#i'm starting to think i should make a tierlist

[kustas]

hello! good day!

since witch hat atelier is ending its silver eve arc, i just wanted to ask on your thoughts on witch hat atelier, especially and lotsa stuff has happened since, especially with coustas and dagda..

im just curious, so thank you for taking the time to respond if ever! ^^

My thoughts summed up would be that it's a great little manga, in fact the parts that make it that great accidentally and unfortunately highlight its shortcomings. This is going to be entire subjective as you asked me what *I* think and also because I believe you cannot have objectivity in a review.

I've been reading WHA for what, nearly four years now? And I got to see the series evolve in how it's written, and also got my good old time to evolve my thoughts about it too. When I first read WHA, chapter 40 had barely came out, I read it in a single go and was really mesmerized by the world and how it was constructed and pleasantly endeared to how it worked on presenting real life issues within a fantasy story, something I'm usually allergic to but that this time weirdly enough worked, because the author took it seriously and thought through the issues she presented. Since then, I've followed the chapters as they came out ever month, occasionally rereading full parts (used to do that a whole lot when I was working for the wiki) but mostly sticking to monthly updates and discussing with fandom members. Now let's explore

The stuff that's happened since

Ironically, the WHA I first read cut right at the start of the latest arc and boy, what an arc. Silver Eve WHA feels like a fully different beast at times - the art style changed, the pacing changed, the stakes changed. I will openly admit I do not like the higher stakes and newer art style, won't go as far as to call it moeblob as I've seen a few do, but I do miss the more age accurate looking characters and the attempts at facial diversity of the before era. Pacing is...another beast. Having pondered it for this ask I am honestly not sure if I prefer the before or after pacing - I have a feeling I would react differently to it had the series started off with longer arcs instead of the opposite. It's quite standard for shorter arcs to be introductory. While I am a big fan of short formats for stories and really like how early WHA entertwined what it presented of its world between story beats, the longer arc structure allow more narrative fulfillment and character development.

There are some early WHA arcs I plain don't like, or only like a few beats of, mostly reliant on their characters - the exam arc is the biggest example given I can't stand Yinny who soured the otherwise really sick premise for me. The Silver Eve suffers from having too much shit going on at once if you ask me, but having the characters who were previously introduced interact in a panic situation was very satisfying. I've heard the chapter that came out yesterday in Japan concludes that arc and I'm excited to see what happens next.

Coustas and Dagda

Oh Coustas my sweet boy. I was so, so vindicated when Dagda openly described him as a "bright and gentle boy". Yes, he is. I would add "hyperactive and riddled with inferiority complexes" to this statement but I say this with love in my heart...

Should be pretty obvious given my blog url and history of how much I care for the two as characters. Used to be only the kid, now I place Dagda as high on my loving tierlist, although I am self aware a lot of how I percieve him is basically OC projection as this point lmfao. I didn't really care on my first read, it's the story in general that enraptured me rather than individual characters, but then came out the chapter where he explains his weird relationship with Dagda and my heart was conquered and I've been drawing the little guy ever since. (pretty sure I told yall already but on my first read I was so not focused that I thought Coustas was a little girl despite us hearing abt him first time ever as "my son". I am not very bright)

I feel Coustas still peakes as a character in that mini arc while he's hospitalized. His story is simple and gutting and it ties well to Coco's own - it's a window into a world we haven't seen, both of the normal ass people in this world and the poor, it's a situation that's easy to understand and with no escape from it.

FROM NOW ON WE ENTER SPOILER TERRITORY! BEWARE.

The author already lost my attention a bit after the bandit attack. While I love tragedy and character death, Coustas' story /already/ was a cruel one where he'd lost everything in life, and this additional hit was to my eyes pointless and almost mean? And since then it's only been getting worst and worst. What I used to think was bad taste has climbed so high in the drama ladder I don't even really care anymore. I still think he's cute and like seeing him in the story but damn, leave the kid alone lmfao, at this point take him out of his misery WHAT did the guy do to you to deserve all this shite

I get the point. But Coustas had already made this point before, just in a more grounded, real life sort of depressing way. I have a feeling a lot of the cool stuff we see related to his character, like the nightmare notion of rewinding a dying loved one, could have been applied to another character later on for another purpose? He's this story's crowned martyr and why it's not really my place to talk about this, the criticism I've seen around the community around how it's happening to the only brown kid we have thus far strikes true.

The big issue (to me)

I like subtle writing. WHA is not subtle. I've made fun of this before, but man, the story loves nothing more than driving its points home with a roided up steamroller, characters monologuing their thought process to the camera in a perfect exposé, and the worlds most verbose woke prepubescent children. I do not like it.

Coustas is an extension of this. I liked him best when he was a nobody. I also remember how the fandom treated him when he was, which is to say: houseplant (if they remembered his existence at all). Now that he's doing the camera monologues, countless users are talking about his story and how they finally get it. Which is the point the author was trying to carry across. Which is way past the point I'd eyerolled so far back I could see my frontal lobe

I said before that WHA felt nice because it brought up real life issues in fantasy. My typical issue with that as a fantasy lover is that real life issues don't exist in a vacuum. Take homophobia for example: it takes a lot of forms depending on culture, but it relies a lot on the sexist notion that the only form of relationship that's valid is an SM breeding pair. If you were to successfully write homophobia in a fictional setting you'd have to come up with an alternate few centuries of history of gender and sex in various cultures. Most people don't do that though, and as a result the "representation" feels like a hollow pastiche of a phenomena that literally kills people to this day. WHA is one of the rare fantasy series I've read that actually does that exploration, and while it does embrace a lot of the "this magical world is magically diverse" stuff, it's not stupid about it.

However, WHA's insistence on in your face happenings and anime drama goes back to cheapen a lot of what it does well. I gotta apologize to bring this one up because I know it's a sensitive topic, but Lulucy is a perfect example to me - taken individually she's an interesting character and the way her backstory is handled is examplary regarding how it showcases sexual assault in a comic book, but everything else about it makes me mad. Said backstory is used as a prop tacked on at the last moment to add some dramatic flair, compensate for the lack of development and force sympathy for her character. While the sensitive topics part is handled well, everything else about the writing isn't. And I feel that's how WHA's been written lately - since the main thread to follow with Iguin has vanished, this is unfortunately all that's left.

I'd not typically dedicate these many words to this stuff. I believe analyzing media based on how "problematic" it is or whatever is a single rather flat angle to criticism. But WHA being so openly progressive makes it difficult to avoid... I could talk about the art, could talk about the characters, the world, etc (and will if prompted, although beware another 27168628932698236 word post lol) but those are secondary given how bad the manga wants you to take on its messages and the less than ideal way they're delivered.

Bonus

We are still doing the bad guys are actually good bc they have a tragic background (not how it works) unless they're ugly in which they're actually bad (define ugly?). I make this statement and go painfully howl at the moon. Can Bel and Dean be evil or something. please. the patient needs complex characters who suck to live

[emblemsaga]

character and route/endings tierlist or thoughts?

i'll go through each character w a tier list and then i'll just talk about some of the routes with my thoughts bc there are a lot and most of them i dont have much to say other than "ayy thats pretty good"

general spoilers under the cut for the hundred line last defense academy (long post). tiers arent like exactly internally ordered

S tier: the twins are so great. kako is super cute and ima is such an ass and their dynamic is 10/10. a surprisingly big part of the plot in some cases?? everything at the end of route zero is so sad kako has the most angst and anger out of any character in the cast. incredible.

darumi was my girl from the start and she only got better. she's the best. i died a little inside whenever she was unavailable. the references never got old and she has so many good quotes and once you get into her storylines it's so sweet.

actually i should just say the game exceeded my expectations with pretty much everyone

LYL: takumi is genuinely such a fun protagonist, he's stupid and an ass and kind of a bad leader half the time but knows how to make up for it. nozomi is just the cutest sweetest and surprisingly assertive i love her. i'm a sucker for the lovable sweet ones in these games (looking at you luna VLR)

kyoshika is the funniest character in the game bar none, she's hornier than yugamu (somehow) but also really endearing.

kurara is one that surprised me being so high but damn. shes cute she's funny, one of the few consistently competent people here.

eva i should mention i started with the kill eito branches and WOW that did so much for her development, she's tragic and fun.

