#this test was actually really fun and rather accurate

[eratos-girlfriend]

it’s a 13 year old girl and her ‘am I gay?’ quiz against the world

Also it’s a 16 year old girl and her ‘how can I tell if I am neurodivergent’ quiz against the world

[dashflashy-arts]

ML x Smiling Critters Au

Students by day! Heroes by... any other time of the day. When people transform into weird creatures and terrorize the locals, it's up to Dogday and Catnap to save the day! And keep everyone alive, of course!... hopefully. Honestly, both Dennis and Theo are just trying to get through the day and attempt to maintain little normalcy that's left in their city

Could there be more to this weird phenomena than just random coincidences? Was this all planned? Will they ever find the rumored Ladybug Miraculous that is said to repair everything?

WELL Y'ALL IDK GUYS BC HONESTLY I ONLY DREW THIS FOR FUN AND AS STRESS RELIEF AND I'M FAR TOO BUSY AND TIRED TO EVEN TRY AND DRAW ANOTHER FANCOMIC JWDJDUDJFJDD

That's not to say I don't have ideas or a somewhat cohesive plot in mind for this little dumb au

Read them under the cut:

Idk if y'all even bothered to see the other post about this Au, but basically it's like a human AU where it's MOSTLY normal like. Playtime Co. didn't rly exist. Orphans were not expiramented. Maybe some grew up and became adults themselves etc. Ngl I haven't figured this part out properly, but basically a family had a hold of these miraculouses which made like, a secret orgs thst tests their abilities or something. Then stuff happens with like whistleblowing and an Agreste(tm) event. Tho to sum up my scattered thoughts on this part: they used to have all the miraculouses, but someone stole it away from them. Unfortunately for them, someone important got rly sick so they're rly desperately finding the others (LB and Cat Miraculous mostly) to cure them and yeah the current butterly user (Harley Sawyer at this point) is carrying his predecessor's wishes, but w/ an ulterior motive of course. Why is he a robot here? Mmm ngl I don't rly have any other reason for it. Just wanted to draw a robot w/ some butterfly motifs

Okay, for the story, the "toys" are just normal people, but they become their "toy" selves upon akumatization. Idk whether to base it more on the toy lore or in-game lore but I might just have to merge them both (but leaning more on toy-lore, hopefully)

There will be like, um, a mix of aging-up here, like the Smiling Critters and Nightmare Critters here are teenagers, but some characters like the human vers. of Mommy long legs is an adult. I am trying to understand the game lore but I won't be very accurate bc again, I' not rly active with it so sorry die-hard fans 🤷‍♀️

Enough of that, here are some thoughts of the main protags:

Dennis Dantes is the likable cheery athlete in school. You could say he's popular, but he doesn't rly hang out with the popular kids for too long. He'd rather spend time with the friends he made since he was young. Dennis is just honest and simple like that. He is a natural leader, but he only lets that shine through as Dogday.

Theodore Grambell is the opposite. He's a loner, troublemaker, and sleepy student that professors dislike to have in class. And yet, he is beloved by his friends, Dennis mostly! While he keeps quiet as himself, he's nearly dead silent as Catnap. He lets Dogday take the lead with saving the day, but at the end of the day, it's his cataclysm that really matters in an akuma crisis. Unlike Dennis, he knows a lot more about the miraculous stuff, thanks to some... shady figure

When the first meeting, Catnap and Dogday weren't sure of each other. It took some time and akuma-fighting for Dogday to actually understand Catnap, and for Catnap to tolerate Dogday's overbearing "as heroes, we have to blah blah blah" mindset. This is ironic, btw, because as civilians, they are both the bestest of friends. Closest. Dennis always pounces at Theo every time he sees him, then talks his ear off, and Theo wouldn't mind, and would just be happy to be with him

Story starts with Dennis getting his miraculous via finding it in his locker. Theo got his few weeks prior (thanks to shady figure). Since this is an alt universe, events went differently, so kwamis like Barkk behave a little differently from canon. Barkk here is a lot more strict with rules and has to asert common sense to Dennis when he gets too carried away by his heart. That said, Dennis and Barkk are good with each other. As for Plagg, he and Theo are awkward AF. I imagine that Theo's not much of a conversationalist in general, so you can guess who does most of the talking. Plagg's also desperately trying to convince Theo that MAYBE idk that the shady guy is??? Not to be trusted?? It falls on deaf ears, unfortunately

There ARE guardians of the miraculouses here lol they just don't have the Ladybug miraculous bc the former user crashed out and dipped. They are searching for it and later on, after Dennis meets them, he helps them search for it

Do their friends get a miraculous? Do the nightmare critters get a miraculous too (then cause mayhem?) Maybe, maybe not. Heehehehehee ( =＾ω＾)

OH also this AU is set in 2005 bc um to match the game setting idk [insert South Arcade - 2005]

[taki118]

Yakuza Fiance ep 5 Manga Comparison

After the overstuffed ep 4 ep 5 is a breath of fresh air still some context missed but not as badly, as always the differences are below, and I'm using fantranslations cause I'm lazy.

So thankfully they did keep the conversation I said the dropped last time. Re-ordering things is still dumb to me (I think the Renji talk would have been a better cold open) but at least its here. Though again there are some differences

For one they took out Yoshino noticing all the missed calls/messages from Kirishima which is a funny thing. The anime does make up for by actually having Yoshinos head move around the room as Kirishima points out weak points which is a nice gag that takes advantage of the medium (wish they would continue that)

(Not relevant but I think the box of sauces they show at the end of the scene is reference to an extra the manga had about Tokyo not having a bunch of sauces that Osaka has)

For once the anime adds in a scene that isn't ominous starring, giving us Yoshino looking at test results to flow into her fears about the actual exams, which is nice.

So its not a change here but due to pervious change the dialogue in the anime makes less sense. So as I said in ep 4 when Yoshino is talking to Kirishima about her dad he lets her in on the fact he's looked into her family so when Yoshino asks him here how much he knows about Tsubaki it makes sense. Because the anime dropped this bit the anime view has to assume that like Yoshino assumes he did this.

So here is a bit they dropped during the conversation after meeting Tsubaki that I feel like is a waste

Yoshino more explains what she means when she says Tsuabki is such a Kyoto girl, noting they went all the way to Ise once and just had food from a Kyoto restaurant chain. Its funny and sad to see it go but overall ok to drop.

This isn't like a dialogue change but a shot change kinda I havent mentioned it much but a lot of the shot choices the anime makes are odd but this one is a bit of a loss. When Yoshino looks at the sandals in the anime she just does a height comparision with Kirishima and its cute but

But its not as cute as Yoshino tugging Kirishima by the arm to look with her. Also it cuts that Tsubaki is starring at Kirishima who's obviously enjoying the attention.

The conversation Tsubaki has with Kirishima about his behavior towards Yoshino (which FYI is really important and I could talk more on) is pretty accurate a few reorderings but this was dropped and i just think its a shame

Its good insight, and an added visual to help bring everything across.

Anyway the lead into Tsuabki and Kirishimas "date" is much the same the big drop is this bit with Yoshino

It again shows that she is a lot smarter than she gives herself credit for, knowing what they'll talk about.

So the ferris wheel scene is pretty accurate but they left out a rather important bit where Kirishima is explaining his theory about Yoshino having never lost a kidney.

They don't show HOW Kirishima knew the scar wasn't quite right for kidney removal, in the anime the assumption is that he looked it up in the manga they note that he had a specialist take a look this specialist being one of his friends with benefits. This is important because this lets you in one WHY Kirishima is primarily with these women (and they are all women) all of them have something he needs, connections, information or skills that he does not have access to normally. He's not just sleeping around for the fun of it even Ayano the girl we see in ep 3, she's a model with boyfriend who has connections. This is subtle set up to pay offs down the line as Kirishimas actions are better explained. Its a rather important loss and really eye opening on re reads as things begin to click.

and this leads into another thing where technically its the same but subtleties are missed. The anime just has Tsubaki note this is an odd convo on a ferris wheel and questioning why Kirishima is so fixated on Yoshino, before Kirishima talks about the train ticket.

The manga however first has Kirishima state he wished he could be on the ferris wheel with Yoshino, which adds context to why Tsubaki asks her question. Then Kirishima hesitates, he thinks for a moment before bringing it up because he knows this information will get to Yoshino and he's weighing his options. It adds weight to what he says letting the reader know that this is indeed important. Also it removes a line where Kirishima explains he wasn't given any extra funds so he had to scrape it together another hint for later.

So the rest of the ep is pretty accurate, nothing I can really take too much note of, not as much as other episodes but what was dropped is pretty disappointing in many ways.

[starrybl1ss]

Enchanting secrets ✧˖°.

★senior/quidditch captain/slytherin!ellie williams x senior/gryffindor!reader ★warnings: making out lol, swearing, (smut in part 2 that is complete link below) ★inspo: so basically yk the drarry ships?? this is kinda basically it but with ellie & reader and the hogwarts!ellie headcannons ★please read! harry potter fans please don't come at me because the timeline of this fic is probably not accurate from the books and movies. and yes, i did watch the movie but im not really in the fandom that much so i did as much as researching as i could.

Hogwarts has been a big journey for you and all the wacky magical things happening. as now you are in senior year, the last year in hogwarts, after that you'll have do the N.E.W.T.s test that is known to be increadibly difficult.

Your really nervous, luckly your friend, Dina is a fellow gryffindor as well. And she's a smart student.

You really want to do well in the test. magic isn't as easy as flickering a wand in the air and boom! your a frog. Its much more complex than that. theory or practice, its hard.

Your now in the library with Dina, studying your ass off. its quite stressful with all the subjects.

Tomorrow is the quidditch match. your house versus slytherin. you can't wait to watch it. its always so much fun watching quidditch. you never really liked playing quidditch since it all looks so exhausting and dangerous, not like hogwarts is not itself. but you rather focus on your studies.

"Dina, im going back. real tired. you coming?" you ask the black haired girl. "Yeah all go back after its actually time for students to get back and sleep" she replied. "Cya" you left the library grabbing your books.

You walk all along the school corridors and went on the anoyying stairs that always move to a different place. its still quite busy. but only with all the seniors. running up and down.

You suddenly bump into someone. an auburn haired girl making you drop your book. "shit, sorry let me get them for you" she bent down to your knees grabbing the books you dropped.

The girl hands out the books back to you. "thanks... ellie?" you thank her while a bit skeptical if thats her name. "no problem" she replied and continues walking down the stairs.

You were right, Ellie williams. captain of the slytherin quidditch team. You see her a lot. she's a big deal. the some what 'anoyying' quidditch captain that always makes their team win in quidditch the past years shes been in hogwarts.

You continue walking up the stairs towards the 'fat lady' painting. You stood infront of the painting. "fibbertigibbet" you said as the painting opened and you step in.

Your basically the first senior to enter since everybody was busy studying while you cant take it anymore. you were too sleepy. so you changed in to your pyjamas and went to bed

꒰୨🔮୧꒱

Your sleep was interrupted by Dina. "wake upppp, it's already time for brekfast!" she shook your unconcious body. you quicky open your eyes and saw that it is perfectly 7.30 in the morning.

Your sleep felt so quick. "wait up, im gonna get dress" you got up and dressed up as Dina waited in the common room.

"Let's go Deen" you went outside the gryffindor house and quickly went down the stairs to the great hall where brekfast is served until around 8.

You went ahead and sat down and grabbed the food you wanted. chicken, again. your kind of obsessed with eating chicken by now.

You glaired at the slytherin table where you saw, ellie williams again. for some reason, since you two bumped to eachother on the stairs, you couldnt seem to get her of your mind.

Dina waved her hand infront of your face trying to stop you from zoning out and daydreaming too much. "who's the lucky guy your gonna take to dance after the exam?" Dina looks at you hoping you already have a guy to take out to the last senior prom.

"Oh uh, dunno" you slightly shook your head. "who we're you looking at anyways?" she asks curiously. "no one, just uhh.. someone that helped me grab my books when we bumped into eachother last night"

"see? i dont think thats a 'no one' after all! who is it?" she shook your shoulder excitedly. "a girl... you know? slytherin's quidditch captain?" you said nervously.

"are you kidding? ellie? you mean ellie williams? she's bad news!-" Dina said out loudly as you stopped her to make her a little more quite since there was a lot of people looking at you two.

"My god, she's so anoyying! she's our rival y/n!" she looks at you. "i knowww, but-" you stopped talking trying to think what to say next.

"but what? okay, i could quickly find you a good looking, smart, green flag gryffindor guy in a minute! it'll be easy, almost every gryffindor wants you. not to meantion, a lot of other boys from other houses would want you"

"i'll just worry about it later, whats the point of having a 'guy' that wants you but you don't want them anyways?"

꒰୨🔮୧꒱

You couln't focus the whole time in potions. you kept having your eyes on ellie making it difficult. you exited the class and went towards the bathroom to wash your face.

You went inside hearing someone crying and ofcourse it is moaning myrtle. the ghost who haunts the girls bathroom.

You saw another girl infront of the sink. you got closer and it was ellie. god, you meet her everywhere. you went to the sink next to her as you turned on the faucet.

Ellie looks at you "hey, never really catched your name last night" slightly tilting her head. "I- im- uh, y/n" you introduced yourself.

"nice meeting you"

"y-you too!" you said nervously.

"whats your next class y/n?" god, she said your name making you blush a little. suprised that she brought up a conversation. "defence againts the dark arts" you replied.

She looks at you while not sayying a thing. just admiring your face making your heart skip a beat. you couldn't handle the tension anymore.

"i should get to clas-" you stepped a bit further from her but she grabbed your left arm. "the teacher wouldn't mind you being late right?" she said teasingly.

"y-yeah he wouldn't min-" suddenly ellie pulls you in a kiss. fuck, you didn't know this would happen so quickly. you kissed her back. her hands on your waist.

"c-can we a go somewhere a little more private? Just incase...-" ellie grabs you and puts you two in one of the stalls locking the door from behind.

She pins you to the door and started giving you hickeys on your neck with you letting out choked up moans as she lifts up your sweater.

You hear someone sniffing, moaning myrtle. "Looks like things are getting a little too spicy in here. you stupid kids forgot i haunt this place? Jeez, get out!"

Shit, you totally forgot about her being her- fuck! Your missing out on professor lupin's class!

"El- ellie im missing class i should go-" you push her back a little. "See you after the match?" You nod as you went outside the stall

You ran around the corridor. 14 minutes late into proffesor lupin's class. luckly it was him teaching so he didn't make a fuss about you being late and you just said you were in the bathroom constapated as hell and he led that slide without you telling him you hooked up with the slytherin quidditch captain.

