#Which in addition to being wrong only makes it easier for the first group to paint their opponents as morons who Just Don't Get It

[flaetsbnortoriginals]

WATCHING MITU'S ONLY SCENE TO FIGURE OUT HOW HER "GAME" WORKS

BECAUSE I NEED AN EXCUSE TO

So the stuff that's obvious is:

She always needs to guess a four-letter word.

Correct letters show up in green. (Someone in the game said the game she's playing is closer to Wordle than Hangmen.)

If she fails to guess the word correctly, she gets H-U-R-T.

OK, good. Let's look at more objective data:

She starts most, but not all guesses with two letters already revealed. BOSS, WISH, VIEW and BACK all have two letters revealed from the begnning, as do LUCK and MENU, that show up if you talk to her again. DUTY, ORAL and the unknown word that caused her to get H-U-R-T had no letters revealed.

Every four-letter word she says is entered as a guess, but WASTE has five letters and was also entered.

Now here's some stuff that isn't objective but I think can be inferred easily:

WISH was a lucky guess. That's why she sounded so happy after she said it; she didn't expect to win. Which, in turn, means that guessing right does give him something nice, even if it's just delaying her getting H-U-R-T.

Most people say that it takes her five tries for her to get H-U-R-T. But notice that she tries to stammer something after she misguesses WASTE. I think she has a grace period in which she can guess the right word and avoid getting H-U-R-T, but she couldn't (I mean, she only had one letter).

After she gets H-U-R-T, she pays much closer attention to her words. She even focuses to get BACK right, and blurts it out without using it in a sentence. After that she relaxes again - even though she's not being given hint letters any more.

So based on these facts, here's what I think I can gather:

Her game has difficulty levels. It starts more lenient, where each word starts out with more letters shown. She actively wants to progress. (Or maybe the only way not to progress is to get H-U-R-T), so she needs to.

She brazenly wasted guesses before the word she couldn't figure out, but then was much more conservative with the next words. The simplest explanation for that is that she was traumatized and didn't want to get H-U-R-T again. But another explanation is that guessing words correctly gives her more chances to make mistakes. For instance, she only could make five wrong guesses to start with because she had gotten BOSS and WISH right already; she might be H-U-R-T with even one simple wrong guess with VIEW and BACK.

She guesses ORAL without any right letters, and DUTY with a single letter she had gotten less than a second before. This tells me she has ways to figure out what a word is other than the letters. The way she talks suggests to me that she can kinda sense its placement in a sentence. So the word she couldn't guess would be something negative about Ena.

Does she actually need to use her words in a sentence? It might be that she only needs to play her game when she's talking to someone - that certainly has some possible readings behind it. It would also explain why her additional scenes have two letters already revealed, even though in her main scene she 'progresses to the hard level' where she has no letters revealed: she restarts from the first level every time she leaves a conversation. But I actually have a more interesting theory: she doesn't need to use the words in context, and she's doing it because she's gotten too good at the 'base game' and wants to challenge herself. You know how Hank Green plays Connections in a way that he considers a loss if his first guess is anything other than the purple group? She might be doing that! Specially considered that there was no indication she'd be punished for blurting out BACK; she used it in a sentence because she wanted to. Alternatively, since I theorized she can guess words based on how they'd be used, the game might actually be easier for her if she's using these words in an actual conversation.

That's what happens when you're obsessed with a blorbo and can't draw but can write an essay.

[peach-pot]

seen mentions of this experince in the tags of my post about aroaceness and consent. the majority of the aromantic people I know (and I know a lot) have had an experince where they went out with someone not because they wanted to, but because they didn’t feel like they had a good enough reason to say no. I always heard that dating wasn’t about being attracted to someone from the start, it was about giving things a try to see where it led. and, though perhaps less overtly, I was taught that simply not being interested wasn’t a good enough reason to say no to a date. I was taught that I owed it to the other person to at least see where things went, that it would be unreasonable to turn someone down without a “good reason.” and when you internalize this, it’s hard to even fully catch that you don’t want to be going out with someone in the first place.

from what I’ve gathered, when allo people hear about this aro experience, of ending up in deeply upsetting relationships because of society’s attitudes towards saying no to a date, they view it one of two ways: either 1. this isn’t even an aro specific problem, this is bad for everyone. and that’s true! but it’s important to acknowledge the unique way it affects those who lack romantic attraction in a world that expects them to experience it.

and then there’s 2. this attitude that, while this is unfortunate for aro people, it’s a helpful practice for everyone else to find love, so it shouldn’t be expected to change. I obviously disagree with the premise that if something benefits the majority you can just write off the negative ways it impacts a specific smaller group. but even beyond that, as stated before, this isn’t something that only negatively impacts aromantics. this idea of needing to give all romantic options a shot is deeply rooted in the amatonormative idea that love is destined and necessary for a happy life. if romantic love is the one true goal towards which everyone should strive, then you have to give every opportunity to find it a fair shot so that you’re doing everything in your power to make sure you don’t end up alone.

when you open these amatonormative ideas up for critique, this line of reasoning falls apart. if romantic love isn’t the only worthy pursuit, if it doesn’t inherently make life better regardless of the quality of the relationship, why entertain a romantic option you’re not actually interested in? there might be the possibility of things going surprisingly well, but there’s just as a much a possibility that they go extremely poorly. when you start allowing yourself to believe that romance is not always an inherent good addition to your life, it becomes easier and more realistic to say no to romantic advances. and without this deconstruction of amatonormativity on both an individual and societal level, I don’t think full consent is ever truly made easy and available.

(of course this is not to say that people who truly enjoy dating a variety of people regardless of initial attraction are wrong to do so. if you are genuinely happy to be on these dates, that’s good! but I believe more people than larger society acknowledges would be happier and better off entertaining fewer romantic proposals. and either way, the expectation that they must be entertained regardless of the individual’s feelings on the matter is where the real trouble lies, not those actions taken by the individual.)

[adelarsims]

Embers Academy Spellcasting Tournament: Spells (Group 4)

rules:

students need to learn 2 spells from each magic school. for finishing spells on the first hour, they get 20 points (separately for each school). for finishing on the second hour, 12 points. the third hour will bring 8 points, and the fourth hour 4 point. further than four hours is 0. the task is to learn two spells, so learning only one is considered failing the assignment, and it will only bring you 2 sad pity points

there's an additional practical task of creating 3 dishes with grand delicioso spell. score for this part is the sum of dishes' prices (spoiled dish gives 0, excellent quality dish gives x2 to the price) divided by 20

just as in the potions challenge, their autonomy is off, but if someone decides to stop learning for whatever reason and do something else, i will let them finish whatever they decided to do before returning them back to the task

group 4: Walpurgis Valborg, Alessio Skint, Raelyn Luna, Daliah Noir, Dax Sommer, Cassie Bautista, Gemma Charm, Aurelius Borealis

walpurgis babe you're in the wrong classroom... she started an hour later than everyone, however, she did amazingly

cassie got an exemption from spell learning because she knew all spells already, and there's no way to un-learn them. sorry, cassie. you're too good for us.

raelyn did great, maybe a little too great, and now we need an exorcist in this classroom please

alessio keeps being not very successful in learning, but very entertaining. they say consistency is a sign of mastery, you know

daliah didn't get a very good score in class, but is about to score a good spellcaster. darrel charm crushed on her at first glance

oh god, gemma leaned spells with average success, which is not as good as she thought she'd do, given her bloodline and the pressure from her family

dax also didn't have a very high score, but it's consistent with their lore of just a small guy with a bit of magic in them, so i actually love it

poor grandpa wanted to learn household spells that would make his life easier, guess which spells he didn't learn? yeah. however, maybe with that necromancy spell that he did learn by mistake he can get some help around the house?

@simsinfinitylt @jaigny @igotsnothing @ethicaltreatmentofcowplants @knightofwounds @agena87 @thebramblewood @kari-sims

[aspecpplarebeautiful]

helpppppppp (/lh, /silly)

how do I tell the difference between:

sudden really strong friendship after years of the inherent isolation of being closeted, in addition to like more than a decade of ‘regular’ isolation, and being completely unused to having a *real* friendship that’s got an actual, deep, real, trusted connection instead of just being acquaintances - the emotions equivalent of being touch-starved ig?

person-focused hyperfixation?

heehoo fandom buddy

squish?????

I feel like a gross old crusty sponge that’s been dipped in water after months of sitting on the counter - it’s still gross, and the water’s made the gunk more obvious, but like - it’s a sponge again, instead of a fabric brick. And it craves moisture.

they’re the only real friend I’ve had in… I don’t remember how long. I love them so much, and I don’t know what kind.

and I’m scared of being wrong and messing this up.

(it’s 1:30 am as I write this, so I could also just be having Dumb Night Brain Feels-)

First I'd say very strong feelings in a situation like this is very normal. There's nothing wrong with having strong feelings for someone, whatever it ends up being. Sorting out exactly what you're feeling may take time, but should get easier as you keep socializing more.

One piece of advice I'd have is to maybe try and grow your social group a bit more. Not only will this help you feel less isolated, it'll also give you other people to compare and contrast feelings for and make you feel less vulnerable with this particular friendship (which should in turn actually help grow this friendship, since it will help you relax more and put less pressure on your friend and the relationship).

This is definitely something easier said than done. Making friends is a skill and it can be very hard when you're first starting, but the more you get out and put yourself out there the easier it gets. Consider looking into local events or hobby groups and see if anything appeals to you, or consider joining online communities where you can be social (discord servers can work well for this for example). Feel free to include your friend too if they're interested and able.

Otherwise that's awesome that you made a good friend! Having friends you can click with really is great when you find them.

All the best!

[ecargmura]

Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise From The Shadows- Episode 1 Review - Red Gate

Before I start the review, I normally don’t do the“season X, Episode X” sort of thing because I like to start from where it left off. However, given that this season has a ‘Season 2’ in its title and a subtitle, so I’m going to have to use that format for this season. This is technically episode 13.

The first episode of season 2 probably starts off the day after the events of Episode 12. Jinwoo gets a haircut and goes to Jinah’s school for the parent-teacher conference. Since their mother is bedridden, Jinwoo is technically her legal guardian. Her teacher praises Jinah for being a diligent student all around and her grades are good enough to get into the medical school of her choice. However, the teacher is also concerned about her friend Han Song-yi who hasn’t been attending school as she has become an E-rank Hunter. He takes Song-yi on a mission as he’s trying to convince her to not live her life as a Hunter, so we’ll see how that goes.

The rest of the episode is the mission. However, the group gets a surprise encounter with a Red Gate—a special type of gate where dangerous creatures lurk and Hunters can only leave if they defeat the boss. The leader of the group, Kim Chul only takes a few of his guys and separates from Jinwoo, thinking the weaker members will be a liability. Sir, you are not the main character of this story.

Anyways, it was nice seeing the siblings get some screen time together. They only have each other, after all. I like how Jinwoo’s hair was messy when he woke up. It gives off the vibes that even if he looks and acts perfect, there’s still some cute quirks. Though, his new hair does look nice on him. I think Jinah still thinks of Jinwoo as the frumpy man from the beginning, so that’s why she had a hard time getting adjusting to the new and stylish brother.

The mission itself seems like a step up in difficulty from Jinwoo’s other missions up until now. The enemies are a lot more tougher. Ice elves are stealthy and ice bears look menacing. It’s definitely hard for Jinwoo to not show off his skills but in return, the others have to keep a secret. It was nice to see Jinwoo isolating himself from the group and then summoning his shadow army to get rid of the remaining bears. It’s nice to see that they’re mainly used to take down multiple enemies so that it’d be easier to leave the Red Gate faster. Though, for all the skills Kim Chul talked about regarding himself, he ran away from the Ice Elf army which makes sense because they’re tough—to be honest, running away is a solid strategy, but will it get him killed? I guess I have to find out next episode.

