#it’s canon-aligning but nothing is actually shown

[emiko-matsui]

What I love about Dimension 20: Time Quangle is that it's advertised as a canon non-canon series of live shows where they don't have a set campaign but play with all their settings and characters, but the world building within these shows established that it does in fact take place in Dimension 20: Fantasy High. Hear me out.

The first time the Dimension 20 audience is introduced to the concept of a time quangle isn't when the cast announces their Time Quangle Tour, but rather in the beginning of Fantasy High's third season. In Junior Year Arthur Aguefort is absent on a trip with his daughter through history and leaves the school in the hands of Arcturus Grix and Jace Stardiamond. It is established that Aguefort has concurrently gotten himself involved in a so-called time quangle on this journey which is the reason why some canonical events in Spyre's timeline has been displaced (with Junior Year and The Seven supposedly taking place at the same time but entailing contradicting events). In every stop of the canon non-canon Time Quangle Tour it is Arthur Aguefort (and at times his daughter Ayda Aguefort, whom we know he's travelling with) that is the guiding force that helps the characters unquangle their universes, which lines up perfectly with the established canon of Fantasy High.

At first Aguefort believes that he accidentally created the quangle by travelling through time, but in the last stop of the Time Quangle Tour we see that Aguefort has begun to doubt this, because if the quangle was simply an unmotivated force he would've been able to sort it out much quicker, but now he realises that the quangle is actively evading him. In this last stop we find out that the one who created the time quangle was Chungledown Bim after failing his quest on hunting down Fabian. The person at the centre of the time quangle, that Aguefort is fighting with throughout Junior Year's run, is Chungledown Bim. Now this does also line up with Fantasy High canon. In Fantasy High's second season Fabian encounters Chungledown Bim for the first time who swears vengeance upon him and vows that he will stop at nothing to hunt him down. We see Chungledown Bim follow through on this vow at the end of the second season when he chases Fabian into the forest of The Nightmare King and during other liveshows in Spyre (AKA boys night). Mysteriously enough however, in Junior Year Chungledown Bim doesn't make a single appearance, something that I, personally, found very strange on my first time watching it, since we know he is enacting his vow to hunt down Fabian. With the revelation in Dimension 20: Time Quangle that it is Chungledown Bim that Aguefort fights throughout the quangle and throughout Junior Year, and the revelation that the quangle was created in the first place to bring Fabian into a place where he could not physically escape from Chungledown Bim, the entire thing slots perfectly into Fantasy High canon and even solves the problem of Chungledown Bim's missing presence in the third season.

In every intro of the Time Quangle Tour Brennan introduced the following story as "canon non-canon", which meant that the following events were somehow canon despite none of the events actually being canon. As well, Brennan refers to all these stories as "divergent timelines and universes." This solves the final piece ever-so neatly in the fact that with the final piece of lore we know that the non-canon part is the characters and settings, which are from divergent timelines, and not the ones shown on Dimension 20's various seasons. However, the canon part is still there. This is still all happening in at least one canon. Fantasy High. A lot of non-canon events from non-canon timelines are happening, but the quangle is still, and always was, canon in Fantasy High. Before the tour even started. This is the time quangle. It aligns with the canon of Fantasy High and even explains the canon of Fantasy High. Chungledown Bim is dead. He died hunting down Fabian, and Fabian doesn't even know about it.

Now, I'm not gonna claim the Time Quangle Tour was all planned as a Fantasy High tie-in by Brennan, that would be ludicrous of me. But... planned or simply inadvertently, Dimension 20: Time Quangle is a new Fantasy High season.

[bones-of-a-rabbit]

What if I told u,,,,, a RepairBot-Reader comic-tidbit was in the works,,,,

(WiPs!)

Featuring! A small and sweet moment for ReaderBot making a new friend <3

(don’t worry, there’s some nice angst in there, too)

: )

What do you see, ReaderBot ?

[the-lonelyshepherd]

"fanon lottienatters please stay away from me" oh!! shots fired!! 2,000 dead, 10,000 injured!! BUT curious about your specific definition for fanon lottienat and what you dislike about it <33

ohhhhh okay... alrrrrrr

this is like. one of my biggest issues. im not like a shipper, never rlly have been until yj but i dont like engage in discourse bc thats stupid.

But basically? Fanon lottienat just kinda strips anything thats interesting about the ship away. and makes it like. punk x preppy. loser x popular. ive even heard black cat and golden retriever which makes me want to rip my eyes out.

And its not even accurate to their characterization? at all? like youre flanderizing them but like..... not even their main traits. like ive seen people say "precrash lottie would be like charlotte from status update (curse that movie btw. the things i do for u courtney eaton) which is just. like not at all.

first off lottie is not popular. yeah, shes rich, but shes clearly somewhat of a loner (WHICH PARALLELS NAT?? WHICH MAKES IT MORE INTERESTING???) even courtney has said this in interviews. she feels ostracized, and a lot of it can be traced back to the flashback scenes we see, esp those about her relationship w her parents and her supposed mental illness. the 90s, especially the 90s in a high pressure rich family, was NOT a good place to have schizophrenia (and yeah theres the "she wasnt actually mentally ill" argument but that changes nothing because atp in the story her whole family and probably herself believed she was.

Then we have the nat characterization. The fanon "grumpy" to fanon lotties "sunshine". guys canonically nat smiles more than lottie. girlie was always grinning while lottie was experiencing the horrors all of s1. ofc they both went THROUGH it but that specific stereotype pissed me off sm i had to address it.

also, nat gets shown a lot as masc?? which is a fine headcanon but like for her style like the whole punk thing? she acc dresses relatively femininely.those are little irks abt nat but they bother me idc. too tired to write more on this rn but feel free to ask!

so basically taking this stuff into account - fanon lottienat uses a gross mischaracterization of both characters, especially lottie (also that suspiciously align w stereotypes HMMMMM) to literally make the ship more boring. You are making it a stupid and lame trope. You literally have these two insanely complex characters who mirror each other. Theyre not opposites attract, they are the same character in different skins. They're both loners, one because of her punk/rebel nature and nasty rumors, the other because of her mental illness and lack of closeness to people. Theyre both loners because of their social status and their fucked up home life. Theyre both providers - nat the hunter, bringer of physical and real food like the deer. Lottie the prophet, bringer of hope and, through the teams eyes, the birds, the bear, etc. Lottie who begs to be a martyr but is denied nat who runs from it but shoulders it anyways. They're both bleeding hearts they both give soul to the team and are some of the most genuine characters but they present it so differently.

The fact that the majority of content grossly mischaracterizes them and is the widely accepted fanon just.. sucks tbh. and the fact that people get so up in arms about them, and literally attack fans of other characters (lottielee fans... travis fans....) for no reason?? all these other characters do is contribute to what makes lottienat such a compelling and fucked up and interesting ship. i love them so much but lwk most of yall are insane and dont even appreciate them for what they really are.

thoughts questions comments concerns hmu

[nikethestatue]

I'll sit here and wait for the canon evidence that proves Elain wants something more with Az than a hookup.

