#and im aware like... how much is the game really not giving as much information and implication about sigma to chew on as there is abt akan

[wherestarsarestillasleep]

sigma could have been such an interesting character if theyd more delved into his role making the ambidex project and the conviction mindset needed for that and and how his young -> old -> young iterations of himself feel about facing each other

sigma displays some of the most compassion of any ze character over the course of vlr and he's the guy who set it up but there's like little room for him to dwell on that with the pacing of the ending of vlr and the back to back reveals and ztd just like. there Isn't conflict and he's.. he acts different than vlr but in a way that he's just like. calmer and more serious more or less imo

when akane offscreen and in implication must deal with the horror of discovering she is the mastermind thats been tormenting the players of 999 she reckons with the fact that is a person she will grow into of her own volition. she will end up holding that conviction herself she Is zero, zero is her future. she'll end up a person who decided to do all of that herself

sigma isnt the same because sigma really is not zero. its just a title for him its still akane with all the driving will and planning, he is just executing her plans. sigmas role is to do what someone else told him. and she tells him to do something thats theoretically fundamentally against his rather strong sense of morality, to an end that does align with it. but it still must have had to shift significantly. it is not a plan on his own conviction and it is not an even plan between equals because akane always has her own agenda and she lies to him about it. but apparently she does it convincingly enough that sigma keeps a conviction that wasn't his own, one to follow instructions for a goal he's been given and accepted without much of his own thought in the moment we see him agree to it, for Forty Five Years

[cripplecharacters]

oh yeah another question abt intellectual disability: what do people with moderate id speak like? i assume they wouldnt be perfectly articulate but i know making them talk like cavemen would be bad too. i do want it to be clear that they have language difficulties, but im not sure how to do that realistically. so what kinds of grammar errors are actually common? would it make sense to have them mix up words with similar pronunciation, or have difficulty discerning the differences in implications between words with similar meanings (like "pretty" vs "attractive")? do people with id ever 'imagine context' the way people(well, me) do when half-asleep where the brain mishears a statement as something completely unrelated? would spatial and situational awareness be impaired? also this is kind of a different question but if you can give advice on what to do with game mechanics for an id character in an rpg, that would be nice! i already have the stats figured out for every character and theres no stat that i think would be strongly affected by id but in terms of depicted fighting style and other mechanics maybe thered be some stuff informed by it (i cant do anything too complex though, im using rpg maker vx ace). idk! im spitballing here. main thing i need to know is how to write dialogue for a character with id ^_^

Hi! We have a post somewhat about this that you might find useful, I'll try to go over the other questions below!

Keep in mind my ID is mild (and on the milder side of that) so my answer will be all second-hand knowledge from talking to people with moderate ID in my SPED years.

A lot of it will depend on what condition causes they have. People with Williams syndrome have very “normal” verbal skills majority of the time and you can't really tell in my experience. On the other hand if they're autistic you can potentially guess from the tone of the voice e.g. they speak in a very loud and monotone way. People with Down syndrome are very likely to have a speech disorder, someone with cerebral palsy might slur their words, etc.

A lot of people with ID might be less talkative than your average person (there's definitely exceptions). So your character could use shorter sentences, simple sentences (in the grammar sense), prefer to use other forms of communication for things that don't require speech (e.g., nodding instead of saying “Yes, I agree”, or doing a thumbs up, etc.), or have to be prompted to actually answer/take part in the conversation.

I personally don't recall ever hearing the “mixing words with similar pronunciation” in someone's actual speech, maybe unless they learned the language from reading rather than hearing it? If that's the case, then ID could affect their speech more than if they didn't have it, otherwise I'd assume that the character might have brain damage or is maybe hard of hearing and simply mixes them up because they can't recognize/hear the difference between them.

Mixing words based on specific meaning makes much more sense in my opinion (probably because I do that myself lol). Synonyms or words that might make sense in one context but not the other are the worst. Your example here is great! When someone has ID they might take away the wrong meaning out of a word and use it incorrectly because of that. E.g., their parents used to take them camping to a forest with lots of bugs, they don't like bugs, they can later call something “foresty” to mean “with lots of bugs” even if it doesn't have much to do with an actual forest. This might make more sense for a character with more severe ID (or if they're just young) but using “attractive” when you'd normally say “pretty” makes sense for someone with moderate ID in my opinion.

Something that can also affect speech of someone with ID is word repetition. Not really in the echolalia sense (though it can be that too) but just using stock phrases that get repetitive over time. I try to edit it out from my posts but you can still kinda see it. For some people it will be ending most sentences with the same word, for someone else it will be starting two paragraphs with the same three words without realizing even though they're right next to each other or overusing “maybe” and “if” to start sentences.

As for the “imagining context” while mishearing something, I'm not sure if I know what you mean by it so I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I don't do it lol

Situational awareness is definitely impacted for all people with ID but to different degrees. I don't know if it's part of the diagnostic criteria but it might as well be. When the person's ID is mild it might look like someone who's just kinda unaware of what goes around them, maybe don't recognize that they're doing something that could end up badly. The more severe the intellectual disability the more obvious it is, the person might elope (wander off) and not be able to find their way back, not be able to use cooking utensils safely because they don't recognize the risks in real time (not really in the “not realizing that the knife is sharp” way if they have moderate ID, more like “not realizing that you need to be careful when putting things on hot oil or you can get burned”), assuming that people are automatically safe to be around, things like that.

Spatial awareness doesn't affect everyone, but one of the biggest comorbidities of ID is dyspraxia, which does affect it a lot. There are people with mild ID with severe dyspraxia, and severely ID people with no dyspraxia. It varies.

Unfortunately I have never played any RPGS and I'm not really familiar with the mechanics. Here's an old ask about intellectually disabled characters engaged in combat, hopefully it's useful?

If you want some real-life resources for hearing how intellectually disabled people talk, I really recommend this playlist. It's a bunch of interviews with people with Down syndrome and you can see that they're all very different from each other despite having the same disability.

I hope this helps! mod Sasza

[broodwolf221]

so we were talking recently about how solas is much better at keeping his secrets than the other characters, and we know bull is one of the most perceptive characters. you've travelled with bull & solas much more than i have, so im curious about your thoughts: do you think bull had any idea? he's able to weed out qunari agents, but do you think he noticed solas'? how do you think bull feels about it, post-trespasser?

rubs my little hands together ty for this, im gonna have funnnn

bull 100% knew something was up. these two bits of banter really seal it for me:

Iron Bull: You've got an odd style, Solas. Your spells are a bit different from the Circle mages or the Vints.

Solas: That comes from being self-taught.

Solas: I discovered most magic on my own, or learned it from my journeys in the Fade.

Iron Bull: I've seen self-taught warriors. Even the good ones have something awkward in their style, something that clunks.

Iron Bull: I don't get that from you. Maybe magic is different.

Solas: Or without magical training, you cannot notice the parts of my magic that "clunk".

Iron Bull: You're not as flashy as most mages, Solas.

Iron Bull: The Tevinter mages I fought in Seheron tried to scare us with what they could do.

Iron Bull: Dorian looks like he's waiting for applause after every spell.

Iron Bull: Vivienne has this little swagger, like she knows she's the most dangerous thing in the room.

Iron Bull: Not the quiet elven mage, though. No frills. Nothing to give you away. Half our targets never even see you coming.

Solas: I shall take that as a compliment.

Iron Bull: If you like.

first, bull does know magic - he gives solas an out, "maybe magic is different," but I think it's just that: an out. one of his first comments is about how cullen is putting his templar training to good use, helping the inquisition soldiers defend against magic, just like bull himself was taught to. he's fought countless mages. solas is dissembling and bull lets him, but I don't buy for a second that he's genuinely fooled

and then the flashy comment. "not the quiet elven mage." bull is so observant... arguably moreso than solas:

Solas: Hmm.

Iron Bull: Something wrong?

Solas: A man in the last village. Something in his manner troubles me.

Iron Bull: The baker with the squint and the red nose? Yeah, spy. Probably Venatori.

Solas: Why do you say that?

Iron Bull: He watched all of us. A normal guy would focus on you, because staff, or me, because horns.

Iron Bull: He had a dagger up his sleeve, which no baker needs, and the knot on his apron was tied Tevinter style.

Iron Bull: I sent a message to Red. She'll investigate.

Solas: You are more observant than you appear.

Iron Bull: The good spies usually are.

so a) he notices everything weird about solas, everything that doesn't match up, and b) he doesn't show what he knows. that's his training coming into play.

I don't think he really knew who or what solas was, though. my suspicion is that he knew solas had his own agenda from the beginning, and like most everyone, knew that solas was keeping his own past a big, deeply-guarded secret. but bull isn't the type to ask direct questions in order to learn, so I think that when he's talking to solas about these things, he's watching him, too. noting the subtle shifts that solas tries to hide or isn't even aware of. hell, bull would learn something from solas having no change of expression or tone, forcibly even and level - because at that point, it's artificial.

so i think throughout the game as they travel, bull is slowly but steadily realizing how much more there is to solas' story. at the same time, he knows that no one is quite as good at keeping secrets as he is, so he wouldn't want to... ask anything too direct, yknow? everything is dancing around the edges of the truth and seeing what comes up, and that is information, usually information the other person didn't mean to give away

varric does this too imo, but not to the extent or with the skill that bull does, nor with the ability to hide everything he knows so, so well.

overall, i think bull was always watching solas. bull's really thrown in with the inquisition, particularly if he becomes tal-vashoth - because at that point, he doesn't really have anywhere to return to (which is tragic). so outside of the advisors and the inquisitor, i think bull is actually one of the inquisition's most steadfast members. but throughout the game, solas does help. a lot. which bull sees, too. hell, solas helps him after he becomes tal-vashoth, it's a really fun banter arc.

bull is suspicious, wary, and watchful, but throughout the main game, solas hasn't done anything overtly hostile or counter to the inquisition's purpose. and ultimately, solas is sorta necessary - he's the only one who can help the inquisitor with the anchor.

as for solas' agents? i'm not sure... but i'm also not sure how many of them there are. if there were a fair number, i think bull would have picked up on it over time, particularly because he tends to hit on the servants more - like, he'd notice them as individuals if for no other reason than his own interest, but also his training comes into play here. but if there were only a few? i think they could've slipped under his radar, particularly because the inquisition grows so quickly that even bull would end up hard-pressed to stay familiar with every single face in the inquisition.

even wrt the qunari agents, it's because he noticed a change in the duty roster and followed up on that, not because he saw them and just Knew from their behavior. he might've been able to suss them out that way had they crossed paths, but crossing paths wasn't guaranteed - at least, not until they tried to kill him. and frankly, i don't think solas would be that sloppy. his agents probably are deeply embedded in the inquisition because so is he. he would know when to have them come in and how they could blend in, even become functioning members of the inquisition, particularly because the inquisition's goals are not directly counter to solas' goals.

post-trespasser? i've written this and in my fic, bull really wasn't surprised at all. i think he would've been if solas got outed as fen'harel/the dread wolf mid-game, but the events of trespasser shed so much light on the reality of the situation, and i don't think bull would've traveled that whole path and not begun to reach that conclusion. solas disappeared for two years ago after fighting corypheus, and now they're mysteriously drawn into an eluvian - elven magic - and pulled through an intricate web of information that exposes the qunari plot?

yeah, i think bull had an inkling solas was behind it at or near the start of their journey through the eluvians.

and there's more, like solas' constant, intense hatred of the qun stripping people of choice - but then, there's a bit of truth in people hating others the most for things they hate about themselves. and bull would know about that, of course. solas does the same thing to blackwall when he's revealed as thom, an ironic judgement considering his own lies, but he hates that he has to lie.

i think for bull, post-trespasser he'd feel... not happy about the situation of course, but sort of satisfied. the pieces finally fell into place, all of them.

