#and also the image of one of them egging on the others while they're doing stupid shit

[i3utterflyeffect]

With stick!Alan I think one of the things I'm curious about is whether or not he still works. Like, did he just seem to drop off the face of the planet? Does he email his clients to apologize? Does he try and take on more? C!Alan what are you going to do with that commission money, you don't have much besides keeping the power on to use it on anymore-

ngl i have no clue lol--

i mean, i suppose keeping the power on is a good thing considering they kind of need it for the computer, but i think it's kind of funny if he just vanishes?

there's also the really funny possibility of him uploading shorts still but they're just filmed from inside the computer ljflsgkfjdsgjdf

[petermorwood]

I have a sword question, if I may. Or more of a sword confusion Im seeking clarification on.

In my mind a fantasy european standard sword (that obviously doesnt really exist, but like, when a knight or someone in a story has an unspecified sword), I always imaged a straight blade with a triangular tip, both edges sharp cutting edges.

Then at some point I learned about eg scimitars that have a cutting edge and a ...blunt edge?

I was looking at your recent addition to the post about the Turkish sword, where you distinguish between an inner cutting edge on a sword v an outer cutting edge.

And then Im thinking of those enormous zweihander types that are all about momentum and do those even need a particularly sharp edge? They seem in dnd parlance to be a bludgeoning weapon not for slashing.

And while Im asking, like. Rapiers are very stabby weapons, do they have sharp edges at all or judt a sharp point?

I guess my overall question culminates something like "what parts of swords are designed for what damage and why? Is there anything all swords have other than blade and handle like can they all be used for stabbing or do some have very blunt points etc? Is it a big deal for a sword to be double-edged, does that necessitate specific training? Whats up with different sword blades?"

I realise thats a pretty enormous question that might be unreasonable to ask. Im happy with whstever response you are or arent willing to give. Hope you have a good day :)

Sharp edge / blunt edge is the setup on any kitchen or table knife you've ever encountered, and being able to put a hand on the blunt "edge" - usually called the back of the blade - not only helps when mincing herbs or garlic, but also features in some techniques of swordplay.

Other techniques employed non-blade parts of the weapon, using the pommel like a mace and the crossguard like a pick-axe.

*****

Whether swords should be straight or curved, single- or double-edged, was an argument which continued as recently as the early 1900s.

The last swords issued to cavalry for combat use (modern parade swords don't count) were both remarkably similar designs, straight-bladed for thrusting, adopted by the UK in 1908...

...and the US in 1913.

There was, of course, strong opposition from those who insisted cavalry swords should be sabres curve-bladed for cutting instead.

Equally of course, both sides failed to notice - or ignored, since a certain kind of cavalry officer was only bright as regards boots, buckles and buttons - the uncomfortable fact that machine-guns and repeating rifles had made the whole ta-ran-ta-rah "cut them down with your swords, men!" cavalry charge an exercise in futility.

*****

D&D, unless they've considerably upped their accuracy game, isn't much of a reference for weapon realism.

"Enormous Zweihanders" and other big swords such as the Montante were a lot lighter and more nimble than they'd seem from reading an encumbrance chart.

They had their own techniques to take best advantage of length, leverage and momentum and were indeed sharp. Given a choice between a sharp combat weapon and a blunt one, sharp makes far more sense.

In addition, a sharp blade is lighter than a blunt one simply through having less metal. It may only be a few grams of difference, but it IS a difference.

That's also the reason behind a fuller, the groove(s) along a blade.

They're not "blood gutters", tough and cool though that may sound, but a way to reduce a sword's weight while preventing its blade from getting excessively flexible.

Finally...

The re-enactor is wearing half-armour, but these big swords were also meant for use against unarmoured opponents. Bodyguards often carried them (they looked impressive) and those sweeping strokes could block an entire street while The Boss got away.

That's when an ability to cut rather than merely bludgeon makes all the difference. Determined assassins might try to rush a blunt sword, but a sharp one would give anyone second thoughts...

*****

Double-edged swords versus single-edged ones seem to vary depending on cultural preference - also on period of history and intended function.

Bronze Age European swords had straight or leaf-shaped blades with double edges...

...while Ancient Egypt had the curved, single-edged khopesh, a shape which also turned up in Ancient Assyria (this one's in the Metropolitan Museum, New York USA).

It's listed as a "sickle sword", an incorrect term which I wish would go away because sickles are sharp on the inside of the curve while swords like this - their grip-shape shows how they're meant to be held and swung - are sharp on the outside.

And just when "the Ancient Middle East used curved single-edge swords" looks like a handy generalisation, along come straight swords, one from Ancient Egypt...

...another from Luristan, now part of modern Iran.

This next one comes from Ancient Iberia (Spain), right at the other side of the Mediterranean. Evidence of trading links? Your guess is as good as mine.

Iberia went on to use the falcata, a short single-edged forward-curved sword.

Those extra bits round the blade are scabbard metalwork; the wood and leather scabbard is long gone. This repro shows how they would have looked when in place.

Iberia also used a straight double-edged sword which so impressed the Romans that they adopted it, refined it and used it for several centuries. Here's one of the several Roman versions of that gladius Hispaniensis (Spanish sword), double-edged, mostly meant for stabbing but capable of very effective cuts as well.

Here's my repro of a similar sword, the elegant "Mainz" pattern with its long point and waisted blade. Very pretty, and pretty wicked.

*****

"Curved single-edged swords are Eastern, straight double-edged swords are Western", is another generalisation that won't work.

Here are Eastern straight swords...

...and Western curved ones.

*****

Viking swords were all double-edged...

...except when they weren't.

*****

Many rapiers could cut. Smallswords, which came later, couldn't.

Earlier rapiers with broader blades cut better than later ones with narrow blades, but IIRC even the later Italian and Spanish rapier styles include cuts directed at the opponent's face and sword-arm.

I have a notion that the modern thing about cutting with rapiers is based (like back-carry) on seeing it done in movies. IMO - more about it here - that's actually more a modern stage-combat safety thing than a period real-combat move. A fumbled cut is bruising and unpleasant even with a "safe" prop sword, but a fumbled thrust into the eye-socket or throat with that same "safe" sword can be fatal.

Even those early rapiers wouldn't sever a head or limb - a finger maybe, hence the elaborate hand-protection of swept and cup hilts - but blood from a forehead wound running into the eyes was, and in boxing still is, an efficient way to finish a fight by ensuring the opponent can't continue. One of the duels in "The Duellists" ends this way.

This example is a bit optimistic, IMO...

...but a longsword (double-edged)...

...or a messer (single-edged)...

...was quite capable of disarming an opponent in a very literal way.

*****

Some swords had minimal points, being intended mostly for cutting. One example of this is the Indian khanda broadsword. The second example is also very clearly single-edged.

Another cut-only sword without a point (but with double edges) is the Richtschwert (justice sword)...

...though this was a single-function (and hopefully single-cut) tool rather than weapon, neither balanced for nor intended for combat.

Hope this has helped answer the questions!

[fungus-no69]

Little things on defiant pc (you/your pronouns) ft. Gn Bailey, Harper, Remy and Wren

pc bites a lot, Bailey typical human trafficking, pc is implied to have been attacked by/visited the wolves, mentions of Harper's medical malpractice, amab Harper???? (dick jokes), mention of the wolf tf in Remy's, mention of pc in prison in Wren's, pc is joked to (possibly) have rabies, pc is feral in general

Bailey

You're a little terror.

You're fucking impossible to wrangle. If Bailey does manage to force you into restraints and sell you somehow while you're still kicking and screaming like you're being murdered you show up again within an hour or two.

They sold you to a party of rich people why are you covered in twigs and fur??? Why do you have (wolf)shrooms?????

Half considers putting a bounty on your head. Might.

Daydreams about the day you finally pay them

Harper

Harper is fighting for their life over here- you're showing up after passing out, being sent to the asylum every now and again, get them riled up and just escape???? Kissing them while your hands wander to their-

Oh.

Oh.

You sneaky little shit.

Yeah sure, Harper can just..... not creep on you but they can't help it! :( you're so cute!!!!! So what if they get a bit close or stick their fingers in your mouth to test your gag reflex? (you bite them so hard it breaks the skin and they have to get their rabies shots)

They are not a masochist. Ignore the boner.

Always half hard and ready to go with you I'm sorry.

Remy

You get taken to the Underground farm and tell Remy to go suck a fat one

You get muzzled for that. Also the whole biting thing you've got going on I guess.

With the wolf tf they are going to try and turn you into cattle without letting you out with the others. They know you probably won't eat the cows but they're not taking any more chances here. You've already made sure that half of the staff needs vaccinations against several infections and diseases (advised by Harper, who seems all too acquainted with you and your 'habits')

Why can't you eat grass normally....

What the fuck do you mean you befriended the horses. You can't even get along with people- oh you escaped.

When they see you working with Alex they damn near have an aneurysm. They just smile at you, strained. Why must you torment them like this.

Wren

Please stop eating the blackjack cards

It's literally that image like 'the smart kid wondering how he's losing to me : me eating the pieces when he's not looking' yk the one except neither of you are winning because you're fucking eating the cards.

You guys meet up in the prison so much to the point that they're not even surprised anymore.

More shocked you got caught.

It would USUALLY be concerning how horny they get over you but it's Wren so yeah.

Expect to be teased and egged on

[darqx]

Some BP/HH/General asks

That mood when you want to share all the things but also want to keep it under wraps for the actual thing haha! Thanks very much anon!

