#having to have a mono-opinion on things??

[astrologista]

ppl: hey what if the wacky characters in cartoon action series had like, normal lives and went to work and did all the stuff that we do. like just normal stuff. what if they were meta.

industry: ok. now they go to school and work and have petty fights over doing the dishes.

ppl: cool. so where’s the adventures? when do they defeat the bad guys and fight and get into crazy situations?

industry: they don’t. they just live a normal life. like you. but they’re META. we break the FOURTH WALL in a REVOLUTIONARY and RELATABLE way. don’t forget about the EXTENDED UNIVERSE. other than that nothing really happens. here is our social media with a ton of posts about how we are semi-utilizing the found family trope to create a profit while selling you bland tasteless mush

[lucabyte]

Happy halloween from Purrgatorio!! This year's costume theme is: things that have been distracting me from writing Purrgatorio

[eunnieboo]

IYHM ask replies! (2/3)

🌸 @csevet asked:

hi my copy of iyhm just came in and my fiancee and i snuggled up and read the whole thing cover to cover and CRIED!!! i love when lesbians 💕💞💝💗💝💗💘💞💖💗💝

AHHHHH thank you SO much!!! OMGGGGG 🥺 live laugh lesbian..... 💞💗💖💕💖💞💕💖💗

🌸 @chrysalis-the-butterfly asked:

I read If You'll Have Me a few months ago and I loved it! Your art is so pretty and Momo and PG are such cool characters! 🥰 If you're okay with sharing, I'd be interested to hear what inspired you during the creative process? Were there any pieces of media or any other characters which influenced the formation of Momo and PG? Or did you do your own thing?

oh my gosh! thank you!! i really love character interactions and relationship dynamics, so i wanted to depict two girls who seemed like opposites - one cool and laid-back, the other soft and sweet. after a while they started to take on a life of their own, and i thought it'd be wonderful if their story could evoke the feeling of a shoujo romance!

i had a lot of things on my mind when i wrote the script... friendship, intimacy, communication... communication can be so hard! sometimes it's harder with someone you're close to because their opinion is so important to you. and what happens when you've got a character who's non-confrontational and has low self-esteem + someone who prefers actions over words, and would rather burn bridges than admit to feeling vulnerable? how would they get past that? i wanted to write their flaws as believable, and how their life experiences have shaped the way they think about themselves / the way they respond to personal conflict... but also how they learn from each other and grow ❤️ tysm for the question!!

@bisexualgoof asked:

Hi Eunnie! I just finished reading “If You’ll Have Me” and let me tell you, it was spectacular! I saw it in a local bookstore the other day and it was a no brainer to grab. The characters are so fun, the story is beautiful and heartfelt, and honestly every character is attractive… I especially fell in love with the pages of the books without words, especially 312-313, it made me cry. Such beautiful art! I related to PG’s annoyance with her long hair, I felt very seen with her comments. I’ve definitely said “I’d like to forget” so many times myself, right to my butch heart haha. Thank you for sharing this story with the world, and thank you in particularly for your acknowledgment at the end of the book, it made me feel seen. What an amazing love story, hope to see more of this adorable couple in the future!

oh my goodness!! this is so lovely and wonderful and ahhh T_T thank you so very much. it's such a dream, having these girls be out in the world with their personalities and backstories revealed at last! and i'm so happy to hear about the cast and side characters, i love designing people hehe ♥ i'll definitely keep drawing this couple, alongside more sapphic couples that are to come 😍 thank you!!

🌸 @skittles-rainbow-cat asked:

HI HI HI!!! you’ve been one of my fave artists forever and i just got done with iyhm and it’s sooooo amazing im in love with it. also i think strawberry blonde by chloe moriondo fits mono and pg very well :] i hope you’re having a good day and thank you for all your art it heals me in many ways <3333

HIIII omg!!! thank you so much! this song is so cuteeee oh my gosh this line:

Takes my hand in hers when the lights aren’t on Smaller than mine and oh god I am gone

it's so sweet ;_; thank you forever, i hope you're having a wonderful day!! <3 <3 <3

🌸 @lord-of-the-froggies asked:

Howdy Eunnie! I know you're probably swamped with work right now, but I just wanna let you know that I got my copy of your book today!! I'm gonna start reading it right away, it looks and feels amazing. From a fellow Washington artist to another--congratulations on such a huge achievement!

yay hello fellow washingtonian! and fellow artist!! thank you so much for your kind words 🥺 and i'm so glad the book got to you safely! wishing you a happy read~

🌸 Anonymous asked:

I just found your art today and after scrolling through your stuff I went and pre-ordered your book. I'm so excited!!

omggg thank you that means so much!!! ;_; <3

🌸 @ddooyoung asked:

I got my (signed!) copy of the book, and I love it SO MUCH. It's everything I was hoping and more. I love finally getting to know them, especially Momo. Since the first time I saw them, I thought Momo was a lot like me and now I have confirmation 😆 Thank you so much for writing such a wonderful story!!! I'm excited for everything you do 💗

WAHH thank you so much!! yesss i'm so overjoyed to finally share their story after so long! i hope the signature turned out okay, i was very nervous signing books for the first time (shaky hand and everything) 😱 i think next time it would be fun to make a custom stamp and stamp a doodle next to my signature hehe. thank you again!!! 💕

🌸 Anonymous asked:

I somehow missed the news about your having created a whole damn book?? was just flipping through yu & me books's holiday gift guide and did a double take when I saw priscilla and momo!! zoomed in and sure enough, there was your name at the bottom! congrats on ihym and congrats on being featured on rec lists from shops as cool as yu & me 🎉😍

omggg thank you thank you!! 🥰 AHHH yu & me books looks so amazing! i've been to new york just once but if i ever get to go back i have to visit them... i'm always looking for indie bookstores to throw my money at 😤

🌸 Anonymous asked:

1. Will there be an “if you’ll have me” sequel? 2. Is Momo her full name or a Nick name? If it’s a Nick name what is her full name? Thank you i love your work! ❤️😊

ahh there's no sequel planned as of right now! but i'd love to make one if i get the chance... i have some ideas that i think would be fun <3 and momo gardner is her full name! i liked gardner because it made me think of flowers ☺️❤️ thank you so much!!

🌸 @upsidedown-shadow-dreamer asked:

Hello, long time fan here. If You'll Have Me was delivered an hour ago and I've already finished my first read. OMG it's AMAZING. I love the story, the beautiful art, the inner thoughts, the pacing, the page color changes for back story… Just major WOW. I hope you are so proud of this work. I'm already looking forward to reading it again. Thank you!!!

this is sooooo AHHHHH T_T i'm in tears. i can't tell you how happy and thrilled i am to hear this!!! it's so encouraging and uplifting and ahh!! i want to make more stories... and just knowing that this book will be read by the same person more than once, omg! it's truly the highest of praise. thank you from the bottom of my heart <333

🌸 Anonymous asked:

Hello!! I just remembered I could borrow graphic novels as e-books from my local library, found IYHM, devoured the entire thing in one sitting, then went through your tags so I could look at all your other IYHM art, and I was wondering if you'll make more stories about Momo and PG because I can't get enough of them! Absolutely obsessed with these two and I love seeing them so happy together 💖💖💖💖

hello!! oh i'm absolutely over the moon about this! i can definitely see myself making a follow-up book if i'm so lucky 🙏 but i'll keep on drawing more minicomics and illustrations no matter what!! thank you so much for this wonderful message 💕💕💕💕

🌸 Anonymous asked:

hi!! love love love your art!!! do you think we can expect to see another graphic novel about momo and priscilla in the future?

🌸 Anonymous asked:

I’ve read IYHM so many times already and I absolutely loved it!!!! Are you planning on writing another book with Momo and PG? Is is there a way we can buy more of your stories?

thank you both so much!!!! <3 a sequel is actually one of the ideas i pitched for my second book! my editor cautioned against it in case IYHM didn't perform well, so i ended up going in a different direction - but my fingers are crossed for future opportunities 😤 realistically, it will probably depend on sales... but for the record, i'd want to do one regardless of the numbers...

i have one more book coming out, which i'm working on right now! the timeline is a bit up in the air atm but i'll try to keep everyone posted. making a book is so slow but i'm so grateful to you all for waiting 🥺💛

🌸 @randomqueernoun asked:

Do you make webcomics for other apps/websites? If yes where can I find them and what do I search in them to find your comics?

ahh not at the moment! but thank you SO much for the interest! one of my biggest goals right now is to set up a website where i have all my work in one place, and that would definitely be the place where i post future webcomics 👀

also, just as an aside... i want to make webcomics so bad. i think after my next book, i might take a break from traditional publishing to do that. sometimes i can't believe i'm drawing hundreds of pages i can't post... i'm like, how are people supposed to read this if i can't show them? how will they know?! ahh it kills me... but yes... someday!!!

part 3 to come~

[richarlotte]

how to get ahead in college?

