#is the problem that you had to contend with the idea that... maybe they don't WANT to be here and probably have little choice?

[uncanny-tranny]

I think I've cracked why it makes me so irate when customers have this expectation that workers not only offer service to them but to Do It With a Smile.

It's this sense of entitlement that it isn't enough to have a service offered to you, but that it must never remind you why workers might not be chipper.

What people mistake is that this country is built off freedom that makes us All Happy. What they miss is that this country was built on façades and platitudes - the comfort of being shielded from any uncomfortable reality.

[tapakah0]

Okay! I don't know where you got the idea from and my best guess is that your brain is connected to mine via bluetooth but.

Me and Hoddie have a royal au and your animation made me think of it again.

Nothing crazy special, but...ah...I should probably give a little context yeah...hmm.

Uh, okay. There's a kingdom. whose king and queen have died, leaving behind several possible heirs who are not their direct children. Right now, the king's first general is sitting on the throne, because the power of the army is, you know, a pretty powerful argument in a fight for the throne, right? This creepy regent is Cass. And Cass came to power thanks to Hoddie, who's basically the king's heir too, but she's pretty distant and her chances of the throne are quite slim. This has made her a professional rat and back stabber. The whole palace is busy weaving intrigue and destroying each other in a competition for power. Contests in cunning and sneakiness. A maximally intellectually uncomfortable environment in general.

Until Hoddie finds the true heiress. The king's blood daughter, to whom the throne should rightfully belong.

Problem? The problem is that the heiress needs to be two years older to be old enough to rule. And Hoddie and Cass' goal is to make sure she lives to that age in an environment where every other person wants to frame or kill her.

That heiress is you, Tap. But we couldn't think of what you'd look like in this au ahaha.

MHHMMM I SEE ONCE IN A WHILE BRAIN BLUETOOTH IS A GOOD THING you left me a window for my part and I grabbed this opportunity with sharp teeth Since there was no mention of my part, I have the audacity to add my own version. Did I understand correctly that my existence as an heiress was not known? It would be strange if the king was not looking for me, if I was the only heir (by blood), which means they were hoping for a new child, or already had plans for an indirect heir, or wanted to hide me. What other power is there, besides the king and the army, that holds the common people? Church. The king could have sent me to be trained as a priestess in order to gain support from them (either I was not considered worthy of receiving the throne in the future, which is why they preferred to hide me, or the king so badly needed their support that he was ready to sacrifice his only blood daughter) . Thus, from a young age, the beauty of a non-existent world somewhere beyond the heavens was drummed into my head and, in general, “God speaks all our actions.” I have an inconspicuous appearance, a position above a simple servant, but such priests are usually considered to be the daughters of high nobles, but not the king himself, which is why not everyone could know who I really was. Thus, they forgot about my existence ~ After the death of the king and all the heirs, the church quickly realized what to do next, and crushed me to itself, hiding me from the world until I reached the age of succession to the throne. (But children could take the throne under a regent. Could Hoodi become my regent as one of the older contenders for the throne?) So, back to the turmoil. Hoodie found me at church. Since childhood, my worldview could have changed greatly under the influence of the church, so, well, you will have to hammer a lot into my head, in addition to the throne’s education (You know... it's bit complicated to make a human sona not as a stupid little ball XDD... it literally can't get a shape at this point... maybe you will place a real bunny as the new king? It will be eating cabbage 24/7 and everyone will be happy)

[magpie-come-east]

What do you think of the Ever Brilliant Goldmask ending?

I’ll just come right out and say that I don’t understand why people view Goldmask’s ending as the better alternative to Ranni’s Age of Stars. If Ranni’s ending is bad because the removal of the Gods doesn’t fundamentally improve things for people, then Goldmask removing the ‘fickleness’ of the Gods from the Golden Order doesn’t either.

ON TOP OF THAT (I am feeling very vindicated, lol) Goldmask himself views Those Who Live in Death as being persecuted by the hunters of the Golden Order!

"The noble Goldmask lamented what had become of the hunters [of TWLID]... all the good and the great wanted, in their foolishness, was an absolute evil to contend with."

So if Ranni gets dinged Goodness Points for not solving Deathblight, so does Goldmask. Jokes aside, I do think Goldmask has/had good intentions. I think he did earnestly see the faults in the bigotry of the Golden Order. I believe he wanted to change it.

However, I am loath to say that his solution is a perfect one (ironically)

"The current imperfection of the Golden Order, or instability of ideology, can be blamed upon the fickleness of the gods no better than men. That is the fly in the ointment."

The Mending Rune of Perfect Order does not actually state that the new, perfect Golden Order would see the injustices of the present Order righted. It only seeks to excise the instability of the ideology. Meaning that the Order can change at all is the problem. Perfect Order becomes, then, an inflexible Order. Progress and change are necessary for bettering the world. Overcoming some prejudices does not mean all are eliminated forever! Marika's Order was inflexible to the Omen, but allowed room for the Ancient Dragons and their magic. Marika's Order was inflexible to the Giants, but incorporated Caria.

I don't personally buy into the idea that Perfect Order eliminates free will. But I do sense that it could permanently cast people to the fringes because it is necessarily unchanging. It will do away with the 'absolute evil' but ensuring no 'enemy' can arise at all! Perhaps everyone will be incorporated into the Order, but the systems of oppression and hierarchies will not be dismantled.

Sorry for the ramble! maybe I'm just yapping.

As far as an Elden Ring ending goes, it's not terrible. But I do not think the endings are written to have a one-size fits all solution to an entire world of problems.

