#<- also game canon but it's not explicitly shown

[14dayswithyou]

I kove you've described redacted as apathetic and pessimistic but is he or 'ren' at all sadistic in any way? and what would you define ren's 'breed' of yandere? (loving your work so far, have a wonderful Febuary!)

✦゜ANSWERED: Ren is just a sane and normal guy >:3

I wouldn't say that Ren/[REDACTED] is really "sadistic" or anything!! It's mainly because they literally don’t feel anything when killing/torturing their victims — nor would he ever want to harm Angel in any capacity.

Any feelings [REDACTED] might have are exclusively tied to Angel (feeling happy when he finally has them all to himself, relieved when there's no more competition around, adrenaline whenever Angel gets too close to bringing up one of his past victims, etc.), though none of them are sadistic, dark, or "impure".

Obviously, he isn't aware that his twisted, obsessive needs and co-dependent feelings can easily fall into those categories though... ^^; Ren genuinely believes that his devotion and feelings towards Angel are pure, harmless, and without a scintilla of toxicity, corruption, or tainted behaviour.

But as for what kind of yandere Ren/[REDACTED] is; I honestly don’t have a clue, and I don’t really want to limit him to a specific label or stereotype!! >.<; All I know is that Ren is the type to put Angel above everything else — even himself. He’s willing to change aspects of his appearance and personality, glitch out his entire world and everyone in it, and mess with everything else in order to appease Angel and keep them happy. He won’t ever harm them or show his violent tendencies out of fear of how they’d perceive him, and he'll only show sides of himself that he knows they'll respond positively to.

Ren is also "two-faced" in the sense that he's kind and empathetic with Angel, but detrimental and antagonistic towards everyone else. He has no attachments or affiliations with anyone other than the object of his affections, which means he's willing to harm anyone — even his best friend — without any remorse or empathy.

So take that however you'd like!! I'm not sure if it helps in any way, but again, I don't really want to put a label on Ren (outside of calling him a "yandere").

[project-sekai-facts]

someone asked for the full list

don't question what i use tiermaker for

Tier 1: As stated in today's fact, Shizuku and Haruka can be considered the most attractive characters in the game, as multiple characters have shown attraction to them. Shizuku moreso than Haruka, but there's not too much of a difference to separate the tiers.

Tier 2: These characters have all been stated somewhere to be attractive.

Mafuyu is considered to be outstanding in all fields, including appearance. It's occassionally commented that she is quite pretty. Ichika and KAITO's first kizuna title is "Ikemen while playing", ikemen meaning handsome or cool. Ena has a Twitter account for selfies that has a reasonable following, and she often gets comments saying that she's pretty or cute. Len has a similar sort of idol aura to Haruka does, and is referred to as 'princely'.

Tier 3: These characters are never explicitly stated in the game to be attractive, but you can work it out.

A few background characters in Petit SEKAI Episode 9 mention that Akito and Toya are hot. Given that the miniseries is non-canon and a gag show it's up for debate how true this is, although it is a believable detail, hence why they're in this tier.

As for Rui, we have to look at the Valentine's Virtual Live from 2021 (wiki screenshots below). Keep in mind here that Rui is not popular in school at all and doesn't have many friends at this point in the game. He mentions that he received a few boxes of chocolate in his shoe locker on Valentine's Day, which admittedly could be platonic. However, the fact that this continues on into a joke about Tsukasa trying to claim that he got chocolates too before revealing that he got friendzoned by multiple girls (more on that in a second), makes it seem more likely that these weren't platonic. Linking back to the fact that he's not popular and doesn't really have many friends, he's probably pretty good-looking.

Tier 4: An being scouted as a model was an important part of the plot of Wishing For Your Happiness Upon The Blue Sky, and it's mentioned in an area conversation that Kanade has been talent scouted for modelling before.

Tier 5: Full disclosure that probably all of the MMJ VSingers are either pretty or cute, the ones mentioned here are just the ones I remember it being stated/implied. In the April Fools 2022 area conversation with the Lukas, MMJ!Luka says that WxS!Luka is very cute. N25!Luka calls her MMJ variant out for calling herself cute, and MMJ!Luka says that she herself is cute. (TL)

Kohane is mainly referred to as cute by An, which is biased, but other characters have pointed this fact out before as well, so she qualifies for this tier.

Mizuki loves cute clothes and accessories and always tries to look cute. I believe a few other characters have called them cute, but unfortunately the only instance I can actually remember is one transphobic faceless background character saying "you can't tell and they're super cute".

Also Minori and Airi are here because they're idols and have been called cute because that's part of being an idol I suppose.

Tier 6: Yes he gets his own tier because it's funny. This guy runs on rule of funny like 50% of the time. Anyway, as mentioned earlier, in the 2021 Valentine's Virtual Live, he gets annoyed when he hears Rui talking about receiving (implied romantic) chocolate and tries to claim that he too received (implied confession) chocolate, before saying too much and revealing that he only received friend chocolates that girls gave out to all the other boys as well.

Tsukasa's actually a lot more popular than Rui and doesn't have the same "outcast" reputation, plus in his A Once-In-A-Lifetime Pandemonium card story, Ibuki (Taniyama) mentions that Tsukasa's friends from class are really popular with girls, and Rui's friends are surprised he's in that kinda crowd (not that Tsukasa quite gets it). What I'm saying is that he's in a crowd of popular guys that are good with women and he's failing in that second aspect. The reason why is never stated but considering the school's resident outcast is able to get Valentine's chocolate for probably no reason other than looks, it's safe to assume Tsukasa is maybe lacking in that field.

But.

I think two guys have flirted with him? One definitely has anyway. The other is more up for debate but was probably written with the intent of ship tease. Depends on how you choose to interpret it.

In other words on a scale of attractive to unattractive he's the secret 3rd option (appeals to the mlms).

[pythoria]

In light of the new astarion voice lines in reaction to mizora, I think we finally need to put to rest the whole monogamous vs polyam astarion discourse. Here's the thing. Polyamory is never explicitly discussed or negotiated at any point during the astarion romance. You get individual instances of astarion being okay with various things, like a one night stand with the drows or halsin. It's unclear in the coversation about halsin if he's agreeing to a one night stand or a three-way relationship deal, he just gives you a general go ahead to do whatever you want with halsin because he trusts you. But then halsin doesn't stick around at the end of the game, and by the time he leaves he's only ever been with astarion in the context of the drow orgy (which is optional), and only sexually. Halsin is only interested romantically in the player char from what we're shown. Everyone is free to headcanon otherwise or write whatever fics they want, but as long as we're arguing about canon we have to be very specific. Nothing about any of the conversations with astarion suggest polyamory. They might have suggested a sort of open relationship situation before, but now with mizora, we have proof that there was no negotiation or blanket consent given off screen for having sex with other people, and in fact, it hurts astarion deeply to see his partner engage in sex with someone else.

Now, you can argue it's because he didn't consent to it beforehand, fair enough. Let's walk through what that conversation could've looked like, shall we? If you'd have asked him if you can sleep with mizora, he could've either said yes or no, it's pretty straightforward. From how upset he is, and the fact that he doesn't bring up you not getting his approval beforehand, we can infer his answer would've been "no" (because if he would've said yes anyway, you would get the type of reaction you get with ascended astarion, a "next time invite me" type response). So then, why would astarion say no to mizora specifically, if asked? After all, he's presumably okay with meaningless sex, even when he's not involved, because he lets you sleep with one of the drows all by yourself. And presumably he's also okay with it when feelings are involved, if he's truly okay with the halsin arrangement. So what part of sleeping with mizora is different? Why would he suddenly disagree with it if he was previously okay with similar arrangements?

Here's the thing. Astarion says yes to things out of pressure. Obviously he tells you so himself in act 2, "i didn't know how to say no", and that's corroborated by his dead expression during the drow 4/5some. He says yes to things, hates them, and then depending on how violated he feels afterwards, he decides whether or not it's a forgivable transgression on the part of his partner. He HAS to do it after the fact, because prior to it, he doesn't know how he will feel, he doesn't know if something specific is going to be the thing that tips him over. When he says "i didn't know how to say no" in act 2, it's not just that he instantly knew he didn't want to have sex with tav and went along anyway, it's also that he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, and maybe mistakenly believed he could put up with it, until he actually did it. With the drows, the only difference is that he does put up with it, by dissociating. For astarion, something is either too much, or something he can tune out and deal with. He never expresses any "mild" discomfort that you can talk to him about, except for when he's anxious you want to have sex with halsin because he doesn't put out. And even then, there's nothing you can say that will make him disapprove of the halsin thing, short of completely breaking up with him. He voices an insecurity, sure, but even when told that insecurity is legitimate, he still agrees to the halsin situation.

This is why I need everyone to understand, there is no polyam negotiation with astarion, he blanket accepts everything until he snaps, because that's what trauma victims do. I'm not saying this out of a desire to prove astarion is monogamous, either. If the game showed healthy communication about this I wouldn't be here arguing about any of this. Polyamory is valid and can be done in a healthy way, but what you have in the game is not a representation of polyamory, it's a representation of a trauma victim not knowing his own limits and chugging full speed ahead until he snaps. The mizora exchange just cements that further. The roll you have to pass to get him to stay with you isn't "let's discuss boundaries, i didn't know this wasn't allowed", it's "this didn't mean anything". If this man was already okay with meaningless sex on the side, why would you need to convince him of it? All you're doing is manipulating him, and the result of that manipulation isn't even "okay, you can have meaningless sex from now on as long as we talk beforehand", instead, he says he forgives you. There's no implication that this could happen again, if only you have his consent, he just forgives you for this one transgression and agrees to move on. And let me be perfectly clear, I've shipped polyam ships before, I don't have an inherent bias against it. But we all, collectively as a fandom, need to learn to read the room. The signs of discomfort are all there, it doesn't help anyone if we put on horse blinders and ignore them. My only desire is to see astarion interpreted faithfully, not to start or contribute to a war people seem to be having about the validity of polyamory in general or in real life.

