#pretty much true except for the 'passive' part

[walriding]

what jewel are your bones made of?

PEARL

you are a bit of an open wound. ⍜ the pain won’t kill you like you think it will, let yourself bear it and you’ll find you can ⍜ you might even find that the world is a lot more than your oyster. ⍜ reticent (unwillingly so), passive, introverted ⍜ resilient, generative, adaptable ⍜ you hold the ability to create and recreate the world around yourself

tagged by: @mslangermann ty uwu tagging: @losthacketteer or @thomasrekowicz or both!!, @dualgraced​, @melicra​, @paledeath​, steal it and tag me pls <3

[chaoticrushu]

God everything about Lisa is so tragic. Her trigger event, being forced into villainy by Coil, her desperate attempts to find out as much as she can to prevent the end of the world, and her whole relationship with Taylor.

She sees Taylor for the first time and immediately knows she's passively suicidal. She can't let that go, if course she can't, she can't let another Rex happen. So she reaches out, she invites Taylor to join the Undersiders, knowing the whole time Taylor's lying from the start. She gives her a friends/family/a support group, desperately hoping to give Taylor a reason to live. She takes her shopping, hoping to boost Taylor's confidence in herself. She pushes Taylor to go out with Brian, because she knows Brian has the same feelings, and she thinks it'll both help Taylor feel more tied to the group and help make her happier.

And it kinda works. Taylor gains confidence, she's stronger, she's happier.

"I'm sorry," Lisa put her hand on my shoulder. I felt grateful that she wasn’t pulling away or laughing. It was the first time I’d ever really talked about it, and I wasn’t sure I could’ve dealt if she had.

Shell 4.3

It kind of surprised me, but I realized what I was saying was true, so I didn’t even need to worry about tipping Lisa off. A second later, I realized I might have been a little presumptuous.

"I mean, assuming that we are frien—"

"If you finish that sentence,” Lisa warned me, "I'm going to slap you across the head." I felt the heat of a flush in my cheeks and ears. "Yes, Taylor, we’re friends," Brian said.

Shell 4.3

"I don’t know how to say this gracefully," I said. I paused, noting the presence of a hero nearby who’d raised a camera towards me. Whatever, I’d say it anyways. "But you guys mean a lot to me. I’m sorry I didn’t say it before, but I couldn’t without letting on that something was going on. You’re my family, in a way. As lame as it might be, I love you guys."

Drone 23.5

"I know," Grace said, after a pause. "I get that. I get that there’s other reasons. Like the fact that you love those guys and you never loved us. Cool. Makes sense."

"I liked you guys."

"But you didn’t love us.”

"No," I said.

Venom 29.1

By Arc 19, Lisa's sure she succeeded. She averted another Rex, she saved Taylor. Even with how self destructive Taylor is, pushing herself so hard towards a goal, first saving Dinah then saving everyone, throwing herself in dangerous situations one after another, she's in a better state than she was before. But is Lisa?

Taylor and Lisa have somewhat of a distant emotional connection. As much as Lisa has helped Taylor, Taylor can't really do the same to Lisa. Because even when she isn't wearing a mask in a literal sense. she's always wearing one metaphorically, one that she almost never lets slip. So as much as Taylor loves Lisa, she doesn't really know Lisa. She can't. Lisa's given Taylor a support system, but she herself doesn't have one.

"Except you’ve been talking to the heroes, and you’ve had that to help center yourself, figure out where you stand," Tattletale said. "I haven't."

"That’s it? You need to talk to someone?"

"No. That’s not what I’m saying," she said. She sighed. "Yes. Kind of. It’s only part of it. Who the hell am I going to talk to that grasps things on a level I do? Do you really expect me to find a therapist and sit down and not pick him apart faster than he can decipher me?"

"You could talk to me ," I said. "Not when you’re part of the problem, part of what I’d need to work past."

"That’s not fair," I told her.

"No, it isn’t," she admitted."

Scourge 19.7

And that disconnect shows in Taylor's pov. Even in Taylor's head, Lisa is so often thought of as Tattletale, not Lisa. Even as she's eviscerating Taylor on personal level in 30.1, she's still Tattletale, not Lisa. Rachel is almost always Rachel more than Bitch, and I'm pretty sure Aisha is Aisha'd as much as she's Imp'd.

Later in the same chapter, she explains herself, her first time in the whole book being genuine and letting herself be vulnerable.

Me? When you shot Coil, I realized I was done. I’d helped you out of the same trap of despair Rex had been in. Don’t know if the road I helped you down was a good one or a bad, but I’d finished."

"But why be reckless? Why take the risks?"

"Because I did what I had to do, I helped you, and I still feel like the stupid, self-obsessed little child that let her big brother die. It wasn’t conscious, but maybe I felt like I needed to up the stakes. Pull something dramatic. Show that, with these crazy smart capes like Alexandria and Faultline around, I could still be the smartest person in the room."

Scourge 19.7

She's finished her project, she's saved Taylor, whether for good or ill. She's freed herself of Coil. And it didn't fix her; She still bears all that guilt over Rex. Maybe, given time, Taylor could have helped Lisa, returned the favour. But they never had the time, because so soon after this, Taylor is outed, and things escalate, and Taylor is gone. I can't imagine what that did to Lisa, but it I'd guess that it means that her one true friend, probably the only person who even comes close to understanding her, is gone. Of course, she keeps in touch. But the letter she sends, its so impersonal, naught more than a status report. Whereas Brian and Rachel's are emotional and personal, confessions of their feelings. (I love Taylor and Rachel's relationship so much, but that's not the point here.) And when they meet all meet back up before Behemoth, the only thing she says to Taylor is asking her to survive. I think that even though she said she felt like she'd succeeded fixing Taylor, she was still doubting. Taylor is Taylor, I don't think she ever really could have been saved just by who she is. And Lisa could probably tell.

With a touch more seriousness, Tattletale said, "No dying, okay, Skitter?"

"Weaver," I corrected.

"Skitter," she said. "Here, today, you’re Skitter. Consider it a good luck charm. And no dying . I’ll say it as many times as it takes, until it gets through to you."

...

“Just remember,” Tattletale called out, “You’re officially Skitter today. Don’t be a hero. No point to all this shit if you do something brave and get yourself killed.”

Drone 23.5

And it all leads to Khepri. Taylor ruining herself, letting someone alter her brain to such an extent in a desperation to beat Scion. And it kills Lisa

"You couldn’t have made it easy?” Tattletale asked, looking down at it. “Because standing by while you do this… that’s fucking hard . It’s honestly easier if I’m on their side and I’m helping them stop you. If I can blame the fuck-up job Panacea did to your head."

"While I’m saying all this, kiddo, you gotta know I love you. I adore you, warts and all. You saved me, as much as I like to think I saved you. All this stuff I’m bitching about, it’s the same stuff that got us through some pretty hairy shit, and I love you for it as much as I groan about it. You’re brilliant and you’re reckless and you care too much about people in general when I really wish you’d leave things well enough alone and be selfish. But this?"

"Shit ," Tattletale said. "You gotta forgive me, just this once. Because seeing this and knowing what you pulled hurts enough that I gotta say this. This makes me feel really sorry for your dad, because I’m starting to get a sense of what you put him through.

Speck 30.1

Like, god. The tragedy of loving Taylor Hebert, a stubborn, persistent, unyielding person, one who doesn't value herself but will give everything to fight for her friends. For all that Lisa could try and do to save her, for all the happiness she could try and give her, it didn't work. Taylor becomes Khepri, and she loses her forever. I'm don't even know if Lisa knows what happened to Taylor, that she's on another earth, safe with the opportunity for genuine happiness without all the crises, able to be a regular person. Or does she assume Taylor died, maybe at the hands of a cape traumatised and angry and being mind controlled, maybe because of her own shard destroying her?

Does she ever regret trying to fix Taylor? Does she ever think back on it and wonder if Taylor would be better off if she hadn't guided her into villainy?

[hongluboobs]

tumblr user hong lu boobs have you played any of the new canto yet im very interested in your thoughts

Yes I do!!! I don't want to make a big post on Some Of The Stuff til the whole canto is up (if you are aware of this account and some of my recent postings it may become aware of what i am talking about) but ohhghghgh. This shit Re Awakened the naive cyanism in me!! I thought it was gone. I thought I was over Hong Lu! I haven't even been doing my dailies and weeklies as of late that's how out of it i've been. but NOPE!! We are sooooo limback babey!!

(i apologize for yapping about hong lu right off the bat. its not that guy's turn yet. it's don's world and we are all just living it, but with the way don's character is structured my brain goes more towards a "wait and see" approach for her. I know it'll be awesome and i Am invested but like. this is hong lu boobs dot tumblr dot com. I'm sorry women)

I'll put some basic stuff above the cut and then some more spoiler-y stuff below.

HUGE fan of the presentation this canto. PJM continues to get crazier with this stuff every canto and this is no exception.

In the light of that previous bullet, I am fully expecting some meta fuckery here. They've pulled some cool stuff at the ends of cantos 5 and 6 but. this is the sinner about delusion/unreality! I Live In Fear of whatever pm is cooking.

The setting is also REALLY fun. whenever I saw a new battle bg i was cheering and clapping. they're all so fun and whimsical and there's so much potential for interesting things

I really like seeing how people dress in the north of the city! We've had so many new factions/branches of factions thrown at us so far and I love a lot of the outfits! Will this still hold true when I try to draw them and get upset at the level of detail after drawing standard formalwear on pm characters for so long? Maybe!

