#the more i think about my fave characters the more i realize my faves fit into that 'you can never go home' category

[freaky-flawless]

Holt calls him "Neighthan Hot"

(ID in Alt)

[lookforanewangle]

thinking. musing

[cryptidclaw]

Question: just out of curiosity but what is the simplest AU you find just 100/10, because even though it's such a simple change, something about the idea seems so good even if it changes so little of the actual book?

I only ask this question because I've seen your take on Warriors; though if you could change just one thing, what would it be?

I will admit, I don't know if you've been asked this before, so bear with me.

These are great questions!

ok my fave REALLY simple/small change is making Sandpaw and Longtail the same character. Think about it... Sandpaw is the one to fight Rusty and tear off his collar, Sandpaw is the one who was mentored by Darkstripe, Sandpaw was asked by Tigerclaw to join her in his exile... Sandpaw realizing that she had been looking up to the cat who had killed her father...

that and Sandstorm being Firestar's first deputy. she just deserves it.

...

the one thing I would change out of all warriors is either Ravenpaw being Scourge or Leafpool having Lion and Jay while Squirrel has Holly.

Ravenpaw, bec it is just SO thematically fitting, and it brings back around plot points from earlier in the series, tying up loose ends, something that is very important in a story! Scourge is NEVER hinted at until the very last book, however if he was the surprise return of Fire's old friend it would be a pay off from Ravenpaw's arc!

The 3's heritage bec if Hollyleaf was not actually Lion and Jay's sibling it would give more of a reason as to why she was not one of the three. And! it would be an absolute gut punch to Holly for her to find out that she was never her brother's biological sibling... she was never a part of their prophecy... (bonus points if Lion and Jay had a 3rd littermate that died, and would have been the 3rd cat!)

[ambeer6]

Longer than expected yapping about case 2 of DRDT. (dated ep 14 of ch 2)

Some thoughts about the chapter 2 case. Warnings for all the obvious.

First of all, I think Teruko is right about how the pulley system was set up. Rope over the rafters on the ceiling, then through the seesaw and then around the carousel. Then tying the rope to the correct length before letting go, so there's no worry about stopping the carousel with your bare hands. This simply makes sense.

Something that confuses me, is the amount of people arguing against this idea? Not many people on tumblr thankfully, but I don't really see why this setup would be unbelievable.

Advantages of the pulley:

Using a pulley reduces weight. Arei would be far easier to lift using this method. Even a kid could lift her this way by simply leaning into the carousel.

Using the pulley means you don't have to pick up Arei and hook her into the noose. You can simply leave her unconscious on the ground and hook the noose around her instead, then push the carousel.

Even if you're okay with her dying of strangulation, it's easy to tie the rope to the right length and just let her drop to break her neck. It grants Arei a quick death. (and you'll be done quicker)

Even if the killer is strong enough to just lift Arei into the noose, using a pulley is much easier and means you'll spend less time holding her. I know not everyone would care, but I certainly wouldn't enjoy holding onto an unconscious girl and trying to lift her into a noose, let alone an awake girl trying to struggle. (if you believe she woke up)

Downsides of the pulley:

A lot more work to clean up afterwards. Especially since we know most of it wasn't actually cleaned up, all they did was hang Arei into a different place afterwards. (I wonder if they were in a hurry, or if they assumed that somehow people wouldn't realize Arei couldn't have broken her neck from the short rope on the swingset)

a lot more work to set up to begin with. You'll have to either get up very early, or set it up the night beforehand if you wanted to be completely prepared for the murder. Clearly this wasn't just a spur of the moment thing.

That's pretty much all I can think of, honestly. When talking about the advantages or downsides of the pulley at least.

Other stuff that's maybe a bit silly to bring up:

Those fish are a bit big to have fitted through the holes in the jerrycan handles.

How do we think those jerrycans were attached to Arei? Like, I know the handles are broken (also giggle at the size of the holes and the size of the fish), but my question is more like... did they use rope? It sounds logical to use rope, but they don't mention any rope burn on Arei's body.

Maybe the 'glove is for ropeburn' truthers meant the ropeburn on Arei herself? Did the killer place the glove on Arei's neck before hanging the rope with the jerrycans off her? If they got rid of the jerrycans afterwards, maybe they also took Arei's glove. (disclaimer: I don't think they used the glove this way, but I'm open to arguments in favour of it's usage)

Rose mentioned she memorized the trash. Do you think there's a chance the needle and thread will be brought up by her? I feel like if those are going to be important, then Rose will be the person to mention seeing them in the trash.

Clothes baul.

Something else I want to mention is that the way some people talk about this case makes me uncomfortable. I want to remind people that this is just a story that someone wanted to tell. I understand that the people saying they'll drop hang themselves if the killer is a specific person are just joking, but if I were the dev, I'd feel extremely uncomfortable from just how many people are talking about the case like this.

I understand not wanting a certain character to die and I can't stop you from making jokes about it, but saying that killing off your fave character is a horrible writing choice and you'll kill yourself over it, would put immense stress on the dev, as well as everyone who helped with the project.

Also on the topic of writing: people make illogical decisions sometimes, but especially when under stress. The case needs to make sense, but I don't want people arguing something is bad writing because the killer made one or two illogical decisions along the way.

Another thing I noticed is that a lot of people are assuming what I call the "Ellery Queen case logic", which assumes that the reader (or viewer, in this case) should be able to solve the full murder based on the clues given during the investigation, before the confrontation (trial, in this case). While definitely understandable, it's great being able to solve things beforehand, we need to remember that this is not the only way to go about writing cases. Personally I've engaged more with what I call the "Arthur Conan Doyle case logic", which leaves the most vital piece(s) of evidence hidden from the reader (viewer) until the end of the final confrontation. This makes is either very difficult, or even impossible to solve the case beforehand, meaning you'll have to wait until the very end to even see the final piece of the puzzle.

Now, there's no saying whether Despair Time uses either one or the other case logic style (they could mix it up between every chapter if they want to), so because of that, I ask people to be polite about people's theories, even if they don't explain every single piece of evidence, or if they state that we need to wait for more evidence to be revealed even though the trial already started.

Nothing wrong with voicing your own ideas on people's theories, it can be helpful if they actually misremember something (I misremembered stuff too, so it was good to have it pointed out!) and can help people rework their theories with your arguments in mind, but I just ask that you're not condescending about it if you do.

THAT'S ALL! THANKS FOR READING!

[fumifooms]

Marchil crumbs part 7

Part 1 - Part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 - part 6

They made bonus illustrations for the Blu-ray. Idk what to make of this

Kui don’t do this to me…….. The placement <3

1) Trigger please elaborate. Speak on that. Huh. In the other Bluray illustrations with duos the characters aren’t blushing like this…?? This sure is a choice. Very normal. No tension in the air.

2) Those were assorted fullbodies she did for advertisements for a Dunmeshi cafe event in Shibuya, that she then put in the Complete Adventurer’s Bible… They line up so well that it looks like they’re interacting together it’s so cute.

Chilchuck having torrid tension with Marcille’s crepe Do you think Chilchuck was in Marcille’s shot behind/besides her food… Is he looking at her like that because he’s being sassy about having to wait on her, or is he using his watch as an excuse to steal glances at her… Did Marcille call out to him to be like "hey get in the shot!!" and get pics of their coffeeshop date out in town…

Cooking soap together for the fate of Senshi’s beard

I could have SWORN I’ve talked about this page below in the crumbs post before but apparently not. Ok so first of all this is peak them strategizing together. They seek each other out to plan out their next move- And this is soon after she did ancient magic! It’s after Chilchuck’s most important character moment, where he admits that he cares about the party and things aren’t purely professional, so that helps him move on from keeping her at arm’s length due to the very illegal scary thing she did I think, but besides that! This still shows a very strong bond of trust and respect between the two, that he values her input even still. Also supported in this chapter by how he felt the need to keep tabs on Laios and Senshi to not get them all killed but Marcille letting it slip about what she did or anything didn’t even enter his mind as I went over in part 2.

