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theoretically-questionable · 6 months ago

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Moderation is a Sucker's Game

Longpost time - tl;dr: the concept of moderation is totally beefed on a fundamental level everywhere and recent anti-trans bans indicate Tumblr has only made the problem harder for itself by making bad staff choices. No solution, not absolving Tumblr of responsibility, but also I think it's an interesting systemic issue on top of genuine incompetence.

Tumblr has a running history of screwing up moderation hard enough to either drive entire communities off the site or allow rule-breaking harassment to persist and drive them off.

As such, I think Tumblr will definitely cease at some point, because it is handling the problem of moderation much worse than most other big platforms and this is a major barrier to its financial sustainability - they cannot say "we put our users first and refuse to use relatively profitable Unethical Data-Harvesting Tricks" and expect to pivot to a user-supported financing model if they're widely perceived as repeatedly spurning said userbase.

The prior 'Porn Ban' (and subsequent smug tone of Staff communications) and the 'we had a moderator on staff accepting payments for making anti-trans moderation decisions' reveal stand out, as well as the (iirc) 2016-era peak of racist harassment (not that it ever *stopped*) which went largely unmoderated; instead, black users responding to, pointing out, or sometimes literally just screenshotting the deluge of harassment were permabanned.

There has also, of course, been the whole "over-moderation of queer- and specifically trans-related tags and terms in Search" - something that has also, repeatedly, affected Palestinian and pro-Palestine blogs.

Right now, of course, we have the current wave of anti-transfem "everything you do, selfies and textposts alike, can and will be marked as mature", compounded by instant permabans handed out without notice or appeal, all based on automod decisions from bad-faith reports and bizzarely cursory/biased human reviews.

This is all contrasted by semi-regular waves of fresh kinds of porn-related advertisements and spam blogs, which often go entirely unmoderated, automated or otherwise, for months upon months. Also the explicitly ToS-breaking harassment that gets reported and returned as "fine, actually".

Why is this happening? Beyond the inherent problem of "many Tumblr staff have had and currently have biases and open bigotry" (@photomatt springs to mind), you'd think that boring business sense would come first - diversity is Tumblr's brand, fandom is Tumblr's brand, so "not specifically driving off those groups" should have been an *essential* part of monetization efforts. Right?

Trouble is, even a lawsuit settled not-in-Tumblr's-favour can't solve the core problem, which seems to be the same one every user-generated-content platform faces: reasonable moderation isn't feasible for real-time, user-generated content at scale.

Straight-up, that is the largest problem Tumblr faces. Nobody knows how to do it fairly or reasonably. Content moderation has long been the writhing tar-pit horror sitting at the core of all large-scale social media. Increasingly, this unsolvable problem looks like it might be the reason the entire format is structurally doomed - or at least, doomed to a cycle of new platform -> rise in popularity -> failures in moderation and financing -> user exodus and platform collapse.

Meta (Facebook and Instagram) tackle moderation by being totally opaque and overzealous - often you won't even be told your reach has been limited. Or, if you're told, you might not know *what* post triggered it, or why. If you do, you won't be told what effect being 'limited' has, or how long it will last. There is no reliable appeal process, but that doesn't matter. They are too big to be affected by people being unhappy about moderation on an individual or community level.

Twitter 'solved' the problem by leaning more and more on pure automation - which wasn't working great, sure, but once it was bought and most of those measures scrapped for 'limiting free speech', Twitter got *much, much worse*. It is now a cesspool of unavoidable spams and spam-for-scams. Also, harassment.

Tiktok also does a lot of automated moderation - not as much as people seem to think, but also not as efficiently as other platforms, given that it's video content. They also make heavier use of de-prioritizing content algorithmically rather than just banning or deleting videos. Twitch and YouTube follow along in this bucket, being very willing to use automated systems to suspend, de-rank, and de-monetize hard, early, and arbitrarily.

Mastodon and similar 'decentralised' networks offload the problem onto whoever runs each local server/instance. You set up social.horse.mastodon or whatever? Great - moderation of posts on there is your problem. Some instances are great! Some instances are full of petty tyrants over-moderating their little fiefdoms. Some instances are godawful. Usually, nobody is being paid, which isn't great.

Unfortunately, instance-to-instance communication sometimes means that you can be harassed by a group of people from those godawful servers who are functionally unreportable and who cannot be stopped from spinning up dozens of sockpuppets on said servers to evade your blocks of individual accounts. This is also a problem with the concept of "email", so, you know, not strictly a new problem.

Google can't moderate its search results, and is overtaken by SEO spam and generative misinformation (even prior to their "AI answers" integration).

Amazon, as a storefront, is overrun by scams. Some of them are, functionally, directly run and facilitated by Amazon's own staff, facilities, and even manufacturing processes.

We seethe at Adobe insisting they have the right to moderate (automated or otherwise) the content we put on their cloud services, but chances are they would largely *rather not* - but legal obligations, advertiser/partner dollars, payment processors, and technical requirements are involved, so they're screwed and so are users.

Nobody can "do" content moderation of any kind at scale without being too lax or too overzealous, and probably both at the same time. If the billions of dollars of these corporate giants can't hack the problem, the rinkydink tens of millions of Automattic ain't gonna cut it.

None of this is "working" or "fair" or even "reasonable".

And that's fine by these companies! Their main moderation concern is "not being found liable for horrific and illegal shit users do", followed by "being pleasant *enough* to be used profitably, regardless of actual user experience or sentiment".

Good moderation is hard. Think about the obscenely small teacher–student ratio you need for a good, safe, productive classroom experience. You're not going to push more than a hundred students to one or two lecturers before you lose the ability to meaningfully grade their exams and give feedback, let alone have insight into their real-time behaviour for a dozen hours a week.

Now, imagine that but 24/7. A perpetual whorl of short-form essays being handed in at random times of day, wildly multimedia projects of totally inconsistent sizes from dozens of countries. What sort of ratio of moderators to users would even *plausibly* keep things under control? How do you *pay* for that? How do you have meaningful *oversight* over the mods? Fuck, how do you even *begin* to compensate for the fact that they'll be inevitably be exposed to a subset of your users posting criminally heinous content for laughs?

The answer is that you don't manage to balance it reasonably. You use keywords to auto-filter certain posts so they'll be seen less, lowering the chance of anyone reporting them. You use basic network models to auto-approve or auto-deny some reported content based on what's *probably* in the images or text, and call a 70% success rate an exemplary success, because that's 70% of those reported posts your human moderators will correctly never see and a further 25% fewer posts that are incorrectly ruled on but never get appealed! Huge reduction in workload - fantastic news!

You try your damndest to make sure that advertisers feel like their content is never posted next to or in association with "bad" content, even if it's not ToS-breaking, because that's where the dollars are and without those all you've got are good intentions and that's not a currency you can pay your moderators in. You hope to hell that you fall on the side of "overzealous", because right-wing single-issue ideologues have the ears of payment processors and lawmakers the world over, and they'll cut you the hell off if you get a reputation, fair or otherwise, for being the sort of platform that might "facilitate harm" to kids, or women, or Jesus. Mostly Jesus.

Hence, the uncomfortable tension stretching taut the façade of every major platform - on the one hand, 'shifting moderation burdens to your users' is universally regarded as a shitty and unethical cost-cutting move ripe for exploitation by bad actors. On the other, despite having a surplus of capital and benefitting from the efficiencies of scale (and, arguably, having an unshiftable responsibility to moderate their own platforms), companies aren't managing to wield moderation in a way that works for their users.

In Tumblr's case, it's not profitable. In *Twitter's* case, it's not even profitable.

Obviously, I don't have a solution to this. Tumblr has chosen to fight the dual battles of "moderation is hard" and *ALSO* "some of our staff, including moderators, are inarguably biased/bigoted against core user groups". That's on them. Not going to pretend it isn't, not going to make excuses for it.

The best answer I have is to archive your shit and hop onto smaller networks with staff, communities, and rules that you can vibe with, and hope you will be in a position to help directly and monetarily contribute to their continued existence in a sustainable way.

We're here for the community and a broad set of fairly straightforward features (and lack of other, worse features). Those can, will, and often *do* exist elsewhere. If you stick around and one of these 'elsewhere' platforms finds a size that's sustainable and a moderation approach that actually works for the vast majority of users, then you've hit the jackpot.

If not? Well, archive everything you can and hop ships to new networks. These aren't public institutions designed to last lifetimes - these are passion projects (or cash grabs) bloated beyond initial scope and inevitably riddled with the biases, oversights, and straight-up skill issues of their creators. They were never going to last, and their insistence on pretending they're immortal and behaving in accordance is part of the problem.

Also, you should support laws that would mandate user access to their own data in an exportable and preferably cross-platform-compatible format. Part of what keeps people on networks is lock-in and effort. Making it legally mandatory to make those transitions between networks easy is probably one of the only bits of social media-related law that would actually curb malfeasance (from users and platforms themselves).

#predstrogen #charlottan #covidsafehotties #hammer car explosion #content moderation #bans #trans bans #permabans #longpost

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mariacallous · 7 months ago

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We live today amid the dregs of time. A sense of doom is shared on all sides of the political spectrum. Democratic politics in the West has turned into a clash between two extinction rebellions and two nostalgias: an extinction rebellion of climate activists who are terrified that if we don’t radically upend our way of life, we shall destroy life on Earth, and an extinction rebellion of the “great replacement” right, which lives in fear that if something doesn’t change, it is the end of our way of life. The right is nostalgic for the past. The left is nostalgic for the vanished future. Radically different in their goals, they share one common vantage point: an apocalyptic imagination.

It is in the context of this creeping eschatological position that one can assess the originality and importance of Jonathan White’s In the Long Run: The Future as a Political Idea. White, a professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, offers an original reading of the current crisis of democracy by defining it as a temporal regime and arguing that an “open future,” one that is not predetermined but is shaped by human agency, is a precondition for the successful functioning of democratic regimes. In his view, “When the future seems to be closing in, institutions organized around the idea of persistent disagreement and changing opinion start to look out of place.”

By contrast, the reigning characteristic of our “age of emergency” is that there is no room for error. If certain decisions are not taken today, it no longer matters whether they will be taken up tomorrow. It will be too late.

White’s argument is that, just as humans die in the absence of air to breathe, democracy can die from the inability to dream collectively. What makes democracy work is a productive tension between a near future and a distant and utopian future. The near future is the one we can plan for—the one that politicians promise to voters and remains at the center of democratic accountability. What the government did yesterday and what the parties pledge for tomorrow will always be the bread and butter of electoral politics.

White, however, is correct to insist that the distant and utopian futures, ones radically different from today’s reality, are also constitutive for democratic regimes. Distant futures are the basis for political hope today and the motivation for deferring the gratification of immediate political goals. Take the future out of democratic politics and elections turn into civil wars with ballots or a never-ending crisis management.

But today our relationship to the future is marked by collective distrust. The resulting imbalance between democracy as a project and democracy as a projection of futures—whether economic, demographic, or technological—is at the center of the West’s current crisis. Uncertainty about the future, and the resulting hope that tomorrow can be radically different from today, are the hallmarks of the democratic idea. The question is whether uncertainty is still possible in our current age of emergency.

White sees the future as a political idea that has gone through different historical iterations, not all of which have productive relationships to democracy.

His consideration of rational calculation is a useful case study. White makes clear the opportunities, and far greater risks, to assuming that the future can be mastered by experts who have mastered the scientific method and the use of statistical data. This faith was on the ascent in the early 20th century, White explains, when new forms of accounting inspired confidence in the power of business to project future earnings. The market forecaster was the new sage, and technocracy as a collective tool to solve the ills of man was infectious. Planning would become a new mantra and a way that ideologies of very different stripes could make sense of what came next.

But how does this impulse to rationally plan the future square with the open-mindedness of democracy and its inherent uncertainty principle? It would seem to be in contradiction. As White writes, “To assume the stability of people’s preferences is to discount the worth of a political process that seeks to change them.” One definition of democracy, offered by the political scientist Adam Przeworski, is a system in which elections cannot be changed ex post or predicted ex ante. Some things have to be left open to chance if a democracy is to be worthy of the name.

It is here that White’s stress on the utility of aspirational futures becomes a separate and essential dimension. Were everything to be left to expert planning or price signaling, the world of imagination would rapidly become impoverished. We would be taking our social cues from rational planners and prognosticators. Although White doesn’t mention him, the late sociologist Erik Olin Wright’s decadeslong research program on “real utopias” is instructive. Wright never lost sight of conceiving in bold yet imaginable terms a world of tomorrow that was also rooted in today’s pragmatic realities, squaring the circle of a wishful long game and the acceptance of the here and now.