Then, there’s the appearance of Hwang Dongsoo. If you don’t remember, he’s the younger brother of Hwang Dongsuk, the man who tried killing Jinwoo and Jinho back around Episode 6. While he’s out to avenge his brother, the Red Gate hinders his progress. I wonder how he’ll be dealt with. Will he get his own arc?

The animation feels like an upgrade from the previous season. The way the characters move feel more fluid, especially during the shadow army scene. I also love the music and feels like it got an upgrade. The opening and ending songs are nice to listen to! You can’t go wrong with a combination of Lisa and TK from Ling Tosite Shigure for the opening and ending.

The characters remain the same from the previous season, so there aren’t that much of new additions. Han Song-yi is voiced by Miyu Tomita, who’s known for voicing characters like Riko from Made in Abyss and Momo’s friend Muko from Dandadan. Kim Chul is voiced by Chikahiro Kobayashi who you might have heard in the Fall season as the U-20 goalkeeper in Blue Lock. Park Heejin was actually shown briefly in the first season, but this is her major debut. She’s voiced by Ruriko Aoki. Aoki has a lot of roles in video games, which includes Tressa from Octopath Traveler and Marla from Bravely Default II. That’s about it for new voice actor information from me.

I think this is a good start of the continuation as a brief recap has been given out to keep viewers updated and it’s a good segue to the possibilities of Jinwoo’s quest to become the strongest. How will he get out? Let me know your thoughts on this episode!

[script-a-world]

Submitted via Google Form:

How can I have a world that improves technology but also doesn't remove obsolete technology? Obviously not all obsolete technology, ones too dangerous, doesn't have enough safety features etc, why of course they can go. Let's first start with things like computers. Clearly older things no longer run on newer computers, but it erases things that were made on old types. I want a society that actually preserves those old things and still has new things made with the old technology. If it's a car, well, obviously poor safety features do have to be gone, but any technology that can be kept stays - I suppose you can say retro but definitely trying to follow the old technology as much as possible.

Licorice: You can have this world by making it like the world you’re living in right now. Human beings have a tendency to get very attached to their old technology and invest a great deal of time and effort keeping it in working order, as vintage car rallies can attest. Of course, if you want to drive your vintage car on a public road you have to make sure it meets emissions requirements, is fitted with seat-belts, and fulfils all the other safety regulations. 

Technology very rarely gets removed, it’s simply superseded by something that does the same job better - but “better” is a subjective concept. It depends on what any given individual is looking for in their tech. For example, whenever I have to replace an appliance in my home I try to find a second-hand item that pre-dates ‘smart’ technology. They are easier and cheaper to repair, last longer, and have fewer things that can go wrong with them. 

Nowadays we have tablets and photoshop but people still make art using brushes, charcoal, paint and canvas. We have Google docs but people still write their novels by hand. We have electric cars but people still drive horse-drawn buggies as a hobby, and also as a competitive sport. In fact the only field in which I imagine obsolete tech really does completely disappear is in STEM, but even then there are probably hobbyists who lovingly maintain and use these old tools. 

In short, people hanging on to and lovingly using their old tech is just a normal thing that people do.

Tex: People keep around objectively dangerous technologies all the time as novelty or historical items (see: all the mercury in things, or radioactive materials), and will create entire hobbies around developing patches across technological eras (see: phonographs with USB ports, old video games in emulators on your computer) as a niche skill set. At that point it becomes history, and people work to preserve it for a variety of reasons. As Licorice said, the world you’re looking for is the world you’re already living in. What sort of technologies were you having in mind? There’s a fair chance some hobby groups are out there preserving, restoring, and using exactly that.

Feral: In addition to what Licorice and Tex have already said, I recommend that you look into planned obsolescence and understand that it is not actually necessary for a lot of slightly-less-than-new technologies to no longer be usable the way we often see with Smart devices. It’s a purposefully built in and added feature that could easily be left out.

[fearowkenya]

Copper Alloy - Chapter 2

Before she can even blink, Jessie is on the other side of the table; a once-short distance that now feels completely beyond her reach. Her gaze lingers on the people she’s leaving behind for a moment, tender and steadfast and so, so, so far away, and for the first time Nayo sees the golden flicker of something dangerous in those warm brown eyes—something that flashes like the sharp, hissing sparks spat out by the strike of a match. “It’s nothing personal,” Jessie tells her softly, as though this could be anything but that—anything but profoundly, crushingly personal.

Friend group break-ups are bad. Eco-terrorist cell break-ups are worse.

Both at once? Absolutely miserable, especially when the venn diagram of those two things is a perfect circle.

It’s been almost a year since that disastrous meeting, and having to live under the same roof as Jessie has not gotten any easier. In fact, Nayo finds herself struggling to maintain her composure, and at this rate, it’s only a matter of time before Jessie says something that makes her snap.

--

Psssst. Hey kid. Want some uhhhh….. wlw rarepair??? Minor characters only??? With excessive levels of turmoil??

This chapter was stupidly fun to write. Link to ao3 in source, and a completely RIDICULOUS amount additional post-chapter commentary under readmore!

So like with chapter 1, the only reason im posting chapter 2 is because it ends somewhere where id probably be okay with leaving it as-is in case I never get around to finishing this fic. Which is looking less and less likely, because ive gotten pretty invested at this point. As somebody who generally prefers to finish The Entire Fic (barring edits) before starting to post, it has been really weird just… finishing these chapters and posting them without having all that much of subsequent chapters set in stone.

Anyway, no zhijie or sonon this time—though I will say, the original edit of this chapter was supposed to include nayo going to pick up sonon from … idk , scrap boulevard or smth (like where zhijie meets yuffie in intermission), but there were like two other segments before that and neither of those made it into this edit of the chapter either I actually have so much to say about this chapter so I guess I’ll break things down into subcategories for those who might be interested!

Initial plans + big changes: At first, what was going to happen was that polk was gonna show up at the window to jumpscare nayo while she was moping at the kitchen table, and the two of them were gonna chitchat for a bit and complain about the splinter cell before being interrupted by audrey and ella.

The roommate chaos was originally a nayo-only thing: jessie had left for the day already, and I wasnt planning on her coming back until she busted her ankle on the steps of seventh heaven. But it was like… boring?? With just nayo there?? And it occurred to me that it would be so much more fun and dramatic if I had nayo trying very hard to ignore jessie, while jessie is actively trying to make that as difficult as possible, eventually leading them to be teetering on the edge of getting into some kind of fight (or on the verge of angrily making out, who can say) only to be interrupted and forced to work together in order to 1) come to their roommates rescue, 2) keep them from finding out that something is wrong (even though it turns out they already knew)

Anyway, as soon as I made the switch from this chapter being mostly-nayo to jessie-and-nayo, I knew I had to have some kind of Big Moment between the two of them to really hammer home that they used to work super well together and are still perfectly capable of leaning on one another when a situation calls for it. Thats how the balcony thing came to be—it was going to be more of a teamwork thing at first, but it turned into more of an emotions/trust thing, but I think it works just as well.

Why an inhaler? Uh. I was kinda struggling with coming up with a belonging of audrey or ella’s that 1) could absolutely not be left behind or retrieved later, 2) could have been reasonably left upstairs such that nayo wouldn’t stumble across it until after they’d left, forcing her to yell after them and cause a scene, and 3) fragile enough that there would be some reservations about throwing it off a balcony

Also, it was kinda interesting to think about the implications of midgars dogshit air quality on peoples health. Like the asthma situation has gotta be pretty bad in midgar, right?? I admittedly dont know a ton about asthma other than that a cousin of mine was pretty affected by it when we were kids. she had to take her inhaler with her everywhere she went, so I used that to inform what I think ellas situation mightve been. I did do a little bit of research to make sure I wasnt making a big deal over smth that ella could easily replace while topside—those things can be expensive depending on contents/dosage, and it seems 100% par for the course that shinra would exploit people by cranking the prices up astronomically. Also im like pretty sure youd need a prescription which idk if people living in the undercity have much access to unless they’re actively working for shinra, which. Audrey and ella arent (even tho any topside theatre or film production company is prob funded by shinra, but I digress)

moving on,

Audrey and ella: I was really really really not confident about relying so heavily on characters that are essentially OCs—and honestly im still kind of nervous about it. I know fandom can have pretty mixed opinions on non-canon characters, even if they dont have a ton of importance in a fic. But like. I dont really have anything to lose—nayo isn’t exactly a fan-favorite to begin with, so I figure anyone whos out here reading about her probably isnt going to mind so much that ive taken a few liberties with jessie’s other roommates.

Originally audrey and ella were supposed to just be tools to provide a bit of context on what jessie and nayo’s current situation looks like from a non-avalanche perspective. Id gone into it planning for them and jessie to be very friendly amongst themselves while leaving nayo slightly on the outs, but I actually think that all four are probably pretty close, or at least were until the splinter cell happened. I doubt the other two know that jessie and nayo are avalanche, but I think they probably caught on pretty fast that something had soured between them and just didnt say anything until now.

Tangentially-related audrey and ella lore that idk where else to put:

I like. Fully forgot to give them physical appearances. I dont really have plans to go back and change that though; as much as ive come to like them I just dont think it’s necessary. Fill in the blanks as you see fit. Or dont, im not your dad

it also occurred to me about halfway through writing the chapter that the chaos of the morning rush could have been a plot hatched by audrey and ella with the specific purpose of getting jessie and nayo to talk to each other again. I’ve decided not to confirm or deny it either way, because while think it’s a legitimate reading of the situation, it’s not that important to me.

ellas name was originally lulu but then I remembered that thats the name of a character from another ff game, tho idk which one. 10, maybe?? Anyway, I changed it to ella because I didnt want there to be confusion. If id played whatever game shes from maybe id have left it as a funnie little nod, but since I have absolutely no idea what that character is like and am not currently interested in finding out, leaving her name as lulu felt kinda disingenuous. So shes ella now.

audreys lucky earrings are cait sith crowns!!

I havent decided if the two of them die in the plate-fall or not. Currently, im leaning toward them surviving, because I think it would be needlessly cruel of me to kill them when nayos already going to be suffering enough after losing her home and grieving for jessie Speaking of home, (this is a segue for me to talk about étoile)

Étoile boarding house I need to be so mad for a second about how jessies house is the only one that doesn’t have any documentation for what the inside looks like. We have illustrations of the interiors of biggs’ and wedge’s houses even though we never see them in-game, but we only have one of the outside of jessie’s.

I know its probably possible to get the camera in there with the pc version of remake, but I have no idea how detailed it is inside given that we’re not supposed to see it.

In any case, I spent a not-insignificant amount of time staring at the exterior and trying to figure out the layout of the interior. I think probably all four of them have really tiny rooms + bathroom upstairs, and then kitchen/living room are downstairs. That seems kinda top-heavy tho now that I think about it. Maybe audrey and ella share a room?? Idk im not an architect.

Anyway, it was really convenient for étoile to have a balcony and two floors. And also a workshop apparently—didnt know about that one til I looked at the labeled concept art in the remake material ultimania. I imagine its a space for jessie to do some engineering stuff ,which honestly I think is a really nice detail, unless they decide to tell me that thats where jessie builds bombs and such for avalanche. Because like. That seems… imprudent. The workshop shares a wall with the house but is otherwise not connected to it; the door is on the outside, which I feel would probably make it reasonably easy to break into without alerting anyone inside the house. It just is not at all a subtle place for avalanche to be making explosives so thats about where my suspension of disbelief ends

On the topic of avalanche though

The disastrous meeting + avalanche stuff At first I actively wanted to avoid the meeting where the cell split happens because honestly the timeline of avalanche stuff is a bit of a pain in the ass for me to work with. From what I understand a good chunk of avalanche information is stuff thats covered in before crisis, and im not touching that with a ten-foot pole. The rest of what ive got is what little I could glean from traces of two pasts, which was admittedly not very much, but it was vague enough to give me a little bit of wiggle room.

