#SUPER SECRET MODE THIS YEAR for no real reason

[littleladymab]

caught between the urge to power through my swbb because i'm super inspired to work on it but no one can read it until like june or working on literally anything else that i can actually share and get that validation serotonin

[nice-profession-mechanic]

In universe reason for the several year delay for more SAB:

Moto keeps trying to refactor their code for the box to squash those glitches

Moto is trying to finish tribulation mode to proove it can be done RTA

Busy building a Scrooge McDuck style money pit for all those continue coins we keep giving him

The progeny the box was made for keep sending him fanfiction about Princess Miya and Lord Vanquish and he got too absorbed in their 23,870 chapter collaborative epic

Moto forgot the password for his administrator access to the box and is spending the rest of the year looking for his super-secret-do-not-read password book he's not supposed to have.

He caught covid and has some real bad long covid symptoms

Is earning way more money as a full time cosplayer for Princess Miya who makes appearances at progeny birthdays and gatherings

[remy2fang]

BIG Thought Dump on SF6 BISON, Shadaloo, and Gratuitous Amount of F.A.N.G

I actually plowed through the Bison stuff when he dropped. I wrote a few of my thoughts on Twitter X, but I’ll dump everything here on this post. Warning, it’s really really big and the end may have some speculative spoilers (font will be red as a warning). Here it goes.

Playing Bison

I’m no pro player, in fact I’m super casual, but Bison is hella strong! I didn’t look through all his command list because I just want to plow through arcade and World tour for the story. All I know is Psycho Crusher, Scissor Kick (turned motion instead of charge), and Head Stomp from previous games, so I just stuck to those lol.

Arcade Mode and Fighting Ground

Ok now for the story. The first thing I did when Bison dropped was Arcade mode and was automatically hit with some fan service in the beginning. Naked Bison. Capcom knew what they’re doing here lol. There were some guys making jibes at him and then he beat the crap out of them and stole their clothes for himself. And then he went on fighting other people he don’t remember through arcade mode. And then his boss rival is Juri. Ngl, I was super excited when I saw that. I was actually hoping to see this for a long time. In Juri’s SF6 arcade, the thought of her not having her revenge against Bison had been eating her up for years. She never moved on from that since SFV, so “probably” almost a decade had passed since then. Her seeing Bison again is her moment to have what she wanted. But it didn’t go her way. I can see why Juri fans didn’t like the outcome. For me it’s different. Yes, it would be nice if she got her revenge right there and then (as indicated with her win quote against Bison), or if she moved on from Bison after her fight with Chun-Li in her own arcade mode. But I have the feeling deep down she really wanted that revenge. Plus, she helped Neo Shadaloo’s efforts too, albeit for money reasons, and even said that she’ll take them down if they ever rise again. Now that Bison’s back, she’s no longer in the state of regret and now has all the chances to go against him and get what she truly wanted. She’s not aimless anymore. She has a real reason to fight now.

As for win quotes, some were fun and some were boring. Of course I was most interested in A.K.I.’s. For sometime before Bison’s release, I was curious on how A.K.I. feels about him. Would she have a favorable view of Bison because F.A.N.G admires him greatly? Or would she be jealous of him because all of F.A.N.G’s attention will go to him instead of her? Lots of people and I have been wondering about this. Now the cat’s out of the bag, this is A.K.I.’s win quote against Bison:

“You must be the one the master’s talked so much about. I must send word to him immediately.”

This suggests that A.K.I.’s sentiments toward Bison is neutral, but she wants to report to FANG about it because she knows that Bison is important to him. I can’t help but compare this quote to her Rashid one:

“You… You’re the one the master spoke of.”

F.A.N.G talked a great deal to A.K.I. about these two, but of course his attitude for the both of them are different from one and the other. F.A.N.G admires Bison and hates Rashid.

World Tour Mode

For World Tour, we see that it takes place after Bison’s arcade mode because he took over the secret ruined Shadaloo lab after fighting Juri. I was already at Nayshall when I started World Tour and I automatically got a message from Foo aka F.A.N.G. Ahh yes, I knew I’d see F.A.N.G again for the Bison update 💜💜. He has to take part in it because this the man he wants to work for.

This time we work with F.A.N.G much more extensively than before. Yes, we see more of F.A.N.G in the Bison update than in the A.K.I. one (but there’s no FANG illustrations except for one in the Bison quests). He’s a lot more active and involved this time. And we get to see his soft side too. F.A.N.G actually likes seeing cute animal photos, especially with the cat and the baby hippo 💜💜. This reminds me of how A.K.I. reacted with the pufferfish and snake. Hmm, I wonder if that’s the reason why F.A.N.G didn’t mind A.K.I.’s super cute messages with the Lolita bunnies and kittens? Deep down, does he enjoy AKI’s letters because of those cute Sanrio-esque characters?? Idk, but I think it’s super cute. Ahhh 💜💜

We also get to see the scope of F.A.N.G’s influence and reach, especially as his persona as Foo. At first it seemed that he only has A.K.I. as his assistant, but later on in the Akuma and Bison update, we see that FANG has Experimental Subject Lee, Neo Shadaloo mole Hahn, Minox from the Colosseo, and former Doll Changpa. Out of these aside from A.K.I., Hahn and Doll Changpa seem to work the most extensively with F.A.N.G. Hahn knows F.A.N.G’s deal. 2 salutes. Answer messages within 2 minutes. 2 sugars in his coffee hehe. Doll Changpa elaborates further on how she ended up working with Foo aka F.A.N.G in this update than in the Akuma one. Basically, she had nowhere else to go. FANG needed intel on Shadaloo remnants. Doll Changpa needed a place to stay. So they work together because of that. To her, it’s purely transactional. She insists that it was her choice to work under FANG, but she did hesitated on the thought that she may have went back to her Shadaloo life, even by choice. It seems she had mixed feelings. Nevertheless, a job is a job.

Back to Bison. He went face to face with his own phantom Bison and absorbed it. He regained some memories from it, but not fully. It’s said that if Bison absorbs more psycho power, he would regain more of his memories. But even with 100 bond points and max mastery at level 20, Bison still doesn’t remember everything. As I suspected, Bison still has a way to go before he reaches his peak. But it’s not like he cares anyway lol. He’ll just continue on quenching on power.

We don’t really get a clear answer on how Bison came back, but Bison heard from others that he’d often die and come back to life via spare bodies. He thought that’s how he managed to be alive in his current form, but that’s just his conjecture based on what others said about his past lives. F.A.N.G also had no clue on how Bison came back either, despite being the last person to have seen his “”demise,”” but he also questioned if this is in fact the “real” Bison (he is). According to the devs, Bison’s current body is actually the same one from SFV. The cracks and scars on his right side of his body came from Ryu’s final blow. So instead of disintegrating (his death was obscured by F.A.N.G and smoke in SFV), he lost his memories. Not sure if the game will reveal the truth of Bison’s “resurrection” in a later update tho.

Although his memories are still fuzzy, Bison has a major hatred towards Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Cammy, and Guile lol. He doesn’t know them by name nor does he understand where the hatred comes from. He sent the avatar to talk to these fighters and they all remembered him with disdain. They all may have an idea where the avatar learned such fighting techniques, but it seems they didn’t want to press on. When the avatar reports back to Bison, Bison basically said he doesn’t care about them because he doesn’t truly remember them…but he’ll gladly fight and dominate them lol

Other people that Bison hate are obviously Ed, Falke, and Juri. They all undermine him. Bison also hates JP. Hmm, I wonder why? For the past couple of months, people were mulling over whether JP is for or against Bison. For me, it’s really hard to read JP’s intentions and plans because he tends to lie a lot, but I also think JP is not trying to win Bison’s approval. JP is not a Bison fanboy lol. Even his quote against Bison said that he is incomplete: “Hm. Peculiar. Perhaps you are not your whole self just yet.” What is JP’s plan then? JP is not actively involved in the Bison update for World Tour. But if you talk to Doll Changpa at the Suval'hal Arena in Nayshall at night, she found out that JP is still plotting to do something with Ed and the “imperfect” Bison. From the sounds of it, JP is still the main antagonist for SF6 as he seems to have a grandiose plan for the both of these characters. We’ll probably see it unfold in the next couple of patches.

Bison eventually remembers Vega and Balrog and sends the avatar to find them. F.A.N.G, as Foo the messenger, offers to help the avatar in finding them. Hmmm I wonder if F.A.N.G ever contacted them after the fall of Shadaloo since he knows their whereabouts and how to get their attention?

To get to Vega, the avatar has to fight Ignacio in the most “beautiful” way. In-game, basically win with a perfect KO.

Seeing Ignacio, I was already curious about him. At first I thought he was Vega's son, but then the illustration scenes have him next to a very handsome butler with similar features, so I then thought that Ignacio might be a servant boy for Vega. I'd like to know how Vega gets to know these characters, and I'm wondering what their back stories are because they both have dark complexions and yellow cat eyes. I don’t know the butler’s gender, but I’m assuming male (looks very much like Sebastian from Black Butler). If it’s female, she would have worn a maid’s outfit instead. I know I shouldn’t assume and that characters can also present as gender-nonconforming, but most often times devs from Japan/Asia usually make their female characters “cute” or showing something that emphasizes their “femininity.” Very seldom do they actively make a female character have more “masculine” traits with their appearances. But then again, SF6 has been pushing the gender boundaries outside of the norm, especially with the avatar gear, the NPCs, and a few of their roster characters. That would be cool and it would be interesting if the butler is a woman.

Anyway, Kizer brought up something interesting and it led to some speculative conversations. On Ignacio’s brooch, there’s a Ken Masters Foundation.

But when I looked at the avatar gear that can be purchased in the Battle Hub, the same tie brooch with the Masters’ logo can be found there. It could just be assorted avatar gear just to create these interesting NPCs. But at the same time, I’m still wondering if Ignacio and the butler were affiliated with Masters Foundation. That’s something to find out in a later DLC. And I hope the relationship between Vega, Ignacio, and the butler is a lot more kinder in-game than what’s been speculated in the conversation. Even I’m concerned lol.

We also get to see an illustrated cutscene with Balrog in it. He still keeps in touch with Ed and thought about joining his group. But, which ever organization has more money, he’ll go to it. Good ol’ Balrog 😂😂. I’m sure he’ll share the wealth with Ed tho!

The only names Bison remembers are Balrog, Vega, and Sagat. But even then, he doesn’t really have the clearest memories of them either. In this illustration, all the Shadaloo officers were all wearing these curious uniforms. Bison mentioned about “brainwashing” them and they all worked for him. I didn’t think much of this scene at first except I got to see F.A.N.G on there. But a friend of mine said an interesting comment and I liked her interpretation more than anyone else’s. What the illustration depicted wasn’t an accurate memory. Because Bison’s memory is “foggy,” he actually meld the Kings, Officers, Dolls, and Soldiers into one conglomerate thing. I still believe the Kings and JP acted on their own accord. The only people that got brainwashed in the organization were the Dolls. As for the soldiers, I don’t know lol.

Bison really likes his horse, whose name is Rocinante, like the Don Quixote’s horse. Bison said the reason why he didn’t kill the avatar was because Rocinante took a liking to them. Bison came upon the horse in Mexico. He was on the brink of death and yet he hung on to life. Bison infused the horse with psycho power to give it strength to carry him. The scientist in the Ruined Lab said that most regular animals would run wild with psycho power and die. Rocinante lives and it has the strength to withstand it. Bison loves power, but he also respects any living thing with strength (and even better when they serve him). Learning about Rocinante’s story reminded of F.A.N.G’s first encounter with Bison in SFV. F.A.N.G and his former organization, the Nguuhao, were about to assassinate Bison, but Bison overpowered and killed nearly all of them except for one. Although losing, F.A.N.G stood his ground against Bison. Bison was impressed by F.A.N.G’s strength and will to live and offered him to join Shadaloo. After that, F.A.N.G worked his way up and became a Shadaloo King.

Unfortunately for F.A.N.G, Bison doesn’t remember him. At first it started off funny when he got flustered, but then I can feel the sincere heartbreak from his text. F.A.N.G became quiet and his tone turned solemn. Even though Bison’s return didn’t turn out the way he wanted, he still complimented the Avatar on a work well done, albeit in a bittersweet way. As subtle as it is, I don’t think I’ve seen this side of F.A.N.G before, not even from Toxicity. If anything, there’s many sides of FANG I never got to see before SF6. Yes, we saw him visibly upset when Bison “”died””in SFV, but it didn’t have the same poignancy that his message had.