As for your questions, I can't actually be specific cos there's no definitive number I have in mind for either. Basically there are a number of sectors (you can consider them their equivalent of countries - they have less than what we do though), and a number of species of demon of which I've designed about seven of. The ones I've shown before are these guys (and do you think I could find this pic again? No, I had to recreate it cos for the life of me I couldn't remember what ask I'd previously stuck it in lol):

One day when i have enough species and stuff out there I want to make a proper field guide \o/

Thank you very much for the interest! ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿ I would actually love to for BP, but before I jump the gun there I have to get the comic out first lol. That being said I have made mini-games before featuring the HH versions and some other characs alas they are all lost at the moment to the sands of Flash becoming obsolete 😩

Me and Gato do still collab sometimes (and send each other Xmas presents)! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

I have been working on one off and on for a while actually! Hopefully I'll have some pages to post next year or so*, I've been doing a bit of thumbnailing recently :D

*that is the plan but i also don't know where people find the time to do anything with a full time job lol.

Hullo! Glad you are enjoying the snippets of BP I've got here and there :D Here is an older ref on Izm back when i first got the idea (at that time i didn't really plan to do anything with it, it was just an AU. Now it's my main project haha. Anyway the ref is a little bit out of date in that regard.)

I used to have a "field guide" which was also made quite a while ago, unfortunately the death of Flash kinda killed it. Here's a screenshot of some relevant info from it though.

That's an interesting one as it's questionable how sentient souls are after removal 🤔 In my mind its only form is the smoke light, it can "see" to some degree and MIGHT be able to talk (but in a very no one can hear them sort of way, a la i have no mouth and i must scream. So i guess it can think "aloud"). The more time passes the less sentience it has.

It could try, though it wouldn't really get anywhere if it's in Rire's collection. He might just eat it lol.

.D: Good with kids, will be fine in all aspects.

Izm: The fun dad however needs a partner that knows what they're doing to ensure the child safety during shenanigans.

Marcus and Zeke: Also would be good parents though might be more helicopter out of protectiveness/worry when first starting out.

Ren: Geek parent very good for homework help. Some Asian parent tendencies eg "ah see, i told you not to do that right? Now you see what happened."

They are similar to our known society for this! So basically, there are some good families out there (eg Zeke - who is a demon - is from a pretty average loving family), and there are some bad families out there who only care about power or having an heir or whatever.

HH Rire is a human. I differentiate between him and Demon Rire because they are two different characters...even though they are also technically the same character lol. You can consider them as alternate universe iterations of a base "Rire" concept.

I actually half jested this in an old comic lol

I am sorry to inform you that a HH webcomic doesn't actually exist 😅 I did a lot of art, animations and one shots (such as the HHJ comics) with them, but nothing actually planned or serialised or anything. Whatever's currently on my DA or here is basically what exists.

Bringing this image back cos it's relevant lol.

You spelled it correct there though! XD

[niobiumao3]

Havoc Marauder Interior

Someone made a post about this a while ago but apparently they de-activated so it is possibly lost to the mists of time. Here is what I put together for myself as a writing reference. Image heavy, meta heavy.

Last edit: 2024/10/29

Edits: Replaced garbage text layout with actual ship overhead. Realized the two concept art images face different directions. This likely explains the magical moving jump seats. Also added discussion of a cargo hold. Added discussion of ship dimensions (specifically length). Replaced old guesstimates with numbers from Dawn of Rebellion. Added commentary about the magical seat. Added comment about the belly airlock and updated the floor plan.

I think people under- and over-estimate the Marauder's interior potential. Given its overall size and intended use (transporting about 10-15 troops plus assorted equipment and providing air support in a forward area), there's not much room left for creature comforts.

Except the Batch aren't 10-15 people, they're 5, and the shuttle is referred to as modified numerous times. This leaves plenty of room to make assumptions and freeform. So, as to what we have actual, visual evidence for from episodes and concept art, here is a rudimentary floor plan:

An important point about the two concept art images: they do NOT face the same direction. The top image faces to the aft/back of the ship, i.e. the tailgun. The second image faces to the fore/front of the ship.

Number key:

1: We know this is where the ramp and door are located from War Mantle and Metamorphsis.

2: We know about this upper storage area from Cut and Run

3: The access to the tail gun has changed visual from TCW s07e02 and various TBB episodes.

4: Access to a floor hatch with a narrow, vertical 'airlock' can be seen briefly in Bounty Lost.

The Airlock

With thanks to @megmca for reminding me of this: there's a narrow, belly-hatch airlock. We see it briefly in Bounty Lost, when they attach to the escape pod Omega has commandeered and Wrecker brings her in.

For all of you wondering what airlock-access the ship has, this is it.

The Magically Appearing/Disappearing Seat

In Cut and Run we have this moment with Hunter and Omega, but in most other shots each of these consoles has only one seat (eg. Tech and Echo in prior frames). I think this is actually NOT a magically appearing seat. I think it's the other console seat, because I suspect they can be moved. I base this one this shot from Replacements:

That looks like a seat with a moveable base.

Obviously this is bad design for a ship which is doing barrel rolls and what-not, so I have to assume they're magnetically locked. Even if it is the same seat, in the shots right before that one above, Omega walks up and it's not in that space. So it's almost like the scene was longer and was shortened, and we missed a few frames of her or Hunter unlocking it and moving it over.

Meta Discussions

tl;dr: I think of the Marauder as a small fishing vessel or a van-conversion RV. You can put a lot into a small space if you get creative.

Bathroom I know the writers have made weird assertions there isn't one and omg they all smell gross from no hygiene but that makes zero sense. Soldiers are constantly under stress, they're getting injured, they need to stay clean when possible or they're going to get sick and die from a systemic infection in short order. Anyone who's glanced in the general direction of military history knows this. You can argue about clone expendibility all you want but the Batch minimally qualify in that regard, being Nala Se's pet project. Can you imagine losing one of them to a staph infection because there's nowhere for them to bust out some no-rinse antimicrobial soap or get their scalp clean? I'm not saying they'll be doing photoshoots in between missions (well maybe Hunter would ) but, come on. (And are you going to tell me Mr. Sensor Sensoria is cool with doing long hauls with 4 people who don't bathe? Just, no.)

But that much aside, anyone who's ever been in an RV, a commercial airliner, or a modest-sized sea vessel knows you can cram a bathroom into a tiny space. Yes, you're going to be spinning in circles doing things, but the benefits of a spot to clean up, manage waste, and tend to injuries far outweigh any other use of that area. So regardless of what the writers say, a transport without a minimal refresher (to use the SW term) is counter to the ship's designed use. It has to be able to accommodate Wrecker, of course, but in the end it can double as storage when not in use. There is zero reason to not have one. Added to this, we now officially have a length for the Marauder, which is 30.3 meters (see below). RVs which are 1/5 of that size have bathrooms. You're going to tell me the Marauder doesn't?

If nothing else, since the TCW episodes and the beginning of S1 have pointed to them going on extended deployments with long hops between stops, they're going to need one or constantly be handling waste in much less efficient and sustainable ways.

Added to all of this, it's specifically called a modified variant of an Omicron. We're probably meant to think this means 'Tech would like to fly faster than the GAR and ship engineers think is reasonable for a shuttle' but IMO it extends to changes like this as well. So, there's a refresher in there, feel free to choose a spot. Right across from the fold out racks is a good candidate because in most imagery it's just weapons storage, and there's an entire upper-deck space which you could use for that.

Galley Definitely not one of these. The Batch are eating rations any time they're not on Kamino. You can make an argument they (and all clone units) have cook kits for improvised eating in the field; in the Batch's case I suspect that's a given, as they'd just start doing it because who's going to stop them? Additionally, the sheer amount of rations you would need to carry around to feed Wrecker would be ridiculous. (Remember when Wrecker talks about never being full in S2E13? I feel like this is an indication they did and still do, in fact, have to improvise a lot of additional caloric intake. Hunter probably thought Cut and Suu's farm was a genius idea. 'Grow your own food! Wrecker will never be hungry again! Fucking incredible.' Then Tech got the ship impounded.) I think you can argue for one being added, like with the refresher. Do they actually need those weapons racks anymore? Definitely no. But, it's not on there by default.

Beds As you can see in the concept art above, there are at least 3 racks that fold out from the wall on the port side. They're at a minimum wide enough to accommodate Wrecker, they may also be long enough for him to not need to curl up (unclear because in this shot from Bounty Lost his knees are bent and he's hugging Lula):

Three is a weird number since originally there were four of them. I figure the options here are:

The pilot/copilot/second row seats all look 100% more comfortable than the racks. We actually see Tech sleeping in one, at one point, so this has actual evidence to support it.

It's war time, they're never all asleep simultaneously. Someone is always flying the ship or on watch.

The floor is in effect the same as a rack, arguably preferable as you can't fall off it in the event Something Happens while you're out. So, one of them might actually be ON the floor sometimes.

They're not really intended to sleep on the ship for extended periods, but narratively we're lead to believe they have, many times, and needed to make adjustments to it as a result. Notice how quickly Wrecker whipped up a bed for Omega? IMO, not the first time they've done something like that--they did it for themselves first.

Cargo Hold Based on that screenshot of Omega above and the below shot from Cut and Run, the 'hold' of the ship is actually a storage area overhead, running the length of the ship. In that shot above of the rack, there are a series of yellow rungs which imply you can climb up somewhere on the port side. This is probably alternate access to that same overhead storage space.

In Cut and Run we see Echo, Omega, and Tech hide in it, coming back out from a slide-open hatch:

Given Tech's height this is probably somewhere around 1.5m high.

