#i'm sorry i hope this makes sense

[ekko-idk]

Laios: people are hard to understand... There's way too many social rules to follow, popular conversation topics, eye contact, etc. They also rarely say what they mean and often they say the opposite, so much so that misunderstandings happen regularly.. Monsters are predictable animals with a set of rules and precautions you can follow to either tame or defeat them. if you know what to do, they're very easy to deal with!

Kabru: monsters are wild creatures with jerky unpredictable movements.. Their attitude can change in a second and if you don't have an insane amount of knowledge about them they can be, and often are, very dangerous. Human cultures often have strict and easy to follow rules that depend on certain communication strategies that are somewhat agreed upon universally. People no matter of background also react the same to many things (smiling, frowning, pupil dilation, etc.). if you know what to do, they're very easy to deal with!

[blackkatdraws2]

This little NPC is lost. The Narrator [Black] has come to guide her back to where she needs to be. [Blank Scripts AU]

I imagine Black would be a lot more tolerant toward his NPCs since they're basically just the Dungeons spawns, and by extension, his own creations.

[If you're familiar with manhwas / manhuas that features the dungeon / system genre, you'd be able to understand this AU a lot easier. The majority of my inspiration for worldbuilding came from those specific genres.]

[NOTE: 'Dungeon' is just another term for the Parable. Technically, Black owns a Dungeon and the Parable is just a small part of it. The Dungeon itself is much, much larger.]

For context, the comic below references this post about the Dungeon's children/guard dogs.

[They're more like the immune system since all they do is make sure the (body) is safe.]

[The reason the Narrator [Black] considers them his children is that the Dungeon is feeding off his energy and in turn shares the 'nutrients' to the monsters it produces, which transforms them into an image that resembles his power.]

And the old man below is Joseph!

Joseph is NOT AN NPC! He is a person who exists outside of the Dungeon!

[There are two separate 'worlds' for this AU. Inside the Dungeon (where most of the game-like stuff is happening) and the world outside (pretty much their normal world.)]

[There is a secret third world, and that's our world. Our reality.]

These characters are not actually important or anything, I just made them to make the AU feel more lively. To make a world that exists, you know?

When the Narrator [Black] first established himself in their world, he found a growing problem with homelessness. Not understanding human norms or why this has become a problem in the first place, he offers (tricks) them into working for him as janitors for the Dungeon and they accept for the money.

Most of them left after they got paid, but Joseph was one of the people who stayed. He doesn't have anywhere else to go and has no ambitions in life. He just wishes to live a peaceful life with food and a roof over his head.

Joseph defaults to referring to the Narrator [Black] with feminine terms due to his appearance despite his voice. The Narrator [Black] is not the type to care for such terms anyway so he doesn't care how other people refer to him as long as there's respect.

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

This post focuses more on the worldbuilding and background aspects of the AU! There are a lot more in store for the Blank Scripts AU, and I want to explore more on how the characters might interact with their surroundings and how this would work to make a world that makes sense.

It would be so cool if people made self-inserts or OCs for my AU actually. I'd love to see how you guys would work with my stuff. Play around with it like a barbie world for your little barbie dolls. Be canon compliant, be canon divergent, who cares, have fun.

[demonstars]

FL/LA shift, many dnf thoughts (dream, nov. 2023—george, feb. 2025)

[rosurie]

PCs as Love Interests

DAMSEL

- you can either meet Damsel in school surrounded by other students or after a modeling gig at the café. 9 times out of 10 she won't approach you. UNLESS you happen to catch her eye [through aesthetics, smarts, strength, personality quirks, etc. essentially if you aren't someone who she deems boring, she sets her sights on you.] Damsel can take some time to romance because she is demiromantic.

Unique Stat(s): Intrigue; Obsession/Possession

- the route of this stat that you unlock all depends on how you interact with her and how high your English+Seduction stats are. For Damsel's Possession trait, it's fairly simple to unlock. if you are devoted to her, are soft spoken/meek, or have a masochistic trait, you have a leg up towards unlocking Damsel's Possession. the higher the Possession, the more she will begin to nudge you into doing things for her, she may start manage who you can hang out with, and full Possession Damsel will genuinely start to view you as nothing more than a dog who's purpose is to be subservient to her. she won't let you leave her, she won't let you find interest in anyone but her.

Damsel's Obsession trait is harder to unlock because she's very particular about who she lets have power over her. In order to tip Damsel's Intrigue into Obsession, you have to be able to out manipulate her OR be a powerful/influential enough figure that she's willing to put her pride aside for you. her Obsession is different than Kylar's in that outwardly, she stays the same, but you will notice she's always seeming to listen to your advice or lets you push her in a certain direction of your choosing. she's also far clingier and will subtly seek praise. max Obsession Damsel is willing to do anything for you.

last little facts:

- you can raise her Possession with low love, but not her Obsession.

- you have to have at least 25> Intrigue to even unlock her love stat.

Horn Brain Content

- despite presenting herself to be a very dominant person, she is a switch! but she's very particular about which people can dom her. her lust stat is open from the moment you meet her <3

- she's still a virgin. this is partially by her choice and partially because to get to her virginity, you have to grt through Noé. though you definitely could take her virginity without Noé's approval/ interference, it is harder to do. good luck ♡

NOÉMIE

- you can only meet Noé alone at the temple, since he makes his presence at school scarce. however you can also meet him if he's with Damsel in town, typically on Barb Street or Nightingale Street if he's picking her up from the Dance or Photography Studios respectively. Noé is another hard to romance person but that's because his mind isn't really wired for romance. he thinks hes above you, regardless of your relationship status, so get used to that.