"Az questioned his religion for Elain!" (also, why is that romantic, aren't people supposed to have faith and not doubt when it comes to religion? One guy pouting over what he didn't get isn't more important than the entire foundation on which their world was built). "Az gave Elain TT!" Ok, so where are we shown Elain wants a future with Az? That she loves Az? That she was sooo moved by the lending of his dagger? That she wanted anything more than a distraction? They focus solely on Az (misinterpreting his actions to boot) while completely ignoring that Elain has given zero signals of wanting anything serious with him yet claim how what the FMC wants are the most important thing. So show me the proof that Elain wants an actual relationship with Az, that she has true feelings for him. And no, observing that he rubs his temples is not proof of feelings, she in canon often notices things like this about the world around her.

I'll sit here and wait for the canon evidence of what Az actually likes about Elain as an individual.

Not her charming irreverence, that's what he liked about Gwyn. So what is unique to Elain that he in his own words / thoughts is drawn to? Weird how there's absolutely nothing outside of her looks and scent after 2 years of knowing her.

It's an interesting question, because of course that could be asked about anyone. How do we know that someone is interested in another person?

How did we know that Cassian was interested in Nesta? Most of his thoughts in Wings and Embers were sexual in nature--just as explicit as Azriel's, but also with a touch of violence. The first thing Cassian thinks about when he visits the still-human Nesta are her...ample breasts. And then he tries to kiss her. And then she knees him in the balls.

There are still people here, in the fandom, convinced that Nessian aren't even a thing and that she'll leave him for Eris.

So what's going to convince them? Because obviously a whole huge book hasn't convinced them.

Same with Feysand--firstly it was Feyre who wanted a distraction, not Elain, whose personality just doesn't align with casual sex. But besides that, people are still convinced that Rhys daematied Feyre and she is operating under his mind control.

Again, we had a trilogy plus a novella and they have a child together and people still don't believe that they are IT.

So, I suppose, the question could be posed to you--what makes you think that Elain isn't interested in Azriel? That she wants nothing beyond sex?

Because Elain's been observing him, noticing things about him (his words, not mine), he knows that she knows things about him that no one else does, she's been gifting him Solstice gifts (the only man that she's done that for), she clearly doesn't want him to be in pain or uncomfortable, hence the headache powder and the ear plugs. She KNOWS that he's been avoiding her for a year, and yet she still seeks him out, while expecting nothing.

In both of their cases, if you just want to jump someone's bones, why would you....avoid them? For a YEAR?

So it's interesting that you mention 'charming irreverence', but you don't mention "The faelights gilded Elain's unbound hair, making her glow like the sun at dawn."

You don't mention this either: She hadn't bought her mate a present. But she'd gotten Azriel one last year -- a headache powder he kept on his nightstand at the House of Wind. Not to use, but just to look at. Which he'd done every night he’d slept there.

You also don't mention this: She opened her mouth to ask more, but he didn't feel like explaining. Or demonstrating, since that was surely what she'd ask next.

It's just a simple case of selective reading --it's choose to amplify and concentrate on the things that you like, but you discard pretty much the entirety of Azriel and Elain's interactions in ACOFAS, for example. You also discard the rescue from Hybern. Was it all done just so that Azriel could have sex with her? That's seems like overkill.

The thing is--I am not here to convert anyone into Elrielism. That's not my aim or my job. It's not even my aim to have people 'see' Elriel. Elriel is obvious. If it's your choice to ignore ACOWAR, ACOFAS and ACOSF, then what can I do to convince you? Not a whole lot.

[amphorographia]

Something interesting about Pathologic that I don't see people talk about very often is the fact that technically none of the protagonists are doctors and, of the three, it's actually Artemy that's the closest to a real physician.

The fact that Daniil is specifically referred to as a "Bachelor" of medicine is something that was always sort of confusing to me but is actually extremely telling when put together with all the other details we get about him.

There's an excellent video essay about Daniil's character by Horror Game Analysis which goes into more detail about this [x], but he points out two things about thanatology that I think are really significant:

It was first conceptualised as a field of study in 1903 by Ilya Mechnikov, a Russian-Ukranian immunologist and microbiologist, who felt that there was not enough known about the phenomenon of death itself; and

Thanatology straddles the line between the humanities and the sciences because it's investigations grapple with the physical, psychological, socio-cultural, philosophical, and spiritual elements of death

With all that in mind and Pathologic's ambiguous time period, Daniil could very much be read as the in-game world's equivalent of Mechnikov. Despite his (sort of) alignment with the philosophically-minded Kains, Daniil is consistently shown to be very much focused on the physical components of death. He came to the town hoping that "[Simon's] tissues will help [him] defeat death." Rubin, Artemy, Victor (and Lara, Yulia, Aspity, Anna, and Clara) all need him to collect and examine blood samples for evidence of the disease. Once the plague begins, his focus in on the creation of a vaccine - a tool for immunisation - instead of a cure.

All of the evidence points to Daniil, at his core, being a microbiologist and researcher. His medical knowledge, while far above average, is highly specialised and doesn't indicate that he has any practical experience as a physician. He's not a doctor, he's a bachelor of medicine using his theoretical and academic expertise to fight an impossible disease in the only way he knows.

Now, Artemy does have some practical knowledge. Isidor taught him about the traditional medicine of the town while he was growing up before sending him to "study modern medicine in the academy" when he was 16. However, in his opening description, all we are told is that Artemy is returning from several years of "travelling from town to town learning theoretical and pratical surgery." In Pathologic Classic, Artemy is canonically 26 years old so if he spent 6-7 years travelling, his formal medical education was likely either short or incomplete. Not to mention that the emphasis on Artemy as a surgeon and menkhu (much like Daniil as a bachelor and thanatologist) implies a very specialised area of expertise which, although closely related to practical medicine, is not the same thing.

This is reinforced in a number of ways. For example, while there are multiple dialogue options which let you dismiss the town's local medical practices, they appear mostly (or only) in conversations with outsiders - responding to Daniil's admission of underestimating the value of "steppe medical knowledge" with "there's nothing medical in their knowledge" and telling Block that he has "an education in the civilized world and ha[s] forgotten two thirds of the specific local practices." Ultimately, Artemy is more consistently aligned with the Kin's more bodily approach to medicine. That distinction between Kin and Town is important, since the traditional medicines Artemy makes are not valued or trusted by townspeople and the kin refuse almost all of the modern medicine (specifically antibiotics) sold in the town.

He also seems to be either unfamiliar or seriously out of practice with the more formal language of science and medicine a university-educated physician should know. At several points, Artemy is shown to be dependent on Daniil's medical knowledge, and various members of the town poke fun at him for asking clarifying questions - Boy: "You graduated from a university and this is your question��?" Rubin: "I thought you were [away] studying." Artemy's story is about trying to fill his father's role and, while he succeeds in becoming a menkhu, his position as the town's doctor is less clearly defined even after the plague. While he begins the game with the most practical experience of the three protagonists, the fact that he's not qualified to be a physician but has to act as one is what drives his story forward.

