#but previous experiences with vaguely similar scenarios makes me not want to ask

[coffin-bird]

..

[juminies]

hi! omg thank u for giving the translations! i also thought it might be a lost in translation thing but ur right it’s just as vague in korean??? and i think so too, considering how’s he usually so blunt and straightforward the way he was skirting around the subject is a bit ???

though i just had a thought… i remember reading that in the original version, the jumin gay “jokes” are about him being a wizard - referencing a meme about virgin men who turn 30 suddenly gaining magical powers? idk if it’s legit because i don’t know korean but i saw it mentioned a few different times by a few different people… if it was true and we take the option that he hasn’t had any prior relationship experience as the truth this might be a possible explanation for his vagueness: i was thinking that since mc has the option to play along with these “jokes” & jumin’s feeling these new unfamiliar feelings for her… he dances around the subject because, although he usually doesn’t care about such things, the constant roasting has probably affected him subconsciously and he sees his inexperience as a bad thing. he might think that telling mc the truth might give her a bad impression of him but he also doesn’t want to outright lie to her so being vague is the safest option

also ur right, considering how hurt he was with the whole sarah debacle, it makes sense that chairman han probably hasn’t done something similar to him before. i never thought about it that way!!

the uni experience thing… if he ever did date, he’d probably have done it during this time but i feel like it’s unlikely due to the points in the previous ask. the sleeping with someone i can’t see happening at all for a few reasons: he’s always going on about the no living together before marriage thing, even with mc who he loves he wants to wait, he mentions he’s conservative, and him hating his father’s womanizing ways leads me to think he would steer clear from anything casual. also, with all the women who have been making inappropriate advances towards him throughout his life and him having nightmares about it… i can potentially see him not feeling comfortable enough to want to experience physical intimacy unless it was with someone he trusted and felt safe with, especially for his first time… and he mentions rika being the first woman in his life he felt comfortable around…

honestly with how often it’s mentioned that jumin not’s interested in women or relationships and jumin himself straight up saying he hates women, i personally don’t think he’s let himself get close enough to a woman to have any romantic or sexual experience at all, like i deadass don’t think he’s even held hands in a romantic sense

i think ur “come meet my friend and his daughter” theory seems to be the most plausible! it’s the least contradictory with the other information we’ve been given. it’d work around the jumin not being interested in women or relationships … by having chairman han getting jumin to come along as a kind of casual get together and then making himself and his friend scarce, leaving jumin alone with the daughter. it’d also explain the bit about him saying that he doesn’t even know if he can even say he saw them.

anyway that is a lot of writing over like 2 sentences said by jumin lmao but it’s fun to theorize

also i am HERE for the chairman han post, that man needs a good slandering!!!

to clarify, I have always thought that he's a virgin prior to meeting MC! I agree he does not at all come across as the casual type for a plethora of reasons, most of which you mentioned already. it seems that he puts quite a lot of weight on wanting sex with MC to be right, too, whatever that means to him. I think most theories for why he would not be a virgin are kind of absurd hahah. I have seen people imply that he was sleeping with women to get them to sign contracts which.. no comment. he was just being handsome and charming.

I mainly mentioned university as a possible (albeit unlikely) scenario because it's the one time in his life we know practically nothing about, and Jumin being abroad for his studies dually makes it the perfect time to make bad and/or out of character choices. curiosity is a very big part of Jumin's personality and so while I don't personally think it happened I do think if he was hypothetically to have slept with someone at any point it would have been as a one-time, rather literal experiment at nineteen or twenty. written results afterwards and everything. it would also give him psychic damage.

I do also agree he probably sees his lack of inexperience as a bad thing, honestly, which is sad because it's definitely not :( he seems a little self-conscious generally when it comes to MC, hyperaware of himself and how she might perceive him. he says himself it's unlike him to care about what other people think, and I think it's actually very cute that he gets a bit frazzled by it all. I love him so much.

[ruinaimagines]

I see LC/LoR imagines, I suggest one nugget anon on a tea break with binah. Probably not romantic but you can go that way if you desire.

This is written with platonic intent, but really can be taken any way you wish! Also cause you didn’t specify, just went with very story-like situational headcanons. If you’d prefer a scenario version just let me know, thank you for requesting.

Nugget Anon on a Tea Break w/ Binah:

As equally relaxing as a tea break would be, you likely have to know what you’re getting yourself into beforehand. If you aren’t prepared for abstract conversations and talks that don’t really come to a solid conclusion it can be an almost daunting task.

But considering you’ve been invited to have tea in the first place it’s almost certain you’ve had your fair share of her philosophical rambles, as well as participated in them yourself.

You’d concluded the first reception of the day, managing to get out in one piece and sort through the appropriate books. Never before did you have such a great understanding of alphabetical order until now.

For a brief period of time this left you free up until the next reception, which wouldn’t be until a couple hours. Or that’s the estimated time- considering the guests come here of their own ‘will’ you never really know when they’ll show up.

If you’re part of the philosophy floor, Binah will approach you herself and invite you for some tea. If you’re on another floor, however, one of the librarians from the philosophy floor will visit and relay some cryptic vague message of “Binah wants to see you.”

Rumors and myths can spread like wildfire, and for the librarians who were never assigned to the extraction team she’s like an omnipresent and menacing being. With that said, your poor colleagues might fear for your life, or start preparing a funeral early.

In reality you’re perfectly fine, greeted with the faint aroma of black tea and old as well as new pages.

There’s an empty seat waiting for you, as well as a fresh cup atop a platter, filled with the reddish amber tea. You know it’s part of a tea break by definition, but still the sentiment of brewing some for you to come back to after work was deeply appreciated.

Not only that, but when you take a sip it’s precisely to your liking. Whether you wanted anything added, or preferred the drink by itself, she was very careful in preparation.

The scenery is quite beautiful too. While each floor has its own breathtaking sights which differ greatly, the almost endless night sky stretching across the ceiling really adds a sense of ambience.

Binah speaks a lot on the perception of things, much as you’d expect from the patron librarian on a floor dedicated to philosophy. It’s not necessarily searching for right and wrong, but expanding on reason and the different ways things could be approached, even if they seem unrealistic in the city.

To be invited to one of these breaks means that she values your opinions, whether they may differ or are similar, and what you can add to the conversation. While not necessary, it would make a lot of sense if you had a rich history that had taught you a lot of moral lessons, but hadn’t pushed you over the edge.

Actually to contradict that last statement, it would probably be interesting as well if you didn’t come from a complex background. Someone who holds an almost fresh palette, and whose opinions might not be skewed a certain direction by past experiences.

It’s also relieving to speak to someone who just sees her as who she is now. Binah is very aware of her intimidating and mysterious nature, and she does use that to her advantage and enjoyment sometimes, but it can be a bit of a nuisance sometimes.

That as well as the Arbiter questions. Not to say it isn’t expected, I mean the moment she says who she was in a previous life it’s basically asking to pry deeper into it. It can be fun to lead people into loops and see them try to unravel any potential information they get, but just as with the fear people experience, it can get mundane.

Especially if they refuse to stop pressing for information. First of all, doing that and attempting to irritate Binah is a death wish. Second, if you believe with utmost certainty that she really knows anything, even though she’s expressed that she lacks the knowledge, your persistence just makes you look foolish.

Someone like that is probably moved to a different floor.

…After some abnormalities happen to ‘accidentally’ escape from the pages and terrorize them. Yeah, I think we all know who did that. No, no one’s going to say anything. No one is risking that.

So with that said, if you treat her with a sense of mutuality as you would a friend rather than another wonder in the library you will have great gratitude in return.

Sometimes it feels as if the topics you’re talking about feel unreal, although they very much are. You’ve just been locked in the library for so long that you’ve lacked a personal reminder of just what the outside world is like.

It’s like you’re observing everything from above, and you sometimes wonder if this is how Binah feels when she seems to ‘watch from afar’ before joining in on a battle.

You may run out of things to talk about yourself on these tea breaks. Considering Binah doesn’t retain any memories of her working for the head, and likely probably personal and childhood memories outside of the laborious and repetitive cycles of Lobotomy Corporation, you’re kind of on the stage here.

Though by nature she makes quite the listener. You won’t feel unheard or talked over, which makes a great opportunity for those who yearn to speak whether for reasons that they’re talked over or naturally quieter people.

She might recount her and Gebura’s fight long ago though, and if she does she is absolutely smug about it. You can tell from the little smirk on her face as she sips from her tea, and the tone in her voice.

While they are definitely better about each other now, if Gebura was there you’d be certain that old rivalry would flame up again for one last time and she’d probably try to sock her across the face.

If you ever run out of things to talk about, at least at the moment, you can always talk about your latest reception or the books you read and sorted through! There’s always interesting content in there, and while it does feel a bit like a privacy violation at times, it is your job so either way you have to do it.

You’ll discuss things like people’s motives, why they might’ve taken said actions, why someone might have wronged them, and more. Though you both agree that ultimately as you aren’t that person, you’ll never really know nor be able to make a decision based just on some pages of them.

When it’s time for you to get back to the next reception, she’ll gladly take your empty tea cup, bid you farewell and indirectly invite you back.

Though we all know you’ll be back.

[raunchyom]

Vices, Not Virtues: Humility

[ Chapter 1 ]

[ Previous ] [ Next ]

A/N: I’m leaving it vague as to whether Mc is in a relationship with any of the brothers, similar to the lessons; there’s innuendos and flirting, but no explicit romance on Mc’s behalf. I didn’t intend for this chapter to be so long, it just sort of happened... whoops. The other parts will probably be shorter, but I’m not worrying about it too much. Feel free to read: please reblog or reply; I love knowing what people think of my stuff!

word count: 2.5k || warnings: n/a 

“We need to talk” was never a good thing.

Being summoned to Lucifer’s study was fairly common. He regularly checked on you through private meetings to discuss grades, his brothers, and all manner of things related to your life in the devildom. He also made his fair share of requests for your time as a de-stressor, when he eventually admitted that your presence comforted him. 

He gave out punishments too though, and despite his soft spot for you, he wouldn’t hesitate to call you into his office to remind you of the rules. It was no secret when he was upset, and he would make it very clear what-- or rather, who-- the cause was.

That being said, Lucifer was always straightforward in why he was asking for you. He may not be specific, but he’d at least give some sort of warning. Some mention of grades, his brothers, or your chores. You would at least know whether to prepare an apology or not.

Today though, there was no reason. Well, there clearly was; he wouldn’t call you for no reason. But you only got two texts: “Come to my study after class,” and “we need to talk.”

Anxiety gnawed at your gut. What could he want to talk about? The recent humanities test? You did okay on it-- despite the class meaning something slightly different in the devildom than it did in the human realm-- so it shouldn’t be that. Had you forgotten to do chores? You almost forgot that you were on cooking duty the other night, was he upset about that? Was it how busy you were, not making enough time for him? Or maybe--

Suffice to say, by the time you knocked on his door, you’d already started your mental packing list. If it was serious enough that he wouldn’t even say it over text, you may as well prepare yourself for the trip back home. It would be the best case scenario, even.

“Mc? Come in.” Opening the door revealed Lucifer to be sitting at his desk, the glasses on his face showing that he was doing paperwork before you arrived. At a glance, it didn’t seem like Diavolo was in there, but maybe you didn’t deserve his presence at your exit ceremony. 

“Shut the door behind you.” Lucifer was skilled at conveying a lot in just a few words. It was an unspoken rule that when invited in, you were to enter the room and close the door, then wait for him to tell you what to do next. He knew you were aware of this rule-- rather, he was pointing out your hesitation, and telling you to hurry up.

Lucifer crossed his arms as you carried out his request, watching your movements with an unamused expression. He was impossible to read, but you could tell when you were on your way to the chopping block.

“Come, you may set your things in the chair.” It wasn’t an offer. You tracked the distance using the grain of the floor as you approached, shoulders remaining tense even as you pulled a chair out and dropped your backpack into it. 

Only when the silence felt suffocating did you force your eyes up; they crawled up the desk, over his arms and his chest, until you finally met his gaze. He seemed to tower over you, glaring down his nose, despite being reclined in his leather chair an entire table’s length away. He narrowed his eyes, brows furrowing. Quick to look away again, you decided eye contact was a bad idea.

“You had a humanities test last week.” You flinched, but he continued on, “I know you already got the results back. I recall asking to see your grades from that class in the past. Why haven’t you shown it to me?” Lucifer was a student council member, not to mention had many strings he could pull among the staff-- he could easily get access to your grades if he wanted them. He’d done so in the past, when you dodged his questions about grades one too many times. He was asking you directly because he wanted to see you squirm.

“I’m sorry, I’ve been busy lately, and--”

“It’s alright,” He said, a smile gracing his features. Your eyebrows shot up in surprise, but the relief was short-lived as his smile turned ice-cold. He leaned forwards onto the desk, clasping his hands in front of him. “You can show me now.”

Another command, masquerading as a suggestion. You knew better than to lie about not having it, so you dug the paper out of your backpack and handed it over. He looked down at the test, then up at you, peering over his glasses as if he were a professor himself.

“Color me impressed.”

“I got lucky, it wasn’t anything special. I guessed for at least half of that.” You crossed your arms, though it looked more pitiful than defensive. As if you were trying to give yourself a hug, though the sleeves of your uniform tightened under your anxious grip.

“Mc, you got the highest score in the class. Ninety-five percent is not the result of ‘half-guessing’.” He replied, deadpan. He’d seen the grades beforehand after all.

“I mean, it’s just human studies, it makes sense that I know a little more about it than other subjects. I have an unfair advantage, is all.” Your reasoning must’ve tired him, because it earned you a sigh. He took off his glasses and set them on the desk, appearing less stern when he looked at you again. 

“Do you know why I asked you to bring me your grades from humanities?” 

You chanced a glance at him, but his face gave nothing away. If seeing your grade wasn’t enough to sate him, what did he want from this? You shook your head.

“Because I wanted to give you something to brag about.” Lucifer’s statement brought your train of thought to an abrupt halt. You blinked back at him, confused. “Your grades have been improving lately, especially in that class. I’ve seen how hard you work to make that happen, and yet you refuse to share your successes with me. I first believed it to be fear of failure, or perhaps of disappointment, but even in your best classes, you didn’t dare to broach the topic. You don’t to this day, despite being expressly asked to!” He gestured at the exam on his desk, exasperated. “Why?”

“I…” It was a lot of things, of course, but none were easy to explain. Lucifer gave you a moment to figure out what to say, surprisingly patient-- until you said, “It’s not worth your time. It’s not that impressive.”

Lucifer’s expression dropped from exasperated concern back into one of irritation. “Are you trying to insult me?”

“No.” You answered meekly.

“Then why would you bother to say you aren’t worth my time? I believe I have made it exceedingly clear that I wish to spend time with you. I ask for your free time and you have none. I ask for your grades and you hide them. I give you my praise and you refuse it.” He stood from his chair, working himself up again. Guilt weighed on you heavily, and though you couldn’t place exactly why-- it was definitely about more than your grades.

“I’m sorry.” 

“Why?” He spoke so quickly that he almost talked over you, leaving you floundering for a reply.

“I… don’t know.”

“Don’t apologize if you don’t know what you’re sorry for.” 

“Okay, I’m sorry.” You replied, earning your second sigh from Lucifer. He pinched the bridge of his nose. He was going to need to find a different approach. 

“Mc, I know the lesser demons talk about you behind your back.” The sudden change of direction was shocking enough, but this was a touchy subject. You fought to keep a neutral expression, retreating to your original plan of avoiding eye contact. Lucifer walked around his desk, sliding himself between you and his work area. He somehow managed to find a position that both encroached on your personal space and allowed him to lean against a portion of the surface that wasn’t covered in papers. “I know it happens when you’re around, too. I know you don’t say anything about it, and you certainly don’t correct them. …I know you agree with them.” The accusations were true, but it didn’t make them any less painful.

“Mc, look at me.” You didn’t want to get into any more trouble, this whole experience was already painful enough. But you doubted your ability to hold it together if he delivered any kind of finishing blow while making eye contact.

A gloved hand gripped your chin, surprisingly delicate, and tilted your face up to look at his. You couldn’t imagine what kind of expression you were making, but it must’ve been pitiful; as soon as you met his eyes he softened his gaze, and his grip on your chin shifted so that he could gently stroke your cheek with his thumb. “I’m not mad at you.”

Well, that would’ve been nice to hear before you walked in the door.

