#under read more bc it's long

[jewishcissiekj]

For anyone looking to read/watch/listen to everything Asajj, I wanted to post my checklist for both Legends and Canon Asajj and tag them properly for convenience

Canon Asajj checklist -Dooku: Jedi Lost (Audio Drama) -Jedi of the Republic – Mace Windu #5 (Comic) -Brotherhood (Novel) -Hyperspace Stories #5 -Star Wars Adventures: The Clone Wars – Battle Tales #2 (Comic) -The Clone Wars S1 E16 (TV) -The Clone Wars (Movie, Novel) -The Clone Wars S1 E1 (TV) -Sharing the Same Face (short story, The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark) -The Clone Wars S1 E5 (TV) -The Clone Wars S1 E9 (TV) -Worthless (short story, Stories of Jedi and Sith) -The Clone Wars S3 E2 (TV) -Tales of Villainy: Give & Take (short comic story, Star Wars Adventures (2020) #12) -The Clone Wars S3 E12-14 (TV) -The Clone Wars S4 E19-20 (TV) -The Lost Nightsister (short story, The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark) -The Clone Wars S4 E21-22 (TV) -Dark Vengeance: The True Story of Darth Maul and His Revenge Against the Jedi Known as Obi-Wan Kenobi (short story, The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark) -Sisters (short comic story, Age of Republic Special #1) -The Clone Wars S5 E19-20 (TV) -Kindred Spirits (short story, Star Wars Insider #159) -Dark Disciple (Novel) -The Bad Batch S3 E 9 (TV) -Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader's Castle #1 (Comic) -Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader's Castle #3 (Comic) -Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader's Castle #5 (Comic) -Obi-Wan #4 (Comic) -Star Wars (2015) #47 (Comic, only depicted on playing card) -Star Wars Adventures Ashcan (Comic) -Halcyon Legacy #1 (Comic) -Halcyon Legacy #3 (Comic)

Legends Asajj Checklist -Restraint (short story) -Star Wars: Clone Wars chapters 6-7 (TV) -Star Wars: Republic #51-52 (Comic) -Jedi: Mace Windu #1 (Comic) -Star Wars: Republic #53 (Comic) -Rogue's Gallery (short comic story, Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures Volume 3) -Dark Heart (short story) -Star Wars: Clone Wars chapters 11-19 (TV) -The Cestus Deception (Novel) -Star Wars: Republic #58-60 (Comic) -Star Wars: Republic #64 (Comic) -Jedi Trial (Novel) -Yoda: Dark Rendezvous (Novel) -Star Wars: Republic #69-71 (Comic) -The Clone Wars: Shadowed (Webcomic) -The Clone Wars S1 E16 (TV) -The Clone Wars (Movie, Novel) -The Clone Wars: Prelude (Webcomic) -The Clone Wars S1 E1 (TV) -The Clone Wars: Shipyards of Doom (Graphic Novel) -The Clone Wars: Secret Missions 2: Curse of the Black Hole Pirates (Junior Novel) -The Clone Wars: Secret Missions 3: Duel at Shattered Rock (Junior Novel) -The Clone Wars: Secret Missions 4: Guardians of the Chiss Key (Junior Novel) -The Clone Wars: The Fall of Falleen (Webcomic) -The Clone Wars S1 E5 (TV) -The Clone Wars: Crash Course (Graphic Novel) -The Clone Wars #7-9 (Comic) -The Clone Wars S1 E9 (TV) -The Clone Wars: The Valsedian Operation (Webcomic) -The Clone Wars #11-12 (Comic) -Keep the Faith (short comic story) -In the Air (short comic story) -The Clone Wars S3 E2 (TV) -Hunted (short comic story) -Fashion (short comic story) -The Only Good Clanker (short comic story) -Under The Hammer (short comic story) -The Clone Wars S3 E12-14 (TV) -The Clone Wars #5-6 (Comic, retconned) -The Clone Wars S4 E19-22 (TV) -The Clone Wars: The Sith Hunters (Graphic Novel) -The Clone Wars S5 E19-20 (TV) -Star Wars: Obsession #1-5 (Comic)

