#how specialization is different from generalization

[fairestwriting]

this is corny so you don’t have to answer the req if you don’t want to, how do u think dorm leaders would react if the only girl in night raven college ended up in their dorm?

𐙚 Riddle Rosehearts

Well, he's definitely not spoken to a lot of girls around his age range... if he's even spoken to any of them at all. That's the main obstacle, in Riddle's case. He just feels like he doesn't know how he should talk to you.

He does have enough common sense to know he shouldn't treat you differently because of your gender. Obviously. So he's not going easier on you with the rules or anything like that— he'll still scold as harshly as he'd scold any rule breaking guy...

...That's what he tells himself, at least. In practice, it's still true, but he can't help but second guess if what he's doing is really okay, at least while he's still getting used to you.

Luckily, Heartslabyul students are, in general, pretty sociable people, so you actually manage to get along with your dormmates rather quickly. It's just Riddle that trips on his words every now and then.

𐙚 Leona Kingscholar

Honestly, he's not thrilled about it. But it has nothing to do with you personally, and everything to do with how he just knows some of the guys in the dorm might get a little too excited about it, and he'll have to actually put effort into making sure they behave.

It's not like they're creepy or disrespectful or anything. Even your most obnoxious dormmates will, at most, just be really awkward around you — It's just the right thing, in Leona's mind, to avoid having you end up in these weird situations.

With the large amount of beastmen in the dorm, though, it's more likely that they'd get too nervous to even do that. They don't play around when it comes to respecting women. If anyone even dared to think about going against that, they'd be very, very quickly outcast.

But besides that, you're just another member of the dorm, to him. He'll at most complain about the dorm getting attention just because there's a girl in it and nothing more. You're still getting the "Herbivore" nickname if he finds it applicable.

𐙚 Azul Ashengrotto

You don't see any of it, but he's ripping out his hair over the whole thing. And it honestly doesn't even have anything to do with you — It's just that it's all so sudden? Your acceptance into NRC, and into Octavinelle, will definitely attract some attention, and he wasn't given any time to prepare for it...

He definitely does his best to make it look like he wasn't taken completely off guard, though. You're welcomed into Octavinelle with a big smile from him, telling you how honored he is to have you in the dorm— And it's not a lie, really, he is glad to have you, he's just stressed out.

Azul is fairly decent at helping you get settled into the dorm, despite that. He'll ask for your thoughts on the room sharing situation on your very first day, and make sure you come to an agreement on the matter as soon as possible.

𐙚 Kalim Al-Asim

Honestly really happy to have you. NRC turning co-ed is a big deal, after all! It means a lot that his dorm gets to be the one to house the first girl to attend the school.

Kalim was planning to have a big welcoming party at the start of the school year anyway, but since it seems it'll be an extra special one, he'll change his plans accordingly. He might end up going a bit overboard, but it's better to do too much than too little, right?

After the initial fanfare, though, he'll also default to treating you like any other Scarabia student. Which doesn't mean he's any less friendly or warm, it's just that he shows the same amount of interest towards any new student.

He worries a little about you feeling out of a place, though. He's heard from the girls he knows that it can be lonely to be in a space that's all guys, and he doesn't want you to feel othered like that! Maybe he'll talk to Crowley about letting more girls transfer, or something. Or at least introduce you to his other friends, if you want.

𐙚 Vil Schoenheit

Honestly, he's a little stressed out. Mostly for the same reason that would make Kalim so happy and proud — NRC turning co-ed is a big deal, his dorm is the first one to house a female student, expectations are higher than usual.

He lectures the other students on what not to do on the first day, and personally talks to you to ask if there's anything you'd like to be done to the dorm to make you more comfortable. He's mostly thinking about things like whether you'd prefer to not have roommates and such, but he's pretty open to any request as long as it's reasonable.

Honestly, Pomefiore might objectively be the best dorm to end up in, in this case. The push for students to be open minded and respectful is real. Anyone who's too biased and unwilling to change just gets filtered out.

𐙚 Idia Shroud

People start whispering about it the second the news come out —Ignihyde is like a lair for awkward people, their leader himself barely attends class in person. Having the first female student of NRC join in surely will make everyone there lose their minds, right?

And, yeah, people do get anxious, sure. But Ignihyde's image as this safe haven for the socially awkward also means, to their members, that they can be at ease around each other. And you are one of them now, so...

You don't really talk to Idia directly, but that's just because nobody does. He sends Ortho to ask you if you'd like a room to yourself, or anything else, really— He avoids mentioning anything specific because he doesn't want to sound weird, but he'll make sure you have whatever you need.

Your dormmates warm up to you pretty fast too. They're shy, and a good amount of them probably never really talks to any girls, but you're still one of them, above everything else. Gender doesn't matter as much after the initial feeling of surprise is gone.

𐙚 Malleus Draconia

Malleus isn't that stressed out about it, honestly. He knows it's a big deal for the school as a whole, but to him, it's just something that should have been done a long time ago. It's not like restricting student genders was helping anybody learn magic.

He's a bit puzzled when Lilia asks him about possibly taking measures to make you feel more comfortable. He has no issue with taking them, of course, he just doesn't think about them right away? It won't occur to him that you might prefer having a room to yourself, for example.

Because of Diasomnia's reputation, you're sort of shielded from most unwanted attention from the rest of the school, and your dormmates themselves are pretty much all polite people who keep to themselves. It's very peaceful in there, really.

Overall it's just not a big deal to Malleus himself. He'll be curious about how you feel being the only girl in the school, sometimes, but he won't ask unless you haven't shown interest in speaking to him first.

if you like my work you can support me by commissioning me or tipping me on ko-fi ── ᵎᵎ ✦

[cinemaocd]

I only asked for OCD screening in the first place because I heard it was linked to hoarding a problem I have. That was more than five years ago. Last week my therapist finally found a mental health survey that included questions other than hand washing, being weird about numbers and checking lights/the stove etc. There was a total of TWO hoarding questions on there, the rest were just different ways of rewording the handwashing, numbers and checking lights questions.

I spent years on a hoarding message board and I think having a shopping addiction, and being weird/perfectionist about how to dispose of items are both commonly part of the disorder. There were no questions about these behaviors.

Nor were there any questions about other common "ticks" of people who hoard: being incredibly slow/methodical about the cleaning tasks we do. One common example is folding laundry so precisely that it looks ironed and folded on a board, like it was being displayed in a store. Another one is being obsessive about keeping small areas pristinely clean (area around the kitchen sink or toilet are common ones) while everything else is absolutely cluttered and filthy. (The reason for this is probably practical since those are common drains that get clogged and hoarders really, really don't like to have to call plumbers. So many hoarder homes become unlivable because of a highly fixable leak that the owner refuses to fix because it will bring strangers into their house.) It is also common to sort items into piles and when asked to clean/organize, hoarders will "churn" (move items from one pile to another while not actually getting rid of anything or organizing things in any useful way to anyone but the hoarder.)

Hoarders have a really hard time with decisions about what to keep or throw away, but they also tend to have issues making small decisions in general. (The hoarder will be the last person to order at a restaurant and they will maybe change their minds several times while they're at it.)

Again, I've never had a therapist, even one who supposedly specialized in OCD (and was a germphobe brand of OCD himself) ever mention any of these behaviors that I believe are very common among hoarders.

The most helpful advice I've gotten about my OCD has been from people like Marie Kondo and a workbook called "Buried in Treasures." My current therapist treats my OCD as a trauma response to the type of parenting I had (neglectful and inconsistent) and some deeply traumatic incidents in my childhood. Because I grew up in a hoarding house and had hoarders as my behavior model as well as other trauma, I am generally indecisive, and when I get really stressed, it is almost paralyzing.

My therapist works on helping me process my trauma and my emotions so that I can be less stressed and make better decisions. Stress level does seem to almost be a gas pedal to my hoarding. When I'm super busy I don't make time to put things away. When the world is too scary I spend way too much time online shopping to escape. None of this is remotely unique to my situation, but the way that the mental health sphere works (heavily reliant on a thick rule book that changes every once in a while) people like me are just kind of left out of the mainstream, even though among older people, hoarding or "being a packrat" is extremely common. The generation before the Boomers that lived through WW2 rationing and the Great Depression pretty much ALL had it to some degree. People who grow up very poor or in very unstable situations also tend to have some issue with hoarding, especially as they age. It's not complicated, really when you think of it, yet millions of us are left out of the big rule book because no one has asked the right questions.

