beautiful pictures and reading random tidbits here and there.

Downstairs in the living room, Yoongi who was keeping Taehyung company as he played some game on the playstation, was looking at what you were doing, since he had turned on screen mirroring for his computer on his phone. He was pleased at how you were actually taking interest in the task he had set you, but more than that, he was pleased that not once in the hour and a half that you spent on the computer, had you wandered anywhere else.

“African tribes use scabiosa to treat coughs, fever and skin problems.” You stood at the same spot as yesterday, still not looking at Yoongi as you stated the fact for today. He hummed to indicate he had heard.

“Would you like to come in?”

“No, thank you.”

And you were gone.

.

“Y/n! Good morning!” Taehyung greeted you in the hallway the next day.

“Oh… hi Good morning!” you smiled.

“Look!” he pointed to the gorgeous coral colored flower waiting for you.

“Isn’t that a peony?” you felt glad that you recognized this one.

“Yeah, it is. I like the color.” Taehyung said.

Nodding, you approached the majestic flower and picked it up. It really was beautiful, the sharp, coral color was very easy on the eyes and the delicacy of the petals felt offset to how vivid the color was. You really liked this one, and Yoongi, who had just made his way downstairs, could see as much from the sweet smile that graced your face.

.

That night, no one opened the bedroom door when you knocked on it. You shuffled your feet for a minute of two, waiting patiently. Then you knocked again. Still no answer. But you really wanted to talk to him. Because you had not one, but three interesting facts to tell Yoongi. And you’d be lying if you said you didn’t enjoy the way he’d silently listen to you with a kind expression and then nod, as if this was a quiz and you had got an answer right.

So, you made your way downstairs.

“Min?” you called out.

“Yeah?” you heard from somewhere deeper in the house. You followed the sound to one of the game rooms, where Yoongi sat at the bar, a glass of whiskey in front of him.

“Hey.” you greeted him.

“Hi, come sit.” he indicated to the stool next to you. He looked great, all things considered. He wore a checkered black button down shirt and crisp gray trousers, his dark hair, that was usually unstyled, was parted to the side, and had an effortlessly untidy, very attractive look to it.

You took the seat next to him. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“No, thank you.”

“Well, I’m thinking you were looking for me to tell me something?”

“Yeah, it was about the flower you left for me…” you began unsure.

“Mhm?”

“So, it was a peony.”

He nodded, amused at your awkwardness.

“So, when I first took it to the kitchen, ahjumma told me that it was very valuable in chinese medicine, especially the root part. And she also told me that the peony plant lasts for so long, she said she’d seen 100 year old plants, still bearing flowers.”

Yoongi snuck a glance your way, and was struck dumb at the way your eyes shone as you looked at him. He was speechless momentarily, and was glad that he hadn’t seen this cute, animated look on you before, because he was sure he would’ve dragged you to bed then and there, especially because he’d been in his bedroom those previous times.

It took all his willpower to nod.

“Also…” you stopped abruptly, unsure whether all this information dumping was welcome. But Yoongi looked at you, genuinely curious. “Also, I read on the internet that it was named after one of the students of the Greek God of medicine. Zeus turned the student named Paeon, into a peony flower to save him from his teacher’s wrath.”

Yoongi smiled at that. “Do you enjoy greek mythology?”

“It intrigues me. But I’ve never done too much research on it.” you answered truthfully, still replaying that goddamned smile he had just flashed. It might have been the most endearing thing you’d ever seen.

Yoongi hummed, falling silent. He twirled the whiskey in his glass, wondering what to say next.

“Um, I guess I’ll go now.” you said, slipping off the stool.

“Sure.” he answered, still looking at the glass.

“Goodnight.” you mumbled.

“Goodnight y/n.” he said softly, to himself.

.

A bright blue flower greeted you the next morning. But there was also a note sticking out from under it. You picked up the flower, focusing more on the note.

Dear y/n,

I have important business to attend to. I’ll be gone for the rest of the week. Enjoy whatever joy my absence seems to bring you. Your flowers will find a way to you every morning still. I hope you find as much joy in them as you can given the circumstances. Remember the rules, and take care.

Y.

You didn’t know what to feel. Yoongi would be gone for a good four days. Shouldn’t you be happy about that. You should. Then why weren’t you? Why didn’t you spare another glance at the beautiful flower in your hands, with it’s leaflike petals. And why did the dining table feel terribly empty when you sat down for breakfast?

“Ms Kim!” Mrs. Fen shouted from inside the house.

You, who were sitting peacefully outside in the garden,enjoying the fading light of the evening and stroking the bright blue petals of your flower, that you had found out was called a siberian iris, perked up. “Yes?” you called back.

“You have a call!”

What?

But you were up in a flash, almost sprinting inside to where Mrs. Fen stood holding the handheld landline extension. “Who is it?” you asked, suddenly unsure. But the lady just smiled and handed you the phone.

“Hello?” you said.

“Hi.” the low, monotone voice you thought you wouldn’t be hearing for many days now, greeted you. And suddenly your heart thrummed faster and a soft blush settled on your cheeks,

“Hi, Min.” he could hear the smile in your voice, and that made a strange fluttering occur in his chest. Was he going to be sick?

“Did you do your homework?” he asked.

“I… well, I wasn’t expecting you to call.” you said, truthfully. But you had, infact researched the flower, given the fact that you found yourself bored with nothing to do in the afternoon and also because the flower itself was so pretty and unique, that you needed to know what it was.

“Is that a no?” Yoongi sounded almost playful.

“No. I did read a couple of things.”

“Is there anything interesting I should know then?” he prodded further.

You rolled your eyes. “Well, it was an iris flower. A blue one. Blue irises represent faith. Is there something I need to know about the symbolism?” you teased.

“No.” Yoongi said simply, and absolutely untruthfully. Infact, every flower he had given you, had had some symbolism to it, and it was kind of annoying that you hadn’t caught on earlier. But he was glad you finally had figured it out. “Is there anything else?”

Your heart dropped a little. You thought the conversation had been going quite well, especially because you didn’t have to look at his piercing eyes as you spoke. This was better somehow. But, apparently Yoongi didn't share the sentiment, if his uninterested tone was anything to go by.

“No,” you sounded slightly wounded, “like I said, I wasn’t expecting you to call.”

Yoongi caught the hurt undertone in your voice, but wasn’t able to say anything about it because you were already mumbling a “Goodnight, Min.” and the line cut.

.

The remainder of the week went quite the same way. You’d be greeted by a beautiful flower every morning, you’d have breakfast, then help Mrs. Fen clean up, then you’d spend some time joking around with Taehyung, who you were really starting to like again, after the brief period of distrust you had for him, after he had told Yoongi of your panic attack at the mall, and then you’d spend some time researching whatever flower you had for the day. After lunch, you’d stroll in the garden, your favorite part of the house until the sun began to wane in the sky, and then Yoongi would call.

It was strange, but you found yourself thinking about him alot during your garden strolls. There wasn’t much to think about, given you had interacted not more than a handful of times, and majority of those encounters had been petrifying. But, you still found your heart craving his company and your ears yearning to hear his calm voice, So when Mrs. Fen would call out for you, you always ran inside, before you caught your breath and greeted him all disinterested, as if this was the most dreaded part of your day, when in truth you waited the whole day for him to call.

“Taehyung’s flying out tonight to handle things here, since his break is over. I can fly back if you’d like me to?” Yoongi said after you had told him all about the flower he had left you that morning, which happened to be a tulip.

“I’d like that.” you answered, a little meekly.

Yoongi’s heart swelled. You wanted him to come back. Did that mean you missed him half as much as he had missed your annoying self these past four days? Yoongi never had anything to go back to. And so, he had often found himself at one of the many houses he owned whenever he was free for a few days. But he never felt attached to any one of them. He simply stayed there because they were shelters for him, impenetrable and daunting. Yet, somehow Taehyung’s Shanghai mansion had started feeling like a happy respite that he’d love to fly out to again.

All thanks to you.

“Gotcha.” he said.

“I gotta go, Taehyung wanted to play a round of league with me before he finished packing.” you excused yourself, suddenly feeling a little shy to continue talking to Yoongi, especially because the conversation had gone on much, much longer than it usually did.

“Sure. I’ll see you soon.” he conceded.

“Goodnight, Min.”

“Goodnight, y/n.”

You didn’t sleep much that night.

#min yoongi angst #min yoongi fluff #min yoongi imagine #min yoongi fic #min yoongi fanfic #min yoongi #min yoongi x reader #mafia min yoongi #mafia kim Taehyung #bts kim taehyung #kim taehyung #kim namjoon #kim seokjin #min yoongi horror #bts x y/n #yoongi x reader #mafia bts #mafia AU #fic:helsinki

[misculenica]

Dreadwolf Speculations - Main Story + Quests (loong loooong pooooooOOoost)

I've made 2 other DA:D Speculation Posts; Part 1 and Part 2, regarding my thoughts on who the next protagonist is and who the companions are. I highly recommend you read these before this, as I'll be referring to things I bring up in those posts.

This is all speculation, bare in mind, and it's completely fair to disagree or point out the flaws. This is just for fun and to get myself hyped for the possibilities!

(Red book, posted on twitter by Mark Darrah around 2017/2018 - contains costume lineups for factions/classes etc, among other things. I believe Ghil Dirthalen made a comment in 2018 that it seemed like a sort of 'mood board' for the production staff, which makes sense. Darrah also posted the following in 2016;)

Along with the most recent leak from about a month ago;

I think it's fair to say; we know what's up.

So I feel a heavy chess theme for Dreadwolf. And as I've mentioned before, I believe the next main character for Dragon Age will be called Rook (after the chess piece, and of course the bird).

Carrying on from this train of thought, I would like to make some heavy speculations into the core foundation of Dreadwolf.... CHESS. You heard me. Chess.

Allow me to explain (yes, I'm about to explain Chess and how it will relate to Dreadwolf and it's story).

There are 6 types of pieces in chess.

King, Queen, Rook, Bishop, Knight and Pawn.

I pose that there are 6 levels to the organization of what remains of the Inquisition (whether Inky disbanded or kept it running) - I say Inquisition, because I have no other name for the forces opposing Solas post-trespasser.

King - the most important piece on the board though it is one of the weakest, it can only ever move 1 square at a time (except in 1 special circumstance with a Rook). It's main job is to not get caught/captured/cornered.

Queen - the most powerful piece on the board. It can move in any one straight direction - forward, backward, sideways, or diagonally - as far as possible as long as it does not move through any of it's own pieces. It captures/take down any opposing pieces it encounters. A very brutal and aggressive piece.

Rook - The rook may move as far as it wants, but only forward, backward, and to the sides. You get 2 Rooks at the start of any game, and they work insanely well together on the board when they're coordinated. A Rook is the only piece that can participate in castling (castling is a special move between the rook and the king that both gets your rook into play and shields your king via a switcheroo, basically. It's the only time in chess where 2 of your pieces can move at the same time, and a King can move more than 1 square).

Bishop - may move as far as it wants, but only diagonally. Each bishop starts on one color (light or dark) and must always stay on that color. Good for confusing and frustrating your opponent, especially if you work both bishops together to defend their weak spots.

Knight - Knights move in a very different way from the other pieces – going two squares in one direction, and then one more move at a 90-degree angle, just like the shape of an “L”. They're also the only pieces that can move over other pieces. Tricky, but can easily get trapped if you don't keep an eye on them.

Pawn - Pawns are unusual because they move and capture in different ways: they move forward but capture diagonally. Pawns can only move forward one square at a time, except for their very first move where they can move forward two squares. Pawns can only capture one square diagonally in front of them. They can never move or capture backward. If there is another piece directly in front of a pawn he cannot move past or capture that piece. Canon fodder, basically, but that's why you get 8 of them.

Now, how does this relate to Dreadwolf?

Well, if the protagonist is called Rook (and it's clear chess has some serious symbology), it stands to reason that the other pieces could be important, especially with how interesting in chess Solas was in Inquisition (by which I mean, he played a game with Iron Bull, but won by being a sneaky, ruthless bastard - the point is; it was a notable event for his character, because it showed his mentality perfectly and how far he's willing to go to win).

I believe the Kings on the board are the Inquisitor and Solas; the most important pieces, without whom, there is no 'game', but they are both severely limited in what they can do personally. They will not come into play until the endgame, where checkmate will be reached and most of the pieces are gone. (And a King cannot checkmate another King without putting itself into check - if this happens, in this metaphor of real (fictional) people and actions, both pieces will fall and the game in over/null).

The Queens are... Well, their the most powerful pieces. Seated at the right hand of the King, but act freely from it. I'm not sure who this would be for either of the, but perhaps it's a metaphor for their own region of power and influence; an accumulation of everything they have. Perhaps Solas' Queen is a Lovecraftian Wolf-Creature (like was mentioned in Tevinter Nights)? Think of Fenrir from GOW: Ragnarok, but when he was angry. And perhaps Inky's is.... Maybe we're looking for something to match that? That'd be an interesting plot- finding a Lovecraftian or just megapowerful creature/being to combat the opposing Queen? Perhaps we make a deal with an Old God, or a Forgotten One, or one of the Evanuris?... Or a Titan? Or whatever the hell this thing is;

Like, maybe we need to fight some great thing to prove our worthiness to have it's aid? Like the Guardian of Mythal Dragon. That'd be a cool boss battle, though, wouldn't it?

The Rooks are.... Well, the main character Rook! But I want to really really really believe the game starts with 2 Rooks; you and your fellow Rook, working in tandem (like in Origins with the Warden and Alistair, or Hawke and their sibling, throughout the game). I think that'd add an interesting dynamic to one of the companions, perhaps they betray you at some point? Rooks are meant to move fast, get behind enemy lines quick and force the opponent to move their pieces. I don't know what Solas' Rooks would be, though in his game with Bull he calls them Towers, so perhaps he looks down on them? (Like the Circle Towers?) You're guess is likely better than mine. He very very willingly lets them get taken in his game with Bull, to throw him off and lure him in.

The Bishops are..... I want to say that they'll be the advisors, given it seems they're limited to certain places? So; I imagine Doran, or Charter, perhaps, maybe Varric? (We'll talk about my thoughts of Varric in Dreadwolf later.........) Solas refers to Bishops as Mages, which I find interesting - so perhaps that could indicate the relevance of them to him strategically? Perhaps these are his spirit/demon army, given how limited they are in movement?

Knights are.... I haven't got a clue, perhaps notable characters from either faction that are in and out before you know it. Liked named characters from the serious who've chosen sides but aren't companions. Like Fenris, for example.

And last, but not least; the pawns. The common people, the unexpected, the footsoldiers... They will be essential, not just as a mass force, but somehow as individuals, perhaps? Perhaps they are more metaphors for the different nations/factions/etc?

As for how the 'game' will play out; Solas will do everything in his power to not actively attack us unless necessary. He will encourage us to move and take the pieces he's willing to lose. He'll bait, trick, and we'll be fools for falling for it. And he'll sacrifice any piece is if means winning; even his Queen (yes, I'm implying the dread-pupper will die, likely by our hand). But Bull never played the Rooks in his game, so I'm interested to see how he'll deal with them, if he considers them at all.

I just feel like that game between him and Bull was significant in understanding how Solas will operate in Dreadwolf.

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

Main Story and it's beats:

I would.... Like.... For there to be origin story prologues like in DAO, but I kind of doubt it. Though, from the leaks it seems that you are able to play as an elf. And the concept art looks like you can play as at least a human or elf (hopefully also Qunari and Dwarf, and of course male or female).

We'll be a new person/character, who in unaware of Solas/Fen'Harel, but has likely heard of the Inquisitor in some capacity (for the sake of new players/people who haven't played the previous games).

With the previous track of the last 3 games; our entry into this new world (and our place in it) will be violent, and we will somehow not have a choice in joining the Inquisition. (I would suspect we were cast out of wherever we were before the Inquisition- ultimately, we were a nobody) But we will either be saved by the Inquisition, or forced into their corner.

We will become Rook, along with another character with the same role/rank/job and they will be with us throughout the story of Dreadwolf (unless they are killed or betray us, both are very likely).

In Act 1; we will somehow be shown the destructive force of Fen'Harel, that hints towards what he can do, but I doubt we will meet him. Perhaps we find a calling card, or.... Oh, I like this; our Origin is the pc stumbling upon the conflict of Fen'Harel vs the Inquisitor, and getting mixed up in it, and escaping, only to be saved by (insert past game character here- likely Varric, Charter or Harding, maybe even Dorian, but I think he's got his own things going on, and won't turn up until later as an advisor of sorts, or someone who gives us refuge in Tevinter (perhaps he owns an Eluvian to help us travel- our home base in provided by him? Maybe). This gives a lot of room for recruitment options; and will be a great way to introduce new players to the game/world and what's going on - stumble upon something to do with Fen'Harel, fight a bit to survive the conflict, before being saved by xyz named character - my money's on Varric, before being recruited). We'll be floundering in the first Act, chasing lead after lead, point A to point B kind of stuff; tutorials, introducing creatures/character/notable factions, how travelling works, meet some important characters as well as companions. I think the end of Act 1 will be some major blow, that forces everything into a new perspective (perhaps the Veil is torn down, perhaps all out major war starts -qunari and tevinter, for example-, or a new enemy reveals themself; old gods, evanuris, titans, forgotten ones, etc. Perhaps we're attacked by the Dread Wolf somewhere we thought we were safe.... Or perhaps.... Double Blight??? Weisshaupt??)

Act 2 will be the hook; where most of the side quests, personal quests, probably secure our home base, a lot of chill stuff will happen, the calm before and after the storm; an upward beat, until the second half of act 2 where things go south, enemies close in and all that.

Act 3 will be dealing with it all, things will come together, and we'll deal with Solas, perhaps kill the wolf. I really don't know, ahaa....

Notable Event's I'm 99% Sure Will Happen:

Varric will die at the end of Act 1 or Act 2, and we'll all cry, and Harding will take his beloved crossbow Bianca. In Part 2, I explain my reasoning for this.

There will be a Double-Blight. From the leaks, we can see darkspawn and an archdemon attacking Weisshaupt (they mentioned there was a dragon, and it's spewing indigo fire, I'm inclined to take that as an archdemon.

Griffons will return, and they will be important. Perhaps we will find the eggs at Weisshaupt, or escape Weissaupt on Griffon-back (narrowly escaping our demise). (Let me ride and pet a griffon, please, even if it's just a cutscene......)

Titans will awaken. They've just been hyping up the Titans, haven't they? And Dragon Age has a history of making previous DLCs plots important in future games; Morrigan and the eluvian, Corypheus in the Legacy dlc, and... I'm guessing Titans in the Descent.

A baby/young Titan? (I don't know)

A significant portion of the game will take place at sea, or along the coasts, or involve ocean travel. A lot of the concept art shows the ocean, or characters at sea. Perhaps we will visit Seheron, or other islands?

Solas will die. Well, perhaps not die die. As he's mentioned before; the first of his people do not die so easily, and if we're to assume he's a spirit (wisdom/pride?), perhaps we destroy his physical body. Perhaps the 'redeem' him is allowing him to be reborn (as a spirit whose idea is strong or shaped other spirits does) but with a new personality/no memories of before - and we see a beautiful spirit-wolf at the end, finding a new purpose (let my solavellan heart dream). Or 'stop him at all costs' is we fuck him up/actually kill him or imprison him for eternity (like he did the evanuris). Either way, he walks the dinan'shiral, there is no saving the man we knew.

Dragons will somehow aid us against Solas. Dragons are the blood of the world. They are intelligent, and they are fierce. Dragons have always been a huge part of the DA universe - hell, it's why the age is CALLED the DRAGON AGE. There has to be a reason the dragons returned after near extinction. I'm not saying, the dragons will roll up and be like "hey, roar-screech, we're gonna help you", i think they'll just actively work against Solas.

