#entirely a personal salt poll

[rukimakino-heirofheart]

sorry

[gaslightgatekeepgirlbosscombat]

Group H, Round 1, Poll 9:

Propaganda under the cut

Ianthe Tridentarius

She is trying so hard to be the main character by lying and manipulating her sister, her cavalier, her mentor, her ?love interests? (Spoiler???) And also god. Not sure how it's working out for her but she does love to lie and manipulate

Worstie Ianthe is the DEFINITION of gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss. She is one of a set of necromancer twins that are the heirs to their houses rule. Except wait, only she is a necromancer and she has spent their entire lives doing necromancy for the both of them. She is constantly mean to their cavalier, Naberius, who she occasionally nibbles on like a chew toy, before eventually killing and eating him to ascend to sainthood. She goes to gods spaceship with another woman who ascended to sainthood who she has a crush on, this other woman is like…. Both incredibly mentally unwell and also haunted by at least 211 ghosts. Ianthes method of flirting with her? Gaslighting her about the corpse that keeps moving around and hiding under her bed. For no real reason tbh. She is clearly plotting to overthrow god, and at the moment that consists of her manipulating him while he’s too sad about his long term partners betraying him and subsequently exploding to really care. She dresses in terrible outfits and makes soup by burning onions to the bottom of a pot, putting meat in and some vegetables and then it doesn’t taste like anything so she puts in a few teaspoons of salt so it tastes like a few teaspoons of salt. She had her crush amputate her arm and regrow her a new one out of bone and it’s one of the horniest things I’ve read in my life.

"Gaslight = told her lobotomized (she helped), schizophrenic girlobsession that there was no corpse under their bed, even tho there totally was. Gatekeep = girl did NOT share the secret to god-like ascension. She kept that shit to herself until it was time to eat her boytoy, and by then everyone knew already. Girlboss = she has a non-necromancer twin sister, and literally Everyone thinks they r both necromancers because Ianthe is so good at it. She reverse engineered ascending to the aforementioned ascension without even completing any of the supplementary tasks. She held her own in a fight against a 10k year old lyctor. She becomes the figurehead of her entire empire. "

She uses a man as a chewtoy in the first book, literally gaslights the protagonist of the second book about a corpse, and elder-abuses God when he gets depressed in the third book. Nobody is doing it like her.

Dives headfirst with no regrets while basically laughing and covered in blood into murdering her cavalier once she realizes what the gothic locked room mystery/competition leads to while everyone else is questioning it, helps perform lobotomy on harrow so she doesn't remember the person she loves, manipulates everyone to get to the top

idk just everything about her

her relationship with her sister is incredibly Bad, she fosters codependency and views Corona(the sister) as an extension of herself. This does not stop her from keeping up the con that Corona actually has magic (She doesn't, it was always just Ianthe) for 22ish years and every single person who interacts with them falls for it. She killed a man against his will (most dying for this purpose specifically go willingly) and she consumed him and she will be burning his soul for eternity. She's completely repulsive and still somehow incredibly hot.

she takes advantage of the fact that the main character is prone to hallucinations. at one point she gaslights the mc into believing that the corpse under her bed isn't real just because she can. she reverse engineered a set of very complex trials on her own without anyone realizing she had the skills to complete them normally. she's also babysat god through his drunk and pathetic era.

Artist:@starcanist

Remy the Rat

Gaslight- 'hmm? Me? Steal papers? I'm just an innocent little ratty rat.' Gatekeep- I would debate he's gatekeeping food and taste from the other rats because they just don't GET it. Ugh! Girlboss- doesn't he own a rat restaurant at the end?

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Kylie Cheung at Jezebel:

The day after Election Day, calls to the Trevor Project’s crisis services hotline for LGBTQ youth surged by 200%; online searches for abortion pills and emergency contraception��skyrocketed, too. Queer youth, women, and girls were clearly concerned about what a second Trump presidency meant for their safety and their futures. But the country has been largely apathetic to their fears. Instead, we’re being called to consider young men’s suffering—real and imagined—and the insidious forces that seemed to shift this demographic to the right. A sampling of post-election headlines includes, “We Asked Young Men Why They Voted for Donald Trump—Here’s What They Said,” “The ‘Lost Boys’ of Gen Z: how Trump won the hearts of alienated young men,” “What’s the Matter with Young Male Voters?” and “Trump Offered Men Something That Democrats Never Could.” Of course, Jezebel is now adding to that list, but what’s missing from some of these stories is the manosphere as an increasingly powerful political arm.

Exit polls show Trump received a larger proportion of voters under 30 than any Republican presidential candidate since 2008. In 2020, Joe Biden beat Trump by 11 points among men under 30. Last week, Trump beat Kamala Harris by two points. (Among young white men without college degrees, he beat Harris 56% to 40%.) Some of this should be taken with a grain of salt: Youth turnout dropped sharply from 2020, so these stats offer an incomplete snapshot of an entire generation’s views. But, as journalists, organizers, and the Democratic Party scramble for answers, one concern that’s come to the forefront is the manosphere—a fast-growing, unrepentantly hateful community of men’s lifestyle influencers, podcasters, and media personalities who glorify and preach misogyny to a new generation of young men. Think: serially accused rapist and human trafficker Andrew Tate, hate speech-platforming Twitch streamer Adin Ross, or misogynist streamer Sneako, who once slapped a woman on camera as a “prank.” There’s also TikTok star Bryce Hall, who joined Trump on the campaign trail about a year after collaborating with proud neo-Nazis, including Sneako. One video from December 2023 shows Sneako laughing as he’s approached by young fans who yell, “Fuck the women” and “All gays can die.” He half-jokingly asks the camera, “What have I done?”

