#i actually really like this ability esp since it's pretty unique and you can use it in different ways

[courtesanofdeath]

Bobby Ball crashes the party.

[dolugecat]

On some Japanese social issues I had learned about at uni and abroad):

(Rb ok!)

Legit had an epiphany about the true hidden meaning of the last arc of Mob Psycho 100. It’s hella projection but for real there is nothing neurotypical about Mob or Mob Psycho. I do not wish to enforce my interpretation on others (ironic bc I do that all the time but this is a serious social theory). There are some interesting and very sad social issues in Japan that the west really doesn’t understand but would I think help people understand a lot of context behind not only Mob Psycho, but also a lot of other anime. I learned this at my shitty university (prestigious but horrific) and while studying abroad in Japan and talking with Japanese peers. Get ready here we go (and tw for bullying and darker things):

Unfortunately in East Asian education systems, bullying can be extremely intense. Growing up I assumed it was over exaggerated extremely in anime for drama but it really can be so horrific. From what I’ve heard, there is often a single kid or so who is just shit on by everyone else, even the teacher. Mogami land *is* the reality of some Japanese kids. I’ve read that in Korea, this social punching bag sometimes is just the darkest skinned person (yayyy colorism /angry) and or someone who does not fit in. I mean, we have that in America too, but maybe not as common for the bullying to be as focused on one misfit rather than several. These kids just can’t escape the stigma too, kids from other schools find out they were a major victim at their old school and it starts anew. Thus there is so much stigma and incentive to join in on bullying so you aren’t the one. Sadly, this also ofc leads to higher suicide rates. That’s where the “shoe on building roof” anime trope comes in, bc somehow taking off shoes is relayed to death (I forgot why sorry)

There is a difference in how intense in general high school vs college is too. In the West, commonly college is the more intense curriculum and is harder than high school, but in Japan it’s usually the opposite. Grind suuuupppeeerrrr hard for entrance exams (huge standardized tests that determines what college you can qualify to) bc unlike the ACT or SAT here, that test is by far the most important factor for college admission. Then chill and relax a bit in college. Can’t relate. Name and prestige is very critical for job application, more important than here. That’s why planning out your future is sooo much more intense for Japanese high schoolers than in America, and why there is sooo much more pressure to excel in high school than here. Japanese school years and holidays are done different than ours, I’d suggest looking it up.

Social prestige of going to an American high school or college is nuts. Like whyyy do you value our shitty education, Japan’s is much higher quality (it’s bc we neo colonized them). Being able to speak English is very, very highly valued and any association with Americans make you cooler. From my experience, some Japanese students got very excited to practice speaking English with us, and their biggest issues with learning it is pronunciation, lmao. Wasai english is unique slang that is indeed English words but it’s kinda different and it’s kinda jarring to remember lol. So, Teru having parents that are working overseas isn’t too uncommon, idk about leaving him absolutely alone, but I did have a ex-friend who just came from Japan in middle school who’s situation probably wasn’t too far off from that. Empty wealth with no love, it’s no wonder those kind of people can end up being huge bullies (minori?)

I did a presentation on 引きこもり(hikikomori) for which means “shut in”, (like Serizawa) and it’s fucked up. It’s a social phenomena where according to some Japanese researchers a mix of undisciplined parenting, guilt/not living up to expectations, and hopelessness makes an alarming amount of youth/ young adults literally never go out side their house/room. Often a parent is “enabling” the behavior by supporting them, but idk the articles seemed a bit victim-blaming to me when I read it, but I don’t think I should make a judgement too hard, not my place. I will say I do suspect and believe I read something to support that ASD might play a role in hikikomoris (there is pitiful resources for autistic people in Asia, much much less support than even here, to the point I don’t think most know it exists). Like come on, with the other points I laid out my personal opinion as an Asian American with autism is that it really seems it’s unknowing ableism against autistic classmates, but I didn’t grow up in Asia so I don’t want to say.

Mental health in general is tragically quite abysmal in Japan, and with it being so hyper competitive and brutal work culture, it’s no surprise birth rate in Japan is so low; some Japanese young adults say it seems unethical to bring a life to such hostile world. Suicide rate is of the highest in the world. It’s fucked, I’ve interacted with some of the locals in Tokyo and they were so nice, but the business men just looked dead inside, it’s so sad.

Relationships between child and parent is also strained bc of this intense work and school culture. Quality time is too scarce when you gotta work so much. And the pressure from parents to do well in education or else you might end up socially stigmatized is rough. Bc your job is who you are, it’s hyper capitalism (thanks us for making them do this)

With autism being so unknown, support for parents in raising autistic kids is almost nonexistent. What happens if the “darker” side of ASD shows up in kids? I used to be a menace when I had meltdowns, I felt so bad but really just became so indiscriminately violent. See where this is going? Legit, I think ESP is a sort of metaphor for neurodivergance to ONE. There is so much stigma around it, and even less way for kids to understand why they are different than the others. My Korean family can’t admit we all got ASD, too much fear and internalized shame.

I got finally diagnosed with ASD as an adult and I’ll tell ya, I relate too much to Mob hurting Ritsu. I felt so bad, but also not in control, I knew what I was doing but not how to stop. Luckily, is was blessed in that my hyperfixations involved science and logic, so I did well at school. Sadly, our boy Mob just don’t got the passion or ability to do well at school. His kanji is very bad, even to point of not being confident he wrote a kanji (世) they learn when they are 9, in elementary school (thanks @katyatalks). Him being a bit berated by his parents for having bad grades and bending spoons seems harsh to Westerners I think, but IMO it’s pretty tame from what I’ve seen of some Asian parents (I get to say that lmao). Ofc, however the shaming is very real and Mob just agreeing with them about how weird and stupid he thinks he is so sad. There is even more pressure for the eldest to be better than here, I feel from some interactions. Nonetheless, it’s implied Mob is quite emotionally detached from his parents, even though he loves them, which also adds to his emotional complex. Combined with originally fragile self esteem and feelings of worthlessness, we got one emotionally stunted boy. However, contrary to common belief people with ASD are sometimes hyper empathic and experience emotions very intensely. We are prone to having “meltdowns” which if not assisted with can be quite violent if very intense. For me, my worse meltdowns as a kid came from when I didn’t understand why I wasn’t getting what I wanted, it seemed selfish and cruel of me but I couldn’t control it. I wanted to be a good kid, so why did hit my moms leg at target when she refused to buy me Pokémon toys? I couldn’t come up with a good reason for why my mind just commanded my body to do bad things, just a single thought was controlling me, I want I want I want I want I want ____. Which I argue could be what ???% represents… bc well…. Yeah….. hmm….. not in control of self (mob unconscious), selfish (not actually, I’ve forgave myself but my “normal” kid self was so ashamed), destructive, hurt family, wanting to stop but can’t, that’s kind of…. Too relatable.

But legit, since realizing my new HC, I’ve started to think of the last chapter of mp100 when I “explode” and it helps me feel better and I do gain “control” a bit easier. I don’t feel so bad anymore either, Mob!

[capricores]

hey, love 💓 hope you’re having a good day. I just discovered I have an Aquarius stellium and I don’t really know what it means 🙃

thank you so much angel! aquarius stellium:

“extrovert-passing introverts” // aquarius stelliums are great at being social, and they like connecting with people, but they tend to hate being social at the exact same time, they like isolation/alone time and can have a pretty short fuse for dealing with people (it’s pretty conflicting! they have a love-hate relationship with being social lol, it highly depends on the house of the aquarius stellium in this case)

they tend to have that “social battery”, but it works both ways. they need social interaction for happiness (esp aquarius moon/venus), but they also usually need a day or three to recharge after social interactions/gatherings

despite their very chill, calm exterior i do find they get irritated and frustrated pretty easily, they have a very low tolerance for people’s bs and they aren’t usually great at hiding their annoyance (mostly because they simply don’t care to; in an aquarian’s mind they don’t generally see why they would hide their emotions for your sake)

surprisingly very stubborn! people expect them to be open since they’re an air sign; and mind you, they are very good at listening and understanding new ideas, concepts, ways of thinking/doing things, etc., but it’s pretty rare for aqua dominant people to change their ways/mind; and if they do it has to be on their own terms & feel like it was their own choice/idea

they can have issues when it comes to embracing & accepting their emotions; they tend to intellectualize and try to rationalize everything they feel (this will depend heavily on the individual’s moon though)

tend to be musically and/or artistically inclined, usually the most talented and creative people you’ll ever meet (i find most aquarians use art/music as an outlet; and a huge chunk of aquarius stelliums i’ve “studied” or read for have made their careers in the art fields)

i’ve noticed they tend to stutter a lot when speaking! aquarian dominant people (esp aquarius moons, mercurys) have this habit of speaking before they’ve actually formed the thought/planned out what they were gonna say: so they kinda of just “sjlkfdjdlkf” irl sometimes or take a while to finish their sentence (scattered speaking style)

they don’t like talking about their emotions/feelings unless they can be self-deprecating about it or make a relatable meme/joke out of it

very analytical people and they overthink anything and everything that people say and do (especially with aquarius moon and/or mercury)

they’re quite blunt, they don’t generally sugarcoat things and can be as cutthroat as aries/capricorn are stereotyped to be

on that note, they often just say what’s on their mind at the time and they don’t intend to hurt people, they just don’t often realize the things they’re saying are hurtful/too blunt

aquarians are very, ‘why would i filter myself for someone? i don’t want people to filter to me’, and it can be hard for them to understand some people’s sensitivities in conversation

they really despise copycat or reflector-type individuals; their biggest turn-offs tend to be those who follow the crowd, don’t think for themselves, mold themselves for others, etc

aquarians can take a really, really long time to fall in love i find, as they tend to not care for it and usually just view people in a “friend way”, but once they find “their person” they are 100000% committed and will probably make big steps (from saying “i love you” to straight up moving in together, marriage, etc) very fast

undeveloped they do run a habit of having “hot and cold” relationships; a tendency to become super attached very fast only to flip the switch and detach shortly after, usually after they lose interest or become too comfortable

on the topic of romance again, aquarians also (or at least as i’ve noticed) do not use “i love you” very easily or lightly, even if they DO love you and you’re best friends/in a committed long-term relationship/etc, they don’t use the phrase very often and tend to save it for very select times

again can have a lot of trouble expressing their feelings and emotions so they can be a bit awkward at first and for a while in relationships

again they’re VERY independent and they need alone/recharging time or they’ll get very frustrated and anxious

they get very protective of their creations, ideas and style; so when they feel they’re being imitated; or when their ideas are criticized; they get extremely upset and defensive 

also very humanitarian!! i’ve noticed despite most aquarians being like “oh i hate the world/society/people/etc” they have this constant, inner need to help people/the environment/the world and tend to be really passionate about it (aquarius energy is very “fuck the world!! im gonna still save it tho”)

aquarian stelliums probably had an emo phase and if they managed to escape it they probably still dress like they’re in their emo phase lol

depending on their ascendant/midheaven they likely have a pretty unique sense of style as well; i find those with strong aquarian influence often wear very “stand out”, “in your face” and original outfits; very much the type to constantly be changing their hair colour & makeup styles as well (they like wearing things or having aesthetics that tend to shock others; they secretly enjoy getting reactions out of people)

these individuals are very committed to their work and hobbies, they tend to put those above everything else in their life. a lot of people forget the aquarian connection to saturn; aquarians are usually very committed to their jobs and work very hard when they’re in the work-zone

their friends tend to be a hugely significant part of their life too; aquarius moons/venuses especially tend to talk about their close friends ALL the time and they’re very, very protective of them (so loyal)

aquarius stelliums tend to have lots of acquaintances but only a few select close friends (and even most of those close friends they don’t fully open up to)

usually struggles with intimacy and vulnerability 

they tend to radiate a lot of natural confidence and security in themselves, despite how insecure they may feel inwardly 

not to stereotype, but they do usually tend to be drawn to obscure, occult or controversial things. often the types to have “weird” hobbies, interests or habits

often very into, or open to, things like astrology, conspiracy theories, spirituality, etc! but they do think very rationally and logically, so they like to analyze and pick apart these things at the same time, they don’t just accept and follow these things (they have no issue with picking apart their own passions and interests either, so if you debate an aquarius they probably already know what you’re gonna say lol)

usually have the nagging desire to be known (whether it be famous, or just accepted/loved by many/friends/family/etc); they likely felt misunderstood and abandoned their entire life (namely in childhood) so now they have a huge craving to be in the spotlight; although they hate admitting this

aquarians have the ability to fit in well with many types of people, yet often in childhood they were excluded and/or subjects of bullying i’ve noticed (oftentimes from their own family), which is part of the reason why they frequently grow up lacking a feeling of “belonging” or feel like “outsiders”; they deep down crave to be accepted and embraced/have fans/supporters

aquarius stelliums often struggle with fears of abandonment which contributes more to their isolation habits and independent “i dont need anyone but me and my spotify playlists” nature

they despise being controlled, tied down or told what to do; often if you tell an aquarius not to do something they’ll go out of their way to do it, even if they initially didn’t want to do said thing lol (the house that’s in aquarius will show the area of life in which they “rebel” the most; or are the most uncontrollable/free/independent) 

random note: i also find aquarius stelliums are frequently very awkward around children/don’t usually desire nor want any at all

[guynamedultimax]

What if Kirby had a traditional fighting game?

Listen, I know I should’ve done more “FNF fighting game characters” but i doubt anyone cared for that, and even then I lost a bit of interest, so if you actually cared sorry about that, you can still come up with whatever you want for the characters I didn’t talk about!

That being said, I think all Kirby fans here know Kirby Fighters 2. Personally speaking most of it was just the same as Kirby Fighters Deluxe BUT there were five playable Dream Friends. FIVE. Priority to the Copy Abilities a bit too high, isn’t it HAL? Sometimes it feels a bit barebones if you ask me. So I’m here to discuss what would a non-platform Kirby fighting game be.

THE GAMEPLAY

It’s the same as any basic fighting game, there isn’t really that much that the Kirby franchise can offer to make the genre a bit more varied, and that’s mostly due to the fact that Kirby makes friends wherever he goes and combat is pretty much straightforward in these platforming games, the crazy stuff comes from learning specific moves with each copy ability/character in the games and that’s also true for this game.

THE PLOT

I have quite a few ideas for how this can go:

-It’s a “what if” re-telling of Kirby Star Allies where Hyness’ ritual (somehow) also causes space-time rifts across the entire universe to be generated, pulling in Kirby villains from previous games but also allies, which would ALSO explain Dream Friends in the game’s canon a bit more properly.

-It happens in an AU. Plot would basically be Kirby Battle Royale’s but instead of shooting a loadshit of Kirbies onto Kirby, Dedede would just call upon all of their friends to fight for that cake before things escalate and Dedede loses control of the tournament to greater evils, forcing him to work with Kirby to stop the threat, be it old or new.

-Another AU idea but this time it’s original/based on Milky Way Wishes. Galactic NOVA appears every thousand years above Pop Star’s skies, and everyone tries to fight for the right to get the wish. Villain wouldn’t necessarily be ONLY Marx though, most of the Kirby villains could easily win against him if they get to NOVA and get their wish granted. Which means yes, all plots happen at once and Kirby has to deal with everyone at once.