"were you that constipated? your lucky proffesor lupin isn't absent or you'd be in hell!" Dina did made a fuss about it.

You rolled your eyes and continued writing in your notebook.

꒰୨🔮୧꒱

This evening the weather is perfect. Not too hot, a bit cloudy but no sign of rain. The quidditch match had begun 15 minutes ago.

Slytherin are currently in the lead. Brooms going back and forth in lightning speed.

You could care less about the match, you were drunk in love admiring ellie on her broomstick. She was your house biggest rival!

Your mouth accidently slipped "Go ell-!" Dina looks at you confused. "Shes our rival! Snap out of it!" You stayed silent gazing at ellie like your some dumb 12 year old thats so drunkly inlove.

꒰୨🔮୧꒱

The match has ended with slytherin, again. everybody went back inside the school corridor as the slytherin kids all cheered for ellie and her team.

you were completely starstruck by her. shes so... mesmorizing its driving you insane.

suddenly you felt someones arm touching yours in the crowd. you looked at your left to see... ew! its that icky popular gryffindor guy that cant seem to get your hands off you.

"hey, i was wondering if you'd want to come to the dance with m-" you cut off his words. "sorry, fully booked" you tilt your head with a smug face.

You were lying, theres been a lot of guys asking you but you just rejected all of them.

You walked away from him without looking back. as the corridor got a little less hectic, ellie approaches you. "hey, about that..." she stopped. "would you go to the yule ball with me after the exam? any chance? you already got someone... dont you?"

You giggled "i don't, ellie" you smile. she smiled back at you and pulled you in for a kiss infront of people including dina.

꒰୨🔮୧꒱

★read please!

HIIII soooo its donee, sorry if i misspelt stuff. ik the pole i did alotta people voted for smut but i wanted this one to be clean???? so if you want to read the next part (that has smut) you can read it here!

lmk if you wanna see the yule ball part after the n.e.w.t.s!

[missasahina]

Lips that hold love, Chapter #003 - Book 1, Season 1

MASTERLIST

The chapter is below the cut

Heyyy

Actually, I planned to post these chapters (the last 2 from book 1 that I wanted to translate) earlier today or, depending on where you live, yesterday :D But I somehow managed to delete it or smth while trying to post it on a time stamp. So, I had to organize all the content once again.

The good thing? I kinda improve it (?) or I hope so.

The original intro I wrote for this chapter was in Spanish, and I did my usual song and dance, summary, glossary, and stuff. This time I'm skipping the summary, I don't even know if someone reads it lol it's just fun for me.

On to the glossary:

受験生 (Jukensei) student preparing for or taking examinations (usu. entrance exams). Iori refers to himself as this, I translated it as test-taker.

ノーテンキ (notenki) laid-back; carefree; easygoing; thoughtless; happy-go-lucky. Being carefree, or a person who is carefree (perhaps recklessly so). Futo calls Ema this, I tried to check if this term is rude in Japanese but couldn't find anything conclusive. Personally, I think the way he uses it is rude.

ヒンソーな胸の女 hinsōna mune no on'na. Flat-chested woman. Again, Futo. Hinso by itself has the meaning of seedy-looking, thin. This one is rude and insulting, 0 doubt.

Also, I wanted to highlight that Futo, for some reason, is written in Katakana. Everyone else uses more standard Japanese, or at least the terms are easier to look up because they are written in the correct alphabet for native Japanese words (hiragana). If someone knows why, please explain it to me because I'm really curious.

The last thing, I tried to give characterization to how Tsubaki speaks. English is my second language, I don't have any accent or know someone who has it so... I wrote the phrases in standard American English and asked chat GPT to give it new york flavor lol

I don't think it's 100% accurate; I just thought it would be a nice touch. The way he is written originally gives him so much personality and if I just translated it as it was... it sounded meh.

The chapter is below:

The rainy season is over, and summer is finally here.

When you think of summer, you think of the sea! White clouds in a blue sky!

How wonderful it would be to relax at a tropical resort...

That's what I was thinking while watching an ad for a resort...

One night in July, when the tourist season had begun, as dinner was about to end, Ukyo-san spoke calmly.

Ukyo: " What should we do this year about that trip to the island?"

(Trip?)

I wonder what he is talking about.

While I was wondering, Tsubaki-san, who was drinking his after-meal coffee, pulled out his cell phone out of nowhere.

The others were also all looking at the calendar hanging on the wall.

Apparently, they were checking their schedules.

When I was in a daze, unable to comprehend the situation, Ukyo-san explained.

Ukyo: "Once a year, our family takes a trip to our mother's villa."

“Does she own a… villa?”

Ukyo: "Yes. It's a little far from here but on a remote island within the country."

Wataru: "It even has a private beach; it's amazing!"

Added Wataru-chan with a big smile, peeking his head from beside Ukyo-san.

I knew Miwa-san was a successful career woman, but...

(Her villa even has a private beach!)

Honestly, the scale of it all is so big that rather than being surprised, I was taken aback.

Ukyo: " Well, that's why we're deciding the dates for our family trip. What are your plans?"

"Oh, yes! Well..."

I get excited when I hear the words ‘family trip.’

After all, it's the first big event since I came to the Asahina household.

"I think I have classes until the 16th, so any time after that is fine."

Ukyo: "I see..."

When I told him that, the brothers began talking about their schedules.

Tsubaki: "Azusa and I are super busy with events and stuff during the summer holidays... Hmm... What we gonna do, Azusa?"

Azusa: "Yeah, that's true..."

Tsubaki-san and Azusa-san groaned as they looked into their respective cell phones.

After all, it's hard for popular voice actors to take time off.

Wataru: "Can't Tsukkun and Akkun come with us?"

Wataru-chan, who had been listening, said with a sad look on his face.

Tsubaki: "Don’t gimme that look, Wataru."

Wataru: "It’s just that... I want to go on a trip with everyone."

Azusa: "Don't worry. I'll make sure to adjust my work schedule accordingly."

Tsubaki-san and Azusa-san said that while taking turns patting Wataru-chan's head.

Ukyo: "So, how about this? We could all schedule our days off around Tsubaki and Azusa's, who are hard to schedule."

Ukyo-san summarizes, and everyone nods in agreement.

Azusa: "But wouldn't that cause problems for Futo?"

Kaname: "Well, he's around the clock, and we don't know what his schedule will be like because of work."

Azusa-san was worried about Futo-kun, who was away at work again today, but Kaname-san brushed it off.

(They say that when you're a member of an idol group at the peak of its popularity, you don't even have time to sleep...)

Come to think of it, I first met Futo-kun in the middle of the night.

I remember he was exhausted and lying on the sofa on the fifth floor...

At the time, he said some nasty things to me, which irritated me, but I guess that was just because he was tired from work.

I hope the timing works out so that Futo-kun can join us.

Kaname: " Ok, for now, students who have summer vacation will have to adjust to the working adults..."

Kaname-san clears his throat and says this, and Ukyo-san looks puzzled.

Ukyo: "Working adults… does that group include you, Kaname?"

Kaname: "Eh?! What are you saying, Kyo-nii? Of course, clearly!"

The brothers all sighed at Kaname-san's reaction.

Louis: "Working adult... somehow, that doesn't fit with Kaname-niisan..."

Louis-san said with a sigh, and Subaru-san agreed with him, nodding slightly.

Kaname: "Ah!? What's that? What do you mean?! You guys don’t seem to know, but I've been working properly!"

Ukyo: "You mean easy work, mainly flirting with women?"

Kaname: "Ah, well, that, that's... hey, Kyo-nii! You should at least support me!"

I couldn't help but laugh as I listened to the exchange between Ukyo-san and Kaname-san.

(Come to think of it, I may have never actually seen Kaname-san behaving monk-like...)

Kaname: "Ah. Imōto-chan, you just laughed, right?"

"Eh? No, no... that..."

I hurriedly deny it, but Kaname-san slowly approaches me.

Kaname: "If you're laughing, does that mean you think the same about me?"

"Uh……"

When I was at a loss for words, Kaname-san leaned in closer.

Kaname: "Am I right? Does my cute imōto-chan want to be punished?"

"Eh, no... No, that's not it!"

Oh no. Kaname-san's eyes are so serious!

Masaomi: "Yes, yes, that's enough."

As I was panicking, Masaomi-san intervened with a very relaxed attitude.

Phew, what a relief!

If I continued like that, it felt like I was in danger of being seriously punished.

Masaomi: "Well, then, for now, once Tsubaki and Azusa's schedule is decided, let's all go along with it. Fuuto, if he's lucky, he'll join in."

In the end, that's what Masaomi-san concluded, and the meeting came to an end.

(So, everyone's going on a trip to the island...)

I returned to my room and looked at the calendar hanging on the wall.

"I need to buy a swimsuit...!"

That's right. I also want a hat and a new travel bag.

I'll go shopping for them on my next day off.

I excitedly enter shopping plans into my planner.

I'm really looking forward to a villa with a private beach.

I hope summer vacation comes soon!

And then...

"Wow! This is a private beach!"

A few weeks later, we siblings were standing on a remote island a few hours away from Tokyo, a short flight and ferry ride away.

I put my luggage down at the stylish villa that stands near the beach, reminiscent of a tropical overwater bungalow, and stepped out onto the terrace.

The endless blue ocean spread out before me. And the white sand beach...

I can't believe this is only for the Asahina family.

It’s a shame that Papa is missing out on this view.

Apparently, Papa and Miwa-san couldn't make it because of work commitments, so in the end, it was just us siblings who came to the island.

(It's a shame because it's a special family trip... but I guess it can't be helped if it's work...)

As I gazed at the ocean with these thoughts in my mind, Iori-san came to my side.

Iori: "How is it? Do you like it?"

"Yes! A lot!"

When I answered, Iori-san chuckled.

Iori: "You're always so cheerful, aren't you?"

“I-Is that so…?”

Maybe I got a little too excited?

Iori: "Don't be so embarrassed. There's nothing wrong with being cheerful."

"I'm sorry..."

Iori: "So, don't apologize, okay?"

Iori-san smiled and patted my head.

(Uh... I feel kind of embarrassed...)

I don't really know what to do in this situation.

Iori: "Everyone else has already gone to the beach. Why don't you go, too?"

"I’ll do that."

I decided to return to my room and change my clothes at Iori-san's recommendation.

I changed into my brand-new swimsuit and stood in front of the mirror.

Actually, I wanted to get a one-piece swimsuit, but I followed the sales clerk’s advice and went for the two-piece type.

"Hmm..."

I'm a bit worried about my figure, maybe?

Juli: "Chī, what's with that outfit?"

"Huh? Well... it's just a swimsuit. What do you think?"

Juri stares at me.

Juli: "I think it suits you well."

"Thanks, Juri!"

Juli: "But..."

"Hmm?"

Juli: "Well, isn't it a little revealing?"

"Yeah, I guess... but it's a swimsuit, so I guess it's okay."

When I said that, Juri tilted his head.

Juri has been with me since I was little, and he's become like a dad to me. I'm sure he's worried about me.

"Only my siblings are here today, so don't worry."

I don't want Juli to worry unnecessarily.

Juli: "But that's why I'm worried."

"What?"

Juli: "No... it's nothing."

What's wrong, Julie?

After getting changed, I carefully applied sunscreen and headed to the beach.

Each sibling seems to be spending their time as they please.

Ukyo-san has set up a sunbed beside the cottage and reading a book.

As for Iori-san...

(I wonder if he's studying?)

Even though we are on vacation... That's impressive.

As for everyone else...

Subaru: "Oh!"

"Ah, Subaru-san"

As I was walking and looking around the beach, I bumped into Subaru-san coming out from behind a tree.

"Subaru-san. Are you going to go swimming now?"

Subaru: "Y-You..."

I wonder what's wrong with Subaru-san? Looking closely, his face is a little red...

Subaru: "What's with that outfit..."

"That outfit... it’s a swimsuit..."

Subaru: "I-I know that much!"

Maybe it doesn't suit me...

While I was feeling anxious, Subaru-san took off the hoodie he was wearing.

Subaru: "Wear this!"

"Huh?"

Then he thrusts it at me.

"What do you mean, “wear this” ...why..."

Subaru: "Nh-never mind that!"

Huh, what?!

What’s happening all of a sudden?!

While I was confused, Subaru-san seemed angry for some reason and shoved his hoodie on me.

"Uh, huh..."

Somehow, I feel like I have to wear it.

Subaru: "I'll get going!"

After watching me put it on, Subaru-san said this and ran off to the water's edge.

(Subaru-san is strange...)

Without making sense of it, I started walking towards the sea again.

The sun shining down from the blue sky is already shining brightly as we approach the height of summer.

(Good thing I put on sunscreen!)

The white sand is hot under my feet. I can't wait to dip into the cold ocean!

Just as I was thinking this, I heard Wataru-chan's innocent cry.

Wataru: " Onee-chan! Come here, come, come!"

"Wataru-chan!"

Wataru-chan and Masaomi-san were by the seashore. Together with Kaname-san, they were playing in the water.

When I approached them, Kaname-san looked dissatisfied for some reason.

Kaname: "Huh? What's with that unfashionable hoodie?"

"Ah, this is Subaru-san’s..."

Kaname: "Eh? What were you thinking, Suba-chan? Come on, let's take it off!"

"What!?"

Kaname-san stopped playing in the water and tried to take off Subaru-san's hoodie that I was wearing.

Wataru: "Why are you taking off Onee-chan's clothes, Kanakana?"

Wataru-chan asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Oh, that's right! Why are you taking it off!"

Kaname-san stopped his hand as I tried to take advantage of Wataru-chan’s intervention.

Kaname: "That's right. I'll take off her clothes after the kids go to bed. I’ll look forward to it tonight.♪"

"K-Kaname-san!"

...You don't have to be looking forward to it...!!

Kaname-san grinned and finally let go of my hand.

Wataru: "......"

"Wataru-chan? What's wrong?"

Wataru: "......No, nothing."

For a moment, Wataru-chan seemed sullen. Maybe it was just my imagination?

After playing for a while, I came out of the water and saw Louis-san on the sandy beach.

(What’s he doing?)

Out of curiosity, I went closer...

"Wow, amazing...!"

Louis: "Huh...?"

In front of me was the Taj Mahal made out of sand? And even the Sagrada Familia...!

"A-all of this...Louis-san made it all?"

Louis: "Yup."

It's like a sculptor's work...! As expected from a hairdresser, she's very dexterous with her hands.

I was watching in awe when...

"Huh? Louis-san?"

Louis: "..."

Louis-san froze in place like a statue.

"W-what's wrong?"

Louis-san is staring at one spot, so I wave my hand in front of him...