On Election Night, Trump handed the mic to UFC President Dana White (who, like Sneako, also slapped a woman on camera) at his victory party, and White directly thanked Ross, as well as the Nelk Boys and Theo Von, more popular manosphere influencers and podcasters who also supported Trump’s campaign. Over the last several months, Trump made numerous appearances on their shows and streams and hosted them at his rallies. And, because this seems to have worked, those who didn’t see Trump’s victory coming are now trying to understand this chilling sphere of influence that’s seemingly been radicalizing young men right under our noses.

It may be annoying, even disturbing to have to take this increasingly mainstream underworld seriously, but Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters for America (MMFA), tells Jezebel that understanding the manosphere is important to understand “what future generations are going to look like.” Carusone says MMFA researchers tracked at least 20 times that Trump appeared on manosphere podcasts—including those of Von, Hall, the Nelk Boys, and Jake Paul—since May. In 2023, Ross and other popular manosphere creators including JiDion, Steve Deleonardis, Jorge Masvidal, and alleged rapist DJ Akademiks, appeared with Trump at a UFC event. The meet-and-greet was set up by right-wing video platform, Rumble.

MMFA has been closely following manosphere stars for years now, watching them and the social platforms that host them profit off of mocking rape survivors and trans people, or joking about and openly celebrating violence against women to their impressionable, mostly teen and tween boy audiences. Young people who might turn to them for apolitical interests—weightlifting, video games, MMA fighting, dating advice—are increasingly inundated with out-of-context stats and arguments about how much easier it is for women to get jobs, or minorities to get into college, or trans people to succeed at sports. These audiences are radicalized to believe a liberal, feminist world order is crushing them. Now, thanks to social media algorithms, content about weightlifting, video games, MMA fighting, and dating has become a pipeline to the right.

[...] Nicole Regalado, vice president of campaigns at Ultraviolet, told Jezebel her organization has been tracking online misogyny campaigns since Gamergate in 2014, which saw an outbreak of rabid sexism, racism, and queerphobia against perceived feminist progress in the video game industry. But she’s been alarmed by sharp rises in online harassment against women in recent years. It doesn’t help, Regalado said, that at a time when the manosphere is surging, with the help of anti-MeToo backlash and a golden age of media illiteracy, “social media platforms are gutting moderation, trust, and safety teams,” while “platforming and profiting off hate.” A lot of this came to a head with the outcome of the 2024 election, Regalado said, which “followed months of disinformation and racism-misogyny about Kamala Harris” from popular right-wing, manosphere-type influencers. Trump’s victory has only emboldened this toxic stew of misogyny, culminating in the viral “your body, my choice” slogan.

I understand the importance of Democrats and progressives figuring out how to “reach” young men—the electoral stakes are high, especially for the most marginalized among us. But in the last week, I’ve often found myself frustrated, even disgusted by the idea that young men are uniquely suffering because they’re young men, that they deserve outsized sympathy and attention at a time when women and other marginalized communities are on the brink of perhaps one of the severest rollbacks of our rights in modern times. Teen girls and young women suffer from endemic sexual violence and misogyny, and many still find it in their hearts to not elect a fascist. 

Carusone says he’s struggled with this, too. But he’s made sense of it by understanding the manosphere and its toxic, mass appeal as a youth issue. “The 30-year-old men who are upset, the Tucker Carlsons of the world, they need to get over it. They’re not who I’m talking about,” he said. But manosphere content is poisoning the minds of children, shaping them to become violent toward other children, to grow up and inflict violence on marginalized people. “We have to think about this as it relates to kids. If we don’t do something about this now, we’re messing up kids,” Carusone explained. “As these boys and young men grow, they’re going to build and organize political power, and even worse, as they move into maturity, they’re going to be more violent and abusive than previous generations.”

Jezebel does an excellent report on how the cadre of manosphere influencers such as the Nelk Boys, Sneako, and Adin Ross-- who helped push young men to the right and push Donald Trump over the finish line and how they’ll shape politics.

[malleleothreesome]

TWST characters in 2023 Yumejoshi Poll results (Fellow Honest dominates)

For those unaware, Yumejoshi is the term for self shipping with canon characters. Every year, it seems note.com does a poll where Yumejoshi Japanese women vote for their favorite characters that year.

Out of the 100 available slots on the list, 7 TWST characters made it. To summarize this year's results compared to previous: Trey Clover stays winning (he and Idia are the only ones to make the list every year—apparently Japanese women love how normal Trey is), Fellow Honest has pickpocketed the hearts of every TWST fan, Malleus has overblotted his way back onto the list, and Azul & the Tweels have fallen from grace?!

(Keep scrolling if you'd like to read the official commentary accompanying each character.)