I feel like I would have been diagnosed with OCD a lot earlier if the vast majority of screening questions (for mental illnesses in general) weren't based on the person's perception of their own behavior, in isolation. and what i mean by that is asking someone with OCD "do you wash your hands excessively?" is not a good question.

a person with OCD believes they are washing their hands the correct number of times. it's not excessive. we believe we're exhibiting best practices and helping to keep everything clean.

better questions might be, "does it seem like you wash your hands a lot more than your friends or family?" "do you get dry patches or cuts on your hands from washing your hands?" "do you find it deeply distressing, more so than how you've seen other people react, when you get something on your hands that you can't clean off right away?"

being asked "are you overly preoccupied with bugs, symmetry, and contamination?" also got "no" responses from me years ago in my life. what they didn't ask for, and didn't know, was what *exactly* I was doing in my day to day life that genuinely ate up my time and mental space to a concerning degree, but I *didn't know* that other people don't do this.

"do you spend a lot of time cleaning?" -> no, it's not a lot. it's a good amount. why?

"do you become frustrated because it seems like no one else meets your organizational and cleanliness standards - do you often 'take over' for other people because they can't do it right - do new friends seem surprised by how strict you can be about your living space?" -> oh. yeah. yeah I get it now.

[bluejay720]

Headcannon fic idea of how the hunters met/came to be:

Each generation the Honmoon allows the hunters to find each other by being almost like a link, a vibe or feeling when they’re close or near to lead them to each other. Celine keeps bringing Rumi to different groups of girls to find out who the other two members of the new group are supposed to be but they keep going to places that lead to nowhere cause Celine keeps going to old school places. So they keep traveling all throughout Korea.

One night, after months of travel and getting nowhere, Rumi sneaks out because she feels the pull of the Honmoon and goes to an underground Rap show where she sees Zoey performing and knows instantly it’s HER. But Rumi being the social awkward and definitely not socialized enough person she is doesn’t know how to properly introduce herself and starts fumbling through everything and about the Honmoon and saving the world and Zoey is just like “what the fuck” but also can sense the tie that she has to Rumi and is like “why do I feel so connected with this girl?? Who is she???” Anyway, somehow Zoey accepts the chance to see that Rumi is in fact not crazy and follows their connection together (it’s not majorly hard to convince Zoey that she’s a special warrior who has to save the world, lol Zoey seems like the type to eat that up)

Anyway, maybe together they’re able to find Mira, who I’d imagine at that point might have been kicked out of her family's house/cut off and is probably 19-20ish and has been living on her own for awhile, maybe as a dancer trying to make it but mostly going from place to place trying to find work or a way to live when Zoey is the first to spot her and try talking to her and then Rumi appears and they both are so excited to meet their third person that they kinda forget that introductions are important and that maybe they should explain who the heck they are because Mira looks like the whole thing is a joke and is ready to run at a moments notice and she needs a WAY better explanation because Mira has all her walls up and “who the fuck are these people trying to convince me that we’re connected together by a cosmic force. (Also they’re both really pretty)”.

However, now that the new generation of hunters is finally together, the Honmoon shimmers and their presence is shown to Gwi-ma who sends a horde of demons their way to try and end them before they can realize their full potential and they have to fight them off, only Rumi knows what she’s doing but she is just not used to working in a team and ya that’s the start of them and how they came to be =) they then go and train with Celine who is like “who the fuck are these girls???”

And rumi is all SO excited to be like: :D I made friends! Look Celine! I find friends!

Anyway lol this is my headcannon that I would love to write a fic for 😂 but I also need motivation for that

[thisonegirl]

Further thoughts that I don’t really feel need elaboration:

Boggs is definitely within my top 5 characters. He was one of the only people that saw Katniss for the CHILD she was. He didn’t see the Mockingjay, he saw a girl thrown into the middle of a war as the face of it. He was kind, understanding, honest and protective. I generally love how Suzanne writes her black characters like Reaper, Cinna, Rue, Thresh, Beetee and so on, but Boggs is my favorite of them all.

I deeply dislike Coin. This time around, as I watched with adult eyes (maybe a bit biased too) I realised that she was unlikable from the get go but it was mainly just the annoyance in the condescending way she spoke and her slight tendencies of authoritarianism. Then BOOM, the shoe dropped and yes, she was as bad as Snow.

Finnick’s death hit me harder this time around. Again, watching with adult eyes and minds as well as context. He is an incredibly strong person that deserved far more than the cruel cards he was dealt. He and Annie deserved their fairytale happy ending.

I saw someone say that they hated that Katniss had kids at the end and to that I say you missed the point. She finally left safe enough to bring kids into the world. That was the point. THE WORLD IS FINALLY SAFE.

I pity Katniss so much. Such a heavy burden was placed on her all because she had a good heart. I love her even more for taking it in stride and becoming the hero they needed her to be even if it wasn’t what she wanted. I thought a bit about MHA when Deku says that “my body moves on its own”. How he moves to help before he can even think. Katniss is a bit like that, she helps because it’s her natural response too.

I wonder if Haymich thinks of all the posters that have been painted from his games up until the last one. It’s sad that he hasn’t seen the ones from before.

I like Joanna. Quite a bit actually even though she had some misdirected anger towards Katniss.

I’m happy that Haymich opened up to Katniss and Peeta. I love that he let them in. 

Someone said Prim was always meant to die. The reaping, the bombing in 12, the bunker evac in 13. In a way I get what they meant but it still felt “wasteful” that she ended up dying in the end. Her sister saving her life was the catalyst to the whole thing. In my wishful thinking, I would’ve loved to see them all together enjoying the fruit of their fight and love.

I’m sorry but I can’t help but compare Katniss’ mom to Haymich’s. Their reactions to their husbands’ deaths are on such different ends of the spectrum.

I hate Snow, despise him even. But even I cannot deny the aura that man has. I’M SORRY but when he said “We both know I’m not above killing children, but I’m not wasteful.” CHILLS BUT IN THE WORST WAY.

Plutarch is such an interesting character and I love the mystery that he carries. Someone who cannot be placed in any box. Such a spectacular mind.

Someone said “Coin was lucky Maysilee wasn't around to read her and her fuckass bob” AND PERIOD!!

There was something poetic about Katniss ending a cycle before it began with Coin and letting the people end the Snow.

“We go home.” Haymich, Katniss and Peeta going off together was so special to me. I love that they found the peace and solace they deserved and chose to spend it in each other’s company.

Beetee had a pregnant wife y’all… let me leave it at that.

Maysilee had one hell of a poster.

[vxnillabxn]

Hii, I saw ur last post about mute reader I couldn't resist to ask— can u write for a half deaf reader? I have to use hearing aids and it's so hard to find disability hc's/shots for the reader in lads ;;

Thank u!!!

𐙚˙⋆.˚ mainfive! x half deaf gn!reader ꒰੭

𐙚˙⋆.˚ fluff! ꒰੭

𐙚˙⋆.˚ sfw! ꒰੭

𐙚˙⋆.˚ do not translate/copy/repost! ꒰੭

﹙♡﹚hiiii! i had to do some research and ask some friends of mine for their experiences, so i truly hope i got this right! also, i know each experience is different, and there are different spectrums, but i tried to keep this as general as possible, hope that's okay! thanks for the request ♡ ꒰ˆ◞⸝⸝◟ˆ ꒱੭ﾞ

𐙚˙⋆.˚ caleb! ꒰੭

﹙♡﹚he always takes you out to cute, cozy places —most of them quiet enough not to feel overwhelming, and it's always just the two of you, of course.

﹙♡﹚beforehand, he visits all those places himself and checks what events are coming up, so you're never caught by surprise by sudden crowds or loud noises.

﹙♡﹚when talking to you in public, he cups your cheeks and leans in close —partly so you can read his lips and hear him better, and partly so everyone else sees just how close he is to you.

﹙♡﹚you never even have to worry about charging your hearing aids; he's already done it. in fact, he helps you put them on and makes sure they're secure, after years of quiet practice.

﹙♡﹚he recognizes your tiniest expressions; you don't have to say you're overwhelmed for him to notice. he knows how tiring it can be to hear everything amplified, so if it starts to feel too much, he'll gently guide you away without a word.

﹙♡﹚he also notices when you force a laugh or smile because you missed what someone said, but don't want to ask for them to repeat themselves. he'll make them, though.

