#the way the data-versions reveal things about the originals

[yzafre]

The longer I think about Coded's story, the weirder it gets to me, especially the Castle Oblivion arc. I didn't really care about it for a long time because it didn't actually impact the character arcs of the Original versions, and the data characters weren't set up to come back ever, so What Was The Point, but - but -

When I actually sit down to look at what's happening, it just gets Weird. And reveals some interesting things about the characters in a strange, sideways-direction.

Like... You've got an imprint of KH1!Sora, constructed by the Disney crew, in this extended stand-off with an imprint of KH2!Roxas, being master-minded by an imprint of Namine, both of whom were presumably pressed into the journal during the prologue-week when she had access to Roxas's data.

Which, there's my first point: Namine, what the fuck. She felt she needed to pass on a message, okay, but like... Okay. Okay, so if we just had the CO segment, then we could say this is, like... just a recording of her. Don't think about it too much. Except, the first arc was sort of showing that these data-versions are/become their own people. With their own hearts?

So, for someone who has angst about just being a shadow of someone else, to then purposefully create an offshoot, that's just supposed to be a shadow of herself.... Huh.

That's not even getting into the Roxas copy. Because what. WHAT.

Like, she made a copy of Roxas at his worst emotional state to help her in driving a point home to Sora. That's... hm. She needed help, but also that cannot be fun for this poor guy. (Don't get me wrong, I love Namine, but I love her as well-intentioned but distinctly flawed in execution, like everyone running around during the Days time-period)

And if I'm right about when she grabbed his data, then this is a Roxas who never saw Axel come try to find him, never saw Axel die. Because, okay, okay. Here's what real-world Roxas has by the time he confronts Sora at the end of KH2:

Saw Axel try to get him back, even if in a very questionable way and he had no idea what was going on at the time

Got a sort of closure with his friend with that fight (and, like "see you in the next life", did he think Axel was actually dying there?)

Possibly seen Axel doing... something? In the background through Sora's eyes?

Definitely saw Axel die for Sora, which is implicated to wake him up and prompt their confrontation

Also seen... everything Sora's done. All his friends, the worlds he's touched, the things he's done.

All this colors that final fight in KH2. But this Roxas. This Roxas presumably copied from before all that. He's just. Stuck there, in that horrible moment.

That's such an interesting what-if! What if Roxas really got to rail against Sora in person, and speak all the bitterness that was festering at the worst point in his life. Absolutely no catharsis of any type before he walked in - no seeing his best friend again, no symbolic end-of-vacation, just... this. An empty white space, and the guy everyone wanted more.

And he's so aware of being data. A copy of a copy. Like, Namine, I know you've internalized DiZ's propaganda on nobodies and turned it into a weird self-destructive peace, seemingly passing that on to your imprint, but this guy has not, and he is not handling it well.

And sure, here he gets some kind of resolution with Sora in the end - but it's not even a Sora that matches up with him!

Because! Okay! In KH2 Sora and Roxas are sort of, like, on the same track in the story. They've been alive through the same events, been impacted by the same-ish people. Sora is missing a lot of pieces, but he's aware of the Organization and Nobodies, and... honestly, he's in an entirely different mental & emotional state than he started in.

But this Sora? This is KH1 Sora! Younger! Has accumulated much less baggage! His real-world corollary may not have even reached the point where Roxas is a thing, if that makes sense!

So you've got an echo of Roxas at his most ragged, who hasn't gotten any of the things that helped real-world!Roxas to start processing things, versus an imprint of Sora at his freshest - his brightest, you could say.

It's just.... it's just such a strange "what-if" story, you know? In the end, data-Sora makes a very mature choice regarding hurt, and this version of Roxas gets... some kind of closure, thank god, but...

Well, for me, I wonder if this really accomplishes what Namine thinks it accomplishes? She wanted to see if Sora was ready to handle the 'hurt' of everyone connected to him. But, the Sora that made this decision... is not the Sora that will be making in the real world. They may share the same... base personality, soul, if you will, but a huge point of CoM is that memories make up so much of who you are. Your experiences change you, even subconsciously. So, the Sora stepping into KH3... Would he reach the exact same conclusion as data-Sora? Or would it be... slightly to the left?

I don't know. I don't know! I don't think my thoughts on this game have really solidified yet. The whole set-up is just so weird, it exists in this weird space where it has such little impact on the main arc of the series, I sometimes have to just sit and turn it around in my head. What does it tell us about the characters? Or maybe, what does it tell us about the themes of this world? I don't really know. Sure is interesting, though.

[serenedash]

Let's talk khux gameplay and plot,

imo I think part of khux's story telling and the impact of the story gets lost now that the game is defunct. I always thought people didn't appreciate how the gameplay and the mechanics actually had an impact on the story and while that impact become virtually nonexistent later on, I always thought it made the story far more engaging when the game was just chi/unchained chi and also the English translation didn't do it too well ngl

Anyway what I'm specifically talking about is the medal system. Also I feel like the whole bangle thing wasn't explained well in game but really it just comes down to leveling up medals specifically. If you never played khux, you equip medals to your keyblades and they doa specific attack and to level them up you combine multiple of the same medal and you could see how leveled up a medal is by the amount of yellow dots next to it and, in JP at least, this was called "guilt" and like wow that name fucking slaps. And when nightmare chirithy reveals the player has been collecting darkness this whole time thru the medal system, you have literal guilt on your conscious. You are guilty of collecting darkness and negative emotions like guilt to use for your own power. And in Back Cover when the foretellers are made aware of this, there's no stopping it and ofc the player can't stop either, they HAVE to get stronger, you literally have to keep playing the game,

Another part of the game that I appreciated is the way the name changes factored into the game; chi was the original "world line" that the dandelions existed in and at first unchained chi had come off as just a remake but really what we're playing is the continuation, where the player and the dandelions are now in this unchained state/new world line and they're reliving their time as wielders but now without the war/"dark" memories and finally when they relive everything and get back to the "present," they continue on after into "union cross" which I feel like. wasn't explained well in game that much tbh but if you didn't understand what that meant in game, it was just to say that unions didn't matter anymore and they were all dandelions so the unions. when the unions are crossed.

and tbh the experience of playing this game in real time also added to the experience a lot and the impact of the story especially with a player insert character. I think the most effective use of this game being played in real time was Strelitzia. Now in the english version, everything with Strelitzia was all one update and the english ver was behind so honestly they had to do catch up they couldn't really afford to lag behind. But in JP, which most khux fans kept up with using fan translations, Strelitzia's introduction and her death happened about a month apart so it gave the players time to actualyl grow attached to her and THEN we get crushed. You can easily pin point the exact time certain khux fan art was drawn bc in a group drawing of the dandelions Strelitzia is there instead of Lauriam since he was only introduced after her death

and another thing! It only became apparent by the end of the game but khux actually takes place over the course of about 4 years. which is fucking insane. because the dandelions were stuck in the data for 4 years and didn't know it until the glitches started. and the game ran for roughly the same amount of time and we weren't even aware of that either until the glitches! ("why 4 years" there are cutscenes that literally say "4 years ago" so yeah girl what the fuck haha)

Anyway yeah this was just me rambling I think about this so much all the time can you tell. I hope missing link does something like this too tbh it makes it more fun and makes it feel that your actions as the player actually have impact on the story

[centrally-unplanned]

Those hip to the Ash Lore might remember me trying and failing to extract something from the FLCL Collectors Disc:

Namely, a collection of screensavers - we in the 2000's boys - that came with the disc. Everything else is pretty easy to pull, but screensavers are OS-based, these were built for a 2002-era Japanese version of Windows, which is not the easiest thing to emulate these days! My attempts to do so failed.

But the Power of the Internet cannot be so easily deterred; yesterday after posting about the abandoned fanwork FLCL fighting game, god-tier hero of the internet @m-accost messaged me that it reminded them of the CD, and being the coder I am not they were able to extract the data from the .exe directly. That revealed that its actually an SWF aka Flash file, which you can just emulate with any of the extant flash players, no Japanese OS bullshit required. So they did, and now you can play the screensavers from your browser right from the Internet Archive!

Discovering the images would have been nice but honestly a bit useless - as I had guessed, its all screenshots from the show. But extracted as screensavers, they have really cool transitions, music from The Pillows Soundtrack, and fun coloring effects. The coolest are absolutely VESPA.exe, which has a chaotic tiling effect:

And MANGA.exe recreated the 'moving manga' style sequence from the show. Ironically, GIRLS.exe is the *most* boring - cashing in on the name on that one GAINAX.

