#also based to go without the wiki but do be very aware that there are things permanently missable in certain ambitions

[thegreatyin]

idk if it’s at all important to the story (i am playing fallen london without consulting the wiki because im stubborn) but which side did the scoundrel take in the strike at the docks

well. with the knowledge that they're a gay-coded comically evil supervillain at heart. and they hate unions. and they actually think mr fires is pretty based. what do you think

(neddy men. it was neddy men. im so sorry)

[nyaskitten]

EDIT: THIS POST IS INACCURATE !!!

I made the assumption Olive was editing the wiki articles, and while that's a very logical conclusion to reach, it was actually someone who shares the same viewpoints as them!!! Anything including the wiki articles and Olive's involvement is wrong and that's my bad!!!

Alright fellas, I guess we did it. We have reached the tipping point. I'm going to dedicate this post to calling out one specific person, @olivescales3, and their very toxic behavior. This post will be a bit messy, and I do apologize in advance, I'm writing this from the perspective of a Ninjago fan who also thinks beyond just the petty fandom stuff, what they're doing is just not cool.

I will clarify, I do not make this post for petty fandom drama, I make this to better spread awareness on some of the bullshit they're doing, so you can look out for and understand that they're bullshitting. Without further ado, I think we should just get into it.

So, what have they done?

Now, I should say while there is no 100000% concrete link between hyenabro and olivescales, I think based on their talking points (as well and the information I've recieved from friends in the Chima fandom, who have a bunch of prior experience with them,) it's safe to make this assumption!

So, what has olivescales DONE in this case? Simple, they've vandalized the Chima wiki on NUMEROUS occasions, even after several different people have revised their revisions, so as to discredit any conenctions between Dragons Rising and Chima.

(Green is their edits, red is the ones prior to theirs, I found this while going through their contributions section on their Fandom account, HyenaBro119)

As seen here, they have (under the username HyenaBro119) edited the pages for Chima AND the Forever Rock (I have two similar screenshots of essentially the same thing, one was from the Forever Rock article, the other was from Chima) and claimed Ninjago's lore to be some alternate universe. To further validate it, they write "Ras' visit to," but Ras NEVER claimed to have VISITED these locations, just that he knows them. They also claim the Forever Rock was destroyed, a blatant lie. Only a small section of rock on the Forever Rock was actually destroyed, not the whole thing.

Now, you're gonna ask "but Raine, how can you 100000% say it's them?" and I will cite common sense. While I cannot directly tie Olive to hyena, I CAN say their wording is SO very similar.

Both Hyena and Olive call DR "a parallel/alternate universe," and again, claim Forever Rock was destroyed, WHICH IS A FULL ON LIE. They're so adamant to protect "the sanctity of Chima's pre-established, set-in-stone lore" that they can't stop to think maybe, JUST MAYBE, sometimes a story can get new lore which can ALSO be canon!

I'd also love to share this HILARIOUS screenshot of one of their many posts, which not only backs up what I'm saying, but it's like damn they really set themself up huh!

Gee I wonder why you feel alone! Maybe it's because you are! Maybe it's because you're lying and making shit up to prove yourself right! No one is as big of a hater as you!

The also LOVE saying Ninjago cannot do anything with Chima unless they get express permission from the creator of Chima, some guy named John Derevlany, but oh man what's this I see before me?

CO-CREATOR? Oh but Olive, I thought he was the CREATOR of Chima, not CO-creator... ALSO Lego owns the rights to Chima, and Ninjago, and every other theme, as said by Doc himself! If anything he wasn't really dodging the question, just giving a vague answer, because he doesn't know much about the old contracts!

From what he said, it's clear that if they wanted to use anything from the other themes, they'd have to consult folks over at LEGO, not John Derevlany or Tommy A.!

Now here's the THING, I GET where they're coming from, it CAN be annoying to have people only care about a thing you like in relation to something else, but when you're going out of your way to argue that none of it can be canon and it's all an alternate universe it's like... god it's so sad and pathetic really.

Their lies and BS don't even end there with the wiki shit, because I have THIS glorious gem.

A) They bring up that the Ninjago folk do not know who the Phoenixes are which is like, okay??? Why the fuck are they gonna know about how another universe was created??? That's like if someone told me I don't exist in the same universe as my glasses because I have no clue who made them, that is to say, that's stupid as FUCK to say!

B) OH they say something REAAALLL funny ohohohho I am actually dying. Olive says the Phoenix icon "appeared in a Ninjago episode" and "Ninjago tends to reuse assets." Yep, NINJAGO is the one who reused the phoenix symbol, mhm. The symbol that was made in 2011 for NINJAGO, which cameoed in CHIMA in 2014, was actually just an asset reuse by Ninjago. I feel like this actually goes to show how desparate they are to feel right and validated, because this? This a lie! Ninjago made the symbol, and because Tommy A. is co-creator to both, he wanted to slip in a neat Ninjago reference, so he slipped in the Phoenix symbol Nya uses for the Phoenix tribe, not the other way around!

Another REALLY funny thing they did, aside from the wiki and Phoenix symbol shit, was this hilarious attempt at being right!

Yes, the compared the WOLF Masks to BATman's cowl, and did a horribly rough comparison illustration that very much does not make sense. If you actually compared them side by side, the only similarities would be they're both angry animal themed mask with pointy ears, which does NOT go very far in the long run. The foreheads they drew aren't even the same fucking shape lol.

OH ANS WE CANNOT FORGET THIS ONE! Their using a post about the Palestinian genocide and boycotting Lego in order to complain about Ninjago.

They claim Ninjago is produced by Lego, unlike other Lego shows, which is an EXTREMELY bullshit fucking claim. Just like Chima and Nexo Knights, Ninjago is produced by Lego, it's not JUST Ninjago produced by Lego, they are all Canadian-Danish CGI action shows, and they're all known to have Tommy Andreasen involved in the creation of them.

They're using a post about boycotting for the sake of innocent people DYING to complain about a lego ninja show for... killing evil people? It doesn't glorify war, the worst it does in regards to war is like not address how fucked up it can be in regards to the Serpentine War, but that's like it. I think it's so funny they want to single out Ninjago as if it's the only TV series where villains die for trying to conquer/destroy the world.

So, what do I want the takeaway from this post to be? What do I want you to get from it? I don't really know anymore, I just don't want Olive's horrendously toxic behaviors, and straight up lies to stop. If anything I think it's beautiful that Ninjago is making others interested in revisiting Chima again, stop being such a fucking hater dude. They act like Chima is some holy grail of Lego, the greatest thing since bread, but it, just like Ninjago, Dreamzzz, Hidden Side, and Nexo Knights, have Tommy in creative roles.

To act like Chima is somehow greater than is to place it on an unrealistic pedestal as if it's a godsend, when in reality it was co-created by Tommy Fucking Andreasen.

If you read through all of this, I do THOROUGHLY appreciate it, I didn't mean for this post to descend into an angry ramble but ehhh yk how it is. And Olive, if you see this, please, just stop with the bullshit.

[manonblaqkbeak]

Iced Tea and Writing

Day 17 - Hobby @rowaelinscourt

just some more fluff lol with a lil mention of sex at the end.

cw: none words: 900+

enjoy!! xx

{ also, there's a tiny easter egg in this fic if you've looked at rowan's wiki page ;) }

Aelin was hiding something, and Rowan was determined to figure it out.

She wasn't scheming anything, he was confident in that, and it wasn't a policy that she was hiding from him because while he was busy rebuilding Orynth and Terrasen's army and navy, councilmen and women still managed to find him and rattled off about their plans that they wanted his support on.

He listened, because it was his duty as king-consort to do so, but he always told Aelin about it before they unwound from their day.

That very thing happened yesterday, and as Rowan walked into his shared study with his mate, Aelin slammed shut a drawer in her desk and turned to face him fully.

He could have sworn that there was a faint blush on her cheeks. He had asked her if she was alright and she said she was, but he sensed the white lie.

And that was when his curiosity was born.

So, with a rare day off for both of them, he told Aelin that he would soon join her in the Queen's Garden but for now, he was pretending to be busy when in actuality, he was going to shift and fly into the garden to see what his wife was up to, as he saw that bundle of paper under her arms this morning, with an ink-pot and glass pen in the other.

Using his magic, he made sure to send his scent the other way as he perched within an orange tree, the branches bursting with fresh, ripe fruit.

He heard the scribble of the glass pen against the paper, her beautiful face scrunched in concentration. She was lying on a thick picnic blanket, a tray full of fresh fruits, cheeses and iced tea laid on top of it.

A pitcher of iced tea that was now empty and Aelin realised it. Huffing, she got up, holding the empty pitcher as she left to refill it.

When he heard the garden door close, Rowan swooped down and read what his mate was hiding.

And became so engrossed in it that he didn't hear Aelin's approach until she hissed in surprised several minutes later.

“Buzzard, put that down!” Rowan didn't and kept on reading. Aelin rushed forward, putting the iced tea away before she extended her hand towards him, silently asking for the papers.

Childishly, Rowan didn't and even extended it into the air where she couldn't reach. His smile was wide enough that Aelin could count nearly all his teeth, his canines gleaming in the sun.

“You're writing a romance story, based on us?”

Aelin scoffed. “It isn't based on us, you territorial beast.”

Rowan's smile grew. “The Fae male is called Raonn, and the half-fae female is called Ayla, how else am I meant to interpret it?”

“It's just a coincidence, Rowan.”

“Raonn is an inch shorter than me, with white hair and hazel eyes and powers of water and invisibility and Ayla—”

“I'm aware of their powers buzzard, as I wrote them.” Her hand was still stretched out, flexing her fingers to hand the papers over.

“Why did you hide it from me?”

“I didn't hide it, I just...kept it locked up from prying eyes. And it's just some stupid scribbles—”

“It's not stupid,” Rowan said, interrupting her. “It's good Aelin.”

“You're just saying that.”

“I'm not,” he insisted, meaning it. “It's descriptive without droning on, the imagery is clear. It's good,” he promised her.

Aelin smiled sweetly at the truth she sensed in Rowan's words. “It's still not based on us.”

Rowan hummed and handed her the papers. “Whatever you say, Fireheart.”

Rowan joined her on the picnic blanket, leaning against the same orange tree he used to hide in. Aelin leaned against his shoulder, handing over the tray of fruits and cheeses. Rowan picked out what he wanted, which he ended up just giving to Aelin as she kept stealing them-pay back for not handing over the papers straight away, most likely.

“I just wanted to do something different,” Aelin said eventually. “After dealing with demon hordes and politics, I just needed to do something that didn't involve the world being at stake.”

“I understand,” Rowan said, “it's good to have a hobby.”

Aelin looked up at her mate, his eyes thoughtful as he stared at her. “You should take up a hobby, too, like drawing. You're good at that.” And he was, her tattooed back was proof of his skills.

His smile from before returned. “Maybe I'll draw Raonn and Ayla, give you some more inspiration. Or,” he begun to say as Aelin opened her mouth to again deny any similarities, “I could draw you in your gold nightgown.”

