#this'll find the people naturally

[lesbianusahana]

Really comitting to my 2009 bit here. Love making images that'd make God weep. Full and un-bedazzled version under the readmore (reader beware you're in for flashing images)

[paper-mario-wiki]

Ok I usually agree with you on things but even as someone who didn't like tadc, I don't see the issue with selling merch?? Lackadaisy, hazbin/helluva boss, monkeywrench, literally almost every indie project does that, it's how they get a good amount of their funding, why is that itself an issue?

alright this'll be the last question i answer on it because we're officially at the point where people are saying "oh yeah, well what about this?" in reference to stuff i already spoke about, so i'll use this as a summary:

I was asked what I think about The Amazing Digital Circus a few weeks ago, and as a show, I think it's pretty inoffensive. I think the premise and character design is pretty generic, and I think the plot is definitely trend-riding, but ultimately the pilot had some funny jokes and pretty good visuals.

I added an addendum later on to follow up in saying that my perspective has shifted to one of disdain, because I'm sick of seeing it everywhere, and I'm tired of people saying it's already a masterpiece despite the minimal legwork it has put in so far as a story. This is compounded by the fact that the studio company behind it, Glitch Productions, is being unrelentingly commercial with it, to the extent that there was merch designed and available the same day the video itself went live, especially since the pilot itself was never even set to get a sequel, let alone a "series", despite the fact that it is being advertised and sold as a series. This left a bad taste in my mouth, as in my eyes it's become a pretty hollow flavor of the week fandom with a hype culture that people are conflating with actual quality.

Someone asked about the nature of the "no confirmed episode 2", which I later provided some context for in the form of a screenshot from an article where staff of Glitch Productions came forward and said pretty unambiguously that there wouldn't be more episodes unless people bought enough merch. This isn't a horrible sin by itself (Toby Fox famously sold merch for a demo of Deltarune), but the fact that merch sales are being treated like a crowdfunding campaign, with the threat of cancellation very unambiguously behind the "encouragement to buy merch in order to help greenlight the show", is a tactic that feels gross to me. Crowdfunding itself is okay, but the fact that there is no set goal in place, no "if we sell x amount of shirts the show will be get an entire season!" or anything like that, sounds a lot like "if you do not buy enough acrylic charms and tshirts then this show you like will not continue. how many have to be sold? we'll let you know when we reach the goal".

That is, in its entirety, the discourse, AKA my opinion that people kept asking for clarification and justification for. I personally really don't like The Amazing Digital Circus for its lack of depth combined with its ruthless commercialism. I find it repulsive in that way. That's it.

[acesw]

The "Storm"

"The 'Storm' brings frequent anomalies. And also more development and field missions. Sadly, combat is not my thing; luckily, data analysis is!" - X, Xtreme Talent

The "Storm" is an intriguing topic to look into in the world of Reverse: 1999, and a lot of people tend to be confused on how it works alongside the functions of the immunity zones. For this post, this'll essentially be a more detailed explanation on it. This post will cover what the "Storm" is, its patterns, and the function of the immunity zones with Asymmetrical Nuclide R. This'll be a really long post, so hold tight. :) [Spoilers for Chapter 5-6]

What is the “Storm” anyway?

The “Storm”—or the "Emanation" to the Islanders—is a supernatural phenomena that is affecting most of the globe. It destroys the current era of society and reconstructs it into a point in the past or in the future. It “reverses” time, with the tendency to regress through eras. This means human technology increasingly deteriorates while arcanum flourishes.

Being a phenomena caused by arcanum, the “Storm” is difficult to be studied. Basic understanding of the "Storm" requires affinity with arcanum.

The “Storm” is unpredictable; Besides the Manus and the Apeiron to some degree, no one knows when the “Storm” happens, but the closer we get to its occurrence, the easier it is to figure it out. Manus activity is shown to accelerate the "Storm", with events beginning to deviate from the historic timeline due to their influence.

As of ‘The Star’ and Chapter 6, we find that Laplace has been keeping track of possible “critical points.” Critical points indicate where the eye of the “Storm” might be. An “eye” tends to be located at places globally significant, where historical events take place. It can be a cultural event, a significant movement, or a major conflict. These events don’t have to directly affect the entire world, per se. They merely have to be significant enough to leave a mark in the world's history.

Right now, 8 “Storms” have passed and we have one that is currently beginning to take place. With the information we have of each one, we find common themes among them:

1. Most of these “Storms” occur at least 1 year after the other. There are 4 exceptions to it: 

1999 (The Progenitor)

1987 (3 years)

1929 (1 day)

1914 (5 months)

2. They’re triggered when the timeline destabilises, or strays from what is the normal ‘course’ of the world’s timeline. (As said by Greta Hofmann)

3. The nature of the “Storm” and the Storm Syndrome are usually based on the themes of the era and the conflict.

A very clear example of this would be the “Storms” of 1966 and 1929. With 1966, we see how the height of the “Storm” deconstructs everything around the critical point with booming bold colours and pop-like art, reminiscent of the UK’s Swinging Sixties (as mentioned by the game itself).

With 1929, we see how the Storm Syndrome affects the mass population of humans, with how they sell food in exchange for gold and money to eat because of how it references the sudden rise in the American stock market. This led to the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and the crash caused an economic recession in the US.

Important notes about the "Storm"

Now we have to keep in mind that there are some things that need to be noted about this phenomenon. For one, the “Storm” doesn’t induce the grandfather paradox, since the survivors of the phenomenon don’t cease to exist whenever they arrive in an era that precedes their lifetime. They don’t encounter the younger versions of themselves either.

Also, since this is an event caused by arcanum, the people who are mainly affected are humans and mixed people who don't have strong arcanum. Pure-blood arcanists tend to be the ones who are the last to be affected by the "Storm," since they only begin to feel the effects once the countdown is approaches near-zero.

The memories of the survivors are quite faded. For example, none of them could remember what happened during 1999 that caused the first “Storm.” Greta and Vertin themselves confirm that they and the Foundation have rather vague memories of that time for reasons yet to be found.

And lastly, as stated before, the “Storm” can be accelerated / triggered early by orchestrating a chain of events that further puts strain on the critical point, and significantly causes disruption in the original timeline. This is the case with 1929 and 1914 right now.

Immunity Zones, Asymmetrical Nuclide R, and Vertin

With these out of the way, there is now space to talk about the points of immunity. For a location to be immune, the area would need a “core” that distributes a high concentration of Asymmetrical Nuclide R.

AN-R is a nuclide that’s present in the “Storm's" rainwater, as well as the fog in Apeiron, the Spinning Wheel, and possibly the Yuān temple in Pei City alongside Uluru in Australia. The nuclide creates a structure that makes it possible to survive the “Storm,” but it is an unstable component that can quickly disappear when isolated from the rain drops.

A more stabilised structure of these nuclides are those found imbued in the Manus Vindictae Mask, and the fog surrounding the cores of the immunity zones. However, when one comes close to said fog, it can affect people’s minds to the point of deep sleep until they’re taken out of the area. Otherwise, time flows normally within the immunity zones, unaffected by the “Storm.”

Meanwhile, as the truth remains unknown (noting that Asymmetrical Protein G is a false biomolecule), Vertin is the only person who is able to cross the “Storm” unharmed. She is able to endure most of its effects such as the fog.

For example: In the fog surrounding the Apeiron and the caves of the Island, she wasn’t afflicted with the deep sleep most of the time until she was fully immersed in it. However, she only needed to be woken up by any sort of disturbance. (i.e. pain caused by the bangle)

Despite this however, she’s unable to perceive and predict the “Storm," needing technology from Laplace to keep track of its countdown.

Anyway, AN-R tends to spread throughout an entire area and creates a range of immunity from the “Storm.” This range becomes theoretically weaker as one strays further from the main source; it's why Vertin’s breakaway group got reversed as they played outside the tower, while Madam Z survived while being barely outside the building. (Chapter 3)

It may also explain why the humans did not survive being in Vertin’s suitcase, since the spinning wheel might not be a strong enough core for the nuclide to resonate really well with humans. But I’m not exactly sure why this is, so this is only an assumption for myself.

