#it's mostly copium I assume

[mihidecet]

I am experiencing many thoughts head full. I will try to put them in words - consider them observations, theories and like ... plot points? All of this is based on what I have understood and interpreted, so if anything I say is wrong or sounds wrong, please do feel free to correct me.

So, Purgatory day one.

An important prelude is that I was watching Philza, so my POV was of Red team.

I did not get to see it till the end, but I did catch some clips - including the one where he gets killed by Fit while surrounded by others and not even fighting back.

And the cognitive dissonance of seeing Charlie screaming while everyone else was silent was so strong?? I had almost forgotten they all went into separate discord channels.

And like - they never do, at least not that I remember? Even when they were split in teams in past events, they used proximity chat still, right? So they could still hear others.

And the whole thing about collaboration and communication being thrown out the window?

I assume that this is part of the Federation's plan and it is working TOO WELL. Telling them their kids lives are on the line was perfect.

[Potential spoiler if you haven't seen Quackity's stream]

Q was even told he'd be sowing discord between them and such, but like ???? he doesn't even have to do anything.

HOWEVER as I mentioned yesterday (in tags, I was in a hurry) I feel like there is a pretty clear way to approach this situation - and that is collaboration.

Why would they go through all the effort of killing each other and compete when they could simply help eachother? it's not like they're strangers to each other. it's not like they can't communicate.

I'd wager it would potentially be much more easy to complete the tasks if they helped eachother. And from what I remember, the recording did not say anything about not helping eachother.

Furthermore, it would be extremely useful to not have a losing team. And that, to me, is quite obvious since the losing team risks losing their eggs.

And except for BBH and Fit, every parenting group is split between the teams, right?

So why wouldn't, say, all the brazilians want to make sure none of them lost? if any of them did, they'd be risking Richa's life!

With all of this (kinda little and silly) reasoning, what I'm thinking of right now is: if this were to happen (aka if somebody were to try and spark collaboration between teams), who would it be?

The first trio that I thought would do this were Jaiden, Bad and Foolish, since they used to be pretty close in canon - but Jaiden and Foolish are on the same team, and BBH killed Charlie which was in my opinion one of the first pushes to the downfall of team red into chaos and despair (I wish I was exaggerating).

Tina and Foolish, or Phil and Etoiles, are also some people that come to mind as people that bonded really strongly and are not currently on the same team.

Then there's the canon/fanon ships.

I have to admit that I don't know if Cellbit and Roier fought yesterday - and if they did, I don't know how it went.

But after Pac put up posters to keep away Cell and Fit promised to keep him safe ... I cannot imagine Pac would be too thrilled to see Fit looming over him ready to kill.

And like so many others but my brain is not collaborating atm.

The only thing that I think won't happen is any attempt at collaboration coming from red team - they're the underdogs and they got burnt real bad yesterday, so I feel like they'd be extra suspicious of anyone not part of their team. Which is a shame, since they're also some of the most rp heavy players.

Don't really know where I was going with all of this.

I think overall I just hope to see them all together again - yesterday stream was fun but also kinda stressful xD

[eruanee]

On Round 7 and the utility of sacrifice

⚠️ ROUND 7 SPOILERS ⚠️

I wanted to use this post to respond to some criticism I've seen circulating about Round 7 — it mostly being about Till's death making Ivan's sacrifice useless.

To be fair, this post doesn't aim to dismiss anyone's feelings or criticisms about R7 or Till's (presumed) death, they're all incredibly valid! I even have my own that I will talk about later. This post's only goal is really just to start a conversation about the general narrative of ALNST and how to write a compelling narrative in general. No matter what I'll say, people resonate with stories differently and expect different things from them, and that's okay!

Personally, I truly didn't expect Till to die. Before R7 came out, I even texted a friend saying this:

– If one of them has to die, I think it'll be Luka. Till's protagonist syndrome is too strong and his death would be narratively flat, I believe. – Yeah.

And well, shot missed, unlike the one that shot through Till's neck.

Though, I really do believe Till might not be dead, not only because of the #copium but this isn't really the point of this post — I will assume he is so I can discuss what his death would actually mean to the narrative and how it would impact it.

I understand that no one (including myself) expected R7 to go that way. A lot of it had us realizing we might have gotten some elements of the story wrong — something I didn't take into consideration is that the round was probably rigged to make sure Luka would win, which makes sense because of course that Alien Stage isn't the fairest competition (and if Ivan's pictures on the billboards aren't part of Till's hallucinations, this is plainly evil).

R7 also had us wondering what the goal of the rebels truly is: did they even intend to save Till? If not, why did they save Mizi, what did they see in her? Unlike what I first thought, like many others, it seemingly wasn't a rescue mission.

When I watched R7 for the first time, I audibly gasped the moment I saw the "Luka wins" sign appears and Till being shot down. And I thought "Ah, so that's the kind of story VIVINOS wanted to make." I was already a huge fan of their work before ALNST began, mostly of their horror stuff. When I watched it, I knew I was about to sit in front of absolutely devastating content that would leave me sick. The tragedy was always cruel, often unrewarding, but I would always ask for more. Good thing ALNST now exists, uh!

I mention this to state I went into ALNST expecting roughly the same thing and it's essentially what I got. I didn't expect Till to die but his death, in a way, didn't surprise me. Did it make me sick though? It sure did!

I do agree R7 feels incomplete. I think it's interesting that I have not a single idea of what's going to happen next, but my biggest regret is indeed that Till's death doesn't seem to do justice to his character or characterization.

Till, the rebellious misfit, always breaking rules to the point he has to be physically restrained, completely beaten by despair and trauma once again, dying on stage after he got a slight glimpse of hope he can never actually reach.

This is peak tragedy, and a beautifully animated one at that, but it doesn't feel like a compelling character development. If Till is truly dead, then he dies with the potential of being so much more. And this is truly sad and disappointing.