[olderthannetfic]

People going on about how they're representing this whole Greek thing are missing that that one anon had a pretty good point about how "cultural appropriation" rhetoric gets misused. People do really need to be more specific about what the issue is, or it very easily turns into basically just arguing for cultural segregation. I've seen that happen numerous times on this website over the years. I've seen people argue that it's appropriative to do something like *learn about* another culture or learn its language. I think it's really important for people to keep an eye on what are the actual issues with cultural appropriation (mostly about exploitation and colonialism) and not just the idea that cultural mixing is bad, or that being interested in a culture that isn't your own is bad. Because the truth is, whether you intend this or not, if you're just arguing that everyone should only keep to the culture of their ethnicity or their place of origin or both, then you're basically in agreement with white supremacists. It's not that cultures mixing is bad; most culture is a result of some mixture. It's when it's done in a way that's exploitative and/or disrespectful: like reducing sacred symbols like indigenous war bonnets to a fashion accessory, or incorporating the art of another culture into your own art without giving credit and without paying anyone from that culture who taught you or added to your work.

FTR, I don't think you can "appropriate" ancient mythologies. I think people are getting twisted around though because there is a genuine history of colonial exploitation of Greek artifacts by colonial powers to fill their museums, as with the Elgin marbles. I do think it's still a good idea to be properly informed about them, regardless, at the very least because those make for the more interesting retellings. For all that people (who IME, largely haven't read it, I'd love to hear if people who have read it disagree though) rag on Song of Achilles, I actually thought it was a pretty good example of a retelling because the author, who has an educational background in mythology, takes great pains to try to recreate the society and cultural norms of Greece at that time rather than sugarcoat it. Achilles may be even more of a jerk than he was in the original Iliad, tbh. It's telling to me that the author's other books that are less "shippy" don't have as negative of a reputation on here in that regard as Song of Achilles, despite being fairly similar, and it makes me wonder how much of that is because it's popular among "fujoshi fandom" so people just assume it MUST be shallow and fandomified, and I was super shocked at how much it really wasn't that at all. As well as I saw that a lot of people expecting something more like that were disappointed by all the period-accurate misogyny and so on.

Which brings me to another point: another reason I'm skeptical of a lot of this discourse is that it seems like often it's more of a high-culture, low-culture thing. A thing that is popular with M/M fanfic writers can't POSSIBLY be doing it right. A thing that is a popular video game or Tony-winning Broadway musical that is popular with the fandoms for those things, can't possibly be accurate. And I get that a lot of that is because a lot of populist things that took from Greek mythology have been inaccurate (Disney's Hercules, for instance) but if you're going to criticize the accuracy of something, I think it is worth engaging with the original work and what it actually does rather than just assuming It's Popular It Must Suck. It feels like a lot of this turns into lording that you were into it before X over others. And being aware that Tumblr Recommendations often do a poor job of actually giving you a good idea of what the work is really like.

As well as, of course, asking yourself - as we should with any sort of historical inaccuracy etc. - if the inaccuracy was deliberate or not. Sometimes people are not really telling that story in order to tell the most accurate version of something but to make a different kind of point, and so the changes might be deliberate. I would argue this is true with something like Hadestown.

That doesn't mean you can't still dislike it for that reason, of course. I know a lot of classical musicians who dislike the movie Amadeus for being so inaccurate about Mozart's and Salieri's lives. I like it despite that because I think the point it is trying to make is stronger for not sticking to the historical fact. I just wish more people did know the historical fact, though.

--

One would think the "Is it bad if I learn to cook Thai food?" thing was a strawman... but I've seen it in the wild far too many times.

[bennydunbar]

complaints and feedbacks about the game

so far i find that most people are just, okay with how the game is going. they don't exactly provide any feedbacks nor do they criticise Black Shepherd Games for railing almost every deadline they give themselves.

but people need to understand that the game is in demo, and this is one of the most crucial times for it to receive feedbacks; to inform that the writing is off, or how a mechanic in the game is being weird. so dont be afraid to give your feedbacks, we do it because we want the game to be better and we care about the golfball ‼️

i. a save file

this is like, one of the things everyone's been asking for. but i still think it's kinda stupid that it's already day 4 and we still dont have a save file.

ii. the sprites.

im well aware that fuboo wants her game to have a lot of sprites — but just changing his expressions without making changes like tilting his head even a little is not it. it looks like he has joint problems. also! some of the sprites have colours leaking out of their lineart so that's something

iii. the game updates

fuboo tends to just inform of their progress on patreon half-heartedly. well, at least when i was still paying. it's frustrating! i want to know more details about the game. not just:

mind you they were already pretty late on finishing up day 4 around this time too. do a monthly update of the game with details or something, show us that progress is being made and be strict with your deadlines.

v. deadlines deadlines deadlines

please please please adhere to your own deadlines. this ensures that the game progress is flowing smoothly. if day 1 - day 4 have taken this long, how long should we expect for the game to be finished, really?

vi. the writing

i dont even need to touch on how out of character YB has been after day 3. some people like it, some people dont. a problem i have with it is the fact that they basically forgot how they wrote about him on tumblr :/ like, why waste so much potential and material? the first red flag was how he reacted when you name him after yourself back in day 1. so it made me wonder...

who's really writing this game?

vii. invest in proofreaders

i dont know if they already have one but last i checked 'pigeons' was still spelled as 'pidgeons' back in day 1.

viii. mechanics

an important part of a demo is to show the mechanics of how a game works. this means your main ones shouldn't have a problem by now that you're knee deep into progress. have an audio toggle, have a log for the progress your players have made, give more features to the settings. the mechanics of a game is the backbone of it, if you fuck it up early then it's gonna be a while for you to fix it

i think thats all ive got for now, do inform me if there's changes that theyve made which im not aware of. other than that we should remember that the game is supposed to interconnect with the blog, and thats where the source material should've been from (and stick with it)

[biggie-chcese]

rain code age headcanons because i have literally only ever been choosing ages based on what's funniest but now i wanna cast away my grand layers of irony and be genuine for a moment. also. this goes pretty in depth so be prepped for the long haul when you click read more lmao.

spoilers for the whole game below and it's because of one specific character iykyk

Yakou - this man has the soul of a guy in his late 40s going through what would be his midlife crisis if not for the fact that he's fully aware he passed the midpoint years ago. but that soul is trapped in the body of a guy who doesnt look a day older than 28. what moisturizer does he use? i doubt he even uses anything other than that 13 in 1 shampoo. anyway, i think he's 32.

Halara - 26. nothing really to justify this other than they've got that mid 20s swag but 25 didn't feel right. adult enough to be as competent as they are yet young enough to look like that. moving on.

Desuhiko - 19. i think he's the youngest of the NDA because. well. idk man have you read his dialogue? he's got a whole lot of growing to do and is still very lost on his direction in life. he's giving 'bitch fresh outta high school (or in this case, detective training) and relishing in his freshly obtained freedom."

Vivia - 28? yeah i got nothing for this i am going purely on vibes here. 28 just feels right.

Fubuki - 23. she's clearly still a bit young but is also clearly a grown ass adult who wasn't raised right so i think this makes for a happy medium, especially if she's already been on some worldwide adventures n shit before the game. works out quite swimmingly methinks.

Kurumi - 18. for my personal comfort bc we'll get to yuma later but im not gonna sit here and ignore the way the game constantly grovels at the audience's feet to ship them so id rather she not be any younger than this. anyway, more about her: she tends to hold her own as an informant with more competence, maturity, and effecience than most of the NDA. but she also has a pretty childish black and white view on things, like believing her beloved detectives are always right (girl if you were real you would be ENTRENCHED in stan culture oml do NOT get into minecraft youtubers) but i've... seen 18 year olds on the internet that are exactly the same so whatever

Aetheria girls - putting them all at 17-18 because, based on honorifics, they are treated as upperclassmen by their peers in the Japanese dub. i think waruna is the youngest and kurane is the eldest.

Yomi - 25. he has that vibe. old enough to be taken seriously as an adult but young enough to act like That™. yknow?

Martina - 32. she's giving older woman sexy librarian vibes and generally carries herself with a certain level of poise and maturity but is also a freak in a way that can best be explained by being a woman in her 30s. not elaborating on this

Swank - 41. to me he's like those awful surly businessmen who go to cabaret clubs to drink and smoke their office job woes away and cheat on their wives. but he also has extreme mafia boss swag about it so i kinda love him for that. dunno what this has to do with age tho. moving on.

Seth - 22 because he's giving youngest brother. i think he's the youngest of the peacekeepers in general. guillaume definitely bullies him about this.

Dominic - 34. bro is built like a jojo character what else do you want me to say. he's still got that youthfulness about him that makes me think he's still not going through his midlife crisis, so i wouldn't place him any older

Guillaume - 23. guillaume is so girlypop manic pixie dream girl core that she's definitely got the energy of someone who is young but also strikes the balance of being someone who has a job and a mortgage. dunno how she does it. id like to think she isnt even much older than seth but still bullies him for being the baby of the peacekeepers. do u understand my vision. please. they have so much annoying coworker potential.

shinigami - idk like 1000. she's a death god who cares.

yuma - okay. yeah. look i dont give a singular fuck about age discourse- headcanon whatever you want- but from looking at canon material i genuinely think that he could not possibly be any younger than 21. 20 if we wanna push it. yes, i know he looks young. i have eyes. but also, im in my 20s and the most common thing people tell me when i reveal my age is "oh, i thought you were 15." one time a person asked me if i was 12. at my job. that i was actively working at. i was 20. adults can look young, and contrary to the classic 1000 year old loli dragon trope he doesnt act overtly childish. he acts like a normal fuckin guy. yes he cries but like. you wouldn't in his position? bro speedruns lifelong trauma so skillfully that he's backwards long jumping into alternate universes where everything is somehow worse. i'd be freaked out if he didn't cry. also im aware that the child prodigy detective trope is a thing and that kodaka has written that before but... he was number one three years ago. and the training takes two years. which means, if he is a minor in the game's present day, he started working at the WDO at 12 and became number one at 14... at the oldest. have you ever met a 14 year old? forgive me for not suspending my disbelief here. and really the kicker for me is that yuma has a line where he says he's not sure if he's drinking age (which would be 20 in japan), but you know who would be sure? you know who knows yuma's age better than yuma?

makoto kagutsuchi - this megacorporation CEO has a fully stocked minibar installed in his penthouse. <- sentence i cannot bring myself to believe if it's about a child. since i also cant picture him becoming CEO at age 14 without yomi at least once angrily pointing that out (he only ever mentions that makoto is an outsider, or has his head in the clouds), id like to think both him and yuma, at their youngest, earned their top spots at their respective organizations at 18. it keeps their gifted kid syndrome and young prodigy-ness without making things comically ridiculous or uncomfortable for the sheer amount of sexual situations yuma gets put into.

anyway that's my silly little ramble on age headcanons. this was actually really fun to think about. shoutout to kodaka for leaving out the ages. funniest choice he could've made

[medlarmeadows]

Sparknotes version of qBads lore?

