#a concept that I haven't seen anyone present before

[da-janela-lateral]

"Mob has black eyes" "Mob has red eyes" listen What If

[obeymeow]

nightbringer lesson 14 FUCKED ME UP in several ways but primarily I've spent the last 48 hours making myself sad over the solomon backstory we got. specifically I have, for no reason, latched onto that one chapter in the Kids event where baby solomon cried because he felt so guilty over being responsible for that spell. and that just feels a touch more depressing in context

[its-avalon-08]

hi !! can you do headcanons max verstappen X senna’s daugther!reader?

thank uuuu

hii !!! if i were to imagine senna's daughter!reader she would be so talented. she isn't a driver because of her built up trauma. (im fully aware that the timelines don't add up, don't add logic into it <3) she is an aerodynamic engineer, mainly responsible for making the car. she is secretly in love with speed and racing.

max and y/n met when they were just kids. max was a menace on track and y/n was terrified of racing. she saw speeding cars as a reminder of her father's passing. being good friends, y/n has a tradition of kissing max's helmet as a feeble attempt to keep him safe.

they started dating in 2019, and have been together ever since. y/n being the absolute genius she is, continues to work in redbull and delivers top of the line car designs leading to the dominance as seen on track.

max leaves a single, perfect red tulip on y/n's desk every race weekend, a silent promise to return safely.

y/n hides little notes in max's helmet before qualifying, each one a technical insight phrased like a love letter.

max, despite his aversion to early mornings, wakes up before y/n on important presentations to make her breakfast, his way of calming her pre-work jitters.

y/n, who finds airplanes stressful, uses a calming app max downloaded for her whenever they travel together.

max, after a particularly grueling race weekend, finds y/n curled up on the couch with a book about aerodynamics. he joins her, listening intently as she explains a new concept she's been working on, his full attention the sweetest victory lap.

max knows how deeply the lack of a father figure affected her, causing under-confidence and a constant need of validation. max knows this and never stops giving her words of affirmations.

everyone of the grid adores y/n. they see her spirit and her beautiful face reflect senna's in so many ways. max is fiercely protective of y/n, often defending her from questions about her father and his death.

y/n hates jos verstappen from the bottom of her heart. she is not scared of yelling at him when he berates max. she whispers affirmations into max's ears after a bad race (which was rare but not impossible)

when max crashes, y/n is the first to suffer from the highest intensity of a panic attack. she shivers and trembles until max gets out safely. after the crash in 2021 with hamilton which caused max to fall over in the medical center, y/n angirly stormed towards the cheerful hamilton, shouting angrily.

here's what happened ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓

the smile evaporated as y/n marched towards him. it wasn't a walk, it was a storm surge. "congratulations? you call pushing max off the track at 200 mph congratulations?" her voice, usually calm and collected, was a tightly leashed fury. lewis blinked, his smile morphing into something defensive. "it was a racing incident, y/n. we both went for the corner." her voice cracked. "racing incident? you call leaving him stranded on the gravel, risking his life, a racing incident? do you have any idea what it's like to watch someone you love walk away from a fireball?" the room held its breath. lewis's face paled. "y/n, i…" "no, you don't," she cut him off, her voice thick with emotion. "you don't get to pretend you know what it's like to see your dreams vanish in a cloud of smoke. you don't get to understand the terror of every single corner, every single race because you haven't lost anyone on this damn track!" tears welled up in her eyes, blurring the accusing stare she fixed on him. "max is more than a rival, lewis. he's a friend, a teammate, a human being. and today, you gambled with his life for a trophy." the silence stretched, suffocating. finally, lewis spoke, his voice devoid of its usual bravado. "y/n, i… i didn't…" "you didn't think," she finished the sentence for him, a bitter laugh escaping her lips. "just like some people never think about the consequences of their actions." turning on her heel, she stormed out of the room, leaving behind a stunned silence and a champion stripped of his celebratory air. as y/n reached the red bull garage, she found max emerging from the medical center, a sheepish grin on his face. relief washed over her, so strong it brought her to her knees. max rushed to her side, his concern a warm balm on her raw emotions. he held her close, whispering reassurances into her hair.

🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️

well i hope you liked it! thank you for sending in your request and do send more <3 happy reading!

leave a like! leave a note!

🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️

[ki-yomii]

helloo! could you recommend your favorite jungkook and yoongi fics? thank you and have a lovely day ♡

hey there~ 💛

... tbh i haven’t read too many fics for my boys lately 🙈

i've been trying to work through the books sitting on my shelf collecting dust + i got sucked back into fallout now that the show is out lol.

but i do have some all-time favorites!!

please mind the warnings/tags - you're responsible for your own reading consumption. that said, all of these fics are 🔞

i hope you have a great day nonnie and if you have any recs send them my way 🥰!

JUNG KOOK FICS

the crimson shell series by @angelicyoongie

mermaid aus are my lifeblood istg. and this is one of the best one's i've ever read!! it's dark, it's creepy, it's foreboding - and tantalizing. everything i love about mermaid/siren aus crammed into one series.

you had always found comfort in being at the beach, often spending hours just watching the waves lap against the shore. but unbeknowst to you – something had been watching you back.

make you mine two-shot by @colormepurplex2

i'm a sucker for abo, and as such, have read a looot of it over the years. its a genre that's very easy to descend into wtf-how-are-they-still-alive-after-THAT territory but this fic does it very well in a way i haven't seen too often. i loved the world-building and set up.

Alphas might rule the world, but Jungkook finds himself being ruled by the need to make you his. Omegas are rare, precious, and pliant. At least, most are. When you present late, well into your twenties, you're already set in your headstrong ways; a challenge even for a commanding alpha like Jungkook. Add to that the centuries-long feud between your families and the last thing anyone expected was for him to claim you as his soulmate.

a sea of indigo series by @foxymoxynoona this was the first BTS fic i ever read... and is a big reason as to why i got into the fandom in the first place. i had no clue who they were before then. i'd heard of them + listened to agust d without knowing it was yoongi 💀 but this fic made me check out BTS RUN and now here we are 🤪

Pitbull Hybrid Jungkook has finally been freed from the fighting rings, and now finds himself at Marigold Sanctuary & Transition Estate, a place for healing and self-discovery for rescued hybrids. It's stupid, dumb, cheesy, and hell-bent on helping Jungkook "heal" and "find himself" and "decide the course of his life." And right at the center of it is Y/N, a nurse who's got everyone bamboozled that she's like some awesome person. She's not that great. Jungkook hates it here.

YOONGI FICS

witch oneshot by @sailoryooons

this is easily one of my top 3 yoongi fics. the world building, the tension, the relationship between yoongi and reader. it ticks all my boxes and vividly paints a picture of this universe. i adore the concept, and love the way this fic is brought to life through sailoryooons storytelling.

