#I don't think/know if they'll keep them consistent for each character

[the-fandom-greenhouse]

Royal Scandal fandom, how we doing this fine 'Magic Ring Night' rerelease day?

~ ☆

[pikahlua]

Can you expand a bit on why Hawks would want to keep the hero rankings rather than get rid of them? I'm having a hard time understanding why he would do that whatsoever. What "good points" are there that he would want to keep? It always felt like a major source of corruption imo, especially since one of Nagant's jobs with the HPSC was taking out corrupt heroes who found unsavory means to boost their rankings (convincing normal people to do crimes, then arresting them). Appreciate your insight as always <3

Hawks' major criticism of the hero rankings was not the rankings themselves but the popularity component of the rankings.

Saying the "popular" thing, saying the thing everyone wants to hear, isn't heroic; it's cowardly. It's conforming. Hawks is looking for a dependable hero to be a symbol, and such a symbol has to be strong in the face of criticism. They can't capitulate to what's easy and popular, especially when such sentiment stands in contrast to what's needed and righteous.

Hawks goes out of his way to pick Endeavor to mold into a leader because Endeavor has that leadership quality--he's not trying to look good in the public eye in every moment. He's consistent and dependable. He has the highest rate of incidents resolved--even more than All Might. Hawks thinks Endeavor is reassuring, that people will follow his lead.

Of course, the good part about the "popularity" component of the ranking is that it keeps people in check. To give an example, there's this concept in my old line of work called independence, which is divided into two things: actual independence and the appearance of independence. It's important for someone in my old position to be independent in fact BUT ALSO in appearance. If people can't TELL you're independent, how much does it help even if you actually ARE independent? The same thing can apply to heroes in terms of public approval. Yes, heroes need to take public approval ratings with a grain of salt, because sometimes doing the right thing is not the same thing as doing what's popular. However, consistently going against the grain without a thought for helping the public understand you, without regard for social mores or others' feelings, will eventually turn the public against you. It's the issue Katsuki had to deal with as he went through his character arc. If the public doesn't trust you, why would they take your hand when you reach out to save them?

Hawks never really goes into anything like what Nagant mentions, and I don't know if Nagant's commentary on heroes who colluded with villains for fame and glory even was a) directly referring to the hero ranking system or b) something that can be resolved by eliminating hero rankings in the first place. That issue seems like a product of fame chasing, not merely public approval, and people will continue to crave the limelight whether or not there's a ranking system. But if people aren't dependent on heroes being the only heroic ones, such as in this new list of everyday heroes Hawks is considering, the existence of fame-chasing heroes doesn't hurt society as much. People won't be depending on heroes to all be perfect and good, they'll support each other, and so the whole system won't be shaken up by the public image of heroes wavering.

As an aside, there's one other funny thing to me about this idea Hawks has.

Hawks is a young upstart, and the fact that he landed this influential political position is quite a shake-up of the status quo. Japan notoriously likes to have things happen in a certain social order, and young people jumping up the ladder ahead of their elders always makes for an awkward dynamic. I do kinda think Hawks is being considerate by not "doing things a little too fast" and completely destroying the old system, because something that radical is not always palatable to the majority opinion, especially when the person advocating for it is as young as Hawks. Just changing a system this much is already a pretty radical step based on my (limited) understanding of contemporary Japanese politics. And I direct you back to my commentary on how Hawks is building on what the older generations have given the next ones. He's always been a character that sat between the older and newer generations like a bridge, so this seems like a decent compromise.

[unforth]

i don't know if you are still into 2ha? but what would you say if someone asked you what makes 2ha stand out? It's full of tropes that have been done before and there is nothing new. it's full of cliches according to some people. So, what makes it stand out?

I am still into 2ha, I'd consider it one of my top fandoms right now.

I'll own I find this whole ask rather odd? It implies that novelty is a. possible and b. what I'm looking for in a book.

For a... Name me a book that isn't full or tropes, name me a book that isn't full of "nothing new," name me a book that isn't full of cliches. Enjoyable books aren't ~original~, and imo original is a myth. It's about how the ideas are strung together, not about them being fresh and different and new.

For b... look. I'm almost 42 years old. I've been reading a ton since I was 8. I've read a l.o.t. over the years. And I've come to learn the things I love in characters and books.

Give me a main character (or, in 2ha, BOTH main characters) who thinks they're worthless and will give everything they have to save an innocent stranger. Give me archetypes of self-sacrifice and martyrdom and low self-esteem and adoration and obsession cooked so deep into their bones that it extends over multiple life times. Give me that adoration reciprocated but the pining, oh, it is mutual for these idiots who should be and will be lovers. I'll eat that up every time. Give me someone who thinks they're unlovable but loves the world anyway, and give me someone who loves them so much they'll tolerate the claws.

Give me epic length I can sink my teeth into. Make the plot sprawling, the side characters lush, the world developed. It's okay if some parts drag a little, it's hard to keep momentum over an epic, and one person's "that dragged" is another's "that rocked." Anyway, the slow bits makes the more exciting parts that much more thrilling.

Give me whump, and hurt/comfort, and pain that burns the soul. Make the characters deep and compelling and then confront them with nothing but bad choices, force them to pick... and then see them pick each other, everytime, even in the midst of the darkest night imaginable. Give me unreliable narrators and angst and characters with nobility that shines like the sun even when they're covered in shit.

I adored this kind of story when I was 12 and I started the Wheel of Time and fell in love with Rand al'Thor, and I adore this kind of story now, in Tian Guan Ci Fu and The Husky and His White Cat Shizun and Modu. The patterns in the kinds of books I enjoy most, the ones that make me feral and obsessed, are very consistent, and being Old means I know what those patterns are and I can seek out books that have them, and recognize them when I find them again. It's happening with the book I'm reading now, in fact, and I can feel the feral obsession growling in delight in my brain, lmao.

Ya know how some people go into fanfiction because they love a character and want to see iterations of them over and over a little to the left? Well, that's why I started fanfic, and through fic I found a genre of original fiction that does that for me. I want similar character archetypes in endless iterations of stories, and danmei gives that to me, and that's why I'm up to my nose in danmei fandoms, and why the specific ones I like best are my favorites.

What stands out about 2ha, for me, is that it fits my taste in character archetypes and plot type. If someone out there shares that taste, they'll probably also love it. If they don't share that taste, they may not, but they may, because it's a complex enough book to cater to more than just one specific type of taste. Someone who likes OP control fantasies will also probably like it, for example. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, and that's not a bad thing. Stories that appeal to everyone tend to be shallow and not attract deep obsession, having sacrificed the depth to draw a wider audience.

Anyway, anon...you phrased this like an anti. 80% of your ask is trashing the book on false premises about tropes and cliches. I genuinely can't tell if this is meant as a troll or if it's sincere, but I've answered as if it's sincere. But regardless, you'll be a lot happier as a reader if you forget originality. Books aren't original. Find an author, genre, series, whatever, that fits your taste, and frolic there. That's the route to happy reading.

I've found mine. I hope you find yours.

[bugsbenefit]

Even leaving aside the rest of that ask about Karen, how are the show runners "glazing Cara" according to st twitter now lmao. I swear no one on there understands the concept of just liking the people you work with...

very good point. tbh 'glazing' really lost it's meaning. that's just the thing you say now about characters showing up in the show or marketing that you don't care about that much

but looking at how fandom treats certain characters it is kind of apparent how Karen isn't really seen as big of a deal as the show actually makes her in general. (at last in hyper invested fandom spaces. more regular viewers see her as much more of a main character) which i think causes a bit of dissonance when the show keeps promoting her. because if you think she's as unimportant of a side character as say, Dustin's mom, then you probably would think her constantly showing up on posters and bts footage is undeserved glazing

the thing is that Karen is actually kind of important. she's absolutely not a background character

you have the primary mains like Joyce, Hopper, the kids. more secondary mains that don't really have the hard hitting plot points of the show happen to them but are fleshed out and who the writers still take care writing like Steve, Robin etc. and then Karen falls in somewhere between a secondary and tertiary protagonist

she actually gets things to do each season. she has character arcs. from actually meeting and being suspicious of Brenner in s1, to her worry about Nancy in s3, the Billy situation, even s4 ends with her and Holly at the window looking out at the spores

actual side characters in the show, like Ted, the Sinclairs, Claudia Henderson, don't have any arcs to their characters. they're background decorum when their children (the actual protagonists) are home or need to talk to someone

but Karen falls much closer to actual protagonist status. which also explains why she's consistently featured in the marketing alongside the other mains

which is how the Byers and Wheelers turned into the two big families the show kind of revolves around to begin with. we know the most about them because almost all family members are protagonists in their own right. you have the kids Mike and Will, Nancy and Jonathan. and then the moms. the only difference being that Karen is kept in the dark about the UD plot and Joyce got thrown directly into it in s1 because it was her son that went missing

and the thing that people seem to get stuck on about Karen is that she's the only protag that doesn't explicitly know about the UD

which, honestly, makes her kind of interesting. especially with where they'll take that in s5, because she'll have to be confronted with what's been going on eventually. and what has been tormenting both her children for years. hell, she had such a close encounter with Billy in s3, she would have been in Heather's place that season hadn't Billy still had some semblance of control at that point. and she isn't even aware