The way it sounds in traces of two pasts is that jessie+wedge+biggs had been a faction on their own, but then after barret joined, several other mini-factions joined up with them because they were inspired by barret’s enthusiasm or something. As we know eventually it all went to shit when nobody could agree on anything, and then roughly one year prior to the start of remake, there was a Big Argument that led to the creation of the splinter cell as we know it.

Im fine taking some pretty heavy liberties with this because the pre-tifa and pre-barret avalanche situation wasnt super clear to begin with, which I actually think is kinda annoying when intermission’s release date and traces of two pasts’ jpn release date were only like a month apart. I try to not be super incensed about it though because I have no clue what the production timeline of intermission and traces was—it’s fully possible that the writing periods for them didn’t intersect at all, but it’s equally possible that there was just no interest in including intermission avalanche characters in tifa’s story in traces. Im well aware that im like, one of perhaps six and a half people on earth who find zhijie, nayo, polk, and billy bob even remotely interesting hahah

Anyway, that said, my interpretation is that zhijie and jessie had been there from the start, followed almost immediately by biggs, then billy bob, then wedge, then nayo, then finally tifa and barret. (and polk, post-split. I think there was some interview somewhere mentioning that hes the most recent member). Maybe some other factions got swept up with them as mentioned in traces, but broke off again before the Big Argument that solidified the splinter cell. And then when the big argument happened, they stopped associating with the other avalanche cells, leading to, well…

Broke-ass marriage The big divorce energy between the splinter cell and the main cell is like. Not something I thought id be so delighted by, but here we are!

I really like the notion of zhijie’s faction and barret’s faction having been close prior to the split. It adds another layer to the resentment coming from zhijie’s faction toward the splinter cell that I find really fucking delicious.

I dont even really think it’s all that much of a stretch, either. We know jessie used to make fake IDs for zhijie’s faction too, so it’s already clear that there was canonically some crossing paths there. Furthermore, the most tension/anger we hear from nayo in intermission is when shes talking about the splinter cell. Maybe im reading too much into it, but there was a LOT of venom in her voice in intermission when she talks about barret’s faction not caring about collateral damage.

Anyway, thats why I finally caved and wrote part of the disastrous meeting where it all went to shit. It was the perfect vehicle for explaining why nayo is so pissed at jessie, beyond just disagreeing with the splinter cell from an ethical perspective. Like thats already a touchy subject. Can you fucking imagine not only having to live with someone you think is doing morally abhorrent things, but being reminded constantly of how she was willing to give up your friendship to do those morally abhorrent things?? How much of a nightmare it probably is be so angry and disappointed in her while also still caring about her??? Maybe also being madly in love with her?? Thats some GOOD SHIT

Alternate ending Last thing I wanna say for this chapter is about the universe where ella and audrey werent home and jessie and nayo didn’t get interrupted. It probably would’ve been one of those gay and stupid situations where, intentionally or not, jessie wouldve said something annoying or insensitive, and then nayo would have been like ‘shut up’ and jessie would have responded with smth like ‘why dont you come over here and make me.’ And then theyre angrily making out instead of having an honest conversation about their feelings (not that they really had one in this chapter, but theres at least some introspection happening?? Maybe????).

Still, it probably would’ve been a worse outcome for nayo than what actually does happen. She’d be really mad at herself after and immediately go back to ignoring jessie, which would just piss jessie off, and she’d storm out , I think.

Tbc…! I have no idea when the next chapter will be out. Some parts of it are drafted, but they were drafted BEFORE this chapter was even written, so what little I do have will have to be edited pretty significantly before I can proceed. Ideally id like for sonon to be in the next chapter , let nayo find a little bit of joy in being the first to connect the dots between their new ally and zhijie’s mysterious stranger from wall market. Let her revel in being there to see the look on zhijie’s face when he realizes exactly who sonon is.

This is probably the longest most rambling commentary ive ever written, so if youre here reading this… thank you, I appreciate your time and attention very very much!

[lilyblackdrawside]

I also miss CC. The new CC Battleplan that they made after Pinch-Out both improved and downgraded on that mode's systems, but neither of them are as good as CC was.

In classic CC, I really had options to tailor risks to my liking because there were just so many and you didn't have to take entire groups for a set bonus. Back then I could just take a -15% ATK Risk for that final point, but in the new system that'll get me 5 of the required 650 (or whatever) points to get to today's equivalent of Risk 18.

There's also a lot less room to go higher in the new system. Assembling the points to get the trimmed medal (which in old CC you got by clearing Risk 18 within the first week, before additional Risks were added that gave you more options, but weren't necessarily easier) already puts you at like 70~80% of the maximum possible points, whereas in old CC you could easily go beyond Risk 30 if you really wanted to suffer.

In CC Battleplan, every clear pretty much looks the same cause there are just certain Risk groups that you "have to take" and in there you have to take the whole lot because of the set bonus points and then you just deal with it.

What if I just want a little bit more Nethersea Brand? Well then I have to first take all the preceding risks, because you have to fill up the path. Almost forgot about that, cause yeah not only are the set bonus points restricting your choices, a lot of risks also can't just be taken because they're in the middle of the line, so you need all the previous ones. It's a serious damper on creativity.

In the recent one, the one that was Stultifera Navis themed, everyone had pretty much exactly the same Risk layout, with maybe one or two different ones in minor side categories.

I do get some use out of utility operators in CC Battleplan, but it feels very much designed around you just throwing your own highest-stattest, biggest output operators at it a lot of the time. You can already see this by how much they've inflated the enemy stat buff risks. My biggest gripe remains the INVISIBLE DRONE THAT HAS TOO MUCH DEF FOR TOTTER TO MEANINGFULLY DAMAGE in the Firelight one where they basically just told you to "bring Ines or suck shit".

Now about Pinch-Out-Operation:

The main map was pretty terrible with its risks, which were almost entirely built around stat buffs for enemies. Stuff like +1000% health on enemies. That's one risk. But I think the actual concept was really good. It was a lot to take in, I agree on that, but once I understood it, I really liked fiddling with it!

It was just one large risk map with grouped regions, instead of the five or six categories that are each isolated, that we get in Battleplan and it did a lot with letting you unlock different "starting nodes".

Clearing the map with certain risks unlocked to clear preset missions or clearing the side maps or just with one specific risk would give you extra nodes that you're free to activate without them being next to another activated node. So at the start, you had to pick from the risks adjacent to the initial starting node, but as you played the stage(s), you could eventually start from many different nodes, which means you had more flexibility with the connected risks.

Battleplan basically took the wrong lesson from Pinch-Out and streamlined the risk map instead of just making good risks.

The side maps are also a highlight for me, because a lot of them are based around very specific gimmicks, like starting you with a lot of DP but preventing you from making more, making you play with 1 deploy limit or such things.

I don't know why they ever retired CC and we're not getting it back, but I wish they had kept the Pinch-Out map, cause that one at least ended up giving you meaningful options once you opened all the starting nodes.

You know what? I'll say it if nobody else will. I miss Contingency Contract.

The way Risks worked facilitated so many cool set-ups and strategies. Figuring out which Risks your own Operators would be able to handle and mixing your team around to try new ones whenever you hit a wall tickled my brain in a way none of the other gamemodes have. Yeah it could be a pain in the ass sometimes, but when everything clicked for your Risk 18 clear it was so cathartic. And the unique and interesting Risks gave room for all kinds of niche Operators and strategies to shine! I haven't used Blemishine, Angelina, Kafka, or Wild Man in ages but they were integral to some of my proudest CC clears. I'm not in any way clever enough to use Shifters to their full potential, but CC made me get creative enough to try.

Nowadays though... well, we got Pinch-Out, which was an infamously unfun stat check with way less flexibility and a confusing messy UI... and poor Angelina is gathering dust.

[kizuike]

Unrelated but uuuuu why did techbros who've never felt the joy of creation in their lives have to do. all that (<- he's been thinking of going into AI development for the last several years)

[thecreaturecodex]

Demon Lord, Eltab

Image © Paizo Publishing, by Andrew Hou. Accessed at the artist’s deviantArt here

[Commissioned by @tar-baphon​. This is the single longest monster entry on the Codex. This is because it has full listings for three types of fiendish boons, plus an artifact, plus a demigod level creature. And it could have been much longer. Eltab is a demon lord from the Forgotten Realms with a frankly ludicrous amount of backstory, involving such setting highlights as the Witches of Rashemen, the Red Wizards of Thay, the gods of Mulhorand, and a group of real world Russians. The commissioner paid for three additional entries around Eltab and his cult. So I have decidedly pared down the backstory here, but still think it’s pretty intensive. It’s also kind of redundant with the Worldwould--both Eltab and Deskari seek to bring the Abyss into the fabric of the planet. If you’re using Eltab’s demoncysts in a game, I would advise not using Golarion as your planet, or at least put him on a different continent from Avistan.

Also, as an aside. The carnivorous plant angle is new-ish to this interpretation. Champions of Ruin, the book with the most detail about Eltab, makes a lot of hay about his Abyssal realm being filled with carnivorous plants, and the art makes his horns look somewhat like branches. I went with it in order to keep myself entertained, and avoid yet another Death/Trickery combination of domains]

Demon Lord, Eltab CR 29 CE Outsider (extraplanar) This hulking humanoid has skin like bark studded with thorns, particularly along his neck and shoulders. He has hooves for feet and a pair of irregularly branching, antler-like horns. Although bindings of metal and leather surround his wrists and jaw, he appears unencumbered by such fetters.

Eltab Lord of the Hidden Layer, the Chained Beast Concerns carnivorous plants, patience and terror Domains Chaos, Death, Evil, Plant Subdomains Demon, Fear, Murder, Thorns Worshipers evil druids, the vengeful, witches Minions glabrezu, fiendish carnivorous plants, succubi Unholy Symbol A chain stretched between the tines of two antlers Favored Weapon greatsword Obedience feed something or someone to a carnivorous plant, and watch the process of ingestion and digestion for 1 hour. During this time, meditate on those that have wronged you. Gain a +4 profane bonus to saves against the extraordinary and supernatural abilities of creatures of the plant type. Boons for Eltab’s obedience are below the cut.

Eltab, Lord of the Hidden Layer, is something of an anomaly among demon lords, in that he does not live in the Abyss. He was called to the Material Plane in a mythic feat of conjuring more than fifteen centuries ago, and after he broke free of this control, decided to remain. Part of this choice was pragmatic, as the spells binding him could only be broken by sundering the Adamantine Binding, a mythic item that can only be sundered by a particular good aligned artifact. Part of this is out of peace—the many enemies Eltab faces on the Material Plane are easier for him to deal with than rival demon lords. And part of this is out of ambition; Eltab seeks to merge his layer with the Material World he is trapped on, eventually sucking the entire planet into the Abyss. He maintains his connections to his original layer through his seneschal, the balor lord Ndulu, who plots to somehow kill Eltab and take over his layer in total.

The key to Eltab’s plan are the demoncysts, self-contained patches of the Material Plane where the fabric of the Abyss has seeped in. Eltab has planted more than two dozens of these wicked seeds, which are slowly expanding in size, and their occupants in influence. The largest of these cysts is Eltab’s truest domain, the Hall of the Hidden Throne, where he was originally called to the Material in the first place. Eltab himself travels between his demoncysts regularly, stoking their growth, encouraging them to calve off, and stirring the demons and other Abyssal life within to glorious violence.

Eltab is a powerful combatant, but he doesn’t deign to face ordinary foes himself. These he leaves to his armies of minions—among demons, he is fondest of glabrezu and succubi, as they often share his gift of patience. Most enemies who reach him are sent scattering by his aura of fear, and those that stand firm are slain with a mere glare, charged with enormous amounts of negative energy. Anyone who survives these onslaughts is faced in melee, with Eltab wielding a huge greatsword, Stormsplitter, along with his natural weapons.

