You can't escape the Web of Friendship for long...
@evelyn-wrights
Evelyn Wright. Year 5 (Ask to tag Spoilers). Proud Gryffindor. Animagus (Registered). Talbot is Bae. Rowan Rules, and if you Bash on Ben you will be put on The List right under the name Emily Tyler, because no one hurts my friends and gets away with it. No one.
Before we dive into this question, I just want to say that the whole idea is based on three other assumptions:
Jacob we found in the Portrait Vault is not real Jacob. I talked about this idea quite a lot on my blog, so if you’re interested in details, you can check this masterpost.
We’re not done with the final Cursed Vault. This is another idea that appears in my posts pretty often. I guess the best summary of it would be this post.
Rowan is alive. The shortest explanation of this idea is probably this post.
I’ll mention one scene from Y6Ch42, but its context is not really relevant here, so the spoilers will be mostly for Y4 and Y5.
Now, with that in mind, we can move to the main issue.
This new Halloween TLSQ could have been improved by:
1) changing the questers from Merula and Ismelda to younger students of our own House: they are young, they are stupid, and you are their elder, optionally you are also their Prefect and/or Head Kid.
2) the person who is affected could be Ellora, even if you only meet her if you are a Prefect. It could be a great way to bring her back either way.
3) Change MC's reason to stop the kids personally: if they are a Prefect/Head Kid, make it so they are and feel responsible to stop them. If not, put a special scene at the very start where our Head of House warns their House against misbehaving based on some previous events and that if they misbehave, the whole house will be severely punished, so MC wants to stop the kids before it happens. The severe punishment could be anything from banning the whole house from the feast to cancelling all extracurriculars for a while.
4) Change Bagshot to be seen much earlier by MC— she came for a special lecture that week and would have loved to stay for the feast but she is too old and tired, so she will be going back to Godric's Hollow to rest, you know that's where the Gryffindor Founder was born etc.
5) Right after that, we find out about the kids' scheme by a housemate friend of ours: if you are a Gryffindor, Ben is the one to tell you: If Slytherin, Ismelda, if Hufflepuff, Diego, and if Ravenclaw, Talbott.
6) MC goes to bring the kids in while assigning someone (Penny, Merula, or Ben, for example, but we will be the ones to choose) we can choose to trace the kids' steps around the castle.
7) We arrive just in time to see one of the students (Ellora) get cursed, which leads us to Bagshot and the rest of the story and such.
Basically, omit Merula's whole thing, change the culprits, the reasons, the order of events, and you actually have a decent storyline that could actually be fun and not make you slam your head into the wall because it's so stupid.
Oh, I like your improvements a lot!
There’s a couple of things I’d like to point out, though.
1) This is a great suggestion! You actually made me think that it even could’ve been the Weasley twins for everyone. I mean, they are Gryffindors, so it makes sense they’d be interested in the Sword, they love mischief, and it basically adds to the fanservice of the quest in general. They even were in the Great Hall in the very first part. But then I realised that it wouldn’t work for the players before Y6… Still, I really like the idea with younger students.
2) See, Ellora creates a similar problem to the twins. I know that quite a lot of people wants to see her back, but she wasn’t at Hogwarts before MC’s Y5 – and that’s Y3 Achievement. I doubt Jam City would want to skip to that point as it seems they’re planning to put one seasonal TLSQ each year. But I suppose Ellora could be replaced with someone else for the Y3 and Y4 players?
3) I do like it better than Jam City’s logic that: “The feast will be cancelled if Merula steals the Sword”. I just wonder if it wouldn’t annoy some players anyway as the theme of “punishing students for some stupid shit one person did” is being used quite often lately. I mean, I almost can see those comments already: “Omg, JC makes McGonagall a bitch again!”. But as I said, it definitely works better than what we got, so a lot depends on how it’d be executed.
The rest of your points is really good. And yeah, this quest could’ve been done better, for sure. Although, personally, I’d go even further and remove the plot of stealing the Sword entirely. Here’s what I’m thinking.