(us Ghosties have multiple thousand pages documents trying to put shit together soooo we don't know EVERYTHING about qBad but we know some backstory so I'll just give you the basics)

qBad was an angel, what type of rank we have no idea, however at some point a couple millennia ago he fell from Grace and became a fallen angel, aka, a demon, just not a hellborn one like qMrouse.

At some point after his fall he took on a job position as a Grim Reaper after training for centuries with one of many other Grim reapers

He's dropped tons of random lore bits about his life throughout time but they're not really relevant

I'm talking, shit like; he knew Darwin, he and Foolish were both in Pompeii when Vesuvius erupted (he was on vacation, he has no idea why Foolish was there), he witnessed the extinction of the dinosaurs when he was in heaven and had a hand in it, etc.

THEN he decided to take a vacation on Quesadilla Island of his own volition to take a temporary break from his Grim Reaper responsibilities since he hadn't had a break in centuries

Although he obviously got stuck on the island and oddly enough, he still didn't even manage to escape his responsibilities having canonically been the one to help Trump, Tilin, Juana, Bobby and Max cross over the river, to guide them into the spiritual plane.

Lore on the island wise, it's mostly a lot of little things but the I'll summarize the current storyline

When the eggs disappeared qBad began torturing himself with soul vultures, having them eat at him, which caused his soul to leak out of his body and decay.

During the nuke at the end of Purgatory qBad shielded Dapper with his body, tanking a nuke hit to the back since neither of them made it onto the boat on time.

This radiation rapidly increased qBads physical decay and for MONTHS Bad was walking around practically dead but was forcing himself to keep it together because he was still needed but eventually his physical body just gave out on him.

Because of this, qBad recently died and returned to the place he visits every time his physical body dies. Although this time he was given a chance to re-enter the heavens after millennia as a demon, however he chose to return to the mortal plane because he couldn't bear to leave 'the little ones' (all the eggs) alone.

As a high ranking demon qBad is able to die and come back without physical issues but every reincarnation he has to recollect his memories.

Also, fun fact, when he dies to something he comes back immune to the thing that killed him! qBad is canonically immune to decapitation (French revolution), being burnt at the stake (Salem witch trials), being drowned with his feet in cement (the mob), falling down stairs (we don't ask) and now the soul decay+radiation poisoning combo!

His current reincarnation remembers absolutely nothing of the past year, but he does have memories.

He remembers him and Foolish in somewhere similar to Egypt (the summer home), he also recognizes qPhil although hasn't specified how and remembers qCellbit from the Hunger Games which canonically happened 10 years before the island so he has memories but they're not up to date.

BADBOYHALO LORE!!!! THANK YOU ANON (also are we canonically married bcos im a tubbling? hehe)

roughly i was aware about q!bad's immortality plus the losing of memories when he came back, but ohohoho this gives me so much more depth

fallen angel bad? what an interesting tidbit of information. and the fact that this immortal being became so attached to the eggs that he chose to stay on the mortal plane for them

funniest bit i know is bad trying to get foolish involved in immortals lore and foolish just avoiding it like his life depends on it KEK

wait does this mean q!bad as the grim reaper saw when q!tubbo died? does it count i can't remember if q!tubbo has a soul because of Creation and all that

[kingdoms-and-empires]

Hey, wanted to say I am in love with your work. Really fantastic! May I ask: Do you have any pieces of advice for inspiring CoG writers or Interactive Fiction writers? Thank you and can't wait for more.

Im absolutely welcome these types of asks as they help remind me of what ive learned myself. Im going to try and say what i think every aspiring writer should hear to help them start out. Here we go: 1) Ensure you know what how much youre writing from the very beginning and plan accordingly. If it is a smaller story, do not be super ambitious, use it as a starter game to learn the basics of choicescript and learn the social media aspect of producing a title. If it is a large story, say over 800k words long, then you NEED to have an outline for each arc to help you know A to B for the story beats. Make outlines upon outlines and you will be doing yourself a favor. ESPECIALLY when coding. 2) THIS ISNT LIKE WRITING TRADITIONAL NOVELS. Know that Interactive Fiction is frustrating to write. You can write 3k words for a choice group, and players will only see 500 words or less worth of content for that choice group. Do not feel disheartened, for it is what it is. Just know youre doing a good job providing content and playable interaction with choices! Just be aware and mindful of not injecting bad or useless content in these choices! Have it matter in some way, either to represent/flesh out the world, characters, who the MC is, consequences, relationship changes, and foreshadowing.

3) Do not get too caught up with reader interaction. Your main job is to write write write. Create a hard limit for how many asks you answer, how much time you spend interacting with readers, and know what type of questions you should answer. Simply put: Be strategic! There may be a great question, but it could be too spoilery or it could take too much of your time to answer. 4) I learned this the hard way. Do not release information about the ROs until you actually reach the part in the story we meet them. If i can go back in time, i wouldnt have announced mine so soon haha. Youre gonna be eager to share your work and talk about it, but youll only be shooting yourself in the foot with people who only seek romance from your game! Also, dont overshare about em. You could retcon something and a reader may get upset with the change. Keep it simple! 5) Set low goals. Do not overpromise. You will feel guilty for failing and it may/will affect you mentally and your willingness to write. 6) You are not perfect, and that's okay!!! I struggle with this (and honestly everything ive listed here), but reminding yourself that its okay to not be perfect will help. You're human. It's hard to remember, and take it seriously, but you have to try. 7) Choice of Games (and more specifically Hosted Games) offer amateur writers a chance to share their work with others. Though games are becoming more and more expansive and huge, don't feel like you HAVE to do the same. A Mage Reborn is widely considered to be one of the best titles to have come out in recent years, and is listed at having 160k words! Small package (160k is by no means small in any capacity, dont get it twisted) big impact! 8) Know what type of game and title youre writing. If your project is focused on romance, dont spend more than necessary on worldbuilding, action, or thematically unrelated things. Stick to what the focus is, and your strength! 9) Ask for help. Seriously. You are combining coding and writing, so there's bound to be errors and things you wont understand. The CoG forums and Twine communities are always ready to help. Reach out to the communities or other authors for help. Just remember that some may be too busy to really help, so don't feel disheartened if one doesnt have the time. There are others, and you usually only need one to say yes to help figure out what youre struggling with or why you keep getting that error message. 10) Understand that you are giving a piece of your soul out there. It sounds corny as hell, but it's the simple truth. There is literal risk involved as a creator, no matter if you write, develop, draw, sing, perform, etc. There's obviously the risk of spending too much time on a hobby or dream for too little gain, but what im referring to is the all too common story of a creative putting their heart and soul into something important to them, and receiving no attention or being told it sucks. It will damage you, and perhaps even break you. Because again, you may have given it your all. So please take care of your mental health. It's okay to retreat and stop for a while. That doesnt make you a failure. Most of us creatives do this because we love the subject, and want to share what we can with others that love the industry, hobby, or topic theyre in. Remember that love, and remember what made you fall in love enough to put yourself out there. Remember you started for the art and craft.

[alitgblog]

season 9 vol 8 thoughts: my hype has died down from last week, now Stefan is just another man, and I'm again critical of the choice to paywall everything and spend so much time focused on Kat

first of all before I post screenshots (of which there are few btw bc it wasn't super eventful imo) I did have a moment looking at my mc and was like damn get her some brown contacts so she looks different that's why. and I think I may have accidentally switched her skin tone too, point being, as a result, I take back what I said last week about not going for Cassius bc he looks like my mc's cousin

but the lunch with Uma, I have mixed feelings on the concept in general. Like for story it's interesting bc the other person could lie, but if I think about it like it would actually happen on love island, maybe the other person downplays some stuff, but straight up lying? nah. and then it would in theory get the girls to stick (just bc usually it's the guys that are being messy and flirting it up with the casa girls), but in my head the postcard/video always does the opposite. it's like a sneak preview into what the guys are doing so it encourages the girls to get angry or get back at them

In fact, lunch with casa girl to spill secrets usually happens AFTER casa so having it here is weird.

in execution though, no doubt, kinda lame. I mean I like the insights into casa, but you could get that info next week when everyone's together or in movie night or like a mean tweets challenge or whatever. You have to pay for info so it's already awful but also MC doesn't get the option to lie/be vague to Uma, so she just tells Uma everything we the audience already know and then Uma doesn't really tell us anything. Like we don't even get to know the names of the other two casa girls and we told her about everyone.

Speaking of Uma, they couldn't have fixed her hair this season????

Finn's being flirty, sure, and I might be kicked off his route now (I'm not sure if rejecting him by the pool did that), so I don't know if he acts any different if you're on his route bc he claims to have changed???

Hamish how dare you say you've changed then actually change this is why everyone's on his route 😂😂

Jude's a mess who gives a fuck but also that observation may be apparent to the audience, but I wouldn't picture a casa girl saying it. LIUSA S6 has a perfect example: it's not the casa girls saying "oh he sucks because he's been egging on the other guys" but them saying "oh he's the sweetest, because he's encouraging the other guys to explore connections" and then in game it would be letting the reader figure out what that means. it's in part them always having such surface level writing (tell not show) but it gives all their "villains" this weird gameplayer vibe. like I don't think Uma and Jude are genuine and they are acutely aware of the public, but I don't think they should be written like that, I think they should just be written to be assholes. Uma's a liar and Jude's a bully. Not saying we can't have gameplayer characters, just don't make it so obvious.

Anyway, coming back into the Villa and then for some reason you have to pay gems to tell the other girls information?? I don't like the paying gems to receive information but this is more confusing bc it's the opposite lol. Actually, Kat, if you want to know what happened on the date you're gonna have to give ME 17 gems.

there's a chat here MC has with Stefan about how he didn't know what he was expecting before coming back but once he saw MC it was clear he wanted her. And just to repeat what I said last week, Stefan should've started casa a little upset with MC (instead of having it be Lyle) and then ask her for forgiveness midway through the volume and here is where that chat can go where he's like yeah I tried but they weren't you.

and then I decided to give Cassius a fighting chance bc Stefan has that advantage of being her ex and i think MC should explore her options and im still mad at Marshall breaking things off with S6 MC. Cassius seems sweet and he so is during the date. It's just a shame I don't like doing the cutesy loyal casa boy route ever. If he was an OG though? Goodbye Chen and Henri

there's a part he asks about MC's job which I've been begging for someone to bring up and this chat was really cute

Ice cream thing only reminds me that I'm kinda put off the Natasha route now. If she wasn't the go to character to give exposition about Stefan and MC, then maybe. But now, I'm so stuck always having to not choose her and it's a shame. It also feels like with how much she talks about him and knowing that she brings him back if you don't, plus the Hamish stuff pre casa, it just feels like MC is second choice to these other guys. it's not as bad as Kelly, who straight up does say she's here for Finn, but it's irritating. I know Claudia kinda ends up doing that too towards the end of casa when she decides to work things out with Theo, but idk it feels different this time.