The CGs have been really clean so far? As an artist I get worried about this stuff sometimes because it's a lot of work to get done but all the ones I've seen so far are really nice :)

If you aren't reading passives and status effects this canto. do that. my brain might be a little too small atm to comprehend some of the gimmicks w the main enemy type but some of the wording in the enemies passives may be hinting at things. Also some of them are really funny

this Might be my favorite direction they've taken the OST? Honestly it's so hard to pick because this ost NEVER misses but I've been typing this whole thing to that one boss's theme (you know the one)

If you've played through the first part of the canto, feel free to click through the read more for some of my thoughts that delve more into spoiler territory

I am so intimidated anytime the screen goes black and I have to deal with various colored text and Scary Voiceover. I cannot say much on it aside from just how scared i get whenever it happens. I'm pretty bad at identifying voices (especially if i don't understand the language) but these lines just get. so interesting

Here they are all together for my convenience (and potentially yours :) )

I don't have a ton to say on it especially because anything I say can be proven wrong Very Quickly and I am not a don quixote scholar but I think the "Please, please! I don't want an adventure, stop! Please!" line from (who i assume to me) second kindred don is VERY interesting. much to think about regardless!

UPDATE: while I was writing this my buddy lu-is-not-ok (follow him. if you like what I do you'll like what he does.) sent me this image.

Yep, we've got identity stuff going on. Yellow seems to be Our Don Quixote (It's her text color, at least, but back then she'd be the bloodfiend second kindred, hence being able to obliterate that bear immediately, and acting less in line with the DQ we know and love) while red is... maybe the original don quixote? The original owner of rocinate at least,("Your running shoes look like they could fetch a nice price...") who seems obsessed with justice and fixers like ours. I haven't read the book so I don't feel like I can add a ton more to this aside from flat speculation but I am very interested in how this develops.

Ok now I want to talk about Hong Lu stuff. Let's ignore the elephant in the room for just a second :)

I'm a big fan of the exchange between Dante, Verg, and Hong Lu. THERE IS SO MUCH CONCERNING FORESHADOWING IN HERE!!!!! OH MY GOG. I can't handle it.

the specific wording of "the most lucid one" is SO interesting to me. fully expecting these cantos to be a True Combo. I was already anticipating it because they both have so much to do with rules and the boundary of reality and delusion but with the familial hierarchy theme present in bloodfiends its Definitely happening. And the light in Hong Lu's left eye going dimmer??? with the water theming being used??? Gloom/sinking themed distortion Please Please Please. you're nothing. Theres some water connections from the book irt the land of illusion (near the end bao-yu's enlightenment is seen as realizing that everything is akin to moonlight mirrored in the water- it ultimately doesn't matter and everything predestined to happen will occur regardless) and this water theming is present in Hong Lu as well (base ego) but it's really interesting to see it Like This.\

And now. there's probably some other stuff I can talk about but I wanna say things about The Elephant In The Room. If you follow my stuff and are caught up on this canto you know what I'm talking about.

I have been compiling a diagram with every mention of Hong Lu's family across all his dialogue. (which you can see here if interested, though it's now outdated for obvious reasons) We only really get vague mentions, the only direct family appearance is Jia Huan, who shows up to say one line and then fucks off.

I was not expecting to get stuff on Hong Lu This Early. They've been giving us mostly crumbs and I was NOT expecting to get hit by All This. I have been surviving on scraps and I just had the Hong Lu lore equivalent of a rotisserie chicken thrown to me. I'm kind of rusty on DOTRC because I haven't touched up on it in a while and as such I cannot give too many details but it's very interesting to see Xichun.

I'm going to check up on Xichun's characterization in the source later because there's so many characters in that book and she wasn't really one I had that close an eye on during my read. From what I remember, she's one of Bao-yu's cousins who lives in the garden with him, and eventually runs away to become a nun when the family starts falling into decline. (mirroring Bao-yu running away to become a monk for the same reasons.) I'm probably missing stuff I'll catch when I go out to reread the book, but based on how she's depicted here it gives me more of an idea about what themes of dotrc they're pushing for canto 8.

They're for sure emphasizing the familial abuse and how fucked up the jia family is. It almost reads like all of the siblings are in competition with each other (building "factions"). and Hong Lu has said his siblings have attempted to kill him before.

Hong Lu has been like this, which lines up with his book equivalent of Bao-yu, who is notorious for being childish/naive and not necessarily working within the pre established rules and conventions set up by his family. I'm curious how he's managed to survive this long with the jias a lot more willing to Kill Eachother.

"My most amicable sibling" fucks me up so much. what the hell is this family's deal man. I'm really curious about this line, because xichun is not a sibling but a cousin in the book. I'm curious what's gonna happen with Bao-chai and Dai-yu in Limbus because it's very challenging to adapt this story without those two. Dai-yu in Dotrc is one of the characters Bao-yu feels most comfortable being himself around. Generally, the female characters in DOTRC are better people than the male ones, and Bao-yu spends most of his time with the girls as a result. I'm curious how/if they'll adapt this because it's a pretty big thing in the book and they serve as an escape for Bao-yu from dealing with the nightmare that is people like his father. I feel if it was happening, they'd probably write Xichun a little kinder, but I don't know nearly enough to make any sort of call yet. Absolutely TERRIFIED (positive. this is a good thing) for what PM is cooking.

I'm gonna have to cut this off here because i have A Lot of thoughts but i also have many assignments to finish and have been typing this for way too long! Thank you for asking the question anon I hope you enjoyed reading some of my thoughts :) !!

[akane-kurokawa]

“Does Oshi no Ko NEED the reincarnation aspect to work” is a sentiment I’ve seen a lot lately, especially on the subreddit (which I still check regularly despite what it’s devolved into) Personally, I think that’s the wrong question, you should be asking “WHY is the reincarnation aspect present.”

First, let’s talk about parasocial relationships. The idol industry is built upon them, more-so than any other industry. Idols are supposed to be the ideal -yet unattainable- partner to fantasize about, to the point where they’re forbidden from having those kinds of connections in real life without facing scrutiny.

Ai Hoshino is the “Ultimate” idol. She doesn’t have ANYONE she has those genuine connections with, even her fellow group members hold her at the same untouchable distance that her fans do. She became an idol in hopes of loving others, and recreated the motions so perfectly that her lie became all anyone wanted from her. To the point where her true humanity was rejected, like by Nino in 45510.

Enter our protagonists (Layer One)

Sarina Tendouji is a hospital bound fan of all of B Komachi, but especially Ai. She idolizes her for being a girl her own age with a pretty face and incredible singing and dancing skills. This especially resonates with Sarina who’s studied B Komachi’s choreography non stop, but was tragically not able to dance herself due to her condition.

Goro Amamiya is an OBGYN in a small town that became a diehard fan of Ai after Sarina’s passing, superimposing the two in his head as he described it. When he met Ai in real life and became her doctor during her pregnancy, he found her off camera personality charming and internalized her philosophy about lies.

Then of course, after his death they were reincarnated as her twin children. During that time they saw her in a much more human way, worrying about money and providing for her family, harboring insecurities, being the best mom that she could be despite her circumstances.

They saw the way she gets treated by the industry and public she came up in as well, her parts cut out of her first drama due to corporate politics, her being speculated on and called a whore for just talking to an old classmate, and especially how her death was received. By this point, their relationship with her is much closer than the parasocial place it began.

But has it?

Enter our protagonists (Layer Two)

Sarina Tendouji was a girl rejected by her mother as her condition got worse. She loved her mother deeply and wanted to be just like her when she got older.

In the last few years of life she never even saw her mom, that void filled with the presence of a doctor loitering in her room to slack off work, and the idol she watched. What she wanted more than anything though was for her mother to come see her again.

Goro Amamiya was a boy born from a woman who hid her pregnancy and died in childbirth. That death painted the entirety of his life going forward.

Even then he’s haunted by his feelings of helplessness when he loses the child patient he had befriended early into his residency. He’s become a passive person, following the whims of others because of his perceived helplessness.

Both of them take these complicated feelings into their next life, and it paints their relationships with Ai after her death.

Ruby wants to follow in her moms footsteps once again and be just like Ai, to the point of naming her idol group B Komachi. Ultimately, I think she mostly takes positively from her time as Ai’s daughter, and looks more to Ai’s life rather than her death.

Aqua on the other hand, witnessed his mother bleed out in front of him in almost a metaphorical recreation of his first mother’s death, and this has shaped him irreversibly. Except this time there’s an object for his hatred other than himself. This time, his mother was murdered. He could do more than follow in the motions of preventing it from happening to others. This time he could get revenge.

Now “Why is the reincarnation aspect present.”

Ai Hoshino was never understood by anyone, her parents, her idol group, even her trusted adults. But two people, born with traumas and biases that paint their perspectives, were both brought into this world with their goal to try.

Aqua more investigatipvely, tracking down loose ends from her past, holding onto people with the ability to profile her from videos and images. Whereas Ruby is on a more personal journey of understanding her, recreating the steps of her journey more directly and coming to her own conclusions about it.

This leads us to the 15 Year Lie, the potential climax of the series as a whole, and the event referenced from the prologue chapters. The movie that began as a documentary meant to tell the true unfiltered life of Ai Hoshino as she always wanted. It had even made some headway prior to her death, but it’s hard to say how much.

This movie finds itself as the roadmap of both twins journey in understanding. Aqua now has the resources and connections to speak to anyone from Ai’s past, her mother, her fellow idol members, and likely more. But by this point, Aqua also knows the name of the man his tunnel vision hatred is focused on. And hatred is seeping into this story down to the script itself

Ruby is also now in the position of very literally playing Ai, the arguably highest point on her journey to walk in her mother’s shoes. Compared to Aqua, I think she’s getting much closer to her goal.

