#I think I've seen some of those panels actually

[misc-obeyme]

your reaper headcanons 🤲 hand them over please

but if reapers are meant to be neutral, it makes the idea of romancing thirteen as a mortal so sad, to me at least 😭 either she comes to collect your soul, and ig she keeps it close to her to remember and admire

but imagine if like this is a first time circumstance where a reaper has a bias towards a human, and because she's not technically neutral to mc since they have a connection, so they don't allow her to collect mc's soul (maybe in fear of her trying to interfere?)

I don't know what's worse, her never getting to say a proper goodbye because she wasn't allowed to do it herself (and the question of whether or not she'd have the knowledge of when mc will die (there are the life candles so maybe...)).

Or having to collect the soul of the person you love and knowing you'll never see them again. And the possible stalling but you can't change fate, you can't make an exception. And spending the last day together, and mc turning to thirteen with a soft but sad smile and just saying "I'm ready."

help I made myself sad AKDKWJF. My fave characters are always the one's who get hit with the angst beam (sorry Mammon and Solomon)

OH AND I WONDER HOW REAPERS GET LIFE CANDLES DISTRIBUTED. Because she watches over a lot and the cave is big, but there's TONS of people and we saw the demon brothers also had candles, so that adds even MORE candles. I HAVE TOO MANY IDEAS I NEED TO CHILL

ANYWAY the manga makes me very happy and barnes and noble is having a bogo 50% off sale for manga specifically, so you could pick up the first two volumes. There's a lot of Mammon ass shots. And plot. I'm totally reading for the plot...

- ✨ anon

Oh oh oh now you're making me wanna write some sweet & sad Thirteen fics...

So okay, here are my personal headcanons about reapers. This is stuff that I developed because I needed to for my OC story lol.

I think of the reapers as being neutral. They don't belong to any of the three worlds because they exist in all of them.

The fact is there are like 8 billion people living on earth. That means there has to be a lot of reapers just to cover humans alone. Not only are there a ton of them, but their lifespans are short compared to demons and angels. So necessarily, I think most reapers live in the human world.

However, death comes for all and has no affiliation to any world.

Demons obviously have candles, as evidenced by the time OG when the bros went looking for Beel's. So it makes sense to me that angels would have candles, too.

The candles manifest the moment the soul it's attached to comes into being. They simply materialize out of the air into the reaper's cave. As long as that candle is lit, that being is alive.

Human candles don't go out until the entire candle has burned down and this can certainly happy quite quickly. They vary more dramatically in size.

Angel and demon candles are all basically like big ole pillar candles that never seem to actually melt at all. They are eternally burning. However, angels and demons can die, so when this happens their flames just go out like someone snuffed the candle at which point the rest of the candle turns to ash or dust.

The Devildom and the Celestial Realm have a much smaller population than earth does. So Thirteen is the only reaper in the Devildom. All of the demon candles are in her cave. I think of it as her jurisdiction. Candles move realms if the person they're attached to does, too. MC can move between the realms by the end of the OG, but due to their strong affiliation with the Devildom, I think their candle moved to Thirteen's cave some point in the first season of OG. Basically, I think the candle manifests in whatever realm the person thinks of as "home" and certainly MC feels the brothers are like their family.

Similarly, I think there is one reaper whose jurisdiction is the Celestial Realm. They keep track of all the angel's candles.

And due to the amount of humans that exist, there are untold amounts of reapers working in the human world.

I like to think that reapers can kind of make pocket dimensions to house themselves and their candles when necessary. So there would be actual caves where reapers have made their homes (with magic to keep curious humans out), but if they have to create extra space they just create a door that acts as a portal between their cave and the human world.

There is a lot of paperwork involved with the creation of candles and the collection of souls. Because what happens with those souls once they're collected?

Personally I think you could say all kinds of things are possible. I never really bothered to figure that part out because the game doesn't specify and I'm cool with it being unknown.

I like to think that Thirteen could choose to keep MC's soul if she wanted to, she would just need to file the correct paperwork for it.

All of this is how it works in my personal au that I developed for Arrie's story, but it's kind of how I think about all of it now.

I have Azrael as the head of the reapers, but he's an angel still. However, he's become more neutral toward the realms as he's had to step into the role of reaper boss.

It's this idea that any being from any of the realms could die that makes me think they have to be neutral. Especially if the realms are at war with each other. I mean, when the Devildom and the CR were at war, reapers would have had to collect souls from both sides.

Anyway, this is all just my personal thoughts on it lol.

I like the idea that Thirteen would be the one to collect MC's soul. It would be hard, but you know she wouldn't trust anyone else to do it. Plus, MC is hers. And if they were dating, I think MC would give Thirteen permission to keep their soul for as long she wants.

Wouldn't it be a comfort to know the reaper that's collecting your soul loves you? When the last thing you see is her eyes shining with tears? The last thing you hear is your name on her lips?

In my personal au, reapers can't die. But what if they can choose to die?

What if Thirteen doesn't collect MC's soul because she gives up her own life at the same time? Maybe their souls can merge and instead of being collected at all, they simply vanish or scatter into stardust, forever entwined.

Oops now I'm sad too.

Anyway, I clearly have zero chill about any of this, so I say embrace your ideas! Let them go crazy, why not!

As for the manga, I'm probably gonna order it online. I don't have a Barnes & Noble in my town, so if I want to go there, I gotta go to a different town. And I'm just too lazy lol. But now I want to read it, only for the Mammon ass shots. I mean plot is cool too I guess.

[riririnnnn]

Random things in Blue Lock I find endearing:

-> Barou looking after Nagi

This was cute, you know. I mean, Barou was the one who first scolded Nagi for swimming in that bathtub, but he is also the one taking care of him—you getting me? It's a small thing, I know, but it's really cute!

-> Rin accepting Hiori's help

With the way Rin was shown till that point, I was actually scared for Hiori because I thought Rin was going to shook off Hiori by saying, "Fuck off!" Like, it just seems very plausible for his character, but then he surprised me!

Just look at him allowing Hiori to help him up by his arms! I understand that many will think that I've gone crazy, but this is one of those things where if you know, you know.

–> Barou throwing Nagi

I snorted at this panel. Like, before this panel, we can see that Isagi literally has his hand around Barou's nape, but no, Barou has to throw Nagi only, it got to be Nagi—if that doesn't sum up their relation, I don't know what will.

–> IGA-DA-GOAT-GURI and Goatmaru

When Isagi's name was suddenly called and he got startled which cracked them up. I just absolutely loved the above panel—so adorbs‼️

-> Sae being Sae

I really haven't seen anyone talk about what he said above—even I seemed to have overlooked his words. It seems so bittersweet that when Sae gave validation to Isagi, he mentioned Rin too like, "He saw through your instincts too." Almost as if it were some kind of necessary requirement for someone to shine in his eyes.

Like, in simple words, "You looked through my little brother's instinct too? Now that's some good shit!"

It's kinda a subtle way of Sae giving Rin validation too like, "He is a solid player! How I know? Oh because he saw through your gameplay."

Sweet.

-> Ubers

Lorenzo especially. Like, just look at him! I don't need to say anything more!

-> Silly Boy

I wanna squeeze his face!!!! AAAAAA!!

And he is supposed to be the ace of the national team???? Like, look at that face, I will never be intimidated by such a cutie patootie. He deserves so many smooches!

-> Little Brother

Aww. Just, awwwwwwww.

Head pats is my own love language too, so seeing this made me melt, and to be honest, Niko is Blue Lock's little brother! It just makes sense to think like that.

.

.

.

Part: 2, 3, 4.

[faynthearted]

this update is devastating for obvious reasons but there's something else I've been thinking about all day

yes, the box is a confirmation that guan shan considered he tian an important person in his life and that he never really moved on after he tian left. that realization is hard-hitting, but my god, there's another underlying component that makes this discovery especially emotional to me

after spending a lifetime in isolation (a deliberate choice for self-preservation btw), he tian now has physical, undeniable evidence that someone cares/cared for him. and not just the idea of him, not the physicality of him (guan shan literally covered his face with tape), but just him and the time they spent together

I imagine this realization must feel like if someone approached you in a quiet and windowless room and said, "there's a bad rainstorm happening outside." you would trust/understand what they're conveying and you'd have an idea of what a 'bad storm' entails. you'd say, "oof, that sucks, hopefully it lets up soon."

but if you actually got up and walked outside and felt the rain pelting your face like bullets and saw trees getting uprooted in the wind and streets flooding with swells of water and roofs getting torn off houses and streetlights shattered and collapsed in the intersections, you'd backpedal and think, "oh shit. I didn't know it was this bad."

that's what I think he tian might be experiencing in those last few panels.

during their school days, guan shan eventually started showing how much he cared about he tian. he tian trusted and understood what guan shan was trying to convey, and he got a taste of what it was like to care for someone and be cared for by someone. he sampled what it’s like to be important to someone, and to be seen by someone in both the dark and the light

but now, years later, opening that (bittersweet) memory box is like the equivalent of walking into the rainstorm. during the entire time he was gone, he tian was hoping that guan shan still remembered/missed him. he knew his absence probably hurt him, but since he wasn’t there to witness the aftermath, he only had an idea of what that hurt looked like. but his hope about guan shan’s feelings wasn't certain and it definitely wasn't verifiable. he tian had an idea of what ‘guan shan cared for me’ and ‘we shared something special’ meant. but, really, he only had memories and his own interpretation of those memories. nothing physical, nothing tangibly conclusive or outright

but now the rain feels like bullets and there’s devastation in knowing that the damage is significant — but somehow there’s also the touching revelation that he tian is lovable and capable of being wanted and missed. it is possible for someone to see the worst sides of him and endure the awful heartbreak he puts them through and still think he’s worth missing/grieving. he risked his self-preservation and the payoff was the best and worst thing that ever happened to him

the box and the layers of torn tape show that guan shan hates what he tian did to him but he doesn’t hate he tian. he kept and memorialized every significant memento in their relationship, even if he did it with some anger or reluctance. this is truly the best-case scenario, yet it’s also a wounding reminder about the time lost and the pain inflicted

at the end of the day, it just hurts

[43501]

Opened my copy of Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases for the first time in a decade and man, I forgot this is a goldmine of info and Mello characterization. It lets us know what kind of person Mello is almost more than the source material. Every time he's on panel/screen he's always so intense, it's fascinating to see him write and kind of get this feeling of "oh, he is also a normal guy outside of those situations".