For years, you and Yoongi have played cat and mouse. It’s his duty to rid the world of witches, but he always finds a new excuse to let you slip through his fingers. When you find yourself at his mercy, you wonder if the great witch hunter will finally end your game of chase, or if there’s something that will stay his hand. 

desolate series by @angelicyoongie

one of the first hybrid fics i've read for bts 😭 i love my lil meow meow and the set-up for this fic is amazing. it takes a fresh direction with the hybrid trope and builds a relationship that feels organic and progresses very naturally💛

you just wanted a cute little normal cat to keep you company. so you're not really sure how you ended up with the grumpiest hybrid on earth that seems hellbent on making your life difficult.

ps. i woof you oneshot by @gimmesumsuga

this one is just so so cute and asjhdjsghfjs!! i adored remi and thought about having yoongi and holly as neighbors for days after reading this lol.

The one with a happy accident of the furry, four-legged kind - “Are you calling my dog a slut?!” 

first and last and always oneshot by @floralseokjin

i'm not one for holiday fics/aus usually but there's something about this one that i absolutely adored. it felt very realistic and drew me into the relationship within the first few paragraphs. the angst is so well done and heartfelt, it made me cry lol.

You and Yoongi broke up two months ago. It was mutual, you’re positive, but there’s one teeny tiny issue... You never told your parents, and now they’ve invited you back home for Christmas. Both of you. You can’t say no, but you also can’t bear to go alone, so you do the only thing you can think of, plead with Yoongi to come with you and pretend like everything’s okay...

go send these authors some love!!

[12minutestomidnight]

Some thoughts about the new Doctor Who episode 73 Yards... (Extremely huge spoilers if you haven't seen it yet.)

At the beginning of the episode, the Doctor steps on the fairy ring. When Ruby reads the messages, the Doctor disappears. The mysterious woman appears after both of this; it's not clear what the cause of her appearance was: the destruction of the ring, or the reading of the messages. If the disappearance of the Doctor is anything to go by, it's the reading of the messages that did it.

In one of the last scenes, Ruby says that everyone in her life has abandoned her, but she has never been alone for 65 years - alluding to the mysterious woman. She seems to see this as a kind of comfort. A few moments later, at the end of her life, Ruby holds out her arms to embrace the woman. Immediately after that, we view the opening landscape from the POV of the mysterious woman, with her arms outstretched; the old Ruby has been sent back in time, becoming the mysterious woman that follows young Ruby around.

Having been sent back in time, she can now prevent the fairy ring from being destroyed. The opening scene is shown again, but this time it's a little different. Before the destruction of the ring, the woman is already present, and young Ruby notes her presence. The woman messages 'Don't step', preventing the destruction of the fairy ring and, presumably, preventing her own existence.

It's weird how so few people on Tumblr have pointed out the fact that Ruby is herself the mysterious woman. If you want to look for any metaphorical meaning in this episode, surely that's where to start. And especially the woman's monologue at the end:

I'm sorry I took so long, and I tried so hard. What else could I do? It took all these years. All these long years. And look at me, I was so young!

What did she try so hard and only just achieve? Embracing herself. She was always 73 yards away.

Then, what does it mean that anyone who talks with old Ruby runs away? And why did it take dying to embrace old Ruby? She seems to represent something terrible and terrific simultaneously; something that makes people turn away, but that needs to be embraced nonetheless.

I can't help but be reminded of the Jungian concept of the Shadow. The Shadow is the part of oneself that we'd rather not see, that we deny, that we think is shameful; but repressing this part of oneself doesn't solve anything, because it is part of who you are and has a function in your psychic well-being. You must recognize it, and then embrace it without judgment.

Perhaps that is what old Ruby signifies. She starts out as this mysterious, scary entity that Ruby would rather get rid of. People who see it, who speak to it, are filled with terror and disgust for Ruby. And no matter where Ruby goes, it is there too. And, importantly, it is conceived as an Other; someone who is distinctly not Ruby. This mirrors how we treat our own Shadow: for instance, if I am arrogant, I do not see myself as arrogant; I'm more likely to recognize the trait in others, instead, and demonize them for that trait.

Even when Ruby has used the mysterious entity to scare off Roger ap Gwilliam, she asks the entity: "Can you leave me alone now?" She still has not accepted her Shadow. Only at the end of her life, when she says that everyone has abandoned her, but she has never been alone in 65 years, that's when she accepts her Shadow. That's when it can finally come close, that's when she can finally embrace herself and become a whole person.

This still leaves a lot of questions unanswered, of course. Heck, I might even be on the wrong track! But I hope this provokes some thoughts and, at the very least, I hope I am asking the right questions.

[quirkwizard]

If Endeavor's present consciousness was transported to his past self, what sort of changes would he do with his knowledge? Let’s say he’s transported after Shoto is born.

Normally I wouldn't care for "what ifs" that are so out there in concept, but I think this is a really interesting perspective to cover.

So first things first, Enji is going to set his house in order. While he could split himself off from the family like he did in canon, I'd wager that he would at least try to fix things as they were. Instead of putting everything into his hero work, Enji would try and be a proper family man. He'd have to get Toya some actual help and be an active participant in his life. He'd want to patch things up with Rei and at least try to be a husband. And he wouldn't force Shoto to be his successor. Shoto may still want to be a hero, and Enji would help him, but it'd be less "failed athlete living through his son" and more "supportive father trying to help out his kid". How this would turn out is anyone's guess, but I am of the belief that things weren't anywhere near as bad pre-Shoto's birth as we have seen with post-Shoto's birth. I would like to believe that Dabi would never come about and the family dynamics would be healthier, but nowhere near perfect. They still have problems, but they haven't gotten to the point of no return where Enji could at least try to fix things.

On the hero side of things, I could see him trying to rectify his image more. Kind of like when he first got the top spot in canon. He could very well drop in the rankings, but that won't matter as much to him. By extension, he could even encourage the "share the load" mindset that comes about later on in the series. It may not work without the massive events of the Final War, but he could at least get the ball rolling. What may be more interesting is how Endeavor is going to use all the information he has on All For One. Because this would be before All Might got his big wound, and his crusade is still going. He'd be able to get all that information to All Might while he's still in his prime. I could see Enji trying to get closer to All Might in order to help him out more. He would have so many details on the who and what of All For One's plans are. He may even be willing to help out in the final battle, even if it's in a more supportive role. At the very least, he'd be the one to burn All For One's body to a crisp so Garaki can't bring him back. Better yet, just destroy Garaki before he becomes an even bigger problem. And help out Tomura, who may or may not still be Tenko at this point.

[puckpocketed]

Hello. You might have seen this floating around on twt:

link 1 // link 2, archive link

If by any chance you or someone you know are thinking about joining in on the challenge… no one can stop you but I implore you as someone who makes art, as someone with friends in an often-exploited creative industry, as someone who lives in late stage capitalism alongside you and has seen this play out before: proceed with caution.

Read the fine print on that form. There is NO guarantee of an internship, much less a job at the end of it. I haven't gone further than this form, but if anyone reading this does, and if there's no written agreement that your work won't be used without credit to you + payment for services rendered - RUN.

This is a common corporate tactic to get free labor out of people. I'm not saying this is necessarily what’s happening; for all we know this was done as a completely innocent move to drum up some fan engagement and as a genuine search for talent for their analytics team. WHO KNOWS. But I can't ignore that I’ve seen this situation play out again and again, at every scale.