Of course, it’s still too soon to say how that will go for her, I expect her journey of understanding will continue for the entirety of of the movie filming process. There’s still the entirety of Ai’s relationship with Hikaru and her children as well as her death to be covered and I’m sure Ruby will have plenty of challenges and breakthroughs with those too.

In conclusion, not only is the reincarnation aspect needed, I think it’s crucial to what the story is trying to say thematically. If they were just children who lost their mom young and tried to understand her it would be compelling, but thematically it wouldn’t carry nearly the same weight as fans pulled across the parasocial line with their own projected baggage.

Remember, being ‘reborn as an idols child’ is inherently a parasocial fantasy.

[hersterical]

Some of my favorite fictional friendships who I think would be willing to get platonically married (some of these I ship both platonically and romantically and some of these I ship purely platonically)

(Stranger Things) Robin & Steve: Do I even need to explain this one?

(MCU) Kate & Yelena: This is doubly true if Yelena is ace and/or aro. I could also see them getting married on an assignment or something and then just not getting around to divorcing while joking about being work wives

(MCU) Clint & Natasha: I honestly only see this happening in a situation where Laura dies in a non-Thanos related incident

(Seinfeld) Jerry & George: They sincerely believe that it was just for the tax benefits. Hard to say if they ever become self-aware enough for it to become romantic

(Community) Annie & Abed: Got carried away with the bit. Abed doesn’t take marriage seriously enough to get a divorce and Annie likes the idea of being married and being able to refer to someone as her husband. They do eventually both grow to actually enjoy being platonically married to each other. Annie might eventually want a divorce when she realizes she’s a lesbian and falls in love with a woman. Abed might want a divorce if he sees how sad the marriage makes Troy

(Lotr) Legolas & Gimli: Same reasons for why they’d get married romantically but if they had no romantic feelings for each other

(X-Men Evolution) Rogue & Kitty: I could see them actually following through on an “if neither of us are married by the time we’re 40” kind of arrangement, though it’d take quite a bit of convincing on Kitty’s part and wouldn’t happen until their 50’s

(The Good Place) Jason & pretty much anyone except for Michael (and Janet): Literally canonically happened with Tahani, kind of canonically happened with Pillboi. Eleanore would definitely go for it if it got her out of a tough situation (and depending on her relationship status with Chidi). Would probably be able to guilt trip Chidi into it if it was really necessary to get Jason out of a bad situation

(SPOP) Bow and Sea Hawk: I don’t think this requires an explanation

(Willow) Kit & Elora: Only if there’s something that stops Kit from marrying Jade or if it’s on accident

Honorable Mentions

(Psych) Shawn & Gus: Shawn would no hesitation platonically marry Gus but Gus would not be up for it

(BBC Merlin) Arthur and Merlin: Would they be platonic life partners? Yes. Would they be romantically married? Yes. Would they get platonically married? No.

(X-Men Evolution) Kurt & Kitty: They would also have an ‘if neither of us are married by the time we’re 40’ kind of thing but Kurt’s too much of a romantic to go through with it

(Community) Jeff & Britta: It wouldn’t be romantic, and it wouldn’t be platonic, but a secret third thing (probably related to spite). We already almost saw it happen in the season two premiere

(Schitt’s Creek) Stevie and David: They would consider it in the pre-Patrick era, but David’s too much of a romantic to go through with it (did they have an ‘if we’re not married by the time we’re 40’ thing in canon? I can’t remember)

(New Girl) Winston and Cece: A classic Winston and Cece mess around would go too far and Cece would demand an immediate divorce (though dependings on the timing she might let it go longer than necessary just to watch Schmidt’s head explode regularly)

(BTVS) Tara and Oz: Sincerely don’t know if either of them would actually be down for this but I think it’d be tons of fun

(SPOP) Bow and Adora: I think they’d be perfectly happy to be platonically married but Glimmer would blow a gasket and Catra’s passive aggressiveness would be reaching very dangerous levels

[fumiku]

Hear ye hear ye!

I come bringing two Dungeon Meshi marchil fanfics to share

Enough

He got crumbs of it in moments, here and there, and it would be more than enough to last the winter. Chil knew how to live on little, with only what he could afford. But love? Love he had had enough of for a lifetime.

I'll start with the shorter one that I wrote first, a quick Chilchuck POV 1.3k words oneshot that's bittersweet if not just plainly sad. It’s about repressing a crush essentially, but the marchil is mostly a front for a character study about Chilchuck’s complex feelings on his marital situation and love in general. I’ve been told many times in comments that even without shipping marchil it was enjoyable, so give it a shot if that sounds interesting!

He soaked her in, like hard bread softening in broth.

Grind Me Down Sweetly

Even years after their journey into the dungeon, Marcille wasn’t quite over her existential dread over short lifespans… And it showed. Every other day, she came by to Chilchuck’s locksmith shop with a shocking lack of locks to smith.

Coffeeshop au except it’s not an au and there’s no coffeeshop. This one is a long oneshot of 17k words, and contains flashbacks that are meant to loosely span over a year. This fic can pretty much be entirely read as platonic. They’re just close friends but they give married energy is all. Slice of life and cozy with a side of banter & tsundere behavior, and existential dread hurt/comfort as the cherry on the sundae. It contains some classic Dungeon Meshi things like storytelling through cooking and sharing meals~ If you like the Marcille and Chilchuck dynamic in canon, this is pretty much just a bunch of that, shenanigans abound!

She clung to her friends like time was always running out.

Blonde hair is the epitome of beauty to him meanwhile his greying hair brings her existential despair. I am composed and collected about this

"I am going to chase you out with a broom"

Some related-ish memes I made!

Extra author notes and marchil rambling under cut

With how chil is so irritable and private about romance and his feelings it makes sense that their romance would have passive-agressive energy. Are they just friends or pining? Oh wouldn’t you like to know. Are they just lightheartedly bantering or is he legitimately pissed or are they blinking in morse code their true feelings at each other? Yes

My post-canon timeline is Chilchuck lives a nice life living alone in his house-shop except his friends all visit him and care, and even though he likes living alone it’s also bittersweet and every corner of his life is haunted by the ones he loves and loved and the moments he had with them. That’s it that’s all I want… (mostly the nice life part lol)

My marchil manifesto is that she grows on him stubbornly like fungal yeast and it brings out his flavor like beer <3 Because she stubbornly puts her nose everywhere and refuses to give up on getting closer to her friends and it makes him open up and repress his feelings less and aaaa <33 Obligatory shout out to the dunmeshi discord serv for engaging with my rambles

For someone who dislikes alcohol I’m having so much fun working beer metaphors and stuff into the writing, Chilchuck has all the fun motifs to play with fr... Traps, lockpicking, married life, work, destitution, starvation, rejection, repression, opening urself up to the world. Give me the most domestic fluff and give it a subtle foundation of angst and hurt comfort 👌

And I do think that Marcille takes a particular interest in Chilchuck especially because he’s so set on being a closed book as well. Yeah she def is like 👀 at him. Aaah the way she wants to meet his family so bad 😭💕 I think she romanticizes him & his family life/idealizes him as a virtuous husband a lot too. Like how she tends to think of things in a more flowery story-like way.

I do compare him to bread and her to soup in that he soaks up in her warm vibes and softens up. Which has become a personal favorite. He was bread, she was soup, can I make it any more obvious /lyr Soggy bread Chilchuck is so funny to me. Like, you know that rock solid bread but then you soak it in soup and then it just becomes the softest crumbliest thing. I think Chilchuck is a really hard bread that will break your teeth if you don’t put him in some soup beforehand. Or wine. I wracked my brain a lot about what food Chil would like (because his Adventurer’s Bible profile just says he love alcohol and hates sweet dishes rip) and I end up giving him a bread motif a lot, since it pairs well with alcohol and whatnot.

With marchil I either do unrequited angst because Chilchuck will NOT allow himself to feel, or the most domestic fluffy shit ever but in a mostly platonic dimension because once again -gestures at Chilchuck- But in a true Marcille "If I was Chilchuck’s wife" Donato fashion she manages to get her nose into the most stubborn’s people stuff like a barnacle and it’s. So married people coded anyways. They’re a lil messed up but it’s ok they’ll iron out those bumps. Ironing because they are gonna do the most domestic chores together 🔥🔥 MARRIEDCORE I TELL YOU I should get around to making more fics and more different vibes though, I already have a bunch of prompts written down~

Even more rambling and headcanons!!

I hc that when he gets his shop all his living quarters are half-foot sized so whenever the party comes to visit they suffer sitting down at the dinner table and whatnot

There’s a very specific horror in not being able to grow old with your loved one… It’s gotta be rough being in a relationship where you don’t mature at the same speed/rate. It must be so heartbreaking to turn around and your lover suddenly looks 70 while you’re still like 26 Chilchuck living until he lives with either Meijack or Flertom or at the castle and spends his days grumbling about people being even more incompetent than they used to be real. He can live longer than 50 🙏 come on peepaw you can make it to 70. He’s got so many friends ready to nurse him, prob while he complains about it. This is why I find elderly half-foots a funny mental picture. For a while I wondered if half-foots aged visually much at all in the traditional sense, and then I remembered these.