He says he had one extensive in-person meeting with L, which is backed up by this other post of mine where I point out that, in the anime at least, Mello references having spoken to L personally. If we take it as canon it means L and Mello met at some point between Kira emerging and L leaving England for Japan.

He expresses a strong sense he might die. I've seen people say that he's "narrating from beyond (heh) the grave" and it's nonsensical, but that's not what's happening here. He's just writing while anticipating his death and writing as if these notes may be discovered posthumously.

He thinks that, in the event he dies, Near is the one who will discover his writings. This is interesting to me because it suggests Mello either knows Near knows his whereabouts, or would figure it out and recover his belongings. I actually think this is outright supported by canon - we see Near eating Mello's chocolate in the manga's epilogue. I don't think he instructed his staff to go out and buy that same chocolate, I think that's straight up Mello's stash.

At some point he started identifying less with the "Mello" alias and calling himself Mihael.

He's so sentimental... ending the prologue simply with "Good memories and nightmares". Bro.

"Imagine you were going to kill someone. What do you think would be the most difficult part? .... The correct answer: killing someone." Damn, I love you Mello lol. Also fascinating when you remember that he achieved his status in the mafia by beheading someone. Yes, he would know how hard it is to kill a person.

Mello states that he and Near belong to the "fourth generation" of Wammy's House kids.

He expresses open sympathy for Beyond and his state, twice... based on his own narration and how he portrays B in the course of the story, he definitely relates to B's emotions.

"Perhaps these gods actually wanted a blood soaked world of betrayal and false accusation. Perhaps the entire episode exists as a lesson to teach us the difference between the Almighty and the shinigami." I can't entirely make sense of this, and I don't want to get ahead of myself, but is "Almighty" capitalized here to definitely refer to the divine? Like, the Christian God but in a bit of a sidestepped, roundabout way? Wish I could see the original Japanese text for this line. If anyone has essays/posts about it, please show me.

And on a meta-textual level, the ambiguity of our role/perspective as the reader of these notes is also interesting. We're probably just an omniscient, unmoored observer being told about this set of notes Mello wrote and his line to the effect of "if it happens to turn into [a book]" is tongue-in-cheek. I know there's a slight, hanging implication that Near did in fact publish his notes, but I think that's unlikely since they contain so much sensitive/classified information.

[thr0wnawayy]

Midoriya's Delusion

This is post that builds upon my previous one, I've copied many of the points I made there to here. Albiet with some corrections and tweaks.

To summarize, I have a bit of a crack theory that chapter 430 isn't as real as we've been led to believe. (As for when this actually takes place, that's up to you but I like to imagine the start of his third year marks the beginning of his mental decline.)

(As an update, I find it dubious whether 8 years have actually passed or if that's also a part of the fantasy. I can see Midoriya becoming so attached to the lie that his reference of time begins to warp)

This theory mostly comes from some inconsistencies in regards to the hero rankings and some other things I've found.

Corrections:

It's left ambiguous whether Best Jeanist and Endeavor are still active. However the fact that people view these two in a postive light (especially after Dabi and the war) still seems absurd.

2. Midoriya wasn't outright abandoned, rather their busy schedules make it hard for their days off to coincide. This falls apart when you look at this panel

"The rate of new villains keep decreasing and the number of heroes have stabilized"

Besides Ochaco who's funding a quirk counseling project, the rest of the class should be able to make time. Again it's stated that they aren't actually fighting.

There's no real threat to face. Besides PR and Community Service there's bot a whole lot else (besides the occasional natural disaster)

One could argue it's because the scope of what heroes do is increasing, thus keeping them busy. But again, we see heroes doing exactly what they did before, PR, Advertising and (implied) Showboating.

This leads me to believe that the lack of contact is based in reality, to some extent.

Whether it was by choice or forced by their (1A's) respective PR teams to preserve their images (can't be seen around the "freaks" for too long, now can we?).

The lie comes in the form of busy schedules.

Now whether that's what Midoriya tells himself or what he's been told, I cannot say for certain.

Disturbia:

For those of you who didn't read my last post, you may be wondering, so what's going on?.

Simply put:

Midoriya's having a breakdown fantasy to cope with the fact that he won't be becoming a hero due to the loss of his quirk.

Im aware it sounds crazy but consider the following:

1. Midoriya subconsciously knows the way he's been treated was wrong.

This manifests within the escapists fantasy in Bakugo's drop in the rankings + the attitude surrounding him (as well as his damaged hand never fully healing)

He meets a kid who just so happens to be in a near exact same position as he once* was (and still is to an extent). One could take this as his mind's way of trying to cope and heal itself, by having Midoriya do what he does best and help others, henceforth working though his trauma by using the kid as a stand in.

*Even the kid's "bully" seems to be a warped version of Bakugo (perhaps this is how Midoriya tries to fool himself into believing how it was)

2. We see Kota.

I believe that here, Kota serves as what Midoriya thinks he could have been had he not failed. Kota is the idealized version of Midoriya here, the unobtainable.

3. A lesson ignored

Apparently people forgot the connection between Endeavor and Shoto. You'd think this would be a good thing as Shoto would be able to become his own person.

This falls flat when you remember that also includes people forgetting the reason and happenings behind Shoto's existence, it feels like Midoriya is trying to have his cake and eat it too

To elaborate, this is a major copout, it allows Shouto to be unaffected by his family's past bith career wise and emotionally. While also feeding into Midoriya's rather toxic belief that forgiveness is required to be a good person.

(The fact that killing Tomura violated this only adds to my theory that this whole thing is an escapist coping mechanism.)

(You can also add the idea that Tomura didn't forgive society for what they did to him and his friends. That likely broke all the "rules" that Midoriya knew.)

4. The Mech Suit is a massive cope, it's the dying whimper of Midoriya's childish hope that All Might will save the day.

This time there's no magic quirk, no garrish mech suit, no plot twist.

No. There's only Midoriya and the consequences of his, his classmates and hero societies actions. It doesn't matter how shiny and seamless the illusion, how sweet the lie.

You can't hide the blood.

Concerning Aspects:

That was mostly the revised stuff, let me introduce you to some new points

1. A Frozen Lake

Something I noticed was certain characters seem to be almost frozen in time, as if someone tried to continue a story using scraps of the original text.

The curious case of Rei Himura:

This scene seems almost stagnant, what was most noticeable was Enji's bandages still being on and Rei still being there.

It's as if Midoriya hasn't seen them in years (or perhaps doesn't want to acknowledge what happened). So his mind uses what he last saw/heard of them, creating a sterile, static scenario. Little better than props.

Those surrounding her (with the exception of Hawks) also seem to be stuck in the past.

It's definitely strange.

2. See No Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak No Evil

Shigaraki is a representation of Midoriya's repressed guilt and his fears. I believe deep down Midoriya knows that, inevitably the cycle will repeat, so long as the system is allowed fester and wallow in it's complancy.

I find the fact that he's behind Midoriya to be ironic, as if to say: don't look back, don't think about what you've done.

A Symbol of Stagnation:

I should warn you that it does get lengthy from here, however I think it's important to get the full picture. Even if I tend to ramble here.

It's implied here that Lemillion's the top hero. This is awful for a variety of reasons. Mirio is a horrible symbol.

All Might was flawed for a variety of reasons, but a majority of these were byproducts rather than directly being his own doing.

Mirio on the other hand, has such a cancerous philosophy that it actively harms all who interact with it.

Mirio is a follower, he follows orders first and asks questions never.

Eri is the best example of this. Even after Nighteye's death, Mirio never truly reflects on the damage his actions could have caused ( only saved by the narrative, seriously it's a miracle Eri trusts anyone besides Midoriya after being abandoned like that)

You see, the difference between Toshinori and Mirio lies in their actions and principles.

Mirio left Eri to die, all for the sake of the "mission".

For all the heroes knew, Eri could have been a trafficking victim and either have been killed or relocated. But no, appearances and "gotta catch em all" take priority even after knowing Eri is in the Yakuza's clutches.

Lemillion made the worst decisions possible. He followed a known murder into a secluded, restricted area (with a hostage mind you) bringing his pupil with him.

Willingly ignored blatant signs of abuse (just look at the girl) and played hooky with thre leader of a criminal organization, who is known for his short fuse and willingness to kill.

He did all of that, when he could have easily detained Overhaul at any point (his quirk being a direct counter)

Toroshinori would fight tooth and nail in that situation. Consequences be damned if it meant saving Eri.

Part of the reason Toroshinori was so effective as a hero was 1. His sense of justice and 2. His compassion.

Mirio is a symbol that can be controlled, a weapon if you will.

The fact that Mirio is at the top shows that things haven't changed and are even beginning to decline. So this brings me to my next point

You may be asking, if Midoriya's losing it in his own mind, what's the outside world look really like?.

Allow me to set the stage.

4. Speculation

Within Midoriya's muddled mind, Lemillion represents both his toxic optimism and a subconscious understanding that nothing has changed. It represents denial and acceptance, a dysfunctional middle ground that's easy enough for Midoriya to stomach.

The truth of the matter is, delusion or not, the reality is soon to sink in.

Something that I don't see discussed is the lack of reactions from other nations or really any insight into how they were affected by everything that happend.

Here's the idea: Most likely they are foaming at the mouth.

Particularly it's the countries who suffered under Imperial Japan in the past (Korea, China, Singapore etc), however this also applies to every nation Nedzu brow beat into aiding with the rebuilding efforts, albiet their reaction would be latent.

Not not only is the attitude painfully reminiscent of how Japan handles it's past atrocities, Japan has had them clean up their messes. seen below:

(you cannot tell me Big Red Dot over here is having a good time)

From an outside pov. The Commission never told anyone about AFO, rather they suppressed any information, locked him up in Tartarus and then sat on the whole situation until it blew up in their (read: everyones) faces.

