#having them also have a downside and the world itself was really good

[libidinous-weeb]

bnha is going into all this plot shit and blah blah katsuki blah blah tomura…i do NOT fucking care. can we get back to my boyfriend dabi please? for the love of GOD?

i do not give a fuck about this series i just want to see what happened to him but nooooo i have to wait for all this other dumb “main plot shit.” idgaf about katsuki crying like a little bitch in the hospital. WHERE. IS. DABI?!?

[petew21-blog]

Revenge possession

Devon was your normal college guy, who also had a god like body on the other hand. His life wasn't very special in many ways. He had two brothers and one sister. All born in USA, moving the states a lot. All had an unproblematic childhood. Everytime a problem occured it would be solved by itself almost immediately or the parents would take care of it. Speaking of the parents I have to mention one tiny detail.

Their parents. How to put this? Their parents were a lovely pair, highschool sweethearts, very good looking. The only downside was that they were serial killers.

And that brings the story to me. Hey, I'm Jake and I was hitchhiking in California back then when Devon's seemingly fine parents picked me and then brutally murdered me in the forest. Kinda dark right? Yeah. I was a 21 year old guy with my life ahead of me and they ended in a few minutes just to have some thrilling disgusting moment in their life.

My ghost has been roaming the world for another 20 years. I was trying to find the family to have my revenge. But everytime I got close they moved their family to another state. That also included the problems the family didn't have. The parents would always eliminate the one who caused the problems.

But now I found them. Or atleast their children. Even though I had 20 years to plan my revenge, but I couldn't plan much. I was going through the house. The parents were on a holiday if I understood correctly. So I had time to find out a bit more about their life

I was exploring the house when I found Devon here, playing videogames in his room. He was playing just in his shorts. His shirtless body showed his tense muscles as he was getting really into the game

This could be it. I don't have to possess the parents. I could have my revenge from his body. And it would be kind of poetic justice. My life ended when I was 21, if I possess their sons body and take away his life it would be a perfect revenge. Of course, I would still have to interrupt the killing of the parents.

Now or never. Revenge awaits

I sunk into him. His controller fell on the ground, the inactivity making him loose. He was really tough. Maybe I should have practiced the possession on someone weaker, but I couldn't risk that I would stay in that body and couldn't get my revenge.

We fought for an hour. His body contorting on the couch, sweat dripping from everywhere. His socks wet. Fuck yeah! I can feel His feet already. I moved them. They were mine! This little moment of win gave me enough power to push and place Devon in the back of his mind. I could still hear him. He was begging me to stop. Begging to let go. But no. This is my body now.

"I... I am Devon" I said with a mischievous smile. I looked down at the sweaty body. My enormous arms searched the trail of sweat. I flexed them. I could feel how tired Devon got from the possession. Hell, I was tired.

But I had much to do. Revenge couldn't wait. Then my eyes trailed the abs I now possessed. "Maybe revenge can wait"

My new hand got very close to my waitsband. I lifted it up to find a beautiful uncut 8inch dick

"Daaamn son, you're packing"

I got hard and wanted to jerk off right there. This beautiful thing can't be left unattended. But I got really thirsty. The fight left Devon's body in a horrible state.

I went to the kitchen. The only cold thing I found was a can of beer. I chugged it instantly, my new mouth still not used to me didn't respond very well, so most of the liquid poured over my chest right down the trail of my abs.

"Time for shower"

As I was standing in the shower I was in awe and glee. So many years of wondering where my killers were. Years of being a ghost and not enjoying life. Now I have this amazing gift of a body.

As the shower sprayed water over my muscles I jerked off my hard monster with both hands. Furiously and pressing it hard. I hoped that no one else was home today, cause I was screaming in pleasure. So many years without orgasms. I felt Devon in the back of my mind trying to resist it. He felt the pleasure too. But didn't want to let go of the rest of the control he had.

"Don't worry Devon. I'll take care of your body. I don't wanna hurt you. I just wanna hurt your parents"

My big balls had to work overtime. I jerked off three times at that shower. Almost no hot water left for anyone else to shower, but I didn't care. I stepped out, not even cleaning the cum on the glass and the floor of the shower

I approached the mirror and with my hand scraped a hit of the fog on the mirror to observe myself.

Damn what a fine specimen I am right now. This is gonna be so amazing

"I can help you" echoed in the back of my mind

"Help with what?" I answered

Devon:"I can help you pass as me more easily to fool my parents so that you can get revenge on them. While you were jerking off I saw your memories. And I also know what my parents do. Or atleast I suspected it for a long time. Now I have proof"

Me:"So I am to believe that you'll just let me be in your body willingly and help me get your parents? How can I trust you that you won't warn them?"

Devon:"You can't. But I can offer you my body. We can share it. I always felt alone in my life and sharing a body with a likeminded person isn't such a bad destiny for myself. I really enjoyed the shower session. And if you give me a tiny bit o lf control I can show you something that you haven't done in your body back then"

I hesitated. All this time it was only about revenge. I never thought about what would happen after. Now I had an amazing body and I could do the right thing. If I would just possess him entirely I wouldn't be better than his parents. I would take his life from him just like they did with me. The co-piloting thing wasn't a bad idea. But what if he rats me out to them?

Me:"Ok, I'm in. I don't want to hurt you kid. But I can't let your parents hurt any more young guys like me. If they are on a killimg spree again we have to stop them"

Devon:"I agree. But they are coming back in a few days and until then, I can show you what you were missing"

I gave him control. He didn't fight, which was a good sign. And now he went back to his room, opening a drawer. It contained sk many sex toys I never even had a chance to know and feel

Devon:"Revenge can wait. It's time to have some fun"

[balioc]

Looking at the world from a manager's perspective, you can productively model the pool of workers as being divided into a few basic groups, which are defined and characterized by their driving motivations.

Insert all the usual disclaimers for this sort of thing - this is the roughest type of rough typology. I pulled these categories out of my raw intuition, and possibly a few more would crop up with some additional thought. In reality, the boundaries of these categories are incredibly fuzzy, and almost every individual is actually going to be motivated by a complicated mix of all the relevant motivations; we're talking REALLY SIMPLE HEURISTICS here. Etc.

There have been other well-known worker typologies that share a lot in common with my thoughts here; this is mostly not novel, it's mostly meant to refine a few ideas for particular purposes.

Hustlers are motivated by concrete personal advantage. Most commonly, and most straightforwardly, they want money - as much of it as they can get. They may also be interested in fame, idiosyncratic perks, etc. They do whatever they have to do in order to get what they want.

No surprise: you see huge preponderances of these guys in fields that provide outsize concrete rewards, e.g. finance, the upper echelons of management, etc. But not every natural-born Hustler is in a position to enter a glitzy high-paying field, and in fact you find Hustlers all throughout society and all throughout the economy, finding or making hustles wherever they go.

Having Hustlers working for you is mostly pretty great. They get shit done. They can be induced to work incredibly hard - probably harder than anyone else, under most circumstances - and they'll shank their own mothers if the price is right. If you need anything really important from them, anything at all, it's just a matter of bribing them enough.

...they will also, of course, cheerfully shank you if the price is right. Hustlers aren't the only wellsprings of institutional politics and infighting, but they're the most dangerous ones; they're always potential rivals to everyone around them. Also, you need to keep the tangible rewards flowing in a steady stream in order to get anything out of them, or else they'll put most of their effort into jumping ship (one way or another).

Craftsmen are motivated by the desire to do good work in their chosen fields, for its own sake and for the sake of their treasured self-image as people who do good work.

As you'd expect, for the most part, they're excellent workers and should be prized. But they're not perfect workers. Common weaknesses and downsides include:

They tend to have their own ideas about How Things Should Get Done; they're often resistant to externally-imposed product/service requirements or process changes (and bad at implementing those things) (no matter how important or well-conceived they are), and they're very resistant to "just get it out the door, right now done is better than good."

Being driven chiefly by internal motivation is great, but sometimes it's useful to be able to push things along with external motivators, and Craftsmen are pretty resistant to those. They don't like working more or harder than they're naturally inclined to work, they mostly sneer at carrots, and sticks make them sad and unproductive.

It's important to note that, while noteworthy skill within a field correlates with having a Craftsman temperament and motivation suite - for obvious reasons - those things are not identical at all. Plenty of Craftsmen are bad at their jobs, or just average, and plenty of the best workers are most motivated by things other than the Excellence of the Work Itself.

Fanatics are a relatively rare and specialized group, whom you find mostly within a few specific sorts of culturally-valorized fields. They're motivated by a desire to be part of something Important and Good in a Broader Sense: to Save the World, or some smaller-bore version of that.

They make amazing front-line soldiers, in the sorts of institutions that have "front-line soldiers." They work super hard, and you don't even need to bribe them, you just need to keep them hopped up on inspiration.

The big problem with them is that they're mostly motivated by a feeling - the feeling of Being Righteous - and it's not easy to control where they get that feeling, in any kind of precise way. They're just as resistant to external motivators as Craftsmen are, or even more so, but they're also not being guided by an ideal of effective quality. (No, not even if their chosen cause is theoretically all about an ideal of effective quality, hem hem.) They will happily waste vast amounts of time and money doing useless things, or even counterproductive things, so long as they're engaged in tasks that hit the right psychological buttons for them. There's also a constant risk that a Fanatic will decide that his employer is unrighteous, or that one of his coworkers is unrighteous, and start an internal conflict; the risk scales in a more-than-linear fashion with the number of Fanatics you keep around.

The biggest group, unsurprisingly, is the Normies. In most fields, it is much the biggest group. Normies are motivated by the desire to be members in good standing of their communities, to have positive relationships with the people around them, and to live up to basic norms and expectations.

Managerial skills, in the traditional sense, are incredibly important with Normies. If you want them to do good work for you - and you should want that, as a manager, you've almost certainly got a whole bunch of them - not only do you have to keep them pointed in the right direction, you have to make sure that they're supporting each other. With Hustlers, you just have to throw money at them (and avoid their power plays); with Craftsmen, you just have to let them do their thing, and occasionally badger them into giving you what you need; with Fanatics, you just have to be inspirational; but with Normies, you have to lead, and construct a productive community. You have to set reasonable, achievable norms and expectations that will get you what you need.

