#Her talent is so cool too I wish she was an actual character in the games

[artsycooky13]

top 3 fave bbys in the burrito show (bonus SUPER LONG tags on how i feel bout the characters)

[princescar]

Ultimate Makeup Artist, even though you only had like one panel and no name, I will always love you <3

[project-sekai-facts]

someone asked for the full list

don't question what i use tiermaker for

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But.

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

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

[showtoonzfan]

Also yeah this new Hazbin cast is not it man. I’m sorry. Most of them either sound flat, don’t fit with the character design, or are just not as good as the original. Angel and Alastor I especially don’t like, Alastor sounds so nasally and Amari just can’t top Bosco’s performance, with Bosco not only was he good but when Alastor was threatening, he SOUNDED threatening. I may have made fun of Al’s design, but Bosco’s voice is what made the character interesting and threatening for me. With Amari’s voice he just sounds beyond silly and I can’t take him seriously.

Blake Roman is literally just intimidating Kovach, except this time Angel just sounds forced and awkward. It makes you wonder why Viv just didn’t get Kovach back since it’s obvious she wanted to find someone so similar to him, and then you realize…oh yeah, Kovach wasn’t on Broadway or is a big singer. Micheal was really good at what he did as Angel too as everyone has already said so Viv fumbled the bag SO hard with these two it’s sad. I’m especially pissed about Alastor cause Bosco was the reason he was my favorite character and now he sounds so cringe.

Husk and Vox are played by two very talented actors/singers but their voices just don’t fit with the character design, though I’m not that against Christain Borle as Vox, the voice doesn’t fit the twink design but at the very least they got a man who sounds like a full grown adult playing a full grown adult lmao. Husk is a different story however, because it feels like Keith was picked to play him just because he was famous and nothing else. Back in the pilot, Viv had a specific voice in mind for Husk and she found it, aka Mick. He perfectly came off as an old washed up grumpy alcoholic, and Keith’s voice kinda just…erases all that personality. Sure Keith’s voice sounds cool but that’s it, it’s style over substance.

I wish I could say more about Charlie and Vaggie but I’m not sure what to say other then they kinda sound forced and awkward too, and I hate saying that cause they’re also played by two very talented actresses. Stephanie B played Mirabel from Encanto, she’s had voice acting experience before so I hope she ends up sounding good in the actual show. Erika meanwhile…I hate to say this but other than her singing voice there’s nothing really special about her as Charlie compared to Jill Harris, though even with Jill I never felt any strong feelings towards her performance.

Adam meanwhile, dear GOD I was right about him looking bad in animation form, his design sucks so fucking much. Fans were right, that’s Alex Brightman’s voice, he seems to be using his normal voice but just a tad deeper. He’s the only one who’s a fine choice, though I really wish we got to hear him as Pentious here!

But yeah in terms of the voice cast I’m just disappointed man, really disappointed. It makes you really realize how talented the pilot cast was. They were so good cause they were all chosen for a reason that wasn’t just “they’re famous” and it fucking sucks how bad Viv fumbled everything.

[rayclubs]

Thoughts on the Zoldyck family dynamics because I'm normal and fine and normal.

Their grandfather is law. He seems to handle the most dangerous contracts, he oversees the kids' training, but he doesn't seem very personally involved - as in, he doesn't interact with them directly and doesn't appear to be interested in what they do at all, unless it's work-related. I think he's one of those set-in-their-ways old people who's had a long streak of valuable achievements throughout their life so they think themselves infallible. I think Kuroro would have obliterated his ass but he would die before he admitted it.

Now, Silva, being the father figure of the family, is compensating like all hell. Literally no other reason for a man to be this tits-out gigantic, but Zeno is still the head of the family, and that deals major damage to Silva's ego. In way of self-validation, he arranges this distant yet carefully controlled relationship with his kids, and he likes being seen as the Cool Dad, but only very rarely, so that every crumb of his attention is sought after with utmost devotion. I don't actually think he hates Zeno or anything though, I think he kind of secretly also wants to be validated by him but it's just not happening because Zeno doesn't give enough of a fuck.

Kikyo is not a presence in the Zoldyck family business. She's also supremely mentally unwell. She's generally well-treated but often neglected by her husband, she's not as successful at her job as the men of the family due to having to split her time between assassinations and child care, she feels unfulfilled as a result and does it have any functional coping mechanisms for it. Like Silva, she seeks validation from her kids. Unlike Silva, she cannot build herself a Cool Mom profile that the older kids would respect, so she dotes on the younger children instead.

Illumi is the oldest child, so he was trained by either Zeno, Silva, or both, personally. He's diligent but untalented. He has a lot of discipline but very little main character juice in his veins. Due to his father's policy of keeping his kids at a distance, as well as his mother's overbearing control, most of the actual parental responsibilities regarding all the younger kids were pushed onto Illumi. He was a bit too young to get overly attached to Milluki in this manner, but he feels very protective of Killua both because they're fairly close as brothers, and because Illumi views his younger siblings as his responsibility. If anything were to happen to one of his brothers, it would be seen by the rest of the family as a failure on Illumi's part. However, due to being the oldest child, he actually spent the most time with Silva, so he lacks the puppydog instinct the man so fervently instills in all the other kids. Illumi is not looking for validation. He's terrified of his parents and grandpa.

Milluki is the failure of the family. He's desperate to please but neither talented nor diligent. His grandpa views him as moderately worthless, his father is too emotionally constipated after involving himself with the parenting of Illumi to even notice Milluki, and Illumi was too young when Milluki was born to become a substitute mentor figure for him. Milluki thinks Killua is stealing the attention he so desperately wants. How, you'd think that since Illumi is papa's boy, then, logically, Milluki would be mama's, and fucking hell he wishes he was, but his anime figurine collection is too cringe, and remember - he's desperate but not diligent. He's obedient but not clever. He can't pick up on social cues and emotional signals. He wants to do what his mom wants from him but can't meet her unpredictable tastes and unstable moods. She mildly dislikes him.

Killua is the prodigy. Illumi loves him, Silva can't wait to emotionally manipulate him to make himself look good, and Zeno pays attention to him but doesn't bother all that much with parenting him - all for previously established reasons. Kikyo tries to dot on him but he's only talented, not diligent - like Milluki, he can't give her what she wants. Unlike Milluki, Killua has a spine. He already has Silva's and Illumi's approval and validation, so he's not running after his mother looking for affections. He kind of starts doing his own thing after he meets some folks outside the family and they introduce him to the concept of free will.

Alluka is transfem and her father hates that whole ordeal viscerally. Like Milluki, she's neither talented nor diligent. Unlike Milluki, she has evil autism ontop of it all. Zeno and Kikyo wish she didn't exist. Milluki senses the similarity between them and doesn't actively dislike her but he's too busy chasing after everyone's approval to actually be a good brother to her. Illumi was so beyond traumatized by the time she was born, I'm actually fully convinced he removed her from his memory entirely or he would go insane. Killua likes her because she's weird and epic, she likes Killua because he's exactly the same.

