#now new but like i finally reused her

[jiyu-cho]

i rnedred with black

[caxde]

Hey you! I loved the bright eyes request!! I’d love to request a next part where Eddie finally asks princess out and Lua calls you mommy as she heard it at school or daycare and her and Eddie talk about it? 🫣

Also sorry I’m a pain I just love your story so much! It’s my favorite

Hi babe! I'm sorry it took so long, I have been going through it. I hope you enjoy it!

bright eyes universe drabble ~2.1k girl!dad eddie

“Careful Lu, let dada flip it.” He whispered as he grabbed the plastic spatula away from her hand. 

Her curious eyes followed every move he made, watching closely and in awe as he rapidly flipped the chocolate chip pancake they had made together. 

They had snuck into your trailer with everything prepared, pancake mix in one of those old reused glass jars. He got that new habit from you and your pantry. 

Lua kept giggling at the idea of waking you up. Her cheeks became rosier by the second as her eyes squinted. She had a hard time controlling her excitement given has she had only joked about wanting to wake you up, lucky for her her indulgent dad had the same idea. 

She climbed down the chair she used to see what Eddie cooked -he had a new habit, talking her through every process, trying to get her to talk more, better, longer sentences- and given that he was pouring more mix into the buttered pan he was too focused to stop her. He figured she’d sit on the floor as she usually did. 

Lua had other ideas in her head, she found her way to your bedroom door. A light push was enough for it to open and the little giggles became a chuckling that made you toss in your bed, now that you laid half awake. 

Her tiny footsteps found the side you were sleeping and a koi smile appeared on your lips as you realised what was happening. As soon as you felt the pressure on the mattress and her whispered grunting of her effort to climb your bed you knew you had to wrap her under your sheets. 

So you did, your eyes halved open as you saw her big and wide smile. You couldn’t help but let your lips curl upwards. Her hair looked exactly as Eddie’s did when he had a long night of just dreaming and tossing, a tangled perfected mess. You let out a small “AH” before opening your arms as you held your duvet, pulling it down in a swift motion, trapping her inside while she jumped to hug you. 

The small giggles and screams made Eddie rush to your room, finding the scene he found both endearing and magical. The warm morning light creeping into your room illuminates your bedroom in a way that makes it seem like it was already a warm and special memory. He stood there for a second by the threshold crossing his arms as he saw you both emerge from under the covers, he could help but shake his head in disbelief from how lucky he felt. 

You made eye contact with him briefly as Lua continued blabbering her good mornings and her excited questions and he mouthed a soft “morning” he caught you blushing before you mouthed back a soft “good”. 

He walked back to the kitchenaid with a different rhythm, a happier and more awake one. 

-

You waited in the car while he dropped Lua off into kindergarten, watching with a shy smile at the idealistic picture and the four hugs and six forehead kisses of reassurance Lua had needed before going inside the classroom. 

You laughed quietly to yourself as you waited for him to come back, seeing how an excited grin appeared on his face as he found his way back to you. 

“Hi” Eddie muttered as soon as he opened the door, sitting back in the driver seat. His head reached for yours so your lips could meet properly. 

A sweet and short kiss laid at the top of your lips. 

“Hi” You whispered back, feeling that familiar flush in your cheeks as that lucky feeling invaded your body once again. 

“So, what do you want to do?” He asked as he started the car, it caught you by surprise if you were honest, he could tell by the way your lips pressed together. 

“I thought you had work?” You half asked. You were the one that needed reassurance now. 

“Not until lunch.” He said nonchalantly, his right hand finding your thigh, stroking it softly and absentmindedly. 

“Wade’s doing the pick up then?” You followed as he started to drive, not sure where to go yet. 

“Shit.” He muttered as realisation hit. 

He looked at you with a horrified look. You knew in that instance he was starting to panic, he was starting to feel bad about himself, his mind telling him all sort of horrible and despicable things he would never dare to speak aloud. 

“Do you want me to…?” The space between his eyebrows where a wrinkle was relaxed suddenly. You simply smiled back, your hand petting his that still laid on top of your thigh. 

“You don’t have to…” You shook your head as soon as he said it. 

“It doesn’t bother me, Moon.” His hand tangled with yours. You saw him blushing at the softness of your tone. 

“I know it doesn’t… I just don’t want you to feel like you have to fix my fuck ups” He tried to explain as his eyes left the road to look at yours. 

“But I like fixing your fuck ups” You chirped back with a sweet sing-song voice that made him earnestly smile. “I also like you” You add just so you could see him blush a bit. 

“Idiot” Eddie whispered through his teeth, smiling wide at the sound of your words. 

“Your idiot.” 

“Yeah, lucky me.” He left a kiss on the back of your palm as he continued to drive aimlessly, singing along to the songs on the radio with you. 

Truthful bliss was felt once the two of you were together. 

-

You did feel nervous, yet again, it would be weird if you didn’t feel it. Everyone around you was older and they all seemed to have their life figured all out. You clocked a pattern -as you usually did when you were feeling a bit too anxious- those of them that seemed more uptight, blonder and with cleaner clothes seemed to take an effort so they could stay out of your way. Yet the ones that were a bit more tired, with wilder hair and kinder smiles dedicated soft  nods and smiles to your direction. 

It was a weird reassurance.

The blue door opened and with it the soft chatter and spontaneous giggles and scream from toddlers invaded the previously quiet street. You waited for the eager parents to rush through the door, you knew you had to introduce yourself to the teacher, even if Eddie had called in advance and explained to them that you were picking her daughter, it still invaded you with a sense of nervousness, your heart beating louder in your chest. 

You found your way, a few steps away from the door as a shy Lua emerged, holding hands with a young girl, a couple years older than you at best. You let your knees touch the ground as you open your arms, she rushed to hold you with an excited giggle. 

“Hi bug! You had a good day?” You asked as you embraced her, picking her up from the ground, her backpack hanging off her, way too big for her. 

“Yeah!” She hid her head on your chest as she continued to chuckle, excited by your presence. 

“So… You’re Lua’s mom?” The teacher asked. 

Your eyes widened, as shock invaded your body. You started to shake your head profusely as you rocked Lua whose head poked out once she heard her name. Mom is a word that you hadn’t discussed or introduced. Not since you did accidentally met her actual mother, and yet the word has only been discussed out of earshot from her, between you and Eddie in hushed voices and wet eyes. 

“No, no… Uh, I'm Eddie’s partner.” You struggled to find your words, trying to make sense of what was happening. You saw how she turned white with embarrassment. 

“I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to…” She started to apologise, but you just shook your head once again before she could understand your need for her to stop talking. “I just thought, and since I had never seen Lua’s mom I just figured you, I mean she had finally come I..” She kept trying to male it right but your cheeks were becoming redder than Lua’s shirt. 

“It’s fine really.” You told her with a kind smile and a soft touch to her arm. “We actually have to go, I have to take her to her dad’s car shop. You’re ready bug?” 

“Yeah…” She added with a confused voice. Lua waited for both of you to be alone. She needed to know what that new word meant. “Princess?” She softly asked. 

“Yes bug?” 

“What’s mom?” You could tell she was genuinely curious. “Are you mom?” 

“Oh..” You mumbled trying to know what you were allowed to respond. “Um… You know why Eddie’s your dad?” She nodded slowly, not really following. “Eddie’s your dad because he had you, and your mom is the other person that had you, because it takes two people to really like and love each other to make such a special person.” You started to explain as you helped her into the little kid seat Eddie had in his van. “Your dad loves you very much and takes care of you.” You added as you left a soft kiss on her forehead. With the impeding feeling you were somehow fucking it all up. 

“You take care of me” She responded once you were looking into her eyes. 

“Yes.” 

“And you love me?” That childish way of asking with a pure innocence made you smile softly. 

“Of course I do, bug.” 

“Then you’re mom.” She concluded. You shook your head as you fastened her seatbelt. You left that where it was, you weren’t sure what to answer.

-

“Dada!” Lua screamed as soon as she set foot on the car shop, running directly to where Eddie was. 

“Hi Lu!” Eddie matched her energy perfectly, grabbing her in one swift motion and letting her rest on top of the car he was finishing the check up. “How was school?” 

“Fun!” She added with a chuckle as she looked at him with a glee in her eyes. 

“I wanna hear all about it. Dada’s gonna go for a snack and then you tell me, okay?” She nodded enthusiastically as Eddie found its way to you so he could steal a kiss. 

“Hi.” 

“Hi.” You grabbed his hand as he passed swiftly by you to reach for his bag where he had an assortment of snacks for Lua to choose from. “Lua learned a new word today.” 

“Oh no, did I miss her first curse word?” He added with a sarcastic hope that would make you chuckle in another circumstance. 

“Actually, she learned mom” You whispered, he was now recreating the same expression you had made when the young girl had said it to you. “She asked what it meant, I tried to explain but she was convinced that I was… well- that.” You finished as his eyes shifted between you and her. 

“I’m sorry you had to…” He started, deciding to change what he was about to say before even speaking, even if it was no use since you had already guessed what he was about to. “You are kinda like her mom though… I mean she knows you more than…. This is a weird conversation, right?” He checked with you, grabbing your hand and pushing you a bit closer. Needing to feel like he wasn’t completely losing his mind. 

“It is a weird conversation. I just… I’m not her mom, I could… I would never want to impose that I just… I do take care of her and I love her and I love you but I just… I’m not” He squeezed your hand three times so your eyes met his. That maroon colour lets you get lost in them. 

“You love me?” He asked with a smile on his face, trying to distract you from the pit of overthinking you were fastly approaching. 

“Yes.” You answered with flushed hot cheeks. 

“I love you too…” He whispered before pushing you into a hug, whispering the next words close to your ear. “We’ll figure it out, whatever makes you comfortable. We can talk about it over dinner, tomorrow?” 

