#what would this person consider a worthwhile addition?

[archaeologysucks]

I just had someone decline my suggestion to add the names of a person’s parents and children to their memorial on FindAGrave, because, and I quote, “this memorial is about Dianna, not her children.” Which is officially the most bizarre reason I’ve ever encountered for someone declining an edit on there.

[pomefioredove]

now I'm actually invested in this idea. maybe I'll write a full length fic someday idk... for now I have short hcs

parts 1 | 2 | 3 | kalim | bad ending

summary: crowley decides to "give away" yuu to the highest "donation" for financial reasons type of post: headcanons characters: all nrc students additional info: can be read as platonic or romantic, except malleus is pretty romantic, second person pov, yuu is gender neutral, maybe a little ooc I wrote this as soon as I got up

crowley has had his fair share of "what the fuck" moments from you but this was really taking the cake

he acts so... casual about it?

swaggers into ramshackle one morning and says times are tough and your personal expenses are straining the budget so he's decided to "put you in someone else's care"

"The screening process will be vigorous to make sure you end up in good hands!" like you're a cat or something "Your expenses will be covered and you'll have somewhere to go during break!"

okay great. pretty obvious you have no say in this, so you don't even argue. what's the worst that could happen?

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Ace, Deuce, Jack, and Epel find you the next day to say they're pooling their money to buy you

"To what?"

Epel shrugs. "Oh, well Crowley said we need to offer a donation to prove we're capable of supporting you..."

(you think that if not for the laws of this land you would have slaughtered that old fart)

Jack goes on a really long tirade about how shady and underhanded this is, making sure to reaffirm that he believes you should be free to make your own choices

"So you'll let me go once you get me?"

"Uhhh..."

Ace thinks once they buy you you'll have no choice but to do all of his homework for him

Deuce says that's not really how it works- and even if he tried, Riddle would kill him

(they've already gone over this twice before finding you)

Epel happily volunteers to take you home with him over breaks, probably the only positive in this mess

even if he thinks the whole thing is kind of funny

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

incapable of keeping his mouth shut, Ace accidentally spills the plan to Riddle, who is understandably aghast

you can't just give away a person under your care like a toy!

of all the irresponsible things...

of course, he'll have to put up his offer, too

purely for your sake! with a nicer room and a brand new copy of the dorm rules, maybe you'll stop getting yourself into trouble

he's got some family money (doctors, naturally) and considers this a worthwhile purchase, for his sanity and yours

of course, Trey and Cater overhear and may or may not be pooling their own cash for a chance, too

going behind Riddle's back on this is a risky venture, but hey, someone's gotta be on your side, here, right?

I mean, between a bunch of sixteen year old boys, the housewarden, and them, who would you choose?

actually don't answer that

...not that it's much of a secret, anyway. Cater's already got their gofundme equivalent link in bio

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Leona initially plans to have you become a live-in lackey like Ruggie

but then he really starts thinking- and, hey, the possibilities are endless, right?

for one, you'd make a really good pillow

he might have to kick Grim out for your full attention, but you could learn to live with that

and malleus would hate it

...that's reason enough for him

plus, he's got money to burn, so why not?

either way, he sets his bid at a reasonable (maybe too confident) price and sits back to watch the chaos unfold as everyone scrambles for a piece of the pie

news travels fast around school, after all

then Ruggie finds out that you could dethrone him as Leona's #2 and is understandably a little annoyed

that's his cushy post-grad job gig, thank you! he's worked hard for that!

besides, why should Leona get to hoard you? the guy can barely take care of himself!

so, Ruggie ends up outsourcing to a few dozen classmates for the necessary funds at a steep I-owe-you price

he's gonna be eating nothing but dandelions for a while...

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

now, Azul is annoyed

once the news goes school-wide, it's all anyone can talk about

talk about good marketing...

why didn't he think of such a brilliant scam? he could have negotiated with Crowley to have a café brand deal tie-in!

of course, he's already set his bid, with Jade and Floyd offering to pitch in as necessary

it's a risky investment, sure, but a worthwhile one

Azul tells everyone that with the prefect's "obvious" popularity, having them at the café a few nights a week would drive sales through the roof

though that's really just what he says to shirk suspicion

a likely excuse coming from him, though, really, it would just be nice having you around

and if not for his own affections, Floyd's incessant begging and Jade's subtly manipulative comments about "how nice" it would be having a new face around would be enough for him to cave eventually

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

"Kalim, no," is the first thing that Jamil says

"I strongly advise against this. It's another one of Crowley's silly scams and you could end up a target bec- are you even listening?"

hint: he is not

the second Kalim found out that he could get to take in his favorite magicless student like one of his treasures, he was all over it

(AKA infinite sleepovers)

and for what? a little optional donation to prove he's got the funds? he's got cash to spare!

he's already got your new room in Scarabia set up before he even puts his bid in

right next to his of course :)

and despite what Jamil insists, he himself might be working behind the curtain just a little to ensure he's the one who ends up with you

after all, why should Kalim get everything? this might be a valuable learning opportunity for him

You don't always get what you want

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

as much as Epel tries to keep the rest of his dorm from finding out, it's inevitable

he's actually a little surprised that the news didn't get to Vil sooner

with Rook around campus, surely he must have said something...

when Vil does find out, though, he just sighs

oh, of course. what next, will everyone meet each other in the arena and fight to the death over the prefect?

of all the silly, immature things...

oh? what's that? he's bidding anyway? of course he is, silly potato. he can't have some unwashed miscreant making you sleep on polyester bedding

(really, he's the only person on campus worthy of your time)

Rook has also been mysteriously absent from the dorm lately, though his initials on a poem and a strangely large sum of money end up in the donation pile

but really, that could be anyone... Rook would never dare betray Vil again, right?

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Ortho finds out directly from the other first years and sends Idia the details immediately

with a little note of encouragement, of course: "could be excellent for improving your social skills!"

Idia understandably freaks out

"WTF!!!! nooo way! this is a person, not a chatbot we're talking about here! I can barely keep virtual pets alive!!!!"

(liar)

(...but this is still different)

the conversation ends there, but semi-anonymous bid from someone named "gloomurai" gets cashapp'd directly to crowley

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

everyone in the room immediately turns to Malleus

"For the record, I think it's wrong to be bargaining over a human being," Silver says first. "But if anyone could handle it with grace, it's you."

Lilia laughs. "Oh, you're just saying that because you like the prefect so much!"

"Father, you're the one who likes the prefect so much,"

"Oh, right! carry on then. After all, I'm sure we could share,"

Sebek is the only one relatively against the idea, though Lilia luckily manages to get him to lower his voice after his third speech about how you aren't good enough for his liege

Malleus is rather quiet through the whole evening, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with any of the points made

he disappears for a short while, and when he comes back he seems a little more confident

though, of course, he goes to you first

seeing him at Ramshackle in the middle of the night is a familiar and welcoming sight after all of the chaos of your week

and he's in a great mood!

"Child of man! I've come with news," he says. "I have heard of your predicament and have come up with a solution!"

you immediately sulk. "Oh, no. You know I think this whole thing is terrible, right?"

"Yes, Silver mentioned you might not like the idea of being bought and sold like a trinket. But worry not, I do not plan on paying for you in money,"

you pause, at a loss for words, and then tentatively continue. "You're not...?"

"Of course not. What a primitive idea, I was baffled to hear it myself. My proposal will be more traditional: a modest sum of treasure, and a generous amount of livestock and the finest crop Briar Valley can offer,"

certainly he's not this naive, you think

"You really think Crowley is going to accept that over money? I'm pretty sure Kalim just bid away an entire country's worth,"

he laughs. "You speak as if this is some kind of business deal! I'm quite confident that my dowry will be best,"

huh. that was a strange way of putting it

but then again, you still didn't really understand how things work here, so you go along with it

and you allow yourself to relax. he seems confident in his offer, and he doesn't even see you as some kind of prize to win!

"Oh, well, alright. Thanks! I'm glad you're on it,"

he smiles. "Rest assured, child of man, you're in good hands. My dowry will far outshine the others, and the wedding will be even better,"

"I was honestly getting a little nervous for a momen- wait- wedding!?"

[autisticstarscream]

read the entire spoiler thread for star and lord. i have opinions.

im so genuinely confused on how the erins have genuinely degraded so bad in writing. 90% of riverclan being excused for their awful behavior bc "woah! splashtail was threatening kits!!!" GUYS. THERE IS ONE OF HIM.

Berryheart makes me so genuinely mad. her and curlfeather being reflections of one another but treated so differently is wild. what do you mean berryheart saved sunbeam before she killed so that gives her a "noble death" thus she could possibly go to starclan, meanwhile curlfeather did literally the EXACT SAME THING and was initially banished to dark forest before she gets her little limbo world.

the audacity to have characters respect berryheart after her blantant crimes and say she really was a good person only for the narrative to turn around and condemn curlfeather for the EXACT SAME ACTIONS is annoying. specifically also because genuinely? despite the execution curlfeather was right. mistystar sucked as leader in the end and her son being deputy meant we'd get a boring ass riverclan considering reedwhisker literally has no personality.

like. im fine with frostpaw not being leader and her name. im happy the leader is icewing bc i KNEW it was gonna be her. but god i really wish they would just stop writing these books. the keep bringing in so much good potential with plots and then immediately fuck it up in the first two books thus making the plot stagger through the remaining 4. i know people will just say "just stop reading" but my autism will not let me. i need to know whats happening in canon warriors but i just keep getting disappointed.

i have no hope for the next arc. considering squirrelstar openly wanting no more clan transfers (meaning. no more new bloodlines, considering the one (sunbeam) is immediately pairing up with firestars bloodline, meaning her addition is now useless in the way of adding new genetics to thunderclan), it makes me scared for what other fucked up pairings are gonna happen in thunderclans future.

god im just. so pissed. its so bad. nightheart doesnt even hate being compared to firestar anymore. the only arc in this that felt worthwhile is frostdawns and honestly. i think SHE shouldve been the one to care more for her mother after death rather than sunbeam and berryheart. it wouldve been more interesting to have a medicine cat be critical of starclan and have an active connection to a dark forest cat. but the erins hate making starclan look bad and are so obsessed with making the themes so devout towards starclan that it hurts.

[fernsnailz]

Not sure how much meat this question has to it but if back in 2006 you were the one that spearheaded the shadow the hedgehog game, how would you have done it?

i'd want ShTH 2005 to keep the same core energy its final form ended up with, but tbh there's a lot i would have done differently lol. here's my 3 step plan for how i would have directed it previously/would direct any sort of reboot or remaster

1. TIMELOOP!!!!!!

i'm not the first person to come up with this idea and i won't be the last to talk about it, but the gist of this point is that ShTH's story makes WAY more sense when you treat it like a timeloop. you finished a story path and end up back in westopolis? great job, you're at the beginning of the timeloop again. it's a smart way to make this wack story a little more cohesive.

i would LOVE to further utilize the timeloop concept for this game because it could be a very simple addition to add flavor OR it be the core of the game's story and gameplay. small things like shadow going "hey wait, have i seen this before?" when he's going through westopolis for the third time can hint at the narrative, and once shadow realizes he's in a loop he's motivated to find EVERY path in search of the full truth. every new story path could be treated as a new game+ as shadow starts to consistently remember more from previous timeloops, carrying over certain weapons, abilities, and memories from his previous experiences.

one really cool idea i saw a while ago on here (edit: FOUND IT! i'm talking about this post) is someone's ShTH timeloop pitch where after a few resets, silver starts to show up and tells shadow to stop messing with the timeline. this continues, and eventually silver becomes a final boss of some of the paths. this idea has never left my mind since i saw it and i need to find the person that came up with it they mean so much to me

i have more timeloop thoughts but i will move on for now

2. simplify or rework the morality system and levels

this is my big gameplay critique - there is A Lot to do in ShTH and very little of it is consistently fun. i have grievances with the morality system i talked about a while ago, the gist of my opinion boiling down to "the system removes agency from shadow and the story doesn't fit within the morals you choose anyway." i'd either MASSIVELY rework the morality system to make it feel worthwhile or just throw the whole thing away. unfortunately i don't have many pitches for what to replace it with since i haven't played that many games with branching stories - maybe the story paths you go down are based on BIG story decisions shadow makes during boss battles or in cutscenes (?) like choosing which boss to fight, which characters to save, what moves or weapons to use, stuff like that. i just want the stuff that leads to branching stories to be more impactful and a little simpler.

this also applies to the levels, of which there are... a lot. and maybe there should be less? i think it would be smart to cut down or combine some of the levels, then really flesh out the ones that matter. and given the non-linear nature of ShTH, i think a version with levels more focused on exploration and combat would fit the game better than the linear mission-based gameplay of the original.

