#[talked about it with him. we came to the conclusion that if he essentially can't ''hide'' it anymore it'll take the pressure off]

[linkspooky]

THE PHILOSOPHY OF KAGURABACHI

So, Kagurabachi is my favorite manga in shonen jump right now, but my enjoyment of it comes from a different place than most people's. While I liked the first chapter, the manga did not really click for me until chapter 17 when Chihiro was forced to recognize that his enemy had interpreted the actions of his dead father entirely differently, and he was fighting with a conviction too, even if Chihiro did not agree with that conviction.

Since then, Chihiro has slowly been changing his outlook on the world from a simple avenger to acknowledging the complexity of the world around him and this is the most interesting aspect to me - Chihiro and his changing beliefs over the course of the story.

I have been waiting in anticipation for Chihiro's reaction to learning the truth about the war, and the genocide one of the sworsman carried out with his father's weapon. We see his reaction this chapter and I was a little bit surprised to say the least.

Chihiro states that it's wrong to kill all five of the sword-bearers in order to disarm the nukes essentially, remove the potential for anyone else to cause another disaster and wipe out hundreds of thousands of more people. This seems inconsistent with something that has been Chihiro's belief since chapter one, his entire mission is to take his father's swords back in order to make sure they never end up in the wrong hands and can't be used to hurt innocent people.

I had to ask my friend @kaibutsushidousha for Chihiro's reasoning here, but thankfully Comun is really smart and has good taste:

I feel like Chihiro is extremely influentiable. He has a lot of moral opinions inside his head, but can only use one at a time. And the one he holds changes easily depending on the most recent thing people tell him. What he's currently holding is how much he relates to Iori, so he's in it to prevent Iori from losing a father like he did Only once that's resolved that he can start thinking about his other moral opinions that conflict with this one.

When I read that I returned to the question of: what are Chihiro's morals? I finally realized the answer that Chihiro is practicing what we call moral relativism. If we dig in a little deeper we can see some of the ethics and morality that Kagurabachi is exploring in the story as a whole.

LETS TALK ABOUT ETHNICS

Moral philosophy is defined by the oxford dictionary as "sign up to pay a $9.99 subscription in order to read the rest of this article."

Moral philosophy is the study of morals. What people do, how should they act, what principles should guide their lives. Which started out all the way back with Plato who argued for the "form of the Good." Plato was theorizing on where higher-minded ideas like "justice" comes from and his conclusion is that these ideas exist as "Forms", perfect, eternal, and changeless concept existing outside of space and time.

Plato asserts that goodness is a force outside of us, that pushes us to strive towards things like justice. His argument essentially that good is inherent, that people possess the spirit of good inside of them and that drives them to seek out good.

This is what you would refer to as moral absolutes. That morals exist outside of us and they are absolute rules we should follow. "Goodness" isn't just an idea, it's a force which compels us to do good.

Rules like "Don't kill people" are absolute. They don't exist because someone wrote down in a law that it was bad to kill people, but because the moral principle of "don't kill people" is universal and should be followed by everyone.

The question is if these moral principles are absolutes then where do they come from? Plato put forward the idea of an objective moral order linked to a transcendent reality, while Aristotle believed that morality came from objectivity and human nature.

Under Christian doctrine morals are also absolute and there is an idea of good which we all strive for, but the reason those morals are absolute is because they are given to us by god. "Don't kill people" becomes "Thou must not Kill."

The opposite of moral absolutism that morals exist as a set of rigid principles that exist outside of us, is moral relativism. Moral relativists assert that there are not "objective" morals, usually following two basic principles.

1.  Moral judgments are true or false and actions are right or wrong only relative to some particular standpoint (usually the moral framework of a specific community). 2.  No standpoint can be proved objectively superior to any other. [SOURCE].

If I say "killing people is wrong no matter what the situation because human life has inherent value", I'm arguing for moral absolutism. If you rebuttal with "Chihiro was killing human traffickers, who if they had lived would have created more victims" that is an argument for moral relativism.

To dive deeper into moral relativism though, let's explore one of the biggest critics of moral philosophy.

In Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to the Philosophy of the Future, Nietzsche rejected the works of all of the moral philosophers that had come before him, especially to Plato who argued for that "form of goodness." He took a special offense to the idea that good and evil and in the first place. Nietzsche suggested the modern man and the modern philosopher needed to reject good and morality entirely.

"Let us not be ungrateful toward it, althought it must certainly be admitted that the worst, most drawn-out, and most dangerous of errors hitherto has been a dogmatist error- namely, Plato's invention of the Pure Spirit and the Good as such. But now that it has been overcome, when Europe, rid of this nightmare, can again breathe freely and at least enjoy a healthier sleep - we, whose duty is wakefulness itself, are the heirs of all strength which the struggle against this error has fostered. turning the truth on its head and denying perspectivism itself, the fundamental condition of life, to speak of the Spirit and the Good as Plato of spoke.

Nietzsche's took particular umbrage with the idea that good is fundamental and innate. That these are not concepts just made up, but they just exist... somewhere.

"Here we need to learn to think differently, as we have learned to think differently about heredity and "innateness."

In Nietzsche's viewpoint humans aren't rational creatures striving towards some objective good, but rather they are extremely subjective, and all of them fallible to their own personal biases. People aren't driven by the spirit of good, they are driven by emotions and instincts, and their own personal values.

"Conversely, in the philosopher there is absolutely nothing impersonal; and expecially his morality furnishes a decided and decisive testimony as to who he is - that is to say, in what order the innermost drives of his nature relate to others.'

One of these most important drives is what Nietzsche labeled "the drive to power", but it could also be translated as the "drive to agency".

"A living being seeks above all else to discharge its strength - life itself is will to power - self-preservation is only one of the indirect and most frequent results thereof."

A lot of the material covered in this book is a criticism of christian doctrine, which puts forth that we must follow these absolute morals because they are imposed on us by god. Nietzsche pointed out and rightly so that for a large chunk of european history, a peasant class has been ruled over tightly by an aristotcratic class, one that is supported by the church.

His explanation for why the peasants never rebelled against the aristocrats and why this structure remained in place is that christianity wishing to keep the lower class complacent began espousing morals about "turning the other cheek" and "the meek should inherit the earth". Suffering under the boot heel of the rich and not fighting back became a moral virtue. In Nietzsche's mind the church has hoodwinked the general population into believing that instead of rising to power they should remain powerless and suffering in this lifetime, for the reward of happiness in some theoretical afterlife.

"From the beginning, Christian faith is a sacrifice: sacrifice of all freedom, all pride, all self-confidence of spirit; at the same time it is enslavement, self-mockery, and self-mutilation."

I'm not going to go into religious philosophy, but I do think these are important questions to ask. Why does the church tell us we shouldn't envy our neighbor? Why does the church tell us we should not desire for more than we have?

You could apply this very easily to the modern day. Several christians say that trans people are immoral, because god says there are only two genders and these two genders are absolutes there is no wiggle room. Not only is being transgender immoral, but also they have the right to create laws regulating what people do to their own bodies. Governments have to make laws violating people's personal autonomy like this for the greater good? But, for who's greater good is this?

Nietzsche's describes the origin of christian morals as master and slave morality herren- und sklavenmoral. Master and Slave morality has some negative connotations so let's try to explain this using memes instead.

[Source]

Nietzsche's assertion was that the chads of the world don't listen to the church and the people in power telling them that suffering is righteous, that they should fast, and stay impoverished. That they should not make a morality of suffering like it is some kind of virtue.

"It cannot be helped: we must mercilessly call to account and bring justice he sentiments of surrender, the sacrifice for one's neighbor, and all self-renunciation-morality ... There is far too much magic and molasses in these sentiments "for others" and "not for myself" for us to not have to be doubly distrustful...

The chads of the world are out there employing chad morality. They are goated enough to invent their own morals, to think for themselves, and assert their own power. Not only is the nietzschian viewpoint that morality is relative, but also that a free thinker must create their own morals.

Which is where we finally tie this back into the manga, is Chihiro as a character following Nietzschian principles? Is he employing Chad morality to become a truly goated individual?

Has he taken the steps beyond good and evil?

Well, to start with you would have to ask what Chihiro's morals are which is a hard question to answer because they are not consistent. Early on he states that the swords are to: defeat evil and protect the weak. He definitely believes that evil exists.

However, he doesn't view them as absolutes. He admits himself that murder his horrible, that killing people makes him a monster and therefore evil, but he also believes that this evil is killing others can be done to commit good.

There's a pretty obvious contradiction in Chihiro's ideals. He is simultaenously both a killer, but also a hero protecting others. He maintains that same paradoxical view of his father and the other sword-bearers, they are responsible for the deaths of countless people but they are still: "heroes." Chihiro may be going to hell for everyone he has killed, but there's still a nobility to what he is doing.

The idea of going to hell and being punished for his evil means he knows on some level murder is horrible and he'll eventually face punishment for it, but he is going to do it anyway even if he goes to hell?

Is there a paradox to this statement? How can one be a hero and a murderer at the same time? For Nietzsche there isn't. Nietzsche would argue that following christianity's ideas of meekness and turning the other cheek you can never be a hero, and the only way to be a hero is to transgress.

That the only people truly capable of being heroic are not those who passively turn the other cheek, but those who have the strength to to fight back and assert themselves.

"A man who seeks to achieve goathood, looks upon every one whom he encounters on his way either as a means of advance or a delay and hindrance - or as a temporary resting-place. His characteristic, lofty kindness to his fellow-men is only possible once he has reached the height from which he rules."

So, let's touch briefly upon Chihiro's choices again. Chihiro's father is murdered and he is left alive with a scar, and all the blades his father made to end the war are stolen by criminals except for one. Chihiro could have gone into witness protection like Iori and lived a normal life. You could see that in one of two ways, Chihiro is deciding to be above revenge and trying not to continue the cycle of harm. Or you could see it as Chihiro passively accepting all of the harm that's done to him, shutting up and taking it instead of choosing to fight back against the evil done to him.

Chihiro has a second choice which is assert his will-to-power, and evolve into Chadhiro someone who has the power to fight for what he believes is moral.

A man who says: "I like that, I take it as my own. nd will guard and protect it from everyone", a man who can conduct a case, carry out a resolution, remain true to an idea, keep hold of a woman, punish and overthrow insolence, a man who has his indignation and his sword, and to whom the weak, the suffering, the oppressed and even the animals willingly submit and naturally belong; in short, a man who is a master by nature- when such a man has sympathy well! That sympathy has value.

Because Chihiro embraced Chad morality and became the Chadhiro, he gained the power and strength to help people, people who would not have been helped if he did not decide to become an avenger.

So you may ask in the first chapter what does it matter that Chihiro did not quibble over slaughtering human traffickers in the first chapter? He was using his power to do what he thought was right, killing criminals in order to prevent them from selling any more human beings in the future.

Then I would ask: Who gets to decide whether they deserve to live or die?

The Nietzschian response is Chihiro does. Chihiro decides his own morals for himself, and has the power to assert them over others. In fact if he didn't, he would be completely ineffectual. If Chihiro passively turned the other cheek and forgave his enemies, then he would not have the power to help anyone.

Is there something wrong with this? As we see in the story, Chihiro is very principled, he hates unnecessary killing, he has sympathy for people like Hakuri and Iori and won't sacrifice them for the greater good.

He's even capable of putting aside his revenge if it means saving people like Hakuri and Iori. If all morality is relative, then isn't Chihiro just doing what everyone does, deciding for himself in the moment what is moral and what is not?

Even in opposing Samura's decision to disarm the nukes that could potentially blow up the country at some point in the future Chihiro is raising an interesting point, is it fair that an orphan like Iori has to lose her father because of a danger he might represent? Is it alright to trample over an orphaned little girl and take her father away?

If Chihiro has the power to protect the people he wants to protect, to punish the people he sees doing evil and harming innocents, then what is wrong with him asserting this power even if it means killing people?

Is the option to choose to passively suffer somehow more noble?

"It has the same effect on them as Epicurean philosophy on the sufferers of higher order by refreshing, refining and effectively using suffering and finally even sanctifying and justifying it. There is perhaps nothing so admirable in Christianity and Budhism as the art of teaching even the lowest to elevate themselves by a piety to a higher, illusory order of things and thereby keep themselves satisfied with the actual world in which they live in great hardship - but precisely this hardship is necessary!"

Well alright, it seems like we've got this figured out. Chihiro is someone we can trust, because he creates his own morals and he has freed himself from the biases society's morals. We can trust he will do good, because he has the strength to always think for himself and follow his own morals and he doesn't submit to anyone else. Chihiro would never submit to anyone else's morals, and he would especially never join a shady government organization that was totally cool with doing nothing when humans were being sold on an auction block in the auction arc.

Oh, wait hang on a second.

DR. STRANGELOVE: OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB

The flaw with moral relativism is that it is at best incoherent and vague. Let's take the nietzschian argument, if there are special people in this world who have the right to transgress over other people in order to achieve great things, like the way Chihiro has murdered so many in order to achieve his revenge then how do you distinguish that type of special person from a normal person.