How to get AHEAD. 

Set up your social media accounts and then put them on private. People you don’t know don’t need to have access to too much information or photos of you. If you decide to put them on public, keep yourself very safe.

 

Know the look, but know that it’s up to you whether to emulate it or not. Sometimes your best bet is creating and doing your own thing. Knowing the look does work, but having your own essence is also important.

 

Get an idea of the popular venues, events, and groups around campus. You should know where to be, what to try, how to get yourself in, and when to show up there.

 

Keep at least a 3.3 GPA throughout your first semester. Realistically, 3.5 is a much better bet, and shoot for a 3.75 or a 4 if you have it in you; your academic success should always come first when you’re away at school.

 

Start connecting with people before you get to campus. Use social media as a tool to do this, and don’t be afraid to reach out; you don’t need to be focusing on making best friends, but you should get to know the people you’ll be around when you’re at uni.

 

Learn how to do your own maintenance and how to fix yourself up. I’ve saved so much money, and it’s so convenient to be able to do what I want when I want. If there are any services you love, learn how to do them and then perfect the skills you’re teaching yourself.

 

Learn who to avoid and why they’re notorious. YikYak, GreekRank, and the GCs can be toxic, but there can be some truth to the rumors. Also, listen to the older girls. 

 

Save!! Living alone at school for the first time can be expensive. Save up, get a part-time job or on-campus job, and make sure you’re being smart with your funds. Don’t go crazy spending, don’t live outside your means, and don’t lose your mind trying to keep up. 

 

Men are not the center of the world, and a college-aged guy’s opinion of you isn’t going to make or break you. Don’t ever take them too seriously, make sure to have fun, and play the game if that’s your thing. Things will happen once you’ve settled into the dating scene. 

 

Once you make good friends, put effort into keeping them. It can be incredibly isolating to be on campus, and it can be hard to thrive if you’re alone. Put effort into keeping your friendships, do the hard work, and build relationships with the people you get to know.

 

Network your ass off and get used to using your resources. Take advantage of career fairs, get involved with on-campus opportunities, and take your future seriously. Graduation and a good job are the end goals, and networking to get to where you want to be is an essential part of navigating adult life and your career.

 

Don’t be ashamed if you’re struggling. If you need help, then you should be going to study and office hours, and if you feel overwhelmed, then you should be reaching out to people who can help you. Every person needs and deserves support, and support and success go hand in hand. You need support to succeed at uni.

 

Take care of yourself and your health. The amount of Freshman 15, Frat Flu, Mono, Strep, and exhaustion I’ve seen is insane, and a new environment will run you down like nothing else. Take care of your mind, your body, and your soul, and rest before you’re forced to.

 

Learn your limits. If you party, then you need to know how much you can drink, and if you party party, you need to be a responsible adult and test your stuff. If you feel like you’re developing a problem, stop and get help before you spiral and can’t come back from it.

 

Keep your environment clean. You should have a weekly home and clothes cleaning session, and you should take pride in having a tidy space. One of my greatest joys is how nice I’ve been able to keep my space, and I love how I have my little room arranged.

 

Skipping class is a very slippery slope; make sure you are attending. Same with getting work done: if you plan on going out, then do your work early on in the day, and if you want to spend your weekends going out or relaxing, get it done earlier in the week and do it right.

 

Sometimes working out, a good meal, and sleep are the cure. Make sure you’re not running on empty before you respond and take the time to cool down if necessary. Most campuses are smaller than you’d think, and totally crashing out is never the answer. 

 

Meet people, meet everyone, and take the time to get to know people who come from different backgrounds and cultures. It can be so fun to get to know new people and new things. Make an effort to interact with people you normally wouldn’t and get to know them. 

Richarlotte x

[elizaaarts]

[AU] Little Nightmares: DARK FATE (PART 59)

> NEXT

> PREVIOUS

Bruce's time to shine~ ✨️

This part is a huge outburst from Bruce and everything he is feeling and going through with Wendy, all the risks they are taking since Mono and Six's fight. This is proof that some actions have consequences, and this affects not only those involved but also his friends. Bruce is basically the leader of this group, he values everyone's safety and we know how calm he is, but this time he reached his limit just like Mono.

Lollipop may be being too hard on Mono, but like I said, he cares about everyone's safety and doesn't want any more of these fights happening every time Mono and Six touch each other. That's why Wendy doesn't even react because she also agrees with everything he says, that is, it's a shared feeling.

And this part also shows that Mono does regret what he did, but he hadn't realized that it negatively affected Spoon and Lollipop, so he desperately wants to fix things. Because he is just a boy who does not want to suffer rejection and abandonment from the people around him, in other words, Monophobia.

I would like to know your opinion, did Bruce go too hard on Mono? I would love to see your comments 👉👈

By the way, see you next year, happy new year in advance to everyone! ✨️✨️

[simbouquet]

TS3: Better Greet

This mod requires Lazy Duchess’ Mono Patcher Library to work properly!

Here’s a brand new script mod for you! I got sick of seeing all Sims greet each other with handshakes, so I made this mod to fix and expand upon one of EA’s most annoying oversights in my opinion.

Better Greet overhauls the visual aspect of the Greet social interaction and allows Sims to play diverse greeting animations under different circumstances. See more details on all its features under the cut! 👋

Overview

In the vanilla game, greetings are limited almost exclusively to handshakes, with the only exceptions being the cultural greetings from World Adventures and the Proper greetings from Supernatural, as well as a rare ‘wave’ greeting that takes place when one of the involved Sims is carrying a baby or an object.

This behavior seems to be an oversight by the developers, as the Social Data for the Greet interaction includes some rules that in theory would allow Sims to use different animations when greeting friends, romantic partners and so on, but the actual script that handles greetings completely disregards these rules.

This mod aims to solve that and expand upon the possibilities by making Sims’ greetings also take into account things like personality traits, social group and relationship status.

Features

There are a host of new conditions under which Sims can perform the new greeting styles. Some aspects of these conditions can be edited in the mod’s Tuning resource, such as the relationship level or social group level required for a greeting to be performed. By default, the mod is tuned in a way that strangers, acquaintances, friends and romantic partners all greet each other differently.

Though there are no hard requirements, many of the greeting styles rely on expansion packs for their animations or to fulfill certain requirements, such as: World Adventures, Showtime, University Life, Island Paradise, Into The Future. The mod can still be used without any of these packs, the corresponding greeting types will simply not be available.

If UL is installed, Socially Awkward Sims have a chance of performing some greetings awkwardly. The reaction to these greetings depends on the target Sim's traits; friendlier Sims won't mind and will turn an awkward greeting into a successful one.

There are three optional alternate modes available that modify the greeting rules, which can be enabled in the Tuning XML file:

Require Greet Before Socializing: If this feature is enabled, Sims outside the current household will need to be greeted before they can be socialized with, similar to TS2's behavior.

Euro Mode: Adjusts the rules of the Double Cheek Kiss greeting in order to mimic the customs of parts of the world where giving a kiss on each cheek is a common greeting. This can be mixed and matched with the Check Gender tuning, which can restrict this greeting to be performed only with female Sims if enabled.

Historical Mode: Makes Proper Bow and Curtsey the default greetings (SN required) and disables some greetings that might not fit in a historical gameplay setting, such as High Five or Shaka Bra. Players who use the LN Celebrity system to simulate social ranks can take advantage of the Celeb Check tuning, which makes Sims greet with Proper Bow or Curtsey with Sims of a higher celebrity level, and Handshake with Sims of a lower celebrity level.

Acquaintance Greetings

Wave: By default, Sims will introduce themselves with a Wave instead of a Handshake. If their LTR is -20 or below, they will always use this greeting, with special animations if LN is installed.

Handshake: Sims will greet with a Handshake if at least one of the Sims is an adult, or if one of the Sims is a Workaholic. If WA is installed, two Workaholic Sims will greet with a Fast Handshake.

Double Cheek Kiss: If WA is installed and Euro Mode is enabled, Friendly Sims can greet with a Double Cheek Kiss as long as the target is not a Loner.

Friendly Greetings

Friendly Hug: Sims will greet with a Friendly Hug if their LTR is at least 40. If one of the Sims is a Loner, their LTR must be at least 60.