2023 TWST characters rankings:

#39 Fellow Honest #41 Ace Trappola #44 Trey Clover #50 Rollo Flamme #57 Leona Kingscholar #76 Idia Shroud #89 Malleus Draconia 2023 article link

Previous years for comparison:

2022: #49 Azul Ashengrotto #52 Trey Clover #69 Rollo Flamme #70 Jade Leech #71 Idia Shroud #74 Ruggie Bucchi #75 Floyd Leech #96 Jack Howl 2022 article link

2021: #12 Azul Ashengrotto #14 Trey Clover #15 Floyd Leech #25 Jade Leech #39 Ace Trappola #41 Leona Kingscholar #43 Jamil Viper #44 Idia Shroud #60 Ruggie Bucchi #76 Deuce Spade #92 Jack Howl 2021 article link

2020 (TWST's Launch Year): #8 Azul Ashengrotto #9 Leona Kingscholar #10 Floyd Leech #12 Jade Leech #17 Trey Clover #19 Jamil Viper #24 Malleus Draconia #35 Ace Trappola #38 Deuce Spade #42 Idia Shroud #71 Jack Howl #99 Riddle Rosehearts #100 Rook Hunt 2020 article link

Each character on the list is accompanied by some commentary from their voters. I do not speak Japanese and I'm using a translator, so please take this with a grain of salt.

Fellow Honest:

"In 2023, when I thought things were going to end peacefully, a cute and cuddly guy suddenly appeared. I want to make him happy." [Playful Land Spoilers] "He is the most popular character in TWST today. He played the role of a villain who opposed the protagonist's side in this year's Halloween event, and after successfully defeating the entire protagonist's side, he lost his temper with his shitty boss, made a truce with the protagonist's side, and happily destroyed his own workplace with the protagonists and disappeared. Thanks to this, many Tweets were posted praising him for 'doing what no one else could do.' We are waiting with baited breath for next year's implementation!" "Honest John is my favorite Disney character, and when he was materialized into TWST, he became handsome and sultry. When I found out he was voiced by Sugita, I already knew I liked him. I will feed you. (Erica's translation note: lol)"

Ace:

"He is a typical high school boy who is smart and intelligent but still immature. He can get too carried away and he can be slow, but he is a kind boy with a good eye for those around him and a good head on his shoulders. There is only room for growth. When talking about love, he may have fights with the person he loves, but he has the manliness to apologize." [His second quote is too complex for me to properly translate]

Trey:

"Is there a normal man like you?" "What a normal guy like you!!!!" "If there is a normal guy like you in the championship, I think he should be inducted into the Hall of Fame."

Rollo:

"'Can you hear the bell?' I can. The sound of wedding bells..." "Even though you're not an NRC student, you're the No. 1 king of sexual deviancy. You're a clean freak, you're a nervous person, and you decide exactly what you're having for lunch every day, but you know that if you don't make a decision, you'll be driven by desire. He's already the best when it comes to his voice actor, Hiroshi Kamiya, and last year's Glorious Masquerade showed a glimpse of how he can drive Yumijoshi girls crazy! This year, we went crazy for his SSR card and personal story! Rollo, you fell into a swamp that you can never get out of! I like the way he puts a handkerchief to his mouth and the way he taps his fingers when he crosses his arms in the Live2D portrait, his nervousness is brought to the forefront, and I like that. It's really interesting to see how nervous the NRC students are, or rather how Rolo's pace is disturbed. I never get tired of watching it. Both The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Judge Frollo, which are the original homages, are full of charm, so I want everyone who loves Rollo to see them!!"

Leona:

"You may not be the king of your country, but you are my king. I will make you happy, I will show you, just wait and see" (Erica's translation note: relatable af) [I have no idea what they're trying to say here so I can't translate it. Something about a swamp??] "The way he looks like an easy-going, self-satisfied guy and is all sulky, is honestly a swamp." (Erica's translation note: Swamp obviously means something to these Japanese women and I'm just not in on it. Comment if you know lol) "Contrary to his appearance, he is more of a gentleman than I imagined."

Idia:

"I'm seriously in love with him, I want him to be spoiled to the limit." "I've been shipping with him for four years now, and my love for him grows each year. He is endlessly loving, wise, and clumsy. He has a bad mouth and attitude, but the only time Mr. Idia gets angry is when someone he cares about does something that makes him sad. He tends to just complain and go through with his attacks on himself, so I will be angry with him instead. I love you! The big Yumejoshi news this year was that I got to meet Idia's parents. His mom is too cute..." "He showed me in front of everyone the kind of man he is when he wants to do something, and I felt both proud and wanting to have him all to myself forever. But, I also like his no-good side. ♡ Keep up the good work, handsome ♡"

Malleus:

"His age has been kept under wraps until now, but it was finally revealed that he is 178 years old. A dragon is said to be a chick at 200, a youngster at 500, and a full-fledged man at 1,000 (according to Lilia). In other words, at 178 years old, he is a baby (an exaggeration). He made a friend at school, and that friend is me, the prefect. I will love him forever, won't I? It seems he wants me to sleep sleep for the rest of my life, though. He said something like, 'If you give yourself over to sleep, a thousand years will pass in the blink of an eye,' but he is only 178 years old. He's cute." "I couldn't help but wonder if he was lonely after learning about his past." "A big wall has been built between Tsunotaro and I since chapter 7 started, but I'm okay with it. After everything is over, Malleus and I will eat ice cream together in Ramshackle dorm."

