#it does also make you very good at problem solving. its a matter of not backing down from challenges

[majimaisms]

Thank you for the brushes! I’m actually still learning to draw and to get faces as well as I’d like them to be (and the question I’d like to ask to everyone is do you have some suggestion to learn, which to be fair is understandably nearly always I don’t know lol) but I saved them just in case. The suit is always cool and an interesting Majima to explore, I’d love to see him and Kiryu if you’ll want to do them

Also not a question but I’ll love to read your fics, not to rush anything but I see you a lot as a writer as well and I’m really interested to see your writing outside analysis in the future, I’ll gladly wait for them 🫡

you're v welcome!! i know it's the most boring and common advice out there but the best way to improve really is refs + lots of practice. also drawing the same thing over and over again has helped me but maybe it's just because i tend to get fixated on things. but even if you get really good at drawing one specific face, you will learn things about drawing faces in general in the process. i find that something that helps me outside of that though is to be constantly thinking about this stuff even during the day? i don't know if you're trying to go for realism or your art is more stylized, but either way i think paying attention to faces, different features, how they look from different angles, as well as general anatomy and even how lighting and perspective work, all helps. and it's easier to think about those things when you already have ongoing art projects, especially if you're stuck. a huge part of drawing is a mental process, the technical skills *follow* that in my experience. like, just *thinking* about it does tangibly improve my art, because it helps me notice things and learn just while existing in the world

and thank you so much for saying that!! i really want to get a couple fics done soon, and that means a lot <3

[luigilore]

luigi husband/domestic hcs

(a/n: trying hc format! thx anon for requesting! i hope its okay <3 if anyone wants to talk about domestic lu pls hit up my inbox<3 )

likes going grocery shopping with u like you have a little routine on sundays and he's always searching for new recipes to try

lots of pain management fit into yalls daily routine... massages <3 theragun time <3 tens unit whatever helps him and hes sooo grateful

lovessss showering together

he's great at picking up on your emotions and how you're feeling

words of affirmation- complimenting, uplifting, and supporting you is how he communicates that he cares

when luigi can tell you're upset, he wants and will do anything to solve whatever problem there is and make you feel better

luigi is really perceptive, like annoyingly so, "what's wrong? are you sure you're okay?" you can't fool him at all

he really prides himself on knowing the people he loves

wants to know all about you, even the most trivial things i think he would be so interested in learning about.. a bit obsessive in the most romantic and sickening way and u match his freak so dw

might be (is) a lip biter when kissing like first time he did it was on accident, he just got very excited but you both quickly discover he lovesss it

i think luigi is masterfully good at foreplay, methodical in everything he does... including uh... physical intimacy

luigi has a lot of self control and he prides himself in that... but he is also soooo sensitive he just thinks it's incredibly unfair

like just running your hands through his hair and scratching his scalp lightly, oh he's meltinggg

a very intense lover like his eye contact, his touch- firm grip, his voice- always lower and quiet, intense in the best way possible

oh and once you're married he loves always mentioning or name dropping "my wife," in conversations

he is naturally nurturing so he's very openly and unabashedly the biggest romantic

but your wedding is small, only with your close family and friends OR you elope... (i think eloping is sooooo romantic and i feel like he would be extremely enticed by this... and yes both of ur families are pissed)

omg then planning a big backpacking trip or something for ur honeymoon... oh

lovesss house hunting with you

he's a great partner, very responsible and reassuring, his presence is naturally calming for you

problem-solver, if something's bothering you he wants to fix it immediately. it doesn't matter how big or small, if it's upsetting you, he wants to make it better

you trust him and his decision making 100%

luigi prides himself on how well he knows you

to be loved is to be known and that is very relevant here

he also feels so so so loved and special when you remember little details about him

loves being spontaneous

a great gift giver, will retain you offhandedly mentioning you like this certain book or lipstick and boom six months later it's wrapped up for your birthday

anniversaries? forget about it, he out does himself every single year

luigi loves a romantic gesture, would not care about public embarrassment or judgement at all... do these ever materialize? probably not but he really only sees you and him in public

twirling you and dipping you around the dance floor

but that being said isn't huge into pda like making out in public is not his style

but holding hands, hand on the small of your back, or just physical proximity?

oh absolutely loves pet names, especially honey and baby

but totally melts when you call him any pet name! even just his literal name lol... the way u say it just gets him...

loves just like... being married, having you to go through life with he just really loves it.

loves it when you read to him, will very timidly request it

some nights will read to you as well, you guys take turns picking out books

one of those couples that does everything together but not in a bad way? just codependent but <3

he just genuinely enjoys spending time with you. you never run out of things to talk or laugh about

luigi is great at having a routine down, he's so busy but gets everything done

okay soooo he would be the most attentive dad

has art work from your kids on the fridge and all over his office, present at every single one and is sooo proud

documents everything about your children, like buys the baby books and takes so many pictures it's so endearing

in awe of your baby like she's so precious and luigi can't get over her chubby cheeks or squealing laughter... she's his weakness

of course he reads to the kids too and tucks them in at night

you do have to force him to relax sometimes and take a breather, it can be very hard for him to let himself relax and chill

so busy taking care of everyone else that he's not taking care of himself

loves being hands on with the kids

will somehow teach himself how to build things like your daughter wants a dollhouse? of course luigi can do it... why couldn't he... he's actually designing a 3d printed model rn like okay...

loves cuddling and spooning

like laying on the couch together, legs entangled, his hand on your waist, just reading or working on different things in silence, just the physical touch and intimacy is so nice for him

always wants you to sit in his lap or the arm of the chair

would be the sweetest dad, but would feel perpetually unprepared and terrified for fatherhood

would always be researching the best foods, products, etc

like not full helicopter parent/soccer mom but he's very involved and always trying to find new experiences for your kids

overall, luigi is a great person to share a life with, he's organized, responsible, respectful, and LOVING <3

[miquellah]

⚜️The @Miquellah Miquella Manifesto⚜️

The big, long, TL;DR compilation about MY personal takes on Miquella of Elden Ring, as someone who's had him rotating in my head since pre-SOTE and has worked so hard to comprehend him since.

Usual disclaimer: this is purely a writeup of MY personal take, not necessarily views I'm saying you HAVE to adopt. For the most part all my takes are based on actual, in-lore truth ("Miquella had good intentions and wanted to save people") as well as stuff that is not stated, but still fits in cohesively to his narrative ("he does not actually experience romantic/sexual attraction at all, and is just acting on compulsory standards he THINKS he needs to adhere to")

Additionally, I will probably be periodically updating this to add in sections or info I'd forgotten, along with anything new. There is a Lot to say. And of course, CW for discussion of incest in the Radahn and also Mohg sections.

⚜️ Motives

Here we start. Nooo, he did not want power for power's sake. If anything, power, and the ascension needed to attain it, was just a means he was conditioned into believing he NEEDED in order to save others. Unfortunately Miquella himself is also unable to solve anything at the root cause, and can only apply “bandaid” solutions— such as Leda’s paranoia being only pacified, as well as Hornsent’s vengeful grudge. It is likely he did wish to charm everyone under his rule in much the same manner, but this would not have actually solved any problems, only ignored them entirely.

It has apparently been found that Miquella's wish to bury "the original sin" was actually localized from something more akin to that of "karma" in JP; this is likely in some thematic reference to the Golden Order's Law of Causality, which states that "all things are linked in a chain of relation"-- cause and effect. Strife is caused by previous wrongdoings, the cycle of violence. If one could annul causality itself (by refusing individuals the ability to seek revenge or cause strife), one could theoretically end suffering itself.

⚜️ Morality

Miquella is SO "Good"-aligned, truly, that it circles right all the way around to being harmful. His faults are actually in that he still continues to utilize the same system as that his mother did, with its own rotten foundations— no one, single person should have omnipotence over others, no matter how Good their intentions. He is also, ultimately, not able to see others as anything other than “people to be saved”, while also mentally trapping himself into the role of “someone who has to act as savior”. Miquella has the inability to see others as those who are fully capable of their own fates, and he is also unable to respect himself this same way (see in contrast to Ranni).

