#levels of cosplay I could only hope to achieve

[ciaossu-imagines]

miura haru fashion designer au? ☆

Of course! I love this idea, it's a really fun one, and I hope you'll enjoy the headcanons I came up with! Thanks, as always, for sending this in!

Okay, but I really do love this question because, with the skills and interests she's presented with in canon, Haru being really into fashion and even becoming a designer herself makes a lot of sense.

I do see, even in canon, Haru being really into different types of fashion herself. I think, instead of Tsuna and the mafia really being a thing at all, Haru grew up and she got really into cosplay. She got really internet famous for it in her teen years, especially as she hand-made every cosplay piece she wore, except for the wigs. I'll admit, in the beginning, her pieces weren't always the best but her skills increased drastically throughout practice and time.

Because of the level of internet fame she did achieve, she started to make connections in the fashion field and she was able to monetize her skills to some extent. With both of those things combined, she was able to travel and I think her actual career in fashion started not as an actual designer but in her finding a position in the wardrobe and costuming department for a small studio.

I think her skills in that department not only caught the attention of studio higher ups but those in the field. She got promoted rather quickly and moved to more known studios. She works really hard and is insanely picky. If she can't find something already made that she feels fits a character, she makes it herself.

She really hit the big time on a couple of shows she worked on, one a historical drama where her hand-sewn and elaborate traditional garb had so many online posts about it and was featured in a couple magazines, but also her work on a teen drama, where her quirky outfits for one of the supporting characters had people online clamoring to know where they could buy the clothes the character was wearing. That ended up with her work being featured in a number of blogs and trending on social media.

Haru got approached by several celebrities with the request to become their personal stylist and she did do that for a couple of years, where her outfits got even more public attention.

Along the way, her quirky sense of style and avant-garde fashion caught the eye of many in the field and she also noticed just how many 'normal' people mentioned wishing they could have those sort of clothes in their closets.

It's because of the success she's had and all the hard work she's put in over the years that I do see her, mid-thirties, opening her own design house. She really is a hit during Fashion Week and again, has many celebrity fans who wear her work on the red carpet or at events. She's always one of the designers worn during the Met Gala and I think that's the area she really allows herself to go high-fashion and quirky and over the top.

However, I do see her running a design line, less pricey and more mainstream, though still colourful and fun and quirky. It's carried in a couple of chain department stores, sells really well, and is what's accessible to people off the street and while still a little expensive, she has a lot of hardcore fans because her clothes are well-made, wash and wear well, and have a very unique style.

She also pairs with a couple companies, including Irregular Choice because I feel that's a brand she loves personally, to do her own limited run of shoes and jewelry, maybe even making a few perfumes with a perfumery line.

I could even see her dabbling in creating make-up with a company, high shine glosses, quirky colour palettes, etc. The packaging itself would also be really colourful, almost Lisa Frank-esque, but all the products themselves are cruelty free, safe for all skin types, and she really does insist that they be the best quality they can be while still remaining affordable for most people, even if they are a little bit of a luxury splurge.

I think she would, if given the opportunity, also love to expand her design skills into home decor, things that are very much maximilistic in style.

[esper-union-lounge]

Dislyte's Character Design Director, Ono Dizi: To Design a Well Recieved Character (1/3)

The link was shared by @capital9 and after reading through the essay, I believe it's worth a good read. Especially, for people who are into art and design or want to know what the industry process is like. I am going to make this a three-part translated post.

((Note: I am not a professional translator. Ono Dizi is the Character Design Director, and I believe the name is just a pseudo-Japanese alias that they go by online.))

Author's Note:

I hereby write this essay, not because I have achieved creating a well-received character. Instead, I come to think that many character designers/creators would want to know: could my character be popular?

In this essay, we will dive deep into this topic looking into: what makes a character popular and what are its certain criteria.

At the surface level, a good design product starts from the team, IP, design, development, operation, and market. etc. All these different factors will influence how players receives the character. This discussion comes from the production perspective of a character concept; in what methods can be done to deliver an excellent character.

Hence, I hope this essay can give creators/designers a bit of reference for their projects.

1 Lilith: The Two Pre-requisites of Character Design

1. Good Idea Delivery

First and foremost, with a set of good art foundation skills, you can bring your initial ideas to life. In actual projects, you usually have a lot of ideas and an understanding of a character’s background, but due to a lack of foundation skills, it’s difficult to express your ideas on paper. Hence, practise needs to be constant to hone that skill.

2. Design Experience

Secondly, design experience is also a basic requirement in this occupation.

With the accumulation of experience, designers can think outside the box from character 2D imagery to 3D modelling; polishing, *character sculpting, *character model’s cost-performance ratio, ability choreography, special effects, environment/surroundings, costuming considerations: can the design be replicated in conventions, the cost of the cosplay, suitability for recreation projects (Fanart/Doujins), *Distribution, and incorporation of market trends. etc.

Likewise, design experience is honed through work and time to achieve the level of a professional.

This begs to question when we have accumulated experience and such, does this mean we can automatically create a popular character? Or, if we don’t have much, from little to nought design experience, is it still possible to create a popular character?

To the latter question, it is completely doable. We will be discussing design methods further in the essay...

To be continued… part 2.1 here

*Note: I believe these are industry/ business terms. I am not familiar with said terms in a Chinese context. Hence, I can only guess what they could possibly mean in English.

[concorp]

drop the list?

pht alright here we go

starting with joe since there’s the most there. ive been a member of his patreon community for three years now, and it was a lot smaller when i originally joined to the point that id say pretty much all of us still there who were there back then know him on a personal level now. he’s had me as a guest on four streams (paid btw! since he refuses to accept any volunteer work in a large majority of situations) one of which was made into a hermitcraft episode. all of these are in my streams playlist if you wanna check them out. ive also met him irl twice, both times at pax unplugged in different years.

ive had my art featured by several of the hermits, most notable of which was false using my art for her mayor poster in season 7. keralis also follows me on twitter but i have never once actually interacted with him.

im also the reason the hermits all just looked at tumblr during a meeting one time which caused a whole other cascade of events. (cleo making a tumblr and all that followed, xisuma twitter apology, etc.) i have not and will not learn my lesson about mentioning things in joes vicinity.

im either friends, mutuals, or at least have a direct line of communication with a majority of the members of truly bedrock. i made lyarrah’s profile picture and db’s twitch emotes, designed official merch for tb, and have done some other miscellaneous commissions for current and former members.

i mentioned youcube in the tags of that other post- when i was there i gave some art to antvenom of him and his then gf, which months later he did an irl video that showed he’d hung the art in his office. i posted about it on twitter and he replied saying he knew it’d be excited about it it was so sweet 🥺

i used to be super involved in omgchad’s community. we did weekly events on his twitch subscriber server that he’d play through on stream. i was lead organizer for one and contributed to more of them than i could count. also met him irl once.

likes, retweets and replies from mcyts are legitimately so common for me at this point that it sometimes surprises me when i see other people get excited about them. don’t get me wrong they still make me happy but it’s not like. incredible excitement and i don’t even bother saying anything about them to anyone unless it’s someone really big that id never gotten a notice from before. only one id consider even noteworthy enough to mention specifically here was grian and mumbo both complementing the cosplay of them my brother and i threw together in less than a day. which drives me crazy because shortly before then id spent months working on an animation of them that i still dont think either of them have ever seen 😅

lastly. achievement hunter don’t count as mcyts imo. but steffie (their social media manager) invited a group of us fan artists to tour rooster teeth back in 2018 and that was super cool.

there’s very likely several things im missing here as well but this isn’t something i meticulously keep track of. this took an hour to write hope you enjoyed.

[loquaciousquark]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E91 (Jan. 21, 2020)

Good evening, everyone! Sorry about missing last week; @eponymous-rose​ was out of town and I had some other commitments. Regardless, here we are! Brian is looking handsome and cold, as are Sam & Travis on the couch. Everyone is wearing coats. Is the heat broken?

That said, tonight’s guests are Travis Willingham & Sam Riegel.

Brian starts us off asking Sam if he’s remaking the Wire in Beverly Hills. Sam basically embodies that hello fellow kids meme tonight in a hand-knitted beanie from his wife, a bomber jacket, a yellow tee, and skinny jeans. They quickly photoshop in smoke trailing out of his mouth. We’re just a few minutes in and this is off the rails already.

Announcements: The next issue (#5) of Vox Machina comics comes out Wednesday, Feb. 19! It’s also available online at Dark Horse Digital and Comixology. And that’s it! Huh.

Episode 91: Stone to Clay

Brian tells us this is the first time ever to have Sam & Travis alone on Talks. I’m stunned and so are they. Sam says, “between me, Brian, Dani, and Travis right now, there’s four tens on this show right now.”

We’re already into questions less than ten minutes into the show. Truly this is a remarkable night.

63 in game days and 21 episodes passed between Caduceus’s first mention of Stone (episode 71) and Fjord connecting the dots. Travis blames the internet connection and his really bad ADHD night, as that was the night he and Laura remoted in from the hotel.

Brian tells us that when Ashley used to skype in, she could only see Matt & couldn’t see or really hear anyone else.

Travis says there was a huge delay for him between mouths moving and the audio coming through, and then that audio was pretty distorted. Laura could handle it okay, but Travis just heard a jumble and couldn’t parse it.

Sam took a CBD bath the other day and found it exactly as relaxing as a normal bath. Sam & Travis commiserate about taking baths only to have their knees pop out of the water. Tall people problems smh

Caleb & Nott completed the spell in less than a week, including dealing with the Angel of Irons & brokering peace treaties. Travis though the laughter was going to be Helas.

Travis says he definitely didn’t hear the name the first time (he remembered dust but not stone from the lava pits). “Look! Yes! No, I was not listening before! Thursday nights are my times to enjoy my friends and food! Marisha is an amazing note-taker; why would I ever take my own? This is how I got through college!”

Sam says he keeps a mission checklist in his head and has for ages. He has a page in his notebook labeled “To Do” that includes things like visiting Kiri or Shakaste, in case they have downtime and need ideas.

Travis asks if he continues writing in his (apparently) very small handwriting, and Sam says he has to leave room for Laura to draw all her dicks. They all marvel that she is actually a very good artist.

Travis honestly still thinks the Stone name is a huge coincidence, especially since Taliesin didn’t have access to Fjord’s last name when he created Caduceus’s last name and backstory. Sam challenges Travis that even if that were true, doesn’t he think Matt will find a way to tie it together?

Travis says Fjord doesn’t want anything to do with the last name and it’s not even his real name. He’s not convinced this isn’t a coincidence.

Travis did a lot of research into orphanage naming conventions when coming up with Stone. He does have a backstory as to how the orphanage manager picked Stone as his name.

Travis thinks Matt would have emphasized the Stone name more sooner if it had been a true connection and not coincidence.

Brian: “He does like to take credit for coincidences, doesn’t he?”

Nott didn’t think there was a catch in the ritual; Sam was more surprised they were allowed to achieve the milestone at all. He was shocked it happened so soon in the story and that the spell is relatively easy to cast.

He didn’t know it would fail, but there was a moment when he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go through with it. Travis agrees everyone was shocked when it didn’t work.

Fjord’s current stance on faith and destiny hasn’t changed since the last time he discussed it. Faith is a slow thing for Fjord and he really does think the name is a coincidence.

Sam as a player is excited to see what comes next for Nott; “if she had been transformed into Veth at that moment, I would have been excited to see what comes next. The fact that it’s still Nott makes me excited too. I’m excited to see more of Nott since she’s the best character in the M9.” He also confesses he was a bit relieved, in part because it’s delayed the inevitable. At some point she must decide if she is going to stay or go with the M9.

Cosplay of the Week: @kajicosplays​ on instagram of a lovely lady Percy. Brian: “Isn’t it fun when Taliesin’s characters live?”

Deep down, Nott knows she will do the transformation at some point, but at that last moment where she had to make a decision she had to check in with herself to make sure she was ready. Sam Riegel as a D&D player also knows that you have to trust your DM and make choices.

Brian misreads the word “ribbing.” Sam teaches Travis what rimming is. We all learn a lot about each other.

Sam thinks Fjord can realize when the time comes to set jokes aside. He thinks Fjord was very respectful. Travis has honestly forgotten that the conversation took place.

Travis has Dani answer from Fjord’s perspective. It’s actually pretty insightful, talking about how Fjord recognized someone hesitant to give up these newfound powers that have become intrinsically tied to self-worth.

Fjord has always been loyal, and Travis sees his protectiveness of the M9 as a logical extension of this.

Right now, he has found some agency & self-direction and is hopeful to share that sense with everyone else (he especially mentions Yasha).

Sam & Travis start quoting from Half-Baked. This is chaos.

Nott does want to stay with the M9, but she also wants to go home for sure, both of those things. The kiss with Caleb wasn’t necessarily a goodbye; it felt like the closing of a chapter. It felt like something to mark the end of the experience.

Now they’re quoting Beverly Hills Cop. Oh, boy.

“You look like you wrote Pitch Perfect.” When did this turn into a roast?

Fjord has no memories earlier than the orphanage (The Driftwood Asylum). There were a couple dozen kids there aside from him; Travis thinks some of them might have been named Stone. It also operated as a small child-labor workshop for carpentry & woodshop stuff. “It was a terrible place all around.” He has no images of parents or being dropped off.

Sam thought the Nott transformation would be more endgame, though he feels it makes sense that it’s not. “While Nott transforming into Veth was my original goal, what’s great about these long games is that your goals can change two or three times before the end. Now I can explore all these other things: does she want to go back and be a housewife? How does she rectify her obligations to her husband and child to the life that she’s made with the M9? It’s so exciting and interesting.”

Brian asks a hypothetical: if she could transform back but lose all Nott’s memories, would she do it? Sam: “Oh, that’s tough. I don’t know.”

Fanart of the Week: a lovely piece by @pen_draws with everyone in the hot tub.

Travis is very trepidatious about returning to the open ocean after rejecting Uk’otoa. He wants to make sure the third temple is sealed. It feels like it would be too easy for someone not to come and try to collect the job he left half-finished. He also wants to go back to Darktow.

Sam doesn’t know if Nott is still in love with Yeza, although she definitely still loves him. He’s playing with the idea of a high school sweetheart being exposed to the world and then going back home. But Yeza’s amazing, a great guy, perfect. “I guess we’ll find out when/if she turns back into Veth.” Sam feels guilty talking about him. “He’s a fictional character and I feel guilty that he might be watching the show.”

Neither Nott nor Fjord trust Essek. Travis: “He just went from being cold and aloof to being really warm. I know there’s been time and he’s lived an isolated life, but...time will show if he’s being genuine. All of our haunches were up. All of us were on level five alert.” He’s being so helpful that Travis doesn’t trust Mercer with him.

Fjord never ever considered becoming a paladin of the Traveler. “No. Fuck no!” The Wildmother reached out and directly intervened to save him. Travis gets super creepy bad vibes from the Traveler’s relationship with Jester (Sam agrees).

Nott feels more pressure when her own problems become the focus. It’s hard for her to open up and talk about her feelings. She’d rather pick up on other people’s problems. Sam also acknowledges it’s more pressure on him (and anyone) as a player when the whole table is looking at you.

And that’s that! Is it Thursday yet?