I won't go into Clara since it's obvious she's not a doctor. If anything, she's more like a personification of a cure for this one specific disease (just like her 'twin' is the plague). She couldn't reset a bone or diognose the flu any more than she could synthesise antibiotics or distinguish between bacteria in a blood sample. Still, she's an interesting comparison point and does serve to remind the player that the protagonists don't really represent different approaches to medicine, but different approaches to healing.

The Bachelor is the modern healer of formal scientific practices who sees healing as the result of understanding the body, disease, and their interactions.

The Haruspex is the traditional healer with the spiritual or ancestral right to protected knowledge and practices who sees healing as a reflection of cultural duty, customs, and community.

The Changeling is the divine healer chosen by a Deity (or Deities) to carry out their will on earth who sees healing as an act of religious faith and demonstration of the existence and power of God(s).

[yellowocaballero]

it's kinda sad to me that yahiko can only be Naruto. Back in roleswap you said the Ame 3 were swapped too and i could see how konan and nagato were swapped w the woman being nagato and konan being Sasuke but i was racking my brains trying to figure out how yahiko was swapped... (Other than him being alive when nagato wasn't)... But nope he's just Naruto like in canon but alive lmao

So I am the worst source alive on this, because I barely remember the Pein arc that I last read 15 years ago. I'm not saying I'm correct. I am actively a terrible source. I'm out here just reading the wiki. However.

It seems like he's not exactly Naruto. Actually, it seems like Nagato "God Complex Let's Kill To Stop Killing Pain Is The Purpose" Uzumaki got that idea from Yahiko, exactly as Kakashi got his philosophies and fake personality from Obito. I was surprised to read this, as fanon!Yahiko is really "just basically Naruto", but it looks like he's kinda sketchy. From the same source (just the wiki.) it seems as if Nagato was the sensitive, pacifistic, kind one. TBH, even in canon Nagato was Woman Gendered at first. Trans rights.

I've shown extremely little of Yahiko so far, and the extremely unreliable narrator Kakashi has been interpreting him. When I decided to give him elements of Naruto's personality, it was through making him the kind and gentle and therapy-no-jutsu type. One might wonder if he picked up those traits from the dead Nagato. If so, who is Yahiko underneath that?

You'd think that swapping Naruto characters would be really easy - just, like, have the three man cells pass their genders to the left, it's fine. However, when 1/3 of every group has nothing going on (obviously, either the character who died from the start or the. Woman), there is nothing to swap with, and it actually gets pretty hard. I'm also thinking about group dynamics, needs of the plot, and what's most interesting/funny/fucked up. I'm improvising much more than I normally do.

Trust me, I only go with fanon when it's the most interesting. 'Just kinda Naruto' Yahiko is way less interesting than what he seemed to have going on up there. One of the rules of the story is 'everybody is the exact same person, just different alignments' - so you have to look at the sunshine boy and wonder where is the person who inspired Pein towards supervillainy. He's there. Kakashi just hasn't noticed.

[nicki0kaye]

Look, I know like nothing about SW Legends, I've only watched a handful of shows and the first six movies, so my understanding of the Force and canon at large is very lacking. I have never actually seen the mythological Grey Jedi depicted so have no idea how their philosophy or duties are presented. I literally only know and care about the 'middle' of the force bc of the Bendu

however I still have Strong Feelings about the Grey Jedi, 'Balance' within the Force and what and who the Bendu is, and it's a take I never see, esp when ppl are arguing against the idea Grey Jedi can exist.

I don't think there is a 'right' way to be a force user, and I don't think walking the middle path is like the secret better third option. I think if it as it's described; a walk. An action you do. A journey you take. I've come to associate the middle path with being true to ones self and accepting that Light and Darkness co-exist for a reason. That the Force is not comprised of both of these unintentionally, and that the balance of the two is always going to be something in flux. You cannot have one without the other and you cannot end their dance for dominance in the lives of mortals.

In this way, any search for balance is a balancing act. It is a state of flux where Darkness and Light ebb and flow through someone in accordance to their unique soul born of the Force. That's what makes the middle path distinct; it's an inherently selfish path that prioritizes self-acceptance and living true to ones nature over striving for an unobtainable ideal--be that ultimate tranquility or ultimate power. Those that walk the middle path still care about the Force's will similarly to the standard Jedi, but total submission to the Force's will is weighed against what is right for the individual, with the understanding that more often than not, the two will align.

if I knew more about Buddhism, I'd likely have a better idea of how to differentiate the Lightside Jedi ideal of balance and a middle path ideal of balance. Unfortunately I don't so here's how I reconcile that in my ignorance; balance for the Jedi is still tied to their ideals, inherently favoring the Light and discouraging any dalliances with the dark to reach equilibrium within oneself and within the Force. The middle path allows for one to fuck around with the dark, if it's in service of maintaining balance, primarily on a person-by-person basis. If your true balance is Light-heavy, cool, you can still walk the middle path so long as you're remaining true to yourself. Just like how the Bendu doesn't steer Kanan and Ezra away from the Light, those on the middle path don't try and force their idea of balance on others. They observe and then encourage steps that would bring an individual back into equilibrium.

obviously what fucks with this idea the most is the 'fall' of a Jedi to the darkside and how that's portrayed in Canon as something you can only sorta not really take back. Like it's always handled as a big deal and the implication is often once you go Darkside you can't go back. That isn't true, there's plenty of Jedi in the series who fight their way back to the Light, but it isn't easy and it seems like the sunk cost fallacy weighs heavily in the Dark's favor.

But to me that's more of an ideology problem than a rule of reality. If you accept and are cool with putting your toesies in the Dark now and then but Refuse to outright submit to its will, to seek its boons, to adhere to its ideology, why couldn't you just access it now and then, just as one accesses the Light side? Like it's not shown as easy to balance these two diametrically opposed aspects of reality, but canonical Jedi do it. Mace Windu does it, because he personally, individually, interacts with the Force in a way unique to him and his soul. He's a Lightsider, staunchly and unwaveringly, but what is stopping someone from straddling that line as their actual job? Who consciously chooses to access the Light and Dark when needed? Who interacts with the Force on a sliding scale that otherwise is taboo for Jedi and Sith?

I don't think there's anything stopping them beyond ideology and methodology. I think that the Force is so varied, nebulous and powerful that it's much easier than one might think to just...play in the space without hitting a hard line of Light or Dark, except in very specific cases.

Cuz lets be clear; Light and Dark are concepts created and categorized by mortals FOR mortals so they can rationalize the magic they're able to preform. Even the 'living embodiments' of the Force are hindered by a specific mortal's ideals (worst dad award goes to That Guy). They aren't hard realities; they are squishy tiny minds doing their best to wrap around something vast and unknowable. They are made up rules based on observation and trial and error, tainted by mortal feelings and ideals.

