#also sorry for going a bit wordy with my addition

[katyspersonal]

This is what I keep saying! OP, this is such a good post! If Gehrman was oh-so-repulsed by masculine women, then why WOULD he teach Maria to be badass to BEGIN with? If anyone was to know what Maria would be comfortable wearing it is him!

Needless to mention that Japanese media often does the trope of "woman acts and dresses like a man to be taken more seriously in the male dominated field", and I remind you that the only other CONFIRMED female Old Hunter (aka hunters of Gehrman's type) is Gratia - a very brutish woman, so lines up. Alternatively, female version of Cainhurst Knight outfit is kinda too pomp and arguably impractical (just look at that tiny cute hat instead of elegant male ribbon), so maybe Maria was more modest and less completely removed from femininity. If creators wanted to imply she is ultra super GNC - would not Doll wear cozy pants and shirt? They do not hesitate to make masculine women bold - but description said 'the girl idealized Gehrman', not 'the female hunter that styled herself after a man'. It could be a FAT hint that Maria wanted to impress him - something Gehrman regrets, and he immortalized sweet and soft side of her that he ruined in image of Doll; the side we know Maria HAD, as she cared about patients and ended up not being able to stand the weapon. Nightmare, as Hell suggest, forever trapped her in the image of the ruthless hunter that took part in Fishing Hamlet massacre that torments her. It is a tragedy, not a "flex on sexist dudebros that are scared of masculinity".

With all that speculation aside, putting a doll immortalizing her in cute cozy clothes that are (oh the horror!) feminine certainly was not because Gehrman disliked masculine women, ffs. He put a lot of warmth in them, and also the warmth he was feeling caring for Maria's hair ornament was so strong that it made the Doll cry tears of JOY for the first time! Would "being a misogynist creep" do THAT? Grated, "his curious mania" is a translation mistake anyway 🤔

TLDR; OP I'd send you $5 if international transfers were still possible for me because you are too based and made my evening! But for now just accept my metaphorical handshake pls

I saw this post the other day that I can't seem to refind, but it mentioned that when Gehrman created the doll, he makes her in the image of Maria but strips her of a lot of her non-gender conforming appearance. But if you think about it for a while, it makes a lot of sense why Gehrman wouldn't put the Doll in a hunter outfit. Because Maria being a hunter is what led to her experiencing the awful Fishing Hamlet, and eventually dying. Gehrman probably regrets ever teaching her, or letting her come along on that mission. It's also worth mentioning that he did love/care for Maria because of who she was and not what she looked like. When the Moon Presence brought the Doll to life, it didn't act or think like Maria because the Moon Presence can't just take her out of the Nightmare (or doesn't want to, but trying to analyse the actions of Great Ones will give you a headache). Also the whole Mourning Doll thing. Seriously, just look them up.

TLDR: Gehrman was a Personality man.

[majimasleftasscheek]

alright since RGG seems bent on putting merch behind things like UFO catcher shit, here's my crappy how to use a proxy guide lol

gonna be using buyee as an example but most proxies are more or less the same so it's your choice on what to use. I look at fee prices and customer service reviews to decide on my proxies. sorry if it's wordy! but I think I cover the most important bits for general use.

so on the landing page you got all the goobly gook but what you'll mainly be looking at is the stuff in the red box. all the shops are listed there - the ones I mainly use are yahoo! japan auctions and mercari. the other shops are more like regular shopping sites. pretty much all proxies use the same sites as they're just a directory for wherever you wanna shop.

auctions are self explanatory - you bid on things till the time runs out or some auctions offer an immediate buyout price.

mercari is largely a secondhand seller marketplace but you can find companies on there as well.

when I search for stuff, I prefer putting in the actual terms for better accuracy over auto translating. so here I put in ryu ga gotoku (龍が如く). on buyee, I have rgg and dead souls as saved searches so I can just click on them to easily autofill the search bar which is handy.

items will populate and you'll see prices in yen and for me, usd. these are the *listing prices, not the *final price. since I'm using a proxy, there will be additional fees per item I get. also, the currency exchange rate occasionally changes so if something goes up or down in price, that be why.

💥 pls also note prohibited items that proxies cannot ship internationally such as items with flammable fluid which can include perfumes, lighters, etc. other things like alcohol, which may be okay for like 99% of countries is not okay, for example, in the US lol unless you go thru customs paperwork n shit. *ebay is usually where you want to go for prohibited items as those sellers *will go thru the process of filing the proper forms to send such items.

💥 pls be aware of scalpers! I tend to browse multiple pages and multiple listings of the same item to see what the prices typically fall around. if it looks too cheap, be aware of an item's description. if it looks too expensive, it probably is.

let's use this bad boy as an example. the main things you wanna look at on any item is the condition and the photos to be *sure* you are happy with what you're getting. if you see the same photos across listings, be a lil wary. you can see estimated shipping times and the seller's general ratings. always read item explanations if there is one in case the seller makes any notes of defects or other things.

you can add to shopping cart to keep browsing or you can go to the order page to immediately purchase.

so proxies typically have different plans you can choose when you buy items and that adds towards the fees. these can include inspections, insurance, etc of items when they arrive at the proxy warehouse (see your proxy's FAQ for plan descriptions). it's up to you what you deem worth choosing, if at all. for most things, I just go with whatever costs me 0 lol - especially if it's a cheaper item that I really don't feel needs to be inspected or insured, like a plushie or keychain. regardless of plan, you'll have to pay some proxy service fee (here the "buyee service fee"). in the top right, you'll see the total cost of everything. once you're happy, then you pick your form of payment. I usually go with paypal.

you can go to your page and see typical stuff like orders, settings, and the like. there's often specific tabs for certain sites like auctions so you can go there for anything you purchase in that way. the cart is anything you've added but haven't bought.

the orders tab is for anything bought and you may see the status of its shipping to the proxy warehouse which I'll get to in the next bit.

package information is everything that has arrived to the warehouse so here you can see I have 12 items currently waiting to be shipped to me.

user information, pretty basic but do MAKE SURE your addresses and things are 100% correct. it would really suck nuts if you pay out the ass for international shipping and it gets sent to the wrong place.

on the orders tab, you can see the status of the item. it contains important bits like date ordered and order # (I've blotted out mine). order received is *you* paying for the order. order completed is *buyee* paying for the order. shipped means the seller has shipped to buyee's warehouse address and arrived at warehouse is self explanatory.

*sometimes, a seller may cancel an order after you've paid for it and you will be refunded. this is often due to the seller unable to actually send the item for whatever reason or they don't sell to proxies. nothing you can really do about it but I've only had it happen a couple of times in dozens of purchases.

back to the package information tab, here you can see all the packages that have arrived at the warehouse waiting for shipment. proxies will store packages for free for a certain number of days - buyee being 30 while I've seen other go to 45 days, etc. after that time is up, you will be charged for storage per day so be aware of that!

here you can consolidate packages which means putting everything into one shipment instead of going individually. you can see estimated costs of shipping per item which, if you did each item individually, that would be mad expensive. when you consolidate, things can still be pretty pricey but imo better to pay idk 150 bucks in shipping for 10 items instead of 300 bucks for all 10 individually.

💥 shipping is calculated by weight so be aware of that when you buy items - however baseline costs will be the same for lighter items regardless of how much they weigh. baseline costs for me is around 15-30 bucks regardless of what I get. for example, I have a teeny tiny keychain in storage and several figures. the shipping for that keychain is the same cost as the figures so it's only sensible to lump them into one package cuz I ain't paying out the ass to ship 1 keychain lol.

you are free to consolidate what you want and how. if you wanna consolidate some packages to ship now and you wanna do others later, you are free to. just keep in mind your budget and storage time!

proxies also offer services to protectively wrap your packages. if you're concerned about damage, then choose that option when you consolidate. I don't often do it unless what I'm buying can break otherwise all my packages have arrived relatively unharmed.

💥 proxies will consolidate things AS IS so if you have a buncha figures that don't have their boxes, the proxy will put them in a shipping box just as they are, however they received them from the seller. so if the seller only bubble wrapped the figure, it will be sent to you just like that, no additional protection unless you pay for that option.

*consolidation can take some days and you'll be informed when items are ready to ship. at that point, you pay the shipping and that's it! you can choose what type of shipping you wanna go with (such as DHL, EMS, sea mail (if it's available), etc at differing prices and arrival times. pick what's best for you. *note, sea mail is often the cheapest but the slowest (like several months arrival time) and not available to every country (plus you'd want protective packaging for this just in case cuz boat rides be bumpy)

here are some examples of shipping costs for a single one of my items. some of these options will disappear when I consolidate cuz shipping a lil figure is very different from shipping a larger box full of multiple things.

💥 be sure to read EVERYTHING and make sure you know what options you're choosing to make sure it fits your budget and expectations of arrival time.

one more thing proxies can do is order from a number of sites that aren't on the main page. for buyee, you want to go to the other sites information tab and then click "purchase request for other sites."

here you can input the information of whatever site you want to see if the proxy can purchase it for you. this is how I buy things on ebten like the jpn only preorders. if the proxy cannot buy the requested item, they'll let you know.

if they can go thru with the order, they will confirm your payment and it goes thru the same process as any other order.

[haveyoureadthismcytfic]

Hi! I'm curious, so may I ask why you choose not to include info like ratings and Major Archive Warnings in the posts? I love, love, love the concept of this blog and I think it's a really fun way to bring attention to hidden gems, and while I understand why you might not want to include *all* the tag metadata, as including the rating, the MAWs, the ships, the characters, aaand the freeform tags would rapidly make your posts feel very long and cluttered; but if you are accepting blog critique at all, I do think there could be value in at least making the fic rating and any Major Archive Warnings clear in the post, or even just in the tags.

Alternatively/additionally, I know there's the spreadsheet from the form submissions, but a dedicated pseud (or fresh ao3 account, if there are several mods) for bookmarking all the submitted fics could be brilliant for the purposes of this blog functioning as a way for people to find new fics, as unlike the collections function (which also comes into a second pitfall in the fact that people can opt out of having their work added to collections) the bookmarking feature has the tag filtering system built in.

Sorry this got a bit wordy, feel free to ignore it. I hope the mod/s of the blog have a lovely day! <3

The reasoning behind not including tag information is because I assumed people would look at the tags for themselves if the fic interested them based on the content of the summary and potentially the note from submitter. I often tell people to make sure they look at tags anyway if they have things that trigger them or that they would rather not read. I didn't see it as necessary, especially since this blog is technically just a "have you read it" blog, though I will admit that the true intention is for people to share fics they love to give the authors love and give other fans recommendations they may not have found otherwise.

It is only me, one person, running this blog. I could potentially have a pseudo specifically for this blog, because getting a new account requires a week wait, but I've never done a pseudo account before. All of my fan works are posted on one account. Bookmarking is a good idea for filtering, however, so I could spend the time I was going to spend right now queuing up more posts to catch up and bookmark things. I shall look into it and see if it makes sense to me.

Thank you, I hope you're doing well as well.

Update: I tried to create a pseud for the bookmark thing, but it only tangled them in with my main account's bookmarks, so I am not going to do that. This blog still works for that, and the spreadsheet exists. Plus, I tag the fics with [fandom] fanfic or [fandom] fanfiction depending which pops up for me or which I type if it doesn't so that's one way as well. In addition, ctrl+F search

[siriuslysatorusimping]

ok this has been plaguing my mind so naturally i’m offloading it so someone else shares this burden. i am DYING to know what megumi thinks of the rinko/gojo situation (granted, if anything). like, he is a child who hears gojo call rink babe and sweetheart all while being touchy and i assume megumi also sees gojo with other hookups or atleast flirting/getting numbers. do you see megumi saying anything to gojo (before he knows it’s casual) since we see him warming to rinko?

Hello, dear, sweet Anon! I LOVE this question!!

Because I'm ME, my answer is below the cut because it's gonna be long and wordy and probably make ZERO sense but I'll try 🙃

Note after I've written the response: THIS IS SUCH A LONG POST I'M SORRY AGAIN AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Read Another Level on AO3 :)

OKAY, SO.

What does Megumi think of Rinko and Gojo?

The shortest answer is that he thinks they're both idiots but that he really, really just wants his adoptive mom cousin to be happy.

I'm gonna answer the easiest part first.

Does Megumi also see Gojo with other hookups or flirting/getting numbers from other women?

Rarely, if ever, does Megumi witness this. Primarily because Megumi only spends time with Gojo for three main reasons: Training, a job, or to visit the Zenin estate.

Funny enough, Megumi spends more casual time with Rinko than he does with Gojo. Though Gojo will obviously tag along whenever he can because he loves to be a little shit and he wants to be around her whenever he can.

So, Megumi has actually seen Rinko get more numbers than Gojo. Though, people will typically avoid her when she's with him because they assume that Megumi is her kid and most men don't want that smoke 😂 and also because Megumi has already mastered that Zenin scowl and stare, which means he glares at anyone who gets too close to her because our lil bean is protective of his adoptive mom cousin.

(Remember in Double-Edged Words when Rinko noted that she felt the anger of two people behind her? Our lil bean of a boy was about to throw hands with an old man for his adoptive mom cousin, guys.)

Megumi has seen Gojo flirt with a few women, but he can tell Gojo acts differently with Rinko, is softer, more genuine than he is with other people in general. And Megumi also knows that Gojo doesn't even realize he does it.

What does he think when he hears Gojo call Rinko baby and sweetheart?

Gojo was actually pretty careful with what he called her around Megumi for the first few years that Rinko knew Megumi. He mainly called her 'Rinko-chan' around Megumi because he knew Rinko would freak out on him for calling her a pet name so casually in public.

Especially on jobs, Rinko will usually give Gojo a very unpleasant look if he calls her anything too familiar. And he respects that it's one of her boundaries. We'll see this a bit later, when they're at work, both of them as teachers, and he will call her Kurisaki-chan exclusively to respect how uncomfortable it makes her when he calls her anything else.

Megumi knew they slept together, especially after Gojo gave Naobito a small piece of his mind, and after in Winter Lullaby when they woke up and Gojo was literally in Rinko's bedroom, there's no beating around the bush with that one.

But for the most part, Gojo tried not to be overly affectionate with her in front of Megumi to respect her boundaries.

Because Maki is living with Rinko now, she's going to end up seeing more of their relationship than Megumi early on because she's going to be around Rinko all the time for a little while. But, in addition, because Maki is living with her, she's going to be bringing Megumi around so that Maki isn't lonely and they will train together often before they start school, meaning Gojo will be there too.

Innate Issues - Part 3 is where we're beginning to see the shift, though, where Gojo is freer with how he talks to her, and it's mainly because of how uneasy the job made both of them. When he first called her 'baby' during that job, it was out of instinct because he was trying to get her out of harm's way. He didn't want the Special Grade to clock her energy and come looking for the source, so he called her baby before he could think otherwise. He was a bit freer with how he called her baby and touched her after it was over because he'd been worried about her 🥺

BUT, remember, Megumi is perceptive and it has been said so many times that he just doesn't seem his age. So he knows what's going on lol. Because you've also got to remember that Toji was his dad. And he straight up, according to Gojo, said that he believed his dad sold him to the clan for gambling money. Kid's been through shit, ya know?

Does he ever say anything to Gojo about Rinko?

Short answer is yes, he does. But it's much later, actually. Because again, he's seen Gojo and Rinko in separate environments and just how different they are with each other.

At some point, he's going to look Gojo in the eye and just ask him what the hell he's doing with Rinko and why he hasn't married her yet.

The relationship and how he sees them together is one of the reasons he's so openly antagonistic toward Gojo when she's around, too. How he teases Gojo and calls him a child. When he and the girls called Gojo annoying and then he met Rinko's eyes through the rearview mirror, because of how he views her, she's one of the few people who get those smiles and smirks where she knows he's enjoying himself and having fun.

BUT, there will also be a part, in a later installment, where he's going to be worried about her, I'll give you a lil taste:

Her face fell for a moment before she could steel her expression, the hurt showing long enough she knew his keen eyes caught it. “No,” she admitted, watching his eyes narrow at her. “I found out today. When you did.” “Why didn’t he tell you-?” “Beats me, kid,” she said, shrugging as she smiled at him. “He’s got his reasons. Doesn’t have to tell me everything.” “But he usually does,” Megumi argued, and that ache in her chest started growing again at the look of concern on his face now. “Rinko-san-” “You’re too young to be that concerned about me,” she teased, ruffling his hair and chuckling when he swatted her hand. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure he had his reasons for not telling either of us, yeah?”

Rinko knows he's perceptive, so she tries to hide if things aren't going well and it only makes him narrow in quicker. But note when he says "he usually does" when it comes to telling her things. Wherever this is in our timeline, Megumi knows the two don't have secrets, and him realizing that they suddenly do makes him worried for her.

Megumi's relationship with Rinko really will become a bit of a reluctant parent/kid without either of them realizing it, because she's essentially lying so Megumi doesn't view Gojo any worse even though what it actually does is make him more upset because he knows she's doing it. BUT, there will also be very sweet moments, which I'll share a lil bit of:

“Megumi-” “Rinko-san,” he greeted, easily catching the ginger candy she tossed him. “You don’t need to keep bribing me, you know-” “Who said it’s still a bribe?” she asked, watching him smile at her. “Unless you’re telling me you don’t want it? I’ll eat yours too-” His only reply was opening the wrapper and chewing the candy before she could finish her statement.

And, because I have zero self-control, I'll give one last lil peek:

“I couldn’t even help,” he muttered, his jaw clenching. “I was useless-” “Don’t,” she said, pinching his ear harshly. “That doesn’t help you.” “Ow!” he smacked her hand away. “You’re as bad as he is sometimes.” “Only when you need it,” she mused, a small smile on her face as she watched him rub his ear.

OKAY, so there's my hella long rant I hope it makes sense!! 🥹

Thank you again for your question!!!! 💕💕

[shoechoe]

Last night, I finished reading Purple Haze Feedback. It was a lot shorter of a read than I was expecting it to be; I probably could've sped through it a lot faster if I didn't limit myself to just reading a chapter or two a day. Despite that, I can definitely see why so many people are obsessed with it; it does a lot in a relatively short amount of time. So, now that I'm finished with it, I'm going to give my overall thoughts of the novel. This will be fairly off-the-cuff, so sorry if it's a bit messy.