Okok but more in depth… I’m spoiling a future analysis of mine with this too but remember this panel? And who might be the personalization itself of projecting gentlemanly, heroic good will while having hidden/manipulative intentions? I’ve never known what to make of Kabru smiling at her and more importantly her blushing at him here… Until I realized that he really fits her ideal type from what we can extrapolate: He looks rather feminine and is seemingly very gallant/gentlemanly, very charismatic, and was raised by elves so has a grasp on etiquette. And yet, she only gives his smile a passing glance before going back to strategizing with Chilchuck— Because unlike what her reputation as someone frivolous who idealizes and romanticizes anything like in her storybooks, she can put rationality above aesthetics. Because she values Chilchuck and his input much more than she ever would a pretty face alone, the aesthetic of a prince charming. Because she knows he was right, at least partly, and knows where her actual allies lie. She doesn’t waver, and she chooses Chilchuck. A part of her arc is to judge by acts more than looks, and this is very much a part of it I think, Chilchuck cares and wants to help much more than someone who might look kinder or more welcoming.

Ehem sorry for going off Now that I reread the full scene this might be one of my fave marchil moments as weird as that might be… Chilchuck seeing her hesitance and explaining to her what’s going on without being prompted, sticking together out of everyone on the battlefield, them so easily slipping into strategizing with each other without the rest of the group. I never noticed the whole comedy of corpses falling around them and them keeping talking together lol.

Ok so merch wise they’re making hair clips! And there are 4 sets of two, it’s always Marcille with a different hairstyle and a different party member (for one of the four sets the other is a walking mushroom). Here’s the Marcille & Chil one! You can now have them in your hair yippee

I never put this one in a crumbs part but it’s funny so might as well, for as much as they care for each other and Marcille’s been shown to be very worried for & careful with Chilchuck the dainty rogue™️ the second he becomes a tallman without his cute face suddenly it’s FREE GAME. Their bestieship is so strong for them to be able to brush this incident right off and strategize like they’re close knit so soon after this lol.

Love a duo that will just trip onto their face in the same page. Cringefail.

Matching frog skin fits yayyyy!! <3 (Also stop making him look at her in ads I’ll die)

STOP ITTTTT

I had always assumed in the ‘feeding liver to Marcille’ part that Laios was always the one feeding her because the hands and speech bubbles aren’t clear in the manga scene, but the anime makes it clear that everyone does it after the other. So here’s Chil’s turn. Asking after if she liked it and encouraging to eat more is cute too. There’s also obviously how panicked he is to see her in danger earlier in the ep, but idk if I already showed that manga panel in an earlier comp

And woohoo the anime made this interaction between them even more sus!! Why. Why are you looking at each other like that. Stop people could misunderstand

Protecting her from the monster food

Thank you for the food episode 10. Made me notice a healing/caing moment I’d never paid attention to before!

"Huh your hands seem okay" ARE YOU SURE… They’re so cute when they team up together oml, hassling Senshi instead of each other lmaoo. Love how they made her look at him all happy

I wish I could put the screenshots for the whole sequence here but. How to hook and reel in your Chilchuck.

In chapter 97 cover they took the seats facing each other this time again <3 Like in the golden kingdom. It’s a recurring thing. Seemingly he’s looking at Falin so involved in the same conversation at her? :> Oh it’d be cute if he was the one who made her laugh sob, he looks like he just cracked a wise joke.

Today’s healing touch

Dude you are going to die let her go

They changed the gesture Marcille did to chide Chil here, instead of having her hand on his shoulder and tapping his head she gives him an elbow nudge. Idm the change this is so cute too. Also Chil extending her his sympathies

Not a crumb tbh but the way this was his POV during the Marcille vs Thistle fight is hilarious to me. No wonder he thought she was bonkers

Not the way these quote keychains are set up… Every protagonist has their own EXCEPT Chil’s who includes Marcille, and it’s one of my fav marchil moments I looove being validated that this scene is important

And to finish it up, the manga scene of this exchange in the anime that really stole my heart. They’re so fond of each other aw. Teasing on the job is free, her expression here is so cute, rare reversal of their roles in the dynamic

More crumbs soon! Not many in here yet (edit: at the time of first posting) but I was dying to post it with the modern cutouts art (I have so much fanart planned based on it hehe) but then the bluray illustration came out and fucking one hit KOd me. I am not that strong. I am only human.

They didn’t blush here in the manga guysss

[necrotic-nephilim]

in the tags of that one fab five poly post you mentioned that you are a core four enthusiast and I’d love to hear if you have any Kon headcanons or just any yj headcanons in general, I love those little guys

!!! i love Kon so much, he's one of my fave guys. i actually got into the 90s era of comics to read his solo run, YJ(98), and then i just spiralled from there. i've got lots of headcanons about both Kon and YJ

for Kon specifically, i'm really attached to the headcanon of him and Power Girl being friends. i think the idea of them bonding over imposter syndrome over feeling like Kryptonians who don't neatly fit into the Superfam would be very crunchy. it's my Kara Zor-L stan showing, but i've got a lot of fic ideas where they end up close. similarly: i also think a friendship between Kon and Bizarro could be fun, both being clones of Superman made by Lex.

for a YJ headcanon: i hold FIRMLY to the belief that Bart knew TIm's secret identity before YJ even formed he just. never mentioned it bc no one asked him. the way they meet in Robin Plus Impulse, i see no world where Bart doesn't figure it out. i think it makes for a hilarious concept that Tim's identity real is a big deal and he uses the whole fake name Alvin Draper and Bart just blurts out that he's Tim Drake. i know we all love TimKon, but I'm a bit of a TimBart truther and i think it could be a fun little moment for them.

back to Kon: this is less of a headcanon and more of just a thought: but i wish we had more content about the Ravers, Kon's team before YJ. i won't everytime i think about Superboy & the Ravers i have to look it up to convince myself i didn't hallucinate that entire comic. but it was so fun. there was a road trip arc. a canon queer character who's arc was handled shockingly well for the 90s. (and the homophobic character was the one who got the unhappy ending while the gay man got to be happy with a bf?? revolutionary.) i personally believe Hero Cruz was Kon's gay awakening. i won't elaborate on this. anyway i wish we saw more of Kon thinking about this team after YJ formed and maybe missing some of his old party friend losers.

also on the note of Kon, i love any exploration of his canon experiences with being groomed by just about every woman he "dated" in the 90s. i'm such a fan of when a character becomes hypersexual to cope with their trauma that they haven't realized even is trauma. and i think Kon fits that bar perfectly. the first real attention he got outside of being attached to Superman's legacy was sexual attention from women, so of course he would lean into that and not realize how fucked up it was until years later. i love when it shapes his relationships in fanfiction, especially if he doesn't realize it. whether it's Tana Moon or Knockout or just about any other woman, there's a lot of material to explore.

Kon is one of the few characters i will venture out of pre-Flashpoint for because i think his complex over Jon Kent has the potential to be really complex and fun. i think everyone misunderstands Kon and Clark's relationship (i blame the Young Justice cartoon. i've had arguments you wouldn't believe over Kon on TikTok-) as father/son and that Clark is constantly pushing Kon away in favor of Jon, and that's just not true. the issue is that Kon was *forgotten* by the timeline shifting without him bc he was off on Gemworld. and to me, that's more interesting than making Clark some kind of absent father to him. it's an issue of the world he remembers not existing anymore and most of the world not remembering him either, and now there's a new Superboy replacing him. idk man that's fun. i have a lot of thoughts about the feelings Kon would have about Jon, wondering if the timeline shift was meant to "correct" Superboy to make a version of Superboy that was meant to exist and Kon wasn't. this very much ties into my thoughts on how he and Power Girl would have a lot to bond over, feeling displaced in a world that doesn't need them. that's where Kon's identity issues stem from. that said, i always prefer a Kon who actually gets along pretty well with the Superfam, including Clark and Jon. most of his conflict is internal, not external. it's what makes him crunchy.

more YJ headcanon: i think the shift from the Teen Titans to YJ from the perspective of the mentors is fascinating. YJ got a lot more freedom and less supervision, it's like how parents don't try as hard when they have more kids. so i love the headcanon that half the time the League has no damn clue what YJ is up to. they played baseball to save the universe? yeah they never mentioned it to their mentors. no one asked. the lack of supervision, sans a robot, makes them incredibly creative with how they solve problems. they don't approach anything traditionally because no one is properly guiding them. since they're a new generation of sidekicks, most of them holding a mantle that was passed down to them (or at the very least they're a new generation of a superhero family) it holds a bit of imposter syndrome. all of them are internally panicking 90% of the time while trying to appear collected around each other. they're actively a collective disaster because of it.

