#the only difference is that i'm actively trying to avoid spoilers

[pandoa]

i, too, am part of the poor who remain in the abyss known as the styx towers

sobs

I wish all of you a good "Diasomnia is coming and coming strong" (and also tag your spoilers). And my feelings and prayers to my fellow players/watchers that are still in ch6 despite knowing a bit of what's going to happen, myself included

so this is from a popular old video in Brazil and as I was watching it for the first time, I just saw this scene and... suddenly had a epiphany. feel free to use it as template for something if you like it <3

[animebw]

Kumirei and Conflict Avoidance

So, after that earth-shattering Eupho episode last weekend, I am, unsurprisingly, hyperfixating on Kumirei once again. I keep rolling this conflict over in my head, how we got to this point, how inevitable it was in hindsight, how it reveals new sides of Kumiko and Reina's relationship I hadn't really considered before. And you know me: when I have thoughts, I have to talk about them. SPOILERS BELOW FOR ALL OF HIBIKE EUPHONIUM UP TO THIS POINT.

The thing is, Kumiko and Reina are incredibly different people. But one way in which their differences make them very much the same is that they both suck at handling messy interpersonal conflict. When faced with a problem that has no clear answer and every solution will end with someone getting hurt, they both balk at the prospect of actually facing that conflict head-on and dealing with that ambiguity. The difference is that Kumiko tries to shy away from dealing with the situation at all and hopes everyone will somehow find a way to get along, whereas Reina doubles down on her perspective and refuses to hear any counter-arguments. Kumiko reacts to uncomfortable issues by saying "Well, maybe everyone's right, I guess?", while Reina reacts by saying "No, I'm the only one who's right, and if you're against me you're doing it wrong."

And in a lot of ways, that makes them perfect for each other! Reina's stubborn passion is what pushed Kumiko out of her comfort zone and gave her the spark to actually care about what she's doing. And on the flipside, Kumiko's willingness to give people the benefit of the doubt gives Reina someone she can rely on when her pride is pushing everyone else away. At their best, they balance each other out perfectly, Reina inspiring Kumiko to try her hardest and Kumiko giving Reina a safe place to let herself be vulnerable. It's what's made them such an incredible couple for over a decade now.

But when things go really south, those instincts can end up bringing out the worst in each other instead. Reina's stubbornness can be so overwhelming that Kumiko can't bring herself to actually confront her for fear of how angry she'll be. And that reluctance ends up enabling Reina further, pushing her toward greater arrogance secure in the knowledge that at least one person will always be on her side. Reina makes Kumiko shrink even further, Kumiko lets Reina's ego swell even bigger, and suddenly the same odd-couple magic that pushed them to such great heights becomes a vicious circle dragging them both down.

Because at heart, neither of these girls have yet figured out how to navigate a situation that demands asking uncomfortable questions and making imperfect choices. Neither of them are brave enough to handle a messy conflict with the level of maturity it demands. Keep in mind that as many ups and downs as they've had, Kumiko and Reina have never truly gotten in a massive argument with each other, an argument that would demand them making those hard choices. The closest we got was the infamous episode in season 2 where Reina's crush on Taki-sensei boils over and threatens to drive a rift between them- and there again, Kumiko deflects the conflict, telling Reina she's "rooting for her" rather than face the issue head-on and deal with the fact that the girl she loves is stuck on her feelings for an adult who will never return them. Which, as I've discussed before, is framed just about as tragically and depressingly as cinematic language can accomplish.

But now that Kumiko's band leader? She can't keep running from arguments anymore. She has to dive headfirst into the thick of all her bandmates' issues and actively choose how to best keep them together, even if that means making hard calls she isn't comfortable making. And Reina's in a position of power now where her hard-headedness doesn't just affect her, but trickles down to all the underclassmen she's trying to lead. Neither of them can afford to let their worst habits drive their decision-making anymore- because it won't just be them that suffer if they refuse to rise to the occasion.

Which brings us to the boiling point of Kuroe taking Kumiko's place in the audition. In the aftermath of this upset, we see both Kumiko and Reina's coping mechanisms pushed to their limits. Kumiko's trying to calm everyone's worries while her own heard is still a whirlwind, Reina's doubling down and refusing to even consider Taki-sensei made a wrong call, and it reaches a point where this state of affairs just isn't sustainable anymore. There's too much tension built up, there's too many people's dreams and hopes on the line. Something has to give, or everything's going to give.

And it's here, at last, that Kumiko finally does something she's never had the courage to do.

She stands up to Reina and tells her, point-blank: "No, Reina, YOU'RE wrong."

No wonder it feels so monumental. No wonder Reina's shaken enough to rip apart their relationship. After years of not being able to address the deepest, stickiest issues that lie between them, Kumiko shatters the cycle of enabling they've been falling into and tells Reina that she is wrong. She is wrong to put herself above everyone else and not listen to alternatives. She is wrong to blindly put faith in Taki-sensei at the expense of all her bandmates counting on her to have their best interests at heart. She is wrong to let her pride and stubbornness guide her. It's bad for the band, it's bad for her, and it's bad for her relationship with Kumiko. And if they're going to have any chance of moving forward, then she needs to be just as brave in facing this mess honestly as Kumiko is. She needs the courage to accept that she isn't always right, that her way or the highway is no way at all, that the uncompromising road she walks will one day separate her from everyone she once held close.

She needs to let go of her fear of emotional honesty and meet Kumiko on the level she's finally been able to reach.

And you know what sticks with me the most? After Reina lashes out at Kumiko and essentially tells her to get stuffed, we see the horror in Kumiko's eyes as she realizes the consequences of finally standing up to the girl she loves...

...only for her expression to settle back into the determination of a girl standing by what she said regardless.

After so many years, Kumiko is facing her closest companion's worst traits dead in the face. And in this moment, in this expression, she decides that doing the right thing is more important than clinging to their relationship through thick and thin.

It's a face that says, "If this is the choice you're making, then this is worth ending things over."

And I can't blame her one bit.

[verycharismaticdragon]

Currently reading a Korean webnovel instead of Chinese ones and this is making me conceptualize something, let’s see if I can put it in words…

My musings started with realizing that I’ve become very used to this cnovels thing where the main pairing is literally stated in the summary. Not the case for the k-novel I’m reading, and therefore I’m experiencing Pain and Suffering, — torn between my every instinct screaming that the author is setting up the OT3 endgame, and trying to lower my expectations to avoid disappointment. (And the novel is ongoing so I can’t even get spoilers for the ending :) girl help.)

As you may’ve guessed, I found myself strongly preferring the Chinese variant; but as to why exactly it was so important for my enjoyment to know the main couple… it took me a bit to figure out.

I mean, it’s not like I’m reading exclusively for romance, okay? Fannish activity-wise, sure, I tend to get fixated on ships (though even then, not all the time), but when it comes to reading (or any media intake, really), it’s not necessarily what I’m most interested in. Among my beloved titles, there are many where there’s no canon or fanon couple I'm attached to — and more than a few where there’s a canon couple that I neither love nor hate, just accept. So why did I get so attached to the concept of being, essentially, spoiled the endgame couple beforehand?

The key word that made it click was: promise. After all, it’s not like knowing the names of the characters that get together tells me anything about if they will be interesting or boring together, if they will be good for each other or make me scream “break up!” a million times. But it is a solid promise that these two people ARE gonna be a couple. 

And thinking about the word promise reminded me of discussions on plot twists that I’ve seen on here, about what makes a good plot twist and what makes a bad one — specifically, the phrase “narrative promise” that someone came up with. Basically, narrative promise is in the set up and the build up. If the plot twist betrays the narrative promise, it will not work, and it will be hated by the audience, who’ll feel like their emotional investment into the story was mocked.

The thing about the narrative promise, and why this term stuck with me, is that it’s actually applicable more broadly than just for shock-factor plot twists. For example: what is queerbaiting, if not betraying the narrative promise that the two characters are gonna be together? The fans see the narrative promise — the set up and the build up that would be unequivocally romantic for a het couple — and expect it to be fulfilled; only to be called delusional by the very creators that gave them this expectation. 

And this brings me to the next point: the catch of the “narrative promise” is that it’s never a guarantee. You can be completely sure the author is setting up X, only for them to turn around and do something completely different. (Possibly while calling you a little bitch for having the stupidity to invest your feelings into their creation, too.) After a while, a fan learns to manage their expectations. To not bet too much on anything, even if it feels like there’s no other way it can go. To wait until the end of the season or the last chapter before allowing themselves to get attached; to hold back on deciding whether something is good or not, lest they hype up something they will want to bury and forget later.