Job interviews, when they ask you how YOU think they should improve their systems, how YOU would solve their problems? When they require that you do some problem-solving for them, and it goes beyond a simple task? That’s a free consultation you’re giving them, that's free work you or someone else should be getting paid for.

When big streamers/influencers ask their fans to join in on a fan art contest to choose their new pfp/banner? That’s hundreds, possibly thousands of pieces of free art they never would’ve gotten otherwise. They could've gone to the trouble of paying someone in-house to do it, hiring someone for that position, commissioning a professional for a piece. It's free work from their dedicated fans.

In this case, Utah HC is asking fans to not only choose/provide their own dataset, but to do a complex analysis on it AND do the work of visual and verbal communication to senior management, who likely do not have a deeper grasp of the concepts and will need it simplified. The stipulation that you will present your work could be ANYTHING!! The "five page deliverable" is already bananas to me, having dipped my toe into what analytics is and how complex the fun ones are. Condensing it all is WORK. The presentation portion may include speaking time and answering questions; the groundwork for doing this effectively may include producing data visualisations, making spreadsheets, time consuming write-ups. Maths and science communication is hard. It is WORK. They are asking for free labor.

Many have already called it out, but it's still gaining traction via retweets from big accounts uncritically sharing it. I found out through the official Puckpedia account. Jack Han called it out pretty eloquently on twitter and on his substack:

Many people aspire to work as an analyst in the NHL. Earlier today the Utah Hockey Club gave those people a glimmer of hope. Utah’s Summer Analytics Challenge is unusual in that it doesn’t provide a dataset or detailed instructions. The open-ended contests contrasts with other public (ex: Big Data Cup) or private (ex: NHL team interview) events. In those scenarios, participants are given proprietary data to clean, model and analyze, which influence direction and methodology. Meanwhile, Utah is seemingly happy with anything as long as the writeup is under five pages long. Utah’s contest also stands out in its near-total absence of legal fine print. There are no mention of intellectual property implications, which is perhaps fitting when the team is asking participants to bring their own data and analysis. [...] Open casting calls such as Utah’s analytics challenge start out as a lose-lose-lose proposition: > The employer loses because it will have to invest massive human resources to trawl/filter/evaluate/reverse-engineer the hundreds of write-ups it is sure to receive, with no guarantee that any of them will be of use > Applicants lose because the vast, vast majority of them will have nothing to show for their efforts, while a tiny minority risks having its IP stolen > Good ideas lose because they’ll be born into an environment where their parents (the applicant & the employer) have no defined relationship and won’t be in a position to grow together

link, archive link

I do try to keep things light on this blog, but this is super personal for me <3 thank u for listening

[beanghostprincess]

Transfem Buggy anon here to drop a silly valentines idea-

1) don't worry too much about speeding through asks, sweetheart, you're doing fine. Take your time and do your thing at your own pace. Anyone has an issue with it? I'll fight em 😤

2) IDEA TIME

So imagine Buggy getting absolutely SMOTHERED in valentines days gifts - from friends, underlings, allies, secret admirers (she thinks they're all fake or lies), and her partners of the year.

She and Alvida do a Self Care Self Love event (maybe include Uta and Perona bc smth about them being so supportive of Buggy coming out as trans and just so easily slotting her in to girls night makes me soft).

Ritchie wears a special Valentine's Day bow, and he gives extra lion licks to his favorite people. He doesn't quite get the whole concept of HOLIDAYS beyond that it makes his humans so happy and silly and so he too is happy and silly. Lion loves.

Mohji and Cabaji, every year, make Buggy a gift for Valentine's. She gives them little gifts too, but theirs aren't conventional - they were there from the beginning, and so they've seen the best and worst of each other. They're besties your honor.

After Impel Down, Buggy wakes up on Valentine's to a MOUNTAIN of cards, candies, stuffed animals, flowers, and balloons. Maybe half of them are signed. It's a long ass affair to organize them.

When she starts dating Crocodile and Mihawk, they hadn't seen the Karai Bari Variant of Valentine's Day. Needless to say, when they wake up and walk with Buggy to get breakfast, they are both BLINDSIDED and BAMBOOZLED by this veritable TON of gifts. Buggy just sighs. "Guys. Really?"

"WE LOVE YOU, CAPTAIN BUGGY!!!"

"I can't eat all this. Okay, line up, I'm passing out candies at random. Consider this a treat before breakfast."

"CAPTAIN BUGGY IS SO GENEROUS AND KIND!!!"

"I- ya know what, sure, whatever. I haven't had coffee yet. I don't feel like arguing."

Crocodile and Mihawk though are surprised when she offers them a soft smile and... two boxes? "Open them when you want to, boys, no rush."

She gets a delivery later on in the day, a crate with a blue rose painted on the top. She huffs. When asked, she shrugs it off. "Shanks is still being a damned sap."

He sends her presents as often as he can - with a relatively ser address for Karai Bari, she is more easily accessible, which makes him go a little overboard. In the crate are her favorite candies (ghost pepper flaked dark chocolates), soft stuffed animals, new clothes, a dress, flowers and silly trinkets. ((And maybe a little treasure map he made just for her)).

Buggy would give thoughtful gifts - smth for Croc's bananawani nursery or specialty cleaner for his jewelry, new seeds for Mihawk's garden he mentioned wanting once in passing or new cording to rebrand Yoru's hilt, etc.

She also ties her hair up on holidays, puts on an apron, and joins the cooks in the kitchens. Cooking is smth she's good at, if a tad embarrassed by, but baking if her favorite thing to do. It's like chemistry and showmanship mixed together, two of her most favorite things. Getting the chance to indulge in it is smth she rarely lets herself have, but she makes exceptions for certain days.

And if Mihawk and Croc, knowing this by that point, pooled together to get her her own supplies to indulge more freely in their shared space, away from prying or attentive eyes, well...

Valentines Day isn't exactly a cliche on their little handmade home, but the sentiment, the intention, the love is there.

((And if Buggy just so happens to send a few batches of Shanks' favorite cookies to him a week after the day, well, he'll treasure them!!!

Until he eats himself sick, that is.))

1) Thank you <333 That's really sweet 😭🧡

AND THIS IS ALL AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A bit late to Valentine's Day (sorry, really akjjddnjk) but I absolutely adore it. Buggy loves Valentine's Day and the thought of everybody getting her gifts and also enjoying the holiday on her island is so cute,,, Everything is perfect and tbh, after coming out as a woman is even better because she's finally able to do it as herself. I think she wanted to do it really bad when she was a kid.

Her crew is so silly,, And having a whole day with Perona and Alvida makes her feel so loved,, Crying and sobbing. Also, Crocodile and Mihawk aren't used to celebrating these things, so now that they're with her they're surprised by how much they enjoy it. Not the holiday itself because in general it's extremely annoying and they do not want to be there with all this drama-- But they do like seeing her happy and giving her gifts <333 Why have mafioso-looking boyfriends if they aren't going to shower you with gifts, you know? And also, they're losers for her, which makes it better.