Miquella's place in the narrative is to make us question ourselves and our own good intentions, to serve as a cautionary tale in that good intentions alone do not inherently make us incapable of harm. Also, perhaps to pose the philosophical question of "if free will causes suffering, IS it truly bad to remove it?" (Which the game then answers itself, even still).

Related Posts: Here, Here

⚜️ Charm

Summary Pending

Related Posts: Here, Here

⚜️ Malenia

Miquella and Malenia are symbiotic; she fulfills what he cannot (strength, physical combat prowess), and he fulfills what she cannot (charisma, social and political navigation). I would even dare to say that her sake and need for salvation is the very origin, and core, of his motives for all his big plans. Miquella did not abandon her, or at least, had absolutely no intention of doing so. That's us who kept him from returning lol.

Some people seem to think she may have had doubts in him? But I think she was absolutely on board, and that she was the last person who he would EVER need to charm. She has every reason to want to see his plan go through, because almost everything he does is FOR her, this included. Also I like when we allow women agency in their decisions!

Related Posts: Here

⚜️ Mohg

God don't even get me started on trying to figure out the exact timeline here. Personally, I don't feel Miquella left/allowed himself to be kidnapped willingly, nor did he manipulate these events. I'm willing to believe that he and Mohg perhaps worked together at some capacity, at some point in time-- I do believe he truly cared about Mohg, and pitied him. While everyone else sees the use of Mohg's corpse to house Radahn's soul, and thinks it was a move made from apathy or spite, I think Miquella personally felt it was a means of honoring him. Mohg had such adoration for him, and so dearly wished to be his consort; by that means, even after the Tarnished has killed him, this can still be accomplished.

Miquella had no feelings for him, but Mohg absolutely was in love with him. Difficult to say just how much of this was the charm? But even post-SOTE I still think that Mohg having incestuous adoration still fits for his character, as someone so pitifully depraved of love all his life, and finding a potential salvation in Miquella.

Miquella's charm didn't make Mohg do all that blood cult shit either by the way. That was all him babeyyy. We can't keep forgetting The Formless Mother herself, or refuse to let Mohg have any faults or agency at all.....

Related Posts: Here

⚜️ Radahn

Originally I had been on-board with "Radahn was unwilling and puppeteered the whole time", but I've since seen some compelling talk hinting otherwise. I'm on board with the latter, now, as I do think Radahn WOULD have been all for Miquella's plan from the start, and I also want the guy to have some amount of agency at all lmao. But I think the narrative also does intentionally obfuscate this on purpose.

But, Radahn WAS kind, and that IS what Miquella sought for someone as a lord. I think Radahn's whole motivation in seeking to emulate Godfrey is that he wanted to be a HERO, and to SAVE people from suffering, much in the way it was deemed Godfrey liberated the people and served as lord. Of course, Godfrey himself was no admirable man when it actually comes down to his sins, and we are meant to see the parallels in Radahn and Miquella almost completely copying Godfrey and Marika in path.

Personally, I also don't see their dynamic as romantic, but purely political, and/or both of them believing they NEEDED to be married in order to solve all of their problems-- because that is what ascension in and of itself requires.

Related Posts: Here, Here

⚜️ Trina

Don't even get me started on trying to comprehend the nature of Rebises in Elden Ring lore. But, importantly, Trina is the key to understanding Miquella's fate, and that he's both sympathetic as well as dooming himself by choosing to ascend. Additionally, I feel he also knew that by dooming himself, he would've been dooming Trina... so of course, as someone he loved, he would've tried to keep her as far away from sharing his fate as possible.

Her penchant for the element of Sleep is also notable in that it parallels his methods for quelling harm. Sleep is a means of staving off suffering, but again, only as a "bandaid" of sorts, and not actually solving any root cause. Trina herself even mirrors Miquella's inability to change, or to create meaningful change.

⚜️ Godwyn

I'll get around to this eventually. Plenty of others have talked around this/the Eclipse tho

⚜️ Miscellaneous

Personally I headcanon his sexuality as aroace, but comphet. Miquella does not actually experience romantic or sexual attraction, but his surroundings and politics place such an emphasis on things such as marriage, that he believes he must conform to this as well.

Apparently the actual scale of his child form is still more or less the height of the Tarnished’s model�� which makes sense, actually, with the Great Rune growth aspects. Therefore even childform!Miquella is probably around 5’7.

I prefer transmasc Miquella because like [motions to all of my being transmasc], BUT am equally 100% on board with all the clear transfem readings in the narrative. I think you've really gotta give him some sort of gender, some sort of way.

.⚜️.

[doctorbunny]

The Curious Case of the Kashiki Family Discrepency

So, I'd thought that we'd had Yuno's family situation figured out for some time now

Her 7th question of her first interrogation Q "Tell us about your family." A "Grandpa, Grandma, Mom, Me, and my little brother <- Yura"

And her dad's not around. (In theory he could be dead, but given her lack of sentimentality around the whole thing.... He probably just dipped out, either just after she was born or possibly even before then. At Most he might've returned just long enough to help make Yura, then disappeared into the night like a deadbeat tomcat -which was irresponsible but isn't necessarily a bad thing, as Amane knows, not everyone is fit to be a parent and its not like Yuno's had anything bad to say about the rest of her family)

But then I was looking over old minigrams and noticed something odd

Yuno mentions having younger brothers, plural

At first I thought it was a typo, but in the Japanese she says 弟たち/達 Otouto-tachi Otouto meaning younger brother, and -tachi, making it plural

If this was an error, it'd be a pretty obvious detail to mess up not once but twice

So that begs the question: Why does Yuno only bring up One younger brother?

There's a few possibilities: A) Yuno Really Hates her younger siblings with the exception of Yura (I'd say this is Highly Unlikely but also the funniest option) B) Given her single mother, Yuno's younger siblings may be half siblings to different fathers, and given how full to bursting the Kashiki household is already, those kids might live with their dads Meaning Yuno had to keep them all entertained if they ever visited, but she might not consider them to be in her 'core family' so to speak, especially if they don't visit all that often (I'd say this is more likely than A, and could apply alongside C if she's got more than two younger siblings) [Japan doesn't legally have dual custody, but if both parents are on speaking terms and are fine with it, the kids can as much time with the non-custodial parent as they want] C) [and this is the one @archivalofsins was leaning on me most to talk about, but admittedly is also what first came to my mind] One of Yuno's younger brothers fucking died-

And if this is the case, then we may be learning a lot more about this in her T3... (her VA did say on milgram radio we'd get to see a very different side of her this time round)

We don't know much about this hypothetical brother, but given how Yuno expects her cat's cradle to impress Amane, it may be a good bet to assume he'd have been around 12 too.

Alas, beyond this minigram, things get a bit... circumstantial However if we work based on the assumption that C is correct, then how does that colour Yuno's attitude throughout milgram?

Well, some of that probably depends on how he died, but for maximum angst.... lets suppose he'd been terminally ill [looks at Mahiru]

For starters, it'd give some interesting contexts to one of the first things we learn about Yuno from her website bio:

誰のどんな話でもニコニコ聞いてくれるが、暑苦しい精神論のようなものは嫌い。 No matter who, or what the conversation is about, she listens with a smile, but she despises stuffy ideas like seishinron.

If you've never heard of it, seishinron is the idea that anything can be overcome through sheer willpower alone. [There's lots of different ideas that are similar to this, in the US many people believe they can 'manifest' good health and future success, and that unhealthy/unsuccessful people merely didn't Think hard enough] There's many reasons one could consider this flawed. But an experience with terminal illness would be Sure to leave someone feeling angered at the idea if you had a problem you just weren't determined enough to solve it. Disease doesn't work like that.

It'd also explain why simultaenously Yuno talks positively of her family

But then also says stuff like this

Given that Yuno referred to meeting with her clients as 'reloading the warmth' I doubt the sex work was the main cause of her feeling so low... (In fact she seemed get into it as a means to distract herself From this coldness. And TBH if we try to think about depressing things that would take an otherwise good family's attention off you... I'd say dying younger brother ranks pretty high on the Bummer Scale)

Such a vivid experience with death could also lead into how Yuno says that she doesn't care about anyone, but then becomes one of Mahiru's main carers, seemingly round the clock

a role she takes very seriously to the point that Shidou suggests she get a career in healthcare (which she takes as such a serious role as to reject the idea outright, sure she's stepped up in milgram but in the real world, surely such positions would be filled by even more dedicated people-)

Only to then afterwards change her tune and say that Actually it doesn't matter at all, only murderers died, its her own fault for getting too close to the others.

