#Which would be awesome in terms of them learning to read Better as well AND in terms of the cool lil illusion shows

[tracle0]

I want to talk about magic systems in The Spiders Song (and it’s sequel) and explain ideas I have that may or may not make it into the actual book.

Let’s start with sigils.

Sigils are the common name given to magic in written form. They are a manifestation of the Squids magic, and it’s servants are able to tap into its abilities to write their own sigils. It is, however, a lot more complicated than that.

See, the Squid is the god of writing. That’s pretty much it. It’s magic is manifesting other magic in written form, for communicating ideas to later generations or giving you an experience or warning strangers of something. Inflicting an ill will on them. Whatever! Sigils are versatile as a result. They can communicate a wide range of things, channel a wide range of magics. Every single strand of these magics has a source, and not a single one of those sources is the Squid itself.

Basically, sigils have their own language you need to learn in order to channel magic correctly. The language is not random; it could be called the gods tongue, if gods had their own physical form and spoke. You make a sigil by writing down the god in question who’s magic you want to channel, and then twitching and tweaking it to fit the specifications best.

Mmmm say you wanted a sigil for encouraging strawberry growth in your garden. Why wouldn’t you? Strawberries are delicious. To do this, you’d want to channel the Deer - god of nature - and then tweak the name, so rather than the full force of nature coming down on your little garden, you have the magic target strawberries specifically. How this is done is a matter of opinion. Maybe you’d have it target red plants, and accept blooming roses into your life as well. Maybe you’d target the shape of the leaves, the abundance of seeds, the creeping vines… whatever. More complicated sigils may target multiple factors, to narrow it down to a strawberry.

So Deer + specification of a strawberry - and hey, you’re good to go!

Well - provided the Deer doesn’t notice.

Gods have servants, see. People who, from birth, gods sponsor and give them use of their magic. So they do share magic… but only with certain people. Servants to the Squid are at risk of a god noticing their magic going somewhere they don’t intend it to go, and unleashing their wrath on the unlucky bugger who caught their eye. In this example, the servant would very likely be fine - the Deer has a lot of servants, and so doesn’t notice when a stray hand may be pulling magic in another direction. But there’s always that risk, and more private or attentive gods would likely notice if their magic is drifting in places it doesn’t like.

You may be wondering why anyone wants to be any other servant if a servant to the Squid can just use any magic. Beyond the two stated reasons why - servants being chosen from birth with no input from them, and the risk they run using their magic - there’s also the factor of weaker magic being channeled through sigils. It’s not as pure, not as perfect, not as direct as a servant using magic. Like.

God —> servant is how it works for a typical servant. Direct flow of magic.

God —> Squid/sigil —> servant is how it’d work for sigils. Less direct, interference in the middle. The magic is still, yknow, magic… just a bit more patchy.

So sure, you get a wider range of magic, but there’s a constant risk to using it, plus the less direct results, plus limitations by what you can write and tweak… mmm

What else. Mmm. The study. You have to know a gods name to be able to use its magic, and it is a very exact science. You have to write it exactly, no room for unique handwriting or whatever - and that’s not even mentioning the fact that a lot of gods names aren’t even known! Or that you’ll want the tweak the sigil to your desired effect! You have to get the exact shapes and depth and size of the sigil perfectly exact, and figure out what can be tweaked in order to make your sigil work how you want. It’s laborious work compared to servants who look as if they just “poof!” And make a thing happen.

(they do not just “poof!” And make a thing happen, all servants have to study various things to various degrees, but servants to the Squid often have a poorer deal).

I do think it’s worth mentioning that you can have multiple gods in one sigil. Moth (warmth) plus Axolotl (biology) could give your body a boost of warmth in a cold environment, or something similar to that.

A lot of servants to the Squid often have tattoos of useful and frequently used sigils. This does require the sigil being made for repeated uses - some are one-use only.

Oh, obviously you also have to write out the sigil you want to use. You can do it Luz-style, where you pre-write a bunch and activate them later, or you can do them on the fly.

Any servant to the Squid can activate any sigil, unless specified otherwise in the sigil. They can also specify that non-magical folk, or non-Squid servants can activate or deactivate a sigil. A common example of this is locking sigils, to keep doors locked - a cheap one may just lock a place, and the more advanced ones specify that X and Y can unlock it, and only those two people.

I think that’s all I’ve got for you today. Peace

[gay-dorito-dust]

A very, very long overdue Part 2 of this fic

This chapter is primary within Ken’s perspective so don’t expect much plot development.

Taglist: @jokersgrf @momos-peaches @redbatty-koolaidman

It took a lot out of Ken to come to terms that his plastic heart had been singing a different name, the name of his best friend, whilst he was in complete disregard of it’s beautiful symphony and heartfelt lyrics of how stuck on you he secretly was; to the point where even as he was with stereotypical Barbie, the supposed girl of his dreams, his heart would sing just that little bit louder so that it would be significantly hard for him to hear her sweet words over the sound of the birdsong of his secretly yearning heart.

Ken had been conditioned into believing that Barbie is who he was made for, and that if he felt anything for anyone else other then her was considered a defect. Yet now with his head finally clear of the fog, the blonde beach boy was left with a singular question that had kept him from ever daring to push the boundaries of your relationship;

Did you like, like him like that? Or is your relationship strictly platonic and will never be borderline anything else?

After all Ken didn’t want his failed attempts with Barbie to be repeated with you because being rejected by Barbie was something he was more then willing to accept, but to be rejected by you? The one person who has always been there by his side, recognising him as a person and not an accessory, always inviting him over to stay at your house, encouraging him with your warm words that comforted him on those dark days where he didn’t think he was Kenough; That was something else entirely that he doesn’t think his plastic heart could handle. To not have you be in his life was blasphemous and he wasn’t willing to be the reason you left, especially not after having been glued to your side for as long as he could remember, that you’ve became a pivotal part of him that he doesn’t know what he’d do without.

You were his heart, his spirit and there was no one in BarbieLand who knew him better then you did. Which is why he was so hesitant to cross that line of friend to boyfriend, despite how sweet sounding and tempting being your boyfriend would be, because if you ever catch on that he was up to something, what was Ken meant to say in response? That he finally realised that the person he wanted this whole time was standing right in front of him? That you’ve been tormenting his mind ever since he decided to listen to his heart -which was you by the way- just incase he failed to mention it.

What. Was. Ken. Meant. To. Do.

If only you were here to help guide his mind, to guide him down the path he should take but he knew that you’d tell him that he’s the maker of his own sorry and shouldn’t have to wait for someone to tell him what to do, and how he should trust himself more in decision making because despite how well you could read him, he was the only one with the power to make those big decisions in life, he’s the one who should willingly take the plunge rather then wait for someone to push him off the ledge because life is all about making mistakes and learning from them whilst also being willing to take the first step into big ventures.

Gosh you were so smart, brilliant, amazing, talented, awesome and just overall so…you. Ken could just hope that he was Kenough for you…and he hopes that what he had in mind would defiantly win you over.

[rttnpnkpmpkn]

💗🌷🌼 ✨This is the you are amazing award. Send it to ten bloggers you think are wonderful or just take a moment to bask in your own awesomeness! ✨ 🌼🌷💗

Aww thank you! Sorry that this ask took so long, mostly because I had to really sit down and meditate on how I want to answer this, especially when it comes to naming the wonderful people who helped made my online experience worth staying for ^^ I can't really pinpoint just a few people because it's pretty unfair to the others who come and go my way and had a part in my character development lolol.

I want to thank my online friends who we've made it through thick and thin whenever something catches on fire. (Y'all know who you are 💖). I had serious anxiety and trust issues, and I still continue working on it but my friends helped provide the breakthrough I needed to get to where I am today. They're my pillar whether they realized it or not and I hope I don't do them much disservice in the future *sweat*. Thank you for all the laughs and everything you do! I know my interactions come off as lukewarm (I'm very introverted, so my battery is busted as hell) compared to how you chat with others, but it's been an enjoyable experience from my POV regardless. Y'all get a huge boop from me!

I'm also sorry that it didn't work out with those in which we left on unamicable terms, they do also have a part in building more to my worldview and life lessons learned after all this. Life is short to hold grudges and stress, so I will wish that they too meet their peace along the way, even in separate rooms. I also have my moments where my handling and problem-solving skills need work, and I can only move forward and improve on the next with my communication skills. I really can't blame others for having a negative view on me because I know I could've handled things better. The answer just had to come later after that point 😓. Take care and may time be kinder to y'all.

I very much want to thank you and every random peep who took their time to comment and like my works! I cannot reply tp all of them because sometimes my energy be too drained to catch up with them all but it really makes me smile reading them! I'm taking notes from y'all~ xD

There are a whole lot of reasons but I'm making stuff to have something to look forward to. So many disappointments in life and circumstances beyond control, I was thinking," it doesn't matter if it's gonna be lost to time, if nobody is making this SHIZZ happen NOW, I'll do it myself!! (though that's too overconfident of myself since I lack the skills to do it justice lol) ." So even if it's been a waste of time in hindsight, it won't feel that way *during* it lol. I didn't realize then it would have resonate and be enjoyed by fellows on the same boat. Even if the campfire is small, the quality of company is better than the quantity. Though the only benefits to offer are inside jokes if you've been there heheh...

TLDR: It's been quite a journey to get to where I am. I have many people to thank for helping me learn, and thanks for being what I want to see in a community. Be well and have a nice one! 🥰🙏

[malbecmusings]

Hinchinbrook Island

July 28, 2023 - Even though our flying time to Cordova was only supposed to take about four hours, we started early to allow time to buzz a couple of the more than a dozen glaciers along our route and possibly land if we found a safe (and legal) place. We decided to provision last night while we had access to a bigger, better store. That chore done, we still needed to refuel in Cordova before flying to Hinchinbrook, ideally arriving before the incoming tide swallowed our 'runway'.

Vast. A word I often read in descriptions of Alaska. Get high enough and the land seems to stretch out forever before you. I now understand what they mean. Leaving Juneau we flew direct to the coast then northwest with the northern reach of the Rocky Mountains, here the Chugach Mountain range, off to starboard and the Gulf of Alaska to port. In another plane with pressurization (and a second engine) we could have flown over the mountains, but we'd have been flying much higher and with less awesome scenery to enjoy.