[toweroftickles]

re: cloud atlas, surely yellowface is bad no matter what

Well, generally speaking, yes, of course, but I don't think this is exactly that. I sincerely apologize to anyone on this blog who I offended with my post about "Cloud Atlas;" please let me explain if you're unfamiliar.

If it makes you feel any better, here are pictures from the same movie of Halle Berry (a black actress) and Xun Zhou (a Chinese actress) portraying blonde white women.

There's also another instance of an Asian actor playing a white character that I very much don't want to spoil for those who haven't seen it.

The central storytelling concept behind "Cloud Atlas" is reincarnation. Each actor plays a singular soul, essentially one character, that is reborn in different eras, places, cultures, and bodies across six smaller interlocking stories. And we, the audience, see how they evolve, and how their choices and their stories echo throughout the centuries in ways big and small. To quote the movie itself:

"Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others...past, and present. And by each crime, and every kindness, we birth our future."

Doona Bae (a Korean actress, one of the film's six lead roles) alongside Halle Berry (a black actress playing an old Korean man). No really, that's her. The makeup is fucking incredible, if you haven't noticed.

The idea of actors playing multiple ethnicities is central to movie's thesis. It's not just white people; "Cloud Atlas" has a very diverse cast and all of them share in this process. Men play women, women play men, Asians play Mexicans, black actors play Indians, white people play Koreans and vice versa, and Hugh Grant plays a cannibal. Essentially, everyone plays everyone. And if we aren't able to recognize these actors in those roles, the impact of the story is completely lost.

I don't think this is like John Wayne putting on awful slanted-eye makeup to play Genghis Khan; there's a specific purpose here that only works with an ambitious narrative of this size and scope. It's about connections that shatter the boundaries of time and space, beyond borders of race and sex. It's easy to dismiss that as drug-induced New-Agey hokum (I certainly don't believe in reincarnation IRL), but to be offended by the prosthetics, in my opinion, is to miss the point entirely. And incidentally, the only people that I've ever seen upset by this movie (so far) have all been white.

"Cloud Atlas" is an achingly beautiful and poignant film of endless imagination that doesn't deserve to be forgotten alongside the dreary garbage heap of Oscar-bait, and I'd encourage everyone to watch before judging too harshly.

Sorry for going off on a tangent to extol this movie's virtues! XD But this is something that's very important to me, and I really don't want anyone to believe that I'm the type of person who finds yellowface or minstrel shows funny. Jimmy Kimmel can get fucked.

[specialinterestsgalore]

The M*A*S*H Time Loop

This was pretty much just a stream of consciousness writing. I haven't looked at it much since I wrote it a couple of days ago but I wanted to post it anyway.

The sitcom M*A*S*H ran from 1972 to 1983 and captured households around America. The series follows M*A*S*H (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) unit 4077 through the Korean War. Knowledgable readers might have noticed that the Korean War lasted 3 years from June 1950 to July 1953 while the M*A*S*H series ran for 11 years from September 1972 to February 1983. This significant timeline difference created an interesting effect on M*A*S*H that led to many fans discussing the ‘M*A*S*H time loop theory.’ As the name would imply, this fan theory posits that the events of M*A*S*H do not take place during the Korean War as we know it, but instead that the show follows the 4077th as they are stuck in an endless time loop and are unable to escape the war. 

Clearly, the timeline of M*A*S*H is a bit difficult to line up with the events of the actual Korean War due to the 8-year difference. Characters such as BJ Hunnicutt and Radar O’Riley were on the sitcom for 8 years but canonically it is difficult to say if they were meant to have spent the same amount of time in Korea. While the episodes were aired weekly, it is impossible to say if most of the episodes were meant to take place a week apart. There are several episodes for which we know this is not the case, for example, the season 9 episode ‘A War for All Seasons’  begins with the 4077th ringing in the new year and follows several key events throughout 1951 and ends on New Year’s Day 1952. This seems to imply that the previous 8 seasons all take place in 1950. It could also imply that subsequent episodes all take place in 1952 or later, though many assume that some episodes show events that were not seen in ‘A War for All Seasons.’ On the opposite end of the spectrum, several episodes take place over a matter of hours. The season 8 episode ‘Life Time’ happens essentially in real time as Hawkeye has only 20 minutes to complete an arterial graft on a wounded soldier. These and other episodes make creating a sensible timeline for the M*A*S*H series an incredibly complicated process. Trapper John leaves in the first episode of season 4, does this mean that he was only in Korea for 6 months? As mentioned earlier, Radar and BJ were on M*A*S*H for the same number of years, but Radar leaves before ‘A War for All Seasons,’ does this mean that Radar was enlisted for a year or less while BJ was present for 2 years? Does it matter how long any of these characters were engaged in the Korean War? The time loop theory certainly says no. 

The nature of all sitcom television lends itself very well to the concept of a time loop. The show almost always resets itself at the end of every episode and it begins the next episode in essentially the same place. The order of the episodes often doesn’t matter. Everything is always happening, nothing happens, it doesn’t matter. In M*A*S*H specifically, one of the core themes of the show is the cyclical nature of war. It intentionally pokes fun at the repetition, the monotony with lines like ‘the future’s been canceled by the war department’ and ‘Father, what do you think of purgatory so far?’ as well as with aspects such as the omnipresent PA voice. Hawkeye Pierce becomes the main focus of the show and the audience's lens in many ways and as such is one of the easiest introductions to this concept. Hawkeye complains about being stuck nearly every episode and often phrases it as though he is not just stuck as a surgeon in a war zone, but as if his whole life is stuck, as if his past and future are all contained within the war. Another character giving credence to this theory is Radar O’Riley. Radar earned his nickname due to his uncanny ability to sense incoming wounded before anyone else and to predict what his commanding officers will ask for before they open their mouths. While this is certainly a fun gag for the show, many think it shows that Radar is aware, consciously or unconsciously, of the time loop. Radar is aware of when the choppers will arrive and when Henry needs files because it has all happened before and will happen again. Many fans also point out that this could be the reason for Radar’s reaction to Henry being sent home. It is more than just realizing that he will be left in Korea while the man he has come to see as a father figure goes home to his family. On some level, Radar remembers that Henry will not make it home; he knows he can not stop it. Of course one of the biggest pieces of evidence against the idea of a time loop is the fact that it does end. Everyone goes home in the end, however, this does not entirely disprove the theory. Many pieces of media that focus on the concept of time loops end with our protagonists escaping. But they can not escape entirely. Though all of our characters leave Korea by the end of the series, those who are still alive have not left completely. They will be stuck remembering this time forever. 

While the original intention of M*A*S*H certainly was not to tell a story about a group of army doctors, nurses, and enlisted men trapped in a time loop, that is in many ways the story we got. It is the best showcase of the cycle, the monotonous horror of war in modern media. The only changes come with tragedy, death, or abandonment. It is a time loop in the only ways that matter.

