#The MC has zero agency

[rosecorcoranwrites]

If anyone wants to know the horrors without having to subject themselves to actually reading it, watch my hour length rant review:

I finally broke and I'm reading the Handmaid's Tale after eight years of hearing about it from every halfwit on tumblr with a store-bought political opinion and I'm about half way through so I can now confidently say it's fucking terrible

[badolmen]

I can fix him*

*bad writing, underutilized gameplay mechanics, characters with unfulfilled potential, funded by bootlickers

[chaotic-beautiful]

Build up where ??? HOTD

Those who are defending HOTD writing , fighting tooth and nail like obsessed fangirls , are they even watching the same show ??? This show is literally garbage writing , zero characterisation and full of illogical plot holes looking like pot holes on a muddy village road .

Where to even begin ? Atp, a whole 200 page book can be written on the lack of writing and cringe fanfiction OC inserts of showmakers that are not even subtle anymore.

Where's the smartly written dialogs and interesting scenes between small fry characters and MCs ?? Interestingly composed scenes of diverse cultures , grounding scenes of daily lives that are somehow intricately connected to who they are about one or more characters.

Truly , true art can not be replicated or replaced . I'd watch old clips of GOT where it's just two random characters talking to each other and nothing else happening over this entire dump on fire season . Such memorable quotes n conclusions that kept us all on our toes came out of such conversations.

Let me not even start on our female characters. Whichever gave the showmakers this idea that a person who doesn't even identify with that particular gender will be ideal candidate to play a feminist icon in the show ? They do not understand the power that comes from embracing the fragility, gentleness, allure and softer sides of being a woman . And the show makers ?? They've zero idea about Women , their bodies , their hearts , pregnancy, motherhood , marital bond , importance of husband wife bonding and rearing children . They've zero idea what makes a woman strong . I've seldom seen such poorly written female characters, each weak , pathetic , cut board cut outs ( Rhaena , Baela , Haelena ) and unrelatable. They're denied of agency ( Alicent ) , femininity ( Rhaenyra ) , ambition, ruthless strive. Catherine, Sansa , Dany , Cersei , Arya even small female characters that appeared for a season are of fuller blood and flesh , feel like real life and they each embrace different sides of what being a woman actually means.

Show makers have zero respect or true regard for LGBTQA characters. They literally deleted a bunch of canonically established book characters belonging from that group . They treat Ser Laenor like garbage . No body cared about him when he was in the show , he literally proposed to be there for their children and for a fresh start with his wife but was then kicked out from her life because atp, she felt she needed a new husband to secure her position and safety of her children and decided to seduce and manipulate an emotionally vulnerable Daemon mere days after his wife's death.

And now in the show every one has moved on. Where is Laenor?? Is he alive ? Why is Seasmoke so restless and ready for a new rider ?? Can he sense that his rider is gone? Does your favorite girl boss cares ?? No ! Neither does the show.

But nor does the viewers , because hey we've got a hot toxic lesbian kiss that pretty much ruins the essence of both the characters and deviates them so far away from their book selves that they're no more the same characters. They might as well just change their names and introduce them as OCs . Yay for representation. We won ! Not.

The show stinks so badly of racism that it makes me feel sick. The Valeryons are played by a bunch of Bl actors without that having any effect on the story . AND yet those same characters are treated like disposable and insignificant within the story , existing as props to enhance the story of White characters. How typical. 🤔 They erased Nettles whose story reverberated through the heart of Westeros for eons to come and was truly inspiring , because that could not endanger what they're trying to do with their OC Rhaenyra, not comfortable making her human by showing her jealous and possessive of her OWN husband whom she loved crazily and was prepared to cross all limits of morality for him . No , that'd make her a human being and a wife . Can't have that here. Doesn't fit with our narrative. Can't show her to be dismissive and vindictive as she was of Nettles because of who she was and where she came from. Can't have the simp Daemon of the show look outside of his cheater wife, when Nettles was without a doubt the most important person for him near the end of his life.

They ruined another book , ruined great characters and those who have no idea about the book and the essence of these characters are praising and defending this garbage by attacking the books fans . It's indeed an interesting psychological study how like minded people are attracted to like minded stuff.

Mike drop.

[phoenixtakaramono]

I believe Cheating Men must die is a great story

It adds wonderful twists in existing tropes and genres. The protag isn't perfect but she's great, she likes eliminating assholes, which is valid

It's also interesting how Su Luxia doesn't have an identity issue since she lives under so many identities but I guess she's hardened for the job

For everyone who hasn't read Cheating Men Must Die (comic "Wan Zha Chao Huang" (万渣朝凰) by Shi Dai Man Wang (时代漫王)), this is an open invitation for y'all to read it. Genre: quick transmigration, revenge story. Basically your ex-cannon fodder MC, Su Luxia, is a System agent who transmigrates (isekais/ world hops) into the bodies of women of each world who are wronged by the Male Lead, Female Lead, another canon fodder, author, etc and changes their fate. I forgot how many chapters of the manhua there are presently fan-translated but I believe the current season finale in Mandarin Chinese ends at over 800+ chapters of art. (The link has the MTL English translation, but if you don’t like MTL y'all can also peep at other sites for ENG fan-translations.)

There are a couple of different summaries but I love this summary the best:

Don't you think that all cheating sc*m need to die? Su Luxia, an intern pro working in a transmigration agency, doesn't believe in that. For her, all cheating bastards need to rot in hell before they die. Or else they won't suffer the taste of their own medicine! Using elaborate means, she beats up countless cheating bastards and b*tches. Su Luxia sneers... "People take everything they get for granted. The more they get, the more they don't strive for it. An unrequited love is an example. There is always a sc*m who takes advantage. Since they brought this upon themselves..." She studies her face in the mirror and smirks, "... let them have a taste of their own medicine." System: "You're making that scary face again!" Follow our female main lead, Su Lüxia, who is bound to the Female Lead Counterattack System and transmigrates to several small worlds beating up countless sc*m.

Art bait for y'all who are still hesitating (and some of my favorite arcs, and those that'd surprised me like the arc where she transmigrated into the Second Male Lead):

RE: I have to agree! Ty for the Ask, @bernkastel11! I had a response ready for ya the day I saw this in my inbox and literally typed a long essay with links, but lo and behold tumblr ate it. 😭 But finally I have the motivation for a take 2. Honestly the manhua is a guilty pleasure of mine. The art's great (we definitely see the artist improve over time with each arc...even with the obviously borrowed assets and sometimes janky perspective, hahaha) and I love how Su Luxia is a badass femme fatale (white lotus & green tea b*tch), as well as her friendship with her cute talking hamster System. I also love how the artist is giving variety; it's not all just kicking butt, chewing bubble gum, finding romance. She's become an empress, made a friendship with the exorcist Female Lead, become a mother, led revolutions, survived a death game, became a guy, made a Male Lead yandere and obsess over her to the point of trying to hunt her down in whichever world it is, has some...questionable sapphic overtones, transmigrated into a BL novel, revisited some worlds with reoccurring characters, etc. They satirize a lot of preexisting tropes, and I love it when artists and writers have fun with the meta. I also like how they're slowly expanding on the lore of her interest with previous System agent Zero (the whole reason why Su Luxia became a System agent).