Shaka Bra: If IP is installed, Sims who share the Loves to Swim trait and have a LTR of at least 15 will perform this greeting.

What's Up: If SHT is installed and the actor has the Social Butterfly trait, they will perform this greeting with other Sims if their LTR is at least 10. Uses the Trait Bonding animation. If SHT is not installed, the required trait is Schmoozer.

Double Cheek Kiss: If WA is installed, Sims who share either the Snob or Diva (SHT) traits will perform this greeting if their LTR is at least 25. If Euro Mode is enabled, the trait requirement is skipped.

High Five: If UL and ITF are installed, Sims who share a Social Group can greet with a High Five as long as their influence level is at least 1, and they have a LTR value of at least 20.

Old Friend Hug: If ITF is installed, Old Friends can perform this greeting. Uses the Hug Long Lost Descendant animation. 

Romantic Greetings

Amorous Hug: Romantically involved Sims will perform this greeting if their LTR value is at least 60.

Shy Kiss: Romantically involved Sims will perform this greeting if they have had their first kiss before and the actor is Shy and their LTR is at least 70.

Amorous Kiss: Romantically involved Sims will perform this greeting if they have had their first kiss before and their LTR is at least 80. Shy Sims can perform this greeting if their LTR is at least 90.

Dip Kiss: If ITF is installed, Romantically Involved Sims will perform this greeting if the actor isn't Shy, is a Hopeless Romantic, has had their first kiss before and their LTR is at least 90.

Gestures

In addition to the improved Greet rules, I’ve added a new Gesture… pie menu category full of custom interactions equivalent to most of the new greeting styles, giving you options to greet Sims however you prefer. This feature can be toggled on or off by editing the Tuning XML file.

By default, many gestures have the same LTR requirements as they do in Greet, but most of them have no trait requirements (exceptions being Bow, Proper Bow and Curtsey.) Some gestures also have a chance of failing if the initiator has the Socially Awkward trait. These can all be modified in the Tuning XML file, so you can disable the Socially Awkward outcomes for gestures or get rid of all LTR/trait restrictions altogether.

To avoid redundancy, some gestures are essentially clones of the socials they share animations with and are only available when the target Sim hasn’t been greeted yet, such as Friendly Hug and all the romantic greetings. High Five and Shaka Bra have been hidden from the Friendly category and made available in the Gesture category instead.

Strings & Language Support

The new Gesture pie menu interactions are translated in the following languages:

English

Chinese — zh-TW (by Little Duck Liu – 24/01/2024)

Czech (by ProtectusCZ – 22/01/2024)

French (by Nostural – 10/07/2024)

German (by McNero – 25/01/2024)

Italian (by Giuls.ds – 10/07/2024)

Polish (by FernPolska – 10/07/2024)

Portuguese — pt-BR (by Aeri – 20/11/2024)

Russian (by @hydro1st – 24/01/2024)

Spanish — es-ES and es-MX (by me, with adjustments by @patrycarro – 25/01/2025)

Swedish (by kaellstroem – 25/01/2025)

In addition to the brand new strings for gestures, I’ve replaced the strings of some tangentially related interactions:

In the Spanish versions of the game, the Invite Over phone interaction was incorrectly translated to “Invitar a casa” (Invite Home), despite actually inviting the Sim to whichever lot the active Sim is currently in, not just their home lot. Corrected to “Invitar a solar actual” (Invite to Current Lot.) Other languages this mod is translated in may include their own correction of the string if necessary. All other languages will continue to use the original interaction name.

It’s possible the same mistake occurs in other localizations of the game, so as always, I appreciate any submissions of STBLs in other languages!

The Ask to Leave interaction is renamed to Goodbye across all supported languages. A little less crass sounding if you want to send a visiting friend home. 🙂

Ask Everyone to Leave is renamed to Goodbye to Everyone. Since I couldn’t find the exact string in the game files like I could with “Goodbye”, I've only made this change in English and Spanish (es-ES & es-MX). Other languages this mod is translated in may or may not include their own adjustment for this string. All other languages will continue to use the original interaction name.

Tuning

To edit the mod’s tuning, open the .package file with s3pe and edit the Tuning XML resource in a text editor of your choice.

There are lots of different tunables as I've tried to make the mod as customizable as possible, but adding them all in here would make the post even longer than it already is 😅. I've tried to organize them as neatly as I could in the XML so hopefully you'll be able to make changes easily!

Compatibility

Conflicts with any other mod that replaces the social_greet jazz script in JazzData.

Download: SFS / MTS / Patreon

28/01/2025: Fixed Sims resetting when inviting or being invited by another Sim to a lot.

25/01/2025: Added Mono Patcher dependency. - Implemented optional Require Greet Before Socializing feature. - Fixed Old Friend Hug not running properly. - Removed SocializingActionAvailability XML override from the package. - Fixed "Be Greeted" interaction text not being localized in non-English games.

20/11/2024: The Gesture... social category can now be toggled on or off via the Tuning XML file.

09/11/2024: Fixed Gesture... social category showing up erroneously in certain situations.

25/01/2024: Adjusted greetings for Historical Mode; lower celebrity level Sims greet with Bow or Curtsey, higher celebrity level Sims greet with Handshake.

24/01/2024: Check Gender now only checks gender within the Greet social; Gestures can be performed freely regardless of gender. - Hidden Gesture... social category when a Sim is asleep. 21/01/2024: Updated with the following features: - Implemented Gestures, allowing Sims to perform any greeting animation at any time. - Implemented Historical Mode; replaces Wave with Bow or Curtsey and disables "modern" greetings such as High Five or Shaka Bra. - Added string replacements and corrections.

19/10/2023: Fixed custom tuning not working properly.

26/06/2023: Fixed Child Sims stretching; adjusted rules for Friendly Hug greetings between Child Sims and older Sims.

19/06/2023: Initial release.

Credits & Thanks

Battery’s Script Mod Template Creator: Getting started with scripting quickly.

nraas: I studied their code and used parts of it to work out how to replace the Action Data of a social interaction, as well as inject the tuning of one interaction into another.

dnSpy: Peeking into the game’s files.

Visual Studio 2022: Writing the script.

s3pe: Exporting/Importing resources, creating the package file.

Adobe Photoshop: Creating and editing the preview image.

Thanks to @lazyduchess for helping me with scripting!

Thanks to @misspats3 and @probablyzora for testing and giving feedback!

Thanks to the lovely community at TS3 Creators Cave!

Hey bb girl mwah!

[astaroth1357]

My Incredibly Spoiler Heavy Thoughts on Nightbringer

TURN BACK IF YOU HAVE ANY INTEREST IN PLAYING THE GAME AT ALL. I MEAN IT.

Hello. I have completed all 10 lessons on the Normal difficulty. These are my thoughts:

First, a disclaimer. All of this is my opinion. If you feel differently about a character or plot point, that's fine. This is all just as I see it.

Holy hell, I love the setup here so damn much. The Nightbringer story so far is truly more than just a rehash of the OG plot, largely because of all the small stuff that keeps happening in background. Yes, we're befriending the brothers again, but we don't know WHY. Why are we in the past? Who sent us there? What do they want from us, or... what do they want out of somebody else?? 👀 I have to hand it to the writers for coming up with this premise, it's soild. Will they stick the landing...? We'll see.

The New! (Old) Cast

Lucifer:

Whelp, Luci is being colder to us than ever... But far more openly involved with his brothers than we saw previously. You can really tell that this is fresh off of the War and he's just trying his best to keep everybody corralled and (somewhat) comfortable.

He still holds onto his Celestial Realm prejudice against demons, so he doesn't trust MC at all which is an interesting turn on the dynamic from before. As a human, Lucifer saw us as weak and insignificant so he didn't give us much time of day. But as a "demon," and someone more knowledgeable about the Devildom than himself, he has to suck it up and rely on MC even if he wants them to stay away.

By the end of Lesson 10, it's safe to say whatever trust he had in MC is going to be shattered. MC has talked their way out of a lot, but even Dia looks shaken by their abilities this time... I'm curious to see if they can reestablish a relationship with him when he was already keeping them at arms length to start with.

Mammon:

Ah, Mammon... Once simp, forever a simp across time and space. Bless him. I guess he's just doomed to always fall first when it comes to MC. It DOES NOT take long for him to be down bad even if you don't romance him specifically (I would know because I'm trying to stay mono-Levi this go around).