If Bison were to encounter A.K.I. (and win), the story outcome would probably go into a different direction. This is Bison’s win quote:

“You shall tell me who your master is. If they have value, I will gladly use them.”

This sounds like it would go into F.A.N.G’s favor as he would gladly serve his Lord Bison…except Bison does not remember him. Would F.A.N.G be happy to serve someone who may be considered as a “fake” or an “imperfect” Bison? Perhaps not, even though it is the real Bison with his marred SFV body. Throughout the Bison missions, F.A.N.G questioned his authenticity. He also mentioned that it was “too soon” for Bison to come back. Hmm, how does he know the duration of a “perfect” rebirth then? This makes me wonder if F.A.N.G had anything to do with the revival of Bison himself and left him until he’s ripe enough for the “rebirth,” and then Bison ended up “waking up” earlier than expected? I dunno, I’m just speculating on this and maybe more info would come out later lol. Also, maybe the devs knew ahead of time that some Street Fighter fans would groan at Bison coming into SF6 too early lol. I still see complaints about it lol.

About Bison’s win quote against A.K.I., he refers her Master as “They,” because he doesn’t know the gender. I like that little detail. Also in the Japanese dialogue, Bison referred A.K.I.’s master as 先生, which is “sensei”and can be used for both men and women. But knowing A.K.I., she uses the word “xiansheng” (also spelled 先生 in Chinese), and that’s usually used for men. Basically, Bison said this to AKI:

"先生とは誰だ。

使え��人間なら、使ってやろう。"

"Who is your xiansheng (teacher)?

If he is someone who can be used, I’ll use him."

As sad as it is that Bison doesn’t remember F.A.N.G, I think this is a good thing. If the Bison mission ended with him remembering F.A.N.G, then that could possibly be FANG’s happy ending and his story might’ve stopped there. But because that didn’t happen, it gives more reason for F.A.N.G’s story to continue in SF6. He can actually continue on fighting for what he strives for. F.A.N.G hasn’t given up yet and he said he would contact the avatar if he needs them.

Also, Only 1 unused FANG voice line was released for the Bison dlc. He said, “Oh my days!” in this one. There’s more voice clips that haven’t been used yet. If they haven’t dumped the rest of his audio in this update yet, I’d think more will drop in later DLC. Who knows how long F.A.N.G’s story will last in SF6 if they’re going to release one unused voice clip per update. If that’s the case, I hope they stretch F.A.N.G’s story for a looong time haha!

https://twitter.com/remy2fang/status/1806508555153146085?s=46&t=iEGeYIIN_aP028wRnoVcUQ

Even though F.A.N.G didn’t get what he wanted after the Bison mission, he at least accomplished what he wanted to do since the Toxicity story: Reviving Shadaloo. He took part in it by having the avatar track down Bison. He then sent the avatar to the Ruined Shadaloo Lab with the assistance of Doll Changpa. The avatar had to fight using psycho power in order to power up the residual memory machine, which caught Bison’s attention and he absorbed it. When Bison gained some memories back, he told the avatar to find Vega and Balrog. F.A.N.G helped the avatar in this regard as he knew the former Shadaloo Kings’ locations and how to get in contact with them. That in turn had Vega and Balrog interested in working with Shadaloo again. So yes, it was F.A.N.G that drove the revival of Shadaloo.

This is something I mentioned a long time ago on another post, but just because FANG has an NPC model, that doesn’t mean he’s deconfirmed to come back playable. Throughout the entirety of World Tour, not a single character mentioned the name F.A.N.G at any point. A.K.I. never said it and neither did F.A.N.G himself. Even as his personas Foo and Fang Fei, he never said his actual (code) name. He’ll hint at it and skirt around it, but never outright saying nor spelling it. The avatar hasn’t even heard of the name F.A.N.G yet. Foo pretends he’s not a former Shadaloo King and Fang Fei feigns that he’s only a humble medicine man. His personas Foo and Fang Fei aren’t fighters. That means Fang Fei won’t be fightable. If that’s the case, that means there’s a chance that F.A.N.G can be playable at a much later point in SF6. It’s funny how it works. Other characters who have yet to make it to SF6 have their names mentioned but do not have 3D models. F.A.N.G is the opposite in which he has an in-game model, but his actual name was never revealed except in the official website, in-game credits, and JP mentioning it in A.K.I.’s arcade mode. But for now, it seems that NPC Foo/Fang Fei will remain as it’s hinted that he’ll be contacting the avatar again in a later update.

I just want to say I really love F.A.N.G’s portrayal in SF6 💜💜. Not only does he have a cool new look, but his personality is made to be more endearing, especially with the Bison update for World Tour.

I know FANG is still very evil, but I can tell the devs tried to make him more likable. They wrote TOXICITY that delve into his backstory, made the amazing AKI be his biggest fan, have him working with the avatar, and showed many sides of him that’s not often portrayed in SFV.

Also it’s good to know that my dream from nearly a year ago got one thing right: F.A.N.G being an important NPC and we see (and talk to) him a lot as shown in the Bison update. 💜🥹💜🥹

Also, good on Capcom to release the Return of Shadaloo Battle Pass. If I see official F.A.N.G content, I’ll eat it up 💜😋💜😋.

FUTURE CHARACTER SPECULATIONS AND LEAKS. DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T WANT POTENTIAL SPOILERS.

From what has happened in Bison’s World Tour Story, it’s hinted that Vega and Balrog would be DLC. I’ll tell you this. According to this leak here, Vega would surely come back. Yes, I remember people said it was fake…and then a few months later Bison and Elena became official DLC, and the leak’s description of them were accurate.

As for Balrog, it’s up in the air. I’m not saying he’s not gonna be playable in SF6, but i didn’t see his name from the above leak nor from this one (this actually mentioned Bison, Terry, Mai, and Elena as far back as April 26, 2024). But just because a character’s name is not on those lists, that doesn’t mean they’ll never be DLC. From what a Japanese fan told me, the devs want this game to have a long lifespan. Hopefully it would be longer than SFV’s so more characters would come in the future.

END OF SPOILER

[egg-emperor]

Haven't been as active because I've been replaying a ton of Sonic games now the Xbox 360 has finally been replaced after breaking last year

Especially a lot of Sega Superstars Tennis because I missed it, I'm obsessed with it. It's a super fun game with so much stuff to do with all the modes and missions, I wish more people knew about it and played it so I could play online with people too

Tournament mode has a special match secret stage against Eggman at the end if you play the rest of it well enough. I could never beat him as a kid but I've become the master so I managed and got the achievement looking nice on my new Xbox live acc

it's so challenging because the Eggman COM plays LIGHTNING fast. Idk how he runs and hits it so hard and fast that even playing as Sonic against him is brutal

Eggman is REALLY fucking good at tennis officially, not a surprise with his height + the length of his arms and strength lol. He's even power class in this game too after all 💜

And that's without this awesome multi racket device even coming into play because sadly it's not actually in the game for some reason

So he could cheat with that if he wanted to but he specifically shows off how well he can play without it and man is he a real tough challenger hehe

[dc-sideblog]

Okay fine LGBTQ+ batfam headcanon dump:

Dick is pan. He came out very publicly to the media in the 00’s and it was super important to him and to a whole generation of pan kids

Nonbinary transfem Damian Wayne… only valued to the League as a prince and the male heir to the Demon’s Head and then rejecting all that and becoming reallly and truly their own person, with no destiny but what they choose, and no one at all telling them who they are or who to be anymore. Just Damian. Themself.

Tim didn’t come out. Not to his family. They’re all detectives, if they can’t figure it out on their own, then that’s on them

Jason also did not come out but that was because of deep seated interpersonal issues. Also took him a long time to figure out that he was aroace. He had figured he just had more important things on his mind both before and after his death. It was years into his twenties before he even started questioning, and involved a lot of doubting himself

Dick is obnoxiously supportive. His younger siblings wish he was less supportive

Lesbian Cass. Doesn’t really need to be said.

Added bonus though: Cass didn’t know that coming out was a significant thing she needed to do. She learned this in real time while dating Conner and seeing people react to him being openly bi

Steph knew she was bi before dating Tim. She’s been out since middle school. Dick was her hero in a lot of ways when she first started going out as Spoiler

Batman is bi. Bruce Wayne is straight. The Justice League has issued a $10,000 reward for anyone who get him to admit to himself that that is just the closet and not “a valid differentiation between personas”

Dick managed to get the entire family to show up in costume to a pride parade after Tim “came out”/started dating Bernard. Rainbow capes were made. More specific flag decorations were forbidden due to being bad infosec . Jason appointed himself as unofficial security for the event

Babs is bi and also didn’t explicitly come out, figuring she was obvious enough about it to this group of detectives. She was not

Alfred was in a polyam relationship with Thomas and Martha Wayne and this is a better kept secret than Batman’s identity

Jarro is canonically genderless apparently, just putting that out there

A number of Rogues have contributed to the pool of reward money up for anyone who can get Bruce Wayne to self-realization, including Selina

Duke is still questioning. He’s like sixteen and he’s had a very chaotic past few years, that stuff was taking a backseat for a while like it did with Jason

Jason snapped into Extreme Overprotection mode when he heard that comparison. Duke is not allowed to die as a teenager

There was a Queer Robins Club until they realized that was just all the Robins

Duke is questioning his gender in addition to his sexuality

Pride batarangs exist and all bats use all flags interchangeably. For security reasons

Ivy has many complaints about being injured with a lesbian pride flag batarang. She has taken these to the commissioner

Lance Bruner token cishet. Brad Wayne oc post type vibes

[arcplaysgames]

Seen here: Me IRL jumping because I was so concerned about Morgana that I fucking didn't notice Akechi was here until the little card icon appeared. BEIGE ALERT.

Akechi bro this is like not a good time but also i'm worried about missing flags for the extra content so I guess we can hang. (Morgana, I know you are going through a crisis rn but pls forgive me okay.)

man i haven't taken a bath in probably about 15 years, are they that good? my friend sent bath salts from japan, i should just try them. people are super into baths in this game.

oh because apparently they are some key to heart-to-hearts I guess???

wow that is a Lot

I was joking to cardiganism that something about Akechi makes me want to study him under a microscope. They said probably because out of the whole cast, he's the most opaque. Which, yep, honestly.

If the seed of Akechi's justice is wanting revenge for the mistreatment of his mother by his absentee father, that's... potentially high-minded?

Honestly a later moment from Akechi is way more interesting so I'll hold until then.

jfc are you my Vriska, what is this? what's the term? The pathologically competitive?

Is that true?

You know what's weirdly rare in video games? Liars. I feel like when it comes to quests for truth and understanding in games, the usual force pushing back is unrevealed information, not someone giving you false information. And in the games where outright lies are used, they tend to be used sparingly, as a second act twist that sets up the rest of the plot.

I think it's less common to have to deal with a character that just lies to you continuously without any real indication that you are being told a lie. Akechi itches at me because he's not, like, the Citadel Council keeping big secrets from the galactic community. He's a guy who is lying and I don't have any context for what the truth is.

Anyway, I guess it's time for the class trip.

... Mishima, I'm not going to nonconsensually change the heart of someone who cheats at video games.

WHY DOES NO ONE IN THIS GAME TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF BEING A PHANTOM THIEF SERIOUSLY? This is why I have always hated the Phansite and I especially hate the "rankings."

Also, I know this is shocking news, but I love Futaba. The realism of this is great.

Also hey I'm up to 9 for Yoshida, and is that the big reveal for every Confidant? That they totally knew you were a Thief the whole time? That'd be super funny. Bc I think Yoshida knows too.

DO NOT PULL A FUCKING NAOTO SHIROGANE, AKECHI, I SWEAR TO GOD. I WILL LEAVE YOUR ASS TO GET EATEN BY FOG.

I wanna reach through the screen and shake Reverie. Morgana is seriously on the verge of a breakdown, isn't comfortable reaching out for help, and you're LEAVING HIM FOR A TRIP TO HAWAII.