He then proceeded to: kill over 8000 people (+ those killed during the Blackout period), kill the top hero of one of the world's most powerful nations and incite mass panic. Destroyed massive amounts of infrastructure and transport nationwide, broke thousands of criminals out of prison, destroying those prisons in the process.

Meanwhile the heroes:

Abandoned civilians in mass by quitting in the middle of a war.

Left the public in the dark for months and allowing crime and paranoia to grow rampant, even (forcibly) bringing someone they knew was being targeted by AFO and his forces to the one place they could find shelter.

Mutilated a seven year old girl. Who has a history of being mutilated for the gain of others and patted themselves on the back. (Also having no holdup on how that may effect her physically via her quirk or mentally via her trauma)

Mic: tried to kill a docile prisoner who could be considered in comatose, based off of his emotional attachment to a dead man + viewing it as justified if it meant Spinner couldn't get to him.

Used hospital staff and patients as meatshields (Central Hospital) during a riot.

Most had no qualms supporting a child beating eugenicist and implied marital rapist, even with his one of his victims exposed him and citing it as his main reason for turning to villainy.

Held an illegal questioning* with said abuser while ignoring his main victim (Rei, who is probably the most reliable source of information there)

(*which effectively is like conducting an investigation on yourself and declaring you are not guilty)

And so much more! (But this post is getting too long)

My point is by the time everything was said and done, it seemed everyone but Japan was paying for it.

It's outright stated that the US president risked national security by sending every hero they had to help Japan. (Impeachment worthy if you ask me)

Endeavor's little plan to kill himself and Dabi in a blaze of death ended up disrupting the weather. Very likely it'll end up resembling an El Niño phenomenon, only vastly off schedule and even more destructive than normal.

For Reference [https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ninonina.html]

Very likely it'll lead to an agricultural drought in the northern America's and mass flooding in southern America's, likely starting at the west coast and bleeding inland. Leading to a domino effect where cost of living surges due to the sudden displacement of people and the rapid loss of products.

Worse still, because the US had no heroes (likely for months on end), crime has likely surged in the America's, which will further impact the rest of the world.

The rebuilding efforts likely emptied the wallets of most participating countries, leaving them unable to help anyone, including themselves.

Also keep in mind that Japan incriminated themselves with the Business Course footage. I don't think the general public (outside of Japan) is going to take too kindly to a known murder and abuse apologist being in charge of a system already known for it's corruption.

The end result is likely be a world that detests Japan, either from a moral perspective (Rei's treatment + the treatment of those society abandoned), a financial perspective (we can't afford shit and you contributed to that) or historical perspective (you do this everytime and ignore the consequences).

A world divided by struggle and united by an immense loathing for the Commission's Japan and the culture surrounding it.

Oh, don't forget there's no finding left for quirk research. Meaning that it's very likely no one will be prepared for quirk singularity to start manifesting in the upcoming generations (Thanks Nedzu).

_______________________________________

Update: Can I just say that Aizawa's lack of ownership infuriates me even though this is likely a fantasy and not grounded in reality.

Like what the fuck do you mean "with the way he talks, it was pointless" Fantasy Aizawa.

Because "Hey Asshole", You deliberately ignored his attitude and offenses!. And what? Now your just gonna shrug it off like it wasn't your fault. To hell with that you had two years, most teacher are said to only get one. As you so graciously mentioned at the start of this shit show of an epilouge.

Heres the moment I'm referring to btw:

While we're at it. Are you telling me it was too hard to get Momo some proper attire all three fucking years she was at UA for.

Not to mention Toru is still naked, how the fuck hasn't she died yet, she is literally exposed to the elements (and lord help her of she gets a cut)

Kirishima's costume is still his biggest liability considering it exposes his chest and back (also seeing as even when hardened he can't repell bullets)

Does Denki still fry himself with his quirk?

Before we move on Aizawa. How's that daughter you neglected, her horn still broken?.

Speaking of which let's look at the rescue team:

What the hell is this!?

Let's see, we got a guy who can only do damage (and his sweat detonates on contact, destroying whatever it touches.)

A brainwasher who only got into the hero course via nepotism and who can only brainwash people who directly respond to him!. A person trapped underneath rubble either frantic or groaning in pain isn't going to be able to respond or even just give consent.

(On a side note what are the laws regarding mind control quirks, does some sort of waiver have to be signed, can a person sue for being controlled against their consent?)

Oh, but wait there's more.

Midoriya running headlong with experimental tech that has, very likely never seen the light of day. Let alone preform in an actual high stakes situation before.

You're trying to carry someone and oops! Something malfunctioned or was miscalculated, now there's an even bigger mess (hooray!)

Who could forget Mezo "they'll come for your kids" Soji. Who climbed the ladder and pulled it all the way up.

Yeah forget that Heteromorph's were getting hate crimed long before the war, ignore the fact that you yourself were maimed by an angry mob after doing one of the most heroic things a person can do. Dismiss Spinner's comment about being sprayed with Pesticide for walking in public.

Nah screw it, let's all sing Kumbaya while the Creation Rejection Clan runs wild outside the reach of the cities, then ignore that the discrimination still is prevalent in the countryside and it's only a matter of time before somone gets fed up and takes matters into their own hands. (talons, claws, you get the picture)

But your a hero now Soji, you got your's. So fuck the rest of 'em

And don't even get me started on Hawks. Congratulations you ignorant bastard, way to kill time and by that I mean for everyone but the heroes.

"Yeah life is great!, everyone hates us, we're rapidly falling into debt from all that rebuilding 8 years back."

"Speaking of which some of those buildings are staring to fall apart due to being rushed to meet deadlines set within the month they were started."

"Social darwinism is on the rise and people are becoming more complacent that ever before due to heroes applying bandaid solutions on decade long, deeply ingrained problems."

"All so the average person doesn't have to think about what's festering beneath society's floorboards, so thank you Safety Commission. Here's your star of positivity ⭐️." - Some random anti-hero civilian

So much for greatest heroes, huh.

_______________________________________

UPDATE 2:

A dark thought I just had, is that the main reason Izuku killed Tomura was because Tomura broke the rule of "Forgiving Your Abusers makes you Good".

When Tomura refused to relinquish his hatred, when he stood his ground, that is when Midoriya decided he had to die. If not to "stop" him, then to preserve Midoriya's perception of the world .

Shigaraki + The LOV by their very ideals went against everything Midoriya has had beat into him by Bakugo and Aldera over the years.

Makes me wonder how'd he react to a person refusing to forgive their abuser. If he interacted with Natsuo or Rei, I could see that delving into a complete mess.

Now that I think about it, The Midoriya we know now, he would have never tried to hold onto Eri back when they first met.

Ironically, he became what he named himself after, a Deku. A puppet attached to thorns of liquid gold, glistening and burning hot.

A slave to his own biases and belief system, now trapped in a stage of his minds own making.

First bound by his past, then by legacy and finally, now by his own hand.

木偶.

[raconteur-wanpi]

OK, let's talk eyebrow theory a bit.

I've seen a lot of posts on eyebrow theory, and there's probably other people who've expressed it better than me but I'd like to get my thoughts out just in case.

Anyway, eyebrow theory posits that, the direction of the Vinsmoke children's eyebrows showcases whether and which augmentations are/were successful on them. This is mostly based on the fact that Sanji's left eyebrow (our screen right) flips direction when he activates the "full power" of his mutation (or the "power of love", as he calls it).

Now as far as the rest of them go, some notes; For Reiju and Ichiji, this hasn't been 100% confirmed, and if somebody can find those 3D model screenshots again, I'd really appreciate that, since I don't remember what they were ripped off of! But even excluding those, there are a lot of panels in the manga (and anime screenshots) where it's pretty clear, despite their hair being in their way, that their eyebrows actually do have this symmetry, unlike their other three brothers. Also point to be made, that the swirls themselves are just something they all got from their father, and it's rather the strange directions they face toward that seems to be the result of the modifications.

Now for Ichiji, there is an inconsistency in how the edges of his eyebrows are drawn; there are a few cases where it matches Niji and Yonji, but whether that's a mistake or whether he "flips" like Sanji does, is unknown. It is interesting though, that the 3D model does indeed have him match with Reiju (again, please if somebody can find those again it'd be stellar).

That being said, a specific element of the theory is that their left eyebrow represents the body modifications, while their right eyebrow represents their emotional/brain modifications. If that's the case, than it'd suggest that Sanji's flip is only actually happening on his left eyebrow, the uncovered one that we get to see. This would make him match up with Reiju, which makes sense, since at the moment he is most like her, only having the body modifications with intact emotions. We can't actually know for sure until we get to see both at the same time during one of his flips.

This does, however, imply a lot of things about Ichiji if it were true, which doesn't really have any other evidence to it, but it sure is interesting to consider. Maybe Ichiji, like Sanji, isn't "consistent" and he experiences mutations, as a result of Sora's actions affecting more than just one child. He is easily the coldest and one of the cruelest of the quadruplets, but could that be him overcompensating and hiding? Perhaps that's wishful thinking, but I would genuinely find it very very intriguing if it were true!

EDIT: Here's the post with image additions, including the 3D models.

[chaoticallywriting]

Animals ⋋Chapter Two⋌

A/N: Soooooooooo I've had this written out since before I posted the prologue but it needed to be edited and also touched up! I was super busy and also the lack of sun is totally taking a toll on my mental health. Due to this being late I decided to just post it now instead of waiting for this Saturday, that being said chapter three will not be out by this Saturday. I only have 1.5k done of the next chapter so it'll HOPEFULLY be done by next Saturday. As always, thank you to @blitzs-largest-horsiest-dildo for editing this <3

Pairing: Silco x Reader (eventual/slow burn), Viktor x reader (past/ex's)

Summary: Heartbroken and disgraced from your lifelong dream coming to a halt and the only person you've ever loved abandoning your scientific pursuit. You decide to turn towards a newfound Kingpin in the city you once called your home in hopes of making your dreams come true.