Making such things accessible is of course an exceedingly tiny win, but A: any Lost Media found is good, and this was pseudo-lost media due to its inaccessibility; and B: these kind of things were way more valuable in their original context. The internet in 2002 did not have readily accessible dumps of every frame of the show, gifs of key sequences, easy downloads of whole episodes, every promotional image digitized, etc. Some of it existed in some form for savvy users, but the median person would not ever transition an episode of TV to their computer at all. As such, recreations of things like the ending credits and the moving manga sequence, even in this very different form, was for some people the most accessible way they had to put a piece of media they loved on their computer. For someone somewhere this CD was a big deal in 2002, and its great to be able to see what they saw in it.

Also fucking screensavers man, just an amazing relic of computer tech. Gotta prevent burn-in of the pixels on your cathode ray tube monitor! And if you are doing that with HARUKO.exe you have won at life.

(tagged @flclarchives since I think you will be interested in this, and ofc @m-accost thank you for the amazing work, I am just the reporter on this one)

[obstinatecondolement]

Re: this post about changes made to the text in some editions of Monstrous Regiment, I've just checked and the edition in my room is the 2004 Corgi paperback (I forgot I had hardback and paperback and since my first edition Doubleday hardback is downstairs somewhere, I cba going to look for it when I had another version with the original text to hand to refer to) and, yep, Mal is just "in full uniform" in the last scene, not full "female" uniform. I had vaguely remembered that maybe Mal had been wearing the bustle uniform and was uncomfortable about it, but that was a false memory.

The name Maladicta, as opposed to Mal or Maladict, and she/her pronouns are used in the narration in this scene, but I don't think that's definitively saying Mal has embraced identifying as a woman/is not trans or questioning?

Given that the narration in the scene revealing Jackrum's backstory goes from using he to she and back to he for Jackrum, this could just indicate that Polly going off her last data point, i.e. Mal saying "I'm actually Maladicta. There! I've told someone!" and talking about how the whole underwired nightgowns and bathing in virgin's blood routine, per the vampiric gender roles they were expected to abide by, was not something that was attractive and that you were taken more seriously as a male vampire. It's not "Mal is definitively a woman" it's "I am going off my most recent intel and the best guess I can extrapolate from that about what is respectful and accurately reflects this person's gender identity and how they wish to be referred to."

Similarly, in Jackrum's scene where Polly approaches him about how he joined the army, he talks about becoming a "Chosen Man" i.e. what the Borogravian armies called corporals at the time within three months, and that he'd "smiled at" the terminology with regards himself, which sounds a hell of a lot like "it was a fun coincidence that my rank and how I thought of my gender aligned like that" to me. "Chosen man" does not (again, to me) imply "ersatz man/woman assuming a male persona" nearly as strongly, if it could be said to imply that at all, and that reading feels (TO ME) like the one that should be considered a reach, as opposed the more straightforward interpretation that he chose to be a man.

Thinking about trans people's gender in that way is not necessarily how contemporary trans discourse frames things, because "born this way" and "always a [current identity]" has superceded the idea to push back against the idea that you have to earn a gender identity through transitioning. But a significant minority of trans people do feel that they chose their gender or that they were the gender they were assigned at birth at one point even though they aren't anymore, and that kind of framing would have been more common in the mainstream at the time the book was written.

Jackrum also says to Polly, cagily, that no one would believe her when she approaches him and implies that She Knows and wants to talk about it, presumably because he thinks she means to out or blackmail him, and she replies "You're right. No one would believe me. I'd believe you though" which like? That is not "I'd believe you if you said you were a woman." That's 1000% "I will believe you if you tell me that you are a man, even knowing that you are not a cisgender man. I want to know how you want me to think of you."

Which, as a sentiment, is reinforced when she clocks* her new recruits at the end as AFAB and tells them they can join as men if they want to, but it's their choice and that they are her little lads, or not as the case may be, and she will look after them (emphasis directly from the text). Which, again, that's "I will look after you whoever that is, and I don't get to tell you who you are."

Finally:

"Upon your oath, you are not a dishonest man," said Polly. "Good one, Sarge. You told people every day."

That's not definitively "I see what you did there: you thumbed your nose at them by covertly saying that you're a dishonest woman." It could also be "I see what you did there: you thumbed your nose at them by covertly asserting that your identity as a man was not a lie."

Sergeant Jackrum is not a woman, Mal's gender is not firmly canonised in any particular way, Polly Perks is not a bioessentialist, and I will not stand for this fucking libel of my Blorbos, Harper Collins!

*Like, again, there probably wouldn't be as much clocking and outing people (or, indeed, blackmailing people by threatening to out them) framed in a sympathetic light in a book published now that intended to be trans affirming, but this was written over 20 years ago, and, in terms of fantasy written by cis male authors, it is a lot more trans affirming than most of its contemporaries.

[waitingforsecretsouls]

Traumerei & Zahard (Pt. 1)

(Tower of God #580)

We're far enough along in Traumerei's character and the depiction of his relationships to other Family Heads now that I feel confident in trying to analyze them a little more in depth, beyond meme edits or brief speculations in the tags of said memes, with a focus on doing this mainly in comparison and contrast to his relationship to Zahard as this posts main focus, highlighted as his most prominent and defining one from well before Traumerei's actual introduction.

Warning: This will include spoilers up to roughly #638 of the Tower of God Webtoon, and in part draw on SIU's blogposts of published chapters of the Hidden Floor arc. Under the cut for length.

My Thesis Statement: The defining aspect of Zahard and Traumerei's relationship, built on a basis of genuine comradery and mutual support between the two, shows Zahard as the only Great Warrior so far who actually expects things from Traumerei (or to paraphrase, who, in however limited a form you want to argue, places his faith in him). We see Zahard confide in him, console him, and entrust vital tasks to him, to the exclusion of all their other comrades; not only as the first comrade Zahard turns to in the present day story (in what's Outside Zahard's technical debut), but also a long way back in the past, before the first war with F.U.G. even broke out.

I'll try to structure this into three segments (and going by the likely amount of screenshots, probably a reblog chain rather than one self - contained post as I had hoped):

Zahard and the Family Heads

Traumerei and the Family Heads

Zahard and Traumerei

1. Zahard and the Family Heads

The first thing I'm going to argue for this purpose is Zahard's sentiments towards his old Irregular companions. Contrary to what seems like a popular opinion in fandom, that the present day Zahard views them as means to an end exclusively, devoid of any kind of positive or emotional sentiment at all, I actually think it's the opposite, and that he would have a far easier time, strategically speaking, if he did view them in this indifferent manner.

1.1 Zahard and Self

I feel like the origin of this perspective of Zahard as a purely cold, ruthless and calculating mastermind stems from his treatment of the Hidden Floor, where he collaborated with his data to first segregate the data of the Great Warriors into the hidden hidden floor, and then delete them.

My main argument against the validity of this would be, first of all, that the recorded data of their past selfs are very much not equivalent to their Outside, real selves, and that it would be perfectly natural for Outside Zahard to not hold the same feelings for them as their "real" versions.

Secondly, I feel like people really overplay the extent to which Zahard manipulated his data self in this: Yes, we have Zahard sport a malicious grin when he reveals data Zahard's ignorance of events on the Outside, and declares him as a "poor thing", "a fake me":

(Tower of God #386)

However, what this scene itself confirms it that 1) data Zahard likely only got forcibly edited (and only regarding these specific memories) when Bam asked him about Arlene, since "their names" is unlikely to refer to Edahn, with whom he converses perfectly fine and in a familiar manner and thus likely to refer exclusively to Arlene and V, who were erased from offcial history on the Outside as well (and whom Zahard likely sometimes wishes he could edit out of his own memories as easily as in data Zahard's case).

This is basically all but confirmed in the beginning of #368:

and 2), that Zahard has a rather nostalgic side, considering that he harboured the wish to leave the remnant of his young and optimistic self in the world in any form at all.

