#or i was gonna get a 5 as final qualification

[kadilnu]

Extra:

[hellaversepolls]

Tournament Poll: Most Popular Hellaverse Fansong (2025)

So this poll's probably gonna take a while given all the entries I have gathered, the qualifications I used to pick out the entries is listed here.

If there's any duplicate entries, please let me know and I'll replace the match they're attached to (I found like...over 200 songs, and I've done my best to remove any duplicates, but I'm merely an individual and therefore prone to error).

Also, this is an important ground rule for this tournament:

Don't bother/harass the original creators of any of these songs over the results of this tournament

This tournament's mainly a "smash or pass" for fansongs where people can find new songs to add to their playlists, it ain't that serious.

Now, obviously I trust all of my...*checks* 500 followers? when the fuck did you get here- I trust all of my 500 followers and know they would never bother/harass artists over something as silly as a poll tournament...

...however, I also recognize the Hellaverse fandom gets into drama on the daily, and if I end up being the source of it I'm not gonna be happy about it, so I'm covering my bases here.

Plus I just think it'd be kinda funny if a bunch of songs got a sudden spike in views for no explainable reason.

Help I Can't Choose: Pick whichever song you'd rather be listening to on loop for an hour in a hot car.

Voting rules and match lists under read more.

VOTING RULES:

Feel free to spread as much propaganda for your choice as you like if that’s your thing, as long as you remember the following:

- Please Don’t Threaten/Promise to Compromise the Safety of Yourself or Others (Example: “If [x] doesn’t win I will shoot myself”, “If you don’t vote for [y] I’m going to doxx you”, etc.). I cannot imagine anyone actually getting heated enough to do this, but if you’re thinking about it, please don’t :)

- Please try to avoid being racist/transphobic/etc in your propaganda (and like in general, but here is a good start).

- Please try to avoid writing anything extremely graphic (read: “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat” levels of shit).

I’d appreciate it if we could avoid bot-spamming in the votes.

================================================

ROUND 1

Experimenting with Section Names in this first round for comedy reasons

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Section 5

Section 6

Section 7 AKA

"Blitzo, Characters I Couldn't Find Room For in Other Sections, and New Songs I Found After We Started (whoopsies)"

Heartstrings (Oricadia) vs Thrilling In the Kill (TytoCat)

So Professional (McGwire) vs Fall Into Me (FrostFM)

Sin of Lust (Red Rob) vs The Ruler (FrostFM)

Starry Reminiscence (FrostFM) vs Nightowl (Noveeta)

The Ringleader (Fizzarolli's Show) (PARANOiD DJ) vs Signals (PARANOiD DJ)

Mayday (Red Rob) vs Love of Yesterday (FrostFM)

Pop! (Cherri's Assault) (PARANOiD DJ) vs Joy Thrash (FrostFM)

Indiana (Young Light) vs Imp's Revenge (TonyV3rse)

Section 8 AKA

"Duets, Rap Battles...and even MORE SONGS I FOUND AFTER WE ALREADY STARTED-"

As Advertised (Rhyce Records) vs Toxic Halo (TonyV3rse)

Don't Mess With V (MADdNESS) vs Hallowed Heart (MADdNESS)

Made It To Heaven (TonyV3rse) vs Get Signed Up (MilkyyMelodies)

Alastor vs Tony the Talking Clock (GamingPlush64) vs Caine vs Alastor (Freshy Kanal)

Radiostatic (ZETHIBOU) vs Tear You Apart (FrostFM)

Turmoil (MilkyyMelodies) vs We're Sure to Drown (Husk's Tale) (PARANOiD DJ)

Join Me In Hell (MADdNESS) vs Old News (Tomatasauce)

Take a Stab At It (MilkyyMelodies) vs In The Dark (TytoCat)

Section 9 AKA

"Duets, Rap Battles...and even MORE SONGS I FOUND AFTER WE ALREADY STARTED-" Part 2

Heaven 2 Hell (BlackGryph0n) vs One Hell of a Team (LeeAndLie (AmaLee))

Forever Longing (MilkyyMelodies) vs Love's Inferno (FrostFM)

Restless Twilight (FrostFM) vs Lift Me Up (FrostFM)

Alastor vs Lucifer (Ykato) vs Padre Infernal (Keyto)

Alastor vs Caine (Khai Rap) vs Hazbin Hotel vs Helluva Boss (Kballero Rap)

Our Deal (Ninja Raps) vs Escaramuza (Keyto)

Trato Final (Keyto) vs Villainos Cartoon (Lucksterr)

Alastor vs Black Hat (Kballero Rap) vs Alastor vs Black Hat (EnmaDS - EnmanuelDSite)

Section 10 AKA

"I dunno what you're saying but this is a jam"

El Dios de la exterminación (Bastián Cortés) vs Celestial (Ninja Raps)

Pik@ Celestial (Hakai Raps) vs O Extermínio Vai Vir (Bloodz)

Creu Creu (MKzinTrap) vs El rey del Infierno (Doble Cero)

O Rei do Inferno (Takeru) vs Revoada do Tio Lu (Dum0nt)

Rei do Inferno (TMzin) vs Querido Deus (Bloodz)

Eu sou o rei (Zeo) vs Mi Orgullo Eres Tú (Khai Rap)

Créu (Ninja Raps) vs Serpente (Konn Music)

Hell's King (BynMc) vs Adán Vs Lucifer (SoulRap)

Section 11 AKA

"I dunno what you're saying but this is a jam" - Part 2

Acorrentados (Ninja Raps) vs Refém (Hiro Music)

Acorrentado (Bloodz) vs Forças Pra Tentar (Ryato)

Final Feliz (Babits) vs O Hotel Feliz (Ninja Raps)

Entretenimento ou Redenção (Ninja Raps) vs Ligações pro Céu (Shiny_sz)

Trato Feito (Zeo) vs Sinal Infernal (Enygma)

Rádio (BLAZE RAPPER) vs The Altruist (METTA)

Alastor o Demônio do Rádio (Kzgeek) vs The best host in hell (Doble Cero)

RÁDIO (Konn Music) vs Contrato (Yuzo)

Section 12 AKA

"I dunno what you're saying but this is a jam" - Part 3

No Ar (Papyrus Da Batata) vs O Espetáculo de Alastor (Shiny_sz)

O Demônio do Rádio (Takeru) vs Arte do Caos (KayZiin)

Transmissão (Kazuya) vs El Demonio Radiofónico (Khai Rap)

Trato Feito! (ORION MC) vs Contrato Feito (Ivou)

Meu Entretenimento (ReddInTheMic) vs É só Aceitar (Bloodz)

Aperte Minha Mão (Dum0nt) vs O Demônio Do Rádio (StellZ)

O Demônio do Rádio (Ninja Raps) vs His Name (METTA)

El Demonio de la Radio (David Delgado - Laharl -) vs Demônio do Rádio (GRO)

Section 13 AKA

"I dunno what you're saying but this is a jam" - Part 4

I.M.P. (Khai Rap) vs Asesinos Profesionales (Lucksterr)

Por Amor (Mands) vs Amor Vil (Ejsu Multimedia)

Deidad Suprema (Lucksterr) vs Fallen Angel (Babits)

El Primer Redimido (Khai Rap) vs MÁQUINA DE GUERRA (Konn Music)

Mad Maid (Babits) vs Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel/Our Hazbin Abode (King Bakuyo Pro Musik)

Alastor's Story (EnmaDS - EnmanuelDSite) vs Alastor Angel (Lucksterr)

Angeles Rap (Lucksterr) vs Overlords Rap (Lucksterr)

Hazbin Hotel Rap (Lucksterr) vs Redención (SoulRap)

Section 14 AKA

"I dunno what you're saying but this is a jam" - Part 5

Exorcismo Angelical (Khai Rap) vs Extermínio Celestial (Hiro Music)

The Vees (Khai Rap) vs Los V (Ykato)

Pecados Capitales MacroRap (BynMc) vs Pecados Capitales (Lucksterr)

Erros e Mentiras (Bloodz) vs Muita Chacina (Bloodz)

El Mejor Papá (Khai Rap) vs Transmissão (Bloodz)

Luxúria (Bloodz) vs É só Contratar (Bloodz)

Blitzo vs Charlie (Kballero Rap) vs Angel Dust vs Demencia (Kballero Rap)

Overlord (Kylerapper) vs Never Trust a Smile (Ari's Arcade)

Section 15 AKA

"Welcome to the Alastor Zone, Motherfuckers"

Severed Connections (Red Rob) vs AM:FM (Give Heart Records)

Age of Stereo (Oricadia) vs Turn The Volume Up (RUSTAGE)

Listen Closely (CoolTunes of Coolio) vs I'm Back (Califer)

Stay Tuned (KryFuZe) vs Radio Check (ZayTheBoi)

Tune On In (TSUYO) vs Radio Star (Connor Quest!)

