#relatively spoiler free

[detectivesplotslies]

I've got smoke, I've got mirrors, what's next?

Saimatsu Week 2024 - Day 3: Swap / Seasons @saimatsu-week

Description: Ultimate Inventor Kaede Akamatsu wants to ask the Ultimate Magician Shuichi Saihara about a trick she saw! Word Count: 2,314 Read on AO3 here

“And then when the audience was looking over there, the magician opened the latch and folded the fake wall, halving the space and hiding it, right? I’m right aren’t I? I didn’t get to examine the box but from the angle I saw it, that’s gotta be how it works, but then I tried making one at home and one of the measures wouldn’t quite work, but I ended up making a pretty nice space saving cabinet and… Saihara-kun are you okay?”

Kaede tilted her head, ponytail bouncing a bit as she came out of her excited ramble and noticed the stiffness of the boy in front of her. His hands, which had been nervously fidgeting with the brim of his top hat before, had gone rigid. She leaned in and a bit lower to get a glimpse of his eyes under it, and saw they had widened in panic. As her face swam into his view, Shuichi backpedaled himself right into the desk behind them and fell to the ground, hat tumbling off and limbs askew.

After a brief moment of surprise, she straightened and hurried over to help him up.

“I’m… I’m fine, Akamatsu-san,” he mumbled as she yanked him back up to his feet. “I uh… I have to go.” He retrieved his hat from the floor, shoving it down low over his face and started towards the hall. Kaede blinked.

“Hold on! We were talking!” Well, she had been talking, but semantics. Kaede hurried after the quiet magician. She had approached him earlier after everyone introduced themselves for two reasons. One was because she loved magic tricks, working out how they were done was such fun as an inventor, and here he was, the Ultimate Magician himself! Finally someone with the answers to the ones she wasn’t quite sure of. Despite his headstart, Kaede found herself catching up and matching Shuichi’s pace quite easily. Glancing at him sidelong, she could see he was adjusting his bowtie and avoiding her eye.

“Where do you have to go?” She decided to change the subject and watched his face as they descended the stairs side by side, narrowly avoiding a collision with a certain grinning pianist as he slid down the banister and past them, calling out greetings for the ‘wizard’. She rolled her eyes, but caught Shuichi’s sigh as well. When they reached the ground floor, he stopped, and peered at her with one eye from under the hat brim.

“Uh, well… Akamatsu-san… it’s just… um…”

“Yes?” she prompted, smiling encouragingly.

He glanced down the hall, and following his eyes she spotted Rantaro and Kaito, apparently talking about places they’d both been, loudly. Her eyes darted back to Shuichi.

“Did you want to talk somewhere else? Somewhere more private?”

“P-private?” Even with the hat she could see his cheeks go red. Her own burned a bit as she realized how that sounded.

“Y-yeah, I haven’t seen my lab yet, and it just opened so maybe we can talk there!”

“Oh! Uh… Yeah okay, we can do that.”

Bolstered, Kaede took the lead, turning them towards the front door of the school. Shuichi hesitated only a moment, before following her tread. The tails of his coat fluttered as he sped up. With the promise of talk when they got there, their walk settled into a more comfortable silence as they stepped out the door into the caged sunlight. The bars around them were still troubling to see, but there were other things to think about for the time being.

It wasn’t long before they were down the steps and walking toward a brassy looking building with a bit of an old fashioned look off to the side of the path. The door had a neatly welded pattern on it of little cogs, much like her own hair clips. Thoughts of their prison were replaced briefly with a giddy excitement. “Oh I hope it’s like my workshop back home, I have been itching to work on something!”

She reached out to grab the door and pulled, but stopped, and turned to hold it, looking back at Shuichi with an expectant smile.

He stared, fidgeting with his cuff as he peered between the doorway and her. “Don’t you want to see it first..? There could be something p-personal…”

“It’s a workshop, right? I doubt it. Come on, I insist! Not like I’m going to slam the door and lock you in!” Kaede joked. Seeing his alarm, she quickly added, “I promise.”

Shuichi hesitated a moment longer, then rolled his shoulders and stepped in. She followed after, letting the door swing after her.

It was dim inside and hard to see, and that alone brought some disappointment. Maybe it was silly to get her hopes up for something provided by a bunch of robot bears, but an Ultimate Lab sounded like something she could really use right now. Looking up, trying to find a light switch, she walked right into the boy in front of her, who had paused to look down at something.

“Oop, sorry about that Saihara-kun, I-”

There was an audible click as he stumbled another step forward, and she fell silent. The click was followed by a winding sound, then a rhythmic ticking. She stared around the place, trying to spot the source. It sounded like a machine, maybe something like a clock or timer? Or with the winding, maybe a wheel? It sounded like it was somewhere up above them, but the ceiling was so dark there could be a whole canopy up there and she wouldn’t be any the wis-

Her wrist was suddenly yanked hard, and Kaede yelped in surprise as she tumbled down to join Shuichi, who was crouching on the floor since she last looked down. She gaped at him, about to barrage him with questions when a whoosh of air flew past their heads, his hat falling and her hair blowing with it. Her eyes darted up to see the comically large mallet swinging down like a pendulum for another pass on the way back. “Whoa!”

The two of them sat on the floor watching the ridiculous thing swing a few more times before settling. Finally, the clicking stopped, and one by one the lights around the lab blinked on, bringing a warm golden glow to the space. There were shelves of jars, boxes and baskets full of odds and ends, parts, toys. There was a work desk lined with tools to the side under the brightest lamp. There was a record player that came to life as the last light flicked on, a jaunty classical tune playing. And of course, all around the ceiling and the walls were strings and tracks for what seemed like the most elaborate trap. There were ball bearings set to fall on springs, a fishing reel with a loose string that looped around a book on a shelf, a bucket dangling from a chain that was definitely full to the brim from the telltale drip. It looked like a cross between a child’s idea of a toy shop and a hermit’s jury-rigged idea of security.