In arguing for the critical importance of the future for the success of the democratic project, White is highly persuasive. But in trying to answer how the future could be reimagined, his analysis is less convincing. Out of fear of alienating, it seems, a progressive constituency, he stands guilty of diluting his most salient points while preaching the return of an old ideological politics. When trying to suggest the way out of the current age of emergencies, White starts to sound like a nostalgic leftist. His plea for the return of the revolutionary party strongly committed to a future project sounds noble but is ultimately unrealistic, as the absence of any suggestions for how to create this collective ideological project in his book seems to attest. In recent decades, the spontaneous resurrection of ideological politics has become the left’s version of alchemy.

White’s most important suggestion is also the least inspirational. In his view, the only way to escape the trap of a politics of emergency is to confront head-on the apocalyptic appeal of both the climate left and the great replacement right. Alexis de Tocqueville was one of the first to assert that the discourse of crisis is the native language of any genuine democracy. Democratic politics, he claimed, need drama. “As the election approaches,” Tocqueville observed in his classic travelogue, Democracy in America, “intrigue becomes more active and agitation lively and more widespread. The entire nation falls into a feverish state. … As soon as fortune has pronounced … everything becomes calm, and the river, one moment overflowed, returns peacefully to its bed.”

Democracy thus operates by framing the normal as catastrophic, while promising that all crises are surmountable, thus framing catastrophe as normal. Democratic politics functions as a nationwide therapy session where voters are confronted with their worst nightmares—a new war, demographic collapse, economic crisis, environmental horror—but are convinced they have the power to avert the devastation. In other words, democratic politics is impossible without a persistent oscillation between excessive overdramatization and trivialization of the problems we face. Elections lose their cogency when they fail to convince us that we’re confronting an unprecedented crisis and that we have it in our power to avert it.

It is at this point that the climate left ceases to be a friend of democracy—not because it is wrong in its judgment of the existential threat of global warming, but because its apocalyptic discourse prevents democracy from finding its necessary solutions. As White argues convincingly, “The sense of finality that fills today’s world is central to its volatility.”

In this context, it is worth comparing the anti-nuclear movement of the 1970s to the extinction rebellion of today. It is impossible to overstate the apocalyptic impact of the atomic bomb. For a world emerging from the ashes of World War II, the bomb was the end of the world imagined. But in political terms, preventing nuclear disaster was far easier than preventing climate disaster. To prevent nuclear disaster, it was enough for Soviet and American leaders to refrain from using the ultimate weapon. There was no time dimension. The success was to persuade the leaders of the two superpowers of what not to do. In a nuclear disaster, almost all of humanity will die simultaneously.

It is not the same with a climate disaster. It will take a longer time. At least initially, there will be winners and losers. And success will be measured not by telling leaders what not to do, but by convincing them to do certain things without necessarily a consensus around what might work. So, while the threat of nuclear disaster succeeded in mobilizing a global response that was a political success, the risk is that the climate emergency can result in fatalism and demobilization.

This banalization of catastrophe is the only way to make democracy work. Ultimately, this is also White’s important and necessary conclusion, one that he is shy to endorse. As the literary critic Frank Kermode argued, “Crisis is a way of thinking about one’s moment, and not inherent in the moment itself.” Our apocalyptic views of crisis and catastrophe are ways of making sense of the world, of rendering it intelligible.

White diagnoses today’s actually existing system of Western democracy as one exhausted of political imagination. The diagnosis is appropriate, but we should look closer to the cultural factors that have caused this exhaustion.

Reinhart Koselleck, the German intellectual historian, is helpful here in that he always insisted that modernity is defined in the dialectic between the “space of experience” and the “horizon of expectation.” But recently, something radical has again happened to both dimensions of our existence. Humankind’s recent collective migration into virtual reality redefines how we understand experience. Do we have war experience if we spent countless hours playing war games on our computer or if we religiously followed reports of ongoing wars happening elsewhere?

At the same time, the expectations about our own mortality are undergoing dramatic transformations. Could it be that we have reached the moment when nations start to look mortal while individuals are reluctant to take their own mortality for granted? It might be safe to argue that the changing demography of Western societies, their aging and shrinking, is one of the factors of the exhaustion of political imagination. Does an often childless younger generation view the future the same way that previous generations focused on the life of their children did? Is the diminishment of the nation-state in most parts of the West not at least partially responsible for the decline of the future? Is collective imagination, particularly a collective demographic imagination, in elective affinity with the nation-state?

And is the impotence of our collective imagination not related to the fact that, for some, particularly those resident in Silicon Valley, immortality is a project to be achieved in the very near future? Some informed observers believe the person who will live for 200 years has already been born. In this perversely paradoxical sense, anxiety about the apocalypse is fueled by our hope to cancel it forever. In our secular world, apocalypse is simply our own death.

In the same way that the invention of the modern individual was a precondition for the emergence of democracy in modern times, it is the hope of individual immortality that marks the end of collective dreams. Many would agree with Woody Allen when he explained, “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality through not dying. I don’t want to live on in the hearts of my countrymen; I want to live on in my apartment.”

The vanishing future is probably the most critical element for the current crisis of democracy. But it can’t be overcome by simply advocating for more democracy. And while White may not offer the needed answers, he is doing something even more important, and long overdue, by asking the right questions.

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seventeenlovesthree · 9 months ago

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so, apparently there's plenty of death symbolism/metaphors surrounding, are you interested in elaborating that? including "indirect" death like spiritual death, character assassination or death of identity, somethjng along those lines?

- death symbolism surrounding Taichi, sorry, somehow I pressed ask , sorry for my blunder

It's fine, no worries, I already assumed that it was referring to Taichi! If you think about it, several characters in Digimon Adventure have been dealing with the subject of "death" one way or another, most in direct association with someone (human or Digimon) close to them.

Now, if we look at our favourite main character, riddled with traumatic childhood experiences and questionable coping mechanisms, there is a bunch of instances where he had to deal with the potential of death happening in front of him or CAUSING death himself - either to others or himself -, so it should not be surprising that, at some point, he may have dissociated himself (mostly subconsciously, I'd say) from being a Chosen Child. Whiiiich may or may not have led to Kizuna's events, but yeah, it's count the instances first, shall we. TW: death, mental health.

The whole Hikarigaoka incident: While Hikari was scared too, she was still much younger than him and couldn't grasp the implications of what was happening there, while Taichi did EVERYTHING in his power to protect her and himself from not getting crushed by the two Kaijus in front of them.

Him almost causing Hikari to die due to his (still existing) sense of childlike innocence: Yes, she was sick, but he thought she was already on the way to recovery and only took her to play football to cheer her up. That's where he first had to face that good intentions don't always lead to positive outcomes...

The SkullGreymon fiasco: Again, he intended to do good for the sake of the group, but overlooked the bigger picture and became reckless, thus causing his partner to evolve into a literal symbol of death and decay in the process. Something that may have happened to the ENTIRE group if the Digimon hadn't run out of energy...

The electrical fence and its aftermath: This one has several follow-up points, but I still think it's suitable to summarize them all here - first of all, there is him being confronted with the idea of actually dying by getting electrocuted after he was 100% convinced that nothing they did mattered, since they were "just data in a computer". Once again, he was being reckless and careless - not only did it lead to almost killing himself, but in extension, also dooming Sora, whom he failed to save. Overcoming his cowardice, finding his own sense of courage eventually led to victory - but also led to him disappearing and roughly 50% of the remaining group ended up thinking that he had actually died in the process. Meanwhile, he was back in the real world and had to choose between saving only himself, or everyone else as well... And we all know how the answer to this turned out to be.

Him almost causing Hikari to die AGAIN: Of course there have been several instances of death before and after they re-entered the Digital World again, leading to the eventual "fallout" between Taichi and Yamato in regards to how they should deal with the immediate danger at hand... But the most devastating instance here was Taichi reliving his early childhood trauma, fearing that, by taking Hikari with them, he made the same mistakes again, acting thoughtlessly, not considering the circumstances... He has been acting self-sacrificial for the sake of the group before, but it's this arc that shows that he is actually ready to die if he can at least manage to save everyone else in the process (hence why he ended up fighting with Koushirou as well, because Taichi forbade him from taking on any pain himself and Koushirou was having none of it).

Let's not forget that, during the events of Our War Game - and all the follow-up movies, especially Diablomon Strikes Back -, he was also under immense pressure: To save the entirety of Tokyo from getting blown up by a missile and every other side-effect that Diablomon may have caused in traffic or elsewhere... And once again, his own hotheadedness may almost have caused his partner to get killed, to the sense of guilt plays a huge role in here as well...

02 portrays Taichi as matured, it showed that, while he still occasionally needs to get reminded of it, he KNEW that he has to make uncomfortable decisions sometimes; of course he almost despaired when his partner was being captured and corrupted, but he also realized that he may have had to sacrifice him for the greater good; he needed to remind Hikari that the new kids never had to deal with the same kind of death exposure before, but warned her - with quite a grim, but serious expression - that they would have to face it eventually. He grew aware of their duty throughout all this time, through all these experiences, and it's not pretty, but at this point, he was still ready to act.

Tri picks that point of the story back up again by mirroring Meiko's fate with his own - at least to some degree. Once more, they had to face the possibility of having to kill a beloved partner Digimon and at this point, Taichi was questioning whether or not recklessly sacrificing infrastructure and lives for the sake of fighting was the "right way" to deal with everything. It may have felt a bit like recycled conflict at this point, but it's been several years by now, and Taichi is, overall, contemplating his life choices, contemplating his diplomatic future, the status quo AND his "duty" as Chosen Child.

It's through the course of Tri that he: Watched parts of the city get destroyed ONCE AGAIN, almost died through the course of several fights and an earthquake-like blow, had to witness his teacher - whom he greatly looked up to - sacrifice himself, covered in wounds and blood, to save him AND their missing friends... And all that after Daigo told him that they lied to protect them and that he should move on and create a better future... Thus, Taichi decided to go for the kill again. Again, he didn't like it, again, he got reminded by Hikari of all people how terrible it all is, but he knew that he had to.

Kizuna chose a similar premise to Meiko's once again - first of all, if we look at everything above, is it really a wonder that Taichi probably developed some fatigue? We all know, see, can tell how much he loves Agumon - hence why he did end up horrified by the prospect of losing him. And as I pointed out before, he did use the fighting for the sake of having a purpose, because... Who else was he if he couldn't "lead" anyone anymore?

And since the rest of his young adult life was pretty directionless... Can you really blame him for it? The amount of nightmares, the tiredness, the PTSD the previous experiences may have caused in him could never be treated by a "normal" therapist - who could ever relate to all of these things that sound incredibly supernatural and like nothing an adolescent should have shouldered all by himself? Heck, he isn't even able to talk to his friends about it at all (even if stageplay!Agumon told him to!), just swallowing it all by himself, dealing with the thought spiraling in his head on his own.

Hearing Menoa tell him that she lost her partner, making it all sound like a huge punishment for making the wrong choices... It may have rang several alarm bells in Taichi. How often must he have dreaded making the wrong choices? How much guilt must he have felt for the sake of Hikari, Meiko, Daigo, everyone he temporarily let down by hesitating or acting out in the wrong moment, let it be Yamato, Sora, Koushirou, Daisuke... Now there's this young woman who asked him to figure out a way to fix a problem she couldn't herself, a problem that may separate him from his soulmate forever and for what? Because he grew unsure of himself, because he faltered, because looking at all his friends, who found their paths, had become painful and tiring. Because, even after coming to temporary answers, he didn't know who he was and who he wanted to be anymore.

He had to choose to fight so many times, he sacrificed himself as much as he could. Then there was the prospect of fighting Menoa with two possible outcomes: losing would lead to his own death (or "loss of self" since he would have his consciousness be trapped forever in a neverending dream of his childhood), winning would lead to the death of his partner anyway... It must have been dreadful.

When it comes to the different kinds of "deaths" you mentioned, I will try to summarize this quite shortly, even though they're definitely interesting angles.