Karen has been involved in the UD plot for seasons, there just wasn't any payoff to it yet because she doesn't know

Karen Wheeler, tight rope walker when it comes to getting as close as humanly possible to the supernatural plot without having to actually confront it

but it really boils down to, Karen is, and always has been an important character and the marketing has always reflected that

side note but what i've also seen cause a lot of the 'they're just needlessly glazing xyz' complaints is that sometimes it's just people being pissy their favourite characters aren't getting a singular spotlight on them. i've mainly seen it from solo El or Will stans (still exist in the year of the lord 2024) who don't care about the rest of the cast or plot outside of one character. so when Karen who, 'doesn't even know about the UD' gets so much s5 marketing that's hype that could have gone to someone more important in their minds. again, glazing entering the pantheon of words that lost all meaning on social media

[theredengineapologist]

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone! 💙❤

Of course, I had to do something Jameward for the occasion. Even though this meme is literally called "Understand my Ship in 5 Minutes", I still wanted to include some commentary/headcanons because I've been DYING to talk about them forever. So if you're interested, read on under the cut!

(Also, please note that the interpretation of the characters depicted here is specifically for my AU, TTTE: Sudrian Boys)

NAMES: For the sake of making sure their names fit in the boxes, I used the last names they picked for themselves before they got married. When they do eventually get legally married, they'll combine their last names together (a conclusion they got to after much bickering). So respectively, they will be James and Edward Hughes-Pettigrew.

GENDER + SEXUALITY:

James is GAY. GAY GAY HOMOSEXUAL GAY. Sorry not sorry, but there is not a woman-liker bone in his body.

Edward, on the other hand is bi. Part of me thinks he tends to prefer the company of men, but maybe that's just because there's significantly more male engines on Sodor. Also he is nonbinary. This will be something I explore later. But to summarize, Edward never felt entirely male in the strict sense that humans define it. However, he felt the need to be the consistent, steady, "old reliable" his peers saw him as, so he never questioned what others chose to call him. This changed when "The Great Shift" happened (aka, the engines learning to shift into a human-like form). Edward saw an opportunity to experiment with his presentation, and so he had a brief stint where he tried going in the opposite direction, presenting as a woman named Alice. As fun as it was, however, he found that it didn't feel quite right either. To him, "Edward" was where he felt most at home. He's not a man or a woman, he is just "Edward". Edward uses "he/they" pronouns because those feel the most neutral to them.

HORNY LEVEL: I will not be elaborating.

AWKWARDNESS LEVEL: I don't think Edward and James ever really had an "awkward phase". Before they got together, they always felt comfortable with each other as close friends would. They never really had that thing of "oh I want to tell him I like him but I also don't want him to know". Edward always knew he liked James, he just didn't say anything because he didn't think James was interested. And once James admitted to himself that he liked Edward, he confessed and it was all smooth sailing from there. To be honest, not much changed when they moved from "close friends" to "boyfriends". They still act like close friends, just with added kissing privileges.

JEALOUSY LEVEL: At the point where they're at in their relationship right now, both James and Edward are pretty secure, so it's rare for either of them to act jealous.

From Edward's perspective, he knows that James is young (relatively speaking) and very attractive, so it's hardly surprising to see that other people would try to flirt with him. There's a small pang of jealousy that comes from him thinking James would have preferred someone younger or stronger, but that quickly goes away once he sees James return to being on his arm and very proudly proclaiming he's already spoken for.

From James's perspective, he thinks Edward is the real catch between the two of them. Plus, it's not often that other people would try to shoot their shot with the silver fox. So when other people do try to get a little too close for comfort, James would certainly be stewing in jealousy. If the feeling gets to a certain point, he'd probably make himself known. But once they get home, the situation gets explained out, and they're cuddling on the couch with a blanket and some tea, James finds he can let go of the jealous feeling relatively quickly.

BIG SPOON/LITTLE SPOON: Majority of the time, James is the little spoon. He likes to be held and Edward LOVES holding him. James's favorite thing is when Edward keeps their hand on his chest. But occasionally, they do switch places, especially if Edward has a particularly hard day. Sometimes Old Iron wants to be cuddled too.

LENDS/BORROWS CLOTHES: Both of them tend to steal borrow clothes from each other, but under different circumstances.

At home, it's relatively commonplace to see Edward walking around in one of James's pants, shirts, or even his prized red coat. But more often than not, these are cases of Edward just picking them up of his own accord and James just letting him have it.

Outside, it's James who more actively does the borrowing and Edward who does the lending. James likes to go out ✨IN STYLE✨ without taking into consideration pesky things like the weather. So when James (inevitably) gets cold at night, Edward is the one to lend him his jacket.

PET NAMES: They don't use pet names often, but they do use some of the more basic ones on occasion. For James, Edward would sometimes call him "Jamie", "darling", "dear", or his personal favorite, "love". James usually calls Edward by his full name because Edward prefers it, but sometimes he might slip in an "Eddie", "baby", or a "kitten" in there just to make the old man flustered.

AFFECTION THROUGH WORDS/ACTIONS: This one might seem paradoxical, but let me explain.

James is more receptive to affection through words because he's used to being dismissed. In his worst moments, he can be pretty down on himself as his insecurities eat away at him. At times like these, Edward knows exactly what to say to help James pick himself back up again. It's especially meaningful because Edward absolutely means everything he says. He's not the type to lie just to make James feel better. He's honest and straightforward. If James did something wrong that needs calling out, Edward will tell him (politely of course). So when Edward tells James that he's wonderful or that he's a "really splendid engine", he 100% means it. And you can tell from just the look in his eyes that Edward loves his red boyfriend SO DAMN MUCH.

Conversely, Edward is more receptive to affection through actions. Edward is always the one out caring for everyone else and tends to forget to care for himself too. But at the same time, he's very much the type to never ask for help (even if he needs it). James knows this, so he goes the extra mile to help take some of the load off. If Edward is especially tired one day, James will step up and do Edward's share of the housekeeping without being asked. He'll volunteer to go supervise Bill and Ben so that Edward can take a day off. He'll fix up a warm bath for Edward after a hard day. Anything to make sure Edward is taken care of, James will do it. Not only that, but James is also the one planning most of their dates. ;)

CONFESSING:

Edward NEVER had any plans to confess to James. Romantic relationships are uncommon amongst engines since there's no real use for them. Plus, he didn't think James would be interested in a plain old iron like himself (as he views himself anyway). So Edward was just content to just feel his feelings and never act on them.

James, on the other hand, took several years to both realize and accept that he was in love with Edward. But once he got to that point, he confessed fairly quickly. Sure, there was a normal amount of hesitation and worry that Edward might not feel the same. But he was about 90% sure that Edward loved him back so he didn't end up worrying that much leading up to the confession.

CAN'T DRIVE LOL: Even as engines, they can't drive themselves. Plus, they know trains are the superior way to travel. So if they ever need to go somewhere while shifted into humans, they just catch one of their friends' trains. I don't think they've ever even sat in a car before.

COOKING: Edward loves to cook (especially baking). It was one of the first hobbies he picked up after learning how to shift and he would often make meals to share for the entire Steam Team. James, on the other hand, can cook, but not nearly as well as Edward. He doesn't know as many dishes as Edward. Even the ones they both know, James's, for some reason, aren't as good. The only time James would ever take over cooking is if Edward is feeling too exhausted to do so. There's a mutual acknowledgement between them (and also the rest of the Steam Team) that Edward is the superior chef (and he also enjoys it more). So if he can help it, James prefers to leave the cooking to Edward.

PDA: James absolutely LOVES PDA. He will take literally every opportunity he can to dote on Edward in public so that the entire island knows that they're together, much to Edward's embarrassment. Edward secretly loves the PDA too, and he appreciates how proud James is to be his boyfriend (and later husband). But Edward would never admit it. He tries really hard to at least appear decent in public. That said, when the opportunity arises, Edward does like getting to flip the script and fluster James in front of onlookers.

OVERPROTECTIVE/CHILL GOING: Both are more than reasonably protective over each other, but for different reasons and under different circumstances.

James gets into accidents relatively often, usually as the result of his own dumbassery. So Edward has gotten to a point where he's not too concerned if James winds up in an accident again. He'll still worry a little and warn James to be more careful next time, but Edward knows after a trip to the Steamworks that his boyfriend will be good as new again.

It's when they're shifted into humans when Edward becomes more protective of James.

Because of the way James looks, it's unfortunately not uncommon for James to get harassed while shifted as a human. When this happens, Edward goes into full protective mode to make sure his beloved stays safe. Thankfully, it doesn't happen too often. But it does happen often enough that Edward feels like he has to keep close watch of James while they're traveling after nightfall.

