#isn't the same as most other people's

[review-anon]

//So....Tetro Pink Chapter 3's Deadly Life Part 2 and the Class Trial.

//It had a...lot going on with it.

//Thoughts are below the cut:

//When we last left off, Tsuno gently opepned the door and got skewed for her efforts, right in front of Wada for extra emotional damage. Netherless to say he takes this well, as the others arrive and wonder what tf is going when Mai points out that suddenly, investigation has become very unsafe because if there was one trap, that could mean mulitiple traps.

//The trap itself was a spiked plate which was on a pully system triggered by simply opening the door and there was literally no way that anyone could have predicted, Tsuno was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

//Wada is quite catatonic for obvious reasons and when Okazaki shows up, he literally loses his temper and actually stabs her. Given all the shit she's done to him in the Chapter, this felt very justified especially when Wada confesses to Mai when she asks about what Okazaki has been doing to him, and she's undestandably pissed at Okazaki because she deserved to get stabbed.

//Trail time and the obvious question is asked; what if there is mulitiple blackeneds? Monomoko answers with saying they are playing by V3 rules and if there is two blackeneds only the first counts, meaning unless the deaths are done by the same person, only Kamimura's death needs to be looked at, Tsuno's death for the most part can be ignored as the blackened for her will gain nothing. Unless of course its the same person.

//Wada is immediately accused as the killer but not only does Mai point out there is a ton of evidence that shows he was being framed but they managed to figure out that the killer doesn't trigger the BDA and since not only did Ken trigger the BDA for Kamimura but also Wada triggered the BDA for Tsuno, neither of them could be the killer. It takes a while to clear Wada which gets annoying because certain people (read: Tamba) get very stuck in on that, but eventually the conversation turns to when Kamimura died, which with all the blood, implies he was killed in the art room, and even though he was taken from his room, not only did the killer steal his key, but they used the 3D Printer to clone said key to get in. They also realised the struggle they found in Kamimura's room was faked by the killer as he was already unconcious when they find a drug which could knock someone out and a ideal place they could lace it, being the special food Mai cooked for Kamimura in the resturant event since he still had some left over and once again proving why parties should never happen in Killing Games.

//There is a lot of emotions during the trial as Yanagi is put on the spot due to his lack of alibi which he confirms eventually he was trying to pick the lock to the locked room as while bashing the door open is a violation of the rules, lock picking might not be and he was trying to do so, but failed miserably. Hirokai was more focused on his petty grudge against Yanagi then solving the case and Ken at mulitiple times, loses his tempers and shouts at everyone to just focus on the evidence and logic and not their grievences against each other. Also Hirokai's failed unliving attempt was exposed by Ojima in order to disclose where the cynanide went.

//Eventually to Bubble's dismay, turns out Tsuno and Kamimura's deaths were done by the same person and as such they realised the culprit had to spend all of yesterday to steal Kamimura's key and clone it via the 3D printer, all of last night to set up the spiked plate trap in the woodshop and finally all of the morning to not only kidnap and kill Kamimura, but also be largely absent from the investigation seeing as they went to the dorms to trash Wada's and Tsuno's rooms. As such it had to been someone who had no alibi for any of those times, didn't matter if they didn't have one for one or two of those time periods but if they were absent and unaccounted for all three, they would be suspecious. And when everyone was saying their alibis, only two people were narrowed down; Tamba and Okazaki.

//Both were physically strong and not only could set up the spiked trap but also overpower Kamimura, but what it came down to was how the culprit moved Kamimura from his dorm to the art room which was a considerable distance without being spotted. Tamba wearing barely anything would have had to use a blanket which would have been easily detected but Okazaki has a coat, and she used said coat to huddle with Watari eariler in the chapter, which we find out said coat was big enough for her to hide inside of it, and Watari is much bigger then Kamimura. She also claimed she knew what everyone was doing but as Ojima pointed out, Okazaki has been hall monitor for a while now so she must have picked up on what everyone's daily routines were and claim she saw them do so. It ain't looking good for Okazaki, especially when Watari demands her to take her coat off, because with the sheer amount of blood Kamimura bleed out, and the fact he wasn't discovered that long after he expired, Okazaki wouldn't have had time to clean herself off before the BDA went off. So Okazaki took her coat off, and Hiroaki immediately threw up since she was coated in blood. Of course she tries to play it off as Wada's stab attempt, but there was too much blood for it be from when she was stabbed and so the jig is up.