personally, i view the Core Four as more of a queerplatonic polycule than a romantic one? like i think it's fun to explore polycule dynamics where it's not actually everyone dating everyone, but far more complex of some people dating, some people are familial, some people are fucking, and we don't even know what those two have going on. it's complicated, you know? messy and codependent. i don't see them as a neat polycule whatsoever. it's like an on and off again relationship but with four people that also occasionally includes others. i'm personally a fan of the potential of the Young Justice (2019) team being a polycule except none of them have any clue who's dating who. every single one of them *will* give you a different answer. half of them aren't even aware of the other's sexualities. Jinny has come out as a lesbian like four times to her own polycule. i'm a big fan of this team and i wish there was more fan content for it.

random smaller headcanon: i do think Kon can cook and i think no one believes him when he tells them. bc the issue isn't he can't cook, it's that he never has food in his fridge or pantry to cook with. that boy was raised with Ma and Pa Kent, he can make a *mean* hotdish with whatever he finds. just don't expect him to ever repeat a recipe bc he will never have that exact combination of ingredients in his kitchen again. he is however, horrible at baking bc cooking is an art and baking is a science and you will never catch him following a recipe in his life.

i think Kon regularly uses his TTK to save his teammates during fights and just. never mentions it. like in small ways, such as slightly moving flying debris that's about to hit them, making a villain's punch have more resistance so it doesn't hit as hard, slightly pulling them out of the way. no one knows for like. *years*. i'm very obsessed with pushing TTK to the limits and exploring how it makes Kon hyperaware of his surroundings. it's a literal sixth sense and i think he's passively always aware of everything, even when he's relaxing. no one realizes just how much control he exerts over a fight. which means he's holding himself back most of the time, and in my opinion for the reasons of being afraid of himself, and afraid of the Luthor parts of him. so he just. balances a fight in little, unnoticeable ways.

it's one of my headcanons that if Kon started openly dating Tim Drake, Lex would immediately try to get closer to Kon bc not only would he approve of Kon dating someone from high society, but he'd want to try to use Tim's power within his family's company and Bruce's company as leverage. of course it wouldn't work, but it'd be a fun mind game if Lex vs Tim with Kon just stuck in the middle. i have a vague fanfic idea for this I'll probably never write.

this is a cursed headcanon: but i believe Kon has an incest kink. the number of times he's canonically expressed incestual feelings (both on purpose and on accident) is not on purpose in the text, but the fact it keeps happening means i'm personally just going to run with it. i think KonJayTim is fun bc even if Tim and Jason don't see each other as siblings, Kon would make it a kink anyway. i will leave you on that cursed note.

[birdmitosis]

Voice of the Cold for the ask game, i hope I got here first D:

[ask game here]

OMG, you did! :D And I am so happy to answer about Cold.

First impression

Pretty sure my first impression was of him in the Spectre route, and I was curious, a bit positively inclined, mostly on the strengths of how well he fit how we got him and also how hot his voice was. 😔 Yeah, I'll admit it. I looked forward to seeing more from him and was intrigued by the seeming discrepancy between his "emotionless" claims and his blatant grudge against the Narrator.

Impression now

I LOVE COLD SO MUCH. Ohhh, he is as much of a trauma response as the rest of them and is both driven to keep himself safe and also experience something new (which is itself not safe) and also not care about safety... He is dismissive and deeply caring and he can't stand stagnancy and yet he feels at home when everything unravels into the Long Quiet. One of my Top 3 faves I think.

Favorite moment

There are a lot of moments I could choose here but I think I still have to give it to my bias: Cold in the Wraith chapter alongside Paranoid. Especially this sequence:

This has lived rent-free in my head since I first saw it, it just hits me so hard in a "none of them are fully wrong but none are fully right either" way and says so much about Cold in the context of other things... Especially the absolutely wild "If you can tolerate joy, you can tolerate pain" line, like UM EXCUSE ME?

(But the whole chapter is great, with Cheated as well as with Paranoid, but I have a bias for so many moments with the Paranoid version, like the "you think you are brave" line from Wraith and the fact that Cold must have helped with the efforts to toss the body into the void... Wraith is a severely underrated chapter, I feel!)

Idea for a story

Look, because of the way I fandom, all my ideas are for shipfic and ParaCold is 1000% my OTP, soooo...

That said, a specific idea I've actually had that I still kinda want to use with something, that I may have mentioned before, is Hunted making a point that they need each other (as a group) and at their best they cover each others' blind spots and shore up each others' weak points.

When Cold pulls something along the lines of his "I'm special" thing, Hunted ends up challenging him to a "play" fight (no actual wounds being left, "wounds" marked with something like chalk or berry juice or something, fake blade, etc.). And by the time Cold calls that he's "killed" Hunted (and so obviously he's right that he doesn't need help/he has no weak spots that actually matter), Hunted can point out that he's managed to land enough "minor" blows that Cold would be bleeding out by now too, because he doesn't guard himself at all.

(I also kinda want to look more into a super queer TTRPG called Moonlight on Roseville Beach because I wanna play around a bit with an AU for it where the six possible player character "origin stories" are filled by Hero, Contrarian, Cold, Paranoid, the Princess, and the Narrator... "[In] Moonlight on Roseville Beach, it's the summer of 1979 and you work in the village by day while protecting yourself, your housemates, and your neighbors from supernatural monstrosities and occult horrors by night," and it's in a queernorm setting where LGBTQIA+ characters are considered the norm, with a "focus on queer people succeeding at keeping themselves and their communities safe (at least for a time).")

Unpopular opinion

TBH I also agree that Cold isn't all that edgy. I think he's quite straightforward most of the time and definitely has some issues -- I think he likes prodding at some of the other characters more than some people realize but also less than some people act like, he really does jump to "we could stab" very quickly as a response, he seems happy to encourage potential violence against himself if he finds it interesting in some way, he has a surprisingly big ego -- but also blatantly cares despite how he often talks, is curious and wants new things, and seems to like connecting with the other voices and even, sometimes, the vessels.

I also think he isn't as hard to get along with as some people think, in the sense of, I think he has like three different "modes" when it comes to interacting with people:

He vibes with how you do things, in which case he goes along quite well, is agreeable and calm, and seems to like you. (Skeptic in the Drowned Grey chapter is a clear example, but so is Cheated in the Wraith I think; IMO Hero and Hunted would go here as well.)

There's enough push-and-pull there that he finds you interesting, in which case he can get a bit intense, prod you some just to see the push back, might sometimes go along just to see what you'll do, and it's a bit harder to tell if he likes you (but honestly he does). (IMO Paranoid would go here, and I do actually think Smitten goes here as well.)

Neither of the above apply, in which case he's just bored of you, and if forced into constant proximity with you, annoyed. (Stubborn in MOC is the most blatant example; IMO Broken would go here as well, ironically outside of if you somehow managed to get Cold alongside him in the Tower route.)

(The first two can be true simultaneously for some people; I feel like Contrarian would be in both. Weirdly, I feel like Opportunist is somehow in both #2 and #3? Stubborn could eventually go into #2, under better circumstances. And the Narrator fits a special category of "fuck you" where He doesn't quite fit #2 but there are some similarities, Cold just doesn't like Him.)

...This got a bit weird and long and out of Unpopular Opinion territory, huh. WELL, TL;DR Cold isn't edgy and actually likes a good number of the other voices.

Favorite relationship

I mean, y'all can guess this one, right? >_>

No, but honestly, as a ship it's definitely ParaCold. But in a totally platonic way, I also really love his dynamic with Hero in the Spectre route, especially if you free Her, and with Skeptic in the Drowned Grey chapter (okay, okay, I can see that one as either platonic or shippy). And his dynamic with the Narrator fascinates me but I can't ever see them getting along.

Favorite headcanon

I love the idea that Cold picks up new things all the time, and whether he sticks with them or not he gets surprisingly good at them first. Skills, hobbies, other languages. I can imagine his handwriting getting better more quickly than a lot of the other voices because of this, and him also managing to bond with the others over doing their hobbies with them.

[tyrantisterror]

Recently I'd been rewatching the No Small Feat campaign and I started wondering something during the Menagerie Arc (my favourite arc of the campaign so far btw). You've been pretty transparent about this campaign's fairy tale motif, from general archetypes such as Leonie being a take on the Disobedient Girl to characters and plots taken wholesale and placed into Midgaheim like Sir George and Jack and the Beanstalk. Even the one other arc I couldn't name a particular fairy tale equivalent, the Heartless Witch, feels enough like a fairy tale plot to fit, but the Menagerie arc, aside from the significant presence of Sir George, seems like the odd one as a fantasy flavoured Jurassic Park homage. So is there some fairy tale inspiration to that arc I'm missing, or did you really just decide to diverge from the rest of the campaign's theme for that one arc as an excuse to introduce more of Midgaheim's various fantasy beasties (this is valid btw, it is as said above mt fave so far)?