Let's See a Smile (Divide Music) vs Care To Make A Deal? (BonetrixMUSIC)

Psycho (Logan Pettipas) vs Anthem of Hell (Phidel)

Can't Be Saved (FabvL) vs Freedom (King Bakuyo Pro Musik)

Section 16 AKA

"Welcome to the Alastor Zone, Motherfuckers" - Part 2

Alastor's Game (The Living Tombstone) vs Too Late for You (TheManBeHisLa)

Hazbin Hotel (Daddyphatsnaps) vs Radio Host (DekerWoods)

The Radio Demon (MKDmusic) vs Radio Play (Silva Hound)

Radio Silence (RoseTV) vs Smile Like You Mean It (Alastor's Offer) (PARANOiD DJ)

Radio Demon (MegaMal) vs Post-Haste (Hypotoria)

Radio Demon (Give Heart Records) vs Phantom (Give Heart Records)

Deal Maker (TytoCat) vs Take My Hand (Shwabadi)

Turn It Out The Radio (Mautzi) vs INSANE (Black Gryph0n)

Section 17 AKA

"Welcome to the Alastor Zone, Motherfuckers" - Part 3

TBA (Wednesday, March 5th)

[kitsunesakii]

You have piqued my interest so…

Heh…

If you ever wanna write that rant at some point you have at least one person who is thoroughly interested 😋

(Picture me laying at the edge of your bed twirling my hair and kicking my feet like a teenage girl in a 1980s movie looking for hot gossip)

Ok bet

Firstly I want it noted that this is personal opinion so I don't wanna be killed over this.

✨Character development✨

I'll be honest I was a little surprised at how little we got when it came to our two main peeps for character development- more on the actual relationship wise.

Let me explain- with Sasha we learn that she has a firey spirit and isn't afraid to tiptoe around Jon (something we see in season one, whereas Tim definitely tries to not start fires [again season one and season two Tim]) She isn't afraid to speak her mind and she was the only other one that knew Gertrude, even if just a little. We know she's got computer skills and is pretty brave, (we know this since she had that showdown with the stranger and held her ground) although it's hard to talk about character development over a character that dies season one, so let's look at Tim

We know 'development' wise he goes from docile and eager to avenge his brother to angry and desperate to avenge his bother. He goes into a self destructive route and over all we lose him as an ally to Jon relatively quickly.

Honestly in my opinion I always thought Jon seemed more at ease with Sasha, way more than anyone else. The fact that she challenged him in a way no one else did kinda adds to this but whatever - she ended up as the blonde in every slasher film (Jonny must have known that if she would have lived she would have become too powerful, ahh, I digress)

(Note I'm only gonna analyze the original crew because my main argument is the weak link in the 'love' story)

Now we really don't see a lot of Martin... Ever? We know he's under qualifed (at least in Jon's opinion) we don't get a lot of him until season three and season four... Which is fine, but we don't really ever find out a lot about him besides the fact that he likes Jon (and the fact that we learn that through a conversation between two OTHER characters- like they were worried we wouldn't put it together- is kinda a red flag but again I digress)

Now let's talk about Jon, he definitely goes through character development... We watch him from going from unsociable will say whatever without a filter to absolute mental collapse to realizing without relying on others he's gonna die to finally allowing people to care for him.... Kind of.

In actually we watch him realize that he took for granted the people that -tolerated him at best and ignored him at worse- to -being surrounded by people who hate him (Melony, Bassira, Daisy, Tim, need I go on?) And having to journey mostly alone.

I was always a bit confused on why it seemed like fan art and fanfiction depicted Martin and Jon's relationship more "loving" than the actual story

In my eyes it always seemed like Jon clung to Martin in a toxic way since Martin was the only one who gave him positive attention. And character wise it makes sense, into season four Jon is completely alone and missing the one person that ever seemed to like him. In his eyes he's killed everyone that seemed to give a damn and now Martin is all that's left. This is ok character wise! This makes sense! But here's where the plot lost me

Into season 5 I was so genuinely confused because I couldn't understand how we went from "ah the one person that cared doesn't care any more and I miss them dearly" straight into "I love him with my whole heart."

Now if this had been the whole point- like a toxic yaoi - "they only cling to each other because they are emotionally damaged and somehow make each other better kinda but can't love each other in a real way" - but it wasn't- at least I never got that idea from the fandom

Instead it went into full love story which just... Didn't do it for me

Let me try and break it down

Season one and two Jon barely notices Martin, hating him at worse and irritated by him at best

Season three every one is too busy with the murder mystery to even think about those two relationship wise. And while Martin helps Jon every way he can it still seems like Jon just takes him for granted, now into season four Jon is alone and desperate for human connection and misses Martin -(FOR THAT REASON)- it makes sense that when he finally gets him out of the lonely that he'd cling to the other (again back with that toxic emotional co dependency) but relationship development wise it just seemed too fast

We get into season 5 and Jon's saying things like "I love you" and "yes Martin, you're my reason" and I just don't think he'd be at that point yet. I'm not saying they can't get to that point, I'm not saying that they couldn't work because of personality reasons.

I'm saying that the pacing of the story's narrative goes against the immediate switch from season 4 to season 5

In my opinion it would have been way more satisfying of an ending if during season 5 we got a more gradual relationship building that crescendos at the final episode. I think it would have fit character wise- Jon would have had to explore his more vulnerable emotions whilst trecking through the horrors he basically created (it's not his fault but we all know he blames himself) and Martin would get to shine as a character who pushes emotional vulnerability while finally sticking up for himself and pushing against Jon's stubbornness. By the end of season 5 Jon would come to grips with the fact that he actually does love Martin and the final sacrifice + kiss would end up being so much more emotionally satisfying. I think it would also do the characters justice more since it seemed like by the end it really was "the Antichrist and the Antichrist's plus one"

But who am I to talk? I am a mere moral with human opinions that don't have to dictate how you feel about the characters! I still absolutely loved the podcast and would recommend it to anyone!

BUT THANKS FOR LISTENING TO MY TEDTALK

[autisticbokutoenthusiast]

i know that only like 2 other people on this webbed site care about womens volleyball but what is everyones thoughts on vnl so far and olympic predictions 👀

i think china, italy, and japan are gonna qualify through vnls for the olympics. i cant make my mind up between canada and netherlands for the fourth spot, on the one hand canada is ranked slightly higher rn and have played the best ive seen them but also the netherlands match against china was really impressive

i think vnl quarterfinals is gonna be:

thailand - hosting so automatic qualification, theyre my fav team and im happy they get to host the final round but i dont think my girlies are gonna make it past quarterfinals, at least not this year (though their win against dominican republic was great AND they took a set from the usa even if their loss to korea was frustrating, something happened between weeks 1 and 2 and they came out stronger because of it also my girl wipawee is proving me right that this is her year)

brasil - currently ranked 1 and their bench and starters have been lethal. gabi is solid as always nyeme has been making so many great saves. also i love the way the crowds erupt when thaisa comes on court i never get tired of it. i think they can make it to finals if not taking gold

usa - i know they havent been dominating but they seem to still be testing out their younger players, like washington/drews/hancock all havent even played yet- drews aint even on the roster and shes usually a go to player for them. their loss to china sure was something and they lost to brasil for the first time in like 5 years but their week 1 team wasn't their strongest and we knew this, it certainly gave newer players/ their bench some good experiance. excited to see how they match up with poland and turkiye later this week.

poland - lavarini has been great for them also they have wołosz back and stysiak is a monster and i thought genuinely they had a great chance of making it to finals last year if texas ac hadnt sabotoged them

italy - (now that egonu an sylla are back) for sure they can do it also antrapova in their pocket is great and in general despite the stumbling last year their team is doing well this tournament like their win againt turikye was great and that was with their week 1 squad

turkiye - won last year and are in a great position having both karakurt and vargas- (i like their odds better when they use them as subs for eachother more than having karakurt play outside but santarelli obviously knows much much more than me lol) they havent swept as much as i thought they would but they are human. and if they are on their game then theyre unstoppable but 3-1 loss to italy and 3-2 to japan took me by surprise. still would never count them out theyre obviously making it through. excited to see their game against serbia tn

china - silver metalists from last vnl. yall know i love yuan xin yue and want to see her play but also wang yuan yuan has been great this week also zhu ting is back on the roster!!!!!!! as im writing this their ranked 4 so i have a good feeling about them

for the last team idk but it could be:

japan - put some respect on kogas name!! girlie has been fantastic this tournement and winning against turkiye is huge imo and theyre game against brasil was amazing even if they didnt win they fought hard those 5 sets. genuinely i think japan is more primed to win the mental battle of the game i have such high hopes for them

canada - if they can get back to their week 1 play style i wouldnt count them out even tho its unlikely

serbia - usually is an easy prediciton but theyre right now behind korea in the rankings.... but they dont have boscovic back and their squad seems to be pretty young and they fight hard so it can still be them

dominican republic - though they haven't been winning a ton so far they are one of my ult teams i love them dearly and i hope castillo joins them again soon cause she is my favorite libero

i dont really have thoughts on olympics as of now except for my qualification predictions

hoping a single other person wants to talk about this!!