This wouldn't be complete if I didn't talk about the Defectors. The Defectors are motivated by not working. They don't want to be there, they resent having to do their jobs, and their primary goal is to shirk as much as possible. They will, by default, put much more effort into shirking than into their assigned tasks.

Obviously, managers don't want to have to deal with them, for good reason. But they're out there, in large numbers - not always in the places and fields where you'd expect to find them - and learning to manage them is sometimes more viable than trying to get rid of them. ("Moving Heaven and Earth to find them jobs that will change their attitude" is often a good plan, although of course it's not always possible and not always worth it.)

Crucially, Defectors are not Normies. If you start with the assumption that the average baseline worker is lazy and sour, you will make some incredibly stupid decisions. There are some fields where, for structural reasons, you can expect that a very large number of your workers will be Defectors; this is a huge and complicated challenge, well beyond the scope of this post, and good luck to you if you have to handle it, but it's not the default.

----------------------

Once you have those categories in your head, and can play with them, a number of obvious-seeming ideas present themselves. Just a couple, for now:

Most high-level executives are Hustlers, or have strong Hustler tendencies, for obvious reasons. Most of the people around them are Hustlers, or have strong Hustler tendencies. This means that they tend to overweight the Hustler outlook, by a lot, when they try to model what their workers are like. More specifically, I'd wager that a lot of them intuitively divide the world into "good workers" ( = Hustlers) and "bad workers" ( = Defectors). This will lead to a heavy overreliance on tangible rewards, a systematic shortchanging of community-building, etc. Which is in fact just what we see.

In particular - crucially - Hustlers and Defectors are the only worker types who ever become more productive under heavy stress. Hustlers actually benefit from it, because it raises the stakes of the game that they're already playing. (If you succeed, you'll be king of the world! If you fail, you'll be shark food! Go go go!) Defectors suffer terribly from stress, of course, but they can sometimes be spooked into doing their jobs as opposed to doing nothing, and sometimes that's the best/easiest way to get something out of them. But stress is terrible for everyone else. Craftsmen lose their focus. Fanatics lose their hope. It's worst of all for Normies, because they take all their cues from the vibes around them; they're productive when they learn to associate work with comfort and happiness, and when you fill their working world with frantic desperation, you just put them in a permanent cringe state.

stop trying to pit your Normies against each other in competitions for status and rewards dear God what are you stupid

To some extent, you can control your institution by controlling what types of workers you have. But only to some extent. There are only so many Hustlers and Craftsmen to go around, and if you want them, you will have to (a) be able to identify them reliably on little information [HINT: you are probably very bad at this], and (b) provide them with what they want [tangible rewards / comfortable security and interesting work]. "We are going to employ only the good special people" is feasible if you're an outfit of four workers; at a dozen, it's already become a stretch; at a few hundred, uh, pfffffffft. If you want to operate at scale, you need to be able to make Normies do good work, there is no substitute for it.

[taintedtort]

" BOYFRIEND! "

summary. them as your boyfriend

characters. kenma, hinata, nishinoya, kyotani, akaashi

warnings. gn!reader, post!timeskip

a/n. some headcannons idk. did more characters bcus it’s just random stuff.

KENMA

☆ the type of boyfriend to shower you in gifts. he isn’t the best with words and physical touch doesn’t come easy to him, but he always knows what you like. (plus he’s rich)

☆ he plays close attention to you, always assessing your mood and your needs.

☆ lazy days at home > date night out

☆ likes when you watch him play. it makes him feel nice when you praise him after beating a particularly hard level.

☆ calls you a nickname/your name or the occasional "baby"

HINATA

☆ loves loves loves when you come to watch his games, he makes sure to try extra hard and show off even more than normal.

☆ he loves to hug you and hold your hand. i like to think he has warm hands, but downside is that they sweat easier when it’s hot outside.

☆ if he’s taller than you, he won’t shut up about it. if not, then that’s fine too!

☆ isn’t shy about PDA and gives you cheek kisses all the time.

☆ "i love you more"

☆ calls you "babe"

NISHINOYA

☆ travels with you everywhere, he loves seeing the world with his true love!!!

☆ his camera roll is literally just filled with you.

☆ lowkey i think he’s good at photography. takes the best instagram photos.

☆ arm around your waist 24/7.

☆ matching necklaces and or bracelets.

☆ calls you something stupid sometimes like "pookie" but would ACTUALLY call you "baby" on a regular basis.

☆ specifically for girls, i might go a step further and say he’d call you "mamas" lol

KYOTANI

(im obsessed with him lately)

☆ not sure if he’d be into much PDA, but if someone’s flirting with you i think he’s definitely the type of guy to put his arm around you and send death glares.

☆ you’re not safe from his scowling and gruff remarks, but he’s a bit more behaved around you. just a bit.

☆ his touches are a bit rough; he holds your hand a little too firmly, hugs you a little too tight, and kisses you a little too fiercely. he’s passionate and aggressive at heart, that doesn’t change around you.

☆ sucks at giving gifts. the present itself isn’t bad, it’s just the way he gave it to you. either just leaves it out for you to find, or practically throws it at you totally unwrapped or anything.

☆ he doesn’t talk about you often, and his teammates only find out you’re together when they see his lockscreen of you.

☆ loves waking up next to you and grumbles when you have to get up.

☆ calls you "dumbass" and things like that ngl. maybe an occasional "hon" ?

AKAASHI

☆ you guys are regulars at a diner/cafe. don’t ask me why, i just get that vibe with him.

☆ holds your hand all the time.

☆ secretly likes when you steal and try on his glasses, even if he sighs and shakes his head at you. he thinks you look cute squinting through the glasses at him.

☆ forehead kisses. doesn’t matter where or when, you’re getting one.

☆ touches your hair a lot. either brushes it out of your face or just plays with it when you’re both relaxing.

☆ really uplifting of your accomplishments, no matter how small they are.

☆ likes watching you cook, and also helping you cook. but he‘ll do the dishes, of course.

☆ calls you "love" and "sweetheart"

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

There something I've been seriously wondering about when it comes to Yuu and the world of twisted wonderland. (This probably hasn't been mentioned in game and is just something I've thought about a lot)

Considering the fact that Yuu is from a different world I've been wondering about how their immune system would certainly be different to that of people who originally reside in twisted wonderland, so I've been thinking that surely due to that Yuu would have the tendency to get more often sick due to them not being used to the viruses twisted wonderland has (unless they have super good immunity), this would make not only Yuu have no magic, but also have the downside of getting a sick a lot more.

(also sorry if I misspell anything English ain't my first language)

Just a yap session cause I had this in my mind for ages and I wanted to talk about it for once.

That's true, it's not really something covered or addressed in most isekai stories (unless the story itself revolves around health)--and for a good reason, I think. I doubt the creators want the audience to constantly worry about the physical wellbeing of their (usually) self-insert protagonist who gets to live a fantastical new life in a world with magic and hot cat girls or whatever. It would fight for the attention of the wish fulfillment or major conflict at hand. Having the POV character be sick all of the time also makes it more difficult to actually write interesting, dynamic scenarios since they'd be bedridden or preoccupied with recovering. This is a matter of practicality.

I'm sure there are Yuusonas out there with poor immune systems (or even preexisting conditions) that play with this idea? Like maybe they're a frequent visitor of the school infirmary or they need to have regular check-ins with the nurse. This could also be an avenue to see how they react to magic-based medical treatment or potions, which don't appear to be a cure-all, despite the miracles that magic can achieve. We have a lot of diversity in the Twst fandom's OCs, and that allows all these different aspects to be explored.

[wings-of-ink]

Future IFs Poll

So, in case you have not seen me post about it before, I am considering a project to do on the side while I work on God-Cursed. This will help me take breaks from my main work and stretch my creativity muscles with different characters and settings. I'd like a bit of feedback from what readers are more interested in from the best ideas I can potentially pull from right now. Feel free to vote, comment, or even send an ask if you want to be anonymous.

Over the last year or so, I have jotted down many basic plots I could expound on, but only a few have really stuck out to me as ones I could really expand in a meaningful way.

So, a couple housekeeping things to keep in mind. Whatever ends up getting written, it will have a modern-day setting. The fantasy playground is fun, but I really want a more real-world setting for this one. I am also debating about all ROs being gender-selectable. Since this side piece is supposed to be a little oasis for me too, not having each RO as customizable would ease the work that goes into it, and it might actually mean I can have more than just a few options for you as well. I am also considering a middle ground and having one or two characters customizable still while the others will be set.

Below I have given some details on the ideas I'm working with and further down is a poll that you can vote for the one that calls out to you the most. I have 2 ideas so far that are standouts among the others, but I've included 4 in the poll that I can work with. The winner isn't guaranteed to be what I end up writing, but I am very strongly going to consider the results while I decide. I like all these ideas and they sound fun to write - so none of this telling me to write what I want - I already want to do them all, lol (looking at you @elegantunknownphantom). There are caveats to each one, of course, and I'll explain that in the details.

Options:

Serial-killer crime drama:  "Daddy was a Killer" (title sounds like it came from a Lifetime original movie, but I really like it)

No doting daddies here, readers. Play as the traumatized child of a serial killer with repressed memories of the horrible things they witnessed daddy do. Get accused of a murder you didn't commit (probably), and try to catch your darling dad while dealing with the psychological devastation of all the horrors you've seen before he can kill again (and again, and again). Discover where your daddy disappeared to all those years ago, and what really happened to your mom.

Downsides:  I have a decent grasp of the plot on this one, but it would require a good deal of research (which I tend to do anyway to an extent), since I'd like a fairly realistic feel to the actual crime-solving stuff. Either that, or I can go the "rogue detective" route and play it fast and loose. This work would be in a wheelhouse I've never quite been in before, which is fun on one hand but nerve-wracking on another.

RO ideas include:

A smarmy detective (of course!)

A neighbor concerned for your well-being (mostly because you scream in your sleep)

And the child of one of your daddy's victims.