﹙♡﹚and if anyone dares to look annoyed or refuse? he'll shoot them the friendliest smile, but under the table, he is ready to shoot something —someone— else.

﹙♡﹚after all, all he wants is for you to feel just as included as everyone else —and to feel completely safe leaving whenever things get draining. just say the word, pips. he lives to make your life easier. that's it.

﹙♡﹚also, he remembers when you two used to play hide and seek when you were little. you wouldn't notice how loud you were being when hiding… and he'd have to pretend not to hear you just to see that toothless smile on your face when he let you win. bless his heart.

﹙♡﹚so you can trust him with everything. you don't even have to think; he's already thinking for you. because he wants you to lean on him for everything— even for the things you didn't know you needed, or the things you thought you had already taken care of… but he always knew better.

𐙚˙⋆.˚ rafayel! ꒰੭

﹙♡﹚i feel like you two have more chances to be petty. literally. if he gets too dramatic, you can just pull your hearing aids off and walk away.

﹙♡﹚and if he follows you or starts signing dramatically from across the room, you can close your eyes —and that's it. he hates it, though.

﹙♡﹚every time this happens, he'll pull you closer, press you against his chest, and groan in frustration —just so you feel the vibrations of his dramatic sulking. there's no escaping him when he wants something… or when he decides to be petty back.

﹙♡﹚if it's the other way around, and you're the one throwing a fit? he'll turn away and cover his ears, whispering and bickering under his breath. your hearing aids might not catch it, and you can't read his lips, but you know he's talking back. little minx.

﹙♡﹚on the sweeter side, he'll decorate your hearing aids. if you let him, he'll add tiny charms, paint delicate patterns, or design delicate little chains. he still wants them to feel comfy and easy to wear, just with a touch of his love and creativity.

﹙♡﹚and if you ask for something special, he'll work on it for days —especially if your design idea has anything to do with him. he loves the thought of you carrying a piece of him everywhere you go.

﹙♡﹚he absolutely adores taking you to big social gatherings. showing you off is second nature to him, but he'll always notice if it gets too loud or tiring. when that happens, he'll sneak you away to some… hidden spots strategically found, so you can still enjoy the event, but without all the chaos.

﹙♡﹚when you two go to the beach, he lights up if you take your hearing aids out to swim or dive with him.

﹙♡﹚and if you decide to keep them on and stay close to the shore (if the sea breeze isn't too strong for your hearing aids to catch), that's fine too. he'll still make sure you enjoy everything else: the warmth of the sun, the breeze, the cold splash of water against your legs. he never wants you to miss out.

﹙♡﹚on that note, he doesn't just sing for you, he signs beautifully too. he learns complex, graceful signs, moving his hands like they're dancing to silent music. so whenever you want to see your pretty fishy-man singing his heart out, you can choose between his voice… or his hands (you'd finally understand the old lemurian songs through the signs he uses, too!)

𐙚˙⋆.˚ sylus! ꒰੭

﹙♡﹚okay. the power this man holds? incredible. he'll spoil you, buy you the best hearing aids he can find, and of course, you're invited to every single event he attends. he's more than happy to let you decide where to go, what to eat, what to drink, who to talk to…

﹙♡﹚after all, all he wants is for you to feel comfortable. and if the room suddenly becomes too loud —too many voices blending together, or the music making it hard to catch his soft voice, even when he's so close to you— he'll make everyone lower their voices. he'll even turn down the music himself, just so you can hear him.

﹙♡﹚when talking to you, he'll stare into your eyes a lot more than usual, making sure you are reading his lips clearly, making sure you don't miss a single word he says.

﹙♡﹚he'll slow his words if he has to, but from across the room he'll still say the most quietly passionate things, just to see you get flustered. he can't help it; he thinks it's funny how everyone else thinks you're communicating telepathically.

﹙♡﹚he'll also sign his words, in case you miss them —though he'll do everything to make sure you never do.

﹙♡﹚one thing he loves most? sharing quiet, calm moments with you back at the base.

﹙♡﹚when you both have time to rest, he'll have you sit next to the record player so you can hear every soft note of the melody, while he reads silently beside you.

﹙♡﹚and if you decide to take your hearing aids out, he'll have you sit in his lap instead, letting you feel the vibration of his voice as he reads out loud.

﹙♡﹚he knows your bond goes beyond words. as long as you can feel him next to you, always constant and loving, that's more than enough for both of you.

﹙♡﹚and… you might actually feel him try to purr like a cat when you're curled up together. you're his kitten, after all —and since kittens are born deaf but find comfort in warmth and purring, he tries to give you the same. but don't comment on it… please.

𐙚˙⋆.˚ xavier! ꒰੭

﹙♡﹚i really think he'd rather sign than speak, to be honest. even if signing takes more effort, it goes more with his nature —like, he can express everything without having to search for the right words.

﹙♡﹚he's so soft-spoken that sometimes it's hard to make out what he says, especially if he isn't whispering directly into your ear, or when you're out on dates where there's background noise.

﹙♡﹚if you don't know sign language yet, he'd absolutely learn it with you. and if it still feels tricky sometimes, he'd come up with simpler, secret signs… like an alien language only the two of you understand.

﹙♡﹚without even noticing, he also picks up your little quirks and gestures. if you scrunch your nose when it gets too loud and your hearing aids start to hurt, he'll do it too.

﹙♡﹚when you watch his lips carefully to catch every word, he'll unconsciously do the same when you talk —even if he can hear with no issues at all.

﹙♡﹚he never questions it if you close a door a bit too loudly or speak louder than you mean to, because you can't really tell how loud you're being.

﹙♡﹚but honestly? he finds it endearing, especially if you're not wearing your hearing aids and you're walking around cluelessly.

﹙♡﹚some nights, he forgets you've taken your hearing aids out to charge, and he'll still mumble to you sleepily, not realizing you're just watching him with an amused smile.

﹙♡﹚and once he notices you didn't quite hear, —because, truly, his voice is so gentle— he'll simply come closer, take your hands in his, and guide them to his chest.

﹙♡﹚you can feel his steady heartbeat under your palms. and given the flush on his cheeks and the way his soft azure eyes look at you, you don't need words to know what he wants; for you to come closer… and cuddle.

𐙚˙⋆.˚ zayne! ꒰੭

﹙♡﹚he makes sure to remind you to charge your hearing aids every night. if you're too sleepy to do so he'll do it for you without fail.

﹙♡﹚he actually enjoys keeping your home quiet; no loud tv, no overloading noise that might cause screeching sounds in your hearing aids, nothing.

﹙♡﹚when you two go out, he'd rather take you to cafés or restaurants, because he can look into your eyes, and you can easily read his lips as an extra help —and he loves to lovingly gaze at you.

﹙♡﹚he'll clean your hearing aids for you, and even though you know how to do it yourself, he'll still show you how he does it. it's always more precise… it must be because of his surgical hands.

﹙♡﹚he always tries to give you sensory breaks. he knows your other senses might feel heightened, especially if you're not wearing your hearing aids. he keeps the lights dimmed, and he likes to hold you close in the solace of your shared bedroom (or his office... or the living room... or his car...)

﹙♡﹚when you get particularly overwhelmed, even indoors, he'll let you rest your head against his chest so you can listen to his heartbeat to ground you.

﹙♡﹚he'll also whisper secrets as you recharge, but very, very quietly. you'd only catch the soft vibrations, not the words themselves. it doesn't matter, because it brings comfort —even if he uses it to confess everything he's been holding back, waiting for the perfect moment.

﹙♡﹚if you get overwhelmed in public, and you give him permission to, he'll gently take off your hearing aids, cup your cheeks —to cover your ears, too— and slowly mouth “you are with me, you are safe.”

﹙♡﹚it works every time, especially since he always leads you somewhere quiet and safe afterwards… which is pretty much anywhere he is, for he is your safest place.

﹙♡﹚at the end of each day, he'll softly kiss behind your ears before gently massaging them between his fingers to soothe them. he wants you to fall asleep, the last thing you feel being him. every time.

[writing-for-life]

The Horror of St. Hilarion

The Dead Boys as memories of institutional abuse

Sandman #25 “Season of Mists Chapter 4”, and the story of Charles Rowland and Edwin Paine at St. Hilarion’s, was always one of the simultaneously darkest but also most hopeful issues for me. Dark because it unflinchingly examines institutional cruelty. Hopeful because it also says a lot about resilience, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.

