#but that's also probably because 1) her chara development and 2) they let her get So Cool in rebellion/magireco

[samble-moved]

sayaka art always goes so hard. i swear ive seen a post about this but like...any/all art of sayaka miki is always soooo raw and emotional and pog. her character development in rebellion infused all art of her with the sheer force of the hope/despair balance and it shows.

[welcometoteyvat]

i am very curious (and i'm asking this not with any malicious intent) but what ages do you see the genshin characters! i personally see them (most of them) as adults, even collei. even if they were teenagers, time passes in-game (i.e. lantern rite happens every year and we already had 2 lantern rites in-game) so they'll eventually grow to be adults.

tldr: I have schrodinger's age headcanons

long answer: if they're in a ship with a ""clearly"" adult character, I'll assume they're young adults; idk I feel like there's some blurring of age and what growth stage you're in when people are around 17 to 20 (from my experience) so I think it's vague-ish enough that you could probably do what you want.

If they're not in a ship I see some of them as adults and some as still teens/underage. as a general rule of thumb a character's age is solely dependent on what I want at the moment, although I do think the way some characters are written (ie character arcs, character stories and general personality) pushes me to view them as underage (will explain more but the character I'm thinking about most w this is Xingqiu). Some of them read to me as clear adults, and then there are some in-betweens where I just have "vaguely young looking" in my hcs LOL

you bring up a good point that time is passing in game although we don't see it reflected in the character models—everyone points out that Xiao opens up a bit more every lantern rite, but fandom (and genshin devs too ig 💀) definitely forgets that all the other characters are also growing/changing. w/ 4.1 around the corner my personal wish is for hu tao, xingqiu, and chongyun's relationships to each other get developed more so that their relationships (as described through their voicelines abt each other) don't feel so flat,,,,,, it would also help with the sense of "time is passing in game for ALL characters", since we almost never get this kind of evolving relationship portrayed between 4*s/non endgame important charas.

I have too much time on my hands so I'll also just run through all the teen/short models there are for each region and list whether my personal headcanons are adult or minor (at least their ages when we "meet" them in canon):

liyue (mortal/mortal adjacent characters): yanfei, chongyun, xingqiu, hu tao, xiangling, xinyan, yun jin, keqing

yanfei and keqing are solidly adults to me, yanfei's a lawyer and keqing's also in a govt job so both of them feel around like 25-27 to me. Definitely somewhere around their mid-20s, although I can also see them as younger, especially Keqing, because of her overall attitude/perspective on life and the gods. iirc her character stories show how her worldview's grown/broadened to be not as naive/black and white, so I feel like she's still in the process of maturing. If you told me Yanfei was like 23 (appearance wise) I guess I'd believe you too, since she's a very peppy person who seems to be running all over the place all the time, doing errands for madame ping, checking on her clients, taking new cases etc. I feel like it gives her youthful energy, so I can see it if people hc her on the younger side of her 20s (in human years I forgot how her half-adeptal blood works).

I see the other 6 as a friend group (liyue 6ang let's go) so they're either all teens or all adults depending on the portrayal. You can obviously view them as adults all the time, but I don't get those vibes. Xinyan and Yun Jin might be like 18-19, but if that's the case, I can't see the other 4 being any younger than 17, just because I think they're all almost the same age or 1-2 years apart maximum. For some reason so many people view Hu Tao and Yun Jin as adults but at the same time think the others are minors? Idk about that.. genshin has shown that Xiangling, Xinyan, and Yun Jin are pretty close friends, and then always put Xingqiu and Chongyun together for the ship bait, so maybe that's the root of fanon's age hcs. However, I think if some of them are young adults, then all of them are. There's a max 2 year age gap between all 6 of them idk idk I really can't see it otherwise.

To me, Xingqiu's arc reads like a 16 year old finding his footing in the world. Hiding martial arts novels under his bed, tired of playing dutiful 2nd son and sneaking out to live out his idealized wuxia dreams, his multiple voicelines where he's implied to be super worried about us giving away his involvings in the Guhua sect, they all read like he's still trying to figure out his role in his family (what he wants it to be, and what his parents want it to be). He's also very naive about the world, but learning. He just feels a lot like how (chinese) teenagers grow up and like. growing into or out of the paths given to us by our parents. ... or i could just be projecting! Anyways, in my no ships world, he's a 16-17 yr old. Chongyun's clan and family play a not-insignificant role in his backstory, so I think he's the same age as Xingqiu, just older by a month for the flex. Lowkey I don't have as much reason for him as the others, but I think they're in the same age range by association; probably almost 18 at most. Hu Tao's character stories explicitly state she's 13 when her grandfather passed away, and I think she becomes Director not long after this, so I would say she's also around 16-17 when the game starts. @.acatoner who draws quite possibly my favorite interpretations of the gang(TM) once mentioned they see her with spoiled younger sister energy and honestly yeah. she's an only child but has the strongest solidarity with Xingqiu (they're the bratty younger siblings of the friendgroup). Out of all of them, Xiangling is the one with the most plausible job if she was like, young: being a chef apprentice with her dad to continue the family business is pretty reasonable. Middle child energy, probably 17. We did meet her when she was in Mondstadt foraging ingredients, so I'd say she's not very young, but still young enough for her dad to chew her out during moonchase for being like messy or clumsy or smth? Xinyan and Yun Jin.... I think Yun Jin is at least almost 18—running a well acclaimed opera troupe is a pretty big undertaking imo, even if her parents are there to like guide her and whatnot. Same with Xinyan, 17-18 range, although she def started playing rock publicly when she was way younger.

inazuma: shinobu, heizou, kazuha, kirara, gorou, kokomi, ayaka, yoimiya

Disclaimer I have not read the Lore and don't know whether actual ages are given for Ayaka and Ayato (specifically pointing them out because iirc their and Thoma's character stories are the most specific ones wrt the timeline).

I see basically all of them as adults, ayaka might be an exception but she's like 17 minimum in my head. That's pretty interesting considering I labeled almost all the liyue short models as teens. From what I can remember of their character stories, the Inazuman characters seem to be portrayed as having their formative struggles set In the Past (probably a couple years before we meet them) so perhaps that's why I see them as solidly young adults. Additionally, Inazuma's arc and its war pushes me to see all of them as adults, even if they're still obscenely young to be generals and strategicians. The exceptions I can see to this are only Yoimiya (smaller role in archon quest and not related to the government), and Shinobu + Heizou, who were released later. Yoimiya's maturity really stands out to me—from the way her neighbors and old people converse with her, and her overall character arc + second story quest, I cannot see her as below like 19 at least. Shinobu manages an entire unofficial gang and has countless certifications under her belt plus ex-shrine maiden stint—she probably isn't less than 23. It would be cute if she were the same age as Yanfei but just started law school later, so Yanfei's still her senior. I think there's not much to say on Heizou either, he's friends with Kazuha and has a real job, so I can't read him below 20-21. I don't know anything about Kirara (don't have her, haven't read her stories) but I also just get the vibes of like 20-something errand girl SDFDSSKDFJS in a modern au she'd deliver to teyvat/inazuma's college campus for sure

mondstadt (humans): barbara, razor, bennett, fischl, mika, amber, noelle, sucrose

this is a mix again, for Barbara Razor Bennett and Fischl they give me kid vibes, like little adventure gang things. Reddit apparently cites Mona called Fischl an adult in the 2.8 Midsummer Fantasia GAA event, so I mean. I guess she's 18 there—might've been 16 when we met in game the first time (1.2?? scaramouche fake stars event or something?) Idk really. Their group collectively gives me 16 year old vibes, at least when we start the game. I can see it if all of them have aged to 18 now—it just makes sense in my head lol. Mika feels like an 18 year old; mostly because of his relationship with Huffman. Amber seems vaguely adult-ish, I'd say 19 or so, maybe 20 during shadows amidst snowstorms in 2.3. there's some logic behind this that ties into her search for her grandfather but it's like vague and hazy in my head. I haven't given much thought to Noelle and Sucrose— Sucrose also gives "vaguely adult" vibes, idk if her character story about wanting to make a wonderland to meet her past friends in has any relevance to timeline estimation. I'd say Noelle also falls into the vague adult age range, but to me she's a puzzle, because her personality seems incongruent to how I thought she might act if she's like 23 or so.

anyways, anon if you read all this i will declare my love for you. thanks for giving me an excuse to genuinely think on this and then dump my thoughts out for the internet. you can clearly see none of my braincells really go towards Mondstadt headcanons but I hope you're happy w my response ehe

[enzo-zzz]

A vent on the fandom + cg

If you dont wanna hear any negativity, please just ignore this post. It includes dissatisfication on the yttd fandom and ongoing belief in it. I'm not going to use very kind words here, so just ignore this post. 3b spoilers included.

I like yttd so much, but the english fandom, i cannot interact because how toxic it is. Even the smallest different of which route you choose, will attract anyone to abuse, harrass, ridicule or humiliate you. And to be truth, there are many of them who are so judgemental, to the point that there is only one thing that are right and the other are wrong. Black and white mindset. The term "canon route" is what fans created itself. I guess there are many of them who are teens or kids, since most of kids who havent grown up yet tend to lean towards black and white mindset, even if they believe they are not. If you find people who keep arguing especially on social media, you can bet that its teens. Adult are too tired to involve in things like fighting with strangers. There is one time when the poll asked your age and the age range quite small to teens age. I guess thats why i think so.

OTHER THAN THAT, THERE'S ONE THING I'M ANNOYED WITH. ABOUT THE CG AND HOW THE FANDOM DECIDES THAT THE MORE CGS, THE MORE CANON IT IS. To be perfectly honest, i'm the one who came up with the analysis that on certain route 2-2 ending the cg is more. But people really use it the wrong way and now thought that anything that has more cg is the canon route. The word canon route is wrong in itself, who tf come up with the term canon route in yttd? Is the reason for creating two route is for one to be canon only, or for sparing different characters, or for having different storyline? (I personally think that on different route, the story will change and the ones who got to live at last is probably different ). Now i see those who misuse that information everywhere. "In sou route 2-2 ending evil joe AI dont even have new cg but in kanna route he has. See how biased the devs are? he should have drawn more if he really meant the route to be the canon one. Kanna route will get happy ending, sou route is bad ending." I think thats stupid. B*tch, he keep reusing his old art here and there. You can check for yourself. Joe and midori has same hand based on the cg? He's just reusing the hand art. The arm in 3b and 1-1 is the same arm he reuse. Sou and kanna 2-2 ending basically use the same sou drawing, he just changed it a bit. Sara in 2-2 kanna ending use the same cg as when keiji try to calm her in front of computer, he just changed the face. Midori and sara on the 3b game screen cg basically use the same cg in the 3b content, but changed a bit. So i can think why need to create new cg when joe is still malicious as the hallucination in 2-2 sou ending? If i want to create something i will also reuse this to save my time.

So if you wanna really use this cg argument, then maybe you can consider why alice memory game got so many more cg than reko's? and how ranmaru gone insane has so many new sprite and pose with the hair like that. And why when dummy is dead they got cg's. Especially the ranmaru dying one, he got moving cg's and how it was put more effort into that. Then that means dummy dying is actually the canon route since when they alive they got no addtional cg? This is my assumption, but i think the devs just do as many cg as it takes depends on how impactful the scene he's working on, not because its canon, thats really a lazy take if he is actually unwilling to do extra route but still forcing himself to do it anyway. Imagine if dummy is dying but no cg, instead a message " ranmaru/mai/anzu died ". Do you think that will really give impact to you? This game clearly hinting that joe is going to be the spotlight of the game, even in 3b. So when sou set the real joe ai in kanna route for sara, the script is written for the real joe to genuinely react to sara. of course thats going to be heartwrenching since joe himself is the very important part of sara's life. When the script is made that way, lacking of cgs will hamper down the storytelling nankidai genuinely want to deliver. All i can say is it come from the heart of the author himself. If it is just only text for something as tearful as that moment and no cgs, it wont really touch the feeling isnt it? It is the same with alice memory game that tells about how alice "kill" midori. I'm not sure how many it is but atleast there is 3 cgs with one of them has variant. The story of how alice kill midori is also important and should have impact, thus the extra CG's. I can say its about being passionate and indulged in the storytelling.

I dont even know if joe will ever heal sara in sou route, but based on how the story still keep joe relevant til the end, then there must be something that need to happen between them in the end right? Nankidai even made sure that sara see the dog keychain in 3a if player probably choose to not ask gin about the dog keychain he's hiding in ch 2. Its also for relating ranmaru and joe. Having closure or conclusion with joe in the middle of game is still valid, and having a closure with joe at the end of the game is still valid. Imo, having closure with joe at the end of the game after all of those suffering involving him makes the better climax or impact for sara chara development since the game build up to highlight joe and mr. Policeman, it can be even better if all of it are to be pull together in the ending.

Even if the devs has route he prefer, he's not abandoning any route he less prefer, only if its true that he ever have a route he prefer. Plus you dont know which route he's prefer if any. He's taking his work seriously, it just some "fans" looking down on him, even to the point calling him biased, he's punishing the one who take another route, treating like he only use his career for egostatiscal reason (it somehow clearly mirrors that you are the one who egostatiscal to the point of wanting to find any excuse to punish other, you just using the devs name to validate your mindset). If he's dislike people who chose that route that much, then why create that route? If he know its tiring to make alternate route, then why still make the choice to let 3 dummy alive route at the end? It will make more work. I can only assume its out of passion, or just that he deep down wants the character to be alive atleast in a route ( idk if this is correct, i just read google translated version of his public fanbox that he's actually very reluctant at first when the time comes and "crying" so hard when he had to kill joe in chapter 1. So the part where he wants to spare some character is only my assumption ). By this punishing logic, shouldnt he not make alice die when you push reko ai to spare gin, and only do it to those who dont push the ai to save gin by killing real reko? I am more sure that the variants is to tell a different story or who to spare, and specifically for who sara actually was.

Happy endings? I'm not sure. I've expected that once from story with a lot of deaths, wishing for atleast the protagonists alive. Anime or story with a lot of death is definitely my jam, but from what i see, most of them has bittersweet ending, it depends on how the author wants it to be. Some author dont mind killing them all till the end, and some author just easily kill them all because they plan to revive them later. And everyone sense is different. Some japanese people sense in storytelling is a bit different imo. As the one being the audience, happy endings is the most common wish the audience wants. But its all up to the sense of the author. This is why i'm annoyed with some kids from overseas who rarely watch or play many things that involves a lot of death from japan suddenly says that this "one happy ending, this one bad ending! Everyone will survive in this route, everyone dead in this route"

Just play any route you like, nothing wrong with that. Whats wrong is to start this war of ridiculing others or have that irritating attitude towards those who play their own first route and start bad mouthing or desperately throwing bad assumption that one route will end very bad just for the sake of feeling better for your choice and to scare others.You do know that when you read a book, you'll only know if the overall story is good or bad until you know the ending right? The ending will conclude everything that happened. What happening in the fandom is now like, you only read 3/4 of the book and already expecting that this one will have good ending and bad ending. What if its not about the binary, but for the difference in direction? Its not that bad if the story of the book is kinda predictable, but with how plot twists become the main part of yttd's charm, its getting more difficult to predict how it will end. There's a lot of story which was masterpiece in every part as seen by fans, until the ending hits. Its what the author wants, but its not what the fans wants.

If you pick fights with others, even passively, the consequence is all on you. Good luck taking care of your mess.

Thats why i'm reluctant to publish any theory because the fandom will always use it as an excuse to pick fights with other and say " i'm more right bcs i got this proof" . U see in my caption i dont want any of those harasser to even digest my theory. If you are one of them get out of my blog.

[epouvantes]

❛ jeon jungkook, demiboyflux, he/they ❜ was that kim moonsik? the twenty-two year old freelance photographer has been in town since birth. the witch has a reputation for being disorganized & affectionate. you know they’re around when you get flashes of ( mismatched socks, taking buzzfeed quizzes into the dead of night, dancing when no one is watching & believing in signs ). rumor has it, they are a member of the high coven. { samu, est, 25, she/they }

( OOC: TW: ANXIETY MENTION AT THE END OF THIS PARAGRAPH. hi! i’m samu, i’m 25 and i use she/they pronouns! i’m so so so so so excited for this rp and for you all to meet my babies!!!!! i wanted to make this lil ooc section just to let y’all know that i’ll be posting longer and more detailed intro-like posts for my charas eventually, but i wanted to be able to give lil summaries and connection ideas before then so!!!!! there it is!!!!! thank u sm for reading!!!!! also if i ever message you to plot, which i’d like to do with everyone if my social anxiety allows it, pls don’t feel obligated to plot with me at all!!!!! i love connecting with other writers and stuff but i’ll completely understand if you’re not up to plot with me and my charas <33 ) ← this is the same ooc paragraph in all of my first three intros, so pls feel free to skip it! <3

brief introduction.

moonsik’s parents moved from ulsan, south korea, to blackthorne about eight years before the boy was born. he grew up in blackthorne along with his two older siblings (they’re fraternal twins a couple of years older than moonsik), and had a pretty comfortable childhood! however, his mother left the family when he was only five years old, and he’s never seen or talked to her since. the reasoning behind her departure is still a mystery to moonsik, and he’s definitely still confused/sad about it, but!! i won’t delve too much into that yet!! i’ll def write about it in my longer bio/intro thingy later on, though!! 

his dad remarried, when moonsik was nine years old, to a woman who had lived in blackthorne all her life!! i’m not gonna develop the step-mother too much bc i’ll definitely send in some wanted connections soon (for her + moonsik’s dad, siblings and step-siblings! and maybe more?), but she actually has a really good relationship with moonsik!! he doesn’t see her as a mother tbh, but he really loves and respects her and!! even during his more rebellious phases in high school she was like the one (1) person in the family he always felt he could talk to!!

relationships with siblings and step-siblings are to be developed tm!! i’ll be sending in wanted connections for them soon as i said before so i might add a bit to it in there but tbh i’ll try to keep things vague so that they’re easier to fill!!

moonsik did NOT like school. like, at all. i think probably at least one of his siblings was like...... super strong academically, and it mayhaps played on moonsik’s confidence a bit to constantly see his sibling(s) get praised for their accomplishments?? and like..... his dad, siblings, step-mom and step-siblings have never put pressure on him?? he did so himself after seeing others succeed so much and wishing he could do so as well?? and don’t get me wrong; he’s skilled at plenty of things (especially visual arts)!! but having difficulties academically really did affect his self confidence :(

i said this was going to be short rip sdlfijsdlkfjsdlkfjsdklf i’M SO SORRY!!!!!

ok so!! outside of all the family stuff!! moonsik’s been exploring his gender identity for about three years now, and he finally feels like he has the right word/definition for it all!! demiboyflux is honestly a word he didn’t even know of until a couple of months ago, but as soon as he saw the definition for it (here’s a link to a simple definition!) he was so happy because it was him and it felt perfectly right??

he’s not exactly out to that many people concerning his gender identity bc as much as he loves who he is he just isn’t ever sure how to bring it up?? also, most of the time he’s fine with masculine nouns (boy, man, brother, son, boyfriend, husband, prince, etc.) AND he’s perfectly fine with both he and they as far as pronouns go, so...... he just doesn’t feel like it’s absolutely necessary for him to discuss it with EVERYONE, you know? but at the same time sometimes he kind of feels like just ranting and rambling and gushing about all of it, which is why he actually started an anonymous blog (eyes emoji tm) last month, and it’s been super helpful for him!!

he’s a freelance photographer rn, and he honestly really likes it!! however, since he’s not super well established yet (and doesn’t have an official diploma or anything like that - he quit university after two semesters), he isn’t making tons of money, and is therefore currently living with his dad and step-mother. it’s becoming a bit suffocating to him tbh?? and he’s highkey considering getting a part-time job too so that he can maybe make enough money to afford renting a lil apartment or room or something!!

super disorganized!! it’s probably one of the things he fights about the most with his family bc they kinda see his lack of organization as him being quite irresponsible (and they’re not completely wrong maybe, but still), and he’s never really done anything to change this part of him?? like, he’s always losing stuff, forgetting things behind, not remembering appointments, forgetting to send in important documents on time, never checking his voice mail and/or inbox, etc.

affectionate af!!!!! a sweetheart, tbh?? like, he’s kind of reserved so people tend to assume that he’s not the most friendly, but he’s actually rlly sweet!! he’s very openly affectionate with the people he’s close to, never hesitating to wrap himself around someone or plop down in someone’s lap or anything like that (though he is careful about who is and isn’t comfortable with that ofc! tbh in the past he didn’t take that into consideration all that much and he honestly feels really bad about it now, so he’s SUPER careful about other people’s boundaries now)!! also....... he will 110% deny it, but he LOVES attention. like he’ll wither away without attention i sdlfjslkdjfksldf

he’s bi and has known for a long time, and he’s actually been out as such since he was seventeen years old! 