And this is where we circle back to c-novels, and to spoiling the main couple in the summary. Except I hesitate to call it “spoiling” because, as discussed, it actually heightens my enjoyment. For a simple reason: this practice takes the narrative promise from its nebulous, uncertain status to something concrete and real. Only for this one aspect and with the minimal-est amount of information possible, but still. That’s one thing I don’t have to guess about or doubt myself on (am I seeing things? is there a heterosexual explanation another way to read this? will the author simply kill off one of the characters before the end so that they don’t have to decide whether to make them explicitly queer?), and one thing I can count on (whatever else happens in the plot, I’ll still have this). It’s easy to invest emotionally into those characters and their relationship, when you have an assurance of their happy ending.

Ofc, I’m not saying that I don’t invest emotionally into relationships or characters other than the main CP — just that it is easier. And I would even say having this one(1) hard promise makes it easier to invest into other elements of the work, too, as it makes for a sort of safety net even if something else is disappointing or painful. 

Like, say you are invested in one couple with great chemistry and one side character. In case of a pre-stated ship, even if the side character dies, at least you still have the canon couple. So it’s not like all of your emotional connection to the book is lost, and you can probably bear with the loss of that character by writing everybody lives AU or something. But if the side character dies AND the couple you were invested in gets broken up or killed off or straight-married with other ppl… then doesn’t that make the entire thing into one massive disappointment? to the point that you might even regret picking up the book that made you care only to slap you in the face?.. 

So yeah, having even just one ship guaranteed is very comforting. And then I thought, well, doesn’t this apply to another type of fiction that I’m very familiar with?

Fanfiction?

Which, since very early on, has adopted the practice of putting the endgame ship in the header of the fic. And which, probably not coincidentally, is often a response to a broken (or at the very least not brought to its logical conclusion) narrative promise. And which always felt uniquely easy to read for me… 

See, prior to getting on this little thought train, I always assumed the ease was due to pre-existing familiarity with canon. You know, not having to learn the entire new setting, already having attachment to the characters… But now that I’ve connected these dots, I thought about times I read fics for fandoms I wasn’t familiar with, and originals formatted as fics — and really, wasn’t it always about the narrative promise made solid? 

Esp with how fics make it even broader than cnovels, by having extensive tags and ratings and such. Getting into a fic, you have a pretty clear idea of what may or may not happen in the story, even if you don’t know what exactly will happen or how. And a fic can fail to live up to the premise set up by ship/rating/tags — but not completely turn its back on it. 

(Well, normally. But in those exceptional cases where tags are misleading, at least you have something to point to when saying, “this is not what I was promised”. The ficwriter can hardly claim they don't understand why you expected [ship] to happen when they personally tagged their work as containing that ship — unlike the traditional media creators, who can always play the "you were totally misunderstanding my intentions the entire time" card.)

And having a solid promise like this, it turns out, takes lotsa pressure off starting a New Unfamiliar thing. I do, in fact, trust like that! So it’s no wonder that there were periods in my life when I would only consume fanfiction, because it was so much easier than extending trust to new titles. And it’s no wonder that what brought me back to being an avid reader were Chinese webnovels that use a practice very similar to what we have in fandoms.

I guess I understand myself better now! Still wish I knew if that k-novel's author is /j or /srs about the ot3 though.

[lej222]

Hlw! Would love to see your analysis on if jisu likes miae romantically or not. Hope u'll do that sometimes😊don't feel pressured tho it’s just my wish❤️

Sorry for the late reply, but here is a long post about my thoughts about Jisu's character arc, including spoilers from episode 147 (these are just my ramblings, my word is not gospel :D)

Does Jisu like Miae romantically?

Now, this is a hard question to answer. And I will try my best to break down what we know about him so far.

We only have two fragments of the time when Jisu and Miae were classmates. The first one is when Miae called out Jisu's bullies and she asked him the same question Jisu repeated years later to her (important!) about scolding the bullies. The other memory was Jisu's transfer to another elementary school. He was forced to write a letter and mentions how he liked Miae the most and the whole class, including Miae, cry their heart out. Jisu remembers how hard Miae sobbed and Miae can also recall someone telling her they liked her, but doesn't remember the boy's face or name.

Years later after moving around, Jisu ends up in the same school with her again in the spring semester in 1998. He is surprised, even more so when they become classmates in the following year, but doesn't care enough to interact with Miae. Coincidences keep happening - her pencil landing at his chair, they get sent out to the corridor, they become folk dance partners, he finds her name tag and uses it to avoid punishment, they get detention the same time. And Jisu still doesn't care about the whole situation, not until their actual detention week starts when he initiates conversation for the first time. This is when Jisu concludes their random encounters are fun and Miae is an interesting person. (Edit:: I'm rereading the story, and actually the turning point of their relationship is when Miae tries to save him from the teacher when they ruined the plant. It's possible Jisu doesn't let anyone close to himself and was intentionally petty towards Miae in the beginning until she decided to help him. We see that Jisu is greatly speechless in that scene and decides to flip over the plant. My best guess is that he might have realized Miae is still the same person as she was back then and she's still brave so Jisu becomes active for the first time for her and takes the blame. It is probably also the moment he concludes being around Miae is fun)

Based on these alone, I'm inclined to believe that even if Jisu loves her romantically at this point of the story, he's not aware of it. For him, being around Miae is exciting because she is fun. She doesn't remember him at all, but she's still the same person as she was years ago in elementary school so Jisu feels comfortable around her which didn't go unnoticed by their homeroom teacher or Jisu's mother. Miae probably doesn't understand why people keep emphasizing his unique personality and connect the dots, but we readers can easily assume Jisu was bullied because of his difference. And it is something he shares with Miae so he might feel like she understands him, or rather, she doesn't treat him differently because of it. It's a situation that can easily bloom into love with time, even if he's not there yet.

But why is Jisu is important in this story?

One thing I always see people complaining about is Jisu's plot relevance. However, it is a much more complex narrative choice than just a simple love triangle.

I have said this before, but memories and fate are intertwined in this story. There are just too many clues that support this. Miae doesn't remember Cheol at the beginning of the story, she even has trouble recalling his name. As the plot progresses and we see more of her memories, fate keeps throwing them together and they develop a friendship that turns into romantic love. In fact, it's a recurring point in the story that Miae keeps forgetting important things. Her dreams, things she must do, Jisu's entire presence in the past.

Which takes me to my next point, the unidentified higher power in the story. It's been always present, at first only giving small signs of its existence in the form of phone calls or changing the weather. Let's remember that lots of times Miae and Cheol had a moment it started raining (Miae's dream about Cheol, when he helped changing the light bulb, when they wanted to take a photo together). However, the unknown presence's voice gets more and more active as thes tory goes on. Not only it starts interacting with Miae in her dreams, she can also hear it in certain situations and wonders where it came from. In fact, when she is talking to Cheol's shoe in one of the very first chapters, she has a weird feeling for a second and we get a close up on the shoe. This supernatural (?) power has always been involved with Miae, but it starts to be more aggressive.

Not only it tells Miae that she's too late and it tried to warn her, in the newest chapter it floods every scene with car ads that are about changing one's car. So the mysterious entity clearly tries to intervene, giving chance encounters to Miae and Jisu while preventing Miae and Cheol's relationship (like how they cannot have a photo together).

Okay, so what does it mean?

It is something I obviously cannot answer as I'm not the writer.

BUT let's not forget that someone like Jisu in this story, who was shown to have exceptional cognitive skills (like knowing every person's name whom he's ever met, being first in the school and likely is on the spectrum), also has excellent memory. And what did I say about memories and fate? That they are seemingly intertwined! Jisu is writing his own fate, he appeared later in the story because he chose to not get involved until that point! He is the character who is aware of everything in the past and present. While Miae has trouble with her memories, and what do we see? Fate aggressively trying to steer her.

At the end of the day, we have two routes that are possible:

Miae is fated to be with Jisu, fate/the stone deity/the universe knows it and tries to warn Miae her time with Cheol is short so she shouldn't have any regrets. In this case, the story is about how Cheol and Miae helped each other in a certain period of their lives, but had different fates set in stone.

Miae was fated to be with Jisu, and the higher power knows it, but Miae will change her own fate to be with Cheol instead. In this case, in the remaining chapters we will see her fighting against her own destiny and win in the end.

At this point, I feel like I have to mention I've studied philosophy for quite a few years, and I highly doubt we can get a satisfactory explanation of any of these possibilities. But rather, it will be a simple:

even though we were not fated together, I cherished our time together

or love overcomes destiny itself

Other interesting idea

This is just for fun, but the comic Miae reads is a clear symbol of her relationship with Cheol. They have almost every cliche in the book (with sometimes a little twist) like troubled boy meeting childhood friend, becoming neighbours with their windows facing each other, accidentally seeing the other's body, falling on each other first kiss, etc. This is your typical 90s shoujo manga which makes sense because the story takes place in the 90s.

On the other hand, we have the chaotic meetings of Jisu and Miae who bond over trash, don't get the accidental kiss trope, etc. And whether it's meant to illustrate that they will only remain friends or it's meant to be a contrast to Miae and Cheol's comic book romance, I don't know. Depends on the ending the author wants to convey. I would be fine with either possibilities as long as Jisu won't be used as a plot device.