James, on the other hand, always has a bit of worry for Edward at the back of his mind. He knows Edward is capable of handling himself, but he also knows that Edward is old and doesn't recover from accidents as quickly or easily as he does. He worries that if the damage is too great, Edward could be scrapped. So if Edward were to end up in any sort of accident, James would go ballistic. He's puffing over right away to make sure his beloved is okay and may or may not have a fierce word with whoever caused the accident. The same thing goes when they are in human form. If Edward were to end up in some sort of fight, James would put himself in harms way to make sure Edward is protected (even though in human form, Edward is actually physically stronger than James).

RELATIONSHIP EXPERIENCE: Neither of them had any relationship experience before each other, they were each other's firsts. You can maybe argue that Edward has slightly more experience because he's had crushes on other people in the past, but fleeting attraction that is never pursued could hardly count for true experience. Their whole relationship is something that James and Edward are navigating together. It's new and at times a little scary, but there's nobody else James and Edward would rather be with than each other.

[imagionationstation]

I would LOVE to hear more about your gender swapped Donnie! (It’s one of my favorite tropes!) I can just imagine her with her mask tails tied back in a big bow so they don’t get in the way while she’s working.

Also, I know you write a lot of de-aged Donnie, have you considered her bros reaction if she was turned into a baby? Would it actually be any different than for normal Donnie?

Thank you! I would LOVE to rant about her!

She WOULD though! Thank you so much for that character inspiration because that is absolutely perfect canon now. Her reasoning is that she wants to keep her mask tails out of the way when she's working with delicate or difficult experiments, but she also just likes having them up in a bow. She often forgets when they're tied like that and Mikey uses it as an excuse to play with them.

Braids don't really work with the minuscule fabric, but neither turtle is particularly worried about it. I can see Donnie propped on the couch working on her laptop and Mikey sitting cross-legged behind her, single-handedly discovering every single way to tie a bow/knot as he watches whatever show is on the tv.

Literally, baby Dee has been on my mind way too often as this AU has been taking shape. GAH. Precious creature. 💜

Hmmm... I think it depends?

If we're talking a Lone Rat And Cubs baby...

Male turtles are very territorial over their females. We add that in with the human male instinct to protect small humans/females. Plus the fact that their sister has gone from a brash teen to a tiny, confused, vulnerable child with a shell that can fit in the palm of their hand-

The first reaction would obviously be panic.

If the change happens in public, big bro instincts are cranked all the way up. White eyes, small huddle, hissing, not letting any being outside the turtle social circle close (sorry Master Splinter). Mikey doesn't know what this new emotion is, but he's about to punch everyone in the near vicinity if they so much as look at her wrong. They'll come around eventually, but only once they find a moment to escape into solitude and actually process what happened to Donnie.

If it happens in private, they're going to be more concerned about the fact that, yk, she a baby. After a completely normal freak-out, there's a lot of nuzzles and cooing and debating if other people should be involved in the fact that she tiny. It's more likely that they'll come around quickly in this instance, but there will be lots of hovering.

There will probably be lots of hovering in any instance.

I like to be silly with the idea that Leo would be overprotective, but I deem each brother an unreasonable, defensive mess.

Other than that...

I think I wouldn't change very much about baby care.

They'd care for Dona in the same way that they'd care for Don. A lot of trying to keep her grabby hands away from explode-y things or large objects so she doesn't die before they can turn her into a teen again. They have to be careful when putting her down because she will take off when they blink and suddenly end up under a bed or splashing in one of the pools around the lair.

The most untrustworthy of bebe turtles.

She also has a bad habit of sticking things in her mouth. Anything. Everything. Doesn't matter if it's humanly possible to fit or not. She will experiment and she will find out for herself.

No one knows how she gets her hands on half the things that she does. She was born in the ways of the ninja snatch.

(I like to imagine that Donnie was downright awful at keeping anything that she ever wore clean. She was consistently staining every outfit that was ever put on her to the point that Splinter stopped trying. It's not like she would be any less modest than her brothers. They had their shells and he left it at that.)

None of them grew up with clothes, so the brothers don't quite understand why April deems it necessary to drag out her old stuff and try to match outfits for the lil' turtle, paired with an absurd number of headbands/bows. She claims that they're only to help keep her warm, but they can't help but notice that she's weirdly invested. And if Karai's around at the time, they're even more baffled that she's all in on the dress-up, with far more 'superior' clothing, usually black or grayed with gothic imagery.

And Donnie's so small that even with the shell, they manage to find adorable, comfortable things that can fit her.

The brothers are left scratching their heads at them being so insistent at using her like a doll. Yeah, sure, she's cute, but she's also cute without them so what's the big deal...?

The girls get snippy when the brothers question it, so they quickly back off. As a baby, Dona has no opinion, content to let it happen.

All of them end up getting pictures.

(Not entirely for blackmail purposes 💜)

[catsacrossthemultiverse]

I made this sideblog to share my art and then. didn't use it. so im doing that now!!

my friends and I have an ongoing trend of taking games that i'm interested in and fusing our OCs with the cast of characters, trying to make the lore align in a way where both stories get to show through!! I think it's both fun and great for thinking. And I get to draw all my silly critters in situations!!! And new outfits, and behaviors, with new story!! and references to things I like!!!

So.. here's a few of the things I drew!! Current hyperfixation game is In Stars and Time!! We decided to call the AU "In Claws and Time" because most of the characters are silly fluffy critters instead of humans!!! I'll explain a little bit about the characters and why I made the changes I did too :3 SPOILERS FOR IN STARS AND TIME WARNING!!! This includes twohats!! I don't remember exactly which acts have what lore, but just to be safe, if you're avoiding spoilers and haven't played the game all the way through, don't read!!

We've got our Loop design!! They're a little bit less energetic than Loop in the actual game, smoother lines n slightly less exaggeration, because Scribble (who's taking Siffrin's role) has a lot less energy in general. Still keeps the fun sarcasm charm, but with less of an "OMG!! Helloooo~~ Hi Stardust!!" way. More laidback I suppose. Sorry if i'm no good at explaining!! ^^'

Speaking of Scribble, here's the actual design for Scribble themself!! The king would call them Dark one instead of Bright one, because their species has a lot more focus on being darkly colored (I will probably elaborate on that more in the future, but Scribble and a couple of other characters are actually part of an original species I made up, my friends called them the Paradoxes and it stuck!!! I wrapped the Paradoxes into the lore of the Island and stuff, species rules and traits have been edited to mesh with ISaT lore better, and have nicer designs for style purposes. If you're curious about them, please ask!!! I love talking about these guys).

We also have replacements for the Change God!!! The original story with me and my friends' OCs and such had 3 gods. Dune (the little cat in the middle), Umbra (the little dog on the left), and Adair (the little deer on the right)!! They're triplets, and they have a whole bunch of little mythology stories prepared by me and Wyvern (One of my friends) that explain how their world came to be!!! In ICaT, they take the Change God's role, deities that don't really do much, but are still worshipped for being the higher beings, and occasionally giving a little bit of help!! The little symbols on their collars, while in the image don't stay consistent, they'll be changed to be little teardrop shapes, each with different detailing, showing the versatility of even a simple shape like a teardrop. Umbra with a little water drop, Dune with a cut gem, and Adair with a leaf.

We have characters matched up with various characters in ISaT that don't have designs drawn yet too!!

A few matchups we have that haven't been drawn are:

Tiger as Isabeau Windy as Mirabelle Leaverc as Odile Cauli/Cauliflower as Bonnie Creature as The King Phantom as the Head Housemaiden Masquerade as Claude (Mira's roommate) Petunia and Lizard as that one girl and her dog And many more!!!

There's a lot of characters!! And a lot of matchups!!! and even more to be made!!!

We'll also have silly little extra cutscenes, even more lore than there is in the original ISaT!!! To tell people more about our characters. All of this is incredibly self indulgent, it's just for fun!!! Expect a lot of canon divergence from both stories

I don't know if I'll be going anywhere with this, but it's fun to share regardless!!! I just want to get the ideas out there really

[magicalmanhattanproject]

Who's Training Whom? or A Screed Of Reasonable Length About Why Étoiles Is Still 15-0 In My Heart

So, through this whole Codes vs Étoiles arc, we've been repeating the question over and over again: who is training whom? Are the codes training Étoiles? Or is he training them? Is he just making them stronger and stronger? Well, it turns out the answer is neither because Étoiles is learning and innovating and developing new tricks and techniques and the codes have learned a grand total of One (1) trick and are mostly relying on Number Go Up in a way that's antithetical to everything I personally enjoy about Minecraft PVP.

The rest of this will be under a cut on account of how reasonable the length is.