Ever the Kazui foil, Yuno might be using apathy to defend her own heart. You can't be hurt by death if you don't get attached to anyone... Well you can try at least.

Or maybe I'm totally off lol... that's enough speculating for one night

Needless to say, I don't think Yuno's doing too well, it can be hard to admit you're struggling when your baseline for suffering is 'Well at least I'm not literally dying'.

[blughxreader]

building off of this platonic yandere batfam headcanon where they're slaves to your moods and whims...

I also kind of enjoy the idea of batfam revering and fearing batsib. Not enough to lesson their control over you (or back off their affection in any way), but they want your love so badly / think you're a jewel among rubble / cling to your every thought... I can see them freezing up when they know they're about to make you mad, or when you give your opinion.

Tim's like, "*shaky sigh* hi... we need to upgrade the tracking chip in your neck :) itwasbruce'sidea." (his idea actually)

or they know your triggers by heart (mentioning your past family, your aspirations of travel, lost career goals, etc) and immediate silence falls over them as they wait for your reaction.

This works especially well for Darlings that withdraw into themselves. It's impossible to NEVER give a single opinion or extra explanation, so on the rare occasion when you divulge something about yourself, they're like oh god its happening JOT THAT DOWN

Dick is good at talking around your pointed silence, even if he gets nervous under your glare. He has stars in his eyes when you finally engage with him, even if it's only a sentence more than your usual "yes/no" responses.

Dick is unpredictable too because you never know where his limit is. It's fine, it's fine, it's fine, then he comes back from patrol with broken knuckles and the scariest look on his face because he couldn't take the stress anymore. The only one in the house who will match your anger (rarely happens, though), and he apologizes through actions, not words.

Jason, who always has some shitty remark to make, finds himself at a loss for words when you're not talking. You two sit with your arms crossed in silence and look sour for two hours, then he walks away thinking it was a relatively good visit.

He gets overwhelmed the easiest when you're mad. When you're in a bad mood, very slight disturbance in the house sets him off and he needs the rest of the day to cool off.

Tim has no clue how to handle you. He doesn't fit the reliable older brother role and he can't fool anyone with the doe-eyed baby brother act, so I think he'd take the "best friend sibling" approach.

He's always trying new ways to curry your favor, despite it occasionally pissing you off from how obvious his attempts are. Tim's the least likely to be deterred by your rejection, despite how deeply it hurts. He sulks in the shower for an hour then gets out to cause problems only he can solve.

Kind of like how Damian absorbed Dick and Bruce's moral code because it fit his end goal of being Batman, I feel he would do the same to you but for slightly different reasons.

Damian walks around like your mirror. He unconsciously mimics everything you do, absorbing your behaviors and speech like a sponge. An outsider wouldn't be able to see past his trained neutral expression, but on the inside he thinks you're so cool.

He also copies you as a coping mech in order to limit upsetting you, and gets VERY embarrassed when he says something that contradicts your feelings.

Bruce, ever the scapegoat, has resigned himself to the brunt of your anger. He can't weasel his way into your heart like the boys can, so he's the most transparent about his bonding efforts. His gifts and attention are steady and unrelenting, no matter the response.

I think he's the sweetest... He's definitely the best listener in the house, and genuinely wants nothing more than for you to be safe and happy. Yes he wants you to accept the child/sibling role, but he won't manipulate you to get there (unlike some of the boys). Your anger gives him stress, but he takes it in stride.

for more yandere batfam content, visit my masterlist!

[pastafossa]

When Heather said Muse and Daredevil are the same, just “underdeveloped boys hiding behind masks, trying to make it look more sophisticated”, do you think she might have a point? (Personally, I don’t — I think she’s speaking from a place of ignorance + trying to process her recent trauma + feeling some understandable anger. Also I think this is good indicator — and purposeful by the writers — that Heather doesn’t actually know Matt that well and their relationship won’t last much longer)

Eager to get your perspective — imagine me with my face in my hands, kicking my feet and giggling

NO BUT LET'S TALK ABOUT THIS, CAUSE I CLOCKED THIS TOO.

I think there's multiple things being brought together, a lot of which you caught here.

Going to put this under a see more cause it's a slightly longer dissection of this part of the episode.

DDBA thoughts beneath the cut.

"Underdeveloped boys hiding behind masks, trying to make it look more sophisticated."

If we compare this to the last time she brought this up, there's been a clear shift in perspective. Before, she was curious about the 'why' with vigilantes and masks - does the mask allow vigilantes/antiheroes to be their true selves, or is the mask about hiding those true selves, creating some sense of separation? She wanted to talk to Daredevil, even Frank Castle about it. Now, she seems (to me at least) to be working through her own trauma and anger, yeah - anger at Muse, yes, but at Daredevil too, because to her, at least right now, she's latched onto, 'Muse was a horrible person who wore a mask to hide his identity, which means horrible people wear masks. Therefore the people wearing the masks are the problem because if they were doing what's right, they wouldn't need to hide.'

It doesn't matter to her brain right now that Daredevil saved her life. He's part of the problem - especially since she just saw Daredevil at his most violent. I think with time she'll be able to process that and recognize it eventually, in the way that someone bit badly by a dog will often come to recognize that not all dogs are bad. But they're going to be afraid of dogs for a while, or maybe even forever. Especially if their sole experience with a dog is getting bit.

But if we set all that aside and just take the statement at its base value: she's both right and not, I think. We know how people are. We know how Muse is, calling his slaughter an 'art' and not just, you know, serial killing. There would absolutely, in this universe, be insecure, chest-thumping, underdeveloped dudes who'd slap on a mask so they can run out and beat people up and see themselves as heroes. But in reality they just like being violent, and the mask DOES help hide them from consequences.

But she's also wrong by applying it overall/to the masked vigilantes in general. Not just because of Matt/Daredevil, but because of people like Hector earlier in the season. With Hector, that was one of the whole plot points: he was (RIP) doing it because it's the right thing to do, and because he wanted to help. Matt, arguably, does what he does for the same reason: because it's the right thing to do. Hell, Frank isn't even hiding behind a mask for all that she included him on her list earlier. He's not calling it sophisticated, or hero work. He's doing it because he believes this is the only way to solve the issue.

They aren't playing at being sophisticated. What they are doing is trying to save lives in an inherently broken, corrupt, inherently unjust system: a system that killed Hector despite him being found innocent, a system that would rather spend more money jailing a hungry guy than feeding him, a system that allowed Muse to kill 60+ people before anyone noticed, a system that elected Fisk despite his loooong list of crimes. It's a system that will literally kill you if you help the very person the system is trying to crush, like Hector did. The mask is an added layer of protection so that they can keep doing what they can to help. It's not about 'allowing' them to be violent in the way the statement implies.

And the strongest evidence of that? If all crime stopped, they would give it up.

Frank would go into retirement.

Matt would hang up the suit.

And Hector would have been at peace.

That's something about the street level heroes. They're not up there. They're down here in the dirt with us. They're the ones who hear a woman get grabbed in an alley. They're the ones walking by the corner store when they hear someone pull a gun inside and demand money. They're witnessing all of this firsthand. And I don't think you can call them all underdeveloped boys playing at being heroes without acknowledging the reality that that the person being robbed in the alley needs a hero, because the system sure as hell isn't all that interested in doing anything about it.

And I think that's sort of where they're going this season. What they're leading us to. Because that's the reality that Matt's been struggling with - the system is broken. So what do you do when you have the ability to stop some of that suffering? Do you turn away and hope someone fixes it? Or do you fight?

We know what Matt's answer is, what Hector's was. And I'm not convinced it's the wrong one.

