Kingofwinter

Maka and Crona's Journey - Wasted Potential

So one of the things I have come to heavily critique the Soul Eater manga for is the way it handled Maka post the defeat of Archnophobia, where it feels like there was a whole host of interesting character moments, but because this was the point where the Manga began to spin it's wheels and had no idea how to connect it's various ideas together into a coherent whole, it ultimately leads her story to feel like a mess of wasted potential.

And after doing an analysis of Maka and Crona's relationship through the manga, i came to realise that the pieces are there to tell a very good character journey that came thiiiiisss close to being amazing, but fumbles the ball on the most important moments, of which the ending is just the final, coup the grace that ensures it's a truly terrible story at the end of the day, rather than just being wasted potential.

I have always been of the opinion that Maka and Cronas second fight was where Soul Eater as a story peaked, as it represented the highpoint of it's themes and the journey of it's characters that would never quite be matched in either the anime, nor manga... But one thing I only realised when looking at what the Manga was trying to do, and how it differed from the Anime, is that the intention behind Manga Maka's journey foreward, was how, while this moment was the defining moment for both Maka and Crona, unlike the Anime, the Manga wanted to explore the negative aspects of this idea.

Maka comes to deeply love and appreciate Chrona and the bond they shared together... But this deep affection also led to Maka's biggest moment of weakness in either take on Soul Eater.

Her learning that Medusa is still alive and Chrona is still under her strings.

This revelation paralyzes Maka. She, the girl who during her second fight with Crona finally was able to overcome fear and be truly brave, now finds herself held back by fear. Not fear of what could happen to herself, but fear of what might happen to Crona depending on her own choices.

If she turns Crona in, there is a very strong possibility that Shinigami-Sama's wrath upon Crona will be quite brutal and swift, but on the other hand, if she does nothing, Medusa's plan will continue unopposed and she might lose Crona anyway.

And so she does... Nothing.

She turns into a coward. She's unwilling to commit to any course out of fear of where it would go.

This is great. It's easily some of Maka's best moments, but the problem comes later.

Because in theory Manga Maka and Anime Maka aren't supposed to be different characters, it's just that they go different journey's to reach the same place.

Anime Maka does not learn about Medusa the same way, instead she only learns about everything after the fact, and so has to react to the revelations in a manner that forces her to make a choice then and there... And her choice is that she will support Crona all the way, consequences and the opinion of anyone else be damned.

Manga Maka however, because of her moment of Weakness loses Crona, and they don't reunite again before near the end of the series.

When Maka tries to reach out to Crona, and convince the Pinkette to come back with her home, it's a sign of both Maka's loyalty and devotion... But also an intentional backslide of her development.

Rather than confront the matter head on, Maka tries to essentially sweep EVERYTHING that has happened since they last saw each other under the rug.

Lets go home, and pretend this never happened.

It's not that Maka's words that she WILL protect Crona are empty, because they're not, but the Manga very much want's this entire scene to be a mirror to the basement scene where the two of them first bonded.

Back then, Maka left Soul behind because she understood Crona, and trusted that she didn't need him for what she had to do.

Here, while she's alone inside the church, she brought her entire team with her, that is outside just waiting to back her up if something goes wrong.

Back then she understood that to reach Crona she had to confront the problem head on, with both kindness, but also with a very firm hand.

Here she is wishy-washy and though she is kind, she has none of that firmness that was so essential in forging their bond back then.

When Crona confesses to murdering Medusa, Maka, better than anyone understands how much this destroyed Crona... But she doesn't have an answer.

The confidence she once had in being certain in how to help Crona is gone.

And of course...

The girl who once walked through deadly and painful spikes to embrace Crona, now flinches away in shock, pain and fear at those spikes.

It is a remarkably powerful contrast and symbolism.

The problem... Is how we got here.

The idea is that this is meant to be where Maka fails Crona a second time, once more due to a moment of weakness, only here it's because she hasn't truly come to terms with the consequences of her own choice back then, and having mustered the strength to truly accept Crona's actions, and then go from there.

She wants everything to go back to normal, the wqy it used to be, when Crona tells her very clearly that that is impossible.