Unique Stat: Influence

- raising Noémie's Influence requires you to let him make all or most of your decisions for you. it starts with small things like choosing accessories and clothing for you and very quickly revolves into you being, essentially, a doll. you move how he wants, when he wants, and he really doesn't want to hear complaints, darling. he wants a mindless devotee, not a silly thing with their own thoughts ♡

Horn Brain Content

- Noé refuses to be anything but the dominant one. sorry babes, it's the god complex. he's also very unwilling to put his angel tf in jeopardy. he will however get you off with other methods but like he will not fuck you I'm so sorry if that's what you're aiming for. he's also a vengeful sadist so good luck soldier.

a little note as well: if you romance Noé or Damsel, expect to interact with the other fairly often. Damsel is far less likely to try and interfere in your relationship unlike Noé but...she is there. you have to be prepared to deal with Noé and Damsel's odd relationship ♡

TAMAYO

- you first meet Tamayo in one of three places. the nurse's office in the school, the pub on Fridays after meeting with Mickey, or at Darryl's being harassed while bartending. Tamayo can be difficult to romance because she often keeps to herself or she's being dragged around by Whitney. if you have a delinquent status or sadistic trait, Tamayo is more likely to approach you.

Unique Stat: Hysteria

- it's exactly what it sounds like. the higher her Hysteria, the deeper she's pushed into her masochism and suicidal thoughts. when at max Hysteria, Tamayo starts to have vivid thoughts of you killing her. she becomes desperate for you to be increasingly violent with her. she's not going to end herself though, it has to be you.

Horn Brain Content

- Tamayo is a submissive and drooling masochist. though she looks miserable, she likes to be thrown around, manhandled, used as a punching bag, etc. she'll agree to anything you request, even if it's to her detriment. her lust stat starts at 15% if you have a reputation for being violent.

my pcs are free real estate ♡

also I'll be making a separate post for Tomoe. partially because I haven't figured out their unique stat and partially because they could never be an LI, so I'll make a POI post for him ♡

[revenantghost]

Oh my god, it got worse?!

So to summarize, so far (from what I can remember):

The gold on the covers peels off. They say this affects a small number of copies, but I haven't seen one without a "distressed" look, and Dark Horse has said that very common look is not intentional.

The translation was not updated, which they never promised, so whatever. But there are twenty-year-old, well-known typos and obvious mistranslations. They didn't even proofread it despite adding sound effects and a year of delays. And this book retails at $50 USD.

And on this awful printing note, there are a few copies I've seen floating around with severe binding issues, like the faux leather peeling off.

Friendly reminder that if you are able, you can let Dark Horse know you're disappointed. Leave reviews and upvote ones you agree with. Reply to/@ them on social media and be loud. If you're willing, cancel and/or return orders. It's all about publicity and financial gain in publishing. If they don't get that, they will have to change something.

Trigun doesn't deserve this.

[off-mozzarella]

Nice catch! :]

Here's a very self indulgent and low effort drawing I made in an attempt to keep my sanity lol

[rileymorph]

Blue & Vio duo and Green & Red duo are sooooo good and amazing cuz like

Blue & Vio is unstoppable force (Blue) vs immovable object (Vio), which is like so many good rivals to bffs moments. I think they both mask haaarddd too, just very differently. they actually share a lot of similar insecurities & emotional struggles. So it makes them more empathetic & open towards each other. they argue way more in front of others cuz their masks clash, but when they are alone, they're actually a bit more intimate cuz they can more easily drop those masks

Green & Red is so super good for kinda opposite reasons. they kinda have a positive loop dynamic. they are constantly encouraging and reassuring towards each other, which obv encourages and reassures the other. if Red is down, Green will cheer him up. if Green is frustrated, Red will listen to him vent. they are more comfortable with their own emotions which makes it easier for them to communicate. plus I think they also rlly appreciate each other's warmer demeanors (look who they have to deal with)

[elizabeth-mitchells]

so. i'm still thinking and taking too seriously the different possibilities on "Why the Wilderness™ killed Laura Lee?" and especially thinking about the Wilderness killing Laura Lee specifically as a way to punish/hurt/control Lottie

first of all, obviously, this is all going along with the assumption that the Wilderness™ is ✨something✨ real and purposeful and powerful, etc etc

Now, Lottie and Laura Lee were holding hands as the plane went down right? they had a connection before ever setting foot there. fun fact that i want to include here: both of them voted against going down to the lake btw (like jackie, resisting going deeper into the wilderness). but then they reach the cabin! and Lottie starts acting weird, she stays behind, it's her first moment of isolation (i think). she starts to "feel" bad things. she ran out of her medication of course but we can assume it's the beginning of her "hearing" the wilderness

if we keep going along this route, you could say Lottie got officially "chosen" by the wilderness during the seance, and who interrupts it and breaks her out of it? Laura Lee! maybe the beginning of the Wilderness' beef with our girl Laura Lee

if we accept what Lottie said in the s2 finale to be true and the Wilderness chose her because she was the only one that could listen to it, it would make sense that the Wilderness needed her, and it needed her alone, all to itself, believing and trusting only what she heard and saw from the Wilderness

when Lottie goes to Laura Lee to explain away the visions, when she goes along with Laura Lee's baptism and idea that the visions come from God, it goes against the Wilderness' wishes. you could even say that Lottie's vision of Laura Lee's death during the baptism was the Wilderness giving her a final warning, an opportunity. maybe if Lottie had wholeheartedly believed in her visions back then instead of in Laura Lee's words, she would have done something to stop her from getting on the plane

the Wilderness killing Laura Lee was It proving its power to Lottie, telling her to never doubt it again

and, by killing Laura Lee, the Wilderness got rid of Lottie's closest friend, strongest connection, and last tether to sanity and civilization and the group. it had Lottie isolated from the group and free to manipulate and share the messages it wanted, without a translator that believed in other gods

[iamthedancing]

warning to to my fellow photosensitives: last night's game changer episode (deja vu) is amazing but is also full of flashing lights

please be careful and "watch" by just listening to the audio/give this one a skip/take care in whatever way makes the most sense for you and your situation!