All wonderous physical forces will fight against Solas in the end to stop the Veil from falling. Dragons, Titans, whatever other great forces you can imagine. The natural state of the physical world will fight against the fall of it's reign over creation, for fear of what will happen to them once all of this tearing down the Veil shit happens ("This world will burn in the raw chaos" - I don't think the world will want that, I think it'll fight back)

That's all I have for now, perhaps there will be a part 2 for this one, perhaps not. But I'm so tired after all this typing.

Dareth shiral.

#dragon age #dragon age spoilers #dragon age dreadwolf #dreadwolf #dreadwolf wishlist #dreadwolf speculation #dreadwolf spoilers #dragon age theory

[dinethfernanando-mga2024mi5015]

The basis of a Game - What makes a game a good game?

So, I dug a bit deep into the world of gaming and tried to figure out what makes a video game a good video game. Today, our tutor mentioned that Games can be divided into 2 types. The first is "Game of Chance" and the latter is "Game of Skill".

Game of Chance and Game of Skill

In the game of Chance, the victory is random. No matter how experienced you are, the luck factor plays the main role in this type of game.  On the other hand, game of skill offers people the opportunity to test their ability in gaming, which is one of its most important advantages.

Examples of skill-based games are chess and carrom. Roulette and lottery can be taken as games of Chance. Some games have a combination of both. Tetris and poker can be taken as examples.

So what exactly makes a game good?

1- Ability to Stand out and the game being Memorable

In the present day, there are thousands of game titles being released within a year and the gaming market has become very competitive, especially in the last few years. As a game developer, you want to feel that the game that you create has become a part of the player that plays it. It should inspire the player or even teach a valuable lesson to the player that will affect positively to his/her life.

2- Interesting theme and visual style

A game should follow a very unique theme and a style throughout the game. The game should establish that visual style and its theme first and then continue the game by sticking to the initial theme they went with. A game should be consistent in its theme and style unless the developer purposely changes the style for creative reasons.

3- A good continuous challenge and reward

A good game designer gives his players continuous challenges. The purpose is to keep them "hooked" on playing the game. At the end of the challenge, after accomplishing it, the player should be rewarded and this reward becomes the key factor of motivation for the player to continue playing the game.

4- A Story behind the Game

This, in my personal view I see as the most crucial aspect of a video game. Players always use video games as a form of entertainment and there should always be a plot driving the game. The lack of a storyline may cause the player to lose interest in a game after a short while after playing it.

Some good story-driven games that I know are,

The Last of Us

Bioshock Series

Red Dead redemption

The Witcher

The story aspect of the Last of Us game is really strong and players really found the game to be an emotional rollercoaster. Players connected to the game in many ways that ultimately made it one of the most successful games in the industry.

5- Good game Mechanics and Controls

the next big thing is what the player can do within the boundaries of a game. Whether it is to hunt down enemies, escape a horror house, solve puzzles, travel through a maze or anything similar, the mechanics should support the narrative and the objective. This is something that I have to figure out since I am a complete stranger to Unreal Engine.

6- Good choice of Music and colours

Imagine the gameplay is just a person traveling through a dimly lit room with gray walls. It would be boring right? But if you add suspense and horror music and noise effects, the player would get goosebumps while playing it. This is because the power of music in a video game.

[kiara-w]

Rewind - "Exile Arc" au

This is a master post (it's that how they called it?) to help you with the ficlets that form this very f*ck up alternative timeline of the DSMP fanfic Rewind by a-non-ymouswriter.

This is an au within the fanfic. The “Exile arc” au is based around what would’ve happened if Tommy and Tubbo from a very bad future time traveled at the time Tommy was exiled.

TW: Just like that fanfic, these chapters can contain the mention of very dark themes, such as manipulation, physical and mental abuse, Stockholm and Lima syndrome, and some detailed descriptions of injuries.

I'll put TW (Trigger warning) whenever those themes are present. I know this is based on a game of blocks, and we may enjoy angst, but these topics should be treated carefully. Stay safe everyone.

—————

Don't worry if some chapters appear between others, I'll submit them in an order that is ok for you to read, and you can come back to this post if you're curious about previous events.

Questions 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

Tommy meets Theo.

Tubbo’s Meeting

Tommy and Dream play chess.

Dream’s plan.

Dream thinks of Tommy.

Tommy finds Phil.

???????

—————

Now to answer some questions that you may have.

Do I need to be up to date with the chapters of Rewind to understand this?

Being today (04/11) that the fanfic has 60 chapters, you may want to have that whole information, at least to understand the characters of Theo, Toby, and Dream. Since I won't be mentioning certain parts of the fanfic that I trust you know to understand this au.

Does the author know you're doing this?

Yes! I asked if they had a problem with me writing and exploring about this au, and they were ok with it. I'm doing this mostly for fun (and because my mind desperately wants to bring these scenarios to life) and I don't want to make an ao3 page and put this there.

You'll do more ficlets about other au's of Rewind?

Maybe?

Will this au have a happy ending?

That depends on what you consider a "happy ending". 100% happy? Hell no. 100% bad? That's not going to be the case either.

What would you do if future chapters of Rewind contradict your story?

I'm aware that is very likely to happen. In fact, I'm sure of it. Because I'm not taking all the elements of the story. As much as I respect the worldbuilding and many details the author has created on Rewind, this is an au focusing on the idea of Tommy and Theo being together with Dream. The egg won't be a centerpiece, characters will be missing and Dream's fragmentation will be more subtle.

My main focus is the relationships, feelings, and conflicts that these characters have while trying to help each other. I'm planning to end the main events of this au before Rewind ends, but I'll be ready to change some things if it keeps the most important aspects.

#dsmp rewind

[twsttheory]

⚠️Chapter 5 spoilers⚠️ Chapter Recaps and Predictions for Future Dormitory Chapters.

Pardon me for being a little slow but I have just realized a trend? Aside from the fact that Twisted Wonderland seems to be a very “Screw society” game, the take-away of every Twisted Wonderland arc reflects the morals the of their respective Disney classic, except the villains are the ones experiencing it. 

Heartslabyul: 

Just like Alice in Wonderland, the first plot of the first Chapter centres around the idea that rules are not always meant to be followed. However, as I have mentioned in a previous post, many have theorized that the story of Alice in Wonderland is the journey of a child towards adulthood, during which they begin to realize their individual personalities. The Queen of Heart’s tyranny thus represents societal rules and expectations. In the first chapter, this is not illustrated by Riddle’s strictness. Instead, it is illustrated by the expectations and rules that Riddle’s mother has imposed on him. Riddle will then learn that not everything his mother said is correct, and will grow to have his own opinions. We even see him screwing up the mont-blanc. His mistake is very... um... him though. 

Savanaclaw:

Following the Heartslabyul arc is the Savanaclaw arc. Again, the plot is similar to that of The Lion King. Both Leona and Scar are the second-born, and the fact that their brothers have a son makes it impossible for them to become kings. This has lead to Leona’s somewhat inferiority complex. The lazy lion proceeds to come up with a plan to overthrow the more powerful Malleus in the Magift competition, but fails because of the Heartslabyul gang. No matter what he does, not everything goes according to plan. This is where “Hakuna Matata” becomes important. In the Lion King, it is taught to Simba, the protagonist, but in Twisted Wonderland, it has become a lesson that Leona has learnt. Life is not fair, but instead of choosing to dwell on that concept and suffer, you could choose to be happy instead. Despite not being able to become King, Leona is still very intelligent and very much capable, earning the respect of his dorm members and many more people. 

Octavinelle:

Fish arc covers the topic of bullying, which many of us have experienced. In this chapter, Azul strives to become more powerful as a result of bullying, and has thus grown to become a very talented mage. His collection of contracts is similar to both Ariel’s collection of human objects and Ursula’s collections of those who failed to pay their debt. All these collections are but material collections, and in Azul’s eyes, his collection is a measure of his worth, as seen from when he declares that he will be useless if Leona were to destroy the contracts. What both Ariel and Azul were missing was as a matter of fact not their material collection. Instead, it was love for Ariel, and friendship for Azul. Jade and Floyd gave him friendship, which he did not have as a victim of bullying, and I’m pretty sure that he realizes that both their presences are more valuable than mere material contracts. I am also certain that Jade and Floyd think so too, although they say otherwise. 

Scarabia:

Scarabia arc’s overblot goes to Jamil, you poor boy. Because of his position as the Asim family’s servant, he believes that as long as he is in the presence of Kalim, he will never be able to be who he really is. Aladdin also thinks that he cannot be with Jasmine if he isn’t royalty. However, we all know that Jamil has more to offer as an individual. He is intelligent and powerful, and will remain intelligent and powerful despite his position as a servant. Aladdin is loved by Jasmine despite being a non-royal. Scarabia’s chapter centres around the idea that an individual’s potential and worth is not defined or limited by their status or position, as Jamil has surely proven to us. 

Pomefiore:

The recent Pomefiore arc is also very relatable and nothing less than outstanding, highlighting the importance of “beauty” in more than one way. This chapter straight up tells us that ballet is not restricted to girls, and it has already earned my respect. What’s more outstanding is its emphasis of effort. Vil is shown to be frustrated because of being in Neige’s shadow. GIVE HIM THE LICENSE TO BE FRUSTRATED HE WORKED SO HARD! Despite his hard work, he is less popular than the cheery and pretty Neige. In the VDC, Neige’s cover of a children song grabbed more attention than the song he poured his sweat, blood and tears over. No one cares about the effort behind the scenes, and all the praise goes to the final product. In Snow White, the Evil Queen will never be the most beautiful, because she is ugly inside. This could apply to this chapter. Despite being more successful, Neige, unless stated otherwise, lacks the diligence and hard work that Vil has put into his craft.

Ignihyde:

All right folks this is where the predictions starts. The recurring theme of this game is conflict against society. From this, I will predict that Idia and Hercules will share a common theme. People call them monsters. Hercules is called a monster because of his inhuman strength, while Idia’s case will most likely be because of Ortho. Idia is undoubtedly a genius engineer, and since Ortho is a cyborg, there are chances that he was once a human but died, and is turned into a cyborg by his brother. Idia creating him from scratch is not likely because he already mentioned a “previous Ortho”. Because of this, Idia is feared by many people as well. However, if this theory were to be correct, it would mean that the story will follow the moral in Hercules that underlines the importance of staying true to oneself and that people will love you for who you are. Hercules definitely stayed true to himself, and in the end, instead of being labelled a monster, he became loved by many. I’m sure that it will be the same way with Idia, although I am not sure about the situation that will help incite this. 

From how he encouraged Riddle to break away from his mother’s rules in the first chapter,, it is highly possible that Ace would play a role in helping Idia express his mad scientist vibes. If Ace does not help Idia, he will probably still play a big role alongside Ortho, as they are both younger siblings. From ghost marriage, we can also see Ortho’s ability to call Ace out on his bullshit. Ace is a child full of lies, and his true personality may also not be what he displays every day. With Ortho’s advance “Your body sayin you lyin boy” technology, I think that we could finally see a change in our dumb ginger boy’s personality, as well as gain some juicy insight into the Trappola household. Epel is also a plausible factor, seeing that he has embraced his cute and wild side in Chapter 5. However, if the story were to follow the same pattern as in Chapter 3 with Jack and Octavinelle, Epel will most likely only help the main character, and Vil would help with the dorm leader in question. But we’ll see about that.

Diasomnia

Sleeping beauty is a story where love is a powerful force. In the dorm that is very family orientated, there is no doubt that love will be a common theme in this story arc. However, just like Pomefiore, the first year also has to play an important role in the story. Sebek, unlike waka sama, is probably mortal. Another theme in sleeping beauty is that growing up presents all sorts of existential crisis. I am pretty certain that Sebek’s existential crisis would come in the form of fey vs human. Power vs mortality. How will Malleus overblot then? Following the pattern, it would likely be because of a problem that contrasts to their first year. As Sebek gets to know the idiot combo, he will gain more friends, and Malleus might find his most loyal guard taken away from him, or it may come in the form of Sebek or Silver, or both, objecting him in some way. If both happen to be proven wrong, it is still likely that he will overblot because of something that involves his loneliness or lack of understanding of mortality. It could even be caused by seeing Sebek and Silver grow up, and suddenly be hit with the realization that they both may one day leave his side or pass away, and that the main character, who does not fear him at all, will also one day return to their world or die, leaving him behind once again. 

The conflict will probably then be resolved by the understanding that despite all this, he has friends. Lilia, Sebek, Silver, the main character, and perhaps even Ace and Deuce, and Idia and Ortho for good measure, are people precious to him, and it is important for him to treasure the time that he has with them.

That’s all for today! These are probably not accurate, and I’m sure that Yana Toboso is at least 10 dimensions away from me when playing chess, but it is fun to compare the storyline with their respective classic film. Either ways, only time will tell how the story progresses. So I’ll keep an eye out for any previews! Thank you for reading!

#riddle rosehearts #heartslabyul #ace trappola #leona kingscholar #jack howl #savanaclaw #azul ashengrotto #jade leech #floyd leech #octavinelle #kalim al asim #jamil viper #scarabia #vil shoenheit #epel felmier #pomefiore #idia shroud #ortho shroud #ignihyde #malleus draconia #silver #sebek zigvolt #twisted wonderland #twst theory #twst yuu

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Refuge”

Happy Saturday, everyone! Welcome to week two of… fourteen? Is that how many episodes we’ve got this Volume? Man, we’re going to be here for a while.

There’s a ton to unpack in “Refuge,” but as promised I want to delve into the opening first. Given the scattered, symbolic nature of our intro I think it’s easiest to just chuck out observations in list form. I’ll segue back into cohesive recapping in a moment.

So, what have we got?

The glitching between a happy, whole Atlas and the burning wreckage we’re now dealing with. That works well given both Atlas’ tech-focus culture and the ways that tech has led to some of our biggest tragedies (hijacked army, framing Penny, etc.)

Ruby looks scared and is standing behind the rest of her team, separated from them by the title. I’m not really feeling that theme so far though, given Yang’s incredibly weak challenge, Ruby’s immediate forgiveness (during her talk with Penny), and the fact that she’s still working with half the team who vocally support her, particularly Nora. Unless something drastic changes, the idea of Ruby being the outsider here is silly.

We get shots of the girls with their past selves superimposed over their bodies and weapons. I like the message here—they carry those versions of themselves with them—just not how it’s contrasted with Ironwood’s image of an earlier Atlas now burning. So that’s all he is now? Everyone gets to embody their growth except for him? His past is erased to focus solely on our current predicament? I’m not picking up any redemption flags here…

Robyn’s hand reaches down towards Clover’s badge, which then circles to show off the Ace Ops. The final image contrasts an angry Harriet with a defeated Qrow. At least, I hope they’re contrasts. It’s going to read as absurd if they somehow end up working together after Qrow helped get her leader killed.

This morphs into Qrow alone who sits, devastated, until Robyn offers him a hand up and they both smile. I’m not a fan of this symbolism after the prison scene we got this episode. It’s like Qrow might have thought about his choices until Robyn’s anger reminded him that, oh yeah, he can be angry at Ironwood instead. These two teaming up, when their last team-up led to a death, is worrisome to say the least.

We get our horrifying image of Salem looming over Oscar as he clutches his head. The group’s weapons fall. This makes sense given this episode’s kidnapping and the team’s sheer inability to do anything to stop it.

Jaune stands determined—also makes sense with his trend of giving “pep talks”—while Ren and Nora stand apart, facing opposite directions. Nora looks back though.

Paralleling them are Winter and Weiss who also face opposite directions. This is becoming a common visual theme: Harriet and Qrow, Nora and Ren, Winter and Weiss. Here though, Weiss looks determinedly ahead while Winter stares down at her feet, unsure. Ugh, I just know they’re going to have her betray Ironwood too.

We get a brief glimpse of Whitley and Willow, not a whole lot to go on. Then we see Salem turning her chess pieces into grimm—literally changing the game—while Ironwood’s white pieces are turned to dust. I could make a quip about how white is supposed to go first, but the initial move was made thousands of years before Ironwood existed and thus he never stood a chance, certainly not when his own allies are actively working against him… but I won’t lol

Watts is smiling at a terminal while at his back Pietro works at his. More opposites. Pietro’s reflection looks to Penny even as his body continues to work, his heart contrasting his head. Penny, in turn, looks upset as her reflection flinches at something off screen and the glass cracks. Watts hacking her, perhaps?

We see the new teams as a cherry blossom (I think?) floats across the screen. It melts in Ren’s hand while escaping Nora’s. Honestly, I’m not sure what to make of that just yet.

Ruby and Yang share a look—undermining their supposed conflict this volume. Couldn’t we have gotten sister unity over the last three years instead?—and a fight against grimm starts up. It freezes as Cinder walks through it, hopefully implying that the group’s attention is on the wrong threat. While they concern themselves with low-level grimm, Salem and her allies are walking free and wreaking havoc.

Then Cinder screams and clutches her grimm arm as things go up in flames. I hope that’s not a death flag given that we’ve teased her death twice already and we only just got a glimpse at her backstory. Also, I think it’s worth mentioning here that there’s a “Summer is the Hound” theory gaining traction which, frankly, I think is 100% unsubstantiated. It’s a fun crack theory, but not something I’m inclined to take seriously until we get some actual evidence behind it. There is, however, potential evidence for people becoming grimm in general: Salem falling into the pool and Cinder receiving that arm. That’s not much though. So while I’m far from convinced that the Hound was once human—let alone that it was Summer—there is something to the theory that Salem may be able to control Cinder via her arm like she controls other grimm. After all, she knew Cinder was alive despite everyone else thinking she’d perished. They seem to have some sort of connection that hasn’t been explained yet and now that Cinder has willingly walked back into Salem’s clutches, she may not be able to walk out.

There are shots of all our other villains, the Lamp and the Staff reflected in Salem’s eyes, and Jinn’s blue smoke, perhaps suggesting that we’ll see her again, or the entity residing in the Staff (if they exist).

Atlas glitches back to normal—a false victory?—before the ice breaks and Team RWBY falls into the darkness below. Volume 3 vibes all around. There’s light above them emanating from the Staff, but as Ruby reaches for it grimm arms circle and pull her deeper. I hope this means that the group will suffer the defeat we need to keep Salem as a legitimate threat, but we had very similar imagery back in Volume 6 and they made it out of that situation just fine, so.

“Happy Ever After” glitches into “Happy? Never Again.” Which isn’t ominous or anything. We finally end on the classic RWBY image of Crescent Rose buried in the snow underneath the shattered moon.

On the whole I think the opening is strong and I like a lot of the symbolism in it, though I do question how much will actually end up being relevant to the story. My only gripes are that there are too many different styles going on—it feels like three or four different Volume openings slammed together—and the fact that it also feels overly long. I don’t think it’s actually any longer than our Volume 7 opening, but it seems that way to me, perhaps because of those varying styles breaking things up.

So that’s what we’ll be watching for the next twelve weeks! Let’s move onto the actual episode.

We open on the image of Clover’s bloody badge in Qrow hand, the same one we got in the trailer. I theorized last recap that we’d be getting the rest of our trailer/promo material this week and I was almost entirely correct in that. This moment, retrieving the bikes, fighting off the grimm, Watts getting hit, Oscar carried away… all we’re missing are some eye closeups and Nora powering up her hammer. As said, it makes me nervous for what the rest of the Volume holds. I can’t decide whether the footage wasn’t ready to be included in promo materials that early, or if RT is just determined not to give us any information past the first two episodes…

Regardless, this is supposed to be a moment of grief and all I could focus on was Qrow’s hand. Specifically, the lack of detail in it. On the whole, I’ve been very happy with the engine upgrade and I quite like RWBY’s animation now, but a closeup here draws too much attention to how, sometimes, they’re just not animating their characters in a way that looks natural. Where is Qrow’s wrist? Why is his palm perfectly smooth? Stylistically that’s usually fine, but when given the chance to stare at it you realize how odd it looks. 