Louis: "I'm almost at my limit. It's hot..."

What!?

As soon as Louis-san said that, he fell face down onto the pile of sand in front of him.

"Oh my! Someone, please!"

I screamed, pulling at the hem of Louis-san's clothes as he lay there.

It's heavy!

Tsubaki: “Hey, are you okay!?”

"Ah! Tsubaki-san!"

Tsubaki-san came running over.

“Louis-san suddenly collapsed!”

Tsubaki: "I can tell just by lookin’ at it, but what should we do?"

"’What should we do?’ Carry him to the shade!"

I said this while tugging on Louis-san's hem even more, and Tsubaki-san grinned.

Tsubaki: "There's a pile of sand in the right place, so let’s bury ‘im in there.★"

“Eh!?”

Tsubaki-san said something outrageous!

Then, Azusa-san rushes after Tsubaki-san and immediately slaps him on the back of the head.

Tsubaki: "Ouch?!"

Azusa: "You idiot! Stop joking. Let’s take him over there."

Tsubaki: "Yes, yes."

Oh, thank goodness...! Louis-san is too heavy for me to carry by myself.

Azusa-san and Tsubaki-san carried the exhausted Louis-san, laying him down under the parasol.

Azusa-san quickly took a cold towel from the cooler and tended to Louis-san.

"You seem pretty experienced at this."

As I was impressed by his skill, Azusa-san said with a wry smile.

Azusa: "This guy did the same thing last year."

"What?! Last year?"

Azusa: "When Louis gets absorbed in something, he doesn't notice what's going on around him."

Ah, I see... It certainly does seem that way.

Tsubaki: "Alright, if we keep ‘im cool like this for a bit, he should be fine. It happened last time, too."

As Tsubaki-san says this, he flaps a towel over Louis-san, blowing air on him.

Tsubaki: "Well, Louis is an idiot, but those guys are pretty damn dumb too."

"Hm?"

I followed Tsubaki-san's gaze as he looked at the horizon and saw two tremendous water splashes off into the ocean.

"Those are..."

Azusa: "Subaru and Yusuke. They were really excited about competing in swimming long-distance."

"Yeah..."

Azusa-san shrugged her shoulders.

Really, those two are full of energy.

Once Louis-san's condition had stabilized, we returned to the villa, where we found Iori-san and Futo-kun studying, just like before.

At first, Futo-kun was too busy to join the trip.

However, by coincidence, the shooting location for the drama he is in takes place near the island, so he's joining the family for a short while.

Iori: "Hey. Did you go for a swim?"

"Yes! Uh... are you studying, Iori-san?"

Iori: " Yeah. I'm a test-taker, after all."

Iori-san says this with a wry smile.

Futo: "Unlike carefree girls like you, we're busy."

"C-carefree...!"

Futo-kun snorts as he looks over something that looks like a script.

It really makes me angry...!

But be patient! Futo-kun is my younger brother.

"Aren't you two going to the beach?"

Regaining my composure, I asked.

Iori: "When I get sunburned, I get red right away. It's a bit embarrassing."

Iori-san laughs in a troubled tone.

He is indeed very white, and it would probably be terrible if he got sunburned...

Futo: "I can't just go out in the sun without thinking, like that flat-chested woman. I mean, a sunburn is totally out of the question. I'm an entertainer."

Hmm? A flat-chested woman?! Is he talking about me?!

Futo: "You’re flat-chested, so you're wearing that hoodie to hide your figure, right?"

"Wh-what! It's true that I don't have much chest, but..."

So annoying! Super offensive!

No matter how isn't this something awful to say?!

Iori: "Futo...!"

Futo: "Hmph!"

Iori-san chides him, but Futo-kun just turns away and doesn't even bother to apologize.

Ugh!

Why do I have to stand this!?

"I'm going to the beach again."

If this keeps up, we'll probably get into a fight. Thinking about that, I ran out to the beach again.

When I returned to the beach, the sun had gone down.

The weather had been so nice just a moment ago...

Even the sea breeze felt a little cold.

─── By the way, I wonder if Louis-san is okay?

I looked under the parasol, but there was no one there.

Masaomi: "Hey!"

"Oh, Masaomi-san."

Suddenly, Masaomi-san came running. He seemed to be really panicking.

Masaomi: "Have you seen Wataru?"

"Eh? Wataru-chan? I haven't seen him since we parted ways earlier... What happened?"

Masaomi: "Well, he just disappeared from sight."

"What??"

That's terrible!

"You mean, into the ocean?! Did he go too deep?!"

Masaomi: "No... he can't swim. Besides, I told him to play in shallow waters only."

Even so, Masaomi-san couldn't hide his anxiety.

"Let's split up and search for him!"

Masaomi: "Yeah..."

Then, Kaname-san, Tsubaki-san, and Azusa-san came.

Perhaps sensing our uneasy state, Kaname-san asked,

Kaname: "…Has something happened!?"

As Masaomi-san explained, the expressions on their faces changed in an instant.

Wataru-chan is a soft-looking boy, so I'm a bit worried.

Kaname: "Let's split up and search for him. Azusa, go back to the villa and tell Kyo-nii. Tsubaki, go call Subaru, Yusuke, and Louis."

Kaname-san gave instructions efficiently. Tsubaki-san and Azusa-san nodded silently.

At that moment, a raindrop suddenly slapped my cheek.

"Rain?!"

The weather was starting to turn bad... I'm more and more worried about Wataru-chan.

Kaname: "You should go back to the villa."

"...I'll help you look for him!"

Kaname: "But you’re unfamiliar with the surroundings..."

As he was worried about me, he said that.

"Wataru-chan is my younger brother!"

I say this outright. I can't be the only one quietly sitting out!

Kaname: "......."

Kaname-san stares at me intently. I stare straight back into his eyes.

Then, as if giving up, Kaname-san's mouth quirks into a smile.

Kaname: "Then, Masa-nii, go search the sea. Tsubaki and the others, too. You and I will look behind the villa."

Everyone took those words as a signal and dispersed.

Behind the cottage, there was a dense forest.

The rain and wind gradually got stronger, causing the trees to rustle and ruffle.

"Wataru-cha───n!"

No matter how loud I scream, the noise drowns out my voice.

"Where did he go...?"

I was at a loss, wiped the rain from my forehead, and sighed.

Kaname: "Are you okay?"

"Yes..."

Kaname-san looks at me with a worried look on his face.

"Let's go a little further in... achoo!"

‘Let's look further.’ Just as I was about to say that, I sneezed.

Kaname: " Imōto-chan, you're cold, aren't you?"

"I-I'm fine...sniff!"

Kaname: "You're actually surprisingly stubborn. Here..."

"Huh??"

Kaname-san smiled bitterly and slowly pulled me by the shoulder.

His arms wrapped around my body.

"Uh...?! K-Kaname-sa...?!"

(Wh-what...? What is this...?)

Kaname: "Your body is completely cold, you know."

As he says this, Kaname-san gently tightens his embrace.

As he hugs me tightly, my heart involuntarily leaps.

(Ugh...!!)

The warmth of Kaname-san's chest and arms slowly seeps into my body.

(My heart is pounding... my heart is pounding because of Kaname-san... even though he's my older brother...)

Not knowing what to do, I just let myself rest in Kaname-san's arms when he whispered in my ear, ‘Thank you.’

I looked up at Kaname-san's face, feeling embarrassed,

Kaname: "Thank you for searching for Wataru in this rain,"

Kaname-san added.

"B-but Wataru-chan is my precious little brother..."

Kaname: "Yeah, that's true. But you're also my precious little sister, so I don't want to push you any further than this."

Finally, as if whispering into my ear, Kaname-san gently asked, "Do you understand?"

Kaname-san's breath felt strangely hot to my ears, which had gone cold.

Just when I was about to say something like that───

Tsubaki: “Kananii!!”

Hearing Tsubaki-san's voice, I hastily shook off Kaname-san's arms.

Tsubaki: "We found Wataru!"

Tsubaki-san said, out of breath.

Thank goodness! Wataru-chan is safe.

Kaname-san and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Kaname: "Anyway, let's go back."

"Y-Yes!"

I nodded to Kaname-san's words and started walking.

Kaname-san was walking in front of me, talking to Tsubaki-san.

When his arm came into view, I couldn't help but look away.

(Am I becoming aware of Kaname-san...?)

Kaname-san thought of me and warmed me up like that...

Even though we didn't know where Wataru-chan was, my heart started pounding when he hugged me...

I'm insensitive.

But───

Wataru: "I'm sorry...!"

Everyone is gathered in the villa’s large living room.

Wataru-chan would occasionally glance up at everyone, then look down again.

As expected, he seems extremely dejected.

It seems he is very shocked that it got so serious.

As for where Wataru-chan was, it was no big deal.

Tired from playing in the water, he returned to the villa by himself and took a nap with Juri.

"I'm glad nothing happened."

Wataru: "Onee-chan, I'm sorry..."

"It's okay. You're all right."

I patted Wataru-chan's head gently. Then, Wataru-chan looked up at me with a crying face.

Tsubaki-san, who was watching the situation, said with a dumbfounded look on his face,

Tsubaki: "You, kids ain't s'posed to be runnin' around alone, got it?"

Hearing this, Wataru-chan looked a little annoyed.

Azusa: "Is there something you want to say?"

Azusa-san asked gently and after a moment of silence,

Wataru: "…I'm not a kid anymore,"

Wataru-chan muttered in a mosquito-like voice.

Her round eyes were filled with tears.

(Perhaps he was sulking because Kaname-san called him a child while we played in the sea earlier, too?)

Suddenly, I remembered our conversation early that day.

At that time, Wataru-chan did seem a little sulky...

Masaomi: "Wataru, if you say you're not a child, then you shouldn't cause trouble for everyone."

Wataru: "Makkun..."

When Masaomi-san spoke, Wataru-chan's face looked like he was about to cry. His mouth was twisted in a frown.

I patted Wataru-chan's head again, saying, “It’s okay, it’s okay.''

I know we shouldn't spoil him, but seeing Wataru-chan crying really makes my heart ache.

Ukyo: "You've caused a lot of trouble for everyone, so I need you to help me prepare dinner tonight. Adults pay the price for their mistakes, right──?"

Ukyo-san's eyes sparkled mysteriously.

Suddenly, Wataru-chan, eyes still watery, clung to me.

This looks like it's going to be a bit of a harsh punishment.

Do your best, Wataru-chan! This is surely the first step towards becoming an adult.

As I was cheering him in my mind, Ukyo-san said,

Ukyo: "By the way, you guys should go get changed. You're soaking wet."

Come to think of it, everyone was soaked from the rain.

"Oh, that's right. Subaru-san, your hoodie got wet, so I'll wash it and return it to you."

Subaru: "No, don’t bother... Don't worry about it. Just give it back."

“That’s not…”

Subaru: "No problem. I kind of forced it on you… so I can't cause you any more trouble."

Hmm? Subaru-san seems kinder than usual.

"But I feel bad about it... Oh, if you don't mind, I can wash your clothes too!"

Subaru-san's clothes are soaked from searching for Wataru-chan. I might as well wash them together.

"Take it off, please!"

Subaru: "Hey? Stop..."

I gently tug Subaru-san's clothes...

Wataru: "Onee-chan, taking off your clothes is supposed to be a fun thing to do at night, right?"

Wataru-chan seemed to remember Kaname-san's from earlier and said that.

"Huh? W-what did you say..."

My brothers looked puzzled.

And at the same time, Kaname-san burst out laughing.

Subaru-san looked at me, shock in his eyes.

Subaru: "Hey, what in the world did you tell Wataru..."

"What?! It wasn't me, I didn’t say anything ...!!"

I shook my head vigorously and repeatedly denied it...

Late at night.

Unable to fall asleep, I went out to the beach with Juli.

I can't get the memory of Kaname-san hugging me in the forest out of my mind...

(Ha, I... I guess there's something wrong with me...)

Even during dinner, I kept glancing at Kaname-san...

I was clearly not my usual self.

I looked up at the night sky, sighing.

The rain had stopped. The pitch-black sky was filled with stars.

It was as if they were falling from the sky.

"It's amazing... You can't see a sky like this in Tokyo."

Juli: "That would be hard to do in the city."

"Come to think of it, a long time ago, when I went camping in the mountains with Papa, I saw a sky like this."

Juli: "That brings back memories. Chii used to cry a lot because she was scared of the sound of insects."

"Juli used to get eaten by mosquitoes all the time."

Juli: "Why do you remember something like that...?"

"Well, because..."

As I casually conversed with Juli, I suddenly heard a voice from behind me.

Kaname: "You're talking to yourself pretty loudly, aren't you?"

"Huh?!"

Surprised, I turned around to see Kaname-san standing there, smiling brightly.

Kaname: "Or maybe you were having a conversation with the squirrel?"

"No, not at all..."

I shook my head vigorously.

I wanted to keep the fact that I could talk to Juli a secret for now.

It's weird to be able to talk to squirrels in the first place...

Kaname: "I was just joking. You don't have to deny it so desperately."

"Y-You're right..."

Ah, he surprised me. Kaname-san can't be underestimated because he is strangely sharp, even if only occasionally.

Kaname: "By the way, imōto-chan, are you taking a lonely walk along the beach at night?"

"Not lonely, but that's right."

Kaname: "I see. Maybe you couldn't fall asleep?"

"Huh..."

When he asked, my heart leaped involuntarily.

(I-it sounded meaningful because I was strangely conscious of it, right?)

"I-the sound of the waves... it was bothering me a bit..."

Kaname: "What a coincidence, me too. Did the sound of the waves lapping and retreating make your heart race?"

I said that as a last resort, but Kaname-san replied nonchalantly.

Somehow, there was something a little different about him than usual.

The Kaname-san I know is more...

Kaname: " Imōto-chan?"

"Oh, sorry..."

No good, I was spacing out.

I feel like I'm just floating around all alone; I shouldn’t be like this...

Kaname: "Well, since we're here, why don't we enjoy the night breeze together for a while?"

"Yeah, I guess..."

Is it really okay to be with Kaname-san in this situation?

For a moment, I felt uneasy.

Kaname: "Well, let's go."

"Y-yes."

And yet, the next moment, I was walking, urged on by Kaname-san.

Somehow, Kaname-san tonight has a magnetism that compels me to do so. That's what I felt───. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kaname-san and I took a walk along the beach at night. I silently follow Kaname-san from behind. The sea at night is incredibly calm. Occasionally, I can see the moon floating in the night sky reflected on the water's surface. The sound of Kaname-san's footsteps overlaps with mine. For some reason, that makes me nervous.