[thewritingginger]

A-Z Fluff Alphabet - Leviathan

Thank you Anon for your request, I hope its ok and met with what you wanted

Enjoy ~

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A ctivities - what do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

- Obviously being a video game and anime lover he would want to share his passion and interests with his s/o

- Anime marathons

- Late nights of gaming and junk food

- Enjoys going to anime conventions with you (something that the two of you can bond over)

B eauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

- Levi thinks your hair is the most beautiful part of you, the color complements your skin perfectly, the texture and the softness is something he could never get over. Loves the smell of your shampoo! (Has been one to sneak a sniff or two lol)

- He admires your consistency, Levi doesn't really care for change, mostly your consistency of being there for him and just being yourself is what makes really makes him fanboy over you uwu lol

C omfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

- Poor boy doesn't know what to do when you cry

- Will offer to play games or any activity you like to do (even if he doesn't like it) to make you get your mind off whatever has you in destress

D reams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

- I don’t think Levi ever really wanted kids or ever seriously thought about it to be honest

- He thought he would spend all his days with his waifu

- But you opened his eyes to  favor the 3D world more and although he still is kinda iffy about kids, later in your relationship he starts to become fond of the idea of you and him have a child

- Just a family of the three of you and henry

E qual - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

- It’s pretty equal in you relationship

- But Levi can be quite childish at times making you have to take charge

F ight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

- Can you say stubborn

- Doesn't like admitting he’s wrong

- Pouty boy for sure

- But if he really hurt you then he’ll try and make it up to you by getting your favorite snack and cuddle with you (kinda like a white flag)

G ratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

- I don't think Levi realizes how much you bring to him till one night you two got into a (admittedly petty) argument that he might have taken a bit far and you gave him the silent treatment. All was good for the first few hours but once it trickled to the night,  you were getting ready for bed, went to your room, and locked the door so he couldn't get in. He texted you and you left it on read.

For the rest of the night Levi stayed up wondering, “Will they ever talk to me again?” “Are they going to break up with me?” “They’re my normie, what do I do now?”

After that night that seemed to drag on for an millenia came to an end. He ran down to the dinning table to see you eat breakfast and damn near fell to his knees before he stopped, “Y/n… I’m sorry for yesterday!... Will you … please forgive me?”

You obviously accepted, not only because you missed talking to him but, the way he is apologizing and practically begging you made you realize how much Levi really did love you. Levi had always had an issue apologizing, not because he doesn’t think he can be wrong but because it would be him having to put his pride down and admit that he was.

When you accepted Levi felt a weight come off his shoulders, and will remember this feeling of emptiness without you.

H onesty - Do they have secrets they hide form their s/o? Or do they share everything?

- Levi can't really lie to you, might not admit somethings right away in fear of embarrassment

I nspired - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

- You kinda showed Levi that he doesn’t need to be insecure in your relationship and that jealousy, although difficult for him to overcome sometimes, isn’t necessary because he is everything you need and he doesn’t have to be the ‘perfect’ guy to be perfect to you.

J ealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

- He is the avatar of Envy

- Asking if Levi gets jealous is like wondering if a pen will hit the ground once you drop it

- He’s more of a grumpy boy than an aggressor

- Will be annoyed and might even give you cold shoulder for a little, but that never lasts for too long

- Way to resolve it? Cuddles and telling him he’s the only one you want and that the rest are all normies to you

K iss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

- First kiss was fine but a bit nerve wracking and awkward, I mean levi doesn't go out kissing normies everyday

- Levi is a decent kiss once he gets used to touching you, it’s just those first few handfuls that were a bit clumsy and coy

L ove Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

- In true Tsundere fashion he just kinda blurts it out like you made him say it and is upset about it

- He is a little blushy boy, talk about #TomatoStatus

M arriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

- The only person he wanted in his life was his beloved Ruri-chan

- But then you came around and realized that a normie like you wasn't too bad and that you slowly began to not just be a normie at all but quite the opposite (was that too cheesy, eh heck it this is a fluff HC)

- Levi never thought of marriage before, but one day it kinda hit him that he wouldn’t want a life without you in it.

- Asking you to marry him was, like most emotional things with him, a bit jumbled and a lot of blushing.  

- Your marriage with Levi is goofy and anime filled, had some obvious bumps in the road with a few run ins with bouts of jealousy and petty fights, but you’re both working on finding a middle that works for you two.

N icknames - What do they call their s/o?

- Nicknames he calls you: Y/n, | Y/n-chan, | (i don't see him using a lot of nicknames) Maybe Princess/Prince (When being really loving) |

- Nicknames you call him: Levi, | Lev, | Lord of Shadows (jokingly), | Baby, |

O n Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

- Pretty obvious to others

- He is more generous (as generous as levi can be) to you than anyone else

- Gets blushy and denies it when his brothers call him out for it  

P DA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o on front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

- A very flustered boy if you randomly kiss him in public

- Hand holding is fine but he would prefer if you kept the kissing to a minimal/ on the cheek when around others

Q uirk - Some random ability they have that's beneficial in a relationship?

- A random skill that Leviathan possesses that is beneficial to your relationship is his inventiveness. This shows when he’s making his cosplays and he has to make or improvise a piece of his costume or when you two spend a day in for a date or little dates in general.

R omance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

- Levi is more awkward than anything

- If he tries to be romantic it never works out really, gets flustered and stumbles

- So he doesn't try to be romantic just tries to make you happy and feel special

S upport - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

- Levi tries to support you like you do for him.

- Although it can be tricky for him cause its sorta a new thing for him still

- But will root for you the best he can :3

T hrill - Do they need to try new things to spice out their relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

- Levi really prefers a routine

- Might try new things but would have to think about it and have a couple conversations about it.

U nderstanding - How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

- Levi tries his best to be empathetic to your feelings

- it was kinda a learning curve for him to how to treat and work with you in your relationship vs the one with his brothers

- But over time you both were able to cultivate communication that works well, most of the time

V alue - How important is the relationship to them? What is it that's worth in comparison to other things in their life?

- In all honesty Levi never thought he would really be in a relationship, whether it was another demon or a normie like you.

- But once you got to talking about all the anime and manga you’ve enjoyed in the human world, and the late nights playing games and going out to karaoke he began to really bond with you and realizing that you aren't just another normie

- A comparison would be to say that you and Henry are on the same level of importance (maybe even a little more but he would never tell Henry that)

W ild Card - A random. Fluff Headcanon.

- Levi and you took a trip to the human world to attend a much anticipated anime convention.

And in true convention fashion you and Levi obviously cosplayed, and Levi went as the Lord of Shadows for his favorite series TSL and you partnered him dressed as a young maiden.

The whole day was filled with pictures and visiting all the different booths. As the hours went on the space in your arms got taken up with anime paraphernalia.

As the end of the day rolls around you and Levi stop by a little cafe to rest and get some food and don’t forget the bubble tea

When you get home you unpack and open all the goodies you two collected over the day and display them nicely in the room.

After you are all undone and ready for bed you spend the time before sleep takes over your body, tangled in each other reminiscing on the day.

X OXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

- Yes, but usually only in private settings

- Likes to lay with you and watch anime together

- Loves when you comb your fingers through his hair &/or give him scalp massages

Y earning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

- Not always well, but having Henry helps when the loneliness sets in a little

- Messages you all the time

Z eal - Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

- You are something special to Levi, someone he never thought he would find

- He doesn’t want to lose you anytime soon, but if you wished to part ways he wouldn’t try to convince you otherwise. Not because he wouldn’t want you to stay with him but because he wouldn’t want to feel like a burden to you and make you stay if you don’t want to.

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Woah, hold up! 

Is... is this a post??? Is this blog still active??? 

Yes! Just don’t get too comfortable 🤪🙃

I really rode the struggle bus on this one babes 😅

But as you probably noticed I’ve been ... inactive, that doesn’t even describe it lol

I’ve been in a huge bout of writers block cause of this quarantine as I’m sure it has for many others.

But I hope you all are staying safe and that you enjoyed this :3

💛~

[anonymoushouseplantfan]

Submitted: The Sussex Philanthropy Delusion

All she knows about philanthropy is the cosplay she did while trying to get the ring and the “appearances” she did as a royal. The problem is, of course, that random assortments of photo ops only work when you’re a royal - that’s their job as a government / heritage symbol, kind of like a more souped up mayor. And that increasingly seems quaint and useless given how we live in the age of 24/7 media platforms.

Even Kate needed to put a cohesive narrative around a core message while doing other photo ops to look less lightweight. And why Harry got such great press with his focus on Invictus. But Meghan hasn’t been able, and will not be able to, build that platform for several reasons. Mainly, it’s clear that she doesn’t care about much except for herself and secondly, her intellect and taste levels are an adopter’s, not a visionary’s in that she just copies whatever is trendy at the moment. Diana’s philanthropy was successful because she did have “taste” - she wasn’t afraid to drive trends in everything from fashion to causes no one wanted to touch at the time. She also was resourced in a way that the Sussexes aren’t - she had her own money, the global fame that was only possible in the 80s/90s before the fragmentation of media narratives through the internet and cable TV, and a clean narrative as a divorced woman looking for her next act. The Sussexes, in contrast, are confusing pseudo-royals that only command the occasional attention of a buzzfeed article land whatever press they can pay for and have angrily scorned the very concept that brought them global attention - the symbolic union of the most traditional of institutions with progressive ideals. Sure, the cynics and people with axes to grind might celebrate their departure as proof that the racism and classicism are so deeply entrenched in society that it can kill even the most beautiful union, but at its core — this is a deeply depressing thing to stand for. We look for public figures to bring us hope. The circumstances which they exited the RF gives them identities of victims. What’s even more astounding is that they think being professional victims render them a useful platform to jumpstart their new lives as philanthropists.

Even if they were better situated in terms of reputation, there is no world outside of her being in the UK as a royal where she can fill her calendar with nothing but “appearances” and be paid for it. Start something, sure. But she has no funds, either. She stands for nothing and has accomplished nothing of note. And neither does Harry outside of Invictus. The harsh reality of their situation will become clear in the next few months and they’ll separate before the end of summer.

_______________________________________________________________________

Thanks for sending this in!

I think you absolutely hit the nail on the head when you say the “random assortments of photo ops” only work for royals. Even fellow humanitarians like Angelina Jolie and Jane Fonda have separate day jobs.

The Obama-like role she aspires too is also out of reach because she does not have the kind of achievements the role requires, and, as you say, she has positioned herself as a victim and not as a trailblazer or any kind. 

I’d add that she’s not really suited for the “mega influencer” role either because her lifestyle is not aspirational, particularly right now. 

I feel she could carve out a role for herself with a mix of charity and lifestyle, but the big obstacle here, as you say, is authenticity. She is not authentically interested in any charitable work and that is her biggest flaw.

Thanks so much for sending this in. Very clear and succinct.

[queen-boo]

I debated a long time what to type. And of to type anything at all, because I like to think tumblr is my safe space where I can keep and collect all the things that make me happy. But I think I need to get this off my chest, and doing it here, on this particular platform, feels more comfortable that anywhere else. Because one of the things I’ve always liked about tumblr is… Well there’s a certain level of anonymity isn’t there? I can be who I want to be here. And today, I kind of just want to be an anonymous person with a story to tell.

To those who have followed me for a long time, you will be aware I am an Achievement Hunter fan. A rather passionate Achievement Hunter fan. Those who more recently joined me for my other fandoms, there isn’t going to be much context to this post and no one is obligated to read or acknowledge it in any capacity. This is for my own sanity, to be honest, because I haven’t felt like a whole person since this news came to light. I promise eventually, I might be back to the blog you followed and making whatever content you followed me for. But I have to deal with this first.

I was a victim of Ryan Haywood.

To be honest. Victim isn’t the word I would prefer to use, I personally don’t like it. But I’m struggling to come up with another term. I will not be posting screenshots (though I do have them) and I will not be sharing too many details. Mostly for my own sake. I am not at a point where I can face what happened properly. I am not in a place where I can fully accept I am not to blame. Every day I am waking up and struggling with how things could have gone differently. The people in my life who are close to me and supporting me at this time, are a godsent, but I am still struggling to explain to them exactly what happened.

But again, for my own sanity, I’m here to vent otherwise this will swallow me whole. So what I will, say is this.

I was barely 18 years old. I looked up to this man. We exchanged messages, of which began innocently, and progressed to an explicit nature. I was young and niave and having a conversation with one of my idols–an actual Internet celebrity–and failed to see how dangerous this situation could be. Thankfully, being young and excited meant I took screenshots of our conversations to show a friend… Obviously on Snapchat, this notified him that a screenshot had been taken and he ceased talking to me.

Now comes the part I am struggling to tell anyone about. Even my partner. Even my friends. I had a second interaction with him. At a convention. In person. I had met him for a signing. I had spoken to him about my mental health, I gushed and praised as fans do, and I (perhaps stupidly) said something achingly honest about how I owed my life to him and the content he and AH makes. He hugged me, innocently, in view of his coworker and other fans, and told me he was glad I was still alive.

Later that night, at the events VIP party, I ran into him again. I was no longer in cosplay but dressed up, and when I spoke with him this time. He touched me. To most, an innocent touch. We were in a crowded room, my friends were not ten feet from us but engaged in conversation. I made a joke about being in my civilian clothes, he responded with the comment ‘but a very beautiful civillian’ and again–like a young fan being complimented by her idol would, I melted. We talked for ten minutes. He had his hand on my waist for at least fifty per cent of that interaction. Innocent to some, but to me, in hindsight. Not so much.

When later that night I reached out to Ryan on Snapchat to thank him for his interactions and coming to my country/city to meet us fans. We got talking again. And again, this conversation was anything but PG rated. It involved him 'wishing he wasn’t set to leave the next day’ and expressing many opinions on the clothes I was wearing and as you can imagine… Other less than savoury things. I did not think to screenshot these messages at the time, knowing that last time he had stopped talking to me when I did that. Though, after a time they petered out (likely because he went back to his country and I remained in mine - therefore useless to him) and I never heard from him again. Which, as you can imagine, knocked my young confidence.

Up until now, I had been starstruck enough to look at these interactions and think this was something cool. Something fun. I had thought I was special. Getting something that no other fan was. I felt wanted and beautiful. Its literally every fans dream right? To not only be noticed by your idol but appreciated by them. To be desired by them.

I was fortunate enough to never meet with Ryan in person and go through with anything. But do I believe, if the opportunity had arisen, that meeting would have been this man’s end goal? Yes. Do I believe that, as young and impressionable and eager to please an Internet celebrity as I was, I would have agreed to meet with him? Also yes.

I don’t really know what I’m hoping to gain from this. I don’t owe anyone but myself anything. But I think writing it down and screaming it into the void that is tumblr will help? I’m not sure. Maybe it will. Whatever the case, this post was for me. For no one else, and I am sorry for clogging up the dash of anyone who could care less about this AH drama!

But for the other victims out there, for the ones who have told your stories, for the ones who will tell their stories, and for the ones who won’t. I see you. I hear you. I believe you.

We will get through this. I promise.

[ericsonclan]

Down The Chimney Like Ol’ Saint Nick

Summary: A heated debate between the Everett siblings break out about Santa causing them to take their arguments to the next level...

Word Count: 3228

Read on AO3:

“Santa is totally real!” Renata slammed her hands on the table, causing the Christmas cookies on the tippy top of the plate to fall over.

“Please,” Prisha picked up the fallen treats and placed them back on the plate. “You still believe he exists at your age?”

“Yeah,” Renata huffed and sat back down in her chair. “And Clem does too! Right?” Renata looked over at her younger sister who was nibbling on a cookie. Clementine glanced up from her snack and gave a short nod.

“Yeah, Santa exists.” Her answer made the eldest sister groan in annoyance. Prisha pressed a hand to her temple.

“You two are nearing highschool and you still believe that an old beard man sneaks down our chimney and gives those gifts to us?”

“Not all the gifts.” Renata shook her head. “Just the ones that say they’re from good ol’ Saint Nick.”

“Yeah,” Clementine grabbed another cookie, taking a sip of milk before taking a large bite out of the sweet. “The ones labeled from us were obviously bought by us.”

Prisha let her head fall onto the table. Renata and Clementine shared a look then glanced back at their oldest sibling.

“Mom believes,”

Renata’s statement made Prisha’s head shoot up. “No way. Mother is far smarter than that.”

Clementine’s eyes narrowed. “Are you calling us dumb then?”