//Normally when Chapter 3 culpirts are exposed, they do a complete personality shift and go absolutely psychotic. We seen this happen in the main series, as Celestia's accent breaks down when the gears turn on her, Mikan becomes deranged when sus is on her, Korekiyo goes completely delusional with his "sister" when people start to suspect him, in the Another series Kinji also goes loopy when people figure him out and I don't think we need to go into detail how much Kanade breaks down...it speaks for itself. So...what does Okazaki do? Well...she takes her mask off so we finally see what she looks like...and goes completely full Card Carrying Villian. You see, Okazaki as it turns out, was a self proclaimed phantom thief who robbed and stole from people in her home district, and sees herself as a supervillain. Tsuno comes from her area and Okazaki has a very one sided rivalry with Tsuno as she sees her as her greatest arch-nemesis and wanted nothing to do but one up her and in a Killing Game; that meant killing her. That's right, Tsuno wasn't just a death for the sake of it, she was the intended target all along. As for why she killed Kamimura it was for three reasons. Firstly she wanted to alert people that the killer used tools from the Woodshop, which due to nobody going on there wouldn't have been on the agenda and wanted Tsuno to investigate, bonus points if Wada was there so he could be even more devestated, secondly she knew that Kamimura was one of the more competent people in Class Trials and wanted him out of the way as he could rumble her and thirdy it was to completely break down Ken as he was another one who could have figured her shit out, but if he was too emotionally distraught over the death of his only friend, then she could get away with it.

//While this was happening not only does Okazaki's sprites with her mask off completely take up the screen but also some very cheesy cartoony supervillain music is playing in the background which apprenetly was composed by Tek Soda, Okazaki's VA. To say this was a total tonal mood whiplash was an understandment since EVERYONE in the stream was completely flabbergasted by what they were seeing and we all, including myself, was lost for words. I had for the longest time seen Tetro Pink as a much more grounded universe when compared to other Danganronpa titles where nothing too crazy happens, but Okazaki's true self was a glimpse into what normal Danganronpa is like with the wild personalites and absurdity. Neitherless to say nobody likes this at all as various characters especially Ken, Wada and Watari were completely appalled not only that Okazaki did kill, but she killed for such a stupid reason.

//All three were having a bad time but Watari was probably experiencing the worst of it. With Ken and Wada yes them losing their friends sucked, big time but at the very least they have the memories of their friends and they can move forward in honour of them, but Watari...can't do that. Not only was her best friend in this Killing Game the one who killed them, but she had a side to her she knew nothing about. It would be too easy to say Okazaki never cared for Watari, but as a further knife twist...it turns out she DID care for her, and did genuinely enjoy the times they spent together playing staff, but since Okazaki is so convinced she's the Joker, she saw Watari as a future sidekick to her to help with her latest evil schemes, much to Watari's complete horror.

//So what did I think about the whole thing? Well for one I feel vindicated. I said for a very long time, that Okazaki screamed Chapter 3 killer and that I didn't trust her due to the vibes she gave off. This got me so much hatred from the Tetro Pink community, and the ONLY reason I thought Ojima was because I didn't know if there was one or two killers, and if was mulitiple killers Ojima made sense, but if it was the same killer, then only Okazaki would have done, what she done. So yeah I'm laughing on how much the Tetro Pink Community is breaking down over Okazaki being the Chapter 3 Killer, because I'm like "I told you so." Occam's Razor is a bitch and you need to use it more.

//On her personality shift its...interesting, I'll give you that. The emotions are still raw and I do need time to process them so I cannot give you a accurate summary what I think. This might require a second viewing to see if its a good twist or if its another Kanade; good for shock value but doesn't hold water upon repeat viewings.

//But of course that's not the worst twist with Okazaki, though her execution was brutal af because she got the Viserys treatment. No it comes with when Scientist 01 breaks composure and briefly mentions a name for Okazaki before referring to her as her number, but this name startes with a Y which Okazaki never had. Well in a conversation with Scientist 05, it turns out that Okazaki's real name was Yume Yonekura and is the child of Scientist 01.