“I’d like that.” You whispered back, leaving a sound kiss on his cheek. 

He smiled at you with that grin that made you bite the interior of your cheek in response. You stood there looking at him, and the way he rushed back to Lua, letting her pick whatever snack she pleased. 

You wanted more than anything to be a part of this for as long as possible, you desired to stay in this bubble forever. 

Full of love, hope and fondness.

[arcane-strangeness]

HEY! SPOILERS FOR JINX'S NEW DESIGN AND POTENTIAL ARC AHEAD! READ WITH CAUTION.

So, the new merch, huh? Analysis below.

Oh boy oh boy oh boy, here we go. First off, her new look.

FLUFFY

Her hair was definitely cut while it was still in her braids, the choppy, uneven look (short in the front, longer in the back) gives the impression someone grabbed her by them and they was sawed off as close to the scalp as possible. Her bangs have gotten longer, so it's safe to say there's been a time skip by this point.

Next, the face paint! It's giving

Which is very interesting. Another thing to note, is she has her softer features toggled, assuming they posed the actual model for the merch. (For those unaware, jinx's model has a slider than can soften or sharpen her features depending on the mood of the scene. Pay attention during jinx and vi's initial reunion!) More on this later.

And now for her outfit!

Really really curious about her choker here. Did she take it from her original top? But the rest of her shirt definitely isn't recycled from anywhere. She's also got her X painted on instead of stitched. Again, interesting

BELTS

Our girl finally got rid of those raggedy ass pants. I wanna know how unstapling her leg went. She kept the sleeves, and her gloves.

She's also missing a finger, so once again we can assume it's post time skip.

Now, on to the fun part. The Gun.

Jinx. I love you. What the fuck could possibly drive you to do this

Joking, this monstrosity is sick as HELL. Rip cosplayers

so, after cross referencing this bad boy with her original blasters, this its what i was able to match up.

Our girl is upcycling!

She reused the top half of fishbones head (I matched his teeth), his tail fins (general shape and design matches, though she's added new ones as well), as well as the main plate on his body though it seems like it's seen better days (matched the paint splatter on his right side).

She took the trigger handle off pow-pow, and what I find most exciting of all, took something from Pow-Pow's LoL design!

The fins on the new Pow-Pow kinda reminded me of the cat ears in the LoL model, but not enough to make a solid connection.

now, the analysis:

everything here seems to suggest she's blending the new with the old. the braids she grew as jinx are gone, but she keeps the bangs. her style is much lighter, but she still keeps that signature jinx-ness throughout. the face-paint and softer features really seal the deal, it feels like she's accepted the part of her that was powder instead of killing it, while also remaining jinx. like how she combined the rocket launcher she ultimately made for silco as jinx, and the minigun that shares her childhood nickname, she's made peace with both sides and has come out stronger for it. couple this with Ella's line about how jinx is "becoming who she was meant to be" this season, and Ekko's line about "leaving things behind", it seems like she might get a redemption arc after all. or at least part of one.

i'm still curious how she's gonna carry that gigantic thing around girl it's literally as big as you

[ryunumber]

Spooky from Spookys House Of Jumpscares/Spookys Jumpscare Mansion

Spooky has a Ryu Number of 5/4/does not have a Ryu Number.

(update and explanation below)

(UPDATE: Per @penndragon, Cross Impact has hit Early Access.)

(UPDATE 2: Per @mr-self-suck-by-nin, confirmation of the Cooking Companions protagonist identity gives Spooky an unambiguous Ryu Number of 4.)

Look, it's complicated. Things will be more concrete when Cross Impact hits Early Access.

Fair warning: this explanation is a bit more involved than normal, because the research hole this sent me down had me sincerely doubting my own base competence.

So, from the top: Spooky's only eligible appearance is in her own game, Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion née House of Jump Scares, as her only other appearance, period, seems to be as a trophy in Indie Pogo.

Naturally, this makes SJSM's specimens as the only connecting points. I've identified three that could work:

Unknown Specimen 1 is just White Face from IMSCARED.

This seems to be a dead end, as White Face's only other eligible appearance seems to be in the Nightmare Mode of Cooking Companions, as part of a menagerie of other horror game characters, including SJSM's own Specimen 6. But all of those also seem to be dead ends, and Specimen 6 just gets back to where we started, so that's probably no good.

How about Unknown Specimen 5?

Named Lisa. Sure looks quite a bit like Lisa from P.T. and once-prospective Silent Hills. Let's say it's that Lisa. What else has Lisa been in?

Apparently just P.T., which wouldn't be altogether unsurprising given, you know, all that happened with Silent Hills. Even the Lisa decoys for Metal Gear Solid V showcased in the Tokyo Game Show 2014 trailer didn't make it to the final game.

But there are still other P.T. references that did make it. Namely, that pleasant radio transmission, interruptions and all, can be heard from some radios in MGSV.

Now, given that audio-only appearances are broadly eligible, you could make a case that whoever's reading in this transmission is a character themself, which would in turn connect Lisa to The Phantom Pain, at which point calculating the Ryu Number is just a matter of hashing out who exactly is and is not in MGSV. The only issue I have with making this connection is that the audio is basically reused wholesale from P.T., which arguably makes it more in line with an archival recording, which is not eligible, than bespoke radio chatter, which is eligible, but hey, whatever, I've peddled dodgier. Why the hell not.

So in the search of a route with less caveats, let's consider what I've identified as the last possible eligible connection, Specimen 8. This cervine bundle of fun can be seen in Lost in Vivo as part of Lost Tape 3.

It turns out there's another character in Lost in Vivo who's been in something else: Sotiris. It also turns out that the "something else" in question is, uh,

the EEK3 2020 Virtual Show Floor. Which, to the best of my knowledge, is never referred to as a game, so if that matters to you, then we're done, and Spooky either has the aforementioned route through Lisa or nothing.

If you're willing to say that the virtual show floor is a game, which does not seem to be an unpopular opinion, then good news! There's a clear path to Ryu. You just have to go through Skully, who cameos in Toree 3D,

to the titular Toree, who's a guest character in Lunistice,

to Kit, the main character of Lunistice, who cameos in CrossCode,

to Lea, whose Ryu Number of 2 is already established, which gives Spooky a final Ryu Number of I'm sorry, I'm being handed a note.

Oh. Well fuck me, then, for not considering that the realities of game development could lead to a scenario wherein a character from an in-progress game could make cameo appearances in other games, only to be scrapped entirely before their would-be source game is released. Clearly, this is what the kids refer to as a "skill issue".

And the best part? This chain is so long that I'm genuinely expecting to have overlooked something really obvious that gives a shorter number, because the documentation I found on indie-ass indie horror game crossovers is spotty. So if you have any information that could shorten this more substantial than "White Face is graffiti in the full release of FAITH", send it my way. I'd rather be definitely wrong than dubiously correct.

Anyway, Toree's set to be playable in Cross Impact, so when that's released to the wider public most of this nonsense I just spewed at you will actually come into play. Until then, make of all of this what you will. If you'll excuse me, I need to go fucking distort.

[miguelhugger2099]

Origins

Summary: How you and Miguel came to be the Goddess of Life and God of Death/ First meeting Part 2 from Snowfall. I caved. Next Miguel x Fem!Reader, Fluff, proofread but eh, Word Count: 1,497

Trillions of years ago, when Mother Earth had come to, she decided to birth two beings of life and death.

You were born from a pearl that had washed up on shore after a tsunami, where the sun had shone directly on you upon your birth. You woke up on the beach, the waters splashing on your feet to wake you. You looked around to see no one there except the drum of life beating under your hands. You felt Mother Earth speaking to you, whispering in your ears. Conceived from the water and delivered by the sun, you began your duty as the Goddess of Life, creating new and exciting things to occupy the area.

Miguel had been born right after you, always a loyal one. Birthed from a single stray petal of a marigold flower that had died during a volcanic eruption. He rose from the ashes and obsidian around him and some of it was sticking to his skin. He groaned as he felt the cataclysmic energy burning in his palms while Mother Earth spoke to him. Deeming him the God of Death who would oversee the afterlife and send the energy back to her to be reused again.

Rather than considering the two of you as her children, she classed you as separate entities, gods on the same level as her, tied to your duties with the powers you held. While she gave energy, you would form that energy to create life and then it would eventually be passed to Miguel who would preserve that energy in death and send it back to Mother Earth. You and Miguel still found it more comfortable to praise Mother Earth as a higher being since she had given both of you life. Thus, you two lived your life as servants of her, tending to her and eventually working with humans.

For the longest time, you and Miguel had never crossed paths. For eons, you both had been harnessing and practicing your newfound power, like baby steps for humans. While you worked on creating small insects and fruits, Miguel had been turning some of your plants into poisonous ones and accidentally creating diseases amongst animals. It's not his fault everything he touches turns for the worst!

The moment you had met was the moment neither of you would ever forget.

Humans had just started to be born, a small project Mother Earth had been conjuring up with you. A family was beginning to start with two sets of grandparents, the mother and father and their newborn baby girl. You had been overseeing this family, making sure everything was in check and that the seasons were warm enough for the babe to arrive.

Finally, the baby had been born after hours of labor, the sounds of cheers across the room while the mother was handed her baby. The mother cooed at her child and you watched next to her with soft eyes, having been keeping watch over this family for generations now. You held your hands over the baby's small body and prepared yourself to send your blessings of fertility and prosperity.

Suddenly, you felt a shift in your chest like something interrupting your ritual. You looked down at the baby with worry, wondering what could've happened. The mother and father had noticed a difference in the baby's behavior. She stood still and her little body never even began breathing after just a few seconds of being born. You took a step back, nearly crumbling at the sight. What was going to happen to her now?