"It's also interesting how Su Luxia doesn't have an identity issue since she lives under so many identities but I guess she's hardened for the job"

The thing about QTs in general is the artist or author usually don't put much emphasis on the consequences of transmigrating so many times into other people's bodies. It's just a staple of the genre (because they're usually portrayed as badass, cunning, and OP, what have you with a strong willpower to assume all these identities, overcome challenges, and not experience dysphoria). So far I think the only writer I can think of off the top of my head that addresses it is: The Exhausting Reality of Novel Transmigration (novel / manhwa). I highly rec it. So far it is one of the few works where they explore that concept of how mentally exhausting it is adopting another person's identity as well as the consequences of "the characters" finding out (it's not your usual "oh, you hopped into my dead daughter's body and assumed her identity? Well la de dah, guess you're my daughter now." No, we're talking about the mother suspecting, finding out, being horrified, and having a mental breakdown trying to exorcise "the evil spirit" who's taken possession of her daughter's body). It also touches on the danger of an ordinary woman transmigrating into the body of a Female Lead in an R18+ novel where the Male Lead is a yandere.

Since you'd mentioned CMMD, I can give you several other links:

Cheating Men Must Die animated audio version of the first few arcs (King of the Phoenix), comes with ENG subs

Mission in Parallel 2022 Chinese short drama (it's the late 1910s socialite arc where she transmigrates as the overweight nightclub owner & wife of the abusive husband who gets seduced by a singer who's also a transmigrator), comes with ENG subs

Cheating Men Must Die (2022)(it's the arc where she transmigrates into the world where she's the villainess and the CEO Male Lead is self-aware, and the author has signed with the evil System trying to kill off Su Luxia so that she herself can transmigrate into the body of her own FL), comes with ENG subs

[virtualitythegamer]

Top Streamer by Dynasty: Rivals to Lovers trope at its finest (a story review)

Ah yes, Top Streamer. One of the very first community stories I started ever since and damn I'm lucky to be able to read it😍😍. I mostly got hooked because I was like "oh cool! A story featuring video games? LEZGOOO" and went with it. Well, it is actually more than about video games. There are a lot of things about this story that makes it not only special but also as one of my all time favorites🥹 and I'm more than glad to share it to y'all. (⁠灬⁠º⁠‿⁠º⁠灬⁠)⁠♡

THE PLOT:

In this story, you get to play as a streamer named Vienna Fox who is currently aiming to become one of the top streamers on E-Stream. To achieve that goal, she needs to get to the Top 10 on E-Stream and snag the HypeDXY sponsorship which would help skyrocket her streaming career. And so, she and her talent agency hold a dating contest that also serves as part of a charity simply for that goal. It's not until Vienna's intense rival PlayerZero enters the contest (which she thinks is nuts, considering she hates him so much) and everyone is loving it for the banter and chemistry and "enemies to lovers". However, it's until things are not going smoothly for the both of them when it comes to achieving their goals that they both decide to team up by fake dating which will help their social media image, considering the fans love their dynamic together. And who knows, Vienna might catch actual feelings for Zero depending on your points with him.😏

THE LOVE INTEREST:

We only have one love interest to pursue in this story and that is PlayerZero or mostly known as Zero in general. He is known to pick on Vienna a bunch of times which the fans play off as a bit of "playful banter" that "blurs the line between love and hate". Except, his teasings are never meant with ill intentions and that he's actually a genuine guy who doesn't mean any harm— sarcasm is just his love language. In fact, you'll be surprised by how he is actually a green flag despite his first impressions. However, another thing to note is that Zero is a mysterious guy. No one knows his real name or who he truly is behind the camera, so it is important to take note of that if you want high points with him. There's more to him than meets the eye and taking the time to get to know him more is so worth it in the end.

WORTH THE READ?

To answer the question, hell yes it is worth the read! And it's so much more than worth it(⁠●⁠♡⁠∀⁠♡⁠).

First things first, this is such a well-written story with a beloved main character and a beloved love interest that definitely deserves all the popularity and hype it gets. Vienna is such an amazing main character and it's just refreshing to see a bubbly and cheerful female lead who is not a pushover and has a back bone. I also love the big importance of feminism in the story considering how there's also not a lot of female representation in the Internet and just in general🥹. Another thing I love is Zero— bro is just the sweetest green flag LI and his character arc made me cry. His character development at the end of the story especially in the happiest ending was just beautiful that pursuing him is worth it.

But more importantly, the enemies to lovers trope— or more like, the rivals to lovers trope. The very core of this story. The trope was just well-executed and the story did the trope so much justice! Majority of the stories in Episode and majority of current books in general take the trope as "LI bULLiEs tHe MC wHIcH iS ACtuAlly rOmAnTic🤮🤮🤮" which is NOT THE VERY POINT OF THE TROPE. I'm just so happy to see the trope finally having the justice it deserves considering it's one of those misunderstood tropes that are actually good if executed properly. Overall, this story is a really good and well-written read in Episode's community catalogue and is one of the Best™ representations of the trope and that's what makes the story a popular fan favorite.

TO SUMMARIZE:

PROS

Well-written and amazing story.

Good character development for the MC and LI

Well-written MC

Amazingly well-written love interest

Allows full customization for MC and LI. Can also change MC's first name. Also allows full customization for MC's and LI's families too in the later chapters

Pretty art scenes

Point systems are easy and simple

Point Top-Ups at the end of a chapter

Bonus scenes (sometimes featuring the LI's POV). These tend to cost at least 5-8 gems

Well-written romance and chemistry between the MC and LI.

CONS

Skip-The-Wait which costs gems

Overall, I highly recommend this story to:

Enemies/Rivals to Lovers fans

People looking for a good romance read

People who like video games and/or want to try a gamer MC

Sunshine x Grumpy fans

People who prefer Choices Matter stories

TLDR: Top Streamer deserves to be one of the popular community stories in Episode because it's just a really good story💗💖.

[yinyuedijun]

Hey I probably sent this ask before, but I wanna send it again

I have read your Zero Sum game and Translation fic and I found the way you write the mc and Aventurine + their relationship to be interesting. I was like " wow, okay I like these two together but they're gonna need a lot of therapy if they decide to stay together 😆"

I'd like to know what was your thought process behind writing their dynamic? Because it seems that they are two severely traumatized people who got together

hi there - yes you did send this ask before, sorry I haven't gotten the chance to answer it yet! I can be a little (a lot) slow with answering asks unfortunately :') (irl + writing are very time consuming, plus my inbox has been scary lately lol)

thank you for reading zsg!! I put my whole writerussy into that fic so I am very happy you enjoyed it LOL. you are indeed correct that aventurine and mc are two deeply traumatized people who got together - I actually wrote an afterword that touches on the specific theme of their trauma response. self-objectification & the fucked up power dynamics of their relationship are a direct consequence of their trauma as having been trafficked (and abused) as commodities. they don't know how else to view themselves and each other, so that is the shape that their relationship has taken - and their relationship allows them to find agency and experience a kind of intimacy despite this trauma. you can read that afterword if you are interested in dissecting that specific dynamic a little more!

but in general I love exploring cycles of abuse and trauma. I love writing about the ways in which people are distorted by extreme trauma, and how they can survive and love each other despite it (and often they love each other in wrong ways in my fics, but it is always a kind of love nevertheless). I particularly love writing aventurine because he is a character who has been deeply traumatized (in specific ways I relate to), but survives despite it. and in canon, he does struggle with loving himself because of that trauma, but in my fics I like to explore ways he can find love despite that (even if it involves some self-inflicted gaslighting and manipulation on his end HAHAHA)

thanks for the question, I loved answering it ♥️

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Hello there! I've been thinking a lot about the parallels between Atsushi and Sigma lately(their clothes in their respective flashbacks looking the same,how they're both curled in similar positions with locked up,their faces looking alike when they panic,and Dazai openly saying Sigma reminds him if Atsushi).