Says the woman whose own drawing skills suck but, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But we’re talking about the important bits in this episode! Out of frame Robyn is heard yelling, “This is your fault. You realize that, don’t you?” We’re meant to think that she’s telling Qrow this, especially with how he’s bent guiltily over the badge, until we cut to reveal Jacques right next to them.

I wish Robyn was saying all that to Qrow. It would mean that she was ignoring her own responsibility in Clover’s death, but at least it would have started an arc where Qrow has to grapple with what he did. Not the awful moment that’s coming up.

Before that though, Jacques claims that he’s the “victim” here who was “duped.” His hands may not be clean, but “at least I’m not a murderer.” Look, I’m not here to absolve Jacques of anything. The guy is an absolute shit stain on the Remnant world. However, he’s right in his overall point even if his words are BS. Meaning, Jacques is not a victim and he is a murderer, but he is not the one responsible for Clover’s death. Robyn has plenty of things to be furious at him for, but this is not one of them. Ironically, here we have Jacques functioning as the kind of villain the show wants Ironwood to be. He is a murderer because the company he runs exploits faunus and forces them to work in dangerous conditions (see: the death of Ilia’s parents). He is culpable because he a) had control over these conditions and b) has full knowledge of their flaws. He’s a racist who cares more about money than lives. His informed choices then led directly to deaths. Ironwood? Not anywhere near the same thing. Overlooking the “Omg Salem is here and I have to do something about it” context, he did not try to arrest Robyn. He did not force Qrow to resist arrest, or Robyn to get involved, or Qrow to break Clover’s aura, or Tyrian to stab him in the chest. Ironwood had no control or knowledge of these events, so he is not responsible for Clover’s death in the way that Jacques is responsible for the faunus’. RWBY is giving the right arc to the wrong character.

Robyn then insists that Qrow didn’t kill anyone. He didn’t strike the blow, but he certainly helped! Look, Qrow is one of my favorites, but I’m not about to claim that he didn’t have a hand in getting his friend killed. I seriously can’t believe the show is ignoring this.

We then segue into some, uh, questionable dialogue choices. Jacques is a “snake with a mustache”? Sorry, I can’t take Robyn seriously at the best of times, but definitely not when she’s tossing out laugh worthy insults like that. Nevertheless, this “snake with a mustache” is guilty because he “helped that man tear us all apart.” That man being Watts.

…why are they all in what amounts to the same cell with barriers dividing them? I suppose we could make the argument that they’re being held in some secret facility, given that they’re in this dark, garage-esque space with no lights and no other prisoners. Some sort of maximum security setup that... doesn’t have any other inmates and no additional security? Hmm. Then again, the power is supposed to be out and I don’t really trust RWBY’s ability to craft consistent backgrounds. I feel like they’re packed together merely because that’s plot convenient, not because it makes any sense in world.

Watts looks pretty comfortable in there though and Jacques is likewise full of confidence. He says that by now Whitley will have already called their lawyers to get him out. Now, non-imprisoned people know that the apocalypse is currently underway, as Joanna will later put it. No one is lawyer-ing at the moment, but it will be crucial to see whether Whitley is trying to get Jacques out despite the chaos. How faithful is he to his abuser? Can Willow start undermining Jacques’ influence now that they’re alone?

Jacque’s confidence thoroughly pisses Robyn off and she screams, punching the barrier between them. Keep this in mind for a second. 

A moment later two guards show up to take Watts somewhere and… oh no. Please don’t tell me Ironwood is going to team up with him now that Penny has written him off? I know the guy has (presumably) already killed someone, and he must assume he’s killed Oscar, so we’re definitely in full villain territory despite the stupidity of it… but please don’t start working with Salem’s henchmen too. You know what? I’m not going to assume the worst until I actually see it. RWBY gives me enough nonsense as it is lol.

What I really want to talk about is that hit. 

I’m somewhat concerned by a lot of the fandom’s reaction to this moment in comparison to another. Who remembers Volume 6? That scene when Qrow punched Ozpin directly into a tree? Now, I’m not keeping track of who says what when—this is a generalized reaction—but I saw a lot of posts defending that action. There were numerous justifications for the punch, but the three big ones were: 1. These characters are fighters and they’re used to it, 2. These characters have aura so it’s not that bad, and 3. Ozpin totally deserved it. Now, the problems here are that 1a. I don’t think punching someone when they’re crying on their knees is justified, whether they’re a fighter or not, 1b. Qrow was likewise punching Oscar, a totally innocent kid, 2. We had established earlier that Oscar was having trouble remembering to activate his aura and didn’t seem to have it active then (no ripple effect, he’s rubbing his jaw afterwards), and 3. Ozpin’s crimes are, as explored on this blog, not nearly the horrific actions that the story and fandom would like to paint them as. The point is that despite all this, lots and lots of fans said it was totally okay to punch Ozpin&Oscar. What’s the big deal? they asked. Now, lots and lots of fans—mostly when the trailer first dropped—say it’s not okay to punch Watts. Despite the fact that he’s also a fighter. Despite the fact that his aura has broken. Despite the fact that he’s not currently a threat (seated on the bed/Ozpin on his knees). Despite the fact that he’s responsible for helping Salem try to take over the world. If we were to make a case for who deserves to get hit, Watts is a WAY stronger candidate in my opinion, yet he’s the one who a lot of fans are scrambling to defend. Why? I assume it’s because hitting him feeds into the generalized police state/dictator theme Ironwood has been thrown into. It helps villainize Ironwood for fans to go, “Poor Watts. He’s done horrific things but no one deserves to face police brutality.” I agree. The only problem is that a lot of those same fans seem to have gone, “Ozpin can get over it. He deserved to be hit! I would have done a whole lot worse to him…” So is the difference only that one attacker is a military professional and the other is… a huntsmen professional who soon after that scene starts working for the military? Yeah. The show continually ignores that the group aren’t the rogue heroes they pretend to be. They worked under Ironwood for weeks, if not months.

The show isn’t clear about its morals and neither are the fans, with both changing tactics whenever it helps blame the character they already don’t like. When Robyn punches the barrier, do we really think she wouldn’t have hit Jacques if given the chance? Why would it be heroic for her to hit the Evil Man but it’s not okay for the grunt minor character to hit the other Evil Man? These morals don’t change just because you like Robyn and don’t like Ironwood. 

Jumping ahead for a moment, we get another example of this hypocrisy with Joanna. A reporter is informing the people that the military seems to have stopped evacuations and there is an unheard number of grimm hanging out overhead, both things that are objective facts. He’s reporting as he should, sticking to what’s known and provable, and thus is, notably, not some lackey of Ironwood’s who is hastily presented as evil. Yet Joanna treats him like he is. She snatches the microphone from him and, when he starts to protest, threatens him with her weapon. After she’s done hijacking the feed, she shoves him on her way out.

Look at how scared this guy is. These are our heroes? This back and forth doesn’t work. Prior to his random killing spree, Ironwood took his fear and frustration out on some furniture, yet the show acted as if he was hurting real people. The mere possibility that he might use violence and intimidation to achieve heroic goals—getting Amity up/escaping Salem—was enough to label him as an antagonist because the understanding was that you can’t act like that no matter what your intentions are. Yet our current heroes can use as much violence and intimidation as they want to achieve their own heroic goal of warning the people? Do we think the story will encourage us to be critical of the group if they start beating up a bunch of Atlas goons to reach the access point? Of course not. And it’s that flip-flopping that’s the problem. Your heroes have to function differently than the villains in order for them to be heroes. Under that logic, our heroes haven’t acted like heroes since mid-Volume 6 and it’s getting harder and harder to watch.

Especially when we take the scene before this into account. Yup, we’ve still got Qrow gunning for Ironwood. Robyn bemoans the fact that they can’t do anything, to which Qrow replies, “We can do something. We can kill the man who put us here.” I… feel like I shouldn’t start repeating myself given how long this recap is—we’ll be here for forever lol—BUT I hope everyone reading this understands precisely how little this makes sense. How god awful a choice it is. I mean c’mon. Robyn attacked Clover unprovoked, Qrow teamed up with Tyrian, he broke Clover’s aura, Tyrian murdered him, Salem is here, and now he’s sitting in a cell with Watts and Jacques… but Ironwood is the guy he wants to kill? REALLY, QROW? THAT’S WHO YOU’RE GOING TO GO AFTER? I really can’t with this show sometimes. RWBY, put your clown makeup on.

We get a cut to Ironwood’s image just so there’s no confusion about who Qrow wants to help kill next and Joanna threatens that reporter who, you know, is also a citizen in need of help and protection… Her “General Ironwood has abandoned you, but we have not” sounds absolutely ridiculous when we just watched her intimidating this guy to get what she wants. ‘You can trust us! Unless we randomly decide we don’t like you.’ I have other things to say about Yang calling out that racist woman later on, but she gets props for helping her regardless. Honestly, I don’t get that sense from the cast very often: that they’d help you even if they don’t agree with you. They certainly didn’t offer that to Ozpin, Ironwood, or the Ace Ops.

There’s a very long shot of a scared toddler staring out the window, just to hammer home how young and innocent Mantle is. Seriously, pay attention to our imagery: Mantle is scared children in homes, cute children fist-bumping Jaune, family photos lost in the street, a stuffed toy run over by hoverbikes. It’s meant to evoke a general sense of domesticity and, again, innocence. Meanwhile, Atlas is only shown via Ironwood and Jacques, the villains. Where are the families living up in the sky? The children? The humanizing details? Our racist woman is an outlier who is quickly silenced by Yang. The rest of Mantle is characterized as victims: scared women, worried fathers, the faunus huddling together in the slums, even another racist who, while an asshole, is supposed to have a point about things like the embargo. Which is all true. These characters are all of these things, it’s just that they’re not unique in this. All this exists above too—from those families, to the faunus slave labor, to the beloved objects that remind you of someone’s worth—but they’re ignored to provide a simplistic look at Atlas as the villain. 

Throughout this entire episode the group tosses out snide remarks about how “They” don’t care about you and it’s just… they who? The other thousands of innocents who have nothing to do with Ironwood? The hundreds of Mantle citizens you already evacuated? The redeemable people like Winter and Whitley? The group fights alongside a Schnee who was one of the most vocal racists a year and a half ago, yet writes off the entirety of Atlas as the bad guys. What a mess.

As Joanna’s voiceover finishes, we cut to Yang’s group going after Pietro’s tech. I already covered this scene in our promo material, but to summarize here: horrible tone. Absolutely nonsensical given the situation. Salem is here and Yang is giggling over bikes. In fact, the tone is off for most of the episode (our end being the wonderful exception): Yang’s joy ride, antics with the Mantle citizens, Blake poking fun at Weiss, the tube scene… none of it fits the context of the series’ big bad here to kill everyone. Arguments along the lines of, “But it can’t be doom and gloom all the time” or “This is a brilliant parallel to Volume 3 with happy times heralding tragedy” don’t erase the fact that our cast isn’t taking this threat seriously. Last week Weiss’ “We’re never going to sleep again” moment worked because it’s humor in the context of how bad everything is. All of this? It’s just the group goofing off despite supposedly being in mortal danger. This?

This doesn’t read well. I’d argue this scene is even worse in context due to lines like “The others are definitely missing out.” In our promo material I assumed that the group just split for the sake of splitting and they were, in fact, just missing out on something cool. But we’ve since learned that they split due to a fundamental disagreement about how to help people, a split Ruby compared to Salem’s plans, a split that Yang started! Why is she now acting like their separation is a funny “missing out” moment? It’s like if half your friend group decided to go to the movies while the other half went to a party with an unexpectedly good DJ. The movie-goers are people who are “missing out,” not the group who went off to take over a military base and everyone left angry.

Keep in mind that Ozpin is also back. Every fun times scene with Oscar in it has the added problem of Ozpin hanging back, not saying anything, not acknowledged, still a secret.

The other issue I brought up weeks back was the lack of grimm. Why are the streets deserted? Shouldn’t the army be overrunning the city? Well, turns out that there’s no army because… Salem just hasn’t bothered to send it into the city yet? When Jaune and Ren take out the low-level grimm Oscar asks if they’ve “already pushed this far in,” to which Yang replies, “No, I think those are from last night.” A few minutes later, last night’s grimm change to new non-Salem grimm as Oscar observes, “It’s the negativity. Salem’s forces aren’t moving in, but it’s enough to attract the stragglers.” Later still, Joanna asks, “…grimm are circling out there. What are they waiting for?” GOOD QUESTION. We don’t know, but it’s real convenient, isn’t it? RWBY redeems itself a bit at the end of this episode with that Hound grimm, but I’m still calling it out for having Salem hold off long enough for the group to evacuate pretty much all of Mantle and infiltrate the base. That’s real nice of her. As the characters keep pointing out, it would be a staggeringly different situation if they were overrun with grimm right now, huh? Kind of like the situation Ironwood (rightfully) assumed they’d be dealing with.

Again, I’m so glad our Big Bad is kind enough to let the heroes do everything they need to before lifting a finger to attack them.

RWBY seems to be setting up a, “See! There was always time to evacuate the city!” accusation even though no one could have known that and it makes zero logical sense. Salem brings an army with her so she can not use the army against Atlas? Right…

This all segues directly into our other promo scene. My initial comments still stand: the tone doesn’t work, the lack of urgency doesn’t work (Jaune playing with the kid, Oscar politely knocking on doors), the low-level grimm are not a threat, that shield is useless against anything not driven by plot convenience, and it’s weird for Jaune to be yelling, “Heads up!” when there’s no one in front of him. As said, this moment really doesn’t sit well given everything that’s going on. I had hoped that it would read better when seen in the episode itself, but that’s sadly not the case.  

After Ren one-shots the grimm Jaune suggests that they use his amplified semblance to get everyone to the crater safely. Ren seems less than pleased about this, but agrees. Right now, it’s easy to say that he’s in a bad mood because Nora is mad at him, but what about the Volume before? Where’s this underlying tension coming from? I can come up with lots of theories, but at some point the show needs to confirm something. The longer we go not explaining what’s wrong with Ren, the less faith I have that it will make sense when we get it.

We see the racist woman upset that they have to go live with the “animals in the slums” rather than going up to Atlas. As said, I like that Yang helps her despite clearly hating the woman, I also think her criticism holds up well (ignoring the simplified ‘They abandoned you’ narrative). The only thing that bugs me is RWBY continually presenting racism as a problem to throw a band-aid on and then pat yourself on the back for ‘solving.’ Racist drunk says shit? Toss him in the trash! Racist woman says shit? Remind her that her survival depends on you! It’s not that these responses aren’t earned, but that we’re given them instead of an actual arc that tackles the complexities of this issue. I mean, Blake has abandoned the White Fang and we’ve barely mentioned the faunus slave labor in Atlas. When they head to the dust facility it’s conveniently run by bots instead of faunus. Can you imagine if Weiss Schnee walked into a group of exploited minorities, hoping to use them to access a military base? But of course, there’s nothing like that. RWBY ignores the actual issues for these simple solutions. Heroes just attack/threaten racists and then it all goes away. Yay.

The other problem with this scene is that we learn the crater is the slums. Um… what? Hold on, Joanna made it sound like it’s a separate place, potentially inhabited by grimm, yet it’s the same area Oscar was in last episode? How is that area warmer? This makes no sense to me.

Also, ha, the crater below Atlas apparently houses all the “animals” that Team RWBYJNR is very protective of. I’m waiting for them to do something that messes with the Staff—Ruby reaching for it in the opening—Atlas crashes down on a whole city of exploited minorities, and then Ironwood is blamed for it somehow. Can’t wait for that episode.

So the group starts making their way there and hark! An Ozpin! I’m always thrilled to hear him, even if he’s treated just terribly by the show. Oscar is at the back of the group and comments that “It should not be this hard just getting people to cooperate.” Except… they are cooperating? Oscar, you are watching them cooperate right in front of you. That one woman might grumble a bit, but she hasn’t made a move or said a word about not doing what you say. Where did this complaint come from? Another example of RWBY insisting something is there when it simply isn’t. More importantly, Ozpin responds:

“And yet, it’s becoming something I’m increasingly concerned about.”

“You know, I really don’t need your additional comments right now.”

Then why did you comment out loud, Oscar? What, do you normally talk to yourself like that? You were clearly speaking to Ozpin! Don’t criticize him for responding. I hate traps like that.

Ozpin immediately says that Oscar has every right to be upset and apologizes for leaving… it’s not apologizing for his entire existence like I wrote on the bingo board, but it’s close. Who’s surprised that Ozpin is the first to offer (another) apology? Not me. Oscar corrects him with, “I’m upset you came back!”

Okay. Here’s the thing. I like the idea of Oscar rejecting Ozpin both because he’s taken over his life and because Oscar has suffered horribly due to Ozpin’s presence (punched, slammed into walls, kidnapping attempts, etc.) That makes sense, it’s actually morally complex, and it’s great groundwork for character growth. The only problem is… this came out of nowhere. Oscar was shown accepting this new life when he left the farm. Then again when he insisted on fighting Hazel. Then again all the times he’s been told he’s acting like Ozpin and seems to accept that just fine. He’s clearly pleased with this new badass self he’s got going on—he even says as much—yet doesn’t want to acknowledge Ozpin as the catalyst for all this positive change. Okay, that’s something we could still work through, but what about the group? Fans are already theorizing that this is why Oscar is keeping Ozpin a secret, because he’s scared of how the group will react, punishing him to get at Ozpin again, and though he 100% has reasons for thinking that will happen, Oscar hasn’t shown that fear before now. Qrow punches him? Bonding moment with Ruby. Jaune attacks him? I made you all dinner. They all smile over his inevitable death/disappearance? He smiles back. Yang is the most scream-y? Happy to have her using him as an armrest. The group continually ignores him and treats him with suspicion? Not a peep of protest. It’s horrifying that Oscar accepted how the group previously treated him, but he did accept it. Where did this fear come from if we haven’t seen it in response to the harm done towards him? Just as importantly, can’t we have an arc where Oscar is mad at the team some too? I’ll admit that the general premise of blaming Ozpin makes sense for the traumatized fourteen-year old, but after two years of blaming Ozpin for everything… aren’t we sick of this? His team has actively hurt him, outside of Ozpin’s ability to prevent, yet Ozpin is the one who takes all the heat for their behavior. “I felt like I was actually part of the team” should lead to the realization of, “Hey, Yang shouldn’t yell at both of us for things outside of our control” not, “Hey, you should stay away forever because others have decided they don’t like you.”

All of this following Ozpin saving Oscar’s life in the airship. Then saving his life again after Ironwood shot him. Our heroes are real grateful, huh. I hate that RWBY is taking another fave and doing them dirty, though I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. 

Ozpin also mentions his magic—would be nice if Oscar brought that up with the team!—and that he is now “recollecting my longest held memories.” He…is? When? Don’t you think that’s something important to show us? We keep being told that “the merge” is occurring but not shown what that actually means. Seriously, when did Oscar get slammed with that many memories??

Please just use the aura machine and give Ozpin a robot body. RT doesn’t have the chops for writing this situation.

As they continue on towards the crater Ren snaps at Jaune about not needing a “pep talk.” Jaune looks annoyed at the attitude which, fair. It says a lot about the writing the last few years that Jaune is the character I’m least frustrated with lol. Likely because they haven’t had him do anything lately which, given that he’s not one of the title characters and our cast is bloated enough as it is, I’m still totally fine with.

Ozpin concludes the scene with, “We need to find a way to work together. Not just the two of us, all of us” with the camera panning up to look at Atlas. I’m glad someone isn’t ready to throw Ironwood under the bus. Given how the group reacted to him sparing Lionheart’s name though, I don’t think they’ll follow Ozpin in his forgiveness. If anything, I expect this perspective to just be more hate fuel.  

We move to Ruby’s group which now includes May. Woohoo! She still hasn’t gotten half the screen time as Joanna, but I’m really glad she’s here. In fact, between a useful semblance and that adorable courtesy, I love her already. Despite, you know, helping the team break into the base and all that. Everyone has their flaws lol.  