The boarding school setting isn’t just a backdrop, because St. Hilarion almost feels like a character itself. It’s its own microcosmos of systematic cruelty, both physical and emotional, and it enables and perpetuates abuse. And that brings us to the real horror of this story: How easily institutional structures can become machines for breaking children, and how these institutions have forever disguised it as “character-building tradition”.

And although we get a hint at something being very wrong off the bat, the slow build via flashbacks over the course of roughly a week, from something that feels sort of normal to letting the true horror emerge, is crucial for its impact:

It’s the horrifying normalcy of it all.

Visual Storytelling

The issue obviously captures the subjective experience of being literally trapped in an abusive system, shown to us e.g. via colour palette shifts to reflect Charles’ growing desperation and isolation, but also his resilience.

It always felt to me, and I might be alone in this, as also showing how trauma affects perception: sometimes hypervigilant to threat, sometimes dissociated from immediate reality. It’s really using the comic medium’s unique strengths to show us psychological states.

The Dead Boys as Metaphor

Both Charles and Edwin are victims of St. Hilarion’s institutional cruelty, even if in different ways, even if decades apart. And of course that’s pure fantasy/horror from a genre-point of view. But it’s also saying something about how trauma echoes across generations.

The Dead Boys aren’t just ghosts by the end; they’re the institutional memory of abuse. They represent every child who was broken by this system, every story that was never told, every injustice that was never acknowledged. Their presence makes the abstract concrete and personal. And giving that kind of trauma a face is extremely uncomfortable.

But it’s not just about that, because what’s both brilliant and also painful about Charles and Edwin is how unheroic they are in traditional terms (the comics have a slightly different flavour here than the show). They’re not brave or strong or special. Charles is just a kid trying to survive, Edwin just a ghost with empathy, trying to comfort. Their triumph isn’t defeating the system. It’s refusing to let it break them completely, and not letting it strip them from their humanity.

But that refusal isn’t presented as easy or clean. It comes at enormous cost, and the story doesn’t shy away from showing that cost. And it also gives equal weight to moments of strength and moments of absolute despair.

And We Bear Witness…

Perhaps the most important narrative element is how the issue positions readers. We’re being asked to bear witness to systemic abuse and its consequences. It creates moral weight by forcing us to sit with uncomfortable truths rather than rushing past them. Panels linger on moments of cruelty long enough to make them feel real, and again: that’s uncomfortable.

Bringing up all the ghosts of the past (apart from obviously tying the story into the greater narrative of the dead coming back from Hell in Season of Mists) shows us that this isn’t just “how things used to be”. It’s how institutional power operates when it’s left unchecked:

Systems of abuse perpetuate themselves across generations. The Dead Boys make us aware of decades of institutional failure, suggesting that without intervention, these patterns will repeat, or rather: They are still going. And their experiences at St. Hilarion’s explain not just their characters and personal stories, but also how the dead in the wider context of The Sandman can become trapped by unfinished business. We’re shown that trauma has metaphysical weight. Stories of suffering and abuse don’t just fade. They accumulate and literally trap the souls of everyone involved.

For Sandman comics fans, issue #25 , (just like #6, “24 Hours”) was a bit of an emotional watershed. It’s where many readers realised the series was willing to go places that mainstream comics typically avoided. Both are issues that many people remember viscerally, or even avoid, because they initially feel so dark.

But the fact that the Dead Boys have become characters the broader DC universe was willing to expand on (long before the show I dare say) speaks to how effectively their origin stories established them as more than just victims. They became literal symbols of resilience because Charles made a conscious choice not to take Death’s hand as not to leave Edwin. They chose to take each others’ hand instead, value their newfound friendship and most of all:

They chose to resist…

[pyreneese]

Five Times Light Killed L

@lawlightweek2025

Day 1: Soulmates/Doomed Pairing

Rating: T

Tags: A bit suggestive in places, but nothing explicit. Murder. Reincarnation.

A battle raged across the field, katanas slashing through bodies and crashing into armor. Soldiers slumped dead, their heads rolling.

Up on a nearby hill, two generals locked their blades in a heated battle. Their katanas clashed loudly, sending up sparks. Haruto breathed heavily, struggling to keep Kenji at arms length. Kenji had always been an enigma, scraggly and messy, yet somehow fighting with an impeccable form. Haruto straightened, his usually neat chestnut hair a tousled mess around his face. Haruto flashed the other man a charming smile.

"Kenji… just-just stop this. Just join me. Japan can be ours. We can be together…"

Kenji winced at that. He wiped away a smear of his blood from his cheek, quietly considering. It hurt to look at Haruto. Sometimes, all he could think about were those late nights together, their lips tasting like alcohol as they stretched horizontal in whatever little corner they could carve out, in whatever little corner where they could hide from their people, from the responsibilities and expectations on them. The other was the enemy, after all. The thought of just dropping his sword was appealing… Life would be bliss if Kenji could spend it feeling Haruto's body heat every night… but he found himself slowly raising his sword. No. That was just a dream. A fantasy. They had their lot in life and that wasn't in their future. Haruto's eyes widened.

"W-wait! I love you! Kenji!"

Kenji charged. Their swords swept and slashed, moving so fast that it was impossible to see the movement.

Neither was sure who stabbed first. They both gasped softly in surprise and looked down. Haruto's katana was plunged into Kenji's abdomen… but then, Kenji's own sword was buried into Haruto's sternum.

Haruto opened his mouth, but blood dribbled out. Kenji choked softly, his grip on his katana's handle wavering.

"I'm sorry," he breathed, his head swimming. "I… I didn't want…"

Haruto roughly pulled Kenji into a searing kiss, the feel so rough that Kenji was sure he was burning. And yet… so tender… Kenji didn't even realize when they went horizontal on the ground, Haruto's weight like a stone on his chest. Kenji weakly stared up at him and craned his neck up, lips brushing together.

---

Prince Isamu sat in his room, looking over a list of paperwork his council had written up. Next to him, his servant, Taiyo poured some calming tea. Isamu reached for the cup, but faltered, feeling a familiar ominous sense in his chest. He glanced up at his servant... his lover. They'd spent so many nights together that Isamu was almost tempted to reject the council pushing for him to find a wife.

"The tea smells wonderful." He leaned back, watching his servant amusedly. "Tell me about it."

Sometimes, people confused the two of them. Taiyo had chiseled features, sharp eyes and soft brown hair. Isamu was... different. He'd always been scrawny and surprisingly pale. Definitely not princely. Taiyo glanced at the prince and gave a practiced, demure smile.

"It's a new matcha blend. You should try it."

"Hm. Interesting. Here, why don't we share it?"

A flash of sharpness behind amber eyes. Taiyo's lips twitched.

"You wish for someone of my station to share your cup, my Lord?"

Isamu tilted his head a bit.

"Considering how much we share saliva, I didn't think you'd mind."

There were always rumors about assassins hiding in the corners. Isamu never trusted anyone, definitely not Taiyo. But... he knew he was falling for the man. Falling in love with someone he couldn't trust was a deadly recipe. Taiyo sat next to Isamu, handsome hair falling into his face as he grinned.

"Of course I don't. But tea is... something special, wouldn't you say?"

Isamu's brow quirked. He held out the cup.

"Hm. Maybe to some. But you mean a lot to me."

For the first time, Taiyo's eyes flickered. Isamu stared at him. There was something more raw about the expression, something almost pained and that could be mistaken for guilt. Still, Isamu knew the games of the palace. The games of his life. Taiyo exhaled shakily and reached forward, gently pulling Isamu into a kiss. A pleasant shiver raced up the prince's spine as he melted into it, getting lost in the sensations at the taste of... Isamu froze, grey eyes widening a fraction as a bitter taste coated his tongue. He pulled away from his servant, inhaling sharply as Taiyo pulled out a small vial from his mouth.

Taiyo hesitated, a remorseful expression crossing his face.

"I really did enjoy your company... I didn't know the royal family was capable of such... warmth..."

Isamu started to open his mouth, but blood splattered out, covering the tatami mat beneath them. The prince gave a choked laugh, feeling his lungs begin to burn.

"Why...?"

"Power. What else? I'm well-connected, you know. You're just the next piece on my way to the throne."

Isamu stared at him and slowly smiled, his teeth bloodstained.

"I was right to suspect you... I knew it... I... wasn't wrong-"

The prince's body seized. Taiyo averted his gaze as winced as the prince collapsed backwards, sprawling onto the ground, blood leaking from his mouth.