[arscorpii]

little observations of episode 16 of revolutionary girl utena: cowbell of happiness

(these are just some thoughts i had. i tried to organise and articulate the ideas the best i could.)

(all dialogues are from the empty movement website)

this is a nanami-centric episode. it begins with the regular fairy-tale-like scene of utena meeting prince dios when she was younger.

this is an interesting screenshot from episode 16:

the dialogue for this scene (as in, for this specific shot):

as anyone can see, utena wasn't wearing her red socks here (she wore the red socks even when she decided to wear the girl's uniform in episode 12 [screenshots from episode 12 below, for clarity]). thus, this shot caught my eye.

another shot where utena wasn't wearing her red socks in episode 16:

the dialogue for this scene (as in, for this specific shot):

at first, i surmised that these were just animation errors because these shots lasted for only several seconds. however, upon watching and rewatching several times, the only times utena didn't wear her red socks were when she's directly confronting nanami about the cowbell. utena was the only person openly calling out nanami about it, as opposed to others who either ridiculed, ignored, or tiptoed around the matter. tsuwabuki tried saying something about the cowbell to nanami, too, but was quickly shot down by her:

generally, not wearing socks while wearing shoes can be somewhat uncomfortable, especially for long periods. it's much worse when one walks or runs while wearing shoes without socks, as this could cause skin irritations, foot blisters, etc.

when people buy certain types of shoes (or any, i think), it's common to buy shoes with a little room for toes and heels, rather than a tight, perfect fit, for comfort. when worn with a pair of socks, these shoes would usually fit perfectly. without socks, these shoes can feel loose and thus, affect gait/movements (i believe this depends on the type of shoes).

based on some readings i've done, some of the common interpretations/themes of nanami's situation in this episode (oversimplified):

exploitation and abuse of girls and women via indoctrination of patriarchal norms that simply equate them to mere livestock; raised as subservient as a calf to then be slaughtered and reduced to a piece of meat to be consumed by men.

nanami was so blinded by the love she held for her big brother that she was willing to do anything to keep that love, to maintain her bond with him. she was willing to make a fool of herself, and ignore the ridicule and concerns from others. however, deep down, she was aware of how this could all go wrong and hurt her terribly later, and all of this could very much be orchestrated by her own beloved big brother. (i hope i worded these properly)

to relate the themes of the episode to the visuals of utena not wearing socks and her dialogues: in my opinion, i think utena calling out nanami on the cowbell puts utena in a somewhat uncomfortable position (hence, wearing shoes with no socks); it's akin to challenging detrimental societal norms of a patriarchal system. notable examples that come to mind regarding detrimental societal norms are fashion and beauty standards (as in this episode). people usually don't take too kindly to the safety of their realities and status quo being challenged/questioned critically, because these are what they have been raised with, what were taught to them, and what they have been made to believe to be right and true. therefore, the person who challenges/questions these is often ignored or triggers aggressive reactions, even from the individuals who have been detrimentally affected by the status quo, in this case, nanami. "the deeper the attachment to the status quo, the greater the willful blindness." this quote by clark (2023) from his writing about challenging one's organisation's status quo felt fitting for nanami's situation (although the case with nanami definitely requires more nuances than what the quote can present).

nanami said that utena's boy uniform was very weird (dialogues above) in response to utena calling nanami's cowbell weird (2nd picture). they perceived the other's pursuit as weird because it didn't align with their ideals (an adult's fashion sense versus a noble prince). these things weren't quite the same, in a literal sense: nanami essentially wore the cowbell to appeal to the students of the academy, to be an idol of the school, to stand out, be special. meanwhile, utena wore a boy's uniform to become a prince/emulate princely ideals. however, fundamentally, both did not truly understand (at this point, at least) what these truly entailed (to be the most special girl at school versus to be a prince).

when nanami said that utena's uniform was very weird, the focus was on chu chu drinking milk from a bottle. then, at the end of the argument, chu chu was shown to have been stuck in the milk bottle, after drinking the milk. these visuals may be indicating how nanami and utena's attempts at striving towards respective impossible ideals they envisioned for themselves may be self-fulfilling at first, but will eventually have them equally trapped and hurt, you know, something like "in the end, all girls are like rose brides." (i may be wrong here)

a look at other episodes: one may say that the shots where utena didn't wear her red socks were indeed animation errors based on this shot from episode 24:

however, this shot was from the scene of episode 16 as narrated by anthy based on what was written in tsuwabuki's diary. we can see this as tsuwabuki's perspective while the previous shots as the audience's perspective (this is how i chose to see it, at least).

watching through other episodes, utena also wasn't wearing her socks when her foot was injured in episode 30, throughout episode 33, and in episode 37 when utena went on a date with akio. i pondered the correlation between utena's sans red socks moments from episode 16 and those specific events. based on episode 12, i think one can conclude that the pair of red socks was a part in which utena expressed her sense of self (because it made up her whole outfit of emulating a prince). hence, i think that nanami's situation in this episode was also a foreshadowing of utena's future, in a way (this was also illustrated with the chu chu stuck in a milk bottle imagery after drinking the milk during their argument, as above). as described earlier, utena called out nanami twice on her cowbell; on the second time, utena thoroughly explained to nanami in japanese that a cowbell is a bell that cows wear, as in the dialogues below (the following scene after these dialogues was the 5th picture; 6th picture contained the corresponding dialogues):

i think it's safe to conclude that nanami may not know what the english word "cowbell" means. this was further emphasised by utena admonishing nanami for not knowing what a cowbell is all about (see the 6th picture). everyone around her called it "cowbell" and knew what it was (what the word meant). upon explanation by utena, nanami finally came to her senses (as in, turning into a cow). relating to utena's case in later episodes, i think this could be synonymous with the fact that utena was unaware that akio was actively grooming her. several people noticed the changes in utena due to akio's grooming: juri and miki in episode 36, where juri said that utena looked more like a girl; touga asking whether utena was in love with akio in the same episode. and of course, anthy was the most aware of what akio's doing to utena throughout.