"They begin executing other people?" "If it's necessary; indeed, for the most part they do. Your remark is very witty." "Thank you. But tell me this: how do you distinguish those extraordinary people from the ordinary ones? Are there signs at their birth? I feel there ought to be more exactitude, more external definition. Excuse the natural anxiety of a practical law-abiding citizen, but couldn't they adopt a special uniform, for instance, couldn't they wear something, be branded in some way? For you know if confusion arises and a member of one category imagines that he belongs to the other, begins to 'eliminate obstacles' as you so happily expressed..." Crime and Punishment

This quotation is taken from Crime and Punishment where the main character Raskolnikov is discussing with a detective his theory that certain people have the inherent right to remove obstacles out of their way in order to achieve greatness. The detective's counter argument is the obvious: Well, what makes them so great exactly?

Well, from Nietzsche's perspective there are in our society members descended from an ancient Aryan race... wait, what?

"Was Nietzsche Woke?" Philosophytube

Nietzsche died in 1900, but fascists loved using his ideas as justification for their actions, especially Hitler and Mussolini. Does that make Nietzsche specifically responsible for it, well not really because he's dead.

Instead of discussing whether Nietzsche's ideas are inherently fascist which I think is a boring discussion, I am going to touch why fascists find these concepts of moral relativism and nietzsche's rejection of morality so applicable to their won ideas and the answer is that it's vague. If your entire belief system is just "everything is relative" then you're not really operating under any kind of consistent rules.

Trying to string together a consistent ideology from Nietzsche's writings is hard because so many of its writings contradict itself, that his message becomes very vague. Trying to describe what moral relativists believe is like trying to describe post-modernism or porn to other people, I don't know how to describe it but I know it when I see it.

I talked about how earlier that if you reject the notion that "Thou must not kill", then Chihiro has every right to assert his power over the human traffickers and kill them in order to punish them. Yet, if as Nietzsche argues that the "drive to power" exists within everyone then what about the human traffickers? Don't they have the same "drive to power" and right to assert their power over other people, in this case by kidnapping humans and selling them in order to make money? If there are no objective morals, then slavery isn't objectively evil either. Neither Chihiro or the Human Traffickers are good or evil, they are just both asserting their power. Then Chihiro isn't the moral victor, he's just STRONGER than them.

"All morals are relative" is in itself, paradoxically, a moral absolute. As much as Nietzsche challenges us confront our own biases and challenge what society taught us to think for ourselves, there's also no such thing as an unbiased person. If you read Nietzsche's work, a lot of what he says is also parroting pretty common attitudes of Jewish people at the time in germany.

Chihiro is definitely not unbiased either, he is extremely biased by his hero worship towards his father. So far we have seen him completely sidestep the greatest moral dilemna of this entire manga.

When Oppenheimer was released, a lot of Japanese people protested the movie, especially the decision to focus on the man who made the bomb instead of the over 200,000 victims that the bomb created.

The swords are nukes. They are explicitly nukes. They were dropped on an island nation and wiped out the entirety of the population in order to end a war. Nothing short of godzilla crawling out of the water to attack Chihiro could make them more obviously a metaphor for nukes. 200,000 is around the estimated number of dead at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The enemy had surrendered, a peace treaty was signed to preserve the civilians of the island, and then one of the five swordsmen decided that was not good enough and killed 200,000 people in an instant.

Who's fault was this?

Well, one obvious one is the guy who made the nukes in the first place. If that weapon had never been placed in the hand of the fifth swordsmen, then he never would have had the means to kill an island full of 200,000 people.

The justification that the Kamunabi give is that they needed the magical swords in order to fight off the invaders, and if they didn't have those swords the number of casualties would be much higher.

I am an American and this is the exact same justification I have heard over and over again for Nagasaki and Hiroshima. "Well, the japanese never surrender so way more people would have died in a land invasion if we didn't drop the bombs."

The underlying point though is that if you decide who gets to do what based upon who has the power to do it, then that very quickly slides into fascism. Why did the last swordsman decide that he had the right to kill 200,000 people because someone gave him the power to. He used his power to do what he believed was right even if it means stepping on other people, and eliminate his enemy.

Is Chihiro killing criminals the same thing as killing an entire island's worth of people? Not necessarily, but in principle Chihiro is killing people because he believes he has the right for himself to decide who lives and who dies, and the way he asserts that right is by power.

Am I being reactionary by saying that Chihiro's philosophy that he is entitled to revenge resembles fascist ideology and can spiral out of control into fascist ideology? Well, maybe - but objectively right now Chihiro is working for a government that committed a genocide against a nation of 200,000 people that they had signed a peace treaty with and then covered up the fact that they committed that genocide in the first place.

It's also very easy to fall right down that slippery slope. Fascism is very appealing to people who are feel they have been injured or victimized by something, and want the power to take vengeance against that vague something.

Chihiro would not kill civilians right now, he draws the line very clearly and will even give his life to protect civilians but it is also true that Chihiro is not unbiased and his morals are very bendy.

As I said above, Chihiro says he that he will do anything to protect innocent people, but if that's the case then shouldn't he be in support of killing Samura and disarming the nukes even if it means all the swordwielders have to die?

He is making a personal judgement that Iori is more important than the potential deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people, not based off of any ethical principle but because his dad died and he relates to Iori and she also loved her father.

Chihiro's morals are not consistent and well-thought out, and that is dangerous because Chihiro doesn't really submit to anyone's authority other than his own and he definitely does not follow due process. We as the reader have to trust Chihiro's judgements that he is a moral person, but Chihiro is biased.

Chihiro is currently working for the government organization that decided to cover up their mistake in killing an island full of people, use the heroes as propaganda and brand the island dwellers as inhuman savages, and then not disarm the nukes.

Why didn't they disarm the nukes? Is it because the government thought it was unfair to kill the four other heroes for the actions of one of the swordwielders and that they didn't deserve to be punished for rewarding their country? Or is it because of the much more likely reason that they didn't want to give up the magical swords that could completely wipe out an enemy army if they ever needed to use them for self-defense again?

For example, if the Kamunabi had done the opposite then what then? What if the Kamunabi had arrested Chihiro's father in front of his son, dragged him into court, gave him a fair trial and then decided to hang him for his crimes against humanity in his decision to build the bomb I mean the swords.

If that had happened would Chihiro have accepted the decision, or would we be reading an entirely different manga where Chihiro was fighting against the government in order to avenge his father?

That's a hard question to answer, because Chihiro's morals are so vague and easy to influence. Hopefully Chihiro will figure it out for himself over the course of the story, because as badass as Chihiro saying that he'll choose to face god and walk backwards into hell in order to get his revenge I think it would be much better if he found some other reason to live for revenge by the end of the story.

[comical-croagunk]

April Fool's!

[this post is pretty long due to pictures, multiple short introductions, and explaining how this event will work]

Deklan wakes up with a grumble to a persistent and somewhat annoying buzzing sound, rubbing their gooey head with their gooey hand.

... That's not right.

They open their eyes and stare at their arm, which is now very green. And has a bunch of blobs in it. It's familiar, but they can't place it with sleepiness calling to them still.

"Deklan," a voice says, cutting through the buzzing in the room.

"Wuh?" they reply, finally looking away from their arm in the direction of the voice. They see... a Yanma?? They don't own a Yanma. It's hovering close to them and staring- or they think it is, at least. Deklan goes to swat at it; the Yanma dodges easily.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO FUCKING KILL ME?" says the Yanma, and they jolt, startled. But the inflection is so familiar, they could place the name to the voice even while dreaming.

"... Sterling?" they say, squinting their eyes slightly.

The Yanma- Sterling- sighs, dropping onto their blankets. The buzzing sound stops when he does, and they realize it was coming from the wings. "Finally. I've been trying to wake you up for the last ten minutes. We're both Pokémon, for some fucking reason, but I'm less concerned about that and more concerned about the PEOPLE IN THE HOUSE."

Deklan drops a flat "there's what", rising up out of bed. Sterling's comment about being a Pokémon doesn't even register; there's people in their house and there shouldn't be. "How did- what? What? Our Pokémon would've alerted us??? Or so I hope- agh, come on!"

They beeline for the door, Sterling right behind them. They stop in the hall, listening to try and pinpoint where the intruders are. Hushed voices get their attention pretty quickly. "... They're in the kitchen, I think?" they mumble.

"Mm. You want to startle them and then try attacking, or be sneaky about it?" he asks.

"I think your wings would give a stealth mission away... uh." Deklan looks at their arms again, then at the floor at the top of the stairs, which they're very much not standing on. "... Hang on. Am I a fucking REUNICLUS?"

"Shhh! Do you want them to hear us??" Sterling hisses at them.

A tall, peculiarly-dressed stranger appears at the foot of the stairs.

"We've been able to hear you both. You haven't exactly been quiet."

"WHAT THE FUCK," Sterling practically shrieks. Deklan, on the other hand, is focused on the stranger's eyes. They know those eyes very well. They've been around those eyes for over a decade.

"... Serperior?" they ask.

They receive a nod in turn. "Hello, Deklan. Sterling. Despite these... deeply unusual circumstances, it's good to see you both."

"Huh. Interesting. Hi!" They smile at their long-time friend and partner Pokémon.

"What the hell..." Sterling mumbles. "So, wait. You can understand us even while we're like this? And we can understand you?"

"Certainly. Honedge thinks it's likely because all of us are Pokémon to start with, not to mention some of us have been alongside one of you for a very long time." Serperior levels them both with a slightly intense stare. "I am not the only one affected. We've been practicing introductions for a little while. Please do not yell so much when you see the others. Not everybody is handling it as well as I am."

He beckons for them both to follow, then disappears back into the kitchen. Sterling and Deklan exchange a glance, then follow the now-human Pokémon.

"Oh, shit," Deklan says once they enter.

"Good morning!" Cupcake, their Stoutland, greets. "I tried going outside to check and see if anybody came near the house in the night, but my senses are... very dulled in this form."

Deklan offers him a kind smile. They're going to be normal about this. "Aw, thank you. That's appreciated."

He nods, the corners of his mustache lifting up a bit in what they assume is a smile.

"This is Spotty... How are your energy levels today?" their Shiinotic asks.

"Oh, um-" They hadn't been paying attention, really. They look down at their body as best as they can, then spin around slowly in the air once. "... I think it's fine? This is more jarring than anything. I don't have legs to exhaust. And my arms are huge."

She hums, and they're surprised that it sounds so lovely. "That's good... Let me know if that changes. I'm more than happy to continue lending you... well, maybe not energy right now, but my physical support...?"

How nice of her! they think.

"Deklan! Deklan! Hey! It's me, Patch!" their ever-excitable Banette says, bouncing on his feet.

Whether he's smiling or not under his mask, his infectious mood makes them grin, too. "Hey, Patch. You're not getting up to anything too mischievous, are you?"

"Whoooooooo's asking?" he asks with a laugh. "No, no, I'm not. Serperior would have my head if I did right now. Maybe once I'm back to normal, whenever that is!"

Deklan shakes their head in amusement.

They spot the familiar colors of a Honedge's cloth waving at them from behind the counter.

"Uh...?" they ask.

Serperior leans over. "She doesn't particularly like how she looks, so she doesn't want to be seen directly all that much. She'll respond if you say something to her, though."

That makes sense. Deklan thinks of a topic, then starts talking. "Hi, Honedge! Have you given any more thought to the name thing yet?"

"Um. I like the letter L now also."

"Awesome. I'll take it into consideration."

The cloth gives them a thumbs up.

"Tox," Sterling says.

"Sterling," his Toxicroak replies. "... I always thought you'd be something cooler if you were a Pokémon. Like... a Luxray. Or a Rampardos. You're telling me I could punt you?"

He's thrown off so quickly that he barks with laughter before regaining his composure. He's still smiling, though. "Hey. Rude. Try and punt me, I dare you. I've already gotten a pretty good handle on these wings."

She grins, though it looks a little like a smirk, too. "Nah. I don't wanna add to the current issue."

"Fair."

He and Hunter stare at each other silently for a few moments before she speaks. "So this is what being human is like. Feels weird to be so... hairless. And to have thumbs."

"You're telling me. Being able to see everywhere without turning my head is kind of headache-inducing. That's not even getting into the tail or wings," Sterling grumbles. "Your hair does look pretty nice, though. Makes you look just as fierce as you do as a Mightyena."

She bares her teeth at him, a gesture he's learned means that she's happy. "Thanks. I'll take what I can get when I look like this."

"... Hi," Lucky says meekly, peering out from behind Hunter.

"Hey." Sterling lowers himself so that his Dunsparce won't have to look up as much. "... Lots of changes in your life, huh?"

He looks down. "I miss my tent."

Oh, that's an easy fix, actually. "You're welcome to use the blankets on my bed. Honestly, do it whenever."

"... Really?" Lucky looks back to Sterling with a wondrous expression. "That's- thank you...!"

"Of course."

Serperior raps his knuckles against the counter. Once he has everyone's attention, he speaks.

"Well. Now that we've gotten introductions out of the way, what do we do first?"

---

[WELCOME TO THE APRIL FOOL'S EVENT!