//I have been getting SO MUCH hate from how I'm viewing Staffside and chief among them is people who cannot grasp why I have no empathy for anyone on the staff, and think I'm some kind of sociopathic monster because I don't care when *insert scientist name here* is being tortured or shows human compassion, and says I don't have a heart. And then we get this; where Scientist 01 threw her OWN GODDAMN CHILD INTO THE KILLING GAME WITH NO REMORSE!

//Koroko might have abused Mikako serverly and was a horrible mother to her, but she never killed her. Junko might have had backstabbed and killed Mukuro but it was part of her idealogy to feel despair and did hate the fact she killed her own beloved twin sister. Not only did Scientist 01 kill her own child, but she was very unaffected by the whole thing and when Scientist 05 expresses remorse, she more or less implies that if he keeps up with this discussion, his own daughter will be part of the next Killing Game roster.

//Let me make it very clear to you. Its clear you people have a lot more empathy and compassion then myself. I wouldn't go as far as to call myself a sociopath, but I do have a lot lower levels of empathy then the average person, and if I see a organisation committing horrific acts against humanity and Tetro Pink's motives are just pure evil, end of story, I completely shut off my heart and don't give a single monkey's what happens to them beyond them getting the consequences I know they will never get because with Tetro getting a second season, these scientists are gonna completely and utterly get away with everything. I'm reading Staffside for context and understanding the lore more then anything, I'm not looking to emphasis with anyone, because the organisation has more then crossed the moral event horizon.

//And if they do recieve consequences, they are not gonna go back to society, they are gonna be arrested, crimes get exposed, their families completely abandon and disown them ESPECIALLY as this being Japan, their lives are ruined as well, and the fact they are "just following orders" doesn't really hold up in court, it might save them the death penetly, but the public won't have much sympathy for them.

//This is also why when Bubbles called out people for sending hate to Vonbabbit and the team behind Tetro Pink, and said they are unwelcome in his community, I didn't say anything because I knew the second I spoke up there, I would recieve even more hate from people due to my views on Staffside. From now on, I'm completely and utterly banning any talk on Staffside and any asks regarding it will be deleted, since I do not want to think about it anymore. You will also never hear anymore about me talking about Staffside.

//In addition, anyone who also does what they did to Bubbles and uses this as an excuse to send hate to Vonbabbit is also kicked out from here.

//I apologise for the rant-y bit here but I have had to deal with a lot of shit last week due to the Tetro Pink community and I've lost a lot of patience as a result and I just want lay out the groundrules going forward.

//Overall while Tetro Pink's Chapter 3 is certainly one of the better ones, its too early to say if its the best one so far as I still think it has to compete with Trigger Happy Havoc's original Chapter 3.

//I just know Chapter 4 is gonna be horrible big time.

[freakoutgirl]

said this in the tags of my post before but I feel like it's worth repeating. the thing about this argument that leftists (and specifically feminists) being mean to cishet white men is what's driving them to the alt right is that it's ignoring the fact that these men have women in their lives who are already nice to them. they have mothers, sisters, aunts, coworkers, neighbors, even sometimes girlfriends and wives. there are very, very few men out there that are totally isolated from women that will treat them with kindness. and yet these men will still not see these women as people. they still vote to ban abortion, they will still feel entitled to women's time and bodies, they will still insult perceived "beta males" for not exhibiting their same behaviors. women's kindness does not have a significant material effect on their politics. as long as women will get jobs over men, as long as women are able to say "no" to men, as long as women assert they are people, there will be those men who choose (and I specify choose so people don't misinterpret this as saying it is an "immutable trait") to turn to patriarchal supremacy, and specifically white patriarchal supremacy as long as people of color also make any social headway. that's why the term "reactionary" exists.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

He was just being a silly little guy!

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[fluentisonus]

working in a factory has you thinking so much about the insane chain of labor & transport that goes into making literally anything

[instantpansies]

life is hard for us oz fans who are only meh about wicked. have half a meme.