“I’m worried about you.” His already low-pitched voice was soft as he said it, words laced with concern. Your heart broke, and you instantly changed your mind-- this was worse. 

“Lucifer, I…” You struggled to find the words, caught off-guard by his sudden change in demeanor. “I’m fine, I promise.” It wasn’t a matter of lying to him, it was a matter of doing anything you could to keep that expression off his face. It didn’t suit him, and it just made you feel worse. 

“I don’t like when you lie to me.” He called your bluff immediately. “Besides, it’s been this way for a long time, hasn’t it?” His hand fell away from your face, landing on your shoulder. He didn’t need to ask, he knew the answer. “When did you lose your sense of pride?”

It was hard to ignore the stinging from behind your eyes; the best you could hope for was that Lucifer wouldn’t notice. It was a worthless hope to have, but he at least had the decency to refrain from commenting on it.

“You’re allowed to be proud of your accomplishments, Mc. Big or small. Even if it comes easily, you can always be proud of a job well done. It applies all the more if you work hard to achieve it. You are allowed to accept that your effort paid off, and you can brag about it. I should know.” He smirked a bit, but the moment passed quickly. “Moreover, you can be proud of yourself. Who you are, how far you’ve come. You aren’t the same person you were a year ago, that’s a sign of progress. And… you can be proud of the way you look.” At his last sentence, he stood up off the desk, stepping further into your bubble. 

Your pulse quickened, but the flurry of emotions you were dealing with made it impossible to tell which one was responsible.

“Turn this way.” Lucifer used your shoulders to guide you towards a corner of the room. Your movements were stiff, but he maintained his grace, easily leading you to a full-length mirror against the wall that you hadn’t noticed until now. He sought to meet your eyes through the reflection, but you averted your gaze. 

“I’ve seen the way you act around mirrors. I sometimes wonder how you brush your hair in the morning.” He mused, briefly combing his fingers through your locks. “Why don’t you ever look?”

“I don’t like to.” It was barely a whisper, but he didn’t have to hear you. He knew the answer.

“Look again.” It was hard, but you did as he instructed. He brought his head down, breath tickling your ear when he spoke again. “You’re looking at the most attractive human in the three realms.”

Your heart swelled at the compliment, but it wasn’t exactly easy to believe. “I’m not-- I mean, I think that’s an exaggeration…” You amended, careful to avoid going against what he said.

Lucifer snorted. “Do you really think seven of the most powerful demons in the devildom would fall for you at once if you weren’t attractive?”

You couldn’t fight the blush that rose to your face from that one, though it was comforting to see that Lucifer was affected too. He had the slightest tinge of pink on his cheeks; even the brief mention of his true feelings was a momentous occasion for him. He wasn’t exactly the warm and fuzzy type.

“Lucifer, I-” You attempted to turn and face him, but his grip on your shoulders tightened and he prevented you from moving.

“We aren’t done, human.” The switch had flipped again, and he was back to bottling up whatever emotion had temporarily risen to the surface. You were back to ‘human’ rather than ‘Mc’, which was another sign. “Look back into that mirror, and listen to me.”

You did as he asked, your eyes drawn to his. You caught him looking you up and down, like he was sizing up his next victim.

“You did not come all the way to the devildom to spend a year being virtuous to a fault. We are going to teach you to sin.” He chuckled at your expression, but cut you some slack; he leaned back slightly, though still held you in place by your shoulders. “Rather, you are going to learn how to enjoy life, from demons. I’ve entrusted my brothers with assisting you in their own ways; they will each get one day to teach you how to better take care of yourself. I’ve elected to go first, for a lesson in humility.” 

You could swear you’d just finished your first lesson. This entire meeting had been torture, and now he was saying it wasn’t done yet? No, not even-- he was saying that it had yet to begin.

“Don’t expect me to let you off easy, either. As we’ve established, you have a long way to go. I may only have one day, but I’ll be assigning homework. If I don’t think you’re keeping up, I will require you to attend study sessions. We can start with something simple: find five things you like about yourself-- no, I’ll even let you start with one-- and tell me about it.” Despite suggesting such a basic self-confidence booster, Lucifer beamed-- well, he wore his favorite smile at least, the one that terrified demons and mortals alike. “You can’t repeat anything I’ve told you today, and you have to believe it. Prove to me that you believe it.”

Your head was spinning. He had just bombarded you with compliments-- albeit oddly threatening ones-- for far longer than you could take, and now he was expecting you to keep the work up on your own? Starting now, and lasting until… when? Did you need to add this to your list of assignments for class? 

“I’m waiting, Mc.”

This was going to be a long week.

[atomicblasphemy]

Why I don’t think Amity is looking forward to a date with Luz in the human realm.

There’s a good chance I’ll be alone in this opinion but anyway, I never took tumblr or fandom from a scholarly point so yeah.

Anyway, I agree that the idea of a cute romantic date with Luz in the human realm being a big part of Amity’s motivation in the last episode is objectively adorable. But I have three reasons why that may not be quite the case.

Reason number one, the scoring of the scene. After Amity’s boss leaves and they part their hug of sorts throwing a blush fest, the soundtrack goes to this very mellow (and from my rusty knowledge of music theory, major scale) score while they have that bookworm talk. Then, when Amity says “the human realm sounds odd” there’s also what sounds like a major scale chord right before it cuts to silence as Luz suggests showing her around the human world. And that’s, as she is processing what her soon to be girlfriend just said there’s this high and dissonant chord, most likely minor scale, and i’m almost positive it has the same base note as the previous one. This feels deliberate.

The minor scale is used as a means to convey tension, to unsettle the viewer or listener. Case in point, more upbeat music genres like pop punk or house tending to make a more constant use of the major scale, whereas bleaker genres like post-punk or black metal are heavily based of the minor scale. More over in soundtracks we can point out jaws or psycho’s scores as examples of the use of the minor as a means to either raise tension or to set a scene or movies tone (think psycho’s shower scene, or the moments in jaws’ when the shark is just about to attack). Meanwhile, you can have star wars’ major scale as a means to set the optimistic tone Luke’s hero’s journey starts with (which again, contrasts greatly with its counterpart in the imperial march).

So, back to Lumity, we have this sequence of sounds: Luz all but invites Amity to the human realm, major chord, silence, minor chord, “we’re getting that diary”. There’s a rising action of sorts at play here, as far as I can tell: Luz tries to cheer up Amity (hence the more calming and uplifting major chord), Amity process this newly found connection between herself and the human realm (silence), this troubles Amity for whatever reason (which comes back later, but i’ll get to that) (hence the minor chord).

If Amity’s outlook on this new relation between herself Luz’ homeland was simply that of “holy shit, my crush just asked me out. hell yeah.” the use of the minor scale would be probably the worse to go about doing that. Moreover:

Reason number b:

Mittens’ first face: blank space. Amity.exe ceased all functioning. (this is when the minor chord is played btw.) This first face is the one the fandom latched on to the most, and yeah i get it.

But then things take a turn:

Those are the two other expressions she makes immediately aftewards that more confused one (also, idk what is going on but i can’t screenshot on a full screen for whatever reason).

Now, we are collectively well aware, as a fandom, of the fact that when the human girl’s existence flusters Amity her very white complexion’s tomato like properties are bound to manifest. If anything we could this episode the blushapalooza, and on both ends. But I digress.

My point here is, if it was simply her being excited over the prospect this date in the human realm, there’s no reason why they (the show runners, i.e. the ones responsible for this world’s overarching intentionality)  would turn her into a vegetable once again, I mean, just second prior she was going full on tomato mode. Couple that with that sketchy chord progression and I think it is safe to say our little Mittens is acting a wee odd herself here. If it was just the sound score or just the lack of tomato, then I’d say it was probably just happenstance. Both those things at once fell like a deliberate creative choice. In other words, my guess is that Amity’s weird response here is setting up the tone for some upcoming conflict between the two of them, it is building up to the mid-season finale. (I have my theories as to what that conflict would be but I’ll get to that when I get to that).

Now, reason number gamma. “Being around you makes me do stupid things and I wish it didn’t” “Ever since Luz came here everything’s been so confusing.” Look, I’m not so dumb as to say those words don’t represent Amity coming clean about her feeling for Luz, and I’m not oblivious as to believe the vagueness of these statements is but a poorly veiled attempt on her part of airing those feeling in an as uncompromising fashion as possible. However, that’s the thing about vagueness, you can easily pick up on connotation but not so much on denotation. What I mean is that you can’t really tell what is the entirety of her cause to confusion and what the full set of Luz related stupid things done by Amity really is. And looking back to those second and third sketchy Amity faces and given all I’ve said, my best guess is that those are the faces of someone coming to the sinking realization that “despite my best intentions I may, perhaps, possibly, likely have fucked up big time.” And do I know how good a motivator doing damage control after a big time fuck up can be.

Which brings me finally to what her hang up really is. Those letters. Going by the same “methodology” I’ve been using thus far, here’s how we learn Camilla had been receiving those letters: first we see Amity’s note, “everybody’s doing the wholesome waltz, throw your crush in the air and have a ball”, we see the other half of the note which only says “Luz” (which mind you, is a word that also appears with loads of prominence in the letters). Then a few moments afterwards we see the actual letters, similar handwriting as evidenced by the writing of Luz’s name, and worded as what a misguided and inexperienced kid would imagine a healthy mother and daughter relationship to sound like. Again, those feel extremely deliberate choices on the show’s creators part. Not everything in a show has to be a Tchekov’s gun, but when you draw so much attention to it in such a calculated way it gets tough to argue for it not being so. So yeah, my money is on Amity being the author of the letters and that means she has a deeper knowledge of inter-dimensional postal services than she’s letting on. Either she has access to some sort of device capable of transporting small objects, or a means to create a fac-simile of a  document on the other side, or she has a full blown portal.

I mean, it’s safe to say her feeling towards Luz started getting a tad muddy after the covention, and said confusion kept on progressing until it came to a height with Amity’s conversation with Emira on the last episode. So Emira points out she should embrace the changes brought about by Luz and try to be happy. And that’s what her hairdo change (she explicitly says the past choice was Odalia’s making), and the peck on the cheek symbolize. She’s embracing change, she’s actively pursuing it. I mean, at the end of the day that peck on Luz’s cheek was nothing short of Amity crossing the threshold (even if impulsively) of their relationship, that’s why she doesn’t blush while she’s doing it. She’s being guided purely by Emira’s words there, it is only when the reality of the threshold being crossed and that there’s no coming back to how things were before  that she goes back to tomato while muttering “why did i do that?” So yeah, second thing I wanted to say that Lumity is already cannon, their relationship is now a romantic one, there’s no two ways about it.

AAAnd this is why I thing the letters thing will be the big conflict of the mid-season finale.

Let’s shift perspectives to Luz’s end. So you have this kid, right? This kid that has been, throughout her entire life been given reasons to believe in her own mediocrity, which in turn led her to find solace in fantasy. Then, by an odd turn of cosmic events she is granted a chance to experience said fantasy first hand. However, at first it seems this new world is making chorus to that old one in stating her mediocrity. She doesn’t give in, she perseveres, she proves everything and everyone wrong. From “Eda’s human pet” she turns into “Miss Teacher”, from “Willow’s Abomination thingy” she becomes someone who “sneaks her way into people’s hearts.” She sees everything she wanted, her wildest dreams of both self-accomplishment and love being dangled right in front of her eyes. Yet, in the back of her head there’s this nagging voice screaming at her that reality, and a mother that loves her and misses her are awaiting her. That this happiness. So when Amity crosses the threshold of their relationship, when the person she wants shows her she wants the same thing as her, elation is not the only thing going through her mind and her heart. Being forced to choose between what you want and what you ought to is quite a cruel position to find oneself in.

So this leads up to the mid-season finale, say I’m right, Amity has a portal and she offers it to Luz. In one hand, her girlfriend omitted a very important piece of information from her, which could be seen by her as an argument for her choosing the human realm, thus creating a source of conflict between the two of them (which no, I don’t think it would make them break up, in fact I have 5 reais saying the L word will be dropped by either one of them because of all that, their relationship will come out of all this turmoil stronger than before), moreover, I’m of the opinion that Amity’s motives for writing those letters in the first place would be to do something nice for that confusing entity (by giving her mother some piece of mind) while remaining incognito. Hell, my ideal scenario would beher coming clean to Camilla about impersonating Luz with something along the lines of “Yeah mate, you were expecting Luz but it was I, Amity, all along. Sorry about that. In my defense I have next to no idea what a non dysfunctional family looks like.”

But that’d be only half of it. Creepy Luz is, for all we know, what Luz would perceive as the best version of herself, one that’s capable of making her mother happy. In other words, a figure that highlights further how inadequate she is in the human realm. And she is still confused with everything going on back in the demon realm. Not to mention the possible looming threat to human realm represented by the emperor, about which we thus far have very little to speculate on.

My point is, in conclusion, Luz will need some hugs afterwards. And so will Amity. Fortunately they fulfill eachother’s need in that regard.

Hope this wasn’t complete non-sense, cheers!

[aros001]

Going in blind: Watching season 2 for the first time. Random thoughts.

Huh. Only 7 episodes. Not complaining necessarily. For series with an ongoing plot I've definitely become more in favor with their seasons only having as many episodes as they need rather than them having to stretch themselves out to full up a certain number of episodes, which can lead to padding and just bad character moments.

Episode 1: Jeez. Catra visiting Shadow Weaver's cell just to rub her success in her face and verbally abuse her back for once. It's like a twisted version of Zuko and Ozai from ATLA. Catra's upbringing under her was abusive but this is far from a healthy way for her to deal with it. She's basically deliberately swimming in her resentment.

Episode 2: It's not that I'm rooting for her but by-golly was it fun to watch Catra act like just the absolute worst she could while she was Glimmer and Bow's captive.

I touched on this in season 1 but part of the drama of the heroes feeling guilt over leaving Entrapta behind is kind of lost on me a bit simply because it was her own fault it happened. She deliberately went back into the purge room because of her machine obsession, which then closed on her and erupted in flames. It was more than reasonable to assume she was dead and no one but her was to blame, so I'm not really able to be invested in their guilt over it.

That said, weirdly enough I do like that her "abandonment" doesn't seem to be even a blip on the radar for Entrapta herself. She hasn't joined the horde because she resents the heroes or felt left behind, she simply is so obsessed with machines and experimentation that she'll be on the side of whoever lets her do the most of that. Like, it's selfish and irresponsible but it's very in-character and I'd far rather have a traitor motivation be based in that over something stupid like a misunderstanding.

Episode 3: I love the mental image of Shadow Weaver thinking up princess-themed ghost stories to tell Adora as a child.

So, if the previous She-Ra Mara separated Eternia from the other realms/planets/whatever she did and that's what cut off the She-Ra line for 1000 years, I'm guessing Hordak may be from the time before that happened, thus his drive to create portals and calling Eternia a backwards world. Either he's naturally long-lived or his technology is extending his life.

Episode 4: You know, you could maybe argue it was vague enough that it could be taken other ways but I'm definitely getting some vibes here that Scorpia is crushing on Catra. She literally refers to the two of them as soulmates at one point. I know she says she's trying to be friends but this feels a level beyond that.

Fun little reference to the original She-Ra cartoon thrown in there (and maybe Cowboy Bebop...? James Bond...? What was Glimmer's art style supposed to be?). I like how it is more like just playful ribbing than anything outright dumping on the original. Again, I've never seen original She-Ra but whenever remakes/adaptations go out of their way to trash to the original I always kind of wonder why they bothered doing an adaptation if the original is just that bad? Also, I was having trouble sleeping so it was about 2am when I watched this episode and the very Eartha Kitt Catwoman Catra made it very difficult for me not to lose my **** and stay quiet. With how much of a contrast that version is from the one in this series, that was hilarious. Bonus note, it's a nice touch that Frosta's version of Catra is a pretty crasher in that sweet suit, since that's the only impression of Catra she's ever had.

Adora being a chosen one is definitely elevated up simply by how much the pressure of what she's supposed to be is getting to her. I'm likely going to keep making Avatar The Last Airbender comparisons throughout the series but that's partly because I went into this series figuring it'd be at least structured similar to ATLA (season 1 being more episodic and a little more kid-friendly as it builds up the world before getting more serious later). Adora and Aang are interesting to compare here. Aang's worries early on were less apparent because he was more in-denial/choosing not to think about his problems that much, which fit with his character as a free-spirited Air Nomad. While Adora is much more military-minded. She can't keep herself from thinking about her problems and trying to prepare for the worst-case scenario. And jeez, that idea of who/how Catra is in her mind. Not only beating her but making her watch as she takes everything she cares about away. Not Shadow Weaver, not Lord Hordak, but Catra. That whole Lion King Mufasa/Scar moment between them in episode 11 and their fight in the S1 finale really did a number on her mental image of her old friend. Not reasonably so.