What Maka NEEDED to do here(And what should have been the climax of the story when they meet again inside the black blood) was to help Crona deal with the trauma of Medusa's murder, to help Crona realize that whatever else has happened, Maka still loves them, and that Crona is not fundamentally unworthy of that love as Crona thinks they are.

And at this she fails. Spectacularily.

It's a great sequence of events... It's a real shame then, that her character arc post Archne hasn't been about building up to this moment AT ALL!

Maka's storyline COULD have been about her dealing with depression, sadness over losing Crona, and probably more importantly than anything else, a deep, deep longing to go back to the time they spent together, to return to "Simplier days".

It COULD have been about exploring Maka in a deeply unhealthy and yet incredibly human part of her life, when the backsliding from the person she had begun to become thanks to her and Crona's bond was both painfully obvious, and clearly intentional storywise.

Even after growing as a person, that doesn't mean the way to reaching your best self is a straight road upwards. Sometimes you fall off the track, sometimes you lose sight of the goal you were seeking, and sometimes you look back and what was and feel tempted to go back to an earlier point because you are deeply unhappy with where you are now.

It's a real shame then that Maka's storyline between these points tackles absolutely none of these points or ideas for her character.

And on the moon, we see this pattern of a clear idea for a coherent character story continue, both with Maka's incredibly vicious reaction when she and Crona begins fighting, and how the plot points set up between them really goes nowhere.

The idea here is that Maka is having another moment of weakness, only this time one fueled by anger and Hurt, as she beats the snot out of Crona while saying things she obviously doesn't really mean.

It is, again, an intentional backtracking on her entire character, and if you look at it from the concept stages for her and Crona's relationship it makes perfect sense.

Maka, despite her love for Crona was deeply, deeply hurt by Crona's actions both at the church, and at the moon... The problems with the execution here is:

1. Her mood between the church and here has not in ANY way been building up to this very viscious but human outburst of anger.

2. Other than rejecting Maka at the Church, Crona hasn't really done anything yet that varrants Maka being this viscious and agressive. It feels like there should have been a scene where Crona really wrecked the rest of the cast here, but it didnt happen in the final product, and so while the idea of frustration and anger reaching a boiling point on paper makes sense, in practice Maka's anger in this scene feels really overblown.

3. It doesn't really lead anywhere. This moment comes, and then it's gone, forgotten, rather than playing into Maka's final character arc. You would think Maka would have a moment where she snaps out of it and realises how bad an idea/reqction on her part this was, but no. Much like the rest of the moon fight, it's flash and no substance.

And finally Maka's assession here where she informs her dad(and Black star) that Crona killed Medusa was clearly meant to be some dramatic turning point originally. The point where she FINALLY gets her shit together and realizes what she has to do... Only for Asura to regain control, and so she instead of talking this out with a hug here and now she has to break into Crona'a soul and talk there directly.

And there, you would probably expect her to have to once more go through some scenario where she has to brave painful thorns despite the pain, before embracing Crona in a hug anew, thus showcasing that Maka has FINALLY gotten her shit back together again, and has both regained her courage, but also her determination, her self confidence, from when she was at her height, and is now, finally, after a long, long period of depression and loneliness, ready to take on Azura, with Crona at her side.

You know, the logical rule of 3(one success, one failure, and then a final success as the big redepmtion to make up for our Heroines previous moments of weakness) of storytelling used to showcase both Maka's growth, her hugging Crona leading into some development where Maka finally manages to get Crona to forgive themselves for Medusa's death, and embrace the courage to face the world anew.

The pieces are all here to tell a really, really good tale of a Character who went through ips and downs, who lost something very, very important to her along the way... Only to regain it anew thanks to the bond eith the person she treasures most in the world.

She isn't perfect... But that's okay. She has the people she loves besides her, her partner, her friends, even her dad who she dinally is able to let go off her resentment towards(Which should have been the entire point of her finally wielding him in battle), and her relationship with Crona, the single most important bond she ever made with anyone through the story. Ready to take on the world.

Thst sure would have been a way better story, while also continuing all of Soul Eater's themes into an actual, thematicly coherent climax.

How to fix Halamshiral as a Zone

Inquisition is a flawed game.