And a guide: -In no way these are my recommendations, I actually unrecommend a certain book here, my recommendations list can be found here. this one is the Wookiepedia list just less confusing (I hope) -She isn't a main character in all of these. At all. And some are just cameos, I didn't get into specifics about that. -Most of the canon books & short stories can be found in e-book/digital form, or in physical copies pretty easily, just look them up. -The same thing that goes for the canon books goes for the canon comics, although most of the issues listed are part of a series (as might be evident by their numbers). That doesn't mean you need to read the rest, because they're pretty stand-alone and usually just reference the other issues of the series/have a framing story related to that. -I'm not sure where you can find the Star Wars Insider issue or the Adventures Ashcan, sorry about that. -The Legends list is much more complicated than canon, since anything related to The Clone Wars series may contradict the prior Legends media. That's why I marked those in bold, as they are only officially part of that timeline, and don't make much sense with the rest of it (most of it, other than the actual episodes, were mostly de-canonized when Disney bought Star Wars with the rest of Legends). -There are ofc the original printings of those, but I also I believe most of the Legends books listed were reprinted as a part of the Legends brand, but if they weren't then idk what to tell you. -The Legends comics were also reprinted, mostly in big, pretty expensive collections. So it might be harder to buy those. I think there are digital copies of those collections, though, so you can buy them for cheaper that way. -The Clone Wars webcomics can be found here , through @clonewarsarchives (a great resource overall) -The short TCW stories (in bold under short comic story) can all be found here (once again through clone wars archives) -The Restraint short story can't be found anywhere I looked, only in the 2nd printing of Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter. One of 2 things on the Legends list I've yet to read. -The Dark Heart short story was originally published online, so it's here legally (link straight from Wookiepedia I sure hope it's legal). -I have no idea how to get to the Graphic Novels normally but I trust they're on eBay and co. -I've only talked about legal options but obviously, there's more. Act with discretion and I'm not posting links like that here. I might be able to help more through DMs but you know.

[splinterclan]

Where’s Cedar during all of this? How’s he feeling with the tension between his kits and them, and has he seen Bess since?

He's been in camp under watch somewhat, but he hasn't tried to go see Bess or anything. Mostly just sitting around being a sad guy rn

I'm sorry to hear that, but genuinely so happy my story feels therapeutic. I've also had issues with my parents/mom in the past so while it's not a direct comparison I understand the feelings. I really hope that the way it ends up feels okay to everyone (or at least is interesting to read ;v;)

Getting slapped with what you've been thinking subconsciously but didn't want to admit to yourself make you go :o

This is such a nice reading of her and I think you're right on a lot of points - what Oakclan did was extremely bad for her and she is so right to choose her own way of living. But when she gave up her kits it was because she didn't want to care for them - she had never really seen herself as a mother and when they came along well. Cedarheart would take care of them, she could give them up and assume they were doing fine, No problems

It was only after he insisted that they should see her after they were older and pushed for a relationship there that she started to like them and want to be around them. If she had a second litter she'd 100% keep them, but she gave up the cedarlings for selfish reasons at the time (which I think is Bess's character flaw boiled down to one word - she's very selfish and it def hurts those around her!)

[crossbackpoke-check]

blessed be (lorscher bienensegen) | telling the bees (wiþ ymbe)

"Bees" [remixed, abridged], Claudia Emerson // "Letter to Someone Living Fifty Years from Now" [remixed. abridged], Matthew Olzmann // "Letter to my Great, Great Grandchild" [remixed, abridged], J.P. Grasser | Len Redkole, Nina Weiss, Brian Babineau, Christian Peterson, Mitchell Leff, Dave Isaac, Megan DeRuchie

[lord-squiggletits]

I think the key component to my personal reading of post-Delphi Pharma is that he's trying to be a horrible person on purpose. Not "on purpose" in the way that people have free will to exercise their own choices, but in that Pharma's "mad doctor" persona is a performance he puts on to deliberately embrace how much everyone else hates him. Basically, if people already think you're a "bad Autobot" and a horrible doctor who just kills his patients for fun, why try to prove otherwise to people who have already made up their minds about you? Just fully embrace the fact that people see you as an asshole. Don't try to change their minds. Don't plead for their forgiveness or understanding. Just stop caring. If you're going to be remembered as a monster, you might as well be a memorable monster, and eke as much pleasure and hedonism as you can out of it before karma catches up to you and you inevitably crash and burn.

I mean, I guess you could just go the route of "Oh, Pharma was always a fucked up creepy guy and Delphi was just him taking the mask off," but I really don't like that interpretation because, for one, it feels really wrong to take a character like Pharma becoming evil under duress and going, "Oh well clearly he did the things he did because he was evil all along," as if somehow Pharma breaking under blackmail/torture/threat of horrible death was a sign of him having poor moral character. As opposed to, you know, suffering under the very real threat of horrible death for himself and everyone he cares about while being manipulated by a guy who specializes in psychological torture.

The second reason is that it just doesn't make sense to write Pharma as having been evil all along. I mean...

Occam's Razor says that the best argument is the one with the simplest explanation. Doesn't it make way more sense to take Pharma's appearances in flashbacks, his friendship with Ratchet, his stunning medical accomplishments, and the few we see of him speaking kindly/sympathetically (or in the least charitable interpretation, at least professionally) towards his patients and conclude "This guy was just a normal person, if exceptionally talented." Taking all of these flashback appearances at face value and assuming Pharma was being genuine/honest is a way simpler and more logical explanation than trying to argue that Pharma for the past 4 million years was just faking being a good doctor/person. I mean, it's possible within the realm of headcanon, but the fact is Pharma's appearances in the story are so brief that there simply wasn't room in the story for there to be some sort of secret conspiracy/hidden manipulation behind why Pharma acted the way he did in the past.