Plus, Miae&Jisu and Cheol&Miae parallel each other a lot. Just coming from the latest chapters, Miae has interacted with Jisu's mom, but not really Cheol's parents. Cheol has interacted with Miae's parents. Miae is bothered by Jisu. Cheol was bothered by her. Cheol saying the same thing Miae said to Jisu. These are all definitely intentional.

As usual, please don't take my words seriously, this is just all for fun.

Edit: there's one other interesting thing to consider:

Jisu is aware of the coincidences and thinks they are fun. He's been saying this for a while. Which means if there's indeed a higher power in the story, Jisu is accepting of fate.

Miae, on the other hand, willfully rejects her own fate. Let's say Miae and Cheol's meeting was bound to happen - it was also their destiny. She acknowledged those coincidences and even wondered how strange they were. So the higher power was content. But what if, according to their fate, their time together is indeed short? Because Miae rejects her coincidental meetings with Jisu, saying how she hopes she won't meet him again, only for the higher power to be more aggressive and take on an active voice. In the last chapter, she even kicked the flyer away about changing one's car, only for her to end up with a bubble gum in her hair so she was forced to get a haircut from Jisu's mother. Jisu's question last chapter is more than just him asking to play together - it's a chance for Miae to go into the direction the higher power wants her to be.

The real questions:

Is fate something one can overcome? Are certain things bound to happen and we can only decide how to deal with them emotionally? Is the narrator/higher power omnipotent and omniscient? Because if it is, can Miae still decide what's the best for her? These are the truly complicated questions that we cannot answer because there are no answers. So I'm excited to see what Soonkki will come up as the resolution.

[ponett]

Got a spoilery ask about SLARPG regarding Melody's character arc and, to a lesser extent, the ending, so I'll put this below a read more!

Anonymous asked:

Heya! I adore adore adore SLARPG, and have latched pretty hard onto Melody and Harmony's dichotomy for a while... I was wondering whether you saw Harmony more as an obstacle to Melody's growth, or something to be worked on and reconciled with more like Madeline and Badeline from Celeste? Unless it's spoilers of course. It's one of the few threads left open after the game, and as a plural woman myself I was just curious. X3

I'll say up front that I've generally avoided stepping in and telling people what The One Correct Interpretation is for a lot of things in SLARPG. I didn't intend for Melody to be read as plural, since in the story Harmony is a parasitic outside force, but I also understand where that interpretation comes from and won't tell folks they're wrong for relating to her like that. That's just the beauty of art. We can relate to things however we want. I just wanna make sure my personal framing is clear before I talk about the thought behind Melody and Harmony's relationship

Harmony is more of a literary device than a character. While she's not an alternate personality for Melody, she's also not really a full person in her own right. I don't think about Harmony having her own arc. She's a magical force that occasionally externalizes Melody's darker, more self-critical thoughts for the audience, where normally she would keep them to herself. She has her own design and name to make the dialogue boxes easier to follow. I also keep it intentionally vague whether or not other people would be able to see Harmony because I find that understated uncertainty more fun.

On a literal level, Harmony is a magical parasite, and therefore an obstacle to be overcome. She's not supposed to be there, straight up. But because she's just the embodiment of dark thoughts that Melody is already having, there isn't really much point in "defeating" Harmony to me - which is why things play out the way they do.

Even if Melody got rid of Harmony, she would still have to deal with those feelings. It would be a purely symbolic victory. And symbolic victories like that are often satisfying as hell in fiction, but in real life you can't defeat your shadow self to stop those 3am "what if my friends are only pretending to like me" thoughts. So instead, Harmony is something Melody needs to cope with and minimize. It's not about getting rid of bad thoughts forever, but rather learning how to deal with them better. And that's an active, life-long process. And so Harmony remains, but Melody is working on having healthier relationships with both her loved ones and herself.

I'll also say that, while I love Celeste, Madeline and Badeline's arc is mostly irrelevant to the way I write Melody and Harmony. (I don't think this ask is accusing me of plagiarizing Maddy Thorson or anything, to be clear. I'm just on a tangent since the comparison was brought up.) SLARPG began development in 2015, so the Harmony scenes, and Melody's arc as a whole, were already planned before Celeste came out. While I worried about getting compared to a much more popular game, I stuck to my guns, knowing that my story was different enough to stand on its own. If anything, I just avoided specific phrases like "reflection" or "I'm a part of you" to try and keep people from just pointing and going "Celeste reference!"

Unfortunately the "wow this is just like Celeste" comments were unavoidable, as were the newfound generalizations about what all indie games about trans girls with anxiety must be like because there are two (2) whole games that share some common story tropes, and it seems like the ending may have thrown some people off because of expectations created by Celeste. But what are you gonna do? I at least avoided my absolute nightmare scenario of Deltarune Ch.2 doing glitch aesthetics or giving Susie and Noelle a kiss mechanic lmao

[rowanfalls]

No joke, I think dungeon meshi has seriously impacted my desire to be healthy for the better. A very long and heartfelt (but spoiler free) essay is under the cut.

I have Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. Because of my OCD, some foods are safe and some are not and I would literally rather starve than eat an unsafe food (i know because it happened once on a trip to Switzerland). This means I mostly eat chicken nuggets, buttered noodles, donuts, soda, the like. The only vegetable I can eat is cooked broccoli and the only fruit I can eat is apples (smoothies not withstanding).

I'm also physically disabled in a way that makes it hard for me to exercise or do physical activity, not to mention how my ADHD and Depression fuck with that as well. I'm 'lucky'* in that I have a genetic disposition towards being very thin and probably will stay that way until I'm in my 40s (my dad was exactly the same at my age).

So I eat mostly junk food and I sit at my computer all day every day and for a long time, I've been happy with that. When I tell people about my Eating Disorder, they usually say "oh, is there a way to fix it?" and my answer is always "why would I want to?" Its not like an allergy or a medical dietary restriction. I don't LIKE any of the foods I can't eat. I don't have any reason to want to learn how to eat them.

Besides health reasons of course. I know in my head that not eating any vegetables isn't good for me but I also know that I don't really want to eat them and, for most of my adulthood, I've lived with the mindset that I think a lot of people my age have where they hear so many people say 'just eat well and exercise!' as a solution to every problem and so they tend to hate the idea of doing that. The health industry is full of too many people who are fatphobic assholes or who think a green smoothie can cure your depression for good or who just want your money or whatever and I hate that. And so I've kind of felt above exercise and nutrition.

But then I read Dungeon Meshi.

Even in the beginning, the manga was super inspiring. The way Senshi talks about taking care of your body so you can go on adventures makes it sound like something I might want to do. So much of today's health advice is shame based and, as someone who grew up in and left a high demand control group, I work hard not to tolerate shame in my life. But Dungeon Meshi posits a new view of health and nutrition, one that is centered in love for the self, love for your friends, and love for your food. It resonated with me in a way that I really wasn't expecting it to.

Over the last few years, I've been working really hard to become a compassionate person. This year, my new goal is learning to turn that compassion inward and I've been trying to do that in several different ways. When I finished reading Dungeon Meshi I knew that one of those ways was going to have to be improving my diet and exercise.

I want to be able to go on adventures (as tame and simple as they may be). I want to live as long as possible to spend time with my loved ones. I want to be able to walk around and exist without pain for as much of that time as I can. I want to love my body and act accordingly, making sure it is well fed and cared for. Hell, I've always loved the idea of cooking but haven't had the energy to really learn, especially since I can't eat most foods, but now the idea of taking the time to cultivate a skill like that, one that I can be proud of and that can be used to care for my friends, fills me with a sense of hope and excitement.

So thank you Dungeon Meshi, and thank you Ryoko Kui. If you haven't read the manga, I highly recommend that you do.

*by lucky I mean that my diet hasn't forced me to deal with the stigma that comes with being fat. I have no idea what kinds of problems it's been causing that I just can't see. I am not saying that it would be bad if I were fat, just that not being thin would mean I faced a lot more stigma and discrimination in my life, which is bad.

[cbsghostsmetasandtrevor]

Season 3 Episode 1

Live thoughts of the new episode tonight below the cut! Even though I've also used the tag.

8 minutes. So nervous. Why am I so attached to these ghosts??

It's just like - I haven't thought about ghosts and actively avoided spoilers so...

but now, it's here and I'm nervous.

Here's hoping that it's not my favorite!

Alright, here we go....

OMG the previously on....

LMAO Jay running to check the kitchen. Damn, Jay.

I do like this scene.

"Just a basement ghost" - LMAO. Nancy.

GO AWAY JAY.

OMG OMG is it is it - it's not Nigel. Sad.

Thor and Flower?

FUCK is it FLOWER????

AWWW.

Sass is taking this well.

Alberta & Thor such different reactions.

Nigel & Isaac only caring about their engagement party???

OMG JAY YOU"RE KILLING EVERYTHING.

Everyone is hating Pete right now. Poor Pete.