That's why it feels so much like gender to me. It's this thing that is real and has certain hard binaries that feel unquestionable and concrete to most ppl. It's a fact of life, and it's unusual for people to fall outside those boarders. It's also extremely malleable, constantly in flux, specific to and influenced by society--and most importantly, Entirely Fucking Morally Neutral, even tho some ppl want to believe coloring outside the lines makes you a bad person.

The Light and Dark sides are not like Gender in that sense bc choosing to adhere to a side is not neutral at all. They're very impactful and moral decisions, so even trying to find a middle path is also a moral decision that will by the very nature skew one side or the other. I'm sure you could direct the actions of a 'grey' force user and neatly section all they do into boxes and then tally up exactly how much good and evil they participate in, and from that assign them a Light or Dark status.

That's not the fucking point, tho. The point is to embrace the nebulous nature of reality, of individuality. To accept that our ideals are flawed by default bc we are squishy tiny beings incapable of perfect reason or emotional control and we are just making shit up to make things easier for us. That our experience is both shared and unique. That we exist as an individual and within a collective. That life is full of these contradictions and to try and impose order onto it is antithetical to being one with it. That we must try and categorize things to the best of our understanding because that's how we interact with it at all. That we can never be perfect, nor can we fully be authentic to ourselves, as we are always in conversation with ourselves. That one walks in the middle, and the journey is never ending, and there is no goal beyond one we set ourselves, and we are a single speck of the Force; we will never influence it more than it influences us. That we have a responsibility to ourselves, and accepting that requires us to accept the same for others.

I don't think of walking in the middle as amoral. I think it's impossible for someone to be entirely amoral or removed from the wider picture enough to feign it. I look to the Bendu's characterization as a model; he is selfish, in that he didn't want to deal with any of the war. The wider conflict between his siblings and all the little mortals they were influencing didn't interest him. He, however, didn't let Kanan or Ezra stagnate when in crisis on his planet. He guided them gently towards what would bring them balance, despite doing so directly affecting the wider conflict and aiding the Light. I don't think this makes him a hypocrite. I think the individual nature is key, the personal interest, the curiosity. I think he knows his place within reality, and it is not Big Picture Stuff. That's the realm of his siblings. He, by his nature, cannot take a hard stance on anything, because every individual has unique needs and desires, and a unique destiny that will take them through the gambit of what both his siblings have to offer. It'd be antithetical to him to draw a line as one size cannot fit all, and death and conflict are as natural as birth and compromise.

idk those are my thoughts on grey jedi, as a very uneducated person re: the real world concepts Lucas was drawing from and how those concepts have been reinterpreted and conveyed in the expanded world of Star Wars

[dani-luminae]

Good grief, discussing the "magic ban" is so weird in this fandom.

The first book was like "we don't rely on magic so much cause we literally have washing machines so we don't need animals to do it" and people went nuts like OMG THEY MADE MAGIC ILLEGAL!!!! Like no. show me where it says magic is illegal? Mal uses magic: no repercussions (other than social but that's a different discussion). Jane uses magic: she gets scolded by her mom. Nether of them are actually punished.

The exception to this is D4 because the guide book make it more than clear they lost track of canon and confused it with fanon because they do call it a 'magic ban' there but let's be honest. Nothing about D4 aligns with the past movies in the slightest.

Genuinely I think the "magic is discouraged" thing is mostly Disney's excuse as to why we don't see magic galore in the movies, cause they don't have the CGI budget, and that's it.

But also I haven't read the first Isle of the Lost book in a while but as far as I can remember... you're pretty much right. "We have technology so we use it" they say, and somehow people drew the conclusion that magic was straight-out illegal. Magical/fantasy creatures still exist - Aurora and Phillip ensured their castle was big enough to provide lodging for passing trolls. Genie still races around (with council approval for most of it, but that's different than "it's illegal!"). Accidental wish-granting happens. Stuff like that. It's not exactly punished. (Though to note, Jane did get grounded. But still, not really any legal punishment.)

My most genuine opinion on it is that technology and stronger community networks can do so much more than magic can, and without the risk of evil curses and everything else that happened in the past.

People are like "but Merlin Academy is full of magic!" Yes, and shit went wrong every day from the sounds of it. Uliana and her crew were free to run around and be jerks and straight-up ruin their classmates lives???? And even the most well-meaning charms could backfire badly (see: Bridget's cupcakes.)

I guess what I'm getting at is that magic in these movies is also shown to be either A) massively unpredictable in so many ways, or B) straight-up malicious - so no wonder people moved away from it when they could manage to. But there was never said to be a "magic ban" until the fourth movie promo materials, which as said, don't make any sense with the rest of the canon.

(And even then with the greatest example of "good magic" we ever got thrown out - aka Cinderella's transformation - D4 retconned it so FG wasn't even good at magic at the time. So what even is the situation with magic in this series?)

Who even knows anymore. Certainly not the writers!

[candyypirate]

Do you have any hot takes on the Team Dark dynamic? I often see in fandom stuff like them all living together and being a found family, whereas in canon it seems more like bond of convenience which eventually became friendlier

oh yea, plenty LOL it's true their bond is more based on convenience than anything!

they're not canonically friends really or see each other as family, they're moreso allies which upsets a lot of people but that's how the main canon has always done it regardless of what archie made you believe (which isn't canon to the games). you pick up on that and what their nuance actually is when you play through the games in order starting from sa2, where shadow and rouge have quite the strained dynamic! the nuances of their dynamic in all the games in JP are clearer though, while the EN side is a bit misleading with them unfortunately, if not romanticized starting out due to the alters of their dialogue despite the JP intentions being the same.

shadow and rouge have a complicated dynamic and aren't close as many people make them out to be. shadow has very high standards so when someone messes up he'll call you out like he often does, and rouge has been apart of this a few times. (sa2, heroes, JP x, forces) but she also has many skills so when she showcases them he acknowledges them all the same. he has a level of respect towards her for all she's done for him which he has shown to appreciate (sonic battle and JP X) and how her skill can aid him, so he sees her as an ally (as he also stated in sonic battle, a distant ally he specified too in JP) but it doesn't go beyond that. subtlety, he trusts her but also can be hesitate to considering he hesitated to tell her what was going on with what he was doing despite not working together, and she told him nothing in return for what he spoke about which further created a problem for him. (sonic rivals 2) so sometimes he'll not share information with her (06, IDW) and especially if they're not working on the same goal together. she's mysterious and a spy so that's why too, and shadow has expressed a spy hinder a lot of things. (JP x)

she's tried to do things with him as she does care about him which started in heroes, but he often states he's not interested or displays the notion of that. she felt for him due all he's been through and she use to put him on the pedestal because of this (sonic battle) if not also once started to develop feelings for him as stated in the earlier bios, but it's possible she no longer does considering it's no longer mentioned, while her feelings for knuckles is. now she sees shadow more realistically for who he is and no longer goes off about him the way she would. when it comes to emotions between them she's often showcased that she struggles to be vulnerable around him, (heroes, sonic battle, 06) but he is the one whos been able to achieve it the most without trying or even acknowledging she is.