the point detailed above regarding nanami's situation in episode 16 foreshadowing utena's future can be further supported by the fact that the cowbell and the earrings akio gifted to utena were closely identical in design (interesting to note that the cowbell was purchased by anthy for her cow named nanami while the earrings were picked by touga on behalf of akio).

from my understanding, nanami turning into a cow may be equivalent to utena accepting akio's proposal to be his bride, to take kanae's place. much like a calf raised to be slaughtered for consumption (nanami's dream), akio groomed utena to be his bride. and similar to how wearing shoes without socks can be uncomfortable, utena was evidently uncomfortable in these scenes as well (the worst being episode 33). in episode 30, utena's left foot was injured. akio offered to help her, then proceeded to kiss her. akio was grooming utena to be fully dependent on him. also, since the red socks were synonymous with her self-expression, these moments (episodes 30, 33, and 37) were when her true sense of self was gradually repressed through akio's grooming. utena not wearing the red socks during the most gut-wrenchingly blatant depictions of grooming and sexual assault ⟶ how grooming and abuse can ultimately strip you of your personhood and cultivate this cycle of dependence of victims on their groomers/abusers, not being able to stand on their own feet.

after nanami turned into a cow, utena tried, and succeeded, in taking off the cowbell from nanami. i think this would be analogous to utena rejecting akio's proposal.

nanami then turned back to her human self ⟶ utena wearing back her prince outfit.

to reiterate:

critiquing the status quo may induce harsh feedback even if it's done in good faith.

nanami's situation in this episode can be seen as a foreshadowing of utena's fate in later episodes.

[aristaspark]

Why Brooklynn ending up with Darius feels so unsatisfactory from a writing standpoint : Darius' arc.

Chaos Theory Season 3: Part 9

Everyone seems surprised when I say that I think Kenlynn being endgame makes the most sense, but to me the fact that people want Brooklynn to end up with Darius is what is surprising. A big part of that (apart from my obvious love for Kenlynn), is because to me, from a writing standpoint, Darius and Brooklynn ending up together would be the worst pay off to what the writers have set up.

I'll try to explain it solely from a writing standpoint, as someone who loves writing, but OF COURSE it is biased, it will never not be.

To me, good writing is when characters get character devloppment, when their experiences teaches them something. The character starts with something they need to overcome, stuff happens and in the end, the experiences they go through changes them, hopefully for the better.

And with a story like jwct that was written all at once with a clear ending in mind (the writers have repeatedly stated how they had clear arcs for the characters and how the show was written all at once then divised into seasons), I don't see what we had in the 3 first seasons setting up dinostar ever getting together.

Take a look at Dinostar's story in jwct:

Darius and Brooklynn have been best friends for many years, with Brooklynn dating his adopted brother, which basically makes them in laws, which should make the very idea of a romantic relationship between them... disturbing, at the very least.

They've always been fusional, so close that even the fandom think they are "better" than Brooklynn and her boyfriend almost as if... Darius was entitled to end up with Brooklynn because of how good of a friend he is to her.

Then one day, boom, Brooklynn gets dumped, and suddenly Darius' feelings for Brooklynn change, until one day he accidentally spills the beans.

In this scene, Darius is the one who puts the burden of his feelings on Brooklynn. She was speaking of her relationship with Kenji, looking foward to receiving her best friend's support and advise, but instead she got his confession.

You can choose to think that she likes him, but you can't argue against the fact that his confession wasn't what she wanted from him in this moment.

And because she did not give Darius the answer he would have wanted, he didn't show up when she needed him to, and in the end she was the only one who suffered the consequences of Darius' feelings for her : he didn't show up, she was alone and unfocused in these woods, she lost her arm and was left traumatized.

Don't get me wrong, Darius emotionally suffered because of this decision, because Brooklynn died, but Brooklynn was the one who was directly impacted.

It happened to her.

Narratively speaking, Darius is in the wrong. Because she failed to respond to his feelings, he wasn't a friend to Brooklynn when she needed him to be, which was all she had ever asked of him. They always said they survived because they were together, but he chose not to be with her.

This moment he let his selfish feelings drive his actions is at the core of his story in jwct, it's what caused his creepling feeling of guilt as well as his entire conflict with Kenji, this is the moment that sparked his entire character arc.

The thing that sparked his arc was his incapability to take Brooklynn's rejection, it appears as the weakness he has to overcome to become the better version of himself.

Some might argue that the ending of season 3 was the end of that arc, that Darius finally showed up for her, that now everything is good and that they can be together. But this is not the end of the story, and "not showing up" wasn't the wrong he had to correct. Not showing up was merely the manifestation of his incapability to accept her rejection.

By showing up for Brooklynn this time around he only makes it up to her for the fact that he hadn't shown up the first time around, but it doesn't make up for the fact that SHE was the one who had suffered the consequences of HIS inability to take her rejection.

That's why I think the writers backtracking on her rejection would be cheap and wouldn't make sense. It would basically magically remove the very thing Darius has to learn to accept to grow as a person.

Think of it like that.