“I have other colours, you know,” she said, now running a lazy hand up and down his thigh and her mates dark eyes zeroed in on her hand. She had a whole closest full of nightgowns, all different colours and cuts and fabrics. She kept them locked away, however, as she liked to surprise him.

“I know, but it's my favourite.” Which was an understatement, because whenever she wore metallic gold, Rowan fucked her so hard that afterwards she saw stars. “And maybe, right now, I can give you inspiration in the physical sense.”

Aelin snorted as Rowan softly placed her on her back and did give her ideas for her story for later—although she would still deny that it wasn't based on her and Rowan.

Having a hobby was indeed a very good use of her time.

[loosescrewslefty]

Venting to @imthepunchlord about the state of the Spy x Family fandom this morning because some VERY worrying posts have been repeatedly showing up in the tags in regards to certain neurodivergent tendencies (seriously, if neurotypicals can STOP implying that there is something unnatural about the way neurodivergent minds work and insisting that therefore those differences have an unnatural source like experimentation or some kind of intentional mental training against the only known esper in the universe? That would be super, thanks.) and obviously, as a neurodivergent person myself they bothered me quite a bit. I started talking about how I hoped that the introduction of Demetrius meant that Endo was going to address the abuse that neurodivergent children in particular suffered in Nazi Germany. So I pulled up the wiki article on Asperger to start giving examples of what I was referring to, and nearly had a heart attack.

Because it turns out that Sigmund Authen being modeled after Einstien is NOT the only historical figure to make it into the spy x family story.

The main scientist who ran the experiments on Anya was ABSOLUTELY modeled after Hans Asperger.

Which is an absolute win for those of us who have mentioned seeing neurodivergent tendencies in Anya!

And before anyone jumps on me about my frustrations at the fandom in the beginning of this post or come at me with the claim that I'm being hypocritical, know that there is a key difference between how Anya is actually written vs how some people in the fandom are choosing to interpret Demetrius;

Anya's powers are not reliant on her neurodivergence.

Anya is a neurodivergent child with a superpower. There are times when she loses her telepathic powers, but all of her neurodivergence remains. And honestly with the revelation that the man responsible for experimenting on her was based on Asperger and what his research was like, I feel that this is NOT a case of Autism is Magic! But rather Anya being chosen for experimentation by virtue of being a neurodivergent child and gaining her telepathy by happenstance.

Meanwhile, the aspect of Demetrius' character that people are jumping on and theorizing about is the fact that he dissassociates in social situations, something that I, a real life autistic person who does NOT have superpowers, was NEVER experimented on, and have NEVER recieved any kind of training against telepathic powers also happen to do regularly.

Courtesy of mind.org;

What is dissociation?

Many people may experience dissociation (dissociate) during their life. If you dissociate, you may feel disconnected from yourself and the world around you. For example, you may feel detached from your body or feel as though the world around you is unreal. Remember, everyone’s experience of dissociation is different. Dissociation is one way the mind copes with too much stress, such as during a traumatic event. There are also common, everyday experiences of dissociation that you may have. Examples of this are when you become so absorbed in a book or film that you lose awareness of your surroundings. Or when you drive a familiar route and arrive at your destination without any memory of how you got there. Experiences of dissociation can last for a short time (hours or days) or for much longer (weeks or months). Dissociation may be something that you experience for a short time while something traumatic is happening. But you also may have learned to dissociate as a way of coping with stressful experiences. This may be something that you’ve done since you were young.

[kyojurosprettygirl]

ok so... Gyomei and gorgon! reader? (like medusa) she turns ppl to stone of they look at her but he's blind, so he's immune. reader is very lonely and when she meets Gyomei they're happy to finally talk to someone. Gyomei also gets some eyewear so she doesn't hurt anyone else as they be together. she'd wear a cloak or hijab to hide her snakes. as they walk together and the snakes on reader's head also likes gyomei Hhehvibdnvjfnf

a/n: I love the way you think!!! GOSH, i feel this is perfect for Gyomei (UvvvU) I rarely see anyone write for Gyomei, so I was pretty excited to write for him, but very nervous as well! Since, I don't feel I know enough of his character, and as far as im aware, hasn't been animated in action that much. I can really only write him based on what I know from his wiki and manga... Hope this atleast meets your expectations!! also, because of my lack of knowledge in Hijabs, I decided not to use that as a cover for her snakes, simply to be respectful, apolgies in advance!!

love casted in the stones.

Gyomei Himejima x Gorgon! Fem! reader

a man with tremendous faith, who never once doubted his gods plans for him, how peculiar, you think. he had every right to give up on religion, would a god really cast blindness upon their child? hell, you see and hear your own brother curse the gods for who they made you and him to be on the daily. but, he never thought of it as a set-back, rather, a small exchange.

in life, balance is an important part of it to upkeep. the same way life does to death, and darkness does to light. unbalance would bring chaos, something you learned to understand. it cannot always be day, but it cannot always be night. to him, losing one sense simply acted as a sacrifice, let the illness take you, or, let the illness take your sight. losing your sight isn't a curse, its not something you'd willingly live without, sure, but what good will cursing the gods out because of it do for you? besides, you can't get it back, so why dwell on it? why dwell on something you cannot change? It is a part of you, why not embrace it?

but oh, does it get lonely...

.

"furukawa." your tone is stern and harsh, a drastic difference from the soft honey your tone usually held. he stutters and closes his eyes, furrowing his brows he sighs. you gently remove his prayer beads from his hands and kneel next to him, you look up at him expectantly and he kneels next to you. hes embarrassed you caught him in such a state.

having lost faith isn't something unheard of, it happens almost every day, infact gorgons are known to be faithless beings by default, but, cursing the gods you swear you don't believe in is unheard of. gorgons had no reason to believe in the higher powers when, lets face it, if they existed, they wouldn't curse the souls they created for no apparent reason. gorgons are faithless as a means to respect the gods, not to detest them. they know gods are supposed to love every being they sculpted, lead them to abundance and fortune, not into the hidden parts of the earth to live the rest of their lives as mere folktale and legends. but alas, 'lost' faith still lingers. deep down, gorgons still believe. the reason why is subjective, 'to each their own', but they all hold their arms out in hope. hope that they'll hear their desperate cries to allow them to live with the others who walk on the planet.

most your kind, mistaken as demons, had been killed in what the last of your kind knows as 'The Great Extinction'. you can't blame the humans, it was in their instincts to survive.. ugly faces that had snakes for hair...ones that couldn't wait to bite and poison you...glowing silver eyes that turn you to stone while your still alive, feeling the very painful change your body was going through.. your kind truly was demonic, but you didn't choose to live that way. You were innocent souls that had been dealt the unfortunate, forced to hide away simply for being born. it was a horrible fate, but, 'everything happens for a reason'

"it's a wonder this temple is still standing," you pause and look at him. he nods, his eyes casted to the floor. you tap his cheek and offer him a gentle smile, one he returns. "speak to me, Kaito." you place his prayer beads down, and face him. he opens his mouth to speak, but sighs. "i can't find the words." his snakes sensed his sadness and awoke to try and comfort him, but he simply brushes them away gently and orders them to stop. they sit still on his head the way hair naturally would, and close their eyes to rest once again. "we're not going to exist soon. after you and i die, that's it." you wince subtly and look to the side.

kaito and his grandfather had taken you and your grandmother away from where your kind had hidden themselves for generations, a group of humans having found it and planned an attack that killed them all. 'they've gotten smarter' kaitos grandfather said. 'used mirrors to kill us!' your grandmother shouted, anger filled her soul. after many weeks of hiding, once your grandparents deemed it safe to go back to your old home, you went back. you spent a year burying statues of those you called friends and family, and rebuilt one single home to live in. you and kaito went as far to bury humans statues simply because 'it was the right thing to do.' your grandmother died angry, and kaitos grandfather had died depressed.

"and maybe it's for the better, kaito." his brows furrow, frustration evident in his face. "we're going to all die out and never experience the way life was mean't to be lived. all we know is that demons walk upon us and eat everyone they see-" you pinch his arm, "we are apart of those demons kaito. that's what the humans see us as. monsters. they won't accept us with open arms, just one more issue to deal with. two of us versus millions of them. " he grunts. "you shouldn't curse the gods who keep us alive and hidden." he gets up. "oh, you mean the ones who keep us alive to mourn everyone whos died. keep us alive to hide and only see the sun for one hour a day. is that what we live for? is that what we thank them for? for absolutely nothing?" you stare and him and grab his prayer beads, gently fixing them into the correct position in his hands. you take your own prayer beads out and hold them, closing your eyes. "protect us. it's all i ask of you." kaito prays the same as you and smiles.

you and kaito venture out during the night, deciding to find ways to blend in as you traveled. for about two hours into the night all seemed fine, but a demon had made their way to you both, mistaking you as humans. she growled as she jumped at you and kaito, you and him barley missing her attack, and you looked at kaito for a plan. he shrugged and you realized she didn't turn to stone. your eyes widen as you speak, "she's immune to us, she's a demon.." kaitos eyes widen and he runs to grab you. he helps you to your feet and commands you to run. in a state of panic, you do as told, and its only when you hear a humans agonizing scream when you realize he wasn't following. "Kaito!" you scream, he turns around to face you and he looks afraid. You reach your hand out and run to him, "Kaito!" you scream again. He reaches his hand out to you, and your three feet away when a blade finds it's way infront of you, cleanly beheading him. You gasp and open your mouth to scream, it's silent. its once his head falls to the floor when you kneel down and find it in you to scream. You hold his head close to your body and weep. You look up at the demon slayer, making eye contact, and you don't realize your mistake until his arms are stuck in place. "im sorry! im sorry! im sorry!" you frantically repeat. his eyes widen and he screams in pain, you don't look away as you watch him turn to stone; punishing yourself. you made that bed, now you lay in it.

you stayed on the floor holding kaitos head until sunrise.

once you stood up, you analyzed the landscape and came to the conclusion that he had ripped off the demons head with his bare hands, his hands still having blood on them, and had made eye contact with the first demon slayers partner; turning her to stone, evident in the way her body stayed in a fighting position. mistaking him for a demon, her partner beheaded him, which led to the events that followed. you gently placed kaitos head down and lifted his limp body to drag him onto a bed of flowers near by. once you did you placed his head next to him and let the last few tears out. you grabbed the demon slayers and placed them near his body, gently, and placed yours and kaitos prayer beads around their neck.

.