I don't think there's anyone who is going to argue otherwise.

The only question is wheter you place it higher or lower than DA2.

One of the things I think it does better than DA2, is that it managed to give every place a soul, an identity of it's own, and at least a distinct, if not always amazing storyline.

The emerald graves doesnt have a very interesting plot, but it has some spectacular side quests, and atmosphere, inculding a haunted mansion, which might be my favorite possession based quest in all of DA because it shows much better than others just how dangerous untrained mages actually are to those around them.

The storm coast tells a story of what was once an important dwarven port, and shows how it fell and was repurposed over time.

The Hinterlands shows the aftereffects of the templar mage war, as well as solas stupid plan to give cory his orb, and the mage rebellion and an actually decent time travel story.

I could go on, but the point is, I usually have at least aomething nice to say about every single region.

All except one.

Halamshiral.

Halamshiral was the single worst part of all of Dragon Age Inquisition for me, and every single time I boot up this game, it's always the last thing i do before the temple of sacred ashes, despite how bizarre the game flows as a result.

And the reason is because i hate everything about it.

I hate it's unique attempt at side quests, i hate the characters involved, i hate the Orlesians who inhabit it, and i hate how this section tries to copy what worked so amazingly well with Orzammar and Denerim during the landsmeet section, and fails every single shot it lines up.

The ONLY good thing i have to say about this, is that it's at the very least relatively short.

So here's today's question. How to fix Halamshiral?

Let's begin with the three main players.

Celene, Gasparde, and Briala.

The big problem with every single option, is that they all suck.

Celene and Gasparde are both fucking awful people without any redeeming qualities, they have no charisma, and there is no prospect of the Empire reforming itself under either of them, the way Orzammar would under Bhelen.

Meanwhile, Briala is much, much better, but the problem is that we know exactly what is going to happen here if you support her.

Maybe today elves will have it better, but tomorrow, when Gasparde is gone, or celene turns on elves again as she always does all the progress will be repealed, and reversed, along with a few purged alienages.

Its an old story that's been told before in Dragon age.

In short, there is no reason at all to care about this overall plot. None whatsoever.

There were so many reasons to care about both Orzammar and Denerim in the same situation, and every single character involved had so much more charisma than either of these would be monarchs.

So let's fix that.

Starting with Celene, take the idea of her wanting to reform the empire, and actually take it to the next level.

Celene is genuine in wanting to reform the empire, and has already taken grand, successful steps to make the entire thing much better for everyone, even elves, giving them and serfs more rights, outlawing the practice of chevaliers having a tradition of killing unarmed city elves to graduate.

But the catch is, while she is genuinely making progress, she is doing so within the confines of the great game.

Celene has nonintention of changing the great game, no plans of wanting to remove this thing that holds Orlais back more than any other, this center stone of their nobility and it's culture.

Meanwhile, Gasparde is a different kind of reformer, one that takes the ideas he had of him claiming to hate the game, and actually doing something with it.

He is far less progressive, has no love for elves, is far more warlike than Celene ever was... But unlike Celene, his ideas of reform isn't going to act within the grand game.

He's going to break it.

Unlike canon gasparde, this gasparde is hated by every single noble family in the entire empire. His only support, and it's a strong one, is the army. The parts of the army that supports Gasparde, and they are a huge part, are loyal to him personally to the hilt.

And he hates them back. He hates the game, he hates the way it cripples the empire, and he wants to change things. Like Celene he plans to break the serfs free of their chains, for the good of the nation and it's power and economy if not for any progressive reasons.

And he'a going to start with Halamshiral.

For this Gasparde isn't merely positioning men to stage a coup... He's planning to kill EVERY SINGLE NOBLE in Halamshiral. Evety man, every woman, every child there.

He's going to reform this empire by wiping out it's cancerous nobility in one fell swoop, and install himself as supreme dictator to see his reforms through, and wiping out the entire Orlesian nobility that might have opposed him, french revolution style.

And thus the Inquisitor has a dilemma.

Unlike Orzammar, where only one side was a reformer, both of these Orlesians are... But you have to choose one.