[gardensandtaverns]

Dev Journal: Day 1

I’ve tried a few times at putting myself out there with my system, boss, level, and world design content. Every time I did it for feedback, or validation, because I was looking for a reason to go out and do it full-time. Well, I’m now fresh out of college, a year down the drain trying to find any job that matches my qualifications, and have nothing better to do than to take the hobby I’ve poured countless hours into and run with it. So now this blog is finally just going out there for myself; clean slate.

For anyone who finds themselves becoming an interested and long-time fan of my work, I’ll document where I’m starting from here. Like I said, I’m fresh out of college. Twenty-two years old with a degree in Statistical Analysis, and a sizable amount of coursework in Operations, Actuarial Math, and Physics to boot. All that aside, I’ve been a huge game nerd for 15 years, been writing worlds and systems for a decade, and have been a perma-DM of both Dungeons and Dragons as well as, now, Pathfinder for a sum total of 5 years and counting. Needless to say, I’m a nerd who wasn’t encouraged to write - so I did all the hard homework first to make time for it.

This blog is gonna start out kinda boring, it’s really just me documenting what I’m doing. In part so I can look back at it, in part so I have it all somewhere that can be seen, and finally just so I can put myself out there. Being nerdy doesn’t really score you a huge network until well after school. Eventually I’m hoping to put some of my old D&D content and notes as a DM and worldbuilder out there. Maybe someone will learn something, maybe not.

Regardless, today was Day One. My first steps to really becoming a game designer. I’ve always had a knack for level and world design. I like making things that feel meaningful and have something to add. I’ve also been infatuated with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim since I was in middle school. So me, who has no credentials in softdev or compsci, well how am I going to make myself stand out to game studios? I’m starting with the Skyrim Creation Kit, and hopefully I can make something good enough to play with the big boys in some of the large community projects.

Today is Day One, Project One: The Bookwyrm’s Vault.

When I think of Skyrim, I think of three things. Vikings, dragons, and the Jedi Greybeards. But when I think of my ideal fantasy, I think of the wizarding type of sorcery, I think of arcane dragons - long-lived individuals who have honed magic over generations. And who’s to say that the dragons of Skyrim can’t be this way, Parthurnax certainly is.

So I devised the idea of the Bookwyrm’s Vault. I’m still undecided whether it is a Dwemer ruin built around the den of a long-departed dragon, or a ruin which a dragon took interest in. Regardless of which, the goal of this dungeon, unlike many of those in Skyrim, is not to add a crawl through enemies to feed the martial prowess of so many of the races of Tamriel. It’s to instead create something once beautiful and tranquil.

Initially I thought to conform to the Dwemer dungeon stereotypes of long hallways with many guardian automatons and littered steamworks and metal scraps. I’ve decided instead to be less industrious and more mystic and monastic with this ruin, to design a great library of magic and lore, one that rivals the College of Winterhold. Perhaps some Dwarven Spiders, remnants of a bookkeeping system as degraded as the parchment, remain to provide a small inconvenience to the Dragonborn. Even maybe a few runes of fire and lightning protecting more secretive experiments, or lingering from the attempts to keep something else in. This is my level, my addition, and I want it to reflect my interests in fantasy.

Now, today was my first day working with the Creation Kit. Panning with the MMB is a new experience, and wow could it use an efficiency update, but it is a decade-plus old piece of software, so I guess it gets a pass. For my first time working with the software, and having no clue what assets Skyrim actually uses, I decided to go pretty simple.

We start, as all subterranean dwellings must, with a passageway down and in to the earth, allowing all the room needed to carve out the great recording hall that is front and center. This room will, once populated, hold a dozen or more desks in varying states of repair and organization, and will have been where historically research of older tomes and transcription was done.

To the east of the recording hall, I’ve made a larger laboratory for more practical experimentation, which will feature a handful of crafting stations, like an alchemy and enchanting table, as well as maybe a staff enchanter if I feel inclined to make this mod require the Dragonborn mod.

To the west of the recording hall I plan to have a short hallway that connects a number of bedchambers, or private cells. A place to rest or study quietly.

Finally, to the south a passage leads further down. The door at the end of this passage will be locked, and I feel the key would be best kept in a well-warded chest in one of the private cells, as it leads to the special collections room.

Based on what I’ve seen of the assets library so far, I’m worried about making the special collections room because I had been hoping to make it a two-tiered library, but that may not be possible with the assets that exist and I certainly don’t have the experience to produce new ones. I may be able to use some of the components normally reserved for exteriors to get by, though. Only time will tell.

[edenfenixblogs]

I work in accessibility for film and television. And I got by start in transcription. And you’re dead wrong.

1. These things are turned out a tight deadline. Very often the shows are transcribed before the final video is even put together and there is not second pass. And the people who do that transcription get paid minimum wage at best, despite all having to meet several academic and skill based qualifications. Things are often changed last minute by production companies.

2. There aren’t always scripts to reference and if sound mixing isn’t final sometimes it’s a best guess as to what’s being said. It may be clear when the final airs, but there is no second pass for captioners.

3. Any language subtitles are often what is written verbatim in the script, because not all transcribers can be multi-lingual. If the actors speaking the lines chose to switch things up, then transcribers aren’t changing the words. The ACTORS are.

4. There are several very strict rules about how to caption material. And as much as accessibility workers WANT to put in every word verbatim there have to be some judgment calls. You have to balance what is being said with how fast the average person can read—which is not as fast as people speak.

5. There are constant debates of clarity vs accuracy. Accuracy is transcribing every time a reality star says “um” but that doesn’t make sense if a Kardashian says “I uh want you I mean did you ah well if you if it was you would you” it might make more sense if it was transcribed “um, I-I…Did…If it was you, would you?” Which is a lot more clear. Similarly, if someone is speaking really fast nonstop for an entire scene, only 2-3 lines of text can be on screen at a time. So does every single word have to go through even if it is on screen for less than half a second? Maybe! Depending on the show or movie! But maybe not! But either way, there can never be so much text on screen that it obscures that actual visual content.

6. There are rules that do evolve over time. For instance? “Gonna” was approved when I worked in captioning as an ok way to shorten “going to,” but “finna” as short for “fixing to” was not yet considered standard enough daily speech to write even if a character said it, unless it was directly approved by the production company—which is usually not the company that does transcription or captioning. Accessibility-focused companies specialize in this stuff.

Please don’t demand gate keeping fields in which you do not work and do not know how they work.

Nobody thinks you’re dumb or is trying to dumb down content for you. Nobody is doing subpar work cuz they don’t care. There’s a lot of calculus that goes into everything.

A HOH or Deaf person who is very intelligent deserves to have everything done in the highest possible quality and accuracy. But an HOH or Deaf person who speaks English as a second language or who has other, cognitive disabilities also deserves to watch that same content. And balancing the needs of every type of person who relies upon media accessibility as well as the specialized restrictions and deadlines of media content is one of the most important and ever-evolving parts of the job.

We, of course, know that all people who rely on media accessibility deserve the best.

Please trust that the people working day in and day out to provide it for you understand that and are doing their best—likely for minimal pay and no thanks and complete anonymity due to NDAs. You’ll never know their names or how hard they work. But you cannot imagine how hard it can be. How often workers trigger themselves on really difficult subject matter, just so they can bring that content to you.

The people who make content accessible do so because we care very deeply actually.

one profession that does need better gatekeeping is people who write or translate subtitles. brother that is not what was said.

[jumwa-the-cryptid]

There was a thought that I had, where I thought that maybe I was yapping too much here, but then I realised isn't the whole point of a blog to yap???

