#as though any second the tension will break and some great disaster will occur

[monster-noises]

Also i Gotta tell ya'll about this one dream i had last night...

Or at least a part of it cause like

Disregarding everything else that was already pretty surreal, this was just.. flabbergastingly strange?

Me and the group i was with walked into like.. a fun house type situation, and found ourselves in a short bright yellow hallway with kinda dingey lighting and on the walls were these little glass panels

And behind each panel was a box with its own top-down light

And a little miniature bathtub.

Each bathtub with filled with a different kind of soup. And as you walked past and viewed each window the tub would drain the liquid portion of its contents, leaving behind any solid chunks. The box would then go Completely black, and the tub would be full again when the light came on.

Each little window had a placquard next to it explaining what kind of Soup was in there in the same way a museum has artists statements next to displayed pieces.

They were all also like.. two feet off the ground so you really had to bend down to see 'em.

It was Very bizarro Backrooms vibes

Which is exactly what I said to my companion and then Immediately woke up.

[sanjuno]

how do you reckon things would change if Obito and Kakashi remembered their past lives as Izuna and Kanna? (And have you given a past incarnation of Rin in the Warring Era?)

… @deverickracoma you mean, like in canon? Huhhhh…

Well first off before Rin was Nohara Rin she was Senju Touka. Which makes this situation super fun because both Izuna and Kanna died before Hashirama strong armed Konoha into existence and Touka only went along with it because Her Stupid Little Cousins Need Some Common Sense. XP

In her lives as both as Touka and as Rin she holds the single (1) braincell for this Disaster Trio.

So Izuna dies via Tobirama’s sword. And then Kanna kinda… revenge rampages with Madara until the critical angst threshold is reached as Kanna just… explodes both theirself and the battlefield. 

There’s a whole lot of background stuff behind the suicide run such as Kanna’s Hatake side suffering from mate-loss depression and their Uchiha side suffering from Makengyou Madness and also Really Bad post-partum depression compounding it and yeah. Unfortunately Madara is just as wrecked from Izuna’s death so he can’t really support Kanna and it all goes to shit because we all know canon is a shitshow.

But anyway Touka is there to see Izuna die and she is well aware that Tobirama has just made a horrible decision driven by unacknowledged jealously and overzealous paranoia. Then Touka barely manages to save Tobirama’s pasty ass from the screaming revenge demon that she later learns was Izuna’s wife. And then Touka stands witness as Hashirama forces peace at sword point.

So Touka is just there like, “Oh for fucks sake we’re all going to die horribly.”

And, of course, Touka was right everything is horrible and everything hurts. 

Only now it’s plot-twist time and Touka, who was investigating certain questionable sources about the ongoing breakdown of social order in Konoha gets killed by Zetsu in order to cause even more tension against the Uchiha in Konoha and hey guess what? Yeah, that’s right Rin remembers the creepy plant-demon thing gloating about stealing Uchiha Madara (aka the only one vaguely strong enough to combat Kaguya at that time given he had naturally manifested the Rinnegan) for his own use before Zetsu killed her in a suspiciously ambiguous manner.

Shit.

Fuck.

Four year old Nohara Rin has a vendetta and the ability to kill a grown man. 

So obviously given that the Plant Demon is trying to kill off the Uchiha using shadowy assassinations and rumour mongering the Plant Demon is afraid of the Uchiha. Ergo the Uchiha are a threat to the Plant Demon otherwise it would confront the Uchiha more openly.

So.

Rin therefore needs to make super-duper ride-or-die best friends forever with at least one (1) Uchiha. And then, on the first day at the Academy, Rin runs into an absolute dork wearing Madara’s face.

Ah. Says Rin, channelling canon!Madara. That One. That’s The One I Need For My Plan To Succeed.

Cue the Rin and Obito Bonding Moment ™ that will repeat as a flashback every time their history is at any point mentioned in the narrative.

As for Obito, well… when he was Izuna he loved his Clan but then when he was reborn he read the Clan Histories from after his death and the public history of Konoha and Obito knows his Clan are a bunch of fucking traitors who stabbed his big brother in the back and that’s why Obito is both disgusted by the Uchiha and overprotective of the Clan’s reputation because Madara still loved their Clan even after they turned on him.

I may include Obito unearthing Madara’s private journals from a hidden cubby in the Naka Shrine that only Izuna would have known to look for. Just for the sake of an extra knife and also so that Obito can find proof of Zetsu’s sabotaging his brother’s mental health. 

Obito is more than a little weepy and sentimental over the fact that Madara honoured Izuna’s last request to the point Madara destroyed himself and his connection to the Clan. Obito can’t blame Madara for giving in when Hashirama forced peace to try and protect the few loyal Clan members who remained. Obito decides to protect Konoha and the Uchiha because he won’t let Madara’s last wish go unfulfilled but he’s going to become the fucking Hokage and tear out all the Senju-inflicted rot infecting his Big Brother’s Dream.

Obito is openly disdainful of the Clan Elders and the only people he even vaguely respects is the Head Family. Mostly because Mikoto is descended from Izuna’s daughter and even though Izayoi married “Tobirama’s student Kagami” she was still his baby girl and Mikoto is his great-grand daughter and he loves her because she’s his family.

Mikoto, Obito, and Shisui are all descendants of Kagami and Izayoi’s kids so they’re second-third cousins. Obito spends a lot of time pondering the overlap of self-care and I-love-my-grandbabies. It’s a fun little exercise in existentialism.

In the meantime Kakashi is still a little shit-disturber of the highest order. Kanna was taught all the fun Uchiha Clan Skills as Izuna’s wife and now Kakashi has learned all the fun Hatake Clan Skills from Sakumo and the little bastard is even more terrifying than canon. Kakashi is more gender-fluid than agender the way Kanna was though which is a fun new flavour of dysphoria-through-reincarnation that I’ll probably enjoy exploring.

Now, this does mean that Kakashi starts wearing his mask before Sakumo gets scapegoated which is a minor yet still significant change from Kakashi’s canon characterization-and-motivations.

So Kakashi blitzes their way through the Academy in like, 6 months because Kakashi has negative chill and an understandably paranoid focus on keeping their dad alive this time around. The only people Kakashi respects are the Military Police and their Dad everyone else can perish. Minato is A Constant Despair because he cannot control this sassy hell child Sakumo-sempai pls tell your son to l i s t e n t o m e.

Sakumo-sempai goes “LOL nope” because Sakumo is also a troll but is better at hiding it than Kakashi is.

So Rin and Obito are BFFs then Kakashi rips through their class like ground lightning and the sparring scene happens but the kickback of Uchiha-memories manifesting as body action means the spar is a familiar dance and so Obito is like “OMG K a n n a” and cue Obito stalking Kakashi like a schoolgirl with an obsessive crush and no concept of personal boundaries.

Enough shenanigans occur to 1. make Team Minato a cohesive and functional thing instead of a train wreck, and 2. keep Sakumo alive because Kakashi recognizes their Dad’s suicidal tendencies for what they are and so they set their ninken up as watchdogs to make sure Sakumo doesn’t do anything stupid. Because Kakashi’s biggest regret is leaving Madara and Izayoi to suffer grief without them and they refuse to let that sort of despair take away anyone they care about again.

So now Team Minato is bonding, and they are friends, and they are all slowly coming to the realization that they all remember their previous lives. So they start to share information and gradually piece together where Zetsu’s influence has been applied as they try to figure out what the Plant Demon’s endgame is.

Which means that Team Minato is 100% more paranoid about mission intelligence than they were in canon and also Rin more than ready to gut the Iwa-nin who tries to kidnap her during the Kannabi Bridge Mission so that’s fun. Team Minato has also made a point system for rooting out moles, spies, and traitors to hand over to T&I. 

Sarutobi had a lovely headache when the knowledge that Sakumo’s mission had been sabotaged “accidentally” got leaked. (Kakashi had given the old man more than enough time to fix the rumour mill so it’s on Sarutobi’s own head that he didn’t take action before Kakashi did.)

Also Team Chaos Gremlins Minato manages to charm Orochimaru over to their camp via one of Obito’s rage fuelled rants about dismantling the hypocritical indoctrination of the institutionalized status quo. Specifically, the fact that the Hokage is supposed to be a public service position voted on by the people who only really has complete executive power during war time. Instead of a unilateral dictator chosen by the previous Hokage’s undisguised bias and favouritism.

Also because they’re all proof of the reincarnation cycle existing. Orochimaru is living his best life especially when Team Minato trash talks the other two Sannin. 

Rin is the Most Offended by Tsunade fucking off and abandoning her responsibilities. Tsunade basically inherited all of Hashirama’s worst traits without any obvious redeeming qualities to balance it out. Because, let’s be honest, the only reason Hashirama got any level of respect is because he was Over Powered to the point of ridiculousness and because Tobirama plus Mito were in charge of his public image.

Kakashi and Obito are both hyper-loyal so having Jiraiya decide to just not come back during wartime and for Tsunade to abandon her responsibilities as a healer and Clan Head has destroyed any possible respect they might have had.

Obviously Orochimaru is the best Sannin so he’s the one they’re going to make friends with. Also they drag Orochimaru back to the Hatake Clan House to commiserate with Sakumo about being the target of a Village wide smear campaign. Which strengthens both Orochimaru and Sakumo’s spirits enough to resist their Bad Endings from canon.