WHICH: SPOILER. SUPER SUCKS EXCEPT FOR YUSUKE ONCE AGAIN, SHOCKER

/puts head on desk and yells

they really did work to make joker the MOST pretty huh

god i thought the beach trip was boring but the hawaii trip actively sucks

it's just Ryuji wanting to get laid so bad he does splash damage of suck to everyone around him...

(what the fuck ryuji, chill the fuck out, this shit made me fucking uncomfortable)

Mishima literally refusing to talk about anything except the Phansite's Alexa Traffic ranking

And Yusuke being the fucking load-bearing column of this entire game I swear to god. He is the only reason I did not just press fast-forward and skip this ENTIRE section. It was miserable.

Atlus. Atlus. Atlus. Stop fucking punishing me for not having a romance locked in these games. This whole segment was more excruciating than Yosuke Hanamura's Joker Mode. I'm dead serious. It was less homophobic but something felt more homophobic to me specifically. I think because my was of reacting were much more locked down. Whatever.

God, send me back to Japan so I can check on the people I care about. (Ann, Yusuke, not you, I'll never be mad at you, I love you both. If I got to spend this trip having mai-tais with you, it would have been a blast.)

OH SIDEBAR:

motherfucker where have you been, I have been trying to talk to you since school started and you just blow me off! rude!

I don't think Maruki is a good therapist but I think he's decent with people. He notices Futaba and Morgana talking and uses it as a springboard for conversation. Or, tries anyway. Futaba is still working on being observed by other humans. We know how that is.

Then, Futaba sees that Maruki..... has a book on cognitive psience. And Sojiro immediately tries to throw him out but Futaba is like "chillax" and actually talks to him.

Maruki notices the past-tense and tells Futaba that her mother sounds cool and would be proud of her.

He's a nice guy.

However. He's working with Reverie to talk through basically the necessity of pain and trauma in people's lives, has mentioned wishing that pain was curable through more easily actionable means, and is toting a book on cognitive psience.

there is not enough side-eye in the world.

Hey Maruki, can I see your phone real quick, do you have a weird malware app on there?

Out of images, whup.

[msith]

Kokichi Oma (王馬 小吉) is a student in the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles and a participant of the Killing School Semester featured in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. His title is the Ultimate Supreme Leader (超高校級の「総統」 lit. Super High School Level Supreme Leader).

Before Joining Danganronpa

Kokichi Oma was a normal talentless high school boy who participated in the 53rd Season of Danganronpa, a famous worldwide reality show made by Team Danganronpa.

During his high school days, Kokichi attended Imperial Capital's Imperial High School (帝都大帝都高校). However, it is unclear if this memory of him was a part of the fabrication made by Team Danganronpa or if it was genuine.

Fabricated Past

After he successfully participated in the 53rd Killing Game, Kokichi's memories and past were fabricated by Team Danganronpa as follows:

Kokichi's past is very unclear due to his constant lying and the fact that he strictly refuses to reveal anything personal about himself. In fact, the only thing known about his life for sure is his love of video games and that he's been playing them his whole life. However, he has also claimed that nobody would care if he was gone, and it's been implied that he has no parents or family.

It's known that he is the leader of D.I.C.E., a small group of young pranksters, who are the most important people and like a family to him. They have traveled around the world and commit "laughable crimes" for fun, which could indicate that they could be a group of orphans with no families nor parents to hold them back. Kokichi is also good at stealing, which might be due to his past, and it has been pointed out that many of his skills have a resemblance to a petty thief. Furthermore, his organization could be a reference to the animated television series D.I.C.E. (DNA Integrated Cybernetic Enterprises), which is about an organization run by children, specifically orphans.

During the killing game, Kokichi lies that he is the supreme leader of a large, evil secret society. Obviously, there is no evidence of it and the Ultimate Detective, Shuichi Saihara, does not know any organization matching with the one Kokichi mentioned.[4] During his Free Time Event with Shuichi, Kokichi claims he became the supreme leader by murdering his parents and usurping their role. He then claims he lied, and that the one he killed was his older brother. He claims he lied again and that the real reason is a secret. Considering his tendency to have some truth among his lies, this could imply something about his past.

There is a scene in the bonus mode Ultimate Talent Development Plan which hints about his family situation, as Kokichi and Kaito won't go home for New Year's, Kaito due to his unconventional family situation of living with his grandparents. Kaito asks Kokichi why he isn't at home with his parents (and aren't his parents embarrassed of him being such a brat at his age). Kokichi only tells him that he shouldn't ask such personal questions when talking to the supreme leader.

However, it is unclear how much, if any of Kokichi's past before participating in the 53rd Killing Game was real, and which was fabricated by Team Danganronpa.

Why

[chevvy-yates]

How about beloved Ryder!

Oh, I'm always ready to talk about my black sheep of the family <3 Since I saw no number, I'll just do all of them, so this is probably going to be super long. I'll set a cut somewhere.

01. Full name:

Ryder's full name is Gilbert von Scharfenberg. He hates his real name for a good reason: his family – wealthy pure German Corpo blood. Basically no one knows that he's a Scharfenberg either – except for Vijay, because he was the one who deleted all of Ryder's data soon after he left his old life behind. So, basically if you scan him it would only show 'Ryder' and nothing else (I still write it out here on tblr completely bc it sounds so damn good <3). As soon as the family moved to the NUSA, Ry started calling himself 'Ryder' using it as his nickname from now on. It comes from the German surname 'Reiter' (rider, horseman), which was his first love's surname (who sadly died, getting shot by a Cyberpsycho during a rave in a club in Berlin).

02. Best friend:

Ryder's bestie is Vijay Steyr. They know each other since 2071. Vijay is the guy who helped Ryder out of his old life (mentioned above). They didn't met in person back then but their paths crossed a while later again: they ran into each other at a Depeche Mode party, talked, became buddies, then also lovers shortly after. The relationship lasted about a year and they parted for reasons everyone understood and accepted. Ryder rarely saw V the following year, because he needed a bit time and was busy with his own life/job, but Vijay eventually began to contact him again in 2074 when he got into buisness with Jackie doing merc jobs. They needed someone on the front and Ryder was the best guy Vijay could think of since he has mantis blades and a good know how about Militech and Corpo things as well. After Jackie died on a secret job neither V nor Ry knew about, the bond between the two got stronger again and today (2077/78) they are best friends. If you listen to their talking you could also say they sound like an old married couple. Ryder would protect V with his own life and it's vice versa. Vijay was there for him in his worst times, helped him to settle into his new 'street kid' life and most of all: pep talked Ry all the time tearing that wall down he had built up for years. Vijay is defnitely the reason why Ryder feels content with himself and smiles so often now.

03. Sexuality:

Ryder is openly gay. He doesn't look a lot like one in the first place, but he is. He's always been gay because he never had any sexual interest in women since he can think. Only the opposite gender doesn't seem to notice and he had to refuse a lot of times giving him a hard time to express it in words. He also feels kinda awkward when a woman shows a bit more affection towards him than the usual (he's better with friends after a while), so forgive him for behaving like a douchebag. Sadly he couldn't live out his sexuality for many years because of his family. But since he got away he was finally free to do what he wanted. He's no go-getter though. It's the contrary – he's too shy to make the first move. And that's probably why he's been single a long while as well after the relationship with V (who's the go-getter ofc).

04. Favorite color:

Ryder loves black. He knows there are people who don't accept black as a color. For that phrase he's got another answer: purple and green. Besides black, it's these colors he loves (he just won't wear anything purple nor green). Purple like amethysts he collects and (dark) green like the mysterious German forests he misses a lot.

The rest is under the cut for those who are interested in reading more about him. Beware, it really has gotten long!

05. Relationship status:

Ryder is off the single market. After I created him back in Sep 2022, I already had Vijay flirting with @nervouswizardcycle's Arki (<3), so my original idea of V and Ry together couldn't last and was made into a backstory part instead since I still like that ship that formed in my head when Ryder was only an idea. However, I couldn't imagine him with any official npc and looking for some possible other oc over here didn't bring me much further, and also with no one making a real move either (I waited for it like Ryder would do), I decided just a few weeks back that my boy shouldn't be lonely for so long. It made me sad having to look at him knowing his profile still said 'single', so I sat down and created another oc for him: So, yes! His love interest is Thyjs De Wit.

06. Ideal mate:

Ryder's ideal mate is @nervouswizardcycle's Arki. Arki turns out to be his best gay buddy. There's just ideas existing right now but I'm loving it! The two literally don't like each other at first — well it's more Ryder who has a grudge against Arki, but he will find out soon enough that the two are much alike in many things I don't wanna name now bc it could be possible spoilers for some future fanfiction. However, Arki will be a good mate for Ryder: giving tips in training for battle, trying to control his anger, but also the guy to go shopping with (bc Arki is fashionista, baby!). And the two may have many evenings where they get drunk, laughing over stupid anti-jokes (where V just shakes his head and Thyjs also doesn't find it laughable) and watching a shit ton of anime if they don't do stupid stuff in the city. They are both Scorpios and this is a certain vibe you can't turn off easily once they come together.

07. Turn-ons:

Bottom lip biting. It seriously turns Ryder on when you go from casual busses to biting down onto his bottom lip. He sees that as an invitation to get more passionated. Hard lollipops. The meaty kind. He likes a man's best piece a lot. Especially when they have a beautiful shape and tint. Loud, hard rave beats. Eespecially when it has some naughty lyrics it kind of turns him on. If the right person is with him, this may be a chance for making out on the dancefloor, vanishing into a darkroom or just go somewhere else to get dirty.

08. Favorite food:

Pistachio ice cream. In generall he loves pistachios: salted or not, in combination with chocolate, ice cream – everything pistachio – give it to him. You'll make him be a happy pistachio.

09. Crushes:

Thjys De Wit. He's going to crush on him the first time he meets that Dutch pale soldier boy — Thyjs literally zapped him. There's a lot of pining from Ryder's side. Vijay, however will notice and tries to encourage him to make the first move since Thyjs is not a go-getter either (and has to cope with his own feelings for Ry as well at first). It's gonna be interesting. Don't wanna tell too much, though.

10. Favorite music:

Ryder is a true Raver. <3 He lives for hard and dark techno beats. There's nothing better than that ever enduring repeating bass under his feat. It keeps him going, helps him to vent off his never ending anger for a while, keeps the beast within at bay, while he moves to those amazing loud eletronic beats combined with unreal but also beautiful accompaning melodies. Ryder also listens to Industrial and New (German) Wave.

11. Biggest fear:

His biggest is facing his superior again. He fears nothing more than is father: Wilhelm von Scharfenberg — now CEO of Militech HQ in Night City. There is another one: He's afraid of losing control over the beast within him completely, hurting those close to him. He doesn't know where it came from, it was there one day, accompanying him ever since. It lusts for blood mostly so the chance it takes over in a heavy fight during a job is pretty high. Once he's in a killstreak for too long, he's unable to stop and literally goes berserk. Therfore he has asked his best friend Vijay to take control and stop him if the situation gets tricky. He's got a special mod installed that allows Vijay to hack into Ryder's Berserk Operating System making him able to reset it since the beast seems to feed heavily from this system. Ryder's Mantis Blades will receive an order to retract and he gets unconscious for a short amount of time to make sure he's gonna be stopped. If that case happens and the situation is tricky, someone must be right there to protect Ryder for that time since he will be unable to defend himself. Before every job V double checks the mod and renews the codes to make sure everything works. Ryder isn't exactly proud to always leave a mess of blood puddles, organs and dead bodies behind. It scares him as well since it has gotten worser over time. It's his greatest wish that the beast within vanishes one day the same way like it showed up.

12. Biggest fantasy:

To fly to the moon. Ryder loves space and the universe since he was a small boy. He dreamed to be a space pilot one day, flying people or cargo to the moon. He would love to walk on it as well, feel the lack of gravitiy when he jumps. The moon is very fascinating to him. He's amazed by the surface, all the pattern the craters made, the grey tones. And he very much would love to see how earth looks seen from up there. If you suspected something sexual instead: To have hot, dirty, greasy sex in a tank. Specifially in a retro WWII model.