With all these comparmemts I've been reminded of hoe Atsushi also apparently has a connection to the book like Sigma does,with Fitzgerald saying that Atsushi is the "tiger beetle" that he needs to find the book in the Guild arc.

I was wondering if you had any theories on what this could mean for Atsushi's character since its been something that's been relatively ignored for a while now which is odd considering Atsushi is the Mc and in other series this would have likely been addressed more but then again we don't really know much about Atsushi as protagonist,but aside from that,any thoughts?

Oh yeah, the parallels between Sigma and Atsushi are numerous to say the least.

About Atsushi: I’ve made a couple theories about him and his connection to the Book, namely

I think it’s possible him and Akutagawa have the capacity to create a singularity that is the only thing that could destroy it or its “seal”. (The tiger claws can cut through anything including abilities/Beast Dazai zeroing in on some kind of singularity they can make which will be necessary somehow, when the tiger claws can’t really be a singularity because there’s no inherent contradiction as far as I’m aware)

Atsushi has two abilities - one is the blue crystal from Dead Apple which is a latent power related to the Book that is “stored” within him for safekeeping. The tiger is a defensive ability specifically for the purpose of protecting it - the red crystal.

About Sigma, I don’t have as much but I did come up with a really weird concept that Sigma was the “main character” of his parallel world. This would explain

Why he has so many notable similarities with Atsushi.

Why his memories are missing - because without the protagonist, his fragile parallel timeline collapsed and now no longer exists.

To be clear I don’t think this is what actually is going to be revealed with Sigma (it’s far more likely he just had his memories written out or there’s some kind of failsafe to keep him from retrieving them - like the “no law enforcement will believe the agency” caveat) but it’s fun to theorize. I wrote up a big post on everything we know about the Book so far, including character connections; if you haven’t already seen that, you can check that out! I intended it as a helpful reference for theory making in the first place.

If you do think up an interesting theory about these two or notice something else cool, feel free to drop me another ask and explain it! :)

[kabutoraiger]

masamune being in jail in ex-aid and neon's dad being in jail in geats... suspicious

we talk about it a lot but i wonder if anyone's ever actually sat down & compiled the sheer number of "recycled" elements across 2 or more takahashi shows. i never made it through zero-one so mine might not be comprehensive but off the top of my head

a disease that infects civilians and produces monsters (game disease, jamato infection)

the nice guy put-upon hero who gets bullied by fellow riders as well as by the writer (emu, keiwa) and eventually mcfucking snaps when a woman he loves is killed (aruto, keiwa)

the "techno girl" heroine who's surface-level besties with the lead but has like zero agency as a character (poppy, izu, tsumuri) and "dies" near the end of the show (still to be seen if tsumuri will be dealt this hand)

she has an unconventional familial relationship to a smug man in the cast that she does not always seem to enjoy (ace & tsumuri, kuroto & poppy)

the fun, slightly sketchy older brother type who's the most likeable cast member but gets minimal screentime (kiriya, mr raiden, win), who dies early on but comes back from the grave later to be the MC's right hand man, his silly rabbit (kiriya, win)

grumpy guy with a flat emotional affect and a line of dialogue that he will repeat over and over again in like every scene he's in (taiga, horobi, michinaga) and also turns out to be kind of a dweeb (taiga, michinaga)

rider has a dead boyfriend or girlfriend who is their initial main motivation and they keep seeing Visions of (hiiro, michinaga)

rider discovers that some aspect of their identity is false / artificially constructed (fuwa, neon)

annoying unhinged villainous genius man who is more than happy to be turned into one of the monsters (kuroto, daichi)

evil CEO (masamune, gai, kurama)

who is also the domineering father of one of the riders, have a backstory where their loved one tragically died & have a fraught relationship with their child bc of it, and get a scene where someone visits them in prison (masamune, kurama)

a whole "species" of "techno people" who have to learn how to have new/healthier human emotions (bugsters, humagears, supporters)

these techno people have one specific human they have a deep connection with (bugsters, supporters)

a scene where the lead's Bonded Pair learns the fear of death in order to realize the value of human lives (parad, ziin)

evil woman who acts Like That about the heroes' suffering (azu, beroba) (they're even styled alike)

[hampop]

Me, explaining the plot of WYIM to my husband: Nothing note worthy has happened in twenty chapters. My main character has zero plot agency and doesn’t want plot agency. Interesting things are happening in the world around her and the reader only gets glimpses because the mc Does Not Care. These other characters are skin deep and you already know what happens to three of them based on the canon. This story is a dead end street by design.

Him: ….is that…like, fun to read? At all?

Me: Probably not.

[mysmestranscripts]

00:18 Strange alarm (Participant)

Seven Route, Day 5

[Background: Early morning]

[Music: Mysterious Clues]

Yoosung: MC!

Yoosung: [Glow box] Didn’t you hear a strange alarm?

Choice 1: No I haven’t.

Yoosung: Hmm…

Yoosung: I guess it was just my phone…

Choice 2: Heya Yoosung… I did see some weird messages!

Yoosung: Hello…!

Yoosung: Weird messages?

Yoosung: I didn’t see any…

Yoosung: I was just playing LOLOL

Yoosung: but my phone rang so l came in,

Yoosung:

Yoosung: [Droopy box] but nothing seems to be out of the ordinary.

Choice 1: I’ll leave him a word for you ^^ [Seven]

Yoosung: Please do!

Yoosung: I was so surprised that I left without completing the quest.

Yoosung: My guild members are gonna hate me for disappearing like that…

Yoosung: Please tell him that I need him to check my messenger!

Choice 2: It must be a bug… Seven’s not as good as he says he is. [Seven]

Yoosung: Ugh.

Yoosung: Seven.

Yoosung: And he calls himself Seven Zero Seven the Great…

Yoosung: I should ask him to check out my app then.

Yoosung: I’m practically allergic to server maintenance,

Yoosung: But I do know that it’s the only way to prevent problems

Yoosung: Then,

Yoosung: Imma go back

Yoosung: to LOLOL.

Choice 1: Yoosung, turn off that computer and go to bed.

Yoosung:

Yoosung: OMG!!!

Yoosung: I thought you were my mom for a sec…

Yoosung: Don’t do that to me, haha.

Yoosung: My mom’s gonna go ballistic if she finds out I game like this. lololol

Yoosung: See you!!

Choice 2: You’re very quick. lol [Yoosung]

Yoosung: I’m only being professional.

Yoosung: [Big box with stars] If you’ve begun a question, you have to see it to the end.

Yoosung: You have to be responsible about things like that. lol

Yoosung: Anyways, I’ll be off!

Yoosung: [Cloud box with stars] Good night!!

Yoosung: Laterz

[Yoosung has left the chatroom.]

Story Mode: Seven

[Background: Seven's bunker]

[Music: Mysterious Clues]

???: Hello. How can you sleep right now?