3. MORE GUN

listen man. they advertised this as the sonic game with guns and in my opinion i think they could've done better. i mostly just want a more fleshed out weapons system with upgrades, a little customization, better controls, etc. just put the merchant from resident evil 4 in there and have him accept rings and i would be happy

-------------------------

those are the big points i would personally stick to, but i do have smaller points i would consider as well, including:

make black doom seem competent

explain who the chaotix are working for and fit it into the story

no more "kill this many enemies to progress" missions. please

super shadow can have a gun now

[krakenartificer]

Basics of Tumblr-based memetics for reddit refugees

When people arrive at Tumblr, they are generally unsure about how to handle themselves. The buttons are easy enough (I mean, the UI sucks, but it's 2023, we're all used to sucky UIs by now, so....), but what are the social implications of each one? What does a reblog mean?

This is very difficult to explain to people for whom this is their first social media site, or are arriving here from (eg) Facebook. But for this round of refugees, from Reddit specifically, I actually can explain. Because!...

....As you have no doubt noticed ....

.... in a world where we all use 4 websites, and each of them consists of content screenshotted from the other 3....

...there is not an equal distribution of who's making content and who's copying it. Facebook generates almost none of the content for other websites; Twitter generates some; but nearly all of the content on the modern internet is generate on Reddit or on Tumblr.

There is a reason for this: all "web 2.0" sites have the ability to generate new memes, and new variants on those memes. But only Reddit and Tumblr have an evolutionary pressure that forces those memes through a natural-selection process. On Reddit, that pressure is applied by the voting system: if an addition to a post doesn't get enough upvotes, it's hidden from view, which means it has limited ability to affect the next generation of posts.

On Tumblr, the equivalent evolutionary pressure is applied by reblogs: each version of a post, each set of additions, is seen in proportion to how many people reblog it, and thus cause other people to see it. Lack of reblogs -> lack of visibility -> limited ability to affect the next generation of posts.

So with that in mind, let's look at some nuances that are specific to the Tumblr ecosystem.

1) Reblogs are direct visibility; upvotes are indirect

On Reddit, when you upvote something, it's a signal to the algorithm that -- in your opinion -- this thing is useful/valuable/funny or in some other way worthwhile. The algorithm takes that into account along with everyone else's votes, time since it was posted, and so on, and makes a decision about what to show by default vs what to hide by default, and how to sort things. Upvoting does affect visibility, but it's only one factor.

Whereas on Tumblr, reblogging puts the post on your followers' dashboards directly (assuming your followers have chronological order turned on, which most of them probably do because fuck corporate decisions about what I should and shouldn't see). One reblog = one post on everyone's dashboard; it's as simple as that.

Reblogging is therefore a much stronger evolutionary boost than upvoting is.

2) Likes have very little impact on visibility

Most people have "based on your likes" turned off. Even for those that keep it on, it doesn't affect what other people see, it only gives Tumblr some idea of what you might like to see. Of course behind the scenes that's somehow accomplished with some kind of correlation coefficient about which posts are most likely to be "liked" by the same person, and in that sense a "like" on this post increases the likelihood that someone else who has "liked" other posts that you have "liked" will see this post as well, but it's a very tenuous and wispy impact,.

Liking is therefore a much weaker evolutionary boost than upvoting is, and should be considered more along the lines of a high-five, or a hug, or a "I would give you gold for this if I could afford any" comment.

(Also, you cannot "like" only one section of a post. When you "like", the notification goes to everyone in the chain, from OP to the latest reblog. If you wish to give specific high-fives, the mechanism you're looking for is replies.)

3) Replies have no impact on visibility one way or the other.

Only OP gets notifications for replies, but you can tag people in the reply to notify them. This is the place for "@most-recent-commenter I would give you gold if I could" or for tagging a friend that you think would enjoy the post.

So, with the underlying mechanics of the ecosystem out of the way, let's look at

memetic engineering

There are two ways you can add your thoughts/ideas/opinions/snarky commentary to a post: in the text of the post, or in the tags.

a digression on tags

Tags -- of course -- can theoretically be used to organize content, although if we're being completely honest here, they're not ... great. for that. Tags can be handy as a textual handle to simplify your google search when you use an external search engine to search your own tumblr blog, but their use as an archival tool is mediocre at best. Likewise, no matter what the Tumblr UI says in the tag section, they're not gonna be that helpful in allowing people to find your content.

Tags can also, as sometimes they do on Twitter or Instagram, provide context to a post. This is less important here, since without a character limit there's no need to trim down your commentary and trust #wgastrike2023 to fill in the missing details, but it can be very handy when you're trying to determine whether this "Bruce and his buddies" post is talking about The Hulk or about Batman, or whether this thread is dissing Harry Potter, Harry Styles, or Harry Prince of Wales.

Tags are also very handy for allowing people to continue following you even when there's some sort of interest incompatibility. If you love spiders -- especially pictures of spiders -- and I'm arachnophobic, then I'm probably not going to be able to keep following you, no matter how excellent your Anarchist Star Wars takes are. But if you love pictures of spiders and you tag every single one of them #spiders, then I can block that tag and still keep following you. Similarly, a temporary block on #The Witcher Spoilers can allow the fandom to all discuss a new episode at whatever time they're able to watch it, without having to completely avoid online spaces in the meantime.

And finally, tags can, and are, used for commentary that you don't want to put in the main post. Where that line is -- what to put in the post and what to put in tags -- is something you'll have to decide for yourself as you get experience, but as a general rule, the post is for something that you believe contributes to the memetic fitness of this post, and the tags are for things that you believe are not necessarily of memetic value. Additions to the post are integrated into the DNA, and will be passed on with subsequent reblogs; tags are only added to your instantiation of the post, and will not be included on future reblogs (unless the person who reblogs it from you is on iOS Tumblr Mobile app and hasn't adjusted their settings, in which case it'll go into their tags... but at any rate it'll die out in a generation or two.) This feature makes it good for adding meta-commentary that will be interesting/funny/valuable to your immediate circle of friends, but won't be useful to the population as a whole -- it allows you to be as snarky, in-joke-y, and obscure as you'd like, without having to spend any of your mental RAM calculating what will and won't have an impact on your Brand as an Influencer.

Influencers

There is no easy mechanism for people to see your follower count. There are many easy mechanisms for people to make it impossible to see their follower count. No one cares about how many followers you have or how far your "influence" spreads. No one is going to offer you a Tumblr sponsorship deal.

However, for assorted underlying-code reasons, Tumblr blogs are disproportionately useful for manipulating search engines. So.... we have an ongoing problem with SEO scum making a whole bunch of bots and using reblogs etc to generate fake signals to Google.

The combination of those two things leads to a general Tumblr tradition of Block Bots On Sight. The extra followers aren't helping you, and the mere fact of their existence is hurting all of us. If you've seen people strongly urging you to change your profile picture, add a bio, and reblog a couple things, that's why -- because we don't want you to get caught in the crossfire of our ongoing guerilla warfare.

Other Notes

One of the places that Reddit is much better than Tumblr is in the viewing of an entire memetic population as a whole: you just look at a post, scroll through the page, and Reddit helpfully shows you want you want to see, and hides what you don't.

On Tumblr, each memetic variation is functionally an entirely separate entity. This is great for memetic diversity, but it means there's a LOT of duplication, and it means there's really no good way to get all the variants together. The closest you can get is to "check the notes" -- click on that number at the bottom left of a post, and look through the replies, reblogs, and tags. Those are in chronological order and in no way threaded, so it's not very useful, but it is what we've got.

Let's see ...

One thing Tumblr does much better than Reddit is the ability (because of aforementioned fragmentation) to have an arbitrary number of any fandom. No more "Well I don't like the takes in r/polyamory but it's the only place where I can talk about it so idk" ... nope! Here we can have as many Spider-Man fandoms as there are Spider-Man fans. Really like someone's headcanons? Follow them! Really dislike someone's OTP? Unfollow them! Really hate someone's take on your favorite character? Block them! This is a fabulous feature of Tumblr and I encourage you to take advantage of it.

uh...

tags can be 140 characters, but they can't contain double quotes (") or commas (,) because those are delimiter characters and Tumblr will break your tag at those points in the string

...

If you think someone has mis-judged the value of their tags, you can copy them from their post and paste them into the main comment of your reblog. This is known as the tags "passing peer review". Copy-paste is preferred to screenshotting for accessibility reasons (and also the fact that sometimes Tumblr just doesn't feel like loading pictures), and it's considered polite to credit the person whose tags you promoted.

...

Contrariwise, if you think they mis-judged the value of their comment, you can go back to the person they reblogged from, and reblog without their addition. Tumblr made this harder recently, but I have confidence that we'll defeat them eventually.

...

I know that I said reblogs are much stronger than upvotes, but when you've got infinite monkeys generating infinite reblog streams, it all gets lost in the noise. Reblog anything and everything you feel like upvoting -- if people don’t want to be subjected to a bunch of random shit that lights up the dopamine receptors in your brain, they shouldn’t be following you on Tumblr.

...

IDK what to tell you about Tumblr polls. We're just like this 🤷‍♂️

...

...

That's all I can think of. Deities bless and keep you for seeing a problem in our online ecosystem and actually doing something about it. Looking forward to seeing what we can do together.

(Author's Note: All statements about how Tumblr works ("works") are as of 14 June 2023. God only knows what changes staff will have rolled out by time time you read this)

[hunxi-after-hours]

Hello! I love your ORV posting. I do have an embarrassing question; can I ask how heartbreaking the ending is? I've tried reading it a large number of times, but have had trouble getting past the chapters in the 300s; I'll reread it up til that point over and over again, but can't continue. Not because I don't enjoy it, but because I get so swept away by the emotions, and all the characters go through is agonizing. I know it's not real! But my heart aches all the same, in a way I've never experienced this with a novel before, and I feel like a child LOL (It's also extremely funny-frustrating because I realize how thematic this is to the story itself). I'm not worried about the characters Kim Dokja is fighting for, but given the patterns in the story and how it seems to be told, I'm too afraid to keep going. I know I could just look it up, but at the same time, I don't want to spoil all the mysteries; just if my heart can rest easy. TLDR, if it's not too spoilery, is there any light for kim dokja in the ending? or is it a tragedy through & through?

(If this is a dumb question, please feel free to ignore this)

oh boy anon, I've been sitting on this ask for a hot second because it's hard to answer! so I will attempt to talk around it in a way that will hopefully (?) avoid spoilers

as I see it, the nature of orv's ending (broadly writ) is additionally complicated by the fact that there are approximately four(ish) endings:

1) the ending at chapter 516

2 + 3) the ending(s) at chapter 551

4?) the side stories

the ending at chapter 516

this is probably what many people would characterize as BE, but I'd personally compare it to the ending of my love, my life, 《琅琊榜》 Nirvana in Fire, in that the ending may be "sad" (broad air quotes to vague-ify whatever "sad" entails) but it feels earned. it feels right. it feels like the logical conclusion of what the entire book was building up to. some may consider it a tragedy, but it's not a hollow, meaningless tragedy — it feels correct. this is the note that the novel officially ends on, but is then over(?)written by the existence of—

the ending(s) at chapter 551

Kim Dokja's Company looks at the ending of ch. 516 and says "aw hell no" and sets out to rewrite that ending. after 35 chapters of epilogue, we've unlocked an OE — an open ending, that concludes the moment before the HE/BE ambiguity will be resolved. schrodinger's ending, except you, the reader, get to choose what you believe — and I do think the epilogues are written beautifully to get you here (they implicate the reader in a wonderful and deeply empathetic way). and from what I've seen, the vast majority of the fandom chooses to take the offered HE option and run with it; everyone lives happily ever after together in a big house, a million domestic post-canon fics will attest. this is the closest, I'd say, that would come answering your question of whether Kim Dokja has light in his future with an emphatic, loving "yes"

(I also think it's worth mentioning that the epilogues add a lot to the story; they fill in narrative lacunae and tie up loose threads that aren't answered in the original 516 chapters, so I don't consider the epilogues as "separate" or "extra." the epilogues aren't a fix-it tacked onto the end of the narrative; they serve and enrich the narrative in a way that would actively reduce the luster of the story if lost)

the side story

a few years down the line, Sing-shong have returned to the text to tie up "a few more loose ends." the side story is currently being serialized, and more or less picks up from where chapter 551 left off. this necessarily chooses among your OE options as detailed above; whether the side story will end happily, or with "light for Kim Dokja," currently remains to be seen as it is still ongoing. I've fallen off the bandwagon and have been meaning to catch up, but from what I've read so far I think the side story is an interesting and worthwhile addition to the text. Sing-shong continue to innovate and develop upon the worldbuilding and narrative they have already created, and we have met a new cast of characters that have rapidly become as dear to us as the old (the old cast of characters are also here, don't worry). if I were a betting person, I would say that the side story is headed in a more-or-less HE direction; the side story is currently engaging with and complicating themes of (self-)identity and (self-)worth through the many lenses of Kim Dokja, and while it remains to be seen how it resolves, I am tentatively optimistic that it will, if nothing else, be satisfying