CW: None that I can think??

WC: 3.8k

Before // After // AO3

Silco's office is small, there's filing cabinets tucked into a corner by the door and across the room is a desk. Said desk trumps even Babette's in terms of craftsmanship, looking like something a rich topsider might own. Behind that there's a swivel chair and then a chair in front of the desk and well, that's it. It looks far more like a storage closet turned office than an actual office, especially for some 'terrifying' drug lord.

"Quaint," you breathed. You don't know why that's the first thing you think to say, nor why you didn't hold back. The adrenaline from your little fit is beginning to wane and now you're left in an enclosed space with someone everyone seems terrified of. And you've just called his office quaint. "Not what I expected but it's cozy."

'Stop talking, for all that is good, shut the fuck up!' You internally scream at yourself. This is some newfound kingpin, some guy who survived getting half his face sliced up and lived to tell the tale. Part of growing up in the Lanes means knowing when to shut up. Piltover must have made you soft, so incredibly stupid too. Maybe this whole plan was stupid.

"What were you expecting?" He enters your vision (you had your back to this man, Piltover has made you soft) as he walks over to his desk. The way he walks is different too, there's a slight sway to his step, not like the inebriated idiots in alleyways but. . . Well you don't know how to describe it. It's arrogant, slightly cocky and graceful? There's an assuredness in the way he moves, like he's playing some game he knows he'll always win.

Silco pulls open a desk drawer, long and thin fingers dipping into it and procuring an expensive looking cigar. It's paper has a slight gold lining at the tip that he easily slices off before flicking open a silver lighter. It's hard, you find yourself getting distracted by him. By the way he flicks the lighter on and how that brief flicker of a flame matches that unnerving eye which doesn't blink when his green one does.

He raises a brow and you notice a few lines between them, his brows you mean. Between his brows and on his forehead, he must be in his thirties, late thirties to be specific. Early forties max. People down here age faster than topsiders. While you've seen top-siders in their fifties or sixties with barely a gray hair in sight, people down here barely make it to such an age. The stress, the constant work, lack of sleep or food or warmth gives way to grays and wrinkles before you've even reached your mid thirties. You either die from exhaustion, the gray or a knife in the back.

"Something grand, maybe some kind of vast view of the Lanes. A bar cart, most important people seem to have those. . . " You walk closer, eyes trailing the wood paneled walls. "Just not something that looks like a grandpa may be found fumbling with basic book keeping."

His movements halt, eyes on you as the cigar slowly swirls smoke from it's tip. The room begins to smell of tobacco and your heart pounds at the intensity of his gaze. So you clear your throat and dump the papers you've been gripping onto his desk. They're crinkled up and so you begin to smooth them, hands flat as you press down and slowly swipe away any ridges you find.

He flicks the lighter closed, or at least it sounds like it. You've moved your gaze to your papers as you find it near impossible to keep staring at him. "So you made such a scene out there just so you could insult my new place?"

"No!" You blurt out, eyes finally tearing away from the relatively smoothed papers. He's still staring at you. "No I. . . I wanna make the Lanes a better place, and I have these ideas and- Well everyone's going around saying how you used to be like that. I-" You lick your cracked lips, gods your throat is drying up. "I have nothing left but this dream that I've had since I was a kid. I have the research, I have the ideas. I know these things will help I just need money and materials and the power to implement these things."

Silco drops the lighter back into the desk drawer before sliding it closed. With his hand now free he plucks one of your papers off the table as he takes a long drag of his cigar. Honestly? You don't know what he's looking at.

You just randomly grabbed papers back with the guard and you were so focused on not saying stupid things that you didn't inspect them while brushing them out. With the grace of a freshly caught fish you begin to pull out more papers along with your worn, leather bound journals. Everything is strewn across the desk and soon your trying to organize it so it's less chaotic.

Your hands shake a bit as you half haphazardly dump things into specific piles. A shoddy attempt at making a system of the inner workings of not only your mind but Viktors as well. His hand writing is on a majority of these pages, along with your own. His delicate and graceful drawings of different designs and ideas fill the corners of pages. But your knuckles are scabbed over from repeatedly being pushed onto the pavement and your cheek is still healing.

He's here in this moment, even as you run from him he's here in more ways than one. Seeing his penmanship makes your heart clench as you remember him hunched over your tiny dining room table, pen in hand. You'd hand him a cup of his favorite tea and his free hand would reach out to slide across your ba-

"What is this?" Silco's voice cuts through your memories, sucking you back into the moment as your cheeks heat up with embarrassment. You only hope he doesn't somehow know what you were just thinking of. You mentally pray that he's not some kind of mind reader. Silco is holding an intricate drawing of the inner workings for an aeroponic farming system. Definitely something that would be confusing for someone not well versed on the subject. It's still a relatively new practice in a nation or two, experimentation is proving it to be fruitful and worth the initial effort.

"A farming system, it's called aeroponics and you see-" You slowly reach out and take the drawing from him so you can point at the inside portion of the paper. The tower has been split in two to show what the inside looks like, various holes strategically staggered and a simple water flow system. "You use coconut husks to put your seeds in and then since they're so small you can put them in these holes."

You rest against the desk, one foot firmly pressed against the ground, the other bent over the wooden surface. Your upper body is turned toward Silco so he can see what you're holding. "By pumping water through this pipe it then trickles back down and waters each husk. It takes significantly less water and space than actual farming. If you use one of the abandoned buildings at the pier it has the perfect amount of sunlight for this. With the space you save with these towers, depending on the placement you could end up feeding roughly. . . three hundred people with this? If you invest in sun lamps as well then you can also grow year round."

He lets you ramble on as you show him more papers regarding the farming system and the lamps. How different techniques can clean the water carried throughout the Undercity (but you'd have to throw out any vegetation grown from that) or how this system in general helps decrease pollution in the air. There's charts, graphs, papers, all of which you've nicked from the library at the academy. And surprisingly he never interrupts you, only continues to fill the room with more smoke as his cigar gets smaller and smaller.

"And that?" He waves his cigar towards your bag which had been dropped onto his desk at some point. You turn and spot the metal model which must have rolled out during your panic to organize things. His voice is in your head, accent thickened with exhaustion as he had clumsily dropped the model into your hands. The tiny lab had smelt of the soldering iron and one of those protective masks had been pressed against the top of his head, pushing back his thick chestnut hair.

You thickly swallow before plucking it from the mess of papers. "My pride and joy," you mumble. "A water purifier for our ocean. They would be built to float on the surface and inside would be this- " You pull one of the notebooks and hold it with your free hand. You never let go of the model as you flip open the journal and turn to a page filled with your messy writing and half assed drawings. "It's a filtration system made out of genetically modified algae, which I have the beginnings of in my other notebook. That being said that's not my specialty and I need a biochemists help. Which is also why I'm here."

"So you need money, materials, power and a biochemist? This is a lot to demand of someone you've just met." He rounds the table and gracefully sits behind the desk. By now his cigar sits in an ashtray, lit end stubbed against it. "Why should I help you with this?"

You don't know. Yes if it works out this design could be patented and sold to other nations but there isn't a guarantee that other places need this like yours does. The aeroponics won't really make money, just help lessen the cost of food and offer everyone a chance of an actual meal. Not the moldy scraps that are tossed to them from Piltovers waste baskets.

With him sitting down you push yourself further onto the desk, your other leg now dangling in the air so you can lean a little closer to him. He briefly stiffens, just for a millisecond. If you weren't someone who needed to focus in on the tiniest of details for your work you would have missed it.

"Because you know what it's like down here, what all this could do for the city…" You worry your bottom lip between your teeth.

"Think of the next generation, we're already seeing a lessened infant mortality rate due to the ventilation system that has helped dispel the gray. Who knows what that means for the overall health of the kids who have never felt that smog clog their lungs. With this-" You press your journal in front of him, dropping the model on top of the page showcasing the filtration system. "We can take bettering our city to the next step. Without the help of those topside dimwits who only help to make themselves look good."

He picks up the model, rubbing it between his index and thumb and you find yourself using all your will power not to snatch it from his grasp. This could be it, you could have it all. You just need to be quiet and not do anything stupid and impulsive. Unfortunately impulsivity seems to have taken over your very mind as of late. You weren't always so destructive and angry and tear filled. It's easy to blame it on Viktor, so you do. Everything is his fault now.

"We could have used a mind like yours back in the day." He must notice how you fixate on the model because he carefully sets it back down before sliding the journal towards you. "It's true, I know a fellow scientist who specializes more in biochemistry than with engineering and agriculture. I also am getting a decent influx of money from Shimmer and yes I have power and materials."

"So?" you impatiently blurt out.

"I have a lab Singed is currently working out of nearby, we can get you the materials for your project. If I give you this chance I want frequent updates and a guard will be monitoring you. I don't give money to strangers without ensuring they won't run off."

Perhaps the monitoring should scare you but you find yourself to overjoyed to think of being watched over. Quite honestly you are asking lot from a stranger, back at the academy it took multiple professors to sign off on your research to be given a small grant (the smallest they offered).

"I-" you place a hand flat against your stomach, the worn fabric of your vest smooth against your healing palm. The excitement bubbling within you feels like you may just float away. Tears gather at the edges of your eyes and you rapidly blink them away.

Rather ungracefully, you slide off the desk and turn to him so that you can look into his eyes. Your hands begin to gather all the papers strewn about so that you can easily clutch them. He doesn't show how he's feeling, he's just watching you.

"Thank you, I know you have so much on your plate but I promise I will do everything in my power to improve this city."

You mean it. You hope he knows you mean it. "I'll stop taking up your time but um-"

"I'll have someone take you to the lab tomorrow morning, seven am sharp."

Your address is written on a spare piece of paper in a messy scrawl of hurried writing and soon you're being ushered out. Before the door closes you look over your shoulder, hand keeping the door slightly propped open as you give him your name. In your haste to gain his sympathy to your cause you completely forgot to introduce yourself. He only nods before the guard closes the door.