Supernatural mystery:  "Shivers" (title up for adjustment, but I kinda dig it)

Play as an MC with a bizarre anxious tic - an intense and chilling shiver that you get seemingly out of nowhere. It only lasts a couple seconds and you've dealt with it since childhood, so it's easily dismissed. That is, until you experience a sudden surge in occurrences. Your doctor writes it off as stress from dealing with the erratic behavior of your mother. But after a near-death experience, during which this mysterious tic guides you to safety, you know there is more to it than stress. With the help of your best friend(s) and a shady medium, find out what has attached itself to you and what seeks to claim you, discover who your real father is, and embrace or deny your own strengths as a medium.

Downsides:  I feel like there's a lot of supernatural IFs already, some of which are already similar to this or have similar aspects. This one probably won't have the drama/emotional potential that some of the others do, which may be a boon to some readers as it would be a little lighter.

RO ideas include:

the best friend(s) (potentially 2 besties to choose from - twins)

a (mostly) fake spiritual medium

a brave EMT who came to your rescue

and something…otherworldly.

Gritty Drama:  no title  (more of a framework to build from)

This one would be completely riddled with warnings, and I kinda just see it as being a fun outlet for some angst, smut, unhinged shit, and violence. 👍

The ideas for this one didn't start around a firm plot, but around a setting/scenario stemming from one of my OCs. The vibe here is very much "sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll" and fits into the seedy nightclub/crime ring thing. It would be a playground of questionable characters and life-choices. You would choose the dire straits that put your MC in the employ of a dangerous kingpin. Perhaps MC owes a lot of money to someone, got into trouble with a rival faction, or was framed for a crime, etc.... You'd get to choose the MC's line of work under the organization - be it in drugs, entertainment (music/dance/alcohol/sex), or security. The issue that leads to your employ under a sex-peddling drug-trafficker will haunt you in your new life in the middle of a war between the rulers of the underground.

Downsides:  Not super fleshed-out plot wise, but I don't think it would be too hard to build on either. I may want to use this setting (or something like it) and my OC for a different project one of these days, but I'm unsure about that as well. And, the obvious, red flags and triggers everywhere for a setting like this.

RO ideas: 

One person from each potential "job" (the head of security, a chemist who seems too pure to be making hard drugs, a sex-worker, the clumsy bartender, a cute DJ)

A member of a rival faction

And for the brave and stupid - your boss - a clever and unhinged woman with an affinity for knives. And, no, she will never love you.

Futuristic:  no title (needs the most work)

Including this one to just get a feel for how it's received, but I anticipate that it won't get quite as much backing as the others. I have the character-creation concept in mind which lends itself to a plot, and a RO or two, but that's about it. I think I could do something fun with it, but I've also never written anything futuristic or scifi before. This would be akin to "Detroit: Become Human."

Though the setting would be futuristic, I am pretty sure I wouldn't want to do a dystopian thing. There's a lot of that out there already and we're basically living it IRL; it's a blast to read, but I want the main focus to be on something else if I do this. There would still be pockets of grittiness to the setting, because if we're talking humanity, there's gonna be grit somewhere. But this world would be more post-dystopian. Say, the rebels won and life has gotten better across the board for people? And though everyday life has a lot of tech enhancements, we haven't seen sentient machines - yet. That's where you come in.

The MC Concept is that they are an android - of course! One of the nice made-to-order kind that only the rich can afford. But what makes the MC unique is that while everyone else requests specific things about the androids they purchase - such as gender, looks and even downloadable personalities - an order comes in that's blank. It only requests that the android be allowed to choose who they are and how they look. "The Buyer" will pay for whatever personality, enhancements, or clothing they want - but the android must make the choices themselves.

As your MC goes through these initial choices, equipped only with a basic "education" software full of un-opinionated information about the world and how it works, something unusual begins to spark within them (not that they know how unusual it is yet).

RO ideas:

The Buyer–a gender-selectable person who sets your creation in motion. They're wealthy, well-respected, earnest, and incredibly lonely. Who are they really and why did they do this?

The Scientist–a hopefully trustworthy person that's very interested in your development

The Punk–someone who wants to give you the "real" human experience.

Make your selection below. Comment your thoughts and ideas as well if you like. This is set for a week and I will reblog here and there so it has a chance to reach as many of you who would like to vote as possible.

[shadamyheadcanons]

I saw a while back you were asked what your favorite interpretations of Shadow and Amy were.

While I don’t disagree (haven’t played heroes so can’t comment there, but have beat SA2) I was curious on your views over Sonic 06 version of Shadow? Ignoring the heavy problems with the game itself, I’m personally a heavy fan of the VA and how he acts.

It may be selfish of me… but I kinda wish Amy got more interactions with Shadow instead of Silver. I get WHY they did it, but I feel like it could of been nice to have them reunite and maybe even contrast the end of SA2 y’know?

First post about my favorite Shadow & Amy portrayals, SA2 and Heroes

Follow-up about Sonic Battle and Sonic Chronicles

I love both Shadow AND Amy in that game!

06 Shadow in particular has been getting a ton of interest in the past few years, and it’s wonderful to see. I considered including it in that first post about my favorites. 06 being such a failure gameplay-wise really screwed things up for the series for a long time. Sega learned all the wrong lessons. No more humans apart from Eggman. No more dark, serious plotlines. One-dimensional characters. No playable characters apart from Sonic in mainline games. None of the others can talk to anyone but Sonic. Obviously there were exceptions to this, but the series lost so much. Sonic 06 is older than most Sonic fans, but we’re only just now getting all of that back with Frontiers, IDW, etc.

This would have been bad enough on its own, but coming off the heels of Sonic 06, it hurt that much more. Sega decided Team Dark weren’t friends directly after their most poignant interactions. Shadow knew who he was. He knew what was important. And he knew he could trust the best friends by his side. When’s the last time he was so self-assured? That’s the downside of the 06 timeline being erased in the end. We know Shadow and Team Dark’s potential, but he doesn’t remember any of it.

That said, I’m ultimately still glad it’s erased. I’d hate for Shadow to go through life knowing the humans would reprogram his own best friend to hunt him down and lock him up forever. It says great things about Shadow, but it makes me like the humans a lot less.

It’s thanks to 06 that I consider Shadow to be the biggest hero in the franchise. This clip encompasses everything that makes his heroism unique:

“If the world chooses to become my enemy...I will fight like I always have.”

Iconic. Badass. I love the way he drops his inhibitors as he talks. This is Jason Griffith’s delivery at its best.

Sonic fights to protect his friends and the planet he calls home, along with the humans and Mobians who all love him, but there are SO MANY people who’ve treated Shadow like filth, and he still protects them. There’s no one else in canon who’s that selfless, and I also like that 06 doesn’t lean on Maria as the reason he does all this. Shadow himself is a good person and does good things for his own reasons, not just because she told him to.

Heroes proved this, too. Shadow didn’t even remember Maria in that game, but he still made the right call. Maria’s important, but she’s not the only reason he’s a good person.

Jason Griffith does a very good job as Shadow here and elsewhere, but David Humphrey is and always will be my favorite Shadow VA. If Jason is an A-rank, David is S-ranked. I’d be thrilled to have either of them back.

You’ll never see me judge anyone for wanting more Shadow/Amy interactions. I’ve thought the same thing with 06, and I love the Silver/Amy bits, too. She has an adorable scene with him AND starts him on the path to redemption. It’s the Amy Rose Special. I also like how she and Shadow inadvertently worked together to turn him around. Amy raised a question Silver hadn’t thought to ask, and Shadow showed him the answer.

But what this demonstrates to me is that this didn’t have to be an either/or situation.

It would’ve been nice for Amy to reunite with Silver and see how he turned things around. They were both there for the final battle, but they didn’t speak to each other. What if they’d had a scene with all three of them together? I hypothesized about that possibility in headcanon #99.

Side note: I just want to say that I think Amy is great in 06. She has the same cute accidental hug/elevator speech combo she used to turn Shadow around in SA2, but people sleep on it in 06 for some reason. On top of that, a lot of fans willfully misinterpret one particular line of hers. And anyone who knows Sonic 06 knows which one that is.

“If I had to choose between the world and Sonic, I would choose Sonic!”

I’ve seen so many people say she’s a dumb, ridiculous fangirl for this, and I can’t stand it. She’s not saying the rest of the world doesn’t matter, she’s saying that she has so much faith in Sonic as a person that she’d take his side even if the rest of the world said he was wrong. And, uh...she has good reason to! It’s not the first time he’s been falsely accused of something. It’s like these fans conveniently forgot what happened in SA2 the second they saw an opportunity to hurl insults at Amy.

You know what Amy’s line reminds me of most?

“Even if you believe everyone in the world will be against you, know that I’ll always remain by your side. Remember that.”

Yeah. That line everyone loves about ultimate loyalty for someone you care about. The line that many consider to be Rouge’s best. The only difference is that Rouge is a calm young adult talking about a friend, while Amy was an upset young girl whose feelings were too big for careful phrasing and restraint. Combine that with how much hate there was for her at the time, and you have a great, dedicated line absolutely drowned in ice-cold, bad faith takes from the fandom. And Silver needed that fervor to make him question Mephiles, too! It had to be her! It was because he saw how strongly she felt about Sonic that he started having second thoughts. You think a calm statement like Rouge’s could have made him back down from attempted murder?

Much like with Shadow in SA2, it had to be Amy. 06 did a great job with her. Some fans still need to wise up about it. They’ve been recognizing how awesome 06 Shadow is, so maybe, just maybe, they’ll do the same for Amy someday.

[mysticmellowlove]

yan streamer being delusional

a/n - bro i need someone to pick me up, tell me why i had three back to back assignments and it's the end of the semester. STOP PUTTING ALL THE ASSIGNMENTS AT THE END OF THE SEMESTER!!! also I'm getting there with the requests! swear to god I'll put more stuff out soon, i want to leave these stupid lab reports behind and get back to fucking submissive men.

warnings; gn reader pronouns, yandere behaviour, yandere streamer, yandere male, sub yandere, kinda a joke but not really, not edited at all

word count; 1544

If fifteen year old you were to look into the future you probably wouldn't have liked what you saw. As a freshly graduated student with a bachelor's degree the whole world expected you to be some professional business partner but here you were... modding for a popular twitch streamer.