She also frames the Amity plan as getting the world “talking again.” Why is everything presented like a fun romp rather than avoiding death via Salem? Absolutely terrible tone this episode.

The group hilariously waltzes past a sign labeled AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY and enters the dust facility with the bots I mentioned earlier. This I do like. My hypothetical scenario incorporating the racism issue aside, I like that Weiss is using her knowledge and connections to further the mission, rather than something conveniently dropping into the group’s lap. Like Amity suddenly being ready for launch…So yeah, it makes sense that Weiss would know of a potential way in.  

Sending someone up through the tubes though? Ehhh… I know they have aura and everything—and that Zwei was once mailed—but are we sure this is safe?? Doesn’t matter because Nora sends Weiss through with a misplaced button press. Good thing that was the tube heading to the base. Too bad Weiss is heading to a guarded military base alone. It should have been May going first with her semblance activated, but no. Chuck this onto the ever increasing ‘Bad Tone’ pile. There should not be giggles over Weiss being in that level of danger, especially with everything else going on. Ruby’s expression is the only one on point.

Before Weiss is yeeted off though, Penny and Ruby have a talk wherein Ruby lies her ass off. Penny says, “I do not like it when friends fight” and when Ruby starts talking about Yang she corrects her, revealing that she’s actually thinking about Winter and Ironwood. “They were our friends.”

I was ready to sing Penny’s praises and really, she still gets credit for being the only one who has acknowledged this, but her opinion is (once again) overridden by Ruby’s. Penny goes, “but then the Ace Ops attacked you” which Ruby doesn’t bother to correct. How would Penny know otherwise? The only information she has about that battle is what Ruby has told her, but Ruby is lying via omission here. The Ace Ops never attacked her. They very explicitly refused to start a fight. Ruby attacked them. Then when Penny is upset that Ironwood said “people were going to die because of me,” Ruby takes her by the shoulders and angrily insists, “That was a lie and he was only saying it to hurt you.”

Ruby… you’re the one lying. You know damn well Ironwood didn’t just say that to hurt Penny. Oh yeah, the general trying to keep a kingdom alive from an immortal witch is preoccupied with hurting Penny’s feelings for no reason other than being evil. That makes sense. More importantly, Ironwood is right. Look, I’m by no means blaming Penny for anything. She fought off Cinder, took the power when there was no other choice, and has now gotten caught up in Ruby’s plans which include incredibly misleading information that Penny has no reason to question. She’s doing her best and deserves that hug. But that doesn’t mean she lacks responsibility here. Ironwood needs Penny to evacuate. Penny—listening to Ruby—won’t help him. Ergo, if something happens to the people up in Atlas Penny will be partly responsible. If I have the key to a door with lots of people trapped behind it as a fire rages, and I refuse to open that door, I have indeed allowed a lot of people to die. As Penny says, she didn’t want this responsibility… but she has it. She has to deal with it. Too bad she’s with Ruby who encourages her to ignore it instead, insisting that nothing bad that happens after their choices could in any way be connected to them. Kind of like Qrow ignoring his own actions against Clover.

Because that’s the takeaway from this scene. Penny had empathy for their friends and then Ruby talked her out of it. She never even acknowledges that those were indeed seven friends that she betrayed. That’s horrible.

What happened to Ruby? I used to love this girl.

Continuing our tone issue, Nora is watching this show like her favorite soap is on. Okay then.

Weiss goes up the tube and then we cut to Fiona saying that… the Mantle police are helping them evacuate? So the military is bad, but the police are good? I need to stop trying to make sense of RWBY’s allegory.

When Yang and the others return Fiona makes an innocent comment about being worried about how they’d fare without the rest of their team. Yang is pissed.

Ah, so we’re back to her giving allies attitude for random observations. Remember the anger at Marrow for suggesting she and Blake try different team-ups? Now here Yang is, in a different team-up, doing quite well. Funny how we never acknowledge who first suggested that. Now, Fiona reveals a totally logical worry that losing four fighters might make a difference when fending off grimm, but Yang is poised to be angry at everyone, about everything, all the time. Which I get is something that a lot of fans like. I’ve already seen a couple of posts praising RT for letting Robyn and Yang be angry without consequences because women often can’t do that and, fair. That is indeed one way to read it. My problem is that their anger is actually irrational, not just called as much because we women are ~emotional~. Their anger isn’t justified: Robyn because she had a significant hand in all this nonsense (that she’s ignoring) and Yang because it’s clear Fiona means no harm here. This is anger that needs to be called out, not ignored because yay women expressing emotion. That kind of defense is reserved for a woman’s justified anger that needs to be expressed without criticism, especially in a narrative that tries to undermine her perspective. But what has Fiona done to Yang? Nothing. More importantly, the show has yet to teach Yang a better coping mechanism than lashing out at people, be it with her fists, words, or angry glares. Yang has been through the ringer and it makes sense that she’s angry, but that doesn’t mean she gets a lifelong pass to treat those around her badly. 

Anyway, Joanna says they have a lot of people to keep warm even though the crater was supposed to be warmer? And they’re stealing dust? So what are they using it for it not heat? We’re not seeing any difference here and frankly all the civilians should be dead by now. Or at least entering hypothermia. (Give me that conflict: how do you keep people safe when they’re not all conveniently up for walking all the way to the slums?) Joanna also says that they’re trying to get the “Old mine shafts into a livable condition” which would take how long exactly? In fact, I’d say our timeline is already wonky. We’ve watched Yang hide the Ace Ops last Volume, fly to Winter and Penny, find the Happy Huntresses, wait around for Oscar to show up, ran off on her own at some point to scout, went to get bikes, evacuated all those people to the (far away) slums, then went back out to fight off the grimm. That had to have taken up a good chunk of the night, though it’s impossible to tell the time with Atlas’ snowy sky. I’m leaning towards a bingo mark though…

The faunus who I thought was a badger or something is… a bear I guess? He has a bear-like paw, but his nails seem too long… I honestly don’t know. But he’s Fiona’s uncle! Cute. She's off to deal with a fight that’s starting while the group goes to fight more grimm. Finally, the episode gets good.

The teamwork to take out the dragon grimm was nice, always glad to see it, but the real fight starts when two more grunts show up and then immediately run away. What could have scared them off?

The Hound. (I’m sorry, all I can think of is Game of Thrones when I write that, but it seems to be the name the fandom is adopting, so…) Remember how I said it was unlikely to be a threat on its own? I WAS WRONG. Holy shit this thing is terrifying. It snatches Oscar and in some wonderfully quick animation absolutely obliterates the kid. Oscar is thrown around like a chew toy, desperately trying to rabbit kick at this thing and it does [checks notes] absolutely nothing. I’d normally say something about our farm boy always getting the shit kicked out of him, but this scene was too good for my salt.

Then it changes shape, growing arms, and starts using Oscar as a shield. Yang can’t pull back in time and is snagged by her head, the Hound tossing her into the wall hard enough to break the stone. She’s still conscious though and warns the others about its strategy.

“But grimm aren’t that smart,” Jaune says. Maybe if you kids (Fiona keeps calling them kids) had stayed in school you would have learned that grimm get smarter with age! Oobleck knew that. Or, just as likely, this is a special Salem grimm. Hard to say at this point.

The point though is that the group is helpless in the face of this monster. I do want to emphasize this. I’ve seen a few people criticizing them for not doing enough to save Oscar and it’s like, what did you want them to do? Yang tried to attack and the grimm nearly had her hitting Oscar instead. Ren tried to attack and the grimm changed so fast his weapon was useless. Factor in that morphing—which the group has never seen before—the horror of Oscar hanging there limp, and the general fighter response of, ‘I can’t just keep attacking head on because that thing might kill me,’ and you realize the group was screwed from the start. They can’t stand up against this thing, not without a good strategy anyway, which there’s no time to think up. For the first time in years, ever since Tyrian, Salem actually made the right, villainous call.

Ren screams, “Give him back!”—which was just lovely in an angsty way—and the grimm creepily cuddles Oscar against his chest. Then he responds, “No.” Yeah, they’ve never seen that before either. Can you blame them for their shock? I’m impressed that they were on their bikes just seconds later, managing to keep the grimm in sight. That speaks to their combat experience. Not the ability to power through a situation where they’re clearly outmatched, but their ability to pick themselves back up and try again.

... Ah, so that’s why Pietro was oh so randomly making them bikes. The plot needed a way for them to keep up with a flying grimm. Got it.

My takeaway? RT should be writing horror. They’re far better at it. The animation, sound effects, voice acting, the grimm’s speech and protective instincts, that splatter of goo on Oscar’s cheek… 

... stellar all around. Like the Apathy, this is the best I think RWBY has been since the lore episode of Volume 6. Granted, action sequences like this aren’t required to grapple with any of the messy morals and character consistency of other scenes, but still. If RWBY had just given me a lighthearted ‘Girls fight cartoon monsters’ show or a horror fueled ‘Girls fight monster abominations’ show, I’d have been happy. This? This is the only redeeming part of the episode. And it’s indeed one hell of a redemption. Look at this thing!

I’m not going to say it erases all the bad we got—it doesn’t—or that it likewise erases problems like Salem not using the rest of her army, but it’s a notable step in the right direction. This grimm is a threat. This grimm is a mountain the cast has to overcome. If this is the minion its master should be Everest. I still think this Volume is going down the tubes fast (it’s going the way of Weiss lol), but if it can give me more scenes like this? It might not be a total loss.

Last thing to acknowledge: What about Ozpin? I’ll admit it doesn’t look good. Given how fast he takes control he should have been able to override Oscar’s will and at least fight back a little with that spectacular magic we saw during the finale. So why didn’t he? I hope we get an in-world explanation: it happened so fast even Ozpin couldn’t do anything (shaky, but I’ll take it in a pinch), now that the merge is farther along he can no longer take control—something. Because I can easily imagine how quickly the fandom, and even the cast, will turn on him for not playing deus ex machina here. In reality, I think Ozpin didn’t take control simply because the plot needed him not to. The writers needed Oscar kidnapped so any potential out from that is conveniently forgotten… which is another knock against their writing, despite how great the scene otherwise was. The point is to take all these potential pushbacks and find a satisfying way to circumvent them, not pretend they don’t exist. RT can still save themselves here by providing that explanation later, so I hope they’re smart enough to do that. Ozpin has been blamed for everything at this point. His own kidnapping doesn’t need to be added to the list.

Also, still no word on Schrödinger's councilman. We’ve got to wait another week to see whether he’s dead or not.

Finally, let’s update the bingo card!

I’m crossing off “Ruby gives an ‘inspiring’ speech built on ignoring facts she doesn’t like” for that conversation with Penny. Yeah, it’s a speech to her alone about her worth, but Ruby mischaracterized the situation so badly I’m mad at her lol

I never thought the story would straight up just not have the grimm army attacking, so I think I’ll hold off on “Army of grimm conveniently doesn’t kill any civilians” until we see if/when it gets involved.

I’ll likewise hold off on the timeline slot until we see how bad things get…

Maria is on thin ice given that we have no idea what she’s supposedly doing while the group is off on their missions. Stay tuned.

Today we’re crossing off “Deadly cold conveniently doesn’t kill any civilians.” They should all be dropping like flies by now.

A friend pointed out that Cinder’s Cinderella flashback counts as an “Overly obvious fairy tale allusion.” In fact, I talked about how much of a shorthand that is, so that’s getting a mark.

From last week I’ve also decided to include Amity for “Retconning previous lore.” Now that the group is fully underway with their plan it reads as even more egregious that we were told it wasn’t ready.

I’ll hold off on Ozpin’s space for a while. See if he apologizes to the whole group and, if so, exactly what for.

“Oscar is finally kidnapped”—check!

Well, that’s a whole lot of headway this week. Can’t wait to see where the next episode takes us... Here’s hoping we spend a lot of time with that Hound. MVP of the episode.

Until next time! 💜

[Ko-Fi]

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 8 #mymetas #rwby recaps

[inventors-fair]

I Know I Am But What Are You?

Congratulations, you’re playing yourself. How do you win? What is the card that you can have that would make the difference? Let’s look at some examples of deck archetypes and see what could break the mirror, in theory.

Aggro

Let’s start off with the easy one. Aggro deals a bunch of damage, usually with hastey small creatures. Normally, the way to beat that is by killing creatures cheaply, playing bigger creatures to block the smaller ones, or gaining life. The first one can be tough because pointing burn at creatures slows your clock, and playing bigger creatures is tough to do in a deck low to the ground. Gaining life is nice if you’re not in mono-red, and a lot of modern burn decks play Lightning Helix to help keep them alive. There’s also cards like Searing Blood and Searing Blaze that are able to hit creatures AND players, but at the cost of being dead in hand against creatureless decks. Try thinking of what can keep you dealing damage while removing your opponent’s ability to do so.

Combo

Your and your opponent are both trying to pull off the same combo, so what can you do to mess with them while keeping you safe? This is perhaps the time where asymmetric effects are most important. Nevermore would be awful, but Gideon’s Intervention might work. However, these hate cards still need to do something in your deck. Depending on the combo, simply being the right type of card or having an otherwise unimportant keyword. A Pithing Needle works well in an artifact-centric Urza combo deck, and the mere mention of dredge makes any card at least feasible in a graveyard-focused deck. When in doubt, though, deck manipulation is always a way to make a card more viable in a combo deck. The thing about combo decks, though, is they all work slightly differently, so I think this has some great design space. For example, a variation of Hunt the Weak might work great in the Heliod combo deck, since it plays off the counters theme, but also removes a creature.

Control

Control mirrors: the bane of coverage and chess clocks alike. When both of you are playing lands and passing, what can you do to make sure you do it best? The obvious is just putting “can’t be countered” on anything. But what’s worth not being countered in a control deck? Well, counters themselves, but also creatures that can close out the game, card draw, or anything that circumvents any of those things. Another way to get around counters is cards with activated abilities; ways to leave up mana and get use out of it if you don’t need to counter things. Preferably on a land (which you could main-deck easily), but if it’s on a cheap but hard to get rid of permanent that could be nice, too.

Synergy

Some decks just try and do one thing really well. Sometimes mill decks are in this section, tribal decks are almost always this section, and “set mechanic: the deck” are in this section, too. This might be one of the most direct mirror-breaker types you can do. Plague Engineer is going to be useful in your elf deck even if it’s not an elf. You could also aim big with cards like Psychic Spiral, which are amazing in the mirror but could also be used in less fair ways. You’ll probably have to be very precise about your phrasing to make sure it doesn’t affect your own stuff, but if you can get around that I’ll be impressed. Try and pinpoint what the critical mass for your synergies are and see if you can get closer to it while pushing theirs away. Cling to Dust is great in the current standard’s Rogue mirror, since it can keep your graveyard clear of the 7 card threshold they need while keeping your hand full.

~

Those are all of the archetypes I could come up with off the top of my head. If you need any more help thinking of how a deck can beat itself up, don’t hesitate to check out our Discord >>HERE<<! Or, if you’re all done, submit it >>HERE<<.

-Mod Mr. ShinyObject

#mtg #mirror-breaker #custom magic card #inventor's fair #magic the gathering #monday blog

[wendibird]

SPN 15X17 Observations

Well, watching this week went pretty smoothly (and I was actually able to get my little bluetooth keyboard thing to talk to my tablet so I was able to watch on my big TV screen and type up notes fairly easily. :) 

And just to clarify, sometimes my notes as I took them were VERY brief, and in some cases I’ve gone back and added in a few details or explanations to make clear what I meant by what at the time. 

I’ve also come to the conclusion that I don’t always remember to take notes, especially if Important Things are happening. (Do people even like the notes section? Or would you just prefer reading my odd takes on everything after the fact?) 

Anyway, here’s what I have for 15X17 “Unity”. Well, I do have more thoughts drifting around, but I’m always concerned that I’m going on too long as it is. *LOL*  (Under the cut for length and spoiler aversion)

Okay, going in I’ve heard rumors that this is a “Sam Heavy” episode, so we’ll see. *fingers crossed* 

- wow, is Chuck starting in on this world already?

- Silent treatment.

- I wonder if she’s guessed.

- fuck you Dean!

(but I’m not surprised. it just confirms what I’d already suspected about how Dean really feels about Jack.)

Commercial Thoughts:

Yeah, so, I’m firmly in Sam and Cas’ camp here. Jack may not be family to Dean, but he is to them. He’s their Son. 

I also think that though he hasn’t talked about it, Sam regrets his part in the Drama Coffin plan involving Jack last season. Think it’s one of those cases where he realized too late he was on the wrong side, and he doesn’t want to be there again.

As for Dean… I get that he wants to see the people he cares most about make it out of this. (Sam and Cas.) And I get he’s doing the tunnel vision thing. I think he knows that Sam’s right but he won’t let himself admit it.

- Wow….. The fanangels are kinda creepy.

- They’ve lost all their nuance with Chuck. Or my theory is right and Chuck has actually shifted darkside.

- Oh wow…. Amara is really going to bat here.

Commercial Thoughts:

Still not sure how much she’s (Amara) really guessed. She’s acting as though the whole “trapping him” idea is still a go, but what she’d said to Dean, as pointedly as she did, it seemed like maybe she suspected what was really going on and was still trying to give him the option to go a different way.

And even if this is Chuck having shifted dark, it could still be written with more nuance than this crappy villain schtick.

I mean, even in S11 when he’s all but given up on humanity and existence and was going to let Amara win, it was written with there being a depth to him about it.

- Don’t know if Dean’s trying to convince himself that he doesn’t care as deeply to make this easier or what.

- HOw is ADAM still alive?! And she’s an angel?

- Interesting behavior for an angel. *LOL*

- “Then he moved on to our sons.” Hints of Cain and Abel?

- Okay, so the angel kept him alive. (Sure, I can buy that.) 

- Pretty Crystals!

- He’s (Dean) heard those lines before. And Dean’s feeling uneasy about it.

- Amethyst! (Sorry, always had a thing for Amethyst and it’s my birthstone)

- (oh, okay, all of them)

- Ewww….. Open heart surgery

- Rib!

- Dean doesn’t like being rail-roaded.

- Talk time.

- I don’t like this…… (Jack using the rib and starting the suicide-bomb process.) 

Commercial Thoughts:

Okay, so, what Dean said, I’m glad he said it. And I have been getting hints of that feeling from him the whole season, about feeling disconnected because of what they found out about Chuck and their lives. I just… I still think he’s willfully blinding himself to what’s really going on. That even this version of “Free Will” is a script that he’s following. (Well, I think he’s starting to have misgivings about that.)

- Uh-oh! Ideas! 

- I love two researching nerds!

- Were we supposed to understand the Latin? *LOL* I caught “Mortem” in there a few times.

- Yey door!

- “your internal compass is functioning perfectly”

- I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!

- Who dat?

- Dead someone or other

- W section.

- Reapers maybe?

- Who’s thinning the ranks?

- Empty!Meg!

- Sam is good! (At bluffing the hell out of an ancient cosmic being.) 

- IT’S A LITTLE LATE TO STOP IT!!!!

Commercial Thoughts:

*FREAKING OUT!!!*

Jack already started it! OG!Adam said that once started the reaction couldn’t be stopped.

Okay, deeper thoughts. Everyone’s playing chess. Still. The game is just bigger.

OG!Adam wants God dead because of stuff that happened. And Billy is following his plan? (Did I get that right?) The plan will make Billy the next God. (Not surprised there honestly.) Her world will be a lot more “orderly” no doubt.

The Empty just wants to sleep. (Honestly, can relate.) 

But everyone’s just using them all as gamepieces again. Dean’s getting that feel from things OG!Adam and Whatserfaceangel said. Sam knows now too. They’re still stuck in someone else’s story. They’re still not gaining true “Free Will”. I’m hoping that the route they take will actually get them off this train track.