As you walk out of the Last Drop your eyes catch on the greasy haired teenager from earlier and your overjoyed expression turns to one of smugness. His brows raise, mouth dropping open before one of his colleagues shout at him to hurry up.

That evening you gorge yourself on celebratory take out from a different food stall and lay out something to wear over your metal shower rod. It's just a simple pair of brown corduroy pants that are so long on you that you have to tie them around your waist with a leather cord. A simple over sized white button up and a matching brown vest. . . It's as you gather these items that are you are struck with the realization that all of these articles once belonged to Viktor.

It was common place to steal his clothes and wear them, they were nice enough for the academy and comfortable. It's why the pants are so long and the shirt is slightly bigger, men's sizing does tend to run wider than women's anyways. Your eyes trace the intricate stitching of the vest before you thickly swallow. You were never one to care about fashion, it was more about practicality. Yes you bought a few vests and have maybe one skirt or a pair of pants that are your own but, you cared more about your project and Viktor.

With him gone it will be easier to focus. You doubt you'll find yourself falling for your new partner anyways. It's not like it's some common thing, besides you had begun dating Viktor before leaving for Piltover in the first place. All that matters now is your work, nothing more and nothing less. With an affirmative nod at your thinking you shut off the bathroom light and crawl into your rather uncomfortable bed.

At seven am you speed down your apartments stairs, vest unbuttoned and sleeves unrolled with boots half tied. You barely remembered to lock your door behind you in your hurried state. You find a woman leaning against the food stall situated right by the door to your building with a take out box and chopsticks in hand. The first things you noticed about her were her sheer size and the gleaming gold of her left arm. She had some sort of metal prosthetic in place of said arm and seemed to be struggling to use the chopsticks as her metallic fingers fumbled with the wooden utensils.

Her prominent aquiline nose scrunched as the tan woman grunted in annoyance. The second you stepped outside and into her space her eyes snapped to you and she shoved the barely eaten box into a nearby trashcan. "C'mon, I got shit to do."

Her voice is gravelly and low, perhaps from frequent smoking? It's a common thing in this city. Just from a glance she doesn't seem the type to yell, the baritone of her voice gives off enough intimidation on its own.

You bend to tuck your laces into your boots before jogging to catch up with her. Not only was she broad shouldered with a muscular arm but she was tall too, much taller than you. She didn't stop to confirm who you were or ask how your day was, she just stomped through the streets like she owned them. Growing up in the Undercity taught you not to mess with people like her and so you keep your mouth shut and try your best to match her pace.

Her speed walking was an almost jog for you and your bag continuously bumped against your back with each step deeper into the Lanes. Your fingers fumbled to tightly roll your sleeves whilst keeping up but you only managed to achieve rolling one of them by the time you arrived at a sketchy looking building.

Technically the entire Undercity is sketchy but this specific building oozed bad news. It's the kind that makes the hair on your arms stand on end and a chill run down your spine. The towering woman reached for the door with her robotic hand and pulled it- no yanked it open. A slew of expletives echoed through the alley as the door slammed against the building, hinges squeaking. Dust from the buildings brick wall sprinkled down the alley like snow.

After taking several deep breathes she stomped inside to a stairwell. She didn't hesitate to go down the stairs to a basement where a metal door was ajar. The stairwell was clean and the landing in the basement was too, from the crack through the door you saw some kind of green hue that began to fill the stairwell once the woman pushed open the door. This time she used her regular hand.

Inside was an expansive room full of metal shelves and tables. At the very back wall is where you find the green hue. There are multiple glass bio reactor's full of different sized creatures, mostly large creatures. All floating in some green liquid and connected to various metal tubes. Your stomach twists at the sight and suddenly you think of Babette and all her warnings.

But this is science and it's what you need. You signed up for this knowing these were unsavory people and you can't back out because you're being confronted with that reality. So instead you take a deep breath to try and dispel your nerves. The metal shelves are lined with different materials and glass jars full of liquids you can't outright identify. That feeling from before, that offness, only sticks to you like glue.

The woman, whose name you never caught, simply turns to you and gestures to the off putting lab. "Welcome to paradise, Piltie-"

"I'm not from Piltover," you interrupt her with a defiant tilt of your chin. Eyes stare into her gray ones, chapped lips pressed into a thin line. "I just spent a few years at the academy."

Her nose scrunches, lips curling with distaste. You somehow made things worse, dammit. "Ain't any better being some kind of sympathizer. Don't slack off or Silco will know."

She storms out before you can conjure up a reply of some kind. As the door slams shut behind her you are suddenly aware of how alone you are in this creepy place. To the right is two doors, both shut and despite your naturally curious mind, you find yourself deciding to avoid opening either. Curiosity is needed to be a scientist, but knowing when to leave something the fuck alone is also needed to survive down here.

You drop your bag on a nearby table and pull out all your papers and journals. The model stays safely tucked in an inner pocket, away from prying eyes and thieving fingers. The first hour in the lab is spent with you organizing your things and exploring the different shelves and drawers. You manage to find a soldering iron and other much needed materials for your work.

The biochemist Silco mentioned doesn't come around until your second hour. At this point you've turned a nearby chalk board into a space full of various equations you had last been working on at the academy. Some of your progress has faded from the recesses of your mind, something that happens when time is spent away from something and evidence of it is gone. As you're lost in solving a difficult equation, chalk in one hand and the other hand placed on your hip, a voice rings out from the other side of the room.

"You must be the woman Silco mentioned."

The chalk drops from your hand as you clumsily spin around, long laces from your untied shoes causing you to stumble into the chalk board behind you. Your hands grip the wooden edges of the board as you come face to face with a disfigured man.

Half his face is bandaged and a bandanna is covering him from the nose to his collarbones. He has bandages peaking out from black robes that are tightly wrapped around his skin and you wonder how he's alive. His bald head gleams under the dim lighting of the lab as he walks over to your chalk board. You gulp.

You definitely do not need to worry about gaining feelings for this man.

"Yes, and you must Singed." You quickly dust your hand off on your pants before extending it and offering him your name. He leaves your hand untouched as his eyes glance over the chalk board before looking over at the table full of your work.

Singed heaves a tired sigh as he looks at all your research from afar before walking over to a free table. He places beakers from nearby shelves onto it along with burners and various other supplies. "Do not try to go into either of those rooms, the upstairs of this building or touch those bio reactors. If you do any of these things I will not help you and I will let Silco know you're worthless."

Your eyes drift to the set of doors nearby before slowly nodding. Something tells you that you don't want to know whats in there so instead of arguing you pick up your fallen piece of chalk and begin explaining everything to your new partner.

Taglist : @soniiyi @galactic-magick @adsky4 @alexandra-001 @drpepper280 @mac-and-cheese21 @watasinekoru @anthy-j-ander @fudosl (if your name is struck through than it would not let me tag you! You may need to check your settings)

[awinterrosesstuff]

Kinda funny that people claim Kishimoto can't write romance... And then, when he has the occasion to write/draw about Minato, he does a whole love story. Both Minato and Kushina are the protagonists of that story. And honestly, it's quite good.

I've seen SS and NH fans desperatly trying to compare their ship to Minakushi, trying to find parallels between Kushina & Sakura and Kushina & Hinata, between Minato and Sasuke, and Minato & Hinata... and so on ! I understand the need to do it. What those ships lack, Minakushi has. But the truth is... I don't think Kishimoto bothered to develop those ships. Gaiden doesn't show SS in good light. The Last isn't his original idea/work and it's not good anyway.

So now Minakushi, I'm going to state the obvious. But it shows they both have mutual feelings for one another. It's not one sided. Kushina expressed the want to be alone with Minato, and Minato created a very powerful jutsu to protect Kushina.

So what we learn there :

- They train together for some times now. They have an appointment and Kushina teaches Minato's sealings techniques. From the Naruto's manga, we know it's one of his specialities. They like to see one another and Kushina is very exciting to see him.

- Minato wants to perfect his new jutsu so badly that he even cancelled their appointment. He takes the time to come and tells her about it. So he also likes to spend time with her. It's important to him. But what it's even more important to him is to protect her. He's creating his signature move and most powerful technique especially for her.

And look at that :

Yeah ! A love confession. And it doesn't get ignored. Kushina is touched by his words and starts crying. I can't add more than ten pictures. But just right after, Kushina remembers Mito, starts fighting back and remembers (again) Mito's words. The whole thing is a bit long, but I added the panel that matters the most in my opinion.

It's plain and simple. Kushina loves Minato. When he's fighting Kurama to protect her, she specifically remembers Mito's words about finding love. Plus, Minato is able to enter Kushina's mind. It's actually not a easy thing. And it was very special to Naruto & Sasuke's bond, the most important bond from the Naruto's manga. Minakushi is paralleling Sasunaru if anything...

They're connected on a deep level. Their feelings are mutual. And they are each other's strength.

There are more actually, because that's a real love story. So here we go :

Minato being moved by Kushina hugging him.

Kushina naming Minato's new technique and Minato agreeing with it (his original idea was terrible, Jiraiya already told him, but it's Kushina who he listens to).

And that's cute "parallel" (if we can call it like that).

So let's me list everything we get from the spin off :

- Minato and Kushina spend time together and like to see one another.

- Kushina teaches Minato's sealings techniques

- They both express their feelings for one another in different ways

- Minato created his signature move to protect Kushina

- The love confession doesn't get ignored and goes directly to Kushina's heart

- Minato can enter Kushina's mind

- Minato's fighting for her brings her strength and inspires her to fight against Kurama

- Minato is actually allowed by the narrative to witness and understand Kushina's struggles as a jinchuriki

- There are some symbols that make the ship work : the butterfly at the beginning and the end, the spiral, Minato's face next to the other's kages faces (it was already stated, in the Naruto's manga, that Kushina was his strength and his support in his path to become Hokage).

+

- Kushina goes to see Minato despite orders from the hokage, starts watching him, but doesn't stay hidden and talks to him with no problem at all when he notices her (yeah Hinata I'm looking at you)

- It stated why Minato likes Kushina.

- Kurama is very much aware of Kushina's feelings for Minato. When Minato starts telling her why he's creating his jutsu and touches Kushina's heart, Kurama tries to manipulate her.