Okay, so what makes Minecraft PVP more engaging to me than PVP in other roleplay or video game genres? Well, the thing that makes it unique is that everyone is starting from a completely even playing field. Look at it this way: if a DND Barbarian and Rogue of roughly equal level just stand there and take turns hitting each other, the Barbarian wins. The Barbarian has more health and does more damage and that's going to tell pretty quickly. Of course, there are ways to compensate for it and the Rogue can think on their feet and engineer a situation where they win and of course there are also advantages to playing a squishier class, but the point is that there are squishier classes and squishier players.

Minecraft doesn't have that. Everyone has the same number of hearts and can theoretically use the same weapons and armor. If you and a friend jump into a Minecraft world and just stand there and take turns hitting each other, whoever goes first wins.

That means consistently winning at Minecraft PVP requires you to get good at thinking on your feet and engineering situations to your advantage. You aren't a tank by virtue of picking the tank class at the start of the game, but you can become a tank by making a turtle farm for turtle master potions. You aren't a damage dealer because you selected the high DPS character five minutes ago but because you spent hours grinding the resources to upgrade your weapons to the best they can possibly be. You aren't winning fights because the stats on your gear are higher than anyone else's. You're winning fights because you know how to control the fight so that you can hit the other guy more than they can hit you. If you're winning fights with other PVPers, it's because you're better than them at their own game.

Unless you're the QSMP Code Monster.

And like, to be clear, I don't blame the admin(s) for getting frustrated enough to brute force it. We know current 06 is competent PVPer and so are a couple others we haven't identified for sure yet, but I doubt they were hired specifically to be cracked at PVP. But like, they also do have to fulfill the role in the story of being cracked enough at PVP to kill either the super well defended eggs or the French Beast. Like, they do deserve to take some shortcuts.

But also, it does really really undermine the narrative of the codes and Étoiles training each other when the codes aren't really learning from Étoiles because there's a lot they could teach him.

For example, they haven't really made much progress on learning to outmaneuver them. Watch back any fight where he's fighting them 2v1 after the sweeping edge bug gets fixed. If you're fighting someone 2v1, you want to be attacking them from two different sides since they can only defend and counterattack from one side at a time. Watch how often they're both attacking him from the same direction. That's not an accident. That's Étoiles constantly moving to keep both his enemies where he can see them and it's not something they've made much progress on dealing with. The fact that they'll have three codes present but only two of them attacking at once pretty clearly demonstrates that they haven't recognized the importance of using the numbers advantage and negating the shield.

(Also, this isn't super relevant, but Étoiles is a master of healing potion usage. Watch how often he throws them ahead of where he's running so he maximizes how much he splashes on himself and minimizes how much he splashes on the codes. It's good stuff.)

One really clear moment that shows how the admins have a tendency to brute force their way through Étoiles related problems is in the fight in the basement of the lore dungeon where Étoiles was convinced he was going to die and the admins had to give him a goodie bag afterwards. At one point, he digs himself down into a 1x1 hole and a code follows him down into the hole to attack him and prevent him from warping away. He grapples out and seals off the hole. From his expressions and reaction time, it's pretty clear this was a plan to trap the code the whole time. The code breaks the block and rejoins the fight. We have never seen a code break blocks before or since including in otherwise relentless attacks on eggs behind unprotected walls.

Like, dude, you got outplayed. Take the L. And no, I don't buy that it's just the code getting more powerful from training with Étoiles because, again, we haven't seen it break blocks since that one fight. This doesn't seem to have been an ability added to its bag of tricks.

Speaking of abilities which have been, I do think that giving it God apples in that fight was a fine play. Okay, it's getting stronger and it can buff itself now. Great! Genuinely! But again, it's only really getting stronger in the sense of Number Go Up.

How does Étoiles counter this new threat? Well, one day he's laughing hysterically at the idea of Tubbo using something as pathetically useless as a soul saber and the next day, he's got a soul saber of his own on his hotbar. Why? Because the soul saber's special ability is that it nullifies special effects. That's useless against 99% of mobs, but the hearts and regeneration given by the god apple are special effects that the sword can nullify.

Étoiles doesn't counter a new threat by buffing his stats or getting a stronger weapon. In fact, he gets a weaker weapon. He gets a weapon that he thinks is terrible and shitty and garbage, but that happens to give him what he needs for his specific use case. And that's enough to turn the code eating god apples from a seemingly insurmountable advantage into probably a mistake to even bother with.

Étoiles fights the codes with three weapons out. First, his broken sword, which does such absurd base damage that it's stupid to use anything else. Second, the soul saber which turns the Code's most obvious power move into a trap. Third, the nightmare scythe, which blinds enemies, leaving them disoriented and giving himself time to recover. He also has his grappling squowk for mobility, Enough healing potions (he prefers to have at least 1000), a lava bucket for chip damage, blocks for gaining distance and controlling enemy movement, a water bucket for controlling enemy movement and clearing cobwebs, and his xp backpack to keep all his gear repaired. This represents a massive amount of prepwork and theory crafting to put together and have ready and decide on what to have and how to use it. He also has to know his notoriously messy backpacks by heart to be able to navigate to his other potions fast enough to be able to use them in a fight, which is he is consistently able to do.

The Code has a healthbar that doesn't move, a single weapon that does too much damage for the repair upgrades to keep up with, and sometimes it can spawn a single cobweb now, which Étoiles already had a counterplay ready for.

Like, I get that Étoiles is the goat. I get that. I am not going into this discussion unaware of the fact that Étoiles is the goat. I am not expecting the admins to be able to play at his level and to be able to pull out all the tricks he pulls. In fact, it's fine and even good that the Code doesn't have the same tools and moves as a player.

But it still feels a little cheap to say that Étoiles isn't ready for the sword yet when he's outplaying them every single time it's even possible to make a play.

Oh before I forget to add it in, the cobweb is the One (1) trick the code has actually learned from Étoiles. It's a good trick, to be fair.

Anyway, the other big problem with Number Go Up escalation that we've reached a point where it's Literally Impossible to fight the Code without the Shield. Without the Shield, either the Code is gonna have to be randomly weaker for no reason, or it's gonna just gonna get to run around pretty much unchecked for a while. To be fair, the Code running around unchecked could fuck, except for the fact that there are counterplays available if it didn't three shot people in full armor.

The big problem with fighting the Code right now, aside from the whole three shotting people in full armor thing, is that it has that sword that makes you drop whatever you're holding.

Luckily, Étoiles and BBH both have their own separate, individual solutions. Étoiles never got the chance to test his out in a combat situation because he got the Shield before it came up, but BBH used his against Code Tilín during the new member code battle and it proved effective. Unfortunately for all of us, Étoiles still landed the final blow on that Code so I think a lot of people failed to realize just how powerful BBH's strategy is.

But since then, the Code's damage output has just simply gotten so ridiculous to be able to cope with how ridiculous the Shield is that all those interesting, exciting strategies get sidelined in favor of Number Go Up.

So, uh, yeah. I think that's about everything I had to say. In conclusion hashtag hire jojosolos to play the code monster please quackity please she's a cracked pvper and she knows modded please

[cwritesfiction]

Rating OC Headcanons

Use this headcanon generator to generate some headcanons for your OCs! How accurate are they?

Tagged by @words-after-midnight - I followed the same format and ranked each headcanon on a scale of 1 - 5, with 1 being the least accurate and 5 being the most accurate. I'll tag @byjillianmaria @albatris and @zmwrites if you're interested :)

For Elliott:

This character can play the piano. (1 - Elliott has 0 musical ability.)

This character can't make the voices go away. (4 only because the voices are D&D characters who they'll daydream about before falling asleep)

This character reads ao3. (3 - Elliott's definitely dabbled but doesn't read consistently, probably more a case of reading things directly shared with them by friends)

This character tells dad jokes. (5 yes obviously)

This character can beat you up if deserved. (1 - oh my god you could beat up Elliott by making them walk in the sun for too long)

For Adrian

This character bites their nails. (1 - not his thing)

This character doesn't own a single pair of matching socks. (1 - Oh my god he'd be so annoyed by mismatched socks. Like, he wouldn't care if others wore mismatched socks, but if he did? He'd be distracted all day)

This character has an intense fear of spiders. (2 - I don't think he likes them, so it's not a 1, but he really doesn't care)

This character is awful with technology and doesn't know how to use a smart phone. (1 - wow, the inaccurate hits keep coming. Adrian is actually pretty tech savvy)

This character uses two-in-one shampoo and conditioner. (1 - god, he would never)

[nomsfaultau]

Daily ask №21 (3 WEEK ANNIVERSARY WOO)

Education edition!

1. The fault crew get magically teleported to high school. To everyone else they appear as perfectly normal, definitely human, high school age students. Except Phil, he's a professor. Oh also the red is temporarily disabled. They also get a note from me apologizing for sending them into random situations so much and the info that they'll be there for one school day and they'll be teleported back when they exit the school after the school day ends. They also have backpacks with their timetables and any other normal schools stuff they might need. What happens?

2. What would each character's favourite subject be? Why?

3. How much experience does each character actually have with school/the education system?

4. Would Tubbo having dyslexia imply that dyslexia is a condition that affects the soul and not the brain? Considering the fact that I don't think they.. have.. a brain. Can they even get brain damage? Or bruises (doesn't have blood).