Her eyes finally went to the floor, and spied the trip wire Shuichi must have pushed into when she nudged him. Had he spotted it already and stopped for that? Cautious, she stood up and poked at the mallet, then laughed aloud.

Shuichi stared up in horror. When she glanced down to see he wasn’t getting up, she hurriedly pointed at the mallet. “It’s inflated, like a balloon! Full of air. Come on, poke it!” Kaede held out her hand to help him up for the second time now.

“It is?” Taking her hand, the magician got back to his feet. He reached out to poke it suspiciously, watching the given under his finger before it bounces back to shape. “Why was something like this even here?”

“If I had to guess… Maybe it’s for people who didn’t knock?”

“...What?” Shuichi’s eyes found Kaede’s for a moment, before looking away, suddenly conscious his hat was still on the floor. She giggled, then pointed to the wire on the floor.

“See, it’s connected here then goes all the way to the desk at the back. That’s probably where you set it, so that when you’re working you can stop someone from rushing in uninvited, or disarm it when there’s a knock! I actually made something similar for my room when I was younger, but instead of a giant hammer it dropped a blanket from the ceiling!”

“You.. Your ceiling??”

“Yeah! I caught my dad in it a few times when he was trying to tidy up my inventions! Sure, it was a little messy but as long as I knew where everything was did it really matter? But wow, Saihara-kun, you noticed where it was so fast! What tipped you off? Or as a magician have you trained to have amazing night vision so you can run around the stage when the lights go out?”

“N-no, my vision’s normal. I saw the wire so I knew something was coming.”

“But you knew where it was coming from,” Kaede countered, putting her hands on her hips and tilting her head. “I could tell something was happening too, but you knew where. How?”

“...” Shuichi retrieved his hat from the floor, and glanced up. “...I heard the hinge and knew it was something swinging, and then felt next to us to see how high the f-furniture was.”

Kaede raised a brow and looked around. Sure enough next to them on the side the mallet swung front was a bench that came up to about her waist, right where Shuichi had pulled her down to. She carefully pushed the mallet and looked up at the ceiling and just as it reached the farther side she heard the hinge squeak. It wasn’t very loud, but they had both fallen silent when the clicking started, she had just been so focused on it. “That’s amazing that you noticed!”

“It isn’t that big a deal,” he answered, dusting himself off rapidly, and taking in the rest of the place.

“I think it’s really cool! That was like something in a spy movie, how you saved me!”

“But it wasn’t actually dangerous.”

“You thought it was, though, right?”

“...” The magician fell silent again, adjusting the brim of his hat.

The inventor huffed, but decided not to push it, walking further into the lab to marvel at all the materials. There were so many things in so many sizes. So much cool stuff she could make with these! She fished through a bin, checking some rubber tubing, a little bell, and even an old toaster before she noticed what had Shuichi's attention. She set her new treasures down and stepped over quietly to look at it as well, from behind him.

“...So, did you want to talk now? It’s just us,” Kaede prompted again, lightly.

“Well, the thing is, Akamatsu-san… Even if I wanted to, I can’t tell you how that trick worked.”

“Oh, it’s okay if you don’t know. But I figured the Ultimate Magician might!”

“No that’s… That’s not quite it. See, there’s a thing called The Magician’s Oath. I’m bound by my honour as a magician, and as my uncle’s apprentice.”

“An oath? Is it serious? What are the conditions?” Kaede asked. Then she realized. “Wait! Then you DO know how that trick works?”

“It’s not the point whether I do or not, it’s that even if I do, I can’t tell you.”

“That doesn’t seem fair, not even if I guess? What’s this oath anyways?” Kaede asks with a pout.

Shuichi sighed, and lowered his hand. He began to speak, or more likely, quote. “As a magician, I promise never to reveal the secret of any illusion to a non-magician, unless that one swears to uphold the Oath in turn. I promise never to perform any illusion for any non-magician without first practicing the effect until I can perform it well enough to maintain the illusion of magic.” He peered at her from under the edge of his hat. “When I became an apprentice I had to agree to that. It’s pretty simple.”

Kaede tilted her head, ponytail bobbing. “Yeah, it is pretty simple.” She cleared her throat. “As a magician, I promise never to-”

“H-hold on! What are you-?”

“I’m swearing the oath!”

“But you’re not a magician!”

“Well, yeah, but I have to swear the Magician’s Oath to become one right? Otherwise you can’t teach me anything!”

“You… What?”

Kaede beamed brightly. “I’ll become a magician! Then I can become your apprentice, and you can show me how to do the illusions, right? I bet having an assistant will make them easier to do here, you could even put on a show before we find your lab if I make the tricks”

“Why do you want to do magic? Aren’t you an inventor?”

“Why do you think I invent stuff, Saihara-kun?”

“...Um.”

Kaede sighed, but her smile remained. “I invent things so people get to see something new. And what’s more new than magic tricks? Sure, I can make lots of other stuff, but this will be new for me too, and that’s exciting! Please, let me be your assistant.”

“I’m still learning myself, I’m not sure I can teach the stuff you want to know…”

“That’s fine! I want to know everything so anything you know is fine!”

“..You’re sure?”

Kaede nodded, and took his hand. “I promise! Now repeat the oath with me, I’ve already forgotten the words!”

Shuichi’s cheeks reddened under the shadow of his hat, but his hand curled around hers after a moment and he gave a shaky nod. “O-okay.”

Together, they recited it. “As a magician, I promise never to reveal the secret…”

A new duo was invented that day in the lab.