I think expanding on and giving a sense of closure to Fugo's character was the main purpose of this novel, and it accomplishes this goal extremely well. Fugo falling off the face of the earth was one of my big criticisms with Vento Aureo- I enjoy the concept of a character that's usually intelligent and level-headed but has an anger problem that renders them totally irrational when set off, but the manga just doesn't do anything with that concept. Because of that, I think a novel focusing on Fugo and where he went after he separated from the group was well-warranted.

I adore what Purple Haze Feedback does with Fugo's character. It explores his sense of regret for leaving the group and having his comrades die without him, he thinks about his actions and his thought processes that led him to this point, it expands upon his backstory that was relegated to just a sentence or two of dialogue in the original manga, and it gives him a character arc as he's made to go on a mission to prove his trustworthiness to the organization and he gains courage and strength he never had before. The second-to-last chapter where he thinks about Narancia and finally has the same breakthrough of why he was so willing to risk his life for a girl he barely met gave me chills down my spine.

Fugo is made into a genuinely great character in Purple Haze Feedback- I can absolutely see his appeal now. To avoid being overly wordy, he feels completed in this novel, and that's really what I wanted to see.

The things going on in the novel outside of Fugo are also interesting. The narcotics team served as the antagonists while also giving more insight onto the way Passione worked before Giorno became the Boss and also functioning as Fugo's "test".

The fights surprised me with how quick they were, but Jojo fights tend to get tedious for me with how dragged out they get, so that's not really a complaint. I imagine translating the manga's style of fights to novel format would be difficult, so I don't blame the fights of the novel for feeling a lot different than typical Jojo fights. A lot of the descriptions of the Stand abilities and the gore actually made me squirm a bit- particularly, Vittorio succumbing to his own Dolly Dagger and Sheila's vocal coords being controlled by Manic Depression were scenes that stood out to me.

As for all of the new characters, I definitely liked quite a few of them. I can't say I cared too much about Murolo himself, but I certainly liked his Stand ability. (Though I'm still a little unclear on how he managed to survive the helicopter crash...? Maybe I just missed something, though.) Sheila E. was a really good character; I loved her ability and her personality. At the same time, she reminded me maybe a little too much of Trish; she wasn't just a clone of her, but one of the biggest roles Sheila plays is to be paralleled with Trish, and I would've liked to see her do more, especially since she's supposed to be a skilled member of Passione instead of the innocent girl that Trish was. Her backstory with her sister Clara was also a little weak.

I felt as though the plot was also less than perfect. The ordeal with the Stone Mask kind of went nowhere- so did Volpe's powerup and desire to transcend his humanity in the final fight. That was the one moment where I felt as though the fight could've been aided by being longer.

The additions to Passione's past, on one hand, made a ton of sense (of course Diavolo pretended to be fighting the drug trade just so he could set up the market for his own drugs- of course he claimed to fight older organizations to gain the trust of his members- Jesus, why wasn't this in the manga?) but on the other, kind of just exacerbated the problems I already had with the original story (why are we still hyperfocusing on how the drug trade is evil and bad when we know that Passione was also doing several other things that would hurt the innocent, including directly murdering children? Also, once again, if Bruno has such a soft spot for kids, why was he okay with torture-interrogating and then attempting to murder Giorno, a middle school boy?)

The part of the novel that I have mixed feelings on the most has to be the way Giorno is treated. He doesn't actually appear until the very last chapter, but until then, he's built up by the characters to be this almost saintly figure that can read everyone perfectly and always makes the right decisions. I understand he's already compared to Jesus in the manga, but PHF feels especially over-the-top with it, comparing his voice to a pipe organ played at church and having Fugo literally bow down to him in the end.

To be brutally honest, for me, Giorno already feels like he has a sanctimonious air to him despite not even really being a good person himself, and in the manga, he really straddles the line between being interestingly set in his flawed beliefs and just being annoying. Seeing all of the characters revering him like this does make me roll my eyes a little. To be charitable, it does make sense that a bunch of criminals with no other hope would turn to their leader and see him as someone to look up to, even if the reality is that he is far from an angel himself, but I find it unclear if that was what the novel was going for. Still, though, this is far from a story-ruiner and the last scene with Fugo swearing his loyalty to Giorno was wonderful.

Overall, I really enjoyed Purple Haze Feedback. I think it's a wonderful addition to canon, and while it doesn't fix all of my problems, I would absolutely recommend reading it. I'm mostly kind of mad at myself for not doing this sooner.

[gleefullypolin]

Bridgerton therapy, indeed.

He's a self declared gentleman and he's been writing her letters without courting her for how long now? Seeking her out? Whether or not he's ignorant of how that might look to her, he's very much benefitting from her attentions and I think he will have felt the sting of not having it quite a bit. It's unintentional on his end but he's given her the worst whiplash a few times. He is definitely the flower to her gardener in that relationship and she really does tend to him so well.

I once saw someone say that Penelope had much more in common with Anthony than Colin and as an abstract, I can see it in a way. But I don't think abstracts are where love stories lay, tbh. Both of them being the third born, Colin with no expectations and Penelope with no attention would have far more in common to me and that's disregarding them both being writers. Adding that in gives so many more additional layers to their relationship, layers I don't think can be easily hand waved away either.

I really do enjoy the added elements of the show vs the book, I think there's a lot of expectations people may have of the book when it comes to the new season but in a totally different medium, I can see where it has to be different. I think the inclusion of a suitor for her is a good way to manifest the yearning Colin will go through--not because he's only going to see her romantically out of seeing with her someone else since I think the seeds have been there the whole time but because with the changes they already made to their storyline (the not courting her line and constant reminders from him to her of friendship), the audience needs to see him, visually, yearn and go through jealousy. I know a lot of people are both longing for and hating the idea of him going through some sort of "groveling" but I don't think that's the goal of it, I think it's for him to finally understand why the idea of life without her, when he cannot neatly place her in the platonic friend box, in unacceptable to him.

They've already shown us that he's missing something without her, he misses her when she won't even write to him while he's gone, how is he going to handle when she's married and gone from his life completely?

(to be very honest, I can never remember what Debling looks like other than a plot device, haha)

Oh I agree, I don't necessarily think it's going to endear him to anyone and I think that the rumors are vastly exaggerated but I also think if he comes in with the pastel blues and his boyish cheeks, lacking experience the audience isn't going to buy him as a serious contender to Penelope's Lord Debling. Seeing him flirt and be charming and, yes, even a scene of him leaving a woman's bed, etc, will be vital for the general audience to see that is very much a man now. A boy on his knees for a girl would be called infatuation. A man on his knees for a woman won't be considered anything less than love.

I just realized how overly wordy I am, sorry for that!

The other day I was playing stories in my head, as I often do, and I laughed to myself playing this in my head between Eloise and Colin.

“This plot of yours to marry Penelope off is quite flawed, brother.” Eloise stared intently at her brother, glaring at him with an irksome grimace on her face.

“And why is that? It’s working quite splendidly if I don’t say so myself. Debling seems quite enthralled with her.” Colin dismissed his sister and turned back to his reading.

“What ever will the two of you do once she is married? With no one to care about your travels or respond to your letters, you’ll be bored and lonely.”

Colin looked up at her in confusion. “I’m sure Pen will have plenty of time to hear all about Greece.”

Eloise voice sounded with a tort laugh laced with a scolding tone. “Brother, you wouldn’t dare continue to behave in such an ungentlemanly way with a married woman.”

“But it’s Pen, surely she would continue to want to hear…” he started before she cut him off, her finger in his face, admonishing him in anger.

“She would be a married woman, Colin. Your travels would be none of her concern. Once she is married, she will have her own travels with her own husband to worry about. For all you know, she may move to Spain once she is wed. You would be wise to remember that before you carry on with this behavior.”

“Move to Spain!” He exclaimed, wide eyed. “Pen would never, she could not, would not do such a…” His mouth opened, then shut as he thought about the possibilities. Did he really know Lord Debling’s intentions? Why did he even think he had a say in what would happen with Pen after her suitor laid claim on her.

Laid claim on her? On his Pen? His Penelope? Someone was to claim her and take her away from him?

“Flawed.” Eloise said with a smug look on her face, leaving Colin to contemplate why suddenly he hated everything about his ridiculous plan.

Ok sorry I don’t know where that came from, I don’t write fanfiction for Bridgerton but that was kind of fun to get out of my head.  Oh how I need Eloise to come back into play in the story. I need someone to point out how silly he’s being.

I don’t even care who it is. Eloise, Benedict, Hyacinth. Just someone to whack him in the head and go, oh hey yeah that might not be a friendly thing to be thinking about your “friend”. Hahaha!

But I digress and got lost there for a moment, where were we?

Anthony, interesting to see the Anthony/Colin comparison. I can see the abstract as far as the commonality in how they feel the need to take care of everyone. Anthony as the head of the family, Penelope in the shadows taking care of everyone as LW. But beyond that you are correct, abstracts are not where love stories lie.

I’m so very curious honestly how adding Eloise knowledge of LW changes the show. Because that was huge in story changes from the book.

Obviously Colin still needs to find out because if he doesn’t that changes everything so I’m looking forward to that reveal but what does it do for Eloise and Penelope because that was a huge part of her relationship and character and its huge to Colin as well so the foundation there is big. Even bigger than Debling and what that does because I truly believe the “Debling” of it all is gone by Part 2. (Debling honestly just looks like Ewan McGregor woke up and decided to be in Bridgerton) take it or leave it. I’m sure he’ll be nice for someone one day. lol

I think this idea of groveling won’t really be in the form of begging for forgiveness because lets be honest, the girl would forgive him anyway. She loves the hell out of him and forgives him by episode 2. The groveling will be in the form of him suffering his own feelings. His waking up to realizing holy hell she’s a goddess and I didn’t realize it and look at what I had and why is she not looking at me. And I hope she lets him linger in that for a moment because she earned that.  

And she would love him in blue and pastels and she will love him in his pirate costume (Because damn who wont) and at the end of the day with the smoldering way he’s staring at her all season, she will be remiss to not notice the boy grew into a man but imagine her surprise when all his looks, all his stares are right at her. As she is being courted and danced with at balls, there is a man standing at the edge of the ballroom, with a look JUST for her! That girl is NOT ready!

Holy hell I think I beat you in wordy!!! I think we both get carried away with these 2! Sorry not sorry!  

[thephantomtheory]

Try | Levi Ackerman x fem!Reader

summary: You can't sleep and decide to go for a midnight walk, when you run into Captain Levi and the tension between you two finally becomes more than either of you can handle. | set in canonverse | 4.5k words

notes: I wrote this based on Season 2 of Attack on Titan, with a few additions for my own plot?? ig?? idk it's a bit wordy in the beginning, sorry! Also, please note that there is a part that was taken specifically taken from the movie "Doukyuusei.", when Levi is teasing you by lightly touching on your back. It may vary slightly, but I take no credit for it. This entire piece was based off that one scene and I wrote it for fun and decided to keep it in, but in no way is it mine. The rest is my own writing. And for this piece, every character is of age to consent. 18+. 

cw: implied sexual content, light angst, reader is fem-bodied

-

You didn’t risk moving until everyone’s breathing had steadied, their deep breaths finding unity in slumber. With your head resting gently on your pillow, you listened for any sign of conscious stirring; a blanket being pulled from a body, the bare pads of feet making an attempt to stay quiet as they hit the floor, but no such sound occurred. From what you could tell, your comrades had finally drifted off to sleep.

You rested on your back, head softened to your pillow, and stared up into the ceiling as if it might give way and open up to the stars above. Instead, it stared back at you, stubborn and unyielding. You let yourself stay like this for a few moments, letting the calm of night wash over you, wondering how unusual it feels to be so still after days of training, and planning, and fighting. How comforting is it, though, to know that at least in these moments, when night falls, everything is swept over in a calm and your friends can rest. The world allows them this time, which is slow and silent like the compressed sound of snow in winter.

You sighed and pulled yourself up to sit on the edge of your cot, where you silently pulled on your boots and laced them. The moon’s light filtered through the windows and broke into soft beams that fell lightly across the floor, guiding your way to the door. An early fall chill snuck in through a crack in the window and a shiver ran down your spine, so you grabbed your green cloak hanging from the foot of your bed and threw it around you before turning once more to check that Mikasa and Sasha were still sound asleep. You doubt Sasha knew of your nightly disappearances, and if Mikasa did, she didn’t say anything.

You slipped through your door, cautious to keep it from creaking, and stepped into the hallway. With the bedroom door closed carefully behind you, you pulled your hood up over your head and crept silently through the corridors. The lamps along the wall flickered as they died down, causing the dim light in the hallway to pulse along with them, like the walls and light were breathing as one. But the low light didn’t frighten you, in fact, you were much too used to it. When once darkness like this had made you feel trapped, here it was a pleasant comfort.

Your fingertips grazed lazily along the stone wall as you made your way towards the library, a hidden gem within the castle which you were sure was only used by Hange and yourself. Your thoughts wandered to the philosophy textbook you had found the previous night, with the red binding and gilt-edge pages. You left a few scrap pieces of parchment tucked in the cover, for notes of course, and you thought of the pen and ink sitting on the desk by the third window from the right, where the view of the landscape was the best and you could study in peace.

Suddenly, you were torn from your thoughts. Another pair of footsteps had fallen into place behind you, footsteps you recognized as Captain Levi’s.

You froze in your place and steadied your breathing as you assessed the situation. It was not uncommon for Captain Levi to be out in the castle corridors at night; from what you knew, he hardly ever slept. But you weren’t supposed to be wandering the halls at night. You knew this. And so did he.

His footsteps ceased with yours.

“Y/L/N.” He called.

You knew better than to hesitate. Without a sound, you turned in place and pulled your hood from your head, exposing yourself to his gaze.

Captain Levi was some feet ahead of you; the low lamp light danced in orange licks across his black hair, angling his already defined features, sharpening his jaw and drawing a line from his chin down to the knot in the center of his neck, contouring the muscles and tendons that stretched from just behind his jawbone.

You felt your heart rate pick-up, and you were quick to hide it.

“Captain.” You acknowledged him, your voice feeling unnaturally raw as it bounced through the empty corridor. Suddenly, you were very aware of your bare legs; when you’d left you had only been in your shorts. Underneath your cloak, you simply wore a tank top.

Levi considered you for a moment and took a few steps closer. As always, he was impossibly hard to read. Two can play at this game.

“The library again?” Levi mused flatly. He knew of these trips, he caught you there once before.

“I’m sorry, Captain. I’ll head back to my room.” You replied unwavering.

You switched your gaze downward, letting your hair fall forward to cover your face, and began to make your way past him, but just as you were in line with him, his hand fell atop your left shoulder, the sudden presence of it making you pause. You flipped your eyes upwards towards him while he gazed straight ahead. It wasn’t until he spoke that he looked at you, his steel grey eyes almost blue in the light. You couldn’t be sure, but you almost caught a glimpse of something flash across them. As quickly as it came it was gone.

The empty second in which he stopped you to which he spoke was filled with a still tension that you couldn’t quite describe. It felt as if the whole world had held its breath, and in that moment all you could think about was how close the two of you were, closer than you thought you'd ever been before.

“Come with me. Since you’re up we might as well discuss our plans for tomorrow.” Levi dropped his hand from your shoulder and began walking in the direction of his office. There was a ghost on the bone where his hand once was. A chill ran down your spine from its absence.

You turned and followed your Captain; he was already a few paces ahead of you, so you trailed behind him just a bit, not too close but never too far. His stature gave nothing away, his shoulders slack and indifferent from the lull of night, his steps even and undisturbed.

“Tomorrow?” You asked.

“Yes. While your fellow recruits are here preparing for our next mission, I’ll need your help in the city tomorrow.”

Your thoughts ran over the possibilities of why Levi would need you. He was impressed with your abilities, that you knew, but you wondered what he needed them for. Just as you were about to inquire, you came upon the door to his office, which he swiftly unlocked and stepped into.

You followed and stood in the doorway while he lit the room one lamp at a time, providing more light than what was given in the corridors. You watched in silence as he lit the match, a sudden spark of orange flitted between his thumb and index finger, burning large and shrinking into itself; Levi brought it up to light the last lamp, the flush of the flame washing over his face until he turned away.

“Come in.” He said without regarding you. It was a command, but the way he said it felt more like an invitation. You closed the door behind you and stepped nearer to his desk where Levi was now half-seated on top, cloaked in his usual apathetic demeanor. His head angled away from you, exposing the edge of his jaw just below his ear, your eyes trailed from it down his neck to his collar bone, which was now partly visible; with the top button of his shirt undone, the collar fell looser around his neck and his white cravat fell lower than normal.

“There’s a priest I’ll be questioning in the city tomorrow.” Levi began and your eyes snapped upwards. He was staring into one of the flames from a torch. Maybe you were wrong, but it felt like he was purposefully avoiding your gaze. “Your ability to read people and your observational skills are, in no doubt, impressive. I’d like you to be with me while I question him, and you will report to me on what you believe I might have missed. On the other hand, I have reason to believe he’ll have men watching our every move. I trust you’ll be able to find the position of each one in case it gets ugly.”

“Yes, sir.” You accepted. “May I ask what information you’re looking to get from him?”

“I expect he will tell us what we already know about the Reiss family, what Erwin and I hope to understand is how much. The most important part is understanding just how many men he has protecting him; that part falls to you. We need to know how deep this runs.”

“Understood.”

“It will be dangerous.”

You furrowed your eyebrows at this. “Everything we do is dangerous, Captain.”

At this, Levi finally turned his eyes to you, and they locked onto yours with an unsuspecting intensity behind them. Your breath caught in your throat as his gaze seemed to search for something within you. You could do nothing but let him. In a world where you had spent so much time shutting others out, you couldn’t help but want to let him in. 

Seeming to come back into himself, he stood and strode softly towards you while he eyed the scratch on your cheek. Instinctively you stepped backwards until your back collided with the wall. The air in the room stalled. The world beyond his office ceased to exist. The only two beings were him and you.

Levi drew so close that you could feel his chest as it rose with each passing breath. With all the people you had watched lose this ability, in this moment it was a startling reminder of the life you both still had. For a moment, the thought of Levi’s still chest flashed through your mind, and you almost reached out to cling onto his shirt, to press your ear to his heart just to hear it thump, thump, thump. Almost.

But then, you felt his thumb brush lightly over the wound on your cheek, the raw flesh stinging as he touched it. You had to steady your breathing for fear of suffocating. There were just mere inches between you now. You looked up at him while his eyes studied the scratch in your skin.

“You could have died.” Levi said disapprovingly, quieter now that he was close. You knew what he was referencing. You had risked yourself to save a comrade’s life. It was only your skill that allowed you to survive, otherwise you were lucky to have returned with a simple scratch upon your cheek.