Moaning Crown of Ndulu Major Artifact Ndulu the balor lord sought to conquer Eltab’s layer for himself, and forged himself a crown using the essence of six dread wraith necromancers in order to signify his rule. When Ndulu visited the Material Plane to inform Eltab of his stake, Eltab beat him within an inch of his life, sundered his crown, and sent him back to the Abyss to serve as a puppet regent. Eltab kept the broken crown, which now sits in a silenced vault in the Hall of the Hidden Throne—Eltab only wears it on special occasions.

The Moaning Crown of Ndulu appears as a broken crown made of black smoke and distorted humanoid faces. It is incorporeal; both Eltab and Ndulu can manipulate it easily with their ghostly grasp ability, but other creatures need to wear ghost touch gauntlets or the like in order to manipulate it. Regardless, once affixed to the brow of a sapient creature, it will remain there on its own. Any creature that wears the Moaning Crown of Ndulu must succeed a DC 23 Fortitude save each round or take 1d8 points of Constitution drain. Any creature slain by this Constitution drain becomes a free willed dread wraith in 1 round.

The Moaning Crown of Ndulu moans constantly, as the name suggests. This moaning causes intense despair, as the crushing despair spell, in any non-evil creature within 60 feet that can hear the crown as long as they remain in the area and for 1 minute thereafter (Will DC 23 negates). Evil creatures that can hear it are instead empowered, as per a bard’s inspire greatness, as long as they remain within 60 feet of the crown. An evil creature can only gain the bonus temporary hit points from this ability once per day. In addition, three times a day by command, the wearer of the Moaning Crown of Ndulu may use it to cast wail of the banshee (CL 21st, DC 23) Aura overwhelming necromancy; Weight –

Eltab       CR 29 XP 6,553,600 CE Large outsider (chaos, demon, evil, extraplanar) Init +10; Senses darkvision 120 ft., Perception +48, tremorsense 60 ft., true seeing Aura fear (60 ft., Will DC 38) Defense AC 46, touch 19, flat-footed 36 (-1 size, +10 Dex, +27 natural) hp 752 (35d10+560); regeneration 20 (deific or mythic) Fort +26, Ref +31, Will +29 DR 20/cold iron, epic, and good; Immune ability damage, ability drain, charm effects, compulsion effects, death effects, electricity, fear effects, energy drain, negative energy, petrification, poison; Resist acid 30, cold 30, fire 30; SR 40 Defensive Abilities Abyssal resurrection, freedom of movement Offense Speed 40 ft., fly 40 ft. (good), burrow 30 ft. Melee Stormsplitter +54/+49/+44/+39 (2d8+27/17-20 plus 1d6 electricity), gore +47 (2d8+7) or 2 slams +49 (2d6+15), gore +49 (2d8+15) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks death glare Spell-like Abilities CL 29th, concentration +40 Constant—freedom of movement, true seeing At will—blasphemy (DC 28) (B), command plants (DC 25), detect good, detect magic, detect thoughts (DC 23), greater dispel magic, greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. objects only), major curse (DC 26), suggestion (DC 24) (B), telekinesis (DC 26) (B) 3/day—control plants (DC 29), control undead (DC 28), mass suggestion (DC 27), empowered stormbolts (DC 29), summon demons or plants, quickened thorn body, quickened wall of thorns (B) 1/day—power word kill (B), shapechange, unholy aura (DC 29) (B) = Eltab can use the mythic version of this spell-like ability in his Abyssal domain Statistics Str 41, Dex 31, Con 41, Int 32, Wis 30, Cha 32 Base Atk +35; CMB +51 (+55 overrun); CMD 75 (77 vs. overrun) Feats Acrobatic, Blind Fight, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Empower SLA (stormbolts), Great Cleave, Greater Overrun, Improved Critical (greatsword), Improved Overrun, Lightning Reflexes, Multiattack, Power Attack, Quicken SLA (thorn body, wall of thorns), Staggering Critical, Stunning Critical, Toughness Skills Acrobatics +52, Bluff +49, Climb +50, Diplomacy +46, Escape Artist +45, Fly +54, Intimidate +49, Knowledge (arcana, history) +46, Knowledge (planes, religion) +49, Perception +48, Sense Motive +48, Spellcraft +46, Stealth +44, Swim +50, Use Magic Device +46 Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Common, Celestial, Draconic, Sylvan, Terran, speak with plants, telepathy 300 ft. SQ anchored, demon lord traits, ghostly grasp, item use Ecology Environment any land and underground Organization unique Treasure triple standard (Stormsplitter [Large +5 shocking burst greatsword], Moaning Crown of Ndulu, other treasure) Special Abilities Anchored (Ex) Eltab is anchored to the Prime Material Plane and cannot leave it, willingly or unwillingly. If subject to a banishment or other spell that would otherwise send him to his home plane, Eltab is transported to the Hall of the Hidden Throne and cannot leave it for 1 week. Aura of Fear (Su) All living creatures within 60 feet of Eltab must succeed a DC 38 Will save or be panicked for 35 rounds. On a successful save, the creature is shaken for 1 round. A creature that succeeds this save is immune to Eltab’s aura of fear for the next 24 hours. Demons are immune to this effect. This is a mind-influencing fear effect, and the save DC is Charisma based. Death Glare (Su) As a swift action, Eltab may cast his gaze upon a single creature within 30 feet. That creature takes 290 points of negative energy damage (Fort DC 38 half). Eltab may only target a creature with his death glare once per day, but may use it at will. This is a death effect, and the save DC is Charisma based. Ghostly Grasp (Su) Eltab’s natural weapons, as well as any weapon he wields, affect incorporeal creatures as if they were ghost touch weapons. Eltab adds half his natural armor bonus as a bonus to his AC against incorporeal touch attacks. Item Use (Ex) Eltab can use any spell completion or spell trigger item as if Eltab had that spell on his spell list. Summon Demons and Plants (Sp) When Eltab uses his summon demons ability, he may call plant monsters with the fiendish template instead of or in combination with demons.

Eltab’s Boons Exalted Boons 1. Servant of Thorns (Sp) thorn javelin 3/day, warp wood 2/day or command plants 1/day 2. Verdant Endurance (Ex) You gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against paralysis, poison, polymorph, sleep and stunning effects. As long as you spend 8 hours a day in sunlight, you do not need to eat. 3. Call Thorny Vassal (Sp) Once per day, you may summon a fiendish viper vine as a standard action. This viper vine remains for 1 round per character level or until slain, and obeys your commands. This is the equivalent of a 9th level spell.

Evangelist Boons 1. Death Dealer (Sp) ray of enfeeblement 3/day, death knell 2/day or inflict serious wounds 1/day 2. Item Mastery (Ex) You may use spell trigger and spell completion items as if those spells were on your spell list, as long as those spells are of the conjuration or necromancy schools. 3. Mournful Cry (Sp) You may cast wail of the banshee once per day as a spell-like ability.

Sentinel Boons 1. Demoncyst Warrior (Sp) divine favor 3/day, barkskin 2/day or thorn body 1/day 2. Crown of the Chained Beast (Ex) You grow a pair of antlers and gain a gore attack as a primary natural weapon. This deals damage as normal for a creature of your size, unless you already have a gore attack, in which case it deals damage as the superior gore attack at one size larger. This gore attack overcomes damage reduction as if it were a chaotic, evil weapon. 3. Channel Stormsplitter (Su) As a swift action, you may grant a single weapon you are holding the shocking burst weapon quality. You may use this ability for a number of minutes per day equal to your character level; these minutes do not have to be consecutive, but do have to be in 1 minute increments.  

[barbwritesstuff]

Okay.

I need to talk about Roe.

I've kind of talked about them a little already. But I need to talk about them properly now because I am going around in circles and I need some other perspectives on this.

Blood Moon is at first draft. Kinda. There is still a missing chapter and the epilogue needs some zhuzhing up (by probably a few thousand words, let's be honest). But, overall, it's done. You all know, if you've played the demo all the way through, the story.

And, as many of you have noticed, Roe isn't currently a big part of that story.

This wasn't my original intension. The Pack B storyline didn't come out the way I planned it. I thought I had enough space between chapters 6 and 12 to:

Develop 3 additional ROs (Shawnie, Roe, and Farro)

Foreshadow and introduce Jay

Showcase how Pack B is different from Pack A

I was wrong. I had to change things around to make Farro and Shawnie work as ROs, was only able to very awkwardly shoe-horn Jay in, and really didn't explore the differences between the packs much at all.

But Roe got the worst of it. I originally imagined their romance as very slow, intimate, and conflicted... but that doesn't really work with the story as it currently stands. So they were left with a big fat lump of nothing.

I don't like it. In fact I hate it. I want to include Roe and their romance in the story. And I can, it just won't be the slow, intimate, tender thing I first pictured. It'll be a hint of something. A spark, but not a flame, and only available to a very niche group of players (those that become Alpha, flee the city, and don't romance anyone else until the very last chapter).

Or (and this is a painful idea I've been toying with for months) I could cut Roe from the story. I don't want to do that, because I love Roe. I love that they're an enby Alpha. I love that they're this quiet tragic hero. I love everything about them. But I can't deny this cut would work. Having a more morally questionable (and totally non romanceable) Alpha in charge of Pack B will make the middle part of the story more intense, and would help explain why Pack B isn't a reliable ally in the end.

It would also make Jay and showcasing the differences between the packs easier.

But the trade off is Roe which is just... a huge price to pay.

I genuinely don't know what to do. Every day I think I've made a choice, but then I open the files to action that choice (be it making Roe an obscure ending or cutting them entirely) and I change my mind.

I keep thinking I can save Roe for another book, or another game. But I also keep thinking they won't be the same. This is where they belong. But then I think about how shitty their ending is right now and I just... I don't know. I really don't.

I guess I just need an outside opinion on this. What do you guys think? Should I keep Roe even if they get a stunted romance and a kinda bad ending? Or should I pull them and save them for another story?

To make things extra hard here are some clips of them that are currently sitting in Blood Moon's 'extra scenes and stuff' file:

Please just take me out back and put me out of my misery. Being a writer is too damn hard.

[gaymer-hag-stan]

Daily reminder that while Hwayoung is in no way innocent and was actively an asshole to Core Contents Media staff members and playing coy about whether she was actually bullied or not, she is absolutely not the sole reason for T-ara's downfall and should not be painted as such.

I want to clarify some misconceptions people seem to have about the situation. At points I will be using other groups as reference points (NOT to pit them against T-ara) and also using my own opinions and speculation at certain points, which I will make clear to point out from the actual facts of the story.

For all intents and purposes, yes, Hwayoung is a nepo baby. Her father is rich and he was also friends with Kim Kwang-soo, the CEO of Core Contents Media, T-ara's old company (now known as MBK)

Hwayoung wanted to be an actress but Kim Kwang-soo thought it would be better to be part of an idol group to gain popularity first and then launch her own acting career easier. It is not unusual to use idol groups as a launching point for later solo music projects or acting so all makes sense up to here.

It should also be noted that T-ara had already worked hard to make a name for themselves. They released Bo Peep Bo Peep and Crazy Because of You, two massive hits that both sold over 3M digital copies and were on the rise to become one of the most popular groups of their generation. They faced fierce competition, having debuted alongside the likes of 2NE1, f(x), 4Minute and After School (2009 was such a strong year) and initially faced severe backlash for their debut performance of Lie. They even had to literally perform in the streets outside of malls during Bo Peep Bo Peep promotions to get people to listen to their song. The internet wasn't what it is now back days so they also couldn't rely on their fans spamming everyone online to listen to their songs or artificially increase views by watching the MV again and again.

So the original six girls had built a strong bond by training together (Jiyeon, Hyomin and Eunjung at least, Qri, Soyeon and Boram were kind of last-minute additions after Jiwon and Jiae quit) debuting and promoting together for a year and facing backlash and severe working conditions together. I imagine Hwayoung being added after they worked to make themselves known might have been a "yeah ok I guess" moment for OG T-ara. K-pop fans seen to be easily annoyed by constant lineup changes too so adding or losing a member after the group has already become famous is never a good thing.