"this is fucking sick." sanemi says. tengen looks at kaitos body and then the two slayers statues. "how disturbing.." he sighs. Sanemi looks at tengen, "so, what do you think this is?" tengen crosses his arms and looks at the scene again. "a demon, 's the only explanation." sanemi rolls his eyes, "Yeah, no shit. but what kind. we need to have an idea of what we're dealing with. we were sent to investigate and all you can conlcude is 'demon!'" tengen grunts and shrugs, scratching his head. "we won't know until we face it. for now, its just a demon that has the ability to turn people to stone." sanemi kicks Kaitos body, "and this?" tengen, not being able to think of anything shrugs at sanemi. sanemi hums to himself, "it might have the ability to turn humans into gorgon like creatures, having them do its dirty work,i mean.." sanemi pauses to pick up kaitos head from his dead snakes and holds it up for tengen to see. "snakes" tengen says. "well he's not a demon, he was beheaded and his bodies here, so he could be an extension that won't die until the main body does." tengen says, too serious for his liking he continues. "unflashy way to die if you ask me." sanemi stares tengen down and tengen laughs. "let's take this back, we need the others opinions as well." they make their way back to the headquarters to have another pillar meeting.

you spent what felt like years hiding in the forests, but it was only a few months. you only ever snuck into villages during the night to take food and maintain your hygiene, laying low for the rest of the time unknowingly giving people more reason to think of you as a demon and keeping the demon slayer corps on their feet. no matter what, the only evidence they had to go off of was village peoples words. there was too many people confirming you existed, but not enough proof that you were actually there. after those two slayers; they hadn't seen any more of people turning to stone, just stolen food and a shadowed figure with snakes sticking out of their silhouette. you weren't a danger to them. 'for now' they said. The master had decided to send a final order on your matter, to keep an eye out for you and if you were seen to behead you. You were no longer being scouted for, nor investigated, so you used this as your chance to freely wander around the forest as pleased, allowing yourself to indulge in the lushness of the earth. Kaito would've liked all of this.

it was lonely for the longest time, you hadn't used your voice in months and the forest became your home. you walked in its paths as a lonely soul, having forgotten the sound of kaitos and your grandmothers voice, so there was nothing to hold onto in those dark moments, deciding to allow yourself to get hurt by demons that crossed your path and only running when you heard foreign footsteps or when it got too painful.

.

your heart pumped in your chest, 'is this really what im doing now?' you thought to yourself. the cold wind caressed your sweaty body, cooling you down after your face off with death. the wind was silent, but created soft sounds with the trees leaves near by. you found yourself walking to the singular wisteria tree in the area, it was the biggest you'd seen and it was absolutely gorgeous. your snakes had awoken and they stayed still, a silent way to ask for permission, you giggle and say yes, they can play. they nuzzle your face and you begin to cry, an overwhelming feeling taking over you. you felt heavy weight come off of you as your snakes "stood" to play in the wisteria flowers. you laughed to yourself and let wisteria envelop your figure; finding comfort in such a beautiful sight , completely forgetting exactly what you were running from...

Mitsuri abruplty stops her chase, causing Gyomei to stop with her. "Kanroji?" Gyomei asks. she looks over at you as your engulfed in wisteria, completely fine, she stutters a little before getting her sentence out, "she's completely engulfed in wisteria, she seems completely fine." she gasps when she sees you grab into the flowers and cry, "she's grabbing it even, it's doing nothing to her! are we sure she's a demon?" Gyomei hums, "it's the only valid explaination Kanroji, she must be more powerful than we thought if she can withstand the wisteria." Mitsuri shakes her head, "No, Himejima! theres no way she's a demon. No matter what, demons experience effects from the flowers, if she only hurt three people, she's weak enough for it to paralyze her!" Gyomei nods, "i see." he states. They stay there and they debate their next move. "we must find a way to take her to the master." he says, Mitsuri hums in agreement, "should we just.." she pauses, "how are we going to do that.." Gyomei thinks for a moment, hearing your laughter causes thin tears to cascade over his face, "it sounds so innocent, so full of life" he thinks. "are you okay Gyomei?" mitsuri asks, he nods, "it's just because of her laughter." mitsuri quietly lets an 'oh' escape her, she always forget's that the smallest things can make him cry. she looks over at you and she can hear it too, she wonders how you can be so happy and caught in the moment. "mitsuri?" she looks over at gyomei, "Yes?" He turns his heaed to the sound of her voice, "can you describe her to me?" she smiles, "ofcourse, gyomei!" she takes you in and begins to speak after a moment. "She has many really long black snakes on her head, like hair it seems..and they're playing in the wisteria. beautiful eyes, ones that glow in a way similar to the moon. other than that, she looks completely human, as far as I can tell. she's wearing a black kimono, with small detailings that match the color of her eyes." she stares at gyomei expectingly, and smiles. "thankyou mitsuri" he says. she hums fondly as a way to say your welcome, and goes back to looking at you. she and gyomei begin to walk towards you, trying to stay far enough so that you don't get scared and so that you don't harm them. you hear mitsuri sheathe her blade and your head snaps to her, her snakes quickly snapping back onto your head and closing their eyes, going back to their usual resting state. you step back and cover your eyes, holding your free arm out. "no!" you scream, voice hoarse from lack of usage. "please," you get on your knees, "if i.." you let out a shakey breath, "if we make eyecontact, you will turn to stone." your lips quiver, and gyomei hears the almost silent whimper you let out. mitsuri steps back and looks away, urging gyomei to follow suit, instead, he plants himself in place. mitsuri isn't afraid, she just wants to make you feel safe enough so that you'll allow her to take you to Ubuyashiki. "does it apply to those who are blind?" he asks, and you calm down at the softness in his voice. "i don't want to find out." you say, and you panic as he removes your hand from your eyes. you gasp and shut your eyes. "she has her eyes shut Himejima.." mitsuri states. he closes his eyes, "my eyes are closed, you can look at me." you open one day to look at him, and it's then when you realize how much bigger he is than when you first saw him. he unexpectedly opens his eyes, and you panic at first, noting how he doesn't move, but then you realize he has no pupils. "so it must not apply to the blind then." he says, tears escape your eyes, "i guess not.." you say. you indulge in the moment, and carefully place your hands on his face, giving him an out. he doesn't move. "you.." you begin, your voice wavering. "i can look you safely in the eyes." you exhale a laugh in disbeleif and smile. he smiles back, being able to hear your smile. "you can." mitsuri softly says, trying her hardest to not look you in the eyes, and suddenly, your no longer conscious.

.

your body lays infront of them in the shaded area of the garden as four demon slayers keep their blades pointed at your neck. the pillars talking among each other, some bickering about what they think you are, as they wait for the master to make his appearance. "we had it under control!" mitsuri states, the lower ranked demon slayer huffs. "didn't seem like it. the sun was coming up and we needed to get that demon to the master before the sun killed it." gyomei sighs, "you are mistaken, she's not a demon. the wisteria would have paralyzed her if she was" mitsuri nods and huffs. the kakushi near by hits the demon slayer in the head. "watch how you talk to the hashira!" you wake up and gasp as one of the blade inchs close to your neck. you catch yourself before you look up at the demon slayer and push your head down, causing the other blade to dig intself into your neck. letting out a yelp, it silences all the hashira. they quickly look above their heads to avoid making eyecontact and meet eyes with gyomei. He can't see you, but he can hear you well enough to know where you are and looks your way regardless. you keep your eyes locked on gyomei.

.

after a very long meeting,not everyone is fond of you. you are a danger, a small mistake will lead to bigger ends. but gyomei still insists that you aren't, explaining what he knows to his comrades, trying to get them to understand. once the meeting ends, and you apologize to the master for having turned two of his children to stone. he gives you his condolonces for losing your brother, and you decide to stay where you were and face the wall. you weren't demon, but you might as well have been one, atleast then they'd have a reason to get rid of you, atleast then they won't feel like they'll have to watch out for you for the rest of their time in the corps. you couldn't go to the villages, but you couldn't stay out in the forest, you were split. Ubuyashiki decided to have you be under Shinobu's care, since she seemed the most levelheaded in the situation. She agreed, as long as the master gave her time to prepare the butterfly girls and until she knew enough about you. he agreed.

gyomei sits next to you, to keep you company he says. and you both sit there for awhile. just enjoying each others presence. you hum a lullaby softly, and you both stay in silence until the end of it. once you stop, gyomei speaks up. "what is it you said you were?" he asks softly, trying to keep the peaceful atmosphere. "a gorgon" you say, and he hums. "i see." you snicker at that, "no you don't". and you cover your mouth, you had forgotten he wasn't your friend, it might be seen as rude. you open your mouth to apologize and he laughs. "i'll give you that one, that was hilarious!" he calms down and clears his throat. "it's not often that people joke with me, especially about my sight. they fear they'll hit a nerve if they do." you breathe out, "i just thought i did.." he hums and smiles. "stone breather, they said," you start, you hesitate, "do you like, breathe real stone?" he snickers. "i'll explain it to you, if you explain your eyes and hair to me." you giggle and shake his hand in a flimsy manner, "deal!" you say.

"are they just, staring at a wall?" Obanai says. Mitsuri shakes her head quickly, "no, they're falling in love!" he nods to her as a way to say 'okay, whatever you say' and she walks infront of Obanai. "just wait!" she perks up, "you should've seen them when we first found her!" she puts her hands on her cheeks and fondly smiles at the memory. Obanai shifts in place and changes the subject, them both walking away as they leave you and gyomei.

[utilitycaster]

Big D20 and ACOC fan here. The "they won't get the rich lore" argument just also feels so ridiculous from a technical standpoint? Like, CR fans watch long ass episodes, the campaigns for it span over a hundred episodes lmao. I'm pretty sure they're actually primed for lore retention and are fairly used to intricate plot points. I personally can't wait to see Matt take this on and bring in more viewers.

Right! Like...firstly, fans of Critical Role, or Matt, do tend to be massive fucking nerds, and CR in particular is pretty heavy on lore so assuming the worst of them is pretty dumb. Secondly, as I said, there's very few resources for this lore other than watching (requires a subscription) or reading the transcripts of the episodes - and I want to be clear, I don't blame the D20 wiki editors, who have as far as I know been minding their own business - but the people hyping up the rich lore have done nothing to bring that canon to potential new fans, instead just tsk-tsk-ing and saying "you wouldn't get it." Thirdly, I'm going to take a wild guess and say again that Matt and Brennan have gone through the lore together and are going to set the stage adequately for new viewers.

Which is the big thing that I think the people attempting to say "you wouldn't get it unless you've continuously been in the fandom specifically for ACOC for three straight years" are fully missing (and which your ask here does take into account appropriately). Dropout needs subscribers. That is their business model, and D20 is one of the shows that brings in the most new and continuous subscribers since many of the other shows, while great, are unscripted quiz-style shows and permit a more, well, drop in and out style of viewing.

The past few D20 seasons have not been pulling in the same viewership, and we can speculate why that is but it ultimately doesn't matter. They are specifically bringing in a popular and well-known DM, having a group of experienced roleplayers, and returning to this specific beloved setting on purpose to do so - both to mine the overlap in fandom between D20 and CR and perhaps expand it, reach out to fans of Aabria or Anjali, and perhaps bring back in people who watched A Crown of Candy but haven't kept up since. A lot of the discussion truly feels like it paints Matt as "asshole who wandered on set and seized control over my blorbos" and not "person who was very deliberately invited to DM this particular season and has the explicit blessing of Brennan, Sam Reich, and anyone else involved in the decision-making at D20." (I honestly don't know if the D20 powers that be are aware that there's a cohort of D20 fans who just passionately hate CR or Matt but the thing is, if I were a hypothetical executive who was, shall we say, plugged into the fansphere? I'd pick the setting of Calorum specifically so that we retain its passionate fandom, even if they don't like the DM, while also bringing in new fans. It would be the smart business decision, and also pretty funny.)

