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Post by Jae on Jan 20, 2018 19:28:13 GMT -5
Talked about it on the Neoboards, might as well talk about it here: that new dialogue. The argument between Kaia and Aethia. Sweet Fyora, I get what JS was trying to do, but that dialogue felt stilted and awkward. Kaia comes out as bratty & disrespectful and Aethia a wimp for just taking Kaia's insults and not showing any authority. Decided to rewrite it to make it feel more natural and closer to in-character: Aethia: I forbid every one of you – faeries and Neopets alike – from entering the Wild Woods. We have no idea what we're dealing with. Kaia: But we must find and punish the creature responsible for Fyora's condition! I think I know who it is too. I've seen them in my visions. A cloaked figure with a glowing red broach, skulking around in the woods. It's at an path split completely blocked by rubble, I know where to go! Aethia: No! If it can harm Fyora, it can harm you too. Kaia: I am not taking orders from you, Aethia! Aethia: Yes you are! You're doing exactly what I tell you to do. With Fyora injured I am now leading this operation. And even if Fyora was you still would take orders from me. Do I make myself clear? Kaia: Y-yes. Aethia: Look, I'm telling you for your own good. Don't try to be heroic and go looking for that creature. We don't need any more casualties. Kaia: But it hurt Fyora! We have to do something! Aren't you mad?! Aethia: I'm not mad, I'm furious. Whatever did this Fyora will feel every bit of my and Faerieland's wrath when we find it. But right now we need to figure out what we're dealing with and how we can combat it, not to mention handle any incoming Wraith attack. (Kaia keeps arguing) Kaia: How can we figure out what we're dealing with out here? The answer lies in the Wild Woods! If you're too afraid to go in the Wild Woods than let me, I'm not afraid!
Aethia: That's enough, Kaia! This has nothing to do with foolhardy bravery! The situation is dire and you're not making it any better with your insubordination. I'm confining you to your quarters until further notice. Guards, take Kaia back to her tent and make sure she doesn't try escaping into the Wild Woods.
Guard 1: *Walks next to Kaia and holds her arm* You've done it now, Kaia. Please make this easy, come with us and don't resist.
Guard 2: Here we are. Kaia, please stay in your tent until Aethia asks for you. Believe us, Aethia is just as upset as you about Fyora's condition. She's only trying to protect everyone, everything is under control. If you need us, we'll be just outside.
Kaia: The answer are in the Wild Woods, I know they are. Every second we wait it's getting further and further away. I have to go now! *Reaches into sleeve and takes out a small vial* Winds of a Kazeriu, takes you where you want to be. Thank you, Reizo.
Guard 1: Whoa! Where did that gust of wind come from?
Guard 2: It came from... inside Kaia's tent! *Looks inside to see Kaia is gone* Alert Aethia! We need to send out a search party into the Wild Woods! Kaia has escaped!
END (Kaia backs off) Kaia: So what are we to do now?
Aethia: What we've been doing, but better. Kaia, you keep focusing on your visions, not only searching for new Wraiths but also trying to learn more about this cloaked figure. If you learn anything immediately report it directly to me.
Kaia: Yes ma'am. *Waits for Aethia to walk away* But the longer we wait the further away the answer goes. The answer lies in the woods, I know it.
Light Faerie: Aethia, have you seen Kaia? She's not at her table or in her tent.
Aethia: No, could she be at Fyora's bedside?
Taelia: No, and I'm afraid she may be in danger!
Aethia: Taelia, what's the matter?
Taelia: While tending to the patients, the Meerca told me that he overheard Kaia talking to Fyora that she's going to find who did this to her. I'm worried she went into the Wild Woods alone.
Aethia: Send a search party into the Wild Woods, now!
END If you're wondering why the two different endings. Originally I had Kaia continue arguing with Aethia but many felt it was too melodramatic (and found the way she escaped silly), so I wrote the second one where he back offs. I personally feel the first one fits with the tone JS was trying to go for (though overdramatic, I think it shows stronger convictions (and craftiness) from Kaia, Aethia showing more authority, and just more interesting than just her "agreeing" with Aethia only to sneak off). Reference to TLJ: The whole 'our leader is unexpectedly injured, there was no real backup plan in place, I am in charge now, you will listen' stretch of dialogue reminded me a lot of TLJ xD Not that that's a bad thing, I just think it's funny there's such a similar plot point involved as there was in the movie. Makes you wonder if they copied the movie (since they enjoy their pop culture references lately), or if they had that scene planned before TLJ was released and they deliberately edited the dialogue to make the comparison seem a little less obvious, given how ruthless Disney is about protecting its brands.