-The least interesting idea: it’s Kirby Fighters 2′s plot but without tag team duos and with all Kirbies replaced with the roster.

THE ROSTER

Now we’re about to have some fun.

RETURNING CHARACTERS: The Dream Friends (and Kirby, of course)

-First up, all Dream Friends are coming back. You don’t even need to change their movesets that much, just add/tweak things, but just for funsies (and for a specific reason too) we’ll also give them specific copy abilities or more than one to categorize them.

-Kirby is the specific reason. He has the same moveset as his Smash Bros incarnation, although he incorporates more copy abilities (and also super powerful stuff like the Star Rod that he usually uses in endgame fights) in it now due to being a traditional fighting game. And yes, he still has his inhale. Using it will have the inhale be replaced by another move in-game, the closest one to a “neutral special” in the opponent’s arsenal. His copy ability is therefore, Smash Bros. And since the game has multiple super moves, we can make his gimmicks from the Kumazaki games the super moves: his level 1 would be a random Super Copy Ability from Return to Dreamland (cutscene is random everytime but damage is always the same), his level 2 would be using the Robobot Armor to stomp foes around, ending with a giant ground pound/fist to the ground and his level 3 is Hypernova Kirby due to the inhale being one of his most unique properties.

-Meta Knight and Dedede will also have heavy Smash influences but they’ll also use techniques from most of their boss fights, such as Meta Knight splitting himself in four clones temporarily for an attack or Dedede actually pulling out an axe instead of his hammer for some attacks based on his Triple Deluxe incarnation. Their copy abilities would formally be Sword and Hammer but with heavy Smash Bros inspiration. Meta can also call in for the Meta Knights to help him in one of his unique super moves. They’d all be there except for Sailor Dee and Captain Vul (one’s an alternate costume and the other is never seen outside of dialogue text).

-Bandana Waddle Dee’s moveset incorporates both Spear and Parasol, but due to the Spear being his most used tool he’ll be categorized with that.

-Marx is the first character with Unique as its own copy ability due to his arsenal being entirely based on his boss fight. Inhaling Unique characters doesn’t always allow Kirby to get copy abilities but when it happens he usually has their most basic move replacing the inhale. Gooey is in the same situation, but i have no idea what would Kirby get from him as an ability since he’s technically player 2 in the Dark Matter trilogy’s first 2 games. Rick, Kine and Coo would technically be categorized as Unique only because they have Fire, Water and Wind in their moveset. You could say they’d be stance characters while Marx is a zoner and Gooey a rushdown character.

-Dark Meta Knight is categorized as Mirror, and Adeleine (with Ribbon as an assist of course) is Artist. Daroach would be Animal, which is missing since its debut in Squeak Squad, as far as I can remember, but he naturally still retains his moveset of calling the Squeaks to help him.

-It’s pretty easy to categorize Magolor as ESP, and Taranza as Spider, while I have no idea what would Susie’s ability be even. Spark? She is mostly around in the Robobot Armor to be fair. The Three Mage-Sisters would be treated equally to the Animal Friends

THE NEWCOMERS

-NAGO, CHUCHU & PITCH: The other set of Animal Friends. I theorize a moveset revolving around the Cleaning ability like in Star Allies would be easy to make, although it can also incorporate moves from other abilities that have been in Dream Land 3.

-CHEF KAWASAKI: I think it’s safe to say this one is pretty easy to do just like the returning Dream Friends. He has a unique moveset in comparison to Chef Kirby that also has him use Kirby’s Final Smash from Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

-LOLOLO & LALALA: Aside from pushing boxes and Gordos they can be the Ice Climbers of the game, and most importantly one of their super moves could have them fuse into their original form in the anime to reference that further.

-SHADOW KIRBY: A clone (in terms of moveset) for Kirby that lacks the inhale ability and has more attacks based on his appearances in Amazing Mirror (and also on Kirby’s unique ability to split in four in these games) and the Kirby Fighters spinoffs. Simple as it is.

-THE MIDBOSSES: They all play the same as their fights too, so doing a paragraph for each of them would be a bit redundant. I chose to add minibosses in because most of them are pretty iconic among Kirby enemies and some of them are also technically friends of Kirby’s. I picked Bonkers (whose coconut throwing and some special moves could make him different enough from Dedede if you ask me), Mr. Frosty (also because we don’t have an Ice-based character in the game), Buggzy (which I can see being the ultimate grappler), King Doo (because we don’t actually have a Waddle Doo in the roster and he’s technically not only their king but also the most unique of them) and Grand Wheelie (look, I like Wheel as an ability ok? it’s like playing as Sonic in a Kirby game)

-KNUCKLE JOE: Taking stuff from both his Star Allies moveset and his Assist Trophy from Ultimate PLUS a few references to the anime and you have the ultimate Shoto character in the Kirby franchise. Ryu mains, this is the character for you.

-GIM: Look, my three favorite abilities are Yo-Yo, Wheel and ESP, in no particular order, so I HAD to include him and the Grand Wheelie. Magolor covers for ESP enough. This lil fella looks more unique than most of the generic Kirby enemies and even among the copy ability ones he’s always been a bit of an oddball due to being a robot. The trickshots you can do with this copy ability make Gim perfect to camp, so he’d be a pretty good zoner as well.

-TAC: He’s been a Helper in Super Star where he also has an unique moveset. Expanding on it and on Tac being generally a copy ability thief could mean more copy abilities can be implemented in a moveset, probably even more than what Kirby can do. Also his design just screams potential to me.

DLC FIGHTERS

WAVE 1: Spinoff Dream Friends

Cuz these guys have been done dirty by Star Allies’ devs. Elline would be the other Artist character in the game and call for Claycia’s assistance in specific attacks. Prince Fluff would play mostly just like Kirby himself did in Kirby’s Epic Yarn and implement specific transformations in some attacks, ending with the tank one from the end of that game. Then we have Gryll. If you know how to make a Tetris/Puyo Puyo based character in a fighting game then good for you, I absolutely don’t know how. What I KNOW however is that she has a float like Peach’s in Smash Bros and I-No’s in Guilty Gear.

WAVE 2: Dream Villains

These guys would all play exactly like their boss fights. Hyness and Sectonia would remain mostly unchanged while Haltmann in terms of moveset is the same as Susie, just without every non-Robobot move that she has.

WAVE 3: Clash of Blades

THAT’S RIGHT, IT’S ALL ANIME SWORDFIGHTERS. They all pull from their boss fights, but Morpho Knight is gonna be a bit more unique compared to Galacta, Dark Meta and Meta Knight, having in the swordfighter equivalent of Akuma’s Raging Demon. Meanwhile, Dark Matter Swordsman and Galacta Knight are completely faithful to the source material, but they’d probably be a bit nerfed due to Galacta’s universe-breaking powers. (you can bet that if we get the remaining legendary heroes who sealed Void Termina in future games they’d be their own separate Wave 5 DLC pack)

WAVE 4: Revival of Old Faces

Nightmare and Drawcia are back and they’re here to stay! Their movesets don’t really need that much changes. Void however is an entirely different beast. He’d be a mix of Kirby, both Zero incarnations and Dark Matter. His design wouldn’t just be giant orb that switches between Kirby and Dark Matter faces, he’d be Kirby-sized and with legs and stubby lil arms like the pink puffball. And you can bet your ass he’d be broken as fuck.

SKINS

If a character’s appearance changed across the series’ history (like Marx Soul, Girl Blob Gooey, Shoppe Magolor, Mecha Knight, Dark Taranza/Taranza in the Super Kirby Clash games, Masked/Shadow Dedede, Anime!Knuckle Joe, Parallel/Pres. Parallel Susie, EX versions and so on) they’d just be an alternate skin/palette swap for the specific character. Multiple characters of the same species with little changes (like a normal Waddle Dee or Sailor Dee, or literally all Kirby colors including Keeby) are the same. I’m also debating on how Dark Mind would be a skin for Nightmare or if there’d be a skin inspired by him for the Dark Matter Swordsman. Zero and Zero Two would probably be turned into palette swaps/outfits for Void (imagine a white Kirby cosplaying as Zero Two that’d be so cute lol).

ATTACKING ASSIST CHARACTERS

Characters who appear in other characters’ attacks. Like the aforementioned Squeaks, Meta Knights and Claycia. Normal Dark Matter would appear in DM Swordsman’s attacks in some capacity outside of the eye laser and the Gordo Throw would return from Dedede’s previous Smash incarnations alongside the Waddle Dee Throw from Brawl. And naturally Magolor can call in the Lor Starcutter for one of his super moves. I am actually considering giving Tac the ability to throw random items/enemies at opponents, with the Bomber being one of these. It’d be a very RNG attack with the Bomber being the best outcome, blowing on the opponent’s face.

HELPERS

All characters in the game can be called on for an Helper attack, that can help you in some form against the opponent by either damaging or tampering with the opponent or by having you get healed or with some buff. Outside from the playable roster enemies that give you copy abilities would also be Helpers, but the specific ones I’m not so sure on.

BOSSES

Characters you can fight in Arcade mode, in Story mode or in a specific Boss mode. There’d also be a Ganon’s Fury (Hyrule Warriors) inspired mode where you’d play as the bosses pitting them against each other. I specifically picked Dyna Blade, Whispy Woods, Landia, Star Dream, Kracko, Great Edge, Pyribbit, Ice Dragon, Fire Lion, Masher, Grand Mam, Metal General, Kibble Blade and Pon & Con.

STAGES

There’d be quite a lot of stages, but I haven’t thought out specific ones except for Green Greens, Butter Building, a Ripple Star stage, one for Dedede’s castle with stage cameos by Tiff, Tuff and Escargoon from the anime and every final boss’s fighting arena.

THE MUSIC

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is gonna be nothing compared to this one. We’re getting all the important music from all pre-Kumazaki games, all music from Kumazaki games and spinoffs, and online arrangements with focus on orchestral (Desolo Zantas), metal (GaMetal, of course) and EDM (Acid Notation, Qumu and various others), including stuff like Itoki Hana’s vocal arrangements. We’re going all out on this one.

Aaaaand that’s it. Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Stay hydrated.

[not-poignant]

Hi Pia! I'm a huge fan of your work and deeply enjoying FFS rn, it really shows the love and care you've put into this world and characters and it's an amazing read 🥰🧡

Idk if you've actually answered this question before or if it's a bit too much? So feel free to skip it. Do you have any advice on how to write a therapist and sessions with them? And to go along with that, a therapist&patient relationship that doesn't feel inauthentic but that's a healthy one?

I've had to visit both psychiatrists and psychologists a couple of times along my life, which has almost always been a positive experience to me, but when I get down to business and want to write a character going to therapy, I fall into a bunch of the psychoanalytic clichés US films have hammered us down with, even if I'm not from an Anglophile country!

Thanks a bunch in advance!! Ilu, have a nice start of the year🧡✨

Hiya anon!

I have a few thoughts about writing therapy sessions so I’m just going to put them down in no particular order.

Firstly, I don’t actually think it’s always a good idea to write therapy in stories, and a lot of the time I avoid writing it even when a character is actively seeing a therapist. This is particularly true in The Wind that Cuts the Night where all we see of Alex and his therapist are snippets, and nothing more than that, because therapy sessions would slow down the pacing, focus and value of the story.

Where possible, characters don’t see therapists, but talk to people in a way that is therapeutic, usually with love interests or members of the ensemble cast (Augus and Fenwrel in The Court of Five Thrones, Jack and Eva in The Golden Age that Never Was, Jack and North in From the Darkness We Rise/Into Shadows We Fall, Cullen and Cassandra, Cullen and Bull in Stuck on the Puzzle). All of those characters need therapy, but writing therapy sessions tends to slow down the pace of a fic pretty dramatically, and even I had misgivings about writing Efnisien’s sessions with Dr Gary at first because I’m acutely aware of the fact that:

1. Therapy sessions can be draggy and boring 2. They often take away important emotional realisations from other characters, ruining potential hurt/comfort and character relationship development moments with your actual cast / love interests 3. Fiction is meant to be fiction, not reality. 4. A lot of therapy sessions are actually not that interesting to sit in or write or observe, which is why writers do often find themselves falling into certain cliches while writing them to make them more interesting. Even I cut out huge chunks of sessions to get to the more interesting parts, lol. 5. You can write a character going to therapy without writing the therapy. You can just choose to have the character remember bits and pieces of the session later as it’s relevant to their life. 6. Therapy is different for everyone, and some readers (myself included) don’t enjoy reading it when the therapy is a kind that doesn’t resonate or feel right.

So you really need to ask yourself why you want to write therapy specifically, because a lot of the time it gets boring or - as you point out - falls into cliched territory. Writing a character going to a doctor a lot in detail for regular injections is boring. Writing them thinking about how they have to do this in brief while their love interest is sympathetic to them getting those injections is more interesting. Writing a character suffering from an illness that they need regular injections for, with their love interest comforting them? Interesting.

Falling Falling Stars is a unique fic in that Efnisien has no one before he meets Arden, except for Dr Gary and Gwyn. If you’re writing an FFS style fic, writing therapy sessions might be appropriate. It might be worth really thinking about the kind of fics you want to write, why you want to write therapy, how that will affect your pacing, etc.

If you’re still dead set on writing therapy sessions, then I have some suggestions re: writing more realistic/healthy therapy and how to find that knowledge yourself, and I don’t really know how to shorthand some of it:

1. Get books on therapy that are designed for the therapist. These are often expensive, but sometimes libraries stock them - and university libraries in particular will often have photocopy abilities (or you can just photograph the pages you need) because these books look at how sessions should be structured. Books with case studies are ideal, since they often show dialogue chains between the client and therapist. Books that obviously deal with the mental illnesses you’re planning on writing about are the most ideal.

2. With a view to this, learn about different therapeutic modalities (for example are you trying to write psychology or psychoanalysis or both? Are you writing social work? Are you writing cognitive behavioural therapy, dialectical behavioural therapy, expressive therapies, narrative therapy, transcendental therapy?) Be aware that different modalities have different session structures and learn what they are. Wikipedia is your friend, but your closest friend will be actually acquiring textbooks on the subject. This is a pretty significant financial barrier at times, I’ve been collecting books like this on psychology since like 1997.

3. Learn about your character’s mental instabilities that require them to go to a therapist and then look up the most recommended forms of therapy for your character’s specific issues. Will they suit your character? Why/why not? Will they have a therapist who realises and switches modality if it doesn’t suit? Or will they be lucky and find someone who helps them straight away?

4. All therapy sessions have a structure to them. And therapy often has a narrative arc through the course of therapy over many sessions. They should generally have the attempt at a beginning (greeting / setting up the problem to be discussed), middle (highlighting the source of conflict or inner conflict) and end (helping the client to focus on less stressful things, possible homework assigned, and potentially talking about future work/sessions). Learn this structure. Even if you’re not writing the whole session, you need to know where in the session you’re writing, beginning/middle/end will be different tonally. Structures will be different per therapeutic modality, and a therapist that knows many different modalities (like Dr Gary) will often be using slightly different structures each time depending on the character’s mood/issue.