But also...look. I am certainly not above criticizing fan theories based on poor understanding of lore, or when people are like (smug voice) "well I'm a lore muncher so combat doesn't interest me", or when they respond to thoughtful meta with irrelevant projections. But if someone wants to watch Critical Role and make liveblog posts of "hell yeah, Fearne just stole that guy's watch, iconic" without going deep into the lore? That is absolutely just as valid a form of fandom as writing meta, or fic, or creating fan art, or cosplaying. The same goes for any other show. If you want to get into lore discussions and meta then yes, you should be relatively up on the lore, but if you just want to hang out and enjoy the show? You can show up to episode 1 absolutely cold and pick it up as you go along. It's fine, and anyone saying otherwise is an asshole who does not have good intentions.

[marengogo]

UGH!-6: But like … Did They Stutter?

Yet To Come - by BTS  [Proof]

[Music is a very big part of my life and I’m MOSTLY INCAPABLE of writing without music, so I just thought I'd share what I am listening to while writing this]

–🐺–🐺–🐺–

…

Given that even my coworkers, who generally REALLY DON’T CARE/KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT BTS except for the ones who now have started listening to some of their songs thanks to yours truly, came to me saying “So. BTS. They are disbanding uh? …” the day after FESTA 2022 dinner, I’d say it wouldn’t be a gross generalization to assume that at least every ARMY, OT7, x/y/z-biased, solo, anti, shipper, whatever-you-prefer-to-be-called, saw FESTA 2022 dinner. Right? 

If you haven’t I’d highly recommend you to do so but as always you feel free to do you as the boys did explain everything that they could at the time, which is pretty much what is happening right now. They also made a couple of sentiments and statements clear, and I, for one, am writing this post even though I am painfully aware that the boys are never going to see it, yet I still wish to put out this message in the universe, maybe its energy will manifest and reach them somehow, as I would really like them not to think that we all have poor listening and reading comprehension. 

BTS’ CHAPTER 1: THE END OF AN ERA.

The Beatles. The Jackson 5. Menudo. New Edition. Backstreet Boys. One Direction.

According to the following Wiki definition this is what they all have in common:

A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation.[1] Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands dance as well as sing, usually giving highly choreographed performances. South Korean boy bands usually also have designated rappers 🤡 LOL LOL LOL 🤡.

That being said, with hindsight, we can add/examine a couple of aspects, which have surfaced through the years and further represent boy bands. For example, the fact that at the very beginning boy bands were usually the union of a group of friends, or classmates, basically, people who already knew each other. Let’s fast forward a couple of decades, and we see that the music industry catches on to the fact that waiting for the next phenomenal boy band to magically appear is not sustainable and that is when they realise that they can actually make the groups themselves. So starts the scouting and the auditioning with the sole goal of slapping together supposedly talented boys who are complete strangers to one another, but who at the very least, have a desire to become rich and famous. “Win-win”. 

Moving on, around the same time, we'll have to leave the West and take a trip to East-Asia, where the boy band industry has had an even bigger eureka moment. What they’ve realized is that even though these boys may not have the affinity of a band of boys who already know each other, from a business point of view they can easily be molded into whatever it is on demand at the very moment, afterall, everybody loves a good story, and even better if it comes with a great soundtrack. So what better than creating a narrative for these boy bands, each member would have a role/character associated and fans can not only enjoy the music but also follow a sort of “storyline” as they watch for example the silent masculine strong member interact with the cute feminine talkative one. Even greater “win”, brr brr!.

Now, in an ideal world, all that reasoning would make sense and bring about endless profit, but we don’t live in such a place do we? The whole purpose of a business is to make money and if money is what you base your every decision on, sooner or later, you are bound to encounter problems that money can’t solve without changing things irreversibly and in most instances, for the worst. The thing about grouping ambitious strangers with the intent of becoming rich (usually more for the company) and famous (usually more for the artists) is that if you don’t have a common goal all you are essentially doing is building a glorified House of Cards. 

And don’t get me wrong, Longevity, is something that this type of companies, and the artists themselves, could only dream to achieve but never actually aim at. Nobody does, because it is very much a pipe dream type of thing. In fact, for the most part, the company's goal is it to at least have one amazing CD, make fans go crazy for a year or two, so that they can spend some money, and then if it doesn’t work anymore, the artist would hope to have garnered enough fame to allow them to start perhaps a solo career, or at least stay within the business, while the group inevitably disbands and the company moves on to the next group. Rinse and repeat ad infinitum. This has been the blueprint, and it was indeed the same blueprint used to form Bangtan Sonyeondan. 

It was the same blueprint, but Bang SiHyuk was a visionary that had goals of his own, with a knack for unusual experimentation 🤡. And exactly like a Mad Scientist, if you will, he played around with what he believed to be “slightly usual ingredients”. However, what he didn’t quite know at the time, was that these “ingredients” were actually very unusual. Some of the “ingredients” didn’t follow instructions, some very quickly dropped their assigned character, and some even had secret jobs but what they all had, and he probably didn’t account for or maybe he did, who knows right? was an extraordinary fighting spirit, which pulled up strong when it became clear that it was Bangtan vs the World. These boys had something to prove. They had somehow found their common goal.

As we all should know, early Bangtan, due to Big Hit's lack of reputation and funds, became the industry’s punching bag. This would have normally caused an “explosion in the lab”, instead, it created something new. The boys were fired up with this fiery will to fight back. They took the negativity and turned it into artistic fuel and did all of that while naturally learning about each other and consequently depending on each other solely. Somehow, these boys ended up actually liking each other. They kinda fought like members of a band made of family members, but had the passion of members of a band of strangers. They were an anomaly. 

An anomaly in a world that had rapidly become full of “anomalies”. Your everyday listener was, yes, looking for good music, yes, looking for something new and entertaining, but when they realised that they could also get someone who they could relate to; … 🤯🤯🤯. And so the “ingredients'' began to mutate. Along the way, they found their true calling, while adapting to their environment and understanding their receptors fandom, which also understood them in return, creating a never before seen bond, Tannies & ARMY, that brought them to where they are now; a world where THEY are the blueprint has anyone else noticed the number of boy/girl bands that got back together. 

These boys have created something unique. 

Something that other “Mad Scientists” have ever since been trying so hard to recreate in “their labs” and so far to no avail. This “something” is not only insanely lucrative, but also so emotionally rare, and has a chance at Longevity. These are boys who trust and genuinely love each other, but because they are also human, and have learned to be honest with themselves, they also know their limitations. And like they’ve always done, they sat down, exposed the problem, and tried to find a solution. And even though they didn’t have to, they also sat down with us, FESTA 2022 dinner, and quite clearly explained their solution. But, as always, the world managed to take their words and turn them into whatever sold better on the front page of the next morning paper we’ll get to that later on or/and whatever better fits their personal agendas. 

BTS’ CHAPTER 2: A LIMITED AMOUNT OF TIME, WITH AN UNLIMITED NUMBER OF POSSIBILITIES.

Have any of you experienced moments where you just wanted some time to yourself? Like, you love your friends, your family, your job, your everything, but at the same time, you are mentally exhausted and you need out for as long as you can afford? This is usually what most people use holidays for, you might be thinking. But the type of out I’m talking about is the kind where you want to be able to pause your present life, start another life for a while, and then go back to your past life kinda out. Basically, a “have your cake and eat it” type of out. 

That’s what I feel the boys are trying to experience and I ain’t mad at it, not one bit. Cause, let's be real, most of us regular people can’t really afford to even think of experiencing such a thing without MAJOR repercussions to our everyday life. But not only do I feel like they deserve it, but if it also allows them to reach their goals, and solve their problems, it would be like killing two birds with one stone. I mean, they really are not hurting anyone, by wanting to have a chance to experience life outside BTS other than those who are setting themselves up to be hurt that is 🤡.  

October 2022 rolled around and we got the following:

This theoretically gives a precise time frame to BTS’ CHAPTER 2. Let’s say that being back together means that they will physically be together and do a WLIVE on the 31st of December 2025, that means that, if we assume their serving period to be 18 months, the latest any member can enlist is the 30th of June 2024 (which I calculated considering the 30th of December 2025 being their last day). Obviously, I don’t know if their plan is to be together by the end of December 2025 and start working on a new album in 2026. Or be together say by August 2025 and ready for a tour in 2026 with a new album; only time can tell. But for the purpose of this post: BTS’ CHAPTER 2 began on the 15th of June 2022 and could end on the 31st of December 2025.

SO, that being said, a couple of things happened on the 15th of June 2022 that I would like to point out and a couple of things, define a couple of others, and I would like for people to remember one particular thing:

THINGS TO POINT OUT:

Some OT7 ARMY decided to dip and come back when BTS comes back to be 7, so after MS.

Other OT7 and/or x/y/z-biased ARMY decided to support each member’s solo endeavour.

Last but abso-fucking-lutely not least, SOLOS FINALLY GOT THEIR TIME TO SHINE AND PUSH THEIR AGENDA, along side antis.

THINGS TO DEFINE:

FAMILY BOY BAND MEMBER or FBBMs: Is what I will call boy bands with members that already knew each other, or were already related, etc etc etc.

STRANGERS BOY BAND MEMBERS or SBBMs: Is what I will call the type of bands that were put together through an audition, selection, etc etc etc.

ONE THING TO REMEMBER OR REALISE:

There was a point in time when BTS was seriously considered by NOBODY. Many knew about them, but still wanted nothing to do with them. Some that knew about them, went on and treated them like trash. Even though they had the talent, it took their fandom at the time to be persistent in order for people to give them a chance. In short, differently from many FBBMs and SBBMs who eventually ended up splitting up after reaching fame, BTS experienced having nobody but themselves and their label and fame came AFTER THAT. Because everyone was a nobody before becoming somebody, but how many were nobodies, who were constantly shoved down by semi-bodies and ignored by somebodies before they became THE BODIES themselves? So yeah, they may be smiling to people that harmed them in the past, and they might have decided to forgive and forget in other instances, but as real and intended as the experience they had were, you can bet that so are the choices that they make nowadays. A method to madness.

If you are a businessperson like yours truly, or have dealt with managing a business, you probably know that it is like in Love and War; all is fair. Obviously, this brings about injustice right away, but this is a known fact, no matter how clean you are, if you come and play in a muddy place, what do you think is gonna happen? Not to say that everyone is trying to get down and dirty, in fact, there are people that try their best to keep clean, but the reality of the fact is that you are still playing in mud. Yet, there is a difference between purposely trying to suffocate people in those muddy waters and trying to simply play by the rules, harm as less people as possible in the process and going home to live another day and start all over again the next day. 

Life is about balance, that’s why I like the color gray so much, it is the balance between black and white. And even though the Tannies are our beloved artists, it is important not to forget that in their own right they are also businessmen. I’m sure they want nothing else than to be there for ARMY always in theri best capacities, but this is not a charity, their lives, and the people who work for them, depend on the amount of money they make; this needs to not be forgotten. Now, how they make this money, all depends on the muddy field they play in, but from what I can see they really try their darn best to keep as clean as they can and harm as few people as humanly possible. 