[transfagore]

I've seen someone say that aplatonic people should seek psychological help because they've faced difficulties making friends in the past and improved after undergoing treatment. Well, a few points:

1. Your experience is not universal

2. I can't form friendships because I get bored and apathetic very quickly. And I have no desire to make friends. Like, not a little bit. Aplatonicity isn't just "having difficulty in making friends" (although an aplatonic person may have this experience, aplatonic people are diverse)

3. There are people who don't feel platonic attraction but have friendships (just like feeling sexual attraction ≠ liking to have sex, feeling platonic attraction ≠ like making friends)

4. Not every neurodivergent person who cannot form friendships seeks or will be able to "get better"

5. Your experience is not universal

[feroluce]

“-and that's why I ain't allowed in Pier Point no more!” Boothill throws his head back and cackles, somehow completely comfortable on the bare floor of the archives. He's the very picture of ease, his arms behind his head, his legs bent and crossed.

Dan Heng barely looks up from his notebook, not much surprises him anymore after the first few tales of lawless exploits. “So they really have that many laws and restrictions there.” 

“And prob’ly a few more now that I've been through there! Heck, ya think they named any after me? I'm hopin’ so.” There's so much smug cockiness seeping through his voice Dan Heng could bottle it.

Silence settles in, stretches out. Dan Heng doodles pensive circles in the corner of his page.

He shouldn't ask. It's a private matter. It's none of his business. He of all people should know-

Something pokes his shoe, and when he looks up, Boothill has stretched one arm up to tap metallic fingertips against his foot. “Ain't like ya to hesitate.” With his head tipped back on the tiles and gazing at him upside down, Boothill's hair is out of his face and spooling out all over the floor, offering a rare view of his right side. His right eye is sealed over with a pitch-black patch, stark against his skin. Dan Heng wonders what he looks like behind it. “C'mon, then, out with it. Spill the beans, brother, just say it.”

“What does ‘Boothill’ mean?”

The man blinks at him, the crosshair in his cybernetic left eye flickering. Dan Heng shifts, smooths out his long coat. “I tried to look it up once. It's not in any database as a name...other than your wanted posters.” There's a thread beginning to fray near the hem, he should sew it up. “I couldn't find it anywhere.” 

He nearly takes it back, but- “Heh, ya that curious about me, darlin’?”

Dan Heng quickly levels his face into the most impassive, nonplussed expression he can muster, but Boothill has already turned away, head pillowed on his arms and face once again turned to the ceiling.

“But nah, ya wouldn't. Hah, like they'd allow any record of the language, fudgeheads.” One arm sweeps around blindly until it finds the edge of Boothill's hat, sets it back where it belongs on his head. Dan Heng shuffles around, scoots a little closer, but the brim is pulled too low to see his eyes anymore.

“It's ‘cause it's not a name. It's a noun.” All that's visible of his face is a sharp grin, pulled too tight at the edges.

“It's my people's word for a grave.”

Dan Heng's pencil stops.

“It's the kinda grave fer someone who died with their boots on. If ya catch my drift there.” Boothill's foot starts to bounce. “There was a war, and it got reeeeeal intense, yup. Folks started droppin’ like flies, ‘n’ there was bodies faster'n what we could bury ‘em.” A cooling fan kicks on somewhere. Dan Heng is pretty sure it's not any of the Express equipment.

“We lost some real good people there, real good. Mighty shame.” His hidden Vidyadhara ears detect a quiet metallic click, a whir, pressurized gas. Boothill's next words waft steam from his angry circuits into the air. “When I left, I decided to leave my name there, too. Didn't feel right otherwise. The life I lead now is a whole ‘nother existence.” And then Boothill turns his head, raises his hat, and Dan Heng suddenly feels pinned dead center, caught in that crosshair.

“Ya know what I mean, don'tcha?”

Dan Heng swallows.

Does Boothill know? Who he is and who came before him? There had been that moment in the Penacony Grand Theater, after he activated the Jade Abacus… Dan Heng had tried to shoo him out, keep him from seeing anything, but Boothill has the astounding ability to turn up exactly wherever people are trying to keep him away from.

If he did see, does he actually understand it? Does he know what a High Elder is? Does he know about the sedition of Imbibitor Lunae, the transmutation arcanum, everything Dan Feng had done and Dan Heng was punished for?