Minor note: I'm sure I'm the only one who got this impression but by the look of it, the way the robot's eye moved, and the music, after getting the soda spilled on it that little spybot gained sentience for half a second and then immediately died. It was so darkly comedic I had to laugh.

Episode 5: So that red disc is basically She-Ra's Red Kryptonite, having an effect on the mind rather than the body. The drunk Adora joke doesn't really do it for me but it did get some nice interactions going between Scorpia and Sea Hawk, two characters I certainly wasn't expecting to bond. I did really like Catra's panic when berserker She-Ra nearly beheads her. The implication is that is Adora really wanted to kill her Catra would already probably be dead. It's a thing I like about powerhouse characters like Superman or Aang, who could just demolish everything around them and don't simply because they're a good person...which in turn makes them the scariest person on the planet when they're well and truly ticked off. I'm not going to lie, I do kind of want to see a She-Ra version of Aang when Appa was stolen or when Superman fought The Elite.

Also, Catra's line of "I have control over Adora. I'm not giving that up for anything.". There's a lot to read into there.

Episode 6: I guess my prediction was sort of right. Shadow Weaver became basically a magic parasite and while it did increase the power she's capable of the implication seems to be that she needs a constant fix of magic to keep herself going, thus her attachment to the Black Garnet.

Have we seen Micah before? Given how long ago the flashback seems set, the fact that Shadow Weaver didn't kill him and thus he probably becomes someone important later in life, I'm guessing he's Glimmer's dad and the queen's late husband, since I think he's the only important male character whose face we haven't seen yet. Also, he's voice by Ezra from Star Wars Rebels and that cracks me up for some reason. It's the exact same voice and a relatively similar character.

I compared Catra and Shadow Weaver with a kind of twisted version of Zuko and Ozai and that definitely still fits here. Both Catra and Zuko confront their parent and call them out for the inexcusable abuse they put them through but while that moment was the start of Zuko's upwards journey this and SW's betrayal seems like it's going to cause Catra to spiral even further. Makes sense why Adora leaving affected her so much. She's probably the only one Catra's ever had that she could consistently trust and rely on, even if she did somewhat resent her.

Not surprised Hordak is getting along with Entrapta. She's not socially aware enough to be scared or intimidated by him, so she'll speak frankly, and since all she wants to talk about is the machines, experiments, and how they could get them to work Hordak probably doesn't take much issue with that. She's producing results, which is what he cares about, thus also why Shadow Weaver and Catra started losing favor with him. I wonder if Catra is going through imposter syndrome? Shadow Weaver had that line that Entrapta earned her place next to Hordak and, if you think about it, Catra hasn't really "earned" anything. We saw that she didn't really take her training or studies that seriously, showing up late to combat practice and even getting partial credit for what Adora beat. She wasn't promoted to Force Captain because of her own abilities but because Adora had defected when she was supposed to get that title. She's come close to a few victories but never really had any except for Glimmer and Bow's kidnapping...whom she then basically let escape when she returned Adora's sword to her. She doesn't have the slightest clue how the horde's bureaucracy works when trying to get things done, like simply getting troops armor. Given how much better than her Adora always was and how little she herself has to her name, I wonder is subconsciously Catra believes she doesn't deserve her current position and thus why she's fretting so much over trying to prove herself.

Episode 7: Am I mistaken or did Bow's parents say that he's the youngest of TWELVE siblings? I was going to ask whether Bow was adopted or if his dad's used a surrogate or if maybe there's even just simply magic in She-Ra's world that allows two people of the same sex to have a child together but now I'm just focused on the 12 kids thing. I get nervous just imagining myself having more than one. You should see me when I'm with two cats. I have to pet both of them because I'd feel like I'd be making one feel left out and like the other is the favorite. I'm a mess with kids.

The dad with dreadlocks (Lance?), his design looked familiar to me and I finally realized it reminded me a of a fanart design for a human Grim from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. Very different voices between those two characters though.

I wonder if there's any significance to the robot protecting the crystal having the same design as those in the artic in episode 5? Obviously both have the connection to the First Ones but the robot in the forest who was also protecting First Ones' tech had a more insect-like design over these more worm/Graboid ones.

I'm kind of curious what Hordak would have done if Catra had told the truth. Given his interactions with her and Shadow Weaver he doesn't seem like the time to tolerate failure but I suppose the implication here is that he at least would respect those who own up to their failures. Or I suppose more simply he was just testing to see if she would lie to him and since she did there's little merit in keeping her in a position of authority anymore where she could lie about important things again.

Season 2 verdict: Still enjoying it. Another person on this reddit recommended I view seasons 2 and 3 as one since they are basically just one season split in two. I was going to do that but this ended up longer than I thought I would, so I'll just do 2 and 3 separate to keep them semi-organized and easier to read.

I think overall Catra is my favorite character since she has the most interesting backstory, interactions, and just general path through the story out of everyone. She's like Pearl from Steven Universe or, well, Zuko. There's just so much baggage there that she's trying and kind of failing to deal with. I'm always invested in whatever's happening when she's onscreen. Hordak so far is a good big boss villain for Adora to face but Catra is a good archenemy for her.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/PrincessesOfPower/comments/o027y3/going_in_blind_watching_season_2_for_the_first/

[boltwrites]

hey, i want to pay you a compliment but i don’t want to be weird about it - a guide to interacting with a smut writer

so, recently i got a pretty inappropriate ask and figured this would be something beneficial to share with you all, especially if you’re new to interacting with smut writers or don’t know where the line in. i know it can be kind of intimidating and confusing interacting with smut content when you’re new to it or you’ve never spoken to a writer directly, so i hope this guide can offer you a little bit of perspective.

also, a disclaimer - this is based off of what i consider appropriate. if you’re ever worried, just straight up ask a smut writer about what kind of compliments they like, and what would be considered going too far

what compliments related to their work are ok?

so, for me, i highly prefer literature-related comments, however, general enjoyment comments are good as well! here are some examples of each type:

general enjoyment compliments are your safest bet for any fic. they’re a little basic, but authors will still love to see them in tags, asks, and reviews. they’re a fic writer’s bread and butter, and i’d even go so far to say that almost every smut fic writer would find these appropriate. here are some examples:

i loved this fic so much! you’re an amazing writing and i’m looking forward to reading more of your work

EXCUSE ME WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT - this was amazing! one of my fav fics of all time, you have so much talent

THANK YOU FOR THE FOOD (insert praying emoji here)

IJBGRJGOTER OP YOU ARE GOING TO K I L L M E

one of these days i am going to pass out from how good your writing is i SWEAR

you can be funny with these, but the general point is just to compliment the writer, tell them that you enjoy their work and that you value the effort they put into the piece. you can find these kinds of compliments on any sort of fic, i just feel like the last couple of really frantic keysmashing ones are far more common on smut fics!

now, on to literary compliments. this section can be a little trickier, since you’re specifically discussing the smutty content of the story, but here are some general themes to keep in mind: characterization, character relationship, plot/setup, author voice, and realism. since you’re complimenting a writer, leaning into literary elements can do you some good in keeping you grounded in the art of their work rather than stepping over the line into inappropriate comments. some examples:

you write him so well! i definitely think he would be a hard dom, and you captured that perfectly! the dialogue... just *chef’s kiss* (characterization)

dude, the relationship between her and y/n is ADORABLE. like yeah, the smut was awesome, as always, but i love how you captured how soft she would be in a relationship, and y/n is so gentle in return... it was just so sweet, i loved it! (relationships)

i don’t know how you do it but you write the BEST setups. i feel like you can write any character in any kink setup and i would just go “yeah, that makes total sense” even if it’s completely implausible. it’s just that good! respect. (setups/plot)

the way you write is so amazing. i love the way you describe everything, it’s so poetic and beautiful. i definitely think it suits the characters, and i love the idea of a sex scene like that being so intimate and beautiful (author voice)

i love that you don’t take everything so seriously! that you write little jokes even in your sex scenes - i hate reading scenes that are super stiff and overly dramatic, and you capture something so fun and sweet when you write, it’s awesome! (author voice)

ok, can i just say i LOVE how realistic your scenes are? like, i love how you include things like foreplay and aftercare and emphasize the playfulness and even the mistakes that can happen when you’re trying something with a partner for the first time. (realism)

i, personally, love literature related comments. i write smut as a form of literature, and even if it isn’t “high art” i do like it when people appreciate the time i take to work on characterization and similar elements

basically, treat a smut fic like any other fic when it comes to writing a compliment. smut can be literary too!

what compliments aren’t ok?

alright, so this is the important section. mostly this relates to personal experiences that are serious and unrelated to the work itself. basically, you’re treating me, the smut writer, like your friend that you share your sexual experiences with. if it doesn’t relate to the character, the fic, or my writing skill, it’s probably not appropriate. some examples

telling me sex acts you did while you read the fic. this is basically the classic “i jacked off to this, it’s sooooo good” comment. some people can jack off to a particularly curvy piece of driftwood - this isn’t a compliment, this is a violation of writer/reader trust. i don’t want to know about your personal sex life

personal sex stories. don’t tell me about how one time you were fucking your bf and it was like this fic i wrote - i don’t care, i don’t want to hear about how you had sex with your bf.

basically any real life, direct connections to you and your sex life that aren’t jokes (i’ll explain this in the next section)

also, a big section of compliments that are always a hard no - shit that relates back to MY sexual expertise. such as “wow you write this so well, you’re probably good in bed” or “wow you’re a freak huh? lmao” don’t fucking perceive me

what personal comments are ok?

so, this section deals with what asks you can send me that aren’t compliments - aka what messages relating to headcanons, your personal life, etc, that you can share with me that may or may not be smut related. this is specific to ME, as in, check in with other smut writers for these things

sharing jokes surrounding your personal life that may be slightly sexual. for example, at one point, i wrote a set of dick headcanons and an anon commented (in a joking way) that i described their bf’s dick perfectly. while this is a sexual comment, the anon didn’t tell me anything about their sex life or sex acts they committed - they just made a joking sexual comment that connected back to their daily life. for me, personally, if it is slightly sexual, but does not involve any actual sex/masturbation acts, it’s fine to joke about with me

in addition to the above, sending in comments like “thanks, bolt, now i have a praise kink” or similar, after i write something about it. they’re joking, and they’re fine to send in to my blog

sending me in smutty headcanons. i LOVE when people send me in smutty headcanons about how a character would act in certain scenarios. so PLEASE feel free to send those

questions about kink, kink culture, or even general sex ed questions. if it’s educational in nature, i would be more than happy to help, but a reminder that i am just a random stranger on the internet. you should probably just ask me what sex pollen is, and not how to fix your sex life lmao

telling me what you would do to a character is fine. like “omg i wanna peg Bolin so bad can you imagine the noises he would make?” is perfectly fine, to me. we’re all thirsting after these characters, and it’s a major subject of the blog, so i don’t mind these asks, especially since sometimes they lead to me writing out some headcanons or fleshing out a certain part of a character

what personal comments aren’t ok?

i covered this mostly in previous sections, but - 

discussions of your personal sex life, as in, sex acts you have committed or partaken in, joking or serious. while i am ok with jokes that are vaguely sexual or hold sexual connotations, please don’t reveal details or your personal sex or self-love life to me, even in joke form

anything pertaining to me and my sex life. there’s no need for you to know, and if i wanted to tell you, i would

starting an argument with a smut writer over what they will or will not write. everyone has different limits and boundaries, and some of these choices are shaped by very personal experiences that someone might not want to share, or things they cannot control - such as dysphoria, trauma, or mental illness. if someone’s limits or lack thereof are offensive to you, it is best that you simply block and move on instead of trying to incite an argument. 

this isn’t kink related, but most unrelated comments regarding your day/what you did. while it’s nice that you went out and got an iced coffee, i’m a lok writing blog. unless you relate it back to a headcanon you’re sharing with me, or a request you want me to complete, please don’t just tell me about your day (unless we are friends and talking on discord, lol)

[howamidrivinginlimbo]