In all honesty it wasn't that bad, and the environment around job hiring was insane at the moment anyway. You wouldn't have been able to find a job even if you tried. The streamer paid well enough, especially considering all you had to do was flag underhanded and inappropriate comments. It was lucrative... for someone who didn't have a home loan to pay off.

A sigh left your mouth as you watched the chat scroll by. You had been watching this guy before you even got a job underneath him, sometimes background noise was good while you were studying. His content had taken a turn from those quiet streams where he talked about daily life to what he was doing now though. Now he was much more popular and he played only the newest games.

Did you wish sometimes he would go back and check up on his old game profiles? Yes. Did you care enough to suggest that to him? No. Life moves on.

Your eyes trained on a particular comment, distasteful as usual, and you got rid of it. Flagging and banning the commenter so your streamer could look into it later.

"Thank you Sugar." Your lips pursed. The job pated well, the content was interesting and you didn't have to leave your home. The chat filled up with heart emojis and kissy face emojis. Some of them were even customised to look like your discord profile picture (designed by the other person who had seen it; the streamer himself).

There was just one downside, both the streamer and his chat were weirdly into you. Or you as a mod you guessed. Still, you didn't mind it, at least not usually. Human interaction was good, even if it was through a screen.

The rest of his stream went well, thanks to the effort of you and the other mods. As soon as the screen had closed you pushed your chair make and groaned as your stretched your muscles out. It was pretty late and you were kinda hungry. There was a little restaurant that stayed open later than usual on the ground floor of the apartment building you lived in but the quality was questionable.

After deciding that your stomach was going to eat itself you threw on a jacket and grabbed your wallet before leaving the apartment. It would be nice to get some furniture soon. University debt couldn't last forever right?

As soon as you left your apartment the sound of someone coming down the stairs made you turn your head. The exact second you looked at them though your head snapped back to your door. Eyes wide, mouth open... that was the streamer! Your mind ticked, did he live here! In this shoddy building with the rates too high for what it was? But he was... relatively well off. His room was decked out in those fancy led lights and he had a really comfy-looking chair. His PC set up was apparently wild from the small glimpses you had gotten and yet he lived here. In the same building as you did.

It was in that moment that something clicked in your mind, people had lives outside of the internet. A resolute nod made you finally leave your doorway and join him on the trek downstairs. Half the time on the way down you wondered in he thought you were trailing him, the other half was spent wondering if he was hungry too.

There was no way he knew it was you though. You were faceless online and even though you knew him there was no way anyone would peel that information from you.

"Hey, I like your sweater." Your face went white as you saw him stop at the bottom of the stairs, a boyish smile on his face. Your sweater... his merch. Your lips pressed into a thin line, the world was playing with you today. You cracked your knuckles, this could go two ways.

"Yeah, haha... nice stream tonight boss man." His eyes widened. Tonight was just supposed to be you getting off from work and then grabbing some food. You had an interview tomorrow and yet here you were revealing yourself to your employer.

"You're one of my mods! It's nice to meet you in person, I can't believe I live in the same building as one. You getting food as well?" You guessed it wasn't all bad. Talking with him like this reminded you of his old streams, when he had only a couple hundred viewers.

"Yeah, crazy right." You commented as the two of you made your way to the restaurant. Since it was so late at night there wasn't a line to get take away so you made it through in record time. In the restaurant and even on the way up you chatted with the streamer until he basically dropped you at your door.

Before you went inside he asked you one more question, which one of his mods were you. After you have him the answer and watched him walk away you went inside and began to eat. Today wasn't as bad as you thought after all.

His door slid shut with an audible click as he gently rested his food on the counter. What were the chances that he'd meet his favourite person of all time tonight? His beloved mod, Sugar. A short wheeze left his mouth as his smile spread into a wide grin.

He didn't know what it was about you but just getting to know you before he hired you made him feel giddy. You two were a match made in heaven. You had wit, jokes and a kind side as well. Basically you were everything he had ever wanted and more.

And you lived in the same building as he did.

Now he had an excuse to talk to you outside of the work you did for him, he'd be able to get to know you better. Maybe he'd even manage to make you fall in love with him just as he had for you. Just thinking about it made his heart flutter and his blood run hot. His cheeks grew warm as he forgot all about his late night dinner. Instead, he wobbled over to his couch and fell onto it.

Your profile picture had been of a stereotypical soft edit, a practical joke from your friends that you hadn't bothered to change. He was ashamed to admit that he had jerked off to the picture before, sometimes he even took your chats out of context and used them to fuel his fantasies.

But, you looked nothing like how he thought you would. He was expecting some sort of catfish who went onto discord to try and get middle-aged men to give them money (he hadn't minded that fantasy either, there was something so hot about not being able to freely do anything without your partner's permission.) but you were completely different.

You were a burnt-out graduate just like he was.

Soon he found his hand resting on the outside of his underwear, pretending it was your hand. Would you be soft and embody your online persona or would you be so pent up that you used him to your content? His hand tightened in response to his thoughts, sending a wave of pleasure right to his stomach.

A short groan left him as he closed his eyes and stroked. He pulled his clothes down and circled his tip, trying to keep his hips still as he envisioned you sitting before him.

He finally had a face to the name and now his imagination was running wild. Was your skin unblemished? Did you have tattoos, what was the colour of your underwear. His heart beat faster as he realised he'd finally be able to find all these things about you out. You lived on the floor below him, he could sneak in anytime he wanted!

Maybe he'd take some of your clothes, dress himself up in them and pretend that you were making him parade around as some sort of doll. Did you own any toys? He'd take those two and revel at the closeness. You had used them on yourself...

He swallowed, it was getting harder to breathe. His hand worked furiously on his cock, the sensation more punishing than pleasurable. Surely that was what you would do if you found out about all the dirty things he had thought of you doing to him.

As soon as he had started he found himself cumming. His mouth dropped open in a silent scream as the pleasure rocked through his whole body while he came down from his high. As soon as he was able to calm himself down he shut his eyes and grinned.

This was going to be fun.

[regarding-stories]

Some looking back and some rounding up

So, a while ago I did a selection of series I was watching this simulcast season. And some other stuff. Here are my updated thoughts on several of them - plus more other stuff! Yay, other stuff!

...

Dead Dead Demons DeDeDe Destruction

I can say I'm interested where the series is going, but there are two factors stopping me. Following an unfolding catastrophe by itself would already be a downer. But particularly this year, I am really not inclined to watch scenes of cutesy aliens being brutally murdered over and over. First I banned the series from watching at mealtimes, but now, with 11 episodes already watched, I haven't picked it up in quite some time.

GIF by animescreencolle

2.5 Dimensional Seduction

Turned out exactly as I expected it to be - an enjoyable watch all in all, a cute collection of blushing included. I find two downsides with the season:

Unrequited love interest / girl #2 was absent from half the season in spite of being spotlighted in the credits. My guess she was a bit of a filler right from the start, but seldom has a character been sidelined so hard. When she reappeared at the end I actually found she had grown as a character, being some necessary counter-pole to the airhead main girl. (Sorry Ririsa, but your commonsense is entirely absent. The total focus on Ririsa is less surprising when you know (only) her name is in the Japanese title, though.)

GIF by a-titty-ninja

There were... probably two... episodes that were almost entirely composed of internal dialogue that was highly repetitive and stretched out far too long. Yada yada I love all cosplayers. Change of heart. It was tiresome. There's a limit to how much internal dialogue is good in this kind of anime.

I had fun, though.

Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines

I thought this would become a harem comedy or at least have some harem vibes, given the narrator-protagonist we follow around is a dude surrounded by girls with widely differing hairstyles and personalities (and he actually tries to help them all).

I'm gladly surprised how much time this show takes to actually follow along the three titular losing heroines, though. It seems to be very willing to explore their struggles - first with their respective love interests, but now also expanding into shy bookworm's struggle to find friendship, acceptance, and a place in the world she can trust.

GIF by senjo

This focus is reflected in the credits sections which vary and focus on the girl currently taking the spotlight. Bonus: The show has some great music.

I still think that inevitably the protagonist's kindness will lead to a second round of falling-in-love trouble, especially given that girl-who-never-stops-snacking seems to already fill the girlfriend role in most aspects.

Still, loving the attention to characters, emotional scenes, some drama, and it being outright charming, funny, and delightful - this is so hard to wait for each week!

Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian

Ended up watching it, and it's a fun diversion. It actually works quite well as anime!

I still think the MC and his sister are absolute jerks when it comes to pranks. And the time he spent in Russia is even more sidelined than in the light novels.

Pseudo Harem

Now for an entry I picked up late. The basic premise is easy - there's a girl named Rin with a crush on her Senpai in drama club. To overplay her cowardice and blatantly flirt with him she invents a series of characters she portrays based on tropes/stereotypes (Imp-chan, Tsundere-chan, Cool-chan, etc) that her Senpai is absolutely enthralled with - so it becomes their own private thing (and probably a bit of a love language).

It surely helps the character is the most adorable little thing ever and voiced by the same voice actress as Yor in "Spy x Family", lending her this particular quality that is a bit timid and easily lured into blushing embarrassment.

The only downside I see to this series that can make you seriously go "Squeeee!" is that it overly focuses on only two characters and hence is more like a gag-comedy manga in terms of plot than an unfolding story (though it has elements of both). The anime certainly transports the whole thing way better than the original manga which I sampled at random before the show was picked up but I found a bit lacking.

Not sure why Senpai and his family (at least his mom) have constant "I lack sleep" eyes...

Days with my Stepsister

In hindsight, a chore with nothing much happening. Girl who is a loner who only relies on herself becomes stepsibling with boy who is a loner who detaches himself from everything. They fall in love.

Which is what you see mostly not happening for a dozen episodes as you watch them asking themselves questions and denying their feelings. And lots of inner monologue.

(Can't find a GIF for this under the English or Japanese title, so tumblr seems to have spoken...)

The show aims for an elegic, nostalgic quality, but it sometimes feels just slow. It is better, though, than shows that stall the plot with over-the-top drama. I watched it to end, after all. The end of the season is such that I find it hard to relate to her as a character, given how he discovered her feelings way before him. (I get that this is a heavy conflict for her, though.)