???: Don't make me say wake up again. Where did I put my taser… Oh, here it is!

Seven: Huh? Aarrgh!! Ms. Vanderwood!

Seven: Madam! Please put that taser away! That's for torture.

Vanderwood: Don't scream… You're hurting my ears.

Vanderwood: And quit calling me madam.

Seven: Then Sir Vanderwood!

Vanderwood: …Stop joking around.

Seven: No.

Vanderwood: Do you want me to hit you?

Seven: No!

Vanderwood: Did you finish work?

Seven: No!

Vanderwood: Are you doing that on purpose?

Seven: No. But when did you come in? The gate question changes at midnight… You managed to come in!?

Vanderwood: I carry around an Arabic dictionary because of you… And don't change the subject.

Seven: No.

Vanderwood: Oh, I guess you're not afraid of my taser gun then.

Seven: Alright alright. You're the boss and I'm the servant, right?

Vanderwood: Just answer my question. Why haven't you finished work?

Seven: Because I didn't work.

Vanderwood: …

Vanderwood: My arm is having a very hard time trying not to take out the taser gun.

Seven: Oh my god! I can't believe I didn't finish work! Oh no! What should I do??

Vanderwood: Is it because you got paid with potato chips last time? Your performances have been really bad after that.

Vanderwood: The boss told me that you haven't been doing very well lately.

Seven: I said I don't care since I like those chips. So the Honey Buddha Chips have nothing to do with my recent performances.

Seven: But… I do have a prediction report saying that I'll do really well if I get compensated with cars. Do you want to see it?

Vanderwood: Cars? If you get anything from an intelligence agency, you're just going to be traced. I wouldn't take it for the world.

Seven: Oh, right. Cancel that.

Vanderwood: Why don't you ask them to give you a maid instead? Why is your house like this all the time? Empty soda cans, potato chip bags...

Vanderwood: And why did you shred up all that paper? Do you have ADHD or something...? I can't believe you manage to get work done here.

Seven: I was just about to say. My house is so dirty that I'm always distracted… The boss will understand once we give him a picture of my house.

Vanderwood: Yeah yeah, what a great excuse. He'll totally understand… Ugh! Your sofa smells like soda.

Seven: It's the lovely scent of Ph.D. Pepper. I get really focused once I drink it, but once I'm finished, it just makes my house more dirty.

Seven: Since my house is like this, I can't help but imagine decoding all the dust particles that fly around here… Huh...!? Decoding it in my imagination is making me hallucinate all the palm oil particles from the Honey Buddha Chips multiplying exponentially!

Seven: I want to eat them…! Oh god… I see corn starch and honey particles floating around over there…!

Vanderwood: What the hell are you talking about, you weirdo...? Alright, I'll clean up the house so just get back to work! You idiot.

Seven: An idiot...? Aren't you being too harsh to a genius secret agent right now?

Vanderwood: I barely stopped myself from calling you a cockroach. Since your house is always like this, I don't know if I come here to keep an eye on you or be your maid.

Seven: Alright, Vanderwood the 3rd… Sorry I treat you like a maid all the time. But will you first sweep the floor?

Vanderwood: Are you kidding me?

Seven: No. If you're not going to clean, then I need to play a round of LOLOL. I'm serious.

Vanderwood: What? God, seriously…

[Background: Seven Album 3]

Seven: Huh? What? But why did my screen freeze...?

[Music stops]

Vanderwood: How can you play games right now!?

Seven: Vanderwood... Come see this.

[Music: Dark Secret]

Vanderwood: …Hey, I think you got hacked.

Seven: Me...? Hacked? This is… this is the RFA Messenger server…

Vanderwood: Turn on the log. Hurry!

[marshmallowprotection]

If it's not too much trouble, could you write a scenario about how Zen, Luciel and Lila would react if Mc broke up with her boyfriend? (Mc's boyfriend was a person who had shady business dealings and she left him for his safety but he insists)

Zen is your friend who wants nothing more than for you to advocate for yourself and get the respect you deserve in a relationship. He isn't the type to stand by when someone is being treated poorly once he's made aware of it.

He would be proud of you for leaving, proud of you for choosing to stand up for yourself and say you want better for your life, and proud of you for doing something difficult even if it felt like it would be impossible to do. You shouldn't put yourself in danger to be with someone who doesn't think twice about your safety. If someone loves you, they should want to get their act together, he thinks.

He knows plenty of guys out there who went from street gangs to upstanding citizens through a lot of luck but mostly hard work. If they can change, anyone can change, but this guy? Oh, he has no respect for this guy knowing he told you to stay when it could put your life in danger. It's good to love someone but it's not good to put them in danger for a job you could let go of in a heartbeat.

Saeyoung attempted to cut all personal ties to the world as soon as he went into the agency because of how clear they made it to him that he would never want to have a "weakness".

People who get involved with something shady or dangerous will always have a target on their back and to think of anyone doing that and ignoring the threat makes him sick to his stomach. In his route, he fought hard to keep the MC away from him, knowing they might get tortured within an inch of their life because of his job. He would never ask someone to stay when loving him is life or death.

He has zero respect for someone who would ask you to stay behind and risk everything for passion. He'd be a hypocrite if he didn't say he understood the desire for love, but if you're going to do something in this world that's not safe for a "normal" life, you can't ask someone to stay with you and sacrifice their safety forever. Sure, this "shady" way of life may not be like the agency, but if it could get you killed? It isn't safe nor is it justifiable to stay.

Lila would be proud of you for standing up for yourself. You had to make a hard choice and you chose what felt right. That's something she has a hard time doing herself. You don't deserve to be in a tough spot because someone's risking your safety with their choices.

She'd never want someone near and dear to her heart to put themself into a dangerous situation because someone they love doesn't think twice about what their choices are doing to not only them but the people they're supposed to care about.

Saeran corrected his mistakes and worked on them, you know. She stood by him and believed in him because he was willing to put in the work, just like she was. But, given the fact that your ex wasn't doing the hard work to change or deviate from a career path that could put everyone in harm's way? She knows you did the right thing. It might sting for a little while, but you deserve someone who loves you and is willing to turn away from a lifestyle that brings nothing but harm!

[ur-mousey]

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Collar x Malice Ponytail and Stalkers

I'm a slut for one and not so much the other.

Plot Summary: In the world of a dystopian Shinjuku, Japan. Follow Ichika Hoshino solve the X-Day cases of July, September and October, while falling into turbulent love affairs. See part one to learn more about the overall plot and my thoughts on the MC.

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There are three routes that you could get stuck with on your first play of Collar X Malice. And I got Okazaki Kei's route.

But, oh boy, should he have been a part of the unlockable characters. His storyline would've made more sense that way.

For the optimal completion order of the game, it is advised to choose Enomoto Mineo and/or Sasasuka Takeru for the first two plays. Then in proceeding order, venture through Okazaki Kei, Shiraishi Kageyuki, and Yanagi Aiji routes.

By this logic, I placed myself in the worse possible situation. Smack dab in the middle. I played the two middle routes. 😅

Warning: Heavy Spoilers for all concerning Okazaki Kei and Shiraishi Kageyuki!!

✖️

Thoughts on Okazaki Kei:

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Rating: ( my opinion ) July's Case Story Building = 6/10 Datability = 4/10 Overall fun = 4.6/10

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Endings:

End 4 (Failure of a Fan) : Hoshino Ichika gets shanked by a groupie gal in a bunny jacket. ~ What's her deal? Don't know.