The braided Copper River spills into the Gulf of Alaska via a broad delta a few miles from our first stop of the day. Thirty miles upriver we flew over the impressive Childs Glacier which lies barely 1,000 feet from the riverbank opposite the glacier. Large chunks of ice calving off the glacier have been known to send mini tsunamis to the opposite shore, which sends a wall of water and the famous Copper River salmon well inland. A couple of miles upriver is the Million Dollar Bridge, so named for its construction cost when it was built in 1910 by JP Morgan and Daniel Guggenheim. It's one of 129 bridges and 200 miles of track the Copper River and Northwestern Railway built to haul $200 million in copper ore from the now-defunct Kennicott Mine to the port at Cordova. That one was hard to mark off the itinerary but time and logistics didn't allow us to visit on this trip. Next time, maybe.

After a quick stop in Cordova, we headed toward what would be our home for the night. Hinchinbrook and Montague Islands guard the entrance to and protect Prince William Sound. Even by Last Frontier standards these are remote locations. Given how quickly the weather can change, these can be challenging places to get into... and out of. The only residents of the islands are, primarily, deer and brown bears. We're told Montague, the island to the west and our destination tomorrow, is where Alaska Fish and Game and the US Forest Service relocates aggressive "problem" bears. The guide service that runs the "FBO" in Cordova, which is a fuel pump, warned us again to be very aware of the 'residents'. "They're nearly impossible to see in thick brush and they can plow through that brush like a bulldozer." Duly noted. A graduate student from the University of Alaska Fairbanks doing research on fish populations on the Copper River put it in even more stark terms.

"You know how most animals typically run from big noises?" We nodded in near unison. "These bears don't. They aren't afraid of noise. They aren't afraid of anything. The bears on the islands have developed a Pavlovian response to gunfire. They run *toward* the sound because they've learned gunfire = hunters = food. They're very, very territorial. They can smell the blood and will fight and eat whatever they find whether it's a down deer or another bear, or the hunting party themselves if given the chance."

Our accommodation on Hinchinbrook is a small, very (very) primitive Forest Service cabin, but one with spectacular views in every direction. These cabins on the islands are very popular with hunters who come in late summer and fall to hunt deer... and the bears. I'd much rather be visiting by dinghy and sleeping on Isa but there are challenges to that, too. A lack of a protected anchorage and deep, deep water but that's a problem for another trip. After getting everyone on the ground, pulling the planes well up above the high tide line, and securing them, we ferried what we'd need to the cabin and set up camp. Not ready to settle in, we hiked a couple hundred yards across a clearing and through a patch of woods, and a live wall of mosquitos, to the beach. Another moment of realizing how vast this place is was staring across a 40 mile wide expanse of deep, cold water toward the mainland. We walked a few miles along the beach to a point where we got a good view of Montague Island before turning back. The only bear signs we saw were a couple of old looking prints in the gravel near where we turned around. We made another gourmet freeze dried dinner and played cards before fitting ourselves into jigsaw like sleeping positions inside the cabin.

Tomorrow morning we need to be up, fed, and packed up for an early launch to avoid the first high tide, or wait on the ground until late afternoon.

[lightdancer1]

I will also note re: Tara and her darker side:

First, we do have Amber Benson herself writing a Tara who'd fit comfortably in a Warhammer Fantasy fluff. The sorceress who reads the wrong book, gets corrupted and possessed by those words, and is casually using her world's Willow as a power battery...while being about as hammy as the Wicked Witch of the West. I do love Benson's voice performance in that, and I enjoy using that version not least because given Amber Benson's protectiveness of said character that she wrote the first new media with her featuring an actually legitimately evil version says something.

Second, if we go with the idea that Tara's power draws from the Earth, there are two relevant points here. Assuming Gaia has connections to Greek myth when Osiris is both real and punked by Willow in one of her darker and more awesome moments equally, this is the Gaia who casually spat out monsters to kill the Gods because she was a murderous wrathful entity. Gaia is anything but a kindly maternal figure, she's more Kali-Durga. Second, at a purely scientific level tsunamis, volcanism, landslides, and the like are all things the Earth does.

Like any other kind of magic it has its more destructive sides and tapping into this is not technically Dark Magic, but it is the shadow-side of Earth magic, and it is one area where Tara is and will always be the 'always someone better' to Willow because Willow is a generalist who can do everything somewhat well, and Tara a very specialized focus in one set of magic in the long term. A lot of fanfics make her equal in power and the canon is very blunt that she is not. Not being equal to the most powerful sorcerer on Earth, or according to the comics, the entire universe of the Buffyverse Earth, does not mean that she is weak.

It only means that she comes short next to the magical equivalent of Silver Age Superman and there are huge gulfs in that. Still further, even when there are mitigating reasons Tara in canon sabotaged demon-location spells in the middle of the search for Adam and almost killed the entire Scooby gang in that one day when all her collective traumas bricked her in the face.

The canon character is by no means an infallible moral figure, and that I think is one of the few areas where the broad sketches of the Season 6 arc still work, Tara made smaller-scale mistakes and more importantly learned from them and learned how not to do it again. Willow makes much grander ones in pursuit of control over her life and a power trip from no longer being the side-kick and coming into vast amounts of power without real means to control it. Dark Lord Rosenberg vs. the traumatized cult survivor who more than most would see Mall Goth Sauron exactly for what she is and take the logical protective root of scooting and doing so too fast to warn the Scoobies of the time bomb in their midst.

Things with her and Willow work better when she is not, in fact, always right and when her behavior which on the whole is the best relationship in anything Whedon wrote (and when I continue this is still true and it tells you about all the others he's written) is one of largely picking fights and dealing with insecurities poorly and in a very human fashion until Dark Willow more than justifies the things she did more retroactively than at the time....is subject to the reminder that she is both abuse survivor, cult victim, internalized her view of herself as a demon and is not in fact always right on major things as she never quite accepted that she wasn't one.

She is not always right, her advice to Willow being a train wreck works better because it's well-meaning, from the POV of someone who sees a problem happening, does what little she can to stop it and when it fails secures herself rather than being forced to always think of others. Equally her growth arc and that of Willow very much complement each other. The neglect victim and the cult victim find their own self-worth and that in each other, and each brings out both the other's good traits and at particular times and in particular ways, their bad ones.

Tara's background is also, as things like the Quiverfull movement and other modern cults show something that can work just as well in a non-supernatural AU. After all that she is NOT a demon is precisely the point, and 'simplifying' things to 'mere' physical and emotional abuse also neglects that cult survivors and the intersections of religions and in particular Christianity in its Protestant (more than Catholic, the Maclays really read like the boondocks of Roll Tide country rather than Catholic) sense with misogyny work in a purely 'normal' world. People raised in insular cults encountering the wider world and escaping them does happen.

Some of them are gay.

That and I also tend to oppose pedestals even or perhaps especially with fictional characters where there are minimal real-world consequences. Allowing people to be truly human, flawed, and the world to be better for the flaws is better than a saintly figure who can do no wrong.

Because what, after all, shows best the growth of an increasingly megalomaniacal and controlling mentality that leads someone to flee for a good reason than someone most equipped of anyone to recognize it for what it is and to refuse to put herself back in the world she fought so hard to escape from? And that in turn spawning out of whether or not it's a metaphor for queerness or heroin that Buffyverse magic is reality-warping with spellbooks and that the power to say to stones 'become bread' and then you have freshly baked loafs of the finest quality is something that would, invariably turn people down dark and destructive paths because there are few people who would be granted such power suddenly and handle it well.

So, ultimately, I think that Tara works best less as an unrealistic saintly good plot device and more as an abuse survivor and cult victim whose greatest arc is both learning to stand up for herself and grow into who she is and what she is, and that it is those same jagged flaws and blind spots that stand her so well with the equally jaggedly flawed and blind in critical places Willow, because their flaws both coarsen and complement each other in equal measure. They are never better than with each other, and there is nothing but the two of them to potentially bring out the very worst traits that can and would lead Tara to almost kill off her family of choice in a blunder that to that point was more potentially lethal than anything Willow did in her entirety of bungled reality warping 'fix my life and oh shit I fucked up other people's stuff bad me, cookie time' stuff up to that point in each other as well. And of course Willow's most destructive acts were all out of the fear of doing the very thing they brought on and motivated by her loss and the suicidal grief she was plunged into from it.

And let's not forget, if we say they're soulmates, that the other soulmate duo in this universe is Buffy and Angel. Is that *really* a recommendation that soulmates and one true loves work well for either person involved here?

[speedierthanasubmarine]

My list of least favorite to favorite Batman actors:

Note: I’m a random person on the Internet, and my opinion should not affect you to the point of rudeness, harsh comments, or any sort of discourse whatsoever. I never say DNI, because you can interact with whoever you want, I’m not your mom, but if you want to start an argument…

DNI.

Also, I am an idiot and I’m aware of that, please don’t judge me.

Lastly, I’m excluding Kevin Conroy from the list because all his works vary, I either love his voice or I hate his voice, there is no in between. (Note: this was in my drafts for a very long while, during which Mr. Conroy had passed away. RIP Mr. Conroy.)

Without further ado: My Batman actor list:

9. Adam West- I personally didn’t enjoy his Batman… the whole vibe was too old and silly looking for me, but if I’d been alive at the time it came out I think I would’ve enjoyed it. It’s like the way my little siblings feel about the original yugioh series.

8. Battinson (Robert Pattinson)- I have a whole speech for this but I’ll try to be brief. Batman is the second smartest character in the DC universe (after Lex Luthor, a fact I think is still up for debate.) and the second best in hand to hand combat (after Lady Shiva which is not up for debate, I totally get that.) He can toss a man across a room with one hand, aim a gun without looking and grapple across cities supporting himself and all his body weight and muscle mass with one arm. He can learn a person’s tells, weaknesses, and inner natures after a few moments of conversation. Guy is a freakin BEAST of a man. Battinson gave me Walmart edition Tim Drake Batman from battle of the cowl vibes. He was like the brown ninja from Lego ninjago. (I don’t know if that guy went on to become great or something, all I know is that when I stopped watching the show he was a liability at best.) He didn’t feel like batman, or at least any batman I knew and liked to see. I don’t know if they were going for like, detective comics batman, but even then I felt like he fell flat and did a poor job. That’s my opinion and that’s that.