Do you choose Celene? The more progressive candidate, who wants a more peaceful Orlais going forward? But who is not willing to get ridd of the grand game to do so, thus making it a permanent risk that all her reforms will be undone...

Or will you support Gasparde, and by doing so be complicit in destroying the entire nobility of Orlais, many of whom are not guilty of the shit that Celene and Gasparde here both hate so much? Gasparde is far less likely to create a peaceful Orlais going forward... But he will have obliterated the Grand Game for good and all, a prize that might be worth this Red Wedding style bloodbath.

Meanwhile there is Briala, the elven spy who has enough influence to allow, or prevent Gasparde's plans from going through.

Here there should be another moral dilemma, quite different from the base game.

Do you convince her to aid Gasparde, in exchange for the Elves getting a duchy of their own in Halamshiral? Do you then back her up with Inquisition forces and support, forcing Him to publicly announce her as such, and trust his own, twisted version of honor to actually stick to it going forward(Something he ultimately does), or do you throw her to the Wolves the moment things get rough?

Or alternatively, do you convince her to side with Celene, and bury the hatchet? And if so, on what terms? And similarly, if she actually wants to get something out of this, you actually need to back her up... Something you may, or may not choose to do.

And voila, here you have an actual story of intrigue, massive, lasting political changes as a result of the Herald's actions, and morally grey on grey choices.

Everything that Denerim and Orzammar had in spades.

Now moving on from the plot to the actual place.

Halamshiral has no soul.

It's a french villa on a mountaintop. Whoop de freaking do.

It has no interesting murals, unique art only found there, interesting geography, or anything really to make it stand out.

Compare it to Denerim and Orzammar, and the way they fleshed out the entire city's levels of power and criminal underworlds, and you see the difference.

Denerim is a very realistic, squat, squalid medieval city, with it's buildings built on top of every single bit of available space.

Orzammar is a full on high fantasy dwarf city lit up by a lake of lava.

Halamshiral is a villa presented as a city.

How do you fix that?

There is an artist here on Tumblr who pretty much showcased what Halamshiral could have been, if they had taken the idea of the Dalish(who were the original owners) taking inspiration from native americans(amongst others), and use that to build a truly spectacular city, which has long ago been paved over, but the structure is still there.

Make it a city on the water, like the aztex capital of Tenochtitlan, a marvel of canals and stone.

Make it this Venezia like city, with canals everywhere you look, and the entire city running on water. A marvel of Dalish city building, where they took something as simple as a couple of islands in a lake, and built the most beautiful city in the world.

And rather than just limit you to the palace, instead let you actually explore this city.

Expand the entire event from one night, to a week.

Let the Herald explore the city, meet the players, interact with the nobles, become friends with a few like you could with Ferelden's bans, which in turn makes the possibility of sacrificing them for the greater good hit so much harder.

Let you choose what fancy stuff to wear to the balls and meetings, rather than have this stupid motto of forcing you to wear one, pre determined outfit like this game had for some reason.

Let you discover the places where what little Elven Architecture and art still remains can be found, and talk with the elves who still live here, the descendants after the first elves the Orlesians enslaved.

Make the plotting of Gasparde and the positioning of troops be gradual, not instantly discovered and twarted.

And at the end, if you choose to back Gasparde, you mirror that scene from Dragon Age 2, where the Templars sail across the bay, and you either step aside and witness the bloodbath you just allowed to happen, or you fight them and be recognized by the nobility(most of which are horrible, horrible people) as a hero who just saved the day.

Have the venatori plot be to kill both Gasparde and Celene, rather than their involvement mostly be about handing the player the the easy knife for the knot of which monarch to pick without having to get your hands dirty.

Also have the entire group be gathered for once. Every inner member of the Inquisition just like at Denerim.

Each of whom have their own thoughts on the events.

Who supports who? What is the right thing to do? What is better for the inquisition? Are you staining your honor beyond repair if you back Gasparde? Does the Inquisitor maybe have a breakdown after witnessing what they just allowed to happen and they walk through the gardens or rooms filled with corpses? Maybe have the scene at the end with the love interest be about a moment of them truly comforting their lover in the aftermath of it all, understanding(or not) that as boss, it's your job to have to make the tough decisions. And now you have to live with them.