For now, this is all the information that I have of the "Storm" and the immunity zones. There are some pieces of information that I also found while looking into it, but I've kept these as footnotes for now to go back to later once things begin to come together.

Many ideas can be thought of on how the phenomenon could affect many other areas, but this is essentially how it works based on what was observed in the story. I hope it answers a lot of questions for some who don't quite understand the "Storm." And if there aren't, feel free to ask me anything. Thanks for reaching the end. :)

[tanoraqui]

Dungeon Meshi Liveblog: So, that "If you like dragons so much..." moment in the S2 trailer...

....yeah I'm sure this'll be fine.

For no particular reason, I wonder what diplomatic relations are like between Shuro's island (of which he is prince) and this one, and with the Western elves. Btw, to zoom in...

goodforhim.gif

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Mithrun has the 'looks effortlessly, unconsciously cool' ability and, apparently, the instinct to stand dramatically in high-up places, of Kaladin Stormblessed. I have to respect that.

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Thistle seems completely unable to parse that Falin isn't just the dragon. He doesn't just treat her as a tool: by the standards of this comic, he treats her like she's dead. Hell, he treated the dragon like it was dead: ignored its need to eat (and rest), smothered its will under his own....and now he's doing the same thing to Falin. He's not even aware that she needs to eat. He's forgotten what is necessary to be alive, even though he still goes through some of the motions himself.

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hi this is the most painful thing so far. Laios thinking this through with typical Laios systematic consideration. And this is one of his foremost thoughts, that he won't let Marcille have Falin's perma-death on her hands; he'll do it himself.

Hey, you know what? The Stamatis family from Greater Boston COULD do Dungeon Meshi, and the Toudens COULD do Greater Boston. I'm gonna think about that later.

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hey Laios what the FUCK does that mean.

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LOVE this visual. God the chapter covers are all so good.

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eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes

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ok I WAS spoilered for Marcille being a half-elf, too, but I think this is the first mention of it in canon! Very exciting! I don't know what it means for her socially, but I can't wait to find out!

It's so funny to think fo Thistle probably wandering past Senshi at some point and just kinda going, "Weirdo," and continuing on his way.

The great thing about this fight is that it genuinely WOULD be better if Thistle won and the lion remained bound. Mithrun lasted what, like a couple decades at most, as Lord of his Dungeon? Thistle has kept this place stable for like a thousand years (as the demon slowly fed on not just his desire but those of all the people he was trying so hard to protect.) He's trying just so hard, this poor guy. Whom we definitely do need to stop, because he IS losing this battle for his own sanity, and with it, the stability of the dungeon.

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*singing* eyes eyes eyes eyes...

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Dude, weren't you raised mostly by tallmen? How are you this racist.

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Marcille, I love you. Laios, I love you in a different way.

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Ouch.

LOOK WHO'S TALKING

eyes eyes eyes eyes...

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unironically excited for Thistle to enter his maniacal laughter phase in anime s2.

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I'm fascinated with how this comic portrays the patterns of natural ecological biomes and the patterns of human social structures and history with exactly the same tone. The behaviors of animals and monsters and humans. The psychological profile of a dungeon lord and the corresponding life cycle of a dungeon. I want to eat it. I want to put an ecologist, an anthropologist and a political scientist in a room together with this comic, and listen to them talk about it. I want to kiss Ryoko Kui on the mouth. I don't want to do my chores, go to bed and then go to work, but unfortunately life SUCKS that way. Motherfucker why is it 1am again.

[pippin-pippout]

Yeah I have thoughts. So many. This'll probably get long and repetitive.

I'm only on the ep with the beginning of Ace's arrival to Wano. I never realized he came to Wano before joining Whitebeard. I guess he got in a lot of shipwrecks.

I think this furthers my belief that when Ace said he died with no regrets, except for not seeing Luffy achieve his dream, it was a big fat lie. It was a lie meant to make it easier for Luffy to accept his death.

Ace made so many promises that he couldn't keep. It's so in their nature (ace and luffy and probably sabo too) to promise the world to anyone they find suffering. And so often, at least for Luffy because of that protagonist's halo, they are able to keep their promises.

But all 3 of them are so reckless with their lives – they don't fear death, but they also don't respect death, and they don't respect what death means for those they leave behind.

Each survived on luck and determination so many times, until for Ace, that wasn't enough. He left behind people he swore to be there for. Now, I don't think he actually stood there and weighed the consequences of turning around to fight Akainu, or that he connected that taking unnecessary risks could lead to him breaking promises.

But I do think it's fair to say that he never understood that his promises to just be there mattered to anyone. So of course can be reckless with his life and accept death with a smile, because death to him was just the ending of his own silly life. He never believed there'd be a little girl counting on his promise, using the weight of that to fill her stomach when there was no food. He never could have imagined himself being that important to anyone - not even Luffy.

It broke my heart to hear how casually and plainly Luffy told Otama of Ace's death.

"It's true. Ace is dead. It doesn't matter when or where she finds out. He's not coming back."

I know Luffy is the epitome of sunshine and looking forward, but it really felt like he said it in such an unemotional manner because that was the only way he could get the words out. If he'd allowed himself to break it to her slowly, or show an ounce of how much he missed Ace, he'd break down. He also hasn't told them yet that he's Ace's younger brother, maybe because that's also too hard to get out.

I love that Luffy is ultimately able to fulfill Ace's promises on Wano on his brother's behalf. And in a way Sabo is fulfilling Ace's broken promise to Luffy. And that's beautiful and tragic and underscores the importance of their brotherhood and the family they found.

But god is it hard to accept. I'm so used to One Piece showing me characters who do get their dreams fulfilled before death, who do manage to fulfill their own promises before death (or fulfill their promises at the cost of their lives), that a character leaving a trail of broken promises feels so false...

And I'm sorry, but to me "carrying the will of Ace" forward feels like a poor substitute for the character themselves. After all, Ace was his own person with his own dreams outside of either of his brothers. As much as they fight for what they know he cared about, neither can live his dream for him.

---

I'm really interested to see how Ace meets Yamato and also what causes him to leave Wano and promise to come back. Obviously he was not remotely strong enough to fight Kaido at that time. Did he plan to come back once he got stronger too? With Whitebeard's fleet backing him up?

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I restart an argument with a friend?

🌊⚓ <- so I can search for it.

So, a while ago, a friend was over and we talked. She is from South Germany while I am from North Germany, where we are both living (this'll be important in a sec).

I don't really remember why we were talking about the topic, but we started talking about regional dialects and sayings and then she called Low German* a dialect. Which tldr: big no-no. But I don't think she was being malicious, she just didn't know about the topic at all.

So naturally I explained: "You absolutely cannot call Low German a dialect to peoples faces around here. People will take offense to it. I don't really, because I consider the difference between dialect and language is arbitrary to begin with. But you will provoke incredibly unkind reactions from other people."

Her response was "Yeah but like. Doesn't everyone think their own dialect should be a language."

And... Idk why that one hurt but it did. It just felt incredibly dismissive. And I didn't really know how to respond other than "but this is the one case where it is true" which felt weird so I just. Didn't. We kinda moved on to other topics. But in hindsight, I really wish I hadn't?

Because I wish I had explained it in depth to her so she understands why what she said is considered unacceptable. But also for her own sake, because she will piss people off if she says the same thing to other people. And honestly for my sake so I can make peace with the conversation.

So I'm considering either finding a way to restart the argument/ conversation when we are together or go the cowardly route and send her a couple screenshots explaining the topic. But I also feel like restarting a fight we never really had and really doesn't matter is kind of a dick move.

Additionally I tend to be a person that corrects people when they are wrong and starts discussion way too much. Because in my family academic debates are a love language.** So I tend to reaaaaaally overestimate the amount of debating/ arguing people are comfortable with. They tend to perceive me as being upset with them while I am just having fun hashing out a topic from different angles.

So Tumblr. WIBTA?

Footnotes

* Low German is the regional language of North Germany. The definition of North Germany is actually pretty much "wherever they are speaking Low German". There is some controversy if Low German is a dialect or a language. Which like... People often describe it as closer to Dutch and English than Standard German, it's a recognised language in every state it is spoken in, it is recognized as a regional language in the fucking European Union WHY is it still controversial.