8/10: takemaru and tsubasa are pretty plain but good. takemaru's just a really stand-up guy and tsubasa is the nice girl yes but also surprisingly savage when it comes down to it? the group would suffer without these guys.

i had my suspicions on eito for a long time but he's so hammy and comic book villain about everything it's hilarious. rumble is a banger of a theme.

gaku sucks so much but in like, the funniest way possible. another positive surprise honestly. he's so unabashedly bad but also a nice guy.

vehxness after 1) knowing the truth and 2) playing vehxness route is literally the perfect villain for this game. let takumi have an actual romance with her.

still greats: hiruko and yugamu are funny as hell despite their shticks and get some good story moments too. i dont ship either of them with takumi but their dynamics with him are top tier even platonically.

moko really wasn't what i expected her to be but it's nice to have such a strong yet sweet voice around.

shion once he comes out of his shell is a little cheesy but by that point in the game i dont mind. cute dynamic with tsubasa too.

sirei is a piece of shit but he's kind of comically bad at it?

alright: shouma fades into the background a lot, i dont hate him and he has some good moments but mostly he's just there, and the same kinda goes for nigou. i dont dislike either of these characters!!

my thoughts on some routes:

my favorite forever and ever is SF route. i purposely kept it for last since i knew no other route could end with a natural "happy ending", and i do think it works best like that? the plot and characters both take a bit of a backseat and the game is pretty tongue-in-cheek with how this is "the happy one" and i think it's very good if you already had the interactions of the entire game. i dont think it stands on its own very well but it's for me the perfect conclusion to Last Defense Academy.

retsnom route and romance route are both incredible, nothing else to say really just some of my faves

the worst route is box of blessings. nothing comes close. there are a few good scenes but the story kind of sucks and forced explore is ass, and doing an identical forced explore FOUR TIMES is extra ass

i dont hate battle route. it mentally drained me, i was completely exhausted by the end, but i can say i'm glad i did it which is a lot more than i can for BoB. the humor is also top-notch and it's fun to flex your units, though its a real shame some of the stronger ones (darumi, kyoshika, eito) are unavailable. probably dont play it in one go - take a break w some Comedy or something.

2nd scenario is good. its good its definitely a kodaka story and a very well done important part of the game. it's not as unique as some other routes and feels very route 0-like but like, it's good.

[voidshrub]

Make a tierlist of Epithet Erased

https://tiermaker.com/create/epithet-erased-prison-of-plastic-1494482

Hi anon I did it

Added a few modifications here and there, mainly I think Gio's boys deserve their own tier and it's high up because I love them all :3

I feel like rambling a little bit so notes under the cut cause why not (And spoilers also)

Ok first of all. I was gonna give Lori S tier but also she makes me too angry sometimes. I love you Lori but girl. Girlie-

I was considering Feenie to have her own tier because she is like Jello's daughter and she is also very wonderful. But I was too lazy so she goes in A tier, only because I don't feel as strongly about her as I feel for the characters I put in S tier (same for Trixie)

Now that I think about it Naven should be in S tier he is so badass and awesome and I love him. But I am too sleepy to go back and fix the list so uhm pretend he is in the Correct tier :)

I forgot half of the season 1 cast existed I am so sorry I was simply sobbing uncontrollably over Giovanni being the absolute best dad ever to be conceived

The barcode dude is up there cause I really really like his design it's so rad

I don't like Zora that much that's why she's where she is I'm sorry. She has great motives for what she does very cool very interesting but I simply do not Vibe with her. Also she spit in Ramsey's mouth -points for that, big red buzzer noise

I actually didn't recognize Yoomtah until I read she was Naven's chauffer! She screams a lot and I don't have many Opinions on her existence yet but she seems relevant I think

Stink is where he is because he is Stink. End of discussion (and the minibosses are also there like that cause I don't have much of an opinion about them except that the dragon looks pretty neat)

The sheriff is down there cause he reminds me of Martin and I hate Martin. Sorry sheriff you did nothing wrong really (except misfire a gun I think)

Is that the uhhh. The mundie that threatens the Neo Trio at the start of PoP? Why is she here did I miss something. Or maybe she's different and I'm a little dumb (it's the sleep I will sleep I promise)

I think it is the Right Opinion to hate Martin. You should all hate Martin. My Various Hammers and White Hot Rage would like to have a few choice words with him. Violence is never the answer except when it is, which is now. Towards Martin. Fuck that guy

[shootingstarrfish]

Hi I wanted to ask one of my fav obey me artists this question: Least favorite to favorite characters? If you wanna say why, that'd be cool. If anything! Please have a nice day!

hii there!!! dearest anon stop being so nice you're going to make me cry AHSHDHD thank you,,, <33333

but what a fun question! for anyone who doesn't want to read my stupid long explanation for each character i will leave this tierlist here! all tiers (except the first tier) are organised by most to least liked within the tier from left to right

no i dont hate lucifer, it's just facebook relationship status (aka complicated <3)

i have plenty of opinions though so i'll go ahead and give some explanations too!! >:D under the cut because there's a lot of rambling here LOL

some of the list is a bit boring because i cant really say i hate or even dislike any characters, and i don't wanna be mean about any characters just cause they're not necessarily my favourites so!

that being said lucifer pisses me off to a comical degree and he absolutely doesn't belong at the bottom but my feelings about him are so ridiculously complicated i don't know where else he belongs? i wish so badly that i could hate him in an uncomplicated way and move on but as an eldest sibling he's such a personal attack on me and i hate it. he's me, i'm him it's horrible. every time i start to think "ahh he's not that bad" he opens his mouth and makes me regret thinking that. i still think about the time i chose to kiss him on the ferris wheel and he held his hand out after and i took it and he said it reminded him of his dead sister, i will never stop holding it against him. he deserves to be loved and taken care of and he also should be thrown off a cliff. im quite certain if i had to assign myself a sin i would pick pride and i hate it >:( (this is all very lighthearted lol)

diavolo used to viscerally annoy me for no good reason when i first started the game, but over time he's grown on me and i'd say now i'm neutral-positive on him!! no idea why i hated him, i was just very salty for no reason hahaha i've recently come to appreciate his character a lot more, im very :( about how lonely he must be and i want him to have more genuine friends please solmare

i think mephisto really is just the kind of character i need to see more of to like, he's very interesting to read character analyses of (and kinda relatable tbh?) but i just need more in game is all! i love his silly lil poses those are real fun, and he is pretty

levi is another i also used to hate out of nowhere? i was neutral on him initially and then i suddenly hated him with a burning passion until one of my friends told me she really loved him and im physically incapable of hating a character my friends love so we're chill again HAHA slowly beginning to like him though! what a pathetic sopping wet cat of a man, it's GREAT

OUUGHH i so badly wanna be able to love beel more, it hurts me to have to put him here but unfortunately this is the way it is... i think it's more accurate to say i love the idea of beel? and ive noticed i really like him everywhere that isnt the game, which again is unfortunate :,)))

LUKE IS MY SON he is babyyyyyyy that's all i have to say <333 my precious lil sonboy he deserves the whole entire world

everyone loves mammon, and i am no exception :D he's not necessarily my type hence why he's neatly placed right in the middle but ugh i love a guy who tries and fails miserably to act tough but is super sweet inside, what a guy <3 ok i flip flopped between putting satan and simeon in the love tier because i am so very fond of both of them, but that's too many characters up there so imagine they're both in a weird tier purgatory between the 2 LOL

i am in fact going to marry simeon and then we will raise luke together it's a fact simeon is everything he's pretty and beautiful and a very complex and interesting character ahhh

SATAN MY LOVE he's a very interesting case to me in that i feel on paper he should be the kind of character who would be on the top of the list! he's smart and kind and unhinged and would kill for you and he likes cats!!! truly husband material i adore him

im going to marry thirteen, thanks for listening to my ted talk <3 my darling beautiful wife who would laugh hysterically if i fell down the stairs i love u thirteen <3333333 we will be wed tomorrow and we will live the dream in her silly lil cave of pranks and curses

i dont know what it is about raphael but i adore him??? is it the wet kitten swag? the done with life expression? his ridiculous outfit? i couldnt tell you but i saw him for the first time and i was immediately obsessed everything i learn about him just makes me more obsessed, i love the fact that he enjoys solomons cooking, the way he's good at sewing and is kind but kinda scary, what a fun character

i could talk endlessly about solomon oh how i love this silly househusband wizard guy i was pretty neutral on him in the og game, and then he swiftly stole my heart in nightbringer and now i would eat his terrible cooking any day of the week just to see him smile <3 if i die seeing him happy that's probably the best way to go out all his calls and messages are sooo cute and they make me melt im in love please just one chance...

barbatos and solomon are typically equal on the list i'd say? but the barbatos brainrot is hitting harder now so he gets to be ever so slightly higher this once hahaha barbs is another that took a while to grow on me, not that i ever disliked him or anything but i definitely overlooked him at first! design wise i absolutely LOVE him, his demon form is definitely one of my absolute favourites. the unique but still put together suit?? the ruffles?? the bone wing horns?? ugh he's just very pretty, and SO interesting as well love a calm collected guy who totally has the potential to destroy you if he so wishes but has a soft spot for you

and of course, real shocker im sure, at the tippy top of the list would be asmo and belphie my beloveds <333 i love them both equally and i could never put one above the other i actually started playing obey me for belphie because one of my favourite character tropes is The Tired One TM, and im absolutely not immune to a cute emo boy either. i've grown to really love his sass and the way he hides his manipulative nature behind his sweet and innocent appearance hehe i also do love how ridiculously forward and blunt he is at times, what a silly guy while belphie was very predictable, asmo was a very out of nowhere character for me! i distinctly remember seeing him initially and thinking "avatar of lust?? i guess he's pretty but he'll probably just be the fuckboy character who makes nonstop innuendos and has no character beyond that, and i'm too asexual for this" so i avoided him a lot at first, but i'm very weak for how kind and gentle and charismatic he is, and the way he puts his all into everything and everyone <333 it didnt take long for me to realise that he's almost exactly the kind of person i aspire to be more like

also miura ayme gives me so much gender envy its not fair send tweet

[memphishing]

Ok memphidoodle, (I'm calling you that now you're not stopping me) important Kinjomae question.