I just can't help but look at things like Pharma's friendship with Ratchet (himself a good person and usually a fine judge of character) and the fact that even post-Delphi, pretty much every single mention of Pharma comes with some mention of "He was a good doctor for most of his life" or "He was making major headways in research [before he started killing patients]" which implies that even the Autobots themselves see Pharma's villainy as a recent turn in his life compared to how for "most of his life" he "used to be" a good doctor.

And although Pharma doesn't know this, we as the readers (and even other characters like Rung) know about Aequitas technology and the fact that it actually works, so... if Pharma really was an unrepentant murderer, why couldn't he get through the forcefield too? The Aequitas forcefield doesn't require that a person be completely morally pure and free of wrongdoing or else how could Tyrest get through, just that they feel a sense of inner peace and lack feelings of guilt. Pharma has murdered and tortured people by this point, and put on quite a campy and theatrical show of how much he sees it as a fun game, so why then can he not get through?

It circles back to my headcanon at the start of this post that the "mad doctor" persona is just that-- a persona. Delphi/post-Delphi Pharma's laughing madman personality is just so far removed from every flashback we saw of him and everything we can infer based on how other people see/saw him before that, to me, the mad doctor act is (at least in large part, if not fully) a persona that Pharma puts on to put his villainy in the forefront.

To avoid an overly simplistic/ableist take, I don't think Tarn tortured Pharma into turning crazy. To me, it's more like the constant pressure of death by horrific torture, the feeling of martyrdom as Pharma kept secret that he was the only one standing between Delphi and annihilation, the physical isolation of Messatine as well as the emotional separation from Ratchet, being forced to violate his medical oaths (pretty much the only thing Pharma's entire life has been about), etc. All of that combined traumatized Pharma to the point that the only way he could avoid cracking was to just stop caring about all of it. Because at least then, even if he's still murdering patients to save Delphi from a group of sadistic freaks, Pharma doesn't have to feel guilty and sick about doing it. As opposed to the alternatives, which were probably either going off the deep end and killing himself to escape, or confessing to what he did and getting jailed for it.

In that light, Pharma becoming a mad doctor makes sense. It avoids the bad writing tropes of "oh this character who was good his entire life was actually just evil and really good at hiding it" as well as "oh he got tortured and went crazy that's why he's so random and silly and killing people, he's crazy" and instead frames Pharma's evil as something he was forced into, to the point where in order to avoid a full psychological breakdown and keep defending Delphi, he just had to stop caring about the sanctity of life or about what other people might think of him.

Then, of course, the actual Delphi episode happens, and Pharma's own lifelong best friend Ratchet basically spits in his face and sees him as nothing more than a crazy murderer who went rogue from being a good Autobot. Then Pharma gets his hands cut off and left to die on Messatine. At that point, Pharma has not only been mentally/emotionally broken into losing his feelings of compassion, he's received the message loud and clear: He is alone. Everyone hates him. Not even his own best friend likes him any more. No one even cared enough about him to check if he actually died or not. He will only ever be remembered as a doctor who went insane and killed his patients.

So in the light of 1. Having all of your redeeming qualities be squeezed out of you one by one for the sake of survival and 2. Having your reputation and all of your positive relationships be destroyed and 3. People only know/care about you as "that doctor who became evil and killed his patients" rather than the millions of years of good service that came before.

What else is there to do but internalize the fact that you'll forever be seen as a monster and a freak, and embrace it? People already see you as a murderer for that blackmail deal you did, so why not become an actual murderer and just start killing people on a whim? People already see you as an irredeemable monster who puts a stain on the Autobot name, so why beg for their forgiveness when you could just shun them back? You've already become a murderer, a traitor, and a horrible doctor, so what's a few more evil acts added to the pile? It's not like anyone will ever forgive you or love you ever again.

Why care? Why try to hold on to your principles of compassion, kindness, medical ethics, when an entire lifetime of being a good person did nothing to save you from blackmail and then abandonment? Why put yourself through the emotional agony of feeling lonely, guilty, miserable, when you could just... stop caring, and not hurt any more?

[wackywatchdotcom]

im obsessed with pomni cus shes one of the most multifaceted characters ive ever seen in a way that doesnt feel so contradictory that its inconsistent. she is nice but also shes impatient and snippy but also her response to stress is to stop thinking OR to bolt OR to start hitting things and launching herself at things and which of these she picks is almost completely random except for the slight degree that what is scaring her influences which one it is. she is jaded but also she is not jaded. she is easily frightened but can also handle being extremely scared for a long time. under mild pressure she can work on solving problems relatively calmly. shes selfish but also she tries to help when she can. she is an asshole under pressure. she is shockingly quiet and casual under normal circumstances. shes not receptive to reassurance half the time but the other half of the time she appreciates it. she is distrustful of others. shes severely logical but also spends a lot of time too stressed to think and is easily confused. she is very observant and can put things together in her environment but also she has no clue whats going on and is often guessing. she knows what larping and collisions are and how to exploit design flaws in the game. despite her fearful nature she is calm in social settings. she is bad at socializing but engages in it frequently. she is emotionally intelligent but also has to be not scared first. despite not being quick to comfort she is very good at knowing how to cheer people up. she is comfortable speaking her mind and is extremely blunt. she gets annoyed at inconsistency and things being loud and active and eventful. she hates being in a game it pisses her off and upsets her but also shes the only player weve seen to get EXTREMELY invested in the npcs, even more than ragatha. theres so much to her. theres so much to her i never stop thinking about her