In my post-canon headcanons I’ve adopted the idea that Marcille doesn’t do her hair, it’s always someone else making her hairdos like an attendant or Kabru and like maybe Falin learns. In the "it takes a village to raise someone" community mutual aid energy… And the rare times where the task befalls Chilchuck he learns how to put it in a single braid (even if it’s so much hair for him to hold in his small hands all at once rip) because the one time he braided it in two in canon it reminded him of Meijack and gave him psychic damage. WHICH. Ohhh my god you have no idea how much I care about Chilchuck’s daughters now. After writing the first half of Grind Me Down Sweetly I am forever changed I know them all by name and know everything there is to know about them, I am making so many headcanons every day… Meijack wears thigh-high boots because she hates when sand, dirt or snow gets in her shoes- I have fanart coming up of them over at @fuumiku and I’d love making fics centered around them as well eventually yippee The angst of old senile Chilchuck still tying marcille's hair... Old senile chilchuck confusing marcille for one of his daughters… "Have you gotten taller? Oh how much you’ve grown" -breaking his neck looking up at her- I want Chilchuck to get the top notch elder treatment.

Ok this is the alcoholism tangent. I really want to believe Chilchuck can be super old, but… Realistically he’s gonna drink himself to an early grave, he’s a work hard play hard kinda guy.

Marcille would be horrified if she knew the extent of it fr fr, but I do think it’d drive a wedge between them if she tried getting him to lay off of it… If he’s open to it though that’d be so nice and sweet. Hey hey btw did you know, Chilchuck is canonically underweight due to extremely strict dieting and alcohol can act as a good hunger suppressant! Lots of issues to dig into here It’d be cute if his daughters visit him often and collectively keep tabs on him in a caring way. It’s less cute actually beinh the daughter and having to deal with it but- CHILCHUCK IS WORTH IT okay!!! Where’s that meme of "You can fix him? So is 5 other people y’all look like a construction crew" bc this increasingly looks like ‘Marcille Senshi Laios Izutsumi and his family make sure he doesn’t poison himself like a dog with chocolate’ mission.

Truly for some people reason just flies out the window when it comes to alcohol, coherence gives way to excuses. He reminds of someone I know who got a grave disease that’s worsened by alcohol and just. Continues to take it regularly. You know that thing that’s said where "an alcoholic parent will have 2 kids, one will grow to be alcoholic too while the other will never touch a drop of alcohol" and Chilchuck is def the first I think. He gives the vibe that he’d say "An alcoholic parent puts a strain on familial relationships?? Pshh, my father was and look at me! I turned out great!". I don’t think Chil could really get shaken out of it at this point tbh, seems very ingrained in him, would prob fight it back. I relate with my own familial situation ughh. Maybe if he realized how it hurt the people around him and not only himself though…. I’d def like to see him ease up on it. Drinking is often a social activity though. That gives me hope, especially with the whole dunmeshi lesson of sharing meals, that he might be able to/have recontextualized how or when he likes to take alcohol, that alcohol is better when you have others with you and you’re still able to talk and whatnot. Chilchuck says that he’s pretty picky with alcohol tho, like he has specific tastes or a high bar. Laios can ban good beer in the kingdom and then Chilchuck just stops because it all tastes awful and he’s not rich enough to import. The brewery he likes mysteriously burns down in a fireball incident one night. Marcille risks prison for her loved ones part 2, now with diplomatic immunity! ✨

I have hcs about Chil’s family dynamic, about his daughters and how alcoholism or workaholism may have affected everyone (not me inferring that Puckpatti being the most idealistic and optimistic from Chil’s daughters is probably a result from her being the youngest and perhaps Chil being the most often at work during that time and so she was mostly raised by her mother without much involvement from him). That’s a topic for another day though, for now I leave you all with thoughts of Flertom painting flowers on a shitty ceramic mug when she was 3 and Chil begrudgingly asking Marcille advice on picking a birthday gift for Puckpatti :) Oh yeah, because if we look at the timeline in The Adventurer’s Bible and combine it with when Chilchuck said that "Due to certain circumstances he hasn’t seen his wife or daughters in years" in the Senshi backstory chapter, besides letters with Flertom he has seemingly not seen them in 4 years. 4 YEARS. Thank god dungeons disappeared, it took that much for him to retire

[mythicamagic]

May I ask why you like Sukuna so much? Don't get me wrong, I love him too, he reminds me of Yang from Piofiore, but I thought you would be more attracted to Gojo or Geto? 🤭

Thank you for the excuse to yap, anon! Talking about my biases is one of my favourite things to do.

I guess my answer can be summed up with three points:

Sukuna is hot - I like his tattoos and his true form satisfies my monster romance cravings

Sukuna is charismatic

Intelligent villains make brain go brrr.

To elaborate, when JJK first came out I did simp a bit for Gojo because of his eyes and white hair. It wasn't really anything other than shallow - hey, he's pretty.

(I've never been a Geto girlie, I respect those who are, but I haven't felt anything toward him other than sympathy for his breakdown or apathy toward him becoming a cult leader type. He's aight.)

When Sukuna was first revealed I found him entertaining but wrote him off as purely insane. Fun to watch but nothing interesting. This changed in episode 4.

That episode showed his charisma tbh. An insane villain is only fun to watch passively, that or they become annoying. A truly personable villain is one that lives comfortably by enjoying what they want to do but also demonstrating intelligence and cunning. Guys like Sukuna and Yang are my favourite type of villain because they're so incredibly selfish they seek to assuage their boredom via entertainment. They thrive in violence that isn't targeted or hateful, just pure enjoyment. Putting aside the murder part- as someone who is incredibly meek and anxious irl, those characters appeal to me because they thrive unapologetically. Their ugliness is embraced and celebrated.

From a purely simping standpoint- Someone like Nanami is the greenest flag you've ever seen. That man would take care of you and love you. 10/10 you should marry, he's perfect. However, for someone like me, that perfection would make my imperfections feel worse.

Characters like Sukuna basically remove that because they're reveling in their own fun. I think to really enjoy them is to remove your own ego from the equation in a way- because these men will not cater to you emotionally. Yang is there for pleasure, Sukuna is there for entertainment, ect.

However in this way - you can kind of find vindication through them too. Liliana grew into herself more by becoming Yangs woman. She lost her freedom but gained it in other ways by experiencing sexual liberation and the darker aspects of the world- living in it and adapting. I figure life with Sukuna would be like that too in some AU where he wouldn’t automatically kill you.

I find Sukuna the most interesting character in JJK because he's centered and intelligent even as he revels in chaotic destruction. He's well read and has a history that gives him a tangible presence. He's strong but playful, cruel but absent of hatred for his opponents in a way that feels almost respectful even as they're fighting to the death (with the exception of Itadori).

A lot of what he is ticks my boxes. I expect Scar from Wuthering Waves will also scratch my itch for this type of villain too once we know more about him.

Er so yeah...take your pick anon haha. Simple answer: Sukuna is a cool villain, and I like to watch him have fun (not excusing anything he does but I trust your media literacy enough to understand that)

Complicated answer for simping: something, something, female empowerment fantasy through being allowed to be the worst version of yourself with a villain, thus achieving liberation from societal constraints.

[incandescentflower]

Teddy Bear halfway (actually, a little over) check point. I have pulled myself out of my full life disassociation to take a break. I moved a little into episode 9 because episode 8 ended with the lead up to Nut's birthday and this was clearly going to be important.

They had been giving all the flags about Nut's childhood. It wasn't that his mother just picked his father and they had a happy little life, albeit not with the man she loved. No, Nut's childhood was not great. And as with many people with childhood trauma, some of it culminated around his birthday.

It was really satisfying to have Nut get the recognition from his mother that she had been passive and selfish in more than just the recent years of her mental illness. We all know this won't wash it all away completely, but it was healing start for the both of them.

And all of this is happening while Nut is opening his heart to Tofu. There is way too much "I'll stay with you forever" for my liking because I haven't been fully spoiled, but my sense is Tofu's time is limited and he will not be with Nut for the long term (at least in this particular manifestation of himself).

I'm feeling pretty satisfied that most of my thoughts about where this was going have been revealed to be true. An indication of good writing, for certain. It's the same reason why I know Tofu can't stay. Despite the beauty in how Tofu and Nut have started to love each other, it is a fantasy love. Tofu has no needs, except to be close to Nut and love him. That isn't how love between people works. This show is entirely about how messy it is to love each other because people are complex and flawed.

Still Tofu's love is incredibly important to this story. The love he gives Nut is unconditional. He has seen all the worst of Nut, seen all the messiness that is in and outside of him and his love has not faltered. You can see it healing Nut in real time on screen and it's so beautiful.

Even between complicated people, you can experience radical love like that, it just isn't all you get. It comes along with the messiness of life. Nut isn't ready for that though. He hasn't experienced that uncomplicated love before, that unwavering love, even though I know his mother has that kind of love for him, she wasn't always able to put him first. Tofu does that for him. Nut finally gets to experience that.

I've paused in part because it feels like this is when shit is going to really get real. It's a bit counter intuitive since we've already trudged through a lot of trauma, but we still have half of this drama to go and we have not unpacked most of what happened with Tarn.

Knowing that @lurkingshan and @twig-tea have said this is a happy ending makes me want to get to know Tarn more. I have to believe that Tofu is some sort of manifestation of his love for Nut and that Tarn will wake up and he and Nut will get a chance again to heal from whatever went on between them.