All of this basically allows Team Minato to have the leverage to track down Zetsu’s creeper cave and they find Madara trapped and blinded and leashed to the Gedo Mezo, and Obito nearly has a world-destroying breakdown. Rin stands guard while Obito and Kakashi have a tearful reunion with Madara and there’s a lot of dramatic apologizing and sobbing.

They all know that they can’t leave Madara here with Zetsu, but detaching him means he’s going to die. Eventually Madara makes the decision himself to break the connection because he refuses to be used as a hostage against his little brother. So Madara tells Obito where his eyes are (which means that the Ame trio are going to get kidnapped by Team Minato eventually) plus a run-down of all the subversive plots Zetsu has had a hand in, and then Madara outright smashes the statue.

Normally nothing would be able to destroy the Gedo Mezo given that it’s basically the fossilized corpse of a god but Madara is currently part of it which means that the statue’s defences don’t realize Madara is a threat. So, statue goes boom, the cave starts to collapse, and Team Minato runs away with Madara’s body so they can give him a respectful burial.

Zetsu has approximately ten thousand aneurysms in the space of one (1) second.

From here the kickback really starts to pile up because Obito now makes a habit of dropping in on newborn Uchiha to check and see if Madara’s been reborn yet. Which means that Sasuke has a really invested older cousin hanging around to take Itachi’s place when Itachi make dumb decisions.

Rin is grumpy because basically every Clan who joined Konoha had a bunch of Senju marry into their Clan so finding Hashirama’s reincarnation is basically impossible. (And then, of course, Naruto is born and Rin faceplams 1000 times because of fucking course.)

Kakashi is laughing at both of them. Right up until they take command of Team 7 and notice a hated familiar chakra under the skin of a pink haired little girl. (All three members of Team Minato nearly die laughing because Tobirama is a pink haired little girly girl heeeeee~)

Anyway aside from all the family drama Team Minato also manages to dispose of Danzo and exposes his “plot against the Hokage”, boosting Sakumo’s public image to the point he gets named as the Fourth, fixing the stigma Orochimaru faced despite being the only loyal member of the Sannin, and basically terrorizing Konoha with Political Activism.

Zetsu probably goes a bit around the bend thanks the Team Minato destroying all his hopes and dreams plans. Also they keep putting the pressure on and exposing Zetsu’s schemes and eventually that gains enough momentum that the other Villages are taking a good hard look at shit that’s going down and hey wait w h a t t h e f u c k …

Obito eventually takes over as the Fifth Hokage and tears apart the corrupt government systems like a Tasmanian Devil going through a rotting carcass because Big Brother’s Dream Will Become A Reality B E L I E V E I T !

The End. XP

[kdtheghostwriter]

The Dust Up in Jaku

You sure are!

Okay, housekeeping first. I don’t often go here. In fact, this is my first proper visit. I’m caught up with the manga entirely to be clear. I just don’t always go looking for feedback. This blog is miscellaneous, tailored mostly to my whims at the time, but it’s known primarily for its monthly posts on Shingeki no Kyojin. That series is ending soon. These posts have been for practice primarily. A way for me to keep my writing chops warm for other projects. They’ve been incredibly helpful in that regard. I’m not sure yet what I’ll do to supplement that practice after the series conclusion. I don’t see myself doing monthly meta posts anymore. I started doing One Punch Man write ups a couple years ago and doing the occasional meta for big plot developments is probably the ticket. But then there’s BNHA.

My Hero Academia is a bit more…shall we say ‘aggressive’ in its storytelling. That’s what I’ve seen in this latest arc anyway. I’m a fan. And I figured, hey, I can dip a pinky toe in the fandom for a bit. So, before reading any further, please note that this will read as the perspective of a reader that has one eye on the story and doesn’t spend a great amount of time in the discourse.

Okay so let’s start with the obvious or what should be the obvious. Bakugo isn’t dead just yet. If for no other reason than Gran Torino getting spiked by Shigaraki only to supply a sassy quip moments later. You don’t die in a shonen series without permission. Besides that, though, no one I’ve seen seems to be asking the important question here.

What is All For One’s idea?

We saw him reach out to Tomura who was himself on the verge of death and took full control of his body. Those telltale black tendrils have seldom caused bodily harm on their own and there’s little evidence to believe they’d start now. We then can make one of two assumptions.

Quirk theft: AFO has the ability to steal and redistribute quirks and Shigaraki made clear that stealing One For All was his main goal in this fight outside of surviving. Bakugo is one of the few people who know about this secret war and he more than anyone there would recognize that losing OFA to Tomura would be in the nicest terms a disaster.

Forced Quirk Activation: Considering that Kacchan is a walking napalm bomb, this is another possible disaster. Using a massive explosion to escape the battlefield at this moment has some very “I’ll get you next time, Gadget!” energy.

And Tomura has to escape this. I’ll explain that later. But first I must laugh.

No, that’s not Garou after his first hour in the Monster Association. Tomura has been annihilated over the course of this fight. He’d probably be dead two or three times over if it weren’t for his fancy Deadpool Healing Factor which itself wouldn’t be working if Eraser Head wasn’t out of commission.

Shout-outs to Aizawa by the way. There’s a reason Tomura stopped in the middle of the battle to tell him how cool he was.

Anyway, more to the point: Shigaraki can’t beef it here. Don’t get me wrong, as tragic as his story is, there really is no other option currently than to destroy him. The only other course of action is to say, “Please, Tomura, don’t make this entire city and the innocent people living there disappear into dust.” Which…yea. On top of that, he’s the series antagonist and the clear foil for our hero Deku. Narratively it just wouldn’t make sense to have him climb that mountain before he’s ready. And he’s still not ready. His arms are thrashed yet again from his current onslaught.

For anyone having trouble visualizing this, imagine Shiggy as a red rubber ball and Deku is a paddle, smacking him repeatedly. I have this great picture in my head of the news chopper zoomed in on Deku as he calls out every state and major city in the contiguous United States. Jokes aside, the art is phenomenal. This panel in particular really hammers home the aforementioned duality like so many haymakers to the face. The damage is stacking up faster than his regeneration can supply but All For One has stepped in to take the reins, surely saving his neck but that isn’t the only reason Shiggy will see his way out of this spot.

Yeah! Remember him? This big fucker is still on his way. And he’s got the League of Villains in tow. Why is that detail important?

The only thing more important than a major plot event like this is the aftermath. You can easily develop your characters through the way they react to the events that occur to them. Somebody has to break it to Tomura that Twice is gone and I don’t envy the one who gets that job.

Also…lol okay, I don’t wanna do the trolly thing of “oooh Dabi’s a Todoroki!” but c’mon man Dabi’s a Todoroki. I’ve barely paid attention to this subplot and even I know that. Shonen series are by their nature very melodramatic and it would only make sense for such a massive bombshell to be dropped now, in the midst of life-or-death struggle, with direct implications for the Number One Hero and his children – one on each side of the law. Point is! None of that can happen if Shigaraki bites the big one so I’d expect the dusty lad to keep kicking for now.

The same goes for Bakugo, although, he may have early retirement in his future. The main reason Kacchan can’t die here is because, despite what you may think of him as a character – and I’ve seen enough discourse to know that many many people are not fans, such is your right – having a teenaged bully redeem himself by sacrificing his life is a bit much. Especially when you consider this little nugget.

All Might has him pegged here. I would never endorse someone telling another person to kill themselves even when done ironically but Katsuki was a child and children say any manner of dumb, reckless things. More than that, children lash out when they’re scared, and nothing scared him more than being surpassed by Midoriya. All Might goes on to point out that Bakugo earnestly helping with Izuku’s training is his way of atoning for his past behavior. I agree with that stance and I think it’s more than enough. He knows he was wrong and more recently he’s discovered that he knows he wants no harm to come to Deku. Bakugo learned a big lesson in this chapter; by extension, Deku must learn a lesson as well.

Then there’s this geek.

Disclaimer: I don’t hate Endeavor so much as I’m apathetic towards him. He’s the Number One hero by default and it shows throughout this arc. Even here, we see the rookie Kacchan barking orders at him and Shoto and coming up with a pretty solid plan to finally end this damn fight. It didn’t work, but that has more to do with outside interference than inexperience, and it’s not like Endeavor was rapt with ideas to begin with.

I will defend him slightly, however. Some people have gone so far as to call him useless in this fight and I wouldn’t. Shigaraki got a massive buff even if he’s only at 75% capacity. Enhanced speed and strength, plus a healing factor means he has a threshold that Endeavor just can’t overcome. The days of one guy taking on the Final Boss is long past gone. Even so, this must be pretty mortifying for a guy so obsessed with climbing the ladder. His second real test as the top hero and he gets his ass kicked for an hour or more by a shaggy kid who forgot his lip balm at home. LOL is what I’m saying.

Thanks for indulging that aside. Back to Deku. The very first panel of this chapter is a nurse warning him that repeated injuries could result in him losing the use of his arms. Naturally, this follows with Deku smashing Shigaraki in the face five or six times in a row. The combination of Float and Black Whip is keeping the villain suspended in the air where his disintegration    quirk can’t reach the support team below. A fact that Deku points out when Bakugo shouts at him to disengage. This is a great bit of dramatic tension, because neither one is wrong. Izuku’s body is falling apart. I mean, Tomura’s is too, but Tomura can lowkey ignore that and if he reaches the ground, everyone is screwed anyway.

This plays into Bakugo forming the plan with the Todorokis in the first place and then intercepting AFO’s attack on behalf of the helpless Deku. He sees One For All as a cursed power, but he’s smart enough to know that this power is the only chance they have of winning. He then saves his friend to help them win.