- Minato is successful in saving Kushina (that's important, believe me).

Please just read the Minato's spin off. The whole thing is very cute.

[utilitycaster]

One of your recent posts talked about the way BH have essentially "run out of plot" in following the Red Moon/Predathos plot and the way that the PCS are being played.

I was also curious about your thought on the interparty dynamics in the end game, particularly with recent developments. One of the issues I've had with Bell's Hells for a while now is the way they don't challenge each other (or at least not in the way previous parties have)

Yeah; they don't. And honestly I think this is a combination of just...luck of the draw of the characters they created combined with that lack of room for those characters to develop because they've been in an environment that hasn't allowed much time and space for anything but rushing to the next task. Like, as mentioned, a lot of characters are kind of here to hang out or have goals that aren't specifically tied to personal change, if they have specific goals at all. That's not a bad thing! Grog, Jester, and Fearne all share that quality and are all fantastic executions of it - and Grog and Jester do change quite a bit despite that because the story gives them many opportunities to do so, and yes, because their fellow party members challenge them. But it feels like the bulk of Bells Hells if not all of it is kind of in that boat.

I remember an early panel in which Marisha said "I don't want to think anymore" and I know Travis has mentioned something similar for Chetney, of wanting to play someone much more chaotic after playing someone so highly controlled as Fjord. Liam also talked about stepping back from being a major decision maker at some point, and built Orym to be someone who had a viewpoint but didn't specifically assert it (as we've just seen). Like, I think most resentment C3 fans have towards C2 is just jealousy and bitterness but perhaps a fairer grievance is that the cast really brought their A-Game to the Mighty Nein with a lot of incredibly complicated, driven, messy characters and due to the smaller nature of the company then combined with the scaled back production of the pandemic focused intently on them; and then nearly all of them made a bunch of fairly go-with-the-flow or chaotic characters as a breather and (not unfairly or unreasonably!) thought they'd be in a story that would give them space to become something else or that would suit them, and it didn't. As someone who likes actual play I think if nothing else this serves as a look into how fantastic overall cast chemistry doesn't translate into compelling party dynamics.

To be clear, I think Bells Hells like and care about each other, but none are really the type to both strive to be better and challenge those around them to be as well. Even their defenders in the fandom are kind of leaning on the party of NPCs line from very early on [which is funny because a lot of people HATED that line at the time; I got hate over thinking it was apt] but the thing is yeah at this point in the campaign, they shouldn't still feel like a party of NPCs. Perhaps this is a personal preference, which, to be clear, does not in any way invalidate it as criticism, but as someone with a bit of a comics background, I've never been terribly into "Suicide Squad"-esque stories but I am into stories of Person Who Has An Opportunity And Rises To The Occasion Despite Not Being The Best Choice On Paper. Ultimately, my issue isn't that Bells Hells come from humble backgrounds and tragedy (this is also...not untrue for the Mighty Nein, incidentally; in fact they had even less endorsement from powerful groups. Molly died 26 episodes in and he just stayed fucking dead because no one had Keyleth's phone number so this is another case of "your defense just makes me think the Mighty Nein achieve this in a far superior manner"); my issue is that, as Laudna put it, they kind of just walk through doors because they're in front of them. I don't need them to become classically heroic; but I do need them to have some sort of intention. And they don't. Why are you walking through doors? "Because they're there" doesn't cut it. You're here because the Exandrian Accord gave you a whole bunch of support so don't play that "i'm just a nobody with nothing" shit anymore, it's demonstrably untrue.

I had this in the tags originally and I decided, perhaps unwisely, to move it into this post because I think it's relevant, but: in case it's not apparent, I think "You! Are! Valid!" culture is fucking awful; this is what that weirdo who thinks I'm from Reddit is mad at, I think (honestly I'm not sure if they're angry, they might just be very unwell). Like, it has roots in something true and helpful; you are valid for things like your race, gender, sexuality, ability/disability, and things that have happened to you in the past. But actually no one is automatically valid for their actions. Being incurious or inconsiderate or incapable of taking constructive criticism, even if this is tied to your past? not valid. Your trauma and pain is valid; what you do in their name very much might not be. And I think a lot of people who love Bells Hells do not like this message (which, Bells Hells don't like this message, hence the repeated "whatever you do is fine" conversations) and kind of romanticize a "NO ONE IS ON OUR SIDE WE MUST DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR US THERE'S NO GOOD ANSWERS" state in which one cannot be held responsible for action nor inaction and that's a lot of why they respond so dramatically to the increasing sense within the fandom that this party lacks the juice and does judge them for inaction. Like, I've been talking about character agency and how a lot of people's enjoyment of Bells Hells hinges on how they HAD NO CHOICES and I think we're seeing the fallout, which is that a TTRPG story (ie, a medium defined more so than anything else about player choices) about characters who were stripped of choice kinda sucks ass, and anyone who doesn't look to actual play D&D to valid their personal morality (which, in this case, usually is "the world is unfair so I can do whatever I want" anyway) would rather see a story about a character who fucking had a viewpoint and did things with it, even if it were a "bad" viewpoint. I know I'm hard on villain stans because a lot of them are actually people who are like "what if the VILLAIN were the HERO...I am very intelligent," but actually, this is the crux of why Darth Vader was very popular. It's not because people thought he was a good person; it's because he drove the story more so than the heroes much of the time, and people responded to that. Purely reactive characters are boring and to get back to your original point do not challenge each other unless someone else starts the reaction chain, and there just haven't been too many opportunities of the external nor internal variety to do it. It's mostly bad luck and again, a session zero could have fixed this, but it is what it is.

[dresshistorynerd]

This is kind of random, but would it have been a struggle for a big busted women to wear fashionable silhouettes in the medieval era? I’ve heard some costume historians discuss that there were forms of bust support, but most of what I’ve seen pre-1500s seems like it would have been a nightmare for any ancestor with a similar bodytype to wear. Am I just from a line of women doomed to horrible back pain? (On the flip side of the situation, I’ve found corsets and stays to be rather comfortable, so that’s not a problem)

As a fellow big boob haver, I have good news for you! There were pretty good Medieval bust supporting garments and I have tested one of them.

With sturdy fabric, tailoring and lacing you can create pretty good bust support. Lacing was popularized first in 12th century in form of bliaut, and in 14th century tailoring became standard for everyday garments. I don't know how well bliaut supported the bust, but since it doesn't fit super snugly, I assume it doesn't distribute the weight of the boobs as well as tailored supporting garments and therefore isn't as supportive. I'm also not actually sure if there was proper bust supporting garments before that, I haven't looked into it. I know Romans bound their breasts with cloth wrapped around the chest, so maybe that technique continued (at least for those who especially needed it) till lacing and tailoring became a thing. For more about how supporting garments developed in Europe through history, I have a post about development of lacing, which coincides pretty well with that history from 12th century forward.

Personally I have experience with Medieval Bathhouse dress, which was used in the Germanic Central-European area roughly in 14th to 16th century. It's called the Bathhouse dress because most depictions of it are from bathhouse settings, but there's depiction also in bed chambers and other contexts, so I think it's pretty safe to assume it was used more generally as an undergarment. It often had separate cups for the boobs (see the only extant garment left of it, the so called "Lengberg Castle Bra"), but not always. Unlike most other undergarments at the time, it was sort of a shift (the lowest layer) and a supporting garment combined into one.

I sewed my own recreation of it (with some alterations because I made it for my everyday use, not as a historical recreation) and did a post about my results, where I go deeper into the history of the garment too. I didn't construct it very well and I did an error in the design of the back, which cause the strain of the shoulder straps to focus too much on very specific spots in the back panel, which eventually made the fabric there break too many times. (There were some other smaller design flaws too, like the waistline is lower than my natural waist so it rose and wrinkled annoyingly.) I did use it daily (except when I washed it) for a fairly long time though and it was super comfortable and helped a lot with back pain (and shoulder pain caused by use of modern bras). I hate that I've had to go back to modern bras because I haven't had the time to remake it yet. (I'll probably make a follow up post once I get around to it, where I go through the issues of the first version and how I addressed them in the next attempt.) Well fitted and shaped bodice which is then laced does surprisingly much even without any additional reinforcements.

I haven't made a Medieval kirtle (though I will some day), but it was the more widely used Medieval supporting garment, which eventually replaced Bathhouse dress in the area where that was used. Kirtle is worn over a shift, but it broadly works similarly. Kirtles could be front, side or back laced depending on the time period and how the Kirtle was constructed. Multiple layers of kirtles could be used and looser overgarments (like houppelande) were often used on top of it. Kirtle was used by everyone, including men, but for those who didn't need bust support, it's purpose was mainly to create the fashionable silhouette. Here's three depictions of kirtles from 15th century. First unlaced, but has lacing on the front, second close up of the side lacing and third shows nicely how both front and side/backlacing shaped the bust.

Morgan Donner is a costumer, who focuses a lot on Medieval costuming and has a big bust, so while I haven't personally tested the supportiveness of kirtle, she certainly has. The kirtle bodice part needs to be patterned to accommodate the breasts by giving it round shapes and the kirtle needs to be a little too small so there's room to lace it to fit well. Lining also helps to reinforce the fabric and make it more firm and supportive. Here's Morgan's pattern from the tutorial in her website and how the kirtle eventually fits for her. (Also look at the handsome boy in his handsome matching outfit.)

She also has a video relating to the same kirtle project, where she explains her method to pattern a kirtle specifically so it's supportive for big bust.

In 16th century more stiffness was added to kirtles, first with very stiff lining and then with boning, but that doesn't necessarily add to the bust support, rather it just allows the kirtle to shape the bust and the body in general more and better support a heavy skirt. Firm fabric secured snugly with lacing is already very good at distributing the weight of the boobs to the whole torso.

In conclusion, at least since 14th century people with our body type were not doomed to eternal back pain and even before that some ways to help with it were probably used.

[razzberriezz]

Fashion Dreamer Tips & Tricks

Some stuff only I found that isn't mentioned or in-game at all or is easily missed as far as I'm aware? I hope it helps some of you guys out :) It is quite image-heavy under the cut, fair warning!!