5. In a healthy therapist/client relationship there will be the ability to discuss boundaries, grievances and the therapist won’t be revealing much about their personal life at all (unless anecdotally it’s super relevant and even then it will be deliberately vague). This is one of those things that will - in many cases - make for more boring sessions on the page, depending on the ‘client.’ For example, if you’re writing someone seeing a therapist for the first time, it might realistically take months or years before they start showing progress or trust. That’s not interesting (there’s a reason ‘therapy fiction’ isn’t a genre), so of course it’s tempting to shortcut into more dramatic moments.

*

I would say if you’re finding yourself leaning towards more cliched or dramatic forms of writing re: therapy, your writing brain may sense that the entire scene/s may not be suited to the story, and is trying to find a way to make them more interesting to yourself and the reader. If that’s not the case, then a lot more research is needed! It’s time to sink many hours into actually understanding what you’re trying to write. This doesn’t matter as much if you’re writing unrealistic or unhealthy therapy, but it’s 100% necessary when you’re trying to write healthier therapy depictions.***

Also a couple of sessions of experience is a start, but you might want to watch or find a way to watch more therapy sessions, because you’ve missed out on experiencing longer arcs, different modalities etc. (This is where my hands on experience with 19 therapists since 1995 is actually really helpful, lmao - I’ve had close to like 800~ sessions by now, with good and bad therapists; I cannot pretend that hasn’t given me a knowledge base that most people don’t share). You can still learn that stuff via research, MedCircle on Youtube is a good place to start, since it offers 30 minute snapshots on what CBT and DBT sessions will look like etc. and has some great playlists.

Most fics I’ve read don’t do a great job of depicting therapy, but the Babes!verse series by @rynfinity has probably some of the most realistic and still really interesting sessions I’ve read as an ongoing arc. The series is long, because it needs to be re: what it’s dealing with, but it’s great, and I definitely recommend looking at another example of how an author tackles these sorts of scenes. Out of the Mouths of Babes / The March of the Damned are the two intertwined series.

I apologise if this sounds discouraging overall, or daunting, but I just want to stress there’s a reason that I’m often not writing therapy in my writing, as anything more than the occasional scene with a non-therapist, or snapshots that are reflected on and that’s it. Falling Falling Stars is the exception to the rule, and unless you’re writing an exception to the rule as well, it’s really worth reflecting on the first six points I wrote - it’ll save you a fuckton of time and research. And if you go ahead with it, I wish you well! :D

*** Also disclaimer: But I still am writing very indulgent therapy that is not beholden to being either a 100% healthy or 100% realistic depiction. The fact is, real therapy sessions are pretty boring for observers except for maybe ten or twenty minutes in the middle at times.

(ETA: It’s just occurred to me that therapy fiction does exist, esp. in the mass media, but that it is - afaik - all unrealistic, dramatised or unhealthy. But if you want to watch a great show - I highly recommend In Treatment with Gabriel Byrne, just by aware that it is depicting, for the most part, unhealthy dynamics which are more character studies than anything).

[thearkhound]

Tsubasa Masao on Metal Gear Acid character designs

Source: Postscript of MGA (waybacked)

The following is a translation of five blog posts made by Metal Gear Acid character designer Tsubasa Masao for the now-defunct “Postscript of MGA” blog, where he provides commentary on the designs he provided for the game. Most of the images were thankfully preserved by the waybacked version, except for the ones on the fourth blog post, which were taken from the still active gallery page from the official Metal Gear Acid 2 website. I’ve moved Tsubasa’s commentary of Snake’s main weapon of choice in MGA into the first section regarding for better flow and also added a model sheet of Snake from MGA2′s official gallery, since the sub-section looked odd without any images..

Solid Snake

The first thing we talked about Snake was wanting to change the impression that people had of him up until now, which resulted in the long-haired Snake we see in this game. Thinking about it now, perhaps it was better if we had kept usual hairstyle. As for his costume, we decided at the earliest stage to keep his usual sneaking suit from previous games, so it is what it is.

We had a request from Mr. Shinkawa to make the XM8 into Snake’s main weapon in the game. It’s a gun with quite a unique appearance, as you would know if you had seen the original. On the illustration we added a lot of over-the-top extra parts to the gun, but in retrospect I think it would had been better if we had left it as it is.

Teliko Friedman

Teliko was the first character we designed for Metal Gear Acid. Since even the scenario was still in its tentative stages, I couldn’t quite grasp an image for her yet.

For the face I was told to make her look like a “female Rambo or something like an Uma Thurman type.” I wasn’t too crazy about doing a female Rambo and wondered about what I should do, which is how I ended up with the design we’re seeing here. I was conscious of Uma Thurman’s role in Pulp Fiction at the time. She had a sort-of coquettish feeling, don’t you think?

Since I don’t like loose-fitting military clothing, I decided to make her silhouette tightly around her body. Afterward, I thought about the character’s stance and came up with the sneaking suit style.

A new-type of sneaking suit.

Built-in muscle strengtheners in one part that increases speed and strength.

 A new-type of bullerproof inner wear made by the U.S. Army. Protective clothing consisting of aramid fiber soaked with polyethylene glycol.

And so on.

Model sheets for Teliko Friedman. There are gimmicks not shown in the game such as stun knuckles and muscle strengtheners.

I wanted her gun holster to flutter on her character model’s hip while she moved, but we abandoned that due to the small screen size of the PSP unit.

As for the coloring, since she was being paired with Solid Snake, we decided to dress her in a brighter color to contrast with Snake’s black sneaking suit.

Teliko was designed to be a very typical heroine, so we thought it would be best if she didn’t have too many idiosyncrasies.

What do you think?

Roger McCoy

He’s the character who supports Snake and Telico in this game. We wanted him to have a very different outward appearance from Colonel Campbell.

We experimented with various patterns such as an elderly version of Roger or a black version of Roger, before we settled on the finalized design.

We didn’t have any particular aim with his concept, but we thought it would be better if he was more intense than previous versions of the Colonel character.

Afterward, I wanted his silhouette to have a peculiar characteristic, so I decided to give him a crippled leg and a cane to walk with. (I don’t know if this is reflected in the game though).

Rough sketch for Roger McCoy. Instead of a suit, he originally wore a military uniform.

Alice Hazel

I was ordered to make a pretty girl with ESP abilities. I was told that she has a personality that clashes with Snake’s, so I drew her in a sassy matter, but then I changed her to be more unemotional, or rather coldhearted.

For her attire I thought just having her wear a school uniform would be too plain, so I gave her a bomber jacket atop her blazer, which she received from Roger. The gun she wields on the second half of the story is hidden inside her jacket.

Since the characters in Acid are involved in a story where they’re either, manipulating someone or being manipulated by someone, I have her holding a doll as a hint that’s she pulling the strings from behind. Originally it was going to be a ventriloquist doll, but that would had been too obvious.

Alice’s initial design. “I thought she should be wearing glasses like Tommy February. I liked how it came out, but I had to redo her design after they decided to go into another direction.”

Alice’s finalized design. You can see the direction of the character took a 180 degrees turn. The characteristic doll remained until the end.

Lt. Leone

It was settled that he would be a “retro soldier”, “have the physique of a bear” and “wields an anti-tank rifle.” Based on those ideas, we decided that his gear should be vintage. But was this really the image of an old-fashioned soldier?

After that we wanted to make his silhouette stand out, so we had him wear a cloak on one side. This cloak takes the form of a Ghillie suit so that it could stand out when he moves rapidly during hand-to-hand combat.

His image was set in stone in the very early stages, so there weren’t any particularly big changes made afterward. By the way, in the international versions they added a voice clip of him chanting “pansies! pansies!, which made him stand out even more.

The left image is an early rough sketch. The right image is a proportion specification designed for reference. “In regards to his body shape, I didn’t want him to just be bigger, I wanted him to stand out as a giant even without the contrast.”

Colored model sheet for Leone. His systematic characteristics and clothing are established to the minuet detail.

From Leone’s model sheet. He was drawn with a fighting image and it seems he was initially expected to have close quarter attacks.

From Leon’s model sheet. The initial character image is almost completed at this stage. His kick attack was rejected due to limitations with the character model and such.

Elsie & Frances

Originally they were supposed to be characters who lived in VR space. But when the scenario changed during the middle of development, they were no longer virtual characters, but ventriloquist dummies who exists in the real world. Out of all the characters, I think they’re the ones who had their image changed the most from the early stages.

Their manipulating strings are established to be wires that could be attached to the walls or ceilings (like a spider’s cobweb), so that the dummies could be controlled from a distance.

We wonder if we made their relevance apparent in the miscellaneous cutscenes.

Finalized design for Elsie and Frances. Shown here is Frances, the elder of the two sisters. Elsie, the younger sister, has a cracked face and a speech impediment.

William L. Fleming (aka Gary Murray)

The boss character of this entry. Since he was established to be an excessive neat freak, he wears a fancy brand name suit under his shabby coat. His shoes are also shiny brand names. His coat is tainted with the oil fluids for Metal Gear KODOQUE.

Since it was said that there was going to be a cutscene where he shoots a gun, he was given a belt under his coat, which is equipped with a gun holster during his Fleming persona.

Originally he was established to be a middle aged man, but since he was going to be a boss character, he ended up looking quite younger than he was intended to be. Because of story reasons, he was a difficult character to make him look unique with his clothing, so we were concerned in making him stand out.

In fact, we had the idea of outfitting him with a powered suit similar to the one worn by Solidus and having him directly confront Snake and Teliko. Mr. Shinkawa gave me various ideas, such as “give him a METAL BLADE!” But because complications with the story, those ideas were abandoned.

Model sheet of William L. Flemming. There are detailed notes such as the differences between his true self and his Gary Murray persona. It seems there were plans to have him directly engage Snake and Teliko.

La Clown

La Clown’s backstory is that of an “assassin who specializes in disguises and hypnotism.” Because of this, the character’s design doesn’t differ much from Telico’s. For the illustrations, La Clown’s proportions were changed in subtle ways.

Line art illustration of La Clown

Enemy Soldiers

The jobbers of Metal Gear Acid. The small fry soldiers. This time they wear desert camouflage, giving them a middle eastern atmosphere. Perhaps they have a dusty unfashionable image.

The model sheets of the enemy soldiers. The first sheet is a soldier from Leone’s unit. The second is a member of the Genetics Army. The designs of the enemy soldiers this time are based on MGS2, since it’s set in a similar period.

Model sheet of the Genetics Soldier. “Because it is an equipment for measuring data, there are stuff like experimental cords and labels attached to it.”

Changes in Concepts

Initially the concepts we got from the scenario were horror and suspense. Specifically there would be ghost characters that would appear in key scenes, the boss characters were going to be cyborgs who served Fleming, and so on...

After days and months have passed (or maybe it wasn’t that long), the horror aspect became more downplayed and the scenario was changed to a more suspenseful one in all aspects. The colors red and black are used a lot by many characters in general, but that was actually a remnant from the early stages when the horror aspect was more emphasized.

Although MGS served as the basis, there were many twists and turns in the art designs. Because of the lack of flexibility in the development schedule, I was concerned about keeping the Metal Gear world in place while somehow giving Acid its own color. After all, the world Metal Gear is quite deep.

Model sheet of Minette Donnell. “Because she’s a malicious girl, she wears deep red.”

Rough character designs from the early stages of development. The first character is Dr. Flemming and the second is Senator Viggo. “Originally Viggo Hach was just an old man who suddenly became rich.”

More initial designs. The first is a member of the FPH. The second is the Genetics Soldier Boss. “The Genetics Boss would’ve been an underling of Flemming who would’ve supervised the other Genetics Soldier. He would’ve covered his whole body with armor-like muscle strengtheners.”

More rough designs of boss characters. They too were also underlings of Dr. Flemming. The first design looks like a bee woman with poisonous attacks, while the second looks like a giant man with sludge attacks.

See Also

Metal Gear Acid 1 & 2 Gallery

[vldelijah-blog]

well hello ! my name is blaire (19, she / her, est), and though my app and this intro are very late i’m ecstatic to be here ! i’ve had muse for this baby for a while but was taking forever to make him so here he is ... 4am’s mr. elijah kang ! he’s definitely a lot to handle, but he’s here to bring the party to veil and i’m so excited to see all the craziness he gets in ! i’m super excited to plot with you guys, so please like this if you want to plot something, and check here for his bio, private profile, and public profile ! plots coming soon, i swear, but you can find some general ideas under the cut alongside trivia ! let’s go !

BACKGROUND.

born in la, california !! will always be a cali baby at heart, both his parents are originally from korea but moved there because they wanted to start a family in america !

he has two younger siblings - bora, who’s 12, and jandi, who’s 25 ! such an older brother, he teases / loves them to death and will fly to cali just to fight whoever hurts them !

original name is eunkwang elijah kang, but around middle school he changed it because a.) people always asked him about it or couldn’t pronounce it and b.) he didn’t think it fit him

the only people who still call him that are his parents when they’re speaking korean and his grandparents / aunts in korea. he introduces himself as elijah or eli nowadays, though !

but he prefers eli somewhat because elijah makes him feel like he’s getting in trouble ?? lmao !

his mom tried to get him into child acting because acting was always something she wanted to do, but it didn’t go very far for him

his father hated the idea of him going into the entertainment industry because he didn’t feel like it was a stable career, and thought that as the oldest of the family he should be financially well off

consequently, him and his dad’s relationship has become a little difficult now, he loves him a lot but is frustrated his dad doesn’t seem to be happy for him pursuing his dreams

even so, he started getting into singing because his mom had him join the church choir she lead ! he pretended he hated it but he loved getting all the old people to smile on that little stage

but he really got into performing when he tried to impress a girl with a talent show & won second place by doing a really cringy song & dance performance with friends !

feel free to read more in his bio, but long story short he auditioned as a joke and had the surprise of the century when he made it past auditions AND callbacks !

the idea of being in the “kpop” industy still seems so weird to gim, esp bc it’s never something he saw himself doing ?? he’s a r&b type of guy so it was really weird for him to think about at first

they decided to go with this “flirty bad boy image” for him which isn’t too out of character tbh ?? but they also thought he had the look of a rapper so started training him to be one ! so now it’s one of his positions, and though he finds it really fun he’s embarrassed to call himself one because he doesn’t feel like he has the skills to rap. 

he has a v unique voice, similar to wonpil’s, but since he had no proper training prior to joining the company they had to work with him a lot bc he didn’t really know how to use it !

was a little apprehensive at the whole “boy band” thing at first, until he realized just how much he loved it ?? and then became very invested and has been working hard ever since !he has high hopes for the group and thinks that, as long as they work hard, they can gain a stable following

also was like thank god bc he can’t dance for shit so that helped him otu a l o t !!