Kat screaming about going exclusive with Lyle during the date was so on brand for her to draw all attention on her I don't even know if I can be annoyed bc it made sense, I just wish the ratio of time spent talking about Kat was less. Like it doesn't need to get cut down, I just think we deserved a few more scenes where MC gets to talk with the guys.

the casa guys' day wear outfits are very good imo, very stylish, except Marshall.. it feels unnatural to see him in those colors idk

omg the wild night thing. first off, once again annoyed at texts cutting people off, like how many times can you stand doing that, fusebox writing team???? but uh sure, Marshall hears about this wild night between Stefan and Chen. and you hear about it in the game

Which side note, I hate the game and I also could've sworn we've already played it in casa this season. but I guess it's just to show once again that Kat and Lyle are having problems. Could've been a chat instead. Only useful piece of information was that Cassius likes nerds and I'm like damn once again, in another life, would be my pick. Pretty much everything else about the LI's was information we've already learned (even the info about Cassius I'm sure if I romanced him earlier in casa it would've been obvious).

Also just once again, taking a backseat in the game. it's like they think the player doesn't wanna be wrong so they settle for just sitting around but that's much more fun to have the chance to be wrong. also bc it would influence people to replay I think so they can get the right answers.

anyway, wild night thing, I did fork over the gems to find out and i know this happens every gem scene for info but it was especially annoying to me this time that MC pulls him aside and is like "tell me the story" and hes like "i dont know... do you really wanna hear the full story?" im like YES she pulled you aside for this. MC confronts Stefan and I saw what yall posted about bruno so I went ahead and asked about Claudia and she was dancing with her partner from her season, and for me that's Theo and what a shame. sorry I'm a jealous ex I don't even know if my S8 mc is happy with Jin.

ANYWAY for a split second I thought the "wild night" was alluding to Stefan and Chen hooking up? which, I think wouldve been a great option. and if fusebox is so scared of making all the LI's bi, then I would've voted Stefan is bi and then Chen/Henri/Lyle/Jude maybe aren't but like hey they gave it a shot. But alas, no...

Then Stefan says he was crushing on a DJ and I know in this instance it makes less sense for them to pick a real person bc they say that the DJ tried to hook up with Chen, but I do miss some like random info about the characters and their type. like, I just remember being surprised S2 Lucas's celebrity crush was teyana taylor and I want stuff like that again

so not wild but I guess Stefan was ashamed he screwed over Chen. Then he was like "isn't that so cool of Chen to give up a hookup for you?" and idk I don't care about DJs so I was glad MC to be like oh boohoo whatever

Lyle's speech to Kat was cringe but I'm giving him benefit of the doubt bc I would actually like him and Kat to be happy so Kat can stop bothering Finn and stop bothering MC.

And Kat of course goes to flirt with whoever you went on a date with, and I guess luckily, I happened to pick Cassius who I wasn't gonna bring back anyway. Then you get like five lines of dialogue each with Marshall and with Stefan (who's hanging out with Natasha) which could've and should've been longer for final chats.

you can match with Kelly now fyi

(I wish I had a picture of Kelly's partywear I swear it's nearly the same dress)

Then stick or twist just feels so tacked onto the end of the episode, but it should be like a huge thing. They stretch that shit out SO LONG in the show. Like in the three episodes this volume, the second one should end with cliffhanger announcing the girls are going back to casa that night. then the next episode starts with final chats and the map opens up and you can talk to Stefan but maybe Natasha interrupts, then Cassius saying he understands you gotta do what you gotta do, then Marshall who gives you one last plea he's changed (similar to the actual game again it should be longer). Add on Lyle talking about how he feels he fucked up with Kat here instead of right before the firepit. Honestly also a chat with Kat and Kelly wouldn't hurt either, with Kat contemplating her options and then seeing what Kelly's thinking about Finn, just to remind you about the guys back in the villa.

Then pep talk in the dressing room where it's revealed/implied what each girl is gonna do (Natasha can be vague since if you pick Stefan then she picks Marshall, so just have her say she's not sticking with Hamish for sure) AND THEN stick or twist. And I think each couple should be revealed in order. I don't think we need to give Kat too much time in the spotlight, so Kat goes first, picks Lyle, then walks into the Villa and the girls and casa boys are waiting outside but can hear them yelling (bc I just assume there's gonna be yelling around kat). And then MC picks, walks in with her guy or single, and then sees Uma and Chen together, then cliffhanger.

and that being said, despite what I wrote about the date with Uma, I like the idea that MC spilled who the casa guys are and then she made the decision to go for someone insecure and easy so she could stay and then couple with the casa guy she really wants later, and it just happens to be the guy she wanted was the one MC chose. Or alternatively, she did actually want the villa boy she picked (and also was lying during the date about him being close with Jessica). Very snakey and calculated for love but not too gameplayer-y for my distaste.

but for predictions, I think Hamish sticks bc he said he was gonna try to be loyal. I think Finn sticks bc if you're on his route, it would throw another wrench if he had a new girl. Chen/who you're with obviously twists. I could see Jude twisting, but he gives off the vibe that he sticks to try to win the show. In that case, there are two single islanders so which I'm fine with but fusebox likes to dump single islanders post casa even though it doesn't make sense to, but maybe they get the other islanders to choose to save Hamish (or I'm wrong and Hamish twists). I could also see them saying if MC is single then she chooses a boy to couple with, and can save Hamish since clearly a route (and if this is the case then I would heavily consider replaying the last chapter to keep Hamish in the game).

overall, like I said up top, kinda back to my normal level of enjoyment for this season. I was really hopeful after last week, but I was distracted by pretty faces. also I started playing perfect match and the Stefan thing reminded me of the whole neighbor thing going on in perfect match and in both it's really such a shame they send in someone from MC's past to use the second chance romance trope to distract me from a drop dead gorgeous woman named Natasha.

oh other thing, with the way my game has been going, everyone is in a mixed race couple except for Kelly and Finn, which I think is fun bc then I can pretend the audience is tweeting some version of "why is this season giving shondaland right now?"

anyway so thth3 new episode tomorrow woooooooo

[misc-obeyme]

Grey Asmo here again!

Who do you think is the nightbringer? (Goes by many names) im thinking its barb but that does not make sense

Hello again, anon!

Okay. Here's the thing. I think whether or not Nightbringer is Barbatos depends on whether or not they are actively trying to misdirect us.

The evidence for Barbatos being Nightbringer is overwhelming, so at the very least, they want us to think it's him. They could be deliberately making it seem incredibly obvious so that we won't see it coming when they do something twisty.

Now, even if they do some kind of unexpected twist, it might not be about Nightbringer's identity. For instance, they reveal that Nightbringer is Barbatos as we all thought, but it's Barbatos from a different timeline. That's not really a surprising twist, but it's just an example.

When the game first came out, I thought for sure Nightbringer was Barbatos. They were making it so obvious. And this game isn't exactly known for having a lot of really surprising things happen. Dramatic stuff, sure, but nothing on the level of making us think Barbatos is Nightbringer just to reveal it's actually someone else.

But recent events in the game have made me think they're more likely to do something like that after all.

SPOILERS for HARD LESSON 20 just in case:

I never in a million years would have guessed that Raphael was actually Michael in disguise. That twist came out of nowhere for me. I'm usually pretty good at picking up on these things, but yeah I did not see that one coming at all. This makes me think that it's perfectly possible that they're planning some kind of misdirection.

END SPOILERS

Now, if they are trying to deceive us, I think Nightbringer would have to be someone we haven't met yet or an alternate timeline version of someone we have. Nothing else makes sense to me.

The big thing with Barbatos, in my opinion, is motivation. Right now we really don't know what would motivate him to do the things that Nightbringer is doing. But there's a lot we don't know about Barb. So it could be that they're going to fill in that missing information and that it will explain how Barbatos went from being the father of all demons to a butler. If he is indeed Nightbringer, they will have to explain that.

One other thing that I think is interesting is Lesson 10-A. Solomon talks to Nightbringer, but there's actually no indication that he's aware of Nightbringer's identity. He seems to know Nightbringer as Nightbringer. He even says he has an agreement with "him" in quotes like that. Which is interesting if Nightbringer is Barbatos. Why would Barbatos present himself to Solomon that way? Especially when Solomon already trusts him as Barbatos?

Whether or not Nightbringer is Barbatos, I very much believe that both Barbatos and Solomon are deeply connected to him in some way. I think we need to know what happened when Barbatos brought Solomon to the Fountain of Knowledge. I think we need to know who Solomon's friend was when he was telling us that story he couldn't finish. And I think we need to know why Barbatos became Diavolo's butler.

All of this is to say that at this time, I think it's possible that Nightbringer is Barbatos, but I also think it's possible that he isn't. And if he isn't, then I don't know for sure who he could be. Someone we haven't met yet? Michael? An alternate version of one of the other characters? Maybe even the reveal that it's been one of the characters we've known all along?? They could really make us lose it by revealing that it was somehow MC?!?! Okay, I don't think that's the case, but man that'd be insane.

Anyway, I apologize for this long response, but there's just so much to consider when it comes to Nightbringer's identity. They keep giving us little bits but none of the pieces fit together.