End 5 (You're such a Strange Person) : Okazaki threatens to go to the police after Hoshino's conversation with Suguwara Rika where she comes off as a conspirator. Adonis proceeds to poison her.

End 6 (You Weren't the One) : Okazaki decides to go to the police with the information about the collar. He proceeds to get shot and dies a meaningless death. ~ We'll dissect this ending. He pissed me off.

End 7 (A Dying Wish) : Hoshino Ichika ran after Sanjou, the perp of the August murders, and boom!!! She died via landmine.

End 8 (Icy Hands and Demon Whispers) : Hoshino misses the final shot against Zero, the leader of Adonis, and she is killed. Okazaki is tormented over his failures that he contemplates suicide. After he talks himself out of it, Zero finds and murders him.

True End 9 (✖️) : Hoshino and Okazaki are able to destroy the base and get away. Not before Hoshino gets fatally wounded. Okazaki is the knight and shinning armor who gets her to safety. They share a kiss in her hospital room. Everything is peaceful. ~ As True Endings goes, there's more to this ending. I'm not gonna talk about it.

Pros and Cons : ( All of Okazaki Kei's pros can be seen as a con )

Okazaki Kei is overtly affectionate. His touch starve nature can be endearing and a curse. Once he holds you down, you're stuck.

Okazaki Kei is protective and possessive. If you like the bodyguard esc archetype, he is your man...

However, Okazaki Kei demands his partner to fully rely on him, and he isolates Hoshino from other people. She couldn't even reach out independently to the Detective Agency who are more than capable of helping.

Okazaki Kei is kinda an overgrown baby. He has amazing reflexes for combat, but that's about it. Simple domestic chores are hard for him. He tried to make tea and fucked it up.

Okazaki Kei plays hot and cold. It's subtle but there. IF you do not give him the exact answer he's looking for, he get's sulky.

Okazaki Kei's entire moral philosophy is a red flag. And he is really stubborn about it = another red flag. ~ We'll have to talk about it.

Review :

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I went into his route thinking that I would like him. I was mistaken. He is the worst of all the characters so far. And, the only other route that I've completed was Shiraishi Kageyuki. Let's start:

The July Case = A woman is harassed by her male stalker in a public area of Shinjuku. He is flailing a knife whilst threatening her life. "If I can't have you, no one can" -type energy. Before any harm could be done, a random civilian disarms the stalker and lands a fatal blow to his heart, effectively killing him.

I don't plan to go more in-depth about the case itself. Maybe after I play through all the routes, will I then, do a separate post. However, as of now, I want to say that I am disappointed by this case.

It was extremely easy to put the puzzle pieces together. And with the help of Okazaki Kei, we quickly solved the August case. Or at least we know who the killer was but not the perpetrator. As in, we don't know who hired the killer to be the assassin. Which we'll most likely learn in Sasazuka Takeru's route.

Due to the concept of substitution murders, I fear this would cause many of the routes to lack in the murder mystery department.

We'd learned valuable information regarding August's case by solving July as quickly as possible. Ultimately sidelineing that story to follow on a random lead which should've been explored in Sasazuka Takeru's route.

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Now, onto the man himself.

Okazaki's Kei's philosophy is mortifying. He sees himself as an empty shell whose purpose relies on the livelihood of the 'one'. His life is not capable of meaning unless he dies protecting someone with inherent value. When he first meets Hoshino Ichika, he is not looking at her, he is purely evaluating her worth to conform to his toxic ideology.

End 6 (You Weren't the One) Okazaki is aware that Hoshino poses no threat. He understands the circumstances of the collar and how she's a forced pawn in the grand scheme of things. If the police get wind of the collar, Hoshino and the people she loves are at risk of danger.

You wanna know what this man does. Okazaki Kei takes Hoshino to the park where he confronts her. He explains that he'll take her case to the police. All because she, rightfully!!!, didn't want to get shot.

He is a bitch. He put an innocent person in danger because she didn't fit his suicide mission. And he does this again in End 5.

Okazaki Kei's affection raises based on your dependency of him. The more you talk about him, the more he likes you. That's bullshit. And, in comparison, Shiraishi Kageyuki's affection grows as you're honest and authentic with him.

Okazaki Kei is possessive. Hoshino needed the help of the Detective Agency for they are her only resource to investigate Adonis. However, he keeps her away from utilizing their skills. It is not until Adonis pins their backs against the wall that Okazaki relies on Yanagi's protection.

I love the Yandere coated characters. However, Okazaki Kei was not it for me. I founded that I got frustrated with him.

Okazaki Kei uses evasive speech against Hoshino Ichika to agree to his ideology in the beginning of the route. Then, when you have the audacity to fight against his suicide mission, he argues with you. He suffers from survivors guilt due to a past mission where he failed to protect others, resulting in a fellow officer's death.

It made little sense. The officer who had died was latter revealed to be an Adonis spy. His objectives were to kill the VIP client who the Special Protection (SP) Division sought to protect. However, he did fail and it resulted in his after saving Okazaki Kei from fallen rubble.

"It's your fault," were his final words. But what did he mean by that!?

The spy failed his mission. The SP division did not, albeit they got shit from not stopping a bomb. *Side-eye* But, how was the spy's failure Okazaki Kei's fault? Especially since Okazaki was not aware that a spy was amongst the rank.

Meaning that he did nothing to prevent the spy's movements. Also Okazaki Kei found out his coworker was a spy after his passing.

Did the spy mean that Okazaki Kei caused his death? Sure. I guess. But, no one told the spy to protect him, when his mission consisted of murdering someone.

And if anything, Okazaki Kei should be glad that he died because:

A - he was a spy and threatened the client's life that...

B - Okazaki was sworn to protect to the highest degree at the cost of his own life. To say the least, this means, Okazaki would've had to kill him anyways if the event presented itself. But, what do I know.

It's understandable that Okazaki Kei would have a warped sense of self. However, I hate that this is used as an explanation for putting the person he supposedly loves through psychological abuse.

My consensus is that he's a bitch.

➗

Thoughts on Shiraishi Kageyuki:

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Rating: ( my opinion ) September + October's Case Story Building = 9.2/10 Datability = 8/10 Overall fun = 9/10

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Endings:

End 24 (Let me Hear Your Voice) : Hoshino Ichika gets murdered by Sugawara Rika, the stalker victim in July. ~ Granted she had a rough day. Wrong place, wrong time.

End 25 (Doll with Closed Eyes) : Shiraishi, without anyone's help, confronts Zero and is killed in the process. His lifeless body is left out where he would feed the cats. ~ CRIES!

End 26 (Trick of the Imagination) : Hoshino fails negotiating with the twins and the brother shot her, effectively killing her.

End 27 (Happy End) : Hoshino is successful in killing Zero. But, the poison in the collar gets activated and she falls unconscious, losing her memories. In an underground bunker, Shiraishi nurses his lover to health where the two remain forever. He is honest to Hoshino

End 28 (BloodStained Lamentation) : Hoshino becomes apart of Adonis and Shirashi, her pet. He mourns the fact that he couldn't protect her. ~ I need a spin-off of this ending. Also I wasn't aware that Adonis ripped out Shiraishi vocal cords in this ending.