Colour Matching (Item Creator) Pressing down on the left stick changes the display from mannequin to the item itself, but pressing it again will show whatever item you're creating along with whatever your muse is currently wearing.

So if you've gotten a custom coloured item from someone else, this is great for making items and accessories to match with it! And you don't have to waste 120k points trying to match colours by guesstimation instead like me :'))) Or maybe I'm just dumb because I knew how to zoom in and out, just not the display switching OTL

2. Showroom Configuration (is stupid) This is for the Happy Home Paradise players... Make sure that any mannequins or clothing you display in your showroom is actually accessible, because you cannot walk under ceiling decorations, even if they are lighting. I have no idea why. You also can't change the camera angle, so it'd be best not to put the door/panel decorations all in a row at the front, because then players can't see what you're even displaying (unless it's just like a mannequin in the middle surrounded by lockers... Idk)

Taking the time to plug my showroom again before I swap out the outfits for the fancier stuff I have >o< Find me at a8xv4JW3Am!

3. Muse Advisors There are at least 2 or 3 advisors who are present at the Muse Mirror in each Cocoon in rotation. (e.g. Noz and Iris in HOPE) They can not only suggest colours and unique makeup that you haven't obtained yet* (I've seen a look where your character gets like a Batman/Robin mask lol), but also give you their own! If the one whose look you want isn't there, you just have to quick-travel (press down on the right stick) to another Cocoon and back. Otherwise, you can just keep talking to them and backing out until their option shows up.

Before & After (Iris ver.)!

(*Unfortunately, they won't give you unique eye shines/reflections.)

4. NPCs I've just learnt that the NPCs you start with are most likely random. I've seen others start with NPCs I haven't even seen or heard of! You need to raise their friendship level until you get a special event that says 'Friend Introduction' - and even then, I think the NPC who appears next might be random (unconfirmed). This may make it quite a pain for those who want the unnatural skin colours, since I believe they are only unlockable via NPC friendship rank... So just go into solo mode and spam some outfits :')

5. Camera Angles and Idle Poses This one is a bit useless, but I didn't know about it until now so it's going in. Most of the time, I use the drone camera to take photos, but could never really fit fullbody photos - turns out, you need to angle the camera slightly downwards (have your character looking up) to be able to zoom out enough to fit your Muse's whole body in. If the camera angle is level with your Muse, you will never be able to get a fullbody picture. Who thought this would be a good idea???

Level angle and tilted angle - the level angle is already at the lowest it could go.

Additionally, waiting for a while will let your character have the time to perform some idle animations, some of which (I think) are not present in the poses option, even via NPC friendship rank. The downside is that you'll have to crop out some parts of the UI and the quality will be a little lower - however, that can be fixed using waifu2x (which I tend to use anyways for aesthetic posts lol).

Before & After using waifu2x!

Since the game is so new I thought this might be helpful to some who are also just starting out. If anything here is wrong, please let me know and I'll fix it as soon as possible!

[thestargayzingetherian]

Angella's Not Dead! - A Ramble

Okay, so lately I've seen a weird trend of people misremembering SPOP and thinking Angella is dead. Like, on those panels Nate, Aimee, Karen and AJ did a while ago or PrincessWeekes's recent essay where she mentions Catra.

Like I'm not calling anyone out here, like I get most people don't rewatch or think about She-Ra as much as I do so they just forget but like it is something I couldn't help but notice. Because like… yeah losing Angella is played like a character death… but she's not dead! Angella is trapped between dimensions, she's still alive in some way. Heck, I remeber Nate saying at some point that if the finale was a bit longer, like three parts instead of two, they'd have probably brought Angella back there. (My theory on that one is that the release of energy from the Heart of Etheria would have caused a tear between dimensions to bring Angie back) But yeah it's just… something odd that I've noticed lately the last few months because no, Catra didn't kill Angella because Angella's not even dead. HELL, Catra doesn't actually kill anyone in the show (though it would have been hot if she did).

That all being said, it gave me this funny mental image.

Angella: "STOP TELLING EVERYONE I'M DEAD!"

Micah: "Some days I can still hear her voice."

Alternatively, it works equally well the other way around xD

[thechekhov]

Chekhov Reads Dungeon Meshi: CH50

This has huge 'rocks fall, everyone dies' from the DM energy.

Or maybe you stepped through the mushroom DNA-shuffler circle last chapter and now your stomach is trying to digest you from the inside out.

Oh gods. He's a dwarf. They got freaky Friday'd.

............I have no comments for this. I don't know what to say.

You know. I've seen this panel many times. But for some reason I thought this was like, an omake or a side chapter.

Unless this IS a side chapter? Is it all a dream??? This IS chapter 50, right?

....yeah, Chil? You don't seem thrilled.

LMAO. The cover redraw!

And apparently Izutsumi kept her long tail.

Elf!Senshi just having magical wind in his hair the whole time is high key hilarious. Where is the breeze coming from? Maybe he's born with it.

Also, are those giant spools...?

Ahhh, right, Halflings are known for being more sensitive than the other humans.

I'm just happy he finally got his, and got to pet Marcille and Laios on the head. :)

"The ground is so far away! It's scary!" LMAO. That's real.

Laios as a Kobold. Finally, he could achieve maximum fursona.

.....ah, well--..... yeah.

Hey, it's the door!

Arriving to really important places under really silly circumstances - that's two for two. (I'm specifically talking about the frog costumes but there may be others)

...isn't this door like. Super rare? Very difficult to find?

And you're telling me some other randos have already been here and didn't even clean up?

Laios, I love you, but Chillchuck JUST told you there was no remedy that he was aware of aside from just like, forms of torture.

You're not thinking this one through, buddy.

He was hibernating.....

But actually - they DID call for the winged lion's aid, right?

GASP

What if.... Kensuke.... IS the lion!

AH SHIT. If she's a halfling, then that means she's bad with magic, right? They have low tolerance to the feedback magic gives or something? I don't remember the details now but...

Wuh-oh. (I don't think that's how agitation works in any species, but sure. For the drama.)

Why is he the only one who suffered a severe personality change...?

Apex predators need their naps.......

Sacrifices have to be made, Toshiro.

Izutsumi Got. That. Ball. Bell.

......Mechanus?

Where DID you get that from? You had one food poisoning scare, that doesn't mean it's not real!

I wish I could feel this level of peace while cooking.

Ah so.... this is not a place of honor?

It sounds like there's two cultures that got REALLY into the space race, turned a cold war into a hot one, and are now going "well, we can't have nice things because of.... us. because of us. but you all still can't have nice things!"

That might be.... a terrible idea.

[sapphoswh0re]

A Kuroshitsuji theory about the emerald witch arc

I've never posted something like this and English isn't my main language but I just wanted to share some thoughts with other fans, so please let me know what you think about this :)

We are in the dream in chapters 93-95, and could these scenes hide clues about the future/role of certain characters???

Who are the pieces on the chessboard?

(Maybe a big foreshadowing about the most recent chapters????)

What pieces are present for each group?

Black: 1 king, 1 horse/knight, 1 rook*, 3 pawns

White: 1 queen, 1 horse/knight, 1 bishop, 1 rook*, 2 pawns

*I'm almost sure it's a rook because it's the only piece left and the other shapes wouldn't really fit.

First, let's include a bit of symbolism for each piece. (Full article: https://chessquestions.com/chess-pieces-symbolism-shape/)

After looking at the various characters that Yana linked to the pieces it was super interesting to re-read their role/symbolism and try to understand the reasons behind those placements.

Later two mirrored panels appear and they indicate that certain pieces represent certain characters.

Ok that was easy.

But what about the others?

And we know that Yana doesn't do things randomly, so what could be the reason for certain choices?

Let's see the theory little by little…

White:

▪︎ BISHOP -> Joker

▪︎ PAWN 1 -> Doll

▪︎ PAWN 2 -> ?

▪︎ ROOK -> ?

▪︎ HORSE -> ?

▪︎ QUEEN -> ?

▪︎ ?

Black:

▪︎ ROOK -> Vincent

▪︎ PAWN 1 -> Madame red

▪︎ KING -> ?

▪︎ HORSE -> ?

▪︎ PAWN 2 -> ?

▪︎ PAWN 3 -> ?

4 of them are revealed by Yana herself and two more are quite obvious: O!Ciel is the black king and Sebastian the black knight.

These two symbolisms are often used both in the first chapters and in the anime.

Furthermore, it is mentioned in the same chapter:

O!Ciel is frequently shown as the "black king" but in the chapter we can see him standing in front of the king, he covers part of it and it's as if he is the one wearing the crown.

R!Ciel is leaning on the horse when he says that Ciel is scared to look at the "proof of sin" which is a clear reference to Sebastian. Also, on the chessboard in the first picture, we find the horse close to O!Ciel.

Ok, perfect, now the hypotheses and spoilers for the latest released chapters begin.

I start with two characters who are shown in the chapter but not as chess pieces: Rachel and R!Ciel.

Rachel is not present in the second picture but is always shown next to Vincent (in this chapter too) so I think she could be the pawn seen in the first photo in the box G8.

For R!Ciel, however, the question is a little different because we actually know which piece he represents even if that piece is not shown on the board.

R!Ciel is the white king, this not only because he's O!Ciel's twin but because it's shown to us by Yana through the way he moves.

This picture is super helpful to understand where the characters are positioned and how they move.

We can see him (blue dot) standing on C3 in a scene, then he moves until he's on F2 (the X), standing in front of the black horse (G2, red dot).

I found it interesting how the way he moves is almost underlined with zooms and sparkles: first, a single step obliquely (in D2) and then another single step.

We don't actually know if the move was C3->D2->E2->F2 or C3->D2->E3->F2 but the important thing is that he moves in multiple directions but only one step at a time, and this is a main feature of the king in chess.

So what is the situation now?

White:

▪︎ BISHOP -> Joker

▪︎ PAWN 1 -> Doll

▪︎ PAWN 2 -> ?

▪︎ ROOK -> ?