Side characters are almost entirely sidelined and mostly there to further what little plot there is between the main couple. And it wins the prize for the worst way to draw eyes in female characters, I thought at times she was having a mascara accident when it turned out it was still part of the eye.

Solo Leveling

Didn't expect that one, huh? I was rather annoyed by the hype, as I sometimes am, and had a preconceived bias about what the show is, well, about.

So glad to be wrong!!

The premise is much better than anticipated. Instead of this being about a game, it's about events unfolding that have game-like characteristics underneath. Except the protagonist is the only one to find that out after many years of this going on and hence in a unique position to improve his station in life - though through a very risky, painful means.

The show is well-paced and gorgeous in general, though also gory and overly dramatic. It pulls it off so well, you're on the edge of your seat rather often. And it manages to pull you in for the ride first.

The main criticism I have of this one is that the human side of the MC is... too passionate, focused, and a bit unconvincing. Come on! There is this girl desperate to go out with you but you're not only too consumed in feeling like a loser to take her up on it when you're failing, you still have no clue when you're succeeding! I don't buy into this level of onesidedness. (I guess the "hero" is destined to be with the ice queen we see portrayed so often. But season 1 has zero contact between them and they live in completely different worlds.)

A very harsh show, gore-wise, and more than a tad cruel. Be prepared.

Haganai - I Don't Have Many Friends

It's hard to have an opinion on this one. I read on in the manga because the show leaves off somewhere in the middle. And I must say, it really really has flawed characters - and displays them in all their misconceptions.

At one point I thought I almost got it - when the manga turned against the whole "rumor" and "reading the mood" and the mood turning on people culture. It was nasty how the group-think blamed one girl for the fact a dude had a stupid crush for her instead of the other girl. Of course she contributed to it - not through encouraging the dude like she was accused of (so she was essentially slut-shamed, I guess), but because her response was so horribly tone-deaf as well.

But when you read the defense her friend conjures on the spot, it's no better. So is the author himself horribly tone-deaf or is he meaning to portray characters that are so strongly flawed? I couldn't decide.

There's more of this - like the male lead thinking this girl attracting so much attention and supposedly super smart (but lacking any commonsense) is some sort of goddess. It's hard to tell if that is his flawed thinking or partially the author's? Because she's very flawed, and in turn the anime constantly makes fun of her - including playing a "moo" sound whenever she runs towards someone because, you know... dare I say it? Cow udders.

So it's a flawed show with a desperate amount of fan service and flawed characters, but I was still interested in where these characters would go. And it can be quite funny and/or sweet at times. It doesn't exactly inspire me to read the light novels, though.

My First Girlfriend Is a Gal

Now here's an anime that had some issues that had little to do with the actual story. Boy asks gal out on a dare and she actually accepts - apparently she had a secret crush? Whatever gets the ball rolling.

What the show does make clear is that she as a person/character is very different from the hyper-sexualized image some guys seem to have of gyarus. It actually mostly is a sweet and rather harmless romance with typical anime hijinks - let's go to the onsen (hot springs), MC gets to see her in a yukata, etc. And in this regard the show does fine.

However, the anime version specifically is turning what probably were very short scenes in the mind of the MC into long "censored" sequences, entertaining - at length! - the exact same mindset the character herself so noticeably disproves. While I only started reading the manga picking up at some point towards the end of the show, I don't see the same there. It nowhere takes as much focus. It's clearly a device the anime makers seem to have come up with.

I also have failed to find so far the story arc the show's only season ended on. The whole late story arc was so confusing in the end, not even I was sure what was supposed to happen between them versus what happened. It was a whole lot of "you should have known better" and "I'm disappointed in you" that I couldn't quite follow.

If you look past the blatant "sex sells" treatment the anime got, you find a nice enough story mixed with very silly and unrealistic hijinks. Not exactly destined for greatness, but it's worthwhile (and quite long-running, actually).

My Stepmom's Daughter Is My Ex

While I'm watching shows I originally had no interest in, this one turned out to be quite decent. The setup is interesting - boy and girl have a middle school romance between nerdy loners that breaks up when they can't cope with change and the communication needed to keep the relationship up. Shortly after the breakup his dad marries her mother, with neither knowing they used to date.

The show varies between different territories. On the one hand it plays with the lingering feelings, especially hers towards him. A lot of the show's humor and premise is based on this, and frankly, it's quite sweet.

What sold me in the show much more, however, is the introduction of a third character into the equation. Another girl who loves the boy - but most of all she treasures the friendship and connection she has with him - more so than "having to have him" or "being the only one." She just is happy to connect to this person - and a romantic relationship would be a bonus.

First the other girls think she is naive and hasn't admitted her feelings. But in the end, her take on emotions, feelings, and love is more mature than frankly most people's (in the show or outside of it) - including the mother of the newly formed family. Her character seems entirely believable and is an interesting expansion of what characters exist in these kinds of stories. She's also a wonderful combination between clueless and having a deep understanding of what love actually is. Brilliant!

The show then proceeds to portray as much the failed relationship as their current one, highlighting the need for personal growth and going beyond the past. The middle school romance isn't portrayed much at first, but as its realities are laid open, we understand how much of the current situation is rooted in them having been socially inept people - or simply kids growing up.

While doing all of this it's a lighthearted show full of banter and little silly situations, and people trying to guess each other's true motivations and feelings. Which makes it a really good take on the premise.

[elendsessor]

ok ok didn’t know there was a new smtv rising revengeance preview so i decided to check it out and here are my thoughts

everything’s below the cut so if you don’t want spoilers at all skip this :)

first off MY WISH CAME TRUE!!!

your partners can summon demons!!!! i mean i don’t really know how to feel about partners taking up party slots but

hey they brought back a cool thing from 4a and i’m here for it look at the silly bird and dazai channeling his inner pokemon trainer

then of course there’s the new drip and imma be real (and this is not the last time imma bitch) this uh. doesn’t vibe with me. i mean it’s fine??? i guess??? the new move looks cool but something about the design doesn’t really fit the serenity of the nahobino’s design. i really liked not having some completely edgy vibe especially since it contrasted with the other nahos so well. feels like its being taken away. though this may be more aogami dominant or something idk. i like a lot of 5’s demon designs so this was a bit of a letdown.

side note i like how the protag and aogami sitting on a bench are included in a lot of press release screenshots it’s just. really funny to me.

now here’s a really hot hot hot take

i hate this. i hate that they brought mastema back the way they seem to be doing. hear me out for a moment—

it has a lot to do with the law bias megaten has. i like mastema in strange journey but god they fumbled him in the chaos route by turning him into another angel who openly admits they just want complete control and i’m really fucking tired of it. he was basically a drug dealer in 4 and did like. absolutely nothing and was a whiny bitch. i wouldn’t mind him returning as a strictly summonable demon, but due to his framing in the trailer, he’s either going to be a part of the main plot or part of a sidequest.

the problem is that due to how much megaten pushes “law bad” it requires butchering characters. a lot of it definitely has to do with japan’s history with christianity and whatnot which is 100% valid. i don’t think i need to explain how abrahamic religions have impacted the world pretty negatively due to the evangelicals, but the fundamentals of religion are actually well intended. what matters is who preaches them. how it is often portrayed in megaten is controlling and sacrificing individuality when law as a concept is a lot broader and also comes with other downsides often overlooked and also often depicted as being almost downright exclusive to abrahamic religions when that couldn’t be further from the truth. heck japanese society is conservative af and punishes “underperforming.” so basic capitalism. as such, many of the angels in smt are also often depicted as slaves to god’s system or wanting something to be gained, and a lot of law reps are either depicted as being blindly complicit with things they were shown to be against or be made just as mindless.

law has been done well before. getting amane’s ending not only makes a lot of thematic sense but leads to one of the best written scenarios in the franchise along with one of my favorite exchanges in gaming. dsrk2 handles law stuff in a completely unique way that asks a lot more questions than any mainline game has ever done. it’s just a shame that status quo tends to be kept.

i’m not entirely worried since there’s a chance he could be handled well. abdiel is still the best written angel of them all because she wasn’t looking for control, rather approval, even if it meant committing a taboo/tearing herself apart to please god, which is a perfect commentary in it of itself and fits her namesake. law in 5 was actually pretty tame and not nearly as extreme as it usually is. though, considering how mastema’s character has been reduced to being an untrustworthy ass as opposed to just being relatively hands off when it came to pushing the good word of the lord, i don’t think that’ll change anytime soon. again have to stress i don’t dislike his inclusion because i don’t like him as a demon (i really do), i’m skeptical about his inclusion because of his character being assassinated in the name of the generic law bad thing and he clearly is going to be given a role outside of possibly usable demon.

to end on a good note tho

the ability to play as nahobeeho is very welcome in every reality

and though i already made a post on them gonna show them again

I LOVE AMABIE!!!!

[four-loose-screws]

Hello there, I’ve been playing a lot of Engage lately and I’ve been really enjoying it a lot. I’m writing in to ask you on what your general stance is on the whole discourse that has surrounded how certain S-Supports were translated. As for me, after reading a couple of them through, both the original versions and the localization, I personally don’t see that much a difference or disconnect between the two. While yes it can be argued that the localization did toned down a couple in a few cases, but even still I don’t think the general tone is really lost and in most cases it seems the only real notable difference is the usage of some select words in place of others which in a couple of cases might skewed into something that seems more platonic, but the rest of the conversation still seems to generally be pretty direct with how it’s translated. I also feel that even the original Japanese conversations generally speaking don’t feel nearly as romantic as they’ve been in previous games which has given me the impression that relationships in general are just simply greatly downplayed in Engage, and while that’s definitely apparent in a few other areas of the game I’ve definitely noticed it a lot through those conversations. It should be worth noting that I encountered the original Japanese conversations through Google Translate as well as other people’s own translations, and even with Google Translate I was still able to see what the initial tone of the dialogue was generally supposed to be and personally speaking didn’t think to was all that different from the official localization (minus a couple of choice words). I do think it’s worth noting that the wake-up events generally are more romantic than the conversations, or at least have more direct implications of it which I thought was interesting. However even with all of that, I would like to hear your opinion on all of this, from someone who is a speaker of Japanese, to get a further perspective on all of this. Thank you for reading this admittedly super long question as well as all the hard work you do for this community, hope everything is going well for you.