What kind of presents do you think they would get eachother?

Like for things like anniversaries, Christmas, birthdays, Valentines Day, yknow.

In my opinion, Yuki would be kind of like a perfectionist and try his hardest to make it as perfect as possible for Kinjo! And It'd usually be a homemade gift.

And I feel like for Kinjo, he would just buy something related whatever weird ass hyperfixation Yuki’s got. Or he'd go simple and just get him some flowers or something. So, for Kinjo it'd just usually be a gift that was bought.

But what do you think?

Oooooo! Cracks knuckles... I loove thinking about stuff like this... so many things to be canon for my Kinjomae fluff land au... (i really need a name and a tag for it at this point, considering i've written three fics for it and one is in my docs)

(I shall not stop you, hehe i love it when friends give me nicknames >:])

I like overthinking Yuki's literal game mechanics of consistently giving gifts in game. Like, I know it's a gameplay mechanic of closeness and characterbuilding, but one sided gift giving doesn't totally read as sustainable to me, so putting it into perspective is interesting. I see it as subconscious influence from utsuro, considering his worth for so many years was what he could give/provide to others, otherwise people like his parents wouldn't want them around. So it became a sort of underlying "please stay with me" gesture- even though Yuki and Utsuro are quite separate entities here, Yuki still has internalized some of his thought patterns before the initial split.

And since he didn't speak as a child, he instead became very good at listening- perceptive and attuned to others. He pays close attention to things Kinjo looks at a little too long, offhanded comments he makes. Kinjo is a tricky person to read, but Yuki is literate in Kinjoisms because of how intuitive with others' desires he can be. He ends up surprising him with things he didn't even know he wanted.

Kinjo is a bit wary of Yuki's tendency to give him presents at first, even if they're surprisingly pleasant. They turn from things that a cop should like, to things a bit more attuned to him, to things he brought up a couple times in conversation. Yuki narrows it down, figures him out, and purchases gifts accordingly.

Kinjo of course isn't used to that and how casual it is- of course, he's accustomed to gift giving around the holidays and birthdays, but now Yuki will often give him a little gift that apparently made him think of him. As they get closer, Kinjo opts to do the same, but he... doesn't know where to start. This had never been important to him before.

On Yuki's birthday he plays it safe- a steam gift card or something of the sort. He'll bring him random funky cup ramen from obscure stores. Kinjo and Yuki were out for a walk one day, and noticed the odd sparkle in his eye after he purchased some nice bottled water despite the heat. So he started getting them on occasion for him, but Yuki started being funny about it. "Dasani? uH.. haha... thankssss." and kinjo is holding his head. it's all water. bottled water, so what the hell is the difference actually???

It takes wingman akane very slowly and carefully asking him what's wrong as he taste tests twenty different brands

Yuki ends up having to make a tierlist

ANYWAY, those would all be smaller gifts that are more inconsequential. In holidays and birthdays, Yuki will gradually shift away from getting him criminal psychology textbooks, to things like games that have been floating around he thinks tsurugi will like, planning them a day out on a boat or the beach or to a park to feed the birds. Yuki makes sure they have experiences together, and that Kinjo will get to have first experiences of leisure- to relax and enjoy himself for once.

Kinjo's got good housekeeping skills and is said to be good at cooking. He'll make big enough meals to keep Yuki out of the stupid cup ramen- things that are tasty, but actually healthy. And at his side at the feast, a big ol thing of smartwater.

The easy gifts are the 'good' ones- but the ones that don't exactly come to mind at first prove to be the ones that are cherished the most.

[soul-sparx]

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R tierlist ranked by how each character treats A.B.A

Based on their win-quotes against A.B.A

Reasoning under the cut

Niceys :) <333333

Sol Badguy

"Well, at least you've got a strong head."

It isn't much, but remember that this is Sol we're talking about. He is blunt, brutally honest, and a bit mean in general. He does not give out compliments lightly. Even a slightly sarcastic one like this means A.B.A has impressed him, and he conveys that well.

Ky Kiske

"You should tend to your wounds properly. Especially if you're a woman."

The "especially if you're a woman" thing is a little weird, but reads more like misplaced chivalry than anything. The point here is that he is concerned about her wellbeing, hoping for her to take care of herself.

Faust

"Your prescription is…to learn about society. That is all."

He has examined her through battle, and his conclusion is that there isn't anything wrong with her. He wishes her well, and hopes for her to come out of her shell.

Axl Low

"What an original and sexy fashion sense! How exciting!"

Self-explanatory. He just thinks she's super hot.

Kliff Undersn

"Your injuries look grave. Are you all right? Hmm..That axe looks familiar... Have I seen it somewhere before?"

He's worried about her, and wants to make sure he didn't hurt her too hard. He's also interested in Paracelsus, likely remembering his days in the crusades as the Sanguine Gale. He's just being a nice old man :)

Johnny

"You should learn to communicate from my band of merry thieves. Come on…"

He offers her a position in the Jellyfish Pirates! He does this in the story mode as well! He barely knows her, but he wants to help her out the only way he knows how! What a kind dude!

Venom

"Guild members are required to learn a certain degree of interpersonal skills. Perhaps you could benefit from the same training?"

Much like how Johnny offers to let her join the Jellyfish Pirates, Venom offers to let her join the Assassin's Guild to help her out! He is nice :)

Dizzy

"I don't know how to say this…but we could be good friends! Don't you think?"

She wants to be friends!!!!! She's so sweet!!!!!!!!

Slayer

"Flament Nagel and an artificial life-form, hmmm? I find your story quite interesting!"

It's a bit nonpersonal, but he is interested in A.B.A and wants to learn more. I can only imagine them chatting over a couple glasses of blood :)

Bridget

"Nice! You'd definitely get a lot of money with that talking key!"

Her first thought is on money, but still. She thinks Paracelsus is cool, and is super supportive of the two of them!

Zappa

"Eek! A woman's on the floor covered in blood and bandages! I gotta find a doctor Faust…err, fast!"

He's a little scared of her, but he still wants to help! What a sweetie

I-No

"Wouldn't you prefer something warm-blooded instead of that cold metal rod you have there?" "That thing's your husband? It looks like a big toy for such a little woman. Can you handle all of it? Haha! You have great taste in men!"

Look, I dunno how else to say it. I-No is just super DTF.

Neutral

A.B.A

"There's another artificial life-form besides me!? There was no record of it…"

More surprised than anything, no positive or negative feelings shown beyond that.

Order-Sol

"A homunculus, huh? Now that's rare."

Deeply impersonal, barely even interested. She's barely a curiosity for him.

Robo-Ky

"WHAT A SHAME, WHAT A SHAME. YOU'RE NEITHER HUMAN NOR ROBOT. PICK A SIDE!"

Considering A.B.A's quote for winning against him, I feel like there's potential for a friendship, but Robo seems more confused by A.B.A's existence than anything. There is some annoyance, but that seems more directed at the not-knowing than at A.B.A herself.

May

"What a big weapon you got there…isn't it heavy?"

May seems more interested in Paracelsus than A.B.A. She's a nice girl in general, so I think they could develop a friendship eventually, but it's off to kind of a weird start.

Potemkin

"…I'm not like you! Don't look at me like that!"

This is a little mean, but given how he treats her in story mode, I feel like it's more confusion and annoyance at the situation than at A.B.A herself. He just doesn't want people to think he's an artificial being.

Chipp Zanuff

"You really think I'd lose to someone who's injured!? Who do you think I am!?"

This is just Chipp being cocky as always. It could've been anyone, if he wins against anyone, he's gonna lord over them for a bit. He holds nothing against A.B.A specifically.

Eddie

"I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG THAT ARTIFICIAL ENERGY LASTS, SO I'LL LET YOU GO. FOR NOW."

This is probably about as nice as Eddie can be to anyone who isn't Zato, and it's still pretty limp. A.B.A is nothing but a potential body to him. He literally does not care one way or the other about her. There is no love, nor disdain.

Testament

"You also took the blood oath? Hmph, I guess not."