You're a parent at the mall and your child wants a toy, but you don't have enough money for it, you have to buy food. But the child throws a tantrum, he starts throwing things at you, you get hit in the eye, and he even hurts himself in the process. Now not only do you need to buy food, but you need to buy stuff to treat your eye, and you need to make him feel better on top of that. You eventually manage to calm him down, to make him understand that you can't buy him the toy and in the end he finally learns to accept it, he shows growth and helps you clean up his mess. And then in the end... instead of buying what you came here to buy, you use the money to buy the toy.

That would make the whole thing meaningless. Because in the end, the entire weight of his actions would have befallen on you.

You're the one who was wronged and in the end you're the one who ends up having to go back on your stance to catter to the child's entitled desire. The child wouldn't have learnt any lesson, because in the end he would have gotten what he wanted despite behaving badly. Sure, he made it up to you by helping you clean up afterwards, but it doesn't mean he should get the toy. On the contrary, him not getting the toy and learning to be okay with that would do him more good in the long run.

This is a stupid scenario purely made to demonstrate how unsatisfactory Brooklynn returning Darius' feelings would be on a writing level, and why I don't believe the writers wrote that because, duh, they're writers, not shippers. If Darius gets the girl, then the entire burden of his feelings would have befallen on Brooklynn and his arc would have led nowhere.

All that happened during the 3 seasons we have might as well have not happened since the very thing that sparked the story would be rendered insignificant if she was to return his feelings (actually nevermind, Darius abandonned Brooklynn based on something that wasn't even true, so her "death" could have been avoided had she told Darius her real feelings, too bad for HER. Oh, and even if she wasn't in love with him in this moment, she was always going to realize her feelings later, too bad for HER she hadn't realized them in this moment).

Not only does she get her arm eaten, but on top of that she is the one who would have to backtrack on her rejection, while Darius wouldn't suffer any direct consequence and magically get the thing he wanted in the end without the opportunity to come out of all this as a better person.

Now that's where Kenji enters into the mix, because they are 3 in that triangle.

I don't know if you noticed, but Darius had to make it up not only to Brooklynn, but also to Kenji. Without even thinking about it on a shipping basis but purely on a "Kenji is Darius' adopted brother" basis, the way Darius threw Kenji under the bus when he confessed was horrible, and the clear manifestation of another character flaw.

There must have been a reason the writers had Darius sound so immature and petty during his confession, a reason they had him belittle Kenji's bond with Brooklynn to make his bond with her seem more "legit". If they wanted Darius to end up with Brooklynn then why would they make his confession to her, this pivotal moment, about Kenji? All it does is tarnish it.

And we know Darius was wrong, Kenji didn't break up with Brook because of a lack of love, but because Brooklynn had pushed him to his limit. Darius was basically victim blaming Kenji, putting the blame of the break up on the supposed frivolity of Kenji's feelings rather than on Brooklynn's actions.

To me not only does he has to prove that he's willing to be a friend to Brooklynn even if she never returns her feelings, but he also has to prove that he has come to aknowledge that he was wrong about Kenji, which is why I'm so sure his redemption with the both of them will come with him doing his best to get Kenji to forgive Brooklynn and repair their relationship.

Bottom line is: Darius ending up with Brooklynn would be the contrary of character developpment.

[firestorm09890]

hi can you tell me about limbus company specifically about don quixote and sancho. i’m trying to piece it together from context clues but i’m not doing well. basically as you may know i’m a huge mili fan and i’ve just been wanting to understand the context behind the song hero so i can appreciate it better

OMG I WOULD BE HONORED TO so the first thing you need to know is that Project Moon worldbuilding is a massive beast. There will be stuff I leave out because it's not entirely relevant to Hero, but I'll do the best I can to both explain everything and keep it "short".

...Not short enough that it can stay without a readmore.

The first thing you need to know is that most of the time in fandom, the name Don Quixote refers to this person

She is extremely passionate about justice and is described as someone who appears to be playing the role of a righteous knight.

Other important information here is that every playable character in Limbus Company has an icon

an associated emoji (🎠), an associated color (Oblivion Yellow; it's just the yellow above but the word Oblivion is important), an associated phrase ("To reach the unreachable star!"), and this thing called a personal EGO, which is basically a special attack that comes from the self or something. Don Quixote's is called "La Sangre de Sancho" and consists of her shouting "Onwards, Rocinante! Justice will prevail!", running at the enemy and stabbing a lance made of blood into them. Rocinante is the name of her shoes, but it was also the name of Don Quixote's horse in the book. This is what the art for that EGO attack looks like.

Lots of posters, she's playing dolls, you can ignore the barbed wire and bars on the windows because that's part of every personal EGO but you do not have to ignore the scary skeleton horse shadow or the fact that outside the window is a carousel where instead of horses, there are people impaled on sticks. This will all make sense later.

This is Sancho. She is the same person as the Don Quixote from above.

With Sancho, you might see someone else named Don Quixote, who looks like this

This white-haired man is the Don Quixote I will be referring to up until the yellow-haired girl takes his name.

Once upon a time, probably hundreds or even thousands of years ago, there was this vampire (henceforth called a "bloodfiend") named Don Quixote. He pulls inspiration from the literary Don Quixote but only some. He lived in a castle in the middle of nowhere by himself until the weight of his bloodthirst got to him and he went to go make some kindred to alleviate the pain (bloodfiends can each turn two people max into other bloodfiends, after that they kinda just become shambling zombies made of blood; the more generations a bloodfiend "family" has, the more spread out the collective bloodthirst gets, so it's in a bloodfiend's best interest to turn others). The first of Don Quixote's kindred was a woman named Sancho, who he found kinda just letting herself die in a ditch. He asked her to join him, and she accepted.

In Don Quixote, Sancho was Don Quixote's squire, who got roped into it by the promise that he would get an island to be the governor of. There's this whole thing in the book about Don Quixote's delusions becoming slightly more realistic as the story passes, while Sancho's ideals trended the opposite way. This will be important I promise.