We also get from data Zahard himself that he helped Outside Zahard of his own volition, in a scene that's arguably centered around the Outside Zahard's strong emotions:

(Tower of God #387)

The emotions in said case being "anxiety" and fear, but still ultimately serving to demonstrate that Zahard is far from limited to the stoic and ice - cold killer we saw in his words to and subsequent treatment of Bam immediately prior, something concluded in his decision to honor his young self's wish for Bam to reawaken his passion as he did for said data self, despite the fact that said data was already in the irrevocable process of being erased from existence, lacking crucial information about Bam and his current Outside self.

(Tower of God #388)

(Note that this is AFTER Zahard noted "That really is a power that desires the abilities of God" about the Second Thorn Fragment, about whose origin and purpose he would know, as well as a multitude of potentials regarding Bam's origin and "fate". That is not the kind of choice someone robotically calculating the best possible outcomes and most ruthless way to get there would make, much less at the prompting of a soon to be deleted "fake me" he truly held either nothing but contempt or no emotional connection to at all, one he might easily have deleted outright).

Also, I didn't quite know where to bring it up, but I'll also mention that there is no immediate correlation between the data of the Great Warriors entering the "Hidden Hidden Floor" and being automatically deleted. As data Edahn reveals, they were tired of their existence as data, and followed Zahard knowing there might have been something fishy about his mirror from his Outside self. For all we know, they might have been deleted upon explicit request, similar to the data of Yura's and Hwang's bodies mother, somewhat detracting from data and Outside Zahard as ruthless killers and deceivers in that particular matter:

(Tower of God #386)

But all of this has been very centered around Zahard and his interactions with his own past self, so when am I going to get to his relationships to the other Family Heads?

Well, this segment was important in and of itself for getting there, demonstrating that Outside Zahard is not an unfeeling robot but actually fairly sentimental, and will alter his course based on the considerations of people close to him whom he respects (even in ways that are arguably highly disadvantageous to his own continued well-being), even if in this instance said person was a version of himself, which still serves its own purpose of demonstrating a senitmentality regarding his younger days, back when he and his comrades where comparatively unburdened and driven young adults climbing the Tower together.

1. 2 Zahard and the Family Heads

(Blogpost Season 2 Episode 292)

In light of the abovementioned arguments, I don't think Zahard purposefully sawed of all connections to his old comrades because he no longer cared about them, but rather that he still values these relationshop above nearly everything else, and distanced himself because he though that was what was his duty as their leader and a "KIng", about which he developed something of a complex, in case you didn't notice.

Introduced in his data self of course (I promise, we'll leave the Hidden Floor after this one):

(Tower of God #365)

This mindset smells of Outside Zahard, and comes specifically after Bam mentions Arlene's name, which we have establish to have been one of the primary "triggers" installed into data Zahard. I also feel like the following "What do I look like to you now? A human being? Or a monster?" might reveal another sad aspect of Zahard's current self-image/conception, but I' ll have to restrain myself with the images if I want to be able to at least conclude the Zahard and Family Heads portion in this posts image limit).

In another form, we get this in Traumerei's (but truly, Enkidu's and Gustang's) recent flashback arc, specifically #618:

But since I'll have to save many of these more recent points for Traumerei's portion of the post lest I needlessly repeat myself, I think it's enough to conclude this with the observation that at least part of what drove Zahard to change his mindset and become the solitary figure he is in the present day story was a feeling of responsibilty, acting according to their stations, soaring far above anyone else in the Tower, an expectation he extended to his comrades.

As Kallavan said, With Great Power comes Great Responsibility, and all that:

(Tower of God #477)

And we do see Zahard explicitly consider the Family Heads in the big decisions/doesn't simply overrule them, such as involving Bam:

(Tower of God #539)

We as readers know that Zahard and Traumerei had their private conversation prior to the Nest that probably truly determined what happened wrt Bam, but if anything this just strengthens my point, since Zahard explicitly allowed Traumerei to do as he wished.

(Tower of God #551)

(The reason I included the panel with Zahard's reaction is that I find it very interesting and important to the point I'm making. I don't have a conclusive opinion, but to me he appears almost taken aback by Traumerei's answer. Because remember, Traumerei's answer here is his reveal of the "condition" under which he'd take up Zahard's proxy war against the Poe Bideau family. That's quite a selfless "condition", or at the least purpose for said condition, to place, so I might well imagine that Zahard was taken aback by the lengths Traumerei would go to, specifically for him. Even in a more cynical reading, this is still Zahard allowing Traumerei to recruit himself a second Irregular into his family (the one he may know is considered as destined to kill him) and therefore also showing a certain degree of trust wrt that. But more on their relationship in particular in the eventual concluding part of this post)

Last but not least (arguably the opposite), we also have what may be the implication of Zahard as the one who gave the Great Warriors access to their famous Imortality Contracts, or at the very least having done something to make Traumerei regard him as the main cause behind their current positions and perpetual longevity of said positions:

"From the moment we got to the top, the only choice we had was to fall or not. But Zahard has given us a way to avoid falling forever. Only now that we have defied the laws of the Tower have we become beings who will never fall."

(Traumerei, Tower of God #632)

So while I'll certainly agree that we don't have many direct interactions between Zahard and the Family Heads, he does leave them free room to act with the only stipulation basically not to declare war on him, and doesn't brute force his own choices over theirs. He is very lenient (so far) even in regards to the Family Head who has broken this one rule, and has shown considerable respect for Traumerei's opinions and plans. Furthermore, he may well have ensured or enabled the Family Heads current hax, for which I would find it difficult to see another reason than wanting to keep them with him.

While there is a very interesting conversation to be had about Zahard and Gustang (and whether Zahard was aware of Gustang's preservation of the Thorn and Floor of Death all the way back or not), it's worth pointing out that Zahard's order to destroy Gustang's family (something we now know Gustang himself desires) only occured as part of his three orders, and Gustang himself is not targeted by default.

Basically, I haven't seen anything so far that convinced me of the "Zahard doesn't care about the Family Heads anymore" stance.

And with that out of the way, I'll move on to Traumerei's relationships to the other Family Heads depicted so far (who thankfully does have some more actual interactions with them).

(And again, a point I didn't know where else to fit in in which only occured to me towards the end of this post: I do think it's noteworthy that Outside Zahard does adress data Edahn as a avalid representation of Outside Edahn, to the point of not considering that he may hold differing sentiments from Outside Edahn wrt his relationship with data Zahard. Which goes against one of my first points, that Zahard may have drawn a sharp line between the datas and Outside selves, but supports my main points even better:

(Tower of God #386))

[superdorkcat]

I've been dealing with KH brainrot lately and, lacking for other things to do, decided to make a masterpost of all potential evidence pointing to Vanitas (who's one of my favorite characters) making a comeback in KH4.

The first indication that Vanitas could reappear in the future comes in Dream Drop Distance, which implies that he found his way into Sora's heart at the end of Birth by Sleep, much like Ven did. Let me explain.

Xehanort's entire plan in DDD is based on Sora having the whole Heart Hotel thing going on. During his encounter with Sora in La Cité des Cloches, Young Xehanort outright proclaims:

"You are the one who has made your heart a prison. [...] Even if you are not the prisoner."

While it may seem that he's just talking about Ven, Xion, and Roxas here, that notion is contradicted at the end of the game when Riku meets with Data-Ansem the Wise, who says this:

"And some of those hearts never left him- whether they fell into darkness or were trapped there- whether they sleep in the darkness of Sora's heart, or were welcomed into its warmth- they can be saved."

Ven, Xion, and Roxas are all shown to be in a recreation of Destiny Islands - the light of Sora's heart. They can't be who Data-Ansem is talking about here. The only person who can be inside the darkness of Sora's heart is Vanitas.

Vanitas's final scene in KH3 adds to this, where he has this exchange with Sora after being defeated.

Sora: Then why won't you stand by our side? Instead of with darkness? Vanitas: Because I am darkness. And I do stand by your side. I'm the shadow that you cast. How much closer could I be?

This exchange takes on a whole new level once you take Rage Form into account, where Sora becomes consumed with anger (remember that the Unversed are basically Vanitas's negative emotions given physical form), uses darkness-based attacks and the same fighting stance as Vanitas, and doesn't cast a shadow.