And I think you keyed in on how this relates back to their relationship: Heather doesn't know Matt all that well, not really. None of them do, really. Heather loves the image of Matt that he's shown to her, of course, but it's a false one, an incomplete one. That's not her fault, since Matt has been lying and frantically trying to hide that side of himself to her, and he also clearly hasn't been exploring his stance on various ethics with her like the regular debates he had with Foggy and Karen in the past. I do think the relationship's destined to blow up, though whether that might get mended in S2 is anyone's guess, but I just am noooot getting the feeling that relationship's going to be able to survive the fallout once she realizes just how much Matt has hidden from her.

[moonastro]

the vibe you give out to others

pick a picture

left to right(top)-> 1,2

left to right(bottom)-> 3,4

°DO NOT take this as literal, take everything with a grain of salt as this is purely and intendedly for entertainment purposes. °Don't be afraid to give feedback and opinions about this post (as i would entirely appreciate it). ° This is a GENERAL reading, take what resonates and leave and pass on what does not!

PILE ONE

someone who can communicate hours on end with someone, usually about the deeper stuff. so you may like to share your thoughts a lot which leaves people guessing that you would be a very good person to talk to. you also are good with reading the vibes of a room, people almost expect you to change the atmosphere of the vibe within a group. you really are someone who solves problems, situation ships and other things people may need assistance with. i feel like you help others grow, you teach people from wrong or right and perform humanitarian acts. if you are in a bad situation, you get the heck out of there as soon as possible, people know that because you may express your thoughts and feeling through communication. i feel like you talk about the little things to others that they might even find that you can be oversharing at times. anyhow, you may look back on what people did you in the past or vice versa. you don't hold onto a thread, you make very clear decisions that take you wherever it may.

yeah, you learn from your mistakes and only go forward which makes you a stronger individual. there is still some youthful energy surrounding this pile, so don't forget to not be hard on yourself all the time, you give out but not necessarily get given back which allows people to use your time unnecessarily. people can also see a child in you, you may get told that you remind someone of their son or daughter. being behind the scenes is what you are used to and may project a certain insecurity that others notice. i feel like its that others see their own insecurities in you as well which may cause jealousy. you are careful though, you plan, you observe and you double check. there is nothing wrong with being in routine but i feel like people notice that you are too afraid of failure because you might have grew up to be the high achieving kid or the oldest child who had influence on the younger siblings and so forth. overall a very sensual and hardworking pile.

assigned song: Black beauty- Lana Del Rey

PILE TWO

very energetic around people or friends and family but think a lot by yourself, you may keep your true self hidden. you are such a good manifester and people notice that whatever you say out loud becomes real. people may call you a psychic because you just know things before others do, for example if a friend asks about something like an event and you just tell them like "watch this happen in there" and something like this and it happening. you are quite reserved with your feeling and emotions, you use them on better things. around you, others feel confident and secure. you are a very good empath and feel whatever others are feeling, so it is very easy to empress ones feelings to you. you are such a caring and observing individual that others feel nothing but security and comfort around you. honestly such a nostalgic pile!!

you crave a free life where you are not stuck to anything or anyone, people feel the freedom you possess. you don't aim to be powerful nor business oriented, you just want to see what's out there and see what other cultures and countries have in store for you. i feel like you have a plan that you have that consists of you travelling abroad and creating a happy home there at a new setting. you are good with legal matters like documents, credit cards, the law and so forth. you may know about it as you may be interesting in becoming a lawyer or working somewhere that involves a law, like police and so on. but on a real note, you balance everything out in your life, people see how well you split your routine in even pieces. overall, this is a very free spirited and intelligent pile!

assigned song: Ride- Lana Del Rey

PILE THREE

someone who reserves there space and energy, someone who talks very cautiously and are aware of their surroundings. a lot of people don't actually know how to figure you out and it may sound very cliché but i think its just because you don't reveal your feelings by making facial expressions and people don't know whether to laugh or cry when you tell them something serious. you might like to do stuff alone and may feel like a burden to others but it is not the case for other people, they see you as a sweet and isolated human being that likes their space and peace. i see a LOTTT of overthinking and just daydreaming in general. i feel like something is restricting you from taking action and i think it is your thoughts, relax pile 3😅. no but for real, others avoid you not because you are unlikable but because they see how you thrive alone and you don't look like the type of person that needs help from others.

you may have moved a lot as a child and felt like you lost many things because of that. i feel like you don't feel secure and people notice the disease you portray in your body language. that is totally not a bad thing but i feel like others see the frustration and a void that you have, this is very deep but I'm getting an image of just a black figure which may translate of you feeling numb or not feeling anything at all. i feel like this was in the past for some of you, however where there is hardships there is hope and that is exactly the case for this pile. on a good note, your smile brings comfort to others, may make others happy with your smile and that's just so sweet. you do have many ideas flooding in your mind and i feel like that could bring you excesses so be careful. you have many ideas to start over or to change your personality completely. overall, this is a very reserved and a busy mind pile!

assigned song: How to Disappear- Lana Del Rey

PILE FOUR

check out pile one if you felt drawn to it as it may resonate with some of you!! so, you care about others very deeply and this gives me motherly vibes. i feel like you may not listen to people and do your own thing but that's entirely okay but the way i see it is that you sometimes need to take advice in order to move forward. you stand your ground fairly and see the contrast between right and wrong, i feel like that gets people thinking how you pick up on things others don't pay much attention to. say if you called someone out for something, others may go like "oh yeah, i didn't even notice". you really cant be bothered to argue with no one, you feel like there is no point because people are childish and immature and that is something you would rather pass on. conflicts and any other sort of fighting is a strict no go for you. people get the vibe of how can you keep your cool??? they actually are very impressed of your skill to maintain your cool😊. i feel like also you go through very transformative periods in your life that actually change your way you act, maybe you go through different eras and like to experiment different styles and ways of living which is totally fine.

wow, you are a very powerful soul, you have some sort of power that others are stunned. you are literally the lion of the jungle, the boss, the CEO, the millionaire, the royal. WOwww just wow. people just keep getting surprise on surprise from you, you may have so many precious hidden facts about you that make people stunned by the fact that you have so much treasure hidden. people see you as a very humble individual who is always there for people and see the good in everyone. it is such a pleasure to be around you, people may feel almost lucky to have you in their life. you hold a lot of secrets as you may stand with he statement that if you talk about your achievements to others it may delay your success. overall, a very very very powerful and mysterious pile.

assigned song: LION- (G)-idle

that's it everyone, thanks for sticking by and like always don't be afraid to interact with this post however you'd like as i entire appreciate everyone's support and kindness!!

FRIENDLY REMINDER- paid tarot readings are available (DM or check out here for more info!!)

*IMAGES ARE NOT MINE*

[lilyblackdrawside]

Leonhardt and how to live with being a Splash Caster

Splash Casters are sooo baaad, am I right? Ha ha ha, that's the post! See you next time!

So Splash Casters have some obvious issues, like high deployment cost, high attack interval, mediocre splash radius and low range. Their overall DPS tends to suck and they're outclassed at dealing area damage by Chain Casters unless there're like 495 slugs approaching in a 2x3 formation.

A lot of Splash Casters have an S2 that makes them hit everything in their attack range at once, as opposed to attacking one target and splashing their damage off of it, like Gitano, Santalla, Dusk, Lavalter and Mostima. The former four even get a range extension of some kind with it. Aside from Gitano, the other four also adress the bad attack interval by gaining ASPD (Dusk, Santalla*) or just not attacking and instead having a passively damaging area while the skill is active. But ultimately, this still leaves them very bad when their skill isn't active. Lavalter's S2 takes 70 SP and lasts 40s, so it has stellar duration but the downtime is just wretched. Gitano's is even worse at an unimaginable 85 SP cost with 30s duration! She also self-stuns for 10s afterwards but at that point she's off skill anyway so it hardly matters. Mostima doesn't even pretend to have any good uptime on her S2 with its 50SP cost and 7s duration, but it is also a full aoe stun and she's actually cheating the cost too with her SP aura that cuts it to an effective 35 raw and 26 with ModX. Yes, they did amplify her SP aura from +0.4sp/s to +0.9sp/s with that module. (For herself. non-Mostima Casters "only" get +0.6sp/s with it) Marcille with her S2 entirely bypasses how bad Splash Casters are off-skill by having it be permanent. It also increases her aspd and range and splash radius, so they really did their homework when assembling her kit. Greyy also tries to solve his branch's issues in a unique way by having an S2 that takes 60SP, has 0 initial SP and lasts for 30 seconds. That's not how he solves problems, that's how he created a problem for himself. No at M3 and with his module, between his S2 giving him +80 ASPD (that's it.) and doubling his talent's Slow duration, he actually has permanent Slow uptime while this skill is active, which increases the time he has to hit enemies in his range and clumps them up for better splashing. It's very functional if you ignore his need to sit around for a minute to get it up. Skyfire does her own thing and has a lot of merit, but because she is a Splash Caster most of it is wasted. Santalla is pretty good. She just has bad skill uptime, but at least gets +20% atk from her talent so she still does decent damage off skill.