Before you succumbed to madness, you saw a large hand hold the baby's head from behind you. You gasped and turned your head to see the God of Death for the first time. His eyes were neutral and unwavering even as he gently helped pull her soul out her body and cradled her in his arms. You watched with a bated breath and confusion in your eyes as the baby fell asleep in his embrace. You looked back up at his face to see he was still looking down at the child.

“Stillborn. She was never going to make it,” He explained softly. His voice was mellow and calm despite how deep it was. He turned to look at you and felt your breath being taken away. His eyes were somber and not all there in the present but they held a softness to it for a grim reaper. His eyes were red. What a beautiful color. “I'm sorry.”

He apologized for ruining this even though it wasn't his fault. He was just simply the collector. The family had begun to sob, clutching their baby and weeping for the universe to bring her back. They became angry at death, questioning why she had to die.

He had heard their insults and knitted his eyebrows together with a purse of his lips. He took a small breath before walking out of the home to send the child to the afterlife. You took another look at the family, deciding you had done what you could and left to follow the God of Death.

“Wait!” You called out, stopping just a few steps behind him. His back faced you but he paused when he heard your voice. His black silk robe fluttered in the breeze as he waited for you to insult and berate him.

“Thank you.” You sighed. He turned to look at you over his shoulder with disbelief. You walked up to him and raised your hand to place it on his arm when he faced you completely. He flinched back before you could and became defensive.

“For what?” His tone was on guard, not trusting you quite yet. You approached him again regardless, placing one hand on his bicep and the other to caress the baby's cheek. You looked down at her sleeping form, peacefully resting in his arms.

“For caring about her.”

He could've very well just ripped her soul painfully out her body, dragging whatever it was to the afterlife with little regard, but he held her as if she was still alive. He continued to hold her and lead her soul somewhere with someone at her side rather than doing it alone.

His mouth had slightly parted in surprise. He had never thought that the Goddess of Life would ever appreciate his efforts. It's why he's always avoided you. He thought you would think of him soiling your creations, ruining all things good by touching them. So he just watched you create from afar, admiring your work and your smile. Doing the dirty work while you weren't looking to protect your lack of knowledge about the afterlife.

You looked up to face him with that same smile and if he had a heart, it would skip a beat. For the first time, he got to see the way your eyelashes batted up at him and that there were a few sparkles in the rim of your eye color. You were more beautiful up close than he thought. He took the time to drink in your features, darting from the dip of your nose to the shape of your eyebrows and the curve of your lips.

He felt warmer and that alone was strange. His eyes glanced down at your hand on his arm where he figured out it was you making him warmer. It was comfortable and he…liked it. He saw the sun set behind you, giving you a soft glow on the curves of your cheeks and hair, the breeze gently flowing through. He took a step back, almost fearful of the power your beauty was gaining over him. He knew he'd soon crave your warmth again but his job came first.

“You're… you're welcome,” He muttered bashfully. “I have to…take her now.” Gesturing to the baby and you nodded, looking at him with amusement.

“Okay.” You giggled and he turned and looked away to hide his cheeks despite not being able to blush.

“Take care.” He looked at you behind his shoulder. Your heart swelled at the shy look on his face and you waved goodbye, feeling good about this interaction.

“I hope to see you again, my lord.”

“…Likewise, my lady.”

That night, you could not get his charming eyes out of your mind. Your hands dug into the damp soil, humming your power into the ground to come up with a new creation.

You carefully began sculpting your project, stretching out the stem and creating a bountiful amount of petals to create a new flower.

You had the image of the petals being the same color as his eyes–a gorgeous ruby red, with the stems being covered in tiny thorns much like his guarded personality. When you were done, the piece had been turned into a proper flower brimming with life and ready to be planted into Mother Earth. You decided to call it a rose–a flower humans would eventually associate with love and romance.

A/N: im not AS proud of this as the first one but i still wanted to write this little au anyway just to post something teehee

[noxiatoxia]

So, when Danganronpa S was released (and V3's UTDP but I'll get to that later...) Hinata and Komaeda were given noticeably different versions of their pre-existing sprites for their swimsuit versions:

If you struggle to see a difference, note Hinata's wider mouth in the swimsuit ver., and Komaeda's narrower eyes and more outlined smirk in his swimsuit ver.

I, along with many people, always wondered, why? Why change these already perfectly fine sprites and, honestly, make them worse? What gives?

Then, I stumbled across something. Back in 2012, before the Japanese release of Super Danganronpa 2, you could play an online monomono machine to win little goodies like desktop backgrounds and profile pictures. Please note these pre-release desktop backgrounds for Hinata and Komaeda:

...So, wait a minute. The sprites used in Danganronpa S aren't new edits, but beta sprites? Older than the ones featured in the original SDR2? Turns out, this website features desktop backgrounds using beta sprites for nearly every character that otherwise never saw the light of day.*

I'm going to go through them one by one, gif comparisons included. This won't be the only post, either! UTDP also has some very interesting likely beta art used in it, too. As well, some of the other sprites featured in Danganronpa S may also be reused beta sprites!

As such, this log will be broken into three parts. This is part 1.

[Part 2 - UTDP (not made yet!)] [Part 3 - DRS (not made yet!)] [Part 4 - Dangan Island (not made yet!)]

*with the exception of UTDP in some cases, as well as some other things I will get to in Part 4.

As said, semi-flashing gifs will be included in this post. They are meant to swap between the beta and final sprites at a fast pace to illustrate the differences (2 frame, half a second each). Be cautious if you have epilepsy.

Also, because of Tumblr's stupid image limit, this post will have a reblog with the rest of the sprites! So please check this post's reblogs, it should be the first one!

Firstly, how do we know these are actually beta sprites? These images are sourced from the Danganronpa fandom wiki, and while I generally trust the wiki's credibility, it's always imperative to fact-check. So, I went ahead and searched Danganronpa's old website on the Wayback Machine and uncovered this:

A character intro page for Hinata, using this same beta sprite. Now, granted, the only capture of this page is from 2015. Still a year before V3 and a few more before S, but still, it's not the 2012 original. That said, a character intro page for Mioda circa early 2014 looks exactly the same, including the usage of her beta sprite.

And, when you click on the button that says スクリーンショット(Screenshot)...

You're offered a very obviously beta trial shot. As is common with Danganronpa trials, in development, the actual character portraits are not put in until later, and to substitute, their art reference photos are used, as seen on the left.

With that out of the way, I think it's safe to say these sprite we are about to look at are indeed betas.

It's only fair, then, we focus on Hinata first.

(Please note for all the comparison gifs I had to manually size the final sprites to get them as close as possible in aspect ratio. Very minor size difference between sprites is likely a result of this and not an actual detail change.)

A lot is revealed with a simple gif. Hinata's entire face shape was changed (including ears), not just his mouth. In fact, not just the shape of his face, but the face itself is drawn very differently in the end. The neck of his shirt was raised, as well as tie being redrawn (you can actually see where the new part begins somewhat sloppily). Less notable but still apparent are his bangs being redrawn and shaded differently.

Keeping with consistency, let's check out Komaeda next.

Yet again, the differences are striking when flipped back and forth. Komaeda's face shape and ear was redone much like Hinata, but not to nearly the same dramatic extent. As well, his entire face was redrawn, notably erasing the black shading under his chin and shortening his eyelashes. Less noticeable, the hair touching his neck is shortened a bit, and the crease line on his hood is more well-defined. They also slightly changed the line art for the first fold in his shirt, the neck at the back of his shirt, as well as his leftmost bang. Interestingly, they either forgot or didn't care to fix the shading to reflect the new placement of these lines. His jacket also has some changes in line art weight.

With Hinata and Komaeda out of the way, let's touch on Kuzuryuu.

This one honestly shocked me. Besides the added detail of him spitting, I didn't notice any difference right off the bat until I overlayed the images, but the differences are night and day. His eyes are made to be less mean and more skeptical. His mole was shrunk and his nose is more 3-dimensional. Extra detail is added to his ear while his hair is redrawn in whole, including it being slightly shorter. What's most interesting is the fact the body was sized up and moved down several pixels, I imagine to change the perspective. Some minor line changes are made to the white undershirt of his suit.

It would be improper not to do Pekoyama next.

Again, just like Kuzuryuu, I didn't notice half of these changes at first. Pekoyama's whole face is slimmed. The outer outline of her hair remains the same, but almost every outline inside of it, including her bangs, changes. (Although, her right twin-tail has a slightly longer end to it.) Her outfit receives minor touch-ups, including a clothes fold on her breast and darker shading by her collarbone. Speaking of, her neck muscles and such have been redrawn. Most interesting to me is the fact Pekoyama's outline is noticeably thicker with action lines in the original beta sprite, but lack them in the final sprite as if somebody used the magic wand tool to edit the background out, editing away some of the jagged black lines in the process. She is the only character where this happens.

Since she is a major character, let's do Nanami now.

I wasn't surprised to find Nanami has virtually no difference about her. Her design was pretty much set in stone early on. That said, it's not entirely the same. Though very minor, the thickness of her left eye was increased at the top. As well, shading across her pinky finger was removed. There is also a chance her body is slightly bigger, but that's more likely to be a result of me failing to perfectly match up the two images.

I want to focus on Souda now as he was the first one I did this test with.

You know, when I first played SDR2, I thought Souda looked kind of scary. His beta is even scarier looking! I can see why they changed it...Every detail on his face is redrawn including his chin, notably his pupil was enlarged and his eyebrows were quirked. Funnily, it seems the clip on his beanie was redrawn, but like Komaeda, they didn't edit the color layer to match the new outline. Some minor line art changes were made to his back hair. The lines for his neck and collarbone were lessened, and the jacket zipper is made more three dimensional. His thumb was fixed too, as well as the lines on his hand.

Also, here's a fun little thing I noticed while replaying SDR2 just a few days ago!