He doesn't want to explain it all. Not now. Possibly not ever, truth be told.

And it's not the same as Boothill leaving behind his old identity when whatever event happened that caused him to leave home. Not really. But…

But so far, Boothill has slid so easily into Dan Heng’s routine. His presence never feels like an intrusion. He's already figured out what he can push and when to back down. And even Dan Heng finds himself able to roll with whatever punches Boothill throws with baffling ease. They share too much in their methods and ideologies, and sometimes Dan Heng knows what Boothill will do seemingly before even Boothill himself knows.

“...Tell me about Talia and the Nailscrap Town.” Boothill must know he's avoiding the topic. He must. But the man just throws his head back and cackles, melting easily back into what they had been doing before, as he speaks fondly of a planet that Dan Heng has never visited.

Not today. But.

Dan Heng inches just a little closer, just enough to nudge his foot against a metal leg. Boothill doesn't pull away.

Maybe someday.

[fromtheseventhhell]

It's crazy that people still uphold show!Sansa as a well-written character and pretend that liking her is the pinnacle of feminism when it would be infinitely more impactful to acknowledge her terrible and misogynistic writing. This is the same character who, while written by two men, was thankful for the abuse she suffered because it allowed her to grow. The same character who we had to be told was smart because the writers were too lazy to develop or show her intelligence. The same character who had to rely heavily on the men surrounding her and ended up accomplishing nothing on her own merit ( and no, thinking that she deserved to be Queen doesn't mean that she earned it). She is not well-written, she is not complex, and she is not a feminist character. Which is fine! If you enjoy her then good on you, but please stop pretending that she's something she isn't just because you feel the need to justify liking her character

[realtapiocafan]

still can't get over how insanely pretty they are

i will be Thinking on these two specific photos for a Long Time... ja'marr looking slightly surprised at whatever obj is showing them on his phone... ceedee looking at ja'marr so fondly while resting his chin on his hand... then ja'marr laughing and grinning as hard as he can - oh you can sense the Joy through the screen, hear that contagious hahaha ...

and i will literally never shut up about ceedee's loose bun, it looks so fucking good wtf... ooh ceedee has two (2!) piercings... all of them having intricate hand tattoos... ja'marr wearing like... five (wow) rings... lmao wait is ceedee charging his phone midgame?

also the Narrative of flying halfway across the world to fucking Paris, just to sit courtside at an NBA game with your friends (instead of just meeting up in your home state like normal folks do).... 😭😭😭

[serpentface]

Do psychotropic drugs and/or ritual play a role in any of the blightseed cultures? A pretty broad question, lol

Yeah that’s a very broad question, the answer is about as much as it tends to play roles in real history. Alcohol is pretty ubiquitous (outside of cultures that abstain from intoxicants) and used for a variety of purposes, opioids are commonly used in some parts for pain relief or recreational purposes, stimulants (usually in mild, natural forms) are used to provide extra energy, and hallucinogens are most commonly used as part of a larger religious framework (rather than for recreational purposes). Any more elaborate answer kinda has to be case by case in a certain culture or part of the setting.

I'll just take this as an opportunity to talk about the one established sect that pretty much REVOLVES around psychoactive use. This is the Scholarly Order of the Root, which is a sort of mystery religion + elite community of scholars who currently occupy the Ur-Tree and its forest in the far southern Lowlands (southeast of Imperial Wardin, on the same land mass).

The Ur-Tree is the obligatory Huge Fucking Fantasy Tree (and its surrounding forest). It’s a mass of vegetation about a mile tall and almost as old as Plant Life Itself, its upper branches are primeval plants, which become more modern the nearer they get to the ground (and each 'level' holds tiny ecosystems, some containing descendants of LONG-extinct arthropods/other small animals). Its lowest branches and the surrounding forest are contemporary plant life, and all is connected and protected by an incomparably MASSIVE fungal mycelium network (which is itself a living god).

A lot of the Scholars' more secretive practices revolve around experimentation with substance use with the goal of expanding the Mind and transcending the body to fully connect to the Dreamlands, and they have a supply chain of traders and mercenaries called Rootrunners who traffic substances into the Lowlands. Most of their psychoactive use is in a very intentional capacity and not just like, for fun, but a LOT of them are just straight up addicted to cocaine (in the form of alchemically refined bruljenum, which is used for practical purposes of its stimulant effect during long hours of work).