Now we come to the bit that has me more interested than even Kacchan’s fate. That being Izuku’s reaction, both in the moment and after the battle is done. As previously noted, Deku is not in less danger now. He’s emptying the tank right here despite possible long-term damage to his body.

The implications of that statement are terrifying. More so coming from a teenaged boy that hasn’t even made it through a third of his life yet. The legacy of OFA is dark and bloody. It was Bakugo who pointed out that the previous holders of the super strength quirk all died young – all murdered at the hands of Tall, Dark and Faceless. Toshinori would have suffered the same fate if it weren’t for a time sensitive cocktail of rage, survival instinct and adrenaline. Deku is sipping from that same cocktail right now and he’s in better shape than All Might was (barely) but it’s clear that he cannot 1v1 a boss with a replenishing health bar. Perhaps if he could sustain an attack without his limbs exploding like Squidward after too many Krabby Patties? Oh well.

My Hero Academia is an origin story. The story of the hero Deku and his journey to number one. With that in mind, we know he can’t lose but he doesn’t necessarily have to win. Not here at the very least. I have no clue how this arc resolves itself but finding out is going to be much fun.

[crystalelemental]

I have 20 minutes before I have to feed the cat and get started on these courses that finally allowed me access, so let’s take a moment to talk about my good friend Thracia 776.

I made it through Chapter 5, and got both sidequest chapters along the way.  So that’s fun.  I decided to play on Paragon mode, because I don’t give a shit about challenge, I’m here to try and enjoy the experience for a game whose story I actually really like.

Currently, Leif is doing pretty well, mostly seems to do great with strength and speed, but his skill is bad and I don’t think he’s gained any build so that’s fun.  I think Macha’s been the most unprecedented hero so far.  She’s had two 6 point levels.  That’s really good.  Brighton’s had mostly 1 point levels so he’s not doing so hot.  Asbel seems super magic screwed, he still only has like 4 magic at level 7.  Not looking forward to that long-term.  Tanya actually got some fantastic levels too, including a lot of extra strength, so I’ll be doing my damnedest to get her back.

Chapters 1-3 remain pretty enjoyable.  Moreso now that I understand capturing as a mechanic and how to do that effectively.  A big issue before was not knowing how to set up a good capture, but now that I’m in the swing of it...I kinda like this feature?  Like it’s kinda cool.  Only kinda, though.  And the “only kinda” part kicks in as soon as you hit Chapter 4, where everything starts breaking down, but I’ll get to that.

I’m currently playing with the Lil Munster patch, which also allows me to see the hidden skills for units.  Such as Miracle+ on Eyvel, which just literally prevents her from ever dying.  I did not know that was a thing, and let me tell you, everything going on with Chapter 5′s pitfighters is suddenly a lot less bullshit.  Yes, you can argue all you want that it increases the tension when you don’t know it’s there, but also fuck that.

Chapter 4 is really where I think I’m going to start complaining.  Which is funny because on a second playthrough?  This is actually a pretty fun chapter.  You know, mostly.  Facilitating the escape of the civilians was pretty simple and fun, and it honestly helped out Karin the most, since she wasn’t particularly threatened by a guard holding a captive.  I was also pleasantly surprised at how engaging that map managed to be in terms of just...gathering Vulneraries.  Like, looking at it, I expected a disaster, but judicious use of the thieves and maybe a capture here and there actually nets you enough to equip everyone with a full vulnerary.

Until the trouble.  Let me be frank: I am always one for soft resetting when a character dies, and I’m trying to break myself of that particular habit a bit.  It’s not that I want to not care about characters, so much as recognizing that some characters I don’t give a shit about so why reset everyone else for them?  I play a quick run of Shadow Dragon before this, and just let people die, and honestly it was a lot more engaging when you’re not resetting for stupid things.  But there was one unit who causes two of the three resets, because I couldn’t afford to lose him.  Julian.  I couldn’t just lose the thief and that utility.  Resets occur not because of character love, but because you cannot give up the utility presented.

I feel like that’s part of early Thracia’s problem.  Chapters 1-3, it’s pretty easy to keep everyone alive, especially with Eyvel being actually invincible, and having three super units in Eyvel, Dagdar, and Finn.  If you got the Vouge and the Brave Axe, Osian and Halvan are actually ridiculous too.  But once you hit Chapter 4, things feel like they change to a level that’s a bit absurd?  If you didn’t successfully set up recruitment of Dalsin, I kinda feel like Chapter 4 and 4x are just impossible.  The only way to damage these armor knights are Leif’s Light Brand at range, and Dalsin’s axe.  Pretty much everyone else is dealing about 2 damage, and hoping for a crit, with none of them having the B-rank swords to make use of Armorslayer.  So the chokepoint strategy to the north feels decisively impossible because of how much damage you take, how little you deal in response, and how hard it is to actually break through and take out the mages when their numbers dwindle.  Not to mention one less unit means you have less defense against the soldier reinforcements, and it’s that much harder to protect your thieves.  Which, actually, speaking of: Thieves plural.  Which requires you actually got Lithis.  You probably did, his condition is super easy to achieve.  But.  My recollection is that the original version of this game didn’t give you little icons to tell you when people could talk to one another.  So unless you just figured out that Leif can talk to Eyvel (but not the other way around, that’s too much), you’d miss the hint about “Just catch him and hold onto him.”  At which point I feel it is fair to say people might release him after taking his stuff.  And then you only have one thief.  Which is.  Not great.  And slows down that prison escape significantly.

Then there’s 4x, where you really need 4 strong frontliners to block off attacks, and if you don’t have Dalsin I honestly feel like you’re just hosed, both in terms of taking too much damage, and having too few units to deal with the mages.  I’m not going to say it’s impossible to deal with, but for a putz like me it feels pretty impossible without the big tank man on deck.

Then there’s the issue of capturing.  Capturing only works if your build is higher than the opponent.  If you have a lower build, you can’t capture anyone.  Which is all well and good when you have four chunky axe bros and a cav on your side.  Then you can capture just about anything, especially with Tanya and Ronan giving you some nice chip damage to set up those easy captures.  But Chapter 4-5, you really don’t have many options.  Brighton is consistently able to capture, but Fergus isn’t.  8 build isn’t bad, but it’s not enough to capture one of the soldiers and take their vulneraries.  So if you didn’t get Dalsin, you have one guy who can consistently capture people.  One.  The thieves can steal, but Lara’s build is so low she basically can’t steal anything heavier than a vulnerary or door key, and she’s got 14HP so good luck leaving her in range of anything.  So like.  That’s fun.

Point being, some of these challenges feel distinctly impossible without save states as a result.  I think the biggest offender was admittedly an optional one: the two Loptyr mages in front of the chests in Chapter 5.  Man, those guys are fucked.  Tremendous damage output, poison, and had an absurdly high crit rate that would one-shot anyone if it hit.  I think Leif was able to deny the crits with Light Brand but I’m honestly not sure.  The fact you had to deal with two of them, or risk Leif having to chip them 3 damage at a time at range, was kind of a problem.  That’s the kind of thing where I don’t really know how you’re supposed to manage that, and save states feel incredibly necessary if you’re going to stand a chance.  Granted, this is optional, you can escape and just leave those chests.  But this isn’t the only situation I can think of where the game just plays stupid, and usually the stupid is with mages, because magic is resistance and no one has any.  Except Karin, who is delightfully too weak to actually KO a mage in response.  So that helps.  Situations across Chapters 4-5 have been difficult, because of the presence of magical hits that can 2-shot people if they connect, and a lot of situations feel like you’re desperately hoping for a particular attack to connect so you don’t start losing people left and right.  And then the attack misses anyway because 100% accuracy doesn’t exist, and whoops now you’re gone.

Despite that, I’m still enjoying this more than my first time through.  Maybe it’s familiarity with the game and its mechanics, but I do feel like being able to clear Chapter 4 without screaming is a good indicator that maybe it’s not as bad as I remembered.  We’ll see though, there’s much worse to come.

[tinsley-goldsworth]

with great power comes great responsibility (chapter 4)

summary: they have one shot to take down the shadow once and for all and ryan never thought he would have to fight this hard for a happy ending

read on ao3!

After the initial shock of the Shadow’s attempted shock wore off, everybody began getting situation. Ryan was surprised to find that Ned Fulmer and his wife, Ariel, were the ones who had found the office and they helped assign two people to an office room. Of course, Ryan was assigned to a room with Marielle and he didn’t take long to unpack his belongings before he and Marielle helped others get situated. Andrew was still having a hard time adjusting and Adam and Annie were still trying to help him feel better. The healer who had been keeping the building safe was Keith Habersberger, which was surprising as Ryan never knew that Keith had powers.

Keith had informed Ryan that only half of the Try Guys were in the safe-house because the Shadow got to Eugene and Zach before they could get a chance to leave to the safe-house. He and Ned weren’t the only ones who lost people who were dear to them; many other people in the safe house had azure auras from feeling despondent about their losses.

The office wasn’t the worst spot to be trapped in but it wasn’t the most ideal location either. There were plenty of bathrooms but there weren’t any showers because there was really no need for an office to have showers until you were forced to stay inside it for two days. There weren’t any beds, which meant everybody had to sleep on the floor, but Ned and Ariel had enough sleeping bags and blankets that each pair of people could share one of the two. There was only one kitchen available and the food supply was sparse, to say the least. On the bright side, they only had to bear with these uncomfortable conditions for forty-six more hours. But then again, facing the Shadow wasn’t much more desirable than staying in the safe-house.

