What are your main reasons for shipping IchiRuki in this day and age( considering how outdated it’s been considered by the fandom nowadays )
Outdated? I didn't know ships had an expiration date. I ship all my ships because I like their dynamic, not because of what's popular or canon. Not to mention people still like my drawings of them and request more, so I don't see why I would stop.
Rook: How's it looking?
Bellara: Complicated. Ancient elven locks are, well… Going to take some time.
Davrin: We'll need a minute to figure out how it releases!
Emmrich: Needlessly intricate! Give us just a moment!
Harding: There's a lot of small… gears and things. Just… hang on!
Lucanis: It looks like over-complicated nonsense! We'll need a moment!
Taash: It's fine! Go kill some Venatori!
Rook: Tell me we're close to getting this thing open.
Bellara: Almost there, I think! Maybe!
Davrin: Still working on it!
Emmrich: Patience is a virtue!
Harding: We're getting there!
Lucanis: Closer than we were!
Taash: We're on it!
Rook: There's an entire Venatori army coming for us!
Bellara: We know! Don't die!
Davrin: You can handle them!
Emmrich: We're going as quickly as possible! Hold fast!
Harding: We'll get you out! Don't worry!
Lucanis: Then kill them! Ugh, blasted elven machinery.
Taash: You beat Venatori all the time!
Rook: Still no luck?
Bellara: Sorry!
Davrin: Getting there!
Emmrich: Just a moment longer!
Harding: We're getting closer!
Lucanis: We're trying! Mierda!
Taash: (Frustrated growl)
Rook: Really, are you sure you can open this?
Bellara: Yes! We can do it!
Davrin: We said we would!
Emmrich: If everyone would remain calm, this would go much more quickly!
Harding: Everyone breathe! Just breathe! Deep breaths!
Lucanis: Who made this gate? Why is it like this?
Taash: Ugh. Hang on!
NGL, I love that we still have a Crow who can't pick a damn lock, and this line alone always tempts me to leave Lucanis out of the party, even if I do usually roll with him in it.
Part 200 | Part 201 | Part 202 | Part 203 | Part 204 | Part 205 | Part 206 | Part 207 | Part 208 | Part 209 | Part 210 | Part 211 | Part 212 | Part 213 | Part 214 | Part 215 | Part 216 | Part 217 | Part 218 | Part 219 | Part 220
my hope for ep9 is that we will get gambit & morph bonding over being mind controlled/ brainwashed / or at least a mention of the fact they were both used as pawns to hurt their friends/ family
(and also an apology from logan to morph but that feels even more unlikely)
I love how vulnerable he looks here. He's asked the question, "Where's Caterina?" He knows the answer, but doesn't want to hear it. He knows he's lost one of the only family members he has left, and the pain from the Ossuary, and now his grief, are raw. For a brief moment, he can't hide it. For that moment, he's the child who lost his parents again.
When Rook first finds Cole at the Lighthouse, there will be a short cutscene. Speaking to Cole afterwards triggers this conversation:
Rook: Anything going on I should know about?
Cole: Sometimes.
Rook: Are... You gonna tell me?
Cole: Heavy shoulders. Smiles that slip when no one sees. Questions with no words. You answer without being asked.
Rook: Right. Should've seen that coming.
Cole: I hear the hurt. You answer it. They don't ask for help. I tell you where the silence is loudest.
Rook: So, basic translation, you'll tell me if one of my friends needs me. Is that it?
Cole: Yes.
New Quest: In The Spirit of Compassion
Cole senses the emotional weight carried by those within the Lighthouse.
While he seldom speaks plainly, his observations may reveal when a companion has something important to discuss.
Check in with Cole whenever you return to the Lighthouse after major missions.
If there are no new companion quests available, Cole will say one of the following:
Rook: Anything I should know about?
Cole: They're quieter today. Not empty. Resting.
Rook: Everything alright?
Cole: Enough is.
Rook: Does anyone need me, Cole?
Cole: You should rest. They'll still be here tomorrow.
Rook: Hey, Cole.
Cole: Hello!
When all companions have been recruited, Cole may instead say one of the following:
Manfred is hiding spoons. Emmrich knows. He’s pretending not to.
Assan ate something Davrin told him not to. Davrin is deciding whether to be angry or impressed.
Bellara lost her notes. They’re under the other notes.
Lucanis made coffee. Taash drank it. Neither of them is happy.
Neve knows who moved her chair. Harding doesn’t know Neve knows.
Taash is arguing with the kitchen. The kitchen isn’t listening.
Manfred waved at Spite. Spite waved back. Lucanis wishes they hadn’t.
If a companion has a new quest or conversation available, Cole will say one of the following:
Lucanis
He made coffee. It went cold before he drank it.