ALL THAT to say that, when you experience having NOTHING with a group of PEOPLE, you will TREASURE THAT GROUP OF PEOPLE. Hence, ONCE AGAIN and it will not be the last time, I’ll keep hammering this, Chapter 2 wasn’t brought by for them to spread their wings and keep the fuck out, but as a means for them to have the experience they each want to have so that they can eventually be together again, healthily in order ot achieve Longevity which I will also get to towards the end of this post, don’t worry. And this brings me right to the current issues on the fandom-streets: FAVORITISM & SOLOS.

So at the moment “JUNGKOOK and his radio play” are the most recent subject. I will not go in depth, as I’ll be damned if I brought up all THE UNNECESSARY energy that has been riding with this valid topic. In fact, one thing that I found very helpful in understanding the radio play issue, was the following post by Ororo and Artiechikoo: 

​​https://www.tumblr.com/chikooritajjk/722232413519052800/so-youll-are-basically-saying-since-the-industry?source=share

Now, once you’ve read that, you’ll understand that the ACTUAL ISSUE HERE IS: WHY DIDN’T HYBE SEND LIKE CRAZY TO BE PLAYED ON THE RADIO, and that ladies, gentlemen and distinguished enbies, is a legit ass question. However, none of the members have anything to do with ANY of that, or with anything related really. During Festa 2022 dinner, they all told us the order in which their albums were coming out, which would indicate that they all sat down months beforehand, and all discussed what they wanted to do during their chapter 2. I would also dare to say that they also all were responsible for their projects, promotions and every aspect of their chapter 2, but that is just me.

ANYWAYS, back to the Jimin radio play issue, which, once again, is A VALID TOPIC, that unfortunately is being muddied from all the shit that solos are bringing forth that has NOTHING to do with anything. Is like the story of the boy who cried wolf, when the actual wolf arrived, nobody was there to help. When you are still stuck on cakes, on accusing members of sabotage, or any moving thing at that, THE REAL PROBLEM WILL BE OVERLOOKED.

Also, just putting this out there, if you actually think that ANY OF THE MEMBERS is out there actively sabotaging other members, then rest assured that you are also stanning a phonie-ass person. If you took a second to check out every other member, for every member who is being sabotaged by members, there is a story about that same member sabotaging another member. MEANING that we would all be supporting a band of phonies, who wouldn’t think twice to backstab their band mates; ALL OF THEM. 

So when, for example, you are accusing JK of throwing JM under the bus, or in the mud, stop one second, breathe, and TRY to put yourself in JK’s shoes. Imagine for example, spending a whole day reacting to JM content, or even just the following:

And then, imagine not giving a fuck about him: HOW DOES THAT WORK EXACTLY? Yes we don’t like Scooter Braun, yes we don’t agree with MANY OTHER THINGS, but it is vital to know how to address the correct issue and not just burn EVERYTHING DOWN, or/and involve not concerned parties. So when for example, the company is to blame, then the fucking company is to blame only, and not everything you would like to blame along with it. 

I 👏🏾DO 👏🏾 NOT 👏🏾 CARE 👏🏾 FOR 👏🏾 SOLOS 👏🏾 IN  👏🏾ANY 👏🏾 WAY 👏🏾 OR 👏🏾 FORM 👏🏾. 

Not too long ago, I was making this example with someone who told me that there was maybe a valid reason for people to become solos, but to me it felt like people saying they had a valid reason for becoming Nazi; would I support a Nazi, no matter what reason? 🤡🤡🤡THERE IS ALWAYS ANOTHER WAY, and unfortunately, keep suffering for a while longer, is one of them 🤡🤡🤡Becoming a Nazi WILL NEVER BE THE ANSWER for me, in the same way in which BECOMING A SOLO WILL NEVER BE THE ANSWER. When you become a solo you actively decide to care fuck all about all the other members. Now the person you want to support, loves and wants to keep building something with the people you decide are expendable, so, once again: HOW DOES THAT WORK EXACTLY?  Being able to pinpoint the actual issue is hard, it is confusing, it is stressful, but it is essential, please please please understand that.

BTS’ CHAPTER 3: BTS IS ENDGAME. PERIOD.

… I mean, I really don’t want to sound like a broken record so let me allow them to say it:

💙:

Here is the link to the full article: https://www.instagram.com/p/CpgkLqbtEKB/?hl=en

🩷:

🖤:

❤️:

💛:

💚:

💜:

AAAAAND, Except for Yoongi who is being rightfully private precious:

ALL OF A SUDDEN, I have a feeling that Yoongi got a “matching tattoo with the rest of the rapline, so his tattoo is somewhere on one of his legs …These boys have spent YEARS OF THEIR LIFE fighting against all sorts of prejudice, hate, nonsense, and more. It used to be from those who never gave them a chase, but now it seems that the adversary-wave is coming from within the fandom. YEAH IT LOOKS BAD RIGHT ABOUT NOW. But let's emphasize the LOOKS part of that sentence, because Social media “ARMY” aren’t IT. 

When you spend too much time on any SM, it will feel like that’s what ARMY is ALL about but I can guarantee you that there are so many ARMY out there who don’t know or care about the noise and just mind their business and keep streaming and advocating for the right causes. There are ARMY who do their best to support the boys in the best way they can, even if they can’t afford to buy every single piece of merch. 

There are also ARMY who are waiting for the boys to come back and also those people who have no idea yet, but will suddenly become ARMY in 2026 when THE BIGGEST COMEBACK THIS PLANET WOULD HAVE EVER WITNESSED, will kick off after they announce their world tour. In conclusion, as always, DO AS YOU SEE FIT, but if you decide that, believing and following people who think that having the boys competing against each other for future solo supremacy is where it’s at, all I’d “cutely” have to say is that:

THEY DIDN’T STUTTER: OT7 IS ENDGAME.

HAPPY ARMY DAY 🫰🏾.

Always respectfully yours,

Marengo. 

[ybblue]

Lowkey, I'm so glad to read the history of YB. I really enjoyed the content I was able to find of him with the game, Day 1 & 2. It was hard to find info about this game at first, so I read the wiki of course. I saw the traits of a wholesome yandere, if such a thing could exist. A yandere who wasn't violent with their target. That sounded like my jam!

(My Commissioned Art by @Two_Leaf_Cl0ver on twitter, feel free to use it for whatever!)

So I supported the Patreon cause I wanted to see how far along the game was and to play it for myself, because nothing beats personal experience.

I want to lay my thoughts out as I process why I like YB and what disappointments I've come to have with the game and maybe what I would like to have seen done instead. I'm not a game dev, so I'm coming at this without knowing everything involved in making a game.

[SPOILERS BELOW, DUH. I mean for ALL currently playable days.]

[Also HEADCANON stuff.]

(Source: Wiki, not my art, pretty sure its Fuboo's)

Day 1 is pretty sparse, but I likened it to being a demo of what to expect. Since YB said things like "I'm your boyfriend. Isn't that why you're here?", I took it to mean he was aware everyone who downloaded the game wanted him to be their boyfriend. However, maybe Y/N is sentient in their own world and is mostly like wtf is going on with this dude. It would also explain the "mixed messages" he says we are sending him when we reject his advances. I thought he might have even chosen to approach Y/N that day because he could see we, the player, were inhabiting their body.

In short, I was pretty thrilled to play a weird meta yandere dating sim. Moving forward, I am treating Y/N as an entity separate from myself. They are my (likely very unwilling) vessel, and even though I can influence how they behave, they obviously have their own will. They don't seem to know I'm possessing them either.

Day 2 has more dialogue and such, introduces the other characters, but I still find it doesn't feel like there is as much content as I would have liked. All answers that day basically led to the same way the day ends, which I find to be really weird. It makes me wonder if dev isn't sure how to do branching paths so that Day 3 can start exactly the way they need it to. Based on what I know about YB, it felt like he was in character in all routes until the very end when he just attacks. It's especially out of place when playing along with him.

As a side note, Y/N's personality has the biggest divergence in this day. If you are mean to YB on Day 1, then you are a complete asshole to everyone around you. This route is called the abuse route, I think, because YB will abuse you? However, I think of it as the abuse route because Y/N is really abusive to everyone around them and YB just sort of runs with that energy. (I am saying here: the player is influencing both Y/N and YB to be assholes, so we are basically the assholes in this route? I'm not trying to victim blame Y/N, but rather, I'm saying Y/N and YB are our victims. I would say Y/N is always our victim regardless...)

Day 3 is when shit hits the fan for the story in many ways. For Y/N, they just lost someone they knew, probably. TK or Lucy (who both seem to come off as potential love interests) or the Landlord/Don Williams (who doesn't read as a love interest at all to me, maybe I'm just oblivious as fuck) will die. Or, if you played Day 2 a certain way, a random person will be murdered.

My gripe with this is mostly that it comes so quickly, so soon, just a random murder of a major character. With how little content I feel there is in Day 2, I feel like I barely formed any attachment to TK, Lucy, or Don Williams, especially from the perspective of only having played the games.

This isn't to say they aren't great characters, because I think they are.

In fanon.

The fans have really taken these characters, the random snippets we know about them from various sources (the Tumblr and Wiki) and ran with them. Though these characters don't receive the same level of love and attention as YB, I feel like they have really enhanced any attachments people could form with their own skillful writing/observations.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't also point out how Peter comes off out of character on this day. He's pushy, demeaning, and outright abusive towards Y/N.

A part of me wonders: is he just pissed off because Y/N is in his way of getting to us, the players? Or is he actually not aware he is in a game despite what the creator said?

If he is aware he is in a game, and this is supposed to be out of character for him to behave this way, does that mean the game is forcing him to act like this?

But then he admits to grinding against Y/N at night when he sneaks in through the window. He doesn't just watch Y/N sleep, he touches them. That's not consensual for Y/N at all. I thought he was just a guy who was peeking at worst (still not great), but he actually sexually assaults Y/N. (Not to kink shame anyone, but outside of fantasy obv that is not okay.)

It really left a sore taste in my mouth. I thought this game was about a meta yandere guy who loves the player so much he is trying to take advantage of the game to talk to us through Y/N. Obviously, this is me building up my own expectation for the game, but I would have accepted any other way the game turned out as long as it was still meta and vaguely wholesome in his actions, at least with regards to him never hurting us, sexually assaulting us, or berating us.

But instead, it's just a simple "he's just Y/N's stalker" and makes no further attempts to speak to us, the players. It all just feels disappointing.

Day 4, I won't say much since the creator doesn't want much to come out about it, but I will say it gets a tad better, though its gross inside the context of Day 3.

YB returns to being a sweetie cutie pie, mostly because he finally won. Depending on how your route has been going so far, you can experience the 'erotic' part of the game. Currently, there isn't much CG to it, its a still image with smut. I'm not going to complain about it. I will point out you can tell him to stop and he will.