So, in conclusion, we need to separate headcanons from canon. Canon is, at best, unclear on what Astarion is comfortable with. It helps no one to act like this is a clear cut issue on either side, but imo it's more harmful to potentially force him into situations he's uncomfortable with than to just let him lead, since he doesn't propose any of these arrangements himself, and never does them for his benefit, only his partner's.

And one last thing. This is not to say "don't do these things because they're bad". They're in the game so you can do them and roleplay however you want. However, we need to be realistic about the kind of characters we're playing. If your tav pressures astarion into these various situations, that's not a good-aligned tav, and that's okay, as long as you're not pretending otherwise. I love an evil durge playthrough as much as the next person, but none of it would be cathartic or fun if the whole time I was under the impression that murder is actually fine and good.

[braxiations]

What is Hylics Canon? - The Accretion

Preamble/Disclaimer

Hi! This post will be a bit different from my previous analysis and theory posts. Unlike those, I'm going to be doing very little theorizing or speculating -- at least, that's not my primary goal. What I want to do today is go over everything we know about "The Accretion," a vague event referred to numerous times throughout Hylics 2. Additionally, I'll try to draw some conclusions about what I think is Mason's authorial intent with the Accretion. I'll do my best to walk through my logic and view multiple sides, and whenever I speculate or make a stretch I'll try and be clear about it.

Before we start, I want to apologize for if I come off as rude or dismissive of certain headcanons or interpretations. Later on I'll be tackling 3 of the main theories I've seen floated around and I intended to be critical and clear when I think they contradict the established canon. However, I do not mean to invalidate these interpretations. Hylics' lore is very interpretive and vague and "canon" isn't something that needs to be strictly abided to. If your interpretation conflicts with what I've shown here, that's perfectly ok!

Basically, my post is for people who either care about adhering to canon or are just curious as to what evidence there is. That being said, let's jump in!

The Basics

"Gibby! Emerge from that vessel. The Hylemxylem was a failure. Only now does the Accretion's long dark age begin to subside." This dialogue, said by Wayne to Gibby before the final battle, is perhaps the only piece of required dialogue referencing the Accretion. This paints the Accretion as the cause of a "dark age," although it's unclear what this entails, which the Hylemxylem threatens to begin again. Many have taken this to indicate that the Hylemxylem caused the Accretion, but there isn't substantial evidence for or against this. It's certainly a valid possibility.

"Back when the accretion hit, the strongest gesture was buried." This line, spoken by one of the Waynes at Waynehouse is one of many indications that the Accretion was an event. Many other pieces of dialogue have wording that confirms this, this is just the first the player is likely to encounter. I bring this up to dispel the idea that "the Accretion" could be the name of the dark age itself.

This is also the first instance we see of the Accretion being claimed to "bury" things. This might indicate that certain objects either hit the ground with such tremendous force that they sank deep in. Alternatively, the Accretion might have actually produced a layer of matter that buried objects on the surface.

Known buried objects: - Disthlarn Moon. (New Muldul NPC: "When the Accretion buried the sage's great ship, Disthlarn Moon, my wife and I were stranded here on the surface.) - The Bombo-Genesis monitor (The TV Wayne and various other NPCs. The monitor is in Disthlarn Moon so this makes sense.) - The labyrinth ("The key is ancient. Whatever door it unlocks is likely deep underground, buried in the Accretion." Said by Smuldunde, referring to a key that unlocks a door in the labyrinth.)

You'll notice that many of the things explicitly listed as buried in the Accretion are specifically those that belong to the Sages. This makes sense given what we'll discuss in the next section.

"A great gesture may oppose Gibby. But accretions place it beyond our reach, and embolden his agents as they seek reconstitution." The Sage of Accretions gives this line, and like their name it confirms that the Accretion is just a singular instance of an accretion, and in fact there have been multiple. The Accretion, denoted by "the" and also capitalized (at least by me, the in-game dialogue is inconsistent) may have just been a particularly damaging one.

Given that a Sage of Accretions exists, they're likely not all catastrophic and could be somewhat akin to weather event. They happen from time to time and aren't necessarily bad, but under particular conditions or if emerging suddenly, they can be a disaster. These are all just assumptions though. Accretions could happen over massive spans of time and the Accretion is only referred to as such due to being the most recent. As we know that the "great gesture" referred to here was buried in the Accretion, the fact that multiple accretions place it beyond their reach may indicate that smaller accretions have occurred since. This is all just speculation.

The Age of Sages

"Our empire was undone by a sudden accretion. Only the cabinets recall its grandeur now." This line, spoken by the Sage of Monitors deep beneath Viewax's Edifice first establishes an "Empire of the Sages" and the idea that that empire was undone by the Accretion. The Empire of Sages is also referred to by Pongorma and Gibby. Pongorma specifically refers to Disthlarn Moon as a "remnant" of their empire. This indicates rather clearly that the "Age of Sages" as I've decided to call it was specifically ended by the Accretion, which cast the labyrinth and Disthlarn Moon deep into the subterranean.

"The surviving sages hid themselves, one in Viewax's edifice, another under the fortress at Foglast, and a third in those halls which recently held this ship." This line from an NPC within Disthlarn Moon directly implies that many Sages perished in the Accretion. The mention of three survivors is interesting in regard to the other three Sages we know from Hylics 1. This is something we'll talk about later in the theory section.

This provides us a pretty solid layout of events. For a time, the Sages led a prosperous empire. However, a sudden accretion ended this era of prosperity, plunging society into a dark age.

The Cabinets

An often overlooked detail is that the arcade cabinets provide some of our only looks at the world of Hylics before the Accretion. The cabinets can be presumed to have been built by the Sages, given that they protect items like the deep key that corresponds to the Sage's labyrinth. We see many within Viewax's Edifice in complete disrepair, with only one functional, as one might expect from ancient machines caught in a catastrophe.

The Sage of Monitors also remarks that "only the cabinets recall its [their empire's] grandeur now." This may suggest that the games within the cabinets are actually designed to tell important stories of the Sage's empire or hold information. This would make sense given the story we see play out, which follows a Wayne transforming into the Sage of Satellites. It's not a stretch to suggest that the Sages chose to immortalize the ascendance of one of their own.

With this in mind, we can use what's seen in the cabinets to date certain things to the pre-Accretion times.

A flag bears the image of Odozeir and Gibby, suggesting they're not only older than the Accretion but were even allied back then.

The, or a Hylemxylem, seen in the background. It resembles the reconstituted Hylemxylem in Hylics 2. This is probably the previous Hylemxylem before it grew into the Moon seen in H1.

A structure resembling the Waynehouse. Notice the egg pod in the basement, the bathroom, the bedroom, and the tv.

At least one Wayne (the player aka "Sat-Wayne.")

Poolmen

Coutures

Truculents

Numerous kinds of airships

Various other enemies

The labyrinth and drill site also indicate what species existed before the Accretion, albeit less directly. Tyros are depicted in numerous statues in the maze, and a tyro in the drill site seems to refer to a herd of galliforms as being pre-Accretion (although this dialogue is kind of vague and could refer to the labyrinth itself.) The labyrinth also has a pool hooked up to the Afterlife, implying that it existed back then too. There are also numerous enemies found inside the labyrinth which one could assume were sealed down there in the Accretion, but they may have crept in through breaches in the structure or other means. I'm not comfortable saying they're definitively pre-Accretion, although I won't disregard the possibility.

There is another character heavily implied to have lived before the Accretion, Pongorma.

This dialogue amounts to show us that Pongorma lived during the Sage's rule, and I believe we've successfully concluded earlier that the Accretion is what ended their empire. Thus, Pongorma is pre-Accretion. This fits in well with his introduction in the first game: we find him sealed away within a vault "through long ages."

The Three Main Theories / When Did it Happen??

Okay, so this is the real meat of this discussion. I'm going to lay out the three main theories I've seen discussed and go over evidence for and against each of them. I'll also be making the case for what I personally believe to be the canon intent of Mason lindroth.

Theory #1 - The Human Extinction theory: It is widely accepted that the world of Hylics is a post-human one, following some kind of apocalypse that wiped out humanity. This theory suggests that the Accretion is the event that caused this. Note that some believe humanity didn't necessarily die, but rather that they were transformed or evolved. Regardless, this event is what caused humanity to stop being human, which is really the only thing we can prove or disprove. I'm going to say "extinction" for simplicity.

Theory #2 - The Moon Crash theory: This is the only theory of the three that actually proposes a cause for the Accretion, being the crashing of the Moon at the end of Hylics 1. This theory states that, after Wayne's crew killed Gibby and trashed the Moon, it crashed into the planet, causing the Accretion.

Theory #3 - The Other Apocalypse theory: This theory is kind of vanilla compared to the other two. It just states that the Accretion happened before Hylics 1 (and presumably long after the extinction of humanity if you believe that to have also happened.) Because this theory says so little definitive about the Accretion, it's sort of the default if the other theories are disproven. As a result, it's the theory I personally subscribe to, and I will explain why below.

This is where we get into harsh, potentially theory-"disproving" territory, and I want to again reiterate that I don't intend to invalidate anyone's personal interpretations, I'm just speaking in terms of what the games show us and what I think to be canon. That being said...