Let’s make it about preparing a report. I actually had this thought even before MC and Ben decided to use it as a lie for Bagshot. It’s the Y3 Achievement, so let’s include in that our Y3 friends: Tonks, Barnaby (who were at the Great Hall at the beginning), and Tulip. Ben’s and Penny’s roles might stay pretty much as they are. So now, imagine this:
We’re all talking about how Halloween is cool and whatnot when Barnaby says that it’s also sad because the Potters died (it might be implied that it’s a sad time for Barnaby because of his parents, too). Then Tonks points out that it’s the end of the war after all, so it’s more reason to be happy. We talk about how the wizarding world changed because of that, and long story short, it leads to the idea that we’re gonna prepare the presentation for the feast to show how history is important, and we should remember it, and whatnot.
Anyway, we go with this idea to Dumbledore, and he loves it. He either suggests visiting Bagshot or we suggest it and he agrees. He organises transport for us as well, so we’d explain how we freely go between Hogwarts and Godric’s Hollow all this time. He offers us his fireplace or whatever. It doesn’t have to be shown each time – let’s just address it.
Bagshot tell us about Ragnuk among other things, but let’s say she says it’s “a legend”. While we talk to her, she also allows us to browse her books, for example. This is when Tulip and Tonks find the passphrase. I assume it has to be somewhere in the books because Dumbledore told us that Ragnuk cursed more people and some of them are cursed until this day, and I doubt they all knew the passphrase from Gryffindor himself. I mean, I want to believe that he’s not that stupid to get tricked so many times…
Later, Tonks tries to use the passphrase as a joke because it’s “just a legend”, so there’s no way it could work anyway. Of course, Ragnuk appears, and even though Tonks says she doesn’t want the Sword and it was simply a joke, Ragnuk curses her anyway because fuck the wizardkind.
Now we really panic because Tonks might be blind forever. Only now someone mentions that the feast might be cancelled, e.g. Penny. We’re surprised because why would it be cancelled to which Penny says that all the teachers will be trying to help Tonks, so they wouldn’t leave the fests unattended. Besides, it’d be inappropriate to celebrate when one of the students might stay blind forever. Tonks is also worried that Sprout would be furious that she got into trouble again, and that she wouldn’t leave detention even after graduating.
I didn’t finish the quest yet, so I don’t know exactly how things go on, but I imagine it could stay more or less the same. I don’t know, I just feel that the plot of stealing the Sword is a little too similar to the plot of the Cursed Vaults – especially the way it is presented now, that MC and Merula are basically racing for it. So, I thought that a bit different approach could be interesting.
I gave writing Fictober Prompts a shot, and here is the result. It’s not themed around Halloween as we already have a more Halloween themed list of prompts. Let me know what you think 😉
I went ahead and made some ask prompts! I also have a set for your MC x Character ships, if that’s something you’re interested in.
What’s their personal philosophy? Do they even have one?
How do they feel about their status and reputation as the curse-breaker in the school?
Did they get sorted into the Hogwarts House they expected to? Did the Sorting Hat have any problems sorting them? Or did it not even have to touch their head?
What are their coping strategies for dealing with everything (the Vaults, Jacob, etc.), if they have any?
What electives do they take throughout their time at Hogwarts?
Are they in any clubs or extracurricular activities? What about Quidditch?
How studious are they? What kind of studying strategies do they use? Do they have any study groups with their friends?
How willing are they when it comes to breaking school rules?
Do they hang out with any of their friends over breaks? If so, which one(s) and what do they do?
After they graduate, do they fall of the map and keep a low profile? Or do they continue to exist in the public eye?
How does their career path differ from what they thought they’d be doing? Or does it differ at all?
Do they have any hobbies? What about any talents or aptitudes?
Do they have any favorite spells?
What’s one thing they did or thought as a child that they later look back and cringe about?
If they could travel anywhere at all in the world—money, time, and language not being an issue—where would they go and who would they take with them?