Don Quixote made another kindred, and that kindred went on to make a bunch of other kindreds until there was a whole huge bloodfiend family living together in that castle in the middle of nowhere. Sancho was unusual for a bloodfiend, having no interest in making kindred herself and being far more skeptical of Don Quixote's whims than any bloodfiend (or squire) should be (they have an instinct to never go against the bloodstream). She was cold and distant from the rest of her family, except for DQ.

One day! A human knight appeared at the door! In the beginning Don Quixote didn't want her there but then she sparred against him to a draw (bloodfiends are EXTREMELY powerful, more powerful than humans) which made him gain a little bit of respect for her. This knight, Bari (not a character in Don Quixote, she has other shit going on), started regaling Don Quixote with tales of Fixers, humans in The City (Limbus Company's main setting) who are... essentially mercenaries but with class- once again a whole thing but essentially she got him thinking about knights and adventurers. She did this to inspire him to take the side of humans in a war against bloodfiends that was happening elsewhere, which he does. Sancho, who thinks Bari's stories are stupid and this interest is foolhardy, stands by his side in battle.

...But wait! Over time, Sancho too grows interested in Bari's stories, though she refuses to admit it. At one point Bari tells Don Quixote about amusement parks, which gets him thinking "waow maybe if we make an amusement park, my family of bloodfiends can coexist with humans!"

It was a lovely idea, and DQ and one of his lower kindred crafted this cool new thing called "hemobars" which were like a little bit of blood mixed with a bunch of other stuff to make a brick bloodfiends could eat to satisfy their need for blood. Guests would pay at the door in blood, and they would be made into hemobars to distribute to the bloodfiend family, who runs the amusement park.

Surprise surprise, the hemobars were not enough, and the family was getting restless. They wanted to drink blood so badly, but they couldn't go against Don Quixote's wishes because he's the patriarch. So, knowing that he was really into collecting cool artifacts, a few of the bloodfiends came up with a plan to even the playing field. They told him about the Helm of Mambrino, which makes anyone who wears it be perceived as being on the exact same level as those perceiving them, so they would be able to rebel against him (they did not tell him any of this aside from it being a cool helm). A wonderful adventure! And due to Sancho's interest in the knight stuff, the family did not tell her about the plan, and Don Quixote took her with him as his squire.

They did adventure stuff, at some point Don Quixote turned a pair of shoes he got into a powerful artifact named Rocinante that will be important later. Don Quixote wants Sancho to get into the spirit of things, Sancho says it's ridiculously juvenile but tries to speak like she's in Shakespeare anyways, it's all great. They get the helm.

And then when they get back to the amusement park, everything's in shambles. Bloodfiends eating people. Don Quixote, who presumably can't take off the helm because it's cursed or something, seals the entirety of the park off (he can do that because he made it out of his own blood. it's normal), trapping everyone inside so they can't hurt more humans, but...

He orders Sancho to leave first. She was wearing the shoes at the time and those shoes take her away even though she doesn't want to go and there's lots of screaming and crying and it's horribly tragic.

Super depressed, she asks Bari to take her to Lethe, the River of Oblivion, a magic river that will wipe her memories. There's this whole thing about how drinking from the river hones some of your thoughts into a mad obsession which is only a tad relevant (correction: turns out this is a different tributary of the one big river. Lethe is also a tributary. she just glanced at this one, mirae-mirae, and actually drank from lethe) She loses her memories and goes to live alone in a lighthouse in the vast outskirts surrounding the City.

I'm so sorry this was entirely backstory so far.

Cut to 200 years later, Sancho has been basically playing dolls by herself this whole time. Her obsession focuses entirely on Fixers, the sorts of heroes her father (oh yeah that's how bloodfiends work, the guy who turned her is her father now) used to love. She's silly now! She's believing the posters are talking to her! She doesn't know about the unglamorous, "hired mercenary" part of Fixer life, believing everything they do is for justice. After 200 years, this guy shows up to recruit her for Limbus Company and she accepts- at this point, she's forgotten her name, but she also hasn't taken off Rocinante, and who's name is written on Rocinante? ...Why, Don Quixote, of course! So she takes the name Don Quixote for herself.

In Limbus Company (company) she's extremely loud and passionate and will rush forward to fight for justice which causes problems for the team more than once. But the thing about Limbus Company is that everyone on the LCB team has to face their past for their mission to collect these things called Golden Boughs, and her turn eventually comes up. Coincidentally, the amusement park her father built has reappeared in the middle of the City, and it's luring people in.

She goes into this mission completely unaware of its connection to her, even as people recognize her and one guy actively tries to remind her of her past. In fact, she's extremely enthusiastic about vanquishing bloodfiends for their evil deeds. Eventually, though, there are circumstances that lead her to a point where she can't turn away subconsciously anymore, and she dismounts Rocinante (read: takes off her shoes)

The thing about Rocinante is that they have been binding her bloodfiend traits this entire time, and because she was wearing them when she drank from the river, taking them off means she remembers everything. And then she sees her father, the original Don Quixote, who, at this point, has been stabbed with thousands of stakes and is sort of merged with the ferris wheel and the Golden Bough that Limbus Company seeks is stabbed into him as well, which is a whole nother can of worms we don't need to get into

Okay at this point Sancho declares her 200 years as Don Quixote to be a dream that has ended. She fucks off to go be with her father in the center of the dungeon that's formed due to the Golden Bough, and the LCB team, the rest of our protagonists, chase her. A few other things happen but she's mostly bitter and sad.