The sprite used for Souda in the Dangan Island opening is the exact same as the beta sprite! This would be the only time Westerners would catch a glimpse of some beta sprites until UTDP, as keep in mind, these wallpapers were exclusive to the Japanese Danganronpa website.

In fact, Souda isn't the only one with a beta sprite in the Dangan Island opening. I will also be covering that in part 4.

Moving on...

I guess it's only natural we look at Sonia's sprite next.

Changes like these ones are very interesting to me, because if you did not do a side-by-side like this, you may never see how many minor details were changed. A lot of Sonia's line art was redrawn to be more detailed, such as more lines in her hair, thinner outlines for her braid, and redrawn creases in her shoulders and bow (as well as a redrawn button). Her face is interesting as some very minor changes were made. Some detail is added to both ears (thicker outline on the right, changed line art on the left) and her left eyebrow is slightly edited. She was also given extra eyelashes on both sides. When it comes to such minor changes, it makes you wonder why they bothered at all. I wonder what the development looked like.

Anyways, please check the reblog for the second part! That's where the rest of the characters will be!

[qwertyprophecy]

Update on The Dark Queen of Mortholme!

Phase one is now essentially completed for art, code and dialogue. Onwards to phase two; because every good boss fight needs that part where the boss gets unhinged and gains a whole new set of attacks.

I too have chosen to be unhinged and made a design for the Queen's final form that gobbles up animation work hours like nothing I've done before with pixel art.

Concept sketches under the cut:

Initially I didn't have any ideas beyond doing a more monstrous design that amps up the Queen's features and takes cues from the shapes and colours of her original spell animations. However after writing the dialogue leading up to the transformation I immediately landed on a specific concept.

The transformation is an outburst. It's a manifestation of the Queen's terror and defiance towards her approaching death. She's unraveling, and in doing so she's channeling more of her innate violent power that she doesn't usually let out. She's essentially been having a long argument with the Hero about who they believe they are. Thus far she's gotten by being all smug and detached, but now she's losing and forced to reveal more of her true self to continue.

So her final form's design should convey 1. an outburst, and 2. the unraveling of a false front. Her base design's spikes, hair and skirt all erupt out into the wilder shape language of her shadowy spell-tendrils. They can handily be used to draw the eye from all directions towards the center of her chest, where I wanted to have this cracking pattern, like something hidden inside her is coming out. It's bright as if blindingly powerful, yet the cracks make her seem more damaged and vulnerable than her base form.

Continuing with the theme of an inner self showing through, the skirt's interior is also more visible than before. The flared jellyfish-esque shape connects with the deep sea vibe of the tentacles and contributes to the drama of a nonhuman silhouette.

A big thing for the silhouette is of course the massive hands. What's the thematic explanation for those? Absolutely nothing, I just think they look cool and dangerous.

Finally, lot of asymmetry was also introduced, both to increase the visual interest of such a large sprite, and to make her look like she's really losing it.

---

A note on animating this monstrosity: I've been trying to come up with a whole lot of cheats to keep a complex sprite like this as animated as possible without spending the rest of my life making this game. Early on I decided she should float, just so her idle animation can also be a moving one.

Secondly, the sprite is cut up to pieces so that I can keep reusing the loop of the writhing tentacles while moving her hands, for example. This is not something I like doing because in believable animation, motion in one part of the body always affects the other parts of the body. Treating a character as one entire whole when animating will make them feel more tangible, but alas, it's a compromise to avoid spending a hundred years in pixel-pushing jail. Like, I would love to see those tendrils flutter around behind her as she swoops across the room for her attacks, but... it'll be a lot more reasonable to move her as little as possible and instead add oomph to her attacks with some effects animations.

Anyways thank you for reading about monstrosity, she might be a pain in the butt to move but she brings me joy

[circeyoru]

I imagine what would happen and what it would do for the reader to finally say "I love you" to Alastor (Maybe with a kissing scene, I don't know, it's up to you!) .. Like what scenario could this happen? And what would our yandere react?

Go to MASTERLIST for the works. This ask is for {Unwanted Souls}

Another wholesome one!!! AHhhh

I think you guys are gonna love this one

If you guys read all my writings for {Unwanted Soul} and I'm including the asks too since I treat them as trivia now, you'll know Reader/you are not one to declare directly about your love. The most you did was admit to yourself and tell Alastor you missed him before your slumber. For good reason.

(since there's yet to be a request for part 5 or story ideas, this might be a spoiler or reused for future writing but with more details. you are warned)

Now, what would it take for you to directly confess? There MUST be a trigger. Something that pushes you to the edge that you can't keep it to yourself. A previous ask already got the kissing part, you were not shy to show your affection to Alastor. It's the admitting and people's acknowledgement that makes you not establish a relationship.

So what would push you? Be that trigger? There's already 2 people that did that. Mimzy and Adam. What they both have in common is the way they treated Alastor. One was using Alastor for their own benefit and the other was going to take Alastor away from you. You're not on Alastor's level, but you having accept your feelings now won't stand by and let others take Alastor away from you.

The trigger needs a build-up, so there's a repeated element. Adam's dead, so that's a no. Mimzy isn't, so she's the one. Okay, Alastor has no idea that you went to have Mimzy a silent warning (firing a shot at her), he only knows you know Mimzy and her actions, since you never expressed your dislike of Mimzy to Alastor. You heard from Husk what type of demon Mimzy was and he was happy to provide.

What happened was Mimzy came to the hotel again, asking for Alastor. You stayed back watching while Husk asked why, she claims that she wanted to apologise to Alastor for her actions. Charlie being the kind soul she is, let Mimzy stay and wait till Alastor came back. You were just about to leave for your room, wanting to tell Alastor to delay his return or just not go through the hotel lobby.

"Hey, you're a new face!"

You didn't even need to turn around and Mimzy was already standing in front of you. You had a hand on a notebook was was strapped to the side of your hip, something like where one would put their swords or guns, then your quill was in your inner chest pocket. Everyone else in the lobby felt the tense aura around you, everyone except Mimzy who continued to babble on and on.

You got annoyed standing around and sat down, Mimzy following suit. If you were ever in doubt of why you hated interactions, yeah, she's the perfect example. You didn't even listen to what she was talking about, shutting her off. Everyone saw and noticed, it was off that you were humoring Mimzy when you could have left, but you didn't. Then they recalled that Mimzy was looking for Alastor, so they figured you stayed around to see the exchange between the two.

"Actually, this cutie here's always got smile's attention. He's like a puppy!" Angel added mid-conversation.

"Wow, you fell for him of all people? I mean, I wouldn't blame yeah, but he's not worth it!" Mimzy laughed. "Never will he even care about a little weak soul like you!"

When Husk saw the way your face scrunched up in disgust, he warned Mimzy to shut it. Naturally, she snaps back at Husk and says she's talking to you. Charlie comes over to defend Husk and you, telling Mimzy to back down. But she continues, laughed and sang how evil and cruel Alastor was to cut your chances. To you, it was so weird that while Alastor saw Mimzy as a friend, she didn't. That was too close to home for you. Way too close.

"Shut your annoying mouth!" You declared, standing up. Your outburst got everyone staring at you and Mimzy to shut up. "What do you know? You use Alastor's name to get what you want. You use your friendship with him to get what you want. What's wrong with you? In Hell, you're supposed to treasure what you have. Not abuse it."

"Wow, so you're one of those. So righteous, so good." Mimzy taunted back with a smirk. "It's because we're in Hell that we should use everything to our advantage." She got in your face as she poked at you, "You're very defensive of ol' Alastor. What, did ya actually fall for him?"

Without missing a beat, you spoke so clearly and firmly, "I love Alastor."

"What was that?"

"I said," Just for a moment, your eyes closed with a blink and you turned to the voice on impulsive, a glare prepared to direct at the demon, "I love you."

Your own gasp and shocked overshadowed everyone elses. Alastor. When did he come back? Your mind replayed what happened and you froze, you immediately teleported away with your pages and disappeared from the lobby.

Alastor's shock and joy were cut short when he heard Mimzy's laughter, sarcastically lamenting for your 'heartbreak'. His demonic form came out so naturally and his shadows swallowed Mimzy whole. No time to waste. He went to you and found you in your pile of pillows covered by your blanket.

He sat by your bed and placed his hand over your head, "Darling, I can forget I heard it." He's lying, he'll remember it. You defending him, you caring for him, and you declaring your love for him. In some sense, Mimzy was useful. But for you, he'll say he won't care. "You don't have to take the role or any responsibility."

Alastor almost didn't react fast enough when he was pinned to the bed post by you, a kiss on the lips made him all the more excited and downbad for you and your affection. His eyes droopy as he reached for you, that determined look on your face and that beating heart.

"No. Remember it and never betray my love. Alastor."

It's his now.

"Of course, My Love."

All his.

[glassbirdfeather]

Complaining about the final boss in Shadow of the Erdtree, both in terms of lore and mechanics. Spoilers for the end of Shadow of the Erdtree:

Part 1: The Lore

I think the ending is really good and foreshadowed well in it's own story. I think it is fitting and well told. But it isn't living in its own bubble. It exists in context to a previous story directly connected to it. In the context of the entirety of Elden Ring, it sucks.

If we were just dropped in the Shadow Realm and the main game didn't exist, it would be really, REALLY good. The problem arises when also having the context of who Miquella was in the base game. His motivations in the DLC retcon the motivations from the lore of the base game. And the retcon is worse. The thing that made him fascinating was that he was the only compassionate character among Marika's children, the only one who didn't care about petty power plays because he was focused on helping people and helping his sister. That it is revealed he is just as shallow and self-centered as the rest, so much as to be willing to endanger his sister in exchange for a consort after all the lore surrounding how he wanted to help her, takes away the facets that made him unique.

This may also contribute to why there are two general camps of people who like or don't like how Miquella is portrayed. There have been a couple of years between the original game and now. Memories of the original game's lore--if people even read those particular bits of item descriptions in the first place--have had time to fade.