Kaname: "I love the ocean at night. It gets pitch black, and the boundary between the sky and the ocean disappears. You're thrown into a vast space... I like that feeling."

Feeling unusually romantic, Kaname-san smiles quietly as he saunters along the water's edge.

Kaname: "The ocean on a dark night is filled with ripples... Don't you think humans are insignificant when surrounded by nature like this?"

"Yes, that's right... All we can do is surrender ourselves to it..."

Kaname: "That's right."

Kaname-san said in a singing voice and slowly walked into the sea.

"Kaname-san, be careful, okay?"

Kaname: "It's okay!"

Kaname-san laughs as he says that, somehow, he looks like a child...

Kaname-san has an entirely different atmosphere tonight than usual.

I can't find the right words to say it, but...

(If someone told me his usual appearance is just temporary, I would probably believe it.)

The way he is now may be the true Kaname-san.

He waded into the ocean up to his knees and stretched his arms towards the night sky.

Kaname: "When I'm in a place like this, I really feel like I'm alive thanks to God's blessings. I don't care about trivial things... don't you think so?"

Kaname-san spoke in a light-hearted tone.

But his words penetrated deep into my heart.

"Kaname-san, so you can think of things like that. I thought you only thought about women."

Kaname: "You’re cruel. I'm a monk, you know? I'm always thinking about peace for all humankind, peace of mind, and maybe a little bit about women."

See, he thinks about it after all.

I chuckled, and suddenly Kaname-san stopped moving.

"Is something wrong?"

Kaname: "Nothing, you... have you caught a cold?"

"Oh, yes... I'm fine, thanks to you."

Kaname: "That's good. Thank you for today. I'm so glad to have a girl like you as my little sister."

Saying that Kaname-san smiled gently.

I can't help but be fascinated by Kaname-san.

That's right───.

He's always smiling and saying things that I can't tell if they are jokes or serious.

He seems a little gentler today. And there's depth to it...

Perhaps the way Kaname-san looks right now is───.

And just as I thought that...

Kaname: "Whoa!"

"Ka-Kaname-san?!"

Kaname-san disappeared into the black waves.

This is bad!

I took Juli off my shoulders and hurried into the sea.

"Kaname-san?! What's wrong...?!"

...There, sitting on his butt, Kaname-san looked a little stunned.

Kaname: "Wow, that's lame. I'm so lame..."

"Pfft...!"

It seems some seaweed has gotten tangled around his leg.

I'm sorry to say that Kaname-san looked a little dejected, and his expression was a little strange. Trying to hold back my laughter, I held out my hand.

And then───.

“!!!!”

Kaname-san pulled me hard by the hand...

Splat! I plunged headfirst into the ocean.

"Pfft... W-w-that's cruel!"

Kaname: "Getting my revenge for laughing!"

I’m soaking wet, though!?

I brushed the water droplets off my face and opened my eyes.

Then, Kaname-san's chest and face were right in front of me.

"W...!!"

The memory of him holding me in the rain comes back to me.

(W-What am I thinking...)

As I hurriedly tried to leave, I suddenly noticed something.

Kaname-san has a tattoo on his right collarbone.

"That's..."

Kaname: "Hmm? That tattoo?"

"This is the first time I've seen one up close... Is this a cross?"

Ah, but he's a monk, so probably it’s not a cross.

Although, he's probably the only monk with a tattoo.

Kaname: "It is... a sword."

"A sword?"

I wonder why he chose a sword as a motif.

Kaname: "Hey, imōto-chan. Can I tell you something today?"

"Eh?"

As I wondered about this, Kaname-san smiled gently and began to speak.

Kaname: "It's about the sword. There's a saying that goes, 'The pen is mightier than the sword.' It means that speech is stronger than force...Did you know?"

What is he saying all of a sudden? A pen? A sword…?

As I was wondering about this, my arm was pulled hard. Kaname: "But there is something in this world that is stronger than a sword or a pen." Kaname: "You know, that's love."

"Love?"

That word was tangled between our lips.

By the time I tried to ask what that meant, my lips...

were already covered by Kaname-san's.

Juli: "Wha-wha-wha-what?!"

I could hear Juli's voice in the distance.

What on earth is going on?

Not understanding what was going on, I could only abandon myself to the slow swell of the waves.

#003 Lips that hold love

Iori laughs a lot, Futo is a brat, Kaname please control yourself.

[vexedallay]

I have so many thoughts abt epsilon guys, so it's analysis post time-

Warning: long post below cut

So, they're not human, right? Their body is that of a robot, so presumably their mind is some sort of computer or AI (and here I mean an actual goddamn artificial intelligence, not a "generative ai" or some bs). So their entire fucking mind is made of code, and things like "variability" doesn't really exist. In order for someone like epsilon to function, they need to break down the complexity of human nature into sets of rules that govern how social interaction, society, and the world in general works. They can then follow these rules and be fine. (This is how my brain works, btw. Computers make more sense than people to me) Epsilon can understand that their rules might not be complete, and is flexible enough to add more when encountering new scenarios, but they do expect their rules to be accurate. They are very much a person of logic rather than emotion. As they have mostly only interacted with other robots and artificial beings, who function in much the same way, this works for them. However, when interacting with actual people, this doesn't work as well. People are notably often governed by emotion, not logic, and are incredibly prone to spontaneity. As such, Epsilon really has no idea how to interact with them sometimes, especially with little kids.

Epsilon also refers to living people as "organics" and robotic things as "artificials" because that is how they separate those two groups mentally. There's too many types of people, too many types of robots, so Epsilon refers to the makeup of their bodies instead. This isn't necessarily an insult, it simply is. But it is a fun detail about Epsilon habits.

Also since epsilon is a robot, they can do things like be rebuilt. This is a massive thing in the actual portal storyline - being able to rebuild these robots over and over again to continue testing. Even if Epsilon wasn't programmed initially to feel pain, they are a learning system (that's what makes them so good) so there isn't a reason they couldn't have *learned* to feel pain, or at least some facsimile of it. Additionally, them watching their body get destroyed and rebuilt it bound to be traumatizing anyways, which means I just gave this robot ptsd. Oops.

Anyhow, how does epsilon actually *survive* being destroyed, much less *watch*. First off, Epsilon only exists in their memory files. They can be *completely* disconnected from their body, lose access to *all* of their sensory systems, yet still be *alive*. (This is also bound to be incredibly traumatizing since they are basically completely at the mercy of whoever happens to find them, completely unable to defend themself.) And, if they needed to watch, glados is there and watching anyways. Since epsilon only exists in their memory files, they could be hooked up to other sensory systems, through network connections and whatnot. I'd imagine glados does this on purpose as a sort of threat to epsilon.

I do want to mention glados at least briefly. She definitely had some level of control over at least Epsilons body and sensory systems, which in general is rough (complete understatement). She also put Epsilon through all of these tests, making Epsilon a lab rat. Which means Epsilon likely has the *mentality* of a lab rat. So high levels of obedience, no real purpose to life (currently they want to find rho-13, but once they find him they won't have a purpose at all), etc. Which is just fun to play with.

Also, I like to think Epsilon uses they/them pronouns because they never got a gender module installed, and learned that they/them was the default. So they're a they/them guy with no actual preference.

Fibally, Epsilon definitely thinks of themself as EP-511ON56. They're a robot, and that is their serial number. The same way they think of RHO-13 as his serial number rather than a proper name. The reason they *use* this nickname is because organics don't like listing serial numbers constantly, so Epsilon.

Anyhow, long af ramble about epsilons character? Complete.

[anonzentimes]

last asker here wahoo weehee but yeah i dont mind the ramble !!! honestly i do feel a little similar sometimes ourgh . maybe not with being in specific fandoms but especially when it comes to like . the smaller things like self inserts . the like

but anyway !!!!!! now im curious and im not too sure if you've answered anything of the sort before but i do wonder what you thought of the difference in characterization with Nagito in the games and in the anime?

not that nagito in the games r even one for one the same- same goes for the anime-

but i do know there's a difference , and i've heard so many differing opinions on how Nagito's potrayed in both, especially discussion on how faithful Nagito in danganronpa 3's character is to danganronpa 2, so i'll admit now im very interested on hearing your thoughts on him when looking at game nagito and anime nagito side by side eyes emoji

YAYY!!!!! I love getting asked to talk about him it's so fun!!! No one has actually asked this before, and I've been planning to do something on this for a bit!

Personally I think anime Nagito is actually really good! Although I think side lining him for a little bit was a weird decision, even if I understand why. But enough of that! Let's talk more about his characterization! I'll talk about what I think about Nagito's characterization in the anime and some annoyances I have with the misinterpretations!

I will admit that some of the fandom's opinions on, "Anime Nagito vs Game Nagito," kind of bother be because a lot of it stems from people not understanding his character in it's entirety in the first place.

The thing about Nagito is that he works as an amazing antagonist because he isn't ill intentioned and is just mentally screwed up. In the killing game his coping mechanisms and absolute beliefs are on display and he is at his worst, he's practically having multiple mental breakdowns and losing it. And his beliefs and coping mechanisms happen to be morally gray because he believes Anything is okay if it's for hope. With his luck cycle, coping mechanisms, and absolute beliefs that stem from both of these things we get Nagito. And when you place Nagito who thinks being trapped on the island forever without the ultimates impacting the world in any way is worse than one person surviving and making an impact on the world, he feels like he has to do something.

Basically, how Nagito acts in the anime and before the first trial is who he is when he's not mentally crumbling and I get really irritated when people try to say that in the game he was a "malicious psychopath" but in the anime he turned into "baby boy" like, just, GRRRAGHHH!!!!! IT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE HE NEEDS TO BE GATEKEPT WHEN PEOPLE DO THAT!!! THEY'RE MISUNDERSTANDING HIM SO BAD IT HURTS ☹️☹️☹️

I believe the anime's characterization is pretty great and still keeps in tact his absolute beliefs that lead him to do morally gray things for the sake of hope! I think he's very well done characterization wise in the anime. I liked the episode where he ends up blowing up the gym because he wants to postpone the test for his classmates it made a lot sense with how he thinks and his luck cycle! I also really love his encounter with Junko and Izuru. He says several good lines in the anime that are accurate and completely in character for him, and I love it!

I think the addition that the class thought he was weird even before he was at his worst and didn't show much reciprocation is sad and adds to his tragic life. The fact that he isn't surprised when Chisa slaps him, but rather when he is shown affection gets me dude!!!

I think it is sweet though that, his time at hope's peak is probably one of the best experiences he had until everything went wrong. He isn't shown much reciprocation but he genuinely cares for his classmates beyond them being ultimates from hanging out and knowing them so long. He has some reciprocation from Chisa and the other classmates somewhat care about him to varying degrees. I believe his overall luck cycle went, get accepted into hope's peak, good luck, gets diagnosed, bad luck, gains people he cares about in his life and some who care about him too, good luck, all of them become despairs, bad luck!

The other thing I wanted to touch upon is Bryce Pappenbrook listening to criticism about how Nagito sounds more sarcastic than intended. For a lot of the english fanbase the misinterpretation that Nagito's not honest is beyond repair especially since he's hard to understand, but I really do appreciate the effort to change it slightly. Even if people who misunderstood think there's a huge difference or even retcon with his character, I think it's a nice change that he sounds more genuine like his Japanese voice in the anime.

I think the real difference with him in the Anime versus Ultra Despair Girls and Danganronpa 2 is his role in the story. I think he's very in character, we just don't see him having meltdowns and go through his self unaware freak outs. We still see him do morally gray things and impact the plot though! In the anime he's doing better compared to the spiraling we see in Danganronpa 2 and rock bottom even more extreme beliefs we see in Udg.

Also I think the anime solidifying the fact that Nagito usually doesn't go out of his way for the ultimate's attention because he thinks he's unworthy of their time actually makes Danganronpa 2 more impactful. Because, if he doesn't try to seek the ultimates attention, then that's further solidifying the fact Nagito was interested in Hajime, he felt a connection with him even when they first met. We see him do the opposite of what he usually would just because of Hajime, and I think that's really sweet.

Nagito barely mentioning hope in Danganronpa 2's prologue is for the plot twist mostly, however, there could be multiple actual reasons for it. My interpretation is that it's because he wanted to make a good impression so he focuses on that instead, that combined with it not really coming up leads to them not really knowing what he thinks. There are hints of it and he's not purposely "hiding it" at all. Nagito is an honest person who only lies when he feels it's necessary, to further prove that point when he gets the despair disease, personality inverting disease, he gets the Lying disease.

Nagito in the prologue and in the anime are the same because he's not losing it yet, the only difference is Nagito talks slightly less about hope and his beliefs because It's not very relevant, he's trying to make a good impression, and he's focusing on keeping Hajime's attention. My favorite little thing supporting this is that he doesn't complain about going swimming. In the Dangan Island events we see him worry about it, but when he's focusing on everything else he didn't really think about it. He asks what Hajime is planning to do instead.

In conclusion, I believe Nagito in the anime is pretty good. He serves his role well for it not being his usual one, info about what he was like adds a little more to Danganronpa 2 analyzing it, and it's nice that we get to see more of him when he's not at his worst. He's still absolutely the same person and I think his characterization is really good. I think they could have utilized him more or made him relevant to the plot sooner if they wanted, but I think the impact and scenes that he has still are great and work well since he, again, doesn't have his usual role in the anime.

One last thing while I'm here talking about the anime's Nagito, a lot of people like to make the joke that he's "hopesexual" because of the one fan service line of dialogue in Danganronpa 3 where he basically says, "Hope feels amazing," and I just. URAGGHHH!!!!!!!! I'm sorry but if someone unironically says "hopesexual" I hope that their pillow always remains warm on both sides because saying it Is ANNOYINGG!!! It's so easy to get I don't know why people do this, and I know I'm being a little over the top but it just bugs me sooo bad Like,

Hope = Absolute Good/Euphoric Feeling for him, Horny = Euphoric Feeling for him, CONCLUSION: GENERAL EUPHORIA DESCRIPTOR!! He doesn't have a hope kink and the people who make those jokes are weird especially since it's straight up wrong!! I know it's just a joke, but it still gets on my nerves regardless because some people take it seriously. Even one of his songs uses this comparison by allegorizing hope with sexual desires, conveying that both are euphoric emotions for him! >:(

Anyways!

Thank you for your ask and Hopefully I successfully got all of the points I wanted to across! <3

[ghostedgrim]

Anyone else in favor of Divergent getting a reboot?

I personally say yes. Alone, the movies were good. Paired with the books, the movies sucked.