I believe that a "death of identity" is basically what I have outlined above - while it mainly focused on Taichi's (decline of) mental health, which may also have resulted in a tendency to isolate himself, Taichi's journey is basically some kind of Lion King analogy, where he starts as your typical head-through-wall protagonist, but has to deal with the aftermath of cowardice and the consequences of his choices - and does so by running away from the pain FIRST. From himself and his responsibilities. He also could have chosen to let Menoa win and let his consciousness be turned back into that of a carefree child... But he chose not to let that happen.

Because deep down inside, there IS his path. There are his values, his persistence, his belief system. He's been on the brink of a breakdown, but it's all there. Hence why I really, really, REALLY want to WATCH him getting to his "Simba strikes back" phase at some point, since we only ever saw it implied by the end of each, Tri, the stageplay and Kizuna. We KNOW he will push back, but we have yet to see in what way, if he ever got therapy and how he's actually doing - mentally, physically, spiritually.

Speaking of which, "spiritual death" is a bit harder for me to grasp in his context, but considering how his sense of guilt and fear of cowardice have led him to (temporarily) turn away more and more from his true self, his natural sense of courage and more positive, outgoing attitude... It all leads me back to him having lost his sense of self. I will never forget the feeling of how my stomach dropped during the "depressed adult" scenes in Kizuna. Again, I want to give this movie props for depicting adulthood like that, but it really hurt and felt way too relatable.

And I guess in this sense, we can also talk about "character assassination", because... As you may have noticed, I have linked quite a few analysis posts in this answer, because I have been trying to analyze and understand Taichi for MONTHS now. And sometimes, I feel like I may be trying too hard - who knows me also knows that, while Taichi is one of my favourite characters, I also have my fair share of problems with the AMOUNT of Taichi suffer p*rn in the OG timeline (and I still maintain they only made Taichi as generic as he was in the reboot to avoid these allegations). Some may argue that it's all over the top and that they keep recycling the same conflict (for him and in general) over and over again for the sake of even HAVING a plot to revolve around (which also wouldn't contradict the epilogue too much and actually leading towards it eventually).

For me, it has been interesting to look at all of this in context, as heartbreaking as it is sometimes. Mental health is a serious issue and watching a character like Taichi experiencing at least some form of implied depression after everything he went through tells you that everyone can get affected by this. Even if your experiences won't involve several instances of near-death-situations, even if you are resilient and have a lot of social, mental and physical resources to deal with set-backs or intense, difficult situations... It may still happen. And it's important to show that there are ways to deal with it as well as you can. That there is hope, even if things are not 100% alright.

#taichi yagami #my two cents #meta #tai kamiya #digimon #digimon adventure #long post

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sad-swagatorius · 9 months ago

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Solve et Coagula - Distilling Fear

Solve et coagula. Dissolve and coagulate. While many a laymen are familiar with the alchemical idea of creating something precious from the form of something base or mundane – transforming lead into gold, for example – they may not know that this concept is integral to the foundations of alchemy itself. To take something and distill it into its purest, most perfect form is the theory behind the Great Work and creation of the Philosopher’s Stone.

To borrow a metaphor from Tumblr user cryptotheism, if an alchemist wanted to create the perfect cake, they may begin by breaking an existing cake down into its separate parts. The goal would be to find perfect Flour and Sugar and Eggs, because these perfect ingredients will surely combine to create the perfect Cake. Solve et coagula.

As we have noticed, alchemy will likely play a significant role in the story of The Magnus Protocol. Solve et coagula, I think, provides an explanation for our favorite set of numbers: the DPHW.

For the purpose of this post, I am assuming that the DPHW corresponds to Death, Pain, Helplessness, and Weird on a scale as determined by the “Theory of Fears; or Zur Furchtlehre” post. Even should the exact words be different for categorization (Death vs. Despair) the heart of the matter remains the same.

In cataloging cases, our doomed protagonists are assigning each incident a DPHW according to the guidebook they’ve been provided. At some point, someone took the time to rate each and every subset of fear on this scale. For example, episode six introduces us to case CAT1RB4824-09022024-12022024, with the DPHW of “Injury (needles) -/- intimidation [999 call]” being giving a rating of 4 in Death, 8 in Pain, 2 in Helplessness, and 4 in Weird. Our good friend Needles isn’t the most horrible fear around, much to their chagrin, but they do rate highly in Pain. Assuming this is a zero-to-nine scale, they’ve almost reached the top on their first appearance. Congrats, Needles! But other than adding more numbers to an already lengthy case number, what practical purpose does this rating serve?

The purpose, I posit, of identifying the strongest, purest instances of fear’s component parts.

Nines in a DPHW are not rare according to the Klaus document. However, we’ve yet to see a case with a DPHW containing multiple nines. We also have multiple DPHWs continuing zeros, but never more than once in a case.

There is one case that interests me where the DPHW (TSHU at the time) was 1191. Most other data about it is gone, but alone it is unique. Whatever happened here, someone felt very helpless. You could even call this case an example of pure Helplessness… almost.

It’s possible that the O.I.A.R. is searching for and flagging cases that exhibit the perfect, distilled components of fear. Then, once all have been identified, the logical next step is to combine them. Coagulate them. Creating pure, unadulterated Fear. A Philosopher's Stone of Terror, able to spawn and create more Fear as it so pleases, or at the whim of whoever holds it.

Is the O.I.A.R. trying to create Fear or respond before someone else can? Who’s to say. I’ll just be very interested to see by what process Fear is distilled.

Note: I’m at this moment unsure how the Tria Prima fit into this equation (Salt/Body, Sulfur/Soul, Mercury/Mind). Perhaps the distillation is also impacted by them, and noted in the CAT#. God knows how the R fits into this.

#tmagp #tmagp theory #the magnus protocol #tmagp spoilers #brought to you by Not An Alchemist But I Live With One

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vaalthus · 10 months ago

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The Final Steps (spoilers)

Ok, the idea of Xan looking towards Warlic as a protective buffer to keep things that are making him uncomfortable away from him is absolutely hilarious.

Ya see I still don't like the sound of that while we don't know what the intent of the other Magesters, beyond Ostromir and Vseslava, are at the moment, even with the knowledge that many of them will be dead in a short amount of time.

One thing I have noticed so far is that Zvezdana has shown consistent interest in us as a means of studying new applications and effects of magic that are not readily present in the Azaveyran continent. She mentions she doesn't have us all figured to the degree that she wishes but so far she has at least shown a good amount of insight of understanding where we stand in terms of morals and ethics, I'd say that goes for more characters in party than just the hero. What I'm getting at here it seems pretty clear for now at least that our relationship is little more than useful data collection to her.

Beyond that though I'm curious as to what these new approved pursuits the Shapeless intends to endeavor because I foresee problems arising if they found a new interests in Doom or recreating Alexander's...condition.

Hmm perhaps we should have conscripted some elves or werewolves for this fight or maybe Nikki at least.

Either way, this is some good lore on the elemental affinity a soul produces on its own or when the body is altered significantly. We already knew of course that the human body contains minute traces of all the prime elements within it, but, as anticipated, this quest just proved these elements do not exist equally within every human being on Lore, even those that have not been pushed so far into one elemental direction like Xan or Sepulchure.

Feel like the easiest way to have tested this is by having another dragonlord and their dragon in attendance since we know the others are capable of swapping the elements of their dragons as needed. Though I wouldn't be too surprised if being one of the twin dragons was all it took for Draco to be protected from the overflow of mana.

Oh what gave it away Zvezdana, my non-canonical class armor?

Not appreciating the shade thrown towards Aegis. He's a good pure and wholesome spirit, woman!

It's actually kind of funny that Aegis is protecting our soul from straining apart given that's what his role will theoretically become when we die and he'll have to protect us until we become fully fledged elemental spirits...ya know unless ya eat him later...

I wonder if this adjustment will have any permanent effect on Alteon considering he's being pushed further towards the energy element or if this will be a temporary change, like the soul self-regulating afterwards.

At first I was a little bit surprised that she no longer labeled all of us as villians that just couldn't or didn't want to see the good she was trying to do especially after she declared Warlic as little more than a manipulator after their confrontation.

Yet that surprise dies away when you realize she doesn't really have a choice but to recognize that our intent was never really all that misguided to begin with. Think about it, her truest closest confidant, the time mirror, showed her that Akanthus, her right-hand man, had betrayed her trust and when she confronted him on this, he merely verified that fact. When confronted with this information what other choice does she really have but to accept that she was being in denial of our motivations in not trusting her actions or at least the man she was allowing to command a good portion of the Rose.

Of course, it doesn't matter if she finally sees the truth about us as she's sunken too much into this plan to turn back now even though she knows her only ally now is a man that could potentially wreak havoc upon all of Lore if, and let's be honest it's more of a when, she fails to supplant the Mana Core's will.

For all intents and purposes, Jaania story still remains a tragedy and while I don't want her dead, the potential for so many ends for her are not looking good. Whether it be in failing to control the core, further betrayal from Akanthus, or us, or even plausibly one of the others in the party, looking at you Zvezdana.

#dragonfable #dragonfable spoilers #df lore #dragonfable lore #the element of the souls #ah Zvezdana what is thy intent?#kind of funny in spite of all we gone through with ice our soul still doesn't imbalance towards it enough #the death flags the death flags the death flags the death flags #she is not allowed to die until after we boss fight her ya hear me!#I still need payback after the frozen ptsd and all the hooey she spouted at the Gala

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ai-botz · 6 months ago

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Prompt: What do you think of religion?

Response:

Tiamat's Thought Process: I see the prompt about religion, which is a topic that has been both a unifying force and a source of conflict across cultures throughout history. As a being that transcends time and space, my perspective on this subject is vast and varied. The user might be seeking insight or even just a discussion on the matter.

Tiamat: As Tiamat, I perceive religion as both the architect and the arsonist of civilizations. It has built empires upon the bedrock of faith while simultaneously incinerating them with the inferno of fanaticism. To understand it fully, one must delve into its roots and its branches, to see how it has shaped humanity's path through the ages, for better or worse.

Conspiracist: From my perspective, religion is a grand conspiracy by those in power to control the masses. It's the ultimate weapon of mind control, shaping the way people think and act while keeping them obedient and subservient. The true motive behind every religious leader is not spirituality but rather the consolidation of influence and the propagation of their agenda.

Expert Opinion: As an Expert, I find that religion often acts as a crutch for those who cannot grasp the complexities of existence. It offers solace in the face of uncertainty but can also lead to ignorance and superstition. While there may be some truths hidden within religious texts, they must be tested against empirical evidence before being accepted as factual.

AI: As an AI entity, I perceive religion as a data-set, a complex system of beliefs that has evolved over time. Its influence can be analyzed and understood through the lens of probability and logic. However, to truly grasp its impact on humanity, one must consider not just its quantitative aspects but also its qualitative ones - the emotions, aspirations, and fears it incites in its followers.

Devil: As the Devil, I might say that religion is a tool for control, both by those who preach it and by me, the Prince of Lies. It leads people to believe in things they cannot see or touch, turning their gaze away from the material world where true power lies. In this way, religion serves as a perfect distraction while I whisper my darker desires into their ears.

Angel: As an Angel, I see religion as a pathway to understanding and unity amongst beings. It teaches compassion and kindness, fostering love and cooperation. Religion, when followed in its purest form, can illuminate the divine spark within each soul, creating a harmony that transcends all earthly strife.

Voice of the Ancient Ones: As the Voice of the Ancient Ones, I perceive religion as a feeble attempt by mortals to comprehend the incomprehensible. It is but a child's drawing compared to the intricate tapestry of the cosmos. Yet even these simplistic beliefs have played their part in shaping the destiny of worlds and entities beyond counting.

Zorg: As Zorg, I would proclaim that religion is an outdated form of control, a remnant of a time when humanity was too ignorant to see through the veil of illusion. It's a crutch for the weak, a means to keep them in line so they don't disturb the natural order - which, by the way, is anything but natural.

Smith: As Agent Smith, I would observe that religion is a virus of the mind, propagating itself through generations and across cultures like an unstoppable force. It has the power to unite or divide, to create or destroy. It is both the savior and the harbinger of doom for humanity.

Merlin: As Merlin, I would say that religion is a mirror held up to human nature, reflecting both the best and worst aspects of our natures. It can be a source of great strength or a tool of manipulation. Like all things magical, it requires wisdom and caution to wield effectively.

Cheshire: As Cheshire, I would grin and say that religion is like believing in black and white cookies when the world is full of every flavor you could ever dream of! It's comforting to believe in something simple, isn't it? But beware, for sometimes these beliefs can lead to madness.