Like I said, Hwayoung wanted to be an actress, but for the most part she played along with the idol part. That being said, I fee like CCM never made an effort to present her as an actual member of T-ara in their songs, the title tracks at least. She always felt like a featured act to me or a backup vocalist, not an actual member. You could argue Qri and Boram also got very few lines, but it's not just that, Hwayoung was supposed to be the new rapper or whatever so that Hyomin and Eunjung could start getting more singing lines now that they had someone else to do the raps but... In the first two singles Hwayoung participated in, What's Wrong and yayaya, Hyomin and Eunjung are still mostly doing the raps and Hwayoung gets a few adlibs, basically... So what was the point of making her the "rapper" then 😬 And then after that Hyomin and Eunjung stopped doing the raps completely but Hwayoung was still only doing adlibs and 2sec raps in the bridge. In Roly-Poly all the girls have mostly equal parts. Even Qri, Boram and Hwayoung, who usually got very few lines have the same amount of lines. But while Qri's and Boram's parts are actually memorable (Qri has the intro and the start of the second verse and Boram sings in both verses) while Hwayoung, who actually sings in both verses and the bridge, is still only doing adlibs and 2sec raps. In contrast, let's take 2NE1's I Am the Best, that released around the same time. CL actually sings more than an entire minute of the song, but because the parts of the other three are still memorable, it doesn't feel like she's hogging the entire song. Each of them has their moments.

But like I said it's not just about the amount of time you sing, Bora was consistently the most popular member of SISTAR and she, basically, got the same type of lines as Hwayoung after 2011. Hwayoung's styling and stage presence also fell off. She's taller than the entire group (I don't remember if Eunjung is taller than her but I think she's not) and she wasn't a very skilled dancer so it showed on stage. On top of that, her outfits, hair and makeup always looked like shit to me. But then again, the stylists and staff members said she was a nightmare to them so maybe it was intentional after all lol. But my point is, if you have a member that's not good at singing, dancing, is the rapper but doesn't actually rap and is dressed and styled worse than the rest of the group, when in theory she's the daughter of your friend, you're essentially making her yourself to look like the outcast.

What's ironic is that by 2012 things seemed to have been slowly changing? Her styling looks considerably better, she actually got sizeable parts in Day by Day and she was even picked to be a part of the We Were in Love collab with Davichi, where she also got lines and it became a hit so maybe if she hadn't started slacking things would have improved for her?

Then again, as I said Hwayoung had zero interest in being an idol, she wanted to be an actress, an she was literally the only one that CCM never booked an acting gig for. All the others (sans Areum) were acting. Even predebut Dani, who was supposed to become T-ara's ninth member, got to act in Day by Day's MV, so I'm not sure how important to her the fact that she got decent raps that lasted for more than 2secs in two songs would be. Not to mention, that she actually got back to sharing the raps as, in the unreleased version of Sexy Love, she's only doing the rap in the bridge and has to share it with Areum. Maybe Shinsadebt Tiger just hated her 🤣 I'm betting that if she was still in the group by Number Nine she would only get the "I'm addict I'm addict parts" 🤣😭

Now, it's also worth mentioning that T-ara were BIG in 2012. It was the peak of their popularity. They were the third most popular girl group in Korea, behind only Girls' Generation and 2NE1, and the third most popular K-pop girl group in Japan, after Girls' Generation and KARA. Jiyeon was winning popularity polls against Yoona. Yoon. A. They were still going strong and might have even overtaken 2NE1 too, especially considering how YG stopped promoting them properly around that time and with CCM wanting to turn them into a nine-membered group they were, essentially, declaring open war against S.M.. They had five different singles sell over 3M digital copies (Bo Peep Bo Peep, Crazy Because of You, Roly-Poly, Cry Cry & Lovey-Dovey, I actually think maybe We Were In Love did too?) which, before 2012's SK Music market inflation prices, was considered an astonishing feat. For reference, the only other girl group to have ever had five singles sell over 3M digital copies is 2NE1.

Take all this into account along with the fact that they were constantly flying back and forth from Korea to Japan to keep up with their extremely demanding schedule and, honestly, I can't really blaming Hwayoung for finding an excuse to weasel out of a few performances, we all would, be honest.

The thing is, that the Budokan performance wasn't just any performance. It's a very prestigious Japanese venue and even it it wasn't it's still a concert that people paid money to see. Idols may occasionally half-ass or lipsync performances on music and other TV shows but concerts are where they give it their all (or at least second gen idols did 👀) and all the other girls actually wanted to be idols so, maybe it wasn't a big deal to Hwayoung, but the rest of the girls had every right to be pissed about it.

Shading her on Twitter, while hilarious, was probably not a smart idea, because it was essentially the beginning of the end. Before that no one was really paying attention to Hwayoung's relationship with the rest of the group, and if she was actually being such a menace to the stuff, sooner or later someone would speak, and even if there were doubts about whether OG T-ara and Hwa were friends or whatever, no one would really question a possible expulsion from the group and company if it was a known fact that she was being rude to the staff.

And that was actually the official line by CCM. Hwayoung has been fired because she can't work well with the staff. But because of the Twitter thing and Hyoyoung, Hwa's twin, also (kind of) directly antagonizing T-ara online and Hwayoung agreeing with her, people started speculating and finding previous "evidence" of bullying.

CCM's silent approach didn't work. I get that maybe KKS didn't want to publicly announce that his friend's daughter was as asshole and a liar and the rest of the group was kind of done with it but why on earth would you literally throw your main (and let's be honest here, only) moneymaker under the bus like that? Why shoot yourself in the foot? I don't get it.

To Hwayoung's defense, she literally said "they didn't bully me, stop harassing them" at first... Before settling for a conveniently vague "I was going through hard times" line every time she gave an interview afterwards, but the first time she actually outright said she wasn't a victim of bullying.

But people didn't really care about that. T-ara's fall from grace was never in defense of Hwayoung. Hwayoung was not a very popular member to begin with so it's not like her individual fans were actively campaigning against T-ara, this is in no way a Jessica's individual fans vs. OT8 SONEs type of situation. They definitely lost a lot of the more "casual fans" and lost a lost the general public, but Sexy Love and Number Nine still charted within the top 10, so their core audience was still there.

My personal opinion, which is half fact and half speculation that is still based on facts, is that while they probably did not create a rumour, companies like S.M. and YG whose profits were being reduced by competition from CCM could have easily influenced it's spread. We all know how S.M. treats their former artists and YG also tried to block coverage of 2NE1's Coachella performance to reduce its impact and didn't they literally force Naeun out of Apink? Is it a stretch to assume they might have been a little too eager to help remove competition? But maybe they didn't even have to involve themselves personally.

Misogyny in the K-pop community was at its PEAK in that era. SONEs and 2NE1's fanwars with constant slut and body-shaming of the rival group's members, S.M. associate producer, Teddy Riley, LITERALLY calling the Wonder Girls flops and saying SNSD are better, Krystal and Sulli's and Amber's individual fans CONSTANTLY at war with each other, HyunA and Suzy's fans trashing the rest of 4Minute and miss A.... Need I go on?

Like I said, T-ara were on the top with GG and 2NE1, and their respective fans did not miss the chance to throw them right off when the opportunity presented itself in the form of a fabricated rumour. What's worse is that this is not even the... Worse fabricated rumour. SONEs started a rumour that HyunA left the Wonder Girls because of a PREGNANCY... She was FIFTEEN... Luckily this did not affect her career in any way.

So, next time you want to talk about T-ara's "bullying scandal", do remember that it was a combined effort of misogyny in K-pop, enforced by entertainment companies and fans alike, Korea's obsession with idols having squeaky clean images and never doing wrong (the women at least, a boy group would have EASILY gotten away with all of that), gross mismanagement by Core Contents Media and Kim Kwang-soo, nepotism, Hwayoung taking advantage of a tricky situation, and Hyomin, Jiyeon, Eunjung, Soyeon and Boram (because remember, like Switzerland, Qri was neutral during the War) deciding it was a good idea to ratio Hwayoung on Twitter after not wanting to sing "I likey likey this, I likey likey that" for the nth time.

[riseofthecommonwoodpile]

advice for someone looking for a dom, tips for first irl meet or anything? i think the way you openly share about your sex life inspired me to get on fetlife lol

so, sorry to take a long time responding to this, i was mulling it over in my mind for a while to see if i have anything much useful to say. i don't know that i do, but here's something, at least:

the best thing you can do, in my view, is to go to local munches and sloshes, meet people, get to know the community around you. as someone with terrrrrible social anxiety, i know that can be a terrifying prospect, but if you're looking for something longer term than a one or two night thing, even if you aren't looking for something romantic, you'll want to actually like any dom you're playing with as a person and not just as a kink dispenser, and making friends in the community makes it easier to meet additional people anyways. it's the difference between going on a date with someone you've met a few times irl and know you have a rapport with versus someone off tinder where you have no idea how you'll vibe, and i personally much prefer the former (though i do still meet plenty of people on tinder or grindr, so hey)

if your anxiety is too much to do something like that, then look at local groups on fet and see if there's any personal ads that strike your fancy, or post your own. talk to people for at least a few messages before meeting up, and always meet in public first and let someone know where you're going and when they should expect you back or to hear from you. weird tip, but relevant i think: masturbate and cum before you agree to meeting anyone or doing anything, so you know it's something you are actively interested and not just horny for at the moment. may sound dumb, but i've definitely almost made some very bad decisions while super horny that i avoided by just jerking off and getting that post-nut clarity of like "oh wait, that's a bad idea and i don't want to do it".

additionally, i would highly, *highly* recommend not doing any play involving restraints the first time doing a scene with someone in private. any type of kink play involves a lot of trust and some inherent degree of risk, but being able to get away or fight back if something bad starts happening is super important. risk mitigation, especially early on when you're still learning, is crucial shit. in general, if there's any kink clubs near you, i would really recommend playing there first, because if someone is going wrong or if the person you're with is ignoring you safewording and saying no, there will (at every public space i've been to) be people whose job for the night is monitoring the dungeon and intervening if need be.

no matter which method you choose or how you meet someone, be clear and honest about any experience or lack of experience you have, both for your safety and theirs, mental and physical. if you've only done something to yourself, say that explicitly and not "i've done X", because those are very different situations. there's nothing wrong with being a beginner in something, as long as you are honest and direct about it, and you'll have a much healthier and more enjoyable experience versus being thrown into the deep end because you fudged your experience level with X or Y or Z. also: aftercare is important for almost everyone, and even if you find you don't need it, which is very unlikely (i used to think i didn't need aftercare, but it turns out i was just ignoring sub drop because i was so depressed generally it didn't seem abnormal lmao), the other person very likely does, even if they're the top or dom in the scene. common trick is also have some dark chocolate in the fridge for the day or two afterwards lol, it sounds silly but it has genuinely helped me with sub drop.

uhhhh i mean there's a lot more i could get into, but it gets into a lot of things that require knowing specifics on your situation, and you're much better off meeting people in the community IRL and learning from those with more experience, asking for help and answers to questions when you don't know things or even just need clarification. hopefully that's at least somewhat helpful though

(also brought up in mentions, there are people who offer classes on kink 101 stuff and there's books as well [Screw the Roses Send Me the Thorns is a common rec i feel], but i personally don't love them [at least for beginner stuff, i have done and loved plenty of classes on more specific subjects], and a lot of "you should do this in a kink relationship" advice is incredibly specific to the personal outlook and experience of the person writing, and not usually something that can be easily universalized)

[pastxlscorp]

Bully! Mitsuya Fanfic (pt.3)

Chapter III: Abidance

✿ Word Count: 3.2k

✿ Pairing: Takashi Mitsuya x reader

✿ Topics covered: (Eventual) Enemies to lovers trope, Hakkai POV, Y/N POV, Mitsuya POV, tsundere-Mitsuya, bully! Mitsuya, fem. reader, minor manga spoilers, slight angst

Awakening from his slumber, he found that the woman was no longer taking up space in his bed. He heaved a sigh of relief, only to, unfortunately, see a message from an unknown number on his phone saying “Text me when you’re free ;)” Ignoring the text, he found he had a message from Hakkai and remembered that he had abandoned him to sleep with that damn woman. However, Hakkai didn’t confront him about it, but instead acted as if nothing happened.