( WARNING: MENTIONS OF SEXUAL ACTIVITY ) he’s had two serious-ish relationships in his life so far, but outside of those he’s actually quite enjoyed doing more casual sexual things with people he finds attractive/interesting/etc!! he actually prefers fwbs to one night stands and i can DEF see that leading to some tension in the future with some of his friends.........

HE’S SO PROUD OF BEING A WITCH!!!!!! his entire family are witches (maybe not his step-mother and step-siblings, though? it’ll depend on whether or not they get taken up as wanted connections and, in the case they do, what the people playing them prefer!), and he’s so!!!!!! passionate about it!!!!! he hates learning in school and stuff but when it comes to learning about magic, especially healing magic, he’s so eager and passionate and !!!!!! he loves it :( idk if his father and siblings are in the high coven tbh but!!!!! he is definitely quite proud to be part of it!!!! also he’s probs definitely one of the most eye-roll-y judgemental ones when it comes to what he thinks of the bloodstone coven !! he deadass doesn’t get why they would practice the kind of magic they practice and he’s???? like he wouldn’t be straight up /rude/ to them without reason but he’s def not as friendly as usual around them i think (though ofc there might be exceptions!!)

connection ideas.

CHILDHOOD BEST FRIENDS: probably around 2 to 4 of those?? i’m picturing this lil group to have been thick as thieves since they were little kids (although maybe one or more of them joined their lil friend group later on in their childhood and/or teenage years?), and i just really want a group of super close friends who know each other better than the backs of their own hands and who may tease each other mercilessly but who still love and adore each other (no matter whether or not they actually say those words aloud dlffkjsdkjfsdlkjfsdlkf)!! age-wise i was thinking they could all be between 21 and 25 years old?? ( 00 / 02-04 )

EXES: as mentioned earlier, moonsik has been in two romantic relationships in the past that were somewhat serious? one of them was probably a high school relationship that last for like 14 months and ended just because they did not click well together AT ALL but had gotten into a relationship bc high school and stuff, you know?? (i think that ex would have probs identified as a cis woman back then - whether they still do or not is up to you - since they probs started dating before moonsik came out as bi?) and i feel like mayhaps recently they’ve gotten in touch again and actually click quite well as friends nowadays, although there are zero (0) romantic feelings between them anymore (just saying, but..... mlm/wlw solidarity is rad tm!! it’s not a necessity ofc but!! yes!!) NOW THE OTHER EX!!!!!!! i feel like this one would have been a bit more recent?? and probably with a man or masc presenting person?? since it’d be more recent, and the relationship would have been quite important to moonsik, i’d like not to add too much to it here and instead work it out with whoever may end up being interested in that connection? ( 00 / 02 )

EMPLOYER(S): people who’ve hired moonsik for his photography skills!!!! maybe also a future/eventual employer for when he ends up finally looking for a part-time job?? mayhaps they could be friends of some of moonsik’s family members?? oooooh what about someone who knew his mother?? (although ig that’ll be easier to work out when i 100% decide why she left dslfjksdkjfsdkljf) ( 00 / ?? )

FRIEND AND/OR ENEMY WITH BENEFITS: ( WARNING: MENTIONS OF SEXUAL ACTS ) i’m thinking that moonsik probably doesn’t hook up with too many people at the same time unless he knows for sure that the other person doesn’t mind it? so the number for this connection will change depending on that!! also i reaaaaaaally love BOTH the idea of friends with benefits AND enemies with benefits since they can both bring in v interesting storylines!! also i’m not totally opposed to having moonsik hook up with his most recent ex (bc i love angst), but it’s definitely not a necessity! ( 00 / 01 )

DEALER: ( WARNING: DRUGS TW ) he did quite a few hard drugs in hs, which was 100% part of one of his rebellious phases, and although he doesn’t do anything too strong anymore, he does rlly like weed (prefers edibles to smoking tho bc no matter how often he does it he always coughs and it’s embarrassing!!!!!), and i’d love a connection with his dealer?? preferably one that’s kind of humorous?? ( 00 / 01 )

[keruworld]

The Spies who Loved me - Kdrama vent

I return here to tumbler just because i need to vent about this kdrama that i was expecting eagerly because:

1° Lim Juhwan: i love the guy, i love his acting skills and in the drama before this he gave us an awesome acting, i dont doubut that this one will be the same.

2° By the trailer the drama looked more like comedy/action (BIG LIE).

With 4 eps... Im this *** near to drop this Kdrama, and i really dont want to because Juhwan, but i feel this kdrama dont do justice to him... he is supposed to be the thrid wheel of this story and he is not even had exposure in 4 eps (in 4hr). This drama is a thriller... a thriller that is not even trying. So... let’s go to the spoilers:

Let me just copy paste the Asian Wiki synopsis of the drama: Jeon Ji-Hoon (Eric) disguises himself as a travel writer, but he is actually a secret agent for Interpol. His job as a secret agent is way for Jeon Ji-Hoon to support himself financially. He is currently divorced. He was married to Kang A-Reum (Yoo In-Na), but they divorced without Kang A-Reum learning about his secret life as a spy.

Kang A-Reum now works as a wedding dress designer. She met Derek Hyun (Lim Ju-Hwan) after her divorce and they eventually married. Her current husband works as a diplomatic official and seems gentle and warm. His secret is that he is actually a cold-blooded industrial spy. Derek Hyun treats his wife sweetly, but, for his job as an industrial spy, he will do anything. He loves Kang A-Reum sincerely, but he also hides his true self from her.

Secret agent Jeon Ji-Hoon appears in front of Kang A-Reum and Derek Hyun.

By the synopsis i believed that the story was ACTION/COMEDY... but no... its a thriller... a serious one like the prev Juhwan drama “The Game Thowards Zero”. And you realize that it’s a thriller with only one ep and the worse... Juhwan chara Derek... it’s the BAD GUY again. They even dont try to hide it. They tell us inmediatly in first ep: The husband IS BAD, the Ex is GOOD. Ok cool, i can live with that, even if the husband is bad... he loves the girl right? they dont show much interaction between Derek and Reum in first ep but ok.. bring it on... but... later in ep2:

Derek obviously KILLED Sophie, his wife friend... because work... and they try to show us... that he is sweet... cold... sweet... cold. It’s quite creppy being sweet after killing his wife friend... but Ok... that’s ok... i suppose... but... there is a little BIG problem: they showed us in first ep all the background with the EX... i expected that in ep2 they could showed us how this Derek guy won the love of Reum... but no... there was MORE interaction with the EX; and Derek instead of looking SWEET looks more like a coldhearted killer that is faking emotions. Im not sure that this guy LOVES his wife. But ok... it’s ep2... let’s wait... they have to develop Derek right? he is important to the story right? he is the bad guy after all.

In ep3 we have:

The only HINT that this Derek guy, may be... loves his wife. XD

And an awesome scene with the two antithesis... of the drama...

Derek is a KILLER, a professional one. And this conversations shows it. HE KILLED SOPHIE. There is no secret in that... really...

The scene was... AWESOME... thanks to Juhwan acting. But there is a little one problem: the scene just confirmed that the EX have strong feelings for Reum.

And Derek is holding his anger so much... that i think i will keep watching just to watch when he explode. X,D And the problem is... that once again we see NO interaction between Derek and Reum in 1h of the ep. Ep3 just showed us... MORE AND MORE interaction between the main guy and main girl, even the main guy comrades have more scenes than Derek. There is NO way that Derek and Reum are married... they act like a couple that is DATING... and he hold his feelings so much that the guy seems like a psychopath. And to this point.. THERE IS NO WAY that he will end with the girl. And that’s not the problem... the problem is that they havent builded anything for me to care about that... in fact the only thing that this story wants is to keep rooting for the main guy and girl... and some how... i hate it... but ok... may be things get better in ep4:

Every time Derek talks with Reum... you can sence a killer holding back. X,D Sorry i can’t feel that he is sweet... I NEED TO SEE how this guy won over Reum... because they dont feel like a married couple.

And what i hate the most is that they always mention HOW AWESOME was their wedding and never show it. Never SHOW the perfect married life that Reum is living.

Ep4 ends... with Reum teaming up with the EX. And Derek the killer psychopath, burning with jelousy. I really hate how the drama have left aside the Derek character... 4 eps in... and we don’t know a thing about him aside that he is a killer and a psychopath and Reum is so stupid for not know, i mean she SLEEPS with him right?! She cant feel his anger? She can’t see throught his fake smile? Really girl? REALLY?! WHY THE HELL YOU MARRIED HIM?! DONT TELL ME, SHOW ME!!!

The problem of this Kdrama is not that Derek is a killer and psychopath... that’s totally fine... the problem is that he feels left aside. Every ep tries so hard to focus in Reum and his EX that im starting to hate them. Derek is the villain... so PLEASE develop him like that. Develop his reasons, his past, let us know him, let us despise him or love him. This is not a comedy... this a thriller where they have to catch the killer. Derek will end in jail, or dying or free... but one thing is certain... the girl will return with the EX because the drama SCREAMS OUT LOUD that he is the GOOD GUY:

Really what did i expect with that poster?! U___U Im near to do what i have never done: Watching just the scenes with Lim Juwan. If this week episodes keep focus in the main couple... and the story dont move foward... i will do that. Because... really the story is not interesting to me. Probably if this were comedy... i could have loved it.

[pekorosu]

no.6 novels thinky thoughts

--------

so… i ended up finishing all 9 vols in about a week haha.

my overall impression? it was… alright, i guess.

not that i didn’t enjoy it, in fact, the first half was great! by the time i reached the end though, i had mixed feelings. sat on it for a week or so but a lot of it remains a vague hhhmmmmmblah blob that i’m not done figuring out. 

i still wanna make a post as a form of closure for myself though, so i’m just gonna dump whatever comes to mind here. don’t mind me.

so... the ending. i guess it was supposed to be open-ended in a hopeful way, but it just came across as unsettling to me. the ~chosen one~ thing rubbed me the wrong way, because shion was entrusted with an enormous responsibility that no 16 year old should even be shouldering in the first place. (i mean yea okay he did willingly accept it, but still. why only him? why aren’t they all collectively responsible?) 

meanwhile the actual perpetrators get to escape all the consequences by just… dying. just like that. and the rest of them, especially the adults… they’re pretty much useless? even the ones that wanted to do something by staging a revolt ended up being unreliable either bc 1. they were drunk on revenge or 2. all that power was getting to their head. ironically, rou was like “it’s all on us, the adults” but in the end even he decided to just spend the rest of his life chilling out underground -_-

on top of that, shion had to let go of nezumi. idk about y’all but that ending, that “promise to meet again” kiss was like… i couldn’t help but wonder if nezumi only did that because shion was all “a world without you is meaningless” and he had to give him something to cling onto. followed by shion’s devoted “i’ll keep waiting” which… idk, something about it felt utterly depressing. to be fair, nezumi always keeps his promises and the epilogue was vaguely hopeful i guess, but it still didn’t give me the sense of closure that i needed. 

to clarify, i’m not saying it’s a bad ending. it’s realistic and the implication that there’s still a lot of work to be done is very much in line with the story’s themes. just that something about it didn’t work for me personally, plus the lead up to it felt rushed, so it left me feeling :/ when i was done.

the plot… well, it started out exciting but turned out to be rather anticlimactic? the shift from science to supernatural had a proper build up, but still felt like a letdown for some reason… 

i think... maybe it’s bc dystopian stories tend to culminate in a huge battle and stuff like that, while this one just… didn’t. there was no final showdown with the Big Bad. there was chaos, but it hadn’t descended into total devastation yet, with the ultimate message that maintaining peace is always more preferable in order to prevent any more senseless deaths. and i guess that threw me off a little? not in a bad way, it was just unexpected bc i’m so used to the whole “final boss” format.

speaking of which, the antagonists were very one-dimensional, and for dictators they were surprisingly… weak. i mean, i get that hubris was precisely the reason for their carelessness and subsequent destruction, but it felt too convenient, too simple.

and i was sorta expecting something more gruesome when they got to the top floor of the correctional facility. idk, i guess brains floating in tubes just couldn’t compare with that scene of them climbing a mountain of corpses+half-alive people, which i had the misfortune of reading right before dinner. that was straight up horror.

and for all its depiction of the horrors of a police state, of poverty, famine, genocide… i felt like it stopped short of something. this isn’t meant to be a proper critique ofc, just that i remember feeling like the writing came across as wishy-washy or superficial at times, even though i knew the author’s intention wasn’t to hand out answers, but to get the readers to think. something about the way it was handled left me feeling unsatisfied i guess. 

that said, there were stuff that i did like! eg. i liked how the story dealt with the “we’re all human beings” statement from shion. it started out as a simple, idealistic “all lives matter” kind of thing, only to be turned on its head when he comes face-to-face with the kind of atrocities no.6 has committed. then it becomes less about that and more “our shared humanity means that we too have the capability to become cruel and apathetic.” or at least, that was my takeaway. 

hmm… in hindsight, i think it does what it set out to do well enough. that is, to convey a certain message to a certain group of people (teenagers i guess. this is YA after all). to inspire them to think for themselves, to realise that apathy is dangerous and to take responsibility for their own learning, but also to know that doing the “right” thing is not just about good intentions; it is constant hard work but still important work... among others. all of which are solid themes and messages. god knows when i was younger and learning about all this for the first time, even the simplest things would leave me mindblown for days. if i’d read this back then i imagine it would’ve left a bigger impression too.

the main highlight for me though, was probably the character scenes. i was surprised to find out how introspective the story was, with the majority of it dedicated to the characters’ internal thoughts and conflicts. 

sadly though, the side charas’ POVs (like inukashi’s and karan’s) ended up becoming tediously repetitive and draggy despite starting out strong. and safu… poor safu, she pretty much got the shortest end of the shit stick being the Plot Device Damsel In Distress Who Is Eventually Fridged. i had higher hopes for her ):

as for the rest… i don’t really care about rikiga… and who else… oh right! small nezumi team! hamlet, cravat and tsukiyo. 10/10 love them, would never get tired of their cute little squeaks.

and the protags… shion started out kinda bland but ended up being the easiest to relate to haha. eg. his constant struggle to reconcile his personal ideals with practical reality. and it was interesting to see how he confronted and came to terms with some harsh truths. he always tries so hard. sometimes it hurt to read, but it made me want to root for him and in a way, it gave me strength too. 

also his apparent “lack of interest” in sex/women/etc... i know it’s generally played for laughs or to highlight his ~naivete~ or ~immaturity~, but whatever lol it’s something i can relate to it v strongly.

nezumi took a while for me to warm up to even when i understood why he is the way he is. the callousness, hostility, volatility… they’re all defense mechanisms rooted in his trauma, but still, knowing that didn’t make him any less irritating lol. he could be deeply hypocritical at times and his tendency to randomly explode at shion was grating. on the plus side, it’s always very satisfying whenever we do get a glimpse of his more vulnerable side.

them as a pair though… i’m not a huge fan of the “fate brought us together” trope so i was skeptical at first. nezumi being so prickly and moody at first didn’t help either, but shion. oh shion, he tried so hard to worm himself into nezumi’s heart, to prove himself worthy, that i couldn’t help but be charmed. to me, they started out more like “snarky senpai and curious kouhai” as opposed to “friends” or even “potential enemies” as nezumi liked to insist they were, which made for an amusing dynamic. 

and while they did grow on me over time, they don’t make me feel that INTENSE CHEST STABBING feeling that i get with other ships. idk why, i mean, their sarcastic exchanges were amusing, their brutally honest arguments were compelling, and the pining (which is my #1 weakness) was through the fucking roof with shion. but still, something was missing.

sidenote on something the author mentioned in the guidebook interview (my own rough t/l):

I like writing about relationships between people of the same sex, not just boys. When it comes to the opposite sex, the end result of being attracted to each other is always romantic love, or getting married…… To a certain extent, the “template” for that is already fixed, isn’t it? But when it comes to the same sex, there can exist a connection that can’t be expressed in the usual cliched words like friendship, camaraderie, love, hatred… I think there’s meaning in writing about relationships that can’t be clearly defined. What’s between Shion and Nezumi is a “one-of-a-kind connection” that’s born out of a certain situation, out of certain experiences that only they have gone through. I wanted to find out what exactly that connection is, which was why I wanted to try writing it. Of course, that “one-of-a-kind connection” would probably exist between people of the opposite sex as well. After all, the feelings that emerge from a chance meeting of two human beings can never be something that’s mass-produced. But still, I think the one thing that I really enjoy writing about has got to be the unique emotions that develop between people of the same sex.

i know she doesn’t mean anything negative here, but idk… it kinda reminds me of the way yoshida akimi discussed ash and eiji’s relationship in banana fish, and the way she discussed what she found so special about same-sex relationships that is lacking in m/f relationships. and something about it bugs me so much. i don’t even know why or how to explain it… 

it sounds like to them, there’s something fundamentally “different” about same-sex relationships. "different” doesn’t necessarily mean “bad” and in fact, it even sounds positive in this context because the implication is that that “difference” allows for more freedom and variety in relationship dynamics. but i guess, the closest thing that i can come up with is that it sounds… othering? i don’t know….......

speaking of which, i suppose shion/safu is a subversion of that typical m/f relationship. shion can never love her the way she wants him to, which is heartbreaking, but also refreshing in a way.

and you know what… it just occurred to me that maybe, maybe… it’s the same with shion and nezumi. and maybe that’s why something about them feels off to me. i mean, obviously the strength of their feelings for each other is indisputable, but idk if the essence of it is the same. 

shrugs. anyway, yeah.

the honest truth is that, while i enjoyed their interactions immensely, they just don’t ignite the same fire in me as all my other otps. that said, i still do have a lot of thoughts on them! maybe that’s a post for another day.

some other stray thoughts:

- was it ever explained how nezumi built his robo rats? or where tf he managed to gather so many gold coins? was this something the story just handwaved or did i just forget?