All known psychoactives are desirable for experimentation (particularly hallucinogens), with each having properties that either allow expansion of the Mind, transcendence of the body, or outright divine communion. Their effects are logged in great detail and interpreted to form the basis of the Scholars' understanding of the natural world and reality itself.

The most important substance is Ur-Root, which is root matter from subterranean levels of the Ur-Tree that have both their own intrinsic psychoactive substances and a very, very high concentration of living god mycelium. The tree root contains DMT and the mycelium has its own wholly unique effects (being an actual living god). They alchemically refine it into a purer, more potent form, and use it to expand beyond the body and directly commune with the Giants, a group of entities they have identified as the only true gods.

An Ur-Root trip starts off with minor visual distortion, which turns into shifting fractals that slowly obscure the vision. Eventually the senses are entirely taken over by a 'tunnel' of rapidly shifting fractals and geometries. In a complete trip, the experiencer gets a sense that they have been pushed through a membrane and entered another realm, finding themselves in a distinct experiential Space.

At this point they may encounter entities which communicate to them in a language impossible to describe but wholly understood. These beings are understood to be the Giants, or at least aspects of the Giants that mortals are capable of comprehending (they often take familiar tutelary forms of the Mantis or the Snake, or appear resembling the same type of sophont that the experiencer is, all composed of ever-shifting geometries). The experiencer often feels a sense of unconditional and endless love from these beings, though the Giants may be more hostile and may appear in the form of the Trickster (usually a cultural figure regarded as malicious, be it an animal or otherwise) in a bad trip.

(^Up until this point, this has mostly just been a DMT 'breakthrough' experience ft. 'machine elves' and the like).

They are then removed from this space and returned to something that feels like the real world, but is nearly unrecognizable. They have a sense of rapidly moving through time, and will usually see 'the spires' towards the beginning, which just so happen to look like this:

(source + some context via Implication- the spires are exactly what this art is depicting)

The experiencer continues to move across an unfathomable amount of time, occasionally 'seeing' other such flashes of unfamiliar landscapes and creatures, and yet also being devoid of all their senses, the 'seeing' is pure, unfiltered experience. There is a sense of interconnectedness with all life, and that one has become the forest (or even Life) itself. The sense of time is wildly distorted, the trip lasts only about 5 minutes but feels like an eternity and is understood as literal hundreds of millions of years.

The experiencer has usually lost any remaining sense of Self and individual consciousness during this phase (in which case this time distortion is usually a neutral or even peaceful experience), but some retain a fraction of their identity, and find themselves trapped and conscious while experiencing what feels like eternity (which can be LIFE-CHANGINGLY distressing, even after the fact).

(^This latter part of the trip is the effects of the Ur-Tree fungus).

The trip ends with a sense of rushing through the ground and back up into one's body, at which point they will abruptly return to their senses and consciousness. The details are then immediately retrieved via interview and recorded in immense detail. The whole experience is understood as having been full comprehension of the Dreamlands, communion with the Giants, and then a tour through the act of creation.

This is done as part of the initiatory practice into the inner mystery-religion of the scholars, and as needed for study by high scholar-priests. It is not taken lightly, both as it is absolute communion with the gods and reality, and in that it can be a very, very difficult experience. People who have gone through this often walk away with a permanently shifted perspective, often in a positive and/or comforting way- a sense of interconnectedness with all life, a peace with the concept of death, seeing less of a point in individual ego and the concept of Self, and comfort in the sense of divine love they (may have) experienced. This heavily influences the philosophy of the Scholars and has had effects by proxy in the religious worldviews of the region.

Details of this experience are closely guarded, and initiates are given absolutely no prior knowledge and expectations for their trip. This is seen as a necessity- their naivety will allow for a true, unfiltered experience, and can be used to gauge whether they should or should not be accepted. Those that have a distinctly bad trip upon initiation may be assumed to have been 'rejected' by the giants and thus denied full priesthood, though this largely depends on How they interpret their distressing trip- those who identify this as a test and harsh lesson in a journey to enlightenment may be accepted (as this is how fully initiated scholar-priests interpret and handle their bad trips).