7/6/5. (Totally equal.) George Clooney, Val Kilmer, and Michael Keaton- Movies were fine, they weren’t anything special for me in terms of acting, no issues, no highlights.

4. Batfleck (Ben Affleck)- LISTEN I know his movies sucked, I’m not defending those, however he did a great job of playing the white knight, future state, urban legends, Injustice, Heroes in crisis, Doomsday clock, basically any elseworld Batman I ever read and liked- he pulled off the vibes. The paranoia, the desperation, the determination- he did those very well. He was the best BRUCE WAYNE. His Batman performance was eh, nothing special, weird suit, but his Bruce performance? Phenomenal. Especially when he had to be Bruce, party boy Brucie, shaking hands, “I bought the bank” Bruce, and then when he was “even a 1% chance” contingency, decoding files, nightmare having Bruce, and when he was working out, investigating, preparing Bruce. He did them all justice (pun intended.) better than pretty much everyone else. (UPDATE) I just remembered this list is for Batman actors, not Bruce, so I’d put him at 7, maybe 6. I’d change the list, but I’m lazy. (I also wrote the word Bruce so many times the word has lost all meaning.)

3. Jason O’mara- I thought he was great. I loved his voice, it was basically perfect. 10/10 Nothing more, nothing less.

2. Christian Bale- Absolutely amazing. Amazing Batman, fantastic Bruce, really cool detective, awesome everything. Only thing I’d change, and this is super petty, is just that in terms of aesthetics I’d want him to be thicker, I thought he was very lean, and the suit would just be upgraded to like 2022 quality, little more updated/sleek, yknow? But that’s not even a real critique, just a thought. I loved him, absolutely phenomenal.

And finally.

The moment we’ve all been waiting for.

The GOAT.

NUMERO UNO: MR. WILL ARNETT.

ALL OTHER BATMAN ADAPTATIONS ARE DOWNRIGHT MID WHEN COMPARED TO THIS GOD

Thanks for reading.

[187days]

Day Forty-Eight

First quarter is over! Woohoo!

I was really busy during flex block because I was helping students who were revising papers, retaking tests, etc... And I was simultaneously overseeing the first meeting of the school’s new debate club (some of my seniors asked me to be the advisor, I said sure). Really, it was just a planning session, so I was able to work with other students while it was going on; the ten or so kids who were really interested in starting the club gathered to figure out how they wanted to run the meetings, topics they wanted to debate, how to advertise to get more members. I checked in every few minutes, made some suggestions, set up a space in Classroom for them. It’s very cool.

I was also really busy during my prep time because I was grading aforementioned retakes and revisions, fielding questions from parents, putting report card comments in PowerSchool, all the usual things. I managed to get it all done, though, so I didn’t have to stay late on a Friday. Go me. 

The end of the quarter is most exciting for the freshmen, who are now halfway through their first high school classes, and, I’m happy to report, doing quite well. I had them reflect on their experience in World thus so far, and a lot of them wrote that they were happy with their progress, or feeling like they’ve gotten better at particular skills, that kind of thing. So that’s awesome. 

After they wrote those reflections, they did a quick peer review of another student’s religion/philosophy essay (I made copies without names, put them in Classroom, had everyone choose one; they had to tell me what they learned from it, and what they thought the author did well and/or could improve). And after that we started a new unit! I gave a basic overview of what they could expect in the coming weeks, explained how and when they would be assessed, and gave vocabulary notes in my usual, old school style. I got a little bit behind in my Block 2 class, so I was going to save the last third of the notes for Monday so as not to cut into silent reading time, but the students took a vote (fitting, as the new unit is about government and history, and one of the terms is democracy) and decided they wanted to finish today. So that’s what we did. In Block 3, my timing was spot on, so it wasn’t even an issue. It’s always easier the second go-around, and I’ve said in past entries that the students in that section tend to complete their work more quickly.

My GOV students spent their class time working on Major Case Projects, which are looking really good. I think most groups have finished gathering the requisite information, so on Monday they’ll polish their presentations and actually practice speaking. I could’ve imposed a tighter deadline, had the projects due Monday instead, but I want them to have that practice time. Even for seniors, sometimes, public speaking is hard. Heck, even for me it can be hard! Preparation is the key. 

Oh, and there was this convo with one of the captains of the football team:

Student A: You guys have a play-off game on Saturday? FB Captain: Yup. And we’re gonna win. Me: Against who? FB Captain: It’s against <Opposing Team Name> Me: Oh, kid, I’m really sorry, but you’re gonna get crushed. FB Captain: Come on, Miss M, don’t say that!  Me: They crush us in every sport. Didn’t they crush you guys last season? FB Captain: ... Okay, yes. It was 45-0. But it’s a new season! Student A: Yeah, Miss M, it’s a new season! FB Captain: Gotta keep the faith. Winning mentality. Me: Alright, alright. I’ll keep the faith. Go do it. FB Captain: That’s right. We’ll revisit this Monday, Miss M.

I absolutely love the optimism and the fire. And we will, indeed, revisit this Monday!

[emmym1]

My thoughts on... Avengers Academy 2010 (#14-20) "Fear Itself"

So i'm finally continuing this series! I was super excited to get back to it and it did not dissapoint whatsoever. Fear itself is defintely my favorite arc of this series so far! It was really refreshing to see a different perspective on everything in #14.1. It was super interesting to learn how the other kids who got abused by osborn turned out, and how the students were being shown that their lives can be about more than just superheroes and villains. The way it also sets up Veil ultimately leaving the academy to decide to live the life Briggs had shown her she could have was also really good. I will say the reveal that Briggs is a villain was a bit rushed but he's still a really terrifying villain given his powerset. #15 & #16 were the absolute standout issues for me in this arc. Tigra and Veil get so much development in these issues. the way Tigra relives her trauma on the battlefield and starts to fear that she's giving these kids their own trauma's which would irrevocably change them was super well executed. Especially because you see it happen in real time with all of them. And the absolute face of despair Tigra has upon realizing what's happening is just so heartbreaking. You really feel for her, especially because she herself has gone through so much. Tigra is defintely a big standout character for me in this run. It was also absolutely heartbreaking to see Veil try and save the little girl and her mom. It's a rollercoaster of emotions as you see how Veil realizes that maybe after she can be a hero after saving that kid. And then she does her best to save the mom too which all goes really smoothly. Only for it to all go away when the mom gets shot as she escapes the rubble. It's such a painful moment as you really see how it changes Veil. An incredibly shocking moment when I read it. All of the students fighting off absorbing man and titania in the infinite avengers mansion while being completely cut off from the world or any backup was such an incredibly cool sequence. It was quite interesting as for the longest of times they've been wanting to do superhero stuff on their own without the teachers interferring but now they get forced into that position and it's absolutely terrifying for them. It was really awesome to see them come together as an actual team without complaining about each other. To me it felt the most connected the team ever was. They were determined to get out of there and it was super intriguing to see them come up with a plan to escape the mansion and how it forced them into a position to make impossible decisions and how it affected them. Seeing Hazmat and Mettle decide to stay behind and sacrifice themselves because they know their lives won't ever get better based on what they've seen of their future selves was super gutwrenching. It was really bittersweet to see them comfort each other in what they thought were their final moments before dying (until Giant-Man and the others saved them). The ending of this arc was also something I really loved and something that felt natural. The academy needs something fresh and new, and the idea of it relocating to the west coast avengers base and expanding to teach all young heroes who want it is such a good idea. Allows for so much more opportunities in terms of storytelling as well. Not to mention the academy really needed a breath of fresh air so it didn't become stale. A seemingly new faculity is also really exciting. Speedball and Justice leaving makes sense especially with the reasoning they had and I think it allows for some other interesting heroes to join the faculity and explore their endeavors and failures as heroes. It does feel a bit like a soft reboot of this series but one that makes a lot of sense and has super exciting prospects. So yeah this was a super good arc with tons of memorable and gutwrenching moments. A lot of intriguing stuff and a super interesting setup for what's to come. I'm super excited to see what this new academy will bring alongside the new heroes residing in it!

[mlmxreader]

Hiya!

Sorry I haven't been around much. Life's not been too bad. School has been a bit busy. Feeling stressed but at the same time super excited because it's just that much closer to my goal of getting into the profession I want and I just wanna get to the helping people part. Made a new friend, which is nice, feels a little less daunting when you have someone who's also going through the same stuff.

But the main reason I dropped by is because I saw that you weren't feeling all to well and I wanted to let you know that I'm thinking about you and hoping things get better. It's a shit thing when you aren't feeling great but the isolation can sometimes be worse. I hope you feel better, my friend. Sending you all the love and light 🖤🖤!!

And NEVER feel the need to apologize for not being able to write requests. You, like the people sending the requests, are a person with your own life, feelings, struggles, etc. And I hope the people sending you asks in requests can understand that and exercise some compassion. (Remember, I am your friend and I would die for you in a heartbeat. If someone says shit, they can eat shit. [As in, I'll fight 'em if you need me to.])

On a lighter note THE BABIES!!! AH!! Seeing pictures of them show up on my feed always puts a smile on my face. So bloody cute they are. Also, super psyched for you and your new tattoo. I'm sure it's gonna look awesome👌🏽!

Alright, gotta go. I'll try to drop in more often just to say hi and catch up and stuff but even if there's silence from me for a bit, just know that I genuinely care for you, dude. Seriously, you are not only my treasured writer but someone I consider a friend. I found your blog and stories when I was feeling super out of sorts and reading your works on Alfie really helped me feel less lonely. Even more so when I started talking to you through asks where we could go feral over the man together and it was so 🥰 because honestly, I haven't felt like that with many people, to the point that I thought I never would. I really do hope you feel better, that you find small moments of respite in your day that put a smile on your face or even just make you feel a little bit lighter. But I know that's not always possible and that's okay too. You're allowed to feel what you feel and how you feel 🖤. Always sending you all the love, my dear friend, stay safe and I'll talk to you soon.