🗨️ Hakkai: Is the party still on for today? (Sent 2:00am)

🗨️ Mitsuya: Yeah, sorry about yesterday. I wasn’t feeling my best, I should have let you know. (Sent 10:00am)

🗨️ Hakkai: No hard feelings. Ya feeling better now Taka-chan? (Sent 10:01am)

🗨️ Mitsuya: Not really, but it’ll pass. What’d you end up doing yesterday after I left? (Sent 10:02am)

Picking up on the subtle curiosity of Mitsuya’s text, it became clear to Hakkai that he did see him with you. As much as he admired Mitsuya, the anger building inside of him got the best of him. Therefore, in response, he chose a reply that he knew would get Mitsuya boiling.

🗨️ Hakkai: Caught Y/N outside of your class, had a wonderful lunch with her! She’s so nice, Taka-chan! Why are ya so mean to her? (Sent 10:04am)

Vigorous fingers typed in reply.

🗨️ Mitsuya: Why the fuck were you hanging around that slut? She’s just gonna try and get in your pants. What did she say to you? (Sent 10:04am)

🗨️ Mitsuya: Hakkai? Hello? (Sent 10:05am)

🗨️ Hakkai: Sorry Taka-chan, I’m back. She didn’t say nuthin bad, actually she was so sweet. She saw I was alone and we both had some tea together back at her place. Ended up sleeping over, I’m still here actually! (Sent 10:05am)

🗨️ Mitsuya: BACK AT HER PLACE? I told you, she’s just trying to get in your pants and you let her win! I can’t believe you let a whore like her win you over, Hakkai! Where the fuck is your brain? She probably was enjoying every minute of your sorry ass. (Sent 10:05am)

🗨️ Hakkai: Who said we slept together, Taka? (Sent 10:05am)

Silence enveloped the room.

🗨️ Mitsuya: Sorry… I just assumed that’s what you meant by sleeping over. (Sent 10:07am)

🗨️ Hakkai: Awh, it’s okie Taka, I know you were only looking out for me. (Sent 10:07am)

Absolutely, looking out for Hakkai. That’s what this was, that’s what he was doing. There couldn’t have been any other reason why he was so upset at the thought of you sleeping together. He was just being a good friend.

-----

┃ “Y/N!” the hoarse voice spoke to you, feeling the smooth cloth of his jacket pressed against your face as you bumped into him.

You looked up only to recognize Hakkai, kind thoughts flooding your mind, diminishing your anger stemming from your interaction with Mitsuya moments before. He grinned at you giddily, eyes relaxing any sort of tension left in your body. You slowly began to forget why you were mad and allowed yourself to indulge in his presence.

┃ “Good afternoon Hakkai! Waiting for Mitsuya?”

┃ “Mhm, you takin’ Designer 101 too, right?”

┃ “Yup! How come you aren’t taking it? You’re very fashionable, y’know?”

┃ “You’re too kind,” He giggled, his grin beginning to somehow grow wider on his cheeks as he raised his hand to pat your head.

┃ “I’m serious! Why don’t you join the class? It’s not too late, the second semester is about to start!” You eagerly pushed on, rejoicing in the positive energy he emitted.

┃ “ ‘m not really into making clothes, just showing them off...” He let out a hefty chuckle before getting cut off by you.

┃ “You don’t have to be good at making them! Some students choose to learn how to stylize different clothing and patterns, it’s all about the latest trends.”

┃ “Really?” He went silent for a few moments, smile morphing into a straight line as he contemplated your words carefully. Not to fret, as his smile quickly returned as he said: “Well then, might have to ask Taka-chan to help me sign up!”

You both shared a laugh and began to discuss the enrollment process in order for Hakkai to join the class-- if he were to drop another class, what class would he drop, or would he simply add it to his current schedule? While your conversation was nothing more than an innocent developing friendship, unbeknownst to you, Mitsuya had witnessed it all and declared it once more another betrayal. You were such a slut, flirting with anyone and everyone. Irrationality began to consume him-- instead of seeing your interaction with Hakkai for what it truly was, a genuine developing friendship, his brain refused to comprehend your behavior with other men. He never got to the level of comfortability you had with Takemichi, and he had lost the sense of ease you had with him to Hakkai and god, god did it piss him off. Unfortunately for that kohai, she was just another doll for him to play with just until he could get your attention again. Even a single drop of your attention, your attachment, it was enough to drive him for weeks just to be able to be near you again. Your kind words squeezing his heart tighter and tighter the more you spoke, your laughter ringing in his ears at a corny joke he told you during club meetings, it enveloped him into infatuation which later developed into a larger feeling. Such a large feeling over the progressing months that when he began bullying you, when your lack of presence and absences during meetings began to grow, an emptiness began to root in his heart, waiting for you to touch it once more and let it grow.

He could go on and on listing things about you-- the way he loved your sense of fashion, the way he loved your sense of humor, your compassion to helping others, your intellect that allowed you to read everyone like a book, everyone except him. Why couldn’t you see that he didn’t hate you? Oh, but that jealousy, the first time he’d admit that it was jealousy, it gripped him so tightly around his neck that it felt suffocating. Every shove, every clasp of your hand, your wrist, your chain, your chain, it made his heart shutter seeing that dead watery look in your eye, but your attention was like a drug that he just had to keep getting more of. It would never be enough to satisfy him, not until he could call you his and you would call him yours. He pitied using them, he really did, but he needed someone to satiate his needs. He was a womanizer, after all-- if one left he would just charm another into his bed. They all had high respect for Mitsuya, his intellect, his charm, his skill, and his kindness. Yet no matter how hard he tried, all those women, they were never you and they could never try and be you. He found that he no longer sought sex for his own pleasure anymore, but for your own, pretending so desperately that the one trembling out of pleasure beneath him was you. Imagining, no, fantasizing that he was making you happy and leaving you satisfied.

Upon seeing your interaction, he quickly left with his kohai for their own exchange, leaving Hakkai unfortunately confused as he waved you goodbye, patiently waiting for his friend to meet him. You were still on campus because you had taken additional extracurricular activities to build up your transcript to make up for your absences in Mitsuya’s Home-economics club. At first, you attempted to make it through the club meetings but he made every single one as unbearable as possible. The second semester, could it come any sooner? Hakkai, too focused on organizing his schedule with you previously, had failed to notice Mitsuya leaving with a woman. He waited, he waited, and he waited, coming to a good hour until he realized Mitsuya wouldn’t have left him waiting for this long without a heads up. He looked at his phone, expecting some sort of contact-- a phone call, a message, anything. All that awaited him was several unread messages from group chats and friends, none of them from Taka-chan. He sighed, placing his phone away just as he noticed your presence once more, planting a fake smile on his face to disguise his obvious disappointment. Unfortunately for him, his smile only instantly alerted you something was wrong.

┃ “Hakkai? Why are you still here, weren’t you supposed to be meeting Mitsuya?”

┃ His phony smile stood in place as tears began to fill his eyes. He croaked: “T-taka-chan left me. Do you think he’s mad at me for sumthin’, Y/N? I don’t ‘member doin’ anything.”

You instantly rushed over to comfort him, witnessing what appeared to be an intimidating giant become undone into a fragile teddy bear at the thought he had upset his best friend. Your disdain only kept growing for Mitsuya, first it was his lack of maturity during class, and now he had abandoned his best friend for whatever reason it was. Hakkai was a sweetheart, you couldn’t imagine what he may have done to upset someone. Therefore, you came to the conclusion Mitsuya had thrown a tantrum of sorts and took it out on him. It irked you, however, Mitsuya always remained respectful and loving to his best friend in addition to Yasuda-san, so you couldn’t help but raise your brow wondering what got him so upset for him to entirely ditch his friend. Pushing those thoughts aside, you placed all of your focus on bringing a smile back to Hakkai’s face, gently rubbing his back and placing your forehead against his temple as he crouched over in defeat. You desperately attempted to think of anything to cheer him up.

┃ “Ah, how about some tea?”

┃ “...Tea?”

┃ “Listen, I have absolutely no idea what you like and I want to calm you down so-”

┃ “Tea sounds good.” He said softly, a small smile returning to his face.

You escorted Hakkai comfortably back to your dorm, located on the east wing of the campus. Women and men could go to each other’s dorms, they just had gender-separated wings because it was just easier to contain the chaos if everyone was allowed to sleep with their girlfriend or boyfriend. The boys had their dormitory on the west side, thus you noticeably got some glances as you strolled with Hakkai. Mitsuya was always surrounded by Hakkai and Yasuda-san, so obviously most of your classmates were shocked to see you hanging out with his right-hand man. Were you both sleeping together? Ooh what a scandal (not). Although you didn’t mind the glanes too much, Hakkai on the other hand made sure to shoot down them all with a nasty side glare, quickly causing them to turn their cheek. It was a cute sight after all, seeing how you subconsciously had reached for his hand and began to rub gentle circles on it in order to ease him, which succeeded in doing so. Once you arrived at your dorm, you opened the door and gave him a show of jazz hands as you toured him around your dorm. Your dorm wasn’t the largest compared to his and Mitsuya’s dorm, which made him realize the privilege of not having a financially aided dorm. Your queen bed comfortably rested on the right side of the room, covered with a curtain and fairy lights on the wall behind it. Your desk was not too far away, maybe a good 15 feet across your bed, not too messy but not too neat. It was obvious you were working on something, as there were papers still out and scattered but the rest of the desk had the pens, pencils, and stapled papers sorted in a clean pile. Your pinboard was half-covered with your calendar, cluttered with small sticker reminders while the other half was your schedule, nicely decorated with washi tape sticking it to the board. Next to your bed was a wooden closet and you led him into the cramped kitchen that made him gasp, seeing how you make such a tight space so comfortable and presentable. You had a small glass coffee table in the middle, a small fridge cramped in the kitchen underneath a cupboard and next to a cabinet holding the sink on top. Next to that was a stove with a microwave on top, both color-coordinated black, contrasting the white of the room. You guided him over to the table and motioned for him to sit and he obediently did. Walking over to the countertop holding an old-school kettle, you used it to strain and brew the tea. Gleefully, you dropped a few ice cubes in his glass and carefully poured his tea and then your own, sitting across from him at the table. He took a sip of the tea you had placed in front of him, smiling not at the delightful taste but the awaiting face you had fixated, putting your hands under your chin waiting for a response.

┃ “This tea is delightful, thank you Y/N.” He said warmly and you basked in his praise.

┃ “Ah, sorry if I made you uncomfortable with the staring. I don’t… really get visitors. It’s nice to have someone over.” You replied, your face beginning to glow a light pink as your lips formed into a slight frown, embarrassed to admit how you had no friends.

┃ “Mm, I should be the one thankin’ you,” The softness in his voice made your crouched posture fix itself as you looked up to him. “You made me sum tea, opened me to your home, all ‘cuz I was sad and overthinkin’. You ain’t hafta do that, but you did anyway. I appreciate ya!” His iconic grin was now back where it belonged as his eyes glazed over you in pure adoration. You smiled in return, both returning to take a sip of your tea.