The endless cycle of Radiohead’s Kid A and Amnesiac

I’m a huge Radiohead fan, they’re my favorite band and the album I love the most is without a doubt Kid A, followed by Hail To The Thief and A Moon Shaped Pool. Amnesiac’s probably in fifth place, which means I still find it an exceptionally good album. The reason I love Kid A so much is because I’ve always thought there is a story behind it, evolving with every song. I can clearly see the storyline and that adds extra depth to the music. Recently, I listened to Kid A, and the day after to Amnesiac. I started looking for a story in Amnesiac as well, and I think I can say that I found one. But what I found blew my mind away a little: I always thought the story was a chronological one, going from Everything In Its Right Place to Motion Picture Soundtrack. But in my opinion, it goes on in Amnesiac, and after Life in a Glasshouse, it just goes over in Everything In Its Right Place again! I’m aware this must sound very vague and maybe it’s something only I have experienced. That’s why I want to share this story with you. It’s quite depressing, so if you want to keep your happy experiences with these albums, you maybe shouldn’t read further. (But I can’t imagine these being happy albums for anyone, haha) Furthermore, these are my personal opinions and I’m telling these as facts, because I would get very tired of saying ‘in the way I see it’ etcetera every sentence. Warning: it’s a long read (>2000 words) and English is not my first language, so there will be mistakes.  Let’s start with Everything In Its Right Place. An individual is introduced, details don’t matter, let me call him ‘he’ to make it easier. He lives in a very organised/controlled society and works in a factory, to do boring work with an assembly line. You could ask if they really need people for that, but he is actually more of a machine than a human being. He speaks in a robotic way and is clearly programmed according to the rules of society, in other words, he is extremely indoctrinated (on the level of authority, laws and morals). Kid A: he goes back home, a small place, and there he actually starts to question if the allegiance and happiness he experiences, is based on real things. That’s the ‘white lie’ he talks about. With ‘ventriloquists’ and ‘heads on sticks’ he realizes how similar machines and human beings are, because morals, emotions, maybe even free will, aren’t natural, just learned when coming of age. And he is only part of a giant system, a robot who doesn’t have anything to say. Of course this makes him depressed. In the end there is even a rebellic sound in the form of leading the kids, who aren’t that indoctrinated yet, away, because they are the ones who can still be saved. (As for the rats, I think that’s just a reference.) But the sound in the end is one of helplessness, he does nothing and/or can’t do anything. The National Anthem: He goes outside and because he is not that indoctrinated anymore, he is shocked of all the people who do all exactly the same thing. There’s even a gathering on behalf of the state and he experiences agoraphobia and social anxiety being surrounded. Suddenly horns (maybe the voice of the Great Leader) come in and make everyone completely obedient and in sync. He puts his fingers in his ears and somehow manages to evade the same effect. Towards the end of the song the other people leave and he is alone, suddenly startled by the horns swelling on again. The government has noticed he isn’t controlled well enough and the horns make him feel terrible pain, the blood coming out of his ears and nose. At the end of the song he has collapsed and is lying at the front of his house, crying. How To Disappear Completely: Pretty much a continuation of the previous song. He deals with the fear and especially sadness that come with being locked up in this society, no freedom. He wants to be somewhere else. On the top of this anti-society message I get, there is also a nihilistic view coming on. At some points in the song, he has some ‘it all doesn’t matter anyway’ vibes coming off him. Near the end, he decides to actually escape (although it’s not made clear how and IF he escapes). Treefingers: The scenery has drastically changed. There is the North Pole, the Arctic Sea, and there are endless blocks of ice, and weird blue light coming out of the ice. There is no creature around him, and he seems to step out of his body, and forget himself. There is just the endless emptyness of the north, the ice that comes back every ice age, the sea that rises and goes down again. Cracks in a glacier and looking in those, seeing a cold, empty world. Little caves in enormous ice blocks. Diving under the frozen surface of the sea and being in a dark blue nothing, with white light coming from above. Seeing aurora borealis there. Ice bears. Orcas. All you feel, he feels, there is, is fascination. Optimistic: A taste of what it feels like living outside of society. The ‘he’ is gone, we are millions of years earlier, and it’s the end of the dinosaur time. A small herbivore dinosaur and his friend try to survive, but snow is already falling, and the sky is black. When trying to find some food, his friend gets wounded and some time later is left to die. The dinosaur tries to keep walking, evading enemies, that are everywhere, but the snow is deep and there are no plants left. With the words ‘dinosaurs roaming the earth’ he sees a dead T-Rex and dies himself, marking the end of the dinosaurs. In the last tones, when Thom starts singing ‘ooh ooh ooh ooh’, we fast forward in history, with mammals evolving, animals like saber tooth tigers, and human apes, and there, finally human beings, who go from hunter societies to industrialized cities and at the end a dead person is shown, marking the end of the human race. The extra bit is showing how every process is a cycle, even stars, and complete parts of the endless universe are destroyed before new stars etcetera are evolving. The feeling here? For the individual, there is only pain and fear, but taking the whole universe into account, the individual experience doesn’t matter that much > nihilism. In Limbo: This is my favorite song (maybe of all time) and it’s very hard to describe. The ‘he’ is back and he is lying on his back on a raft in the middle of an endless sea and there is no one around him. The most important are the feelings here. First there is the fear. He knows he is lying there, with the risk of falling into sea. He knows there is no one to help him and he will die of thirst on that raft. The only other thing he can do, is drown himself, which he isn’t exactly eager to do as well. Secondly, there is the sadness, because of his coming death and because of his loneliness. The last ‘emotion’ is the lack thereof, the nothingness, the nihilism. With ‘come back!’, for example, the emotions are coming back, but that is for a short amount of time. He stays lying there apathically, forever, dying and not caring, maybe even giggling about it. The most depressive thing I can picture, ever. This is a song that doesn’t make you cry, but just makes you staring in the distance. Idioteque: He wakes up, in his bed, in his house, in the society. He never escaped at all, it was a dream, because you can never escape. He is confused at first, but then he panics and is deeply depressed. He is again in the cell of society and has obligations he doesn’t care about. He ends up going to bed again, lying there in the dark, hiding himself. Morning Bell: It’s morning, surprisingly, and he needs to go to the factory, but he stays in bed. Of course this song is about the wish of being somewhere else, being back on the Arctic Sea of In Limbo perhaps (which is not where you actually would want to go, but maybe total freedom and no safety is better than no freedom and total safety). And again, this song falls into emotionlessness (‘walking walking walking walking…’). Motion Picture Soundtrack: Still in bed and it seems our man hasn’t eaten or drunk for a while. The first verse is about lamenting this society, maybe even this life, where there is nothing to be happy about (if ‘happiness’ exists). The second verse makes everything a little more relative, the ‘white lies’ part of society isn’t spoken sadly of, it’s just that way. This song seems to be about acceptance, but he doesn’t accept life this way: he dies at the end, or thinks, hopes he’s dying, all because he hopes there is something better to come, a next life, perhaps something like heaven. Also important to say, during the second verse he starts to imagine an ice cave with high ceilings, and minerals that are glowing, and endless corridors and rooms and great halls, white and blue. He hopes that is his next life, just walking there forever, always moved by the beauty. It is not clear if he gets a next life or not. I thought the story ended here. I am an atheist and I don’t believe there is something like a next life, or heaven. But Amnesiac could be a resumal of that story, and has definitely more supernatural vibes than Kid A. Amnesiac as a resumal of Kid A could mean two things: there is either a next life, or the suicide didn’t succeed. I’d like to go with the last scenario. Our story continues! Packt like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box: The individual is alone, in a dark place, most likely a cave. He has been there for a long time. The cave is where he went with his mind when he entered the ice cave, he went deeper and deeper and travelled through different sorts, all underground. He’s not sad or happy, quite numb there. One thing is clear: this is not what really happened with his body, this is just where he imagines he is. I personally think the State has prevented him to commit suicide and his body is just lying under their watch somewhere. Pyramid Song: Still in the cave, but now on a river. This song seems to confirm that he didn’t really die, but he soothes himself. He wished he was dead and imagines the river Styx. The dream is beautiful, unhappy, but peaceful. This is all the individual wants, for life can bring him only misery, he imagines death as the best thing that could happen to him. Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors: This turns the image in a scarier place. Maybe because the State can do with his brains what they want. Doors seem to be about choices in life. For this individual, there are only closed locked doors, and of course the trapdoors. If we are speculating, it could be possible that the State prints the image of open doors in his head, so that he thinks he has any influence on his life. But the image stays scary and weird, because of the State and because everything is in life. You and Whose Army?: The defence of the individual against the State. He makes them ridiculous and suggests there are not enough of them to stop him. He wants to overthrow them with the powers of.. what? Nothing. He fights, but he has no power. The State heard this and decided to mess with his head further, as they do not like opposing persons. I Might Be Wrong: Still in the cave, but now by an underground waterfall. It is very beautiful and glides out of the cave, which means out of the coma he experiences now. He now has a more positive look on things, he has hope, which is a great contrast with the last few songs. There is no question that the State does this. Knives Out: Again a very different song. The individual is placed in a new home, maybe with others he considers as family. He is brainwashed, and he doesn’t remember much. He is amnesiac. But the State has punished him for his treason: the environment he lives in is awful. Everyone there is constantly bickering with each other and has to deal with constant hunger, fear and coldness. The only option left is cruelty and cannibalism, in order to survive. He is of course confused, but he sees himself several times as the victim he eats. He knows he is not any better than who he is eating. Morning Bell/Amnesiac: A song we’ve already heard. That time it was about wanting to stop everything, and thinking you could succeed in that (suicide). But you have no freedom, so you can’t commit suicide. This song is hopeless. The individual doesn’t stop working, but he is hopeless and emotionless. Happier tones tune in, but it’s too late. (Not my favorite song of Amnesiac, but this is, if I think it through, very sad and beautiful) Dollars and cents: Because of his good behaviour, he is placed into a better home with a job. He pretends he does his work like others and have an interest in the capitalist ways. Very soon, he hears of his coworkers and the State that everyone must be quiet. He does, but protests a little (maybe in his head). He stays quiet, but the State is crushing all people, all animals, the whole planet, all the places he went to in his head don’t exist, just battleground. The money is the only thing that’s important for the State and it destroys everything. Hunting Bears: It’s like he starts living in his head again (escapism), because it’s the only thing he can. He can’t find his cave anymore, or any beautiful landscapes, but just empty fields with mud and bombs everywhere, crows looking for left-over meat and bones. Fighting is the only thing he knows. Like Spinning Plates: A song about the prosperity and greatness of the State, and the little, poor, hopeless person he is. This is totalitarianism, the opposite of individual freedom, and thereby a stark contrast with songs like Optimistic and In Limbo. Now it’s pretty clear that living in freedom in constant danger is still better than with all your means under the control of a regime. Life in a Glasshouse: The individual lives in a house. He is aware of all the misery in life, but he starts to forget these things a little and decides to just do what he is ought to do, because he knows the State sees everything he does. As we approach the end of the song, he becomes more and more obedient and turns into the robot he is at the beginning of Kid A. This is only because of fear, and he isn’t well programmed that way, the reason it depresses him every time so much. He weeps himself to sleep and goes to the factory everyday, until the tears have disappeared and his face is blank.

And then we go on with Everything In Its Right Place again…

Thank you for reading this analysis of Kid A and Amnesiac! I hope your experiences don’t differ much from mine, as I enjoy these albums tremendously.

[a-good-life-love]

Exactly how to monetary consultant Your Financial Professional The safeties market is established to make it seem as if all monetary experts that are providing investment items are extremely efficient, financing majors, vice head of states, and so forth. All these points are done purposefully to ensure that you’ll trust them as well as think that they are financial investment professionals who will be excellent with your cash money. The fact is that’s not constantly the situation. That’s simply the perception of the market. Therefore, it is necessary to ask the excellent concerns to make sure that you’re getting the ideal professional. The fact is the broker agent market, similar to any other market, has excellent economic consultants as well as bad financial consultants. Right here are some tips on just how to ensure you’re getting a great one. ( 1) FINRA BrokerCheck The really first device that you should certainly be making use of to vet your monetary consultant is something called FINRA BrokerCheck. BrokerCheck it is an openly supplied device. You can go to FINRA.org and on top right-hand corner of that internet site there’s something called the BrokerCheck. You can in fact enter a person’s name, hit enter into as well as you’re going to get what’s called the BrokerCheck record which will detail all the info that you require when you’re vetting your monetary expert. BrokerCheck will certainly have the ability to inform you just how the expert did on their licensing tests, where they have in fact been utilized, where they mosted likely to college, if they’ve ever been charged with anything criminally. Have they ever before declared personal bankruptcy? Have they ever been taken legal action against by a client? Have they ever before been discharged by their broker agent firm? These are all things that would be definitely important prior to establishing a partnership with a person that’s going to handle your entire life savings. During consumer intake the first thing we do is look for their BrokerCheck record. We begin rattling off all this info to the possible client regarding their advisor and also they are generally astonished. We aren’t illusionists as well as I do not know every financial expert. In fact all we are doing is drawing this openly offered info and having a look at the record. Consequently oftentimes we are educating a feasible client that their specialist has actually been sued a lot of times presently and also the sponsor had no concept. Plainly that would have been crucial details to recognize at the beginning when they were selecting whether to deal with that individual. If they had actually pulled that record, if they recognized as an example that the person they were thinking of had currently been filed a claim against 26 times by previous customers, they would never select that person. So unquestionably, the very first thing that you ought to do, draw that record. ( 2) Concerns to Ask The extremely first excellent inquiry to ask a potential broker would certainly be “Exactly how are you compensated?” Not every financial specialist is made up the very same approach. Some of them are compensated on a commission basis, which is per deal. Each time they make an idea for you and also you agree, they generate income. A few of them are being paid a percent of possessions under monitoring. If you have a million-dollar portfolio and they make 1%, they are mosting likely to make $10,000 a year. You can identify what you are trying to find based upon what type of financier you are. If you’re a buy-and-hold sponsor, possibly a commission version makes great feeling for you because of the truth that maybe you’re simply doing 2 or 3 trades a year. If you’re trading a lot as well as you’re having a truly active relationship with your specialist maybe the possessions under administration design makes even more sense. However ask the question primarily so that you recognize as well as it’s not vague. The second issue to ask is “does the financial advisor have a fiduciary obligation to you.” Ask that details concern since the broker agent industry will certainly take the position that they do not. Their responsibility to you from their point of view is to make an economic investment recommendation that appropriates. That’s a much reduced bar since sometimes a monetary investment could be ideal for you nonetheless not always in your benefits. Simply ask your financial expert, “Do you consider on your own to have a fiduciary obligation to me?” Allow’s figure this out at the start of the partnership to ensure you understand where you stand. An additional question you should ask is, “That are you signed up with?” A great deal of monetary experts out there are sort of independent and they’ve obtained a “operating as” organisation, anywhere their offices are, however they are registered to market securities with a bigger brokerage business. Discover who that is. Do some research study to ensure that you’re getting included with a brokerage firm business that has the sorts of assistance and conformity that you would certainly expect. There are two type of brokerage firms. There is the Morgan Stanley version where they have a facility of brokers in a significant city. Possibly 30-40 brokers in one work environment. There are compliance people, there are supervisors, there are operations people – done in the precise same localized workplace. In my experience you see less issues in that kind of situation since all the managerial individuals are right there. On the flipside, there is the independent version – it’s a consultant in a workplace someplace as well as their conformity remains in Kansas City or Minneapolis or St. Louis or anywhere. The supervisor comes to the work environment as soon as a year and audits the books and also examines the tasks of the expert for the prior year. These sees are commonly disclosed well in advance. Certainly the support because context is actually numerous. Which is the sort of business where we see more concerns. You wish to ensure you’re obtaining consisted of with the most effective company. That the firm is managing your financial consultant, securing you, making sure that if they are doing something incorrect, they will catch it prior to it’s destructive to your accounts. Another good inquiry to ask, “Have you ever before had a conflict with your customer?” If they specify indeed, ask him to define it to you. Nobody is excellent as well as you can’t maintain everyone happy so if you’ve got a hundred customers and also you have in fact been in business for 10 years you may have someone who’s been disturbed with you at some point. It may not rise to the degree where it worries you, however inquire about it, talk about it. Inquire about their financial investment background and also their objectives. Not every monetary expert does it the exact same technique. You want to guarantee that their purposes follow your own and their approach is consistent with yours. And also finally you should ask “do you have insurance?” The brokerage firm market does not need broker agent firms or monetary advisors to bring insurance protection. A great deal of them do however they are not called for to do so. Why that can be considerable, undoubtedly, remains because worst-case scenario and also you have a conflict with your expert, you wish to at the very least be with a financial specialist that if they do screw up you’ve obtained some defense. So ask “do you have E&O insurance protection for this?” Otherwise, that is a warning. Either even if of collectability issues if you enter a situation where you require to sue your consultant or it may be a recommendation that they are not running their organisation in the best means feasible since most definitely financial professionals have to have E&O insurance policy. ( 3) The following point to think about are prospective warning signs. These can show up either in the preliminary meeting or simply as the connection begins: – They rush you to choose. We see this in a lot of our cases where they have you can be located in the meeting as well as state, “Sign here, right here and below. I have actually obtained an appointment in 15 minutes. If you have any kind of issues call me later.” That’s a noticeable warning sign. That must be clear to most of people. I assume a lot of individuals are afraid to rise it since they believe, “Oh well, he’s very active.” and he makes it resemble he’s obtained lots of consumers as well as he’s actually successful. So perhaps it’s great that he doesn’t have time for me. No, it’s not alright. Find somebody that has the time. Your expert is making money to handle your account so make them help it. – They do not notify you what they’re being paid. That’s definitely an indicator. The genesis of the majority of safeties rip-offs cases is commissions – consultants pushing high commission products that profit them at the hinderance of their consumer. If the expert is not disclosing what those compensations are, that’s a problem. – They want to put whatever into one investment. This is a big warning sign. What’s the ideas in doing that? Many people know variety is essential when investing so if you have a consultant that is specifying, “Hey, allow’s utilize this financial investment, it’s the very best, it’s far better than anything else, we’re mosting likely to place every little thing in this.” That’s one more cautioning indication. – They wish to meet you alone. What would be the inspiration? State you are senior and also you want to bring your child to a conference for support and your advisor specifies no … That’s an indication given that plainly if they’re on the up as well as up they must not have any kind of problem with more people remaining in the conference, making certain that you’re being looked after. – If your expert does not accompany you (at the start as well as on a regular basis after that) asking about your real financial investment needs (objectives, time perspective, threat tolerance, and more), that’s an issue. Investments are not vanilla. Every financial investment is not best for every individual. Each investment depends on your specific scenario. If your expert is not asking you what your situation is – your total assets, your profits, your financial investment purposes, your financial investment experience, your objectives, that’s a substantial warning. – If your account declarations do not come straight from the brokerage company, that’s a warning. If the declarations are coming straight from your monetary expert and you’re not seeing anything on there about the brokerage company they remove with, that can be an issue. That could be a financial expert whose hiding losses or just sending you affirmations that are not based upon fact. Most of brokerage firms do not permit their experts to establish month-to-month records or if they do they require that they at first be checked out as well as approved by conformity. If there is absolutely nothing on the statement that definitively shows that it has really been reviewed/approved/sanctioned by the consultants broker-dealer firm, it’s a trouble. – If they ever request a check to be constructed bent on them individually that’s a problem. Broker agent business are established to make sure that sort of things does not take place and so if your professional is doing it, most likely this has not been authorized by their firm. – If you suffer huge losses without sensible description, absolutely that’s a problem. Great deals of brokers will tell you “it’s the industry” or “forces that are out of my control.” That may hold true but you want to mention it and ensure that you obtain a practical description. These are a number of tips on exactly how to select the right financial expert. It is an important selection, and should not be made gently as well as without being notified.Related ProductsLoading products..

[adventure-hearts]

Any advice for trying to introduce friends to Digimon? Especially the Adventure-verse?

Great ask! I do have loads of suggestions. 

(However, keep in mind that I haven’t actually tested any of these on other humans, because I haven’t talked to IRL friends about Digimonsince primary school. I’m weird.)

Here it goes!

» R’sUnofficial, Untested Guide to Introducing Your Friends to Digimon Adventure «

First, some assumptions:

You’re mainly interested in getting your friends intothe anime side of the franchise, specifically Adventure.

The friends in question have never had any significant contact with the Digimon franchise (or they watched it as children, but have no attachment to it).

They are grown-ups.