🖤🖤🖤

🐍anon

hi!!!!!! good evening!!!!! as always, I hope your uni is going well and it's not been too mentally taxing - but please ensure you're taking frequent breaks when you're studying and working!!!

its absolutely okay!!! I can wait lmao but I'm glad things aren't too bad. i get that! it was the same for me in college tbh, 4 years of it, you learn to eventually adjust to the chaos and hectic nature of things in your own way - so don't worry too much, you'll eventually settle! I'm so glad to hear you made a new friend!!! that's awesome!!! and it can absolutely help to have one or two people who you can really talk to about it tbh - I'm still friends w a few of the girls I met in college, and we talk regularly!

yeah, I'll be honest, it's mostly fandoms that are, like, larger tbh; like, Call Of Duty, Band Of Brothers, rdr2, etc. and it kinda sucks and it's kinda why I try and distance myself from those fandoms as much as I can (mutuals & friends being the exception, ofc), bc I just... like idk, it is really isolating, but it also brings out the festering things like self doubt - bc I see people interacting w other writers in the same places and I'm a bit like "oh. I'm not good enough, then.", which tbh, is bullshit. ofc I'm good enough. I'm a good writer lmfao but, yk, it's not good to feel like that, so then I start feeling less motivated and less inspired to actually write for those fandoms in terms of requests bc I'm a bit like "well, I'm not gonna get so much as a "it was great, thanks!", so why bother?", yk? it makes me feel... not CHEAP, but like... something very similar tbh. it's not a good feeling, either way, and I'd rather NOT engage w it and would rather focus my efforts elsewhere - like on fics I've currently got on the go, like Once We Were Close & Where You Belong (Next To Me), as well as requests that I actually DO feel motivated and inspired to write - even if it's just 100 words instead of 1000.

and thank you; sometimes I feel a little bit pressured to take requests that I don't want to bc either I don't feel motivated or bc I feel like it's a demand as opposed to a... request. but that's always come from other people, never you. it's hard, but yk, I'll get over it lmfao I always do. (and yes, 100% we're friends. I'd die for you, as I've said to others many, many, many times, admittedly dbvlykvkskg I would lay down my life and protect you at all costs 🫶🏻)

THE BABIES!!!!!! my 5 boys and my 1 girl which technically does mean I'm a #girldad lmao (nobody tell Gallipoli she's a python, she's my little girl, she's my baby!). Hanzo is the only actual baby I've got left tho, bc he's >1 month old 😭 the rest are all grown up :( even though I could've sworn it was yesterday that Red Baron could fit into the palm of my hand and still have room, I could've sworn just yesterday he was DEFINITELY NOT 118.8cm and 1400g. he just... got so big all of a sudden??? like, Spotify play Sunrise, Sunset from Fiddler On the Roof bc I'm GOING THROUGH IT.

but anyway, yeah, little baby Hanzo:

takes after his daddy bc he's got a fiery (pun intended) temperament like I do 🥺🥰 plus: bc I already HAVE a scorpion tattoo, I don't ever need to get one for him lmao (although I do toy w the idea of getting one of Hanzo Hasashi from MK when I'm financially stable...)

please, feel free to pop by whenever you want - if this were a house, you'd have the fucking key by now 💀 just let yourself in whenever, my dude, you're more than welcome! but thank you, I'm honoured and incredibly grateful 🫶🏻

I'm glad that my fics have made you feel less lonely, especially in a time and society like today's where loneliness seems to only grow - I'm glad it made a difference 🫶🏻

DJGKDK YES!!! I'M ALWAYS DOWN TO GO FERAL!!!! ALWAYS!!!!! but I'm so glad you found safety here, really 🫶🏻🫶🏻 I love you. we may not share blood, but that matters very little.

and thank you 🫶🏻🫶🏻 it means a lot 🫶🏻

sending the love right back at you more than reciprocated, my beloved friend!!! we'll talk soon 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

[legalupanishad]

Legal Blogs Importance for law firms in India?

This article on 'Legal blogs Importance for law firms in India?' was written by an intern at Legal Upanishad.

Introduction

There are many bloggers which provide authentic and valuable information related to their subject interest. Writing a blog is the common and easiest way to express thoughts, ideas, and experiences. By which people get knowledge and information for their interest field. Nowadays people, specialists, and academicians share knowledge through blogs. It can be quite easy once you are familiar with the fundamentals of SEO and have a writing routine that you follow. In this article, we are going to know the importance of legal blogs and how law firms get the benefit of legal writing. There is a high career opportunity in the field of blog writing.

What is Legal blogging?

Writing informative blog posts about your legal news and concepts is termed legal blogging. It might include opinions, breaking news, and expert counsel relevant to your field of expertise. Yet, the main purpose of legal blogs is to inform readers and respond to their essential queries before they see an attorney.

Why are legal blogs important to law firms?

Being an authority in your field is one thing; effectively communicating that expertise to your target audience is quite another. Failure to write to their audience is one problem that lawyers encounter when blogging. Avoid employing legal jargon that plain readers would find difficult to understand when writing to non-lawyers. Cite sources without breaking the flow of your work. You, the attorney, are able to: - Inform others. - Discuss subjects that would interest your future clients. - Practicing writing outside of the legal sphere shows the world who you are as an attorney. - Assist prospective consumers in locating information. The most advantageous aspect of blogging is that it encourages customers to take one very crucial action: hire your law practice. Here are some further arguments in favor of including blogs in your law firm's marketing plan.

Why are legal blogs Important for law firms in India?

Benefits of legal blog

Get more attention from clients. One's chances of being found online increase as one creates more blog posts. A fantastic approach to establishing yourself online is blogging. Internet legal forums and blogs are becoming more popular these days, and both other attorneys and potential clients are paying close attention to them. These are excellent venues for showcasing your knowledge. Some consumers may be impressed by the mere fact that their advisor is a well-known figure online and an experienced blogger. By displaying his skills in the form of a blog, a lawyer can do so without going against the rules of professional conduct. They gain faith in the attorney and regard him as an authority in the industry when he writes in-depth blog entries that assist prospective clients or consumers in solving their problems. Instead of hiring a stranger, people are more likely to be interested in the lawyer blogger whom they currently follow online. It keeps one step ahead of other lawyers. An attorney never stops learning. He can always get better at writing and doing research, and blogging is one method to do it. According to Stephen King, if you want to be a great writer, read a lot before you start writing. Blogging not only enables you to build an audience and captivate them with your writing, but it also provides you with a compelling incentive to stay current on new developments and what the legal community is saying. In the interest of his blog, a person who regularly blogs about a certain area of law is extremely likely to closely follow all developments in that field of the law, which would have an impact on other facets of his practice and degree of expertise. Get more popularity How awesome is it when your name or content appears at the top of Google search results? A well-written, insightful article that people love reading or sharing with friends is very likely to appear at the top of google searches according to Google's algorithm, which aims to offer the most relevant results first for every search. This will generate a tonne of traffic for your content. Would you not appreciate it if potential clients looking for a lawyer in another nation saw your name at the top of a Google search? Opportunity The people who read your blog and keep up with your work online can introduce you to a lot of fresh prospects. Opportunities can come in the form of clients, brand-new projects, or requests to give talks at gatherings or organizations. These ancillary benefits will start to flow in your direction once your internet presence reaches a certain level. Book services Because a popular blogger has already developed a relationship with the audience, publishers frequently seek them to create books. The blogger's writing is well-received in the market, therefore the publisher doesn't need any other justification. Blogging is a first step towards the same because lawyers frequently write books and view writing a book published through a reputable publishing firm as an accomplishment.

Suggestions

Be sure that your tone reflects both your branding and your intended audience, regardless of whom you are marketing your blog to. The time you invest in writing for your blog won't be worthwhile if you aren't engaging your audience. To get started, all you need to know are a few basic SEO tips and strategies. When your legal blog grows and you use it more frequently as a marketing tool, you might want to spend money on marketing services that let you reach a wider audience.

Conclusion

A lawyer can use a blog as a great platform to educate potential clients on the complexities of the legal system and various legal topics. It's also a terrific location to discuss the most recent court cases in your area of expertise. A legal blog, when used wisely, can help your firm become known as a leader in the field, bring in clients, and even put you in touch with those who require your legal services. You may develop the habit of providing excellent material and progressively growing your readership each week by setting up a regular blog schedule. You could reach a completely new audience with the aid of your legal blog. A legal blog has numerous advantages, from creating new professional relationships to attracting new clients.

References

- Meranda M. Vieyra, How to Build a Legal Blog from the Ground Up, NLR 143, (2020). - Ipleader, 5 Top Benefits of Blogging, (2016), available at, https://blog.ipleaders.in/5-top-benefits-blogging-lawyers/. - Trevor Molag, How to Start a Legal Blog, (2022). - Victoria Blute, The Many Benefits Of Legal Blogging: Trust, Authority, SEO & Fun, (2016). Read the full article

[globaltalentexchange]

A R2I STORY: SADANAND SINGH

Mr. Sadanand Singh is currently working as a Principal Research Scientist. He had moved to San Francisco, USA to pursue his Ph.D., which is where he began his professional journey. 

He has an impressive professional journey, with over 10+ years of experience with deep learning, machine learning, numerical modeling, and scientific computing in production environments. He also has an excellent publication record with 600+ citations in high-profile journals like Nature Materials.

Our team was interested in getting to know him better, understanding his path, and getting feedback on his experience working with GTX.

Read on for a glimpse into Sadanand’s journey.

Could you give us a brief about yourself?

I am currently the principal scientist at Micron India, after making my move back to India from the U.S. with the help of GTX.

I had shifted to the U.S. for my Ph.D., after which I worked at several reputed companies as well as with a couple of start-ups. 

What made you choose the U.S. for pursuing higher education?

India is great for an undergrad degree, however, back in 2008, I felt the opportunities for higher studies were better in the west. I was seeking a high quality of education, which is why I moved. 

How was your experience in the U.S. during your time there?

When you are young, new experiences are definitely exciting- personally as well as professionally. There were other Indians that I connected with as well. 

One thing to mention was that the academic experience was both challenging as well as humbling for sure. 

While in the West, did you feel anything was lacking? What made you consider a move back to the homeland?

Though I felt relatively satisfied professionally, I felt something missing in the personal aspect. Once you grow up and mature, you realize the importance of family and it dawns on you on a daily basis just how much you miss them. I felt very lonely at times. The family structure in the U.S. is nuclear, which is very different from what we’re used to back home. It hits harder once festivals like Diwali come around- you think you can just go back to visit, but how often can you do that, after all? I also really missed the food back home.

An obstacle that I faced in the U.S. was the terrible medical/healthcare system. Everything seems hunky dory till you fall ill, after which you can easily lose a majority of your savings- the American dream comes crashing. 