End 29 (➗) : Same as Happy end, except, Shiraishi lies about his connection to Hoshino. He's only her 'doctor', but she finds it hard to believe. After a year, Hoshino recovers her strength and its time for the two to part way. Shirashi takes her to the Detective Agency to celebrate Christmas. During his final goodbye, his lover regains her memories. The pair agree to stand by each other. Shiraishi has to pay for his crimes. ~ This ending had me so conflicted.

Pros and Cons : ( I am completely biased )

Shiraishi Kageyuki is a cat lover, and he acts like one. He feeds all the stray cats. *Me crying over Number 14* He is witty, intelligent and independent. He values honesty and authenticity.

In comparison to Okazaki's route, Shiraishi Kageyuki realizes that Hoshino needs other people to socialize with. When Hoshino was stressed, he asked Mukai Eriko to take her drinking. ↓

Which goes to show that, our Shiraishi Kageyuki is super attentive to the needs of those he cares for. Including the 30-or-so cats, he can differentiate. And, he understands that he can't always be the one to cheer Hoshino up directly.

Shiraishi Kageyuki has a tendency to write other's off. He doesn't see the value in most people. So, his actions come off as harsh to those who can't understand him. Later, this aspect of his becomes endearing.

Shiraishi Kageyuki is a product of his environment. This makes him nonchalant to his own wellbeing. He see's himself as disposable.

Shiraishi Kageyuki is a murder and a spy for Adonis. He could have easily betrayed Hoshino if you fail to grab his attention. ~ I wonder how this will affect Yanaji Aiji's route.

Review :

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I knew from the moment I saw this eccentric man with cat ears that I would be obsessed. Oh, how correct I was in that assumption. I hated that he was a locked character, because I would have chosen him in a heartbeat. Fuck everyone else.

The September and October Case = On September 7th, a countdown video is uploaded, unconnected to any crimes. That same day, a man is found dead in his apartment, ruled a suicide until a roman numeral and Adonis coin are discovered in his home. His death was a masked homicide. And, the police were successful in locating his murder who they detained.

Then, on October 7th, the murder is found hanged in his cell. He had committed suicide. Another video is uploaded, and the robotic voice speaks: "I am, she is, he is... not needed in this world."

"I wasn't allowed to wish for happiness. From the very moment that I was born, I was unnecessary."

This case broke me. It was executed perfectly, and the case mirrored Shiraishi Kageuki's internal struggles between his desires and the will of Adonis. Like with Okazaki's review, I don't plan to dwell on the case much. However, I was broken hearted for the lives that the twins and Shiraishi lost. They deserved happiness. And the notion, "I am, she is, his is... not needed in this world," would now always ring in my soul.

Now, onto the man himself.

Shiraishi Kageuki is the head of Forensics at the Shinjuku precinct. A bad reputation follows him due to his blunt and eccentric nature. The man couldn't be bothered to learn names, trivial curtesies are lost on him, and he rather hang with cats. Humans are predictable until he is forced to watch over Hoshino Ichika. She doesn't disguise her dislike of him, or put on an act to work with him. She is unabashedly honest and genuinely sympathetic to other's plights out of a sense of justice.

It's unexpected. And it draws Shiraishi Kageyuki in. At first, he teases the idea of growing attached. He likes observing her. He even learned Hoshino's name. Then it becomes a real companionship. Nothing like he'd ever thought he deserved. It frustrates him, these new emotions, because he was taught that his only purpose was to be a doll.

To serve the orders of Adonis, a perfect doll wouldn't have the need for love. Shiraishi Kageyuki, orphaned at a young aged was fostered by Adonis, and knew of this fact. He'd learned shutting his emotions off would carry him far in life. Yearning for a family was futile. Much like yearning in general for anything.

He was unnecessary. Not needed in this world. Adonis gave him the role of a doll. It was Shiraishi Kageyuki's purpose to serve. To be any and everything Adonis needed to be. Including a murder.

However, he yearned for Hoshino daily until he gathered the strength to become anew in the wake of her presence. Shiraishi Kageyuki isn't a doll, he is a human. And this is my love letter to him.

Points of Contention :

The True Ending of Shiraishi Kageyuki's route was questionable?

I don't understand the logistics of it all. And I'm not the biggest fan of the amnesia trope in media. It shouldn't have been in the game at all. Collar X Malice does set up a memory wiping mechanic at the hands of Adonis, but I wish it was not implemented.

It would've been interesting to see convicted felons of Adonis remain silent due to their overwhelming faith in their cause. However, we do not get that for magical memory lost poison.

However, despite my initial dissatisfaction of the ending, I saw that it suited Shiraishi Kageyuki. It was bittersweet but hopeful. I can't wait to see his route again in the Unlimited version.

I would rather not unpack all the illegal shit that went on in the true ending, however, it must be done:

Shiraishi Kageuki essentially kidnaped(?) Hoshino for a year. He is a wanted man for murder, and he's evading law enforcement. That is added jail time. And, he is using black market connections to house and supply Hoshino's recovery. Um... He's still the best boy.

P.S. I need a spin-off game of End 28 Blood Lamenation!!!

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Thank you for reading! Request rules are here! Follow my ig = lil.thoughts.xo! Do you agree or disagree? Comment down below!

Here's proof that Enomoto Meneo would be the best older bro to Kazuki)

if there's one thing that okazaki's gonna do every route, it's start shit

[514ko]

YNaM Retrospectives — Chap. III.S / 4

          Yet another Retrospective…  Feels like it’s been like a long time since the last one, but it’s only been a week…  Whew.  Maybe it’s because I’ve not been as active on Twitter as of late.  In any case—a warm thank you to those who are interested enough in my thoughts to read these little posts…  I hope you’re all doing well out there!!

          As always, here’s a link to the chapter in question:

          Hmm…  What mildly interesting stuff can I say about such a short chapter?

          Well, it did mark the end of a six-month-long hiatus, I guess.  God, looking back over it, I spent most of 2022 in hiatus…  Not for nothing, that second hiatus was the impetus for the Twitter account, and by extension, this blog—so that while I’m working on chapters, I can interact with people who like my work (which still blows my mind, btw) and let them know I’m still around~

          Chapter III.S was also the beginning of the roman numeral system—marking Koishi-only POV chapters with the roman numeral for ½, or S.  And I’m torn by this; I love the way it looks aesthetically, and how it clearly delineates the more introspective Koishi chapters at a glance, but I wonder if it causes more confusion for readers than it’s worth?  There’s no way to change the chapter numbers on AO3 (that I know of, anyway, maybe there’s a skin that can do it idk), and because of the S chapters it offsets everything so that now Chapter IV is actually Chapter 5 on AO3, and so on…  I’m this close to canning the numerals, and just referring to them by the AO3 numbers.  Kill your darlings and all that; I don’t want to confuse people unnecessarily, even for something I think is cool.

          As far as the content of the chapter—well, it’s the direct result of the first major plot holes I ran into in YNaM.  And it all comes from Flan, the troublemaker she is~

          Basically, as she was, Flandre had zero agency in the story.  She was the MC, and the primary POV character.  I’d originally wanted to tell the whole story from Flandre and Satori’s dual perspectives, but by the time III rolled around I realized it wasn’t possible anymore because Flan just wouldn’t.  Leave.  Her.  Room.  She wouldn’t seek Koishi out of her own accord, and would be content to just sit and stew…

          I couldn’t really have another character bring KoiFlan together, because no one knows they like each other yet (much less support it).  Originally, I was going to solve it by just having Koishi mysteriously show up at Flan’s doorstep and, y’know, force things to happen—but that solution left a bad taste in my mouth.  What’s the point of Flan being the MC if she has no agency in her own story? 