And this is why his death would make me sadder than Sua's or Ivan's. They got to choose their deaths and what it would mean for them, Till didn't. He was suffering and overwhelmed. He only accepted his fate because he got to know Mizi was still alive before his final moments. He got to die in her embrace, which is probably the only thing he could've asked for if that were to happen.

Sua's death got to introduce us to the reality of Alien Stage.

Ivan's death was an emotional climax. It conclused his character arc in a devastating way, but gave him a meaningful ending nonetheless.

Their deaths let us understand what kind of world Alien Stage takes place in : a cruel world where humans are pets to aliens, if not simple disposal. A world where feelings are never reciprocated until it's too late, where you long for something impossible until you realize you should've paid attention to what was right in front of your eyes, too.

Alien Stage is a show where the candidates' suffering are seen and consumed as mere entertainment.

In this system, I believe Sua's and Ivan's meaningful deaths are anomalies. Till's death is the standard. An extremely unfair event, result of an extremely unfair competition. This isn't about who deserves to survive, but about who manages to. If anything, I think the aliens are relieved Till is dead, as he was mostly a bother to them. Luka is beloved and accommodating.

A world where death is the easy escape, if not almost a selfish one. Sacrifice is an act of love, but also an act of egocentricity. The sacrifice aims to be remembered as selfless and generous, but in the end, they only "run away without any sense of responsibility". The gift sounds beautiful when actually, it might only be rotten.

In such a world, how can a sacrifice ever be useful? I guess Ivan's wasn't. A sacrifice only happens to create a possibility, a chance, a what if.

Another very frustrating part of Till's death to me is that I thought he had the power to be a protagonist. I still stand by it but he was robbed of this agency. Him being used as a narrative device for Mizi's protagonist plotline (at least that's what I believe) feels a bit cruel, even narratively.

Alien Stage can be a frustrating story because it seems there is no way out, which is ultimately not something people are seeking for very often in a story. I still hope there's a way out somewhere, maybe not for Till, but that would already be something.

As for now, it seems Mizi's role is to manage to make Sua's sacrifice, as well as all of these deaths, worth something. This is the 50th season of Alien Stage. The pile of corpses is leaking red.

I do wonder where the story is going to head.

At the very least, Till wasn't unknown till the end. You could say that being loved, even for a blink, makes one's life worthy to be lived.

[reivunzu]

ik almost everyone is mad about what we currently have of 271 (assuming that’s not all of it, because it doesn’t seem like a complete chapter), but like… i think people are forgetting things.

1. this is gege akutami’s FIRST manga. ofc its gonna be a little jank. people criticize wayyy too harshly when shonens are famous for being difficult to end in a satisfying manor.

2. from what i know, jump magazine has a horrendous scheduling system. i think gege having to take a month off over the summer due to illness may have affected the amount of chapters we were able to get before jjk was scheduled to end (mostly alleged and theory on my part, if im being honest. but something to consider)

3. to add on to the last point, im 99% positive the anime will deliver a better ending. we got more junpei characterization, added and changed scenes in both seasons, and it’s really not out of the question for gege to want to make changes later in a few years.

some of this might be copium!! ill be the first to admit that. there’s still a chance for it to be better, and i still want to do my own analysis on it.

anyways, i’m just saying that it would be better to consider handling this with a little more grace :) i know there are people who hate gege for taking the story down the route it did, but at the end of the day, it’s gege’s story and i’m glad they focused on how they wanted to write it instead of the people’s. of course it could be better. i expect it should be better, or will be when it’s animated.

again, maybe copium.

but i love this story too much to hate it now.

[monosanimegenericzone]

Hunter x Hunter: Specialist Scarlet Eyes idea 1.

@masakuterarr <- what have you done to me

long post ahead and a lot of copium.

so back on my kurta shal bullshit in the hypothetical that he does have full scarlet eyes. what does that mean? well ill tell you.

according to togashi the scarlet eyes give the user a massive boost in aura and kurapika created a condition called emperor time to make himself a specialist and give him control over all 6 categories of nen.

and guess who (in this scenario) has scarlet eyes and knows how kurapika works.

shalnark.

now this is assuming two things: one, pakunoda scanned killua and has the memory of kurapika's hatsu explanation in full detail, meaning she transferred it to shalnark and the other five founding members before she died. two, the scarlet eyes grant an equal amount of power to every kurtan who had them.

ok so. scarlet eyed kurta shalnark right.

he has never used his scarlet eyes for nen related purposes because he has conditioned himself to hide them by containing his emotions to such a degree its scary. he probably doesn't even know about the power boost until pakunoda memory bombs him.

that being said, before greed island is introduced, he begins to entertain the idea that he could possibly use the specialist's power. what for you might ask?

to bring back the dead :)

there are a lot of things shalnark can use this power for, but he's just come off of mourning uvo and then witnessing paku drop dead in front of him. and now chrollo is suspended by a nen curse.

so on one hand, he could move forward and develop an ability that could remove nen curses. become an exorcist type and use his power to outright crush the curse.

but on the other hand. he can go backwards and undo the mistakes of the yorknew and make things right by starting where they first went wrong.

and so he decides to be selfish.

first its a struggle to remember how to make his eyes go scarlet and then the practice of harnessing that excess aura to replicate kurapika's specialist typing.

the first step goes easily because despair is the best catalyst for powerful emotions and as i said above. he's fuckin depressed as hell. so for the first time in a long time, shalnark lets himself cry.

and it works, his eyes turn red and he's got a massive boost of aura and efficiency in all six nen categories. (he doesn't name it like kurapika because he puts more effort into the following hatsu)

life and death are very much within the specialist category (see 2nd prince Camilla) so he'd be tapping mostly into specialist abilities. however, he also borrows from conjuror, emitter and a little touch of transmutation. to bring someone back youd need a lot of things so he needs access to almost all at once.