Kalluto is finally a mama's boy, and holy shit does he play into it. She dresses him up and does his hair and kisses his forehead and calls him a sweetie, and he just wants to go outside for one (1) day. Silva likes him fine but he's still riding the high from Killua looking at him with admiration in his eyes once so he leaves the matter to Kikyo and Illumi, as per usual. Illumi loves Kalluto in a similar way to how he loves Killua, but Kalluto is more protected and far, far more obedient, so Illumi isn't scared for him nearly as much. Milluki thinks Kalluto is annoying, but Kalluto is emotionally intelligent enough to avoid conflict and not provoke any hatred. Killua thinks Kalluto is a stupid little baby and Kalluto honest to god does not care. Kalluto likes Illumi, is indifferent towards Silva and Zeno, tolerates and at times even loves Kikyo, and is too young to properly remember Alluka. Thank god the spider adopted him.

Thanks for reading, 'ight cheers.

[squash1]

can/would trc characters do a cartwheel:

gansey: cannot. but WISHES desperately that he could every time he’s frolicking through a field. he secretly practicing every time he’s alone.

ronan: definitely can. would Never do it in front of people because it is not “punk rock.” would only do one to win a bet.

adam: very much capable of doing a cartwheel but never would because it would never occur to him to do one.

blue: can’t do one. maura def signed her up for gymnastics as a child but she never learned anything and quit immediately because it didn’t “align with her belief system.” now she wishes she could do one but would never practice bc she is too frustrated by being bad at things.

declan: can’t. i don’t even think he knows how to move his body in that direction.

matthew: can’t BUT does them constantly and thinks he’s really good at them. he’s very bad but ronan made everyone promise to never tell him he’s not actually cartwheeling bc he thinks it’s funny.

henry: can do cartwheels and probably just about any gymnastics move. he’s got the energy and whimsy to pull it off and uses it as a party trick constantly.

noah: could do cartwheels when he was alive but it wasn’t cool so he didn’t do them in front of him lame aglionby friends. now that he’s dead, he lost his talent :(

[blackfilmmakers]

I am convinced Wish straight up stole the story from the Stardust episode in Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire. How so?

-A gathering ceremony of a man called the Oracle granting “destinies” to people that become of age

-Setting is set in a North African region (Egypt most likely) and the MC(Nawara) is most likely Amazigh. This is based on her design, and what I’ve seen Amazigh people tend to wear-take my words with a grain of salt. But even if that is not the case, Nawara’s design shares similarities with Asha’s concept art

-Similar tower observatory structure because the Oracle, like Magnifico, look into astrology for their source of power

-An MC that approaches the Oracle for the intention for her own ambitions being granted

-The MC feels wronged when denied their wishes/destinies, and plans to steal them

-There is great emphasis on a fallen Star. Stars in general, but mainly this particular “wishing Star”

-She becomes the apprentice of the Oracle(he’s not actually a villain, but alluded to be). Hey Remember when Asha applied to be an assistant, and that was never explored on what they do?

-The story is essentially telling you that you can make your own wishes/destinies come true

-Literally has Nawara end the short saying ���nothing but this!” (Look at lyrics of This Wish)

Taking into account that Kizazi Moto is region locked with Disney+ (I don’t think most African countries can even watch it), and that Disney barely advertised the show, I would not be surprised they scrapped everything they originally had, just to poorly mimic this story. There are just way too many similarities between these two for it all to be a coincidence

Kizazi Moto has been in development for years btw, so yes it is possible for Disney to steal aspects of the premise for Wish

It would explain why Wish’s characters and plot barely get any development and just feel empty. This one short was able to immerse us in a finished world building perspective. The city in Stardust actually feels magical, and the MC changes by the end of the story. Feel like the reason Wish failed in these aspects is partly because they tried to mimic Stardust, but divorced it from its own lore and context. And so you just have a movie of nothing

Disney has always had a habit of stealing works from others to make profit. Remember when they tried to copyright Hakuna Matata?

I’m already mad they hardly advertised Kizazi Moto to begin with, but now I am more mad at the fact that an 8 min short did Wish better in every aspect, and it’s probably because Wish stole these concepts from African animators like Ahmed Teliab(directed and written Stardust)

And there are other cool episodes in Generation Fire, I would appreciate y’all checking out. African animators and writers hardly get any recognition for their talents.

Even if Wish really didn’t steal this episode’s concepts, again, Stardust does everything better than Wish in every way

Conclusion: Go watch Kizazi Moto, but yknow pirate it. They don’t even show the series in African countries anyways. You might as well look into their works, and support them. The company supporting a genocide with some of those African countries, ain’t going to care about them

[audristarzz]

FAME DR

just imagining Isaac being asked about me/ me mentioned in his interviews 🙁🙁

!my name is riley in my role as well as my actual name!

“We know that you got to work with a lot of talented actors like Nikki, Ashby and Noah along with Riley is that correct?”

“Yeah! They’re all great, everyone’s so great we’re all really close, Nikki, Ashby and Noah are very talented and bring their characters to life so well and Riley-? Oh my god Riley is so amazing, she puts so much work and effort everytime we shoot a scene together even if it’s a small scene and it ends up amazing everytime- she’s so talented”

“Isaac, now everyone of your cast members that I’ve interviewed, we’ve asked the same question team Cole or Alex , when we had Riley on we asked and she said team Isaac so we have to ask.. are you team Cole or Alex?”

“Riley my girl oh my god! Uhh I didn’t even know team Isaac was a thing I’m gonna be honest- but I think team Isaac? No I’m kidding- I think if I had to choose between team Cole and Alex I would say Alex I mean he’s a cool guy, nerdy, shy so I could say Alex”

“Now.. before we end this interview, the question I’m sure you get asked the most besides the whole team Cole or Alex is what’s going to happen with Riley and Isaac in season 2 of My Life With The Walter Boys, because fans are saying that the characters between you and Riley have some.. romance sparking up?? Which I’m curious about too like- It seemed like you both had genuine feelings for eachother it felt so real when watching the episode!”

“ah.. haha uhm that’s- well I can’t really say cause yknow, you guys just gotta see what happens next between the two but i can tell you that they certainly are a pair that fans and myself love to see, and me and Riley both read comments about them everytime we get together when she’s in town to visit, So we see what you guys want and wish for Riley and Isaac so maybe we can try make some suggestions for the next season, Riley is just.. she’s just great, like haha it’s been such an experience to work with her and hang out with her when we and the cast get together. She’s truly spectacular and I admire her a lot”

[1moreff-creator]

Happy Birthday David Chiem!

Usually, for these characters’ birthdays, I do a somewhat half-hearted attempt at a character analysis. But do you think I’m gonna do this for David? Hell no, he’s way too complicated for me to do something like that in this style of post! And I am not making a post that difficult right after that Mai thing.