[soppingwetrat]

I've been seeing a lot of people complaining that tmagp isn't independent from tma, as in, you need to have watched tma in order to understand what is going on in tmagp, but i don't really think that's the case. for example:

- when Sam got and emali from "Jon", tma fans understood that this is a ref to Jonathan Sims. non-tma fans don't have that understanding, but they understand that this is clearly weird, as no one with that name works at the OIAR. the effect is the same

- when Gerry and Gertrude appeared, both non-tma fans and tma fans understood that Gerry used to be in the institute as a kid, and that Gertrude is reluctant and untrusting of Sam and Celia. there is no additional context from tma needed to understand that scene

- the character of Celia is suspicious regardless if you've seen tma or not, her weirdness is very well established outside of the fact that she also appears in tma (keen interest in the incidents, waking up in random places, weird questions etc)

- Gwen's last name (Bouchard) is also something that tma fans would recognize immediately, but recently they specifically mentioned the "Cheshire Bouchards", clearly trying to draw attention to her last name. tma knowledge is no longer needed to understand that her name Means Something

- all the other characters from tma that appeared have (so far) been completely different people. they're an alt version of themselves, so knowing them from tma is not required to understand any of their scenes or dialogue

the only thing that you could make a case for is Chester and Norris' voices and connecting them to Jon and Martin, but even that could be easily solved with a quick google search. all u need to know is that they were 2 main characters from tma, whose faith is left ambiguous at the end of the show, and now their vas are voicing Chester and Norris, the 2 ai programs

so far all tma references have only allowed tma fans to catch on that something is sus quicker, but it's clear that the writers put effort in dropping different clues other than just "this character used to appear in tma too!" and I'm sure there'll be even more as the series goes on

if anyone knows something i missed, feel free to point it out, im very interested! but from what we've seen so far, i really don't think a tmagp-only fan would be confused by the direction of the plot, as i feel that things are well established outside of their connections to tma

[oscarcito]

Lando has said he feels pretty confident in McLaren heading into 2024, obviously you hope you guys will be up there challenging Red bull, closing that gap that we’ve seen through 2023. How competitive are you expecting to be? I- I dont know. I think for Lando to be confident is quite a big statement. You know he’s obviosly been with the team a lot longer and seen the fluctuations that every team inevitably goes through.

The biggest confidence for me is that everything we put on the car this year has worked. All the upgrades did exactly what we wanted them to do. The direction we’ve been going has been working and that’s a very comfortable place to be in going into a new season, especially with stable rules and regulations. We know that Red Bull are going to be strong again. It’s going to be interesting to see what the other teams around us are going to be like next year, but I think we can be comfortable that the way we’re working is the right direction and if we keep going that way and do it better than the others then, yeah, it’s pretty exciting to think what the possibilities could be.

[sandy-weeds]

RenTori is my secondary OTP but they have sadly always been overshadowed by the more popular Allmate ships. WELL, I am here to show y'all the reasons I ship rarepair RenTori! Even if no one wants to read this, at least I can have this for reference for myself...

Base Game:

Huracan and Ren don't really interact in the base game, BUT Huracan does show concern for Ren by addressing him along with Aoba* upon first arriving at Glitter. This doesn't sound super notable, but most characters in the game don't acknowledge Ren along with Aoba like this....

*Note: Fan translation words this as "we should rest today", but Huracan uses "omaetachi" which is used like "you guys" in this case. Hence why JAST opted to use "you two."

At the end of Mink's route, he also advocates for what he knows Ren would want for Aoba (to be used to save him) when Ren can't say it for himself. It really seems that Huracan is coming from a place of understanding Ren's devotion as an Allmate rather than just trying to get Aoba to do what Mink wanted, at least to me.

Stella Worth Bonus Drama CD:

Just Huracan and Ren being ever agreeable with one another~

(Translation by yoshi-x2)

Re:Connect:

One of the first things Huracan asks Aoba upon being reunited is if Ren is okay! He hasn't forgotten him, and remembered he was in a dire state when they lost saw one another. I wonder if he was secretly worried about him all that time...I think that might be the case...

He also proudly tells Ren and Aoba that he got a new name!

And Ren likes it!!

(Translation by dramatical-rhyme)

Summer Side Story:

They sleep together in Aoba's room…bro.

(Translation by hanefuufu)

Drama CD:

The drama CD is the real reason why I started shipping them!!!

First of all, it's super cute how they basically tag-team tease Aoba together.

They always seem to be on the same page, especially when it comes to Aoba's well-being...

...and when one of them wants back up, he calls for the other.