5. What would each character be a teacher of if they had to be a teacher?

1.Well Tommy is having the best day of his life making friends and chatting and goofing off. Everyone else is losing their minds. I don’t imagine they’d participate willingly given a major lack of familiarity and general chaotic upheaval, but we’ll assume magic reinforcement. 

Phil is pulling his hair out trying to fake lectures on the fly, but is pretty good once he gets into it. Honestly one of the better substitutes the classes have gotten, given I’ve dealt with neonazi subs in the past. He’s fun and nice but can wrangle everyone enough that they aren’t just feral. Philza is unflappable to various hazing rituals, and somehow gets a class to enjoy a brief meditating session like one of my coworkers managed once. Still don’t know how she got 10 year olds to beg to meditate again…

Tubbo is desperately trying to find a wheel chair so they don’t have to explain the flying thing. And then kinda adores it since it’s so much easier to get around and they’re way less tired than normal since constantly flying on a skeleton crew gives very little time to rest. Unforchie living in the woods makes wheelchairs impractical due to the terrain. They keep going hella fast and accidentally running into walls and stuff. Though it’s probably an awful model that is uncomfortable after a few hours rip. Other than that, becomes THE person for school gossip. Literally knows all the dirt within hours. Cheats their way through all tests and work too because come on they’re an adult they’re not dealing with this bullmuffin. 

Wilbur is mentally dying. He only knows forbidden knowledge and has never done proper math before. Its only understanding of social convention is stuff picked up in crowds and stores, only brief interactions to avoid further attention. Doesn’t understand literally anything that’s happening, and ends up ditching class to try and hide until the school day is over (no concept of how long that is). Starts stress eating really bad. 

The Blade is somewhat shy at first given it’s a bunch of people he doesn’t know, but gets into it. He’s having fun preforming way above grade level and rubbing it in the face of children. But also uuhsghsja in person school is so long and requires consistent attention in a way that is hellish on the adhd. He misses college schedule flexibility and fewer number of hours. 

2.The Blade likes mythology bc he’s a nerd. And also the voices have scraps of information from the past sometimes. Wilbur likes theater because it’s his natural calling. Philza likes science because it keeps evolving all the time and is really funny to compare to previous human theories on how stuff works. Tommy likes art. He’s not like good but he has fun. Tubbo’s a philosophy guy since omg other people with ethics…

3.Wilbur: zilch. Nada. Never really considered how humans seem to know stuff while he’s had to puzzle everything out. Is jealous when it realizes people are just told how to operate and function in society when it had to learn the hard way. 

The Blade: online classes, skimmed through K-12 stuff and then attended proper college. A proud dual major. 

Tubbo: has gone through the school system twice, plus law school. I think Rosalind was like a psychology major but didn’t do anything with it. Jasmine was in year one, and Rhodes gave Tubbo informal schooling. 

Tommy: a high school dropout because the Foundation got him before he could graduate. Was planning to go to college but wasn’t sure what degree to get. 

Philza: a bunch of weird stuff over the millennia. Not stuff really geared towards children, but I figure he’s dipped in with various philosopher and academic circles. I suppose most recently would be Dr. Anderson rambling about his archeology work, since Phil was a big help on his thesis. 

4.Nah not a soul thing at all. Bees have brains. And also very importantly, 2 compound eyes with 6,000 lenses and three ocelli (primitive light receptor eyes). Now that is a lot of images, though a bee brain does combine them like how we combine our two fields of vision. Except, Tubbo also has approximately 1 million eyes when at the 200k population, most of which is not looking at only the words before them. Plus most of those eyes are very very small compared to the letters. This all makes it rather hard for them to read, which Rhodes interpreted as dyslexia.  

Also fun fact only the insectoid body’s eyes can see the color red, since (to my understanding) light operates differently at a small scale so insects operate lower on the light spectrum (ultra violet to orange). But the insectoid eyes are way bigger so they can have human range too. Though Tubbo tends to call things that for them are in the orange range red since obviously when Rhodes was looking at red stuff that’s what he taught them it was. So also partially color blind, or color+ given the ultra violet. 

Tubbo could get temporary brain damage should the majority of bees get brain damage (probably difficult without killing them). But give them a month and those bees will all be dead and replaced. Potentially could get bruise like injuries from internal damage to honey cells, but they’d probably eat the spilled honey. 

5.Phil is a welding teacher because fire and invention. He helps kids make swords and whatever they can think of since he wants to foster human innovation. He can’t be a history teacher because what he has experience with is very spotty and he’d probably argue with the official version of history so much that all his students fail testing.

Wilbur is a gym teacher. Everyday is leg day. It loves designing weird challenges and games and honestly half the kids probably hate it. He always beats them on the mile, definitely not one of those gym teachers that sits and watches the kids exercise. 

Assuming the orphan thing isn’t a problem, The Blade is an English teacher. Preferably for middle schoolers since they’d really vibe with his edgy humor. Everything he grades is always three months late. 

Tommy teaches graphic design. It’s stuff like editing silly videos and photoshop nonsense. It’s very easy to get him off topic to avoid working that class period. 

Tubbo covers home ec with an emphasis on stuff like gardening. They always seem to know when people are acting up, like eyes in the back of their head but a million times worse. 

[otakween]

Digimon Tamers - Volume 2

It turns out this series is super out of print and rare. My library only has the first 2 volumes, so I'll be reading the rest after this one online (if you want to buy it it's like $80-$100 per volume!) It's a little bit of a relief honestly, because the volume that I got from the library is pretty crusty and battered. I think I saw some dried shredded cheese on some of the pages 🤢 Really shows who the audience is.

Ch. 8

This manhua has really bad continuity and no sense of space. Characters will just pop out of nowhere. Culumon is the worst offender, but in this chapter there were a bunch of dramatic scenes between Rika and Renamon and then it just randomly turned out that Takato and Jian were watching the whole time but not saying anything? Riiiight.

I was really confused at the end and thought that Yamaki was saying he created a digimon but it was actually a really clumsy flashback to the original digimon programmers. Confusing panels...

Ch 9

Wow, the Devas arc already, it obviously felt like it took a lot longer to get here in the anime. I wonder if they'll do all the Devas or condense them/do some off screen?

At least one thing that's nice about this manga is that I can take in the Devas designs without them jumping around too much.

Ch. 10

Some of these jokes are flying over my head. Takato tries to name his group of friends "team rock" and he mentions "a skinny guy on TV who talks about the power of positive thinking." I wish they would cut out the unfunny, outdated material and just tell the damn story >:/

Worst boys Hirokazu and Kenta show up to reestablish themselves as part of the party...yaaay

Didn't realize that MegaloGrowmon was called WarGrowlmon in the dub. I guess it is kind of nice to keep the naming conventions more consistent. "Megalo" is sort of a weird prefix (megalomania?)

Ch. 11

I'm still obsessed with Jian's computer that can read trading cards as if they were CD-ROMs. I wish that technology existed!

Two perfect evolutions in one chapter? Pretty rushed but okay...they still looked cool. (Taomon and Rapidmon). I think the Wonderswan card game rot my brain a little cuz when I saw Rapidmon I was thinking about all the option cards I could use with him.

Ch. 12

Other than my fave Antylamon, I think Indramon is the most memorable of all the devas. His design is really unique, he's massive, and he kicks the shit outta Impmon. I like his emo hair too lol

When they realize that Hirokazu's homemade blue card works I'm surprised they didn't move onto a counterfeit card making scheme after that. I just it only works if it was made with pure intentions or something.

Ch. 13

Why is Juri's dub name "Jeri" when "Julie" was right there?

Damn, they really killed any suspense with Makuramon's intro there. In the anime he's presented as a kid at first but here they showed him as a kid but then slapped the name tag "Makuramon" right next to him...

They skipped a bunch because Juri just magically knows that Guilmon exists. They showed Hirokazu and Kenta meeting him, but not her. Oh well, I guess.

Ch. 14

Calling Juri, Hirokazu and Kenta "groupies" is pretty funny, not gonna lie. So accurate.

I like that they're clearly ID-ing each deva as its corresponding zodiac animal. I think there was a little bit of that in the anime, but not as spelled out as it is here. Usually I don't like to be spoon fed, but there's something satisfying about them saying "that's the boar, that's the monkey, etc."

[gaygoetia]

Helluva Boss Theories

Caught up with Helluva Boss and now idk what to do with myself so have some theories!

(Not including my next episode/Asmodean crystal theories cause I already discussed that here)

There are so many plates spinning at this point in the story so here are my current theories/hopes/ideas in where each thread is heading:

Stella (and her brother)

Stella is a simple woman with simple goals - to kill her husband and take all his money (not necessarily in that order).

But as established in S2 E4, if Stella kills Stolas all his money and possessions will pass to Via, leaving Stella with nothing. Of course he also won't give her anything willingly on account of how she, you know, tried to kill him.