We can be reasonably certain the hold isn't under the ship, or at least storage there is minimal, due to a couple of things:

In all instances where the hyperdrive has been pulled, it's under the ship on the belly, and takes up a reasonable amount of space. Eg., in Retrieval, here's a bunch of stuff which has been pulled from the ship:

In instances where they're working on the ship from the outside, like in Cornered, the sides and belly never have panels open which contain empty space unless the ship's hardware have been removed to reach something:

So, the cargo hold is probably that space on the top from Cut and Run. It doesn't have much room; reasonably speaking, the area with the weapons and sleeping racks was probably a cargo hold as well, they just converted it to a more general purpose area. (So IMO this is a stronger argument for putting a commercial airliner-style bathroom in place of the weapons racks, particularly once they bail on the Empire.)

Dimensions - updated 11/3/23 Dawn of Rebellion has a Bad Batch section, and indicates the Marauder is 30.3m in length, 36.65m wide (presumably with the wings extended, and 12.41m tall (this probably includes the central stabilizer).

I will edit this to update it as we get more pictures. Since the toys that I know of have no basis the show from an internal perspective I didn't include anything from them.

Image sources:

All screencaps by me. Use at will.

Marauder underlay

Bad Batch Concept Art, Marauder Interior

[autogyne-redacted]

Reframing Patriarchy.

The popular model of patriarchy asserts that all men hold power over all women and gain privilege in doing so, paying little heed to the internal dynamics and differences among men and among women.

This model is profoundly inadequate.

Gender doesn't simply exist to privilege men. It exists to facilitate a more complex division of labor and social control. And while certain men are pushed to wield power, they are not free to use it as they see fit. Like company scrip, it only works within a system that is antithetical to any real kind of freedom.

A framework I like much better starts with recognizing that gender exists within larger systems of social coercion (Leviathan, nationalism, etc) and pushes ppl into specific roles that it needs filled along gendered lines.

While this varies from system to system and over time, a non-exhaustive list of roles is:

Within manhood:

Rulers.

Enforcers (cops, managers, etc. Chauvinism and misogyny can be seen as generalized ways of "keeping ppl in their place.").

Soldiers (often conceptualized as protectors)

Workers.

Villains (the abject, the punished): nationalism benefits from both internal and external threats to energize its militarism and the system actively produces enemies both internally and externally (see prisons producing more violence, intelligence agencies pushing ppl towards terrorism internally, US foreign policy in general, etc). It also benefits from populations whose visible punishment and suffering encourages others to be complacent.

Within Womanhood:

Child rearers: biological production, the mundane labor of daycare, and wielding authority over children to shape them into useful men and women.

Workers (pink)

Supporters: doing care work, organizational work, emotional work, house work, generally doing invisibilized work to sustain others and make up for where they're weak.

Trophies/cultural objects: to be beautiful, to remain pure and unsullied by the world, to give men something to strive for, to let men vicariously engage with things they're prohibited from being themselves, etc.

The vulnerable: an objectified role, the system uses the supposed vulnerability of women to justify and catalyze violence (see: lynchings, the image of oppressed Muslim women used to justify recent wars, the figure of Helen of Troy "[launching] a thousand ships," etc.)

These roles are flexible and show up at different levels, and the ways ppl are coerced to engage with them varies massively by intersecting demographics.

white women and women of color are pushed to engage with producing and raising children in very different ways, but the role is significant across racial demographics.

A man's normative role as "head of the household" will include elements of being a ruler/enforcer even if the man in question doesn't perform these roles professionally.

People can lean into these various roles or not, but I think they're all roles that are meaningfully gendered and that some ppl are coerced into / have projected into them.

Trans people are sometimes pushed into roles based off their assignment, sometimes off their transitioned gender position, and often towards abject and fetishized positions in general.

These roles are not strictly limited by gender (eg women can be cops) but I think they are solidly *gendered* in that gender as a system exists to produce them and they tie in closely with gendered values and gendered power dynamics. EG one of the major functions of masculinity is producing a sufficient population of cops and soldiers and shitty dads, if women want to take on these roles that's allowed lots of places.

[thedreadvampy]

this is my new gripe forget talking about "die" vs "unalive" if I have to see one more person talking about "sexual assault" or "SA" when they specifically and exclusively mean "rape" I'm gonna fucking lose it.

apart from anything else idk about other legislatures but while in general/casual use I do personally think rape is a subcategory of sexual assault, in both Scottish and English law I'm pretty sure that rape and sexual assault are two distinct things. attempted rape falls under sexual assault but rape is its own crime?

and I'm not wanting to lean on that tbh because the legal definition of rape is Bad Actually - extremely heterocisnormative (UK law is particularly bad on this bc rape legally can only happen with a penis, any other penetration is Assault By Penetration), extremely restrictive, and, due to being a discrete legal construct, draws extremely arbitrary boundaries between which things which in my experience are pretty much on the same level are and are not rape.

and I also don't. think that legal constructs of sexual assault from within a carceral system are the most useful even if they were broader and more reflective of the human experiences of rape and sexual assault.

hooooooowever. they don't need to be separate things for my point to stand. let's ignore the law (because it is. deeply flawed.) and just talk about what sexual assault entails.

Sexual assault includes (depending on your definition):

Unwanted sexual touching (with hands or objects)

Unwanted kissing

Attempted rape

Cumming, pissing or spitting on someone sexually without consent

Violating someone's bodily autonomy for sexual purposes (eg secretly feeding them things, looking up their skirt)

Groping/feeling up without consent

If we're going to get technical, generally speaking in a legal/professional context, sexual assault means specifically unwanted sexual touching. however I don't think it's unreasonable in an online context to bundle in other forms of sexual violence including:

Masturbating in front of someone

Trying to coerce/threaten/trick someone into any sexual act (whether with yourself, with another person or by themselves)

Flashing someone or sending sexual images without consent

Pressuring people into sexual conversations/situations

Watching/recording people in sexual situations without consent

Creating or obtaining nudes of someone without consent

and loads of other stuff that's traumatic and miserable as well - I don't want to get too granular

rape is an aspect of sexual violence, but not all sexual assault or sexual violence is rape.

rape includes:

someone having sex with you against your will or without you being able to give full consent

that's it that's specifically what it is

the only flex in this definition is what you count as sex and how you define the bounds of consent for the purposes of the conversation

but like

do you see the problem?

do you see how. wherever we place rape in relation to sexual assault. attempted rape is also a form of sexual assault.

do you see how it's important that "rape" isn't synonymous with a term that also includes "attempted rape"?

in some - many! - circumstances it's useful to group together all these experiences of sexual violence. the edges are not clearcut and they all deserve to be understood as significant and traumatic.

but if we're taking about rape we're taking about rape. We're talking about a specific thing and it requires specific language. If we unilaterally consider rape and sexual assault to be 1:1 synonyms, there's absolutely no room to acknowledge the difference between "attempted rape" and "rape" (other than by removing anything that isn't a full on successful rape from the definition of sexual assault, in which case we're just removing the language to talk about that type of traumatic experience)

they're not the same thing and the use of SA as a euphemistic way to talk about specifically rape is convincing a lot of people that they are the same thing. and that does immediate measurable harm to our ability to actually talk about our experiences.

[star-trek-smash-or-pass]

Hey guess what

Did you guess "new blog in the smash or pass ecosystem but this one specialises in trek characters"? I fucking hope so. Because that's all I've got here!

I was inspired of course by @charactersmashorpass / @charactersmashorpass-2 but also @smashingorpassing and especially @ace-attorney-smash-or-pass who put the fandom specificity idea in my head.

Please only interact (this includes submitting characters) if you are 18 or older. If you're part of a system, this has to be true both for all fronters at the time of any given interaction and for the body. All polls will run for a week, if one doesn't I posted it wrong and you're free to point it out.

Rules for character submissions:

(they got a bit long so they're going under the cut, along with the link)

Has to be from a licensed Star Trek medium. Beta canon is fine, OCs are not. Unless it's very funny, then I might make a (rare!) exception.

They don't have to be a major character or even appear more than once but it'd be good if there was enough canon information for people to make an informed decision. Having a canon appearance (that isn't super blurry) would almost always fulfil this requirement but you may have to provide an image yourself.

It is not a requirement for it to be feasible to have sex with them. If you wanna fuck a non-corporeal character, we'll assume you'd figure out a way. It will be assumed they also really wanna try to have sex with you if you choose smash.

Controversially, I will not have a universal minimum age but they do have to pass the Harkness test which includes being of sexual maturity for their species (tho I'll rule they also have to be of more general maturity for their species, some real life humans become "sexually mature" before their teens but that doesn't mean you should fuck them; characters from asexually reproducing species will ofc only be judged on overall maturity). If their age is unknown or it's unknown when their species would be considered mature, I will consider the way the narrative treats them. So TL;DR: Kes is fine, Zero is not.

(As an extension of this, artificial life forms designed to function like adults will not be disqualified based on how long they've been active while artificial life forms designed to emulate children/minors will never qualify. Where this line is drawn in unclear cases will be decided by me on a case by case basis. So the EMH is fine, Lal is not.)

(recently adjusted) If the character is shown at different life stages within one series, I will judge based on the one people are most likely to think of when they think of that character (eg Jake and Nog are not acceptable) and if they are to be considered from another series where they are an adult, they have to be at least a recurring character in it, very small narrative roles and cameos do not count. As a rule of thumb: if someone only watching the show where they're an adult would remember them after, that's probably okay. So Prodigy!Wes is fine, Picard!Wes is not.