[doomed-era]

how did gaffen + zelda feel about the lockup vs the castle town prison? also . im slightly afraid to ask this but how does gaffen feel about his hometown/raurus settlement post or pre cal?

get ready for an insane amount of shit I just made up with no canon basis just because I like my hyrule kingdom clearly morally ambiguous if not outright just bad in true oot/ww/tp fashion because as stated I think I should be allowed to hit fujibayashi with hammers

ok so first of all. for reference. the scale of shit in gboh is bigger than it is in the actual game. to account for how much time it takes in game-time to get around the map Etc and also because I think it should be bigger. this goes double for castle town it is larger and the lockup is larger. castle's probably the same size though

so fun fact gaffen has actually been present at a few executions :) the lockup is not commonly used pre-calamity, at least not as much as the time it was built. mostly it's a place where the royal guard hangs out when they're off-duty/occasionally will trap monsters. recently though they have been keeping a few prisoners down there. yeah remember how i was talking about the neo-yiga. uh. basically theres two yiga clans in my au. anyone they suspect of working with them ends up down there. some of them have been found innocent posthumously but its fine lol. better safe than sorry !

anyway he basically does this.

castle town prison he hasn't really been to its never been something he's ever been assigned to as its more for. Not Royal Guards. but again it hasn't stayed very full recently due to the high demand for cheap labor excavating. things. stuff. yeah its not all sheikah they have prisoners do it occasionally. another one of king rhoam's excellent and pragmatic decisions ! //stares at the camera. gaffen being the freak that he is thinks this is incredible and amazing and great

uhh well. zelda knows about all this but honestly? to her it's all fine. mostly. she demanded a posthumous pardon for multiple people, but she's completely fine with unpaid prison labor. thats great i mean who wants to rot in a cell when you can die in a rockslide

as for rauru settlement? gaffen isn't even aware it was his old home at the moment. zelda probably ends up telling him as it's one of the few pieces of personal information she managed to wring out of him before he died. doesn't know his birthday though. post calamity gaffen is birthdayless and just celebrates his resurrection date. but honestly i think he's just in shock when he hears it. hylia held information about his past over his head for years and would get pissed if he asked for more so zelda giving it so willingly would definitely make him trust her. but i think they go there together and she tries to tell him what she knows. he sort of mourns over it silently. sits in the abandoned houses drops a rock down the well for fun wonders if he used to do that. they might end up meeting his great great grand-nephew there 👍

uhh pre calamity he used to think of it fondly but then just kind of. doesn't have an opinion of it anymore. can't really be bothered to have one. he can't really relate to his old friends after a certain point

[mekatrio]

phoenix wright pondering ho hum ho hum ho hum

ok im awake still sleepy but awake but yes after thinking it over, what makes phoenix particularly interesting to me are 2 things: hes a spriteless VN character + me and him arent on the same page when it comes to plot info.

so firstly visual novels arent a genre i engage with often, really my only other frame of reference is a sdr2 walkthrough i watched like 9 years ago (and ddlc but ddlc is a blank slate protag so im not counting that) but yeah VN player characters is smth thats very unfamiliar to me, its very interesting to not have a sprite of my character that will give me extra information abt their emotional state, instead the only thing i really have to go off of is the text the game provides me. its also interesting how VNs challenges the notion of what a video game is, bc the gap between player and character in a VN's player character feels very stark as my protag is very much their own character outside of my influence, and although my control over them is minimal compared to other vg genres, this is still undoubtedly a video game. ive taken to thinking of me and wright as me being remy ratatouille and wright being a piece of shit chef who keeps trying to do his own thing. so yeah interesting stuff, but yet i still feel like theres a pretty big difference between sdr2's hinata and aa's wright, in regards to their characterization. and i think this difference is borne from the fact that unlike hinata and most other video games ive played, im not actually on the same page as wright when it comes to plot info.

what that means is that like, usually in video games, developers will want the player and their player characters to have the same amount of knowledge, which is why foreign/amnesic protags are so common. this way world-building exposition can be more natural, as there'll be a reason now for characters to divulge in the history of their world (to let our clueless little protag to know whats up), and players will feel more in sync with the character theyre playing as, overall everything will feel more immersive.

but ace attorney doesnt do this.. also omg im way too sleepy to word this properly so its bullet point time

- in aa1 phoenix knew abt his history with edgeworth (duh) yet despite playing as phoenix we the player are kept in the dark about it until the fourth case

- (which honestly makes case 2 pretty fucking crazy like 1st time meeting maya + mia's death + phoenix's reunion with edgeworth but players wont understand the significance of any of this until way later)

- likewise in aa2 phoenix knows the context of edgeworth's disappearance (that damn note) but we the players are kept in the dark abt it until the third case and we're only given small hints towards his fate + phoenix's abysmal grieving process

- interestingly enough, the players are represented by maya in both instances. meaning maya is like us, in that we both arent aware of phoenix's backstory + that damn note, and when we do learn abt these two pieces of info, its bc phoenix is telling this to maya. and so in a way we are learning all this thru her. very very interesting considering we do not control maya

- and i mentioned this in my big post gushing abt 2-4 but not only is this an interesting writing method, but it also helps to illustrate how phoenix is a character who deeply represses various emotions. he is fucked!

- but yeah its super interesting. and also like ill need to finish aa3 to properly look at this trilogy but i really wonder how like the "overarching narratives" of these games are designed and what phoenix's function in each of them are like this is my first time i think ever experiencing this style of writing in a video game, where a protagonist knows more than i do.

- cuz like yes ive played games where protags have a backstory thats only shown much later but like.. say with like portal, chell's backstory is there to just basically explain her motives. basically theres a difference between "a protag's backstory serves to recontextualize their behavior" vs "uncovering a protag's backstory Is the plot", and phoenix falls under the latter. all while me the player am not on the same page as him the character like ITS ALL VERY INTERESTINGGGGGG.... after i finish aa3 or maybe even more aa games id like to compare aa's style of writing to ghost trick

[jackienautism]

wrote all of this b4 seeing how max’s rejection letter explicitly talks about graduate school, so take it w/ a grain of salt. but i still think it makes a plausible case.

showing means more than straight up telling in my opinion, and the writers did a terrible job at conveying that laura + max were supposed to be going into grad school. so here

gonna be talking about this response, ill be referring to the post linked. unless its SPECIFICALLY stated that laura is a college graduate and i just somehow missed it entirely, then ignore this whole thing i guesss

anywho, based on the information given to us IN GAME, there's little to no way that we're meant to interpret laura + max as already graduated college students. (JUST based on how they speak about school, i mean). especially when its said that max is entering school as undecided. and, correct me if im wrong, but i dont believe you're able to graduate undergrad school STILL without a major! i think the most that will happen is the school graduating you as liberal arts, but laura explicitly talks about max being undecided + him needing to pick a diverse set of classes because of that.

and based on the post im currently referring to, its said that both laura and max are currently going into college for their masters / doctorate degrees. which IS possible, except for the existence of max’s undecided major still. in order to get a masters (and ESP a doctorate i assume), you must have prerequisite courses under your belt and so forth to even qualify. youre not able to strive for a masters or doctorate without knowing what you wanna major in! at the very least, max going into his second college experience just doesnt make any sense.

and this is very much so subjective but, the way they both talk about it? it reallt does not seem like theyve already encountered 4 whole years of college. plus laura LITERALLY says that she just needs "the classes that'll let [her] major in veterinary sciences." if she was in school for her postgrad degree then she would already have her major all set and confirmed, would she not????????? YES the writers or whatesvesrg or WHOEVER may have "wanted" both laura and max gto be in their early twenties with a bachelors degree, but trhe game has several pieces of evidence that go against it!

so, no, you can't blame people for seeing both laura and max as fresh out of highschool! because the game SUPPORTS that theory! with ttheir talk surroundning college and the fact that the other counselors are STILL TEENAGERS....

in conclusion. the quarry really droppped the ball w/ this one LOL. i couldn't give less of a fuck if you still see them as 21 / 22, do whatever you want i guess, just don’t be dicks about it. and please be AWARE of how and why someone may think otherwise, especially when this scene in chapter 7 exists and provides much more than needed for us to make a plausible inference. because nothing they say aligns with them being postgrad students, nothing makes any goddamn sense and it pisses me off!!!!!!

[major-wren]

Headcanons for Sonic characters' living situations (family/upbringing/housing)

We don't see most sonic characters homes or relatives anymore post-Archie comics, which tbh I actually like bc I like them to stay simplistic adventurer characters in main-line canon, but here's a bit of a masterpost for what I like to imagine in headcanon world lol

Even tho it's headcanons, I like to base them off of canon information (one off dialogue, old comics, less played games), so ull probably learn a lot about their actual canon homes through this read if that interests you team

Im splitting this into two posts! Click here for team dark, read below the cut for team sonic-

Team Sonic homes & upbringing

Sonic

I really really do not have any interest in Sonic being a tragic orphan lol. No interest in the Longclaw tragedy or him being alone his whole childhood. I think most can kinda agree that the tragic orphan main character trope is kinda overdone anyway, and honestly I just don't think it's accurate to his personality at all, at least not how I see him. My headcanon is that he had a pretty normal childhood, despite his super speed, and that the reason he didn't cause a commotion out adventuring at an even younger age than he already did is because he canonically grew up on Christmas island, so he couldn't get to the mainland since he can't swim. On TailsTube Tails said that the mainland is mostly urban cityscapes populated by humans (I assume with further away, more forested areas like windmill village and north glade further away from the human cities) and that the animal people mostly live on or at least come from tropical islands surrounding the main land (that are more tropical and similar looking to the early games with their palm trees and sunflowers).

I think Christmas island is probably tucked out of the way, and that Sonic grew up with a mom and dad and maybe even a little sister. I just think Sonic is such a big brother type, he had to get it from somewhere, he just fell into it so naturally with Tails like it was no big deal to him to have some little guy following him around tryna copy him, like maybe he was used to it. I bet his little sister is a lot younger though, like a bigger age difference than Sonic has with Tails, so by the time she was more self aware he was already off adventuring. I think before he left though, he was a massive trouble maker, always trying to find something exciting to get up to and burn energy with. I bet he had a skateboard and would be constantly hurtling around the island crashing into other peoples' stuff, so everyone knew him well. That kind of small town childhood where every mom and pop shop owner knows you by name and gives you a free little treat while you're out grocery shopping with your parents. I think everyone was shocked by his super speed at first but got used to it because, tbh, judging from other characters, although it's rare it doesn't seem that insanely crazy for animal folks to be born with some sort of special ability or crazy fur or eye color. I think the only reason Tails got bullied for his is just because it's so much more visually jarring and really seemed to be more of a deformity than a special ability until he realized he could fly.

I think Sonic would befriend someone who managed to get a proper ship that can make the distance to the mainland, and would end up begging his parents to go off and adventure, to finally stretch his legs and find the limits to his speed while he sees the world. In Sonic's world, and even Blaze's dimension, I don't think this is uncommon. Supposedly Amy ran off to adventure, Cream's mom Vanilla lets her go and adventure so long as Germerl or a team sonic member is watching her, and Marine from Blaze's world was also intent on adventuring no matter what anyone said. I don't really like when people try to say that this is like,, trauma inducing or something, because that's just how adventure cartoons and games are. Like, little kids go off and adventure the world in pokemon too and stuff, that's just normal for them or even an exciting opportunity that others envy them for, so, yknow, that's how I see it for sonic's world, too. He wasn't abandoned by his parents or anything he just wanted to go adventure and see the world outside his tiny island.

Obviously once he was off the island, at some point he ran into eggman and couldn't stand by and watch him do evil, jumped into action, and kickstarted their rivalry. Remember, he didn't start out doing cosmic universe saving conquests, originally he was just roughing up eggman to save little woodland critters! And during this cat and mouse game he met Tails, Amy, and Knuckles, with this rivalry obviously becoming more serious when Metal Sonic was introduced later on (Metal was introduced 2 years after Sonic's first adventure, so I like to think that at least 2 years really did pass in their time and so he's a proper teenager by then and ready to take on the challenge).