WAHHHH They were speaking to each other privately!!! They spend their time chatting when Mink and Aoba aren't around…

And, the best part of it all: It's basically implied here that Aoba himself ships them! Honestly, it's this teasing from Aoba that had me 👀 at them in the first place. Well, even if I try to read this part without shipper goggles, I just can't see it any other way.

(Translation by shibaface)

Compatibility (My Analysis):

On the same page

Unlike Ren and Clara who seem very incompatible, and Beni and Huracan, who are always bickering, Ren and Huracan seem to share the same opinions and get along seamlessly! It isn't just because they are both Allmates. They really are compatible.

Deeply devoted to their respective owners and trust them with their lives

Huracan allowed Mink to transfer him into the motorcycle and Ren allowed Aoba to use the USB drive on him. Ren would follow Aoba to the ends of the earth, and Huracan literally did so to find his way back to Mink.

Attached to and protective of Aoba

They both try to ease his frequent worrying whenever they can with reason. They're very patient with Aoba and always happy to give advice AND ALSO TEASE HIM A LITTLE (which is the cutest).

Always together

Obviously they live together, and sleep together, and basically do everything together! Since Mink doesn't depend on Huracan as much as Aoba does Ren, he doesn't mind leaving Huracan along with Ren to watch over Aoba. Thus, Ren and Huracan get to spend extra time together. Aoba also often remarks that there aren't many Allmates in Mink's homeland, so it makes even more sense why they are drawn to one another in a place like that.

Conclusion:

Even though it's sad for Ren that he can't end up with Aoba, I think Huracan is a very good partner for him and vice versa.

Ren shows Huracan that he isn't merely a tool to be used and definitely rubs off on him by the time we reach the end of the drama CD. Huracan goes from saying he's a tool and doesn't care about having a name to being very proud of the name he has. I think this definitely comes from being inspired by Ren, his devotion, and seeing the way Aoba treats him in turn (Mink, as well, as his opinion on Allmates definitely changes from start to finish of canon).

Obviously, they share a home together, and will always be together due to their owners being partners. They also show no interest in other Allmates besides one another. They never bicker or disagree and speak respectfully to one another.

Though it might seem a little strange that they are different types of animals, I don't think it really matters much to them as Huracan was literally a motorcycle for awhile lskdjlsf. Plus, they both see one another as an "Allmate" rather than their respective animal, I think.

Anyway, I hope this proved interesting to read for at least one (1) person out there. I really love these two and will always ship them, forever!

[amoralmorel]

someone with a better understanding of the text MUST have said something already abt kozue referring to herself as miki’s little sister right?

[phaedinphaedout]

Took a screenshot of smth Med Poc said, I think it was during 37's anecdote

Got curious, so I ended up googling what exactly a cactus cat was

[sayakxmi]

Saiouma Puella Magi AU, but Kokichi takes Madoka's role and Shuichi takes Homura's.

For one, Kokichi's too naturally distrustful to just hear "I can grant you any wish :)" and not think ok where's the hook. So he just does what no one ever has & essentially interrogates Kyubey, so he knows it all even before he gets to make a contract. So, some of his classmstes are MGs & he won't become one himself BUT he still ends up tagging along to just protect them in his Kokichi ways. (Though I'm entertaining Kokichi lying about being a magical girl, because, well, it's Kokichi).

(I also got a small idea of Gonta being a magical girls and Kokichi originally tagging along him into labyrinths, Gonta also makes him a magic gun from the toy one he had, and at some point witches out & Kokichi manages to kill him with that gun. So he always has that spare Grief Seed on himself, bc it's still his best friend & he can't handle the idea of just giving it away or using it himself (he does anyway in the end).)

Shuichi prolly ends up being a new kid & it isn't like MadoHomu, the ppl who reach him first are Kaede & Kaito, classic. Kokichi's there, too, but he's his usual sus self. He's actually discouraging ppl from making a contract when they find out magic and miracles are real, which absolutely includes Shuichi. He's very vocal abt it, but he won't explain stutf, bc 1) he's a liar, so who'd believe him? and 2) he doesn't want them to witch out upon finding out the truth or, idk, murder everybody Mami-style.

Anyway, fast forward, bad things happen bingo & by the end of the run most charas are dead, there's Walpurgis nachting, and he makes his wish to bring back the ppl who died notably not as magical girls. Contract signed, he fights & fails, rip. I also thought it was similar to how he thought he could end the killing game by himself - he though he could finish Walpurgisnacht by himself, too. And he failed in both times. Whatevs.

Shuichi doesn't actually make his time travel wish for Ouma specifically, he wants to save all his friends. Timelines are messy esp at first bc he either tells then or it backfires or just makes himself look very sus bc he's trying not to tell them. He also realizes why Kokichi hadn't told anybody aby witches at some point, bc, yeah, it messes them a lot, assuming they believe it.