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Post by Duke Pikachu on Jan 21, 2018 1:24:13 GMT -5
Reference to TLJ: The whole 'our leader is unexpectedly injured, there was no real backup plan in place, I am in charge now, you will listen' stretch of dialogue reminded me a lot of TLJ xD Not that that's a bad thing, I just think it's funny there's such a similar plot point involved as there was in the movie. Makes you wonder if they copied the movie (since they enjoy their pop culture references lately), or if they had that scene planned before TLJ was released and they deliberately edited the dialogue to make the comparison seem a little less obvious, given how ruthless Disney is about protecting its brands.
Eh, that seems a bit of a stretch as when you get into the details it no longer matches up: You're right that in TLJ, Poe rebelled against Holdo because she seemingly had no plan as the First Order is right on their trail with no means of escaping (BTW that whole plot point was stupid that she didn't tell Poe the actual plan, but that's beside the point). However, that's not why Kaia "rebelled". Kaia is just so angry and distraught about Fyora, her mentor and idol, got injured she's blind with revenge. Also, there is no plan because the Faeries are really just responding to the threats and trying to piece things together as they go along. Also Kaia saying she doesn't have to listen to Aethia isn't out of rebelling of rank but rather because she probably doesn't think Aethia has any authority over her as she's not part of Faerieland's army (which is why I included the bit of her telling Kaia that she does indeed need to listen as she's Fyora's de facto second-in-command, at least when it comes to wars and other physical conflicts). |
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Post by Huntress on Jan 21, 2018 3:35:49 GMT -5
Gripes like these were precisely why I dropped Legend of Korra after the second-or-so episode  I know that people consider it to be a great show but I found that I deal with too many snotty brats as a teacher to find them sympathetic as an audience. Different strokes and all that. Dangerous line of thinking, though, presuming that the dialogue was intended to come across differently. I mean, who's saying that Kaia isn't supposed to be a teenage protagonist trying to carve her path to heroism against Adults are Useless (read: snotty brat) (also read: Wesley >>) and we don't have anywhere near enough data points about Aethia's personality to know how she does or doesn't handle flailing teenagers. She's the Battle Faerie, she does... stuff? ...Book of Ages, halp? ...well, apparently she's the army general slash weapons trader slash author. That has zero bearing on how you'll react in a situation where a kid challenges your authority, and won't at all necessarily mean that you'll stomp 'em down hard like you would a subordinate. People can be harsh bosses while being straight-up unable to handle teenagers. (The interesting thing with being a teacher is that even if you know the theory, you only find out if you have the skillset of handling teenagers once you actually start work. And then you sink or swim. It consists of a bunch of completely unexpected situations that you have to handle without warning, on the go, based on intuition and experience, and only find out afterwards if it worked, and each case is different. It gets easier with experience, but wouldyabelieve how stressful it is trying to do your work and then suddenly being faced with having to put out an emotional fire? :'D And now I work with books for a living. Books are nice. ...why yes I sympathized with Aethia a lot when that dialogue went up.) (Kaia is totes becoming a Wesley, though. Queen Fyora didn't last in battle against this fella and she just goes all "nooo I was THIS close"? xD Although let's be fair, ye average villain in a plot like this is more likely to spare a kid with protagonist powers who isn't seen as a threat.) |
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Post by doctortomoe on Jan 21, 2018 3:47:09 GMT -5
Is secretly hoping the Lupe wins. |
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Post by Fraze on Jan 21, 2018 5:04:10 GMT -5
See, when I saw the updates with Kaia, I immediately went "Oh poor kid, she's having a breakdown."
Being another person who teaches teenagers (because life is full of weird coincidences like that), they really don't handle stress well. I'm pretty sure everyone here can attest to that. So we've got what's basically a bright young kid who's eager to please, who gets approached by very powerful and influential adults who tell her "Hey, we're gonna give you a really important role in solving this crisis where the fate of the entire world may literally be at stake."
Exam week's got nothing on that sort of pressure. Most adults couldn't handle that.
And then something goes wrong (Fyora getting beat up by what's presumably the Big Bad), that's the breaking point. Kaia goes "It's all my fault" and all that accumulated stress bursts out and she goes off the deep end. To me she doesn't sound bratty when she's talking to Aethia; she sounds like she's panicked and terrified but doesn't know how to express it.