PERSONALITY.

like i said before, his personality’s not too different from his brand the company is trying to market him as once they debut ! so “flirty bad boy” pretty much sums it up lmao. he’s got the whole rebellious streak going on, but i wouldn’t call him bad for real because he’s still got a good heart, he’s just dumb and gets into equally dumb scenarios. i think that this pretty much sums it up:

haha !! anyways he is definitely a flirt, even when he doesn’t mean to be ! but he usually does, and isn’t afraid at all at expressing his attraction to others ! ( on that note - he’s pansexual fyi ! ) but his downfall is that he’s terrible with commitment, he’s just not in the mood to settle down and doesn’t know how but i’m sure he’s got a long list of romantic connections ! 

he’s got a bit of a potty mouth, he doesn’t really have a filter ( unless he’s somewhere for work ofc ) but even then he’s had a few embarrassing slip-ups. def got a few wrist slaps for it bc apparently he can’t shut up !! but please lmk if you don’t want him to curse in our threads bc even though it won’t be that bad in threads, i don’t want anyone to feel uncomfy !

very spontaneous, definitely the type to call you up at 3am on a sunday asking to go out some random place with him, he just loves adventure ! some find it endearing while others find it chaotic, he’s really a hit or miss in terms of this !

a charmer, he knows how to say things that people here....especially when trying to get himself out of a sticky situation ! if he had a superpower it’d be sweet talking people, he’s got a way with words and that’s ultimately how he’s become as successful as he has ! once 4am debuts he’ll definitely give fans lots of fanservice and is the type to “marry” them at fansigns and such.

on that note he’s very deceptive and isn’t pathological liar, but can do it v casually if he thinks it’ll make his situation any better ?? not a good thing but yk just how it is !

bc of these he’s quite the life of the party, and actually gravitates toward quieter people because he wants them to have fun & he’s def the first to try to break the awkward tension !

super carefree - the world could be crumbling, and this man will make a joke about it ! it can be good in stressful situations due to his ability to keep a leveled head, but at the same time it causes him to make poor decisions because he’s less concerned about the end results.

a downside is that he can have a bit of a temper, and if he feels like someone’s competing with him or trying to prove him wrong he gets pretty defensive. also if someone breaks his trust this man holds the biggest grudge i stg

tw: alcohol ! he loves to drink, it’s a habit he started back in america but moved over here ! he can’t do it quite as often bc of company rules he has to maneuver, but if you ask him to go out for some drinks, he’ll never say no.

just...silly lmao !! will literally come into his member’s rooms in the middle of the night just to do a stupid dance then walk out & leave.

very loyal & protective over those he loves !! he’s an older brother, so that’s rooted deep in him and he cares deeply about those he gets close too !

not a leader in any way ( thank god atlas saw that ), but he has his own way of checking up on people ! he’s not the talk-about-your-feelings type per se, but if he sees someone’s down he’ll go out his way to make them laugh or do something to make them feel better

also totally irrelevant but definitely has a retro eboy aesthetic going on here ?? his style very much so resembles jaewon his fc, but with a tinge more grunge ?? his ig is so eboy guys i just...he’s a mess

CONNECTIONS.

besties pls ?? 

exes ?? i feel like his exes would’ve ended pretty messily bc he’s the Worst but hey maybe they still vibe !!

drinking buddies ftw !! shall they drink & be merry together !! bonus if ur muse is a stupid drunk two and these two just are losing it 

he misses his siblings a ton so some younger muses, esp girls, for him to interact would be great ? would 100% baby them & treat them like one of his sisters !!

someone equally wild as elijah who he can always count on for a good party or getting into some sot of trouble.

fwb, a no-strings-attached situation except maybe later on ?? depends let’s see he just wants to have fun !

someone very different to him, they’re away of his personality but in contrast are very structured ! it would be super fun to interact with someone like that, see if they butt heads ?

in contrast,  a father-son/mother-son type of friendship where they look out for him to make sure he doesn’t take it too far and he makes sure they take care of themselves and have fun !

give me some rivalry ot enemies pls i love the drama

i promise i’ll add more soon and do a proper plots page but i’m literally so tired i can’t function

[imaginaryelle]

@tonyglowheart​, tumblr is still not letting my do replies in a logical way, so hopefully you’ll get this notification. Thanks so much for engaging with all my questions!

@tonyglowheart replied:

so tbh my understanding comes mostly from the show; I've got the audio drama and donghua on my list, and one of the novel TL's at some point - but not quite there. So my take might be more biased towards the show, if there's any difference in how it's portrayed there vs in other adaptations.

I know it's mentioned somewhere that the scions of the major families go through some kind of ritual or cleansing to prevent them from coming back as fierce corpses; not sure exactly how the Nies fit into that, or if bc of their differing origins/way of cultivating they do something else.

Ah! yes, I remember this now. It’s when Jiang Cheng is talking about wanting to die so he can come back and have vengeance (after he’s captured and hit with the discipline whip and has his golden core taken). And yeah, because of the butcher-style cultivation this happens less/not at all for the Nie clan. I’m honestly not sure what they do, it seems implied that they just … die young. Over and over. And have their special burial system. I think from that I will conclude that cultivation, whether it’s the inherent fighting involved in the profession/life path or something else, might indeed lead to a higher chance of a fierce corpse. And go on with that idea until I find a contradiction.

of the spells you named, 4 of them are Lan sect spells and are generally shown as guqin-based (although it seems like other instruments can play it). Tbh I think chord assassination and sound of vanquish might be the same thing, just different translations? my understanding of the talismans thing is the wide usage seems unique to WWX. I feel like in other novels this isn't the case, but in CQL that does seem to be the case

we're... kind of only showcased the Lan Sect technique and WWX's, but I kiiind of assume that the "standard orthodoxy" within MDZS/CQL is sword-based routes. I think MXTX doesn't really explore the cultivation side as much in MDZS, compared to some others?

in general, my understanding of mo'dao vs other cultivation is that mo'dao is harnessing resentment - an external energy - and channeling it, and the ability to channel it depends a lot on force of will, like you said. But I think there's also an idea that if just any rando tried it, they'd be overwhelmed by the resentful energy and corrupted by it and maybe consumed by it instead of being able to channel it? I think other means of cultivation probably provide a better  base for ppl to practice mo'dao with...

You’re probably right on Sound of Vanquish and Chord Assassination, and yes, as I’ve watched more of the show I agree that the sword technique seems to be fairly standard/orthodox. It makes sense for the plot that we get showcased the Lan sect things, but I find it... interesting, I guess, that we don’t really learn, say, what’s special about the Yunmeng Jiang sect style, beyond the existence of Zidian. The Jin sect have spirit bells or something, and the Nie have their cleavers, but I think that’s most of what we get. I really like Wei Wuxian’s talisman usage, especially in the show—it seems so adaptable where sword techniques are relatively rigid. I know there’s at least one instance of Lan Wangji using one, but it’s still implied WWX was the one who made it. I just wonder where he learned it now. If his parents died when he was 4 and he hardly remembers them, but Jiang Cheng and Yanli don’t use this sort of spell at all … where did he get it? Is it a level of cultivation thing, or willpower again? I do definitely get the impression from the show especially that music as spells is pretty highly advanced. We see very few people use it, even though it’s extremely effective and pretty flexible. So maybe the talismans are a bit like that too, or, looking at the way the canon material treats gender and class roles and such, maybe they’re considered less “manly” or even just less “proper” in general. Like they’re just toys, but WWX makes toys do actual work. That would be very in-character for him. (Honestly, I would love to see Nie Huaisang invent or use a fan style of cultivation. That should exist.)

The “anyone non-cultivator would be overwhelmed by the resentment” is an interesting point. The show definitely seems to lean toward that with the way the whole Yin Iron plot is set up. Hmmm, I will want to ponder that more ...

re: burial vs cremation.. don't quote me on this since I'm hazy myself, but I believe there are traditional beliefs - esp in Ancient times? - surrounding being buried with your corpse intact and how that affects your ability to have peace in the afterlife? I was to say this ties into other traditional ideas I see in period pieces, like the cutting of hair thing. But I think we do see this reflected in MDZS/CQL - where the sects called for the Wens to be cremated/ground to ashes, and how NMJ isn't able to rest because his corpse was scattered and I want to say you also see this belief reflected in how they talk about other things, like I sort of have an impression of them talking abt WWX dying and how he didn't even leave a complete corpse or something? I think modern beliefs are different, but I think in trad settings there's very much the idea of having/being able to leave a complete corpse being important.

Having a complete corpse is brought up a few times, true. I’d forgotten about that beyond NMJ’s situation. I think the thing with WWX was that there was speculation that not only was his body destroyed and scattered, but also pieces of his soul. And later in the Yi city arc we see other souls that are damaged/not complete, but possibly they can be mended? With enough time and good energy. But the destruction of a soul into pieces was directly linked to never reincarnating in the novel, so maybe it’s all an extension of that? In which case Jiang Cheng’s trauma over his parents’ deaths gets even worse, oh no.

[msgameandcake]

I LOVE the Kirby series, but the Kirby Clash mini-franchise has never interested me much. I played the original minigame in Robobot, and just wasn’t that impressed with it. None of the additions in Team Kirby Clash Deluxe or Super Kirby Clash really seem like they improve the original core minigame to the point that I’d be particularly interested in playing them.

I think one of the core issues is the lack of copy abilities. You can have four party members at most to take on an extra tough mini-boss or boss foe. However, only four copy abilities are ever available to you: Sword, Hammer, Beam, and Doctor. All of these abilities are modified in various ways from their typical gameplay styles, and leveling up further differentiates how effective each one is. However, I have two problems here.

On one hand, I just fundamentally don’t like any of the abilities presented very much. Out of all four, I MIGHT pick Hammer on occasion, but the other three I have next to no game time with these days. Some abilities I’d really appreciate include Bomb, Jet, Beetle, Plasma/Spark, Wing, ESP, Mirror, and Yo-yo. Sure, the four powers presented to the player essentially represent the classic RPG party: DPS, Tank, Black Mage, White Mage, and a lot of the abilities I listed out as ones I’d rather use don’t necessarily fall into similar party roles as easily. However, I think that actually could work to the game’s benefit, primarily because of the other issue I have.

With only four party slots, and only four abilities to choose from, there isn’t a whole lot of incentive or capability to experiment with unique team setups. One of the greatest elements of the Kirby series is replay value, going back through old levels with different copy abilities to see how they change the way you deal with the game’s challenges. With only four abilities though, that just isn’t going to be as critical an element, especially when you can have all four possible abilities in play at once. However, if you had more options this wouldn’t be an issue. Finding team synergies between the way different abilities help and support one another, figuring out the optimal setups to counter boss strategies, even just working with different friends who prefer different playstyles, all of this would be massively enhanced with the addition of a few more choices in what copy abilities you could use. I know that if the game had even ONE ability I really enjoyed playing with in the more typical Kirby adventures, I’d be all over taking on the game’s boss battles.

I guess one could say that the game is intentionally designed this way. With the free to play nature of the game, replaying old fights over again to gain extra experience and level up is something a player might have to do. Making that process more interesting by allowing players to experiment a great deal more with other abilities and team setups would negate a need to pay for the game’s premium currency. In this sense, one of the most critical elements of any Kirby game for me, the immense replay value and experimentation, is something a free to play game needs to actively avoid to try and get money from players. I find that to be quite disappointing overall, especially since there are a lot of elements I think are pretty cool about these games. It just narrowly misses the mark for me.

[anyway-heres-enderal]

i couldnt shut up about enderal right now if i wanted to so here’s that prophet ask meme with my prophetess fleur

blank

1. The basics – name, age, etc…

her name is fleur! i don’t know her last name but that’s okay because she’s kind of abandoned it. both of my vyn protags have line-of-sight, musically-inspired names so after that fuckin nightmare intro scene i had to name her as an homage to the song that was playing in my head the entire time it was happening (warning: disturbing imagery, abuse of some sort that is not shown but is strongly implied)

she’s 26 years old, half-kilean and bisexual.

2. Describe their appearance.

there’s a picture up there but a few other specifics: her hair is actually white, not just very light blonde, and she has blue eyes

3. How do they like to dress?

she jumps at the chance to wear nice clothes. she never got to back in ostian.

4. Do they have any markings (scars, tattoos, birthmarks)?

she has a few scars from a couple scuffles she got into back in nehrim. one of then is pretty gnarly-looking but it’s a diagonal from her lower chest to her left hip so once the events of enderal started rolling nobody who had seen it was still alive. word to the wise: don’t try to 1v1 a thunder lizard when you’re 14.

5. What are they like? Describe their personality (use whatever tools you like- MBTI, D&D alignment, astrological signs, Hogwarts house, words/phrases):

first of all, the only one of those tools that i have even a remotely decent grasp on is d&d alignment. she’s neutral-bordering-on-chaotic good. i don’t make characters with messages behind them (esp if they’re not for anyone’s consumption but mine) but hers would be “optimism with a dose of realism is probably the healthiest way to see the world”--she has the good sense to know when a situation or a person is beyond help but until that point she will try everything to help them. she desperately wanted to be wrong about adila and even as he was preparing his kamikaze attack she tried so hard to talk yuslan down.

to temper this, though, she takes things too seriously and she’s a bit of a crybaby (ok, not just a bit. alessia, my shadowgod, cried three times over the course of the entire main quest. fleur cried three times over the course of the very first quest that didn’t take place inside a trauma nightmare), although you could argue that she just has like. a normal human reaction to trauma, and everything that happens to her in enderal is EXTREMELY FUCKING TRAUMATIC.

since i have an easier time using tools like the ones described in the question to describe personalities, if she was a disney character she’d be rapunzel from tangled but less naive and with meaningful agency and if she was a social link/confidant in a persona game her card would be the star.

6. How would they describe themselves?

she has really low self-esteem but she doesn’t like. outright hate herself so she’s dismissive of any notion that she’s special or pretty. this probably sounds extremely sue-ish but a) i don’t give a fuck and b) every diy protagonist is at least kind of a mary sue simply because they’re the big special chosen one who all the romanceable companions have feelings for.

7. Education level?

uh. Not Any, Formally Speaking. School Of Hard Knocks. Worked For A Historian In Her Late Teens-Early Twenties And Learned Most Of What She Knows That Isn’t On The School Of Hard Knocks Curriculum That Way.

8. What are they proud of in themselves? What are they embarrassed about?

like the one notable talent that she’ll accept having is that she’s really smart and even before the Everything That Happened On The Ship Headed To Enderal she was a really quick learner.

she has ZERO prior experience with romance (she’s not in any way aromantic, she’s just never been in a romantic relationship) and she doesn’t like to tell people that, especially people she likes. she feels like they’ll think there’s something seriously wrong with her and that’s why she’s never been in a romantic relationship at age 26. 9. Do they know any languages other than Inal?

she knows like. kindergarten-level kilean.

10. What, if any, aspects of their mother’s culture influenced them growing up?

she didn’t really “grow up” with her parents, they died when she was six, but she has a strong belief in the importance of diplomacy and that’s pure Mom right there.