So, instead, I’m just going to list a few fun facts, because that’s easier. Hope you like it anyways!

(By the way, I’ve always loved that frame of the MV so, so much)

-His birthday lands on “National Book Lovers’ Day”, which says National but is recognized globally. Considering the MV, I’d say that fits. It also coincides with the Annual Perseid Meteor Shower Peak Night, Co-working Day (hah, as if), and get ready, “Hold Hands Day”.

-His profile states he likes ready-make oatmeal. According to the recent Q&A, he can cook, he just prefers not to. This actually fits with quite a few scenes in the series where it’s implied he prefers not to get out of bed unless necessary (mood), such as his brief outburst in the introduction and the several times he’s shown not to eat with anyone else. Though maybe that’s actually caused by him hating people.

-He dislikes expensive things. Kinda based.

-He does TEDTalks, and that’s presumably where he gets his talent from.

-As he stated himself, he has pretty bad bed hair. And apparently, he can summon it at will, as seen in Ch 2 Ep 11.

-His pupils seem to turn into stars whenever he… smiles or puts on a positive attitude? It doesn’t seem to follow a strict logic other than “whenever it looks cool”.

-He has an older sister named Diana. Or, well, that’s what he claims. Footnote 11 of you-know-what may imply she never actually existed. It’s unclear what this means at the moment.

-He seemed to genuinely like Xander, and wanted to be friends with him, as he’d value that relationship more than Xander’s idolatry.

-The secret quote in his page is "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you. I wish you could just die." How nice! This is either talking to himself, or presumably something he'll say to Teruko since their characters do be foiling.

-The quote on Mai's page attached to him is "She forgives everyone." It's the second to last line in the script, before MonoTV's. I have to physically restrain myself from theorizing.

-Some stuff from the Q&As:

*He usually wears semi-formal, 'professional' clothes.

*His blue hair is actually fully natural.

*This is the default sprite for his fuckboy persona:

... But, like, why though. Why's he so sassy.

*Bisexual with a strong female lean. Diversity win! The biggest liar you know is bisexual!

*His favorite color is gamboge (the yellow of his star pupils), stating it’s inspiring; while his least favorite is gray, stating it’s depressing. This could imply he actually likes the cheerier persona he usually puts on more than his real self, or the villainous persona he plays in the trial.

*He handles his feelings badly. We been knew.

*His hair clips were his manager’s idea, to build brand recognition. Apparently David doesn’t like this manager too much, but he puts up with them for the contract. Also, when he takes off his hair clips in the trial, he places them in his PANT POCKETS.

*I’m sure you’ve realized this, but you remember that section of the Q&A where the dev gives details about the family members we had known about from the series (Elliot Cuevas, Felicity Giles, Fuyuko and Natsuko Naegishi, Ryan Moreno/Rosales)? Diana Chiem isn’t mentioned, perhaps further hinting at her non-existence.

*He has an average amount of strength.

*His favorite ice cream flavor is pistachio, because of course it’s pistachio.

*He smells like men’s cologne, but only faintly. Hope you’re happy with that answer, you weirdos (/affectionate).

*He’s American, like everyone else except maybe Teruko.

And now, for his playlist! I kinda already posted this in a reblog to another post, but here it is officially!

+Literature Girl Insane, by Karasuyasabou (I mean, obviously)

+Undead Enemy, by Suzumu and Giga-P (probably his song from the official character playlist)

+Monochrome Mentality, by Riproducer / RIP

+Grey, by QueenPB

+The Distortionist, by Ghost & Pals (CW: Abuse)

+Copycat, by CircusP

+How to Pretend, by CircusP (FNAF pog)

+Echo, by Crusher-P

+God-ish, by PinocchioP

+The Court Jester, by thquib

+DISAPPEARANCE ADDICTION, by Kairikibear

+Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, by Set it Off

+The Things I Deserve, by Ghost & Pals (CW: suicide)

+All Eyes on Me, by OR3O

+Not Your Angel, by NightCove_theFox (apparently I’m making him into an Alice Angel kinnie)

And, finally…

+Happy birthday! Though he would absolutely despise anyone who tries to sing it to him, I imagine.

[mystic-orb88]

ARCANE SEASON 2, ACT 3 SPOILERS:

Stop. Now.

Can I just say Ekko is the most perfect and flawless character ever created and now I wish he and Viktor and Jinx could have all met somehow and done cool science stuff together. But this frame here genuinely makes me so sad. I’m crushed. But also, I like when conflicting circumstances tear characters apart, to me. I like the tragedy. So I’m glad in our Ekko’s universe, they didn’t stay together. It would be so out-of-character for my girl Jinx.

Also I like that it wasn’t just a boring fan-service episode. It proved a point, and we also had Jayce’s fun adventures in Nightmarefuelworld. ANDD THE Z-DRIVE, WOOOOOO!!!!

Jinx was already perfect, but so is Powder.

I’ve always hated romance, whether it was real life, or cinema. But this scene was incredible. I love them so goddamn much. Actually sickens me. They are everything to me.

Him smiling back at her the same way Jinx did after their fight on the Bridge. How dare you, Fortiche??

Jinx’s reflection in place of this world’s Powder’s.

Viktor and Jayce’s fight scene and…. Whatever that ending was, was gayer and more erotic than anything Violyn could fathom. Sorry guys. What the Hell was he doing cupping his face like that, wrapping his legs around him, faces mere centimetres away, all without actually being physically there but also exploding together in the astral plane?? The way he said ‘As partners’?? Likeeee, I ain’t never seen hand-to-hand combat like that. Look at these soulmates. Just as a platonic relationship I love it, and it’s wayyyy gayer than anything else. He chose dying with his space boyfriend over the insanely gorgeous Mel, who also got a fabulous glow up, is undoubtedly the hottest character in the show, ANDDDD has OP Arcane talents. Bravo Jayce, you simultaneously fumbled and won and disintegrated into nothing with your astronomical lab ‘partner’. Singed was right- One does unspeakable acts for love.

We got Viktor in Mel’s eyeshadow before G.T.A.6.. Slay my King. Thank you for your pretty little hallucinations, Jayce.

Alsoo, let us pay respects to this fine Yordle who waited over 100 years for Ekko, sure can sing, and sacrificed himself so that Ekko could get back to his right world.

I’m glad that at least ONE of my favourite characters had a happy ending. Singed wasn’t the most ethical scientist, but he sure is a Hell of a father for doing all that.

Sevika in the Council. She finally beat Silco’s corrupt underground empire and overcame the oppression Vander faced. She finally understood how he felt when she betrayed him, after the Zaunites wouldn’t listen to her, and now she can do something about it. So happy for her. She deserves it. The true leader of Zaun, everyone.

Alsoo, I’m a strong believer in the ‘Jinx is alive theory.