“You would have done the same.” You assured him, matching his tone.

“Tch. Are you all so desperate to throw your life away?”

“Was I supposed to do nothing? I won’t let someone die if I can help it.”

Levi now looked right into your eyes. Of all the men who had been this close to you, none of them looked at you they Levi did right then, none of them touched you so delicately the way Levi did right then, and perhaps that’s why you decided to trust him, when trusting others of his kind had always been so hard.

As an outsider looking in, any of the other Scouts may not have seen a difference, but you felt like you could read the change behind his eyes. His hand did not leave your cheek, instead he used it to draw you closer to him, his head dipped down while your chin tilted upwards. His lips were so available the hunger almost ate you up from the inside out. At such close range, you could take in how pink and soft they looked, such a stark contrast to the expression he perpetually wears.

“Promise me you won’t die.” His request caught you off guard. His voice was raw, like he was forcing the words out through a lump in his throat. When you didn’t respond, his thumb grazed your temple and brushed your hair back behind your ear. You softened at his touch.

“I can’t promise you that.” You responded with the same lump in your throat.

“Promise me.”

“Why?” Your voice was barely above a whisper now, his eyes hard and intense on yours.

“Because if you don’t I can’t…”

You tilted your head in question as his words trailed off.

“Promise me.” Levi said again, the space between you closing with every word.

“I can’t.”

 “Try.”

And then his lips were on yours, warm and soft and desperate. Levi’s hand tangled in your hair, not forcefully, but with a vulnerability like he was confirming that you were really there. His other was steading himself against the wall.

Your breath hitched in your throat, heart pounding in your chest as he kissed you lightly; his lips playing sweetly between yours. Every other thought in your mind came to a swift halt as you lost yourself to the sensation of Levi’s affections. You felt more vulnerable than you had ever thought you’d let yourself; you were melting like warm honey dribbling over silk cloth, and your hand found its way to his chest where you could feel the warmth of his body in its entirety. His muscles were of hills carved into landscapes that you had yet to see; you could feel them flexing so effortlessly. Your fingers drew their way gently over his shirt until they were finally met with thump, thump, thump. Undeniably alive. Undeniably present.

It was then that you kissed him back with an utmost hunger. Whereas before he was gentle with your lips, your hands gripped onto the cloth of his shirt, giving him permission to press himself closer to you, and he deepened your kiss with an untamed passion.

Your hand snaked up towards Levi’s collarbones, where you traced their line lightly with your thumb, following their path up the side of his neck; you felt him stretch to expose it more for you, accidentally breaking the kiss. He took the opportunity to press his lips to your cheek, trailing kisses across your jaw and up to your ear. You lifted your chin for him, your eyes half-open as you struggled to suppress the whimper rising in your throat.

Your fingertips grazed the edge of his jaw and without thinking you gave in to your impulses and planted your lips firmly against it, parting your lips slightly to suck gently at his skin, feeling this area out with your mouth. All the nights you had fantasized about this beautifully sculpted spot, the days you spent studying the angle at which it caught the sun, and finally you could taste its brilliance.

Levi groaned low and throaty in your ear; a sound you were sure slipped through his control. While his left hand was still supporting him on the wall, his other dropped benevolently at your waist. The intimate movement caught you off guard, and you drew a sharp breath in and instinctively flinched away from his touch.

Levi drew back, his unmoving eyes flicked concern. You stood, back against the wall to keep you steady, while you tried to shake the memories from your mind. You attempted to bring yourself back to the present. Hard stone floor. Cold wall against your palm.  Window across the room. A shiver chilling your bare legs. A mahogany desk aglow in dim firelight.

Levi. His posture stiff. His eyes fixed on you. His face awash in the dreary haze of night.

“I’m sorry if I –”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.” You interrupted him.

Levi was silent for a moment, his expression ever hard to read. He glanced to the side.

“It was inappropriate of me to –”

“Do you regret it?” You asked.

Levi’s eyes snapped to yours. His jaw tensed while he considered your words. Even under your gaze, stubborn and unwavering, he couldn’t help but notice how your eyelids still curved slightly; how sad they looked behind the wall you put up. Your eyes were glass to him, and they were breaking under the weight of your past. From the others you hid that sadness well, from him, it was impossible. His jaw relaxed.

“No.” Levi replied firmly, and he tilted his head, his voice irritatingly calm, when he asked, “Do you?”

“No.”

Even in hushed voices, every word felt full in the quiet of the castle.

Slowly, you stepped out towards him. Levi watched you without a word. You tilted your chin upwards, the space between you threatening to close, and brought the tip of your index finger to brush lightly against his bottom lip. His eyes lay low and lustful on you while you admired him. You could feel your Captain attempting to steady his breathing. He was failing.

Your hand felt its way up to his cheek, gliding over the softness of his skin, and finally you met his grey eyes. Levi placed his hand atop yours and pressed your palm tenderly against cheek, letting his eyes fall closed for a moment. It then occurred to you that this was the first time his hands had graced yours. His palm was softer than you imagined, calloused from his gear, but not quite rough. Even through this light touch, you could feel the strength in his fingers, his knuckles and tendons carved like marble from the light. He brought his forehead to yours.

“You can tell me to stop.” Levi uttered. “I’ll obey.”

You gave a small nod. You knew.

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“You’re not.” You whispered. The air suddenly tasted like dark chocolate, too rich for voices.

“I’m - I've never - ”

 “I know.”

This time it was you who kissed him. Your heart leapt in your chest as you did so and you feared you’d never grow accustomed to the warmth of his lips; the wetness that spread over them while he kissed you, the pure velvet feel of them massaging yours, wanting you and only you.

He leaned into you, moving his lips deliberately slow against yours. Your hands snaked into his hair and tugged lightly, willing him to stop teasing you. You felt him smirk into the kiss.

“Brat,” He growled. “So impatient.” In one swift motion his strong arms lifted you and he turned to seat you atop his desk where he ferociously took your mouth in his. He leaned over you, his chest pressing against yours, his hand on the small of your back while his other kept him upright on the surface of his desk, beautifully crafted muscles flexing in all their glory. Your fingernails dug gently into the back of his neck, your legs instinctively spreading to accommodate him.

Steadily, you brought your hand up to the neck of your cloak. When he felt you moving under him, Levi drew back, studying your features with a quiet fervor and his eyes fell to your fingers laying over the clasp. Eyes on his, you undid the fastener and let the smooth cloth of your wings glide down from your shoulders, exposing your chest, the curve of your breasts peeking over the cut of your tank top.

Levi hummed low and shut his eyes, slowing his breath, and touched his forehead to yours once again. You let your eyes fall closed and felt his fingers draw lazy circles on the small of your back, his fingertips grazing so lightly across that it almost tickled. His hand traveled up your back, pushing the fabric up so he could explore your skin. You unintentionally let out a sigh of relief, allowing your muscles to relax, your hips to relieve its tension. His movements made you feel an ache you’d never experienced; you wanted to pull him into you, to press him as close as he could get, to feel absolutely every inch of him. This unfamiliar sensation seeped deep into your being, creeping down down down.

While Levi’s nimble fingers roamed the canvas of your back, you reached to bring them forward to your hips, but he resisted. You opened your eyes to look at him, brows furrowed, cheeks flushed.

“Levi.” You begged.

He simply gave a slight shake his head, his fingernails digging into your skin at the sound of you muttering his name. Again, he hummed, deep and full of desire, then leaned in to whisper in your ear,

“It’s like a punishment.”

He brought you closer to him, your arms wrapping around the back of his neck and he closed the space between your bodies.

“Just the back,” He teased. “Nothing more.” You knew there were worse punishments in the world, some of which your Captain had inflicted himself, but - God – this felt so unfair.

“No fair.” You breathed into his neck, letting him know. As you nuzzled into him, you reveled in his scent: a warm mix of soap and cedar which brought you the most unexpected sort of comfort. You never truly had a home, and in this moment, you knew you had found it. It was so dangerous to get attached, but you’d die before letting him go.

“Your spine feels so good. It stands out nicely.” He murmured into your hair as he counted the knots upward with his fingers. “One… two… three…”

You shuddered under his touch, and in response he held you tighter. You bit your bottom lip to keep down the urge to mewl simply from the way he felt against you, clutching onto him as your face flushed, an action that completely relinquished control to him.

“Scapulae.” Levi whispered when his hands reached your shoulder blades.

“Scapulae are what’s left of our wings.” You said so quietly that if your lips had not been so close to his ear, he might have missed it. “I read that in a novel.”

His fingers continued to trace your spine so delicately that a shiver ran through it. Your body shook against his.

“Levi…” You choked out, that unfamiliar sensation rolling through your hips. “It…it –

“It tickles?” Levi mused.

You nodded into his neck, burrowing your face into him and failing miserably at controlling your uneven breath.

His voice was needier than before, but his breath was still even, and you silently cursed him for having so much self-control. His words radiated below the surface of your skin when he followed with, “Does it just tickle and nothing else?”

Your hands gripped onto the back of his shirt in response and you drew in a sharp breath. You were so lost in the sensation of his actions that you barely registered Levi’s hand slipping across your waist to the front of your shorts, where he tugged carelessly at the waistband and then snaked his hands up your sides, feeling your curves out and immortalizing them in his memory.

You could no longer suppress the whimper that escaped your lips. The unrestrained sound sent Levi over the edge, and suddenly his lips were all over yours, weaving in a desperate mess between yours as he pushed your back flat against the top his desk. Your legs wrapped around him and his movements became more careless; his hands played dangerously on your inner thighs, then they were at your waist and at your neck and in your hair. He couldn’t get enough of you now that he had you. He was lost in the high of all you could offer, choosing you despite the consequences, knowing the odds, and all he wanted to do was soak up every part of you that he could and hope he’d never lose it. Levi knew he was setting himself up for more pain, but in the end, he knew he would regret it if he never got to feel your skin underneath his.

Levi’s tongue swiped softly against your bottom lip, asking gently for permission, and you let your lips part for him. You ached to have him as close to you as possible, to feel every inch he had to offer; to know the taste of his tongue and the lust on his lips, to learn the spots that make him shiver and grind himself into you.

Electric coursed through Levi’s veins at your allowance, his heart rate picking up rapidly as he massaged your tongue with his. He loved how you fought back, teasing him for the control he would never let you have. God, he couldn’t explain the appetite he had for you, never in a million years had he expected to come completely undone at a woman’s touch. Your touch. Your skin. Your words. Your voice. Your beauty. The list could go on and on.

Levi pulled away from the intoxication of your lips just an inch, a trail of your shared saliva slipping between the two of you. A wave of butterflies rushed through your body at the look in his eyes which were so thirsty and needy as he studied your features. Levi was looking at you like that. You.

He eyed the spit now shimmering wet over your lips and dribbling down your chin, and all he could think about was how fucking sexy you looked staring up at him with those stupidly beautiful eyes and the evidence of his affection all over you. It took all of Levi’s strength not to let his eyes roll back into his head from the sheer thought of that saliva being something else of his entirely. He swallowed hard. You watched the knob bob in his throat. He felt a flutter in his stomach and the ache he’d been trying so hard to suppress traveled down, down, down.

And then he blushed. It was dark now, you hadn’t noticed until this moment how low the lamps had burned, but even in the dim light you could see the pink flushing onto his adorably chubby cheeks. You felt yourself starting to smile and he buried his head into your neck in an attempt to hide his vulnerability.

Levi suddenly felt overwhelmingly shy at realizing how he’d let himself indulge so carelessly in his temptations. You were so good. You were everything he never expected. You were everything he wanted to hold onto. He silently wished he could understand everything you’d been making him feel.

“Tch.” He scoffed into your skin, like somehow his feelings for you were intentionally your fault; you a witch and he a victim of your intoxicating spell.

You placed your hand on the back of his head and used your other to rub gently between his shoulder blades, the remnants of his wings.

He mumbled your name, his lips tickling your neck.

“Levi.” You whispered into his hair.

 “Don’t you dare die.”

“I’ll try.”

“Promise.”

“I promise.”

©2022 thephantomtheory | do not repost my work anywhere, and do not plagiarize

[stillness-in-green]

MVA In Memoriam (2/5)

The Comprehensive Account of the Butchering of My Villain Academia

(Introduction and Part One, Episode 108: My Villain Academia)

Part Two, Episode 109: Revival Party

Chapter 224 – Revival Party

• Mr. Compress’s side comment about how the distance Re-Destro wants them to travel means he must know they have warp capabilities. Also shortens his subsequent line, removing the bit about how their position has been locked onto, leaving only the marveling about the dude on the phone being the kind of person who has access to a satellite camera. Not a major cut, but it did strip out a bit of reiteration on how very Seen the League is. The warp line is another nod to how the MLA’s been doing their research—in particular, it ties in nicely with RD’s observations about the Noumu. He talks, there, about something Dabi said after the High End fight, which means he must also know that Dabi was warped out by an “Ujiko-san.”

• Also Mr. C’s observation that they haven’t broken Machia yet, and his posed question about what to do. Mr. Compress, I’m so sorry that you’re so wordy and lose so many quips and asides because the anime was set on brutally scything out every line of non-essential dialogue it could find.

• Ujiko’s extremely hilarious, “Listening to Villain Radio is my new favorite hobby,” line. Why would you cut this; this line is hysterical.

• The bit where Mr. Compress has the bright idea to use a High End Noumu like the one Dabi used, Ujiko rejects the suggestion out of hand, citing production woes, and Shigaraki says that he wasn’t going to ask for one of them anyway. Aside from being more cut Compress content (or “Comptent,” for short), it helps center the timeline somewhat at a point where the manga is jerking it around all over; it also shows that the League has been keeping up with news from the outside world. It also shows that at least one of them thought about using the Noumu—and since we know Re-Destro did some rationalizing on that scenario too, it’s good to see that it is at least briefly on the table.           Further, Ujiko provides a few rare details about the Noumu creation process. Firstly, that AFO is normally involved, so his absence makes the procedure much more difficult (though not, apparently, impossible). Secondly, that Hood-chan was the only Noumu who’d actually reached the testing stage. This will be important later, for Ujiko’s agonizing about unleashing them early/Mirko having to fight four of them at once.           Also, I just miss Mr. C’s funny little head wilt when Ujiko immediately turns down his “use some Noumu” idea. Ditto Shigaraki’s blasé shrug and little grin. Again, not to harp on the art too much, but man I wish the anime had kept all the fierce little grins and tight, incensed smirks Shigaraki has through the majority of this and the phone call sequence.

• Spinner’s line, “Without knowing squat about what we’re up against?!” A minor cut, as these things go, but it reiterates that there’s a chance RD is bluffing and the League has no way to know one way or the other, and demonstrates that the League can give Shigaraki some pushback on his decisions without having to worry about getting dusted for the temerity.[1]

• Takes one of Spinner’s lines—“Wait. I get it. Wherever you go, Shigaraki, he’ll sniff you out and hunt you down.”—and gives it to Shigaraki instead. Because fuck Spinner’s growing understanding of Shigaraki and the way his mind works, I guess! It’s especially notable that Spinner figures this out when Mr. C had completely the wrong idea about Shigaraki’s intentions—it demonstrates the way Spinner is gradually aligning himself with Shigaraki’s way of thinking, which we’ll see even more clearly during the War Arc. Also, again, it’s good to see the moments where the League weighs in on Shigaraki’s plans.

• The visual of Twice lashing out at Dabi with his razor-edged tape measure over Dabi’s dismissal of Giran, though all the relevant dialogue was there. Possibly this is because, having cut the CRC bit, the audience has no way of knowing that Twice’s tape measure is razor-edged, so why bother raising the question, “Why is Twice trying to attack Dabi with a tape measure..?” Possibly it’s because showing that attack would require animating movement, and MAN ALIVE, did Episode 109 ever want to do everything it could to avoid animating movement.

• Slidin’ Go’s line about how Deika isn’t usually his turf, but today is a big exception. This makes the hearty affirmative with which Trumpet announces himself a response to Shigaraki’s half-phrased observation about the reason behind the city’s emptiness, rather than a response to Slidin’ Go. It works, more or less, and probably even flows more clearly, all things considered. I’m always sad to lose lines from the vanishingly few named/characterized MLA members we have, though. I like, too, that it hints at the machinations that have to have been involved with setting things up for the Revival Party, and the way those plans were carried out with confidence that Re-Destro’s “bait the League into coming for their broker” plan would work despite the total absence of a response from the League in any of the time Giran was missing/his fingers were cropping up on the nightly news reports.

• A few shots of cameras in the city, which foreshadow Skeptic’s watchful eyes and ability to track the League through the city. In retrospect, this isn’t surprising, since the anime went on to cut basically any indication of Skeptic’s entire plan re: the footage of the League attacking, so why bother keeping the cameras? (Oh, right. Skeptic’s whole thing is cameras and information/disinformation. Skeptic for second-most screwed-by-the-anime MLA member.)

Additions

• Showed Toga having stood back up somewhere during Shigaraki’s explanation of their throw-Machia-against-the-MLA plan. A simply appalling choice. In the manga, she stays crouched down by Twice the entire time Shigaraki has his mask pulled off, because Toga cares about reassuring Jin-kun when he’s in a bad way.

• Rephrased Compress’s dialogue somewhat, also giving him a new line about the MLA’s forces in Deika when the League was still in the hills looking down at the city: “The so-called Meta Liberation Army has a force of 110,000 here.” I assume it was because the scene falls in a different episode than the tactical discussion did (in the manga, they’re the same chapter), so the anime was reminding the viewer of the stakes, but it’s potentially awkward because, er, no, the MLA categorically did not bring their entire army to Deika. We’ll find out as much for sure later, with the note that the regiment advisors weren’t in attendance because they were occupied at the bases they command, but even with only the knowledge we have here, Re-Destro’s statement about his numbers is that they’re scattered all over the country—hence the shot of Japan with a bunch of lights scattered across it to represent said numbers.           That said, to be (briefly) charitable, there’s no particular reason for the League to assume that, and they did discuss the possibility that there were going to have to fight 110,000 people. So it makes sense that Mr. C might state as much when recapping for the audience.