[sp3akfromtheart]

that poll i posted about coe vs miracle day is really interesting i knew coe would be more popular but damn the votes for miracle day are so low! ...which to be fair. as a miracle day enjoyer. understandable.

miracle day spoilers under the cut!

these are just my thoughts about some stuff md does that i personally didn't like!! take it all with a pinch of salt + i dont usually write stuff like this so i will love a discussion but pls be nice...lol

i think its weakest point is its conclusion, because, if they reiterated like 30,000 times that jack is NOT immortal bc of his blood, has nothing to do with it, why on earth is that the entire basis of the miracle? like yes, it eats the blood, so it thinks its the blueprint for humanity, but surely jack's blood is just normal? i think they kinda get away with it bc of how weird everything is, but MAN i wanted that miracle to be aliens so damn bad! i suppose in the case of This One Time, earth is the alien planet.

and please do not even get me started about rex becoming immortal. if there had been a 5th season, i would have let it slide, but the fact that is the conclusion for the television show is just absolutely insane to me??? LIKE WHAT! insanity. but this is an insane show. i also kind of think they shouldn't have killed esther, but i also think they should have not killed any torchwood member anyway because i get attached to them all, so the fact that she was inexperienced it made loads of sense that she died, but like, damn...right before they saved the day? misery.

i guess this is because it's implied the story of miracle day was to continue, but i felt like there was so many things going on in comparison to coe. there were a few episodes that really could have spent more time on one thing than the other. is this also because i think we could have gotten more about angelo? maybe...

to be honest, i genuinely think the best part of miracle day is jilly kitzinger. like yeah, that is the EXACT response a big company would have to this situation, and to really make you remember this is a BAD THING this charming character is doing, you have to watch her big up a horrible person! (and the second best thing is gwen and jack, but thats like, duh)

i really wanted to add all this stuff in the tags of that post but i was actually going to write an ESSAY in tag form so decided to spare you all. i'd love to hear you guys' thoughts cos reading the tags on that post has been really cool! as most of you said, i agree with how heart wrenching coe is. its so good at showing how each character would act and genuinely ianto's death, as traumatising as it was, just shows you how he would follow jack to the ends of the earth by the end of his time in torchwood...which is such a stark contrast to the beginning of his time there and how he literally states how much he hates him in broken.

anway!!! if you read all that yap well done i love you. im feeling insane about torchwood currently. send me asks or whatever if you wanna gimme ur opinions!

[bitegore]

hyperspecific poll but only some of it applies to me specifically

[scoobydoodean]

the way bronlies are so obsessed that they’ve just become sam in the way they don’t like/won’t allow dean to have other friends 😭

it’s crazy to me, especially for a question whose different answers are both true to an extent bc your definition of “knowing somebody” is totally subjective!

lol that said, i am curious, soo… who do you think knows dean best, sam or cas? somebody else? do you think it changes over the seasons?

One of my friends was just saying that about bronlies and Sam sjhbfhsdhjf. Truly tho they're more insufferable than Sam's ever been. Bronlies are every spoiled child antagonist in every children's book. The Veruca Salt's of fandom. Miserable little cry baby brats screaming throwing tantrums trying to hit everyone with their baby rattlers... over Supernatural (2005) POLLS.

Their indignantion at that poll is pretty hilarious, because Sam doesn't start out the series actually knowing who Dean is at all. He thinks he knows who Dean is, but he doesn't, and this is illustrated to us over a dozen times in season 1. I do think Sam grows to understand who Dean is better over time, but he still sucks at understanding Dean for the vast majority of the series, because in many ways, he doesn't actually care to stop and think and study who Dean is and ask himself whether he actually knows him. He prefers an image he's made up in his head of who Dean is instead—an image that comforts him or bolsters his own self-image in some way. Dean is smart when Sam wants him to be smart and stupid when Sam needs to feel smarter (1.10, 1.16, 4.12, 8.14). Dean is strong when Sam wants him to be strong and weak when Sam needs to feel like the strongest person around (4.10, 4.11, 4.14, 4.16, 4.20, 4.21). Dean isn't opening up enough (2.02, 2.03, 2.04), then Dean is too emotional and soft and needs to get over it (2.10, 2.11, 2.14, 4.14, 4.16). Dean is a protector and nurturer who is failing to nurture and/or protect Sam adequately (3.09, 4.04, 8.23), then Dean is smothering (5.07, 8.20).

Basically, because Sam spends so much time trying to force Dean to fit into the shape he wants Dean to fit into, instead of actually trying to understand who Dean is, he often (unknowingly in some cases) completely lacks insight into who Dean actually is, and I'd say while he gets better at recognizing this, and better at understanding who Dean really is over time, surrounding certain subjects (especially things like grief), this refusal to see the actual real Dean continues through the entire run of the show (ex: 13.04).