They would not just laugh at the suggestion of(re)watching a children’s anime from 1999, as most people would, for somereason.

Arguments

Yes, because before you get your friend in front ofthe computer or the TV or their phone, you have to actually convince them to give Digimon Adventure a chance, and explain why they should spend their precious time with this thing you like instead all the other things they would rather be doing instead. 

Here are some reasons you can present them:

It is one of themost well-known animes of all time, globally. It’s just a classic.

It transcendsits genre by far. It has little to do with Pokémon or similar series for boysfeaturing fighting monsters – it’s much more of a character-driven drama withsci-fi, fantasy, horror, and action-adventure elements.

The story isbased on time-tested formulas and so fits into a much wider literarytradition. It’s the hero’s journey mixed with one of the most traditionalscenarios in children’s literature (being transported to a mysterious world).

It’s filled withreferences to pop culture, literature, film, mythology, technology, science, andphilosophy, that elevate it in a grown-up’s eyes.

It discussespretty deep and sometimes dark themes.

You’ll fall inlove with the characters.

It has a greatsoundtrack and voice acting that make up for the dated animation.

It can be prettydamn funny… despite the poop jokes.

The content issurprisingly unproblematic.

It can be a gateto a wider franchise with other anime series, films, video-games, toys, books, music, and even a stage play.

The Digimon fandom is apretty damn cool community.

Use whatever relevantdetail that will convince your friend to like it. Try to connect the series to theirindividual interests. It could be something as simple as “Voice Actor X is on it!”, but don’t be afraid to go personal or dark!

And once you’ve actually convinced them to give Digimon a chance, it’s time to decide how you’re going to get started.

Strategies

1. Start with one of the Hosoda movies. 

I think this isactually the easiest way to introduce someone to this franchise.

Not only are Movies1 and 2 short and accessible, but they also require little to no context or time commitment. Moreover, they’re one of the few Digimon products that can actuallybe considered artistic – they’re beautifully animated and Mamoru Hosoda is an extremely respectedfilm director. 

Our War Game is probably the more entertaining of the two, and you have theconnection to Summer Wars that givesit some further cred. It also has the bonus of introducing you to the maincast. Don’t worry about the backstory: If your friend likes it, you can show themmore later.

2. Start with Episode 21 of Adventure. 

It is a truthuniversally acknowledged that the first two arcs of Adventure are asentertaining as watching paint dry. Don’t make a newbie sit through them on afirst watch.

Sure, thoseearly episodes are great at introducing the characters and explaining how theworld works and have some pretty iconic moments. We know that. But if you start from thebegining, I guarantee that you’ll lose your friend before Devimon even makesan appearance. “But they will miss so much!”, you may be thinking. You canfill in the basic details, and if your friend ends up liking the show, they’ll haveplenty of time to go back later and catch up.

Episode 21 maybe a good starting point precisely because it’s such an outlier and a turning point in the story. Again, there’s the Mamoru Hosodaconnection – it’s the best animated episode in the series, by far – and thatstrange, nostalgic mood that somehow captures the best this universe has tooffer. It’s an interesting starting point.

After Taichi goes to Odaiba and back, the plot runsmuch more smoothly. The remainder of the Crests arc is more than enough tointroduce you to the characters, the relationships between them, and how theworld works. And then you plunge right into the Vamdemon and Dark Masters Arcs, which are easily the best parts of DigimonAdventure.

3. Start with tri.

I’m ambivalent about this strategy because tri. isn’tfor everyone – in fact, it has many of the same pacing problems of theoriginal series. But tri. is made to revive interest in Adventure and to coverall the bases – devoted fans, fans who haven’t watched it in ages, or evenpeople who barely remember the previous series. This may be the best option for people who still have some vague recollections of watching Digimon as a kid.

For some people, it may seem less daunting to start witha modern, 20-episode anime series instead of a 50-episode series from the1990s. If they like tri. and are curious about its background, then they’ll bemuch more motivated to go back to the original series. In fact, perhaps not having that background will makemany of tri.’s problems seem less obvious? 

Alternatively, you run the risk of your frienddisliking the first few episodes of tri. or just feeling completely lost orbored, which will turn them off Digimon forever. That’s why this is a risky option,so it depends on your friend’s personality and what you feel their tastes are.

Bonus: Out-of-the-box strategies

4. Start with 02.

I know, I know. Sounds bonkers. But hear me out.

I know multiplepeople who got truly hooked on this universe via 02 – including myself. I hadwatched Adventure as a small kid, but it was the debut of 02 (when I was a bitolder), that made be want to dive deeper into things, and urged me to revisit Adventure. 02 simply has this je ne sais quois,especially in the first half, that makes it really fun, compelling viewingexperience for a newbie.

Moreover, 02 is the opposite of Adventure: it peaks inthe first half and it has better pacing at the start. By episode 4, the plot hasbegan in earnest and you know all the characters and the antagonist. You evenget mentions of backstory, the charismatic older characters, and an almostmythical aura around “the previous adventure”, which can be enough to make you want to re-watch Adventure right away.

02 has its share of problems, but, like tri., watchingit without comparing it to all the things Adventure did better can actually bean advantage. And getting introduced to Digimon Adventure asa prequel to 02 could make it lookeven better.

Think of this as the Machete order of the Adventureuniverse. Unorthodox, but it can actually make it more satisfying for newpeople.

5.Start with other Digimon series.

Not my favourite optionm since I think the Adventureuniverse is so crucial that its more interesting to watch it first and then goto the series that deconstruct it or homage it in some way. 

However, this is alwaysan option, especially if you know your friend’s taste would be more in tunewith other series. Just be careful with what you pick. Digimon Tamers and Appmonwould be solid introductions to the franchise. Xross Wars or X-Evolution? Probablynot a great idea.

6. Start with video games.

This is more directed to those friends who are obsessedwith gaming and have limited time for other media (we all know the type). The Adventure-related games may be a goodway of getting them attached and curious enough to check the original anime. 

Alternatively,the newer, high quality Digimon games (like Cyber Sleuth) could be an effectiveway of making the franchise more appealing for hardcore gamers.

Don’ts

These are strategies that I would NOT recommend (although in some cases, Isuppose any of them could work):

Starting withthe English dub (sorry: you know I feel strongly about this issue) or, godforbid, Digimon: The Movie. Original version all the way.

Starting withfanfiction, analysis, or the fandom in general. Let them form their ownopinions first!

Hyping theseries too much or being super-extra about it.

Bribing or blackmailing.

I hope this helps! Feel free to test these suggestionsand give me some feedback on wether they worked or not.

And if anyone has more ideas, please share! We all wantto make this stupid franchise more known to the world :)

[starsword-library]

After the exams, it was finally time to gather data on Chrys' spells.

As usual, said data is already attached to the end of the report. Our experiment was basically the same procedure used to measure the energy of Star Wands. Simple, yet a good start for any study of a healing spell.

"So I just gotta do my healing thing on this stuff here?" Chrys asked, looking at the equipment, after Professor Wiz explained the basics of the experiment. "Not the stuff I expected to be healing, but sure, I can give it a hand, I guess."

"Well, friend, you'll have to forgive us but we can't be hoarding wounded people in these labs to give you more realism on this," the professor answered calmly. "You'll have to do with our little starmeter here. Besides, I feel you two had enough excitement on the battlefields already."

He glanced at me shortly while saying that. He had been very worried about me when he saw my wounds, and for good reason, I believe. Excitement aside, I don't want to get into another battle anytime soon. 

-Since you'll be the first one to check this report, I'll assure you here that I'm fine, professor. It's a bit frustrating to have lost one of my visible mutations but at least now we'll finally know if they grow back like a normal shell or not. Also, I'm not in pain, which is surely a good sign, so don’t worry (Please remove this note when revising this report).

"If you say so," Chrys on the other side had a daring look on their eyes that makes me think they plan on using their skills in battle as soon as possible. It was this same determination that led us to help the Defense Force last time, after all.

"I better not disappoint then." They waved one arm in front of them, similar to how they would extend it at the other times they've used their powers, except it was a more relaxed gesture, and the spell looked weaker, the Star Beating enveloping only one of their fingers instead of the whole hand as I remember it from the previous time.

The readings on the starmeter confirmed my impression, ranking below the power of a 3-Pointed Star Wand.

"Well, I'd call that disappointing if you were a wand, but no one has ever had enough natural control over Star Beating in order to use a starmeter like this in the first place, so for us puny living beings I'd say it's actually a groundbreaking feat," was the professor's analysis, which was much like my first impression of their powers, but I know they can do better and have the wounds to prove it, so I questioned them about it.

"Can't you do better though? The wound you healed in my face needed much more than this amount of power, I believe."

"Well, yeah, I think so. I was just testing the waters here," they confessed, "it's just, kinda hard to get it right this way, you know? Like, the conducting metal stuff is cool and all, but it's not quite the feeling of healing something, you know?"

"You mean your magic recognizes and reacts to people's wounds?" They shrugged. "Or it could be just a psychological thing..."

"Oh, if that's the problem it's easy to solve," Professor Wiz stated.

He then took a jar, filled with a red sauce, from his hands, and used some drops to mark the starmeter with lines vaguely reminiscing of bloodied scratches, and a sad face under them.

I understood his point, but I didn't think it was a very convincing scenario, and I never saw Professor Wiz be so careless around lab equipment before. It felt irresponsible to me.

Chrys looked as astonished as me, except their mouth was hanging open in a sort of smile. They bursted into laughter soon after. Professor Wiz was also snickering so I suppose it was a joke. Not that I'd know, my sense of humor has always been weak, to say the least. 

But Chrys’ performance did improve slightly at the next tests, so Professor Wiz must have known what he was doing when he changed the mood like that. It seems that I still have a lot to learn about dealing with other people, especially out of scientific circles. Not that I remember being so odd as a subject myself, but I suppose we are all different. It’s interesting to be on the other side of the relationship this time.

<prev   next> read from the start

[murasaki-murasame]

Danganronpa V3 Liveblog Part 19 [Chapter 6 - Trial]

I was going to make some sort of a vague meme about this ending, but honestly I don’t even want to indirectly spoil anyone about what happens, so I’ll just say that this was fantastic.

This probably won’t actually be the end of my liveblog, since I have some post-game content to do, and some optional bonus things throughout the game I might just google and write about later whenever I get around to that. But this is the ending of the main game.

Anyway, thoughts under the cut.

[Fake edit: hahahaha holy fuck this ended up being 10.4k words long. Good fucking luck to anyone who wants to read all of it, I guess, lol]

Jesus christ, where do I even start with this??? There’s just . . . so much shit that went down. So much.

To start things off, I wasn’t kidding when I said that this was a fantastic ending, overall. I loved it a lot. It was so ambitious and intense and surreal that I couldn’t help but like it. I definitely have SOME issues with things, but I’ll get to them later.

I should at least say that, as you can all verify from my last post, I wasn’t exactly expecting Tsumugi of all people to be the mastermind. I guess it justified her continued existence in the story, after she felt so weirdly pointless.

Though before I talk about Tsumugi specifically, on the whole topic of pointless characters, Himiko was definitely . . . the weakest link by far. I don’t really hate her or anything, but she just had so little going for her as a character by the end. Even the whole thing with Tenko dying and giving her emotional strength and development and stuff felt like it didn’t really change much. So seeing her alive by the end, especially in the epilogue scene, felt . . . awkward. It’s not like I wanted her to die or anything, but I feel like the epilogue might have had a bit more . . . weight to it, if it was just Shuichi and Maki left. I dunno. I’ll talk about the epilogue later.

On the topic of Tsumugi, I honestly think I might prefer her as a villain over Junko. Mostly because this game’s entire ending and it’s overall theme feels way more interesting than everything Junko represented. I’ve said before that I really do like Junko as a villain, and that seeing her come back yet again would have been totally fine, but I think I liked Tsumugi as a villain even more than her. I’m aware that with how Tsumugi’s character works in general, there’s not much that actually sets her apart from Junko, but still. The things she represents on a thematic level are really interesting to me.

I also just appreciate that it was genuinely surprising to me that she was the mastermind. I really didn’t see it coming until they basically spelled it out for me.

I probably should have guessed where this trial was heading in advance. I said last time that the shot put ball and whatnot confused me, but it should have been obvious that it was hinting at Kaede not truly being the first killer. And the detail of the secret entrance to the hidden room being in the girl’s bathroom should have clued me in about Tsumugi. I could easily see someone else figuring it out if they had a good memory and also figured out that the chapter one case would be relevant again, but I didn’t remember the detail about Tsumugi having gone to the bathroom around the time Rantarou died, so that was a genuine surprise. I really like that they actually planted evidence pointing toward her at the start of the game, even though it didn’t really become apparent until you learn stuff much later in the game.

I also really liked the whole detail of how her talent as the Ultimate Cosplayer connected with her role as the mastermind. It really wasn’t what I was expecting at all.

To dive right into the Big Twists, it turns out that my guess about how this would end was basically the opposite of what I expected. I’ve said before that I expected the reveal to be that the world of V3 was a fictional story being broadcast to the ‘real’ DR world, but in the end, if we at least take the ending at face value, it was the entire DR franchise that was ‘fictional’ in the context of V3′s world. So that threw me off big-time. In general things escalated way more than I expected, and there were way more layers of meta going on than I thought there’d be.

But I love how that all tied into Tsumugi’s identity. Like, I totally believed that she was really Junko, or at least some kind of clone or descendant or whatever of Junko, and I accepted the idea that ‘Tsumugi’ was just a fake identity. But nope, Junko is just a character she’s cosplaying! I didn’t consider it at first because of the whole cospox plot point, but then the big twist happened and it became clear that she can cosplay as Junko because, in the world of V3, Junko is a fictional character.

The whole scenario of her continually switching between cosplays was, to be honest, genuinely disturbing. Especially since they got the original VAs to voice their appropriate lines. So it really felt as if all of the previous characters were coming in, which helped make the trial feel really fever dream-y, in a good way. It really hammered in that feeling of artificiality going on.

It’s interesting to me that, with how the whole ending worked, ‘Tsumugi’ was probably still a fake identity of sorts. Like how every other character’s identity was made up, to the point where it was heavily implied that even their names were fictional. So it’d make sense if Tsumugi’s whole identity was also fake. She called herself the Ultimate Cosplayer, but if we believe her story then the whole concept of Ultimates wouldn’t truly exist in their world anyway. But I like the implication that she was basically just pretending. It’s consistent with everything else, at least, and her talent didn’t really play into her actual plot role at all, just her ‘aesthetic’ as a character, if that makes sense. So I like the idea that she was just a random, ‘talentless’ member of Team Danganronpa who adopted a false identity in order to take part in the killing game. The idea that we might have never known her true identity at all beyond, well, her job position and her personality, makes me like her even more as a villain, somehow.

In general, I love how incredibly meta this ending was. I love how cynical it was. I love how it rejects itself as a franchise, and everyone playing it. It’s great. The fact that they openly talked about the Danganronpa franchise, Team Danganronpa, and the entire fandom, was just great. I totally get why the guilt-trip nature of it might bug people, but I like it. It’s certainly hard to argue against the point it’s making. This game only existed because people actively supported this series. Because they genuinely enjoyed experiencing the emotionally thrills and catharsis that the killing games gave them. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the series just keeps going like nothing happened.

I’m aware that the ending wasn’t really intended to be genuinely spiteful towards it’s audience, especially since the final moments of the game are all about the audience changing their minds and deciding that they want to stop the killing games, and to also save as many of the remaining characters as possible, but there’s definitely still a very clear element of spite going on that can’t really be ignored. It’s very vocally aware and critical of the way that people enjoy violent media, even if it also accepts the possibility of people being able to change for the better and be positively influenced by the stories they read.

It just fascinates me that they even went this far. That they took their franchise to such an absurd point. That they created the idea of this fictional future where their own franchise would grow so big and so popular that they’d start killing real people to continue it. That they made themselves, as the people who made this game, the villains. It’s such an incredibly risky move that I’ve basically never seen before, especially if we take into account that this franchise has been going on for like 5+ years already. It’s also part of why I don’t think this ending was 100% spiteful toward it’s audience. Because, at the very least, it also holds itself accountable in all this. The devs are aware that they’re the ones actually sitting down to make these games in the first place. So it’s not like they’re placing all of the blame on their consumers.

The whole back and forth spiral of emotional tension and cynicism and hopefulness and redemption and self-awareness made the whole ending part incredibly intense and emotional. It really did feel like the people making the game were laying themselves bare and engaging in a direct conversation with the people playing their game, to ask them to consider the idea of violent media, and the idea of the authenticity of lies/fiction vs truth/reality.