Anyways, it's nice to come back to my past doings. It's like I'm home again in a way. Like I found myself again. This is also me being like, I will never be the same again and coming to terms with that. I miss high school I've started crocheting again as well. Trying to journal again but it doesn't come as smoothly as before. Oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I also haven't been doing the "double exposure" photos 'cause of the coding units I was doing so it's like, I can't really do a "triple exposure" photo without breaking academic integrity 😬And also I was doing full-time last semester and didn't underload and passed all the units and I'm very proud of myself for doing that 🥺 So I proved to myself that I could do a full-time load. Also, I don't like the phrasing of "not graduating on time", like, as long as your course progression matches the maximum amount of time your institution gives you to finish your qualification then you're graduating on time?!?! Because I underloaded in my first year, thus I'll be hopefully graduating in a total of 5.5 years. I could do it in 5 years, but if I go part-time and take the extra semester in my final years maybe I could do an internship or join a student team or work on my folio? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I'm also haunted by the idea that maybe I'm in the wrong specialisation and should've gone into electrical and computer systems, but whenever I go starry-eyed at learning something really cool and interesting I feel like I belong :) and also my copium is that I could do a Masters (I also say that casually because I really don't know what that means. I've just looked at the course maps and gone yeah sure I could do that 🙂) I am also horrified that there are Software Engineers without a Bachelors. Not that I doubt their skill, but it's like, am I wasting my time? But then I suppose it's a matter of me broadening my perspective? That there are many pathways in to achieving an outcome. But also I think that many of those people are coming different industries 🤔 Right now I need to do more non-academic things so I don't rot. I'm gonna aim to make tiramisu next week. I've also got a test and assignment tomorrow, which might make me 🗿I'm also crocheting a veil for a masquerade birthday party this weekend. It's nearly done. I want to get to sanding the sharp bits of the mask I 3d printed. I also have a black and silver and dual colour filament, which I was originally gonna use to print an original crown type thing but now I'm just gonna print this and with the smallest layer lines, it will be a 6 hour print. I think the longest I've done was 3 hours. The thing I'm crocheting is also a veil for this, and I've also done some bandanas. It's wimdy

[2bitviking]

I just feel like such a fucking loser and I'm just so fucking tired. I'm turning 30 and all I've done is spend 5 years burning out Ina dead end job and a dead end marriage. I've got no friends, no savings, no game, and any plan I had for the future is gone. Like I know things are gonna be better but ive been trying so hard to keep us afloat for so long and now just as my life was finally about to get easier she decides I'm not part of the life she wants. This job was going to be worth it if I could go back and get my masters and no that's impossible. The overtime and isolation was gonna be worth it when we could finally vacation and actually build a happy life. All the pain and trauma was supposed to be worth it when I could finally live like a fucking person.

Now what? I take a 15 grand pay cut to find a job that'll hire with my qualifications to have a chance at advancement? I take my monster coded ass out and try to find someone that not just gonna use me for my money or free therapy? Someone who's not gonna wake up one day and decide that because I can take a hit, and am quiet and fast, and solo takedown people 100 lbs bigger than me that I'm just by default a threat to be around. How many more years am I going to have to struggle before I get to have peace?

I'm gonna be OK. Things will get better. But it's just so fucking tiring and hopeless that everyone else gets to flourish and I'm still just here grinding.

[supercritter]

I haven’t posted on tumblr in forever but I also just bought a car at the same time as two of my senior managers at work (both from New York) and they knew nothing of car buying so a quick guide for you -

My qualifications: I’ve lived in California my whole life and my dad hasn’t let a car salesperson rest ever.

1. Always arrive at the car dealership with an idea of what you want to look at - research car manufacturers, cars, and the dealership ahead of time. You’re less likely to be pulled towards what the dealership wants to sell you.

2. If possible (because obviously emergency car buying situations happen) plan at least one initial visit to your dealerships of choice to look at the cars you’re interested in and test drive - key here is plan to leave, don’t buy a car on that first visit. You want to show that you are willing and capable of leaving without buying a car. Believe me the sales people will call you back - they want to sell you a car.

3. Know your budget. This includes knowing what you are willing to put as a down payment, and what you are willing to finance, as well as what you want to spend overall vs what you can spend overall. I.e I knew I could likely budget for up to $40,000 but I only really wanted to spend ~$35,000 and be financing somewhere below $30,000.

4. Keep an eye on the total financed amount. Sales people and the manager will work off monthly payment, and yes it is important to be able to make your payment but also continuously ask about the financed amount. Certain things that lower the payment can actually increase the financed amount. I added Gap insurance during final negotiations to my financing because even with interest it would be cheaper than doing it through my normal car insurer. It lowered my monthly payment by lowering APR but it increased my overall financed amount by about ~$1,000.

5. Loan shop around! Get an idea of what you can get from a Credit Union or directly from the bank. Sometimes financing through the dealership is a better deal, it depends. Loans come in 12, 24, 32, 48, 60, and 72 month options for cars. Most people land in the 48-72 range.

6. Know your credit score before going in. Experian will let you check it for free without it hurting the score. But most car dealerships use TransUnion who are notorious hard asses so take about 20 points off your Experian score to get an idea of what the car dealership will use if you finance with them.

7. If you have a 650 - 750 credit score your APR should be somewhere between 1.99% APR and 3.0% APR. In the 400 to 500 score range you’re gonna be in the 10% to 12% range depending on your other debt. Income also comes into play but generally credit score trumps income as the deciding factor.

8. There are four “listed” prices to keep in mind. The window sticker will list two MSRP prices - one is just the basic MSRP, the other will list MSRP with “popular optional” packages. The third price is how much the dealership actually wants to sell it for - usually you have to ask. The fourth is called fleet pricing and it is usually (not always) the lowest amount the dealership is contractually obligated to sell the car for. You can check fleet pricing through AAA. Knowing these prices will give you an idea of where to jump off for negotiations.

9. Everything is negotiable. You don’t have to pay dealership fees and usually just saying you won’t pay them is enough to get them taken off. Many dealerships will add “popular optional” packages onto cars that can’t actually be removed once added. You can negotiate not paying for those.

10. Be firm (but realistic) and always be willing to leave. Believe me the dealership wants to sell you a car - no matter how fast cars are moving they want to sell you a car, and for every person who gets a really good deal there is someone who can just walk on the lot and pay whatever. They aren’t losing money. They can make most things work.

Some extra stuff to keep in mind

1. Check your state’s laws about no penalty early pay off of loans. In California it is illegal to penalize someone for paying off a loan early, but this isn’t true in all states or countries. This is important if you plan to make payments towards the principal amount on your loan in addition to your normal monthly payment.

2. Used cars are really expensive right now, but car dealerships can sell them for whatever they want once the car is “used” so you can actually negotiate more off a used car than you can a new car.

3. Many Credit Unions and Banks have car buying experts who you can consult with for free if you have an account with them.

4. If you have a gut feeling that something is off with a deal or the contract you can always ask to have an independent third party review the contract before signing. That third party can be anyone from a friend to a lawyer.

5. “Out the Door” pricing is the total price of the car and any packages plus final taxes and registration. You can calculate those ahead of time on the DMV’s website.

Happy (or at least less painful) car buying!

[swan2swan]

Does anyone know which female character in a non-female-led shonen manga has the highest win count? Counting via KOs and Kills of other named characters, and battles that at least had a starting panel and a closing panel...possibly with more as a minimum, but we’ll get to that.

Again, this is for non-female-led stories. Claymore, Soul Eater, and Sailor Moon are obviously all led by the ladies so they’ll skew higher. Possibly. 

Off the cuff, I’m gonna assume it’s someone from Fairy Tail or One Piece, but to set up some solid rules:

1. It has to be a fight. Curbstomps and single-strike wins count, but you don’t rack up fifty kills because you swing your blade and cut down fifty people in a scene (valid feat, not what we’re looking for). I’m looking for things that can show up in the Wikis or the YouTube videos as “______ vs. _______”. 

2. “Holding their own” and “knocking their opponent out for a moment” battles don’t count. Just because she goes and knocks out her opponent, then turns and walks away, and then the opponent gets up and starts fighting again doesn’t mean she’s won (sorry, Videl, looking at you). 

3. Fanon names count, too. “Plant-Faced Monster” works if the name wasn’t there and the fandom goes “Oh, yeah, the planet-faced monster”, BUT the battle has to START, too (Mai Valentine laughing as she takes the Star Chips from a kid in Duelist Kingdom doesn’t count as a score, but her victory against that movie star guy in the filler episode does).

4. YES, you can count filler episodes, BUT those might be pared off in final qualifications.

5. ...do we need a five? Do you see how this works?

The catalyst for this question was Rukia Kuchiki from Bleach, who I realized actually has a decent count compared to a lot of other ladies: with a Fraccion, a giant Hollow, a major Arrancar, an Espada, AND a Sternritter all to her name, she’s got a count of at least five (D. Roi, sand dude, Rudobonn, Aaroniero, As Nodt). Her count goes up with filler, too.

I’m pretty sure Nami might hit double digits...

OH.

6. Multiple-enemy battles still only count as one, unless they start off as a 2 v 2 and the girl carries (BUT even if she defeats one and gets beaten by the other, it’s still counted as a win...e.g. Asajj beat Luminara, but Ahsoka shows up and stalls her...or does that count?). 