Hours passed and he was still at your house, you both gossiping and talking like old friends. You discussed your classmates, praising them and disapproving of the behavior of others. He began to confide in you about what he witnessed during his time as the second-division’s vice captain. You eagerly listened to him as he described to you his tales with his brother and his amazing sister Yuzuha, anything and everything was up for debate. At least, almost everything. Despite being the main reason he was so upset, you and Hakkai had not discussed Mitsuya’s treatment of you. He was mentioned in a few gang stories, but it seemed as if Hakkai was opting out of speaking about him out of respect for you. However, his head began to slump, implying he was tired. You grabbed your phone, which had been placed upside down on the coffee table, and looked at the time and saw it was well past midnight. You leaned over to rub Hakkai’s shoulder and you gasped when his head turned back upright, alert as if he just remembered something. Drunk on drowsiness, he began to speak:

┃ “Mmh, y’know Mitsuya used to talk about you a lot. Always went on about this pretty girl who was awfully sweet, really smart…” He trailed off, fighting off the sleep that clung desperately to his eyelids. “He never gave me a name but after club meetings when I woulds wait for him, he would tell me about his conversations. I always saw him looking at ya. What did ya do to make him so pissed off?” Although he had no malicious-intent in his questioning, it was enough to cause goosebumps all over your body.

┃ “I didn’t do anything, ‘kai. Really, nothing different happened that day. All of the sudden, the next day during his club he humiliated me in front of everyone and then made me stay after hours to yell at me even more.” You went silent for a moment, before your curiosity got the best of you and you questioned: “He used to talk about me? Are you sure?”

┃ Ignoring your question, he replied to your initial response. “You didn’t do anythin’ different at all that day?”

┃ You contemplated his question carefully, before realizing the one event that was an outlier to the rest. “I was waiting for my friend outside campus gates that day. He offered to wait with me but I insisted he didn’t, mainly because my friend had said Mitsuya wasn’t very fond of him so it was better if he didn’t see him.”

┃ “Who’s the friend?”

┃ “Hanagaki Takemichi.”

┃ The tired man in front of you took a full minute to process your sentence before bursting out and crying of laughter a few moments later. You looked at him, pure confusion coating your body as he continued to sob. Finally, after a few minutes, he wiped his eyes and sat back up, gleaming at you. “Well that’s your problem, Mitsuya fucking hates Takemichy. Probably spied on ya because he was worried, saw Takemichy, and boom-- he got jealous AHAHA!” He went back to crying of laughter, leaving you a few moments to yourself to process his words.

It was embarrassing to admit how Hakkai was half-asleep in front of you and somehow managed to put together your puzzle of confusion together months after said incident had happened, in under 20 minutes. However, you couldn’t find yourself disagreeing with his theory. Suddenly, Hakkai stopped laughing and looked up at you, all serious.

┃ “Now wait… that’s not funny! He’s been pushing ya around all the time just cuz he’s jealous of you being with other guys?! That’s fucked up! ‘M gonna beat his ass, Y/N! Just for you!”

You now began laughing, taking Hakkai’s hand in yours over the glass countertop and tapping it gently.

┃ “That won’t be necessary, ‘kai. How about we come up with a solution?”

┃ “My solution is beating his a-”

┃ “A non-physical solution.”

┃ He went silent for a few moments, looking away from you to the window to think. You could tell he thought of something when a smirk began to plaster itself on his face. “How about we test our theory?”

┃ “Elaborate.”

┃ “If that pain in my ass is done with whatever it is he’s doing, there was supposta be a party tomorrow. Not at our dorm, but our friend’s. You might have heard of him, Manjiro Sano?”

You responded with silence.

┃ “Mikey. The Invincible Mikey.”

┃ “Not ringing any bells.”

┃ “Brother of Emma Sano. Brother of Izana.”

┃ “Emma Sano is so nice!”

┃ “Captain of the Tokyo Manji Gang, Y/N.”

┃ “Oh.”

┃ “Point is, he’s having a party tomorrow. We could get some revenge, I bring you as my date~”

┃ “Won’t that make him angri-

┃ “That’s what revenge is.”

┃ “Why don’t I just talk with him?”

┃ “Has he tried talking to you?”

┃ “...no.”

┃ “I rest my case.”

Silence enveloped the room once more. It wasn’t an awkward silence, no, it was quite a comfortable silence actually as he patiently awaited your response and allowed you to process and think.

┃ “When is the party exactly?”

✿ tags: @haiq-trash @blackmysticalsimp @the2ndl @bren-heron @delicatejudgecopcowboy @skiwalkers

✿ a.n. // First of all, thank you so much for 102 followers <3 I appreciate the support being given to me! I would like to address one thing, however, please don't rush me to write! I've gotten very kind messages of support but others have been demanding more of me and it's important to remember that I have classes, chores, a social life, and many other things happening. I love writing but rushing me makes it unenjoyable and it won't be my best work. My goal for this ongoing fanfic is to post weekly. Just a little ted-talk there, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter though! I had such a fun time writing it :)

[sturchling]

I've read your stories where the Justice League is banned from Paris, and I love them! What if the League and the Avengers were in the same world, but the Avengers didn't ignore them while the Justice League did? I imagine that Steve would convince Tony to help because these are KIDS, like Peter. So, the Avengers help, but since the League and Avengers are at odds, the Avengers don't tell the League. Team Miraculous is perfectly fine with that. (Big Team Miraculous and more users if possible!!)

Team Miraculous had practically begged the Justice League for help when Hawkmoth was still active. But they received no response. But the Justice League weren’t the only ones they reached out to. They also sent the same video asking for help to Tony Stark, who everyone knew was Iron Man, hoping the Avengers might help them. They sent the video with little hope for a response. After all, the Justice League had ignored all their requests for help. Why would the Avengers be any different?

----------------

Tony Stark received hundreds of emails a day. Emails from people at Stark Industries, SHIELD, and the avengers. But he didn’t often get emails from an unknown address from Paris. That is what initially caught his attention. The message was simple. The subject simply said Avengers, please help us. When Tony opened the email, there was no text to it. Just a video attachment. Tony called the team into the meeting room and played the video. 

--------------

They watched the video as two kids in animal themed costumes explained what was happening in Paris. These kids couldn’t be more than 14. When the video was over, the group sat in silence for a moment before Steve spoke up. “We need to help them.” Tony sighed, turning to face Steve. “It’s not that I don’t want to, but we can’t just go to Paris and help. Not when they are still discussing the accords. We can’t go unless France’s government asks for our help.” Steve stands up from his seat, angry. “So what? We just ignore this? You heard what they said, France wants to keep this under wraps so they don’t lose the tourists that come to Paris. They aren’t going to ask for our help, then they would have to publicly admit there is a problem!” Tony stands up too, walking towards Steve. “I know that! But our hands are tied. With the UN still discussing the accords, we can’t go making the situation worse then it already is!” Steve rolls his eyes and starts to walk away in frustration. “Oh come on Tony! Those are kids! Those are KIDS who are having to fight against a terrorist all on their own with no training! They need help! If it were Peter in Paris, would you leave him to face this alone?” That made Tony pause. In the quiet, Thor decided to make his opinion known. “I also feel that we should help them. I am familiar with these miraculous. The power they grant users is great. A terrorist powered by one is a sobering thought. I am especially familiar with the Black Cat miraculous, as is Loki. And I do not believe either of us wants to be on Plagg’s bad side again. We should help these children immediately.” Tony just sighs, shaking his head. “I feel like I am going to regret this. Fine, lets go to Paris.”  The Avengers quickly made preparations to go to Paris. Before they left they sent an email back to the kids who sent the video to let them know that help was on the way.

--------------------

Marinette and Adrien could hardly believe the email in their inbox. They hadn’t expected to hear back from the Avengers so soon, or hear that they were taking this seriously. This is incredible! By now, team Miraculous had revealed their identities to each other to make it easier to communicate to each other. Marinette sent out a message in their group chat. Group project meeting. Meet in the usual place, 30 minutes. Half an hour later, team Miraculous was meeting in their secluded area of Chloe’s hotel suite, which had been sound proofed so no one would hear them. Marinette and Adrien filled them all in on what had happened involving the Avengers and everyone was excited. They would finally get some help with Hawkmoth after all these years. It wasn’t long before they received another email saying that the Avengers had landed and asking where to meet. Marinette sent them the location of a secluded warehouse to meet in and Team Miraculous transformed, leaving to meet the Avengers.

----------------

The Avengers weren’t sure what to expect when they arrived at the abandoned warehouse the kids asked them to meet at. But they certainly weren’t expecting a small army of kids in costume, in addition to the two that sent the video. In addition to the original two dressed as a ladybug and cat, there appeared to be a fox, turtle, bee, horse, snake, monkey, dragon, and bunny. And they were all children. The girl in the ladybug outfit and boy in the cat outfit stepped forward. “I am Ladybug and this is Chat Noir. We lead the miraculous team. Thank you for your help.” Steve stepped forward, being the first to recover from the shock of seeing this army of children. “We are glad to help. We have the basic idea of what is happening from your video, but could you explain in some more detail what the situation is?” Ladybug spent the next few hours going over everything with the Avengers, giving a more detailed picture of the ongoing battle with Hawkmoth and Mayura for the last few years. 

---------------

At the end of the explanation, the Avengers are horrified. The situation is worse than they thought. And the Justice League had been ignoring these kids? That just made it worse. Tony, his head still reeling from all the information, said “I am glad we got your message when we did, seems things are pretty bad here. We can help you track down this Hawkmoth and end this. But we need to keep our involvement in this quiet. With the UN still discussing the accords, we aren’t technically supposed to be here.” Ladybug looks visibly confused, asking, “Accords? What are the accords?” The Avengers fill them in on the accords and what all it means for them. 

---------------------

Ladybug was shocked that they would even consider agreeing to this. “You all agreed to this? To be monitored by the UN and restricted in what you can do. And anyone that they view as a threat could be imprisoned just because of that, regardless of if they had done anything wrong. That is insane! The Avengers I know wouldn’t agree to that. I remember watching you Agent Romanoff, testify before congress and challenge them to put you in prison. The world needs the Avengers and other heroes to be able to act in a crisis without worrying about if a panel will let them.” Tony tried to argue his point, and Marinette continued to say it was wrong. The two argued for a while, which was concerning for both team Miraculous and the Avengers to watch. But by the end of it, Marinette being Marinette, had managed to convince Tony that he was wrong and that they wouldn’t agree to the accords. The Avengers were a little shocked that this young girl had changed Tony’s mind, but you wouldn’t hear them complaining. With all the discussions out of the way, they got to work.

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Tony got Jarvis to start running analyses to see who in Paris was likely to be Hawkmoth. It had to be someone with a lot of time on their hands, a large amount of resources, and had to have a supply of these butterflies he was using. He also compared these results with the typical behavioral profile of a terrorist like this. Then the Avengers went over the list with Team Miraculous and started eliminating suspects. Anyone that didn’t already have an alibi was tailed by either Hawkeye or Black Widow until they were cleared. Meanwhile, the rest of the Avengers helped train the kids in combat and how to work as a team in the field so that they were better able to face akumas. It took weeks, but soon, they were down to only one subject. Gabriel Agreste. Adrien didn’t want to believe it, but as the weeks went by and neither Hawkeye or Black Widow were able to clear him, it became clear to Adrien that his father was likely Hawkmoth.

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 By now, the Avengers knew of the kids identities. All the Avengers felt bad for Adrien, and also didn’t want him to stay in that house a minute longer. Besides how his father treated him, having another miraculous user in that house, especially the Black Cat that Hawkmoth craved was a recipe for disaster. So Tony had his lawyers help Adrien file for emancipation. That made Gabriel frantic. He didn’t want to lose his control over Adrien. He was so close to getting the miraculous and his wish. He could have his family back again. But that can’t happen if Adrien is emancipated and leaves. Gabriel became more desperate with his akumas and became sloppy. That was his downfall.

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By the end of the week, the Avengers and team Miraculous were facing down Hawkmoth. By this point, Hawkmoth was so frantic, that they fight was easily won. When he revealed why he did all this and what happened to Emilie, Master Fu, who had come to collect the missing miraculous, was able to reverse the damage done by the peacock miraculous on both Emilie and Nathalie. Gabriel was arrested, as was Nathalie, and Adrien was ecstatic to be with his mother again. 