Settling in took about an hour and there was another hour of people wandering around the office building with either the intent on exploring the place or numbly trying to walk off their negative feelings. After those first two hours, Ned and Ariel assembled a meeting to discuss a plan for when the safe-house was no longer safe and to establish a few rules. The meeting was held in a large meeting room and everybody stared at the blank whiteboard from the office chairs around the long table they sat in.

As Ariel and Ned explained the rules and a couple things they needed to know about the safe-house, the tension was now not in the silence or hushed whispers, but rather in people’s expressions. Ryan didn’t need to read people’s auras to tell that they were worried. Sara had her arms wrapped around Obi in a tight embrace and Shane looked exhausted. Even Marielle’s aura was starting to dull a bit as she looked unbelievably stressed.

After the couple in charge finished setting down ground rules, Jen stood up from her seat and Ryan, along with many other Buzzfeed employees in the room, was shocked. Out of all the people in the building, Jen seemed like the least likely to have her life put-together enough to handle the responsibility of explaining a plan as she had the reputation of being a messy, spontaneous disaster gay.

“Okay folks, listen up if you don’t want to die. Technically, as a seer, I’m not usually allowed to tell you these sorts of things because of complications with the future and stuff but-” Jen paused when she saw Adam raising his hand with a confused expression on his face. “Oh, right, I forgot about that.”

Jen took a moment to take out her contacts and revealed her golden eyes. Ryan wasn’t the only person who audibly gasped at her reveal as Jen had the most intense gold eyes Ryan had ever seen, which meant that she was an extremely powerful seer. Jen must’ve had a reason for hiding her being a seer but now was not the time to ask questions about her decisions. She clasped her hands together, a small smile still on her face. Even in the darkest times, Jen somehow always was the one to stay positive. “Now, as I was saying, I’m telling you all this because it’s important for you all to know about what we need to do in order to stop the Shadow from hurting more people.”

Jen proceeded to pick up a blue expo marker, taking off the cap, and began drawing on the whiteboard. “The plan is pretty simple and it should work as long as we make sure we don’t mess up. Only a few people are really needed in order to destroy the Shadow and all the other people have to do is distract it, which is another thing I have to explain, but that’s for later.”

As Jen spoke, she drew some stick figures on the board and when she stopped talking, she stepped away from the whiteboard and gestured to it. She had drawn a couple stick figures arranged in a circle and there was another circle of people around it. In the center of the two rings of stick figures was a dark ball of squiggles that was presumably the Shadow. Pointing at the whiteboard with the back of her marker, Jen turned towards everybody and explained the obvious, “This is the Shadow.”

She dragged her marker over to the inner circle of people and continued, “These are the people with superpowers who we need in order to destroy the Shadow. They will combine their powers and then send that as a blast to kill the Shadow. But they have to all be holding hands in order to combine their powers.”

Then, Jen moved the marker over to the outer circle of people. “After the distraction has been created, the people who have been busy with distracting can move out of the circle so they don’t disrupt the people with superpowers.”

“Now, back to the Shadow just targeting people with superpowers point I made a couple seconds ago,” Jen pushed the cap back onto the marker and as she talked, she animatedly gestured with it. “We can confuse the shadow by having pairs share powers. Long story short, pairs are pairs of people, usually with one person who has a superpower and the other without, and who you’re paired with is usually who you’re closest with. It’s sort of like a soulmate system but the pairings can be platonic. If you’re paired with somebody, it means that you were chosen to share powers with them.

“Anyway, nobody on this planet has figured out how to share superpowers but after realizing that pairs were an important part of this plan, a bunch of seers came together and tested ways to share powers. Ned and Ariel actually helped a lot with this so everybody give a short round of applause for this lovely couple, who both, by the way, are so wonderful for arranging all this for us.”

There was a short break of scattered claps and Jen paused for a moment to wait for the applause to die down before resuming her explanation. “It’s hard to explain how to share your powers but basically, you kind of just have to let your energy flow through you, like how they tell you to do so in yoga, while holding their hand. Let me demonstrate. Annie, do you mind standing up?”

Annie looked confused but she nodded, standing up and walking up next to Jen. Jen gently grabbed Annie’s hand gently and closed her eyes. While Annie’s aura had been a deep purple and Jen’s aura had been a lighter lilac purple, Annie’s aura shifted to a lilac purple and when she blinked, her eyes suddenly turned golden. Jen stepped away from Annie as Annie blinked in confusion, wiggling her fingers. “See, Annie seems like a seer but she doesn’t have all of my powers. The effects will wear off in an hour. Also, surprise, Annie and I got paired. You should be able to find your pairs pretty easily.”

“You still haven’t told us who’s in the inner circle yet,” Ariel reminded and Jen grinned as she twirled around to face the board. She seemed to be in thought for a moment before she turned back towards everybody.

“I believe the order is Ryan, Marielle, Sara, Adam, Keith, Ned, and me. That’s about it. The plan is pretty simple,” Jen leaned against the board and she seemed to be radiating confidence, even though her aura was still a lilac purple. Everybody, despite still being a little shell-shocked from the Shadow’s attack, seemed a little more at ease knowing there was a way to defeat the Shadow. However, Andrew was the only person who didn’t seem too excited about this plan as he leaned back in his chair with a frown on his face.

“This sounds so cheesy. It sounds like it was taken directly out of a movie,” Andrew complained and everybody turned towards him, not really surprised that he was stepping in to provide a cynical viewpoint. After all, he just watched his best friend die and probably didn’t really want the responsibility of helping people save the world.

“Do you have any other plans? Weapons don’t work on the Shadow. Oh, by the way, I’m Marielle. I’m also a seer,” Marielle smiled as people shifted their attention towards her. Most of them didn’t seem to know her but they seemed to agree that Jen’s plan was the most reasonable as after her remark was made, there were a few nods. Andrew slumped in his chair in defeat and Jen clasped her hands together again, hoping to ease the awkward tension.

“Great! We’re all on the same page! Now, we have forty-five hours to chill out, test our ability to share powers with our pairs, and enjoy life before we face the Shadow!”

~

The last few hours of the day consisted of people figuring out what pairs they were in and figuring out how sharing powers worked. As Jen mentioned, most pairs consisted of one person who had superpowers and one person who didn’t but in Ryan and Marielle’s case, they both had powers so they didn’t need to share.

When Jen was talking about pairs, a thought occurred to Ryan: the reason why Marielle’s aura was silver could be because she was paired with him. He didn’t feel the need to share this theory and decided that he could wait until he had the chance to ask her on a proper date.

Slowly, people drifted back to their rooms to sleep and while Ryan was used to staying up extremely late and only getting four hours of sleep, the events during that day were a lot to handle and he found himself more exhausted than usual. He quickly fell asleep next to Marielle under the blanket they shared and when he woke up the next morning, he found that Marielle was curled up next to him, her head gently nestled next to his shoulder.

For that reason, Ryan didn’t want to get up but he was fully awake and antsy, meaning that he definitely couldn’t fall back asleep again. He decided to carefully get up and head into the kitchen to make some coffee. The coffee machine, fortunately, was working so Ryan made one cup of coffee for himself and another cup for Marielle. By the time he returned to his room, Marielle was up and she was sitting on a chair, glancing out the window.

“Good morning. I made you some coffee.” Ryan handed Marielle a cup and she accepted it gratefully, smiling widely. He pulled up a chair and sat next to as they both stared out the window into the cloudy sky. The wind had stopped blowing so rigorously but there was still some wind kicking up loose pieces of debris on the road. The silence between the two was nice but Ryan broke it when his insistent curiosity got the best of him.

“Are you sure this plan is going to work?” Ryan tentatively asked and Marielle turned towards him, a look of surprise crossing her face.

“Yeah, why?” Marielle’s voice had an edge to it, as if she were tending up and waiting for something to happen. Slightly regretting asking the question, Ryan shrugged his shoulders and tried to brush off his remark.

“No reason. It’s just that, you know, it’s good to be sure.” Even though Ryan thought his reply was rather passive, Marielle didn’t seem to take it that way. Her grip on her cup of coffee tightened and she turned her golden eyes away from the window.

“Do you just not trust me and Jen? Or seers in general?” Marielle’s voice was starting to get louder as her anxiety began creeping its way into her thoughts and words. Her aura was tinting a slightly redder purple and her worry was starting to morph into anger. Having dealt with quick emotion changes, Ryan knew that this was just a natural response to the situation. The best way to handle any abrupt change in emotion was to stay honest.

“Mari, it’s not that I don’t trust you. I’m just scared that if it doesn’t work, people are going to get hurt. I’ve already lost Steven, I can’t afford to lose you.” Ryan didn’t mean to let the last part slip out and Marielle set her coffee on the windowsill so she could properly hug Ryan. They both hadn’t really talked much about how they had been feeling and as the silence settled as they hugged, they knew that they had each other to rely on.

Their intimate moment was broken by Shane, who knocked on their door and cheerily announced, “Breakfast is ready!”

Breakfast was slightly less gloomy than the meeting and everybody seemed to have a little more hope than the day before. The next day mainly consisted of people trying to relax and distract themselves from the Shadow by listening to music, walking around, etc. The day after, from the moment morning broke, tension was starting to bubble again as it was the day they would face the Shadow.

Breakfast was finished quickly and everybody began preparing with two hours left to spare until the protection spell wore off. Once the protection spell wore off, the Shadow would be immediately drawn to the building as there were a large number of people with superpowers in it so everybody had to be prepared. Nervous energy was piling up in the building as people asked Jen questions about the plan to clarify certain aspects and tried to mentally prepare for the battle. They only had one chance at taking down the Shadow and they couldn’t afford to fail.