[cuddles-with-dragons]

Episode 8 in a nutshell (relatively spoiler free)

Florida Man, March 20th:

Clone trooper wrestles gator to save brother, escapes unharmed

[novice-at-everything]

Just saw the new Mandalorian episode.

On the one hand: Yay! An actual plot! People actually fight!

On the other hand: I miss when Din was the main character and was being set up as a potential ruler. The way he and nearly everyone acted in the episode, I’m tempted to start calling the show a different and derogatory title.

Meanwhile, I’m still trying to decide what I think of the mech (?) suit…

[zoe-oneesama]

Wait, Chobits and Angelic Layer were a shared universe?

Oh yeah, CLAMP tends to have a pretty continuous shared universe-

Chobits has multiple characters related to the characters in Angelic Layer - The creator of Persocoms ALSO invented Angelic Layer, on top of Minoru being the brother of Angelic Layer character Kaede. It's even revealed that the Angels from Angelic Layer were the precurser to Persocoms.

And from Angelic Layer, Misaki names her doll "Hikaru" after the main character of the manga she was reading on the train, which was Magic Knight Rayearth! (well, in the manga version of AL she does).

[xeemaee]

he’s kinda 😶👉👈

[naughtynoodle056]

NEW WHITE BOY JUST DROPPED Y'ALL!!!!

[roomba-mangga]

thoughts on thistle and yaad's dynamic that i vomited in the tags of another post but will now try to articulate here: they're not actually family, or at least they shouldn't be. not in a conventional sense anyway. framing them as uncle and nephew (even in a non-literal, silly fantasy world way) rides more on technicality than anything concrete.

what i mean by this is yaad calls thistle by name and says he and delgal were raised "like" brothers. he talks about thistle like he's an outsider imposing himself into the melinis' space, and it's clear that thistle was never legitimized as a member of the family. for thistle's part, though we don't know how he would treat yaad pre-demon brainrot, it's safe to assume based on the way he punishes him—turning him into a doll—and how little is shown in the way of any sort of relationship between them that thistle only cares* about yaad as an extension of delgal (otherwise i'd expect something like kabru and milsiril, because it's not like another complicated interspecies family dynamic would be out of place, yet there's next to nothing on them even in bonus content, just their scant interactions in the main story).

in essence, they're strangers to one another. thistle's desperation to preserve the illusion of a family, a model where he doesn't even fit, was the snare they were caught in for the past thousand years of stasis. yaad-as-nephew is a prop to uphold that illusion, and thistle is playing a role he's unfit to play. in the context of post-canon interactions, attempting to reconstruct that facade would only be a reenactment of trauma for them both (in a deeply compelling way i'd love to watch unfold, tbh), as that "uncle and nephew" framing places thistle in an implicit position of power over someone he's already traumatized through misuse of authority in the past, a role which also perpetuates his adultification and yaad's infantilization in turn. it'd mostly be an obstacle to any real connection.

best to burn the melini family bridge, i think, and if there's still anything salvageable left in the rubble, let something different supplant it.

[bitternace]

the father, the son, the end of the world (x)

[ID: two digital drawings of three iterations of kiryu kazuma that are intertwined in a downwards sequence. the background is a night sky with two framing clouds, and city lights, moon backlightning the three figures. the colors are tinted blue, and the image is held in a frame that is transparent on the outer part.

on top, kiryu is shown in his yakuza 3 okinawa outfit, in the middle in his yakuza 0 pinstrip suit and at the bottom, in a black shirt as he appears in infinite wealth.

y3 kiryu curls his right arm around y0 kiryu's neck, hand in a fist, his right hand comfortably lying on top of lad8 kiryu's head. his expression is a deep frown, as he stares at the audience.

y0 kiryu is turned to the left side of the image, as if running away, his left arm resting over y3's left forearm, hand slightly curled into a fist. his right arm curls forward over lad8 kiryu's shoulder protectively, palm held upwards. he is frowning at something off-frame, mouth slightly open.

lad8 kiryu has his right hand in a fist over his stomach and the left one reaching up to hold y0's left forearm. his expression is blank, as he stares at nothing, mouth slightly agape.

The second image is the same, only slightly less dark for visibility. /End ID.]

(ref) (edited)

[eshithepetty]

LISTEN. I KNOWWW that the polls haven't even started, but I'm impatient, ok, I'm just putting this out there now cause I can't take it..... anyways - I've seen people do powerpoints as a way to campaign for their blorbos in the various polls that have been going on, so!! I thought I'd do one of my own for the @autismswagsummit ^^ as I simply can't pass on any chance to be brainrotted over this series, it seems...

ID under cut, as it's very long!

[ID: a powerpoint presentation campaigning for Mob from Mob Psycho 100. It's formatted in dark purples and pinks.

The first slide is the titlecard, differing from the main slides by having a pink holographic aura, like the ones from the show, as the background. The text says:

"#MOBSWEEP 2023

Aka why you should vote for Mob in the upcoming autistic swag summit. Please

(JK follow your own heart ^^ but for your consideration:)"

The second slide is titled: "Who is Mob, aka Kageyama Shigeo?" and below the text lists:

"Source: Mob Psycho 100, which is also where Reigen comes from;

The protagonist! Only with background character syndrome (which is why he’s named ‘Mob’ – it’s kinda like naming your protag ‘John Doe’ lol);

A 14 year old with the psychic strength to destroy the world. Which he’s not very happy about actually;

Cause really, he’s just a nice, gentle boy who simply wants to improve and impress his crush by getting swole :) Oh, and he also experiences the horrors. Btw."

On the right of this text, there are two images: One is a zoomed in screenshot of Mob, his face blank and confused, and the other is an official art of the show, depicting Mob in the center, aura glowing, with many of the show's other characters around him, with the show's title at the bottom of the image.