[purplesoulcollection]

Unnatural Love

Part 15 Synopsis : Name has being transmigrated into the world of I'm Not That Kind Of Talent without ever reading the novel. She's not being reincarnated as a human but as a devil as well. Hi There! I want to let you know that this fanfiction story isn't solely my creation. I borrowed the concept from @quqiwo2. I haven't actually read the novel either, just some spoiler to the end.

I hope you'll excuse my spelling and grammar mistake, because English not my first language.

Trang

The sound of swords slicing through the bodies of demons resonated throughout the battlefield. It was evident that a more powerful force was executing a one-sided slaughter.

Rather than an army engaged in the wholesale extermination of demons, resulting in pools of blood, blood-stained snow, and heaps of corpses that would ultimately become hazardous waste for humanity, the scene was orchestrated by a single individual.

This individual was Deon.

Deon fought with a chilling detachment, refusing to allow even the slightest injury from enemy assaults. This demeanor instilled a sense of caution among the Lofty soldiers, who were accustomed to Deon's previous reckless abandon, preventing them from intervening with their captain.

What a transformation it was! Deon, once known for his frenzied fighting style, now exhibited a calm and controlled approach, showcasing his strength in a manner that left his own troops unaccustomed to this new method of combat.

Armed with a long sword, a reward for his heroism in vanquishing a colossal demon, Deon exemplified a formidable presence on the battlefield.

Deon, I permitted you to visit the palace at any time, yet I did not anticipate that, for once arriving in a state of being drown by blood, you now also bring this enormous creature to the castle," remarked the emperor, observing Deon kneeling before him, the body of the colossal monster visible on three horse-drawn carriages outside the palace.

"I vanquished him myself, Your Majesty. It appears that a fragment of the hero within me awakened unexpectedly. This serves as evidence," Deon replied in a flat tone, lacking the joy one might expect from someone who had just achieved heroism.

"Deon, should you truly be recognized as a hero, there would be no doubt in anyone's mind. Your prowess was demonstrated during the eight-year war, and you are feared by many. Indeed, you are the most fitting candidate for such a title," the Emperor commended Deon, though the latter remained unmoved by the praise.

"I am concerned that the emperor may require me to validate my heroism through inhumane trials. There is no more definitive proof than an extraordinary accomplishment."

Ultimately, the emperor chose to conclude the discussion. "Very well, as a token of your newfound status as a hero, I shall present you with a holy sword, crafted specifically for those of heroic stature."

"I accept it with gratitude."

With that, Deon departed, wielding his new sword. The Emperor was left perplexed by Deon's apparent lack of enthusiasm and joy regarding his achievement.

And the reason is being leaked.

Deon, who had been abandoned by his fiancee, who was only seen once at a party, became a hot gossip among the nobles, adding to the collection of bad rumors among Deon's pile of bad rumors.

Of course they never explicitly said that in front of Deon. But their whispers and disdainful glances clearly mocked him.

But Deon didn't care about the rumors that were bad about him, he was more focused on what was his new main goal besides his revenge.

Adele. She disappeared…

I have to found her for sure…

Since she left without his wishes that means only the Demon King is capable of doing so. Only the demon king is able to summon demons wherever she is. Because the devil's body is made from mana created by the devil king.

He definitely made Adele his hostage. Seeing the situation she was summoned and did not return to the human world after several months until the day changed from a hot summer full of sun to a day filled with snow is being the answer.

That means the demon king is already aware of the romantic relationship between Deon and Adele.

He understood in his brain that Adele was helpless before the demon king, he understood that Adele could not escape from the demon world.

But he grew to hate Adele a little, who left him alone in the human world. Even though he sided with the human world for Adele's sake. Just because she wants me…

With every breath of hot steam, Deon's breath reminds Deon of Adele every time.

Even though he just wanted to talk to her, hug her, laugh with her again. There's nothing Deon wants more than that.

Is he cold in the demon world? Is he healthy there? Doesn't he miss me there too? These questions always haunt Deon's mind.

Deon is worried about Adele. Being a hostage is not a good thing, Adele's life is guaranteed if the demon king wants Deon to side with the devil, but that doesn't mean her life will be comfortable there.

Adele, when they first met, was already fragile and helpless in the demon world, especially now. Deon couldn't imagine Adele's current situation.

Initially he wanted to pick up Adele with his identity as commander of squad 0 but unfortunately both Cruel and the King did not allow it. They said that because I had sided with humans, the devils would no longer believe in you.

Deon's worry and anxiety about Adele makes Deon very strong and emotional. He becomes a fighting robot who just wants to cut down every demon in existence.

"Stop Deon, there are no more demons to attack." Cruel put his hand on the hand holding the sword.

Making Deon realize that all of them had been killed by Deon himself and the remaining few had run away.

"Older brother... " Deon looks at him, finally relaxed his grip with his sword after every slaughter he being doing earlier.

"Don't push yourself too hard, even though you are now a hero, Deon. Adele definitely doesn't want to see you like this either." Cruel said to Deon. He saw the eye bag that was very clear on Deon, he wouldn't be surprised if he saw Deon faint later.

"I can't, if I slow down the progress of the war. I can't meet Adele quickly."

"Then at least you change clothes and sleep. You're the only one fighting today, get some rest."

"Okay."

He obediently withdrew, much to Lofty troop relief, they finally had a chance to fight. It doesn't have to be with their scary captain.

Deon reached his tent and took off his dirty clothes. There is no spirit left except the body which endures the pain of muscle aches.

Deon took a proper shower before he finally lay down on the portable bed ready to move.

His body since becoming a hero is actually stronger than his previous body which always vomited blood. He is now fit and able to last longer in battle.

Deon's mental condition actually no longer shifts from one personality to another. Deon now realizes that killing is something he usually does.

At least he no longer considered himself too lucky to have survived the war because of his own luck and never killed anyone.

He was physically and mentally tired. He also had insomnia since Adele was gone. It's hard to sleep and even if you can sleep, nightmares will appear.

He had a nightmare that Adele would leave him alone.

In this world.

Hopefully that won't happen to me...

Please...

To Be Continued

Notes: next episode, Deon meets his demon king!! I will skip all the battle scenes against the troop commander, because I have never read the novel.

[the-unknown-void]

Drone Reproduction Headcanons PART 2!! (NOT NSFW)

Please read this post first if you haven't, it's important for context:

This post is gonna be mainly about Disassembly drones- while I originally said they wouldn't have reproductive functions and they would have to be modified to have a port for the specialized cord to copy data into a pill baby. I've decided to go back on this in favor of a much COOLER idea.

CUCKOO DRONES!!!!!

A cuckoo is a species of bird popularly associated with "brood parasitism". A behavior in the wild where they will lay their eggs in the nests of other birds to raise their young for them. (just birds as an example, this does happen in other species)

Disassembly drones still don't have their own infant forms.. so they have to steal babies from worker drones, whether already activated or not doesn't matter. They inject a code into the UNN(Untrained Neural Network) that replaces the template for what they're supposed to grow up into with a disassembly drone template.