If they’re an Animagus, how easy was becoming one for them? Were they happy with their Animagus form? Or did they want it to be something different?
Do they like what they see in the mirror?
How good are they at taking compliments?
How much do they trust their friends?
Are they pretty self-reliant? Or do they like to go to their friends for help?
Who is their favorite Weasley? Or can they not choose?
What’s the thing they like least about themselves?
What’s the thing they like most about themselves?
How bad is their temper? Do they tend to lash out at others or themselves?
What’s their biggest regret in life, if they have any?
What kind of first impression do they tend to leave on others?
What is the achievement they’re most proud of?
Do they like having photos taken of themselves?
What’s one big way that your MC differs from the in-game canon?
What does their name mean and why did you choose it?
If they’re an Animagus, why did you choose the form for them that you did?
How has your MC changed since you first created them?
How well do you think you and your MC would get on?
This was pretty fun 👀 https://picrew.me/image_maker/140296
I just wanted to try making one, and I let Hogwarts mystery be my inspiration for it.
ごめんなさ...
@angrynar @thereluctantherosrose @death-or-sleep @cervo-live-in-arts @goldhexes @tsikuri @slytherin-puffskein @kamiti-slytherin @neonbluewaves and anyone else who wants to do it!!
Hey, Penny. Remember when in our fourth year you asked me this:
What if Beatrice doesn’t want things to be like they were before?
I’m still kind of salty that she even suggested that about Jacob, knowing that he is leaving us clues to the next Vaults and finding the Cursed Vaults = finding Jacob - at least in MC’s mind… It was a really unfortunate phrasing on her part if you ask me.
But more importantly, in the very same scene, Penny told us that she hopes Jacob is the same person we remember. And while this for a change is a very valid remark and something worth to be prepared for, I like to think that Helena wasn’t really expecting Jacob to be exactly the same. When she was younger? Sure. But I assume with age she started accepting that he’ll be somewhat different because she’s changed, too. Everyone changes, for better or for worse. It can be unsettling, however, without the change, no matter in which direction, there’s no growth and improvement.
You could say that the change and inability to accept it is a recurring theme for Penny. Funny thing, she’s probably changed the least from our original squad, in my opinion. Rowan is still a bit awkward and dorky, but they’re becoming more independent from MC: they can speak up, they’re finding new friends (Penny, Barnaby, some hints for Tulip), they’re more confident. Ben changed a lot during year 5, before the Portrait Vault. Even Bill overcame his tragic rejection from Emily Tyler. Penny continues to be a sweet girl who solves her problems with potions. Her big emotional side quest “Penny For Your Thoughts” didn’t really change anything - she took the exact same actions later when Beatrice got trapped. It didn’t even affect her relationship with MC much. I’d love to get a situation in year 4 where Penny says to MC: “Hey, I hope you don’t blame yourself for that sleepwalking curse. I felt guilty because of what happened to Scarlett but now I know it wasn’t my fault. And the curse is not your fault either”. Of course, it wouldn’t work if you chose an option for Penny to drink the Forgetfulness Potion. Actually, the whole quest then becomes a bit pointless…
Penny has to realise that the change is inevitable. Perhaps she could use some changes herself. I was quite surprised when she said about her sister in Y6Ch2: “She kept saying she was searching for herself. Whatever that means”. Girl, you’re 16. You should be familiar with the process of looking for your identity.
And… let’s not demonise Beatrice because she said she wish Penny would disappear. Yes, it is hurtful, but teenagers say all kind of terrible things they later regret: they hate their parents with passion, they wish their siblings were never born. It doesn’t automatically make them bad.
Charlie Weasley is the sort of person that makes you take a deep, relieved breath out when you hug him. Strong, safe, and warm, hugging Charlie is a feeling that’s so hard to describe. Filled with affection, like coming home after a long time away and seeing your favourite people all there waiting for you. Like a warm, cosy fire in the middle of winter. Like the feeling of slowly waking up warm, and cosy in bed. Hugging Charlie Weasley is a feeling that no one would ever wish to forget.