However, I acknowledge that item descriptions in Elden Ring intentionally have author biases. It could be said that every Miquella-related item description was told from the perspective of someone bewitched. That would make a lot of sense.

So in the end, this also is a personal preference. I think that Miquella turning out to be a brat who will sacrifice his sister for his consort is much less interesting than him being motivated to do bad things for his sister.

This leads into the overlap between pure lore discussion and mechanics.

Part 2: I CAN'T FUCKING SEE

The last boss fight is shit. Part of what convinced people that the leaks were fake, not considering lore implications, is that many people looked at the attacks that were happening and judged them to be bad.

As someone with a passing understanding of editing animations and moves in a game, something that can be done with little modding skill to create a new enemy is to use existing animations and add new effects to them. People were convinced the fight was fake because of how many moves looked similar to ones from previous FromSoft bosses with lightning effects glued on. I cannot speak to the alleged copied animations in this fight, since I don't have experience with every FromSoft game, but I don't actually think reusing old bosses and animations is inherently a bad thing. The real complaint was that it looked to be both reused animations and extra effects.

Stretch new textures over existing enemies, increase the speed of their attacks, and then add events to those attacks that spawn a bunch of effects like explosions, or lightning bolts. These are all things I could do with my limited knowledge. These are the things that some mods have done, and have gotten ridiculed for. The ridicule is because doing that demonstrates a shallow understanding of what makes a fight not just hard, but fun.

I'm no master of boss design myself, but I can say with confidence that spamming incredibly long attack chains containing effects that blind the player and prevent them from seeing the next move in the chain is bad game design. Something that has been established as an unspoken but understood rule in souls-genre games is that you should be able to dodge an attack while standing point blank in front of the enemy. Whether this is by rolling, jumping, or running away, you know what's happening from seeing the start of the enemy's animation, and you should be able to escape being hit by the attack. I also argue that by this metric, Waterfowl Dance is a badly designed move, but I digress.

Waterfowl Dance is one move in an otherwise stellar boss fight.

In the DLC final fight, I. can't. see.

The screen is covered in lightning for at least 1/3rd of the battle, often making dodging a game of guess and hope. I 100% acknowledge that I was not good at that fight, and that many of the attacks that hit me were dodge-able if I'd learned them more. But some of them were chains of attacks that demanded I blindly learn a random rhythm of button presses. On account of all the lightning from the previous attack hiding the next swing.

One of the things I actually did like about the fight was the grab being a guaranteed 2HKO regardless of health values. It would have been a great gimmick on a better fight. Where I had a better probability of seeing it so I could dodge it.

I also liked the warp-in speed effects of the boss jumping in, although such warps felt very buggy.

Were the lightning effects transparent or otherwise did not obscure the battle so terribly, I wonder what kind of fight it would actually be. Maybe the attack chains only feel unreasonable to dodge to me because I cannot see what is happening in them. It is possible that the fight itself is just bad, and the lightning is, just like in a bad mod, being used as a crutch to hide a very boring, simple moveset.

But it is impossible for me, in the game's current state, to imagine how that fight might play.

Because I can't see shit.

Part 3: The Remembrance

Turning in the remembrance and a duplicate of it just to end up with a total of 3 Radahn swords I think really shows the lack of creativity under the lightning. That is what the essence of the DLC final boss distills down to: 2 variations of a sword we already have.

If the fight had been something COMPLETELY different, perhaps we would have gotten something interesting from Miquella's side of the pair. Something that bewitches a struck enemy? I don't know.

The last fight was a spectacle, but only due to all the fancy effects that it vomited everywhere. Remove them, and I suspect there exists an uninspired base.

[meraki-yao]

Poppy Playtime Chapter 4 Thoughts (Spoilers!)

Who stayed up till 1:30 am trembling in her blanket and continued to do so the whole morning for the new Poppy Playtime Chapter? Me!

So here are my thoughts and a few theories before the freshness washes off

(also disclaimer, I didn't actually play the game because I am by no means a gamer and way too much of a scaredy-cat to actually play it, this is based on the play-throughs I watched)

Thoughts

Monsters/Bosses:

Yarnaby:

Big kitty. Seriously though I feel like he's kind of standard for a poppy mid-level boss.

Pianosaurus:

Now some say that he was wasted but honestly I don't think so? All things considered I don't think he was hyped up all that much: he had one distorted image in the ARG and one jingle with not much actual information on the bigger-body. So truthfully speaking, I think the twist of having him be so quickly and suddenly destroyed by Doey was really successful, I for sure did not see it coming at all.

Nightmare Critters:

Okay as someone who really grew to love the smiling critters, the nightmare critters' very concept confused me. Like I don't dislike it, I'm just confused, like what is the in-game reason for their existence? I really think they wanted to reuse the mini-smiling critters concept from chapter three, but since the smiling critters in Chapter 4 are children refugees in Safe Haven, to make a distinction they created the nightmare critters. Defintiely annoying little pests though, which means they're fulfilling their purpose quite well.

The Doctor:

I was wondering if they were gonna re-use the weeping angels mechanism from Miss Delight because when I watched the trailer I couldn't think of anything else, but turns out they're traffic light systems but reverse: yellow means the minion is going to move, and red means it is moving. The VA acting is absolutely on point, so all the applause to Baldwin, but game play wise I... honestly feel it's a little underwhelming? It's all very confusing and a lot of brute forcing, and truthfully speaking to have this villain that was built up for so long, second to the prototype get destroy fairly quickly, felt... too easy for such a horrendous character. I still don't understand with what intention is he and prototype collaborating. I also feel like the stuff in the ARG about Sawyer's backstory didn't really pay off?

Doey:

OH GODS I CRIED SO MUCH I COULD WRITE A WHOLE POST ABOUT DOEY ALONE. I knew he was gonna be a twist/final boss in someway just because of how he was marketed, but oh my God, I wasn't prepared for how tragic this was. I think it is the oldest sister/eldest daughter in me, seeing Doey try so damn hard to be a leader to wayward children, trying so hard to manage and protect everyone, that's something I understand and sympathise with. The oldest part of him was only 15 when the hour of joy happened! The tape of him talking to himself, giving himself a reminder to keep holding on and protecting kids, God that broke my heart. I was sobbing and muttering "it's okay... you did great... you can rest now... you can go see your mommy and daddy and friends now" when he died.

I think the two facts that make this even more tragic is that the other completely sympathetic character, Dog Day (still my favourite best boi), bad things was inflicted on him. Even Dog Day as a boss, that wasn't his choice, he didn't have one. Doey on the other hand, it was self-inflicted: I can't say him going beserk was a choice per se, emotions are complicated, but he was the responsible one. This pain was self-inflicted, and unlike Dog Day, could have been avoided.

Which brings me to my second point: for Doey (so I have to emphasise, this is in NO WAY a comment on actual DID systems, and boy do I have thoughts on that), in one of the VHS tape, the scientist remarked that one of the kids that made him up: Kevin Barnes, was erratic and aggressive, and could pose a danger if included in the experiment. He ended up being included because Sawyer demanded it and "The Doctor's word is law". This means if Kevin wasn't included in Doey, if it was just Jack and Matthew, then Doey wouldn't have that insane breakdown. He would be sad, he would feel guilty, yes, but all of those are the average human emotions experienced in a situation like this, and it wouldn't have been so destructive. HE COULD HAVE SURVIVED. In his insane monster form, we can literally see the three kids in the monster's mouth, two of them frowning and one of them angry, the two sad kids trying to hold the mad one back. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED.

Anyways, I love the guy. I'll be drawing and mourning him. Sleep well buddy, you can rest now.

Plot and Lore:

Riley made me cry so much too. God, what a kid, trying to help, even a single soul till the very, very end. Sleep well kiddo. You did so well, and you're with your mom and dad now.

Also the way she described being turnd into a bigger-body, I wanted to throw up. Props to the writers for doing such a good job on that.

Oh the excited shout I let out when I saw the tape with Bigger Bodies Hoppy! So we know that there are more Bigger Bodies Smiling Critters that survived past the experiments and the hour of joy. But then I remembered that Dog Day said he was the last of the smiling critters and got sad, whoever Hoppy is, at this point in the story, she's gone :(

The omni-hand confuses me storywise: it's just a keycard equivalent?

Kissy Missy!!!! (that's it, I just love her)

I called three things: Poppy being Elliot's daughter, Ollie being the prototype, and Huggy still being alive. Granted a lot of people called it too, these are just the theories I believed in that turned out to be true

THERE ARE SO MANY DEAD BODIES AND EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM WAS A CHILD BEFORE I WANT TO SCREAM ABOUT THIS THIS IS AWFUL

The player is shaking in idle. That is some details. Also this person is gonna be triple traumatised.

I don't think Poppy is evil per se, but I think she is very selfish and self-centred, in the sense that she believes that she is the one with all the answers. I wonder how much did Elliot Ludwig spoil her. Also, bitch, she ditched us again.

Theories and Questions

In the Hoppy VHS, she mentioned she got jumped while trying to get supplies: jumped by what and who?

What the hell is the deal with Stella Greyber's change of heart in joining the executives on the bigger-bodies initiatives? Her change of heart is so sudden and so illogical?

It's one thing for Poppy to believe in Ollie. But Doey knowing and believing in Ollie too? How many people did he fool?

Also given that Ollie is the prototype, was his "HE'S OUTSIDE" that led to Doey going out and leaving safe haven a distraction?

I think the prototype is also an amalgamation, and one of the identities is Elliot Ludwig. It's final speech to Poppy, telling her to "come home" sound pretty in line with an evil father figure, and my sister pointed out if you removed the "T", "Elliot" is an anagram for "Ollie".