That said, you are allowed to submit specific versions of a character, including alternate timeline versions, if they pass all other requirements, eg you can submit specifically Solid Odo or Dilf Harry from the episode Timeless, but you still can't submit adult Naomi from Shattered.

I reserve the right to reject any submission, especially if I have reason to believe it was made in bad faith, but other than that scenario I don't think this is likely to happen.

Here's the link to the submission form:

Have fun! <3

[hollywoodsargeant]

okay so I know like you said the jersey thing has been talked abt alot but am about to talk about it more bc I am SO confused. as a very nonmerican. WHAT the hell is the jersey and what the hell is the jacket. do you maybe have pictures🥲🥲🥲🥲 bc I tried searching but a bunch of different stuff came up and Im so confused. 💀

oh i don't mind talking about the jersey thing!! i was more surprised bc i didn't realize how much people would want to talk about it lol. but not complaining i love to speak. and it is definitely a moment... anyways i will try and find a reference image

idk here's some guys playing football. a jersey like that. and even green too i'm pretty sure i didn't explicity say it until the most recent chapter but their school's colors have always been green and white in my head. so the home jersey is green and the away jersey (the one oscar/mia would be wearing at a home game) is white. not that the color is really all that important but. that's what it is. in My brain

and bc they're clearly sized to fit the guys when they have their pads on they're kinda loose so i would always see the players wear them over a hoodie or something when they wore the jerseys to school on fridays. if you wear it with nothing under it you are a freak sorry man... but then that would also translate to the girls who wore them in the stands. i presume most often worn over a hoodie that also belonged to their boyfriend but you can wear it over ur own hoodie... clearly logan isn't. because he is a freak

but the main deal with the jersey. i guess. is. for every high school (and college too i assume) sport the players would be given two jerseys, one for home games and one for away games (different colors bc you might play a team that has the same colors as you, usually the away jersey is like the more neutral color if there is one, eg white out of green and white), and bc they only have to wear the one while they're playing they'd give the other one to their partner so they could match them in the stands. Wear My Number, Baby. i actually have worn my friend's hockey jersey before now that i think about it

and as for the jacket probably something like good old archie andrews. except green (and white). but a varsity football jacket nontheless. and in my head they have the players' names/last names embroidered on the sleeve which is probably a byproduct of Hey i was in the marching band and my championship jacket had my name on the sleeve but surely that can also be a thing in football. SURELY

but it's the same sort of deal in the possessiveness sake like wearing ur boyfriend's varsity jacket is also kind of a Thing. it's less of a deal than the jersey probably even if high school football jerseys usually don't have the player's name on it, it's just their number. the backs of all the jerseys from my high school just said our mascot above the number idk if it's different in other places. and USUALLY the jackets wouldn't have numbers on it bc some guys' numbers would change between years like the numbers are distributed by size of the jersey (so 1 would usually end up on a smaller guy) and they get given their stuff at the start of the season. but guys WOULD put their number in their instagram bio/username. logan totally does that fyi

[gattsuru]

GPU power consumption gets a little wonky: most 'gaming' graphics cards are rated between 75-300 watts because of the limits of the power interface, though recent cards (eg nVidia 4090) have broken into 400-500 watt ratings. ((The cards can and do briefly exceed these 'TDPs', but only for parts of a second.))

That said, even idling in mid-tier games, you're not going to use all that power, especially on newer GPUs. Switching FFXIV between running idle at full FPS and running it at 15 FPS drops power consumption low enough that the fan on a 30xx-series GPU will just turn off, and saves about 50 watts. Completely logging out and closing the game is closer to 80ish for my system on just the GPU, and some differences on CPU/mainboard memory.

The nVidia h200 is the current datacenter-class graphics card, and runs around 700 watts. It's getting split between many users in practice -- you can't read text as fast as even a mid-end GPU (eg, nVidia 3060 running Mixtral can spit it out about 20-tokens-per-second) -- but assuming that you _did_, it's about equivalent to three mid-range gaming desktops idling, , or one small space heater.

Image gen numbers can be better or worse; you can get a decent image every thirty seconds at 512x512 pixel about 200 watts, and about 1min at the same power to 4x upscale. If you're trawling really broad spaces, this could be roughly equivalent to boiling water on an (American) electric hot plate.

On the other hand, if you're using ControlNet or more directed search, individual productions cost more power and take more time, but you're likely to need a lot less of them.

Conversely, img2img-heavy workflows like NekomataSaren's here are both closer to at least Gposing-level creation, if not (by Saren's own admission) Real Art, but while they take a lot of time and generations, they're very low-step-count and only passing a smaller portion of the image through; they're much less power-intensive and provide better control -- I'd expect his monitor ended up taking more power than the imagegen on his GPU for that whole sequence.

((I'll also caveat that most '60 watt' lightbulbs don't actually consume 60 watts, because for dumb historical reasons we advertise based on what how many lumens an old incandescent lightbulb produced. Unless it blinds you to look at it, a "60 watt"-advertised LED bulb will probably only consume 10ish watts.))

The economic and social concerns for AIgen make a lot more serious arguments than the environmental ones, at least with current models and equipment.

[wilhelmfink]

periodic self-reflection - 10.29.24. 11:58pm

we're gonna do a little check-in. few things have been weighing on my mind.

earlier tonight I saw my first roach in my apartment. I screamed repeatedly as I tried to shoot it with a gun while my dad egged me on over facetime. this is: living alone in the city of dreams!

one tab over, my boyfriend is streaming a scary game. I don't like this one, but I love his voice, so somehow I can still fall asleep to it. funny how he is starting his night as mine is ending (a little later than it should, but that's cross-country long distance for ya).

I'm in the midst of my first ultra-viral moment. it's overwhelming. my first tattoo is probably second to this, and then all of my halsey twitter moments after that. it's exciting, and unexpected. bit whoreish of people not to compensate me for the views i'm bringing them as, oh idk, a cover image on nowthis for example. ah well, guess all that work painting my face saturday night for a costume i thought of in june ended up paying off somehow.

halloweekend has a record of being a little cursed for me. i'm not going to say it's over this year until after thursday, but it's had a shit reputation over the years. the past three years were actually comically bad and fully traumatic. the past three halloweekends changed the course of my life. all in ways that have become quite positive and have transformed my life in unexpected and beautiful ways.

speaking of. this is hard for me to say. but I have a sneaking suspicion that I haven't let myself fully open up to any of the people i've met or grown closer to in the past two years because of how I lost everyone two years ago. i've just felt such a divide between how I act with my friends of 9+ years vs those i've known for a few years or less. and of course, certain levels of comfortability come with time, which is what i've dismissed it as. but i've noticed more and more around my newer friends (who i've still known for 1.5 years at minimum, which is crazy!) that I really hold back from more difficult conversations, giving them advice that they might not want to hear - basically saying anything that might upset them for even a second. I feel like it's made me a yes man, someone spineless. I feel like my judgement is permanently fractured. I want to believe the best in people, I see the world behind the delusion of very foggy rose-colored glasses. i rarely let myself think of things negatively (unless you've really done something to deserve it) because I don't want to rain on anyone's parade. I think my friends deserve better than what they're settling for, but they also know that. and I know that as much as we tell each other that, that true realization and subsequent change has to come from them. i've been where they are, and I was abandoned when I didn't follow orders. so, I think it's a mix of being patient with them, but also saying the hard things that they might not always want to hear when they come to you. which i've been trying extra hard to do lately. I think i'm just so permanently terrified that the people i've grown to love and be so happy around will also up and leave me too.

another thing that has felt, refreshing, I suppose - is again, how I feel with my friends of 9+ years. she told me the day she broke up with me that I was unable to have intelligent and thoughtful conversations (nice!) so naturally I wondered if I was actually a fucking idiot who couldn't comprehend more than the clique series, re-watching the same movies and tv shows over and over- oh wait, we actually had that in common! lol. well anyways, I rediscovered over time that that actually wasn't true! i've been so lucky the past year to spend so much more time with my best friends- all of them, as scattered across the country as they are- than I have in years. having the chance to talk for hours about anything and everything without worrying about the clock running out. hehe era went incredibly hard, and i've felt such youthful joy in remembering that alcohol doesn't need to be involved in order to be social in any capacity. I really think I used alcohol as a crutch after her. her words dug so deep and they truly fucked with my self image, so I fully let loose and bought into the party girl lifestyle that I was dabbling with as 2022 progressed. and I don't have any regrets about that, I truly think I needed to live that crazy lifestyle for a while to find myself again - because I ended up getting some wonderful friends out of it, and countless stories. and looking back, I think I know why she said those things to me. in about the eight month dissolution of our friendship, I slowly held more and more back. just about everything I said and did was met with judgement, doubt, or a fight anyways (not unlike the previous 16 years, but it really ramped up) so I just shut up. and because of it, I felt farther than ever from my best friends that I had been inseparable from for 4 years. I was already bad at confrontation and talking about uncomfortable things, and i'm sure me choosing "just shut up" definitely made things worse. at the time though, that seemed like the only option. every day felt like suffocation, and I never wanted to feel that way again.

and yet, i did. but instead of repeating my doormatting pattern (at least, to avoid breaking any previous records), I took them out of my life. some I gave too many chances. one I left without a word and explanation, because she already knows. it hurt because I saw pieces of my past behavior in her, things I wish I could've apologized for once karma brought them around. but then she ended up being just as worse, if not totally irredeemable, as almost anyone could've predicted. another's anxieties kept manifesting in ways that hurt my friends and I too many times- and once I felt that familiar lack of air, I knew it was over. the last one slowly choked the air out of me with his monotone berating, leaving me passed out from exhaustion on my own couch as my body fought for a way to escape. and it wasn't always that way, it was good for so long. it was so pure, I can tell from the way I wrote about it last year. but i don't think i'd be able to remember those feelings if not for those honey-coated musings.