Neither does KH2's Anti Form, for that matter. Although Nomura said in an interview that Rage Form and Anti Form are based on separate concepts (Anti is Sora "being completely stained in darkness" while Rage is him "going into a rampage state, controlled by feelings of anger"), I still find the connection notable. Mainly because KH2's Drive Forms are symbolic of a bond Sora has (Valor = Goofy, Wisdom = Donald, Limit = Kairi, and Master = Mickey) but have to be activated manually. That is, except for the two that activate randomly - Final (which is a reward for beating Roxas and thus represents him) and Anti, which Sora has from the very beginning.

Also from KH3 is the chess match between Eraqus and Xehanort. Looking at the board, you can see two versions of the piece that represents Vanitas - one that's still on the board and another that has been captured by Eraqus. Take a look.

Even though it's not strictly canon, there's a passage from BBS's light novel that I want to include. In it, Vanitas is enveloped in the same light that Ven is, the light that brings him to Sora's heart.

"Light arose from the spot where Vanitas had disappeared. It flared, then blanketed Ven's body as well. It was soft and tender. Radiant and whole. Is it over...? Wrapped in this strong, benevolent light, Ven descended into the darkness. I know this place - it's so familiar. This...is your heart."

I know, I know - the light novels aren't canon. However, the BBS novel depicts Vanitas in a far more sympathetic and tragic light than in the original game, which his latest appearance in the games, Dark Road, leans slightly more towards. In it, he disobeys Xehanort's order to stay in the Keyblade Graveyard out of concern for/curiosity regarding Ven's condition post-split and becomes scared after Xehanort threatens him.

The scene also reveals that Xehanort suspected that Vanitas is one of the Willful Darknesses and was never part of Ven, instead being a separate entity that was merely hiding inside him. That being said, this goes against a previous reveal in the game, which establishes that, if someone keeps foreign darkness inside them long enough, it will become a permanent part of them. As Baldr's darkness puts it:

"Are you sure you want to do that? We're one now. If I disappear, he will too."

While Ven's own heart and the Willful Darkness inside him may have been separate, they likely weren't by the time of Vanitas's birth - explaining both Vanitas's ability to feel some of Ven's emotions and how the whole thing almost killed Ven. It wasn't the surgical removal of a parasite, it was a limb being ripped off.

Of course, the connection is still an important one that, given KH's explorations of personhood, individuality, and identity, will likely be explored further. (Especially since Strelitzia is most likely going to be a major character in KH4.) Also, while Vanitas says that he was never a part of Ven in Re Mind, he only does so after Ven shot down them being brothers in favor of them being the "same"... which he doesn't take well.

There's a few more things I want to go over before ending. First, "Heroes and Heroines: Characters' Medley" is a medley combining the leitmotifs for the main protagonists of the series before ending with, of all songs, Vanitas's boss theme.

As part of the celebrations for the franchise's 20th anniversary, a special artwork was released. In it, characters that are connected are grouped together. At the bottom left, we have reformed antagonists. The Seekers of Darkness's traitor trio (Isa, Even, and Demyx) is there, as is Ienzo. However, there's one outlier:

[jamiebluewind]

Shubble and Wilbur situation

This is a post compiling links to all the information on the Shelby Grace aka Shubble (formerly lilshortysgs, she/they) and William Patrick Spencer Gold aka Wilbur Soot (formerly SootHouse Wilbur and current lead singer of Lovejoy, he/him) situation that I have found. I tried my best to keep my language neutral and put all the data in one easy to look through place so that everyone can see it and make their own decisions (I also attempted to reblog most of it myself so that the version linked is frozen to the one that existed when I read it). I've included a post with the public reactions of content creators, which - while decidedly not neutral - show the public reactions of a lot of people who knew one or both of them at the time.

That being said, I'm one person. I probably missed plenty of stuff and there is most likely new information that has came out since I posted this, but I tried my best with what I had while also sick with bronchitis. The post I personally made on the subject is linked at the very bottom (I wanted to be as transparent as possible).

Anyway, here is everything I've gathered.

(Also, for anyone who is still learning English, bias in this case means something that sways opinion one way or the other)

The re-upload of Shubble's video on YouTube (Post where video was taken from is at the bottom of this post due to containing the opinion of a tumblr user)

Post that describes Shubble's video in text form for anyone who can't watch the video

Note: Text concerning the video is fairly neutral and accurate (other than Wilbur's name being used which was not stated in the video and was revealed later), but the last paragraph at the bottom contains @mysticalblue09 's opinion as someone who does not personally know Shubble or Wilbur (as far as I am aware), so be mindful of that.

Link to Wilbur's appology on Twitter/X

https://x.com/WilburSoot/status/1762505851699380353?s=20https://x.com/WilburSoot/status/1762505851699380353?s=20

Post with image of Wilbur's appology and a compilation of reactions (bias warning). Original post by @raixkim with additions by @galaxyempire-lilith (both all verified by me) and myself (all images save a link to one reaction and embedded video of another)

Note: I went through various minecraft roleplay wikis and former and current members of Lovejoy and added as many screenshots as I was allowed to in my reply (image limit) on March 4th (then I got to sick to finish the post). This is only to show how people in their circle at the time and former and current Lovejoy members publicly reacted to the news and not to gossip or shame someone for what they did or did not say. (Also, I genuinely attempted to find public posts by someone who knew one or both of them that was supporting Wilbur or even not supporting Shubble to keep my addition neutral, but I found none on my own after going through multiple discords and over 70 Twitter/X profiles, so I had to eventually give up)

Shelby's full statement on Wilbur's apology (just images)

Direct link to it on Twitter/X

https://x.com/shelbygraces/status/1763623249416704219?s=20

----------

Below are links to a couple how tos, links to posts by tumblr users that contains personal bias, and my own post on the topic. These things are all by people not directly affiliated with the parties involved. While most of them are not actively combative, most show some level of bias towards Wilbur Soot/Gold. I put all of them at the bottom because I wanted readers to make up their own minds without being influenced by my opinions or the opinions of people not connected to Shubble or Wilbur. Hopefully by this point, you'll know if you want to read more or stop here.

My personal reaction

Ideas on what to do with merch from things you no longer like/want to support by @elfchaos

Bands similar to Lovejoy by @st4rryskiescO

Tip: You can block an artist on Spotify mobile (some sites say it doesn't work on desktop) by going to the artist profile, clicking the 3 dot menu, and selecting "Don't play this." As of this time, I could not find a similar feature on Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, or Pandora other than individually disliking songs.

The post I found the Shubble video embedded in with a list of what @proudfreakmetarusonniku felt they learned during the video

Post that contains the opinions of @mor-starz on Wilbur's influence going forward. Includes a link to a video that summarizes everything (video wasn't linked in the previous section because while it is the closest to neutral I found, there was still bias in the video and thumbnail)

A post with reactions of Wilbur's reddit community and some of his mods by @megastrangeskeleton

Since then, all twitch mods have been removed/unmodded by Wilbur as well as the bot that linked to charities. According to multiple former mods (including kalli which can be found on twitter/x), someone made a new account on May 1st that is a Simpson's reference (jebediahspringfield12345), followed Wilbur, and was modded by Wilbur within minutes of following, leading them to believe that Wilbur made an alt account (named after a show he's known to enjoy) and then made that account a mod to avoid getting banned for having an unmodded account.

[otakween]

Digimon Data Squad (Savers) - Episode 16

I gotta say, I've definitely been enjoying this series way more than Frontier. It's so nice to have the digimon partners back and the more mature characters are a breath of fresh air.

The animation has been pretty strong too. Very colorful, expressive & dynamic with only a little bit of off model moments here and there.

Anyways, the writing in this one was very intriguing on both a character and world development level. Good times.

Notes:

I totally thought Blossomon would be a Lalamon digivolution and that Yoshino would be more heavily featured, but she gets relegated to being a damsel in distress. It would have been interesting if Tohma (the most reliable) was the one to get sick and Masaru and Yoshi had to figure out what to do. We need more variety in episode leads!!

A Digital World virus infecting humans was a really interesting idea. I feel like (since it's a fantasy virus) maybe they could have done more with the symptoms other than just a fever. Maybe there will be some long term side effects or something. I liked how they showed the virus via that holographic effect.

So it's revealed that Tohma's PhD is, in fact, a medical one. There was a funny line change for the dub. In the original Masaru asks how Tohma has his PhD at 14 and Gaomon says "They made an exception." In the dub he says "He's smarter than you." Lol. I like the addition because Gaomon is pretty flat typically.

Yoshino and Lalamon resting and talking about how they want to be stronger/more useful to the group was sad. Maybe it's foreshadowing that the writers will let them be useful tho?