So that leaves our boy of the hour.

Leonhardt. Whoops, that's not quite right.

There we go, now he's right side up. He's 'strayan, you see. That's why he's upside down, hm?

So what makes him so special then? Well it all lies in his instant burst damage S2.

This deals damage immediately on use, with a range extension to reach as far as a Marksman Sniper. You can just bust out all three stored charges back to back to back with practically no delay for a big burst of damage. Like this, he bypasses his branch-given bad attack interval, bad range and mediocre splash radius all at once. Smells a lot like those S2s I mentioned earlier so far, but unlike those his skill only takes 10 SP so as long as you're judicious in its application, Leonhardt doesn't have downtime. He's never in an off-skill state. Hell, if you add MostimaX the charge time for this goes down to 6.25 seconds which is about as long as Skyfire's attack interval with her S2 active. (That's like 5s, I'm exaggerating) His talent also is pretty good, giving him up to +24% ATK at 4% per enemy in his range. +40% maximum with module! That's pretty massive actually. Takes him from 918 ATK at module level to up to 1285, pretty nice! Unfortunately, they gave him the X module which is just really weird because the extra nipple of range he gets doesn't work with his S2. You pretty much always want ModY for Splash Casters because all of them minus Greyy have a range extension somewhere in their kit and it never works with Mod X's trait change and ModY's -8 Deployment Cost is huge. Paying 31 DP for Leonhardt is barely reasonable, but 23 would be just fine. I'll deploy 23 cost operators all day long. ModY makes Dusk into a functional Vanguard.

But anyway, give Leonhardt a try. He's good. And funny! I love slamming his S2 down three times cause it has a nice crackly sound effect and comes out so delayless, very satisfying.

Also look at his E2 and winter outfit artworks:

He knows he's the shit.

Look at him without his jacket or coat. Look at him in his little schoolboy uniform. So prim and proper. What a brat.

And yes I am really good to him because look how much I raised Ayerscarpe too:

He's pretty nice too, as long as you don't expect him to be a Broken Lord like every other 5+ Star member of the Branch. Sometimes there is an actual situation where his S2 can do its thing and when it does it's just amazing. S1 is also quite good and he has hovering swords?? Come on! He has floating blades! That's already worth raising him for.

[centrally-unplanned]

This Richard Hanania piece was quite good for crystallizing some thoughts I had around the toxic nature of the electoral college. Obviously the electoral college is dumb - it is undemocratic in an arbitrary way, just randomly rewarding certain voters. I think idea of a system empowering "rural voters" would be really bad, but if that is your goal fair enough; it is telling that so many defenders of the EC will do so on grounds like that, but it doesn't do that! It just randomly empowers people in Pennsylvania, agonistic of density of living.

But more than it being undemocratic, it results in pernicious political dynamics - national elections being decided by tiny slivers of voters such that their hobbyhorse topics get undue preference. It twists the policy agenda, yes, but it also twists the parties themselves, who have to exist in its world. As someone who is far more of a Democrat, I think about it in terms of the Democratic Party; but Hanania is right to note it has been far more destructive to the Republican Party. The Republican Party has a much larger "anti-establishment" element that the Democratic party does, and they are concentrated in swing states. As I have said before, there are more Republicans in California than there are in Texas; but the voice of those Republicans doesn't matter. Everything gets bent around catering to that swing state slice. A Republican party staffed by its members in NYC and Los Angeles would still not be my fave party or anything, but it would be far better than the status quo.

The post reminds me of similar things around primaries; the US primaries are currently built very badly. US political parties just aren't democratic institutions, they don't really make sense to be that way and do not function that way, but we sort of pantomime it with this weird, staggered "race to drop out last" that rewards factional posturing over clear governance & electoral agendas. But as annoying as the democrats have been under it, the Republicans have suffered far worse! A complete outsider who disagreed with a third of the party's stated agenda and was deeply unpopular with the median voter exploited razor-thin majority-of-a-majorities in "elections" with maybe 25% voter turnout to seize the nomination twice. These conditions are "unfortunate" in a certain sense, it is bad that a solid ~1/10th of the US population are ride-or-die nativists for whom "immigration" is their only concern and are, to be frank, too poorly informed to understand the policy issues they care so much about. But something like that will always be true; these systems make every election a dice roll to dodge unlucky alignments, and when you hit them your coalition warps to match them and becomes sticky.

Many Republicans will mention these hazy ideas that "without the EC we will never win", and this is the least accurate idea of all. I actually remember a Richard Hanania post I blogged about a long time ago, about how so many Republican ideas are actually very popular and have gotten more popular over time. School choice, parts of immigration, taxes, law & order, etc, are all winning issues. Sans the EC the party woulds shift, as it always had, to a new equilibrium. And I bet you could do it within one term, voters have no long term memory, like at all. If in two years Nikki Haley is campaigning on Compassionate Conservatism and expanded Medicare, she would do just fine.

Ofc the issue now is that the Republican Party - while filled to the brim with hucksters, for sure - are true believers enough that they wouldn't want that. Because the EC alignments are sticky, as mentioned, it is part of why it's so toxic. Which is very sad because, despite probably being a lifelong Democrat voter, I really want a better Republican party. Because they are going to win elections! It is a democracy, of course they will, and they probably "should", I don't want a unipolar state and god knows the Democrats have their own brand of bullshit that electoral defeat has gotta discipline to keep them sane. Even if it means a Republican party that wins more elections, if they are saner it is worth it. They have some good ideas after all, if only they had a chance to breathe.

Since I don't think Republicans will consider it, I do think it is something Dems should pursue harder. But I'll admit the capacity to execute here is bleak - do your best with the State Compact I guess.

[blackjackkent]

As I mentioned in my post last night, I love this cutscene between Minsc and Jaheira very much - and I also love the devnotes on it when looking through the parsed dialogue files, since they further emphasize all the things I love about these characters and their relationship.

So I have compiled all of it here because I need you all to experience the Emotions with me. XD

-----

MINSC: Jaheira... Boo is trying his best to explain, but I still do not understand your anger. (Devnote: Hesitant, a little apologetic - wants to get it but doesn't.) JAHEIRA: Do not hide behind your hamster, ranger. You do not understand, because you do not listen. We were the first to discover the cult. And if you had only waited, we might have marshalled our numbers and - MINSC: Good does not wait for evil to button up its britches - when it offers buttocks for the smacking, Minsc and Boo greet cheek with hand! (Devnote: Quietly scandalised at the notion that he should have stopped and waited for reinforcements, rather than wading into incredible odds alone.) PLAYER: That sounds like a fun evening. MINSC: It is well that Boo's innocent ears still ring from all this shouting. (Devnote: A little offended - the player is being inappropriate in front of his hamster.)

-----

JAHEIRA: You meant well, Minsc. But you exposed the city to harm. You helped the cult spread. And worse, perhaps, than any of this: You forced me to leave you behind. MINSC: But... this is where Minsc falls short of the understanding, Jaheira. (Devnote: Puzzled - a little wary to contradict Jaheira but working it out.) What else is a berserker for, if not to charge into danger ahead of his Wychlaran? (Devnote: Genuinely bemused. He would happily throw away his life to protect Jaheira, and takes it for granted that she knows this.)