---

Akito and Sota ran, their fingers intertwined. Sota's lungs burned, his shaggy black hair falling into his face, but he didn't bother to brush it away. They made their way into an abandoned building, the rotted wood cracking beneath their feet.

"They're going to find us," Sato panted.

"Never," Akito growled as he checked the windows and doors. None of the doors locked. "I promised you I wouldn't let them have you and I'm keeping my word."

Sato winced at that. He took a slight step in Akito's direction, grey eyes setting into something determined.

"Exactly… you promised…"

"… It's not going to come to that. Not yet."

Sato gasped softly as he heard the heavy sounds of footsteps. Whooping, hollering laughter drifted up from the area and he didn't need to look to know that the building was surrounded. Sato surged forward and lightly grasped at Akito's wrist, lightly squeezing it. He eyed the knife clutched tightly in Akito's hand.

"You promised you'd kill me before they could get me. I can't go back. Please... I won't forgive you if I go back!"

Akito's eyes widened in alarm, jerking his wrist back.

"No! I'm not killing you!"

Sato gasped when he heard the footsteps thundering closer, the door crashing open. He shuddered and reached forward, tenderly framing Akito's face.

"Hey. It's okay… I'm not angry. I promise I'm not… I love you. Please... if you'll love me... you'll do this."

Akito stared at him for a moment. He didn't give himself time to question himself, allowing his body to move mechanically as he plunged the knife into Sato's chest. Sato let out a rattling sound, clutching at Akito's shirt. A pressure welled behind Akito's eyes as the other man slumped and crumpled to the floor, grey eyes stuck open and staring at the ceiling.

Akito fell onto his knees, throat bobbing. He wouldn't live for more than a few years. He already knew it. Sato was his… everything. Sato was everything. How could he go on? Still. He quietly pulled Sato's body onto his lap, fingers trembling as he brushed some hair away from the man's delicate, porcelain features.

"I'll see you soon."

---

Minato leaned against a building's wall. He popped a lollipop into his mouth and slowly crunched down on it as he watched the doorway intensely. Hikari stepped into the room, adjusting his jacket. Hikari flashed a brilliant smirk, eyes practically glowing as he stepped forward.

"Minato. I'm surprised you actually came."

"Mm. You always make me come," Minato smirked as he crunched down on his lollipop.

It was an easier answer than the truth... that Minato loved him. That he always wanted to be in Hikari's orbit. It was supremely stupid... coming deep into The Shinigami Gang's territory just because the leader asked him to. Hikari blinked rapidly at that and made a show of rolling his eyes.

"God, you're insufferable. Whatever. We need to talk about how your gang keeps encroaching on our turf."

Minato simply chewed on his stick, watching the man impassively. Hikari scowled and took a few menacing steps closer.

"It's been one too many times."

Minato's brow quirked. He pushed to a standing position, his lips pursed as he sized up his chances. It didn't look good... They were both skilled fighters, but this was still Hikari's turf. Even if Minato won, he'd definitely be injured and would struggle through the territory to get back to his group. Hikari watched his lover warily, swallowing thickly. He was getting too soft. Minato made him too soft. Minato made him want to quit this life, to just run away and start over on the other side of the damn planet. That was too dangerous. He had to kill these feelings now. Had to kill him. Hikari flashed a knife and gave a wicked grin.

"Once I kill you, it'll be easy taking over your territory. I guess you can say I'll be the new you, huh?"

Minato chuckled darkly.

"You wish."

He swept forward, pulling out his own knife. Hikari snarled and tried stabbing, the two of them leaping and bounding over debris and boxes. Minato roared and flung his knife. The other yelped as it lodged next to his head. With a yell, Hikari flung his own knife. This time, it landed. Minato grunted as the knife tore into his chest, eyes going wide. He collapsed onto the ground, his breathing going heavy. Hikari gasped softly and straightened.

"Mi... Min..."

All around them, he heard the sounds of whooping laughter. His group coming back. Minato inhaled sharpy, weakly trying to pull himself towards the exit. Hikari stared at him and sighed heavily. He moved in Minato's direction and gently hugged him, holding him against his chest.

"I kept telling myself that doing this would make me feel better... maybe it will... but... for it's worth... I'm sorry."

Minato gurgled, desperately shaking his head. Hikari's eyes misted.

"Trust me, you don't want my group to find you alive."

He exhaled as he slit Minato's throat.

---

Red lights washed over them as L stared up at Light's curled smile, eyes blazing in victory. His eyelids felt so heavy. They drooped, his thoughts going sluggish as his heart twisted.

'I knew it. I wasn't wrong. But...'

His eyes slipped shut, the world going underwater. Light lived in the elation for approximately ten seconds before it sunk in that... he was gone. Light had won, but... there was no one left to share the victory with. No one to best. The smile started to fall. He and L had had sex during the investigation and Light told himself it all meant nothing. That it was just another part of the game.

But... maybe a part of him had been falling... He didn't think it was possible.

So then, why did he feel so empty?

---

Haru picked his way up a few rocks on the beach. He was skilled and athletic. The perfect twelve year old. As he moved closer to the beach, he blinked when he saw another kid around his age sitting on the sand and drawing patterns in it with his toe. He looked disheveled, like one of those homeless people Haru always heard about, drowning in a shirt that was much too big for him, but there was still something intriguing about him. Haru jogged over and gave a friendly smile.

"Hey, there! I'm Haru!" He held out a hand. That was only the polite thing to do, anyway.

The kid slowly blinked, looking between the hand and the boy. He ducked his head a bit as he shook the hand and mumbled a small 'hi'.

"I'm Koji."

"You look lonely."

Koji glanced around and shrugged.

"Not really. It's nice here. Want to sit?"

Haru was about to decline, but... something made him sit down.

The two of them looked at each other and exchanged small smiles.

[myshollow]

some eileen past lore in the doodles here+down below (where I also talk about some general eileen lore too)

i've mentioned that Eileen used to work at the Park probablyyyy a few years before Mordecai and Rigby when she just graduated high school. Eileen was hella outcasted and bullied in school, Margaret being her saving grace, preventing Eileen from dropping out. Though despite Margaret's presence, Eileen has basically no friends besides her, and has a lot of trouble making any due to her extreme anxiety and shyness at times (also due to her WEIRDNESS putting people off) Though Eileen decided to take a chance and work at the Park, where she'd be able to get out way more than the coffee shop would allow. Things seemed alright at first, while Eileen wasn't able to immediately make friends with anyone there, she had hope she'd eventually would. But then due to Maellard's expectations, there was a period of time where Benson overworked everyone (including himself), making Eileen hella tired. And that escalated into her accidentally blowing up the park carasoul...which was a property Maellard cared about due to the late Candy Maellard caring about it. Benson immediately panicked and was SCARED FOR HIS LIFE, especially considering that Maellard's crash outs on him are brutal (i.e. what is implied in Busted Cart), and this one would be especially bad (he right tho it was rip man). The FEAR turned into ANGER directed at Eileen, and Benson had one of the biggest yelling crash outs he ever had. Despite Eileen being visibly scared and upset (and knowing about her insecurities), he was relentless and ultimately fired her. This..definitely set Eileen back a couple of paces in terms of being able to get out there, and ECCENTUATED her low self-esteem and insecurities. Thanks Benson. As time passed, Eileen grew to...hate Benson over this..especially after seeing in the present how he almost refuses to actually fire Mordecai and Rigby despite them carelessly causing trouble. And Benson himself never really contemplated how that situation actually made Eileen feel, just assuming she'll "shake it off," virtually removing Eileen as anyone important from his mind (though not that she was ever important or special to him in the first place💀💀) This whole event is one of the reasons why Eileen needs development in the present. Loner shy anxious nerd needs to be more confident and self-loving. also as a more general thing about Eileen her characterization (or personality traits) are gonna be a..bit different than the show kinda? like she's basically like her season 2-3 self, she's one of the weirdest characters (only being beaten out by like Pam), and despite being nerdy is actually socially dumb as hell. just saying this cause ik she gets more "normal" later on and becomes generally smart, and I have hella beef with that so she shall be completely weird...silly silly.

[bucketofdeltav]

So juice is actually a really good way to get colours into honey, I didn't think of that, thank you @moltengoldveins. Bees don't have piercing/cutting mouth parts, so they'd need to get at the fruit in an environment where it had already been dropped or squished, and their proboscis is adapted to sucking liquid up from a flower, not pulp from a fruit. We also still have the problem of limited fruiting seasons and needing to put hives out and pull them in on a very precise schedule, which is hella labour intensive.