They're a little interested in her, perhaps thinking she's also a Gear. Once they realize she isn't, they lose interest. Perhaps modern Testament would be kinder to her, but as they were in ACPR, they just kind of don't care.

Jam Kuradoberi

"Your complexion is terrible! Blood transfusion pack? My food's much better for your health."

She starts with an insult, but then offers to help, so it's less neutrality and more a situation of both the good and the bad. I think Jam is just a weirdo.

Mean to her!!!!!!!

Millia Rage

"You should learn some manners before seeking knowledge. I suggest you go home."

The least mean mean thing someone says to her, it's still clear Millia has no patience for A.B.A. How rude.

Baiken

"You're such a pain. I hate people that just sneak around in the shadows."

MEAN TO HER!!!!!!!!

Justice

"Accursed homunculus! It's ridiculous that the gate will open with just that. I hope you wander in the darkness eternally."

This is so personal and rude, Justice fuckin' hates A.B.A and for no reason. Kill this woman NOW!!!!!!!!!

Anji Mito

"Stand straight and speak louder, will you? Just looking at you drives me nuts."

What did she ever do to you, huh? Kill this man NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

[a-caterpillars-world]

So. I finished Homestuck.

Reading Homestuck in 2024, over a decade since it started, was definitely an experience. There was a lot that i was spoiled for, but a lot that took me by surprise, even though "spoilers" are just about everywhere. I'm glad I was able to go in blind, there's a lot that wouldn't have felt nearly as impactful had i known about it beforehand. I'm not great at just directionless rambling, so I'll organize it in the form of an FAQ of a sort, under a read more since I'm expecting this to be a longer post.

Did you enjoy yourself?

Honestly, yes. I know Homestuck has a kind of negative reputation, and now that I've finished I can certainly see where it comes from, but even considering all of that I can't say I had a bad time. I think Homestuck has a lot to love, even if there's also a lot to hate. Personally I think there's several elements and characters of Homestuck that deserve a better rep, there was a lot I read that was very funny or very narratively compelling even through all the obvious flaws. I had a good time, I don't regret picking up Homestuck.

Do you plan to read anything else related to Homestuck (eg Homestuck 2)?

Maybe! I'm not entirely sure how much I'm missing out on, or how much the various side stories impact the main canon. If one of them seems particularly interesting to me, I'll look into it, but right now I'm good. I'm not even entirely sure how deep the Homestuck rabbit hole goes, though I suppose I could look it up and find out for myself.

Do you have any favorites/what do you think about [character]?

This is a hard question to answer, as Homestuck is a series with a loooot of characters to talk about. If you want to know a more in-depth opinion on your favorites, send me an ask! I love conversation and even since I started my liveblog I've been open to asks being sent in even if we've never spoken. Maybe I'll make a tierlist to organize my favorites, that could be fun.

Should I read Homestuck?

It depends. Homestuck can be a very good and interesting story at times, but a lot of what makes it a great story is hidden behind layers of questionable-at-best humor and casual ableism. I think if you can approach it as it is and understand the flaws inherent to it, it's definitely worth at least checking out. And then if it isn't for you, then it isn't for you, but it did end up being for me so take it as you will. Even if you're just looking at it as a part of internet and webcomic history, I think it's not a waste of time to give it a read. Via the downloadable archive though, not the browser version. Homestuck suffered greatly from the death of Flash, so it's best to read on a version that can better support all the unique elements it utilized without much risk of it crapping out on you (like it did to me, in several key points including the finale.) I also recommend reading with a friend, preferably one who's read Homestuck before so you can talk about things as they come up naturally.

Final thoughts

Homestuck is a fascinating piece of internet history. It's a near-perfect capture of the humor and culture of the late 2000s and early 2010s, largely dependent on a web service that is now entirely defunct. Were it not for the actions of archivists and fans, it's entirely likely we could've lost massive chunks of an incredible piece of webcomic and fandom history. It certainly isn't for everyone, its flaws have been talked about with regularity by essayists and internet historians with the whole spectrum of opinions on it. Even with its flaws, though, it still puts together a quite lovely story, with several compelling characters and scenes that grab your attention and hold it tight. Not only do I not regret reading it, but I completely understand how Homestuck created such a storm of a fandom especially when it was being actively updated. I'm glad I read it, in the end. It brought me a lot of joy in the best moments, and even at the times when I was most frustrated with the story I can't say there was ever a point where it was too much for me. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to check on the liveblog, whether you're one of my friends or a stranger checking in from the Homestuck fandom. It has certainly been an interesting ride, and I'm glad that I got to take it, even if I am in fact several years late to the party. Until next time, everyone!

[ggren-mainz]

Umineko - question arcs playthrough -> ep 2 - 1

last part - All parts and episodes - next part

Welcome back after an almost 2-week break, it's time for the next chapter ;P. Also i decided I'll introduce my gf and family to umineko via the stageplay, as i have heard that it's pretty good. Only up to ep 3 (soon 4) now, but anyways.

edit 2 days later as this sat in drafts : Watched it with my sis (my mom deemed it too tiring) and she loved it. Her favorite is George (both the character and the actor ;P), and she had some very interesting theories, one of them being that genji is kinzo's child, which damn. Age-wise i don't think it works but at least she's thinking. Also the outro was very confusing but i think it might've revealed some stuff. I'm not sure, but I'll keep it in mind. Anyways amazing watch.

She also did the tierlist and it's so funny

Anyways

I want to start this by saying that the culprit actually showed to me in a dream. That's right, i had a premonition. Basically the dream was me and some friends running in a destroyed world from Shannon with a gun. So what I'm getting to is that I now solved the mystery, and will now just laugh for the following 7 chapters. Ha ha ha.

(pls if shannon actually has any relation with the culprit/is the culprit, do not tell me or make any jokes/imply it. I am simply fooling around because of this quite funny dream i had)

rocking that victorian newspaper boy inspired fit.

and the hippie look. Perfect case of underdressed x overdressed. Also Tomitake Flash?????

this reads like some insane foreshadowing. Or at least it's definitely related to our little characters as well. You could say that they're like fish from the perspective of the witches. anyways, I'll put s mental pin to this line and perhaps rethink it later.

glad to see she's included in the credits now.

Anyways what's with this aquarium date?? When is it happening? Basically George and Shannon are on a date, and are just having fun, being very cute.

can't really figure out if this line should mean more or not. Cause like it's not that weird, but also it could turn into something more sinister later. I'll see.

And they say romance is dead.

Oh also another thing we (me and my sis) noticed yesterday while watching the play, but George is 23 and Shannon is 16.... raises one eyebrow. Ok george...ok...

....what magic? Hey shannon i think George will understand it very well why not explain it to us?

OOooohhh so this happens before the first game time wise. ok ok makes sense.

woah woah woah this is a bit of a change of atmosphere.

so from how much i'm getting this is Shannon talking about breaking free from her fate as 'furniture'. She is on the shrine's rock (the one that was destroyed at the beginning of ch 1) and wants to break some mirror that was offered as a sacrifice. I wonder, does that mean that because she broke this mirror, the shrine broke down and as such somehow started this entire tragedy?

is the key here metaphorical, or could it be referring to the key in the ephitath?

what promise? what wish? so many questions....question arc moment....

We then have a long scene of George and his family visiting the main house, and Shannon realising her crush on him, and some discussions between the George Jessica and her. These 2 are very cute, unfortunately it seems that Eva wants to marry George with someone who would benefit them financially/bussiness wise.

and as such it leads me to the question. Did she marry like this? Was her marriage with Hideyoshi like this oooorrr....

(before this she says that she loves her husband a lot), ah i see. I mean it's not like this doesn't happen nowadays too, except instead of getting married and then falling in love it's more like getting together and then falling in love. Which is fine, but idk if in this world this is ideal, as i doubt divorce is that accepted lol. And also ofc cause we know George loves Sayo.

anyways Eva continues talking and then takes George away and then tells the girls they'll also find men they love but then leans in and whispers something so vile and malicious in Shannon's ear, that my computer crashed and i had to restart the game lmao.

after a lot of ctrl-ing this is what she says. Bad but i think my computer overexaggerated.

So Shannon feels like shit and is caught with her head in the clouds by Natsuhi who punishes her to clean the entire reception.

mayhaps i shouldn't have wondered so far lmao. (for context i was curious if Lanon was an actual character or was just gonna remain a name and then i kept seeing yasu and here i am lol)

this is what detroit become human and what i also assume nier automata (idk i only played the prologue) wished they could be.

huuuuuh??? So again this brings me back to my question, does magic actually exist? i think so. But maybe Shannon is imagining this and all those flashy bunny rabbits I see online are Kinzo's personal strippers, idk.

Holly shit guys, look! it's the witch!!

Also is this story very related to love? I didn't expect that, interesting. Maybe it's just this chapter or a sub-genre but idk ill see. Also she already has the ring on.

hmm is it really that simple? You know how they say, don't make a deal with the devil, this is how this feels.

