So however long ago, you made a comment on a fic of mine on AO3 -- Unmade!
First off, I haven't actually had the chance to respond to that. But regardless however long ago it was, it WAS deeply appreciated, and it's a little ficlet of mine that I am still incredibly proud of to this very day. So thank you for that. 🥰
But also...! Also...! I just recently had an epiphany. Because I kept looking at the username on AO3 and kept wondering to myself: "Why does this username look so familiar?" And it's been, like, massively buggering me for a while.
Until suddenly it just hit me like a brick to the face:
"THAT'S THE PEEPER THAT RUNS THE GET THAT MAN PREGNANT POLLS!"
"... Or at the very least, the peeper that made the Pregnant Aku Comic!"
LMAOOO i don't run the polls no, i'm just aku's self-appointed campaign manager.
at least until the end of this week, because unless somebody way more popular than me reblogs the latest comic, i don't think it's gonna reach enough people in time to tip over Gomez's advantage. but i can hope.
but yeah!! i regularly browse the aku & samurai jack tags due to The Hyperfixation and you linked the fic in a post on tumblr a while ago?? and it was good 👍
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((I was struggling to pick a specific creature for this guy that would fit him the most. It needed to have drab colors, some agility, have a spine, and be of a small size. The closest I could get to those traits would be like gobies and blennies.))
((I looked up whatever marine life was off the coast of Wales and decided on the Common Blenny/Shanny (Lipophrys pholis). These guys like to hide around small crevices, eat whatever can fit in their mouths, leap out of the water, and have quite the bite to them. This little thing would be an apple stealer for sure.))
I already had some relevant sketches laying around for him, hehe
Like Morgott, I love it when people depict him as more creaturelike, particularly as a big broody mama hen. It's the kind of fanon that starts off silly but eventually worms its way into my head until I take it seriously and I think it works pretty well both ways for him! The word "dynasty" implies a family! He wants the kind of parent-child love he never had growing up! The M in Mpreg stands for Mohg etc etc
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Man, something about this particular way of achieving victory really humored me. Like tripping on a banana peel, but still winning a race. 😅
Anyway though -- outside of that little flub up, I wanna come back to say: Man! Some of the things that you can miss out on!
Like... There's this chest at Limestone Cave that holds a Healing Potion -- but it's in a spot where you wouldn't even THINK of even going there. And I'm disappointed that it's ONLY a Healing Potion, just because it's THAT hidden.
Likewise, who'd even think about backtracking to that one fort over in the Marshlands once Albert joins the party? Like, first instinct is to head straight to the Black Castle at Kazas. No one would even think of revisiting the fort in the Marshlands.
There's a few other things too -- like, you can revisit Seles a couple different times and at different points in the game, and you'll get different cutscenes -- like, before the second trip back to Hellena, you'll have Shana's first reaction to seeing Seles, and Dart promising that Seles will be rebuilt.
And then another trip back and you'll meet Shana's parents...
And then there's another cutscene with Shana's parents AFTER that even -- I think later on when Shana's out of the party for good.
SO many different things that you can miss out on, and like... There's... Not really any benefit to these scenes, but they're INTERESTING because they EXIST and you wouldn't even know it!
... I love this game. 😅😋🥰
Omg yeah! When I played it on PS5, I ended up discovering things I never found my first playthrough. Including the Stardust locations.
Oh! I actually didn't know about Shana's parents cutscene at all! Maybe I might have forgotten since it's the first time I'm playing it in so long.
I remember backtracking a lot year ago, but also the details they keep in this game are incredible.
I adore the layout and designs. So simple but you can easily miss things unless you thoroughly explore.
Also! I love how the music kind of sets the tone in these areas, too. One of my favorite things about this game is how haunting some areas feel. I just wish games today had the same feel as Legend of Dragoon did. (In all its cheesy dialogue lol).
Sure, it may not be perfect, but the art and promo material was pretty great.
Thinking about your last post about Varré and the Mohgwyn Dynasty's focus on "Love." The "Blood Cult" aspects, but with the added question of how much influence Miquella had on Mohg, and/or the rest of the dynasty.
I feel like something could be said about Leda as well -- especially with "Cult Behavior" in mind.
Charm or no charm, Leda is absolutely devoted to Miquella... I know I read one theory - I forget where - wondering if Leda really was "charmed and pacified," -- especially given that she killed all the other Needle Knights -- or if Miquella had charmed and pacified everyone else -- he had his own reasons for doing so, but part of the reason being to give Leda an ease of mind of sorts.
Regardless, the moment the charm breaks, she takes up the sword, keen on assassinating Hornsent(who ends up either joining Miquella's side, or sets off on his own, ultimately being a non-threat to Miquella's plans), and later on Ansbach(the only one Leda really had cause for concern).