I guess the question is then... is Cas actually better at understanding Dean than Sam is? And for me? Honestly I think it's a wash. I don't actually think either of them is Mr Amazing Perfect Dean Understander to be quite honest with you. I mean—practically Dean and Cas's entire schtick is perpetual misunderstandings bolstered by their own insecurities? They understand the important parts like that they each have good intentions and are good hearted, but I don't think Cas ever really understood how their repeated cycle of conflict made Dean feel. I don't think he ever understood how deeply entwined Dean's well-being became with his own, to the point that Dean was Not Fucking Okay when Cas was dead. I think Cas had a leg up in getting genuine insights into Dean's feelings straight from Dean for a long time because of the childhood dynamics and previous events that have made using Sam as a confidant uncomfortable and/or unsafe for Dean (2.03, 2.11, 4.14, 4.21, 5.01, 5.02, 5.03). I think Cas also understands Dean’s feelings more than he lets on and often acts on his perceptions of Dean's feelings without communicating those perecptions to anyone (and sometimes he's right... but sometimes he's also very VERY wrong).

We get a sort of back and forth with Sam and Cas understanding or not understanding different aspects of Dean's feelings or behavior. Think about "Nihilism" for example, when Sam and Cas walk through the darkness of Dean's mind, and Cas is shocked by the amount of trauma in Dean's mind and Sam just says, "Well. Yeah." But then compare that with 10.03 "Soul Survivor" where Cas was able to explain to Sam why demon Dean didn't want to be cured no matter how much blood they gave him. Sam didn't understand, but Cas understood Dean's perspective immediately (and that entire episode was a scathing commentary on Sam's lack of insight into Dean tbqh).

All of that said, I think I did vote in that poll and I picked Cas, and I would do it again. :) In fact, I will vote against Sam in any moment of uncertainty in any poll I see going forward, because bronlies are pathetic cry baby brats victimizing themselves 24/7 over Tumblr polls and can get fucked.

[trigun-manga-overhaul]

TRIGUN ULTIMATE OVERHAUL AUGUST UPDATE

OVERHAUL UPDATE 08/04/23 - The Japanese Scans, again.

Hey there, everyone, and welcome back to another monthly Overhaul update!

We firstly want to say that we've noticed an increase in people asking about the technicalities of our translation, and how it appears in the Japanese version.

I, as in the project lead and translator, have absolutely been enjoying these asks. It's hard to just write a big post about all the little things that we've written, decided upon or localized. So, for people to ask about specific lines that interests them, it really helps us show some of the work and consideration going into our translation, and helping us perhaps make a people feel more trusting of our translation.

We always encourage people to take all translation with a grain of salt, as you never know what the person behind translations might've gotten wrong, missed or even changed for some selfish goal. It doesn't mean you should treat all translators with distrust, but a healthy bit of reminding yourself that you'll never truly know the Japanese text's words and intentions without reading it yourself is good.

That's why we take what we're doing very seriously and hope that we can earn, or keep, your trust as a reader, and not break that trust. We love having the chance to make you feel more comfortable by explaining our process and our choices, so never hesitate to ask if there's anything you're interested in hearing about.

We also fully embrace legitimate peer review, no matter how humbling, as there will always be mistakes and oversights. It helps us constantly improve and ensure that we give all of you the best translation, and scans, that we can muster.

~~

Anyway, to today's main topic.

As the topic title says, we'll be talking about the Japanese scans again, however there are also other good news in connection with that. Work energy has returned for me, the project lead, and I'm cleaning pages at a quick pace again. As mentioned in this post, we changed some of the tasks each member were doing, so I picked up cleaning Trigun Vol 1 and 2.

It also seems that the result of the poll on the previously mentioned poll will be to post a chapter a week later this year. We decided to leave the choice up to everyone, and so the conclusion is that we'll eventually be running a two posts a week schedule whenever the English release is ready. The entire Japanese version posting run will take about two years and three months with a chapter a week, so will the English release posting run as well.

We'll also be making entirely new chapter upload banners with the new 2.0 scans, all in the same size and format, as to keep them clean and consistent. We'll likely be using the same banner for both Japanese and English release. We'll share more info on the exact dates for releases in the future when we feasibly can make a posting plan.

Trigun Vol 1 is already fully cleaned, and work has already begun on Vol 2. I am typesetting Vol 1 as we speak, and it will be done soon. That means that I have new scans from the early manga to show everyone.

~~

Check below for cool new scans and a few details!

Removing the middle seam and paper damage is always a lot of work, but getting a seamless two-page spread is always worth it. Vulpana did an amazing job on this chapter, however, after this chapter they were struck was a lot of life's bullshit and was forced to a complete halt.

This chapter page is also an example of our new combo font usage, the old font for chapter number and the new font for Japanese lettering.

And here it is with the classic font, as some titles are entirely in English.

The only typesetting we've done for the Japanese versions are the chapter pages, chapter ends, and page indicator. As mentioned in the post about the Japanese scans earlier this week, we've done so to have the chapter and page numbering match with single volume releases, as the scans are from the Japanese Omnibuses.

We're still moving the chapter titles to new spots to try and disturb the art as little as possible, but sometimes there's no way to avoid it.

Other times we completely remove the chapter title from the original page, like above, and move it to another page where it fits. Like always, this includes redrawing whatever was behind the text.

The same cleaned scans will be used for the English version, where we remove all the Japanese text from the scans as well. In the end, we'll have four different versions of the 2.0 scans in storage: Japanese version in original and resized scale, and the English version in original and resized, as well.

Sometimes removing the middle seam can be really difficult, especially when it includes a lot of straight lines that are just slightly not lining up. In the above example I spent three hours just lining every straight line up, as to not ruin the effect.