How long did you plan for the move before actually taking the plunge?

We (my wife and I) had started contemplating the move back in 2019. Covid in 2020 gave us even more time to consider our priorities and think them through. I wasn’t sure about the opportunities available in India. Collectively, we were earning nearly half a million in the U.S. but I didn’t find such pay in India. Luckily, once GTX contacted me with an awesome role, the pace increased. After that, it just took 3-4 months. 

How did you tackle this salary gap? How did you come to terms with what was being offered here?

I talked to a lot of people who work in India and have built impressive careers. It made me realize the quality of life that was possible with even the minimum that I was being offered back home. The lifestyle this kind of salary can get you is great and impressive. I live a lot better than I did in the U.S.

For example- I was renting a 2 bedroom house there, and paying triple the rent that I would have to here. Now, I am living in a 5-bedroom villa, and I can afford to hire a driver as well. 

This kind of lifestyle is something I could not have even imagined in the West. 

Do you think a lot of the NRIs scare away because of the salary discrepancies? 

Definitely. I feel a lot of people, especially my generation, don’t realize the opportunities in India and the changes that have taken place. Just, for example, the UPI system is brilliant. India is booming – in fact, the U.S is still lacking in several aspects. 

Did you face any hindrances/obstacles during your move back?

No, I didn’t. I really appreciate Micron for making the move easy for me- they helped in every regard. Global Talent Exchange helped immensely as well and made the cross-country moving process way easier. 

What were you seeking out in the career opportunities in India? 

I did set firm boundaries and operated my search within that. I was not willing to take a probational shortcut. I was also not willing to take any steps back, and my professional career should not be compromised. I wanted to remain in the research field. While I was applying, all I could think of were the IITs. It was a rigorous process- luckily, GTX approached me. It made the entire journey efficient and manageable. 

Would you agree that a good opportunity requires some digging and patience? 

I 100% agree! A lot of the NRIs are unaware of what steps MNCs are taking to grow their business in India. It’s also important to mention that a large number of people are under the impression that India is a “back office”. That’s not the case anymore at all. It’s also difficult to find something that aligns with the competencies of the NRIs that have good work experience and have built a strong skill set. Back then, even I didn’t think it would be possible to get the kind of role I got in Micron. GTX helped massively.

How was your experience working with the GTX team throughout the entire process? 

From the time the team initially contacted me till the time I made my move back, they were very helpful. The recruiter helped me understand the title and walked me through the requirements and the company profile. Even though it was during Diwali (festival time), I noticed that there were efforts made to prevent any lapses from either end. After I was connected to Micron, I felt an instant “click”.

GTX made my life easier, I would say. They were very considerate about my schedule and time zone and planned the meetings at a time that was suitable for both. They enabled conversations and followed up regularly. I really appreciate your active involvement and efforts. 

Could you talk about some of the myths that you were holding on to back in the U.S. about what life would be like back in India? 

Definitely the lifestyle aspect- did not think such a luxurious life is possible. Also, I didn’t know India has the kind of opportunities that I now realize it does. I’ve got an impressive position back home. 

There’s also no dearth of anything that you may want- in fact, the choices are endless. For example: If you feel like eating a homely meal, India has a wide variety of “dhabas” (small food joints) but also has stunning 5-star hotels where you could dine in luxury. 

Also, I thought I wouldn’t be able to access nature walks and beaches as I did in the U.S. However, even in India, several people have gotten together to form backpacking groups, tour groups, etc. Everything is available, you just have to find it. 

If you could convey any message to the NRIs that might be looking to move back, what would you say? What developments would you tell them about?

The digital payment system is very impressive and India is headed toward building a cashless economy. The developments in Southern India are something to be marveled at. Bangalore and Hyderabad are a few places that have no dearth of opportunities- in fact, they are at par with the U.S. I would say that there are several job opportunities similar to the San Francisco Bay Area. 

I would definitely advise them to be open about it, and talk to a lot of people. I would urge them to not squash the feeling- if they have an inkling that they want to move back, they shouldn’t ignore it- the emotion is arising for a reason. I would recommend that they research, talk to friends and talk to family. Most importantly, I would recommend they talk to Global Talent Exchange!

Lastly, I would tell them that they can easily find what they seek, they just have to be patient. 

[funkymbtifiction]

TeNi vs TiNe

Hi Charity! I guess it's for a reason Ni is considered the most "mysterious" function of them all, because I don't think I can understand it properly, haha. I wanted to ask how TeNi and TiNe users would go along solving the same problem. 

Here is where I am probably be wrong, so please, correct me! I see it as a TiNe user would consider different solutions, almost picking out from the possibilities around them, until they find a solution that satisfies their subjective view of the world (might be way too long-winded and unnecessary complex, but it works for them). Whereas, I think TeNi user would find the fastest, most efficient solution that is provable with outside facts and is "objectively" good (?). But... I am having troubles picturing what Ni does. I think I can vaguely imagine how it works with TeSi, where, along with objective facts, personal experiences, memories, learned skills come into play, where Te user refers not only to outside world, but to their "inner catalogue" as well. 

Somehow, I can't wrap my head around how exactly Ni works, because even reading the abstract descriptions of functions doesn't help. I understand that it's all about looking into the future and into the abstract but I can't see how it would manifest. Setting on a one idea and fiercely pursuing it? (Almost like a tunnel vision...?) But that's more about WHAT they do, not HOW they come to that conclusion. Do they have a certain insight, which they then prove to be real/make real with tangible facts and efforts?

An ENTJ would want to find a workable solution that will still be valid and efficient ten years from now. They think in terms of long-term potential and goals, so they want to implement something now that may come into full fruition much later on. They envision the pattern of what might happen in the future and anticipate it, and incorporate that into their solution. They are better at long term thinking than NTPs, because Ne is present ideas / immediate future, and Ni is distant future-based. Sometimes, ENTJs have a particular vision of what they want to accomplish, and have to wait for the technology to catch up to their idea -- like James Cameron having the idea for Avatar about fifteen years before he could film it, and in the meantime, investing in developing CGI so that EVENTUALLY he could carry out his vision. Pretty awesome, huh? (And now he has filmed three sequels simultaneously, after waiting a few years for, again, the computer technology to catch up to his ideas.) If you study him, you will get a sense of how an ENTJ gets things done and the process of doing so.

I don't think I ever had a close relationship with a high Ni-user, so I never had the chance to observe them and what goes through their mind when they do things. (Because even if you don't personally understand, if you observe, you can get a general gist of what's going on... but having no high-Ni users in me life makes me really clueless in that regard). Especially, how Ni works combined with Te. I am really eager to know, though. Thank you so much! I hope you have a great day. 

Get my book and read it, if you haven't already. I did all the hard work for you of talking to Ni users, finding out how their intuition works, and then integrating it with thinking and feeling functions, from an inward perspective. In essence, its' about taking an unusual vantage point, having a specific idea in your mind (no exceptions), and working toward that by making every decision about whether this will take you closer to what you want or not. NTJs think in terms of long-term strategies (if you put this shopping complex here, in ten years it's going to cause traffic backups on these four streets...).

[sunfish-studies]

Worth

✄・・・ Feathery Ink [Karasuno Manager Series]

➜ Pairing: Karasuno x Manager! Reader

➜ Warning: none

➜ Notes: This is a separate series from Crisp Leaves. Similar to Crisp Leaves, manager in this story will be portrayed as a girl. She will be tall, around 170.5 cm (along 5’7’’). This is just my appreciation towards tall girls, you guys are amazing.

Previous:  ‹ Direct Sunlight › | Next:  ‹ Acceptance ›

↷ SUMMARY ↶

You began to question if your existence is worth for the team or not.

“Ah, Hitoka-chan, [Name]-chan. Are you done changing?” Shimizu asked, smiling down at both of you who waited on the yard.

The sky was already dark the moment practice was over–something you knew you have to get used somehow if you really want to become the team’s manager in the future. However, what you didn’t expect was how time was surely running quickly that you could ever imagine. Maybe because you thoroughly enjoyed on how the team fired up during practice.

Yachi clearly didn’t expect her name to be mentioned so friendly and you didn’t expect Shimizu to called out for you too. That and her next words almost had you yelped out of surprise. “I’ll walk with you two, so hold on a sec. I’m going to change too.”

“No, it’s okay! I actually think I should be walking with you, or something, or…!”

“Don’t worry about it.” Dismissing the blonde’s reluctance, Shimizu jogged towards the changing room and leaving the two of you alone once again. Well, at least Yachi had any decency to reply while you just gaped at the senior’s figure–you found yourself being extremely rude and embarrassing.

“S-Shimizu-senpai is really nice, huh?” you stuttered, not knowing how to make it sound right. But you’re honest with your words–Shimizu treated you nicely and you didn’t once feel uncomfortable around her.

“Y-yeah,” Yachi replied, nodding stiffly.

“What’s wrong, sensei? Why the serious face?” Another voice managed to caught both of your attention. It came from the still lit gym–you noticed that it was Coach Ukai’s and the question directed to Takeda-sensei. Them being quite close with the open-window made their conversation could be heard clearly.

“Oh, well, apparently the bus we were supposed to take for the away games in Tokyo was booked by another club so it doesn’t look like we’ll get it. It looks like it’s going to cost us a lot more than expected so I was trying to figure out what to do.”

“I’ll try talking to a few more alumni.” Coach Ukai hummed in understanding. “I’m sure this problem will come up again in the future.”

“I apologize. I’ll try reaching out as well. Well, if all else fails, I do have some savings.”

“No, no, no! You need to save that for your future wedding or something. And don’t do that with your hand!”

“Yachi-san! [Name]-san!!” while Yachi stiffened from the energetic call, you blinked as Hinata skidded to stop right in front of you two. “Yachi-san, [Name]-san, are you going to be our manager!?”

“Uh, um-“

“Well, Hinata-kun-“

“You will, right!?”

“Hey, first-year girls, hey!” this time it was Tanaka and Nishinoya, looking at Yachi and you in confidence.

“We hope that you will join the Karasuno High School volleyball team.” Nishinoya said.

“Huh?” you and Yachi replied in confusion, with limited vocabulary.

“When you two are around, Kiyoko-san talks a lot.” Tanaka continued. It earned them both a smack on the head along with scolding from the team’s captain almost instantly.