Which is really out of character for how he acted on Day 3. Does he respect our consent or not? Does he care about how we see him or not? Day 3 he's acting like a huge douchebag, and Day 4 he is like 'uwu okay i'll stop.' It feels inconsistent with the narrative of the game.

I'll stop discussing day 4 here.

Right now, I feel like this game is missing so much. I feel like the game relies on the player to find lore about YB on their own, rather than include it in the game. The characters don't have enough screen time for me to miss them when they are killed or absent from Day 4.

It seems we are supposed to meet a new character on Day 4 who is a friend of YB, but it seems REALLY LATE to be introducing a new character. This character has been known to die hard fans for like over a year, but we don't know ANYTHING about him aside from a short list of bullet points.

Then there is the mysterious Greta. YB's therapist or some such. Supposedly this person is encouraging Peter's behaviors. Why would they do this? What is going on? Will this character make an appearance in the game at all? If they do, why so late?

There's a chance that a completed Day 4 and 5 (aka a finished game) will tie this altogether, but unless more is added to Day 1, 2, and 3, I don't see it coming together in a satisfying way.

I'll still play the game when it's completed, and I'm staying in the fandom, because I love YB and the fan content for YB. I love the YB we have all collectively imagined, the one who is a yandere stalker, but isn't hurting us. The YB who is sweet and thoughtful, even if he's stupid enough to think stalking is okay.

Here's some fan content that I really enjoy and is what helped me build my own personal head canons about YB, the game, and what it all means:

Sugar Gives Me a Toothache (SGMATA) - This is a fanfiction on AO3 and its a masterpiece. In this, the game's Y/N is called MC, and the reader is a Y/N that stalks YB (Peter). There is so much longing, pining, sweetness, bittersweet, and just... I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

Game Over - A comic both on Twitter and Tumblr. It hasn't been updated in a long time, but it's still soooo good, and the art rocks.

And just all the random comics people draw for YB. Him being goofy and stupid. Him being a lovesick puppy. Him being a dangerous animal only Y/N can tame. All the memes and jokes. All very inspiring.

I guess in short, I really love YB more than I love the game, and I think YB might end up being something that transcends his own creator and becomes something that belongs to the fans.

[almightyelectro]

eternal grief.

an introspection on ei from genshin impact, focusing on her concept of grief, life and human emotions.

sadly because reading old stories on genshin is hell, a lot of my information has to be pulled from the wiki, my own memory and some videos (i usually love to back up my thoughts with quotes but...genshin is way too tiring to dig up info for, i'm sorry)

will go into spoilers involving the inazuma archon quest and the sumeru archon quest (particularly involving wanderer/scaramouche).

everything mentioned is about ei's feelings on the matter, as i cannot speak for others and their characters!

the creation of the raiden shogun (who will be shortened to the shogun) and kunikuzushi (who will be shortened to kuni) and her treatment of them is something that gives us great insight on how ei processes her grief. for one, we need to talk about why ei is grieving-- and though i'm sure we do all know, i'm going to talk about it in detail anyway.

ei's source of grief is pretty well known: she lost her twin sister during the cataclysm. anyone losing a family member, especially one so close to them, would be torn... but there's a bit more to it than that. for one, ei and makoto have been together since the very beginning, and as far as we know they're the only family they had. second, the death of a god in this universe isn't really as simple as a mortal's death. while they're aware gods can die (based on the archon war, though we don't know exactly what went on during it), ei and makoto lived in relative peace for a very long time before the cataclysm occurred. i think it's safe to say that before this event they likely considered the possibility of the other dying.

i personally believe that makoto realized just how dangerous it was and this was why she went to khaenri'ah all on her own-- or perhaps she believed she could handle it on her own without involving her sister. either way, makoto's care for ei is why she went all by herself, eventually leading to her death and ei taking up the role of the raiden shogun.

so, what does this have to do with the shogun and kuni's creation? well, the biggest thing is what happened when she first created kuni in order to host the gnosis. once kuni was created he shed a tear, and ei deemed him unsuitable for his purpose. i think a lot of people misunderstand ei's motives when it comes to kuni, especially because the two of them have different views of what happened.

while it can be read that she saw him as weak, something to pity, i think there's a bit more to it than that. as mentioned before, makoto went into battle on her own, likely due to wanting to spare her sister's life. makoto's own emotions are what caused her death-- or at least, that's how ei views it. yes, she did pity him, but deep down i believe she was afraid that his emotions would get in the way...that they would put him in danger, just like makoto.

i think it's also important to note that...ei didn't create kuni with the intentions of him being a son, or a family member. if she met kuni (now our beloved wanderer) now and learned that was how he viewed her, i think she would be genuinely shocked. it probably never crossed her mind that to her creation she was more than just that-- a creator. she was a mother, gave him life and sentience, but in her eyes...she is simply a god crafting a puppet. i dont think she would even be against accepting him as family (especially since she gave him the golden feather so that he may return to her), but...can a god like herself really understand what it means to be a mother? it's a foreign concept to someone like her. all she knows is she is his creator, and she truly believed she would give him a better life by stripping him of his duties and allowing him to choose his own fate.

the shogun, meanwhile, was her final product. a (seemingly) emotionless puppet that would follow her ideals. but...the shogun and ei aren't even 1:1. i think this especially hammers home the idea that ei was not only afraid of erosion, but worried that her own emotions would result in her death. she spared them from knowing of her sister's fate, from having to mourn, but if she died there would be no way to shield them from it.

it's pretty common for people to see ei as just the shogun 2.0, but there are pretty noticeable differences. for one, the shogun is very matter of fact, capable of making decisions without hesitation if it means furthering her ideals...while ei's voice is much more soft, and she has a tendency to ask questions. even when it comes to apologizing for the shogun's actions ei hesitates. she believes the shogun should do so-- and though this could be read as her not wanting to take responsibility for her creation, i think it has more to do with the fact that ei is just...not used to being a leader. for most of her life she was an unseen shadow, makoto did all of the talking. even now she stands behind the shogun, acting as a shadow (until post sq2)

tldr: i dont thinkwe should be expecting gods to fit our morals when it comes to how they process things. nya

[livedtoserve]

Flora Stats Meta 01 ~ Fates Numbers

As Fates is a much larger game compared to what I usually dealt with before (i.e. Shadows of Valentia, Heroes(?), Cipher cards...cool games on your resume). With that in mind, this meta focusing on Flora's base stats and growth rates will very likely be shorter, and hopefully more concise compared to my previous characters' metas.

That being said, I already do have a stupid reason to split this into section(s) somewhat, so without further ado...

Part 1: Okay which Flora are we even talking about

As with everyone else from Fates, Flora's raw stats are technically split up between the three routes of the game: Birthright, Conquest, and Revelation. Or, technically Flora only has stats in two of these three routes, as Flora is not playable in Birthright.

Who ever said we were talking about playable Flora, though? As my Flora in TOA canon follows the events of the Birthright route, this meta in particular will observe Flora's stats as shown during her boss battle in Chapter 17: Lost in the Ice.

I could have likely tried comparing all of her enemy appearances, as Flora does fight the player on all three routes, funnily enough. However, Birthright is where Flora is fought the latest and her stats would be greatest, and is the one that falls in line with my portrayal. Therefore, I will be looking at Lunatic Difficulty of BR Chapter 17 for this meta. Lunatic chosen for the highest stats, and honestly they don't change too greatly between Normal or Hard.

Oh, and as a side note: Flora's growths are consistent over any route, so when it comes to her potential in a stat, there should be no issue...kind of.

So due to being a game where you are encouraged to class change, every class has its own base growth rates that get added to a character's. As this can get confusing real fast, plus Flora has been a maid for nearly her entire life, Flora's growth rates will be considered only when as a Maid.My source for images today will be from the Fandom wiki, as Serenes Forest doesn't really have a good place to present enemy Flora as far as I'm aware. This source's growth rates consider Flora's growths combined with her Maid class, so they fit the above restrictions.

Part 2: Birthright Stats & Growths

With the conditions being set, here are the relevant pictures from the above wiki source:

At first, I was going to approach this like a normal stat analysis. But I quickly realized how weird this would be, given how level 9 Flora here has much greater stats than she would have in any playable state. This is why I am going for a simpler approach that appeals to her narrative here: comparing her directly to her twin, Felicia.

Specifically, their growth rates since their base stats would be ridicuously different. Here are Felicia's pictured below, from the same Fandom wiki:

HP: LOWER GROWTH

To start, Flora and Felicia have very similar HP growths, though Felicia barely beats out Flora's 35% with a 40%. Especially with Felicia's position in Fates, always joining the player character either at the start or in the middle of the route, she has much time to build up the endurance that can be related to the HP stat.

On the other hand, in Birthright, Flora has quite the bulky 41 HP for her boss fight. (For reference, Normal/Hard only has her at 5 less HP.) Considering this fight is a much greater last stand compared to the state of her Conquest or Revelation battles, it feels in character to have a high HP for this situation.

STR: HIGHER GROWTH

This one relatively surprised me at first sight. Flora emphasizes in her support with Felicia that the pink maid is better in combat than the maid with a birthright. And yet growth-wise, Flora holds a more standard 50% compared to Felicia's mere 20%. If this is the case, why does Flora consider herself weak when it comes to fighting?

This really can just be for gameplay purposes, though it can also symbolize Flora training hard after the initial sparring matches that shamed her during youth. Though even after steeling herself hard, for herself and her people, she still lacks the confidence to believe in herself when battling. In any other route, she is at least able to admit this fault with Felicia. But in Birthright, it does leave her with a high 21 strength to defend the Ice Tribe with.

MAG: LOWER GROWTH

I think this section makes up for the potential inaccuracy with the STR segment. Flora only has a 30% MAG growth to Felicia's 45%, a sizable difference. In-game, this is only relevant for Birthright Felicia while using the Freeze staff on Lunatic. However, I do believe magic is an important strength for Ice Tribe members to have, and Felicia outpaces Flora in this regard.

Even if maids themselves do not use offensive magic, cutscenes show that Flora and Felicia can release icy gusts or blizzards on command. Most definitely an act of magic, though obviously not translated in gameplay to avoid breaking it. Cowards.

With the higher growth, Felicia has the greater potential to handle ice magic rather than the tribe's future leader. Although they mainly use their magical prowess as maids to heal or inflict status, I am sure Flora is uncomfortable being beaten on this front, further contributing to her inner envy toward her twin.

SKL: HIGHER GROWTH

Both sisters are decent enough in this growth, though Flora does have the higher 60% versus Felicia's 45%. This makes good sense for them. Felicia is portrayed as the clumsy, accident-prone maid who, even if she is fine on a battlefield, does always manage to mess up basic tasks. Flora, on the other hand, is seen as a perfect servant and has the skill to back up any of her endeavors.

Not much to really add here, honestly. She gets the job done and gets paid! Well, actually they probably don't pay her. Sorry.

SPD: LOWER GROWTH

They are pretty close in this category, with Flora's 45% losing to Felicia's 55%. With only a 10% difference, they can somewhat keep up with each other in a game of speed. Flora would eventually fall behind, though due to being lower. As the "left brain," more careful of the two, this feels in-character for her stats.