And sometimes the middle seam is very easy, only needing a few lines to be complete. One thing we can never truly hide is the change in the gradient, as all scans are different and the lighting can really change how dark or light the gradients are. We're still looking into a good way to minimize that effect, but I have some theories.

~~

If there are any topics that you want to see for future updates, don't hesitate to let us know!

SEE YOU GUYS NEXT MONTH!

[secretmellowblog]

Another Les mis salt poll because people liked the last one!

Other includes: Valjean helps Fantine because he’s romantically in love with her, Valjean saves Javert’s life because he cares about Javert specifically and not because he would do the same for literally any other person, etc etc >:3

[acesw]

going forward with this funny little series

So the poll's come out, and I'm not sure on what to go from here because I didn't think that far. But I put some thought into it.

okay, here's how its gonna go:

I'm gonna go through a list of characters who I've written down in a really niche order, (you can guess why) and i will post them weekly or daily depending on my schedule.

Alternatively, you can suggest characters you want to hear about first. It can be characters you really enjoy, and it can be characters you want to hear about more.

Yes, I will add NPCs as well; the major ones. That does mean I will go on a long rant on Vertin's lore once someone asks me to /major j

The main rule with me is that you take what I say with a grain of salt. Even if I recount the character's story, parts of it are of my personal interpretation because UTTU enjoys being vague with the majority of the 1.0 characters.

However. I will only start next week. I need time to sort things out in real life before I can start. In the meantime, do you want me to make an entirely different blog for this, or keep the series here?

Thanks and I might as well crash soon

[powerpolyculeshowdown]

once this round ends i might need to take a break before round 2. ive been wondering if i ahould talk about this here or not, but im going throigh a rough time rn and this showdown which has been mostly a source of comfort during this period is starting to backfire.

this has nothing to do with hate, people here have been very nice, it's for entirely personal reasons. i dont wanna share too much of my personal life but lets just say the polyamory poll came at a rlly bad time, and ive been trying to keep going cause its fun and i didnt want smth that happened right after i decided to start this to take that away from me. But things kinda changed and its been rougher than i expected these past few days. Maybe ill be fine next week, maybe ill need a month, maybe tomorrow or maybe it will take longer. I just cant do this right now. It stopped being a comfort and now it feels like rubbing salt on the wound.

im sorry to do this literally right after part 4 came out - which is also the part that happened to have my auto entries so i was v excited about this lol - but oh well. sometimes things go to shit ig.

[mxnsterbabe]

Lizard people are an antisemitic conspiracy theory created by David Icke, who posited that Jewish people were not merely not human, but not mammalian in nature. I cannot tell anyone what to write or not write, and I won't say that you should never write any lizard person. However, lizard people, reptilians who control the government from behind the scenes, etc. are all white supremacist dogwhistles and rooted in this antisemitic conspiracy theory, so I would kindly suggest you 1. not write lizard people as having control over any part of human government and 2. put up some kind of disclaimer at the start of your story so people don't get the wrong idea. Followers of your blog know who you are and know you're not the kind of person to believe in that kind of prejudiced nonsense, but when people on tumblr who don't know you see it, they don't have that knowledge. You must subsequently end up coming across as someone who you very much are not, and I would hate for you to have to deal with Neo Nazis thinking you're one of their own or for people to spread false information about you.

I gather that you're not familiar with these kinds of things because you don't hang out with bigots, so I figured this is a case of you simply not knowing this was a thing. I know you're not the kind of person who would write something like that knowingly. I hope this came across as a heads-up and not as a callout post. I know tone can be hard to read on the internet but please know the tone here is 'here's a heads-up in case you weren't aware' and not 'wow you suck'.

Hey friend! I'm assuming this is in reference to the latest poll? I've written for lizardfolk before, but this ask is timed pretty much in tike with the poll 😅

Anyway, thanks for the heads up! This is just my viewpoint and I'm sure everyone has different opinions, so take this with a grain of salt.

I think any bigot who thinks a random story about a fantasy species means I'm one of them would have to be reaching for the stars, and people like that will misinterpret anything on purpose tbh. I'd be much more worried about hurting/offending Jewish people because I care a lot more about them than assholes on the Internet. But!! I appreciate that you care about my reputation 💜

I promise that my lizardfolk are based on the DnD playable characters, and I think that's fairly obvious given the context of the blog. I've also written about goblins and some people say they have antisemitic roots too, but (and again, this is only my view) the modern take on them is so far removed that they're basically different things entirely.

Anyway, this is a long winded way to say thanks, aha! I hope my answer isn't too convoluted, I'm really just here to write silly stories and the last thing I want is to start discourse 💜💛

[gaslightgatekeepgirlbosscombat]

Group H, Round 3, Poll 4:

Propaganda under the cut

Nadja of Antipaxos

Gaslights her fellow vampires when she knows she's wrong, gatekeeps info from familiar Guillermo, girlbosses by running her own doomed nightclub

She is the Girlboss, but also Girlloser of the show. Turned her own husband into a vampire (taking charge in a male-dominated field!) And further, in Season 3 she came out on top when her and Nandor were fighting over who would truly lead the Vampiric Council. Opened her own Vampire Nightclub! (Which she embezzled to death but shhh!) As for Gatekeep, she definitely gatekeeps both vampirism (Guillermo) and her friendship (The Guide). Does hypnosis count as Gaslight? I'm gonna count it in because she does hypnotize a lot of people. I could go on and on, but anyways Nadja is an icon and a queen and I love her.