(Of course it isn't all her fault, but teenagers also aren't known for sound judgement with stuff like this.)
I didn't read this as "plucky-teenage-protagonist-who-knows-better-than-the-adults" syndrome, or even "TNT-made-their-own-Wesley" syndrome. It's a kid who's taken on far more responsibility than the adults around her should ever have expected her to handle, and now she's cracking under the pressure.
...Which I guess makes me another member of the "Wow, Fyora is a jerk" camp.
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Post by Duke Pikachu on Jan 24, 2018 14:09:21 GMT -5
Okay, the new dialogue is really making me question Kaia's character/sanity. Like before I just thought, as Fraze said, she was going through a breakdown. But today's dialogue has her saying they should straight up kill whoever did this to Fyora (which is an understandable overreaction), says Aethia can't command her as she's not one of her soldiers and Fyora put her in charge of her current position (okay, that's a bit egotistical and clearly ignoring the overall hierarchy), and they need a strong a powerful leader which clearly implies she means herself (whoa there, Kaia, that's power hunger talk right there. Is this revenge for Fyora or a grab for the throne?). Thankfully Aethia puts her in her place finally (as much as she could, Kaia clearly ain't listening) as Taelia provides the voice of reason. Still though, going along with Jae bringing up Star Wars, this is sort of how characters fall to the Dark Side like Anakin and Kylo Ren (and I also think Asajj Ventress). All we need now is a dark master to lure Kaia away from the light. *coughDarkestFaeriecough* And honestly, I would be okay with that! Will I think it happen? Eh, maybe she'll go Episode VI Luke for a few moments and play with the idea of joining the Dark Side (maybe Malum or the real big bad (if there is one) convinces her somehow) but will come to her senses and fight back. But either way, it's definitely giving Kaia more character than she had before. Of course, this only enhances my main concern with Kaia: them setting her up to be the next Faerie Queen. I know it's headcanon, but I always thought if TNT did that plot they'd have Casandia be the one (maybe make her the "Faerie Princess" first as she learns from Fyora). |
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Post by Mostly Harmless (flufflepuff) on Jan 24, 2018 14:33:22 GMT -5
...I hope she goes bad too! =D That would make for something interesting!
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Post by Moni on Jan 24, 2018 17:24:31 GMT -5
I support Kaia being bad because it supports my headcanon of Fyora being a terrible judge of character.
At this point, Dr. Sloth used to be a disciple of Fyora.
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Post by Breakingchains on Jan 24, 2018 20:48:35 GMT -5
Yeah. Fyora seems to seek out talented people to mentor without any apparent ability to sense when they are turning into megalomaniacs.
Right now the way I'm reading this is, Kaia's been treated as an outcast for some time and she's developed a sense of smug superiority as a backlash, which isn't all that unusual for the rough equivalent of a teenager. Except, y'know, the part where there are stakes.
Alternatively, she might be falling under some kind of evil magical influence.
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Post by Huntress on Jan 25, 2018 5:19:15 GMT -5
I for one welcome Taelia as our new and level-headed overlord. Maybe she's a better judge of character.
Making Kaia the new Faerie Queen would be a pretty bad move solely because we never saw this chick prior to this plot and thus have very little investment in her. But I also very much like the idea of this being her Start of Darkness story. Some nice sympathetic-ish backstory reasons instead of the usual 'she's evil, so there', potential setup for her being a recurring villain, equal potential setup for her teaming up with some evildoer or other, aaall the fun stuff. That's the upside of her being a new character, she's not bogged down by status quo. Turning any other established faerie evil would be a much harder sell.
(oh ho, what if she's in cahoots with the mysterious villain Lupe and that's why she was spared in the woods?)
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Post by doctortomoe on Jan 25, 2018 6:13:53 GMT -5
I'm personally just waiting for the Skeith to show up to be healed so i can use up all my Wraith parts.
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Post by Zoey on Feb 1, 2018 12:12:42 GMT -5
Alright, Biscuit, hit 'im with the old one-two! Now hit 'im with the--wait, what do you mean he's dead?
(On the bright side, this is the first neo plot I participated in where I was able to beat the supposed "big boss" on the highest difficulty. Unless that wasn't the big boss. But c'mon, they even gave him the Wand of the Dark Faerie. Why y'all make him steal Jhudora's wand? He should have his own Extraordinary Wand of the Humped Malum.)