now comes the conditions. he has three modifiers that could help make this process more efficient. Emotion and Time. and then the necessary Life. Life for life is the rule of nen, especially when working backwards.

so his first two conditions are:

The dead must have died six months ago. (exactly 180 days) the further away from the exact time and date the more aura he spends.

the dead has to have been mourned by 10 people or more. as in the living have to make a gesture to express the loss of said deceased. and all 10 have to still be alive.

these are weak conditions but they're a good start. the time gap is to make up for lost time. by the time he starts making this hatsu it's been a month since the two spiders died and by his estimate he will need at least three more to perfect this to maximum efficiency. that being said, making the time sink universal is good for simple consistency.

the mourning part is using external emotions and ensuring that the deceased is worthy of coming back to life. since life wouldn't be returning to him, he would require more people than just himself.

third and fourth conditions quickly follow:

3. the dead has to have an appearance detailed enough to reconstruct with conjuration.

4. the last person who saw the dead has to say their name within two hours of the resurrection.

the third condition is simply applying conjuration techniques. and since shalnark is a nerd he probably has a good knowledge of human anatomy stored somewhere and paired with nostalgia he can ensure he can visualize his targets.

the fourth has a double function. one, it sets a time limit and two it implies that the killer has to remember who they had killed. this one is the really powerful condition that grants him a hell of a lot of power from if he can pull it off.

however, it's not enough and he still has to address the last modifier: life

5. however long it takes to complete steps 2-4, shalnark sacrifices 1 hour from his lifespan for every minute it takes. therefore, he can sacrifice a maximum of 120 hours or 4 and a half days of his life every time he does this.

6. two people that meet requirement 2 must be killed by shalnark and the resulting residual aura will be channeled through black voice and into the target.

by sacrificing two lives and a part of his own, he now has the Life required to return life.

the reason he has all of these clumped together is so that he can simply pull one trigger when all requirements are met. its a lot of setup but it could work.

he bundles it all up nicely under a fully realized hatsu five and a half months after working on it: Bleeding Heart - the Six Amendments of Death.

and of course he gets mad eepy after using all this bcs even with all those restrictions he is not fit for this.

this is one idea of many. the possibilities are endless. this is a certified nen nerd post

[thetwilightroadtonightfall]

I need to know what the hell is up with Ephy’s family and their societies so bad, it’s killing me

I’m gonna ramble on a whim because I need copium [SPOILERS BELOW]

A main family and a branch family implies that Eph had at least 2 children, who of course went on to have their own children, and so on and so forth. Which of his descendants created their own societies? His kids? His grandkids? Further down the line? All of them? And why?

The quote “societies that sprawl and branch like veins”, these screenshots, and Remus’ dialogue in the beta confirm that there are several societies: The major ones (we don’t know how many, my guess is 7), presumably a bunch of sub-societies under those major ones, and possibly some more that exist outside of the major ones. The npc dialogue above even implies that there are levels of prestige (and pay), maybe even an established hierarchy present amongst the societies.

From what’s been shown in the beta, the societies have been fully integrated into Scala’s culture, with normal citizens (non-Keyblade wielders most likely) being aware of them, and relying on their prowess to basically run the town. Remus says that the societies are run by Operation Masters, who may or may not all be Eph’s descendants. But for simplicity’s sake, I assume they are.

Like.…geez, this is a lot to take in already, isn’t it? Would Ephemera have even wanted this? For his descendants to all have a set path in running this world as a dynasty. It makes me wonder if it was his idea, or an idea that was formed somewhere down the line

There are a lot of big questions to be asked here. I’ve mostly just been parsing through the stuff we know so far, but something I can give a lil guessy on with the limited info we have are the names of the other societies

Since the society we join is called the Baroque society, and I’m assuming that it’s one of the major societies I’m thinking maybe the other major societies are also named after other periods/movements in art history, like Gothic, Rococo…if that’s the case, it’s possible that there might be some kind of correlation between what each movement represents, the heads of the societies (Eph’s descendants), and the members/characters that are in those societies (like Remus and whoever else we meet later). I wouldn’t put it past the kh team to come up with something clever like that

It’s incredibly hard to make any real claims without too much concrete information…..I need to know more. LET ME IN! LET ME IINNNNN!!!

[peachjagiya]

https://www.tumblr.com/peachjagiya/747638524276293632/i-feel-like-all-these-anons-writing-dissertations?source=share

I don't know if this is in response to the ask i sent you yesterday but if it is, please understand that i wasn't trying to tell you to stop believing in ur ship. That is your prerogative and you have a right to believe in what you want to believe in. It's not like my "essays" are going to change your mind anyway.

I was only pointing out what is think is a flaw in your logic especially because i saw u complaining of jikookers talking about a pic being deleted and i was pointing out that if you think Jk posting a pic only with Tae on his instagram is "special" then couldn't the other group of shippers say the same thing about Jk only having a selfie with Jimin on his WV ? What is the difference? I don't think who Jk chooses to post and not post on his socials is what determines who is most special to him and i'm sure in real life, most of you know this. If he takes a picture which he thinks is cool, he would most probably post it regardless of who it is. I am married and have been for over 5 years but i only have one picture of my s/o on my socials but i have tons of pics with friends and acquaintances. Do u think i posted more people than my s/o because they mean more to me? absolutely not lol. I even rarely take photos with my s/o at all so if someone had to judge how special my s/o is to me by looking at things like socmed posts they would probably think i hate him lol.

You created a blog to talk about and appreciate the bond of two people u believe could be in a relationship and it is normal to like seeing only or mostly people who agree with you but please don't think that anyone who disagrees with or questions your logic on certain things is out to disprove your ship or make you stop believing in them. Look at my ask again, not once did i ask you to stop believing in your ship. i only asked that you stop making big deals out of things that could literally apply to any other pair. Some of u talk about those things and see them as decisive proof that these boys have to be together but the truth is that, it really isn't mainly because those things aren't exclusive to the two you ship, that's the point i am trying to make.