The realization made Prisha hold up her hands defensively. “Now wait-”

“She did!” Renata shook her head. “ I can’t believe our own sister thinks we’re just a bunch of dumbasses.”

“Who’s a bunch of dumbasses?” Marlon strolled forward, a happy smile on his face as he sat down beside Renata.

“Prisha said we’re stupid.” Clementine answered her stepbrother's question, making him pause for a second while he was grabbing a cookie.

She did?” Mitch’s voice drew the siblings’ attention to the doorway where Aasim and Mitch were making their way into the kitchen. “Sounds like Prisha.” The brunette smirked and took a spot beside the sister he had just insulted.

“I did no such thing!” Prisha looked annoyed by her sibling’s words.

“But you implied it,” Renata pointed at Prisha with a cookie.

“Why would you imply that they’re stupid?” Aasim took a spot by Clementine and moved to pour himself a glass of milk.

“Because they believe in Santa,” Prisha replied before downing the rest of her milk.

“You believe in Santa too!” Marlon asked, cookie crumbs flying out of his mouth that hung slightly ajar. The blond’s eyes shone with excitement at the news.

“Yep! We are believers!” Renata smiled proudly at her brother. “Unlike that one over there. I think her name was Pushy or something.”

“It’s Prisha,” The eldest sister snapped. “Stop trying to provoke me.”

Mitch gave a snort. “You believe in him too?”

“Yeah,” Renata leaned back. “What, you don’t believe in jolly old Saint Nick?”

“No! That would be stupid,” Mitch paused when he noticed that Clementine looked slightly hurt by that. “Wait, Clem, do you believe in him too?” Clementine gave a nod. “Growing up in the foster system I didn’t really get anything except once a year when I would get a gift from Santa. Even after I got adopted, I’d get a gift in the same wrapping paper and written in Santa’s handwriting.”

Prisha and Mitch were quiet, neither wanting to point out that most likely it was that Carley had continued on that Christmas tradition for Clementine, most likely in hopes that her daughter could hold onto a piece of Christmas magic when so many other parts of childhood innocence were taken from her.

“Well, logic seems to lean towards disproving his existence,” Aasim placed a hand on his chin. “How could a man with that body type fit into every single chimney? Chimney designs change over the years and there are many different sizes.” The brother snatched a cookie, breaking off a corner and tossing it in his mouth.

“With magic, duh.” Renata took two cookies and shoved them in her mouth.

“Yeah, there’s a ton of things that science can’t explain that still happen in the world,” Marlon added, making Renata smile over at her brother.

“Regardless, one thing that can’t possibly be achievable is how he can go across the world in one evening stopping at each house and giving personalized gifts.” Prisha leaned on her elbows and looked at her sister. “Care to explain that one?”

Renata opened her mouth but before she could speak Prisha added one more thing. “And don’t say magic.”

“It’s the miracle of Christmas,” Clementine crossed her arms. “Miracles happen every year.” Marlon and Renata nodded in agreement of their youngest sibling’s statement.

Mitch rolled his eyes. “There’s no fucking way.”

“Oh yeah?” Marlon looked over at his brother. “Dad believes and he’s the smartest guy we know.”

“That’s not true,” Aasim tutted and shook his head. This argument continued for some time. Each side of the argument brought new information into the mix while the six siblings continued to eat the cookies. After a while the cookies were demolished and the milk jug empty but both sides were still heated as ever about the conversation, neither willing to back down from their stance on the subject.

“Fine, I guess there’s only one way to prove it!” Marlon stood up from his spot at the table. “I’m gonna go down the chimney in Dad’s Santa suit!”

“The mere fact that Dad has a fat Santa suit proves he doesn’t exist!” Aasim pressed his hands on the table.

“He just wants to cosplay as Santa.” Renata shot back. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to dress up as the coolest dude in the world!”

“Why would an old as balls man be the coolest dude in the world?” Mitch quirked an eyebrow, a smirk plain on his face.

“Because he gives gifts to all the little boys and girls of the world!” Clementine leaned back in her chair. “He even gives us gifts too.”

“Fine, put on the suit and climb down the chimney.” Prisha let out a tired sigh. “It will prove nothing.”

“You’re just scared because when we prove we’re right you won’t have a leg to stand on,” Marlon’s words seem to light a fire in the three siblings who were opposed to the belief in Santa.

“That won’t prove shit!” Mitch jumped up from his spot. “It’s easy to go down a chimney. The hard part is climbing back up! I’m gonna prove Santa couldn’t do it.”

The six siblings all silently stared at each other. A weird tension danced in the air around them when suddenly Renata made the first move. Throwing a used napkin at Mitch as a distraction, she began sprinting and laughing as she disappeared from the kitchen and sprinted down a hall. The five siblings looked confused by the action until their lovable, bubbly sister returned.

“Marlon,’ Renata whispered “Where’s the Santa suit.”

Her question made Marlon and Mitch’s eyes grow large. The pair of brothers shared a look then started fighting to get out of the kitchen first. There was only one Santa fat suit but two challengers. Whoever got to the suit first would have the advantage.

“Dad’s study!” Marlon called out as he held Mitch in a headlock which he easily got out of. Mitch tried to pants Marlon in revenge. Clementine, Prisha and Aasim watched in curious silence as their brothers fought each other while Renata hopped this way and that to find the suit.

After a few minutes she returned, barely able to hold the massive costume in her arms, with a bright smile on her face. “Ready to become Santa, Marlon?”

“Hell yeah!” Marlon ran over and Renata and Clementine helped their brother get in the suit.

“This isn’t fair,” Mitch complained as he frowned at Marlon who had donned the Santa fat suit and white beard.

“Why don’t you just make your own if it's that important?” Aasim got up to stretch his arms.

“Yeah, it’s not like this will prove anything,” Prisha rose up from her spot as well.

“Did you guys hear that?’ Renata had a smug expression on her face. “It sounds like the ghost of Christmas Bore.”

Prisha’s lips tightened when she heard the insult. She had had enough of her sister’s remarks. “Fine, we’ll play your stupid little game!” She glared at Renata who looked rather pleased with herself. “Mitch, there are some pillows we can use to imitate the fat suit.”

“I can grab Dad’s red bathrobe too!” Aasim offered and soon the trio was off to create their own Santa suit. When they returned they began to work on stuffing pillows into the bathrobe as Mitch smiled confidently at Marlon who returned the smile in kind.

“Alright,” Clementine moved forward. “We have our two Santas. Mitch will try to climb up the chimney and Marlon will try to go down the chimney.”

“Two Santas enter the ring, only one leaves!” Renata declared grandly. Within seconds the siblings were off to the chimney to prove that their side was right.

------

Carley could feel a slight chill run down her spine as a gentle winter wind blew past her. She made a little sound in reaction to the cold, causing her husband to pause.

“You alright, Car?” Lee looked over with a concerned expression.

“I’m fine, Lee. Just a little cold,” Carley replied with a smile.

“Well, let’s finish up this walk and get back home for some nice hot cocoa by the fireplace.” Lee’s offer made Carley’s smile grow.

“I’d like that,” She gave Lee’s hand a small squeeze and the two continued to walk back to their house hand in hand. “Think the kids behaved?”

“Well, considering that we haven’t heard news of a fire or an explosion going off, I’d say we’re in the clear.” Lee smiled playfully over at his wife.

“If that did happen, it would be because of your sons.”

“ My sons?” Lee stopped for a second. “What happened to saying they were our sons?” “They’re only your sons when they get in trouble,” Carley answered with a teasing expression.

“Oh yeah? Well let’s hope the house is in one piece when we get back. I’m sure the kids had their fair share of mischief.” Carley gave a good-natured chuckle. “With our kids there’s never a boring day.”

“That’s the truth,” Lee stopped in his tracks; they were only a few houses away from their own. A nervousness overtook his face, giving Carley pause.

“Is everything alright, Lee?”

“Hmmm,” Lee looked up. “Oh yeah. It’s just...” He used his free hand to rummage around in his winter coat. After a few seconds he pulled out a sprig of mistletoe and held it above their heads. “I thought it wouldn’t be Christmas without mistletoe and you know how wild the house can get.”

Carley smiled lovingly at her husband then leaned forward, capturing his lips in a warm, soft kiss. Lee’s eyes closed and he deepened the kiss, his gloved hands gently cupping Carley’s face. The two pulled apart and stared deeply into each other’s eyes. Both of them had huge grins on their faces when suddenly they heard a voice call out to them.

“Mom! Dad!” Renata scampered forward and fell into a pile of snow a few feet away from her parents. Lee and Carley immediately ran over to their daughter.

“Renata, what happened?’ Carley asked with concern. She and Lee began to slowly help guide her back onto her feet.

Renata shook off the snow from her face and winter coat. “Marlon got his ass stuck in the chimney! Oh, and Mitch got stuck too! But not his ass, he got his face, or more like his upper body, stuck in the chimney too!”

Renata’s words made Lee and Carley share a worried look before following their daughter who continued to skid and slip as she led the way. When they got in view of the house they saw Marlon in a Santa suit on the top of the chimney. His face was red and his butt was firmly planted in the hole of the chimney, causing his legs to be stuck in an awkward upward position. Aasim and Prisha were pulling desperately on their brother’s arms but it seemed to do little to help.

“Renata, where’s Mitch?” Lee looked towards his daughter who pulled her attention away from the rather funny sight.

“I’ll show you,” Renata grabbed her dad’s hand and guided him towards the front door.

“I’ll help Marlon,” Carley called out to her husband then strode towards the ladder that had been set up by her kids. When she reached the ladder she could hear the conversation being shared between Prisha and Aasim. She began to climb until they were in view.

“I argue that the best course of action would be for one of us to pull while the other tries to unwedge him.” Aasim offered.

Prisha shook her head. “I disagree. I figure that if we pull at a certain angle that will give Marlon enough of an opening to get himself out of the chimney.”

“G-G-Guys,” Marlon’s teeth chattered. “Can we try one now then if that doesn’t work do the other?” He gave a few sneezes, each one making his head fly forward with the force of it.

“I agree with Marlon,” The sudden appearance of their mother’s voice made the three kids’ eyes widen in alarm. “I want to hear the whole story afterwards,” Carley began to make her way onto the roof. “But first let’s get your brother out of there.” Prisha and Aasim both moved forward to help their mother. Aasim steaded the ladder as she stepped off while Prisha gave her mom a hand up.

“Thank you,” Carley smiled at her kids before looking at where Marlon was stuck, a small frown pulling on the corner of her lips. This was going to be quite the challenge.

------

“Clem! I got Dad!” Renata exclaimed, making the youngest of the siblings glance up from her task of trying to pull Mitch out of the chimney. Her hands were wrapped around his waist.

“Looks like you got yourself in quite the pickle, son.” Lee couldn’t help but laugh at the sight. His son was stuck in the chimney in a red bathrobe that was filled to the brim with pillows, his butt prominently sticking out

“It’s not funny, Dad.” Mitch grumbled. “It’s really tight in here!”

“Alright,” Lee strolled forward and observed the situation for a minute. There was a solution that could potentially work if all the pieces fit. “Clementine, could you fit in that spot of the chimney?” Lee pointed at the small gap in the opening between Mitch and the chimney. Clementine looked confused for a second but then started to get the idea.

“Yeah, I think I can, Lee,” Clementine squatted and shimmied her way into the spot.

“Okay, I’m going to need you to undo the bathrobe belt and start getting the pillows out.”

“Okay,” Clementine’s voice was slightly muffled but she got started. Renata scampered forward and began to help from the outside, taking the pillows from her little sister and tossing them back until enough were gone and Mitch was free. He fell backwards, landing hard on his butt. Mitch blinked wildly, his face covered in a fine layer of soot. Renata, Clem and Lee all shared a look before starting to laugh which made Mitch’s face turn down into a deep frown.

“Whatever, I-” Mitch paused, his nose scrunching up before he let out a plethora of sneezes. Clouds of soot danced in the air from the force of the sneezes.

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up,” Lee helped up his son and walked him over to the bathroom to get all the soot off his face and hair.

It took a couple of minutes but by the time they were done Carley had successfully gotten Marlon out and she and the other kids were back in the house. Once the whole family was gathered around Carley spoke up.

“Now who’s going to tell me what happened here?”

“We were trying to prove Santa was real,” Renata answered. “Even though some who shall remain nameless don't believe,” Renata shot a stink eye over to Aasim and Prisha who looked done with their sister.

“How does going into the chimney prove Santa is real?” Lee looked around at his kids.

“Because Santa does it,” Clementine stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“But both Marlon and me got stuck so that proves that Santa isn’t real.” Mitch smiled proudly over his siblings.

“No!” Renata shook her head wildly. “That doesn’t prove anything!”

The six siblings got into another heated debate when Carley spoke up.

“Alright, enough. No more arguing about this and never do something like this again. You could’ve gotten seriously hurt.” Their mother’s words caused all the siblings to stop in their bickering.

“Your mother is right,” Lee took a step forward. “It was stupid thing to do. You could’ve fallen, or inhaled ashes or could’ve frozen out there. I-” Lee stopped when he noticed his son’s condition. Marlon stood there, his nose scrunched before he began to sneeze again and again until he nearly fell over from the force of one. His body began to shiver violently, causing his parents’ faces to grow worried.

“We need to get you warmed up right away. Prisha, Aasim, why don’t you help your father make some tea.”

The two siblings nodded in understanding and disappeared into the kitchen with Lee.

“Clem, Renata could you grab all the blankets you can find?  We need to get everyone warmed up.”

“You got it!’ Renata grabbed Clementine’s hand and sprinted off in search of blankets. Carley helped Marlon over to the couch and double checked that Mitch was okay. Renata and Clem soon returned with blankets.

“Brother!” Renata jumped and outstretched her arms with the blanket, wrapping Marlon in a warm hug. “Clem, join us!”

Clementine nodded and started tossing blankets all over the couch then scooted close to Marlon who gave a small, appreciative smile. Lee returned next with Prisha and Aasim in tow with a ton of tea. Once that was settled Prisha and Aasim with insistence from their parents got under the blankets as well. Renata draped herself over Prisha’s lap and had her legs on Marlon’s lap to make sure her body heat was distributed equally. Lee sat beside Aasim and shared a blanket with him while Carley went to the other side and sat between a few of her kids to warm them up.

“How does ordering pizza sound for dinner?’ Lee asked and was met with excited applause. He reached in his pocket and got out his phone, placing the order which was quite hectic as each kid tried to butt in with their own perfect pizza plan. But soon that was done and the family continued to snuggle under the blankets and drink their tea. Carley and Lee shared a look. To think their kids got in this much mischief over a simple question. Still, it all turned out okay. But it seemed like the mystery of whether Santa was real or not would have to just remain just that. - a mystery.

[danganronpa-21]

Meet the Fankids!

It’s about time that I made a blog like this. Seriously, I’ve had these fankids for so long and I’ve never introduced them as a full group before? Preposterous! That had to change, and so it has. Here’s a full list of all of the fankids present in Danganronpa 21 -- complete with appearances, personalities, likes and dislikes, hobbies, fatal flaws, dreams, and other random details like blood type.

Happy reading!

Hope Naegi-Kirigiri: 

The eldest daughter of Makoto and Kyoko Naegi-Kirigiri, standing at 16 years old (April 9th, 2020). She holds the talent of the Super High School Level Costume Designer, and holds positions both on Hope’s Peak Cheerleading Team and on their Student Council. She is 5′6 and boasts 118 lbs, and has AB blood. She is of Japanese descent. Her affiliations include Hope’s Peak Academy and the Kirigiri Detective Clan, though she is notably not the heir.