[canadachildvol2]

Wish rewrite ✨ Extra details

As I mentioned in the final part of my "Wish" rewrite, I was toying with the idea of creating a separate post that covers additional details and character descriptions that I couldn't organically include in the summaries. After spending some time away (my brain was pretty fried after all the planning and plotting of that rewrite lol), I eventually decided to go forward with that idea. So here it is :)

Below the cut are details concerning the key characters and the plot itself, including a few worldbuilding tidbits. I have also added some of my concept art (one of which I already showed in the rewrite, but I wanted to share again). <3

And because they asked me to, I'm tagging @signed-sapphire

CHARACTER DETAILS

Asha: The main protagonist of the story. Levelheaded, composed, a touch cynical; a realist. She is prone to being very blunt and not considering how this harsh honesty can hurt others before speaking. Despite this, at her core, she's a trustworthy and compassionate individual who cares a lot about her family, friends, and Rosas as a whole.

After being let down again and again throughout her life (her father's death when she was 12, no one in her family having their wishes granted, seeing the kingdom figuratively crumble bit by bit because of how exhausted and troublingly passive many citizens are, etc.), she eventually stopped being hopeful and always focuses on realistic outcomes and worst-case scenarios.

"[Papa] always said that hope gives you strength, but for me it brought so much pain. So by expecting and accepting the worst, it hurts less when the inevitable happens."

When it comes to Star, she is at first exasperated by his energetic and overly curious personality. However, during their time helping people with their wishes, she softens up to him and sees his good heart. Moreover, his ambitiousness and optimism rubs off on her and she gradually starts to feel bright and - more importantly - hopeful for the first time in years.

She works as a tour guide for visitors and potential new residents. While not a fan of the job, it "pays well" as she says to Dahlia at one point. In her spare time, she likes to read and draw. She is also a talented dancer, but she often keeps this skill under wraps (courtesy of her reserved nature).

~ I took some inspiration from Jane's character and arc in "Return to Neverland," but there are shades of Tiana and Raya present as well. Regardless, I really wanted this version of Asha to stand out from past Disney heroines. ~

Star: The deuteragonist of the story. Energetic, inquisitive, peppy, and (at first) doesn’t have much sense of personal space. He can be very easily distracted, but when things get serious, he knows to focus on what's important. He is an overall affable person who is eager to experience new things and make friends.

He is a young star who has reached the point where he is ready to advance into a proper wishing star. By helping Asha make her wish come true, he will accomplish that, so he is very much determined to make it happen. However, he finds himself conflicted when he grows fond of humans and their way of life, as well as falling in love with Asha. He wants more than anything to help her save Rosas and become a wishing star, but that will mean he'll have to leave her when the job is done.

He is mute and only communicates through body language and images created with his star dust. The sole exception to this is in the "At All Costs" scene when he used his magic to allow Asha to essentially hear his thoughts via human speech. This is temporary and only lasts a few minutes. Afterwards, he goes back to being mute.

"His fingers touch her lips, then his, then he runs them along her ears leaving a trail of star dust. Before she can question what he did, she hears a deep, soft voice: “Asha.” It’s him! It’s Star! “You can…?” “Not for long."

His powers include levitation, shape-shifting, making things grow, and changing the colours of flowers and other objects he sees. While he cannot actually grant wishes with his magic, he can inspire others and spread hope with it. In this sense, he is indirectly granting them by providing the tools others need to make them come true on their own. Animals are also drawn to him.

Magnifico: The current king of Rosas and the main villain of the story. A cunning and charismatic sorcerer whose knowledge of wish granting magic was passed down from the royals before him. When 18-year-olds and new residents approach him to give their wishes, he presents himself as a kind man. In reality, he is apathetic to his subjects' well-being and only cares about maintaining absolute control.

While this need to preserve his authority stems from having a bit of a God complex, it is also because he does not want to be the king responsible for a great empire's destruction.

The only person he genuinely cares about is Amaya, with whom he is madly in love. He is the more emotional of the two, in that he is quick to succumb to frustration in moments of stress and/or anger. However, he can just as easily be calmed down by his wife, be it through words of encouragement or simply a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Amaya: The current queen of Rosas and the other villain of the story. Even-tempered, regal, and equally as cunning as Magnifico. While not a magic-user like him, she is just as powerful due to her intelligence and tactful nature. She is just as in love with her husband as he is with her.

She is the calm to his storm. The left brain to his right brain. She can pull him back from his stressful outbursts and stop him from potentially ruining his "benevolent king" facade by keeping him grounded and focused on the present. Truth be told, Magnifico wouldn't be nearly as mighty or as beloved without her there to help him and provide new ideas to carry out his plans.

Dahlia: Asha's best friend and a young baker. Cheerful, idealistic, and tends to stumble over her words when excited or stressed (a nod to Doc from “Snow White” along with her character design). She works in her family's bakery, but dreams of one day becoming the castle baker. As such, she thinks her work needs to be perfect to get that position, so she has a tendency to slip into a perfectionist mindset when it comes to her baking. Despite others' insistence that her work is already amazing, she is determined to be even better.

Like the rest of Rosas, she thinks highly of the king and queen. While this adoration makes her initially distrustful of Asha's innocence when she was accused of destroying the wishes, she ultimately sides with her.

~ Design note: in this version, her ruby dress leans more towards a reddish-violet shade; basically something that contains a bit of purple. This ensures that the warm colour palette of Asha's outfit - mainly the orange part - makes her stand out from the rest of Rosas, as well as foreshadows Dahlia's future internal conflict of not knowing whether to side with Asha (red/warm) or the king and queen she adores (the purple colour that dominates Rosas, along with blue and grey). ~

Sakina: Asha's mother. She is a farmer who mainly grows fruit and also does a bit of weaving on the side. She is a kind and hardworking woman, but can also be stern when necessary. She and her husband used to work together as farmers, but since his death, she's been doing most of it herself (Asha often helps whenever she can). As such, she has become visibly exhausted, but refuses to admit it and doesn't let it get in the way of raising her daughter.

Her wish was to be fearless. She made this come true on her own in a roundabout way by being the first to stand up for Asha to the king when she was accused of destroying the wishes. While more "brave" than "fearless," such an act still took serious guts.

Sabino: Asha's grandfather and the father of Asha's late dad. He is a devoted family man with a creative mind and optimistic attitude. Like the rest of Rosas, he thinks highly of the king and queen and continues to hold out hope that his wish will be granted one day despite being repeatedly let down. In spite of this adoration of the royals, he loves his family first and foremost.

He worked for many years as a blacksmith, but eventually retired once it was clear that he was too old for the job. While skillful in this occupation, his lifelong passion has been painting, which he spent a lot of time doing following his retirement. He also assists Sakina in her farming any way he can, though his old age has taken a toll on how often he does this.

His wish was to be able to bring his paintings to life.

~ Design note: like Dahlia, the colour scheme of his outfit needs to be tweaked a little to match the purple/blue/grey palette of Rosas, showing his loyalty to the royals and to once again ensure that Asha's palette stands out. ~

Simon: An acquaintance of Asha's. Three years older than her. He works multiple jobs in the hope that his hard work will be noticed by the king and queen and they will grant his wish. As such, he is usually very tired; more than most older adults in Rosas even. While a decent man at his core, he is also prone to skepticism and his devotion to the royals often clouds his judgement.

It's not uncommon for his insecurities to take control and drive him to do some questionable things. This is what caused him to rat out Asha to Magnifico and Amaya. However, he feels genuine remorse afterwards and does what he can to make up for his mistakes.

His wish was to be a brave and honourable knight. Also, like in the movie, his tiredness and general design is a nod to Sleepy from "Snow White."

Asha’s father: I just found out his name is Tomás, so... Tomás was Asha's father and Sakina's husband. He died from an illness when Asha was 12 years old. He used to work as a blacksmith with Sabino, but after marrying Sakina, he decided to become a farmer like her.

He was a good man; very funny and an extrovert. He was also a doting father and used to tell Asha to look to the stars whenever she feels lost. His last birthday gift to her before his death was a silver bracelet with star designs engraved on it. Asha cherishes it very much and wears it every day.

Dario: A good friend of Asha's. He is five years older than her. Friendly, a little absentminded, and a bit of a goofball (a nod to Dopey from “Snow White” along with his character design). He and Asha have a sibling-like relationship, with her being a down-to-Earth force that keeps his head out of the clouds. In fact, you can sum-up their rapport with this bit of dialogue from 'The Wizard of Oz': "But someday they're going to erect a statue to me in this town, and-" "Well, don't start posing for it now."

His wish was to be super intelligent. The main reason why he wants this is so that he can become a great inventor. Through Star’s influence shortly after his arrival at Rosas, and with additional encouragement from Asha, Dario realizes that he just needs to apply himself and his preexisting strengths; those being his creativity and perseverance.

Bazeema: Another good friend of Asha's. She is one year older than her and gave her wish to Magnifico very recently. A sweet-natured young lady who doesn't have a mean bone in her body. Very shy and is rarely seen without blushing cheeks (a nod to Bashful from “Snow White” along with her character design). She works as a seamstress and shows a lot of promise as a dressmaker.

Her wish was to have a brilliant and boundless imagination. She already had great talent in sewing and could create beautiful outfits, but only in accordance with what other people want. She finds it hard to come up with her own ideas. However, with Asha and Star's help, she learns that she can find inspiration for new designs from those around her. She gradually comes out of her shell and this leads to her conceiving more original ideas.

~ Design note: the yellow portions of her outfit will need to either be made less warm or be changed altogether so that Asha's outfit (i.e. the orange part of her dress) can stand out. ~

STORY DETAILS

- Hal, Gabo, and Safi are present in this version, but they have smaller roles. That said, they each have a part in the “Montage” song and they are among the townsfolk that side with Asha after she was accused of destroying the wishes. Like their movie counterparts, they are based on Happy, Grumpy, and Sneezy respectively. Additionally, they are all either 18 or over 18, like Simon, Dario, and Bazeema.