they bicker (or more so one-sided from rouge's half) quite a bit because their interests clash and their methods don't often align which can frustrate rouge, considering shadow is a very extreme and up front while rouge is more elusive and, quite literally more of a spy. plus shadow is very rude and rouge often gets sick of it and his unconventional mindset. but when they share the same goal they work together depending their motivations.

shadow and omega however are much closer. these two have similar mindsets and interests so its exactly why, and they clicked very quickly in heroes and onwards. shadow also becomes subtlety hesitate with his concerns when something bad happens to omega, and especially if shadow isn't distracted by another goal he's focusing on or if they're not in a competition, as shadow can get even more brutal and cold in one (TSR). he also defends his case in forces when rouge is barking at him for being so loud on the mission, telling her she should have known better LOL so he absolutely accepts him for who he is!

omega strongly enjoys shadow and how he operates for how intense he is and you pick up on that in heroes and onwards too. he enjoys what rouge can do as well, but sometimes, considering she's more down to earth, he'll comment on her skills and claim shadow did it better LOL but he respects them both highly as he stated in heroes.

shadow and omega are also distant allies but these two are much casual about it and do not care to become closer and or friendly. they are similar to sonic and knuckles' dynamic, but much more distant and not as emotionally open.

regardless, SEGA describes the three of them as "an undesirable but inseparable team." as I just summarized it all for ya of how and why. they're very interesting as they canonically are and I do wish the fandom would respect that more! but maybe one day, that would be awesome.

there's a TSR interview in JP that helps you figure out these guys a bit stronger too, give it a read it's real fun!

rouge and omega also recently had a sonic channel story together! it's a silly situation but the base of their canon dynamic is still present, so you can learn more about them here in action!

[robinwithay]

robyn's top/bottom/sub/dom azicrow analysis or Nobody Asked: The Post

so. i think it makes the most sense, thematically, for Aziraphale to be a sub(ish) bottom, and Crowley to be a dom(ish, service) top.

a bold claim, perhaps, i grant you. hear me out.

i'm gonna start by saying that ultimately, i think they are both very capable of switching - i just believe they also both have strong preferences. also that this is just my opinion, and i'm not trying to attack anyone in particular or piss anybody off by making this post. i'm writing it for fun, feel free to ignore it.

let's get something straight, shall we? top, bottom, dom and sub have NOTHING to do with the way that you look or move. nothing. zip. zilch. nada.

being a top, a bottom, a dom or a sub, and indeed the ability to switch between and combine any of those, are all in your personality and dynamic(s) with your sexual partner(s), and even sometimes whether you are physically able to take a particular role. your body type and look can contribute to those dynamics if you participate in certain gay subcultures, but even then, it isn't exactly set in stone.

there are implications to topping/bottoming in terms of angel and demon characters specifically, i think. there is duality in both; topping can be seen as dominating, subjugating and taking, but it can also be a selfless act of service, of giving, even of worship. bottoming, likewise, can be seen as lazy and self-indulgent, letting the focus be on you and your pleasure, or it can be seen as passive and innocent, an inactive role. it's probably worth mentioning that it's usually in cishet sex that topping is seen as taking and bottoming is seen as passive, and the opposite in queer sex. obviously, A+C are undeniably queer as fuck, no matter your headcanons.

considering Aziraphale and Crowley's characterizations, where they generally align with what you expect of an angel and a demon but also rebel against those expectations in their own way - Aziraphale being a hedonist, bastard angel and Crowley being a kind, moral demon - i think it fits best for Crowley to be the selfless one, and Aziraphale to be the one indulged. this is also what we're shown is their dynamic canonically, as well.

Aziraphale likes to be rescued, Crowley likes to be his rescuer. Aziraphale passes over the opportunity to do something good and selfless, something that a demon would otherwise have no reason to do, to Crowley every time he gets himself in trouble, and how intentional that is is another discussion entirely. he loves to be the damsel in distress, and we have no idea how long that's been going on, really - how long he might have been doing that just for an excuse to see Crowley before realizing that Crowley liked it, too. that's getting into the weeds of speculation a little bit, but based on what we see in the show, the fact remains that Aziraphale indulges Crowley in his fantasy of being a protector while he is vulnerable and swooning.

i have no doubts whatsoever that Aziraphale is actually capable of rescuing himself, but that's not the point - it's one of their rituals. it's a scene. Aziraphale textually acknowledges the fact that he likes to be taken care of, and that he knows Crowley likes to take care of him, in S2E5 - "rescuing me makes him so happy!"

we all agree he's Anthony J. "Acts of Service" Crowley, right? why would that not translate to the bedroom?

i think this also relates to their respective purposes given by Heaven and Hell. we know Aziraphale is made as a guardian, a warrior, a fighter with a flaming sword. as an angel, Crowley is a creator, a studious inventor, and then as a demon, he is the tempter, a sssneaky sssnake who uses words and manipulation; someone who uses brains over brawn, either way.

in their relationship, Crowley and Aziraphale allow one another to shed these given roles and embrace the opposite of their purpose. Aziraphale was MADE to fight, it's what Heaven expects of him (he's expected to fight in the war at Armageddon, after all) but he's...soft. he gave away his sword out of selflessness and refuses to fight in the war, openly dislikes conflict, violence and tbf, exercise as well. Gabriel calls him soft in s1 and appears to be referring to his physicality; regardless of the fact that an angel probably shouldn't particularly understand or care about human beauty standards, Aziraphale seems to feel some guilt about the fact he's soft, both physically and mentally. it's not what he was built for, but he also clearly likes the way he is - he could change it, but he doesn't. he likes to be soft, a creature of comfort. it just doesn't gel with what Heaven made him for.

(as an aside, i think this is part of the reason that the widely-accepted headcanon that Aziraphale is secretly very fit and buff bothers me, personally.)

but because Crowley loves him, it's alright. Crowley in his role as protector takes the responsibility of being that strong warrior Aziraphale is supposed to be away from him, says "it's okay that you're not what Heaven made you for, you don't have to be. i'll do it for you." and in return, Aziraphale allows Crowley to be something a demon is not supposed to be - a hero of the story, a saviour. Aziraphale IS fiercely protective of others, still, especially humans, so this is arguably also Crowley saying "you protect everyone else, but who's protecting you?"