Weirdly enough, this whole ending reminds me a fair bit of Nier: Automata, and that game’s entire thematic point. They’re very different games, in obvious ways, but they’re weirdly similar.

I didn’t really see the whole Argument Armament section coming, but oh man that part sure was an experience. Thankfully I’ve been slowly getting better at them, but it was still really stressful. But what truly made it special was hearing the voices of the audience during it. I just love the entire concept of you literally arguing against the voices of people saying stuff like ‘ugh, I hate meta endings like this!’ or ‘I’ve invested too much time and money into this franchise for it to just end!’ or ‘I just want to see people kill each other, death is the entire point of Danganronpa!’. And then eventually it just became a bit of an unending scream of ‘HOPE DESPAIR DESPAIR HOPE HOPE HOPE DESPAIR HOPE’, which was honestly the most perfect way it could have ended. With how obsessed this franchise has been with the concepts of hope and despair, and with how more and more emotional weight and baggage has been placed on those concepts, it’s very fitting that this game basically ends with you facing down a horde of disembodied voices mindlessly shouting out that words, and you telling them that you plan to end the Danganronpa franchise.

And on the whole note of that part, I really liked how Keebo played into the ending. Maybe it would have had more impact if he’d been the protagonist this whole time, but the idea of him being ‘the audience surrogate’ was really cool, if only because it set up the aforementioned scene. I also liked that he wasn’t immediately validated in being obsessed with hope. He wasn’t necessarily in the wrong or anything, but he wasn’t able to argue for hope in the face of despair in the way he wanted to. They also didn’t try and suddenly ignore Shuichi in favour of having Keebo suddenly be the protagonist in the end, so that was nice.

Before I talk about the epilogue and some other assorted points, I should say that the part where they explained the game’s title was AMAZING. I loved it so much. The reveal of this being ‘Danganronpa 53′ was such an effective ‘wait what’ moment. And then we got the incredible parody logos for Danganronpa 4-10. That was an amazing scene. And in general I just love the sorta-dystopian future that whole scene sketched out, of the DR franchise going on for such a long time that they eventually decided to hold a ‘real-life killing game’. But anyway, it also completely validated how weird this game’s title is. I guess on some level it’s still a bit unnecessarily confusing for it to have ‘3′ in the title, but I like that they gave such a surprising yet effective explanation for the ‘V’ part. I may or may not have laughed out loud when one of the random lines of audience dialogue said ‘V is the roman numeral for 5′. I don’t know why that was so funny to me, but it was.

The audience dialogue thing was also an amazing concept that added a lot of unexpected comedy to the situation. It did a great job of encapsulating the attitudes of the fandom. It was hilarious to see random lines of text floating about that were complaining about the ending being boring and them wanting to see an exciting clash between hope and despair. There were too many lines for me to remember, or to have even noticed in time, but a lot of them were really hilarious. I kinda lost it when they started complaining about Shuichi, and when they randomly started insulting him over how he didn’t have his hat anymore. That was great. Then we got some random and hilarious lines like ‘Shuichi is so yummy <3′. I think my favourite one was probably ‘Danganronpa 25 was the best one’. That made me laugh. The writers of these games know us so well, lol.

Though, as I kinda said above, I do appreciate that the audience got their own redemptive moment in choosing to allow the franchise to end by not voting, while also asking Keebo to do what he can to save everyone other than Tsumugi. That was really nice.

Back on the topic of the game’s title, I wish they’d kept the ‘everyone’s new semester of mutual killing’, since they ended up name-dropping it during this trial, but they never really brought up the English game’s subtitle outside of the part where the game’s full name was said. I think that the name-drop would have just had more impact if they’d kept it as the game’s subtitle in English. It’s a minor issue, though.

I kinda want to leave my thoughts on the epilogue for as late in this post as I can, so I should talk about some other points first.

I talked a bit about how this trial went back over and re-did chapter one’s trial, but I didn’t go into much detail about it. I thought it was a really neat concept, to go back over such an old case and point out how the conclusion everyone came to was wrong. I thought that that whole trial was complicated enough as it was, but I really wasn’t expecting there to be a whole other layer to what went down in it that was being saved until the end of the game. But it actually made a lot of sense. As I said, we knew from the start that Tsumugi went to the bathroom around when the murder happened, but that didn’t seem to be an important detail until we found out later that that’s where the hidden entrance was. They even took the time back in chapter one to go over her cospox to explain how she couldn’t have possibly been the killer, which did a good job at getting us to stop suspecting her. But as it turns out, she was able to kill Rantarou in a way that avoided needing to use her talent at all.

It also addressed the one thing I disliked about the first trial, at least in terms of the in-universe logic and mechanics of it. At the time, I suspended my disbelief about it, but the idea of someone being successfully killed via a complicated Rube Goldberg machine felt a bit contrived. So I love that the big twist was that Kaede’s whole complicated set-up actually ended with her missing her shot, and so Tsumugi had to rush in and beat Rantarou to death with a spare shot put ball to make it look like Kaede’s idea had worked. I don’t quite know why, but the image of Rantarou just being absolutely baffled by the fact that a shot put ball just fell by his feet out of nowhere, and Tsumugi panicking in the background and rushing in to beat him to death with ANOTHER shot put ball was just the most hilarious thing ever to me. It was great. But I do feel genuinely bad for Rantarou. He must have been so confused about all the unexpected things that happened in the moments before he died.

I’m also very grateful that part of the twist was that Kaede was truly innocent [beyond having had the genuine motive and intent to kill, but you get my point], and that, specifically, she wasn’t even related to the mastermind. After the twin sister reveal, I expected that part of the twist would be that Kaede was in on the mastermind’s plan the entire time, or at best was unaware of it but still related to the mastermind. I immediately thought that it’d be too lame and out of the blue for anything along those lines to be the case, so I’m glad that the twin sister thing was just a red herring, and that Kaede was just a random, everyday person. I guess this also means that her moments of being cross-eyed weren’t some sort of a hint at some kind of ‘mental instability’ or whatever. That’s nice. I didn’t really mention it at the time, if I remember right, since it didn’t really feel important enough to talk about, but I’m very thankful that the game didn’t use something like that as any sort of a sign toward someone being ‘crazy’ or villainous or whatever. I mean on some level they still played into that trope to some degree, if only in order to use it as a red herring, but still. One of my own eyes is kind of crossed, a bit, so it would have been slightly depressing to see something like that be used as that sort of plot point. I sure didn’t expect a game like this to give me a reason to bring up that kind of a personal detail, but here we are!

This also gets me onto the topic of Rantarou himself, and . . . honestly, his entire deal ended up feeling really disappointing. He kinda just served to give an example that backed up what Tsumugi said about the state of the world. We didn’t really learn anything new about him. We just got a bit of context for what killing game he was a part of, and why he got roped into this one. Which is fine. I just kinda wanted something . . . more. I think he’s the kind of character who I might want to spend some time thinking about before I make a final decision on how I feel about his place in the story. I’m at least genuinely curious about how exactly his killing game ended up, for him to end up as the Ultimate Survivor. I’m still not entirely sure how that whole concept works, especially when they casually mentioned that if they executed Tsumugi, then Maki would become the new Ultimate Survivor, which I still don’t quite understand, since she was one of the ones volunteering to die in order to let everyone ELSE survive. Anyway, I think the basic implication is that he was the only survivor of his game, so I wonder if that means that he killed someone and successfully escaped. It’s the only way I could really see it ending up that way. I guess the alternative option is that maybe he and one other person survived and escaped because of the rule about the killing game ending at that point. I’m not sure, though, since it seems odd that only one of them would have been called the Ultimate Survivor and forced into this killing game, and not both of them. Then again there might also be something else to it, with how he implied in his video message that there was some trick to the ‘two survivors’ rule, but I still can’t quite work out what that would be. Either way, with what we know now, I feel like his whole thing of saying that he wanted this killing game to happen makes me think that he was taking some kind of genuine pleasure out of it. If it was just a matter of him saying that he needed to win, it might have just been out of a desire to survive, but in that case I don’t think he’s say that he wanted this game to happen. I dunno. His whole character feels weirdly confusing to me, but maybe it’ll make more sense once I spend some time going over things in my head.

And on a similar note, I said before that I expected the Monokubs to be somehow based upon other survivors from his game, but I guess that one didn’t pan out the way I expected. What WAS the point of the Monokubs, in the end? Was the entire running thing of them seemingly having repressed memories like everyone else a red herring? It felt like their characters just sorta stopped existing early on in this trial after they all got blown up and then never mentioned again. I wouldn’t be too surprised if they were genuinely pointless, but it’d still be a bit lame.

I guess I’m on a bit of a roll here with talking about specific characters, so I should take this time to say that I honestly feel kinda bad for Kokichi now. This trial didn’t really tell us anything new about him, but it spelled out a lot of the fairly obvious things being hinted at, and it made it abundantly clear that he wasn’t really a bad person at all. He didn’t have anything to do with this. He really was completely lying about being the mastermind in order to try and stop the game. Even his gang seems pretty harmless. So it’s pretty hard not to feel bad for him, even if he was still genuinely annoying and irritating as a person. Though now that we’ve gotten to the end of the game, I’m still a bit confused about all of the stuff that went down in chapter four that pointed toward him being obsessed with Shuichi, and jealous of Kaito’s closeness with him. I still feel like there were very deliberate hints pointing in that direction, but it never went anywhere. There’s at least the whole ‘when I find someone I like, I do anything I can to make them notice me, even if it means strangling them’ scene, which seems even more confusing to me now. I dunno. Maybe he DID have his own feelings for Shuichi, and it just didn’t get explicitly mentioned in the game itself. Maybe it’ll be elaborated on more in his free time events, and post-game stuff in general. Either way, it still feels like a bit of a strange loose end. Maybe I’m reading too much into things.

Though it’s hard to unironically call anyone in this game innocent or sympathetic after the whole plot twist about them all being Danganronpa fans who volunteered to take place in a killing game. That sure was a twist. A lot of the ending had a more comedic tone to it, even if basically all of it was genuinely kinda horrifying and emotional and involved the characters finding out that everything they knew was a lie, but that part in particular stuck out to me as being 100% horrifying. Although it was kinda amusing seeing the game point out via Shuichi that there’s already been several detectives in the franchise. Which I guess takes on a slightly different context when you think about this being the 53rd entry in the franchise, but you get what I mean. Everything else was just depressing and unexpected, though. Seeing Shuichi excitedly talk about having planned out an exciting murder AND execution for himself, and how neat it’d be to have a detective become a murderer, was really hard to sit through, especially since he still had that little moment of being flustered about not wanting to be too demanding toward the people running the games, that made it clear that it was still genuinely him saying it. Then we got the part of Kaede saying that she has no real faith in humanity, which just hurt a lot. And then they dragged Kaito of all people into it and I started to genuinely wish the scene would stop because I didn’t want to see what he had to say. But then he went and had the most terrifying audition of the three, where he talked excitedly about wanting to murder everyone else in the game. That really just twisted the knife that had already been stabbed into my heart after the first two auditions we saw.

So it’s hard to be TOO sympathetic of anyone when all of them genuinely wanted this. I guess, come to think of it, this also probably ties into what Rantarou said about him wanting this to happen. He probably did genuinely like the idea of taking part in these games. Which puts a really sinister twist on his character, and also every other character in the game.

In general it’s kinda awkward to talk about any of the characters in the way they’re presented to us, now that we know that all of their backstories and talents and stuff are just lies, and that they’re actually just normal people who willingly took part in a death game. We probably don’t even know any of their real names. But it’s pretty clear that a big part of the game’s message is that just because these things might be lies, it doesn’t mean that they’re ‘not true’. These are still the characters we know and love. These are still the people that they genuinely believe themselves to be. At least after having their memories replaced, they became people who didn’t want to kill others, who were horrified by the idea of it, who banded together to stop it. For the most part. You get what I mean. So there’s still value in the characters as we knew them, even if they were the result of taking existing people and then replacing all of their memories and giving them new identities. There’s still value in the experiences they went through, the lessons they learned, the feelings that they experienced, and even the feelings that we experienced because of them. In spite of this trial’s set of reveals, it really was, in the end, a celebration of the power of fiction. It embraced the value and meaning of fictional characters and their stories. It validated the characters, and the experiences they had in this game. So I’m still allowing myself to see them as the people we knew them as, and to feel sympathy with them because of it.

It’s really disturbing to consider that the identities they were given were just . . . made-up identities that had barely anything to do with who they were before. It’s especially depressing to think about how all of their motives and whatnot were thus completely made-up and pointless. All of their backstories and traumas and whatnot were just fictional. Which makes it really depressing to think back on topics like Ryoma’s self-loathing because of his past, or Kirumi’s dedication to protecting the country even if it meant killing everyone else in the game, or Maki’s history with being trained as an assassin and how that basically broke her as a person. In a sense, those things still hold weight and validity because the characters at least BELIEVED them to be true, but it’s still just . . . depressing to think about how much pain was put onto these characters in the name of giving them interesting backstories and whatnot. This also presumably means that Kiyo wasn’t ACTUALLY a psychopathic serial-killer who had an incestuous relationship with his sister. Huh. He sure got the short end of the stick in terms of how his backstory reflected upon him as a person.

[Fake edit: I don’t know how I forgot about it, but there’s also the fact that apparently Kaito was just given a terminal illness as part of his backstory, which is a really fucking disturbing concept. To think that they just casually decided to make things more interesting by messing with his health like that. Especially since it’s pretty easy to guess that they gave it to him because of how enthusiastic he seemed to be about wanting to kill everyone. So it’s like they were giving him the illness as a sort of dramatic irony, to set up a scenario along the lines of him dying from his illness after he killed all of his friends, making everything he did pointless. And of course there would have been the additional angle of it becoming something that the audience at home could sympathize with him because of, which . . . definitely worked, I suppose.]

But obviously the characters weren’t exactly all clean and sinless individuals before this game, even if these depressing backstories and whatnot are fake. They clearly all had their own problems before the game started. And the characters we know now are probably at least nicer, on average, than the people we saw in those auditions.

And as I said above, Tsumugi was probably no different. She clearly knows all about what her life was like before this game, but Tsumugi as we knew her for 99% of the game was almost certainly a false identity. She was still the closest to her original self out of everyone in the game, but still.

At least we know that, on a visual level, it was only their outfits that got changed. So that’s nice to know, I guess, even if it’s not particularly important.

Now that I’ve gotten to the end of the game, I can finally talk about the last major thing I got spoiled about! Which didn’t even technically end up being completely accurate in it’s implication anyway! Yay!

Basically, a week or two before I started playing the game, I was just scrolling down my dash, and one of the recommended posts was a fucking DRV3 meme about Shuichi rejecting both hope and despair, in favour of dying. Of all the ways to be spoiled, I got spoiled via a goddamn meme, and of all the things to be spoiled about, I got spoiled about THAT. So throughout this ENTIRE game, I’ve had the vague idea of Shuichi dying stuck in my head. Which has been kinda agonizing. I’m so glad that it wasn’t actually accurate, and that he lived, but I still hate that I got spoiled about it. I suppose that I only had myself to blame for not having installed xkit by then in order to blacklist the DR tags, but still. Considering that I had never posted anything about DR before that point, I can’t really be blamed for assuming that Tumblr wouldn’t decide to just randomly suggest me a post about it.

That point, and the point of me having seen a screenshot from Kiyo’s execution, were the main things I got spoiled about. I also thought I got spoiled about someone [aka Kaito] killing because of their terminal illness, which ended up being technically untrue and probably just a made-up example of the sorts of motives in this game, even though it still lead me to the correct assumption of ‘Kaito ends up being a killer’. Those are the main things. I also knew in advance that this game has a really controversial ending, and that it has a bonus dating sim mode thing, but I didn’t know anything specific about those things, so the nature of the ending still surprised me, and honestly the existence of a dating sim mode isn’t really a spoiler to me.

So yeah, those are the things I knew about this game in advance. I wish I could have gone in COMPLETELY blind, but oh well. It didn’t end up affecting my enjoyment of the game as much as I was scared it might.

Anyway, the main character left who I want to talk about is Shuichi. I’ve already talked about basically everyone else, including Keebo and Himiko, and I don’t really think there’s much to say about Maki. I still love her a lot as a character, but this part didn’t really give me much to say about her that I haven’t said already, except for one detail [that I’ve kinda already talked about] that I guess I’ll mention again in a second.