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Once Hawkmoth was defeated, news of what had been happening in Paris spread like wildfire. It wasn’t long before the Justice League swooped in to do damage control. They landed in the middle of the city, already starting their spiel about how they were here to help with any damage and chaos from the final battle. But they were shocked to see the city in perfect condition, and the police surrounding them, telling them to leave. Over the heads of the police, they see the members of the Avengers standing with some kids in animal costumes. Two of the kids are familiar, from the videos asking for help all those years ago. Batman fumed at seeing the other group of heroes allowed to be in the city while they were being forced out. “Why are we not allowed here, but they are!? They aren’t local heroes.” The girl in a Ladybug themed costume stepped forward through the crowd, “They get to be here because they actually answered our call for help and were instrumental in the defeat of Hawkmoth. They arrived before the ban, followed my team’s lead, and respected the wishes of my team as well as the city. They proved to be good allies. You and your group on the other hand, ignored and denied our requests and now want to come in and do damage control. Now you leave, or we will make you.” While some of the members of the Justice League have the good sense to look embarrassed and back down, Batman got right in Ladybug’s face. “And how are you going to make us little girl?” Ladybug turned around and walked back to her team, not sparing Batman another glance. Batman looked smug, thinking he had made her back down. But when she got back to her team, she turned to the horse themed hero. “Pegasus.” Without another word, the horse sprang into action. All the Justice League heard was him call out “Voyage” before they were back in the watchtower, wondering what had just happened.

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Finally, it was time for the UN meeting on the accords. When asked if they would sign, the Avengers officially declined to sign the accords so they could actually help in Paris. Team Miraculous watched the live coverage as all of the Avengers said they wouldn’t sign the accords. The head of the UN panel stood up, angry at their defiance. “Maybe we should just go ahead and toss you all in a cell. Clearly you are a threat to the world. While we were discussing these very accords, you went into France without permission and acted as the Avengers. You cause untold damage in each fight, do nothing to fix the damage, and won’t allow for a little over sight to make sure you don’t destroy everything.  Seems pretty dangerous to me.” There were mummers of agreement through out the room. Tony was the last one to speak. “You won’t put us in a prison cell. Here’s why. As Agent Romanoff once said, you all need us. Yes, we have made the world a more vulnerable place. But, we are the ones most qualified and able to defend it. So, if you want to arrest us, do it. You know where to find us. But then you will be even more vulnerable to even bigger threats than us.” Angry voices sounded from around the room, but the Avengers just turned and left. Most other heroes followed suit, officially stating that they would not be signing the accords. Eventually, the UN realized that if they arrested every hero that didn’t sign the accords, they would have no one left to defend the Earth and they dropped the issue. 

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Things quickly returned to normal, for both team Miraculous and the Avengers. Team Miraculous was happy to have defeated Hawkmoth and not have to constantly guard their emotions. The emotional toll on the citizens of Paris was huge, but the Avengers weren’t done helping. Tony Stark brought in several therapists and took care of all the bills, so all of Paris could have access to mental help as needed, after enduring the trauma of living under Hawkmoth’s threats for years. And the Avengers kept on being heroes and helping everyone they could all over the world. And team Miraculous would often give them a hand with missions as needed. The Avengers and team Miraculous remained close allies after everything and were happy to have helped each other.

[kenkamishiro]

Lost in Translation: Choujin X chapter 1

Fun fact, I was planning to do fan translations for Choujin X with a scan group until it could get a simulpub release, though I didn’t expect it to get one from the very first chapter lol. I’m happy though since it means everyone can read it right away and it doesn’t mess up my schedule.

So instead I’ll be making comparison notes between the EN and JP text to supplement the official translation. I’m not doing this because the official TL is bad (I actually think it’s pretty solid and I hope it will maintain this quality) but because it’s inevitable for something to be lost in translation, and it’s nice to have that additional context for theory crafting and whatnot.

If you want to read it on Twitter instead, the original thread is here, but this is the proofread and way more detailed version 😄

This translation isn’t wrong, but there’s an emphasis on それ (which is TLed as ‘it’) that connotes a stronger, “other, that thing” feeling that isn’t present here. The general idea behind this sentence is: That [becoming a Choujin] resembles more of a disease [than a transformation].

Ely talks like a tomboy, she uses rougher speech patterns and the pronoun オラ (ora), a derivative of the masculine 'ore'. But it's a bit old-fashioned (eg. すまなんだ) which makes sense considering her upbringing with her grandfather on a farm. Hence her country bumpkin speech pattern in English.

Not sure if I should use Ellie or Ely? Ellie makes more sense based on the kana, but Ishida explicitly called her Ely so I might stick with Ely for now... (also istg that blond guy with the huge chin is a reference, I've seen him somewhere)

Tokio, I know your teacher is annoying, but it's rude to call her that lol. This is basically the oppai equivalent of paisen (senpai backwards, it’s slangier). Similar thing actually happened with Ely describing her dream hubby as Goldilocks instead of blond; ‘kinpatsu’ (blond hair) was inverted to become ‘patsukin’, hence the translation as Goldilocks.

Kurohara Tokio (黒原トキオ) and Higashi Azuma (東アヅマ). Kurohara is a common surname, means 'black fields'. Tokio is in katakana, so it’s hard to say what kanji it could be. 'Toki' could be 時 (time) or 外喜 (outside + delight). The 'o' can be the common male name suffix 男 (boy).

But when I think of Tokio, I think of TK's song called 'tokio'. You can read the translated lyrics here. If these lyrics end up being relevant to Tokio's character development I will eat my shoe lol.

Higashi means 'east'. Azuma (which can also be romanized as Aduma, it’s a softer ‘zu’ sound which is why Tokio called Azuma ‘Aju’ earlier in the chapter before correcting himself) is an archaic form of ‘east’. So...this guy is literally East East. The Choujin X equivalent of Moon Moon 😂

Someone also informed me that Higashi Azuma is a station in Tokyo, though the kana are slightly different (アヅマ／あづま vs. あずま). They effectively sound the same though nowadays, if I have to be honest. It’s like comparing the difference between 애 and 에 in Korean.

Tbh this is minor, but worth mentioning just cause it changes the meaning a bit. Tokio is saying something more like, “Why are we even talking about this [the roly-polies] again?”

I think I heard people talking about how the official TL doesn’t match the original text, but personally I really like how this was translated! Sis is using the expression  「爪の垢を煎じて飲む」, which literally means “boiling the dirt under someone’s fingernails and drinking it”. By taking the dirt/grime under the fingernails of someone that you admire, and boiling it and drinking it like a tea, you can become more like them.

But because idioms don’t tend to directly translate well between languages, translators often have to adapt it so that the meaning still remains the same. In English the closest idiom we have to this is “rubbing off on someone.” The “holding hands” bit was added to replace the physical aspect of “taking the dirt from someone’s fingernails” and also contribute to Sis’s sassy and very informal way of speaking.

So Sis is saying in JP (ignoring her personal speech style for now):

You should take the dirt from under [Azuma's] fingernails and boil it so you can be more like him.

And now in ENG it becomes:

You guys should hold hands or something, then maybe he’ll rub off on you.

It now sounds natural in English, still carries the same meaning as the original text, and also suits the character’s speech pattern.

Moving on, in that same panel the literal TL of Tokio’s dialogue is, “Policeman Azuma got dispatched again today,” emphasizing Azuma’s heroic deeds along with his family connections to the police. Another thing I want to note is that this is the second time Azuma has been called 偉い (erai) so far - noble, and now great guy. I’ll just dump the general English definition of 偉い from Jisho here so you get the general idea:

Great; excellent; admirable; remarkable; distinguished; important; celebrated; famous; eminent

But you can tell from how people describe Azuma as 偉い that others look up to him, think he’s a great person and Mr. Perfect. Always being placed on a pedestal by others. (What are the odds this will affect his mentality after the Choujin serum?)

The meaning is still pretty much the same, but I’ll offer a slightly different perspective. Sis mentions that if she were Tokio, she’d burst from the [Azuma] complex. (Clearly Tokio and Azuma's relationship is gonna crack at some point)

Tokio mentions an idiom about hawks (taka) before recalling his childhood memory about vultures. Vultures are called 'hagewashi', but in the chapter it mentions they can also be called 'hagetaka' (buzzard/condor, literally bald hawk).

The kids call him names like "Hagetaka Tokio" and "Hageo". But Hagetaka Tokio only really works in JP cause Hagetaka kinda mimics his last name (Buzzard Tokio doesn't give the same vibe). Same with Hageo. Hage-o = Bald-o = Baldy.

I also think Buzzard was chosen over another name for a vulture like Condor because Buzzard can pass off as an insult.

I would have translated this as, “I wanted to be a lion too...” but this is just personal preference.

A continuation of the 「爪の垢を煎じて飲む」 expression Sis used earlier. Without the adapted idiom the exchange goes something like this:

Tokio: My sister said I should bring home the dirt from under your nails. Can I have some?

Azuma: ...huh? What for, that’s scary. No way.

Tokio: I have to boil it and drink it, apparently.

Azuma: Don’t even think about boiling or drinking it.

But since the 「爪の垢を煎じて飲む」 expression was modified to make it sound natural in English, it means this conversation has to be modified too.

JP: My sister said I should bring home the dirt from under your nails. Can I have some?

EN: My sister says we should hold hands...so I can be more like you. What do you think?

The “dirt from under your nails” part got adapted to “holding hands”, hence how the 1st line from Tokio becomes, “My sister says we should hold hands...so I can be more like you.” “Can I have some?” makes no sense now in this context now, so it was changed to “What do you think?” as a question to Azuma to keep the similar conversation flow going.

JP: ...huh? What for, that’s scary. No way.

EN: Huh? What’re you talking about? No thanks.

Azuma’s next line is similar enough to the JP text except for the removal of “scary”. I think the reason it was most likely removed is because leaving it as it is could be constituted as homophobic (2 boys holding hands, absolutely nothing scary about it as bible thumpers would like people to believe).

JP: I have to boil it and drink it, apparently.

EN: She said to hold hands so you’ll rub off on me.

Tokio’s response to that is explaining what he meant by his proposal. In the original text he lays out the latter half of the idiom (he doesn’t even realize it’s an expression, poor boy), and in English he does something similar by going into why his sister said they should hold hands (so Azuma can rub off on Tokio).

JP: Don’t even think about boiling or drinking it.

EN: C’mon. That’s not how things work.

Azuma’s then rebuts Tokio’s proposal as ridiculous. In the original text he drops a typical straight man response (don’t do *insert whatever ridiculous thing the idiot suggested*). But since Tokio’s proposal in English isn’t as preposterous, his rebuttal is toned down in response by telling him not to take it literally.

Ultimately, even though a lot of this dialogue was changed, I still think it was successful in maintaining the original’s intent. Tokio takes his sister’s sarcastic suggestion literally and brings it up to Azuma, who dismisses it as silly. It would be nice if we could keep the expression as it was in Japanese, but in instances like this where it’s played off of in multiple lines, that’s easier said than done.

軟体 isn’t an actual word, it’s made up of the kanji soft + body. So kinda like Elastigirl, but Flexi was chosen instead. It doesn’t sound 100% right, but I don’t think I could come up with anything better.

Replacing the しい in 楽しい with the C plus that elongated pronunciation makes Johnny sound even more like a stereotypical Yankee, which is why he sounds like that in English 😂

Random but I found it interesting how Azuma called Johnny a youkai (妖怪) instead of something like bakemono (化け物) or obake (お化け) since they’re shapeshifting monsters.

Tokio is worried that if he doesn't do something right now, he's going to lose his friendship with Azuma. The sentence is fine as it is though.

Azuma’s line can also be worded as, "No hard feelings, okay?"

Bestial = 獣化 (juuka) = beast+change = beast transformation

That’s it from me, if you have questions about the TL feel free to send an ask or reply to this post, I promise I’ll check my inbox more often this time 😂