Chapter 225 – Interview with a Vampire

• Re-Destro talking about Deika’s geography and why they chose it strategically. The anime dropped so much about the MLA’s planning and information-gathering beforehand; it really made the MLA look ludicrously overconfident. And while they don’t lack for that trait, certainly,[2] this is also an organization that has meticulously grown its membership for generations right under Hero Society’s collective nose; you don’t get to where they are by being unduly foolhardy. Erasing so many scenes demonstrating their caution and forward-planning undercuts the threat they represent to both the League and society at large.           Also too, the descriptor of Deika as a nice, quiet, isolated little town in the mountains gives us some hints about how the MLA has avoided notice for so long, when you consider how the Hero business works: because so many people who get into heroism want to make it big, like celebrities, they don’t want to stick around small-town beats, and so the rural areas are understaffed.[3] That’s presumably why groups like the CRC and the MLA grow their numbers out in the boonies: much less attention from the Powers That Be. You can guess at some of that from how Spinner describes the place—“not too small, not too big”—and what Trumpet says about the percentage of the population that’s MLA, but RD adds that key “isolated” descriptor, and says that it’s a place where they “lay low.” That gives us some potential insight into how many—likely the majority—of the MLA came to their beliefs: by being raised to them, because their hometown was infiltrated by the MLA generations ago and they have literally never known anything else.

• RD’s phrasing, “Counter to point one,” when he makes his second point about the Noumu. He acknowledges that it’s counter-intuitive to his first argument, that he knows it would normally be an argument against that opening point, not in support. It’s just conversational padding, really, but “conversational padding” like that does a lot to distinguish character voice, so that not everyone talks the same way.

• A panel showing a trio of unnamed MLA warriors strategizing about how to divide their forces now that the League has split up. It’s the little cuts like this that gradually remove the agency of unnamed characters, such that they’re left looking like unthinking puppets instead of real people with the ability to register and respond to their circumstances. It also points towards the truth of what the MLA warriors are and one reason they’re so dangerous (for all that the manga itself will neglect this most egregiously later on): they’re trained in regiment tactics and accustomed to working in groups. This contrasts them both with villains, who might group together, but certainly don’t usually fight that way, and heroes, who are so unaccustomed to working in groups that it’s cited as part of the reason to have named super moves.

• Curious’s little pageboy-cut middle school kid line telling Toga to back off when Miss Curious is on the job. This is an early example of how defensive the MLA are of people above them in the hierarchy, an important thing Spinner will pick up on and attempt to use against Trumpet. Again, it’s little moments like this that both add some welcome notes of individuality to the MLA warriors (if only by virtue of Horikoshi and his assistants’ traditional talent for distinctive character design) while also fleshing out who the MLA are as a group, and contrasting them with the League.

• Deleted Toga’s line IDing her “on-the-go suck-suck mask,” but did insert a nice little bit of her expression shifting when she whipped it out. It lost a bit of the self-conscious silliness of her support item name in exchange for a cool little animation beat. I don’t dislike it, particularly, but I am, as previously stated, very leery of edits that make the League more polished in their villainy at the cost of their human foibles.

• Curious’s line about having come prepared to counter Toga’s moves, which was supposed to further reiterate that the MLA has done their research on the League; they didn’t just decide out of the blue to target the most notorious Villains in the country without studying up on them first and planning accordingly!

• Curious’s line about how she’s going to get started with some background info while her people use their meta-abilities to keep Toga and her buddies on the ropes. A marvelously characterful line! It speaks especially to that edge of formality the MLA brass observe that even as she’s ringleading this attack, Miss Curious is still set on going through her interview process step by established step.

Framing Shifts

• Made some of Curious’s lines spoken dialogue instead of internal monologue. That’s probably fine for when she’s waxing enthusiastic about Toga’s lack of hesitation in committing murder or how she’ll use Toga’s story to further the MLA’s agenda. It’s less fine when she’s rattling out the entire name, brand and patent status of her support item for no particular reason when Toga is already halfway through trying to knife her (that’ll be next chapter).

• The anime implied pretty firmly that Curious’s bombers died. And like, yeah, that’s always made more sense than the idea that anyone could survive something like that, but I hate it anyway. For one thing, it makes it even harder to credit the idea that Toga’s still on her feet afterward if Curious’s supposedly not-very-lethal explosions merk all her own people. People in this series survive ludicrous amounts of damage, and these random MLA devotees are no exception! For another, it leans into the narrative that the MLA higher-ups throw away the lives of their minions without the slightest care. It’s a lot harder to make that case when it’s explicit in the manga that Curious’s people survive the blood explosions—the blonde in the tracksuit is unharmed enough to snicker about it, and the noodle chef is even doing well enough to continue attacking! I’ve always been of the opinion that the MLA are, yes, willing to spend the lives of their underlings on attaining goals, if that’s what they think is necessary, but that is not at all the same as gleefully throwing them onto the pyre to watch them burn.

Additions

• Some individual shots of Mr. Compress, Dabi and Twice fending off or fleeing from various MLA types. A nice try on getting the group split up, but it feels kind of budget save-y, when we could have gotten actual animation of those fights instead.

• Inserted a quick shot of a headline about Toga’s first attack as Curious was rambling on about why she’s interested in Toga but not the League in general. Actually a fairly reasonable insertion, given how much text is crammed into her talk bubble in the manga while the dude standing next to her is already getting a knife in the neck.

Chapter 226 – Bloody Love

• A panel of interviewees talking about Toga’s first victim being sociable and popular. It gives a bit of context on what he was like, what people thought of him, but given that we know enough about Toga at this point to know that his popularity was entirely incidental to what she liked about him, it’s not a huge loss.

• The detail of the broadcasted interviews censoring Toga’s name. Considering how Japanese media normally treats minors accused of crimes, this is an eyebrow-raising change—the manga censors it because Japanese media outlets would have done the same. No idea why the anime didn’t, unless it’s another of those places where it would feel too “real,” to have something that so closely mirrors real life treatment of criminals?

• Everything about quirk counseling, and whoo boy, that is a loaded cut. There is exactly one other mention of quirk counseling anywhere in the manga, and, curiously enough, it also comes up in relation to a villain: in the U.A. faculty meeting after the USJ attack, Midnight muses that maybe Shigaraki never received quirk counseling in elementary school. It’s a weird little non sequitur there—exactly what sort of program did she expect could single-handedly make the difference between a well-adjusted adult and a gleefully murderous manchild with aims on killing Japan’s Number 1 Hero? Just over two hundred chapters later, we get a hint: a program designed to fit people “neatly into society’s little boxes.”           Quirk counseling, then, is not about helping children find healthy ways to process their quirks, but rather, about teaching children what is and is not acceptable in terms of quirk use—and as Curious says, Toga’s admiration of blood was never going to be acceptable.[4] This explanation doesn’t just tell us a lot about Toga—that she wasn’t only failed by the hysterical condemnation of her parents, but also by a society that had no interest in helping her if it didn’t see a use for her—but also provides some insight on the viewpoint of the Meta Liberation Army vis-à-vis mandatory state-funded programs that dictate what “normalcy” looks like to impressionable children.           Curious is, of course, not a particularly trustworthy narrator in this, as one might expect of someone who uses language like “society’s little boxes,” but it does track with Midnight’s earlier musing of, “Maybe the anti-social dude never took the program intended to make sure he was a functioning member of society.” That kind of statement—“State-sponsored educational programs are there to program children into becoming unthinking cogs of society, actually.”—is one that it’s all too easy to imagine the people with an eye on broadcast standards taking issue with, even coming as it does from the mouth of a villain.

• Curious’s line, “Let’s turn your death into a legendary tragedy, shall we?” and its accompanying visual of two different papers with imagined headlines. The dialogue doesn’t strike me as crucial—Curious’s fervent belief in Toga’s story is amply demonstrated elsewhere and her intent to turn that story into a legend reiterated in the line immediately following—but it is a shame to lose the headlines. They tell us, in Curious’s own words, exactly the tack she was planning to take in telling Toga’s story to the general public, without the constant namedropping of the Liberation Army that she does when talking about it in person. One headline in particular—The Price of Suppression: A String of Bloody Murders—is an especially useful reference for discussing whether the MLA actually wants, as is popularly claimed, completely unhindered quirk use, even for people like e.g. Muscular who want nothing more than to murder people with their quirks.[5]

• Curious’s initial wait what response to getting Floated, and her people’s focus shifting away from Toga and onto Curious instead. On a surface level, that focus shift helps explain why Toga’s able to zip around the ground and touch nearly twenty people before they even react: because they’re afraid for Curious. It also hurts the ongoing characterization of the MLA rank and file as being fanatically devoted to their higher-ups which, again, is something Spinner is supposed to notice later. It’s the worst kind of plot device if that devotion is completely told to us rather than consistently shown!

• Toga’s internal reflection that she’s seen Ochaco use her quirk, and knows how to use it. It’s obvious from the panel that she knows how to use it, but the manga implies that Toga transforming doesn’t automatically grant her an understanding of peoples’ quirks; it’s only in observation (and possibly love) that she can reach this particular unlock. Leaving out that information leaves open the possibility that she can just do this all the time now, with anybody she transforms into.

• The reaction from the surviving crowd to Curious’s death. See above re: STOP FUCKING ERASING HOW MUCH THE MLA CARES FOR EACH OTHER.

Framing Shifts

• When Toga bolts, Curious in the anime sounded serious, her expression alarmed, like she was actually worried that Toga might escape, even though her dialogue said just the opposite. Maybe you could say that she was afraid Toga would die before she got her statement, but given that she tried to kill the girl herself moments later, I’m skeptical of that claim. Regardless, in the manga, she never loses her smile, and she flashes a Liberation salute as she stands up to give chase. It’s a characterization note, that she’s so wildly confident about this that she never stops being completely enthralled with whatever Toga has to show her.

Chapter 227 – Sleepy

• The last of Toga’s conscious dialogue, about how she’s lost a lot of blood, is fading out, can’t move—but more notably, the way that this state of things makes her feel closer to “them,” that it’s “the same sensation.” And who is “they” here—her victims? The people she loves? More alarmingly, why does the line sound like she’s been this beat-up before, and remembers the sensation? Does that tie into e.g. her comment during the training camp that she doesn’t want to fight too many hero students at once because she doesn’t want to die? Has she actually been subject to this kind of violence before in the past? Does that tie into her still-unexplained ability to erase her presence? It’s an interestingly loaded little line, for being so vague, and illustrative of Toga’s mentality on becoming the people she loves. Which also lets the scene segue nicely into Re-Destro’s observation that, in Toga Himiko’s world, there’s no such thing as “other people.”           On which note, guess what else the anime cut?

• The entire fucking scene where Re-Destro actually reacts to Curious’ death, the motherfuckers. This lost:           1. RD’s talk about the way Toga sees the world and how that led to society casting her out, which he points to as evidence of said society clinging to old ideals even though the nature of humanity itself has changed. It calls back to his methodology with Detnerat, marrying his lines from the commercial to his overarching ideals; it also shows that he understood very well what Curious saw in Toga, and demonstrates that he can express that understanding and empathy even in the face of losing one of his closest allies.           2. Skeptic’s reaction to Curious’s death, which is pretty sparse, but at least present. He says she never should have been on the front lines—an excellent reminder to the people who’re always going on about how the MLA brass thinks themselves so above their followers: Curious was on the front lines, against the wishes of some of her peers!—and calls her a valuable resource.[6] You can theorize about Skeptic not caring for her beyond her usefulness to the cause, or just that Skeptic is a huge autist who processes his emotions differently than most, and isn’t going to stop to do that when there’s still a battle going on, but either way, you need this scene to do it accurately.           3. Speaking of people who process their emotions in unusual ways, as I said above, this scene also shows Re-Destro openly crying over the deaths of Curious and each and every warrior diving into battle with their hopes for the future. They’re not crocodile tears, either. As was the case with Miyashita, there’s no one in this room that Re-Destro would need to perform grief for: Skeptic clearly doesn’t see a use for tears right now, so I don’t see him expecting them from Re-Destro, and the only other person in the room is Giran, a hostage who the MLA—very probably Re-Destro himself—maimed! It’s not like RD’s tears are going to change Giran’s mind about him (indeed, Giran gets a comedic reaction beat at the absurdity of the dude who started all this up here crying about it)! But RD says life is precious and he cries anyway, briefly, before he ruthlessly turns it off.           RD’s valuing of human life—especially his own peoples’ lives—crops up in roundabout ways twice more, both leading the fight with Shigaraki (“It angers me.”) and ending it (“Any more would bring about meaningless death.”). This, though, is when he’s most open about it, to the degree that—as with Machia’s grief—it’s kind of off-putting and strange. Cutting it makes it that much easier for people to get entirely the wrong impression of RD as a character.           4. The delightful scene where Skeptic berates Giran about asking brainless questions and then answers his question anyway. Fuckin’ hell, why cut this?? So much of Skeptic’s character is in this scene! You get moments of his neuroticism later on, but never in so concentrated a burst as this (there’s one other sequence that could compete, but—spoilers—the anime cut that one, too). The exchange also explains the cameras placed throughout the city—which are visually referenced early on—and what the MLA is planning to do with their footage. Without that explanation, the audience has no idea how, exactly, the MLA was planning to use wiping out the League as a springboard for their grand return to the spotlight. That footage is the crucial part of how the rest of the country reacts to Deika in the Endeavor Agency Arc, and the anime never even mentioned it! The audience was just left to assume that all the media came in afterward, not that there was the slightest whiff of footage from the battle itself.           5. Once again brings up Re-Destro’s belief in the power of the heart to move other hearts. We get a bit of that in Curious’s flashback, but here he says it in his own words—as he will also bring it up to Shigaraki. Once again, Shigaraki is going to be challenged about his conviction, which ties back into what Spinner and Ujiko demanded from him earlier in the arc. With so

many people set to be grilling Shigaraki on this front, it tells us again what the arc is for: Shigaraki’s conviction, and him demonstrating it to the people who think he lacks it.

• The panel of Spinner asking how long they’ve been at it and Mr. Compress responding. This line helps manage the pacing, giving the audience an idea how much time is passing as we cut around to different places. It’s also, you know, more cut Spinner dialogue, and shows the beginnings of Shigaraki and Spinner getting split off from the rest by Shigaraki’s sleep-drunk staggering angling him off in a different direction. The rest of the scene is moved to after Toga’s fight with Curious, but not otherwise tampered with.

• The other big reaction to Curious’s death, which is Trumpet using it to rile up the crowd. The group that attacks Shigaraki isn’t just some free-roaming mob—they’re coming at him in a grief-stricken frenzy, which they’ve been goaded into by one of their leaders.           This sequence also introduces the campaign van—a vehicle that will have several more appearances—to events, and hints at Trumpet’s meta-ability. Further, it’s one of the scenes that outright states that the MLA is less an army than a religion, in Mr. Compress’s line about how Trumpet is like a preacher rallying his flock. That understanding—that the MLA may style themselves as an army, but what they really are is a cult—is key to the way the MLA members act, from the very bottom to the very top.

• Trimmed Shigaraki’s flashback down, cutting—among other things—the very first lines Hana speaks, and her namedrop. This moment is the first one Tomura gets back, and the very first thing we find out is that he was doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing. The anime also failed to identify Shimura Nana’s relation to Tenko/Tomura and Hana—helpful to remind the audience of a plot thread they haven’t heard about since Kamino. It also cut out the silhouette of chubby baby Tenko and Tenko’s first line, asking why Hana’s showing him this, a line which clues us in that Hana was the impetus here, not Shigaraki as he was back then. Still not satisfied, it also cut the phrase, “Daddy said all that stuff,” which is a clear and ominous warning that there was some conflict going on between young Shigaraki and the Father whose dismembered hand he now wears on his face.

• Left the dialogue but cut the silhouette of an airborne Geten with his enormous ice fists coming in hot behind Dabi when he was smarming about it not being his style to take the pacifist route. It’s not crucial, since we see the fists again shortly (it’s the end of the chapter page, whereas the anime rolls right on into the continuation of the scene), but it’s a shame, since framing Dabi from below with this sudden presence behind him is a much more fun, dynamic angle than the dead-boring medium shot the anime used. Also too, it’s good foreshadowing for the fact that Geten can fly, since he certainly didn’t get that kind of air by jumping off the roof of the mini-mart across the street.

Framing Shifts

• The crowd attacking Tomura came at him from the back of the shot, whereas in the manga, they’re surging forth from the front; that is, the anime had Shigaraki between the crowd and the POV of the viewer, whereas the manga has the crowd interposing between the viewer and Shigaraki. It makes a huge difference in the impact! Running up from a nebulous background distance, the crowd looked small and futile. Crossing directly in front of the viewer as they attack Shigaraki makes them look like the crashing human wave that they are. But, you know, coming in from the front would mean they’d have to be animated with more detail, and again, Episode 109, more than any other episode in the arc, clearly didn’t have the budget to spare on such things.

• The moment Shigaraki first uses the spreading Decay is horrifically clear in the manga. It’s full of speed lines, Shigaraki moving so fast he decays a dude mid-word, but the impact itself is spread over two pages. We watch his hand literally cleaving through the leading attacker’s face, and then are encouraged to linger on the oversized panel below, the intricately drawn crowd, full of individual faces, still intact on the left, scattering to dust on the right, all fully lit, with Shigaraki—still drawn with speedlines to emphasize his movement—the focal figure in black at the center.           The anime rendered this moment in two stills—Shigaraki’s hand about to hit the lead attacker’s face, and then the crowd already decaying. There was virtually no movement to it, the crowd was so heavily silhouetted against a glare of daylight that it was difficult to tell what was going on, and the moment stayed on screen for only two seconds before Shigaraki landed and threw up, both actions favored with more animation than one of the signature moments of the entire arc. Hell, it even left the walls on either side of the alley intact, when the manga shows them dissolving into ash as well, decay traveling through the ground in a deadly, destructive radius around Shigaraki’s attack.           The anime ever-so-graciously allowed Spinner his line to explain to the audience what just happened, but I think that’s mostly because it would be genuinely difficult to parse if he didn’t. It also gave him a flashback to what we had literally just seen, except this time it wasn’t silhouetted for some reason, so at least the audience got another chance to look at it, I guess?           “Am I seeing things? Just now, his decay effect spread to people he wasn’t even touching!” Well, I guess we’ll have to take your word for it, Spinner.

Additions

• A quick shot of a camera, there and gone almost too fast to register. I want to compliment the anime for adding a camera back in, since it removed the shot of the cameras earlier, but honestly, given that it cut all the scenes about how and why the MLA was gathering footage, I really don’t know why it even bothered. Also too, the camera was gone so fast it felt more like a marker for a scene change—which it also was, segueing the scene from Toga collapsing (only to cut back to her later staggering down an alley) to Spinner and the rest still trying to hold their own—than it did something the audience was supposed to really notice.