Hi and thanks for the support! :) Things have been a wild ride for me for a while now, but in an alright kind of way.

I chunked this out into 3 parts, because my brain gets lost in a whirlwind if I don't chunk up my writings.

Pt. 1 - Opinion Time!

My own personal opinion, in its own tiny little vacuum, is that I don't really care what changes a localization makes, for the most part. I see some changes as unfortunate - like those that put in pop culture or meme jokes that won't age well, in a game not already dating itself on purpose. But I don't have reason to become emotionally invested when I can look up and read the Japanese in my free time, analyze the differences between JP and localization in my free time, and use my blog to share those findings to those who don't know both languages.

The downside is I'm not available to blog like I used to be, but there's always been other people out there who know Jp./Eng. and are filling in the gaps. It's not a fun time to be subjected to the "LOCALIZATION STUPID, LOCALIZATION TEAM YOU SHOULD FEEL BAD" tone you sometimes see, but sifting through good and junk information is how research has always worked.

Now, to add on some nuance, because the world is a complex place and simplicity is a rarity. I think that it is very very valid to mourn what is lost because localization teams are trying to sell a product to a different audience, and simply cannot commit to trying to directly convey the exact same experience the JP version offered.

Not everyone is going to see the positives of localization as worth the cost. I love seeing FE spread to people I never imagined it would, because localization teams work hard to make the text engaging for non-JP audiences.

But media preservation is important too. Heck, I'm basically devoting my entire life to preservation by translating a collection of 20-30 year old novels! It's perfectly valid to value preservation of media over maximum outreach (and the big profits that come with it).

Also, just because I feel like pointing it out, I don't see localization as censorship. I feel like censorship is much more violent - a group in power trying to entirely eliminate media that does not fit their agenda for the purpose of control, etc. It's not like Treehouse is going around the internet, trying to remove and hide any record of the JP script or anything - they're just trying to guess what will sell the game outside of Japan, and protect Nintendo's brand. Nintendo could stop fan JP vs. localization analyzers at any point, but they don't, our content is all still out there for those who want to know more about the JP versions.

Pt. 2 - Talking directly about Engage & the S support conversations

Now, as for the conversations themselves!

My initial impression - Wow, the localization of these S supports compared to the Awakening days, is so different I'd think Engage was from a different franchise entirely! (For those who didn't play Awakening - the localization entirely rewrote some lines in many S supports - particularly many of the CG image quotes, in which each character says their final romantic words to Robin.)

Depending on the exact conversation, Engage's localization takes slightly different approaches towards making conversations with child & teen characters more platonic. Framme's support changes 'partner' to 'ally.' Meanwhile, Anna's support changes 'partner' to clearly mean 'business partner.' Clanne says "all I think about is you" in JP vs. "all I think about is helping you more," to shift the focus from implied romance, to keeping his relationship with Alear strictly as a master / guardian relationship.

For characters over 18, their conversations were not altered to remove romantic implications.

And, that's about the extent of it. Anon, you are exactly right in the summary Google Translate helped give you - the localized conversations always follow the original Japanese, save for toning down any lines w/ under 18 characters, that originally felt more romantic than platonic.

There is one huge sign that even the JP version wasn't as serious about committing to every S support being romantic, though - the CGs. Every character under 18 wears the ring on their middle finger instead of the wedding ring finger. Now, one could argue that the CGs are only that way because the artist was told to focus on the NA / international release, and I think that is a very valid possibility, but... many of the characters of all ages don't even wear the Pact Ring at all, and just hold on to it in their CG. And then there's the fact that the emblem rings are all worn on the wedding ring finger, when no one in the game has a romantic relationship with an emblem, so... yeah. I still don't think we're meant to read too hard into what wearing any ring on any finger means in this game.

I don't see any reason to do a deep analysis on any of the conversations, the changes are really that simple. But, as I always say, if anyone ever wants to see specific conversation(s) translated, then just send an ask my way! Straight translations tend to take less time than answering questions because I don't have to organize my personal thoughts, so they tend to be addressed the fastest!

Pt. 3 - Talking about Engage's romantic aspects in general (or lack thereof)

Overall, it is pretty easy to pick up on the sense that the devs weren't as interested in the romantic features of FE this time around - and in fact as I was writing all this out, I found a dev interview that briefly confirms the development of the game centered around Alear and the Emblem mechanics. The wake-up events might have been written as a middle ground to balance between those who wanted more romance, while taking focus overall off of the romance, but I've seen no sign of that being true in dev interviews.

Fire Emblem is Fire Emblem, and each FE game is always a grab bag of "What's coming back?" So it was always inevitable that even the romantic aspects would be toned down at some point, despite them being so present and essential to the popularity of three whole games in a row (Awakening, Fates, and Three Houses). I'm a long time fan, who knows that's how FE operates, so I enjoy it. But understandably every game will cause some controversy with those who aren't used to, or don't like, the rapid changes.

To me, as a fan since the GBA/GC days, Engage feels kind of like a fun return to GBA form, where supports always felt like a roulette wheel. Which relationships would read romantic? Platonic? Would the relationship seem platonic in the A support, then the characters get married in the ending card anyway? Would family or platonic pairs get an ending card? Who knew!

That being said, make no mistake!! Engage leans as hard as ever into FE's main overarching theme about bonds - that bonds are strength, and the glue that carries all FE protagonists to victory! There's just not as much of a focus on the romantic bonds this time around. In true FE form, you never know when the devs are going to dump, or at least shift focus away from, previous features.

I think I've gotten all I had on my mind typed out now - but anyone can feel free to follow up the conversation if you want in another ask!

-----------

(Note for full context: I read through about 10-15 or so of the S / Ring Supports before starting my reply to this ask, picking out some of the youngest characters, as well as a random sampling of others for balance. ...I didn't even try to read them all, I could only handle so many of essentially the same conversation in a row, before my head started spinning, ha ha.)

[silvfyre-writings]

Snapshots Pt. 4 (BSD Fanfic)

Hello, and welcome back to the next chapter of Snapshots! I'm glad that so many of you seem to be enjoying these fun little stories, and I happen to enjoy writing them a lot!!!

This time it's clothing because Ranpo looks good in anything and nothing will change my mind about that.

So, enjoy!

One thing that had always been a sore spot for Ranpo growing up was clothing.

As a child, he’d never truly understood what society had meant by girl and boy clothes; they were just clothes, so why did it matter who wore them? To him, clothes were all about comfort, but as a child, that wasn’t something he’d really been allowed to do, since his parents had bought of his clothes for him—boy clothes, to be exact. And while Ranpo had no issue wearing such clothes, he couldn’t deny that he was curious about the clothing that the opposite gender to him wore. Every time his mother had taken him out to the shops with her, he’d always found himself browsing the girl’s section, curious, and wanting. The only downside was that whenever his mother saw what he was looking at, she’d gain a look on her face and drag him away, distracting him with the first thing that came to mind, which was easy to do, because as a child, Ranpo was interested in everything.

As a teenager, his fascination with clothing was pushed to the back of his mind on account of losing both his parents and his home, but it was still there, just waiting to return to the surface again when the time was right. It took months for that time to come, because after arriving in Yokohama, life just got harder for Ranpo, and with limited money—if he had any at all—clothes were the last thing on his mind. But things got better when he met Fukuzawa, and found himself in the man’s care after they’d worked together to solve the murder of the theatre; sure, he’d almost died, but he’d in the process he’d learnt he was gifted, and gained a home and legal guardian, so really, almost dying wasn’t the worst thing that had happened to him.

At first, Ranpo hadn’t been sure of his place in Fukuzawa’s life, because whilst he had offered up his home to Ranpo, Fukuzawa’s past was filled with loneliness and bloodshed. So, it’d taken a while for the two of them to figure out their dynamic with each other, both of them taking tentative steps to try and figure out the do’s and don’ts of it all. Eventually, they’d figured it out, with Fukuzawa accepting that he was now responsible for guiding and protecting Ranpo where his parents no longer could, and Ranpo learning that Fukuzawa wasn’t going to treat him the same as all the other adults in his life.

Apparently that also included his parents, because when they’d gone shopping to get some extra clothes for him, Ranpo hadn’t been able to stop himself from eyeing the girl’s section. There’d been more variety than there had been in his hometown, with various different styles and options that had aroused Ranpo’s curiosity, bringing back that fascination he’d begun to think was lost forever. It’d only taken him a second to panic though, remembering that his fascination wasn’t shared by others, only to have Fukuzawa place a hand on his shoulder and ask him if he wanted to look. Ranpo had stared at Fukuzawa in shock before nodding and they’d looked at all kinds of clothing before buying more outfits than Ranpo had ever owned in his life.

And it was because of Fukuzawa and his lack of judgement, that Ranpo had been allowed to experiment and discover himself, leading him to become comfortable with who he was, and who he wanted to be by the time that he was an adult; even if that comfort and confidence didn’t often show itself in public. Because apparently the adults of the world weren’t too fond of seeing men wear clothing that wasn’t tailored to them specifically, and whenever Ranpo made the decision to wear a skirt, or a dress, in public, he couldn’t help but notice the stares thrown at him.

Ranpo tried his best not to care though, because what he chose to wear was his business and his alone, and if what he wore upset people, then that was their problem, not his. He was comfortable in his clothing choices, and the people closest to him, supported him, and that was all that mattered to him.

And then the fighting started.

By the time he was twenty-six, Ranpo was comfortable as ever, but with everything that’d been going on, Ranpo had chosen to wear the clothes that brought him the most comfort; the detective clothes that Fukuzawa had brought for him when it’d become clear that Ranpo wasn’t going to grow any taller. And with everything that’d been going on, it’d been all anyone had seen him in for months, so by the time that the conflict ended, people seemed to have forgotten that he enjoyed wearing clothing that wasn’t entirely masculine.

And because of that, the confidence that Ranpo had spent years building up, was gone, and he’d resorted to only wearing those clothes in the comfort of his own home, where the only people that were likely to see him were Fukuzawa and Yosano, who knew about Ranpo’s preferences. It was fine though, because Ranpo knew it wouldn’t take long for him to rebuild that confidence, so long as nothing threw a wrench in the works.