At sixteen years old, Hope is already widely believed to be living up to her namesake. Cheerful, bubbly, and caring; Hope is a girl who is greatly admired by many for her charm and grace. Those who admire her would say that she’s always ready for adventure and fears nothing, but she herself would tell you that that’s a stretching of the truth. And those who dislike her would tell you a completely different story. They would tell you that she is childish and overly fanatical, to the point of letting it consume her very being. Others might tell you that she’s stubborn and constantly refuses to see when bad things are happening right in front of her. The one you’d probably hear the most is that she’s headstrong, for someone who tattles on others when they break the rules. And in a way, all of them are true, although she would insist that those traits are probably not as bad as they seem.

Some of Hope’s favourite things in the world are mystery novels, animals (especially dogs), pop music, make-up, her family, and craft projects. Her hobbies include costume design, theatre, cosplay, photography, playing video games, reading novels, and helping her younger sister out with mystery solving. Otherwise, Hope tends to dislike foul language, being called ‘bossy’ by her peers and being underestimated overall, her mother’s cooking, her great-grandfather, and generally anyone who has the audacity to disrespect her baby siblings. 

Hope is someone with many goals in life. She hopes to have a successful career in the costume design industry. If she cannot do that, she would like to succeed her father as Headmistress of Hope’s Peak Academy. She is also incredibly passionate about nurturing the world around her, and ensuring that people blossom to their full potential. So much so that she is certain that she’d like to have children some day, too. Her one major shortcoming that will likely get in the way of her life goals is that of her pride. She is often too proud to admit when she’s made a mistake or had any sort of shortcoming, which will hinder her in her journey if she’s not careful. 

She will be the second protagonist in the Danganronpa 21 series.

Sakura Asahina: 

The adoptive daughter of Aoi Asahina, standing at 16 years old (November 17th, 2020). She holds the title of the Super High School Level White Water Rafter, and is the manager of the Hope’s Peak Academy Swim Team. She is 6′0 and 150 lbs, and has Type O blood. She is Japanese according to immigration, but her actual background is unknown. She is a student at Hope’s Peak Academy, as well as a waitress at the Sakuhina Cafe.

Sakura is the primary example of looks can be deceiving. Though she is a tall and buff-looking girl, she’s the walliest wallflower there ever was. She is highly shy when it comes to new people, and tends to stick to smaller social groups (which often leads her to spend time with Leon and Hope exclusively). Still, don’t let this gentle heart fool you. Apart from her reluctance to socialize, she also has a personality of her own. She is adventurous and compassionate, and has been described by others as dependable at any and all times. The kind of girl you go to when you have a problem and need help. She’s not a girl with a particular temper, and tends to be sort of dreamy-minded. The sort of person who believes wholeheartedly in the goodness of the people around her. If you manage to capture a spot in her heart, she will be as gentle and generous with you as possible -- granting you almost all of her attention. Still, Sakura is no manic pixie dream girl. Much like her mother, she is impatient and tends to jump to conclusions. These conclusions can often lead her to being oversensitive and emotional, and creating big, unnecessary reactions to small things. She is notably also socially awkward, and tends to worry about every detail of her social interactions... sometimes to the point of making herself ill. 

Among her list of favourite things is donuts, rabbits, physical activities, the sauna, fresh fruit, her mother’s cooking, and matchmaking TV shows. In terms of hobbies, she loves to bake, binge-watch TV shows with her mother, swim, babysit, quilt, jump rope, and white water raft. She also has a fondness for caring for plants. On the other side of things, what Sakura hates most in life is the fact that some people fear her. That, and a slew of other things. Yelling and loud noises, when others neglect their responsibilities, neglecting proper nutrition, dressing up formally, tofu, back aches, and shoulder tension. She also seems rather displeased at the amount of boys who don’t seem particularly interested in pursuing her romantically... not that she’d know what to say to them if they did choose to pursue her.

Sakura is unsure of what she wants to do with her future. She thinks she would like to continue with her talent; perhaps working with a team to lead them to victory. Unfortunately, her sport isn’t in the Olympics just yet. Otherwise, she thinks she might take over the Sakuhina Cafe if Aoi will allow her to do so. Or maybe be a social worker! She hasn’t decided yet, but likes having the options. She also dreams of getting married some day, but still struggles to talk to boys her age. Her biggest flaw in getting what she wants stems from the fact that she is emotionally vulnerable, and thus more prone to hurt and manipulation. 

She will be the sixth protagonist in the Danganronpa 21 series.

Leon Hagakure: 

The son and eldest child of Kanon and Yasuhiro Hagakure, standing at 17 years of age (January 8th, 2020). He holds no ultimate title nor any exciting extracurriculars, but he does have a great interest in music mixing and DJ work. He is 6′0 and 151 lbs, and has Type A blood. He is of Japanese nationality, but is a quarter Jamaican from his father’s side. His affiliations start and end with Hope’s Peak Academy. 

The number one thing Leon might tell you about his personality is that he tends to wear people out on occasion. Not because he’s an overbearing person or anything, but mostly because being Kanon and Yasuhiro’s son has made him into a very weird person. At his best, Leon can be described as a laid-back, yet energetic young man. He is overall good-humoured and generally idealistic in comparison to his peers, albeit a little more naive than them, too. He struggles with knowing when to take things personally. In spite of what people might believe about him, though, he actually inherited Kanon’s courage and cleverness. The boy is much brighter than most tend to give him credit for. Likely because it is overshadowed by his larger flaws, such as his laziness and disorganization. His idealism frequently leads him to have unrealistic expectations of people, and also produces a lot of ideas that just cannot work in the real world. Not to mention that he’s just flatout irresponsible when it comes to just about everything. The only point in which he shows some competency in being responsible is when it comes to his baby sister, Kameyo.

Leon’s favourite things include manga, dubstep music, electric guitar, wasabeef flavoured chips, the scent of vanilla, and aliens. In terms of hobbies, he likes to mix music, play soccer, go mountain biking or hiking, doodling, calligraphy, playing baseball, playing video games, and wood carving. Alternatively, he notoriously hates homework, nagging, classic novels, whale meat, haircuts, and when his mother uses him as a test subject for make-up.

Leon isn’t someone who has a lot of direction. He’s a pretty good-with-the-flow guy. If he had a main goal to describe at the moment, it would probably be to graduate from high school. Maybe see if he could get a career in mixing music. If it’s not possible, he thinks he might like to become a teacher or a tour guide. Still, his major flaw in achieving those goals manifests mostly in the fact that he is lazy and lacks motivation.

He will be the ninth and final protagonist in the Danganronpa 21 series.

Koichi Naegi-Kirigiri: 

Makoto and Kyoko Naegi-Kirigiri’s son, standing at 15 years of age (February 5th, 2022). He holds no ultimate title, and currently boasts no extracurriculars at school. As apart of his Reserve Class Talent Study, he is choosing to study martial arts. He is 5′1 and 100 lbs, and has Type B blood. He is of Japanese nationality and background. His affiliations include Hope’s Peak Academy and the Kirigiri Detective Clan, and is notably not the heir... he was actually never considered for the position of heir at all.

The self-proclaimed “most normal” member of his family, Koichi would consider himself a relatively uninteresting boy. His main traits include being sarcastic, somewhat serious, and leaderly. He has never been the kind of kid who has lots of confidence in himself, and as such tends to be modest and self-critical. He sports a sort of sophisticated understanding of the world in spite of his young age, and traditionally tends to view the world a bit differently than those around him. Much deeper into his soul, though, there is much more of a nervous boy trying to hide. When it comes down to it, Koichi is caring and reliable, often willing to give all of himself when shown that someone is deserving. Still, this also makes him much more sensitive. A lot of the time, people would categorize Koichi actually as a huge crybaby, and thus rather brittle. In truth he holds a certain degree of strength, but is often overcome by his own insecurity and worry of what others think of him. He is desperate to please those around him, and secretly dreams of living up to his father’s legacy. 

Things that Koichi really loves include novels, ramen, manga, tea, being challenged, video games, his family, and penguins. His hobbies include martial arts (with him being able to manage aikido, taekwondo, ju jitsu, judo, and hapkido), skateboarding, language study, playing the piano, playing basketball, playing video games, and volunteering to help others in need. What he dislikes, though, can be brought to a list of excessive attention, doing the laundry, not being allowed individuality from his parents, lecturing, coriander, and those weirdos who drink milk straight out of the carton. 

Koichi isn’t sure what his goals in life are yet. He’s only a kid, after all. All he knows is that he’d like to graduate high school at some point. He doesn’t really know where he would like to take this whole martial arts thing, but figures he will pass it onto his children. You know, to continue the Uzuchi family legacy somehow. Really, though, Koichi’s biggest life goal is just to have an adventure. The trait that will get in his way? His recklessness and insecurity over uncertainty.

He is the first protagonist of the Danganronpa 21 series. 

Natsumi Kuzuryuu: 

The daughter of Peko and Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu, currently 14 years old (August 16th, 2022). She holds the title of Super High School Level Fire Dancer, but makes no attempt at adding any extracurriculars. She is 4′11 and a measly 90 pounds, with Type A blood. She is of Japanese descent and nationality. Her affiliations include Hope’s Peak Academy, the Jabberwock Islanders, and the Kuzuryuu Gumi. She is notably the heir to the Kuzuryuu Clan, but after the traumas of the Tragedy, she and her family have stepped away from Yakuza work. When attending school, she utilizes the name Natsumi Kitagawa to protect her identity. 

If one thing can be said about Natsumi, it’s that she is absolutely Fuyuhiko’s daughter. At first, Natsumi projects herself as a boisterous and loud girl. She is ruthless, rude, and has an uncontrollable vocabulary of curse words. She is short-tempered and hot-headed; going as far as loving to get into fights with people just to watch them back down. She is aggressive and disorganized most of the time, and in spite of her family’s lack of real connection to the Yakuza anymore, she is still highly arrogant about being a rich heiress. A little too proud to be a Kuzuryuu, it seems. Deep down, though, she really means well. She is surprisingly patient with those who have earned her respect, as well as loyal to them until the very end. She may be rough around the edges, but truthfully Natsumi’s core is very soft. She is soft-hearted and highly romantic, as well as daring and freethinking. Justice is always the first thing on her mind, and she’ll fight for it no matter what. She loves people very deeply, and is always a shoulder to cry on for a friend in need.

Natsumi loves swords, flowers, any sort of wit, sour candy, seashells, and the smell of the ocean. Alternatively, she is not particularly fond of know-it-alls, her father’s lectures, the Island’s loneliness, and being criticized for her family’s past. For fun, she likes to craft weapons, garden, draw, play volleyball, mix drinks (mostly non-alcoholic... cause, you know, Fuyuhiko’s kid), and surf.

In all truth, she’s not sure that she really intends to take her fire dancing dream to a larger career. She’s considering reserving it for the people she loves, and as a means of showing the culture that Jabberwock developed post-Tragedy. Instead of using it as a career, Natsumi is hoping to eventually get married and have a family. She’s already picked out names for the four children she wants to have, and hopes to spend her time with them as a housewife. If she has to have a career, she thinks she could maybe enjoy being some sort of protector of the people. Perhaps an advocate? She’s not entirely certain. She just likes to joke that her Yakuza background makes her “want to help in a way that surprises people”. The thing that stands in the way of her goals the most is honestly her own ego, and sense of self-importance.

She is the third protagonist of the Danganronpa 21 series.

Phoenix Bartholomew Nevermind: 

The only son of Sonia and Gundham Nevermind, aged 14 (September 18th, 2022). He holds the title of Super High School Level Parapsychologist, and currently boasts no extracurriculars. He is 5′9 and 145 lbs, with an AB blood type. He is half-Japanese, and half-European. His affiliations include the Jabberwock Islanders, Hope’s Peak Academy, and the Novoselican Royal Family. He notably has potential to be the next heir to the throne, should he challenge his mother’s second cousin, Amaris. For his protection, he utilizes the name Phoenix Tachibana while at school.

Phoenix is, admittedly, sort of a strange kid. On account of his sort of strange parents. He’s an eccentric boy with a joy for life, a taste for culture, and the absolute glee that comes from accepting who you are wholeheartedly. Most others use the words energetic, fun-loving, and friendly to describe him. His attitude is, for the most part, carefree. He refuses to let anyone tell him that he’s being too odd, and will try to treat them kindly even if they do so. Not to mention that he is imaginative and resourceful, able to handle himself better than most people might expect. However, the boy is still human. Unfortunately, he’s rather clumsy and extremely gullible. He is incredibly vulnerable to manipulation, and falls for it more often than he doesn’t. His perseverance skills could also use a bit of work, given that he is the type to give up easily when things don’t necessarily go his way. His father’s influence has also made him defensive of his views on the world, and he admittedly has some prejudice towards “non-demons” on account of his parentage.

Phoenix adores all things supernatural. Old movies and plush animals, too. Oh, and any food that’s sweet. Japanese dramas, fantasy novels, and fireflies are also pretty high on the list of favourite things. On the list of least favourites, there’s spiders, the smell of kusaya, seagulls, his contact lenses, and Natsumi’s insistence on fighting literally everyone that so much as looks at her funny. His hobbies include yoga, sand art, fishkeeping, sewing, reading, learning new languages, and making up mythical creatures for fun. 

Phoenix’s big dream in life is to someday return to Novoselic. He wishes to challenge Amaris, and take back his family’s position on the throne. Admittedly, part of the appeal does come from wanting to return his mother’s title to her, after it was stripped following the Tragedy. But a lot of it comes out of love for his country and his people, and wanting to connect with the part of him he has yet to meet. He does someday hope to get married, but he worries that Novoselic might object to his “less traditional” preferences in a partner. His biggest obstacle to his dreams (apart from Amaris) is his soft-heartedness and emotional vulnerability. 

He is the fourth protagonist of the Danganronpa 21 series.

Junichi “Jun” Togami: 

The only son of Byakuya Togami and Aceline Aleshire, currently age 9 (May 16th, 2027). He holds no ultimate talent. He is 4′3 and 66 lbs, with Type B blood. He is of Japanese-European descent (French & German mother). His affiliations include the Akamine Academy for Gifted Youngsters and the Togami Conglomerate. He is notably the heir of the Togami Conglomerate. Among friends, he tends to go by the name “Jun”, but when his father’s around... well, everyone’s told that they’re obliged to call him Junichi. 

Referred to lovingly as “The Mini Byakuya”, Junichi is a child of ego, bluntness, and an overstatement of the value of wealth. He has a tendency to be arrogant, as well, so much so that he developed a rivalry with Seiko over which of them is more intelligent. He willingly looks down on anyone who he perceives to be below him, unless actively given a reason to respect them. Fortunately, unlike his father, he does think a sort of kindness warrants respect. When he’s not perpetuating his father’s questionable life lessons, most would categorize the boy as efficient, sensible, and articulate. He is straightforward and well organized, keeping everything neat and working as hard as he can to get what he wants. Sometimes, he can even manage to be helpful, when he really wants to be. Most likely on account of the loneliness he feels deep down.

Some of Junichi’s favourite things include math games, lizards, the piano and the violin, foreign novels, the night sky, and Renaissance art. He secretly also likes playing in the mud, but he’d never let anyone but Kameyo and Seiko know that. Generally, he has a distaste for rodents, the sight of blood, chocolate, cluttered spaces, eggplant, manga, death metal music, and his own mother. He is all too grateful that she is no longer in the picture. His hobbies are limited due to his business training, but when he has time to engage in them, he reads, plays the violin, does calligraphy, paints, and does ballet. He’s also always been kind of curious about make-up, but neglects this for he fears his father wouldn’t approve of him. 

Junichi’s main goal in life is to succeed his father in the Togami Conglomerate and restore the family to what it used to be. He has no greater goal than making his father proud by being strong, successful, and intelligent. He has already planned out his life all the way past graduating university with a specialization in business, and birthing a proper heir to come after even himself. Deep down, though, another one of Junichi’s dreams is to learn to accept himself for who he is. He’s awfully proud of him family legacy; however, he feels he can’t embrace all of himself if he’s choosing to follow it. His biggest flaw/hinderance when it comes to his goals is his unstable behaviour born from insecurity, and his possessiveness over the people he has in his life. 