So please stop coming out with your pitchforks and knives whenever someone challenges your logic because we all know the excuses and excess copium that will follow, the moment Jk wakes up and does something "special' for some other member especially if it is Jimin.

Plus if you had an answer to the question that i asked (which imo is a fair question) you would have provided it but you don't and deep down you probably see some sense in what i am saying and that is why you responded the way you did.

sorry about the "many words". I am just passionate i guess.

So please stop coming out with your pitchforks and knives whenever someone challenges your logic

It's less pitchforks and knives and more... tired of being condescended to.

I really don't mind my logic being challenged. I've answered plenty of questions about my logic. But I think you must see how condescending it is to assume that I'm absolutely blind to logic so it's your moral duty to correct my brain. It's my brain! It's not your brain! You really don't need to worry what I'm doing with it!

That's why I am kind of dubious when it's a lot of words because I feel like one question would be challenging my logic and I'm happy to get into it. Paragraph after paragraph is like being hauled in front of the headmaster at school and told I'm stupid. I wouldn't waste my time if I didn't have valid reasons for finding Taekook a bit more than friends.

because we all know the excuses and excess copium that will follow, the moment Jk wakes up and does something "special' for some other member especially if it is Jimin.

Especially if it's Jimin? Huh? I don't differentiate between Jimin and the other five? I don't know what experiences you've had with other TKKrs but I don't have the same grudge against Jimin you've experienced. If he comes out and posts a bathroom picture with Jimin at an OT7 dinner, I will be like "Oh look, a selca of JK and Jimin" and probably some thirsty comment about one or both of them being hot tbh.

Plus if you had an answer to the question that i asked (which imo is a fair question) you would have provided it but you don't and deep down you probably see some sense in what i am saying and that is why you responded the way you did.

It was 5am. 5am Peach wasn't up for it but I'm more alive now.

I think the mistake a lot of people, TKKr and JKKr alike, make is that they hinge their entire argument on individual moments. Atomix becomes this huge thing and the second it gets challenged, everyone melts down gloating or getting defensive.

So often, one will come at the other with "Here's why this particular 0.6 seconds in time was NOT special." Ok? Great? You got me? I try to look at them as more of a whole picture and that's how I end up thinking it's different.

So there's a picture of Jimin and JK on Weverse. I don't know the context of it, I have to admit. Was it at an OT7 event? Were they just together? (I don't think your point about deleting instagram applies here because I don't think he can delete Weverse when BTS are entwined with it really.)

But let's take it as it is: A selca of Tae and JK in 2021, a selca of JK and Jimin in 2019.

The reason I find one of them special and one of them less so is not because it's a selca but it's a selca alongside all the other stuff I believe to be true. Does that make sense? Its not just a selca. It's a selca and seeing each other in their hiatus a decent amount and touching and closeness and some suspicious instances and a history of interaction that feels different to me. The selca is just a part of a wider picture.

And this applies to any one piece of the jigsaw. I'm sure you could find JK snuggling Hobi or Jin too. You could find examples of JK spending time at Jimin's house. Does the REST of the picture apply though? I don't personally find that the wider picture of his relationship with any other member rings out as romantic to me. I do find Taekook to be romantic based on a lot of different things, not just individual pieces. That's what I'm saying.

I've now said selca so many times that it doesn't look like a real word anymore. 😂

Ultimately, this is a Taekook blog. I don't want to live in an echo chamber but I didn't really start it to feel like I'm being told off by people I don't know. I don't think you should leave as such but is this the space for you?

Please don't worry about my logic. I'm either wrong and we'll all survive...

Or I'm right. And we'll all survive.

[noddytheornithopod]

Alright, gonna post some more Despair Time rambles because we're now on hiatus and gosh I need the copium

With David proving to be as deceptive as he is, many are understandably questioning if he's actually exaggerating his "evil" persona. I don't have strong opinions yet, but I do think this is an interesting idea. It kind of appeals to me because it does kind of have that Kokichi element of struggling to learn his true intentions, and I love those kinds of characters. When I was expecting a reveal/breakdown, I kind of WAS expecting something like Kokichi but more charismatic.

Granted, IDK if he's exactly like Kokichi besides being unable to trust anything he says, I actually see many comparing him to Syobai from SDRA2, and while I do see it, Syobai seems more apathetic with his cynicism, while David actually seems bitter about something. Something I saw that could tie into the idea his depression could still be true is that there's an element of self loathing, and maybe he hasn't just given up on everyone else, but HIMSELF too.

I bring this up because people seemed to think his breakdown over Arei last episode was genuine. He also seemed genuinely shocked when Arei hugged him, IMO. Also just contradictory things he says about her and in general. So if this all ends up being the case and we follow this train of thought... what if David actually envies Arei? If we assume he believes people are set in their ways and can't change, what if Arei deciding to try and make that effort touched a nerve in him? And I mean, he was kind of a catalyst for that too, with her breakdown and confession, so dude must have a lot of weird complicated feelings there.

Another thing I was thinking about is possibilities if Hu ISN'T the killer. Like, I still think she's most likely for reasons I've said, but to entertain the idea she isn't... I see people focusing a lot on Levi, especially if he potentially has the murder secret. This is mostly my gut, but even if there's potential there, it's not my first guess, mostly because I just feel like there's less stakes and build up than if it were say Hu, especially after her getting pissed at David after seemingly confiding in him. 

I had a weird thought, and I honestly don't even really believe it... but what if Nico IS the killer, for whatever reason? My thing with Hu is that her breaking down seems like something that would have the most impact if she's the killer... but Nico could also hurt her. Like, I finally get why Hu has been so weird and coddling towards them: she feels the need to be that motherly figure for everyone, and Nico is someone she feels she can easily step in and protect because they seem shy and defenceless.