Huh i can't believe all my questions have been answered. So this is why she broke the mirror, this is the wish and also the promise and also the magic. Makes sense.

Also wait i just had a thought. Does Shannon break the mirror each loop, or did by any chance Kanon break it last time. Because you remember he said before he died that she should wait "another 100 years in hell for the next summoner" and assuming this summons the witch...

*shakes* who is it????

hmmm this sounds...suspiciously similar to Eva. Is she saying this because she wants to intimidate her and convince her to break the mirror or is Eva somehow behind this?

and this is just the exact quote. Why is she quoting her? Just to remind her? And if she doesn't just wanna remind her and she just thinks this then why call Kinzo Father? Is she related to him? Me and my sis have talked about the possibility of her being somehow related to Kinzo, like a daughter thingy. I'm not sure, and i definitely don't have enough clues to figure it out rn but anyways. Kinda hard to fake all of this tbh.

Immediatly after this line Kanon comes in to save Shannon, and after some more talking Beatrice gives both of them a butterfly shaped burn/bruise mark on their left palms. She does that by controlling their hands, which immediately remembered me of the ending scene in the stageplay, where Shannon and Kanon "shoot" each other with their hands in the shape of a pistol. who knows. I obviously dont.

these things are getting longer and longer...

next part

[muckmagister]

can you explain your tierlist please. i'm genuinely curious

i don't knowwww it's mostly vibes based tbh

i wasn't really ranking them according to who i thought was "A tier" or "C tier" i just ranked them in reference to each other

i did replay the game after making the list just in case and it's like. first of all, the music still slaps i'd forgotten about that, but also it's so short there really isn't actually much characterisation unfortunately

and that's the main issue i have with any of the girls lower than an A tier, they just aren't as interesting to me as the rest. except beel. i never liked beel all that much. didn't really gel with her design from the start idk. cerberus is down there too cause honestly i don't have much to say about her, all the girls have their own gimmicks of sorts to help them stand out and for cerberus her's is being a hyperactive dog girl who controls three bodies with one mind, which is cool! but it's not much of a personality trait, so she ends up being one of the plainer ones imo, even if she's wonderful

anyway starting from the top, justice being there was inevitable, of course she is. but lucy's always been my fav though, she has one of my favourite designs, she's used to getting everything she wants but also she never gets a damn thing she wants, she's sadistic in a much more subtle way than pandemonica that i enjoy a lot more. in the context of the game i think she and the helltaker suit each other the best, they both love pancakes and they're both constantly stuck cleaning up after everyone else's bullshit, i mean they have matching "satan" aprons in the epilogue for chri- hm. and in examtaker when she says subject 67 reminds her of a man she knew long ago. ough, she clearly cares about him toooooo it's very sweet. tbh it definitely helps that i can chuck everything i already know about lucifer into her character and make it infinitely more complex than it would have been, which is great, i love a sympathetic lucifer. she's cute and sweet and evil and blatantly toying with you, hell yeah

i almost put judgement at the top too, but i ended up keeping that to just my fav. and justice. anyway i'd be hard-pressed not to say this was my favourite design, i mean her whole part of the game was awesome. she clearly doesn't get many compliments which is a shame, when you do compliment her i just think it's really cute:3 oh and those chains. whew. i mean what. uhh, the substance abuse sisters! they have a fantastic dynamic together, in that they have an awful dynamic but it's very entertaining. malina is great, someone to play videogames and ttrpgs with ofc. and zdrada is hilarious, the bitchy demon just waiting for someone to tell her off~ fjdkjdks then she's on her best behaviour when pandemonica's around lmao. also that comic where she wears glasses and gets so flustered over being called adorable the ensuing conflict lasted days. which is adorable

now azazel and loremaster are just fun characters, i enjoy that she exists but idk, she's also just a little bit.. one note, to me. but i guess you can say that about any of them. nevertheless i can't ignore her narrative contributions, but if she didn't have that loremaster future side of her she'd probably be down with cerberus. however for modeus i'm reconsidering her tier, like if i put judgement up a tier i'd put modeus up a tier too y'know? she has what's probably my third favourite design, the sweater is a fun departure from the more standard dress-ware most of the others are in, and all the hearts floating around her head are cool too ^^ personality wise the choice for her to not know about romance and end up thinking it's the kinkiest thing ever is inspired, and the comics she's in are all great

>tfw you're reminded porn doesn't happen irl

if it weren't for the comics fleshing her out a bit more though i'd definitely leave her where she is

pandemonica is a bit of a shame to me cause having those two personalities feels like it should be fun and interesting, but both personalities end up feeling kinda void of actual personality. she spends most of the game in sleepy mode which means she's just tired, doing her job, which'd mute anyone's personality tbf. like it makes sense how as the custodian of hell as well as the first demon you meet that she just kinda lets you know what's up and tries to keep things in order, but that doesn't make it feel any less plain. when you do get her coffee though her sadistic mode is just so intense it feels like there's still nothing else there. with lucy there was that manipulation and playfulness but here it's just *threatens harm*, it's like instead of two personalities she's just got two personality traits, and you only get 1 at a time. in the comics there's more of her sadistic mode but it still doesn't add much, like there's that bit with zdrada which is funny but it's way more of a zdrada moment, for pandemonica it's just threatening someone the same way she always does. i know she has that third nice and sweet personality when she gets proper good coffee, which is funny and adds some needed depth to her character but we only hear about that once and never actually see it, i get why though, a secret niceys personality for her is funny to imagine but actually showing it off betrays the purpose of her character

oki so that's about it i thinks, hopefully you can kinda tell why i clumped them together in their tiers the way i did, i don't know why i wrote so much i hadn't thought about these characters in like over a year at least before you asked :||

[imunbreakabledude]

tierlist for my own fic titles

as i was musing in tags on my last post it made me wanna do this just for fun. including EVERY fic i have posted to ao3 (and maybe some that I've taken down? lol) ... tier list for purely how I feel about the TITLES, not the actual stories.

S Tier - Kickass titles, snappy + meaningful

Thirst (Villaneve)

Stakes (Villaneve) (part 2 of Thirst - and fun fact, when I came up with the idea of calling a second installment 'Stakes' was when i truly committed to making it a series. the power of titlejoy!)

Show, Don't Tell (maevelena)

Means, Motive, Opportunity & Malum In Se (Villaneve HP AU murder mystery. First one is still unironically one of the best things I've written, story structure-wise, and it is kind of a bummer that it's an HP AU. Second one I had grand ambitions for AND a good title but it bothers me to this day that I didn't finish it due to my love for KE dying out.)

A Tier - Very good, flow nicely, relevant meaning

Savior Complex (Maevelena)

Higher Powers (Maeveannie)

WWMD (maevelena, maeveannie, elenannie... maevelenannie??)

Ghostwritten (Maeveannie)

Gag With It (Villaneve)

From Russia, With Love (Villaneve)

Out of Order (Villaneve)

The Heat of the Moment (Villaneve)

There's Got to Be a Reason (Gemillaneve)

#Queenlight (Maeveannie)

She Seduced Me (Killing Eve - Anna/Oksana backstory fic. sometimes i forget I wrote this one! but I'm honestly very proud of it)

Imagine Me & You (And Our Parents)* (Villaneve) (This one comes with an asterisk because I DID NOT COME UP WITH THIS TITLE! it's an excellent title, but I borrowed it from a joke post by another person in the fandom.)

B Tier - They don't scratch my brain good, but they don't irritate me either.

After (Pattison)

Rescue Mission (Maeveannie)

The Math of Love Triangles (Killing Eve - the origin of Gemillaneve!!!)

The Club (Villaneve)

Anytime, Anyplace (Killing eve, Kenny/Hugo fixit fic! fun fact - my least popular KE fic!)

Second Opinion (Villaneve)

Eternity (Villaneve - Thirstverse - undeniably the weakest of the series, title-wise)

Healthy Competition (Rebecca/Nathaniel, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend)

Marking Time (Villaneve)

What We Deserve (Villaneve)

Never Let Go (Villaneve)

Experimenting With Success (Maeve/Butcher)

Baby Blue (Maeve & Homelander)

C Tier - I'm unhappy with these titles but can live with them.

Good to be Bad (Eleanor/Bad Janet, the Good place. fun fact: this was the first smut fic I ever wrote!)

Freakiest Friday (Gemillaneve)

Conscience (my first ever Queen Maeve fic!)

In Her Skin (Eve/Gemma)

Eye of the Storm (Maevelena)

Control (Villaneve - Thirstverse)

Uninvited (Villaneve)

Two in a Million (Villaneve)

You'd Be So Nice to Come Home to (Villaneve) (this one and the one above technically bug me because they are valid CHAPTER TITLES but not good FIC TITLES - because they are both bonus chapters for IMAY(AOP).)