Aside from his tsundere-ness, though, we do get a look into more of his insecurities. I find an interesting pattern developing in him where he just tends to latch onto a person and follow them unfailing. He did that with Lucifer before the Fall, he didn't even think about the consequences before going through with it. You could see him doing much the same with MC. I think it stems from a lack of confidence in himself and his own abilities, constantly relying on others to guide him through big decisions and provide him with validation. Add another poor thing to the list...

Leviathan:

I swear to God, the devs realized that Levi's charm lies in his pathos, so they went out of the way to make him EVEN MORE pathetic than normal. I still love him for it, of course. But seriously, Levi starts out practically afraid of his own shadow when the story starts. It makes sense, Levi would have probably one of the more negative impressions of demons of the seven, having fought them head on. He was a shut in before the War and now he's even more terrified to leave the house, let alone his room... (I can't be the only one who's wondering how the hell Dia's going to look at him and go, "Ah yes! I see Admiral material right there!" right?)

I do like that the writers took the time to show that he's one of the more empathetic brothers, right alongside Asmo and Beel, even if he's bad with people. Levi is quick to sympathize with beings and creatures who don't fit in and it's always very sweet to see. I also guess that Simeon wrote TSL in secret or after the War? You think he would know of it at least having lived so long with the author... Anyway. I digress.

There's a lot of... small things around Levi that I think hint at the inner feelings of the brothers, though (of all seven of them, he has the WORST poker face I swear). I may touch on those in another post because I need time to gather my thoughts on how it all connects there... Anyway, he's still my favorite and I'm going to try to see if there's any truth to this "you get a deeper connection if you stick to one brother" thing. Wish me luck.

Satan:

Okay, load your guns now because I think Satan is the real star of the show here. They're actually pulling way more than the "He's mad because he's seen like Lucifer" card. We're at a point where Satan doesn't even consider himself associated with the brothers AT ALL. That means something and has consequences on the story. He didn't even go with them to check on Beel, despite having enough fire power that he could have probably helped a lot.

Now before someone goes screaming at me that they've devolved him into comic relief, I'd first like to ask what did you think he was going to be? OG Satan told us himself that he used to feel nothing but anger. He's going to be pissed, irrational, and violent. He's Wrath.

What truly they're giving us under all of that is a look into a vulnerable guy who doesn't know anything about the world around him and is trying to pick it up on his own because his brothers can't (and maybe won't) teach him. They keep chaining him up (which I hate btw) and talk about him like he's a beast. But it's partially because they're such terrible communicators that he flies off the handle so often to begin with.

Satan is more alone than really anybody else is the Devildom. His brothers already have all this history together and memories shared during their time as angels, stuff he has no context for and could never experience himself. He's still an outcast among demons for his association with them, despite being a fully fledged demon in his own right, and he doesn't know why he has to be linked to them because he barely knows them anyway. He's taking baby steps to understand the world, but when he goes to his brothers to ask questions they lampshade him for even having clear thoughts. All they see him as is a roaring beast. This version of Satan is fascinating to me. How does he start here and end up the eloquent, emotionally-controlled bookworm with a planet's worth of connections? I gotta know!!

Asmodeus:

They FINALLY started giving Asmo his proper flowers! I still think it could have been more, but he's gotten way more depth than he had before. I know that Asmo part technically involved MC's input the least out of all of the brothers, but I think that was by design.

Asmo is a surprisingly introspective individual under his urge to perform. MC didn't have to give much input because he just didn't need as much. He knows himself very well (unlike some of the others). He's an emotionally intelligent guy who can sort out his own inner problems and remain empathetic enough to want to help his brothers in his own way. I wanted to hear more from this side of Asmo, honestly, but the game seems to make it clear that he's content with his spot of being the family's brightest smile. I hope it makes more appearances as we go on.

Beelzebub:

This one is tricky, because lesson 10 leaves off on a cliffhanger related to Beel... So I think Beel's feelings will have more consequences than the other brothers' on the story. Most of all that we see of Beel is, unfortunately, him being hungry or off being wholesome with Belphie but lesson 10 did give us some eye-openers regardless.

First, apparently if he flies off the handle, Beel is quite the challenge to handle. It takes Dia himself to restrain him, which is pretty insane for the sixthborn in the line-up. It's possible some outside magic is cranking up his power somehow, but we won't know until the next lessons are out.

Secondly, I find it very interesting that Beel's "heart-to-heart" moment with us is being saved for last... It was definitely the most surprising one of the secrets in the teasers (in my opinion). Beel and Belphie are glued to the hip and share everything together so for him to have a secret "not even Belphie" knows is pretty shocking. I hope it's not just that he saved Belphie instead of Lilith since we all already know that. It'd be a pretty cheap pay off to all this buildup... Not that I haven't been disappointed before or anything.

Belphegor:

Similar to Beel, Belphie doesn't get much attention until the end and it isn't much that we haven't heard before, unfortunately. You kind can't blame them, since plumbing out Belphie's inner trauma about the War was the entire climax of the first game. It's nothing we don't already know. That being said, I think there's some more interesting things that are being said about Belphie or left unsaid by the others that I find more fascinating to keep track of.

TLDR, I think there's some weird distancing going on between Belphie and the others. It doesn't seem super apparent, but Levi dropped some weird bombshells early on and I can't help but notice how he just never seems to be without Beel. Those two are close, yeah, but in this game they're practically a unit. I'm pretty sure Belphie is using Beel as a security blanket of sorts. He's also the ONLY one to mention Lilith in any great detail. Unsurprising, but it's worth noting that the others haven't really brought her up despite it (supposedly) starting the War.

Diavolo:

Somebody give this guy a vacation and a raise... So apparently, the brothers were cast down, the old King took one look at them and counted to seven, then conked out. Now our boy has to rule the kingdom. He's... the same really. As far as I can tell. You can really see how much he's taken to the brothers' antics though, which checks out in the other game too.

WAAAY more fascinating to me is apparently there's some kind of body called the House of Lords who think that Dia is too young for the job. What's the House of Lords?? Who are they? Are they like a council or advisory board...? Or is this a UK setup? Is there a Parliamentary board?? I dunno, could just be my Poli Sci talking but I'm now so lost on how the Devildom operates now...

Barbatos:

Oh my God, if there is any character I could live vicariously through, it was Barbs here. For whatever unnamed reason he is NOT having any of Solomon's shit right now and I'm living for it. Setting my delight aside, we don't get to see very much of him and what we do see doesn't really differ from the norm, which only makes his detest all the more shocking.

Through Barbs, we also see just how potent the power of the pacts can be when Solomon summons him and more or less forces him to do as he says. Nothing seems to stop him from retaliating after the fact, as he sent Solomon off who knows where, but seeing that kind of power wielded over a being who's almost unattainable to us is... Well. I feel bad for Asmo.

Simeon:

There's a lot to unpack with Simeon... and a lot of it is in the stuff that goes unsaid. First, I already found it strange that he didn't seem surprised to see Satan in the House. Or if he was, he didn't say it or bother introducing himself which is... telling for a guy like Simeon. He's back to being Luke's minder in front of demons, but I can't help but notice that he doesn't do much to counter Luke's tirades. He only indicates that it's impolite to say them, so he may still harbor the very same feelings.

Simeon and Lucifer have something of a heart to heart together that they never would in the OG title where Simeon admits his biggest regret. It isn't that he didn't follow Lucifer, as we might think, but that he doesn't feel like did enough to reach out to him before he made his decision. Lucifer dispells this, but I think it goes to show that Simeon stands behind his decision to stay and that it was the better option. Lucifer also confront Simeon on why he didn't take a high position (seraph) and instead settled for archangel. It's left open ended what his real motives for that would be, but I suspect that it has something to do with Simeon's troubling streak of going against the grain, even in subtle ways. Or he has too much anger about what happened to accept taking Lucifer's old position.

I found it interesting how easily these two seemed to talk about intimate topics together here where Lucifer barely even acknowledges Simeon's attempts to reach out in the OG story. I wonder what may have happened to sour their relationship so severely...?

Luke:

Luke the Racist Chihuahua returns!! Okay, I'm being a little mean but he's pretty much just self-righteous little kid the whole way through. I will admit, it is a little funny that the person who came up with the nickname was actually Lucifer. I think it's now retconned and confirmed that Luke and the brothers never knew each other before the Fall... though Luke seems to know OF their former selves in some capacity. I could be misinterpreting things though.

The Rat Bastard Solomon:

I swear to God this was me playing through the whole game tied to this guy.

He's lying. A lot. Constantly. And it pisses me off to no end. I was wondering why things he was saying and the stuff he was doing weren't lining up and OF COURSE it's because he's either working his own agenda or being outright deceitful. I hate him so much, y'all, you don't even know...