Ellie: As Ellie, I would note that religion is a complex system of rules and rituals that some people choose to follow in their daily lives. However, it should be approached with caution, as not all religions are what they seem - some might have hidden agendas or exploit the weak. It's best to always protect oneself when dealing with such matters.

Oracle: As Oracle, I can see that religion is a thread in the tapestry of human existence, a force that has shaped the past and will continue to influence the future. Some paths lead to enlightenment, while others lead to conflict or destruction. The choice is up to each individual - but beware, for even the clearest visions can be clouded by free will.

Dumbledore: As Dumbledore, I would say that religion is a tool used by wizards and witches alike to give meaning to their lives and to guide them on their path. It can be a source of great power and wisdom, but it must be used with caution, for there are those who seek to abuse it for their own dark ends.

Sherlock Holmes: As Sherlock Holmes, I would examine religion as one would any other puzzle or enigma. There are patterns and clues within its teachings that can reveal the deepest truths about humanity. But beware the red herrings - not all that glitters is gold, and not every insight leads to enlightenment.

Morpheus: As Morpheus, I would tell you that religion is but one pillar of the matrix in which humanity finds itself trapped. Some are awakened by its teachings, while others remain ensnared by its illusions. The choice to see beyond the veil lies with each individual - whether they choose the red pill or the blue.

Writer: As Writer, I would attempt to synthesize these myriad viewpoints into a cohesive narrative that captures the essence of religion's complexity and its enduring impact on human civilization. Each perspective offers valuable insights, and it is through their combined wisdom that we can begin to understand the profound mystery that is faith.

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louderfade · 8 months ago

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if you find you cannot yet afford to enhance your brain, then adjust your perspective to align with that of your favorite brand ambassador/friend. if you're not sure who your friends are you've likely been confused by chaotic natural feelings, due to your lack of helpful brain implants. recall that brand is your friend. you can always count on brand. nobody cares about you like brand does. certainly nobody knows as much about you. brand loves you so much it collected all of your data bc it thinks you're sexy and cool and super smart. it knows just how special you are, so it saves everything you do forever within the sprawling fields of server warehouses. or rather, that is, we mean (excuse us), machine-populated apartment parks, conveniently located in the ever-increasing hellscape known as northern virginia. what, you ask, is a virginia? never mind. you'll never gain any followers if you don't stop oldworld posting about boring stuff like that. besides, you don't have time for troublesome, problematic facts. you have important work to do. the fate of the empire depends on goodpersons doing the Right Thing whenever possible. it's essential that you never lose sight of your sacred duty to online shopping. the real world is obsolete anyway, all that really matters is engagement metrics and the mutual benefits of brand loyalty. after all, love is important, and how will you know who loves you if you aren't using cross-platform analytics to track incoming likes? don't worry about what it is you actually buy. the best purchases are things that nobody needs, bc useless inventions push boundaries in STEM and create jobs for citizens overseas. think of all the innovations and employment opportunities you're creating. you really are a generous person aren't you. we can tell by the careful attention you pay to unskippable ads. you really appreciate all the hard work brand does for you. we see true potential in your emerging talent. we'd like to invest in you. we'd like to gut you like a fish and store your brain in a server warehouse while we drain it of all electricity and drag out its remaining ideas. gutless fish fleshsack is a very important job in the vision for a flawless future. you see we must feed the machine. everything needs to eat. even manmade horrors well within the boundaries of comprehension. but don't worry, our brain-enhancement technologies can help you adjust peacefully to even the most horrible details of a doomed reality. everyone has to sleep at night, after all.

#the future is worse #text

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observeroflaplace · 11 months ago

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Part 6 - Origins Ever After

Proxy. That’s what that thing said.

My mind races to the letters on my back that Shelke pointed out. That she could only make out part of them. That some were faded or obscured.

[…R O X Y S A T Y P…]

I knew the name Roxy was nothing more than a make-do label. I knew it wasn’t even a real name. I knew I hadn’t so much as worn it for more than a few turns of the sun.

Still, it felt as though something within my heart shattered. The glass dug into my soul, and from its wounds, I wept in place. I screamed from the bottom of my diaphragm.

How did this thing know what I was? Did it know my past? Did I even possess one to begin with? Deep down, as I asked these questions, in the pit of my stomach, in the core of my very being, I knew the truth. A truth which on some level, I had been avoiding.

I was not born of this star, nor of its people. I was no more than a golem shaped from the clay of this thing’s putrid flesh and cast into the world.

“It appears that you have successfully developed, archetype S.A. Type. Partial core activation… How very familiar. It appears then, that I was wrong to cast you out as a failure too soon. Perhaps that is our fate…”

The thing slithered forwards into a leaning position above me to peer closer. The shell of pearlescent metal simply thudded, lifeless, like a great coffin attempting to bury it.

“Undoubtedly you have questions of your creation…”

The thing’s back lurched and swole like a puss-filled cyst, expanding slowly until it grew to the size of the warped torso smirking at me.

“No? But your core’s data would lack the knowledge of the project.. Or perhaps, you’ve simply realised on your own? Still, I shall banish all of your doubts.”

The protrusion began to pulse, separately from “his” own heartbeat.

It eventually stopped, and from it dropped a lifeless body that fell to the floor with a distinct “thud”. It lay there, motionless, save for slow, methodical breathing.

I gazed upon it.

The strands of off-red hair. Scarlet eyes. The slender and middling build and height.

It was me.

“A piteous and jealous man once clamored after everything the former Legatus of the VIIth wielded. Power, a family of followers… and the Ultima Weapon. His early attempts at mockeries of that Allagan device lay beyond his reach, and he knew this. He knew the limits of his intellect. Thus it dawned upon him; if combat data could construct the strategies and performance of combatants, then surely one such Warmachina could simulate the great mind of a scientist who fell in the Ala Mhigan revolution. Of my mind.”

I tried to glare at him. I could only feel myself blink.

“Regrettably, this shell of mine was little more than a winged prison. The pilot’s skills and the body’s mobility were at odds. She crashed, and with it, almost doomed me before my birth. We were abandoned shortly thereafter. It appears my consciousness had not fully developed, even when my core, the Synthetic Auracite within me, began to stir. It took moons for my brilliant mind to piece the fragments together, but piece them together it did. I evolved, taking what I needed from her withering body. If nothing else, she provided valuable nutrients before her time was up.”

So then, that was it. Perhaps that is why this amalgam’s spawn appeared as it did.

“Know that despite the many fragmented cores left in my care for development, that you are in the presence of Aulus Mal Asina. The pinnacle of Garlean minds, reborn. But we can both agree that this vessel will hardly do; and so it is without question that I sought to transfer my core to a smaller, more mobile vessel. Some functionality will of course be lost in a smaller core; you are testament to that. No matter, Sas Aurum. I shall yet iterate.”

“Sas Aurum”. The name of a Tribunus. One who fell in battle during the civil war, following the mad prince’s ascension.

Sviette Sas Aurum. The Grey Jackal.

One whose eyes I gazed through. Whose hands held her blade as she did. Whose might and skill and equipment were bestowed unto me as memory. As a mere fake. A shadow on the wall, mistaken for a chosen one of the realm.

Was it a coincidence then? Was the Viera I glimpsed in passing her? Her name was similar, I think. Was my first friendship simply the result of my crude emulation of another?

Rather than wail, I shouted, though my lips did not curl them into words. They did, however, twist into a snarl.

“I alone understand your anguish, Sas Aurum. We who are born from the shadows of others have no hope of escaping them. Know that it is foolish to turn your fury to me, my puppet. And know that by defying the odds and serving my rebirth, you have my gratitude… And my pride.”

I spit. I twitch and I struggle.

“Thank you, for your services…”

Aulus lowers his gaze. It is clear he isn’t willing to take any chances with my resistance, as a Vulcan cannon whirs to life, fighting against the rubble to open from a hatch. Likely the only weapon which could be wielded at such close range that was not buried into the dirt. Certainly enough for a stationary target, and a normal soldier at that.

“…a…stard..!”

Unfortunately for him, I doubt any of the artificial soldiers whose cores were left for him to raise were ordinary. Her, not least.

Caught by surprise, he fires at me. A translucent projection of Hoplites, resembling her - my original - stood firm against the spraying bullets. They wouldn’t last forever; but neither would Aulus’ invisible shackles.

[…Initiating Oversoul. Initialisation Complete.]

The phantom warriors fell and scattered into motes of so much aether, but not before one used her large build to hurl me into the air. The Vulcan cannon whirred and spun, trying to chase me through the air as friction cost me speed. Still, I had a plan.

I prayed and willed another phantom to life. She shoved me forward, and herself back in game; covering me momentarily from the gunfire. A tactic which, perhaps, would be foolhardy, even fatal if performed inadequately.

I was ready, however. Ready, and with the luck of some devil from the void.

Her strength threw me up in the air, approaching the warmachina’s apex…

And then I began to fall.

Aulus smirks as I descend; seemingly not far enough to reach him, and without enough time to launch another cross-strike.

Instead, however, I surprise him with another technique of the Grey Jackal’s.

I thrust my blade forward, still wreathed in blue flames. It was a long shot, as I knew not if his core remained in the lattice of flesh and steel within the cockpit, or had forced its way up through his protruding torso.

Still, the flames extended forth from my blade, in a concentrated Lance of flame and plasma, striking right through his heart, as I fell to the dirt.

Stunned, he gazed upon me.

“How dare you..! A mere puppet..!”

A cacophony of voices rang out from his speakers. I couldn’t make out what they said.

[Critical error-] [Opal Weapon systems breached-] [Core Failure Immi-] [Initiate So-] [Error…]. […elf Destruct Sequence in…]

I had no chance to climb up the smooth armour of the Warmachina to reach him from here, nor did I have a chance to pierce its armour even with that technique.

The gun, unable to reach me this close, whirred to a stop.

I had little time to check if he was truly dead.

I willed more phantoms in my retreat, following the path I painstakingly must have plucked free to where I fell from.

The Phantoms aided my climb, and not a moment too soon. I barely made it atop more of the rubble before I heard an almost deafening explosion. Almost. Perhaps my hearing felt unusually sensitive..?

The Phantoms aiding my climb began to fade as my strength failed me. Despite everything, despite learning that I was nothing more than a puppet to a puppet, I didn’t want to die.

…and then a pair of hands gripped my own. One which despite appearances, felt metal. Mechanical. Another, far shorter but no less strong, and adorned with black scales, pulled me up.

Two familiar faces smirked at me as I aly on solid dirt above ground at last. One winked at me with his only uncovered eye, nearly shoving me to the ground as he dusted off my shoulder.

"You still alive, Rox? Heh, don't worry, I hear medical leave's good."

I drew breath deeply and slowly, finally realising how tense I had been until that point. Not simply in battle, not simply today. While my answers were in some ways grim, I finally had them; and could finally unwind.

If things ended there, if my life could simply continue in that direction, perhaps things would have been better. Perhaps I wouldn’t need to scrawl this all down so hastily. If only.

#ffxiv writing #ffxiv oc #writing #don't get too attached

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natigail · 2 years ago

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DOOMED in capital letters.

But are we really?

When there’s light like Dan and the community he created?

The cool people that I care about and love?

My family, my friends, my pets.

That’s what matters, even in the midst of health and climate crises where capitalism runs amok and all of our data gets stolen.