TL;DR the ending(s) of ORV can be variously construed as HE, BE, or OE, and the elements of tragedy woven into the narrative and characters are inherent to the text. however, no tragedy is meaningless in ORV, and all of the endings feel earned

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

leona in club leadership

Me: I’m safe after the hitman that was Epel’s Birthday Jacket jumpscared me with the “Leona is a reliable senpai” talk Broomquet Leona: Broomquet Leona: *slowly raises the broom for a bonking*

why Why WHY

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I THOUGHT I HAD PUT IT ALL BEHIND ME BUT NO 😭 HERE COMES CATER BAITING LEONA TO TAL K ABOUT AMGIFT /SPELLDrIV3 CLBU IN THS BROOMQUET......... . . ........ .. . ... . . . .. . QHJEBIYslbiufadbadf TO GET THESE THOUGHTS OUTTA MY HEAD I'M GONNA RANT A ND RAVE A LIL' aboUT L*ONA AND HIS cLUB

Alright, so. 🤡 We all know that Leona's the captain of the Magical Shift/Spelldrive Club at NRC (moving forward, I will refer to this as "Magift Club", since that's the shortest phrase). What's more is, we actually get quite a bit of information about how he goes around running the club and training its members (although the information is scattered across various vignettes, so it may be difficult to piece it all together if you don't know where to look or don't read certain vignettes). THIS IS THE GOOD STUFF THOUGH, THIS IS A GOLD MINE OF LuONA CHA EARCTERiXATION AND I'M GOINOG TO POP of DFF ABOUT IT

Firstly! In book 2 of the main story, Jack tells us that he was impressed by Leona's amazing play in a Magift game three years ago. This would later become a part of Jack's motivation to attend Night Raven College--so he could become a great athlete, and, perhaps, get to play against or alongside that player that he admired so much. Even when Jack learns that Leona is playing dirty to eliminated Diasomnia from the interdorm tournament, Jack exposes that he believes Leona is capable of securing a victory by playing fairly. Maybe you could call it a freshman's naive beliefs, but Jack knows that Leona is better than this. What book 2 shows us is that Leona is willing to resort to underhanded tactics to come out on top--but he's also very skilled in his own right, both physically and intellectually, and even at his lowest points, he has people who trust him to lead them: people like Jack. But where does this faith and respect come from???????? For that, we'll have to dive into additional materials.

In many vignettes, such as Ace's PE Uniform and Ruggie's Outdoor Wear, we hear from other characters that the Magift Club members train rigorously (usually to the point of exhaustion). Ruggie, a fellow Magift Club member, confesses to his inexperience; he never played Magift before coming to NRC and he's not a born athlete. He seriously considered quitting the club due to their physically demanding practice and training. However, Ruggie credits Leona for the vast improvement he has made, citing that Leona would give him all kinds of assignments to hone his skills. More importantly, doing all of these assignments also taught Ruggie how to endure and persist in the face of adversity. Ruggie could have just lied here and said the training was easy to quickly and artificially inflate the numbers of new recruits he pulls in to please Leona (some of the new recruits would end up dropping out anyway) BUT HE DOESN'T. This leads me to believe that Ruggie is being honest about what it takes to be in Magift Club and is genuinely praising Leona's guidance as a part of why it's beneficial to join. "Leona makes every session worthwhile [...] He makes all the calls during our games, but otherwise lets us do our thing. Which means we can work out our problem spots for ourselves. He's a great captain!"

Epel, the other main cast member in Magift Club, has not yet joined at the time of the flashback in Ruggie's Outdoor Wear vignette. Upon hearing Ruggie's praise of Leona, Epel gets the impression that Leona is an incredible person. Post-joining the club, this impression continues. In his Birthday Jacket vignettes, Epel describes Leona as someone who is quick-witted, fierce-looking, and has a cool personality. He really admires Leona and wants to be like him someday, making him the second first year that has these sort of sentiments. Epel tells stories similar to Ruggie, saying that Leona has helped him out a lot during club and is generally good at looking out for others. He specifically mentions that everyone counts on Leona for his leadership during games and provides individualized advice to help each team member improve (details which supports what Ruggie initially told the freshmen). People outside of Leona’s reign also comment on this, such as Ace in Endless Halloween Night. He remarks that the first thing Leona thought to do was untie Epel; this leads Ace to conclude that Leona, does, in fact, look out for people despite how he usually acts 🤡

Epel also says that he "knows" Leona would help him study if he were on the verge of failing a class. AND YOU KNOW WHAT??????????? Leona actually DOES tutor Ruggie (who initially descibes his grades as being "in the dumpster") and gives advice and materials to him. Now Ruggie's grades are average, but passing. In his Labwear vignettes, Leona doesn't formally teach Epel, but he does make a voice-changing potion to help Epel out (although his own ulterior motive was to avoid Rook, who was the one that originally helped Epel). When Epel and Grim then beg Leona to show them his technique, he refuses and seems annoyed at their requests. In other words, Leona doesn't seem eager to teach others unless it serves a purpose for himself.

Leons is oftentimes pushing others to perform well, and in a way that serves a dual purpose of helping the individual out but also ultimately benefitting him. For example, Leona helps sand Azul’s contracts because he wants to as terminate an agreement he has with Azul. Additionally, he plots in book 2 not only to help his dorm mates be noticed by Magift scouts, but also to prove his own worth as a leader. In yet another instance, Leona shows students outside of his club how to efficiently mine for magestone so they can fulfill their goal and earn a Vargas Badge. This clears them out of the cave so he can nap there. Leona is working smarter, not necessarily harder. Relating this to Magift Club... As Ruggie and Epel have told us, Leona runs his members ragged during practice. As a rich kid and royalty, he’s said to have a natural inclination for being demanding and ordering others around—but there’s always some kind of compensation or reward for following orders well. Ruggie gets many perks from doing Leona’s errands and chores for him, so he willingly follows Leona. For the Magift Club, the intense training causes those unable or unwilling to keep up to quit, leaving behind the go-getters, the tough, and the willful. Not only are these the types of people most likely to do well in actually playing the sport, but they’re also the types of people Leona himself is seeking with play with.

When your players are willing and able to train hard and by themselves (knowing what their strengths and weaknesses are, as well as how to improve), it encourages… independence. It means less work for the captain to do. It means having a group of people who are obedient and obey your every word. It means Leona can get away with napping during club practice. He's working them hard now so they can take care of themselves later and he has to do less. That seems to be the implication in some instances, as Riddle had noted before that, “it has been a while since [he has seen Leona] sincerely apply himself to his club activities.” (That's because Leona has already trained his team to be comfortable train on their own! This is demonstrated in the flashback of his Beastly Garb vignettes, when Leona instructs his club to do cooldown exercises "on their own while he heads off to nap.) And believe me, when he’s “applying himself”, his talent shines through (just as his intelligence does when he wants to employ it). As Epel and Ruggie say in Leona’s Halloween vignette (flashback), 5 people tried to get the disc away from Leona for 30 minutes and still weren’t successful while Leona barely broke a sweat. Part of the reason why Leona is able to afford bossing his team members around is because he can walk the walk. His own abilities, then, also serve as a point of motivation for the rest of the team. They want to be able to perform on the same level as him, want the honor to play with someone like that. We see one prominent example of this in his Dorm Uniform vignettes. In them, Jack is being bullied by Savanaclaw (senpai) mobs because they're annoyed with his athletic abilities and righteous attitude. These mobs also accurse Leona of being unworthy to lead them because "all [he does] is slack off during practice". They quickly learn the true magnitude of Leona's strength when he defends Jack from 30 mobs at once, not only demonstrating that he is fit for the title of captain, but also someone that has earned Jack's respect.

Though the Dorm Uniform vignettes ultimately frame Leona as siding with Jack, there is a lot of strategic thinking and wisdom in the advice he imparts to both parties involved in the quarrel. He argues in favor of the mobs "skirting the rules", which falls in line with his willingness to disregard morality so long as he achieves an end goal (see: his actions against Azul in book 3, and his actions in book 2 against Malleus). In this case, Jack preaching about playing by the rules is getting in the way of their goals (which will resurface in book 2). That's why he gets put in time-out to "think about his actions", and how he sees the world as black and white, evil and good. To Leona, it's not cheating, it's just playing smart and within the rules specifically specified (the mobs still acted within the boundaries set by rules) or what isn't specifically outlawed (they can't lose to Malleus if he can't play to begin with) to get what he wants. To this point, Leona also sees no shame in strategic retreats and surrenders. This is illustrated by him willingly turning himself into STYX when they approach, and passing on temporary leadership to Ruggie while he's gone. Again, he's just working with what he has in the systems that are presented to him, and he expects everyone else to be able to play the same game. While Leona tells Jack off, it's also true that Leona does have some code of honor as it relates to his own interests; he tells the mobs they're acting embarrassing by "punching down" and being jealous of a freshman. This doesn't come from a place of concern for Jack, or from worry about their attitude, but primarily from irritation that he has to clean up after their behavior. As we see in book 2, Leona himself has no issue with playing Magift against freshmen who are new to the sport (Ace, Deuce, etc.) when they've come unannounced into his dormitory. It's Jack who has to intervene there and call Leona out for picking on the small fry. Even Leona warning the mobs for using magic outside of Magift is a ploy to serve his own agenda. It's against school rules to use magic unless instructed; Leona is, therefore, against his students wailing on Jack using magic instead of fists because it could attract undue attention from staff (and thus cause issues for him, as their dorm leader). This is also why Leona wants to take on the Heartslabyul detective group in a game of Magift instead of just fighting them then and there; it's to avoid causing such a ruckus right before the big interdorm tournament. Leona has a problem with people challenging his authority and making unnecessary trouble for him to fix. When it serves his interests, he'll turn, and/or he won't side completely with one party. He can easily see the pros and the cons of both sides. If Jack is black and white, then Leona is all grey.

This is another notable quality of Leona's: he can identify and understand people's strengths and weaknesses, sometimes even better than they do themselves. His own club members can attest to how Leona gives them specific advice to improve their skills. In fact, we get to see one instance of it in Leona's Beastly Garb vignettes. Epel asks Leona for advice on how to better control the disc, since he's been missing passes and dropping them a lot. Leona responds by telling him not to worry about it and then walking off. A lot of people might look at this and say "he's just being lazy and shirking his work again". But later in the vignette, Leona explains his rationale: Epel's strength is his speed. When he's handling a disc as he's flying, that significantly cuts down on that speed and hinders his overall performance. If Epel tries to get better at all these things at once, he'll neglect his actual strength and not be useful to the team. Leona reasons that since making objects float is a fundamental skill for a mage, Epel will naturally practice it more and improve with time, so in the meantime he should dedicate his time in club to what he's already got as an asset.

This discerning eye is not just limited to club members, either. Leona has shown that, time and time again, he can key in on people. It was Leona who recognized Ace's craftiness and how Ace planned to use Leona's presence to his own advantage in Endless Halloween Night. Leona doesn't worry about the potential harm a wayward disc could have caused Riddle because he knows Riddle could easily deflect it with his own magic (in Ace's PE vignette). He alone noticed that Jamil's eyes "always glare" and senses his malicious intent against Kalim (in Jamil's School Uniform vignette). This is WAY before the events of book 4 ever came out too. Then, in book 6, Leona points out that Ruggie knows how keep to the strongest people to make up for his own deficits, how Jack knows how to adhere to a hierarchy, and how even Kalim has strengths in how amicable he is, and the wealth he was born into. He knows when people aren't meeting their full potential too, telling Jamil that he keeps making excuses instead of actually acting.

What makes the whole conversation Leona has with Jamil so great is that a lot of what is said is relatable for the two of them. Leona, too, knows what it's like to be in a situation where others shun his talents in favor of another. That's why he's able to speak so pointedly on the matter. It's that connection that helps to move Jamil and motivate him to finally act on his own to fulfill a support role for Leona that he needs later on. There's a parallel here with how Leona acted in book 2; he tried and tried and tried, and when he failed, he sat down and gave it all up, blaming his team mates and claiming he played along with their game. Leona was a quitter before. But now he's seeing that same behavior in others and he's calling it out, bluntly posing the question of if they're going to continue to wallow or if they're going to pick themselves up and move forward. It's the same lesson that HE had to learn for himself. If you consider that his Dorm Uniform vignettes play out prior to book 2, it becomes even more fitting for his growth since he tells Jack back then: "[...] guys who own up to their mistakes are all right in my book. Keep at it and model that behavior for the rest of Savanaclaw." This is Leona owning up to his own mistakes. He never openly and formally apologizes what his wrongdoings or promised to "be better" (then again, some OB boys just don't), but he's making up for his past behavior by imparting the wisdom he learned with his peers, whether subconsciously (like, out of guilt) or consciously.