Basically, it would force her to realise Nico's agency, that even if they were being bullied and such, they're still as capable of darkness as anyone else here. But Nico would then have to die, and that would fuck her up. Like I said, I really am not subscribing to this, and I have also seen Hu does understandably make people uncomfortable with her coddling of Nico, with them being very Autistic coded and Hu reminding people of infantilisation we face.

Even if Nico proves their agency, them still dying might upset people because it's a neurodivergent coded character dying to serve another's development. Thing is, I love Nico too, but I also don't mind Danganronpa doing dark stuff, I mean people dying is kind of the whole thing. Also, with how many characters feel Autistic coded to me, it doesn't seem AS much of a loss, and while I don't want to speculate about the creator, the amount of ND coded characters makes me suspect they themselves could be ND, and that plus how well everyone has been handled gives me confidence that whatever happens will work as a story and not feel cheap.

The only other reason I'm entertaining this thought besides David calling out Hu and her coddling of Nico is... what if Ace turns out to be right? He just comes off as so hostile and unreasonable that realising he's telling the truth that Nico is the killer is unexpected. 

While I'm mainly focused on Hu as my prime suspect, I am also curious about Whit. Like seriously, defending David's motive was really weird to me (combined with derailing Teruko), it makes me wonder if he has involvement that we're yet to learn about.

I also bring up more suspects because when Charles said they fucked up, I see many people suggesting it could be the time of murder, and it would possibly change the suspects.

Oh also a thought: people have rightfully pointed out that Teruko and David serve as mirror or parallel characters to each other, with their cynical outlooks on people. I totally buy that they're being set up as foils, but I also want to consider... Ace could be yet another. Like, he's the OG example of being mistrusting and paranoid. I feel like he could also serve as a mirror to Teruko in some ways. And like David, he even now is relishing in pissing people off.

Okay... that's everything for now. Now here's hoping the Despair Time creator gets the break they deserve and can recover nicely, not just so we finally get resolution to this chapter, but for their sake too, because these stories are made by people first and foremost.

[astral-from-afar]

Disclaimer: This is all in good fun and was mostly inspired by the upcoming jjk poll. Will not tag this in jjk as I am not here currently to start fighting people.

Ok the latest poll got me thinking about what characters were on that list last time. So this is basically me side eyeing everyone for their choices last year

Megumi - I get it. Megumi’s pretty cool. Took me a while to get to that point but I’ve accepted this man’s popularity and I just go along with it. Really don’t have anything else to say about him.

Gojo - Can’t believe he was still in the box during this. You can tell how strong the Gojo fans are because he has not been seen in action for YEARS yet you’re still voting for him. Props to you I guess. Good luck beating Gege and getting him 1st in the next poll

Yuji - Ok my boy was not fighting in the TRENCHES to become 3rd in his own series. Yes he should have gotten 1st yes I will stand by that until the day I die and yes I still can’t believe he got outdone by a guy in a box.

Geto - I know you’re all coping bc of his death with him being in top 5 and honestly me too. Gege still won’t let this poor man rest so you won’t let the anyone else in the fandom rest as a consequence. Don’t expect him to be in top 5 again but who knows.

Nanami - Overtime sorcerer SUPREMACY. I best see him here again because he does not miss. Nanami fans are the real ones so I’m not dragging on him.

Inumaki - Salmon Salmon. For a man who also hasn’t been seen in 2 years he did pretty well all things considered. I’m still waiting for him to show up so until then you go Inumaki fans.

Choso - Ok I’m just salty here but you lot really put HIM here on the top 10. How much screen time did this man really have. He did not deserve to be placed that high and if I see him being placed higher than Yuki then we know it’s on sight. He’s great and all but really? Just really?

Yuta - As a resident Yuta has never done anything wrong, I am disappointed in all of you. Did vol 0 mean nothing? Was his interactions with Yuji nothing to all of you. To the point of Choso overtaking him. Smh

Toji - I’m going to assume it’s the horny and leave. You did not drag the no child support, fugly grey sweatpants, boring ass guy into the top 10. Just admit that he’s hot and take your leave. Ok being fair he was a good antagonist during the hidden Inventory arc but istg if I hear more Toji stuff we are not going to see me again.

Naoya - OK LISTEN UP HERE EVERYBODY. HOW MANY PANELS DID THIS FUCKER HAVE. WHAT IN THE ABSOLUTE HELL DID HE DO IN THE ENTIRETY OF THE MANGA OTHER THAN BEING COOKED BY MAKI. IM WAITING. This just feels like fandom misogyny as the next two people are in the manga for 10x longer and did more things overall, to then be overshadowed by this dickhead.

Nobara - My beloved you did not deserve to be snuffed out of top 10. I am still on that copium that she’s still alive but honestly you really had to do her like that :(

Maki - Ok this is where I really question some of your tastes. So she had one of the PEAK arcs in all of the manga, went to hell and back and served us in every shape and form and this is what she gets. Losing to Naoya. Telling you lot to sort your misogyny out for the next poll because if she doesn’t reach top 3 Istg

Sukuna - Right, he’s a bit of a guilty pleasure as he is one of the funniest characters in this series after Kenny and Todo. Am suprised that he didn’t hit top 10 but he’s been binding his time to skyrocket to the big numbers especially in the recent chapters.

Todo - AYYYYYYY. Kyoto student found in the wild quick catch them before they get into the sea of irrelevancy. Ok that was too harsh but I’m proud of the Todo fans for getting him up there. He truly is the homie of the jjk world hopefully he keeps his placement because he’s too cool to not be on this list.

Utahime - OMG OMG OMG OMG. This was very unexpected. I thought Shoko would be here (she’s 24th) but I am grateful for it. The voice at the back of my head is trying to say that it’s cause of the shipping but I am ignoring it to focus on my girl entirely. Congrats everyone. If she manages to get in the top 15 again, do you think Gege will add more to her character. Nah he’ll probably just put her on the hit list which is not what we want to see here.