-----

MINSC: Boo agrees, you are a queer kind of witch. But this city is a queer place. And Minsc, you may have noticed, is sometimes strange himself. (Devnote: Tone is "I know it's strange, I agree, but hear me out.") The titles matter not. Only this - when Minsc does as Minsc does, and charges in to make a mess: (Devnote: Brushing aside Jaheira's discomfort with the title of 'wychlaran', getting to the point of what he means.) Jaheira does as Jaheira does, and finds a way to save us all anyway. (Devnote: Absolute unshakeable faith that Jaheira can and will solve any problem.) PLAYER: Aw. That's actually kind of sweet. JAHEIRA: ...I fight alongside fools. MINSC: You hear that, Boo? We fight alongside a Wychlaran again. (Devnote: Utterly unconcerned by the "fool" part, quietly excited by the "Jaheira fights alongside us again" part.)

-----

PLAYER: Speaking of feelings - does Minsc know you were ready to kill the Emperor for him? [INTIMIDATION DC10] [CHECK PASS] JAHEIRA: ...My own foolishness does not absolve Minsc of his. [CHECK FAIL] JAHEIRA: A sad and desperate bluff. I need to be sure that Minsc understands I cannot make such a threat twice. MINSC: I have already pledged my sword and hamster both. What more does Minsc have to give? (Devnote: At a loss.) JAHEIRA: Your word, ranger - that next time, you will stop and think. I will not always be here to tell you what to do. MINSC: If not here, then where? Wherever there is, Minsc and Boo will go too! My hamster... he would not be parted from you again, Jaheira. (Devnote: Heavy emphasis on 'there' in second phrase. Jaheira has suggested she won't be around forever - Minsc won't hear of it. The last is the closest he gets to sincerely telling her how much he missed her.) JAHEIRA: ...I missed him, too. And try as you might, I know you have not missed my point as neatly as you pretend.

[thatpersonwhosaidtheywouldnt]

Thinking about how the biggest reason I think the Young Justice show went with the origin they did for Wally and Barry (Wally doing the experiment Barry did, Barry doing the experiment Jay did) is because the creators of the show did not include the Speed Force. Greg Weisman does not like the idea, doesn't see the point of it (and in my opinion clearly misunderstands it) someone on Reddit did a write up on it if you wanna see all he's said here.

So what's this gotta do with the Flash origins in YJA vs comics? Well, first off, the Speed Force was something Mark Waid created to unify the Flash's powers and bring a bit of sense to them:

"It really was just a matter of trying to unify the powers. Barry and Wally's origins were identical, but Jay ostensibly got his speed by inhaling 'hard water,' a.k.a. 'ice.' I never really thought of it as 'mystical' in any real sense, just scientific --- or as scientific as you can get when you're talking about what happens on the other side of lightspeed (which was my original pitch, an idea that to this day I can remember its exact moment of birth)" (Waid from Ask Chris #317 here )

So without the Speed Force, YJA had to solve a problem Waid had solved with the Speed Force a different way. Waid chose not to or didn't have the option to change Wally's origin from being the exact same as Barry's so he made it make sense through the Speed Force, in essence, choosing Wally (and Barry and Jay and every other speedster). YJA had the option so they went a different way.

Barry was always inspired by Jay Garrick. In comics he was a lucky fanboy who got the powers of his favorite comic character and took his name. In YJA, he's not lucky, he, instead, performs the same experiment that gave Jay speed on himself (YJA Barry is simply more unhinged because what).

Wally, similarly, was also a lucky fanboy who got the powers of his favorite superhero (who happened to be the guy his aunt was dating... Very lucky). In YJA... Well it's the same as Barry again expect he's a literal child performing an experiment on himself which puts him in the hospital (comics Wally is notably fine, just wet from the chemicals).

I think it's a pretty significant change to make Barry and Wally want and grab for the superpowers of their heroes (and beg to be a hero before having those powers in Wally's case) instead of them being super fans that have powers thrust upon them. Powers they choose to use for good but not powers they chose.

And then we have Bart... See, with Bart, things are very different. They have to be. Bart's first appearance is in the exact same comic as the first appearance of the Speed Force. Getting rid of it... Basically gets rid of Bart.

Of course, he's in YJA, so that's not quite true. And, admittedly, I think there were ways to do Bart more accurately without the Speed Force... But it's hard. And YJA essentially avoided making a proper attempt at all and made a fully new character. Instead of him being raised in virtual reality while his body was speed aging due to his biological connection to the Speed Force, he is raised in a post-apocalyptic dystopia. He pretends to be chaotic, impulsive, and sorta dumb but is actually very calculating, a bit cynical, and jaded. He is an interesting character for sure... but he's definitely an original character in all but name, and you can see the character type they took inspiration from - the likes of Cable, Future Trunks (Dragon Ball), and Silver the Hedgehog, instead of his original characterization (a characterization I think is much more original and lacks a character that's similar). A final, more minor point, is that the lack of the Speed Force seems to be why he had to build his own time machine, unable to run through time as in comics.

Bart, in comics, is chaotic, whimsical, and impulsive. He was born in the far future because of some chaotic time travel-related reasons, and his father and aunt (the Tornado Twins) were killed soon after his birth. He was taken by the Earth government (in a roundabout way), run by his grandfather (who happens to be a descendant of the Thawne family... making Bart related to Professor Zoom), and instead of trying to stop his speed aging, merely observed him while raising him in a virtual reality. Iris breaks him out and they time travel to the past to get help from Wally. Through a series of events, Wally ends up handing Bart over to Max Mercury (basically the Speed Force expert) to raise cause Iris dipped and Wally is not capable of raising a teenager. Max, Bart's main parental figure, is not and cannot be in YJA because the Speed Force not existing or being known of, makes that impossible. It is the most intrinsic to his character out of all speedsters.

Much of Bart's character arc has him have to learn that life is not a video game and he does not get a do-over. There is a very powerful arc where Bart (who has this speed force power of essentially making clones of himself) loses one of his speed force clones and feels the death of his clone as if he died as well. It terrifies him. But without the Speed Force, without the powers that create that arc, this is not something that can be explored in the cartoon. YJA Bart is, in some ways, the opposite of his comic counterpart. He clearly understands death well; it's all he knows, a dying world. He likely expects to die himself traveling to the past like he does. Bart in the cartoon has to learn different lessons.

I think at the end of the day, this choice to ignore the Speed Force (and therefore the center of Flash lore since the mid 90's), is a bit disrespectful. I don't think Weisman saw it that way, of course. To him it seems he was adapting the Flash lore prior to that. Which does make some sense, seeing as Wally was Kid Flash and the Speed Force is very much tied to Wally's time as the Flash (something he never gets to be in YJA). And I am not saying I dislike Wally in this show, in fact that show is why he's one of my favorite characters. But I think it's all interesting to think about... And I do think the Flashes are much better handled in their comics, no matter the love I have for Wally in the show (except maybe the letting Barry be a dad part). But it's the nature of adaptations I suppose. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. 🫡

[cepheustarot]

How do other people see you?

Attention! This reading is for entertainment purposes only. This tarot reading does not give a 100% guarantee that all the described situations will occur or being ultimate truth. You build your own life and destiny and only you know yourself best.

Paid readings

Pick a pile. Choose one or more pictures. Trust your intuition.

Pile 1: People see you as a wise person with a lot of experience who can help solve a problem in any field. You are also considered empathic, you get deeply into the problem and offer exactly the solution that would suit him exactly, or say the words of support that he would definitely want to hear. I dare to assume that this pile was chosen by people who work as a psychologist or study for it, but you can just be interested in this topic. At the very least, you are involved in an area where you need to contact people a lot (for example, you are engaged in volunteering or you are working/studying to be a journalist and etc). And although you are quite an empathic person, at the same time you are seen as conflicted, but this is because you do not hide the truth and openly speak, you are honest and straightforward, and this sometimes hurts people. You are also seen as a critic, you may have high standards and therefore it is difficult to please you, many things you may not like. You are seen as a mysterious person and you attract people to yourself with such an aura, they want to get closer to you, but not everyone succeeds, because again you are attentive to the choice of friends, making a social circle!