Chapter 228 – Wounded Soul

• Twice in the opening pages left out scattered members of the MLA that were around for the start of the Dabi/Geten fight. Leaving them out raises the question of where all the people attacking went, but it’s also the first demonstration that Geten is a danger to his own allies. We don’t see any of them dying on-panel or anything, but we do see them having to dive frantically out of the way because Geten demonstrates no care to the collateral damage of his attacks.

• Cut a small flashback, presumably from Twice’s perspective, of finding the site where Toga and Curious’s fight concluded. You can see the ground covered in blood, and a body that looks a bit like Curious if you squint (distinguishable by the sleeves of her jacket), as well as a small group of people kneeling on the ground in various poses suggesting mourning and a paying of respects. Yet another shot demonstrating the depths of care these people have for their leaders, that they’ve completely let the battle fall by the wayside in favor of their grief.

• Drops the “those zealots” phrase from Twice’s, “I’ll rip those zealots limb from limb for this!” line. Damn, the anime really was determined to erase everything that even hints at the Liberation Army being something much creepier and more damaging than just an underground militia, huh?

Framing Shifts

• For all my complaints about the material, I generally like the voice acting quite a bit. I don’t love the first exchange between Dabi and Geten, though. It’s not a fault of the voice actors themselves, but rather the delivery. Geten was very cool and level-headed throughout, which is all right to a point, but he’s a gremlin under that troll parka, and this fight is where we hear him as close as we ever will to how he is before the multi-layered humbling he’s subject to over the course of this fight. It’s a bit of a shame to play him totally straight, without any of the snark he’s so clearly capable of—and without the tick upwards in vehemence his talk bubbles indicate in his last lines.           Meanwhile, it’s fine for Dabi to get more heated as the scene goes along, and indeed he does, but he also plays it pretty cool at first. You can tell in the shape of his talk bubbles that he’s completely unruffled during his delivery of that, “Consider this a freebie, just for you: ice melts,” line. The anime had him raising his voice for it, and it just loses a lot of the humor of Dabi’s own snark to have him yelling it instead of just laughingly stating it, voice barely raising enough to give his talk bubbles some straighter lines instead of being all undisturbed curves. (For comparison’s sake, it’s about the same level of angular as Geten’s, “You’d best not think your little campfire can melt my ice!” line, but the anime had Dabi shout his line, while Geten continued at the same unperturbed volume he’d maintained since the beginning.)

• As with Shigaraki’s first mass decay, the shot of Geten’s ice dragon did not make the impact on me in the anime that the manga did. I think it’s mostly the way the ice was colored? The claw’s pretty good, but the head looks blobby and indistinct, more like blue soft-serve than the shifting, sharp-edged, brilliantly bright sculpture-in-motion of the manga.

• Twice’s voice actor did his best to sell the scene of him finding Toga, but I wish they’d kept that tight close-up on his mouth when he says, “Give it up. The girl’s dead.” They animated him leaning closer to the camera, but that doesn’t have the sharpness of that sudden cut to being right there on his lips, like some malevolent thing is using them to speak words so terrible that they can’t even be associated with the rest of his face.

                                                          ---

Come back next time (and hopefully in less time) for Part Three, Episode 110: Sad Man's Parade.

FOOTNOTES

[1] We would, of course, have an even clearer idea of that had the anime not cut the scene of Spinner shouting in Shigaraki’s face.

[2] It seems particularly strange to me that Curious and RD both mention quirk evolution as a thing they know can happen in extreme circumstances, but didn’t predict that backing the League into a life-or-death corner might provoke one or two members to undergo exactly that evolution.

[3] Mount Lady is the obvious example, but you can look to places like the island in Heroes Rising, too: one hero, and when they retired, a group of high school kids had to go sub in for a while until a replacement could be arranged. It’s not like retirements just happen overnight; the Commission had to have known it was coming. Still, they had to scramble to find someone. It doesn’t suggest they had anybody just champing at the bit to take the post, you know?

[4] In Chapter 140, we see a young Tamaki Amajiki in a class called “quirk training.” It’s uncertain how connected this P.E.-like class is to quirk counseling, but Toga wouldn’t have been getting much help there, either, seeing as it’s all about figuring out how to use one’s quirk in a way that’s “useful to society.” I can think of some ways, but nothing that I expect would be very popular or liable to be explained to a grade schooler in a country with as long a history with ritual cleanliness as Japan. To a Shinto mindset, Transformation isn’t just off-putting or unhygienic; it’s spiritually unclean.

[5] The answer there being, no, obviously not, or Curious wouldn’t, in all apparent sincerity, be trying to characterize Toga using her quirk to murder people as an undesirable outcome, a cost society is paying for its current stance on quirk use. Yes, you can gather that much from her calling Toga a tragic girl, and Re-Destro concurring later, but listen, I will take every line I can get that I can use to push back against the wretchedly widespread idea that the kid whose name means Apocrypha is the be-all-end-all source on MLA ideology, somehow more reliable and trustworthy than every other MLA character combined, including Destro himself. I would very much like it if the anime had not deleted a bunch of my talking points while making good and sure to leave all Geten’s most damning lines intact.

[6] Not that an anime-only person would fully understand why some random reporter was all that valuable a resource, since the anime cut the explanation of what Curious actually does for a living.

[im-the-punk-who]

Hey, I was wondering if you have a book rec

!!

Okay so in full disclosure, I have a really hard time reading books. My brain sometime around six years ago just decided that wasn't its style anymore, so I don't read a TON. A lot of these aren’t going to be recent releases. However, here are a bunch of books I would absolutely recommend checking out! I tried to include a variety of genres but I have uh.....five bookshelves in my apartment so if you're looking for more of a certain genre let me know!

Theatre:

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead - Tom Stoppard

Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett

These are my two favorite plays - they're both absurdist, humorous, and have some fun things to say. They’re both by old white guys but like....I love both Tom Stoppard and Samuel Beckett DEEPLY and they have all of my love and respect.

Non-Fiction/Educational:

Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum - this is considered a 'classic' on the psychology of racism, and was particularly helpful for me as a white person in arming myself against 'reverse racism' thoughts and in dissembling my own prejudices. This is mostly a rec for other white folks, but Tatum also addresses 'having the courage to sit at the black table' as a way of claiming your own identity outside of the stereotypes the dominant society expects of you.

Daring Greatly by Brene Brown - Okay listen I just really REALLY love Brene Brown, she is a therapist most famous for her TED talk about Vulnerability and this is just...listen I really like to read this book when I am sad and feel like shit because it makes me feel strong. I reread this book at least once a year.

Imagined Communities by Benendict Anderson - This is an absolutely fascinating read on the rise of nationalism. It’s a bit dry and wordy, but the ideas and use of history as propaganda, spinning the story of a nation to pit it against or on the same side as other nations, and the ways in which these tactics shaped cultural history is just!!!! Amazing.

Gay New York by George Chauncey - This is just one of the most informative and interesting reads of queer history in New York that I’ve ever come across. It’s one of the ‘must reads’ of queer history and has so many interesting tidbits that I have to recommend it. It’s a bit old(published in 1994) but I still find it relevant and interesting to read.

Personal Fiction/Autobiographical Fiction

White Girls by Hilton Als - I went to a reading of this book when it first came out. It was so much fun and so eye-opening for me as a baby queer in NYC that I bought the book there. I wanna be really clear that Als does not pull punches and a lot of people don’t quite like it, but I love Als’ style of writing. The stories and essays in this book are amazing and funny and heartbreaking and informative of queer experience - particularly black queer experience - that I always feel like...honored? to experience through writing? This is one of those ‘you’re gonna suffer but you’re gonna be happy about it’ reads - it can be hard to face because of how very hard the pills are to swallow but like....gosh I just love this book and it’s interesting and hilarious and great.

Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins  - this is my tin hat favorite. It hits....ugh. This is one of those books that came out and like every government agency freaked the fuck out over it. It’s an interesting look into the quote-unquote dark underbelly of capitalism; how and why countries manipulate each other through economic policies. Super interesting read with a nice style of prose.

The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to become the Smartest Person in the World by A.J. Jacobs Okay so full disclosure I have not finished reading this, but I’m far enough through to rec it. This book chronicles the author’s attempt to read the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica from front to back, and it is just as kooky and hilarious as it sounds. I am very incredibly and deeply offended this author stole both my schtick and my initials, thereby preventing me from doing this exact thing. I read through the phone book in its entirety when I was three. I had it in me. Anyway, this is basically the author just listing weird interesting facts he’s read about and connecting them to his daily life, but it’s a fun read, and you learn a lot of totally useless facts, which is absolutely my jam.

When Skatboards Will Be Free by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh - HI I LOVE THIS BOOK. I’ve read it maybe three times over. It’s so fun and interesting. You may notice that a lot of the books I rec are very absurdist in their humor, and this is no exception. This book is full of the dry wit and just weird goddamn shit you could only expect from the child of a revolution that never came. You want to read a book about someone who Went Through Shit? Read this book. It’s funny and heartbreaking and just. AHHHH. Seriously I cannot recommend this enough.

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosch - FIGHT ME ON THIS. I love this book.....so much. Yes it’s technically a comic book but the stories are so INTERESTING and hilarious and full of exactly the dry absurdist humor I eat the fuck up. Also! Allie Brosch recently released a sequel of sorts called Solutions and Other Problems that I recommend without even reading it.

Poetry

Pansy by Andrea Gibson - IF YOU ARE NOT READING THE POETRY OF ANDREA GIBSON WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING WITH YOUR LIFE. I cried seven times reading this book. There are only like 14 poems. Please please read this to break your own queer heart :)

Bloodsport by Yves Olade - This is a tiny book full of absolutely devastating poetry. Most of it has to do with the grief of relationships, but like....gosh I love all of Olade’s stuff. (Also!! This is available as a pay-what-you-wish pdf!!)

Bright Dead Things by Ada Limón - This book focuses a lot on the author’s experiences of loss, and knowing that loss is going to happen. I’m completely devastated every time I read this.

Science Fiction/Fantasy

The Bartimeaus Sequence by Jonathan Stroud - So what if I am a dumb millennial I love this series. It’s another dry and deadpan humor, with weird additions and Stroud’s use of footnotes to absolutely crack me the fuck up means I gotta rec this. I just gotta. Four(I think?) books following the deeply unlikeable Nathaniel and his Djinn Bartimaeus, who just wants to eat humans and have a deeply enjoyable enemies to lovers plotline with his arch rival.

The Magic's Price Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey - Okay I know I’ve recced this before. I will rec it again. This was the very first series I ever read that featured a gay protagonist and I was. Devastated? Reformed? I latched onto Vanyel Ashkevron and I am never letting this depressed emo boy go. Try me, I bite. Seriously, this book was released in the 80s and yet it is still relevant, I still cry - god i LOVE this series SO MUCH. And, MERCEDES LACKEY actually invented unbury your gays, sorry I make the rule on that one. :) Also there are magic talking horses??????? Seriously please read this series I love it so much.

Fire Bringer & The Sight by David Clement-Davies - This is another series that was absolutely formative in my baby lexicon. These are books about magical animals and their inner societal workings and both books address the ideas of good, evil, darkness, compassion and good will, and destiny. I am obsessed with these books, they are some of the most interesting of the genre I’ve read, and so incredibly intricately written. LOVE these books.

Vampire Earth Series by E. E. Knight - The Witcher before it was cool. Sort of but like...there are schools of Cat, Bear, etc and it has COOL VAMPIRES I LOVE THSI SERIES. Basically, earth has been taken over by a race of alien ‘Vampires’ and follows a human involved in the resistance. The writing in this series is...wow. It’s so intricate and interesting and involved. I own the whole series because I love it so much, including the after-series hardback novels. I’m so messy and I love it.

Kindred by Octavia Butler - You know how people are like ‘YOU SHOULD READ OCTAVIA BUTLER!!’ ? You should absolutely do that. This novel is mindblowing and interesting and the pace and narrative are so so so interesting. Heartbreaking, god, horrific. Butler is an amazing writer and this novel, while my personal favorite, is not by any means the only of her books I would recommend. STORIES. STORIES!!!!!!!

Fiction

The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel: A Novel by Magdalena Zyzak - This book is so fucking good. It’s imaginative, funny, intelligent....it’s honestly one of the best fiction novels I’ve ever read. Again, dry, absurdist humor, this book sort of reminds me of Terry Pratchett’s style of writing.

The Call of the Wild by Jack London - This is a classic, a true classic. The social commentary of this book is so so good, London’s style flows and, personally, as a dog and animal expert, the anthropomorphisation of Buck and his fellow animals is just so well done. I love this book, it’s quite an easy read, and I reread it at least once a year.

Rolling the R's by R. Zamora Linmark - Okay. Okay okay!!!!!! I gotta take a deep breath about this one. This book is. Yuh. This is a bit younger leaning than the other fictions, focusing almost entirely on high school level characters, however the experiences and commentary is just so so good. Focusing on a diverse group of characters growing up in Hawaii in the 1970′s, this book addresses the intersectionalities of gender, sexuality, race, immigration, education, and how we define who we are. I’m obsessed.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles - A heartbreaking novel about war, innocence, adolescence, and how we hide from our truths. It’s...so good, this book hurts me a LOT okay. The prose is phenomenal, the story is poignant, and it feels like I’m ripping my own heart out with a fishhook every time I finish it.

The Toss of a Lemon by Padma Viswanathan - This is one of those books I half recommend because it’s so good, and half because of the deep wealth of knowledge it presents the reader. The author’s use of her own culture is just....goddddddddd. Intricate and interesting and so delicately included in the narrative that you can feel the love the author has for it. It’s a long read and it took me almost a month to get through reading every day, but god. It’s so soft and amazingly written I both wanted to read it all at once and take my time with it. This is another one that deals with the duality of humanity and how we connect with one another. Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!

P.S. Your Cat Is Dead by James Kirkwood Jr. - I love this book I love this book I LOVE THIS BOOK. It’s fucking hilarious, entertaining, I literally laughed out loud at every single chapter. Hilarious and poignant and surprisingly deep, this book literally follows the journey of a man in which literally everything that could go wrong does. It’s fucking hilarious.

I hope that helped and gave you some new books!!! <3

[inventors-fair]

Mechanical Commentary: All across the spectrum

People went pretty far with this one, honestly. There were a lot of overlapping mechanics and ideas that were related, but across the board, there was a mix of flavor and pure gameplay that came together in an interesting way. 

I think that if I had to give advice for doing this contest again, I would encourage everyone to keep it SIMPLE in their card submission choices. What is the best example of your mechanic, not your card? What’s the best choice for how this mechanic can work and be grokable? Contests like this aren’t about showing off the coolest thing or the most radical notion. No, they’re about proof of concept, presenting that concept, and creating clarity above all else. Unless we’re asking for a contest in which you make a confusing card, clarity is pivotal in all things.

@cas-420 — Flayed Alive

This card by itself is very good, probably an uncommon but very good. My main concern with the mechanic is that it can either only exist on reactive instants OR be in a set where life loss is a key concept. That’s what I’m not a fan of. Losing life during your own turn doesn’t come naturally to Magic. Some mechanics require support and certain environments, like, say, modular, or constellation, but “having artifact creatures” and “playing enchantment cards” are things that more or less happen in the game already. So, I would consider this a cool one-off card, but Agonize as a mechanic feels too narrow.

@dabudder​ — Drownyard Crawler

This is the reason why Ikoria introduced ability counters, besides being a design experiment. Memory issues with this card are crazy hard. If you have multiple copies of the same creature, and one of them is viral, how do you know? Swap places like magic cups, and it becomes impossible. Conceptually and flavorfully, this ability is fine. I won’t call it reinventing the wheel, but I don’t dislike it. There are a couple wording issues. I would change “to a creature” to “to another creature,” and I would have it say “Creatures with viral have skulk and “Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, draw a card.”” in quotes. I like how this makes combat more complex.

@dancepatternalpha​ — Arkelas, Ruler of the Lost

I don’t really understand what ephemeral’s place as a mechanic is, but I think I’m seeing the set you’re trying to build around. I imagine there are a few cards that would also interact with exile? And as the game went on, the more cards exiled created more powerful effects? I can see it. Ephemeral doesn’t make me tingle with excitement, but I can’t be harsh with it. I think I understand where you’re coming from, and I feel that a common or uncommon submission might have been more favorable.

@deafeningsandwichpeach​ — Bursting Beetle

FEWER, NOT LESS. Ahem. Sorry, that was harsh. But there are a couple wording issues. “Swarm X (When this creature enters the battlefield, if you control fewer creatures than each opponent, create three tapped 1/1 green Insect creature tokens.)” Fewer words, easier to grok. Not a bad mechanic. Feels reactive, though, less of a choice and more of a “I’m gonna hold onto this card because it’s a little useless otherwise.” It’s worth tweaking, though. I love token mechanics. Maybe this card could have been five or six mana.

@demimonde-semigoddess​ — Blood Remora

Ey, a fishy! Ooh, an evil fishy. An evil fishy with one big issue: if it deals combat damage to an opponent and there are no other targets, it has to target itself. And that’s my main issue. “Whenever this creature deals combat damage to an opponent, you may attach it to target creature that player controls. It can’t attack or block as long as it’s attached this way” could work? Might have a couple memory issues, but that’s not a major issue. You can just move cards around. It’s not a bad mechanic, but it’s a little hard to parse at first glance.

@dimestoretajic​ — Strike From Above

So, this is the conflict between “simple” and “exciting.” Everything about this card is more or less exactly understandable. But the name, the mechanic name, and the flavor text don’t feel as inspired as they should be. I don’t get a sense of quality from them. It’s an intangible aspect, and I’m sorry because I know that sounds like a real jerk way of putting this, but: for future cards, consider the world, the story, and what the card would look like once you open it up. I don’t get a sense of MTG from this card yet. Instead, it feels like a concept. That’s fine for personal reasons, but as a submission, I’m not excited. Airstrike itself I wouldn’t keyword as a mechanic. This card would be better without that aspect.

@emmypupcake — Aftermarket Additions

 Great name, great flavor text, great ability name... Super limiting. The as-fan of artifact creatures in this theoretical set would have to be hella huge, like Mirrodin-block big, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing? Maybe you could batch it into “charge, haste or +1/+1 counter”s so it could interact with noncreature artifacts? Wait, this also works for vehicles. Man, this is probably a cooler mechanic than I thought originally. Call it a B- for relying on a specific sub-category of cards. A+ for badass bikers.