It's been two years and I feel like I just started feeling like myself again. it sounds like a long time, but it felt like the blink of an eye. 2022-23 were for fucking around, trying everything, processing grief, partying, sex, meeting new people, hating brooklyn, grabbing all the pieces I liked and chucking them into the future to take with me whenever I decided I was ready to sit down and sort through it all. and then, standing under the BQE after eating one of the greatest sandwiches of my life, one admission to an old friend with a complicated yet lovely history elicited a swift emotional punch to the gut - and something clicked. have you ever felt years of pent up love suddenly burst out of some pair of metaphorical, idiotic gates you built in your head? but you're glad you built them, because you wouldn't have ended up where you are if you hadn't? for the first time in two years (or seven, if you want to cut that deep) we were finally ready. and I could write about this for hours, but I just checked the time so I gotta wrap it up soon. plus I wanna save all the love juice for some long mushy essay I want to give him on some other special day :)

all of that to say. that moment kind of put a blanket of calm over an area of my life that was definitely the subject of irritation over the years. a sigh of relief replaced all the sharp intakes of the past. so I spent 2024 falling in love, spending almost as much time living in a cozy apartment in the city of my dreams as I have jetsetting around the country and across the ocean, floating down a river with my parents that I can call my second home, never going too many days without seeing my lovely friends, dedicating time each week to therapy with my mother that I begged for for years that changed both of our lives in the best way imaginable, and living the dreams of my inner child - from running around the studio and the scottish hills where they shot harry potter, handshakes outside of the parent trap house in london, romping around disney world and disneyland where sad is basically impossible, and going back to visit both my high and middle schools to cap it off.

I feel very proud of the person i've become in the past few years. I feel very new and improved, but I also feel like i've found and reconnected with pieces of myself that got a little lost along the way. I never understood what people meant when they said those things, as it can sound pretty generic- but now I do. and i'm smiling to myself because i did all that work without even realizing it some of the time. there's still so much I want to change, and improve, and muse over until I decide what's right for me - which is good, and doesn't negate any of the progress i've made so far, which is a lot!

there's always more to write, but it's past my bedtime, if i even have one anymore. i love this place for always listening, even after 15 years- wait. more than half my life has been on this website

okay. that's a different crisis to have.

happy halloweekend, kids. pray for me, i'll pray for you.

love. 10.30.24. 1:35am

[heskynn]

hey adam! unfortunately the nsfw flag (or whatever nonsense) that tumblr has you marked for keeps redirecting me back to the mobile version of your blog :( so no custom blog layout or pages or links :( :( so, I'm not sure if you had links out (eg to a weebly or toyhouse or other portfolio of ur ocs) on a custom blog layout. well, even if you don't have an OCs page, maybe you could share any OCs you made or did a lot of work on when you weren't on tumblr?

Oh that's what it is huh? I thought I had the NSFW tag removed from my blog... oh well.

Hmn P= OCs, yeah I can do that!

[Art By: Sleepingwoolf]

I've been slowly working on these guys, mainly the first two, and their setting. From left to right, they're Chelsea, Mil, Gene and Hazel. They're kathden (literally: cat people) and ki (dog), the human-analogues in their world, a post-post-apocalyptic setting with a strong focus on trains/trams and plants. Mil works on the lines, Chelsea comes from a very traditionally religious family but manages to get a 'acceptably feminine' job working for him, Gene and Hazel are girlfriends and old friends of Mil. Chelsea and Mil end up having an affair in which she starts to breakout into the world a bit more.

I want to write a full novel for these guys, but their world has a long way to go regarding development, and I need more writing practise in the mean time anyway.

[Art by me.]

[art by me]

I've also been working on a shorter long form story about this guy, Taran, a shapeshifting black dragon enslaved to a kingdom, it's... not gonna ever be posted fully to Tumblr cos it's fully intended to be an erotic piece, but the summary is that he's getting older and the king wants to ensure he, the king, has a replacement/more dragons, and has assigned a young human woman to Taran for him to transform into a dragon for that purpose, they become friends fairly quickly, and in the process of carrying out the king's wishes fall in love. It's a slow-paced transformation-kink story with a happy ending.

[art by me]

I also adopted this guy, and now my partner and I have a whole bunch of leather wearing dino-bros. Petroc is a challenge to me to have a character involved in kink artwork who is NOT explicitly sexual himself, so tumblr may actually see some more of this guy!

He doesn't have a full blown story yet, but I can tell you he's an estranged father slowly getting back in contact with his daughter after she initiates contact against the wishes of her mother, he has a seedy history and a seedy present, mostly just to make ends meet. He's the only one of the bunch, so far anyway, to be a cyborg, after getting injured in an accident.

I've been doing a lot of comms and very slowly cranking back up my passion for OCs, I'm honestly still kind of 'getting over' Proxy =P which I still love a great deal and I wish I could find that sort of passion for any of my other projects--I say this like I don't know that just investing the time won't bring that together. Most of my stuff was heavily NSFW for the longest time, and... okay so it still is... I enjoy that... but I'm having a good time with SFW illustrations now too, which is one of the main reasons I felt semi-comfortable coming back to tumblr, as I'd actually have stuff to post.

Mil's setting is the one I'm most interested in, I felt very detached from it for a long while, with no real clear image of what I wanted the setting to be like, and all the art I have of it so far is different, but I'm really starting to get a feel for it, and while more research is needed, I'm feeling better about wanting to depict their world myself, or buy art for it, and even story fragments are revealing themselves to me--sadly Hazel and Gene don't look like they're going to be the major players I thought they were, but eh, there's still plenty of time for them to come into their own.

[somebody-909]

Stalkyoo After the Formal (pt.1) - Role Reversal and Yeong-Gi's Denial of His Feelings

The black and white formal acts as a turning point in Shin-ae and Yeong-gi’s relationship, establishing their friendship and giving them moments of romantic tension.

It all leads to the emotional finale on the hospital balcony, where Yeong-gi first feels genuine romantic feelings for Shin-Ae.

This analysis looks at key moments that show how Shin-ae and Yeong-gi’s relationship changes after the formal arc — displaying emerging romantic feelings, and why their roles seemed to have reversed: it is now Yeong-gi who is hesitant to get any closer to Shin-ae, and she is the one eager to connect with him.

Ep. 75 | Elevator - Why the awkwardness and melancholy?

When Yeong-gi first sees Shin-ae after the balcony he seems quite... polite and distanced. He doesn’t act like the Yeong-gi of the past at all. He doesn't joke around with her like he used to... He doesn't smile or act friendly and he awkwardly turns away after looking at her.

He only smiles in the first panel, and his expression is… complicated. Note his soft smile, slightly closed eyes and slightly furrowed brows.

It's a soft, fond but slightly melancholic look.

This mixed expression is caused by genuine fondness for the person it’s for, with the additional tension and slight melancholy/sadness caused by the fact that this fondness is unspoken. This Look™, is the first expression he gives her after the balcony.

(But if I’m speaking more subjectively, this is the look people give those they love, but where it is unspoken. The melancholy associated with the expression makes it less likely to be purely platonic in nature — platonic friendships don’t often have this sense of something hidden and unspoken, and more often have relatively straightforward reciprocal affection. The romantic nature is also emphasized since The Look™ is being given to someone Yeong-gi has known for only a few weeks/months.)

At the least, this unspoken fondness may explain why Yeong-gi seems so awkward afterward:

He senses a difference in their feelings towards each other (he feels this because he is somewhat aware of the true nature of his, but Shin-ae is not/would not be at this stage)

He does not appreciate the nature of these feelings and does not want to entertain them (for reasons mentioned in my balcony analysis)

Shin-Ae also notices his odd demeanour and tells him she thought he'd be more excited - Yeong-gi's behaviour is purposefully shown to be different now. It's hard to imagine this is the same guy who'd joke around, easily and outwardly showing his joy to be around Shin-ae.

In Ep. 78, Yeong-gi is called by Shin-ae after she’s forced late when Dieter passes out. He has The Look™ while speaking to her. (Notably, Yeong-gi only has this look when they are not directly looking at each other). When Yeong-gi picks her up, he seems awkward once again… especially due to seeming like a third wheel in Shin-ae and Dieter's budding relationship.

He has The Look™ in images 1, 2, and 4. And in image 3, he seems very awkward being with Shin-Ae and Dieter. (I'd argue his expression also shows displeasure — he slightly, and under-the-surface, doesn't like what's happening).

Ep. 85 | A Bear and Allergies - Compassion, but only at a distance

After Shin-ae’s sister invades her home and Shin-ae calls over the bois, she is obviously quite unnerved and uneasy. Yeong-gi immediately recognizes this and in aims of comforting her, tells Dieter to give her a hug (which he is unable to do without freaking out so he gives Shin-ae a hug using a bear as proxy).

Yeong-gi understands how Shin-ae feels and wants to comfort her, but instead of doing this himself (eg. by talking to her, giving her a pat on the shoulder, etc...), he tells Dieter to. Although he's being a good wingman, there’s an interesting sense of Yeong-gi making sure to keep his distance, even if he wants to be there for her.

When Shin-ae notices Yeong-gi’s allergic reaction (which they think may be a fever), she reaches to touch his forehead to gauge his temperature — he quickly declines and moves her hand aside.