Or if you wanna go the other way, this could be one of the breaking points like Origins had. If you support Gasparde, Blackwall choses to tell you to get bent, and that he will die as benefits a knight. Defending the week, and calling you out on how you are just as bad as he ever was, a child killer who's going to run away from responsibility, to pretend you are some better person than what you actually are. You're a murder. Just like he was. You are just as responsible for the blood that's flowing as he was with that carriage back in the day.

It would have been a far more impressive reveal moment for his crimes, that's for sure.

Cole probably would be the one who would be second most upset, but wheter he leaves or ultimately stays should probably be depended on your other choices and your relationship with him prior to this, probably have his personal quest be the determinating factor of what he chooses to do.

And i could go on, but point is, this would be a return to Origins choices actually mattering. There were choices that could make or break a characters bond with you. Shale would not budge regarding Caridin, Leliana and wynne would stand against you if you choose to defile the urn, Sevran would choose to betray you for his old friend if he didn't like you enough, and of course the age old choices at the end of act 3 in da2, where you have to pick between templars and Mages, as well as anders fate, and chances are regardless of what you do, at least 1 person ends up dead.

If anyone reading this has any suggestions for how to further improve this storyline, feel free to share, but regardless, i think we can all agree that this is a vast improvement of what we actually got.

The Problem with Trespasser

So there has been said a lot about the flaws of tresspasser as a finale to Inquisition, as it can basically be divided into two sections.

There is the lore, the character stuff with your companions, and the actual titular trespasser section of the story, which is generally liked.

Then there is the Exalted Council part of the Story which is generally greatly disliked for the way it portrays Arl Teagen as an ungrateful arse, who even though he's in the right that the Inquisition really does need to disband, is such a bitch about it that a player might feel the desire to keeping it intact just to spite him, despite all the reasons that is a terrible idea(Such an organization being doomed to become the templars 2.0 being the single biggest). Not to mention the way it makes Thedas's nations look like they have the memory capacity of a goldfish, given how instrumental the inquisition was in stopping the last massive threat and might be so again against the plenty of obvious threats on the horizon(and sure enough, the stop the Dragon breath terrorist attacks that would have happened with or without them being there).

However, looking at the big picture, i don't think the actual writing of Arl teagen was the problem here.

No the problem is that Arl Teagen and the rest of the world's reaction to the Inquistion is very, very clearly taken from an older draft of this story, where the Inquisitor was far less... An unambiguous force for good, lets say.

The concept art for inquistion tells a story that is very, very different than what we get in game, with a lot more emphasis is put on the inquisitor very obviously being a dick, that is not well liked by anyone around them.

There is also the way said inquisitor could be far, far more pragmatic and morally grey or dark, like here, where the Inquisitor could force the Venatori to serve after defeating them.

Way more emphasis is built on the idea that the Inquisitor is creating a cult of personality around you, personally.

Essentially a dark mirror to the Hero of Ferelden and Galahad's journeys to defeat their own crisis'.

The option of letting celine die was always gonna be a part of the game, but rather than a pragmatic, move of standing aside and let it happen, your companions would have very negative reactions to this choice, with you having to force Blackwall in particular to stand back as he curses you.

And of course, it would all cuminate in the logical endpoint for the herald of andraste, the living embodiment of the Andrastian reformation as you took your place on the sunburst throne, and usher in whatever changes you want.

This outcome... makes perfect sense. Frankly speaking, this is a much more narratively fitting ending for the inquistior, that has a clear climax from where they start.

Of course we all know this didn't actually end up happening. The Inquisitor ended up being the most passive of all the PC's by a wide margin(you could shape them into having a personality, but not one with a true backbone like Hawke and the Warden), and all these very morally dubious options was taken out of the game in favor of a much more morally simple story.

The most evil thing you can do in DAI is to choose the templars over the mages... and rather than being portrayed as the clear evil choice as it should have been(and still been a legitimate and pragmatic option for you to take) there is instead attempts at making it more nuanced.

Other than that, you don't have the kind of options that the Warden had, and even hawke did(like selling Fenris into slavery), to be a dick.