@fractured-infinity​ — Thunder Hammer

This mechanic was real close to being a runner-up. Quickdraw would need a bit of flash interaction to really make it worthwhile, though, and a strong equipment/aura theme as well. Could it work with auras? Would it make sense, or are you going for a wild-west-ish theme? Kind of? The card itself is good limited fodder and equipment tribal goodstuff for commander, I suppose. Not a fan of the name or flavor text personally, but it’s simple enough to make sense. Green and “thunder” don’t always go together, y’know. In my opinion. Which is not always a good one.

@ghost31415926535 — Storm Fleet Rapscallion

Plunder: a fine mechanic. I like the artifact synergy. Now, let’s go over the wording issues.

You forgot a card type in your submission. That’s a big one.

“When” should be capitalized.

“Treasure” should be capitalized.

“Tap” should have just been a symbol T followed by a comma. Was this what you meant? It wasn’t entirely clear.

There should be a period and an end-quote at the end before the paren.

@gollumni​ — Nayan Cataloguers

I kept reading this as “cartographers.” My fault, not yours. Anyway. So, I can see this is based off explore. Honestly, it doesn’t really...feel as good? Partially because it’s similar in both mechanic AND flavor, and partially because you’re forced to put the card on the bottom of your library. I would also have it say “Reveal the top card of your library. If that card’s converted mana cost is greater than this card’s, put it into your hand.” I think that groks? 

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes​ — Dragons’ Secrets

I would not have made this spell modal. Honestly, I would have picked a simpler submission in general, but I don’t dislike this card. It feels a little cheap and it’s an insane storm enabler. What if the modes were together for both of them, and the mana echoes did the same? DM me if that doesn’t make sense. In general, mana echoes isn’t a bad ability. This card is wordy and cluttered. I like how you went for “converted mana cost.” Makes sense, good in limited, I think.

@ignorantturtlegaming​ — Underground Network

Too much. I would much rather you have submitted just a common Wurm with burrow and some flavor text instead of this card, and even then, I’m not a fan of burrow as a mechanic. Why the alternate cost, plus the counters, plus the upkeep, plus the status effect? It’s all grokable individually but together it’s too much to keep track of for one mechanic. And what does “during each player’s end step” mean? Can you do it at instant-speed? Should it be a trigger? Why is it each player’s end step instead of just yours? There are a lot of questions this card raises that I don’t think it answers satisfactorily. 

@juggernaut-is-a-metalhead — Embercoil Serpent

So out of the two cards you submitted, I felt that this one was the best designed. There are a couple questions I have. One, should mono-red be able to have this? Yes, I know it’s hybrid, but if a mono-red deck could play it, would it? It’s a pretty powerful ability, a la Scrying Sheets. Two, I assume that the number after Dig refers to the number of untapped lands you have to sacrifice, and I think that it’s pretty cool in the late game, but why not just have it be “you may cast this spell from your graveyard by sacrificing an untapped land in addition to its other costs” instead of a number? I feel it could have worked better that way. Also, Udon is adorable!

@kavinika​ — Iron Guardian

That’s a cool character asset. They should put that in a game! So, I would have made this a keyword action ability word instead of a keyword ability, personally. Like, “Craft — You may pay (4) and sacrifice an artifact and a basic land rather than pay this spell’s mana cost.” Would that have made the last ability weird? I don’t know, I don’t think so, but. Wait, no, it wouldn’t have, they had clash things in Lorwyn that worked the same way. Not a bad concept. Pretty flavorful for artifact creatures and other artifacts. 

@koth-of-the-hammerpants — Wanderwood Warden

I love alliterative names. I don’t love angels without flying, but that’s a “me” issue. So, for this card, I like obscure, but I don’t like the darkness counters. I think that the face-down stuff works well on its own. And I would change “obscured cards” to “face-down exiled cards” so it could work with other cards from Magic’s past. I do like the gist of your flavor text, and I like this card and I like obscure. I wouldn’t call this one a stellar example, and I would have submitted a more straightforward card, but that’s just me being pedantic. Speaking of pedantic, “its owner’s,” not “it’s.”

@misterstingyjack​ — Time Mage’s Teachings

I’m going to be pedantic again, yay. My issue with this card for this contest is that, well, it’s not a new mechanic. Technically, everything on this card could exist within Magic’s rules text as-is and wouldn’t add anything new to the rules. We were looking for a new NAMED mechanic. I thought that was evident, but I suppose not. This card’s great, so keep it around for that, but it technically is not eligible. Personally, I would have also made it uncommon for limited purposes.

@nicolbolas96​ — Gitaxian Surgeon

Combining Phyrexian mana, permanent control, AND infect onto a single card, two of which exist within the same mechanic? Let’s take a step back. Phyresis, besides already existing as a card, is a cool concept to bring to the table. As a mechanic, permanent control of any creature, including your own, turning it into a 5/5 with infect, is bonkers. If this existed with any number, then 1) it would be useless half the time considering it has to target things with specific mana costs and 2) it would be busted beyond belief. I think that this card would be fine with the exile cost as a singular card. I don’t think Phyresis is a mechanic worth exploring for the time being.

@nine-effing-hells​ — Phlogiston Burst

Good on you for making me look up a word I didn’t know! This card is... Definitely uncommon, that’s for sure. But hm. I don’t DISLIKE Overchannel. So, in theory, you can exile three random cards and two red cards to cast it for free? Okay, maybe it’s common, forget my previous rambling. It’s an interesting take on Delve that isn’t broken, and this one was pretty close to being a runner-up. I worry about free stuff, but the hand isn’t an infinite resource. It’s probably fine. I’ll give this card and mechanic kudos. A rare one might break a format, but remains to be seen, y’know?

@nvijork​ — Grenzo, Fist of the Queen

I love the fact that you did your own art for this! So, locks are interesting. They’re a little bit of a non-issue in the late game, but I’d have to really play with them to see just how frustrating they are. I think there’s plenty of room for exploration and I think that this card (which IMO should be rare) is a...fine example? Not blowing my socks off, and you could have shown an example of something that happened when you had multiple locks or that triggers based on locks or something. Keep this mechanic around. I like it. Bad news: in the story, Marchesa actually fired Grenzo. So is this an alternate universe, or do I have to get out my Story Correction Rod of Spanking?

@partytimesdeluxe​ — Stringplayer

Like kavinika’s crafting, this is a mechanic that definitely needed to be a keyword action ability word. “Crescendo — Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, if it has the greatest power among creatures you control, gain control of target creature.” The mechanic is probably fine, I’d love to see it played in limited, and the potential play with multiple crescendo triggers would be so much fun. Not bad, but the wording on this specific card as presented could use work.

@real-aspen-hours​ — Drag Away // Umbral Kidnapper

If your MSE is acting up, feel free to message me on Discord or Tumblr and tell me so we can help you out. So, my main concern with this card is that I’m not sure if you’re submitting abduction counters as your new mechanic, or if you’re submitting Twist as your new mechanic; I’m going with Twist. It’s not bad! Someone’s going to correct me, but I think that in this instance you would use “return” instead of “put.” Again, correct me if I’m wrong. I think that it’s a cool way to turn instants and sorceries into permanents. I won’t call it the most flavorful or mind-blowing mechanic in the world, but I like it. I don’t see why you can’t put the exile clause on the flip side instead of on Twist where it won’t really be remembered. Also, the second side should have “those spells” — see Haldan, Avid Arcanist.

@reaperfromtheabyss​ — Dark Reprise

I think it should be “This spell costs” instead of the name, but aside from that and a period at the end of the sentence, it’s fine enough. There really isn’t much to say about this card. It’s a fine example and I like how the name creates flavor without flavor text. The mechanic and card don’t excite me enough to give it a place, but I mean, this is probably the safest example you could have gone for, and you know what, I can respect it.

@shandylamb​ — Fidi, Alluring Lamia

I love the uncommon legend, heh. As a mechanic, I don’t really like siphon. I don’t like how there’s a number attached instead of just “exile it and gain 2 life.” And I don’t like how it’s only cards from a graveyard. Why can’t you siphon cards from player’s hands and libraries and the battlefield as well? It would be so cool to, like, have powerful cards that suck away hidden power and turn the world into your vampyric victims. Instead, there’s...this. It gave me inspiration, but I wouldn’t call this one a slam-dunk.

@teaxch​ — Vyne Rowe Vagrant

You know, this mechanic is making me think of Adamant, except...different. And I’m leaning a little more towards Adamant, although I can see this card’s properties. The problem that comes up is that this card doesn’t feel tailored to a limited environment, nor does it feel tailored to Commander. Dedicated feels like a mechanic based solely around constructed environments, and I don’t know if I like that? It’s a build-around-me card without the big payoff. As a card, and as a concept, again, I don’t...dislike anything about it. But the mechanical feel is off. It’s not something that I feel like I’m attaining or that I’m synergizing with. I’m not sure exactly how to explain myself here, and I’m sorry about that, but I hope that the contrast is enough to make some sense.

@tmstage​ — Precise Pikeman

Handsome feller. Lol, and he fells indeed. I think this should be a replacement effect, like, “If this would deal damage to a creature with toughness 6 or greater, it deals double that damage instead.” I’m gonna side with your own personal feelings as you submitted this one. It’s not a fantastic mechanic, because it’s just so crazy limiting in what it requires to work. I think that as a single card without Tankbuster it would be fine.

@walker-of-the-yellow-path​ — Grand Annex of Elesh Norn // Elesh Norn, Voice of New Phyrexia

Technically, and I say this being a giant ass, this isn’t a new ‘mechanic.’ It’s a new card type and it would add things to the comprehensive rules, but it’s not a mechanic. Doesn’t matter, it’s worth commenting on anyway. I don’t hate it! Every part of this card by itself is pretty cool. I personally don’t like how it only requires one creature to attack, and I don’t like how the vault abilities aren’t static like a changing enchantment could be. Y’know? It feels like a saga more than it does an artifact. Again, this card is cool and would be great in a custom cube, but I would make some changes before adding vaults to a set.

~

Thank you all for your entries! New contest tomorrow. Spooky. Or not.

[whatacartouchebag]

So I recently did an AMA over on the Fair Game Effect discord server, and it was a whole mess of fun! I loved being able to get the chance to chat about the creative process that goes on behind the scenes, so I wanted to be able to share the answers with the rest of you ♥

I do tend to get kind of wordy for some of these answers, so to save your dash, find out a bit more about my writing process under the cut!

Keep in mind that there are mild SPOILERS up to the latest chapter of And The Reason Comes, if you haven’t caught up!

Question: I absolutely love the cadence of your writing, especially the slow way you unravel emotions. Was there something particular about the relationship between Qrow and Clover that you felt lends itself to this style of writing? Can you talk a bit about how you decide which emotional bits get more attention, and how you decide the depth to which you describe those emotions? That’s 2 questions, sorry.

Cart: Thankyou so much!! The biggest part of writing these two really comes from the fact that they're both adults with a lot of stuff on their plates. They've had enough experience with life along the way to know a few things here and there. They don't tend to rush into things, unless it's a good fight, and there's a lot of mutual respect for space and trust and time, so it was all about expanding on what's already there. In canon, we were always shown that there was this soft sort of trust building up between the two of them, but it was never anything in great leaps and bounds.

Qrow's shown himself not to be the sort to blindly trust without reason, and how easily that can break, so going into Reason I always kinda knew it would be a slow drag of letting him work himself out around this new force in his life. Clover himself has shown that he's this quiet but gently reassuring presence in his life, and putting them together is like a match skirting the edge of kindling. They work so well together; they recognise there's something there, so it was just a matter of letting them fall into step over the course of the fic.

As for the second question, hoo man, that's kind of a mixed bag answer! It all really depends on the brainstorming process of what plot points I want to tackle, and in what order they fall onto the page. Sometimes it's also a matter of just letting the scene play out by letting the characters say what feels 'right' at the time (which can sometimes go INCREDIBLY against what I originally had planned). There was always going to be heavier scenes versus lighter ones, so it's a bit of a balancing act to know when to let them come up for air, or when to let them linger. Not just for them, but also for the audience.

That's... probably the biggest thing I keep in mind when writing the heavier emotional scenes. It's not just the characters going through it, but whoever's reading it, too.

As to the depth part, that's... something that depends on the rhythm of what's happening. If it's a scene of heavier realisation, sometimes shorter, punchier sentences help portray that (eg: Qrow's realisation of what home is to him in the latest chapter), but other times, it takes something meatier to help feel what they're feeling (eg: that first kiss and Qrow's subsequent reaction). It's that striking-a-balance feeling again, and finding what works best for the pacing of the scene, and it's something I always have fun writing.

Question: What parts of Reason do you enjoy the most so far?

Cart: can I just say i've adored writing the whole thing jkhdfk

Man, I... really don't know how to answer this one. I've enjoyed the entire process of the fic, because it's been such a fun ride of ups and downs. I adore writing these two together, so sometimes it's the little things that really tick all my boxes.

I do get a giant kick out of writing action scenes, so the sparring match and the canyon fight with the Nevermore were pure indulgence for me to go through. I love the tender, more simple moments, like the noodle shop, or any of the time spent with the girls. Getting to see them through some heavy emotional moments, like at the lookout, or at Clover's apartment. Being able to explore some characters and have fun with them along the way; I mean, writing Winter has been an absolute blast and I never thought she'd be as fun to write as she has been.

Honestly, though, it's just a treat to be able to write a scene where Qrow is genuinely happy, because it's something that's so very rarely shown, and being able to give that to him is just so good.

Question: What is your planning process like? Reason is such a big story, how much of it was planned at the start? Did you have all the major plot points decided then, or did some big ones strike you along the way?

Cart: Kind of fifty-fifty, actually! I had a few big story beats in mind before I started putting pen to paper, but a lot of smaller, in-between scenes generally fall into place somewhat organically along the way. There were always some things that I wanted to do from the outset, for example, the sparring match, the noodle shop, Clover's breakdown, and the Nevermore fight.

Along the way, ideas will pop out of the blue while I'm doing dishes or something, or if I've been stewing about how to connect certain points. Those usually get jotted down and shuffled or reworked depending on how the story is progressing. The usual process kinda looks like this:

It's just quick little snatches of notes, but the actual scenes get WAY more fleshed out as the chapter plays out. Some things don't make the cut, depending on pacing, or if it doesn't fit the flow of where a scene goes, or if it's just going to pad out the story too much (as you can see from the last note there, it's something that never made the cut in the restaurant, but it was a fun idea to play with).

Question:

In addition to

Reason

, you also wrote a series of fics for Fair Game Week! How was writing those different than writing for something long-form like

Reason

? And which FGW was your favourite to write :)?

Cart: I actually get a real kick out of writing shorter prompts, because it really helps keep myself better in a character's head, ie seeing how they react to different situations, knowing how they'd respond to something, that sort of thing. It's a good mental break to be able to sink my teeth into something shorter, and with a concise ending, rather than a bigger, ongoing project like Reason.

As to a favourite, man, I adore Feint because getting to go over the parts and pieces of Harbinger was amazing, though I really do have a soft spot for Sinew because writing a sick floppy bird getting cared for by Clover was just fun.

Question: It’s so lovely to hear about how much you’ve enjoyed writing Reason from your answers! Have you gotten stuck on any part, and if so, how did you work through that?

Cart: Oof, I have gotten stuck quite a few times along the way. Wrapping up the restaurant scene was a big one, and definitely when Ruby, Clover and Qrow left the canyon to return to Mantle. There's an upcoming scene with Winter that I had to revisit quite a few times, because of certain subtleties in phrasings or how she was speaking very carefully with someone without either of them saying too much that would cross a line. I still find myself getting stuck with Ironwood, but mainly because I still haven't gotten his voice right in my head.

Working through them, to me, is just a matter of pushing ahead with a scene, letting characters talk to one another, or letting them get their own thoughts out, because sometimes in doing that, it helps me stumble across something that leads into another scene. Or having a goal to work towards - another scene - and just finding a different way to connect the two.

Question: What inspired you to begin writing Reason?

Cart: Honestly? It was seeing Qrow taking the first real, productive steps into healing, and finding himself working alongside this positive parallel of a person, and reacting so wonderfully to it. After Clover's introduction, it was clear that he was going to be such a healing presence to Qrow, and watching Qrow open himself up to this man little by little was something that was wonderful to see.

It was because of that I really wanted to do something with this healing process, and help the two of them connect in a more solid, in-depth manner. It's honestly why them becoming a couple took so long to come around; I wanted the focus to be on their trust and connection first, and their relationship as a couple to come afterwards.

Question: If you don’t mind me asking (feel free to ignore if this would be too spoilery!), but going forward with Reason, are you planning on including any canon scenes from the show?

Cart: It's something I've been tossing up for a while, pretty much ever since I started writing it, to be honest. It's why the fic takes place in that little handwaved time pocket between their arrival in Atlas and the elections, because it gave me enough time to play around with something if I did include canon scenes.

Going forward... I'm not too sure! If I did, then many things would certainly change, but at the current pace of things, and with the loose ending I have in mind, it might be hard to wrangle in. But hey, maybe we'll see!

Question: You navigate through a lot of different emotional beats in Reason so deftly!! Do you have any strategies you use to keep everyone in character as you write?

Cart: Thankyou! A couple of things I always try and keep in the back of my mind when writing: does this sound like something they would say in canon? And is this something that the audience is going to find enjoyable?

Obviously, the characters change a little over the course of the story, so subtle changes will be there, but for the most part, I always stick to those two loose rules when I'm putting pen to paper. As an aside, Reason wasn't actually my first foray into writing these characters! I wrote just a few simple, throwaway scenes and snatches of conversation, just to get a feel for them and their voices before I really started writing the bigger stuff.