After (revisited) (Pattison - i mean i literally wrote this in like 30 minutes when i was in my feelings about the kcfh finale so it's no shocker it doesn't have its own title)

The Many Deaths of Margaret Shaw (those who follow me may notice i almost always abbreviate or call it 'maevefic' 'longfic' 'my spinoff fic' - it's not for brevity, it's because i hate this fucking title but I couldn't come up with a better one despite having awesome ideas for the fic and I needed to start posting it so...!)

When God Made Eve (villaneve)

F Tier - what was I thinking? did I even try?

It's So Easy to Leave Me (Maevelena - it's a line from 'Memory' from Cats but it's a niche reference and doesn't flow too well; in my head I call this fic "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Maeve" and probably SHOULD have made that the actual title, even though it's goofy it flows better AND is more indicative of what the story entails.)

The Shocks that Flesh is Heir To (Maeveannie spookyfic, very cool fic I'm proud of but yeah the random Hamlet quote was... not my best choice. it was my compromise when I decided calling it "To be or not to be" was way fucking stupider)

Aiutami (my first ever Villaneve fic, I was still figuring it out - and boy is that title weak by every metric)

[gamerbot-22]

Buckle Up, Shit's About to Get Weird Again--

Only five ficlets for this week's postmortem! On account of me taking Monday and Tuesday off (and what a vacation that was. It was really nice getting to just chill for a little while, although I'm really happy to be back properly!)

Last week’s postmortem is here, and the tierlist is here!

Things Have Moved, and I Have An Admission - So I shifted some stuff around from last week, as is customary at this point, and I the longer this goes on the more I am. Certain that I will do a Grand Re-Ranking maybe a week after I finish all the characters I have lined up or at most, right before I start the Post 3.0/Amphoreus leg of this race. I think my grading criteria has been a bit too nebulous and has only gotten more so as I continue (originally it was subjective quality, then it was how much I wanted to go back and read it, now it's kind of just Vibes), but that's not a huge deal, considering that this is all for fun and the ranking is more an excuse for me to do some self-critique and share some of my writing process with the people who wanna read that--

Dazzling Ninja and Silvergun Shura in: Crash Bang Boom! Flashy New Hairstyle!, A Tier - I think this one was really fun and a nice snapshot of Rappa and Boothill's dynamic but I think my slight bias towards Boots and the relative newness of Rappa's character to me combined to make her take something of a backseat in her own fic. It was something I definitely noticed by the time I finished writing it, but I was cutting it pretty close to the wire/I was getting a little tired so I figured I'd leave it as is because Rappa does absolutely get the punchline of this entire scenario. I don't know how well it read, but I really wanted the first half of the ficlet to read as like. Old Dragon Ball/Shonen Anime narration (probably read in Rappa's voice inside her head) until there was that break of Momentary But Absolutely Real Danger when Rappa got shot at. Also wow, I really just. Breezed over the fact that Boothill shot a guy and killed him, didn't I? Kinda feels like this bit from Avatar--

Teaching a Good Dog New Tricks, S Tier - Pfft. This one was really silly. I typed up the title first--I usually do this as a point of reference for the fic's tone, and then change it if needed as I write--and just kind of ran with it from there. This is definitely one of those ficlets that got me in the ever elusive "Groove" really fast, and I absolutely attribute it both to the way I wrote Sampo and Gepard's dynamic and the fact that, as mentioned in Feixiao's Ficlet's A/N, I love taking capable characters out of their comfort zones. Gepard is canonically a tank, so it felt only right that he's not all that graceful, especially on the ice (which like. Same. I have tried ice skating multiple times and biffed it every single time.) Honestly the one thing I think holding this ficlet back/something that I'd change is I would want the scene to go longer. Like actually have Sampo teach Gepard how to skate with no strings attached (outside of forcing the stuffy captain into some quality time that isn't just grilling him down at the station.) Thankfully, sequels exist <3

False Start, S Tier - This one was. A nightmare to sort out. But once I had the idea figured I got it going really well. My probably ADHD was kicking my ass in regards to actually getting this done but again, fucking. Nailed it in terms of honoring Qingque's character. The cameo thing was born of wanting to make her delays feel actually fun instead of annoying (from the reader's perspective at least) and the guessing game that came with it was. Fully just me having fun. In hindsight, I absolutely should have had Bailu in the scene, and honestly she would have been easy to write in, but alas, my 11:00PM brain was not cooperating lol.

Not related to the fic, but I'm really happy that the running gag of Boothill lying about being other PCs made it into the actual guessing game that was so fun to riff off of.

The Importance of Proper Form, A Tier - Down in A Tier instead of S Tier because I think I wrote Feixiao a bit too out of character, even if I said I was intending for the piece to be pre-canon. Wiggle room aside, I don't think I did enough in the story itself to express how annoyed/embarrassed I wanted her to be for missing shots. That being said, Jiaoqiu and Moze felt pretty solid for me. I love the idea of the brain cell kind of just. Bouncing between the three of them when they're not in an Active Crisis and they all have to lock the fuck in. Again, I would also like to think my friend, Val, who teaches archery IRL for giving me a laundry list of beginner archery mistakes to slap onto Feixiao, it was a 10/10 infodump <3

Laid Up, S Tier - Lukaaa my beloved. I have a friend who doesn't play HSR but has been following my updates make a joke about how I might be "holding up parts of the fandom single-handedly" and while I have definitely felt it in the response to a couple fics (mainly someone getting really excited about Yunli content after her release,) I think Luka, by virtue of being a relatively early release and despite him being the MC of the actual Wardance Event, could benefit from some bolstering. I love him, he's fun, I am absolutely getting something signed by his VA when he comes to a local con in the Summer and... yeah. It was fun writing him being a bit of a pain for Natasha with his self-sacrificial/dedicated instinct.

What's Up Next? - I have some more travel plans coming up and in the spirit of being a Good House Guest, there will be a pause in ficlets again, starting from This Friday (March 14) to the following Tuesday (March 18.) I'll do another mini postmortem on the after I finish the next 4 ficlets, and when I'm back, another mini postmortem on the following Sunday! It's weird but once it's done it'll all make sense, lol--

[fishboneart]

Fishbone #007

The P stands for Pre-trained

This almost turned into another 30-50 feral layers situation. I isolated so many fucked up bees and then ended up not using them because I had a whole xkcd average familiarity moment. I spent hours trying to find bees that would look fucked up at a glance to someone with no special entomological knowledge but still read as bees. My threshold for what reads as a bee may be too high.

Then I realised bees weren't all that thematically suitable for what I was doing here anyway, so it was all for the best and I'll use the bees for something else. 6 layers, 6 source images. It's about GPTs.

A GPT is a specific type of Large Language Model (LLM) and I'm only talking about GPTs here, not other types of machine learning models. If it's not a GPT, anything and/or everything I'm about to say may or may not apply.

GPT stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer--again, and I cannot stress this enough, a specific type of model. It's such a specific term that OpenAI wants to trademark it (but probably not specific enough for them to actually be allowed to). The Pre-trained part matters, it means the training is completed before you use it. It's not dynamic, it's not learning on the fly, it's not live-learning from being used, it's not learning from searches.

When you end a session with a GPT, the contents of the session cease to exist for the GPT. It doesn't remember what you said last time, it hasn't learned from your conversation. You didn't even have a conversion. When a GPT starts a sentence it doesn't know what's at the end of it, and when it reaches the end it doesn't know what's at the beginning, it doesn't form a concept or recall information and express it, it simply predicts the next word over and over very quickly. If you feel like the responses it returns are getting better over time, it's actually because you're unconsciously getting better at prompting.

It doesn't think or know or understand or remember, it just emits words, entirely without meaning.

This is why you shouldn't use it as a search engine or a teaching tool or to write essays or papers. It doesn't contain information, it just contains a bunch of complex statistics about language patterns. If you train a language model on 100 sentences containing the word boyfriend and 30 of them mention werewolf boyfriends, it doesn't know anything about boyfriends or werewolves or werewolf boyfriends, it just knows that the word boyfriend comes after the word werewolf 30% of the time. It's not retrieving information and describing it for you, it's not answering your query, it's literally just autosuggesting hard and fast.

Even if you used a GPT version with a websearch function, if you didn't specifically instruct it to perform a search, it didn't. And if it did, it used Bing, which is still winning the race to the bottom of the search engine tierlist.

It's why if you upload a body of writing (eg. a fic or your homework) to chatGPT and ask it to finish it, you didn't actually train it on that writing. You prompted it with the writing--and maybe only with the last bit. The main reason not to do it is not because chatGPT will now "contain" that writing, it's because whatever it returns will be really shit. It can't do setup and payoff, it can't do themes, it can't do characterisation, it can't do foreshadowing or twist endings or callbacks, it can't synthesise concepts or draw inferences, because all of those things require comprehension of what the text means. It can't do comprehension. And the longer the text output, the worse it gets, because without comprehension it can't do continuity or context.