With all this in mind, it's blatently obvious why Teagen and the world is so damn afraid of the Inquisition.

Because this part of the story was written from before this change in the direction of the game, and was never updated to fit the final product.

If the original vision of the game had to to pass, Teagen's extreme reactions to the Inquistion would have been far, far more understandable, and in it's own way a way of calling the player out on their bullshit.

However, the final product just makes it appear he's way overreacting, rather than maybe questioning that maybe Teagen is right, maybe it is time to end this inquisition for the good of all.

Its one of the biggest problem with what is otherwise a very good epilogue to Dragon Age Inquisition.

WHY DID THEY CUT THIS?!

Also, for those wondering, this would be the shoe Anne lost in "Commander Anne" as we know from word of god that the original one is still in the rubble of Toad Tower.

So some things I'm 100% was changed after disney decided they fidn't have the balls with letting them go through it.

1. Im absolutely certain Grim was originally going to be mortally wounded here. Like, flat out died.

Like, his last act in life would have been to Kick Sasha that sword.

2. During their fight when Sasha takes that cut across the back, I'm absolutely sure they were originally going to have the injury be her losing one of her eyes instead, as seems to have been foreshadowed through the series.

Which would explain why Sasha took an absolutely DEVASTATING injury that left her in shock, but she still was able to recover, rally, and is able to stand on her feet just fine after all is said and done.

Which makes way more sense with a lost eye than a massive cut across her back.

3. I'm not sure if Anne was actually going to.lose her arm during this episode, but i could easily see the crew being angry that they weren't gonna get to do the big injury that the entire series have been foreshadowing would befall Anne, and instead transplanted it over to Grime, since they weren't allowed to kill him.

Frankly speaking, "All In" really did not live up to it's name, as it had very obvious moments where it could have taken things to their natural, extreme conclusions, and it very much seems to have been where it was supposed to go, only to be shut down by the mouse.

So with the recent interview, unless Matt is lying through his teeth(Not impossible, he wouldn't be the first one to lie about a plot direction), it's now confirmed that there will be no calamity girl ships in this ending, and it will seemingly end on an open ended note where fans can read what they want in regards to ships.

There's also been several different takes on this by a lot of fans(Personally i am disappointed that Sashanne will apparently not be a thing), be it disappointment, or acceptance, but one take i saw that i heavily disagree with, is the idea that this is an overall good thing because if Sashanne(Which realistically seemed the more plausible final pairing at the moment) became the endgame cano , it would just be a return to Anne and Sasha treating like a third wheel.

And i just... Disagree strongly with that idea.

In fact, my feelings on the matter also ties into why i personally am disappointed that Sashanne will not be a thing. Not only because i am filthy Sashanne Trash(I have nothing against the other two main ships of the fandom, but Sasha and Anne's relationship has always been the most appealing part of Amphibia to me), but because i genuinely feel like like a Sashanne ending could have served greatly to the ending of the story, by not only serving as the endpoint of Sasha and Anne's relationship, but also by serving to enhance Marcy's development as she has to accept and overcome her greatest flaw.

Through Amphibia, it's made perfectly clear time and again, that all the three girls had massive issues that all contributed heavily to why their relationship became so toxic.

For Sasha it was her control issues, for Anne it was her inability to stand up for herself, and for all of them it was an inability to take the others feelings into account. As for Marcy, it was a incredible fear of change, where she forced herself to remain quiet on the sideline rather than try and talk to her friends about how she felt, because she was deathly afraid to rock the boat.

Because if she did, there was a chance that her friendships would break, and Marcy simply could not take that risk.

Which in turn reached a climax where she tricked her friends into being stranded in another world because she was so deadly, deadly afraid of losing them.

Marcy's greatest flaw was always her crippling fear of change, and all it might bring. Or more specifically, that change might end up with her greatest fear coming true. The fear of being aloneq. Change is scary. It might end up going horribly, horribly wrong. True change always has a risk to it.

And so, just like Sasha always gripped her relationships so hard they broke, when Marcy saw her relationships threatened by possibly turning to dust by becoming physically separated, so did Marcy try and force hers to remain how they had always been, by putting her friends in a position where they HAD to be together, and not break apart.