Ok, I could bullshit that Jurasisc Park is, in its own way, a fairy tale - a rich king commands the finest wizards in the land to bring dragons back from the dead and place them in his menagerie, defying the gods with his hubris, only for them to prove unruly and destroy the kingdom in the process, leaving the king humbled and destitute by his hubris. It's a morality play about folly and hubris and not breaking the rules of the world as much as, say, the story of Grandfather Death - is bringing dinosaurs back that much different from using Death's shotglass to subvert the natural rhyme and rhythm of the cycle of life?

I could do that. I could claim that bullshit is true.

But the fact is that @dinosaurana pitched a character who wants to build a pokedex of 100 monsters, and I was figuring out how to make sure we encountered at least 100 monsters (with some to spare in case my players missed some of them). And I've always been enamored with the idea of a medieval take on Jurassic Park - of finding some obscure rich weirdo who's captured a bunch of dangerous, rare mythic animals, and all hell breaks loose. I tried it out in a couple of my earliest D&D campaigns, in fact, but was never quite satisfied - and I ultimately realized this campaign would be a good fit.

It may break the pattern of the fairy tale homages that the other arcs have, but it's not like any of them were particularly bound by fairy tales - the story of Kaboldt's manor turned out quite differently than Bluebeard, after all, and so on with the others. And, well, to go back to that bullshit above, while a Jurassic Park homage may not fit the theming of the allusions in this campaign, it does fit the overall theme and structure of fairy tales if you think hard about it.

Plus, I got to throw in a shit ton of monsters.

[kurosagileo]

couple thoughts on the obscuary episode if anyone's interested

I keep thinking about doing this kinda post but keep putting it off lmao

if people are interested in My Thoughts i might reread the chapter and go more in depth on like analysis, but this is just general thoughts after reading

so first things first, lyca is absolutely hands down adorable, I love him so much he reminds me of my friend's dog who is so excited all the time about being a good boy but also has the most wistful stare uve ever seen. I love that lyca's kept naivety and hope for the future despite the fucked up shit that darkwick put him through, and was so scared when he mentioned his first friend because i Knew how that was gonna end and then.. it did like that

rui living up to the malewife allegations, doing all of the cooking and cleaning around the place, making sure lyca gets up for school in the morning. i remember @/danieyells (i think) made a post at one point about the quiz at the beginning mentioning not sleeping and i was like oh!! thats rui now! but also god i couldn't imagine not sleeping like that is my favorite hobby

ed reminds me of a guy from korra who got airbending and his mom was trying to force him to join the airbenders and he was like absolutely not i'm staying in the basement you cant make me do anything. i didn't realize at first with the img of him when you first meet him that he's barely got his vest buttoned at all lmao. my fave scene with him is at the end where cornelius and moby are like well but you guys lied on this report and ed is like oh yeah where and theyre like ed wouldn't sign this he's too lazy and ed is like wow thats so crazy look over this way for a second tho? and they're like ed????

overall, though i felt like this episode fell flat compared to the others

i think the other episodes had a better balance of action from the anomaly case, building character relations, and progressing the overarching story with regards to darkwick and mc's curse. this chapter definitely had the second two, but not so much the first one. the anomaly felt like it was just an afterthought, and without that driving the plot for the chapter, it didn't feel as strong. the other episodes felt more like they could stand strongly on their own while being part of the main story

it might be personal preference, but it just didn't feel as strong without the central focus on an anomalous mission. my favorite chapters so far have been jabberwock, vagastrom, and sinostra (but also like vagastrom bias lmao so take that with a grain of salt) and i think it really worked to have the interactions centered around the anomaly, while also opening things up with the main story and information about the curse and the Clash and the spy/traitor. in contrast, this chapter didn't have the central focus to work with and in my opinion felt more like something that would be a side story that fits between episodes

again though this is just my opinion and overall i did enjoy the chapter, I just didn't find it as strong or compelling as the other ones so far but if u got this far i'm curious to know your opinions !!

[unreadablehandle]

How fanfic changed me as a writer

Since discovering fanfic, I feel like I realized so much about writing!

My awakening is probably the most significant on the field of characters - because the way they spring from what I know and love while writing fanfics (instead of how I always tried to make them out of scratch and build them from the dark)... it showed me I always did it wrong before.

And the secret is pretty simple, even. I just never saw it so clearly.

Because the key is not to make a sheet with their traits and spend hours thinking about their favourite drink and if they are the kind of person who pees in the shower or not. No.

And don't take me wrong, it can be very useful to do this. But if you lack the thing that matters, it's still useless. Because writing is definitely about the craft. But have you ever wondered why a painting that does not conform to the rules of perspective can blow you away more than the one that does?

It's because art is about heart, too. So to write a good character... the only thing you have to do... is to love them.

I know it sounds silly. But I really think it is the truth. To fit the character to a base that feels familiar helped me realize this.

Your characters can be horrible, despicable, unlovable. But if it's so, your goal when writing cannot be to depict it (as I often tended to do before). Your goal has to be to love them through that awfulness. So much that the readers can learn to love them, too.

That's it. That's the charm.

Also: writing characters whose traits were inspired by my faves (and reading hundreds of stories of the same two people who are somehow always different, though) helped me realize that people are very different but also very similar.

So when I write other stuff than fanfics now, I use the essence of people I've met in real life as a base for what I aim for in the "final product". It works like magic, really. Because with something to bounce back from, it's different than to pull something entirely out of thin air.

Changed the way I view character building.

...

Do you share the same experience? Do you disagree? What other things did you learn from fanfics? I'm curious!! ;)

[laughterbynight]

Possibly unpopular opinions incoming which means post it before bed, natch.

I actually think Tim in a trio would be cute. I don’t trust DC not to make it weird of course but as far as headcanons go I could see him trying that out for a bit. One partner is of course Kon. DC can fight it all they want but I do think someday (maybe when I’m 70) Tim and Kon will end up canon.

Anyway, temporary trio wise I think Tim, Kon, and maybe a new character. I have no issue with Bernard but I always feel like DC shoved him in there to cut off timkon talk so I have a hard time seeing him as anything permanent y’know? But then again that would work as a transition into timkon when the trio ends. Amicably!! I’m so not here for drama.

I’d like to see a woman in there maybe, for some balance. No not Steph. I know some fans are still really married to the idea of them but the whole manic pixie dreamgirl thing has never been my jam personally. That’s why I’m generally attracted to the batfam. I like stoics. Yes, Dick isn’t my fave either (drawing all kinds of targets on myself tonight).

I feel like figuring out sexuality is so…basic and static in comics. Like yeah they talk about it being a journey of discovery but we don’t really *see* that, they just say it.

I think I’ve seen Bart as a popular third. Idk if that’s in line with him as a character at all since I’m less familiar with him but I’m open to it. I do kinda like the idea of an Amazon about their age. I know the supe/bat/amazon thing is common ground but hey it works really good. I can’t argue with it. I like reading superwonderbat too. Sue me.

If we wanna shake things up it would be interesting if it was a male Amazon. I mean we know men aren’t allowed to stay there so they must go somewhere. I think it would be interesting to see a male character from a culture where women are in control and that’s considered normal. No hate about it just, yeah that’s how it is here. I get bored of the sausage club that is the batfamily but I’ll take it if that means an interesting third.

sidebar: I really wish Cass was in more stories and we could have more girldad Bruce moments. I feel like DC tries to do the “girlpower” thing by putting all the girls on teams together and honest to god I do not care. I wanna see Batman and his kick ass daughter and her brothers, together.

It’s almost a shame Cass was adopted bc she would fit as a good third but of course we can’t do that for obvious reasons. Maybe in an AU, but I’d be more sad if she didn’t have batdad instead.

Anyone have any ideas about a third? I’m curious. Keeping in mind they'd need to get along with Tim and Kon on some level obvs or why would any of them bother.

Edit: How do we feel about Connor? I realized the rep for Ace characters is abysmal and I think Tim and Kon would be really sweet and understanding compared to like, idk a lot of other characters in general. Tbh I think of Tim as demi but idk if DC can handle that Bi was hard enough for them. But then I think I’d want them to stay a trio too. Idk y’all is Connor around their ages I seriously can’t keep up with how DC rearranges timelines. I DO know it would probably cause Bruce and Ollie to get catty with each other around the holidays and that’s always a bonus in my book.

So many ideassssss

edit edit: wait that’s two Connors. I shouldn’t do this at 1am. That would also be funny tho.