He's looking toward Treviso. His feet never left the Lighthouse.
He looks over his shoulder. Habit. Hope. He isn't sure which.
Family is supposed to catch you. Falling hurts more when they don't.
(If Lucanis is romanced)
He says your name when you're gone. Softer than when you're there.
He looks for you first. He doesn't know he's doing it.
The demon is quieter when you're close.
He's practicing what he'll say. It never sounds as good when you arrive.
He wants to tell you something. He keeps finding another reason to make coffee first.
Harding
The Stone is quieter than she expected.
She keeps touching the lyrium. It answers. She isn't sure she wants it to.
She misses the roads she used to know.
She's trying to carry mountains with two hands.
She's smiling again. She's checking if it still fits.
(If Harding is romanced)
She reaches for your hand before she remembers to.
She wants to show you every sunrise. Every one feels new.
She thinks she's changed too much. You haven't looked away.
She keeps saving stories to tell you later.
She still gets butterflies. She blames the magic. It isn't the magic.
Bellara
She found another question. It isn't the one she's asking.
Broken things are easier to understand than people.
She keeps talking so the silence can't.
She thinks if she fixes enough, this one might hurt less.
The past is loud today.
(If Bellara is romanced)
She keeps rehearsing conversations you'll never hear.
She lights up when she sees you. She doesn't notice she does.
She wants to show you everything she discovers.
She wonders if someone as extraordinary as you could choose her.
She already knows what she wants to say. She keeps talking instead.
Davrin
The griffon isn't what's worrying him.
Duty feels lighter when it's carried together. He forgot that.
He's teaching someone else to be brave. He's still learning himself.
He keeps watching the horizon. Wardens always do.
He thinks protecting everyone means standing alone.
(If Davrin is romanced)
He smiles more when you're nearby. Assan noticed first.
He makes room beside the fire without thinking.
He trusts you with the quiet.
He thinks about tomorrow. He didn't used to.
He wants to ask you to stay. He hopes you already know.
Emmrich
He speaks kindly to the dead. Himself... less so.
He wonders if forever is worth the cost.
The skeleton worries about him. He pretends not to notice.
He's surrounded by death. He's thinking about life.
He found another mystery. It isn't the one keeping him awake.
(If Emmrich is romanced)
He still blushes. He finds it terribly inconvenient.
He likes hearing you say his name.
He imagines growing old with you. Then remembers.
He forgets himself when you're smiling.
He's read hundreds of love stories. None of them prepared him.
Neve
She's already solved the problem. She wishes she hadn't.
She keeps turning the evidence over. The answer won't change.
She trusts facts. Feelings leave fingerprints too.
Dock Town is hurting. She always notices.
She carries everyone else's burdens like they're clues.
(If Neve is romanced)
She trusts you with the truths she can't prove.
She looks for you before she looks for trouble.
She keeps pretending this isn't important. It is.
She likes when you make her laugh. She'll deny it.
She stopped expecting someone to stay.
Taash
They keep asking where they belong. The answer keeps changing.
Fire is easy. People are harder.
They're louder when they're afraid.
They're trying to become themselves. Everyone keeps offering different maps.
They know who they were told to be. They're looking for the rest.
(If Taash is romanced)
They stand closer than they need to.
They like making you laugh. They like it more than winning.
They feel safe. It's strange. They keep checking if it stays.
They've stopped wondering if you'll leave.
They found someone who sees all of them. They're still getting used to it.
🧾Codex Unlocked: Notes on Cole
Found tucked beneath a coffee cup in the Lighthouse. An ink blot stains the top left corner beside a small drawing of a smiling sun. The initials "B.L." are written beneath it.
Since Cole is apparently living at the Lighthouse now, I feel like we should establish a few ground rules. Mostly because nobody seems entirely sure what he is. —Rook
Oh! I have a question! Is he a spirit inhabiting a body, or a body imagined by a spirit? Because those are completely different magical phenomena. —Bellara
Trust me, don't overthink it. I tried for years. —Harding
Spirits can become demons. —Lucanis
True, but usually after being twisted against their nature. Compassion is among the gentlest spirits one could hope to encounter. Cole appears eager to assist, and no one here would deny him that. —Emmrich
I still don't trust him. —Lucanis
(scrawled underneath in handwriting no one recognises, "You trust the hurt. Not me. Yet.")
Does he always do that? —Neve
Pretty much. —Harding
He useful in a fight? —Davrin
Surprisingly, yes. —Rook
More importantly, he can feel what we're feeling! Not thoughts, I mean. It's like… he experiences our emotions as his own. Regret, grief, hope… all of them. —Bellara
So... don't lie to him? —Taash
Or yourself. —Neve
An excellent habit regardless. —Emmrich
Good. Glad we've established that the spirit can see directly through my terrible decisions. —Rook
(Another addition in the unfamiliar handwriting, "Not terrible. Just expensive.")