This inner priesthood is only a small fraction of the Scholarly Order, and its greater function is as a hub of education and repository of knowledge, and Scholar-trained doctors can provide some of the best medical care available in the setting ('best medical care in this setting' only means so much but it's pretty solid, relatively speaking). Only a chosen few Scholars ever get to commune with the Ur-Root, and most of the divine secrets revealed in the process are kept hidden (though they indirectly influence the politics and worldview of the entire order).

[gideonisms]

I become 300% more of both a lover and a hater when I'm on my period. just a time of the month when I have strong opinions I would say

[companion-showdown]

Who had the worst time aboard the TARDIS?

TOURNAMENT MASTERPOST

[sayakxmi]

Saiouma Puella Magi AU, but Kokichi takes Madoka's role and Shuichi takes Homura's.

For one, Kokichi's too naturally distrustful to just hear "I can grant you any wish :)" and not think ok where's the hook. So he just does what no one ever has & essentially interrogates Kyubey, so he knows it all even before he gets to make a contract. So, some of his classmstes are MGs & he won't become one himself BUT he still ends up tagging along to just protect them in his Kokichi ways. (Though I'm entertaining Kokichi lying about being a magical girl, because, well, it's Kokichi).

(I also got a small idea of Gonta being a magical girls and Kokichi originally tagging along him into labyrinths, Gonta also makes him a magic gun from the toy one he had, and at some point witches out & Kokichi manages to kill him with that gun. So he always has that spare Grief Seed on himself, bc it's still his best friend & he can't handle the idea of just giving it away or using it himself (he does anyway in the end).)

Shuichi prolly ends up being a new kid & it isn't like MadoHomu, the ppl who reach him first are Kaede & Kaito, classic. Kokichi's there, too, but he's his usual sus self. He's actually discouraging ppl from making a contract when they find out magic and miracles are real, which absolutely includes Shuichi. He's very vocal abt it, but he won't explain stutf, bc 1) he's a liar, so who'd believe him? and 2) he doesn't want them to witch out upon finding out the truth or, idk, murder everybody Mami-style.

Anyway, fast forward, bad things happen bingo & by the end of the run most charas are dead, there's Walpurgis nachting, and he makes his wish to bring back the ppl who died notably not as magical girls. Contract signed, he fights & fails, rip. I also thought it was similar to how he thought he could end the killing game by himself - he though he could finish Walpurgisnacht by himself, too. And he failed in both times. Whatevs.

Shuichi doesn't actually make his time travel wish for Ouma specifically, he wants to save all his friends. Timelines are messy esp at first bc he either tells then or it backfires or just makes himself look very sus bc he's trying not to tell them. He also realizes why Kokichi hadn't told anybody aby witches at some point, bc, yeah, it messes them a lot, assuming they believe it.

Still, Kokichi ends up one of the few people who are nearly always giving him a chance, not necessarily out of belief, but out of pragmatism - bro can stop time & knows the truth, that's just too useful. So they often work together & Shuichi grows closer to him but still we ain't there yet. But the thing is, Shuichi's time travel still makes Kokichi more & more powerful with each timeline, bc Shuichi usually goes back after Kokichi dies, so the universe figured out this guy's life's important. Anyway, another notable thing is the iconic Homura kills Madoka scene, but it's Saiouma with guest stars of Kaito & Maki. It's Walpy, it's not defeated yet, but the training trio are spent & just kinda accept their fate of turning into witches together. And then, boom, Kokichi appears & steals their Soul Gems for a sec & he's like did u know you can cleanse your Soul Gem with a darkened one? But it's a lie & he quickly tells them so, he just had a spare Grief Seed after cleansing his Soul Gem & he needs them to do some stuff. Shuichi can travel back in time & fix things, and Maki & Kaito are needed to fight Walpy here. He actually questions what happens to the timelines Shuichi leaves behin, and ofc he doesn't know. There's a chance they remain, so Kokichi needs Maki & Kaito to fight Walpy here.