[tarnishedhalo]

[Text: Drewski] Dude, I was just watching a show that said pararescue has a higher training dropout rate than the seals. Shit, I might have to actually be impressed by you.

{Text: McG} The pipeline's fucking brutal, man. Let me outline it for you. Hang on this is gonna take a hot minute. {Text: McG} Indoc: Lackland AFB, Tx. This was our basic, with emphasis on swimming, running, weight training, and calisthenics. Took 10 weeks. I still have nightmares over the psych training, obstacle courses, rucksack marches. Then days in class. physics, tables, metrics, medical and dive terminology, CPR, weapons qualifications, history and well. You remember "leadership training". And if you make it through all this, congrats...welcome to the suck. {Text: McG} Welcome to Fort Benning and Army Airborne School! Basic parachuting skills, static line air drops and not getting laid now for three months. You're here for a month. Ground ops. Pyramid and tower weeks, jump weeks, with 5 real jumps. At the end of this, you get your wings. {Text: McG} Now...6 weeks in gorgeous Pensacola, for combat dive course. Diving theory, infiltration/exfiltration methods, open circuit dive ops, and closed circuit dive ops. AFCDC is basically the pool party, and open water search and recovery training. And if you make the cut, it's Navy Underwater Egress training, which ...yay. The joy is overwhelming. Makes me hard. 🙄🙄🙄🙄 {Text: McG} USAF Basic Survival school-- 2.5 weeks, Fairchild AFB, Washington. Two words: Environmental conditions. As inhospitable as possible, and the breadcrumb trail, learning how to find your way back. This is where about fifteen guys dropped out. {Text: McG} Then US Army Military Free Fall Parachutist School--5 weeks split between Ft Bragg and Yuma PG. This one was cool as shit bro, and when we started Free fall HALO. Playing around in wind tunnels, aerial maneuvers, air sense, and other shit. Minimum 30 jumps (I did 36) including 2 night jumps with supp. oxygen and full kit. Instructor kept giving me and Sam shit for being able to carry twice the weight bearing and I had to explain spending all my life carrying Beth. Never got smoked that hard. On the other hand, this is when I got leave to head home for a break. I was never so glad to see my own bed. Drank my body-weight and yours, and slept for three full days. Finally got laid and grabbed a real Five-Guys. (Fuck you and your In-n-Out). {Text: McG} Shortest three weeks of my life, then back to the grind. The next six months was EMT/Paramedic training at Kirtland AFB, in Albuquerque. Yeah, fucking surprised me too that it was a real place. Trauma and evac training, emergency training. First 5 weeks was basic EMT-B training, next 17 was field surgery, pharmacology, combat trauma management, airway support, and evac. Graduation put us in the National Registry. Then there was Pararescue Recovery Specialist school. 20 weeks at Kirtland still. This was qualification for worldwide PJ unit placement. More EMT shit, field work, mountaineering, combat tactics, parachuting, helo insert/extraction, and the accompanying qualifications. At the end, we get the maroon berets and are full fledged PJs, though there's other schools which are "voluntary". {Text: McG} I FUCKED UP. Burt's Tiki Lounge. And what can I say about it? This pic sums it up. I feel the need for heavy duty antibiotics just remembering this shit. And this was BEFORE I used it.

[space-city-traffic]

it’s come to my attention that Ulysses Dies at Dawn is not the favorite album of every Mechs fan everywhere, and you know what, that’s okay. everyone deserves their own opinion, wrong as some of you may be. however, i have taken it upon myself to demonstrate why UDAD is objectively the best, so if you’d like to be converted, feel free to read my track-by-track analysis under the cut.

The City (999/10)

     come ON. you’re gonna look me in the eyes and tell me this isn’t the best way they’ve ever opened an album? the narrator’s voice in this one is so different from the narration in all the other albums—intricate, poetic, alliterative, almost tongue twisting in a way. the tone rises and falls, and i fall in love. “we’ve got a labyrinthine twisted task of a tale to tell”? heck yeah. i could listen to this track for hours on end.

Broken Horses (11/10)

     this is, no qualifications, the most HORRIFYING take on the trojan horse i have ever seen. nightmare inducing in the best possible way. bonus points for the raw line “i wonder if devils get nightmares of all of their victims as well.”

Olympians (10/10)

     more of my favorite narration! clever double metaphors including “Drunk on a cocktail of whiskey and regret” and “A wallet thick enough for what it costs and a stomach strong enough for what it takes.” and of course, there’s the iconic line, “Ulysses just bleeds at the fucker.” we also get the introduction of the Acheron, which is some incredibly fun worldbuilding imo! what’s not to love?

My Name Is No-One (7/10)

    i will admit, this song is the one skippable song in the album. the voice is a little much for me. but consider: THEIR NAME IS NO-ONE.

Trial By Wits (10/10)

     “blind old motherfucker.” what else do you want, honestly??? but also, we here learn that Ulysses has no gender, just beauty. and i think their description is one of my favorite parts of the whole album.

Riddle of the Sphinx (300/10)

     it’s gun powdered timothy going feral. what more do you people NEED, this song is GREAT. 

Ulysses’ Will (5/10)

     okay so this one is unremarkable except for Heracles’ massively horrible joke that i will, uh… not repeat. but i guess some people find that funny so uh, whatever i guess.

Sirens (10/10)

     just LISTEN TO IT. the harmonies will bless you and water every one of your crops.

Trial by Strength (8/10)

     actually, Heracles and Oedipus bantering can be funny, i think. and the description of Heracles being manipulated makes me want to cry.

Favored Son  (400/10)

     again this song is a BOP a JAM and a BANGER all at once? if you’re not going feral to this one, im not sure i will ever vibe with you. 

Loose Threads (9/10)

     presidential alert: the boys have backstoryyyyyyyy!!! (also, joining motherfucker for Oedipus, we get Ariadne saying bullshit for yet another pg-13 mythology pun.)

Trial By Song (300/10)

     “now there beneath the rust the sky train rattles round overhead, the raindrops fall through dust and shatter on the ground black and dead” listen Orpheus is a POET, okay??? 

Hades (11/10)

     Ashes. is. Hades. come on this is the coolest way a mech has ever gotten involved in an album and we all know it. “Decided to make the ferryman dance to a different tune” HOW COOL???

Underworld Blues (300/10)

     the mechs theme blasts on the banjo. Ashes does their job as god of the dead in the coolest possible way. 2/4 characters in this scene use they/them pronouns. there ain’t NOTHING wrong with this song.

Trial by Love (9/10)

     “Who better than Ariadne? ...As it turns out, almost anyone.” i laugh every time. 

Ties that Bind (300/10)

     ms la cognizi im in love with you that’s all. the delivery of that last line gives me shivers. “But not for long…”

The Daidala (11/10)

     “The fifth suit emerges from the shadows.” OH YEAH BABY. listen daedalus/hephaestus/architect of the city is one of the coolest characters the mechs ever created and i will STAND BY THAT. why is there not more love for this awful man??? also. orpheus looks back. i cry.

Torn Suits (99999999/10)

     LISTEN THIS IS MY FAVORITE MECHANISMS SONG RIGHT NOW, AND FOR GOOD REASON. the overlapping character themes a la Losing Track? the sheer euphoria of they/them Ulysses and their snub nosed pistol with one shot left? the 12 axes pun? the eye of the cyclops coming back in handy? the way the narrator’s voice suddenly rises to a fever pitch? the way the instruments of each character drops out at their death? one by one by one? this is THE GOOD STUFF. this is the good stuff.

Sunrise (10/10)

    oh my gosh i can feel the sunlight and see the gold and smell the fresh air. im devastated but i can breathe deeply now. and the final epic simile as Ulysses dies with their dog? yes.

Elysian Fields (300/10)

     the grit just clears from Ulysses’ voice… they’re free… the piano swells... i wanna cryyyyy but like in a beautiful way. yes. good stuff.

[alfredosauce50]

would you be down to do 2p china hc’s? im very curious on how you characterize him!

I’m down! I’m guessing you figured I had my own interpretation of the guy after I answered an ask saying I’d write for him. I really like 2p! China as a character, but I have to say, I haven’t properly written for him before. Nevertheless, I’ll give you my thoughts on him as a person!

2p! China Headcanons

Zao’s appearance doesn’t give away much of his personality. He’s got a bit of a baby face, and he has a sociable and pleasant demeanor for the most part. So if you didn’t know him well enough to see past those traits, you would be surprised at how shady he can be.

Appearance

Like his 1p counterpart, his dark brown hair goes past his shoulders and is tied back in a low ponytail. It’s pretty thin too, so it stays flat against his back. But that’s what makes it look so good. He isn’t the tallest guy out there, as he stands around 170cm or 5′7″. Doesn’t mean you can easily take him out in a fight, though. He’s quite slender, but he’s muscular and knows a few martial arts to boot.