I want to talk about policing the use of AI in creative writing fan spaces any why attempting to investigate and punish people this is a terrible idea.
Now let me be clear - Gen AI is awful and most people agree that it has no place in creative spaces, but that's besides the point. I'm not here to debate AI in creative spaces, I'm here to talk about the moderators who feel the need to investigate and punish writers who they believe use AI.
I'm going to start by reminding people of two important things:
There is no way for anyone to know for certain if someone is using AI to write - unless they tell you they are. The common "tells" that are cited online are found in the work of people who have excellent control of functional grammar, good vocabularies, and an excellent control of sentence structure. AI is trained on the work of talented writers.
There is no way for an author to defend themselves against a claim that they are using AI, especially in an online environment. Nor should an author have to. The rule should not be "prove you are innocent or we will find you guilty!"
I feel very passionately about this and have for quite some time. I've seen fandom witch hunts before, and I know how easy it is for some people to climb to moral high ground and punish those they believe are doing the wrong thing.
My friend recently chose to leave a discord server after the mod team contacted them to announce that there had been reports made by people who wished to be anonymous who suspected their work was AI generated. The mods explained that they had investigated these claims by looking over their writing, and although they admitted they could not be 100% certain the work contained AI, they were issuing a strike/warning to them in accordance with their discord rules because they believed they might have.
The investigation involved them reading some of their work.
That was it.
They read their work and decided that, in their own words, they thought it might be AI so they were issuing a strike. They then proceeded to delete the writing they had shared on the server without any opportunity for this person to retrieve it.
There was no communication prior to them issuing a strike. My friend was not told about these accusations ahead of time, the moderators did not talk to them about the accusations or raise concerns, and did not stop to ask themselves why the people making these claims wished to do so anonymously.
Perhaps if they had, they would have learned that members of their discord had been harassing this person via Tumblr anons about this issue. Instead they chose to give the bullies anonymity, to deny a writer a chance to have open communication, and issued a punishment for a rule infraction that they themselves admitted they could not be certain had been broken.
When my friend gave the names of beta readers and editors who had worked with her in real time, these moderators chose not to engage with them or seek clarification, and instead doubled down and tried to justify their decision.
My friend asked for the evidence they had that their work contained AI content, and it was not provided to them. Instead they supplied a generic statement about how they had made their decision based on their use of syntax, grammar, tone, and word choice was rolled out. But again, they did not give examples or explain this.
As someone who admins and mods several creative spaces, this kind of behaviour worries me. Actually, it terrifies me. Because anyone can be next: you, me, the brand new writer eager to share their work, or the fandom oldie.
It sets a dangerous precedent for fan spaces and the policing of creative works, because it leaves writers in these spaces open to harassment, bullying, intimidation, and censorship under the guise of keeping fan spaces "AI Free". Anyone can accuse someone of using AI to write, and this can be used to bully people out of fan spaces.
Moderators are supposed to keep fan spaces safe for members, not take it upon themselves to play detective and police creative works in case someone is using AI. In fact, mods taking it upon themselves to police writers in fan spaces by handing out warnings and bans are making fan spaces unsafe and encouraging social exclusion. This kind of behaviour will actively scare and intimidate writers into simply walking away - because who wants to hear an accusation that their work is AI?
Facilitating AI witch hunts is killing fan spaces.
Attempting to police the writing of others is alienating writers.
And if you think someone is using AI to write, don't try to be a detective, just click away and stop reading their work.
I saw very recently (today) about a certain fictional sports fandom that has now flagged an "author call out list" detailing the "genAI problem hidden in fandom" and it's... fucking ridiculous. It's a witch hunt. Very organized and detailed but still a witch hunt.
I honestly don't care if an author used 0% of AI or 100% of AI-- someone being "called out" and harassed is not okay, and will never be okay. Do I want to read AI works? No. But what I can do is HIT THE BACK BUTTON and follow the golden fandom rule of DON'T LIKE DON'T READ.
If only people spent more time on real things that actually matter.
I too, have seen the same fandom organize witch hunts on tiktok. I liked the show, and some of those people are awesome, but man, the crazies are alienating everyone. And they are getting crazier by the minute…
This feels incredibly relevant given some of the discourse happening in multiple fandoms - including Neopets of all places. Guys, don't turn on each other no matter how much you despise AI and what it's doing to the artistic industry. Don't let the hate of AI turn creative spaces into places where witch hunts and trial by public call outs run rampant. If you suspect someone is using AI to create things, even if you think you're almost certain, just block and move on.
I'm seeing so many people get accused of using AI to create that is starting to really make me uncomfortable sharing my own pieces, and i don't want to see fan spaces destroyed.
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