This all goes hand-in-hand with the high standards Leona has set for Magift Club. Cater asks him for the details of his club's training (in Leona's Broomquet), to which the birthday boy responds with a story about how a team member didn't have enough stamina for a game, so instead of training them to pass the disc, he purposefully chucked the disc as far as it would go. It's to demonstrate to the club member that was lacking in stamina that this is the distance they need to be able to go, and this is their current disparity. It comes off as perhaps too harsh (and certainly a means to quit the club), but as Leona puts it, he doesn't want nor need cowards with him. His team should be full of people who get frustrated when they cannot meet their goals and will actively think about how to be better, then come back and try again and again. Think of it like how Mulan found smarter ways to tackle the challenges put forth by the army, rather than training the conventional way. That's what Leona expects of his club members, and it's the same mentality that drives himself. Tackling the same problem using creative solutions--it's like a game of chess. qbkhldyuFVYOwovyifS ;fslh ihof Aana dnAn thEN MCaER T SAYS smsethbha TH LIKE "waaaah~ Leona-kun is such a cool leader~" AFSHYJASVYOIFADOS AND THANE THAT FUCKE R LONA ' JUST G oeaS "this is to be expected of every leader, it's the basics" UNM???????? ??? ??? ???? ? BITCH EXCUSE YOU???? ???? ??? ? ? ? ? ? 😭 IW ANS'T EXPEC TING TO BE FUCXKIGFN A ATTACKED LKIKE THIS, CA T MAN

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P.S. I'M SO SCARE D THAT HE'S GONNA OUTRPAVE ROOO K ON MY FAOVRIRTS LIST I'M SOC UFKC IUNG SCARED

[juliakristeva]

does mary being a virgin actually matter?

i will talk about rape in this response.

it does and it doesn't. it depends on who you talk to and what they believe. on a social level an immaculate conception is important if you think that sexual activity is an unnecessary addition to an existence that was intended to never involve the need to procreate and thus symbolizes human fallibility and sinfulness. i think a more generous reading of the need for a virgin birth is that it simply means mary was unmarried. theologically mary's virginity also symbolizes (in mary as it does in the later celibacy of nuns) fidelity, total consecration, single-minded devotion, and submission to his will. i think that perhaps, and this is also me being generous, the assumption that many people, both christian and secular, make to the idea that virginity = purity is not really implicit to mariology or to the gospels. it wasn't that mary was pure because she hadn't had sex. the implication is that mary was pure because she loved God that much: she loved God as a lover, as a friend.

there's no doubt that mary would have been a virgin at the the point in her life when the events of the lucan narrative are said to have taken place. on the immaculate conception narraiteve makes it much too easy for mary to weaponized against abortion rights and women's bodily autonomy, which is inherently antithetical to scripture. i've read a lot of literature lately arguing that the lucan narrative is one of coercion, making the conception of christ inherently a rape: but my inclination is to read luke 1:38 (let it be with me according to your word) as mary giving her explicit consent. (an interesting point that i encourage people to internalize: "let it be", in koine greek, is γένοιτό, may it become, come into being, or (of a person) be born: in short mary explicitly consents to her pregnancy in the original text, meaning that the weaponization of mary as pro-life does not hold water and absolutely goes against scripture.)

but i also think that there is something extremely worthwhile in the idea that mary was a rape victim. this is a much more literalist, historicist reading of the gospels, which i do absolutely think can coexist alongside the theological. mary can be an eternal virgin and a rape victim. christ can be the son of God and a victim of rape. i'm not sure which theorist it was (its definitely elisabeth schussler fiorenza or elizabeth johnson but im too lazy to check and im sorry) but feminist theologians in the 90s proposed that mary may have been raped by a roman soldier (not a preposterous notion given that mary was a young, unmarried child living in an area that was being violently colonized). s much as i read that narrative as a consenting and mystical one, i think there is something very powerful in the idea that mary could have been raped.

(i've lifted the following two paragraphs from a paper i wrote on this topic last semester)

in considering mary as a rape victim, mary’s experience offers the opportunity for victims of religious and sexual abuse to gain a sense of empowerment and a defined place in christianity. it locates trauma as central to christian narratives and strips back the shadow of obscenity that clouds conversations of sexuality, even in instances of force or coercion. it shakes the exploitative patriarchal underpinnings of christianity. still, there is danger here. such analysis can and does reinforce narratives of the place of and necessity for women’s sexual and reproductive exploitation within christian dogmas. this danger is so pervasive that it maybe impossible to fully rehabilitate the image of mary as rape victim effectively within theology. it is a submissive, exploited woman that is useful for patriarchal epistemologies because a traumatised woman more properly embodies the “void” which femininity is said to be: a traumatised woman may be stripped of her sense of self and identity, her spirit, and her own body, reduced down solely to the violence which she has experienced, either in terms of what freud terms neuroses or hysteria. in this instance, a woman’s response to the trauma of her exploitation within dogmatic institution invariably becomes hysterical because it is a response to an exploitation which is perpetrated but also demands to be disguised, since the institution is unable to particularise women’s sexuality as meaningfully existing and instead as an absence demanding penetration. thus in the conceptualization of mary as a rape victim– and in the experience of all rape victims seeking a defined place within theology– both their bodies and their experiences are constantly under scrutiny and susceptible to outside patriarchal validation as orthodox or heterodox. 

the foil to Mary as rape victim, the concept of Mary as empowered, also harbours danger for theological analysis in that it may be appropriated as a means of validating rape and other forms of denial within patriarchal religious dogmas. it may be construed as meaning that when a woman is denied choice, it is for the “greater good” of humankind and she finds joy and fulfilment through being denied her divine Yes and No capacity. this renders her as one “victimized into a state of living death.”

either Mary is the victim of rape by coercion, or she partakes willingly and joyfully of an act of union that is unfaithful to human institutions of female domination and sexual ownership. to be more precise, either mary is disempowered by a masculine and penetrative god-man, or she is endowed with her own authority as a woman, an authority which transcends human dogmatic formulations and gender divisions. both of these are dangerous to the patriarchal underpinnings of theology, and both need to be taken seriously. so the answer to your question is, essentially: it stops mattering when women have full rights over their sexuality, regardless of how patriarchy identifies them, under repressive cultural authority.

[albertonykus]

Doraemon Movie Review: Nobita's Sky Utopia (2023)

What is Doraemon? The title character of the Doraemon manga and anime is a blue robotic cat from the 22nd Century who keeps an array of high-tech gadgets in a portable pocket dimension on his belly, and has traveled from the future to improve the fortunes of a hapless schoolboy named Nobita. Although relatively obscure in the English-speaking world, Doraemon is a Mickey-Mouse-level cultural icon in East Asia (and some other regions, too). The Doraemon franchise was a big part of my childhood, and there are still elements of it that I enjoy now.

Doraemon has released theatrical films almost annually since 1980, most of which involve Nobita and his friends (kind Shizuka, brash Gian, and crafty Suneo) getting swept into adventures thanks to Doraemon's gadgets. Despite being of potentially broad appeal to fans of science fiction and animated films, there are very few English reviews of the Doraemon movies, so I've embarked on a project to write about all the films, for as long as I continue watching them, at least.

For links to all of my Doraemon movie reviews, see here.

Movie premise: Nobita thinks life would be much better if he lived in a utopia, and asks Doraemon to help him find one.

My spoiler-free take: Although it could perhaps benefit from minor adjustments to the pacing and writing, this is an emotionally charged movie that is a solid addition to the Doraemon cinematic lineup.

POTENTIAL SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT

Review: There are quite a few things I enjoyed about this film. The story is well crafted for most part, making effective use of foreshadowing. It's certainly one of the most emotionally driven Doraemon movies, with several heartfelt moments among the characters, especially between Nobita and Doraemon and between Doraemon and the "perfect" robot cat Sonya. Speaking of which, Doraemon being the main protagonist to forge a connection with one of the movie characters is a rare occurrence! Additionally, Sonya himself probably qualifies as one of the more memorable and developed movie-exclusive characters in the franchise.

If I were to criticize anything about this movie, one would be that it's very exposition heavy. I have to wonder whether some of the scenes dedicated to explaining background information and character backstories through dialogue could have been trimmed down just a bit, especially given that there were other elements of the story that could have used the extra runtime. For example, Shizuka, Gian, and Suneo don't get a whole lot of focus this time around.

I do appreciate though that the movie actually highlights one of Shizuka's flaws other than "she plays violin badly"—she can be stubborn, which is true... even if the way it is shown here makes her come across as studious more than anything. The scene where the protagonists come around to embracing their shortcomings is also a well done character moment.

That being said, there are ways in which the central theme of the story (essentially "it's okay not to be perfect") could have been handled with more nuance. After all, Gian and Suneo's misbehavior is regularly shown to cause real harm to others throughout the franchise. I know, there are limits to how deeply one can explore a moral conundrum in a children's film, but I don't believe this would have been too challenging to achieve. Perhaps more emphasis could have been placed on learning to control one's flaws and redirecting them into exacting positive change, contrasting with the villain's plan to forcibly erase all individuality. Glimmers of this are already present in the aforementioned scene, but I think it could have been made more explicit still, which isn't helped by the fact that the main villain only appears in person briefly and barely interacts with the heroes.

On the whole, however, these weaknesses didn't detract much from my viewing experience, and I'd consider this a worthwhile entry in the Doraemon film series.

Star rating: ★★★★☆

[ultraericthered]

KH Canon OCs - How I See Them

Any followers of mine I have on this hellsite are likely aware that I am and remain a Kingdom Hearts fan who personally considers only the core narratives of Birth By Sleep, Kingdom Hearts (1), Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts II (plus some Appendix content from the UX fairy tale, BBS 0.2 and 358/2 Days), all chronologically, to be the canonical narrative of the true and pure Kingdom Hearts, the epic Disney saga before it was all remade in the image of director Tetsuya Nomura’s demented shonen mangaka brain. Or to put it differently, only the first decade of the franchise (the 2002 release of KH1 up to right before the 2012 release of KH3D) matters to me on any deep level (though the second decade up to Sora joining Smash in 2021 has some shining gems of merit to take from even while the rest of it is all hot flaming garbage that’s being doubled down on and continuing going forward and I want absolutely no part of it, bye.)

As such, the KH original characters I would consider canonical to any worthwhile work of Kingdom Hearts are all those introduced in that first decade, with one exception I’ll bring up at the very end. And these characters, like many franchise characters, have been written and portrayed in differing ways between different entries, whether they be games, manga, novels, web original/fanon material, or even just the basic rough draft concepts. So...where does that leave me and how I view these characters? I thought it’d be fun to not only answer that, but to compare with actual officially liscenced depictions of the characters and see which ones best match what I consider the ideal for the “baseline”/”template” these characters ought to follow.

Sora

Sora is a free-spirited, mostly easygoing and cheerful young boy from Destiny Islands who finds himself the chosen wielder of the Keyblade one fateful night when the Heartless invade his home. He’s best friends with Riku and Kairi, and also with Donald and Goofy, his travel companions across the worlds. Generally positive, upbeat, bold to the point of cockiness, and with a steadfast belief in the heart and in his friends that are his power, Sora can also be very deeply contemplative, surprisingly considerate, and prone to becoming moody and melancholic whenever something really gets him down. Despite this his agility, abilities, and willpower are exceedingly strong.

The Sora who best matches this characterization would be...

Somewhere right between both games in the Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ package - Re: Chain of Memories and KHII. As great as KH1 Sora is, his character arc, growth and maturity through the course of that game’s story sort of ends at a narrative wall, as it was clearly developed like a standalone with the continuation of the storyline afterwards being uncertain. So Sora’s whole ordeal in Castle Oblivion was designed to break him down and the following story of KHII was likewise designed to build him back up again ‘til he reached Peak Sora, slicing through skyscrapers with his Key and everything. In between these portrayals, if we took the best of Sora from Re:CoM and added it to the best of Sora from KHII, we’d have my Sora.

Kairi

Kairi is the seventh Princess of Heart, a pure-hearted girl who comes from the world of the Radiant Garden Hollow Bastion but now lives on Destiny Islands due to being sent there by Xehanort when she was very young and small. Though appearing scrawny and fragile, Kairi is a spunky, cheeky, outgoing and good-natured tomboy with an endless supply of willpower and inner strength in addition to her athleticism. Unlike her best friend Sora, though, Kairi isn’t exactly carefree and is prone to anxiety and fear of change beyond her control due to her traumatic childhood experiences, and is also very impatient and fidgety, but tries to conceal all this beneath a sunny disposition. But put her in a situation of action and danger, and she will go fucking feral. Over the course of the saga, Kairi matures and grows braver, stronger, more proactive, more aware of all that’s around her, and more accepting of great changes, even temporary separation from her friends. Oh, and she and Sora might be in love.

The Kairi who best matches this characterization would be...