11. Name a song (or a few) that remind you of them.

i hope you like obscure musicals and vocaloid because that’s what you’re getting

In All My Dreams I Drown - The Devil’s Carnival Cast

Starchild - Ghost Quartet

Tears To Shed - Corpse Bride

Ever Lasting Night - Hitoshizuku-P (specifically the Miku character)

Lemonade - Sophie (sorry 4 mood whiplash)

12. Speaking of songs, can they sing? What is their voice like? How about instruments?

she’s hopeless with instruments but she’s not a bad singer by any means. sorry 4 relentless youtube links but she kind of sounds like Gelsey Bell

13. What was their life like before coming to Enderal?

it wasn’t good, i’m not going to lie. she and sirius spent a pretty decent amount of time roughing it because towns and cities kind of got progressively more dangerous as time went on, and Because Of Reasons I Won’t Go Into Here they both had pretty good reasons to avoid anyone affiliated with the temple of the creator

14. How did they decide to leave Nehrim?

it was too fuckin dangerous to try to make a life there anymore

15. Describe their relationship with Sirius.

they were siblings in all senses but blood. he got her out of a pretty bad situation when they were kids and she just stuck with him until they had been through so much together there was no other way for them to describe their relationship than “family”

16. Who do they blame for what happened to their family?

herself. survivor’s guilt is a hell of a drug and it doesn’t help that things only got worse afterward. she like. knows the temple did it, but since she doesn’t know why she’ll always wonder if there was something she could have done to stop it.

17. Apart from stowing away, have they ever broken the law?

she would be considered an accomplice to murder because she helped hide a body once (don’t worry, the victim without question deserved it)

18. How honest are they? Under what circumstances would they lie?

basically the only person she directly lies to is herself; if she’s dishonest, it’s usually by omission. the rare occasions she does outright lie it’s usually to protect someone or because there’s no way anyone would believe the truth.

19. Worst memory(s)? Best memory(s)?

Too Heavy For This Post and uhhhh. getting to spend time with her two BFFs/crushes on the Gertrude before everything started really going to shit was an extremely good memory for her.

20. Fight, or flight?

fight unless they’re like. demonstrably stronger. running away from an enemy she had a chance of defeating has always just come back to bite her. she wanted to fight the steel bird in the star city.

21. Describe their combat style.

Best Defense Is A Good Offense, Also Axes = Good. (original playthrough was greataxes and heavy armor but i’ll probably switch to war axes and light armor [or unarmored if i can swing it] when the steam release drops because apparently half-kileans are equivalent to bretons in normal skyrim terms and i can’t abide having played a heavy armor + two-handed breton twice)

22. Have they ever killed before? What is their reaction to combat?

she’s hunted animals but she’d never done more to a human than injure them enough to scare them off prior to enderal. she tries to only harm people in self-defense and may have cried a little bit (ok, quite a bit) after she had to kill firespark.

23. How do they react to having magical abilities? Do they use them?

magic makes her head feel “gross” somehow (read: she’s uniquely sensitive to arcane fever) so she doesn’t use it

24. What do they think of Enderal?

the scenery’s beautiful but the fact that it’s a theocracy and the notion of being stuck on a certain “path” depending on the circumstances of your birth freaks her out for reasons of “hey remember the oppressive religious regime that was responsible for all of your childhood trauma and continued to make your life hell before a mysterious trans power couple plus their direct superior group of outsiders instigated a rebellion that brought the whole thing down? now it controls the whole continent and everyone thinks it’s Good, Actually”

25. Did they do the Biggest Egg Hunt Ever quest?

she would have if my dumb ass hadn’t completely fuckin spaced it out and forgotten about it until it was too late. next playthrough, i swear.

26. How do they feel about joining the Order? What do they think of Arantheal?

she was not in favor of it (see: opinion of theocracies) and basically clung to the green shirts until she was inducted as a keeper. arantheal makes her uneasy but the threat of looming armageddon does a lot to help her shove that uneasiness to the side.

27. What is their opinion of the gods (or lack thereof)?

she’s not inherently against the gods but she doesn’t like organized religion

28. Wine, or pipe?

wine!

29. Do they spare or arrest Hallys, the farmer-turned-bandit in the quest, Deus Ex Machina? Why?

she arrested him after she found out where the money really came from. if it hadn’t been Stolen From A Fucking Food Bank she probably would have let him go.

30. What are their feelings and opinions about the Undercity?

uh...she hates that ark has a “slum district out of sight of the Good And Honorable Rich People” because having been poor and homeless basically until she came to enderal she can’t help but empathize with the residents of the undercity.

31. How do they react to the beggars of Ark?

if tumblr doesn’t stop refreshing the page and deleting my answers every time i switch tabs to look at the wiki or change the song i’m listening to i’m going to throw my laptop off the porch.

she usually reacts by sparing some change because she can relate

32. Where and how do they spend their time when in Ark?

she really likes the museum in the south quarter. she likes learning stuff and looking at relics of the past.

33. What would they do with three wishes?

just...stop the fuckin cycle

make the black stones inert so nobody else gets hurt because of them

this is basically deliberate repression so it’s 100% unhealthy but she would gladly wish to forget everything that happened before she was seven if it would put an end to the nightmares

34. How do they feel about death? Do they fear it?

uh. yes. she very bigly fears death. she kind of had a complete breakdown after the keeper exam until calia reassured her that just because she heard something during her harrowing doesn’t mean it’s true.

35. What (else) do they fear?

deep water (predates game events). also i dont know if it’s necessarily a fear but she hates being surprised.

36. Do they have any secrets?

uh. Yeah. her dad really was as bad as the dreams show. a few other things.

37. How is their behavior around people they like? People they dislike?

she’s about as friendly and affectionate as her shyness will allow with people she likes. it takes a LOT for her to be actively hostile but she’ll only attempt like. the barest superficial politeness to people she dislikes. 38. What is their relationship with the companions? Who, if anyone, did your prophet romance?

they’re her very good friends who she is also crushing on hard. yeah, both of em. she ended up with jespar kind of by default because i wasn’t making an effort to specifically target either of them but i kind of like the contrast between them so i’m gonna leave that in the Canon Playthrough Bin.

39. Was there any non-companion character that they were close to? That they particularly disliked?

does ryneus count? she would have taken him back to the sun temple and had the few green shirts left alive help her build some method of locomotion for him if she could have. also she had a crush on lishari. she didn’t have anyone she strongly disliked other than obvious shitbirds like taranor.

40. How do they feel about myrads?

she thinks they’re Big Cute Dog Monster Boys

41. What dreams or ambitions did they have before coming to Enderal? What about afterwards?

she wanted to be an archaeologist! she kind of got to do archaeologist stuff during her time in enderal but she wishes that she’d been able to do it without an apocalyptic sword of damocles hanging over her

42. Do they like cities? Or do they prefer the country? Is there a region of Enderal that they like or dislike more than the others?

she doesn’t necessarily dislike city life because she often gets lonely so living somewhere with a big population is always a tempting thought, but if she could take everyone she loves and go live somewhere peaceful where there’s no oppressive government or looming apocalypse she would.

her ideal Cottage Away From All The Bad Things would be in the goldenforst but she loves the crystal forest even though if she gets too close to the crystals it makes her feel like her brain is trying to vibrate out of her skull.

43. What do they do to lower their considerable stress?

go on walks in one of the numerous beautiful locations in enderal. take apart inactive mechanical constructs and try to understand their inner workings from their guts. press flowers.

44. Describe their perfect day off.

wake up from a nightmare-free sleep (you said “perfect”), go on a nice walk around the city (paying a visit to the museum of course!), meet up with her friends and find something fun to do that won’t put them in mortal danger, get drunk at the dancing nomad when it gets too dark for wandering around outside the city to be a good idea, and then watch the stars.

45. List three of their favorite things. Three things they hate?

likes:

sugar bread

the color gold

nice scenery

dislikes:

cooked cabbage

mead

bugs

46. What’s in their pockets?

emergency healing potion

herbs for making another emergency healing potion

at least one apple

random flowers that look cool

a ton of those vendor trash crystal coins you find in pyrean ruins. she just thinks they’re neat!

47. Pets? Mounts? Treasured possessions?

she’s never really had a lot she could hold on to and the thought of prizing a short-lived animal or an item that’s easy to lose is frightening.

48. How are their cooking skills?

NOT FUCKIN GOOD

(she can cook meat alright but anything more complex than that? no)

49. Do you consider any particular quest or side quest to be definitive for your prophet? Which one(s) and why?

i bulldozed through the main quest on my first playthrough; i’ll probably be able to answer this question better once the steam release drops and i can replay the game.

50. How forgiving are they? For example, if they were yelled at in a brothel after searching high and low for this little sh*t, how would they react?

first of all, everyone has a different reaction to traumatic experiences and sometimes that reaction isn’t “palatably sad and helpless” so jot that down. that being said, fleur was extremely upset about that because a) she’s also not an “uwu soft helpless cinnamon roll” kind of trauma survivor, b) some of what he said was generally hurtful, and c) that entire mission had already been one big long anxiety attack

but she’s too hyperempathetic to hold a grudge, especially when a) she knows where the person who hurt her was coming from, b) she gets a sincere apology, and c) she is more than a little in love with the person doing the apologizing.

51. What do they think of the Veiled Woman?

uh. mixed feelings. for what it’s worth, her feelings are mixed because they started out negative and then once she actually got to talk to the veiled woman her opinion strongly improved but like...sirius still died right in front of her because of this woman’s actions so they’ll never be fully positive.

52. If they had been a victim of one of the black stones, how would it have affected them? What would they have used its power to accomplish?

[slams huge portfolio of ideas i’ve had about this exact scenario on your desk] well y’see fleur as she is in canon is a brand of yandere that only technically qualifies as such: she won’t kidnap or murder people who reject her advances, but...uh...don’t harm her loved ones and expect mercy.

fleur under the influence of the black stones...well. it’d be very much like this except not Literally Directed Toward A Fucking Relative. esp the “well you found out now all i can hope for from you is to see your face one last time as you kill me” ending. not quite full yuno gasai love-me-or-i’ll-slaughter-you giggling while hacking someone up but. you know. Something Adjacent.

53. What was their reaction to the Black Guardian’s revelations? Do they accept or reject his offer?

she just kind of emotionally shut down. it was a lot to take in, esp for her. she took him up on his offer because by that point she was desperate for everything she’d gone through to mean something.

54. How does their story end?

credits rolled on her sitting on the edge of the star city with jespar. while the credits rolled i was staring into the void thinking about my life. not sure if that’s canon, next playthrough i’m gonna do a hard save before the final decision point and see if catharsis leaves me feeling less empty inside.

55. Do they change over the course of the story? In what ways?

she becomes a lot more confident and sure of herself and even though she never stops being an optimist she learns to stop setting herself on fire to keep others warm.

56. Anything else you’d like to share about them?

she’s so cautiously positive because she was written as a foil to my shadowgod alessia, a textbook nihilist who only got worse after the events of nehrim.

57. Bonus: For you- what are you most excited for in Forgotten Stories?

VEILED WOMAN BACKSTORY

[entamewitchlulu]

Arc V Anniversary Discussion Day 15: Headcanons

brooooooooooo this could be a longass post lemme tell you, I’m barely even sure where I should start.  I mean, most of my headcanons I’ve already talked about at length, esp my big ones like trans boy Yuya, so I think I’ll hold off on sharing the sexuality/gender headcanons today.

Instead, I think I’m gonna talk about something I’ve wanted to talk about for a while: my headcanons for what kind of spiritual and magical abilities that the Arc V cast has.

under the cut cause this is long

Yuya

This is already confirmed by canon so it’s not quite a headcanon, but Yuya can hear Duel Spirits.  He doesn’t necessarily hear words, but he gets impressions of their emotions and desires. As a child he misinterpreted this as his imagination, or projecting his own feelings onto them, but post-series he realizes that he truly was hearing them.  With his powers boosted by becoming whole with his counterparts once again, he redevelops the ability to understand and speak Duel Spirit languages.

Yuya also has a unique and rare ability from my interpretation of the Yu-Gi-Oh universe known as Enflaming. Simply by interacting with people, or indeed even just being around them, he agitates other souls into manifesting latent abilities, so people who had the potential for magical, soul-based abilities but never manifested them start to develop them after having come into contact with Yuya.

Yuto

Yuto had the underdeveloped ability to see Duel Spirits outside of a duel; nothing too solid, but he could catch little glimpses and impressions of them, as well as sense the pressure they gave out.  He was actually under the impression that he was seeing ghosts for a very long time.  Once he becomes one with Yuya, they all are able to see Duel Spirits clearly.

Like Yuya, Yuto can also hear Duel Spirits, but he can really only get the impression of emotion from Dark Rebellion.

Yugo

While Clear Wing is the one guiding him, the dimension hopping abilities that Yugo uses are actually inherent to him, himself, with Clear Wing just giving him a boost.

Yuuri

Yuuri had similar abilities to hear and sense monster emotions like Yuya, but due to a series of childhood incidents involving experimentation on his brain by both Roger and the Doctor, the barriers between himself and his monsters grew incredible thin and fragile.  Their own emotions frequently leak into his brain and he and they often have trouble distinguishing themselves as separate beings.  This is particularly evident with Starving Venom, as the two of them often seem very confused as to where one of them ends and the other begins, their emotions constantly backfeeding into each other until they lose a lot of their separate identities, especially when tensions are high or when Yuuri is very excited.  Once assimilated with Yuya, Yuuri finds himself much more separate from Starving Venom and is able to consider himself as an individual being (albeit one assimilated with three others), which accounts for him being much more calmed down during the last arc.

Yuzu

Yuzu, and in fact all of the bracelet girls, have a watered down echo of Ray’s empathic abilities.  Yuzu’s variety makes her slightly more attuned to the sense when something bad is about to happen, giving her a sense of uncertain ominousness before something occurs, but without direction for what exactly that is.

Yuzu also is the incarnation that absorbed the excess energy from the En Flowers, so not only does she cause the Yuuboys to separate when they come near each other, but she also has a boost to her empathetic powers when in the presence of uncut flowers.  She’s essentially gathering the echoed memories and intuition of the flowers subconsciously, which makes her more alert and aware to whatever is going to happen.  As she is rarely, if ever in a flowered location in Arc V, it’s not until post-series that she deduces this.

Ruri

Ruri’s variety of Ray’s psychic powers is a slighter version of empathy.  She’s more in tune with other people’s emotions, and if there’s enough high emotions happening around her, she can find herself more affected because she senses them as though they were her own emotions subconsciously.  This is very much why she clings to Smile Dueling so much, because in the wake of the invasion, the negative emotions constantly surrounding her overwhelm her.  She’s not aware of her abilities and thinks this is normal.  Once she assimilates with Yuzu, Yuzu and she both gain a much more refined emotional empathy that they learn to minimize when they need to focus.

As the incarnation that absorbed the excess energy from En Birds, as well, Ruri is very much in tune with actual living birds, and the birds themselves seem to remember her as Ray and often come to her without prompting or fear.  She can’t understand them, but she can get faint impressions of emotion from them.

Rin

Rin’s inheritance from Ray takes the form of a personal intuition, giving her little flashes of insight about when she needs to quickly duck behind a corner to hide from a surprise Security officer, or the nagging sense that someone is following her.

Her En Winds power also gives her a slight psychic vision when the wind blows.  It’s a bit like echolocation, giving her a slight impression of what things are shaped like in a twenty foot radius if there is wind blowing around them.

Selena

Selena’s psychic/empathic powers are actually far more stunted than the other girls, as Leo occasionally implemented ways to reduce her abilities since he believed it was Ray’s empathic powers that caused her to think she could face Zarc in the first place, and he wanted to make sure once he had her back, she wouldn’t do anything like that again.  Selena does still have the remnants of Ray’s monster empathy, though, able to sort of sense Duel Spirits’ emotions (but at a far lesser intensity than the boys can).