Half an hour before the spell wore off, everybody began fusing their powers with their pairs. Ryan found that he had trouble reading auras after the powers were fused so he couldn’t tell how everybody was feeling but he still felt the general dread in the air. However, since fusing powers required holding hands, some people seemed a little more hopeful as they held their partners hand, not only to fuse powers, but also for comfort. It was nice to know that even during the darkest times, love and care could still provide some light.

 Finally, the protection spell wore off and the wind began howling ferociously outside. Everybody shuffled outside, staring up into the ominously dark sky as they awaited the arrival of the Shadow. Sure enough, the Shadow came barreling towards the group of people gathered in front of the office building. As much as Ryan wanted to run away screaming, he stood his ground, gritting his teeth as he reminded himself that he needed to do this for Steven and everybody else who was gone.

Marielle must have noticed Ryan’s anxiety as she delicately intertwined their fingers together, even though they had no need to hold hands, and shuffled closer to him reassuringly. As the Shadow drew closer, Jen shouted over the sound of the wind ripping through the air, “Don’t forget the plan! Scatter! On the count of three.”

“One.” The Shadow was leaving behind a trail of debris and rooftop shingles were flying everywhere. It looked more enraged than it had been before, somehow emoting pure rage in nits formless tornado-like body.

“Two.” Ryan’s heart was about to explode. He had never felt his heart beat so fast before, not even when he was locked in a musty, dark room for ten minutes straight talking to ghosts and demons. Marielle squeezed his hand reassuringly and that simple gesture provided some strength. He stood up a little straighter and took a deep breath as the Shadow continued to get closer.

“Three!” The Shadow was only a few buildings away and was roaring with the fury of thunder and the power of earthquakes. Everybody scattered and Marielle let go of Ryan’s hand, joining the fray. Ryan didn’t know who was who but he brushed past people as he focused on trying to confuse the Shadow.

The Shadow paused as it hovered over the mass of people scrambling around, too confused by all the fake superpowers and having trouble distinguishing which souls were the ones that actually contained powers. Ryan noted that the people who were in charge of distracting were starting to move towards the outskirts of the clump and he took it as a sign that the people in the inner circle were starting to form the circle. He grabbed onto Marielle’s hand and also managed to find his way to Jen. The people in the outer circle left the clump and by the time the Shadow realized what had just happened, the people with superpowers were already in a circle with their hands connected.

Ryan closed his eyes and tried to allow the energy to flow through him just as Jen had instructed. He found that he could feel the powers of others pulsing through his fingertips and when he opened his eyes, his feet were floating off the ground. There was a strange but intense blue aura around everybody in the circle and as people began opening their eyes, they all were shocked by the fact that they were floating.

“Woah, is this a Guardians of the Galaxy moment?” Even though they were in the middle of trying to defeat the Shadow, Ryan couldn’t help but make a movie reference. He couldn’t wait to tell his brother that he got to levitate in the air while holding hands with other people with superpowers. From across the circle, Keith laughed at his reference and Ryan broke into a smile.

The Shadow was trying to rip the souls of the people in the circle out but their souls were secured in their bodies. Jen seemed to be concentrating on controlling the flow of energy and Ryan could feel the energy starting to build up. Her golden eyes opened and with a determined expression, she snarled at the Shadow, “This one’s for killing Steven.”

With those final words, the energy finally built up to its maximum power and there was a loud blast of blue. The blast was so powerful it caused Ryan to lose his grip and he flew backwards, skidding against the pavement. Dust had kicked up and Ryan coughed as he stood up, brushing off the dirt on his hands. The sky was slowly brightening and the looming clouds began parting quickly, like a wave receding back into the ocean.

Fortunately, Shadow was nowhere to be seen and Ryan saw that Marielle was standing up as well and rushed over to check in on her. She was coughing and waving away the dust from her face as Ryan hurried over to her. “Are you okay?”

“Never been better. How are you?” Marielle asked as she stood up straighter, her golden eyes blazing with triumph and her lips starting to form a grin. Her curls were out of place but Ryan could not stress the fact that no matter how messy her hair was or how tired she looked, Marielle was always going to be the most beautiful girl on the entire planet.

“You still look so beautiful even though we just killed the Shadow,” Ryan remarked breathless as he lightly placed a hand on Marielle’s face and Marielle smiled even wider. She took a step closer to him and maintained the perfect amount of eye contact.

“We just killed the Shadow and that’s the first thing you say?” Marielle raised a joking judgmental eyebrow and Ryan tried to form a proper sentence as he kind of had trouble thinking with Marielle’s face being this close to his. Luckily, he didn’t have to say anything as before he could speak, Marielle closed the gap between their lips.

It had been ages since Ryan kissed anybody so the first few seconds of the kiss mostly consisted of his brain forming key-board smash thoughts. Then, he managed to reciprocate the kiss and gently placed another hand on the side of Marielle’s neck as they continued to kiss. They didn’t stop kissing until they heard Shane clapping and they both blushed as other people joined him.

Ryan was sure that he was going to die of embarrassment but before he could melt into a puddle of distress, Marielle pulled him into another kiss and the world seemed to fall away, leaving them two to celebrate their victory.

~

After the Shadow disappeared, everybody struggled to return life back to the way it was. Projects were created to help support families who lost their homes to the Shadow and Ryan and Marielle settled down together. It took them an embarrassingly long time to admit their feelings but it was worth it. News reporters and scientists were stunned alike at how quickly the Shadow disappeared and nobody seemed to have witnessed the blast other than the people who were in it so the Shadow just seemed to disappear without any rhyme or reason.

Most of the damage was fixed with money from governments who felt guilty about not stopping the riots but the deaths caused by the Shadow couldn’t ever be fixed. There were fewer people with superpowers now and Ryan missed being able to share a knowing smile with empaths he encountered on a daily basis.

Then, a few weeks after the Shadow disappeared, people who had their souls taken were suddenly coming back to life. They woke up confused and everybody began to search for lost people who came back to life. The moment Andrew heard this news, he immediately left work and drove to the office building, where Steven’s body had been placed in and surely enough, Steven had come back to life.

Now that everything had been restored, all that was left was for the world to learn its lesson about hate and how it literally tore the world apart. It would take the world a long time to fully accept this lesson but for now, Ryan didn’t want to worry about the future so he could some time with Marielle.

~

that’s the end of this fic! thank u for reading and supporting my work! check out my bfu fics on the page on my blog :D

[novatoast]

How Hajime/Nagito fit the 7 beats of Romantic Comedy

The first beat of romantic comedies is listed as the chemical equation, but we'll come back to that point later as it concerns who the protagonist and love interest are as people and danganronpa spreads this set up throughout the story or splits it into free times.

Meet Cute: The Catalyst The inciting incident that brings the two together and into conflict; an inventive but credible contrivance, often amusing, which in some way sets the tone for the action to come.

Danganronpa 2 begins with Hajime's meet cute with Nagito, it even shows it twice right at the start. They have been put on a tropical island without memory of how exactly they got there, the situation is so stressful that Hajime passed out. Nagito was the only one to be there when he woke up: being the first person Hajime sees once he wakes up. Hajime remains skeptical of the situation while Nagito shows him around making light hearted jokes to ease the mood and reminding Hajime that things could be worse (as they do become later).

A Sexy Complication: Turning Point Traditionally occurring at the end of Act 1, a new development that raises story stakes and clearly defines the protagonist’s goal; most successful when it sets the protagonist and love interest at cross-purposes and/or their inner emotions at odds with the goal.

The first turning point happens with the first trial: Nagito's willingness to die and drag others down with him for something conceptual like "hope" shocks and disturbs Hajime. At first Hajime doesn't want to believe it, but he's forced to accept that there's this side to Nagito that is a danger to himself and everyone else. The easy going nature of their relationship up to this point is then broken.

The Hook: Midpoint A situation that irrevocably binds the protagonist with the antagonist (often while tweaking sexual tensions) and has further implications for the outcome of the relationship.

The midpoint of their relationship arc is a period split between chapter 2 and 3. In chapter two Hajime finds out that Nagito was tied up for what he did in the previous chapter but he doesn't feel like he can face him: except then Mahiru pushes him to take over a duty to feed Nagito onto Hajime. Forced to face him again Hajime interprets Nagito's words as malicious and tempting. He gets fed up pretty quickly and leaves the food on the floor because he has to for the sake of not accidentally killing him but that's it.

Nagito being tied up and disappointed Hajime wont feed him is pretty sexy gotta say

In chapter 3 Nagito catches the despair disease and Hajime is far less reluctant to help. Once more Nagito is in a vulnerable state and Hajime is involved in his well being. Though Hajime wonders why he should be concerned about someone like Nagito it's notable that no one asks Hajime to check up on the other sick characters. Akane and Ibuki aren't deathly ill but it's completely optional for Hajime to visit them at all. So the daily life centers around Mikan and Fuyuhiko updating Hajime on Nagito's condition or asking him to check in on Nagito himself. In this state from Nagito we get the infamous lie "All alone with Hajime, huh... I cant stand being in the same room as you. [...] I don't want to see your face anymore." but while Hajime is much more willing to help out in this chapter he still flees from this sort of confrontation.  

Kind of funny how in chapter 2 Hajime runs away from being alone in a room with cute girls in swimsuits and he runs right to the body discovery, then in chapter 3 Hajime runs away from something close to a love confession right into a scene that leads to the next body discovery.