The new parent disassembly drone can choose to keep the child and raise it themselves or.. leave the child with the worker drone colony to raise it for them. (this'll be what the rest of this is about)

To prevent the child from being kicked out by the colony too early, they will look practically identical to a worker drone(minor differences) in their early stages. It won't be until their late teens that they begin to present disassembly drone features, and start to intensely crave oil.

This will lead to them killing the worker drones and they won't leave until the entire colony is dead.

- - - - - - - - - - -

At least that is the premise, of course at times the child may develop morality and resist murdering what they've come to know as their family.. but unfortunately this effort will usually lead to their death from core overheat(unless they can find a compromise). Sometimes the parent disassembly drone may return in search of the child after they become a certain age. Revealing their parentage and attempting to persuade them into killing the workers and coming with them.

Cuckoo drones do have some differences from normal disassembly drones. For one they wouldn't have a name like "Serial Designation (letter)", no yellow armband either, and they wouldn't have any programmed-in role because they don't have a squad.

By the way, cuckoo drones who were altered *after* activation are still very much related to their worker drone parents and still inherit their traits! The parent disassembly drone only changed them so they grow up into a DD instead of a worker. This means the cuckoo can have any colored lights derived from their parents.

Cuckoos who were altered before activation simply inherit traits exclusively from their parent DD (basically a clone cuz they don't require 2 DDs).

- - - - - - - - - - -

Well, I think that's all I have to say. I really need to just make a list of Disassembly Drone headcanons because I just LOVE coming up with the workings of a fictional species- I know they're robots but, let's be honest.. they're animals in a robot shell lol.

I wanted to share this immediately because I think it would make an AWESOME OC concept. So ABSOLUTELY feel free to use this for your OCs, I haven't seen anyone else make something like this.

Please tag me on you cuckoo drone OCs, I would LOVE to see them!! :333 (you don't have to of course)

[pinkomcranger]

About the white asshole line: it's not as left field as people think tbh There's a similar line in the first AW game from Alice (in the DLC, Wake's version of her since it's all in his head). She uses the term 'while male melodrama'. This is literally Wake's own mind so he knows a lot of stuff he put her through was from a perspective of a person who has a lot of advantages. Back to Saga, that line aligns with the racism we are hinted she dealt with in her field and STILL deals with in present day. Mulligan and Thornton are racist af (haven't seen anyone discuss this yet) to her even if they seem pleasant at the start of the game. Not entirely either, when Saga and Casey meet Mulligan he automatically assumed Casey is the lead agent. He apologizes about it but there's an air that neither him or Thorton take Saga seriously. They barely speak directly to her and instead more to Casey unless she directly speaks to either. It's that seemingly benign, passive racism that is more toxic sometimes, especially in a work environment. In her face they show some surface level, thinly veiled respect but behind her back they called her a 'stuck up FBI bitch'. Part of the horror story adds she let her daughter drown so they doubt her work entirely. And concerning the Bookers, there's this passive aggressive comment where Thorton says the case of the murder of Nightingale would've been solved if the FBI wasn't involved. Thorton says something like "they stick with their own". Now, this could be seen as city folk stick with their own but the Bookers are black, this was purposeful imo. I honestly liked how Remedy incorporated this in such a realistic way. Some could dispute this and say "that's circumstantial/reaching" but lets not forget both Mulligan and Thorton are literally the bastard law enforcement type that kills are the drop of a pin. They killed that woman while enthralled with this feeling of power (referencing the page about it) and threw her body in the well to hide it, blaming the death on each other at first before they decide it's neither of their faults and hide the evidence. They become taken being so twisted in their dark ways. They are bad guys, I'd argue misogynistic too. And lets add a layer of actual parallels to rl racism to the mix here now. If she dealt with that in Bright Falls on her first day I can only imagine the assholes she had to deal with climbing her way up in the FBI, in life in general. This is why her mother is a strong foundation, they are not only close because they loved each other but she made sure she'd be strong. Parents who have mixed kids (black kids especially) know what they will deal with. Maybe even a meta thing like Spiderverse, adding the backlash into the story. Which she did and still does get from gamerz (tm). People STILL bring up that "race swap" from the Quantum Break trailer which is honestly just early concept stuff. Saga is written so well and carefully that even her problems outside the pace of the story seems to have been considered. So while it does seem random and may make people uncomfortable it's purposeful. Remedy really captured this aspect with Saga without making it her personality or the core part of her (like she just there for black trauma, so glad they did not do that and made her a character with experiences). Let's not forget Saga's field of work. We know it's predominantly white. Her saying 'another white asshole' says more about her experiences than anything else. And being at her lowest where her insecurities, doubts, fears thrive it says something about her agency and how sometimes it can feel taken from her based on her skin tone, gender, so forth. Sorry for the long ask! It's just, this line definitely does not feel like it's random to me. I was just shocked I heard it but the game lays down the ground work for it to be said. It's as subtle as the worst kind of racism though imo

I'm VERY interested by imagined!Alice's line because while we don't know if she actually feels that way, we see Alan can acknowledge that he KNOWS how lucky he is by virtue of being a white man, it might not be something he thinks about daily, but he's admitting he's aware of it.

You're right in regards to what Saga deals with in her work environment and most likely her daily life. It sucked for me that Mulligan and Thorton ended up being racist, misogynistic assholes because they truly just seemed like the goofy, slightly dimwitted small-town cops. I think maybe because I haven't actually played the game yet (shame on me, I know! I just managed to get it last month and haven't had the time to dedicate to it like I want) that I kind of brushed Mulligan and Thorton's behavior towards Saga off until we learned their true nature.

But we see how they're more comfortable deferring to Casey over Saga, and we can even see that Casey is NOT the least bit pleased with it. Saga clearly picks up on it, and it's one of the reasons she chooses to leave them with Casey. She can handle the Bookers easier, because yes, they ARE black, she KNOWS they're going to open up to her far easier than if it had been Casey. Do we get reflections of their shared experiences? Not really, but the Bookers weren't going to trust the FBI regardless, Saga being a black woman lowered their defenses a little.

You can argue that she was better suited for talking to the witnesses because it's just her personality, Casey was dry and sarcastic from jump while Saga was the opposite. But did the Bookers know that? Absolutely not. They were less cautious with Saga, Ed especially. They weren't hiding anything to be malicious, they just wanted their own things to be successful.

Hearing Mulligan and Thorton's true thoughts about Saga really tore me up. Not even so much at the fact they felt that way, but because they didn't have the guts to say it to her face. You don't hear that venom directed towards Casey at all, even though he's the EXACT same stuck-up government agent who's worse to them than Saga.

But it's what black people tend to see when dealing with the police force. Condescending, impatient, better-than, bitter, power-hungry and drunk on their self-importance and position of authority. There's a REASON they were made Taken when the Koskela brothers couldn't, but that's really neither here nor there.

Seeing what she had to deal with in Bright Falls from two guys that were SUPPOSED to be on her side and help her is very telling and it made me even more interested in her backstory. How many people actually believed in her when she joined the FBI? Who dismissed her out of pocket simply because of the color of her skin and her gender? You can even get a hint of her past simply by her questioning Casey on why he wants her to be the lead on the case instead of jumping in straight away.