Divergent movie- Removes Uriah, makes Peter more of a silly bully rather than actually an evil bully, outside of Tris, and Christina we get practically nothing of the other initiates. (Which caused the scene of Will dying and how it affects Tris make barely any sense because even we didn't know him). They removed visiting day and instead had Tris' mom sneak into Dauntless? Capture the flag would've been more fun if they used paintballs like they did in the book. We barely see how scary Eric actually is. Did you know Al was close friends with Tris before he tried to kill her, or that for the start of initiation refused to attack his opponents when sparring because he was from Amity? They made him from Candor in the movie.

In short, the movie removed a significant amounts of characters and scenes, making the movie (especially compared to the books) feel very dry.

Insurgent: This is where the movies start to branch off from the books, which was the worst decision the showmakers made because it ended up making viewers lose enjoyment and the book readers. There was never a special box in Abnegation is i remember correctly. When Dauntless attacked Candor, the Divergents stayed awake and attacked Eric before he had a chance to kill anyone. When Tris goes to Erudite they weren't using her to open the box, they gave her the death serum and it almost killed her, but she was saved by Four and Peter.

Allegiant: At this rate events going on in the book during this period (Factionless revolting and overthrowing the government and faction system), vs the movie where we really just see Four and Tris escaping the city. Beyond that, nothing was accurate anymore, save for learning Divergents were the desired outcome of the test.

The movie then ends on a cliffhanger that'll never be known because people hated it some much the gave up on Allegiant II.

Personally, for starters, instead of a movie it needs to be a show. Season 1 can be focused on the 1st book. By having a show, not only does it remove the time crunch of keeping everything within 1-2 hours, writers are now given more time to add all scenes within the book and more. Allowing non readers to drive fully into the world, and give readers more to look at.

For example, episode 1 starts with Tris in school, this lets us see the culture of the characters before they're apart of any faction, allowing us to see how they mingle, how Tris watches the Dauntless with almost a longing look. Maybe even include a scene from the book, young Tris is watching young Dauntless kids climb up a statue infront of the school, a boy falls and gets hurt so she helps him go to the nurse. This also gives viewers insight why Tris chose Dauntless yet still has parts of Abnegation in her, she cares but wants to feel free, etc. I'd love to see a more book accurate Aptitude test because. Even her having a flash back right before choosing her faction, watching her brother choose, or any time between Aptitude and choosing. IN that flash back we see Caleb's stash of books hidden behind his bed, whether in the backround, or focused. The episode would end with Tris choosing Dauntless.

Then like 2-4 episodes fallowing physical training of initiation, 1 episode for capture the flag, 1 episode for visiting day and any other events that did or may go on during the week long break period between physical and mental training. Then another 2-4 for mentail training and final test. And end with 1-2 episodes of when Dauntless gets mind controlled to attack Abnegation.

The patten can then fallow for a season two and three, where the story focuses on the plot (that's accurate to the books) while also giving time to actually get to know the characters.

Definitely live action would be cool, as for cast i loved the movie cast. I'm stuck between Eric though because he's hot in the movies but not accurate to the book appearance, however if done right the book appearance could also be really hot in live action.

[esta-elavaris]

Nobody Knows

Okay, starting things off with something I wrote back in 2015 for my first creative writing class at uni. It's a short horror story, the assignment was literally just "write a short story with roughly 1.5k words" bc they were great with giving us serious freedom to write what we wanted to write, and this was what I came up with. I think it was the first 'serious' original short story I wrote, I was 18/19 at the time (so, disclaimer on that score if you're going to compare it to the stuff I'm posting now at almost-27 lolol), so the quality will probably reflect that, but it has sentimental value and a bit of other meaning to me, so I'm posting it as is. Definitely a "look at what I dredged up from the archives" kinda thing rather than a "wow isn't this great?" kinda thing.

I remember I went into that first semester, looked at the people in the class around me and just thought "oh god, I am so fucking out of my league here" -- but then, three months later, my course leader (who ended up being my personal tutor in the years that followed, and my favourite teacher across my whole degree) really enjoyed it and his very kind feedback resulted in the moment where I stopped and thought "man, maybe I actually have something going with my writing". It also ended up in my uni's Eng Lit magazine, which I still have a copy of for archival purposes ✨

Plus, if I reread it too closely to edit it to the quality I like to think I can produce now, I will end up convincing myself not to post it 💀 so here! Have some baby!writer stuff.

By the time I reached nineteen, I was scared of Nobody. That was what I called him - Nobody. My own private little joke.

“Who are you talking to?”

“Nobody.”

“Who are you staring at?”

“Nobody.”

Not a lie, but not a response that would get me thrown into the nearest mental hospital. I considered that a win/win. It also described him accurately – for he didn’t seem to have a body. All I ever saw of him was shadow. Sometimes it would be clearer, forming a silhouette, and other times he’d just be an ever-shifting mass of darkness. I’d been too young to be frightened by his appearance when I first found him in my grandmother’s attic. I’d thought my cousin’s tales of hauntings in the house had always just been made up to scare me, but regardless, Nobody didn’t scare me – not at first.

By the time he did, I’d known him for a decade, and had only resented him for two of those years. The resentment began at my seventeenth birthday party. Before then, having a negative thought about Nobody was utter blasphemy in my book. I would never allow a bad word to be said about my guardian, protector, teacher and presumed imaginary friend. Not one. My mother would suggest that I was too old for this behaviour, and that it was time for Nobody to go away, only for me to go ballistic. I learned to keep him to myself after that, but my good opinion only strengthened, if anything. What could be bad about somebody, living or not, who was so willing to protect me? Who toppled over the chairs my bullies sat in? Who snuck me the answers I needed in tests? It was absurd, but I kept my mouth shut, and as far as everybody else was concerned, my imaginary friend vanished. It meant little to me – it wasn’t like any of them could see him in the first place.

Then things changed. What was meant to be the best night of my life turned out to be the worst. No parents, no neighbours, no rules. Just lots of booze, music and fun. Or so I thought. The first hint that something was awry was when all of the alcohol became mysteriously unavailable to us. Packs of beer would end up in locked cabinets, with the keys nowhere to be found. Bottles of vodka would fling themselves towards the sink and smash there, any potential source of amusement quite literally down the drain.

Then came the issue of the music. My best friend spent the entire evening wrestling with the CD player, wondering why it would refuse to play certain songs (the ones I knew Nobody hated), or why the volume refused to go any higher than, a pretty pathetic, “six”. The final straw was when every guy at the party suddenly became dramatically ill. Every single one. Headaches, vomiting fits, fevers, or even just a sense of pure unease. They needed little motivation to leave such a pathetic party in the first place. Within an hour, the only guests left were my two best friends. My seventeenth birthday bash had been demoted to a sleepover worthy of a ten year old.

After that, Nobody became less of a trusted ally and more of a domineering parent. Where I used to look at my hungover friends with a smug smirk, happy that Nobody had prevented me from drinking enough to end up in that state, I now looked at them with envy. They were normal. They drank too much and endured the consequences. When they were too lazy to study for tests, they failed. Life was difficult and it was unfair and they complained about it relentlessly. But that was what made it fun. They had to think about their next move, take responsibility for themselves. If they forgot their keys, they’d be locked out – they didn’t have any ghost to open the door for them. Without the dark you find yourself unable to appreciate the light, and so life became unbearably boring. I knew that whatever was approaching me in life, it would be fine. Nobody would handle it, whether I wanted him to or not. I hated it, and I hated him for it. My life was no longer mine to control, but instead belonged to somebody who was dead. How twisted was that? Each day was monotonous, and I found myself learning little - if that - from the limited life experience I had. I made no attempt to have an eighteenth birthday party.

Spurred on by thoughts of my failed seventeenth birthday party, and non-existent eighteenth, I made my decision. On the night of my nineteenth I took a lighter to the living room curtains, setting the place on fire. In the grand scheme of things it seemed like a perfectly safe and reasonable thing to do in the name of distraction. By time the blaze was out and smoke stopped billowing out of the window, I was already down the street, peering out at my home from behind a wheelie bin to make sure that I wouldn’t be returning to the charred skeleton of the house at the end of the night.  What I did return to, however, was a foreboding mass of shadow that I was too scared to tear my eyes away from. His presence had gone from endearing to terrifying in seconds flat.

My bedroom was trashed. Books were scattered on the floor, my clothes were strewn around any and every surface available. Even the door had a long, jagged splinter running up through the middle. Nobody made no move, no attempt at communication. Instead he stood stock-still in the corner, shadows bristling.

I didn’t sleep at all that night, instead sitting up in bed, staring at the void that was once my dearest companion with a sense of dread filling my chest. Hours later, when my drunkenness gave way to a fierce headache, all of the painkillers in the house had mysteriously vanished. I’d hoped it would end there, the same way arguments with my parents went. I’d lie, they’d be angry, eventually we’d all forget about it and move on. Nobody wasn’t the type to move on.

That’s where the decision to get rid of him came from. I couldn’t handle it. The constant hounding of my steps, the uncomfortable atmosphere, the lack of sleep. Sure, without him my life would be mundane and ordinary, but what was I with him? An adult with no decisive powers and an enforced bedtime.

When the day came, I kept up the façade marvellously. Nothing was out of the ordinary, and as far as he knew I was simply visiting a new friend at her apartment. Nobody didn’t show any sign of realising something was up until it was too late.

“That’s it?” I asked the ‘mystic’ dubiously as she finished burning incense and tracing odd symbols on my arms with the ash.

“That’s it,” she waved a hand “You may leave. He cannot follow.”

Nobody’s head shot up in clear alarm. His silhouette jerked towards me, but didn’t move. Couldn’t move. His head snapped between the old woman and I, almost like he was watching a tennis match, before it settled on me again and he unsuccessfully tried to move. The shadows around him spiked outwards.

“Oh, hush! You have no power here!” the old woman snapped impatiently.

I paid her as promised, but kept my gaze on Nobody. It was a weird feeling. Like seeing a caged tiger at a zoo. So much power, but no ability to use it. He’d gone from running my life, to being unable to take even a single step in my direction, all thanks to a bit of ash and some fancy words. For half a second, I faltered. I wanted to apologise to him. Pleasant memories surfaced – my toys putting on shows for me as a child, dancing on invisible strings, or even not having to pay to use the tube, as the ticket gates opened on their own upon my approach. But then the shadows spiked angrily again, and the regret was replaced by the more familiar fear.

When I walked out of that apartment, for the first time in ten years I was truly alone. I was truly free. Free to make my own decisions and live outside of Nobody’s grasp. It was then that life decided to catch up on all the years’ worth of lessons it had been unable to teach me until then. My freedom lasted four minutes. If I’d had Nobody with me, he’d have noticed the car that I failed to until it was too late, so used to not even having to look before I crossed the road. The last thing I saw was his dark silhouette, standing motionless in the window overlooking the street.

[libertineangel]

I wanted to sleep fucking hours ago, a guy's coming this afternoon to PAT test the kitchen appliances, yet here I fucking am awake, and I'm still thinking about the potential of joining the Revolutionary Communist Party so maybe typing it all out and posting it here will get it out of my head for now, this will likely not be the most eloquent because I am tired as all fuck shit but whatever.

Right so I do want to actually do something to help change the shit we're currently living in, I can sit and read the books all I like but part of me is frustrated and feels like it's pointless if that's all I'm doing when the whole point of all this theory is to put it into practice, especially as an admirer of the Situationists whose revolutionary concepts so valued going out and living and experiencing rather than letting this all reside in the mind a pseudo-world apart, and it is encouraging that they seem proactive and dedicated and serious about the task of building a movement, but:

...selling a fucking paper, really? I've partially read their new recruits' handbook and there's a whole section dedicated to the importance of the paper and of selling the paper, quoting Lenin to that effect, but the simple fact is that the material conditions that made Pravda instrumental are inordinately different to those of 21st century Britain. The Bolsheviks used a paper to summarise goings-on in the workers' movement across the Russian Empire and easily disseminate their message because that was pretty much the only way to do it, nobody these days buys a fucking paper and getting news & organisation from one end of this tiny little country to the other can be done instantaneously a million different ways.

I asked at the meeting what the general activities of membership entailed, they talked about weekly branch meetings plus another weekly reading group (with occasional social afterward), as well as other activities like selling the bloody paper, and to be blunt - in the words of Johnny Rotten - I'm a lazy sod. More specifically, and more accurately, I have a deep instinctive aversion to any regular commitment that poses a disruption to the blank routine of normalcy, I have the strong feeling that two nights a week is a lot for me to give up even for something I might want to do; I do know, however, that I felt exactly the same when I was about to start escrima, and that concern was completely unfounded (some days I might be reticent to bother, sure, but on other days frankly having a reliable couple of hours to do something that's usually fun out of the flat just for me has helped keep my brain from snapping like an elastic band). I actually got to go to a trial class for escrima though, and there's no free entry to branch meetings, and the organisation emphasises getting everyone out and active as quickly as possible (I believe Trotsky was quoted as regards training revolutionaries on the job) so it'd likely be more, which honestly sounds exhausting considering I already feel like I have so little time, and like obviously building a revolution isn't easy but as mentioned I am a lazy sod and simply do not like work, especially since that work will likely be selling a fucking paper. Honestly I cannot currently remember any activities mentioned other than selling the paper right now, there was also talk of going to protests and suchlike and spreading communism there, but as ever a significant vehicle of that was expected to be...god do I have to type it again, the stereotype about Trots really is true isn't it, but anyway yeah can you really imagine the girl who can't directly look at people for more than a few seconds working a paper stand

I'm also not convinced by the international to which they belong, nor its leader. They came out of the Militant Tendency split when that left Labour to form the Socialist Party in '92, with Alan Woods and the late Ted Grant insisting entryism totally wasn't doomed and forming Socialist Appeal and the International Marxist Tendency; they've now rebranded as the RCP and the Revolutionary Communist International, the guy I met said it's because they grew enough as entryists and now is the time to really make a bold move with many people disillusioned with "socialism" after Corbyn & Sanders' failures but frankly I think it's because they've finally recognised Labour's irrelevant and there's no point being entryists in a neoliberal centrist party. Anyway yeah Alan Woods is still the leader of the IMT/RCI and from what I can see he hates every government & leader that's claimed to be communist since Lenin except for Hugo Chávez whom he was friends with, and I did not think much of his writing in the issue of the paper I got. The guy I met also explicitly mentioned that the Swiss & Canadian branches of the IMT are remarkably strong and rapidly-growing, but uhhh my prior research found that the Canadian IMT really dragged its heels investigating sexual assault allegations by the leadership, and my previous thought was that Canada is not Britain so it might be better here but considering we explicitly talked about how other parties here have such problems and he was like "yeah I'm not gonna deny it's a potential in any organisation but it also shows a lack of true commitment to Marxist principles at every level like ours", like...yeah you can see my scepticism. I've also seen some comments saying they're really great and active and others saying they're basically a very insistent reading group that just wants your money and paper-selling capability, both of which I'm prepared to believe.