- DUDE - WHAT (was in reference to Dean pulling a gun on Sam)

- Go Sam! He’s not letting this one go. (Referring to my feelings on Sam feeling bad about Jack and the Drama Coffin thing from way before, and him NOT settling for Dean’s plan this time, him sticking to his guns and saying what he feels and taking action.) 

- Chuck played her (Amara) too.

- Not again! (Oh Jack, will this forever be your fate?)

- FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!

Holy shit! That episode!

Okay, it actually did a good job of wrapping up a lot of ideas. Like, big-picture ideas that have been themes throughout the run of the show. 

Also, apparently this was the only world where Cas and the Winchesters broke the mold? Didn’t play by their roles?

Also, minor point but it made me happy: Chuck pointed out how it’s Sam who needed to find things out. Sam who kept digging. I made mention of it last episode how Billy kept going to Dean, because he was easier for her to manipulate. But Sam asks more questions. I think part of it is what Cas said about his internal compass. I think another part is his experiences. He’s been the brunt of the cosmic plot-lines a LOT of the time. So he does keep asking questions because of all the times he hadn’t and things went badly. (Like end of S4 with killing Lilith.) 

And let me be clear, it’s not that I think Dean is dumb. He isn’t. And he and Sam both make decisions a lot based on their feelings. (Sometimes it’s all you have to go on.) But he’s shown a tendency in the past several years especially to be more likely to make them based on anger. And he doesn’t get called on it often. And I don’t know if this is TOO meta (is that even a thing with this show anymore? *LMAO*) but I feel like part of that is written into the script. Of their world. Even when Dean’s wrong he’s often proven “right” by the narrative. He very rarely is made to face up to his mistakes. (Not saying he never is. But it definitely doesn’t seem to happen as often.) And I’m wondering, is that because up till now, he was Chuck’s favorite? We saw that Chuck can manipulate a LOT of things. And events, and even some people. 

How often have we noticed and commented on how the Narrative backs Dean up so much of the time, even when he might be in the wrong? Or even just questionable? Or morally grey? How much of that is possibly now supposed to be due to Chuck’s meddling? Because I’ve also seen it mentioned (and have also noticed) that although Sam winds up the “wrong one” a lot via the narrative, he’s actually HAD to learn and grow because of that. But because Dean is rarely shown as wrong, he hasn’t had to, and his character has stagnated a lot in the last several seasons. Of course, in reality, that’s due to the writing/show-running/powers-that-be making those decisions, but in-show could it possibly be something to do with Chuck? Maybe at first because he liked Dean more? But as time grew on, and he kept trying to set up his Cain and Abel plot with them, maybe it was to reinforce Dean’s self-image that he’s Right? 

And also by contrast, we had the end of last season where so many of Sam’s decisions which had been made with best intentions and best information/resources at the time wound up blowing-up in his face. As if to say "Ha-HAH! That's what you get for thinking you could lead people! That's what you get for thinking you could save Jack! That's what you get for thinking someone like Nick could be redeemed! That's what you get for talking your brother out of the Drama-Coffin plan!" It felt like it was specifically intended to make him severely doubt his own judgement. And it worked. After all that shit went down, one thing after another, culminating with their mother's death, he didn't trust himself. He didn't believe in himself. So he put all his trust in Dean. And Dean was full of RAGE. (I don't blame him. His Mom has been a keystone of his life, even when she wasn't there.) But Sam didn't give the objections he normally would have to Dean's plan to box-up Jack. Even though it was CLEAR how much he didn't like it. How wrong it felt to him.

Basically, what I’m trying to say is, I think Chuck has been nudging and manipulating a LOT of things in order to get the Winchesters to behave how he wants them to. 

IDK. My head is hurting from some of these meta thoughts. *LOL*

SO! Back to what happened in the actual episode.

I thought the format was interesting, focusing in on the different POV characters for their spans of the story until it all came together. (Wondering if this is going to continue into the next episode…) 

I liked that we got a lot of reveals about what is (possibly) really going on, in regards to the grand schemas. Because there are several at play here. But now we're at least getting glimpses of them. 

Even though we didn't see Billy, I thought the reveal about her plans were interesting, but definitely fit with her character as established so far. I know a lot of people are saying she's gotten drunk with her power or she's "turning evil" but I don't think that's the case. It's true that she hasn't told them everything about her plans, but that's because she's also using them as pieces in her game. But her goal is the same as it's always been since we first met her. She has ALWAYS been about the Natural Order. She never liked how the Winchesters (or anyone else) flaunted death again and again. So once she's in charge? Everyone and everything goes where they belong. The demons stay in hell, the angels stay in heaven, souls go where they're meant to, people from other universes go back (even if there's no universe to go back TO. Tough shit, they'd be dead anyway according to her) and those who have already died and been resurrected? They go back to wherever they should be. (At least, I THINK that was the implication made, with Sam asking Dean if he'd be willing to trade HIM to take-out Chuck. Sam was definitely realizing a LOT when Empty!Meg told him what Billy's plan was.) 

This isn't her turning Evil like has been done with Chuck. It's more, her becoming a more extreme version of what she already was. When she got her promotion, she found out a LOT more things. Including this option of events for taking Chuck out and putting things back to how they belong. And it even started with Dean's aborted Drama Coffin plan. Which eventually fails, because Sam, but it then leads to Jack sacrificing his soul to take out AU Michael, which eventually leads to Mary's Death and Chuck's opportunity to manipulate things more and so on and so forth until we wind up here. 

(Also, just wanna say, absolutely LOVED Rachel as the Empty again!) 

And also, having just watched that scene again, can I just say again how awesome Sam is? He straight-up told the Empty that even if he WAS lying, their best bet is to let him go with the book. And it couldn't really argue with that because he was right! (Well, if it had killed him then and there, Dean probably wouldn't have known right away and probably would have been able to carry out the plan. So there is that. Buuuuut none of them knew that either at the time.) 

And in general, I love how Sam just would NOT give up. This is the Sam Winchester I've come to love. He could feel in his bones that this plan was wrong so he was doing everything he could to not only stop it, but to find some other way to get what they truly wanted. 

I also loved his and Cas' interactions. They were supportive of each other and both were trying to find a way to save their son. (Dean has officially forfeited his Dad-Card in my book. Hell, in his book too.) Also, I remember hearing someone from production, or who was maybe on set or something mentioning something about the Holy Grail in this episode? Well, in that scene where Sam and Cas are looking through those old crates and trunks and boxes, when Cas finds the key Sam is holding this really old looking chalice. Wonder if that's supposed to be what that is. *LOL* I mean, the Spear of Destiny (or at least, the head of the spear) was there in the Bunker, so why not I guess? *LOL*

We didn't get a lot of Sam and Jack interaction, but I liked what little we had. Sam made it clear to Jack that he wants to save him. (I'm really hoping we get SOMETHING more of them in the next episode or two but... yeah. Not a lot of time left.) 

I could go on for some length about my feelings on Dean and how he's been this season. But I don't want this to turn into a fully anti-Dean rant. I will say though that I'd definitely gotten the impression before this that Dean has different categories of people he cares about, and in his mind, he also has them ranked according to how expendable they are. And I'm not just talking about Jack here, though he is a major part of it. But at the end of the episode when he and Sam are having it out, Dean says he's basically willing to sacrifice EVERYONE to get what he wants. 

(I don't think he's actually willing to sacrifice Sam for it though. And yes, I know, he was waving a gun in Sam's face. But I don't believe for a moment he had any intention of killing his brother. Not when Sam asking point blanc if Dean is willing to trade him for killing Chuck, and that seems to be what causes Dean to start listening to what Sam's saying. Also, in the past, Dean hasn't been above threatening people to get what he wants. Like with Kaia. Also in S8's "Trail and Error" when he and Sam were talking about taking out the hellhound, Dean pretty much said if Sam even tries to get close to it, Dean would shoot him in the leg. Now, we never got to see if he actually would have or not, but regardless, it was a case of Dean being willing to hurt Sam a little in order to protect him from something he saw as a bigger threat. In that case it had been taking on the trials. In this case, it would have been to win their shot at freedom. At least in Dean's mind. Not saying I approve! Just, I think that's where his mindset was.) 

And this is a far cry from the Dean who, just a few years ago was willing to be a kamikaze bomb in order to save the world. And yes, Dean has mentioned "Saving the world" this season too. And I'm sure he means that too. But when he was at his most emotional, what he was talking about wasn't saving the world and everyone in it. It was freeing him and Sam from being Chuck's entertainment. And he's willing to sacrifice nearly anyone to accomplish that. At least, he was up til now. I hope that they're going to give him a change of heart before the end because I really REALLY would like the show to end with me not despising Dean and what he's become. Yes, I'm a Sam-girl, but I do care about Dean too. 

Also, I feel bad for Amara and what wound up happening with her. Like many other characters, she fell victim to Chuck's manipulations, and now I'm guessing he's even stronger than before. But also, Chuck wasn't the only one manipulating her. And maybe if they, (Dean especially, since she had a soft-spot for him) had actually been trying to find another way earlier, she wouldn't have fallen to despair when finding out the truth. 

Aaaaaanyway, I think I've rambled enough about this episode as it is. Thank you to whoever actually bothers to read all of this. *LOL*

#spn 15x17 spoilers #spn season 15 spoilers #episode review #my thoughts #tangents: i tend to live in them #sam winchester #dean winchester #castiel #jack kline #the darkness/amara #god/chuck #i think your internal compass is functioning perfectly #sam is jack's dad #castiel is jack's dad

[bre95611]

HI! I’m finally rewatching 15x17 so I’m doing an in-depth(ish?) super stoned commentary! Hooray!

Before I get into it, I just really have to say, god I love this season so so so much. The writing has just been beautiful, and it has me EMOTIONAL af. Anyway. Here we go!

I always like looking at the Then/Now scenes. I feel they can ring some really important storywide context to the show. A great example of this is the Pizza Man montage. This episode it starts with the conversation from a  few episodes back with Dean and Sam discussing Jack killing God.

I’ve found the Dean/Amara relationship very interesting. After how it was played up in the 15x15 Gimme Shelter, always from Dean’s perspective in a joking manner. I believe it was @verobatto-angelxhunter that discussed the Big Married Energy it gave off, Dean teasing Castiel about a woman from his past. Season 11, as the beginning of the Dabb era, has been calling my name for a rewatch lately, especially with Amara being brought back. Its always been established that the connection Dean and Amara have was not something Dean liked. It wasn’t actual attraction. I’ll talk more about this later.

I have made some random posts here and there talking about the symmetry in endings between Season 11 and Season 15, I will also dig into this more later.

Saw a post about the amount of times “world” is said, want to keep track of that. I know there is a heavy Destiel attachment, and the second time it is said is during the Then sequence, Chuck’s dialogue from the episode with the tvs, talking about how its time to clear the board. (Want to look into Chess mentions this season, maybe even Dabb era as a whole? Because obviously there’s been a game going on at the cosmic level for quite some time). It doesn’t show the scene where Dean and Cas in the kitchen comes up on the tv where Chuck calls them “the world”. but it does have that section of dialogue as t screens are being shown, bringing that to mind.

Then we have Meg 2.0 as The Shadow, Cas is confused why he is being harmed since they’re on the same side. The Shadow makes their loyalty known. Keep this in mind. Will touch on this later as well.

Shit this is a lot for the episode not even starting yet. Below the cut for more!

God Amara is a QUEEN and I love her SO MUCH.

Sam tells Cas to “just get home” cause the Bunker is his FUCKING HOME

One thing I’ve seen brought up a lot is how Dean is always very action focused. Solve the problem at hand, “cross that bridge when we get to it” type of mentality. His plans always revolve around that. Cas and Sam are always very focused on there being another way, how there is always another way, especially when one oftheir lives are at stake. Sam calls him out. Sam wouldn’t care if Dean was saying that all the time if it were actually true, wouldn’t wonder if he ever got tired of saying it if they did only ever have one choice. TFW always subverts the problem at hand. Last season, their only shot of beating Michael was the Malak Box. Season 11 was soul bomb Dean, 13 was Dean saying yes to Michael. Ya’ll see a theme yet? Dean loves to sacrifice himself. Sam’s done the same exact thing, closing the Hell gates, letting out Lucifer. Cas’s whole thing in Season 6? They’ve all done the same things. over and over. Hamster wheel. Think of what made all those endings obsolete? What made them find another way, huh?

Fuck that paragraph went somewhere I wasn’t originally taking it, but still a good take IMHO. 

I’m loving the SUITS!

I really hope that Amara is not gone. I know I’ve seen some stuff that talks about why that has to have been her last episode, but whatever. Imma still dream. And I really might have to just write a fix-it fic after the finale about Aunt Amara and Jack hanging out. 

I just noticed world again (Dean to Amara: saving the whole world’s ass)

“You and I will always help each other.” That look on Dean’s face when she said that. Not  the face of someone enjoying being flirted with by and “ex-flame” or whatever the hell

Saw a post about the generational family story that was being told (I believe it was @occamshipper) that basically has Sam is to Jack as Dean was to Sam growing up (Dean is John and Cas is Mary, super awesome read, will try to find and link in a bit). This whole family arc is about breaking the toxic circle, being a better parent than your parents, found family kinda things. So how has Dean reacted to Sam in these situations? Most recently, I think, is season 8, with the Trials. Sam was sacrificing himself, he knew that, he was okay with it. Sam was suicidal by the end of it, and Dean does what he normally does with Sam and keeps him from finishing the trials, and season 9 starts with Dean completely taking away his autonomy again, allowing Gadreel to possess him. Dean was angry, he was disappointed, he acted like Dean, and that is the kind of treatment he gets from his “big brother” father figure. But Sam breaks through his treatment, tells Jack he is brave and validates him, and doesn’t try and take away his FREE WILL.

Sam continues the path he started on when he told Dean to stop as he continuously made excuses/explained why he had kept things from Sam about Jack. He grows!! I love to see it!! He does NOT give up his FREE WILL. Guys I’m loving it. These boys are actively making HARD decisions and we are seeing growth in real time. TFW in every form has...not really lived up to its name? Sure, the world gets free will, but the boys never do. And not just in situations like they’re told they can’t do something. I’m talking constant violations of each other’s bodily autonomy. Dean all the time with Sam, Cas when he takes down the Hell wall from Sam’s mind, honestly....mostly its Sam having it violated. But the other guys have to stop fucking with it. They all need a variation. Dean needs the Free Will to stop being his father’s soldier, to live his true non performative life. Cas needs to be free of his self doubt. Permission to be happy, not happy in and of itself. Jack needs Free Will to be a fucking toddler.....

Sam SEES it dude, he knows something isn’t right, and he’s the one that figured it out like, every other time this season, too. Jesus. Dean is so desparately caught up in wanting to get the hell OUT of the hamster wheel, he’s too blind to see how deep into it he is. The first plan ANYONE gives him, he goes with it. He’s literally followed Billie’s plan because of one of her books before, and what happened? Cas and Sam brought him back from sacrificing himself. 

I’ve really enjoyed how much Sam and Dean are fighting, honestly. Like, my spec for a while now has been that the brothers are going their seperate ways at the end of all this, the only way to satisfyingly bring an impactful end to their toxic codependency that they’ve been chipping away at for the last few seasons.

Guys I’m suuuuuuuper baked,

Dean says “Someone’s gotta be the grownup here” talking to Sam about taking Jack to do the final ritual. Dean is fully his father, talking to the “older brother” Sam protecting the “special child” Jack. Dean is not  breaking the cycle established by his father, going mad with rage over his circumstances

Jesus Christ the LOOK ON SAM’S FACE when Dean says Jack’s not family. I’m dead. He looks so broken.

That line though is.....hm. All through season 14 and 15, its been established that Jack is family, their kid. When Lily Sunder comes back to help get his soul, Dean makes comments about not making them go through what she did with her daughter, and again to Belphegor in 15 when asked who he was (after a fight between Dean and Cas no less, calls him “our kid”). So this is how far Dean has spiralled? This is how he is choosing to try and deal with knowing Jack will die? Denial of his importance?

“He’s not like you. He’s not like Cas.” Dean feels he holds a different relationship with Cas than he does with Sam. Just...sayin....

Jared’s acting is......truly just phnomenal.

Man, i feel like the music is off? and it makes me think its intentional, cause Becky says something about how there’s no classic rock? So foreshadowing? nah.

This really does feel like....the last real Sam and Cas interaction. It is heart breaking really.

Alright, I’m posting this now......cause I literally just got to the first commercial break.... So 

This is pt 1 I guess.

#spn 15x17 spoilers #spn 15 spoilers #spn spec #spn meta #my meta #my spec

[maybe-homestuck-now-or-something]

I wanna connect the ideas in this post with the ideas in this post because they seem relevant to each other.

to give a basic idea of what's in each one, the first is a post that talks about how homestuck is notable as a creative work that effectively uses the language and format of the internet, in a way that resonates well with people who grew up online. my addition extrapolates to talk about how this quality also made homestuck's style of content creation appealing for others to use, and spawned a lot of creativity from the fans. basically, homestuck is a collage, not just of images, but of methods for delivering information to the audience. it uses a broad variety of experimental techniques, but the purpose of them is to make storytelling accessible. in order to convey an idea, you can use any method you want... whatever suits your purposes. by constantly varying the type of art, writing, and formatting that the story uses, it keeps the story from getting boring for the author and the audience. varying the quality and style of the visual art also implicitly accepts and encourages any kind of artwork, at any level of skill or effort, from fans. and at the same time, the story pioneers new techniques that I legitimately haven't seen used before. at some points it even leverages the design of the web page itself to service the story... it's awesome. this gets people thinking about how to tell stories in non-traditional ways, and further encourages the act of being experimental with your storytelling methods, and having fun exploring your chosen medium.

the second link is mostly just me talking about the merits of homestuck's early acts, and at one point I put a particular focus on the idea of science in homestuck. specifically, I was talking about how homestuck handles science in a way that feels very childlike, which is a positive remark. when you're learning about science in school as a kid, efforts are made to present the material in a way that is fun and interesting... and you're given a lot of tools for exploration within the context of science classes, which a lot of people don't really experience having outside of a school setting, if they aren't going into some branch of science for their career. I was observing that homestuck's aesthetic kind of calls to mind the feel of learning about science as a kid... something about the stark readability of the objects and characters, and the bright color coding of things that are important.

the connection I want to make between these two posts is that homestuck hinges a lot of its interest on the concepts of exploration, and creation. it holistically includes a lot of different themes and ideas, and it does it in such a way where the characters don't have to make it explicit... more often than not, you'll end up thinking of it yourself. homestuck simply introduces elements, and lets you form your own ideas. it puts a lot of stuff out there, and links it all together in this messy web of interconnectivity.

for example, check out this post where I added some commentary about the punch card alchemy system, and how it links the concepts of technology and philosophy. the idea is that captchas determine your humanity... but unlike real captchas, which do this by making you read something that a computer can't read, it instead makes you think in a way that a computer can't think. in order to give you access to items, this crafting system requires philosophical justification for the creation of said items. grist isn't just made up currency that exists to make you work for what you make... the amount of it that it takes to make something is only high if you think that the object you're making should be too powerful or important to be gotten for cheap. you prove your humanity by having a psychology that can assign the object meaning, and thus, value.

or what about the broader themes of biology and mythology in homestuck? there are many mentions of genetics... the goal of the game is to produce a universe via breeding, and there are the origins of each of the kids, or the fact that the chess pieces that fight on Skaia's battlefield are made in test tubes in the labs in the furthest ring... etc. but this theme also exists symbolically in the players of each session. they are people who bring their identity with them into the process of making a new universe. each player is given their own planet, which is responsive to the person it's meant for, and features a personal quest for them. and once the new universe is made, the players will preside over it as deities, and help define its culture with their values, interests, and personalities. in this way, homestuck blends the concepts of biology and mythology. in a biological sense, the kids provide the universe with traits. if they are strong/adaptable/resourceful enough to win their game, they get to pass on their influence to a universe of their own. this is why it is relevant that all the players' chumhandle initials are some combination of A, C, T, and G, which are the letters denoting nucleotide bases in DNA. but this concept also applies to heroes going through trials or completing quests to prove themselves worthy of being known as heroes. SBURB's lore automatically mythologizes the players in the role of legendary heroes to the consorts and carapacians, which pushes them to step up to the task of earning their title, and in doing so, complete the game's objectives... and the game gives them the tools to do it.

really, science, mythology, and religion all wrap into each other here in terms of the way things are named and explained. the punch card system and the frog breeding are both referred to as "alchemy" at various points, which indicates both magical and scientific roots. and the highest title that the players aspire to obtain in the game is "god tier" which implies a sort of religious connection between the players and the game's native characters who know them as legends. the magical abilities that the characters display are ambiguous as to whether they are magical, divine, or something else entirely. a lot of them are defined heavily by a character's personality and identity. the malleability of the different elements that homestuck juggles works entirely in its favor... and all of it is geared towards this sense of growth and creativity.

in homestuck, these things exist on micro and macro levels. the growth of one kid into a slightly different person as they get older, vs. the growth of an entity that will encapsulate the universe. the creation of a piece of music, a drawing, a story, a machine, a person, a plan, a planet... it all just keeps escalating, but it's all rooted in specific characters doing specific things, so we don't get lost in it all. the characters bring it all back around, letting us focus on their smaller actions while the bigger plot remains in motion. and all of this exists at the same time as all the surface level reasons to enjoy homestuck. the comic is funny, and charming, and made to be enjoyable as that. but the fact that the broader elements color the tone of it all, leaves you with the impression that there is a lot of potential in every situation. potential places for the characters to go, or things for them to do, or people for them to talk to, or things for them to make, or even ways to grow and change themselves.

and there's potential for you too. you could throw your ideas at the wall to see what sticks in this exact same way. part of reading homestuck is feeling a sense of recognition and identification with the characters. many of them are based broadly on the kinds of people who make up homestuck's audience. with interests in things like music, art, writing, RPing, programming, playing games, watching movies... they're meant to represent you, in part as parody, but in part as a way to make you feel seen and included in this narrative. as lofty as some of these concepts may seem, the people who engage with them in the text are a bunch of dumb awkward teens. you are at least as accepted as they are, and people love these characters a lot, often in spite of/because of a lot of cringey qualities or major character flaws. homestuck is here to tell you not to be self conscious. play around with your world. make your art. write your story. think your thoughts. be funny and laugh at stuff. don't be afraid of doing it badly.

this is what an accessible creative process looks like.