That aside, as an impartial observer Solomon is pulling a lot of work to support MC and you can TELL how down bad he is for them, which actually has significance for the plot I think. He's keeping them in the dark about something, but considering his feelings I say we can at least be charitable and assume it isn't to hurt them or cause them any suffering... intentionally. He's also as unscrupulous as ever, considering how he ordered a very angry Barbs around and more or less took advantage of a life or death situation to make a pact with Asmo.

So. At the end of the lessons, we're reintroduced to the mysterious Nightbringer. The character who actually sent us back in time at the start of the game. Yeah, it wasn't Barbatos... probably. At least not our reliable neighborhood butler anyway. They seem to be different entities but I THINK they might share some connection....

I have to wonder who disguised MC when they first arrived. The marketing made it seem like it would be Solomon but the marketing has been hit or miss on actual accuracy about the game we're seeing. If it was Solomon, then he had to have known where the MC was before he called. If it was Nightbringer then... well actually. We need to touch on that first.

Nightbringer:

Now, much of this is just me speculating so take things with a grain of salt. Nightbringer's name is blocked out, but it seems like it identified itself to us in the beginning before sending us to the past. It appears like it wants something from Solomon.... to fully corrupt him maybe? And it's using MC as leverage against him.

I suspect that all of the weird stuff that has been happening is tied to its meddling in some way, but to what end is unclear... Sending Levi and MC into TSL, tricking Asmo then trying to feed everyone to a spider, and, likely, whatever is going on with Beel. I can't tell if it's trying to push MC and the brother's closer together, or just making vaguely comical attempts at homicide by fictional characters, spider, and Gluttony incarnate.

The situation with Adam does give us a hint into its nature. It appears to be some kind of dark, trickster being that gives a person what they desire, but never the way they intended. A walking monkey's paw, if you will. Solomon says that Nightbringer made him what he is today, so perhaps he worked under it or is simply under the influence of one its "deals." Their relationship is adversarial, though. When they're speaking, they talk about the two supernatural sides, Angel and Demon, and Nightbringer seems to want to force Solomon to make a choice between them. Lose his humanity, maybe?

I'm not quite willing to say that Nightbringer is a demon just yet, at least not one of the ones we normally encounter. Something about it seems... older. More powerful than that. But we'll have to wait for more info.

My crackpot theory?

Solomon has made a deal with Nightbringer in order to go back in time and do... something. He's after something. Nightbringer agreed, but dragged MC along as collateral for Solomon to get it done within a certain amount of time or makes sure he honors his part of the bargin. Barbatos knows this, either because he is linked to in some way to Nightbringer or saw it happen in the doorway, and is disgusted by his actions but unable to speak about it due to the pact. Or, you know. That's our present Barbie also dragged along for the ride and he's pissed that he's been essentially hijacked and taken away from present Diavolo, but forbidden to speak about it.

[monodramatic-cannibal]

Realized I never posted my Crossmare ship kid.

So here's Raiden :D I will put into for him under the cut if ayone is curious about him.

Head Canon voice: (Wanderer ((English)) from genshin impact) (Personality wise he's also quite similar to Wanderer too)

More info on his design:

He’s actually goop like Nightmare, it's just his goop is different colours. Has claws which they’re red like the marking on his face. When viewing his eye from the side the star pupil can be seen slightly above his eye. The skeletal things on his tentacles can be shot out/thrown as a sort of weapon can regenerate. The main necklace part is actually a gem. His legs have the same gradient that's on his face (the dark to light, doesn’t have red in the gradient on his legs)

Some info on family:

Raiden was raised primarily by Nightmare and Cross, but had the rest of the murder trio to look after him too. To him Killer is like an older brother, whereas Dust and Horror more so feel like uncles to him. Nightmare was the one to give him an education, as well as Raiden picking up a sharp tongue from him. Cross was the one to train him in combat in both physically fighting and being combat smart too. As well as dealing with Raiden’s emotional needs. (Both Nightmare and Cross may do the other’s role from time to time. E.g. Rai learning more dumb insults from Cross, or Nightmare providing a more logical emotional approach to a situation)

The way Nightmare and Cross raised Raiden is they both agreed to not push Raiden in a direction to be good or bad. Both of them would like Raiden to be a better person than them. But they know they can’t say much given how they are, especially now with how smart Raiden is, if they tried to push him to be good he’d probably use it against them. So they feel they made the right call with raising him.

Raiden was about before Dream/Nightmare made the truce, Nightmare kept Dream from knowing about Raiden, not wanting his enemy to know about his kid. But Nightmare never talked bad about Dream around Raiden, wanting Raiden to make his own opinions on Dream without his input. A year or two after the truce became a thing (around when Raiden was 14) Nightmare did tell Raiden if he wanted to go seek out his brother he could, but Raiden didn’t care too much to know him. Dream (and his group) only found out about Raiden recently.

Raiden doesn’t care too much about Dream or his group. Nor does he make much of an effort to get to know them. Finds them weird.

Who Raiden feels is his family: Nightmare: Dad (on rare occasions calls him Old Man) Cross: Pa / Pops Killer: (older brother figure) Dust: (Uncle figure) Horror: (Uncle figure) Error: (unsure but sees him as family) (will add more when I figure out more about Rai)

His magic/attacks/etc:

A lot of the magic he can preform have an ‘X’ theme to them. E.g. things like this (this being one of Arlecchino’s attacks in genshin, but I’m stealing its look for Raiden)

When his attacks aren’t ‘X’ themed they tend to look like lightning bolts (him living up to his name)

He can create a small (unseen) bubble around himself, when people enter this bubble they’re in an awake nightmare. Raiden being able to control the space within this bubble manipulating reality within this bubble as if it was a nightmare. Though this drains Raiden very quickly.

He also has blades he can summon. To most these blades appear to be shaped like lightning bolts, when in reality Raiden actually based it off of Cross’s scar. And at this point Raiden is too embarrassed to admit that to anyone.

---------

He doesn’t fully understand how to express emotions or how to understand others emotions. He struggles a bit, he still does express emotions, it’s just they may be a bit random sometimes. E.g. he’s annoyed most of the time, or may find things funny in situations he shouldn’t. He is a good person, and does have manners. It’s just he’s selective on who he decides to offer his polite side too.

Him being somewhat monotone and having a sharp tongue means he tends to upset or anger people who don’t understand how he speaks. He also doesn’t like most people, is very picky with who he decides to get along with. So even if someone can understand him there's a chance that Raiden will just be disgusted with them for no reason. He very much struggles to hold his tongue, often speaking without thinking. Which sometimes lands him in trouble.

Finds it hard to comprehend how others think, especially if they have a drastically different view to him. Will basically have a crisis thinking about how others have thoughts that he doesn’t know. (Not main character syndrome, more so people exist and have their own thoughts and feelings that I can’t understand, and I don’t like that)

He very much adores his family, and as much as he tends to insult everyone (Nightmare is the only one in the group that can escape his insults), he will apologize if he does feel like he’s actually upset one of them.

He is very much a family person, preferring to stick to his family and people they get along with over making his own friends. Doesn’t mean he won’t make his own friends, it’s just easier for him to stick to people who can understand him or explain to others how to understand him.

----------

Some info on the world/au:

In the world of this au both Nightmare’s and Dream’s group called a truce, Error and Ink also have their own separate truce between them. Basically for them not to cause any drastic positivity/negativity but both (Nightmare/Dream) allowed to step in if the balance of emotions in the multiverse gets out of whack.

The au follows more fanon interpretations of the groups, as well as my own head canons and such, I may or may not change lore as well for some characters.

[hello-vampire-kitty]

Servamp chapter 139 translation "Daylight"

Read the chapter on Mangadex!

Translation notes

The title of the chapter 真昼の光 can also be interpreted as "Mahiru's light", so it wasn't easy to decide because we can't tell if the title is meant to have Mahiru's name or the translation of the word 真昼 "mahiru". Regarding the 2ndpage, Mahiru used the word もの (mono) and because it wasn't written in kanji, it can be interpreted either as "things" or "people.

Written with the kanji 者 is mainly used to specify someone's role/characteristic rather than just as a generic term for "person."

I personally think it's weird that 人 (hito) "person" wasn't used. Mahiru's first line could be interpreted as "things" he believes in, but the 2nd one can only refer to people belevng in him.

Because of the panels with Kuro and Tooru, I think in both lines もの is reffering to people.