We were planning on having this be just for a day, but with the amount of art I made... nah. This will be running UNTIL THE 8TH.

For the duration of the event, the now-human Pokémon are available for questions! You can still ask Sterling and Clobbopus things, but they currently can't understand anybody else aside from their own Pokémon (as well as each other), so anything directed towards them will instead be answered by one of their Pokémon. Tox will be answering most things directed to Sterling, if you want to get answers as to who he is without him evading the questions...

All posts for this event will be tagged with #ally switch gone wrong. Have fun!]

[readerattheend]

Wisdom in the Holy Trinity of Light Novels/Manhwa

I took part in a conversation about wisdom and the evidence of it, and the conclusion we came to at the time was that wisdom is evidenced as a kind of understanding of how to live.

I've seen conversation on this website and elsewhere where people talk about how we often don't know what to do because it is our first time being alive. Wisdom is the learning and experience we obtain as we continue to work and struggle through our 'first time being alive.'

In Lout of the Count's Family, My S-Class Hunters, and Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, the protagonists have been brought up in significantly similar circumstances and they end up taking significantly similar actions. Kim Roksoo, Han Yoojin, and Kim Dokja grew up essentially parentless, or at least abandoned, and through their life experiences they learned extreme hardiness and kindness, not shying away from pain for the sake of the people who are important to them.

However, their wisdom, their maturity, is on different levels. I think we partially see the differences in the amount of pain their sometimes-selfish selfless actions cause their loved ones as a consequence. I would love to hear dissent to reevaluate and deepen my understanding of the characters, but as I understand it right now, here's my analysis of the maturity of each protagonist starting from least wisdom:

Kim Dokja: He collects a family on the pretense of usefulness. He knows that adults should not hurt children, and someone has to stand in the way of the blade pointed at a helpless person's heart. Ultimately, he understands the desire of others to be understood, and he seeks to fill that void because he has seen the decay of his own life in which people constantly misunderstood him with no room for change. However, he cannot hope in anyone understanding him anymore because he hasn't had room to heal, so he fundamentally misunderstands (and therefore hurts) his loved ones, who are so desperate to reciprocate his love. They see that he has given them everything they need except one thing: the need to connect back. Instead, they are left reaching into the empty space he leaves behind, trying their hardest to squint and see the face behind the wall, because Dokja hasn't yet matured in wisdom to understand them.

Han Yoojin: He's only a little better than Dokja, honestly. Yoojin actually gets that his loved ones love him and want to make sure he lives a comfortable life. He is 30 years old and has become an expert at yearning for love, so he recognizes joy when his loved ones care for him. He loves them so much that he wants to keep being with them and continue letting them enjoy his care, too, to the degree that he does not want to die for them. He recognizes death and absence as absolute last-resorts, not as viable solutions like Dokja. However, he's still self-deprecative, still struggles with hating himself enough that even if death isn't an option, extreme agony and mental breakdowns are always on the table. He has spent a lot of time building up resentment against the people who hurt him, but when the people who hurt him were his loved ones, he redirected that resentment at himself. His lack of wisdom comes in that he can't share discomfort with others. He can't delegate agonies. He's willing to subject himself to hellfire, he hasn't developed enough security in his value to ask others to do the same. It stems from extreme outward-facing love, but lacks wisdom in that it is not sustainable with his F-rank self.

Kim Roksoo: He's got to be the best of the three. Although he's in denial about his affection for all of his dear ones, he can't help but show his love in every move and thought. He takes them in, gives them a place and a purpose, showers them in the good he never got while growing up, and reviles anything that would cause them harm. Although he lives in denial, it comes through more as an old wound that he has learned to live with rather than an actively bleeding knife wound that keeps getting stabbed like Yoojin's and Dokja's hurts. Unlike Yoojin and Dokja, he values his own comfort. He is repulsed by death and pain and only undertakes projects that will be uncomfortable for him if he perceives that the reward gets him back 100Xs the value. Because he understands that his discomfort hurts his dear ones, he avoids exposing them to it by avoiding letting it happen in the first place. A lot of accidental pain happens for them because he's living in the denial mindset where he doesn't think to tell them about things, but his choices are not made out of low self-worth like Yoojin's and Dokja's. Out of the three, he is the best at taking his lived experiences and learning how to pursue a life that makes him and his dear ones happy. He's not perfect, but he is the wisest of Holy Trinity.

[one-flower-one-sword]

"You came from a renowned school, an orthodox sect that never traversed the deviant path. Growing up in that sect, you were always told that ascending was the ultimate thing to strive for," Jun Wu continued. "It is very difficult to give up that sort of goal. Falling in with the Ghost Realm was an unfortunate circumstance, an act born of helplessness. Of course you cannot say you are satisfied with your position in the Ghost Realm. It was never what you wanted in the first place."

Yin Yu didn't have enough confidence to deny it. He said weakly, "Chengzhu has shown me grace. He saved me -"

"I know," Jun Wu said. "He even helped you pacify and send off Jian Yu's vengeful spirit after he died during your banishment, am I correct?"

"...Yes," Yin Yu confirmed. "So whether or not I am satisfied with my current position, it's all -"

"That is dissatisfaction," Jun Wu noted. "You are bound by his grace and have nowhere else to go. You are in denial." Yin Yu hung his head and didn't reply.

Vol 7, page 144-145

One of my favorite relationships throughout the novel, even though we get so little information about it, is Yin Yu and Hua Cheng's. Even the above tidbit is mired by the way Jun Wu is trying to manipulate Yin Yu's emotions and how Yin Yu at times responds genuinely and at others plays along to try and find a way to escape.

Once I had finished the novel, I was left wondering why there are so many fandom jokes about Yin Yu being exploited by Hua Cheng when the text seemed to paint a much different picture of what Yin Yu's life and work environment as a god was like versus as the highest ranking ghost city officer. So in this meta I try to examine and compare the two as well as try to draw conclusions about how Yin Yu felt about it all and why.

First of, I think that Yin Yu's longing to return to becoming a god is genuine, since this is what he says after he stops playing along with Jun Wu's manipulation because he's by then gotten enough spiritual energy to attack him:

"I do want to return to the heavens, I do want to be ranked in the top ten!" Yin Yu continued. "But it's completely meaningless if I don't do it on my own! I'm unlucky, I accept that! Admitting that I can't compare isn't that hard!" Vol 7 page 152

Which is interesting, considering this is what he felt like when he was still a god in heaven while Quan Yizhen hadn't yet ascended:

A good while later, [Quan Yizhen] said bluntly, "I don't like it here."

Yin Yu said nothing.

"They think I'm annoying, but I think they're even more annoying," Quan Yizhen continued. "Before, I could train at least sixteen hours a day. Now half the time is taken up by talking and listening to nonsense, by greeting and visiting people. There are people who yell at me and hit me for no good reason, without apologizing, and I can't even fight back. This isn't heaven. I don't like it here."

Yin Yu sighed. "I don't like it here either."

"Then let's go back," Quan Yizhen said.

But Yin Yu only shook his head, "Even though I don't like it here, I want to stay."

Quan Yizhen couldn't understand. "Why do want to stay if you don't like it here?"

Yin Yu was stumped, and chuckled in spite of himself. He didn't know what to say, unable to explain it to him. How could he convey to Quan Yizhen that reaching the Heavenly Capital was the dream of so many people who sought the path of cultivation, the ultimate end goal? Or just how difficult it was for someone his age to achieve ascension?

Vol 5, page 271-272

Yin Yu essentially seemed to be struggling with sunk cost fallacy, where he put his everything into ascending to heaven and so wants to stay there even though it's making him increasingly unhappy. It's interesting that Jun Wu accuses him of being in denial about his unhappiness in the Ghost Realm, when Yin Yu in the past seemed to be in denial about his unhappiness in heaven. Especially since this is what he was being treated like as soon as his power and influence were in decline:

Yin Yu and Jian Yu were seated next to the "Earth Master." Their assigned seats were considered the edge of the banquet. Yin Yu wasn't eating or talking to anyone. [...]

At the other end of the banquet, there was already a large crowd of heavenly officials fighting to greet Quan Yizhen. The surrounding crowd had completely blocked the person at the center from sight. It appeared that this was soon after Quan Yizhen ascended and established his own palace. He was at the height of his popularity in heaven, in contrast to how he was disliked by most of the present court. Although the two were both Martial Gods of the West, he was significantly more prominent than Yin Yu. The attendees all swarmed over, leaving the table where Yin Yu sat quiet and empty.

Vol 5, page 273-275

I've talked about this in my Yin Yu & Quan Yizhen meta as well, how Yin Yu tries to get by in heaven by conforming and submitting to the elitist power structures it's based on:

Quan Yizhen kept going. "They cussed at me first. I don't even know them. They said I was a low-ranking heavenly official and yelled at me for no reason, then they laughed at me and told me to scram and not to block their way [...]" "Are low-ranking heavenly officials below other people?" Quan Yizhen asked.

"No," Yin Yu replied. Was that true? It was obvious he didn't believe his own words, and Quan Yizhen noticed.

Vol 5, page 271

and how it starts to chip away at the kindness and the moral backbone he showed while still in his sect:

"Shidi, the things you're all saying aren't right." The crowd was taken aback. "I'm going to say something unpleasant," Yin Yu continued. "No matter what path we cultivate, talent truly is an incredible thing. And he is not only talented, he is willing to work hard. If you really think Shifu is playing favorites, then let's work harder to keep up with him - maybe even overtake him. And then things like training halls and supplements will naturally be open to everyone. Rather than wasting time being angry at him, your priority should be training harder. Am I right?" [...]

"You really don't need to mind them. You didn't do anything wrong. It's fine like this." Anyone with clear eyes could see that the other disciples couldn't stand Quan Yizhen. They found fault everywhere, and it wasn't because of his big appetite, or because he wasn't a morning person, or because he was inconsiderate and a poor teammate who only cared about showing off. At the end of the day, what they really couldn't stand was this: he was the last to enter the school, but he received the most. Quan Yizhen nodded. "I think so too." Yin Yu patted his shoulder. "Go train! That's what's most important. Don't think about anything unnecessary." [...]

After watching the two scenarios, Xie Lian praised Yin Yu. "San Lang, that subordinate of yours really is a rare character. What a good heart."

Vol 5, page 262 + 264

Everything Yin Yu and Quan Yizhen already struggled with in their sect - the jealousy, the bullying, the competition for resources - is even worse in heaven, which actively encourages the endless competition for devotees and subordinates as well as the exploitation and mistreatment of those of "lower rank". No matter how hard Yin Yu tries to conform to these structures, they steadily wear away at both the way others see him and also how he sees himself:

After closing the gates, Yin Yu's voice grew louder. "Don't say any more! I don't want to hear it! It's very normal for an ascended heavenly official to establish a palace, so he didn't do anything wrong. Since you get irritated just talking about him, why must you constantly bring him up?" "Please don't think that I'm speaking out of turn, but someone must remind you. Yin Yu, the west is only so big, and there are only so many devotees. He's already taken so much. That wolf yao kill should've been yours, but he stole it! Look at the state of you now - your domain's shrinking smaller and smaller. How much do you have left? Can you maintain your standing if this keeps up?" "How is what he's done theft? It's not like he's forcing anyone to worship him at knifepoint - everyone's willing. Besides, that wolf yao..." Yin Yu sighed and said frankly, "I couldn't have defeated it. It was useless praying to me, so of course they went to him." "I just... I'm worried that if this fight continues, he'll win and leave us with nothing," Jian Yu said bitterly. "Fuck, even those lower-ranking officials only care about their own advancement - each one of them coming up with empty excuses to quit and slipping away to serve under other heavenly officials. What a bunch of no-good asshats!" Yin Yu sighed again and sat down on a prayer cushion. "What fight are you talking about...? Why care for such things? Those who want to leave will always leave in the end, and those who want to stay will naturally remain. I didn't ascend to fight for power with anyone, nor squabble over domains, nor quarrel, so why can't you let this go?" Vol 5, page 277

This is a stark contrast not only to the kind of standing he had while he was still in his sect:

Yin Yu pushed them away, urging them to leave. He sighed. "You said yourself that he's insane, so why bother with him?" It was easy to see that Yin Yu's words held weight with his peers at this point in his life. Although the crowd was still upset, they left as told. Vol 5, page 257

But especially to the kind of authority and respect that his position in Ghost City offers him:

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the ghost crowd. They immediately parted, forming a path, as if someone of importance had arrived. Xie Lian came to his senses and saw a tall, black-clad figure walking straight toward him through the path created by the mob. That person yelled, "Settle down. Let him go!" The black-clad figure, like most of the ghosts on the street, wore a mask. It was a funny mask, with a face that was contorted as if it was smiling woefully. The mob muttered under their breath, "It's the Waning Moon Officer!", and they released their hold on Xie Lian at last. It seemed this black-clad figure was someone significant in Ghost City. Vol 2, page 99

It's also worth mentioning at this point that I think people forget that Yin Yu does not always necessarily work alone and has to do everything by himself but that he has his own subordinates:

After taking a moment to contact his subordinates in Ghost City, Yin Yu meticulously reported the general directions of each sighting.