Though I guess it’s also worth talking a little bit about the surviving cast. Which I’m more or less including Keebo and Tsumugi in, even though they died at the very end. The fact that Shuichi, Maki, and Keebo lived until [more or less] the very end was pretty predictable since they’re all so noteworthy, although as I said above I genuinely expected this to end with Shuichi dead, so I suppose it ended up being surprising that he actually lived to the very end. In that sense I guess Maki was the most predictable survivor. And obviously Tsumugi staying alive until at least the final trial made sense, in the end, since she was the mastermind. So other than Shuichi who was surprising for his own unique reasons, I’m still slightly baffled by Himiko surviving. Even in spite of her [relatively minimal] development and focus, she still felt really weird as part of the final three characters, next to much more important ones like Shuichi and Maki. But this sorta thing always happens in these games, and it’s probably a good thing that at least one of the survivors was someone who I would never have expected to survive.

Anyway, on the topic of Shuichi. I still adore this boy with all my heart and soul. He’s wonderful. At this point he probably beats out Hinata as my favourite DR protagonist. He’s such an incredibly good boy who deserved a much better life than what he got. I’m just kinda casually ignoring the stuff we learned in his audition, lol. But I kinda have to ignore that whole can of worms if I want to talk about what I like about any of the characters, really. I really felt horrible for him during this entire trial, especially after the reveals started kicking in. Seeing him go through so much emotional pain, until he decided to just accept death as a means to put an end to the killing games, just kinda broke my heart. There’s several points during the overall trial/ending that I nearly teared up at, and him talking about how in spite of the fact that everything he went through might have been a lie, the pain in his heart was still real, was definitely one of them. That really hit me hard. I loved seeing him be so resolute in saying that the concept of the killing games is horrific and deserve to be stopped even at the cost of his own life, but it was still hard to watch.

I hate to keep bringing this point up again, especially at this point, but I still at least like to believe that he had his own crush on Kaito. I’m very aware, especially now that the game’s definitively over [aside from the bonus stuff], that it’s probably not canon, but I still choose to believe it. I’m still choosing to believe in the way that his story and his thoughts and feelings toward Kaito came across to me. And hey, in spite of the guilt-trip-y nature of parts of this ending, it was ultimately still a celebration of the meaning of fiction and the validity of the things that fictional characters allow us to experience, so I don’t feel too bad about sticking to this interpretation. I know that the game made a pretty clear point to address Maki’s feelings for Kaito while not saying the same sort of thing about Shuichi’s feelings, but still. Though I should say that it’s not like any of this meant that I felt negatively about Maki’s feelings for Kaito and how they were portrayed. I still felt bad about seeing her find out that they were more or less a lie that had been written out as part of her character. I mean, it’s hard to call those feelings a lie when they were based upon the sorts of interactions and dynamics that would understandably lead to such a thing, so I won’t dismiss her feelings or call them fake or anything, but I can also see how the game was organized to force her to feel that way, which is still fucked up.

This is getting more into headcanon territory, there’s certainly something appealing about the idea of Shuichi developing feelings for Kaito without it having been ‘written out in advance’. Again, I’m not trying to imply that that whole deal makes this sorta thing less genuine, but still. There’s something both cute yet tragic in seeing things through this lens of Shuichi developing feelings that nobody had expected or planned for. Especially since, in hindsight, even if it might not be ‘canon’, I wouldn’t be surprised if Kaede was literally written by Tsumugi as being ‘Shuichi’s designated love interest’. They were even literally shoved into adjacent lockers, just to hammer in the fact that the game basically shoved them together. This isn’t some kind of ship hate, though. I actually still quite like Shuichi/Kaede as a ship, as I’ve said a few times before. But with how this ending works and what it says about the game in hindsight, it’s hard not to retroactively interpret these sorts of things through this kind of lens. With how many things Tsumugi specifically pointed out as being part of a pre-written script, it’s hard not to wonder just how many character points and relationship dynamics were similarly ‘part of the script’. And out of basically everything that didn’t get explicitly talked about, Shuichi and Kaede’s dynamic seems like the most likely think that was ‘forced’ to happen. Especially if we assume that Tsumugi might have expected her to survive for most of the game, whereas she died basically immediately and then Shuichi spent most of the game interacting with Kaito [and Maki, to a slightly lesser extent].

So even if I won’t really be as bold as to call any of this canon, there’s definitely room to make some interesting interpretations regarding concepts like the sometimes ‘forced’ nature of love interest scenarios in media. In spite of my warm feelings toward Shuichi/Kaede as a ship, I can’t help but me very intrigued by the idea of him not following along with that whole dynamic that was set up from the start, and instead getting cut off from her almost immediately, and instead spending most of the rest of the game with Kaito, in a way that might not have been planned for. I like the idea of a character like Shuichi indirectly rejecting the heterosexual romance set-up that he was basically shoved into, and instead developing feelings for another boy in a way that nobody planned for, entirely of his own volition. It’s just an appealing idea to me. I guess along these sames lines it’d be hard not to also look at Maki’s romantic feelings for Kaito that were explicitly fabricated, but as I said above I have no interest in engaging in ship hate, or denying her feelings. You get what I mean, though. I also can’t help but think back to that one scene where Maki asked Shuichi if he liked Kaede or not, and he just kinda vaguely said that it’d be normal to like someone even in a situation like this, and after that his hypothetical feelings for her pretty much never came up again. Not explicitly, at least. I figured at the time that he ‘obviously’ had to have been in love with her, because that’s how these things work, but after the concept of romantic feelings being fabricated came up explicitly in canon, it’s hard not to look back on that scene and wonder if there was anything more to it.

Another thing along these lines that’s kinda interesting to think about in hindsight was that it was Tsumugi who had that one off-hand line about asking Shuichi if he, Maki, and Kaito, were part of a ‘reverse love triangle’, which he hurriedly denied. At the time I was kinda intrigued by that line’s existence since it, in addition to Shuichi’s whole ‘I shouldn’t talk about another boy like that’ line, made it explicitly clear that the game was at least aware of how romantic his feelings for Shuichi come off as being, but that line certainly gains an interesting new context when you know that Tsumugi is the mastermind who knows everything, including the ‘settings’ of every character. I can’t tell if this somehow supports my whole aforementioned interpretation of events, or if it implies that this whole set-up in my head might have been intentionally planned by Tsumugi. I’m not really sure. It’s hard to tell just based on that one line if this might have been something she specifically wrote into Shuichi’s character. Though the fact that she goes out of her way to basically mock Maki over her fabricated feelings for Kaito, while not doing the same for Shuichi, makes me think that she only wrote Maki as being in love with him.

So for now I’m sticking to this whole headcanon interpretation, partly because I just fundamentally ship Shuichi and Kaito, and partly because I like this hypothetical meta-narrative subversion of romantic tropes in media.

Anyway I think that’s basically everything I feel like saying about the characters, and most of the story beats. Before I talk about the epilogue, and my feelings on the game as a whole, I should probably talk about a few more of my issues with the game.

I think we can all agree that the mini-games were, and always have been, largely pointless and unnecessary. They’re just not very great. They’re definitely more stream-lined and not as clunky as they used to be, but they sometimes feel SO ‘stream-lined’ and simplistic in design that I start to question why they even exist. The Psyche Taxi is probably the biggest offender of that. It’s such a waste of time. It never tells you anything new. It’s just this painfully drawn out procedure of the game spelling out stuff that it just went over a minute ago, and there’s not even any way to make it go by any faster because there’s a limit to how fast the car can go. I never felt like it did anything to help me solve any mysteries, at least from what I can remember. I think that the Mind Mine thing also felt pretty unnecessary, with there being only like one time where I had to think about which option to choose. I also never ran out of time in it or anything. The Hangman’s Gambit was also pretty bad, but mostly just an exercise in frustration where I either know what the answer is but have to figure out what exact wording the game wants from me, or I have no clue what it wants, and I have to awkwardly stumble my way into a solution. Which at least got a bit more manageable when I got the skill that shows the first letter of the answer immediately.

The sword rebuttal game was fine. It’s a neat representation of arguing with someone, though it usually wasn’t too difficult to figure out the logic of what to do, and sometimes the slicing mechanic just felt a bit clunky and hard to control. There were definitely a few moments where I felt stumped by the logic of them, though. The Mass Panic Debates were also OK, though they ended up never being anywhere near as difficult as I expected. I think that they were afraid of them overwhelming people, so they never made the logic of them too difficult. I don’t even think I needed to get that one skill that lets you focus on one conversation at a time. I’m glad I got the skill that silences loud voices, but that wasn’t really part of the inherent difficulty of those parts, and more just an annoyance that I got a skill to get rid of. The Scrum Debates were a really neat concept, but they felt woefully shallow and under-used. It basically always felt like the logic of them was just another Psyche Taxi-esque scenario of the characters rehashing an argument they’d already gone over before, with it just sometimes being guesswork to figure out which keyword was meant to argue against each statement. I really wish that they could have re-worked it so that new sorts of arguments and debates came up during them, that made me think about it from different angles. I also wish that there could have been more than one of them per trial, since that just lead to them feeling really minor, especially since we didn’t even get one in chapter six, so there were only five in the entire game. I think that there was also only one Mass Panic Debate per trial, which similarly made those parts feel kinda shallow and forgettable in spite of how both of them were hyped up as the new mini-game types. I guess I’m glad that they never tripped me up too hard, but it was also a bit disappointing that they never felt very exciting or meaningful.

Also, even though it wasn’t really a ‘mini-game’, I was never a huge fan of the sections where you have to browse your entire list of truth bullets and pick one. Those parts nearly always fell into being either so easy that it wasn’t any kind of a challenge, or so weird in their logic that I almost had to brute-force the answer.

In general the best part of the trials gameplay-wise were just the regular non-stop debates. Nearly everything else feels kinda unnecessary. But the regular debates were really good. They obviously varied a whole lot in difficulty, but that’s fine.

And even though this isn’t a complaint, I should round this section off by saying that the Argument Armament parts were really good and I have no real issues with them, other than that I kinda suck at rhythm games, so it took like half the game before I started getting actually good at them. I can’t really say that they were TOO difficult as rhythm games in spite of my inherent lack of skills at the genre, since I’ve seen a lot worse from regular rhythm games, and I’ve also witnessed the absolute insane nightmare known as Drakengard 3′s final boss, but still, it probably would have been had if they were genuinely difficult as rhythm games, and in practice they were at least difficult enough for me to struggle with them, and they made the finales of each trial appropriately climactic. Plus, as I said before, the one with Keebo was absolutely great as a way of representing the idea of arguing against the entire DR fandom.

The closing arguments have also always been a really neat idea, and I’ve always loved the aesthetic of them. Including the music. They’re always a neat way to end things off in a trial. The puzzle element of them still does feel a little pointless since the entire mystery’s already been solved and so it feels a bit like padding, but it’s not a big deal.

I guess I’m getting off-track in terms of talking about my complaints about the game, but other than the mini-games being largely boring or obnoxious, there’s not much else to go on. Maybe I should go back and quickly give my thoughts on each case’s murder mystery, just to end things off.

Chapter 1′s case is still a major highlight of the game, if not the entire franchise. I love it a lot. I guess it’s probably the most interesting case in the entire game, but most of the rest of them are still very good too, and this wasn’t the one I had the most difficulty with, even if I didn’t see the identity of the culprit coming. I still have general issues with the basic concept of setting up a female protagonist only to replace them almost immediately with a male one, but it still played out in a really compelling and emotional way, and at least fulfilled my desire to see a DR protagonist become a murderer, in a way that I didn’t even see coming even though they laid out hints for it in advance. Though obviously it’s impossible to talk about it without talking about the chapter six twist about how her plan actually failed, even though Kaede herself thought it did. That was a really neat extra layer to that whole mystery. I’m also still kinda sad that they killed off Rantarou immediately, especially since I feel like the endgame did a bit less to develop his character than I wanted it to. He’s definitely someone who I want to learn the most about via free time events and stuff.

Chapter 2′s case was probably the one that at least felt the most difficult to me, at least when I was actually sitting down and going through the trial. It was probably because I was playing it later at night than I should have, but as I talked about earlier in this liveblog, it just kicked my ass. It was the only trial in the game that I had to take a break from and come back to a day later to finish it, though a big part of that was due to me misunderstanding how retrying parts of the trial worked. Either way, I can’t help but commend Kirumi for setting up a mystery that, at least to me, was very difficult to solve. I’m also still sad that they killed off Ryoma early on as well, since he was another favourite of mine, but I liked his role in this chapter so I’m fine with it. This chapter in particular is one of the more depressing ones when you know in hindsight that everyone’s backstories were completely fabricated and forced upon them.

Chapter 3′s case was weird and I think most people also probably see it as a low point of the game. I loved the whole occult aesthetic of it, and the plot twist of killing someone off during an investigation, but it ended up feeling too easy. It was weird, though. Like, the identity of the culprit was obvious from the start, even ignoring that I’d been spoiled about it, but the actual logic behind how the murders happened, mostly Tenko’s, felt surprisingly difficult to me. It was basically at the same level as Kirumi’s case in that sense, but maybe even higher than that since I distinctly remember dying in this trial like five times, but I didn’t need to stop and come back to it later since by this point I knew that retrying parts of a trial if you die isn’t really a big problem. The motive in this case was definitely the most bizarre, not to mention the most unsympathetic. It’s almost weird how in a game filled with mostly sympathetic and understandable killers like Kaede, Kirumi, Gonta, and Kaito, you have Mr. Psychopathic Incestuous Serial Killer thrown right into the middle. It was just bizarre. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the game for killing off Tenko, a lesbian, in a way that was explicitly described as being ‘a pointless waste’. But whatever. I quite liked Angie’s whole sub-plot in this chapter as well, though I’m glad she got killed off.

Chapter 4′s case is still . . . iffy to me. I know that it was intentionally unsatisfying and kinda depressing and out of the blue, but it just really threw me off and felt really disappointing. It’s probably my least favourite case in the game, but maybe chapter three is worse than it. It doesn’t help that this whole chapter happened before Kokichi started getting any degree of redeeming or even particularly interesting qualities, at least in my opinion. I also still feel a bit let down by how the whole climax felt so weird and unexpected that I wasn’t even as depressed by Gonta’s death as I should have been, considering how much I liked him as a character. There were definitely a few parts that got to me, but not too many. I really liked the whole virtual world concept, though, even if most of the mysteries related to it felt painfully easy to guess. This chapter also made me like Miu a fair bit more, and it was pretty neat getting a case about someone’s murder attempt getting turned against them, even if it’s not a completely original concept in this franchise. I also still feel a bit confused about certain aspects of Kokichi’s feelings and motives in this chapter in particular, as I went over before, but it’s not a big deal. [Honestly, my favourite part of chapter four was probably just finishing off Kaito’s free time events.]

Chapter 5′s case was really depressing, and also way more complicated than I expected it would be. I at least remember it feeling pretty difficult, though the effect was lessened a bit because of the weird detail of me kinda-sorta-not-really-but-technically being spoiled about Kaito being a killer, which made the outcome of this case pretty obvious. But it was more about the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ than the ‘who’, in the end. This is where I started liking Kokichi a lot more as a character, which also makes me think back about this chapter positively. And obviously I love every part of the game that has Kaito in it [except for the one obvious exception, lol], so that made it a really emotional ride as well. Having to actively pick him in the vote and have him get executed was incredibly painful.

I guess there’s not much to say about Chapter 6′s case that I haven’t said already, so . . . yeah. It’s obviously not a murder mystery trial like the others so I can’t compare it to those ones in that sense, but it was probably still my favourite trial just due to how incredibly intense it was, and how much of an emotional roller-coaster it put me through. It’s at least easily my favourite chapter six trial in the series.