The other consideration is whether making the juice into 'honey' (again not legally honey in most jurisdictions) would change the colour (yes) and whether that would make it more pink or less pink (who knows). I no longer have access to beehives to find out whether feeding them consistently on guava juice would make pink honey. I suspect it would not be the glorious technicolour @emily-escott shows due to the addition of the brown from the other sources mentioned previously.

Plants fundamentally do not do the energy-intensive chemical synthesis required to make colours without a good reason. Tree sap is generally not going to be coloured because there's no reason for it to be. Fruits are coloured to make you look at them and go 'yum' and spread the seeds around. Flowers are coloured to make pollinators go 'yum' and come grab that nectar (which is also produced only to attract pollinators, incidentally). Leaves are coloured because plants gotta photosynthesise. Sap is not coloured.

Real earth honey is different colours and flavours depending where you got it and when you got it, and it can be like, noticeably different.

Here's some of my collection held up to the light so you can see them better.

The one on the right is a Spanish oak honeydew honey that tastes like very dark bitter molasses and does come from bees collecting honeydew, which is excreted by aphids that drink tree sap. Bees don't tend to go for sap on their own; not a high enough sugar concentration. Aphids are drinking it mostly for the protein and excreting the excess sugar and water.

(The one on the left is Portuguese orange blossom honey and is very delicately orange flavoured. The one in the middle is wildflower honey from the Yucatan peninsula and is nothing special but the colour's lovely. I also have Turkish pine honeydew and a very bad example of New Zealand mānuka but they're less interesting.)

Anyway, pink space honey, still expensive as fuck, so the next questions are, how did very expensive pink honey end up in the Temple, why was Qui-Gon definitely involved, and how pissed is he going to be when he finds out Quinlan used it all?

Ok but what if space bees were pink and they did pink honey, what then

[quirkwizard]

So, UA is the best hero school in Japan. What do you think an average hero school would be like?

So this kind of turned more into me writing about how hero schools in general may be different rather then what may be the average school. Sorry if that isn't exactly what you want. My brain just kept going on tangents and here we are.

So I think that there are three ways the other hero schools would be made distinct. First is what they teach. I always saw schools like UA and Shuketsu as the Havard and Yale of hero schools. They are the best of the school, and they are outliers to it. I see UA as a place where they have the resources and manpower to cover dozens of different fields. Even with such a profitable enterprise as hero work, not every one is going to have world renowned alumni wanting to put money back into it. It may be something as simple as a regular high school that happens to have a hero course as a part of it. There could be schools that specialize in rescue work, in making support equipment, or even heroes as public figures. They can teach other things, but those would be the major focus of their curriculum.

The second is the broader strokes of the schools and how they operate. When it comes to schools in the setting, I prefer to look to real life schools and colleges for comparison. Like when I wrote about my own ideas for Shiketsu and how they operated, I took a lot of inspiration from military schools and their culture. There are plenty of different kinds of schools, both real and fictional, that you could inspiration from. Maybe there is an old hero school that isn't as big as it use to be. Yet it still tries to emphasize the prestige of hero work and are kept alive by rich alumni. Kind of like a lot of blue blood boarding schools. Maybe there is a school that is far less restrictive in how it's teaching the kids. Maybe it focuses more on hero work through practical learning and focus more on personal branding. Kind of like new age schools.

Finally is just the culture of the schools. There are any number of ways you could make a hero school unique just how they live their lives. This could be anything from how the students are treated, to the kinds of rules that they live by, to even the traditions and events of the school. There's any number of ways you could make a school distinct like this. Maybe they have a strong focus on sports and similar games to train the students. Maybe the students are graded on their own points to replicate the hero ranking system. Maybe they are divided into groups to compete against one another. Maybe it's just like a typical high school where you get bullied by people with super powers. What I'm saying is that you can take any one of the gimmicks from your favorite fictional schools and probably find someway to make it fit into the setting.

[marshmallowgoop]

Diehard FUNimation English Dub Fan Watches Studio Nano's New Detective Conan English Dub

Hi, I made a Tumblr video essay. VPR: flashing from about 0:22 to 0:30, quick cuts, split screens

The short of it is that the new-new-new English dub for Detective Conan, with a wholly different voice cast from FUNimation (well, mostly), the movies and specials dubbed by Bang Zoom! Entertainment, and the episodes dubbed by Macias Group on Tubi, is maybe a little rough for the first couple of episodes. But it gets better and better, and I think it deserves support.

While only Episodes 1, 2, 128, 129, 176-178, and 230-231 of Studio Nano's dub are available for streaming right now on Netflix and Crunchyroll (in Australia, South and North America, and the UK), I'm definitely hoping for more. Please watch if you can! (Sub also available!)

More English dub thoughts (largely about FUNimation's):

#funimation-english-dub-script Tag

A Loose Translation But Fun Production

FUNimation's English Dub versus Bang Zoom! Entertainment's English Dub

FUNimation's Name Changes

Naturalistic Scripting

Officer Tome in Countdown to Heaven

The Over-Localization is a Shame

Unethical to Like an Anime Dub That Makes Dialogue Changes?

How I got FUNimation's English dub in HD (76/123 episodes mixed so far!):

Mixing an Old Anime Dub with HD Footage

Transcript for video under the cut:

Why watch something originally in a language you don't understand dubbed in a language you do understand?

One reason, of course, is that dubs are more accessible, allowing many foreign viewers to enjoy the content without subtitles. But as someone who watches dubs with subs, that's not why I watch dub. I watch dub because I appreciate the effort to make the dialogue really work, and sound natural, in a language that I know.

FUNimation's English dub of Case Closed became my favorite way to watch the series, even after watching in Japanese first and disliking the dub's localized name changes, because FUNi's scripts are so lively, smooth, and full of character.

Take this short example from Episode 1:

Megure: All right... I'll give you and Rachel the benefit of the doubt and assume you didn't go nuts. That leaves us five.

A more literal translation of the scene looks like this:

Megure: So, temporarily taking you and Ran-kun out of the picture, there were five passengers total.

The FUNimation dub contains all the important information—that Megure's narrowing down the suspect list to five because he doesn't believe that Shinichi or Ran could be the killer—but it does so in a way that's much more fun than the literal translation. I could buy someone really saying this.

How does the new Studio Nano English dub for Detective Conan stack up?

Well...

Megure: All right. If we leave you and Ran out, that'd leave five others. Does that sound correct?

It's definitely less stiff than the more literal translation! But even with Mark Stoddard reprising his role as Megure, it lacks that FUNimation charm.

So, is the Studio Nano dub worth a watch? For Episodes 1 and 2, which were dubbed so excellently by FUNimation, it's hard for me to say yes, even with some strong performances from the cast:

[Clip from Episode 1, with Christopher Guerrero as Agasa]

Agasa: You gotta promise not to tell anyone! This has gotta stay between the two of us!

[Clip from Episode 1, with Mauricio Ortiz-Segura as Shinichi]

Shinichi: [squeals] 'Cause nothing beats the exhilaration of catching the bad guys in real time! [chuckles]

[Clip from Episode 1, with Megan Shipman as Ran]

Ran: It's fine if you go around flirting with girls, but you've at least gotta pick a favorite, okay?

[Clip from Episode 2, with Molly Zhang as Conan]

Conan: I'm Conan Edogawa, and I just transferred in! Hello there! [chuckles] Conan (thinking): I seriously have to go back to grade school again?

Generally, the Studio Nano scripts here just don't speak to me the way FUNimation's do. But of the nine Studio Nano dub episodes available at the time of this video, I feel like the writing only gets better and better.

Circling back to the start, why watch dubs, especially if you like subtitles? Well, personally, I want to experience something I don't get by watching the original. And Studio Nano delivers on that front. I didn't fully appreciate Conan and Ai's banter and sass in these episodes until I watched Nano's dub:

[Clip from Episode 129, Studio Nano dub]

Ai: The Black Organization is hunting me, which puts you in a sticky situation. I'm a dangerous person to have around. Are you sure you want me nearby? Conan: No.

[Clip from Episode 129, Japanese]

Ai: I am an extremely dangerous, loathsome person to have around you. There's no reason to keep me near you. Conan: You idiot.