More critically however, I think there were too many needle drops (however good they were), the pacing was pretty rushed compared to Season One which was pure perfection, and I wish we got something more similar to League Viktor, because now Only-Arcane fans will not understand the true meaning of Glorious Evolution. I think Viktor’s character arc was over-simplified and I just feel empty about it. Kinda disappointed. He means so much to me. But damnnnn Jayce got validated as HELLLL. No complaints there. I hate him in League but always liked him in Arcane up till episode 6. Bro was just an idealist. Also their ending was ambiguous did they die together or just remain in the astral plane, forever integrated within the arcane. If Singed could save Orianna, can’t he find their corpses somewhere and save them?? I need cyborg Viktor. I wish we had the adventures of Blitzcrank and his cyborg father. I’m also bothered by that continuity error about Vander’s betrayal and when exactly it takes place. Also don’t like what they did with Silco’s character, in Ekko’s alternate world AND in the original world, because how could he just forgive Vander like that after all the hate he was always full of?? I’m sure there’s an explanation, but they didn’t have enough time to go into it.

This is the actual best show I have ever seen personally. Thanks for the stunning writing, flawless art-style, loveable characters and impeccable queer/disabled/POC representation. No other show has ever moved me so much. I hope Fortiche continues to make more series like this in the future. I love Runeterra and its Lore so much.

[aardvaark]

Leverage character asks: 1,3,17,45 (your choice on character)

thank you for the ask & for fueling my leverage obsession lol <3

1. Canon I outright reject

honestly i love the character development on leverage, even when it means the character has some negative traits or weaknesses or something. hmm… i think one thing i disliked was hardison being a super bad tipper (some ep in s5). he doesn’t care about workers? particularly after five years of leverage? idk.

i also wish eliot didn’t seem to like cops so much, but thats more of a gripe with the show’s/showrunners’ attitudes towards police.

3. Obscure headcanon

sophie: that she’s trans! love that hc. shout out to @transsophiedevereaux. also that sophie had a drunken one night stand with maggie, which is actually (word of god) canon rather than a head canon, but seems to be rarely mentioned.

nate: nate x sophie x sterling… it’s happened at least once.

parker: so many!! but the one i’ll share is that. uh. she’s probably killed someone. pre-leverage, she’s known to be dangerous for a reason, and she’s been in a lot of awful situations unfortunately. she would probably have done so out of necessity, it might even have been self defense, but yk. it’s still killing someone. and no, i don’t mean the pilot flashback - according to word of god (ie john rogers) she probably didn’t kill her foster parents when exploding their house. anyway, i’ve seen some cool fics about this idea and discussed this topic w @laser-tripwires and i think it’s really interesting for a variety of reasons, but i won’t list them here bc this is already getting so long lol.

hardison: that he still secretly adds to nana’s income somehow (he canonically paid off her medical bills), that he plays D&D, that he likes [insert media beloved by geeks that i don’t really know much about, but i love that people hc him as enjoying the things they enjoy so much].

eliot: my own silly hc that many of his scars are actually from kitchen accidents rather than fights lol

17. Quotes, songs, poems, etc. that I associate with them

gonna answer this one for sophie only, cause i have quite a few answers just for her!

1) i saw a gif set of sophie once with the lyrics of "thief" by imagine dragons, and it was a really gorgeous gif set and the lyrics fit very well.

2) yk the fable "the scorpion and the frog"? at the end of s1, she seems to excuse her actions (conning the team) like the scorpion - that it’s just in her nature, lying is who she is, she’s a thief and this is what thieves do, etc. additionally, it’s what sterling says about her, that her behaviour was predictable because it’s "who she is".

3) the gambler by kenny rogers. bc the chorus is canonically her life philosophy lmao (according to the last dam job).

45. Their favorite celebrity

sophie: canonically, db cooper. she idolises him in the db cooper job lol. poster above her bed as a teenager etc etc.

nate: man, his would be oddly specific im sure. like he reads war strategy books, maybe sun tzu. or perhaps a chess grandmaster, like bobby fischer. i don’t know much about war strategists nor chess players, so if anyone does, then maybe you can suggest a more specific person.

hardison: i know he loves star trek, doctor who, star wars - im simply not pop culture savvy enough to know who his fave actors from those shows might be. BUT. i think it would be funny if his fave celebrity was wil wheaton (who was in star trek, and who, of course, played cha0s in leverage). also, wil wheaton is famously into D&D, video games, comics, and other "geek" stuff that hardison proudly enjoys too. hardison does not see the resemblance btwn wheaton and his nemesis, no idea what you’re taking about.

eliot: i think he would have people he looks up to or thinks are incredible, who are celebrities but only in a very specific field. like a renowned chef, but not a "celebrity chef" as in one who’s on tv. i mean like a chef who is famous among chefs, for being one of the most talented in the world.

parker: i feel her definition of celebrity would be somewhat different to most people’s. plus, her knowledge of the world is deep but narrow - she knows everything possible about thievery and anything even tangentially related (probably a decent amount of physics, for example), but pop culture? not so much. she later gets into stuff like dr who via hardison though, so perhaps the actor of the current doctor, ncuti gatwa. now, there’s also famous thieves, BUT they’re generally only famous because they eventually got caught. parker does not get caught. she would not idolise someone who ended up caught. maybe the thief of an unsolved heist. honestly, parker is famous in the leverage crime world. so. herself? not that she enjoys being a celebrity lol.

[definitely-not-lying]

Kokichi what's your opinion on the other characters in v3?

Fasten your seatbelts! we're going on a rant about my classmates nishishi~!

Rantaro Amami:

Hmm, Mr. Mysterious, huh? He's always so calm and collected, he’s hiding something, I just know it! But that makes him interesting. I'm curious of what's on his mind all the time. He sounds like a trustworthy person. But that was a lie! Rantaro is also really chill to talk to! :D

Kaede Akamatsu:

I think Kaede is too optimistic for her own good! I mean, over-the-top optimistic. It's a bit annoying... But she can be pretty cool sometimes too, she has some serious talent with that piano! She's a really good leader, but obviously not as good as I am. When she has an idea she is very pushy and I think that's boring.

Ryoma Hoshi:

I don't dislike Ryoma but I also don't like him. It's dissapointing that he finds no meaning in life and doesn't talk alot to others... He's kinda just a boring loner that's impressivly good at tennis. And he's so small! when I first met him I thought he was a little kid nishishishi~ please don't tell him I said that! :|

Kirumi Tojo:

Mooooooom? Just kidding! Hihi~ She's kind of a killjoy. She's always on my case whenever I try to cause some trouble! But Kirumi is also a talented maid. She's got a lot of skills and she's super efficient. I wonder how she always helps others and never spends time for herself!

Angie Yonaga:

The Atua freak? She's a dissapointment. The only thing she does is ramble about this so called Atua! I doubt she can actually make dicisions on herself. She’s always so cheerful and smiley, but that makes her so suspicious!