13. Bad habits:

Ryder has a obsessive-compulsive disorder. He sees himself forced to align everything neatly and symmetrically. He will do it all the time: at home, during shopping, sitting at the table in the Afterlife, aligning billard balls in the Coyjote Cojo, staple Vijay's vinyls in his apartment (he even tidies up V's apartment at times bc Vijay is a bit chaotic). His own apartment is clean and simple, every bottle in the shelf faces with the ettiket, books are placed ordely and even pillows on his bed sit how they should and so on. Besides that Ry is still super fidgety. He can't sit still. It mainly has to do with background music everywhere, so he's bobbing e.g. his leg all the time. But he also constantly needs to play around with something in his hands. He can't sit still longer than five minutes and then repositions. The only times he's not fidgety is when he's sleepy or in fact sleeping. Once he falls asleep he likely won't turn around much and stay in the position he feell asleep in.

14. Biggest regret:

The missed oportunity to run away earlier. His decicion to leave his Corpo life happend when he was already 21. If he had left earlier, he would probably live in Italy now together with Tommy Reiter, his first love, who would probably still be alive as well. Tommy wanted to go away with him, but Ryder was too scared to do it back then, still being a teen.

15. Best kept secrets:

That he's Corpo – a von Scharfenberg. As already mentioned, only Vijay knows about that. Ryder did literally everything for not looking like a Corpo anymore: changed visually completely with adding cyberware, new eyes, getting tattoos including scarifications (to cover own scars), changed his hairstlye, grew a messy beard, trained like a mad-man to gain some muscles for not having to watch the thin useless Corpo boy in the mirror he once was. Starting the life of a so called street kid. His Corpo attitude sadly comes trough at times (and can be extremely helpful for some missions as well). In some cases he sees himself on the high horse thinking he's better than anyone else (but Vijay reminds him of that).

16. Last thought:

Maybe 'Bitte ein Bit'? Idk man, but I have the feeling that Ryder's last thought ever will definitely have something to do with beer.

17. Worst romantic experience:

When he decided to try out bottoming for once in his life. It was a good experience at first but it ended with something unexpected: receiving an exceptionally good fuck that caused him to feel like a supernova seeing stars all over brought some negative connotaion with it: he entirely lost control over his body making him have his mantis blades spring out ready for action. Nobody died though, but it was Vijay who topped him and V has a huge trauma concerning blades … So once both finally relized what actually happened, Vijay got off and fell into a shock he was unable to explain to him. And Ryder ofc was shocked by the thought that he can lose control that hard by just getting railed (the beast within was just evolving and a minor problem btw). The situation could have turned out much worse that night. And this situation is also the cause for their break-up in the end, with both really feeling bad about it: Vijay because he wasn't able to tell him why and Ryder for losing control that hard in such a situation. Since then Ryder never bottomed again, because he can't allow himself to let it happen again.

18. Biggest insecurity:

Ryder has had a lot of insecurities — still has. His biggest besides him not being able to live up to his father's Corpo ideals is probably that he (still) feels he is/was not good enough for anything or anybody. This situation started early in his childhood and reached the worst high as soon as he had to start working at Militech unable to do anything right (he hated this work and it wasn't what he wanted to do), nonetheless he tried hard to make his superior satisfied, but it was quite the contrary in the end. He was treated by his family like ballast they had to carry through, got bullied by co-workers and therefore fell into a huge hole of depression. It took him a long time (and quiet a lot of Vijay's patience) to accept that he's good enough in what he does. Vijay told Ryder more than once, that he is valued, that he is thankfull for Ry's support, and that people appreciate him and that he is a good person. He still does and it is impotant to reward Ryder constantly with nice and cheering words otherwise he's prone to worry about it again. Ryder still has a lot of trust issues towards new people to this day.

19. Weapon of choice:

answered here.

20. Role Model:

Vijay of course. Ryder looks up a lot to his best friend. He wishes he could be more like him. Capable of leading, always having an answer to everything, understand the realm of netrunning, his entire positive character and warm personality, looking forward and not back, the ability to stay friendly towards literally everyone (Vijay is good in hiding his disgust for someone if he want's to, but most of the time he lets people know when he doesn't like them).

[books]

Writer Spotlight: Ryan North

Ryan North (@ryannorth) is a New York Times-bestselling and Eisner-winning writer who once messed up walking his dog so badly it made the news. His recent work includes the nonfiction How To Invent Everything, the semi-fictional graphic novel adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, and the so-far-fictional Unbeatable Squirrel Girl series for Marvel. Ryan lives in Toronto, where he writes for video games, television, and his long-running webcomic Dinosaur Comics. We chatted with him about his new book, How to Take Over the World: Practical Schemes and Scientific Solutions for the Aspiring Supervillain. Be sure to click through to the end for dinosaurs.

So, what made you want to create a guide to taking over the world? What makes you qualified to be taking on this very important public service?

I've been writing superhero comics for Marvel and DC for years, and part of the job is coming up with these big ambitious charismatic plots for the villains to pull off (throwing your enemies into the sun, digging a hole to the Earth's core, becoming immortal, that sort of thing). I thought it would be fun to explore how credible they are here in the real world, where we don't have things like shrink rays and mind-control helmets. So really, it's a book exploring the edges of science and technology through the lens of comic book supervillainy.

That, and I think having a book in your house with "HOW TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD" on the spine is inarguably awesome.

Who is this book for? What makes an aspiring supervillain?

One thing I kept in mind when writing the book is that I always wanted to talk about super-crime, big huge heists that have never been done before, rather than the stuff that happens routinely here in the real world. Robbing a bank is normal crime. Stealing a bank is when you get into the fun space of super-crime.

There are a couple reasons for that: real-world villainy is horrible and dehumanizing, and I'm absolutely not qualified to write about it, but the idea of trying to pull off comic book super-crime in the real world is interesting and fun, and I am absolutely willing and able to think those plots through to their logical conclusions. You want a secret base? Terrific, but you're going to need a way to keep it secret—so let's look at the challenges of living long-term at sea, or underground, or underwater, or in space, or on Mars, etc. And henchpeople require air and food and water—so now we need to think about farming in these conditions and generating power to support all of that. But really, the biggest challenge is that people also get weird and sad when locked alone together, so let's lock eight people in a room together for two years and see what happens, by which I mean, let's study the IRL Biosphere 2 experiment where they did precisely that, and everyone went more than a little crazy. As soon as you take these plots seriously and start thinking things through to their logical conclusions, a lot of really interesting science and history and sociology falls out.

In the book, I define supervillainy as when someone outside existing power structures accomplishes something that's not getting done on its own. The fun thing about that is that the exact same definition applies to superheroes. So really, it's for anyone who wants to learn more about the world around them through this fun fictional lens, and especially those who have read the news and thought, "You know what? I could do it better."

Given a choice, which scheme would be your preferred mode of world domination, and why?

There's a chapter where we look at the problem of immortality, which sounds like complete fantasy until you look at all these tech bros who desperately don't want to die and are spending fabulous amounts of money on trying to delay it for as long as possible, or even indefinitely. We look at the actual science of aging and the technologies people are trying to develop to stop it, but for me, the most interesting part happens when you say, "okay, so assume any of this works. What then?"

Put aside the fact that very few people would look at our planet with seven billion people on it and say, "You know what? This world needs more people. Oh, and they should never die." Also, put aside the fact that death is a safety valve on human civilization, where even the worst people we've ever produced can't hang on to power forever because they too will die. The real issue is whether you put your chips on cryonics or uploading your brain to a computer or cloning or telomere extension or whatever. These are all medical or technological interventions, which means they all cost money—and the second you have an immortality scheme that costs money, you've created this almost cartoonish dystopia where rich people get to live forever, and poor people don't. I don't see a way around it—immortality is something that would absolutely be horrible for both the planet and for us as a civilization.

But!

If you're the only one who's immortal—if you discover it and hide it from the world and never share your technology, then all those issues just disappear. Now immortality is just this fun thing you're doing, and the rest of the world doesn't have to suffer. You get all the benefits of living indefinitely, learning more than the rest of us ever will, and nobody else has to suffer! For me, that's the peak supervillain mindset: wanting to make the world a better place but ending up helping only yourself. That's the scheme in the book I'd do. Not take over the place, but just...stick around and watch it for a lot longer.

What's your writing process like? How do you merge the scientific bits with the fun bits?

When I'm writing, I'm also reading, so I'm always trying to keep myself entertained. If it was boring to write, it'll be boring to read! And when I'm re-reading, I'm always looking for ways to keep it funny. I believe we learn so much easier when we're having fun, so that's what I'm always trying to hit.

That said, my process is to write alone where nobody can see me because when I'm writing jokes, the only way to know that they're working is if I make myself laugh, and it's so embarrassing to be that guy at the coffee shop who's typing and then pausing to laugh out loud at his own stuff. Just mortifying. I, therefore, write in an empty room to hide from the shame of my craft, lol.

What does the Tumblr of an aspiring supervillain look like? What's it called? What does it contain? Are they vocal about their super-villainy, or are they more of a lurker?

Okay, so Doctor Doom's Tumblr is clearly full of reblogs with his self-aggrandizing additions in the tags, and he's probably got a macro to type out "#FOOLS!!" because he uses it so often. He's also always starting fights with strangers and secretly proud when a post he started gets a ton of notes because Doom conquers all.

On the other hand, someone like Poison Ivy definitely has this really beautiful, well-curated feed. She fills it with some really compelling environmental arguments and gorgeous pictures of her plants. You probably wouldn't even notice she's a villain until she takes over Gotham with giant venus flytraps that can also walk around somehow.

And finally, someone like the Riddler just has the worst Tumblr in existence, auto-playing midi files and sparkles that follow your cursor around, except the sparkles are question marks. It's filled with old memes, and he keeps posting bad riddles that you can easily Google the answers to, and it's pretty clear he got them off Google too.

These are my correct opinions.

How do you get someone to publish a book that incites world dominance?

Haha, well, I don't expect anyone to actually do any of the schemes in the book—mainly because I priced them all out, and you need 56 billion dollars, all in, just to start! But the real answer is that using a fictional lens to explore actual nonfiction is something that works. It's a fun thought experiment!

Can you talk about working with illustrator Carly Monardo?

Carly is the best, and I was so pleased to work with her on this. Basically, I'd call her up, and I'd talk about the chapter and what I thought an illustration could be for various parts, and she'd say, "okay, but what about this idea instead" and come up with something way better.

It was her idea to have a single supervillain recur throughout the book—so as you're learning these plots, this character's doing them right alongside you, and you have this companion throughout. She's so great (both Carly and the supervillain we came up with), and her work totally elevates the book.

That said, in the end, I asked her what we should name our new supervillain, and she said, "Patricia." And I said, "Why?" and she said, "So that her full name is Patricia Chaddams," and I said "Why?" and she said, "So then, for short, her name is Pat Chaddams," and I said "Huh?" and she said, "So that way it sounds like the 1998 Robin Williams vehicle Patch Adams." So uh, I suppose you take the good with the bad.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever received as a writer? Do you have any advice for budding writers of humorous science-based nonfiction?

In comics, the best advice I ever got was "your fundamental unit of story is the page," which means to always keep in mind how it'll work when it's printed and in someone's hand and how turn-the-page reveals work. But when you're writing prose, that doesn't apply because you don't (usually) know where on the page your words will land!

My best advice for people interested in science writing, science communication, or really any sort of writing is this: read outside your genre. People who only read comics end up writing comics that sound an awful lot like the comics that already exist. People who only read nonfiction write nonfiction that's also very samey. But when you read stuff that doesn't typically cross over, you're seeing stuff that others aren't, and you can start drawing connections nobody else is seeing. Don't turn your nose up at other genres just because they're not what you normally read or write. I would much rather read a sci-fi novel from someone who's read a ton of steamy romance novels than someone who's only read a bunch of other sci-fi novels, you know?

Who's your favorite supervillain of all time?

Doctor Doom. He's a scientist who wears a metal suit, and he knows magic. Plus, he's got a cape. What's not to like?

After perfecting schemes to take over the world, what's next for you?

Keep writing Dinosaur Comics (@qwantzfeed baby!) and hopefully keep getting to write weird little books that get to do things like "take an absurd premise absolutely seriously." It's my new favorite genre.