I like seeing the guys from the first few episodes of the show. LMAO A TOUR OF THE HOUSE??? They've lived there for a while.

Trevor and Sass are not great for this.

MARK I LOVE MARK.

OMG Thor's so going to get attached to the owl.

So no one actually saw Flower get sucked off? So is this a misdirect?

I feel like it just like... can't be real.

LMAO at Thor being sure that Flower is an OWL.

YES YES YES JAY PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN.

Damn it, Thor has to have the power to burn it down.

I'm still mad Jay counted Trevor not being sucked off as a loss.

LMAO this scene with the upstairs ghosts/cholera ghosts.

They should be nicer to them!

Isaac!!! DAMN YA'LL really need to be more considerate of Flower's potential loss.

LMAO Nancy being unhappy about the Cholera ghosts being upstairs.

LMAO the owl being relocated in the house.

LOL - STOP IT YOU DON'T KNOW THEM.

I really love Pete's growing a spine storyline so far - Nancy is the biggest push for that, I love it. He needs it.

Still ten minutes to go.

I'm kind of sad that they *didn't* all see it. Because I feel like they should've all known.

Tiny dinosaur??

LMAO at Sam trying not to have the guest blame the owl but it's obvious.

Aw Sam. I wish more of the ghosts showed sadness.

Hetty! OMG!

aww the cholera ghosts being all friends to flower.

Growth for Hetty - until the "not sucked off".

LOVE JAY trying to be there for Thor. This whole convo.

LOL Jay slapping his ass.

a mug shot!

LMAO the only shot. Like Trevor's shot from his obit.

Love the memorial.

OMG Isaac! FUCK OFF.

Thank you Alberta!

Aww these are so cute! I love the moments being shown here.

Aw Jay and the owl attack!

I'm still on edge.

I'm BETTTING SHE APPEARS AT THE END.

And we'll find out it was Steph's boyfriend.

Just the tail end left.

One minute - they'll turn it around.

Although that would be SUCH a copout.

LMAO Jay is like whispering bad things to the basement ghosts.

LMAO Nancy making them return to the basement!!!!

WAIT WAIT WAIT. It's real? NO FLOWER???

I mean, good for her, she was definitely the happiest ghosts and deserves it but like - WE DIDN"T GET TO SEE WHAT MADE HER GET SUCKED OFF???

Also, the 30 seconds for next episode - Sass' ghost power??? So curious.

Alright. Decent episode. Could've done with less Jay hate on Trevor, but I did like Jay's putting his foot down and trying to help them out.

[secret-origins-crossover]

Lore Dump + More

Well, I'm back at it again- with more hyperfixation brainrot and nonsense. I realize I haven’t actually started writing anything; at least in the form of a fanfiction because most of the ideas are larger projects and will take time to complete. Though I know people are interested- the fandom hasn’t died, so I figured why not treat the audience?

To summarize again, Secret Origins is the five-part series ft. the first interactions with the main fandoms of this idea. Before their alliance, they weren’t even aware each other existed- that is until a vacation trip by the Fenton’s to Paris, France changed everything. And that is where our story begins.

Fair warning: I’m going to try and avoid spoilers- as I want this to be a new experience, even though obviously I’m not the first creator of the Secret Quartet but where’s the fun if I just reveal everything in one go?

The Lore Dump

The Kwamis have been there since the very creation of the universe. Each of them represent a different core concepts and abstracts, and work alongside a selected hero to protect their chosen home. They are divine beings with special powers, to say the least; currently not all of the Kwamis are in use- the active heroes are predominantly in Paris, France, but what they don’t know is that another world is hidden under their very eyes

Unlike Amity Park, Paris does not have as many ghosts- though none have ever seen one to begin with; this might have something to do with the fact that the Miraculous can’t cause any damage unto the ghostly population - only to humans - at least as far as anyone’s concerned

Natural portals have been known to appear around the world, but not everyone knows where to find them. Normally, they’re harmless- but at the same time, it’s entirely possible something unwanted comes out through the other side

Ghosts do have haunts and obsessions; normally their obsession is based on unfinished business they didn’t complete in life- other times, it’s more based on a duty they feel obligated to complete

Haunts however, are areas they have claimed as their own. While it isn’t as commonly known, ghosts are considered to be territorial- they will defend their haunt no matter what (author’s cut: in Danny’s case, since he’s only leaving for a week- Sam and Tucker are being left in charge of watching over Amity Park; also i do feel that because Danny’s still human, he doesn’t fully need a haunt- but he is still protective of his the city)

(implied spoilers!) there are safety mechanisms (of sorts) in place when a hero with magical abilities is gravely injured- do with this what you will for now

Akumas can’t affect ghosts! It wouldn’t transform them- it can however, work on other things (iykyk- leaving this vague for the time being)

Character Dynamics + Headcanon Dump

I’m honestly excited for the first meeting between Danny and our Parisian heroes- (without giving away too many spoilers, let’s just say there’s going to be a bit of miscommunication at first)

Due to plot-related reasons, the characters in Paris can speak English. There would be classes to teach English at the high school-

Phan Noir is not a ship tag- at least not for this AU. Danny and Chat Noir however, will be close friends- not only because of their share of puns but honestly I feel they would understand each other’s, well, problems. Is this a bit self indulgent? Maybe, who’s to say

Marinette is not stalking Adrien in this; she’s still pining on him a little bit, and does keep the occasional tab on him but she’s not chasing his every move- however, she’s still young and a bit inexperienced which brings me to my next point

I haven’t figured out the full timeline- but I do think that Mari’s either already the guardian, or her responsibilities are increasing with her status as Ladybug; now the deal with this is Mari’s proven to be a bit anxious- she takes her role very seriously, and honestly this will hinder her at first

Gabriel Agreste is not written to be a good person. Does he love Adrien? I’d say yes, he does but at the same time- he’s not meant to be likable. His pursuits aren’t done with anyone’s best intentions, and this is going to be addressed (of course this is fanon- and this is my au, so… in short, don’t take this wrongly-)

As mentioned before, Phantom Planet does not exist in this timeline- this does happen sometime between mid-season two (maybe somewhat later) of Danny Phantom. Danny has his experience but he is still a teenager- and not all of his powers have fully developed. After all, not much is known about halfas

Danny is getting something of a makeover- is it a bit self indulgent? Yes- I honestly liked his style from Phantom Planet, though I’m mostly referring to the white streak in his hair. His eyes also appear a bit more… bright even as a human; though I’m going to spare the whole redesign/makeover rant for now-

I feel Marinette and Danny might take a while to warm up to each other, but they’re not exactly enemies- the differences in personality sort of hinder their dynamic at times, though at the end of the day, they would protect each other

For the time being, i can’t say anything on the villains- as this is a big thing that will affect the full team of teen superheroes. Hints and revelations are going to be made as the series progresses

Danny struggles a bit with his emotions- the more emotional he becomes, the worse his powers get out of control. He’s still adjusting; he’s gotten better but at the same time- he’s also a teenager and this will show with his behavior

Adrien is not a sentimonster. Will sentimonsters be a thing? Potentially- though as of right now, sentimonsters aren’t inherently canon to the Secret Origins lore

(author’s cut: I’ll update this later! Of course- right now this is only limited to Danny Phantom and Miraculous Ladybug; as more gets developed with later parts and arcs, I’ll add more details)

There is definitely a lot more where this came from but as I’m out of the house and currently having lunch! See you on the flip side!

~ Ace (They/Them)

[generalluxun]

My TotK experience and how it shaped my TotK shipping.

I'm writing this out because I got static on a random post for mentioning my headcanon, and I figure my own blog is a safe place to write it all down and get my experience in one place for better or worse. I'm a mutishipper by temprement, so you can and should ship what you like. Do not think by outlining my experience and thoughts I am trying to invalidate your own. Totk and BotW are both games with amazing emergent gameplay. The written narrative is only a fraction of the tale as you write your own version of events by what you choose to do and in what order you do it.

My wife is a huge Zelda fan. I enjoy the games, but she is the one who keeps them coming in. She's got a Triforce Engagement Pendant(try putting that on a ring!) we saw the Symphony of the Fates on our wedding night(and our first not-date years before) Zelda is a thing.

So I played BotW, and I played TotK. I enjoyed them both! At the end of BotW I was sure Zelink was a cute sure thing. I was happy! (My wife was frustrated Zelda didn't tell Link how she felt 😆)

Then we played TotK. Six years later, Zelda and Link are spelunking and boom the game yeets Zelda away. Couples-time, we barely knew ye. Now, both my wife and I play our own separate saves. We generally avoid spiling for each other, and we play quite differently. (In BotW I went right for the castle, found the basement, and ended up fighting the Stalnox that protected the Hylean Shield with 4 hearts. In TotK she mapped the entire underground early on)

My TotK experience began with me making a bee-line for Gerudo town after talking to Purrah/Robbie and exploring the castle a little. I liked the Gerudo plotline in BotW and wanted to see what was going down over there these days.