Tenko Chabashira:

Ugh, she's so annoying! Always going on about 'degenerate males'. But it’s fun to push her buttons! I wish I could tape her mouth shut forever. I should ask her to teach me Neo-Akaido too! Then I could surprise attack her with her own moves and my wish could come true :]

Korekiyo Shinguji:

He's weird... and creepy! "Sister this, Sister that" and his stupid mask... honestly, I don't know how the others put up with him. But as long as he doesn't summon a demon in my room i supposse he's okay.

Miu Iruma:

The itty bitty bitchlet. She's way too vulgar! I kinda respect her for actually being smart, unlike certain people... nishishi. If she wasn't such an annoying pervert she'd be almost interesting. I mean, how can someone with such a huge mouth even function?

Gonta Gokuhara:

The big gentlemen! He's so gullible it's almost boring... but i guess his heart is in the right place. He's also very strong! He could lift me in the air, no problem. It's kinda dissapointing he likes bugs so much. Those are just the worst! :(

Kaito Momota:

Ah, the Ultimate idiot! A wannabe hero who's fun to mess with. He's always so self-centered and calls others his side kick while he doesn't do anything! But I gotta admit, he's got guts! If he wasn't so heroic I think he would be... fine :/

Keebo:

Keeboy! He still didn't answer my question! Now i'll never know if robots really have d!cks :( Anyways, He’s so easy to tease, and he falls for everything. Poor Keebo, too pure for my games! He's fun to talk too and I feel like there is something more to him that we don't know...

Tsumugi Shirogane:

She's plainly boring... I don't like or hate her... heck, I even forget she exists sometimes! It's a bit annoying that she makes alot of fiction references that no one gets... She really is a hardcore loser!

Shuichi Saihara:

Aww, Shumai! The shy, serious detective. He tries so hard to be emotionless, but he’s so easy to fluster! He's one of the few people here who’s actually worth the time of the Ultimate Supreme Leader. I wish he would stand up for himself more often. He'd be way more entertaining then! <3

Maki Harukawa:

Ah, Maki Roll! So cold and serious—makes it even more fun to mess with her! She acts all tough, but deep down, I think she’s just a softie for Kaito. And maybe she’ll just kill me in my sleep... who knows! Either way, I’ll keep poking the bear. It’s more exciting that way, right?

Himiko Yumeno:

She's pretty lazy. And her so called 'magic'? She should come up with something better! But her tricks are very interesting. She once made a tiger cub appear from her hat! :0

If you don't like my opinions, try to change them! I'm not that stubborn but I can't promise anything!

[aichi-division]

Issey's thoughts on Itabashi Division

Bernard Miyamoto

"Oh, Mr. Miyamoto-san!!! I have heard about him. He's the older brother of a girl… what was her name? Genieve? Well, that girl was very sweet and well, I helped her when she was feeling very bad on the street, a while ago. She mentioned her brother to call him for help. I had never really imagined that I would see him again!!! Nor had I imagined that he is the leader of an entire division. Miyamoto-san is quite a talented, glamorous and flamboyant guy haha, I like that kind of person.

I heard that it is related to the theater. That's very cool. In my life I've been able to go to the theater a couple of times with my family, many years ago. We saw Les Miserables and also an adaptation of The Little Prince. I am always inspired by the love that actors put into their roles. They imbue their soul into these characters and make them their own. It gives me goose bumps. I wonder if Miyamoto-san is like that too".

Raiden Koyama

"Oooh yes I have heard of him. Come to think of it, he must be the acquaintance Shouta-san visits in Itabashi. I think the two of them are friends or something. I'm actually quite surprised, Raiden seems to be a pretty cool guy, kind of, VERY cool. THE COOLEST.

HIS tattoos are really amazing, I wish I could get tattooed like that hahaha someday I will. Plus he seems to have amazing charisma. I don't know how Shouta knows him but I actually find it really cool that they're SO close!!!!!

Issey Ito

"NO WAY!!!! NO FUCKING WAY!!!! YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!! ANOTHER ISSEY, IS ANOTHER ISSEY!!!!!!

HHAHAHAHAA THIS IS SO FUNNY!!! I had never met another boy with the same name as me. I NEED TO BE ABLE TO TALK TO HIM! I love his style, it's kind of dark and gloomy, and that he doesn't have an eye if it's a little scary…. BUT HE LOOKS INCREDIBLY BADASS!!!!!!! Naaaa I wish I had that aura.

I hear he's not the sociable type. The truth is that if I look at him a little better, I think he is intimidating, but COME ON, I was able to get to Eiji in just one afternoon, so I think I can get to BADDIE ISSEY in NO time.

I look forward to learning ALL about him. His likes, dislikes, things he hates, hobbies…. we will be estranged siblings by fate???"

Itabashi Division

Itabashi is a division that attracts a lot of attention. I have a feeling that I will be able to be friends with all of them, especially Badass Issey. I really always wanted to have a twin or something.

I would like to have the opportunity to spend more time with them and share with Genieve as well. You can tell she is quite a gentle girl and a good person.

@itabashi-division

[astridthevalkyrie]

Re: Your strong feelings against Regina - I won't be hard pressed bc it won't change my opinion (sorry my love for her is too great) but I'm curious to read if you've rambled at all about why you dislike her so strongly?

LOLL i've done a few rambles over the years and i tend to hatepost whenever i rewatch clips but i don't think i've ever done like a full on explanation on why. and yes please feel free to love her! idc how anyone feels about a fictional character.

some stuff i do like about her: lana parilla is obv very talented and pretty, her and jmo have rlly good chemistry, sometimes her one liners are super funny ("the entire charming family and their pirate mascot" is fucking hilarious i wish she said more stuff like that).

but tldr—she did way too many bad things and never properly redeemed herself for them.

in the first two seasons she does, like, incredibly bad stuff LMAO, including but not limited to: ruining snow's life after killing her dad, killing entire villages, casting the curse and the subtle ways she tortures snow in it, abusing henry (who is in therapy because he's told he's "crazy" for saying that he's aging while everyone else stays the same age), sacrificing children to the blind witch, the entire situation with graham (that she never confesses to, emma never finds out), trying to poison emma after emma tells her she's already leaving because she couldn't stand emma being in henry's life at all, separating the mad hatter from his daughter in the curse even though the last time they saw each other the mad hatter helped her and she betrayed him+making him remember his real self for some extra bout of torture, kills a little boy's dad bc the dad didn't want to drop his entire life and move into town so that she could fulfill her sudden dreams of motherhood, then later taunts that boy when he's an adult about how she killed his dad.

and what happened to her with daniel and cora's abuse is definitely really bad, it just doesn't even come close to justifying any of this for me. she didn't need to marry snow's dad. she gets rid of cora and sends her to wonderland before she's married. she stays because she likes the feeling of magic and the idea of being queen (rumple is obviously a huge part of why she turned out the way she did, "hooking" her on a magic which ouat tries to compare to drug use, but the murderous intent was in her before she even met him).