- nezumi wanting to leave on a journey at the end baffled me. even though him eventually leaving was foreshadowed a couple times, he never really struck me as a wanderer to begin with. but now that i think about it… i wonder if he’s leaving bc he wants to, or rather, needs to look out for any other remaining forests and natural environments. that’s what his people did, didn’t they? protect the forests. i wonder if he’s going to go look for others like himself. after all, he’s the only surviving indigenous person left in the area surrounding no.6, isn’t he? hmmm.

language-wise... this is my first proper japanese (light) novel so i’m feeling kinda accomplished rn! lol. it was surprisingly not as tough as i had expected. i think the most difficult part was actually reading the quotes at the beginning of each chapter bc it’s in a font that’s so hard to make out.

oh, and again, some parts felt really redundant. i kept wondering if it was a language thing or an author thing. either way, i felt like there were quite a few unnecessary rehashes that could’ve been omitted to improve the pacing. 

sequels, other adaptations...

i’ve not read “beyond” yet, which apparently has sequel-ish bits? i’ve ordered it, it’s on its way, but i have a feeling my impression won’t change that much even after i’ve read it. heck, it might get worse judging by all these lukewarm reviews. i’m definitely gonna see this through to the end, but i’m feeling kinda scared now lol.

i might check out the anime? based on the summaries on wiki, it sounds like quite a lot has been altered, but i’m still curious about the visuals. dunno if i’d wanna check out the manga. if it’s exactly the same as the novels or the anime then maybe not…

oh yeah, their anime/manga versions look quite different to how i imagined them! mine’s closer to the novel covers i guess. especially nezumi. i imagined him with short hair. maybe not all super saiyan like the one below, but yea.

lastly, i just had a good look at all the vol covers and i actually think they look pretty cool! i’m really glad i chose to get this version instead of the bunkobon. i mean, i don’t know if i will ever reread this again, but at least the covers are nice to look at haha.

[red-sterling]

thanks for answering!! i hope you don't mind if i send more charas...how about green and/or lillie?

fhgjkfdg aw yea thank u!! hopefully this doesn’t publish before i’m done typing lol

also this definitely needs a readmore bc i got emotional abt Green oops

Green

favorite thing about them

first of all: the fact that Green canonically has a rivals to best friends arc with Red fills me with so much joy and YES they are on their alolan honeymoon you cannot convince me otherwise

okay like. gen 1 Green just perfectly encompasses what it’s like to be a ten year old in a way? like ofc he’s written like a kid bc he is a kid, but i feel like the writing on him just feels so genuine as compared to some of the other 10 yr old rivals you get in other regions. even though he’s kinda a brat at the start, he kinda eases up a bit as you go along your journey and starts giving you progressively nicer/more praise-y end lines when you beat him (going from “i picked the wrong pokémon!” to “so, you are ready for boss rocket!”) but still retains this childlike rivalry and competitiveness and i love that about him

and like. fucking beating him at the Indigo League still completely breaks my heart because even after he did become the champion at age 10 the first thing that happens is you beat him and Prof Oak just yells at him for being bad at things and like. ow. 

this is why i headcanon that Red actually took awhile longer to get to Green like please. please give my boy a chance to be happy and proud

also Red was caught up with Team Rocket anyway so i imagine he must’ve fallen a little behind at some point? anyway

the development on him across regions is so choice!!! he’s so much more mellow and even kinda melancholic when you find him in gsc/hgss, like he’s calmed down over a few years and he obviously misses Red so much but like, it’s clear that Red is kinda the reason Green does settle down and he seems to have worked on his character and become a nicer person - and he still has that sassy flair to him! he’s just got that gradual slope from asshole rival to kinda aloof gym leader to friendly/sassy battle legend and aaaaa i love my boy so MUCH

also huge point: he’s so fucking driven??? he’s got the most drive and the most passion for battles/pokémon in general out of all the rivals i feel. he’s only closely matched by Silver, but Silver seems to be more aggressive than passionate, and somewhat out of necessity too (like, Giovanni abandoned him what was he to do), whereas Green just really like. he genuinely just cares so much about battles and about pokémon in general! he literally calls you in hgss and just rants about how many different kinds of pokémon there are in the world!!!

also in Alola he’s like???? just so sweet?????? he congratulates you and is like hey you’re really strong lets battle like!!!!!!!!! supportive boy!!!!! he has come so far over so many generations and i cry

also on Four Island when you play frlg he legitimately says “Be smelling ya!” when he leaves and how do you not love this idiot

least favorite thing about them

i mean. while i get that you beat Green right after he becomes the champion in the kanto games i feel like there should’ve been more pomp and circumstance for him and i’ll never forgive gamefreak for giving this boy his dream, then making you rip it away from him, and then watching his own gramps yell at him for fucking up like. again it’s that drive, i get why Red keeps such good pace w Green but i just feel like he worked so hard and he deserved so much better than that

also while i’m very biased towards him bc Big Emotions, i feel like if i knew this boy irl who was constantly i’m so great and you’re a loser i would probably punch him eventually lmao. in theory it’s kinda endearing but as a real person that’d be grating 

favorite line

on one hand, “smell ya later” is so fucking iconic, but on the other - 

“I’m Blue. Man, this guy called Red brought me down in a heartbeat. I haven’t seen him in a long time…I wonder where he is and what he’s up to… Come to think of it, you look a little bit like Red. Yeah, you do. Just…Just a little bit. Whatever…”

my namelessshipping heart

ALSO NOT CANON BUT GREEN RANTING TO YOU ABOUT RED AND GETTING SO DISTRACTED THAT HE FORGETS TO GIVE YOU THE POKÉDEX????? BIG GAY

brOTP

for long elaborate headcanon reasons, i see him as being a good brotp with Kris - i headcanon her as also being really driven the way Green is, but more quiet about it, she’s kinda a good balance to him and they probably do pokemon research together. i also feel like she kept him sane while Red was still missing/before they found him on a fuckin mountain

OTP

do i really need to tell you that i’m 100% namelessshipping

like they perfectly balance each other. Green has all this energy and all this spunk and Red is just like… so opposite of him y'know? he’s quiet and he’s more measured in his behavior i feel, he doesn’t really rush into things as much, and yet they both really just took Kanto by storm when they were kids, and i like how they have this foil dynamic and are both still so successful? they’re so different and they complement each other in that way, and they both find success in their own ways

like one of the reasons i hate that Green’s championship gets undersold so much is that he did beat you to the punch, and he has been one step ahead of you, and there’s so much passion there and it’s so loud - and yet you as Red are just as driven, you take down Team Rocket, you’re always right on his tail, so close but not quite there, you’re the only one who can keep up with him and you’re the only one he cares enough about to slow down for

so like. idk with even all my headcanons about namelessshipping aside (and i can infodump those another day lol), i feel like the in-game representation of them just works. they just work so well together, they balance each other without ever holding each other back, and there’s something really beautiful about that in a relationship y'know

…..i feel bad abt not putting as much infodump about isshushipping now but oh well

nOTP

i don’t really have a notp with him? i kinda like. i basically just do namelessshipping, but i don’t get a visceral eugh when i see other ships with him, just kinda a well it’s not nameless so i’ll be on my way. idek what other ships w him are popular?? i’ve been in nameless hell since 2012 so 

random headcanon

while Red is still living on Mount Silver, Green is not coping well with having him so far away, and so Green massively overworks himself to the point that he keeps just not being in his gym sometimes bc he’s bouncing between the gym, training multiple teams, pokémon research, and ofc going to visit Red whenever he can. this leads him to be kinda temperamental after he’s been working on 2 hours of sleep a day for like a week until he just has an emotional meltdown and crashes, and then he gets right back into it because he has no self preservation

…….. nicer headcanon; Red can only cook two (2) foods, so Green cooks all the food for them when they move in together. he has attempted to teach Red how to cook, but Red pretends not to understand so Green will keep making him food. Green knows Red is faking it and doesn’t call him out bc he thinks it’s cute

unpopular opinion

look i’ve played through classic red version a few times and when i say he wasn’t that much of a jerk, i do genuinely mean he was not that much of a jerk. he’s like ten. ten year olds are just Like That. i guess this isn’t too unpopular anymore but it was Back In The Day and in some parts of the fandom he’s still seen as a jerk and like Bro He Is Ten In RGB/FRLG cut him some slack

also genuinely unpopular - Green is taller than Red. i know namelessshipping has fallen into the bara Red and twink Green trope but i refuse to let go of tall Green/short Red fuckin fight me why dont you

song i associate with them

a lot of the Pray For The Wicked album by Panic! at the Disco gives me Green vibes, more for the sound than for lyrics necessarily, but for some reason Roaring 20s just like. has the sound of Green to me. it’s somewhere between flamboyant pride and underlying insecurity that i think really encapsulates Green (or at least his subtext)

favorite picture of them

i genuinely love his let’s go concept art he’s such a sweet good boy?? 

and for the life of me i cannot find the op source on this but this is my fave pic of Green/namelessshipping in general that i’ve had saved since like 2012 maybe???

yeah if anyone can help me source that i’d appreciate it bc reverse image search only brings me to pinterest and random wattpad links :/

update: source seems to be the artist くる (pixiv id=982894) on pixiv, even though the original post got taken down (ty anon!)

Lillie

favorite thing about them

by now i guess you know im a sucker for character development, but i think they did a really good job with her!! i feel like her turn is a bit more in moments than it is with Green, who gradually evolves (lol) over the course of Kanto/all the gens overall. you see more discrete moments where Lillie starts to shift and gain confidence in herself and i am so proud of her ???? like the way she gets excited when she sees Olivia doin’ her z-move stuff, she starts buying her own clothes and getting ahead of you, etc etc

and like, she still has moments where she’s scared, there’s still some fundamental Lillie in there yknow? you don’t lose any of that softness that characterizes Lillie, she just like… she gets better, she develops without losing her Lillie vibe and i love that abt her. she overcomes a lot of the shit she had to deal with when she was stuck with Lusamine, she stands up to Lusamine eventually, and ghfdkjsg gah she’s a sweet gorl i love and appreciate her

also like. the writing on her backstory is so subtle in-universe. like yeah she literally looks like Lusamine’s daughter and you see her in the opening cutscene leaving Aether, but as the protagonist - like as Selene lets say, there’s little hints about where Lillie came from, and if you suspend your disbelief and put yourself in the pc’s shoes, there’s subtly to her character arc that i like 

also like. when she changes her outfit and starts being more protagonist-y, like more confident and kinda bubbly instead of shy??? love that shit it’s so cute can i have custody of this child pls

least favorite thing about them

i like. sometimes feel like she’s too soft of a character for me to really get into? like i love her and Hau, they’re sweet good friends, but i tend to personally gravitate towards characters that create a little more tension (ie Green and N)

(though on that note, Hau can be kinda savage. he just calls Faba out and sarcastically calls Gladion “a ray of sunshine” at some point i think?? Lillie is just very tender and i will support her forever, but i think that also makes her almost too soft to keep me fixated on her yknow. it’s not even a flaw in her character but just not something i fawn over as much)

favorite line

“I’m so glad I got to meet everyone. I’m so glad I got to meet you.”

like that ending kills me but that line almost feels like. I Feel That So Much like i feel so happy to have met all these new characters and to have played these games, and i feel like some of the player’s energy and enjoyment of the game is channeled into this last line of hers 

also GET IN THE BAG

brOTP

probably her and Hau?? idk, i don’t have a specific brotp for her but i like her just hangin around w the other Alola kids, so like her, Hau, Gladion, and the protag kids. they’d raise hell together and Lillie continues to be the only one with some impulse control

(Gladion also has some impulse control but keeps getting annoyed by Hau and so he gets dragged into their nonsense anyway)

OTP

Selene and Lillie is. Good. idk what the ship name is but it’s canon

nOTP

i dont even know if people ship her with Gladion but incest is a big no-no in my house

random headcanon

when she goes to Kanto, i bet she’d pick Bulbasaur as a starter if she was given the opportunity - and if not, she’d probably catch a wild Vulpix 

unpopular opinion

idk if have any unpopular opinions for her?? 

song i associate with them

i have no reason to associate this with her but the Rainy Day theme from acgc just. has a vibe about it. i think a lot of ac music feels like it suits her

favorite picture of them

i found this art of her through a lofi remix of her theme awhile back and it’s so pleasing to look at? her hair is nice and the colors are so warm n happy gjhkfdgf

if you read this far, congratulations!!! and i’m sorry

[aspoonofsugar]

Hi, I was wondering if maybe you had a method, or an experience, anything actually, to advise on this, because you seem really, really knowledgeable on everything touching fiction and construction of it around characters' arc. But above all, do not force yourself to answer if you don't want to bc I don't want to bother you! It's been a while, since I'm a child, that I've characters in mind for a fiction. I often daydreaming of them, especially since I tried to create a plot and an universe.

But it isn’t deep enough (the MC miss a real stake so oc, the end doesn’t exist, just subsidiary things that can make arcs but not a guideline for articulate all the work), and even though it’s pleasant to ‘rave’ about potentials scenes, I wish to write this one day but can’t even give a proper direction like that. It’s possibly getting on a fantasia universe, but at the same time even if I wish to have a personal universe I don’t want it to be a repetition of every declination

of fantasy models universe as it’s often the case with this kind of projects. So maybe it’s just going to be a SF in real word idk… anyway, if you have an idea of smth to advise in this case for creating a universe even if the process is supposed to be the opposite process (universe - plot- chara) I would really appreciate it very much. Sorry to have bothered you, if you don’t have don’t worry, you’re not obliged to answer. At worst I would find this by myself one day! Wishing you a good day!            

Hello anon!

Thank you for your kind words, I feel really flattered :)!

When it comes to your ask, I will try to answer it, but you should consider that I will talk generically since I don’t know much about your idea. In other words my suggestions might sound too generic and you might not know how to immediately apply them to your story. However, I hope they can be of some help.

From what you say, it seems to me that right now you should not really worry about the worldbuilding, but rather you should try to develop what you already have aka the characters and (I guess) some themes linked to them. As a matter of fact it seems to me that it is in these elements that your main idea lies.

I will try to explain myself better. A story is made of many elements (characters, themes, the world, the conflict and so on). All these elements are interconnected and the more they are coherent with each other and intertwined the more the story itself becomes cohesive and thightly written. What is more, among the above-mentioned elements, conflict is probably the most important one since the main conflict of a story defines the kind of story you are gonna tell.

In summary, we can say two things.

1) All the elements of a story are (idealistically) intertwined.

2) The main conflict of the story should be decided early on.

Now, every story is born by a simple idea which is then developed in something more complex and sometimes this idea is transformed to the point that it becomes difficult to recognize the original inspiration. However, a first and primitive idea is always needed. This first idea is about (at least) a specific narrative element. For example, it can be about a world with special attributes or about a specific theme the story wants to explore. In order to develop this idea it can be useful to understand the different possible conflicts it can give birth to, to choose one which is interesting and to determine the other elements of the narration in a way which is coherent with the initial idea.

Your basic idea is about the characters and since you have some ideas about the arc you want your main character to have you probably also know what this character must convey thematically. In other words you may also have some ideas about the themes of your narration. You should now try to shape these elements in an interesting conflict which is the struggle your character will go through.

You mentioned you are not convinced about your current draft because the stakes are not high enough for your character. A way to try and have a best result might be to give your character a different objective from the one they have right now.

TRY TAMPERING WITH YOUR CHARACTERS’ FLAWS AND OBJECTIVES

Generally speaking, characters are defined by a flaw and by something they want aka an objective. Usually their flaw goes in the way of their objective.

Let’s also highlight that to be more precise characters usually have two objectives which are one internal and the other external. The relationship between the internal and the external objective can give birth to different arcs structurally speaking.

For example, I mentioned in this ask that Kogami from Psycho Pass has the external objective not overlapping with the internal one. In other words, it is a case of what you need and what you want.

Kogami’s internal objective is to become a detective and to stop living like a hunting dog. This is what he needs.

However, his external objective is to kill Makishima. This is what he wants.

It is obvious that if Kogami wants to realize his internal objective he must give up his external one and vice versa. On one hand if he gives in to his flaw (his desire for revenge and his most instinctual pulsions) he will be successful in his external objective, but fail his internal one. On the other hand if he overcomes his flaw he will fail his external objective, but be successful in his internal one and change, so becoming the protagonist of an arc of transformation.

I will now make an example of how a narrative can be structured starting from defining a specific character. My objective is to show that just by thinking deeply about things like a flaw, an external objective and the way a transformation can happen many different stories (well at least many ideas for many different stories) can be born.

I will talk about Elen from Requiem of the Phantom. It is not necessary for you to truly know the series because I will simply discuss some aspects very generically.

Elen’s character has an arc of transformation and is also the character who lives the most important conflict in the series. She starts as a person who has no will of her own and her internal objective is to develop one. These two aspects are her flaw (lack of will) and her internal objective (developing a will of her own). Now, it is obvious that said like this they can seem very abstract elements. However, it is from developing and specifying these two elements that a more defined character and story can be born.

First of all, once it has been established that her flaw is a lack of will, one must come up with some reasons for it. Why does a person lack a will? Different answers can be given and from each different answer a different character will be born. In Elen’s case the answer is that she has been caught by a criminal organization and transformed into an assassin. Because of this, she has developed a very frail sense of self. In short her lack of will is the result of a specific coping mechanism she developed to survive.