Yeah I think the poll overall was alright and obviously was for fun but after the placement of certain characters you know I’m side-eyeing you lot.

Characters I want/hope to reach the list : Yuki,Riko, Kirara, Hakari, Higuruma, Angel/Hana, Kenjaku, Uruame

[narwhalandchill]

FINALLY FINISHED 4.1 AQ!!!!! (General thoughts also Lot of childe thoughts + 4.1 spoilers obvi and 4.2 leaks warning, LONG)

ok OK OK that was actually insane holy fuck. i was mad initially when childe lacking voicelines in 4.1 leaked but like bro was Still a central character im cool! im cool! keep it up in 4.2!!!!

FIRSTLY. i was fucking right i KNEW the oratrice was ALWAYS onto childe being connected to the primordial sea through 'it' GOD the sheer fucking amount of "theories" i saw that were like oh its all just arlecchinos machinations nothing abyssal whale is an easter egg (?) childes poor mood is bc hes drugged with sinthe by arle (??????) etc etc etc. eat my fucking ass. i saw this shit coming YEARS ago i knew i fucking knew.

honestly its just like my dearest ajax to minmax his K/D ratio to the point that he becomes the murder weapon to a case that started when he was like 5 like what a legend. he is so talented. 🥰🥰🥰🥰

im still highkey on the copium camp that the leaked humanoid phase of the ptahur fight wouldnt literally be childe tho. unironically mostly bc i think its simply a crime against him to let foul legacys visual design AND ptahurs whale design serve cunt that hard only to do the ugliest most generic possible rectangle shaped dark armor guy for A Boss Fight. Like cmon. the purple cyclops look with the flowing galaxy cape and fluffy collar was The Shit. give us extra galaxy effect pastel purple water-y polar star motif-y foul legacy design for childes magical girl powerup not That. tho if childes only gonna look ugly before he asserts his claim over the whales power and then gets a cunty powerup then all is forgiven 🥰

AND WE SAW THE WHALE I WAS LITERALLY GIDDY WATCHING THE CUTSCENE. knew it was coming bc i spoiled myself on purpose by watching it on yt i Had to see it but. ITS SO GOOD. God. and then 4.2 we will fight them both??? & the boss title is "devourer of the stars"???? like its so fucking abysspilled and real i feel like a starving middle ages peasant being fed from the royal banquet table ive waited SO LONG. foul legacy is called devouring deep and 'it' is Litetally titled devourer. this isnt a fucking coincidenceee im in love . WILF i said what i said

anyway i do agree that in terms of lore implications i dont think its unrealistic at all for it and its will to overwhelm ajax temporarily like that thing is the devourer of stars which. Might i remind people literally means devouring fate in the world of genshin and constellations. a world ending entity. but also at the same time this might be me being insane and abysspilled (always looking for a reason for apologism yk) but like. theres no direct confirmation either way whether ptahurs intentions with childe are really malicious at all. he awakened it, theyre linked and its calling for him and sure thats bad for fontainians' projected life expectancy but we cant assume much else. i mean childe was in the deep sea he might be snezhnayan so immune to anti french bathwater but bro couldve been drowning maybe the whale helped out a pal. and the music in the cutscene was more wonder than terror too? fanon guys are just coping bc they dont want childe to get worse when thats just much sexier Trust (she says, overtaken by constant paranoia that somehow theyll pull a 180 and damsel-ify him with no actual narrative weight or satisfaction for his arc ahahaha)

(but like me when i havent read tusk of monoceros caeli item desc and understood that the all-devouring desire to crush everything in his path like the solipsism represented by the image of a whale cruising through the celestial heights is very explicitly stated to be a part of himself childe chooses to gleefully embrace do not fucking try me you illiterates. sorry i got emotional for a sec back to 4.1)

AND LIKE NO I DID NOT MISS THAT NEUVILLETTE DID NEVER IN FACT CLAIM PTAHURS SENTENCE UPON FONTAINE WAS UNJUSTIFIED. JUST THAT IT WAS TOO HARSH. so like listen listen listen. (pulls up my abyss is justified the gods are false the sky is fake so bringing ruin upon the world in the greatest sin against an artificial system is actually making the sinner the one delivering heavenly justice---- conspiracy whiteboard) ANYWAY point is childe tartaglia ajax should get to torch celestia and im going to kiss him on the mouth when he does. No one @ me. but actually neuvillette genuinely APOLOGIZED for overturning ptahurs authority to deliver its sentence. im gonna read into this so hard it might be reaching but who am i if not behaving down bad horrendously about the abyss and the prospect of a cosmic eldritch entity shattering celestias world order into pieces,?? this is my Brand

act III has so much hate but i thought it was fine SJSJSKSJFKFIDKFK it did what it set out to do and it certainly isnt as interesting as act IV but it did So much of the foundational work for the next act and managed to work well enough. it got a bit repetitive so like no it wasnt perfect at all but idk when u go in with the right mindset its perfectly competent. but i can see it feel horrible when u Really just wanna get to the action parts so like its fine if ppl dislike it jsjajsk not too pressed either way

anyway i find it so cute how many people are reacting to travelers dreams of childes pov as this like omg theyre in sync and not like. An explicit confirmation that visions are mass surveillance tools p much 💀💀💀💀 like its not even ON HIM and he can still be tracked how is this endearing im so lost JSFFJSJSJ

honestly beyond the obvious childe brainrot its hard to even go off about just any specific character bc EVERYONE got it so good. chlorinde dodged the sara allegations im SO fucking happy for her!!! even if it wasnt that much its already far off from that travesty!!! her and wrios dynamic is so fucking funny i adore them and wasnt expecting it at all.