As the receptacle for En Moon, Selena actually does get more energy during a full moon, and gets more tired during a new moon.  As people often joke about kids getting more hyper during full moons, Selena doesn’t realize that she’s actually channeling energy from the moon.

Shun

Shun actually has a bit of Duel Spirit ancestry from way back in his bloodline, which while it doesn’t grant him as many powers as it would if he were half or quarter duel spirit, gives him a more honed sense of intuition, especially about others’ intent. This is why despite his misgivings, he ended up trusting Yuya and was able to slightly hear Yuto talking to him from within Yuya, as well as why he was very much honed in on Dennis as a potential traitor.

Tsukikage

Tsukikage also has a bit of Duel Spirit ancestry, which while he’s definitely an able warrior without it, accounts for some of his more superhuman abilities, like jumping off a moving bike and running just as fast as it to get an Action Card.

Reira

mostly confirmed by canon anyway, but Reira is an empath, and an incredibly powerful one.  They can feel people’s emotions even through a camera feed, even if the person is miles away in actuality, and if they know who they’re looking for, they can hone in on a person’s emotions and location from up to a mile away.

Dennis

Dennis has what one would call very minor suggestion abilities.  Not that he’s not already pretty good at what he does, but come on, this kid telegraphs himself pretty hard in-show, and barely anyone calls him out on it.  He doesn’t even know that he’s doing it, but especially when he does his card tricks and performances, he’s layering them with a very thin layer of persuasive magic that attracts attention and makes people slightly more inclined to give him their attention.  People already inclined to trust him will also be more willing to trust what he has to say.

Gongenzaka

Gongenzaka doesn’t have any flash abilities, but what he does have is a rare magic immunity.  This makes him impervious to any sort of suggestion magic, illusions, curses, etc, but it also means he can’t be affected with beneficial abilities, either.

they’re the only ones off the top of my head that i’ve developed ideas for, but i’m sure i’ll get more later, lol.  I might have some fics planned

[jayrockin]

I’ve spent the past few months attempting to figure out a framework for Ghost Physics in the Danny Phantom universe? Enjoy my crazed scribblings.

Cliff notes version: The Ghost Zone is our dimension’s 4D “atmosphere,” absorbing harmful trans-dimensional radiation. Ghosts are made of the Ghost Zone’s version of matter, called ectoplasm, a substance capable of 4D motion (video explanation of that), “toggling” how physical forces (esp. electromagnetism and gravity) interact with it, and storing huge amounts of energy. A ghost’s unique nervous system and encoded body plan (the ecto-signature) remains in the upper energy levels of the Ghost Zone at all times, remotely controlling their body. Danny can chemically change his body between ectoplasm and regular matter, and has both a normal physical brain and an ecto-signature.

A Literal Essay:

The Ghost Zone (GZ) is a thin, high-energy barrier around our universe (OU) that occupies four-dimensional space in relation to us. All regular matter releases energetic particles that travel along the 4D axis out of our world, called trans-dimensional radiation. GZ matter, colloquially referred to as ectoplasm, absorbs trans-dimensional radiation as it tries to pass through the GZ. Sorta like a 4D atmosphere, it protects OU from the potentially harmful particles released by nearby universes.

Ghost portals are locations where the GZ and OU intersect along the 4D axis. The Fenton ghost portal takes the form of a flat octagon, but naturally occurring ghost portals can appear to be shifting 3D shapes, do to the nature of a 4D intersection between 3D universes. Ghosts (as described later) are also a sort of 4D intersection, being 3D matter connected to the GZ by a 4D hole, but they are not high-energy enough to jump freely between the two universes and must use spots where the plains already intersect, i.e. ghost portals.

Ectoplasm is superficially similar to OU matter, having analogous elements, isotopes, and molecular structures; but it does not follow the same physical laws as OU matter. Most notably ectoplasm can change how physical forces and OU particles interact with it, and is able to absorb and release preposterous amounts of energy. Ectoplasm can toggle its conductivity, magnetism, photo-reflectivity, electromagnetic emission, and many other aspects of itself. It’s both the world’s best battery and a universal substance; the Fentons have the right idea incorporating it in their technology. Although it mostly absorbs trans-dimensional radiation, ectoplasm will passively leech ambient energy while in OU. Temperatures drop and lights flicker in the presence of a ghost because they’re sucking up the heat and electrical energy. The more active a ghost is the more ambient energy they absorb; ghost fights can get pretty chilly for human onlookers.

Ghosts are formed when a human or animal brain releases trans-dimensional radiation at a traumatic moment of death, which leaves a mirror imprint of their nervous system in the GZ. This imprint/energy pattern is called an ecto-signature, and contains both the working nervous system of the ghost and the basic coding for their physical form. A ghost’s ecto-signature remains in the GZ at all times, but on a slightly higher-energy level of it that isn't accessible to most physical objects. Ghosts never truly leave the GZ because of this; they can “snap” in alignment to either universe, but while they project their physical body into OU, the energy pattern that forms their brain is still in the GZ. In OU a ghost’s body sits atop a form-fitting 4th dimensional hole that we cannot perceive, beyond the faint glow of the GZ that forms a ghost’s aura and rim-lighting. Ghosts appear to be backlit from any angle you look at them because of this hole, while in the GZ they look more like regular objects.

Because a ghost’s body is not the physical location of their brain, they can freely distort themselves, take huge amounts of damage, and even atomize their body with no consequence. Ghosts appear to be impossible to kill from a typical human perspective because attacking their body ultimately does not harm the source of the ghost, its ecto-signature. Healing massive damage like limb loss and complete destruction of the body is energetically expensive and ghosts try to avoid it, but ultimately they will reform in the GZ unless the ecto-signature itself is targeted. A corrupted ecto-signature can permanently brain-damage a ghost or “glitch” their attempts at forming a body. Interference along the 4D hole connecting a ghost’s body and the ecto-signature will appear to cause similar physical effects and lagging reactions, but is temporary.

Halfas, of course, work differently from a normal ghost. Danny experienced the standard traumatic death scenario, but before he had actually finished dying! His trauma (electrocution) occurred at an intersection of OU and the GZ, so his body mass briefly existed in the same location as a mass of ectoplasm. Since the trans-dimensional radiation of Danny’s traumatized nervous system had no distance to cross, his ecto-signature formed early, and in the exact same location as his regular brain. The new ghost brain attempted to form an ectoplasmic body in the same space as Danny’s human body, triggering a chemical reaction that converted all of his OU matter into GZ matter. Danny has significantly more physical complexity than a normal ghost as Phantom because his ghost body is an exact chemical replica of his human one, instead of just a visual approximation by a traumatized brain copy. After the accident, walking out of the portal, Danny’s new ghost brain continued to exist in the GZ while a working physical nervous system still existed in OU, both working in perfect sync to move the same body.

Danny can transform back from his ghost form by quickly reabsorbing his ectoplasmic body back into the GZ, catalyzing a reverse reaction. (Technically this is within the abilities of a regular ghost as well, but they don’t have an OU matter body coded into their brain and would only be destroying themselves down to an ecto-signature, a massive waste of time and energy.) The boy is a tiny trans-dimensional nuclear reactor… every time he transforms he’s basically creating new matter. The glowing rings are the heat/light of a literal chemical reaction, and they spread outward like fire burning through a sheet of paper. It smells like burning flesh and chemicals and releases a small amount of radiation, although not enough to harm most OU organisms. Vlad’s black transformation rings have a slightly different reaction process and absorb light and energy instead of releasing it.

“Ghost Powers” mostly originate from the weird physical properties of ectoplasm and 4D movement. Intangibility and teleportation are both 4D movement towards the GZ; ghosts essentially dodge 3D matter. Teleportation is a full-body 4D warp, followed by a quick frictionless dash to a nearby location before moving back into alignment with OU. To an outsider this looks like the ghost shrinking/deforming and vanishing before appearing out of nowhere somewhere else. This is a fairly difficult thing to master because full-body warping is incredibly disorienting. Watching 3D objects move from an outside 4D perspective is nauseating and really hard for a human brain to process. Look at this video of a horse rotating from a 4D perspective and try to imagine an entire complex environment moving like this… extremely unpleasant! For this reason, normal intangibility involves atomizing the body and warping each atom along the 4D axis individually. This maintains the illusion of a solid body (instead of shrinking and vanishing) to onlookers and to the ghost’s own brain.

Ghosts sense their environment very differently than an organism from OU, but most wouldn’t know that themselves. Technically, a ghost’s entire body is their ear, eye, nose, tongue and skin, but their ecto-signature usually converts the data into something more tolerable for a human brain to process. All parts of a ghost’s body can detect photons (seeing), motion and vibration (feeling and hearing), chemical contact (smelling and tasting), and trans-dimensional radiation; including parts of their body that appear to be non-living, like hair and clothing. While “seeing” trans-dimensional radiation doesn’t have a OU sensory equivalent, at its full potential it would allow a ghost to see objects along the 4D axis (mostly ghosts trying to hide there) and see through 3D matter. Danny’s ghost sense is a manifestation of this, as his body detects the “black” spot ectoplasm makes by absorbing ambient trans-dimensional radiation.

Ghosts are incredibly powerful and versatile beings, but they are limited by their perception of their body and abilities as humanoid… the older a ghost is, the more likely they are to have mastered more aspects of their fake fluid bodies and consequently gotten even weirder looking and more terrifying.

There’s even more I have worked on besides what I’ve written here, but this is more than enough writing for one post. Feel free to ask me questions, add your own theories, or poke holes in my arguments. If you enjoyed this post, please consider supporting my writing and artwork through Patreon or Ko-fi! Thank you for reading!

PATREON | KO-FI

[6ad6ro]

time-travelling-bee2

replied to your post

“dark souls an analysis of every game in the dark souls series by a big...”

Honestly, I feel a bit of your points are off. The first, exceedingly minor thing, is that you seem to be confusing "smurfs" and "twinks." If you were to ban all smurfs, then noone could make a new playthrough Well, first of all, I don’t feel Dark Souls 1 is that cheap. You never gave any examples other than O&S (which are clearly supposed to be taken on with a summon, you even get Solaire if you’re offline), though I can easily imagine Capra and their dogs as one. Maybe even Nito, because of the skeletons (though this is more of a stretch, and then wouldn’t you also have to throw in DS3’s Curse-Rotted Greatwood? That’s even worse, since it’s mostly invulnerable) Next, the healing. Sure, you couldn’t grind for estus flasks, but you didn’t need to. You got them for free. I honestly found it a major annoyance moving from DS1 to 2 that I HAD to grind, since you only had 1 to start with. And even if 20 estus flasks every bonfire wasn’t enough, you actually COULD grind for healing items in the form of humanity from rats (or skeleton babies). Besides, in DS2, enemies stop respawning, so you can’t REALLY grind at all. As for DS2, while you might just call me another one of “those elitists who hate DS2 for making it easier,” a lot of my gripes are actually changes making it harder. Like how every enemy has ungodly tracking, how your health decreases every time you die (and you can’t even see your current health, only the maximum), the ability to be invaded while hollow, the general lack of stat points at sl1 despite the highest number of stats, what feels (to me) like abnormally high stat requirements for weapons, insane fall damage, etc. Also, Soul Memory. Made me constantly afraid to do anything but level up, because it’s all permanent. Can’t buy consumables, those won’t last. Can’t buy arrows or bolts, those won’t last. Can’t upgrade weapons, “What If I don’t like it?” And if you die, and lose all your souls? You’re fucked. Because every soul you get counts, even the ones that aren’t doing anything to help you. And you know who tend to be the ones who can spend souls the most efficiently, get the most bang for their buck?The ones who have it all planned out beforehand.The ones who are skilled. The smurfs. Newbies, at the same power level, will have a much higher memory, due to wasting money from dieing, upgrading useless weapons, and grinding for items/consumables they need to progress.But smurf/twink invaders can grind for free, infinitely, with the right ring and cov.                             I will agree that Dark Souls 1 is twink hell, but I still feel that Dark Souls 3’s system is the best, since it looks at upgrade level as well as actual level. Sure, there’s still rings, but those are generally balanced out by the numerous boons hosts have (more health, increased estus (even if the twink has max estus), summons/way of blue, giant’s seed). It’s less an ant versus an elephant, more an ant versus a cat. But the ant can summon infinite elephants(by pasword)

TLDR - prob to be expected, but i disagreed with a lot (but not all) of your counterpoints. most of your issues with ds2, while valid, seem to stem from you not knowing about “company of champions”, causing you to make things needlessly hard on yourself. i think the term “twink” is a kinda gross term so i don't use it. also tiny warning i’m in a bad mood rn lol, so v srry if i came off a bit harsh! ironically i just got done uninstalling ds2 ps4 bc it’s pure shit and i’ve had enough (hence the “bad mood”). oh and even tho you’re kinda criticizing me, ty for reading what i wrote and responding? anyways i’m gonna put my full reply under a cut bc it’s gonna be super long srry.