Junichi will be the fifth protagonist in the Danganronpa 21 series.

Kameyo Hagakure: 

The youngest child and only daughter of Kanon and Yasuhiro Hagakure, age 8 (March 17th, 2028). She currently holds no Ultimate talent, but as of her story debut, she is under consideration for the title of the L’il Ultimate Medium. She is 4′3 and 61 lbs, with Type B blood. She is of mostly Japanese descent, with a quarter of her background being Jamaican. Her affiliations include the Akamine Academy for Gifted Youngsters, although she someday hopes to go to Hope’s Peak Academy.

One of the biggest staples of Kameyo’s personality is her absolute cluelessness. She tends to have moments of absent-mindedness and is somewhat spacey, unable to always understand the things that are happening around her. She is not always the best listener, and tends to take action before she can even think about what needs to be done. This makes her forgetful and somewhat careless in activities that concern her everyday life. Most would not say that Kameyo is responsible. Still, the girl absolutely makes up for her flaws in heart. She is honest, humble, and passionate. She has high levels of empathy and can quite easily understand behaviours based on the energy they give off and what she knows about them already. She is warm and kind, which tends to help as she is extroverted and highly sociable. Overall, she is just a sincere young girl that others love to be around. She may not always seem like she’s paying attention or make the smart choice, but when she is, you can’t help but love her.

Kameyo is especially fond of fortune telling, dolls, make-up, sunflowers, scented candles, crystals, pop music, and of course, ghosts. She tends to dislike the dark, bitter foods (especially matcha), slurping sounds, being unable to identify where a sound is coming from, and when others compare her to Junichi and Seiko. In her free time, she loves playing baseball, doing ballet, doing crafts, playing pretend, doing make-up, and collecting dolls. 

Given that she’s so young, Kameyo wouldn’t say that she’s someone with a profound collection of goals. Really, she’d say that her big thing is wanting to prove to people that she’s not crazy. That she really can hear ghosts, and that most of the time, the ghosts don’t want to hurt you. She really struggles with the fact that most people tend to assume that she’s disturbed or just a child, and wishes she could do something more to show them. She thinks maybe getting into Hope’s Peak Academy as the Super High School Level Medium might change that for her. Otherwise, she’s just a kid who wants to have fun; she would love to make as many memories as possible with Junichi and Seiko at her side!

She is the eighth protagonist of the Danganronpa 21 series.

Seiko Naegi-Kirigiri: 

The youngest daughter of Makoto and Kyoko Naegi-Kirigiri, currently 8 years old (December 14th, 2028). She currently holds the title of L’il Ultimate Detective, but cannot claim it yet. She is 4′2 and 59 lbs, with Type B blood. She is of Japanese descent. Her affiliations include the Akamine Institute for Gifted Youngsters and the Kirigiri Detective Clan, to which she is the heir. 

Confusing is the way most people would describe Seiko Naegi-Kirigiri. Probably due to her tendency to flip back and forth between being weirdly mature and then insanely childish rapidly. Her childishness shows most when someone first meets her, and she resorts to stoicism and shyness until she can get to know them better. Time will begin to show Seiko as an impish and impatient young girl, determined to get what she wants from the world. She is highly brilliant and confident in herself and her capabilities, and takes great pride in being a detective. Courage and willingness to stand up for others seems to pump through her veins, sometimes something she interprets as her “Kirigiri Blood”. She is friendly, dedicated, and kind. However, this doesn’t always show, due to other traits she possesses. She is commonly described as opinionated, graceless, and tends to speak bluntly about others. Given that she is so young and also of Kirigiri blood, she is frequently disobedient and impatient. One of the harshest things about her, though, is that she holds grudges and refuses to let go. 

Still, Seiko isn’t as harsh as she might seem. She’s still a little girl, after all. She has a child-like love of many things, such as snacks, Japanese mythology, chocolate, pretty rocks, and playing dress-up with her big sister. On the other hand, she dislikes secrets, pickles, green peppers, creepy old men, and being told to be more “lady-like”. Her hobbies include collecting stuffed animals and dolls, ballet, reading, climbing trees, playing chess, keeping a journal, and baking. 

Seiko’s primary goal in life, above all else, is to become a great detective like her mother. She wants to be a honourable part of the Kirigiri family, and ignite pride in her parents and great-grandfather. She hopes to someday open her own detective agency. If she can’t do that, though, she thinks she might want to be a professional ballerina. The only thing that might get in the way of this might be her impatience and spiteful nature.

Seiko is the seventh protagonist of the Danganronpa 21 series.

[sharysisnhmoonshadow]

Questions Game!

Answer 10 questions and create 10 of your own for other peeps to answer! (I’m letting this round die with me)

Tagged (again 😁!) by @ausp-ice

1. If you were a mythical creature, what would you be? A centaur! I’m already a Sagittarius. I love archery, and I would love to be able to be able to run that fast! Not sure what the Caeli Mosnter would think . . .

2. How many hours of sleep per night do you normally get? Averaged 4-5 hours prior to quarantine (excuse me, shelter in place). But these days I’ve been getting a solid eight hours. It’s been SO NICE!

3. If you could upload your consciousness to a computer, would you? For fear of ending up like Clay Kaczmarek from Assassin’s Creed, probably not. However, if the computer was an android body I could possibly be swayed!

4. If you have OCs, who’s your favorite? If not, who’s your favorite character from any media? Jodi Hunter, my 15 year old runaway delinquent from my Transformers fic Disregarded (the series as a whole turns into a TF/SPN crossover). Not only was this the first fic under my current penname, but it was the fic I learned to stop being afraid of what I enjoy fandom wise. Jodi was my very first fully fleshed character. Based physically off of one old coworker and named after another, Jodi is my tiny temperamental asexual basket case and I love her! She has scars and PTSD and will fight you to protect her little found family. One of the biggest compliments I ever got was when several readers FORGOT she was an OC. I still desperately want to finish her series but I haven’t been in the correct mindset.

5. If you could pick one (or a few) song(s) that could capture these essence of you, what would it be? This one is hard! I use a lot of music as Inspiration so rarely think about it in relation to myself. Hmmm. I’m gonna go with Affirmation by Savage Garden. About 85% of the lyrics are pretty accurate. And I Ship It by Not Literally. Watch the video on YouTube. Pure GOLD! I remember watching it for the first time and thinking “I have found the song of my people!!”

6. What’s your favorite flavor of love? Familial, platonic, romantic, sensual, sexual, nonconforming, anything else I could be missing. Feel free to offer different choices for different contexts! i.e. for yourself vs. what you like to read. And if you want to go ham with details, go ahead, I’d love to see it :> OMG I just love love? Sure, I love me a well written steamy sex scene, but what really makes it good for me is the intimacy or dynamics driving it. Give me the feels, or the sassy banter, or the soft moments. Romantic sensual love makes me swoon, but familial love also gives me life! Supportive BroTPs and found family are my Jam. I’m very lucky to have a loving and supportive partner in my life and a small collection of extended family that is diverse and supportive each in their own way. I didn’t always have that and so love it when characters in stories help each other to bloom into better versions of themselves. I am also weak for any relationship (platonic or romantic) that is willing to throw down and wreck shop to protect/rescue/avenge a loved one!

7. If you have original worlds, which one would you like to be part of most? If not, pick any setting from any media. Harry Potter. For the magical creatures alone! Hippogryphs? Unicorns? Dragons? Thunderbirds? The gigantic breed of flying horse the pulled the fricken carriage for Beaubatons? Yes please! Also- Hufflepuff and PROUD!

8. What’s one thing you hope to achieve in life? I would love to publish one of my original stories. I have several rattling around, and a few that I’m about ready to start cleaning up the story outlines so I can officially Get Started. Not gonna lie, one day I would love to read fanfic about my own work. ❤️ I would consider it the ultimate version of coming full circle.

9. What do you like most about yourself? I find that if you put me in a crowd situation like the renaissance fair or comic/anime/fan conventions I love just talking to people. (Though I have to monitor my people levels because sometimes I can overwhelm myself a little by sheer enthusiasm). I love talking to vendors and artists just to discuss their work. Lots of fond memories of people I will probably never see again.

10. Can you show me something you think is pretty? This could be a photo, an artwork (yours or other), a song, something written. Anything. I present to you two of my favorite critter photos I’ve taken, plus two of my favorite couple Couple Cosplay photos. I made a decent Dean, but Josh was a phenomenal Castiel!

[eponymous-rose]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E65 (June 4, 2019)

Are we on the internet? Probably! Either way, Travis goes falsetto and Marisha’s playing with a pillow. Brian: “We’re back. ...on the air.”

Tonight’s guests are Marisha Ray and Travis Willingham!

Announcements: Last night was a special one-off episode of Between the Sheets featuring Ashley Johnson! It’s an awfully good one, and you can watch it right this very moment if you’re subscribed on Twitch, or on Wednesday on YouTube if you’re not. The very first Between the Sheets t-shirt (”Baby Got Backstory”) is available for preorder on the site! If you missed the horror-themed promo for the shirt, it’ll come around again. There’s also a Pride t-shirt, and all the proceeds go to OutRight Action International! There’s also a huge thank-you to everyone at Denver Pop Culture Con and they marvel at the cosplay---they especially highlight a Grog who was bigger than Travis! There’s also a long discussion about Brian’s fly. Buttons are confusing.

Okay, okay, okay let’s get to Episode 65: Chases and Trees

Stats: At over 12 minutes, this was the longest DnDBeyond ad. Travis: “But what do you do? Do you edit the Oscar-worthy performance of Marisha Ray?” There’s some rambling discussion about demonetized British currency, as you do. Dani, quietly: “We have questions...” Nott rolled the 300th player Natural 20! This episode also marks the first combat encounter Beau has ended with all of her ki points still available.

It is pointed out that Travis is wearing one of Liam’s sweaters over his legs to hide his shorts. Dani: “That sweater is for our protection.” Marisha: “Everyone is blinded for 60 seconds.” Brian: “The next thing you’re going to hear in your visions is ‘Ṣ̛̪͉̭͈͍ͅP̦R̭A̘͙̲͇̭Y̦͜ͅ-͜T̡A̴̫̣͎̹N͉͍’ .”

[id: Travis coyly pushing the sweater back, revealing his untanned legs. Marisha looks amused and exasperated. end id]

Kiri was contacted for the first time in 40 episodes or 140 in-game days!

Marisha and Travis commiserate over what it’s like to be very awesome but not specifically in a flashy, magical way like the rest of the party. Marisha: “I’ll just do yoga on the horses.”

At first, Travis thought the figure in the vision was going to be Fjord’s mother, but once it played out, he realized it was probably the Wildmother and he’s definitely going to talk to Caduceus about it. “I’ll fucking sip some tea. I don’t give a shit. I’ll help him grow some dead people fungus. I’ll help him make some Smurfs.”

Marisha points out that Beau is pretty self-deprecating about her abilities, even when they include sprinting up the side of a 400-foot tree. "She assumes everyone hates her because she hates herself first. And once again, everyone around her can do crazy magic shit. She’s going to figure it out, but I think it’s going to take something. Talk to Beau. Don’t talk to me.”

Brian: “Travis, continue to sit there like my Nana watching Jeopardy while answering this question...”

Travis on Fjord: “Look, he puts on a brave, stoic face, because that’s what he saw Vandren do; that’s what people in leadership positions do: they don’t show vulnerability. Yeah, it’s a fucking facade.” With no risk to him, there’s a genuine olive branch being offered, and he’s been desperately looking for that kind of rescue. “That was huge.”

Travis notes that he used his only two spell slots to run up that tree. “I thought we were gonna have a rest before BIG BIRD showed up.”

Beau is "kind of an introvert” and does better one-on-one because there’s less vulnerability than talking in front of multiple people, and she can take more time to think about what she’s going to say. But she’s also got Dairon in the back of her head reminding her not to get close to people. “She’s got a lot of walls, still. She’s getting there, though.”

Cosplay of the Week: a wonderful Keyleth (@teaandtails, photo by Jay Villanueva). Dani notes that the antlers are huge in person!

Travis had plans both for if someone else fell, and for if he fell, which is why he was so quick off the draw. There are some memories shared of campaign one’s Goldfish Incident. Marisha: “Look, in my brain, there was nothing that could have gone wrong!”

Beau opening up to Yasha was less about comforting her (”Beau’s not a comforter.”) and more about finally being able to talk to someone who would understand. Marisha had it in the back of her mind for a while, but didn’t want to bring it up in front of everybody.

Fjord didn’t understand that the tree was connected to the Wildmother when he damaged it, but Travis figures she was probably thinking along the lines of: “Fuck, aw, c’mon-- twice?! You’re gonna dent the thing! Should we just get rid of this asshole? Chosen one, my ass. I mean, that snake thing’s not a big deal, right?”

Beau thinks of her relationship with Tori as a bit of a “what not to do”, and that whole encounter is part of why she pushes people away and has such elaborate walls. There’s a very over-elaborate analogy in which Brian brings up the hypothetical of having lactose intolerance: Marisha: “Maybe loving ice cream isn’t the thing for him! Maybe it’s better to have never loved ice cream!” Brian: “But there’s lactose-free ice cream.”

Marisha was excited to have an opportunity to use her ability to run up vertical walls. “I was stoked! First opportunity I can get. And then to get down, I was like, ‘...it’ll be fine.’”

Fjord is feeling really encouraged that the gods can intervene in his pact with Uk’otoa. “The fact that they can get around and fuck with each other’s shit... aces.”

Fan Art of the Week: the Wildmother comforting Fjord. (@_strawberryfox_)

Brian: “Are we just putting our feet up on the coffee table? Is that what’s happening?” (Henry disapproves.)

[id: Travis, Marisha, and Brian lounging with their feet on the coffee table, while Henry glances up from his nap in a judging way. end id]

Fjord wasn’t relying on Feather Fall; he was going to Misty Step when he got close to the ground if it didn’t work out. Beau was definitely relying on Nott. They’re doing a better job of trusting each other and knowing each other’s abilities, but it’s still a work-in-progress.

Marisha notes that Fjord and Beau are on a similar page re: the Dynasty. “In my head, I wonder if I’m being a Tyrion Lannister about this.” (As someone who didn’t follow that show, I am smiling and nodding nervously through this whole discussion and hoping I don’t need to transcribe something I don’t understand.) Beau’s hoping that if they can keep going, their influence will help sway the Queen in a different way, or an option will present itself to avoid this kind of conflict. Fjord is cautiously optimistic, but he thinks “she still intends to nuke them, regardless.” Beau’s also hoping to find someone else in the upper echelon of the Dynasty who might have different opinions. The word “coup” gets thrown around a bit.

There’s a spell Fjord has that he hasn’t used yet at all (Travis doesn’t remember it at the moment), since he only has the two spell slots. Beau has the Preternatural Counter ability, but hasn’t had the opportunity to use it yet (Sentinel kind of supplants it most of the time).

Brian shows off his John-Wick-and-his-dog pins. Oh dear. Travis: “...that’s a weird pin set to have.” It was, of course, a gift from Ashley.

Biggest achievement for their characters thus far? Brian points out that not dying before level 9 and having had no huge falling-outs are genuinely big achievements. Marisha: “I feel like our characters have reached that kind of awkward point, where we were fighting and trying to figure each other out, and now we’re starting to find a common goal.” Travis: “Minus Caduceus. What’s that fucking guy all about? He turns people into tea and he’s got us thinking that’s normal!”

Dani: “Episode 66 on 6/6... WHAT DOES IT MEAN?”