The third slide's title is "Ok but tell me more about the autism", and below, the text says:

"Gladly ^^

Ok, first off – symptoms:

Bad at reading social cues, detecting sarcasm, lies, etc.;

Struggles with recognizing/expressing emotions. Has what could be called psychic meltdowns;

Very honest and blunt, sometimes appearing ‘ruthless’ as a result;

Explicitly low empathy, in that he can’t feel what others are feeling;

Actually very compassionate, and follows a really strict moral code;"

There are no images in this or the next slide.

The fourth slide is a continuation of the previous, with the text being:

"Abnormal reaction to sensations, but instead of overreacting, he underreacts, rarely responding to physical touch and disturbing imagery. Has shown to be at times sensitive to loud sounds, however;

Prefers following a routine. One of his biggest conflicts with Reigen literally arise from the man often calling him out of the blue and making him suddenly adapt, which Mob finds really annoying/upsetting;

Struggles in school. Explicitly bad at math, japanese and PE (really passionate about the latter tho), which could be for a variety of reasons, autism related conditions (like dyscalculia/dyslexia/dyspraxia) being one of them;

Has felt like an outcast for most of his life. Even if he grew up in a pretty loving environment, he recognizes that he is different to others, and people sometimes treat him as such (in a /neg way);

His main arc is about overcoming trauma and… just masking (and how to stop doing it), pretty much, lol."

The fifth slide, in contrast, is mostly just images, placed upon a white background. The title for this one is "Alternatively, just look at him:"

The images, from top to down, and then left to right, are:

Three cropped subtitles out of screenshots of the show, which say:

"I'm sure I just got the wrong idea again. How embarrassing."

"He's detached from urban legends, fads, and other hot topics among people."

"You just can't lie, can you?"

The fourth is a cropped screenshot of Mob's explosion meter. Both in Japanese and English. Specifically, it says: "Progress towards Mob's explosion: 92%". Additionally, there is an annotation above this image, saying: "Literally has a meltdown meter ksfdks"

In-between these and the next column of images, there is also a transparent image of Mob, him standing stiffly, faced towards the camera, his standard, blank expression with a small smile on his face.

The next column of images goes like this:

A screenshot from the show, done in paint on glass, of various kids towering over Mob, who's standing in the middle of the image, small. Their expressions wary, from sneering, to frowning, to looking disgusted. The subtitles at the bottom say, with one part blocked out due to spoilers: "[spoilers] didn't treat me any differently even though I could use psychic powers."

Next two are cropped dialogues as well. They say:

"This version of him was created from being suppressed and locked away."

"Social skills like that are beyond you."

And on the right of the slide is one vertical image, showing one of Mob's books, with the subtitles translating the Japanese title of the book as "The Proper Way of Reading the Room". Next to this one, there is also an annotation, saying: "He has a book on learning social cues :’)" That's all for this slide.

The sixth slide is titled "Is he good rep though?" Text below is:

"Well, to answer the first thing relevant to this question… no, he’s not actually confirmed canon autistic. But c’mon.. it’s so obvious. This kid is not fucking allistic like c’monnnn

Of course, what people consider good and bad rep is gonna vary from person to person. But to explain why a lot of people see him as very positive rep:

"1) He’s the main character, so he gets the most spotlight, and the narrative is formed around his pov, in that we only see things that are relevant to Mob, and visually things are often represented in the way Mob sees them as well (take the body improvement club or Tsubomi, for example), which puts all viewers soundly in his shoes and makes him easy to relate to and sympathize with, and makes it clear how important his emotions and view of things really are;"

On the right of this are 3 images against a white background. The first one is a screenshot of the Body Improvement Club - 5 very buff and large dudes - standing against an explosively red and yellow background, with all of them enthusiastically flexing. The caption below that is "The body improvement club! ...they're supposed to be middle schoolers lol".

The next two, below the first one, are two screenshots of Tsubomi. The one on the left has her smiling, her eyes wide and bright, the background being pastel pinks and yellows. The one on the right, however, has her frowning, the background turned black, her eyes dark and disinterested. The caption below says: "Tsubomi :) And how her design subtly changes alongside Mob’s view of her".

The seventh slide is a continuation of the previous, with the text being:

"2) He’s a very well rounded character, with well thought out strengths, flaws, motives, and his overall story is very cohesive and satisfying; 3) His autistic traits are portrayed neutrally – in both where they help, and where they can cause conflict. It balances between him learning what things he would benefit to address and deal with, and what things he shouldn’t be trying to change at all, and as the whole message of the show emphasizes – he is no more or less special than anyone, no more or less of a person – he is simply human, and his autistic traits are just part of what makes him himself."

This one has images next to it as well. The first one is a screenshot of Reigen looking towards the camera (at an off-screen Mob), hand to his chin, eyebrow raised and smiling, some food crumbs still stuck to his face, as he says: "Today you happened to save some people that only you could have saved." Next to it is the annotation: "Reigen reassuring Mob about how his inability to read the room and feel empathy actually can be a huge benefit sometimes :)"

The next image below is a zoom in of Mob's face, his eyes shadowed by his hair, the scene's lighting dark, as he says: "I'm not being mocked, nor am I easily taken advantage of." The annotation next to this one says "Mob learning to recognize his emotions and assert himself better as the story goes on!"

And the last two images is a screenshotted dialogue, saying "You don't think changing yourself for someone you love is natural?" "I don't. At least, not when we're talking about [spoilers]" (The last bit is blocked out again).