The Gerudo plotline is definitely fun (uh spoilers I guess?) Seeing Riju grown and trying to be a strong leader was awesome. (I have a headcanon she's still short because she met Link. She knew exactly how tall the strongest warrior in all of Hyrule was, and so why get any taller than that?)

I completed the temple, got my first sage power, and now several things converged.

1)Okay, so Riju's crush on Link in her Diary is cute. Not unique, everyone crushes on Link!

2)I decided to explore after completing this quest. Checking out the corners, completing my map, gaining some shrines, etc. This means I spent a lot of time with Riju as my only sage. We crossed Hyrule and back time and time again, checking on people, visiting old haunts, and fighting enemies way past my weapon's abilities thanks to her lighting.

3)Riju is the most interactive of the sage powers. Activate the power, and then you have to actually work with her to trigger it. It's not temperamental like Yunobo's either. Riju will hold ready for you for quite some time. It's also very versatile. Explode enemies, blow up mining points, and one of my favorites- Light the underdark. There's something deeply intimate about being surrounded by darkness with only your partner's power to light the way for you.

It made Riju one heck of a travel companion. Just having someone *anyone* along with Link, him not being alone, felt so good after being alone in BotW. The Warrior of Light and his Sage companion. Little tales wrote themselves, like an epic saga.

Still, Zelink was still a thing, right? Then You run into Link's old home in Hateno. It's changed, definitely. You find Zelda's lab. You find her Diary. -Now, here I know the Japanese version has a very different tone, but I didn't have that version so I only got the English- reading Zelda's words painted a picture of a close bond, but also not a classical 'ship' one. Combine this with some of the other tidbits and memories collected on the journey and it just painted a very different picture for me(and my wife) There may have been dialogs we missed too, it's a vast open world game, and this is a retelling of my playthrough, not a comprehensive thesis based on all the lore available on a wiki.

This Zelda, being Aro/Ace. Or at least if not, being so immersed in her work and duty that something like a traditional relationship isn't on the radar for her. She's got her Science. She's got her Kingdom. She's got her curiosity. These things Matter to her. A romantic relationship? Just didn't feel like it did.

Link is still the most important person in the world to her. He's her Knight. He's reliable, supportive, dedicated, brave. He's as vital to her as her own two hands. A respectful Link could easily be seen accepting this role. Zelda's vital to him too. He cares for her and will always be there. It's his duty, and his passion. The two are inseparable. They're just not a *couple*

So, where does this leave us? Link and Zelda will travel together always. Riju is Queen of the Gerudo and cannot just leave her people. She's also someone who my TotK Link spent time with (in my writer's brain the sage-mirages actually sent impressions back to the Sages in their dreams, and as time went by the link between the two could be two ways, like a form of active astral projection in a crisis)

So a RiLink relationship that is built on respect and trials together, but that understands the duties placed on both just seemed cute. He's still with Zelda, she's still with her people. She'll eventually end up with a hero's child, and the one male ever allowed into Gerudo town will be able to visit his future child and maybe even pave the way for a more open Gerudo society in the long run.

Zelda and Link are still constant companions day-to-day though. She's the Queen(eventually? Still princess?) he's her Knight. Their relationship is still built on respect and shared hardships(much like RiLink) They're just not an 'item'. They're liege and retainer.

I did the 'Wait how old is Riju?' thing as this was starting to come into focus, because she was young in BotW 😅 She's 17... I think? Fantasy setting, it seemed fine to ship. I mean, everyone thinks Mipha crushing on Link is adorable, and she saw him first when he was a little tot! 🤣

So, that's it really just kind of laying out my ship and why I think it's cute. I welcome any and all comments provided they're couched politiely.

[bakafox]

Mid-game thoughts on/review of Dragon Age: Veilguard

TLDR: I like it and yes would recommend it to people who liked the previous DA games, or Mass Effect games, or who like ARPG's or even just RPG's provided you aren't wishing to play as evil characters/make evil choices.

It might honestly be one of my favorite DA games, right after DAO, for all that yes, it's very different in mechanics and aesthetics than DAO... but that's only a 'maybe' as I do need to see how this sucker ends before really making a call.

On my 'melt faces' storyteller setting, it is ABSOLUTELY the escapist game I've needed right now, much like DAI was honestly just the game I needed when it came out too.

Bold text will warn if spoilers are in following sections in my longer thoughts.

I admit some of the negativity I saw pre-launch had me nervous and wary, but I'm mid-game now on one Rook, having done my usual thing of winding up with several different games/Rooks to try out different classes and also because on my FIRST one, I made some mistakes that I regretted by not understanding a few game mechanics. And I really like it.

Next 3 paragraphs may contain spoilers for PREVIOUS games, the following 3 paragraphs may have minor lore spoilers for Veilguard re: how things compare to previous games, skip to next bold text to avoid such spoilers:

I am not a Dragon Age absolute fanatic, but I've really enjoyed all 3 prior games, and DAI got me through a very rough spot in my life, and for all that I heard this game was 'too different', to my play preferences and my memories of playing those games, it really isn't all that different other than in mechanics.

It is mildly annoying to me that who I chose as Divine doesn't translate over from DAI, but the Southern Chantry has 0 to do with the storyline, so in the end it's honestly easy to forget about that for me. I also found it a bit irritating at first that the Crows are very different than they came across as being in DAO and DA2, but yes, I was able to get over that because I do really like the Crow companion and storyline, and I just tell myself that the organization reorganized after Zevran killed off a lot of the leaders.

Spoiler-free thoughts on combat/game mechanics.

Prefacing this by saying I am not actually into combat-driven games for the most part, and I tend to play a lot of games with active, real-time combat on easier modes. I am very bad at combat that needs dodging and shit. I am currently playing on the easiest preset, "Storyteller" mode. This means I am pretty much only dying ever in boss fights or because my arch nemesis in games is jumping and jumping puzzles, and I do a lot of falling to my death.

Thankfully, all my fatal failures are quickly dealt with, my jumping deaths just respawn me right where I fucked up, so I don't even have to reload a save.

The combat is probably easier with a controller, and it took me a while to get used to having to combine keys for combos or hold them down to charge attacks with my kb and mouse play style, but once I figured them out, I've been actively enjoying fights even if my housemate does overhear me swearing a lot at some boss and miniboss battles. In fact, I probably will try a slightly harder difficulty eventually, whether preset or fully tweaking whatever settings, to give non-boss fights a bit more challenge at some point. On Storyteller mode, once I get past level 10 or so or have done enough sidequests I'm sometimes a tad 'over level' I feel a bit like a lawnmower for non-boss fights, which is fun and satisfying in its own way, but does mean I seldom break out team combos except in miniboss or boss fights.

The puzzles are not what I would call difficult, but it can be easy to overlook some little ledge or clue, or not realize you need to go forward and then backtrack, so yes, some have been a bit annoying for me and taken a while.

Spoiler-ish for how Veilguard handles looting/crafting/upgrades and equipping companions:

The system for finding treasure and looting is yes, very different from previous games, but my inner loot goblin enjoys hunting for chests and does not mourn the fact that corpses seldom give anything and when they do it's only upgrade material.

There is no crafting, but you upgrade your gear via workshop, merchants, and also random chest finds can upgrade things in your inventory, and this system works fine for me, though it can be a little frustrating when the RNG refuses to change the quality of the item you really want it to and gives you an epic or legendary thingy you won't equip.

You do not equip companions with just random finds, they just get specific gear drops that then upgrade randomly or using faction merchants. Levelling up your rank with faction merchants can be a bit annoying once you're past like lvl 2 or 3, but I admit again, I'm playing on 'melt faces' mode so it's easy for me to shrug off, your mileage may vary on how badly you find yourself wishing for easier gear upgrades for your crew.

Nonspoiler about story and quests I have so far encountered:

So far, frankly, I really enjoy it all. Main story AND the side companion stories/quests. Maybe I'm not enough of a purist to notice some tweaks to previous lore, but then previous lore was usually also given by unreliable narrators- regardless, it all feels very Thedas-y and Dragon-Agey to me, and while nothing is ever flawless, and there's always some discourse to be had about how the game series in general has tackled certain issues or 'grey morality' I think the writing is pretty good, and I like the general directions they've taken as to the backstories behind all that's gone on as well as most of the specifics.

Nonspoiler about the types of dialogue or storychoices made & remembered in Veilguard, and the tutorial quest/level:

I am still only at midgame at BEST, but so far, for better or worse, I don't think the story choices you're allowed in this game are all that different than previous games, in terms of your options. I saw complaints of railroading and limitations in the early stuff that had me a bit less enthusiastic about the launch, but I am not personally finding anything to complain about. It's not a Baldur's Gate game, but no DA game, not even DAO, has been a Baldur's Gate game in breadth of choice options.