LCK: LOWER GROWTH

Okay so here is the funny "what does LCK even mean" part of Neku's metas. Flora does have only a 45% in this growth compared to Felicia's 65%. I do think this contributes to the pair's general dynamic. Despite all of Felicia's slip-ups, she does end up successful in her career at the end of the day. And Flora herself isn't inherently unlucky, but the right things always seem to happen to Felicia rather than her.

You know, like being favored during their childhood training. Or not having the burden of potentially disappointing your entire tribe from your failures. Or being able to leave to join your lord during the war instead of defending a fallen tribe. The simple things.

DEF: HIGHER GROWTH

Defensively, Flora has a better growth on the physical end at 35% over Felicia's 20%. For defense stats in general, I like to imagine they fall in line with their offensive equivalents, so DEF links to STR while MAG links to RES. In this sense, Flora is superior in STR to Felicia, so her being slightly better at tanking physical hits makes sense too.

RES: LOWER GROWTH

And just like the MAG side of things, Felicia wins in the RES growth with a 45% over Flora's 40%. Pretty close to each other, though it is nice to see the ice maid sisters share a better prowess in tanking magic attacks over physical ones, something reflected in their base stat spreads as well. Most likely coming from their more magic-based backgrounds.

Conclusion

As I said at the start, this meta is a bit shorter and to the point, mainly because trying to tackle Flora's stats is trickier to me. Partially due to Fates' route layout as a whole, but there are so many characters I could compare Flora to (both on ally and enemy sides) that I think a simpler 1v1 with her most relevant confidant made more sense.

To review, Flora's accusation of Felicia being the better one in combat is not baseless. While Flora holds greater ground regarding SKL and the physical stats of STR and DEF, Felicia beats her out in a majority of stats, most importantly in MAG, LCK, and RES. They are still quite close to each other, partially thanks to sharing the same growth bonuses from the Maid class. Still, superstitions about not being a worthy inheritor of the Ice Tribe do not sit well when directly comparing the two.

[rivalcobalt]

The idea of Ryo expies has been interesting to me lately (as in there is very silly possibilities for them.) I was wondering if the similarities just…come to you over time, or is there just an official Documentation ™️ of all of them?

Once you know to look for them, they start coming to you, but they've somehow managed to stay as kinda under the surface as anime lore and don't have any kind of wiki that I know of. The closest that there is to a widespread concept of them afaik is the idea of 'Komaedas'/the Komaeda checklist, which is like... similar concept but without the awareness that there is actually a legitimate link here between a lot of the "major" ones

I was actually working on a wiki for them, but I ended up putting it on hiatus because I figured there'd be more interest in a decent translation of gekiman lol (which I have,, also had to put on hiatus because of school, but I'll get back to it soon). It's something I do want to get around to though

The first time I saw any concept of it was from this tweet (which appears to be a repost of a pic from here), but it did give me the idea to try and organize them by lineages, so here's some similar maps I tried to make for Ryos/Akiras/Mikis/Amons with a few friends a while ago. This is the closest to a list that I know of existing, and I know these are definitely still missing a bunch. I don't think I've posted these before? So here I guess, incomplete or not

(Ignore the colour coding; it was kinda an attempt to organize how confirmed of an expy characters are (confirmed influence on character/confirmed influence on series/speculation of varying degrees of insanity) but a lot of it is guesswork since we didn't really go digging through interviews for every creator.)

We also kinda had an attempt running at creating our own checklist based off some ideas from the above linked map, the Komaeda checklist, and this chart, but I honestly haven't looked at it in a few years so I should review it before posting it. Input/criticism on any of this is very welcomed of course

My DMs are also always open if you wanna hang out and talk about any of this. It made me embarrassingly happy to get this ask and I was struggling not to prioritize answering it over like... homework

[heterochromicnachos]

ANALYSIS! LEO EDITION!

WHAT ON EARTH IS LEO’S SEXUALITY?

(AND DONNIE’S!)

Leo has the general consensus of being Gay, and this is not without evidence. From his behavior to actual actions, there is genuine proof.

However, the thing that confuses me has to do with the scene in newsworthy.

You see, Leo is the only one with a negative reaction to Mikey’s act. Now, is this a character development thing? I doubt it.

Being attracted to men isn’t something that develops. It’s natural and is something you have from birth because your brain decides it likes another gender.

Is he over-reacting to be different? I don’t think so. Donnie and Raph are very supportive of this and Leo isn’t. Everyone in the room (except hypno) is aware this is an act and aren’t too worried about the innuendoes here. Leo knows Mikey is putting up an act to catch hypno off guard so they can stop him. Despite this, the others are still reacting positively to this (or negatively, in Leo’s case.)

A simple answer?

Leo may be aromantic. He may not be up for the kissing and the hugging, but I doubt he is also asexual.

The biggest “gay leo” fuel is the episode “The hidden city Job”.

Leo is seen to be very into guys in this episode, one of the biggest clues being a blink and you miss it scene towards the beginning.

People will most likely be focused in hueso here, as he is the one speaking and is the one with the most expressions and actions here. However, off to the left, leo can be seen staring at a large pirate yokai walking past.

Jaw dropped, eyes wide, and a very noticeable smile as he stares at the guy’s ass. Hell, the gif is labeled as “Leo checks out a guy” on the tmnt wiki.

Leo does indeed like men, he is indeed gay. However, he is not the cookie cutter gay we all make him out to be.

Leo, while a gay man (teenager), is not entirely interested in having a romantic relationship with anyone. It is much more likely he is based on sexual attraction and not romantic attraction. Especially given how he not so subtly stares at a buff yokai’ s butt.

He is entirely down for appreciating a man’s beauty, as also seen with don suave in this very same episode.

“Wow, you guys are handsome.”

Leo is very clearly attracted to don suave. While this may be because of his immaculate beauty so potent people can faint from him looking their way, he is also seen lavishing the guy in nuzzles later. Leo is 100% gay, he is just more sexually attracted than romantically. Now, is he fully aromantic?

This part can be entirely up to your interpretation, as we never see him interact with a possible partner like usagi. He very well be demiromantic, meaning he will develop romantic feelings only after he has a strong emotional connection with someone. It would explain why he is not excited about Mikey’s front in newsworthy, as there is no connection and he most likely just isn’t into it.

Now, for the other part of this analysis, what is Donnie’s sexuality?

He is clearly not aromantic, as he has a fat crush on atomic lass. (And that’s perfectly okay.)

Donnie is extremely eager to dance with his idol, even if it’s a stranger in a costume.

His line, as simple as it is, causes three women to faint. Despite the fandom consensus Leo is the one to get more bitches, Donnie clearly has a greater amount of rizz. Friendly reminder his line was meant for atomic lass and still made three women swoon.

Donnie is, if anything, only asexual. It also makes sense thematically with the twin thing he and Leo have going on.

They;re both flamboyant, dramatic, and extra. While donnie definitely has the theater kid energy, leo has a bit as well. The two of them both rely on their brothers for support, and are even right next to eachother on the color wheel. Donnie being asexual and leo being aromantic fits their dynamic, and I would not be surprised if it was the intent. There are not many scenes of donnie doing things that support his sexuality, which has lead to the conclusion of him being aroace or bi. We don’t have evidence for either, so it’s very likely he’s either bi pr straight. And that’s okay.

I can’t add anymore my iPad is screaming, I may add a part two. I dunno.

[wesavegotham]

I was busy until now, but the preview for Batman vs Robin #3 is out:

Again, I'm a bit annoyed that this story acts like Damian knows all about Batman's current resources considering how much Bruce had to adapt in recent years because he lost Wayne Manor and moved to the city, most of his family fortune is gone too and the city got taken over several times since Damian left (Joker War, Fear State, Failsafe...they really need to stop doing this arc). Damian was only back with Bruce very briefly before leaving once more, he should be one of the batfamily members with the least amount of knowledge about Batman's current resources and contingencies. Hell, in the main Batman run Bruce is fighting Failsafe, a contigency plan Batman made that not even he was aware of.

Also, I get that this is about the robins fighting Bruce, but not using Cass seems like a tactically unwise decision by Nezha or Damian.

Okay, so Bruce has very little resources (at least if Waid doesn't also reveal that Bruce had lied to Alfred knowing he was fake all along and pulls things out of his ass again) and the robins get a bunch of fairly powerful to really powerful magic items to aid them in their fight against Batman.

But we know how this is going to go. Bruce is not going to die to them, the story needs to get Bruce to Damian and Nezha for the climax of the story. So even with these powerful weapons these fights with Bruce might only end up showing us how resourceful and skilled Batman is because not even a lack of resources on his side and abundance on the side of his enemies can make his protégés win against him.

I'm too lazy to write down what these items can do in my own words so I'm going to copy the wiki descriptions:

The Cloak of Cagliostro allows the wearer to teleport, and to become intangible and invisible.

The trident can be used for base offensive purpose, but can also be used for a variety of mystical effects, such as cleaving a spatial aperture in the middle of the ocean. The trident is capable of controlling any body of water, creating water elementals, speed ships and other water vehicles with water, create fogs and storms of high intensity, summon waves of water to propel him at great speeds, and create earthquakes by increasing water pressure. It can manipulate and conjure water, as well as disperse energy in the form of electrical bolts and forcefields.

The mystical power of the coup-stick works in tandem with the power of the Bison Cult talisman. Through these tools, Black Bison can animate material objects and in doing so, command these objects to do his bidding. This power cannot affect living biological material, but can affect non-living organic tissue. Black Bison once used the coup-stick to re-animate the stuffed remains of a white stallion (as well as other animals). Black Bison can also use the coup-stick to control the weather, such as summoning a strong wind to deflect attackers.

The Sword of Sin can be ignited with the mind of the wielder, if the person is powerful enough. The sword has the ability to conjure in the mind its victims all of the sins for which they are guilty or have not atoned for. For this reason, it is Azrael's preferred blade to use. Like its sister sword, the Sword of Salvation, it is capable of cleaving right through a target without leaving a mark. Used on a target at the same time as the Sword of Salvation, it can bring up both the sins and guilt and the reasons behind them in the mind of the target and the wielder. It is often surrounded in an aura of flaming energy.

Wouldn't be suprised if Waid uses the sword to give Bruce a guilt-trip about all the robins and how he affected their lives.

Nah, he'll be fine. He's the freaking Batman which already limits the ways this story can turn out for him severely.

I'm nitpicking, but saying "because he's smart" instead of "because that's what I would do" would have been less arrogant sounding and more flattering to Damian. I'm kinda tired of Batman setting the standard everything else gets compared to. But as twenty something Bruce said at the end of Batman: The Knight, he's the best at everything now😒

Anyway, does anyone know what situation Bruce is referring to with Riddler's Labyrinth? Because I don't and there is no editor's note (in a story that already put an editor's note in the second issue that explained something that happened at the end of the first issue🤨). I have a feeling this never happened and Bruce is testing Alfred. I bet Nezha or Alfred will reveal that he's only been Nezha's puppet at some point and Bruce will tell him that he suspected that all along and that he tricked him by referring to an situation the real Alfred would know they were never in.