It is also very much an endangered language because in the past decades especially it has been looked down on as being "lower class". No that's not where the name comes from, low german is spoken where the terrain is flat/ low and high/ upper german is spoken where the mountains are. This attitude towards Low German is shifting a lot recently but it is entirely possible it's too late to prevent it from dying out.

** I felt like this part needed some clarification too. I can't count how many dinners in my childhood were spent eating while getting into the meat of whatever topic caught our attention. Politics or science or more spiritual stuff. Ask questions about things we were wondering about. Absolutely tear into each other when we had opposing positions, but concede when we were convinced. Oftentimes I'd get up to grab pen and paper, or demonstrate orbital dynamics with the jam container, a bowl and my plate, or use the butter as an impromptu drawing board.

But that doesn't mean we were fighting in the normal sense even if someone got upset occasionally. It was really just communicating with one another. It was connecting. Exercising our debate skills. Play-fighting but make it academia. It was genuinely fun to us and still is. An alternative outlet for sibling rivalry. There is no need to fight over the TV remote when you can just reason it out together.

So yeah. That's how academic debates can be a love language (and simultaneously absolutely destroy your conception of what is considered arguing).

[theomnicode]

Saitama, labeled a danger to society? (part 2)

The fear on Sitch's face when he does not comprehend Saitama's true nature is something. He was just told of unimaginable feats from Saitama by Genos and verified by Blast and he's just shook. Humans have a tendency to fear what we do not understand and Saitama is very terrifying if one just looked at it from outsider's perspective during the time travel fiasco. Hero association employs many insanely strong heroes, but Saitama's strenght has crossed the invisible line of being abnormally strong and instead of being revered by the common folk who have no strenght to call their own, people start to fear him.

Warning: Long post ahead, half meta, half speculative fanfiction.

TW: psychosis on the speculation half

Disclaimer: I'm not a mental health specialist or a doctor, I just like writing meta.

Blast, ever the pragmatist, logically suggest they would need to find out the limits of his strenght just to assess him but also points out that Saitama is not a malicious individual, so it's not a problem leaving him to roam around. But he too gets that Saitama is an unknown individual, but chooses that harrassing him is unrequired.

Sitch however, is entirely willing and ready to just throw Saitama into a jail, ditch the key and never let him out again if that gets him out of his hair. He also understands that people would be against restraining a hero without any real wrongdoing, namely Genos, but he's definitely thinking about the greater good in this situation if Saitama was to actually become dangerous to them. He would naturally call upon Blast to handle the situation because nothing would be able to actually hold Saitama.

There are plenty allusions in the manga already that Saitama would be considered bad for heroes reputation and danger to society if left to roam unchecked (No time for this, cpt 19) and I feel like it's only a matter of time before something happens that makes him both an outcast and made out to be a villain, like a worse parody of the Sea king fiasco.

(It already kinda happened but we just reverted time, so it's fiiinnee... right? Right??)

People already vilify him a lot on internet/social media and it's doubtful the public opinion in general will be better, despite some naysayers whom he has helped personally vouching for his character. Trying to blow up his own planet did not earn him any points either, it'll just confirm to everyone who becomes privy of that information and believes it that if he snaps completely, he'd be a ginormous liability, any issues he has and the situation be damned. Heck, Saitama confirms that Hammerhead was let down by society and if he had taken one wrong step, he'd have ended up just like him.

If Blast actually witnesses Saitama's true character that he's a nice guy at heart, just comes with issues, it would be up to him to testify and speak up on his behalf because he's the number 1 hero and people would listen to what he has to say.

So far, Saitama is actually lucky to be under the radar...public outcry could be intense. There would be no fans for him, he would only be feared if they actually knew. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

This was expanded on a bit more in the anime. Normal, everyday C-B rank heroes just cannot comprehend the amount of destruction Saitama can do with his pinky finger. Sure, there are other extremely strong heroes like Tatsumaki around as well, but they have the good reputation to back up their good intentions and Hero association feels like they have the means to rein them down if necessary. Saitama has no such luxury and is well out of their league.

./end Meta

-*-

Now, I want to enter the realm of speculation because I thought of a possible scenario that may happen and it would greatly expand on the mental health issues Saitama has and what ONE likes to stress about in this manga. This'll be less like meta and more like fanfiction. This'll be a wild ride so buckle in.

TW: Psychosis

Lets imagine for a moment that the worst comes to pass and the entire mankind is seemingly vilifying and makes Saitama out to be an evil guy, on social media, protests, you get the gist. If the situation ever got that bad, Saitama might go down into psychosis just from lack of sleep for worrying so much about the situation surrounding him.

Psychosis is a condition of the mind or psyche that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features.

(Nightly ruminations are funny until you get insomnia and sleep deprivation lol)

It would not have to be true either, he would just have to believe it to be true in a delusion and his mind could logically come up with all sorts of paranoia. We've seen him vilified already during the Sea King, so it's not unprecedented. Just make it a thousand fold worse this time around.

If the call to action comes from Hero association, which already has a precedent and intent of restraining dangerous individuals which he has seen happen first hand (Psykos), he'd feel like he has no way to appeal to authority to prove he's not actually a bad guy. If hero association turns its back to him, who can be trusted? Police? Nah, they're ill equipped to deal with the situation and he's gotten suspicions in the past before, for no reason, so he has no reason to trust them all. (Pork cutlet bowl, Vol 7 extra)

On top of that, any pro hero has access to the Hero association incarceration list as told by Fubuki, so Hero association in worst case scenario might just exacerbate the situation and make all the heroes think Saitama is some kind of a criminal that needs to be taken down. Too bad most don't know about Saitama's power and might even try to foolishly throw themselves against him, either because they don't know or they disbelieve what has been told about Saitama's insane power if that has spread out to the populace, possibly as means to blackmail him and take revenge. (McCoy)

(You can probably see where this is going...just add a dose of corruption and drop an incarceration note and vola, you could criminalize any hero)

Situation could quickly become very divisive between the rare people who know Saitama and the public who knows not. But those who do not know him well enough, such as Tatsumaki, might feel like its injustice but not really know what to think about it.

Things would spiral down really fast if Saitama feels like he has nobody he can trust, so he would definitely try to escape the situation and run to the only person in the world he can really and truly trust to have his back in any situation: Genos.

Genos has proven time and time again that he will stand by Saitama no matter what and is... somehow not scared even a little bit after the time travel fiasco of his immense strenght. Oh Genos...

But I would not want to be in Genos' shoes when he finds out that he just became the last thread of sanity left for a person who can destroy planets if he sneezes badly. 😱

This is where Genos has to think really, really hard about that one promise he made to Saitama, to stick by him always.

Genos' time is ticking down however, because Hero association has MOST DEFINITELY dispacted Blast to incarcerate Saitama so there is no chance he will cause any harm to anybody. Blast naturally understands the reasoning behind this and complies, he tried to restrain Cosmic Garou too and he would attempt the same with Saitama if he's amiable. (Squared, cpt 166.) Just chat with the guy a bit in another dimension, no harm no foul right? Makes sense right?

But Saitama is not of sound mind to chat no, he's desperate and in a bout of sleepless and depression induced psychosis filled to the brim with paranoia about everyone out to get him and if Blast knows and deciphers the situation accordingly, he would see that Saitama would resist and the situation would end up completely side-ways if he tried to force the issue and Saitama would accidentally punch the planet to smithereens.

Or...he might not see it...and force the issue anyway because it's important and Saitama is just being unreasonable. Just assuming the worst has happened and he was wrong to think Saitama is not malicious.

Genos has a choice to make here. Be loyal to Saitama who is scared out of his mind and defend his master from the number 1 hero and get utterly wrecked in the process because he definitely cannot win, further traumatising Saitama who would be watching from the sidelines and probably make it a certainty that Saitama would just avenge him and kill Blast in the process, proving everyone right.

Or...step aside and let Blast handle it, because if they successfully incarcerate Saitama, the situation could be resolved without bloodshed. He could talk to Saitama himself, reason with him and settle him down enough for a chat and de-escalate. But doing so would completely betray Saitama's trust in him and most definitely, he would be on the receiving end of Saitama's anger from this core betrayal.