The easiest of these theories to """disprove""" is the Human Extinction theory. This comes from the views of the pre-Accretion world given to us by the cabinets. The world depicted in the Accretion is very Hylics-y, still comprised of clay, having Hylics-age species, and no traces of human civilization or typical Earthen life. Even if the world and the people in it underwent some kind of transformation and the Sages and Pongorma were originally human, this directly shows that clay species and landscapes existed pre-Accretion. There are a few explanations for this, hence why I put "disprove" in quotations. One could argue that only parts of the world were clay'd at this point, or maybe the scenes depicted in the cabinets have changed over time as did the world. I personally find these explanations kind of contrived (the former would make the Accretion seem nearly redundant if the world is already transforming, and the second would make it incredibly strange for the cabinets to "recall" events if they can't recall them accurately.) There's also the language in which the Accretion and its ensuing dark age is described. Wayne calls it a dark age, and Gibby seeks to return to the Age of Sages' grandeur by forging a new zone. The "dark age" in this theory wouldn't just be a more stable society, it would be a completely different world that, to put it simply, none of the characters we know would fit into. It seems especially odd for Gibby to want a return to this sort of world when the fortress he launched transformed the inhabitants into surreal creatures. Personally, I find the Human Extinction theory to be uncompelling. While it can't be outright, factually disproven, explanations for it require inelegant contrivances. There isn't really any evidence for it either, and in my opinion it removes depth from the world's history.

Now we'll discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the Moon Crash and Other Apocalypse theories. First, I'll give what (to my knowledge) is the main evidence for the Moon Crash theory. As Oxford Dictionary defines it, "Accretion" can have a few definitions, but two are primarily relevant to us. 1. the process of growth or increase, typically by the gradual accumulation of additional layers or matter. 2. the coming together and cohesion of matter under the influence of gravitation to form larger bodies. The second definition, astronomical in nature, is particularly intriguing and relevant, especially with Hylics' themes of moons. This brings light to the idea that maybe the Moon crashing into the planet is what caused the Accretion.

"Pongorma, you witnessed the empire of the Sages." Here, Gibby speaks directly to Pongorma as someone who witnessed the empire of Sages, something we previously established ended at the Accretion. This heavily implies --but again does not directly confirm-- that the other characters didn't see the empire. Why would Gibby call out Pongorma specifically if what he was saying applied to everyone? And, if the gang indirectly caused the Accretion, how could they have not witnessed the time before it? There's also the general language with which the Accretion is spoken of. As previously mentioned, Wayne says the Accretion caused a "long dark age," and Smuldunde says that the labyrinth must be "ancient." The monitor containing bombo-genesis is also called the "monitor of the ancients," indicating that the Sages must be viewed as ancient too. While Hylician lifespans and therefore general scale of time may be amplified compared to ours if that was the case we would expect adjectives such as "long" and "ancient" to be equally stretched. However, there's no indication that such timespans have passed since Hylics 1. It'd be especially odd to refer to a time as ancient if most people were alive for it. While Pongorma certainly was, his age is portrayed as an exception. Although I understand that this is ephemeral, the general vibe is that only a few years have passed (or whatever the equivalent is to Hylicians.)

The only evidence against the Other Apocalypse theory I can gather is how the remaining Sages are described. One inhabitant of Disthlarn Moon says "The surviving sages hid themselves," going on to describe the locations they're found in. Another says "Tokens from the three sages." This could be taken to say that only three Sages are currently alive, which would imply that the Sage of Computers, Brains, and Monitors from the first game have since perished. Otherwise, there'd be six. I would like to counter this with two possible explanations. For one, this dialogue exists specifically to tell the player where to find the Sages. If the NPC also said "another sage can be found in the hall of deadly statues," players would be confused because that location doesn't exist in this game. It'd defeat the purpose of this dialogue in the first place. Secondly, we know that the Hylics 1 and Hylics 2 locations are different, evidenced by Somsnosa's dialogue about moving away from her island home from the first game. It'd make sense for the NPCs to not be discussing Sages from distant lands. If you were talking about a natural disaster in your country that only left 3 politicians alive, no one would correct you saying "actually, there are plenty others in other countries!" That's simply not what you're talking about. It's even possible that the Accretion wasn't a worldwide event. The Hylics 1 location could've been unscathed and thus be equally irrelevant.

Conclusion

An analysis of all the dialogue referencing the Accretion brings us to a few conclusions I find to be rather sound.

The Accretion was a particularly sudden or strong instance of an event called an accretion. This particular accretion buried numerous objects like the labyrinth and Disthlarn Moon, as well as ending the empire of Sages and plummeting the Hylics 2 location (and possibly others) into a long dark age. "Only the cabinets recall its grandeur now." We know that Pongorma, Gibby, and Odozeir witnessed the time before the Accretion, and it seems likely that Wayne, Somsnosa, and Dedusmuln did not. As indicated by the cabinets, the previous Hylemxylem (likely the one that later became the moon) existed before the Accretion. The labyrinth shows us that so did the Afterlife. The pre-Accretion world is shown by the cabinets to be similar to the current one, still made of clay and containing many of the same species. Given the general language in which it's discussed, it's likely that the Accretion occurred before the events of either games. Less catastrophic accretions may have occurred since the large one, further burying Disthlarn Moon, but this is unclear.

I hope you all enjoyed this analysis! It was tough to write because basically everything is vague, and with this vagueness, it's tough to not rope in a billion other subjects and ideas. I ended up leaving out quite a few things because otherwise, it would've come out even longer and more bloated than it already is. I might make a follow up post containing every piece of dialogue I could find about the Accretion, the Sages, and their associated artifacts, just in case there's something significant I missed.

[punkeropercyjackson]

Genuinely curious why you say Gwen Stacy is a woc. Like I agree she’s trans and pastel punk, but I’d like to hear more about why you headcanon her Latina. I’m white btw so I didn’t feel like I knew enough to speak about this subject and wanted your opinions please. Also, if it’s not too much trouble, can you talk more about her being punk too because I don’t really know enough about any of that either

What a good(and respectfully worded)ask!!!Thanks,i'll gladly ramble about my fave ghostie♡

So Gwen's canonically pastel punk because she is shown and explicitly implied to be a part of punk culture but is also pastel!!She's rebellious,a bully beater,a vigilante,a punk rock drummer,listens to other punk bands toi and has a punk hairstyle and a punk piercing but her wardrobe is only subtly punk and consists of more standard/general alt drips and as pointed out by a mutual,the pink on her arms is actually gloves!Her personality is just so 'soft pastel punk',an archetype named by @theautisticcentre !They should've gone harder with it though,not made her forgive her abusive dad for the copganda narrative despite the undooming claims.In my head she kicked his ass and Jessica legally adopted her

I see Gwen as a lightskin half white afrolatina largely for projection but it also fixes problems in canon and just fits her so well!!'People only know half of who i am' gains a triple meaning(Spiderwoman,trans and biracial),it removes the problem of the racist subtext of her in the middle of the love triangle between two black guys and turns Ghostpunkflower into the perfect ship,punk was founded by black people,Spiderverse needs black girl mcs and not just black women as black fems deserve to be seen as little girls if they are and Gwen Stacy goes hard as name for a black character.Also it makes her even prettier,no?Gooey brown eyes Miles and Hobie are enchanted by,black hair that goes from straight to locs as a hair journey and black and pink hair is a look of all time,soft brown skin that looks so warm despite how cold life has been to her?And hey,if Gayatri Singh can be an indian Gwen Stacy,why can't Ghostspider be a black Gwen Stacy?Canon is bogus after all.I like to think she's into doing petty crime and indie games and kidcore and that her alt hairstyles are an afro and butterfly locs and her middle name is Marina and her favorites foods are strawberry-banana batidas and loaded burgers and she had a y2k phase <3

[a-magpie-in-gravesfield]

I had to make up a lot of that one because there was so little shown, but I think this is one of the most important portraits. I like this one especially because BOTH Caleb and Philip are marching looking determined to what I assume is a witch being burned. I think the fact Caleb was ALSO a witch hunter who most likely did a lot of witch hunting and taught his younger brother how to do so, is vastly overlooked in the fandom. I love the idea of Caleb being really into witch hunting originally, because it adds so much more depth to the story. I have this theory that originally, Caleb's plan was to backstab Evelyn, but when she showed him the demon realm, he fell in love with her and the place and changed his mind. But Philip still thought the original plan was on, and so when Caleb disappeared, it would make so much more sense why he would want to go after him to "save" him. And then when he finally finds Caleb, he sees him about to have a child with Evelyn. He remembers the plans they had together as witch hunters, and to him it doesn't make SENSE that Caleb changed his mind - it had to have been Evelyn casting a spell on him. This would be such a cool storyline with so much more depth than "Caleb was never into witch hunting and was always the good brother". The idea of Caleb being super into witch hunting originally is so fascinating to me, and I'll keep that as my personal canon unless the finale directly and explicitly disproves it. That, and there's also the other portraits of the two of them doing witch hunter games together, and Caleb making Philip's first mask. Caleb was probably also really young when they arrived in Gravesfield, and he wanted to keep his brother safe and make sure they both fit in in the town, and so he started the witch hunter thing, so the both of them could survive and be accepted by the rest of Gravesfield. MAN this story is so fucking sad.

[olivescales3]

Legends of Chima Pride Flags (part 1)

I tried making them align with canon characterization and worldbuilding as much as possible. I took a little bit of liberties to speculate how they would behave in the future too, of course while taking into consideration the effects of canon events.

(do not remove the watermark; do not tag as furry)

Explanations:

Because we don't know if animals feel the same type of sexual/romantic attraction like humans do, the animals from Chima are *at least* on the aroace spectrum due to them literally being just evolved, highly intelligent versions of their predecessors. Chi was made by the Phoenixes, which do not reproduce sexually; Chima animals' behavior and anatomy is almost identical to those of the Phoenixes, since language, third pair of limbs, among other Phoenix traits were projected evolutionarily onto them; this thus leaves the conclusion that 'human' romance and sex is not a thing for Chima animals, since it's also non-existent for the Phoenixes.