Old Don Quixote, in his 200 years of being trapped with his starving bloodfiend kindred who have stabbed him a thousand times, has decided that his dream is dead too. There is no way humans and bloodfiends can coexist. The amusement park would have never worked. What's important now is that he feeds his family.

Unfortunately, the LCB's other objective aside from obtaining the Golden Bough is to apprehend the creator of the amusement park- Don Quixote. Sancho, ever loyal, stands in their way. There's this really long battle and whole sequence where they eventually break through to her- they remind her she's never been alone (Bari, the knight, was answering every single letter Sancho wrote to her Fixer idols. don't ask how she's still around), they remind her that the dream is still alive, and even though her father no longer believes in it, it really did become hers. Sancho struggles with the idea that the past 200 years was just a dream- even though she remembers everything from before that now, she can't just forget what she did then. That was also her. There's a cool part of her battle theme where her introductory line from the beginning of the game is incorporated into the music but cuts off before she can say her name. Anyway eventually she decides she'll give moving on with her new friends, the LCB, a chance.

Which means now she's standing against the original Don Quixote. This is the battle where Hero plays. I wish I could get into battle mechanics but that would make this explanation wayyyyy too long. He fights them all, and he's so powerful that eventually he almost kills all of them (including the narrator, who revives all the others; if they die, it's over for good), but Sancho stands in his way. They do an awesome anime clash, with Sancho using an upgraded version of her personal EGO (there is a qte. this game does not do qtes. it's supposed to represent her no longer galloping alone on Rocinante, but together) and Sancho wins. Everything that happens after is no longer relevant to Hero but I'll tell you anyway, as Don Quixote lays dying, he dissolves the amusement park (literally. into blood rain), Sancho cries over him, decides to put back on Rocinante and become the "new" Don Quixote, the one the dream will live on within.

WITH THAT CONTEXT GO FORTH!!!

Also the boss fight itself is long as fuck so the mix made to emulate the in-game experience is 23 minutes long but I can show you the cutscene featuring the final clash (only 2 minutes long), which starts from the line "Stand up, gallop on" and is so fucking awesome and imo seeing what's happening during "I am my biggest fan, I am my biggest fan" is peak

This is the in-game mix if you want it lmao

[zolo-san]

Pleasseee some thoughts on Law not believing that he deserves love. 🥺🥺🥺❤️

Okay, so I think that Law feeling that he is undeserving of love is kind of a defining feature of his character and I think he feels this way for a lot of reasons one of which being because of how he sees himself as a bad, selfish person (for anyone who missed my ramblings on that you can find it here)

But I think that a huge contributing factor is how much he's been rejected throughout his life

Law faced A LOT of rejection in his early life, starting with the fact that him and his entire town were pretty much thrown away and abandoned by a government that was supposed to protect them It's also implied that after the eradication of his town, Law at some point tried to seek out medical help on his own (how else would he have known how the doctors would react to him when Corazon brought him?) and he undoubtedly was faced with a lot of rejection there as well (and a confirmed death sentence to boot) Then when he tried to join Doflamingo's family he was immediately met with more rejection from Corazon Though Corazon's actions had good intentions behind them, he definitely did not help with Law feeling rejected and unloved at the time He not only pushed Law away, but quite literally threw him away and beat him to try to drive him off (like good god my guy, there were better ways to go about that ;-;) Continuous rejection like that can have a very big affect on a kid (Part of which is the thought of "What did I do to deserve this?" easily turning to "I guess I must deserve this.") And while Law was a kid, he channeled a lot of his feelings about being rejected into anger and resentment - a behavior that was encouraged by Doflamingo and his family, but I think that later in life, it ended up fueling feelings of inadequacy and giving Law the impression that not only did he not deserve love, but he must be the type of person that deserves that kind of rejection

From the moment that Corazon chose to reach out and be kind to Law (starting with him covering for Law stabbing him) Law was unwilling to believe, even for a second, that someone could care for him in anyway because doing so would be opening himself to another potential rejection Not to mention, I think that there is a lot of trauma for Law surrounding the concept of someone "reaching out a helping hand" He was told by the sister in his town that there will always be someone willing to reach out and help only to have that immediately proven wrong and then subsequently proven wrong time and time again as people not only refused to help him, but out right rejected him I can't help but feel that all that makes it very difficult for Law to believe in the existence of the person with a helping hand~ I think that's also why he's so unwilling to be hopeful when it comes to doctors again - he knows how this goes down And for him, that's just how the world works, the message is clear: He is unloved and unwanted and that's how it's supposed to be And I can't help but wonder if he might also feel that this is what he gets for not being able to do anything to save the people most important to him For not dying with everyone else (oh hey there's that theme of survivors guilt again~)

There's also something interesting to be said about Law seeing himself as alone and rejected by the world because I think that's actually a contributing factor as to why Corazon feels for him and wants to help him Because Cora sees his younger self in Law Despite Law pretending as if it all doesn't bother him - as if he has accepted his death and the worlds apparent rejection of him - Corazon can see that, in reality, Law is just scared and alone And I think that's why when Law keeps questioning why Cora is so determined to help him and why he cares, that Cora tells Law to stop asking and to stop looking for a reason why someone might love him I think in saying that, Cora is trying to instill in Law that love is not something transactional, you don't have to earn it and you don't owe anyone for it Corazon gives his love to Law freely because he wants to It's as simple as that But even after everything that Law goes through with Cora, I think that's a lesson he was never able to learn or a concept he was ever able to accept

It's a fact that Luffy is the only person that Law ever explains his whole story to He's the only one that knows everything that Law has done and everything that he's been through And I can't help but wonder why that is? He clearly cares about and trusts his crew, so why is it that he never told them? Instead, he left them behind (Somewhere safe of course) and I think it's because he can't believe that they would or should help him I think that despite it all and despite how he feels about them, he doesn't think he has the right to even ask them to help him He doesn't think he deserves it