Crowley isn't physically strong either, but he doesn't have to be to protect Aziraphale. Aziraphale clearly has so much faith in Crowley's ability to think and talk his way around a problem, to put those devilish smarts to good use. again, in S2E5, he says "Crowley will be back in a moment, he will have a plan."

this swapping of roles, to me, supports the idea that they would also swap roles when it comes to sex. Aziraphale is indulged, Crowley indulges him.

i think fandoms have a problem - well okay, they have a lot of problems actually - but the problem HERE is the knee-jerk reaction that expectations MUST be subverted.

sometimes expectations don't need to be subverted, sometimes tropes exist for a reason. it can in some cases even be actively unhelpful, disregard authorial intent and clear characterization to attempt to subvert tropes via headcanon. i see this issue A LOT as a masculine lesbian; masculine sapphic characters are often softened and feminized ("they secretly love makeup and fem things") by fandom because it makes them more palatable, under the guise of subverting expectations. that's not to say that there aren't masculine sapphics who do like traditionally feminine things, of course there are, but when i see it happen repeatedly to masculine sapphic characters, it starts to form a disconcerting pattern. there is nothing wrong with masculine sapphics who like feminine things - i am one myself - but nor is there anything wrong with masculine sapphics who fulfill every stereotype and expectation in the book.

i, unfortunately, often find myself thinking the same thing about Aziraphale and Crowley. don't get me wrong, the GO fandom is very different from others i've been in, and a lot of the fluid gender representation i see in the fancontent here is absolutely wonderful. unfortunately, i do still feel like i see a lot of railing against the idea that Aziraphale is how he is portrayed in canon; a soft, fat, feminine, perhaps sometimes borderline stereotypical pansy-esque gay man(-shaped being) who traditionally would also be assumed to bottom and/or sub, and force him to fit headcanons that frankly don't seem in-character at all or defy what we are shown to be the truth in canon, all in the name of subverting expectations.

i could honestly say more but i fear what i've said already is confusing enough so i'll stop there. if you get it, you get it, i guess, and please remember that i'm not trying to upset anybody here. i sort of half-joked about making this post and a couple people actually showed interest in reading it, so i wrote it!

don't even get me started on how i think Aziraphale is a brat, i have the receipts

anyways, i'll leave you with the Word Of Sheen;

[deafeningfanlight23]

*SLAMS RANT ABOUT ECLIPSE'S PSYCHOLOGY AGAINST TABLE AND LEAVES*

[BRO I'M SORRY BUT I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING AT THIS LMAOO XDDD LIKE, BRO, I CAN BE SO FUNNY AND COMEDY GOLD SOMETIMES, Y'ALL GIVE ME A STAGE CUZ THIS GIRL GOTTA HAVE A CROWD 😭🙏 Just a joke :3]

In MY interpretation that doesn't HAVE to be YOURS and is NOT CANON and MADE out of FUN and NOT malice [LMAO I SOUND LIKE A LAWYER WHO KNOWS IS WRONG BUT TRIES TO EXCUSE A CRIMINAL XD], Eclipse is able to experience some empathy and care. However, there is a twist: It’s nothing more than some form of pseudo-empathy and care one could describe as falling out of the bunch that align with social norms and are the expected normality.

Here is my reasoning:

During the time he was with Lunar, he "cared" about him. Due to his immense fear of showing vulnerability that would be used against him, however, he has never actively shown it. He simply expected Lunar to pick up on that. But once Lunar turned him his back, he suddenly stopped caring, as if it seemingly got thrown out the window. Why? Because he only cared about Lunar because he was a source for him to push his own ego. It was a source for him to pull him out of the miserable state he had been caged in, to assure himself that he wasn’t weak and powerless, and to feed into his superiority complex that he uses as a shield. He actually didn’t care to make Lunar feel good – This was a thought that barely, and if, only rarely crossed his mind – it was about to make himself feel good. To bring it to the point: It was self-interest. Lunar was obedient, a small little puppet he could move around like a chess piece – One that he could control and dominate, in a way. That was the point: He could CONTROL him. It gave him this sense of power, but especially control he so desperately craves, which evolved into a form of complicated pseudo-care. With self-interest, however, persisting. It’s almost an obsession of his, one could say. Since the beginning of his life, when he cracked his eyes the first time open and was met with the pinky swirls and flowing clouds of an endless, echoing and isolating mindscape, he hadn’t felt in control. And he WASN’T in control. He didn’t have ANY control, any power, not even scraps of it which he could cling onto. He was helpless, like a newborn puppy abandoned on the cold and rainy street. This is why he tries to REGAIN control and power – And he got this through Lunar. But eventually, as Lunar betrayed him, this control and power slipped from his hands – And so his pseudo-care.

But he thought that he cared at the beginning. He doesn't seem to understand himself and makes assumptions of how he is supposed to be.

His pseudo-empathy, or fake empathy, is like the psychological definition: The understanding of the thoughts, feelings, or emotional state of another person, but without identification, care or urge to improve their condition. Sure, he sometimes can feel a bit of empathy for someone, but he also singles out some people and simply doesn’t care or either uses it to HIS advantage. He has a skill in manipulation, knows how to use a person’s emotional state to his advantage. His impulsivity leads him to act immediately upon his desires most of the time, and question his actions/choices later - But ONLY around people he has this pseudo-care about.

Remorse is also a complicated thing for him. It has a similarity with his pseudo-empathy: He singles out the people who he simply doesn’t ‘care’ about and could do the most monstrous things to and brush it off like it was nothing out of the ordinary. Example: Moondrop.

However, when it’s about Lunar, we already discussed how he has pseudo-care when it comes to him. So, like how we saw in the aftermath of slapping him, he will question himself, or even feel a bit bad – But it won’t last long. It’s like a feeling that nags at him for a moment or two but ultimately brushes past him. It’s also because he convinces himself that he didn’t do anything wrong, denies any involvement, to not confront that he, too, can make mistakes, and most importantly: That he can have soft spots and vulnerabilities, though he tries to keep it shut.

Remember that this is all just interpretation and speculation, which means it's subjective and made out of silly fun! :D You can share your interpretations as well, I'd love to read them! :D

ANYGAYS, THANKS FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK Y'ALL, HOPE IT MADE SENSE, AND SEE YA LATER! :D Sending platonic hugs 🤗 or platonic fist-bumps 🤛 or a platonic goodbye 👋 :D

[sapphic-agent]

Here my new ask. Its about Shiggy!

I always will love the dream sequence and I do think it was better in the manga but is odd how Shig is saying "I forgive you Hana" and wake up to destroy everything and everyone.

I know people can feel more than one emotion. "I love Susan but I fear her" sure sure but Shig's only time ever saying those words of forgiviness ...should mean smth.

Yet...it doesn't.

Also...when in the dream sequel Shig kills his dad again...I dont see him happy about, he seems shocked and sad.

1) is Shig an unreliable narrator? To me, yes. But Hori wont explore this.