Yeah, you all saw this coming. Shiro Amano’s Kairi from his manga. Admittedly, his KH1 Kairi was not very good in the KH1 manga - the scripting for Kairi’s character in KH1 the game remains superior. Everything else, though, he nails for Kairi. We see more of her 14 year old self in flashbacks, we get her KHII character expanded upon so that her personality and dvelopment arc is better fleshed out and she gets more badass achievements to her name, and even the currently running KHIII manga improved her content. She’s perfect.

Riku

Riku is Sora and Kairi’s best friend from Destiny Islands and was to be the Keyblade’s chosen wielder. Cool, cocky, competitive, a bit aloof and tough on others, and prone to snark and joking around, Riku was also very inquisitive and yearned to explore bigger and better places outside his small backwater home, which paralleled his desire to be mature and regarded like a strong and capable adult. These qualities made him susceptible to giving into the darkness in his heart and calling the Heartless to invade his world, which lost him his claim on the Keyblade. His stint with Disney villains and turn to exploiting the powers of darkness for his purposes set his future course, as even when he realizes his errors and repents, he’s stuck with dark powers and a natural pull towards the Dark Realm. From here, Riku becomes first and foremost the “Good Disney Bad Guy” who uses what he gained from villainy towards the cause of good, to help others rather than himself, and to ultimately turn his Darkness into Light. This is symbolized in how he hangs around with Mickey Mouse, the epitome of a Good Guy. Ultimately Riku matures for real and becomes a watchful guardian with his own “twilight” power.

The Riku who best matches this characterization would be...

Like Sora, the ideal depiction of Riku lies somewhere between two games - his KH1 character and the parts of his story mode in CoM that worked and pushed him towards a unique and special path of redemption and heroism that wouldn’t require he wholly sacrifice his Disney Villain-ish aesthetic and edge that he makes work so well. He should never have become the Vegeta of KH, not when he could’ve been the Piccolo of KH, a role his character fits far more naturally.

Xehanort/Ansem, Seeker of Darkness

Xehanort (yeah I know *officially* he’s “Terra-Xehanort”, but that’s not spoken aloud in canon, so he’ll always be “Xehanort” to me) was an amnesiac young man heavily implied to have been a Keyblade wielder who was taken in by Ansem the Wise and made his chief apprentice. Growing envious, arrogant, and apathetic to ethics and emotion, spurred by feelings of inadequacy and his desire to know all that there is to know, Xehanort betrayed his master, banishing him to oblivion and stealing his research, his other followers, and even his name. Allowing the Heartless to overrun his world and sending Kairi adrift in his search for the Keyblade Master, Xehanort became a Heartless himself and masterminded a widespread invasion of the worlds for the purpose of cultivating the Heart Of All Worlds so that he may claim the power of Kingdom Hearts and blanket the universe in everlasting Darkness, which his research had concluded was the true essence of the heart and the stabilizing force of everything. 

The Xehanort/Ansem who best matches this characterization is...

There was never any realistic chance than any other depiction of this character was going to top Billy Zanenort in the original KH game + its Final Mix. Everything about him there was so perfectly realized.

Xemnas

Xemnas is the Nobody of Xehanort who was born after Xehanort became a Heartless, who formed Organization XIII and leads it as its Superior. Devoid of feelings and with a vast emptiness where his sense of self once was due to lacking a heart, and now recognizing how pitiful his old self truly was, Xemnas refuses to sink back into Darkness and be rendered nothing of significance, so he desires to enhance and assert his own non-existence by not only gaining a heart of his own through his own Kingdom Hearts, but by claiming its power for himself, tainting the hearts of all life in the universe with his Nothingness so that everything is reduced to nothing and all hearts be enslaved in the thrall of his own, as the deified ruler of the worlds. Completely cold, calculating, philosophical, utterly ruthless, devoid of pity or mercy and with a grandiose sense of self-importance, Xemnas schemed to make the power of the Keyblade serve his own uses.

The Xemnas who best matches this characterization is...

Much like his Heartless counterpart, Xemnas was never better than he was in his debut game, but particularly KHII:FM, which added so much to his on-screen appearances and role as the overarching villain at the head of the Organization, fully selling how complex, tragic, and frightening a character he is. He was great in the other special edition games (KH1:FM and Re:CoM), but those were simply teases at him. Character-wise, KHII:FM remains his definitive outing.

Namine

The special Nobody of Kairi, born when Kairi’s heart departed the body of someone who was not her (Sora). Due to being a product of the connection between Sora and Kairi’s hearts, Namine posesses mystical powers and abilities to look into the hearts of others and tamper with the chains of their memories, which can create certain effects on their minds. At first Namine was a captive of Organization XIII and exploited in Marluxia’s conspiracy at Castle Oblivion, which she let happen due to her loneliness, fear of being left alone and abandoned, and desire to matter in the hearts of Sora and his pals. Initially timid and withdrawn, Namine grew to be more assertive and proactive thanks to her experience with Sora, which allows her to act with more confidence and let her more rebellious and mischievous sides show more openly. She forms a special bond with Roxas, Sora’s Nobody, and eventually with her own other half, Kairi, who she re-assimilates into so that now she has a home inside her heart.

The Namine who best matches this characterization is...

Yes, technically Namine had her strongest showing in terms of character development and story relevance in CoM/Re:CoM, but as a personality with longer lasting value to the series, KHII, the initial game, the FM edition, and also Shiro Amano’s manga adaptation, had Namine at her most appealing by far. She’s sweet, intelligent, helpful, lively, and as strange and awkward as you’d expect someone of her conditions to be, but I think it’s really all brought together in just that sly grin and pose she does in both that game image above and in her official character model art, and how she now fully embraces herself as a “witch” despite that having been just what others called her to start with. The girl’s a naughty little troll and she knows it.

Marluxia

Number 11 in Organization XIII. Marluxia was made lord of Castle Oblivion and from within it concocted a very diabolical and ellaborate scheme to brainwash Sora and bend him to his will so that he could turn the Keyblade against Xemnas, which would allow Marluxia and his co-conspirators to take over the Organization. While seeming elegant and refined, Marluxia is very authoritarian, cruel and without scruples when looking to claim the power he craves. In combat, Marluxia’s a graceful assassin who fights with a sickle and flowers.

The Marluxia who best matches this characterization is...

For reals, Marluxia’s never been gotten quite perfect in anything to feature him, but he was indisputedly at his best in the Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+ package, containing Re:CoM and KHII:FM. Re:CoM made his character a lot cooler and more intimidating than he was in the original GBA game (his confrontation with Axel and the fights with him alone prove as much), and his fight in KHII just really runs with the whole “reaper” aesthetic, making you truly fear him.

Axel

Number 8 within Organization XIII. Axel is quite the complicated character, being primarily an assassin with a mercenary sense of values and who does the work of others within the Organization only when he can be sure that it’ll benefit himself to do so. Despite acting like a snide, aggressive and largely blase punk, Axel is not only charming but very perceptive and good at reading a room, making deeply thought cost-benefit analyses of any situation and having a knack for manipulation of both people and events so that things go his preferred way. Selfish and scheming as he is, Axel also harbors deep vulnerability that only his oldest friend and senior member Saix has seen, and when he comes to value something or someone, he is unwilling to let go no matter what he has to do to keep them around. In combat, Axel is very flexible, and fights with chakrams and fire.

The Axel who best matches this characterization is...

It’s Shiro Amano for the win once again! The one constant for Axel is that his debut showing in CoM, whether on GBA, the PS2 specially remade edition, the novels, or even the manga (he’s literally the sole positive in that entire manga adaptation!), goes great for him. It’s everything that follows that I had to consider when weighing them against each other. Then it became no contest - not only is Axel’s portrayal in the 358/2 Days manga stronger, better written and better handled than the game version, but in the KHII manga I am actually very glad he survived past the prologue and can see the value in his role the whole way through. I have never been able to say that regarding KHII the game and especially the novels, but the manga actually got it right. So Amano’s Axel is the best, got it memorized?

Larxene

Number 12 within Organization XIII. Larxene moreso than other Nobodies is particularly agitated by the emptiness within her, so she seeks to fill the void by amusing herself and has found no better way to do so than to cruelly bring others down and toy with them even to a breaking point without any mercy or misgivings. A prideful sadist who cares little for others, Larxene became Marluxia’s co-conspirator in the Castle Oblivion plot to brainwash/recruit Sora so that they may overthrow Xemnas and take over the Organization, and she got an affinity for teasing both her colleagues and Namine. While normally easygoing, playful and snarky, in combat Larxene shows why she’s called a “savage nymph”, fighting with kunai knives and electricity.

The Larxene who best matches this characterization is...

In both versions of CoM, Larxene is a standout. Re:CoM removed a handful of her dialogue for some reason, but otherwise got to portray her personality in even greater detail, with her sauntering movement, skeevy flirtiness, and irritated gestures adding a lot to how enjoyable she is, her facial animation and voice acting emphasizing her malicious sadism, and even her death feeling sadder than just an abrupt tantrum fadeout. What both versions share in common is how uncompromisingly brutal she is to fight. “Savage Nymph” indeed!

Vexen

Number 4 within Organization XIII. As his human self Even was, Vexen is a very dedicated scientist, looking at everything as an opportunity for research and turning any exploitable situation into an experiment to conduct. Feeling like science lends itself not to heartfelt emotion or compassion, he is ice cold and even cruel in how he pursues his agenda. Vexen is also incredibly pompous and elitist, believing in the seniority that numbers within the Organization give and looking his nose down at those of “limited signifigance”. His claim to fame is the creation of Replicas, beings that duplicate the bodies of others but, much like Nobodies, are incomplete due to having fabricated hearts and minds. In combat, Vexen is meticulous, and fights with a shield and ice powers to match his personality.

The Vexen who best matches this characterization is...

As great as Vexen always was in CoM, Re:CoM made him just a teensy bit even better. Part of it is due to the voice acting, which is spot on in both languages. Part of it is due to him coming off as less of a dirty coward than before, thus easier to feel for. And finally, a big part of it is how he dies, a death far more grisly than in the original!

Lexaeus

Number 5 within Organization XIII. The Nobody of Alaeus, one of Ansem’s royal guards and scientific assistants, Lexaeus is the brute force within the Organization who doubles as one of the deepest thinkers of the bunch. Well composed, taciturn, and with a sense of honor, Lexaeus channels his mind through his muscle and is a force to be reckoned with as a result. In Castle Oblivion, he worked in the basement level along with Zexion and Vexen. In combat Lexaeus fights with a tomahawk and earth powers, and can also raise his chi so that he becomes a nigh-unstoppable rampaging monstrosity!

The Lexaeus who best matches this characterization is...

In CoM/Re:CoM he was a bland, forgettable, ultimately throwaway character who is laughably easy to beat despite his professed strength, and in KHII:FM, he’s is much less a character than he is a boss fight (though at least a really strong and difficult opponent now!). 358/2 Days got him down just right, with him being calm, gracious, and intelligent while also being brutal (poor Roxas!) and one of the strongest characters to play as. The only thing missing is his fondness for mind games and puzzles, I think Shiro Amano actually did that really well and it added to his character, but oh well.

Zexion/Ienzo

Number 6 within Organization XIII. The Nobody of Ienzo, youngest of Ansem’s apprentices, Zexion is an analyst and a tactician by nature, always observing, always thinking, and always deciding to act on what he believes to be the best recourse for disadvantaging his foes. Very deadpan, smug and assertive with others, Zexion owes the Organization a great deal and wishes to succeed Xemnas as its leader one day. But as he’s still young and impetuous, he’s not the successful schemer he’d like to be and cracks under pressure. In Castle Oblivion, he worked in the basement level along with Vexen and Lexaeus. In combat Zexion’s not the best physical fighter, so he prefers to cast illusions and mental tricks using a magic spellbook.

The Zexion who best matches this characterization is...

Re:CoM is the best Zexion is going to get in terms of character and combat, and I quite like Ienzo whenever he appears in later games. He’s the only counterpart to an Organization member other than Xehanort and Braig who feels like he warrants the expansion.

Riku Replica (Repliku)

A replica of Riku created by Vexen in Castle Oblivion, designed to reflect Riku’s full dark potential. Was brainwashed by Namine into being obsessed with protecting her and fighting off Sora, but he eventually regained knowledge of what he really was and it got him grappling with his sense of identity all the way to his tragic demise.

The Repliku who best matches that characterization is...

I mean, he’s pretty much the same in Re:CoM as he is in CoM, but with two added benefits: voice acting to actually sell his comically inflated intensity, and not being so ridiculously too difficult to fight.