[ignis-scientia-estrogen-brigade]

If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you might have seen my thread documenting the Ignis-inspired itabag I made in order to have something to display all of my Ignis charms when I headed up to Anime Expo last Thursday. I sewed all night and day to have it done in time for AX and I only just now got around to taking some decent photos of it! Construction details below the cut:

Once my collection of Ignis swag had grown beyond what a single lanyard could reasonably carry, I started looking into itabags that could better display all of my stuff. Wanting something that would fit the theme, I found this skull itabag online that I felt would be appropriately Ignis. But at $40, my first thought was, “I could probably make that for less.” I also thought that I could make it even more on the nose by having a purple Coeurl-print lining peeking out from behind the skull, so I headed down to my local fabric store in search of leopard print fabric. As I was shopping, I had an epiphany—instead of just making the bag mildly Ignis-themed, why don’t I take it a step further and make the display area his shirt? And thus, a plan was born.

I think what really solidified my idea was finding some crinkly leather fabric that matched his collar, as well as black denim that closely resembled his Crownsguard fatigues. I also found a leopard-print in the bargain bin that, while I wouldn’t consider to be cosplay-accurate, was definitely good enough for itabag purposes. Since it was clearly a synthetic material, I had to buy some specialty dye to achieve the desired level of purple.

This was the color of the fabric before I dyed it. Mostly black and white, with a slight hint of blue. The spots were a little bigger than what was accurate to Ignis’ shirt in the game, but all in all it was quite the awesome find!

After one round of dye. I used about half of the recommended amount of dye for the dye bath because I wanted a very subtle color. This turned out to be too subtle, so I dropped it into the bath again.

Round two. I really should have stopped here, but Ignis’ shirt looks different depending on the lighting and angle and I was afraid this was still not quite purple enough. Into the dye bath once more.

I had a #yolo moment and added more dye to the bath, which proved to be my undoing. This certainly doesn’t look awful, but it’s not what I would call screen-accurate (too purple). I wasn’t making this for cosplay purposes though, so I decided to just roll with it and move forward with the bag construction.

This was the pattern I had initially started to use for the backpack, but ultimately the only thing I took away from it was the shape of the outside (which I ended up changing in the end anyway). At the very least, it helped give me an idea of how a backpack should be put together. More importantly, however, was getting the look of the “shirt” right, so I spent a lot of time measuring, pinning, pleating, and ironing. “I love sewing pleats!” said no cosplayer ever. >.> (Also, you can see how differently the fabric photographs depending on the lighting.)

The “access point” where you stick your hand in to hang your charms is right down the middle there. There’s a long strip of velcro just behind those buttons, which seemed like a good idea at the time but in practice proved to be not as ergonomical as I had hoped.

The #1 most important part of this project for me was including the skull pendant my dear friend @hypaalicious sent me after my dad died. I’ve had it for a while now, and while I’ve worn it here and there, I was always afraid wearing it too much for fear of losing it. I’m so happy I finally found a perfect place to display it! ♡♡♡

After finishing the shirt, I moved on to the rest of the bag. The arrangement here was modeled off the aforementioned skull itabag, although now having worn it around for a day I would definitely do this layout a bit differently. At this point the backpack was still square (like the backpack pattern in the link a few paragraphs above); ultimately I rounded the top corners a bit to better match what a traditional backpack looks like.

The perfect Ignis denim I bought came with the unfortunate caveat of being stretchy, which is not a quality you really want in your backpack material. There are ways around this; fusing it to another fabric will rid it of most of its stretchiness while adding a bit of stiffness, something you do want in backpack material. Unfortunately, I severely overestimated how stiff I would need it to be and fused it to duck cloth, which is just about the thickest, stiffest fabric out there. That meant my sewing machine really had its work cut out for it when it came to sewing through multiple layers. At its thickest, I was sewing through ten layers of fabric! I broke five needles trying to get through everything. If I do this project again, I’d definitely fuse the denim to something much, much thinner.

I wanted an inside pocket to put my chapstick and other small things in; even though I knew no one else would see this besides me, I took the time to line up the spots on the pocket with those of the lining. :D

#restofthefuckingowl It was getting late and I was in a hurry to get everything done, so unfortunately I don’t have any more photos of the process after that. But here’s a photo immediately after I finished it! You can see that I added side pockets modeled to look like Ignis’ jean pockets (I ended up storing business cards and a bottle of sunscreen in mine).

I hope you enjoyed this write-up and/or are inspired to make your own themed-itabag! I got a lot of really wonderful feedback on Twitter and I sincerely appreciate the warm response. I did have a few people asking me if I would ever take commissions; I think this project is probably a bit too labor-intensive for these to be reasonably priced, but I’ve already begun to think about a better 2.0 version of this bag, and I think selling a pattern + in-depth tutorial for it at a nominal price could conceivably happen! If I did that, I’d probably sell this particular bag (sans necklace), so keep your eyes peeled here or on Twitter in the future for news on that. :)

Twitter || ISEB Store

[dccomicsnews]

Directed by: Cathy Yan

Written by: Christina Hodson

Starring: Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Chris Messina, Ewan McGregor

Review by: Eric Joseph

Summary

Somewhat capitalizing on the success of 2016’s Suicide Squad, Margot Robbie returns as Harley Quinn in an ensemble tale that kind of functions as a solo adventure all at the same time. The Clown Princess of Crime may share the screen with several other DC favorites, sure, but it still feels like it’s her movie in the end. Think of how Steve Rogers remained the central character in Captain America: Civil War amid guest stars galore, and you have somewhat of a decent parallel here – albeit with a much smaller cast, of course.

Unfortunately, Birds of Prey didn’t rake in the box office dough it should have, but we can only hope that more people discover it once the home video release hits shelves. In my view, this film turned out much better than I’d anticipated, so I’m going to tell you why it’s worth your time and money. Questionable marketing, costume choices, and an unnecessarily long title that should have been simplified to “Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey” in the first place were likely the biggest factors contributing to financial shortcomings, although there’s nothing we can do about any of those at this point.

Basically, the story follows Harley Quinn, Huntress, Black Canary and Renee Montoya as they call come together while the villainous Black Mask and Victor Zsasz hunt the human MacGuffin that is Cassandra Cain. I won’t spoil why they’re pursuing said child in case you haven’t seen the picture for yourself, but that’s the gist of it.

Positives 

The greatest positive to mention is that of the gal whose name is included in the title itself: Harley Quinn. Like I said, this is damn near a Harley solo film, although I can’t complain too much because Margot Robbie simply knocks it out of the park. It’s as if Suicide Squad were the appetizer and Birds of Prey is the main course. Her performance is spot-on, and I can tell she put a lot of effort and research into every onscreen decision she made while inhabiting the character’s skin. My guess is that she’d just begun reading the comics while filming Suicide Squad, and then read a lot more in the time since. I know for a fact that she’s become a fan of the source material, and it really shows.

In fact, I must say that the rest of the main cast did commendable jobs with the roles they landed – even if some of those portrayals were questionable. Well, any missteps when it came to characterization weren’t their fault, as actors just play with the scripts they’re given. We’ll pick up on that point when we get to the “negatives” part of this review, alright?

Actually, it could be argued that some gripes can be tolerated when the end product turns out so well. The narrative itself unfolds in nonlinear fashion, yet it comes across as quite smooth. It’s a far cry from the editing nightmare that was Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice‘s theatrical cut, that’s for sure.

If anyone deserves a round of high fives, it’s 87eleven, the stunt team who choreographed the stellar action sequences. There’s a very good reason why the fight scenes are on par with John Wick films – and that’s because the same talented folks just mentioned worked on those. Here’s hoping they’re brought aboard for more DC projects in the future, particularly anything having to do with Batman.

K.K. Barrett and his production design crew also warrant a tip of the hat. I’m aware that they wanted their Gotham City to look different and more realistic, but it’s my belief they achieved something closer to the comics than anything lensed by Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder. Not meaning to knock what those guys did, but their Gothams simply looked like everyday major cities. Gotham City is a character unto itself, and that’s something I haven’t seen portrayed to the fullest extent outside of the Tim Burton-Joel Schumacher era and the Gotham TV series. But here, we’re transported to Black Mask’s nightclub, an eerie amusement park and otherworldly pier that look like they were plucked from Batman: The Animated Series, with daytime romps through the city forcing me to recall something like the Burnside borough from the comics.

And when it comes to supplemental content, WB sure didn’t skimp on that for the Blu-ray release. I recommend checking out “Birds Eye View Mode” for your second viewing of the feature presentation, as it is essentially a video commentary, behind-the-scenes tour, and pop-up video-style factoid dropper all rolled into one. Beyond that, there are featurettes that delve into production design, stunts, costuming and much more.

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Negatives

Okay, here’s where I have to get dead serious.

My first airing of grievances has to be directed at costuming. That particular department may have wanted to avoid skimpy spandex outfits and “onesies” as they put it, but not many characters in this movie are recognizable to readers of comics. Although most people flocking to theaters don’t actually read the books, the core audience will kickoff the snowball effect of advance poor word of mouth without fail, and that definitely happened well before opening weekend this past February.

Now, I’m not saying Mary Elizabeth Winstead had to run around in a singlet as if she were going for a swim, but they could’ve figured out some sort of tactical gear akin to the blueprint laid by comic book artists. If other movies in the genre can do it, why couldn’t this one? And when she finally does don the black and purple complemented by a white cross, it’s in a tracksuit-type whatever-it-is that looks like it was ordered online and arrived several sizes too big. You see, this is what grinds the gears of diehard fans. If their familiar getup is supposedly so impractical and unfavorable to women, then Harley Quinn and Black Canary wouldn’t be cosplayed ad infinitum worldwide, would they?

Now, I’m not going to do likewise for every other character – save for Harley, who couldn’t even wear her familiar red and black color scheme – but there’s a reason why I singled out Huntress: I’d been waiting years for her to come to the silver screen. Not only that, but both the Birds of Prey and Arrow TV series had already struck out when it came to her costume, so that’s why I had high hopes for this. And to be clear, I have no criticisms of Ms. Winstead herself; the casting department found the right actress. It’s just that they missed the mark with her gear.

As for poor characterization mentioned earlier, I can’t fathom how Black Mask and Cassandra Cain got so f—ed up. The former would be more aptly described as “Black Mascara” and the latter is not the disabled hero who once took up cape and cowl as Batgirl in the comics. I’d go as far to say they could’ve called her “Jimmy Olsen” and it wouldn’t have made a difference. Really, why mess up them both when every other major character in this production was pretty much nailed from a writing standpoint? But that’s Hollywood, baby, and they know better than you or I.

Verdict

In the case of Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), the pros far outweigh the cons. Trust me when I say this film is a must-see for fans of Harley Quinn and DC Comics in general, so do yourself a favor and pick it up on whatever home video format you prefer. It’s insane, R-rated fun on the same level as Deadpool, so fingers remain crossed that this finds the larger audience it deserves.

Blu-ray Review: Birds Of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn) Directed by: Cathy Yan Written by: Christina Hodson Starring: Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Chris Messina, Ewan McGregor…

[littlerayofsebastian]

Unafraid of Being Me CHAPTER ONE Sebastain Stan & daughter ficlet

SUMMARY: Sebastian Stan has always had big dreams and hopes of becoming a father, but had never thought it to be achievable. True, it would’ve been easy to knock some girl up, but he wasn’t that kind of man. He wanted to fall in love, get married, start a family- do it the old fashioned way. But that’s not easy, with him being a famous actor with famous credentials to his name and high demanding roles in movies. But one day, he gets a phone call that changes his life forever…

         “Hey.”

         I glanced at my boyfriend from the corner of my eye, my posture straight, hands resting in front of me on the handrail.

         “You nervous?” Matt, my boyfriend since freshman year of high school asked me, his hand rubbing comforting circles into the back of my neck. I nodded, unable to speak, partly due to the muzzle- like mask that I wore as a part of my cosplay. “Do you need help getting that off?” He tapped the half mask that covered the bottom half of my face, going from underneath my chin and to midway up my nose. I nodded, turning my head so that he would have better access to the Velcro, snaps and buttons that kept the mask from sliding down my face.

The two of us didn’t have much time to stop by the hotel that we were staying at to get changed into normal, everyday clothes, so here we stood, with Matt dressed as Captain America and me dressed as the Winter Soldier.

“Thanks,” I smiled softly before turning back to face the sunset. He leaned on the railing so that we were more on level with each other- I was pushing four foot nine inches in height while Matt was six foot two inches. The two of us made a hysterical duo- the mouse sized girlfriend and her giant of a boyfriend. “What if I not he expect? What if he thinks I fake? What if-”

         “Okay, stop right there.” Matt wrapped a protective arm around my shoulders and pulled me in closer to his side in a comforting and loving hug. “If he doesn’t like you, then I swear on my life, I will personally kick his ass for you.”

         I barely cracked a smile as I leaned into his familiar body. We both stood there, in pensive thought until we heard the door behind us open. I grabbed a hold of Matt’s hand as we both turned around to face my biological dad.

         Matt turned me to face him and wrapped his arms around me in a comforting hug before pulling away to give me a loving kiss on the forehead. I stared up at him, terror on my face as I silently told him that I changed my mind- I didn’t want to meet my biological dad.

“Go on- I’ll be right here,” he told me, giving me a gentle push towards him. I took three or four hesitant steps towards him before stopping to glance over my shoulder. Matt smiled encouragingly at me and I took in a deep breath of air, and turned to take the remaining steps towards where he stood, seemingly in shock.

 Sebastian Stan stared at me, examining my face for any similarities. I closed my eyes, taking off the wraparound sunglasses that I had been wearing. His eyes widened- I had inherited his baby blue eyes and thick eyelashes that wrapped them; I had spent hours looking at pictures of him that I scrounged from online, comparing everything about us.

 Suddenly, he enveloped me in a bear hug, and I felt…

 Safe.

 The same kind of safe that I felt in Matt’s arms.

 “You have my eyes,” he mumbled from my shoulder. He pulled away and took my face into his hands. I then realized that he was on a knee, crouching down so that he was more at level with me. “You’re so beautiful.”

 My felt my face heat up- the only person to call me beautiful was Matt and my parents- everyone else called me pretty or cute.

 “You look so much like Stella,” he whispered. “How is she?”

 “Gave up adoption- hours old,” I scoffed, looking away- I hated seeing people’s reactions to hearing me talk for the first time. It was something that I was extremely self conscious of. “Researched- now porn actress.”

 He gently gripped my chin and pulled it towards him. I saw a gentle smile on his face.

 “Tell me when you’re ready,” he murmured softly. “I don’t need to know about your speech patterns right now.” He kissed me on the forehead before wrapping me in another hug.

 At that very moment, the Avengers theme song began to play and I pulled away from Sebastian to look on as Matt answered his phone.

“Hello? Hey, man… okay, okay, okay, text me the address? Okay cool- that’s to be determined. I’ll text you with an update, okay? Yeah, cool. See you.” He turned to face us, removing his cowl to scratch at his head. “That was Tony- wants to know if we can meet up with everyone for pizza in about forty five minutes.”

 I turned to face Sebastian. “Want come?” I loosely held his hand, swinging my arm.

 “I don’t want to intrude- I mean, they’re your friends-” he started to protest.

 I rolled my eyes.

 “Wrong answer- correct answer, yes,” I deadpanned, sending him a glare.

 “Okay, okay- on second thought, yes, I would love to join you,” he quickly corrected himself. “Do you need to change?”

 “Nah, we generally go out dressed up,” Matt answered causally. “It’s really cool- we get people that stop us for pictures, ask us about the numerous charities we partake in, etc.”

 “Much fun,” I piped in, shrugging my backpack up further onto my shoulders. “Make smiles, meet kids.”

 “What is it that you do professionally?” Sebastian asked, leading the way inside.

 “I work as a barista at Starbucks,” Matt answered, taking place on my other side and taking my hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

 I leaning my head into Matt’s side. Out of the side of my eyes, I could see Sebastian’s eyes were on me as we made our way out to the front of the hotel where Matt, our mutual friends and I were staying while in New York.

 “In city, 5K, hospital visits, charity events,” I piped in shyly, burying my face into Matt’s side and he wrapped an arm around me, protectively pulling me in closer to him. “Much fun.”