[Clip from Episode 177, Studio Nano dub]

Ai: Even a detective as good as you can't figure who the killer is with only one clue. Conan: And what if I have two clues? Ai: Ah? Conan: After the chandelier fell, and before the lights came back on, something landed on me. This handkerchief. Ai: Yeah, so? What good is that? The killer didn't happen to write their full name on it, did they?

[Clip from Episode 177, Japanese]

Ai: Even you wouldn't be able to figure out who the killer is with just that. Conan: What if there are two? After the chandelier fell and before the lights came back on, something fell from above. This handkerchief. Ai: So what? It's not like the name of the killer is written on it.

[Clip from Episode 177, Studio Nano dub]

Conan: All right, then, fine! Why don't you try and find a way to escape from that place yourself? In the meantime, I'll go and figure out which of the seven is Pisco! Ai: You say that like it's so simple. Why didn't I think of that?

[Clip from Episode 177, Japanese]

Conan: Then why don't you find a way to get out of there yourself? In the meantime, I'll go and figure out who out of the seven is Pisco. Ai: You say find a way to escape like it's so simple…

Just like with FUNi, all the important info is included in the Nano dub, but it feels more natural. I love Conan and Ai's dynamic in a way that the more literal translations didn't convey to me.

And Studio Nano doesn't just shine with scenes that make me smile. Dramatic moments can also have fantastic scripts:

[Clip from Episode 177, Studio Nano dub]

Ai: Just shut up! Listen to what I'm saying now! This is important. Because after this conversation, I'm never going to be able to talk to you again.

[Clip from Episode 177, Japanese]

Ai: No, just shut up and listen! Never again… Never are we going to exchange words ever again.

And as heard there with Alexis Tipton's Ai, Nano's cast delivers. Colleen Clinkenbeard, Ran's FUNi VA, kills it as Vermouth, Molly Zhang balances “cute” and “serious” Conan wonderfully, and Macy Anne Johnson pours so much emotion into her portrayal of Akemi, just to name a few.

[Clip from Episode 178, with Colleen Clinkenbeard as Vermouth]

Vermouth: And that's after I went out of my way to give him the handkerchief before the police questioned him. He deserved to die.

[Clip from Episode 230, with Colleen Clinkenbeard as Vermouth]

Vermouth: A secret makes a woman a woman. Don't you see? A woman is at her most beautiful when she has secrets to keep.

[Clip from Episode 176, with Molly Zhang as Conan]

Conan: Uh-huh! But it's okay, we're looking for them together. Let's go, Hana! Conan (deeper voice): Hey, what's the deal with you? You aren't acting like yourself. You're the one who said you wanted to tag along, aren't you?

[Clip from Episode 231, with Molly Zhang as Conan]

Conan: Don't run away, Ai. Not from this. Not from your destiny. Don't you dare run away.

[Clip from Episode 128, with Macy Anne Johnson as Akemi]

Akemi: Thank you, but... I have to disappoint you, Conan.

[Clip from Episode 129, with Macy Anne Johnson as Akemi]

Akemi: Don't worry about me. I'll be fine, Shiho. I'm more worried about you. Quit making drugs. There's so much more to life than a laboratory. Go make yourself a lover or two. I'm perfectly fine, I promise.

No, Studio Nano's dub isn't FUNimation's. (Even if returning voice actors can make it feel that way!) But not being FUNi doesn't mean it's not worth supporting. There's heart here, and a bit of that same FUNi flavor that made its dub so lovable.

Detective Conan is something of a comfort for me. And Studio Nano, just like FUNi, can feel so very cozy.

[Clip from Episode 129, Studio Nano dub]

Conan: I really appreciate all your help. Bye! Janitor: Of course. Have a good day!

[wilnotwill]

Malevolent headcanons? Hand them over!!

OH BOY OH BOY DO I HAVE SOME ‼️

- yellow has really bad emetophobia on account of the red right hand stuff. also yes im a she/her yellow truther

- yellows a big fan of dance, it is to her what poetry is to john, music to arthur, ectect. shes fascinated by it and especially different cultural dances, though her favorite style is ballet (though followed closely by modern and indian classical dances (particularly bharatanatyam)). her all time favorite ballet is giselle

- corporeal yellow talks a lot with her hands

- more corporeal yellow!! similar to the hc before the last one she likes more physical arts in general, plus sciences. dance, tailoring, chemistry ectect i think shed fw heavy

- oscar is left handed, thus has to relearn like. everything. post 38

- noel is jewish!! he doesn't actively practice as much any more though, but its still something he holds close

- noel is intersex

- bella played piano as a kid and was envious that arthur was able to play so freely. theyed tried a couple times to compose together but never finished anything

- bella taught arthur to sew, not anything extravagant but he knows how to mend and stitch pretty well. in the dreamlands whenever he could hed try and fix whatever was torn during their encounters. along that line hed also like to sit and watch her sew, shed talk a lot about it to him. while he wasn't particularly interested he'd remember certain details and try to engage

- arthur saw ride him cowboy for the first time bcs parker dragged him to it. then john wayne ended up being his bi awakening and he saw it 3 more times on his own. parker never shut up abt it

- arthurs not a big movie fan in general. he has his exceptions but hes just not a particularly big fiction fan anymore. hes eat up concert movies or documentaries tho

- arthur was a big fan of mythology as a child

- butcher loved fairy tales and folk tales as a child, his mom had a big book on them she'd read to him after his father went to sleep. cinderella, jack and the beanstalk, and the dog and the sparrow (from a convo with @bef0re-i-sleep !!)

- butchers dad got him into hunting as a child, where he got his metaphorical start as the butcher in a way (from the same convo with @bef0re-i-sleep )

- john doesnt have a gender, the concept doesnt really exist in the dark world but partly due to being merged with arthur and partly bcs he just finds it neat he tends to align more with men. likewise no bio sex as the kiy

- johns a big fan of romcoms and mystery movies. hed fw alfred hitchcock movies HARD. timeline wise i think he wouldve been able to see some too?

- johns favorite color is purple bcs its the opposite of yellow, him trying to get away from his identity of the king in yellow. he also likes more earthy muted tones, silver, gray, green, brown, ectect

- john isnt used to physical touch, so almost every time they need to physically interact with someone its arthur doing it. corporeal john especially would struggle with this and hed be between being desperately touch starved but also not really being able to properly express it. even seemingly simple things like handshakes would feel weird to him and hed leave most of the initiating to other people. you could give bro a hug and hed just be there like 🧍

- stole this one from someone else (i dont remember who unfortunately) but johns hand develops tremors cuz hes gone from experiencing little to no sensation, particularly pain, fear, or worry, to suddenly feeling an almost incapacitating amount of it

- johns favorite kind of art is expressionism

- john likes making arthur pick up cool rocks or sticks he sees sometimes. they have quite the collection now (ik its not canon but its mentioned in the christmas special that they have a shelf of oddities from their adventures and i love that so its canon to me)

- arthur, being blind, sometimes looks straight into the sun on accident and john complains about it hurting his eyes

- arthur teaches john how to play piano, he catches on pretty quickly

giant sexuality hc comp

- arthur: arobi

- john: panro greyace

- oscar: gay

- noel: bi

- kayne: arobi

- bella: aroallo lesbian (victim of comphet💔)

- lilith: lesbian

- yellow: demi

- parker: bi. pref for women

- butcher: gay

uuu i have some more specific hcs set in an au i have but those are all my main ones outside of that!!

[ask-tay-relic]

(* steal the microphone from the stuck-in-ponyville*)

Dude, dude.

Are you colorblind? I had no idea! Amazing. I would never say that looking at your work. For someone who is colorblind, you have an amazing sense of color!

Although, I have no idea how colorblindness works from a colorblind person's perspective.

So there will be a bunch of questions below that you don't have to answer if you don't want to) Especially if you've already answered them somewhere, and I missed them.

(*points the microphone in your direction*)

What type of colorblindness do you have? To what degree? How does it manifest itself (how do you feel it)? What colors do you not distinguish, confuse, or, on the contrary, distinguish better? What is your favorite color?! (Let me fool around a bit))

How do you choose colors? Do you use any special techniques or does someone help you?

Is this disease congenital or acquired?

Overall, can you tell me a little more about what it's like to be you. And how the process of creating your work goes.

Let me remind you that you don't have to answer any of these questions. I'm just a chatty fool)

The main thing I want to say is that I have the deepest respect for you for choosing a difficult path in life. And succeeding in it.