and then her redemption. hooo boy. it starts in season 2, with her just deciding not to actively do harm because she wants henry to love her. not a bad start. then she tries to destroy the well that snow and emma want to come back from (to be fair, she does this to stop cora, but she knows emma and snow dying is a possibility and is very cool with this bc it'll make her henry's only mom). she then is upset that everyone in town isn't automatically cool with her, for some reason gets credit for "saving" snow and emma (from a trap! that she! set!), and when cora does come back, she teams up with her. like. the lady who actually killed daniel and ruined regina's life. that lady. teams up with her. stands by as her mother kills snow's nanny even though they already got what they wanted. and THEN she's angry that snow had the nerve to do to cora what regina's done to dozens of people and kill her.

and then for the rest of the show there's just no point where there's time for regina's redemption because they're always dealing with the next villain. peter pan, then zelana, then the snow queen, so on and so forth. at some point she's just decided to be redeemed and anyone who argues with that point either changes their mind or is portrayed by the narrative as a villain. some of her one liners that a lot of the fandom think are so cool make me beyond angry LMAO like she tells david "i will not be given parenting advice by a man who shipped his daughter off in a box" GIRL??? BECAUSE OF YOU??? the show continuously pushes the blame onto snow and david (but especially snow) for giving emma up as though they had a choice. regina knew about rumple's prophecy. she knew snow and charming's daughter would break the curse. she was not gonna let that baby live if snow and charming hadn't sent her away.

snow and charming and emma's characters are all completely turned into dust for her too. emma is forced to grovel because she brought back a woman from the past that regina wrongfully executed bc it happens to be maid marian. snow and charming do uncharacteristic "evil" things so that they can be like "see! they're all good and bad!" when even ooc snow and charming's worst doesn't compare to regina's best.

[ntaras]

Thanks for the link!! Dude went waaay too far, he seriously wants MK v.s DC to be canon ahzah. I want to slap him whenever he calls Raiden and Fujin demigods lmao. Like, Elder Gods>Gods>Demigods (or half-gods) it really isn't that hard, man. 😭 If we follow his logic then what are Taven, Daegon and Rain supposed to be? And spare me your titans crap. Out! Out!

And we really ignoring the Tempest creating Chaosrealm? 😔 At least they might have referenced it with how it came to be in MK1 ig. At least, he acknowledged Deception lore with the soul stones and the sorcerers in the Nether.

Okay so now I'm just gonna ramble about Frost. 🗣️

The small attention given to Frost and Nitara is cool. Although when it comes to Frost, it kind of sucks because on the surface it really looks like a bad case of "this character is evil because they had a rough childhood but we are not going to delve in the why and the how it affected them". The "bad childhood" is such an easy card to pull when it comes to explain a character's motivation and it COULD be good if writers actually chose to acknowledge and treat it properly. However, the way it's presented in MK11 is weird and frustrating because while we are made aware of Frost's struggles (her false feelings of not being good enough in Kuai's eyes, her feeling like she's always underestimated and unworthy, her wanting to prove herself to an unhealthy degree) they're never developed and explained. Paired with Kuai Liang's claim that he gave her a home and that she was a talented student, it makes Frost look like a major dick who's just overly arrogant, who just killed her mom for no reason and who actually takes pride in it.

You have to dig yourself to at least try to understand/come up with an explanation related to Frost's issues with authority, her arrogance, why she clashed with Sonya upon meeting her the first time in DA, why she rebelled against Kuai Liang while simultaneously wanting to earn his respect... Which she DID but she fucked things up herself!!! And it makes me sad because Kuai Liang was genuinely proud of her and cared about her. Frost finally had the love and attention she wanted and there's no doubt she would have become grandmistress after Kuai Liang at some point but she had to ruin it herself because of some sick thirst for even more power.

And while I actually really like the "bad childhood" and "found herself participating in death matches" elements brought by NRS, I struggle to understand Frost's problem with the truce between the Lin Kuei and the Shirai Ryu in this timeline. It comes from nowhere and just makes Frost look like a grade-A asshole for no reason. It even results in Kuai Liang no longer caring for her when he used to be more sympathetic to her in the Midway timeline... Until Deception and that's because she slaughtered a good chunk of the clan!!! In MKX, Frost had just rebelled against a truce. I don't think we are even told if Kuai Liang at least attempted to talk to her and understand what she was going through. He just cast her out and like, yeah, I can understand why he'd be mad but at the end of the day it makes both Frost and Kuai Liang look like assholes lmao.

I really like Frost and I wish she wasn't just reduced to a lost cause because at the end of the day she's just a troubled young woman who obviously went through a lot. Kuai Liang himself had a rough life and that's why I just hate that he doesn't at least try to be considerate with her and understand her story. You'd think he would be made aware at some point that Frost fought in death matches??? Like, I mean, that's such a fucked up thing to do. How did Frost even find herself there?? The way I see it, Kuai Liang was turned into a weapon while Frost had to turn herself into a weapon in order to survive and I think that's a neat comparison, especially when you consider Frost willingly cyberized herself. However, they sadly never address it.

I'd loooove to know more about Frost's family life. I'm still working on my headcanons but I'd like to go in a direction opposed to Kuai Liang and Bi-Han. Like, while the brothers were trained and pressured by their father to master their cryomancy, Frost's mother wanted her to conceal her powers in order to live a normal life. I definitely don't think she was a good mom, therefore, she was quite rough and commanding in the way she forced her daughter to hide that part of herself that Frost struggled to control and it made their relationship really tense. I definitely don't think Frost loved her mother but I also don't see her willingly killing her in cold blood. I mostly see it like, Frost's resentment toward her mother grew so much that a fight between them caused her powers to go out of control and cause her mother's death. Self-defense might also be to consider. Maybe. idk. that's pretty much a W.I.P and I like to consider every possibility.