Additionally, another early part of the handbook was about conduct - I'm probably not phrasing this quite right 'cause I read it like 4 hours ago, I'm tired as shit and can't be arsed to go get it, but basically it expects us all to behave like good proper revolutionaries, represent the Party well both in person and online, always be at the meetings and apologise & ask what happened ASAP for any we miss; now obviously that hits my natural punk Fuck Off instinct, but couple it with the above and I have a certain degree of actual concern: emphasis on good conduct and regular attendance, immediate expectation of high activity levels, heavy focus on recruitment tactics, immediate financial contributions to support the full-time higher-ups (which honestly surprised me at the time, isn't that the sort of bureaucracy Trots don't like?), led by a single unchanging leader who's been at it for decades, opinions seem divided between people in it who think it's great and people who briefly checked it out and left unimpressed...like this is ticking some boxes of a High-Control Group. I could well be wrong, in fact I hope I'm wrong, it's not like the vague and casual approaches of other far-left groups have accomplished shit fuck and building a revolution is a serious endeavour, and it could well just be me finding excuses to be an aforementioned lazy sod, and admittedly this interpretation is coloured by one obscure blog I found on page 7 of Google claiming as much (from a self-confessed former commie turned reactionary monarchist Tory Christian who first felt unwelcome in the IMT after calling drugs degenerate, so I am not putting much stock in their words), but like...I know some shit about cults, and the potential is there.

This all does sound very negative, but to be honest that's because the positive side basically boils down to "they seem to actively be trying, they're not transphobic and I want to do something". I have no idea what form an organisation would ideally take for me to be genuinely enthusiastic, I have no idea what specifically I would want to be doing in one considering I have no real revolution-building skills (not personable enough to recruit people, not well-read enough to be a theoretician, maybe I could just spew polemic (though that would need a vehicle to be read...perhaps some kind of regularly-published print outlet?)), the sensible thing to do in order to get anything done is to just go with the one that seems best and right now this is it, but...nevertheless I remain hesitant.

[thedrotter]

Giggles and kicks my legs. Soooo .. how about YOU make a headcanon post

OKAY!!!! i actually have. like a. insanely long list for my mother headcanons and have an uncomplete Google docs document on them because im insane but i will make it as short as i can by only taking about mother 2 LMAOOO so imma just add a silly read more thingy here because i am about to info dump so hard

Imma go character by character because ITS JUST CLEANER...

first off silly baseball child ness

Because I'm silly like that I woke up one day and decided he was trans masc. if ness or just any male protagonist in media (looking at you link) could make money out of the amount of people that made headcanons of him not being cis I imagine there'd be alot of cash coming in

I like to think of him as half-latino and knowing spanish because WHY NOT!!! and since every single latinoamerican breathes and cherishes goku HE NEEDS TO BE A DRAGON BALL FAN he would not be accurate latinoamerican representation IF HE WASNT A DRAGON BALL FAN!!!

Out of the whole group I imagine he tries to use PSI as little as possible in his daily life once the whole journey is over, for he is more comfortable living as a normal kid. WILL NOT HESITATE TO USE HEALING POWERS IF NECCESARY but otherwise avoids it (except telepathy on animals because i have this funny thought where he has unintentionally used telepathy his entire life and thats how he knows what animals are saying BUT THOUGHT THIS WAS NORMAL??? once he figures out its not a normal thing he avoids doing it as much with people but he cannot live without knowing what the dawg be saying...

the airhead in the group. he is mostly gut oriented instead of going by brains his brain mgiht as well be a burger

ALSO THE LOUD ONE a very empathetic and easy going boy that gets easily excited about everything and just likes having fun. which means every time he gets a semblance of a negative emotion he will proceed to numb it down and ignore it causing him to just accumulate it😰 LIKE HOW HE HAS TO BEAT DIFFERENT CREATURES AND ENEMIES in his magicant they appear and look down at him for hurting them WHICH MIGHT BE HIM FEELING GUILTY BY THE FACT HE HAS TO DO THAT AND I IMAGINE HE CAN ONLY PULL HIMSELF TO DO SO BY NUMBING THE GUILT DOWN... he's just like look lets lets just get this done😞 what goes on with Pokey ending up on Giygas's side also applies to this but i will not go on detail. because I am writing fanfiction about it and rather not spoiil it😊😊😊😊

the baseball fan ever that practices daily without missing a single day and basically drags Pokey alongside him

and since. i am NORMAL... he's an ENTJ 7w8. i have spent endless hours doing personality tests for these kids i am so normal about them

he has a crush on Paula (which she returns) but is too flustered to admit this so he pretends he is not catching on to her VERY VISIBLE HINTS (she enjoys getting him flustered shes silly like that) because he's nervous about it💀💀💀

anyway PAULA TIME!!!! i am insane so i have provided some backstory for her

I imagine that she awakened her PSI pretty early on and is very gifted around it, and since it is so rare she became very popular in the media at a young age and is essentially a celebrity child. She thought it was very fun initially but she feels pressured to keep a perfect image of herself for she is considered to be a role model which painted an image of someone that wasn't her. She feels very upset about this nowadays and has tightly held onto what is important to her and her true self as to not lose it in attempting to be someone else. She basically has some anger issues out of this because she has gotten used to people not really respecting her boundaries and not being very interested in who she actually is

SHE'S STILL REALLY CARING SHE GENUINELY ENJOYS HELPING OTHERS AND IS THE ONE KEEPING THE TEAM MORALE IN BETWEEN THE FOUR even when she tends to forget taking care of herself sometimes

so yeah she isnt really amused when she's kidnapped SHE JUST GENERALLY HAS LIGHT REACTIONS TO THINGS GOING SOUTH BECAUSE SHE BASICALLY KINDA EXPECTS THAT? despite how much optimism she spreads around she's quite the pessimist (though never voices those thoughts) so she feels very drawn in when Ness is actually genuinely optimistic about everything

loves cute things so much she needs every single big plushie she finds IMMEDIATELY. kirby merch hoarder

generally a sweetheart but very bold and feisty not as much as Kumatora is but she is

if she was in the modern era she'd be a gamer and live breathe minecraft she would be the type of person that gently explains things to her friends on one side but yells when a random stranger in her team is playing horribly

really excited over her frying pan she would have gotten a bat if she didn't think itd be cool if she could use her frying pan as both a weapon and something to warm food up in. like SHE WILL USE IT IN ANY CHANCE POSSIBLE TO FEEL COOL like "Yeah ... give me that cold slice of pizza imma put in the pan . ..." pk fire some random oil she keeps around for thiw specific purpose and there it is it makes her so happy

AS I PREVIOUSLY MENTIONRD SHES VERY STRAIGHTFOWARD ABOUT HER FEELINGS FOR NESS EVERYONE KNOWS IT SHE IS NOT TRYING TO HIDE IT AT ALL but does not directly confess because she likes teasing Ness. she finds it amusing when he gets flustered about it and pretends he isn't catching on

ESFP 2w3 hehehehehehehe

now Jeff he's my favorite out of the four so his is probably going to be stupidly way longer because he's silly like that

not the usual type of shy who hides from people and stutters a lot I IMAGINE HE JUST GETS REALLY AWKWARD AND SPEAKS AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE AND ENDS UP SOUNDING REALLY FORMAL BY ACCIDENT. He will respond to you just in very few words if some stranger suddenly starts talking to him he basically freezes up and fights internally to even say a word because he does not know how to do conversations

He's very knowledgeable in many different things and if you ask him about anything he'll answer VERY NONCHALANTLY AND SHORTLY AS IF HE DOES NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND THE SUBJECT WHEN HE IN FACT, DOES. HE SIMPLY IS NOT INTERESTED. but then you bring up inventions and guns and he will provide you a full rambling session with visual examples test runs different things to reference to for different concepts he's mentioning and every single minute detail. THERE HE ACTUALLY GETS EXCITED LIKE HE ISN'T SHY AT ALL THERE

cannot for his life comprehend social cues or idioms he takes things very literally and doesn't assume there's any hidden meaning HE'S BETTER AT THINGS THAT ARE LOGICALLY ANSWERED THAN ANYTHING SOCIAL. so yes Tony can accidentally drop a hint that he's crushing on him and DESPITE JEFF FEELING THE SAME WAY, he'll be like hm thanks tony cool I'm sure that is a very best friend thing to say i do not think there are any romantic implications here....

has an inferiority complex over the fact people credit his skills to be coming from his father (who he basically HARDLY KNOWS OR REMEMBERS SEEING PHYSICALLY BEFORE THE PROPHECY) and not to his own efforts!!! he's constantly compared to him and is expected to have the same amount of genius he does so Jeff tends to overwork himself at times to reach this standard.

has tested million types of coffee to see which one keeps him awake at night the best— but hates coffee! he prefers tea. friends assume he likes coffee because of how mcuh he drinks it he does not

oh yeah as i implied has a big fixation towards inventions and guns. he just thinks they're inteesting as hell he wasn't one to use them he just thought they were rad as hell and he WILL recognize specific ones if shown even a peak of one. he cannot live without being 100% up to date with every single type of gun in existence he needs to know all about them and understand how they work and does elaborate dissections into how they're built

even if shy once comfortable with the rest of the team he actually is one to occasionally tease them and joke around sometimes HE HAS THIS RELATIONSHIP WITH NESS WHERE THEY ARE CONSTANTLY TRYING TO ANNOY EACH OTHER without actually annoying in each other idk how you call it but they just playing around they silly like that

type of person who's face turns red at even the slightest embarassment it just happrns really easily

im not even gonna lie to you he's essentially me irl i needed a character to project myself into so i dont feel bad about not being good at social cues and at anything that is not my main interest

OH YEAH HE'S THE TALLEST HE'S VERY LANKY BUT HE'S THE TALLEST he's confused to be older than he actually is a lot of the time

i almost forgot— ISTP 5w4

NOW POO!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!

Initially took things very seriously and remained stone faced for a while but ironically became the one that made the most jokes out of everything and has a very contagious laugh— he still takes things more seriously than the rest and is the one that keeps everyone focused when it's important but is now able to relax a lot more

REALLY CHARISMATIC. LIKE HE'S AMAZING AT DEALING WITH PEOPLE EVEN IF HE PREFERS SOLITUDE.

loves animals and animals love him once found a dog and was very sad when he couldn't take him along in the journey... HE GENUINELY JUST SITS DOWN AND SPEAKS TO ANIMALS VERY CASUALLY LIKE hello sweet little dog. how are you doing on this fine saturday. awesome😊.. AND DOES MAGIC TRICKS FOR THEM😭😭😭 He's the disney princess of the group animals will just come to him and be nice to him birds sing along to this boy existing AND HE'LL BE LIKE OH, THIS IS NORMAL, while the rest of the group is just dumbfounded by rhat

i think he'd be quite tech illiterate as he spends most of his time concentrating on his training he really didn't pay much mind to technology (he preferred putting time into working on himself instead of wasting it trying to properly understand technology). BUT HE'S DOING HIS BEST HE IS INTRODUCED TO ARCADE GAMES AND THANKS TO FRIENDS BECOMES HOOKED he was a little lost but hes okay

becomes good friends with jeff because both felt like the odd one in the team at some point and come from very different backgrounds than ness and paula did THEYRE GOOD BUDDIES

He speaks multiple languages very well, but since english is not his first language he feels a bit lost sometimes when with friends. So doing his best effort he brings A WHOLE DICTIONARY WITH HIM AT ALL TIMES like these four will find a word not a single one of them knows and Poo will be there like. dont worry guys i got this AND PULLS OUT HIS DICTIONARY😭😭😭😭 DUDE'S READING THE ENTIRE THING TO PROPERLY UNDERSTAND HIS FRIENDS😭😭 picks magazines for english so he doesn't have to ask them every single time he's lost and to keep at the same pace they do

might be noticeable already but POO'S A TOTAL SWEETHEART HE DOES NOT MIND SAYING THE MOST SWEETEST AND CARING WORDS EVER KNOWN TO MAN and is very confused when one of the 4 cries in emotion because his words are very nice. THAT'S JUST NORMAL FOR HIM HE'S JUST LIKE THAT JUST NATURALLY VERY VERY NICE AND KIND no one can beat him on being very nice

Sometimes the only sane one in the group he is silly, but he balances the silly properly he knows when to save the silly for later

talking about him being good with people if you need to distract someone NO PROBLEM and he just does it really well DOES MAGIC TRICKS!!!! he likes doing his silly little tricks it's something he learned on the side from his training he loves seeing how people react to them

oh yeah the shortest and is confused to be younger than he is sometimes when he's the oldest in the group. basically Jeff backwards but Jeff isnt the youngest

...infj 8w9

NOW YOUD BE LIKE DAMN MICHAEL THATS A LOT OF TEXT ALREADY YOU SPENT AN HOUR WRITING THIS (yes its been an hour i think i i dont know ive been writing this since you asked when was it HELP) BUT I AM NOT DONE. I AM NOT DONE!!!