[moonspirit]

Hi! I'm the same Anon who asked about the hypothetical situation of Annie NOT crystalising herself and the other possible set of events occurring. I read your thoughts and I honestly never even thought about another Kenny and Annie reunion and just.. talking, quite interesting! (Not to mention Pam's own idea that they wrote - I like it!) Including another mentioning a fic where Annie sees her Dad as a Titan during the second Colossal Titan attack and.. I may had a pretty devious idea. So, let's say Annie did in some way join the Scouts (or just is betraying the Warriors,) so during the mission to retake Shinganshina and there's the scene where Zeke & the mindless Titan's appear, what if one of those mindless creatures was her Dad? (This next part, I'm somewhat iffy since it really feels I mis-characterised her since I tend to mess up, so my apologies!) I'm not sure HOW it could play out then, maybe Annie in some desperate attempt to hold her Dad down so it's not mauled by Levi or Zeke. Though, one thing is clear, she sees the Colossal Titan going down and realises that in some selfish way.. she could bring her Dad back, it'll be a curse he'll bare too but at least she'll see him. And oh.. That's Armin. Completely charred, yet still breathing. With the Scouts debating whenever to save Erwin or Armin. This is all I have before I genuinely write more nonsense, I appreciate taking your time to answer my previous question. Please, have a lovely day! (AND I'M SO SORRY FOR HOW WORDY THIS IS)

Oohhhh hello again anon! I'm honestly so relieved you saw my answer because you sent me the ask on sept 19th and... I took nearly a month to answer - very sorry T^T But I enjoyed it so much and yes, the variety of thoughts on it have been incredibly interesting!

Some quick things first tho 1. you don't have to apologise for a long-ask, they are genuinely enjoyable xD 2. I don't think there's such a thing as mis-characterization especially when we talk about a completely new what-if scenario because there's soooooo many little things influencing a person's thoughts and actions and the resultant outcomes. So nope, there are only headcanons, they are all valid, and you don't need to worry about anything else :>

Now to your ask!

🙃

How dare you now bring THREE contenders for the serum with Annie in the mess? Erwin, I don't see her caring for, but now it's Armin vs. her Dad?

What in the gut-wrenching angst is this, holy shit anon 🥲

But no, genuinely I don't think Annie trying to protect her father from Levi's attacks is out of character for her. That is her DAD. She may have joined the Scouts as you say, but maybe that's because it's her best chance for survival. Betraying the warriors isn't Annie's concern, it's betraying her dad. At any cost, even by joining the scouts, she must return to him.

Only, she probably didn't expect to see him in Paradis, and as a titan no less.

Of course she's abandoning everything else (let's say she doesn't know of Armin's plan) and rushing to protect her father and get him out of the line of fire - perhaps by taking him down in her titan form and dragging him to safety, using her scream to summon other pure titans to whoever is attacking and using the time to do so.

(wait... now I suddenly have the mental picture of Annie and Zeke engaging in a screaming match 🥲)

Her sudden switch in priorities isn't likely to bode well with the others, especially when so much is happening and the Scouts find themselves in a dangerously cornered pinch.

Annie's very good at analyzing a situation and quickly making problem-solving decisions, given two options, she chooses the one in which she has a greater chance of survival (yet sometimes she also willingly walks in to dead ends thanks to her heart, but that's canon). Like leaving Marco on the roof vs saving him, but now..... now we have an extreme situation.

Say she thought immediately crosses her mind - of feeding her father the colossal once she learns it's been taken down. She may not have become attached to Bertholdt as much as she considered him a companion in their mission and someone from home, but he's still... a companion. A fellow warrior.

How do you feed such a person to your father?

And then of course:

That's Armin. Completely charred, yet still breathing.

How do you save your father at the cost of losing the one boy who makes your heart beat faster than the wind?

The one boy you swore you'd protect, as long as you wore the wings of freedom by his side.

The one boy who's looked you in the eyes and said I love you.

Nothing makes sense anymore.

[nightfall-1409]

like its ok to wish that hunter did more to get crosshair out but i will say PLEASE stop saying that rescuing the literal helpless child from the child murdering fascists was somehow wrong of Hunter.

also like. can we stop undermining the very clear and obvious way that crosshair liked the power that he was given in the empire, especially over others, he was radicalized. he convinced himself that the war crimes were justified in the name of power. that is a far bigger problem and something that is going to haunt him far longer and requires a lot more to undo and forgive (and some people will never and should never do that, and others can't bc they are Dead)

to say it was all the effects of the chips, at this point in the series, its just not true. the events of aftermath specifically are 100% the chip. Everything after that is up for debate. We don't know when it was taken out, but at some point it was, and crosshair's pov is that it doesn't matter when, bc he likes where he's at. Had he not been abandoned by the empire on Kamino for so long, I doubt he would have ever changed, had Cody not deserted after confronting him about what it was the clones were doing, I doubt he would have ever changed. Had he not been forced to see Mayday's struggle and fight to bring him home and still after everything they both gave after everything suffered mayday died not in battle but because someone couldn't be bothered to even try to help him, I don't think he would have changed. I don't think Hunter could talk him out of it, and maybe he didn't try hard enough, or really, at all. Crosshair's version of loyalty, though, is blind, unquestioning, a soldiers loyalty. Obeying what they were doing, things that Hunter couldn't obey, and would have made him a monster to do.

But I can't imagine the disgust I would be forced to contend with if like, my family member came forward like "oh yes we're built to be soldiers, that doesn't mean preserving or protecting innocents, It means power and killing those who get in my way. its my purpose in life and i think you're stupid for not getting over the moral objections" like what do you even say to that. Hunter at that point had SEEN what the empire was doing. They both had, their home planet, (and head canons aside, all clones did in fact, in canon, see it as their home.) orbitally bombarded to secure power. How do you talk someone out of that, if fundamentally what your disagreement is on the value of life. You don't. Hence Hunter's demands in S3E5 to know what changed. What finally made Crosshair realize what he believed, about power and his purpose, was wrong.

Crosshair didn't want out. Crosshair was upset they didn't stay. He saw their purpose as being with the Empire. They escaped and ran and deserted. If they weren't with him, in the Empire, then they should die, like the Jedi, and Crosshair did absolutely believe that.

So this is all to say that. they are not equally responsible for what happened to their squad. Crosshair didn't have a choice at first— but once he did keep running right over that line. And a lot of us hoped that he was lying about the chip, that he wasn't entirely responsible for all that he did. But he was. That's clear at this point.

Even the whole chip matter— it's prolly really hard for Hunter to separate it. logically, he knows it was partially the chip at this point. But at that point in the story he watched someone he was incredibly close to nearly kill them all and at the time he had no idea why. If Hunter'd not grabbed Omega by the leg and tripped her she would be shot dead. If omega hadn't surprised Crosshair by shooting his gun out of his hand he would have killed Hunter. He shot wrecker, to use him as bait against the rest of them? Like, again, we all knew about the chip, but I can understand the emotional toll of such a thing bc he DIDNT at the time. The betrayal in that moment? How do you let it go?