so “twink” is sorta homophobic, or at least it’s origins. i’m not gonna use a slur from within the gay community, that was already mildly gross, that was then appropriated by shitty edgelord gamer culture “bc homophobia is funny”, to label a very bad aspect of games. it’s a bit trashy no matter how you look at it. so i say “smurf”, esp considering the terms are pretty interchangeable. there is no real “correct” term bc it’s slang and opinions are divided across the net. but at least smurf came first. from starcraft pros who used “papasmurf” (and other variants) as their alt and would grief new players by pretending to be new and bad. but then halfway through the match they’d switch gears completely and just stomp all over them to get a negative reaction.. what makes a smurf (or whatever you wanna call it) a smurf is the intent of griefing and never intending for it to be a fair fight, not just that they happen to be better than the other player. it’s the intent to bully and make the other person mad. smurfing is premeditated. and really fucking pathetic. so anyways... souls 1. uhh i... did give other examples besides o&s? do you mean just examples of bad bosses? bc sure i can list a bunch. i swear i mentioned gargoyles. but also fucking 4 kings. capra, sure. nito kinda rly sucks. wolf is way too harsh. gwyn is actually really awful too, but he’s last boss so i give him a pass. also, tho i’m cool with it, people really hate bed. the rest of the bosses aren’t nearly as cheap, but they’re still usually way harder than bosses in any of the other games save a few examples. imo “the show isn’t worth the price of admission”. and the run to the fights themselves were usually unreasonably tough/long. so about the summoning. you know the game. you played it a ton and learned through countless mistakes, or you researched it a ton online (watched letsplays maybe). average people? they don’t do that. most people expect single player games to explain themselves within the game to a point. so a lot of people didn’t/won’t have access to solaire. or understand summoning. i would say most people won’t have humanity at that point having died so much. you, and many other souls fans, can fail to realize how unique and specific your situation is that allowed you to now consider stuff like this as fair or balanced or obvious, when in reality it’s totally cheap and grueling and incomprehensible.. i’ll elaborate on this aspect more later, but there is a common issue with people who love and defend souls that they have... very little self awareness in regards to this game? a lack of empathy for how others would handle the same situations. sorry i’m not saying this is you for certain i’m just... making an assumption based on the huge amount of people who defend souls, ds1 especially. but my point is, most people? solo o&s. with a really low level bc they died so much. and they just quit. bc it’s super hard even WITH solaire and a high level. bc it’s a horrible place for that fight. two of the hardest individual bosses at the same time plus a super boss after you beat one. awful. why are they harder than p much all bosses that come after them? why are they there? it’s a big stupid badly designed brick wall that murders fun for most people. umm wait but greatwood is so moderate (comparatively). you played ds3 right? greatwood gets stunned by every weakpoint break. it’s weak points might trick you once but you figure it out quickly bc it’s pretty visually obvious. mobs are comparatively simple and he kills his own mobs. he’s a big slow dumb idiot and his mobs stop half way into his fight. actually you know what? sure. tree kinda sucks too. i could see people having issues easily. but the health and damage are so low that, when combined with how r1-spam-friendly and forgiving ds3 is, it’s just not the same. i see your comparison to gravelord but imo tree is insanely easier. kinda like how the gargoyles fight in ds2 was so much easier than the one in ds1 even tho there were way more actual gargoyles in 2? bc the fight itself was inherently less dangerous in every way even though visually/thematically it was similar. again, most of your opinions on how to mitigate difficulty in ds1 actually come from super non-obvious stuff. do you know how many people never kindle their bonfires even once? or knew humanity healed you? that aside, you know what’s better than even 20 estus? 10 estus and 99 inexpensive lifegems you can just replace as much as you want. that sell from an impossible to miss npc. and ftr, 20 estus (if you even had that bc most don't), STILL isn’t enough usually. considering the insane damage bosses and normal enemies give. you have normalized souls levels of difficulty and forgotten what even 16 bit era games are like. you could have unlimited estus and still die in any souls easily, new player or not. oh uhh lastly you know enemies DO actually have unlimited respawn in ds2 right? it’s optional. you just join “company of champions” and enemies unlimited respawn. making the regular respawn limit simply make the game WAY easier by letting you grind enemies away “forever”. great for grinding souls, items, and not worrying about killing off all your potential souls while clearing an area for the boss run. or just getting rid of particularly bullshit spawns. but tbh again i don’t blame you for not knowing, seeing how souls makes all their games artificially way more difficult by doing stuff like this lol. in a way, this alone may be imo the BEST argument you have against my opinion that ds2 was much easier than ds1. i’m really glad you brought up this design flaw like i’m sure what you experienced happened to a lot of others at least on some level. i’d only call you one of “those elitists who hate DS2 for making it easier” if that’s what you are. bc most ds1 fans? souls fans in general? are like that. elitist. pretentious. insanely competitive. if you didn’t like the other changes to ds2 bc it was different than 1 and that’s what you were used to, then that’s super fair! i recently saw someone find ds3 way harder than 2 bc the action was different. it’s fair. but you remember. you know your fanbase. you know all the message boards replying to valid questions with “git gud” and “it’s really not hard at all” etc. you may not be one of those people, but at least be aware of the souls fanbase? there’s a GOOD reason it’s starting to get criticized so often. sort of an aside but still related... if i remember correctly in ds2 miya (he was still involved) was considering putting in difficulty settings until the fanbase lost their shit. that’s another confusing things that ds1 fans did that confused me. didn’t they get that company of champions was the obvious way to bring back souls 1 difficulty? tho it was a bit obtuse for sure. the “normal/easy/hard” difficulties woulda been objectively better for everyone. uhh your specific complaints abut ds2 tho... no you’re right about most of them like even if you don’t realize a few can be mitigated? like being invaded while hollow well people can just go offline completely. do sl1 stats rly matter other than to very specific sl1 runs? it’s valid, but will never come up as an issue for 99% of people. you level up v fast in ds2, to the point i’d say you get two levels per 1 in ds1? leveling up late game in ds1 is so tough compared to 2. soul memory was great bc it murdered smurfing. if i remember correctly ds1 and des had a bunch of hidden shit that acted like soul memory anyhow? it wasn’t until bb and ds3 that that kind of stuff had less of an impact, which of course brought back the smurfs in ds3. i hate to say it but soul memory should ONLY be an issue to less hardcore or newer players if they wanna keep co-oping with each other? it seems like you might have been super worried about pvp stuff or other advanced things... which tbh is REALLY not for the average person. lack of pvp made nothing "harder” exactly. again, plz remember my whole analysis was geared towards newer players wanting to give souls a try? predominantly pve-specific stuff. aw man you weren’t leveling up weapons (or gear) in 2? weren’t buying arrows or healing items? i mean it really wasn’t that expensive... i guess i could see ds2 being rly hard with such a handicap. i’m still super confident that ds1 without upgrades is way harder than ds2 (i know from experience tbh), but nonetheless that sounds rough. try and look at the mistakes you made with your ds2 playthrough and apply that same exact stuff to someone else with ds1. all i can really say to that is souls once again failed by design. THIS kind of stuff is why i criticize the parts of the series that i do. you seem to know so much about the series, but yet you still make huge seemingly basic mistakes. don’t you see the big issue here? i forgot to bring up the constant health loss at death. yeah, it sucks. it does. i’m glad that was removed in 3 (wasnt it? lol). BUT! human effigies were a hell of a lot more plentiful than humanity was. they were  easier to understand and manage as well? built-up humanity loss was a much harsher punishment than the slow loss of max health until you used one of your (comparatively) plentiful effigies in 2. um again smurfs aren't just experienced players starting a new char. that’s just an alt. or a new game. unless they intend to grief people and play unfairly they aren’t smurfs or anything like that. in all my ds2 play i only rarely ran into people who were way way out of my skill range (due to soul memory), but i can kinda see why you’d be unhappy? then again, compared to ds1 there’s not much comparison since there was like not much to stop the real smurfy stuff. you at LEAST had soul memory to protect you a little bit. also people not knowing about company of champions aside...  even tho i wasted a ton of souls through death or buying consumables or lvling up items in my first ds2 run... and never used company of champions until endgame (when souls are fairly negligible)... i still wound up beyond “over-leveled” by the vanilla endgame? don’t get me wrong, ds2 is flawed and i think it needs co-op through the entire thing to be really great. i think i mentioned demons was a better game solo? but i still think ds2 is worlds more accessible than ds1. yeah ds3 handles invasion better than ds1. agree. but ds3 is so so popular still and ds1... well it’s still played but it’s different. ds3′s awful smurf problem being better than ds1′s in comparison? doesn’t remove ds3′s issue in general. i am by no means “great” at souls, but i have crazy experience under my belt. i can outplay most smurfs. i usually do to a significant level. but when i hit a smurf invader 25 times and they don’t need to heal yet... and then they finally hit me once and i lose 2/3 my health... all your arguments fall apart. it’s definitely NOT a fair fight in any way regardless of the “advantages” i have as the host when a havel cosplayer wanders into my starting zones. and then a nameless king. and then just a completely naked smurf named “the hulk” that is totally naked besides a pyromancy flame that it punches with. that i can barely damage and still wrecks me hard per punch. they’re basically cheating. but just to be clear this is not an issue if you aren’t trying to do a co-op playthrough with a friend tho. two low levels can’t take on a smurf no matter how skilled they are. so either you annoyingly work around it, or one of you brings in their high level char. which of course causes any invading smurf to suicide the moment they see the high level. every. single. time. bc they’re all pathetic bullies. THIS is the problem. and the devs had a million ways to keep this from happening. but they either like it bc miya will always be a sick sadist, or they just don’t care too much. honestly the first areas or two should just have an option to be locked out of invasions while still being able to co-op... p much the ONLY people who enjoy it are smurfs. sure, i could technically go online and find a high lvl friend (if i had one) to stop an annoying invader. but don’t you see how absurd that is? having to run to message boards or something bc another user is literally keeping you from playing the game? that’s a horrible solution to a shitty problem. it’d be like i had a family picnic, and some idiot rolled up in a bulldozer and plowed right into our table and just sat there. your solution is like saying “oh whatever nbd just call the cops its fine”. well no it’s not fine. bc our day was ruined and we had to call the cops. people who are doing co-op playthroughs don’t give a SHIT about artificial competition, they just want to team against the ai and have a good time. smurf invaders ruin that. devs made multiplayer in souls confusing and absurd enough already like we didn’t need more issues? it’s just too bad bc souls co-op, when it works, is some of the best pve co-op in any game? but souls devs are so obsessed with this artificial difficulty and vague bullshit they let it ruin all the fun. it’s just horrible design. objectively bad. i love ds3 but this part is v disappointing.

[flowisk]

1, 10, pink, yellow, turquoise, punk, 14, metal, apple, and pineapple

1: What part of the anime/manga piqued your interest?Well, honestly? At first it was Deku. He was a really cute looking kid, and is kind of odd looking and frail for a shounen protagonist. I mean, I now know that he’s like... got a very strong inner core, but that doesn’t change that he’s kind of... not typically masculine in a lot of respects. He’s a Very Nice Boy and i thought his curly messy hair and freckles were really cute. I feel like we have a lot of very generically designed anime protags lately, esp with male leads... This isn’t a criticism of any work I like, lol, its just a fact we kind of tend to have that... generically handsome dude.My first impression of both Shigaraki and All Might were that they sucked, which is funny considering they’re my favourite characters now.But yeah, the art also piqued my interest... Horikoshi’s art... I’d seen some panels of it, and tbqh the way he draws is straight up beautiful. He actually is pretty good at character design too.10: Do you have any OC’s? Describe them! If you don’t, create one on the spot.Tough! This is tough!Hm. Misao... ability is teleportation. She had an interest in becoming a hero when she was younger and actually did an internship/short stint as a sidekick. She was pretty good at delivering behind lines, helping the team coordinate, and gathering intel but... seeing as that was her only power it was kind of a risky business because a good hit could kill her (plus when you teleport -in- to a location it’s not like you know what’s going on there beforehand). She has some issues with paranoia/anxiety, and honestly herosim is a nervewracking occupation for that because you make a lot of enemies. She eventually decided to found / support an organization for children who have issues with their powers / need extra help with them, partially because she used to get lost as a kid a lot by accidentally teleporting places when she thought about them too hard. She can afford to support this because she makes ‘immediate deliveries’ across the world as her current job... She’s an old lady now, has adopted a few kids, and is probably like, vaguely well known.Pink: What are your main/favorite ships?I like Tododeku. They really are... good for each other. I like that they’re supportive, and Deku really went on a limb (ba dum tish) for Todo. They’ve both dealt with abuse and... trauma... and are handling it in different ways, and I think they’re both people who can understand the issues that would cause for each other.I like Deku and a few characters tbqh. My ideal is just that Deku is dating Iida/Todo/Ochako and Ochako is also dating Tsuyu and idk, some polyamory basically. Deku used to have a crush on Baku, didn’t turn out so great for him. It’s one of those situations where it’s like ‘I’m so sorry Deku’. He’s good with Shinsou too. Deku is.... a good boy. I like him and Kiri a lot too, I actually feel their insecurities are both rooted in similar places? Like they would’ve been good friends if they met in highschool. I’ve read some friendship fic that really makes me think deeply about them. These body destroying lil shits.I like All Might with Present Mic or Eraserhead or both, I feel like Present Mic has this... good energy, and he’s really kind to Toshi. And that Aizawa and All Might could have a lot to offer each other..... I like him with Nedzu a lot but rip no one else does. All Might and Nighteye is just canon and tragic and I feel bad :(Bakushima is a good relationship too. I’m glad they have each other. I feel like those two would have some wild parties, and idk when I think Bakushima I think ‘they are an ideal pair for a roadtrip fic about emotional issues’.  Momojirou and Denkijirou are nice too.tl;dr: basically most things involving all might or deku Yellow: Favorite fanfiction about your OTP?Todoroki and dissociation, tododeku: xTwo chapter sweet TodoIiDeku fic, themes of abandonment: xI haven’t found an All Might/Eraserhead fic I really love yet. I haven’t read a lot of BNHA fic in general.Turqoise: What do you hate about your favorite ship?...I feel like most All Might/Aizawa fic focuses more on Aizawa as a character, and doesn’t nudge any of the limelight over to Toshi. Aizawa has Depression. Toshi............... is fine!There’s a lot of bland tododeku fic where you could insert literally anyone into the roles. Lot of good tododeku fic too! just. need to sort through a lot.Any time I have a ship remotely involving Bakugou I have to prepare for any mentions the author might make of Deku ._.Punk: Opinions on the Traitor Kirishima theory?Man, I feel like it mostly got nullified with the updates on Kirishima’s past, but at the same time that would be interesting for a character like Kiri? Especially when you think about how... he is someone who understands where villains come from, and ... the role Bakugou might play in saving someone if Kiri were the traitor. Bakugou needs to learn to save, and there’s Kiri.Basically, I think it was a valid theory at one point, potentially interesting in canon if it was carried out (because it would be a good development arc for Kiri probably) but.... unlikely after we’ve learnt the details of everything.14: Whose quirk do you think is the most unique?I like Present Mic’s... it’s not normally something you’d see used to fight. Momo’s is interesting too! With a quirk like that you have to be very strategic. Mirio had an amazing quirk, actually that one was probably the coolest conceptually...Also despite him being handled badly as a character, I think Mineta’s quirk is interesting since it has to be handled strategically.Metal: Which villain’s quirk would you want for yourself?Kurogiri’s, for sure.Apple: Favorite popular HC?Autistic deku and todoroki, and dissociative todoroki.Idk how popular it is, but trans all might is p canon for me.Hard of hearing Bakugou makes sense to me tooPineapple: What do you like the most about BNHA, as a whole?All Might and his... whole.... living and learning to live with not being able to do what you were once able to do. Dealing with chronic physical issues, and ... being self sacrificial and destructive, and being burdened with the weight of the world, and... his conversation with Inko where... he’s like ‘I’d die for Deku!’ and she’s like ‘ok but will you live for him? all might, you need to live’.It’s just... older mentors/characters who are willing to die, being told they need to live... or being encouraged to do so... to have their lives not just used to further their students... I don’t know that whole thing with All Might was good.

[twinsimskeletons]

Bett Goldfinch for @futurecarrie‘s DRSE2

This dude has a chronic problem of never taking anything seriously. It's not even that he hides behind a confident exterior, he literally doesn't get bothered by anything. His goals in life are to play football, look good, and get the ladies. Everything else is water off a duck's back. 

He plays the social game and he plays it well. He's pretty perceptive which helps with this, knowing what makes people tick, and what to say to get himself off the hook. He's rich with a heavy inheritance, doesn't want to work a day in his life, and coasts on by using the gift of the gab. He could easily be called the ultimate douchebag, and that would be just as fitting, but no; he's the ultimate jock.

(Also, he's one of those "only real men can wear pink" guys but sort of ironically does it. Would probably also wear sandals with socks but I couldn't make myself do that. He just likes getting a rise out of people, getting under their skin).

Traits: Perceptive, Athletic, Mean Spirited, Irresistible, Charismatic

Questions under the cut:

1.)    What is the most important thing to them? (meaning a person or thing specifically i.e. friends/family) 

For all his confidence and inability to care seriously about almost anything, the only two important things to him would be his old man (who is his coach and inspiration, and someone Bett wants to always make proud, but is super pressuring and encourages anything that makes Bett the ultimate jock, i.e. being an arse) and his ability to play sport, particularly american football.