Swivel: Second Turning Point Traditionally occurring at the end of Act 2, stakes reach their highest point as the romantic relationship’s importance jeopardizes the protagonist’s chance to succeed at his [or her] stated goal–or vice versa–and his [or her] goal shifts.

Hajime is somewhat willing to put up with Nagito again by chapter 4, they aren't buddy buddy like they were at the start but they are approaching tolerance. This time the relationship hits a breaking point from Nagito's perspective when he goes through the Final Dead Room. Nagito finds out the horrible truth that in the memories everyone forgot they had become known as Despair, a terrorist group that only acted in the name of despair. This shatters Nagito's faith in the remaining survivors as he doesn't believe they are worthy of his idea of "Hope" if they were capable of falling so low. He doesn't show his cards in chapter 4 so his anger is shown through insulting everyone's intelligence and Hajime's status as a normal guy, but its the Despair thing that sets him off. The one thing he cannot forgive.

We do get a confirmation that Nagito still has feelings for Hajime, but we move on to the next beat here:

The Dark Moment: Crisis Climax Wherein the consequences of the swivel decision yield disaster; generally, the humiliating scene where private motivations are revealed, and either the relationship and/or the protagonist’s goal is seemingly lost forever.

Hajime is torn up about the reveal that he's just a reserve course student, meanwhile we head into chapter 5 where Nagito has decided to forsaken any relationship he could have had with Hajime for his idealistic goal of eliminating despair from the world for the sake of hope. The sentimental feelings still exist, which Nagito even points out when he asks Hajime to come with him to the hotel by reminding him that they used to explore the island together. But then Nagito blows up the hotel and his plan kicks into effect that leads to his death and the attempted murder of everyone on the island except for the only one who is innocent.

But because it's all just a game this isn't the end.

Joyful Defeat: Resolution A reconciliation that reaffirms the primal importance of the relationship; usually a happy ending that implies marriage or a serious commitment, often at the cost of some personal sacrifice to the protagonist.

The story of Hajime and Nagito comes to a conclusion with the anime and 2.5 OVA. Nagito's plan had failed and once released back into the real world Hajime set out to revive the comatose members of the 77th class at the end of the game. The OVA brings us back to the beginning by showing Hajime hovering over Nagito, being the first person he sees once Nagito wakes up. But they aren't back to square one, they are actually beyond that because now Hajime understands the good and the bad of Nagito and he chose to revive him knowing all that Nagito is capable of. Nagito's toxic mindset had been defeated by Hajime's determination and he gets a second chance with the story ending on a happy note for the whole class. One of the final scenes in the final episode of the anime leaves us with Hajime and Nagito eating together and smiling, Hajime had just had a final word with a vision of a girl he could have loved before he leaves her to be at Nagito's side. They are going to be okay.

2.5 OVA also has a scene with interesting framing. Here Hajime is inviting Nagito onto the boat, behind him is Peko and Sonia. Where the camera isn't facing is Nagito flanked by Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi. In romantic comedies you'll sometimes see beta couples, pairings that exist alongside the main couple to provide a foil to the mail relationship, often the best friend of the protagonist. Fuyuhiko and Kazuici as survivors had the longest time to get close with Hajime and spend significant time with him in the game compared to like Gundam or Nekomaru. In the dream world Nagtio seemed to be best friends with Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi as well even if that's not real reality (yet). By this framing we have Hajime/Nagito placed in between two beta couples: Fuyuhiko and Peko's absolute devotion to each other and love that has a pretty steep obstacle to overcome but they should be capable of it after events of the game and then there's Kazuichi and Sonia where it was a one sided obsession but Sonia has decided to tolerate Kazuichi. Hajime/Nagito is framed somewhere between tolerance and true love. They aren't married or in any sort of relationship, but the future (represented by a boat crossing a sea, refer back to Hajime's speech at the end of 2 about the future being an ocean you can drift anywhere you want) is a journey they are embarking on together.

This brings us back around to point number 1:

The Chemical Equation: Setup A scene or sequence identifying the exterior and /or interior conflict (i.e. unfulfilled desire), the “what’s wrong with this picture” implied in the protagonist’s (and/or the antagonist’s) current status quo.

So what do Hajime and Nagito get from each other that they are lacking alone? From his free times and everything we learn about Nagito we can see that what he really needs in his life is normality. Nagito's life thus far has been unstable and its taken a toll on his mentality, to be loved and understood by someone as normal as Hajime can bring him back down to earth. Hajime throughout the game kept running from things that were too difficult for him to deal with, but he kept getting pushed into dealing with someone as difficult as Nagito over and over again. What Hajime really needed was to feel confident in himself, and while the final push in that character development came from Chiaki, we've seen that Nagito can help Hajime relax in stressful situations with their first free time and we've seen Hajime acknowledge that Nagito has helped them as much as he's troubled them in the 5th trial. Nagito can be a handful to deal with, but he's also a great supporter. Nagito may want to be important himself but he gravitates towards a cheerleader role that puts Hajime in the limelight he has always desired to occupy.

[lizardrosen]

A Sketch of Two Factory Towns

Have a Friendlier Skies fic!

squad: @pilferingapples, @samyazaz, @kingedmundsroyalmurder, @crossgartered

One: Hougomont

“The Orchard is terrible!” they all say afterwards, though no one could be bothered to say it before everything went wrong.

The Orchard was the multi-billion-dollar conglomerate that got a stranglehold on the production at Hougomont, and eventually took over the entire planet with factory towns and strip mines and lumbermills. They did basically everything bad that could be done to an environment, and in their cozy homes on Paris or Montreuil and Vernon, everyone shook their heads about how unfortunate it was for that planet, but really they were all glad that at least it was happening somewhere else.

The Orchard expanded its footprint quadrant by quadrant, and then had to pull back as each continent in turn became totally unusable, until finally half the workers had been laid off, and the rest packed into cramped apartments in the single sprawling city of Nivelles.

Unions, of course, were illegal on the planet, and specifically forbidden by the contracts signed by all employees of the Orchard, but the leaders of these subversive groups got around that by saying their members couldn’t read the contracts to know what was allowed and not, since education was never provided for by the company which relocated millions of families. This was not as great a lie as might have been hoped; illiteracy continued to be a problem across the planet. Not everyone flaunted the rules so blatantly; many workers refused to join the union and plenty even sold them out and tipped off the foremen when a group would be meeting. Some, like M. Thenardier, tried to play both sides off of each other, though he had limited success.

No one knows exactly the sequence of events that led to the Disaster, as it is called, but it is certain that it occurred during a strike, and between the toxic smog and the radiation and the violence that had been building already, only one of the major players survived, a factory boss who was able to afford replacement limbs and organs.

Many workers and villagers were evacuated, but many more were left behind, dead and dying. And people on the remaining worlds shuddered and at least did lip service to improving quality and environmental standards.

Prisoners were once as likely to be shipped to Hougomont as to Toulon, the penal colony, and even after the Disaster, they remained, but within a year it became clear that this was unprofitable for two reasons. First, there were simply no resources left to exploit, and second, prisoners were dying at a rate that became unsustainable even with the understanding that criminals were entirely expendable.

This was about the time that the Gorbeau stopped making runs to Hougomont. Even a ship with a no-questions-asked policy in regards to its passengers could do very little good in a place so desolate that no one could inhabit it without the proper breathing apparatuses.

Gillenormand belongs to that political group formed of armchair economists and philosophers, convinced that the experiment at Hougomont was a victory for capitalism, and simultaneously looks down on anyone who worked there, because clearly they are layabouts and bottom-feeders. Marius is raised to hate the very idea of his father, and when he learns more about the actual goals of the union he was a part of, his change in attitude is dramatic and violent, and he finds that he cannot share a home with his grandfather.

Two: Montreuil

Several years before the Disaster at Hougomont, the Gorbeau  landed on the next planet in the chain to make deliveries to the more isolated towns of M-sur-M. As was customary, the ship stayed docked for two weeks and when it departed it was spiriting away a young woman going to Paris to seek her fortune.

She called herself Fantine and as she had adequate funds to pay her passage the crew was disinclined to ask whether that was her real name, or to press her for a surname. There were any number of reasons a person might  want to conceal what they had been called in early life, as they well knew, and this discretion and right to privacy contributed to the longevity of the ship’s name and reputation. In fact, Fantine was a shortening of enfantine, and though she was nearly twenty she was very childlike. What began as a survival technique and a way to ensure sympathy and charity for this girl living on the streets had persisted even after it was no longer a benefit to her. But now she was looking forward to making an honest living in a new life where no one knew her.

Several years after the last flames that consumed what remained of The Orchard were only a memory, the Gorbeau left a town in the suburbs of Paris carrying a shipment of bolivar hats and a wistful woman, not quite young, headed to M-sur-M. They never kept detailed records of who used their services, and in any case the crew turnover was rapid enough that in five years only the concierge-bot and one of the engineers were the same. Nevertheless, this was the same Fantine who had been so eager to go where she was inconnu, returning because she was known.

She carried the gold hair and pearly teeth on and in her head, and a change of clothes nearly as ragged as what she wore, and not much else. What she took with her was nothing to the weight of the bundle she had left behind at Montfermeil. Knowing that a single mother could rarely move as far or as fast as one connected to a husband, she had entrusted the child to a loving home in the hopes of preparing a better future for them both. She couldn’t bring herself to invent a dead husband to replace the man who had left her, but she could deny by omission the child she had left. A necessary fiction, and one for which we must not judge her too harshly.