JUST JUST A FEW MORE FOR OTHER PEOPLE ASIDE FROM THE CHOSEN 4 BECAUSE i need an excuse to talk abojt tony he's my favorite favorite I could make an essay on his character

I like to think Tracy is super smart and is so smart that she's a few school grades (whatever you call um idk um school years?) ahead of what she would be for her age for it. EVEN THOUGH SHES LIKE 9 she's smarter than ness thats for sure and she mentions this but he's silly so he still needs to be the cool older brother regardless so he ignores that she's smarter GIRLIE GOT A JOB AND HE WAS LIKE TRACY WHAY ARE YOU DOING ON THE ESCARGO EXPRESS LIKE YOU ARE 9😭😭😭

i dont actually have any particular Pokey headcanon besides him being interested in tech because of mother 3 BECAUSE HE FEELS VERY FLESHED OUT ALREADY AT LEAST TO ME SO I DONT FEEL THE NEED TO DO AN ENTIRE BLOCK OF HEADCANONS FOR HIM I REALLY LIKE HIS CHARACTER THOUGH best i got possibly just enters theory territory instead

AND ABOUT TONY!!! like in the game he's a very earnest and good kid. I imagine he's seen as someone very sociable and easy to get along with to his peers LIKE HE WILL DO ANYTHING TO HELP EVERYONE FEEL INCLUDED and does an extra effort to get Jeff friends and for people to understand and like him like he be taking him to some of his other friends like. THIS IS MY BEST FRIEND!!!!!!! and theyre like Tony rhis is the sevenrh time you introduced him TONY IS THE MAIN REASON JEFF HAS ANY OTHER FRIENDS IN SNOW WOOD

tony sucks at science like really bad he's not good at anything scientific process like and would be bad at remembering them...IF HE DIDN'T TAKE THE EFFORT TO MANUALLY REMEMBER THEM BECAUSE JEFF IS THE ONE TELLING HIM. he be sitting there absorbing all that information and casually mentioning it here and there so Jeff gets really excited about it. ASIDE FROM THAT HE'S ACTUALLY GOOD AT MATH AND IT GAINED HIM A SCHOLARSHIP AT SNOW WOOD IN THE FIRST PLACE WHICH I IMAGINE IS VERY PRESTGIOUS

hes just a very hardworking kid in general THOUGH HE'S VERY CLUMSY AT TIMES. he's seen as the funny guy he cracks out jokes for everyone to laugh at people just generally like him a lot

sprta silly because lil dude is so honest and good natured he has to fight so hard to tell a lie. he's quite naive and easily forgives people WHICH OF COURSE HE'S LIKE 12 OF COURSE HE'S LIKE THAT BUT HE'S MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE

anyway im not makikg thisbany longer its already scary enough I AM SORRY. . .....I DID NOT WANT IT TO BE THIS LONG. . ..im very thankful you asked but ay the same time i feel obligated to ask for forgiveness at how long ive rambled for I just I just love this game I COULD DO MORE BUT NAW💔💔💔

[blaaaaask]

My Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth review:

Spoilers ahead, you've been warned!

So here are pros and cons of what I thought about Rebirth.

Overall I really liked it, can't wait for the next installment. I still have a few items to wrap-up with side quests, but I did beat the game with a large portion of items done in 94 hours.

Pros:

Character development is on par. Lots of 'getting to know' not only your teammates but characters they introduced from the Remake version as well. This kind of feels like an Easter Egg moment sometimes, and gives the game consistency and charm.

Gameplay during battle is smooth, consistent, and the added synergy attacks are interesting. Playing as a larger group of people with their own assets can be a little overwhelming, but fun to find your favorite playing style. Using different characters feels absolutely necessary for differing battle mechanics, and I think they did a great job in providing the opportunity to keep all characters relevant rather than 'backseating' someone. The side quests and even main storyline ensure this.

Storyline. The intense amount of speculation people have been doing has been a little blown out of proportion and I kind of like that. I mean we weren't wrong about differing timelines, the game does have that, but the way it is incorporated was done beautifully. They followed the original story very well, and moments that were changed only seemed to enhance the clarity that was occurring in those scenarios. Moments that I had thought of prior were now in different tones, giving different meanings. I enjoyed that.

Voice acting. Using new voices can be a bit of a dealbreaker for those of us who enjoyed the original VAs, but I think they did a great job in continuing with VAs that fit the tone of this 'newer' version of the FF7 world. I do still miss some of the originals, but with the storytelling in this format I think it's done very well.

Music. I really don't know what else to say other than the blends and tones and meshing of songs and the moments they're in is just. It's everything. It really makes every. Single. Scene. If you played the demo you know exactly what I mean.

Scenery. Everything is so gorgeous. Ugh. I just want to paint every little scene into a pretty landscape.

The comedic value is gold. Random characters will bring up points from Remake that will make you die of laughter. Side quests can be beyond hilarious (looking at you, Johnnys).

The intense amount of flirting and goofy moments of people hitting on Cloud is beyond amazing and very fitting. The dating scene I ended up with was with Tifa, and it played out beautifully. I am totes excited to try out the others, too.

Cons:

Too many minigames? It might just be me, but it felt like every mechanic had an unnecessary 'challenge' to it that robbed the enjoyment of the side quests. Each mini game has its own rules, mechanics, and is oftentimes poorly instructed to the point you will be redoing them in multitudes. Precision is key to every single one of them, but getting there seems too difficult at times. It's probably just me lol, but the piano keys with a PS5 controller can be incredibly difficult to get accurate notes. The march portion of the game was increasingly difficult, too, borrowing from the dance mechanics of Remake and yet somehow making it more motion-sickness-y. Granted, it was still funny, but the practice rounds they allow you do not compare to the actual hell hole that is the 3 march portion. It felt like when a teacher tells you '1+1=2' but on the math test they give you 'If Jimmy sells 83 portions of apple purple, who is the sun representing in the third movie of cryptocurrency?' Fort Condor makes a comeback from Yuffie's DLC, which is fun and kind of annoying. I am terrible at timed things so don't mind my venting here. And don't get me started on MOG HOUSE. The weird slide mechanics of trying to 'push' things around in this minigame while trying to avoid haphazard death feels a little too much like reality for me and I cannot deal, yo. The 'Run Wild' or whatever Red XIII game has a similar mechanic, which only makes it frustrating for the harder challenges they throw at you in making goals. Also, every minigame seems to incorporate an insane amount of R2/L2 button mechanics. Being left-handed feels like a bit of a disadvantage in some of these games, and it sometimes feels like the PS5 controller has too much of a 'soft push' on it that doing full trigger clicks is like a whole hand exercise. These games crippled me hahaha. I would love a Story Mode for us cripple-y old fucks that makes it so I don't have to do minigames. To add to that, Queen's Blood ended up being a relief for me after the hell that I faced in all the other minigames, but only later in the game once you get better card decks. However, I am currently stuck on Dale in Nibelheim. Yes. Dale. Don't laugh at me.

Not all characters fit the aesthetic of the original game. I'm mostly thinking of Kyrie and Regina. It's such a dumb nitpick on my part, but I kind of wish they had toned down their looks to match the game a little better that way it isn't such a 'sore thumb' kind of vibe. The moogles are also a bit terrifying to look at. Why did they give them such horrifying teeth?

And speaking of sore thumb, Chadley and MAI. I like the banter but oof what an annoying duo, hahaha. The 'fun' mechanics they're trying to implement with having these two talk to you through the PS5 controller was a bit of a fun and novel concept in the first 2 seconds, but MAI's voice is a bit too grating for me that I had to turn off that feature.

Speaking of voices, Red XIII's splits back and forth at times between his 'pretending to be sophisticated' and 'teen' voice. I prefer his sophisticated voice, and it's a pity they don't have an option to choose what you want to hear. I think I just hate the sound of children's voices, so anything that is too high pitched sounds a bit like nails on a chalkboard for me. I am guessing no one else cares about this, hahaha.

Chocobo mechanics. I like sweeping onto a chocobo smoothly without button pressing, but sometimes Cloud gets off the bird in a direction that accidentally makes it possible to get back on the bird. Also, the open world trekking is only fun in the Grasslands area, after that it is a bit of a nightmare that continuously gets worse the hillier things get. I spend a lot of time staring at the map trying to figure out where I'm supposed to go because you can't actually 'go' wherever. This is a bit unfortunate because it can make simple tasks of 'I need to go here' turn to 'I need to make 70 different turns to get there.' And the traversing for specific regions can also feel like hell, mostly in Gongaga and Cosmo Canyon.

Controller mechanics. Kind of already talked about this, but because the PS5 is supposed to be a 'new, novel console' with things like speakers in the controller, touch sensitivity, motion sensors, etc, they go at it hardcore here. Tilt mechanics, sliding things, and all that garbage is just annoying. I turn it off as soon as I can. It is especially annoying during Cait Sith's time in the Shinra Manor. Boxgate. That is all, lol. If you like silly things like this then more power to you.

I am sure I am forgetting things, but to wrap-up: the storyline is what I'm in it for, and the story was beautiful and therefore I enjoyed it even with my stupid gripes. Please remember this is just my ridiculous opinion. I am merely a purple dinosaur on the internet and should not be held as gospel.

[jodilin65]

If the Honker went straight home and didn't stop anywhere in the US to visit anyone along the way, he's just in time for a 36° snowstorm. LMAO.

I'm back to being psychic in a neutral or a bad way. Neutral: The mystery girl told me she hates the word fat and prefers other definitions to describe someone on the hefty side. I have no idea if this is really true or not, so who knows? Negative: I was correct in suspecting that this lying dumbass pulmonologist wouldn't make things easier for us by simply writing a prescription for a CPAP.

When we saw him, he specifically told us that for insurance purposes, I would need to have an in-lab sleep study done. So when Tom decided to call and see if I was right or not — and whether we could get a break for once or rule that possibility out while I was sleeping — he was told it had absolutely nothing to do with insurance but that the doctor simply wanted to see what was going on because he's under the false delusion that I have insomnia rather than N24 because I'm not blind.

Any idiot can research multiple credible online sources and find out that although rare, it is indeed truly possible to be sighted and have this sleep disorder. Furthermore, I have every single symptom of it! It is similar in some aspects to delayed sleep phase, but that's definitely not what I have otherwise I could have and would have corrected it years ago. Unfortunately, this is N24 and it's 100% incurable. I'll never be able to get medication for it because it's a rich person's drug. No insurance company is going to pay for something that costs thousands of dollars and isn't a matter of life or death. Still furthermore is the fact that two sleep specialists confirmed that I have N24. So what more does anyone need — unless you just want to be a stupid, arrogant little fuck?

Although it may or may not cost us a little more and may not be quite as accurate, we're almost certainly going to drop this idiot and the sleep lab and go with the online option. Tom did more research, and they have good reviews overall. I'm going to be dealing with primary care doctors who will refer my results to a specialist. I’m not going to deal with the specialist directly.

Sometimes it helps to write out the ups and downs of things and sit back and look at it, and this is what I've come up with

Pros of Sleep Lab Study:

More accurate results

Possibly cheaper

Cons of Sleep Lab Study:

Unfamiliar and uncomfortable setting

More equipment hooked up to me

Might not be able to fall asleep when expected

Pros of In-Home Study:

More comfortable

Can do it on my own time

Tests for more than just sleep apnea

Cons of In-Home Study:

Less accurate

Potentially more expensive

We discovered some hidden rooms in Walkabout, but you really couldn't interact with anything. It was still kind of cool. It was fun to fly through this wall, then down the stairs and into a maze of hallways. There were doors along the way that you could peek through the windows of, but again, there wasn’t much you could actually do.

I'm on the third ride of the challenge. I went from Washington to Canada and then to Indiana. Two days ago, I was way too exhausted to ride, but yesterday, I rode for about 20 minutes. Despite sleeping 8.5 hours and getting a good sleep score according to Fitbit, I don't know if I'll have the energy to do any riding tonight.

I no longer need anything for my pulled tooth, but damn is my TMJ acting up lately. I don't understand why it's so much worse. While I would love to get the fatigue resolved, I hope this isn't going to end up being my next long-term problem since I’ve noticed they tend to overlap each other. It was when the worst of the anxiety began to fizzle out that the heavy fatigue set in.

Again, it’ll be a great test of just how cursed my sleep really is because if I get the CPAP back and get used to it, but other things start waking me up, well, that’ll pretty much reinforce the suspicion even more. God, I hope not, though! If I really am truly not meant to sleep well or have energy most of the time, then it would be a waste of time and money to go through the steps of getting the CPAP back.

Instead, I'm going to try to be hopeful and think of all I'd like to do once my energy is restored. I want to get into more forms of exercise and back to my creative writing. It’s hard to focus even on blogging when you're so fatigued so much of the time.

I just hope this really is the sleep apnea I think it is and not chronic fatigue or chronic leukemia!

So NaNoWriMo is going away. I don’t miss it. As soon as they radically revamped their site, both Aly and I got sick of it. It just wasn’t the same. Such stupid controversy over AI is the reason. As Tom and I were talking and agreed on, what the hell is wrong with using AI to help you write a story? How is it much different than using a dictionary as long as it’s used for the proper reasons? As long as you don’t have it write your story for you, it’s a great learning tool and really helps improve spelling and grammar, just like dictionaries and programs like Grammarly.

Camp NaNoWriMo still exists, but I deleted my account. They changed both sites and they just weren’t what they used to be or what I signed up for (and worse with Aly gone). I hate it when apps and websites become something totally different.

Instead of arguing about whether trans athletes should compete on women’s or men’s teams, why not create teams specifically for trans athletes? While I fully support trans — expressing oneself is one thing — identifying as something you’re not is another. I believe that, scientifically, sex is binary. You can feel something, and you can want to be something, but it doesn’t mean you are that thing, whether you like it or not.

I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but I have a vibe about possibly moving in August of next year. I don’t see how we could get out that fast, but we’ll see. It’s just a feeling I’ve been having, even though it’s not overly strong. It will be interesting to see if it fades over time or gets stronger.

Later…

Started much of this entry before I crashed. So as I was saying, my TMJ had been acting up, but I’ve also been having sneezing fits, particularly in the bedroom. We suspected the sheets Tinkerbella plays in that are on the closet floor. Since rats do have dander, even if it’s not as much as cats, Tom washed them. Ironically, the sneezing fits seemed to help my TMJ, so I might have had congestion putting pressure on the eustachian tube.

The tomato plant has gotten so big and bushy that it literally tipped over the tube it's in, so Tom glued the tube down since tape wasn’t enough. He also planted some seeds in dirt and thanks to my fucked-up memory and being in a tiny house with so much stuff piled on top of each other, I can’t find the packet with the names of what they are. We just know they’re various kinds of berries. I should recognize any that make it.

Anyway, it's nice to have friends I chat with when I’m on days and then my nighttime buddy north of me when I’m on nights. I appreciate and value your friendship. 🙂

[sandeep2522]

Chinese Gender Predictor: Try It Now

Expecting a baby is an exciting journey, and one of the most anticipated moments for parents is finding out whether they are having a boy or a girl. While medical methods like ultrasounds can determine the baby's gender, many parents turn to traditional methods for a fun and early prediction. The Chinese gender predictor is one such method that has been used for centuries to guess a baby's gender.

If you're curious about your baby’s gender and want to try a fun, traditional approach, the Chinese gender calendar might be the perfect tool for you. Let’s explore how the Chinese birth calendar works, how to use it, and whether it is really accurate.

What is the Chinese Gender Predictor?

The Chinese gender predictor is an ancient tool that uses the Chinese gender chart to determine whether you're expecting a boy or a girl. It is based on the mother’s lunar age at conception and the month in which conception occurred. According to legend, this method was discovered in the Qing Dynasty and has been used for generations to predict baby gender.

Many parents use the Chinese gender predictor chart as an early gender prediction tool before their ultrasound. It is considered a fun and exciting way to engage with pregnancy, even though it is not scientifically proven.

How Does the Chinese Gender Calendar Work?