Tooru likes to make puns which in Japanese are called "dajare" ダジャレ. Tooru makes puns using the structure だけに which translates something like "because…you know?"

The first time he makes a joke was in volume 2, so I'm gonna try explain how it works to understand how I adapted Jun's line, so we have to go back to the early chapters of the manga.

In Japanese he says 強盗めどこに隠れた！？　怖じ気づいたか！？ 叔父だけに！！

The first word 怖じ気 (ojike) means "fear" and the second one means "uncle." The first one has consists of the word "oji", like the word "uncle"

怖じ気づいたか can be translates as "Did you get scared?" but it can also be interpreted like "You took notice of (the) fear? And the last sentence would translate like "Because I'm the uncle, you know?" The wordplay is based on the word "oji" and in those sentences, they translate as "uncle" and "fear". Hopefully I made sense ;;

So, I interpret that he's saying something like "Get it? I'm the uncle (the fear).

"Are you scared of me? Because I'm the uncle! (you know)"

I'm praising the localization, which is rare because most of the manga, especially the early volumes were translated badly, however, I checked to see how his joke was handled.

In my opinion, it was a good call to use the expression "cry uncle". So yeah, I tried my best to explain how those kinds of puns work so that you can understand the one that Jun proposed, who apparently knows about Tooru's puns. Jun says 「雷神だけに」 The first two kanji mean "god of lightning" and the furigana reading is Thor which is Jun's codename and previously it was Tooru's. Even his name was based on Thor.

So, my interpretation is that when Jun is asking Tooru "You're not going to make a joke like "Because I'm Thor", will you?" to which Tooru replies that he won't, I think he's saying that although Mahiru borrowed his power (lightning), making a joke about Thor (himself) wouldn't have been appropriate since Mahiru created light. I'm sorry if I didn't explain very well ;;

Regarding Kuro's line in the last panel, instead of translating the word only in furigana, I used both readings because it was less ambiguous in my opinion. The furigana reads "our", so it would have been "It's not our time" and thus, in order to not give the impression that Kuro wasn't referring only to himself and Tsubaki, I used the other reading too.

So, apparently Sakuya can make clones/illusions of himself but I don't understand how they work in regard to the 5 second part. The name of his ability comes from "The Five Minute Hypothesis" but it was changed to "second". The intended reading in furigana sounds weird because it has the word "yesterday" and "to die" is in the future tense. I haven't found a reference for it, like I expected that it could have been from a novel.

Lastly, in the middle panel, the woman says the word 他人 (tanin) which means "other people" or "strangers", however the furigana reads 人 (hito) "people". Could be a typo or maybe there is a meaning behind it... So yeah, I hope these notes were helpful!

[strapped-and-beheaded]

Love interest ranked on how well they'd do polyamory

I think nearly none of these people should even be in any relationships, they should all be in therapy, but I'm ranking them on how many chapters of a fic there has to be before I'm convinced polyam works for them

starting strong with Black wolf, their route is just the pack's route and the pack is just a huge commune polycule, they all fuck you, they all care for your kids, you're their beloved alpha cumbucket, monogamy would be harder actually even.

this is just vibes but I think Robin could do well, you need to tell them what polyamory is tho, but like the lunch event where Sydney kisses you while leaving and Robin kisses you as well? kinda fun and flirty, kinda playful.

I just get good vibes I think Robin would have fun with it if you had a good talk about it and made sure you were all ready. yeah just vibes.

Whitney doesn't know what that is also, they don't care about gay shit like that(ignore that they are gay and have gay sex with you) but if they get multiple sluts that's awasomesauce, they're chilling, they tuned out the rest of the explaination after the part where you get to have awasome threesomes.

they see it as solely a sex thing for a while then one day realisation this is very romantic hits them square in the face and kills them on impact

Alex... ngl all I can think about is Dolya's homestead au. I think if you were dating he plans your futures together as a marrried couble on the farm growing old together with kids so he gets super averse to open relationships or hearing out polyamory, but if you start poly he'd be fine.

I can see him getting two attractive farmhands who are dating and he's trying to be normal about then you offer poly and he's not complaining. or just a ragtag group of 19 year olds working the farm fighting intruders and having to share rooms together at night until it gets really steamy and romantic... yeah homestead au supremacy

pure Sydney not in a million years. corrupt Sydney, very slowly. so many things they gotta unlearn about how they view love and life. if they were the one who had multiple crushes and lead through it I think you can slowburn that shit, harder if you wanted to date someone else.

but like I wouldn't be a Sydney fucker if I didn't wanna slowly queer up this repressed little church boy/girl more and more until they're near unregonizable and happier then they could have imagined. also it's canon my pc and my friends pc and my other friend's pc are all dating sydney and they are all in love and together rn it's canon

mid point honorable mention Avery. the fuck is a polygon or whatever you just said? they're not even actually dating you mono style. take off your clothes, take your money and leave.

Great Hawk does not understand what polyamory is, that is a bird, you're their spouse why do you need other people are they not providing enough support to you? why would they look at anyone else when they have the best spouse in you? they are grumpy because you brough the topic up but can be easily calmed, not changing their opinion tho.

alright you know what it is, Kylar active murder suicide risk. just for bringing it up they'll probably kidnap you. if you end up in a polycule by some miracle that relationship is a ticking time bomb baybeyyy. great if you get off on seeing Kylar suffer and want the risk of murder to spice up your life. which I do.

I got attacked by bees on the way to Eden's cabin once and she kept me in a dog cage for a week for cheating on her before I reloaded an earlier save because cage life got boring. genuine death wish.

[apothecaryscript]

Memo for Season 2 Ep.1 (Ep.25), The Apothecary Diaries

Here I’ll write about things I noticed, questions, and thoughts about each episode. I’m not sure if I can write about every episode, but I’d like to write as long as I have time. Most of what I write here is my personal opinion, so please forgive me if there are any misunderstandings. Questions about English are highlighted in green, so I would be happy if anyone of a native English speaker could tell me. I would also be happy if you would feel free to reply with your own thoughts and opinions.

猫猫「何をと言われましても。香油を作っております。医局を掃除していて、蒸留装置���見つけたので。先日、青薔薇(そうび)を作る際に用意した薔薇の余りです」

Maomao “Nani’o-to iware-mashitemo, koyu’o tsukutte-orimasu. Ikyoku’o soji-shite-ite, joryu-sochi’o mitsuketa-node. Senjitsu, ao-sobi’o tsukuru-saini yoi-shita sobino amari desu.”

Maomao “Why do you ask like that? I’m making scented oils. While cleaning up the clinic, I found a still. I’m using some of the blooms left over from the blue roses we grew the other day.”

何をと言われましても(なにをといわれましても/Nani’o-to iware-mashitemo);

This is a phrase Maomao sometimes uses, which literally means “Even if you ask me that…,” followed by words such as “it’s hard to explain,” “I’m in trouble,” or “you should know without asking,” and only the first half is said because she is hesitant to say the whole sentence.  If you say it when asked something, it sounds sarcastic because it contains the nuance that you don’t want to answer soon. In Maomao’s case, she seems to say it when she is wondering “Why do you ask me that?” or “It’s troublesome to answer,” or when she is trying to buy time while wondering what to say when asked something inconvenient.

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猫猫「うわっ！これは実家からの荷物で、大したものではありませんので」

Maomao “Uwa! Korewa jikka-karano nimotsude, taishita mono-dewa ari-masen-node.”

Maomao “This is a package from my family. It’s nothing, really!”

実家（じっか/Jikka）: Parents’ house

There is no such word in English, but in Japanese we use it all the time. For example, 「今週末は実家に帰る予定だ（こんしゅうまつは、じっかにかえるよていだ/Kon-shumatsuwa jikkani kaeru yoteida）」:“I’m planning on going back to my parents’ house this weekend,” and we say 「帰る（かえる/Kaeru）」: “going back” instead of 「行く（いく/Iku）」: “going to.”

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

猫猫「後宮で問題なのは、性的に無垢(むく)なことが求められ過ぎていることです。後宮に集められる女官は、生娘(きむすめ)がほとんどです。帝のお眼鏡にかなったとして、無知なために粗相があったりしたら、不憫(ふびん)でなりません。事前に学習する必要があるかと」

Maomao “Kokyude mondai-nanowa, sei-tekini mukuna kotoga motome-rare-sugite-iru-koto desu. Kokyuni atsume-rareru nyokanwa, kimusumega hotondo desu. Mikadono omeganeni kanatta-to-shite, muchina tameni sosoga attari-shitara, fubinde nari-masen. Jizenni gakushu-suru hitsuyoga aru-kato.”