The eight slide is also a continuation. The text says:

"4) He is loved. Loved by his friends, his family, his allies… even most villains come to take a liking to him. In fact, he’s something I haven’t seen many autistic characters be – he’s admired! So many characters, and even viewers of the show I’ve found, really admire him and want to be more like him. And not because he’s a perfect person, or super smart or anything, but because he sincerely tries his best. And I just really appreciate that, personally,, 5) And more than just loved, he is accepted – the whole main arc and the resolution of his story centers around that, around how important it is to feel accepted by the people around you, in all your entirety, no matter how strange or destructive you may feel yourself to be. And how you need to come to accept yourself in the same way as well. I just think that’s a really sweet in a story centering around a neurodivergent person :’)"

And the images next to it are as follows:

A screenshot of dialogue from the show, saying: "At first glance, Mob may seem unreliable, but his strength is undeniable." The annotation clarifies with: "The ‘strength’ in question, in this case, being Mob’s ability to reach out to people ^^";

A screenshot of Teru placed against a blindingly white background, him grinning widely, looking down, eyes shining, as he says: "I knew it, you really are amazing!". Next to him, there is a small caption of "Lol gayass /pos";

And a screenshot of Mob, in the bottom center of the image, small, as he is surrounded by various characters. Most of them are smiling encouragingly, with the ones closest to him, like Reigen, Ritsu, Dimple, Teru and Tsubomi, being bigger and placed in the front. A small caption at the top says: "He has so many friends and allies ueueeueueue.."

The ninth slide is titled "Additionally:" and the text lists:

"Psychic powers as a metaphor for being nd/othered, if that suits your fancy;

His design is iconic and versatile;

The boy has. Issues;;

There are many other characters in mp100 who can be read as autistic. Not a single neurotypical in this show /hj

Mob has more than just autism swag. I’ve seen people with bipolar disorder, ADHD, anxiety and those who are plural (etc.) also relate to him :)

He is simply the Boy ever"

Next to the last line is a small, low quality image of Mob smiling from the manga. The rest of the images, on the right, are:

The meme "I can be your angle....or yuour devil", with images of Mob instead - on the left, him smiling brightly and blushing, placed upon a colorful magenta background, and on the right, a panel from the manga: Mob in one of his explosion states, surrounded by fire, face shadowed, hair pushed back by his powers and waving in the air, and his eyes, wide and eerie, being the only features on his face that are visible.

On the right of these images, there is a smaller one, of Mob in another one of his explosion states (the one from episode 3, season 1 of the anime). He is facing to the side, aura surrounding him, hair pushed back by his powers and his eyes a glower. His pupils are red.

Below these, there are three images of, in order, Serizawa, Tome and Ritsu. Serizawa is sweating, nervous, Tome is sweating even more and yelling into a phone, and Ritsu is simply glaring towards the camera. The annotation pointing to them says: "A few of the other autistic blorbos in question :] (as I personally see them at least)".

And the last is a panel from the manga, of Mob sobbing, tears and drool dripping messily down his face, his hair waving in the air. His expression is somewhat blank despite the clear distress, and the text boxes next to him read: "His tears won't stop. It's an emotion he has never experienced before."

And the tenth, final slide, is formatted the same as the titlecard with the pink aura background, and says:

"Thank you if you got this far <3

Have good days everyones, and remember, the true win for autism is the fun we had along the way :]

Buh bye!! ^_^"

Around this text, there are various images of Mob. Counter clockwise, starting at the left corner:

A low quality screenshot of Mob flying in the air;

Mob, in his puppy hoodie, sweating in distress as he points at a vase;

Mob caught mid smear frame, his leg kicked high in the air as he jumps, his school bag swinging to the side, his expression comically flustered.

A panel from the manga. Mob's eyes are shadowed, chopsticks held to his face, as he stares to the side and says "Tch... Shut up and eat.";

A Mob in an alleyway from the anime, smiling, pointing and looking up and to the left (the center of the slide);

A photo of a Mob plushie tucked into bed;

A low quality screenshot of Mob, standing against a wire fence, facing forwards, his eyes appearing a bit angry due to his hair cowering them.

End ID.]

[hunxi-after-hours]

Hello! I love your ORV posting. I do have an embarrassing question; can I ask how heartbreaking the ending is? I've tried reading it a large number of times, but have had trouble getting past the chapters in the 300s; I'll reread it up til that point over and over again, but can't continue. Not because I don't enjoy it, but because I get so swept away by the emotions, and all the characters go through is agonizing. I know it's not real! But my heart aches all the same, in a way I've never experienced this with a novel before, and I feel like a child LOL (It's also extremely funny-frustrating because I realize how thematic this is to the story itself). I'm not worried about the characters Kim Dokja is fighting for, but given the patterns in the story and how it seems to be told, I'm too afraid to keep going. I know I could just look it up, but at the same time, I don't want to spoil all the mysteries; just if my heart can rest easy. TLDR, if it's not too spoilery, is there any light for kim dokja in the ending? or is it a tragedy through & through?

(If this is a dumb question, please feel free to ignore this)

oh boy anon, I've been sitting on this ask for a hot second because it's hard to answer! so I will attempt to talk around it in a way that will hopefully (?) avoid spoilers

as I see it, the nature of orv's ending (broadly writ) is additionally complicated by the fact that there are approximately four(ish) endings:

1) the ending at chapter 516

2 + 3) the ending(s) at chapter 551

4?) the side stories

the ending at chapter 516

this is probably what many people would characterize as BE, but I'd personally compare it to the ending of my love, my life, 《琅琊榜》 Nirvana in Fire, in that the ending may be "sad" (broad air quotes to vague-ify whatever "sad" entails) but it feels earned. it feels right. it feels like the logical conclusion of what the entire book was building up to. some may consider it a tragedy, but it's not a hollow, meaningless tragedy — it feels correct. this is the note that the novel officially ends on, but is then over(?)written by the existence of—

the ending(s) at chapter 551

Kim Dokja's Company looks at the ending of ch. 516 and says "aw hell no" and sets out to rewrite that ending. after 35 chapters of epilogue, we've unlocked an OE — an open ending, that concludes the moment before the HE/BE ambiguity will be resolved. schrodinger's ending, except you, the reader, get to choose what you believe — and I do think the epilogues are written beautifully to get you here (they implicate the reader in a wonderful and deeply empathetic way). and from what I've seen, the vast majority of the fandom chooses to take the offered HE option and run with it; everyone lives happily ever after together in a big house, a million domestic post-canon fics will attest. this is the closest, I'd say, that would come answering your question of whether Kim Dokja has light in his future with an emphatic, loving "yes"

(I also think it's worth mentioning that the epilogues add a lot to the story; they fill in narrative lacunae and tie up loose threads that aren't answered in the original 516 chapters, so I don't consider the epilogues as "separate" or "extra." the epilogues aren't a fix-it tacked onto the end of the narrative; they serve and enrich the narrative in a way that would actively reduce the luster of the story if lost)

the side story

a few years down the line, Sing-shong have returned to the text to tie up "a few more loose ends." the side story is currently being serialized, and more or less picks up from where chapter 551 left off. this necessarily chooses among your OE options as detailed above; whether the side story will end happily, or with "light for Kim Dokja," currently remains to be seen as it is still ongoing. I've fallen off the bandwagon and have been meaning to catch up, but from what I've read so far I think the side story is an interesting and worthwhile addition to the text. Sing-shong continue to innovate and develop upon the worldbuilding and narrative they have already created, and we have met a new cast of characters that have rapidly become as dear to us as the old (the old cast of characters are also here, don't worry). if I were a betting person, I would say that the side story is headed in a more-or-less HE direction; the side story is currently engaging with and complicating themes of (self-)identity and (self-)worth through the many lenses of Kim Dokja, and while it remains to be seen how it resolves, I am tentatively optimistic that it will, if nothing else, be satisfying

TL;DR the ending(s) of ORV can be variously construed as HE, BE, or OE, and the elements of tragedy woven into the narrative and characters are inherent to the text. however, no tragedy is meaningless in ORV, and all of the endings feel earned

[zanarkand-dreaming]

Just some episode 1 ramblings:

The establishing shots of the show are beautiful right out the gate. Breathtaking. They did a really good job fleshing out the locations.

Not gonna lie, I did worry about the bending looking a little less impactful in live action, but that's not the case. The choreography and vfx work is stunning.

The genocide was brutal, and I was crying the entire time.

Also, people are being jackasses. Gran Gran did great. She really felt like a wise elder who's seen a lot in her time.

Sokka's sexism is also definitely there, don't fret. It actually kinda got to me more because it felt so realistic and you can get a better sense of where it comes from. Like, I have people in my life who act just like that, and it makes my skin crawl. That being said, I really liked it. Can't wait to see him evolve and if it affects Katara's storyline at all.

Speaking of Katara, I can already tell her arc is gonna be more of a slow burn and I love that. She's not exactly quiet and submissive, but she doesn't really question Sokka too much either. I have a feeling that as she progresses with her bending and steps into herself more, we'll see that build up of feminine rage and have her express herself more assertively.

Zuko is great! There's a desperation to him that's so palpable that it makes you slightly root for him without even knowing his backstory. Plus, Dallas Liu's martial arts skills are so good!! Whenever he bends, I'm stunned. He really is Zuko.

All of the actors are giving it their all and feel so true to the characters. I can't wait to see what they do with the rest of the story.

[aloneditee]

Sephiran's Peculiar Behaviour

Sanaki and Sigruns comments about Sephiran being a strange/ mysterious man in PoR got me thinking about what kind of behaviour he displayed during his time in the Senate. Here are some thoughts:

He goes on semi regular trips around tellius in a disguise of his choice. His disguises get more and more ridiculous/ creative over the years. Still disappointed in his effort in PoR though like his disguise that time was not very creative and his Senator uniform was showing through the big brown cloak. He had a flop year guys don't worry we've all been there.

People often just find him perched on some impossibly high places whether it be a building or a tree. He finds it a nifty way to avoid talking to the rest of the Senate more than he has too. Zelgius at first often worries that he will fall off but eventually he gets used to it.

He tells the worst dad jokes. All the time.

You know that one cipher artwork of Sanaki walking on the ledge/ handrail thingys while Sigrun and Tanith are trying to make sure she doesn't fall. Guess who she got that bright idea from.

He swears in the ancient tongue. So on the very very rare occasion someone in Begnion sees Duke Persis actually pissed off noone knows wtf he is saying.

He is a man of wisdom which comes with an encyclopedia of fun facts! The catch is you can never tell if these fun facts are actually facts or if he's completely made this info up to get a reaction out of you.

If I can think anything else I'll make a part 2. Stay tuned.

[muninnhuginn]

Hi Mun!!! I wanted to ask if you have any other kdramas or cdramas you would want to recommend? :0 I still need to catch up with Stranger/Secret Forest, but I’m curious if there are any others I should check out too!

That I do.

Okay so I'm trying to decide how much to factor in enjoyment vs quality here because I have a few shows I really enjoyed but are, um, well, you have to let some stuff pass.

I will mention that my tastes in terms of romancey stuff tends to lean towards non-existent or subtle and so that's largely reflected in my recs. The only exception to this on the list is Flower of Evil. (I didn't intend it but this list doesn't actually have any main BLs/GLs either. A lot of people ship various combos of the main three in MLC and WCL though.)