[subtle-edge-of-rot]

omg

telling Michael that you're proud of him

he possibly wouldn't outwardly react and maybe just scoff, but, like. he hasn't heard that in years, if ever. imagine he'd bring you a gift later, or unexpected affection.

Lester? excited puppy mode activated. might cry.

Bo? would probably act indifferent too and roll his eyes, but smile once he's alone. might tear up a little too, but in secret.

Vincent's been told that his parents (especially mum) are proud of him a lot, but it always was for something he felt he had to do. plus, it was the only real affection he got. he saw the opposite treatment in Bo, and Lester being mostly overlooked.

Tommy? I mean, his mama probably tells him she's proud of him a lot, and of course he appreciates it. but other than that he usually just gets negativity, criticism, dismissal, fear, anger - hearing someone he doesn't feel is "obligated" to be nice to him say it is just. happiest man alive.

- 🔪

Aww omg

Michael wouldn’t outwardly react, you’re right, but he would definitely be pleased to know you’re proud of him for whatever reason. He’d definitely do something nice for you after, as a thank you of sorts.

Lester would be all smiles and cheek kisses and hugging. He loves knowing that you’re proud of him. He never thought anyone would be so this means so much to him.

Bo would treasure that moment. He’s way more sentimental than people think he is. He’s never a day in his life heard the words ‘Bo, I’m proud of you!’ He’d definitely leave the room for a moment to collect himself. He doesn’t want to be super vulnerable in front of everyone.

Vincent would love hearing that you’re proud of him. Sure he’s heard it before, but coming from you is a whole different ball game. He’d puff his chest out a bit more and kiss your temple, sliding his hand down your arm to give you goosebumps.

You’re absolutely right about Tommy. He hears it from Luda Mae but it’s from his family, it’s to be expected. But when he hears you say it, he’ll be a blushing mess and he wouldn’t be able to hide his grin.

[the-stove-is-on-fire]

Do you have more on your DP / BNHA crossover AU?!!!!

Combining these two asks because I DO have some thoughts!

The abbreviated narrative I’ve got going in my head is that Danny is from the Pre-Quirk Times, so like 200+ years in the past from Izuku’s pov. Danny is a midwestern teenage white boy from the early 2000′s, he wouldn’t know the difference between future Japan and present Japan if it hit him in the face. The only reason he even notices Deku is because my boy Midoriya was actively trying to get his attention. All Danny sees a fellow teen in a weird outfit with a backpack and makes the very logical jump to “Oh, that’s a cool costume, he must be looking at MY cool costume. Byyeee” and he dips. 

Izuku on the other hand is having a minor crisis because this random American hero with multiple quirks(!!!) just showed up out of thin air, kicked major ass, insulted his hero regalia by calling it cosplay, and then tore open a hole in the fabric of reality. You KNOW Izuku’s going to go full research mode to find this guy (if nothing else out of pettiness to see his hero ranking). Lo and behold portal guy is NOWHERE to be found. Most vigilantes have some kind of media presence(or at least a few blurry pictures and rumours about them), but the mystery hero has nothing. Deku, quite reasonably, does not think to search 200+ years into the past because that doesn’t make sense. Deku makes the logical conclusion that it must be some secret American thing (they sure do love their Secret Things) and puts it on the shelf as a weird, but ultimately unimportant event. 

BUT THEN DANNY BOY COMES BACK. 

Danny, out of the blissfully ignorant goodness of his heart, thought “Hey, I know I was in a rush but maybe it was kinda rude to just dip on that guy when he obviously wanted to talk to a real-life superhero. I should bring him a shirt” (Tucker also wanted Danny to go back and get “cool Japanese candy” because he’s a weeb and it’s 200X, that shit was nerd gold). I DO love headcanons where Danny gets Stuck in a universe but the idea of him just popping up like “Midoriya!! Hiiiiii!!!” at the weirdest possible times is, *muwah*, chef’s kiss, to me.

The logistics of plotting any further than that get a bit muddy because of accidentally altering timelines/influencing the past and all that jazz, but hooooo bOI when they finally make the “Oooooh this is the future”/ “You’re from WHEN?” realization it will be spectacular.

Oh but hey, maybe Danny’s timeline is hard set to have quirks in the future no matter what but it doesn’t have to go so badly at the beginning (Societal unrest & AFO drama). Maybe when Izuku looks into historical records he only finds traces of “Phantom” up until their timelines diverge. Cool cool cool, I like that nice neat little bow to tie things up. A few years down the line adult Danny outs himself as a super and becomes the metaphorical bnha glowing baby of his timeline? (before the literal glowing baby is born) Even though his powers aren’t from a natural mutation he could pave the way for a super society (or at least lay the foundations). So many possibilities. HECK, I love crossovers. 

[mosneakers]

ask time!

story theme song?

for any 5 characters: fatal flaw? are they aware of it? (list)

favorite part of writing?

favorite scene from your story?

which of your characters are good liars? who sucks at it?

choose any character: what is their biggest regret?

tell me one character's juicy secret.

hardest character to write?

weirdest plot twist the game has given you?

how do you choose character names? do any of them have meaning to you / the story?

HAVE FUN!!

Oh my gosh, thank you so much for this! You're going interviewer mode 👀✨ Readers please feel free to add to this, y'all are the experts too! 😂 Answers below:

Story theme song? The opening of Darling by Real Estate. Not only because "Darling" but also the melody is so pretty and it's just such a vibe.

For any 5 characters: fatal flaw? Are they aware of it?

Hmm… Out of this list I'd have to go with:

Coraleye- Innocence/too trusting. She's such a naïve bean and just wants so badly to have the beautiful love story that her parents and ancestors have all had, but it just hasn't worked out as easily. She's completely unaware of how innocent and overly trusting she is which is the problem.

Tycho- Well, Tycho does have the jealousy trait and that has landed him in some hot water in the past, but for fatal flaw I'll have to go with Fear. He's still keeping up the charade and hiding from all his friends and Coraleye that he's an alien. He knows Coraleye values honesty but over the past few years he's been pining and dreaming about living in the reality he's in now, and I think deep down he's afraid to lose it all. He's definitely aware, but still continues to put it off.

Mira- Hmm I think People Pleasing! She's always just kinda been a "Go with the Flow" kind of gal, and her biggest decisions in life have always been because someone else has wanted that for her. She's aware of this, and is just now starting to go for what she wants in life and we're here for it queen!!

Starling- Starling falls into most of these categories, including Pride, Judgement, Shallow, Greed, Jealousy, Opinionated, Doubting, Vanity, Arrogance, and hubris. She's aware of all of it and embraces it fully because why would you want to change someone so perfect?

Brick- Anger. Clearly :P As you can see from the last few posts about him, his anger is the reason all his family continues to keep his baby a secret from him, and why no drywall is safe around him. As you'll see in his upcoming arc, he still struggles to think before he acts.

3. Favorite part of writing?

1000% The engagement aka YOU! The readers from day 1 have been the most important thing to me. It's a smaller community since I've switched to tumblr but a super passionate one nonetheless! It's the comments, opinions, and analyses that keep me going everyday and I will forever be thankful! 4. Favorite scene from your story?

Oh god. I don't even know, there have been some amazing moments and some heartbreaking ones too. If I had to narrow it down to Just my favorite My Darling 4 moment, I think it would have to be this one. This was back when Tycho barely knew Coraleye and went to pick her up after a night of too much juice. During this scene he's a little annoyed with her, but she quickly warms his heart and he confesses everything to her, including his alien status and his feelings for her, knowing she's too juiced to remember any of it. Although it's unfortunately only the beginning of his cycle of confessions he knows she won't remember, (he later goes on to confess and erase her memory after chickening out, multiple times) it still encapsulates that vulnerable and flirty feeling of young love, and just UGH. I also completely animated that scene and that was my first animation. 5. Which of your characters are good liars? who sucks at it?

Frieda Darling is my best liar. She's a total con-woman 😄It was her idea for Coraleye and Mira to get married to fool Tatiana, something that she's done often. Who sucks at it? I think Tycho. He's kept up a big lie for a while but the more vulnerable he becomes with the group, the harder it is to keep his secrets. 6. Choose any character: what is their biggest regret? Let's go with Brick, and some of his regrets or soon-to-be regrets are pretty obvious, but let's keep those vague because some will come to light very soon >.> Just a few related posts for fun:

The time Brick lost all his fame and influencer status after beating up a paparazzi and got cancelled.

The time was goofing around with the Koi fish and literally died (he was later resurrected)

The time Brick was mad at Sawyer and hooked up with Zoe

The birth of baby Rosie (Brick is just now finding out, woops)

7. Tell me one character's juicy secret.

Tycho is capable of extremely vivid fantasies, that have lead to some pretty embarrassing ordeals.

8. Hardest character to write?

Hmm… I think Charm and Frieda. They're my golden couple and they're just so deeply in love and perfect, it's hard to give them any conflict.

9. Weirdest plot twist the game has given you?

Coraleye and Tycho even knowing each other! This was never supposed to happen, but I thought Tycho would be a cute bff for Sunglo, but then he met Glo's little sister and everything changed. If it weren't for Tycho being introduced, Erwin and Coni would not have been introduced either. Can you imagine the story without them? 😳 10. How do you choose character names? do any of them have meaning to you / the story? Oh yes it just depends on the character! if you have a specific character in mind about where their names come from please tell send me an ask and we will discuss in further detail! Gen 3 heir Yellow Darling is one of my favorites, his name has a lot to it. First, it was his Dad Seymour's favorite color. Second, it's his mother Kirsten's eye color, and third, Seymour and Kirsten name him after a ghost they befriended, a native Appaloosa Plains murder victim, Yellow-foot. Yellow's twin Salem was just a name I liked but it turned out to be another crazy color coincidence!

Phew! 😅 That was long, if you read the whole thing then we are married now

[zoopzopp]

A post for some BAMF Izuku fics <3 (more of these will be added and the list will be updated as i read them)

Fics i've read:

The Secret Ingredient is Crime- Izuku only had a whole month to further prove himself worthy of Yuuei's golden acceptance, and he was going to do whatever it took to make it in. Yuuei would never truly know what hit them until it was too late. (The secret crime AU in it entirety is fucking amazing and what wouldn't i give to read more stuff with it)

Deku the Villain Hunter: Support Hero - We all know the story: After being told he couldn't be a Hero by All Might, Midoriya Izuku still wandered over to a supervillain attack where he could save Bakugou Katsuki. But what if he had made the other turn? The answer is a butterfly effect that would lead him on a path to paving his own future. A path of revenge, finding his own moral compass, and doing the impossible. (OKAY MANY THOUGHTS. Very cool story and aspects. I binged it overnight and lost a bit of sleep the next night as well.)

The Story of How Midoriya Izuku Asserted His Dominance (And Traumatized Japan) - The Sports Festival was supposed to be a break from stress. Shouta should have known there is no such thing as a break with his class.

making it right (for real this time) - - Izuku is a support course student at UA, and Katsuki's neighbor, best friend, and former bullying victim. After Izuku's performance at the sports festival, Katsuki realizes something. He has to make things right. -

Hero Fall (UA Civil War Exercise) - It's now the end of the first year of UA for our students. Nedzu had decided to bring back the annual Heroes vs Villain fight. The fight shall last 5 days and the villain leader is Izuku Midoriya, with the commanding officer of the hero team being Katsuki Bakugo. But, what happens when Izuku is left alone?

Hero Class Civil Warfare - Heroes lead by Bakugo. Villains lead by Midoriya. Seven days prep time. Three days for Izuku Midoriya to show why they should be glad he's not a real villain.

"I Didn't Know You Had It In You." - Midoriya goes feral rage mode in his fight against Overhaul. The beat down still happens, but with Eri no longer at his back, he gets more violent. One For All reacts in an interesting way and Midoriya commits a terrible and unheroic act - the cold blooded murder and maiming of Chisaki Kai. Shigaraki is there to watch it all unfold.

Plan C meets Plan A - Even if All Might is right and Izuku can't be a hero, Izuku refuses to be useless. So Izuku uses his analysis skills to develop Plan C: Consulting in order to help the heroes. Eraserhead is impressed by this mysterious new consultant but alarm bells in Deku's behaviour quickly have Aizawa recruiting help for Plan A: Adoption.