Secondly, there is the problem of how to convey the fact that by the end Elen has a will of her own. In other words her internal conflict needs to be given an external representation. This must happen because we are in a story and stories show conflicts and do not simply tell them. So how can you show an internal transformation like the one Elen must go through? The answer the series gives is to create the character of the Scythe Master aka the main antagonist. Elen’s internal conflict is conveyed through her conflict with Scythe who wants to control her. In order to make the story more cohesive Scythe is not only the character who wants to control Elen in the story itself, but also the one who is responsible for her abuse and so for her initial situation.

A situation where a character must fight another who wants to control them is a good conflict to talk about themes like freedom and self-affirmation (and this is also why you find it in many stories). What is more, it is a conflict with the potential of being very dynamic and it can be used to write many different stories by changing some elements like the character’s personality (e.g. Ash in Banana Fish lives a similar conflict, but his personality is the opposite of Elen and so he has a different flaw which lets the narrative develop in a different way).

Finally, let’s also highlight that other than choosing a flaw and an objective you must come up with a situation which kicks off the character’s change. How is it possible that this character changes? In Requiem for the Phantom the answer is that Elen changes because she meets Reiji aka a person who is put in a situation very similar to her, but that reacts differently and in this way shows her a different path. Once again, this is not the only possible answer.

For example, in BF Ash is challenged not because he meets a person in a similar situation as him, but because he meets Eiji aka a person who comes from a completely different background and who makes him experience a different reality.

Let’s also highlight that in BF there is a dynamic where a character is challenged by another who has had a similar upbringing to his, but is reacting to said situation in a different way. It is the case of YL and Ash. Yut Lung is shown by Ash that there are other ways to react to a specific situation, but YL, differently from Elen, develops jealousy and is almost self-destroyed by his flaw until he meets another person (Sing) who helps him out.

Let’s now try to give other possible answers to the question: “How can Elen change?”.

For example, she might find herself without Scythe Master. Being removed from him might force her to start acting on her own. So now the question becomes “how is she removed from him?”.

He might die and leave her a last mission to complete. Elen who is lost without orders could choose to follow this post-mortuous order, but might come to realize throughout this last mission that she is her own person and she might choose to act against her orders and to use what she knows to go against Scythe’s last will. As you can see the plot becomes completely different from the one of the series. In this version the external conflict is determined by what is Elen’s last mission and it is obvious that she will have to face situations during the completion of this mission which will challenge her.

Elen might be removed from Scythe also for some external tampering. For example, she might be kidnapped by a rival organization. And we could also add some supernatural element. This rival organization has developed a technology which lets two people swap bodies. They might be wiling to send a person to spy the criminal organization Elen is a part of and she might find herself in another body and far away from Scythe. In this new environment she might meet situations which will let her grow. For example, the organization which kidnapped her is actually made of a bunch of misfits who live emarginated from society, but try to use their skills to fight criminality and have targeted Inferno (Elen’s group). In a healthieir environment Elen might feel accepted and grow.

I have added this last example to start discussing about worldbuilding and fantastic elements. As a matter of fact the body-swapping technology is a fantastic element and if it were to be added would modify the genre of the narration and add some supernatural aspects. Such a choice needs to be developed. For example, how does this body-swapping device work? If we choose to introduce it, then it would be a waste not to develop it further which means that it would be great if it added more conflict and more thematic meaning to the whole story.

It could be done this way. The device might still be a prototype and so, it works only if at least one of the two people involved in the swapping has a very weak will. This might also be the reason why Elen is chosen as a target.

This could be interesting because Elen’s external objective might become the one of going back to her own body, so that she can keep obeying her master’s orders. However, her internal objective is to develop a will and to affirm who she is, so in the end she might very well choose to fight her master and not to go back to her body. In short, her external objective is to go back to be herself physically, but in the end she becomes herself in a psychological sense. What is more, since her arc is about developing her own will, she is going to do so gradually and this means that ironically the more she develops the less chances she has to go back to her own body because the device only works if one of the two people involved has an enough weak will. This could lead to a series of minor conflicts between Elen herself and the members of the group which swapped her. On one hand they might start to develop a relationship with her, but on the other hand they might be worried about the person in Elen’s body who will found themselves stuck if Elen develops.

Finally, body-swapping is a trope which can be easily used to develop themes linked to empathy since it lets a person be in another one’s shoes, quite literally. So, we could use it to develop this theme as well in relation to the character who swapped with Elen. This character may have a personal grudge against Inferno and may initially despise Elen. However, after seeing how she is usually treated by the Scythe Master they might develop sympathy for her and they may wish to help her escape.

Let’s also underline that this body switch device might very well become something Scythe Master himself grows interested in and he might want to take it for himself because, if coupled with people like Elen who lack a will (and he is good at creating them), assassinations will become easier.

Now these are just random ideas and it is not important that they are good or bad ones. My aim is simply to show that by modifying some elements different kinds of conflicts are born and in this way different possible plots.

Because of this, it might be useful for you to tamper with these elements as well. You might realize that the external conflict you are thinking of might be more interesting if coupled with a character with a different flaw (e.g. a scared character will struggle more if coupled with a conflict which challenges them to be brave, rather than with one which challenges them to be generous). You may also have to think of an external objective which creates a more interesting conflict. In this case, remember that this objective must show in a concrete way what your character is going through in their interiority. Moreover, if you think about an objective which is important for your character, then the stakes will automatically get higher. In order to do so you might have to rethink or to elaborate on some details of the character’s background. As a matter of fact, the more specific and personal the objective you come up with is the easier will be to better characterize your character and to build the story.

SOME CONSIDERATIONS ON WORLDBUILDING

You specifically asked about worldbuilding, so I will make some very general considerations.

First of all, worldbuilding is an element present in all narrations and not only in stories with a fantastic setting.

Secondly, in all stories it should do at least two things.

1) Add to the conflict.

2) Add to the themes.

Let’s consider once again Requime for the Phantom because it has a realistic setting, but its worldbuilding fulfills the two conditions above.

As mentioned above, in Requiem for the Phantom there is a criminal organization called Inferno who forces Elen and the other protagonist Reiji to work as assassins.

This organization is pretty realistic in how it works, but it still has a thematic meaning. As a matter of fact it is the physical hell the characters must escape from. What is more, it is made by traitors from other organizations and in this way it is linked to the theme of betrayal which is present in the series as a whole.

Moreover, the organization itself and how it is structured contributes to the conflict. As a matter of fact many of the conflicts which interest the protagonists are born because of other characters wanting to obtain more power within the organization itself.

When it comes to your story, you must come up with a setting which is coherent with your conflict and with your major themes. Consider that it is something which might come naturally later on once you have developed the story more. That said, you must see if a fantastic world is necessary for the story you want to tell or if it better works in a more realistic setting. Be it one way or the other you will still have to create a universe which is good for your story.

If you choose a realistic setting you might have to research some aspects of it (for example, if you set it in a hospital you might want to research how hospitals work; this could also help you with the plot because you might discover unexpected things which might come in handy to create interesting situations).

If you choose a fantastic setting you will have to establish how that world works. What is more, the fantastic elements should not appear in the story just because, but should have an important role.

Idealistically the world you set your story in is the only world where your story can be told. This means that if you change some aspects of it another story will be possible, but not yours.

In short, the choice of the setting should be useful to your story as a whole and not be simply something extra.

For example, if you want to write a story about a skater who becomes better and better in her own discipline it doesn’t make much sense to set it in a hospital. The world you are gonna explore is gonna be the one of professional skating with all its dynamics and rules.

It is not that you can’t have a story with a skater in a hospital, but it will have to be about something different than her becoming a champion. It could be about her having to solve a criminal case which involves her roommate for example. And in the end she will solve it because of something she has learnt in her skating days (because if her being a skater is not important for the story, then why should she be?).

The same goes for fantastic worlds. If you are gonna put your story in one, you should think why putting it in such a world is necessary and as you do you will create a specific fantastical world with attributes which are original and functional to your story.

For example, you might choose that your character’s objective is to find a magical object to solve a certain problem. You must then establish the problem which might be linked to your character’s flaw. let’s say your character is a coward, so he chooses to go find an object not to be a coward anymore. Of course through his journey he overcomes his flaw without the need of a magic object (this is the idea behind the Wizard of Oz after all). Another hypothesis is that your character has a problem, finds an object which seems able to fix it, but it turns out that an even bigger problem is created and so your protagonist has to fix it. Another possible structure is that your character has a curse (which might very well be linked to themes or their character flaw) and their objective becomes freeing themselves from said curse.

As I am sure you have noticed these are all common structures you can find in many different stories. They work and the stories which have them are all different because of how they are declined. Which kind of curse fits my character best? A character who puts a lot of importance on physical looks will be challenged by being changed in a horrible monster. Who cursed them? A jealous witch? Or maybe in a comic twist it might be the person who must marry them who found the way they looked previously disgusting. Such a premise could very well be used to explore themes like how beauty is relative to an extent or how it is wrong to try and change one’s own partner. Then how can the curse be lifted? Maybe the character will have to overcome some trials. Or maybe they must pass the curse to other five people and so the MC will have to select their targets. If they are a good person, they might not really be willing to do so and they might feel guilty about it, so they might choose to find people who “deserve” it and so on.

I hope I gave you a general idea.

To summarize:

- It is not really important the order you follow when you plan your story, but it is useful to start with one or two elements you have ideas about.

- These elements will help you shape your conflict (which can also be the element you start with).

- It can be useful to build the other elements in a way that they are coherent with your original idea. In other words, what you want to convey can help you in thinking about which kind of elements you have to introduce.

Finally, this way of planning might seem a little too rigid, so I want to make one thing clear. These are instruments and not strict rules. The one I talked about is simply a method to approach and plan a story and it is useless if one has not an idea they want to convey.

From what you say, I think that you clearly want to convey something and you are clearly very passionate about it since it is a story which has been with you since you were a child and you have even been dreaming your characters. Looking at it with these instruments (even if it might be strange at first) might help you better realize what you want to say and you might even discover you have more than what you thought and that you simply need to organize it differently. You might also be able to come up with a plot you like more by simply changing a small element. In short, this method is simply a way to look at your story from a different perspective and it might be helpful.

Another way to go at it is to talk about your story with someone you trust. This person might tell you what they like about it and which are the aspects they find more interesting. By starting from these aspects you might be able to develop these ideas more and you might make progress.

I hope I was of some help and good luck with your story!

[comicteaparty]

July 15th-July 21st, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from July 15th, 2019 to July 21st, 2019.  The chat focused on Radioactive Underground by Ezra Rose.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Radioactive Underground by Ezra Rose~! (https://tapas.io/series/Radioactive-Underground)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PDT), so keep checking back for more! You have until July 21st to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. What do you think caused Robbie’s scar that is briefly seen? Further, why is Robbie taking medicine? What might all this have to do with Griffin’s particular concern for how Robbie is doing?

ezzy

Wow what a wonderful comic surely who ever made this comic is very smart and also handsome

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 4. Which aspect of the world has caught your eye the most so far? Why does it interest you? Also, how do you think it will play a role in how the story unfolds?

RebelVampire

1) my favorite scene is probably the first scene we see robbie at maki's. i liked the little flirty dialogue and then the ultimate payoff with it at the end. like i really felt like i was in robbie's shoes during it cause i wasnt sure if there was chemistry and then the "robbie with an i e " thing really sold it for me. just a great banter setup i can really appreciate. 2) Given the opening scene, I gotta imagine Robbie was fighting monsters or w/e he fights in the underground and took on a challenge he wasnt ready for. And that probably nearly killed him and thus why the scar and medicine. Cause the medicine is probably keeping his heart going or something like that. As for Griffin's concern, Griffin gives off a kind of motherly feel to me despite the aggressive attitude. And it seems she and robbie have a sort of mother-son bond (at least a little bit). and ya know, mom's worry when their sons almost die.

3) my favorite character atm is probably robbie. While this could change as the characters become more familiar, I really just like Robbie's design. It feels edgy and relateable at the same time without being overboard. I also think it super suits his personality. 4) I'm really interested in the underground aspect of the comic. Cause it really doesn't feel like their underground, yet it's clearly a thing. And given robbie's crush isnt from the underground originally, itll be interesting to see how the cultures differ. Since there already seems to be some inequality going on. In terms of the story, I definitely think the underground's probably...status in society is probably a breeding ground for crime. hence robbie's entire life situation.

ezzy

>:3c

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What has been your favorite illustration in the comic so far? What specifically about it do you like?

QUESTION 6. Why do you think Yui was supposedly kicked out of the family business, and how do you think she got involved with Griffin? What theories do you have about the rest of Griffin’s crew? Alternatively, who do you most want to learn more about?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you?

QUESTION 8. What do you think the ultimate goal is for Griffin’s group as for why they steal? Is it just for money, or is there some larger picture? Further, what do you think Robbie’s personal investment is in the whole thing?

RebelVampire

5) My fave illustration...s is probably the ones of Griffin on this page. https://tapas.io/episode/1357536 Griffin looks so cool, and something about this up-close shot choices really made me appreciate her really cool, badass design. Instantly won my heart over as a top-contending chara for favorites. 6) Yui sort of strikes me as the type who rebels just to rebel. Like the teen who never got out of the rebellious phase because she's 2kool4skool. And from what we've seen with her relationship with her family, rebelliousness is not well-received. And I can see from her families perspective how it kind of just looks like Yui lazes around and then throws attitude. I don't really have theories about the rest of the crew, although I definitely do want to get to know the completely non-human world. They'd be a great insight into the rest of the non-humans that are in this world.

7) I probably enjoy seeing Robbie and crush chick the most. They've got really cute chemistry that just makes me squee on the inside. And I also hope he continues to be called Robbie with an i e for a while. 8) I think the answer to this question depends on perspective. Most of the crew, like Robbie and Yui, are probably just in it for the money. While I think Griffin is in it for the money, I also think she has a bigger picture idea. Like eventually aiming for the grand jewel and making people super pissed. Or more I should say, she's waiting till they can make the heist of a lifetime and retire on a beach in Hawaii. As for Robbie's personal investment, besides money, he kind of maybe just has nothing better to do? So far my impression of him is hes the type to think hes not good at a lot of stuff besides running and fighting. Thus morals be damned, lets steal things? XD Plus if he needs medicine, hes gotta pay for it somehow. So to summarize, his investment is needs money + belief in lack of job opportunities. I think if something better came along hed be heavily tempted.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention?

QUESTION 10. Who exactly do you think Griffin is? In other words, what’s Griffin’s backstory and why is Griffin invested in stealing? Further, why do you think Griffin keeps the group at arm’s length and has them drop her off at random locations?

RebelVampire

9) One deal I appreciate is the balance of Griffin's design. Like there's this right blend of human and non-human traits that you could even guess she was a half-breed before anybody even said anything. And being able to get that across immediately visually is really A+ work there. 10) I think Griffin was probably someone a lot like Robbie. Just in the underground, nothing to do, no opportunities, and so she took the easy route of theft. However, I think she was at least once part of a bigger organization (given the connections she has) and that she kind of betrayed them and ditched them. Like I said earlier, I think she's both in it for the money but kind of has some bigger idea picture about retiring in style or something like that. As for keeping the group at arm's length, I actually think it's to protect them. Cause she clearly seems to know dangerous folks who know her and have a bone to pick. So by not letting the others become too notorious, she keeps the heat on her.

ShaRose49

I started this one awhile ago and I thought it was very well-drawn(edited)

ezzy

Thank you i try very hard

RebelVampire

QUESTION 11. What do you think are this particular comic’s strengths? What do you think makes this comic unique? Please elaborate.

QUESTION 12. Why do you think the new girl working at Maki’s has come to the underground? What might it have to do with her relationship with her parents? Further, what role do you think she’ll play in the larger story?

spacerocketbunny

1. Favourite scene is probably the one where everyone is in the diner after the heist! The banter is fun and I like how the characters interact. Yui and Robbie are great, they act like siblings who can't stand each other but of course cover each other's asses if they get in trouble. Also the moment when Robbie meets Sky, she asks his name so she can label his food but then he asks for her name and she pauses like "why are you asking the server's name lol" 3. Ummmm Griffin because she's a mysterious babe?? Love me a stoic lady with questionable motives ;)) also Sky is so sweet, I love that she's an artist! 4. Love the demons and other folks that are integrated into the world, it's a lot of fun! I hope there'll be more interesting people to see :)

5. The latest pages with Griffin on the phone look great, great colours, nice backgrounds, I like how the colours are starting to become more dynamic! 6. Mmmm my guess is that she's a bit messy and callous and probably messed something up in the family business. Too early to make any hard speculation but if anything I think it was Yui's fault probably... I want to see more of what these heists are for, and how their group operates. I'd like to see more on Griffin and her origin since it was pointed out that she was a %100 human (I'm assuming the other half is demon?) 7. Right now Yui and Robbie because of the bickering they do, but now that I've seen Sky blush after interacting with Griffin I'm

9. I like the style of the comic, it's angular and sharp and I like the character designs! I feel like the comic's aesthetic and mood is still being realized but it's progressing with each page and I can't wait to see how it develops further! 11. Like previously mentioned I think the style is definitely a strength, it's fun and offbeat and I like that it's one that I'm not seeing in the comic scene right now. The character interaction is great too, even as early as it is I'm already invested in these characters and I want to know more about them, they're a fun lot and they all play off each other in a great way. I'm interested to see where this comic goes and how it'll develop, I'll definitely be checking back for updates

RebelVampire

QUESTION 13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

QUESTION 14. Who do you think Solomon Reiki is, and what does they want with Griffin? What does this have to do with the guard who Griffin fought during the heist? What could this mean for Robbie and the rest of the crew?

RebelVampire

11) I think the comic's strength are definitely the character designs. There's a lot of personality packed into them. Not just the main characters we've seen so far but even the side characters as well. It makes for a really dynamic setting and cast that immediately catches your eye. Somehoe all the designs also really suit the tone of the story as well. 12) I feel there definitely has to have been a falling out with her parents. And she fled to the one place where she thought they would never look for her or something. Given she seems somehow hardcore herself, I could totally see her joining the crew and going on thieving adventures. Or at the very least being an informant of some sort. 13) I'm looking forward to learning more about the rest of the crew and seeing how they all play off each other. Cause that will definitely have a big impact in terms of how the heists go. 14) Given my previous theories, I think Solomon Reiki was Griffin's old boss who is super pissed at Griffin's betrayal of leaving. But until recently they havent been able to find Griffin so hence the guard. Heard some rumors and sent the guard to confirm whether its the traitor or not. Of course, this probably gonna put the rest of the crew square in sights and get them unwanted attention from bigger criminals or something like that.