Laval is shown, throughout the show, that he is a caring lion who was also willing to choose a mate in the last episode, which is why I chose the partnering aroace flag for him. He doesn't have a specific choice of the partner's sex per se, since there weren't any teenage lions for him to be paired with (and the show not being focused on romance; point being that all romance subplots were pretty forced), and him choosing Li'ella really felt like it was some kind of last resort, so I kept that up to interpretation.

Cragger being hurt by those close to him (his parents' death + Crooler using him), along with his overall discontent about his existence being possibly forsaken due to Crunket, his mother, having an affair with Laval's uncle, Lavertus, all at a young age makes me assign him the non-partnering aroace orientation. During the first season of the show, Cragger's mental state is extremely fuzzy and miserable for a tween; he willingly told Laval to kill him out of spite, then attempted to personally murder him by letting the lion prince drown alone— all of it while behaving and speaking in ways that showed his depressing anguish. However, even if the later seasons show Cragger as a childish youngling that barely has any care in the world, he's still pretty aware about other's wrongdoings; he explicitly called out Fluminox' selfishness— "you let your son escape because you were feeling sorry for yourself?"; and he made backhanded jokes against Lavertus. It's not like Cragger would consciously be non-partnering, but the lingering, instinctive trauma would make him not want to have a mate.

Worriz was an easy pick for non-partnering aroace. He's constantly described in canon as a cunning liar who is willing to hide his true intentions– that is, gaining tremendous advantage in power– beneath treaties and promises. Not only that, but in Legends of Chima: Laval's Journey, Worriz immediately turned against Cragger when he understood that he was not getting his hands on the 'Triple Chi'; in the same game, he was shown to not be afraid of threatening others with extreme violence, like when he straight up told Eris he would maul her after he got his hands on the Triple Chi. His horrible violence doesn't end with just words; he directed attacks against the Eagle Tribe TWICE: once by attempting to pull the entire Eagle Spire down, which would cause as many casualties as possible, and twice by setting the Eagle Library on fire and subsequently erasing the tribe's culture and discoveries from existence, an event that happened in Laval's Journey. Of course, he'd make an exception for Windra since they're both vicious and violent... Worriz' violence is not the 'cause' of him being non-partnering; he is, in general, a real and terrifying threat, and would take advantage of anyone if he could— he wouldn't see relationships as innocent and would twist it to gain some kind of power.

Crooler was a hard pick. It's not known much of her besides her using Cragger, but the reason behind those acts are shown explicitly in the show to be envy, and not personal like one would assume. She was capable of demonstrating remorse to a certain extent, and told Cragger a few times she loved him. The honesty of these emotions are not known, but the fact that she was able to show a less 'evil' side of her places her view of relationships into question. If she grows into a better person, then she might get into a healthy relationship, but if she continues to be cunning then she won't. This nuance made me choose demi-partnering for her.

[clausmotherthree]

Team Fortress 2 Mercenary Ages - given all of the canon information we know!

Scout - 27

In the TF2 Comic “The Naked and the Dead,” Spy (Scout’s biological father) states that Scout was conceived 27 years ago, making Scout 27. This is the only 100% confirmed age.

Soldier - mid 40s to early 50s

It’s stated in Soldier’s description that he attempted to join the army during WWII. If we assume Soldier was a young adult when he attempted to enlist, he would now be in his mid 40s to early 50s during the events of TF2.

Pyro - unknown

There is very little information out there on Pyro. It would be impossible for me to accurately identify their age.

Demoman - mid 30s

The only information I have in regards to demoman’s age comes from a line his mother says in the book “Valve Presents Volume 1: The Sacrifice and Other Steam-Powered Stories” in which Demo’s mother remarks: “No demoman worth his Sulfur ever had an eye in his head past thirty!” Which means Demo is most likely somewhere in his 30s.

Heavy - mid 40s to early 50s

In the update comic “Meet the Director,” it is revealed that Heavy was sent to a North Siberian Gulag in September 1941 alongside his mother and sisters. Heavy also canonically has a PhD in Russian literature, as revealed through his dialogue in the game ‘Poker Night at the Inventory.’ It would take around 9 years to obtain that PhD, meaning- depending on if he obtained the degree before or after 1941, he would be either in his mid 40s or early 50s.

Engineer - early to mid 30s

Engineer designed and built the Sentry under contract from TF industries in 1965, with him also spending 10 years in the West Texas oil fields- assuming Engineer was 18 before this date, he would be in his early to mid 30s during the events of TF2.

Medic - late 30s to early 40s

Medic’s description explicitly states that he was “Raised in Stuttgart, Germany during an era when the Hippocratic oath had been downgraded to an optional Hippocratic suggestion,” This implies that Medic was brought up during, or just before, WWII. The word ‘raised’ heavily implies the Medic to still be in adolescence during this era, making him surprisingly younger than expected, with him being around his late 30s to very early 40s during Team Fortress 2.

Sniper - early 30s

In the Team Fortress 2 comic ‘Blood in the Water’, Miss Pauling directly states that New Zealand sunk 40 years ago- in the same comic, Sniper is shown as a baby in a flashback, 10 years after New Zealand sunk. This makes Sniper out to be 30 or 31 in the TF2 present.

Spy - unknown, estimated early-mid 50s

Given Spy’s secretive nature, it’s difficult to deduct how old he is. However, since he has a 27 year old son, it’s likely that he is in his mid 50s. There is a single comic panel (Found in ‘Unhappy Returns’) depicting Spy’s hair to have a grey tint to it, further emphasising this fact.

[funnycreatortimetravel]

It has to be said.

Discussing Chara's character on Twitter/Reddit is so fucking draining. A lot of people on there are so obsessed with them to the point where they'll get UPSET when people have different headcanons, which is weird because Chara's character and personality are meant to be purposefully vague (not necessarily for self insertion, but yes, Chara is supposed to be somewhat aligned with the player.)

Any discussion about Chara on Twitter automatically goes either 1 of 2 ways, Chara HAS to be portrayed as a reflection of the player without any nuance, or fuck that, here are some things about Chara's character that spawned into existence that have to be there because Chara is an innocent angel who did no wrong.

It's literally along the lines of:

Person on Twitter: "I hate how (insert fan creation of Undertale media) portrayed Chara!"

Other Person: "Really? Why do you say that?"

Og Person: "Because Chara was being mean to Asriel and that was never shown explicitly! Just because Asriel said they weren't the best person doesn't mean that Chara was ever mean or anything!"

Like...you realize there's this thing called nuance? It's literally gone from "I dislike that Chara is being portrayed as the one responsible for genocide when canonically the game calls out the player for what they did directly," to, "Ah man, you got this interpretation of a character who's supposed to be very vague wrong even though it's implied that it was the case in game."

I'm not saying that Chara was straight-up abusive toward Asriel or anything, I know for a fact that they loved him, but it's implied that Chara hurt him in a multitude of ways that affected him even after his death and his descent into madness. Their hatred of others rubbed off on Asriel indirectly, regardless of their true intentions.

It's almost concerning the level of just...defensiveness of Chara's character that people will be willing to go to, and I completely get loving a character to the point of obsession, but there's a difference between loving a character and wanting to talk about them to completely shutting down any conversation of said character because you believe it to "not be accurate," when all it was was just differing headcanons and nothing was too seriously different from the lore.

And I know this is because of the dreaded Undertale Reconciliation/Overcorrection that happened as of late where people got tired of everyone portraying Chara as this evil demon who killed everyone (and I did too), but holy shit, the pendulum swung to the other side entirely.

No, Chara is not solely responsible for the genocide route, no, Chara isn't an evil demon who deserves hell, no, Chara isn't to blame for the player's actions, yes Chara is a young child, and yes, it's implied they were mistreated/abused by humans, which also may be connected to Chara's inexplicit sui*ide attempt and yes, Chara did what they did because they believed it to be the right thing (or at least for revenge/justice), not because they're inherently evil.

However, Chara still got themselves and Asriel killed and Chara still wanted to kill the humans of the village while knowing that Asriel did not want to, which goes beyond being able to avoid accountability. Yes, Chara was aggressive toward Asriel and caused him indirect harm by instilling a negative viewpoint of the world due to their hurt. Chara has had hatred already embedded into them that was then acted upon by the player in the genocide route, and Chara knows this. Hurt people hurt people, and that's the case here.

"Kill or be killed," is the mentality that Chara instilled into Asriel before they both died. Chara could've walked away from the human village at any time and saved before themselves and Asriel, but because Chara wanted to hurt the villagers, it cost both of them their lives. Chara had no qualms about dying for the sake of their goal, but their biggest mistake was looping Asriel into it even when he was struggling against them.

Undertale's lesson, of course, is not Kill or be killed, it's way more nuanced and morally grey than that. The entire point of the game was to go against the mentality that Flowey believed, that Chara indirectly stood for. No matter how you spin it, Chara trying to use their full power against villagers was morally wrong and Asriel had to suffer due to his hesitation to hurt all of those people. If Frisk/Player is morally wrong for the genocide route, then Chara was morally wrong at that moment for trying to kill those villagers, regardless of their intentions to free the monsters. Of course, it is Asgore's fault for putting so much stress on such a young child as the singular hope for the monsters, and I know the humans were wrong for killing Asriel/Chara, but Chara was fully prepared to take seven lives once they reached the surface, therefore making the humans' reactions fully justified.

Asgore killed humans who ended up in his land and there's an argument for that, but then the same can be said for the villagers killing the Asriel/Chara alamgatation that undeniably was going to harm them. If anything, the humans were MORE justified in their reaction than Asgore killing those six children.