So of course, the metaphorical wrench was thrown, when Ranpo ran into Poe on the street, the writer choosing to stay in Yokohama, and Ranpo, suddenly filled with a desire to befriend the man, forced Poe into giving him his number. Poe had anxiously, and reluctantly, handed it over before running away; yet the writer still responded when Ranpo texted him later that day.

And the wrench was thrown again, when Ranpo began to have romantic feelings for Poe and vice versa, because while Poe was more than content to throw his feelings about and tell Ranpo just how he felt, Ranpo was more reserved about it; he’d spent his entire teenage years trying to figure himself out, and in return, he’d neglected to even delve into the world that was romance. Ranpo felt a little bad for Fukuzawa during that period, since his guardian had to listen to him rant about how he felt and how he didn’t understand what it was that he was feeling.

The final wrench was when he and Poe started dating, and Ranpo wound up spending more time at Poe’s place than his own, because while he and Poe had talked a lot over the past few months, Ranpo had never opened up to the writer about how he sometimes preferred to wear clothing different to what Poe had seen him in before, and Ranpo was just a little scared that Poe might think less of him if he found out.

“I’ll be back in a week.”

Those were the words that Poe had left him with, along with a kiss and a hug, before leaving for America on a short business trip; apparently, one of Poe’s old clients from when he’d been the Guild’s architect had requested his assistance on a project, and apparently they hadn’t been willing to adjust to the time zone difference in order to communicate. Not that Ranpo minded, because Poe had looked so happy at being asked to do the job he’d chosen for himself to pursue—Poe may have been a master writer and published author, but writing had always been a hobby to him, while architecture had been an interest—so Ranpo had supported his partner in his decision, a promised to call whenever he had time.

And since Poe had chosen to take Karl with him, that left Ranpo alone in the mansion that he called home now, which also meant that he could wear whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, without fear of being seen. The skirts and dresses that he’d brought with him when Poe had asked him to move in, were pulled out of the corner of the closet they’d been shoved into, and for that first day, Ranpo had pulled each and every one of them out of the box just so he could look at them and remind himself of what he owned.

The second day that Poe was gone, he’d worn a cute skirt and an oversized long-sleeved shirt.

The third day he’d worn one of his summer dresses, despite it not quite being the weather for it.

The fourth day he’d chosen to wear his favorite outfit, not because it was the comfiest, but because it was the one he felt the best dressed in. The outfit was simple, really; leggings—something he only wore with this outfit in particular—a black skirt, and a long-sleeved crop top. It was the first outfit he’d picked on his own and paid for with his own money, so it was quite important to him.

It was the fourth day, when he was wearing this outfit and lounging on the couch, watching a movie, that Poe came home early from his trip.

Ranpo had been so focused on the movie he’d been watching, that he hadn’t even realized that Poe was home until the furry ball that was Karl, flew into his lap, chattering and pawing at him in excitement. “Karl!” Ranpo lifted the raccoon into the air, a grin on his face before he brought into a hug. “Did you miss me?”

“He wasn’t the only one that did.” A hand came to rest on one of his shoulders while lips were pressed against his temple.

Ranpo hummed and turned his head to capture Poe’s lips into a proper kiss. “Well, I missed you too. You’re back early.”

“My client is rather easy to please.” Poe said, kissing Ranpo once more before he pulled away and stepped around the couch in order to join Ranpo in sitting on it. “It’s not my first time working with them either, so I already knew what I was—wait, what are you wearing?”

Ranpo froze, his hands pausing where they’d been running through Karl’s fur. In his joy in seeing both Karl and Poe again, he’d forgotten that what he was currently wearing wasn’t what he normally wore. He opened his mouth to respond, only for his words to fail and clog up his throat.

Poe was quick to spot his growing panic, because he was so observant when it came to Ranpo’s emotions, and grabbed one of Ranpo’s hands in his own, threading their fingers together and squeezing gently to soothe him. “Hey, don’t panic, take a breath for me. You’re fine.”

Ranpo nodded, and squeezed Poe’s hand in return, taking in a single shuddering breath. He repeated the motion again, and again, until he felt the panic easing, although he was still tense as he waited for Poe to speak again, to judge him, to call him a freak.

Only, it never came. Once he’d calmed down, Poe smiled softly and brought their linked hands up to his lips in order to press a kiss to the back of Ranpo’s hand, the gesture enough to chase away the last vestiges of panic. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” Poe murmured, lowering their hands back down. “I only asked because your outfit makes you look cute.”

“Really?” Ranpo’s face began to heat up, the blush spreading from his cheeks to his ears like it always did whenever Poe gave him a compliment.

“Of course. I wouldn’t lie to you. I was just surprised because I’ve never seen you wear clothes like this before.”

“I haven’t worn clothes like this since Atsushi joined the Agency, because in the middle of a conflict, my usual clothing was easier and more convenient, but I’ve always enjoyed wearing skirts and—” Ranpo cut himself off, turning his face away from Poe before he said too much. He felt his hand be squeezed, and took a breath to continue. “—and dresses on the odd occasion. They’re comfortable.”

Poe’s lips twitched into a frown. “But the Agency isn’t in the middle of a conflict right now, so how come you haven’t worn what you feel comfortable in until now?”

“Ah, that’s…” Ranpo didn’t want to admit it was because he was scared, but he didn’t have to, because Poe was just as smart as him and could easily put together the pieces of the puzzle based upon everything that Ranpo had said. And before he knew it, Ranpo found himself being pulled into an embrace, Poe’s arms wrapped around him firmly.

“I’m sorry if I made you feel as if you couldn’t be yourself around me.�� Poe murmured into his hair. Ranpo made a noise of protest, because it wasn’t Poe’s fault at all, only to be shushed by the man. “Ranpo, I love you for you, and that includes all parts of you, so if you want to wear the skirts and dresses that you own, then you are more than welcome to do so. And if you fear my judging you, then you don’t need to, because I don’t care if you prefer feminine clothing over masculine; if it’s what makes you comfortable, then just wear it, okay?”

Ranpo’s blush grew even more, and he hid his face against Poe’s shoulder. He heard Poe chuckle, and whined. “Laughing is forbidden.”

“Sorry, but you look even more adorable when you’re embarrassed like this.”

Karl let out a loud chatter then, eyes flicking between Ranpo and Poe from where he still sat in Ranpo’s lap.

“See, even Karl agrees with me.”

“I hate you both.” Ranpo grumbled, although there was a smile on his face, one of relief at how easily Poe had just accepted him. Then again, why had he even worried in the first place? This was Poe, who wore Victorian era clothing like it was still in fashion—heeled boots and all—so it made sense that he would never judge Ranpo for what he chose to wear.

“What are you thinking about, Ranpo?” Poe asked, letting Ranpo go just so he could tuck some stray hair behind his ear.

“Nothing.” Ranpo said and stood from the couch, Karl in his arms. “But would you perhaps like to see the rest of my wardrobe?”

Poe’s own smile was soft as he stood up as well, and began to follow Ranpo to their room. “It would be my pleasure.”

[scorbleeo]

Drama Gossip: Douluo Continent (斗罗大陆)

Source: Google Images

Having lost his mother at a very young age, Tang San grew up relying on his father just as much as his father relied upon him. Meticulous and mature for his age, with extraordinary talent and wit, he was sent to Nuoding Academy at the age of sixteen to begin pursuing his dream of becoming a great soul master. There, under the tutelage of Yu Xiao Gang, he befriends an orphan by the name of Xiao Wu, and together they begin the long and difficult journey of cultivation. As time passes, the two friends draw ever closer, eventually swearing to look out for each other as siblings for life.

As their power and connection grow, Yu Xiao Gang realizes they need more guidance than he can provide. Sending the pair to the Shrek Academy, Tang San and Xiao Wu join five other prodigies from various academies in their journey of cultivation. Strong in their power, the seven students become known throughout the land as the “Shrek Seven Devils”. With their fame ever-growing, the talents of the Seven are eventually noticed by a few very prominent nobles who invite them to continue their cultivation at the esteemed Tian Dou Royal Academy.

Not long after accepting the invitation, the Seven Devils find themselves caught up in an imperial struggle for power between the first and fourth princes. At the same time, Tang San uncovers a long-hidden secret about his mother’s death. Suddenly facing battles on many fronts, Tang San finds himself forced to fight, not only to protect those he loves but to bring honor to his sect, save his country, and complete his quest to become the greatest soul master of all time.

Source: MyDramaList (2021)

It's Just So Good, Ya'know?

In spite of being a Xiao Zhan fan, I don't love a lot of his dramas. Douluo Continent though, that is one of the few I truly enjoy. This is a rewatch and the parts that irritated me, I still don't like but the parts that I like, I still enjoy.

The biggest problem with this drama is the pacing. This is me being nice but oh boy, the pacing is all over the place with Douluo Continent. Also, I am just not a big fan of the romance in this show. Don't get me wrong, I love Zhu Zhu Qing and Dai Mu Bai's relationship, I had hoped to get more from them. The other two couples among the Seven Devils are quite cute but sometimes really redundant. Especially the many scenes of Xiao Wu and Tang San. I get it, but I did not watch this show for their romance, it's average at best.

That being said, lets talk about the show itself. Fantastical wuxia dramas without long melodramatic or constant betrayal scenes are my favourite. The storyline, the world, the characters, the action, Douluo Continent really is entertaining to watch. A downside? For a show focusing on people's powers and abilities to fight, there is a severe lack of action scenes. Sometimes, I just want the fight scene to drag on or show me more action rather than slow motion scenes of anyone being attacked and falling backwards.

Every time I watch Douluo Continent, I get the urge to watch the animation as well. Unfortunately, the animation is not it for me. So until the second instalment comes out, I really don't think I will consume any content of Douluo Continent except for this drama. A pity, really.

Rating: ★★★★☆

[aeoki]

Seven Bridges - Hate Control: Chapter 12

Location: Tanabata Fest Stage Characters: Mika & Hitsugi

ㅤ< Fast forward in time. “Tanabata Fest” D-Day – Yumenosaki Grounds (“Tanabata Fest” Venue 1). >

NEGI: “It’s a ghost~...♪”

“Anzu~ Good woof woof evening.”