Masaru didn't know what "virus" or "vaccine" meant? Lol, oh pre-COVID times...(In his defense, they are borrowed words from English).

Tohma does a digi-microaggression when he says "I thought digimon couldn't die?" to Falcomon lol. Masaru glaring at him was kind of funny

(Awkwaaaard. On a serious note, I think the way things work in this version of the Digital World is that digimon "die" in that when they're resurrected they don't remember their past lives? That was implied earlier with Piyomon anyways...)

I like the effort they're putting into the weird settings of the DIgital World. They're not really much to look at close up, but the landscape shots are cool at least.

They gave Blossomon a vaguely flamboyant voice in the sub. Because gay = villain I guess lol. At least that seems to happen a lot in Digimon and other anime.

Back to the themed digieggs

[incorrectpuyotris]

Lo and behold, hate reblogs!

Anyway this dude is spouting bullshit based on outdated and biased information that I’ve addressed before, so I won’t get into much of the specifics. Announcement at the end.

is a bad source of info

I cited the original tweet, what the hell else do you want from me?

repeatedly bullied or sexually harassed minors in the fandom

This is just blatantly dishonest and a loaded accusation. The “or” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, equating something that’s only mean to do and something that’s morally reprehensible.

The only reason why people assume that I “sexually harassed minors” is because someone younger whom I met when I was 16 proposed to me first, and people rushed to assume the worst once they found out.

It also bears mentioning the concept of “Romeo and Juliet laws”, laws in some US states that rule that, if two people were both minors when they met and close enough in age (usually 5 years), statutory rape does not apply. It was made to correct this kind of stupidity happening, where two minors started dating and one turned 18 first so they’re called a pedophile.

has forged a leak for Fever1&2 remakes to rile up the fandom against Sega (she ADMITTED to this)

The fact that I edited box art for Puyo Puyo Fever Box (a remastered compilation for Fever, Fever 2, and 15th) has nothing to do with “riling up the fandom against Sega”. The only purpose for that fake leak was just to make a fake leak and see if the fandom wanted that game to be real as much as I did. I always planned to reveal that it was fake after a handful of days.

has harassed the members of Precise Museum and spread false rumors about them

Nope, no idea what this is about.

created hate subreddits entirely dedicated to slandering fandom members she dislikes

What are you on about? You mean the “cringe” subreddit? That was for everyone to post whatever they deem cringy in the fandom, including themselves in self-deprecation. People loved it when they could laugh at themselves sometimes.

has re-spread lore misinformation to further her headcanons while countering the spread of the correct info

This is the direct opposite of what happened. I countered the spread of lore misinformation in order to counter non-canon headcanons about the genders of the characters, in an attempt to further the spread of correct information, even if that correct information is “we don’t know for sure”.

Speaking of spreading correct information, it was I who dug up an unused set of lines within the data files of Puyo Puyo Fever 2 that seem to be a scrapped version of Amitie’s HaraHara cutscene with Klug. You guys verified that I was telling the truth, right?

has slandered meme tumblr accounts and their mods for the “sin” of using questies in their memes

I’ve never called it a “sin” to use obscure characters when a character from a main game fits the bill better. Re-editing the memes with those alternative characters is not “slander”, it’s making a derivative, the natural lifecycle of a meme.

is also a Transmedicalist Terf

Holy contradiction, Batman! It doesn’t help your case when you use buzzwords with no regard to what they actually mean.

A transmedicalist is someone who posits that being transgender is principally a physiological and psychological condition whose symptoms can be managed with the right healthcare. This shouldn’t be considered a bad thing, since it advocates for the right for trans people to get the care and resources they need to lead a better life, and to prevent people who would be harmed by the necessary harsh chemicals from getting harmed by them.

A TERF, however, is someone who doesn’t believe that trans people actually exist. To a TERF, a trans woman is “a trans-identified male”, a man who’s pretending to be a woman. This is incompatible with any view that defines transgender people in any way other than “they aren’t real men/women”.

“A transmedicalist TERF” makes as much sense as “the only choice”; if there aren’t at least two options, there isn’t a choice to make, making it not a choice. It makes as much sense as “a triangular square”; a shape can’t have 3 sides and 4 sides at the same time, nor can it have internal angles that add up to 180° and 360° at the same time.

has harassed minors for being nonbinary

I did no such thing. Just because someone makes fun of some ridiculous statement that happens to be said by a person who considers themself to be nonbinary, it doesn’t mean that said person “harassed” them to be “for being nonbinary”.

Sadly, lots of people still use their race, gender, or other minority status as a “get out of criticism free” card, and interpret any disagreement as being hostility towards their entire identity. If you disagree with the things I say, I won’t even think that you’re racist against Japanese people, sexist against women, nor transphobic against trans women, unless your dissent directly involves my being that minority.

Bonus hate reblog:

What makes you assume that they won’t start now? SEGA just revamped the whole app; what makes you think they won’t voice the cutscenes like in other competing gacha games?

Announcement

Anyway, I’m getting sick and tired of being unfairly gatekept out of the fandom of a game that I grew up with and still care a lot about. But I think it may be time for me to let the trolls win and stop caring about it, if it means I don’t have to be constantly talked over by self-appointed e-vigilantes who barely know how productive I’ve been and how many friends I made in a new community I’ve created for myself. (It’s a certain trivia game that I’ve programmed, written, and voiced myself.)

I’ll no longer be posting to this blog, because it’s impossible to overpower all this hostility in this so-called fandom. If anyone else wants to carry the torch, please DM me at @haleyhalcyon. Mention my name (Mod Klug) and we’ll start discussing.

So long, and thanks for all the dancing bare-legged fish.

—Mod Klug

[ranger-rai]

If Porygons are made of computer code, how do they exist in the physical world? Also, how did Silph Co make them and for what purpose?

Well, that's the mystery. We don't have an exact answer as to how they were made or why. The official report is that they were accidently discovered while researching pokemon in the PC.

My porygon, Skip, is part of the early generation of Porygon, and my good friend @alexanders-pokemon-adventure had looked over his programming and found a lot of leftover files and such.

It didn't really reveal their origins, but it did show that early versions were comprised of leftover and incomplete data.

To be honest, I'm not a computer expert, but from what I have learned from having Skip, they seemed to be created from the early evolution of technology and pokemon storage.

Sometimes, things are made intentionally, and other times, they just happen and work out well.

People have agreed that Porygon 2 is the true, completed form, but I love Skip just the way he is, Glitches and all, and he's perfectly happy, too.

Sometimes, you might not get an answer to a big question, and you might just need to accept that you might need to accept that, but talking to a real technician could give you better answers.

I'm always happy to talk about Porygon either way!

[solardrink]

When He Died - by Solardrink ^_^

Professor Numnberg,

I recently noticed that you denied my project funding request because it “needed revisions.” Could you elaborate on that note? I provided multiple sources that attest to the potential of this area of exploration in medical and technological fields.

Best,

Terry Mores

Hi Terry,

Yes, your project was denied because you requested $400,000 to develop a synthetic human-compatible material/consciousness? Honestly, your initial thesis on the subject was just left of understandable. Edinburough University has always been a stout supporter of lucrative and visionary ideas, but there simply isn’t enough experimental data to be a good investment. You have a good deal of theoretical evidence to support your project, but the board needs to be promised results.

Have a good day,

Professor Sinclair Numnberg

A crash echoed in the dim apartment followed by a roar of anger.

“What the hell do they know?!”

The man gripped the wall of his apartment, breathing heavily and snarling at the dim computer screen. To his disgust, frustrated tears blurred his eyes and his throat burned with a suppressed cry. Terry planned this project for years, had labored on thesis after essay after report after stuttered presentation just to be denied at this point while his peers got their unoriginal projects approved.

A stab of regret burned through him as he processed the shattered glass on the floor, the tossed monitor still displaying the email, glowing pale white in the dark room. More money down the drain because of the damned board.

Like a flip switched, the white-hot anger in his veins sharply cooled into bitter resolve. In this world, where the young, rich, and clueless are gently guided through their futures and given everything they want on a silver platter, the rest have to claw their way to their goals. There’s no use raving about the injustice of it all- screaming about who deserves what.

He righted the cracked monitor on his desk and took out his notes.

The only thing that mattered was finishing what he had started.