In my black and white formal analysis, I discuss the motif of distance and how it’s seen in Shin-ae and Yeong-gi’s dynamic — and how it’s represented through touch and their hands. Characters who want to connect emotionally will also show physical signs they do (like extending your hand to someone). Emotional connection often requires characters to physically be present together as well. Characters who want to avoid connection avoid touch and keep their distance.

Here, Shin-ae shows a desire to “reach” Yeong-gi by helping him, and this is reflected when she extends her hand and reaches to touch his forehead. A refusal of her touch in this case is also a refusal of her help and her attempt to connect to him. Shin-ae shows some slight discomfort at this – it was a harmless attempt to help him, but he doesn’t want her to.

Yeong-gi follows with an explicit verbal refusal:

“Again, you don’t have to worry about me… You just had your home broken into, you need to put yourself before me, alright?”

This is fitting with Yeong-gi’s overarching character arc — he has an extremely low sense of self-worth that prevents him from accepting others’ concern. Him telling Shin-ae to put herself before him also fits his thinking: that those he cares about are more important than him, Shin-ae included. And it doesn’t matter if what she actually wants is to help him.*

*This is an interesting trait of Yeong-gi's... despite caring deeply for Shin-Ae, he undermines her intelligence and wishes by not accepting her affection for him, and carefully controlling how close she gets. Although born from insecurity, it is also, fascinatingly, covertly manipulative.

Ep. 85-6 | Bills - I care about you

Yeong-gi asks Shin-ae if she is able to get to where she is staying for the night and she gives him more information than he asks for, showing new emotional vulnerability. He notices this and gives her The Look™ — he appreciates that she is now more open to him.

When Yeong-gi sees her overdue bills, he makes sure to let her know that her financial struggles do not determine her worth and anyone who tells her otherwise isn’t worth her time.

“Remember you’ve always got someone to lean on with your friends, okay?”

His spiel is incredibly heartwarming, and we can understand that he states these things from his own heart. However, he keeps it impersonal, stating "your friends" (not “me” or “us”) and instead allowing Shin-Ae to define whether he fits under that category as well. Yeong-gi is no longer trying to assert his friendship anymore.

After opening up more in response and letting the boys take her to the hospital to stay with her father, she removes the "Stalker" in Yeong-gi's contact name in her phone, showing development in their relationship since they first met and a large difference in how she sees him now — they're friends, and she thinks so too.

Ep. 89 | Insolence, but only for Shin-ae (and only in secret) & a Kousuke/Yeong-gi parallel

After learning of Shin-Ae's etiquette classes, Yeong-gi enters Kousuke’s office, specifically to start trouble with him. Yeong-gi is shown to try his best lately to obey his family members (namely his father), but once again we see how he is fine with starting trouble, even if it costs him, if it's for those he cares about — despite Kousuke reminding Yeong-gi of the repercussions of getting in trouble with their father, Yeong-gi doesn’t back down.

Kousuke: “You know you’re only going to anger father if he catches you being indolent.”

Yeong-gi: “I don’t give a crap if he finds out.”

Yeong-gi then aggressively asks him about the classes Kousuke put her in:

Kousuke: “It’s for her own good.”

Yeong-gi: “What do you mean, her own good?”

Kousuke: “... She’s the worst employee I’ve ever seen, so I signed her up for classes to fix her issues.”

Yeong-gi: “Have you ever voiced your concerns… tell her what she can improve upon? … She may have her flaws, but she’s a lot more capable than you think!”

Kousuke: “I’m preparing her for what’s to come her way in the future.”

Yeong-gi: “You don’t even know if she wants this career for her future! Everytime I see her, she’s miserable. Like she wants to leave. She’s uncomfortable!”

In my black and white formal analysis, I discuss how there are multiple instances— where Yeong-gi and Kousuke, as well as how they affect Shin-Ae, are purposefully contrasted — and this is paralleled here.

Consistently in these instances, (although Kousuke’s intentions are often good) Yeong-gi is shown to be the one who best understands Shin-Ae. At the very least, Yeong-gi is shown here to care for Shin-Ae enough to confront his brother and potentially face the wrath of his father, despite trying especially hard to be in their good graces recently.

However, it is important to note — Yeong-gi goes out of his way to ensure his intentions of helping Shin-ae are indirect and she does not know. Instead, he tries to help her in roundabout ways, secretly.

Yeong-gi does not want his good intentions to reach her.

Conclusions

Yeong-gi displays a notable difference in how he acts, especially around Shin-ae. His new emerging feelings conflict his insecurities, resulting in a standoffish Yeong-gi who is secretive in his affection, and calculatingly tries to distance himself from Shin-ae. But... this isn't what he truly wants, and is instead, another form of self-sabotage.

However, as time goes on, Yeong-gi cannot keep this facade up indefinitely... and he's occasionally caught off guard, giving us glimpses into what he truly feels.

[sorry-i-ship-drarry]

Feelings without a name

I think I couldn't provide too much Angst or any if that but I'd compensate it in prompt 20, hope you still like it anyways.

I'm gonna do both of them btw-

Dialogue Prompt - 22. Look he/she wants you, just make him/her happy | MILD ANGST | FLUFF | DOMESTIC|

" could you scooch a little ?" Draco asked harry with two wine glasses in his hands.

Harry took his legs off the couch, shifting over and making some space for draco.

" thanks " draco murmured as he collapsed down next to harry and handed one wine glass to harry.

" white ?" Harry asked and draco nodded.

" what did I miss ?" Draco asked he he shifted to bring his back supported against the arm rest and his feets tucked beneath Harry's thighs.

" they're trying to set me up on a date with someone and apparently making a deal of how long I would be single for " harry rolled his eyes with a little playful grin over his face.

" oh, count me in on the bet " draco announced to the room full of their friends raising his wine glass.

" you're supposed to support me " harry playfully hit draco before he raised his right arm and adjusted himself to lay his head over draco's chest. Draco very casually circled his arms around Harry's available torso and gave him more space so harry was cuddled into him.

" I mean it only makes sense, you've been single for more longer than my parents are married for " draco joked. Harry nudged draco by his elbows before laughing it off.

" how about the guy from the flower shop ?" Blaise asked cuddling Ron into him.

" eh, he gives straight vibes " harry mumbled

" okay how about the guy you met in IKEA, he gave you his number didn't he ?" Ginny asked eating from her bowl of popcorn

" nah, he's too lanky " harry shook his head pouting.

" what about " Hermione paused thinking of someone " oh right, the guy from your quidditch practices "

"mione I saw him making out with Megan" harry raised an eyebrow at her to validate his point

" date a rabbit, you won't find flaws in it " Seamus suggested

" as good as it sounds, I wouldn't make a nice humping toy " harry joked.

" harrrry, eww" everyone cringed throwing some popcorn at him before the room dissolved into laughter giving up the idea of setting harry up with someone.

Almost 2 hours later, harry was wandering about the house trying to find draco and ultimately realising he wasn't on the floor and decided to check upon their sneak up spot, the terrace.

Harry almost smiled when he caught glimpse of draco standing against the railings before harry stepped on another stair and caught full glance of draco and theo kissing.

Until that moment harry had never realised how much draco kissing someone might've effected him until he saw the very look of it and couldn't bring himself to look away and only broke his trance when he heard his name being yelled and in all abruptness harry went downstairs a strange feeling constraining his heart.

" where were you ?" Hermione asked but harry only shook his head not trusting his voice. Hermione frowned at him before she tried asking if everything was fine and harry responded with a nod.

But everything was far from fine.

Harry always knew he somewhat felt differently about draco but until now he never knew how differently or what kind of different and now when he saw him kissing theo, he knew it was a strange combination of sadness and jealousy forming a strange chemical reaction inside of him.

But he tried not be effected by it everytime after that he saw draco. The more he saw him, the more he was faced with harsh reality that draco liked theo because if he didn't, he'd had never kissed him. And in all sanity harry maintained his distance until he figured what he felt for draco. Of course it wasn't love, but it wasn't nothing either, it was something, it just didn't had a name.

Although it was very vividly clear to everyone that harry was partially ignoring draco. It was clear in the ways that harry sat now on the floor rather than on the couch with draco even when it has space, or even when draco offered but nobody dared to ask because everyone knew better that if harry wanted to talk about something, he'd be clear about it and if he didn't, he's just waiting for the right moment but draco played the only exception in his life. He didn't take Harry's shit and more often called him right out which created a lot fights between them in past and present and perhaps this was also the reason why harry always felt draco was one of a kind.

" you're ignoring me " draco said one day when he dropped by Harry's office before they went home.

Harry was stuffing back his bag when he heard draco but didn't stop and continued keeping his things in the bag " I'm not "

" yes you are " Draco snapped as he slammed the door shut and dropping his bags on the floor.

" I'm not " harry replied zipping his bag and wearing his coat.

" don't lie to me. You've been keeping distance. I want to know if there's something I did wrong ?" Draco asked following after harry as he walked in the room, locking things away.

" you didn't do anything draco and I am not ignoring you " harry replied more sternly as he casted the curtains shut.

" don't fucking lie to me " draco snapped as he whirled harry around to face him

" you think I don't know you're ignoring me, I can see it. You won't even look at me as if I've done something wrong " draco scrunched his face as if he was disgusted.

" yes,fine, you have. I thought we're best friends and supposed to tell each other everything but somehow I think it may have slipped your mind to mention that you're snogging theo now " harry Snapped jerking away from draco's hold and collected his bags of the table.