[queenoftsage]

I always see these ToP 10 KoReAn AcToRs ThAt ArE sO GrEAt [OmG] on... Fail Tube...

And to be honest, they always fail me. Come the F on peoples. Where are my faves?

Yeah yeah I know. I'm not general audiences. So.... Let's make my own.

Behind this read on, you will find my TOP 10 South Korean Actors of .... Well all time. Including NEWBIES, and Honorable Mentions.

P.S. this list is based on ACTING talent. Yes, most of these men or male presenting peoples I'm about to name may be good looking, but they have the TALENT to keep me entertained. ME, who is very picky for... pretty much anything, especially a whole ass show or movie I'm gonna give hours upon hours of my time to watch. If you can't act, your looks to me are gonna go down the drain. You can't be a bad actor and be good looking, because then I'll be like... yeah... that mofo is on that screen just cause of looks. They have no freakin' talent. GET ME OUTTA HERE. lol.

THIS SAID....

Ready to hate me cause I didn't include your faves? lol. READ ON, or forever hold your peas and carrots,. and MOVE ON. [aka- don't click 'keep reading'] [Warning: LONG ASS post.]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#10

Park Hae Soo

Listen.... It took 'Narco Saints' for me to realize that... I do love watching him on screen. I have also seen him in other things, and I honestly have loved his performances.

He manages to hold my attention long enough to acknowledge that... Yeah, I like this guy, he is very good at his craft. Let's go see more stuff with him in it! So that's how I decided he's a fave. lol.

My nickname for him: Mr. Narco Saint.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#9

Kim Jae Wook

I have seen him in SO MANY series/dramas, and every single time, every SINGLE time, he makes me root for his characters. Yes, even when he's playing evil AF characters. I think high key, he fits the villain characters a little more. I don't know, it's something about his elegant looks that make it easy for him to play villains. His most memorable being in 'VOICE', and in 'DEATH'S GAME'.

ALSO, he has a very special place in my heart. Way back when, Tumblr used to be a fun place for online RP. I had an amazing RP partner that used his beautiful face as an FC for a very fun character. I don't remember his name too much. If I remember it, I'll come back and edit it in, but... still... That particular character was villain-ous. lol

My Nickname For Him: 'That Character's Name!' ... I'll find it...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#8

Park Hyung Sik

This man is just adorable AF. He's fun to watch in most of the series/dramas he's in, and my favorite performance of his was in the series 'Happiness'. Despite him being a favorite, a lot of the stuff he's in is ... not really a personal favorite, [save for 'Happiness' which I really liked.] but his acting is always a breath of fresh air. Like I said, he's fun to watch on screen, even when the writing is bad. lol

My Nicknames For Him: The Cute One

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#7

Yoo Seung Ho

Just like Park Hyung Sik, this man is adorable and very fun to watch, but sometimes the stuff he's in is... not so great. However, he is great, and I have yet to watch him in Warrior Baek Dong Soo. I hear that was a great performance of his. Honestly, all his performances are great. Also, his eyes are a thing that keeps me glued to the screen. He's just beautiful.

Anyway... Favorite. I always enjoy watching him on screen, even if the stuff he's in has insanely terrible writing.

My Nickname's For Him: Jingoo's Older Brother [yeah Yeo Jin Goo, no they're not related... but still.], Yesung part 2, Orange Blossom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#6

Yoo Ah In

Another top performer, and reason why I'll stay and watch something. Despite all that bullshit controversy going on about drugs and this man [I would go off tangent and explain why I don't give a fuck when actresses or actors end up being junkies. That's their choice and their body. It's something they have to fight with.] , I still find it very fulfilling to watch him on screen. He's very very good at what he does, and well... You know he's also very easy on MY EYES. lol

Whatever the case, I thank that lady Song Hye Kyo, for being his friend and sticking with him through thick and thin and helping him out as the friend that she is. I hope he gets the help he needs and is able to come back to acting. I know it won't be unscathed, because South Korean audiences are very harsh on drug accusations [in which they should be harsher on GRAPE accusations, but go figure. They're very ass backwards. I won't get into it. That's all I'm saying.] , but me personally, I'll be waiting patiently for him to return.

Hope to see him in more new performances. In the meantime, I'll continue to watch what he's been in.

My Nicknames For Him: Hottie, Mr. Chicago Typewriter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#5

Steven Yeun

GLENNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... you know... Because yes. Also, he's great, overall. He's got a charm that just keeps me watching every time he's in anything. He's one of the reasons I continued to watch 'The Walking Dead' for as long as I did. Him and Michone, but that's another story for another time.

Why is he in this list, if he's mostly in Western productions? Actually, no. He was in a few South Korean productions as well, and he was great in them. Hell, he even did a variety show in South Korea and was adorable in it. So... THERE. lol.

My Nicknames For Him: The only reason I liked 'The Walking Dead', lol... Well that's not a nickname, but that's what always comes to my mind when I see him. Him and Michone were EVERYTHING to me. Aka- GLENN.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#4

Lee Do Hyun

The first time I saw this dude was in 'Hotel Del Luna'. And I thought he was great, not gonna lie. Unfortunately, at that time, someone else had grabbed my attention. However, fastforward to a lot of performances later, including 'Exhuma' where he was superb! and I realized that this man is AMAZINg. Also, he played Shin Ha Kyun's younger self in 'Beyond Evil'. So technically he's Lee DongSik Too! How much better can we get?

That aside he's super talented. And of the new boys that are usually in Top 10s, he's the only one that made it on mine. Also, he will forever be Baby! Shin Ha Kyun to me, because I believe he can achieve such heights as an actor.

My Nicknames For Him: Baby!HaKyun [yeah... Shin Ha Kyun]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#3

Shin Ha Kyun

........... I don't think I need to explain WHY, this man is in this list? Or do I? If I do, just know this, he's nicknamed 'The GOD of Acting' by his fellow South Koreans. So.......... Yeah. Either way, and God of acting nickname aside, he lives up to that expectation all the time. No matter what character he's playing, he always puts his soul into it. I love that about him.

My Nicknames For Him: My Husband, The MOOD, My Twin [Gemini Twin]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#2

Doh Kyung Soo

.... Listen... Idol actors get a lot of shit when they decide to go into acting, because they're often accused of being BAD at acting. Kyungsoo, is one of those that has surprised audiences with his acting. And honestly, I feel it. I have seen most of everything he's been in [save for that one series with Zo In Sung], and I gotta say, I loved the performances through and through. Whether he was playing a high school kid with problems, and or a crazy prosecutor, and or an astronaut stranded on the moon. The feeling has been there the whole time, as well as the SOUL. This man, knows how to act, he was born for it. And of the many many MANY idol actors out there doing their thing, he's in my opinion, THE BEST of the BEST.

THE END...

Also helps that he's one of my top favorites, but that's another story for another time.

My Nicknames For Him: Baby Boy, el Ojon ['big eyes' this one from my mom too, cause that's what she calls him, and that's how she knows we're gonna see him on screen.] , Crayon Shin Chan, Baby! Ranier, itty bitty KyungSoo, [too many to be honest... I come up with nicknames every other Friday. Stay Tuned... lol.]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Honorable Mentions:

Ji Sung

This man came into my radar, thanks to 'The Devil Judge'. I have yet to sit down and see him in more things. The only other series I have seen him in is 'Adamas', and I gotta say, it was very fun time. I'm not gonna lie that I chose to watch him because I don't mind watching him on screen. He's absolute eye candy in every sense of the damn word.

However... I hope that as I keep trying to watch stuff he's been in or is in 'currently', I can appreciate his acting more.

My Nicknames For Him: Kang YoHan [I know that's a character he played, but that's all I see when I see him... I KNOW, I need to see more.]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seo Ji Hoon

I'm not gonna lie... I had seen this kid in other series, and he did kind of grabbed my attention. However, the stories were so good, I was actually invested in the stories [ie. 'Revenge of Others', 'Meow The Secret Boy']. However, enter 'Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency' and... That was it. I immediately remembered his face from the previous stories/series and how in those series, he was the one that had caught my attention. Then here in this series Marriage Agency... I was SOLD.

This beautiful man is up and coming, true. So I'm waiting patiently for him to get more 'STARRING' roles. He's only gotten a few. He has yet to have that one HIT that catapults him to getting even more attention. However, with what he's done, he's done enough for me to pay attention. He's good, and he was so good, that in Marriage Agency, he managed to get my attention, when that series features some of the most beautiful men South Korea has to offer. Shout out to the other Jihoon, he's beautiful too.