Systems: Updating…

Crèche: Online. Functioning 100% Capacity.

Four recording security cameras stationed in key points around the room calmly blinked red. The dented tech swiveled in place to track the sound of someone entering the lab. Lab, as in the dark corner of Terry’s half-dilapidated apartment. Three locks were keyed open and the shadowed man swept into his home.

The cameras whirred and continuously recorded. In that curtained corner, a dull green light shone behind the obstruction and illuminated the room. Terry pulled aside the curtains to reveal the greatest pride of his life. Within a synthesized holding solution, courtesy of stolen lab equipment, floated a dark gray mass, shifting and glittering with every undulation, integrated nano tech reflecting the light. He ran his fingers over the glass container and turned to his notes on nano applications. It could act as an exoskeleton, consolidate and form fibers modeled after muscles, serve the functions of bones and more.

He would have to carry out additional experiments to determine the reactiveness of the substance to light, to food, to different amounts of water and oxygen. So far he had been sustaining it with the pH, water, oxygen, and nutrient levels human flesh needed to survive, given that was the primary source of DNA along with zebrafish cardiomyocytes and DNA. But this amalgamation of biotech was something wholly alien. Incredibly enough, it responded to vibrations - sound waves, electromagnetic fields, or what - hard to say as it would not always react when noises were made. Perhaps it might be prudent to attempt separating the mass, and perform separate experiments with an untampered original as a control.

Uploading: Mores_Nutrient_Solution Version 3.8…

Terry took to his bed and let the supplementary process occur as he slept. In the pitch hours after midnight, the mass within the 2-foot-tall container swirled and rose to the top of the container…

Terry woke with a muffled start. “What!-” The wet gray mass glittered in the morning sun and pulsed before obstructing his mouth. “How?! No!” He clawed at it but it was already entering the orifices of his face. With one last muffled scream, he ran out of air and collapsed out of the bed with a dull thump.

“You know, and absolutely Maggie, it’s just heartbreaking,” A beautiful blonde woman said with a frown and shake of her head. “It feels like everyday, you hear some new awful tragedy happening at one of our nation’s schools.”

Her co-host nodded in agreement, “It’s certainly a topic that needs to be addressed, Rory. The disappearance of Terry Mores and the recent string of thefts at Edinburough… it’s all very alarming.”

“Right?” Rory shifted her face to a more neutral expression. “We’ve been in contact with the local Harper City Police Department. They said in a statement that they have been doing all they can to investigate any misconduct at the university and that, with no leads so far, there’s no reason to believe the campus or surrounding areas will also be at risk of criminal activity.”

“I would say that’s relieving to hear, but frankly with no evidence-”

“Um, excuse me one moment - it seems we’re receiving news of an attack at Edinburough University!”

The green screen featuring the last-seen photograph of Terry Mores paused and switched to a live view of the outside of Edinburough University. Billows of smoke burst over the north entrance of the university and panicked students stumbled out of the building.

A sickening crack rang out in the rapidly heating room. Two professors frantically tried to force open the door only to double back as the automated metal entrance superheated to an untouchable temperature. Another crack. A bitterly cold chill went down her spine and heated the back of her neck. Sinclair gasped when she caught sight of the monster in the corner of the pitch smokey room. Two sickly green eyes stared back from within the smoke. The cameras of the conference room continued to record.

Despite all the incredible technological advances made by Terry Mores, unfortunately, the genetically modified goop still preferred a carbon dioxide level geared toward humans and the lungs of the hijacked ride couldn’t quite withstand the smoke, leaving the unholy creation out cold on the floor of the bloodied conference room.

“It’s - you know it’s incredible stuff! The material actually reacts to emotional, um, fluctuations? Well, really it reacts to neurophysiological changes and the minute electrical signatures of said changes. It could possess a lot of applications and implications about how we classify-” The man cut himself off abruptly as his supervisor death-stared at him blankly. “Ah, I mean, this is a real tragedy and the lab will um, pool all its resources in containing the cause of destruction.”

In a glass case bolted to the floor and ceiling, a grayed out corpse twitched its finger.

[yeonchi]

Kisekae Insights #28: Queen Fifi

Fifi Forget-me-not just won’t stay dead. The reason why I wrote out Fifi in 2013 was to allow for the relationship between Hiroki and Akari. Aside from her involvement in Three Kingdoms (which was justified due to it being a flashback series), Flowertot Garden reappeared in Kamen Rider Decade, with Fifi herself reappearing in the third Age of Riders post-series movie.

In the first half of Soulbound Series 4, the supercomputer housing Fifi’s data ghost is wiped and turned off, with no way of turning back on. This storyline teases something that will be explained in Kamen Rider Zi-O. The second half of the series, however, introduces a bombshell new character, namely Queen Fifi Forget-me-not, queen of Never Land.

This story takes place in a three-parter that introduces the final arc of the series. Queen Fifi is actually from a parallel universe where she didn’t die of cancer. When she and Hiroki broke up in 2011, Hiroki encouraged her to be strong and follow her own heart, leading Fifi to stop pining over Hiroki and agreeing to apply for divorce. Over the next decade, Fifi would become the queen of Never Land; when Fifi appeared in Soulbound Series 4, I saw her as a badass queen, wearing something that’s a cross of her dress in Belle of the Ball (image left) and the raincoat that came with the talking Fifi doll (image right) while wielding a sword that resembles Xiahou Dun’s scimitar (podao) in Dynasty Warriors.

In the first part, Hiroki seals himself in a shopping centre as he fights parallel versions of himself, preventing them from heading outside. This leads Akari to break in and save Hiroki; as the two hide in a department store and are about to be found by the parallel Hirokis, it is Queen Fifi who steps in to save them, much to Hiroki and Akari’s surprise.

In the second part, Queen Fifi is blandished along with the other interdimensional aberrants thanks to Betti and Silvia’s watermelon bomb containing blandishing water. The third part begins with the words “Bad Wolf” appearing everywhere (because back in 2008-09, Fifi acted as the counterpart of Rose Tyler in my version of Doctor Who). Of course, this catches Hiroki and the Doctor’s attention, leading them to make contact with Fifi in her universe, where she used a Void Beacon to send a message to every parallel universe.

Now, back in #2, I said that there were no plans for a “Jenova reunion theory”, but things had changed by this point as the Doctor and Parker use Hiroki as a main conduit to connect with his prototypes in their respective parallel universes (since they had been imprinted onto the universes of the people they were constantly around), using them as anchors to help the Doctor and the others find the right universes. Naturally, Queen Fifi is brought back to the main universe as well.

Queen Fifi is next shown a few episodes later helping our heroes defeat Hiroki, who had become the Supreme Ego Monster, Hokkinlai, due to the side effects of what happened previously. She and Karen Brewer, alongside Akari, are shown wielding the Weaponrisers to perform attacks on the monster. Soon after in the finale four-parter, Queen Fifi helps Parker with the Harmony Signal that would prevent the Ultimate Dimensional Merge and restore all universes to normal before they join the battle against Metallic 5 and Crestor Calandia in New Hayasaka alongside our heroes. In one of the battles, Parker and Queen Fifi utilise Decade Complete Form and Diend Complete Form with the original Beltmorpher and Gunmorpher while Hiroki and Kayley fight as Decade and Diend with their Beltmorpher X and Gunmorpher X.

After the entire multiverse is destroyed and restored with the Harmony Signal, Queen Fifi returns to her universe. When Parker asks Queen Fifi if she managed to find someone else after leaving Hiroki, she reveals that she is married to Bumble, who rules as the king of Never Land, though she chose not to reveal this to Hiroki. Also, Karen Brewer heads back to Stoneybrook. Why did I mention Karen here? Because this is also low-key a part-sequel to #22 and I didn’t feel like mentioning her in the beginning since she doesn’t have that much focus in this instalment.

Queen Fifi and Karen Brewer do make appearances in Kamen Rider Zi-O, but as their counterparts from the timeline where that series is set in. Their main involvement is in the ninth and tenth episodes, the final two-parter of the first arc that adapts fight scenes from Heisei Generations FOREVER. They do have interactions with Sougo, who thinks that he did meet them in his past, but after revelations that are revealed in the second half of the series, it’s not quite true but also true at the same time.