" oh " draco only replied as he too slowly turned around " I " he breathed " I didn't know you knew that "

" I saw you two kissing " harry sternly replied facing draco properly now.

" it was nothing act-"

" then why didn't you tell me ?" Harry crossed his arms over his front.

" because it meant nothing- or- I don't know- it doesn't matter. You don't like theo and I would never date someone I know you hate " draco hastily replied decreasing the distance between them.

" do you like him though ?" Harry sucked in his cheeks waiting for an answer.

" do you ?" He asked again when met with silence.

" I- I don't know " draco replied shrugging. Harry exhaled heavily before he picked up his bag and almost left the room when Draco stopped him.

" wait- I- I really mean it, I don't know. If it were something I'd had told you before "

" do me a favour draco then, if you know then tell me " harry replied and Marched out of his office.

The next time they saw each other was 2 weeks later at Luna's birthday and harry was sitting at the bar talking with the bartender, when his eyes fell upon the door of the bar and people outside who seemed to be fighting. Harry frowned trying to get a clearer image when he finally saw the other man walking away, theo and in an instant harry realised it was draco standing abandoned. It ached harry to even find the sight of a draco looking hurt. And Before he could even process anything, he was making his way Outside to draco.

" hi " harry titled his head for emphasis.

" hey " draco sighed as he turned around to face harry.

" saw you two fighting " harry reduced some distance between them.

"yeah- we- well we haven't started dating yet and everything and he already have issues " draco sighed leaning against the wall before sitting down over the ground, his knees pressed against his chest.

All of Harry's anger, jealousy evaporated when he saw draco. Didn't he Always swore to be the best friend he could ever be?!

Without much thinking harry went and sat down next to him.

" I mean I am no one to say but if he's already fighting do you think he's the one for you ?" Harry asked as he side glanced draco.

Draco inhaled sharply leaning his head over Harry's shoulder before speaking up " I don't know. I like him harry but I - I can't date knowing I'm dating Someone you absolutely loathe and it's not because of how he's an asshole or anything but because he treats you like shit-"

" draco- wait- stop, you can't not date him because of me. If you like him date him " harry egged him on

" but-"

" no. If you like him don't let me be a reason to stop you from dating him. I'll deal with it. So what If I'll only meet you guys twice a month or call his name wrong every single time, I'll deal with it " harry Chuckled. Draco gave a small laugh before he raised his head from Harry's shoulder and looked at him.

" you'll be fine with it ?" Draco asked

Harry wanted to say no, how could he be fine with everything, how could he be fine knowing that he doesn't have draco to call his own even if he didn't know what he felt for him. No, he wasn't fine with seeing him being someone else's boyfriend. He wanted draco to be his boyfriend but he wasn't selfish enough to stop him, he'd never be.

" does he like you ?" Harry only asked

" yeah, I think so " draco raised his eyebrows for emphasis.

" does he want you ?" Harry asked again

" yeah " draco nodded.

" then be with him " harry replied

" harry -"

" look he wants you, just make him happy alright " harry cut him off.

" and what about you ? Does that make you happy?" Draco asked looking into harry's eyes.

Harry heart skipped a beat, his eyes travelling from his eyes to his lips and then again to his eyes and he whispered " yes. I'll be happy if he makes you happy "

Draco brushed a strand behind Harry's ear before he rested his head against his shoulder again, draco arm encircling around Harry's muscles in comfort.

" what kind of a boyfriend do you think he is ?" Draco asked after a while.

" a shit one compared to me" harry gave a small laugh

" really? And you'd be a good boyfriend ?" Draco asked amused.

" oh yeah for sure " harry nodded before he laughed it out with draco.

It took them moments to calm down and draco snuggled closer to harry and looked at him through his shoulder.

" if you were my boyfriend, how would you be ?" Draco whispered.

Harry swallowed not Daring to look at draco, his thoughts running wild with everything he had thought of until now, how he'd treat him, how he'd like to be treated, how he'd want to wake him up with breakfast in bed and several other things that he had in Denial thought of, but really did.

" I'd be like a friend, only better.. I'd take you on a fancy date every Friday, spend the Saturday at the animal shop because you love animals and have a lazy Sunday because we work too hard all week, and feed you cooked dinner on Sunday nights. We'd do the staying at each other's place for a while, one weekend at yours, one weekend at mine until we move in together and I'll snap at you for leaving your towels over the floor "

They laughed.

" then what ?" Draco bit his lip still watching harry from his neck..

" then " harry breathed roughly as his heart raced Faster and he fumbled with his fingers " then I'll cage you away in a den and make you my prisoner" harry joked away to hide away his feelings but draco didn't laugh and only Stared at him until harry gazed back at draco. It might've been the moment harry had been waiting for, the one where they stared at each other Long and the dissolved in a small kiss but harry remained in his senses even if draco wasn't and cleared his throat looking away.

Draco gulped, shifting away from harry and soon standing up, clearing his throat too " I- I'm go-"

" yeah, you go ahead. They must be looking for you " harry hastily replied as he stood up shrugging his back of his clothes to dust it off.

" yeah. You're joining right ?" Draco awkwardly asked.

" oh yeah- ofcourse I am. I'll be inside in a second " harry nodded his head vigorously .

"great-i- I'll see you then " and with stumbling over his feets draco walked back inside.

Harry released the breath he had been holding on for far too long and finally walked back inside too, wishing the night didn't happen.

Things remained strangely awkward between harry and Draco for a while which included awkward head bobs, nodding at each other randomly, weird hand shakes, and stolen glances which left everybody else confused. Meanwhile draco had began dating theo and harry had tuned into little isolation for his feelings to go away.

And perhaps everything was working fine until the common Saturday night when Harry had friend's over and was getting out of the washroom when he met with draco standing just at the door.

" hi"

" hey" harry replied.

Draco bit his lip while Harry clicked his tongue, waiting for Someone to say at least something first.

" you want to use the washroom ?" Harry finally asked pointing inside.

Draco nodded Before he shook his head " no I'm good " and practically ran away..

Harry shut his eyes for a moment, sighing to himself knowing the Time had come to talk to draco and dreading it all the way too.

Nearly an hour later harry finally decided to talk to draco and made his way to the terrace because he knew he'd be there and so he was, alone this time.

" draco " harry called him before he went and stood next to him..

" am I needed downstairs or-"

" no, I Just" harry breathed turning to draco " I came here to talk to you actually "

" oh " draco awkwardly breathed in before he urged harry to go on.

" nothing happened that night between us right. And it's just- it's getting weird and I was wondering if we could just work on it "

" of course, yeah, I was gonna do the same thing" draco rambled.

" right so " and they both stopped talking waiting for the other one to speak up until they both did simultaneously

" whatever happened-"

" nothing happened-"

" let me, maybe it'd better ?" Harry asked after the dead silence and draco nodded.

" nothing really happened that night.. we were just caught up in the moment and there's obviously no feelings involved so it shouldn't be this awkward right. Besides you're with theo now so " harry pressed his lips in thin losing his vocabulary to further go on.

Sensing harry had come to a stop draco nodded vigorously " of couse, yeah, totally agreed "

" then we're sorted, that's cool " harry raised his shoulders

" definitely " draco nodded.

" good. I'll be going then. I- well I have nothing to do but I should wind up downstairs " harry pressed his lips in thin line, earning no response and finally turning to walk away.

" harry- wait "

" what ?" Harry asked as he turned around to see a restless draco.

" there's" he breathed " there's at least something involved. I don't know what or how or when but it's just there. It's something which only comes sometimes or maybe it was always there but I never really realised but Its there, like I can feel, not with theo of course if you're worried about that, it's you, like that night when nothing happened, on technicality of course nothing happened but something did and i don't know what-"

" I like you too " harry chuckled, interjecting draco's ramble holding his arm.

Draco released a heavy breath before he rested his head against harry's shoulder and waited for his breathing to get back to normal.

" merlin thank you do or I would've flipped out "

" you were already flipping out draco " harry chuckled holding draco by his waist now..

" well, I mean-"

" shush " harry whispered cupping draco's face and pressing their foreheads together.

" all the questions and answer can wait till after this "

"may I ? harry whispered and draco nodded and Harry cupped draco's face and kissed him softly, letting his consciousness subdue in the pleasure and pulling draco closer to him.

It doesn't matter for how Long they kissed or for how less they kissed, they focused on the breathlessness and the need to keep kissing but they did break it away only to kiss again as of their life depended on it, maybe it did, they didn't know but the answers Could've waited for after this and the questions Could've waited for after the answers. It was their moment and the holocaust could've happened, they still wouldn't had broken away from their blissful moment.

300 followers appreciation dialogue Prompt requests open

notice : MASTER LIST 2 IS IN PROGRESS ( out in a few days

I honestly don't like this one. Thank you for bearing with me

Angst prompt requests open

[transformersvn]

Question: What is the process for making one of your visual novels?

So, this got long. I hope it covers what you were after :)

Overall, there are key sections of the VN I have to work on. In rough order of necessity they are:

Script

Sprites

Backgrounds

Directions

CGs

Music

Testing

I use Ren'Py, a free visual novel creator based in the Python coding language. It's simple to use and if you know even a little bit of Python you can do some fun stuff. (I just have to try not to cry when using American spellings for colour and centre)

Inkscape is a free vector-based drawing program, which is the drawing program I'm most familiar with. It allows easy editing of svgs and that's what most of my sprite-work is.

For writing the code, I find something like VSCode to be useful, as basic colour-coding of code is useful for making sure you've not missed an obvious " somewhere.

More details under the cut.