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Radioactive Underground this week! Please also give a special thank you to Ezra Rose for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Radioactive Underground, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: https://tapas.io/series/Radioactive-Underground

Ezra’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ezrarose

Ezra’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/ezzymourao

Ezra’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperSonicSoda_

[peachesnbasil]

incredibly long thoughts on the latest granblue chapters (spoilers and general rambling)

SO MUCH IS HAPPENING.

first off it was lovely seeing everyone’s faces again. i’m not really sure what it is loki is up to. the whole let’s gather allies thing is weird since he was so antisocial previously but i guess we’ll see. i think maybe the death of his brother is weighing on him more than expected, and i’m wondering if he’ll meet up with orchis again since she is technically his niece, as furious as that seems to make him. i think, apart from furias, the other major big bad for this arc is going to be the violet knight. i feel like we’re working our way through the knights- black knight in arc one, golden knight in 2. scarlet knight was sort of there both times but his plot was more in 2.

speaking of furias something is def up with him. total personality switch. and both drang and loki pointed it out, too, so i think that this is either not the original furias or one that has been severely corrupted by the true king, maybe similar to what happened with gilbert but with more control? although gilbert got progressively crazier while furias went from tempter tantrums to ice cold so maybe it’s not the same thing. probably not dark essence? the person who used dark essence the most is pommern, and he’s still mentally in one piece even if it’s physically taken a toll (shoutout to pommern for basically doing the ‘major villain to weird uncle’ thing, also his new clothes are nice lol). 

then of course there’s orchid?/zwei who is. kinda over the top i feel (don’t at me but it felt like shadow the hedgehog L O L). but i am intrigued by her at the same time, and i’m looking forward to the story doing more with the ‘what is original/real’ sort of vibe they had going in arc 1 with orchid/orchis and the black knight. esp with furias’ ‘the age of the false has come’ thing.

drang and sturm!!!! the moment it became clear that orchid was going to be a central chara i knew they’d be back but i was not expecting them back so soon. i was extremely happy to see both of them, though. what an entrance. i yelled. thank you wilfrid for chauffering them. although i’m really, really hoping that we get black knight back too, both because i think she’d be interesting considering we haven’t really delved into her feelings about the orchis/orchid ending, and i want to see her react to orchid?/zwei. also god, eugen please talk to your daughter. you promised it to the spirit of your dead wife come on. we gotta start fixing these family plotlines. i’m imagining drang is gonna have a reckoning with ferry when she comes back to the plot (oh my god i am. so excited for that to happen) and eugen and black knight need to have theirs too (prolly won’t get closure on golden knight/pholia and scarlet knight/hal until we get back to nalhegrande but i want to see those too).

another thing is katalina. she’s due for her 5* and presumably this means she’s gonna bond to a primal like the rest of the crew did. i briefly thought maybe mithra in the spirit of her promise of protecting lyria but idk. or whatever the name of the primal on the dydroit belt was that controlled bonds? or maybe we’ll pull a new one out of a hat. either way i’m excited for her to get some development since despite having her in our party since day one we still ultimately know very little about her. i love team mom.

and then we finally started getting some exposition about good ol dad, who was apparently the disciple of an actual god (granblue hands me everything i want on a platter yet again). the fact that we might need to go up against him is not that surprising considering this is, after all, a jrpg. but i’m really excited to finally start knowing more about the red dragon/girl in blue thing. also, wasn’t that half-shown girl with the true king called ‘priestess?’ would she be connected to the same god dad is? we didn’t get to see her face so she’s still super mysterious but i’m intrigued!

too bad there won’t be more until january. although, luckily, i’ll prolly be right out of surgery at the time so it’ll be like my get well soon present lol.

some final thoughts:

- low-budget crew was hilarious. i love their mascot.

- orchid as a symbol of peace!! she’s really growing on me. i love her. i hope she gets to go on a gourmet food tour with orchis.

- please new art for lyria and siero, PLEASE. it really shows it’s age next to everyone else’s shiny new art

- fenrir.... between this and the recent rerun of jade event i really feel for her. i still have mixed feelings about her but if we can get some more development i’ll be interested....

- katalina and rosetta covering their respective daughter’s eyes was a great moment. at this point i’m sure lyria and io have Seen Some Shit but like. still cute

- listen. i have so many emotions about the exchange with drang and sturm where he says ‘isn’t it nice to have a place to call home?’ and she just kind of shrugs it off. that went direct to my heart. i earnestly hope she like. knows she can trust all the crew. i’d love to see her open up a little. one day i will have to make a post just talking about my feelings about these two but this one is already too long, so that’s enough for now lol.

[yeonchi]

Kisekae Insights #25: The last of Hiroki’s prototypes

Originally, I wasn’t planning on making an instalment of Kisekae Insights this month because I was planning on building a new PC, but then I suddenly got depressed because of stuff and that had to be put on hold, so I decided to write a couple more instalments. At the same time, I’m planning on ending the second run of Kisekae Insights after the next instalment to make way for the Doctor Who Series 13 reviews and also to focus on the last leg of my personal project. 9 instalments in 6 months isn’t bad compared to 16 in the first run, but that’s probably because a few instalments were filler and I have a job now so I don’t have as much time to work on new content. It will take me some time to prepare content for the third run (when I eventually get around to it), but I promise that we’ll go straight into the big stuff, namely My Little Pony, Gokaiger, Decade and Soulbound. I said back in #17 that I would hopefully cover it this year, but obviously things have changed.

Most of Hiroki’s prototypes that I’ve covered up to this point are OCs of animes that have had a significant influence on my personal project; this is not necessarily the case for the remaining ones, particularly because a couple of them are totally original characters. Let’s dive right in and cover the last of Hiroki’s prototypes.

Please note that there is a content warning for family/domestic violence and suicide.

Richard Yang: The First Prototype

Remember back in #6 when I said that Kyōko Izumi is the “Genesis Prototype”? Richard is the “first prototype” because chronologically, he is the first of Hiroki’s prototypes.

Bodyguards and Assassins (十月圍城), not to be mistaken for the namesake movie, is a series I created (or rather, conceptualised because I never really wrote out the series fully) in 2010 as a late-night drama on my totally real TV network after all the simulcasts of TVB dramas were done for the evening (we’ve really come far over the years). Richard Yang wasn’t written as Hiroki’s prototype until 2013 because I didn’t have that plot point back then.

In the drama, Richard is basically an explorer who has adventures. His style name is Samlin because at one point, he became sworn siblings with several other people who either resembled or were characters from Fifi and the Flowertots or Angelina Ballerina, one of them being Ms Mimi, who is like the elder sister or something. His timeline probably got cancelled out by the time he came onto Doctor Who.

Four series of Bodyguards and Assassins were made between 2010 and 2013. The second series involved Richard meeting his old primary school friends or something, the third series involved characters from K-On and the fourth series involved Richard meeting (a reincarnated version) of Yuri Nakamura from Angel Beats, who would go on to become his girlfriend. Richard began being featured on Doctor Who in 2012 with the Kikuchi Arc in Series 4 (he doesn’t do much in it though), but his origin wouldn’t be covered until the year after for the 50th Anniversary.

Speaking of Angel Beats, the series’ main characters, Kanade Tachibana and Yuzuru Otonashi, were also the Doctor’s companions for a few episodes at the end of Series 1 and 2 and the entirety of Series 3 and 4, making numerous reappearances over the years. Aside from Yuri, other characters from Angel Beats were also featured, but not given much focus.

In 2001, Hiroki was with his parents at Madame Tussaud’s in Hong Kong (the actual one, not the other one that we usually use to refer to Melbourne). While his father was trying to take a photo of his wife and son with the wax figures of The Beatles, Hiroki was too busy playing with George Harrison’s hair (I don’t exactly know which one is which so I might be wrong, like that matters anyway), causing him to be distracted. His mother slapped him, causing him to cry and regenerate into Richard. While Hiroki’s real body materialised later, he managed to swap places with Richard so that no one would get suspicious.

Following his birth, the 4-year-old Richard ended up living at an orphanage before he fell back in time to 1998 and ended up in Nagoya with no memories of his past. He was discovered by a local orphanage, but after no one adopted him for a period of three years, he was adopted by one of the female workers.

An unexpected invasion from the Oda Army in 2004 caused Richard to be separated from his adoptive mother. He was found by the Tongmenghui, who decided to take him in, considering his situation. Taking on the name Richard Yang, he became the leader of the Tongmenghui and led children in a rebellion against their parents. This would be known as the Dinghai-Wuzi Revolution of 2007.

Following the end of the Revolution, Richard started studying Geography and Teaching at Tokyo University, eventually becoming a professor there by 2012. He also began working as a casual relief teacher at Camembert Academy and as a tutor in the Chipping Cheddar area, where he eventually decided to settle down with Yuri.

When the Superhero Project was being developed in 2017, Richard moved to Auckland and became the commander of the Superhero Project for UNIT NZ, tasked with looking after the Shinkengers and Go-Busters. After the Superhero Project was decommissioned in 2019 (Soulbound Series 3), Richard was recalled from UNIT NZ and sent to Minato-Sugaru Island to help investigate a minus energy phenomenon, going undercover as a teacher at Canterlot High School. He returned to his normal UNIT duties the year after, during which the Superhero Project was recommissioned.

Zhuge Qiao: Successor of the Guardians’ legacy

(Morina created on Chibi Maker by gen8)

Like with Richard, Zhuge Qiao is another character who was just introduced out of the blue and given an origin story later, the main difference being that Zhuge Qiao’s introduction and origin story was entirely contained within the main Doctor Who series instead of being introduced in a totally unrelated series. She did get a spinoff series though.

Shugo Chara, the series which Zhuge Qiao was created for, was featured in the project in 2012 and 2013. Aside from Zhuge Qiao, the Doctor, Parker, Hiroki and Akari received (multiple) Guardian Characters, but they were relegated to the dollhouse (or Hakushi’s mini-TARDIS) soon after their debut and written out some time after (with the exception of four who were travelling in Hakushi’s mini-TARDIS). The reason why Heart’s Eggs exist is because of a morphic field in the city that caused people to develop them in their hearts. The morphic field would later evolve to the point where visitors to the city could develop Heart’s Eggs and hatch Guardian Characters reflecting their personalities if their emotions were strong enough. However, Heart’s Eggs developed in this manner would disappear from the visitors’ hearts within days of leaving the city and even if a Guardian Character were to hatch from it, they wouldn’t last very long without the companionship of other Guardian Characters.

In 2005, Hiroki went to Honnōji in Kyoto to evade his former lovers, Kimia and Tiffany, who had joined forces and formed the Kurayami Alliance in an effort to assassinate him. He was then forced to commit suicide, resulting in him regenerating into a female prototype, who would come to be known as Zhuge Qiao. Before you ask, yes, she is named after the Three Kingdoms figure of the same name, just as Parker was named after Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Qiao was brought back to UNIT HQ, where she said a brief farewell to Hiroki before heading off to travel the world on her own, eventually going on to fight in the Parallax War as well. In the final days of the Parallax War, she was attacked by a group of X-Egg influenced humans in Handan on Popei Island and was saved by Amu Hinamori, who she became good friends with. After the Parallax War ended, she would go on to gain a Guardian Character named Morina and establish Torchwood North, an organisation for Guardians to continue their duties even after graduating from Seiyo Academy. Although her Character Change has not been shown in the stories I’ve written, Zhuge Qiao can Character Transform into Beautiful Dream, wielding the Marigold Saber Sword.

During her time in Torchwood North, Zhuge Qiao assisted the Guardians in protecting humanity, though she did slip away from Popei Island to help wherever she was needed. She also planned on making a system that would allow the Guardians to transform at will, but it was unfinished when the Daleks invaded Handan (during the events surrounding the Battle of Koshi Castle as covered in #15) and Amu and the Guardians sacrificed themselves to repel the fleet, resulting in them and their Guardian Characters being transported to the Road of Stars. Taking the remaining four Guardian Characters into consideration (because they had been travelling with Hakushi in his mini-TARDIS), Zhuge Qiao perfected her system into a belt named the Shugo Belt (similar to the Den-O Belt) and became Kamen Rider Shugo, an original Rider replacing Kamen Riders Den-O (because who needs the Den-Liner when we have the TARDIS) and Kiva (because I didn’t want to find a way around the Fangire requirement).

Sword Form – Morina (Zhuge Qiao’s Guardian Character) Analogous to Den-O Sword Form and Kiva Kiva Form, Shugo Sword Form utilises the Marigold Saber Sword (similar to the Momotarosword) as a carryover from Beautiful Dream. This form’s finisher is the Extreme Slash.

Brush Form – Miki (Amu Hinamori’s Guardian Character) Analogous to Den-O Rod Form and Kiva Garulu Form, Shugo Brush Form utilises the Canvas Brush Revolver as a giant brush to attack with brush strokes or blobs of ink (similar to Amu as Amulet Spade or Ma Dai’s moveset in Dynasty Warriors 7 and 8). This form’s finisher is the Solid Attack followed by the Open Heart Kick.

Sonic Form – Hakushi (The Doctor’s Guardian Character) Analogous to Den-O Ax Form and Kiva Dogga Form, Shugo Sonic Form utilises the Sonic Hammer (similar to the Dogga Hammer) for powerful short-range attacks. The Sonic Hammer also incorporates technology used in sonic screwdrivers to disrupt enemies at a medium range. This form’s finisher is the Dynamic Smash.

Gun Form – Mubo (Parker’s Guardian Character) Analogous to Den-O Gun Form and Kiva Basshaa Form, Shugo Gun Form utilises the Magnum Revolver (similar to the Ryuvolver) for powerful attacks at any range, however this form’s marksmanship may not be the best at times as Mubo represents Parker’s recklessness.

Climax Form Analogous to Den-O Climax Form and Kiva DoGaBaKi Form, Shugo Climax Form is activated with the K-Chara phone attached on the Shugo Belt. This final form combines the powers of all four Guardian Characters and though it is technically able to use all four aforementioned weapons, Shugo mainly uses the Marigold Saber Sword out of preference. This form’s finishers are the same as that of Den-O Climax Form, namely the Boisterous Kick/Punch/Shout/Slash.

Decade’s Final Form Ride card for Shugo summons the Guardian Sword (similar to the Evil-Crushing Hundred-Beast Sword from Gaoranger), allowing him to perform the Decade Guardian Slash together with Shugo. I had thought about using or modifying it and giving Shugo an “actual” final form stronger than Climax Form, but I decided not to.

Hayato Kisaichi: The Forgotten Prototype

There have been two special cases where one of Hiroki’s incarnations have gone on to become their own prototypes. One of them was Momoka Mizutani, Hiroki’s only female incarnation influenced by Walpurgisnacht, and the other is Hayato Kisaichi, aka the Ice King, an initially forgotten incarnation similar to the War Doctor. I should point out that due to the nature of his regeneration, this incarnation did not use up a pocket of regeneration energy; you’ll find out why soon.

Hayato’s design is modelled off a genderbent version of Elsa from Frozen. He was introduced in the opening two-parter of Series 9, which was released in August 2014, the same time as the BBC Series 8. After that, he was shelved until the 5115 Specials in November of that year.

(Genderbent Elsa art, the basis for Hayato Kisaichi/the Ice King. Art by juhaihai and Awen Ng)

After Zhuge Qiao was found and taken back to UNIT HQ, Hiroki’s next incarnation manifested naked where he fell before he stood up and metamorphosed his residual regeneration energy into ice, allowing him to become the Ice King and build Nijō Castle out of ice. He then built a machine and sent a signal for assistance, which was answered by the Nestene Consciousness, the Ice Warriors and the Weeping Angels.

Though they were not summoned by the signal, the Doctor, Hiroki and his companions from 2014 also came to 2005 in an effort to secure the foundations of Nijō Castle before it falls apart in fifteen years due to it being made out of regeneration energy. During their adventure, they joined forces with the Ice King and helped him and his army fight off the Kurayami Alliance at nearby Yamazaki, but Tiffany and Kimia manage to slip past them and head for Nijō Castle, leading to them having to head back.

Back at Nijō Castle, the Ice King ambushes the Kurayami Alliance with the Weeping Angels, who can move outside of their quantum lock due to them being under the Ice King’s control. Despite this, however, the Kurayami Alliance manage to set Nijō Castle on fire and the Ice King is killed by Kimia after a battle with Tiffany. The Ice King’s ice powers change back into regeneration energy, allowing the past Hiroki to regenerate into his next incarnation without using another regeneration in the process.

The Ice King remanifested himself as a prototype under Nijō Castle, where he laid in hibernation for the next nine years along with his army. Hiroki would begin reawakening the Ice King later during “the Day of Retribution”, but he never got to unleash him or his army. However, Hiroki did summon the Ice King and his army in Heaven when he and the Doctor confront God for rapturing millions of people. They later joined the big battle in Yokohama alongside the angels.

After the battle ended and Girl Power was defeated thanks to the intervention of Jesus Christ, the Ice King was left in the care of UNIT. He was given the name Hayato Kisaichi and offered a job in the canteen at UNIT HQ, allowing him to find a new purpose in life. Later in 2018, Hayato joined UNIT NZ and became Blue Buster. Despite no longer being the Ice King, I like to think that Hayato maintained some level of it (even if only a little). I didn’t put the Go-Busters’ weaknesses into consideration when writing Gokaiger, but I suppose that Hayato could have a tendency to overheat and go out of control, like in the Sentai.

In 2019, Hayato joined the Arima Group on invitation from its CEO, Teppei Arima, and became the development director of its subsidiary, Arima Property Development, helping develop regional towns and bringing more people to them (oh my god, he’s a developer, he works in real estate now lol). For a time, he also became the temporary host of Ultraman Dyna. The year after, he was called back to rejoin the Go-Busters.

I also like to think that Hayato befriended his teammate, Yui Ichii of the Data Processing Club, but I never showed any relationship between them because given his origin, I wanted him to stand out and be more independent instead of being reliant on intimate relationships.

(more genderbent Elsa art from an unknown artist – if anyone knows the source please feel free to contact me)

Terry Mizukoshi: The Parallel Prototype

Unlike every other prototype introduced in my personal project, Terry is unique in that he was spawned from a parallel universe counterpart of Hiroki, which was shown during his debut in 2012’s Series 4. When circumstances led him to the Doctor’s universe, he became a part of the Zhuge family like everyone else.

In a parallel universe named Destination One, Hiroki was being forcefully wed to Hideko Kimihara (a girl with Asperger syndrome that he didn’t love) thanks to the machinations of his high school friends and the Kikuchi Clan from the Doctor’s universe (Girl Power from the Doctor’s universe were pulling some strings behind the scenes as well). When the Fifth Doctor, the Eleventh Doctor (from another universe), Doctor Whooves, the Pony Doctor and their companions intervene, a battle ensues and the Kikuchi Clan lead the Doctor and his allies into Popei Castle, which is a trap that scatters everyone to different places where they confront different enemies.