I don’t think there’s much else to say about the characters, other than that they’re probably my favourite cast in the series, as a whole. It’s hard to compare them to the casts of DR1 and DR2, since they all feel like they’re going for slightly different things, but still. I just love this game’s cast a lot. It probably helps that this was the first game I actually played for myself rather than reading/watching an LP of. There were definitely a few characters I felt ambivalent about to the very end, like Himiko, but for the most part I liked them. And chapter six definitely made me like Keebo and Tsumugi a lot more, in very different ways. I’m still kinda ambivalent toward Keebo, but he at least ended up being more than just pure comic relief, though I still dislike how his ‘persecution complex’ is framed by the narrative, with how he gets treated by everyone in practice. I liked the vague idea brought up of him learning to embrace the things that make him unique, but it fell kinda flat because of how badly his character as a whole was executed. And as I said above, I really like Tsumugi now, after having seen her as boring and pointless up until this point, even though she definitely feels less like her own unique character, and more of a representation of ‘the ending of DRV3′, and all that entails. I still think that I might prefer her as a villain to Junko, but it’s hard to compare them. Again, it’s kinda less about them as individuals, and more about them as the concepts they represent. Anyway, the characters I liked least were almost definitely Himiko and Kiyo. At least with Kokichi he was still a genuinely interesting and complex character who I slowly warmed up to, Rantarou was just sorta disappointing rather than actively bad, and Angie served an interesting plot purpose even if she was hard to like as a person, and pretty flat. Himiko and Kiyo were the ones with least going for them. Mostly Kiyo, whose entire purpose was just to be really creepy and off-putting. I’m more ambivalent about Himiko. I just wish that she felt more . . . interesting, I guess, or had more development. But in general I actively liked the majority of the cast, by the end.

Anyway, I suppose I should finally talk about the epilogue, although there’s not really much to say about it at this point. It was just really good. I was initially skeptical of the idea of the ending ‘backpedaling’ on actually killing everyone off, but at least Tsumugi and Keebo genuinely died, and I really liked the way that everyone else surviving played into the element of the audience themselves having their own redemption moment of sorts. The part where Shuichi says something along the lines of ‘maybe they wanted this lie to become the truth’ was one of the moments in this part that nearly made me cry. I think it put me the closest to actually crying, honestly. It was just a really effective way of tying together this game’s lies vs truth theme in with the whole theme of the power of fiction and the redemption of the audience. The idea of us, as the audience, loving these characters enough to want them to live, to want their ‘lie’ to become a new sort of ‘truth’, really got to me. And on that whole note, I forgot to mention it, but I really loved Shuichi’s whole speech about the love between all of them, and how the love passed onto them from everyone that died has meaning, and can even change the world itself if it could successfully get through to the audience and change their minds. That was a really nice scene. I also couldn’t help but like it when Maki pointed out how much Shuichi was sounding like Kaito, and how obviously Shuichi could do something like change the world, since he’s Kaito’s sidekick. And, of course, the part where Shuichi used Kaito’s catch-phrase about the impossible being possible also really got to me.

It’s interesting that, right at the end, the game basically calls into question everything that Tsumugi said, and made it unclear what the outside world will truly be like. I can see why that might seem unsatisfying and wishy-washy to people, but I like it. I like that, to the very end, you can never tell for sure what the truth is. It really gets across what the game is trying to say about the concept of truth vs lies. And on that whole note, I loved Shuichi’s whole part of saying that you can’t really call either truth or lies ‘bad’, and that lies can be just another way of telling the truth. It’s a simple concept, but it hit pretty hard as the culmination of this entire game. And I quite liked the final line of [from what I remember] ‘If the world can change to even a small degree, then this story won’t end’. That was a nice way to end things off. The whole ambiguity of this ending does make me wonder if they’ll decide to genuinely continue the series. I honestly hope they don’t. Partly just because I really resonated with the whole point about the killing games being inherently evil and needing to be stopped, but also partly because it’d kinda destroy the ambiguity of this ending. We’ll see. I’ll probably be fine either way.

I feel like Tsumugi’s final words about her being a ‘cosplaycat killer’, and her seemingly disappointed or annoyed expression before she died, will nag at my brain for a while. But I think that’s a good thing, that the game’s leaving me wondering about what her deal is, even to the end.

I think I’ve finally, finally run out of things to say, so all I can do is just say that this was a fantastic game. I get why a lot of people disliked it, but I really loved it a lot, even if it had some issues. It was undoubtedly my favourite game in the series, though. I certainly prefer it over DR3 as a conclusion to the franchise. I’m kinda sad that this is the sort of game where you can’t really explain why it’s so good without spoiling people. That sucks. And it’s also the sort of game that only really has it’s full impact if you’ve experienced the franchise up to this point, so I couldn’t suggest that someone go into it blind.

As I’ve said before, I’ll check out whatever post-game bonus stuff there is to do, so that’ll be the rest of this liveblog. I’m not sure how many posts it’ll take to finish it all off, and how much time it’ll take, but we’ll see. I think I might take a bit of a break from the game for a day or two in order to let my thoughts on it simmer for a while, and also so I can do some other things I need to do. Once I’m done with the entire game, that’ll probably be when I allow myself to dive into the fandom, finally. That’ll be interesting. I’m not entirely sure if I’ll reblog fanart and stuff, though, in case I want to keep my followers unspoiled. I dunno. There’s probably a good amount of stuff that’s not TOO spoiler-y that I can reblog. And to be honest I wouldn’t be surprised if I even end up making some of my own fanart. I at least really want to draw Shuichi and Kaito, for obvious reasons. But this franchise in general tends to have the sorts of characters that make me want to draw them, so who knows what I’ll do.

Anyway I need to forcibly stop myself from continuing this post because my brain is starting to melt a little bit and I need to go to sleep, lol.

[siliconwebx]

How to Create Canned Responses in Gmail (+5 Templates You Can Use)

Communicating with clients is a key aspect of running any business and email is one of the best tools at your disposal to do so. However, chances are you’re going to get a lot of emails that tread the same ground and writing the same responses over and over can get exhausting.

This is where canned responses can help you. In fact, these can be a powerful tool to help you deal with email more efficiently. In this article, we’ll talk about why canned responses can come in handy and teach you how to enable them in Gmail. We’ll also share some templates you can use to get started.

Let’s get to it!

What Canned Responses Are (And Why They Can Come In Handy)

Imagine you run into a problem with your web host and you send their support service an email. Then you receive a message that says something such as:

Thanks for reaching out to us! We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

This is a simple example of a canned response, which is basically a pre-written email you can use on multiple occasions. There are a lot of varieties of canned emails, but their purpose is usually to let you know the other person received your message and will get back to you.

Most modern email clients enable you to create canned responses, enabling you to spend much less time writing similar emails. If you’re running a business, they can come in handy for a number of reasons:

They save you time. While dealing with customers, there will inevitably be repeating tasks and situations, so having a reusable email ready can save you a lot of time.

To let users know you’re looking into things. If one of your users run into a problem, it’s comforting to know that you’re looking into how to solve it.

To gauge customer satisfaction. User feedback is always valuable and even more so if you run a business. Sending a quick email asking for feedback can give you a lot of insight you’d otherwise miss.

To sum it up, canned responses are all about running your business more efficiently. However, you have to keep in mind a lot of people don’t like receiving emails they think are cookie-cutter. As such, you have to put some thought into the way you write your canned responses so users pay attention.

For example, if you’re running an e-commerce shop, you could set up a canned email asking for customer feedback:

Hi John,

I noticed you bought the VacuumMaster 3000 and I’d love to know if you’re happy with your purchase. Your feedback on the product and delivery time would be hugely appreciated!

Looking forward to hearing from you!

You could use this example as a template, just by replacing the name of the product and the buyer. It sounds more personal than a regular e-commerce email would, so users don’t feel like they’re receiving spam.

In a minute, we’re going to show you some basic canned response templates you can use on your own emails. However, before that, let’s talk about how to enable and create canned responses in Gmail.

How to Enable Canned Responses in Gmail (And Create Your First One)

Enabling canned responses in Gmail is downright simple. Just log into your account and look for the gear icon on the top-right side of the screen. Click on it and select the Settings option:

Once the Settings screen opens up, look for the Advanced tab on the top menu. Within that screen, there should be a setting that reads Canned Responses (Templates). Go ahead and enable that option now, then save the changes to your settings:

You can now click on the Compose button to create a simple template. Go ahead and write your canned response within the body, as you would a normal email. You can always delete it later, so don’t worry about making it perfect for now.

When your template is ready, click on the icon with the three vertical dots to the lower-right side of the screen and select the Canned responses > New canned response option:

Gmail will ask you to name the template and that’s it. Your canned response will now appear in the Canned responses menu when you’re composing a new email. Clicking on it will load up the message you just saved, and you can also delete that response from within the same menu:

You’re now ready to start working on your own canned responses to use during your day-to-day tasks. However, before we go over some templates, you should also read up on how to use Boomerang for Gmail.

With the Boomerang plugin, you can schedule emails for later, which makes for a perfect combination with canned responses. For example, you can schedule a follow-up email using a canned response or set up a message asking for customer feedback a few days after they make a purchase. We’re going to explore both of those examples below, so let’s move on.

5 Canned Response Templates You Can Use for Free

There are several situations where you can use canned email responses to make your life simpler. However, these five will give you a good place to start, as well as inspiration for how to write your own, including how long you should aim to make them. Let’s take a look!

1. Confirming You’re On Top of a Task

If you’re a freelancer or work in an office, you’re going to get a lot of emails asking you how you’re progressing on various tasks. Unless you need to include specific details about your progress, you can quickly deal with many of these emails using canned responses. Here’s a quick example:

Hello John,

We’re on track with the project and everything will be ready by XX as we discussed before. I’ll send you an update if anything changes, though!

Kind regards,

In most cases, canned responses should be brief. After all, the longer the message, the more unlikely it is you’ll be able to use it under multiple circumstances.

For this template (and all the ones we’ll show), you’ll want to replace the recipient’s name and the date. You can also change the final greeting for something more or less formal and add more details if needed.

2. Reminding Someone About a Previous Email

One of the most frustrating things to deal with in offices is sending an important email and getting no response back. Unfortunately, this happens a lot, so setting up a canned reminder you can shoot off quickly can save you some time.

The goal, in this case, is to keep things professional while reminding the recipient that you need a response. Here’s a template that will do the trick:

Hello John,

I wanted to follow up on the email sent to you on XX. When you get the chance, please get back to me on that matter.

Kind regards,

For this scenario, you’ll want to replace the “XX” with the time you sent the original email, and ‘on that matter’ with some details about your previous email. This basic template works just fine, but that phrase is a bit vague, so personalizing it for clarity is a smart move.

3. Sharing Basic Information About Your Business and Cost Structure

If you have to deal with business inquiries of any kind, you’ll save a lot of time by creating a canned response outlining what services you offer and their cost. For example, if you’re a WordPress developer, here’s a template you can use when a new client asks you about pricing:

Hello John,

I’m glad you got in touch with me. Before I can give you an estimate on your project, I need to know more details about what you need, such as:

– Can you describe your business and what kind of website you’re interested in?

– Are there any sites you like in terms of design or functionality?

– What kind of timeline are you thinking for the website’s launch?

These are just some basic questions to give me an idea of what you want and then we can narrow down the details even further.

Just to give you an idea, I charge $60 per hour and we can talk more about prices once we define the scope of the project.

Looking forward to hearing back from you!

This example is considerably longer than our previous ones since it needs to contain more information. Even so, you can easily reuse it when onboarding a client. You’ll naturally want to rewrite the questions and rate to match yours, which should be simple enough.

4.  Asking Customers About Their Experience

Customer feedback is essential so you know if your business is heading in the right direction. Canned emails are a great way of asking users what they thought about your services or products after they’ve had a chance to try them out. Here’s a basic template you can use in that situation:

Hey John,

It’s been a week since you bought the VacuumMaster 3000 and I wanted to ask how things are going with you new purchase. Please let me know if you ran into any problems with shipping or with the product itself!

Kind regards,

That’s another version of an example we used earlier in the article. In our experience, when it comes to customer feedback, it’s usually best to wait a few days after the transaction, so users have time to test things out and form an opinion before you approach them.

For these scenarios, the Boomerang plugin we recommended earlier is ideal since you can schedule feedback emails in advance. When you get a response, you can dig into the feedback you’ve received and figure out how to use it to improve your business.

5. Asking for an Update on a Project

Earlier on, we discussed a template for confirming you’re on top of a task. Now, let’s take a look at how you can deal with being the person on the other end, who needs to ask a co-worker for an update on a particular project.

As always, you want to be as professional as possible while keeping things brief, so here’s a simple template you can use:

Hello John,

I wanted to check if we’re still on track to meet the XX deadline. Please keep me updated if you run into any issues or you need my help.

Thanks!

That template is as to the point as you can get, but you’re also free to add more specific details if needed. The good thing about canned responses is that you can always customize them for each email, so you’re not forced to send identical messages every time.

Conclusion

Taking the time to write thoughtful drawn-out responses for every email you receive may sound ideal. However, that’s not always possible, especially if you’re dealing with dozens of emails per day, all of which require an answer. That is unless you want to devote yourself to answering emails full time.

That’s where canned responses come in. With Gmail, you can easily enable this feature and create templates to use when suitable. Some examples of situations that might warrant a canned email include:

Confirming you’re on top of a specific task.

Reminding someone about a previous email they haven’t answered yet.

Sharing basic information about your business and cost structure.

Asking for customer feedback.

Checking on the status of a project.

Do you have any questions about when it makes sense to use canned responses? Let’s talk about them in the comments section below!

Article thumbnail image by Eny Setiyowati / shutterstock.com

The post How to Create Canned Responses in Gmail (+5 Templates You Can Use) appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

😉SiliconWebX | 🌐ElegantThemes

[sparklyeaglepoetry-blog]

Do motorbike insurance count towards my no claims?

"Do motorbike insurance count towards my no claims?

i have 2 years no claims on my car insurance and am looking to geta motorbike. will my motorbike insurance go towards my no claims in total

BEST ANSWER:  Try this site where you can compare quotes: : http://freecarinsurance.xyz/index.html?src=tumblr 

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I am 33 and I'm pretty sure that I want to get term life insurance. I have a wife and 2 kids. It's affordable. I'm in good health. My question is should I get a 15 yr plan or 20 yr plan? Money is a little tight so I'm thinking the 500K or 750K plan.

Speeding ticket and insurance?

just got a $241 speeding ticket for going 15 over. im not listed under my parents insurance or registration. what will happen to their insurance? cant remember if my dad has the insurace as my mom and dads name with 4 drivers...not listing my name or my sisters or just my mom and dad alone

How much would an insurance for a fresh driver 18 years old be for a golf mark 3with 0 no claims for the UK?

1.4 black 3 door im 17 18 in junethats when ima do it got my licence. got my car car has tints and rims with 1.6 engine registered as a 1.4 tho :P how much would it cost ima take the rims and tints off and put standard rims so insurance drops

Insurance on a '98 Mustang?

16yr old girl in Ohio, just wondering the cost before i try and sell the idea to my dad lol. Yellow w/ body kit. Help? :)""

Medical insurance help?

I need to find some insurance to pay for my eye doctor b/c the insurance that I had is gone. I used to have Anthem.

Car Insurance?

Is it normal for a car insurance company to send a questioner to it's clients who had an accident? They asked the same questions I told them on the phone and I had to get the form notarized to send in with my answers. They we're asking what time, where it happened, who was I with, did I ever file a claim before, and the last two pages had to do with fraud.""

Why car insurance cards come in pair?

Just wondering why insurance identification cards come in pair? Anyway? ^_^ T.Y.

Does Car Insurance increase after an accident on Learner Insurance.?

Hi, I am a few weeks away from my test, and have been driving with my parents with my mums car. I have insurance on the car for a month with a private website. Today, I had an accident with another learner, where the edge of my car scraped the edge of the learner's car. The damage was only a few scratches, but apparently it's going to cost around 300. My dad is pondering whether to go privately and pay the learner the money, or go through the insurance I have. His main concern is that if I go through insurance, then when I pass, my insurance price will be a lot higher than without. If I pass and get insurance, will this accident be notified by the companies, who may increase the price of my insurance? Thanks""

Insurance companies offering restricted hours driving to get a cheaper quote?

Insurance companies offering restricted hours driving to get a cheaper quote?

Could switching to Geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance?

Could switching to Geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance?

Insurance question?

do you have to be married to someone to be on their health insurance?

How to get insurance when pregnant?

whats the fastest way to get insurance when pregnant im already about 14 weeks

How long after someone dies to get life insurance benefits?

my grandmother died about 2 weeks ago and i was wondering when her life insurance policy would go through so we can receive the money from it to manage her estate, we heard that probate takes about 16 months, but we cant wait that long for the insurance so how long does it usually take?""

Do motorbike insurance count towards my no claims?

i have 2 years no claims on my car insurance and am looking to geta motorbike. will my motorbike insurance go towards my no claims in total

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/insurance-rates-speeding-ticket-sharie-noena"