Chara's hatred for humanity was always stressed even more than their desire for monsters to be free. Whether or not Chara wants to "punish the player for what they've done to monsters" has always seemed very disingenuous to me because Chara (not the player) finishes off the remainder of the world at the end of the genocide routes. Yes, Chara is meant to be a sort of retribution for the player for their heinous actions, but specifically because they care about Monsterkind? Eh, I never really bought that.

Chara is heavily implied to be the narrator sure, but that alone doesn't make or break other people's headcanons. The game, while it is caused by Chara's actions for better or worse, doesn't have to be all about them. No, you can't blame Chara for the genocide route, but you also, by the same logic, have to give the player credit for the Pacifist route.

Screaming, "No, no, it's the PLAYER'S FAULT," for the 100th time shuts down any room to talk about Chara's moral greyness. Yes, we know it was the player, but that's...kind of the point. The player isn't an inherently evil entity, it depends entirely on the route and your actions. Almost like...Chara? (You picking up what I'm trying to put down?)

So here's everything we know about Chara in the most unbiased way I can put it. Chara was a child who was implied to have been abused or otherwise alienated from their village and for reasons that may be related to that, caused their hatred for humanity and their heavily implied suicide attempt. Instead of dying like they probably expected, they were founded by the Prince of the Monsters Asriel Dreemurr, and taken into the Dreemurr family where they became a part of the family at the beginning of 201x.

As depicted in Temmie Chang's concept art, Chara enjoyed their time with the family as evidenced by their depiction.

Chara is stated to have the ability to make a "creepy face," and is heavily implied to be a bit of a prankster toward Asriel. Chara and Asriel continued to bond and it's heavily noted that Asriel likes seeing Chara smile, and they smile quite easily around Asriel. Chara filled the Underground with a sense of hope during their stay, and it's stated that Asgore applied that expectation to them for better or worse. After Chara and Asriel tried making a pie using buttercup flowers not knowing it was poisonous, they unknowingly made Asgore incredibly sick to which Chara laughed it off. Whether or not it was a sadist laugh or a nervous laugh is up for debate, however, it's clear the buttercups making Asgore sick was a sort of revelation for Chara.

Chara developed a plan to obtain human souls, and it's implied they pressured Asriel into said plan. They had the sense enough to know that they didn't want the details of the plan on VHS as evident when they tell Asriel to stop recording. They purposely ingested buttercups knowing it would kill them, alluding again to their more suicidal/sacrificial nature, and then had Asriel absorb their soul. It's stated they wished to see the flowers of their village once again, but whether or not it was a ploy to make it seem as though Asriel killed them is, again, up for debate.

Chara wanted to attack the villagers and use their full power to obtain the souls. Whether or not they actually wanted to free the monsters or not, or it was moreso for revenge of how the village treated them isn't entirely clear, but regardless, their hatred of humanity has been heavily stressed up to this point. Asriel, of course, didn't want to kill the villagers which caused both of them to be killed, instilling the "kill or be killed," mentality that Flowey lives by.

It's clear that Flowey regrets his decision to not attack the humans as whenever Frisk aborts a genocide route, Flowey admonishes them by saying they "almost had it," clearly paralleled to the fact that he feels as though he aborted the original plan for massacre onto that village.

Flowey blames himself for what happened to him and Chara and it's clear his being soulless has ruined or at least changed his perception of morality as he no longer cares about what was right, but his sole survival. He also acknowledges that Chara was the reason behind his philosophical change even after death. After the Pacifist route in which Chara, if them being the narrator during all routes is true, has gone through philosophical changes themselves following the events of the game in which the "kill or be killed," mentality is uprooted by Frisk, the player and their friends.

After the pacifist route, Asriel acknowleges the fact that Chara wasn't the greatest person and says that Frisk is the type of friend he wished he had back then, showcasing that a lot his positive and negative feelings toward Chara were self projected. He also acknowledges that a lot of Chara's behavior came from a place of hatred and unhappiness before they fell, hinting at mistreatment. Chara's actions were what kick started a large portion of the story and in their wake, they left a lot of unresolved threads and hurt feelings and miscommunication. But they also left a large sense of hope that the monsters clearly still feel.

It's clear that Asriel did not want to kill anyone regardless of his desire to free the monsters. Chara is fine with, or at the very least, isn't all too conflicted about killing others for the "sake of the greater good," but whether or not they were doing it solely to free monsters is purposely left vague. Chara has no qualms about killing themselves for the sake of a plan, killing others while using their brother's body, or going against what their brother wants for the sake of their goal. Chara likely knew that Asriel was hesitant, but because they were too caught up, was willing to overlook it or was hoping that Asriel would do what he needed to once the time arose.

Chara and Asriel are both children. One had to go through indescribable pain and the other wanted to ease that pain, even if it meant they would have to take the lives of people when they didn't want to. Chara, more than their love for monsters, felt a burning hatred for humans and was willing to take said hatred out on an entire village rather than just killing the seven people and living. Asriel's hesitation to commit a massacre is understandable, especially given that he is a child and hasn't experienced the same mistreatment as Chara.

Following that, Asriel and them both die to which Asriel takes an interesting stance and blames himself rather than blaming Chara for trying to destroy the village when their original plan was just to get seven souls, even as Flowey. He almost has a kinship with Chara, calling themselves monsters of sorts, but in reality, he's just self-projecting his negative feelings.

During the events of the Pacifist route, Frisk and the Player essentially have to undo the mistakes of Chara and Asriel to save Asriel from the unfortunate circumstance that he was put into, both figuratively and literally saving his soul and putting Chara to rest.

However, during the genocide route, we instead reinforce the idea that killing is morally right to Chara. I know a lot of people say that Chara was only influenced by the player in the genocide route, but I believe that all the player did was simply reinforce the belief that was already instilled into Chara. Chara never had any qualms about killing even without the player influencing them, and now, without their soul, all the player has done is feed the fire of Chara's hatred and animosity for not only humanity but life itself. The hatred and leaning toward killing has always existed within Chara, it's just up to the player whether or not we want to follow and reinforce those beliefs or show the traumatized children that there's a different way.

[winters-rose-daughterofcain]

Part 2 of Everlark and their parents lets go Peeta your turn now.

Now this one is harder. We know very little explicit information about Peeta's family so a lot of this will be inference and my own personal interpretation of the family and their dynamic based on what we do see, what we don't see, and the way Peeta acts, so if you disagree with me that's all good lol.

So first, Peeta grew up in an absuive household. That's not a debate that's explicitly canon. Him mother not only hits him, implied to be with something, but also calls him a worthless creature when he burns the bread for Katniss. No matter that circumstance that is not how you treat your eleven year old child, that is not how you treat any child period, and this clearly isn't a one off or first time. Even though we personally see very little of the abuse on page, I at least think its impact of Peeta is very clear.

This boy has abysmal self esteem, when he discovers Katniss and Haymich have hidden things from him again he feels as if they view him as weak and stupid and too dumb to get it, that's the automatic assumption even though we know that's so far from the truth it's laughable. But for a child that grew up being consistently insulted and belittled it's not that far of a jump to make.

His ability to lie, also I think is relevant here. That kind of ability with words doesn't come from nowhere, that doesn't just happen that's something practiced. A theme with Katniss and Peeta's talents throughout the trilogy is that even the things they are good at and that help them were born from necessity. Katniss is so good with a bow and practical survival skills because she had to be, because even though she grew to love hunting, she and her family would have died without it. Peeta's skill with art comes from working at the bakery it comes from years worth or practise and labor he put in as a child, and I think his ability to lie, manipulate, mask his true feelings and talk his way though things stems from a similar place. His mother is called 'the witch' colloquially, we see she clearly has a temper and resorts to violence and insults quickly. A lot of children who grow up in abuse grow to be very charming, they learn how to lie and manipulate the situation to get themselves out of trouble and to keep themselves and potentially their siblings safe. At least to me Peeta's unmatched ability to impact and morph a situation with just his words could very easily be linked back to his childhood. We all love that Peeta is such a good manipulator but only ever uses it for good, and I think this is partially why, because he doesn't even want to be necessarily, it was a skill born for survival. His mothers cruelty is also shown very much to not be reserved purely for him, she chases starving children away from their empty bins, speaks awfully about the seam and the people from it.

His father is a complicated man. he clearly dose have love for Peeta and is shown many times to be a kind man at his core. But he is passive. He may bring Katniss cookies and make generous trades, he may have been the one to impart that inherent kindness we see in him onto Peeta, and may have been the only safe adult in the house, but he is passive. We don't know the extent of how much he steps in when his wife starts acting out, but from what we can see of her effect of Peeta clearly not enough. He also doesn't come to live with him after the games, none of them do. And while I understand practically that might not be the most reasonable situation, a newly disabled, traumatised sixteen year old boy was still left to live alone. His family may have visited often, they still talk we see him going to dinner with them, but I think their lack of mention speaks more than anything else here.

The relationship between his parents was also not exactly the best model to grow up observing. When he is five years old his dad tells Peeta is was in love with another woman, he points out her child to him, explains how he lost her. There is no addendum of how much he loves his mother now, how it was in the past. Peeta grew up with parents he was acutely aware did not love each other and from what we see and here, don't even pretend to act like it.

Now how dose this relate to Katniss. This first part is more my own speculation so ignore me if you disagree, but Katniss in the first games mentions Peeta doing certain things with her she remembers her parents doing, and wondering where he learnt it from, thinking surely not his own parents. And I think she's right, I think he learnt it from hers. Peeta is observant, I think after his father pointed out Katniss and her mother he payed attention, not just to Katniss but to her parents as well. I think he was a little fascinated by this family, these parents who clearly adore each other these children with skin clear of bruises who have never been made to feel like nothing from there parents who clearly think the world of them. There was six years from when Peeta noticed her to Mr Everdeens death, that's six years for him to observe this family and their love. Not obsessively, not even knowingly, but I think it happened. I think the Everdeens weren't just Katniss's reference for a relationship but Peeta's as well. I don't think she was the only one drawing comparisons, even if he didn't completely realise what he was doing.