It's also why you shouldn't use chatGPT for grading or checking for plagiarism or checking for ai writing. It doesn't actually assess the material, you're just prompting it, and it will return the response you prompt for.

And it's also why GPTs should never under any circumstances be used to make decisions about anything.

But hey, if you're scared of being replaced by spicy autosuggest, developing reading comprehension is a great way to outperform it.

[dental-service]

Hey! I've been playing TFT for many years, and while I'm not a pro, I think I can give you some tips.

The first thing you need to do is make sure that your team composition (or 'comp') is good. The TFT client (both desktop and mobile) has a "Team Planner" menu (icon looks like a penguin) - you should visit it before your next game. Play around, create a comp, and run those units in your next game. If you save a comp in there, the units will even be highlighted in the shop in-game, so you don't miss them.

The standard way (but not the only way) of creating a comp is as follows:

Pick a ranged unit that will be your main damage source (a 'carry'). Not every unit can be a carry, but most can. As a rule of thumb, if the unit's ability does not contain utility (healing/shielding/empowering allies), they are a viable carry. When starting out, I recommend picking from 3-cost units for your carries, but in general, a carry can be any cost.

Fill your comp with units that share a trait with your carry. For example, let's say you picked Kog'Maw as the carry. His traits are Sniper/Automata. So put all the Sniper and Automata units in your comp.

Pick a unit to be your main tank out of the units you currently have in your comp. A good tank is melee and has an ability that mitigates enemy damage (such as healing/shielding themselves or gaining armor or damage reduction). Also, this tank should ideally have the same cost as your carry, but off-by-one cost is also fine. In our example, I would choose Blitzcrank.

Remove units if they are useless in terms of hitting a trait breakpoint. For example, if you added all Sniper and Automata units to your comp, you would have 5 Snipers and 5 Automata. The breakpoints for both these traits are 2/4/6 units, so we should remove 1 Sniper and 1 Automata unit, as they don't do much for the traits. In this case, I would remove Zeri and Nocturne, but there are other options. Also, you can still run the "removed" units until you get the more expensive ones - for example, you can run Zeri and Nocturne if you don't yet have Caitlyn and Malzahar.

Round out your comp until it has 8 or 9 units. There is a lot of leeway for choosing these final units - you can choose someone that shares a trait with your main tank, or an Emissary unit that suits your comp well, or just a unit with strong supportive abilities.

Decide at which level you are going to re-roll the shop to look for your units. This depends on the cost of your carry, as the chances of each cost change based on your level. You can see the exact chances in-game above the level-up button, but in general, if your carry is 1-cost, you want to roll at or before Level 5, if 2-cost - Level 6, if 3-cost - Level 7, 4 or 5-cost - Levels 8-9. In our example, Kog-Maw is 3-cost, so we'll roll at level 7. DO NOT SPEND MONEY ON RE-ROLLING BEFORE YOU REACH THIS LEVEL! Instead, spend it on levelling up. This is also why we want our tank to have a similar cost - when rolling, we'll want to get both the tank and the carry.

Once you're in the game, buy the units that are in your comp, put your tank in the front row center (and other melee units to their sides), put your carry in a back row corner (and other ranged units around your carry), and prioritize getting 3 completed items that fit them on your carry and tank. Level up until you're at your re-roll level, then re-roll until you get your carry to 3 stars (unless your carry is 4 cost or higher, in which case go for 2 stars). Once you get that, level up, put more units in, and wait for victory.

If this sounds like too much, or if you REALLY want to win, here's a website that has a tierlist of comps, together with suggested items for tanks and carries and augment strategies: TFT Meta Team Comps - The Best Comps & Builds in Set 13. I personally use websites like this every game, but not everyone likes to play this game like they're a side character in the Lego movie.

A few more (Very important!) notes:

Gold interest. You gain more gold based on the gold you have. For each 10 gold you have, you gain 1 gold per round, up to max of 5 extra gold if you have 50 gold in the bank. In every game, you'll want to hold off from re-rolling or levelling up until you've reached 50 gold. This is CRITICALLY IMPORTANT - Do not reroll or buy XP if you have less than 50 gold. The only exceptions is levelling up to level 4 and 5 - You want to level up to 4 on round 2-1 (right after minions), and to level 5 on round 2-5 (right after first carousel). Besides those times, DO NOT ROLL OR LEVEL UNLESS YOU WILL STAY ABOVE 50 GOLD!.

Items and Augments. Choosing a comp before you get in the game also means you know in advance what items and augments are good for you. Target the components that make up the items you want in the carousel, and pick augments that seem like they fit your team comp. For example, Kog'Maw LOOOVES attack speed, so you'll probably go for bows in the first few carousels, and augments such as 'Pumping Up' and 'Clockwork Accelerator' would suit him. If you're not sure what items to equip, you can use the website above to check what the "perfect items" for your units are.

Anomaly. Send your carry in, reroll until you get a power that looks good on them. See what stats they use in their ability - with Kog'Maw here, anything that mentions attack speed or Ability Power will work well.

Emblems. If you get an emblem that matches one of your carry's traits, don't be afraid to kick some unit to hit a higher breakpoint for that trait, even if you have to compromise your carry's other trait.

Don't be afraid to experiment or take risks! Augments like "Call to Chaos" may look intimidating, but they may bring you the extra oomph to go from getting 2nd places to winning.

This is all very simplified, and experienced players will probably spot a bunch of problems, but this should definitely be enough for you to get your first win (or first 10 wins). If you have any questions, hit me up, i'd be happy to elaborate.

Hii can anyone tell me how to win at tft? Literally I've come in second twice ever and I've played this game for like 2 months I SO ANNOYED. I've tried everything I can think of. I've tried just sticking with the characters I get at the beginning, but then I can't level them up past the second star. I've tried just picking characters because I like them, I've tried picking the ones I see the most often in the shop. I watch the type of fighter they are so I can get as many of that type and NOTHING WORKS. I will get to the top 5 most times, but the most annoying thing is when I actually get to the top 2 and i win one fight by a landslide. Then the next fight somehow the guy I just beat pulls up and absolutely smokes me. Stomps on me. My teams dead in like 6 seconds of combat. What am I even doing wrong? The tutorial made no sense when I played it. Idk what I'm doing lol. Also vow never played league so idk if that has anything to do with it but ya if anyone has advice please clue me in

[snail-scholar]

izumi could fix me. he would try and he would succeed like the first-class badass he is. he would snap his fingers, give me a stern look and my life would be back on track.

[mowu-moment]

i feel controversial & i care too much, so here's my des rocs complete tierlist

ranked list & reasoning (ish) under the cut

1. WAYNE: hoholy shit wayne. can hardly put into words how explosive this one is to me. the intro sets a Whole Mood before swiftly (& cleanly) smacking it down into an Absolute Banger and i don't use the term lightly. very hard not to scream along with it. only detriment is that wayne the person is kinda an ass in the mmc video but that's no qualm

2. POS: basically the same thing as wayne (oh both have great lyrics btw, this one more so), only gets points knocked for being 2 minutes long and having 30 seconds of that being intro & outro. go danny give us nothing

3. WHY WHY WHY: there's a theme among my top picks--they're all hard-hitting w/ killer guitar. the lyrics are absolute batshit in a good way, but the chorus is a lil flat & i feel like in general it just needed a touch more spice to score the top spot. or maybe it's just seniority & it'll have a coup a few months out idk

4. DEAD RINGER: similar killer guitar & lyrics but this one is Groovy as Hell. don't particularly like his singing in this one & it's too repetitive if i'm feeling grumpy but there's something so magic about after the bridge. top 10 songs to twirl a flag to

5. NOTHING PERSONAL: the minute long outro irks me & it's a little bit empty but plays into that well. groovy, great lyrics, the Sexiest Guitar Solo of the lot, the screaming's a minus but it does have an emotion there. not entirely sure what one but it's there.

6. LET ME LIVE / LET ME DIE: his first time being all over the goddamn place, history was made. amazing guitar, a little worse lyrics than 1-4 i'll admit, the intro Slays me both in a good and bad way. must be a joy to play live where he can just drag out that intro & bridge as long as feels right. at least i liked it in the digital concert like that. would actually kill me in a physical concert, imagine how much stomping gets going to that beat. bonus points for presumable cowbell

7. PIECES: for once not this high for the guitar & lyrics, they're both kinda basic. idk what's about this one but it just takes me to a separate dimension & i love it so much for that. really fills those earholes. also a bit of personal meaning, heard it for the first time on the day we moved into the house i'm currently split-custody-living in (is that tmi?) & the first music video of his i saw. man i love some spaghetti on the wall

8. SLO: basically the same as dead ringer, but knocked points for a kinda lame outro & the subject matter being a little less interesting to me. still lovely.