Vol 7, page 48

Another very important thing to take away from the argument between Jian Yu and Yin Yu is that while still a god in the heavens, Yin Yu had no confidence that he'd be able to fight a wolf yao, yet in the amnesiac extra, he shows no signs of hesitancy or fear when Hua Cheng orders him to go after the monster that stole Xie Lian's memories:

He was still trying to process what he'd learned when he heard San Lang say, "I need to attend to him right now and can't leave. Catch that monster before tomorrow night and bring it to me." "Yes, sir. Shall I leave it one last breath?" the man in the ghost mask asked quietly. San Lang put down his brush and glanced at what he'd written, which he then crumbled up and tossed away, apparently unsatisfied. "Leave it a few. Make it spit out what it swallowed, then crush its worthless head to dust. Make it slow and painful." His tone and expression were both quite frightening, yet Xie Lian didn't find him repulsive or alarming. The man in the ghost mask acknowledged San Lang’s order and was about to take his leave, so Xie Lian quickly dodged away and hid. Vol 8, page 226-227

Which leads me to another important point - the amount of trust Hua Cheng shows Yin Yu by the kind of missions he sends him on. If he didn't have a high opinion of Yin Yu's abilities, he would never send him after something like a monster that had eaten Xie Lian's memories, given how incredibly important Xie Lian's wellbeing is to Hua Cheng. There's many other examples too - like how Hua Cheng trusted Yin Yu to help with tricking Shi Qingxuan and Xie Lian into saving "Ming Yi", or how he entrusted the Earth Master Shovel to him. But Hua Cheng also does not ask the impossible of him - when they're all trapped in heaven and Yin Yu started to dig tunnels with the Earth Master Shovel to try and free Xie Lian and the others so they could recover and become strong enough to escape, Hua Cheng cautions them against it because he correctly deduces that "you'll be seeking your own deaths if you try to break out under Jun Wu's watch." (Vol 7, page 130) Even though Yin Yu is with Xie Lian, Hua Cheng doesn't expect him to get Xie Lian out on his own, because he knows how powerful and ruthless Jun Wu is.

For extra emphasis, let's compare Hua Cheng’s regard for Yin Yu and his abilities to the way Jun Wu never even deemed to speak to Yin Yu while he was a god because he was so very much "beneath" him:

"My dear Yin Yu, I do not think I have ever chatted with you like this before. Isn't that right?"

"I guess not..." Yin Yu replied cautiously.

Even back when he was the martial god who ruled the west, his base of believers wasn't strong, his merits were few, and his rank wasn't impressive. He wasn't the lowest ranked of the heavenly officials in the Upper Court, but he was still below average, so he'd had almost no opportunities to interact with the Heavenly Emperor - the highest of the high.

Vol 7, page 142-143

Keeping all of that in mind, it's very interesting that Jun Wu tries to tempt Yin Yu to his side by offering him the position of his right-hand man:

Finally, Yin Yu asked, "In the Upper Court, I... What... would my position be?"

"Ling Wen will be my left hand, and you shall be my right," Jun Wu said. "There will be none above you besides me."

Vol 7, page 149

When that really is a position Yin Yu already holds - he's Hua Cheng's right-hand man. Now, one could argue that Yin Yu does have less power and prestige in the position of a ghost realm officer than he would have as a god - there's no believers worshipping him - but I think the point is that he doesn't answer to anyone but Hua Cheng, that there's no one else competing with him for that position, no one else among his subordinates that Hua Cheng puts this much trust in, and that there's no one else besides Hua Cheng himself who is demonstrated to hold so much authority and respect in Ghost City. And with all of the above, it's really important to keep in mind that Ghost City is the one single autonomous place in all the three realms and that its Chengzhu is the one single being whose power and influence is rivaled only by the Heavenly Emperor himself.

And said Heavenly Emperor damn well knows Yin Yu is Hua Cheng's right-hand man, which is I believe a big part of the reason he tries to flip Yin Yu by dangling this exact position in front of him. As I've talked about before in other posts, Jun Wu hates Hua Cheng deeply for various reasons. There's the whole thing where Hua Cheng is the unmistakable proof of a believer that never leaves their god, the very thing Jun Wu felt entitled to but didn't receive. But in this case I think him wanting to tempt Yin Yu away from Hua Cheng's side is about how bitter and salty Jun Wu feels about the fact that Hua Cheng holds more sway over all three realms than he does - evidenced by the way Hua Cheng doesn't just have followers in the Ghost Realm but the Human Realm as well, and even the gods, while they fear him, also can't help but admire him and strike deals with him in secret (Vol 1, page 157-160). That Yin Yu, a banished god, would (just like Xie Lian) rather be loyal to Hua Cheng than Jun Wu - that must have angered him a lot because it's something he'd take quite personally.

This is, I think, also the root of why Yin Yu has so much trouble seeing his position in the Ghost Realm for what it really is and why he still longs to be a god despite how unhappy he was in the heavens and how badly he was treated there - he can't see past the prejudices about the Ghost Realm in general and Ghost City in particular that he has internalized. Prejudices that Jun Wu actively weaponizes every time he speaks to Yin Yu, by repeatedly insinuating that being a ghost city officer is a shameful thing to be:

"Surely you do not actually like being a mere pawn in the Ghost Realm?" [...] "Falling in with the Ghost Realm was an unfortunate circumstance, an act borne of helplessness." [...] "You are bound by his grace and have nowhere else to go." [...]

Vol 7, page 144

Which makes it all the more satisfying when Yin Yu tricks Jun Wu (or attempts to, at least) and ultimately rejects both his offer and his authority, and also calls Jun Wu out on the way he tried to manipulate him:

"My Lord... My... No, not My Lord! You! Why must you keep reminding me of that?! Why do you speak like you actually understand me?!"

Vol 7, page 151

Jun Wu is deeply enraged by his defiance and rejection - in general, but also because it reminds him of Xie Lian's defiance against him:

Jun Wu turned around with a casual sweep of his hand. "Exhilarating. You and Xianle must get along well."

Vol 7, page 152

This brings me to my final point - which is that choosing kindness and righteousness even in the face of criticism and rejection, of personal loss and suffering, is what Jun Wu hates the most, and what ties Xie Lian and Hua Cheng, Quan Yizhen and Yin Yu, and Yin Yu and Hua Cheng together. Hua Cheng was drawn to Xie Lian because Xie Lian chose to treat him kindly when everyone else abused and rejected Hua Cheng and pressured Xie Lian to do the same. Similiar things can be said for Quan Yizhen and Yin Yu, since Yin Yu was the one to ask his sect's shifu to take Quan Yizhen in when he came across him as a seemingly abandoned child, and who repeatedly defended Quan Yizhen from the other sect members' judgement and bullying, even though this earned Yin Yu their ire as well. Yin Yu, too, values kindness very highly:

Yin Yu sobbed. "If I wasn't destined to be perfect, I at least wanted to be perfectly kind. But... I couldn't even manage that." (Vol 7, page 156)

Therefore, though we get very little information on their first meeting, I think kindness is also what drew Yin Yu to Hua Cheng, what made him stay loyal to him even when tempted/threatened by Jun Wu, and what made him go right back to working for him after the events of the main story. Because while we get only this one mention, I think a great deal can be gleaned from it:

"Chengzhu has shown me grace. He saved me - "

"I know" Jun Wu said. "He even helped you pacify and send off Jian Yu's vengeful spirit when he died during your banishment, am I correct?"

Vol 7, page 144

It's not just he helped me, it's he saved me. And not only that, Hua Cheng, in a sense, saved Jian Yu as well by helping him move on, which I would assume was simply because Yin Yu wished for his friend to let go of his resentment and not become stuck as a vengeful spirit. What I think is really important to keep in mind here is that not only was Hua Cheng under no obligation to save Yin Yu, he had, objectively speaking, nothing to gain from it. He Xuan was already in the heavens by then and giving Hua Cheng intel. and Hua Cheng didn't show off that he had a banished god working for him either - he let Yin Yi wear a mask, and for years, no one (except apparently Jun Wu) knew where Yin Yu was or what had happened to him, evidenced by the way Quan Yizhen kept looking and kept asking about him to no avail (Vol 5 page 235).

We don't really get Hua Cheng's side of the story but I think the fact that he doesn't speak about it speaks for itself - aside from keeping things close to his chest in general, he tends to not talk about the things he does out of kindness and/or his own sense of justice. We see this for example when Xie Lian only finds out why the group of cultivators is after Hua Cheng when he overhears them saying that Hua Cheng chose to shelter both the pig spirit and the prostitute ghost who had chosen to take revenge on humans who had used their positions of power to hurt others (Vol 5 page 28-29).

This is therefore more speculation than analysis, but I can imagine that this whole scenario - a god with a good heart who gets abandoned by the heavens with only a vengeful spirit by his side - even though the exact circumstances that led to it differed, might have held enough similarities to what Hua Cheng personally witnessed of Xie Lian's banishment that it would bring out that same urge to help and protect in Hua Cheng. The fact that Yin Yu says Hua Cheng saved him really can't be overstated in my opinion, considering that Hua Cheng, understandably, has usually nothing but feelings of either indifference or hatred for all of the gods aside from Xie Lian and the Rain Master.

To sum up - the power structures in heaven encourage workplace harassment, bullying, and endless competition for resources and support, and this causes Yin Yu not only increased stress, isolation, and unhappiness, but also puts a strain on his inherent kindness and righteousness as he starts to give in under the pressure to conform. By contrast, his position in Ghost City is dependant on nothing but his loyalty to Hua Cheng, on Yin Yu's own choice to stay with him, and offers him an unprecedented amount of respect and trust. It is heaven, really, that is repeatedly shown to mistreat and exploit its officials, especially those of lower rank, not Hua Cheng.

[jasonfender]

Falsettos time study

"It's about time, it's about-"

Falsettos has been on my mind the last week which got me wondering, we never got actual dates of certain events in the musical. I've spent my day trying to figure out the dates of dates from act two. Please remember that this are just my HCs and you are free to have your own opinion on it.

Doctor Charlotte is reading HIV/AIDS coverage in the media during Something Bad is Happening. We know the year is 1981 in act two, but let’s try and narrow it down to months. The first coverage in the media was around July 1981. The New York Times came out with a report called Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals on July 3rd, marking one of the very first articles about the disease ever. Something that is essential to the date is to know how people looked at the disease. When Charlotte pulls Marvin aside to speak to him, she says that it’s something that kills, it’s contagious and it spreads from one man to another. I think it’s safe to assume that the illness is assumed to only target gay men at this point. On September 24th 1982, the term AIDS was used for the first time, starting to abandon the view it only affects homosexuals. This means the events of the musical had to be before September 24th 1982 and after July 3rd 1981. Dr. Charlotte’s got multiple magazines when talking about the newfound illness so it had to be a little after July 3rd 1981, but not months after that certain date. Seeing she’s a doctor, she’s on top of the news concerning illness. It can't be more than give or take a month. 

Something else that’s essential in this study is Jason’s age. In act two it is specified that the boy is 12 and a half, this is unusual to me seeing a boy Bar Mitzvahs at age 13. Let’s say Jason is born in 1968, making him twelve/thirteen in 1981. Looking at the clothes during Days Like This, we can assume the weather is a little chilly, I’d guess around the fall season, if you look at the fashion in 1981, this could be correct. Fall is from September to December, I think it’s around the middle seeing it’s not hot enough for the characters to be wearing shirts and shorts, but not cold enough to wear warm sweaters. Most of them are wearing layers so they could’ve adjusted to the weather. I think it’s fair to say Days Like This takes place in the month October. We know Whizzer doesn’t have much time left during the song so his stay in the hospital wasn’t more than a few weeks if not days. At the beginning of act two (Falsettoland/About Time), I’d say it’s in the early months of spring, basing that speculation off of Whizzer’s outfit, a pink polo, jeans and a blue sweater. I think it’s safe to say this is April. If Jason is 12 and a half in April 1981, it means he turned thirteen in October. One should have a Bar Mitzvah on a Saturday closest to their birthday. In 1981, all Saturdays in October were: October 3, October 10, October 17, October 24 and October 31 so his Bar Mitzvah would’ve taken place on one of those dates.

Conclusion

Something Bad is Happening takes place around July 1981

Act two starts around April 1981

Jason was born in 1968 (Making him 56/57 today)

Jason’s birthday and Bar Mitzvah was in October

Jason’s Bar Mitzvah could’ve been on October 3, 10, 17, 24 or 31.

(NOTE!! My last wish is to offend religion, so if I got any customs wrong, please tell me)

[billyvell]

Ok so I have many thoughts about Bain coming out. Mostly positive.

For context, I’m not (wasn't?) a Just B fan, but I was vaguely familiar with them due to Geonu.

First of all, it’s incredible that this happened. He's the first male idol in an active group to come out publicly. In a way he's the only like, traditional mainstream idol out?? Like Katseye is not fully k-pop, Holland and Lioness are more like indie artists, and the other ones I've heard about are people who aren’t active in the industry anymore.