And that's to her PARTNER, a man she’s known and trusted for years, who clearly never had a problem with her being a black woman, or there's no way in hell they'd have the kind of relationship that they do.

Freya being such a strong influence for Saga was evident in her card to her daughter. She knew the struggles Saga was going to face by going after what she wanted to do and never discouraged her. I'll always be bummed over Freya lying to Saga about her being a Seer though. I know it was to try and protect her from even more shit she didn't deserve to go through over something she had no control over. But it almost felt like a vote of no-confidence. And there's no feeling in the world like thinking your mother might not believe in you.

I'm still VERY annoyed at ANYBODY bringing up the "Return" concept from Quantum Break JUST to say Saga was race-swaped when almost NOTHING from that teaser made it to the main game proper. Sam and the team took all of that and flipped it on its head. That was clear the second FBI Alex Casey stepped into the background instead of being in the lead.

I love the fact we don't get the "another white asshole telling me what to do" until the end of the game, and it's when Saga is at her lowest point, when the Dark Presence is trying to do its best to break her down. But like I tend to bring up, Alan says it can't create something out of nothing. Meaning those doubts and resentment were there for a LONG time, and it VERY easily could have been her entire personality.

The fact that it wasn't showed how much thought Remedy put into creating Saga and I appreciate it so much. She wasn't her trauma, she wasn't her anger, she was the exact OPPOSITE of that. She faced her problems with determination and PUNS! Even when shitty things were going on, her mind wandered to humor "More like "Underwatery" I'll have to tell Casey that one later." Speaks volumes about her character.

I think that's one of the reasons she fought SO hard against the horror story. OBVIOUSLY her main motivation was saving Logan, and then Casey. But she wasn't about to let her agency be taken from her like she's been fighting against it for years. She was the one that was going to be in control, she was going to tell this story, and Alan himself (some of that as him being the face of the Dark Presence for her) "no, fuck you. Another white asshole is NOT going to tell me how to live MY life. You're not using my doubts and fears against me to take my family from me"

And she did it, she did what the white man couldn't do on his own in 13 years. How am I NOT supposed to root for her? How could I NOT want to know more about her history? There's no way I can look at Saga Anderson and go, well her story is done, there's nothing else to be written for her. As I said, I do love FBI Casey, but he's practically a blank slate compared to Saga, I could live without him because, for me, outside of his personality (I'm also grumpy and sarcastic), I cannot relate to him.

Despite not being a wife and mother in the FBI, I CAN relate to Saga. I can understand her struggles and pain. I feel her love for her family, I can relate to her love and disappointment towards her mother. The struggle of being a black woman in a world that still caters to white men and the pushback she gets just from existing. I understand her in a way I never could with Alan Wake. I understood and related to his issues as a writer struggling with inspiration. But the thing with that is Alan didn't HAVE to struggle like that, he could have chosen, at any time, to stop being a writer and do something else.

Saga couldn't choose to change the color of her skin. Her challenges would be with her simply because of how she's perceived at first glance. She'll never have the advantages of Alan and Casey in that regard.

I'm sorry for the long answer! But I LOVED your ask, and that's why it took me a hot minute to answer it. I had to get my thoughts in order and give this the response I felt like it deserved. So thank you for letting me see your thoughts towards Saga! ❤️

[shoechoe]

I was wondering if you had any thoughts on the ideas I mentioned in the reblog for making the Giorno-Diavolo beef more compelling from a little while ago. Not to sound needy, but because you’re A.) the most invested Diavolo fan I’ve seen so far (not a criticism) and B.) actually base that on accurate in-depth analysis and observation of the story (compliment). If not, it’s fine.

I definitely do. (Sorry, I don't intend to be dismissive when I don't make responses to people's comments and reblogs. I just don't have time to respond immediately and sometimes stuff just gets swept out of sight and I end up never replying.)

For a start, I think your first "Giorno has his own identity crisis" concept is very compelling. Having a more in-depth look as to what exactly is going on inside Giorno's head would've easily improved his character. A big trait of his comes in the form of the other characters seeing him as a leader figure, and to them, it seems to just be a natural air to him- but we also know that when he was a young child, he was perceived as quiet and gloomy. Watching him craft his own identity and figure out how to sway the people around him to his side would've added a lot of dimension to that trait because we as an audience would know that it isn't actually a "natural" air at all. It would've also paralleled Dio's childhood in a lot of ways.

As for how that would contrast with Diavolo and Doppio (and also to mention your idea of Doppio starting off as an ally character), I will tell you that I have issues when it comes to really imagining a rewrite of Diavolo and Doppio because they are, by design, very bad representations of DID. They are written off of old horror movie tropes originating from the societal idea that mentally ill people (in their case, people with DID) are scary and dangerous. As characters, that's kind of imbued at their core. You can rearrange the themes of the story to make them more compelling (and I don't necessarily think DID representation in Jojo has to be the most 1:1 reflection of real life as long as there's an air of respect and care present) but there's no real fixing something inherent to their design.

I do think there are really interesting themes present with how Diavolo's motivation of identity erasure intersects with his DID, but in order to salvage those parts and excise the aggressive demonization of his mental illness, you'd have to make him a completely different character. (This is a big reason why I don't ever really propose solutions to "fix" him and Doppio because, for the most part, I don't think you can.)

The idea of Diavolo being the mysterious gangster who saved Giorno is honestly something I'm surprised I haven't heard more as an idea. That would imply that there was a time in the past when

1. Diavolo was a mob boss but wasn't completely in hiding yet (it would only make sense if this was the case since you kind of have to talk to people to start a mafia) and

2. Diavolo, in his past, was not only less extreme, but also capable of being caring in some sense. This is sort of suggested with Donatella, but he also abandoned her without a trace before he started his mafia, which suggests he was already at least kind of a nonreciprocal asshole to begin with.

I think you would have to do some character reworking to have Diavolo helping a child (even in response to him saving his life) really fit with him. That being said, I can see it as a potential idea for a VA rewrite. In that version I would probably add that in Diavolo's early years as a Boss he wasn't as aggressive or greedy, but as he got more powerful he became more reclusive and stopped caring about being nice to anyone in any way.

[nochocolate]

Theory: Chara's motivations

lucabicono submitted to nochocolate:

I recently found this blog and got drawn back in to reading theories and speculations, and after reading a few, I noticed a common thread that I never had before, connecting a lot of elements regarding the narrative of Undertale, Chara's behavior and motivations, and the significance of the Goner/Gaster characters: the idea of being forgotten. I'm not sure if anyone else has pointed any of this out, but I wanted to submit it for consideration. I also haven't come up with any theories of my own in a long time, and my knowledge of the inner workings and unique scenarios (fun values, kill count changes, etc.) present in Undertale is elementary at best, so I figured you might be better at piecing this together and seeing if it holds water at all.