9. HANGING BY A THREAD: not my normal fare really & the way that the ends of the verses don't really fit in the pacing of them is bleh, but it's just so reminiscent of the songs my brother puts on whenever we hang out together that it just makes me all warm & fuzzy. it's also nicely put together which is something i'll have to start saying for. the later list.

10. SUICIDE ROMANTICS: this is where i start griping about head voice & higher pitches in general. don't like em so the pre-chorus is a lil annoying. also not my normal fare but it's tender & the ending is awe-striking. imo better live where he's loud on that last line before the final chorus. not enough to bump it up though. shoutouts to love and a smoking gun, i still am dying to hear that one

11. THE PAST HAS PASSED AWAY: my favorite lyrics out of the first 2 ep's. only thing wrong with it really is the bridge getting kinda repetitive. love that last chorus heehoo. same schpeel as the Banger Category

12. MMC: this one's lower than the rest of the Bangers for being pop punk which is something the radio has made me dislike, i guess. that trope with the guitar in the second half of the chorus just kills me so much. improves greatly during & after the bridge, love that lil ragtime piano. generally the same bit as before but i do love him doing something un-romance-related. yeah fuck the establishment!

13. THE DEVIL INSIDE: reminds me A Lot of the electronic-ish cassettes i've got from the early 90's but that's just me. this one will probably move up as i get more used to it, but only a little bit. the first part of the second verse makes me like. genuinely uncomfy? but the second part of it's fantastic. ending's ass though what happened to the instrumence. bonus points for using 'reverie' that's an SAT word (maybe). good singing but returning to the gripe at higher pitches, just a little bit though

14. THIS IS OUR LIFE: feels shockingly generic for a des rocs song tbh but there's nothing really wrong with that. adore the bridge. singing's alright. kinda miffed that he doesn't pronounce the 'f' in the second 'life' in the chorus, but it makes sense here. that sort of thing won't later so i'm bringing it up now. guitar's nothing spectacular but fits nicely into the song, probably one of the most cohesive of his (especially in recent history).

15. OUTTA MY MIND: really lives in the same space as slo and dead ringer do in my head (most likely the 'songs to twirl a flag to' zone), but this is by far the worst of the three for when i'm grumpy. just. Very repetitive. back to great lyrics here but it's kinda hard to pick them out (i've heard the song at least 100 times by now & i'm still missing a few lines). still groovin'

16. RUBY WITH THE SHARPEST LIES: what the fuck actually goes on in this song by the way? not the premise or whatever it's just. so all over the place. the verses are incredible but bringing in another vocalist just for one line kills me. bridge is really cool but that one part i don't remember where it is, the one that alternates basically nothing & an Electronic Piano Chord blaring at ya? ruins it. partially anyhow. also can someone tell the people on genius that it's 'carved it in my skin' not 'crawled down in my skin'

17. GIVE ME THE NIGHT: same repetitive issue as outta my mind but it's not groovy enough to save it, shame. feels like a trial run of all the wackshit stuff he's been doing recently, with the additional vocal bits at the end & the kinda weird lyrics. it still has a place in my heart don't get me wrong but it's just fallen in favor of stuff that Commits to banger or batshit (or actually pulls off both strongly, yyy). oh yeah nice guitar alright singing etc etc

18. USED TO THE DARKNESS: similar story to give me the night. i love it i do, but it's just lackluster nowadays. also remember that under-pronunciation thing i brought up in this is our life? this is where that comes back. rampant i tell you! that second verse he just doesn't finish the words & i hate it!

19. DON'T HURT ME: i honestly don't know why this one isn't in D. the chorus bit where he just cuts it short is irksome. the lyrics aren't anything special. i don't know what i like about it. but i can tell it does exactly what it set out to do if that makes sense. respect, respect. and using missile in an analogy, he's getting creative with the vocab

20. LIVING PROOF: kinda got a vendetta against this one i think? i don't know why i hate this one but i do. it's just kinda, blah. like the perfect sort of thing to nightcore up. sentiment's lovely & i do love the lyrics even if they aren't impressive but like. it bores me to an extent

21. TICK (LIVE): separating the version i heard in the digital concert just to give it some credit, this one was actually kinda nice. another one with a nice sentiment & what he was going for is great. no clue what the second part of the second verse has to do with any of this though. and it also begins our final group, the songs that just feel empty. like there's not nearly enough going on. this one's alright though i was just hoping the studio version would add some flair. you can see where that one is though.

22. IMAGINARY FRIENDS: also got a vendetta against pop. kinda hate the sentiment here (contrast!), the chorus just falls short of what the verses prime me for, head voice is rampant, and yet i still swing along to it. it's infectious props to him. love the outro though, monkey laugh and all.

23. MAYBE, I: another empty one, like it's a four-note progression what is that. love his singing in it, and the chorus parts do round it out, but like. eh? it doesn't even give me much to say.

24. BORN TO LOSE: another flop on the chorus! too smooth i say! and i absolutely Despise the pitch-shifting thing going on. not something i was expecting him to express so points there, lyrics are nothing fancy to my Literary Mind though. initially good singing but the chorus he's just sloppy over it. the instrumental is lovely but the vocals just throw it so hard into the bin which is a right shame. fuck that outro too i hate that gimmick

25. I KNOW: here's where the bad batshit comes in. singing is some of his worst imo, does the other-vocalist thing for that bridge, genre i'm not fond of, just a soup of Stuff I Don't Like. not one i'd kill someone over putting as #1 like i can see where it comes from but. mmmmmhhhh bad. cover does NOT help his case.

26. HVY MTL DRMR: empirically i should put this one higher. but the chorus flops so goddamn hard it deserves to be in the bottom of the barrel. the verses are lovely for what he was doing back then! but then just... nothing!

27. RABBIT HOLE: i was so excited for this name but it's just sad boi hours playlist curated by some corporation you hate. probably the most nothing of them all, genuinely where are the instruments. what happened. was this one just shoehorned in as the final track just to pump numbers up. and i swear he had some autotune or something which only makes his voice worse it's fantastic naturally. also that's not what a rabbit hole is! that's not the idiom! a rabbit hole is when you go on a wikipedia spiral from jennifer lopez to group theory! not when you just have a shitty night's sleep or whatever this is! i'm not just miffed i'm downright annoyed

28. TICK (STUDIO): what the fuck happened des. how did you release this. it sounds like a 3rd grader singing for the school talent show it's so out of rhythm. singing's honestly kinda bad & the instrumental has the same problems i talked about in the live version. the last chorus is fine, i guess, but no i don't forgive him for what he did to tick.

[moiloru]

✨ Clannad Review! 🤖

Hello, and welcome to a new anime review! Today, we're talking about a classic of classics, the one and only Clannad!

Ah, Clannad... This anime was adapted from a visual novel in 2008, so it's almost fifteen years old now! It has two seasons of roughly twenty-three episodes each.

Clannad is a romance anime with some supernatural elements. It's not the most uncommon combo. However, this anime is known for something else: the drama. OMG. Prepare the tissues, everyone.

So, this anime actually gets off to a pretty bad start. The first half of Season One introduces the characters, but it's honestly pretty boring. I thought it was a pretty slow start that could honestly have been cut down one episode or two.

However, once the plot got going, it got going and it never turned back. There was that one episode in the second half of the first season that was great, and everything after that was pure excellence. Overall, Season One is good, although the best stuff comes after!

The second season of this anime is titled Clannad: After Story, and honestly, it's one of the best things I've watched this year. It packs a real punch, so don't underestimate it, but it's quite incredible. Every second of it is top-tier, and it makes every boring moment from S1 worth it.

There's not much wrong I can point out about this second season. It's not perfect, since nothing is, but it's on a level that not a lot of animes can reach. It's beautiful, and albeit not the absolute best thing I've ever watched, definitely unique.

Clannad, on top of having a wonderfully written plot, has a top-notch character cast. The two MCs are adorable and so loveable, and 90+% of the side cast is endearing and/or funny.

The character dynamics are superb, and so amazingly realistic. It feels real. In a way, it's so "normal" that it makes you relate to it a lot more. Whether it's romantic, platonic, or familial, Clannad has some of the best dynamics in anime, period.

I cannot forget to mention character development. Save maybe for a couple of anime, I don't think I've ever seen such great character development before. The growth is, again, very realistic, and relatable. You feel like you're growing with the characters.

Of course, it's starting to get old, so the animation is not great by today's standards. However, it still holds up, and it has a charming style! It's cute, and you grow fond of it with time!

Damn, the music in this anime is pretty damn good. I'm pretty confident it has my favorite track (that's not an OP) from any anime: Town, Flow of Time, People. It's absolutely beautiful, and definitely an OST you'll remember.

Now, I've read people say their view of the world had changed with Clannad, and I can see why. It puts things into perspective. It's an experience that should be lived at least once.

It's not the best anime ever made, it has some flaws, but damn it, Clannad is special. Please, please watch it.

Down below is the tierlist for the characters in this anime. Thank you for reading this review!