Pile 2: People see you as a person to look up to and whose word is worth its weight in gold, you are authoritative for them and people rely on you in serious matters, as your advice really makes sense and helps in solving the issue. At the same time, you are considered an important person who is proud and confident, you know your worth and you have good self-esteem. You have practicality, rationality and good organizational skills. People believe that you are used to relying only on yourself and can cope with any life situation alone. At first glance, you may seem distant and taciturn to them, but this continues until you and your interlocutor get to know each other better. In fact, you always know what to talk about, and you prefer to talk about something deep, on topics that can be discussed for a long time, from a philosophical point of view. You are also considered a fair person who tries to look at reality objectively. You also have well-established views on life, you know exactly what you want, you know your values and principles.

Pile 3: People see you as an active person who does not sit still and is constantly on the move, is engaged in something, easy-going and easily agrees to the proposed gamble. You are presented as a flexible person, you easily adapt to new changes. You are also seen as a person who has enough resources and opportunities to start getting involved or doing something new. Moreover,  your any endeavors are accompanied by success and luck, you succeed in everything, no matter what you took. Financially, you will also not miss the benefits, you know how to earn a lot of money, you can be described as a magnet for money. However, you get very upset when something does not go according to your plan or something did not happen as you expected. Perhaps you are also impatient because of your nature, it is difficult for you to wait for a long time, you do not fixate on one place and often changes something, be it your style of clothing, your social circle, hobbies and etc.

Thank you for reading! I will be glad of any feedback 🖤

[axolator]

Clocktower Character Analysis: Why The Wizard Barely Misses The Mark

A new Blood on the Clocktower character came out! I really like it. It's a very flexible, VERY fun evil character that an evil team will never not want to have. It can do basically anything, if it wishes for it.

However, there are some issues I have with it that I've alluded to before, and I'm a little surprised haven't been addressed as thoughtfully as I'd have wanted, given we've known about this character for a while.

Without further ado, let's get into my thoughts on the character.

The things about Wizard I think are cool

Wizard is infinitely flexible. You can wish for literally anything, and that's super strong and INCREDIBLY cool.

What's more, creativity is rewarded while not making the Wizard do all the overhead. The Wizard doesn't need to jump through hoops and use lawyer-speak to do what they want, and the ST isn't fighting them - they just have to say the word, pow-wow with the ST a bit, and then the fun thing happens!

It's fun to fight for the good team! In the hands of a good ST, a Wizard wish doesn't devolve into unsolvable goop - it's fun, it's fair, and it's balanced, and the clue allows for good to figure out what's going on and deal with the evil team.

It's very fun to be the Wizard and go outed evil with a public wish! Allowing players to wish publicly is super fun, and it channels the same energy as characters like Vizier and Psychopath, which is really, really fun, as many of my IRL group will attest.

The things about Wizard I think are flawed

Really, there's one big one (and thank you Elluna, creator of The Bootlegger's Anthology, for being the loudest voice about it; you're doing amazing work & your homebrew is amazing):

The Wizard is strongly incentivized to privately consult the ST to use their ability.

Given that this is trackable, it encourages the good team to police visits to the Storyteller, since anyone doing so could be a Wizard (an evil Minion). This is an incredibly unfun play pattern that doesn't have an easy solution to fix it.

And, to preempt some of the reblogs:

What if I as the ST just tell people not to meta that? Like, you could, but it doesn't really solve the underlying issue with the character, does it? And it doesn't really work, anyway, because people will take notice of who's talking to the ST even if you ask them not to - they have eyes.

What if I just run a script that has a ton of good-sided consult roles to cover for the Wizard (e.g. Savant, Artist, Amnesiac)? This might actually make it worse! Policing ST visits is still optimal for the good team - it just makes it slightly unfun for more people in addition to making it very unfun for one person.

Does it really matter if the Wizard is spent after they consult? Absolutely! Most importantly, it matters to everyone else who's now incentivized not to talk to the Storyteller at all to avoid being a Wizard candidate.

I'm going to zoom into that last point, because talking to the Storyteller is very important in Clocktower for one key reason: they're a neutral party who knows what's going on, and they are your port of call when asking about the rules.

Wizard, by encouraging policing of ST consults, also discourages going to the ST to ask rules questions, lest you seem like a Minion.

I don't think I need to say why this is indefensible as a consequence.

How Wizard could be altered to fix these problems

Not gonna lie, this is hard now that the character is released. Elluna suggested Wizard as a Traveler, which solves the policing issue entirely, but we got Minion Wizard, which makes things tricky:

Allowing the Wizard to wish at night. This is the easy one to think about, but logistics become difficult when one considers that BotC is a game designed to be played in-person:

Just have them nod their head to say "yes, I'd like to use my wish?" It's accessible, but loses all of its cool flexibility.

Use a notepad, phone, or other way of communicating using words at night? It's flexible, but loses necessary accessibility, especially to disabled players.

Force the Wizard to wish publicly. This is, as of the day after release, my preferred solution to dealing with this. Public wishing is cool, and ST-policing has the natural consequence of outing the Wizard anyway if they try and use their ability - why not lean into it and have the Wizard go outed evil to use their wish? Give them a big moment, then discuss the details privately with the Storyteller. However, this has the downside of making the Wizard an outed-evil character, which isn't the most uncontroversially appreciated thing ever, especially for people hoping to pretend to be good after wishing.

A glimpse into a Wizard executed differently

I'm going to take a moment to delve into homebrew here, so bear with me.

Lies, Spies, and Eyes is a homebrew script created by Emptyset, which features some very, very cool characters I'll probably talk about at some point on this blog. It's rough around the edges, but that's to be expected of a homebrew created in 2021.

One of the on-script Minions, the Omen, is wildly popular and has some deceptively simple flavortext.

As a Minion, the Omen has infinite potential (like the Wizard!) and can do basically anything of its design (like the Wizard!), but is limited by the Storyteller, since it could just not happen (again, like the Wizard). The cost, however, is publicity - the Omen must publicly try and convince others that the boon they want has already happened! If they're trying to save their Demon's hide, they have to convince town that no, they don't have the Demon on the block, and that it's probably on a Minion instead. If they want to create an extra evil, they have to turn town against them first. As someone who's both played and run the Omen - it is difficult, but it is incredibly rewarding for everyone involved. It's a Wizard that might not be able to parley as much with the ST, but dodges all the unfun play patterns while maintaining all the flexibility.

Conclusion

The Wizard's high concept is super freakin' cool. As the Wizard, you have all the power to help your team in any way you see fit. Wait until you're on the block, then cast a spell that throws the game into chaos! Wait until your Demon's getting suspected, then throw the good team off the trail! The Wizard is infinitely adaptable, and that's rad — it's just a shame its execution encourages some really toxic metas.

[revscarecrow]

hi rev i just wanted to come here and rant for a second because i feel like you'll understand. i hope you dont mind.

i'm really, REALLY frustrated that a lot of the current culture around artists complaining about ai is people being like "ugh artists are so sensitive, this use case isnt even that bad, its just funny, its just a meme, etc etc"

as an artist myself i feel like i cant even complain about it in my current online social circles because i will be met with people being like "its not that serious when its used to make memes"

i fucking hate seeing ai. period. it doesnt matter if its google gemini, or chat gpt, or some rancid ai meme, or an ai voice. i hate ALL of it because it reminds me that the ONE THING i thought couldn't be taken from me by robots (my ability to make art/video) is being taken from me in front of my eyes.

even my other artist friends partake in this culture. i seriously dont understand it. it is DEEPLY upsetting and makes me feel so hopeless and powerless.

maybe it's an "if i dont laugh, i'll cry" situation. i dont know. i want to hear your thoughts on it. much love

I talk about AI "art" on my art youtube channel. Suffice to say that generative AI and neural nets can be used for good things like mapping the human brain to help better understand the systems at work and how to help with dementia (this is a real thing that's being done and it's rad btw). While this tech does a lot of energy I think it's worth it to learn how to cure horrible diseases. The tasks that this can do helps solve problems that are either too complex or time intensive for humans to do. Art is about expression to some degree. Some people are just about the aesthics but for me personally I think that the process of coming to and finishing the idea is the art and the canvas is the record of the process happening. As such the spirit behind the creation of an object is core to the aesthic of the piece. If I make a painting out of shit or blood it's going to have a very different vibe than one done with paint. Why was that choice made? Artists make these choices at every step. Some just pick things as a default but that is in itself a choice. I use acrylic when I paint canvases because of the drying time and because I fear my cats will attempt to eat the sugary smelling liquin medium used with oil. The nature of my work area I have means the canvases I paint are smaller. These are choices that change how my work looks but also speak to who I am as a person. AI art does not consider this because how could it? It does not think. It's a disgusting similacrum of the human experience. Memes still gross me out I'll be honest.