Q. A. B. - One month after @hawks_unofficial's initial viral post, the blog titled "Quirk Analysis Blog for the Future", otherwise known as "Q. A. B.", has gone from an average of 10 views per post to an average of 20,000 views per post. Midoriya Izuku does not know how to view the impressions analysis for his suddenly popular blog, and only notices that sometimes, people actually comment on his posts now. He does not google himself or his moniker and thus does not see the rise in online articles and speculation. He is unaware that the "kyuu-ei-bee" he begins to hear about in passing refers to his own blog. He does not have a Twitter account. At the time, Midoriya Izuku is 15 years old.

How to murder your father - It's dangerous to be a bad father when you have a life insurance. Just saying.

Negation - Passive Quirks are a bitch. Izuku is reasonably done with the situation.

Thanks For Your Support - Izuku has the talent and the intellect to be the first Quirkless pro hero, and everyone at UA knows it. Unfortunately, his desire to become a hero has long since been buried thanks to the words of his childhood friend and childhood hero.

Policed To Meet You - Izuku takes All Might's advice and becomes a cop.

Vigilante Work And Other After School Activities - Izuku is a vigilante, Aizawa likes cats and therefore kids who help cats, and sometimes breaks must be forced upon overachieving teenagers.

When the Commission Lost Total Control - The hero polls have a small part where one can suggest their own hero. This is done just because of the amount of heroes is to great to name them all. This creates a little problem for the commission because a vigilante is assumed to be a brand new hero by the public- and ranks pretty high. Because of that, this vigilante now is too popular to hide and they can't come out with their mistake either! Think of the chaos that would bring.

Izuku being Badass but like in not that grand of a way but still tearing-people-down-in-some-way kind of way

He Was Quirkless - Midoriya get's sick of discrimination against the quirkless and decides to do something about it. It leads to some interesting situations. A trilogy.

bloody, but unbowed- It's Advocacy Week for Yuuei's hero students and it gives Midoriya Izuku a lot to think about about what kind of hero he wants Deku to be.

Called Out - When Izuku is hit by a quirk that will cause him to call out the first person to be rude to him on the way to school with every mistake they've made in the affected persons presence or have otherwise effected said affected person, Aizawa is in for a rough ride. In other words, with some help from a quirk, Izuku rakes Aizawa over the hot coals until he gives out. (a great fic but i've got mixed feelings on this one because on one hand, izuku is badass but on the other its Aizawa bashing and really like him skhdskdb so yea! Read it as per your tastes!!)

The time when everyone learned that izuku respects Bakugo more than all might. - I didn't like how Bakugo was tied up during the sports festival and so izuku didn't. Badass izuku roasted all might and midnight.

Villainous Sunshine - After an innocent question, Class 1-A learns just how terrifying Izuku's analysis is. Nedzu's along for the ride.

Never understand ( and you can't ) - Midoriya is sick and tried of his classmates bias and prejudice against the quirkless community and finally breaks

Mastermind: Strategist For Hire - Izuku Midoriya never got the chance to save Bakugo from the sludge villain and impress All Might. With his dream crushed, Izuku becomes bitter and angry. It also doesn't help that he faces discrimination at every turn. All he ever wanted was to be appreciated, so when the villains are the ones to recognize his talents rather than the heroes, well, Izuku just can't resist. He might as well help those who actually want him around. Mistakes were made, and now society must face a villain of their own making: Mastermind.

Malignance - Deku is far scarier than anyone gives him credit for.

Fics in my to read list which has/probably has BAMF izuku

Young Midoriya - Izuku Midoriya couldn't help himself when he saw someone in trouble. Even at 12 years old, his instincts drive him to help those in need. So when he sees Kacchan and his goons about to ambush another student, he has to step in, right? It's not like this hasn't happened before. What is different this time though, is that he's never had an audience that consisted of the Number One Hero.

Heroics and Other Things That Don't Require Superpowers - Izuku doesn't have a quirk. That's the long and short of it. After being told his whole life he can't be a hero, General Education at UA is the best he can hope for, right? Wrong. Dead Wrong. So super wrong that his best friend from Gen Ed, all of Class 1A and a whole mess of Pro Heroes are going to prove to him how wrong he is. Izuku has the makings of a hero, and his lack of a quirk only throws those qualities into starker relief. After all, who wants to be as strong as All Might when you can be the cleverest hero in the business?

Cases of More Than - Izuku is known as Deku online. He's an analyst of quirks, sometimes even working with the local detective, Tsukauchi, on a case. He meets new friends, builds a few relationships, and slowly crushes on his best friend. But then he's thrown into the General Studies Course at U.A. It doesn't help that All for One is showing an interest in him at all.

No Regret - In this world there is no hard set villain or hero. No victim and aggressor. Everyone is at fault for something and Izuku, with his own villain group, will make everyone pay. Even the bystanders who did nothing. This is what society gets for abandoning it's people. Deku will manipulate everyone and be the greatest villain, all so the world can be a better a place. With the stakes so high there is no time for regret.

We Are a Different Kind - Mirio doesn’t think he can be a hero anymore now that he’s quirkless, Izuku calls bullshit.

Live a Hero - "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Or, you're raised a villain, rebel when you're nine, and fight against the odds to become a hero anyway. That's how it is in Izuku's case.

Prodigal - After being convinced to give One for All to Mirio, Midoriya Izuku must rebuild his shattered dreams with bloody hands.

Two Sides of the Same Coin: Vigilante - Izuku is orphaned at the age of four and is sent into the Japanese Foster Care System. After multiple failed attempts at finding a forever home and some unfortunate circumstance, he ends up on the streets. Eventually, the vigilante, Deku appears. Eraserhead must gain his trust to bring Deku back to the right side of the law. If he he does, however, the untrustful but pure-hearted boy may just be a bit more than Aizawa Shota can handle.

From Muddy Waters - - but the sleeve of his tracksuit was bulging, tearing and ripping and a mass of twisted flesh, nearly as big as the boy himself and nauseatingly familiar (the arm of the man that had torn a hole in his side with a grin and left him a frail shadow of himself) swung forward and slammed into the flat face of the giant robot. Izuku wants to be a hero more than anything.

Pieces are easily sacrificed when they're nameless - Nobody ever thought quirkless, weak, weird Midoriya Izuku was dangerous. This perception carried over to his first year high school class, because really despite the super strength Midoriya didn't have it in him to be dangerous. That was their first mistake. And the one that would see them fall.

Not exactly BAMF izuku but i just wanted to rec these fics <3

In the shade of a sunflower - Being biologically quirkless came more with an extra pinkie joint in the toes and a stunning lack of vestiges mutations. It came with smaller things, like extra teeth that did virtually nothing, exploding organs, and weird exposed nerves that weren't designed to feel pain.

Throat Punch - In which Aizawa attempts to teach Izuku how to use various battle tactics and it goes just about as well as you'd expect. At least Shinsou is there with his fantastic commentary. (just a fun lil thing where izuku is really stronk and trains with shinsou and aizawa)

So Be It - He could still do good. Midoriya could show them all what a hero without powers looked like. If he had to break a few rules to do it, so be it. So be it… (as stated not exactly BAMF but its a vigilante izuku so ye-)

Never Enter a Drinking Game with Bakugo or Izuku - Izuku walks in on Kirishima and Kaminari having a drinking competition (no alcohol involved). And it reminds him of an old story.

5 Times Midoriya Taught Class 1A about Memes and 1 Time they Found a Villain that Understood Them - After being diagnosed as quirkless, Midoriya gets into pre-guirk media and finds memes. He shares them with Class 1A. Aizawa doesn't get paid enough for this. (THIS FIC???? FUCKING AWESOME. LITERALLY WHAT I WANTED TO SEE)

Midoriya: JD Version - Nedzu has decided that a play should be put on so that the students can learn how to "go undercover", an idea which Aizawa thinks is utter bullshit. They're putting on Heathers and when Nedzu chooses to cast Midoriya for JD, everyone objects. Midoriya is a much better actor than they thought.

that is a lot!! I hope you have fun reading it!!!

[bookofmirth]

Don't people realise that by saying Azriel didn't care about the girls during the Blood Rite (since he went to resue Eris instead) is not putting Azriel in a good light at all, and makes him look like a complete a*hole. If i were in Elain's shoes and I would find out he wasn't worried about the girl's fate (because that is what some Elri*ls are implying) I would be so over this guy. Like, in what world would it be seen as something good and swoon worthy. At this point in the story, Azriel clearly is not in love with Gwyn, but you cannot tell me that he would be completely indifferent to what happens to her and Nesta and Emerie. Plus, we get a reaction in the text and we can see that he is affected by it.

And to add on the Eris situation. Eris knew some important stuff about the Night Court. Information that needs to be kept secret, and would threaten the Court and its subjects if it ended in the wrong hands. Cassian and Azriel didn't save Eris, because they care about him, but because they were thinking about the future of their court, a court in which Nesta, Emerie and Gwyn are currently also living in. So they had no other choice. If they had saved the girls, not only would they have put a target on their back, but they also would have put at risk the entire court and possibly Prythian by not rescuing Eris.

It was the only reasonable thing to do.

A lot of these interpretations make either Az or Elain into complete idiots, or into assholes. It's not surprising.

Az 100% cares about Nesta. She's probably the second new friend he'd made in a few hundred years, after Feyre. He and Nesta understand one another's rage, though that rage comes from different sources. He cares about Emerie, as his friend, and as an Illyrian woman who has suffered similarly to how his mother has. He cares about Gwyn, whose training and progress he has watched with admiration.

He spent months training Nesta, Gwyn, and Emerie. He set them up to be able to do the Blood Rite Qualifier, so he not only knows that they are 100% capable of fighting and defending themselves, he's the one who made that possible. Az is the one who had the confidence in those women to show their talents off to Devlon and know that they wouldn't fail.

@spell-cleavers mentioned on another post yesterday that the way this fandom talks about the mating bond is just a thinly veiled, prettier version of toxic masculinity. Not all of the fandom does this, just the ones who think it's super sexy and cute for a man to lose his shit, to have disproportionate responses to a situation. (Try living with that and then tell me it's cute.)

I bring that up because the way that this fandom talks about "mate behavior" and how people show that they care about someone is frankly, a bit disturbing. The mating bond does not remove one's reason. The mating bond does not remove autonomy, or logic, or turn one's penis or whatever into the most important part of one's body. To have missed the importance of individual agency (in other words, one's ability to act without restriction in one's own best interests) in this series is to miss an enormous part of what made chapter 54 in acomaf so important. To miss why Feyre handing over a bowl of soup was A Moment, to miss why Nesta's struggle with the bond was significant. Missing the emphasis on the role of individual agency in the mating bond is to fundamentally misunderstand how the trope functions in the acotar universe.

Okay so the real reason that I bring it up - let's say for argument's sake that Az and Gwyn are mates. The fact that he did not lose his shit and go to Gwyn doesn't mean anything when Cassian didn't go to Nesta, either. It doesn't mean anything when Rhys intentionally and knowingly put Feyre in harm's way. The mating bond does NOT mean "I am going to lose all sense of reason and go Rage Mode if my mate is in danger, despite knowing how strong and capable and smart they are". Maybe that's how it works in other series, but that's not how it works in acotar.

So yes, like you said: it was far more important for them to get Eris in that moment. It was far more important for them to do something useful than to get themselves into an unnecessary situation that would have caused more problems. He does loose his temper, but not all the time - he tends to lose his shit when people question his competence or abilities. This is not one of those times. Az is, 95% of the time, supremely self-controlled and good at keeping his shit under wraps. He is methodical, and would never do anything to put the Night Court at risk. Cassian knew it, too. You know, the guy who is conscious of the mating bond with a woman who was kidnapped into the Blood Rite.

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 11 first part

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Goodness)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Okay! This episode is a real slice of healthy family dynamics, not triggering in any way. [Uh if this is your first Restless Rewatch: that is sarcasm, dear readers]

Goodbye to You, Goodbye to Everything We Knew

Nie Huaisang asks why Meng Yao has to leave and Meng Yao says "I killed a guy without permission, so your brother fired me." 

Ha ha ha ha no he doesn't. But he does give Nie Huaisang a sweet, sad smile; he seems touched by NHS's distress. 