And I'd like to say that I think it's really important in helping Law to heal and unlearn this way of thinking that Luffy consistently, loudly, and very unapologetically declares his love for Law Luffy, much like Corazon, offers him love and support unconditionally, despite Law's attempts to deter him, despite knowing everything about him, including all the reasons Law thinks he's undeserving of love Luffy doesn't hesitate for a second He has no doubts when he reaches out a hand to Law offering to help him, care for him, and love him Why? Because Luffy thinks Law is a good guy and because he truly believes that Law deserves to be loved~

[episyn]

>"winter event with winter themed items"

>look inside

>it's literally just christmas

[insert that image of a cat staring at the camera really close up]

[covenofthearticulate]

as the quintessential Louis understander, what do you think his reaction was to reading PLRoA and Lestat's demented aside that he was jealous of any blood -- even a victim's -- in Louis's vein that wasn't his, Lestat's?

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God, you KNOW I think about this all the time because like!!!! Even before that line about him being jealous, there's that bit where he watches Louis feed and gets so intensely jealous of the victim that he slips into her mind because he's so obsessed!!

I stood watching as [Louis] drank from her, slipping into her mind now to find him and what he was feeling as all that sweet salty blood flooded his mouth and his senses, as the heart of the woman weakened and slowed.

THAT'S SO HOT LOL

And like, for me, I think the real kicker when I think about Louis reading this whole narrative from Lestat's POV in-universe is that like!!! In an earlier era, he would have been APPALLED at the idea of Lestat wanting to dominate the very blood in his veins. IWTV-era Louis would have read that line and gone into an absolute fit.

And like, I tend to view Louis in two eras— pre-Merrick and post-Merrick for obvious reasons. So like, thinking about Louis trying to end his own life but then being rebirthed by Lestat, and being almost purified by his blood, it kind of makes sense why Lestat would feel so connected to him in that way!! Even before the suicide, David mentioned how Louis would never drink from any of the elder vampires, infamously Maharet, and so there's all these other layers to Louis, as well, that point back to his purity, almost his virginity in a sense, because the blood in his veins is the very same blood that was in his veins the night he was turned, and that is a rare thing.

But current-day Louis?? He’s been through some shit! This is the same Louis who turns around and pledges that "You shall be my god." so if anything, I'd argue that actually this entire scene is a really great exploration of how terribly, toxic-ly in love they are LOL like the insanity is very much reciprocal!!

Like, I was chatting with Jess the other day about how Louis' line of "I’m tired of fighting it; I give up; I’ll come.” is lowkey really depressing because it feels uncharacteristically submissive for Louis. But ACTUALLY now that I'm reading the entire scene through again, I feel like Louis' "surrender" is less of an act of submission and more of an acceptance of his own desire to allow his life to be transformed again by Lestat.

Because that's what he's been fighting all along, if we're being honest. It isn't Lestat himself that he hates— it's the chaos that Lestat brings, it's the way he overpowers everything and sucks it all into his orbit and leaves no other pathway for Louis to live his life in quiet solitude. It's the strength of his blood that slowly changes all vampires over time, and removes the option for self-harm. It's all the ways that Lestat has permanently changed him, from the inside out.

But Louis is a man who has never known the meaning of temperance, never understood how to moderate anything in his life. And so when he "gives up" to things, he fully and wholly gives his entire being. When he says You shall by my god, he means it with every fibre of his being. I think if he had it his way, he would meet his end at the hands of Lestat— he'd want to sacrifice himself and be consumed completely, and Lestat would finally have all the blood from Louis' veins, entirely to himself.

and so ANYWAY TO FINALLY ANSWER YOUR QUESTION i think Louis is finally, finally in his era where he's able to match Lestat's freak, and I think he would love the idea of Lestat getting jealous of Louis taking any other blood into his veins. I think he would use it to his advantage and make Lestat so jealous until he simply HAS to take Louis and utterly ravage him and keep him all to himself :)

And tbh that's the crux of why I love this ship so much— they're terrible for each other!!! Lestat is jealous of the very blood in Louis' veins. Louis worships Lestat.

They are their own ouroboros, devouring each other from start to finish, over and over and over again.

[kazzettes]

Ladybug Week 2023 Day 1, Oct. 23rd: College AU

With a Freezerburn guest appearance.

This one's for all my fellow Ladybug fans. (All, like, 2 of them).

When I sat down to draw this my brain went on a tangent and created its own full-on fanfiction, lol.

Basically, Ruby is this super talented freshman in the engineering department who's been gaining the attention of all the professors since she enrolled. She singlehandedly became the lead of the Science and Technology committee, which both she and her buddy Penny attend.

Yang is on a sport scholarship and is part of the Volleyball team together with Blake. She and her buddy Pyrrha are the aces of the team. She's very talented at the sport despite not seeming to have any aspirations to pursue it as a career…? Like Ruby she's also enrolled in engineering.

Blake is the Visa student- her parents saved money their entire lives to send her to a good university in a first world country. She joined the volleyball team with the goal to save money with a scholarship, but ended up enjoying being part of the team. She's chronically broke and isn't legally allowed to work due to her Visa status, but her buddy Sun hooks her up with some shady jobs that she takes from time to time to earn some cash. She met Ruby through Yang, who started inviting her out for lunch to discuss their shared favorite books series. Blake only agreed at first for the free food but eventually ended up enjoying and seeking out Ruby's company.

Weiss is this turbo-preppy model student and the president of the Student Organization's Committees. She had some friction with Ruby at first due to their clashing personalities but they eventually grew to respect each other. She met Yang through Ruby and was immediately smitten. She's suspicious of Blake and thinks she and her buddy Sun are bad influences on Ruby.