First off, the obvious connection to the idea of being forgotten, or rather, the concept of memory. The game itself remembers the actions of the player, even in new games and fresh resets, but it doesn't simply stop with the game. Characters like Sans and Flowey obviously either know about previous playthroughs, or at least have some awareness of them. Even Frisk is implied if not outright stated to have some recollection between runs; Toriel's comment that they look like they've "seen a ghost" if the player kills her and then reloads a previous save, and Frisk outright telling Asgore how many times he's killed them.

Another pretty obvious connection is with the Goner characters, specifically Gaster and his followers. Gaster himself was completely erased, past present and future; forgotten by existence. The only people remaining who know about him (aside from, implicitly, Sans) are characters like the Goner Kid, whose entire spiel is about "a world world where everything is exactly the same...except you don't exist", or essentially "a world that has forgotten you". The Goner Kid also asks for the player to forget about them when bringing them an umbrella.

And there are plenty of other allusions to the idea of being forgotten, and having the world move on without you. For example, the Echo Flower that Flowey speaks into says the following: "She'll find another kid, and instantly forget about you." This also ties into the game’s overall theme of letting go.

Having read the theory on here regarding how Chara's influence is tied to number of kills and how the player isn't necessarily corrupting them, as well as the theory surrounding the use of the “*...” dialogue, I began thinking, what exactly is Chara's motivation? Because just having them be a demon or whatever is boring.

Could Chara be motivated at least partially by a fear of being forgotten?

It would explain their hatred of Toriel during a genocide route, who took in fallen child after fallen child even after their passing. It would explain how they're able to one-shot Mettaton NEO despite his monster soul being protected by his robot body; the fountain having possibly been made in to celebrate Chara's arrival having been altered to instead honor Mettaton. I would explain why Chara makes sure to remind the player of the consequences of the genocide route in a soulless pacifist run. It would explain why, even when the player is on a neutral or true pacifist run and they have no soul of their own and basically no influence, Chara is still Determined to let the player know that they're there through things like flavor text ("You laugh and keep laughing", "All you can do is FIGHT", etc).

Given how prevalent the concept of being forgotten by the world is, as well as Chara implicitly wanting to become the angel to "free" the monsters, and how their/the player's in-game theme is quite literally "Megalovania", I think it's entirely possible that they would find the idea of being forgotten terrifying.

[remidyal]

Favorite D20 Villains

Just for some positivity on this, and because it's been a minute since I did a tier or ranking list, have my ten favorite Dimension 20 villains! I'm not going to include anyone from Junior Year since it's still running, and I'm going to go ahead and mention that I'm not including Ragh or Aelwyn who could both easily make this list otherwise because they've spent as much or more time on the Intrepid Hero's side as they did villains.

Obviously, there are potential spoilers in this list, so proceed at your own risk! I'm putting a read more link here just to save people who haven't seen a lot of seasons.

10. Galfast Hamhead, Escape from the Bloodkeep.

Okay I know this one is cheating because the party are the villains and Galfast is, like, the one actually good figure on the opposing side, but I'm still counting her. Just an absolute tour de force in the parts of the series she appears in, and gets away even though she technically loses to the party.

9. Natalia Cicero Connie Lee Carter Bajar, A Starstruck Odessey

She's not the most threatening villain in ASO, but there are really three fronts where villains can work for me: They can be hammy and fun, they can be actually threatening and scary, and they can be someone I desperately would love to see get taken down. Natalia scores all her points in the first and last of these categories; she's not scary, but her entire concept is just so stupid that it makes me laugh every time.

Bonus points for being the target of what I think is the best joke in ASO - high praise - the "My fiancee doesn't really do art" - "I agree" by Ally.

8. Robert Moses, The Unsleeping City.

I believe the only actual person to ever be a main villain in Dimension 20. Genuinely a monster of American history; I was familiar with him prior to watching The Unsleeping City but I would wager that I was in a fairly slim minority. There's some problems with the presentation here and the details of it - I am guessing they would have just made him a powerful vampire if this season was more recent, for one - but I can't say I wouldn't want Robert Moses' plan thwarted. Probably the closest we'll ever come to actually having a campaign fight Ronald Reagan directly.

7. The Stepmother, Never After

Never After for me has a structural problem in that there are too many ideas stuffed into too short a season, and so quite a lot of it feels extremely half-baked. The Stepmother isn't immune to this, but she's also an actual imposing figure for much of the series that feels like a true threat to the party even after they prove that a TPK isn't enough to stop them. The scene where Ylfa looks before they head to the Lines Between is maybe the best Never After has to offer, for me.

6. Madame Loathing, Mentopolis

Honestly, this feels like a more full version of the Stepmother in many ways even though there are only six episode. This is probably because she's not competing with like five other factions in her villainy. The moment where she turns is great, and there's something very satisfying about landing a twist where the villain was someone so obvious that they were dismissed by many as too obviously evil to actually be the main evil.

5. The First Stoats, Burrow's End

Here I'm referring to the four that remained at Last Bast; I think the series in some ways peaked with fighting them, though certainly there were some highlights still to come. I don't think Aabria necessarily meant for this fight to go down at the time and place that it did, but genuinely creepy designs with a creamy layer of fascism on top.

4. Tony Simos, Unsleeping City 2

Remember those three categories? Tony here scores real, real big in the "I wanna see him die" category. He's not the worst person on this list (that's honestly probably Robert Moses), but he's the one I most wanted to see get crushed, and ultimately was in an extremely satisfying way. TUC2's villain duo was overall incredible - we'll revisit that in a moment - but I cheered more when Tony dropped than any other villain D20's ever had.

It is what it could be, asshole.

3. Calroy Cruller, A Crown of Candy

Do you know what I've always hated about you, Amethar?

There's a lot of people who would have this guy at the top of their lists, and I really don't blame them; the main thing holding him back for me is that he really doesn't do very much after that crowning monologue until he goes out like a chump at the end of the steamroll that is ACoC's last battle. (Those of you calling JY's last fight easy should rewatch that one). It is, admittedly, the most satisfying of any of the villain deaths of that finale, especially with Liam's baffling last second resurrection of broccoli pope and captain carrot. Scores very well on all three fronts, and honestly if Amethar had actually died there or if he'd just been front and center at the end then he'd maybe be number two for me.

2. Null, Unsleeping City 2

A dip into real eldritch horror, and does it better than Never After in part because it stands out more against the backdrop of New York. Null scores great on the threatening front; a monstrosity of apathy and depression and lack of connection is a hell of a villain. The world where Pete doesn't roll that crazy banishment check and vanishes partway through the season would have maybe robbed us of some of the insight into this, so I'm glad we got the one that we did.

Kalina, Fantasy High Sophomore Year

This was never going to be anyone else. Kalina's getting points on all three fronts, but conceptually is just an incredible concept for a villain, feels like a real threat throughout the season until the moment they dispel her, and you can feel the amount the players both want to take her down and are in fact worried about her throughout the season. Because of her nature she's able to show up repeatedly without a fight without that not really making sense, which is kind of hard to pull off - most of the villains on this list aren't met much after their villainy is revealed. We'll see if she's back at the end of Junior Year and what kind of state Cass ends up in, but either way we'll always have spring break.