Meng Yao carefully removes Nie Huaisang's hands from his shoulders and bows to him, wordlessly signaling the change in their relationship from intimate friends to formal strangers, while Nie Huaisang looks crushed. 

They will return to intimate friendship in the future, but falsely. Meng Yao believes that truly loving a person can include destroying their family and using them as an instrument in your murder plots as long as you don't directly harm them.  Nie Huaisang eventually learns to use people just as brutally, but he doesn't lie to himself about what he's doing. This farewell may be the last harmless moment between these friends. 

Jiang Cheng is distressed by what's going on, while Wei Wuxian crosses his arms and watches, fully in Sherlock Holmes mode, instead of his more usual concerned-for-my-friend mode. This may signal mistrust of Meng Yao, who refused his initial attempt at friendship, and not in a sexy, slice-your-face-off way.  Or it may mean that he's reserving judgement on a complicated family situation. He maintains his uncharacteristic reserve through the entire encounter. 

(more behind the cut!)

Nie Huaisang runs in and asks his brother WTF happened. Nie Mingjue says "he killed my subordinate without permission, when he knows perfectly well power must flow from the ruler; it's like he didn't even read that Foucault book I gave him."

Ha ha ha actually he just yells at his brother, as if NHS doesn’t have his own relationship with Meng Yao after being wonder twink powers with him for probably a couple of years now. NHS has to sit and process his loss and confusion in silence.

As a younger sibling who would make friends with my older siblings' girlfriends and then lose those friends if they broke up, for reasons having nothing to do with why I liked their girlfriends, I super feel Nie Huaisang's pain here.

OTOH, older siblings are entitled to have break ups and not explain themselves to anyone besides their lover because that's the nature of intimacy. The moral is, uhh...don't have a family curse that makes you unreasonably angry. 

Jiang Cheng steps up to advocate for Meng Yao, because Meng Yao is injured, and because Jiang Cheng is actually a born leader who knows better than to throw away a useful subordinate. For example, even when Wei Wuxian is at his drunkest and most defiant, Jiang Cheng tries to reform him, not kick him out, only drawing the line at having unpopular zombie friends.

Wei Wuxian continues to keep his mouth shut, waiting for Nie Mingjue to calm down, and speaking only about the tactical situation. He clearly knows there's more to this story but he's pretty good at keeping his head down in a family ruckus, and we're about to learn why.

Yunmeng Town

The Yunmeng bros go home to Lotus Pier, where they are greeted in town with bows, smiles, and free stuff.

We've mostly been seeing them in their roles within the cultivation community, where Jiang Cheng is grumpy and anxious, and Wei Wuxian is sassy and iconoclastic. Here among common people, they are both charming, friendly, and polite, like the imaginary good kind of gentry.

They hear the news from a local lotus seller that the small clans are coming to the Jiang Clan for shelter, but that otherwise everything's ok, which doesn't sound like everything is ok at all. He gives Wei Wuxian a giant bag of lotuses for his sister to make soup from.

Home to Lotus Pier

All the disciples practicing in the courtyard at Lotus Pier are excited to see them, and one girl goes running to tell Jiang Yanli. Thanks to the admittedly beautiful design of Lotus Pier, she is running for a long time.

A long, long time. Getting around on all these insane walkways must be a real drag if you're not the flying sort of cultivator.

Discipline and Punish

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian immediately go and kneel while they wait for their official punishment. Jiang Cheng is kinda worried about the punishment and Wei Wuxian is like, I'm good at being punished, just let me do it. 

Much later, and for a really long fucking time

He also tries to get Jiang Cheng to stop being mad, even giving him skritches while he says they should be brothers after they die.

Which they will, as it happens, although Jiang Cheng after the Wen torture is only mostly golden-core dead, while WWX dies for real.

When Jiang Fengmian shows up Jiang Cheng starts to explain that they were with Lan Wangji, but Wei Wuxian hushes him; he is still keeping the secret of the Yin Iron. Although he's keeping it in exactly the manner that a teenager keeps their weed stash secret: immediately tell literally every teen friend about it, but keep it extra secret from everybody's parents. 

Happy Families Are All Alike

Now we get to meet Yu Ziyuan, who is generally styled Madame Yu but who I'm going to call by her name just as if she was a male character. More on that concept in a minute. She rolls up looking, smelling, feeling like a million yuan, with her two murder bitches in tow.

Her marriage is an unhappy one, and her husband does his best to avoid her and avoid conflict, lying to the kids that she's tired and then sending her away later with the same line about being tired, which is a particularly gendered kind of gaslighting. She is obviously not tired, other than being tired of Jiang Fengmian's shit.

I'm not going to say she's the worst mother ever, because parenthood in a feudal society entails a wide range of skills, many of which she has in abundance. She starts off with a relatively tender greeting to Jiang Cheng, tuning up his always-amazing sartorial style, which is exactly like her own. They are all ready for the mommy & me fashion show.

That said, she dishes out hellacious verbal abuse to everyone in her family. She targets each one in turn, making Wei Wuxian the focus of most of her ire, but without ever directly speaking to him. He is not, in her view, part of her family. 

The Stages of Family Dinner

1. Try to fix it and defuse the situation

2. Yeah no

3. Just keep your head down and be glad it’s not your turn in the hot seat

This family meal hammers home how much Wei Wuxian is not, actually, part of the family. Jiang Fengmian adopted him into the clan, and told A-Cheng and A-Yi to treat him as a sibling, but he didn't give him the Jiang name, and he didn't get his wife's approval. He also doesn’t expect him to dress like any other clan member, apparently. 

Compare this to how Lan Wangji, actual good parent, fully integrates his own adopted son into his clan and family, starting with giving him the Lan surname.  

The hits just keep coming as she goes after Jiang Cheng for being less gifted than Wei Wuxian, Yanli for performing labor for Wei Wuxian, and Jiang Fengmian for possibly begetting Wei Wuxian.

On first watching this scene I took her question "Is this how you raise someone else's son?" to mean that she thought Jiang Fengmian was being too nice to a kid who was actually an outsider, taking resources away from the real kids. But on rewatching, it's pretty clear that she's saying his favoring Wei Wuxian is evidence that Wei Wuxian is NOT someone else's son; that he's Jiang Fengmian's bastard. 

Jiang Fengmian doesn't say a thing to this, or to her mentioning WWX’s mother. This shit is why WWX is running around in the world desperate for any crumb of info he can get about his Mom; he hears about her all the goddamn time at home, but only as insults to her character.  

A Bitch is Not Wrong

Here's the thing, though; a lot of what Yu Ziyuan says is correct. 

Jiang Fengmian should be a lot more concerned about the danger to the children, and should not leave it up to the kids to decide who's going to bear that danger.

Yanli does a lot of food=love, which is ok in the right doses, but causes her to pretty extremely lose face during the whole "soup for Jin Zixuan" debacle. And her doting on Wei Wuxian is...kinda excessive. I mean, yeah, she’s more like a mom than a sister to him, but still. Running out onto an active battlefield to look for him, frex, will be a skosh too much. 

I have a dictionary too, mom

Jiang Cheng, as the future clan leader, shouldn't let his attachments affect his decision making, and should let Wei Wuxian, who's the superior cultivator, fend for himself more often. We love Jiang Cheng for those moments where he puts himself in harm's way to protect his loved ones, but it's not a good strategy. He constantly yells at Wei Wuxian for the exact same thing he does all the time himself; he just limits who he does it for.

After she roasts the shit out of everyone for these failings, she leaves, and everyone sits around being miserable and not talking about what just happened. 

Not to be gender studies-y on main but: the awful things she says to her children are really not very different from the things that Jiang Cheng says to Jin Ling, although her targeting is more adept. JC also says a lot of mean things to WWX when he’s angry. When a man says cruel or insulting things, it's often presented as real love hidden under a rough exterior. When a woman does it, she's a monster.

If you enjoy this sort of interaction you should definitely have a look at Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and the plays of Eugene O'Neill.

Road Runner

Oh thank god, moving on

Lan Wangji is headed back to Cloud Recesses, and gets ambushed by the roadside with the most ridiculous trap this side of Wile E. Coyote.

Wen Chao thinks the "rug over a hole" trap is a good idea for someone who can literally fly.

Lan Wangji doesn't faff about with sword riding, he just fucking goes up in the air and stays there until he is good goddamn ready to come down. A hole in the sidewalk is really not going to be a problem for him. 

Wen Zhuliu does get in one kick before Lan Wanji yeets backwards away from him, in a moment that's scarier on rewatching, now that I know what Wen Zhuliu is capable of.

Wen Chao talks some smack to Lan Wangji, hilariously complaining about "your patronizing tone" to a man who has literally never spoken a word to him, IIRC, and certainly isn't speaking now. Maybe it's a mistranslation and should be "attitude," or maybe Wen Chao is just that dumb.

Apparently Wei Wuxian made a stack of talismans for Lan Wangji to take on the road with him. This talisman is a twin to the one Lan Wangji brings out way, way later in Yunping, when Wei Wuxian says "you even have kept it until now." Missing scene alert! What else did he make for him?

In Yunping this talisman is used to distract some random harmless street bullies. Here it is used against a seven-man murder squad.

This works.

Assault on Cloud Recesses

Forgettable disciple #1, Su She, comes rushing in to tell Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen that Cloud Recesses is under attack.

I'm pretty sure these dudes already know it, because they are meditating extra hard with a buttload of incense, and Lan Qiren is about to cough up some blood. So I think they're trying to hold the ward, rather than just, like, chilling while their disciples get stabbed.

Cloud Recesses is super on fire, you guys; it's going to totally burn to the ground; look at that conflagration, oh the humanity, etc.

Lan Qiren Rises to the Occasion

Ok, I like to rag on Failmaster Qiren and he is definitely an authoritarian dick a whole lot of the time, but in this scene he is fucking amazing.

He starts off worrying about Lan Wangji, not just out of affection but out of strategic planning, probably in equal parts. All three of these Lans take their clan responsibilities extremely seriously.

Then he calmly assesses the situation while imperturbable Lan Xichen freaks the fuck out. 

Lan Xichen is right to be alarmed, because he knows his uncle, he knows one of them is likely to die, and he knows that Lan Qiren will choose to take the hit.

I love, love, love Lan Qiren's physicality here; how centered and assured he is, as he holds his nephew steady and explains what is required of both of them.

Lan Xichen knows Lan Qiren is right. He is utterly fucking devastated, and all he can do to show his love...

...is to obey. 

This whole scene just. kills me.

Su She and forgettable disciple #2 are in the room for this whole conversation, and they join Lan Xichen in this deep bow. Note: I will be reminding everyone of this fact in Part 2.

Whew. This episode is a LOT. Part 2 Coming Soon!

Writing Prompt: What other goodies did Wei Wuxian put in Lan Wangji's care package before Lan Wangji hit the road without saying goodbye?

Soundtrack: 1. Michelle Branch, Goodbye to You 2. Ludacris, Stand Up

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About "Eda's Requiem" from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who certainly won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

...

...

...HOW IS SEASON TWO SO GOOD?! WE'VE HAD SEVEN EPISODES SO FAR, AND EACH ONE OF THEM WAS A HIT!

Take "Eda's Requiem," for example. It's yet another episode where I have NOTHING bad to say about it! That's two weeks in a row where that happened! HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?!

HOW!

HOW!

...But anyways, "Eda's Requiem." It's another fantastic episode, and I'm about to dive into explaining how and why. Just keep in mind, it's gonna require spoilers to do so, so be wary of that as you keep reading.

Now, let's review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

Eda’s Checklist and Grom Photo: Within the first second, "Eda's Requiem" perfectly sets up Eda's central conflict in the episode. Despite spending years being on her own and looking after herself, she now has two kids that she's constantly caring over. Eda can try all she wants to say that she doesn't care, and I bet she has in the past. But given the hard work she's putting into getting King and Luz what they need and having a grom photo of the three of them together pinned in her mirror, it's pretty clear that those two knuckleheads wormed their way into her heart and are never getting out.

Eda’s Worried About King and Luz Leaving: And thus, that's precisely why something like this bothers her so much. Eda inadvertently adopted two rambunctious rapscallions (Yeah, I know. I'll get to it), so the idea of them not being around her anymore is going to be terrifying. That is a situation most parents, especially mothers, can identify with. It’s called empty nest syndrome and it proves just how much Eda loves Luz and King that she can't stand the thought of her babies leaving the nest. It's yet another well-made, wholesome, found-family moment that this series continues to excel at each week, making me extra excited for more like it to come...while also readying myself for heartbreak when one of them eventually does leave Eda.