The tutorial/start quest feels most like DAI's, in terms of setup, and after running it twice I did kind of wish I could skip it entirely lol, but that's also how I've felt about every DA tutorial-quest-setup after making 2 protagonists or so.

When it comes to the dialogue wheel- I have not been ambushed nearly as often by the real dialogue coming out way differently than I expected.

Mild spoiler maybe about the dialogue choices/wheel.

I was a LITTLE surprised that even the third general wheel choice that looked like it might be kind of mean to me due to the icon generally was still very nice, just very direct and to the point. I don't play DA games to play assholes though so that's actually a good or at least neutral thingy for me, it's just the icon did make me think it was going to be grumpier/angrier.

Angrier and grumpier dialogue has a different icon and is only available for certain chats, same with more anxious or empathetic/sad dialogue.

Nonspoiler about companions:

They're great. Choosing 'favorite' DA companions is a fraught exercise, but of course every game I've had a few favorites, and have romanced certain ones more thoroughly than others.

This game made it harder for me to immediately pick favorites. I think they really got personalities and the depth of back story right in Veilguard. I still have developed a sort of 'ranking list' of who I want to romance, but this may be the first DA game ever where I honestly am pretty enthusiastic about romancing all of them, and where I'm very HAPPY to switch up my party and cycle through the various companions to make sure I get high rep/bond with all of them.

Everyone's tastes will differ but there isn't a single companion in this game that annoys me, that I find kind of dull, that I wish was written a BIT differently, or makes my mental illnesses/anxiety go brrrrr.

This is also why I am way behind on story and have not beaten the game, because I've so far made 3 different Rooks bc I keep changing my mind about who to romance first.

I can't really judge well if there's a bit less banter in total between companions than in any previous games, but I find the amount there is to be pretty satisfying when not just fast-traveling around.

Fuck I don't know if this counts as a spoiler or not, about the world's "openness" and environment aesthetics:

I do not find myself missing the more open world map mechanics of DAI. What there is for terrain maps/zones is gorgeous (or creepy and depressing as needed,) and I do sometimes avoid fast-traveling even through areas I know I've cleared before of POI type stuff just to enjoy the landscape as well as companion banter.

Character creator, nonspoiler:

It's pretty in-depth, and I am incredibly happy with all three Rooks I have made so far. Honestly the happiest I've ever been with how my DA character looks even outside of the char creator without mods.

I could always wish for more scars, tattoos, and hair styles, but what there are so far are satisfying enough for me. I'd have to go back to take shots of their full body looks and won't do that, but while the amount of fat or muscle or boob or bulge you can add is still constrained to a degree, the sliders still having maybe slightly basic-bitch limitations, I like the variety of body shape and height I've accomplished as well as facial.

And Opal, the Qunari mage, even without me going to the maximum of 'soft and chubby' the creators allow is still satisfyingly more so than most previous games I've ever played have allowed, so I'll take it.

(I kind of think we'll never get really wide slider differentials in part because would that make it hard to make garments and scenes not have clipping issues?)

Also yes that last Rook has a somewhat broken/crooked nose when viewed from the front even if it's not too intense/easy to see and also has a slight cauliflower ear, again things I haven't been able to do to my brawlers in most games I've played. Though their hair hides the ear.

Anyway, yeah, I've played 85 hours so far, am farthest into the story as my extremely polite non binary warrior with the broken nose and heart of soppy gold, and I think it's a really fun game and fits right in as a Dragon Age one.

[harpieisthecarpie]

What's pathologic about? It sounds cool and I might want to get into it

okay hell yeah now is my time to shine! thank you for the ask you're giving me the excuse to ramble about my new hyperfixation to not-just-a-brick-wall (tho sorry to all my orv followers and friends for having to deal with my patho bs).

(IF YOU ARE A PATHOLOGIC GUY READING THIS: BE MY FRIEND, DM ME, I NEED PATHO FRIENDS)

Take my words with a grain of salt because I'm playing through Pathologic 2 and reading Pathologic Classic HD's transcripts right now, so I don't have the full perspective, but I should be able to explain the essentials in a way that will (hopefully) intrigue you.

Essentially, at the very bare bones, Pathologic is a psychological survival horror game where you play as one of three healers stuck in an isolated town in the Russian Steppe (in the early 1900's iirc), struggling to keep its citizens alive even as your own fragile life is in the balance. Of course, there is a LOT more, but that is the most basic of the basics.

Each of the healers has a vastly different experience with the town and relationship with its inhabitants that colors their perspective and solution to the plague, though I will try to avoid going into spoilers here. The various factions in the Town-On-Gorkhon will treat each healer differently, actively hostile to one while being pleasantly manipulative to another.

The Bachelor, also known as Daniil Dankovsky, is a pathologist and bachelor of medicine who is part of Thanatica, an institution in the City determined to defeat Death itself. He comes to the town at the behest of Isidor Burakh in order to learn from him and Simon Kain, a man the locals claim to be immortal. Daniil's precious Thanatica is under threat of being destroyed unless he can provide substantial results. Rather unfortunate that the two men were both found to be brutally murdered right before he arrives...

Daniil is an outsider to the Town and is treated as such, often being manipulated by the most powerful and belittled by the rest because of his lack of knowledge about the Town and its traditions. This leads him to becoming alienated from many of them and their culture. He can also be a massive asshole depending on how you want to play him (though each healer can) and my favorite characteristic is his habit of sprinkling Latin phrases into his speech without translating them.

The Haruspex, Artemy Burakh, is a local of the Town who was sent away by his father, Isidor Burakh, to become a surgeon. He never completed his degree, entering into the front lines instead, but he still knows how to cut people open (and fix them up). He returns to the Town after receiving a mysterious letter from his father beckoning him home. When he arrives, he is immediately jumped by three men.

Why? They were hunting down Isidor Burakh's murderer, whom people believe is Artemy himself. Patricide is a harsh charge, and Artemy soon finds himself known as the Butcher. This sends his reputation plummeting and makes his life just that much harder. Guy has shit luck, what can I say.

A fascinating element of this route is Artemy's relationship with the Kin, the native people of the Steppe, whom he is related to on his father's side. Isidor was a menkhu, a spiritual leader and healer in Kin society who is the only one allowed to cut into human flesh. Menkhu are the ones that "know the lines", essentially meaning that they see the connections between all things.Now that Isidor is dead, that honor and duty fall upon Artemy.

There's a lot of lore surrounding the Kin but I'll stop here because I will go forever if I don't.

Clara is the Changeling. At the beginning of the game, she wakes up in a grave. She can heal the dangerously ill with her hands, but if they're not on the edge of death it just kills them instead. She also has an evil twin who she has to chase after and keep from committing atrocities every day. Clara is going through some shit, okay?

I love her but I don't know nearly as much about her as I do the other two. She's an elusive little gal who speaks like she knows more than you because she does.

There is also the whole meta framing of the game as a play. Before you pick a character in Pathologic Classic, there's a whole scene on a stage where they argue about who has a better solution to the plague. Every night during the game there is a performance about the coming day's strife. There are characters called Executors, bird masks, and Tragedians, blank masks, that often speak to the player rather than the player character. Artemy "knows the lines" (THE LINES OF THE PLAY THE LINES OF THE PL-).

It gets more meta as the game goes on but that's spoilers.

I'm not going over the basic mechanics right now because I am TIRED but I'll get to them in the morning so stay tuned for that.

Pathologic Classic HD is the original with all three routes. Pathologic 2 is a sequel/remaster/reexamination of the first game that goes over the same twelve days but with a few changes. I've heard it's a bit more accessible than Classic HD, but so far only the Haruspex route is out. You do not need to play Classic before you play Patho 2. They are both usually discounted very cheap on Steam!

PLEASE, PLAY THE GAME IF THIS HAS INTERESTED YOU AT ALL.

PATHOLOGIC CLASSIC HD

PATHOLOGIC 2

(If you want to get into the game but don't want to play, there are lots of analyses and a few playthroughs on Youtube. I'll link some in a reblog of this!)

[somekindofsentience]

Omori and its parallels with OCD, or my personal connection to this game

SPOILER WARNING: AS USUAL, MAJOR OMORI SPOILERS FOR MOST ENDINGS AND THINGS.

CONTENT WARNING: MENTIONS OF SELF-HARM, SUICIDE, SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS, DEATH, LOSS AND OMORI-TYPICAL CONTENT. I will also be referring to my own intrusive thoughts a lot, so please take caution if it might trigger you to spiral.

DISCLAIMER: I AM BY NO MEANS A MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL. I am in the process of seeking a diagnosis (we're getting there :) ), but it has been otherwise confirmed by professionals that I experience OCD. This post is about my personal experience with OCD and trauma, and the way I believe these feeling manifest in the game. I don't believe Sunny or Basil experience OCD, but I want to compare my experiences with obsession, compulsions and trauma-related OCD. Other people may have completely different experiences, and those are valid!