Either way... This kid is on my radar. I can't wait to see more of him and determine WHERE in this list he fits. Will he be Top 10? or Top 20? We'll see.

My Nicknames For Him: Baby King! [he's a little itty bitty king... no of course he's not... he's way taller than probably most of the dudes I have here on this list. lol. But still... He's so baby faced. That's all I think about when I see him.]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Park Ji Hoon

Ok, so the same thing that happened with Seo Jihoon, happened to me with this Jihoon. He's Park Jihoon. So the first time I saw him was in 'Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency'. I did take notice at how pretty and cute he was. I mean, this freakin series had some very beautiful people in it and I did notice. However, the Jihoon that caught my attention there was Seo Jihoon. Fastforward to a few months later and me watching 'Weak Hero Class 1' and I lost it. I remembered who this kid was, and I remembered where I had seen him. He is amazing in this series, so now I'm a little lost in the rabbit hole. I am currently going through his list of works. It's not that big, so I feel like I'm almost over. Currently and at the time I'm about to post this, I have started 'At a Distance Spring is Green', and I gotta say, he's adorable and he's entertaining to watch.

We'll see in the future, where he ends up in the list. Will he be Top 10? or Top 20? I will figure it out eventually. In the meantime, I also love watching him in variety shows and doing that cute gesture with his hands. You know the one....

My Nicknames For Him: THE EYES [no yeah for real. That's what comes to mind when I see him. lol.] , Tiny Boy [it fits him cause I believe he's the youngest in this list.] , Baby Tiger, My Son, and lately I realized he's 'LITTLE RED' my OC. Like seriously, fits like a glove.

KAI [Kim Jong In]

Just like the photo above, I've been sleeping on Kim JongIn as an actor. And I not only blame myself, but also blame my love for watching him as a performer/singer better than an actor. I have never given him a chance as an actor. I am aware that he has done a few series, and the bits and pieces I have seen I have liked a lot.

I feel I need to give myself the time to watch him in these and then figure out where in the list he will end up. Either way, he's an honorable mention because even when I'm not watching him in acting action, I am always watching him in dancing and performing action, so.... yeh...

My Nicknames For Him: Art In Motion, Baby Nini, Tedi Bear, El Sexy Boy, Bolita de Algodon [little ball of fluff], The CAT Boy[alternately 'Omi in RL']

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#1

YEO JIN GOO

You saw this coming, right? Either you did or didn't, but you should know by now. This man took me by the horns and hasn't let me go yet. Listen....Might as well be the devil here and say, yes this man makes me feel things every time I see him acting. Whether he's playing a robot, a hotel manager, a disgruntled king, it doesn't matter. He puts so much soul into whatever he does, that it makes me feel like I am there experiencing what the character is experiencing.

He has a long history, which has been amazing to look through. And honestly, up to this day, I still haven't watched everything he's ever been in. He has an extensive list of works that he's been part of, and his participation in each project has, honestly, always stood out to me. At least in the projects/series/dramas I've been able to see.

Thank you, Yeo Jin Goo, for sharing your insane acting talent with all of us. I consider myself lucky to be alive in this era, and to be able to witness this. Greatly appreciated. Hope to be able to live long enough to see you thrive for many many years.

His Best Characters [Top 5]:

Gu Chan Seong [Hotel Del Luna]

King YiHeon & Ha Sun [The Man Who Became King]

Han JooWon [Beyond Evil]

Hwayi [Hwayi: A Monster Boy]

King Gwanghae [Warriors of The Dawn]

My Nicknames For Him: Baby Child, Peach, and KaiSoo Love Child.

And that's it... Are any of your faves in this Top 10, or are they honorable mentions? Either way, these are MINE. If I made a video about it, these are the men it would feature.

Maybe later on I'll make the Female actress version. That one would be really hard, because I absolutely LOVE the female actresses more than I do the male actors. And I have tons of faves.

However... I'll try to make the effort to do it eventually. Don't know when.

Anyway... Hope you enjoyed this post, if you read it all.

[vasito-de-leche]

i just realized something from each arcanist's voiceline, im not sure if u are ahead of me in this but anyways...

...their "monologue" segments, each of their monologue segments their most vulnerable they have ever been or the deepest they have ever opened up, at least for the ones that I have read.

for example:

- pavia admitting that every night it feels like he's still in piedmonte (by extension, that boarded up basement)

- blonney thinking why it's impossible for humans and arcanists to get along when they have similar interests like movies

- mesmer jr. screaming to stop being insane and leave her alone (poor girl is traumatized and a big F you to constantine and her family for being persistent in putting her in those situations)

- sotheby in yet another scene about how little she knows about distinguishing human things and arcane things (which is a problem for a young arcanist like her should she be unintentionally blatant about it)

- horropedia being glad that he is still himself despite the foundation's attempt to fit him in a mold

all in all, "monologue" segments are actually sad bits about our faves

A good chunk of the monologues are tragic, yeah - but I think that it's because we have the benefit of the full picture and we each have our own interpretations!

I just don't like to think of monologues as just exclusively sad bits for characters to show how sad they are or used to be in their lives? It takes away the nuance of how the character speaks about these things, if that makes sense!

I'll put the rest of my thoughts and ramblings under the cut so I don't keep clogging the main tag with nonsense <3

For example, Pavia's monologue - a popular interpretation of his character is that he's still traumatized by his past and the time he spent in the basement, therefore his monologue implies that no matter where he goes, he's still alone in that dark basement. From my personal reading on it, Pavia is a character who reclaimed the things that hurt him (the darkness, the isolation) and are now part of him (his wolves and shadow arcanum, his independence).

So to me, that monologue is a threat. I already explained this in detail in my first Pavia posts, so I'll spare y'all from the repetition lolol

Sotheby's monologue - you say that her lack of knowledge when it comes to differentiate human things from arcanist things is a problem. To me, this quote is just a highlight of her curiosity and her sheltered life, because she sounds chipper at the idea of learning new things. And I think it's a monologue meant to focus on her curiosity, because her Insight II is "World on the Other Side" which shows Sotheby inside a glass cage, looking outside to the real world.

The outside world is different from what I imagined. There are more arcane animals than I thought ... Humans are also more interesting!

And one can still continue to look deeper into this monologue and relate it to the full context of her situation to have a different reading!

Maybe someone else thinks this quote is extremely fucking tragic, because we're talking about a rich, privileged and sheltered girl who relied heavily on her caretaker, Mr. Karson, and now that he's gone, she's left to explore the world all on her own! Maybe it's a really lovely and happy quote, because it shows Sotheby's growth, still excited to learn about the outside world! Maybe it's all at once!

And Blonney's monologue, to me that's not a tragic voiceline at all but a rather hopeful moment for Blonney, a moment of thoughtful consideration which contrasts the "Blonde Bimbo" stereotype she's been cast in and shows how observant and attentive to detail she can be.

Is it true that humans and arcanists cannot live in harmony? We have so many things in common to share and enjoy, like the movies. As I learned about humans from the movies, so can humans learn about arcanists ... It's just that no one has made such a movie yet.

From my reading on this monologue, Blonney very clearly believes it's possible for humans and arcanists to live in harmony - it only takes for both sides to consider each other's perspectives. She's lived among humans, she's learned about humans through their movies. But she's ignorant about arcanists because of the way she was raised, because of the lack of exposure she's had to arcanists and their world.

No one has made such a movie, but maybe her, an arcanists that's experienced the duality of everything, a bimbo who is majoring in film, a major that everyone insists is wrong for her because it doesn't fit her image - maybe she can make such movie.

Yes, it's a sad monologue because of the context of subtle oppression towards arcanists, because of what we know about Blonney's life and all. But to me, it doesn't end on a sad note. Especially with how driven and outspoken Blonney is.

It's the same for Horropedia's monologue for me - yes, he's serious when talking about the way the Foundation and the way they continue to cut away all the unwanted parts of the arcanists they take in, but it also ends on a nice note. He's relieved to have survived being true to himself, he's relieved Vertin was able to do the same.

And then there's Mesmer Jr.'s monologue - this one is, without a doubt, an awful moment for her. Given what we know about her background and family, from either the main story or the Three Doors update, we can safely assume this is her having a panic attack of sorts, steming from her trauma and long-term internalized hatred/fear/disgust towards arcanists.

This is the most objectively sad and tragic monologue out of these. But what of the reading?