“What kind of invitation is that, you idiots!?”

“Sorry these guys are so stupid,” Sugawara apologized in a more relaxed way–you’re guessing he’s already used with these two’s antics.

“N-No, not at all!” Yachi shook her head frantically.

“It’s okay…” you muttered, not sure how to reply that without sounding rude.

Yachi and you both knew it’s quite a shock to know Shimizu was so eager to have you in the team to help despite almost everything. For Yachi, she didn’t have any experience or knowledge about volleyball and considered herself an extra who’s not worth of her position. She didn’t want to be a hindrance and you understood.

You? You didn’t particularly have any reason to not join and to join. You sure have enough experience from middle school, although it was brief. Your brother loves volleyball so everything about it is already crammed inside your head without your consent. As a manager, you could rate your skill as 5–nothing too grand and nothing too special, too plain maybe could be the right word.

For a really high-spirited team which eager to grow, you’re too… plain. There’s no place for a monotone person like you in a club full of color.

With that, you began to question if your existence is worth for the team or not.

.

.

“Is something troubling you two?”

If Yachi’s staring at the empty club application in her hands, then you’re staring at the empty changing locker. Surely, Shimizu noticed your antics.

“By the way, I did play sports, but I had no prior experience with volleyball or being a manager,” your senior admitted. “I don’t think everyone has to like something before giving it a try. I don’t think you need an unwavering will or lofty move just to get started. Sometimes things that you start on a whim end up becoming very important to you, too. To get started, I think you just need a little bit of curiosity. And also a leap of faith.”

A leap of faith.

You found yourself mulling over her words.

.

.

This time, Shimizu told you that it’s fine to showed up at practice without having to wear the school’s gym clothes–just white shirt to match the team and jogger pants would do.

“Ouginishi will arrive in four and a half hours!” Shimizu announced as she began to changed to her indoor shoes. Once she got the series of replies, she turned to you two. “Alright, Hitoka-chan, would you line up some chairs around the court there? Let’s see… eight of them!”

“Uh, right!”

“And [Name]-chan, could you prepare the water bottles? The drinking fountain’s not far from here, just around the corner.”

“Okay, and the protein mixture is right over there, right? The blue box-“ You halted your words, shoulders immediately tensed from the automatic question which tumbled from your tongue. Shimizu’s eyes widened before she smiled, even wider one than before.

“That’s right! You really know a lot, it’s amazing!”

Flustered over her praises, you excused yourself immediately–snatching the rack of bottles and bolted towards the nearest drinking fountain. After finished filling them up, you poured each packet for each bottle and shook it to get it mixed properly. You didn’t even notice how fast your hand was moving and noticing that all the bottles were ready.

Once you were back, you put the rack on the designated place and jogged towards Yachi–maybe she would need help moving the chairs.

“Wha? How would I know?” Kageyama questioned, raising a brow–probably answering the conversation happened between him and Hinata which you didn’t know. “Is there a reason you want to eat when you’re hungry?”

“Right? Hmm…” Hinata hummed.

“And where are the water bottles?” Kageyama questioned, looking left and right.

“Here,” You gave one to him, the one you purposely not mix with anything. “I already filled it with water. You have your own protein drink, right?”

You noticed that the raven-haired boy already pulled a package with different color so you knew he had his own choice of protein drink and brought it. Kageyama muttered a thank you, taking the bottle from your hand after you opened the lid so he didn’t have to juggle with the package he held.

“How do you know about that, [Name]-san!?” Hinata questioned, eyes shining. “It’s almost like you’re reading minds!”

“H-Huh? I’m just observing, I guess…”

“Really!? That’s awesome!!”

Yachi was right, it’s like being shone under the intensely bright sun if you’re talking to Hinata.

.

.

You were juggling between manager duties, studying in your own, and tutoring Hinata and Kageyama for the upcoming test. It’s quite difficult, but teaching others also helped you memorized the material better–that and also finding out terms that could help the two.

“So, ‘to’ is helping in referring on where do you want to go in this word here.” You explained, circling the word. “For example, ‘I want to go to the gym’.”

After tutoring both Hinata and Kageyama for some time, you learned that the two would literally remember anything if it’s sports-related–especially volley ball. So, it became your best shot in cramming the materials into their head.

“I see!” Hinata exclaimed, furiously writing down the correct form of sentence, while Kageyama nodded enthusiastically.

“Oh, it’s already this late,” you muttered as you looked at the clock. “Time sure flew by.”

“You’re right!” Hinata followed your line of sight. “I guess it’s time to go home! Thank you, [Name]-san! Your explanation is really easy to understand!”

“I’m glad I could be of any help,” you smiled in return.

“And after this, we’ll go to Tokyo together!” the orange haired boy exclaimed. “You’re coming too, right, [Name]-san!?”

“Uhm, about that…” You honestly didn’t know how to respond–you couldn’t be a trial manager forever, it’s either completely reject the idea or finally joining as an official member. If you did join, do you even have a role in it? There’s Shimizu and Yachi already, there’s no need for a third manager. “There’s already Hitoka-chan and Shimizu-senpai, right?”

“Yeah! You should join too!”

“Do I really have a place there?” you questioned out loud. “I mean… do I can really be of any help? Two managers are already enough, besides I don’t have anything to offer to the team either. I can’t do anything important to help the team grow stronger…”

“What do you mean!?” Hinata’s shriek almost made your heart jump out from your chest.

“Filling water bottles, washing bibs, mopping the floor, tidying the balls, it’s all important.” Surprisingly, Kageyama was the one who spoke. “It’s simple but important. Without it, we will have double work and it’s exhausting.”

Hinata nodded vigorously. “Kageyama’s right!”

“Do you really need to do something grand to join something?” the raven-haired then questioned. “While you think it’s nothing, the others don’t think so. The one who judge whether your actions leave a mark or not isn’t you, it’s the team. So, quit overthinking. Do what you want.”

It’s like being doused with cold water–it slapped you awake in an unexpected way.

“I guess I will,” you smiled, heart feeling lighter than before. “Thank you, Kageyama-kun, Hinata-kun.”

.

.

“So, we’ve finished our exams and starting today, Yachi-san and Otohaku-san will officially be joining us as our managers.”

In the hot summer day, you found yourself back in the gym, but this time standing beside Sawamura and a fidgeting Yachi. She didn’t seem to be uncomfortable, maybe it’s a new feeling of excitement for her–you completely understand because you felt the same.

“Here,” Shimizu went up to the both of you–handing identical black jersey which the team also owned. The inky black material with white broderie sent torrents of emotions towards you, instantly the corner of your eyes felt as if it was burning.

“Ready, and-“

“Welcome to Karasuno High School Volleyball Club!!”

You found yourself bowing ninety-degrees, hugging the jacket tightly against your chest. “It’s a pleasure working with you!”

[qqueenofhades]

Hi. I’m curious. What did you mean by “women who read fiction might get Bad Ideas!!!” has just reached its latest and stupidest form via tumblr purity culture.? I haven’t seen any of this but I’m new to tumblr.

Oh man. You really want to get me into trouble on, like, my first day back, don’t you?

Pretty much all of this has been explained elsewhere by people much smarter than me, so this isn’t necessarily going to say anything new, but I’ll do my best to synthesize and summarize it. As ever, it comes with the caveat that it is my personal interpretation, and is not intended as the be-all, end-all. You’ll definitely run across it if you spend any time on Tumblr (or social media in general, including Twitter, and any other fandom-related spaces). This will get long.

In short: in the nineteenth century, when Gothic/romantic literature became popular and women were increasingly able to read these kinds of novels for fun, there was an attendant moral panic over whether they, with their weak female brains, would be able to distinguish fiction from reality, and that they might start making immoral or inappropriate choices in their real life as a result. Obviously, there was a huge sexist and misogynistic component to this, and it would be nice to write it off entirely as just hysterical Victorian pearl-clutching, but that feeds into the “lol people in the past were all much stupider than we are today” kind of historical fallacy that I often and vigorously shut down. (Honestly, I’m not sure how anyone can ever write the “omg medieval people believed such weird things about medicine!” nonsense again after what we’ve gone through with COVID, but that is a whole other rant.) The thinking ran that women shouldn’t read novels for fear of corrupting their impressionable brains, or if they had to read novels at all, they should only be the Right Ones: i.e., those that came with a side of heavy-handed and explicit moralizing so that they wouldn’t be tempted to transgress. Of course, books trying to hammer their readers over the head with their Moral Point aren’t often much fun to read, and that’s not the point of fiction anyway. Or at least, it shouldn’t be.

Fast-forward to today, and the entire generation of young, otherwise well-meaning people who have come to believe that being a moral person involves only consuming the “right” kind of fictional content, and being outrageously mean to strangers on the internet who do not agree with that choice. There are a lot of factors contributing to this. First, the advent of social media and being subject to the judgment of people across the world at all times has made it imperative that you demonstrate the “right” opinions to fit in with your peer-group, and on fandom websites, that often falls into a twisted, hyper-critical, so-called “progressivism” that diligently knows all the social justice buzzwords, but has trouble applying them in nuance, context, and complicated real life. To some extent, this obviously is not a bad thing. People need to be critical of the media they engage with, to know what narratives the creator(s) are promoting, the tropes they are using, the conclusions that they are supporting, and to be able to recognize and push back against genuinely harmful content when it is produced – and this distinction is critical – by professional mainstream creators. Amateur, individual fan content is another kettle of fish. There is a difference between critiquing a professional creator (though social media has also made it incredibly easy to atrociously abuse them) and attacking your fellow fan and peer, who is on the exact same footing as you as a consumer of that content.

Obviously, again, this doesn’t mean that you can’t call out people who are engaging in actually toxic or abusive behavior, fans or otherwise. But certain segments of Tumblr culture have drained both those words (along with “gaslighting”) of almost all critical meaning, until they’re applied indiscriminately to “any fictional content that I don’t like, don’t agree with, or which doesn’t seem to model healthy behavior in real life” and “anyone who likes or engages with this content.” Somewhere along the line, a reactionary mindset has been formed in which the only fictional narratives or relationships are those which would be “acceptable” in real life, to which I say…. what? If I only wanted real life, I would watch the news and only read non-fiction. Once again, the underlying fear, even if it’s framed in different terms, is that the people (often women) enjoying this content can’t be trusted to tell the difference between fiction and reality, and if they like “problematic” fictional content, they will proceed to seek it out in their real life and personal relationships. And this is just… not true.