What is the prototypes agenda at this point? It's willing to collaborate with the doctor, the very person that started all this hellfire. It doesn't care about the children's lives seeing as he bombed Safe Haven, killing everyone inside. It's whole "burn it all down" idea actually echoes Poppy's agenda, but Poppy sounds genuinely shocked and scared to learn that Ollie is the prototype. What the hell is going on?

Who is Kissy? The bigger-body Kissy Missy that's been our companion for the past two chapters. Game Theory had their theory that it was Patty Hall, but I'm... starting to think it was Stella? We don't know Kissy's experiment number, and I don't think we have any info on Stella's status during the hour of joy, so it's not impossible. It's just... their... attitudes, for a lack of better words, seem to align.

Leith Pierre is out there somewhere, we know he survived since he's in project playtime, but where the hell is he now? He is a bigger player in this scheme than he lets one. I don't believe he's not gonna make an appearance in the future.

What the hell is Rich's deal? So turns out he's one of the more likeable higher-ups? And he's the head of shipping? What is up with his change in attitude from moody aggressive guy to the dad friend/supervisor?

There's this one mystery from Chapter two that still hasn't been solved: there were slides with plates of each department's head's name and one was missing: we still don't know who that could be.

I truly think at the very least for this storyline, the next chapter is the last. The doctor was the second greatest villain and now he's dead. Additionally, we came into direct contact with the prototype, so from a storytelling perspective, the next chapter has to be the last stand. I don't believe this will be the end of the poppy playtime universe though.

Conclusion/Overall Comment on the Chapter:

I liked the chapter, but I think the problem is that unlike the previous chapters that felt like a constant overall upgrade, this one didn't feel like an improvement (but nor it did feel like a downgrade though). There are aspects of the chapter that definitely improved from that last: the graphics, the gameplay mechanics, the gore making people immediately physically uneasy, and characterisation of both major and minor characters, making us immediately love or hate them in a very short time. But the pacing really felt less enjoyable compared to the last chapter, same with the boss battles. It felt like it dragged too much then rushed too much. The pros and cons kinda cancel each other out, leadings to a net zero.

My favourite is still Chapter three, but I'll give this one a 7.5/10.

[rebkys]

DEJA VU

suna x freader

⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺ ⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺ ⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺ ⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧

You remembered the first time you met Suna Rintarou. He had been so different from anyone you’d ever known—cool, aloof, yet strangely magnetic. You were drawn to him like a moth to a flame, and before you knew it, you were spending all your time together. Late-night texts, shared laughs, stolen glances—it had been perfect.

Until it wasn’t.

The change had been subtle at first. Suna’s attention seemed to drift, his texts grew shorter, his laughter less frequent. You tried to ignore it, to hold on to what you had, but the truth was impossible to deny. Suna was pulling away.

And then you saw them together. Suna and the new girl, the one who had transferred in a few weeks ago. They were at the same café where you and Suna used to hang out, sitting in the same booth, sharing the same inside jokes. The sight had felt like a punch to the gut.

You remembered how you and Suna used to talk about your favorite show, how you’d stay up late discussing every plot twist and character arc. It was the same show he was now discussing with her, the excitement in his eyes a painful reminder of what you had lost. The song she sang to him was the same one you had shared with him, the one that had become your little secret. Now, it was all just part of their routine, every moment you had once cherished turned into something reused and repurposed.

“Hey.”

You turned at the sound of his voice, your heart aching at the sight of him. Suna stood a few feet away, hands in his pockets, his expression unreadable.

“Hey,” you replied, your voice barely above a whisper.

There was a long silence, the air heavy with unspoken words. Finally, Suna took a step closer, his eyes searching yours.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice soft. “I never meant to hurt you.”

You laughed bitterly, the sound hollow and devoid of humor. “Didn’t you? Because it sure feels like you did.”

Suna flinched at your words, but you couldn’t stop. The pain, the anger, the betrayal—they all came pouring out.

“You took everything we had and gave it to her,” you continued, your voice shaking. “All our memories, all our moments—you just replaced me like I meant nothing.”

“That’s not true,” Suna protested, but you shook your head, cutting him off.

“It is true. And you know what? I hope you’re happy with her. I hope she gives you everything I couldn’t.”

With that, you turned and walked away, leaving Suna standing alone on the rooftop. As you descended the stairs, you felt a strange sense of relief. The pain was still there, but it was no longer all-consuming. You had said your piece, and now it was time to move on.

Because if there was one thing you had learned from this experience, it was that you deserved better. And someday, you would find someone who saw you for who you truly were—someone who wouldn’t make you feel like a replaceable part in a never-ending cycle of déjà vu.

⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺ ⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺ ⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺ ⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧

[jadeylovesmarvelxo]

The Only One

Steve Harrington x Reader.

Summary; I was watching Stranger Things earlier and the part where Nancy is in the trance that Vecna has her under and all I can think about is writing a similar story with the reader (like it's you it happens to instead of Nancy) and Steve freaking out.

You've been sleeping together for a while, it's just casual to him at least but you're falling for him but don't want to tell him, especially with all the shit going on in The Upside Down and Hawkins and with Steve and Nancy kinda connecting again.

Steve realises when he thinks he's going to lose you that he loves you and not Nancy and he confesses he loves you just as Vecna's hold on you breaks.

Warnings; Angst with a happy ending. 18+ minors dni

I don't give anyone permission to copy, reuse or repost my work.

❤️

The relationship between you and Steve had started a few months ago, both of you growing closer since July 4th last year.

The first night you slept together was a combination of Steve bemoaning a string of bad dates he had went on with a girl called Demi and you wanting to forget all the nightmares surrounding July 4th for a little while.

Then it snowballed to meeting up regularly, sneaking around during your shifts together at Family Video.

Honestly, the sex was mind blowing and the more you lost yourself in Steve, talking to each other until the early morning, getting to know him the more you fell for him.

Yet you kept quiet even as the new threat plaguing Hawkins was in full force.

It was no time to confess feelings, not now.

The new threat, Vecna. It drew Nancy and Steve together again, the unresolved tension hung in the air and you could only watch your stomach sinking as Steve gazed at Nancy.

He still loved her. He would never love you and it broke your heart.

Nancy dove right after Steve as fast as you did when he was pulled under water by the vines and into The Upside Down.

You saw the looks as she tended to his wounds after the demo bat attack, the way he reached for her when earthquakes rocked the Upside Down.

Every interaction tore your heart in two and yet you couldn't say a thing because no one knew about you and Steve.

Let's face it even if they did it's not like you could compare to Nancy. She was the first girl Steve loved, she was special.

You were just an outlet to him. Even if sometimes you thought that his feelings for you were deepening it was most likely wishful thinking on your part.

It didn't matter though, not now. Not when you had a possible brewing apocalypse to help stop.

So you pushed your broken heart aside.

❤️

You didn't know what happened. One minute you were climbing the rope made of bedsheets that Dustin had fashioned to help aid your way out of The Upside Down.

The next minute everything changed and you were falling through the air into nothingness, hearing the faint echoes of Steve calling your name fading away.

When you finally landed after what feels like hours, you're at the mall standing up shakily as fireworks burst around you.

Anna your friend who died last year near the mall, flayed just like all the other poor souls who had lost their life is currently walking towards you with a soft smile on her features.

Memories from last summer flood through you, how she died.

She was heading to the mall to pick you up from your shift at the small boutique clothing store but unbeknownst to her you were with the Scoop Troop at the time when you were meant to be finishing your shift and meeting her.

On the way there she had met Billy and it was too late for her, she had joined the flayed.

Guilt filled you up inside because you hadn't told her what had been going on with Billy, no matter if she thought it crazy or unbelievable if she knew what was really going on in Hawkins then she wouldn't have been out in the first place.

You were with Dustin, Erica, Robin and Steve at the time, pulled into the Scoop Troops mission to decode a translation that Dustin had heard on the radio.

You were friends with Robin and she reached out for your help in decoding the saying as both of you learnt many languages.

Everything after that was a blur, investigating that delivery company, being trapped in the lift that plunged down to the depths of Starcourt mall, being captured by Russians, Steve taking a beating for you and Robin...

Helping Dustin's friend El from Billy and that horrifying monster from trying to kill her, it was terrifying, your heart hammering in your chest as you were introduced to the horrors of living in Hawkins.

Another dimension of sorts right under your feet.

Anna walks over to you and your frozen on the spot. When Anna was confirmed to be part of the many people that died as the part of the Flayed, you were inconsolable.

The guilt plagued you, survivors guilt the counsellor had told you when you spoke about Anna to her briefly.

"Why didn't you mention what was happening? You knew what was going on in Hawkins with Billy, that monster and yet and not once did you mention anything to me?"

The words eat away at you and tears roll down your cheeks because you could have said something, found Anna and warned her once you escaped from the Russians but you didn't.

Between being drugged by the Russians, to escaping them and then all the shit that followed everything was focused on the absolute nightmare you and the rest of the Scoop Troop found yourself in.

But what if you had managed to find Anna somehow? It was irrational as there was no time but your mind constantly clung to the what ifs?

"There was no time, I'm so sorry, I wish I could have found some way to save you. Every day I think of what I could have done...I"

The smile from her face slips and anger flashes across her features.

"Lies! You could have but you didn't! You'd rather run around with Steve Harrington!

I bet you're so happy right now that his attention is all on you, sleeping with him to dull the fact that you're a bad friend, the guilt eating away at you"

Sobs escape your lips and you shake your head desperate for her to understand but she grips your arms tight, shaking you.

The smile is back but it's eerie, it makes your stomach bottom out.

"No matter, you'll die soon too, you all will" the voice that speaks isn't Anna this time. No, this voice sends chills down your spine and Anna morphs into a thing of nightmares.

The evil that killed Chrissy, Jordan and Freddie. Who had cursed Max.

Vecna.

✨

❤️

You're someplace new now, surrounded by the bodies of people, children, teens and adults blooded and dead on the floor.