He has a lot of tattoos, and he doesn’t try to hide them. He has dragons curling down his arms, as well as Chinese characters etched into his back. Most of the time, he wears traditional clothing, such as a sleeveless Tang suit, so his arms are exposed. It’s almost as if the colors black and red were made for him. And he knows it. So unless he’s having a bad day where he’ll go for a simple T-shirt, he likes to dress to impress. Not that he even needs to try.

He’s devilishly attractive, and the way he talks gets girls flocking to him.

Personality

Zao is very easy-going and open-minded. He’ll talk about anything with anyone. Everything is fascinating in a way, and nothing seems to faze him either. So he’s the type to question the most trivial things in life--or list drugs as casually as you would your favorite candy bars. It’s also difficult to shock him, or anger him. When life deals him a bad hand, or springs up inconveniences, he’ll go with the flow because that’s life. So unless something involves the person he likes, he keeps himself pretty level-headed.

With his willingness to talk about anything, comes his brutal honesty and bluntness. So sometimes, he’ll find himself offending people even if he never meant to. If he does this to women, they’ll slap him before storming off, leaving him in confusion at what he did wrong. But if he does this to men, he’ll have to be quick on his feet to escape a potential fight. Unlike a few other 2ps, he has a good temperament so he avoids violence, but he’ll resort to it if he absolutely has to.

Despite the careers he’s depicted to have, like being a drug-dealer, something in adult entertainment, night-life, or anything illegal, he has strong fraternal instincts. If somebody embodied the “big brother” trope, it would be him. He cares a lot for his younger siblings, and they look up to him as a role model. But he’ll always tell them, “Do as I say, not as I do!” As comfortable as he is in his own skin, his own identity, he wouldn’t want them taking after him.

He’s very flirtatious, and a huge tease. How he shows he likes you is through making you blush, or embarrassed. He’ll call you pet names. Shower you with compliments. Refer to you as if you and him are already an item. If you bumped into him at a grocery store, he’ll help you shop, then say, “So, is that all we need? I can’t wait for dinner tonight.” Zao is also unapologetically dirty-minded. He’s all about dirty jokes, conversations, and gestures. The bigger reaction he gets, the more addicting they are.

He doesn’t have any qualifications, not even a high school diploma, but he’s street-smart to make up for it. That’s how he makes so many connections and hustles his way up to the top in shady businesses. If you need something, anything, legal or illegal, expensive or cheap, you can ask him, and 99% of the time, he’ll say, “I know a guy.” If he likes you, all he wants in return is something perverted. A kiss, maybe. Or maybe your underwear.

Interests

He loves anything cute, and he doesn’t hide it. Sanrio is a must--he keeps a collection of their plushies, most of them being Hello Kitty, but he also likes other characters such as Cinnamoroll and Pompompurin. Sometimes, he can get a bit obsessive over whatever sells fast. So if he has to, he’ll stay up and keep refreshing the page selling whatever he has his eyes on. If he’s infamous for his connections that let him get pretty much anything he wants, surely he can get his hands on the limited-edition Hello Kitty-themed towel, right!? He isn’t against having other kinds of merchandise either, like household items, but he keeps it lowkey for functionality.

In his house, you’ll find a lot of imports from East-Asian countries. Not only is he used to using them when he was back in China, they’re better than what you can find in America. Or at least, in his opinion. This includes cosmetics, snacks, alcohol, and decorations.

Although he doesn’t have a lot of time to, he enjoys watching anime. That’s why he makes sure to get through the most popular and mainstream ones first.

Zao likes to keep connected with his culture. He doesn’t care to assimilate, and being ‘different’ doesn’t bother him at all--he thinks it’s what gives him a unique personality and background. Since he doesn’t have a lot of friends to speak Mandarin with, he’ll look for his neighbors who can, and strike up a conversation every now and then. As well as that, he’ll give his siblings red pockets for Chinese New Year so they can spend it on food, videogames or whatever they want.

He can’t cook for shit. Even then, he has strong opinions on food, especially Chinese. While he enjoys westernised take out like Panda express, he wishes people would stop assuming Chinese cuisine is just dumplings, fried rice, noodles and yum cha. They’re B-tier at best. For a country with that rich and long a history, there’s so much more to indulge in. Too bad he can’t make anything if he tried.

Psychology + romance

Zao is used to being a second choice. His cheerfulness and bluntness make other people think he’s creepy or weird, so he can’t quite wrap his head around somebody liking him to that degree--or getting particularly close to him. At least, emotionally. There are a lot of girls who want him for one-night stands. But this doesn’t stop him from flirting with someone he genuinely likes, even if he doesn’t expect anything in return. It’s fun because they get flustered, after all. But when they start returning the same energy, get persistent, or even make him suspect that they like him back, he will get nervous. He’s used to being the chaser, not the other way around. So if the tables turn and things start getting real, he will back away.

As confident as he is with his image, it’s difficult for him to get intimate with somebody romantically. He’s open, but can’t be vulnerable. He’d rather keep things casual, so when he really falls for someone, he’ll be conflicted between keeping things the way they are, or pursuing them.

Eventually, these feelings will deepen to the point being just friends becomes suffocating. That’s when Zao loses his cool and gets frustrated. It could happen due to a build-up of his emotions, or an event that makes him explode from jealousy. He’ll get desperate after so long of not doing anything and make it very clear he wants you. “Just date me already!”

When he finally gets together with you, prepare to be coddled. He’ll want to help you with anything the best way he can, and go to extreme lengths to do so. Nothing seems extreme when it’s for somebody he cares so much about. While he never holds it against you--how much he does for you--he may or may not guilt trip you into giving him more affection. But only subtly. Instead of him kissing you, he'll loiter around your presence until you kiss him. And when you do, he’ll smile like an idiot.

He never makes it explicit when he wants to take you out on a date. Zao will just ask you if you’re free, and take you out for the night. He doesn’t see a point in labelling it as a ‘date’, because he doesn’t just see quality time with you through a romantic and sexual lens. He values the friendship aspect of it as well, and you really appreciate him for it.

Zao loves to cuddle. He doesn’t hug you much throughout the day, but when you’re at home and about to sleep, he will hug you, a lot. He won’t let go while he talks to you, and will only loosen his coils when you fall asleep.

Acknowledgements

I was mainly inspired by the 2p! China in the story, “Dragon District”, written by xYourHero. So props to them. The fandom’s perception of him has definitely deepened because of it, and it’s great seeing underrated 2ps finally getting the attention they deserve! I’m one of the people who’s had my characterization of Zao take after hers, so I’ll also be crediting her for my headcanons.

You can find the story on DeviantArt, Archive of our own and Wattpad. I adored that fic back in the day. Such good memories. I wasn’t even writing back when I was reading it. Any who, let’s get right into it. I’ve divided the headcanons into subcategories, appearance, personality, interests, and psychology + romance.

(Look at this fanart is by Amphany on DeviantArt. It was drawn for xYourHero. I’m gonna put it here for reference. https://www.deviantart.com/amphany/art/Dragon-smoke-548426383)

[99liners]

Alright so where do I even start for Librosis- My initial reaction after reading ut last night/morning was literally- ".......WHAT?"

Ngl I kinda screamed when the girls were sitting together and drinking and subtly insulting their husbands all of them making their cameos(also was that a hint with Inaya being pregnant in aphotic CUZ IM LOOKING AT YOU JAIM 👀) I ALSO WANTED TO CRY BCUZ DANNY WASN'T THERE 😭😭

The way they got married was ughhh we were threatened by Rei and I wanted to punch yoongi so hard cuz poor rei got stuck in the crossfire and she wasn't even aware HELL THE READER ACCIDENTALLY HERD SOMETHING SHE SHOULDN'T HAVE! IF ONLY WE KEPT QUITE AND NOT GO TO OFFICER JOHN.