I really like to emphasize Sonic's adventuring sprit, and so I think he started out with the money his parents gave him to rent out motel/inn rooms or yknow those little rooms people will rent our of their homes for some extra money. Probably a few of the nights inbetween he may have used a hammock and camped out for fun, he does like to enjoy some quiet time in nature every now and then after all. I think by the time Metal Sonic comes in and Sonic's position as hero becomes a bit officiated, he's probably run out of the money his parents gave him at that point but doesn't wanna abandon his duty against Eggman now and his new friendships, and has found that he really loves this freedom and exploring. But now he's a proper hero, maybe not worldwide but definitely in these forested areas I mentioned earlier that are distant from the urban cities at the center of the mainland. So people probably take him in and let him sleep in their guest rooms or on their couch with Tails for free on the days they don't feel like camping out, yknow as thanks for keeping eggman at bay and saving woodland critters and kidnapped victims like Amy. Eventually in time Tails finishes building a Lab in Emerald Town with Sonic's help and that became their home base.

So I think Sonic lives all over the place, that he mostly sleeps at Tails' lab and has his own room there, but that he also still travels a ton inbetween adventures (because it's so easy for him to do, run for 10 seconds and you've skipped 5 towns) and likes to still stay at strangers' houses to hear their stories and sight-see, or will stay at whatever hotel or inn, or maybe even still set up a hammock if it's a night with good weather.

What about his family though? Oh he totally visits them as often as he can, but since it's a small island that hasn't made any connections to the mainland yet, they don't have a ferry system and are too far out to build a big bridge without promise of business to justify it. He hates the water so much and hates the boat rides there, so that's why it's reduced to yearly visits, but they still send letters back and forth all the time, with his parents sending pictures and updating him on his little sister, and Sonic sending back all the details of his adventures and new friends. I'm sure by the time he's become a big hero, like by sonic adventure 1, at that point the news of his heroism reaches his parents before his letters can, and they always make sure to write in how proud they are.

And don't worry!! Tails isn't left out by any means, he goes with Sonic to celebrate holidays at his family's house every year, and his parents make sure that he feels like he's a part of the family too, because he is! Besides, Sonic really appreciates the company for the boat-rides there and back, if we've learned anything from Sonic X, it's that he's not particularly a huge fan of long boat rides. Tails is Sonic's little bro through and through, and his little sister is simply thrilled to have two adventuring hero big brothers. Sonic's parents love to have Tails too because it gives them a chance to embarass Sonic with all the stories of how he would try to impress his little sister with radical skateboard tricks or setting a new record for running a lap around the island, but would always end up hurting himself somehow. Still, it made her laugh, and makes Tails laugh at the stories now even years later, so there's no real loss.

Tails

We all know the story of how Tails was bullied by the others in his village for either his second tail or his advanced skills in technology, depending on the media. Sonic was the one to scare the bullies off while running by one day, and Tails ended up following him and joining in on his adventure, so there's not much room for my own headcanons since he already has a past and home in canon (the lab/workshop he built in Emerald city). It's never said where his parents are in all of this, at least not in the cartoons, games, or IDW comics. It's unclear whether they simply were never there, possibly neglected him and therefore did not care when he left, or if they let him leave to adventure the same way Cream's mom lets her. The headcanon I ended up coming up with is that in Tails village it has a 'it takes a village to raise a kid' mentality, and although kids still lived with their parents, they were cared for by everyone in the village, and that it was predominantly foxes living there. Because of this, I think if Tails wasn't claimed by his parents and instead lived in a group home or orphanage, it wouldn't be too bad since he'd have the whole village of adults looking after him, but: This would also make it easy for him to kind of feel like he doesn't have much tying him to his home, just kind of generally cared for and not having a direct link or loyalty to a specific home. I also think that his village being majority foxes would cause them to be more closed minded toward any differences, like his second tail. So when Sonic comes by, and shows off how he's backpacking the mainland alone and embracing not having anything tying him down, Tails is totally star struck and wants to follow in his footsteps. They of course go on exciting adventures together and Sonic becomes his big bro, with the adventures slowly becoming more intense as they grow older and rise to the challenges and make connections to adventuring types all over the world (and beyond, into the future and other dimensions and other planets).

Obviously he needs a place to store his equipment though, when his skills expand and demand more than the tools and materials he keeps stored in a bag on the Tornado. What was a single bag and the tornado ends up blowing up into a full blown workshop, multiple mechas, basically a whole industry with his logo showing up even on common household items. I think that's how he makes money too to stay independent, through selling inventions or being commissioned for repairs or designs.

Also in the IDW comics, there's a small side moment where Tails asks Sonic to play games with him, and there's a panel showing them playing games on a couch, so it's clear that Tails' workshop does have a living area with the typical furniture and comforts.

As said earlier he visits Sonic's family every year whenever they can make the time for a trip and be sure they won't be needed for anything important (this becomes easier when the freedom fighters or the resistance/restoration is formed, depending on whichever continuation you follow, regardless it allows them to go off for a little vacation/home visit more often). Tails is nervous at first but after a few visits becomes excited to go see them again and feels like a part of the family, and a holiday without him just doesn't feel right at Sonic's family's house. Whenever he's there he definitely helps with any home repairs they may need as thanks, and eventually helps them with setting up a way to do video calls. Even with video calls, Sonic still likes to send letters back and forth too, it became a way to really sit down and digest all the big events that happen to him, like a way to help process it all while also chronicling all the good moments with his friends. Still he appreciates the video calls Tails set up, but since he never keeps any tech on him, they have to be scheduled so he can make sure he can go have a sit-down at Tails' lab to be there to answer the call and have a chat (this means Tails is always there for the video calls too!).

At first at Sonic's family's house his bedroom had been left untouched and still has his silly race-car bed and stack of comic books and stuff, and it isn't until he literally can't fit in it anymore that it's replaced, and when it is they make sure to put a second bed in the room for Tails too since they always visit together.

Amy

Amy seemed to seek independence from a really young age. It's implied in Sonic X that her parents really upheld gender roles and expected her to stay at home and stay away from rough housing with her hammer. It was her fortune cards that told her to leave home, that she'd find her hero out in the world, and so that's how she ended up chasing Sonic around. I really like that Amy still found fun in femininity despite her parents' influence on her, that she knows she can simultaneously weild her massive hammer and bark orders while still expecting to be treated delicately and wear her cute outfits.

Since Amy isn't included on a lot of Sonic's early adventures with Knuckles and Tails, I tend to fill this gap with her having to return home because she doesn't really have anywhere to stay except for her parents' home, unlike the boys, so she can't tag along, as much as she'd like to. By Sonic Adventure 1 though, we see her independently grocery shopping and such, so it can be assumed that she moved out of her parents house the moment she was able to, probably saving up all her money to get away, and likely not being especially fond of or attached to her parents because of their conflicting thoughts on gender roles and adventuring, although not exactly hating them either. I like to headcanon that she moved into a human city maybe because its just easier to be independent there, that the animal-people communities have a focus on family and community and build their own eco-huts, but since she was goin' it alone it was easier to move into a pre-built apartment in the city. I bet, too, that she was excited to live right next to Twinkle Park. I also like to headcanon that shes specifically living in a tiny apartment right above a bakery, and that she works there a little bit to pay her rent living above it, like Kiki's delivery service. Obviously she regroups with the boys now that she's able to and joins in as a permanent fixture to the adventures.

Later on when she's older (I like to think her outfit reflects her age, that she was a child when she had the green skirt, a teenager with the big red skirt with lace edge, and an adult when she's got the red dress we see her in now) she finally moves back into an animal folk community and builds her own eco-hut. She has people over for tea often and bakes little treats to go with it. Just like the annual comic, I think she draws the mini-comics of her friends, and has been drawing their adventures and funny moments for a long long time. She definitely seems like the type to draw diary comics, or at least any kind of diary. Even though she settles down in one of the animal folk villages, I think she still makes trips into the city to go shopping with Rouge or to drag Sonic to Twinkle Park (he pretends to hate it but actually loves the arcade section with dancing games and the thrill rides, and soon they start making it into a trip with even more friends). There's a moment in the IDW comics where she takes everyone on a camping trip, and it's shown she has a cute car too, so I think she goes out and does stuff often, having little planned out trips with friends.

Amy realizes that her cards were never telling her of a hero that'd save her, they were sending her on her quest to become a hero by spreading love and protecting compassion, just like what she said in Sonic Fronteirs. I think her speech to Shadow, the way she protected Gamma, the way she looks out for Sonic and holds together the alliances and friendships he sparks, I think that's her role in the group and I think it's reflected in the way she lives, the way she builds a home wherever her friends need to be, and the way she's one of the only ones shown to have a car to help connect friends, always the one planning the get-togethers like her picnic in Sonic Prime and camping trip in IDW.

Knuckles

Okay honestly I don't have a lot in mind for Knuckles but there's no fucking way he actually just sleeps on the steps in front of the master emerald I refuse to believe it I refuse-

So obviously in my headcanon Knuckles is not homeless/shelterless. Yea sometimes he probably posts up in a hammock around angel island, same as Sonic's habits, maybe sometimes he does fall asleep in front of the master emerald by accident, but I like to believe he has a little home to keep things in and rest his head and hide out from the rain, even if he's not materialistic.

Remember when he popped up out of a sewer manhole in Sonic Adventure 2? I like to emphasize his whole thing of like, climbing up rock-walls and digging underground with his knuckle claw things lol. So building off of that, I think there's a hidden hatch somewhere and that the master emerald's temple is actually hollowed out inside underground for the protector to make a home of. That way he literally lives beneath the master emerald. I'm sure he has a little spot to cook food and a bed and maybe a makeshift boxing area and that's his home darn it give him a home. Beyond that he doesn't have any belongings inside because mostly he spends time all over the island looking after the chao, exploring, uncovering new engravings and structures, etc etc.

Also, honestly, I feel like it'd be nice if he had a few more hobbies. Especially if he was like, keeping some of his culture alive through crafting/making art, like weaving or carving small sculptures or stuff like that yknow? He doesn't like to hold on to too many items though because clutter makes him feel overwhelmed so he exclusively makes them as gifts for others. When he gifted Amy a small accessory he made Amy tried to gift back an accessory of her own that she knitted but she soon learned that it was better to just visit Knuckles and craft together side by side while enjoying the weather.