But thats all fine! its interesting its character development and its the story they were determined to tell. But like. we can be honest.

Now if someone thinks that im wrong i'd love to know what exactly hunter needs to be sorry about, and why he's equally responsible that doesn't like either downplay the war crimes and murder and doesn't throw Omega like directly into harms way and under the bus.

[thespineoftherighteous]

about the choking scene, it really is the damn kevin of it all that I hate about it😭but not because I like kevin as a character (I do, but that's not the point) but more because I personally hate the idea where its like you can only have the one person youre in a romantic relationship with important to you and evrything else comes second and fandoms push that a lot, though I expected something different from a fandom that probably has more ace/aro ppl than others, other types of relationships can be just as important and I think it would be nice for characters who have been lonely for so long to have a few people who are important to them 😭I think it's like you said where I don't like when other relationships get butchered for the romantic one, I don't think it was ooc, and even if it was, people do things in desperate situations that are ooc so that wouldn't be a problem, it's that a lot of readers make it this romantic thing or a thing where Andrews prioritised neil over kevin, or has picked neil over kevin and they do the same thing with aaron too, it's like can't andrew love and care about his brother and boyfriend and kevin at the same time😭does it have to be a competition? Love can't even be quantified so a competition would be stupid anyway

I just think I hate the way a lot of people talk about it and I wanted to discuss it with a person whose posts are more objective and that I like, like it's such a tricky scene to think about, it's like the wires get crossed in my head its a hard scene to contend with in general

omg yeah basically everything you've said here is how I feel about it. a lot of people say that Andrew's relationship with Neil is more significant and just means more than any of Andrew's other relationships because of how Neil you know. gets him I guess. but honestly even though I fully understand that his relationship with Neil is on a different level, I still hate the ditching of Kevin (AND AARON UGH I HATE HOW THE TWINS LITERALLY CHOSE THEIR S/O'S OVER EACH OTHER. it's completely understandable in context and it is way more in character than the opposite would've been but still. I hate it) and I think people also tend to like. baby Andrew when it comes to his relationship with Kevin like "well if Kevin treated him better and understood him better then mAYBE—"

but yeah the thing that makes me most uncomfortable about the choking bit is like you said how people try to make it romantic. which, to be honest, is I think how it's supposed to be taken like it's supposed to be showing Andrew's desperation and how far he's willing to go for Neil. I just. well. I despise that Kevin was the one that had to be used to demonstrate that. but the whole thing is that, because that's Kevin, it's the only way to show the magnitude of Andrew's frustration, like it wouldn't have been the same if he'd just trashed the hotel room in rage or something but I still hate that he overstepped their boundaries for it because me personally I'm thinking about Kevin when I read that scene, not Andrew and Neil.

that whole thing just uses how important Kevin is to Andrew to show how much more important Neil now is. so if you're mostly about the romance in these books, which I think a lot of fans are, then ofc you'll eat that up but personally the non romantic pairings always are more interesting and dearer to me so I think that's why it bothers me

[burningdarkfire]

nearly just hit the unfollow button instead of the ask button . N, R, & U?

awww thank you for the ask (and not unfollowing!) 💕

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice)

N really is my lucky letter because i've gotten it three times thus far so your theme is going to be really specific wants i have about my little guy caleb widogast:

moooore blumendrei; the wizards definitely do have a small and loyal fanbase that i am very happy to be a part of, and also this fanbase is always welcoming new blood 🤗 i think caleb as a character is haunted so much by his past, it's odd to me that so many of his fans don't contend much with it directly

caleb actually being a middle-aged man and everything that entails; i don't think the fandom is really that bad about randomly twink-ifying him or anything, but i do feel like we could often be a little more specific in describing his body, and also i feel like hardly anybody ever deals with what it must feel like to finally have a life again for the first time since you were 17 and now you're like 34. i mean happens to all of us but i do want to read more of it

shadowgast breakup taken seriously; this is very specific because i was spinning ideas for it today but i really do want to read a fic where caleb and essek break up on purpose and it is not actually a grand misunderstanding where if only they had clarified that they still love each other it would all be fixed!

R - Which friendship/platonic relationship is your favorite in fandom?

my hobby is staying up late blurring the already non-existent line between platonic/romantic/sexual relationships so i don't have a real answer for this! and tbh the more i think about it, the more i realize that there are very few "strictly platonic" relationships in critrole that compel me - it's often the mess that makes them attractive

outside critrole my default answer would probably be campal from the locked tomb series, but i would go on record saying that they're the ideal platonic relationship and i think they become very slightly more interesting if we assume there was a sexual component involved

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites

well we all know who number one is going to be

caleb widogast; you were not born with venom in your veins, you learned it!! you learned it!!!!! it's actually almost ridiculous to look back in time at the person i was four years ago before i knew that this fictional character was going to save me. i was a shitty teenager and i hurt a lot of people and i'm going to carry that with me forever! but also maybe there is still a life for me even after all of that! and also he has beautiful hair and unmatched hubris

iron man; i've been casually dipping back into the mcu so thinking about him again and unsurprisingly i'm also here for the unrelenting guilt and incalculable hubris (with bonus daddy issues!) but part of what i like about tony stark so much is that he takes all of his personal problems and makes it the whole world's problems. the whole universe's problems. and i just think that's fascinating

cersei lannister; every single hotd thought i've had this year has inched me ever so slightly closer to reading got again, because sometimes i'm reading fic about women in horrible situationships and thinking about how i could just be reading about cersei instead. like unfortunately tywin lannister's trueborn son and heir was born a girl and she proceeded to make that everybody else's problem as well, and in this way, we are sisters

(send me an alphabet fandom ask!)

[gwenllian-in-the-abbey]

What’s the most chaotic pairing in a song of ice and fire you can think of and why?