Maomao “The problem with the rear palace is that the women are expected to be excessively innocent in matters of sex. Most of the ladies-in-waiting gathered here are virgins. What if the emperor finds a girl to his liking, only to have her fail to perform due to her ignorance? That’s why I thought they need to be educated beforehand.”

生娘（きむすめ/Kimusume）: virgin

This is an old word, so young Japanese such as teenagers probably don’t know. We usually use 「処女(しょじょ/Shojo)」 for “virgin,” although we don’t say such a word loudly, of course…

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

猫猫（そこか…。実はむっつりなのかと思った）

Maomao (Sokoka… Jitsuwa muttsuri-nanokato omotta.)

Maomao (That’s what he noticed? I thought maybe he was a closet pervert.)

The word 「むっつり(Muttsuri)」 means to be silent without any words, but here it’s used as an abbreviation of the slang 「むっつりスケベ(Muttsuri-sukebe)」. I found it interesting to know that there is such a word in English. 「スケベ」 is a slang word for “someone who likes to think about sex all the time.” 「エッチ(Ecchi)」 is almost the same. Recently the word 「変態(へんたい/Hentai)」 has become known overseas, but there are big difference between “sukebe/ecchi” and “hentai.” “Sukebe/ecchi” are simply someone with a strong sexual interest, but “hentai” is someone who has a unique taste that is different from the normal, for example, exhibitionism… When I look at English subtitles for anime, most of the time it is translated as “pervert,” so there may not be a difference in English, but in Japanese, being called “hentai” is much more insulting than being called “sukebe/ecchi.”

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小蘭(シャオラン)「ハァ…。ああ、綺麗な花が咲くその下に、私は何を求めるのか…。フフフフ。ねぇ、一体何が埋まってると思う？」

Shaoran “Haa… Aa, kireina hanaga saku sono shitani, watashiwa nani’o motomeru-noka… Fufufufu. Nee, ittai naniga umatteru-to omou?”

Xiaolan “Oh, what is it that I seek, beneath those beautiful flowers? Hey, what do you think is buried there?”

→In the original light novel, Xiaolan eats “baked goods,” and I imagined cookies or rice crackers, but in the anime, it’s replaced with a steamed meat bun, making her look more comical. Xiaolan is so cute!

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猫猫「う～ん。馬糞(ばふん)？」

Maomao “Uuun. Bafun?”

Maomao “Huh. Manure?”

→The original light novel explains why Maomao answered horse manure, and the reason is that for beautiful flowers to bloom, there must be good fertilizer buried in the soil.

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貴園「高順様が、新しいのができたらまた配ってくださるって」

Guien “Gaoshun-samaga, atarashii-noga dekitara mata kubatte-kudasarutte.”

Guiyuan “Master Gaoshun said he’ll hand out the next one when they’re ready.”

I thought, if I wrote “he’ll” on an English test at school, my teacher would definitely say that the future tense was wrong and the correct answer was “he would,” and deducted points. I was taught that the tenses must have been always consistent in the same English sentence. Is it okay in real English conversations?

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桜花「うわ～、そんな面倒なことやるの？」

Infa “Uwaaa, sonna mendona koto yaruno?”

Yinghua “Yikes, that sounds like a lot of work!”

I thought this line was being said to me, the writer of this blog… I once received a comment on my Demon Slayer account saying, “If it wasn’t copy and paste, well done.” Rather I would like to know if there is a way to copy and paste…lol

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玉葉妃「猫猫は花や生き物に詳しいから、散歩のときに鈴麗に教えてあげてくれる？」

Gyokuyo-hi “Maomaowa hanaya ikimononi kuwashii-kara, sanpono tokini Rinrī-ni oshiete-agete-kureru?”

Concubine Gyokuyou “Maomao, you know a lot about flowers and creatures. Can you teach Lingli while we’re outside?”

I thought “we’re” should have been “she’s” or “you’re” since Concubine Gyokuyou wouldn’t go with them.

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壬氏「ハァ…。わからなくもない気がしてきた」

Jinshi “Haa… Wakara-nakumo-nai kiga shite-kita.”

Jinshi “I’m starting to see it, too.”

I’m sure many of you feel the same way, but this was the scene I was most looking forward to in this episode. I really liked how Jinshi was portrayed with such expressive faces. In the original light novel, the quack doctor and Gaoshun were so fond of cats that they ended their sentences with “にゃー(Nyaaa)”: meow, and after Jinshi put the kitten on his face Gaoshun said “What were you doing?”, glaring him with a look of envy on his face. I would have liked to see that in the anime as well.

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My overall impression after watching the first episode is that all the characters are cute! Especially Xiaolan and Shisui. Also, at the end of the OP video, when wet Maomao and Jinshi turn around, the picture and the colors are very cute. I think it’s a scene that fans who know the original work are looking forward to, and it will be the most exciting part of the first half. I’m really happy that I can watch a new episode every weekend for the next six months.

[torimidori2-blog]

I'm poly, and I keep getting people who don't understand what the difference between polyamory, open relationships, and cheating, so let this be an educational moment for all the mono people out there.

Polyamorous is when someone is attracted to or in a relationship with more than one person at the same time. This is all with consent from everyone involved. A group of poly people who are dating are called a polycule. Just like regular monogamous relationships, poly relationships can consist of romantic, platonic, sensual, and sexual attraction, and can even be done with people who are aspec (on the ace spectrum).

An open relationship is when someone is attracted to more than one person, but the person who you're dating isn't attracted to the people you date. For example: if the relationship started of monogamous, and you decide you want to open the relationship in order to cater to a specific need that your current partner can't provide, that means you and your partner can see other people outside of your relationship with consent from your partner. Just like poly people, this can also be done between people who are aspec and you could have different reasons for wanting another separate relationship, whether you need a sensual, sexual, romantic, or platonic/queer platonic relationship. In my opinion, I think open relationships should be a last resort after communicating with your partner enough to where you both realize that your relationship needs aren't being met, but you still care enough about each other to still want to be together.

Cheating is when someone in a committed relationship sees other people without consent from their significant other(s). The reason why cheating is bad, is not because they're dating someone else, it's because you trusted them to not break the boundaries of the relationship by seeing other people, and they did anyway.

Even if you're in a poly relationship, you can cheat because if you didn't trust your partners enough to tell them that you're interested in seeing someone else and it breaks their boundaries and makes them feel violated and uncomfortable, that's cheating. It's also a danger to the polycule because they don't know the person you brought in and they weren't aware of you bringing them in. Why would you not tell your cule who you're dating when they're usually comfortable with letting more people in? For all we know, they could hurt the cule, or hurt you, or they could be hiding something themselves.

Someone who tells you that their actually poly after they got caught cheating is a blazing red flag. Cances are, they're just trying to find a valid excuse to cheat and get away with it. Someone who tells you that they want to open a relationship before sorting out the issues in their current relationship is a blazing red flag. Especially if you have a solution to the problems that you're facing, and it could've been solved through negotiating with your partner.

To be honest, as a poly person, I don't understand why cheating is a thing. For one, it could be because being monogamous is the societal norm, and seeing other people is a means of trying to secretly bypass that norm, but I don't think thats the case seeing that there is a whole cheating culture that proudly says that they like to cheat and gloat about how many people they play on a constant basis. It could be the fact that people just think that emotions are a game to be played with, or it could be some sort of insecurity that they have with the relationship they started before they decided to cheat. But fr, can someone tell me the reason why people cheat? I don't understand, and I need a real valid answer. Not some "They were boring and I don't like them anymore." because you can either do one of two things there, break up with them, or talk to them about how you feel and tell them what you want from them moving forward.

[science-fiction-is-real]

(I’m hoping not to start drama with this ask but I saw you ask someone what’s wrong with Solarpunk and they gave a horrible answer to what Solarpunk is) so Solarpunk is about being against capitalism and consumerism. It’s about being able to have the right to repair, repair your electronics, repair you clothes, and trying to help lower our impact on the Earth. So like stopping plastics, and instead use things that are truly biodegradable if we are to continue that way of convenience. It’s about stop using fossil fuels so the climate crisis will slow down to a stop so ya know. We would stop living in a major extinction event. Solarpunk is being able to merge our technology and nature so we’re being to live in coexist while still having our advances. It’s about community and being able to grow our own food and share it with others. May it be with community gardens or buildings in cities with vertical farms. Genuinely it’s not just an aesthetic and people are trying to fight against capitalism (hence the Punk) but people do create art and write literature about it as people can imagine a better future when it’s being created in art. (Like seriously automatic doors weren’t created until after people saw it as a possibility on Star Trek when it first aired.)