[auranova26]

Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling Lore Bits 3: Rewrite Edition

During the research for a video essay I am working on, I have come across information that has shaken the foundation of what I have thought about Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling. While my AU is free to do what I want, I would like my interpretations of Shao Hsien-Ko and Shao Mei-Ling to be based on the foundation of what was established and either expand, change, recontextualize, or add ideas to make them feel like the best they can be. With some additional flavor text that works for the mythos they are in.

With that established, I feel I need to look back at the last 'Lore Bits' I made for them and change information. Rather than edit what was there, I'll instead grab information from each one that must be changed and say how it will be changed here for this Lore Bits on them. A time capsule of what I wrote before with the information I had back then. If I don't bring anything up, then the information on Lore Bits 1 and 2 are still canon to Cryas Darkstalkers.

To begin, Lore Bits 1:

Due to the incident that made the sisters aware of what happens when a jiangshi tastes blood, Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling refuse to eat any meat-based food if it wasn't prepared by them or a very trusted individual.

Blood is no longer an issue as that idea was based on misinterpretations from the Darkstalkers Wiki based on a panel from a manga. They are free to eat whatever they want! That includes the mentioned Blood Sausages in Lore Bits 1.

Oh... turns out that is the only thing as looking back at my 2 Lore Bits, that was the only thing. 😅 However, I did make other things not under the banner of Lore Bits. So let us look at those and see what must be changed. First of all:

No longer will this Burst going forward be referred to as Dark Embrace/ Xié è De Yōngbào(邪恶的拥抱). Instead, it shall be known as:

腐敗的拥抱 (Fǔbài de Yōngbào)/Corrupt Embrace

It makes better sense in terms of naming as the Burst was obtained via the Corriyami and the Qi of the sisters effectively corrupting one another in a mixture. While yes, the idea of the name of Corriyami is 'Dark Corruption', I already have a character who has a Burst that can basically mean 'Dark Embrace'. Plus... Corrupt Embrace sounds very cool to me.

Another thing to bring up since it is mentioned in the post: Afflicted with nightmares and even being taunted by her inner darkness, it all comes to a critical point during a battle with a large group of Corrupted, beings who fall victim to Corruption.

Without going into too much detail, the whole 'inner darkness/jiangshi' bit with Hsien-Ko is no longer part of the mythos as that has no bearing at all in the original lore. Just a fabrication. While I liked the idea... I decided to ultimately scrap it as there are other ways Hsien-Ko can deal with the consequences of becoming a jiangshi without the idea of some sentient inner demon in her mind.

Also, Hsien-Ko actually can't sleep proper without the help of Mei-Ling. I'll explain in another Lore Bit.

Onward to the next thing to edit:

After a scuffle with some xianshushi and talking with one of the shifu closest to their mother, they were banished from Xianmencun for their own safety.

Reading the official source I found, I actually want to tweak things. So here it seems to imply there being more shifus. Nah, only Mingxia was a shifu. The lore makes a clear statement that the only practitioners of the sorcery that is on display was only her and the Shao sisters. While I am gonna go with this idea of scarcity in Xian Men Cun, I want to have it to where Mingxia did at least have some other woman that she vetted and saw their potential to utilize magic. A small school of xianshushi of varying levels.

Another thing is that in the lore, it makes clear how their village was basically razed to the ground during the raid. I will go with that idea so there is no real sneaking out and stuff. No banishment.

Next:

On both sheets, the term 'ofuda' will no longer be used. While that is the official term in the og lore, that is a term with ties to Japanese Shintoism. Not sure if you noticed, but the sisters are Chinese and no mention of practicing Shintoism. Instead, I will be going forward using the following terms: talisman or 護身符 (hùshēnfú).

To reiterate, the inner jiangshi entity is no longer going to be part of Cryas Darkstalkers. So that Xienian, ignore it. However, her eyes going red is still a thing when she does go berserk.

Overall, in time do need to update these sheets with more accurate aspects, like Hsien-Ko's body frame, an update I want to make to the keyhole on her qipao, and edit the text.

Hmmm, kinda about it. I'll be making a Lore Bits 4 for them to go over some new aspects about them I do wish to share. Look out for it in due time. :)

[straydogkins]

Shufflemancy reading for Lanzhu Zhong

General disclaimer: I hope these make sense to you, but you always know yourself best what is and isn't true to you and your canon. As per usual we rolled three times and asked for a general reading of your relationship.

As always: Please heed the TW's in this. The first song containes themes of transphobia. The second song will talk about manipulation. Third song mentions drugs breifly.

The Shufflemancy says...

Mad by LuvP ft KAITO | Lyrics

This song is a strange one to pull: It's based around Alice in Wonderland, told from the Mad Hatters perspective. My personal interpretation is that he's trying to convince Alice not to go back to the 'real' world that hurt him, however he still wants her to slay the Queen of Hearts in order to make Wonderland safe.

What's interesting is that The Hatter in this song is transgender, this is made clear in the lyrics.

My interpretation: This is not a relationship song in the traditional sense.

But one way you can look at it is that it's about confessing secrets to someone who's like you in a world that feels like it's being oppressed by a larger force. It's also about feeling that you have gone 'mad', either because of this secret or the way that society has treated you for this. Although the queer themes in this song are undeniable to me- I don't know if this could link to the magic in your timeline or something else that isn't inherently queer focused.

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The Distortionist by GHOST ft Yohioloid | Lyrics

Okay this is a story based song so I'm going to copy and paste it from the lyrics wiki:

"The song is about a man (Name confirmed by GHOST to be Christopher Pierre) who controls mirrors to reflect him as a good person. The mirrors, however, become self-aware, starting to reflect his true self. When a mirror "betrays" him, he smashes it with a metal bat and either blames the mirror for breaking or says he can't control himself, so he isn't to blame either.

Eventually, the mirrors work together, reflecting spotlight on Christopher, burning off his skin and revealing the true person they tried to reflect the entire time. Christopher secludes himself in his own private little world, looking at his reflection and denying he ever has done anything wrong."

My analysis:

This song is very clearly about a manipulator, weather this is you or your partner (or someone else or even an event) is unclear to me personally. The previous song implies that you and your partner were close, although maybe there were secrets in the relationship at first to me it seems like you talked about it- Even if one of the parties did feel like they were going 'mad' from the way they've been treated.

It's entirely possible that this person then became manipulative, or started hiding their 'true self', distorting their identity to look like a 'normal' person to others. Maybe the other person in the relationship was a bit like the mirrors, encouraging them to be themselves but the person covered it up.

Again, you could go for the literal interpretation (Person A is manipulating person B) but personally from the information we have I genuinely don't think that your partner would do this.

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EMOTION by Shioriko Mifune | Lyrics

Ngl we had a LOT of issues arriving at this song: First we pulled hardbass night by Ferry ft Yuzuki Yukari (it's a shitpost song about getting high at a club) and two songs without an English translation (Fantastic Rabbit House and Takarabako no Jet Coaster- both from 'Is the order a rabbit' franchise) Tbh though I think I was doing the reading wrong there, so please disregard them.

Anyway, EMOTION is about someone who feels like they're lying and hiding their 'true self' but they're trying to change and show their 'true self' more.

My analysis:

This is a fairly straightforward song to analyze, in relation to you I think it symbolizes someone (either you or your partner) who feels like they are hiding and need to be themselves, the song does seem like it's being spoken to the listener, so I believe that the person would have opened up to you (or vice versa).

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Overall analysis:

My personal interpretation is that there was a Big secret one of you (I'm leaning towards your partner) was hiding, possibly manipulating others in order to keep it hidden. Although they opened up to you in the end I don't know if the damage was already too great for you to overlook or if it had consiquences.

The fact it ended on a positive song while the first two are rather negative suggests to me that it got better with time, although at first the relationship may have been unstable due to the lie- Although I can't tell you what that lie or hidden truth was.

[sunmarketing]

Coronado, California

In this episode: FAQ is: Boston or New York?

Today’s Destination is: Coronado island, California

Today’s Mistake-Underestimating time required for security. 

Travel Advice: How to swim without losing your valuables. 

  FAQ: Boston or New York?

  If you have to choose, decide which is more relevant, the larger city with three airports or one large airport, Boston. 

If you plan to see a broadway play, that’s easy, New York.

If you want to ride the T, visit cemeteries from the Revolutionary War, then Boston.

In New York, you may want to see some of Central Park. Think of rhe TV show, Friends, based in New York, or Seinfeld. Then think of the show Cheers and that is Boston. Both are good choices. Since I’m born and raised in New York, I will go there with my choice.

I pick New York. What about you?

  Today’s destination: Coronado, California

  It’s not really a complete island, because it’s connected by land. It’s just south of San Diego and north of Mexico. Most people arrive from the scenic Coronado bridge, which is spectacular and free to cross in your vehicle.

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego%E2%80%93Coronado_Bridge

  Others arrive via a narrow piece of land called, Silver Strand. It’s also a California state beach. The busiest time to visit is Christmas Time, so you can see the huge tree in the hotel Del lobby, the ice skaters, the seashore, and the beautiful hotel grounds, where the movie Some Like it Hot was filmed in the 1950’s with Marilyn Monroe. I went there yesterday and caught up in the holiday spirit with the tree in the lobby, sandcastles built to welcome in the new year and igloos on the sand that could be rented by the hour.

  My favorite parts of the island are the public library and parks where the town congregages, the swimming pool, where I’ve attended many swim events, and great restaurants.

I also took a lot of sailing and Coast Guard training in the nautical part of this island paradise. I learned how to tie knots among other things and got certified to rent a boat.

  In recent years, they have had some spillover of sewage from the Tijuana estuary. This has closed the beaches in some regions. This should be fixed soon, thanks to awareness and legislation of civic leaders. 

  What to do? why not a beach walking tour, by yourself?

Coronado is a Pet friendly town with very high real estate prices, in case you are thinking of moving here.

  https://coronadovisitorcenter.com/

  https://coronadovisitorcenter.com/listings/coronado-beach-walking-tour-by-emerald-keepers/

Today’s Mistake: Underestimating time required for airport security. 

  I got to the airport at an early time, so I thought. then I looked at the line for the TSA. That had about 1000 people in it, so this would be a rough start.

 If the security line is long, go directly to the gate quickly. Don’t delay. If you have TSA pre-check or CLEAR, you are in luck. Otherwise, you need to make sure you’re in the right line so you don’t waste valued time. Tell the people in front of you that you have a flight soon. I did not do that. I missed my flight, so I have learned my lesson. Get there early. Don’t try to push the time it takes to get through security.

  Today’s Travel Advice- How to swim without losing your valuables.

  For solo travelers who want to smim, while making sure their valuables are safe. Leave most valued things in your hotel or room.

Here are four tips to keep the things you need safe while you swim.

  befriend a group or a couple on the beach or pool and ask them to watch your stuff

bring a waterproof bag with you and swim or paddle with it.

bury your valued items in ziplock bags under the sand or hide them.

put the phone and keys in an empty soft drink container, like a McDonald’s cup and maybe no one will suspect that diverstion.

Check out this Dr Travelbest episode!