Ianthe Tridentarius

She is trying so hard to be the main character by lying and manipulating her sister, her cavalier, her mentor, her ?love interests? (Spoiler???) And also god. Not sure how it's working out for her but she does love to lie and manipulate

Worstie Ianthe is the DEFINITION of gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss. She is one of a set of necromancer twins that are the heirs to their houses rule. Except wait, only she is a necromancer and she has spent their entire lives doing necromancy for the both of them. She is constantly mean to their cavalier, Naberius, who she occasionally nibbles on like a chew toy, before eventually killing and eating him to ascend to sainthood. She goes to gods spaceship with another woman who ascended to sainthood who she has a crush on, this other woman is like…. Both incredibly mentally unwell and also haunted by at least 211 ghosts. Ianthes method of flirting with her? Gaslighting her about the corpse that keeps moving around and hiding under her bed. For no real reason tbh. She is clearly plotting to overthrow god, and at the moment that consists of her manipulating him while he’s too sad about his long term partners betraying him and subsequently exploding to really care. She dresses in terrible outfits and makes soup by burning onions to the bottom of a pot, putting meat in and some vegetables and then it doesn’t taste like anything so she puts in a few teaspoons of salt so it tastes like a few teaspoons of salt. She had her crush amputate her arm and regrow her a new one out of bone and it’s one of the horniest things I’ve read in my life.

"Gaslight = told her lobotomized (she helped), schizophrenic girlobsession that there was no corpse under their bed, even tho there totally was. Gatekeep = girl did NOT share the secret to god-like ascension. She kept that shit to herself until it was time to eat her boytoy, and by then everyone knew already. Girlboss = she has a non-necromancer twin sister, and literally Everyone thinks they r both necromancers because Ianthe is so good at it. She reverse engineered ascending to the aforementioned ascension without even completing any of the supplementary tasks. She held her own in a fight against a 10k year old lyctor. She becomes the figurehead of her entire empire. "

She uses a man as a chewtoy in the first book, literally gaslights the protagonist of the second book about a corpse, and elder-abuses God when he gets depressed in the third book. Nobody is doing it like her.

Dives headfirst with no regrets while basically laughing and covered in blood into murdering her cavalier once she realizes what the gothic locked room mystery/competition leads to while everyone else is questioning it, helps perform lobotomy on harrow so she doesn't remember the person she loves, manipulates everyone to get to the top

idk just everything about her

her relationship with her sister is incredibly Bad, she fosters codependency and views Corona(the sister) as an extension of herself. This does not stop her from keeping up the con that Corona actually has magic (She doesn't, it was always just Ianthe) for 22ish years and every single person who interacts with them falls for it. She killed a man against his will (most dying for this purpose specifically go willingly) and she consumed him and she will be burning his soul for eternity. She's completely repulsive and still somehow incredibly hot.

she takes advantage of the fact that the main character is prone to hallucinations. at one point she gaslights the mc into believing that the corpse under her bed isn't real just because she can. she reverse engineered a set of very complex trials on her own without anyone realizing she had the skills to complete them normally. she's also babysat god through his drunk and pathetic era.

Artist: @starcanist

[quizzically]

wait while i'm making posts.

I think the statistical implications of how most tumblr polls work is totally fascinating and really should be acknowledged by people who compile data they get from tumblr polls to show facts

i am such a huge statisticshead it really interests me i love data analysis. it kills me when people let the sanctity of a good old fashioned poll get taken out back and shot. BUT IT DOESNT HAPPEN ANYWHERE MORE FREQUENTLY THAN ON THIS SITE

The bias on polls is INSANE. "Voter fraud" game is INSANE.,shithole bananas. Ok let's take a favourite obscure character poll for example. let's say it's relatively small scale that receives about 400 voters per poll at leaston each of its rounds. people who are into smaller fandoms seek a blog that runs a poll about their small fandom. they Nominate their own candidate. when this candidate appears in the polls, because of how tumblr polls function (they appear on your dash from people you follow already, voting takes literally no more than 10 seconds if youre not super divided and then youre on your way. no need to register a name, or any other details. polls can be botted, you can use alternative accounts, there is no showing up in person.) the success of the candidate may almost entirely depend on the dedication of the person who nominated that character to promote and spread "propoganda" as its always called, to their followers and friends who may have had no actual previous opinion of this character. IT IS THE PICTURE OF A NIGHTMARE BIAS. they could not be less from representing the opinion of a general public or an actual body of people. It's less like gathering statistics and more like a popularity contest? but you're not shown all your options! maybe the opposing candidate is great but just doesn't have anybody who is obsessed with them to write a 3000 word essay on how they're so great! music blogs are really widespread too, either for knowing music or liking it, so that reduces bias, but still; people on tumblr are often young, often queer often leftist id say, they will be inclined by these demographics to recognise/like certain artists or genres less, certain genres more. like what im imagining is old, classic (but obscure and not trendy) bands might get voted out in favour of a broad-appeal modern artist. Despite that band actually being recognised worldwide and having cultural-reset-level influence. i probably should recognise that tumblr polls are not trying to represent a world statistic..that's pretty impossible and an unrealistic standard. i dunno.it just gets me het when people pretend they have ANY credibility. lets talk about vriska winning pathetic meowmeow over harry dubois ok. ITS A POPULARITY CONTEST! SMEAR CAMPAIGNS! How many people can you get to show up for you but it doesnt actually represent whos better or who SHOULD factually win! i suppose popularity contests IS all they are or all they can be tbh it's just like. who likes apples who likes oranges. IDK take everything i say with a grain of salt These polls are cursed horrible sickly animals. just wanted to talk about it