Okay now that I'm done, I'm really curious to hear your take on Frost. 👀

i think dominic needs to just make his own game so he can write whatever lore he wants instead of doing what he currently is doing and we’d all be happier.

to be fair i forgot about the tempest being a thing but i am not an official writer so what excuse does he have. (also looking up the tempest led me to being reintroduced to zaggot cause i have not read the older comics in yearssss. but what a name.)

but frost!!!!!!!!! i agree with pretty much what you said about her. i adore her but for some reason she cannot get a complete arc nor an attempt at digging into her character. she deserves the recognition that mk12 bi-han is getting because he is a carbon copy of her but that’s another topic.

i adore how self-sabotaging and aggressive she is, but i wish she was actually given reason behind her character! frost being confirmed to have a shitty childhood and killed her (also shitty) mom does offer reasoning behind her personality but i wish it was actually explored in canon. like you said, you really have to dig to figure out the reasoning behind frost’s actions because she’s one of the many characters who are not given much for the audience to work with.

but i’ll take the scraps :,)

like i said i agree with pretty much what you said about her, and i think we’re in the same boat regarding headcanons. i’ve also thought that she forced to conceal her powers by her mother, which also begs the question on if frost’s mother was a cryomancer or if her father was. had it been her father, i wonder what happened to him considering there’s no mention of him (because frost specifically says she killed her mother). i’ve thought about if her father was somehow not in her life (be it that he died when she was young, before she was born, or left her and her mother) and he was a cryomancer, it caused her mother to force frost to suppress her powers because she did not know how to deal with it. but if it was her mother who was a cryomancer, her own mother could’ve tried repressing frost’s powers as a means of protection (protection being isolation of her daughter) or a projection of her mother’s own shame/issues about her cryomancy.

either way, i think she was forced to repress her cryomancy by her mother (which i think would be painful, because cryomancy typically shows up when the cryomancer is older but frost is on the very young side. she ultimately was alone in dealing with this unknown power.)

i do not think frost killed her mother out of cold blood either! it was ultimately just the result of of poor parenting and resentment building up on both sides. and the way her mother raised her lead frost to having issues with authority, for example, kuai liang.

i think i’ve briefly mentioned it before, but i think frost views kuai liang like her mom. like, there’s a part of her that views kuai liang as the closest to “kin” because he is the first cryomancer she’s met. above anyone he would understand her isolation and rage, and i think in turn she would understand him in a way. i think they’re both characters who have walls up but at the same time having a shared power automatically reveals some vulnerability to each other. but frost has IMMENSE issues with her vulnerability, and i don’t think she’d easily be open to another authority figure when she already dealt with her mom.

with kuai liang being her mentor i don't think she can help herself from automatically linking him to her mom and as a result wanting to take control before another authority takes control of her and suppresses her. she doesn’t want to be a child anymore, but be the ultimate authority (which only causes her to act more childish- with extreme naivety and rebellion).

and going off what you said about kuai liang being forced into a weapon while frost chose to become a weapon, i think being a weapon is what frost views as the ultimate authority (or in other words, violence is the ultimate authority to frost).

i do think kuai liang would have known about frost being in death matches (which i also have no clue how that girl got involved in them) and had to teach her fighting methods different from how she used to fight, or even teach how to be better at whatever methods she used to use in those matches.

also fun (and unfortunate) fact, had the mkx comics continued we would have gotten A LOT more focus on frost because her and kuai liang are meant to parallel hanzo and takeda. she could’ve gotten a fully fleshed backstory and yet we were robbed as usual

in the end despite all of frost’s flaws and mistakes, i genuinely think she should be redeemed instead of only being a lost cause. i hateeee how dismissive kuai liang is of frost and how easily he gave up on her in the nrs timeline. like i do think she represents a metaphor for kuai liang as the final challenge he has to overcome in order to finally redeem the lin kuei, and she does some very messed up things that really push kuai liang towards the edge, but because of that metaphor i really think it’d be fitting if frost’s redemption was also kuai liang’s completed redemption of the lin kuei. (i also do think her being a metaphor for being kuai liang’s final challenge to redeem the lin kuei can explain her issue with the shirai ryu as the clans used to be enemies, but idk it’s just an attempt at trying to make it make sense in a thematic way lol.)

it would also allow kuai liang rest because i do think his story needs to (or at least needed to considering we won’t have sub-zero kuai liang back) end, and i think it should end with “sub-zero” being passed to frost because she should get to a point where she deserves to be grandmaster.

anyways to sum this up i wish we got her backstory because i am sick of people (the writers) dismissing her as an ungrateful brat who’s a lost cause… she deserves her story!!! she deserves to grow as a character!!! i love her dearly and i appreciate her <33

[beckthenerd]

I've had the delightful pleasure of finding out about Through the Deep, Dark Valley, and by golly, I loved every precious second I spent reading it! By the time I finished going through all of the available chapters, I was all too eager to blaze up your wonderful work and point out all the cool details I noticed while reading, and considering the immaculate attention to detail this story has, you can imagine I had quite a lot to say about each chapter. However, I also didn't want to send an ask chock-full of spoilers and deprive a potential reader of the ability to go into this story blind, so I wanted to send it as a DM so I could gush about all the cool little details and conversations I enjoyed without running the risk of actually spoiling someone. Just one problem, for some fuckin' reason, whenever I want to send a long-winded DM, it never actually works. I am convinced there's like a secret character limit they're not telling us about or something of the sort, because long messages like these always fail to send no matter what I do. Never once have I successfully sent a long message through DMs. Real messed up, and since I'll likely be waiting a week for my AO3 account, I can't really talk about all those specifics I wrote about in the comments section of each respective chapter either. It sods me off, but luckily a lot of the things I want to gush about have been pointed out in said comments sections. Not all of 'em, but a lot of 'em, which I love! I love it when artists get praised sufficiently for their work, and I derive great pleasure from praising their works, too! Writing good stories takes so much time and experience! Like, I've tried writing stories! It's extremely difficult to do! You've got some serious talent, and you use that talent to create this wonderful, absolutely immaculate story. That deserves praise! I genuinely hope you're having just as much fun writing this story as I have reading it, and I'm stoked to read the next chapters whenever they come out! However, just because I can't get into the nitty-gritty of the story and point out all the beautiful details I noticed, I can still talk about everything surrounding it. I'll just save the rest for when I finally have a bloody AO3 account.

(I wish I could split this first paragraph in two, but I can't find a natural way to do so. I'm sure that's not a bad omen of what's to come. No sireee…)

Anyways, I wanted to start by talking about what drew me into this story the most. When I first saw it, I was almost immediately aboard. Admittedly, I was a bit apprehensive, but aboard nonetheless. After seeing that 'What If' comic where Laios imagines what would happen if he were the one who got mauled by the big red bad, the gears in my mind started turning. I had so many ideas for how that could play out, it absolutely drove me up the bloody wall! So many cool ideas! But the thing is, everyone has cool ideas. What matters is someone's ability to make those ideas a reality. The fact you're writing this story, making this alternate universe a reality, is something to be commended in and of itself, but obviously it is your ability to do so in such an immaculate way that truly sets you apart. From your writing to the characterization, it is clear to me that you know your stuff, and you know it well. It took a while for Falin to truly grow on me as a character while I was reading the manga, because I was pulling a lot of blanks on who she was as a character. I just knew there was more to her… There was something under that mask, behind that wall she puts up around others, but I just couldn't put my finger on it! She truly deserves the title of 'Miss Enigma'. It wasn't until after I reached out to a remarkably passionate and smart person that I felt I finally understood her a little more, and it really helped complete my image of her in my mind, so when I saw this story a few days later, I was a little apprehensive. There are a lot of interpretations of Dungeon Meshi's characters - especially Falin - but not all of them are equally interesting to me. For this story to work, Falin, as a character, had to work as well. Her characterization in this story was crucial to me, so I hope you understand that I was holding my breath when I started reading. When I found this story, it was like a dream come true; but was I in for the time of my life, or a rude awakening? Well, I'm writing this elaborate cry for help disguised as a message, so obviously it's like a dream come true. This character, this… 'Mystery'… You wrote her perfectly. I cannot think of a single interpretation that could possibly fit this story better. The way you wrote her thoughts, actions and dialogue are all absolutely perfect. I'm quite certain over half of the notes I took were specifically dedicated to the things Falin thinks and says. I relate to her on a very deep level I wasn't expecting, but even if I didn't, I am convinced I would absolutely love this regardless.