[someone-always-cares]

[image description: a q&a for the webcomic someone always cares. full desc under the cut because its long and wordy sorry]

post chapter 3 Q&A

first - previous - next

thanks for yalls questions!! it was fun to answer! if anyone still has questions feel free to ask whenever i am always 100% down to ramble. even if i did go slightly off topic in some answers

additional: went off topic with the hair question a bit. their bright hair is all part of the transformations. regular hair dye does exist though. best way to tell is that if the eyebrow matches the hair its probably not dyed. also, quartz’s hair is naturally ginger.

also for more on ages, check out the character bios here

also was gonna keep this in the tags but thought i might as well actually try to answer it: the question i found it hardest to answer was someone the song one. my taste in music is. a mess really. ive been listening to like the same 5 songs on repeat all day. more under the cut because i was rambling again and now its uhhh half 1am

if it helps at the time of answering that specific question i had home by cavetown on repeat, and that song reminds me of both rami and lewis. but that may be because i project onto those two a lot, and as a aro trans dude. who sucks with people skills, yeah of course i love that song.

specifically the vibes of like not knowing how to communicate (rami is fine with his friends but other people are different), the lines “ Turn off your porcelain face, I can't really think right now and this place, Has too many colors, enough to drive all of us insane” idk what the porcelain face line is supposed to mean but im picturing it as like. a mask. that you need to take off and stop hiding and rami does tend to hide when hes feeling upset, and the next two lines kinda could tie into that, like the feeling of when youre overwhelemed and just want the world to stop so you just hide somewhere. also the colours could go with chapter 3 with the chromatic abberation.

also the bit with “ my eyes went dark, I don't know where, my pupils are, But I'll figure out a way to get us out of here” just kinda sums up ramis whole hero thing with his powers and all. anyway this has turned into less what songs rami would like and why this particular song reminds me of him and lewis (lewis specifically has the hair cutting/chest hiding, [big transmasc mood], and also messy haired trainwreck who doesnt know who he is yet. also the ghosts bit)

i did end up picking upbeat songs because ramis a dude who like to try and be upbeat even if things arent. even if hes not really feeling it he will pretend to.

[full description: Anonymous said to someone-always-cares: “hi ily!!! do characters like quartz who have colored hair have that naturally or did they dye it?”

“its both natural and not! while most supers can do a magical girl ish transformation, including a change in hair colour, there are some exceptions.”

theres two small full body drawings of rami, one in civilian clothes, one fully transformed.

“if a superhero were to have a biological child, the child will inherit the powers of the parent(s). however, the child will not inherit the full transfromation. they do inherit any physical transformations, but not the outfit.”

theres a drawing of a woman in blue, quartz’s mother, fully transformed, holding her mask in her hand, smiling down at a much younger quartz as a child. hes smiling back up at her with the same blue eyes, pointy ears, and blue hair, but hes still in normal clothes.

“in the case of quartz, both of hisparents had superpowers, and he inherited those powers and the physical transformations.he can also pick and mix whatphysical traits to change.“

next is a headshot of adult quartz, his face split down the middle with one side having hair and eye like his mother, the other like his father. theres a list of traits from each parents, blue hair and eyes and pointy ears from his mum, and purple hair and eyes and pointy teeth from their dad.

 “Anonymous said to someone-always-cares:  Are all the characters the same age? If not, how old are they? Are they irl friends or just superhero friends?”

theres some headshots of rami and his team lined up with ages labelled: cam is 15, rami himself is 17, lin, mateo, and dante, are all 18, and cap is 20.

“rami and xandra were somewhat friends before she got superpowers, so when, after the incident with her old team, she found rami had developed powers, xandra stuck close to him. their other teamates started off as superhero friends but soon turned into irl friends too”

theres a headshot of lewis and jade. theyre both 17

“when lewis first decided to start being a vigilante,jade quickly found him and decided to help train himand offered to be a mentor of sorts, as they both have similar powers. that quickly derailed.”

“ cinder5555 said to someone-always-cares: How long does it usually take to make a comic page? I'm curious because they're so freaking good that they must take FOREVER”

theres a drawing of myself, a fluffy hair tired bastard in a hoodie, smiling

“Thanks! Ive been doing this shit since like 2017 and i still have no idea how long it takes me. i can get a page done in a day if i have nothing else to do or if its a simple page, but if i have work then maybe 2-3 days? i spend like, most of my free time doing this.“

another drawing of me, now looking frustrated muttering “how the FUCK does time work”

“but i can never do it all on one sitting.i will inevitably get distracted and zone out daydreaming mid drawing so its very hard to get an accurate read on how long it takes. so however long a piece of string is i guess“

the only qustion not from tumblr is a discord message from RuneStone Cabin:

“Q: Can you talk about the incidence of superpowers in this world? Like many people are supers, which powers are more or less common, how long they've been a thing for, stuff like that. Also does Omen know I'd die for them “

theres a drawing of omen pointing at a date circled on a calender marked “decembuary”, theyre saying “i know. i already wrote your death in my calender.”

then a giant wall of text reading: “Supers have only existed for a relativly short time, since the early 1940s. momento mori was the second person to have ever gained powers.

Only a small number of the population are supers! the chances are higher in more populated cities, but unusally london has oneof the higher percentages of supers. while nobody in universe has any idea of the origins of superpowers, it does seem that powers are more likely to occur in people who would actually use their powers.

as for what powers are most common, after making a badly catagorized spreadsheet of every superpowered character ive made for this world (70% of which will probably never even be seen), turns out that elemental powers are the most common. although not all elemental powers manifest as the straight up 'controling this element' as seen in characters like lin or tsunami. for example, iris's powers would fall under shadow elemntal powers, but theyre a lot more weird that just controlling shadows.there are some abilities that have never been seen before,such as ressurection or full on time travel (aka anything that could bring a character back to life), but powers are certainly allowed to toe the line eg healing, powers involving undeath, immortality, pausing or manipulating time.

aside from that, anything goes. you could get plain old superstrength, but you could also get the ability to create dogs with your mind. other not quite rules, more guidelines are that supers are immune to their own powers hurting them (unless they were pushing themselves too hard), although the way the imminuties occur may be inconvinient to the super.

while some powers may be 'more powerful' than others, powers dont really get to be way underpowered or overpowered in comparision to others. sure being able to talk to animals may feel a bit useless compared to someone who can lift 4 tanks at once, but nobodys going to end up with a power like 'can turn into a goose but only once' or 'can grow toenails twice as fast' or 'if i sneeze i can change my hair colour'. at the same time, youre not going to get someone with the power to snap their fingers and level a city, or instantly blow up the moon or whatever.

“Anonymous said to someone-always-cares: I love rami PLEASE tell me his favorite song(s) and why. I will die for you”

a drawing of rami saying out loud “i dont really have any specific favourite song, really? i just listen to whatever sounds catchy and then listen to that on repeat for hours until i hate it. i guess i do like upbeat songs? ones that make you feel happy even if the lyrics are sad”

“ un1c0rnhh said to someone-always-cares: tell me,,, please,, cam,,, are they a cat person or a dog person?? ily"

theres a drawing of cam a metre away from a cat lying down. she has her arm out and is making ‘psspsspss’ noises at it. end id]

FUCK i am so glad i didnt hand write all of that, it would have been a major pain in the ass to write it all and then have to transcribe all that next. but nope i could directly copy paste the asks and word answers. cheers if anyone made it this far down. if anyone wonders why this is uploaded late, you know now.

[louandhazaf]

Hiiiiii so in your answer to the anon about the marold harold fic you said you could talk about our process a lot. So. I would like you to do that. POV SWITCH our writing process. I’m really curious because you obviously know me and my writing best. And you’re excellent at putting things like that into words I can understand. (Me: Words! On! A! Screen! Happy! Letters! Typing! You: I really love this symbolism.) Also I thought this would be distracting if you needed it because work is lame! 💙💚

Hiiiiiii 💙💚

Okay, So…… (OMG THIS IS SO LONG. SORRY!!!)

I think our process normally starts with you going like I think I might have an idea for a fic. And I’m like 

TELL ME MORE. 

And then you tell me the vague idea and I’m either like YES YES YES GO START NOW or else I’m like hmmmmm WHAT ABOUT….. and offer small changes or additions or flag what might be a problem off the bat OR OH OH OH YES AND ALSO… and then I go off a tangent about what could happen and what I’d like to see. These convos are normally a lot of all caps screaming from my point.

Recently, you’ve been sending me an outline if you’re doing one, otherwise you’re off to the races. I really do not understand how you write so quickly, but that is something I will probably never learn how to do so it’s FINE. And I’m not at all jealous. So then a few hours later you’re like I HAVE 6k! and i’m like…. I’m still drinking my morning coffee. 

BUT THEN THE BEST THING HAPPENS AND YOU SHARE YOUR GOOGLE DOC WITH ME!

And recently I haven’t really started to beta at that point. I basically read through it and curse the emoji gods that there are no cheerleader emojis and comment in the doc/yell at you on whatsapp everything I love about it. Or, if there’s too much that I love, then I’m just like IT’S ALL AMAZING KEEP GOING. 

Basically, I am doing everything at this point to keep you writing because I want to keep reading and also I don’t want to interrupt you in any way that might make you stall and doubt yourself. This includes me ignoring somethings that don’t fully make sense or that I want mooooooore feeeeeeelings about or things needing to be reworded or less confusing or less boring or WHATEVER. I am ignoring all the things that need to be fixed and just focusing on a the good. 

So while this is happening…

We generally talk a lot on WhatApp about what’s going to happen next and talk through plot points and gasp when a new idea hits. This bit in particular is very exciting because I know how much everyone loves your fics and it’s like getting a sneak peek both at the work and how your brain works and knowing that everyone is going to love it when you finally post it is a really fun feeling. I also really really like figuring out bigger picture stuff with you? Like how point A at the beginning can connect to point B later. Or, talking through how things work when you’re just a human, living. Like, if Harry is sad at some point, then seeing if it can be slightly more complicated and nuanced. Like, he might be sad, but he might also be confused and angry and a little bit hungry and all of that should be fleshed out a bit. Basically figuring out all the structural stuff. 

I think we bounce a lot of ‘oooooh what if…’ type sentences and talk about how that impacts things and what all that would change and you’re always so open-minded and ready to discuss any possibility and that’s super cool. GOSH WE TALK SO MUCH. I LOVE YOU. This is also when IRL stuff sometimes sneaks in. Liiiiiiike if you’re, ahem, writing a fic about getting off on the subway and I’m like OMG THIS IS THE WORST AND I WOULD HATE HATE HATE IF I SAW THIS IN REAL LIFE AND OMG UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH NOOOOO I’M NOT SURE I CAN BETA THIS FOR YOU and then there’s a discussion about how they could do it so that it was a little more private and they’re aware of that fact and they’re trying to have a fantasy moment while also realizing that they’re in a real situation. AND THEN IT’S SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING AND YES I WANT TO BETA THAT SO MUCH.

Then, eventually, you/we hit a point where you/we feel fully confident that the fic will at some point be finished (or, sometimes, that you’ve hit a major major wall and I should read closer to figure out what’s wrong) and that I should start to actually beta. 

THIS PART IS ALSO SO FUN FOR ME!

Because this is when I get to go in and yes, check things like spelling and punctuation, but also take a closer look at how everything fits together? Like, it’s one thing for us to talk about Vampire!Harry falling off his bike and down a mountainside and getting hurt and that might be all good and fine in concept, but then when I read what is actually there, like, I can question things like, “yeah, i’m…. is he dying from a broken arm?” BECAUSE HE’S A HUNDREDS-YEAR OLD VAMPIRE WHO CAN SELF HEAL or if things are written maybe a little to quickly and summarize-y I can be like ‘WAIT. I don’t understand how they got from a to b without anyone talking about x’ OR WHATEVER THE PROBLEM IS. 

Like, just helping to ensure that what we talked about and what you want to happen is all clear and makes sense and the reader won’t be pulled out of the story for any reason. 

You’re also very wordy so this is where I can be like, OH, These first 20 pages could probably be condensed into 3 if you structure it a little differently OR your story actually starts on page 9 so you can cut the first 8 pages probably OR you’re taking three whole paragraph to say that he made bread when that can be a single sentence. 

THIS BIT IS HARD sometimes because generally I think you just have a lot more details in your fics than I do? Like, in my own writing I’ll be like, “Harry left the house.” and you’re like, “Harry pulled on his purple supras, grabbed the keys from the hook next to the door, double checked the door was locked, winked at Louis through the window, and walked out to lime green Camero parked on the corner.” NEITHER ONE IS WRONG, so it’s a lot of judgement calls. Sometimes I let it go because all that detail is important about learning who Harry is or helps with pacing or whatever but sometimes I’m like, ‘I’m not sure this is important. Can we talk about this? We already know he wears purple supras because of x and maybe you can cut this bit.’ Like, I think one of the hardest things about being a beta is knowing that everyone has their own writing style and working to support their style and not just being like I WOULD DO IT THIS WAY. 

Sometimes you just accept all my changes and sometimes you’re like WAIT I want this because.... and then we talk more! At the end of the day these are YOUR fics with YOUR name attached and what you feel about things should have more weight and should be the final decision, obviously, but I love love love helping make your fics as great as possible and I’m always so fucking proud when you get the reception you deserve. 

OMG TALK ABOUT BEING WORDY I SWEAR I’M WRAPPING THIS UP.

This is all super general too! Like every fic is different and something like a 100k+ word Marold Harold is going to take a few rounds of betaing because from your first to second drafts there are so many changes and I really want to get it right. And it feels so important. But something like a quick 3k small penis fic that is less complicated I might just do some cheerleading and make sure your periods are in the right places and give my seal of approval because there’s just less to piece together and the emotions and plot and everything are a lot simpler. 

SO if anyone wants specifics about specific fics I’m happy to do that too but OMG I’ve got to post this before I keep writing for hours and hours instead of my writing my big bang fic. 

[s2he-gamewalkthrough]

Part 1: Basic Controls

Here’s some basic controls I was able to figure out through my two completed playthroughs of the game.

If you don’t know what this is about, please refer to this previous post.

[Any new comments by me will be designated by brackets.]

The emulator that I used to play the game is the “WS Camp.” It's pretty good; the graphics, sound, and frame rate allows me to play the Senkaiden 2 rom perfectly. The only problem is that the emulator is just a bare bones emulator--it doesn't come with save states or a screenshot add-on. Meaning that, in order to take screencaps, I have to take a screenshot of my whole screen, and then crop out the picture. Yes, it gets very tedious after a while...

But anyway, on with the game.

(The music on the start screen is taken from the anime opening... just in case you were wondering.)

(Insert prologue here--just basically more detailing of the manga storyline)

(Insert beginning cutscene to the game that I can't be bothered screencapping)

After a short introduction, we meet our main character (of this game) and his trusty sword!

[It’s Tensho (Ko Hiko’s youngest son) except he’s all grown up now! Also, the sword Tensho uses is Hitou, and he talks.You start the game in Tensho’s house, and he’s currently living with his grandfather (Hiko’s father that appeared in just one chapter of the HE manga).]

Let me just go through the basic stuff now, then.

It could vary depending on your emulator, but here are the controls based on mine (the WS Camp emulator). Arrow keys are used to move. (I don't really need to detail that the up arrow makes your character go up and so on, do I?)

Then there's the "a" and "b" button, which is "x" and "z" on the keyboard for me. The "a" button is used in the game to open chests, talk to people, examine things, etc. The "b" button is used to cancel actions, and can also be used to speed through text (I abuse this a lot, hah...)

Then there are what I call "action buttons." You know how there are four other buttons on the wonderswan, that aren't used for movement? Those corrispond to my "a,s,d, f" keys (WS Camp controls), and I'll talk about what they can be used for later. Not so sure if the "f" key is the fourth button, though, as I've never had the need to use the fourth button. Moving on, the "w" key is (once again, using the WS Camp) the sound button. It can be used to turn the sound lower or higher. Press the a or b button to exit the sound volume screen.

The most important function you will need to get used to is the start button and start screen. It can be accessed on the WS camp by pressing the enter key.

This is what you'll see. To the left is your character's basic stats. LV=Level, HP=Hit Points, EP=Energy Points (or at least, that what I think it means.) EP act basically the same as MP. I'll detail it later, when we actually go battle stuff.

The stuff on the right hand corner--now that's really important. 

[Some basic translations provided by cavechan on LiveJournal:

In order from top to bottom -- “Abilities; Special Skills; Equipment; Tools (Inventory); Special; Books; Record (Save)”]

Pressing "a" while the pointing hand is on the first thing on the list leads you to this screen:

That basically shows you the status/stats of your character(s). When you get more characters, the pointing hand will move left to where your characters are, and you can use the arrow keys to select the one you want to view. But since you only have one character right now, it goes straight into the status screen.

The stuff on the right in the little boxes--that's supposed to be his stats.

[Cavechan’s translations again come to the rescue!

“Power; Defense Skills; Know Speed; Friends”

Power is attack power; Defense pretty obviously refers to his defense stat. Skills and Know(ledge) are pretty typical RPG stats but I’m not exactly sure what they affect in this game... perhaps how well he uses weapons? How resistant he is to status effects? I’m not sure.

Speed refers to how fast he is in battle (faster characters move earlier, etc.); and I *think* it may affect how much he can dodge enemy attacks although I admit I never really paid too much attention to this stat.

After some messing around in-game, I think the “Friends” stat refers to how strong of a relationship other characters have with Tensho. This stat is unavailable for Tensho, but a number will appear for every other character. The “Friends” stat can be increased for characters by having them in your team and leveling them up, and I think it’s also affected by certain in-game plot events. I unfortunately do not know if this stat affects anything in game (i.e. like making team attacks stronger or something).

Cavechan’s translation:

“(Lower right box): Attribute (Wind) Range (Middle)”

I assume this means that Tensho is primarily a wind-element fighter/user (which is surprising to me), and he generally has mid-range attacks.]

The line at the bottom details how many more exp points he needs to get to the next level. Right now, he only needs 500 more to get to level two, though it's usually 1000 points. I'll explain more later.

Press the b button to get off of that screen. You can use the b button to get off of all the screens on the menu screen. Anyway, the next listed item takes you to this:

This screen basically tells you all his attacks/moves, and gives you a description of it. Use the arrow keys to look through his move list. (Right now, Tensho only has three moves.) The box underneath that gives you the description of the move. The star next to "LV" indicates the level of that attack. Yes, you can gain more levels for your moves, but that will be detailed later when it comes up.

Third item listed on the start menu is basically what I call the "equipment screen." Since most characters in HE already come with their own equipment, you can only really equip one item per character, and they're more like power-ups than actual equipment... Once again, I'll talk more about this when it actually comes up.

Fourth item is your bag, basically. It's where your items are stored. You can only hold six pages worth of items--8 slots per page times 6, making a total of 48 different items. Stuff like potions get grouped together in one slot, while power-ups do not.

Fifth item on the start menu is the important items list--I think. Hmm, I'll have to check up on that...

Sixth item takes you to a screen that looks like this:

This will become important later, and I'll talk about it then.

The seventh item on the list is the most important item--at least, if you're using an emulator that has no save states like I am. It's the save game function.

Move the hand to this word if you want to save.

[Cavechan’s translation: “ はい(hai) = yes いいえ(iie) = no “]

It will then make you wait a bit, and then it will show you this screen.