[sunnysidesevenup]

OKAY TILLY AND FOXGLOVE RAMBLING TIME since he’s invaded my brain again. Warning for 18+ topics (in a clinical character analysis kind of way rather than a sexy way but still minors dni lol) <3

IM KIND OF EMBARASSED TO ADMIT HOW MUCH IVE THOUGHT ABOUT FOXGLOVE’S SEX LIFE BUT AKAHNSJSJJS I may be ace but that just means I get to clinically analyze this important part of their relationship lmao. Just, it’s an important part of Tilly’s character so like, sorry for the ramble but I gotta.

ANYWAYS!! Tilly struggling with hypersexuality due to trauma is very important to me. Tilly having to learn how to set boundaries for himself is ALSO very important to me. He has had the concept of personal boundaries shattered into nonexistence a very long time ago, and the ONLY thing he’s still managed to maintain and insist upon is that his choker stays on. And even that is actively ignored and violated most of the time, to the point that he considers just giving up on that, too. What’s the point when much worse things have already happened? It’s just some petty preference, it would be easy to give up—what’s another crack in a long shattered mirror? And yet he still tries viciously to hold onto this final piece of personal agency, despite how futile he feels like it is. And it’s all these feelings he has when he meets Fellow.

In regards to foxglove, they’re kind of weird as in they’ve basically skipped a ton of relationship steps without even being in one, so when they DO finally confess there’s basically no “getting to know each other” stage because they literally already live together and know each other a little too much, so adding intimacy is not so weird (they’ve already been individually thinking about it, so). But this of course comes with its own host of problems, especially in regards to Tilly. Fellow doesn’t immediately notice anything is wrong, until it suddenly occurs to him that Tilly has… well, zero boundaries. Not as in he ignores Fellow’s, he’s actually VERY attentive to what he likes/dislikes and is always checking in, but in the sense that Tilly never ever says no to anything or asks for anything or even expresses an OPINION on anything.

Which is obviously concerning!!! Especially when he still does the thing where his eyes glaze over and he looks far away but continues to insist nothing is wrong!! And Fellow is a good partner, of course (despite never really being in a relationship as emotionally invested as the one he has with Tilly before), so he of course asks and tries to get him to just… communicate at all. Which just makes Tilly double down and say he’s fine with anything, he doesn’t dislike anything, they can do whatever Fellow wants to do.

So, Fellow is still himself of course, and the failure to communicate just ends with him being like okay. I won’t touch you till you give me some sort of preference or boundary. Just one.

Which Tilly of course scoffs at. There’s no way he’s going to uphold that, right? Right?

And then he does. Which is a feat in and of itself because Tilly is REALLY hard to ignore, especially when he’s ACTIVELY trying to get Fellow to give in. But he holds strong and Tilly slowly goes insane until he’s like okay, fine. If his stupid boyfriend wants to be like that then he’ll just lie and set some silly boundaries or something! Problem solved! It’s not like the guy is serious, he’s not going to stick to them.

And then!! He does!!! No matter what silly preference Tilly comes up with it’s respected. So he starts thinking, well, I guess I can be a little truthful. I guess I can start thinking about what I actually like and want. And then those things are respected too. And he would’ve been happy no matter what Fellow did because he’s so in love with him, but the fact that he doesn’t break his word… Well, he’s a bit overwhelmed.

Some more dynamic stuff because I’m already embarrassed to write this so might as well just discuss it all at once lol?

They are the most switches of switches lol, INCLUDING with sub/dom dynamics because if you don’t think these two aren’t at least a little bit freaky then you are wrong.

Tilly is more comfortable in a dom role but that’s entirely due to trauma and not like, an actual preference. He can easily pretend to play a sub role, but he never actually lets himself get into that mindset because being vulnerable like that is an absolute NO. But with Fellow, who he trusts and loves to a ridiculous extent, he actually at some point lets himself actually get into that mindset. And then accidentally falls so far into subspace that he freaks Fellow the fuck out because he’s NEVER seen Tilly act like that and they have to stop the session and then Tilly starts crying and it’s a whole mess. (And it just freaks Fellow out more because he’s never seen Tilly cry!! Or ask what he did wrong!! So he gets him some hot chocolate and a water and reassures him and they just cuddle and go to sleep and they’ll try again some other time. And definitely set some more precautions in place.)

It sucks that it’s more taboo to discuss their dynamic like this because it IS an important part of their characters and relationships 😭 I’ll probably be too embarrassed to ever talk about any of this stuff ever again so to those who are interested in it, congrats on even getting this amount of nonsense.

[genderfluid-insomniac]

hi! can i ask modern au(i'm not sure if thats what its called but yk where we live without the superpowers) hcs with shenhe and kafka x reader? the reader could be fem but if you dont write that gn is okay too. just hcs about how it would be like to date them and what kind of stuff they'd to etc. hope you have a nice day!!!

hi! of course! I'm soooo sorry it took this long!!

Modern Au!Kafka and Shenhe with dating headcanons (fem!s/o)

Shenhe

As in the game, this tall intimidating woman is a bit hesitant as she’s still learning more social cues and being able to smoothly get into a conversation. You love her dearly but sometimes she scares others by casually suggesting violent solutions to certain problems like it’s completely normal. As much as you joke about giving her classes on social cues and how to not seem like a robot she asks you to actually do that.

She’s hella protective. She has you carry one of those multi purpose keychains with a window break (which could be used as a shank as she’s suggested), pepper spray, a small knife, etc and tells you to look out for signs of any danger. You’re both trained in self defense and know additional safety combat techniques. Shenhe just really doesn’t want anything to happen to you since you’re one of the best things to happen to her.

Please help her cook because Shenhe badly wants to cook you a meal and not set off the fire alarm or somehow make an abomination of sometype. It can also be a fun date where you both bake a cake or a favorite if yours. She’ll get confused if you put frosting on her nose jokingly but very flustered when you lick it off or kiss it off.

You adore her cuddles and how she is the perfect size for being a little spoon, not to mention those soft plush breasts she has that make perfect pillows. Your girlfriend adores cuddles more than anything since you’re so adorable already and hers.

This is a strange one but please take her to the zoo she’s absolutely enamored with all of the animals and it doesn’t matter if she’s already seen them Shenhe will watch them all day and read the facts on the stand in front of the habitat. Despite the fact that you can see it too she’ll tell all of her favorite things about said animal. She is fascinated by giraffes and flamingos because giraffes according to her are “stretched horses” where as flamingos remind her of a bright pink version of a crane that used to frequent a lake next to her house.

Kafka

Let get one thing straight gay your girlfriend is a tease and loves to play harmless mind games with you from anything to receiving affection to coaxing you into making a decision. She’s not going to manipulate you ever it’s just she likes to keep you on your toes and loves the reactions you give.

Her love language is more physical touch and words of affirmation than anything else. There are countless times that you’ll be in her arms and cuddle into her as she praises you for being so good to her and for her. How you’re the best person she’s ever met and brings out the best in her. You’d get cavities from how sweet she is to you.

Kafka is someone who others can’t figure out and tries to solve her like an old riddle fabled to hold untold riches but only you hold the answer. She’s purposely tries to be standoffish to make sure others don’t harass you or think they can hurt you in any way. Especially since she has some enemies that would love to have you in their arms in order to get one over Kafka but she’ll ensure you that you’re forever safe with her. If something does happen she’s rushing you to the hospital first off to make sure you’re okay or any injuries you sustained will be taken care of and then calling up her friends and associates to take care of whoever decided to hurt her girlfriend.

You’re being taken on meaningful and charming dates that have clearly been thought through and they sometimes are as simple as a picnic or a movie night at home to having dinner at a high-class restaurant or taking you out on a night in the city and spoiling with gifts that you’ve been eyeing.