This leaves two obvious avenues that I can think of that Stella is likely to take in pursuit of Stolas' fortune:

1. Blackmail - It's only a matter of time before Stolas' deal with Blitzo is going to come back and bite him in the ass. It's pretty much an open secret that he's been loaning out his Grimoire so that Blitzo can illegally access the human world and at some point someone is bound to leverage that fact to their advantage.

As soon as Stella realises (or more likely, her brother points out to her) that this is prime blackmail material, I think she'll jump at the chance to squeeze as much money out of Stolas' as possible.

2. Ransom - I think this is much less likely because it's too similar to previous storylines and is likely to feel repetitive, but Stella could also potentially hire Striker to kidnap Blitzo and demand a ransom in exchange for his safety.

Mammon

Given that S2 E7 ends with Mammon warning Asmodeus that he'll regret crossing him, I imagine that Mammon has a plan of his own that will emerge in future episodes.

I don't know how likely this actually is given it would be pretty large scale and would likely impact the plot of Hazbin Hotel too, but I would love it if this leads to a civil war across Hell.

Mammon is all about money and he'll be losing a lot of it now his top money-maker has publicly decried him (and I doubt Asmodeus will continue production of the Fizzy fuckdolls either).

It could also be an opportunity to finally introduce Satan (Demon of Wrath) and Leviathan (Demon of Envy) as potential allies to Mammon (whose desire for vengeance is motivated in part by the sins they embody), leaving Beelzebub and Belphegor as potential allies to Asmodeus. Of course the other sins might also have beef with each other that we don't know about which could exacerbate the situation further.

Striker

Striker has been a major player in season 2 in particular, popping up over and over again as an antagonist to IMP due Blitzo's connections to Stolas and Fizz respectively.

While he's ostensibly killing for money, he clearly has a more personal agenda stemming from his hatred of the upper class.

At the moment it's hard to know how exactly his plan will come together but in the last episode we saw him approach Crimson with the intention of forming some kind of alliance, though the details weren't specified.

I think this must be the first step in Striker's long term plan to bring down the monarchy and topple the hierarchy of Hell, though how this will play out is unclear.

I don't see the show killing off Stolas but I can imagine Striker's next appearance being in conjunction with the assassination of another royal character like Stella or her brother or even one of the Sins like Mammon or Bea.

I can also picture him trying his hand at kidnapping again in order to lure in a royal target - maybe kidnapping Blitzo or Via to draw in Stolas.

D.H.O.R.K.S

Thanks to IMP's consistent failure to keep a low profile, they've drawn the attention of D.H.O.R.K.S, an organization on Earth that appears to investigate paranormal activities, and as of S1 E6 we know they have video evidence.

I don't see them finding a way to hell without dying but I suspect they'll continue to cause problems during IMP's visits to the surface. They might even find a way to bind or command a demon.

That said, rather than the D.H.O.R.K.S themselves posing a serious threat, I think major consequences for IMP and/or Stolas are more likely to arise from the D.H.O.R.K.S drawing the attention of Higher-Ups in Hell.

What do y'all think?

I'd love to hear alternative theories on where all these storylines are leading!

Do you think all the different threads will end up intersecting?

If so, how do you think they'll tie it all together?

[astro-break]

Thoughts on the 11th ep of Hypmic Rhyme Anima+. Spoilers beware

Season 1 | Ep.1 | Ep.2 | Ep.3 | Ep.4 | Ep. 5 | Ep. 6 | Ep. 7 | Ep. 8 | Ep. 9 | Ep. 10

eyyy separating them into their gumis! the gentaro and jyushi interaction is cute and i love how worried jyushi is about hifu thats so sweet of him

i love how thats the part that kuko focuses on www

LMAO ramuda's cute

i love how ichiro's accent just slipped out a bit there its cute

hm i still think kaibyakumon is in the right

Hey look at that! we finally got why kenji is so invested in them. would have liked to see more of the three but ill take what i can get

honestly i wanna ship akira and satoru so bad wwww they have so much ship potential

YES. THANK YOU RAMUDA. just let them destroy each other my goodness

idk if this show wants to villainize or humanize kaibyakumon. like on one hand everyone's against him on principle but i don't see why they should be?? Ramuda is right, hes the answer to 90% of the casts outside problems

RIP HITOYA LMAO

i love how samatoki is probably the only consistent character here and just wants to be the one to punch the government in the face www

ugh i really wanted ramuda to have won that argument. it suckksss they really went with the most boring path

poor doppo, i feel so bad for him

even poor hifumi can't stand to watch ripp

i love seeing rio in his element, hes kinda cute like that

lmao rei being waving off his own son as if hes just a brat

man i do hope that they get their just revenge. it would be nice but unfortunately impossible just because of the nature of this sort of anime

LMAO HES SO EXHAUSTED THAT HES HALLUCINATING OH NOOOOOOO i feel so bad for doppo sometimes

wow for all that talk of stealth rio just blew up a whole wall

OOOOO GUMI SONG!!!!!!!!!!

hmm i don't like the last two songs as much but there is intresting wordplay to be found in ciaro's verses, especially one as an anti-governmental piece

damn so it seems like the last three episodes will be just the gumis going to each place and fighting off the others

oooo theres a bit of rio's rap ability on show with that shelter

HAHA DICE PUSHING RIO AWAYYYY

OH FUCK ARE THEY CORRUPTING THE DATA TO THE POINT WHERE THEY"RE KILLING AKIRA AND SATORU??????

ey look at that!! I did sort of predict the mass hypnosis! granted its subliminal messaging but im fine with being wrong once in a while

LMAO GAMBLER LIFE

damn theyre still gay after death

the "whos gonna answer my questions" has the same vibe as "who else will I eat icecream with?" thing from kingdom hearts wwww

bro i want a season just about these two idiots

hmm intresting design for scuro i do like it

man now i really do like akira and satoru. they're cool. I hate this bc i know in the end they'll die and kaibyakumon will get his ass kicked to preserve the status quo. i do hope that the anime does use this as a jumping off point tho bc the premise is pretty fun

tho they probably won't. as i said status quo as long as the source material still insists on the current status quo of keeping chuuoku in power. The drama CDs do seem like its building towards a conclusion but its not enough for any meaningful change yet.

tho the anime is original content and thus exists in a separate sphere from the CDs. Its entirely possible that they may move ahead and start shaking things up but i doubt it

lol why the dotsuhon ed they got so little screen time this episode ripp them

[boozye]

There's so much happening on screen all at once it overwhelms me ༎ຶ⁠‿⁠༎ຶ and I might give it another try and see if it bothers me less

Also I I don't understand all the different types of notes, I think?

Ooooww yeah, this game isn't exactly beginner friendly. I see how it could be overwhelming to someone new to rythm games. There are no Easy mode songs, and the music in general doesn't have a very clear beat. Maybe this will help a little.

To make the screen a little easier to process:

- Turn off all the card effects in graphics.

- Go here

- Adjust the brightness of the background by sliding it all the way to the right.

(Hit "OK" so the change stays)

I won't go over the quality of taps, or card colours or abilities, this will complicate things, and they are pretty straightforward, you can ignore them for the time being.

Now, the "types of notes".

As far as I've seen, I think there are only 2, if I understand you correctly. First of all it will make things a lot easier if you ignore the little objects in place of each note (the donnuts/bottles/balloons/gifts/sharks/rainbow karasu/etc.) They 100% do not matter, so don't worry about them, they are just like that to contribute to the visual clutter really. You will barely look at them enough to know what they are. I'll cover them with circles here for clarity.

I do not know how you chose to map your controls so, instead of left and right or up and down, let's call them A and B (and you will read according to your own settings).

Normal Taps:

As it says, just normal taps that will line up with the vertical line there in rythm with the beat. Sometimes the notes will show up from other sources than just the right side of the screen. Don't freak out and just watch them, they will take their place as A or B pretty quickly.

Double tap:

Tap both A and B at the same time.

Double Press:

Tap both A and B at the same time and keep them pressed until the notes end.

Press and Tap:

Tap one and keep it pressed, tap the other if/when signaled to.

Dodge:

The outlier. Tap A to avoid the Danger Slime. (jump over it, be mindful that just because the demons will hover in the air for a bit, doesn't mean they'll hit A notes close after the dodge, you will need to tap to hit them)

Boss notes:

When the boss is a Little D, their notes will move through the screen much like everything else, you will just have a little less time to see them on the screen.

When the boss is another character, like Lucifer in this example, he may throw some notes that move seemingly erraticaly through the screen, if you aren't used to rythm games, this might be scary. But don't worry, they will need to be hit in a pattern you've done before, trust the rythm and patterns you've been following so far. The first couple times could be troublesome, but with a bit of practice it'll be easy to tell when the notes are A or B at the time to tap them.

(if you don't want to play the tutorial stage, Belphegor's song "Dreamscape" in Normal mode is pretty beginner friendly, no trick notes or anything, pretty consistent beat)

I've hit the image limit now but I think that should be all. I hope this was at least a little bit helpful.