You could call this catharsis, some form of healing. Really I'm doing this for myself, which was kind of why I started writing Omori analysis in the first place (???). and im a nerd for this game

Guilt

Guilt has always been one of my biggest hurdles, and it's also a very relevant theme in Omori.

For the longest time, my brain and I have been actively trying to develop compulsions to cope with guilt, and it seems to consistently fail. I've tried singing songs on repeat, extreme self-harm, distraction, avoidance ect, and nothing seems to work. Sure, I've never committed recital day, but even small things can make me feel horrifically guilty, as my intrusive thoughts tell me I'm a horrible person or a liar.

I see this in Sunny, too. For the longest time, his mind has been trying to cope with the guilt, and it chose to delve deep into repression. But no matter how much he represses, the truth is still there, and so that guilt is still there.

The Fear Polaroids in the Omori Route are also a representation of guilt, as is the mirror during the Truth segment, both depicting Sunny has a hideous demon. My intrusive thoughts depict me as a demon, too, doing horrific things to myself and others. The images of mutilated, demonic Sunny capture the... inhumanity that my mind makes me feel.

I get it, Sunny. I don't feel human either.

Mewo's Death as an Intrusive Thought

Cat Dissection is an interesting area of Black Space, in that its immediate relevance to the truth is less obvious. It's also one of the more horrifying ones - on my first playthrough, I was running blind, and I figured you'd have to kill Mewo for the key. You do not. my biggest regret

Mewo is obviously linked to Mari, but at the time, we'd only ever seen this slightly mentioned in the real world photo album. At that point in Black Space, Mewo was closely tied to Sunny and Omori, being an essential part of White Space.

The player can stab themselves to get out, or cut open Mewo and suffer the regret. This room feels very reminiscent of a gruesome intrusive thought that just won't go away, those days where you see yourself murdering all your friends, or violently injuring yourself. Much of Sunny's hallucinations, or creatures like Something, also mimic this kind of thing.

That room has far deeper analysis to dive into, but this is as far as I'll go for this segment.

Compulsive Behaviour - Repetition

Basil is probably the first character that comes to mind when I think of compulsive behaviour. His most iconic line...

This sort of repetitive action is the root of a compulsion - an attempt to relieve anxiety. Whether or not Basil fits the criteria of needing repeat those words otherwise something bad might happen is unknown, but this sort of behaviour is very relatable in my experience.

I have a tendency to not be consciously aware, but others notice that I'll mumble things to myself. Typically this is me trying to talk back to my intrusive thoughts, as far as I know, and trying to confirm to myself that they're wrong. This will often end in asking someone else or doing research to confirm.

By repeating these things, Basil is trying to ward off the reality, which is that everything isn't okay at all, and likely won't be. But the specific framing is future-oriented - he isn't saying that things are okay right now, he's saying that they will be. This could link to my later point about uncertainty.

Avoidance

Not many people talk about avoidance behaviours as a compulsion, which is probably why much of my OCD went unnoticed as a child. You don't really consider mental compulsions, and avoidance can be very easily hidden, especially if you the ability to force yourself through something if you have no other options.

While it's not exactly the same, Sunny's repression of rooms in his house and the shaking head that prevents you from going to particular areas are forms of avoidance. The sliding glass door that leads to the backyard and the piano room are the most notable - it's not repressed, it's there, but Sunny shakes his head every time you interact with it. He can't go in there. He just can't. There's no explanation for the player.

I relate to that. I have strange rules that mean I can't do things. I just can't. There's no real explanation for myself, either, and sometimes I don't even get intrusive thoughts of the consequences, just some insistence that I can't do it. Perhaps this was confusing or frustrating for the player, but I found it incredibly realistic.

Uncertainty and Abandonment Issues

I've heard somewhere that OCD is, ultimately, a fear of uncertainty. As a result of this disorder, combined with trauma, I also have abandonment issues the way Basil does.

Even before the recital day, Basil's abandonment issues are prevalent. He clings to the group with the photo album, preserving his memories. He took photos of the things he didn't want to lose. After the recital day, Basil really did lose everything, and he was broken as a result of that.

I imagine this sort of thing was one of his regular worries, everyone abandoning him, Sunny in particular. And I can relate to that - one of my more common intrusive thoughts is others leaving me after they find out I've done something horrible. It makes you want to shut off from relationships, just to be safe - what if everyone leaves?

I think that 'what if' is what made Basil so attached to Sunny in the present day of the game. He wants to save Sunny, he wants to make things back to the way they were before, but at the same time, there's this uncertainty - Sunny is moving? Sunny is leaving? What will happen? What if everything gets worse?

This wasn't the easiest to write, but thank you for reading.

[auncyen]

what are your thoughts on loop and siffrin’s hangout in the tree? it always seemed excessively cruel imo, just to prove that sif dying wasn’t the only way to loop. i feel like there were other ways, so i guess i can’t understand completely understand why they would do it.

had loop not pointed out the party dying or had the party managed to beat the king w/o sif, do you think sif would have still looped? Or at the very least managed to make it to the next day?

Anon. are you my loop. afheiohfe LMFAO I'm just. amused by the question because yeah tbh I don't really like the Loop hangout either. I get critical under the cut, so this is only getting a spoilers tag.

I think Siffrin was going to loop then. They probably would have realized what the flash was, or even just realized that the time of day means either the party's made it to the King or things have already ended badly for them, and now they're down a fighter. Siffrin does try to cling to hope at times so I can see him trying to persuade himself that Mirabelle would know the shield, she'd know to shield even if he didn't warn her right??? so maybe they didn't instantly die! but again, they're down a fighter. Even if they win the fight, surely they'd hate him for abandoning them in the final hour. I think he'd give himself a panic attack out of worry and guilt and shame and loop. Loop just hurried it up, probably because they were already hating themself (which, this sure makes it rich for them to try to point out to Siffrin later in act 5 that he's being an ass for saying mean things to the party LOL).

If you want my thoughts. This isn't in the ISAT tag because the hangout is one of the low points of the game for me. It was the "oh, we're just doing shock value now" bit of my first playthrough. I didn't think it made sense then just because how does the party get to the King anyway (even if they can still beat/avoid all the sadnesses without Siffrin and avoid the rock trap/find all the keys because they're like. being more cautious with them gone, they only have a 1/6 chance of correctly choosing the right path on both floors 2 & 3 unless Loop is actively guiding them. Which is an idea I've seen people uncomfortable with, but Loop is purposefully setting them up to die anyway????), and how does Siffrin not realize sooner "hey wait this is going too long what's going to happen to my friends" and panic over that sooner, and nothing in the rest of the game really changed my thoughts on that. Considering Isabeau is right in Loop's potential sight YEAH I FEEL LIKE THEY COULD HAVE COME UP WITH DIFFERENT WAYS OF PROVING IT.

Also iiirc, in my first playthrough I'd already done the Bonnie sidequest of them freaking out at Siffrin and making them loop by this time. I get that the Bonnie sidequest is optional but like. That sure doesn't help with making this hangout feel like cheap shock value.

I think. What I would have liked better. Is if maybe Loop had been trying to do something else and they accidentally established this. Example:

Loop tells Siffrin from the very start they can tell their friends about this and brings the matter up again at act 3 start. Even though it didn't free them from the loops it DID make that one loop better for them when their friends knew something was wrong (they didn't die horribly, for one), so I think they're thinking if Stardust lets everyone in on the full truth, and sooner, maybe they can help somehow!!! Maybe Odile can solve it!!!! 'Why are us two idiots trying to solve this alone!!!' Loop's thinking, and Loop just really, really wants to get out of the loops. So like. imagine a ISAT sus run being a little more similar to a SASASA sus run and Loop specifically baiting them to do that, maybe by suggesting that since they always loop when talking to the Head Housemaiden the loop ends at a certain TIME, this is TIME craft stardust, hurry it up and maybe you'll see something useful besides the roof hm???

What Loop is hoping for: Stardust gets the nice little bit of his family comforting him and getting them to open up a little, they get to hurt themself watching it through them, Stardust realizes 'hey I should talk to my friends' and actually starts telling them about the time loop at the start so they can all work through the information together, they just needed more brain cells on the problem so THEY FIGURE OUT THE GD TIME LOOPS AND LOOP GETS TO BE FREE.

What actually happens: *looks at how the sus run goes in ISAT* also since this is already altering what a sus run requires and how it turns out you could also have Mirabelle on edge and unintentionally taking it out on Siffrin, or Isabeau being horrified if Siffrin finally confesses about the time loops under pressure from Odile and Siffrin assumes Isabeau's disgusted about him hiding this (and not realizing like. Isabeau is actually horrified that his friend's been dying? and trying to handle that alone??? SIF), basically like just make it accidentally turn into a train wreck of a scene for a takeaway of "huh. Siffrin loops back from being upset, too." And then Siffrin is further convinced opening up = always bad and just gets more and more set in I AM NOT BLINDING TELLING THEM.

[captmickey]

Noticing the “Open” sign on your shop, I mosey in to talk.