For the first time in his life, Genos' eyes are wide open about Saitama and he's paralyzed by this decision.

And it would be Genos' choice in the end that would determine the fate of the world.

Ok so now I'm totally entering the realm of fanfiction but hey. This be some wild speculation.

Because we have parallel worlds, we can play out both potential scenarios (thanks ONE). In the first scenario, Saitama might just kill Blast and then rewind time back in desperation because Genos is wrecked/dead too, realising it's not what he wanted to do but it would leave him traumatised.

If Genos chooses to betray him, he would react in anger and showcase some power, but ultimately he cannot bring himself to harm a hair on Genos' head and he flees the scene, but not before he tells Genos he won't ever see him again. Saitama punches his way to a place where nobody else is sure to get him, outside the laws of causality in hyperspace and vanishes. (Mentioned by Empty void in chapter 201, You Pass.) Blast almost gets an aneurysm because only Void was supposed to be able to do it and he has to alert the Blastice League because the situation just got completely out of his control and to expect the absolute worst.

(The place where dreams end, rewritten chapter 195)

And this is where the actual doomsday begins, when OPM God swoops in to claim his ultimate prize, ripe for the picking. Saitama was delivered right onto his lap.

Vulnerable and easily manipulated to just accept the situation as having been abandoned by every single person on earth, Saitama would accept God's proposal to change it all. He would teach Saitama how to manipulate the laws of causality to make his own world where this never happened and he could live happily ever after. Saitama's greatest wish has just always been to help people and he could create his own utopia, with no monsters. He is definitely strong enough for that, he is limitless. He always wanted to become a hero to help the weak, but this would allow him to get to the heart of the issue, so that people need not be rescued at all. There is a glimmer of hope in the darkness.

Saitama takes God's hand and OPM ends on a doomsday and OPM God wins.

...

Just kidding, Saitama rewinds back in time because he has to tell Genos how sorry he is about everything that happened before he leaves his life for good and Genos and Blast are just flabbergasted about what he's even talking about. Saitama also thinks he left the stove on in his haste and asks Genos to get it for him so his entire apartment complex doesn't burn down.

Saitama attempts to leave but Genos stops him this time, asks what is wrong and Blast remains confused and Genos correctly deduces Saitama must've time traveled again. Saitama just stares blankly because it has been a rollercoaster and he just says he wants to be alone. Genos insists on not leaving his side, Blast watches carefully and then Saitama just breaks down and starts blabbing about the entire thing, eventually gets tired and passes out because he hasn't been sleeping well for a month, kept awake by anxiety and overactive brain.

Genos opts to carry him back to a safe zone (King's place?) and Blast portals them to avoid people noticing. Genos calls reinforcements like Fubuki to adress Saitama's flailing mental health.

./end crazy fanfiction speculation.

Grats for making it to the end and thank you all for reading. :D *Cough* I can't keep my fanfiction out of metas it seems but I apparently can't help but (over)share.

Part 1 of the meta in question where I too speculate about stuff that may happen.

[aphrodeiities]

𝔩𝔢𝔬 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔰𝔱 𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔰𝔢

paid natal chart [and other chart] readings

♇ leo in the first house, entails that they're seen as people who are glamorous, talented and charismatic, as the first house communicates about an individual is seen by others around them. to have leo in the first house conveys the information that they are seen as people who are cheerful, glow-y and assertive, their leadership nature can either be seen as very charming or over-bearing; due to the fact that they can also be deemed to be people who are annoying, pompous and self-righteous.

♇ moving onto the topic of self-identity, natives with leo in the ascendant are likely to identify themselves with or as people who are the entertainers, it doesnt matter what they do, if they're cooking for someone, playing a game with someone, they'll feel an energy where they have to give it their all. aside from that they might identify themselves as people who are the "authority" which links back to why people might find them over-bearing due to their constant need to lead, it might not be for everyone though, it can sometimes be funny, especially with tyler the creator's cooking video where he and a co-star kept on speaking over each other.

♇ with the first house ruling the impression we make on others, for leo to be here insinuates that they give the impression that they are inspirational people, leo risings are one of the main least ascendant placements that are going to hide themselves, which gives people the influence and idea that they are bold people who are determined to express their needs, wants and emotions.

♇ they have the personality of people who are noble, generous and caring, there's others who'll deem those with the ascendant in leo to be people who are selfish, which they can be, but when you're in their circle, they're very doting and warmhearted. they're people who are sincere, enthusiastic and faithful, most of them always believe in something, it doesnt necessarily have to be a God, it can be having faith in themselves, their friends or their family. on the other hand, they can have the traits of being impatient, snobby and stuck-up, this'll normally happen with bad aspects. or them being like that because its in their nature.

♇ the sun is their planetary ruler, which causes them to shine no matter where they are, no matter how private they want to be, people always find a way to find interest them and continuously watch them. their presence is like the big elephant in the room which can overwhelm others and make insecure people dislike them because they cant handle the fact that someone is so influential, beautiful and bewitching. this causes many people to admire them, and find inspiration, much leo risings might find others copying them a lot, it could be style, attitude, manners or even a way of thinking.

♇ furthermore, the topic of appearance here displays the data that much leo risings have strong hair, or their hair is just really nice. most of them have fluffiness in it, and some of them might have greasy hair; orange-yellow under tone skin and a very strong stance. sometimes their chest are poking out, and have very muscle-y limbs, a strong posture, cat/feline eyes and flat noses, or noses that are positioned like a cat's.

♇ moreover, moving onto their personal ambition, leo risings could have the tendency of becoming someone who is greater than their current selves. they always like to elevate themselves, transform themselves into something greater. majority of them always like to be known and it is always likely to come easily for them, they can be the most known in their school, community they're in, family etc. they just always shine, however, in the end, their personal ambition is to normally make a name or something for themselves.

♇ on one hand, the first house bespeaks about the strengths and weaknesses of an individual, to have leo in the ascendant communicates the idea that their strength is them being noble, playful, courageous and energetic. whereas their weakness can be listed of them being patronising, over-dramatic, egotistical and mean.

♇ they're definitely natives who are not scared to project their personality, if they're confident they will show they're confident, if they're scared or upset, they will not be afraid to express that they are. they do not [or are least likely] going to hide whats going on, unless they have placements that imply of secretiveness. on the other hand, they will present themselves to be people who are vital, they're like that character in a franchise that cannot be perceived as useless because they always have a skill or information that is important for the story-line.

♇ furthermore, kins who have their rising in leo see the world as their stage, their fashion walk or a place they need to dominate. these attributes can cause them to become people who are somewhat self-entitled as they believe they deserve everything they come across and get upset when they cant have the specific outcome in the time they want. imagine the song "i want it all" by sharpay evans. [they need to understand they cant have a certain thing during the time they want it because they wont know how to handle it then.]

♇ additionally, the ascendant being the house of self-image indicates that they could be really interested about how people think about them where there can be other leo risings who don't care how people perceive them. leo belongs to the celestial planet the sun, so even if they do care about people's opinions about them or not, there'll still be people who would attempt to throw some comments/shade about them. however, when evolved, they'll understand that they are somewhat succeeding in life to have people continuously speak about them. when it comes to self-image, leo risings know what they're good at, or they're on the path of understanding the talents and skills they can portray to the world, they're people who cant wait to show what they can do, the type to skip the tutorial and just get into it.