▪︎ HORSE -> ?

▪︎ QUEEN -> ?

▪︎ (KING -> R!Ciel)

Black:

▪︎ ROOK -> Vincent

▪︎ PAWN 1 -> Madame red

▪︎ KING -> ? (O!Ciel)

▪︎ HORSE -> ? (Sebastian)

▪︎ PAWN 2 -> ? (Rachel?)

▪︎ PAWN 3 -> ?

I'm not actually interested in the black pieces at the moment so let's focus on the rest.

Looking at the situation that has been created with the return of the real Ciel and other characters recently, do we perhaps have some clues about the current factions???

Both R!Ciel and Doll returned as bizarre dolls, so could we consider the whites their side or at least a side that is O!Ciel's enemy?

Then we can now guess who the white horse is in my mind.

Why do I think that Undertaker is the white horse?

He has a somewhat similar role to that of Sebastian for O!Ciel, albeit distorted.

They're both the "knight" to their "kings", someone who stays by their side (white horse in B4, really close to the white king in C3) and provides support and strategy, I don't know but it just made sense to me.

What about the white queen?

OK, now it's going to get a bit crazy.

Let's look down again where the white queen and black knight are shown, and let's see what is said.

“Nothing will hurt you here” is referred to O!Ciel, so who could be a threat to him?

Sebastian, of course (in that same moment in the manga he was trying/considering eating him, his goal is to devour Ciel's soul at the end) but is also shown the white queen???

A queen who could hurt him?

Yeah so I think it represents Queen Victoria. Why?

My theory is that on the chessboard she is part of O!Ciel's enemy faction (she is not R!Ciel's ally at the moment and she wasn't involved with the blue cult arc since Undertaker despises her lol) because she could be connected with the events of the twins’ tenth birthday.

There are too many coincidences about 14 of December: Prince Albert's death, the twins’ birth, the attack. A lot of theories here on tumblr explain it really well.

And the other pieces? I don't think it's too crazy to assume that all 4 stars may be present on the board: Sirius, Vega, Canopus and Polaris.

2 of them are already there-> Sirius (both Ciel) and Canopus (Doll).

We now know that Vega is Layla, so she could be PAWN 2 or the ROOK based on her future role/importance(??)

Polaris has yet to be revealed but I believe it could be Joker who is already the white BISHOP, an important piece who is however not linked to the royal court but to a different master, who in his case is Baron Kelvin.

For my first post, it got waaay too long, so maybe I should explain in different posts all my theories on the queen's role, Polaris' identity, etc.

I hope it wasn't too chaotic 😅

[royboyfanpage]

Can I ask your thoughts and opinions on Mia?

Thank You 🙂

Oh I have SO many thoughts and opinions on Mia Dearden.

I feel like a big issue I've seen with how people try and fit the Arrowfam family dynamic is that they end up erasing a lot of aspects of Mia while doing it. Don't get me wrong, I have seen some brilliant analysis of Mia in fandom, but things such as Mia's early supposed crush on Ollie and her kiss with Connor tend to get ignored in the fandom, or in some cases I've seen people try and use the "DC stands for disregard canon" mentality against these events, which I think are just counterproductive.

In the case of Ollie, Mia having a "crush" on him at the beginning of their relationship IS very important to their father/daughter relationship, both in how Mia views herself and what she believes she deserves and how Ollie is able to disprove her preconceived notions of what a caregiver is supposed to do. It's important to note this panel in particular-

Because this mindset that Richard taught her is very influential for how Mia assumes Ollie will be and what Ollie will want. Because obviously Richard is manipulating and grooming Mia when he says this, but those things Richard claims to be doing- loving and caring for her- are what Ollie actually does do when he takes her in.

The biggest examples of Mia's "crush" on Ollie both take place in #11- her dream where she kisses Ollie, and her outright saying she has a crush on him. In terms of the dream, it's important to take into account that this was the same dream wherein she became Speedy. Mia's lived a significant part of her life at this point where everything has a price- the supposed protection Richard gave her came at the price of sex. Since Mia's dream at that point was becoming Speedy, she automatically assumed that becoming Speedy would come at the price of having to have a sexual relationship with Ollie when we know this isn't what she wants- like she told Richard, all she really wants is to be a kid and be treated like a kid, but she's not used to the idea that that could be a possibility. As for her saying she has a crush on Ollie, that was directly following Ollie expressing genuine paternal affection towards her, something she doesn't have experience with. She doesn't know how to respond to that, so her response is a mix between trying to downplay the genuine moment and saying what she still somewhat believes Ollie wants to hear.

In addition, I was talking to @lesbian-cowpoke recently about this actually, and in their words, "Mia views him as a father and that's WHY she had the "crush" on Ollie. Oftentimes, victims of CSA (especially incestuous ones like mia) will engage in inappropriate behavior and thoughts because of the severe damage sustained to their psyche. There are studies upon studies on how CSA survivors externalize their behaviors and have issues with interpersonal relationships, and sometimes (like in mia's case) go sorta in search if relationships that replicate that behavior" which is really the perfect explanation.

As for Connor, I don't think it takes much reading comprehension to understand that scene. It explicitly says in the scene that the kiss was a gesture and not one of sexual or romantic intent. In that scene, Mia was telling Connor she’s worried she’s dirty and nobody would want to love her because of her HIV, and Connor kissing her was proving to her that there will still be people out there who want to kiss her and give her physical affection in a romantic sense, and to prove that he isn't afraid of her diagnosis. He was co-opting a typically romantic gesture to use in a non romantic way to prove that she is capable of being loved, which is Such an important aspect of her HIV storyline.

I think Mia's story is genuinely one of the most well written stories in DC history. The development of her relationship with the rest of the Arrowfam- particularly with Ollie- is so compelling to read. I love the way their relationship is built because there are so many scenes that just feel so real. Ollie and Mia don't have the perfect father/daughter relationship. They have their ups and downs. But the important thing is they're able to resolve these issues with communication.

I'm also a really big fan of the way Mia inherited the name Speedy, and the parallels between her and Roy are so poignant. Speedy as a name repeatedly humanising stigmatised groups in society- addicts, sex workers, and people with STIs specifically. I also love the fact that to Mia, Roy's one of her biggest heroes not in spite of his addiction but because of it- because he managed to overcome his addiction and survive. Speedy means survival and perseverance and it's the perfect mantle for Mia to take up.

So yeah, those are some of my thoughts and opinions on Mia Dearden :) hope this is okay!

[abstractfrog]

HI I JUST SAW YOUR INCREDIBLE SHERLOCK AND CO COMIC YOU MADE AND I WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO TALK ABOUT THE PROCESS AND THE SYMBOLISM AND INTRICACIES AND EVERYTHING PLEASE ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

GOD THANK U ok if i actually talked about EVERYTHING i would be here forever and ever, there were things about the process where it kept surprising me and i kept adding stuff.

I talk about my general comic process here , it started out mostly the same for this one. Analysis of the script, sketches, panel and colour blocking

The scene from Mr Sherlock Holmes presented me with a unique challenge (for me) because...usually I pick scenes from the podcast that are instantly visually stimulating. This scene is NOT that. It's sort of unclear and confusing and even the emotive narrative is sort of hard to pick out. Those things I had to sort of decide for myself. It's hard to draw a whole scene like this without first deciding what the scene is about, what its purpose is. If you go back and listen to the episode along with the comic you'll notice all sorts of changes and tonal shifts - that's because of me and my decision making.

I decided that the direction I wanted to go in was to show John having his realization about himself, his podcast, and Sherlock, showing him getting pulled into, yes, Sherlock's world, but also the world of the podcast as an adaptation. I knew i could do this just with colour, but if you've seen my other comics, you know i almost always use colour to show shifts. I guess I had some insecurity about doing the same thing over and over again so I pushed myself to think of other ways I could accomplish it visual. Enter: rendering technique

I will say I didn't expect this effect to make John seem so SAD and MISERABLE, i only wanted to show him getting pulled in, but its effective for his emotions in this scene as well. Scanning drawings into the computer sort of flattens the paper texture, so I started adding photos of the pages of A Study in Scarlet to make him feel more paper-y. And then, of course, realised i could use that to further elaborate on John's inner thoughts, backgrounds, and motivations. People are welcome to interpreted that how they like and i've seen a number of variations, but to me it operates on sort of a meta level, showing the inevitability of what John is going through. He's a Watson, he's always going to follow Holmes, he's going to try and figure him out, and that's why you sort of see a back and forth between acd and pod Watson, highlighting the ways in which they are similar, and then, John breaks off and becomes his own character, still with those foundations but also entirely different.

there's one piece of text that i haven't seen anyone pick up on or mention and I'm starting to think it's gone unnoticed because it's in an unexpected spot. I won't mention what or where because it is, for now, a very indulgent little secret.

I notice a lot of people are getting a kick out of Sherlock playing with the speech bubbles, which I am so pleased by because I almost didn't do it! I thought i was maybe breaking something in the comic but it was so fun that i didn't care and I'm so glad it came across well. It operates on a lot of levels, it shows his thought process, it plays into that fourth-wall medium play i've got going on, and it feeds into the web metaphor as well as visually showing him roping John in.

on the topic of Sherlock, I feel a lot of people are rather focused on John, which is understandable (he's the main event) but Sherlock has a lot of details I love too.

For instance, him pushing his hair back and putting on a coat when the officer arrives, almost like he's shifted modes, and then his hair falling back down when he gets excited and John starts to understand.

I really love this moment of Sherlock seeing John's potential for interest in mysteries when he's trying to solve the matter of what Sherlock Does, and being surprised and flattered for a moment (until John messes it up again)

John copying Sherlock's pose <3

There's deliberate things in the character design as well, things like the fact that once John comes into colour, it reveals that he's actually wearing more colour than anyone else in the scene, and the fact that the grey in John's hair only appears post-greyscale. Things you are welcome to read into. And there are, of course, the socks, which I've seen people pick up on.

Those are the main things for now so i might leave it there, but thank you so much for your ask and i'd be pleased to elaborate further on absolutely anything!