Is this Mesmer Jr. being comfortable enough around Vertin to let her see such a violent and vulnerable moment? Someone could easily read this as Mesmer Jr. and Vertin's relationship being repaired slowly to allow such display of vulnerability, the same way someone could easily read this as Vertin just stumbling upon Mesmer Jr. having the worst time of her life. Someone might also interpret this as Vertin doing something that caused Mesmer Jr. to react like this!

A few other examples I have at the top of my head that can differ greatly depending on the way you choose to read it...

Bette's monologue, for example!

 I've dreamt forever about my first character, not as a rich young man, a courageous adventurer, a fair or rich lady, but the first character starred by me, Bette with brown hair! I have noted them all in this notebook, which is called "My Script."

Is this voiceline sad? It can be, if you choose to intepret it as Bette's inability to get a starring role, while all of her dreams of being the protagonist are kept in a notebook that no one else will read or notice. It can also be inspiring, if you choose to interpret it as Bette holding on to the belief that she herself - not a character that she plays, but herself as a person - is important, even if no one else notices. Again, it can be this and that or both or none or all at once!

Or Baby Blue's monologue!

People at school once called me... Umm, how do you say that word? Ah... Crazy! Sad? I'm not sad... They told me that the most outstanding people were all crazy...

Yes, this can be sad, because we're talking about a 17 year old girl who was so disillusioned with her real life that she feels more comfortable in a world of illusion, while her real body remains comatose. And yes, this can be happy, because we're talking about a 17 year old girl who found a place that she truly feels alive in, where she finally has peope who understand and care for her.

I think I might've lost the point of the post somewhere through the rambling - but yeah! I don't like to think of these voicelines as just sad bits, especially with how much detail and attention the writing of R1999 has, all the love they put into all characters <3

[shigayokagayama]

sakurai hato or minegishi :3? my faves

sakurai:

Sexuality Headcanon:

this man is gay

Gender Headcanon:

honestly nothing in specific. cis but in a "never really put much thought into it" kinda way. could he be inclined to question or transition? perhaps, but he is too busy cleaning up the giant comical jar of disgusting orange sauce that spilled all over the floor because a customer insisted they could fit a weeks worth of groceries into one cheap reusable grocery bag and it predictably split open and went everywhere and now the whole store smells like nondescript orange sauce and he has a headache from the smell but the manager will be pissed if he closes the register and moves to one further away so he just has to mop it between customers and the stain remains until they redo the nylon in 30 years.

A ship I have with said character:

koyama. made for each other.

A BROTP I have with said character:

i really like thinking abt post canon 7th division staying friends :] i think they hang out sometimes

A NOTP I have with said character:

none that come to mind? obvious stuff aside i suppose

A random headcanon:

a common theme between all three of these characters is that theyre young enough to fall in the age range where they could have been kidnapped by claw and i choose to believe that's what happened. especially sakurai. this kid screams kidnapped. no one would have looked for him....

General Opinion over said character:

i dont think about the 7th division members all that much just because they all get introduced in my least favorite arc so i dont really have a reason to reread/rewatch unless im doing a full series rewatch, but as a background character enjoyer seeing people have thoughts on them makes me very happy

hatori:

Sexuality Headcanon:

gay asexual seems right for him i think :]

Gender Headcanon:

definitely some flavor of transmasc

A ship I have with said character:

computers. other than that ive seen people ship him with joseph and i see the vision.

A BROTP I have with said character:

similar to above i think he and the rest of the super five are still buddies after everything.

A NOTP I have with said character:

this is a weird question to answer for the more minor/background characters so instead ill say "i used to sorta ship him and minegishi in like a qpp sorta way when i thought they were like the same age but learning minegishi was like 19 and punching the numbers meant that unless they didnt meet until less than a year precanon there's no way to make that not weird so i dropped it". so it goes.

A random headcanon:

ditto to above and also reddit moderator. i know he's a reddit moderator on some tech forum giving the world's most smarmy and least helpful advice

General Opinion over said character:

i like him! i dont think of him too often but im fond of all the super five.

minegishi:

Sexuality Headcanon:

ace aro :]

Gender Headcanon:

transfemme nonbinary <3

A ship I have with said character:

none really. they dont have time for that they have a thankless minimum wage job to work.

A BROTP I have with said character:

super five but also i realized hoshida from the reigen manga is in the age range to have gone to middle school with them before they became a terrorist and the idea of them having been childhood friends who fell out of touch and then him turning on the news to find out the kid who used to make him clover necklaces is wreaking havoc on downtown is REALLY funny

A NOTP I have with said character:

most things honestly at this point. i am so sorry shimamine shippers they took everything from you with the fanbook

A random headcanon:

i feel like post canon theyd become a bug person. like, getting big terrariums with self sustaining ecosystems of invertabrates :]

General Opinion over said character:

i actually like them a lot! i feel like its clear from the answers to these that theyre the one out of these i think about the most frequently lol. i just. how did you join the upper echelon of a terrorist organization at age 16. what happened.

[musicalmoritz]

BSD Fandom Groupthink

Note: At some point during this yap session I mention my dislike for the Atsushi and Lucy ship. This is not a shipping essay but it is mentioned, and I’m pretty blunt about it, so if that’s going to bother you please just scroll. I also mention Hisoka for like a sentence so TW

It’s very interesting to me how fandoms can shape individual opinions via groupthink. The first time I watched bsd, I understood the themes perfectly. I really admired Dazai’s character arc for his growth towards the light, and how he was able to use the harmful skills he learned in the mafia for good. I wasn’t exactly jumping for joy when his past with Akutagawa was revealed, but I accepted it as a necessary part of both of their character arcs. I didn’t dwell on that or him leaving Chuuya behind in the mafia, because I understood that his character was meant to be morally gray and that the bad things he does move the story along (same with characters like Mori and Fukuchi). I viewed the core themes of the story as overwhelmingly hopeful, to the point that it got a little cheesy even for me. And I want to reiterate that I had nothing but positive feelings towards Dazai

Then I get on TikTok and- *heavy sigh*. Then I get on TikTok and all I see are Dazai hate posts. He’s still the most popular character so I’m not trying to pull the “woe is me” card saying it’s rare to like him or anything. But I was genuinely confused because the overall attitude towards this character I had never even been mildly annoyed with was “ohmygod when will this gross bitch shut up.” I say gross because of the overload of jokes abt him not changing his bandages. It was basically the same post over and over again, even the guy’s fans couldn’t stand him. Granted, a lot of it was jokes, but the joke had gone to the extent that saying anything to contradict it was deemed a sign of poor reading comprehension. After all, they did have some credibility. Dazai has done a lot of bad things, so if you don’t hate him at least a little then obviously that means you support abuse

Now, as someone who was new to the fandom and wanted to fit it, I quickly conformed to this mindset. I felt bad for Chuuya because Dazai abandoned him, even tho before I entered the fandom I had never once paused to question how Dazai leaving impacted Chuuya. I acted frustrated with Dazai for abusing Akutagawa, even tho I had previously thought that was a very interesting plot point that added a lot to both characters. I slandered Dazai every time I talked about him, which confused one of my friends since she remembered me initially loving him. For a bit, I even called Chuuya my favorite character because that was more acceptable than saying Dazai (nowadays you get called basic for having either of them as a fave so me and Chuuya fans are in the same boat)

It wasn't until I found other Dazai fans that actually understood his character that I realized it was okay to stand by my own opinions. This sort of snapped me out of that hive mindset and made me realize that I'd been subconsciously changing my opinions to fit in with the fandom. It helped me to take a step back and to my own analyses, make my own assessments. I was able to disagree with Dazai defenders more easily than I initially could with the rest of the fandom because I felt encouraged to start thinking for myself again

I know what some of you are probably thinking, "Roxy, it sounds like you were just being a pussy," and I was. But the thing is, this wasn't usual for me. I joined the bsd fandom after years of doing my own heated analysis for other fandoms and priding myself on being different. So it's weird to me that bsd is the fandom that made me a sheep. I will say that the bsd fandom has an insane amount of discourse, more than other fandoms even, and they can't really handle other people having different interpretations. This is true of a lot of TikTok fandoms tho, and I got TikTok as I was getting into bsd so it could just be that I chose the wrong platform (Tumblr bsd fans are literally so much better I love ya'll)

Another moment of cognitive dissonance I had was with shipping. I don’t often talk about ships I dislike so if that’s going to offend you, look away now (I’ve given two disclaimers know pls don’t come for me)

When I first watched bsd, I absolutely hated the Atsushi and Lucy romance. I thought it was so forced, and that they were essentially the Chipmunk/Chipette versions of each other. My sister agreed with me so we just kind of made faces whenever they were on screen together. That’s not to say I hated either of their characters, I actually loved both of them a lot. Just not together yk