Eda and Raine’s Music: Ok, I don't know the exact instruments that were played during this episode, but I also don't care because it was all (for lack of a better term) music to my ears. Every time Eda and Raine played resulted in melodies that are so beautiful and filled with so much emotion and feeling that I'm honestly tempted to listen to them again, multiple times, on repeat. Shows rarely do that for me, as background music doesn't always draw me in as much as lyrical songs do. Usually, it takes something so extraordinarily composed to give me the desire to listen again, and that's the case here. So huge congrats to Brad Breek for doing so. Seriously, the man's been killing it this season.

Eda’s Bard Magic Causing Things to Turn to Ash: This was assuredly a surprise side-effect of the curse. The fact that Eda can sort of do magic at all was its own shock. To then reveal that a specific type can do dangerous things to people and environments is...Well, it definitely brings up its own fair share of questions. Like, how can she do this? Will she do it again, one day? And are there other types of spells that can be negatively affected by Eda's curse? We don't get answers for any of these questions, and odds are, we never will. But that's alright with me. Because if a show makes me consider these many possibilities after a brief amount of time, it is a show that has to be doing something right. Even if I don't get the answers I want, the fact that it caused such a reaction makes me less willing to care.

Raine Whispers: Hey, would you look at that. Another fun, interesting, and compelling character added to the list of this shows' other fun, interesting, and compelling characters...how is this series so good at this!?

Joking aside, Raine's pretty good. I like Raine. They could have been this super serious leader who lost all their fun after years apart from Eda, but I'm glad that they're not. There are moments when Raine takes their job as leader of the BATs seriously, as one would, but I still prefer the fact that they kept a jovial nature despite how grim their situation is. It's an admirable trait to have, and it avoids the trope of making leader characters boring just because they're the ones who have to take things seriously.

Oh, and also, Raine's Disney's first non-binary character who has a stake in the plot. This is a tremendous deal, as you don't usually see that many non-binary characters in children's animation, let alone ones that hold importance to the story. So it's pretty cool for the writers to feature Raine, as it helps several kids feel as though they're finally seen and respected. And the fact that Disney of all companies gave the thumbs up is even more impressive. I hear people say that Dana Terrace should have pitched The Owl House to more progressive networks to avoid pushback, and while I absolutely see your point, I'll have to respectfully disagree. Disney is the largest entertainment industry of all time, so if you want to make LGBTQA+ representation normalized, you gotta stop making splashes and start making waves. Because if the same company that made three racist cats in the span of a few years manages to say that being gay is a-ok, then you know there's something wrong with you. Yes, Disney ended up screwing over the show anyway. But for that one moment, when kids felt pride after seeing a character like Raine, then, in the end, it's kind of worth it.

Also, if you're still having issues with more representation like this popping up in kids' shows, then allow me to redirect you to the complaint department.

...I made that post earlier today for this bit. YOU HAVE BETTER APPRECIATED IT!

Day of Unity is meant to be a Secret: At least, that's what I got when Raine stumbled over their own words. So if it's true, then I wonder why? Why does Belos want to keep the most critical change in the Boiling Isles a secret? Does he want to make it a surprise for his grateful subjects, or does he not want to spread worry and fear amongst the wild witches? It has to be something big if he doesn't want his followers to even say the words "Day of Unity." Whatever reason he has, we most likely won't know until the future. A future that I grow more and more afraid of each week.

Hooty Eating Echo Mouse: My heart sank in that brief moment when I thought that Hooty intensely screwed Luz over in getting back home. But looking back...it is pretty funny.

Just the suddenness of Hooty eating the poor creature that Luz desperately tried to earn its trust is priceless in how shocking it was. And also, Luz's expression.

That was the look of a young girl who immediately shoved her hand down an owl demon's throat the second the scene cut away. The Owl House may not always be a hit in the comedy department, but scenes like this prove that when it's funny, it is hilarious.

Luz and King Entering the Grand Prix: Not much to discuss here. It's just a cute subplot that adds frivolity to the intensity of what's going on through Eda and Raine's story. But I will say that I love how both stories occasionally interconnect with each other through the many moments of Eda being worried about King wanting to leave to find his father and avoiding any conversation about it. It helps both plotlines feel like they belong together, without being something like "Through the Looking Glass Ruins," whereas both stories could have been in their own episode. Which is neat.

How Bard Magic Works: I really love how this season is diving into how the other magic types work. More specifically, the ones that seem a little vague. I mean, stuff like healing, potions, and plants are easy to figure out, but what does it mean when a witch's talents are construction, beast keeping, and bard magic? We've been getting a lot of clearing up lately, with bard magic looking like a witch can control their environments and enemies through the power of music. Which is fair. Music is pretty powerful in the metaphorical sense, and I actually love that it's powerful in the literal sense when in the Boiling Isles.

The BATs: Not much to comment on these three either. The BATs have the potential to have an entertaining dynamic, but they do very little in this episode that I can't say much other than I hope they make a return in the future. But I will make this claim: Amber is my favorite. I'm sorry, but her screaming "You're not our mom!" to then go, "Bye, mommy Eda" is just too precious for me not to love.

I'm a simple man who falls for cute s**t. Leave me alone.

Raeda (RainexEda): Well, EdaxCamila, you were a fun crack ship while it lasted, but I'm afraid that this is now goodbye. The current canon has provided an incredibly adorable and believable relationship that I would be a monster not to support with my whole bi-heart. It's been real.

Ok, back in serious mode: I love these two together. Eda and Raine are grown-ups, and they still act all flustered near each other as if they were still Luz and Amity's age. It's definitive proof that you're never too old to get flustered near a crush, and seeing them interact adds a sense of wholesomeness when seeing them together as well as heartbreak when they're forced apart. Plus, we get confirmation that Eda's LGBTQA+! Whether she's bi, pan, or whatever, now that we know Eda can catch feelings for someone like Raine, it's yet another case that The Owl House is the most important series to the community. Because having the main character be queer is fantastic in its own right. But having the same apply to the motherly mentor figure? That's is an extra bit of normalization that anybody would be willing to appreciate.

Unique Guard Designs: Not many fans are going to appreciate this, primarily compared to everything else this episode does perfectly. For me, I actually like that you see a few Coven Guards looking differently from the others, as it helps make them less like clones and makes it seem like anybody of any body type could be a part of the coven.

Gus Looking Uninterested when Presenting Grand Prix with his Dad: I am positive that you didn't notice this (I didn't even notice it until someone else pointed it out), but there's something to dissect here. It hints that perhaps Gus isn't as interested in his father's field of work as one might think. If he did, he would look a lot less bored and much more excited to be helping Perry Porter present the race. It could just be the race itself, but judging from Gus' expression, it really seems like the kid would prefer to be anywhere but there. And why would he have that reaction to a race that his best friend is competing in? To me, this seems like an inkling of what Gus' relationship with Perry could be, which may not actually get time to shine, what with how little wiggle room the series has now (Thanks Disney). Regardless, it is interesting to notice, and it will certainly have fans thinking for a while.

Bump Being Smug of Luz Being in the Lead: That's it. Principal Bump looking smug as his human student is beating the students of his rivals is yet another moment that proves why Bump is easily the best cartoon principal.

Darius: First of all, this guy is f**king fabulous, and I love him. *Snaps*

Second, he is definitive proof that you do NOT want to f**k around with Coven Leaders. Lilith may have had her intimidating moments, but none of them compare to the guy who can turn himself into an abomination monster where only magic that hasn't existed before can take him down. It's genuinely scary to see Darius lose control, and I fear for the day when Luz inevitably ends up in his crosshairs.

With that said, Darius' still a ton of fun! He may be threatening, but he's just a flamboyant guy that hates the idea of getting his outfit the tiniest bit dirty. And I love that. I love that these Coven Heads have actual personalities instead of being generically evil. I consider it preferable to make villains entertaining rather than blatantly scary as I'll remember the personalities first and the villainous acts last.

Eberwolf: But this one's my favorite. I told you: I'm a simple man who gets easily swayed by cute s**t. And Eber? I mean, just look at her:

She's just a cute widdle rascal! I just want to pinch her cheeks, give her a belly rub, and--

...Eberwolf is not a cute widdle rascal. She is a strong, independent woman, and I will respect her as such from this moment forward...lest I feel her wrath.

That is all. Let's move on.

Eda and Raine Attempting a Final Performance: This was the best scene of the episode. It looked gorgeous, it shows the dedication Eda and Raine have for stopping Belos, and it says so much through so little. Go back and look at how Eda and Raine regard one another when performing Eda's requiem. Through their expressions and a few short words, you know they understand that if they complete the song/spell, they probably won't make it in the end. And yet, they don't care. They both know bad stuff will happen if Belos wins, so Eda and Raine put everything to the side, both their feelings for one another and the people they leave behind if it means putting an end to a tyrant. That level of dedication...Words can't fully describe how powerful that is.

Raine Sacrificing Themselves Instead: But in the end, Raine can't do it. Not when they know the life that Eda has and the people she'll be leaving behind. It's an extra bit of nobleness to the character seeing that Raine refuses to take away a woman from two kids who need her the most. A tad bit selfish, sure, knowing what Belos has planned. But when it comes to love, the romantic, familial, or platonic, the best decisions aren't always the logical ones.

Eda Crying: Luz crying tears me up, but seeing Eda cry is a whole different level of heartbreak. Like Lilith, Eda has her emotions locked up tight, with the closest she came to weeping were those two tears in "Young Blood, Old Souls." In "Eda's Requiem," she cries but almost quickly stops herself. As if she knows that doing so isn't going to save Raine. That is...even worse than seeing Luz break down after losing Eda. The fact that Eda refuses to give herself time to mourn losing someone she loved is tragic because crying is the most natural way of showing grief. Turning that off isn't healthy, and seeing her do it with little resistance is sad to me. It's sad to see a character I love can easily shut off all emotions despite how badly she may want to embrace them. It's one of those moments that, again, by doing so little, it shows so much.

“No one watches Crystal Balls anymore. It’s all about streaming.”: Oof. Even I felt that burn towards cable.

King’s Message: King's message was the pick-me-up I needed after the heart-wrenching sadness this episode put me through a few minutes ago. Seeing King say who he is and listing all the things he loves is nothing short of adorable. On top of that, I adore that Eda willingly recorded the whole thing. She may not want King to leave, but that doesn't mean she'll sabotage the one thing he wants. Especially not after Raine gave up everything so Eda could be with her kids. The opening scene may prove how much Eda cares about a rascal like King, but this heartwarmingly sweet moment reveals just how far she'll go to make him happy.

King’s Dad Reveal: ...ok, I'll be honest, I did not think we'd get that reveal this soon. Dumb of me to say, considering the number of times I've said that these writers don't waste time getting to the s**t, I know. But still, it's pretty cool knowing that King's dad is alive and well, added with the fact that we've got a fair idea of what he looks like. At this point, it's only a matter of time before we see him figure out where the Clawthorne residence is and witness the tear-jerking moments that will follow.

King Changing his Name to King Clawthorne: Not the official adoption I was expecting Eda to make...but DANG IT, is it still diabetes-inducing levels of sweetness!

Personally, I feel like the main reason why Eda breaks down this time is not only because she shouldn't be worried about King leaving her life, but also because Raine's sacrifice wasn't in vain. Her kids really do need Eda because no matter how far apart they'll be, she will always be a part of their life...dang it, I'm going to cry too!

What those Coven patches really do: Well...that was horrifying to see.

...Writers, if you kill off the best non-binary character in animation (it's a short list, I know), we are going to have PROBLEMS!

IN CONCLUSION

"Eda's Requiem" is--surprise surprise--another A+. The emotions hit hard, the representation hits harder, Raine is a fantastic addition to the cast, and it was all surprisingly cute at times. Season Two is currently on a hot streak, constantly winning with every episode that's come out so far. When a bad episode does eventually show up (IT'S GONNA HAPPEN!), I'll be sure to sing my requiem then. For now, I'm just gonna enjoy the ride.