I don't mind questions at all! Colorblindness is, in general, a very 'Person-by-person' type of affliction as there's so many different ways that the human eye can read light/color. So this is in no way a Universal Stance on it and is 100% my own personal experience \o/ (Just in case such a thing needed to be said!)

To preface as well, I was born about 4 Months pre-mature, so my eyes are one side-effect of that! My father also had eye-problems, but due to (thankfully) losing contact with that family side 20+ years ago, I don't have that information.

Currently I am in the process of digging into this more, as I have been diagnosed with Keratoconus (which affects the cornea of the eye and will cause a type of blindness eventually, it's not fix-able just slowing it down) > I am also 'weird' cause it's only drastically affecting my Left Eye, when normally it's supposed to affect both equally! In late August I will be having a procedure for this (one of many I'm sure)

To short hand things! Due to birth (and Keratoconus) it's given me the starting stages of Anomalous Trichromacy/poor Saturation colorblindness. (This is the easiest way I can summarize this!) Some days it's better, some days it's worse, but that's due to how tired I am. But I rarely see them 'Naturally' as other people do (I did when I was pre-teen, but slowly it got worse until I was talking with my partner at about age 25 and said 'this [Yellow] is the same as [Orange]' and it made us look into how 'OH I'm colorblind'.)

It's difficult for me to get '100%' what I see, cause it's just a bit odd I suppose, but I have difficulty with hues in the Red/Green area (as in they kinda all seem to have an overlay to them sometimes.)

This also isn't touching about the saturation of a colour may make it be 'the same' as another, when they really aren't.

I'm not sure if this comes across but to me personally, these above are the 'Bright Colors' I would pick. I however, factually understand that's not the case, cause I can check the numbers/hue value in Clip Studio and adjust them. That's usually how I'll fix my colours later!

for the Pony Blog, I always correct in post, and I rarely draw without swatching (having them already set on my bar) the colors even if I've drawn something a hundred times. When doing commissions I'll always ask for a client to give me the colors specifically (Either through Google Image the hexcode, or a reference sheet > so I can use the color picking tool and swatch it)

(old Example of eyeball picked being different than his actual colors) It's always helpful that I can see the cursor move on the color wheel to know 'Oops! That's off!' > This memorization of 'Red = top leftish' and 'Blue = bottom' is how I function, and very very very often I'll send my work to friends/partners to ask for help!

I use lots of desaturated colors for this reason when drawing on my own, but it's mostly just cause it 'Looks Bright' to me, when it isn't!

(And some of my non-pony work sketch) with the colors I draw with passively (Left) and the ones that are adjusted. You can assume anything I post has been 'corrected' for like an hour straight of just color editing.

Overall, when browsing the internet, I am very quick to notice when I cannot 'See' something. This usually is when people put handwritten text onto their comics without breaking it from the background, or colored texts in general I have difficulty with sometimes. It's somewhat hard to explain! I hope that post-surgery I'll have more colour sight back, but likely it's just going to keep getting worse and I'm okay with that.

Though! I will say that recently I've been trying to not 'fear' being wrong about my colours (As it was a point early in my drawing time on the internet, that people would come to my askbox and tell me rudely I was doing things wrong, which ended with me deleting the works) But in my break of studies I've started to just let things be however I see them even if they're 'incorrect'. (I'll include some of those under the cut at the bottom cause they're non-pony / graphic horror-esq content)

Thank you for asking! I hope this makes sense and comes across well!

Also! My favourite color is Yellow! Like a Dandelion!

[Edit;; TUMBLR WON'T LET IT BE BELOW A CUT I DO APOLOGIZE]

--- (they're from personal work/Novel work)

[amberinn]

I have no idea why, but the previous life series (ok call me a hater) really felt ..... SO repetitive.

like you're supposed to be hyped over nothing, because y'know.

The first life series were a hit, a dream come true series etcetc let's get one more in letseput one more

some people are interacting some teams are made yadda yadda blahblahblah.

I don't remember the teams, I don't care much.

I barely remember how many there even. were....

the first three are so special, they're everything to me obvi

the fourth is----- well it was fun somewhat?

I think Martyn and Scott vibe moments and the general somewhat really great vibes (bad boys and the clockers) were SO fun

I'm a big lover of how Scott still build and decorated, I think stone/more secure buildings in the life series just....take the charm away from it?

the more methodical/repetitive it becomes, the worse it is to enjoy it.

I like the 5th life series, I like the. band group with gem, scott, and impulse

I LOVE Scars sunflowers, and everything and much more vibes

I love the grief, I love the aesthetic.

I like the Grian crashout chilling in Etho/Cleo's home

I don't really know what I like about. the sixth series. It's the one the Bamboozlers were in right?

For the previous day my memory fucked up and I thought they were in Secret life, but suddenly I remembered "No, Jimmy and Martyn were teamed up there"

The Bamboozlers r banging as a team ty

I dont remember anything else Fromm OHHHH wild life? shit i mixed wild life mechanics with secret life. there were 2 different. o h.

srry for glazing secret life I mightve unintentionally put wild life mechanics in it

°w° ;

I don't know why, but the Past Life dynamics seem important. It feels like there's stakes, like some rules are being broken, we're experiencing something refreshing, there are genuine team dynamics. Fuck up with Martyn in the hidey hole, the ghost oooo's! the fact I could NOT tell what teams are being made so I'm given initiative to check out other videos, little interesting tidbits with (BigB digging 20 diamonds already? Solidarity died? What does Martyn think of that stuff?)

and now that I've spoiled myself some fanart I really REALLY want to see the Scar/Scott/Etho/Bdubs is a dynamic *silently starts to pray

what the hot tub about? I NEED TO KNOW

idk i'm just hyped abt life series again fellas i think this season may be special

[vegaseatsass]

I try not to let myself think too hard about Pit Babe because the layers of how fucked up Tony stuff is will make me sad if I really go there... also I know I have forgotten a lot of season 1...

but I just had the thought you know, why is Pete so hung up on how he failed Way specifically, when Kenta, as someone who was actually waiting for his help, has been right there in front of him both seasons, constantly pushed to the back of his mind

And obvs some of it is the extratextual narrative predetermination of Pete's endgame ship as his driving motivation, but within the text the explanation is less "if Pete doesn't have romantic feelings for you, you don't exist to him," and more "Way was the other Enigma under Tony's control, so Pete felt a particular connection to and responsibility for him vs. every other child Tony hurt... and that connection and responsibility is why he's so weird about Way and what ultimately drove his weird twisted romantic feelings for both Way and his doppelganger"

Like it's not the romantic feelings came first and then the lack of investment in Kenta, it's the specialized investment in Way as fellow Enigma to the exclusion of everyone else, and then the romantic feelings

So then I thought about Tony who is so so so sooooooo twistedly nightmarishly hung up on Babe as the only son of his who has ever mattered or been worth anything

And it's in the same way as Pete with Way where it wasn't that he felt real parental love for Babe and decided to favor him out of emotional bias - it's that Babe was his most superpowered alpha baby, his physiochemically specialest son

But that still developed the equivalent of a twisted favoritism where he only had eyes for Babe, only wanted Babe at his side, was ready and eager to traffic every other child (lol) but Babe was supposed to be HIS. So no matter how hard and loyally Kenta worked for him and contorted himself into the literal perfect weapon for him, he would never ever be good enough because he wasn't Babe

And even now that Babe has lost his powers, Tony is hung up on him and him alone, Babe is still the one who got away, Tony wants Babe to suffer but really, more than that, he wants Babe back - it's no longer about the superpowers at all, but about the echo of the person Tony thinks Babe is, the person Tony became obsessed with when Babe had powers and Tony had Babe

Just like Pete is hung up on the echo of the person Chris looks like who shared his own powers - the powers which generated Tony's twisted fixation with him and Way, a fixation which he is now playing out because he escaped Tony but he didn't escape these patterns -

but on the outside of all of it is Kenta who has spent his entire childhood working so hard and caring so much and being so devoted to a father and a brother who is a mirror for that father, both of whom never saw him (and still don't see him) not because of who he was but because of what he wasn't.

The fact that the OUTCOME of this matched neglect from both Pete and Tony is going to be Kenta having powers forced on him... but they're both too lost in their obsessions for it to make any difference anyway. He could become Babe x Way 2.0, Super Alpha x Enigma squared, and Tony and Pete would still both be stuck in the past and who they lost ("lost" in Tony's case lol) in the past

AHHHHH there's just such a. COSMIC tragedy and unfairness to it all.

[righteous-pines]

Moon 0