While the Hiroki from Destination One doesn’t confront an enemy per se, he does see two of his crushes (one of them being Akari) with their boyfriends, causing him to regenerate as his heart breaks. Terry was the resulting prototype while the Destination One Hiroki just manifested somewhere else (namely in front of the Fifth Doctor when he came back with Hiroki and the others from 2014). After the battle ended, Terry was taken to Destination Two, where he took the place of a Hiroki who was being forcefully wed to another girl (not Hideko). The Hiroki of Destination Two would take the place of Destination One Hiroki before presumably making his way back to his own universe. As for Destination Three Hiroki, he got married to the Akari of his universe with no dramas. Gee, it’s almost as if I put in characters that ended up doing nothing at all in the story.

After a while, Terry left his wife to find his own happiness. Upon seeing the stars in his universe going out, he stole a dimension cannon (presumably from the Torchwood there) and transported to the Doctor’s universe to warn him of what was going on, but he forgot about it. Instead, he joined the Doctor in preventing the Daleks from invading Equestria, which resulted in even more chaos as the Cybermen and Sontarans were also involved. During this adventure, he met Saki Mizukoshi and her friends, who had ended up in Equestria through the use of an enchanted rock in Shimoda, Shizuoka. Following the adventure, Terry decided to stay with Saki, having found his one true love. He also decided to change his last name to Mizukoshi for “naturalisation purposes” (as if that isn’t creepy at all).

When Saki and her family moved to Hachijō-jima, Terry stayed in Tokyo to complete his schooling while occasionally visiting his girlfriend on the island. He also began working at a ramen restaurant in an effort to support both Saki and himself in the years to come. By 2019, Terry and Saki got married while the latter was studying for her doctor’s degree. In fact, at the time of writing this instalment, Saki would still be studying right now. I can’t imagine it would be easy given the coronavirus pandemic (not that medical school would be easy for anyone in the first place).

Marco Wong: The Dual-Wielding Prince

When I was writing Block 6 of the 50th Anniversary Series in 2013, I had to find a way to use up all of Hiroki’s regenerations so that I could get that out of the way (in preparation for the Next Gen Series). Marco is one of the prototypes that was created as a result. I’ll explain the circumstances behind his regeneration later.

The Doctor had visited the Magical Kingdom of Parris Island (named after the military base of the same name in South Carolina) and somehow ended up in an arranged marriage to the queen’s daughter, Pixel Maritan. After discovering the existence of Marco’s prototype, he was whisked off to Parris Island in order to take the Doctor’s place, leading him to become the prince of Parris Island. Soon after, Marco and Maritan joined the Doctor as they took part in the Battle of Koshi Castle and teamed up with the Fourth Doctor to investigate Momoka Mizutani and find Hiroki.

In the four years after that, Marco trained himself to be an elite swordsman, specialising in a dual-wielding technique that could equal the likes of the legendary Musashi Miyamoto. At the same time, he also became the commander of Parris Island’s military before stepping down and joining the Gokaigers when he was selected to become GokaiBlue. Although he spends a lot of time with the Gokaigers, I like to think he maintains contact with Maritan now and again even though I haven’t emphasised their relationship.

Yamato/Daichi/Nagi Kurosawa: The Spun-off Prototypes

I was going to put images of them in but I won’t bother because they’re so insignificant. In Block 6, I introduced Yamato, Daichi and Nagi Kurosawa with the intent of spinning them off into the anime Say I Love You, but like I said, I forgot about them because they were insignificant. I kind of regret this decision now, but that was because at the time, I had intended on ending my personal project after the 50th Anniversary Series. Some time after, I decided to commission the Next Gen Series and it all just went from there.

In Block 6 of the 50th Anniversary Series, all the Doctors, their companions and some others (including Hiroki and Parker) were gathered at Roald Dahl Plass in Cardiff to help UNIT and Torchwood investigate numerous anomalies, but they were suddenly scattered to different places. Hiroki and Akari confronted the ghosts of Hiroki’s past, future and present (in that order) before suddenly ending up at the former’s house, where his parents forcibly separate the couple, throwing Akari out the back door and locking Hiroki in a secret room that they found in his bedroom.

Hiroki regenerates into Yamato Kurosawa before he blows up the kitchen and takes his archetype self outside to be reunited with Akari. Yamato heads to Yokohama and manages to teleport himself away somewhere (probably interfering in other peoples’ stories) before ending up in Cardiff again.

Parker decides to head to the Voidstation, a building that links every universe in the Void to each other. Hiroki and Akari decide to head there as well and with the power of their Guardian Characters, they rescue Parker and bring him back to Earth. Because of the power overdrive, Hiroki regenerated three times and spawned three prototypes, namely Daichi, Nagi and Marco Wong (see above). After returning to Earth, Yamato was sent away to live with Daichi and Nagi and they were never seen again.

Well, not quite. Yamato did return in Soulbound Series 3 for a tribute to Say I Love You. Becoming the temporary host of Astra, Yamato helped Hikaru Tomokaze fight Doragory, one of Yapool’s Terrible-Monsters, while also training him on Ultraman Leo’s Space Martial Arts in an effort to help Hikaru rely less on his weapons and beams (because Ultramen didn’t have flashy, collectible-centric items and weapons back in the day). At the end of the episode, Yamato gives Astra’s Spark Doll to Hikaru before leaving (for his own universe) with his wife, Mei and son, Ken.

With this, all of Hiroki’s prototypes have been covered. While Hiroki’s prototypes act as the representatives of the different series incorporated in my personal project (before being homogenised as Power Rangers or Kamen Riders), they also have distinct characteristics of their own even though they’re essentially self-inserts and extensions to other self-inserts.

[kxlance]

Funny how jds said theres a thrill in liking an antagonistic r/s like keith and lance's, refering to their rivalry and yet didnt see it coming how they got so popular. Dude you just said people like to ship two rivals in any show and yet you say you never thought klance would gain so much attention when their whole r/s revolves around the whole enemies to friends troupe, they really think fans are stupid? They tried to negate the ship so hard I dont even know whether to laugh or cry.

*makes lets leave this in the past sound*

dksfnl ok but no i wanna give a proper answer to this even though it’s been a week and i blocked that out of my mind because you know what i’m here to enjoy this so here’s me rambling

when i read that interview, quite frankly i did get mad i’m not gonna lie. mostly because of the “forbidden fruit” comment from jds (but he apologized for it apparently so i’m not gonna bring that up) and because i was…..pretty confused as to why they would think klance is a surprise. i mean, out of the other pairings in the show, they’re objectively the ones who have had the most development, like as a duo you get what i mean? so it really shouldn’t be a surprise to me, that people like it. sure probably everyone has multiple reasons as to why they like it, but for me at least, it was legit the type of dynamic they had that caught me. it’s the kind of “we’re a lot different and we clash because of this but now i’m slowly getting fond of you” kind of thing. like,,,,, i LIVE for that shit alright.and i find hard to believe that when they were animating certain scenes *cough the bonding moment cough* they didn’t think that some people would have seen that as romantic. ESPECIALLY BC…..other….”“pairings”“ in the show have sort of paralleled moments they’ve had before like.. this is granted but you know damn well there would be no doubts over the canonicity of this ship if it was m/f. it’s just how it is.here’s the deal also: the only couple 100% endgame is hunk/shay. the last time they properly interacted was in season fucking one. season ONE. and yet hunk often mentions her like in his vlog and in the comics and whatnot. because clearly, no matter the distance he’s fond of her and would definitely like to see her (he did see her in s4 bc he and allura were on balmera but it was just like…a screencap so we’re just left assuming things) and yet…people wanna come at me, in my sacred home, saying klance is dead bc they haven’t seen each other in one season. can u believe it?they said recently that they dont wanna shoehorn romance in for the sake of having it because they want the characters to stand on their own first, which hey, it is a perfectly reasonable consideration. now, voltron has 78 confirmed episodes. you know how many of these episodes are left if you leave out the 7 episodes that would drop in june?? 26. 2 fucking 6 episodes left to close out all the plot points and possibly develop an endgame romance. this is just my theory alright but listen. there’s no freaking way they’re gonna develop a romance so out of the blue in just 26 episodes, especially bc of how focused the show is on plot/action. so like…..they needed to have had build up some sort of foreground (”relationships happen over time” “slow burn” they said it not me) BEFORE in order to possibly have an endgame in the end. and i wonder……i wonder……who is this mysterious couple who had that foreground development before the serious plot started kicking in? yep you guessed it. IT STARTS WITH K AND ENDS WITH LANCE. (FUCK YOUR LAITH AGENDA LM)

like this is just…i’m going logically here alright. if the romance is out of the blue, then it would legit contradict everything they said about “not wanting to have romance just for the sake of havin it uwu”. but you know, i’m not sure about klance 100% bc i never was, so, if klance isnt canon, i just wanna know what their so brilliant and well thought out endgame will be. like……. i’m genuinely curious bc even bias aside nothing makes sense quite as klance to me bc of how their arcs interwine very well w/ each other????

lastly, we know lance is gonna fall in love. and that what he’s looking for is different than where he started. y’all know what jeremy said recently. i dont wanna say it in the specific bc we said not to talk about it since the video was illegal and whatnot, but….what he said implies……..you know what it implies. and who else could it be honestly LIKE….. if it is between two side characters what even is the point’??? its gotta be between two main characters. and only those have had solid development together. with this being said, i still believe there will be lgbt rep in the end no matter if there is an endgame or not.(see lauren’s drawing of lance holding the lgbt sign that is not a coincidence giving every chara was holding a sign for a reason and the change of jeremy going from he flirts with everyone to he flirts with ladies frankly is….suspicious) i hate that it’s treated as a spoiler. but it woud be really cowardly of them to vague about it and then not deliver ya know? and also why is it treated as a spoiler if there is no endgame like……..lol

anyways yeah i think this has gotten longer than i wanted it to be but just……i guess my advice is enjoy the ship no matter what happens if it makes you happy that’s what i’m doing honestly and even if they said what they said, 1) they lie all the time so ya know… 2) we have extra information that lead us to believe they’re lying (side eyes jeremy) 3) they are still 5 seasons in, the most developed pairing in the show 4) they’re gonna reunite soon and i feel like then,,,,then we will see for real where they wanna go with this but even if it wasnt meant as a romance i just wanna know the point of many of their (extremely tropey) scenes

so yeah just keep enjoying it cuz like…. theres no way some of their scenes were accidental bc if so it’s the best accidental romance i’ve ever seen dkjnfgndskl

[deadmanzp]

aftg asks; questions by triquetrine

these are so interesting so i did all of them.. i want to come back after a year and see if id still answer the same! 

op is the post before this or also tagged “misc” 

neil josten: favorite/most iconic line?

first one that comes to mind I’m not sure is a favorite or iconic line? but it’s a line i think about a lot and it always hurts to read. it’s when they're at the cabin in TKM. 

“He didn’t care how much it hurt so long as he could pull Andrew closer, and he let Andrew take him apart until he couldn’t think anymore.”

that comes at the very end of Chapter 14 and gosh just the paragraph that line comes from and the paragraph before…. the fact neil thinks andrew doesnt care about him the way he cares/feels about andrew is like….. CMON MAN but also i just love the pining angst of it. i like this line especially because the line right before it mentions neil working his “bandaged fingers into Andrew’s hair”. so the “he didnt care how much it hurt” to me always carried a double meaning of 1. the physical pain he felt bc of his injuries but also 2. the pain of unfamiliarity abt his feelings towards andrew and thinking it was unreciprocal AND THAT HED HAVE TO “WARN” ANDREW like the implication.. of neil thinking abt their “relationship” possibly ending bc andrew doesnt feel the same and maybe wouldnt want to be entangled in whatever neil was feeling …… IM LIKE neil knows andrew so well and him being so sure abt this but hes like …. WRONG …. e

nathaniel wesninski: one thing you would change about the books? (plot, characters, etc)

there is very little id change about the books if at all. mainly bc while i know there are upsetting things that happen/the charas do, i think all of those things make the series really interesting to analyze and talk about. i will say a moment i hated was when neil touches andrews scars when andrew makes it clear he doesn't want neil to pry about them. i know neil offers his scars in turn when he's trying to convince andrew to let neil look over kevin but that was controlled. he let andrew touch them and find out about them of his own volition. neil touches something directly related to the trauma andrew had just experienced again when he had 0 permission to do so. while i always get mad at neil for this when i read it i still dont think id change it or get rid of it. im not really sure how id change it anyways and i think andrews relationship with his scars (and himself in general) is probably what allows him to brush it off(?)/never bring this up (plus maybe neil offering his scars was enough for andrew) but i havent thought too hard about this. but ya i remember i got rlly angry w neil the first time i read this scene and i still get mad abt it when i reread.

andrew minyard: if you could be friends with one of the characters, who would you pick?

i mean realistically i wouldnt be friends w jocks ILL BE REAL LOL and i think as much as i love the monsters, theres no way id be friends w them haha uhm but prob dan would be most realistic! maybe even katelyn tbh.. 

kevin day: if you played exy, what would your position be?

oh i think dealer! in sports i liked being able to do both defense and offense bc it made me feel i had more control over the field, like i could always do something if there were any holes

dan wilds: favorite moment/scene?

definitely the hotel reunion scene. theres so much to it; it drives me nuts!!!!! but honestly there are probably a lot of really good moments im forgetting. to me the whole series is really enjoyable and every scene has something i could say about it haha

matt boyd: song you would love to see in a live-action adaptation?

Oggghh this is so hard… esp since it takes place in 2007???? Idk.. iconic artists then i suppose ghfgkjhf BUT i think general vibes i think itd be so cool if paramore (time relevant), ptv (also time relevant), and mitski were on the soundtrack……. Ya…….. 

nicky hemmick: which made you more emotional, neil at evermore or neil in baltimore?

neil in baltimore for sure… neil at evermore i can't remember what i felt the first time i read it (maybe pain LOL bc he was doing it for andrew and i felt like riko wouldnt keep his promise) but in my latest reread i was unimpressed by it (mostly bc i think riko is boring and unimpressive). i think i mightve said evermore in the past though….. maybe... neil in baltimore is like … GOD neils emotions are so strong during all of that its really juicy haha. i think like him being angry bc he was on the cusp of having everything he couldve ever dreamed of; the desperation of wanting to fight back and get away; even just the fear of being in the same room as his father for the first time in so long... all really juicy 

aaron minyard: a character you will defend to your death?

defend…. im not sure is the word i would use and i dont think i really believe in defending any of these charas “to death” bc of how flawed and complex they are; id like to acknowledge when they did wrong. i think id “defend” any of the characters if i saw anyone misinterpreting or misunderstanding them.. theyre all really interesting even if they didnt get too much spotlight. except maybe riko. hes incredibly boring to me. and also nathan ig and any of his crew just bc there is Nothing abt them rlly...

katelyn: which minor character do you wish you could see more of?

uhhhmmmmmmmm hmmmmmm….. idk maybe… jeremy…. gjfjgkdngmdghs just bc him and kevin r so funny.. i was thinking maybe jean too but…… idk a diff kind of kevin relationship lol (yikes) (pain) but really im satisfied w jeans screen time. i think ichirou is interesting but again i think he didn't rlly need more. maybe erik actually. im interested to know what nicky is like with him :0

allison reynolds: favorite headcanon about the foxes?

actually something i recently thought abt was neil and photography. iirc? andrew gives neil a camera in the ec and i also imagine kevin eventually gets another camera too (i loved that detail when we saw his room at the nest) so i thought abt neil and kevin sharing/trading pics they take of (mainly) scenery. i imagine neil takes pics of anything he wants to remember/keep while kevin is more prone to taking pics of subjects related to some nerd history stuff (lol) so thats why they trade scenery pics mainly. but i like this small connection bc i want more to their relationship than their exy obsession and i imagine they have room for more now that riko is gone and i just like this other commonality btwn them. i think maybe they mail the developed pics to each other maybe w small descripts/notes but thats it. and i also imagine it kind of just is something that started happening.. neil and andrew r on a roadtrip and some building reminds neil of kevin so he snaps a pic and eventually sends it to kevin w some note. kevin replies 1. either a text being like that is nothing. > neil: shrugs brushes it off but figures he is welcome to send more when kevin sends his own picture back or 2. kevin simply replies back similarly w his own photo. i dont know.. maybe this goes beyond what their actual relationship would be like but i do like the idea of them just bein like… dude friends u know so i want them to have more than just exy and a traumatizing experience between them. 

as for common headcanons within the fanbase…. i do like the allison + neil haircuts thing.. although im not sure if i imagine it the same as most haha i feel neil would know how to cut his own hair from his life on the run (though theyre not Good or bad just like ok u know like passable generic w/e) i think hed definitely be tense the first couple times but he has experience w allison being close from needing to be covered up w make up after winter break so i think she would be allowed. 

renee walker: favorite non-canonical ship? (renison, jerejean, etc)

uhmm to be honest none really… im way too attached to canon to be able to dismiss any established relationships. i think kevemy (??? is that the name) is rlly amusing but i dont want them together necessarily haha i used to rlly like renison mainly bc im a lesbian and i want “main” chara wlw relationships lol but i recently read something abt how bi allison doesnt rlly sit well w some bc she outs andrew and neil during the hotel scene.. i also agree this is kinda :/ if she was bi Mainly bc i feel a lot of ppl (or at least this is what i gather from renison stuff ive seen) portray allison already being established bi? if this makes sense. i think if renison/allison realizing shes bi is a later development id feel better abt it but usually renison is already established so ya her outing them does bother me…. BUT aside from this, thinking about them as characters and what their partners (would) look like… im not sure if theyd rlly choose each other.. but i still enjoy seeing them together in art and in fic bc in the end…. im a sucker for women lol….

seth gordon: most underrated dynamic? (matt & neil, wymack & andrew, etc)

my first thought was wymack and andrew bc i rlllllyy like their dynamic especially after reading their ec stuff. i loved their first meeting (andrews terrible sandwich??!?fhdhfjd) and when andrew breaks into wymacks apartment BUT i think ppl mention them enough its not underrated. i Actually think renee and andrews dynamic/friendship is rlly underrated/overlooked!!! especially after reading the son nefes ec i love their dynamic a lot… 

some son nefes moments of them i liked:  tw // rape

renee convincing andrew to go with her to see matt after his trip to edens

how many knives do u carry / one more than u IS SO FUNNY and just andrews persistence abt fighting renee is also rlly funny to me

tw // rape : the moment when andrew asks renee if she killed her rapist/abuser that whole convo was good… 

their convo in the rain w their tea

i cant remember when this happens or rlly exaclty what was said but renee offers andrew something (some help??) and he says i dont need (w/e it was) and she says something along the lines of  i know but it wouldnt do any harm or SOMETHING like that.. i like this bc she acknowledges their abilities while showing shed still like to offer some help. im p sure she does this another time too (w neil???? or someone i cant remember maybe it was andrew again) and i remember liking it too. she has a way w words and talking (also seen in her convincing andrew to see matt)

BUT regardless of ec stuff i think their relationship/dynamic seen in the books is rlly good too. theres def enough to be intrigued by them and i always have been? so i'm reeeaallly happy son nefes exists i loved reading it..

david wymack: which ncaa team would you play for?

oh to be honest i dont rlly remember many of them but of the Three (ravens, foxes, trojans) prob trojans. i remember i even got them in a uquiz once… 

abby winfield: which character was the most realistically written?

first that came to mind was aaron actually.. i remember before when i didnt rlly like him or care abt him it was actually bc he was too “boring” to me. i always thought he had the most realistic reactions to things which is what made him boring to me amidst the ridiculousness of, well, everything in aftg lol… i still think he is really realistically written but now i dont think hes boring haha

besty dobson: how many times have you read the series?

fully i think…. only 3 times… i wish this were a higher count but i actually feel guilty everytime i try to reread it.

riko moriyama: coolest exy moment? (kevin’s last-minute point against the ravens, andrew shutting down the goal, etc)

uhhmm uhmm i def think kevin during the final game against the ravens…. hes so cool haha but i KNOW there were a lot of game moments that i thought were really cool so i cant rlly say…. oh also i love neil being defense in that game too rlly juicy wish i could pull up obscure moments bc i know i rlly enjoyed reading the games but terrible memory...

jeremy knox: which do you like reading more, domestic!foxes or chaotic!foxes?

uh i guess chaotic? not rlly sure exactly what that could entail but i do like… their chaos.. when they have fights and squabbles and stuff… this includes the high tension moments. ALTHOUGH i do like the tiny lines in the books when we see the monsters just doing like random basic everyday life stuff like playing video games or whatever. i like…. imagining them... fhdjfjshfjs… as for fic def chaos. i feel domestic is usually too softened….. 

jean moreau: favorite friendship?

oh i think this goes back to andrew and renee. but other than them… i do like neil and matts friendship.. though probably not the same as its typically portrayed 

[fcllenflowers]

💕 💘 💜Charlotte and Crimson?