2) if afo was forcing those memories...for what reason? It was crucial for Shig to suffer and be mad forever? Does afo feed on hate? Bc I swear the amount of things Afo has done in canon towards Shig should have made Shig resent the fuck out of him

3) the ghost of his family try to save him(kotaro, who fandom sees as a monster while still cheering for Endy tries to do smth) and failed....what Izu can do here? Ge barely knows Shig.

4)Shig wake up serve cunt (that scene was cool. I give him that) and....as you said before is shallow. The dream sequence meant nothing, his family meant nothing to him. Actually his emotions meant nothing for the damn story.

5) afo made bold assumptions that Shig would still be his brainless pawn...and only works bc Hori says so. In true, Shig should have dessert him a long time ago (shig got shoot on the ua invasion. Shig got the hands of his parents and afo laughs)

It was such a cool sequence...it seems it would go somewhere but is hollow. Ita just a waste. Even more as he says he wont forgive anyone (while I get Izu saying "I wont forgive you" this line works way better for bk or aizawa. Feels strangely personal for a man Izu interacted 2 times only and shig canonically has Izu on his mind, knows he is quirkless and likes quirkless stuff never try to contact Izu)

1. Shigaraki is indeed an unreliable narrator! I forgot which user brought it up, but his narration and the actions taken by his younger self don't align. He says that he wanted to and reveled in killing his family, but the expression on his face through it all is broken. He doesn't look happy or gleeful, he looks horrified and desperate. Even with his awful father, he's shown reaching out for him and only changes when his father hits him. AFO's conditioning affected him in ways he doesn't understand, he's trapped by the undisputable (to him) fact that he's a villain who craves destruction

2. AFO is a master manipulator. He doesn't feed on hate, he feeds on how vulnerable and usable Shigaraki becomes when fueled by that hate. You'll notice he never scolds Shigaraki for his temper. He knows if Shigaraki stays petulant and full of anger, AFO can use it against him later. Shigaraki has started to realize that he's being manipulated, but it's overshadowed by the box AFO's forced him into

3. See, this is why we needed more interaction between Izuku and Shigaraki than we got. Other than the mall scene they barely interacted before the war. I've always said that Shigaraki was Izuku's parallel. They're two sides of the same coin. Izuku doesn't understand Shigaraki, he said so himself at the mall. You can't save someone you don't understand long-term. There should have been a scene- any kind of scene- where they're stuck together, can't attack one another, and forced to talk. Even if they can't (and shouldn't) come to an agreement, they still would have a better understanding of one another

4. Hori is too focused on making Shigaraki narrow minded and hellbent on destruction to give him any other emotion

5. Yeah... The lack of agency Hori forced on Shigaraki after just giving him agency wasn't the best. He isn't someone who's weak-willed. He's insanely stubborn and resilient

[inverted-typo]

do you have any thoughts on raven and trigon's relationship?

Boy do I ever!!

More canon-adjacent I like that Raven basically rejects everything that Trigon is. Trying to do that with a normal parent is hard but when your dad is literally an embodiment of evil and straight up a dimension-conquering demon I can imagine that to be a bit more complicated. I thought the idea in the DCAU that she deadass has him trapped in her gem was really interesting because she's never had to deal with him so up close and personal for so long before. I like to think even though Trigon has 0 ability to be nothing but ruthless and evil, he has a level of respect for his daughter even though he talks down to her and threatens to take away everything that means something to her. I think that's shown somewhat in depictions of the two. Clearly he's upsetti spaghetti that the one successful and powerful spawn he has is like: LMAO I HATE MY DAD. I think that struggle when you really think about it is really easily glossed over. Also I love how Trigon was utilized in Apokalypse because WE DON'T GET GOOD TRIGON MOMENTS. We haven't seen him in action like that for a minute.

But in other variations I like to think it's less of an extreme scenario and Raven wishes so badly things could have been different. I also hope in another universe Trigon does actually at the very least like Raven to some capacity. It's also always really fun to play with the idea of "What ifs". What if Raven was more aligned with her demon half? What if she completely follows in her father's footsteps and is a bringer of chaos and horror? What if the monks of Azarath's teachings didn't work? Imagine the satisfaction and twisted bond they could have had if Raven was like: yeah cool let's kill everyone. Trigon would be so proud of her.

Ultimately, I'd like to know if Trigon actually thinks of her as his daughter rather than just a tool he created.

The Trigon and Raven dynamic is so interesting mostly because of the immense burden that is put on Raven, and how she chooses to defy and reject the evil in her blood. Also, on that note, this poor girl was rejected or hidden away for most of her life. The fact she found home in the Teen Titans is so beautiful ;;

[bleachbleachbleach]

Hi, guys! I was wondering, what are your favourite Bleach intros and why? Genuinely curious about this

@whipplefilter: I'm a fake fan and don't have strong attachments to any of the Bleach music, but looking back through my off-the-top-of-my-head faves, they all have two things in common! They all have some kind of engagement with urban environments, and they all prominently feature Matsumoto. Which, like, very on brand of me, albeit unconsciously!

Top Fave: Ranbu No Melody - SID

AKA what we here at B3 call "the marble OP." I know it's the hougyoku, whatever. I'm into the experimental, subject-less first third of this OP, though, which is just a series of urban environmental shots, shown first in full and then with an overlay reminiscent of a film negative. The intensity/gravity/bananasness of having moved and replaced Karakura with Fake Karakura is minimized in the story itself, but I feel like it comes roaring in this OP, and I love it.

And then we have this GORGEOUS shot of Matsumoto (crying over Ichimaru's dead body), which is beautifully rendered and also makes my heart hurt for her. And I think it's cool that it plays forwards and also judders backwards--there's a destabilzation of time/affect happening that intrigues.

Also, I actually do like the song itself! The refrain as the imagery changes from urban stills to character motion makes my heart flutter.

2nd Place: Rolling Star - YUI

Nothing but wins here, honestly. More Matsumoto, and Ichimaru's representative ghost holding her in a strangling embrace. (Her hair also seems a bit shorter than usual, so either it's caught up in the way his body is pressing against her back, or it's from an earlier point in canon--either reading delights me.)

Then we have Ichigo manspreading in a hipster loft/cafe and the Advance Team in a different industrial hipster cafe, with RENJI AND HIS HAT, and it's all gold. (Not pictured but imminently entering the third screenshot is Matsumoto, just to note the Matsumoto quotient required of all my fave OPs.)

3rd Place: Shoujo S - SCANDAL

I mostly like this one because it's the "Dancing Girls OP," and I especially love Orihime and Rukia dancing their duet, because the physicality of their bodies and movements brings out the ways they contrast and complement each other.

But the "Shinigami in Random Urban Settings" motif isn't to be slept on here, either! LOOK, IT'S SASAKIBE POSING WITH SOMEONE'S LAUNDRY. YAMAMOTO WITH A VENDING MACHINE.