Ansem the Wise/DiZ

The ruler of the Radiant Garden with an affinity for science and the aquisition of knowledge and wisdom. In trying to better understand the heart, Ansem ended up drawing beings born of the heart’s darkness to his world, and his efforts to keep them at bay were thwarted when his apprentice Xehanort betrayed him and banished him to the Realm of Nothingness. Consumed by dark thoughts, negative emotions and a desire for vengeance, Ansem went by the identity of “DiZ” (Darkness in Zero) as he sought a way to strike back at the Heartless and the Nobodies, the latter whom he particularly despised due to their very non-being serving as a reminder of his failures and the traumatic tragedy he’d been made to endure. While proud, callous, disdainful and patronizing to others, sometimes even downright cruel, Ansem has a wry sense of humor, enjoys peculiar interests such as computer games and ice cream, and can be civil when need be. He recognizes deep in his heart what’s right and wrong, but stubbornly refuses to heed his heart in favor of his mind. Suffice to say, this man’s story doesn’t have a very happy ending.

The Ansem/DiZ who best fits this characterization is...

When you get down to it, Ansem is really not that terribly interesting or invaluable a character in anything other than KHII. It’s the story with the role he was literally made to play, and in it we don’t only get his Ansem Reports and legendarily great voice acting by the late Sir Christopher Lee, but Final Mix even adds the one scene from 358/2 Days featuring him that was best fit to be shown in this story.

Roxas

Roxas is the Nobody of Sora, born when Sora’s heart left his body and he became a Heartless. Made the 13th member of Organization XIII, the solemn, moody and ill-tempered Roxas grew dissatisfied and at odds with himself, beginning to question his purpose and his very identity, which led to him leaving the Organization. He was then captured and mind-wiped by DiZ, who placed him in a simulation of Twilight Town where Roxas developed another identity, a bright, kind, considerate, humble and skeptical “boy scout” type who hung out with Hayner, Pence, and Olette. During this time his memories were scanned and extracted by Namine, and one identity crisis and fight to the death with his former friend Axel later, Roxas was made to re-assimilate back into Sora’s heart, where over the course of Sora’s next journey Roxas made peace with himself and his new home.

The Roxas who best fits this characterization is...

For a third time, Shiro Amano pulls through on not just doing justice to but actually perfecting a character from the games. While his Organization XIII persona in 358/2 Days still isn’t quite what I’d imagined, Amano’s writing for Roxas makes him so engaging the whole time that I barely care, and in the KHII manga he steals the show from Sora in a way Roxas in the game never could. I really like him - he’s way better than the black-coated turd of the later entries.

Hayner, Pence, and Olette

Three friends who live in Twilight Town and who were Roxas’ best friends in the simulation. Hayner is brash and energetic with a take charge attitude. Pence is chipper, laid back and good humored, and has an interest in stuff like machinery and truth-seeking. And Olette is sociable, willful, a bit bossy and snarky, and a shopaholic.

The Hayner, Pence, and Olette who best fit this characterization is...

Yeah, they’re pretty much the same in every single work they appear in, making it impossible to choose (though in Olette’s case I have to give her manga incarnation as shout out for the spiked baseball bat!)

Xaldin

Number 3 within Organization XIII. The Nobody of Dilan, one of Ansem’s guards and scholars, Xaldin is a naturally gifted warrior in the fields of both strength and strategic thinking. Viewing himself and his fellow Nobodies as abominations devoid of feelings, Xaldin views the Beast of Beast’s Castle with contempt and jealousy over him being a literal monster who possesses a heart, feelings, and humanity to reclaim, so Xaldin makes it his priorty to gradually take the Beast’s life apart and utterly break him in both body and spirit so that he may become a Heartless and create a Nobody that Xaldin may then enslave. Moreso than his colleagues, Xaldin is spiteful, malicious, verbally abusive to others, and devoid of any civility or decency, as it’s “not in his nature to hold back.” In combat, Xaldin is relentless, wielding six deadly lances and the power of wind.

The Xaldin who best fits this characterization is...

You really can’t do Xaldin any better than KHII:FM.

Demyx

Number 9 within Organization XIII. Demyx is a lazy, undisciplined, largely apathetic wastrel and a coward who prefers not to fight or apply himself to any tough situations. He likes lounging around, playing music, gaming with his colleagues, and generally taking advantage of others. Though he seems scatter-brained, silly, and even quite friendly at times, Demyx’s empty self makes him insecure about his place in the World, and when that button is pushed, he will throw caution and the pretense of feeling anything to the wind as he becomes a ferocious assailant, fighting with water and his sitar.

The Demyx who best fits this characterization is...

Again, KHII:FM got Demyx down the best. While 358/2 Days and even its manga adaptation fleshed him out a bit more, it lacks the spectacle of his boss fight that has made Demyx such a legend.

Luxord

Number 10 within Organization XIII. Luxord is a gentleman first, a gambler second, and an Organization agent last, so he’s not always the most effective when on a mission. However, he is also shrewd of mind, nefarious in means, and utterly fearless in face of a challenge. He generally gets along with his colleagues, respects a worthy opponent, relishes a good game, and prides himself on being keen and seeing through to the end anything he takes on, and he gets rather frustrated when things fail to match up with his perceptions and risk/reward analysis. In combat, Luxord fights with cards and dice, the gambler’s arsenal, and utilizes the power of time itself.

The Luxord who best fits this characterization is...

Fourth hit for Shiro Amano. While Luxord as an Organization operative in the Caribbean is enjoyable in KHII and even KHIII, Luxord as a character was better realized in the manga, which made him so much fun and notably goofier, meaning he has a much better chance to avoid the utterly asinine bullshit Nomura is now set on.

Saix

Number 7 within Organization XIII. Saix is a Nobody who both fully embraces being a Nobody and curses his fate as a Nobody, yearning for a heart of his own. He is so cold, so efficient, so faithful to the cause, and so uncompromising in his cruelty that he got himself the role of Xemnas’ second-in-command. Normally very deadpan and detached from any semblence of emotion, Saix always hides an undercurrent of intense rage, displeasure, venom and instability that only comes out when a full moon drives him into utter lunacy. He’s been friends with Axel since the start, as their human counterparts were friends too, but lately the two have drifted apart. In combat, Saix wields a broadsword and powers of moon, stars, and space.

The Saix who best fits this characterization is...

358/2 Days just gives Saix all the character focus, meaty role in the plot, and truly villainous deeds that you could ask for. He’s great in Shiro Amano’s manga adaptation too, but his darker presence and actual fighting in the game gives that portrayal of him the edge here.

Xigbar/Braig

Number 2 within Organization XIII, and the Nobody of Braig, one of Ansem’s guards and apprentices who always had a greed for higher status and power that could elevate his self worth. Wanting to wield a Keyblade of his own, Braig gladly accepted Master Xehanort’s offer to collude with him in his scheme to set off a new Keyblade War, and ended up exploiting Xehanort’s trajectory when he became Ansem’s apprentice. Becoming the founding member of Organization XIII along with Xemnas, Xigbar retains Braig’s laid back, gruff, rude and talkative personality and seemingly flighty and unserious attitude, but actually knows many secrets and holds many cards close to his chest, always thinking opportunistically about what can gain him the best advantages and put him several more steps ahead of others he disdains. In combat, Xigbar fights with sniper rfiles and gravity power.

The Xigbar/Braig who best fits this characterization is...

To put it plainly, Xigbar was initially one of the weakest characters in the Organization, and everything about his character in KHII:FM and 358/2 Days only works with the context given with Braig in BBS. (Also, he’s not Luxu. If Luxu were to exist, he’d not be this character.)

Xion

The suddenly added Number 14 of Organization XIII and the centerpiece of much of what happened in the time gap between CoM and KHII. She turns out to be an imperfect Sora replica made by Vexen who absorbed the memories of Sora that Roxas could not recall, leading to the puppet taking on an appearance and personality reminiscent of Kairi. But wheareas Kairi is sweet (albeit sassy and teasing), light-hearted and acts like she’s got her shit together, Xion has no such chill - she’s manic, edgy, feisty, stubborn to a fault, quite prone to angst or anxiety-inducing emotional turmoil, and very open about her insecurities. Despite this, she is fiercely dedicated to being a hard worker and applying herself on missions, giving it her all to earn her keep and putting on her best brave face for her friends  ‘cause she loves them so deeply. Even when her screws come more loose and she has her very identity and continued existence in question, her desire to do right and look out for what’s best for her friends wins through. Due to her connection to Sora and Roxas, Xion too can wield the Keyblade. Was ultimately wiped from all memory.

The Xion who best fits this characterization is....

To the surprise of no one, Xion from Shiro Amano’s 358/2 Days manga adaptation IS the character for me and many others - in fact, she’s probably Amano’s crowning achievement, fully realizing the potential in such a bizarre and fanficcy character concept that was thought up by Tomoco Kanemaki and screwed with by Nomura.

Terra

The young Keyblade wielder who, years ago, fell prey to the darkness in his own heart and from Master Xehanort, becoming Xehanort’s vessel and a crucial component of who Xehaort was as Ansem’s apprentice. Having a soured relationship with his mentor and father figure, Master Eraqus, Terra’s heart burned with the desire to prove himself strong and to be a hero to others in need. While rather overconfident, willful, dense, brooding, short-sighted and with a fixation on power, Terra was also good natured, compassionate and vulnerable, wanting to see the best in others and so convicted to ideals of heroism and moral values that his will to do good and protect what mattered most to him outlived him and his own failings.

The Terra who best fits this description is...

Say what you will about Terra in BBS, good and bad, but he was easily the most fully realized character with the fullest realized story arc out of the leads in the game, plus his combat style holds up best.

Aqua

The young Keyblade wielder who, years ago, played a key (pun intended) part in saving the worlds from a plot by Master Xehanort to lay waste to everything, even sacrificing her physical existence to the Darkness in order to give her two friends, Terra and Ventus, their best shot at survival. Aqua was kind-hearted, keen and insightful, strong-willed, stubborn, and hyper-focused on her tasks due to the seriousness of her position and the ideals of peacekeeping and justice that Master Eraqus instilled in her. Having shown the Mark of Mastery, she was also a bit showy, standoffish, and judgmental, wanting to believe she knew best and that her heart wouldn’t lead her astray only to constantly second-guess herself and expose her more awkward side. She cherishes light and is constantly pushing back against the darkness in others and in herself. Above all else, Aqua values her friends as family and will do anything to help them.

The Aqua who most fits this characterization is...

The reason I hold a deep appreciation for what we got in BBS:FM’s bonus episode and in BBS 0.2 even when I don’t like either of those as products is that their contents helped really define who Aqua is and needs to be as not merely a strong heroine, but as a character who stands on her own apart from her two male friends. Shiro Amano’s recent adapting of the material did it one better by restoring Aqua’s adorkable side from BBS to give us bits of levity here and there. Plus, she’s just beautiful and such a damn badass in Keyblade combat, making Nomura’s ever sexist treatment of her in KHIII afterwards a legit crime of bad writing and character assasination.

Ventus

The young Keyblade wielder who, years ago, played a key (pun intended) part in saving the worlds from a plot by Master Xehanort to lay waste to everything, even sacrificing his very heart to vanquish the threat of the Unversed. Initially brought into the secret Keyblade Master order by Master Xehanort, while not of age to become a Master, Ven trained hard and looked up to his older friends/surrogate siblings, Terra and Aqua. A positive, confident, good natured, helpful and spirited youth, but one prone to uncertainty, melancholy, and impertinence when faced with conflict he found himself ill equipped to deal with. While not too strong or magically gifted, he was very agile.

The Ventus who most fits this characterization is...

Yes, just the basic concept of Ventus. He was never too well realized in any officially liscened work, and was most effective when asleep.

Master Eraqus

The old master of Terra, Aqua, and Ven, who in his own younger days was a colleague of Yen Sid and Xehanort in their Keyblade training. He meant well, but was overly strict with his surrogate children and zealous about safeguarding the light by stamping out darkness whereever, whenever, believing in absolutes such as the need to ultimately erase darkness from all hearts in existence and guide the worlds to a new age of prosperity in secret. He was struck down by Xehanort, the man he’d looked to as an elder brother.

The Eraqus who most fits this characterization is....

Once again, a character is never executed too well beyond his rough draft concept and design. And what a cool concept and design, too!

Vanitas

A being of pure darkness who spawned the Unversed years ago and who may have had some influence in the darklings’ evolution into Heartless. Vanitas trained under Master Xehanort as his secret apprentice and wielded his own dark Keyblade. He relished being cruel and channeling the pain of his own negative emotions into the pleasure of hurting others, and he was also very arrogant, viewing himself as the most supreme warrior who could even usurp and outlive Xehanort himself. While seemingly destroyed by Ventus, Vanitas never fully went away - we see traces of him in Riku’s dark mode and soul-eater, and in Sora’s own positivty turning to negativity and obsessive desire during his trek through Castle Oblivion. So long as darkness holds great power, Vanitas will linger as its embodiment.

The Vanitas who most fits this characterization is...