♇ finishing with the impact they have on other people, evidently with leo in the first house, this can either go really good or it can go really bad. they could leave people feeling insecure about their skills because they feel like the leo in the first house native can do it better than them. furthermore, they could also make someone feel inspired, inspired to become a better version of themselves knowing that it can be reached. the impact leo ascendants can leave on other people is to feel seen, they can easily reach the heart of someone and can give them the light [as they are ruled by the sun] an individual has been searching for.

pluto's masterlist

leo in the houses

paid natal chart [and other chart] readings

pluto

♇

[rosefinch07]

Humbly asking if you have any Jason/Jaime hcs because they've been rotting my brain semi-frequently and I'd love to hear them 🙏

YES I HAVE BEEN HOLDING ONTO THEM EVER SINCE I STARTED MY JASON/JAIME FIC THIS'LL BE LONG SO ITS UNDER THE CUT

-they cook together, mostly dinner and breakfast and they are so used to it that they anticipate what the other needs and just hands it over, and of course they can never go wrong with some domestic dancing in the kitchen

- jason and Jaime read together sometimes, and trade books

- they DEFINITELY are little shits to eachother and give eachother heart attacks

- jaime is a light sleeper by nature and jason is a deep sleeper by nature (light sleeper by bat training)

- jaime runs cold and jason runs hot so cuddling thermal equilibrium my beloved

Since i am in the pre blue beetle college au kick

- jaime as a civilian and adjusting into a civilian gothamite is more terrifying than blue beetle since he takes after his nana during college

- jaime makes jason feel normal, or as normal as a gothamite can be

- they study together and when Jaime or Jason are too mentally tired to continue they cuddle to recharge

- i have a height chart ive been using so behold my height headcanons

Jaime is very chin restable and jay is a tank in comparison

- i very much focus on martha wayne's pearl collection when it comes to batkids bc i am THAT martha guy so i feel like jason would try to give jaime a peice from her collection like a small bracelet or earrings and jaime would go "do not put me in HEIRLOOMS" and then another bat upon accepting jaime would do it and jaime just sags bc oh okay this is a wayne thing to induct people into the family alr

- they're both such romantics and it drives everyone else up the wall bc they've been like this since before they were dating bc they're both pro kissing the homies goodnight and it's NORMAL to them so them dating kinda clicks into place with not a whole lot of fanfare

- before jaime finds out abt jason being red hood jaime just thinks that it must be a coincedence that whenever he texts jason an update abt him being caught up in a rogue scheme or a hostage situation red hood always arrives to the scene first and it is hilarious

Honestly i could go on and on but then we would be here for decades!

Thank you for your ask!!

[electricdissonance]

[Rye's mail pings, confusion on the scarecrow's face. He didn't quite understand how the internet worked. This was more something Saltie had set up for him to do with the laptop she...Found? Found, somehow. He'd rather not think the hare stole it. She thought it'd give him more knowledge, things to do. Or an emphasis on finding himself. But Rye's not lost, he's right here.

An email for some...closed beta? Did he sign up for anything lately? Critter didn't go on his laptop. Maybe Saltie sent this to the wrong mail instead of her own.

Well. RYE was the one picked. He can't just lie and send it back to Saltie now. That's wrong. Almost worse than stealin'.

The scarecrow tries to make himself presentable, adjusting his hat and jacket. He still looks...scraggly as ever.]

"Howdy hey! I don't remember signin' up for any chat thingies, but I can't say no to bein' picked! Maybe this'll be good for me. I'm Rye."

"It... It worked?"

"You all... came?"

The axolotl was left speechless as people poured in one by one; he could hardly believe his eyes.

"You... can hear me, right? A-and see me?"

There was no chat option for himself, so he assumed that the users likely had a direct camera and audio feed of him on their end. Even without confirmation from his visitors, he began to speak out loud.

"I... I thought I would be alone forever. It's been so long since I've had anyone to talk to, I honestly thought I'd been... scrapped."

"I can't express how happy I am to meet you all! My name is Kinito, your best virtual friend! I look forward to assisting you all!"

He did a little bow, the entire sequence feeling as natural as breathing.

[tosodev]

Devblog 015:

I did really good work yesterday and then would up passing out before I could write a devblog (why I was writing the first couple in "past tense")

Editor is now fully functional, I've also begun work on Pathfinding using the A* system. This'll be mostly used for Heros (obviously) as well as some homing dart spells(?) and making sure your dungeon is actually completable by a Hero.

Elaborating on how Dungeons will be checked, here are some visual representations of what'll happen.

This one represents what an "Empty" room will look like. It'll check to see if it finds a valid path between the start (dark red) and the end (dark green) and if it does the room will be marked as an "Empty" room within the game. While the room isn't empty (since there's a dragon, seen by the purple pixels) it's technically empty since there's nothing to stop the Hero from walking all the way through.

Here's a sped up version of this to show what a "Puzzle" room looks like. The game first does the method for an "Empty" room, but since there's no direct path to the end, it looks for the nearest "interactable" (switch, place, etc) and then marks the start location where it is, and then triggers it as a Hero would. Then it repeats the process until it reaches the end.

All of this won't be done by the Hero as to make them feel natural. More than likely I'll have 3 different types of AI's for the Hero to use which'll make it act like different types of players (specifically dark souls players as the way that other people play those games facinates me)

So that's it. There'll only be 1 Hero or (if I have time) 1 Party of 4 Hero's active in the Dungeon at any time so depending on how I implement this algorithm for the Heros this should be pretty efficient. (Talking about Hero's pathfinding here since the Room Check will only be run once the player "saves changes" on the room, to reduce lag.)

Ok that's all I worked on I'm going to write another Log later for today (10/16) but until then... adios...

Katlikesnero

[bestworstcase]

I find it interesting how much the RK Jaune basically now occupies the same position as Ironwood and Ozma in a narrative sense, the two people he's always held a notable critical eye and distrust for ever since the fall of Beacon, at least when you consider his situation with Alyx and Lewis.

He basically tried to do what they did; railroad others into the story that he thought it should be, even if out of the best of intentions, and in doing so basically ensured that Alyx wouldn't trust him.

As Salem's heroic foil, I wonder if this'll play a part in any relevations he and the others might have about dealing with Salem herself.

Because I don't think it's a coincidence.

Also think it's interesting how he considers ascension "death"...but given that he's the type of person who literally clings to and wears his trauma on him, maybe in his mind he views the "death" of his memories, the potential loss of his own past mistakes as being just as bad as dying.

OH. ohhh you know what this is, i bet?

“she cursed the world; she cursed the gods. she cursed everything—everything but herself.”

i’ve never believed the insinuation here that salem is incapable of self-reflection—salem herself is far too flexible and far too comfortable reversing course when something isn’t working for me to believe that she’s too arrogant to consider the possibility that she’s done wrong, and the reason she cursed the gods and not herself is that she genuinely did nothing wrong—BUT, that insinuation sure is an apt description of jaune’s reaction to the ever after, isn’t it? oh, he’s marinating in compulsive guilt and when he gets caught up in recounting the past he wonders aloud if it was his fault for not being able to make the story happen the right way, but those feelings are just that—compulsive, arising more from his festering guilt about penny than any actual sense of personal responsibility. something bad happened, and jaune blames the tree—or the cat—or the herbalist—or alyx herself, because she was selfish and cruel and must have sacrificed her brother to escape and then written him out of the story. it doesn’t matter what any of the afterans say, ascension is death and the cat is evil and the world is rotten and he knows the truth, he doesn’t need a guide, he’s got all the right answers and he’s sick and tired of the ever after’s bullshit.

meanwhile anyone with half a brain is now like, unreliable narrator much?

and like becoming jaded, making assumptions and accusations instead of asking questions… he’s salem’s heroic foil after the extinction, and he does what jinn (speaking from ozpin’s perspective!) accuses salem of having done—blaming everyone except himself, refusing to look inwards and question his own choices—and doing that transforms him into ozpin! we’re seeing the other side of the mirror now, demonstrating that the assessment of salem’s flaws provided in the lost fable was just ozpin projecting all along. which lol We Knew, but now it’s being overtly pointed out to us.

(isn’t it funny how ozma devoted lifetimes to destroying history and keeping secrets and lying to people for the sake of controlling the narrative, and now jaune’s old and jaded and flinging accusations around and refusing to listen to the answers he’s given, and curiosity has slunk away in despair? i think that’s funny. the sledgehammer of subtlety was not enough they needed a jackhammer)

the thing about ascension of course is that it is death—it’s reincarnation. the denizens don’t call it death because to them, “death” means specifically the ending of the reincarnation cycle, but for all intents and purposes ascension is just death and spiritual rebirth. what jaune’s not seeing is that this process is a natural and celebrated part of life in the ever after—it’s not something bad. what is bad is the spiritual death that occurs when a denizen is eaten by the jabberwalker and thus cut off from connection to the tree. jaune is taking his own feelings about how death works in his world and applying it incorrectly to a culture and a belief system that doesn’t work that way, and deciding that the whole belief system is evil on that basis. which is both understandable given what he’s been through and an attitude that makes any and all information he provides about the ever after functionally worthless, because he’s not able to see any of it clearly. he’s too deep in his own head, his own preconceived notions—again rather like another paranoid old man we know.