✨✨✨ AND KIRA MOODILY SHARING AN ALLEYWAY WITH SOMEONE'S 2005 HONDA ACCORD. ✨✨✨

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

@ippoddity Ngl I am not good at remembering OPs off the top of my head and I also don’t have any strong attachments to any of them, because I never watched Bleach while it was airing. I also don’t know the names of any of these songs, I only know them by nicknames LOL.

For some reason, my top favs also align pretty closely with my co-blogger’s. I’ve been sitting here just trying to bring OPs to mind, and the "Marble OP" is one of the most memorable. I’ll also always remember “Hitsugaya Cafe”, because we spent a long time trying to color match Renji’s hat. (whipple: I could not for the life of me find the additional version where actual color balancing was involved, though you'd think it'd be a reblog of that post or at least appear in the archive around the same time. Choosing to believe Tumblr deleted it out of Hatgate censorship!!) “Dancing Girls” will always be a fav, because I think this was one of the first times I tried to make a GIF? And it was simply because I love everyone in their girl group era.

chAngE - miwa

I also have to give a shoutout to this song, because it is one of the few OPs that I know how it goes off the top of my head. The animation is also gorgeous and has a lot of fun action shots!

STARS - w.o.d

I will admit that I didn’t really like the song itself when it was first introduced, but it really grew on me over time. Plus, I really love the animation. It’s such a fun modern AU. I mean, who can resist Ichigo wielding a double-necked guitar like he’s going to bludgeon someone with it?

[blazinginferno626]

CNPD King Dice

Recently I learned that apparently there are categories for Narcissists. Such as Unprincipled narcissist, Amorous narcissist, Elitist narcissist, and the one I think fits King Dice from the cuphead show a compensatory narcissist. Now for those who don’t know what compensatory narcissist personality disorder (a.k.a CNPD) is it’s a mental disorder characterized by narcissistic qualities that cover underlying emotions of inadequacy. The symptoms for cnpd are the following:

Now as seen throughout the series it’s clear that he (at least seemingly) has a high opinion of himself. Then I remembered how dd said king dice was deeply insecure and noticed how a lot of his behavior kind of aligns with this type of narcissism.

Like for the most obvious one seeks fame and prominence in order to compensate for a lack of self-worth. As seen when he lost his job, his fame, and fortune he became a wreck of a man as seen in down and out when he was living on the streets. DD even said that they thought of giving him a new job as a car salesman, but that idea was scrapped because it was out of character for him not to be depressed. He even said himself without his show, or audience he’s nothing. He also returned to having a feeling of superiority when he got back into the spotlight calling the audience in cuphead’s club “the little people”. 

The next symptom that’s fairly obvious is driven by a desire for glory and status. It’s pretty clear that one of King Dice’s main goals in life is to be famous or to be the devil’s number 1. He clearly desires to be the best and have a high status in life. 

I also think that experiencing sadness and self-disgust as a result of his or her extravagant expectations not being met is also a symptom he shows. In down and out he was extremely depressed after he lost everything. He said he was all washed up. He also didn’t have any faith in himself to regain his stardom. Saying he couldn’t do it on his own since his falling out with the devil.  

Enjoys illusions of greatness, striving for perfection, genius, or popularity at all times. That one is pretty self-explanatory and also fits King Dice to a t. 

Uses pseudo-arrogance and pseudo-grandiosity to mask feelings of inadequacy and insufficiency. This one I think could be more implied when dd said that King Dice was deeply insecure. But I still feel like this one fits when looking at canon.  When King Dice said that without his show or audience, he’s basically admitting he needs them to feel some form of superiority. This is also kind of shown when after performing at the club King Dice calls the audience (little people) regaining a sense of arrogance. 

Now those are really all of the symptoms I could find in canon the rest are more headcanons I have for him. But I digress, I am also aware I did something similar to this but that was before I was aware there was an actual type of narcissism like this and what it implies for king dice. This narcissism implies KD needs the approval of others and he masks it with an inflated sense of superiority that’s very easy to take away from him as he has no sense of self-worth or adequacy that all comes from how other perceive him. 

[cocogum]

how did you calculate the adult trio's bday? 😮

Hi Anon! Thanks for asking me this question! I was actually hoping that someone would have asked me this and I’m glad it came sooner than I expected. Well to answer your question, it was mainly fun and easy to find Hisoka’s and Chrollo’s but a bit tricky with Illumi’s. I don’t fully trust what the anime gives us as numbers so I mainly relied on the manga. So to find out their birthdates I decided to first find solid concrete evidence of the year this was all taking place in.

Illumi and Hisoka partook in the 287th hunter exam with the main four which was back in 1999. I found the year thanks to chapter 146 where Killua exits Greed Island to apply for the hunter exam a second time and we see a sign hanging from a store building which gave us the exact year of when this was all occurring as well as the month and the day. According to the sign, the date is said to be December 29th, 1999.

The 287th hunter exam, just like any other hunter exams, starts on January 7th so the hunter exam arc all the way to Greed Island arc takes place in 1999.

Now that I had the year, all I had to do now was find the adult trio’s respective birth years.

How I found Hisoka’s birth year.

EDIT: okay so due to the fact that I made a slight mistake on Hisoka’s birthday, (I thought his actual age came from the databook when in reality his age was never mentioned in there) that meant I wasn’t actually able to find out his canonical birth year I’m so sorry I should’ve been more aware on the fact that his ‘birthday’ was just a fan theory and nothing more. This man is such a mystery even his own birthday is an enigma. I took off his supposed birth year from the list though so that should be better now.

Hisoka’s was the easiest of the three.

His full official birthday was already listed and placed with the main four’s birthdays so there was no need to search for his for very long. His birthday completely aligns with the main four’s birthdays as well (Leorio -> March 3 3/3, Kurapika -> April 4th 4/4, Gon -> May 5th 5/5, Hisoka -> June 6 6/6, Killua -> July 7th 7/7).

How I found Chrollo’s birth year.

Chrollo’s was actually pretty fun to find.

In chapter 95, he talks to Neon about her ability and gives her what she needs in order to activate her ability. He gave her his full name, birthday and blood type. When Neon finally saw his answers, she comments on how old he actually is when she saw that the man was 26 years old.

Since this scene took place in Yorknew City during September in the same year of 1999, I simply calculated his birth year thanks to his age (so all I pretty much had to do was do 1999 - 26 = 1973).

How I found Illumi’s birth year.

Illumi’s was a bit puzzling in the beginning but I did find it.

Unlike Chrollo’s (where his age has already been shown in the manga), Illumi’s age nor his birth year ever appears in the story. So I had to rely on another reliable source that could help me -> “The HxH Hunter Association Official Issue: Hunter’s Guide: Character & World Official Databook”. Thankfully, the book was able to give me his age which was 24 years old when he took the 287th hunter exam. So now all I had to do was calculate the year we first see him and what his age was at the time (1999 - 24 = 1975).

And there we go! I hope my explanation for each of them was easy to understand.

If you also want to find out how I found the year in which the 287th hunter exam took place in with more details, then go look here.

Hope this helped!