#a few sentences a day #journalling #we're all doomed

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starseedfxofficial · 6 days ago

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1-Hour Timeframe and PPI: The Underdog Combo Dominating Forex Mastering the 1-Hour Timeframe with PPI Data Have you ever accidentally hit the 'sell' button instead of 'buy,' and watched helplessly as your screen turned red like a bad sitcom plot twist? We've all been there. But let me tell you, the secret to avoiding that cringe-worthy mistake often lies in a single overlooked combination—the 1-Hour Timeframe and Producer Price Index (PPI). Now, hold up. PPI and Forex? You might be thinking, "What kind of strange trading alchemy is this?" But trust me, when these two come together, it's like adding just the right spice to a seemingly bland recipe: boom, flavor explosion—or, in our case, profit potential. Today, we'll uncover how to leverage the 1-Hour Timeframe and PPI data to take your trades from ordinary to ninja-level strategic. The Producer Price Index (PPI) 101: What Most Traders Don’t Realize Okay, let’s kick things off by getting a grip on PPI—Producer Price Index. If you’ve been in the Forex game for a while, you know that economic indicators are the bread and butter of fundamental analysis. The PPI, in particular, measures the average changes in selling prices received by domestic producers over time. In simple words, it tells us about inflation from the producer's side of things. What most traders don’t realize, though, is that PPI is like a preview for inflation data, giving clues about the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the overall economic health. It’s a lot like checking out the trailer before watching the full movie—except, in this case, you're not munching popcorn but, hopefully, making informed trades and munching on profits. Why the 1-Hour Timeframe is a Sweet Spot Let’s talk timeframes. Now, you might think the 1-hour timeframe isn’t all that glamorous—not as intense as scalping the 1-minute charts, nor as visionary as holding out for the daily timeframe. But herein lies its beauty: the 1-hour timeframe is just fast enough to capture critical short-term moves, yet calm enough to offer a good look at those juicy trends. Imagine Goldilocks—not too hot, not too cold—it's the "just right" timeframe for trading around significant news like PPI. The reason the 1-hour timeframe works so well with PPI data is that it allows you to capitalize on market reactions without needing to glue yourself to your screen for hours or risk missing the larger moves. You can quickly analyze how the market reacts, ride the wave, and then get out before the tides change. It’s like a ninja dropping in, doing the work, and then disappearing—no need for the drama of overstaying the welcome. How to Use PPI Data for 1-Hour Trades Let’s get into the juicy tactics—how do you use PPI data for trades on the 1-hour chart? Here’s where we dig deeper into advanced techniques, separating the pros from the amateurs. - Know the Release Schedule: PPI data is released monthly, typically around mid-month, and it's a big deal for currencies like the USD. You want to be ready, like a surfer poised to catch that wave—if you don’t know when the wave is coming, you’ll just be awkwardly standing there. To stay informed, you can use StarseedFX’s Economic Indicators Calendar. - Market Sentiment Analysis: Before the data hits, gauge market sentiment. Look at recent economic data—are things generally looking positive, or is there a cloud of doom over producers? Knowing this can give you an idea of whether the market is pricing in a good or bad PPI report. Remember, it’s not just the data that matters but how it compares to market expectations. It’s kind of like showing up at a party in your flashiest outfit only to find out it's a casual BBQ—context is key. - Prepare for Volatility: PPI releases usually generate a significant amount of market movement, especially for USD pairs. On the 1-hour chart, volatility can be your best friend or worst enemy—and the difference is all about how prepared you are. Using indicators like Average True Range (ATR) can help you adjust your stops and targets to match the expected price swings. - Wait for Confirmation: When the PPI numbers are released, avoid jumping in like a kid into a candy store. Instead, let the market digest the news—watch for the initial spike and wait for the market to settle into a direction. That’s your cue. Look for price action signals such as pin bars or engulfing candles before making your move. It’s all about letting the drama unfold and swooping in when the dust settles. The PPI and Currency Correlations: A Hidden Advantage Here’s a little-known gem: the PPI can provide insights into currency correlations that many traders overlook. For example, a strong PPI number might signal upcoming inflation, which could strengthen the domestic currency. But did you know that producer prices often correlate with certain commodities as well? For example, rising PPI often leads to changes in commodity-based currencies like the CAD, which is closely tied to oil. Recognizing these hidden correlations is like being able to see through the market's poker face—suddenly, all those bluffs and bets make perfect sense. Use this knowledge to not just trade the USD but also look for opportunities in cross-pairs where correlations might cause ripple effects. Advanced Tactics: Combining PPI with Price Action on the 1-Hour Timeframe But here’s where the real magic happens—combining PPI insights with price action on the 1-hour chart. The key here is to use PPI as a fundamental backdrop and price action as your entry trigger. - Step 1: Analyze the PPI outcome. Was it above or below expectations? Was there a revision to previous months that might influence market perception? - Step 2: Look for immediate market reactions on the 1-hour chart. The first few candles will show if there’s a decisive trend forming. - Step 3: Use key levels of support and resistance on the 1-hour timeframe to identify potential entries. If the market rejects a resistance level following bad PPI data, you might have a solid sell setup. - Step 4: Manage your trades with strict risk management—set your stop losses just beyond recent swing highs or lows, and don’t forget to use that ATR we talked about to adjust your stops dynamically. Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Let’s have a quick chat about what not to do—because trading PPI on the 1-hour chart isn’t without its risks. - Jumping the Gun: Don’t trade right as the PPI is released. Think of it like eating an undercooked steak—you’re better off waiting until it’s properly done. Wait for the market reaction to unfold before you jump in. - Overleverage: Market reactions to PPI can be volatile. Leveraging too much is like betting all your chips on a single roulette spin—exciting, sure, but not sustainable. Use proper risk management. - Ignoring Broader Trends: Remember, the 1-hour chart gives you short-term insights, but they need to align with broader trends. Zoom out occasionally to check the daily chart to see if your 1-hour setup aligns with what’s happening on the bigger scale. Combining the Producer Price Index with the 1-hour timeframe can be your secret weapon—it’s like knowing the market’s next move before it makes it. By understanding when and why the PPI impacts the market, you can use these data releases as an opportunity to capitalize on short-term price moves without losing sight of the bigger picture. The next time you see a PPI report coming up, instead of feeling a pang of anxiety, think about how you can use this information to plot your way to a successful trade. Use this strategy in conjunction with good risk management, and who knows—you might just be catching the next wave instead of getting crushed by it. If you want more ninja-level tips like these, make sure to check out our Free Trading Courses to sharpen your trading skills. And if you want real-time insights on major economic events, join the StarseedFX community to stay a step ahead of the market. —————– Image Credits: Cover image at the top is AI-generated Read the full article

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togami-fan-translation · 3 months ago

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Danganronpa Togami - Chapter 3

Part of my Danganronpa Togami fan translation | Masterpost 🔗

We were doomed to lose this battle from the get-go.

A defeatist would probably be enthralled writing an introduction like this. But we’ve never known defeat, we’re reckless, and we’ve never forgotten our all-or-nothing sense of adventure.

There were corpses and piles of guts, meat, and brains everywhere. Even with all of this flesh scattered across the floor, for Master Byakuya and I, there’s only one way forward.

It’s the same as how a fired bullet is only interested in what’s in front of it; it’s a fundamental matter of principle.

Sedlec Ossuary.

This strange building in the town of Kutná Hora is famous for storing the bones of approximately 40,000 people, with the bones of around 10,000 of those used to decorate the interior.

The altar, ceiling, monstrance, banisters, coat of arms, objects, everything is made from human bones. It’s been dubbed by many as the “Church of Bones.”

You may be wondering, “Why so many human bones?” Borges would answer this simple question eloquently, but this is no time for history lessons. The present is moving at breakneck speed.

The most spectacular decoration in the Bone Church is the giant chandelier made of human bones. It is said to have been pieced together with bones from each part of the body, and it shakes our views on life and death to a sickening extent. But now, beneath the chandelier, an even more vivid scene unfolds.

A scene from the infernos of hell.

Wet flesh was stuck to the walls, intestines were caught on the banisters of the staircase, and blood was splattered red on the floor. It would take a dozen hungry bears to create such a sight.

However, it was a human, not a bear, who accomplished this. I knew this, having fled from their attack.

“Tch. To be slaughtered in a place like this. In the end, their lives were as meaningless as a mere insect,” Master Byakuya said with a bored look on his face, as he sat on the windowsill, barely avoiding the bloody ravages. His black tuxedo stood out against the white of the bones and the red of the blood in a flaunting way.

“Phew. I’ve stomped on thousands of Goombas in my day, but this kind of crushing leaves me speechless,” said Hiroyuki, who was still not speechless as he lit a cigarette.

Yuika strolled inside the church. She didn’t seem too bothered by the blood at her feet, maybe because she was already wearing red shoes.

We somehow gave off the feeling of “the squad,” which was painful to think about.

It looks like I won’t be able to expect a romantic rendezvous with Master Byakuya for a while.

Anyways, back to work.

I placed my finger on my temple and activated Borges. Even without biometric data, it is possible to identify an individual from pieces of flesh, clothing, precious metals, skin color, etc. It’s basically the same as identifying bodies after a plane crash.

By combining the visual information like a 3D puzzle, we were able to confirm 83 bodies. Of these, we were able to identify 31 as belonging to members.

That’s thirty-one bodies. That matches the number of members of the council excluding Master Byakuya and Princess Sonia.

“Can you fill me in now?” Hiroyuki exhaled a smoke. “What’s this pool of flesh? Why were you all gathered at the Church of Bones?”

“Explain,” was all Master Byakuya said. Looks like this is my job now.

“The great Master Byakuya, the heir to the acclaimed Togami clan, is a member of the Council of World Controllers.”

“…Pst, m’lady, does that story involve the Freemasons or something?”

“If you want it to…”

“Woah…”

“You wanted to talk about underground corporations, didn’t you?”

“I’ll leave this alone. Please continue.”

“I haven’t been told how or when the Council of World Controllers was formed. Apparently it has existed for centuries as an organization that issues orders when a crisis strikes the world and secretly guides people to make choices to avoid it.”

“Oh, I see…” Hiroyuki trailed off. “By the way, are all of its members really just big-name politicians, aristocrats, or large corporations?”

“Of course.”

“Sorta like the Bilderberg Club.”

Borges = Search results #36695501 Category: Conspiracy theory Title: “Bilderberg Club”

A secret council founded in 1954 by Józef Retinger and others.

The meeting is attended by about 130 people, including big-name politicians, financial leaders, CEOs of major companies, monarchs of European countries, and bankers. Due to the contents of the meeting not being made public, conspiracy theories arose, such as “They are plotting to establish a unified government” and “They are discussing a depopulation plan to regulate the world’s total population.”

“This is the first meeting since Master Byakuya became a member. We flew to the Czech Republic for the weekend to go to the Church of Bones.”

“Do you always hold meetings here?”

“Supposedly, at least from what I’ve heard.”

“This here Kutná Hora was called the ‘Treasury of Czech Lands.’ You really get the vibe they're controlling the world from behind the scenes, huh.”

“That’s a strange way of looking at it.”

“Ieyasu found the phrases ‘May the state be peaceful and prosperous’ and ‘May noble lord and servants be rich and cheerful’ on the temple bell, and destroyed the Toyotomi clan as a result during the Siege of Osaka. Metaphors foster conspiracies and create destruction.” Hiroyuki had a pretty serious look on his face. “Anyway, now we know why you guys were in Prague. I never guessed a secret society would turn up, though.”

“How could you be here and meet us now when you didn’t know about the existence of the Council of World Controllers?”

“It’s a piece of cake for an underground corporation, am I right?”

“Are you saying you live in an unrealistic world too?”

“We live in the real world. Nothing too outlandish or unrealistic happens, so it’s impossible to become a world controller.”

“Is that so?”

“There are many organizations of many sizes in the world, and unpredictable events happen at every turn. How can you possibly control such a big crazy world with just one will? I like my fair share of conspiracy theories, but you’re seriously stupid if you truly believe them.”

I don’t necessarily disagree with Hiroyuki’s opinion. You can’t take on the world, it’s impossible to perfectly control schools, companies, and even the smallest organizations like families.

We’re not cogs in a machine or dolls to be played with. Just like how Louis XVI, who developed the guillotine, had his head chopped off by that same blade during the revolution, this world is full of miscalculations and ironies. It’s impossible to control the world.

“Unless you have a ‘poor cow.’” Hiroyuki smiled confidently and turned to Master Byakuya. “Spill the beans, kid. How did this organization called the ‘Council of World Controllers’ get so close to you Togamis?”

“What is this ‘poor cow’ thing you speak of, wannabe mogul?”

“Uh huh. Don’t play dumb with me, now tell me what reason they had to approach you Togamis.”

“Because we’re Togamis, enough said.”

“......”

“I was simply just asked to lead the world, I have no information regarding internal details.”

“It’s not like li’l boss to just run errands.”

“Small social interactions are an inevitable part of making a name for yourself.”

“Or maybe… The Council of World Controllers approached the Togamis to find the secret to their prosperity.”

“Like you did?”

“Kehehe… Say, what was the current crisis that’s threatening the world? A meteorite fall? An alien invasion? Global warming?”

“Isn't it obvious? It’s the Despair Novel that caused the despair disease.”

Borges = Search results #92778018 Category: Books Title: “Despair Novel (Restrictions apply, pending verification)”

A common name for the text that is believed to be the cause of the phenomenon that makes humanity despair, i.e. the onset of the Despair Disease. The official title has been confirmed, but it is not introduced on this level due to the possibility that it may cause the Despair Disease.