That was wrong, and the series has been very, very clear that this was Marcy's big sin. The flaw of wanting things to remain the way they have always been, rather than take a chance on something new and the risks it brings.

In that regard however, unlike Anne and Sasha, Marcy has not overcome that flaw. And given we have either longer 2 episodes, or one big episode and a 3 part finale(Depending on which official source you believe) left, it seems there is precious little time to develop and truly overcome that flaw like Sasha and Anne did theirs.

Which finally brings me to how i feel Sashanne as a canon ship had the potential to add to Marcy's story.

One thing that is abundantly clear, is that the girls once this is over, needs to redefine their boundaries, and learn to actually talk their problems out. Sasha needs to let Marcy and Anne do their things and disagree without putting them down even if she disagrees, anne need to be able to make it perfectly clear where her boundaries are, and Marcy needs to be able to handle change and actually try and work through it, rather than remain static and just hope everything will work out in the end.

And all 3 of them need to learn and accept that there are times when they just got to give the other two their full support and enthusiasm, even when you aren't personally interested/invested, even if it sometimes requires personal sacrifices, because that's what good friends do.

The point im leading up to, is that if Sasha and Anne had hooked up at the end, then this could easily have been part of Marcy's development in this regard.

Anne and Sasha have at this point made it perfectly clear that they are going to give this another go, and try and NOT fall into the same shortcomings as they did the first time. To actually listen to Marcy, and give her their support, love, attention and respect.

But the thing about a relationship is that for it to be healthy, it has to go both ways. And in That regard, Marcy having to face the concept of Sasha and Anne as a couple, would be a great way for her to do the same for them.

Frankly speaking, for Marcy, Sashanne happening, would probably be a terrifying concept.

Marcy who was already falling behind as the third wheel, as the friend who's just there, would probably only have that fear strengthen if her two best friends hooked up. It is a natural fear... But it is also a selfish one.

It is natural, because if Sasha and Anne don't actually commit to their promise to truly invest themselves fully into this relationship, and just instead focus exclusively om each other, then yes, she could just become the third wheel, rather than both girls best friend in the world.

It's scary. It's change. And it could go wrong for Marcy. But it doesn't have to.

This fear is also selfish however, because what a good friend would do in this situation, is to give her support, her blessing, and her understanding.

Either way, I very much think that if this was handled correctly, it could have served as a nice final step of Marcy's journey.

The girl who was so terrified of change, of her besties growing more distant from her, to a point she would never talk to them about it, and eventually endanger them to keep her static relationships intact, now talks things out with her friends, and rather than balk at facing an uncertain future, she instead resolves to be a good friend, to accept and risk change, to give Sasha and Anne her support in their relationship even if it means there will be times where she will have to make sacrifices to support them, just like Sasha and Anne will accept that there are times where they will do the same for her. Because that's what good friends so.

Change is a part of life, and you can either run from it, or accept it, and take the risk that it might actually work out.

Change is scary, it always has a risk, and even when it works out for you, it is rarely perfect, but it is only by no longer letting the fear of it destroying her relationships with Sasha and Anne that Marcy can truly grow.

Or as a wise Frog once said.

“Turns out if you embrace change instead of clinging to the past, you get a say in what the future looks like.”

Man, i wish they'd kept this scene in. And shrunk down Anne's eyes a bit. That would probably have made it a bit easier to take seriously.

Interesting. If Anne taking a summer job was a possible plot for 3A, then that means that the time of year this season was set, wasn't decided on before they decided they wanted a chirstmas story.

So, since we’re about to get what is probably Sasha’s final design change, i just thought now was a decent time to go over every design was considered before they settled on the current one.

You can tell this is EARLY amphibia, since this is a pony tail from the early pitch pilot, so sometime between pitch and actual design.

From what we see of this design, it looks okay, but MAN the bad shading just ruins this one.

The first concept that would use the actual style the show settled on, but you can tell it’s near as old as the previous one, and Sasha here has pure platinum blonde, and the placement of the beauty mark isn’t settled yet, here beying between her nose and eye.

The design itself though is pretty cool, but the actual coloring is just... all over the place. that said, i could defnitly see the design working with a bit of recoloring to make it more coherent(foreshadowing).