Still, Kokichi ends up one of the few people who are nearly always giving him a chance, not necessarily out of belief, but out of pragmatism - bro can stop time & knows the truth, that's just too useful. So they often work together & Shuichi grows closer to him but still we ain't there yet. But the thing is, Shuichi's time travel still makes Kokichi more & more powerful with each timeline, bc Shuichi usually goes back after Kokichi dies, so the universe figured out this guy's life's important. Anyway, another notable thing is the iconic Homura kills Madoka scene, but it's Saiouma with guest stars of Kaito & Maki. It's Walpy, it's not defeated yet, but the training trio are spent & just kinda accept their fate of turning into witches together. And then, boom, Kokichi appears & steals their Soul Gems for a sec & he's like did u know you can cleanse your Soul Gem with a darkened one? But it's a lie & he quickly tells them so, he just had a spare Grief Seed after cleansing his Soul Gem & he needs them to do some stuff. Shuichi can travel back in time & fix things, and Maki & Kaito are needed to fight Walpy here. He actually questions what happens to the timelines Shuichi leaves behin, and ofc he doesn't know. There's a chance they remain, so Kokichi needs Maki & Kaito to fight Walpy here.

Kaimaki leave, and Shuichi finally looks at Kokichi & realizes sth is Wrong. Kokichi struggles to hide how he's trembling & grimacing, and it's Kokichi, so obviously it must be extremely bad. Shuichi dreadfully realizes something worse, and he weakly asks Kokichi why aren't his wounds healing. And Kokichi just falls, laughing weakly, and Shuichi catches him & searches for his Soul Gem and, God, he knew it. It's nearly completely black. Kokichi laughs & admits he lied abt having two Grief Seeds, he only had one he never wanted to use. But they'll have the second one soon, so no need to worry. He asks Shuichi to maybe destroy his witch form as it's hatching, so he'll have the Grief Seed without any fighting… and he admits that he hates fighting, he hates this magical world and all its violence. He says that Kaito was right in calling him a coward, even here he just can't handle the idea of fighting any longer, he's so sorry. And Shuichi tells him he ISN'T a coward. He was scared, but he always followed everybody, trying to help, and when push came to shove he would always make a contract for the benefit of others rather than himself. He's a lot of things, but a coward isn't one. Kokichi actually tears up hearing that, and Shuichi promises he won't let him fight ever again, and especially he won't let him turn into a witch and hurt anybody, because he knows it's the last thing he's ever wanted. Even now he only accepts turning into a witch to help them fight to keep others safe. So Shuichi won't let him. Kokichi probably apologizes and thanks him and then he dies.

Keeping Kokichi from fighting starts off as a side quest that gains importance with time, bc it's something Shuichi won't compromise on (ah, trauma), which leads him to occassionally neglect others a bit, which makes them more likely to get hurt & ironically Kokichi more likely to make a contract, especially since he gets more powerful & Kyubey is more interested in him with each timeline. And that also makes him witch out super quick. Shuichi's paying more attention to him & over time grows resentful of others for how they're treating him. To Shuichi it's no question that Kokichi cares & is just doing his best to help, but nobody realizes that.

But the biggest obstacle in keeping Kokichi from fighting is actually Kokichi himself, bc he's too smart and nosy, lmao. Even if he knows nothing, he will find out quickly. Doesn't help that Kyubey wants him to make a contract.

Also, obviously Kaito is Sayaka-coded and Maki could be Kyouko-coded, so that's a thing, BUT it's usually Maki that witches out. Kaito is usually pretty close, but Kokichi intervenes & he survives, but Maki later cracks on her own (and since in the new timeline Kokichi isn't there, Kaito's the one to die, so he's still the secretary). So it's Kaito who gets the dramatic sacrifice. I imagine he genuinely hoped you could bring somebody back if you tried Very Hard & Kokichi called him a moron bc obviously it's not possible. If it was there'd be far less witches that there are. But it's Kaito, he doesn't listen to reason. So, Kokichi follows him to the labyrinth. At first Kaito's mad cuz what if Kokichi being there ruins the plan? Maki hates his guts! But eventually he gets hit pretty hard, and Kokichi is near immediately by his side, trying to help him get up, which kinda makes Kaito short circuit a little bc wait Kokichi's trying to help? But witch!Maki attacks them & Kokichi pushes Kaito away & gets caught himself (and choked until unconsciousness, naturally). Anyway, Kaito gets him away, Shuichi catches Kokichi & Kaito makes up his mind about going down with Maki & asks Shuichi to tell Kokichi that he's sorry. He doesn't get him, but he got hurt trying to protect him, so he'll believe in that if nothing else. F.

As for The WishTM, in the last timeline Shuichi lashes out at Kokichi for his willingness to just become part of the system. In no timeline has his wish actually helped, it did NOTHINHG, which OUCH but it also makes Kokichi think out of the box more & he becomes the Law of Cycles. And Shuichi realizes what is happening & freaks out bc Kokichi's doing it bc of what he told him & like Homura they end up having a momentTM in space & Shuichi remembers. He feels a lot of guilt even tho he also questions whether anything was real, but if it was, he pushed somebody he far too realized he loved into erasing himself from existence.