Anyways one thing I like about librosis is the fact that the reader isn't scared to call yoongi out on his bullshit. She knows he's wrong but at the same time I get the feeling she isn't going to go against him because she literally has nothing. Her parents are both dead, she doesn't have any other friends besides Rei who herself is stuck in a predicament💀 and to make matters worse reader doesn't have any qualifications or degree to work so that's bad unless she wants to continue her struggle- Like we know that she wants to divorce him but at the same time I think she doesn't want to- (ngl I'm a litttttle confused about this one too her feelings confue me 🚶🏻‍♀️-)

I recently watched vincenzo so the court scenes were so fun to read! And hey I learned something new! Never trust you psycho spouse who has money 😃 I did pity yoongi beacuse of his past the way he was on the right path but then his parents death sent him in a spiral and the fact that this is how real world really is (even tho its no excuse for his shitty behaviour-) If you try standing against the bad people and against the corruption you're the one who gets hurt by people with power and how flawed our system really is. It sends shivers down my spine 🧍🏻‍♀️

Also dang through out this I see Seokjin had been mentioned A LOT and I have a feeling he has something to do with the underworld or sum with all the murders and whatever deals with victims caught in the crossfire and that he literally has a defence lawyer fighting for him- I HAVE A BAD FEELING. Also fuck me but I have a lil 8 year old cousin named Inaya AND I HAD TO KEEP HER IMAGE OUT OF MY HEAD AND TRY TO IMAGINE MY OTHER FRIEND- SKDNFKF

Then came the ending I was gonna throw hands- WHY THIS DANG BITCH SO PARANOID. Till some degree I understood Yoongis perspective that he finally started to care for someone and didn't want them taken away like his parents and with his dealings/connections with the mafia organisations which puts him on edge BUT COULD HE NOT DESTROY THINGS THE READER LOVES AS A WAY TO CONTROL HER!? I would be mad pissed to if I just went to hangout or take care of a friend and come home to my asshole husband burning my moms dress I wanted to wear and the get blamed! And then he has the audacity to say its "love" (ง'̀-'́)ง

Also the irony of "devil's advocate" word- I kinda laughed at that also it's pretty clear they ain't gonna have kids but we'll still wait for the pregnancy headcanon 🥴🚶🏻‍♀️

Guess we have another memeber added with Kaiho!jjk and Énouement!kth in the worst husband club 💀 can't wait to put Aphotic!ksj here soon 🤩

In conclusion......wtf kind of crack were you on writing this. Its so good and the realistic aspect of corruption mixed in with court laws there was what stole my interest. Teach me your ways Im so inconsistent in writing that I write like 5 lines a day and give up 💀 anyways I'll go back to doing physics 🤧 Hopefully this doesn't have typos

- sincerely Al (strawberryjimin13) because I'm ascending after this💀

oooof, homegorl loves detailed feedback. and the only valid reaction after reading any instalments of the tatemae series is "what". so you are good!

yeah, the girls sitting together and just chatting, pulling each others' legs was sweet. and no, you are so wrong ahahahahahahah, i love how you all have the wrong impression of what is about to go down in aphotic ahahahahaha

and yeah, she got threatened about rei and her father and like she is just a girl trying to make do in this world with whatever resources she has. she didn't really have an option. and officer john really be out there ruining lives xD

exactly, she has basically nothing to fight back with. we all want to help the environment and give back to the poor, don't we? at least the majority of us do yet we are unable to do so because we are not self-sufficient. fighting crime and evil is not a kids' game and rising against corruption? you need an iron will, endless patience, means to fight back any physical threats and so and so forth. the list is endless and yet at the end of the day, what you will actually receive from the fighting is one drop in the ocean full of people who are still paying for injustice.

oh, i want to watch Vincenzo but i haven't been able to. i am glad that it was fun for you to read! i am particularly proud of the courtroom exchange lol.

every rich man has a defence lawyer bub, it's not something out of the ordinary BUT I AIN'T SAYING A WORD ABOUT APHOTIC WITHOUT MY LAWYER. IT'S A SPOILER-FREE ZONE.

see, being scared that you might lose someone close to you, someone you care about is absolutely valid but the level of his paranoia? he basically had a whole mental breakdown after his partner's son died that at the end, he ended up imprisoning his wife on the premise that he would not lose her that way. well, people die in their own homes too but guess logical reasoning is not something yoongi wants to debate on, at the moment.

yeah, i intentionally wrote "devil's advocate" for the laughs. defence lawyers get stereotyped a lot lol. also, i feel like i have mentioned this before in some ask that yoongi is not going to have kids cause he isn't interested but yes! the headcanon shall be written.

believe me, seokjin would 100% join that club with kth, jjk and myg <33

what crack was i on? lack of sleep xD that's what i was on. honestly, this is probably the first tatemae series oneshot where i did not have to study extensively. i only had to go through the provisions of spousal privilege in south korea but other than that, the rest came so naturally. especially, the legal jargon. i literally speak like that everyday xD

[ragazza-paradiso]

so, semi final 2, i am very nervous and think my heart will break a little more than tuesday night

here’s my ranking, anyhow

18. 🇮🇱 “I.M” by Michael Ben David: i dislike this song immensely, and what i’ve seen and heard from the act himself in the past few days makes me dislike him personally too!

17. 🇦🇺 “Not the Same” by Sheldon Riley: it’s a nice message but it comes across a bit pretentious to me and annoying i’m not gonna lie

16. 🇲🇹 “I Am Who I Am” by Emma Muscat: this actually pains me so much bc i love emma but this song is just not good, she should’ve stuck with “Out Of Sight” at least that was a decent pop song

15. 🇫🇮 “Jezebel” by The Rasmus: i like the melody but the lyrics are just so bad i cannot get into this song. his vocals also don’t sound very good. sorry :/

14. 🇧🇪 “Miss You” by Jérémie Makiese: the studio cut is nice (although nothing spectacular) and i thought they would stage it very well, but looks like that’s not the case. apparently he missed the big note quite badly in the jury show. don’t have big hopes for this one

13. 🇬🇪 “Lock Me In” by Circus Mircus: i do like the studio cut but it gets a little repetitive and they didn’t give it the life on stage i was hoping for :(

12. 🇲🇰 “Circles” by Andrea: it’s a nice song and she sings it well, it’s just a little forgettable for me. they really gave her nothing to work with staging-wise, either

11. 🇵🇱 “River” by Ochman: i liked this song at first, but again it’s very repetitive and i’ve grown off it over time. his voice is crazy good though. not a fan of the windows movie maker effects though lol

10. 🇪🇪 “Hope” by Stefan: i looooove the studio track of this song, and i wish we could’ve seen what they would’ve done with this had the stage been working correctly, but alas, we’re left with a giant black hole and it’s just not perfect for me like i wanted it to be. still, sing your heart out boy <3

9. 🇦🇿 “Fade to Black” by Nadir Rustamli: the song isn’t great by itself, but they’ve really elevated it with the staging. he has maybe the best male voice this year in my opinion, he sounds just like the studio cut.

8. 🇷🇴 “Llámame” by wrs: the revamped version of this is great, and they bring so much life on stage. i’m really worried about how the juries will react to this but i hope he gets enough love to qualify

7. 🇮🇪 “That’s Rich” by Brooke: this is so good 😭 i’m so proud of ireland for once and i really need to see her serving in the final too. girlie deserves it

6. 🇲🇪 “Breathe” by Vladana: another big grower for me this year, the lyrics might not flow that well, but you can get the overall message, and the beautiful instrumental only enhances that for me, plus she looks gorgeous on stage.

5. 🇨🇾 “Ela” by Andromache: i love this song, it’s so enchanting and magical, and i like the staging concept they’ve used. she’s a fantastic singer, and i like that cyprus is incorporating ethnic elements and the greek language into their songs again. i think they’ll keep their qualification streak (apart from ukraine & sweden i think that’ll make them the country with the longest one? assuming israel NQs. pretty cool for such a small country!)

4. 🇸🇲 “Stripper” by Achille Lauro: speaking of qualification streaks! the smallest country in the contest shall hopefully have a 3 year one! this is just, so good. achille is a born performer and he has put on a show for europe.

3. 🇨🇿 “Lights Off” by We Are Domi: i love this as a show closer! so much energy, i love dominika and the light show for this looks so cool!

2. 🇸🇪 “Hold Me Closer” by Cornelia Jakobs: i know she’s had technical problems (here’s hoping she won’t tonight) but this is just the whole package, amazing song, amazing staging, amazing voice. i really hope everything falls into place tonight

1. 🇷🇸 “In Corpore Sano” by Konstrakta: who else would be my number one, lol? i’ve already repeated myself ad infinitum about this song, this is my fave of the whole contest. she is simply a queen.

[coldtomyflash]

I've seen your speech pattern analysis on Flash characters. I was wondering if you had any advice on how to create speech patterns for OC characters?

oh heck this is one of the coolest questions i’ve ever received.

i’m gonna try not to go overboard/overwhelming and just give a bit of advice, and then if you want more details please come back and follow up!

There’s a few things to think about up front with character voices / speech patterns. The biggest and most obvious is language and cultural background. The second is personality. The third is personal history. Fourth, briefly, is gender. And the final one I’d say is idiosyncrasies to avoid ‘same voice’.

Culture and Group Dynamics

Depending on the setting, there’s a decent chance you’ll be writing characters from different cultural backgrounds. Even if you’re focusing on a single culture, there will be subcultures. Even if you’re focusing on a single narrow group of people, there will be age and generational differences.