 “Excuse me, but can we please get a picture?” a gentleman asked us, holding a little boy’s hand. He suckled on his hand as Matt gave the go ahead and the three of us quickly got into position.

 “Thank you!” the child squealed, giving the two of us big hugs around our knees before running off back to his father.

 “Love little kids,” I told Matt and Sebastian, a small smile on my face. We soon reached my boyfriend’s motorcycle- an exact replica of the one that Captain Rogers rides in First Avenger.

  Sebastian whistled softly as he walked around my boyfriend’s bike a couple of times, inspecting everything closely, but not touching.

 “You make all the modifications yourself?” he asked, turning to face Matt, who still had an arm wrapped protectively around me.

 “I can’t claim all the credit, sir,” Matt humbly responded, squeezing me gently. “Julianna here did the paint job and close up detail work, found a compatible engine and worked the oil.”

 “Work bike shop- mostly motorcycles and vintage cars,” I piped in, doing my best not to talk Sebastian’s ear off about Mustangs and Fords.

 Sebastian gave me an odd look as I awkwardly stood underneath Matt’s arm.

 “We go now?” I finally asked, drawing in the two men’s attention. I fitted my head with the 1940’s inspired helmet that Matt had commissioned for me three years ago, when he got his motorcycle license. Over my eyes I placed goggles, also custom made, though by me and my handy 3D printer.

  “Do you want to ride with me or Matt?” Sebastian asked me gently. In response, I jumped onto the back of Matt’s motorcycle, wrapping my arms around his waist and leaning my cheek in between his shoulder blades.

 “I’ll go get a taxi and follow you guys there, okay?” I could hear the slight tone of hurt in his voice as Matt’s started up the engine. We both sat there as Sebastian hailed a taxi before the three of us took off.

  TAGLIST

@sinner-as-saint​

@howaboutleeches1​

@panicfobmychem20171998-blog​

[ryouverua]

Trial 6 -  Oh, I am one yet many (5)

The above inspirational picture was taken seconds before disaster.

Trial: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

Tsumugi is not the one-trick pony we thought she was ABORT MISSION, ABORT MISSION!!!!

NO YOU AIN’T! NO YOU AIN’T I DID NOT SIGN UP TO BE HAJIMEMED, NO SIR I DID NOT!

i mentioned it during the text hellstorm I unleashed when I was mid-playthrough but the way Shuichi says ‘cosplaying’ here is ADORABLE. I love his VA she is so good -

also

oh no

oh no

o h      n o

I can’t just... express how deeply that feeling of ‘oh no’ pervaded my being. My soul.

“THIS IS JUST COSPLAY“ SHE SAYS - AND GOD, THE MUSIC, THE MUSIC IS SO WACKY LIKE THESE ARE JUST SOME NORMAL FTE ANTICS -

wait no this is the ‘let’s start the killing game music’ -

ah that’s why I’m lowkey terrified right now

W-What in the world are those white smears across Hagakure’s eyes??? And oh god the first game too???

WHAT THE HELL TSUMUGI YOU’VE REALLY BEEN HOLDING OUT ON US TELL ME HOW YOU’RE DOING THIS I-I mean oh no, how dare you, this is so awful...

SHE’S TAKEN FULL OWNERSHIP OF JUNKO!PERSONA

AJSLKDF

TSUMUGI

HOLY SHIT

TSUMUGI

IS THIS YOUR FINAL FORM

ironically this got me thinking ‘this would be a really cool cosplay + prop’ once I got over the sheer terror of the situation and I starting thinking, oh, wouldn’t it be cool if you even had a sort of pinwheel mechanism (with the main body of it being hidden by her long hair) that rotated all of these pieces, and have you ever realized that there is a small piece of you that is the monster

also I just realized... she kept putting her glasses on as Junko. But I’m assuming she won’t ever wear them as Hajime. So it’s true - the moment she actually took off her glasses, we really did get to see her final form..

IS THAT KOMAEDA’S HAIR

ALL OF THESE THINGS, I RECOGNIZE ALL OF THEM OMG

This............ this is terrible, terrifying, and also really, really good

don’t say you’re jealous don’t say you’re jealous don’t say you’re jealous okay I’m a bit jealous FFU --

SHUICHI I THINK THIS IS ONE OF THE TIMES WHERE YOU DON’T WANT TO PURSUE THE TRUTH I HAVE A TERRIBLE, AWFUL FEELING -

oh no oh no

here I was doing mental gymnastics to justify why she’d be able to cosplay as Junko, a real person

but I was over-complicating things as usual

even the egg has been compromised for her nefarious scheme this truly is the worst timeline

What is with me and stumbling into series that just bloody smash their fourth wall until there’s nothing but broken pieces left

thank you for having twogami right after togami it’s not something I realized I needed and among all this heartbreak is a blessing

THIS IS NOT YOUR CUE TO START PLAYING THE CREDITS MONOKUMA

I am only making it through this trial by sheer force of will and the power of Sweetcheeks’ adorable voice.

Dangan.... ronpa....?

oh god she said ‘we’ she said ‘WE’ THIS IS REALLY NOT GOOD

‘Don’t get too whacky with your theories,’ I said. ‘You don’t want to sound like a total crackpot,’ I said. DAMN YOU SELF I SHOULD HAVE LET MYSELF GO ABSOLUTELY WILD AFTER ALL

So this was invented completely from nothing??? My initial theory had them seeing themselves in someone else’s actual memories as themselves, and having their own brains play tricks on them that way - but all those scenes with them being interviewed by Makoto, of applying to Hope’s Peak, and possibly everything else about them - oh god - how powerful are these lights? How much detail was crammed into them? Can this all be done with a mere flash of a light???

‘We.’ Her use of ‘we’ is interesting, here. It really does feel like Tsumugi sees all of her cosplay personas as actual people that she can channel to ‘help her’ as opposed to just mere characters. Like entities fighting along side of her, not just through her...

also hello ibuki I forgot how much I enjoyed your VA they make me hear seagulls in the distance

aaaaaaw look at how much the art style has improved from the first game!!!

Y.......... YES.......?????? wait actually as someone who is lowkey interested in props and set design - BUT NO WAIT STILL THIS IS WAY BEYOND THAT -

How... the hell... do you cosplay the world?! The entire world?!?!

Is that possible?? If the entire world isn’t real - if it’s all being propped up by you - then -

Who - who are we playing this game for then??? Why make us play it??? Who is watching the game???

I KNEW IT

I AND PROBABLY HALF OF THE PEOPLE PLAYING WERE JUST WAITING FOR YOU TO SHOW UP

......

Did. Did you just say it takes place in the real world.

Oh no -

It... It’s real fiction... because they’ve kidnapped actual people... and brainwashed them... and then trapped them in a situation where they were forced to kill each other to get out?? For things that didn’t exist??? For reasons that weren’t ever real???

Wait - so that means they can get out and it’ll be fine?! That’s..... t-that’s not as bad as I thought, but...

‘STAFF’ OH THAT WORD IS SO OUT OF PLACE -

...............................

There are. There are people backstage. It’s not just Tsumugi. This. This is super not good.

insert inappropriately-timed comment about how I love this VA

Okay. This actually took me by surprise. And I’m kinda terrified to ask.

W.... Why not? Is - Is this actually a space separated from reality? Can they physically.... not go back....???

no wait -

what are you doing

PUT THAT KEY BACK RIGHT NOW

oH

OH UNCANNY VALLEY-LEVELS OF COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

NO DON’T THROW REAL FACES UP THERE -

IS THIS A BLOODY COMMENT BOARD

I mean I know in my head that this is a niconico parody but the fact is they have to translate the comments to suit an english audience so -

omfg no I cannot believe what is coming out of the screen right now

wait wait

Kyoko is my waifu

My husbando Shuichi

first

Sakura is my muscle waifu good taste anon

Bring on the spoilers

LOL are you watching?

I feel like I’m participating too!

she’s shaking

Aaaw, Himiko is still alive.

Wow it’s on? LOL!

this is what the creepy kid at the beginning of the chapter was about

this was who that Makoto kid was

WHERE IS HIS CREEPY-ASS FACE I KNOW YOU’RE THERE MAKOTO

Is this the everyone... the real everyone Tsumugi says she represents, then??? That she’s fighting for? Omg was Kirumi’s motive/trial foreshadowing all along -

Anyway, damn Tsumugi is proud of her viewership.

#humblebrag #musclewaifu

EVERYONE???? LITERALLY EVERYONE?!?!?!

SURELY... SURELY THAT IS THE CONCEITED TALK  OF A MANAGER TRYING TO TALK UP THEIR ‘BABY’.... SURELY...

I appreciate the use of Celes here. This is.... damn dark. They’ve achieved such a peaceful world that the have to manufacture darkness and blood-sport for people to get their kicks???

STIMULATION?!

first of all where’s miu when you need her

SECOND OF ALL ARE YOU SURE HUMANITY WAS BEAUTIFUL, KOREKIYO??? ARE YOU SURE?

“It’s simple economics.”

THERE YOU ARE MAKOTO YOU CREEP

oh no he was... literally... using this game to cope with his problems.... and he said that one day he wanted to be a part of it... oh no.....

..... D... Did one of the comments say that it had been years? That they had been waiting for a few years for the sequel?

Does - does that mean something, or is it just a throwaway audience comment? Why years? If Rantaro was in the last one, why would it have been years for this one to happen??? How old is Rantaro? How old is Tsumugi?!?!

FML I had been wondering how ‘Monokuma’ could exist without Junko existing since they’re inextricably linked. FML.

MONOKUMA CAN YOU STOP ROLLING THE CREDITS, THE MUSIC AND THE TITLE CARDS FOR A MINUTE PLEASE I AM BEGGING YOU

Because I don’t enjoy having Saioinji’s terrifying eyes trained on me while she questions my intelligence, so I’ll sum up the next question - what season of this gameshow from hell are we apparently on?

I mean, considering Junko’s title... well...

..... yeah it looks better with a V.

the real answer to why they used V3 even though it’s technically not the correct way to say ‘53′ - it’s the aesthetic.

FFFF

I actually screenshot all the parody!title cards and they’re amazing. I’ll post them just once a bit later when it shows up again because this post is entirely too long, but needless to say, whoever designed them had fun. And the titles of the games, too - Birth of Despair? Dream Danganronpa? Sign me tf up! oh no does this make me part of the problem I’M SORRY SWEETCHEEKS

I can’t believe I was bitching about Junko being the mastermind for the third game when apparently audience members have had to sit through 53 Junkos

You couldn’t have changed it up??? Not even once??? Like, one led by Mukuro as a prologue idea or??? quietly denies the existence of the anime

Oh, speaking of which, I do like the excuse they came up with as to why the drv3 creators didn’t create new characters from the supposed other games why Tsumugi didn’t cosplay anyone outside the first two games - it’s for the class’s benefit, since they only knew those two casts, and y’know. She cares. about shock value

DON’T YOU PASS THE BUCK, GIRL

Ah, so that ‘staff’ you mentioned earlier...

why is this so funny to me

T-Tsumugi, do you have a tumultuous relationship with your managers or something

why are you airing out your dirty laundry on live television

is it all the incest plotlines

I feel like at this point it’s less ‘Tsumugi is trying to rub into the students how completely and absolutely they are boned’ and more ‘okay, it’s time to give a shout-out to everyone who put this production together! Perfect time to slap on that logo, guys!‘

oh my god that was supposed to be a trailer in-meta too alsd;kfj i’m losing it

AND AGAIN, THOSE TITLE CARDS - THEY ARE AMAZING.

SHE IS SHE’S TOTALLY ADVERTISING MID-SHOW

TSUMUGI STOP BEING A CORPORATE SELL-OUT

"NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR YOUR CRAPPY SHOEHORNED ADVERTISING!!!”

oh god oh no

who’s going to tell him -

MONOKUMA DON’T YOU DARE

i’m having an existential crisis alongside sweetcheeks ngl

there are so many layers

....

we need to go deeper

So, just to clarify, there are three layers right now:

There’s us, the players. In a sense, we could be considered ‘equal but different than the tier’, but we do still operate on a plane separate from the metafiction of Tsumugi’s ‘everyone in the world’.

There’s the ‘audience’, the outside world. This is the space that’s been breached at this point. And this... this is the level where the students are from, too - aka the reason I think we and the audience should exist as separate entities.

And there’s the domain of the Killing Game, a space created to play out this story, using real people - a place separated from reality... how? If Tsumugi is talking about a set, it could easily be the real world, which means they’ve been isolated somewhere. At the same time though, when they managed to reach the end of the escape tunnel and saw the outside world, they all started to choke and suffocate. So... could this be VR still? Or no? Can these existences known as Shuichi Saihara, the Ultimate Detective, Maki Harukawa, the Ultimate Assassin, Himiko Yumeno, the Ultimate Robot, K1-b0, the Ultimate Robot, and even Tsumugi Shirogane, the Ultimate Cosplayer, leave this space in any way, shape or form... or not at all? Is them suffocating ^ like that a sign that they literally cannot exist outside of this space?

She is literally throwing the same question back in Shuichi’s face ghdfkgh

NO I’M ON SHUICHI’S SIDE I COULDN’T HELP IT I HAD TO CHOOSE REAL PEOPLE

no!!! no!!!! NO!!!!

no seriously I still chose real people because I am stubborn

sweetcheeks et al. do not deserve any of this

Of course they brought out despair!Mikan for this. Of course.

I have to say, I do like these little character touches - the decisions that have been made as to which ‘cosplay’ says what. I mean, it’s supposed to also act as a way to throw our known and loved favourites in our face too, but having Celes comment on how boring ‘peace’ is? Having Ibuki smashing through the fourth wall to speak directly to the audience, Gundham remarking on their abnormal existence and Leon commenting on how cool the ‘aesthetic’ of the title card is? It’s such a nice touch. also horrifying. butalsonice

Oh we really are addressing the prologue now??? And - I’m assuming Tsumugi is referring to Hajime when she says ‘me’, but is there a chance she isn’t?

Just as I initially suspected, though - they really were normal when they got in. So how did they decide who got what personality/talent, or was that random? I mean, that might be the case - it was potentially hinted by the motive video switch of Chapter 2..

............. Huh.

But..... in what sense? Like the 16 talents were stored in those lights and they were ‘picked up’ by the most suited participant? How could you make sure there were no doubles? Or - and this is possible because of the vague language - did the talents build on what the student knew already? In which case, how would they know what the talents would end up being and plan the labs around them?

No, it would... have to be... the first one. Talents had its own selection in the flashback creating machine, though without verifying what the subcategories are it’s hard to confirm or deny anything... but I also can’t shake what Maki said at the beginning of the game? How it felt like their talents were given at random?

So... so they’re not only back where they started - completely isolated with everyone they’ve ever known and the world they knew completely out of reach (in this sense, dead/not actually existing are functionally the same), but they get a helping of a totally warranted existential crisis on top of that.

And... their bodies are real, so everyone else really is dead. No happy sdr2 ending. Well, unless I mental-gymnastics that to read ‘they have physical bodies to return to, but as manufactured personas it’s pointless.’

Me too, Sweetcheeks.

We can’t go 5 minutes without a WHAM line.

B-But they were kidnapped weren’t they -?!

fujisaki does not deserve this slander

Return of the hat!!!

..... is it bad that I miss his hat. I. I really liked his hat. I know that it was representative of the way he held back and used it to hide himself, but - but I liked his original portrait. And I liked the way it was incorporated into his sprites and all the movements he makes with it and without it, like it‘s a phantom limb. okayI’llstop

Why... are we not getting a name here? Was Shuichi Saihara a made-up name too?

oh -

oh no

D: A... Anything...