[everybody-loves-purdy]

I think them pulling a Nightstar could be really interesting and I can see StarClan denying Squirrelstar her lives considering what happened the last few times a leader stepped down (Pinestar leaving helped contribute to Tigerstar's rise, Rowanstar stepping down led to ShadowClan's temporary fall), but I don't really see what sort of reason Brambleclaw and Squirrelstar would have for lying. Even if it was out of desperation, why not just pass on the position to Ivypool? Squirrelstar clearly trusts her enough to make her deputy and so does the rest of the Clan, unless this is some sort of test since Dovewing is in ShadowClan, but even then... Unless StarClan put them up to it, in which case, yeah, that would check out. Regardless, the delay was really clunky, though that might just be the writing.

And as for not seeing her nine lives, this is by far the weakest argument for me. None of the current PoV characters are medicine cats (or anymore in Frostpaw's case, and she isn't even from ThunderClan anyway). I know this series doesn't have great consistency, but this is one of the few things it actually has been consistent on! We were never going to see the ceremony anyway. Even Bramblestar's was only featured in a field guide. If she did get her nine lives, it'll either be in the prologue of the next book, last book, or IH, they'll post an article about it, or we'll have to wait for another field guide to come out, and that's assuming we even ever get to see the nine lives ceremony at all. After all, it's been years since MFV and we still have nothing for Skystar or Thunderstar except that Gray Wing and Storm gave the latter one each.

All very good points

I do reckon we will definitely see the ceremony at some point it’s just when. A prologue could work and I think could be the most likely, especially if Squirrelstar has a further message from StarClan that she hasn’t divulged to Sunbeam, maybe the message about Nightheart came with a prophecy about the whole situation or something.

It’s just like you say the reasons to keep such a big and exposable lie just don’t make a lot of sense. And there’s been no hints in Squirrelstar or Brambleclaw themselves that either are carrying this burden, they seem very relaxed and happy. For them to have actually been carrying this massive secret it would just feel very out of left field in a reveal given how they’ve behaved, spoken, and acted about the ceremony.

It could be so interesting like you say if she was pulling a Nightstar, but I really don’t think that’s where the books are pointing us.

[archivalofsins]

If you're still doing the ask game: Mahiru 1, 8 and 13!

I am! Thanks for asking~

milgram character ask game ! send the character + the questions

Shiina, Mahiru/ Mahiru Shiina

1. favorite song lyrics?

Favorite song lyric from each mv and cover song in order-

This Is How To Be In Love With You

"Do you really think you know what love is?"

Very fun line that is on the same level as Kotoko in the first trailer going if you''re human you'll understand. It shows of Mahiru's mindset that anyone who's ever been infatuated with another person or truly in love will understand her and why she did what she did. Along with her desire to find people like that who will. Because she doesn't just want to give she wants to receive too.

"I guess we can just say that this feeling is happiness I can’t stop feeling like there’s something missing."

I really like this line because this shows off Mahiru's habit of acting content despite being unsatisfied. She likes heart racing romance so she may get bored after the first stage of a relationship is over just chasing that feeling of a spark one gets when they're first getting to know someone. So, I took it as her going I should be happy our relationship is fine but now that we're at that monotonous stage of romance I want that spontaneity back. Don't you feel like something's missing too. Where's the excitement; basically.

"I pretended to be a good girl, but really, I don't want to say "I'm ok"."

Same as the previous line. I like the fact that Mahiru has consistently displayed that she doesn't want a love that's just right. She wants something exciting, and she can't keep pretending like she doesn't. Sure, she wants a romance out of a fairytale- Sure she wants it to be like a manga where there's exciting ups and downs.

Sure, she may hate the boring we've settled down stage of romance more than anything and try to spice things up to much and go over the top with grand gestures because she thinks if she treats people how she wants to be treated they'll get the hint. But fuck being in a relationship can get really boring after a while and each person needs different things. Like damn take this woman out somewhere.

You have sitting at home caged in like a little nesting bird and she wants to go out and experience things. Just be fucking happy she wants to go out and experience them with you damn dude- I know I'm a homebody but I would love having someone like Mahiru around who's constantly trying to get people to go out and try new exciting things. I'm not gonna do it by myself. I know that for sure.

"Giving you love to the point of pulling you down- It’s just because I still get worried, please forgive me."

It's a mood. I constantly just message people shit like hope you're doing well, please remember to take care of yourself, out of the fucking blue and I'm like hm I wonder if they're going to get annoyed soon they are fully grown adults they know to drink water and not overexert themselves. Saying this may be annoying.

"Ring ring, I’m calling you in the middle of the night- Forcing you to wake up, and I say “Good Morning!���."

This is the line that made me go,

"Are you trying to say something about me?"

When Star was like I just want you to see Mahiru's song. Because we are in a long distance relationship and my night is her morning.

"We can both feel lonely sometimes, but wonder if you’ll get angry soon I’m going to start relying on you if you’re kind to me, so please forgive me, thanks!"

Not to quote myself in this post but literally a few lines ago- "Hm, I wonder if they're going to get annoyed soon". It's just one of those things that's like yeah mood.

Psychogram

-Weirldly long lethargy driven tangent-

I love this cover a lot. I'm sorry that I played Doki Doki Literature Club the right way and immediately fell in love with Monika- It's no longer horror if you were trying to get to her yourself.

This cover is awesome and she got way too much bullshit for it. People do you support womens wrongs- More than you could ever imagine. More than you could ever fathom. You think those red flags pointing to the concept of her being a yandere is gonna fucking stop me-

Pathetic my support doesn't end at the point an actual wrong has occurred those red flags aren't going to stop me. If they stop you then are you truly in support of women's wrongs. I can excuse anything depending on how much I like the person. She could've stalked that man across Japan broken into his house chloroformed him and took him hostage and my ass would go skill issue sounds like that guy didn't know a good time when he heard/had it.

I would simply enjoy the ride if Mahiru did that to me. Don't threaten me with a good fucking time where another girl into literature wants to abduct me to a secondary location because they're uncontrolably infatuated with me oh no what will I do.

Maybe have a good conversation about story telling for once- Oh, the horror. Fucking Mahiru looks like this

and acts like this

20/05/25 Mikoto: ……I’ve really got caught up in some trouble, huh. What even is this place? It’s probably a TV reality show or something. ……but to think someone in this day and age would try to do a project that could land them in so much trouble. Uh…… Mahiru: Ah…… I’m Shina Mahiru! You can just call me Mahiru. And you are……? Mikoto: Kayano Mikoto. I’m fine with just Mikoto too. Ahh, I’m glad there’s someone here who’s easy to talk to…… It’s nice to meet you, Mappy. Mahiru: ………… ……Mappy??? 20/05/30 Mahiru: Hey, Kotoko-chan. There’s something that’s really been bugging me, so do you mind if I ask? ……how do you style yourself so well? Have you always dressed like that? But it also looks like something you’d wear for training. Do you play sport? Ah, or maybe some kind of martial arts? Kotoko: ……you really are carefree. Everyone in here is a “murderer” right? Is this really the time to be asking questions like that? Mahiru: Hmm, I guess so. That’s what they said. But nobody here seems particularly scary or anything, right? If I had to pick someone, then maybe you’re the scariest! Ah, wait, do you do like yoga or something? Kotoko: ……I can’t tell if you’re making fun of me or are just an airhead.

I could have seen her kill that man with my own eyes, then drag his body into a car, and if I knew her personally, I'd just go-

"You need a hand over there? Everything good? Want me to take you out to a spa after you're done with that. That seems very emotionally detrimental to you. Sorry you had to go through that."

Man could've still been breathing, going help me, and I would have simply ignored him. Like she's nice- Nice priviliege is a very real thing I would simply just assume she had a reson because she doesn't seem like someone who would do this for nothing and not interrogate it further because it's none of my business. Unless me disagreeing with her can actually benefit her personally, I'm not doing that. My going aw Mahiru murder is bad, isn't going make her go, you're right, and magically revive her victim. He's already gone, and she already knows murder is bad. When it comes to going hey no that's not a healthy way to live that's a different story. I say that because I care about Mahiru as a character and fictional person.

Yet, Psychogram- Her covering this was the line for some people. We support womens wrongs here. Yeah, right. If people can't support Mahiru if she's a yandere, then do you- do you really? Cause I supported and still support Yuno Gasai and she did a bunch of fucked up shit that she choose to do. TWICE! She choose to do that shit twice. So, yeah personally I really liked Psychogram and think it was oversensationalized a little though in my opinion.

Sorry about this tangent I'm really passionate about this cover. Plus, I acciddentally had caffeine and am kind of lethargic. So, I wound up going off track.

-end of weirldly long lethargy driven tangent (I'm leaving it because it's written now I guess)-

"It was always going to end this way. Is your color changing because I touched you?"

This really highlights what I Love you goes into later. That Mahiru feels as though her impact on those she cares about is wholly negative. That no matter how much she tries she just can't do it right.