The final of Sasha’s earliest beta designs, and you see the beauty mark still isnt placed in the final spot, this one sets a theme that we’re gonna see going forward, in that the show was originally going to be way more blatant about the zelda references, with many of these designs looking incredibly similar to Ganondorf.

That is not a complaint though, as this design is GREAT. like, im gonna be honest, i like a lot of these designs WAY more than the one the show went with, and this is definitly one of them. It’s really cool. Also, i think i like this ponytail the best out of all of Sasha’s beta hairstyles.

also, i REALLY wish Sasha had kept the Flamberge. not only is it a really cool weapon that’s rarely seen, but it’s also german in origin, which would have been a nice way to tie in the fact that Sasha has german ancestry.

And here’s the first example of the second batch of Sasha’s designs.

And im a bit mixed. in some ways it’s my least favorite of these designs(I get what they were going for, trying to tie her more to the Toads of which she’s a part of), but it’s too out there to work as Sasha’s singular main design. That said, if they had been allowed to keep the blood and gore stains as a main feature, i definitly think this would have been an upgrade, just by how that little detail adds so much character to what Sasha’s become.

Also, while not as muhc as the flamberge, i like this claymore more than her single swords.

And here we have what seems to be the fan favorite out of the beta designs.

And i fully get why. Also, this is a design where Sasha basically went, “im gonna go all out and dress like Wind waker Ganondorf if he was still a bandit king.”. It’s awsome, cool, and really memorable. 

Sasha as a bandit queen looks fantastic, and if i had to choose one, singular design for Sasha before season 3B, it would be this one.

It’s also the best argument for Sasha’s original ponytail design, as this look actually makes the design rock.

Meh is the word to describe this one. The bird skull is a nice bit, but other than that... It’s a really boring design. Really glad they didn’t go with this one.

Probably the second most popular beta design, and the best way to describe it, is that it’s her regular attire, but way cooler. Dig that massive braid. Also it manages to take the idea of a small bird skull, and actually use it in a good way.

Definitly would have prefered this one to the actual armor.

Now im going a bit out of order with this one(the last of the second batch of designs), as this is from the third and final batch of designs, but i wanted to highlight it before the next one, in that if i was writing this story, this would absolutely be the look Sasha had for season 1.

It’s cool, sleek, and spiffy, and it works really, really well as a first set of duds, a beginners set of armor so to say, before her wardrobe change in season 2, where i would change her simply getting a recolor, to instead change into...

This is easily my favorite design of sasha’s beta looks, and again, if i had been writing this story, this is what she would have changed into in season 2.

Its regal, powerfull, and cool, while also serving as a good, and strong mirror image to Anne’s design change.

It’s Sasha taking cues from ganondorf, but just dropping the sorceror bit, and going full in on the tanky brawler part. And it’s awsome. Also, i could easily see this design being used really well with it taking damage, say Anne chopping off one or two of the spikes during their duel.

It’s also the final one of the second batch of beta designs, and all the following are from the final list, where they seem to have just thrown out designs to see if one stuck.

So for those who do not know, this kind of breastplate was a real thing.... and if it was not paired with a lower half to compliment the hartman hips look, it looks just as silly and stupid as it does here.

Probably the worst design, looking absolutely silly and being impossible to take seriously.

An okay, not particularily impressive, but not bad design. Not sure what the eye amulet is supposed to have been. maybe a plot macguffin that was dropped?

It would have servied, but it wouldn’t have been a particular good design.

And finally, they went back to what was probably the first design, cleaned up it’s colors, and all in all made it much, much better to look at. 

It’s also easy to see that this design was what was chosen as the basis for the final design they went with for season 1 and 2.

And it works, it’s a cool design... but at the same time i think the red version of the finalized armor is simply a better version of this one.

Again, i would have preffered if they went with one of the other designs, make the change a real development, and not just a pallete swap, but of all the designs to have used as a base for the final product, this one works pretty well.

out of all of Sasha’s prototype design, its my least favorite, but the fact that one of the designs Sasha might have ended up with would have featured her usual attire covered in blood and gore, is absolutely amazing.