And for that other boy about to debut, well, I feel like idols "with a past" who have it kinda buried and just never talk about it after debut is a thing that has happened a few times and is a bit different from coming out after you've actually debuted in the industry.

So, basically, this is really fucking monumental, for an active idol to come out during their career. I think the way it has happened, just sort of naturally on the stage of one of their shows, feels really quite intimate and special.

Like in another situation I might've found the "he felt safe and comfortable to share it with onlybs" comments kinda corny, but in this case it's literally what happened!!!

And I love that like, looking more into it, he wasn’t about that closet at all lol. He was doing Gaga (Born This Way of all songs!), Britney, Pussycat Dolls covers. With a rainbow fan. He was really feeling free and confident in a way that actually saying it was more like just a natural conclusion. Like everyone who was there knew already lol. Like not to minimize the impact of actually saying it, because it's HUGE in a industry like k-pop. But I just love that he wasn’t really hiding it for a while now.

I'm pleasantly surprised to not have seen any negative reactions so far. And while I wouldn't say I’m surprised at it, seeing the other members support him has made me emotional. I mean, I can't actually watch the videos of it in full, cause it gives me anxiety, but still. The bits I've seen, their comments on his post... I don’t think some people really understand how much that means.

Personally ever since like puberty I have always hated being in all male spaces, groups, teams or whatever. Being the one gay guy in a group of straight guys is not easy. It has always made me extremely self-conscious. Ever since I got into k-pop I have imagined how it would be for someone in a boygroup. So to have people, your friends and members and co-workers support you and love you, in a place like Korea... Like if this is really true behind the scenes, in my mind he is already lucky just for that.

Like yeah, it should be the bare minimum, but in the world we live in, that they live in, it’s not.

I am also (unfortunately, cause just focusing on the personal side of it feels much better) thinking a lot about the implications and the broader issue. Cause in a way, I feel like there’s a certain "nugu privilege" working here, in the sense that if a more famous idol, from the big 3 or Hybe or just a few tiers above Just B in popularity came out, this would be bigger news in korea and get much more backlash. Like I don't think they could just say they’re LGBT at a concert and face no negative repercussions.

I see the people talking about the clout they’re getting and even him "doing it for clout", and I'm like... Well, first of all I do not think this is the case cause it felt a lot like a genuine moment of feeling safe around his fans but... Well, I fucking wish it would become common for at least nugu-ish idols to come out and get some clout for it LOL. Like unless they were lying there would be nothing wrong with that!

Honestly how amazing is it that we're even in a place where international k-pop fandom (and it being mostly queer or queer supportive) is so relevant that an idol coming out can give them positive clout? A few years ago he would've most likely been kicked out of the group ASAP. Now they would essentially tank the group forever if they did that.

It really makes me wonder how people in the company are thinking, like do they see how much this is actually helping rather than inconveniencing them?? Did they know he would do that? I kinda don’t think so, and if that’s the case I’m thankful that he doesn’t seem to be in any trouble.

Honestly tnough, the impact on the industry aside, just him being able to be out and happy and have a career and supportive members and fans is already so wonderful. Even if it doesn’t change anything for anyone else, it is all worth it just for Bain himself!

I hope he gets to have a happy career, that they get to last at least up to the 7 years point with him in it (but hopefully more), that this doesn’t change too much for him in general, that he continues to be supported by the people around him for as long as they’re together, for as long as he's in the industry.

[pumpkinpietimb]

Foolish and Cellbit's whole conversation in the castle was definitely interesting, and I'm gonna get into that in another post later (maybe), but what I want to talk about right now is the conversation that happened BEFORE that. The one with Foolish and Max.

Now, for context, Max confronted Foolish on whether or not he was working for the Feds. And followed it up with a question that, if given the chance, would Foolish do a task for them again. To which Foolish replied with, 'It depends, there's probably a 70% chance I would, yeah.' Which resulted to Max kicked Foolish out of the Theory Bros.

Then, this conversation happened.

Foolish: Listen, Max. I understood. I understood that the moment I made that arrest that- that maybe things would change. That it would be tough to play, like, you know, all sides all the time. And I understood that going into it. So, if you don't want me to be part of the Theory Bros anymore, I understand.

[...]

Foolish: I think that might be one of my biggest problems- or positives, depending on how you look at it. But I feel like I'm the type of person to say I don't really have any enemies. And that's where maybe people don't see it through my eyes the same way.

Maximus: Okay. Okay. You clearly don't see who the real enemy is. You need to accept the reality, Foolish. We are trapped here. On the Island.

Foolish: Hmm, so while we're trapped here, why not just, you know, let's all have some fun. Play the game. You know?

Maximus: What game? What game, Foolish?

Foolish: Does this whole crazy thing not seem like a game to you?

Now, there's a lot to unpack in this conversation. But there's also a lot of information we already knew.

We knew that Foolish was aware that his actions would have consequences, and he's accepted that. He's ready to face any repercussions that would fall on him because of what he did. We knew that he would do it again if given the chance and for the right prices. He's never failed to be transparent about that. We also knew that he's been playing for all sides since the beginning, that he never really saw anyone as his 'enemy' and that he saw everything in a different lens from everyone else. And finally, we already knew that he saw this whole Island situation as a big twisted game that he has to play.

But we knew these things as the audience. We knew these things because Foolish talks to himself a lot. We knew these things because we SEE what Foolish sees. This conversation was essentially Foolish trying to make Max see it too. But as we can see, it didn't quite work out as he hoped.

Maximus: Foolish, this is not a video game. This is real life. And you are becoming part of the Federation. The Federation wants you happy, you know. Smiling. But when the time comes, Foolish, you're gonna lose everything. Because the Federation takes it all.

[...]

Maximus: Foolish, remember. I have your card (the Theory Bros membership card they made up on the spot lol). If you wanna get it, think about everything you do with the Federation.

Foolish: Listen, I'll come back, and I'll take that card from your hand when I know in my heart... that I'm done playing games like I have been.

And that's interesting, isn't it? That after this conversation, Foolish immediately had another conversation with Cellbit. A conversation that danced around the subject and tested the waters instead of straightforward like he did with Max.

Through this conversation with Max, Foolish came to some kind of conclusion. What conclusion, you ask? I don't know. But that conclusion led him to talk to Cellbit. It made him try and understand better. It made him play mind games with Cellbit. It made him SERIOUS. As brief as that seriousness was, it was still RARE. It was almost impossible to see the side that Foolish showed today.

I don't know if I'm making sense right now, but it's the middle of the night and I have Foolish in the head. Today was filled with so much Foolish lore that I can't sleep unless I talk about it kdbdjsh

[typicallyriarkle]

Can you tell me how Damen would’ve reacted had Laurent propositioned him on their walk outside of the cafe? Like what would his answer have been if Laurent just straight up asked him to touch him?

omg I'm so glad you asked bc I've spent wayyy too much time thinking about this. please settle in... you already know I have no clue how to be succinct.

I can see a couple ways it could've gone and I think they all hinge on Damen's headspace. At this specific point in the story, he and Laurent have been "fake" courting for a while and things have been progressing inch by inch. Every time they see each other, they fall in deeper. I think it's important to note, Laurent is the one constantly harping on performing and how fake everything is. So, Damen, even if he does want more, takes this in stride as much as he can. He thinks Laurent sees whatever is growing between them as platonic and Damen can live with that. This was never about courting anyway, it was about helping Laurent's reputation. Which is not doing too hot, btw. I mean, just the day before Lady Siffloter published an issue claiming that Damen found Laurent faulty and unmarry-able. To which Laurent responded by telling Damen he felt collared by him and that he thought their ruse was essentially useless. So like any sane man, Damen offers to marry Laurent to stop the rumours, to which Laurent responds by calling Damen stupid. You can see how this is all compounding for him. If Damen had any inkling of Laurent having romantic feelings for him, those have now been squashed and to top it all off, their courtship isn't even working anymore. I mean, it's working, they're a literal perfect match, but it's not achieving its goal.

In chapter nine, Laurent observes "if he asked Damen for a drink of liquid gold, Damen would do everything in his power to procure it for him." He comes to the conclusion that Damen would give him nearly anything he wanted and he's honestly not far off. At this point of the story, Damen really is that down bad. The problem is Damen has it in his head that what Laurent's wants is for their ruse to be over. As much as Laurent thinks Damen can read him, he doesn't actually know anything. He's guessing and Laurent - lovely, wonderful, stubborn Laurent - is full of contradictions.

And so, there he is, waiting for Laurent in the cold, a million thoughts pinging around his head. If Laurent came up to him and interrupted his racing thoughts by completely unpromptedly saying "I think we should bang" Damen would probably be entirely dumbfounded. He'd be speechless. I fear, his brain would cease function. All the little details he has stowed away in the folder labelled "Laurent" in his brain would have to rearrange themselves to account for that one sentence. He might even think Laurent was joking.

So here's option one. Damen's brain breaks and Laurent takes his hesitation as rejection and because he handles rejection so very well he tells Damen to forget he ever said anything, leaves, then hides from him for as long as he can get away with. Quasi-breakup shenanigans ensue. And by shenanigans I mean Laurent regrets every word he's ever said and Damen doesn't fair much better. It's pretty similar to the timeline we have now, only in this version Damen has more information and could make a more informed guess about Laurent's wants and adjust accordingly. I see him giving him some space, but eventually he hunts him down at Acquitart House and they talk about where Damen's hesitation came from and really the only way I see anything getting resolved is a confession of Damen's feelings but then who's to say how Laurent would react to any of that? Also, that just seems too simple lol.

Second option is that before Laurent can start jumping to conclusions, Damen manages to sputter out some form of a coherent response. Something along the lines of "we can't talk about this here." Because they are in public, for Christs sake, and after Lady Siffloter's last issue he's overly aware of any other rumours about their courtship getting out, so he can't exactly give an enthusiastic yes right there in the street. And you know what Laurent will do with that? Yes, take it as a rejection!! Rinse and repeat the previous scenario's outcome.

Third option, Damen respectfully declines. Even though it is physically painful for him to do so. Because, hear me out, as much as he wants to say yes, in their society it's really not that simple. He doesn't subscribe to the whole purity thing, but if it were to get out that they fucked while unmarried, Laurent would be ruined and that's the exact thing they've both been trying to avoid this entire time. He respects Laurent too much to be the reason he doesn't get what he wants, and unfortunately, Damen thinks Laurent wants to be married. He won't stand in that way of that (or he'll try not to at least - easier said than done.) This is my favourite option because I think Laurent can work with this. It's not an enthusiastic yes, but it's not a rejection either - it's an excuse. And excuses can be argued against. If Laurent set himself to wearing Damen down I really don't see his resolve lasting that long. Sure, he's got a lot of honour, but he's also insanely attracted to Laurent. He wants him bad. And that would only be heightened with the knowledge that Laurent wants him back. Like I said, as far as Damen is concerned, what Laurent wants he gets. It all hinges on how the communication lines are looking like. So they'd fuck and from there we'd divulge into a fake-dating/friends with benefits pining situation that might honestly be more frustrating than whatever shit I've got going on in the story rn. Don't tempt me with this one, I might have to come back to this idea in another fic one day.

There's also the second part to this third option where Damen responds in a less sincere, more flirtatious way and says something along the lines of "marry me and I'll touch you however you want." Which is a fun one, but I don't think Laurent would go for it. Believe it or not, he doesn't actually want to marry Damen. He doesn't want to marry anyone. For all of Auguste's faults, he's right about one thing - what they're doing is cruel. Marrying someone to save themselves is not exactly right but it can be excused when you think of the transactions of the marriage mart. Who cares if Laurent uses Torveld or Moreau, they're using him right back, neither of them have ever seen him as a person anyway. But Damen? Damen who believes in love and marriage as a partnership? Auguste's best friend and the first person outside of their family that Laurent has ever enjoyed? Yeah, Laurent has no desire to be that cruel. It doesn't matter how strongly he feels about Damen, he will always need to use the person he marries as a way to save the Acquitart name. I don't think his desire for Damen could possibly trump that.

ummm, so short answer: Damen would say no? And if he said yes, it'd be with the caveat of marriage? Which Laurent would then refuse? And I'm sure you're wondering, if that's the case, how in the world are they going to end up together? To that I say: imagine how all this might change if Damen had to watch Laurent on the verge of an engagement with the most wooden man alive and Laurent thought he might never see Damen again after he departs to Ios. Desperation can change a lotttt.

And on that cryptic note, thanks for reading this long ass response. I so appreciate you caring enough to be curious <33333

[kushanna]

Excited to hear your full thoughts on episode 8. Discussing it is a bit confusing due to the fan reception, with the initial reaction being people being mad about stupid shit like the goats or the answers to the mystery not being told explicitly (which is?? Episode 7 is right there??), then the reaction to that reaction was people basically saying that the first group just didn't understand it (harkening back the the who "without love it cannot be seen" idea), and now we have a newer wave of fans who are like "wait, but there is actual issues with episode 8 (umineko in general but especially episode 8), can we discuss those?"