          So I made Koishi a POV character too.  And so, the point of Chap. III.S is to establish that, as well as Koishi’s own sense of agency, so that when she randomly appears in the next chapter it doesn’t feel so out of left field.

          And as it turns out, this idea of Koishi having more agency than Flan fits right in with the themes of YNaM, and even ended up influencing a number of later plot points—for instance, Koishi confessing to Flandre at the end of VI.  It’s funny how band-aid fixes you make early in a serial story end up influencing later events…

          One final note—this chapter is intended to be one of the two primary diverging points between YNaM canon and Touhou canon.  The first was Satori’s appearance at the Scarlet Devil Mansion in Chapter II, the first divergent point that allowed Koishi and Flandre to meet.  The second point was the direct result of that—the entirety of Chapter III.S.  Because if she hadn’t met Flandre in II, Chapter III.S would otherwise have been the night in which Koishi shuts her third eye, sewing it shut with that needle and thread.

          So yeah!  Short post for a short chapter.

          As far as new projects go—expect a little something for Flan day, 4th of July~  Nothing too much, but by golly I ain’t about to let another one of my favorite 2hu’s days go uncelebrated by me, I’ll tell you what—

[lebiishoujo]

Headcanon/Prompt:

Todoroki x Female MC

8 years after HaLWX

Todoroki Yosuke, along with the other full-time Oyakou members, has created a private security agency with Todoroki as the CEO.

He still remains as stoic as he is but takes his job very seriously.

He easily gets stressed and pissed when an assignment has some issues but relying on his friends (Fujio and the gang) always helps resolve the issues.

As Oyakou alumni, they still look after the district as part of their mission (Todoroki assigned Fujio to lead this group).

Though very diligent, with the help of his friends, he has learned to take things easy and unwind when they could.

He hasn't dated in a long time because most girls just go after his looks and status, so he mainly focused on his responsibilities and only hang out with his friends (including Odajima).

The boys once again set up a dating mixer and upon remembering the funny and failed encounter they had back in high school, Todoroki decided to go just to witness his friends fail hitting on girls for the hundredth time.

You are finishing your master's degree.

You are working part time on a bakery (since you started college) to help pay for your expenses.

You also haven't dated since your 3rd year in college because your last boyfriend cheated on you.

Your best friend from the same department tagged you along (by force) to go to a dating mixer because she thought it's time for you to get to know someone.

During the mixer, Todoroki immediately caught your eye because of how he carried himself. Something about him was different from the other guys.

While doing the introductions, he only curtly bowed to you, so you took it as him not being interested in you.

He was the quiet type but also wasn't dismissive when being talked to. He didn't crack jokes like his friends, but he smiled, smirked, or laughed when he found something funny.

Still, you couldn't help but steal glances at him because when he laughed or smiled at one of his friends' jokes, it made your heart skip a beat.

It was obvious that he was annoyed at the girls who were pushy and aggressively flirted with him, but he was being a gentleman on how he turned their advances down.

You easily got along with his friends (some from Oyakou, some from Housen) because they were so funny, and they enjoyed your comebacks.

In the middle of it all, your best friend and Odajima were in their own world, your best friend completely forgetting about you. She looked happy and they obviously liked each other, so you didn't get in their way.

Those who found each other interesting also started pairing up and talked to each other.

Feeling out of place and a little skeptical about mixer relationships, you decided to head outside for a breath of fresh air.

You were startled when a manly voice suddenly asked you if you regretted coming. When you turned around, it was Todoroki who was already outside long before you, reading something from his phone.

He told you he recognized you as one of the girls from the mixer and that he thought his friends could handle themselves, so they probably don't need him around.

You told him about your best friend being engrossed with a conversation with Odajima. He told you that if Odajima found your friend interesting, you might as well consider going home alone. He awkwardly paused and stuttered because he realized the rudeness of his joke and his reaction made you laugh, taking zero offense to what he said.

You exchanged jokes and laughs with each other, mainly about his friends.

Small talks led to you telling each other about yourselves.

When he noticed you were slightly trembling from the chilly night breeze, he asked you if you wanted to go to a cafe somewhere.

You tried your best to conceal how surprised you were at his offer. You couldn't believe that he might be a little interested in you and the conversation you already had. Wearing the most casual smile you could, you agreed.

None of you used the map to look for a cafe nearby and just strolled around the block and the next, carrying on with your random topics.

At the coffee shop, your conversation with him continued smoothly and naturally without being forced.

It was already past 2:00 AM when you both remembered to check the time.

While you were both silently waiting for the ride you booked for yourself on your phone, he broke the silence and asked for your number.

You were smiling like a teenager on the ride home thinking about Todoroki and any interesting thing he mentioned to you that night.

Your phone pinged, "Good night. Would be nice to see you again soon (if you'd like). -Todoroki," an unknown number texted you.

That night, you know for sure, you've finally come to like someone again after a long time.

[a-d-nox]

Hii thank u answering my career ask, I have uranus conjunct mc in both natal and mc persona chart , wdyt ? And a 10th house stellium in mc persona chart! Thank u <33

part 1: career observation (using natal and mc persona)

natal

your mc is in pisces so we are looking for its planetary ruler(s). jupiter and neptune. jupiter in the 5h and neptune in the 8h.

5h jobs: adoption agency, obgyn, ambassador, bookkeeper, entertainment, caretaker for children, and/or matchmaker.

8h jobs: mortician, estate lawyer, bank manager/accountant, insurance agent/broker, and/or surgeon.

noteworthy aspects (tight orbs)

sun sextile neptune: great at pretending/acting differently than you truly are in day-to-day life - usually will act braver than you feel (good for an actor/actress). generally a meticulous person (excellent for a doctor/surgeon). labelled a creative. working in confidence (like a doctor or a lawyer). atmosphere tends to possess drugs. not going by your first name (might have an alias or a name that you no longer has a relationship to).

mars opposite jupiter: active nature. sharp objects. sexually transmitted diseases. rashes/irritation.

sun square mc: someone of intimidating status and authority. seemingly bragging. might seeming like you have a big ego. the field your father may have been in.

mc persona

8h venus at 29°: needing time to establish yourself in your profession in order to attract clientele. seeing people at their most vulnerable with the intention of helping them. having a reputation for helping people to heal when they are at the most fragile (conjunct chiron and 12h is ruled by venus). having a great passion for what you do.

11h moon at 11°: 11° is a fame degree via the use of technology - though that puts zero limits on the possible career as the age of technology gets further flooded with new inventions and innovations. it is possible that you could invent something with this placement or patent something (i would suggest checking eureka in your chart). 11h is income from business and your moon rules over the 2h so you are likely to jump into a new tax bracket. you could be popular with you colleagues as well. 11° is an aqua degree; aqua is bloodily fluids and moon is sexual reproduction - so i am still thinking obstetrics.

the 10h stellium (sun, merc, uranus, and nn): highly regarded in your career. praised for intellect. feeling fulfilled. helping the masses. being consistently on the go. inventing something in the field you work in. research heavy field. performing for everyone to see.

jupiter square neptune (mc persona's mc rulers negatively aspecting one another): you could experience imposter syndrome - you could feel like you aren't worthy of your praise, that you haven't done all that you hope to, and/or like you are a fraud. at some point you could make an error because you are absentminded in a a single moment which could be fatal to your hopes to succeed in your career. often this is a sleep thing - you need to sleep so you are at your sharpest. you are going to have haters both secret and otherwise. could be making scars where there are none.

my guess: obgyn, estate lawyer, inventor/engineering, accounting, or tattoo artist.

hope this helps!

a.d.