- Asha has a total of three outfits throughout the story; technically five if you count two other variations of her main outfit. 1) Her main dress. 2) Main dress with a blanket wrapped around her, which she wears at one point during the “Montage” song sequence where she and Star are bonding while sitting outside at night. 3) Main dress decorated with star dust during “At All Costs.” 4) The dress she wears after the time-skip near the end. 5) The dress she wears when she and Star reunite (the one Bazeema made for her).

- Celestial star beings age similarly to humans, but they live much longer. Furthermore, there are three stages in their life cycle: baby star (akin to Star in the movie), young star (where this version of Star is at most of the story), then full wishing star (where Star ends up).

- There are some references to Disney's past movies sprinkled throughout this version, but they would be much more subtle than how they are in the movie. Some would be blink-and-you'll-miss-it, others are more visual, whether it be a character's design or a shot composition (ex. when an awestruck Asha is wandering through the palace for the first time, I envision a moment where she looks at her reflection in the mirrors adorning the walls in such a way that's akin to Belle looking at her reflection in the cracked mirror in the West Wing).

- Much like how Star's personality and actions have an influence on Asha, her personality and actions have an influence on him. Not only does he learn to slow down and think things through, but as the story goes on, his movements become less erratic. He's still a ball of energy and demonstrates this when he's happy or excited, but he's a lot more composed by the end than he was when he first entered the story.

- Not sure if it would be mentioned at all during the story, but Tomás' wish was for his future child (he made this wish at age 18 before he and Sakina had Asha) to shine bright. He may not have lived to see it, but it did end up coming true.

- The wish granting era has been ongoing for over 200 years. Evidently there is no one left alive who truly remembers what Rosas was like before the wish system was established.

- Star's subsequent once-a-month visits are seven days long.

- Asha experiences two types of guilt: 1) the fact that despite her dad repeatedly reminding her of how important hope is, she wound up becoming someone who doesn't have any hope, and 2) her job as a tour guide means that she was responsible for luring several people into living in Rosas, thus trapping them in this exhaustive and cult-like lifestyle.

- Star's magic comes naturally. The magic Magnifico and the royals before him used basically comes from alchemy (potions, various tools and apparatuses, etc.). And for the record, this does not imply that alchemy-based magic is bad (except for the destroying wishes part). Magnifico and the royals before him simply used it for malicious purposes.

- The rules of Star's magic are more in-line with those of the three fairies from "Sleeping Beauty." Specifically, how his magic is mainly used to bring joy to people rather than cause pain. That said, when he's pissed off (like when Magnifico hurts Asha or even tries to hurt her), he can use his magic to attack, but it's not as strong in that department as Magnifico's magic is.

- After the time-skip, Rosas' colour palette is much more vibrant. It is no longer confined to primarily blues, purples, and greys.

Rewrite / "At All Costs" sequence / Asha & Star Character Tropes

[kisuminight]

For the DSMP Blade System AU, I've mentioned in previous posts that most things stay the same pre-Staged Finale, with the exception of minor details and motivations (for example, we are hand-waving all non-canon deaths of any Blade or Driver that happened). But if c!Dream has differing motivations for the Plan, why is Staged Finale still happening in this AU?

c!Dream and c!Punz need some peace to work on part of the Plan. Now, Doomsday got rid of L'Manberg, but nobody actually died and frankly neither of them trust the old members of the government not to try another execution attempt, this time hunting Dream down. There is also Tommy to consider

Dream has to protect George. George cannot be uncovered as Dream's Driver, in large part because people tend to forget Blades have their own agency.

Keep Punz and EW!Ranboo safe. The plan needs to shift suspicion of helping Dream off of them. Neither of them should be suspected of being Dream's Driver, either.

Related to point 1, they need to track down an Aegis. That is not going to happen without having time with nobody bothering them.

Testing the Memory Patch isn't very easy with a non-compliant test subject.

In order for Dream to have any peace, he must either be imprisoned (Pandora's Vault has been built, but putting Dream in there would detract from it's eventual use for it's true purpose) or he needs to die. Given that c!Tommy is certainly going to get himself involved in some way, Dream is pretty certain he's going to die. He just needs to make sure it is in front of enough of the server that news of him being a Blade gets out, and that whatever he's killed for makes George unlikely to come forward as his Driver.

See, the thing about Blades is that their core crystals count as items. And there is a lot (so much) internalized prejudice that strips Blades of their agency. It's nonsense, of course. Anybody who's watched Skeppy and Bad's relationship for 5 minutes understands that Blades are their own people, and they do not have to (or always want to) do everything their Driver tells them to do.

Dream figures that the first thing people are going to do after figuring out he is a Blade is assume he is a "Bad Person" because he has a "Bad Driver." And that the second question, after "Who was Dream's first Driver?" will be "Who should be Dream's next Driver, to ensure that he is a Good Person?"

To be fair, he's not wrong. The Skeppy Cage exists in this one too, and no one questions it either.

Dream has faith that the Memory Patch is working. That it will work for him. But the problem is that it is removable. There isn't any guarantee of perfect recall, either. And it needs to be perfect, if it is going to be used as the cornerstone of The Plan.

The Plan, here, has 2 phase. Phase 1 is completing a version of the Memory Patch that can be added to the general Universal Patch Updates. Dream and Punz need to complete the code, which takes time and no distractions. They need to find an Aegis (neither of them have figured out Phil yet) to add their code to the Patch Update. Also other reasons (the Egg). Phase 2 is immortality and the server reset (after the Memory Patch has gone out).

So the script for the Staged Finale is:

lure Tommy and Tubbo

lie about a bunch of stuff (including killing Tubbo) to get Tommy mad enough to kill

have Punz lead the others through the Nether portal, removing doubts of his potential loyalty to Dream.

Tommy kills Dream, revealing Dream is a Blade (Punz will loudly point this out, to make sure everyone understands)

leave a bunch of "dangling threads" in the form Dream's Driver, what the Driver's potential plans are as wild goose chases (George will not be a suspect because the dethronement wouldn't have happened if Dream was George's Blade /s)

Punz leaves while people argue about Dream's core crystal. He waits on the other side of the Nether portal, passive ability turned to max so people don't realize he didn't leave

EW!Ranboo takes advantage of the argument to sleight-of-hand the core crystal. He goes through the Nether portal, hands the core crystal off to Punz, and then leave Ranboo in the Nether with the note that Dream is a Blade and the shock presumably caused the memory loss for the day. Ranboo is now no longer a suspect.

Dream is reAwakened as Punz's Blade, experiments can continue. Even if other people on the server see him, they assume that he is a completely new person/has no memory.

[cerastes]

dreamer, how do you usually decide if a stage were badly designed or not?

I run into some tweets talking about how H9-6 was miles better than H8-4, mainly because of how they approach the stage itself, and how that also makes it fun to retry and experiment with the stage when it's nicely designed. I don't know if I really get it because I struggled hard on both of them, maybe even more on H9-6, because my roster is way better than it was on H8-4 when I still have a couple 3 star on the squad.

My appraisal of maps tends to gauge the Fun Factor vs. the Annoying Factor. Difficulty is accessory to both of these, or in other words, it's significance in the equation stems from how it weights in on the Fun or Annoying Factors.

For example, my least favorite maps in the game are Chapter 10 maps, or in other words, maps in which you have to juggle the Artillery Strike (and thus, block count). The idea in itself isn't bad, but the execution, in my opinion, is pretty poor, because it's full of Annoying Factor:

The Artillery hits the unit with the highest block count, and if there's equal blocking in two parts of the map, the latest deploy. There's also a lot of enemies that modify the block count of the Operators blocking them. This means your team building needs to have at least a few high-block units whose purpose is to bait the hit (and have a means to survive 3000 True Damage, be it shields or high HP). This also means your deployment order needs to be more deliberate than in other maps. The deployment requirements in themselves are Fun, but:

These maps are also full to the brim with enemies with low HP but VERY high bulk against non-True damage, meaning you'll usually want bursty options, whether it be constant mini-bursts like Mudrock S2, or true burst windows, in order to deal with them. This is another limiting factor in the team building, because you need Artillery Bait, but also a lot of firepower. More fun control options, like Decel Binders, tend to struggle to find a place in these maps except for specific maps.

And, here's the most important thing, to me at least... After 10+ maps of Artillery juggling... It's just not fun anymore. I think the Artillery would be good if it was used a bit more infrequently, but you really have to deal with almost a full chapter of it, and then a set of H missions which ALL involve Manfred, leading to more Artillery fuckery on top of the normal Artillery stuff and I just don't want to deal with it anymore because it stopped being fun years ago.

I think a Good Map is fun and allows for a bunch of different solutions while still being challenging. Another good aspect of a Good Map is when it doesn't allow stalling. In general, I want the game to punish stalling and make you play aggressively or at least proactively instead of passively. The Artillery, in this regard, is good! It's even good in the sense that enemies can interact with its charge meter, so you can decide to let it fall when you want it to or stall it for longer until you want it to shoot at you. But having to do this a ton of times over and over throughout an entire chapter gets old. So another thing about a good map is that its gimmick shouldn't overstay its welcome.

Now, specifically about H8-4 and H9-6, I personally like H8-4 more, because I don't really care too much for Mandragora as a boss (she's not a bad fight, I just feel neutral about it) whereas I love The Deathless Black Snake as a boss. That said, I believe both maps are good.