But what really strikes is this:
"No, wait. Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise. I can wield my sword to cull the undeserving, those unfit to bask in Miquella the Kind’s presence..."
Seems a bit cultish, to speak about "those unfit to bask in Miquella's presence."
It's an interesting thing to ponder -- like I do feel Mohg's pact with the Formless Mother was a thing he did himself. And then you look at Ansbach -- Mohg might have been a more honorable person. Not squeaky clean, but not the madman everyone seems convinced he is.
Hey, I'm flattered you liked the post, thank you!
So yeah, lots to think about.
I also ask myself how much Miquella's influence changed the Dynasty, if it did at all. This is one of the points that disappoint me in the DLC, there's just no mention of anything about Mohg's cult, or Mohg at all, before all that went down, which is quite sad. Like, goddamit, I learn that Mr. Pushing Daisies Godwyn had a personal guard that was shit at their job, why is that info more important than anything about the Lord of Blood, who is essential to the plot of the DLC??
Mind you, I do believe Ansbach is there to poke the player's mind about how the Dynasty might have operated before, and there's also the Bloodfiends, who probably exist to hint at the conditions Mohg was under when he first made contact with the Formless Mother and how that might have twisted him into what he is in the base game, physically and mentally. I get it, I just wanted something overt, you know?
But yeah, at the very least, Miquella's charm I think changed a bit around the Dynasty. For example, I firmly believe the Bloody Fingers only became a thing after the charm was cast, since Mohg now needed copious amounts of blood for the cocoon (I still don't know what's the deal with that cocoon? Is it really Miquella's body inside? A decoy? Hell if I know). As I said in that post, I also am tempted to place the kidnapping of the war surgeons under the post-charm period too. Even something less important like their fashion style might have changed because of Miquella; notice how Ansbach's Pureblood Knight crest is a much simpler, less intricate design than the Pureblood Knight's Medal Varré gives you.
That said, a charm is not needed for such a thing as fashion. Sure, it could be that Miquella was testing the waters with Mohg's cult, and Mohg, maybe enamored with Miquella already, went overboard with the finery so to impress. It also could be that this has nothing to do with Miquella and Mohg was just vain like that, and as he started having more access to resources - good resources, mind you, the Dynasty wears mostly black dyed clothes, with a frequent dash of reds and scarlets, and also golden embroideries; considering the medieval-ish setting of the game, those were crazy expensive, and one wonders were Mohg was even getting the dough for all that - he just indulged on excess as he wished; it's implied the followers of the Formless Mother have a thing for beauty, after all.
I want to make it clear, though: I don't want to make it sound like all bad things Mohg did were under Miquella's charm. Mohg is a Formless Mother worshiper, and we know the Formless Mother is an entity of dubious morality at best. Not only that, he seeked Lordship, and such thing requires violence; Ansbach wouldn't have a fearsome reputation if he had not murdered people in Mohg's name, and who are we to say they were not innocent, righteous people as well? I do think Mohg got worse after the charm, but like, in a "pouring oil over an already burning flame" kind of way. I just don't think he was uniquely evil is all.
So! About the Leda stuff! It's so funny that you mentioned how she is very cult-ish, because I like to think she's, essentially, Miquella's Varré. In fact, her armor description even has some interesting phrasing...
"Kindly Miquella fashioned us". As if the Needle Knights were just things. You don't fashion people into something, you fashion clothes, objects. Sure, we gotta take this with a grain of salt because Leda is... well, unhinged, but I still think it's an interesting choice of word, isn't it?
That said, Leda's, uh, colorful personality might be a consequence of her implied past as an Oathseeker Knight (Leda's set is just the Oathseeker set with a fancy cloak and surcoat attached to the Chest part).
I think the "perfect, lifelong devotion" is very important. Leda acts the way she does because she feels she has to be perfect for the oath she supposedly chose herself, and then proceeded to decide everyone has to act on her ideal of perfection, or else. Which essentially makes her act like a cult member. Like, Dryleaf Dane is said to be an older ally to Miquella, much older than Leda, and he certainly doesn't act like that, although when it comes to Dane, it is important to remember he's a clergyman from a spiritual sect that specifically rejects dependency.
So like, although they are both devoted to Miquella, Dane trained to not depend on people, physically or emotionally or spiritually. The other DLC characters also have other things to think about besides Miquella: Ansbach has his research and lingering regrets for his former master, Frejya has her pride of being a Redmane and serving directly under Radahn, Moore has his forager brood, Thiollier has St. Trina, Hornsent has his revenge against Messmer.
Leda has... nothing but Miquella. Just like Varré only has Mohg. And they both become terrible people because of it.