(For examples, I'll mostly be drawing from Forbidden Rendezvous)

Script

First off, it depends if I'm doing a fanfic conversion or doing the writing myself. Either way, getting a first draft (or at least a detailed summary) of the script is essential, as that informs the rest of the sections - I don't know what characters I want to make sprites of until I have a good idea of who'll be appearing.

With a fanfic, the words are already there, I just need to convert them into something Ren'Py can read. Anything spoken by a character needs to be assigned to that character properly (dialogue tags are useless here) and long paragraphs of description need to be split up so that they fit in the textbox.

As part of this I define characters at the top of the file. Each character is given a name that will appear in the textbox while they're talking - for these I've given them a variable so I can change the name in the script easier if I need to (eg, when talking to Server his name is ??? until he introduces himself). I've also assigned which sprites the characters use too, which allows me to change their sprite more simply in the code at points.

(You can assign a ton of other things at this point too, like change the colour of their name, what font they use, what the textbox looks like when they're talking, etc)

Sprites

Once I've got an idea of who I'm drawing I'll make a sprite for every character with a neutral expression. This will be the base for all of the characters' sprites, so I tend to spend a fair bit of time making sure they're put together right - or I'll have to fix the same error on multiple sprites later (eg, I missed colouring the grill of the left side of Orion's face and didn't notice that the lines were overlapping his face until I'd done a handful of expressions so I had to fix that on all 11 of his sprites separately).

Now I've got a neutral sprite, I'll copy-paste it and then tweak the face and arms until I've got appropriate expressions. And because I'm bad at priorities, I'll leave the hands until last.

For TFP I tend to trace over screenshots to get the characters looking right, whereas G1's simpler style has let me draw with just references on the side of my screen. I'd like to be able to get to the point of not needing to trace one day, but we'll have to see how long that is going to take with my sparse practice.

Backgrounds

I try to aim for simple backgrounds so as not to distract away from the sprites. That's why they always have thicker grey lines.

I've gone through a whole range of trying to imagine a room with no reference vs tracing over google-searched images vs taking pictures of my place and tracing over that vs using references without tracing. At the moment I'm leaning towards references without tracing, as then I don't get bogged down in trying to get all the details in, but can also not make it look like an Escher nightmare because I can see the how the room fits into 3d space.

Directions

One of the key parts of a VN is that you have characters showing up on the screen. But how do they know where to go? Ren'Py has a handful of built-in positions (such as left, right, center, etc) that you can plonk a character in, or if you need more precision, you can define your own.

Normally I just define the x/y alignment but you can do all sorts of transforms (eg, in Quarantine Starscream ends up diagonally in the corner on the bed, which was achieved through a combination of specific transforms).

On top of all that, characters can move around onscreen. If a new position is given to a sprite it will appear instantly in that position. If you give it the move action it will instead slide across the screen at a fixed speed (you can change this if you want). When being introduced to a scene, you can tell a sprite to moveinleft which will make it slide in from off the left side of the screen. There's so much you can do with character placements (flipping is also very useful!)

I find it tricky to get down exactly what I picture in my head during a scene (one of the main issues I run into is misjudging sprite size), but I try to do a dry run-through in the code before properly testing. This at least gives me the right sprites at roughly the right times to make my testing slightly easier, not to mention helping clear up which expressions I'll need.

CGs

Like with hands, I tend to leave the CGs until last and regret it. They're usually one of the hardest parts, artistically speaking, being a combination of sprite and background and usually a key scene that I really want to display.

I have a speed draw of the Megatronus/Orion kiss CG I did, which probably shows my drawing process better than I can right now:

Music (and SFX)

I'm not super musical. I did the music for Quarantine using Musescore and since then have decided to use free online sources. Freesound.org and Bensound.com have been very useful resources. Like with the direction, I tend to chuck it all at once then fiddle it until it sounds right to me later.

Testing

And, of course, there's testing. Can't have a programming project without testing :)

So, does it run? No? Of course not - I hope you like picking through bug reports to find the three times you forgot to put a $ at the start of a line where you assigned a variable, or the quotes you forgot to escape in some dialogue.

Okay, it runs, is everything showing up? No? Well, thankfully Ren'Py has a built-in error checker that will give you a rundown of all the times you made a typo in a character name or called a sprite you decided to leave out at the drawing stage.

And now it runs and you don't end up with placeholder images for the ones you misspelt - does it look right? Now you've got to play through the whole thing line by line to see if any text has overflowed or if the characters are facing the right way or if they're entering/leaving scenes correctly. Don't forget to make sure you've got the right length on your fade transitions too (unless the transition wants a dissolve instead).

Does it sound right? Time to adjust the sound mixing and make sure the music starts and stops at the right times.

Now build it and run through it again to make sure the build didn't screw up. Now again on an Android device so you can ensure the smaller textbox doesn't have any issues.

Honestly though, as much as it can be a faff, 99% of what I call testing is more like editing, which can be a wonderful process when you see it coming together. It's significantly less wonderful when I spend ages on the actual Python side to discover far too late that if you tell Python that listA = listB then it will assume I mean those lists should now always be equal and changes to one will affect the other and what I actually wanted was listA = list(listB) - but that's not super common in direct fanfic conversions at least.

And then it's finally time to make an itch.io page and upload everything and hope for the best.

...

So there you have it. You can also check the making of tag where I've tried to document my process on some of my earlier vns. It might be a bit outdated in a few places now, but it'll at least show what my methods were back then.

Hopefully I'll be ready to start another project somewhen before summer. Not sure which fic I'd be looking to convert, though I'm also very interested in something written specifically for VN (I'd definitely need so other people interested to help with at least the writing if that's the case). Might also try a web version too, as that's something Ren'Py offers and it means the VN won't need downloaded.

[bestbonnist]

Chapter 149.1

Fushi shows up and asks Tonari a question. From context, and because a worried Gugu probably told her what was happening, Tonari knows the answer they want, and decides to be gentle but honest. This is part of her resolve to take a step back from Fushi's life and be a mentor instead of a friend. She's there to talk if they want, and is continuing to further her education in case they need that leg up, but she's taken a more passive stance since they talked in Chapter 140.1. She's also giving herself space to do what she wants to do, the way she just said she might leave if she finds something interesting indicates that she wants to take the time and find what it is she wants to do outside of helping Fushi. Tonari's realized that Fushi needs to solve their problems on their own, and likewise she needs to solve her problems on her own. It's the opposite of Fushi and Mizuha's relationship, in which their problems meld together and become each other's burden.

Tonari's in a good position to distance herself from Fushi because in a way that's unique from Fushi's other friends, they have this image of her as someone clever who can handle herself. Although they've seen firsthand that that's not actually the case (eg. after Oopa, Mia, and Uroy died), when they're overrun with people they have to worry about and Tonari starts telling them what to do their relationship changes to one where Fushi's looking to her for instructions and not for her emotional turmoil (like they are with their other friends... Fushi wants the people in their life to be mentally ill but in a way that affirms their own mental illness).

Since Chapter 139.2, Tonari's been seriously considering Fushi's wish, whether it'll make their friends happy, whether it'll actually make Fushi happy, and whether she would agree to be resurrected for eternity. Instead of directly addressing their thought about immortality, Tonari asks Fushi to reflect on their friends lives, which sets the stage for their hallucinations of March at the end of the chapter. Although they say that they've thought about these things, and I do think we've seen how vividly they can imagine the nameless boy's pain in his final moments, and how they can recall Parona's death like they were there, this is a habit they've slipped out of now that death has no permanence.

As Fushi tries to consider their friends lives more seriously, they see Eko and March, the only two people who they know need them. They're so attached to Fushi that they don't grow up in the previous era because they'd rather be dead than live without them. In this, Fushi can relate to them a lot: the three of them continue to choose to live as children instead of growing up while all of their friends would rather be adults. When the possibility of their friends leaving them in the present era first came up, it was with March potentially living with a new family, and Fushi completely freaked out at the thought of being replaced (with something better. That's the heart of it: that they think they're not good enough).

In Chapter 146.2, Mizuha rejected Fushi's help, and they immediately thought of March. They singled March out as the person who they could help, not because she needs to make friends, but because she'll be grateful for Fushi's assistance. In this chapter, Fushi faces the possibility that one day March and Eko won't be dependent on them anymore, and that scares them so much. What happens next is either a nervous breakdown or a psychotic break. I'm not sure if Fushi knows March's face isn't actually appearing on random people, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's what makes the difference.

I don't usually go over the chapter titles, but I'd like to quickly share my thoughts about what the Path might mean. It could be referring to the different paths Tonari or Fushi are going to take, or Fushi's realization that March's path into the future—as in their imagination she slowly gets older and older—doesn't align with theirs. On the final page, there's a panel of everyone's feet as they prepare to travel on their own paths. It could also be none of these things, and instead something to consider when we get to the next chapter.

I think it was @kahak who said that although Fushi and Mizuha have parted ways momentarily, their return to each other is inevitable, like they're going in a circle. I'm paraphrasing a little, but that's the gist. Up until now, I thought that Fushi would be learning more about how to connect with Mizuha in a good way through interacting with their friends, but their development isn't heading in the positive direction I thought it would. The last line we get in this chapter is Fushi's refusal of their friends eventual farewell, and their potential resolve to make sure that never happens. Not sure how this ties back to Mizuha, but if this doesn't end with them doing something really fucking bad then I'll be surprised (think like... the doll motif. The repeated comparison of Fushi to knockers. Sabotage. Probably not murder, but again, if footage of Fushi threatening to kill kids is released online they will lose their friends' trust).