Okay this is a fun ask and I really had to think about it and ask myself, are they chaotic, or just two of the most terrible people I can think of, shoved together. Like, anything involving Euron Greyjoy is an obvious contender but the problem is, you pair him with practically anyone and either that person just ends up in some sort of sexual slavery salt-wife type situation or their more flexible morality makes them end up as the accessory to multiple heinous crimes. Although I do think Euron/Ramsay are each so terrible on their own that they're worthy of consideration for a chaotic evil type pairing. Ultimately, however, I decided to focus on the potential for mischief rather than the potential for awful. So if we're talking just original asoiaf, then maybe Margaery Tyrell/Asha Greyjoy. This is maybe not the most chaotic pairing I can come up with, but I do think they'd get up to a lot of hijinks together. Very high on the mischief scale. For instance, they could gaslight Cersei by moving her wineglasses when she wasn't looking and then telling her they've been in the same place all along. They could possibly convince Tommen to name a cat his lawful successor, really putting the whole "the king has the right to choose his own heir" thing to the test. And you might say well Margaery could do these things on her own but I think this is where Asha's experience as Theon's sister would come in handy. Her gentle bullying could really provoke Margaery into taking more risks than she might otherwise take. Maybe they could push Cersei out a window together and become Tommen's regents until it's time for the cat to inherit. And as a bonus, if Margaery needed to flee King's Landing after the murder, Asha has ships and may end up Balon's heir, so really there are several options open to them. While it might take Margaery awhile to adjust to life on the high seas, I have faith that she could do it. I checked and this ship actually has 30 fics on AO3 so while it is a niche pairing, others have clearly had the same idea. If we're transcending space and time, as a runner up I think in a world where Cersei Lannister and Daemon Targaryen don't succeed in murdering each other within the first six months of marriage they could possibly bring down entire continents through sheer mismanagement, which would be extremely funny to watch as an uninvolved bystander.

[erosathelstan]

WARNING: Spoilers for Act 3

I don't really have much BG3 friends irl and I have a lot of thoughts that I cannot put into proper writing yet so I'll just post it here:

As much as I love the idea of giving Astarion an item that allows him to walk in the sun (my durge also does that, bcs in my headcanon the "Sunwalker's Gift" is the perfect item to do just that) I just want to talk about one other thing that Astarion mentions about being a vampire that I don't see a lot of people posting about: the aspect of hunger.

In one of his conversations with a Dark Urge PC, he mentions being unable to speak and think clearly when he wasn't able to feed for a long time because the hunger deprives him of reason. During one of the post-Cazador dialogues, too (if you kill Cazador without him, regardless if you're DU or Tav) he talks about being condemned to an eternity of hunger without being able to make a choice about it. Freedom to choose and consent is a major theme in Astarion's story, and with Cazador gone, that hunger then becomes the primary contender for his ability to choose for himself, because that hunger can literally rob him of reason when left unchecked.

Yes, he's also a murder hobo and wouldn't even blink twice if he had to kill someone, especially if it's for the sake of keeping himself safe and well-fed. At the moment, considering that our Tav/Durge is also a willing Personal Juicebox™ for his twink ass, then the guy is pretty much food secure. However, I don't think that later on in their relationship, he'd be comfortable with continuing that arrangement with their partner - whether it's due to old age/sickness on Tav's part, or some sort of self-realization that we can all only headcanon about. Him hunting down criminals/vagrants/random strangers also inadvertently puts Tav and whatever home they've made in danger, as someone at some point will want to hunt the vampire that killed their friend/family/workmate/what-have-you. Idk maybe some mofo with a strong sense of justice will also eventually go after his ass because he's a total menace to society.

Fighting is not a problem, or at least at first. Tav can fight. Tav literally led the group into fucking up an Elder Brain ffs, so what's a couple of vampire hunters and/or vengeful band of misfits, amiryt? But again, it will be kinda tiring to have to always be on guard, because someone might just kill you and the love of your life because you fed on someone else's. Also, again, he can fight for as long as he needs to, but what about Tav? Esp if our Tavs are not from long-lived races.

Part of getting Astarion's life back has to not only include making him able to stand in the sun again, but also ridding him of that hunger. Vampiric hunger can be an all-consuming thing that could put both him and his lover in significant danger. Whether he as a character would want to address this is a matter of our personal interpretations as fans/writers/artists, but I personally want to see more of this aspect of his vampirism being explored in fan works.

Anyway, I have said too many words. Maybe I need to finally give in and go hunting in Ao3 for this type of content. But for now, I slep 🙃

[inventors-fair]

Double-Checked: Mistake Contest Winners!

Our winners this week are @helloijustreadyourpost, @hypexion, and @reaperfromtheabyss!

@helloijustreadyourpost — Boros Bomb Squad

I almost gave this card a 0/10, as I was talking about in the modhouse, because you missed the best possible flavor text: "One way or another, something's getting disarmed." C'mon, it was right there! I'm mostly yanking your chain, though, because while it might be a little pushed depending on the environment, I think this card is both a) situational enough so it's not a problem and b) very funny. As a common, there's not much that you need to do to have situational removal work, so this card as a Shatter-bear is probably comparable to other commons without too much issue.

Humorously, the mistake aspect of this card is pretty on the nose. The Boros grunts have no idea what they're doing, and goblins on Ravnica usually meet this sort of fate. Or at least, they do if they're the subjects of Izzet experiments. Reading up on the goblin varieties, it's funny in a sad way that these goblins have a sense of duty and self-preservation and yet are still being sent in to do dangerous technical work that's probably gonna get them blown up. I suppose that's what happens when you try to join the league of the demigod-angel-cop-ghosts, right? I know the trope has been done before, but that doesn't matter when it's done right. Mistakes are following these guys all the way up the chain of command.

@hypexion — Archive Overflow

You are playing with fire—or, well, knowledge, but knowledge that is also fire. This card in limited is a phenomenal way to refill your hand and get every land drop and advantage you need, and in any kind of storm-enabling combo for casual/commander play, hoooooly crap, this card is good. Beyond good. Obviously the discard will get you if you're not careful, but for one, this ability will resolve before card-draw spells so metering it will be a skill check, and for two, there are really fun madness decks that would absolutely love this card.

Maybe a zillion years ago this card would've been too powerful, but I think that there are dangerous games at stake here. Honestly drawing out in limited would be a genuine concern. But that's balance for you, and I'm a fan of what this card does. I especially like the Kamigawa callback to both the seven-card "Wisdom" throwback and the cheeky One with Nothing callback, intentional or unintentional as that might be. In the realm of big blue draw enchantments, this is one of the trickier ones to contend with, and you did a phenomenal job with a deceptively simple concept.