#homestuck #my rant

[parvasilvi]

Endeavour Fandom Meme tagged by @wherehefoundtheporcupine​, thanks!

Top 5 Episodes

Ride is my absolute #1 favourite. I’ve watched it so many times. The plot is so ridiculous. Great Gatsby&the Prestige crossover? I love it. Morse taking the time to heal after trauma? I needed so much more of that. THE HAIR? Forever in love. Home is also a favourite. Endeavour’s so YOUNG there. We get to see some of his family. We get some Thursday backstory. They take down the (former) mob-boss together. Morse looks so terribly fragile at the end. I just love it. Trove, immediately following Home, also great. Morse slowly piecing himself back together after being shot in the pevious season’s finale. Protective Dad!Thursday. The way Morse snarks at the snooty professor. The kindness he shows Frida Yelen’s dad. The tender moment with Monica. There’s a lot to love in this episode. Neverland almost didn’t make it in the top 5, because the puppet CREEPS me out, but I had to have it here, if only for Morse standing with Thursday, doing what’s right, despite the (DIRE) consequences. AND the POEM! I could listen to that on repeat except I cant handle the emotions. And lastly Deguello, andother episode where Morse takes on the corrupt upper layers, only this time with the Cowley team standing by him. Also by this episode I had gotten used to the Morsestache and could almost live with it.

Runner-up for Quartet for fantastic spy shenanigans, and also just mentioning Coda as a runner-up because I enjoy the angst of the bankrobbery but am not really here for manipulation-via-women that’s the plot of this episode.

Seasons in Order of Preference (or tops)

Gods must you do this to me? There’s highs and lows in all things. S3, S1, S2, S5, S4, S6. I haven’t brought myself to watch S7 yet, I worry it’ll make me dislike the show. It all seems so DIRE. I prefer the earlier seasons where there wasn’t AS much strife between Thursday and Morse, though the differences were always there I suppose. S3 is a definite fave, I love all 4 films that year. S4, the season where Joan left without saying anything, is only so low because it hurts my heart soo much. I cannot bear Win’s suffering. She breaks my heart in season 4, what a phenomenal performance with the little screentime she has. I love Win so much.

Favourite Scene(s)

Season 3, episode 1; Morse is back in Oxford, where he belongs, and he’s sitting on a bench next to Thursday. They discuss the case, Morse predicts the sandwich. And then, finally FINALLY. Morse talks about what prison was like. He tries to keep it light, but it’s... it’s still so fresh. But Thursday listens, and reassures him when he starts to doubt himself. And these actors, their faces, it’s just. I love it.

Honorary mentions for the bed-shopping scene with Monica which is adorable and I love their love, the scene where Morse and Claudine discuss rain and sex because I like when Morse is happy, the exact way in which Thursday says "He's an idealist" in S6 finale Deguello as he's explaining why he can't get Morse to back off, and the scene after Fancy’s death, between Morse and Frazil because the way Morse says “he was 23″ and the look on Frazil’s face always brings tears to my eyes.

Favourite Musical Piece or Moment

I don’t really know? Despite the imporance of music in the show, I don’t really pay too much attention. I wish we had more of Morse’s singing. If I had to pick something I’d pick have Ein Deutches Requiem from Trove, but that’s mostly because I recognised it from when I sang it with my choir, and then I listened to (and hummed) the whole Requiem for about a month because of nostalgia and for the max Endeavour vibes it was giving me.

Also, I agree with wherehfoundtheporcupine; the theme tune. It’s so... wistful? I think? Just the association with the show I love, but also the soft beginning, swelling to that dramatic rolling melody and then the tender ending. Yeah. 

Favourite Cinematography/Imagery (season, ep, whatever)

Probably this shot from Ride:

(gif by @guardiansinferno​)

I’m also a big fan of the way Morse never looks at bodies for long, and he’s always angled away from them in groupshots. He can’t escape it, but he’ll never be comfortable around death, and turn away as soon as he can.

Favourite Ensemble Character that isn’t Morse

Win. I just love her. I love how Caroline O’Neill plays her. I love how gentle and kind and supportive and welcoming and caring she is. But I also love how she stands up for herself, how strong she must be, as we see in glimpses of her life as a policeman’s wife. She’s amazing.

Runner up for Bright, who I’ll be honest I didn’t like at first, but now even on rewatches is always a joy to behold. Look at that man. He got where he is by doing things by the book, but he’s slowly learning that sometimes justice trumps order, and that it’s the people that are important, not the laws.

Favourite One-episode Character

Probably Bettina Pettybon, bless her poor heart. She has such a huge arc in the one episode she’s in. I hope she’s out there living her best life.

Favourite Morse Look (season, ep, whatever)

Smiling (gif by @snappyjenkins​) The scarf (despite the negative connotations) also looks really good on him.

Runner up for this look (gif by @mykingackles​):

Biggest Disappointment

The unresolved plot with Joan Thursday. Actually, the confusing character development of Joan Thursday. I wish we knew more about her mindset after Coda, and after coming back. I wish they hadn’t done the will-they-won’t-they-no-of-course-they-won’t-cause-canon thing for so long. Now they both just seem wishy-washy.

Provide some Spicy Takes (on canon, fandom, anything)

I keep forgetting that Morse has a sister, and I think the show should cater to me in that regard and actually mention her every once in a while. Let him talk about calling his sister, or end an episode with him dialing her number or something if you can’t afford to get the actress back.  Actually, extrapolating from that I’m done with Endeavour - Lone Wolf. Let him make (and keep!) some friends, even outside the precinct. He’s a prickly bugger at the best of times, but even prickly buggers find soft pincushions to stick to. I don’t know where this metaphor is going, let’s get back on track - Morse is kind in his own way. He cares, almost too much sometimes. Give us someone who cares back. I miss the Monica seasons.

Free Space! (Make up something - anything - you want to share or say)

I haven’t given enough love to Dorothea Frazil in all the previous questions. She’s such a great character, we really should’ve gotten more from her. I love the dynamic she has with the main duo, the way she and Morse seem to always be on the same wavelength, and how antagonistic Thursday is towards her. I wonder if it’s because he’s so old-fashioned and she’s not having that patriarchal bullshit, or if it’s just because she’s a journalist. I should go back and add Game to my favourite episodes, just because of her scenes in that, and the way Morse doesn’t even have to say what happened to her protogé. Also the way Trewlove puts that asshat who underestimates her chess knowledge in his place. God this show has so many amazing moments.

I have the feeling this game is spreading like wildfire through the fandom, I’ve seen it on my dash a lot, but I’m going to tag @endeavourous​ and @snappyjenkins​ cause I don’t think I’ve seen theirs yet?

#itv endeavour #that took a long time to put together #such difficult questions! #but fun #fun to think about it so thoroughly #fun to review all the episodes again #endeavour

[wonderlustlucas]

pandora’s box

⇢ word count 3.8k ⇢ warnings mentions of abuse, hints of pedophilia, explicit descriptions of death & asylum treatment. basically all the horror movie stuff. don’t read if ghosts & dying are triggers :] ⇢ a/n hello my precious children so uhm in the midst of trying to write some christmas fics my lit teacher assigned a creative story for us to write but it had to be horror themed (yknow, cus december is still spooky season?) n knee way me & @black-raven200 wrote this and since this is what took away from my WRITING writing i figured i’d post it :p enjoy!!

Only two minutes have passed since I last checked an hour ago, or so it seems. Each tick of the clock roars like a crack of thunder in my skull, serving only as a reminder to what lies ahead. Perhaps then there will be an opportunity for escape. A chance to run free from this prison, to leave everything and everyone who I know awaits my destruction. For now, though, I must sit here and endure this pathetic interrogation, knowing there will be no solution.

“Pandora,” she repeats, shifting uncomfortably in her seat, “why did you kill Elizabeth?”

I find it hard to look her in the eye. Not because she intimidates me, no— it’s the worry heavy in her tone that frightens me. Why did I kill Elizabeth? It is a complicated situation indeed; one Nurse Alice nor Sister would understand. “Self-defense,” is what I say. Again.

Sr. Bernadette sighs from her spot beside Nurse, clearly exasperated. Until now, she has been soundless, the animosity glinting in her eyes the only sort of indication I need to know of her infuriation. “Pandora, you know Elizabeth is—was—a quiet girl with quiet intentions. She stared out the window twenty-four hours a day. Why for the love of God would you need to smash her head against the wall for self-defense?” Sister raises her voice now, and if it were not for Nurse Alice in the room, I know the sting of her palm across my face would have made me speak up hours ago. She’s nicer when Nurse is here. Nurse is nice.

But how am I to explain? Time and time again I tell the truth, but they never believe me. Even now, when I look to him for help, I know they cannot see. They never see and they never will. “Tell them what she was going to do,” he says, a simple gesture of encouragement that has hope filling my heart. “Someone told me the only reason she looked out the window all day was because she was too busy planning on how she was going to kill us all,” glancing away from him to look at Nurse, I add with a smile, “so I killed her first.”

She looks to her hands folded in her lap, too flustered to hold eye contact any longer. So I turn to Sister once more, watching her jaw twitch as she processes my words. “Pandora,” Nurse Alice sighs, dejected, “was it your friend who told you about Elizabeth? The one you mentioned last time?”

“Yes!” I shout, grinning excitedly at her. She smiles softly in return. “Yes! It was him. He tells me everything, because he protects me. He’s my only friend here and he wants to keep me safe from the crazy girls like Elizabeth. Sister Bernadette, do you think he’s my guardian angel? Mama used to tell me that when you see your angel, it means you have a special place in Heav—”

“Silence,” Sr. Bernadette interrupts, raising her hand and I flinch away, expecting her to do more than stop my ramble. I would never admit it to her, but she is a terrifying woman. I will never understand how she made it into the convent, or why God would accept such an evil lady, but I guess it’s not my business. What is my business, however, is that she reminds me of Papa. The way she talks down at everyone, the way she walks, the way she hits, and even the way she looks, down to the squiggly hair growing out of the ugly mole on her cheek.

“I have heard enough,” she announces, rising from her chair and smoothing the untarnished skirt of her habit, “Nurse Alice, see me in my office when you are finished.”

With that, she leaves, not even bothering to look at me. How rude!

Nurse Alice sighs for the umpteenth time this evening when Sister closes the door with an unnecessary slam. While she sits there, kneading her eyes with her knuckles, Casper moves from his spot against the wall to sit beside her. Oh, how I wish she could just see him. Hear him. Feel him. Anything to prove to her I’m not as crazy as they think I am.

“I tried Pandora, I really tried. There’s nothing more for me to do,” she murmurs, and when she looks up her eyes are brimmed with tears. In this moment, she looks like Mama. My heart sinks. Nothing more for her to do? What does she mean nothing more? “What happens now?” I ask because, truly, what will happen after she meets with Sister? Perhaps she will help me escape. Maybe I will finally be free from this horrid place. That is what she can do.

“I cannot say,” Nurse admits, “Sister is not adept working with young children.”

“You mean crazy young children like me?” I ask.

Nurse Alice frowns, reaching across the desk to grasp my hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. Casper glares at her affectionate gesture. “You are not crazy, Pandora,” she reassures me, the same way she does every day, “I don’t know what you see or who they are, but I believe you. You’re not the first person in history who sees ghosts, or spirits, or like you said, your guardian angel. The world just doesn’t like to accept these kinds of things when they can’t see it and you can.” Casper doesn’t like Nurse Alice. He says not to trust her, and that she’s just like everyone else. I believe what he says about everyone else, that Elizabeth was a psychopath or that Gerard is possessed by the Devil, but I cannot accept what he speaks of Nurse Alice. She has been the only one to ever truly care, let alone give me the benefit of the doubt and know that what goes on is true.

“I’m sorry I killed Elizabeth,” I whisper, looking to the checkered marble floors. Why they chose such atrocious tiles for an asylum is beyond me, that in itself is enough to drive anyone mad. Life here constantly feels like a game of chess on these floors; you stay on your square, watching everyone else’s moves, trying to decipher their next, while simultaneously needing to gather enough courage to take a step yourself. I don’t realize until a tear hits my hand that I have started crying.

Nurse gives my hand another squeeze before pulling away. It seems I’ve stumped her, but I understand. What is she to say? ‘It’s okay’ when it really isn’t? When I look up, Casper is gone.

“Why don’t we get ready for bed? It’s been a long day,” Nurse asks after the silence has settled heavily in the air, exhaustion evident in the blue bags drawn deep below her eyes. I nod, wiping away the wet trails left on my cheeks with the back of my hand.

The walk back to my room is quiet; lights out was more than an hour ago, and the only sound of life in the hallways is the sound of our footsteps and the ceaseless hum and buzz of the sconces in between every other bedroom door. Even the routine guards spaced randomly about the hallway are unusually quiet. Perhaps things are strange tonight because of this morning’s events.

Nurse stops outside my door. It’s silent inside, somehow more so than the hallway and upon glancing in I realize it’s because Elizabeth is no longer there. I have the whole room to myself and whether this is a blessing or a curse I do not know. “Alright Pandora,” she smiles comfortingly, and upon sensing my uneasiness, bends down to hug me tightly, “I’ll see you in the morning.” I wish I could stay with her, or her stay with me. Because I still have Nurse to protect me, yet I can already feel it, the cold tickle of fear creeping up my spine, the weight of being watched burning into my back and the horror lying within the room waiting to eat me up alive. Before I at least had Elizabeth laying like a vegetable across the room to keep me company, but tonight I must face it on my own.

Squeezing Nurse tightly, I feel as if I must take some of her strength and tranquility with me in order to get through the night. “Goodnight, Ms. Alice,” I whisper, pulling away from her and returning her sad smile. With one last squeeze to my hand, she sees me to my room at last, watching me enter cautiously before turning away and clicking the door shut behind her. The atmosphere inside seems heavy all of a sudden, suffocating in the way dread hangs over my head. “Casper?” I whisper out, quiet voice piercing the room’s stillness as if my nightmare itself does not lurk in the corner.

Leaping into bed, pretending that it offers some sort of protection against the evil, I stare with a teary gaze back at the Shadow against the wall opposite of me. Unlike Casper, Shadow does not speak. It does nothing but stands around all day, watching me when I’m alone and waiting until I turn away to finally take the life from my body. That’s why Casper is so important— not only does he warn me of everyone else’s intentions, but he scares Shadow away.

“Casper!” I call again, terror sparking through my veins like electrical currents when Shadow jolts to stretch its black figure across the floor instead. Past my almost unbothered façade, I wonder if it can feel the way my heart thumps against its glass ribcage every time it comes close. At this, my friend finally returns, appearing sitting atop Elizabeth’s empty bed. Shadow instantly disappears. “Oh, thank God, you’re here,” I let out the heavy breath that had been caught in my throat, “and look! Now you have your own bed!”

He frowns instead. “If I stay over here, Shadow can get you,” he retorts and I instinctively wince at the thought. “Okay, never mind then,” scooting closer to the wall, I pat the hard mattress, “I don’t want to risk anything.”

Casper hums in content, appearing beside me in the blink of an eye and even though he physically is not there, it’s nice to imagine being held, protected against everything that dares come get me. There is a cool breeze against my head where he pats gently, instantly bringing the heavy lull of sleep to my eyelids as he switches the lights off. “Goodnight, Casper. Thanks for protecting me,” I mumble incoherently, and even though I can’t see it, I swear I feel him smile against my hair.

There are no smiles come morning. Instead, it is the total opposite. With a force unnecessarily aggressive for seven AM, two security officers from another level burst into the room, sending the door against the wall with a crashing bang. Jumping awake, I find that Casper has vanished in the same instant that these men come storming the small confines of my room. I have not even finished rubbing the last remnants of a dream from my eyes when they are seizing my arms, quite literally forcing me up and out of bed. “What—” I hiss, attempting to pull away but it is absolutely futile.

The panic really begins to set in when we reach the hallway and turn right towards the elevator instead of left for breakfast. “Where are you taking me? Let go!” I shout, flailing in their grip and trying to ground my feet to the floor, but they easily continue on. What is happening? Where is everyone? Where is Nurse?

“Nurse Alice!” I scream at the top of my lungs, pulling back against the guards and gaining only a second of freedom. It’s all I need to slip from one of their grasps, spinning to look back to where Nurse Alice stands against the wall every morning after role call. “Ms. Alice!” I scream again, thrashing against the men with my heart racing a mile a minute when she only stares ahead at the scene unfolding before her. “Nurse!” I wail, tears suddenly spilling from my eyes. Why isn’t she doing anything? “Nurse Alice! Help me!”

People have started to gather, watching with wide eyes as I am drug closer to the elevator. The harder I fight, the more useless it becomes. There’s a sharp pinch at the back of my thigh, and when I twist around I find that one of the other nurses on our floor has poked me with a long syringe, and just like that my limbs feel three times heavier, as if just lifting an arm requires the strength of a rhino. They’ve stuck me with something, and now they’re taking me somewhere bad. Just as we reach the doors to the elevator, my head rolls back to look at Nurse Alice one last time. Past the tears blurring my vision, I’m able to pick her out, unbothered and looking to the floor.

Casper was right. She is just like everyone else.

-

Something is wrong. Very, very wrong.