As I said above, critical media studies and thoughtful consumption of entertainment are both great things! There have been some great metas written on, say, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and how it is increasingly relying on villains who have outwardly admirable motives (see: the Flag Smashers in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) who are then stigmatized by their anti-social, violent behavior and attacks on innocent people, which is bad even as the heroes also rely on violence to achieve their ends. This is a clever way to acknowledge social anxieties – to say that people who identify with the Flag Smashers are right, to an extent, but then the instant they cross the line into violence, they’re upsetting the status quo and need to be put down by the heroes. I watched TFATWS and obviously enjoyed it. I have gone on a Marvel re-watching binge recently as well. I like the MCU! I like the characters and the madcap sci-fi adventures! But I can also recognize it as a flawed piece of media that I don’t have to accept whole-cloth, and to be able to criticize some of the ancillary messages that come with it. It doesn’t have to be black and white.

When it comes to shipping, moreover, the toxic culture of “my ship is better than your ship because it’s Better in Real Life” ™ is both well-known and in my opinion, exhausting and pointless. As also noted, the whole point of fiction is that it allows us to create and experience realities that we don’t always want in real life. I certainly enjoy plenty of things in fiction that I would definitely not want in reality: apocalyptic space operas, violent adventures, and yes, garbage men. A large number of my ships over the years have been labeled “unhealthy” for one reason or another, presumably because they don’t adhere to the stereotype of the coffee-shop AU where there’s no tension and nobody ever makes mistakes or is allowed to have serious flaws. And I’m not even bagging on coffee-shop AUs! Some people want to remove characters from a violent situation and give them that fluff and release from the nonstop trauma that TV writers merrily inflict on them without ever thinking about the consequences. Fanfiction often focuses on the psychology and healing of characters who have been through too much, and since that’s something we can all relate to right now, it’s a very powerful exercise. As a transformative and interpretive tool, fanfic is pretty awesome.

The problem, again, comes when people think that fic/fandom can only be used in this way, and that going the other direction, and exploring darker or complicated or messy dynamics and relationships, is morally bad. As has been said before: shipping is not activism. You don’t get brownie points for only having “healthy” ships (and just my personal opinion as a queer person, these often tend to be heterosexual white ships engaging in notably heteronormative behavior) and only supporting behavior in fiction that you think is acceptable in real life. As we’ve said, there is a systematic problem in identifying what that is. Ironically, for people worried about Women Getting Ideas by confusing fiction and reality, they’re doing the same thing, and treating fiction like reality. Fiction is fiction. Nobody actually dies. Nobody actually gets hurt. These people are not real. We need to normalize the idea of characters as figments of a creator’s imagination, not actual people with their own agency. They exist as they are written, and by the choice of people whose motives can be scrutinized and questioned, but they themselves are not real. Nor do characters reflect the author’s personal views. Period.

This feeds into the fact that the internet, and fandom culture, is not intended as a “safe space” in the sense that no questionable or triggering content can ever be posted. Archive of Our Own, with its reams of scrupulous tagging and requests for you to explicitly click and confirm that you are of age to see M or E-rated content, is a constant target of the purity cultists for hosting fictional material that they see as “immoral.” But it repeatedly, unmistakably, directly asks you for your consent to see this material, and if you then act unfairly victimized, well… that’s on you. You agreed to look at this, and there are very few cases where you didn’t know what it entailed. Fandom involves adults creating contents for adults, and while teenagers and younger people can and do participate, they need to understand this fact, rather than expecting everything to be a PG Disney movie.

When I do write my “dark” ships with garbage men, moreover, they always involve a lot of the man being an idiot, being bluntly called out for an idiot, and learning healthier patterns of behavior, which is one of the fundamental patterns of romance novels. But they also involve an element of the woman realizing that societal standards are, in fact, bullshit, and she can go feral every so often, as a treat. But even if I wrote them another way, that would still be okay! There are plenty of ships and dynamics that I don’t care for and don’t express in my fic and fandom writing, but that doesn’t mean I seek out the people who do like them and reprimand them for it. I know plenty of people who use fiction, including dark fiction, in a cathartic way to process real-life trauma, and that’s exactly the role – one of them, at least – that fiction needs to be able to fulfill. It would be terribly boring and limited if we were only ever allowed to write about Real Life and nothing else. It needs to be complicated, dark, escapist, unreal, twisted, and whatever else. This means absolutely zilch about what the consumers of this fiction believe, act, or do in their real lives.

Once more, I do note the misogyny underlying this. Nobody, after all, seems to care what kind of books or fictional narratives men read, and there’s no reflection on whether this is teaching them unhealthy patterns of behavior, or whether it predicts how they’ll act in real life. (There was some of that with the “do video games cause mass shootings?”, but it was a straw man to distract from the actual issues of toxic masculinity and gun culture.) Certain kinds of fiction, especially historical fiction, romance novels, and fanfic, are intensely gendered and viewed as being “women’s fiction” and therefore hyper-criticized, while nobody’s asking if all the macho-man potboiler military-intrigue tough-guy stereotypical “men’s fiction” is teaching them bad things. So the panic about whether your average woman on the internet is reading dark fanfic with an Unhealthy Ship (zomgz) is, in my opinion, misguided at best, and actively destructive at worst.

[harbingerofsoup]

The comprehensive guide for why absolutely everyone should read and watch this work of art.

First of all, Iruma is best boy! He loves his friends and his family, his instinct is to help others, and like… just look at him. So good, so pure. But what truly makes Iruma a protagonist worthy of having a slide to himself is his character development. He actually starts off as a completely selfless person due to how his awful parents groomed him, and his whole character arc is learning how to be more selfish. Of course, Iruma’s selfishness manifests as eating all the food he wants, holding on to his family and friends, and finding ambition.

Sullivan (the first guy) adopts Iruma as his grandson after his parents sold him. This dude radiates grandpa energy and his number one priority is to spoil his new grandson. He’s also the principal of the school he sends Iruma too. And one of the most powerful demons in the netherworld. Opera is Sullivan’s butler, and warms up to Iruma a bit slower than Sullivan (so like a few days). They’re not very expressive facially. Rather they mainly express emotions through their ears and tail. They’re a total Badass™ and surprisingly mischievous. Alice Asmodeus (on the left of the 3rd pic) swore his undying loyalty to Iruma after Iruma accidentally kicked his ass. This man is ride or die, and honestly my words can’t do him justice so it’s better if you just experience this gay disaster for yourself. Clara Valac (right of the same pic) is a gremlin and I love her. Her priority is to play with her friends All. The. Time. But she also has insecurities about her personality after it stopped her from making friends. I put Ameri Azazel (please step on me) in between them. She’s the student council president, a badass, and a huge romantic. Naberius Kalego is the homeroom teacher of the misfit class (the class Iruma ends up in.) He’s a Very strict teacher, but genuinely cares about his students and is good at his job. There are so many other characters, but I want to avoid spoilers and get sleep tonight.

14 year old Suzuki Iruma was raised by his parents to do chores and make them money. Eventually they decided that he wasn’t bringing in enough, so they sold him to a demon who takes him to the netherworld. Instead of eating him though, Sullivan (the demon) asks him to become his grandson, and Iruma, who’s unable to say no under any circumstances, says yes. He starts school at the demon school Babyls (pictured above) where he attends as the only human. Of course if anyone finds out they’ll eat him. While at school, he realizes that he doesn’t have an ambition of his own, so Ameri suggests that he try climbing the ranks (all demons are ranked by their power you know the drill).

This manga is hilarious! With such jokes as Iruma eating a ridiculous amount of food, every interaction between Asmodeus and Clara, and Ameri’s obsession with shojo manga. One of the funniest bits is that due to some unfortunate circumstances, Kalego becomes Iruma’s familiar, and you’ll learn all about this if you check it out, but for now all you need to know is that that fluffy chicken is Kalego. Crossdressing has been used for comedy like three times now, but not in a degrading way. It’s not the butt of the joke or anything. That’s Iruma, and he looks fucking amazing as many other characters have said many times 100% seriously. Moving on, cause explaining humor is difficult!

I adore how Clara is allowed to be a hyperactive gremlin, and I’m not talking “oh she’s quirky” I’m talking playing involves battle axes and acting like a demon bowling ball. You know the trope where the powerful girl isn’t actually that serious and instead is a huge romantic? Well Ameri may be a romantic, but her seriousness isn’t an act. She is 100% dedicated to her ambitions. And look at the designs for some of the recurring background characters! Too often in fantasy settings the female monsters, demons, etc are reduced to almost entirely human, with the exact same body type, and maybe horns or something. Not Here! There’s also the girls in the misfit class who all have their own motivations and interests. I’m also now realizing how many tall girls are in this series… awesome.

Ok so the fact that there’s even more than one queer character already make this amazing. But in addition to that, it’s never treated like a big deal. I mean look at the second picture “gender doesn’t matter to demons” love wins! So Eiko is a recurring character who has a huge crush on both Iruma and Ameri, and later becomes comrades with Asmodeus specifically when it comes to Iruma (they share photos of him it’s hilarious). Asmodeus having a crush on Iruma isn’t explicitly stating, but like I’d like to see someone argue that he doesn’t. Besides, his feelings are always treated the same as Clara’s and Eiko’s when it comes to Iruma. The holy grail of representation though is Opera who’s never referred to by gendered terms. The english dub of the anime actually specifically uses they/them pronouns. When I tell you I screamed! I could go on, but I’m I’m trying to avoid introducing too many characters.

In Mairimashita! Iruma-kun a good family supports and loves each other completely, regardless of blood relations. But it’s not either or. Sullivan, Opera, and Iruma are my golden standard for found family. I mean their love of Iruma is over the top and unconditional, which is what Iruma needs after a life without any such love from his parents. Biological relations are shown as something that isn’t always great, yet it’s not something to be expected either. Clara’s family is a gift, and Asmodeus’ family is one of the funniest dynamics I’ve seen.

These are typically considered negative traits, but here they are portrayed as desirable and useful. And it’s a convincing argument. Through Iruma we see that having your own ambitions and getting pissed is necessary for living a fulfilling life, and we see this because he starts out without having that. Every single time Iruma declares his own ambitions or says something selfish it’s just… chills. It’s always a powerful scene. Whenever Iruma gets truly pissed over something (which has legitimately only happened twice) we all cheer cause we’re so proud of him. I could write a whole essay about this one aspect of the story, but just know that I consider this to be an incredibly compelling narrative, and my favorite part of Mairimashita! Iruma-kun.