(Additional evidence for this pointed out by @intellectual-punk in Mockingjay Haymitch tells Katniss the doctors showed Peeta the propo of her singing The Hanging Tree and he recognized the song and Katniss says she doesn’t know how he could as he never heard her sing it. Haymitch says he remembers her father singing it as their fathers traded. Peeta hasn't heard this song since he was 11, he’s 17 at the time of remembering it. So for him to remembering it after so long after last hearing it and clearly not hearing it around the house we can imagine that her father must have sang it near every time the two men traded and that Peeta was either specifically listening to his singing as he knows from his father that that is how Mr Everdeen won over Mrs Everdeen or he was just generally paying attention to the man either on his own or in relation to Katniss.)*Found in notes {Thank you so much for this}

I also think, going back to people seeking out the familiar, that Katniss reminded him in certain ways of his father. They're both quiet, both people associated with providing food in one way or another. I think he see's her in the way that while they both clearly love him, they both struggle to show him, leaving him to question it for a long time. But where his father fails to protect him, Katniss doesn't. Katniss doesn't have his fathers passivity, far from it, Katniss Everdeen is anything but passive. She actively works to protect him and others, she speaks out loudly when she finds something wrong, she still has that kindness, but it never gets in the way of what's necessary.

This is also where I see his mother come in, I think he dose see some similarities there. In their tempter, in the sharp way they can use their words, in the way she underestimates him in the beginning and even hurts him on occasion, shoving him into the vase (I think?) and cutting his hands after the first interview. But in so many ways Katniss is the opposite. Peeta may have developed a crush because of her voice, but he falls in love because of the way she helps people, because he knows her intrinsically and intrinsically Katniss is someone who cares. He always comments on her healing ability, even if she finds it lacking it's clearly something he loves about her, hands that heal instead of hurt. His mother was cruel to everyone especially those less fortunate, meanwhile Katniss would give everything on her to those who need it more. He see's the similarities yes, and unconsciously that familiarity might be a small drive towards her, but ultimately he loves Katniss for the ways in which she is different from his mother, the ways in which his mother failed, for the ways in which she stepped in where his father fell short. As well as for a lot of other reasons of course, but I think his parents impact is definitely something to consider.

[project-sekai-facts]

I've seen many people stating that Airi is implied as transfem, and many saying it's merely a headcanon, but I haven't been able to find evidence to support either side as I have no idea of where that notion comes from. Do you know about any event/card stories or symbolism that could imply that she's transgender? Thanks in advance.

oooh this is a really interesting one for me actually! so straight off the bat, no airi is not canonically or implied trans. that said, a queer (in her case, trans specifically) reading of her story is totally valid, much like Toya's backstory for an in-game example, and for out of game examples stuff like Rin in Love Live! School Idol Project or Gwen in the Spider-Verse movies (these two support a trans reading, whilst Toya's story supports a more general queer reading).

I think the main cause of the reading comes from her fes story! While her childhood is first talked about in the first chapter of RE:START From Here!, it's very brief and the specific parts about her personality and presentation aren't much of the focus, aside from an incredibly short interaction between Airi and her mother where Airi thinks the idol on TV is cute and her mother tells her that there's nothing stopping her from being like that, then a similar interaction with her younger sister where she decides that she wants to be an idol.

What we learn from this is that Airi used to be a tomboy when she was younger, and was short tempered and aggressive, and often got into fights with boys (though in the interaction we are shown she does this to defend her little sister). She also discovered idols and decided she wanted to be one too, just as cute as the one on TV, which is the total opposite to how she was then. In terms of Airi's backstory serving as a trans allegory? I think you could get something out of this, though the allegory (intentional or not) is far more pronounced in her fes story. You could definitely view this flashback as her starting to realise she's a trans girl, and that she wants to be more girly. Especially when her sister says that Airi's just like the idol on TV, and she has a moment of realisation that she wants to be one too.

Now onto her fes story. First I'll just mention a little fandom thing. So back in 2021 when Airi's fes card was initially released, a fan translation (pictured) was posted to youtube that mistranslated her as being transgender. It was a error made by the translator where instead of saying how the boys she fought with called her a "too cute for a monster", she said they called her a "too cute for a boy". The translation was deleted a long time ago, but for some reason people still bring it up, even now. I think this is where a lot of misinterpretation over her being canonically trans comes from.

Now onto the actual fes story. In the first part of the story, Airi looks back on the interactions with her sister that we saw in Re:start, thinks that she'd love to see the look on her younger self's face if she could see herself now, which creates her fragment sekai. In the second part, after talking with her younger self for a bit, she calls little Airi a tomboy, and she's visibly uncomfortable with this. Present-day Airi then realises this past version of her must be from around the time she started to be bothered by how people viewed her as "rambunctious" or a tomboy. She also mentions that when she decided to become an idol she started ignoring boys teasing her about it, confirming that her tomboy personality and presentation was a source of mockery.

The most interesting part is that Airi says when she started wearing cute and girly clothing to school, she was mocked for it. Although the text explicitly states that for Airi, she was a GNC girl who was uncomfortable with her presentation and wanted to be more girly, this is literally something that has happened with Mizuki, who is all-but-stated canonically transfem. The rest of the story is Airi explaining what being an idol is like and her experiences to her younger self, who then proudly proclaims that she's going to become an idol.

As I said, the text explicitly states that she's a tomboyish girl before she decided she wanted to become an idol and wear cute clothes, which strongly suggests that she's cisgender (of course, she could be a GNC trans girl who came out when she was very young, but this is not canon). However, the fes story overall, and particularly the 3 lines of dialogue pictured above, strongly support a trans reading.

Airi was teased for wearing cute clothes, and while the text doesn't state it outright, you shouldn't have to be told that these were typically girly or feminine clothes, especially given the tshirt and dungarees that Airi wears on her child L2D model. As stated earlier, this exact same thing has happened with Mizuki, although the reactions from classmates and the girls themselves were slightly different on the account of Mizuki being canonically transgender. Airi is annoyed that her classmates think the cute clothes clash with her personality and make fun of her for it, but in Mizuki's case she questions if it's okay for her to wear such clothes because people think it's weird for her to be wearing it (the reason for it being weird is left unstated, but it's presumably because her classmates knew her as a boy at this point in time). Nonetheless, this mirrors the experiences of so many trans people in real life, who are mocked by the general public due to not fitting into the box of gender norms dictated by society.

Airi affirming that she's a girl is definitely the standout line here, though. It shows us how insecure little Airi was with her presentation, and how she wanted people to think of her as a proper, cute girl, instead of a "monster". So while Airi is not canonically trans, the text strongly supports her being read as such. It doesn't take a genius to work out how you could apply Airi growing up as a more masculine tomboy, then realising she wants to be a cute idol, then being teased for dressing in a traditionally feminine way is an allegory for a trans experience, intended or not.

Also absolutely not solid evidence of anything at all, but I often see people point out that Airi's trained The Strongest Idol Smile! 4* has a trans flag color palette, something we've seen in Mizuki cards before. However this is very likely unintentional and just done for artistic effect, the pink ribbons on the card are actually red on the costume (and you can tell in some parts of this artwork too). Still think it's a neat end to this post though.

[saintsenara]

I don't know if you are still doing the ship game. What do you think about Drarry? I apologise if you have already answered it- I tried to see if someone else has asked but I may have missed your response. It's a very popular ship and there are lots of well written fics by incredibly talented authors that I have enjoyed. But when I take that aside and look at the pairing just on its own, I struggle to articulate my thoughts on what I actually think about the pairing.

thank you for the ask @sarafina-sincerity!

i do read drarry, but i think it’s probably fair to say that i don’t read drarry because i expect it to make sense.

i like it fluffy and stupid, to be enjoyed after a hard day at work when i want something which is crammed full of fuck-buddies-to-oh-wait-this-is-serious tropes which doesn’t require too much effort to engage with.

and so the fics i tend to read aren’t drarry which really grapples with exactly how difficult it can be to make harry and draco work as a stable couple while still feeling true to their canon characters.