But when I got on TikTok…holy shit people defend that pairing with their lives. And no shade, I’ll always support people defending something they love. The problem is so many of the shippers followed the rhetoric of “we have to protect the innocent straight ship from the evil gay one.” It really rubbed me the wrong way and didn’t do anything to increase my enjoyment of the ship. In fact I don’t have many straight bsd ships for that reason, I don’t like how they’re viewed as the only healthy ones in order to put down the queer ships. This is coming from someone who’s a big fan of a lot of straight ships, I just can’t really stomach a lot of the bsd ones. At first I even viewed Tachihara and Gin as siblings but I got over that interpretation was I found out abt Aku and Gin being siblings. Nowadays, if I had to pick a favorite straight bsd ship it would most definitely be Tachi//Gin, I think they’re super cute

Got a little off subject there so onto the cognitive dissonance. Just like with Dazai, I pretended to like the straight ships that the fandom protected so dearly. I sought out edits and scrolled to the comments only to immediately find people bringing up rival queer ships for the characters…literally every single time. I looked at headcanon posts and scrolled through ship accounts to try and see the appeal. Then one day I had to take a step back and ask myself why I was looking at content for a ship I didn’t like. Why did I care so much about making myself like something that clearly wasn’t for me? My favorite ships were already the most popular, so wasn’t I already conforming? Why did I feel the need to conform more, when my personal ships weren’t impacting these people whatsoever??

This even led me to abandon ships I once loved. I dropped a Kouyou and Yosano fic I was reading because I saw so many posts about how the ship is lesbiphobic and shallow. This is particularly upsetting because femslash is obviously very important to me, and without Kou//sano I didn’t find a lot of it in the bsd fandom. Rest assured, I’m back to loving the ship, but it took me way to long to accept that I was allowed to like something other fans deemed problematic…which is a lesson I thought I already knew. I was a fucking Hisoka fan before I watched or read bsd, you’d think I would know a thing or two about unpopular opinions

I recognize that a lot of this is personal issues, I am a people pleaser to a fault. But since I’ve learned to stop this behavior, I’ve begun recognizing it in others more and more. Fans who repeat other people’s arguments when they haven’t done any analysis themselves. Fans who admit to pretending to like popular things just so they won’t get “cancelled.” Fandoms, especially the bsd fandom, having mass trends of hating on or loving one specific thing. And a questionable number of fans who seem to agree with everything the fandom says

Guys. You’re not gonna get cancelled for having a different opinion. Okay, if you like Mori you might (Mori fans I’m literally so sorry for ya’ll, you guys have it so rough). But guess what? That’s okay. Do not sacrifice something you enjoy or try to force yourself to like something you don’t just to appease strangers on the internet. It may sound small since we’re talking abt fictional characters here, but these habits will set you up for independent thinking later on in life. Professors and employers admire individuals who are able to think for themselves. People in general admire others who can think for themselves. Also fandom is something that should be fun, you shouldn’t stress yourself out over a difference of opinion. I got into bsd during a pretty vulnerable time in my life so it’s no wonder it took me awhile to strengthen my own opinions. If you’re a person like me who attaches the things you love so much to your identity, it can be hard to see people shitting on those things. You either double down or conform. Either way your harmless opinion has no tangible impact on anyone else in the fandom so it’s much better to stand by your own preferences

So the message here is don’t be a little bitch, develop a mind of your own. And also the TikTok BSD fandom sucks ass

[fumifooms]

oh, sorry for so many asks, i also wanted to say too though i really agree so much with your chilchuck thoughts so far, even down to your personal headcanons about how things might go post-series. and you're absolutely right, i'll defend that little guy any day myself. you understand him so well and it's kind of relaxing to have someone else dish out this kind of analysis and already agree with all of it cus it's just so real, so thank you again for the Meal <- perhaps the perfect thing to say about dungeon meshi analysis when i think about it

i know you have playlists and stuff so i wanted to share a song i've been listening to that that reminds me of him: divine loser by clem turner

No worries, they’ve been a lot of fun! I do plan on getting back to each one btw, just gotta get through some other things first hopefully. Aaaah that’s really nice to hear 🥺 I do know the feeling haha, it’s always fun to have posts that Get It that you just nod along with 🤝 I’ve thought sooo much about Chilchuck I rotate him in my brain like rotisserie chicken more often than not, glad it all ended up being productive haha. Y’know recently my friends have been calling me a Chilchuck superfan/scholar jokingly and it actually made me have a realization moment of…

Bc I’ve always said Laios was my fave and like, he does mean everything to me idk if I’ve ever felt so seen as with Laios, I relate to him sooo much, but then. Okay alright that can be a different thing than a character being your favorite fine FINE I admit it Chilchuck’s my top blorbo. He’s so.🧍‍♂️I can’t even describe. He’s so….. He’s a clown but he’s also perfection in its best imperfect form I will not be taking further questions today. My friend called him my silly rabbit like that one meme and it makes me laugh sm

Thank you for the music rec!! I listened to it and yes agreed, sent straight to my Chil playlist. Songs are my bread and butter when I have character brainrot bc like with web weavings I feel like there are so many emotions and thoughts you can communicate about something so simply through one… (Which for anyone interested here’s my web weaving tag, got 2 about Chil). Gonna link all my dunmeshi playlists while I’m here: Dungeon Meshi, Chilchuck & his wife, marchil, Mithrun.

Ok everyone saw this coming but this ask ran away from me and I ramble about some song lyrics I associate with Chil & different facets of his life below the cut. Some people find my, ehem, heated rambles about Chil entertaining, this is your cue to get out the popcorn.

When thinking about songs for Chil I have 3 angles I take: About Chilchuck, about him and his wife, or about him & Marcille. Marchil is so engraved into me with their arcs together, that they’re like the concept of closure and letting go and letting yourself live again to me, sorry for all the non-enjoyers…

I think currently my top song for him is Jackrabbit by San Fermin, because it combines all three it makes me go wild. It’s about trepidation… Throwing yourself into it even despite the fear (working with traps, survival in poverty where you have to rush & hustle), or just staying there paralyzed(not reaching out to his wife). Flight or freeze!! Saying goodbyes and saying hellos!! Not dying alone!! The life cycle of a wild rabbit living and dying, the baton pass race of life from generation to generation!! Chil and his daughters even!!! Going through life at a frenzied pace!! It is so Chilchuck and so marchil, and the music does give that hurried and scared energy to me too, and sigh the Marcille side to it with fear of death too…

Extra fun context but the other day on the discord server we were talking about what animal each character’s fursona would be as we do and I thought of a rabbit for Chilchuck: Quick footed, ‘cowardly’, small and frail and seen as weak 🙃, athletic and slender, pulls stunts, stressed out, has very fine hearing and has good instincts, etc. And ofc that fits really well with Marcille since she’s kinda associated with dungeon rabbits hehe~ But I think while Marcille’s 100% the cute round rabbit Chil’s more like a brown hare, more wild and like, more like a jackalope if we’re still doing monsters... I do lowkey find it more fun than his associated monster being mimics because he’s crabby, because they’re clever (with where they place themselves) and because of how he has a soft shell but soft insides, lol.

OKAY so that’s my song pick with the main 3 facets sure, now I’ll share some lyrics for each 3 sides separatedly 😈 Kinda summarizing my web weavings for him thus far. If we start with Chilchuck by himself we have… Enter One by Shelby Merry and Drunk by The Living Tombstone

With his wife, we have the bad end, and the good end for if they get back together with Lost Kitten by Metric and North by Sleeping At Last… Okay okay plus Love Like Ghosts and My Heart is Buried in Venice… Little Soldier by The Crane Wives for them also RUIN me

And Marchil… Marchil oh my beloved. Another buddy also made a full analysis on discord about Soap by The Oh Hellos for them lol, but these are Not I by I Fight Dragons and My Heart is Buried in Venice again~

Okay okay two more. Boats & Birds by Gregory and The Hawk, and Tummy by Tamino.

Finishing it up with quotes from, in order, A Softer World by Joey Comeau, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Acknowledgements by Danez Smith, The Letter by Richard Paul Evans, and last but not least posts from dead tumblr account flintcoded. I keep looking around and finding MORE fitting quotes. Someone stop me- In loving me you hold a knife at my throat, in loving you I tell you exactly where to cut. Forgive me, memory is a rope around my neck. I need you to be happy, I need one of us to be happy.

Hand in unlovable hand…

In conclusion;