In conclusion, I’m posting this on my birthday, so as a present I would like more people to get into this fandom because it deserves a larger fanbase.

[absolutepokemontrash]

The Demon Bros Play DND!

Who’s ready for some Stupid Headcanons?

So, the Satanic Panic of the 1980s claimed that the tabletop RPG known as Dungeons and Dragons had the power to turn your children into satanists and devil worshippers. So of course, the brothers have totally played DND after hearing about all the human world nonsense.

Lucifer the Back-up Back-up DM

He’s too busy to play this game dammit, stop inviting him! What do you mean both Satan and Simeon can’t DM the one-shot? Ugh... fine.

Despite all his UUUUUUUUGGGGHHH, Lucifer is a damn good storyteller, prepare to be immersed as hell.

Also, sorry guys, he’s a rule whore. If something’s against the rules, YOU AREN’T DOING IT.

He’s also a complete sadist who will randomly get everyone to roll perception checks for NO REASON.

Lucifer has definitely stood up and slammed his hands on the table while giving a description for extra effect, Mammon screamed and nearly fell out of his seat which REALLY ruined the mood.

“Everyone, we’re rescheduling, I’m too busy.”

He’s been a player a few times, and he’s NOT good at it. All his characters end up being really generic and boring. He’s better at being the world and everything in it, not the dummy wandering around it.

Human/fighter lookin’ motherfucker

In conclusion, he’s a good DM, but he’s probably too busy to play.

Over-Powered Self Insert (Mammon)

This game is for nerds! He’s not playin’, Levi!

Fine, his character is great and amazin’ and is also him. MC! What do these numbers mean-

Mammon’s the type of player to make his character a self insert and not take it too seriously, then get really REALLY attached as the campaign progresses.

He’s the type not to make a backstory for his character either, so go wild DM MCs!

He also both purposefully and accidentally metagames a whole bunch. Like dude, YOU know this, YOUR CHARACTER DOES NOT.

Shit he forgot his dice, can he borrow some?

“Okay MC, that’s five points of piercing damage.” “I RUN OVER AND HEAL THEM! I’LL SAVE YA MC!”

Mammon goes out of his way to save MC’s character long before it would make sense in-character to do so.

“Well, as your first man it’s my duty to save your character! You’ll probably be a blubberin’ mess if I didn’t...”

He’s not the best role player, but he’s also not the worst at it either. He tends to break character when things get too serious and he doesn’t know what to do.

Notes who? He came in here with one sheet of printer paper and it’s for doodling only.

He and Asmodeus start the tavern brawls. No question about that.

Theft is very common, he’s stealing from everyone, including but not limited to: the party, the royal guards, the dead enemies, the giant fuck-you dragon that Satan dropped in there to deter Mammon from stealing...

“I’m gonna steal that crown from the dragon.” “Roll stealth.” “Nat 20 BITCHES.” “Fuck you.”

If his character dies, may the Demon King have mercy on his greedy little soul because he’s going to mope about it for a damn long time.

Over-Powered Self Insert Again (Leviathan)

His character totally isn’t a self insert, shut up! He just looks and acts like an idealized version of himself!

He’s the one with twenty pages of character info and backstory AND the amazing commissioned art.

Levi has about 40 sets of expensive blue dice that he claims gives him the best rolls but an average session with him usually leads to roughly 10 crit fails.

While his luck with dice isn’t that good, he’s the player who will get as much out of their turn as possible, AKA break out the calculators and notes we’re doing some math.

His turn goes on for at least ten minutes because of all the shit he’s doing. When you finally think it’s over he goes “I still have my movement!”

Takes notes like a madman, every bit of lore and character info is being written down, meaning it’s a headache for everyone involved if there’s a continuity error because Levi WILL point it out.

“So you all head to the east, the great Valley of-” “Hang on, valley? In the second session you said there was a mountainous area to the east.” “Levi, shut up.”

Levi is the self appointed “guys come on let’s get back on track!” player, and whoever’s DMing is grateful to have him.

Levi is kind of the opposite of Mammon in terms of character seriousness, at first he’s taking everything super seriously and then as the campaign goes on he slowly loosens up and has some fun.

Out of curiosity one day he searches up a magical girl DND class and he’s ALL OVER IT. PLEASE LET HIM BE A MAGICAL GIRL NEXT CAMPAIGN-

Damn good at roleplaying, he’s carrying the entire in-character discussion until everyone else gets into it.

The Done With Your Bullshit DM (Satan)

So, this is the game that’s supposedly summoning him all the time despite the fact that he hadn’t been up to the human world since the 50s... what the fuck is everyone on up there?

It was the 80s, probably a lot of drugs.

When Satan DMs, you can only break the rules if it enhances the story... or if it fucks with Lucifer’s really boring character.

He will fudge dice rolls every once and a while, he also gets very attached to the characters everyone has made so he doesn’t want to perma-kill any of them unless they roll a DND quadruple natural 1 sin or something.

As attached as he gets, he isn’t above completely raging, killing everyone’s characters, and ending the session if everyone’s being annoying.

Don’t worry, your characters will be safe and sound next session once everything calms down... just don’t mention how Satan burned your character sheet right in front of you. It’s your fault if you didn’t make a second copy of your character sheet!

He’s pretty decent when it comes to improv when a player stumbles into something he didn’t plan out, but that’s not going to stop him from getting a little annoyed.

Though, if you somehow manage to get to the big bad too soon... yeah sorry, he’s got a way more dramatic fight scene planned, your player’s getting conveniently blasted out of there.

As a player, Satan is pretty decent at the game overall, but he tends to be a little aggressive if there’s an overarching mystery to be solved.

He needs to understand what’s going on! He doesn’t care if it upends the plot or it’s too early to find out! He needs to know!

His character is actually distinct and different from himself, Satan thinks it’s more interesting that way. All the books he’s read have made him a pretty awesome role player!

Satan’s notebook both as a DM and a player is filled to the brim, no detail is too insignificant to be put on the page.

Satan doesn’t fear dungeon puzzles... dungeon puzzles fear Satan.

“Are you all stupid?! This puzzle is so easy a four year old could solve it!”

I ROLL TO SEDUCE- (Asmodeus)

At first he didn’t want to play, he doesn’t play these kinds of games, sweetie. He’s too pretty.

When he’s finally convinced he puts a decent amount of effort into his character, but leaves the backstory pretty open.

Asmo would probably be the bard... right? No. He’s the warlock with the magic sugar daddy patron, and the warlock patron is spoken to as such.

“Hey baby... how’ve you been? Have I been good~?” “...”

Huh! Who woulda thought that all the bedroom roleplaying would transfer so well to DND!

Simeon is the only DM that doesn’t immediately shut this down, so Asmo will be extra inclined to play if Mr. Nice Shoulders is DMing.

When he gets really into it he buys a bunch of sparkly and very pretty dice, they bring him good luck in every roll!

Asmo has a fictional harem, no question about it. It gets to the point where Satan, Lucifer, and Simeon stop describing NPCs as attractive.

He’s rolling to seduce either way, he’s turned many an antagonist into a lover. To be fair, Asmo’s horniness has gotten everyone out of a lot of jail cells... so they can’t complain.

His notes consist of really random comments about the plot and the other players. It’s also COATED with doodles.

‘Wow, this character is such an asshole, I hope Belphie kills them.’ ‘Shit.’ ‘MC looks so cute when they play their character!!!!!!!! :D’

Poor bab forgets the rules a lot... it’s just too much to remember, okay?! How was he supposed to know that he ran out of spell slots an hour ago?!

Please help him, MC...

*Dice Cronch* (Beel)

Homeboy has been given edible dice, no question. He has also eaten the non-edible dice...

Beel goes to Satan for help with making his character, and he ends up really loving the character! :D

Problem is, he’s not that good at roleplaying... D:

“Can my character eat that person?” “Beel, no- you know what? Let me check what you’d need to roll to do that.”

I’ll save you MC part 2 electric boogaloo, but when it comes to Beel, the entire party is getting protected, no matter how little it makes sense in-character.

While Beel does take notes, a lot of them don’t end up being very important for later events. For example, he’ll jot down stuff about the layout in one room, but it turns out he didn’t take notes for the room that was actually going to be used for a boss fight.

He’s always nice to the NPCs, shame Belphie doesn’t show them the same courtesy.

Murder Hobo (Belphie)

Chaotic evil.

“Belphie, your character’s alignment is neutral good, remember?” “Fuck that, this guy’s annoying me.”

If Belphie doesn’t like an NPC, it’s up to the rest of the party to stop him from derailing the campaign and killing them.

He has space themed dice because cow-man likes space and thought they were pretty.

Notes? NOTES? You think Belphegor, the Avatar of SLOTH, takes notes? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-

He’s drooling all over the notebook... ew. Someone wake him up and tell him it’s his turn.

He puts about 35% effort forth to make a halfway decent character, and approximately 4% effort to actually roleplay.

Belphie sleeps through important plot details so he’s almost always really confused. He’ll turn to MC and ask them to explain what he missed before not learning his lesson and going back to sleep.

Wake him up for the dungeon puzzles though, he and Satan love those.

“Okay, we can’t see what’s in the room because none of the conscious party members have dark vision?” “Nope, what do you do?” “...I shove Mammon inside and shut the door.” “WHAT?!”

Bonus! The Best DM (Simeon)

Our favourite angel has homebrewed this entire campaign and boy fricken howdy are these players going to enjoy it.

Simeon fudges the dice rolls to avoid anything too irreversibly bad happening, buuuuuuut he’s still a total asshole who does the random perception rolls to keep everyone on their toes.

Everyone gets a character arc god dammit, even if they don’t have a backstory, one will be provided!

He’s got a map, he’s got miniatures, he’s got dice and backup dice for the backup dice, he’s got DM notes for days!

Simeon could be a voice actor with the amount of character voices he can do, no one ever gets confused with who’s talking.

Did someone just uncover a massive bit of plot that was meant to be found out later? Good job! No harm done! Simeon’s DM improv is second to none, and the plot will adjust accordingly!