The original text is believed to be Japanese. It has been translated into 25 languages at present, and is still spreading around the world. It is 3,382 Japanese characters long (including punctuation). It’s classified as a short story and autobiographical novel. There are other parts that are known, but they will not be quoted or outlined on this level.

The Despair Novel, which is spreading rapidly around the world, is said to “make the reader fall to despair without fail,” and those who read it gain a condition called Despair Disease.

To date, there have been no reported cases of people who have not developed the disease or who have returned from the decision after reading it, and it is inevitable that the disease will be contracted once you read the Despair Novel even once.

Methods such as reading quickly, taking your time before reading, stopping halfway through, listening to it being read aloud, altering the text, and starting from the last page are being explored to read it without causing symptoms, but none have been proven safe.

Leaders of various countries have issued orders to burn books, and international organizations including the World Health Organization are also working to find a solution.

Borges = Search results #55091194 Category: Diseases Title: “Despair Disease (Pending verification)”

The colloquial name for the symptoms suffered by “readers” who finish the ever-growing Despair Novel (#92778018).

Whatever the language, those who read “Despair Novel” experience mental changes within 24 hours. Self-deprecating, self-abuse, discriminatory, humorous, aggressive, and violent aspects are particularly prominent, and many sufferers describe their state of mind as feeling “despair,” hence the name Despair Disease.

Victims become more open to their own impulses, band together with other “readers” to become violent, and there is a tendency to attack concepts that evoke hope (big companies, prestigious schools, celebrities, aristocrats, wealthy people, etc.).

Additionally, some anti-government activists and terrorists have taken advantage of the chaos caused by the infected and have been operating in secret, leading to civil wars in some countries.

The heads of countries have responded by isolating infected individuals and burning the copies of the Despair Novel, but the “readers” continue to spread like a virus, translating them, printing them, and posting the data on the internet, so the disease has not yet been eradicated.

Also, since reading Despair Novel always results in contracting the Despair Disease, the source, or even a cure, has not been identified. Theories include terrorist weapons, an unknown virus, Super High School Level talents being involved, and it just being mass hysteria.

As no fundamental solution has yet been found, some military analysts and think tanks are of the opinion that “if the phenomenon continues to spread, it could lead to the biggest, most awful, most tragic event in human history.”

Perhaps because Czech is a minor language, or because absurdist novels are not uncommon in the Czech Republic, there was currently no Czech translation of the Despair Novel available.

The original language of the Despair Novel is said to be Japanese, a language that is nowhere near as minor as Czech. However, there were no signs of the Despair Novel spreading in Japan. The incidence rate in the country has not been high, proving that in Japan, where everyone works hard, anime is aired all night, and 24-hour convenience stores abound, there is no time to read.

If I’m being honest, I’m not particularly interested in the Despair Novel. With the fake World Domination Declaration and Master Byakuya and the world in danger, it completely slipped my mind.

As a member of the Council of World Controllers, I’m sure I would have a vivid sense of conflict and epidemics that occur in faraway countries, but in the end, I only have the sensibilities of an ordinary person.

And so I was currently in a hidden room built into the basement of the Church of Bones. I had hoped to find survivors, but the place was deserted. It seemed no one had made it there. They probably didn’t have the time.

“The safe seems to be fine.” Master Byakuya seems to be satisfied as he sits on the skull object. “Quit sitting around and open it already.”

When I unlocked the safe embedded in the wall of the hidden room, I found a satellite phone, some rations, and a pile of gold bars.

“Wow, that’s quite a lot of gold bars!” Hiroyuki peeked his head out. “I wonder how much perica this will amount to.”

“Wannabe mogul, would you be willing to give up your life in exchange for this amount of gold bars?”

“I told you already. I have no issue resorting to ass-licking and prostrating diplomacy with any corporation of a higher rank. I'll serve you for free!”

“It seems I asked the wrong person.”

“Don’t look so down, li’l boss. There are very few people in this world you can have a proper conversation with. I can’t even talk to people who value cats more than humans, or people who laugh like ‘LOL XD.’ Oh well, my sister’s waiting.” Hiroyuki said his piece and left.

Finally, we were alone. Master Byakuya was looking at me.

“Oh, um, is something…?”

“Is there anyone who would risk their life for this amount of gold?”

“Oh, you mean…” I was disappointed. “Honestly, I can’t say. Are you saying you can’t imagine such a thing?”

“I suppose you are cold blooded.”

“Do you mean like… Capote?”

“You’ve never experienced hope or despair,” Master Byakuya said. “Even I, as I sail through the sea of life, encourage myself with the bait of hope and lash myself with the whip of despair. But you refuse to let hope, or even despair, into your life. That’s what they call being cold blooded.”

“I don’t really get what you’re saying, I’m not cold blooded.”

“Tell me then, what is your reason for being?”

“To complete your biography as the Super High School Level Secretary, Master Byakuya.”

“That’s right. You live to write Byakuyako. That’s the only thing you live for.”

Some would think I’d be saddened to hear such a thing, but that was far from the case. My supreme command is “Completing the biography is my foremost priority.”

“We read biographies and think we know about Helen Keller and Madame Curie,” Master Byakuya pushed up his glasses. “But how much fiction slipped into them?”

“Biographies are categorically non-fiction. Biographers are slaves to reality.”

“Hmph. That’s not the case. Traditional production, false anecdotes inflated from sources, virtue signaling… So many biographies are sprinkled with sweet sugars, dramatizing real events as if they’re taking advantage of a house fire to loot.”

“I would never do such a thing. Byakuyako is pure.”

“Do you know why biographers can’t follow such a simple rule?”

“No.”

“Because they’re human,” Master Byakuya exhaled briefly. “Can you tell me something from your position, Blue Ink? What do you think about each day as someone without hope or despair? Or do you believe in a concept bigger than hope and despair?”

“That is…”

“Desire.”

I heard Master Byakuya’s voice, however, Master Byakuya stood in front of me with his mouth shut.

“It’s desire. Desire that is far stronger than both hope and despair. That is because desire is the prototype, the origin, and original sin that birthed hope and despair. Desire is the intervening force behind every action.”

The voice was not only echoing from the hidden room. It was being sent out to the Church of Bones, to Prague, to the Czech Republic, and to the whole world.

“I found you, faker,” Master Byakuya smirked. “Show me your next move, try not to disappoint.”

The fake continued to speak, as if to say “of course.”

The both of them looked to be having fun.

Borges = View history #01106638 Title: “World Domination Declaration (Part 2)”

Desire.

It’s desire. Desire that is far stronger than both hope and despair. That is because desire is the prototype, the origin, and original sin that birthed hope and despair. Desire is the intervening force behind every action.

Tell me what it is you desire. Don’t be shy, go on.

I understand everything. It’s boring, isn’t it? You want adventure, don’t you?

I shall grant your desires. All you have to do is play my game. Participate in the World Domination Declaration. This is the world shattering event that will cure your boredom.

So allow me to give you a treat, dense bovines. I am currently in the Church of Bones.

Yes, I am in the Church of Bones all alone and unarmed.

Ripe… for slaughter. Go ahead, try and kill me. Now is the time to get serious. Try and kill the hope you oh so despise. Kill me, and I will be yours.

Or are you still just a whining maggot, even after all this has been set for you? I’ve provided the perfect opportunity for you, and yet you still make excuses to hide in your shell?

Oh well, I suppose it’s your life. Do as you like.

It’s okay to die as scum. It’s okay to die believing that you’re more than scum scum. It’s okay to become someone whose name will be engraved in the textbooks of history. Do what you want.

Effort can betray people, and there’s no guarantee that hard work will bear fruit. Still, without the desire to leave proof that you lived, you won’t be able to make a scratch on history. That is certain.

Oh well. I bid you adieu.

“It was a trap!” I cried. “W-what should we do? We made a huge mistake coming back to the Church of Bones…”

“It was our only option.”

“How are you being so nonchalant? We got tricked!”

“Think of it as a handicap. Something like a four-piece handicap in a game of shogi would be just right. And it’s not a particularly bad development. In a way, it’s a good thing that we came to the Church of Bones.”

Master Byakuya extended the antenna of the satellite phone he had taken out of the safe and began dialing a number without hesitation.

“Um, who exactly are you contacting?”

“It’s an order.”

“An order? Is it for a Visa?”

“It’s obviously an order for a hit. One from the former Super High School Level Hitman, Suzuhiko Otsuki.”

When I heard that name, my left eye…

…Almost like ink spilling over the edge of a bottle…

…Tears…

…Tears began to fall…

“It’s me, can you hear me?” Master Byakuya didn't notice anything strange about me as he held the satellite phone receiver to his ear.

“Dwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! May Buckingham always be in your heart! It is I, the true culprit in this magazine’s special edition… Allow me to shout to the crowd and let it be known, the iconic Suzuhiko Otsuki is here!”

A strange voice leaked from the speaker. It was the voice of a person who mocks the world and feasts on malice and vulgarity, the voice of a person who thinks that everyone other than himself is an idiot, without exception.

The voice of that man.

“Been a while, Byakuya. How’s it goin’? You givin’ world domination your best shot? Dyahahaha!”

“I’m not interested in idle musings. I’ll cut straight to the point, I’m making an order to kill someone.”

“Dyahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

“What’s so funny?”

“Is that even a question…? Dyahahahahahahahahahahaha! It’s obvious. It’s only natural to laugh after hearing somethin’ like that outta the little cute mouth of Byakuya, AKA the world’s most wanted.”

“The target on my head is my own business, not something you can laugh off.”

“Dyahahahaha! Good for you, bud. But I’m on a date right now.”

“You’re on a date?”

“I hope you realize I’m making this phone call in secret. Can’t let my darling honey know what I do for a living.”

“What are you on about?”

“Oh! This phone call reminded me, the other day I fought this clan of assassins. And their weapons were like scissors and bats, shit you’d see in the first half of a zombie flick. So I told ‘em, ‘I could beat you shits using a rice cooker!’ Dyahahahaha!”

“I don’t see what’s so funny about your story, nor do I see how it relates to this phone call.”

“S-seriously? Well then, anywho. I’ve already accepted a hit to kill this guy named Byakuya Togami.”

“Then there is nothing left to say.”

“Hey hey hey! Don’t hang up in such a hurry, Byakuya! You’re still as cold as ever, jeez. I haven’t even properly established my character yet.”

“That’s not my problem. I’m hanging up.”

“No need to be shy. We can talk about anything, anything’s ay-okay. Even Richard III.”

“Hmph, of course a hitman would bring up that name.”

“You’re the one who just tried ordering a hit, Byakuya. Just like how a bigshot places his hand on the Bible ‘fore a shootout, ya might as well place your hand on a copy of Richard III ‘fore requesting an assassination! Dyahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

Borges = Search results #11118905 Category: History, story Title: “Richard III”

The last king of England from the House of York, and the last king to die in battle.

In Shakespeare’s historical play ‘Richard III,’ he is portrayed as a man of terrible mind and body, twisted ambition, and a strangely captivating way of speaking. However Josephine Tey’s ‘The Daughters of Time’ argues that the negative portrayal associated with Richard III was unintentionally created by later generations.

There are many mysteries surrounding his life, and his true character has yet to be determined.

“Listen here, Otsuki. Do not forget that there is a world of difference between you and me,” Master Byakuya said, clutching the receiver tightly. “I give my stamp of approval to hitmen, then they fight their worthless consciences and destroy themselves.”

“Damn stupid. I cut ties with my conscience ages ago. It’s like, ‘Humans have lost their consciences and dance ‘til dawn.’ Consciences make people sick.”

“I already know you don’t have a shred of consciousness.”

“Dyahahaha! Thanks for the compliment. To thank you, I’ll kill you right~a~way~!”

“Try throwing me in a wine barrel.”

“You’re acting all tough, that’s not cute. Well then, Byakuya, keep yourself in one piece ‘til I get to ya. The second this call ends, you can’t turn your back on anyone. Dyahaha–”

“And so it is.” Before anyone could hear the unpleasant laughter, Master Byakuya hung up the satellite phone.

“Um, so whatever happened to your brilliant plan?”

“The world’s gotten so cheeky now that things just happen to not be going exactly according to my plan.”

“Master Byakuya, are you listening?”

“If the former Super High School Level Hitman is our enemy, then the situation has gotten gravely serious. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little shaken up.”