This was bar none the biggest shock to me. I didn’t think KHIII would get anywhere here beyond a shout out to Ienzo, but Vanitas in that game is honestly even better than in BBS, and for mainly one reason - he redefined what I thought of the character and his potential.  ‘Cause beforehand I wasn’t sure I even wanted to see Vanitas again since he seemed to have no lasting value beyond that dumb ying-yang X-Blade plot with Ventus. KHIII showed he didn’t need to be just that. He could be his own brand of menace, the “Darkness” he chose to be. He didn’t even need to go around looking or sounding much like Sora - he could have far stronger “repeatedly comes back taking on a different shape and form” potential than Xehanort! And naturally, I don’t care one bit about whatever Nomura might have in mind for Vanitas and tying him to 12 other “Darknesses”, that’s BS. Leave me with my proud, gleefully evil solitary Darkness Incarnate!

Master Xehanort

The old Keyblade Master who set in motion the events that led to the story of Kingdom Hearts and whose heart became the canvas for the creation of the story’s overarching villain, Terra-Xehanort. Hailing from a small, constraining world before being chosen by the Keyblade, Xehanort finally got to explore the larger World only to, like Ego from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, find it so... disappointing. Being a naturally born sociopath with an inquisitive soul who always sought knowledge and yearned for the answers to all his heart’s most burning questions, Xehanort researched deeply into the old Keyblade War legends all while arrogantly intaking and exploiting Darkness in hopes of chanelling it as power. His ambition became to initiate another Keyblade War-sparked apocalypse where Darkness would ravage the World and he could then set foot inside Kingdom Hearts to harness its light and recreate the World anew in his own image, partially out of sheer curiosity to see the results such a grand cosmic experiement would yield and partly out of a desire to trascend his own humanity and play God. By the time he got around to it, Master Xehanort was little more than a self-interested, callous, maniacal old crackpot who did evil for evil’s sake and shamelessly reveled in it. Even after he, from inside Terra’s body, got amnesia and faded from consciousness, his dark legacy lived on in Terranort and his Nobody.

The Master Xehanort who most fits this characterization is...

OBVIOUSLY. In both Birth By Sleep the secret ending FMV and Birth By Sleep the game story, Master Xehanort was easily the most interesting, enjoyable, and best realized character, particularly when his on-screen portrayal firmly followed the Watanabe vision for him. A fantastic villain even with a dumb plan and incoherent motivations; were only those issues fixed, we’d have the ideal Master Xehanort who’d be by leaps and bounds superior to Nomura’s pet Villain Sue.

And last, and unfortunately least, we have....

Strelitzia & the Chirithy

Strelitiza is a girl who lived in the same world and village as Lauriam and Elrena, to whom she was a blood-related sister and surrogate sister respectively. The three of them belonged to a guild inspired by folk legends of the Keyblade, though they were not wielders of the fabled blade themselves. She was a rather quiet and shy girl who looked to others to give her courage and resolve, holding the highest opinion of her brother and best friend while undervaluing herself. Met with an unknown tragic fate, which effected Lauriam and Elrena deeply. The Chirithy, meanwhile, were local critters who were said to have been around since ancient times and could gague a hearts connection to the Keyblade. Chirithy also exists in the Final World.

The Strelitzia & Chirithy who most fit this characterization is....

As with Ventus and Eraqus, the basic concept and design outdoes the actual implementation of the character we got in the series. Don’t care to see these characters anywhere outside of my headcanon.

[lamarckianenterprises]

My Memories (CW: Past Suicidal Ideation, Urination mention, Desecration)

Earlier this morning my mother asked me if I could, as someone who was traumatized by their parent’s divorce to the point of considering suicide, recount my experiences and methods for recovering from my trauma as a helpful primer for recently divorced parents and their children. It sounds all well and good but there’s just one problem: I can’t actually remember how I did it. 

Not because my mind blocked it off as a sort of trauma response or anything mind you, even without properly trying I can get a pretty good blow by blow of my reactions, but that’s the thing really, that’s all I can remember by now. Think of it this way, it’s sorta like….

Surabaya is built atop the ruins of dozens and dozens of cities, they may not all be of the same size and scale, and while some of them are named Surabaya or some variation of Surabaya not all of them are. But these cities were very real, people really did live and work in them, and learning about them can be very worthwhile, digging in deep to gleam anything at all about how the people lived, what their houses looked like, what they did for a living, what they ate and drank and worshiped and get a sense of the scale of it all. But I can’t for the life of me figure out how all this is supposed to relate to modern day Surabaya, I mean sure today’s world didn’t just spring out of nothing one day, but I think it gets harder and harder the further down you go, after all how is the history of Jung-La-Yu at all relevant for studying or understanding what modern day Surabaya and its people are like?

And that’s the thing, when I think back to then I’m not picking at an old scab, going through yesterday’s leftovers, or walking down the street, I’m digging into the dirt, I’m going through a museum. I can clearly say that certain things happened, and I can certainly tell you in somewhat certain terms when it happened, where it happened, and how it went down, but I haven’t the foggiest why it happened at all.

I can tell you that at some point around 9 years old I walked past the bookcase in the living room of the last home my parents shared and realized that I forgot what the Indonesian word for crab was, I can tell you that before that I tried to impress some friends by showing them a Ben 10 Upgrade toy my father got me and realized that none of them knew what the hell it was, that even further before that I was young and dumb enough to get away with pissing in a mosque’s washroom, and that at some point when I was 13 I looked out at my apartment’s balcony when I was alone and wondered if I should just jump right off. 

What I can’t tell you is what was going through my mind in and around that time, or why any of it seemed like something I would be doing in the first place. I can sure as hell guess, but so can anyone else really.

And hell, maybe the narrow band of what we consider ‘core memories’ that serve as the foundation of our personality and behavior have always lied closer in our past than we think, as the simple act of living and remembering changes what we hold dear gradually enough that we can’t quite remember when it was ever different, maybe all of our memories no matter how grand and seemingly life changing are doomed to slowly rot away any traces of additional meaning and remembered thought over the years until it becomes just another thing that happened, or maybe I just got sick of my mind constantly trying to guilt trip me with my past mistakes that I just learned to let go of it all and start over.

My mind is fire, not stone. All I know is that just as I looked back in my past today and realized that I couldn’t quite figure out why he didn’t jump out of that balcony or leapt into that river when given the chance, I know that one day, in 10-20 years I’ll think back to the time I wrote this article, and can’t for the life of me figure out why she would sit down and write all this for. 

[tiptopcopy]

Everything You Need to Know About Finding a Freelance Copywriter NZ

A freelance copywriter is a person who writes copy for other people. In this article, we will discuss the benefits of hiring a freelance copywriter in New Zealand.

Tips for Working with Freelance Copywriters

Utilizing freelance copywriters can be an excellent way to gain quality content for your business. However, this process can also prove stressful if you are not knowledgeable in what you're doing. To optimize your experience and ensure optimal results don't go overlooked - here are some essential tips to keep in mind! Firstly, determine the type of writer that meets your requirements; do you require a seasoned professional with a proven track record? Or would it be beneficial to hire an inexperienced novice who is willing on learning as they develop their craft alongside yours? Knowing these answers will help guide any search for the most suitable freelancer and guarantee the successful completion of any project. Then establish an allotted budget and timeline so that workers know exactly how much money has been allocated towards this venture - after all it's imperative that professionals provide accurate estimates related to remunerations along with realistic timeframes! Lastly, provide clear instructions about expectations; clearly defining parameters of expectations allows workers to understand the scope of work thus allowing them to deliverables accordingly without becoming overwhelmed by complexity- providing clarity from start will aid in the success

Freelance Copywriter Is Affordable And Flexible

Are you searching for a cost-effective and accommodating Freelance Copywriter in NZ? Don't hesitate - to seek out my services! As a freelancer, I offer high-quality copywriting services that can meet your needs. At any point in time, if there's anything that requires assistance from me - be it something special or routine - I'm here to provide you with an engaging and interesting piece of content. My goal is to craft unique pieces of paper which effectively communicate the mission/message; this ensures accessibility as well as being informative so that expectations are met. Whether it's just one project or an ongoing commitment, let me assist by providing quality work! If we get along well enough during the discussion regarding your assignment(s), then consider giving me another opportunity to work on them further; after all... why would anyone choose someone they don't enjoy working with?

There Are Many Benefits To Hiring A Freelance Copywriter

Investing in marketing is a worthwhile venture, and when it comes to maximizing your budget's return on investment, hiring a freelance copywriter can be an advantageous option. Multiple types of services are available from these professionals - including website content writing and blog posts as well as press releases. Not only does having access to experienced individuals provide you with quality content rapidly; but also help develop your own distinct voice and tone for brand identity. Additionally, by utilizing this service you have control over deadlines which allows dedicated writers within the field who understand how best to craft engaging material for maximum impact! Furthermore; working with professionals offers cost-effective solutions that don't require additional overhead such as office space or benefits – enabling greater fiscal flexibility along the way! Ultimately; assigning veteran contributors within specific fields means absolute assurance that all final products will be upstanding pieces worthy of recognition & praise!

[seawolvesanddragons]

AWAE 12 Days of Christmas Countdown - Day Four

Day Four: The Sortings 

(All countdown stories are missing scenes/additions to my AWAE/HP au. In the story, we see Anne sorted into Ravenclaw, but not Gilbert, Josie, Diana, Ruby, Jerry or Cole’s own conversations with our favorite enigmatic hat.) 

(1981) 

“Blythe, Gilbert!” 

Gilbert held his head resolute as he walked up the steps toward the creaky stool. His back was towards the other students, but he could see the double glances from the professors and the whispers behind hands. 

He could only imagine what they were thinking when they saw him. The last Blythe - some of these professors had taught his oldest siblings when they had been at school. He remembered them from the funerals. A few had even taught his parents back when they were students. 

He looked up at Professor Allen as he approached the stool and saw a familiar look of pity in his eyes. 

Professor Allen was the head of Gryffindor house, where Gilbert’s father and oldest brother had been. The last thing Gilbert saw before the hat slipped over his head was the man’s kind, encouraging smile. 

Ah! A Blythe, a voice whispered in his mind. Always a surprise in store with a Blythe, I’ve come to learn. Let’s take a look inside your mind, shall we. 

Hmm...well you are your father’s son. Very noble heart indeed. Never one to turn your back on someone else. You could do well in Gryffindor. 

I’d like to be in Slytherin, please. 

Slytherin? The hat asked. Ravenclaw, I could see. You’ve got a sharp mind and a hunger for learning. A curiosity about the world that Rowena Ravenclaw would be proud of. 

Slytherin, Gilbert repeated, glancing toward the table full of green and silver. His father had a green and silver scarf in the hope chest at the end of bed. Gilbert had seen it once - wrapped around a portrait of his mother. 

Salazar Slytherin prized cunning and ambition in his students - a certain brand of ruthlessness and personal loyalty. 

I have an ambition for learning. 

A worthwhile attempt, young Blythe, but that is clearly a Ravenclaw trait. 

Gilbert crossed his arms. This might take longer than expected. 

Three minutes and forty five seconds later, the hat (who would be shaking its head if it had one) finally called out a house. 

“SLYTHERIN!”

*

“Pye, Josephine!” 

Josie tossed her hair over one shoulder as she flounced to the horrid old stool they were expected to sit on. She couldn’t believe this was the legendary magical sorting hat. It looked like something some muggle had left out in the rubbish. 

And that they were all expected to wear it! What if it messed up her hair? Or somehow she caught a disease? 

Josie made up her mind on the spot to share her precise thoughts on this procedure with the headmaster as soon as she got the chance-

“GRYFFINDOR!” 

Oh, perfect, the dusty old hat had hardly touched her head. At least she didn’t need to worry about that anymore. 

***

(1982) 

“Barry, Diana!” 

Diana approached the stool with perfect posture, making sure her legs were crossed as she settled on the seat. Mother would be proud of such grace. 

Oh you’re a polite little thing aren’t you? The hat chuckled in her ear. Well behaved, of course - but smart too. Much cleverer than you give yourself credit for. Quite logical. 

“Thank you,” Diana whispered politely. 

Ah but there’s passion there - just a little spark. Interesting. Buried under all those manners and expectations is a vast field of possibilities. 

Well there is really only one possibility for you now...yes, best be 

“RAVENCLAW!” 

*

“Baynard, Jerry!” 

Jerry had only considered calling it quits and running back home about ten times since he arrived in London that morning. It was only the knowledge that his parents had spent quite a bit of money on books and travel to get him here in the first place, and how excited (if a little scared) they were that him being a wizard gave him a chance for education, that kept him going forward. Now, as he felt the eyes of all these strangers on him, he felt the now familiar urge ro run take hold once more.  

Ah, a muggleborn hmm? 

Jerry would have screamed, but his mouth was too dry. The hat was now speaking in his head. Sure. It was singing before, so it speaking in his head wasn’t too different. 

I’ve seen ones like you before. A hard worker, not afraid of effort or hardship. And determined too...though it takes no small amount of courage to leave your family behind. 

Jerry wondered if the hat knew his secret. 