[winnerkirkwood]

i have so many thoughts on alexander rossi and his new (over the past two years) popularity and the importance of a good social media strategy (and why indycar/indycar teams need to improve).

first off, rossi has always been a popular driver. that is a fact. however, i feel like he has had a lot of growth in popularity, mostly among 20-30 year old women in the past few years. i also think that he’s a really good case study for what a driver/team/indycar as a whole should do. because rossi has not significantly improved as a driver in the past two years, nor has his personality changed significantly. i think that a lot of the popularity is due to how social media coverage of him has changed.

so, i think that there are a couple of reasons rossi has seen so much growth in his audience. one part of it is the podcast with hinch. hinch is a incredibly personable guy, he could probably have a good conversation with a brick. add on to that the fact that he and rossi are genuinely best friends, and the podcast is obviously going to go well. rossi is able to show his personality on the podcast. and he has a kind of weird personality. so it makes sense that people are drawn to that personality, and have a fondness for off track, and specifically rossi. that is the first part of it.

the second reason is the arrow mclaren social media team. the arrow mclaren social media team is really fucking good. they know how to showcase their drivers personalities in short, consumable videos/reels/tiktoks. and because of this, people were able to really get introduced to rossi’s personality.

They also got introduced to Rossi in a very specific way. They got introduced to Rossi through his friendship with Pato, and the various tiktok trends that were created to make him look good. And I’m not saying that it’s fake, but it’s also i think a very different lens than how people were introduced to him in the past.

correct me if i’m wrong, but i kind of feel like there’s a certain pipeline for rossi fans (not all, obviously, and there’s some variance in the pipeline too): f1 fan —> indycar fan (often specifically a fan of arrow mclaren, as they have definitely set up their social media presence to be easy for beginner indycar fans to understand/learn about drivers personalities, along with transference in motorsport- if you’re a fan of mclaren in f1, obviously you’ll be a fan of mclaren in indycar) —> think ‘oh this guy is cool’ and check out his instagram (his and brian simpson’s ‘runoff’ series is helpful here too) —> listen to the podcast, maybe start listening to older episodes —> become a big rossi fan —> post about him —> more people become curious and maybe listen to the podcast/check out his social media/become fans

the arrow mclaren social media has been, in my opinion, really instrumental to the uptick in popularity rossi has had. obviously it’s not the only part of it, but i do feel like it’s regularly the first domino in the rossi fan pipeline.

now we have to talk about what this means for other teams/indycar as a whole. i feel like rossi’s arrow mclaren popularity shows how important social media/personality driven content is right now. it also shows how much andretti dropped the ball in terms of potential with rossi (that being said, over the course of the year andretti social media has improved significantly, becoming the 2nd best indycar team social media this season in my opinion). indycar social media has become much better in the last couple of years. however, i think that indycar needs to continue improving their social media strategy, showcasing the racing product of indycar along with the drivers personalities - personality driven content has become more important than ever, and with the variety of personalities/weirdness in the indycar paddock it shouldn’t be too hard. it’s just about making sure that indycar actually does it.

[coyoxxtl]

My dislike for Haytham isn’t petty little fandom drama I start for no reason. I know most of y’all will think that but understand, we play a video game about REAL events. ac3 is historical fiction with political intrigue centered around a native protagonist, and him being native is integral to the story. there were REAL people who lived those same events and REAL people who experienced the fallout. we aren’t having useless wank about steven universe characters, there is weight to the discussions held about ac3. and the opinions you have about the politics, events, and characters reflect where you may stand about the same issues in real life. This is not a story I care about memeifying or to be fandom brained about. Haytham and Ratonhnhaké:ton may be fictional people but their conflicts, values, and beliefs are based in reality, a reality a bunch of real living people have been/continue to be affected by. So yea, you will be confronted you if you’re acting like a jackass about stories and characters like this.

I was in this fandom for a long time, I followed ac3 since the literal beginning. it’s so ingrained in me that I still talk about it even when I have since moved on from it. but Inremember being a teen and being so excited for this game because of Ratonhnhaké:ton specifically. he was an incredibly exciting character to look forward to as a mestizo (mixed spanish&native), and I know for a fact I wasn’t the only one. He was so, so fucking important for people like me. and Ubisoft knew it because they advertised the hell out of him, the promos, the sneak peaks into the game development showing how hard they’re worked to be as accurate as possible, it was all made so we can be excited for Ratonhnhaké:ton. We were getting a native protagonist who was raised in his village, spoke his native language, his main conflict ties directly into his native identity. We never see this come out of the video game industry.

but you start the game and you have to play Haytham for like 2 hours before you even get to Ratonhnhaké:ton. weird choice to make you wait that long to start a main story. keep playing and the narrative is being Weirdly sympathetic to the violent colonizing Templars, trying to make the seem “morally grey” which is…A Choice, when you remember what this game was supposed to be about and how it wasn’t something they did in the Ezio trilogy, Templars were established bad guys in every game but the first. Bringing back the nuances of the assassin vs templar conflict was Not the move when your assassins are native and black and templars are all white.