@reaperfromtheabyss — Collateral Seizer

This week had a few weird cards, but again, lots of trope-adjacent ones, and demonic contracts were surprisingly few and far between in terms of magical mistakes. Seems fitting that this one does it both well and really scarily. I think that if you're going into a limited game in black, you should have some kind of plan following this card, because otherwise... Well, maybe you'll have a 7/7 flier, sure, but what's happening on the other side? I think that the flavor of this card is solid enough for me to give its relatively normal base a pass, i.e. what it does and what it says depicts a game state that both resonates and creates a thoughtful callback to the best of Magic's drawbacks. (FWIW: because you control the ability, I don't think you need "you" in the second paragraph.)

The first mistake that people might make is not realizing that the Collateral Seizer can actually count itself, so even if they get rid of it, you'll get back your own demon. It's seizing everyone's collateral! Following that, the ability to exile-recur your big stuff is a major bonus in any color combination, because if you're ahead on board, this card offers your opponents one big swing, and then presumably you draw into the crackback and/or you can chump with your nontoken creatures and make big tokens to swing at them too. I'm thinking of this in the best possible terms, which...might be a mistake, actually. Hold on. Are you playing 4D chess with me here to get me to think I can make this card work? Is that the contract? Huh. ... Perhaps not, but I don't really know what "Marley-esque" means and the internet's no help, so that's all I got.

Runners comin' up soon. Woot. @abelzumi

[kanaglows]

Hello!! May I request smth? Maybe a one-shot, a Toya x s/o (I prefer a male if isn't a problem!) Playing at the arcade? Kinda cute, this idea just emerged on my mind! If you don't want to write it no problem!

Hope you're having a good day! I'm happy that new pjsekai writing blogs are coming!

Sure! Just something I'll have to let you know. I did try to make it a male reader but I couldn't seem to squeeze anything that could even hint that the reader is male so I decided to make it gender-neutral instead. I'm really sorry 🥲

Notes: Gender-neutral reader

Style: Bullets/hcs

Toya X Reader at Arcade!

You had always known Toya was good at arcade games. He always seemed to spend his free time there, it was natural that he would be, however, you didn't realise just how good he was until today.

You decided to stop by the arcade in hopes of running into him and possibly being able to hang out. Recently, there had been some subtle feelings growing between the two of you (they weren't subtle at all 😀), it was sort of embarrassing though, if your friends were to find out they would tease you relentlessly (they already know 😀).

You felt slightly let down when you realised he wasn't here, regardless, that didn't stop you from enjoying the games. You had made a couple friends while playing a few fighting games you were familiar with and quickly rose to the top, becoming known as the champion. You were unbeaten.

To be honest, all of your opponents were... pretty bad. Some guy managed to blow himself up (how?)

"Any more contenders?" you asked. You had a winning streak of 19, you would only need one more win to get to 20 and then you would end for the day, you had a curfew.

There was a silence. It seemed like everyone had already given it a go until- "I'll play," you heard someone say from behind you. It was a voice you recognised, a quiet, calm one; turning around, you saw that it was none other than Toya Aoyagi himself. You were done for- but also really happy that he was here.

"Oh hey, Toya! Nice to see you here," you grinned. "Hey," he smiled, "mind if I play?".

You thought for a second. You would undoubtedly lose your streak if you let him play but on the other hand, you would get to spend more time with him if you let him. A tricky decision indeed- but then you realised that you couldn't exactly say no; it would be rude 😕. Besides, even if he went against you there's still a chance you could win, he can't be that good, can he?

You were wrong. He was that good. You were dead within seconds.

"Wow," you breathed out, not knowing what to say, "you're really good at this." Toya nodded, "Thanks. Wanna go for another round?"

"I totally would if I could," you sighed, "I have a curfew, my parents would kill me if I was la-..." your eyes fell onto a claw machine, but not just any claw machine. This claw machine had something very valuable inside it, a limited edition (favourite fictional character) plush. You wondered if it would take up too much time to try and win it, but then again... (favourite fictional character) was worth the risk of getting grounded.

"Umm, I'm going to try and get something from that machine and then I'll get going, Toya," you said, slipping a coin into the small slot at the bottom. "Got it, it was nice seeing you, (name)," he replied with a smile before walking to another arcade machine.

20 minutes later...

You were about to commit a felony. You had wasted 2000 yen and were still yet to win that damned plushie. How long was this going to take exactly? You had to get home soon.

"Still struggling?" you heard Toya say from behind you. "Yeah, would you mind helping me out? I'll pay."

He nodded, "Sure, I don't mind."

Wow. There was no denying that Toya was definitely efficient when it came to these kinds of things, no doubt about that. It only took him one try.

"Here you go," he handed the plush to you. "Thanks," you mumbled, pretty much awestruck by his skills. "I guess you'll be off now?" he asked. You gave a nod. "Y'know, you're really good at fighting games, you should come here more often," Toya suggested, "it would be a lot more fun around here."

You laughed, "you think so?".

"Definitely," a faint smile growing on his face, "I'll see you later, (name)". You waved at each other as you took your leave. What a day that was. You were definitely telling (favourite fictional character) about this on character.ai.

[nutzgunray-lvt]

Welp, the itch needed to be scratched, and I wrote a rough draft of one of my fic ideas:

A Perfect World

Izuku knew that he was breaking curfew, but he didn't care. After the dream he just had, he didn't really care about anything.

"We're past the singularity point, now. Don't worry, you are not alone."

He saw the past seven users of One For All looking right at him, and the first user had spoken directly to him. He said he wanted to show him more, but more of what? Was he going to have to get even stronger to find the answer to that question? He was already capped at 20% of One For All, and look what wound up happening: it activated in his sleep and destroyed his room.

If by some miracle he managed to not wake up his classmates with that stunt, he was definitely going to be in trouble tomorrow when someone either saw the broken window or the charred floorboards. And how exactly was he going to explain that?

"Well, I had a vision of how All For One created my Quirk by forcibly passing it down to his little brother, said little brother gave me a vague message about passing the singularity point, and then it activated in my sleep and destroyed my room in the fallout. I'm sorry, it won't happen again!"

Yeah, that would go over real well with Mr. Aizawa and Principal Nezu.