[they’re not fics which dive into how they would be as an unstable couple either, which is - frankly - because i prefer to see harry in toxic messes with other people.]

i like a bit of of out-of-character nonsense - i love to tune into a fic in which draco is assertive and witty and sophisticated [even though in the books he’s an insecure little bitch whose jokes always flop], or harry's passive, preternaturally adoring, and speaks like a therapist [even though in the books he’s a reckless feral cat with the emotional awareness of cardboard], or ron and hermione come around to it really quickly. i think they’re fun!

but arguing that drarry could make sense as a happy relationship when the characters are as they are in canon is difficult. indeed, i think that it’s even more difficult than making many of the completely implausible-sounding harry-centric pairings work [and, indeed, draco-centric pairings, taco nation rise up]. and i think it’s worth dissecting why.

the first reason is that, much as umbridge is often the villain that readers have the most visceral reaction to [and much as the thing about snape which seems to most upset readers is when he’s a bad teacher], the fact that draco is just some guy at school actually makes the pairing harder. unlike something like snarry, in which a semi-mystical connection between the two is set up by the narrative, or tomarry, in which an overtly mystical connection is, drarry is just two lads who don’t really get on.

indeed, despite a tendency to explain their vibe in the books as sexual tension, harry gives no indication of particularly caring either way about draco while they’re at school. he thinks he’s annoying, pretentious, rude, and cowardly, but - outside of half-blood prince - he's not ever actually shown to escalate those feelings into being particularly obsessed with him. harry doesn’t watch draco constantly, or follow him around, or devote a huge amount of time to thinking about him when they’re not together of his own accord - and when he does do any of these things, it’s usually because draco has provoked him into it by seeking him out and/or being explicitly bigoted.

even in half-blood prince, harry’s obsession with draco is external to the man himself - it’s rooted in his attempts to block out his grief over sirius, his anger at the death eaters who killed his godfather [lucius malfoy among them], his suspicion of snape, and the things he's learning about tom riddle.

draco, though, is obsessed with him. harry spends seven years living rent free in his head; he tracks his movements, he can barely make it through the day without seeking him out to try and get some attention from him, and he clearly talks about him all the time [he needs no prompting from "crabbe" and "goyle" to bring him up during the polyjuice scene in chamber of secrets, for example].

he also obviously has some level of respect for harry - he acknowledges, even if it’s through complaining to his father, that he’s a good quidditch player, for instance - and, by the end of the series, he clearly does regard harry as brave. whereas, when it comes to more positive emotions, harry pities draco, but he never seems to like or admire him.

as a result, i always prefer drarry in which draco is the more feral one, but the default dynamic seems to have harry chasing him, rather than the other way round. i would also like to see more authors work with how likely draco would be to put up for long with having such an obvious interest in a man who is only ever likely to be ambivalent towards him in return

[and also a man who is quite likely to expect to become his partner’s priority, rather than the other way round. one issue with a lot of harry’s relationships, whether his canonical one with ginny or a fanon alternative, is that the role he occupies in the story means that he tends to relate to people he knows not as equals but either as people he needs to protect or people he needs to protect others from. in a relationship with draco, he is likely to pivot from the latter to the former, and i can’t imagine that draco - who thinks of himself as a protector as well, especially in his relationship with his mother - is going to particularly enjoy this. this is why i like middle-aged, have had decades to calm down, widowed or divorced drarry - it feels like it has more chance of being equal than the school-age or immediately post-war stuff.]

harry’s indifference-bordering-on-dislike towards draco does stand in contrast to how he thinks about other male characters that he’s frequently paired with. to return to snarry and tomarry - harry is shown to admire snape at numerous points prior to the end of half-blood prince, his interest in the prince’s textbook reveals that he and snape have a shared intellectual compatibility, and - above all - harry understands and empathises with snape’s background and experiences. similarly, harry is shown to admire voldemort at numerous points, the narrative sets them up as being very similar, and - above all - harry understands and empathises with voldemort’s background and experiences.

[harry is also obviously physically attracted to tom riddle, while draco isn't - although this is, of course, not an insurmountable issue - obviously his type. the men harry finds attractive in canon are all tall, thin, and dark-haired, and draco is always described by the narrative in terms which suggest that harry thinks he’s ugly. the same is true for lucius malfoy.]

i think that one explanation for the above is that a lack of shared background is one of the major stumbling blocks to drarry which doesn’t exist in the other two pairings.

i love an auror partners trope-fic as much as any other girl, but - in reality - draco never needs to work and never gives the impression of being career-minded or finding career ambition valuable. harry is certainly rich enough not to need to work - and the fact that he has a pureblood name and resembles his pureblood father gives him an amount of class protection in the wizarding world which means that drarry is nowhere near as socially unequal as something like dramione - but he evidently finds the idea of working valuable, not least because he wants to achieve recognition for something other than being the boy-who-lived.

but draco - who likes being thought special on the basis of unearned things like his family name - would struggle to understand this. and, in return, harry would struggle to understand how draco’s adult life - something i suspect he would see as one of tedious luxury - is driven by a sense of conformist duty to his family and his peers. after all, harry believes in the value of found family and earned loyalty, and loathes any expectation that he should be deferential to people just because of who they are.

of course, i don’t think this would prevent them being together. it would just cause a tension which would either see everything crash and burn [hot] or which would require growth from both characters which takes a certain lightness of touch to pull off. there are lots of drarry authors who do one or both of these in their works, of course. but those authors are very rarely trying to portray harry and draco as [to begin with, at least] a good or healthy couple…

but with this said, i also think that some common criticisms of drarry wouldn’t actually be a big deal to either harry or draco.

the most significant of these is the fact that harry is morally righteous - yes - but that this manifests itself in an expectation of loyalty from other people, but not an expectation of purity.

in post-war drarry, i think it’s entirely reasonable to say that harry’s belief that the malfoys turned against voldemort because of loyalty to each other [something he finds valuable, and clearly considers to be the appropriate way for a family unit to behave - look at what he thinks of percy weasley, for example], as well as lucius malfoy’s extra-canonical willingness to help harry and the ministry by informing on all his former associates [which, according to jkr, results in him being spared azkaban and harry thinking that’s fine] enables him to let go of draco’s past, and to have a relationship without the weight of that history hanging over them. i don’t think he ever becomes fond of lucius - although i think he is likely to feel slightly more warmth towards narcissa - but i also don’t think he would expect draco to estrange himself from his family or completely change as a person in order to consider him worthy of his affection.

[this is, for what it’s worth, something which makes dramione an impossibility for me - even if draco is capable of redemption (which, like everyone, he is), i don’t think she’s ever forgiving him or considering him changed enough to be worthy of her, and i don’t think she should have to.]

draco may not, however, consider this acceptance to be as much of a gift as harry might - above all because i believe sincerely that harry would never feel bad about the sectumsempra incident. draco is clearly someone who holds grudges, and i think that this would always be in quite profound tension with harry’s remarkable [but also entirely self-interested] ability to decide he’s going to let things go.

i also think that harry is going to be able to handle draco’s more negative characteristics better than he’s sometimes given credit for, since all of them - especially his tendency towards jealousy, self-aggrandisement, and moping - are things he shares with ron. and, like ron, i think draco is going to be surprisingly good at dealing with harry’s impulsivity, his tendency to brood, and tendency to form knee-jerk judgements. these seemingly opposing personality traits are actually quite nicely balanced.

and, of course, the big one: love is strange and unpredictable; forgiveness can be easy just as often as it can be difficult; everyone is capable of redemption; people can choose to be together despite significant odds against them; choice is much more interesting than fate; and fluffy drarry is unbelievably entertaining.

my final statement, though? people are sleeping on dron. ron and draco have all the right ingredients - above all, the fact that they’re narrative mirrors - which makes things like snack bang. the potential for drama and intrigue and destabilising love is right there. harry simply cannot compete.

[nicotachi]

(i was inspired by the prev reblog but i figure my tags were quickly devolving into a "make your own post" moment)

the thing about ganyu is that i REALLY like the lore they've provided us with, enough to construct a complex and nuanced character that goes beyond the few glimpses we see of her in the liyue archon quest.

my hot take is i actually, don't really care whether or not those things are explicitly shown in the main storyline. i ship gq for god's sake, and i've never wanted more than a nod for either (i feel like i always have to clarify: i don't particularly expect or even want them to become canon), because i love when the audience is trusted to connect the dots themselves. i know that in fanwork, there's a fine line between assembling the puzzle pieces deliberately left by the creators and making a sandwich out of discarded bread, but i like to think of it as the former.

but what i don't appreciate is yeah, why are they filling her precious screentime with fat jokes and being sleepy or timid?? chenyu vale already showed that they cannot be normal about a woman without injecting weight insecurities. the sleepy girl thing has also been done so many times that i could name like five female characters who have it as a core personality trait. i just don't understand the logic. hbomberguy once pointed out in his "why r*by is disappointing" video essay that it was almost like two opposing forces were writing the same characters and i see that here a little bit.

ganyu in the side materials (story quest, world quest mentions, body language in the CINEMATICS, etc) comes off as a very firm and wise person, while ganyu in the most recent lantern rite is in a constant state of fatigue or discomfort. neither of those are emotions or personality traits!! she's treated as a placeholder at times when they could easily call back to the other, more interesting things they've written about her in the game.

but as an aside: i don't actually agree with any sentiments that favor her soldier past over her secretary role. i believe both are important parts to her just as she is half qilin and human. to box her into one thing or another kind of misses the point of her character imo, that people contain multitudes, and can drastically change over a long enough stretch of time and circumstances.

[labyrinthofsphinx]

Not sure if this has been asked before, but Vox in located in NY, they have the shack that Drift is in and Alastor has his place. But where do they spend most of their time? And is it hard juggling locations like that?

OOOOOO, a location question. I can't answer in full yet because not all the locations have been revealed....butttt I will mention a few that have been shown in the story, referenced in asks, and whatnot:

So, Alastor has a few locations associated with him and two homes. The first is the flat in New Orleans proper, over by the French Quarter. It is briefly seen from the outside in the epilogue to (Never) Let Me Go. Mimzy frequently stays here, and Al has given her a spare key to the upstairs just for herself. This is also the place Al lived after moving out of his childhood home, just as he was starting up his radio show and really digging into his, ahem, 'extracurricular' activities.

It was also around this time that the shack was built because, well, he needed a place for all his prep work. The shack is much, much further into the bayou and beyond where any normal person would dare to go. It's a very wild, almost haunting kind of place. The kid has only been here. I know it seems like it's been long time because all the asks...but most of them are non-canon to the story. They haven't actually had to leave the kid alone for much more than getting groceries. Thankfully, both have been able to push off having to jump right back to work in person. Ah, the days before people always knew where you were!