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[tate-lin]

Omg an extension of your dissertations!! That's so cool tho; exploring your dissertation in a fiction novel~ There's more creative freedom to express what you want to say and make your point through the book's themes 👀🔥

For manga, I have several (though I did very briefly touch on it in this post)!!

The biggest I'd say is Hunter X Hunter's magic system called Nen. What I love most about it is how majority of Nen-users have to create their own special ability called Hatsu and, because of this, their Hatsu is directly informed by their respective personalities, strengths & interests which says a lot about their characters, narrative, and story arc. Because of this, I modelled the basics of my own magic system, ethra, after it by having it be something anyone can pick up and use, like a sport or skill. Here's my post on ethra and I think anyone who read the manga and see my six foundational pillars will be able to spot my inspiration behind it 😂

Besides that, I was inspired to create my darling plant-robot, Drew, directly because of an animated movie called No Game No Life: Zero. I just loved how strange and alien the robot seemed at the start and how the robots were all connected like a hive mind.

In terms of his actual story arc tho, my biggest inspirations come from a mech creation manga I read years ago (I can't remember the name of it now but it's basically this dude manufacturing non-sentient transformers) and Pluto by Urusawa Naoki, a grimmer and more grounded retelling of a really, really long chapter in Astro Boy by Tezuka Osamu called The Greatest Robot on Earth. And while it's not a manga or anime, I was also influenced by the video game Detroit: Become Human while trying to figure his character out.

Though I love No Game No Life: Zero, Pluto, and Detroit: Become Human (especially Pluto I love that thing to bits), I have different ideas on the potentials of robots. In all three of them, there is a lot of emphasis placed on the robots' humanity and empathy. In fact, the androids in Detroit: Become Human were only able to be freed from their lack of agency by becoming exactly like a human till they're nearly indistinguishable on the outside (hence the title).

For me, however, I don't need nor want robots to become exactly like us because they're not. If they can become sentient, they'd be people, of course, but not humans, and this difference is what's crucial to me.

In this case, it's the mech manga that truly influenced my direction on this take. In that story, there was a long-standing habit, maybe even an obsession, for engineers to create the mechs in our image, and the MC found a problem with that. Their society created mechs in order to fight or solve other problems, but was it so necessary to have them take on the shape of humans? If a spike for an arm made more sense, or if it was more useful to create something more akin an over-glorified spring with a knife, then wouldn't that be better? Why were humans the template that all mechs were based on? Just look out to nature and you can find thousands more fitting examples to base a design on, depending on what you're trying to solve.

This manga introduced me to the idea that humanity has a huge keenness to create robots that looked, moved, and acted exactly like us. Which is why things like this exist:

I'm absolutely not suggesting that humanity isn't creative enough to come up with something else, but from what I see, the general consensus is that a 'perfect robot' would be something that's exactly like us, just better.

But is all of that really necessary? In my opinion, it's akin to a parent-child relationship where the parent raised a child just to have another version of them. A take #2 of their life, but be perfect and make absolutely no mistakes. Be whatever the parent needs them to be in order to achieve their own goals.

In the end tho, I think it's nonsensical to assume that if a robot achieves sentience, they'd want to follow the same path as us or even want to think like us. There are many robot media out there which touched on how differently they view the world, but why is the correct answer at the end for a robot to want to be like us? To love like us, feel emotions like us, to care about the same things?

I just don't think that it makes sense. What's wrong with acting, feeling, and thinking like a robot? It may contrast with humanity's goals and desires and may prove to be inconvenient or troubling for us, but as long as they aren't hurting anyone, what's the big deal? They're essentially a whole different species we're creating, even if they're based off humans.

To me, I feel like their biggest problem wasn't necessarily not being human, it's that they wanted to be accepted and have agency but they're not, because robots were ultimately created as tools first. There is a huge difference being 'treated like a person' and 'treated like a human' I think, and that's what Drew struggles with the most.

Returning to Pluto though, one thing that influenced me heavily is how even robots that have very typical clonky robot looks can show such deep emotion & depth. Like omg JUST LOOK AT THESE PAGES!!

(note: please read from right to left for manga, like a reverse-z)

Like wowowow I just can't. I really can't. The anime did not do this scene justice cause I near about cried while reading this the very first time.

A robot that can't express themselves like a human can, a robot that doesn't look or think like a human does, a robot that doesn't even appreciate the same things as a human does... And even with all that, this is so clearly a person with her very own problems, thoughts, personality, and mindset. With Drew, this is exactly what I want to achieve.

Robots have their own strengths and weaknesses and unique appeal to them. Just like we humans do, even if we end up as very different beings. Isn't it such a waste to desire a pure copy-paste of us? I want to explore robots as their own species that are still a legacy of us, their creators, but also how they can go beyond that, like all children do in the end.

Other than that, certain panels of numerous other manga really strike me and they often inspire the creation of a particular character or plot choice. For example, Attack on Titan (humanity vs giant monsters) really influenced how I think about life's purpose, especially these two juxtaposing panels:

What are we born for, what should we do with our life? Attack on Titan was the manga that really made me realise that the answers to those questions don't necessarily need to be answered, and that's also what I want to explore, particularly with Minh.

And while thinking about my theme on acceptance, these are my biggest inspirations for it (the first is from Blue Lock, a soccer manga, and the second from Jujutsu Kaisen, an action manga about child soldiers, though the character featured is a lawyer):

Anyway we finally come to the end of this!! If you read till the end kudos to you omg cause I just ended up rambling 😭

I do get inspired by English novel books and other media too, but there's sth about the honesty and sincerity I find in manga that just really captures me.

@tate-lin reblogged your post:

#wowwww omg#did you take philosophy?? the inspiration you got is so interesting#i'm mainly inspired by manga so it's really cool to see where others draw their inspiration from#the ideas you're trying to implement is super intriguing too 👀🔥#i wanna beta readdd 🥹

Hi Tate-Lin, 💜 It's such a treat to see you on my dash! Hope you're doing good and the Writeblr gods are smiling down on your WIPS (check them out here). Thank you so much for reading through that super-long post 😅 I got a little carried away. But to answer your question, yes, I have two degrees in philosophy, and I'm still debating whether I should go in for another one (it's an addiction at this point, although I don't like the whole snobbish academic scene, tbh). Most of the references I mention in my post are things I've studied over the years. In fact, most of my big creative projects, and The Sorcerer's Apprentice especially, are extensions of my dissertations. I'm exploring the same questions, just through a different medium (my latest dissertation was on Socrates, fascism, and Foucault, so yeah you can definitely see that in the references lol). I'd be honoured to have you beta-read it when it's ready!!! By the way, I'm curious: which manga have inspired your work? I haven't read enough Manga in my life and I'd love to know more about it from your perspective! 💜