Fear pulses through you as you run through the halls. There's a sinking feeling inside you that this is where El was kept and experimented on, the others like her.

Sadness aches deep in your bones. What happened here?

Growls fill the air and fear roots you to the spot as Vecna approaches and calls your name.

No matter where you run it's no use because he will find you, even as you try desperately to move the boards blocking off the door you know it's no use.

Still, every instinct in you compels you to fight, to escape.

Vines snake their way up your jeans and tighten around your skin before you can stop it.

They wrap around your legs and your arms to keep you in place.

Vecna walks slowly towards you, and your heart pounds in your chest.

"It's time for me to show you who I am. What is coming. You can't escape it. Victory will be mine" his fingers latch onto your face and visions flash through your mind.

Vecna was Henry , Victor Creels, son, he was the cause of the physiological torture of his family, of his mother and sisters deaths.

Brenner found Henry at the hospital when the power overwhelmed him, fabricating that Henry died in a coma when in reality he became Brenners first test subject.

001

Then there's flashes of things, all of it leading up to a fight of powers between El and 001 after he murdered all the others like El, the doctors and scientists.

El refusing to join him to rid the world of mankind.

Then she sees how he became Vecna, how he first ended up in The Upside Down, his hatred for humans, thirst for revenge palpable.

Then the vision changes.

Death, screaming, blood everywhere. The bodies of your parents, of Robin and Steve lay dead as monsters ravage Hawkins.

This is Vecna's endgame. To open the gates between Hawkins and The Upside Down for good. To unleash hell.

Steves voice is calling to you. You hear it barely at first but it grows stronger.

I love you.

It must be a trick, a torture method of Vecna's because you know that isn't true. Steve doesn't love you.

At that moment the thrall you are under breaks and you are back in The Upside Down with Steve gasping for breath and shaking from what you have seen.

❤️

At the very second you were under Vecna's curse in The Upside Down, Steve had gestured for you to go next to climb the rope and get out of the hell scape you were in but when you don't respond he turns to you in confusion.

Your eyes are rolling to the back of your head, your body twitching and it feels like there is ice in his veins as realises that Vecna has invaded your mind.

The curse. Pure fear shoots through him and he swears his heart almost stops and he rushes to you, shaking you and shouting your name.

Confused voices echo from above as he sees Dustin, Nancy and Eddie peer down at you and him in worry.

"Get tapes, anything you can! Now!" he yells at them as he begs you to snap out of the trance.

"Please, please sweetheart"

Were you going to die? The thought of your body broken, limbs bent in unnatural angles, just gone... almost breaks him.

The thought of not seeing you smile, hearing you giggle at his lame jokes or curling up beside him, head rested on his chest terrifies him.

"Baby, please. Can you hear me?" he begs but it's like talking to a brick wall. You don't respond just stay under the trance and Steve just for a few seconds feels numb with agony.

Quickly he snaps out of it. No, he will reach you and you'll be fine he tells himself even when it feels like he can't breathe and dread and panic clouds his mind.

He can hear the faint sounds from up in Eddie's trailer and he shouts for the others to hurry.

There has to be something in the Munson trailer to use, some tape that Munson has that possibly includes your favourite song.

As he thinks of this he knows it's a long shot because your musical tastes and Eddie's were worlds apart.

You sang along to Blondie or Madonna, danced around your room to Duran Duran and The Beatles, tapes of Journey, AC/DC, would Munson have something of them?

He knows your favourite song though, it comes to him as he remembers you singing it in his car when he picked you and Robin up one day.

Crazy for you- Madonna. Frantically he shouts to the others to find the tape with Crazy for You on it, even though he knows deep down Munson won't have anything like it.

Time is running out and he's desperate, begs you to wake.

"I can't lose you, sweetheart. Come back to me please come back to me"

It's then he realized something that he's known deep down for a while and yet never fully accepted until now.

Nancy and him could never work, not again. They were too different, yeah they needed to clear the air between them, many things were left unresolved but there was no going back.

He didn't want Nancy back because he had moved on. Over the last few months, he had slowly fallen in love with you.

It was you who he wanted to be with. It was you who he loved.

"I love you, sweetheart, come back to me. I love you" he calls to you.

He startles as you come out of your trance and he catches you before you drop to the ground.

Relief floods through him and he cradles you to his chest. Did you hear his confession? What had happened when you were under Vecna's spell?

"Steve" you choke out as tears run down your cheek and he wipes them away tenderly.

"I'm here honey, I'm here"

❤️

Somehow Steve had managed to get you and him out of the Upside Down and when you woke up to Nancy and Max kneeling next to you the vision Vecna showed you comes to the forefront.

"What happened?" Nancy asks kindly and you recall everything that occurred, leaving nothing out.

Everything Vecna showed you. Including the vision that would haunt your dreams.

"All I could see was death everywhere, cracks along Hawkins splitting the town in half, monsters and darkness and my parents were dead... Robin and... Steve" he is at you at once and his hand entwines with yours.

"It was what would happen if Vecna won, if Max died and the gates opened. Hell would follow, death. We can't let that happen" you say and your voice goes stronger, fiercer.

It was time to save Hawkins, save Max and avenge Chrissy, Jordan and Freddies death.

❤️

A few days had passed since Vecna's defeat, The Upside Down being gone for good.

Eddie was recovering in hospital, Hopper miraculously back from the dead had taken on the role of sheriff and cleared Eddie of any involvement in Chrissy, Jordan and Freddie's deaths.

Max was recovering in hospital as well, she almost didn't make it when she was under Vecna's curse but somehow, by some miracle El's powers had come back and even in California she helped Max.

All of you banded together to weaken Vecna but El delivered the killing blow that destroyed the mind flyer and The Upside for good.

Now she was back along with Hopper, Joyce, Murray, Jonathan and Will.

Also, their friend Argyle who you liked immediately, the guy knew how to chill out.

There's a light tapping on your window and you peer up and giggle at what you see.

Steve was perched outside your window, flowers in hand and you smile as you open the window and let him inside.

"You could just use the front door you know" he shrugs, looking nervous.

"Where's the fun in that? He jokes and sits down, I spoke to Nancy, was long overdue. Cleared up some things"

Was he here to tell you he was back together with Nancy? You want so desperately to tell him you love him but what would be the point?

It would just add to his confusion, make him feel guilty he didn't return your feelings and you didn't want that.

His expression is tender and he stares down at you.

"Are you and Nancy together again?" you blurt out and he softens and shakes his head.

"No honey we aren't" This wasn't what you expected to hear.

"I don't understand. You still love her?" he settles beside you on the bed.

"We talked a lot. Both of us realised we would never work. I don't love Nancy, she's the past sweetheart. We both agreed that"

He hands you the flowers and something akin to hope blooms in your chest.

"I didn't see any of this coming you know? Getting to know you better, us being together. I didn't expect to fall in love with you but I did"

He loved you. What you heard wasn't a trick. He truly loved you.

"When I thought I was going to lose you I told you, I don't know if you even heard me" he murmurs and you take his hands on yours feeling giddy.

"I heard. Shit, I thought it was some torture trick from Vecna and all along it really was you?" his lips press to your forehead.

"I'm sorry it took so long for me to realise sweetheart, sorry you thought I still loved Nancy when it's you I want, only you sweetheart"

Gently you touch his cheek, wincing as you gaze at the scar around his throat, the scar made by the Demobats tail.

"Does it still hurt?" you ask worriedly and he nods as you press a tender kiss near it.

"Sometimes, not now though" his arms wrap around you and he pulls you onto his knee.

"I love you, Steve, so much. I've been wanting to tell you for so long" he smiles as his head rests on top of yours.

"How about a date tomorrow? A chance to spoil my girl, dinner and a movie?" you agree to this and the joy in the air is palpable, you would discuss paying half for the date tomorrow even if Steve would argue against it.

For now, you just let the glow of happiness fill you.

"It's a date"

❤️

[skruttet]

What are your thoughts on Moominvalley's comet special?

I talked a little about it in this other ask response, but overall I was disappointed. I think it's quite telling that the part of it that made me the most emotional was the opening credits 😅

Someone else said it was "underwhelming" and I think that's a good descriptor for it. The rest of the season as a whole already didn't really feel final enough to me, and you'd expect the finale to make up for that and give you that big feeling of wrapping up the whole series in a satisfying way, but it just didn't hit that mark for me.

The actual journey in the first half just wasn't as epic and exciting as I was hoping it'd be, and I think that's partially due to them using elements from Comet in previous episodes so they didn't wanna reuse them again, like the stilts (though surely they could've brought them back...). The cave Moomintroll and Snufkin end up in also feels like a missed opportunity - it's such a beautiful setting, but all they do there is panic, then see the Hemulen, then he leads them out. Idk what exactly they could've done instead, but surely there was something interesting the writers could've come up with to utilise that space more.

The way Snufkin brought up the sun oil was so awkward and forced; I know it was to establish it so that Sniff could have his whole stinky salesman arc in the latter half, but it's really weird how he explains its origin to his friends again even though all of them apart from Snork were there in Fire Spirit! Speaking of, that was a real step down for Sniff, and I would've preferred him to have an arc surrounding the kitten instead. Maybe he spends the time trying to gain its trust or something, and then at the end, finally manages to do so and rescues it to bring it back to the cave.

And speaking of the cave, I didn't like that change, either (honestly I just think I disliked most of the changes they made from the novel tbh lol. like I get they don't just wanna rehash it and want this to be new and original to an extent, but sometimes that can go too far, or just in the wrong direction). It's just really stupid for them to be like "we need to face our fear and face the comet!" it's a COMET! It's not a mysterious noise you hear in the middle of the night that you can investigate, it's a big hot rock that'll kill you all!! And then Groke moves towards it, and ~something~ happens, but this is a family show so they have her moan again at the end to show she's still alive and I love Jack but his delivery of "I'm so relieved" is so weirdly flat that it doesn't help how awkward and unnatural this ending is lmao.