So yeah, it's weird

i'm still processing ep. 8, but i definitely belong to that last group lmao.

disclaimer, i will mostly be complaining under the cut, so if anyone who comes across this is someone who enjoys ep. 8 or is tired of my complaining, maybe don't read it? cause why make yourself upset? i'm saying this cause i have 0 intention of arguing over a mild difference of opinion, peace and love on planet earth.

i think my main problem with it is something i said a couple of times here, that i think ep. 8 works on extremes instead of finding a conclusion that's actually nuanced. personally, i'll always prefer a hard truth to a comfortable lie (always keep this in mind), and i'm not talking about ange here, about what's best for ange, cause it's been shown pretty solidly that the hard truth would be the worst thing to her. but the possible outcomes the story presents are all extreme. the story quite literally ends with her reopening and remodeling fukuin house after the rokkenjima mansion (lol), with a brand new beatrice portrait in place (lol). as if this is a good thing? as if the woman depicted in that portrait hadn't been forced to live her short life without an identity for herself, in distress, as if that portrait isn't a symbol of suffering of more than one generation, all because of the whims of the local terrible man and the accomplices who went along with it? as if it makes any of it better? "it's [insert some sentimental reason for the new portrait to exist]", i don't like it ❤️ it's a symbol of more than that, but i'm not finding the correct words right now. in any case, i don't think it's a good, positive symbol and i can't help seeing beatrice's existence, be it kuwadorian or sayo's, as something that came to be with suffering, because of suffering. the whole remodeling fukuin house situation is kinda distasteful to me (does ange need to build a new rokkenjima if she's moved on?). i do enjoy ange becoming a writer and using that to process her trauma and tragedy, but none of the presented outcomes for her are satisfying to me.

greatly dislike the halloween party. i'm going to talk mostly about eva and kinzo cause eva is closely related to ange and kinzo is a detestable man, but everything i say goes for the whole narrative of the ushiromiyas as a Family™ (hate that). anyway, i really can't accept anything where kinzo, a man who sexually abused and gaslighted (hate how overused this word is, but that's essentially what he did) his daughter, which is something the story discusses very briefly and justifies it with the 💫 great love 💫 in his heart, a man who was at one point described by one of his daughters as a "symbol of terror"... i really can't accept him being presented as anything other than what he is. we gotta draw the line somewhere. "but we know nothing for certain, he might have been a loving father/grandfather" alright, but i don't personally endorse this ❤️

even if you believe that eva intended to be a good parental figure to ange when she first adopted her and that her choices were made thinking of what was best for ange, she never came even close to succeeding in being good to her and those choices backfired in other ways. and i say this not putting any moral judgment on eva's choice of not telling her the truth, cause life sucks and shit's hard, and understanding that eva herself was pretty much deteriorating under her own trauma and grief. really don't know what else to say regarding this, i think i exhausted most of my words at this point, but, just to be clear, i don't think eva loved ange, i think love is a very strong word to use even considering her well-meaning choices. and i don't think she needed to love ange to have been a better person for her? and to not have abused her? eva didn't need to love her, she just needed to do the right thing, those two factors don't necessarily have to be correlated for me. just like i don't think ange needed to see/call eva a mother (at one point in ep. 4 while ange was in rokkenjima she was saying something along the lines of "aunt eva was lashing out at me cause she was in a lot of pain and had no release for it. i still hate her" and honestly? that was better than what ep. 8 tried to do, ange went from "that bitch killed everyone and i'm going to prove it" at the beginning of 4 to "my aunt lost her whole family and could never cope with it" towards the end, it really did seem to me like the beginning of her coming to terms with what had happened between them now that eva was dead and couldn't hurt her anymore, and coming to terms with it in a way that might have allowed her to move forward without completely changing the way she felt about eva all of a sudden, without changing the way eva's actions affected her, and without all that whitewashing sentimentality of ep. 8. but i digress). i also don't think it's necessary to have eva painted as a mother to ange, who was "always on her side", for us to have sympathy for her. let eva beatrice be funny. and if someone doesn't have sympathy for eva and hates her guts, i doubt the over sentimentality will do much to change their feelings. but i digress again. turns out i had not exhausted my words lmao i'm so fucking upset.

"but it's just about ange and what she personally needs" and i'm glad it works for other people ❤️ the narrative does agree with it, though, and like, fine, that's a choice? but again, extremes, and there's a whole world of possibilities between the trick ending and the magic ending. i don't disagree with the overral message of "there's no point in digging something that's quite literally dead and buried cause no good will come of it, try to live your life from now on" and with trying to look back at her family fondly cause doing the opposite will do her no good. but a whole world of possibilities between being resentful or hateful or whatever of people who are dead, prying into their miserable lives to find something you want, not being able to move on from tragedy and trauma that's consuming you and... having to do a complete 180° and overwrite people's terrible actions as the only way to find closure. or something. other ways of coming to terms with what you've gone through, with where you came from and with what other people might have supposedly done. you can tell the story loves ange, but i feel like it loves her in this sort of infantilizing way. it also continuously puts blame on her when she's completely free of guilt. it boils down to me being frustrated with the writing, so in-story justifications do nothing for me.

there's another thing, and i'm probably going to make a post talking about it more extensively at some point, but there's a huge shift for me... like, thematically or something, between eps. 1 – 5 and 6 – 8 in terms of some characters and elements in the story. it might put people off, it put me off a little. beato and battler's game on the questions arc had a very clear basis of "prove to me that humans can do it, that magic is not needed" and then when you jump to the end of the answers arc it's almost like the narrative is saying "oh, you don't believe in magic? you think it's a trick? how sad for you" lol excuse me? that's how it felt with the magic vs. trick endings, like, yeah, it was giving me a choice, but one of those was clearly being presented as the "superior" one. also something similar with the red truths? in my experience it went from "red truths are absolute" to "find the gaps in the red truths" in the questions arc, which is fair, but when it came to the end of the answers arc... bernkastel was using red truths and i was barely taking them into consideration cause it seemed mostly meaningless to me. from the moment she said the "this is all truth–" on the ep. 7 tea party, i knew it would mean nothing. huge shift.

there were many things i liked in ep. 8, i made a sort of list some days ago, but the overarching ange narrative really did almost nothing for me. i'm willing to blame myself and say that yeah, i completely misunderstood all the inherent elements of the story ❤️ on a last note, i personally like to have a clearer resolution to the mystery, but i did most of my reading thinking we wouldn't have a clear resolution and i was completely fine with that as well. i also understand people who would have preferred not to have a resolution. what i'm saying is i'm very satisfied with the mystery itself and the layers of nebulousness we ended up with are perfectly alright by me.

[whatifyoulivelikethat]

Do you think Jungkook is the type to want to make his partner cum first during sex? Would you let him do that or would you want to make him cum first?

Decent people consider their partner's pleasure during sex. I think it's always beneficial to talk about expectations, ideas, preferences, etc. You should be able to cum come to conclusions about what you want, what is possible, and what to compromise on.

I don't believe keeping tabs on orgasms is a healthy practice. But I can understand that some need that goalpost to have something to work towards. I just say to keep in mind that sex is more than just the orgasm.

Most women don't orgasm through penetration. If vaginal penetration is occurring, I generally advise helping the vagina climax first as it would help with the natural lubricant. But everyone is different, so preferences need to be communicated. Plus, there's no fun in planning everything. Having lube on hand is always great.

If we are talking about me, I rarely plan anything. I can orgasm from penetration (easily if I'm into the other person). Jungkook would probably prefer me to cum first before him because his one goal would be to at least last until I orgasm once. It wouldn't be easy. XD If I'm blowing him, I would probably make him cum first since I want to swallow. But there are obv other ways to orgasm without him using his dick (hands, mouth, toys, etc) so I wouldn't really mind the order. I would let him choose whatever order he wants but that's because I like him. It's the least I can do since I'm going to make him collapse from exhaustion. :) I prefer multiple orgasms (3 on the low end, 8 on the high end) with low refractory period. I don't count my own orgasms unless I actively think about doing so. If a dick is taking a really long time to orgasm... either there's edging involved or the simple fact of that dick just not that into me (which means I am not meant to be long term partners with that person).

I want to mention that I might be in a unique position, however. I don't consider my orgasm to be an essential part of a good sex session. Making my partner orgasm from my sexual ability is my primary objective during sex. I don't mind if they forgot to get me off (or can't bc they're incapacitated, hehe). I feel there's a difference between focusing solely on making me cum versus actual consideration of my pleasure. I appreciate those that want to do what I like and genuinely enjoy my intensity. I probably get more pleasure dominating their bodies anyway. I mean, what? Anyway, I'm only saying that I can tell when someone who worships appreciates me is doing their best, so I won't keep tabs on whether or not I orgasmed.

For example, if I made Jungkook cum 8 times and I came 0 times, I'm not going to get sulky that he forgot to make me cum since he already gave up years off his life to try and keep up with me. :D

[paragonrobits]

so i was reading some complaints about how Marceline is only really present in Fionna And Cake in a brief snippet and then only in AUs, and then it occured to me: Marceline not being around in an active way is necessary for the plot to happen.

Essentially, the plot of Fionna And Cake might be summarized as 'longing the magical life, Fionna and Cake flee from a Lawful Neutral cosmic killjoy and enlist the help of Simon Petrikov who agrees to become Ice King again, but is explicitly not telling them about what this is going to do to him'. The story is essentially about Simon WANTING to become Ice King while at the same time really not wanting to do that at all, pressuring himself into losing himself once more because he thinks its the only way for him to be needed by anyone anymore.

If Marceline is around, this doesn't happen. She is Simon's biggest reason for staying; she's the happiest part of his life, the most fulfilling and rewarding part of his life. It comes up, time and time again, that in the end becoming Ice King was the best thing to happen to Simon despite all its misery, suffering and tragedy because he otherwise would never have met her; he wouldn't have survived the great mushroom war, or the horrors following it, and would have died long before ever meeting her.

And the show details how INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT Simon raising her really was. The Marceline we know was shaped, by a massive degree, by Simon; his example of self-sacrifice, him letting his mind disintegrate by inches, him going out of his way to help a complete stranger and a monstrous child horrifying by the standards of the setting, all implciitly RIGHT after Marceline's mother died and Marceline had resigned herself to being a scary monster that drives everyone away. And then here came a stranger out of the blue, and spent the next few years telling her that yes, she DID matter, she was a person, and that he cared about her so much he destroyed himself so she wouldn't get hurt... or perhaps because her only means of defending herself, ripping out the souls of others, hurts who she is.

It's not a nice kind of comfort. But it still shaped her into someone willing to be a hero in her own way.

And this goes both ways; we can see that the proverbial straw for Simon is him calling Marceline and concluding that she doesn't need him anymore. It's only after this he starts trying to contact Golbetty, with the potential doom that may befall him. If Marceline doesn't need him, he seems to think, he doesn't matter. The need to be needed runs deep in Simon's character; its what draws him to help Fionna and Cake, and the worlds they visit seem to impart a lesson to him on how he matters more than he thinks he does, both by the things he's done and what he means to others; that he's not as bad a person as he thinks he is, or that Marceline would be fine without him.

So. If Marceline talks more to Simon, ESPECIALLY after he resolves to throw his progress away and let his mind be lost all over again just so he doesn't have to hurt anymore... well, his character arc in this series is about accepting that he's actually ok, the way he is, and to gain perspective on his feelings that he doesn't belong anywhere (and the answer is that he DOES, more than he knows). Marceline doesn't inhibit that, but she WOULD make it harder for it to happen, arguably at the cost of sidelining Simon's character arc here. He would pretend that okay he doesnt want to be Ice King even if he DOES still intend to go through with it, and not in the same way as when he comes to the conclusion that he ultimately does.

If Marceline is there, he doesn't think those thoughts, and he won't come to the same conclusion.

And at the same time, despite not being there, Marceline's presence hangs over the entire show in Simon's character arc. She is the best thing in his life; his greatest success, the most purely positive and happy part of his life. It can't be understated how significant Marceline is; as miserable as Ice King was, she was someone he cared about even if he didn't understand why anymore. Ice King shows a remarkable amount of restraint in context, but it becomes a lot more obvious whenever she's involved, or in danger; a care so deep and ingrained that when Ice King was often pretty callous, whenever she was upset you could see flickers on his face, genuine distress rising up from some forgotten memory or part of who he is.

Marceline pervades Simon's character and the impact he had on the world; the idea of him being able to pull through this and come back to Ooo for her feels very evident, and the impact Simon has in her in other worlds remains extremely important in all of them, sub-textually or otherwise. Sometimes, its a hint that the Winter King is far more morally ambiguous or even malicious than he lets on (the only Marceline present being an eternal child that, from context, is just a simulcrum for him to play pretend parent with) or evidence that without Simon, Marceline grows up into the monster she always feared she was (Vampire World).

She's a presence, hanging over Simon in a good way and reminding us that not only does he have somewhere to go back to, he must understand that he does belong there. And furthermore that the world of Ooo, whimsical and ultimately a better one than most of the places he visits in the miniseries, can only exist because of him.

In Winter King, we see what he could become, without his moral choices. In Vampire World, we see what happens without Simon Petrikov. And in Marceline herself, we see the surest evidence of how important he really is, even if he can't or won't acknowledge it. In his loved ones, in the family he made, even if its not the family he thought he was supposed to have.