LV is in the air

{Accepting}

@side-chara-cter I don’t care I did them all >_>

❤: who is more affectionate in public? in private?  

 Crimson. And Crimson. Crimson is the king of affection. Crimson IS affection. But he’s also kinda edgy so he pretends it’s not actual affection, he was just cold and had to hold her close ok? This wasn’t a hug. He’s edgy. She fell asleep during the movie and they didn’t have pillows, so he HAD to put her head in his lap? Lol? It’s not him being cuddly? oMG?

♡: who is the bigger romantic openly? secretly?  

I think Crimson’s romantic shows but let’s pretend he manages to hide it. Charlotte is a mcfreaking sap so I’m going to say she’s more ‘openly’ romantic and that Crimson is ‘secretly’ romantic (lol come on we both know Crimson wins this one too, let’s just pretend he’s edgy and not ruin his reputation as edgeking)

❥: who is more likely to plan something big for valentine’s day?      

CRIMSON. HE’S BEEN PLANNING IT PROBABLY ALL YEAR. BUT HE’S EDGY. DON’T BE FOOLED. 

ღ: who is more likely to initiate hand-holding in public?

Both because 1.if Crom doesn’t hold Cherlete’s hand, how will he know she’s still by his side and didn’t somehow get lost or kidnapped by invisible aliens, 2.Sometimes their hands get cold okay. 3. Everyone should know Charlotte belongs to Cream and for whoever disagrees with that statement, it’s okay he still has one free hand to punch them.

4. In reality they probably just really like holding each other’s hand because they’re freaking saps.

5.But edgy.         

💕: who is more likely to make huge declarations of love in front of other people?

Oh my goooosh it’s Crimson and I’m laughing cause I can imagine him getting down on one knee in the middle of the park and starting to read her poetry while Charlotte is just ‘uuuuh’ and kinda looking around because there’s people staring but eventually she thinks ‘you know what FUCK that FUCK EVERYTHING I’m TIRED of ‘what other people are gonna say’‘ and just grabs him by the neck and kisses him and poor flustered Crimson didn’t expect this reaction so now there they are making out in the middle of the park.

 Bonus: Narci and Dave are on a park bench and comment on the makeout session, pointing out what is or isn’t visually pleasing and commenting on what they should improve.

💘: who developed a crush on the other first?    

>-> I feel it was Crom but he didn’t even know it was a crush. He was just like ‘omfg cherlet my best friend i love her so much i wanna be with her all the time’ and suddenly

“Friends aren’t allowed to kiss.”

And cherlet went: “lol who says that come here”       

💝: who spends more time (possibly overthinking) what presents to get the other?

Look I’m not gonna say Crimson because he has too many ideas so practically he’s not overthinking he’s just busy making them etc etc. So I’m gonna say Cherlet even though I’m not sure.      

💓: who initiates most physical contact?  

Cromson but p sure Charlotte is totally okay with that xD

💌:who is more likely to send cutesy texts to the other?

Both. I feel Cream sends her more seriously ‘romantic’ stuff though and also a lot of excerpts from poems and books.

💟: who spends time reading their zodiac compatibilities?    

>_> Steel. And she pesters Crom about them.

💙: who is more protective?

Totally Crimson, he will fite he will punch and he won’t let anyone tach HIS chelet >_> (actually over-protective is a better word tbh)

💚: who tends to get sick more often? who is better at taking care of the other?

Hnn Crimson actually doesn’t get sick that much, he’s pretty durable. Maybe Charlotte? They’d both take care of each other, I believe, so I’m going to say this is equal for both.

💜: who said “i love you” first? or, if neither has said it yet, who is more likely to say it first?    

I don’t remember if they’ve said it yet but if they haven’t Crimson’s tongue’s been itching for sure. He will hold back as long as he can but I’m pretty sure he’s going to end up saying it first and freaking Charlotte out a bit x’D

💛: who believes in soulmates?

Crimson doesn’t really believe in soulmates anymore. He used to before Asriel. Charlotte might make him reconsider ;-;

I’m not sure if Charlotte does but it feels like she would to an extend xD

[breakfast-at-anteiku]

CAN I LET MY SAIKO STAN LOOSE FOR A BIT-

[Warning: TG:re 112 spoilers, long-ass post]

x THAT BODHISATTVA THING THO. I need all the fanart of Bodhisattva!Saiko. NOW.

x I have nothing particularly intelligent to say about these panels but UGGHHH SAIKOWWWESOME

x 2 THINGS OF NOTE HERE: 1) How close Saiko and Urie have become. I mean, it was subtle in the timeskip between Haise/Kaneki leaving the team and now, but to actually see them teasing each other is so heartwarming. 2) Urie’s back muscles. (Mutsuki is a lucky bean.)

Fun fact: I am very much into back muscles. cough

x Hsiao: “When it comes to kagune manipulation, Miss Saiko is simply a cut above.” Several times in the past 100+ chapters, the story was touting Saiko as a “genius”, but this is the first time, I think, that we truly see it. It’s astounding and I’m just genuinely in awe. Like how many fights could they have won by now if Saiko had a bit more motivation? As it is right now just keeping her “family” alive is her main drive, which is good because powers like hers could be a story breaker.

x My heart actually stopped here. After what happened to Shirazu and now with Higemaru (whose status is unknown) I was really scared for Saiko’s life. Ishida-sensei has a tendency to kill off people after giving them leaps in chara dev all at once, so I’m glad he didn’t push for Saiko’s demise. Besides, having her be killed by Urie, who’s disturbed as it is, would be cruel to the extreme.

x Saiko and Urie are the only 2 left in the squad part of the original Qs. Right now, it’s only Saiko left who understands Urie the most and the only one who still has the most humanity in her. It falls to her to carry the burden of tethering Urie (and Mutsuki) to the “human” side.

x Did I mention how much Saiko has grown? The first half of TG:re was just her being proverbially carried through life by the rest of the Qs. And now she’s finally come into her own, acting on her motivation of protecting her “family”. This coming from a girl who cared for nothing and no one (except possibly Haise) when she was first introduced.

x So is this Urie x Saiko as some may have thought? I think not. Saiko has always been seen as the “innocent, child-like” one in the team, so this declaration, is more familial than anything. Saiko is probably the character that personifies “family ties” in the team, more than anyone.

x Saiko is probably the most perceptive Q as well. She had a solid interpretation of Sasaki’s tendencies which are now parallel with Urie’s.

(And I like that Hinami and Saiko are paralleled with their assessment of Kaneki/Sasaki. Did I just forcibly shove a Hinami reference into a Saiko appreciation post? Yes I did. I am a Hinami stan above all.)

(I also like that Saiko acknowledges her other superpower. cough)

x I have to be honest - I didn’t like the Qs at first, because I thought (and still think) that their introduction was rather forced - if only to keep us in the dark that Sasaki = Kaneki (which most people figured out from the get-go anyway). But they have been developed quite well and now they won’t get out of my heart.

[comicteaparty]

March 15th, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on March 15th, 2018, from 5PM - 7PM PDT.  The chat focused on Anarchy Dreamers by Emily Ree.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY START!

Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning~! Today we are discussing Anarchy Dreamers by Emily Ree~! (http://anarchydreamers.com/) For those new or in need of a reminder, discussions about the comic are freeform, so please feel free to bring up whatever you wish. However, every 30 minutes I will be dropping in a discussion question to help those who would like a prompt. These questions are totally OPTIONAL to answer, and you can pay them no mind if you wish. If you miss out on any though, they’ll be pinned for the duration of the chat once they’re posted~! Remember, constructive criticism is allowed, but the primary focus here is to have fun and appreciate the amazing comics that the community makes~! As a bonus, each chat a top comment will be picked and featured in the archives and on an ad for CTP! All that being said, let’s get started and have a great discussion!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

✨Novasiri☄

Eff me, asking me to choose. Though I do have to say some of the more recent pages have been an utter feast for the eyes due to the nightmare itself out right causing everything to fly off the rails. both in an artistic standpoint, and general 'wtf-ery' for the characters. But, any scene with Koji is

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes, some of the more recent pages have been truly gorgeous. i might be biased because they kind of got a space/galaxy/nebula feeling going on

snuffysam

Yeah, it's extremely difficult to choose a scene. I liked the page where there was a poster in the background warning kids not to try and awaken on purpose to become beautiful, particularly combined with the scene were it was revealed that Luna did exactly that.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

My favorite scene! Hmmm. Admittedly, I came into Anarchy Dreamers pretty new - I'd heard of it, but not read it at all previously! Honestly? Issue 3 as a whole had to be. I love action scenes, don't get me wrong, but issue 3 really just... Works. It's fairly calm, the coloring's even more emotive than usual, and I feel like I really got a great idea of the characters and who they are while reading it. The pacing really worked for me, and I enjoyed getting a moment to learn about Koji and Tabbi's relationship. (As well as Crow and the others.) It was a great chance for me to get to know everyone as a new reader.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

@snuffy yeah i noticed that poster and really loved that detail. partly cause from the world was built up to that point i was like "do kids kill themselves to become dreamwalkers." that poster more or less answered my question in the most depressingly morbid way possible. @kabo Issue 3 was really nice because of how laid back it was. It's always good to balance action with stuff like this, and I think it was good to give all the charas some more development and let us, as readers, become friends with them.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Right! Issue 3 also made me a bit more curious about the Miho and Koji relationship -- what is going on there, and uh... Which of the girls is his actual girlfriend? :3

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Helloooo.... I didn't get all the way through, only into issue 4 thus far. ^_^;; So I don't know from recent pages.

snuffysam

I feel like Tabbi is the only one he considers himself having a relationship with, but other girls keep hitting on him regardless

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

clearly its both O_O Koji playing the field

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Favourite from what I read to that point was the kiss scene, where Tabbi's memories came back. It was sweet and there was good imagery with the shattering and all.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Miho FYI: http://www.anarchydreamers.com/comic/page-23

And yeah!! I really like how Tabbi is visualized each time she gets her memories. Though I'm unclear on if it's the blessing of the dream god or if it's just them recovering. (Also the imagery when Tabbi starts delving into her memories... HMMMMM)

snuffysam

he may also be an idiot

wishjacked

I've always loved that first Nightmare fight with the horse skeletons and the hospital!! It really stands out to me as the moment when we get hints of how weird this world is going to get, and I love the hints at backstory and all the questions about the Dreamgod.

Also, ya know, I'm just a sucker for skeletons. I say that every time we read a comic with skeletons in it hahaha

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

@sam -- I thought he was an idiot at first, too, but Page 205 might indicate that it's not quite that? http://www.anarchydreamers.com/comic/page-205

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I wondered if there was some connection to the dream Koji had earlier about her, where Tabbi had both eyes.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

so im going to insert a theory here early on to more seriously answer about miho. i get the impression miho is his girlfriend but point out that the six have serious memory issues so its possible that tabbi and koji had a thing but when everyone came back miho swooped in and was like "koji lets date tabbi who no thats silly."

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

That's true! But they did connect in the hospital, too, so maybe Miho was the original girlfriend

I dunno, Koji's clearly doing something, and I'm reaaaaaaaaally wondering when Miho's going to make a nightmare.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Props for the cat ears. I hope there's lots of kitties.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

On that thought, I feel like this comic has a lot of influence both artistic and otherwise from things I like -- like Panty and Stocking and Madoka (A little bit, anyway) So there's a good meshing of elements into one which seems to work in its favor

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

ah but since i havent answered fave scene i second wishjacked a bit. i liked the first nightmare cause i think it painted a clearer picture about nightmare protocol and i liked the dream god. cause the dream god is a weirdo.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

The goose?

(Always awkward when you get goosed.)

✨Novasiri☄

I don't trust that damn goose XD

snuffysam

i trust the goose

i trust the goose with my life

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

The goose is like "yeah no, your problem now"

wishjacked

you can't make me trust the goose, I won't do it for 1 second

snuffysam

he gave them gifts!

maybe

perhaps

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Does the goose KNOW what'll happen? like, if they beat nightmares, is it automatic that these six in particular will get blessed? OR IS HE ACTUALLY BLESSING THEM

nobody knooooooows

maybe he's a hallucination

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe the goose was the original nightmare.

snuffysam

maybe the goose is a weirdly advanced nightmare that attacks really subtly. but one day, FOOM!

wishjacked

bad gods can give out gifts, I'm pretty sure.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

so the dream god is a hallucination within a hallucination? cause i would argue nightmares are hallucination like

Emily Ree

Hi guys!! -walks in 15 minuets late with starbucks-

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

COFFEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

snuffysam

hey! i'm guessing you're the author?

Emily Ree

I am!

snuffysam

given that you have the same name and a profile pic from the comic?

Emily Ree

haha

I'm EMily, nice to meet you guys!

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Nice to meet ya!

snuffysam

hello! we were just talking about your goose!

Emily Ree

:3

snuffysam

A Goose We Can All Trust

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Hihi! I'm a bit behind. ^^

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

thank you for coming emily~!

wishjacked

Hello, Emily!! Your comic is Really Good

snuffysam

it's an extremely good comic

wishjacked

And I JUST SAID I COULD NEVER TRUST THE GOOSE, snuffy!!!!!!!! not everyone is fooled by his kindly subway intercom demeanor

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Goose is too much into television, maybe.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

tbf id trust the goose over a lot of other ppl in this comic. its usually the friendly ones that are more dangerous. and the goose is suspicious so thus is clearly not the true suspicious one

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Yeah, I think I'd trust the goose over Sissy right now :'3

or well, in general.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Surely Miho is pure and good.

Emily Ree

Thank you guys! I was just reading back into the discussion. I'm loving the commentary, you guys picked up on so many things!!!

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

PFFF Miho is the next nightmare, I'm sure XD And it's gonna be worse for Tabby. Stabby. Stabitha.

✨Novasiri☄

:D hai Emily~

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

I actually laughed real hard at that joke XD

✨Novasiri☄

Stabby Tabbi, yes

Emily Ree

She's good at it

sTabbing

snuffysam

tabbi is a good girl who would never stab anyone!

much

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Cutting edge humour.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

She's got a sharp wit.

wishjacked

Bouncing off sTabbi, I just want to say I absolutely adore how the dreamers' abilities are protrayed

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

to be fair when you have to fight nightmares thats gonna be the A+ skill. so its not the worst nickname. cause if there was a nightmare and someone was like "you could stand behind this person or stabbi" im gonna stand behind the person with stab in the name.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Incidentally, the whole Miho pulling a sword out of a crotch... is that explained in the bit I haven't read yet? Is she like the new King Arthur?

snuffysam

it's explained that tabbi can give other people her weapons a couple pages later

though im not sure if miho took it intentionally, koji made it show up accidentally, or what

Emily Ree

She surprised it out of him

wishjacked

Tabbi is probably my favorite, but the whole cast's abilities all SO unique in the way they're portrayed. Always very visually entertaining.

ha yeah that part was surprising for me, too

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 2. According to the Dream God, Tabbi and friends were chosen to fight the Nightmares for a specific reason and are the only ones who can do it. In matching fashion, only Tabbi and friends seem to have a total memory wipe that they are struggling to recover. Do you think the group was chosen before the incident, or was there something about the incident that caused it? What does fighting the Nightmares have to do with their special version of memory loss (or are the two unrelated)? Does this relate to whoever caused the incident and why they did it? What is the Dream God’s end goal for having the Nightmares be fought? What other theories do you have about why Tabbi and friends have such a destiny (especially in regards to what Sissy might be up to)?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Right. I was just wondering why she'd give it to Miho I guess. Though I guess it could have been given to Koji.

I like Tabbi. It probably helps that I have a think for cheerleaders.

snuffysam

she stuck a sword in koji's crotch in case of emergencies

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Sounds hard.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Does Sissy have her memories? o_o And oh man. I honestly have no idea as to what really makes those kids different from the others, and I'm curious to find out more. Like, we know they all died -- but did all 170 kids die? From what I read it was a school shooting... Did... They all try to harm themselves?(edited)

we saw Tadgh's flashback...

snuffysam

in terms of the question, it might just be a coincidence? the gang hangs out together because they have shared experiences (i.e. no memories), and the goose is just messing with them

wishjacked

I've wondered a lot about this-- the reading comprehension loss and changing food names especially baffle me.

snuffysam

the incident was supposedly a school shooting, but they never found a gunman

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe they were all the last to die.

Maybe they were all the gunmen.

snuffysam

maybe the main characters all died in particularly brutal ways

something real repress-worthy

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Nah, Tabbi was killed for... reasons. Hmm.