H-He’s.... a complete fanboy too.................... holy shit. cute but terrifying he looks like much more of a schoolboy super!fan than real Shuichi

S-So wait, it’s not even autosuggestion then - he asked for it? How - how does this work with the flashback lights? It can be targeted like that??? god I’m going to have so many questions after this is all over

I think this may be the death knell for his psyche oTL I certainly wouldn’t be able to take this if I was in his position.

LOOK I KNOW I GET EXCITED ABOUT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT TOO

but this is a bit much c-can you please keep that drool in -

asdfkjlsdf w h a t

was

was this omitted or something

I - I swear they were kidnapped they seemed a lot more freaked out?!

Even Rantaro, who seemed to know more than he let on at the time - ?!

I... I think I really need to go back and replay the prologue.

ME NEITHER K1-B0 I FEEL LIKE I’M BEING GASLIT

d-did

did you use it on me too

That... that I can believe. No matter who they were before - if they were consenting or not - it might not even matter, if they can’t return to how they were. In a sense, the Gopher Project story was practically preparing them for it - the idea that everything they knew and loved were gone, and would never come back. Oh... oh that’s bad....

TSUMUGI IS ACTUALLY TERRIFYING

SHUT UP NAEGI

wait why is seeing him say that worse than seeing Junko say her normal despair stuff

it’s the insincerity, probably...

YOU NERFED KAITO?!?!?!

YOU NERFED KAITO!!!!!!!

okay I take back what I said Maki you have my enthusiastic blessing to recklessly murder as necessary

RIP Tsumugi and all of her new depth

“I’m also the one that kept sneaking all of the death flags into his room while you were out training every night!”

Y O O O

YOU NERFED HER CHARACTER TOO?!?!?! YOU GOTTA LET THAT HAPPEN ORGANICALLY!!!

LMAO

Souda will never show this much awareness in his actual every day fictional life and that makes this 100% funnier

Everything has a writing credit.... every single thing? Every bit of development?

Even Kokichi’s coup and Kaito’s cooperation? And Kokichi manipulating Gonta? You just seemed so - so angry about that after the trial. Surely those, if nothing else...

At this point they’re just kicking a sad, beaten-down puppy. What more could you possibly do at this point - ?!

oH GOD I DON’T WANT TO SEE THIS

WHAT THE HELL WHO EVEN SAYS SOMETHING LIKE THAT

nNOOO

NO LET ME REMEMBER HIM THE WAY HE WAS

DON’T YOU CROSS THIS BRIGHT RED LINE SHIROGANE

NO

NO THIS IS ILLEGAL I’M CALLING THE POLICE HE LOOKS ABSOLUTELY MAD -

GHGHGGHGHGHGH

GHGHghghghghhh

ghghgh

sdkflj

n o  o o o oooo o o o o o o o

gggkghk

I-It’s not a lie! Even if it was manufactured, even if it was coded into them - their feelings were real to them! It might be by design, but - oh this sounds so hollow. It’s one thing to talk about ‘fate’ and ‘this was the work of a higher power’, but having it brought down on you in such a trivial way must be absolutely soul-crushing.

this is the saddest iteration of hangover!Shuichi that I have laid my eyes on in the entire game

nihilism.

tbh I never found Izuru that intimidating as a final villain in the last game - but here? Terrifying. Maybe it’s in contrast to Junko here, who has the overbearing destructive personality of a tornado, but the quiet emptiness and lack of a higher purpose, of absolute futility that he stands for here - that scares me a lot.   Maybe it’s just because it seems to bring the concept of DR’s despair to a place that I can personally understand?

I keep saying ‘this is terrifying!’ but I mean, to be fair... it... kind of is. as always, fantastic use of text DRV3!

also can someone please shut up the peanut gallery for five minutes

well damn Monokuma that one felt aimed right at me

It reminds me of what Komaeda would say about his own motivation: it was watching everyone struggle with adversity, or the ‘despair of the killing game’, with the end goal of them ‘reaching hope’ - of seeing them overcome and grow stronger for it, that drove him forward. From the outside that makes sense; seeing other people overcome struggles, even ones so terrible, give us the mental strength to overcome our own problems. But for someone on the inside looking out... how perverse would that feel, to think that your suffering is basically being used as inspiration!p0rn? Knowing that there were voyeurs getting a kick out of your struggle?

What happens to game pieces after the game board is closed and put away?

Do they go into stasis? Do they just... exist, outside of time? Frozen forever, until they’re taken out to be ‘played with’ again; left to rot?

If they ‘win’.... they have no future. There’s nothing for them to move forward to reach. A piece learning that they’re a piece, and knowing their dreams after their trials will always stay just out of reach... how can anyone move foward like that?

“love that reaction” OH SHUT UP LUDENBERGxLUVER37

Fight for yourself! They fought to get you this far - Kaito and Kokichi died to give you this chance, even if they are a ‘lie”!

But Shuichi has never been able to fight for himself, only for the others...

Tsumugi, after spending the last hour verbally beating them down and shredding his and everyone’s sense of self to shreds: wow lol what a weakling

Everything is terrible and yet her saying this still got a laugh out of me, damn it.

S-SHUICHI? SHUICHI?

I-IS HE EMOTIONALLY SHUTTING DOWN -

OH GOD

HIS

H-HIS POV - IS GONE -

And nothing but despair left...

Did - did we just lose Shuichi...?

SWEETCHEEKS!!! SWEETCHEEKS, NO!!!

SWEETCHEEKS I’M SO SORRY!!!!

[magicrazy-1205]

Fandom vs. Religion: Is Fandom a Religion?

(This is an actual paper I submitted to my college English prof. He said write about anything so I did.)

(If you repost please give credit where credit is due) It is the most moving thing I have ever read. It makes me feel so close to the creator that I am breathless. Tears are streaming down my face, making me look like a fool but I don’t care. I just want to bathe in my feelings and let them infect others. The need to tell others of this wonderful thing. This thing which has reaffirmed my faith in humanity. This book that has such depth and is so poignant. Most people would think I had just found my way into religion. They would be wrong. I had just read The Fault in our Stars, a book that made even my heartless sister cry. This book caused us to go crazy. Anytime the author publishes a new book we must have it. Anytime there is new merch pertaining to the book we must have it. We try to emulate the way the characters behaved. Tried to be just as strong. Before long we joined a fandom full of people just as crazy about it as we were.  It was like joining a religion. But aren’t fandom and religion kind of the same thing. Couldn’t fandom be a religion. Fandom is a religion or substitute religion because, like most religions it has a big following, the characters and figures are emulated in the hopes of becoming more like them, there are a lot of sub fandoms like there are lots of sub-religions, and finally elements of fandom are very similar to those of religion. Fandom and religion both have a large community of people. Most of the time, the public recognizes the religious community more than the fandom community. Fandom occurs more indoors, on the internet, than out in the open. The only reason fandom people are out in the open are for a fandom reason, such as, fan conventions.  As such, any demographics pertaining to fandom are far more scarce than those that are about religion. Also, most surveys are done through the large fanfiction sites. Mainly, Fanfiction.net, Archiveofourown.org, and Wattpad.com, which are all sites for unpublished books and fanfiction. This makes it difficult to get any numbers. Another difficulty is the ever changing number of people joining or leaving a fandom. But there are a few things that are certain. Fandom is 17-25 year old female dominated. There are guys in there too but there are definitely more girls. Another factor is where in the world a person is. It is practically a requirement for a person to have internet in order to be involved in fandom. Some countries don’t have that access. And the last classifier is the fandom itself. Unfortunately I was unable to find any numbers that encompassed all fandoms compared to the rest of the world, however I can use a fandom I am involved in. Supernatural is one of the most prominent fandoms around. Anyone involved in any kind of fandom knows about supernatural. The first episode it aired it was viewed by 5.69 million people. And although viewership has gone down over the past 10 seasons it has not dipped below 1.45 million. That is just one fandom. There are hundreds even thousands more fandoms. And although I cannot give a number I can say it is a majority of the First and Second world countries population are a part of fandoms. Religion also has a large following. Religion is easier to get statistics on because people practice out in the open. They show their faith by going to church and following any holy texts the religion may have and emulating those that are in the texts. Since they are out in the open it is easy to get stats on religion. Jennifer Harper from the Washington Times said that 84% of the world's population in 2010 participated in religious affairs. That is roughly 5.8 billion people worldwide involved in some type of religion. And of those, the main religion appears to be Christianity with a whopping 2.2 billion people worldwide. The global median age for any religion is 28. There are about 14 million Jewish people in the world. This is comparable to supernaturals 5.69 million. If fandom was socially accepted like religion it would probably have more readily available numbers. The fact that one fandom can hold up against one religion speaks volumes for fandom as a whole. Emulation is a big part of anyone’s life. Everyone tries to be better or worse than they are. And to do that they have role models. In the case of fandom, characters are the role models. In religion, a messiah or prophet or creator of the religion.  The difference between the two is the fact that fandoms can dress as their role models. They can act like them and use them to try to be braver or whatever they are trying to be. Cosplay is a way for fandom people to be able to dress up as their heroes in public. This is not blasphemous in the eyes of their peers, like dressing like jesus is. Claiming to be anything like the deity of a religion is considered bad form. The characters imitated through cosplay are able to be related to because they are (usually) human. Even if they will never be them they try to be as like them as they can. In religious teachings, the religious figures have an unattainable level of goodness. Those within a church are meant to be getting closer to the lord by being more like him knowing they never can be like him. In an interview I did with a friend of mine i asked him why he cosplayed. Below is a picture of his cosplay. His response was that he felt like it released apart of himself that related to deadpool. When asked why he enjoyed cosplay he said, “ Because for that short moment of time you can be something you want to be or can be.” He was relating the character to himself as a role model that could be achieved and maintained. Another thing i asked was if liking deadpool had ever affected any decisions or actions he had made in the past. His answer, “Yes; being able to let go of things that could harm me emotionally and psychologically.” This all goes to show that fandom people try to emulate their characters just as religious people try to emulate religious figures. Religion and fandom are large and widespread throughout the world. There are many different types and subtypes. In religion it is mostly because throughout history everyone has a different opinion about creation and death. There are about 4,200 different types of religion not including sub-religions. Christianity as i said before is the largest and most widespread religion. But under christianity a person could divide it down to, "6 major ecclesiastico-cultural mega-blocs" according to the world christian encyclopedia. These blocks are subdivided again by country. Altogether without all the subdivisions there are around 33,000 different denominations of christianity. The first subdivision is simply a differing in opinion. And this is just christianity. There are many many more in the other major religions. And anyone who does not have a religion is basically cast into the atheist division. But that is a minority. All over the world there is something someone is worshipping. The map below shows that.

Everyone is part of a religion, just like everyone is part of a fandom. If there is something a person likes there is a fandom for it. From a prominent tv show to a hobby like knitting, it is out there. There are fandoms for sports, music, people, shows, and hobbies. There is a fandom for bagels, there is a fandom for that one particular blade of grass in someone’s front yard, for goodness sake. But how are fandoms categorized? Well first there is is something a person is obsessed with, whether mildly or highly, and this person joins a fandom. A casual fan does not usually go into depth with his or her chosen fandom. But the more obsessed the more options. For example, on my tumblr page one would find an exorbitant amount of NaLu fanfiction. This is a ship fandom. It is one of the subdivisions of the fairy tail fandom. Which is a subdivision of the anime fandom, which is a subdivision of the tv show fandom, which is a subdivision of the tv fandom, which is a subdivision of fandom itself. Finding a fandom can be tricky with this many subdivisions but with a little perseverance I can almost guarantee it is out there. And one never has to go too deep if they don’t want to or stick with it till the end of time. The amount of sub-fandoms compared to the amount of sub religions is incredibly hard to count. But the fandom is most broadly categorized by its medium. So anything goes really. Except porn. Let me be very very clear. PORN IS NOT A FANDOM! IT IS IT'S OWN THING! But that is the only exception to the rule.  All these subdivisions add up into one whole just like all the subdivisions in christianity.  This all shows that since it has many subdivisions fandom is like a religion. Lastly I will be pointing out the glaring similarities between being involved in fandom versus religion. It is not a commonly accepted thing to compare fandom to religion. However a person cannot ignore the differences between the 2. The things that define fandom as fandom are if it has a large fan base and a lot of fanwork. Fanwork is fanfiction, fanart, any kind of contribution. There are those within a fandom that follow a fanfiction more than the actual thing the fandom is based on. Throughout all this mess though the characters are always the same. And unless it’s an au the work is also in the same universe. There is also fan merch as well. Anything that is sold pertaining to a fandom is merch.  There are also fanvids fanmusic and a million other things i am forgetting. I am not saying all this for no reason. If a person was to think about it it sounds like any religion. A holy text could be classified as a fanfiction. Whether it is based on real or fictitious events makes no difference. Any paintings classified as real art that are based on any part of a religion are fanart. My favorite example is the roof of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo. The below picture is called the Creation of Adam. It shows what appears to be god leaving the garden and adam to go back to heaven with his angels.

This is a form of fanart. It is not an original idea even if it is beautiful. It is a fanart of events that may or may not be fictitious. There is also the merchandise to think about. It has become more prominent in the late 1900’s and now but there has always been holy merch. For example, crucifixes, holy figure statues, rosaries, anything having to do with religion is merchandise. In recent years those types of things have expanded. Crosses on everything. Crosses on leggings shirts dresses shoes jewelry accessories and even tattoos. All this is merch just like in a fandom. And this not even the half of it. There are also the religion based movies, and music. These are also elements that can be related to fandom. These are the similarities that turn fandom into religion. Fandom comforts people in a way that is similar to religion. If a person is stressed reading a book or watching a tv series helps them to relax. It is the same way with religion. People turn to religion in times of need or sorrow or stress. It comforts them knowing there is something bigger than them at play, some higher purpose they are meant to serve. It is also comforting, for me, to know there is someone in the world who suffered more than I am. It helps me to know that my life is actually pretty good and that i  have no excuse for feeling the way I do if they had it worse and still smiled. That is what fandom and religion do for me. I prefer fandom to religion because the characters are more relatable, more human. The characters I choose to emulate are always changing. This is what makes them a good dynamic character. They are like me. Changing to suit their situation, and growing in ways they did not think possible. And there are more people than me who think the way I think the same. Over many many more continents. This is what would make fandom a good religion. Fandom has a big following, the characters and figures are emulated in the hopes of becoming more like them, there are a lot of sub fandoms like there are lots of sub-religions, and finally elements of fandom are very similar to those of religion.

Works Cited "Finding Faith? Fandom and Religion." — University of Leicester. Leicester University, 20 July 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2016. "Most Popular Fandoms." - Top Ten List. N.p., 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2016. Romano, Aja. "Is It Possible to Quantify Fandom? Here's One Statistician Who's Crunching the Numbers." The Daily Dot. N.p., 30 Jan. 2016. Web. 29 Apr. 2016. "Khan Academy." Khan Academy. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2016. "The Facts and Stats on 33000 Denominations: World Christian Encyclopedia (2001, 2nd Edition)." The Facts and Stats on 33000 Denominations: World Christian Encyclopedia (2001, 2nd Edition). N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2016. "List of Religions and Spiritual Traditions." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 01 May 2016. "Role Model." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 01 May 2016. "The Global Religious Landscape." Pew Research Centers Religion Public Life Project RSS. N.p., 17 Dec. 2012. Web. 01 May 2016. "Fanfiction Terminology." Fanfiction Terminology. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2016. "Most Popular Fandoms." : Page 2. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2016 Lusby, Allyse A. "Tumblr." Log in. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2016. Sendlor, Charles. "Fan Fiction Statistics - FFN Research." : Fan Fiction Demographics in 2010: Age, Sex, Country. N.p., 18 Mar. 2011. Web. 01 May 2016. Harper, Jennifer. "84 Percent of the World Population Has Faith; a Third Are Christian." Washington Times. The Washington Times, n.d. Web. 01 May 2016. "Fandom Cosplay." Personal interview. 25 Apr. 2016.