It was why he decided to go out for a run. It did wonders for clearing his head, and maybe the fresh air would help him to make sense of what the hell had happened.

The dream/vision had scared him, yes, but the first user seemed incredibly kind (they had the same eyes). He sounded apologetic that he couldn't show him more (more of what?) and genuine when he reassured him that he wasn't alone. Even the other users radiated kindness and patience as they looked over him.

But why him?

From his match against Shinsou at the Sports Festival, he had known that pieces of the past One For All users had remained inside the Quirk. He hadn't bought All Might's belief that his sheer determination was what broke him out of Shinsou's brainwashing, but part of him had hoped that it was just a one-off event, because then all he had to worry about was figuring out how not to maim himself every time he used it.

He wasn't ready to contend with eight ghosts living inside of him and showing him visions from 100+ years ago, because if All Might had no idea what this was and how to deal with it, what the hell was Izuku supposed to do?

By the time he made it back to Heights Alliance and sneaked back into 1-A's dorm, his brain didn't feel any less cluttered than it had before he went on his run. His new plan was to get a drink of water and take a nice, cold shower before doing his best to clean up the crime scene that was his room -

"What are you doing awake, Problem Child?"

Izuku flinched, nearly dropping his glass.

Busted.

Biting on his cheek to clamp down on the fight or flight response that always seemed to kick in around Mr. Aizawa, he took a long sip of water to hold off on answering him.

"Couldn't sleep," he non committedly answered before finishing his drink. It wasn't like it was a lie or anything, but a quick glance at his homeroom teacher leaning against the back of one of the couches showed how unimpressed he was at his response.

"Yeah, your broken window told me as much," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "One of the Camera-Bots reported a disturbance coming from the second floor, and you want to know how long it took for me to put two and two together that you were the source of the disturbance, Midoriya?"

Izuku didn't dare answer. He was glad that it was cloudy outside, otherwise the moon would have provided enough light for Mr. Aizawa to see his fist clenched at his side, his teeth biting into his lip so hard that it drew blood as he tried so hard to not rise at the bait, because he probably wanted Izuku to get mad at him because everything Mr. Aizawa did was for his own amusement -

"About two seconds," the older man finally answered. "I came over, saw the broken window, and I figured that making a dramatic break for it wasn't your style."

"What are you trying to tell me, Mr. Aizawa?" Izuku asked when he trusted himself to speak again. He turned to get another glass of water for himself, just so his hands would have something to do as his mind raced.

This was different. Normally, when he was caught on Mr. Aizawa's radar, he would storm the place, lecture him, give him some sort of punishment (or three) and leave. He never explained himself to anyone, Izuku least of all. Was this some sort of ploy to lull him into a false sense of security before pulling the rug out from underneath him and expelling him? Or was he just biding his time, playing with his prey before dealing the killing blow?

What game was Mr. Aizawa playing here?

"I'm saying that there must be a good reason why you're up at 1:47 in the morning with a broken window," Mr. Aizawa responded. "I wouldn't have dragged myself out of bed for it otherwise. You know I don't get enough sleep to begin with."

Yeah, because you use school hours to make up the difference, Izuku thought to himself. The uncharacteristically bitter retort was silenced by a rather aggressive chug of his water. That definitely would have gotten him in even more trouble had he let that out into the open.

"So, the floor's yours, Problem Child," the older man prompted. "I want to know why your window spontaneously broke five hours after curfew."

Izuku finished his second glass of water and set it in the sink, clenching his shaking fists by his sides. In a perfect world where all men were created equal, he would know that Mr. Aizawa was genuinely trying to reach out to him, to get him the help he desperately needed since these weird dreams and visions started occurring. He would know that he wasn't breaking his bones for the fun of it, would see how problematic it was that it took spending a week outside of his supervision to resolve that problem. He would know that he only maimed himself fighting Muscular because Mandalay had approved of him finding Kota and bringing him to safety. The life of a five year old boy was on the line and he had no way of contacting anybody where they were located at. He would know that Bakugou's rescue wasn't his idea, nor was their fight the night of the Provisional License Exam.

He wouldn't blow off him and the rest of the class off for a student not even in the Heroics Department.

In a perfect world, Izuku could trust Mr. Aizawa.

Unfortunately, this wasn't a perfect world. This was a world where all men weren't created equal. In this world, Izuku was the Problem Child who committed the crime of getting his Quirk 10 years later than normal. All Might was trying his best to help because he was the only one who could actually understand what he was going through, but Mr. Aizawa dismissed it as favoritism and placed part of the blame on Izuku's feet. In this imperfect world, Mr. Aizawa singled him out in front of everyone and threatened to expel him on the first day of school, only to take it back at the last minute as some sort of "Rational Deception" in order to make him work harder. In this world, Mr. Aizawa hoisted the duty of curbing a bully's behavior onto said bully's victim, blaming him for the problem being as bad as it was.

In this imperfect world, Izuku had no reason to trust Mr. Aizawa outside of a life/death situation.

"I don't know," he resignedly said after a long bid of silence. "I genuinely don't know, but I'll fix the window and give you a written apology."

"Midoriya -"

"I'm sorry for causing a disturbance so early in the morning!" he hurriedly apologized. He had to get out of here now; fight was very quickly turning into flight, because what else should he do when Mr. Aizawa always looked so annoyed and exhausted at his mere existence?

He rushed up the stairs and into his room before Mr. Aizawa could finish what he was trying to say, locking the door behind him as he tried sweeping up the broken glass with a folder. He was too keyed up to go back to sleep now.

'Talk to Yagi tomorrow,' the first user said, making Izuku jump in surprise. Great, now they could just talk to him all willy-nilly? 'Yagi will understand how to help you. We didn't mean to get you in trouble. We're sorry.'

Izuku wanted to tear his hair out and scream at how weird this was starting to get, but the first user was so nice that he couldn't be mad for too long. He also had a point: All Might would understand.

All Might could be trusted.

Tomorrow, he would get this mess cleaned up and hopefully get some answers.

He needed them.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

P5R Random Thoughts #2

(I am currently doing a blind playthrough of this game. Please no spoilers in the tags or notes if you can help it!)

So far I've seen two Persona awakenings: Joker's and Ryuji's. (Morgana already had a Persona so I'm curious about how he awakened but I presume the story will get to that later.)