I have been in this joke of a room much longer than expected. When I arrived, the drug that knocked me out kept me unconscious until the following day, and now two days have passed without any sign of Casper or Shadow. Later after dinner is served, when I pass by the mirror hung up on the wall, I see Shadow’s reflection behind me, but when I turn around, nothing is there. There is no gut-wrenching sense of fear, I have slept like a baby, and for the first time in my life, I feel normal. Left to my own thoughts with no need to constantly keep an eye out for the evil that has always lurked. While solitary confinement is not the best way to deal with these sorts of things, I’ve found a sense of solemnity in my isolation. No Elizabeth, no Casper, no Shadow. Just me and my empty, unfiltered thoughts.

I wonder why no one has followed me into my new room. It is ridiculously small, with a single bed and the necessary means of living, but that’s it. A perfect scenario for Shadow to prey on me when I have no space to hide, so I am utterly clueless as to why I have been left to my own devices.

So, I’ve decided to drop the topic. Without the fear-induced worries I have been living with for the past fifteen years, I’ve taken to spending my days doing other things. Reading, while an enjoyable activity, is only secondary to the time I spend simply thinking. Thinking of my family, my old friends, school, what goes on in the world and, finally, what I will do when I leave this place.

I’d like to run away to a new country. Without the educational or financial means to get a good job, or a home for that matter, maybe I could find a kind farmer to hire me. His family could become mine and I will learn what it is to live a normal life. And then, one day, I will be able to do it all on my own. For now, I must figure out how I will escape. Or, if I’m lucky, now that my mind is free, they will let me go themselves.

“Don’t be silly,” a familiar voice disrupts my daydreams and I jump up from bed, heart hammering in my chest when I find Casper across the room. His words make me frown. “If Nurse Alice couldn’t save you, then no one else here will,” he hisses and, squinting further, panic burns in my veins at the furious spark in my friend’s once kind eyes. Instead, there are no pupils, only pools of blood red in place of honey gold. “What are you doing here?” I ask, sitting up and staring at him fully now. I’ve looked much scarier things in the eyes before.

Casper snorts. “I’ve been trying to get you in this room for years, and when I finally do, I cannot get through the physical walls. So of course, you use this time to come up with silly fantasies for your future, leaving me behind. How rude of you, Pandora.”

“I haven’t thought once about leaving you behind, Casper! You left me.” I gasp, insulted by his accusation. He is being absolutely ridiculous, thinking it’s somehow my fault that I’ve ended up here. A muscle in his jaw twitches, his fists clenched angrily at his sides.  Why he is so angry I do not know.

“Silly, stupid girl,” he sighs, edging close. “Why are you being so mean, Casper? Friends don’t say that to each other,” I whisper, heart twinging in hurt. At this, he moves to stand in front of the bed, reaching to firmly grasp my jaw. More importantly, the panic burns like an inferno now, for I can feel his touch. “I am not your friend, Pandora,” Casper chuckles darkly, “and I no longer have to protect you from anything ever again. You know why?”

“Why?” I whisper, on the verge of tears again. Crying is the only way to cope living in this place.

“Because I am what you needed protection from, and now it seems as if you are all mine to devour.” His words take a moment to process, and by the time I have caught up he is already closer, heart constricting under his grasp and yet all he does is hold his palm out in front of my chest.

“Casper,” I croak out, jarring and brutal bursts of pain searing from my chest and down through my entire body, “Casper, what is happening?” It has not yet clicked. At his silence I have no affirmation to what is happening, only left to assume that this is some weird reaction to what was given me to knock me out. But this is not normal. Not the way my consciousness seems to float in an empty space, filled with thick static. There is so much pain. I want to cry out but everything is fuzzy, I see nothing at all and the loud pounding of my heart echoes like thunder in my skull. So much pain. I hear the ticking of the clock in the room with Sister and Nurse Alice, the game of chess on these checkered floors and I feel what I made Elizabeth feel in her final moments. There is everything and nothing happening all at once. My whole body is draining away, and almost as soon as the black mist swirls at the edges of my mind, it is already all black.

-

When I wake, things are not where they left off. But then again, where did I leave off? I cannot remember. It is a blur. I cannot recall what yesterday was, or what happened. When I wake, there is a haze clouding my mind that leaves everything uncertain, and even though I have not fully awoken, it feels as if I am floating out in the abyss. Papa must have gone mad last night, but now I am safe with Mama. No, no, that can’t be right— I must have just come back from Dr. Chae’s hypnotism. No, that can’t be it either, it’s way too cold. Doctor used to have the heat blasting year-round. So… where am I? The panic starts to set in. Everything feels… wrong. All of my thoughts are clouded. My emotions are dulled, I feel no pain, no happiness, no anger, no… nothing.

Slowly, my reality starts to piece itself together and my surroundings fade in. The darkness is still there, but instead of the smothering presence it had previously, it now lingers at the corner of my vision, almost as if it has just become a part of me now. I am in an office. The barren and cracked walls feel familiar somehow, but I cannot recall why, I have never been here before. Or have I? I am not so sure of anything.

Someone walks in, and in a hushed tone she starts to argue with… Sister Bernadette? “She has been here only twenty-four hours, but she already speaks to the walls as if time has already broken her,” Sister says in a familiar tone.

I am in the asylum.

“I heard her say a name yesterday, Casper, I believe,” the woman answers quietly and cautiously, as if at any moment Sister will snap.

Sister almost spits out her reply, “Like that makes it any better Alice, she is still speaking to herself in the middle of the night.”

Alice, Nurse Alice. All of a sudden everything comes crashing down, I remember it all. Killing Elizabeth, Shadow, Casper’s betrayal, Nurse Alice, all of it. I begin to feel the sensation of tears behind my eyes, but no water flows. I feel like I am hyperventilating, but no air comes out of my mouth. What’s happening to me? Am I dead? Am I dying? The panic sets in again, gone is the emotional numbness that I previously held. Is this a joke, has Casper simply— no. Someone new is about to walk in. I recognize the voice, it’s Casper. A young girl trails behind him, she’s small with black hair and—

No. No no no no no no. This can’t be real. It’s impossible. Following behind Casper is… me? It doesn’t make any sense. I try to speak, scream, to somehow tell this past version of myself that Casper is not who he seems, but no one seems to hear me. Slowly, I walk towards them and detach myself from the wall where I previously stood. I see myself look up from the floor and stare directly at me, like she suddenly realized my existence. Her eyes grow wide and she backs up slowly as I move forward. “Casper?” She whispers, frightened. “What is that Shadow?”

I spin around, searching for Shadow. Are they still following me?

I move further away from the wall, but suddenly my past self screams. “Casper, help me! It’s coming closer!” I turn back around, but there’s nothing there. Realization creeps up on me slowly at first, like a panther getting ready to attack its prey. Then, it strikes. Am I the Shadow? I try to test my theory creeping back into the wall. “Don’t worry,” Casper speaks finally, “it’s leaving now, you’ll always be safe with me.”

Lies. I was never safe; I never will be. Not even now, in death, or whatever the hell this is, can I find peace. But maybe, just maybe, this time I can warn myself of the evil that lies within him. It is the only thing I can do to save myself from this painful loop of death.

-

It has been three years. I’ve watched myself die sixteen times. Today, I start all over again.

#scary #scary story #scary stories #paranormal #supernatural #paranormal activity #haunted #haunted asylum #asylum #evil spirit #ghost #horror #horror story #horror stories

[ravenquote]

OoC: Favorite Characters

I decided to focus on villains or anti-heroes, it’s hard picking just favorites in a general sense.

1. Harleen Quinzel A.K.A Harley Quin - DC Comic Universe I have been in love with this woman since September 1992 when she first aired in the Batman Animated series, Joker’s favor. Due to her brilliant creators of Paul Dini and Bruce Tim, led with the voice talents of Arleen Sorkin. She was born from her own raw desire to help people in her own best way possible, using her talents of understanding, reading and in many sense controlling people. Sadly, like Alice in wonderland, she fell into a realm of madness and uncertainty. She has been one of the most complex characters in animated history with large backstory and many turns and takes. Extremely popular on various forms and has made many appearances over the years even scoring some of her own comics and shows and now movies. When she was first created, she was merely a fill in and not meant to take and yet here she stands, a triumphant beauty whose overcome Abuse, trauma and degradation.

2. Azula - Avatar the last air bender animated television show + comics What can i say about Azula? In many retrospects she’s fierce, powerful, driven and just intelligent! I think a lot of people forget something pretty important about her: SHE WAS FOURTEEN! This young teenage, overthrew governments, taking whole cities and was the closest to killing the Avatar compared to anyone else. Not to mention her pure intelligence! People compare to playing a game of chess when it comes to moving people or controlling their actions. No, to this woman it was checkers. I truly believe if she didn’t become as over-confident as she did, the war would have ended with her taking the world. With the right nurturing, she would have become the most feared overlord the world would ever see.

3. Loghain Mac Tir - Dragon age book (The Stolen Throne by: David Gaider) and Dragon age Origins the Video game. Yeah, there’s a theme so far i am guessing you are seeing. I can’t help but appreciate sheer intelligence. Loghain is sort of obvious in the video games, it’s clear his intents. At the same time, there is far far more than what is merely on the surface with this man. An obvious villain, almost to the point of it being boring. Yet, why in the games are so many people hesitant and trusting of him? This man had proved himself, over and over, that he had his country in his heart and would do anything to protect it and keep it from the true monsters of the world. People. He was never shy about the routes he’d take, the lengths he’d go, he was brass, courageous, and deceptive. He called things out, forced people to seeing the bigger picture, he didn’t need to control or lie to people about things. He got what he wanted in the most unique ways possible, not his title, not his money, not his charisma but by being true in what had to be done. 

4. Sylvanas Windrunner - Blizzard Entertainment Video games I don’t see her as a Villain, an Anti-hero, yes. Look, we all know Blizz can’t seem to understand women or know how to write them on a large scale. I seriously feel bad for both, Piera Coppola and Patty Mattson as they have to watch this poor woman get brutally torn to pieces. I will always, always have a soft spot for her and remember the days where in many respects was like Illidain, and (above) Loghain. A woman who saw the bigger picture and would sacrifice anything to save everything she cared for. I wont drag on for her, simply because i know the most people who are doing this and following are from the Blizzard franchise and i know we have all heard many many layers to this continued argument about this particular character. If ya wanna PM about it or rant at me, bring it. I’m an Alliance player at heart, but i only got into w.o.w because of this woman. Both sides are shit. *drops mic*

5. Aaravos - Dragon Prince, Netflix television animated show. Okay, seriously, if you haven’t seen the show yet: DO IT! Just as with this theme, INTELLIGENCE, INTELLIGENCE, INTELLIGENCE! Tactful, charming, knowledgeable, i mean...look at that face! He is hands down perfect. Sadly, we still know very little of him but goshdamnit! Love! Love! Love! I can not wait to know more of him and see more of him. 

6. Maleficent - Fairy Tale story / Disney The jist of her, from stories and movies, is general: She was snubbed or insulted by the royal court and took her revenge on the child they were all celebrating. I’m sorry, but this has always been fantastic to me. What is more painful and hard to deal with then your own child being cursed? Claim petty if you want, but no, oh no my dear friend, this is a brilliant revenge. A normal person would blame the man in charge and curse him, but meh, whatever. Kings wont remember how they snubbed others, this is proven time and time again in many stories. Will this act ever be forgotten? Will the generations always remember not to snub a powerful faerie? You better believe it! She made a ever lasting mark, an impression that has lasted since the 13th century! Throughout the years no one has changed these facts: Maleficent was powerful, she was disrespected and she took her revenge onto a child. Normal stories like these over the years have changed both villains and heroes, or even circumstances. This classic has even seen the beautiful creation, directed by Robert Stromberg from a screenplay by Linda Woolverton, and still they honour the root of what was and with a focus on the villain and her origins.  How many villains get this?

7. Narberal Gamma - Overlord Anime/ Manga series Who doesn’t love a maid? Not to mention a Battle maid. Narberal is...mm, i don’t even know how to express her. She’s just generally cool, powerful, intelligent, loyal and honest with everything around her, just a demeanor of a refined perfection. She’s enjoyable to watch. Another thing i enjoy, she’s not the main villain. The show itself has many “villains”, i say in such way because it’s never really clear or obvious what you can count as villain or hero in a lot of ways. Yes, some are obvious but even then in many cases showed within it’s all about circumstances, who you are following, why you are following them. I enjoy the not so cut and dry of “good and evil”. This character also helps continue that ploy, helping and yet also killing people.

8. Carmilla - Castlevania Netflix series I’m a huge vampire fan, been so since middle school. I’m not as quick whipped as i use to be about the lore, history and so on when it comes to many Vampires and their origins. With such said, damn she made me bring out the books again, especially because she was one of my favorites to read about. I mean, Lesbian vampire. Do i need to say more? For now, i’ll only focus on the more recent adaption of her. So, yeah theme? We get it, intelligence. The world truly is a chess board for her, however she does not expect people to just flip the board on her. God, Jaime Murray, thank you so much for that wtf moment cause you expressed her sheer just horror at watching everything fall around her with perfection. Throughout the points we see Carmilla we see her truly be the tact master, stirring the pot and also showing her prowess in form. There is also a lot of restraint i don’t think people will give her credit for. We see how she expresses her emotions in violence, but i also think we are seeing it in a very, very pulled back way. I look forward to seeing how she changes her circumstances and sets things back into her own order in the coming season.

9. Akasha - Book series: The Queen of the Damned by Anne rice and movie: The Queen of the damned. Ah yes, the books that helped start the joys of vampires and how could i not fall in love with someone toying into the very beginning and trying to draw into the beginnings of a creature known throughout the world and time. Why do i choose Akasha considering i already touched base on vampires? Simple, she will always deserve a spot on any favorite list of anything. She gave so little cares about anything and only wanted the world to die and feel her wrath. Not to mention Aaliyah played this part so beautifully well it deserves every recognition it can get. I know she doesn’t seem to quite fit with the rest, but this is partly why she is so low on the list.

10. Callisto - Xena television series Last but certainly not least, we can’t forgot about this one. Good? Bad? Surely just pure chaos! She does what she wants and cares little about the consequences. It’s been ages since i’ve last seen the show i will admit, so my bases on her is a bit rusty. However, i will always remember her out of the many other villainous people we meet in the Xena universe. Fun, witty, combatant, you never knew what she was really going to do. As soon as she popped into a episode, i would recall fondly sitting at the edge of my seat just wondering how or why she did the things she did. There is my list of favorites, i’m sure you can see the themes between them all as many of them have common traits, inspirations and personalities. Hope you all enjoyed! Tagged by: @olivia-lovecraft​ tagging: *boops* you!

#ooc #top favorite #top ten #villains #t.v. series #books #fairy tales #video games #history #vampires #comics

[tarysande]

I can't remember if it was you or another Meta-Writer who touched (ha) on the subject of Lucifer and Physical Touch. I've been re-watching S2 and the stark difference between how he reacts to Mum's touches vs Chloe's vs his romantic partners is evident.

I know I’ve mentioned the subject, though I can’t remember off-hand if I dedicated a post to it (or just said I wanted to!).

I’ve been rewatching S2, too! 

The touch thing with Mum is … such a thing, and it’s established right from the moment he sees her again. She falls; he catches her (and they form a kind of reverse pieta, which is a neat image), but he still looks terrified because he doesn’t know why she’s there (and he’s scared of her, as he’s told Linda). It says something about Lucifer that he can’t just let her fall, though—no matter what’s between them, some part of him can’t reject her outright. 

This is a theme we come back to again and again throughout the season. He doesn’t want to take her back to Hell—so he figures out a loophole. He won’t let her get too close, though; some part of him doesn’t trust her and he doesn’t reach out to her. This is a huge defense mechanism–quite literally not letting her get close enough to hurt him physically, while letting down his guard enough emotionally and mentally—because that small rejected child inside him yearns for parental love and acceptance—that she can manipulate him using his huge emotional blindspot: Chloe.  

Mum’s manipulation—through the emotion and touch that Lucifer is lacking—starts right away, though. At the end of 2x02, she touches his hand; he removes her hand. But when she reveals the “truth” about why he was in Hell (and not killed by God—something we only ever have her word for, by the by, and which I don’t actually believe because of how obviously she’s pleased by her manipulation after Lucifer agrees not to send her back to Hell right away), she touches his arms and appeals to him with her tears and he, who is almost always shown having a soft spot for helping people (especially women) in trouble (Delilah, Chloe, etc.), lets her.

For the first few episodes of the season, Lucifer doesn’t pull away from Mum’s touch, but he doesn’t initiate it, either. He’s also visibly irritated every time she talks about humanity (she’s always dismissive) or Chloe or his job. Mum is really good at manipulating him except she doesn’t realize (or refuses to accept) how important the place and people are to him. If she’d flattered humanity instead of sneering at them, I think she might’ve won Lucifer over. 

In 2x05, there’s an absolutely HUGE, significant touch-moment after Lucifer’s killed Uriel. Mum gathers him in; he lets himself be gathered. More than that, he actually wraps both arms around her and clings (which we’ve basically never seen him do before). It’s a horrifying and gorgeous moment that shows so much without telling. 

But here’s something interesting: though the last image of 2x05 is Lucifer clinging to Mum, we see no interaction between Mum and Lucifer in 2x06. Worse, Lucifer is left to absolutely frigging tailspin into despair and a sniper-induced death wish while Mum turns her efforts to manipulating Amenadiel. All the Mum scenes in Monster focus on this. Her words are carefully chosen to point blame at God while making herself sympathetic. See how Amenadiel falls to her flattery; she tells him what he wants to hear. Essentially, she feels Lucifer is now on her side (with a huge side of guilt) so it’s time to move on to the next step of her plan. The use of juxtaposition in this part of the episode is brilliant. On the one hand, we have Amenadiel and Mum in the sunlit woods, Mum wrapping her two hands around Amenadiel’s one to symbolize their new alliance; on the other, Lucifer, visibly coming apart at the scenes playing sad music, hitting a sour note, and banishing everyone from his club, leaving him fully and entirely alone (as he’s already been banished from the case).

Mum doesn’t appear in 2x07—but we see a lot of Lucifer interacting with Chloe and Trixie, the found family that doesn’t want anything from him but his presence. There’s a really good contrast here, where the episode ends on a hug that is totally different from the one in 2x05. The light is shining bright; it’s daytime and there are no shadows. Chloe is the one who’s crying, but they are tears of gratitude because Lucifer has just said exactly what she needed to hear. Chloe is the one who clings to Lucifer; he hugs her back and there is tenderness and yes, the hint of love and the promise of a future—contrasted with Mum living in an unattainable past, and grief, and guilt. Even Lucifer’s “My apologies, Detective, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” is a direct contrast of how he felt he had no choice but to hurt Uriel (to keep Uriel from hurting her). 

2x08 is where Mum starts to misstep. First, she releases Azrael’s blade into the world, and Lucifer is angry. Then, she reveals her plans to “go home” and disparages Lucifer’s feelings about Earth being his home. In 2x09, though Lucifer doesn’t know it yet, she doubles down on what she wants instead of trying to understand what Lucifer wants: she tries to blow up Lux, she decides to blow up Chloe instead, she tries to get Linda to talk about Lucifer’s secrets. These are all unforgivable from Lucifer’s perspective, and she has no idea. Because she’s ultimately selfish—she wants her home, her sons, her power. She doesn’t actually care about what makes her son happy; she wants to use him as a weapon. (I’ve watched S2 about a dozen times by now; Mum distresses me more each time I watch it.) 

At the sit-in, Mum manipulates him again by feeding him a little truth and then saying exactly what he wants to hear: “I disagree with you whole-heartedly about wanting to stay here (true), but a mother doesn’t have to agree with her son in order to support him. So, what is it exactly I’m supposed to ‘sit-in’ (what he wants to hear).” Lucifer’s whole face changes and he replies, “Mum, you’re actually being a good Mum,” and he offers her his arm. Meanwhile, he has no idea she’s actively trying to destroy everything he loves to get what she wants.