wrio is fucking GREAT! i absolutely lived for every single line of dialogue he had like mans literally the funniest person in fontaine. silver powercreep. but not just that bc hes actually so fucking good and interesting and intriguing and i loved the overall role he played. the whole power play he did w lyney and that entire confrontation played so well with both his and lyneys character im just. this was a certified banger. the house of hearth sibs were all great and lyneys characterization had So much depth and nuance i really liked the way he wasnt dropping his and lynettes backstory in 4.0 just to trauma dump but that it was all actual setup for his minor/major breakdown during act IV and that payoff was so worth it!!! arle chiding him for his pride too. listen to your dad lyney.

speaking of Whom.

oh my god oh my god arle arle arle. this woman had me actually fucking blushing like. Her ENERGY. The Poise. the Threat. the Pressure. the veneer of perfectly conducted civil friendliness that feels more threatening than if she just put a knife to my neck (which. she could. id thank her)??? how shes genuinely LIVID at furina and about the prophecy and just kept pressing at her?????? no woman in this goddamn game has had an effect like this on me i feel so weak im such a fucking dyke oh my god. HER VOICE. HER FUCKING VOICE. EVERY SENTENCE OUT OF HER MOUTH I WAS EATING IT UP. that like. idk how to even call it that like dry breathy quality to her voice is just?????? i was transfixed i was obsessed i was hypnotized.

and ofc she didnt really gaf about childe much SJAJSKSJFKSKSKDKD but like unironically funniest fucking mental image from this AQ was the concept of if arlecchino ever somehow got arrested in another nation CHILDE would be her attorney like. 😭😭😭😭😭😭 HELP (logically ik he would do fine lmao hes smart and literally feeds his ego by being good at his job you guys are just so fucking rude comparing him to 6d chess zhongli in liyue AQ. thats zhongli being too galaxy brain not anyone else being dumb)

honestly i love love love this fucked up strict but seemingly truly genuine in her own fucked up way parental figure that she appears to be?? like this isnt redeeming her this is making her interesting as fuck and i do love that. the fact that shes generally very reasonable and collected but that you can just Feel the danger lurking underneath is literally So attractive i might keel over.

and like FINALLY a nation where its not all the fatuis fault!!! well it is all childes fault (so proud of him. thats my man!!) but you get what i mean GSJSKDK. arlecchino actually offering up her cooperation at the end just feels so refreshing and nice like ahhh. feels good feels organic.

so. neuvillette is the reincarnated hydro sovereign. whos surprised. (silence) yeah fucking thought so. honestly neuvi was both incredibly interesting and good but also his clueless moments of not picking up on jokes and banter are So autistic like if i hadnt already pulled him by the point i started doing act IV i wouldve the second he started sharing his autism diagnosis with us. so like im ecstatic to have him both on my main and NA alt actually.

ALSO. Confirmed that gnoses are based on stolen authority from the sovereigns. as a scalie enthusiast i Always had a hunch sth like this was up but having it confirmed is fucking excellent. and like it feels very much like furina/focalors (r they separate ppl or not? Huh?? is the gnosis in the oratrice?) r gonna allow neuvillette to tackle the bathwater problem by surrendering the authority over hydro back to its rightful heir n thats prolly gonna be a part of how fontaine dodges the prophecy. but its still very hmmmmmm

sigewinnes traitor moment actually caught me off guard it was SO funny. like she was actually fooling us i loved that. sure she always had good intentions and everything but still iconic. in general just how wrio and gang outplayed us in the fortress of merupide was great like it just really emphasizes how bro Runs the place for real for real and it was excellent. the massive ship was kind of out of left field tho. inb4 ptahur just crushes that thing anyway lmaooooo

theres probably more still but uh this is already too long JSJSKSKDK anyway yes i did enjoy acts III and IV very much how did you notice. sorry for the length of this crazed frenzy but not sorry actually. it feels so nice to get fed finally. im so hype for 4.2.

edit: wait i forgor furina. honestly im not gonna lie i was too mesmerized by arlecchino to pay that much attention to her so sorry about that but like GAJSKDJDKDK she was great too!!!

[moophinz]

When do you think the live action series will start? As in chronologically? They said the Kiryu and Nishiki characters were together while dressed in fancy suits so I'm assuming we'll have a bit of Y0 as a flashback. Maybe we'll even see a bit of Majima's story, if they're making him a more prominent character- copium that we'll see Y0 only characters like Lee, Tachibana and Makoto too. It might be asking too much for all of those, but I hope Makoto is referenced at least since she was so important to Majima's side of the story.

I don’t really think they’ll do all of that with the 8 hours they have. Maybe we’ll see some of the 80’s, maybe, since they talk about flashy suits, and their clothes are more plain looking in the pattern department when we hit the 90s-onwards. Though for all we know, it could just mean flashy in a more general sense, too. But that’s a lot of deep story to bring up when doing an adaptation of Kiwami 1. If we do see bits of the 80s I’m hoping it’s mostly used to further flesh out Nishiki and Kiryu’s bond since the first game is supposed to be about them at its core.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

silly i dont wanna be cynical, but i think this might be a lethal dosage of copium rn

Which one the MPGIS/Barbie post? Or the SL? I'm assuming SL but I'll address both. TT0TT

The MPGIS one is mostly a self deprecating joke on how likely I'm gonna flip sides so freaking fast. ldsajfajf

The SL one is......I'm not getting my hopes up tbh. It'd def be the one saving grace, but again, I'm not getting my hopes up. Regardless, this was something I wanted for awhile. SL the other MC in the game somehow was on my wish list (and many unpublished ones before that akfjsaf). And having both MCs be alive in their timeline, but one is a SEES leader and the other isn't has been something I've wanted for awhile too (that link is a series of posts I did, I dunno when it becomes obvious that's what it's going for. Also, it might not be the first time I mentioned wanting that but it's an easy to find mention so I'm going with it lkfjsakfj)

Kinda ala P2's diff universes, it'd be a good way to keep them "alive" in the future games without having to actually bringing them back to life, Seal broken or not they are pros still dead but their soul would be free.