I think it's just asking if you want to shut off the game, because I tried it once before and my emulator blacked out on me. So just select "no" (the longer word).

The second time you try to save, it will show you an additional screen when you try to save, after selecting "yes". It's pretty much just asking you if you want to over-ride the old save data [I assume]. Select "yes" and it should go through the normal saving process.

The next time you start your game, you'll be shown this screen:

The first option starts a new game, the second option (which the hand should already be on) is the continue option. I don't know what the third one does, but I'm guessing it's the delete game option. Just press the “a” button while on the second option to continue the game where you last saved.

The last thing I want to talk about on the start menu is that little thing at the bottom. See the number "0"? That's where your money is listed, and right now, we have zero money. Yay.

And that is all for post. Sorry that this first part is so long and wordy, but I wanted to get the menu functions out of the way before we go do anything. Let's actually get out of this house next time.

To be continued...

[hannahindie]

Maple Leaves and Flannel

Characters: Sam Winchester x Reader, Dean Winchester (mentioned) Word Count: 2,608 Warnings: Cutesy fluff and extreme descriptions of fall. (I don’t think that’s really a warning, but I’m a wordy girl so...maybe?) A/N: I wrote this for @impalaimagining’s Favorite Seasons Gif Challenge! Fall is my favorite time of year, so I was excited to get to write a fic that primarily focused on that.

Beta’d by my wonderful @trexrambling, because without her, a lot of my thoughts would be jumbled: “THIS. HANNAH, THIS!!!!!! YESSSSSSS I LOVE THIS LINE IT IS MY NEW FAVORITE LINE. Gaaaaaaaaaah this is wonderful.”

And my sweet @pinknerdpanda, who encourages me even when I hate nearly everything I wrote and feel like starting over: “ I love this whole sentence sooooo much!”

As usual, tags are at the bottom. Please let me know if you’d like to be added!!

Fall has always been my favorite time of year. Summer had its moments, but when the stifling heat finally started melting into cool breezes, when I could enjoy the sun’s warmth on my face without immediate fear of being burnt to a crisp, I was in my happy place. If anyone were to ask me why fall was my favorite, besides the cooler temperatures and the lack of sun poisoning, it would be hard to pinpoint an exact thing.

It could be the brilliant colors the leaves inevitably changed to, a magnificent splash of reds and oranges and yellows all mixing together to make it look like the landscape was on fire. The slow appearance of Halloween decorations that would go up bit by bit; a zombie here, purple and green lights there, fake spiderweb stretching across every available surface. The extraordinary amount of pumpkins that would just appear with no warning on porch steps, balanced precariously on hay bales that also would magically appear, a majority of which had simple faces that had been painstakingly carved into them by excited children who cared less about the carving and more about cleaning out the slimy guts inside.

So, had you asked me what my favorite thing about fall was, I would have told you it was too hard to choose and wandered off with my pumpkin spice latte to find some crunchy leaves to jump in.

Well, that’s what I would have said. But then I saw him.

Right in the middle of town is a large maple tree. Large is really an understatement. This maple tree is one of the oldest I’ve ever seen, and it’s huge. It’s right on the edge of the sidewalk, and the roots have pushed up the concrete slabs like they’re made out of foam. Every year, I expect one of the massive branches to break off and land on top of the old, Victorian-style house that sits empty next to it, but every year it proves me wrong. It also sits directly on the path I take from my apartment to the library, and every time I walk past, regardless of what I might be doing at the time, I glance up at the huge spanning limbs and falling leaves. Most days, there’s nothing remarkable about it. It’s beautiful, yes, and it’s one of my favorite things about my town...but generally speaking, it’s the same scene every single day.

Except one day when there was an addition to the normal scenery.

I had just crossed the street and was making my way down the sidewalk when I glanced up out of habit and stopped dead in my tracks. Standing just under the maple was a tall man, his head bent as he looked down at his phone. His shaggy, chestnut hair hung down and obscured most of his face, and I held my breath as I waited for him to look up. He was wearing a burnt orange coat and a lighter orange flannel; he was like the perfect autumn day in a ruggedly handsome, broad shouldered package. He must have realized someone was staring at him because he looked up and locked eyes with me, a small smile playing on his lips.

“Hi,” he said softly, his voice deep and smooth.

I finally released the breath I’d been holding, my eyes wide. “H-hello.”

He took a couple of steps towards me and pocketed his phone as he did, “Sorry to bother you, but do you live around here?” I nodded but remained quiet. “Do you know much about this house?”

���Oh, yea, it’s one of my favorite places in town. Are you...are you interested in buying it?”

He shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded, “Yea, actually. Me and my brother grew up in a house like this, and I just happened to be driving through when I saw it.”

“So do you live close by?” Surely I would have remembered seeing him around.

He shook his head, “No, I'm here on business. I've been kind of looking for a place to start over, and since I was already here, I thought I'd look around.” He held his hand out, “My name is Sam, by the way. Sam Winchester.” I took his hand, and I was unsurprised when his totally engulfed mine.

“Y/F/N Y/L/N. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Same.” He smiled again, and just as he opened his mouth to say something else, a muffled ring interrupted him. He quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. After a quick glance, he looked at me apologetically, “I'm sorry, that's my brother. I gotta go meet him...family business stuff to work on. Maybe I'll see you around?”

I smiled at him, “Yea, that would be nice. See you later.”

He gave a small wave and started walking down the sidewalk in the opposite direction that I was going. Luckily, that wasn't the last time I saw Sam Winchester.

The second time I saw Sam Winchester I was at the library, coffee in hand as I flipped through pages upon pages of town history. I had just started at the local newspaper, and my first assignment was to put together a large series leading up to the town’s centennial celebration. Most people would have wondered what they had done to deserve such a fate, but I loved stuff like that. There was something about getting lost in old newspapers and books, scattered photographs that lay forgotten in people's attics, only remembered when you ask them if they have anything that would help you. I could sit all day at the library, curled up in one of the overstuffed chairs with a giant book. Most of my days consisted of that, actually.

I had been reading about The Great Flood of 1928 when I heard someone clear their throat. I looked up to see Sam looking at me, one corner of his mouth turned up in a smile. “Hey, Y/N.”

“Hi, Sam,” I said as I shifted into a more upright position. “How are you?”

He shrugged, “Pretty good. I think we’ll be here for a few more days.” He nodded towards my stack of books, “What are you researching?”

I glanced down at the book in my hand, “Currently, a catastrophic flood that destroyed most of the town in 1928. In general, just getting some information for a series I'm writing for the paper. The centennial is coming up. Although I have to say, there's less interesting and happy things than there are devastating natural disasters, murder, and general bad luck.” I closed my book and sat it on the table. “Why are you here?”

“Well, I needed to do some research of my own. The librarian told me you might have a book I need. It's actually a collection of property deeds and stuff.”

I raised an eyebrow, “That sounds…”

“Boring,” Sam laughed. “It is. Which is why I'm here and not my brother.” He sat the books he'd already claimed down, “Mind if I join you?”

I shook my head as I handed him the book he was looking for, “Not at all. I can't promise that I'll be exciting company, though,”

He laughed, “At least we can be boring together.”

And so we sat, the next three hours consumed with what was supposed to be serious research but had quickly turned into us laughing about some of the more ridiculous things that had happened in town.

Sam sat back with a laugh, and I couldn't help but stare at the deep dimples that formed when he allowed himself to truly smile. “Wow, it's been awhile since I laughed that much. That was nice.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and his smile quickly disappeared, “But it looks like it's time for me to head out.” He stood and shouldered his coat on, “Hopefully I'll get to see you before we leave.”

I smiled, “I would enjoy that. See you around.” Sam smiled and strode quickly out of the library. I looked down to find that he'd left the book he'd asked for open, and I pulled it around to look at the page he'd marked.

The deed was for the old abandoned house with the giant maple in the yard.

The last time I saw Sam Winchester is a little blurry. It's kind of a long story, and honestly I'm not even sure that I have all the details. I remember seeing the deed for the old house. Curiosity got the better of me and I did the one thing that I'm surprised I hadn't done before but realize now should never have; I googled the address of the Victorian house with the town’s oldest maple tree.

I vaguely recall reading what had to have been one of the more disturbing stories of our town that I had soundly decided not to include in our centennial write up. But even after I sat down to read something else, determined to not focus on the vicious quadruple murder/suicide that had occurred in the house, my mind kept returning to it.

Which had led me to my next question; why was Sam so interested in that house? And what family business was he doing that he needed the deed information? Nothing was adding up, and I was beginning to wonder what that handsome stranger was up to.

I remember leaving the library, bag in tow and determined to figure out what was going on. I had stopped at the end of the sidewalk before taking a big breath and striding up the cracked concrete like I owned the place.

And that's when things get a little fuzzy. All I can really remember is that I saw something that shouldn't have been real. That moment of pause, the shock of seeing a man that was long dead standing directly in front of me, nearly cost me my life. What I do remember is Sam appearing out of nowhere, quickly followed by a shorter man with bright eyes that I guessed was his brother, and a loud shotgun blast.

Then I was outside, my back against the maple tree and a large, rough hand cradled against my face.

“Y/N...hey, are you alright?” Any other time, opening my eyes to that handsome face would have been welcome. As it was, I could barely remember where I was, much less who was in front of me.

“I...yea...I think so...what happened?”

Sam breathed a sigh of relief, “It’s a long story.”

I shifted my weight and groaned as my bruised ribs protested at the movement, “What exactly do you and your brother do, anyway?”

He chuckled, “That's also a long story.” He helped me stand up, and I grimaced again. “Are you sure you're okay?”

I nodded, “Aside from the fact that I just saw something impossible, and said impossible thing tried to kill me...I'm pretty sure I'm good. Ask me tomorrow.” He smiled sadly and my chest ached, “You won't be here, will you?”

He shook his head, “No, we uh...we have some other things to take care of.” I stared at him for a moment and tried to memorize the way his hair fell in his face, the little mole on his chin, how his eyes seemed to change color. There were too many details, and I knew it would be impossible to do him justice in my spotty memory. So instead, I put my arms around his waist and pressed my ear to his chest and listened to the strong, steady beat of his heart.

“It was nice to meet you, Sam Winchester.”

Sam didn't say anything, but he wrapped his arms around me and held me a little tighter.

It's been a year since I last saw Sam Winchester. A year since I saw him standing under that maple tree, its bright red and orange leaves falling around him as he looked at his phone, unaware of the dumbstruck girl staring at him.

It's been a year since I let curiosity win out over common sense and I discovered that there was far more to this world than I could have ever imagined, and that the gentle giant that I had laughed with over coffee was responsible for keeping it all in check.

Sam and Dean had driven me home and the ride there was mostly silent. Sam sat in the back with me, his long legs tucked in as well as he could, and I had curled tightly into his side. My ribs complained the entire ride, but I ignored them; I wasn't passing up what could be my last chance to be this close to Sam.

Sam walked me to my door and pulled me into one last hug, and it took everything I had not to beg him to at least stay the night. He'd started to walk away, but at the last minute, turned back and pulled me into him, his soft lips working against mine almost desperately before he pulled back, gave me a tight lipped smile, and walked to the car. The next morning I went to stick my hand in my jacket pocket and found a piece of a napkin containing small, cramped handwriting. There was a number, and under that a single word - 'Sam'.

We had texted quite a bit for awhile; what he and Dean were up to, plans to get coffee when they finally made it back into town to visit, the most recent book we'd read. I knew that with their lifestyle, it would probably be awhile before I got to see Sam again, but I held on to hope. Then, finally, the messages stopped.

I'd like to think that he's okay, that he's saving people from the monsters that linger in the shadows, but I often worry that something happened. I think I'd feel it, though. For that much good to leave the world, I'm sure my heart would know.

I've kept the same routine this whole year. I walk the same path, go to the same job, live in the same apartment. And every day, I walk past the old Victorian, the maple looming over it with its canopy of fiery leaves. I’d always looked towards the house, only now I do so in hopes that I'll see a man, dressed like fall, and smiling. When I don't see him there, I like to imagine that he's off saving the world with his brother, one monster at a time.

That is, until today.

Because today, I walked the same path down the same road, crossed at the same corner, and just like I did exactly one year ago, I looked up at the house and the maple. Under its falling leaves, standing just where he was the first time I saw him, was Sam. Only this time, he wasn't looking down at his phone; this time he was looking straight at me. He was a bit thinner than he was back then, and he'd cut his hair a little different, but the smile was the same. I stopped a few feet away, afraid that if I blinked he'd disappear.

“Sorry I'm late,” he said softly, “things got a little...crazy.”

I nodded, “Long story?”

Sam chuckled, “Yea, you could say that.”

I walked over and wrapped my arms around his waist, my ear to his chest, and sighed happily. I never realized how relieved I would feel to hear someone’s heartbeat. “You know what, I have all day.”

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[coffeeandcalligraphy]

Angst + Excerpts | Doing the Write Thing #66

So I’m going to start this update off by saying I’m really sorry for being so absent on here as of late, and most importantly, missing two weeks of DtWT posts.

Writing has not been going so well, to be honest, lol. I’ve been hit with a serious case of writer’s block, and it’s been quite the struggle to get past it. Writer’s block is something that I usually just have to tough out because for me, it’s not based off fear or lack of ideas, it’s based off simply not being able to write. I’ll give you some good news, though! Even though I haven't updated you guys, I have still been hitting my goal of 250 words (or close to there) pretty much every day. I’d like to chat about writer’s block at some point because I know it’s controversial for some!

In conclusion, I’ve been struggling to write and get into the swing of things and get past this beginning for the entirety of November, pretty much, and I think I finally sort of made some progress.

Before I get into this update, though, quick thanks to @sarahkelsiwrites​ for being a literal star and hearing the worst of this creative block, and for brainstorming with me and listening to me and for being really supportive for the last while. Aaaand, also to @shaelinwrites​ because bless that new Pereidolia update for giving me all the writing inspiration, seriously needed that! (seriously would not have written anything today without it lolol)

Cool beans.

Daily word count goal: 250

Words written: 786

Total word count: 11 929

(jumped like 5k since the last update ok)

Total page count: 21

Songs played: No songs, but can we sit down and chat for a second, lol. In my last update, I mentioned Music From Before the Storm which is Daughter’s latest album. This album is the soundtrack to the second game in this series, Life Is Strange and lol. Did I find a gem right here. I found out about Life Is Strange a really long time ago, but only decided to pick up the second one (Before The Storm) because Daughter wrote its soundtrack and I loved the album so much. WHAT A GEM. I’m not a video game person anymore :( but this game is so excellent, what a recommend. I played game 2 before 1 because I wasn't sure if I’d like it and that’s the one with the Daughter soundtrack, and also because it’s a prequel. Beat that in like 3 days (except for episode three which is yet to be released), and now @sarahkelsiwrites​ and I are working on episode two of the first game. Mentioning this here a) because this album is great and b) because this game is also great and gave me hope to cling onto when I was an existential ball of angst.

Things to know: A lot of this scene came out of literally nowhere? I wasn't expecting the words I wrote, to say the least. I actually wrote the first 200 words of this scene a couple days ago, didn't like it, angsted about it for a bit, changed a couple things, and voila now there is no reason to angst.

How I felt: Scared that my writing would fail at any moment of any second because I’m not used to things working out so well for such an extended period of time, haaaaaa angst.

Bad haiku to describe writing session: I angst when writing / Too often I am angsty / Gotta angst it up

this one is my favourite

Rating of writing session out of 10 and why: like an 8 because I wrote something? which counts.

On a scale from 1-10 my level of stoked-ness is: Maybe a 7.5

Lyrics to describe writing session: And as the days go by / Oh I'm afraid of when / I fall in and out of love / With someone new again

--In and Out of Love, Current Joys (Me Oh My Mirror)

perfect for the way I feel write nowwwww angsssttttt

GIF to describe writing session:

*tryin not to drown in yo problems be like*

Excerpt:

I’m going to do a really spontaneous thing and just share some things that need some editing loool:

His breaths are heavy, panting, but he’s looking straight at me, eyes bleak and tired, but wild and scattered. He is exhausted, yet turbulent. Like the polymorphic combination of two opposite elements.  

does polymorphic work in this context idk definitely probably used that word wrong lol

Like mine, her hair has grown out considerably since the last time she hacked at it with scissors. But instead of falling past her shoulders in a few chunks here and there, it puffs up around her head like a cloud of static chaos. Her skin looks like mine too, pale and marked with exhausted fingerprints, but with the addition of a scratch across her cheek and the haggard stamp of a palm against her jaw. She, like the boy next to her is exhausted, yet turbulent, but there isn’t anything poetic about the delirious flicker in her eye.

I meaaannnn besides that wordiness I meaaaannn I guess I sorta get that point (I wrote these last week I believe).

Harrison’s got both arms secured around her waist, fingers stamped deep into the fabric of her t-shirt. His head is tipped down so his chin meets her forehead, the two eased into one another like they’ve always meant to combine. Her hands crawl up from under his arms, and hug onto his shoulders, rather than slinging around his neck like my mom used to do to my dad. Her head rests against his chest, and the two sway back and forth as a song that sounds straight from the 60s waltzes through the speakers.

boiiiiiii get it while it lastsssss

I like that the music is waltzing through the speakers I will give myself that.

I would say I don’t know what happened to Harrison, what happened to his ability to forgive, but I do. I happened, Lonan happened, Foster happened, he happened. Everything, like a collective flood of hate strode up to him, and when someone walks into the eye of a storm like that, it’s almost impossible to emerge unscathed.

s c a t h e

It wasn’t much. Just a few frames of gold and blur, where her fingers brushed back my hair, and her knee supported my neck. She sung a few notes of a tune her and Dad used to listen to, pulled the comb through the length of my hair. I can’t tell if the dream with my mother was a memory or the desire for one, but when I woke up, there was this ache for her that for once, didn’t feel like a bullet to the chest. I woke up feeling like I’d actually slept, and not like my bones had taken advantage of me through the night in some sick game of trauma.

can I actually describe things as blur tho is that an appropriate adjective... my life is angst and blur. yes.

So yes. These paragraphs all require editing and are literally unedited first drafts, so hopefully by the time I edit, I can tighten up some of these ideas. Editing and this book have been really strange for me because I’ve needed tons of time away from the scene to be able to really sit down and fix it up... Not entirely what I go for in writing/editing, but for now, while I’m working really slowly, I guess it’s working alright!

I hope you enjoyed this update and also reading those unedited (TM) excerpts, lol. I hopefully will get back to you guys ASAP. :)

--Rachel