(Playing on my mobile phone also apparently helps the lag very very slightly. My poor data though)
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Post by Huntress on Feb 1, 2018 14:35:56 GMT -5
Unless that wasn't the big boss. But c'mon, they even gave him the Wand of the Dark Faerie. Why y'all make him steal Jhudora's wand? Clearly Jhudora is the real Big Bad behind these events; she's being suspiciously absent throughout all this for someone who should have some pretty good insights into evul magicks and the countering thereof. Although then again she'd probably be smarter than supplying her frontman with something that traces back to her so easily. Either way the deathly lag is the real enemy to defeat, but having teeth-gritted my way through a battle, Malum's speech bubble said "Wait! You've got the wrong guy!" when you beat him, so I'm holding out hope for a plot tweest. |
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Post by Duke Pikachu on Feb 1, 2018 15:32:14 GMT -5
Malum's speech bubble said "Wait! You've got the wrong guy!" when you beat him, so I'm holding out hope for a plot tweest. Yeah, I noticed that too. Curious what the twist will be. |
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Post by Duke Pikachu on Feb 2, 2018 15:26:21 GMT -5
Okay, so according to the Malum Bobblehead, Malum is the Wraith leader. Seems like an open and shut case he's the big bad but upon defeating him he says "Wait! You've got the wrong guy!". So, assuming the bobblehead description is correct and Malum is telling the truth, I created this story scenario in my head: With Malum defeated (and once Fyora fully heals), the Faeries interrogate him where he reveals he is the Wraith Leader. BUT, he is not responsible for these attacks. We're thrown for a twist where Malum reveals the "truth" about Wraiths: Indeed they're living embodiment of chaos but they're natural inhabitants of Neopia. Neopia's natural state IS chaos and the Wraiths believe that's how it should be, but Faeries (and Neopets) use their power to control the chaos to make Neopia habitable to them. The Wraiths feel they're being oppressed and it wasn't until recently did they find a way to return following Xandra. But with Xandra's defeat and the Faeries freed they were once again suppressed. As the Wraith mass figured out what to do next, a renegade Wraith agent took matters into its own hands and planned a way to attack the Faeries by turning Neopets into Wraiths to bypass the barrier. Malum, the leader of the Wraiths, took it upon himself to retrieve the rogue agent lest it causes the Faeries to counterattack and wipe all the Wraiths out and doom Neopia to atrophy (Neopia needs chaos to exist; to cause change, evolve, and progress). The rogue agent is the one behind all this and attacked Fyora.
The Faeries are questionable of this and ask where the rogue agent is. Malum says the rogue agent very likely bonded with Fyora much like he bonded with his Lupe host, since Wraiths cannot currently exist in Neopia on their own. Hearing this they rush to the Infirmary but then encounter a new, powerful Faerie-shaped Wraith! Malum tells them that it's the rogue agent and it's using Fyora's body as a host!
We then have a community battle step where we have to whittle down Wraith!Fyora. Probably at some point we'd then need a special weapon to defeat the agent/free Fyora which Malum will tell the Faeries about and we get one last Mystic Murmurs & Faerie's Chest. With the weapon we deliver the finishing blow, freeing Fyora from the agent.
Malum absorbs the rogue agent to take back to the Wraith mass. Kaia thanks and apologizes to Malum, also relating to him a bit how she was judged for looking different and shouldn't have judged him immediately. Malum grumpily takes the apology, saying if more Faeries would think like that than maybe they'd understand Wraiths aren't evil and just want the write to exist as everyone else. Malum leaves and nu-possessing his host which is revealed to be Balthazar who chews the Faeries out for their superiority complex before running away himself.
And with that the plot ends with the Faeries wondering if they've been all wrong about the Wraiths and what they should do moving forward. Kaia will continue her training, wanting to use her vision powers to help those in need instead of just serving Faerieland and prepare for the next time the Wraiths return, but hopes to resolve things more peacefully. Sorry if my writing is a bit sloppy. It's just a raw idea and wanted to write it down just in case I predicted where the story was going (probably not, but still).  EDIT: Doh! So yeah, above theory probably isn't right as it's pointed out we still gotta heal the Skeith (and possibly Malum?). |
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I know that people consider it to be a great show but I found that I deal with too many snotty brats as a teacher to find them sympathetic as an audience. Different strokes and all that.