2.)    Do they have any deep, dark secrets? What are they? Is their biggest secret the fact they killed someone, or is it more like they wet the bed until they were 8? 

Bett genuinely hates his little sister. She’s thirteen and a brat, and he has purposefully left her in tricky situations like abandoning her when shopping, giving her bad directions, making her run dangerous errands. He hides this from his father, who would be disappointed because family is important in america or some shit like that.

3.)    If something bad happened (i.e. their mum was killed), are they more likely to cry or get angry?

Bett would get mad. Not red-mist angry, but cunning, deadly mad. it would be like he was on the field. His vision would narrow to his target for revenge.

4.)    What’s one of their favourite generic items (meaning something that isn’t special to them in any way, but if someone gave it them they’d be very happy)?

Anything sports related (but none of those ‘fake’ sports like golf, darts, snooker, anything that doesn’t require a tonne of physical training. He also thinks tennis is crap). Anything relating to social status too, like a gift that showed he was someone’s favourite, or a crush.

5.)    What is one of their least favourite generic items (again meaning something that isn’t special/unique to them (like a chocolate bar or something))?

A fake trophy or award that he hasn’t earned. He has a massive ego and needs his achievements rewarded, but fake rewards are not tolerated. Also anything he needs to spend effort making, doing, or looking after. Don’t give him a fucking tamagotchi or he’ll hammer it to pieces. 

6.)    What’s their relationship like with their parents?

His mother has always been distant with him and dotes on the sister (Alexa), perhaps a reason he hates her as he always has to be best, but he doesn’t really give a fuck about his mother (though he wouldn’t be disrespectful of her). His old man is everything. 

7.)    Do they have any fans (if their talent permits them to have fans)? Do they like said fans?

He would definitely have fans for being Awesome at Sport. and yes, he loves his fans because they feed his ego. Also they sleep with him sometimes, so, you know.

8.)    Do they have any siblings? How do they feel about said siblings?

Covered.

9.)    What three words would they use to describe themselves?

Awesome. Sexy. Legend.

10.)  What three words would others use to describe them?

bit-of-an-arse (he covers his arsehole ways quite well, esp. because he is pretty charming to make up for it), attractive, frustrating.

11.) Any fears?

Somehow losing the ability to play sport - an injury for example - and fading into obscurity. 

12.) If they were offered 1,000,000 of their currency to do something immoral, would they do it?

Mmm it would depend. Killing someone, no, because Bett doesn’t value money that highly. He’s in it for the fame and stardom, not the cash, though it is a convenient plus. 

13.)  What’s their stance on religion?

Sport is his religion, but he’s Christian by birth and his dad is Very Religious so he would pray before every game and say grace and go through the motions without it really having any say in his morals. He wouldn’t say God’s name in vain because his dad would come down with the fury of a thousand suns, so tends to say “oh my G,” instead, or ‘Christo’

14.) What’s their stance on the supernatural?

Bett doesn’t believe in it, but if he saw it with his own two eyes he’d accept it because his senses don’t lie (he’s a simple man). He wouldn’t believe anyone else until he did see it, though.

15.)  If they had one day left to live, what would they do?

Play a game, enjoy the rest of the day with his adoring fans.

16.)  What makes the earth turn according to them: Money or love (or is it because when the earth was a gas cloud it started to spin and hasn’t quite grown out of that phase yet) ?

Why does that matter? Bett doesn’t question these things. It turns because it turns. Maybe because God made it turn.

17.)  Knowledge, power or relationships: what’s the most important?

Power. Power in fame, in particular, or brute strength.

18.)  Do they like animals? What’s their favourite?

Bett doesn’t mind animals if they’re not in his way, being a nuisance or needs to be cared for. He thinks raccoons are funny because they annoy his neighbours.

19.)  Any weird talents (besides their ultimate/shsl) that they’re secretly proud of (like rapping for example)?

He’s pretty good at The Sex. He can dance the typical white boy dances, like the worm. He can do a ridiculous number of press ups and run for miles.

20.)  Tell me a random story about them!

Once upon a time Bett’s little sister was screaming and crying and generally sending him up the wall, so he covered her mouth to stop her without realising he actually covered her nose too. She almost died before his mother came in and realised what was happening (to be fair, he was also young-ish and didn’t understand what he was doing). It was then that he realised a) he was less caring than other people and b) he had to hide that under a layer of charm or he’d get into big trouble and be a social outcast.

21.) Do they have any illnesses or disabilities?

Bett looks down on weakness. But he has mild dyslexia. he just doesn’t consider that a problem since he shouldn’t need to read or write or do maths. People can do it for him.

22.)  Left handed or right handed?

Left handed for almost everything, but he uses scissors and writes with his right hand because that’s how he was taught by his teachers and father (because left handedness is a sign of the devil or whatever).

23.)  How would they react to being locked up in a school with no foreseeable time of leaving?

Can he play sport? No? Then man, he is pissed off. He wants out so he can be reunited with his fame. But, similarly, he’d also figure that said fame would get him freed at some point so he might as well enjoy it, if the surrounding area is luxurious, as he deserves.

24.) Will they miss their old high school? Why?

Nah. Bett doesn’t miss people or things. Waste of energy.

25.) Do they like the outdoors? If so, what’s their favourite outdoor activity and any memories linked to that?

Bett likes the outdoors because it lets him play sport, but he doesn’t care for it other than that. His favourite activity would be american football, his best memory being when he was still a rising star and helped his team reach a very coveted title or w/e the Big Thing would be for american football lmao. Do they get man of the matches? If so, he would have remembered getting that.

26.) How important is their talent to them? Does it not mean much or would they die for it?

Bett would die for it, yeah. Sports and the subsequent fame is the most important thing to him, the only thing that makes life worth living.

[jamfingers]

Some Background on That One Super Famous Cluster B Personality Disorder and Some Brief Meta Tying It to Kai Parker’s Problematic (but Fine AF) Ass Because I Said I Would Do This

Okay, this isn’t a research paper, so I’m not going to put ref points throughout the post, but I’ll write down the full names of the texts and articles I used at the bottom in case you’re interested in checking them out yourself. Some info/pics come from old annotated notes, but I likely will only use those for examples provided by previous professors. NONE of these visuals are mine, they’re copyrighted and I’m posting them for educational purposes. I’m making no profit off of this. Obviously. This is a damn fan blog. 

First off, lets talk behavior and psychopathology, then I’ll get into like...the barest bit of some of the complex anatomy and physiology behind them. Then I’ll talk Kai Parker a little and how he fits this. This post is gonna be hellaciously long, since it’s an academic reference/meta, so read more under the cut:

Personality is something pervasive, long term, and generally not mutable in a person. And individual’s personality will develop in childhood and are measured by rating the general patterns of disordered conduct/socializing of traits known as the big 5: neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. These traits, like anything dealing with the mind, are measured on a spectrum and patterns of extremely high pervasiveness of traits in some areas and extremely low pervasiveness in others that results in a diminished or troubled quality of life is what results in a personality disorder.

Personality disorders are sorted into 3 groups called clusters:

Kai falls into cluster B - he has antisocial personality disorder (ASPD from here on, can also be noted as APD), historically called “sociopathy”. ASPD is more commonly diagnosed in men than in women, (although this might be in part due to societal/gender biases of both the patient and the clinician, but I digress), with a prevalence in the clinical population of 3.9-5.9% and in the general population of 1.0%-1.8%. It’s rare, but not the rarest personality disorder by any means. No unicorns here.

I personally denote ASPDers as the biggest con-artist assholes you’ll ever have the displeasure of meeting, but that’s not very academic, so I’ll copy my one of my textbook’s format and break this up into a few categories. More information can be found in references.

Clinical Description And Criteria:

“I am entitled to break rules.”

That right there is the sun with which ASPD revolves around. The disorder is characterized by extreme selfishness and disregard for others, highly impulsive and risky behavior (like drug use, reckless stunts, fighting), and unusual emotional responses and fits of rage, but no deficits in reasoning ability. People with ASPD know what they’re doing, understand the social norms/ rules behind them and don’t care. In regards to the Big 5 personality traits this is what they look like (L is low, H is high):

And diagnostic criteria for ASPD on the DSM-5 looks like this:

YOU HAVE TO HAVE DISPLAYED CONDUCT DISORDER AS A CHILD TO BE DIAGNOSED WITH ASPD AFTER 18. Remember an individual’s personality develops in childhood and is long-lasting. Conduct disorder in children is diagnosed with this criteria:

ASPD has a pretty high heritabilty (about 40-50%) and it’s fostered in hostile environments characterized by lack of warmth, exposure to violence, high negativity, parental inconsistency or parental ASPD, and/or poverty.

While ASPD is associated with poor impulse control, there is still no deficit in reasoning ability. ASPDers with a high intelligence quotient (IQ) are less likely to get caught or engage in illegal or destructive behavior because they know the game. They’d rather be free to fuck people over than in a system and can be quite adept at hiding their traits. This leads me to psychopathy. There’s still some debate about whether psychopathy should be considered different from ASPD, but most clinicians these days agree that psychopathy as a subset of symptoms that fall under ASPD. So just like all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares, all psychopaths (at this point) are ASPDers, but not all ASPDers are psychopaths. 

Psychopathy:

Defining characteristics of psychopathy include:

If you’re having a hard time reading this, the red and blue branches indicate what aspects of psychopathy are influenced by what bit of anatomy dysregulation. AMG - amygdala, PCC - posterior cingulate cortex, MPFC - medial prefrontal cortex. The coronal slices (red, bottom blue) are as if you’re looking at a person face to face - your left is their right. Top blue is scanned from the right side (See that scrunchy round thing behind the straight part? Below the “PCC”? That’s the cerebellum behind the brain stem. It’s in the back of your head, to help with orientation.) Middle blue is as if you and the person are facing the same direction, but you’re taller and looking straight down on their head. Hope that helps you out!

In general, with regards to criminal behavior, high IQ psychopaths are called “subclinical” psychopaths and are not generally studied bc...well, they blend in. They find other, legal or discreet ways to fulfill thrill seeking behavior.

Psychopathy has some actual distinct differences in the brain that can be physiologically measured. It’s typically shown by differences in the the right amygdala and the anterior rostral prefrontal cortex (arPFC from here on), especially on the right side. (The right hemisphere of the brain is responsible for emotional recognition and expression, while the amygdala controls fear responses/recognition and the PFC in general controls different aspects of higher cognition. In this case, it’s likely the conversion of emotionality to morality, since emotions play a large part in fostering sympathy and from there moral judgement.) See?

Integrative Biopsychosocial Model of APD:

Bio (Genetics and neurobiology): Twin and adoption studies show that ASPD is highly heritable, but it’s the gene-environment interaction that is integral for ASPD development. ASPD is an endophenotype - the underlying aspects of disorder are genetic (low levels serotonin and dopamine (the chemical neurotransmitters), or in the case of psychopaths, low levels of serotonergic or dopaminergic axons (the anatomy that receives the NT)) and provide the unique emotional aspects of ASPD, but the social behavior presentation is guided by the environment (early childhood stress, lack of social guidance, etc). The arousal theory, if you’re interested, is based of the endophenotypes and can explain how certain behaviors arise from them (i.e. ASPDers, esp. psychopaths, are stimulation seeking bc of low response in reward systems (serotonergic/dopaminergic)). *I add on dopamine bc it’s an important chemical in the brain’s reward system, but serotonin is the key one.

Psychosocial (mental and environmental): Inconsistent parental punishments, lack of punishment for aggressive/antagonist behavior, environments that propagate violence, high risk-reward and fearless psychology all lend themselves to the development of the disorder. 

The disorder is like a measuring cup and each influence is water filling it until the water level reaches the mark where the disorder presents itself. 

When it comes to ASPD, prevention, not treatment is preferred. Redirecting behavior patterns in kids with conduct disorder is your best bet compared to trying to get a fully formed, highly aggressive ASPD adult to behave.

Here’s a case study from my abnormal psych textbook depicting what the you’d most likely see in clinical ASPD case (i.e. in “the system” , like prison or a hospital):

(See why I said con-artists asshole? Ryan’s a fucking dick.)

References:

“Abnormal Psychology: An Integrative Approach” 7th Edition, David H. Barlow & V. Mark Durand {This is the book I used in my psychopathology class, which is for...understanding pathologies of the mind lol.}

“Neuroscience” 5th Edition, Dale Purves {Great book for detailed anatomy and physiology of neural circuits, and I didn’t get into like I could, but the emotion chapter is dense and that’s a lot of info to slam you with.}

“The Foundations of Behavioral Neuroscience” 9th Edition, Neil R. Carlson {Easy to read and a great general capstone text} 

Okay, so now that we got the science, on to Kai Parker:

Right, so I think it’s safe to say that, canonically, Kai mostly fits the criteria for ASPD, but you’re def free to go back over all that up there and do your own comparison. We all know how Kai is an admitted “sociopath”. Considering Joshua Parker’s behavior, we can probably take a gander on the genetic component and considering the entire Gemini premise, plus the way Kai in particular was raised as the outsider in his family, we have an idea of the hostile and warmth-lacking environment that fostered it.

Because it’s TVD, I do think Kai was written to cater that whole “handsome, suburban white boy gone wrong” schtick, but I also think he’s one of the most subtly well-fleshed characters that show ever produced. There’s this one article I read for a neuro lit course (“Loneliness and associated violent antisocial behavior: analysis of the case reports of Jeffrey Dahmer and Dennis Nilsen.” authored by W.H. Martens and G.B. Palmero) that really stuck to me in a pervasive way and it’s about how chronically festering feelings of neglect and loneliness, of feeling like an unaccepted outsider, drove Dahmer and Nilsen to take their victim’s lives in a misguided way to dissuade the loneliness.

Having read that makes me wonder how Kai, the fictional serial killer, reflects his real life counterparts. The drive for merging and becoming coven leader is something that would force others to acknowledge him, which ties into his “black sheep” speech, his “I was never hugged as a child and my siblings were kept away” complaint (There are a lot of inconsistencies in his dialogued back story that bother me, but it makes me wonder if he ever lied about his past: “my favorite memory is when I finally beat him to death” and the preceding story about Mario Kart with the bby bro seems like something he might have just made up to fuck with Elena), and other vocalizations he’s made about his past which point to him being the misfit and desiring a sense of belonging. While we know Kai’s ASPD is a part of his characterization, this to me seems out of the norm for this disorder, simply because it indicates an understanding of sympathy that is unwittingly emotional.

Of course, Kai could also just want to be able to lord the world’s biggest “FU!” over his abusers.

Either way, anti or not, when using the ASPD/sociopath argument to defend or dismantle Kai as a character, I think it’s a good idea to keep in mind that Kai was written inconsistently. He shows very little impulsivity or recklessness in 1994, one trait which is almost a given with ASPD, nor was he flightly/irresponsible. He always had some end-goal or plan in mind. This was pre-merge. But he was also manipulative and showed no regret about the people he hurt. Obviously, each case of the disorder is unique because they exist on a spectrum, but the pattern and criteria are there due to broad commonalities in each case. The way the media tends to portray ASPD is not all consistent with the way the disorder presents irl.