I genuinely wish I could dedicate this message to highlighting all of the specific moments in the story I love oh so much, but that'll have to wait until I can post it in a place where I don't risk spoiling someone. I think my favorite part of Falin that I CAN point out however, is that from the outsider's perspective, she's a total mystery. Her inner workings are alien to us. For crying out loud, until recently I didn't even know what to write for her character synopsis! But what makes this story work, is that while Falin may be a mystery to everyone around her, to Falin EVERYONE but her is a mystery! I am enthralled by the way she's constantly experiencing difficulties reading expressions, or second-guessing almost everything she says like she's playing a game of minesweeper! It's like every interaction is akin to a negotiation straight from the depths of the most unforgiving Shin Megami Tensei games, and I adore it! Not just because I relate to it so heavily, but also because it's just such a fascinating way to write her character. This teeny tiny element of her character opens the floodgates to so many interesting and insightful thoughts, conversations and other such things, and so far you've done your damnedest to make absolutely sure every single opportunity for interesting and meaningful moments is seized! That, good sir, takes a level of mastery I myself could never hope to replicate. But what makes Falin work even more for this story, is all the ways in which she handles things differently than Laios. Laios is such a social person despite his lacking people skills, and he can pick up on a lot of interesting cues that others simply don't notice. It's his unique insights and remarkable intelligence that pull the party through its darkest hour, and despite being an outwardly goofy person, has saved their bacon many times over by just being himself. At so many points does Falin lament the absence of Laios, thinking about all the things he would've done were he here right now, all the while constantly worrying about how to even revive him when they get to their destination. It's such an interesting way to mirror all the times Laios thought back to how amazing Falin was, and how she would've probably handled the situation far better all the while worrying for her safety and feeling as though he failed her. They're both so similar, yet so different, and they make up for each other's weaknesses. Another thing that I noticed is that Marcille's presence is far more overbearing here. She's still the same person as she was in the canon story - which further goes to show just how good your understanding of Dungeon Meshi and its characters is - but without Laios' equally loud presence, it feels as though Marcille's personality and overall presence just… Take up more space, for lack of a better word. It's certainly not helped by Falin's comparatively meager presence due to the way she handles social interactions. Speaking of character dynamics, I also greatly enjoy the way Falin bounces off of Senshi. It's something I was really looking forward to, especially with how he interacted with Laios. I was really, really curious to see how he'd interact with Falin, and I'm glad we get to see that here in such a magnificent way! Also, I genuinely think you wrote Toshiro perfectly. I'm not really aware of (the? Is it 'the' public opinion, or just 'public opinion'?) public opinion on Toshiro, but I generally tend to see folks describe him as the character of all time. Seeing that one post-ending story where Falin and Toshiro have a heartfelt conversation really made me wonder what would happen if the two were actually trekking through the dungeon, and et voila! The man, the myth and the bloody LEGEND delivered! You characterized Toshiro exceptionally well, good sir! I cannot stress how much I admire that!

Now, while some chapters of the manga are understandably (and thankfully) skipped over due to likely playing out the same way, there are some tidbits here and there that indicate some things did end up going differently in these skipped chapter, showing how Falin handles certain situations, which is a really cool touch. Getting what is essentially a mini recap with what's transpired between one chapter and the next is really insightful and a really clever way to bridge the gap. One last thing I'd like to mention, is that I genuinely do hope the jumps between chapters don't get too big. I understand not every chapter is going to play out as differently, making it a very good thing to gloss over, but I do also genuinely anticipate seeing Falin's reactions to certain situations or revelations, but I think that's a moot point. (Plus, it's secretly just because I want more to read. Your writing is SO friggin' swag! The more, the better in my eyes.) You've clearly shown you're highly capable of writing an excellent story, so I'm not worried at all. In fact, I have faith you'll be posting hit after hit, and I can't wait. Good luck with writing up that buffer! Personally, I hope there's a great wealth of chapters left for you to write, because I could quite literally sit down for days on end reading this without pause. You've done expertly so far, and I lament I cannot point out all of the specific interactions and other such things I loved in this comment, but that just means I get to save it for another comment whenever I finally get my grubby hands on an AO3 account.

With that though, have an absolutely wonderful day, king! Yes, it's a bit abrupt. What about it? It's difficult to wri--fucking evaporates

it's the fact that i literally saw your other asks you've left for other writers and immediately heard the jaws theme playing. i literally went ohhhhhh. oh i am so cooked. and... yeah man i am so fucking cooked. this write up was so amazingly heartfelt and kind, and i really do appreciate everything you've written for me.

if it makes you feel any better, i can say with certainty that the only other chapters that are really being skipped are the spirits/treasure bugs chapters (if only because they're being summarized quickly to get on with the plot in the part that i wrote), and even then they'll probably be mentioned in the future. this outline... man, this outline is THICK. we're talking 20+ pages of notes (even if those notes do include my summaries, my start and end notes, etc.).

there are also a few pieces that may be skipped as we go through certain beats of the story but will be revisited (specifically a certain chapter involving a younger version of some of these characters).

the biggest challenge in writing TtDDV has truly been figuring out who Falin is as a character (and also all of the research i've had to do because Kui has truly thought of... well, a lot. there's a lot going on. it does help because it answers a lot of questions).

a lot of people seem to agree with you on my characterization of Toshiro, which is really nice! he really is the Most Character of All Time, and i thought that it would make sense to make him... well, A Bit More Character. make this guy fun, if you will. a little silly, even. but yeah, it means a lot to know that people like the way i write him! one of my betas literally said "i didn't care about this guy until after reading this" which, as you can imagine, made me feel pretty good about my writing.

i have a lot of thoughts on Marcille. i love that girl so much, and she indeed is the loudest motherfucker in the room now that Laios isn't here. i've been trying my best to not make her... well, annoying, so i've been trying to kind of herd her around much like a cattle dog, picking little pieces of her dialogue to include from the manga while also developing... well, the elephant in the room. the elephant in the room being the yearning and semi-slow burn.

ANYWAYS, i'm rambling a lot, and i've got so many thoughts, but i need to shut my trap before i start laying out EVERYTHING that's going to happen in this series. i'm glad you enjoyed, and i'm so excited to see what you end up commenting!