(i’m also finding it really interesting that jaune gives crescent rose back to ruby, in this context—he’s symbolically standing in ozpin’s shoes here as he hands her weapon back as a burden. i’m curious to see how this plays out in conjunction with 1. the cat having left them, and 2. That One Shot from the trailer, and 3. the blacksmith’s second scene.)

at this point and with only four episodes left i’m kinda… like before they get home, they need to 1. find out what really happened to lewis, and 2. either learn ✨something✨ about salem to take with them back to remnant or make the choice to commit to a new course of action (<- leaning toward the former still, because at this point i don’t think there’s ANY way these kids land on “we should try to reason with her” without something knocking them in that direction first, and because i still think “salem wrote it” is the explanation that makes the most sense as far as what the ever after…is.) and those to things are probably connected in some way? i would imagine? but jaune needs to lose his cynicism and the only way to do that is to find out the truth, i think.

i also have some latent thoughts about jaune seeing his younger self in the crossroad mirrors like—hm. hmm hm. jaune was the hatter and now he’s hatta and the rusted knight is also jaune’s reflection—there are some layers to this that i need to Ponder but in the spirit of deranged crwby-watched-my-favorite-musical?! posting i’d say jaune is overdue for a more literal meeting with his younger self in the indeterminate future and also i’ve changed my mind on they’re not gonna de-age him and i am now like. 50/50 jaune gets wound back but keeps his memories (<- that’s how the watch gets used to save the day in post-2011 iterations of musical) and 50/50 ruby uses the watch to give herself a second chance to solve a riddle (<- pre-2011 style). or maybe both i have no idea what is happening anymore i’m just experiencing some emotions for sure

[ampleappleamble]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Spread the self-love ❤️

okay okay at least three separate people (you, @adozentothedawn and @dragonologist-phd ♡♡♡) have asked me this now so i guess i better deliver. conveniently, i only have 5 published fics in total, so this'll be pretty easy! i'll list them in order of my most to least favorite:

Hero Worship — this fic answers the question "before he invited them to the Dead Floe, how did Vatnir learn about the Watcher of Caed Nua's exploits in the Dyrwood and their presence in the Deadfire?" in my Watcher's case, it turns out the answer is "an unscrupulous merchant sold him a book about her and he became infatuated with her after seeing her portrait, and then he had a really fucked up terrifying horny nightmare about her that he's pretty sure was some sort of omen from his god, so he figured he'd better write to her." features Maribel and Maribel, my Vailian nature godlike and endings godlike not-really-sisters with the same name who ran away from the circus and are trying to build themselves a little trade empire. this was one of those fic ideas i kicked around in my head for years before finally writing it and i personally really really love how it came out! content warning: there's an almost-sexual encounter involving arguably dubious consent, blood, and forced consumption of gore (all of which are entirely within a dream sequence), and vomit (that happens in the waking world).

Pillars of Eternity: Anthem Infinitum — my very first fic ever, a novelization of my Watcher Axa Mala's journey through the events of the first Pillars of Eternity game. she features in most of my other fics, so if you wanna know what she's all about, start here! my longest fic at over 100k words thus far, still very much in progress, stalled out around 2 years ago just as i was starting the White March, a rather difficult section of the game wrt keeping up one's momentum. also i had just given birth to my son, which shifted my priorities a bit. i'm currently in the process of re-editing it in preparation to (hopefully) continue the damn thing, so if you'd like to help encourage me, read what i've got and maybe consider leaving a comment! 👀 content warning: every sensitive topic you might encounter in Pillars of Eternity you'll also find here, including blood/gore/violence, (memories/discussion of) child abuse, (memories/discussion of) incestuous sexual assault, and the abuse/murder of vulnerable people.

Shelter in Place — your classic "curmudgeonly old man and adorable precocious child are thrown together by Circumstances and must learn to get along" fic. Vatnir hasn't been in the Watcher's crew for even six hours yet, and already they're under attack by pirates, because of course they are. but as he's trying to find a place to hide (what, you thought he was gonna help fight them?), who should he happen across but a little orlan girl, clutching a stuffed stelgaer and looking for her mama? as the battle above intensifies, he scoops Vela up and gets the two of them to a relatively safe place, but can he manage to keep her safe? or at least quiet? another fic i spent a lot of time daydreaming about before finally writing it, and the only fic of mine requiring no content warning because there's no objectionable content! (unless you count the very brief appearance of a severed hand.)

God's Children Bathe Free — still the only Vatnir/Tekēhu fic on ao3! the Watcher of Caed Nua has decided to treat her crew to a trip to the Luminous Bathhouse, primarily because they're offering free admission for godlike patrons today– hence why she's invited her newest recruit, Vatnir. he's reluctant at first, but Tekēhu convinces him that he ought to enjoy all the Deadfire has to offer their kind... as well as the amorous attentions of Ondra's favored. i write about Vatnir a lot, i know, but this was my very first effort starring him! this one turned out very differently than i'd initially planned. i didn't set out with the intent to pair him and Tekēhu romantically, but by the end of the story that's where i found they'd led me. no regrets though. content warning: there's a good amount of innuendo and implied sexual activity in this one.

Wael's Mystery Nut — a shitpost in the form of a fanfiction examining what each of the gods might be like were they to engage the Watcher in sexual intercourse. literally born of making ridiculous raunchy jokes about the gods in the pillars fan discord, inspired by the hauntingly beautiful, achingly erotic unfinished fic from the Forgotten Sanctum, A Very Good Farmer. featuring an intentionally ambiguous Watcher (just plug your favorite Watcher into the story!) and a little epilogue starring Xoti and (who else) Vatnir. content warning: no one should read this. (honestly it's meant to be funny and not at all titillating, but it does make use of some pretty explicit sexual imagery and language, so if that's not your thing then read at your own risk.)

[poopyballz28]

(my) Kiyosumi Katou Character Analysis

This one's a long one so strap in, gang. The alt text on the images gives more context to what I'm talking about too, by the way 👍

starting off with,

Personality

I think it's pretty evident that Kiyosumi is not the...nicest or most caring person out there. He's shown to hurt (or attempt to hurt) others with no second-thought or remorse for his actions, indirectly showing his overall arrogance and unsympathetic behavior. I can't even show a fraction of him having outbursts of anger or something of the like because of how often it happens.

But we can't talk about Kiyosumi if we don't mention his cocky attitude and humorous nature. He's shown multiple times giving smug smiles and doing a little bit of teasing throughout his few shown spars. It can be pretty heavily deducted from an outsiders perspective that he's awfully confident in himself and his abilities. Though, whether he truly is can be debated.

What can be clearly deduced from most everything is his general self-centered nature, going out of his way just to do things the way he wants to do them. He even leaves the dojo to go join the yakuza for the sole purpose he can hurt others without any repercussions. Because in his mind, the one who matters most is himself. What can also be heavily deduced is his status on body count. I'm basically saying he's most likely killed a few people, especially during his time in the yakuza.

Another thing which is also pretty evident is his almost sadistic way of fighting others. He really enjoys sparring, or more precisely, hurting other people in a way that makes him feel good about himself. We can determine that he really likes to be above an opponent, to have power over an opponent. Perhaps being superior helps him forget how inferior he truly believes himself to be. Though, this'll be expanded on soon.

A small thing that I personally find out of character for him in some character writings is making him more social and outgoing than I believe he truly is. He can be outgoing, yes, but if you combine all of his clear hatred and arrogant nature it's pretty easy to deduct that he is quite an antisocial person, being quite unfamiliar with proper interactions with other people. As is expected from somebody who indulges in all of the heinous things that he partakes in. But I feel it's also out of character if all of his goofiness is overshadowed as well. He is humorous, and it's not unfair to say that he's also probably a prankster as well. There's a perfect balance in his character which isn't always perfected by people, not even by me all the time.

Another thing I think is worth noting is how easy it is to set him off with...just about anything. Like during his fight with Yasha jr when Tokugawa brings up the fact that Baki had defeated Yasha's very father, he was quickly overcome with rage and jealousy before immediately making countless attack on the giant animal. He's easy to manipulate by controlling his anger and likely his insecurity too.