- Favourite act of Three Adventurers?

- The secrets to bear in mind when mapping out a comic page?

- Creativity is most fun when ________.

- Share a behind the scenes moment from your art/writing. (I blank out if asked questions like this, but maybe one will come to mind while answering another question?)

- If you were a fan creating a favourite quotes page from your works, what would be some of the quotes you’d collect?

-How far can Link’s ears toggle? What is the range of those things?

(Pick and choose any of the above!)

1 - Favourite act of Three Adventurers? Ooooh... hmm, I feel like it'll change as I go further down the line, but so far it's a tie between acts 5 and 7. Five because it forced me to get creative with how to distinguish the boys when they're one person (and I'm sorry, but I love Effie so much and I miss her as well as Giggle). Seven because I really did try to do better with pacing, I got to explore more with Guybrush within 3adv, how all of ya'll reacted towards Mako (and me clapping my hands like a seal with each week), and because I FINALLY got to do the cool action shot I've been dying to do since I started 3adv- which was Graham shooting the ice arrow as he's shot out of the water.

2 - The secrets to bear in mind when mapping out a comic page? DO. NOT. CLUTTER. LESS IS MORE. I have to scream that at myself and then go "Can this panel, if it's not working for the page, be pushed to the next page? Does it add anything? Can it be scrapped? Can a different panel be scrapped or even merged?" and go from there. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but I try to make my panels cohesive and not a jumble of too many panels. Also reeeeeeeally helps to have the speech bubbles easy to follow and lead the eye. I read it somewhere once and it kinda lived in my head ever since.

3 - Creativity is most fun when ________. When you do it for yourself. I know it's more appealing and even rewarding when others respond or give feedback (I'd be a liar if I didn't admit of being guilty of wanting it), but it's super important and critical and even liberating when you create things for yourself first. I read somewhere, I think it was Alex Hirsch or Rebecca Sugar (or both and I'm combining the two) how when they made their shows, they did it as a something that they wanted to see and refused to budge for the fans, so I take that to heart when I make things. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, it might even anger or frustrate or have them throw a fit how it's not what they want... but when I'm making things for myself, it becomes way more fun and I don't feel so pressured. I even might surprise myself with what I'm able to pull off and that, as a creator, is so much fun.

4 - Share a behind the scenes moment from your art/writing. I have too many, ha ha. But one in particular was how I recently broke out of a writer's block of sorts of Act 8 of 3adv. Mainly I was on my way to work and honestly it was just.... a very ridiculous Looney Tunes-esqe kind of scenario with Guybrush that made me burst out loud in the car that I had to share with my sister (she is the only one that knows the entire spoiler for all of 3adv and tragically the one I bombard for feedback) and she, bless her so much, slam-dunked with an even dumber idea that made us both laugh super hard and things began to click so perfectly that I got to writing again after um... actively avoiding it. So when the act drops, and you see a joke that seems almost TOO cartoonish.... I apologize in advance.

5 - If you were a fan creating a favourite quotes page from your works, what would be some of the quotes you’d collect? You're really making me go through my works aren't ya? Ha ha, lets see.... off the top of my head that is posted and not, y'know, a WIP. From Act 7: The pirate’s jaw tightened slightly before he gave a smile that dripped with venomous resentment. “I did, actually. In fact, I’d say I thought it rather well considering you were more focused on beating me up both physically AND emotionally! Wow, who’d a thought a simple pirate such as myself could do such a thing!”  From Perspective: Number Two slammed the final nail in the coffin as Number One bursted out laughing, unable to contain himself. Did that boy really bring that in and thought it was a ticket? Who was the trickster that convinced him it was one?! The other guards laughed alongside him, but he simply had to leave the Theater out of fear that he would appear to be more unprofessional than he already was, laughing the whole way out.

From This Can Be Explained: “Okay, so don’t freak out–”

“Guybrush, there’s a dead body on the floor! How can I not freak out?!” Link shouted. From Sea of Adventurers: “Although… you two made it very clear that the seas doesn’t run in your veins.”

“How so?” Graham asked, sounding somewhat insulted, even though it was the truth.

“You two screamed the entire journey from where you initially washed up to this town when you witnessed the kraken and sharks.” The Pirate Lord explained. “You also crashed your ship repeatedly into the deck, anchored in the wrong place and at one point managed to set it on fire.”

There are more quote that I'm blanking out on... but I am curious what ya'lls favorite quotes are.

6 - How far can Link’s ears toggle? What is the range of those things? Pretty expressive! But mostly it goes up and down, not back and forward. I think I showed its range?

But yeah, it's rarely super high up but it does perk up when extremely happy, twitches when he hears noises and droops when annoyed, scared or bummed. But by default his ears is like.... juuuuuuust partially up, always listening. I ah........... realized it became canon when it happened in Breath of the Wild. So of course I made it canon in 3adv.

[spopsalt]

(I'm still in my Rick and Morty era, spoilers for season 5, seriously go watch Rick and Morty it's great) So don't get me wrong, Rick is a worse person than Catra, I mean he killed a lot more people than her (mostly in self-defense but still) but I do like how he's better written than Catra, which is why I like him more despite him being worse.

I do like how they consistently show that Rick does care about Morty, they do say that while that may be the case, it doesn't make their relationship not toxic...like one show *cough* spop *cough* but it's still nice to see.

We also get to see why he's such an asshole, he lost his wife and child, they were killed in front of him, he certainly is a horrible person, but I can definitely feel sympathy for him, he seems to insult Morty so he doesn't get too attached, Morty truly seems to be the only reason why Rick is even alive right now, as we can see that he does have depression and self-loathing, to the point were he willing sacificed himself so Morty could live, see spop? This is how you make a complex character that people can feel sympathy for without excusing their actions, many people call Rick out and one of his oldest friends, Birdperson left because of his toxicity, and one of the people he loved Unity, left because he was a terrible influence and brought out the worst in them. You can show a character that is a horrible person and complex, to the point where you feel sympathy for them.

Also, we actively see Rick attempting to change, not just in a throwaway line about how he's working on his anger, and then it was never even mentioned again *cough* Catra *cough* We see in season 3 episode 2, he turned himself into a pickle so he can avoid family therapy, but in season 6 Analyze Piss and season 7 Air Force Wong, we can see that he's actively going to therapy every week, despite not even respecting it before, showing his growth. Another example is the Vat of Acid episode (That's literally what it's called) in season 4 episode 8, Rick got mad at Morty and conducted a way for Morty to be forced to support an idea Rick had that Morty didn't like when Morty tried to critique it, Rick imminently became defensive, in Full Meta Jackrick (Great episode btw) in season 6, episode 7, Rick admitted that he messed up when Morty critiqued him. In season 6 episode 10, we again see him admit that he made a mistake and that he should've included Morty instead of just shutting himself off.

The difference is one of them is well written, not shown as an innocent baby who did no wrong, and is actively trying to change with good character development, one is an abusive, toxic, catgirl who was imminetally forgiven and everybody got forgot her war crimes.

[jinxedshapeshifter]

Sooooooo, what do you think of TGAA1? How are ya feeling--?

Oh I absolutely loved it. The other Ace Attorney games I haven't actually gone into blind (and I'm not making an active effort to avoid spoilers for Investigations, Dual Destinies, or Spirit of Justice, but I do steer towards avoiding anything too major or anything I can figure out the context of easily) but I went into TGAA basically only knowing character names (and, vaguely, personalities) and I've been actively trying to avoid spoilers. It is much more fun going into Ace Attorney games completely blind (especially when that game includes Herlock Sholmes. It's a lot more fun not knowing what to expect from him).

It's weird though, the entire time I've been playing it I've kinda forgotten it's an Ace Attorney game, even though court sequences are basically identical to every other Ace Attorney game. I'm pretty sure it's because of the setting (Victorian England with some steampunk elements and Meiji era Japan), but it feels so different from every other Ace Attorney game. That Victorian England with steampunk elements setting is part of the reason I love it so much though, I absolutely love the aesthetic of steampunk Victorian England.

I've always kinda understood that TGAA has its own kinda sub-fandom (and I guess you could argue that for the Investigations duology and the Phoenix Wright/Apollo Justice trilogies too, it's just not as obvious to me as TGAA's sub-fandom is) and I can absolutely understand why. It feels so different from the other games.

I was also correct all the way through about my mentality basically amounting to "came for Sholmes, staying for Sholmes" lmao. He is truly the character ever and I absolutely love him. You never know what to expect with him, it's always "alright so what's he doing now" when you see him in the background and it's literally never the thing you expect. Perfect for a Sherlock Holmes parody/expy honestly.

Also I would sell my soul for a Herlock Sholmes game where you play as Sholmes and just do investigations. I think it'd be really fun

EDIT: I never mentioned how I'm feeling, I'm feeling great, if a little like how many hours I've put into the game is unhealthy lol. It's keeping my mind occupied though so that's a good thing at least.