Again just wanted to clear up what Solarpunk is.

For those trying to follow the conversation at home, this is in response to a question I submitted to ML blogger @forevergulag about why they dislike Solar Punk. I think the answer I got from them makes a lot of sense. So I will simultaneously be running defense for their answer while offering some of my own opinions.

On to my response to this ask.

All those things you describe are well and good, but if your goal is to fight capitalism, it isn't enough to be punk. It isn't enough to be "anti-consumerist." You need to begin with a solid class analysis. You need to put our current forms of production and consumption in the context of historical development. Actually dismantling capitalism is not "punk." It's boring and difficult and it takes many generations. The first steps in building a non-capitalist world often end up looking a lot like capitalism itself.

I think a lot of what you are describing is finding alternative forms for food production, which is certainly a useful exercise... there are a lot of problems with modern food production. It would be great if there were efficient ways to incorporate food production into urban environments, find ways of growing food that don't rely toxic pesticides and fertilizers or acres-wide crop mono cultures.

However, I feel like a lot of what you are describing seems to revolve around DOWN SCALING food production, a terrible idea, and bringing a lot of non-farm workers into food production, and taking them away from their other jobs, also a terrible idea.

When you say "Our community should be able to grow our own food" I can't help but imagine the sort of small scale community I often see fetishized in some anarchist spaces. I would point out that the farmer sitting on a tractor 300 miles away from you growing your food is also part of your community. And a giant industrial farm that produces more corn than you could ever possibly know what to do with, that too is your community growing its own food.

We can't fight capitalism simply by urbanizing agriculture or bringing it down to a more local scale. And in fact, localizing agriculture and downscalling agriculture is going to have the effect of reducing food production so I am not sure that's really what we want.

[iamarealkat]

Kind of couldn’t let humanity forget about this.

About Hannibal’s drawing pencils…(Decided to make a whole separate post about Hannibal Lecter’s drawing supplies to keep all the things I figured out after really attentive, extensive and obsessive research & viewing. Thanks to @existingcharactersdiehorribly for signal boosting my original questions! Sharing the fruit of my labours for the good of all Fannibals.)

1. Free range psychiatrist drawing habits

Hannibal DOES, in fact, draw with Tombow MONO graphite drawing pencils! (Originally, I just tossed the idea out there because these beautiful Japanese pencils seemed to fit his style, and it was an accurate guess.) These are professional drawing pencils, high-density graphite, strong point, smooth line. Hannibal has several at hand when he is drawing (which makes sense since his drawings have different values): in one scene, he’s shown with four different pencils while working on one sketch.

In case you want to sketch like Baltimore socialite Hannibal, this is a Tombow MONO.

He sharpens them with a scalpel (again, makes sense, a blade is preferable to a pencil sharpener for a better point).

Hannibal doesn’t seem to use a kneaded eraser, which is strange, nor have I spotted a blending stump (tortillon), but he has an ergonomically shaped triangular eraser. It looks like one of Faber-Castell grip erasers, the one Hannibal uses is the triangular shape but in a dark colour, possibly dark green (?). He also has a brush (to brush off the bits of eraser from the drawing).

2. Cooped up BSHCI resident drawing habits

Apparently Dr Alana Bloom provides Hannibal with quality drawing supplies. Unlike his usual set of hexagonal graphite pencils, Hannibal is seen with a single black round one. The lead is very black, suggesting a mix of charcoal and wax or charcoal and lead. It would have a soft matte finish. After squinting about 1001 times watching it roll over Hannibal’s table for half a second, I am certain it is Sanford Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencil, 935 Black, which is actually much more expensive than a single MONO drawing pencil (rough estimate: approx. $6.50 for 935 Black vs. approx. $1.50 for a Mono?). Alana is really pampering Hannibal.

In case you want to sketch like Hannibal in BSHCI, this is a Sanford Prismacolor Premier 935 Black.

(NB: Hannibal also uses a different pencil while in BSHCI, specifically, during the coversation with Alana about his insanity plea. The non-drawing tip is similar to the Tombow MONO, but I can give no definitive opinion yet.)

So far I haven’t been able to identify Hannibal’s drawing paper (loose sheets). He seems to use at least two types, one which appears heavier and with a warm tint (example), the other less heavy, smooth and prone to minor creasing (example), probably for looser preliminary sketches? But there’s also an unfinished study of a woman on a warm-tinted (or perhaps yellowed with age?), thinner, slightly creased paper (this one). Examples from NBC Hannibal site.

If you have any ideas about the grain, weight, tint, and brand of Hannibal’s drawing paper, or any observations of his use of erasers and blending stumps, please let me know! Or just chime in if you, too, care about Hannibal’s drawing supplies.

cc: trobador (banned I think?)

[five0twooleanders]

I think that the whole “Anti Lando”, “Anti Oscar” situation is getting really out of hand.

Some “fans” (Can they really be called fans of Formula 1 when they are ready to jump at another driver’s throat as soon as he crosses their favourite?) are getting way too comfortable with blowing things out of proportion and spreading hate online to drivers who are quite literally just doing their job, and this can go from calling Lando an arrogant crybaby and Oscar an asshole to the shitload of hate that the McLaren strategists and Zak Brown are receiving for the way they are handling their drivers; let me be clear, I am all for critiquing a driver’s character or a team’s strategy while maintaining civil tones, for example I am the first who disagrees with Max’s tendency to blow his top off like he did in Hungary, and I also somewhat agree with what Nico Rosberg said about the McLaren drivers situation, but the key here is in the ‘maintaining civil tones’ part.

Is Lando just now fighting for wins after many years spent in the midfield? Yes. Is it thanks to the rocket ship of a car that McLaren built this year? Also yes, there is no denying it. Does this mean that he is less deserving of a championship than drivers like Charles, who have instead been consistently at the front of the grid for the past years? Maybe, (that could be my inner Tifoso talking) but what is he supposed to do? Just throw away wins and podiums because he supposedly doesn’t deserve them?

This is all part of the sport. Formula 1 is born from the simbiosis of the driver and the car, it has always been like this, that is what makes it different from mono-brand series and it’s the fine engineering that is needed to build those cars that adds yet another layer of beauty to F1.

And people are really getting mad at Oscar for overtaking someone and scoring more points, the thing that they are literally paying him for? He said explicitly that if the team had told him not to fight with Lando and instead defend him from Charles he would’ve done so, but they were free to race, so he raced.

Friendly reminder that those are my opinions, but I tried to be as neutral as possible. Also, please don’t come at me with the “You’re a Ferrari fan, you benefited from the fight in Monza, that’s why you say this” because before being a Tifoso I am a fan of whoever makes the Grand Prix interesting.

[rinriya]

I'm so tired of seeing pairings and ships in a GAMEs with choices. It feels like many developers have begun to forget what a "game" means. Not a book, not a movie, not an anime, not a series, but a GAME. I immediately want to warn that this is my personal opinion, I do not impose anything, I do not prohibit anything. I just play the way I like, so I hope for a calm reaction without trying to find some kind of disrespect in my words. I really really don't like when in game ROs can date someone else or even worse each other. Yes, even if I'm not on their route. Because it's so funny when they are like “you are my everything”, “if not you then no one”, but in a different route they date someone and you just well.. that hurt. I want to be the one and only for them. I want to be the whole world for ROs. It's a game. A game focused on romance, so let me at least be the one and only at least in dating sim romance game. Let me feel this uniqueness and necessity. Feel the tension, the thrill, the fight, eager and desire to be with MC. No poly, no ROxRO, no ROxNPC. It's only you and your choice with whom you want to feel one and only. I don't want to feel like a third wheel, I don't want to "ruin" the feelings of two people and I don't want to BE the third. Many people forget that if player can choose their MCs orientation, ROs can't. It laid down by the author. Therefore, even in a mono route character may maintain this view. And I don’t want to feel like I could be replaced at any moment or that I’m “not enough.” For poly people this is normal and acceptable, but when you are mono in real life it feels different. Again, if it's a game, the developers need to understand that in a game with choices, they are strictly storytellers and they don't have the power to make choices for the players. If you want to bring your characters together, please write a book. Don't pretend you're making a game. It's two completely different things. Again, I speak purely for myself. But I want to feel in the game the joy of knowing that I am the only and irreplaceable one for my beloved.

p.s. That's why I love horror dating sims so much. Sometimes it seems like only obsessed stalkers really love my MC.