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for breaking up with my girlfriend, then being upset when she gets with my best friend?

so I (17M) recently broke up with my girlfriend (15F) over an issue regarding her biological parents. It's a long story that I might get into later. She seems to think that I'm in the wrong for everything I did while we were dating, even though I told her I'd take things at her pace, and I'd be there for her on her search for her genetic parents (she needed to find them out to see if we could continue dating. It's very unlikely that we're related, but my parents need me to make sure for other reasons).

However, throughout all the time we were "together" (it wasnt entirely official), she started constantly avoiding me, and telling other people things before me. Now I know my best friend (16M) probably likes my (now ex) girlfriend. He has for a while, but it's just something we never really brought up or talked about, especially since our relationship has been getting more rocky. My girlfriend started spending more time with him, even while we were dating. I did try to be understanding, since he was going through some shit, but it's hard when everyone seems to constantly choose him over me.

Back to my girlfriend, and our breakup. So she ended up discovering one of her genetic parents, but she said she can't tell me. I tried to guess, but she shut me down and told me she needed to stop searching. I guess her biological parent that she found out turned out to be someone significant. I asked her about the match, the only way we could be together without me facing serious scorn (due to my family's reputation). We basically came to the conclusion that we couldn't, and we left it at that.

Fast forward a few weeks, and I've just found out that she kissed my best friend. And she seemed happy about it. Nervous to tell me, but happy. (Her telling me was essential for full trust, which we need in order to work together). I told her I was hurt, but our bond was stronger than ever afterwards. However, I'm still a bit upset, and I know I want to ask my best friend about it, but I know he and his bodyguard will think I'm the asshole, because all they do is villainize me and somehow say I'm too perfect at the same time.

In the end, I had to choose between my girlfriend and the Match/my family, and I chose my family. I always have. I don't really have a choice in that matter. But some people still seem to think that I'm the worst person in the world, even though I think I'm just trying my best.

So am I the asshole for expressing my disappointment after my ex kissed my best friend?

[batsplat]

reading your post about vale and marc mind games bc it came up on my dash and thinking about your point about how athletes like vale must convince themselves of certain things but also know the truth. and i guess with vale’s insistence that marc was never a fan of his, that he tricked him, that everything was a lie, when there are videos from marc at age seven naming vale as his hero, videos from him at age nineteen talking about collecting vale’s bikes, etc, things that would appear as “proof” i wonder if there’s some difference between what vale has convinced himself of and the (apparent) reality/truth that exists. obviously there is no way of knowing and it’s imo harder to figure out the “truth” of an emotional and personal situation that both parties were deeply hurt by than a sporting one. but it’s interesting because in 2015 the personal and sport elements were intertwined too

(x) hm yeah, I love the subjectivity of the whole thing, how it's all founded so much around these 'emotional' truths... there's this kind of fun tension where in late 2015/early 2016 both 'sides' are attempting to prove they're right with data, hrc is promising press conferences to present conclusive evidence, everyone's waving around sheets of paper with telemetry and obsessing around helicopter shots... but you won't actually be able to prove anything one way or the other, because this isn't something that can actually be 'proven'. this is about minds and it's about hearts - you can't find conclusive evidence for what's in either of them. that doesn't mean studying the events is pointless... but it can only ever tell you so much. valentino's initial allegation was couched in the language of facts, he wanted his audience to believe that you could read marc's intentions in a few numbers. but even if marc had wanted to sabotage him, you never would have found that in those numbers... and at the end of the day, valentino was using those numbers to tell a much bigger story

this is the difference to, say, qatar 2004, right? because if you're concerning yourself with what 'really' happened at qatar, then you can find a 'truth' of sorts - it should be possible in theory to know whether sete gibernau was involved in valentino's penalty or not. how that penalty came to exist is knowable. you can still do with this information what you want, argue about what sete was attempting to achieve with his actions, argue about what valentino knew or did not know and what he chose to do with that information - but the central 'conspiracy' is one that is based on real events. what marc wanted of valentino that year, the full spectrum of possibilities from completely innocuous to ragingly malicious, is not knowable in a similar way. even marc and valentino themselves won't completely understand their own intentions that year... nobody is knowable even to themselves, right? they've narrativised this to death and back in their own heads, including what happened in the races themselves... marc and valentino both going over the events again and again, in argentina, in assen, in phillip island, in sepang, in valencia... thinking about what they did, what the other did - the level of reflection that can obscure as much as it reveals. even isolated racing events that should be relatively straightforward are still essentially ambiguous, and continue to be enthusiastically debated to this day. the protagonists hold diametrically opposed views, and even there we can only guess at what they really believe

I'll include the autobiography bit again because it really is a bit of a banger

obviously, the context itself is a different one (and if you want to read more about 2003-05 then. well here you go). but it's such a good description... especially this bit

But then again, we riders always say all sorts of things. Sometimes we believe what we say, even when it sounds crazy, other times we’re just being hopeful and, still at other times, it’s all an exercise in self-delusion. We try to convince ourselves of something, because ultimately, every time you step on the track, words don’t matter, and it’s just you, the bike and your opponents.

"at other times, it's all an exercise in self-delusion". you don't say! "we try to convince ourselves of something"... valentino does have a reasonable understanding of his own working process, I think. it's very true what you say about the intertwining of the personal and the sporting processes, and this post contains some speculation about how valentino may have also changed in how he approached interpersonal relationships to his rivals over time. if you buy into this theory, you have a shift to the purely 'professional' rivalries with casey and jorge, where he was fairly conscious and deliberate in manipulating both that dynamic and how he felt within that dynamic. giving himself a target was all well and good, but it's all part of the game, all about attempting to get a competitive edge over his new challengers... it took a bit of a perfect storm for that friendship with marc to even be possible in the first place. maybe marc and valentino would have always ended up enemies - but not in every universe do they start out as friends

of course, the main story valentino ended up telling himself was that marc was out to destroy him. now, this is very much the topic for another post, but it is broadly reasonable to argue that marc approached his rivalry with valentino differently than he did any of his others. it's also not stretching things too far to suggest that marc was perhaps a little more focused on valentino than was competitively reasonable, that he seemed to take defeats to valentino particularly poorly... further into grey areas, was marc deliberately messing with valentino specifically? did he want to beat valentino at all costs, knowing he was pushing things, knowing it might cost valentino the title? where we get into even murkier territory is the question of what marc's preferred outcome for the title that year was, and whether he was really as disinterested as he said he was. it is just around up until this area where you can still more or less get to in a reasonable way, without too much delusion required - where the theory jumps off the cliff edge is by proposing that marc was deliberately orchestrating the phillip island race in order to hand jorge the title. that bit does not work. in a way, though, it's just the conspiratorial scaffolding for an emotional truth. this 'truth' that valentino felt very strongly is that marc had it out for him. once he was convinced of that, he basically just... arranged the facts to suit this narrative, but really the phillip island thing was a lot about having something a bit more 'solid' to grasp onto. it is where he makes the leap from 'malice' to 'conspiracy'. then, he blows shit up at sepang, and obviously from then on you do have marc essentially strengthening this narrative within valentino's mind. that's where we make the step to self-delusion, right...

that being said - the childhood hero thing. "is it true that he’s been my fan? is it true that he had a poster with me in his bedroom? I would like to check." now, in all honesty, I do think valentino knows marc was a fan. this is just my personal read, but to me that line was meant to twist the knife in, rather than being completely literal. the contentious bit, right, isn't that marc at one stage was a valentino fan, it's what this means. what valentino is asserting here is that this stance of marc's, where marc still claims a particular fondness for valentino as a result of how he's always been a fan of valentino, is fundamentally dishonest. valentino knows for a fact that just having a poster of someone in their room isn't enough to stop a rivalry from eventually going sour. let's bring in another autobiography excerpt:

The funny thing is that a few years earlier, when I was fourteen I had had a poster of Biaggi in my room. It was one of many posters on my bedroom wall and it showed Biaggi on the Honda 250. Nothing strange in that: he was Italian and I supported all the Italian riders. Besides, he was an aggressive rider and I always had a lot of respect for those riders who went on the attack. But, back then, I did not know him personally. It was only when I started to listen to his interviews and read what he said in the papers that my opinion changed. With Biaggi, no matter what happened, it never seemed to be his fault, there was always something wrong with the bike or the tyres. I thought he said a lot of things that I believed simply couldn't be true.

the thing is, almost all of these riders are going to have someone on their bedroom wall - and if you're marc's age, there's a pretty good chance that someone is going to be valentino rossi. it's not even valentino's first experience with a feud starting up with someone who had once been his fan... look at casey, who repeatedly said he was a fan of his, had admired him - yes, obviously, completely different degree to marc, but the point is he still publicly said it before that rivalry turned ugly. and jorge who was both a valentino anti-fan and a fan and was kinda actively weird about the whole thing. valentino made reference to this himself in 2010 when those two and him started sniping at each other when he was out with the leg break, saying that at least they were being honest now. like... in blunt terms, if you're valentino rossi, you do kinda expect most people to be a fan of you. so many of these younger riders have some childhood photo of themselves with valentino floating around. marc wasn't particularly special in that regard. the fact that he was a valentino fan isn't why valentino felt so warmly towards him. it wouldn't have been enough in itself for valentino to treat him in any way differently from his other rivals. valentino's been in this game for too long to get sentimental over that - at the end of the day, you need to ensure you're thinking about your rivals in whatever way you need to in order to give yourself the best possible chance to win. the posters weren't the reason why valentino lowered his guard around marc. so, keeping all that in mind, would it really be thar=t hard for valentino to believe that marc was at one stage a fan of his? seriously?

there's also this from uccio in that infamous 2016 interview:

if even uccio implicitly acknowledges the poster bit isn't fake, is valentino really not going to believe that marc had a poster of him at some stage?

now, this isn't the same thing as arguing that valentino had an accurate understanding of how marc felt towards him. it's entirely plausible to say that, yes, he wasn't being entirely literal about the childhood bedroom stuff... but he also didn't get what that hero worship actually meant to marc. you can be a fan of someone and you can be A Fan, and marc was A Fan. this wasn't just a reference point for marc... this was someone he deeply admired. someone he very much idolised. it's not just 'a poster', right - showing valentino marc's childhood bedroom probably doesn't achieve that much. it's something that valentino just interprets differently... to him, this doesn't mean anything in and of itself. which he's broadly right about - except he wasn't entirely aware of what level of fandom marc was actually operating on

so, why does he say it if he's not literally doubting the existence of any posters? first of all, he's just trying to be cruel here. he knows why it stings, right - he's calling the very foundation of their relationship a lie. marc had this pretence up the whole time, and now valentino is finally forcing him to drop it. marc's being dishonest - and how better to argue his case than by saying not even the posters were real? the second reason is that it's an act of erasure. I talk in the sete post about how he does this with that rivalry... most noticeably by excluding sete almost entirely from his autobiography. here, valentino takes a slightly different approach over the years, but as the other feud with deep interpersonal repercussions it's broadly coming from the same playbook. this is the most radical way you can cut ties, right... you can argue the bond never existed in the first place. if it was all just a lie, then the relationship isn't just over - it was never really there. it's the most brutal and complete way you can burn your bridges. marc isn't just denied valentino's friendship... valentino isn't even allowing him to be his fan. he's attempting to erase the continuity between them entirely, how marc isn't just his successor in literal terms of his results but also in the more abstract sense of how he modelled himself after valentino. it's this bit that indicates the finality in valentino's decision perhaps better than anything else. this is the end, in all the ways that matter most

[vickyvicarious]

All this selfish and unselfish talk is really seeming like a theme. Renfield is ASAS (Assigned Selfish At Seward's), Seward says he's singled out Renfield out of personal interest, Dracula is selfish but promises to share Jonathan after he's used him, Quincey says he's a friend, who is more selfishless than a lover, and Jonathan declares he puts his boss' interests over his self.

Hi, I've been laughing at ASAS for a month now.

You're right, though! Seward is the only person who has ever actually directly said the word 'selfish' and then only when referring to Renfield, but it obviously characterizes his own behavior with regards to Renfield as well. And he does seem to realize that. But it stands in contrast to his reaction to Lucy's rejection. While the way his proposal was phrased sure came off more selfish than Quincey's, both of them were really good about respecting her feelings for someone else and supporting their friend in the aftermath (again, Quincey came off more so than Jack but I think it's at least part hiding his feelings/the difference between correspondence and private diary. They both do want to support Lucy and Arthur).

So here we have some really unselfish behavior in the suitor squad... which in itself makes Lucy feel selfish and guilty about prioritizing her own feelings: "Why can't they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble? But this is heresy, and I must not say it." That line isn't actually about her being in love with all three men, it's about her feeling bad that she's hurting them by not being able to match their emotions or give them what they want, since they're such good people. And yet she feels bad for mentioning it, too, since that's not a socially acceptable solution to even bring up.