Shows below cut in no particular order:

Flower of Evil

(modern kdrama)

I wasn't sure how to start with this one so I'll just nab the description from Wikipedia as it's actually fairly accurate here:

Baek Hee-sung is a man who hides his identity and past from his wife Cha Ji-won, a detective. On the surface, they appear to be the perfect family: A loving couple with a beautiful six-year-old daughter who adores her parents. Cha Ji-won and her colleagues begin investigating a series of unexplained murders and she is confronted with the reality that her seemingly perfect husband may be hiding something from her.

I don't want to spoil much about this, but it's very cat-and-mousey. It's evil with the cliffhangers. At one point, it briefly becomes a buddy comedy between a guy and another guy he kept in his basement. And there is one scene where people just sit in a car crying for two minutes. So, like, it has the range? I think of it as a guilty pleasure kinda show personally, but it's probably the closest to Beyond Evil of the shows on this list.

Mysterious Lotus Casebook

(historical cdrama)

Full disclosure: I have only recently finished this and it has somewhat taken over my brain so I can't claim to be in any way unbiased here. Li Lianhua is a lying liar who lies who may or may not be the fallen hero Li Xiangyi (he is). He wants to get by pretending to be a doctor and minding his own business, but unfortunately, the plot is out to get him. And so he, along with Fang Duobing, end up investigating various crimes as Li Lianhua tries to find the body of his former senior to lay him to rest before his own body gives out on him.

My favourite thing about this show is a) Li Lianhua, and b) the dynamic between the main trio. The levels of trolling and identity porn at any one time are through the roof. It's a comedy until it isn't.

Reset

(modern cdrama)

This is the incredibly rare type of show known as a decent *modern* cdrama. It's a timeloop show and is fairly short at 15 episodes. It's about two strangers who are trapped on a bus that keeps exploding and their attempts to uncover why and how it keeps happening. Being a modern cdrama, some of the police stuff can be fairly... heavy-handed, but I think the writers do what they can despite that, and it does use the different bus passengers to explore different societal issues, which is neat.

Overall, it's a bit of a mystery show, a bit of a character drama, and a teensy bit of romance which is for the most part nicely underplayed.

White Cat Legend

(historical cdrama)

This is waaaaaay more down the enjoyment end than quality but I'm having such a good time here. This is originally based off a manhua (I've only read pieces of it myself) but mainly just takes the characters and some story beats and does its own thing. I watched the donghua first and tonally that was an interesting experience in how it raced between funny cat shenanigans and reckoning with the nature of war crimes (though the donghua stuck much closer to the og source overall). But the live action so far is staying firmly silly (I'm midway through so it will shift at some point, I'm sure, just can't see the tonal whiplash being as bad as in the donghua).

Anyway! To explain what the show actually *is*, it follows a guy who has been cursed to become a cat (in the manhua/donghua this means he's like a walking furry but the live action has it more of a werecat/shapeshifter deal which is good because I could not handle that cg 24/7) and his attempts at running investigations as part of the local court. This is not helped by being the only competent guy in the entire place. Still, at least his underlings are *incredibly* entertaining in their failures. So, most of the show is investigating crimes against a backdrop of Li Bing (catto dude) trying to uncover the origins of the curse and why the old court and his father died. There's also a purple dude with whom he has History and an italian vampire. And vice president shangguan, who is one of those rare female characters you get in historical cdramas where the show is actually normal about her existence *without* just entirely brushing over the implications of her being in her position as a woman.

Move to Heaven

(modern kdrama)

This is a genuine rec where I'm not going to say you have to let quality pass or whatever because it's objectively good and doesn't have a high entry barrier. It may be good to watch an episode at a time depending on your mood though rather than trying to marathon it or anything.

This show basically follows the 'move to heaven' team, who are summoned to clear out the belongings of the deceased. Each deceased person has a story associated with them and as part of tidying the belongings away, there's an element of investigating to find out what their story was. It can be a tearjerker at times, but it can also be incredibly sweet. Also, it has a canon autistic character where it actually strikes a really good balance in terms of not infantilising him whilst still having it make sense why he wants help with certain things.

Nirvana in Fire

(historical cdrama)

This is my beloved. My favourite cdrama of all time. But I suspect it may not fit for you if Secret Forest doesn't. Still, I'll mention it and say to look up the diagrams to keep track of all the characters in the early episodes (...yeah, it's that type of show).

Anyway, this show is about a terminally ill man who takes on a secret identity or two as he plots to take revenge/bring justice (depending on who you ask) for the crimes of the past. This is part of the 'lying liar who lies' subgenre. It's much more serious and complicated overall than Mysterious Lotus Casebook despite the superficial similarities, but it does have its lighthearted moments.

Misc. shows that didn't make the list

I'll mention Signal (kdrama) and Kairos (kdrama) because they both have neat time travel mechanics, but with huge stipulations here. Signal is the objectively better one of these two and the male mc in Kairos is unbearable at times but at the same time Kairos has enough good points to keep me watching. The friend trio of female mc (they're just besties frfr) and the villain romance subplot especially. Signal had potential to be amazing, but for me, some of the time travel mechanics fell through and it was almost BBC Sherlockian at times with some of the 'profiling' deductions.

Signal's premise is that there's a walkie talkie that links the past and the present between a current day consultant profiler (with a distrust of the police despite now working for them) and a past police officer who is dead in the present day. It follows various cases between the past and the present that are interlocking with each other, with the overarching mysteries being present day profiler's backstory and past cop's death. I feel like this started out decently, went hit-and-miss, had a few episodes where it was absolutely amazing, and then lost steam somewhat, though the ending hit the main points.

Kairos' premise centres around a mobile phone. When a phone is disconnected, the number ends up being assigned to someone else. So, the two main characters, living a month apart in time, have the same number and thus can communicate with each other. The male mc in the future has recently found out that his wife and daughter have both died and the female mc's mother has gone missing. So they've both got a scenario they need the other person to help them with and as they change things, more new problems keep cropping up. It's a show where the premise is super interesting, but I personally found it a very frustrating watch, not least because of characters making decisions that were in-character, but incredibly stupid and *not* in the entertaining way.