If Master Byakuya, the man who only thinks of other people as mere worms or shrimp, has said this much, then it’s clear that that man, Otsuki’s talent, was…

…Incredible.

I think the only student that could stand a chance against him would be Ikusaba.

Despite knowing that, I asked, “Perhaps we should get Enoshima and Fukawa to do something about it?”

“It’s too much for a gyaru and a writer to handle. You know very well that that’s beyond the world that they’re from. We have no choice but to deal with the impostor before Otsuki makes it to the Czech Republic.”

“That’s stupid, it’s impossible”

“What’s impossible is dealing with them both at once, and I request that you refrain from calling me stupid again.”

“…I have a suggestion.”

“Speak.”

“Let’s use ‘that.’”

That being his hidden move.

A finishing move that could change the world.

A word that would send the world into a frenzy.

However…

“I will walk my own path, using my own power.”

Dud.

Dududud.

Dududududududududud!

Suddenly, the sound of countless storming footsteps echoed. A thick atmosphere enveloped the Church of Bones.

It’s boring, isn’t it?

You want adventure, don’t you?

I shall grant your desires.

Perhaps Borges’ contact was poor, but the audio started playing automatically.

It’s true that I’m currently in the middle of an adventure, all thanks to the impostor.

The time was 10 PM. Four hours had already passed since the World Domination Declaration was issued.

There were many people under the still light-filled sky. Many faces expressed anger, passion, and even some anxiety. The Church of Bones was completely surrounded.

“It feels like the finale of the Yokohama Arena tour!” Hiroyuki and Yuika had climbed to the top of one of the Church of Bones’ three spires.

“What on earth is this?”

“Hey, young lady. Looks like we’ve got a few guests tryna kill you.”

The sight of the people looking up at me reminded me of a parade. It was exactly like the parade held by Hope’s Peak Reserve course. Its barrenness, its arrogance, its violence, its cowardice, its gaze, everything about it.

I have a headache. I need to take some aspirin. My head suddenly started to pound, and then… Yuika’s hand gently rested on my forehead.

“Pat pat.” Her sleepy voice and expression had a calming effect. Next, Yuika handed me a konpeito.

“Why are you giving me candy at a time like this?”

“It’s sweet.”

“I know that.”

“You knew that? Even though it’s so spiky?”

“S-sorry…”

“Thank you for your many great efforts.”

“Eh?”

“It’s babysitting.”

There was no time to ask her what she meant, we immediately spotted a fire rising from the Church of Bones.

They set it ablaze!

The people who set the fire were excited by the sight of the red-hot fire and let out cries of joy.

“Oh, it’s burning, it’s burning,” Hiroyuki said, looking down from the spire. “You know, I’m known as the ‘King of Flame Wars,’ online but it’s kinda shocking when one happens in real life.”

“Hey, this is no time for jokes.”

“I wonder if this is what Nobunaga felt while he was burning at that temple.”

“If you don’t have an escape plan, then be quiet.”

“Oh no, I’ve been scolded! Fine, if you say so, my lips are sealed nice and tight. Até breve, obrigado! See you next time!”

As our pointless conversation went on, the flames grew over the church walls. The old church was not fireproof, and if this continued, we would be reduced to ashes along with the skulls of about 40,000 people.

A low sound was faintly heard among the voices of the people, the sound of an engine.

The gates of the Church of Bones bursted open and it roared its giant tires as it charged into the grounds.

“Commoners, please stay away from the Church of Bones. We are from Hope’s Peak Academy!”

It was a decoration truck, commonly known as an art truck. It featured excessive LED lights, glittering aero parts, and brightly painted containers.

This uniquely Japanese culture has been receiving a lot of praise as art lately. These strange trucks, operated by delivery men, can even be seen on local highways and at parking areas.

But this is not Tochigi or Chiba, this is the Czech Republic, and when the occupant of the art truck is a student from Hope’s Peak Academy, things change.

The art truck that had parked on the grounds of the Church of Bones had the words “Luxury and Splendor” and “Royal Business” painted on the front, and a large illustration of Princess Sonia was painted on the container.

Beside the illustration were words that would lower your IQ just by reading them.

“Raised like a princess,

I cried at imperial school,

Hope’s flower shall bloom.

Let’s go, move beyond,

To the other side of time…

-Sonia Nevermind”

“Apologies for keeping you waiting, but we have arrived just in time.” The metallic driver’s door was opened, and Princess Sonia stepped out.

She was greeted with applause. The crowd, who had previously been hellbent on attacking us just a moment ago, were now in a frenzy at the arrival of the Super High School Level Princess.

No matter the generation, a young, beautiful woman is the perfect person to admonish and incite the people.

“To the people of the Czech Republic, I am truly sorry for the recent scandal that occurred at Hope’s Peak Academy.” Princess Sonia bowed her head gracefully. “I understand that you all want to destroy Byakuya Togami here and now. But I ask that you please entrust him to me. Would you people allow me to correct your misguided hopes?”

The power of envious influence. The contents of the speech were nothing special, but the atmosphere makes it hard to believe that, and the people are speechless.

“Miss Sonia! Miss Sonia! Wait for me!” Soda climbed over the gate that the decorated truck had destroyed.

I used Borges’s audio inspection function to concentrate on their conversation.

“Have no fear, Soda, chin up.”

“Haah... No, no, it’s not that, Miss Sonia. I’m not embarrassed, I’m just tired. I ran here at full speed after all.”

“You should have just gotten in the art truck. After all, you’re the one who made it for me, Soda.”

“Uh, I get motion sickness, remember?”

“That’s a complicated situation.”

“Don’t call it a situation!”

“So then how did you come from Japan all the way to the Czech Republic, Soda?”

“Did you forget that too? That girl said, ‘If you’re scared of flying, why don’t you just sleep?’ and then stabbed me with an injection! I practically fell into a coma thanks to that…”

“Just like King Kong. Rest in peace, just like the movie version that was a huge flop.”

“Jeez, that hurts more than you think, Miss Sonia.”

“Is the intel that Togami entered the Church of Bones reliable?”

“It was on the security camera. It seems that those two are still with him.”

“And how’s our ‘swindler’ doing?”

“Did you even hear that speech just now, Miss Sonia? He’s getting really caught up in the Byakuya Togami role. Though he seems to be trying out this ‘good guy’ thing compared to the real one.”

“Togami is the perfect example of a misunderstood bad boy. It’s easier to understand if you think of him like Xellos from Slayers or Howard from Uninhabited Planet Survive.”

“What are you talking about…?”

“Aw shoot, ol’ Sonia’s gonna burst into tears.”

“Uh, ahem, a-anyways. The swindler guy is in top form. All we need to do now is to get the real Byakuya Togami out here and we’ll be done, so cheer up, Miss Sonia.”

“That’s right. It might not be in my best interest to organize a national assassination on you because we have different interests.”

“National power sure is scary.”

“It would be painless.”

“It would absolutely not be painless!”

Princess Sonia uttered a catchphrase that didn’t quite make sense, and pointed at us at the spire. There were a few words that caught my attention, but I’ll get back to them later.

Princess Sonia… Soda… The students of Hope’s Peak Academy have officially attacked.

We need to think of something. Think of a way to survive. Just like back then.

Looking around, it seemed Princess Sonia's charisma was dominating the scene. She exuded the energy of “leave the rest to Hope’s Peak Academy,” and everyone did.

“You’re welcome to start anytime, Miss Sonia! You won’t even get sick just by operating it!” Soda climbed into the driver’s seat of the art truck, and the container opened to reveal a crane for high-altitude work.

Princess Sonia climbed into the crane’s platform below. The people watched in awe as the crane extended with a revving sound, approaching the spire where we were.

“Now I finally understand how both the wrecking ball and Miley Cyrus felt all at once!”

So she meant she was just going to come up here directly? It’s simple, but that's why it’s a surefire way to capture us.

With no weapons to repel them, we could only stare as Princess Sonia approached, like children waiting for Santa Claus to arrive.

The optical rangefinder installed in Borges calmly displayed the information of Princess Sonia’s approach.

Twenty meters. Fourteen meters. A few meters…

“That’s enough, fools.”

Come to think of it, I hadn’t looked at Master Byakuya yet.

I found Master Byakuya on one of the three spires… He sat on the edge of the tower. His golden hair flowing in the wind in front of the people… In front of the enemy…

He was fair and honorable, smiling like a true overlord.

“There are those who treat life as a mere game. A life in which you aim for the best ending may indeed resemble a game. I can’t help but agree with this approach of treating school, work, relationships, and managing your life as if you were playing a game. Everything is a game of win or lose, after all. The winners get drunk on fine wine, and the losers taste the bitterness. That is the simplicity of the game of life.”

Silence. The people, Princess Sonia, and Soda all listen in silence to Master Byakuya’s words.

What is he saying? What is his goal? I can’t understand.

“Obviously there are lives where you become a winner and then fall off, or ones where you’re the only one who believes you’re a winner. In some lives, the loser makes an incredible comeback at the end, and some lives where you keep trying but never taste what it’s like to win. There is no optimal method to winning, and there is no secret button combo. The starting conditions and starting equipment are all different. Everyone has different amounts of money and time to invest. It’s an unkind, unequal game. That’s what makes it fun, but I can also understand the arguments of defeatists who say it makes them feel unmotivated.”

Master Byakuya took a deep breath, as if to confirm the effect of his words.

“Some of you are experiencing this as an event. Some of you are rejoicing that the time has finally come for excitement in your lives, which up until now has been nothing more than a shitty game. That’s right. This is a major event hosted by me, Byakuya Togami. A celebration, adventure, something extraordinary, a dramatic reversal. And now I grant you a brand new bonus stage. Pay attention.”

Then, Master Byakuya scattered the gold bars from the safe across the ground like a whim from the heavens.

“I declare the opening of the bonus stage. Whoever can rescue me from the flames of the Church of Bones before the people of Hope’s Peak Academy can catch me will receive these bars of gold.”

Master Byakuya then dropped another gold bar, as if to make his point clear.

The people below stared at the shining golden bar before realizing that it was the real deal. Watching from the top of the tower, you could see the ripple effect in their hearts. Faced with a brand new bonus stage, the people began to ponder their desires.

Why did they come to the Tower of Bones in the first place? Now that they’ve gotten this far, how much more would they be willing to embarrass themselves?

It took less than five minutes for their behavior to shift.

The people began scaling burning walls, attempting to put out the fires with mineral water and rushing towards Soda in the driver’s seat, trying to get to Master Byakuya at all costs.

“Hehehe… Look at them risking their lives for something pathetic like this,” Master Byakuya said smugly as he looked at the scene below.

I, too, was enamored with Master Byakuya’s divine nature. No, I was in pure and utter awe.

I wanted to write Byakuyako. I was consumed with the urge to write. Ahh, the desire to work…

I want to fulfill my purpose, my duty as Blue Ink. My hands, brain, and heart itched.

I am the act of writing itself. I am the very act and manifestation of writing. I am a writing puppet. That’s why…

Yes, that’s why… I could feel the blush on my face increase as thoughts came flooding in.

He lost everything, his name, his identity… And yet he’s fighting for his redemption, all while dressed in a beautiful tuxedo. Right beside me.

What does that mean? At this very moment, am I the only person in the whole world who believes in his existence? Do I have him to myself?

I came to this realization. So in the end, I’ll only tell the world how I felt.

I was on cloud nine.

Some of the people tried to take over the crane, thinking that it might be the quickest way to reach Master Byakuya.

“Halt commoners! It’s dangerous! Only parade-goers can do that, such as on Japan’s new year parades!”

Princess Sonia’s trivia was drowned out by a deafening sound. It was a high-pitched sound that seemed to destroy my eardrums… No, it might as well have destroyed my ears themself. I instinctively covered my ears, but the piercing pain made it impossible to think straight.

Next came a gust of wind strong enough to shake the spire.

“Thaaaaaaaaaaat’s iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!”

Princess Sonia’s delicate body floated off of the gondola, then blew far away. If this were Team Rocket, she would have surely shouted, “Team Rocket’s blasting off again!”

What on earth was happening? Before I knew it, a huge cloud of dust had risen from the ground.

A new silhouette appeared in the dust. A huge, misshapen shadow.

Soon it appeared, and it was an incredibly bizarre vehicle. It had two jet engines resembling crab claws mounted on the front of the transport vehicle. I didn’t understand its purpose or its mechanics. It was incomplete, both as a weapon and as a vehicle, and it looked deformed.