The neat thing about the awakenings is that they are undeniable triumphs but also not a cure for their problems.

You might think, well duh, they've still got all the cruel things and people in the outside world to contend with - but I'm actually not talking about the external. I'm saying the awakenings are a breakthrough for their inner problems but that they don't "fix" their internal struggles completely.

It's really notable in Ryuji's awakening. Ryuji hears "you're a punk", "nobody's going to look beyond that", "you only cause problems for others", etc., and says. Yeah actually. I'm a punk. Let's roll, baby. And then awakens to a goddamn pirate which is great.

It's triumphant, because Ryuji doesn't say "that's not who I am", Ryuji says "actually, asshole, that's exactly who I am, and you have no right to look down on me for it". Tells him off for looking down on him while smiling then shoots him a cocky, arrogant grin right back. Good for him! *wipes tears* Good for him.

However... as much as this is a triumph, it also suggests some concerning things about the way Ryuji views himself. He spends the entirety of the build up before this point lamenting the fact that he can't do anything useful, even though he brought things with him that he thought would help. In fact, he near constantly brings it up and looks incredibly guilty about it - and what's more, when it comes to the track team and what happened, even though it was Kamoshida who aggravated him and broke his leg, Ryuji doesn't deny the accusation that the track team's disbanding was his fault. Ryuji accepts the notion that he causes problems for other people, when in actuality, he does his best to be as helpful as possible and hates people who take advantage of others. He's trying to offset all these internalized beliefs that he is somehow a "bad influence" and "nothing but trouble" - so, he's caught between the ideas of "I'm a bad influence. So what?" and "I'm a bad influence. I need to make up for that by pulling my weight as much as I possibly can." It seems Ryuji genuinely thinks he's not that great of a person which... come on. I hope we get a bit of resolution to this later on... because he's not a bad influence at all. At least, not on Joker. It's the other way around actually.

As for Joker, I've talked a bit before about how he has the spirit and the compassion and the raw anger to fight against injustice, but is currently rather directionless. The story will likely show him becoming more certain about his beliefs and convictions, and more importantly, what to do with them.

As for my other random thoughts so far:

Morgana is so self-interested and kind of hilariously morally grey. "They seem useful for my goals." "We don't have time to be worrying about other people!" (after they stopped to rescue him...) "Yeah you suck Blondie. Anyways, Frizzy Hair-" *points at shadow* "KILL." Is it bad that I find him genuinely amusing at this point?

Red-haired ponytail girl showed up and she's really, really nice to people. Like... to the point where I'm a bit suspicious? Ugh maybe this is just me being naturally mistrustful but she's really kind of overly nice, and it makes me feel like she's compensating? That plus the promise/deal she talked about at the beginning... I don't know. Consider me curious anyways. All those comments about how thin she is though... I hope she eats properly? Like this situation could easily be a suspicious one or it could be driven by insecurity and self-hatred. Or she could just be nice and I'm overthinking it.

Love the transitions and the way you can see other characters in the background sometimes before their proper introductions. The little details and the overall feel of the game is really nice. Like, I'm pretty sure the girl in the pink sweater is Haru, right? And you get a little bit about how she's maintaining a garden on the roof? (She seems precious, honestly.) Also Joker and Ryuji walked right past Sae and Sushi Boy, which is really funny to me. And in the main menu! If you switch too fast between options, Joker crashes into the screen dfhvndifjvn

Speaking of the menu, in the background, you can see Joker holding his hand up and out, which shields his face from player view, and the words "Don't look at me" in the background... hm... more characterization for the boy, I suppose

[animebw]

Re: oshi no ko fans,

What'd they do?

Yeah, I guess I should probably give some context to that statement.

So, for those not keeping up with Oshi no Ko, last week's episode featured a plotline where a character on a reality dating show is swarmed with cyberbullying after a minor dust-up, and it escalates so badly that she tries to commit suicide. It's a brutally effective episode that really captures the horror of online abuse, the almost addictive masochism of scrolling through comment after comment calling for your death and dragging your name through the mud. It's easily the best Oshi no Ko has been, and I will stand by that opinion despite how messy things are going to get in the rest of this post.

See, this plotline doesn't just a wholly fictional exploration of online abuse; it has a very direct real life inspiration. Shortly after the manga started publishing, Japanese wrestler Hana Kimura committed suicide following a chain of events very much like this. She was on a reality show, she had a minor altercation with a fellow contender, and she was bombarded with online abuse until she took her own life. It's likely Akasaka already had the general idea for this plotline sketched out before this event, but the connections are so specific that it's pretty clear this real-life event influenced how it played out in the story. And in the anime at least, some of the mean comments the character gets are lifted wholesale from comments Kimura received during her harassment. So clearly, Oshi no Ko is pulling on this real life tragedy to further its themes of darkness in the entertainment industry and how it affects people.

The problem is, Kimura's mom isn't happy about it.

See, apparently no one- nobody working on the manga or the anime- thought to ask Kimura's family if it was okay to use their tragic circumstances as part of their narrative. Nobody bothered to check if it maybe might be a little insensitive to drag out the corpse of a dead girl for an edgy reincarnation revenge idol drama without asking that girl's parents if they were okay with it. So the mom did an interview where she expressed her anger at the whole thing, and how her daughter was essentially being used as "free source material," which, yeah, seriously, how the fuck did nobody check with her before this went to air? I don't care how good your intentions are or how excellent the finished product turned out, you do not use the real words and comments that drove a girl to suicide without getting the go-ahead from her family first. She even mentioned that a friend of hers watched the episode without knowing its content beforehand and it basically triggered all those traumatic memories all over again. It's just really fucking ugly all around.

Now, the whole point of the episode in question is about how terrible online harassment is and how you should never toss mean words around online so thoughtlessly, because you could be hurting people in ways you can't possibly understand. So you'd think that Oshi no Ko fans, being faced with this very understandable anger from someone with more stake in this mess than any of them either well, would take the situation with grace and try to reach an understanding. You'd think they'd try to have the kind of compassion in discussing this difficult subject that Kimura and the character inspired by her never got.

If only.