The Chinese calendar baby gender 2024 works by matching the mother’s lunar age at conception with the lunar month of conception. Here’s how you can use it:

Find your lunar age – The Chinese calendar calculates age differently than the Western calendar. In most cases, you add one or two years to your actual age. There are online calculators that help convert your age into the Chinese lunar age.

Determine your conception month – Check the month when your baby was conceived using the Chinese birth calendar.

Use the Chinese gender chart – Match your lunar age with the conception month on the Chinese gender predictor chart to find out if you're expecting a boy or a girl.

Is the Chinese Gender Predictor Accurate?

Many parents wonder if the Chinese gender predictor is reliable. While it is a fun tool, it is not scientifically proven. Some studies and personal experiences claim it has been correct about 70-90% of the time, while others believe it is just a myth.

For those looking for a 100 percent accurate baby gender predictor 2022, medical methods like ultrasounds and DNA tests remain the most reliable. However, the Chinese calendar baby gender 2023 to 2024 is still widely used for entertainment and planning purposes.

How to Try the Chinese Gender Predictor for 2024?

If you want to try the Chinese gender predictor 2024, follow these simple steps:

Use an online calculator – Many websites offer a free Chinese gender predictor tool. Simply enter your birth date and the conception month.

Check the gender chart manually – If you prefer, you can look up a Chinese gender predictor chart and find the matching result yourself.

Compare your results – Some parents like to test different traditional gender prediction methods alongside the Chinese birth calendar to see if they get the same result.

Chinese Gender Predictor vs. Other Gender Prediction Methods

Besides the Chinese gender predictor, there are other ways parents try to predict their baby’s gender:

Old Wives' Tales – Some believe that the way you carry the baby, food cravings, or morning sickness can indicate gender.

Ring Test – This method involves hanging a ring over the belly to see if it moves in a circle (girl) or back and forth (boy).

Baking Soda Test – A fun experiment where urine is mixed with baking soda to observe fizzing, which some believe predicts gender.

Medical Methods – Ultrasound scans around 18-20 weeks and blood tests like NIPT are the most accurate ways to determine gender.

While the Chinese gender predictor is popular, it should be seen as an entertaining and cultural tradition rather than a guaranteed answer.

Why Do Parents Love the Chinese Gender Predictor?

The Chinese gender predictor chart has remained popular for many reasons:

It’s fun and easy to use – Unlike medical tests, it provides a quick gender guess without any waiting time.

It adds excitement to pregnancy – Many parents enjoy comparing results with family and friends.

It has cultural significance – In Chinese tradition, the Chinese gender predictor has been used for centuries to predict and even plan baby genders.

It’s free and accessible – Many websites offer free Chinese gender predictor tools for expecting parents to try.

Conclusion

If you’re expecting a baby in 2024 and want a fun way to guess whether it’s a boy or a girl, the Chinese gender predictor is worth trying. While it’s not a 100 percent accurate baby gender predictor 2022, it remains a widely loved and used method among parents worldwide.

For those who want a Chinese calendar baby gender 2023 to 2024 prediction, simply enter your lunar age and conception month into an online calculator or use the Chinese gender chart to find your result.

Whether you believe in the Chinese gender predictor or see it as just a fun tradition, it’s a great way to add excitement to your pregnancy journey!

[beaninabubble]

"Cutting-edge Organic Intelligence Model putting AI to Shame"

Came up with this after watching Danny Gonzalez's new video on CES, kinda silly, kinda fun

(Note: everything below this point is satire and utterly fictional.)

.

After a rather underwhelming CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2025, tech startup NXTGEN has unveiled its latest project that’s reimagining the future of technology and humanity. The company netted $2.1 billion USD after a private initial showcase this Thursday.

So, what’s got investors foaming at the mouth?

NXTGEN’s new, revolutionary robot assistant, Pepo. While it may look like a cute, dusty rose-colored, eight-legged end table with eyes, Pepo is poised for a monumental shakeup of the currently stagnating robot assistant industry. Unlike other robots, which run on outdated artificial intelligence models, Pepo’s software is based on fully-developed organic models.

Pepo’s advanced intelligence model allows it to have a very sophisticated response algorithm, making its human response component the most realistic version to date. According to initial testing, Pepo can generate accurate, articulate responses to most questions, and even responds with “I don’t know about that” or “Do you live under a rock” to questions it doesn’t know the answers to or is confused by.

“What’s so great about it, is, there’s no learning curve,” states Mark Seedentupper, a one-time computer science graduate who committed $550 million to the project after Thursday's showing. “What we’re seeing with AI is, time and time again, recurring failures in output that must be constantly corrected by company personnel. What NXTGEN has done is guaranteed product quality, right out of the box, and eliminated the need for expensive ongoing-service procedures.”

While the company remains tight-lipped on their development process, NXTGEN has offered some details about what’s going on under the hood- or rather, tabletop.

“We’re actually taking decommissioned organic intelligence models and repurposing them,” NXTGEN’s head of development Swiggy Heft explains in an exclusive interview with our news team. “We have contacts in multiple industries that are able to supply us with these organic models at a very low cost. Additionally, by repurposing them, we are actually eliminating waste that would otherwise be contributing to landfills and methane emissions. From the harvest phase, it’s really a very simple process to take that data and program it into a Pepo.”

NXTGEN has already presented working prototypes, giving investors confidence in the startup’s ability to deliver on its commercial debut, which is slated for some time in October of 2026. At launch, NXTGEN claims that there will be multiple color schemes to choose from, as well as multiple personality offerings that will suit a variety of applications, such as childcare, personal companionship, and even home security.

[cidthesquid]

Character Creator Chat: The Sims 4!

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Yeah, it's kinda weird that I've never covered "The sims" in this series, From what I've heard, it's pretty much the GO-TO game for creativity. I have not touched the series in years, long before my design journey.

The gameplay of the sims has never really been for me, so today we're just going to have some fun with the character creator, we're not going to worry about setting up a family, or anything extra. And I'll probably again stick to just re-creating my style savvy avatar again, like normal. (I'm not very creative, so coming up with something new each time would be very difficult)

Right from the start, we're kinda blasted with information, first a kinda 'battle pass' type of progression system, then some informational videos, purchase suggestions, patch notes, and more. It was all a bit much for me tbh, so I just clicked 'New Game'.

Here we can either start building our sim character, or we have the 'create a story' option to have a pre-made sim based on a personality test. That actually sounds pretty neat, I'm sure some people would get lost in all the sliders and options, I'm glad they have the option to jump right in,without being force to select a default character/preset Let's give it a try, just to see what we get! (Feel free to skip)

Ok, so they ask a series of Questions, like "what's your age", "how do you inspire people", and "how do I cheer myself up?" they have some more humorous questions like: "What role would I play in a criminal heist?" There are a lot of interesting questions here, and you have the option for 'new question' if you don't think any of the answers fit. So I tried to fill them out in the way I thought my character would respond, it's a very interesting creative exercise, as I don't generally think this way. For example, one question was like "What would you like to be remembered for", with answers "The art I created", "My contributions to science", or "for everything I've collected" For me, the whole concept of 'legacy' is nebulous at best, It's kinda embarrassing to admit, but it every single one of these questions (side from age) were kinda difficult for me to parse:

I always had to kinda ask myself, why do they actually mean by that? And I had a hard time answering them for myself, let alone for a fictional character, it almost felt like solving a puzzle, thinking about the relation between the question and the answers to figure out what they were actually asking. Not because I needed to find the "Right Answer", nothing like that, Just because they're not really written in a format that I feel like I can answer accurately. like, "What do you mean, what do I do for fun?" "When? How do i feel that day? Where am I? What did I do prior?" I'm sure that just sounds like 'Overthinking' to some people, but that's just how I operate naturally, most (personal) questions for me can have multiple answers based on the context, It's like asking someone "what's your favorite...?"and expecting a reply They'll wonder, "what drink? food? or color?" and it would be hard to give an accurate answer. So in short, how I worked with these questions, was mainly focusing on the subject and keywords, and tried to figure out what answer seemed to most accurately fit the 'theming' of my character. Like picking choices that focused more on design/art, because of their affinity for style, rather than focusing in on what it really meant for their personality. ----------------------------------------------------------------

And here's what I got:

Ok, so I really don't know if these questions really affected the characters' appearance, or just their personality/outfit, But I was given: "bodybuilder", "high metabolism", "active", "creative", and "evil" (maybe because I said 'mastermind' on the 'heist' question) Well, that did not work out how I expected, I tried to answer them in a way that pushed a bit towards active, creative, and assertive. But clearly the quiz was not the right choice for me. so we'll start over ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok, So I've manually set up the personality to manually be creative, (best-selling author, since fashion was not an option) She's also, Active, loyal and ambitious, I think they kinda covers the vibe my avatar is supposed to give off. Ok, on to character editing, starting at the top:

For hairstyles alone, there are tons of choices, with a great array of styles and filters, over 100 choices and I'm just a f2p player! I'd imagine you'd get even more if you bought a few dlc packs! You get a great selection of style and lengths, and a few good color choices (but no full color picker/slider tho) Ok, so Skintone was actually supposed to be above hair:

We have a good selection on display, with a lot of natural tones, With a brightness slider, so you can further dial in the exact tone. As well as some fantasy options as well! (Blue, green. bright red, etc) Skin Details is also a dedicated section:

You can apply multiple different effects or skin colorings, such as freckles, moles, or other types of skin coloring that I've not seen represented in any other game! It's a really great option for representation, you can even dial in the coloring for many of these too! Next up is teeth:

While there are not a ton of options here, I still think this offers a pretty crazy amount of variety, there are various presets, including braces, and less uniform layouts. I'm a little surprised theirs no 'color' option, just to make some of them look a little less 'perfect', but it's still a great showing! Next up is 'eye detail'

This allows you to add bags under your character's eyes, You have four different options, but oddly no further customization. So you can't blend them(no transparency) or adjust the coloring. And somehow I skipped another option 'faces',

This is a selection of 19 presets, that would offer a good variety of starting points. I'm not sure why, but I did have a little bit of trouble navigating these menus, they look very clean, and fairly well laid out. (Maybe it was the lack of a 'next' button, I'm not sure) I also found it a little strange that I'd run out of menu's for editing the face, no nose, eyes, or lips settings, and later clicked the face by accident to find out it's pretty much a 'hidden menu' I'm sure if I'd played any sims games in the last 6 years or so this would be easy to figure out. I'm not saying this creator is bad, just the opposite! It's just not really easy (for me personally) to navigate at times! I'm used to everything having it's own dedicated menu entry.

Eyebrows are next, again a very wide selection, but lacking filters or advanced settings, or labels. I kinda feel like I need to go in with a reference when looking at these, Without being able to have the character emote, it's a little hard to be able to see how they'd move with various facial expressions. And without labels or a way to 'pin' the choices you like, it's a bit hard to compare, and some advanced options to tweak maybe the angle or transparency/fullness would be nice, rather than having to pick a separate (unlabeled) choice, but some of these may be limitations of the engine. (But still with over 50 choices, you have a ton of variety)

Eyes are next:

Over 70 options with a variety of styles, sizes, and looks and I'm going to again assume this is just how the game engine works, because I kinda prefer other game's creator option where you start with a preset, and can kinda tweak and refined the design till you get what you're looking for, Rather than scrolling through a selection of presets that is this large, Sure's there's an 'undo button' but it kinda makes comparisons hard, especially when the eye options don't really seem to be sorted by anything in particular. Also, go presets for eye color options, overall, but I still would have preferred a full color picker, especially when the game lets us have blue skins, having more unnatural eye colors (or color contacts) would have been nice! Also, maybe it's just my PC being weird (running the game on Linux) But it looks like some eye options really mess up the eye lighting:

Next Up, is nose:

24 presets, and honestly, I don't think these previews are very helpful. It's mostly the angle, but just how they're framed as well, makes it kinda hard to tell what you're selecting, you just gotta manually rotate your character, and try a few out until you find one you like, no advanced options here either. Next up is cheek:

Over 35 options here, and again, I kinda found them a little hard to judge by the previews, but they have a good amount of variety. It's here that I also figured out, you can make some adjustments to the positioning of facial features, but only by clicking and grabbing.

It's not really the most precise way to adjust your character's features But, it's easy to understand when you find it, and the undo button makes it serviceable

Next up is mouth:

27 options here, and a bit easier to judge based on the preview. I really like the section on offer, it's really cool to see how a simple change can change the personality a lot, the first choice I picked, looked nice, but a little too 'standard' for the character I was looking to make, but one simple change really add a bit more personality!

Next up is chin:

This is something else, I really think I need to be looking up references for, so I can understand the styling concepts of better. They have some cute dimple options too, But just like with nose, I decided to keep thing simple. I thought I was done, and was about to go to makeup when I found that 'head shape' is also a option exclusive to clicking the face:

Only 14 options here, but they seem to most effect brow height, and a little bit of the shading on the forehead. Almost missed this one too, as there's only a small area to click on.

'Jaw' has 9 presets, and it's great for squaring up or rounding off the face, I went with a mostly longer design, but with a small bit of roundness at the end. Ideally, this will help with the more 'mature' look. And with that, we're done with the body shaping options! So now on to hats!

There's a pretty.. Interesting selection here, Baseball caps, cowboy hats, beanies, sunhats, and much more!

Accessories are next:

(What are with these wild emotes? D:) A pretty broad selection here too, glasses, earrings, and even hearing aids. Many offering alternet colors (but only a small, fixed selection) But I would love to see a little more option to customize these, like the feather earrings are super cute, But I think they're a little too bright. Same with the glasses frame, I would have loved to get them in flat black rather than dark gray. Next up is the makeup selection, first 'eye shadow.'

20 options, And it looks like we finally get some color sliders! We pick a base color, then we can tweak the hue, transparency, saturation, and brightness, and we can save our new custom color for future use! Next up is eyeliner:

Only 13 options here, a good selection of patterns, and the same color selection as before. Eyelashes are next:

Only two options, and not much in the say of color, I guess it mostly represents an option for eyelash thickness. though, it would be nice to have more granular options. Next up is cheek makeup,

Cheeks only have 3 patterns, but a fairly good selection of color choices, I picked something a little brighter than my character's skin tone in an attempt to lighten up their face a little. ---------------------------------------------------------- ...And I've now used up all 30 of my image slots, so looks like I'll have to divide this into two parts!

You can read the rest here: (CCC: The Sims 4 - Part 2)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------Thanks for reading! I had a lot of fun making this, so I hope you had fun reading it as well!

As always, comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome! And

And If I describe something 'objectively wrong', or use the wrong terminology, feel free to correct me, I'm always looking to improve! (But If it's feedback on my designs that's more subjective/personal preference, please let me figure it out myself,so I find my own style😄