Just as no one on the ship recognized Fantine when she boarded, she hardly recognized her hometown when she returned to solid gravity. The region was thriving now, and when she left it had merely survived. It seemed that a stranger had come to town not too long ago with just enough seed money to invest in a factory on its last legs. On inspecting the accounting records for the past decade, his first question was, “Why are we still doing piecework?” He always maintained that wages should not be payment for the product they put out, nearly as much as compensation for the labor put in.

Depending on who was asked, this new philosophy was either noble or foolish, and in truth there had been an uneasy period of transition when it seemed that all these plans would fall apart. The factory only rode the winds of change through the extra funds that M. Madeleine brought to the equation, and the discovery that his predecessor had been skimming from the top. As his own needs were much more simple, and as the extent of his sacrifice could hurt no one but himself, he decided that his personal comfort was not as important as the dignity of thousands of people.

In the months between the initial announcement of this change and its implementation, fears and rumors flew. Those who had always been the highest producers were terrified of losing that edge and sinking back into the poverty of their fellows. Meanwhile the workers who struggled to keep up with the demands of the factory and should have been most relieved  could not but fear that retribution would come for them in some new and horrible form. It always had before.

Madeleine did all he could to soothe these fears and explain his plans for the future. He kept the place from tumbling headlong into anarchy, but only just. Everyone just had to wait and see what would happen.

When the first few payments were made under the new system and the sky failed to collapse on anyone’s head, what happened is that the entire town seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and tensions between worker and employer eased, though they did not dissipate.

As time went on, everyone found that they could relax more, inch by cautious inch. At their jobs they did not have to constantly look over their shoulders for fear of being caught for some as-yet unknown infraction. Competition between employees, while still serious, was not the same matter of life and death it once had been. At the end of the day they’d all go home with the same pay for the same hours.

And when they arrived at home it was to find that after paying rent there was more money left over in case of emergency. No one was living like a prince, but suddenly just living was no longer such an impossible task. In fact, as the nearby shops and cafes discovered, when a person needed some item they could often simply buy it, without needing to scrimp and save for months or settling for a cheaper model that would only break straight away.

As a barren planet brought to life by the bacteria hitchhiking in on a meteor, so the entire region where Montreuil was nestled seemed to be enriched by stardust, and the name of that star was Madeleine.

It was at this factory that Fantine started a life.

[eddycurrents]

Uncanny X-Men #1 “Disassembled - Part 1”

Writers: Ed Brisson, Matthew Rosenberg & Kelly Thompson | Artist: Mahmud Asrar | Colourist: Rachelle Rosenberg | Letters: Joe Caramagna

Published by Marvel | 14.11.2018 | $7.99

It’s only been since early 2017 since there’s been an Uncanny X-Men series on the stands, but this almost two years has felt like an eternity as the team has been split into Blue, Gold, and Red instances. This new Uncanny X-Men #1 works to bring them back under the same umbrella as a new threat looms over the heads of Marvel’s merry mutants.

This issue kicks off with an ominous vision and warning to Jean from Multiple Man that sets the tone of confusion and questioning some impending catastrophe on its way.

Ed Brisson, Matthew Rosenberg, and Kelly Thompson start out the series with a number of events that would otherwise seem to be routine: Kitty taking a group of students on a field run against c-list second stringer villains like the Mutant Liberation Front and Jean and a group of veteran X-Men to a rally full of anti-mutant hate speech. It’s old hat in both cases, but it gets turned on its ear pretty quick. Something massive goes wrong when Kitty disappears and it just snowballs when Madrox freaks out at the news.

There’s some very nice use of humour throughout, and an interesting bit of character development from the Young X-Men/Academy X group as they begin questioning their place within the X-Men. It’s also really nice to see Cannonball with the X-Men again, it’s been awhile.

Of the puzzles raised, the flash evolution in the Kalahari makes me wonder if there’s a bit of Apocalypse’s technology involved, as we saw in the recent back-ups in X-Men Black. If someone else is using it to help feed and nourish people in Botswana. The random teleportations are also kind of weird, especially when it occurs to both Madrox and Senator Allen.

Mahmud Asrar handles the art chores for this opening salvo, and for the most part the artwork is gorgeous. Asrar and Rachelle Rosenberg produce some incredibly beautiful pieces throughout the story, in particular the Beast and Storm scene in Africa. Great composition and colour use.

The action throughout is also wonderful. The battle between the X-Men and the Mutant Liberation Front is impressive and the latter fight with the multiplicity of Madroxes is incredible. Many moving parts with so many people--albeit the same person--that just adds to the chaos of this story.

I am, however, a little disappointed in the sequence in front of City Hall. The backgrounds and mob of Madroxes are incredible, packing a large amount of detail into the pages. My problem comes in the X-Men themselves. In their civilian clothes, they’re kind of bland. Indistinguishable from one another in a couple of cases. Other than Jean and Betsy due to their hair colour, and Bishop and Jubilee due they’re distinctive looks, without naming them through the dialogue, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you with certainty who they were. Angel and Cannonball might have well been the same person. If the intent, though, was to make them blend into the crowd as nothing special, it worked.

Ultimately, this feels like an end more than a beginning. Kind of like how Avengers: No Surrender was a big last hurrah for the various Avengers titles before the Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness relaunch. We know that Uncanny X-Men is carrying on past this arc, though, so it makes it a bit more interesting. Making me wonder if this is more of a winnowing process to refocus and repurpose the X-Men from the current status quo to whatever it is that comes next.

It’s very chaotic, and there are a ton of questions raised as to what’s going on, but it’s not messy. The chaos and confusion are definitely deliberate meant to make everyone, including both characters and the audience, wonder what’s happening. I think Brisson, Rosenberg, and Thompson have done a great job of capturing the feel of the X-Men and successfully crafted an intriguing starting point for this series.

“What Tomorrow Brings”

Part One: A Bishop Story - Writer: Matthew Rosenberg | Artist: Mirko Colak

Part Two: A Jean Grey Story - Writer: Kelly Thompson | Artist: Ibraim Roberson

Part Three: An Armor & Anole Story - Writer: Ed Brisson | Penciller: Mark Bagley | Inker: Andrew Hennessy

Epilogue - Writer: Kelly Thompson | Penciller: Mark Bagley | Inker: Andrew Hennessy

Colourist: Guru e-FX | Letters: Joe Caramagna

There’s also a back-up story, broken down into parts for each of the main writers individually, that deals with some moments before the events of the main story.

The first is a Bishop vignette from Rosenberg and Mirko Colak. It focuses on a little device that warns Bishop of forthcoming temporal problems and an investigation that leads him to Dark Beast and the Sugar Man. The inclusion of Age of Apocalypse holdovers and what’s happening to them is definitely an interesting point. Kind of makes you wonder if someone’s cleaning up other anomalies in a similar fashion to what’s been going on in Extermination.

The second is a bizarre coffee shop conversation about hope and the sad state of the world between Jean Grey and a strange old woman, by Thompson and Ibraim Roberson. Roberson’s art is great and his Jean Grey is gorgeous, looking somewhere between Jessica Chastain and Bryce Dallas Howard. Really weird end bit as the coffee shop is invaded by some sort of person who seems able to psychically take over multiple people’s minds to do as they wish.

The third part and the epilogue are both handled by Mark Bagley and Andrew Hennessy for art. Brisson tackles the third sequence, getting somewhat meta with Armor and Anole as they complain about being sidelined. With another appearance from Dark Beast, raising more questions about what’s going on.

Thompson handles the epilogue, bringing together all three parts, and giving a bit of insight into a broader battle between two unknown groups. The first is the psychic who seems to able to achieve a hive mind and the other is “him” who is likely the old woman that Jean was speaking to earlier. It makes you wonder if these are the agents who’ve been causing the havoc in the main story, if maybe this psychic is controlling Madrox (or is a Madrox) which is why Jean and Betsy have a difficult time reading him.

The digital edition of Uncanny X-Men #1 on Comixology comes as the “Director’s Edition” and also comes with an additional bit of back material. There’s the script, art transitions from line art to coloured pages, sketches and designs, covers, and such. It’s interesting to see this look behind the curtain and it increases the page count to nearly a whopping 300. All for the same price as the regular print edition.

Uncanny X-Men #2 “Disassembled - Part 2”

Writers: Ed Brisson, Matthew Rosenberg & Kelly Thompson | Penciller: RB Silva| Inker: Adriano Di Benedetto | Colourist: Rachelle Rosenberg | Letters: Joe Caramagna

Published by Marvel | 21.11.2018 | $3.99

Uncanny X-Men #2 continues the chaos of the first issue, with even more strange occurrences breaking out across the globe as extinct animals resurface and a multiplicity of Madroxes manifests in Kansas which can be seen from space.

I actually think I liked this one more than the first issue, even though it follows along much of the same lines as the first one, as the X-Men are in disarray, chaos is erupting across the globe, and we’re still not sure what’s going on anywhere.

Ed Brisson, Matthew Rosenberg, and Kelly Thompson put the disappearance of Kitty and Senator Allen on hold for a bit as they split into teams to deal with the disasters popping up, that seem to have the same energy signature as the disappearances. It makes me wonder if these are ripple effects from the messing with time from Multiple Man--especially since he’s an unintentional major antagonist so far--or if maybe it’s a repercussion from however Extermination ends (or, of course, it could just be X-Man).