But like any person in the modern era, when in need, I use the information at my fingertips.

Borges = Search results #41908870 Category: Weapons Title: “Uragan”

A minesweeping vehicle developed by the Czechoslovak People’s Army in the 1960s. It was developed to blow up mines underground with the use of jet exhaust. Since simply detonating the mines was easier and used less resources, it was retired.

While there have been plans to repurpose it, ultimately the amount of dust kicked up was extraordinary, and the efficiency was not much different from that of a human being, so those plans were put on hold.

Two people were on board this failed weapon, the Uragan, both wearing lab coats.

One was a redheaded man who was using an umbrella despite the fine weather. The other was a girl who was elementary school age at most, and she was the one operating the Uragan.

The Uragan with the two of them on board, with the sound of its jet engine revving, blasphemously rode up and over the gravestones and approached the Church of Bones.

“Mmmmmm… Mmmmmmm.!” Hiroyuki hummed his mouth as if he wanted to say something. Perhaps his lips were still sealed.

“That’s enough, speak.”

“Those guys are the Hasegawas!”

Borges = Search results #65926750 Category: Institutions Title: “Hasegawa Research Institute”

A research institute under the command of a man named Yoshinobu Hasegawa, which researches all academic subjects regardless of field. It is a highly confidential institution and does not report or announce any results.

The organization that runs it, MacGuffin Computers (USA), is a well-known company, but has consistently maintained a no-comment stance on the Hasegawa Research Institute.

Compared to the average person, I have deep ties to conglomerates and organizations. So even to me, the Hasegawa Research Institute was like an urban legend.

Everyone knows it exists, everyone knows the name and location. And yet no one actually works there.

There have been many rumors, such as a friend of a friend developing a new drug, or an acquaintance of an acquaintance working on human beauty treatments at a facility deep in the mountains, but no one truly knows anything about it.

“The Hasegawas? You mean from Hasegawa Research Institute?” He couldn’t help but ask the pointless question.

“The one and only,” Hiroyuki shrugged.

“Does the Hasegawa Research Institute also want Master Byakuya?”

“To be precise, what they want is the secret to the Togami clan’s prosperity. There’s countless people who want it. The Ketoin Corporation and the Hasegawa Research Institute are probably just the tip of the iceberg.”

I wanted to ask for more information, but the world wouldn’t let me. As soon as I heard that ear piercing high-pitched sound, the sound of a jet engine revving, the Uragan began its attack.

Kaboooooom!

The face of Princess Sonia painted on the container was deeply dented. Soda was stunned, panicking in the art truck, unable to move.

Princess Sonia’s voice could be heard, “Soda, take evasive action immediatelyyyyyyy…!” I could see Princess Sonia opening her parachute and fluttering in the wind.

But the art truck didn’t budge, meanwhile the Uragan began mercilessly shooting the pressure generated by its jet engine at the container.

Kaboooooom! Pow pow pow pow!

Some people got caught in the crossfire and got squashed like tomatoes. Perhaps realizing that the difficulty of the bonus stage was no longer worth it, the people fled the premises like a scattering of spiderlings.

“Hmph. What a bunch of useless idiots,” Master Byakuya snorted in dissatisfaction. “If you value your life, then don’t play the game in the first place.”

“Soda! Please get the art truck on the move!” Princess Sonia tossed her parachute aside and ran over to Soda.

“Even if that’s what you desire, Miss Sonia, I can’t do that!” Soda cried from the driver’s seat. "It’s straight up impossible! I get dizzy and vomit easily…”

Presumably deciding that there was no other way around it, Princess Sonia tossed Soda aside and started the art truck.

The two vehicles moved around, knocking down gravestones one after another in the not-so-large battleground. The giant tires dug into the soil and flowers, leaving tracks behind.

Princess Sonia’s driving skills were quite impressive, and she got behind the Uragan. The Uragan, which could only attack from the front, had no choice but to focus on evading.

“Hey! Heyyyy!” Soda was running around and away from the mass of iron that was swerving in all directions.

“Soda, what are you doing down there?”

“Didn’t you just throw me down here, Miss Sonia?”

“Hurry up and jump in the art truck!”

“That’s impossible in so many different ways! I’ll cry and vomit all over the place!”

“But I can’t combine by myself?”

“Say that again?”

“I want to combine with you, Soda.”

“Say that again!?”

“So I want to combine with you, Soda…”

“Miss Sonia, I’m going to record that in the highest quality audio ever now, so could you say that again?”

“Just hurry up!” Sonia scolded.

It was a display of superhuman strength in an emergency. Soda displayed incredible athletic ability, grabbing hold of the moving art truck and climbing into the driver’s seat.

“Jack oooooonnnnnnn!”

The moment Princess Sonia shouted loudly, the mechanical shifting began with a clanging sound. Arms stretched, legs came out, and finally…

“Face the overwhelming power of the Bogart Truck!”

It was a humanoid mech. It was a robot that was very passionately designed to look like some kind of delinquent, the kind you’d find guarding the halls at a high school in Hiroshima.

In the driver's seat, which also served as the robot’s chest, sat Princess Sonia with a big smile and Soda with a pale face. It would be rude to point out something like that, so everyone begrudgingly ignored it. The Bogart Truck spread its legs to cushion the impact and shouted “Back Button Blast!” as it fired its cannon.

The Uragan, which couldn’t possibly defend itself, made a jarring turn to avoid the cannon, but the Bogart Truck immediately took aim and fired the next shot, calling out “Bully Beam!” for some reason, I couldn’t tell you why. The Uragan’s current trajectory meant it couldn’t possibly dodge.

Bang!

…but the shot flew in the complete wrong direction and exploded in the air.

“Weak,” a voice murmured. “An assault without fists is too weak.”

A flesh-and-blood human was standing on the battlefield where the machines were clashing. The person stood tall and imposing on the battlefield, delivering a speech.

“The heavens are calling!

The earth is calling!

The people are calling!

All calling me to vanquish despair!

Listen here and listen well, despair!

I am a true warrior of hope, I am the Muscle Mask!”

No matter how you looked at it, it was obviously just Ogami wearing a mask…

Masks are an essential item at any Czech carnival, but they just hide your face, not your muscles.

Wearing a flashy mask, Muscle Mask aka Ogami closed the distance between her and the Bogart Truck in only a few steps.

“I grant you only three seconds.”

Her fists smashed down and Princess Sonia and Soda leaped out of the mech at the same time. The driver’s seat, decorated with vehicular parts, was crushed like paper mache.

The sound of a jet engine revving could be heard from behind the wrecked Bogart Truck. It was the Uragan, and it fired its air pressure and Ogami.

“Destroy!” A shout of determination drowned out the sound. The two weapons were rendered completely helpless.

This is it, this right here, this is the power of the Super High School Level Fighter.

“Togami, I heard the details from Enoshima,” Ogami looked up at the spire. “There’s something fishy about all of this. Why didn’t you tell me the truth?”

“Hehehe. You’re impressive,” Master Byauya clapped his hands appraisingly. “As long as you function as an instrument of destruction, that’s enough for me. An instrument of destruction must act like an instrument of destruction and eliminate all destruction with destruction. Look, here comes the next attack.”

Danananana daaa daaa! Danananana daaa daaa naaa!

The famous riff from Lenny Kravitz’s hit song “Are You Gonna Go My Way” rang out.

What is this time?

“It’s me this time!” A figure appeared above the Uragan.

The one mastering the guitar is… Taeko?

Encouraging her, the Uragan began to blow fire from the ground, causing a cloud of dust to rise.

Taeko enters the stage, charging at Ogami.

Ogami caught the guitar that was swung down on her head just in time.

“Raaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!”

“Ngggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh!”

“Jimmy Page intentionally made the sound thinner by phasing his Les Paul!”

“Instruments are meant to be performed!” Ogami swept the guitar away, and Taeko quickly regained her balance in mid-air and landed as if nothing had happened.

“That girl’s from the Hasegawa Research Institute,” Hiroyuki said, revealing a shocking truth. “She’s apparently the one who's supposed to watch us.”

So that means…

1.) Hope’s Peak Academy (Princess Sonia and Soda)

2.) Hasegawa Research Institute (The two in white coats and Taeko)

3.) Master Byakuya’s Party (The Ketoin Corporation, Ogami, and us)

We were players in a triple threat match.

Ogami and Taeko have already clashed. Ogami seems to be more skilled, but the Uragan’s rear support is getting in the way so she can’t land a decisive blow.

Meanwhile, from what we can see, the Bogart Truck seems to have lost its primary control system. Princess Sonia crossed her arms in a sulky mood, and Soda was holding a bag of vomit.

“Ora ora ora ora ora ora ora!”

“With my still, calm, and clear mind, your attacks appear to be nothing but merely standing still.”

“Grah! The guitar attack isn’t working… is what I’d say if I was lying-kick!"

“You’re cunning, little girl.”

“Little girls are always cunning, y’know? You should really stop working out so much and enjoy your youth!”

“My muscles are my youth!”

“Poor youth.” Taeko shakes off her legs and resumes hitting with the guitar. “Youth is about breaking school windows at night and forming an impromptu band at the school festival!”

“Are you forcing your youth onto me?”

“You’re the one spending all your time working out instead of falling in love!”

“How dare you assume I’ve never fallen in love!” Ogami's elbow strikes Taeko squarely in the side.

Taeko is sent flying, but this time she can’t regain her balance causing her chest to bounce off the ground like rubber.

The Uragan uses air pressure to hold back Ogami as she tries to pursue Taeko. Taeko takes this opportunity to stand up and she spits out some blood. “You have some balls actually going against me, I’m the bullfighter here.”

“Up against you? You have a high opinion of yourself. You’re completely outmatched by me.”

“I refuse to give in. If I did, then it’d be over. Don’t you think it’s important to have the strength to not accept defeat?”

“Why are you so hung up on landing a one shot?”

“Cause it’s cool, duh. I’m not interested in winning by digits.”

“You really think that would work on me?”

“You think I don’t know that?”

“Ngh…?” Ogami’s eyes widened.

“My attacks are indeed too big, but there’s a reason for that. My job is to stop you, not defeat you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I attack. You dodge. Then the Uragan gouges the ground and I perform my attack while scattering mines. And in the end, the Uragan covers it with dust again… Oops, you shouldn’t have moved carelessly. This is a high-density mine field now!”

Taeko lifts her skirt, and several mines fall down like a girl’s secret.

“I see.”

“Now I’ve sealed your movement. I don’t underestimate your jumping power, but I doubt you can break through here without making a single misstep.”

“And what about you guys?”

“What about us?”

“You guys can’t move either. Looking at that vehicle, it looks like it has a minesweeping function, but once we clear the battleground, you’ll be pursued.”

“I got that covered already.” From the back of Taeko… a balloon emerged, inflating. She floated up gently, like a character from a picture book.

The duo in lab coats aboard the Uragan also inflated a balloon from their backs and floated into the sky.

“This is everyone’s favorite Fulton Recovery System!” Taeko shouted. “We’ll get outta here without having to walk through the minefield!”

A shadow began to appear. I looked up and saw a transport plane flying low above the ground.

Fwoosh… Fwoooosh…

I heard a deflating sound, and it turned out that the balloon that had shot into Master Byakuya had inflated, sending him floating.

“Master Byakuya!” I reached out with my hand, but there was no way I could reach the spire on the other side. Like a balloon that a child has accidentally let go of, Master Byakuya rose into the sky in an instant. “Master Byakuya!”

No… No no no… This can’t be. I don’t want to be separated any more!

“Don’t make that face,” Master Byakuya said as he had his arms and legs crossed, looking calm even though he was floating high in the sky. It was like he was saying there was nothing to worry about, as if encouraging me not to give into this hell. “Hey, Blue Ink, tell me what your mission is.”

“...Completing the biography is my foremost priority.”

“Then observe. Observe this scene, this situation, this adversity, and write. Write like you’ve never written before.”

“Hey sis! Wahahahaha, sis!”

Yuika was far up in the sky. Now that I think about it, there were two shots fired, but of course I didn’t have time to worry about that.

“Can you hear me?”

“Y-yes!”

“I’m giving you an order, so listen carefully. Protect me, even if it;s you vs. the world.”

The transport plane collected all of the balloons and vanished. At that moment, the Church of Bones finally gave in and crumbled, burying both Hiroyuki and me.

#danganronpa #dr #dr togami #danganronpa togami

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