In the case of H8-4, it's demanding in terms of bulk: You need to shield the Civilians, and you can do this is a myriad of ways, whether it be to slam your beefiest units in there, or through juggling summons, fast redeploys, and healing. All while dealing with the actual map itself, which necessitates a mix of Physical and Arts. I like it!

In H9-6, the challenge is deployment management: It doesn't deathball you right away, but it's a remarkably large map with several different chokepoints you can choose, and it's a very open-ended map! You can go about it in a LOT of different ways, and I find that cool, all while minding the different challenges: Mandragora as a boss, the tougher Dublinn mobs, specific little groups of tough enemies that come out in intervals, the pillars, etc. It's also a really fun map and a good map, for different reasons than H8-4.

End of the day, a good map isn't a pain to play, in my opinion, and doesn't lock you into very limited team comps. This is also why I sort of fell out of love with Contingency Contract: It was fun at first, but then every high risk (Risk 26 and up) map became a mix of extremely annoying challenges that just kill your entire line-up if not handled in specific ways, and having to stall a boss for 7 minutes while slowly killing them.

[yukine-sakamoto]

I finished Bocchi the Rock, so here’s a little review. Mild spoilers, but it’s a slice of life so nothing major.

Overall, I liked it. I’m normally not that interested in music themed anime, so initially I dismissed it as a some kind of generic K-On clone. It got so many good reviews and so many people talking about it though, so I had to check it out, and it generally lived up to the hype. Very cute, very relatable, the music was pretty good, it was really well made with a lot of interesting shots and some very funny animation style changes. I especially loved the exaggerated expressions they gave everyone. That’s one of my favorite parts of animation as a medium, and they used it really well. So I’d definitely recommend it. That being said, I do have some criticism.

The show’s main draw and the thing that separates it from similar shows is Bocchi’s introversion and social anxiety. I appreciated the effort that they went to in order to show her inner thought processes which lead to her otherwise strange reactions and behaviors. It makes her more realistic, dynamic, and relatable to the audience and less like a flat side character that’s used just for laughs but considered foreign to the way “normal” characters think, as these types of characters sometimes are. (And I appreciated that they showed the other characters getting to know her and helping her with her struggles rather than just thinking she’s odd.) This deeper characterization sets up one of the main threads of the show, Bocchi’s growth in overcoming her social difficulties, but that arc felt kind of hollow to me.

We want to see characters overcome their various plot challenges through hard work. That feels satisfying, and that’s especially true, I think, for characters that have struggles that the audience identifies with. It’s inspiring to see someone better themselves through hard work. It makes you think you could do it too. Bocchi definitely put work in, and she did things that she wouldn’t have done before, that were difficult for her. However, it felt like she was just being carried along for a lot of the show. There are several instances where she feels she can’t get out of doing something, like the job, or the first show, or the street concert, and yes it was hard for her, and yeah maybe she grew a little bit, but it wasn’t necessarily through her own power. In a couple of pivotal moments it was pure chance, and that felt like a (very mild) deus ex machina.

In the first episode, in the moment that sets the whole show in motion, Nijika happens upon her through chance and just happens to need a guitarist and happens to be the type to approach a total stranger. It’s partially because Bocchi had her guitar; she chose to openly display something she’s interested in, hopping to find someone like minded. That’s good, except we saw that fail to work for whole episode up to that point. Bocchi acknowledged that being passive and putting the onus on others was a bad strategy, but then Nijika swoops in so that’s left unaddressed. Same thing with meeting Kikuri, it was a random encounter. I think most introverts want an extrovert to come and adopt them, and I get that, I do too, but it’s still unsatisfying as a plot point.

This also sets up another problem I wrote a bit about in another post. It’s obviously a Bocchi-centric show, she’s the title character after all, but I was hoping for more from the others. It’s obvious after the initial park meeting that Nijika and Ryou like her and want to be friends, even if it started as just needing a guitarist. And when Kita joins the cast, she becomes fast friends as well. But they all comment on how they don’t understand why Bocchi has trouble at school, why no one hangs out with her. In many ways they are part of this random chance as well; their behavior hasn’t changed much either. We see in the summer vacation episode that, left to their own devices, they just forget about Bocchi. It’s likely Kita never would have approached her at school of her own volition, as she hadn’t up till now, but ironically seems confused seeing this behavior in her classmates. It made their relationships feel a bit shallow, like they were taking care of Bocchi as almost a charity case. I honestly started to feel a little, like, secondhand guilt for how far out of their way each would go. (I did like that they started to understand her behaviors and her triggers, so to speak, but that feels pretty minimal) I mean it’s normal and good for friends to cover each other’s weaknesses with the other’s strengths, and Bocchi’s definitely weak where the others are strong as far as social skills, but this felt off somehow, unbalanced. Perhaps, in a second season, we’ll see more from the perspectives of the other band members and see their relationship as a band deepen.

It also felt very slightly like a classic teen movie nerdy character arc in which introverts are painted as sad, pitiable creatures who have no joy in life, and if only someone would show them how to have fun the extroverted way, the correct way, then they could be saved. I mean it’s minor, but loud concerts with bright lights and lots of people are very stimulating environments. That’s not generally where introverts thrive, and there’s nothing wrong with that; it’s a matter of taste. I’m just surprised that Bocchi seems really into that, especially based on the lyrics she writes.

Anyway, I gave it an 8/10 on my anime list. I’d definitely recommend it, and I’m looking forward to season 2.

[cyberprincehavoc]

Superman Red Son kinda sucks.

Superman: Red Son runs with the premise "What would happen if Superman's ship crashed not in rural America, but rather in rural USSR, in the 30's".

The comic's answer, as it's written by the same dude who described his political views as...

"I regard myself as traditionally left of centre and progressive, a Eurosceptic in the Bennite mould, and the policies espoused by the coalition formed under the Yes umbrella are the closest to my own particular ideology."

...is naturally not great. Or rather, the comic takes steps in a much stranger direction than it should, with Superman eventually becoming a sort of dictator in the USSR (because, as we know, the USSR had absolutely no democratic institutions or elected officials, they just chose a dude to succeed the previous one and that was it) and actually leads it to a weirdly Trotskyist and prosperous future, with the USSR "expanding" and "taking other countries under its wing" with the help of Brainiac, who becomes a sort of "helpful A.I." to sort things out.

Eventually we get to the point of basically recreating the setup for Atlas Shrugged. Superman's USSR has dominated the entire globe except the USA, which is a bastion for capitalism and democracy and elects Lex Luthor to fuck them up. Superman, as a spooky scary socialist, is lobotomizing people and turning them into passive robots (because Mark Millar thought lobotomies didn't exist in the 30's...? Like, it's a technology that existed and we know the USSR didn't do it for political control) who can't question his rule. With the exception of the Batmen, who are part of a disgruntled working class who apparently suffered under the secret police. I think Ukraine is mentioned there, perhaps the holodomor, it's been a while.

In a surprisingly empathic move in the end, Luthor says to Superman "fuck you man, you're a good person deep down but you're too overbearing and That's Bad™️ so perhaps chill?" and Supes goes "huh, that's true, maybe lobotomizing my political opponents IS cringe." Brainiac, who was there in the corner, goes "ah! ah! ah! you fell into my-" and before he can finish the sentence he blows up, but Superman flew him to space and exploded too.

Anyway the USSR falls because that's how countries work I guess, Luthor also becomes a sort of dictator and also incorporates parts of Superman's philosophy, cures all sorts of things, invents all sorts of advancements alone, creates a whole ass dynasty, stays in power for a thousand years and dies. It's God-Emperor of Dune but if that was portrayed as a good thing, essentially. Superman is immortal, apparently, and didn't die in the blast, and after a couple billion years the earth explodes and a descendant of Luthor sends his son back to the past and he lands in a little ukrainian collective get it it's like poetry it rhymes. (I'll admit it is a little bit clever how he takes Superman's surname, "El", and says that it was actually an L, from Luthor, whatever, I like cheesiness)

So yeah it's not the most politically coherent story out there. The USSR's communism is demonized because apparently it'll end up with lobotomies but it still falls to great man theory, yet the most ideal system in the end is one where Luthor micromanages the whole economy of the world. It's funky, kinda not great but not horrible either, and the art is pretty good. But that got me thinking: what if an actual Marxist-Leninist wrote this?

Like, what would Superman do if he was a communist? More importantly, what developments of theory would happen if a superpowered, but apparently benign alien decided to start helping people and natural disasters and shit?

I don't have a great answer for this tbh. I just think Superman represents the best in all of us, and there's no way in hell he'd take on as an unelected dictator.

The worst part in all of this is the cognitive dissonance Millar seems to have where Lex admits Superman was doing material good, but this clashes with his notion that the USSR could be anything other than the kingdom of the Devil himself on earth.

[thessalian]

Thess vs Results

As in, I finally fucking GOT SOME.

I called up Scruffman in the morning, first thing, and he’d obviously seen my emails from yesterday by that point. He has his issues, does Scruffman, but he also knows me of old. He knows I stress over not being able to meet my professional commitments - which is a fancy way of saying “after decades of temping I’m still scared I’m going to get fired if I miss even a single day, even if I’m really ill and / or it’s not in any way my fault”. (Seriously, the only time I didn’t feel remotely bad about having to just not go to work was when I had Covid, way back at the start of the pandemic, and that’s as much because of how many people were dying of it at the time and not wanting to kill somebody - this was before the mask mandates and the full-scale lockdown, never mind the vaccine.) So anyway, point is that he was quick to reassure me that none of this was my fault and nobody was angry with me for not being able to come in to work during a bus strike that more or less shuts down the buses in my entire area except the ones I have to walk up and down a massive hill to access. Not that he said that in so many words, of course. What he did was warned and reassured me in equal measure when he said, “I’m going to respond to this email and include everybody and I will go ham so that IT understands the problem here”.