Kaimaki leave, and Shuichi finally looks at Kokichi & realizes sth is Wrong. Kokichi struggles to hide how he's trembling & grimacing, and it's Kokichi, so obviously it must be extremely bad. Shuichi dreadfully realizes something worse, and he weakly asks Kokichi why aren't his wounds healing. And Kokichi just falls, laughing weakly, and Shuichi catches him & searches for his Soul Gem and, God, he knew it. It's nearly completely black. Kokichi laughs & admits he lied abt having two Grief Seeds, he only had one he never wanted to use. But they'll have the second one soon, so no need to worry. He asks Shuichi to maybe destroy his witch form as it's hatching, so he'll have the Grief Seed without any fighting… and he admits that he hates fighting, he hates this magical world and all its violence. He says that Kaito was right in calling him a coward, even here he just can't handle the idea of fighting any longer, he's so sorry. And Shuichi tells him he ISN'T a coward. He was scared, but he always followed everybody, trying to help, and when push came to shove he would always make a contract for the benefit of others rather than himself. He's a lot of things, but a coward isn't one. Kokichi actually tears up hearing that, and Shuichi promises he won't let him fight ever again, and especially he won't let him turn into a witch and hurt anybody, because he knows it's the last thing he's ever wanted. Even now he only accepts turning into a witch to help them fight to keep others safe. So Shuichi won't let him. Kokichi probably apologizes and thanks him and then he dies.

Keeping Kokichi from fighting starts off as a side quest that gains importance with time, bc it's something Shuichi won't compromise on (ah, trauma), which leads him to occassionally neglect others a bit, which makes them more likely to get hurt & ironically Kokichi more likely to make a contract, especially since he gets more powerful & Kyubey is more interested in him with each timeline. And that also makes him witch out super quick. Shuichi's paying more attention to him & over time grows resentful of others for how they're treating him. To Shuichi it's no question that Kokichi cares & is just doing his best to help, but nobody realizes that.

But the biggest obstacle in keeping Kokichi from fighting is actually Kokichi himself, bc he's too smart and nosy, lmao. Even if he knows nothing, he will find out quickly. Doesn't help that Kyubey wants him to make a contract.

Also, obviously Kaito is Sayaka-coded and Maki could be Kyouko-coded, so that's a thing, BUT it's usually Maki that witches out. Kaito is usually pretty close, but Kokichi intervenes & he survives, but Maki later cracks on her own (and since in the new timeline Kokichi isn't there, Kaito's the one to die, so he's still the secretary). So it's Kaito who gets the dramatic sacrifice. I imagine he genuinely hoped you could bring somebody back if you tried Very Hard & Kokichi called him a moron bc obviously it's not possible. If it was there'd be far less witches that there are. But it's Kaito, he doesn't listen to reason. So, Kokichi follows him to the labyrinth. At first Kaito's mad cuz what if Kokichi being there ruins the plan? Maki hates his guts! But eventually he gets hit pretty hard, and Kokichi is near immediately by his side, trying to help him get up, which kinda makes Kaito short circuit a little bc wait Kokichi's trying to help? But witch!Maki attacks them & Kokichi pushes Kaito away & gets caught himself (and choked until unconsciousness, naturally). Anyway, Kaito gets him away, Shuichi catches Kokichi & Kaito makes up his mind about going down with Maki & asks Shuichi to tell Kokichi that he's sorry. He doesn't get him, but he got hurt trying to protect him, so he'll believe in that if nothing else. F.

As for The WishTM, in the last timeline Shuichi lashes out at Kokichi for his willingness to just become part of the system. In no timeline has his wish actually helped, it did NOTHINHG, which OUCH but it also makes Kokichi think out of the box more & he becomes the Law of Cycles. And Shuichi realizes what is happening & freaks out bc Kokichi's doing it bc of what he told him & like Homura they end up having a momentTM in space & Shuichi remembers. He feels a lot of guilt even tho he also questions whether anything was real, but if it was, he pushed somebody he far too realized he loved into erasing himself from existence.

[wishiwerethesun]

I love how good at masking Nightwing is

[mc-critical]

1.06 / 2.09 (33)

[pigeon-butch]

I certainly have my own concerns about the treatment of moo deng but um. well i think some of you may just be racist