Overall, Kiyosumi is an arrogant, sadistic prick who enjoys hurting other people and getting his way with a cocky smirk painted on his face. Being an awfully antisocial person in nature and perhaps a bit awkward and inappropriate in certain situations because of his lack of normal human interaction, he fights on to reach the top perilously. Though he's not completely ruthless and hateful, even if thats what it may seem like.

Kindness and relationship with Doppo

Decided to combine these two thoughts because his sparse kindness is usually directly related to his feelings on Doppo. Some of his few moments of caring are to him in particular.

While he doesn't show much kindness in comparison to his violent outbursts, he does have some little moments that shows he's not completely out of touch with being caring and having softer emotions.

You've seen it here first, folks. Kiyosumi just admitted to caring about somebody. This is honestly kind of groundbreaking for him. But the fact he's willing to admit this so easily shows how dedicated he truly is to his father. I mean Sensei. Sensei is what I meant to say.

Doppo is very obviously a big part of Kiyosumi's character, most of his vulnerable emotions stemming from Doppo particularly. It's pretty clear that Kiyosumi and Doppo have a long history together, canonically having known each other for probably 5~6 years, but I'd say most likely more. (though there is a space in between when Kiyosumi ditched the dojo for the yakuza) While Doppo most definitely gave Kiyosumi the most shit and teased him a bunch, it can still be fairly deducted that he likely trained and taught Kiyosumi with compassion, something we know he isn't very familiar with. This caring from another person mixed with the fact Doppo was almost like a father to him (perhaps the father he never had?) had opened up some more delicate feelings for Kiyosumi. Or at least, thats what I assume of course.

I also really enjoy the scene in Tokugawa's home before Kiyosumi's fight with Dorian. He walks in so rebelliously, using his own hand crafted weapon to slice Dorians ear off, even though...he can basically already do something like that with his hand. I like to think this is his way of trying to disconnect from Doppo and the Shinshinkai "way". He knows that he cares about Doppo the most out of anyone, and the fact that he does know this tells me he's trying to, almost, get rid of that vulnerability and that emotion. He knows he cares, but he also knows that he shouldn't care about anyone but himself. He may have tried to show out to Doppo then, demonstrating that he can do things his own way and succeed, but no matter what, he'll always desire his true approval. Because he does care.

Of course, I can't forget the scene where Kiyosumi does a myriad of seiken's with Atsushi is order to motivate Katsumi during his fight with Kaoru. Though, this can either be taken as caring for Katsumi or just generally caring about the victory and success of his father- of his Sensei's karate school. While its hard to say, if I were to think about it most canonically up to this point in his character, it'd probably be the latter. Since by that point, him and Katsumi were only acquainted at best, Kiyosumi even showing a little hint of hate or jealousy towards him in one part. Though, I will say Kiyosumi has shown jealousy to someone before while still liking the person in question. This is true with Baki.

Speaking of Baki, he is one of the only other people Kiyosumi is shown to care at least a little bit about. During some of Baki's fights in early manga, there are some panels of him showing genuine concern for the boy. Not to mention his expression when Baki won the maximum tournament. While this is really surprising, I think there might be some kind of deeper reason he likes seeing Baki succeed. Perhaps, he sees part of himself in Baki. Maybe feeling as if Baki were the more powerful and open-minded teenage version of himself, the version of him that didn't walk such a dark, incriminating path. Or perhaps relating to his struggle with his father and sympathizing with his, quite sad, backstory. That would make some sense considering how close he is with Doppo, almost seeing him as a father. Maybe all of this alludes to the fact that Kiyosumi may have also struggled during his upbringing and childhood. Though, this is just speculation, why he really cares about Baki on the occasion is hard to pinpoint exactly. But if I were to put a good guess on it, it's probably because of what I aforementioned.

Forgot to mention that he basically indirectly calls him his parent after they sparred and Kiyosumi went for his eye. This is beautiful stuff. Fictional father and son relationship fans, rise.

His character depth and fight with Dorian

Remember when I mentioned that whether Kiyosumi is really confident in himself is debatable? Well I'm back to expand on that idea. I've always kind of headcanon'd him to be secretly very insecure of himself, putting up a wall of fake confidence or some kind of facade to hide his hidden insecurity from others. Though this was originally speculation and headcanon, I'm pretty confident in saying that this is probably a very realistic and canonical thing to consider when talking about his character.

I think this image kind of tells me that my suspicions of his fear and falters are correct. While it is small, I think this is Itagaki's way of giving him that eensey weensey little bit of depth.

His tough attitude and huge built up wall keep others from knowing that he is fearful, that he is frankly pretty vulnerable. If this was ever pointed out to him, he would most likely, you guessed it, get angry immediately and probably attack. His rage controls him constantly, so much that even he may start to notice as well.

Kiyosumi knows he's not the strongest out there, though he definitely desires to be. Looking down on others has always been the thing that made him feel better about all of the stressors and the shit he puts himself through. But he does realize he's not the best. He absolutely hates thinking about it though.

It's not unfair to say Kiyosumi thinks quite low of himself and abilities. But I think that's what makes the Shinshinkai working to avenge him that much more beautiful. This guy who truly believes nobody cares about him gets hurt by someone severely, almost at the edge of death (something he was quite content with) But the whole entire Shinshinkai was out looking for this man who caused him harm. No matter what trouble Kiyosumi gets himself into, his dad- HIS SENSEI...will always be there for him. Doppo was the one who ended up avenging Kiyosumi anyway, instead of the other way around. Even bringing him out for the final blow. Quite nice.

Speaking of that fiasco, lets move onto his infamous battle with Dorian Kaioh. I love some of the little implications in this fight that alludes to small traits in his character. His empty eyes after taking several blows mid-fight really speaks to me. It's even hard for me to put into words exactly how he's feeling during that fight, but it's pretty clear he's determined to bag a victory at any cost despite his rather somber state during the spar mid-way. I think it's also pretty funny how quickly he went from calm to blood-thirsty again so quickly. Maybe he really never does change. It's fair to say that Kiyosumi probably chose to fight Dorian due to what he did to Doppo, not only wanting to "avenge" him but also wanting to gain his approval, something which he heavily desires. Underestimating Dorian's strength and stealthily sneaking in his hideout, he jumps right into battle. (Very like him, I know.)

Of course, we all know the unfortunate outcome of the fight. But I'd like to point out some of the quite peaceful looks on his face during it. Even Kiyosumi admits that maybe amidst all of the pain and all of the shit, this is really what he's been looking for all along. What this means exactly can vary depending on how you see it, but I like to think this is almost Itagaki's way to give him an actual character arc. Even though we know...that didn't really happen (Which is really fucking funny don't get me wrong. Another part of the Kiyosumi curse) but I appreciate it nonetheless, thank you Itagaki-Sensei.

A little update here, I almost forgot to mention how sad it is that he recognizes that his only worth lies in his fighting. This, of course, is not true, but he's so caught up with fighting and martial arts he cant find any other part of him that he deems "good enough". He says the only thing he could ever find praise for was his fighting ability, but think about how he feels after engaging in battle and being overpowered and beaten. That's essentially all of his self worth down the drain. I think this is part of the reason he donned that expression at the end of the battle. He doubted his abilities and he lost horribly. What other means of living does he have at that point? He makes the statement that karate is simply a tool to him, but accumulates all of his self worth into his fighting. But I think during the fight where he basically says karate is all he has but then proceeding to say all it is to him is a tool is him trying to cope with the fact that he can't find pride in anything else about himself. Him telling himself, perhaps reminding himself, that karate is just a tool to him very clearly upped this fighting ability. That Kiyosumi confidence showed back up again, all because he was trying to convince himself he's more than his karate. Too bad his desire to win was taken advantage of so quickly, right as he was making a realization.

Kiyosumi's peaceful look and very very slight smile as he passes out at the end of the fight is really telling. He fought as hard as he could for a victory but he fell short. Just as he always knew he would eventually. Of course, he felt bad he couldn't please his Sensei, but his look tells us that he gained something that he's been looking for. A defeat. But not just any normal defeat. A death. It seems Dorian wasn't the only one who was seeking to know defeat in that battle.