The language and comprehension issues could just be braindamage. Maybe they were all hit in the head when they died?

or well, shot.

their deaths involved injuries to the brain.

snuffysam

could be, but that seems kind of mundane for the biggest mystery in the comic

wishjacked

The fact that they started regaining lost memories, etc, after their first successful mission is interesting... they hypothesize that it's a gift from the Dreamgod, which DOES imply that they could've had their memories back earlier, but the Dreamgod gets to decide when they get them back and he decided to wait until it was a reward...

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Oh, I just understood the language thing to be forgetting certain English lessons.

And you can't really remember them no matter how hard you try.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah im skeptical its just brain damage cause i get the impression everyone is supposed to have some memory loss to an extent. its just tabbi and them are special in that its so lengthy and extreme.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

wishjacked: Interesting point. Maybe Dreamgod just knew that this is when the memories would start coming back anyway and is taking advantage of it.

snuffysam

to be fair, i imagine being dead for any amount of time, regardless of the cause, could cause some brain damage

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

"I'm not quite dead. I feel happy."

wishjacked

And the BEE GOOP THING, it KILLS ME. It's like the #1 think I spend time coming up with ideas about, hahaha. XD it's the little details that catch me every time, I swear.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

So, is it time for a conspiracy theory? I think it is. The Goose is really a nightmare that can traverse other nightmares. And it wants these kids to jack shit up so he can reign supreme. AND THE WORLD SHALL FEAR THE WRATH OF A SINGULAR CANADA GOOSE

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Made it to the end of Volume 1 now. I kinda like Devlin too.

wishjacked

well, canada geese are definitely the worst nightmare in my book, so that sounds legit

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

kabo plz dont joke about singular canada goose when i could spit out my soda on the computer to laugh. XD

snuffysam

nightmares can benefit some dreamers at the expense of others. the current nightmare is turning some kids into archangels and hierophants or whatever. though i'm not sure if that's particularly helpful, the goose could be doing something similar

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

You know it's true though!!! THE GOOSE MUST GO

but you can't make it. Because.... I mean. Have you ever tried to deal with those suckers? They will attack your car if they think it's a threat.

wishjacked

OH, I LOVE DEVLIN!! I have a really soft spot for the characters in this comic in general, they're all unique but I feel like they're all well developed enough that I can relate to each one.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

the bee goop thing really throws me for a loop. like of all the details thats in the forget zone thats the one that confuses me the most.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

http://www.anarchydreamers.com/comic/page-113 <- also this sequence. ...is that... Sissy? I just noticed.

(erm, on page 115.)

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Devlin has the literal hotness going for her. ^.^ Yeah, it's nice that they all get some character time.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i was looking for that page and just wondered that too

cause the hair and outfit made me think sissy

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I admit when I see "Sissy" I have a tendency to think of "Scientific Railgun".

wishjacked

I guess because it seems like, with that the Bee Goop, they actually remember it correctly (y'know, Tabbi calls it honey and is corrected). It brings up the question.... what if they can't remember correctly because everyone else is wrong about reality, and they're right??? But that brings up SO many REALLY WEIRD questions...

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

and i mean maybe the gunman was sissy but she killed herself and since the shooting was so massive there was no way to identify her separately from other victims

ya know part of me wondered that too

that the reality everyone came back to isnt reality

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

http://www.anarchydreamers.com/comic/page-116-2 Page 116 gives a hint as to how they all died though

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

You seem to be assuming there was only one gunman...

snuffysam

the goose also says "that was just one version of your story"

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe they're all in Purgatory? O.o

snuffysam

@kabo yeah, exactly

Emily Ree

:3

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

HMMM.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe. maybe its why ppl have to semi be killed twice. kind of like those dreams where you dream you wake up but its not the actual wake up

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Possibly all the holidays from the old world just collided in April for the new one. No one remembers when they really were.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

The whole world is a dying dream? :3

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Actually, they all have to take those pills, right? If you don't take the pills, do you return to reality...?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe. i mean itd explain things like why those pills exist in the first place. cause apparently they stop the soul from leaking out from the hints i get? but if thats the case who first thought of that. like who sat there and had time to R&D magic pills that stop dreamwalkers form doing w/e when their souls leak? and what did they do before? just cover people in duck tape?

wishjacked

based on how Tabbi treats herself............. yes

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Yeah, that's what they do, I think. There were knockoff pills, maybe someone was just experimenting around some day, found a way to preserve reality around them.

Also, not duck tape, goose tape.

wishjacked

honestly I can see every member of the gang trying to patch their souls with duct tape and Tadhg just CRYING

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Well, Tabbi was using bandages or something at one point.

Maybe they're chosen because their souls can go longer without needing more pills...?

snuffysam

tabbi's also got it worse than a lot of other dreamers. like, excluding that short time when her eye was normal, her soul was constantly leaking.

Emily Ree

I can give you guys some dreamwalker history. It's not in the comic at this point, but I share this pretty freely--- a lot of dreeamwalkers didn't make it for long after they first came back, especially if they were visible changed. If they/their family could hide their abilities, they'd likely go on to live a normal life, but imagine a kid with horns in, like, 17th century Europe. They didn't make it very long.

So, soul pills became a thing after people stopped... hunting them down

this has come up in side comics not on the website XD;

But it will come up in upcoming issues, especially as Tadhg starts being able to read more

wishjacked

love the fact that the ice cream shell of Tadhg is STILL the mom friend btw, that was a really good update. XD

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Ahhhh. So this really has been going on for a while.

wishjacked

Oh, that makes sense!! I actually remember you saying that before. XD

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Some of the guest comics were a riot, incidentally.

snuffysam

i was working under the assumption that bringing people back was a more modern medical procedure, but that makes sense

wishjacked

And it definitely makes sense in like.... general human history.

Emily Ree

@snuffysam that is honestly a really interesting theory that I haven't heard before.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Don't go after Devlin for cute fire horns, that's rude.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

iiinteresting bit of history :3

Emily Ree

Medical intervention definitely helps

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

I wonder how long Dreamwalkers have been a thing, then...

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I knew it was long enough for them to have stats on it (the 83% thing).

wishjacked

And medication!! Medicine does NOT happen overnight. And legal infrastructure! And books! And holidays with religious elements!!(edited)

Also, there's the historic cemetery that Sissy mentions was one of the first to allow dreamer burials...

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Ooooh, good catch.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Hey, I take some of that stuff with a grain of salt until confirmed. I mean, look at real life -- some stuff just... pops up and suddenly has a lot of power somehow. :'D Though I did miss the cemetary, admittedly

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

It was a grave matter.

snuffysam

that's the biggest thing, yeah. being the first to do something like that wouldn't be particularly relevant unless dreamers have been around for over a century

wishjacked

That implies a pretty good amount of history, I think! I don't know much about cemetery historical status, but I'd guess it would have to be at least a hundred years old.

Yeah!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

id assume the duration of recorded history because of how normalized it is. since nobody bats an eye to whats basically magical zombies.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Yeah, I'm guessing it means teenagers can be a bit blase about death.

Maybe the gunman shooting up the school was some kind of government experiement?

(Or goose experiment?)

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Or it could have been another nightmare ✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 3. The world of the comic has a unique setup where people’s stresses can manifest into monsters and dying often means being reborn as a Dreamwalker and having a second chance at life. However, Dreamwalkers also face a heavy amount of discrimination from the general populace. Why do you think Dreamwalkers are so discriminated against? Is it their powers, the fact they’re “dead,” or is something else going on we don’t know about (such as a past event)? Why do you think some Dreamwalkers stabilize faster than others? Do you think the powers are randomly given or do they have something to do with the person in question (especially in Tabbi and friends’ case)? What others questions, theories, or comments do you have about Dreamwalkers or Nightmares?

maybe theres a nightmare god that took over sissy and made her do everything. a duck to rival the goose.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Two ducks.

snuffysam

well first, there's kind of the x-men thing where non-powered people are scared of people with powers

also, people don't like differences. and it's even harder to band together when you're not all different in the same way(edited)

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Wouldn't that normalize over time though? (glances at modern society) Never mind.

Maybe it's because they call religion into question. Like, was Jesus a dreamwalker?

snuffysam

i guess some people see it as unnatural, but if it's a thing that happens without medical intervention... i dunno

not sure if religion is entirely opposed to dreamers. there's a dreamer saint.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Not entirely, but some might be. Or maybe religion kind of imploded in the face of it. Just spitballing.

Like, if you have people walking around with "Tainted Souls" or something.

snuffysam

issue is, they've been around for ages.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

So have many modern religions that people are persecuting. Hm, this is getting a bit too real for my tastes.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

gasp!

fiction mirroring reality!

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe dreamwalkers skew the medical profession.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

They sure do scare nurses...

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

They do hate hospitals, right?

snuffysam

the main characters specifically do

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Well, in Tabbi's case, erryone was getting stabbed

snuffysam

but other people's experiences may vary

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe that's the source of their strength then. (shrugs)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

im leaning towards more basic thats its a powers thing. cause as much as i like reading superhero based things, i would not want an actual superhero who could destroy my city block living next door. not to mention depending on abilities that gives unfair advantages. like koji for instance. if he were to play football he could just do time shit to cheat and win.

like i feel thered be a huge list of rules specifically for dreamers to prevent unfair advantages

lest you get the cheeky ones who are like "you didnt say i couldnt do such and such in the rules "

snuffysam

maybe there are dreamer-specific leagues?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

It's something they have to test for at the Olympics.

snuffysam

though cheer is a sport, and there are both dreamers and non-dreamers there.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah and at the end it varies too, their powers and what advantages they might convey. for instance, stabbing will not help tabbi win cheer unless she physically takes out the competition.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I dunno, cheerleaders with knives, kinda hot. 9/10.

snuffysam

i don't think the judges give bonus points for knives

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Awww.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I'm back to the pulling them from crotches thing. I may have issues.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

to be fair that was a weird moment. i will remember sword from the crotch for a long while

snuffysam

especially since there's still a hole in his pants

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

How did Tabbi manage to get that there.

and when lol

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

partly cause it reminded me of utena

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Rebel: OMG, so true.

Now I ship Miho and Tabbi.

Seriously though, is it possible to have a good Nightmare, you think?

For that matter... Dreamwalkers actually dream. We've seen that. Do they have nightmares that aren't Nightmares?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

that is a tricky question

if anybody can have a nightmare that isnt a nightmare

ie can dream the dream but not manifest the evil

id assume maybe to a minor degree?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

In which case, maybe that's something Tabbi et al can do....?

Emily Ree

Dreamwalkers can have normal, not monster creating, dreams and nightmares. But the issue at hand is when the feelings from a normal sleeping dream seep into reality

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Just like their souls :3

Emily Ree

:3

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Kinda like Koji's dream about Tabbi's eye did. ^^

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hmm

ill have to sit on that information and ponder

but powers. i want to assume the powers give some hint about something and theyre not just random. like devlin's make sense cause shes got a fiery personality.

Emily Ree

Oh yes!

powers are very personal

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Tabbi seems to have some connection to the knives and stuff when her brother was taunting her.

(I'm still gradually reading in the background here.)

Emily Ree

Yes!

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Possibly she used to stab televisions.

Emily Ree

ahahahahahahaha

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

And she's never stabbed since those days.

Emily Ree

I just wanted to say, I'm really enjoying this conversation. You guys are looking at all the details and it warms my heart!

A lot of the feedback I get on Dreamers is "it's weird!"

So, thank you all for really looking

✨Novasiri☄

Its a good weird~

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes good weird. cause weird isnt always bad

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Life is weird.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i want to go metaphorical with tabbi. that the knives are a symbolism of her desire to keep other ppl away from her because she doesnt want to get hurt or something

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

(As is returning to life, apparently.)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

like in the hospital

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Hmmm, like maybe everything's symbolic, the way it seems to be with Dev?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

possible

crow's are the ability that throw me for a loop tbh cause everyone i can bs and debate a reason. crow i cant fathom why his powers are what they are.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

So there must be some connection to why she can cause blades to appear for other people too. Maybe she doesn't stab, but she always feels like she gets cut down?

Who was Crow again? ^_^;;

snuffysam

electric

wishjacked

BRO!!! HOW COULD YOU FORGET CROW, BRO!!!!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

http://www.anarchydreamers.com/cast

Emily Ree

sparky crutches boy

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 4. Nightmares, fears and problems brought to life, are a regular manifestation within the comic’s world. In order to combat this, only the Dreamwalker Guard is legally allowed to deal with the situations. However, insofar, the Dreamwalker Guard has proven ineffectual compared to Tabbi and friends. Why do you think the Dreamwalker Guard is so ineffectual? Is there too much red tape that prevents them from helping? Is it simply apathy preventing them from caring about the situation? Or is it something else entirely? Speaking of which, do you believe the Dreamwalker Guard is hiding something about what happened at Sacred Heart High School or are the suspicions others have just a red herring?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Oh, right, right. I'm just bad with names, you know that. Ahh, so it could be that he was always tied to his electronic gizmos.

wishjacked

I feel like Crow's ability fits him really well but I can't articulate a good reason to feel that way

He just has an ~electric personality~

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Dreamwalker Guard's just kinda jaded.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

no no i made that joke in my head already an hour ago we cant speak it aloud XD

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Might spark something.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

they are jaded but that is some extreme jading. like the equivalent of a cop going "oh hey look over there those people are getting shot. lets just eat these donuts and watch." XD

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe Dreamwalker guard can't afford to pay for property damages, so they don't get involved.

wishjacked

I thought one of the recent scenes where Olga (I think it was Olga, I actually didn't reread this part recently haha) called the Dreamer Guard and they were completely uninterested until Sacred Heart was mentioned was........ an interesting scene

Emily Ree

:3 (it was Olga!)

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Is there one of those in every city maybe? Could be a competition or something.

snuffysam

a competition to be ineffective?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hey theres been weirder competition

but yes that scene was telling. that the minute sacred heart is mentioning suddenly its interesting

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

A competition to spend the least or save the most money or something. All they've had to shell out for is the donuts.

Or maybe it's all a front for some secret stuff they're doing downstairs in the basement.

wishjacked

With every job that deals closely with life-threatening situations, there is TONS of red tape and a TONS of people who don't feel like risking their lives, and I guess I've just been reading the guard as an ineffectual system up til now. Honestly I haven't paid close attention to them

I really like their presence in the story-- it's very nice to see systems in place to deal specifically with the dreamers!! I think that they're an important part of the worldbuilding.

And in future rereads I guess I'll have to pay closer attention to their scenes. XD

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Can't the two groups just get along? (resumes shipping Miho and Tabbi)

wishjacked

HEY, WHILE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE DREAMER GUARD, MATEO IS THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love him So Much

snuffysam

woof boy

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i would have just written off their ineffectualness as red tape if not for how they handled olga's call. like i understand emergency lines can get overwhelmed, but the fact that they answered with such disinterest concerned me. like as a dispatcher you do not handle people's problems that callously. that is how you get yelled at by managers.

snuffysam

to be fair, the dispatcher did give specific directions to call 911

also it's a dreamer holiday, so maybe a lot of the guard took the day off

wishjacked

I see any panel with Mateo in it and I think of that "I will protect it: strongly agree" meme

yes!! I found that bit pretty funny tbh

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

the dispatcher did but they also looked like someone who gave -100 cares. so i dont credit them that much.

mateo is precious

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I don't think I'm at that point yet. ^^;;

Just got through the little backstory between Tabbi and Koji in the hospital where he stops time. So sweet.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

That whole scene was ADORABLE

and again, the pacing in that was excellent. I really enjoy those little breather moments in this comic.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

so changing gears a bit cause i actually found a page that supports a theory i had. http://www.anarchydreamers.com/comic/page-114-2 i didnt read that convo close enough. what if the 6 are special because they already died before? and this dreamwalker thing is their 2nd revival which is what makes them special. and why the shooter was in tabbi's memory was trying to fully erase her existence. except the shooter expected her to full on die and not come back AGAIN

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Holy cats, that's an awesome theory.

Also may explain why they forgot more.

snuffysam

wait, but wouldn't other people have known they were dreamers beforehand?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe they weren't.

First death didn't take but they didn't become dreamwalkers either.

snuffysam

ah, i see

still, i feel like it would have been a known thing if they already died once

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Or it didn't manifest itself, maybe they still had to take pills? Dunno.

Maybe they died in a Nightmare.

I dunno, I just like Rebel's theory.

Maybe the TVs fit in too.

If you die on TV, you die in real life. No, wait.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah this page specifically mentions that if you die as a baby but are revived you dont get abilities because you have no personality

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Oh, huh, Rebel, good catch! That's an interesting theory

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

and i dont think itd be a known thing cause thats more a personal detail

like if i had died as a baby for a moment that would not be my conversation starter XD

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Didn't Tabbi say something about being the second twin and hence almost dying or something?

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

I imagine Tadhg also suffered from it too

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Or maybe when you become a cheerleader, you're just born again.

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Also: how is his name pronounced

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Tadhg.

snuffysam

theres a T sound somewhere

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Taigh, according to youtube

Emily Ree

Yes!

Old Irish name

Their older sister has an old Irish name too

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Like the Colonel from Battlestar Galactica?

Emily Ree

https://youtu.be/E-F6PrKqlws

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Incidentally, just in the closing minutes here, want to mention I was impressed by successful Kickstarters. That's a non-trivial amount of extra work.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hmmm interesting. also i feel bad for him. probably spends his life correcting ppl on how its pronounced

Emily Ree

;w;

snuffysam

and four of them, no less!

Emily Ree

The twins both have cat pun names. Tadhg sounds like the first part of "tiger" and Tabbi sounds like a tabby cat

And thank you!

I've had 5 now, with a 6th kickstarter launching on April 4th! ;w;

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe it's the source of his sadness. Mispronunciations.

Emily Ree

XD

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i hope your 6th kickstarter goes well~!

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Aye!

snuffysam

i'd stay in my room too if i knew people were going to mispronounce my name if i went out

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Also, if Tabbi's like a cat, I'm shipping her and Miho harder.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY END!

Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party time is now up~! Thank you everyone so much for reading and joining this week’s chat~! We want to give a special thank you to Emily Ree, as well, for making Anarchy Dreamers and volunteering it for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support Emily Ree’s efforts however you’re able to. All that being said, if you would like to continue discussing this week’s comic, we highly encourage you to do so~!

For next week, Comic Tea Party will focus on Neon Rabbit by Jordyn DeJong (wakaxo). As always, please use the next several days to read as much of the comic as you would like. We hope to see you next Thursday on March 22nd from 5PM to 7PM PDT for the chat~! Until then, happy reading~! Comic: https://tapas.io/series/Neon-Rabbit