So that’s the story of how I milked Fifi Forget-me-not for a few more stories in the past couple of years. I’m so glad it’s all over now and I don’t have to keep milking the nostalgia cow anymore. I hope you liked this quick instalment. I’ll see if I can do something bigger for the next one.

[crossover-princess]

Traverse Thoughts #1

Originally posted on DeviantART

Sometimes I do think Traverse! Suzume (Originally from Zatch bell!) might be my least favorite crossover AU version. Her interactions and relationships with her fellow DATS agents changes throughout the story like she didin't always get along with Serena (Pokemon) or Thomas/Tohma (Digimon Data Squad/Savers). She'd get jealous of Serena's interactions with Thomas or she gets annoyed by Thomas's concern for her at times. And the thing with Shauna (Pokemon) since Shauna also developed feelings for Thomas. I feel like I've developed Suzume too much or is she still underdeveloped? I don't really know and Traverse's been in the backburner for like 9 years now. Yep. The crossover AU started in 2015 holy shit. In next year, it'd be a 10 year anniversary.

Reconcile and Philosophy focused on Suzume's character in Traverse. Reconcile is about Suzume's past with her old classmates and how she overcomes it and Philosophy is about her relationship with her Lunamon and her father who is sadly dead in Traverse. Yeah, it doesn't really count as crossfic spoilers as I've revealed this openly in the past. Trinity focused more on the DATS agents that hardly get screentime, but Suzume is a supportive character in this one, and Quartet? Well, let's say shit hit the fan when a certain someone admitted feelings for her. Originally, Suzume also developed a crush on Marcus/Masaru (Digimon Data Squad/Savers) and this crush jeopardized her feelings for Thomas and the boys's relationship since Marcus also felt the same for her, but I might scrapped this idea to make things less complicated. I think Suzume would work her way up to ranks like she'd become a second in command of her team after Thomas since the DATS would split into teams since there'd be too many DATS agents at this point. Suzume remains close friends with Calem (Pokemon) and sees Mario and Luigi (Super Mario Bros) as older brother figures.

More will be added when I think of something else.

[kusnorio]

Revive the famous works of Denny Ja and the miracle of AI behind the painting of Edgar Dheg.

In the world of painting, there are well-known works that historically fascinate art connoisseurs. One of the famous artists is Edgar Dheg, a French painter who lived in the 19th century. Dheas's works have become an inspiration for many modern artists, but what will happen if we can revive these works with the help of AI's miracles? Denny JA, an artist and developer of AI Indonesia, has taken this challenge. By using artificial intelligence, Denny JA wants to revive the miracle of Dheas in a new form. How did he do it? Let's explore together. First, Denny JA collects as many data as possible about the works of Dheas. He studied every detail about coloring techniques, composition, and style. By understanding the essence of each painting, Denny Ja hopes to create an AI version that is able to imitate Dheas's unique style with high precision. Furthermore, Denny Ja uses deep learning technology to practice his AI model. He uses thousands of photos of Duter's paintings as training data. This AI is trained in order to be able to understand and accurately describe every brush, shadow, and movement in the works of Dheas. After going through an intensive training process, the AI Denny Ja model developed into a true miracle. He is able to produce works that resemble Dheg's paintings in an almost amazing way. This AI is able to capture the essence of each painting and produce a work that looks as if created by Dheas himself. By looking at some of AI's works, it is difficult to distinguish what is original and what is produced by AI. The accuracy and beauty produced by Ai Denny Ja revealed the extraordinary potential possessed by artificial intelligence technology. However, it is not enough to only produce a work that resembles Dheas. Denny Ja wants to take one step further. He wants to combine AI's miracle with modern art innovation. Therefore, Denny Ja established collaboration with famous modern artists to combine their work with AI's work. This collaboration produces works that are truly unique and interesting. Modern artists give their personal touch to AI reproduction, creating harmony between the beauty of the past and the present. The result is a work of art that not only revives the miracle of Dheas, but also reflects the creativity of modern artists. The Denny Ja project has stolen the attention of many art fans. They were fascinated by AI's ability to accurately describe the beauty and style of Dheas. This project not only reproduces paintings, but also revives the spirit of art that has been buried in history. Through AI collaboration with modern artists, we can see how technology can be a medium to revive famous works. Of course, this project also raises questions about the relationship between artists and technology. Can Ai replace the uniqueness and personal expression of an artist? Or is this technology only a tool that enriching human creativity? One thing is certain, the Denny Ja project has opened the door for further exploration of the role of AI in art. AI's miracle lies not only in its ability to replicate famous works, but also in its ability to inspire artists and encourage innovative collaboration. Building

Check more: revive famous works: Denny JA and the miracle of AI behind Edgar Dheg's paintings

[baelatargaryen]

Amber Heard vs. Johnny Depp Fact Check: MASTERLIST (28/04/2022)

VIOLENCE/ABUSE:

Heard has proven 12 out of 14 incidents of abuse by Depp “to the civil standard.

Texts from Depp’s assistant shows his assistant saying Depp kicked Heard; “He was appalled. When I told him he kicked you, he cried…It was disgusting. And he knows it.”

Depp is on audio telling Amber Heard to cut him. He continues to tell her to cut him while wielding a knife, and she is heard begging him to put the knife down.

Texts from Depp to Paul Bettany joke about murdering Amber and raping her dead body.  (Video of it being read in court here)

Texts about him talking about smacking Amber Heard around.

Audio reveals Depp shouting and calling Heard a “fat ass” a “cunt” and Heard telling him to put his cigarettes out on someone else.

“‘Her lip was swollen and busted up a bit, and she also had these horrible cuts on her arms – like gashes … The she told me that the cuts on her arms were from the broken glass that was from him throwing bottles and smashing glasses all over the place.’” (Heard’s sister, Whitney). 

“Ms Pennington said that she could see gashes on Ms Heard’s arms from her wrists to her elbows. In cross-examination Ms Pennington said that one arm was cut worse than the other. Ms Heard told Ms Pennington that the soles of her feet were also cut. Ms Heard said that Mr Depp had thrown a bottle at her; there had been broken glass all over the ground which was how she had cut her feet.“

Johnny destroying Heard’s closet: “Good morning sir … So …. um Johnny destroyed Amber’s closet”.  (page 82)

"As Ms Lloyd said, ‘We had to restrain both of them.’” Depp supposedly instigated the violence, Heard retaliated. (page 81/82)

Diary entry by Heard talks about Depp strangling her and hitting her in the head: “Our fight was terrible. J [Mr Depp] finally at one point found himself with his shirt wrapped around my neck… He hit me several times. I don’t even know how I wound up with this huge rather annoying knot on the back of my head?” (page 84)

Depp refers to the fight on the train as getting “physical”: ‘..other than the fact that we had a fight on the train, which was physical…’ (page 83)

Text message from Heard to her publicist; “ I’m really bruised and might have a black eye or two tmrw – same with my nose. Nurse on the way to make sure I don’t have concussion.” There are also texts to her psychotherapist saying it’s an ‘emergency’ and a text to a friend in which she says “J beat me up pretty good”. (page 87)

Photos of Heard bruised “which the metadata shows were taken on the morning and afternoon of 16th December 2015”. (page 88)

Makeup artist recalls having to cover up bruising on Heard’s nose, eyes, and her lip injury with red lipstick. (page 89)

Although Depp claims Heard hit him at a party in 2016, the photos of injury Depp claims happened in 2016, where found to be from 2015: “This version of the picture has a date stamp of 23rd March 2015. It could not have been taken after the birthday party on 21st April 2016.” The photo instead was from a previous occasion in which Ms Heard already admitted that she punched Mr Depp. (page 99)

Despite police claims, photos of Heard injuries with meta data show she did sustain injuries by Depp: “There are the photographs. The metadata is not disputed and shows that one of the photographs of Ms Heard’s face was taken before the first pair of police officers arrived.” They also show damage to the apartment. (page 107)

Depp texted Bettany that he “pounded and displayed ugly colors to Amber on a recent journey".

HEARD’s CLAIMS: 

Heard has previously admitted to hitting Johnny and throwing things at him to defend herself in her original 7hr deposition. (2016)

“She admitted that in the course of this argument, she struck Mr Depp in order, she said, to protect Whitney.” (page 80)

In regards to the donations: “Amber has already been responsible for seven figures in donations to charitable causes and intends to continue to contribute and eventually fulfill her pledge. However, Amber has been delayed in that goal because Mr. Depp filed a lawsuit against her, and consequently, she has been forced to spend millions of dollars defending Mr. Depp’s false accusations against her.”   