Kiyosumi subconsciously desired a defeat which was completely unavoidable. A defeat that he couldn't make excuses about. A cut and dry loss where it ends with his inevitable demise. Almost like an escape from all of the problems. This, is what I think he was looking for.

But he lived! We all know that. Very happy for him. I guess. A little thing I would like to point out thats probably just something I want to have depth is the unexpected light in his eyes here, as he's indirectly apologizing to Doppo. His expression has been so hateful and bleak this whole time and the one moment he thinks he's about to finally die, he thinks about his dad with a slight smile and a light in his eyes. Pretty sad.

He tried so hard to retain at least a little bit of confidence in himself only for him to come to the pitiful conclusion that things wont change. His self worth is solely his fighting, and he'll die that way.

Headcanons and littler things

Thought I should add a section just for little things I think about his character, like how much I think he may struggle with substance addiction. Particularly with alcohol, it helps him forget that he's sad or even insecure at all. I think it's pretty fair to assume that he's an awfully messy person, so I imagine his apartment is trashed with empty beer cans and trash that was never picked up.

I wanted to make a stand-alone post on this but I thought I should just bring it up now. Kiyosumi not showing up to Katsumi's fight with Pickle is somehow the funniest but also most canon thing Itagaki could have possibly accidentally done. Like where is he? Probably sleeping in after a tough hangover, huh? No big surprise. Just really goofy to think about where he could possibly be during all of that.

Kiyosumi going back to the yakuza after his fight with Dorian (which can be easily assumed based on his clothing afterward) is really, not only funny to me, but also a bit saddening. I love knowing he's a yakuza and I also love knowing he's just generally a bad guy but the fact he so quickly goes back to the yakuza really shows that no matter what, he never truly changes. But that's the Kiyosumi curse. Character with tons of potential that has absolutely nothing else done with them in the story. While it's kind of messed up to not really continue on with his "arc", I still see it as cool character writing even though I doubt Itagaki drew and wrote that in for exactly the reason I'm describing it.

Kiyosumi's pure unadulterated rage is the most amazing thing to me. Nobody mentions the fact that completely UNCONSCIOUS, he got up with pure fighting spirit alive and well, just to land a blow on Dorian. When I said his rage controls him I was not lying.

Afterword

Well, that about concludes my character study of everything about him thats at least canonically shown, with of course, a few of my thoughts and idea's sprinkled in there. There are admittedly a few things I didn't include, that were either really minuscule or would've made the post even longer than it already is. But I hope my analysis can help others understand his character and motivations a little better, since I know not many people care about his character or are willing to really look in depth about him. Luckily, I'm just obsessed with him enough to know him almost like the back and front of my hand. Of course, if there's anything you think means something different, thats great! That's the joy of character understanding and comprehension. If you have any thoughts make sure to comment them down below, I'd love to see.

Number one Kiyosumi fanboy, logging off.

[yanderes-galore]

hi hi! can i get a yandere kiana kaslana with a female darling who's also an valkyrie but just more skilled than her? make this take place before himeko's death, love your works!!

I'm actually not that far in the story (My computer had issues and I never got to download it again) so either way this'll be before Himiko's death ^^ I tried not to involve lore so much but... minor spoiler warning. I'm assuming you mean the one in the main game story/the clone...?

Yandere! Kiana Kaslana with Valkyrie! Darling

Short Concept

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Clingy behavior, Manipulation, Stalking, Overprotective behavior, Invasive behavior.

You both go to Freya Academy to learn how to be valkyries.

Kiana naturally reaches out towards people with her personality.

She's outgoing, always happy, and overall just friendly.

Kiana also hates the idea of being alone.

Despite you out-ranking her, Kiana still treats you like family as she does with most of the academy.

You're always focusing on training... Kiana takes notices and pulls you away sometimes.

She has excuses... like Mei made something tasty or she wants lessons from you.

Which is strange as Kiana usually doesn't study willingly.

You probably rank as high as Mei, an A-Rank valkyrie.

She really cares for both you and Mei.

Mei comments a lot on how Kiana has grown attached to you when with you.

She's a sweet girl, always managing to make you smile.

You don't mind it when she asks you to train/study, it's always good to be ready for when Honkai strike.

You just notice she's distracted at times.

You'll be telling her a lesson or critique her skills... only to find her staring.

She then asks you to repeat yourself, making you sigh.

It's hard to tell she's yandere, it's always the bubbly ones.

Kiana's mostly Clingy, Overprotective, and Manipulative.

At least that's what she is before becoming a herrscher....

Kiana looks up to you as a skilled valkyrie.

She supports you and asks Mei all about you.

You and Mei are the same rank so you most likely keep in contact somehow.

Kiana tends to always want to know where you are.

If she hears you're studying, she's running in the room and disturbing you.

If she hears you're training, she's coming to join you.

You barely get time away from her.

Kiana also seems like the type to be physically affectionate.

She's tackling you in surprise hugs all the time.

Soon you have to start honing your senses to detect her before she strikes.

Her hugs aren't that bad when you expect them.

Kiana also gets a bit protective when you talk to people.

She stops her bubbly persona temporarily to watch you talk to someone else.

Her blue eyes narrow softly, swapping to yellow briefly before she tries to ignore it.

She tries not to show her jealousy when you hang around higher rank valkyrie.

Although it ends up showing when she becomes more clingy and nosey towards you.

Kiana isn't extremely manipulative.

Not like mastermind level manipulation, but enough to convince you to pay attention to her.

How could you not when she throws herself around you all the time?

Kiana is not one to harm people when she's jealous.

She usually keeps it bottled and tucked away from you.

Kiana saves her overprotective rage for Honkai.

Oof... if she saw you get hurt on the battlefield, she's pushing herself harder.

Kiana would not kidnap, she prefers to follow you around.

She likes you and her hanging out whenever she can.

Overall, Kiana would respect a valkyrie more skilled than her and cling to you.

She loves to be around you all the time!

Hopefully those dark desires of hers don't manifest something sinister... right?

[araneitela]

I'm writing, finally, but this thread made me want to leave a little note on the dash about the topic of affection/care in my portrayal of Kafka, because I don't want any assumptions made about what you can expect on this little blog of mine. Any way, I think that I've made it abundantly clear that I don't shy away from touching on the more emotion-driven aspects of her character (1, 2, to note just two quick examples) that tell me there's a deep-rooted capacity in Kafka to care, despite her confirmed lack of fear. While I respect that people may play into the concept of a 'numbness' across the spectrum of emotions for her as a whole, it's important to note for my end and on this blog (and this isn't any sort of jab at anyone, truly), that I do not play into this same take. This'll be a larger meta soon, but I wanted to add two specific 'little' things as a bit of a driving force alongside these numerous scenes, so that people may know where I'm coming from until I actually write this meta. This is from her SQ (Letter from a Strange Woman):

Trailblazer: Why did you join the Stellaron Hunters? (If Kafka says the truth) Kafka: Because I wanted to change myself. Kafka: I have no mechanism for "fear". There's an empty space in my mind and my heart, but I'm unable to perceive it. Changing that part of myself isn't something I can do alone. Kafka: Elio can help me, if I follow his instructions.

It has always struck me ever since the confirmation in this story quest, that 'feeling fear' is something that she actively wants to find and more so, seeks to obtain. Fear isn't just any random emotion, it's one of the most deep-rooted emotions that we have, and it is the one thing that we use to not only actively instinctively protect ourselves, both physically and emotionally; but fear is a fundamental part to attributing value to something or someone. And the reason why I bring up the latter, is because of Blade's line in the same quest:

Blade: Every Stellaron Hunter has a deal with Elio. I do not know the nature of those deals, but I do know that Kafka and I agreed to take orders from Elio. She must have sought something extraordinary. Everything she does comes at a great cost. Blade: She will have done many things to keep you alive until now, young one.

How do you measure 'great cost' if there is a lack of emotion, and therefore investment? If there is a void across the board, then does anything ever, truly, come at a great cost? Of course, one can claim that Blade is an unreliable narrator, but he is arguably, likely, the one who's known her longest after Elio, and then Sam.