Her actions in 2x10 do a lot of damage to Lucifer’s already reluctant trust. She admits she was going to kill Chloe; she disparages Chloe in the courtroom; she uses his honor about not lying against him. It’s like a How To Turn Lucifer Against You Forever playbook. And this episode gives us another absolutely gorgeous juxtaposition, this time in contrast to the juxtaposition in 2x06. This time, instead of alone and self-loathing in his club, Lucifer is with Chloe—the beginning of something, banter, warm firelight, wine, burgers and fries, truth, a hand-clasp, and near-kissing—contrasted with Mum and Amenadiel in her dark office, full-on scheming, having learned nothing, and again, doubling-down on using Lucifer’s weaknesses to turn him into the weapon she wants (the flaming sword; the rage against God; the rebellious boy).

By 2x11, Lucifer “just wants [Mum] gone.” but, once again, she employs the tactic of telling him what he wants to hear (that Chloe impressed her; that she’s beginning to see what Lucifer sees in her; that he just has to prove his worth to her) and using touch (grabbing his hand in both of hers) to manipulate him. Then, knowing that Lucifer will be listening through the one-way glass, she lays it on even thicker. (How heartbreaking is his smile when he thinks she’s being genuine?)

2x12, of course, is heartbreaking because Mum is using Lucifer’s feelings and her knowledge about Chloe as a miracle to … destroy her son. She wants him heartbroken so he’ll leave his “home” and play his part in her plans. (It always strikes me here that, although Lucifer lives his life paranoid of “playing a role” in his Dad’s plans or being a pawn of his Father’s—it’s Mum who unrepentantly uses him as a pawn in her game of chess.) Maze, when she realizes that Lucifer is happy—truly happy—for maybe the first time ever, immediately wants to protect him because she actually cares about him. Mum, however, pushes on. Lucifer’s reaction to her reaching out to touch him this time, though, is to sweep up his own hand and prevent her, with a sharp, “Don’t.” I think it’s telling here that the only time we’ve seen this kind of sharp, precise, knife-like movement from Lucifer is when he’s fighting someone. It’s a combat motion; it’s a defensive act.

2x13 encapsulates all the facets of their relationship, really. She doesn’t want to help him for the sake of “an insignificant human’s life”—proving that she still doesn’t understand the depth and importance of his feelings. She loves him enough to go to Hell to save him; I believe that’s the truest moment of love she ever shows him. It’s also why I believe he lets her have a universe of her own at the end instead of hating her enough to kill her. He grabs Mum and pulls her from her Hell—they’re both sobbing and both fighting and it’s so real and raw. But then, afterward, when Chloe is safe, he again defends himself from her touch using the short, sharp, cutting movements reminiscent of his fighting style. 

Her admission that she’s been manipulating and using him since the start is heartbreaking; it’s his worst fears come true. At the heart of Lucifer Morningstar is a terror of being lied to (so he doesn’t lie), manipulated (as his father did and may continue to do), used. And here, his Mum, whom he’s been trying not to trust and failing at time and again as she says the right things over and over (because he wants that love, he wants that reassurance, he wants someone to touch him without wanting anything in return, he wants to be good—seen as good—by those who brought him into existence, he wants to be forgiven) is telling him the unvarnished, knife-in-the-back truth: she is everything he fears most. He was right to be afraid when he sat trembling in a chair opposite Amenadiel; he was right to be afraid when he sat trembling on a couch opposite Linda.

It wasn’t a physical attack, though; it wasn’t like being smited and pushed into a Fall, no. It was so much worse. It was his own mother using his weaknesses against him and watching him bleed out because she needed to use the shell that would be left.

#lucifer morningstar #charlotte richards (mum) #lucifer meta #lucifer on netflix #deckerstar #chloe decker #lucifer thoughts #lucifer analysis #lucifer season 2 #Anonymous

[stainedglassthreads]

Deltarune and UndertaleToybox Connection

Been a while since I made a Deltarune theory. 

Anyways, plenty of people have pointed out that everyone in the Deltarune World seems to be based off of toys found in the classroom Kris and Susie wake up in (Except Ralsei, who I’m coming around to the idea he’s not a Darkner, but I haven’t quite crystallized my thoughts on him yet. I will say i don’t think he’s deliberately malevolent, though. Perhaps instead being used as a vessel or pawn.) 

At any rate, we can agree that things seem to be as follows-- Various characters as a deck of cards: Spades King, Lancer, the other Kings, Roulxs Kaard, Jevil, and other enemies encountered. We can agree C. Round’s a checker piece, there are those jigsaw puzzle guys, we see a guy who’s a spinning top, and of course we see Seam as a plushy in the room. 

I’ve also already seen other theories before this speculating that this was all a dream, and one joking one that Deltarune was Susie and Kris larping for hours. 

I’d like to point out a few connections I picked up on as well, though. I’m certain I’m not the first to realize some of these, and as I said, I only picked up on some of these because I saw aspects of them mentioned elsewhere. 

The first everyone already knows, and I already mentioned. Deltarune is quite obviously a game. The Darkners are quite obviously toys and pieces of other games. But does that make them any less real? 

Whether Deltarune is a sequel or prequel to Undertale, we know now that they’re absolutely connected not just in characters, not just in the juxtaposition of ‘Responsibility to use your power to create the best outcome’ and ‘Your choices don’t matter’, or ‘Live and let live’ and ‘Violence is sometimes necessary’, but potentially in yet another theme. 

Does being a fiction or a toy make it any less real than the ones who play with it? 

The Lightners are those in a ‘real’ world while the Darkners are toys. Two Darkners seem most aware of their true role, both informed by the mysterious Knight-- Spades King, who has the strongest feelings on the Lightners for supposedly abandoning Darkners and is the impetus behind ever other Darkner who attacks you(in a Pacifist ending, the Darkners are willing to consider you their friends. It’s only if you’ve been too violent that they continue to be violent towards you after Lancer overthrows Spades King.) And of course, Jevil, who we already know the story of. 

In Deltarune, it’s the Lightners who are the ones who make their own own decisions, and who carry out the will of the story, though they have less control and fewer choices in how the tale ends. 

But this is reflected in Undertale too. Only here, the Lightners are Frisk, Chara, and Flowey, and the Darkners are all other monsters in the Underground. 

Here, the three most often claimed to be the antagonists of the game are the ‘Lightners’, the ones who play with the ones they see as ‘toys’. Flowey, who shows what a Player could be to the characters at their absolute worst. Frisk, who enacts a Player’s will upon the world. And Chara, who shows us in the end what we have become, and who will remember who we are even if the ‘toys’ don’t. 

The ‘Lightners’ of Undertale are not the only ones aware of the reality of the game. One toy is also seemingly aware and uses that in his fight. And fittingly, it’s the one who might be used to being a toy already. 

Is it possible to learn the truth of the world without losing your sanity? Is it possible to escape a reality where higher beings toy with you, to the point where you’re so easily mistaken for one of those higher beings? I don’t have enough this story to tell quite where it’s going but I really hope that this avenue is explored, also what Papyrus is if so. 

There’s something else to note here, though. 

There are two to three entities who seemingly are not Lightners, heroes, or Players, who may not even fit within the games of Undertale and Deltarune themselves, but who seem to hold as much, or perhaps more, knowledge and influence as any Players. 

We know very, very little about these entities, and we know significantly less of one than the other. But we do know their titles for certain. 

The Knight and the Queen. 

The Knight is only mentioned by Seam, Spades King, and Jevil. Seam refers to him as a ‘strange someone’ and ‘strange Knight’, who caused Jevil’s fall into madness by telling him everything was a game. The Knight also seems responsible for Spades King’s actions, the king repeatedly referring to them as ‘My Knight’ during his battle, saying the Knight has given him ‘fresh purpose’. 

A popular theory is that the Knight is Gaster, having been shattered throughout time and space and apparently now granted incredible knowledge and power as a result, including the power to spread his knowledge, and influence at least one pawn, in at least one other world. 

There is one strange and convoluted piece of evidence that makes me suspect the Knight is Gaster, and that’s the literal easter egg. There’s a secret room in Deltarune, and a man behind a tree there who gives you an egg. The egg is described as ‘Not too important, not too unimportant’, similar to what Seam says about things Jevil said after speaking with the Knight-- “He started saying bizarre things that didn't completely make sense -But didn't completely not make sense, either.” 

When Kris returns to the Light World from the Dark World, the egg is the only thing they can keep that doesn’t turn into something else, and if you try to drop the egg or put it in Asgore’s fridge, text just reads ‘What egg?’ 

And perhaps most bizarre and convincing-- translating ‘egg’ into Wingdings, which Gaster is suspected to speak, gives a hand pointing to the left, and two hands pointing up. One of the moves a Knight in chess could make. 

It also seems to be implied that Gaster was the one guiding us through creating our first vessel in the beginning. So it would be a simple guess that he has the knowledge and power sufficient to create his own vessel, he knows the nature of this game, he knows of us. 

We know even less about the Queen. The only tidbit on her we have is from defeating Jevil through violent means. 

“HA HA HA. WHAT FUN!!! YOU'RE FAST, FAST, STRONG, STRONG. BUT THERE ARE YET FASTER, YET STRONGER. THE HAND OF THE KNIGHT IS DRIFTING FORWARD. SOON, THE "QUEEN" RETURNS, AND HELL'S ROAR BUBBLES FROM THE DEPTHS... LIGHTNERS, CAN YOU STOP IT? UEE HEE HEE! EITHER WAY, A MISCHIEF-MISCHIEF, A CHAOS-CHAOS...! LIGHTNERS! FROM INSIDE YOUR LITTLE CELL!! TAKE ME AND DO YOUR STRONGEST---!” 

...Yeah I don’t have a satisfying way to wrap all this up, but I do hope you enjoyed my rambling and speculations, thank you for reading all the way to the end. ^^ 

#deltarune #deltarune theory #lightners #darkners #deltarune knight

[timeclonemike]

Delta Rune Speculation

So it’s been two weeks, and there’s already 200 plus fics on AO3 and dozens of remixes and arrangements of the soundtrack on YouTube. That’s not even touching on the theories that are coming together. I recently saw one theory that double downed on the whole discarded classroom with toys thing, with the Darkners basically being a “Toy Story” scenario and the Spade King trying to pull a “Small Soldiers” scenario.

And while the parallels between the Darkners and assorted toys, and the layout of the Dark World and the Classroom, are all too much of an overlap to ignore, I suspect that there’s something more to the whole game than simply toys coming to life and wanting revenge for not being played with. I had some thoughts that I contributed in my reblog of that person’s theory, but this post is a little bit more meta, and concerns itself primarily with the tone of the final game, if and when it gets completed. But first, we need to talk a little bit about Undertale. I’ll make it quick, I promise.

Simply put, the big thing that made Undertale stand out was how your choices distinctly affected the world you were in, and the way people responded to you based on those choices. The sheer difference in tone and content between True Pacifist and Genocide is about as different and distinct as you can get in any game that features multiple endings, especially when many games opted to make the multiple endings contingent on last second choices (Deus Ex instantly comes to mind) rather than being something that you had to commit to. Not only that, but even the small choices in the sense of dialog, the order in which characters were spoken to, and even the use and contents of your inventory meant that the game had more “immersion” in the sense of responding dynamically to player choice than a lot of Triple A games with hyper-realistic graphics engines.

The way Undertale responded to different choices was a twist, then attraction, and finally a statement about how people saw the world and interacted with it. Especially those who thought that actions taken in this isolated digital environment had no consequences beyond that environment. It was a game about how people acted when they had tremendous power to influence the world.

Therefore, I think that the meaning of Delta Rune’s “your choices don’t matter” and “nobody can choose who they are in this world” is that the game will be about how people respond when confronted by circumstances they can’t control.

For more of my rambling, click the link below.

I’ll be addressing three main points: The nature of the Dark World and the Fountains of Darkness, the Dichotomy between how choice is handled in the Light and Dark Worlds, and the few clues that we have about W D Gaster and his influence.

1. The Nature of the Dark World.

The playing card themed enemies, the puzzle pieces, the chess board and the crowned checker piece, plus some of the hints about Ralsei’s nature and origin, all indicate that the Darkners have some connection with the toys in the unused classroom and probably the materials and objects in the supply closet as well. (I still do not know what those things were in the opening area of the Dark World that shot bullets at Kris, or the significance of all that black gooey dark stuff apparently coming out of the eye shaped structures.) Susie is not the type of person to let her guard down and just skip class with Kris while playing make believe all day... at least not at the start of the game... so the events of Chapter One had some foundation in reality.

This brings us to the fountains and the legend Ralsei shares. Everything hinges on a classic balance between opposing forces, in this case Light and Dark. Too much of one or the other will break the world in some way, and in this instance, there is an excess of Darkness. Under the direction of the mysterious Knight, and the Queen that only Jevil mentions if you kick his ass, the Spade King is seeking to upset the balance by increasing the Darkness. Assuming that Kris, Susie, and Ralsei don’t stop these fountains, then the same force at work in the Dark World that drew Susie and Kris into it will spread beyond the school, and into the rest of the town.

It is my position that Darkness in this case, represents Imagination, and its ability to create worlds symbolically. Keeping a balance between the physically real and the mentally real is important; too much of the physical and you end up in an All Work And No Play Makes Jack A Dull Boy scenario. The other way around, you spend too much time daydreaming - or consumed by anxiety - to deal with the actual problems in front of you. And just by talking to the people in Hometown after school, we can find all sorts of stuff that bothers people. Toriel and Asgore’s estrangement, Noelle’s father and her worries about him, Alphys being lonely, and so on. In a Dark World where people’s thoughts and ideas take on physical forms, these everyday worries become living nightmares. It is THAT scenario that the Fun Gang will have to prevent or reverse from Chapter Two onward.

2. In Which World Do Choices Not Matter?

No matter which way you play Delta Rune, you leave the Dark World at the end. In that sense, none of the choices you made matter. Only if you did a pacifist run, you have the chance to go back and say goodbye to a number of characters you encountered before. Sort of an Undertale Epilogue Lite. If you went to town on everybody, you get chased back to the Light World instead. So in a way, your choices DID matter.

On the other hand, no matter what you do in the Light World, you’re still Kris, the token human in a monster town, with estranged parents and an older brother that probably outshines the heck out of you if all those trophies and award certificates mean anything. You can’t help smooth things over between Toriel and Asgore, you can’t even hint at Undyne and Alphys getting together, and no matter what you tell Noelle, she’s still got a one track mind regarding Susie and is concerned that you are pranking her again. About all you can do is choose to be mean or nice to Onionsan; everyone else still thinks you’re some weird creepy human kid with a history of pranking, whose main redeeming feature as a person is apparently some skill at the piano. Nothing you do can change that, even if being more talkative than normal is out of character enough for folks to notice.

But then again, in the Light World, nobody can choose who they are. Choices don’t matter because so much of Kris’s life is defined by everyone else. And even those lives are more defined by primal fears like Toriel’s loneliness and deep seated resentment, Asgore’s pushover-ness, Mr. Holiday’s health, Alphys’ anxiety, and so on and so forth.

As the Dark World starts to influence the rest of town, and imagination and thought starts to overwrite physical reality, the Fun Gang’s choices will suddenly carry more weight. Maybe not enough to change everything once the Fountains are sealed, but enough to make a difference. Such as the difference between Noelle being totally inconsolable over the loss of her father, and Noelle having the opportunity for closure. Or Toriel at least agreeing to be civil towards Asgore, even if they still never get back together. Or Burgie being able to find a much better job. :P

Or Kris being seen not as “the human” or “Asriel’s brother” but as Kris, a person in town with more depth than just a history of pranks and a creepy disposition.

3. Oh Gaster, Where Art Thou?

The announcement for the Demo, the “character / vessel creation” process at the beginning, the music playing during the vessel creation sequence, the Man who gives Kris an Egg if he is found, the Entry 17 Sound FX from the cell phone in the Dark World, and the slowed down version of the same sound playing around that Mysterious Bunker south of town all point towards Gaster’s involvement in the events of Delta Rune, one way or another. Given the limited information available so far, it’s not entirely clear if he’s working towards increasing the amount of Darkness, towards stabilizing the imbalance, if he’s simply observing events with no regard for the outcome, or if for some reason he requires US as observers for the events of Delta Rune, whatever they are.

But using what little we know, we can make a few educated guesses.

First, the Egg Kris can get from the Man behind the tree, who cannot be seen and will vanish if the Egg is not accepted, is the ONLY item from the Dark World that stays the same back in the Light World. The swords become pencils, and all the other stuff accumulated in the Dark World becomes the Ball of Junk that Kris does not want to throw away, but the Egg is still an Egg. Sort of. It can be put into Asgore’s Fridge, but if this is done, somehow it turns the pickle jar into another Egg. Which raises a number of questions. Unless you hold onto it for later in the full game, or throw it away, this is the only thing you can do with the Egg as far as I know. Almost as if the only reason it exists in the world is so that Asgore can have something to eat besides pickles.

Second, Jevil’s misanthropy follows his interaction with a visitor to the kingdom, and I do not remember if this visitor was specifically stated to be the Knight mentioned by Jevil or the Spade King. The way he treats the entire world like a game fits the same meta as Flowey’s attitude after being stuck in a Determination fueled time loop for ages in Undertale, but it also aligns with the Darkner world’s toy theme. And of course Seam drops the “darker yet darker” line on us regarding his view of the world after dealing with Jevil... but at the same time, this is a literal Dark World. Kris and Susie noticed that the light was getting low in the school hallway before they even stepped inside the supply closet, so it’s not out of the question that Gaster’s experiment, whatever it was, involved discovering the Dark World.

And, while this is purely me stacking conjecture on top of conjecture here, keep in mind what I said earlier about the Dark World being a world where the power of Imagination can literally create a world. Then consider one of the lines of the Gaster Followers from Undertale: Gaster fell into his own creation. As Gaster was the Royal Scientist, it seemed logical to infer that his creation was some sort of machine or technology, such as the CORE or whatever is under the sheet in Sans’ workshop in Snowdin Town. But maybe what he fell into was a completely different reality... possibly one of his own design.

(Note to self: Undertale / Secret Of Evermore Crossover Fic. Add it to the list.)

Third, the vessel we are asked to create at the start of Delta Rune has the word Goner as part of the filenames of the assets. Its appearance also matches that of the other Gaster Followers in Undertale; greyscale, uncanny valley, and just different enough from the character we end up seeing in the game (Kris) to make the similarities stand out. Keeping in mind we still don’t know what the significance is of the Gaster Followers or Goners is in Undertale, or how exactly they relate to Gaster himself. In the completed game, though, we may have the opportunity to find out... behind the bunker doors south of town, where the slowed down Entry 17 sound is playing. (It’s also location 17, so there’s a definite number element going on here.) The thing about bunkers if that they are almost always made to protect something inside them. So unless this is a fallout or storm shelter for the folks in town (and we can’t read Gerson’s book in game so we have no idea what the political climate is between humans and monsters is in this world, though if they were really bad then somebody would probably mention it in dialog) then it’s probably intended to keep the people of the town from finding something. Like an experiment that went wrong. Or went right, for that matter.

Or, maybe the bunker is one of those less common cases where it protects everything outside it by locking something inside, for any of the reasons already stated. Either way, there might be a real True Lab situation down there.

Finally... has anyone else besides me noticed that the graphics in the background during the Vessel Creation Sequence look almost exactly the same as the background of the Fountain of Darkness that Kris and Susie use to go home, just without the playing card suites? Where exactly is that taking place?

One last thing that brings my whole post full circle; regarding the ending cutscene before the credits and Don’t Forget song, I wonder if the entire thing isn’t just Kris’s nightmare; the body rips out the Soul that used to be inside and locks it up, and is free to do who knows what after that. If Kris is aware that the player is influencing them in any way, that whole sequence could be brought on by their fears about losing autonomy, either partially or entirely.

Which brings us back to the whole “your choices don’t matter” thing.

#Delta Rune #Undertale #Theory #Long Post is Looooong