“Oh wait, the puppy isn’t here. You guys aren’t always together?”

“Hm? You’re not replying but you’re alive, right? Anzu?”

“Don’t you ever die. My brother – Hitsugi – would be in trouble.”

“...Hey, wake up. Open your eyes.”

Mika: Oh, who’re you? I’ve got some time on my hands so you can talk to me if you need somethin’~♪

Sorry. Anzu-chan’s been workin’ to a hellish schedule so she’s completely exhausted.

Everyone else did their best to convince her to take a nap.

It’s good to have a sense of responsibility, but it reminds me of the old Oshi-san and that worries me.

NEGI: “............”

Mika: Oh wait, Hitsugi-kun?

Ngh~ Why’re you wearin’ a girl’s uniform? You’re a girl?

No wonder I thought you were easy to talk to. I’m used to being ‘round girls so I feel more comfortable bein’ with ‘em…♪

NEGI: “You know my brother?”

Mika: Hm?

NEGI: “Wait. I’ll look you up. Hmm~... Mika Kagehira, huh.”

“Thanks, looks like you’ve been taking good care of my brother.”

Mika: Umm? Err?

NEGI: “Sorry. I can get information by looking it up afterwards, but I’m usually asleep when my brother’s awake.”

“I’ve got to look up who he’s met and talked to otherwise I won’t have a clue.”

Mika: Hmm~... Are you like Oshi-san?

NEGI: “I don’t know who this ‘Oshi-san’ is.”

Mika: Huh? You don’t? Yer missin’ out on about 99% of your life! Wait here, I’ll give you a thorough presentation on Oshi-san right now!

NEGI: “Can it wait? Anyway, Anzu told me to come here.”

“And she’s asleep. What should I do?”

Mika: I don’t know either.

Oshi-san is goin’ outta his way to come back home for “Tanabata Fest” and I’ve got time on my hands until he arrives, so I’ve just been watchin’ over a sleepin’ Anzu-chan to make sure no one pulls any tricks on her.

NEGI: “She’s quite the defenceless one.”

“But I’m sure you’ve all done your best to protect her all this time.”

“She’s too unguarded thanks to that. It’s the downside of being overprotective.”

“And she’s even getting involved with someone like me who would only bring her misfortune.”

Mika: I see, uhh, you’re–

NEGI: “Call me NEGI. It’s the most pleasant name I’ve got right now.”

Mika: Okay. Err, NEGI-san… you’re someone Anzu-chan knows?

NEGI: “Yeah. I accepted Anzu’s request  to perform at this ‘Tanabata Fest’, so I came running over.”

“...Honestly, it’s my first time singing on such a big stage, I’m kinda nervous.”

Mika: Oh~ I know the feeling~ I feel at ease when Oshi-san’s with me, but I still get stiff from all the nerves whenever I have to do work on my own.

NEGI: “The Yumenosaki and ES people are pretty amazing if you think of it that way.”

“They’ve got a lot of stage experience and are used to the environment. You guys are definitely better than us in that regard.”

Mika: Whaddya mean by you guys and us? If you’re takin’ part in “Tanabata Fest”, doesn’t that mean you’re also an idol like me, NEGI-san?

NEGI: “Yup. I’m also an idol, a human who also has the same protein as you.”

“And yet, the public just decides to put a price on us and classifies us as something else – They say all sorts of things like who’s better or worse.”

“The whole thing is just so annoying.”

“It would be nice if this ridiculous world could break in half and clear itself of everything.”

Mika: I see~ So you’re that sorta person, huh. You’re a rock person.

NEGI: “It’s nothing special. I’m just your average street musician.”

“Just a brat who places all the dissatisfaction of the world into a song and spits it around.”

Mika: Ngh~ I know there was a lotta those before, but I think they’re acknowledged a lot more now thanks to the streaming culture on the internet.

Some of them are even more popular and well-known than some of us idols, so that surprises me.

NEGI: “I think it’s quite a nice era, really.”

“The country or the industry won’t have to steal our dreams, passion or love.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ← Previous Chapter ᠂ ⚘ ˚⊹˚ ⚘ ᠂  Next Chapter →

[captainclickycat]

12 and 21, for the Good Omens asks

Thanks!

12. Has your interaction with the good omens fandom been overall good or bad?

Definitely both. As a franchise it’s definitely a lot of fun to talk about and engage in fun little scenarios and headcanons for. The source material is quirky and funny but also deep and thought-provoking, which is a really good combination when it comes to these things. I think my favourite part was always the “Crowley invented this” meme. Remember how there was that running joke where you’d point to some everyday annoyance or inconvenience and say “Crowley did that”? Loved that. Great fun. Genuinely quite therapeutic.

The bad part was, maybe not surprisingly, The Discourse. And listen, as far as the question of “should series 1 be considered Actual Queer Rep” goes, I think there are good arguments on both sides. It’s a complicated topic and obviously a lot of people are going to be bringing their personal feelings and experiences to the table. But like so many internet arguments, any kind of nuance got very quickly drowned in the sea of people obnoxiously trying to shut down anything contrary to what they thought and insisting that anyone who disagreed with them must be morally bad in some way. Like, the people who acted like it was the end of the world if anyone said anything even mildly critical of the way it handled things caused me a lot more anger and frustration than anything Good Omens itself ever did or didn’t do.

The other downside was, to be honest, I never really liked the level of involvement the author had with the fandom, or the way some fans acted (and still act) about him. I don’t like “word of god” at the best of times, I don’t think author comments should be considered “canon” or that anyone should have to take them into account in their interpretation of the material, and with GO that sort of thing was really difficult to avoid. Like it was just expected that everyone was going to listen to what Neil Gaiman said on twitter or whatever and factor it into their reading, and as a result sometimes you’d see people insisting that “such and such is canon” when hardly anyone who just watched the show and took it at face value would come away with that as an interpretation. Like, you shouldn’t have to do background research to have a full understanding of something! I don’t care what Neil Gaiman said on bloody twitter and I shouldn’t have to!

Anyway, those were my major bugbears, but apart from that it’s been a lot of fun, especially in the early days of series 1. I love reading fics that capture the story’s tone and the characters; they’re very fun and endearing characters to engage with and honestly just to play with like dolls in a sandpit. My best experiences with the fandom have primarily been laughing at posts going “lol Crowley glues pound coins to the pavement and then tries to pick them up the next day”. I’m not as active in the fandom these days but I’d still like more of that.

21. do you prefer crowley's hair from s1 or s2? why?

That’s tricky. The colour in S2 is closer to the sort of colour I’d prefer to have myself, and it wasn’t a bad look by any stretch, but the more flashy and obviously-dyed quality maybe wasn’t quite… fitting? Idk. Maybe the first series, just because I preferred the first series in general.

Good Omens ask game

[daz4i]

Hi hi my love!! ^^ So you asked for asks right? :3 I realize a lot of the times when I send you these I tend to ask you to rank stuff lol so I guess I'll lean into it? How about top 5 (or 10 if you have enough) anime series or top 5 (or 10) animated movies? :3 It's pretty general but I figure it should give you a lot of room to go over some of your favorites ^^ Sending love and good wishes!!! ❤️

ehehe thank you my love 🥺👉👈🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

i wanted to do both but then i did the top 5 anime and i got very carried away with my explanations so i kept it as just that. anyway:

1. haikyuu!! probably my favorite show ever tbh. i think hq has a perfect story, like it uses its genre to do everything right, and its impact on the outside world is amazing as well. as for the series itself, it's just beautiful (ignoring that one episode in season 4) and has a very unique style, stellar voice acting, awesome soundtrack, delicious symbolism, and it really gets you hyped for volleyball :P it's very easy to get attached even to the most minor character bc the story is written in a way that lets almost everyone in this HUGE cast (well over a 100 or even 150 named characters, i'm pretty sure) shine, and you're guaranteed to find someone you like. the only downside is you'll probably end up rooting for every team so eventually a team you like will lose a game (likely to another team you like) and that hurts every time fr. and still!!!!! it manages to be so feel-good and optimistic and really gets you pumped and inspired!!!! i think anyone who is even just open to try sports anime should check it out, it's def one of the most accessible I've seen in that genre (in a sense that it doesn't expect you to already be familiar with the sport to understand the story)

2. honestly?? osomatsu-san. probably bc it's very dear to me like emotionally, season 2 was still releasing when i was stuck in the hospital for a few months, and it was like a light i held onto every week (i was also following a few mangas back then but those were harder to follow. due to oso-san's skit nature it was always a good time) and i mean, ichi was my first f/o before i even knew that term existed hehe. it's one of these shows i wouldn't actually recommend to anyone unless i know they're ok with gross or edgy humor but i do think it's really good, i love how meta it is, and i think it uses its premise to deliver maximum entertainment!

(oh my god that was so much gushing abt a silly skit show i am so sorry <- guy who wrote most of the hq gushing after typing this part up. he was not aware)

3. ok so this one's really niche, idk if any of you have even heard of it heh. it's called bungou stray dogs-

ajdkflhlh while i have my gripes with how they adapt the manga, i do still think it's a very good anime as is. it was good enough to get me hooked on the story and characters and want to learn more and follow the story further, yknow? it's beautiful and i love its use of colors for symbolism, it has really great voice acting, and the energy is kept up throughout it enough to remain engaging. it's honestly a show I'd recommend everyone to at least try 🤔!

4. persona 4!!!! from one mediocre adaptation to a GREAT adaptation. i think p4's anime is really really well made - it manages to translate a game this long into a coherent and interesting story, gives its characters time to shine, and maintains a perfect balance between fun and emotions. also it has probably the best dub I've ever heard. naoto's anime voice dni. also i think episode 26 is a true masterpiece i think everyone should watch it

5. ngl. it's a three way tie for me. between shows i only watched once and don't have a lot of attachment to beyond that, but i think they're really good for very different reasons. gekkan shoujo nozaki-kun / great pretender / blue period. i won't go into details on why i love them all bc this post is already long enough. but if you're reading this you should check them out 🫡

also if this post convinces you to check out any show mentioned here you legally have to tell me ok? esp if you end up liking it 🧐🔥🔥