Al's other home, which he basically gave to his mother until her passing, is usually called the 'estate', and can be seen in the background of some asks, like this one. It originally belong to his father....buuttt for, ahem, reasons, he grew up basically owning the house and everything in it. We'll be seeing this more shortly, but it's kinda the base of operations for most of the going ons that shall be shown...unless said otherwise. You'll see why ;)

The bar location that shows up most often, and always when Husk is around, is the Black Cat casino and bar. Husk originally owned the joint until Al came and won it, and Husk, in a game of cards. We haven't seen it from the outside yet because it's something a little special that I'm saving for later ;))

We haven't seen too much of the Vox centered locations, but just be aware that he's got a house in almost every state, and a secret place in South America that he got after he realized just what kind of, um, 'tab' him and Al were drawing up, in case they ever needed a place to get away to.

He has a penthouse in NYC proper, with a view out to Central Park. The poolside was shown very, very briefly in a early funny one off, non-canon ask here. If he's got a long busy week, he'll usually stay there just for convenience.

His business building is also in NYC, and one of the offices was shown in (Never) Let Me Go Part I . It's also sometimes featured in asks, but is almost always shown from the view of the offices or his station set. His studio building is in Hollywood proper, and we'll see more of that further along the line.

Otherwise, the two other locations to keep in mind for now are the big, Gatsby-styled mansion on Long Island, shown briefly here, and the private island he owns with a small fortress on it, seen here.

Also, because it's kinda a location in of itself, especially where Vox is concerned, consider his yacht as another 'home' of his. It has enough bedrooms to count XD.

Whew! I think that's the short summary of all the ones shown or teased so far. But to get back to the original question:

Vox almost always visits Alastor, unless explicitly stated. Between Vel and his own obsession with work, he makes time for the things he really wants, like traveling down south to be with Al. After Alastor's mom passed, they're almost always at the estate whenever it's their usual downtime. Al doesn't have any real neighbors for miles and they can kinda do whatever they want there. Also, now that his mother is gone, Al doesn't mind using the place when getting his hands dirty...so long as his mother's things aren't disturbed. Again, we're going to see more of the interior shortly.

The shack is supposed to be just for their prep work and maybe the occasional sleepover that gets called a hunting trip. It's not really meant to serve as a home but...well, with the kid there, they haven't had much choice in the matter. That's why at the end of Something Wicked, when Al realizes Vox is attached now...yeah, probably time to bring the kid to a proper house (which is going to be Al's estate).

So, yeah, it's hard, but they make it work.

Thanks for the ask!

[slugtranslation-hypmic]

Hey, Slug! Not to be rude, but I noticed some things in your Positive Is My Life translation that I don't think really line up with Hifumi as a character, so I wanted to give my own POV on it. Sorry if this comes off as mean, I'm just very passionate about this.

For starters, I don't agree that the "princess" stuff was meant to refer to his clients. This song is very explicitly performed for the Block Party, and he's not in host mode here. It's not in character for him to be trying to flirt with his clients/women if he's not in host mode, and there are also no clients present. In my opinion, based off of canon, I think the "enchant" playstyle is meant to refer to his host mode, while the "princess" play style is meant to refer to him out of host mode. In host mode, he's shown to be enchanting, handsome, and, well, host-like. Meanwhile, out of host mode, he's meant to be much more cute, bubbly, effeminate, and generally much like the common idea of a princess, or a man who is princess-like.

Second, I can't see how the last verse would be referring to Honobono at all. This isn't really how he talks about her, and especially with the events of the drama track attached to this song, this wouldnt make sense. He has never once expressed the desire to become friends with her, and his playful tone here isn't reminiscent of how he behaves when talking about her at all.

I respect you deeply as a translator, and you've inspired me to want to try to take up translating myself, but if I'm being honest I feel like you might've taken too many creative liberties with this one. Because of this, a lot of this translation is just... kind of inaccurate, in my opinion. No offense of course, and thank you kindly for it and your work in general, these are just my personal thoughts. Thank you for your time.

Hey! Thanks for reaching out, and I appreciate the feedback. You don't come across as mean, but all the same, I'd like to explain my decisions in further detail. It sounds like you may be missing some context.

I agree that Hifumi isn't in host mode throughout the song, but there are definitely elements that hearken back to the flirtatious attitudes he takes in host mode. 笑顔の魔法に釣られてきた (dictionary-definition literal: you are lured in by the spell of a smile) is one such example. This notion of being "lured in" is common in Japanese romance and is indeed reminiscent of the things Hifumi says to his clients. Here, since it's being used in the context of friendship, I thought English "lured in" suggested a sense of manipulation that's not emphasized as strongly in Japanese 釣られてきた. Since the smile is being used like a video game spell, I wrote it as "I cast SMILE. It’s super effective!" and moved the notion "the smile draws you closer and makes you one of us" into the next line. I would consider all of those decisions to be perfectly valid--and even commonplace--in translation.

We also see more of the host-esque language in the lines 魅せプ決めて騒ごうよ！TO NIGHT! and 姫プ決めて守られたい夜も… As mentioned above, 魅せ ("enchanting") is a staple of Japanese romantic conventions--the idea of someone being so hot/charming/skilled/whatever that the other party goes against their "rational" judgement and lets their emotion take the wheel. 魅せプ is indeed a regular video game term, and it refers to when someone is so damn good at the game that you can't take your eyes off of them. However, with the "tonight" element as well, it suggests the romantic connotation of 魅せる. Hearkening to "night" is another staple feature of Japanese romantic imagery and one Hifumi uses quite frequently.

We see that night (夜) image appear again in the 姫プ line, along with 守られたい (dictionary-definition literal: on nights when [agent] pays like a princess and wants to be protected). The notion of protection once again creates a strong romantic image, especially coupled with "night" and "princess." 姫プis, once again, a normal video game term. However, it's not a positive term. To play "like a princess" is to sit there and let your teammates do all the work. To me, this doesn't make sense to ascribe to Hifumi, as it suddenly switches the agent from the listener/friend in the rest of the song to Hifumi himself. It also doesn't align with the image we've seen of Hifumi in the rest of the song (doing everything for friends, as opposed to selfishly demanding others do work for him). I could see an argument for this being him referring to himself on nights when he wants to let his guard down and let others take care of him, but that again requires a grammatical subject switching that isn't substantiated by the rest of the song. Passive voice doesn't automatically make the speaker the agent, as you can see in 笑顔の魔法に釣られてきた: [the agent] is lured in by the spell of a smile. It doesn't make sense for Hifumi to be drawn in by a smile, so the reader automatically assumes it's the "you" in the rest of the song performing the action.

Finally, I don't think the 姫プ person is Hifumi because the line is strongly feminine-coded. Outside of the word "princess"/姫, the entire notion of sitting back, "selfishly letting others do the work," and "being protected" is associated with women in Japanese romantic conventions. I'm not saying I agree with this idea--I don't whatsoever--but I can also recognize that this line sounds romantically charged, as it plays into a bunch of romantic tropes, and therefore would be a little odd if Hifumi is taking on the female role. (I don't see Hifumi's bubbly persona as supposed to be inherently feminine in Japanese, fwiw.) This is also why I hesitated to write the romantic tone in English; it's founded on misogynistic ideas that tend to stand out as offputting to English readers. Since it's not supposed to be offputting, I thought it would do the translation a disservice to introduce that tone and instead steered around it. I would again consider this to be a completely valid and commonplace translation choice, but I also see the drawbacks. It's clear now that my word choice wasn't as transparent as I would have liked it to be.

As for the final verse, this one does appear to have a different audience than the rest. Previous audiences (the listener, friends) are キミ, a word that, in this instance, denotes a kind of emotional closeness. It must be someone that Hifumi feels comfortable with. In the last verse, Hifumi says お前がラスボス. The お前 is not as close, which suggests both that this is someone Hifumi is not as familiar with and also is perhaps an adversary. The " お前がラスボス" phrase is commonly used in action/adventure stories and thus gives this line a dramatic tone as well, which also makes me think it's supposed to be an adversary. This may partially be him pretending to be more HRGGH MANLY ADVENTURER for the fun of it (evidenced as well in なろうぜ on the following line), which I can see as the biggest argument for this not being Honobono. However, if it's not her, then I don't see why the writers would specify 誰も傷付けず (no one has to be hurt) or include this verse at all. Especially given his line in the second Block Party drama track (仄々…僕は君の友人だ。今までも…これからも… "Honobono, I was once your friend...and I still am!"), I would argue that he explicitly and canonically has expressed his will to be her friend.

Finally, I agree that the overall playful tone of the song doesn't match the serious tone in which he normally addresses her, but to me, this can easily be explained by a difference in mediums. The drama tracks allow for topics to be explored much more seriously than this overtly bouncy and upbeat song.

Again, thank you for messaging me, and I hope this clears up some of my thought process!

[transalangrant]

did anyone know isla nublar was actually the ancestral home of the Tun-Si people (which, from what I gather, are a fictional splinter group of the very real Bribri people) and that ingen forced them out with either false promises of safe relocation or just straight up sending mercenaries to their homes to eject them at gunpoint-- resulting in more than one death in the indigenous population. colin trevorrow, iirc, said that the telltale jurassic park game is soft canon last I checked (so it probably happened, but not necessarily in the way it was shown in the game itself, I think?) and I'm pretty sure that masrani global's website explicitly acknowledges the presence of the Tun-Si on the island-- before it was leased to ingen for the creation of jurassic park.

okay, so basically from what I've read today, it's canon that literally the entire foundation of jurassic park and, later, jurassic world was built on the stolen land of an indigenous people which were also harassed, tricked, and brutalized by employees of ingen... and all I can see of official in-universe documentation associated with either park that even acknowledges this fact is a brief land acknowledgment statement on the masrani global website. I have to rewatch jurassic world, to be fair, but I do recall that the events of the original 1993 jurassic park film are referenced throughout, often with an air of tragedy. but... I see nothing anywhere in the actual movies that even begins to discuss who lived there for generations before jurassic park was even built?? like, did they forget to mention this or do they just not care...?