[our-monochopsis]

brief thoughts on communication skills and debate, autism and masking, tact, good vs bad faith debate

rambles sorted into loose sections half self examination diary half loose psychological thesis

the skill of speech

i was thinking about how much i like to talk (i am very self-aware that i ramble, i like hearing myself talk, i can go on random triads and anecdotes for an indefinite amount of time if nobody stops me) and started thinking about the concept of speech as a skill, or communication skills in general

the thought first started with the idea that most people don't 'train' speech; i think of RPGs that use it as a skill, speech in fallout or in some form charisma in DND systems. but in real life most people don't really think about how they talk at all, they aren't really conscious of how or to whom they're communicating to as much as they are just saying things

i think actually taking the time to try and improve your own communication skills is rare, sort of like how a few weeks of exercise immediately puts you above the majority of the population because most people simply don't exercise at all

i thought about myself and how much i love to give speeches when the time is appropriate, or how 'easy' it is to keep myself composed under pressure or to adapt a new personality for the purpose of acting or a bit

autism and communication skills

i'm autistic, i struggled socially, but i'm somewhat adverse to the general social struggle stereotype because i don't find it overtly difficult to speak to people or make friends, i just find it incredibly tiring and taxing on my mental energy (it's not that i DISLIKE it, i love having friends and making them, connecting with people, it just takes a lot out of me to start and maintain them)

so i STRUGGLED socially, but i was capable of building the pathways in my brain by observing and studying human beings throughout my life in order to 'mask' and fit in

i had to develop my own social skills and blend in to the world of normal people, masking is a second skin, its a different person, its very off-putting to think

1. a majority of the people i interact with in my life are never really interacting with me, they're just interacting with the mask i wear, never even getting close to what i'm actually like as a human being because that mask is on tight

2. i had to become someone else in order to succeed socially, i have to be an actor to make friends in most average social situations

that as an aside, i basically had to RPG grind the concept of communicating with people for my entire life, so i built up a bunch of XP. compound that with me being lucky enough to not spawn with as much negative levels as some of my other brothers/sisters on the spectrum. i managed to get to level 1 and afford myself basic social skills, but ive been doing it for so long i do it without thinking, so im just passively collecting more XP by experiencing further social situations. i obviously have a general cap to what ive gained this way because im not some kind of politician or actual career public speaker, i can just compose myself well in a pressuring social situation and deliver words in a way that people are able to understand

i literally had to work through the concept of basic human communcation backwards- i had to reverse engineer how to speak, and built it back up slowly until i arrived at level one and then managed to push up a little bit further since i was now able to take information i had previously learned and stored in the databanks and reformat it after a system upgrade to make better use of stored data

so if regular people are level 1, maybe im like level 3? or maybe the game-ification aspect of this is falling apart and i should stop doing it

what even is being good at talking? tact?

i'm not necessarily the most goated speaker of my generation but i think

engaging in a serious conversation in a way that is

clear

concise

understandable

is actually really hard, especially when dealing with someone who is already predisposed to disbelieve you or not take you seriously

now let's briefly talk about the word 'tact', aka knowing who your speaking to and changing the way you communicate in order for them to better understand you

the actual definition being

tact

/tak(t)/

noun

adroitness and sensitivity in dealing with others or with difficult issues."the inspector broke the news to me with tact and consideration"

(adroitness=cleverness, skill)

this can manifest in a lot of ways most people already do but didn't know the word for

knowing your friend doesn't like something, so you don't bring it up

acting differently around friends vs family

when in rome, doing what locals to in an unfamiliar environment

masking, code switching, etc are all forms of tact

i think that most people have a very basic level or understanding of tact

adopting social norms to me is like your body's subconscious sense of tact adapting your personality traits (creating new ones or suppressing old ones) in order to not stand out as much

some people are born with some sense of tact and other people start at zero have to learn and develop it over time

approaching it from a perspective of a debate or disagreement changes things though- people who have tact, are good at speaking, communicating, etc. can completely lose these skills when faced with a disagreement

advanced tact- consoling, teaching, mental optimization

I think simply being able to speak to someone who

isn't aware of what your aware of,

of the notion they're unaware of,

and doing so in a way that is understandable,

is a basic mental facility some people don't build

basic tact is as i described earlier, but an advanced sense of tact comes into play when you're consoling someone

(how are they upset? what is the problem and how was it caused? do they need it to be fixed, or do they just need to vent? what is the remedy, does there need to be one or is the answer getting over the hump to acceptance? etc.)

or, when you're trying to explain something or teach someone

(what makes them 'not get it?' what's causing the mental block? how do you bridge that gap for them? how do you explain something to someone who doesn't know what you know, about the thing they don't know about, in a way that they can understand?

how can you make them understand in a way they can understand, not in a way that makes you understand?)

these things are basically social puzzles, challenges that put your communication skills to the test, sometimes it feels like a normal jigsaw puzzle and sometimes it's like tip-toeing around a minefield. in these situations you're usually looking for a 'breakthrough', that's the best outcome- a resolution that DOESN'T necessarily fix their problem, or tell them something directly, but puts them in a position where they can resolve their own problem, or learn without your aid

the goal of consoling isn't to make yourself the savior, it's to put the troubled person in a place where they're capable of getting over it themselves

in a way this could sound bad- if you were to be critical of my thinking, you could say something alongside the lines of 'that's selfish, you don't want the mental burden of trying to help them, that's just giving up'

but from my point of view, putting someone in a position where they're capable of 'getting over it' themselves means they come out stronger. obviously that isn't always the goal, or the best method, or even necessary, i'm not a psychopath. but i think the best outcome is that person being more capable of handling their mental struggles in the future themselves. instead of stepping in to save them as part of some kind of grand hero complex, you are giving them the mental tools to repair what's broken or off-kilter, and hopefully adding it to their own skillset.

and a similar view is seen for teaching- the ultimate goal isn't to make the pupil understand a concept, but to give them the tools and make them understand how they can understand the concept. then, they can apply that same thinking to similar questions or concepts in the future.

and both of these 'best outcomes' (as i see them) can only happen with tact! really good, strong tact!

if you want an extremely basic version of this, we learn equations, not just the answer to the number problem. now apply that thinking to every form of teaching, consoling, or other social skill test

the difficulty with tact with convincing and debates

you will never be an effective communicator if you can't see through someone elses eyes

instead of writing people off who don't instantly or instinctively understand you as being ignorant on purpose to spite you or just stupid, build that mental facility and put in shifts walking in other people's shoes

even if it sucks, even if their reasons are stupid, you have to understand their reasons they think something before you could ever hope to convince them what they think is actually wrong

you HAVE to do this- you HAVE to, if you are engaging in the 'debate' seriously, scale the walls of their mental fortress and figure out what makes why in their brain

and obviously, this is a very difficult thing to accomplish because it's impossible to have a 100% completion rate. it's somewhat unavoidable that we insert our own bias and assumptions into their thought patterns and reasoning

and to double down, even when communicating with someone who stands for the same goals or ideals, you are both possibly interpreting the thing you agree with in different ways. sometimes when deconstructing a concept someone agrees with you on you'll find that you actually think very different things, or have radically different reasons for coming to the same conclusion, in a way you don't necessarily agree with

simplified; it's unavoidable to assume things. the game played properly is assuming things correctly, though the method of combining concrete information with a series of loosely stitched together educated guesses blanketed in a patchwork benefit of the doubt

sometimes you'll deconstruct someone's mental patterns and realize it makes you not like them even more. you understand the reason, but the reason is bad and stupid. but that's still the board you have to play on if you want to actually engage with them or even hope to change their minds. that's still the springboard you're bouncing off of. you understand this person better-

now can you actually engage with them properly, better? or does it make you hate them more? can you ignore that in order to communicate with them? so on. sometimes you have to grit your teeth and trudge through the wasteland. sometimes you pull out of the matrix early because it isn't worth it. sometimes the mountain is too high to climb. sometimes you try anyway

this isn't to say that people who think awful things are always worth considering or communicating with; i don't believe in giving a platform to a racist for instance. racism is an inherently illogical thing. to 'understand' a racist involves jumping through a bunch of poorly though out wiring that, if untangled, will simply break the machine. you can't seriously debate a racist because it's a concept so stupid it's impossible to take seriously.

sometimes you can still try tip-toeing the subject. the concept of 'seeing through the eyes of a racist' sounds insane but you can do it in order to present themselves with their own logical fallacies. sometimes all it takes to deconstruct a concept is asking questions about it's basic functions. but then again there's generally no merit to saying something like, 'you've intentionally taken an illogical position in order to excuse hate' because most racists already know that. it only really works if that specific racist is trying to approach their racism with easily disproven psuedoscience or something of that matter

okay enough about debating racists lets get back to

when you are arguing with someone even about something basic you're actively challenging the bridges they've built in their brain to connect information which have been reinforced in their mind for an untold number of years

a heated debate over a serious topic, or a battle of wits, while instinctually intellectual in nature in the sense of needing to get your facts right and righting the wrongs your opponent presents,

is actually a skill that relies more on charisma, as a debate isn't about being right, it's being able to convince the other person that you're right

intellectually you can understand that the information you have is the correct information, but can you make someone else see that? believe it? take it into consideration?

what the 'facts don't care about your feelings' crowd doesn't ever really seem to understand is that emotional intelligence is intelligence. you have to be really smart to understand people psychologically. using 'tact' is a charismatic skill that is built on intelligence. you have to have tact! when you don't have it, you can't talk to people good! nobody's going to pay attention to what you have to say if you can't deliver it effectively!

that's why political parties have politicians. they're the mouthpiece; they're the charisma, they are the tact of the political machine. they are the human delivery of a political parties ideas

even if you do really think someone is stupid, you saying that doesn't help

are you actually trying to debate with someone and convince them you're correct, or do you just want them to feel bad about being wrong? i've done both, but it's important to understand the difference between actually having an intelligent debate and just having an argument (don't get semantics on me you know what i'm saying)

for example, if someone makes a shitty tweet, you don't have to really dive into their psyche and change their mind one neuron at a time. sometimes you can just call them stupid.

but let's say your family member or friend says something wrong? to the point where you actively need to engage with them in a way that doesn't lead to a by-the-numbers negative influence on both parties, potentially damaging the relationship?

that's the chance to employ tact. and knowing when to use tact and when it doesn't matter... that's right baby, that's tact too. we're always tacting whether we like it or not, that's why it's good to be good at it

sometimes you actively stand to gain something by taking your social opponent in a direction that doesn't actively go against them. sometimes you have to make a stupid person think it was their own idea to change because otherwise they never will. sometimes being gentle with someone whose being aggressive is the only real answer. etc

in a debate, taking a position of unrelenting offense or playground insults instead of using tact and effectively engaging with your opponent would lead to a loss. but what if it didn't?

a quick aside on good faith vs bad faith debates

streamers arguing with eachother on a livestream regardless of the subject aren't engaging in a serious debate, they're basically just socially wrestling for an audience to comment on

you can have a debate with someone. you can use tact, be an effective communicator, be nuanced. but if the goal isn't to seriously engage?

when there's an audience involved, are you preaching to the choir? do you play to the ever-updating twitch chat? in front of your friends, are you disagreeing with your opponent or are you just agreeing with your friends?

the goal of modern televised debate, from internet personalities to our modern day politics, is less step by step and more setup and punchline, where the ultimate goal is to pedestal yourself as a noble unassailable being of pure facts and logic punching down on a rancorous, ignorant buffoon who should be ridiculed for even daring to go toe to toe with someone better at making the other guy look dumb. it is by basic reasoning a 'bad faith' position to take

i watch streamers argue sometimes, its fun, but it's hard to take it seriously even if someone is saying things you agree with. it's a different kind of debate, a different kind of social challenge. you have the common pressure of a watching audience, but entirely different goals. 99% of the time, a publicized debate is more about making your enemy into content instead of actually having a logical discussion about something.

i'm not here to make you understand why i think the way i think, or to deconstruct why you think the way you think, i'm here to turn you into a content farm. i'm collecting clips. it's for the subscribers, not the noble goal of reaching common ground or a logical conclusion

am i a master debator? baiter? do i debate? master debate? inator? master debator inator?