Meanwhile in Castle Dracula there's an inverse of that scene playing out with Jonathan and the vampire women. They are grasping for someone who isn't theirs, perhaps greedily/selfishly - but just like the suitors, they're willing to share and respect one another. Dracula comes in to stop them, selfishly keeping Jonathan all for himself - but only to a point. He'll share with them later, he just gets first dibs.

And obviously Jonathan who has to sacrifice his own interests for others. There's just this back-and-forth with selfishness and unselfishness, and kind of interestingly the narration does seem to land on the same conclusion as Seward:

...a possibly dangerous man, probably dangerous if unselfish. In selfish men caution is as secure an armour for their foes as for themselves. What I think of on this point is, when self is the fixed point the centripetal force is balanced with the centrifugal; when duty, a cause, etc., is the fixed point, the latter force is paramount, and only accident or a series of accidents can balance it.

Translating to plainer English, Seward essentially hypothesizes that people who are very self-centered want to ensure their own safety, and in doing so weaken themselves by leaving opportunities for a foe to exploit. Those who subsume their own personal desires or safety in favor of a greater cause or duty are way more dangerous since they will ignore limits and thus be harder to counter.

So, if we look at the characters in these lines, so far this is kinda what I see:

Renfield - currently selfish; as long as he doesn't find a greater cause to serve he's not likely to be dangerous despite being very clever and intriguing

Seward - selfish with Renfield and thus more vulnerable to being mistaken/manipulated/in the wrong with him. Unselfish with Lucy and thus possibly more dangerous on her behalf (same goes for Quincey on this point).

Lucy - Not actually behaving in a badly selfish way but feels like she is, and that may count enough to make her vulnerable. Emotionally at least she sure did get hurt by refusing them, seeing as she cried a lot for them and all.

Mina - So far selfishness hasn't come up with her, but any leanings so far are a lovely mix of both in a way. She's learning things to help Jonathan (unselfish) but those also happen to be exactly what she wants (selfish). We'll have to wait and see where she lands in the end.

Jonathan - It gets interesting here because he seems "unselfish" from the start given how he is serving others' interests, but if we follow Seward's definition then up until the very end of his stay Jonathan was still trying to prolong his own life and play it safe, thus acting "selfishly". He did take calculated risks along the way (and some uncalculated ones) but always reverted to being careful in the end, serving his own interests as much as any duty. It's only when he throws caution to the wind and submits to a duty to try and stop Dracula at all costs that he truly becomes dangerous to the Count (on shovel day)... but on the other hand, he definitely wouldn't have lived long enough to be a threat if he hadn't balanced things out by playing along with the game and simultaneously seeking information wherever he could. Also he does specifically call it a "wild desire" so it certainly fits that part of being selfish as well. Sort of fits the theory, sort of doesn't.

Dracula - Selfish and also made quite vulnerable by it! He defers sharing Jonathan until he's leaving town anyway, so he's not actually being very unselfish with him there. But more to the point, he's selfish both in the sense of taking what he wants, and in the sense of trying to protect himself. Keeping Jonathan around that long was the former, and it already backfired once by giving Jonathan enough time/opportunity to take a whack at him and injure him slightly. The journal too is a danger if it gets out. And he's obviously got layered plans (multiple lawyers, fifty boxes) which surely are intended to keep him safe. If this rule persists then perhaps those very cautious acts (or others we are yet to see) might open him up to counterattacks later on.

Vampire ladies - Selfish to others but unselfish with one another. Hypothetically this would make them more dangerous when someone they care about/respect is on the line, but nothing of the sort has happened. Certainly they are both more antagonistic and vulnerable to Dracula, but Jonathan didn't find any way to deal with them safely himself. It's not like selfishness automatically guarantees defeat though, just gives more opportunities.

There are several other more spoilery instances and considerations I could bring up too, but I'll keep them out of this ask for now. It's an interesting definition of selfishness and not everything fits it perfectly, but what does sure is fun to think about.

[miztrixx]

Hopes for YTTD: Chapter 3-2

(SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE GAME UP TO CHAPTER 3-1B)

Not sure if anyone else has made this sort of blogpost yet, but this is essentially going to be a master compilation of all the specific things I hope we get to see in Chapter 3-2: - Sara facing her simulation self, perhaps in a battle or just in a small confrontational discussion: This (alongside possibly her memories of Joe being restored in the Logic Route) would serve as an amazing end and send-off to the character of Sara Chidouin. Having her face down her greatest insecurities, all the things that she thought were true about herself until she met Joe, and beat them? And not only that, coming to term with Joe's death and moving forward in life? It would be such a great way to show how far Sara has grown, all the way back since that fateful night stroll...

 - An epilogue scene: It doesn't matter how far into the future it is, could be one week after the events of the game or 10 years (though I'm hoping for the latter, imagine how bittersweet and emotionally gut-wrenching it would be to see Kanna and Gin all grown up...my heart will melt), just a scene showing us how the survivors are adjusting back to regular life. After all the pain and hardships they went through, seeing so many people die including some of their loved ones and having their lives put on the chopping block so many times, just seeing them live life normally and try to move on from all that has happened would be....bittersweet...so so bittersweet. I can imagine that the survivors would heavily value life and try to make the very most of their experience as humans after such a traumatic experience, but I can also imagine the survivors trying to live a peaceful and relaxing life after this as well. I'd also think it'd be heartbreaking but also uplifting to see the survivors honoring the memories of everyone that died. Contacting their friends and family and letting them know what happened to them, holding a huge memorial for all of them, making sure that their final wishes were realized (like Nao wanting to paint that picture of Mishima). All in all, I'd think it make for a pretty banger ending.

- "Shin" abandons the scarf: This one is pretty self-explanatory, Shin abandons the red scarf which is/was the symbol of Midori's control/influence over him, what drove him to become "Sou Hiyori" alongside the Four Papers and what drove him to do all the malicious and manipulative things he did. It goes without saying that if Shin ever gets a redemption arc as the final conclusion of his character, which I definitely see happening, he will have to break free of Midori's influence over him and this includes ditching the scarf. But he can't just put the blue scarf back on, he can't just return to the innocent and frail man that Shin Tsukimi was before the Death Game, he watched his sister die in front of him and had to bear all the pain and angst that came with it, his existence in the Death Game was filled with anger and malice, Yes. But it was also filled with fleeting moments of concern and connection, something Shin will have to do in order to fully get over Kanna's death: It may take years, but he will live and survive because that's what Kanna wanted for him. He will abandon the red scarf but I don't see him putting the blue scarf back on: Either he will move on from both and not adorn a scarf at all or he will adorn a purple scarf, a combination of both.

- On the note of Midori....he gets briefly revived before dying again, similar to how Rio Ranger (or Rio Laizer, I suppose) was: This sort of ties back into the previous hope, having Midori come back and having him interact with Shin would be incredibly satisfying and seeing them get to talk about everything that went on between him and maybe even Shin killing Midori this time, it would be amazing. It could also clear up a few minor plot details such as his participant status. Was he a candidate or a non-candidate? And also...

- Fake Hinako's backstory or info pertaining to her: This one I don't mind not happening because we'll probably get it in her minisode but just to talk about it... Kai had a lot of his character and backstory revealed to us post-mortem because the surviving characters were driven to doubt him and uncover his motives. The very same may happen to the Fake Hinako, perhaps it's revealed that Fake Hinako had a much bigger hand in interfering with the events of the Murderer Sub-Game, perhaps there's a function on the Dummies that she changed because she harbored rebellious thoughts, there's a lot of ways we can go with this due to how much of a mystery the Fake Hinako really is. Another hope I have that I'm going to bundle in with this one is for a Real Hinako face reveal and possibly even a wish reveal, if Fake Hinako is heavily linked to Real Hinako then this may be a possibility? I don't think it's very likely (unfortunately) but it'd be nice to have some more info on these girls who we barely know nothing about.

- Speaking of black-haired girls who died in the First Trial and weren't revived in the Dummies, one thing that may happen in the Emotions Route is that we get to see Kugie's victim video, not for any plot-related reasons but....yup, you guessed it....CHARACTER reasons!! Particularly, Kanna's: Unlike with what I talked about Shin and Sara, I see this sort of moment being more of a send-off or a testament to Kanna's character since chapter 1-1. She's grown so much, from the sad little crying child to a determined girl who's lost everything and wants to move forward with hope. Having her watch Kugie's victim video, and not even flinch and cry would be so...empowering for her? Not sure if that's the right word, but whatever. Oh, and there's one more black-haired girl who died in the First Trial too...

- Megumi Sasahara will become plot relevant in the final chapter: I'm not saying that she'll be given a fleshed character and a sad backstory, just that she will hold some sort of plot relevance in this chapter. Perhaps it will be revealed that she was unknowingly helping ASU-NARO by accepting bribes from them, perhaps there is information about the Hades Incident that she knows about and that we will find out through talking to her A.I. That latter seems pretty likely to me, especially since we still have the mystery of "Shinobu Gokujo" to figure out.

- Hayasaka, Kurumada and Mai's wishes (or perhaps for Mai, her special info which wasn't revealed): Hayasaka especially here considering how he cursed out Sara's name in his victim video, there is definitely information that he knows that we may draw out with the lantern and it could be related to his ASU-NARO vow wish. For Kurumada, there is a possibility that he was the one who wished Sara into the Death Game. Perhaps his wish was something like "I want to fight someone stronger then me" and Sara did have the highest percentage after all. For Mai, perhaps her secret info relates to some function of the dolls that we don't yet know about, I can't see how her wish would be relevant though.

Before I end this, I'd like to say that I'm not going to go into 3-2 with all these insanely high expectations, these are just hopes after all. In reality, I will be okay with any outcome we get, as long as the ending is satisfying and makes sense (simulation theory is one of the ones I don't want to happen) but it'd be nice if a few of these were to happen in 3-2!!

[yiptsu]

Rambling about Berror because he's a little guy and we need to give him more love 💥

RAAAAH WE DO NEED TO GIVE HIM MORE LOVE ‼️‼️

Unfortunately there's not much within the canon to ramble about.. mainly because we never really got anything about him BUT I have done some research (I read like 4 fics about him) and have come to the conclusion that he is the silly he is the little guy he is possibly the angstiest possible being ever and he is UNDERRATED.

SO we know that a lot of the Errors/glitches' (whatever you wanna call 'em) personality is based on their final thoughts before they corrupt which wow okay already a ton of potential just in general like not even limited to Blueberror that could be such a fun little thing to mess around with ??? Anyway I think that specifically for Blueberror it could be especially fucking great because that essentially means that any form of Blueberror is canon. It doesn't matter how you portray him because in one way or another it can be considered canon and nobody can argue against it.

Oh, Blue was upset and/or angry at Error before he corrupted? Make him mad at Error and anyone else like him, extend it to anyone who threatens the Multiverse and BAM you've got protector Blueberror. Or you could take it the other way and make it so Blueberror is upset at EVERYONE because nobody came to save him leading to him being a loner with tendencies of speaking to random people but then switching up and getting angry at whoever he's speaking to.

Oh his last thoughts were about his friends and the people he's lost?? Make it so he's obsessed with making friends and fitting in. Make it so all he wants is to have a friend group who'd accept him. Make it so that he struggles to completely understand social cues and people around him find him weird and unsettling because of it. Make it so he struggles to fit in and gets upset at himself over it, trying his hardest to change himself but giving up every time because he always gets sidetracked whenever he tries.

Building on that friend group part, make it so that Blueberror just ends up joining Nightmare's Gang because of his intense focus on friendship, willing to let others die for him to have what he wants. Let him befriend the members of Nightmare's Gang and let him be warped by their humour and their actions whilst remaining optimistic and unstable.

Another path is for him to not want to be friends with people who already have friends, feeling overwhelming jealousy every time he sees one of his friends talking to someone else. Have him be insane about Error specifically because yes, he's a loner, but Error was also the cause of everything that happened to him. Have him be constantly struggling with his thoughts about Error and not knowing what to think about him or if he even wants to be friends with him.

Have him hang around with Dream because Dream's aura makes his emotions stable, but have Dream be unsure if he's okay with Blueberror acting like he does because he wants him to be able to figure out his own emotions and how to deal with them without wanting to see his friend suffer. Have Dream struggle to learn how to use technology or read or write and have Blueberror be ecstatic over being helpful with it, feeling happy that he's finally found a friend despite him acting more as a tutor than anything else.

Have him be completely unaware of the fact that people don't want to be his friend. He's too engrossed in his mission of befriending people to realise that some people don't want to be friends, and when he does realise this he gets upset and loses his temper because, well, what's wrong with him?? Why don't they want to be friends with him?? What did he do wrong??

Dial that shit up to eleven and have him be pissed over the fact that certain people don't want to be friends with each other, have him be completely incapable of understanding it. Have him not understand why people can't get over things that happened in the past whilst also having him be a hypocrite who'll hold grudges for the rest of his life if he wants to.

Have him be so unstable that he's capable of attacking other people when he gets upset, similarly to Error, which leads to people having an actual reason to be scared of him and trying to keep away from him but that just sends him further into a frenzy.

Just have him trying his hardest to be a good guy but struggling so much with understanding what's going on that it makes him into a bad guy accidentally. That's all I want from this fandom.