[fuck-you-upmusicbracket]

Price of Perfection (Katherine Lynn-Rose)

Tell me, what’s the price of perfection?/Tell me why I crave your affection/When excellence is expected/Praise is a luxury/American dream/Why do my achievements define me?/Why does life feel so damn confining?/When success is respected/There’s no room for mediocrity

"It's a song about perfection. i mean what won't fuck a person up when it's on that topic tbh. but specifically it's about feeling the pressure to be perfect for a parents love. i mean i feel this myself  but also characters have sm more angst with it bc!! like Tahani from the good place for example. sure, she's not american but the entire vibe of the song is just HER istg"

Poll Runner: It... it's Katherine Lynn-Rose. The Queen of 'I grew up in an immigrant family' angst. I really recommend 'top of my school', it's just as good and cathartic as this one.

Salt, Pepper, Birds and the Thought Police (Mitski)

Karma will kill us all/Our charm is wearing off/Our god's a made-up fraud/Our skies are full of scars/And they'll be there until you're gone

"It was so hard picking lyrics to put above the entire song fucks me up. it just feels like a toxic relationship as the world fucking ends. idk how to explain it the vibes are just so good. it feels like dark dark teal and red and black. i’m insane about it"

[max--phillips]

With all this food discourse happening I’d like to remind everyone that Indiana’s state pie is the Sugar Cream Pie and even people WHO LIVE IN INDIANA don’t know what it is and I think that’s hilarious as hell. Anyway, here’s a poll.

(Chess pie is not the same, it has butter, eggs, & an acid in it, plus you guys have the wherewithal to put vanilla and other flavorings in it. Sugar cream pie is literally that: sugar, milk, heavy cream depending on the recipe, a little bit of flour for thickening. THATS IT. No salt, no vanilla, no cinnamon, nothing. It’s BORING AS SHIT but it is SO FUCKING GOOD)

Recipe under the cut if you’d like to try making this in your own home! (And its MY recipe, not the boring official one that tastes like sugary milk. You will have vanilla & cinnamon & nutmeg. But leave those out for the Real Hoosier Experience™️)

Ingredience:

One pie crust, or enough pie crust dough for one shell (if you’re a masochist, feel free to make your own! But I will not shame you if you just buy frozen shells from the grocery store.)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup AP flour (preferably unbleached, but whatever you have will work)

1 cup half-and-half*

1 cup heavy cream*

A pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract (do yourself a favor and get the real stuff, not the imitation garbage. trust me.)

2 tsp (or whatever your soul tells you) ground cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg for in the filling, some more to dust the top (another Pro Tip from Ya Boy: get whole nutmeg and a zester or spice grinder. Fresh nutmeg is MUCH better than the pre-ground stuff.)

*Here's a hot tip with this: half and half is half heavy cream, half milk. So, you can use 1.5 cups heavy cream and a half cup of milk (I Am Begging You To Use Whole Milk)

Now, here's what you do WITH all of those Ingredients™️

Step 1: Blind bake your pie crust based on the instructions on the package, or the instructions for your favorite recipe. Chances are you'll prick the bottom of the pie crust a whole bunch, then if this is fresh/homemade dough you'll chill it for about a half an hour. You'll probably preheat your oven to 375°F, line your pie crust with a sheet of parchment paper (or foil if you're in a pinch, but do NOT use wax paper), then fill the crust with pie weights, dried beans, or uncooked rice you do not intend to cook. You'll bake it until the crust starts to get brown around the edges, probably about 15 minutes. Once that's GBD, take it out of the oven, put it on a rack, and remove the parchment paper and weights.

Step 2: the filling! In a bowl (hot tip: get a bowl bigger than you think you'll need. You always need a bigger bowl) you want to combine the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg first, then add in the half-and-half, cream, and vanilla. Once that's combined and nice n smooth, pour that bad boy right into your pie crust.

Step 3: Cook the thing! Yeah, already. Bake it in that same 375°F oven until the filling is juuuuuuust set, but still jiggles when you tap it on the side. This will probably take about 1 hour and 30 minutes, but keep an eye on things! Take it out and put it on a cooling rack. I personally recommend sprinkling some more nutmeg on top while it's still a little bit jiggly and hot so it'll stick, but you can also wait until it's cool and sprinkle it on right before you eat it. Or you can skip the nutmeg entirely, it’s up to you, I’m not the nutmeg cops.

Let that cool completely before you cut into it, then enjoy! I recommend keeping it in the fridge, but while you're cooling it, leave it on the counter or the filling'II get weird. You don't want it to cool TOO fast.