how i approach debates;

revisiting the optimization i talked about earlier- despite writing all of this out in a mad dash of mental strain at 4 in the morning (time goes fast when your rambling), puttering away at what it means to talk good for hours in front of a dimly lit screen, i typically do not engage in tact when it comes to debates. i don't take people seriously. but my reasons are very good i think

i can generally tell when someone wants to engage in a serious discussion vs when they are only here to virtue signal their own beliefs and leave, grandstanding their beliefs over yours with no intention of an actual discussion

i have a limited amount of mental energy and it generally isn't worth spending on spur of the moment internet flamewars

i am a mental optimizer

the last note- i think the ultimate goal of a debate should be common ground. the ultimate goal of a debate should not be to be 'right', but to establish a new, more constructive narrative for both parties. this is the utopian outcome; we take two disagreements, a result of missing information and confusion, put what we know together and pit various bits and pieces of data together, we figure out what is and isn't true based on what we both provide, and in turn we can both walk away smarter

but i know the chances of this actually happening are incredibly low

when i say i love to debate people, it's kind of unavoidable to conjure the image of a ben shapiro emulator running off damaged software. but i really do like it when i disagree with someone about something and we both run off our own reasonings and lists. a good debate or argument is like fencing. it's fun!

and it's fun when both parties use their tact, so that even if a common ground isn't necessarily reached, we can understand the value in eachothers viewpoints, or at the bare minimum ingest enough information to better understand the other person's point of view if we're unable to liken benefit or meaning to their actual beliefs

that's a pipe dream though. it doesn't happen

the ending

now that i've talked about communication skills, autism, tact, and racism, let's revisit the gameification aspect i was going for earlier

a

level one tact challenge(tm)

is giving someone a little push to do something they already wanted to, like acknowledging it's okay for someone to start doing something they were waiting for confirmation on

level one tact challenges are basically just suggestions that don't require a lot of thought. use tact to determine what it is and then just pull the trigger. you can't miss you just need the basic thought to understand what that person is waiting to hear, or when to shoot

a level two is convincing your friend to take a bite of your food at a resturaunt. the meal contains something your friend normally doesn't like, but it doesn't taste the same it usually does.

i don't typically enjoy or seek out spinach. but when my friend wanted me to try the spinach dip with our nachos, i didn't really have to think about it.

three is convincing someone to start their day when the bed is really comfortable and they're still tired,

four is like... convincing someone who isn't confident that they look good in the clothes they're trying on. you use tact to understand why/how they're self concious, understanding through tact they don't actively see what you see because they see themselves as a worse version of themselves.

maybe you accentuate what you like about it. it's just so 'you', the style matches what you usually wear, it fits you well. maybe more specific, like it makes your shoulders broad in a nice way, or it adds a lot to your side profile/silhouette. use some tact to compliment then in a way they feel good about in order to raise their confidence. sometimes you have to fish for a path that works before you walk down it...

4 is the jumping point in a way, once you get here and above you're actually challenging people, or challenging their preconceived notions or thoughts. it becomes more an actual struggle from there up

a level five is teaching a basic task that is relatively difficult to a child,

level six is a heated bad faith livestream argument,

a level seven is convincing your friend/family to stop saying something they didn't know is insensitive/a slur,

a level eight is convincing your friend/family to stop saying something they're fully aware is insensitive or a slur,

a level 9 is a presidential debate stage,

and a level 10 is actively trying to debate twitter troll about racism being bad or not

if i were to really close my eyes and throw the dart at the board from a relatively close yet still blind distance, i'd say most of the human population can realistically handle a level 4 challenge with some great effort, 5 when they really apply themselves, and then break down at 6 and above, if they even try at all

and a noticeable amount of the population stop at 2 and put zero effort into any further tiers

and to place myself i feel like i could realistically tackle a 7 and below, 8 is possible with great effort. there are also a lot of people who can or at least think they can/are willing to try, but on average i feel like most people wouldn't really be effective communicators when it comes to such challenging situations to be in. remember that winning is communicating and using tact effectively, not just shaming someone for being wrong or etc as discussed earlier

the worst part about grinding tact/communication XP is unless you serially choose which battles to fight (which isn't a bad thing necessarily it just means you're gonna level super slowly) you're destined to inevitably fail. in fact, if you're willing to dissect why you failed beyond just the shame of social failure and reclusion, it's probably the best way to level your skills. you have to have enough skill to diagnose your skill failures. it's a muscle; you build it up, but it has to burn itself before it comes back stronger. and if you don't keep using that muscle, it'll eventually atrophy. failing is normal when trying to progress in anything and that is still true for things like communication skills, so maybe do some self-preparation before actually engaging and get that mental fortitude up before someone takes a wrecking ball to your wall in retaliation

oh, and there's the whole idea that the 'dark side' of tact is basically just manipulation, but then it gets muddy when you try to draw the line sometimes. if your manipulating someone to do something that's good for them and doesn't directly benefit you, are you manipulating them? or are you just using tact? at what point in a debate does your toolbox start radiating sith energy? how many people use tools they aren't even aware radiate darkness, even if it's done with good intent to achieve good outcomes that aren't necessarily beneficial for you?

i mean obviously there's a moral failing, because what you think is good for someone might not be what they want, and if you preside over their own reasoning you're overstepping your boundaries. i think this is solved with safety nets; although i don't like the idea that i have to self-impose restrictions on how i interact with people to make sure i'm not acting on bad faith without realizing it, it's probably more normal than i'd think, and it's better that i'm self aware enough to have that understanding in the first place. but then there's that whole conversation to have about extreme situations and excruciating circumstances; we ban drugs like meth because it's inherently extremely harmful to consume. if someone is fully informed, aware, and conscious of what meth does to the body, and they choose to take it, and you don't let them, are you taking away their freedoms? are you 'playing god' by not letting people hurt themselves? but what do we know is really hurting? when are we supposed to let go?

i think there's a much larger conversation to be had about things like this, but there are some notions i'd like to think about and dissect in the future; ideas like, well it's bad for an individual to do it, that's why we create systems that check eachother for failures before pushing laws like 'no meth' through. even the most obvious things have to be rigorously checked, because at one time, gay marriage being illegal was the result of a failing system. and how much trust do we even put in our modern day legal system? is the 'system' not just a collection of individuals who can be manipulated themselves?

what even is manipulation? control? tact? did i properly explain what tact is in this post? am i being tactful right now and writing something digestible? no, im not being tactful at all, this whole post is catered to how i logically approach things and isnt explicitly 1:1 written for people who dont think like me

putting a cap on it before i completely go off the rails; that whole self-imposed discussion will be it's own post. i hope the rest of this is legible

[deffonotsimping]

Hiyaa~ okay soo..

I saw your first post with genshin impact tags and I found your blog kinda interesting on #venti smut but if your accepting to do request rn..

Can you do an au about the reader as an 5/4 star unit and they're shipped with an certain character (the character the reader requested for) (headcanons about the reader and the character's interaction that made them a lovely ship). (Pure Fluff because I don't really know what to think if its NSFW headcanons, but you can add NSFW hc if u prefer to ^^)

- side note : I know some of you guys don't really like the reader as an side playable character imagines being shipped cuz I have a really weird idea. (im not here fishing for compliments sorry.)

Anyways I also don't really know how Tumblr works so ur not alone 😔

OMFG I LOVE THAT ACTUALLY!! watch me work on that and that only for the next few weeks, this sounds amazing (kinda exaggerating, I'll do other stuff too but this idea.. 😳 yo.)

I'll definitely try to post more things regarding this since the reader would be more like an oc in this? kind of at least, it would be hard to make reader a character without giving them certain attributes like their vision, where they're from, ....

maybe I'll even make multiple "readers"?? so everyone has something they like? we'll see!!

for now, this is a work in progress and just some thoughts on how the headcanons could be like! this is nothing that'll 100%ly stay like this, I might change some things so be aware of that when reading! :)

so, in the honor of the new banner dropping I'll start this with our dear Arataki Itto and Gorou! (I love them)

content!! minor spoilers for Itto's story quest; spoilers for Gorou's hangout event; some spoilers for the archon quest; gn reader

-> Masterlist

Arataki Itto

Even if many people ship Itto with Kujou Sara or even Gorou, most of them enjoyed seeing him with you way more.

Like?? The way you lit up when the Traveler asked you if you knew Itto in his story quest?! Shippable. 100%ly shippable.

In the quest, or more so the beginning of the quest, the Traveler has to ask four people about an oni called "Arataki Itto", of course the players have already heard from him, seeing as his trailer got posted a while ago and how there were leakers literally everywhere.

However, even if you have already appeared briefly in Gorou's hangout event and in the archon quest, they didn't know much about you yet, so seeing you again was both surprising and amazing.

Most of the people had wanted you for a long time already and even if they didn't even know your vision yet (just some slight speculations), they didn't care anyway, you were cool and even without knowing anything other than that you're a close friend from Gorou and have been well acquainted with Itto, they wanted you.

Anyway, back to why exactly so many people started shipping you.

THE DIALOGUE!! HELLO??

"Oh, Traveler! You wish to know of Arataki Itto?" Your character took in a thinking pose. "I'm not sure if I can quite trust you with any kind of.. private information. Wouldn't want you go screaming around 'bout it, would we?" Your character laughed. "I'm kidding! He's a good friend of mine, I'm actually here to meet him again, I haven't seen him in a good while."

And that was literally it. Please shippers are so desperate these days, they got "Ittoder" (Itto x Reader) trending in only a few hours. They went wilder than when they heard Ayato's voice in the trailer, and that is saying something.

Later in the game though, you will have more interactions that fans fawn over, mayhaps you'd like to shoot me an ask and request some? ;)

Gorou

Now with this one, the shipping didn't start until at one point where you called him "good boy" for trying to make progress with dealing with yae miko in his hangout event.

Bro. The shippers went WILD. Fanfictions for you two, fanart, cosplay, you name it!

The way his tail started wagging behind his back during that scene had your fans in tears (me too. Gorou x Reader nation rise.)

In the hangout, one of the ending pictures even feature you in the background, kind of like a little easter egg since it's hard to actually see your form.

During the archon quest, you're next to Gorou when they approach the traveler after they had just fought Signora and when the raiden shogun tries to attack, his first reaction was to push you back slightly behind him with his arm.

You literally have fans squealing over you 24/7, every little crumb of content is celebrated with a feast. 🙏

And his voice line about you. don't. let. me. get. started.

"Oh.. them... ahem! They're an admirable fighter, It's good seeing them put their all into something..! I wish to always be able to fight alongside them, I just know they have my back just as I have theirs!"

Love is in the air. Trust me, once that voice line got leaked, people were flipping out.

"Someone be the Gorou main to my future Reader main <3" The amount of times you can see that exact same signature‼️

god, this was clearly Gorou favoritism OOPS??

well, I guess it happens, hm? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this?? I tried and it's been a while since I've last written anything so I'm fairly proud of this! :)