And he did. It was a master class in passive-aggression, I swear. But even in the midst of all that, he made sure to underline that he entirely understood that I could not come in because of the bus strike, following up with, “I know we were both hoping that IT would have sorted this out by now...” and going on from there to basically say without outright saying that this mess was all their fault and causing me no end of stress as well as the commute struggle and messing with the productivity of the department right when we’re hugely busy and understaffed, and that they needed to make it up to us by sorting it out right the fuck now.

Seriously impressive.

Anyway, original IT guy ... well, another out of office message. I don’t know what the hell that guy does. Anyway, his higher-up was apparently down with an attack of sinusitis all weekend (though that doesn’t entirely explain Friday or yesterday and really doesn’t explain Thursday, but I do know his pain, so...), and was very much spurred into action. He poked around, and then stopped, and I checked ... and again, nothing. Apparently the original IT guy was the primary expert on this kind of remote shit, and with him away, higher-up had to wait for another person who knew more about this than higher-up did, at about half past two. I was asked if I had Microsoft Teams on my home computer so I could join in the conversation. I do not even have Office on my home computer so ... no. And anyway, how the hell would I be of any use there? So the point is that anything significant had to wait until 2:30pm. And an hour later, after some noodling around both to get everything set up with the transcription software and on my end to set up a proper workspace ... it was done. Sorted. I now have the ability to work from home.

And I did, pretty much immediately. Yeah, 3:30pm isn’t far off my usual home-time, but there were a couple of reasons I volunteered to make up at least some of the time. First of all, I wanted to at least try to carve through some of the backlog, which gives me nightmares. Also, I wanted to test out the setup and see what tweaks could be made to make it as close to ergonomic perfection as it could get, given that it’s a laptop. However, there is also a part of me that wanted to establish right from the start: “Just because I’m working at home does not mean I will be slacking off”. Hell, I want to prove I can work better here.

Which is honestly true. Having my music of choice in the background instead of Goblin’s interminable heavy sighs and nasty back-chat made everything just so much better, which in turn made working easier. I will have to be very careful not to follow my other inclination of overworking, but if I set an alarm or something to flag up that yeah, my day is over now, I should be okay.

Though speaking of alarms, being able to set mine for 10:30 three of my four days a week was so satisfying you have no idea.

So tomorrow’s my first proper day of working from home, and I discuss the whole thing with Scruffman properly when I come in on Thursday, which is the one day a week we agreed I should come in. Friday’s out because bus strike again, and they’re doing more strikes in December, so ... yeah, this wasn’t exactly perfect timing, but let’s call it “in the very teeth of time” and call it even.

So now, finally, I am set up to work from home. And now I am going to have dinner.

[sandeoki]

Break me sweetly

request: can I request a mafia hongjoong x reader and the conflict has something to do with betrayal?

author's note: i know you wanted a fluffy ending anon-ie but i couldnt help it. the angst loving monster inside me took over T_T

taglist: @atinyreads

she couldnt stop her hands from shaking as she stood infront of him, gun pressed to his head. at the gunpoint, stood the man she had came to love, pointing his gun at her head too.

"its truly the only way we can be together huh?" she couldnt stop the tears anymore. a sad smile pulled at her lips as she connected them with his.

"its the only way love, they will never accept us" hongjoong replied to the woman he loved. the same woman who was holding at gunpoint.

the same woman who had his gun pressed against her head. the same woman who came to betray him but ended up catching feelings instead.

the same woman who was ready to die with him just so they can be together without their world's crashing.

*a few months ago*

y/n stood at the HQ with a file in her hand. even though the file wasnt that heavy, the words inside carried a huge weight. the weight of someone's life.

it was her mission. this wasnt anything new for y/n. being a trained spy and all, earning people's trust and then killing them was nothing new.

this case was nothing new. it was easy enough and the pay she was getting was huge. she was used to it but something inside her felt off.

this man who she was supposed to kill, Kim Hongjoong, leader of Ateez, was someone y/n really admired.

he was an exceptional leader and his bravery was known worldwide. earning his trust would be no easy task. but she was trained for this.

she smirked as she saw her boss briefly explain the possibe outcomes of this 'case'. most of them lead to her either getting caught and tortured or getting killed on spot.

"you dont need to worry about me, i know what i am capable of. i wont disappoint."

something didnt feel right. he could feel that something was off about her. no way the new recruit could manage to take down three of his strongest men.

"interesting. bring her here, i want to talk to her" his voice was passive but he could feel a smirk pulling at his lips.

an exceptional fighter, a girl at that too. she would be a great asset to his gang. hongjoong wasnt a fool though, he knew he couldnt trust her that easily.

when he saw the girl getting dragged by the arm by his men he couldnt help but be shocked. he couldnt believe it.

"YOU, A 5'2 LOOKING GREMLIN, MANAGED TO TAKE 3 OF MY BEST FIGHTERS DOWN?!?"

to say y/n was offended was an understandment. she was ready to explode. this was so low of him. calling her a gremlin when he looked like a minion himself.

"WHO ARE YOU TO TALK HUH? YOU ARENT MUCH TALLER THAN ME EITHER! MINION LOOKING ASS CALLING ME A GREMLIN"

hongjoong could feel his cheeks heating up. never in his life had someone dared talk to him like that.

and here she was, a tiny squirrel, shouting at him. the worst part was, he wasnt sure if he hated it or not.

"what's your name?"

"y/n"

y/n. he liked it. it sounded pretty. it suited her well.

after months of hardwork and seduction, y/n finally earned hongjoong's trust. there was just a teeny tiny problem though...

she fell in love in the process of making him fall for her. she knew she shouldnt have. but she couldnt control her feelings.

here she stood, infront of the man she betrayed, as she confessed the true reason of her joining his gang.

"you thought i didnt know? so dumb of you princess. i always knew. you were trying to play me but you failed to realize you had been played with too"

she blinked, stared at him, then blinked again. WHAT?!? she couldnt believe her ears. seeing her expression, hongjoong expained

"i knew what you were trying to do all along. i took it as a challenge, a challenge to do the same as you. my plan was similar to yours. but instead of killing you, i couldve used you for information"

hearing this, her heart cracked a little. she felt as if her whole world was crashing. she felt out of breath.

"so you were just acting the whole time?" she couldnt hide the pain laced inside her question.

"no, not really. while i did succeed in my plan to get you to fall for me, i seem to have fallen for you in the process too."

he answered with a smile. she couldnt help but smile back. she felt relief. although she knew this relief was temporary, she grasped to it.

"you know they wont let us be together right?"her question caught him off guard and he sighed before kissing her.

her lips felt hevenly against his. he had been waiting for this. he pulled her closer and kissed her with more passion.

she could feel one of his hands tightening on her waist while the other pointed his gun at her head. she let the tears flow. she knew this was the only way.

"they will never let us life together, but they cant stop us from dying together"

he kissed her one last time as she pointed her gun at his head too.

[depthbuffer]

I fucking love vactrols. At this admittedly still very early stage of my days as an audio electronics hobbyist, it seems to me like pretty much everything is just clever rearrangements of four key components: resistors, capacitors, opamps, and diodes. Pick a layout and set of values according to application, and away you go.

The ICs you see in most "true" analogue circuits? Bundles of opamps.

The knobs on the front? Potentiometers, i.e. resistors whose resistance varies with knob position.

LEDs? Diodes that emit light. Clue's right there in the name.

But of course modular wouldn't be modular without the magic of voltage control. Signals controlling other signals. Invisible hands to turn the knobs for you.

And this presents a problem in my simplistic view of the field: with the exception of potentiometers, all these components do very specific jobs, over ranges set in stone based on their physical properties, to be listed ad nauseum on the inscrutable pages of online component stores. And the potentiometers? They need real hands to turn them. Hands neither invisible nor automatic. Hands of which I only possess two. What do you want me to do, use motors or something? What do you think this is, mechanical engineering?

No! We demand ethereal hands. Electronic hands. We demand control over more than two parameters at once, without resorting to such crass concepts as physical motion, and without unleashing our biblically accurate forms upon the delicate psyches of our listeners.

Well, reader, in a carefully constructed act of lying by omission, I have hitherto neglected to mention our saving grace: the LDR, or light-dependent resistor. A magical resistor whose precise resistance varies depending on its degree of illumination.

So. We have LEDs, that emit an amount of light proportional to the current running through them. And we have LDRs, whose resistance varies depending on the amount of light falling on them. Surely it can't be that simple? Surely the answer to our voltage-control conundrum can't lie in simply mashing these two together and calling it a day?

Presenting, dear gentlefolk, the mighty vactrol.

Source

(The actual filter being built there is not very interesting, it's just a passive, non-resonant LPF, but it's voltage controlled by a homemade vactrol.)

Yup. It really is that simple. So next time you are about to embark upon the study of an unfamiliar field, unsure of whether your feeble smooth brain will be capable of grasping the arcane magicks within, remember the humble vactrol.

Of course, there are also transistors. But those simply aren't as entertaining.

Disclaimer: I haven't built any of my own yet, and in fact am still at the stage of my electronics hobby where I have a ton of plans and barely any real-world practical experience beyond soldering other people's designs from kits. But I'm building up to the point where I have just enough basic knowledge and a suitable parts stash to start building some basic things from scratch, and these will probably be in my future if I take well to it.