Anyway, I'm not getting my hopes up cause P3R's been kicking me in the metaphorical balls every time so TT0TT *sobs* Them doing that would be FUN and..... I don't trust it orz

[sleepy-moron]

Big warning for stranger things season 4 spoilers from the review.... If you don't want to know some fairly major things about the season absolutely DO NOT click read more

I really try not to be negative in general on this account, but I got pretty negative in this post so feel free to just not read it if you don't want to see negativity....I know we're all being negative in the tag right not and I don't really want to contribute to that vibe for the people who are trying to keep our morale up in these trying times

Okay yeah I'm kind of really fucking frustrated if this is for sure not some bs because Mike's feelings aren't explicitly confirmed until episode seven and up until then it's ambiguous, or they straight up were asked to not say anything about Mike's feelings because the Duffers want it to be a surprise: that being said

The one positive is them not treating Will's sexuality like some sort of fucking plot twist because it's been writing on the goddamn wall since season 3.

Otherwise I will be extremely fucking disappointed and have decided to throw hands assuming all of this is true. You're really gonna reduce Will to sad unrequited pining gay kid this season?? Wow can't believe stranger things never got more than two seasons. If they really went through all that goddamn work, especially the fact that Mike initiates basically every major byler moment in the show just to imply Will is gay I just straight up do not understand why?

I really want to think that we get Mike's confirmation in episode seven and they just kept his queercoding more subtle as they have seemed to do in the past. Which is still fucking frustrating but it's still better than the shitty trope that is sad gay pining. Or maybe they had to make it sound unrequited in the review as part of a contract or something.....it would be a major plot twist that would not be cool to get spoiled before the season. I really really fucking hope so

Also what the fuck is Mike's character even supposed to be this season then?? Is it just to be El's boyfriend and to be the nice straight hero friend ™ who's still ok with being friends with a gay person? Like ok is all his self discovery just going to be learning that he needs to talk to his girlfriend about his feelings sometimes?? Have they really reduced two of the original party members down to this? I'm glad Max and Lucas are getting the attention they deserve....but it's frustrating because they said there was an intention to give all of the cast focus but no we clearly are not getting that in any way because El and the Hawkins plot seem to be the only plotlines that even matter.....

Honestly I'm mostly just angry at myself for thinking that a show like stranger things would actually have the guts to so something like making byler canon.....but yeah if I'm disappointed I am sliding fully back into kingdom hearts theory mode because I at least have a few more years of soriku copium to build up until kh4 actually happens

[mudaconstructions]

while i appreciate the fact that episode 12 part 1 gave us a bunch of new art (grace and mercury for example) and featured a lot of cool kitties i dont think that can save the episode for me tbh. more details under the cut

the fact that with bringing back grace and (technically) jonah vard's actions have basically no consequences now and sebastian going from "im going to KILL vard" to forgiving them is just proving to me that the plot and characters can and will bend around them to justify their actions however it can

like you can not tell me sebastian being the insidious little bastard he is would forgive vard so easily when they still killed his friend and his sister. i didnt buy it when it happened with rachel and hephaestus and i especially cant believe that Sebastian Motherfucking Zeppeli of all people would be open to the idea of forgiveness. it's so unlike his previously established self that it becomes jarring to watch and frankly it made the rest of the episode hard to sit through

and to me that signals a larger issue with strings that i havent seen any people bring up (or at least not that i know of) - the increasing dissonance between the crew's characters and their actual preferences for the game's course as players. going off my experience in the break time server and watching strings it's become clear to me that the crew genuinely enjoys the whole vard thing and wants to follow that plot point, but there hasn't been enough explanation given for why their characters, who have a Lot of reasons to dislike (or at least distrust) vard would go along with the same plan.

like im sure they're having a good time going on with the whole "vard not bad?" thing and learning about severed stands or whatever and im glad! at the end of the day they are still a friend group who play ttrpgs and happen to record their games and upload them online and they dont technically owe anyone an explanation for why things happen in their games - it is assumed that something happens because it would be fun - and that's why i can't fully denounce strings' plot twist as being genuinely Bad because the crew is having fun, and that's what matters + im not in the crew so i cant dictate what happens in game. but I can't help but find this turn of events very dissatisfying as a viewer, because it goes against what i, the viewer, have seen of these characters and the previous stories and that's why it's becoming increasingly frustrating to watch new episodes knowing that the vard plot point will be front and center and every single character that's not meant to be viewed as a True Bad Guy will bend around it and possibly act ooc.

and like, i am trying so hard to enjoy strings' plot because literally everyone else around me (cept for my friend) fucking loves it!!!! and im trying to see the good in it post-episode 11 but it's so difficult when it warps the characters from previous parts, devalues their achievements that were done via stands, and in some cases breaks an entire part's narrative (the quiet decay) because the "stands.... secretly sentient?" reveal has retroactively removed any emotional connection between the users and their stands that had been there before.

im running on copium fumes right now and the only thing i could hope for that might make the vard thing better for me is if it turns out to be some long con being played on everyone and that vard is actually Wrong about the nature of stands and that they're severely misguided at best and outright evil at worst... but i dont think that is the direction strings will take, because the crew and westley seem to be a-okay with the current turn of events as of strings 12 pt 1, and with the introduction of, you guessed it, even More Sentient Stands i do not have high hopes for the rest of strings plotwise. at this point im mostly staying for cool/funny character moments, for hephi and yogurt, and to catch up with everyone else in break time

overall im not satisfied with strings' plot as of ep 12 pt 1 and i cant say im excited to watch pt 2 when it'll definitely go on about justifying vard even further when there is no reason to

tl;dr im feeling like this right now