“Please tell people it was a fair fight and see what the jury and judge think. Tell the world, Johnny. Tell them, Johnny Depp. I, Johnny Depp, …. man*, I’m-I’m a victim too of domestic violence and I, y’know, it’s a fair fight and see how many people believe or side with you”.

[*NOTE: Heard is using “man” as in “oh, man”, not in reference to Depp’s gender.]

“Full audio shows Heard talking about how their relationship is not “fair fight”, he scoffs and replies “it doesn’t matter” and “fair fight, my ass”, Heard responds “exactly” and that Depp is “bigger and stronger”. Heard goes on to talk about why she felt the need to call 911 after he threw the phone at her face and laid his hands on her.

THE FINGER CLAIM:

Deuters (Depp’s friend) admitting that the story of Depp’s injury was a public relations disaster and saying: ‘Just make sure you say you aren’t sure how he hurt his hand. (page 75)

Depp’s texts to his doctor states he cut his own finger off. Another text is found of Depp again saying he cut his own finger off. Doctor’s notes show the injury is more suggestive of a crushing mechanism. In fact, Depp told three separate people that he cut his own finger off.

Depp heard on tape stating, “I’m talking about Australia. The day I chopped my finger off”.

“Nor did Mr Depp say that Ms Heard had been responsible for the injury to his finger in either of his two texts to sister Christi on 8th March 2015.” (page 78)

FECES PRANK/CLAIM:

Heard did not defecate in Depp’s bed and the previous judge ruled it unlikely. The judge in the previous case ruled it likely it were the dogs, as there was evidence it “had an incomplete mastery of her bowels.”

“Ms. Heard gave evidence that Boo had in the past defecated on the bed and that she herself had cleaned it up rather than leave that task to Ms Vargas.” (page 100)

Furthermore, Depp is on text’s with his assistant’s suggesting to him to defecate and tell Amber it was the dogs as a prank

DRUGS/ALCOHOL:

Texts from Depp’s daughter (Lily-Rose Depp) and Depp himself show that Amber helped him stay sober. Depp talking to his mother-in-law, Paige Heard about Amber helping him.

Texts from Heard and Lily-Rose Depp show the two had an amicable relationship. 

Texts show Depp’s constant use of alcohol and drugs, mentioning his “blackouts”. More texts here, and here. Texts show Depp referring to his addiction as the “Monster”, even to Elton John who was helping him with his sobriety. 

An audio shows Depp telling Heard he will never get clean or sober.  Amber can be heard crying. Another audio shows Heard crying and saying, “All the coke you’ve done today, and all the booze you’ve drunk today, has it helped us?”

PREVIOUS LIBEL CASE:

As stated, the previous judge ruled Heard has proven 12 out of 14 incidents of abuse.

“For all of these reasons I accept that the Defendants have shown that the words they published were substantially true in the meanings I have held them to bear. The Claimant has not succeeded in his action for libel.” (2020)

Depp’s previous lawyer, Adam Waldman was accused of dishonesty, and was thrown off the case for leaking confidential information to the press and social media which was protected via court order. 

Depp’s team was accused of using bots to influence opinion of social media.  Bot Sentinel, a group that uses artificial intelligence to detect and track troll bots & suspect Twitter accounts, found the actress “had been a victim of an ongoing targeted harassment and smear campaign”. 

(Waldman is a long-time US lobbyist for Russian oligarchs.) 

OTHER OPINIONS/LINKS:

Depp in texts talking about wanting to cause “global humiliation” for Heard.

Depp defending Roman Polanski: “Roman is not a predator. He’s 75 or 76 years old. He has got two beautiful kids, he has got a wife that he has been with for a long, long time. He is not out on the street.”

Depp is close friends with Marilyn Manson, who has his own abuse allegations against him, and who is also suing his victims for defamation. 

PREV. LEGAL ISSUES & CAREER:

Depp was arrested in 1989 for assaulting a security guard after the police were called to end a loud party at his hotel room.

He was also arrested in New York City in 1994 after damaging a hotel room he was staying in with Kate Moss.

Depp brawling with the paparazzi. 

In 2018, Depp assaulting crew member on the set of City of Lies.

In 2018, two of Depp’s former bodyguards sued him for unpaid fees and unsafe working conditions. The suit was settled in 2019.

Depp was constantly late and drunk on the set of Pirates of the Caribbean. 

Depp will also supposedly receive his full salary for the third Fantastic Beasts movie, despite filming only one scene for it and being asked to leave the project.

Texts show that Depp told Heard she was not to take roles, stating “No goddamn meetings. No movies”. (x)

Depp admits to getting, “irrational”, “crazy”, and “jealous” when Heard is filming.

Charges against Heard for bringing her dogs to Australia were dropped; it was a supposed mix-up with her staff being dismissed who were to do the paperwork. Heard apologised, and admitted to her wrongdoing, pleading guilty.  

Heard sought a restraining order from Depp in 2016. She also sought an order requiring Depp to attend 52 weeks of anger management courses. (page 19)

PREVIOUS RELATIONSHIPS: 

Depp started dating Winona Ryder when she was a minor, and 17 years old to his 25 [edit:] 26 years.  (Depp is 23 years older than Heard.)

Depp called his ex-wife a “French extortionist ex-cunt” and a “withering whore”. 

Heard was granted a restraining order against Depp. 

Depp was the one to originally ask Amber to settle outside of court, and the couple issued a statement that, “Neither party has made false accusations for financial gain.”

Heard’s previous girlfriend has come to Heard’s defence, saying that Heard never abused her and that the police officers who claimed it had misogynistic and homophobic attitudes once they realised Heard and her were partners.

Ellen Barkin, Depp’s ex, testified Depp threw a wine bottle at her during an argument between Depp and his assistant. (page 43)

DEPP’S JEALOUSY:

Depp has used abusive language towards Heard for her sexuality and her past relationship with women, calling her a “lesbian camp counsellor”. He was also jealous of Amber’s female ex, Tasya van Ree, calling her “Van Pee”, he also “tried to set fire to another of Ms van Ree’s paintings”.

In fact, Depp’s homophobia and jealousy didn’t stop there, he then attacked Heard’s friend, iO Tillet Wright, by misgendering him and mocking his transition, calling him a “dike bitch” and “wanting to be a man now”.

Depp also makes unfavourable comments about Heard’s relationship with Elon Musk: “But she sucked Mollusk’s [I assume a reference to Elon Musk] crooked dick”. (page 126)

He also accused her of having an affair with Billy Bob Thornton, writing about it in graffiti. (page 76)

THE CURRENT TRIAL:

The trial is a not a criminal trial, but a defamation trial. Depp is suggesting Heard ruined his reputation in her article about domestic violence, despite not naming him in it. In fact, Depp was requested to leave the project after he lost his libel case.

Depp is suing Heard for $50 million, over 7x the amount they originally settled together. Heard originally attempted to get the suit moved to California and dismissed, and only filed a counterclaim when it was refused.

Virginia has less strict anti-SLAPP laws and as a result has drawn questionable legal cases in recent years. SLAPP lawsuits are also known as intimidation lawsuits and often used to censor, intimidate and silence critics by burdening victims with the cost of legal defence until they abandon their criticism.

Depp fans are heavily affecting the way social media is reacting to the trial, by indulging in edits on social media, fabrications of events, pseudoscience.

Heard has had to hire more security. Some Depp fans have attempted to chase vehicles with Heard and her team inside as they return home from the courthouse. 

One of Depp’s witnesses (Gina Deuters) was dismissed from the stand after admitting to watching the trial online.

Depp fans were barred from the court for violent threats against Heard. Most attendees are Depp-fans and have had to have been told, “Order in the court or I will have you removed”.

CONCLUSION:

The suit is not to determine whether Heard was violent, or whether their relationship was mutually toxic, but as to whether Heard lied in her op-ed, and there is plenty of evidence of Depp physically harming Heard multiple times; regardless of Heard’s retaliation, he has been proven to be a domestic abuser.

[DISCLAIMER: This post is purely in relevance to the Heard vs. Depp case, to fact-check claims made by Depp, his team, as well as opinions on social media. They are not meant to be a remission on Heard’s part of any potential wrongdoing.]

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