Never learned how to read? No matter. I already know just where to put you...

“HUFFLEPUFF!” 

*

“Gillis, Ruby!” 

Ruby let out a little squeak. She had watched as one by one her friends were sorted- first Jane, then Diana and Tillie - and now her turn had come at last. 

She nearly tripped over her foot as she hurried up the steps. From the Gryffindor table, Tillie gave her an encouraging wave. 

Her feet hovered off the ground as she sat on the stool, and the brim of the hat fell down to her shoulders. 

Well well, Miss Gillis. I’ve sorted several of you now, I think. You’re the last one? 

Ruby gave a tiny nod. Her three older sisters had all already graduated Hogwarts - Ruby had been what her grandmother liked to call a “blessed surprise” to the family. 

And not one to the same house it seems. Quite a strong opinion on chivalry, have we? You’ll do well in...

“GRYFFINDOR!” 

*

“MacKenzie, Cole.” 

Cole kept his head bent down as he shuffled toward the sorting hat. He almost dreaded whatever would happen next. He had listened to the hat’s song, but nowhere did it mention a house for quiet, solitary boys who’d rather draw than cast spells. 

What if the hat didn’t say anything at all? Would Cole be free to go home? 

An artist hmm? I can always tell. There’s something about your minds, the way you see things. This is one of the strongest I’ve seen in years. 

I....thank you? I think, Cole thought back. Well, at least a hat thought he was talented. Granted it was a hat, so what did it know? 

A hat that was forged by the founders themselves, thank you very much. It seemed miffed, if that were possible for a hat. I’ve seen more artists and masterpieces than you ever could in your short little lifespan. 

Right...sorry, Cole thought. Um. Could you sort me, please? 

Always in a hurry, the sorting hat said. Lets see what we have here....most artists end up in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, given the creative and hard work that goes into it...though Slytherin has produced their fair share as well. 

But you’re not just an artist, are you? You have a kind soul...and a strong sense of loyalty, to those you chose to give it to. And...ah. A dream to be different from what your family wants. To be you. 

I suspect your path may have many hardships, Mister MacKenzie. One as brave and strong to follow that path could only belong in one house. 

“GRYFFINDOR!” 

The hat was lifted from his head and Cole blinked at the sudden lights and noise that erupted. 

Merlin, was the hat such a downer with everyone? 

[vijay01]

What Are The Top  Feature And Costs Of Bus Ticket Booking App Development 

With the very convenient time of doing whatever one needs at his fingertips, the trend of bus ticket booking app development has become the game changer in the travel industry. The applications avail access to booking journeys and managing itineraries as well as exploring various traveling options at the fingertips of users. 

If you are planning to build your own online bus ticket booking app, this article will delve into the essential features you'll need and break down the costs involved in the development process.

Why invest in a bus booking app?

Before we go into more details about features and costs, let's begin first by understanding why the investment in a bus ticket booking mobile app development is a good one.

Increased demand: The more digital travel solutions exist, the more passengers look for easier and faster ways to book their tickets with a bus.

Better User Experience: A dedicated application will give a better user experience since customers will be able to get real-time updates and an easy interface for booking.

It will make you look unique in this very crowded market with the proper well-designed bus booking system development.

Top Features of a Bus Ticket Booking App

1. User-Friendly Interface

First impression goes a long way. A top bus ticket booking app development should provide a clean interface and should be very intuitive. The user must be able to navigate through the app easily and without getting confused.

2. User Registration and Profiles

Provision to register or simply log in with social media facilities, ensuring a personalized experience through saved preferences and booking history.

3. Search and Filter Options

Users must be able to search for buses on specific parameters like date, time, price, or even the type of bus. Filters will help them find the perfect option quickly.

4. GPS Tracking of Buses

Integrating GPS tracking will ensure users can see the spot-on location of their bus. This feature enhances the confidence of the users and reduces the anxiety related to arrival times.

5. Payment Gateway Integration

Transactions should be secured at all costs. The use of multiple payment gateways, such as credit/debit cards and mobile wallets, would provide users with a means to pay easily.

6. Booking Management

Enable the display of bookings, make changes, or cancel bookings. This feature takes steps toward building customer satisfaction.

7. Push Notifications

Users will be given booking confirmations, schedule adjustments, and special offers through push notifications. This will keep the app always on the top of the list in the minds of users.

8. Rating and Review system

This has been the best way to enhance services to deliver worthwhile experiences to them. In this, the system allows people to read other's experiences before making a decision.

9. Customer Support

Customer support can be best availed at any time either via chat email phone, and this is an integral part of making users feel supported throughout their journey.

10. Multi-Language and Multi-Currency Support

One can make his app more attractive to people from all over the globe by allowing language options and supporting different currencies. Such efforts toward inclusivity may indeed reflect in the increasing number of your app's users.

Additional Features

Depending on the target audience and business model, consider including additional features for best bus ticket booking app development:

Loyalty Programs: Reward repeat bookings with rewards.

Social Media Sharing: The plans can easily be shared with friends or published by the users.

Administration Dashboard: Manage all bookings, users, and reports.

Development Cost

To have an effective budget and the right planning, the cost to develop a bus booking app is necessary. Based on feature complexity and the location of the development team, the actual cost will be different. Here is a rough breakdown:

1. Design Cost

The design stage comprises UI and UX designing. This cost will lie between $2,000 and $10,000. A good design is important as this directly affects user engagement.

2. Development Cost

This is where most of your budget will go. The development price is determined by many things: platform choice (iOS, Android, or both), complexity, and the location of the development team. Mostly, you can assume:

Basic: $10,000-$30,000

Advanced: $30,000-$50,000 

3. Backend Development

Creating a good backend for your application will cost between $ 5,000 to $ 15,000. Here, again, you place a server, your database, and your APIs.

4. Testing

Quality assurance also plays a vital role in ensuring that all users will be able to run the application with the least amount of conflict.

Testing may cost between $3,000 to $10,000 depending upon the complexity of the application.

5. Maintenance and Updates

Post-launch, you have to budget for maintenance and updates. You will have to spend around 15-20% of the total cost of development annually.

6. Marketing Costs

Once you develop your app, you will also be spending money on marketing. This can vary widely, but budgeting $5,000 to $20,000 for initial promotions is a good starting point.

Development Cost Factors

Location of the Development Team: The cost of development can be greatly affected by the location. It would be expensive to hire a local team in high-cost areas.

Complexity of Features: The cost of development will be higher if complex features are involved. This pushes the timeline and complexity for every added feature.

Platform Choice: It would be costlier to develop an application for both iOS and Android compared to just developing one.

Development Approach: Custom app development is more expensive than developing using a template or any pre-available platform.

Conclusion:

This could greatly benefit the bus ticket booking app development company, as it offers convenience to the users putting your business in an advantageous competitive position within the marketplace. In understanding the necessity of all the features included and what costs that would involve, you can efficiently produce an app that will be required for the needs of today's travelers.

Travel has, indeed, changed, and an application for booking a bus ticket is one of the must-haves to meet the needs of the newer consumer. If you are willing to take the plunge and build a bus booking system, do not forget to bring on board a development company that is reliable and has experience to help materialize your vision. With the right strategic approach and execution, the application can be the go-to source for travelers all over the world.

So, whether it's an app for booking tickets of your own or just browsing for an option, the journey starts here. Welcome to the future of travel and elevate the ways of people in booking their bus tickets!

[ivfsurrogacycentreindia]

Egg Donor Cost in Mumbai: What You Need to Know

Egg donation is an essential part of fertility treatments, offering hope to couples or individuals who struggle with infertility. For those considering this option, knowing the egg donor cost in Mumbai is crucial for effective financial planning. This article provides a detailed look at the factors influencing the cost of egg donation and helps guide you through the process with insights from Select IVF.

Factors Influencing Egg Donor Cost in Mumbai

Several factors contribute to the overall cost of egg donation, which can vary significantly depending on various elements, such as the type of fertility clinic, medical procedures, and the donor’s compensation.

1. Donor Compensation

Egg donors are typically compensated for their time and effort, and this fee constitutes a significant portion of the overall cost. The compensation may vary based on factors like the donor’s physical and genetic traits, education level, and overall health. Clinics often have different compensation packages for their donors, depending on their selection criteria and demand.

2. Medical Procedures

The process of egg donation involves several medical steps, including hormonal stimulation, egg retrieval, and various diagnostic tests. These procedures require specialized medical professionals, which increases the total cost. Advanced technology and equipment used in the procedure also add to the expense.

3. Legal and Screening Costs

Egg donation is a legally complex process, and legal fees related to agreements between donors and intended parents may be required. In addition, egg donors undergo extensive medical, psychological, and genetic screenings to ensure the safety and success of the donation, adding another layer of cost.

4. Type of Clinic

The cost can vary depending on whether you opt for a high-end fertility clinic or a more affordable option. Clinics with more advanced technologies, higher success rates, and renowned fertility specialists generally charge more. However, they often offer better care and higher chances of success, making the investment worthwhile for many.

5. Additional Costs

Average Egg Donor Cost in Mumbai

The egg donor cost in Mumbai typically ranges from INR 1,50,000 to INR 3,50,000, depending on the factors mentioned above. While this may seem like a significant expense, it’s essential to remember that the success rates of fertility treatments like IVF with egg donation are higher, especially when using healthy donor eggs.

If you are planning to explore egg donation and would like to learn more about the costs involved, Contact Us at +91–8447592299 or email us at info@selectivf.com for detailed information and personalized guidance.

Why Choose Select IVF for Egg Donation?

Select IVF is committed to providing top-quality fertility treatments, including egg donation. The clinic ensures transparency in its pricing structure, making it easier for prospective parents to plan their fertility journey. At Select IVF, we understand that choosing egg donation is a big decision, both emotionally and financially. That’s why we strive to offer comprehensive care and clear communication throughout the process.

Conclusion

Understanding the egg donor cost in Mumbai is an important step in the fertility journey. While the costs may vary depending on several factors, planning and working with experienced fertility professionals can help you achieve the best outcomes. Select IVF is here to guide you through every stage of the egg donation process, ensuring you receive the best care possible.

For more details on egg donor costs and personalized advice, Contact Us at +91–8447592299 or email us at info@selectivf.com. We are here to support you on your path to parenthood.

[couponztaps]

Tina Aldea Coupon Code Bringing Your Soulmate’s Portrait to Life.

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to have a portrait of your soulmate created by someone with a unique gift, look no further than Tina Aldea. With her extraordinary ability to capture the essence of your soulmate through art, Tina Aldea’s portraits are not just pictures but soulful representations of those you cherish. And now, with a Tina Aldea Coupon Code, bringing this special artwork into your life is more accessible than ever. Let’s explore how Tina’s art can add a personal touch to your space and how you can make the most of her current offers.

Discovering Tina Aldea’s Unique Artistry

Tina Aldea is renowned for her exceptional talent in capturing the essence of individuals through her artwork. What sets her apart is not only her artistic skill but also her psychic abilities, which she has honed since childhood. This combination allows her to create portraits that resonate deeply with those who view them. Tina’s art isn’t just about replicating appearances; it’s about conveying the spirit and personality of the subject, making each piece a unique and personal experience.

The Magic of a Personalized Portrait

A portrait by Tina Aldea is more than just a visual representation; it’s a profound and emotional experience. Her psychic gift enables her to connect with the essence of the person she’s drawing, ensuring that each portrait captures not just their physical attributes but their inner spirit as well. This approach makes her work particularly meaningful for those seeking a deeper connection with their soulmate or loved one.

How to Use Tina Aldea Coupon Code for Your Portrait

Utilizing a Tina Aldea Coupon Code can make the process of commissioning a portrait even more rewarding. These codes often provide discounts or special offers that make the art more affordable, allowing you to bring Tina’s unique vision into your home without stretching your budget. To use the code, simply apply it at checkout when you purchase your portrait, and you’ll see the savings reflected in your final price. Keep an eye out for these codes to ensure you get the best value for your investment.

Why Tina Aldea’s Portraits are Worth Every Penny

Investing in a Tina Aldea portrait is more than just buying a piece of art; it’s about owning a cherished memory and a work of exceptional skill. Tina’s ability to blend her psychic insights with her artistic prowess results in portraits that are not only visually stunning but also emotionally profound. These portraits become treasured keepsakes that hold significant personal value, making them a worthwhile investment for anyone looking to celebrate their soulmate or loved one.

Making the Most of Your Purchase with Couponzatps

As you explore the possibilities with a Tina Aldea Coupon Code, consider visiting Couponzatps for additional savings. Couponzatps is an online platform dedicated to providing the latest and most valuable discount codes for a wide range of products and services. Whether you’re looking for deals on art, accessories, or everyday items, Couponzatps can help you save money while getting the best possible value.

By combining Tina Aldea’s extraordinary artistry with the savings from Couponzatps, you can enhance your home with a personalized portrait that captures the essence of your soulmate.