Also, as I didn't include any BLs/GLs, I'll mention that I cannot in good conscience recommend Guardian (cdrama), but it's such fun trash and it has Shen Wei. It's a bit like shows like Torchwood and Buffy in that it's ostensibly modern era but there's magic (sorry, 'aliens') and a team that's meant to be keeping on top of it all led by Zhao Yunlan. He meets Shen Wei and then proceeds to *keep meeting him* at various crime scenes because Shen Wei sucks at this whole low-key deal.

On a similar note, Couple of Mirrors (cdrama) is a republican era GL. The two leads are well-written, but it's basically like two different shows mushed together (a soap and an assassin/cat-and-mouse chase). It has Yan Wei though! It's about a popular writer meeting a photographer (who is also an assassin) and them both discovering that the writer's husband really and truly sucks.

[scary-pixie]

"doggies!!!!" 😀😊

"oh heck, this guy is so evil…" *blushes* 😳🤭

"doggie…??" 😲😰

"doggie!!" 😊❤️🥳

(in-depth report of Fallout episode 2).

[seesaipepper]

character irl birth months🎂🥳🎉

so... technically speaking, each season in mta would be comprised of 3 months, with each month being around 9.3 days in-game... with that in mind, here are the approx. birthdays of the sandrock bachelors and bachelorettes, as well as their zodiac signs because why not <:3c

🌷 SPRING: Owen - Early March (Pisces) Haru - Mid March (Pisces or Aries) Qi - Early April (Aries) Elsie - Mid April (Aries or Taurus) Grace - Late April (Taurus) Burgess - Early May (Taurus) Pablo - Early May (Taurus) Ernest - Mid to Late May (Taurus or Gemini)

☀️ SUMMER: Pen - Late June (Cancer) Venti - Early July (Cancer) Jane - Mid July (Cancer) Justice - Late July (Cancer or Leo) Heidi - Late July (Leo) Logan - Mid to Late August (Leo or Virgo)

🍁 AUTUMN: Nia - Early September (Virgo) Unsuur - Mid September (Virgo) Arvio - Mid to Late September (Virgo or Libra) Amirah - Early October (Libra) Catori - Mid to Late October (Libra or Scorpio) Mi-an - Early November (Scorpio)

❄️ WINTER: Miguel - Late December (Capricorn) Fang - Early February (Aquarius)

+full citizen calendar below the cut since i had done it anyway lol

Spring 1-9 (March) Spring 10-19 (April) Spring 20-28 (May)

Pisces - (February 19 - March 20) Aries - (March 21 - April 19) Taurus - (April 20 - May 20) Gemini - (May 21 - June 20)

Owen - Early March (Pisces) Rocky - Early March (Pisces) Haru - Mid March (Pisces or Aries) Vivi - Late March (Aries) Coco - Late March (Aries) Qi - Early April (Aries) Elsie - Mid April (Aries or Taurus) Grace - Late April (Taurus) Burgess - Early May (Taurus) Pablo - Early May (Taurus) Earnest - Mid to Late May (Taurus or Gemini)

Summer 1-9 (June) Summer 10-19 (July) Summer 20-28 (August)

Gemini - (May 21 - June 20) Cancer - (June 21 - July 22) Leo - (July 23 - August 22) Virgo - (August 23 - September 22)

Crystal - Early June (Gemini) Hugo - Early June (Gemini) Mort - Late June (Cancer) Pen - Late June (Cancer) Venti - Early July (Cancer) Banjo - Early July (Cancer) Jane - Mid July (Cancer) Justice - Late July (Cancer or Leo) Heidi - Late July (Leo) Rian - Late July (Leo) Cooper - Early August (Leo) Meerkat - Mid August (Leo) Logan - Mid to Late August (Leo or Virgo)

Autumn 1-9 (September) Autumn 10-19 (October) Autumn 20-28 (November)

Virgo - (August 23 - September 22) Libra - (September 23 - October 22 Scorpio - (October 23 - November 21) Sagittarius - (November 22 - December 21)

Nia - Early September (Virgo) Dan-bi - Early September (Virgo) Captain - Mid September (Virgo) Unsuur - Mid September (Virgo) Andy - Mid to Late September (Virgo or Libra) Arvio - Mid to Late September (Virgo or Libra) Sandy - Late September (Libra) Pebbles - Late September (Libra) Amirah - Early October (Libra) Yan - Mid October (Libra) Catori - Mid to Late October (Libra or Scorpio) Mi-an - Early November (Scorpio) Nemo - Early November (Scorpio) Matilda - Early to Mid November (Scorpio)

Winter 1-9 (December) Winter 10-19 (January) Winter 20-28 (February)

Sagittarius - (November 22 - December 21) Capricorn - (December 22 - January 19) Aquarius - (January 20 - February 18) Pisces - (February 19 - March 20)

Fennec - Early December (Sagittarius) Gecko - Early December (Sagittarius) Mabel - Mid December (Sagittarius) Miguel - Late December (Capricorn) X - Early January (Capricorn) Jenson - Mid January (Capricorn) Jasmine - Late January (Aquarius) Trudy - Early February (Aquarius) Fang - Early February (Aquarius) Macchiato - Mid February (Aquarius or Pisces) Zeke - Late February (Pisces)

[playerkingsley]

I've finally been watching fantasy high: sophomore year since d20 started to release the rest of it on youtube, and it's SO funny to me that I've just now encountered chungledown bim and the ensuing chaos considering what's happening in campaign 3 right now. decisions being made all around, 100% in character, and it's the best