And worst of all, when you look into what the fandom was/is saying, it’s wall to wall bad faith opinions and straight up racism towards Ratonhnhaké:ton, along with how much Haytham is ADORED by the vocal majority, to the point most people wanted the game to be about him instead. People talked about and made more content about Haytham more than Ratonhnhaké:ton, calling him the real good guy, even though he was a backstabbing colonizer. And since this is a game that was supposed to be about a native man getting backstabbed by colonizers, I really fucking hated seeing it. I hated how this game that made me excited to see representation turned into everyone ignoring that immediately and focusing on the main white guy.

not to mention the Forsaken novel, when that came out, it wasn’t even about Ratonhnhaké:ton despite him being on the cover. Just more Haytham crap again but written much shittier. Then ac rogue came out, just more excuses to keep cranking out “templars are good actually” content to put Haytham into shit, even if it meant retconning so much of the og story. at this point ubi and the fanbase already favor him. Seriously, compare all the content and cameos Haytham got to Ratonhnhaké:ton. Ubi has no issue using Ratonhnhaké:ton for marketing but when it came to giving him the spotlight in his own story and dedicated time period they can’t even bother. He just became an accessory to Haytham to make us feel bad about him.

Like I don’t hate Haytham for no reason. In fact I enjoy his role in the original narrative because there’s a lot to discuss and analyze with him. but I played ac3 because I wanted to play a native story. but it was sabotaged to make room for a character that had no business getting that attention. It showed me the realities of “representation” done by corporations and how it will never be authentic or in the best interests of who they’re representing. Because as soon as enough white people complain they will abandon it in a heartbeat. Haytham’s favoritism in both the fandom and by Ubisoft is racism, plain and simple. And many of you need to come to terms with that.

[catboyshun]

as long as i can stay with you

[starswallowingsea]

18Trip Characters as Sweaters I Found on Ravelry

Renga - Cloudberry Sweater (Sisu Knitwear)

Kafka - Weekend Glow sweater (Julia Piro)

Ten - Juntu Light Sweater (Tiina Huhtaniemi)

Yukikaze - 235-39 Christmas Time Sweater (DROPS design)

Liguang - Loddon Sweater (The Knit Purl Girl)

Akuta - Sweater med stjerner (Ninette Hartwich)

Kiroku - Johanne Loop Sweater (Other Loops_)

Nanaki - Petals Sweater (Ravijennaknits)

Muneuji - Keep it warm sweater (Yeon Hwa Lee)

Ushio - Sunday Love Sweater (Veera Välimäki)

Raito - Winter Doodle Sweater (Jamie Lomax)

Kinari - Champagne Cardigan (PetiteKnit)

Chihiro - The Diana Sweater (Adult) (Melanie Rountree)

Tao - Sweater of Swords (Dear Ingenue)

Kuguri - Dreamweft Sweater (Zanete Knits)

Nagi - Mabon Sweater (Elenor Mortensen)

Toi - Margrethe Sweater (Camilla Grady)

Ryui - The Traveler (Andrea Mowry)

Yodaka - Nukunuku sweater (Noriko Ichikawa)

Netaro - Granny Pop V-Neck Sweater (MJ's Off The Hook Designs)

[fvedyetor]

ok my fanfic pet peeve? i can handle some ooc. i can handle some mischaracterization. i can handle a lot of stuff trust me

i cannot handle when dazai pregnancy fics have the kid be FOUR YEARS OLD when there should be at most 9 months at least 6-7 he spends pregnant during mafia defection so the baby should be 3 years old in present time AND THEN ALSO WHEN THAT 3 YO STARTS TALKING LIKE AN ADULT MAKING FULL SENTENCES AND ARTICULATING THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS FOR PLOTS SAKE

THAT BABY WOULD NOT SAY ALL THAT

THAT IS A BABY. A TODDLER.

THIS IS WORSE THAN WHEN U CAN TELL SOMEONE DOESNT HAVE SIBLINGS THE WAY THEY WRITE SIBLINGS. SOME OF YALL HAVE NEVER INTERACTED WITH A 3YO. MY COUSIN CRIED WHEN THE CONCRETE WAS TOO HOT ON HIS FEET WHEN HE WAS 3/4 YEARS OLD AINT NOOOOO WAYY THESE FANFIC TODDLERS CAN ARTICULATE ALL THAT

ARGHAGRHGHAGHRGHA

I DONT CARE IF THAT BABYS FEELINGS ARE IMPORTANT FOR DAZAI OR CHUUYA OR PLOT DEVELOPMENT OR ANYTHING I DONT CAREEEE STOP MAKING 3YOS TALK LIKE THEYRE A DECADE OLDER THAN THEY REALLY ARE

i love me them dadzai fics and there are some out there that have kids act like their age and its so so so good omfggg and i normally dgaf abt stuff but this just kills me every time and i dont know why

anyways dazai's 3yo baby and sigma playdate when