"Hey, let's make it sting."

It be better f this was painful instead of just fizzling out so at least make it hurt if you're going to leave. Is the energy this line always gave off to me.

"When will you give in and be my friend."

Highlights Mahiru's desire to be accepted that is pulled to the forefront in I Love You.

"There's nothing here but foul words, they swallowed me up. I get it, I get it."

Really shows off what This Is How To Be In Love With You subtly highlights about having matching pain. Going there's nothing but bad things here to her agreeing just to follow up with I get what you're saying I agree with you there was enough love to begin with-

Like no that is the exact oppossite of what was just said how did we get to that. I need you to take it back to this lyric and try again.

"Hey, if not me who would you choose?"

A question you should never ask in a relationnship because knowing the answer is in no way going to make this partnership any better. Literally what does knowing who else he would have been with if not you do for you or your partner. They're with you aren't they. This is a very moot topic of discussion.

"If you won't answer, then I don't need you."

At the same time mood-

The fuck are you hiding it for? Either say there's no one I'd rather be with than you or answer the fucking question Jim. What you're not about to do is go awkardly fucking silent in a does she know type way. The question was asked you might as well fucking answer. What the fuck are you planning by hiding it? What are you going to do go hook up with Tabitha from our study group behind my back? I've seen how you look at her- You might as well fucking answer the question!

Don't have me out here doing this shit.

Being evasive makes this worse for everyone. It was just a hypothetical but your silence speaks volumes. Sure I shouldn't have asked the question but your response is indicating that it's lucky I did because the fuck are you quiet for?! Are you imagining a managerie of other partners right now, how many fucking names are you listing in your head that would excuse staying silent for this long?

It's not silent reading time answer my fucking question.

Ask stupid questions get stupid prizes I suppose but, lovingly-

"DIE."

I Love You

In a tie for first

"What you trampled is my, “This is how to be in love with you”."/"Die."

It's just so fucking passive aggressive and I love that for her.

"This adorable, earnest, sincere ♥."

I love how this line not only refers to her victim but herself. How she views her feelings of love as adorable, earnest and sincere and her actual upset of having that trampled on and rebuked.

"Tell me, oh tell me why, won’t you just accept me?"

Just do it accept me- why is it so hard for you and all of you to just accept me for who I am. Come on do it I'm accepting you so accept me back- Accept me back. All you saw me doing was having fun and you couldn't accept that. I'm not judging you for that am I- I'm not judging you for what your choice to reprimand me did right. So, accept me.

"This adorable, earnest, sincere ♥ Is bleeding, wailing, this is the end."

Calls back to her voice drama where she states if she can't be accepted she might as well not be alive. Literally just reiterating that point. That it wasn't Kotoko attacking her that hurt her the most but being denied by our judgement. As her second trial song basically cries out stop picking on me.

"I just love you so much."

I just really love how this line is sung.

Parasyte

"Why can't you understand? I hate you, I hate you, I hate you."

I really like this line and this cover because it directly calls back to This Is How To Be In Love With You in several very interesting ways. This line highlights Mahiru's need to have her feelings recognized but her inability or fear of voicing them hereself. Instead continuing on as things are and hoping someone will realize what's going on in her heart without her addressing it.

This is displayed in her first trial song by her hinting at she feels something is missing in the relationship instead of saying what she feels it is instead asking her partner what do they think.

"Wait a second when did things start going wrong? I loved the bad parts too, everything was fine."

This calls directly back to this line in her first mv in a really nice way, "We fought sometimes, I was happy to get hurt." while still illustrating her refusal to state there were issues with the relationship still not really recognizing what those issues were even in hindsight.

"I thought I could forget about you."

Shows off how Mahiru has a difficulty moving on from things like her interpretation of others or relationships and will mentally linger on them far after things have become past tense. Something that's hightlight more in the lyrics of I Love You. Along with her mood not improving from her change of verdict as shown on Shidou's birthday. Because even though the bad event has passed she's still mentally stuck on it regardless so no matter what good things happen that will always really be in the back of her mind.

This is also highlighted through her first cover too.

" "Friend" is so conventient for you, don't you think? But- If we are still connected I guess it's not that bad. I was living a lie and started feeling down."

If we just end things as friends it's so much easier for you because then you don't have to feel bad about it, you don't have to feel as though you've wasted my time, and you're actions hurt me because at least I'll always have a friend out of it. So, it's all fair in your mind right what a convenient way of thinking but I guess it's fine if you're still in my life. Literally perfectly illustrating why some people should not stay friends directly after ending a romantic relationship.

"It's even worse when you are nice to me but I don't want to be given the cold shoulder."

Calls back to this line in her first trial song well adding on to it's meaning- "I’m going to start relying on you if you’re kind to me, so please forgive me, thanks!" Highlighting how being nice to her hurts just as much as someone being cruel to her if not more so.

"I'm an idiot."

Highlights Mahiru's habit of demeaning her own intelligence and skills. Despite being very good at a lot of things.

"If you love me, please notice."

Once again highlights how she wants people to notice how she's feeling without her saying anything. Just hoping that they'll notice that she's just pretending to be okay. Something that she does throughout most of trial two.

"I'm going to curse her. Hey, give me back the time I used loving you."

Displays her genuine upset at having her time consumed on something treated as meaningless and left at the wayside later. Along with her spitefulness.

"You're going to throw me away like incombustable waste? Why, why, why, why- WHY, WHY?!"

I really like how this part is sung in the cover. This also really captures the feelings of upset and abandonment after being dropped in a relationship for no reason or a it's not you it's me reason. Like you're really sweet but I see us better as friends. Something that would probably really mess with Mahiru imparticular because she wouldn't really understand it like you like me you think I'm nice so why don't you want to be with me anymore everything was going well so what did I do wrong. I can see her stressing over that a lot. Something really homed in on in the song and the anxious frantic way this part is sung.

8. what is your theory for their crime? if there is general consensus on it in the fandom, do you have any other, not-so-widely-accepted thoughts on it?

I believe that Mahiru killed her significant other. It is implied to have been through poisoning or asphyxiation. She mentions practicing cooking all of his favorite meals within This Is How To Be In Love With You. So, at first I thouhgt she may have poisoned his food. However-

She's also displayed to be choking him in Undercover and the scenes shown there have been proven not to be metaphorical through other prisoners. Such as Mu and Haruka. So, she more likely asphyxiated her victim after incapacitating him through some other means.

More than likely she drugged his food, then drove out of town with him, either using a rental car, his car or a vehicle of her own. As she states in her second trial written interrogation-

Q.12 Can you drive a car? Mahiru: I have my license. I have no actual experience though so it’s just on paper.

Despite her second statement being she has no actual experience you literally need to take a driving test to get a license. If she has one she has driven and can drive even though she isn't doing it regularly. Making it weird for her to assert she can't actually drive despite having a license- not a learners permit a license.

That's like me getting a certificate stating I can give cpr without knowing how to give cpr. It doesn't make any sense.

The second part of her statement literally takes one google search to disprove. Mahiru also states that she enjoys travelling and we see her doing it throughout This Is How To Be In Love With You.

20/06/10 Futa: Hey, why are you acting so carefree all the time? You’re the oldest of the girls here, you should act it and deal with the others properly. Mahiru: Eh~? I’m acting carefree~? But maybe you’re right. I mean, I…… ah, let’s make this a quiz. Hey, Futa-kun. What do you think I like doing? Tick, tick, tick, tick…… Futa: Ahh, what even is this mood you’ve started. It’s annoying. Just tell me the answer already. Mahiru: Bzzt! Time’s up! The correct answer is “travelling” and “exciting things”~ You don’t get many chances at a lifestyle as exciting as this, right? So of course I’m going to be a bit carefree, ufufu~

She would know the personal benefit and freedom that comes from driving so-

Why-

After taking her victim to a second location she more than likely ended up killing and subsequently framing his death as a suicide. The only thing I don't fucking know is why. Especially if she said the relationship was going well and this person was nice.

However, her situation could have been very similar to this situation. Except her victim didn't survive.

13. any ideas on what would they and their MV be like if they got a different verdict in T1?

I think her video would have been very relaxed if she was voted Innocent instead of guilty. She states that reciprocity is the most important thing to her when it comes to communication. So, if she's given love, she'll give love back. Now how she displays that can be questionable, but she was very reserved in what she chooses to disclose trial one. So, chances are she would have given more information than she did trial two if she was voted Innocent and she would have wound up making herself look worse than what we see in I Love You.

Because Mahiru is seeking acceptance not just for her good qualities but her bad ones as well and views loving in the way she does as necessary as breathing air or drinking water. She literally states if we can't accept her living this way she'd rather die, and she would probably still want even more acceptance and disclose even worse things about herself if she was forgiven/innocent trial one.

Which is why she was so upset by being judged as guilty because that was her best self she put on display. If that can't even be accepted then it's not surprising that she'd feel she could never actually be fully accepted after that.