Now this is more of a personal gripe, but I don't like how Snufkin is positioned at the end. When they're facing the Groke, he's right next to Moomintroll, which I like (and also brings to mind Night of the Groke when they faced her together), but then after the white flash, he's not only nowhere near Moomintroll, but not even near their friends? And he walks away WITH THE POLICE INSPECTOR?! Like thank god Joxter doesn't know he's his dad he'd have a heart attack if he found out his son was so chummy with the cops smh. You could maybe argue this isn't even just a personal complaint, and that Snufkin has objectively been one of Moomintroll's most important relationships in this series, so for them to not have some kind of moment or interaction at the end feels wrong.

Something I was going to discuss in that other ask reply but I ultimately deleted because I couldn't find the words at the time was Little My's characterisation. This season in particular made me feel as though she's so, like, mad all the time. And I understand that anger is her thing, but it's usually a cheery kind of angry, you know? But in this series she sometimes just seems so frustrated and upset and although I like that it explores the more emotionally dramatic side of her, I was hoping that by this final season at least she'd be in a more comfortable and happy place. But in this Comet special she's so exasperated and moody with Moominpappa and I wish they just made it feel more like daughter-light-heartedly-poking-fun-at-her-dad, I guess?

Snork is interesting in this special because he plays quite a big role in it, but I also feel so sorry for him cause he's always getting cut off or used by Pappa and Sniff who don't properly listen to him and I just want to give him a big (figurative bc he hates hugs) hug my poor smart boy let him infodump. There's also a moment where he says "I can explain-" and his sister says "Thanks, Snork, but we really need to carry on!" which is so obviously the writers trying to squeeze in Snorkmaiden's characterisation from the book where she's practical in the face of her brother's long-winded meetings, and is a great example of the feminism of her character there, but it just doesn't quite work the same here. Once again just not as natural as it should feel.

On a positive note, I LOVED the look of the comet itself - every shot of it looked so cool and it changed the lighting of the valley in a fun and interesting way. I also liked how Jarmo and Samuli gave the score of the episode a funky sci-fi sound, which helped set it apart as something special for the series. And despite all my negatives, it's still entertaining! It's enjoyable to watch! Just, for someone who had expectations based on the whole series and the novel, underwhelming.

[fallofcyber]

The Susan Foreman/Susan Twist Theory

So ever few years the Doctor Who fandom seeks to ask the question What about Susan, and Because of this new season the Theories have started back up again so lets look at the evidence.

Pre-Devil's Cord: It was speculated that Susan might return this season, the main evidence point is a woman we all have been calling "Susan Twist" based on the name of her actress.

Many people are speculating that based on this actress' name that there is a 'Twist' involving a 'Susan'. Now I wouldn't put it past RTD to create a season plotline purely based on an actress' name, but to state that this 'evidence' is a stretch is a massive understatement. So pre-Devil's Cord a crackpot theory that insists on speculating about the return of a Classic series Time-Lord, similar to the constant theories about The Rani, Omega, or even Morbius.

Post Devil's Cord: Now we finally have a solid piece of evidence, an explicit callout to Susan. In fact I believe the first time Susan is mentioned by name since the revival, when the Doctor is telling Ruby about his life on Totter's lane.

So we have two through-lines this theory hopes to connect. The Susan Twist mystery box, and an explicit call out to Susan Foreman. Now this callout to Susan seems incredibly deliberate, almost like it's attempting to introduce new audiences to the character. Plus the Doctor also speculates on her current status, whether she is alive or dead.

Also I'll bring up the 'Always a Twist at the End' song from the end of The Devil's Cord. Not only being a meta commentary on the nature of seasons of Doctor Who, but also a play on words referencing 'The Twist' a type of dance. There's always a twist, thus there is always a Susan Twist.

Post-Boom: We have a new Susan Twist cameo

and it's creepy ambulance lady. Currently the Susan Twist cameo hasn't added anything to the theory post Boom, but lets looks at something else for a second.

Varada Sethu

This is Varada Sethu who has been confirmed to be joining the TARDIS along with Ruby and the Doctor.

She shows up in Boom as the character Mundy Flynn. Now this could easily be another instance of an actor having a bit part in Doctor Who before Colin Baker, Freeman Agyeman, Peter Capaldi, Karen Gillan. However Russel has stated that the situation is more complicated than that. Specifically bringing up when Jenna Coleman showed up in Asylum of the Daleks before making her debut later in season 7.

Some speculation theorized that Varada Sethu's character was a regenerated Susan Foreman, but after Boom I believe something else is going on.

So this is all linking back to my 'The Doctor is trapped in a television show' Theory

( https://www.tumblr.com/fallofcyber/750149486367621120/okay-absolutely-off-the-wall-doctor-who-theory?source=share )

I think I might have an idea that could solve both the Susan Twist and Verada Sethu mystery. What if they aren't just reused actors on the show Doctor Who, but are reused actors in the show within the show. As in the reason we are seeing this actor show up in multiple places is because they are literally being recast in universe.

So in conclusion I do believe Susan Foreman to have some sort of relevance to the story, but I don't think she is at all connected to Varada Sethu or Susan Twist. Maybe she has a connection to Susan Twist, but I don't think they are one in the same.

[barbielore]

I've mentioned before how, with the Barbie line now spanning 65 years, names have been reused for different characters - off the top of my head, the Barbie line contains both a Stacey and a Stacie, a Chelsie and a Chelsea, two different Ryans, either two or three different Nikkis depending on how you interpret the canon.

There are also two different Whitneys, which is the one on which I would like to focus today - mostly because I wouldn't have thought of Whitney as a popular enough name to see a duplication, and especially not a duplication so close together.

Whitney, friend of Barbie, first appeared in 1986 as Jewel Secrets Whitney.

I find this release so elegant for a playline doll; I actually love it. It also happened to come with a "24 page Whitney storybook" telling the story of how she keeps the secret that she is going to give Barbie an award for Most Glamourous Woman of the Year.

She appeared again as Nurse Whitney and Perfume Pretty Whitney in 1987, and Style Magic Whitney in 1988. That was the end of her appearances in the doll line in the US - but she made one final appearance in a European-exclusive in 1991.

But only three short years later, a new Whitney appeared.

This Whitney was much younger, being a friend of Barbie's athletic tweenage sister Stacie rather than a peer of Barbie herself. Although sometimes depicted with brown hair, this Whitney was more commonly redheaded, and frequently depicted with glasses.

Making her one of only a small handful of named, regular glasses-wearing characters in the doll line.

There's nothing particularly funny or untoward about a second Whitney, but given the short span between the releases, I do have to wonder... why didn't they just give young Whitney a different name?

[evanvison]

First Impressions

I got into the show Lego Monkey Kid this past year. But I had been aware of the show since it first came out. I had always had it on my list as something to potentially watch but it took me until season 5 came out before I finally sat down to watch it. So I decided to talk about the ideas and theories I had formed before I watched the show because they were really funny.

To start: I saw a poster for the show (I don't remember which one) pretty early and after looking at it I immediately thought that MK and Mei reminded me of Kai and Nya from Lego Ninjago. So I had assumed that they were reusing their character concepts but in a new show. This was the only impression the poster I saw gave me. None of the other characters stood out to me and I never thought much else about it.

A year or two after the release of Season 3 and its end of Season movie, I saw clips from the show popping up in my YouTube recommended. I finally cracked a decided to look at them with ZERO context. I saw the Season 1 fight between Macaque and Wukong, I saw the release of the Sumadhi fire, and I saw Mei training with Red Son and the fire, as well as some scenes of the crew on the flying ship in Season 3 Ep 1.

The first scene I remember was in the Season 1 monkey fight when Macaque released the shadow clones for the first time. A good first scene to witness! I watched the whole fight but only remembered bits and pieces. Through that scene, I was able to pretty accurately guess both Macaque and Wukong's personalities, dynamics, and how they would affect each other as characters (the only accurate guess I made).

Then I saw some flying ship scenes. I mostly remember them just talking and not much stood out in my memory.

Then I got to the release of the Samadhi fire. I made the assumption that the reveal here was that Mei was a Samadhi dragon. Like a dragon that specifically produces Samadhi fire. Mostly because I saw the dragon rising from her fire and assumed dragon + fire = that's the dragon's fire. So you can imagine the shock I had when I started watching the show and saw how quickly they made it clear Mei was a dragon. Then how sad I was that I was spoiled on the actual Samadhi fire. But I did learn from those scenes that Mei was very different from Nya and wasn't related to MK. So that misconception didn't stick till the end. (Sorry the picture is small for some reason.)

Now for the part that I find hilarious and I have no idea how my brain came up with this idea. I somehow came to the conclusion that Tang and Red Son were the same person..... I guess I saw that they both had glasses (very different glasses) and jumped to the idea that Tang was his normal form and that he was some sort of professor who had some curse that caused him to transform into Red Son and this gave him fire powers. I assumed they were like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or something and that's why Red Son was so angry. I don't think I saw any scene where they were in the same shot so I had nothing to steer me away from this.

I just thought he had some alternate fire demon side or something. Then I watched Overly Sarcastic Production's summary of Journey To The West and saw Red Son and then I guess I just forgot about this theory until after I watched the show and realized that I was so very wrong!

I do kind of want to write a fic where this is what happened just because I find it funny. Or if someone else wants to include it in a fic I would love to read it!

But that's it! That's my early misconceptions and guesses about the show that I made. I didn't really have any thoughts on Sandy or Pigsy though I don't think I saw that many clips of them so I didn't really get the chance to think about them as much. Hope you all enjoyed it! If anyone else had some funny guesses about a show that wound up being wrong or funny please tell me!