Think about where your character is from. If it’s a fantasy world, that’s still (and even more, in some ways) important. What country, what ethnicity, what mother tongue? Did they grow up urban or rural? High socio-economic status or working class? What sort of educational background and peer group did they have growing up (and presently) and how does that factor into their vocabulary and mannerisms, if at all.

All of these can influence how people talk. There are regional accents and different modes of speaking to signal your group membership. There is code-switching across groups, for those who have had to learn multiple linguistics codes to survive and thrive in society. 

How much slang does this group and therefor this character use? What references (modern, outddated, topical, etc) do the rely on? What kind of references (pop culture, music, academic, etc)? What colloquialisms and proverbs do they say? Are these the same or different to their characters, even within the same culture, subculture, or group, and is it because they’re from a different place/sub-group or because of their idiosyncrasies?

You can use these to help your reader get to know more about your character’s background without having to spell it all out directly. Speech patterns and style are a great way to show instead of tell when it comes to details that are hard to drop in organically in other ways.

An important caveat: don’t write a bilingual character who switches languages in speech unless you’re ready to do a bit of research on that. In AATJS I did an absolutely horrific job of this because I was thinking more about fronting the fact that character was Italian rather than thinking through how people actually talk, and it came out exotifying and embarrassing. It’s important to make sure that the way you use language to bring in a character’s cultural and/or ethnic background feels authentic and manifests is a way that respects that language and its users. You can write a character with a complex cultural history without using multiple languages if you’re unprepared to do research and talk to bilingual speakers.

Personality

Probably the most salient thing in a writer’s mind when they’re trying to write character voices: is this the funny character? the serious one? the brainy one? etc.

Don’t overuse stereotypes and archetypes for creating speech patterns (or characters in general) if you’re trying to make a rounded, 3-dimensional character. Instead, go about three levels deeper.

Think about whether they’re introverted or extraverted, whether they are neurotypical or neurodivergent, whether they are introspective enough to express their own emotions clearly or whether they stumble when asked why they did a particular thing or feel a particular way (most people don’t or can’t clearly articulate exactly why they did something or how they feel, and come at things a bit sideways to circle around their motives and interior realities when pressed to make them external and concretely verbal).

Is this character calm, is their voice soothing, do they speak slowly? Are they excitable and loud and is their speech free-flowing? Are they angry? Do they swear? Do they use references for humour or are they more into puns? Do they laugh at their own jokes? Do they talk with their hands?

This character has social anxiety: how does that manifest in her speech? Does she clam up and get very quiet when she gets nervous, or does she go rapidfire and a little too loud (does she process by turning in or by distracting herself by turning outward)? Does she get very careful and deliberate in choosing her words (is she a bit high-strung?)? Ask yourself which fits best with the other elements of her personality and what you want the reader to know/interpret about her. 

This character is incredibly smart and a bit awkward: how does that manifest in their speech? Do they tend to use 5-dollar words, or do they expend a lot of energy choosing their words more carefully (how considerate are they to their audience when speaking and does that influence their speech)? Do they stumble over their words and explaining things, or are they good at making points with clear language learned from a lifetime of tutoring and helping others?

This character is the bff, who tries hard to make sure everyone else is happy first: how does that manifest in his speech? How does he switch between his happy-mask versus his more authentic self, and what changes in tone, word-choice, and inflection come in when he does?

-

Personal History

I’m only drawing a distinction between this and personality (archetype, really) so that I can draw attention to ways to add simultaneously unique and shared layers to characters that are distinct but related to group dynamics.

Here’s sort of what I mean: the level of education of a mother (or primary caregiver) of an infant can determine that infant’s vocabulary size. While we can break down all the ‘why is that’ layers to this, the one I want to point is to the simple truth that the more education a person does, the more specialized language they end up learning over time. This doesn’t have to be formal education though -- the more you learn about something and the more you read and access new knowledges and perspective, the more and more words you learn, and then if you start using those words, they trickle down to those close to you.

So.

What’s your character’s educational background? Is it the same as their friends who you are also writing? Is the same as their family’s? How does this character’s family influence their speech? Are they formal, informal, warm, authoritative? 

If you’re writing siblings, they’ll have some shared things! But also some very different ones! Me and my sister talk nothing alike in terms of vocabulary, but a lot alike in terms of mannerisms whenever we spend a bit of time together!

If your characters grew up around each other, they’ll have a lot of the same references. People from the same cities or regions will have things specific to that region, either due to sub-culture effects or because of local references. 

The city of Calgary, Canada for instance has the Plus15 which are a connected pedway system between the buildings in downtown, so named because they are 15feet above the ground. Drive 3 hours north to the city of Edmonton, and you have an underground pedway just called the pedways, no special name. Go a few provinces east to Toronto and their underground pedway system downtown is called PATH. These are all known to locals and part of the vernacular, but are opaque to people outside those cities. And the whole idea of them is probably opaque to people who aren’t from super cold cities that don’t require building-connecting pedway systems for pedestrians to get around high-density areas like downtown (or university campuses) without going out into the cold. 

Friends, families, and groups are like that too. In-jokes, shared histories, speaking in references. What are your characters’ relationships to each other and how does that history influence the way they approach talking to each other?

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Gender

I don’t want to spend too much time on this one because ugh, gender. What even is it?

But like it or not, it has an impact on our speech patterns. There are cultural and societal norms in how men and women are likely to speak, and breaking those norms will be noticed regardless of whether you’re trans, enby, queer, or not. There are norms that people who are queer may fall into as well, sometimes without even noticing at first. A lot of these aren’t about word choice per se but instead about mannerisms and tone and body language, but some overlap or are specific to language.

Speaking in broad generalizations here, women use more emotional language and tend to speak with more hesitancies/qualifications. So more “i think, i feel” and less “it is”. More conversations that front emotions and dig deeper into those, with longer sentences to explain in detail. The obvious caveat is that personality matters more (i.e., is this a person who likes to talk about their emotions in detail or not) but it is something to consider because there will be general but subtle differences that you can use to help further distinguish your characters’ voices. 

Sidenote: this can also be exacerbated by different cultural backgrounds and languages (a simple example is Japanese which has different words for “I” depending on your gender as well as your personality, familiarity with the other persons in the conversation, and situational appropriateness, so interesting ways that gender and social expectations intersect in language).

Anyway this isn’t typically a huge problem except that I’ve found that a lot of writers have a tendency to overgeneralize the speech patterns that fit with their ascribed gender due to early-life socialization, or conversely to overgeneralize patterns that fit with their gender identity (when not cis) either due to heavily identifying with their gender identity’s speech model (or sometimes possibly due to a knee-jerk sort of backlash). I say this as an enby who both struggles with it and notices it and tries to edit and correct for it. 

I could get into all sorts of examples of ways this can lead to voice issues, but in general i think the point here is to make sure you’re writing any given character in view of that character’s personality and history, with gender only as a modifier for how some of these might come out in subtle ways but which can be important to help tell us about your character (and if you’re writing queer characters, it’s all the more important to consider how their relationship with gender and socialization might impact which speech models and styles they identify more with).

-

Idiosyncrasies

So, you’ve got a character. You’ve got their personality and history down. You know how they manifest in their speech. And you’re still getting some ‘same voice’ issues.

People really are unique snowflakes. Let that be reflected in their speech.

This person uses contractions differently than that one. This one says “ain’t” and that one says “isn’t.”

This person makes Simpsons references and that one doesn’t like Simpsons, and makes Brooklyn Nine Nine references instead. That other one doesn’t use referential humour much at all. This one loves old movies and hasn’t seen any of the new stuff so they make references all the time but no one ever notices.

This one loves the word “excoriate” and that one doesn’t even know what it means because what the hell, who uses the word excoriate?

This one talks about food a lot, it overlaps with their interests. This one uses metaphors. This one grunts in response. This one exclaims. This one says “like” and that one hates it. That one refers to themselves in third person. This other one uses reflective language an usual amount (e.g., “love me some candy”). This other one keeps misusing the word inconceivable and that one speaks almost without contractions but still comes off as more charming and humorous while correcting him.

I have an aunt who says “girl” or “girlfriend” a fuck-ton and she has been my whole life and I don’t know why because none of her sisters do, but she does and it annoys me so much the way she says it. I swear a lot when I’m feeling casual despite never ever doing it in a professional or even slightly-less-than-relaxed space, so the idiosyncrasy of comfort levels has a massive impact on my vocabulary in ways which, I promise, almost no one who meets me first in a professional space expect.

Let your characters be individuals and try to make them as unique as possible without overdoing it, or over-relying on a single verbal tendency or habit. 

-

And ... that’s all I’ve got for now. Completely failed at being concise. I meant to give like 2-3 bullet points or examples for each, not paragraphs, but here we are. That’s one of my verbal tendencies: long flowing verbosity :)

Hope this helps!