Now, to be clear, it's not like the entire Oshi no Ko fanbase ganged up on Kimura's mother. Plenty of people took the situation in stride and treated it fairly. But even just on the English speaking side of the internet, I've already seen way too many people becoming exactly the kind of mindless hate mob the show portrayed in that critical episode. And while I can't speak for the Japanese side, people who keep up with Japanese online spaces have confirmed there's harassment going on over there too. People saying she's only doing this for attention (gee it's almost like HER DAUGHTER'S DEATH IS BEING USED WITHOUT HER CONSENT), she shouldn't complain because it's raising awareness about cyberbullying (which totally justifies cyberbullying her in response, naturally), even claiming the arc totally wasn't inspired by Kimura's circumstances and it was just a coincidence the storyline released around the same time. Which is funny, because I distinctly remember when the episode first came out I saw tons of people praising how it took inspiration from Kimura's circumstances and how it was totally speaking to real life events so you had to take it seriously. But now Kimura's mother comes out saying she's upset with how it was handled, and suddenly those same people are going "Uuuuuuh actually it's just a coincidence, if you think it's intentional you're stupid."

I mean, if I didn't know better, I'd say it's almost like they never actually cared about the message. Like they only wanted to use the shiny coat of real-life tragedy to massage their own egos for liking Good(tm), Serious(tm) works of fiction that talk about Real(tm) Issues(tm), only to discard that talking point when it no longer suited their narrative. I might even call them a bunch of worthless cunts who care about protecting themselves from even the mildest emotional discomfort and moral uncertainty more than they give a damn about anyone else's genuine struggles with actual issues far beyond what any of these fuckweasels will ever have to face. Hell, if I was feeling particularly spicy, I might even connect this bullshittery to my criticisms of Oshi no Ko as a whole and point out how despite its thin veneer of deep societal criticism, this show really is the kind of vapid, pandering edge-masquerading-as-depth spectacle that presents just enough illusion of substance for people to feel smart for watching it without actually challenging them to leave their comfort zone of an "edgy" male antihero saving the day and making all the cute girls fall for him, thus attracting the exact same kind of insincere, cowardly fanbase that reacts to the slightest real challenge to their sense of self-righteousness by become the exact kind of monster the story they supposedly adore was trying to warn them against.

But that's probably unfair to all the normal, perfectly well-adjusted Oshi no Ko fans who don't deserve to be lumped in with this vocal minority of losers. So I'll call it a day here. Bottom line, ask before you use a real person's misery for Content(tm), don't be a dick when people criticize the fiction you enjoy, and online harassers can go suck on an exhaust pipe.

[fauxfickle]

"Keep every part working as best as possible.

We don't want "them" breaking free"

Been a while since I drew traditionally. I actually really like how this turned out! Maybe I'm getting better?! I also got a better pen which makes it all look a lot more crisp.

Anyways, onto the self indulgent ramblings. I thought of a fnaf fangame idea while at work. The hypothetical game would take place between 1983 - 1987, immediately after the bite of 83 and right before the toys are created. You would play the part of a technician sent in to replace the Fredbear and Bonnie animatronic with the new Fazbear band. Due to Freddy and the gang being put together very quickly and cheaply, they would quickly deteriorate and become prone to mechanical problems. Your job would be to come in during the night and fix whatever had to be fixed. Be it repainting the masks, changing out old pneumatic cylinders, lathing new parts, reprogramming song segments, etc.

While all this is happening you would have to contend with the spirits trying to break out of the machinery and cause problems.

[pigtailedgirl]

Star Trek Prodigy season 1 down

So i finished.

Still loving it so much. I think season 2 edges it out, especially in terms of finale and build to, but it was absolutely lovely in so many small moments.

I gonna do a re-watch again as whole very shortly. It's a good sign it's a series to concentrate more on and I want to come back to catch more.

Minor quibbles was :

I loved squish Murf and new form is taking some time to warm on. (Though it gave us mustache mirror Murf so...conficted.) I liked a non person type communicating crew member.

The run from about 14 to 17 had great moments, and yet felt, how do you put it? Out of place. Filler. Star Wars more than Star Trek in action focus in parts. The stories were fluffier in the sense they felt it could have been out of any kids genre series. The references and plot beats tied in were exciting but weren't enough to make the episodes carry momentum. Like the backstories were interesting, Pog's and Rok's especially. I don't know if I wanted it though.

The ending with Starfleet getting itself wrecked was dark. Maybe too much. And why would you have built a ship that would blow an entire system if she destructed guys? Poor planning there.

This series has excelled at bringing the idea of hope and joy back of what it could be to be in Starfleet or a space universe. Tell those stories and the sci-fis again. The basics fit this show to a tee. Being a come together of interests and exploration and then using that base to protect and share. Be it others. Be it yourself. Find your passions and your histories and your new adventures.

Boldly, go fast.

Problem is that these kids are the best rep of what to pass on re: Starfleet and they speech it good, they embody it. You see the show for the first in the long line of new knows this message.

When Starfleet is saved by Gwen's speech. By Janeway's about them.

Yet then they also have to contend with tying into a Starfleet in canon who besides Janeway and select aren't living to what they preach. Who are having to be preached at? Who are and are gonna get fucked for it big time. Who are getting schooled by these kids, but should already know better. Always the authority or whole still lets down. And like no! It doesn't have to be. Teach that that can be mended and an example of together too please. Kids need adult models who succeed.

I don't need a knockdown of old Starfleet looming as I see the youth doing it right. It feels conflicting in the wrong way.

More than the Civil War, there can be a contrasting example, and time fuckery of Solom and Solom girl. Loved that.

Kate slayed everything about Janeway all season. The mind switch episode had both actors just kill it.

Rok is my favourite scientist and character again.

The second contact species was a beautiful tribute and point to Star Trek's history and impacts.

And as always, god was Janeway off charts over finding Chakotay and every bit of it was glorious.

That ice episode and the animation on her face when even though she makes the point they are kids, you see her instant track change to okay there is more to it it's kids and gonna not judge as much but then she sees the ship rise up and take off on her, they are taking his fucking ship, and they have it and she doesn't know the why and she's just; My god it's so livid and it's glorious!

Her love of him and coffee. For life. I am so ready to be meta-ing on this for the fall.

WATCH THIS SHOW YO. BOLDLY, GO FAST, YIP YIP.