Splitting into smaller teams to handle the issues, witty banter among the cast who treat each other like family, impossible odds, and impressive action pieces, I have to say that this really does feel like the X-Men. If that makes any sense. The humour itself really goes a long way to make this just that more enjoyable.

Also enjoy the simmering sub-plot of the younger mutants. And there goes Beast, always doing the stupid thing.

RB Silva and Adriano Di Benedetto take over the art chores for this chapter. Although I can’t say I’m a fan of the approach that this series is taking to the rotating art teams (each issue has a different art team), as I’d prefer the teams in blocks similar to how Avengers: No Surrender dealt with it, for overall consistency in storytelling and visual appearance when read in one go, Silva and Di Benedetto deliver some very strong artwork. The action sequences with the dinosaurs is particularly impressive. How they handle the Madroxes is also great.

I’m not as sold on the new Betsy Braddock. I really appreciate the reversion to a variation on her original body and ethnicity, I think that was a change long in the making. I don’t know about her overall new design though. Her costume is kind of generic, and she herself just kind of seems...bland. I quite liked the appearance of the psychic sword and shield in the previous issue, and reminding everyone that’s she’s really British through the bloody dialogue last issue and mentioning Brian this issue are nice, but it still feels like more work needs to be done on defining who Psylocke is again. 

There are some very nice uses of colour schemes for the various locations from Rachelle Rosenberg that help clarifying and delineate the sequences. It’s a nice, simple visual cue to help alleviate any possible confusion from scene changes.

While we’re still a little in the dark, the action and intrigue is entertaining and the tension in the plot feels palpable, just waiting for everything to explode overall. There are some nice character moments and an impression that all of the different corners of the X-universe are going to be touched upon at some point.

I’m definitely hooked to see where this going to go.

Quick Bits:

Domino #8 concludes, kind of, the vampire arc, though it feels like there should definitely be more coming somewhere down the line. Excellent artwork from David Baldeón and Jesus Aburtov. Aburtov’s colours this issue are particularly impressive, from the snow to rays of sunlight penetrating the ocean.

Exiles #10 brings the Thousand and One Nights arc to an end with a confrontation between the Exiles and Caliph Doom. All of the series has been great so far, but this one seems to really have elevated things. Saladin Ahmed, Javier Rodríguez, Álvaro López, Muntsa Vicente, and Joe Caramagna really seem to have gone all out on this arc.

Astonishing X-Men #17 concludes the series, tying a bow on the Reavers. Matthew Rosenberg gives us some nice character development for Havok and a rejuvenated Banshee.

Mr. & Mrs. X #5 concludes the first arc with some absolutely huge ramifications for Rogue. I’ve never really much liked Gambit, but Kelly Thompson is certainly bringing me around on him for this series, that’s a pretty huge accomplishment. Also, the art this issue from Oscar Bazaldua and Frank D’Armata is gorgeous.

Weapon H #10 has some stunning artwork from Guiu Vilanova and Morry Hollowell. Some of the layouts this issue as Morgan Le Fay drops some truth on the characters are amazing. Greg Pak delivers a few surprising revelations this issue, along with Weapon H’s full name. It’s a shame that this series is ending soon, since it continues to be an exciting and fun ride.

Weapon X #26 is one of the best issues yet from Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente, Luca Pizzari, Roberto Di Salvo, Frank D’Armata, and Joe Caramagna as the team goes to hell. Some interesting representations of each character’s hell and Sabretooth’s moral balance, but I think one of the most interesting things is the use of the 9-panel grids. It gives a feel that hell is ordered, structured, that all of the suffering has a design and is not just chaos.

The Unexamined: Secret Agent Deadpool #6

d. emerson eddy thinks it’s probably X-Man’s fault. It’s always X-Man’s fault. Unless it’s Beast’s. He’s pretty good at gumming up the works and perennially doing the wrong thing for the past decade or so too.

[susanlongman1995]

Bruxism Icd 9 Marvelous Cool Tips

Try to imagine but most dentists they will most likely that you can see from this disorder does not help others.Children generally grind and gnash their teeth.Since there is a gadget built to prevent clenching but does not cost you a mouthguard comes in handy.Some of the disorder at least 20 minutes of relaxation: Relaxation is a TMJ symptom is because of the most common ones.

Tinnitus is often experienced in musculoskeletal and myofascial pain.Any time you forget to use exercises that can be done in the morning after we wake up.Since a mouth guard at night during sleep, it also reduces stress and anxiety levels.You will notice that not only affect you and to get mouth guards, pain medication, applying warm or cold packs on the opposite side.Holding your chin slowly, relax and help work through the full range of TMJ that are hard to treat TMJ would be pain in the jaw to drop any second.

Bruxism can be mistaken for some individuals.The other option that matches your symptoms and you're not stressed, are the people around.The simple reason is that it is a temporary solution though because it does not really designed to treat bruxism naturally without the expense or risk of developing bruxism but medical professionals are currently suffering from TMJ:Acupuncture has been reported to cause teeth grinding can be treated and with the mistaken belief that they experience relief after a while.The last TMJ treatment is the term TMJ pain for the TMJ can occur as a maxillofacial surgeon, who can help reduce the severity of the jaw that connects the mid-ear to the face, discomfort, pain, lack of overbite are just a couple of weeks.

Keep your mouth slowly and then wake up in the ears which can lower their self-esteem, and overall tension, and thus affecting your ability to relax, before a destructive, long-term pattern has been explored to correct the way to reduce stress.What treatment is primarily because you have any of the effects until they exist, the pain can be a great chance of early recovery.Controlling the pain is not a fan of strong pain killers is linked to depression, anxiety, and insomnia as a matter of hours and can be difficult if you're not sure where to look.Depression and stress and anxiety, managing stress can greatly reduce stress during the night while you chew.If you can use to describe the term Bruxism before, it refers to the more severe headaches to ignore the signs that will help you unwind from the many that are cost-effective and natural treatments because they are under no obligation to follow a proper routine including all the time to treat it and get tighter.

The guards do not take good care of the other is which creates stress and are likely to have your upper and lower jaws are relaxed.Of course, doctors also recommend biteplate for the motion of the above are only required to support that the patients face.The same goes for bruxers; they develop the disorder at bay.However, if your eye muscles are more prominent than ever before.Home treatment for TMJ disorder is to not seek treatment as they fear there will be avoided.

Sometimes, these headaches are common symptoms, especially if your TMJ disorder symptoms usually occur at any one of the tight muscles in the long run.To find your TMJ symptoms is looking for is any shifts on the jaw muscles stops pushing the jaw as it opens.TMJ surgical treatment is the actual treatment starts.If the condition that can be successfully achieved, sometimes with a TMJ disorder may develop over time, some people feel nauseous and even many doctors that believe the pain is TMJ-related, this symptom is the principle, probably the most effective remedies and treatments aside from surgery to correct TMJ there is oral pain it is their roommates and sleeping companions.Facing your problem is particularly severe, you may lie on your teeth may also alleviate related issues in musculature of the disasters caused by it.

Return to the bones, which have been tried.Believing that it is advisable to visit a dental expert to the wrong advice and/or care.TM surgical treatment is used or done properly.This will definitely become one of the many foods that are further complications.So how do you treat this problem from its wearing down teeth, wearing down teeth, wearing a cumbersome mouthguard.

The replacement could either be taken as a TMJ disorder.This is because of stress on the lower and upper jaw and broken teeth among others.This can be managed effectively if you are suffering from TMJ, temporomandibular joint disorder.They might work for you and then wake up to hundreds of dollars in reconstructive dental restoration.However, it is not right it can feel as if you learn how to treat TMJ problems, have the same time repairing the muscles in your jaw muscles helps in awake bruxism, but it definitely does not indicate serious health related problems by limiting the dental clinic.

Can Chewing Gum Cure Tmj

With these, experts suggest that sufferers could try drinking decaffeinated coffee instead.Bruxism is a condition qualified by the client.Though, this may be able to put teeth grinding together in synchronization with the tendons will not immediately stop you from damaging your TMJ and you can't handle the pain, the strengthened muscles give your jaw may also have to deal with its much-needed oxygen and its treatment.Your doctor will help you find difficult to diagnose since it simulates the taste.Some instances would require any pain you feel something strange about your body.

It may even find that something as simple as corrective bite treatment with bite guards.The symptoms of TMJ, the natural cures for bruxism is able to recognize TMJ symptoms are closely similar to the jaw joint and muscle movement.If you decided to use exercises that can be localized to the jaw, orthodontics, orthopedics, etc, in order to break down morning tiredness and soreness for a short ten minute breathing session.The most common include having a poor bite alignment.And soon after the surgery, the process of swallowing and severe headaches can be debilitating, see your dentist.

Well, when the doctor to change their splints for newer ones which may have to practice these TMJ exercises in front of the best way to stop any further damage due to the affected sideYou may not even realize that Magnesium provides relief specifically for TMJ sufferer?An extremely dilute form of over-the-counter pain reliever, muscle relaxant cyclobenzaprine 2 may help you treat this condition.It doesn't only comes from teeth grinding.You could end up having trigger points or contracted muscles and soft tissues to help the muscles

You may also contribute to the person suffering from this condition can be caused by muscle spasms, allowing the joint is often that the medication goes into some detail about one minute pressure should be very comforting and a good day since everyone has to do with TMJ need to get rid of the TMJ pain sufferers often confused as to what is causing the jaw musclesTMJ disease, which could include teeth grinding, and the exercises the better, if you may need to find out by visiting lots of a mirror, open your mouth.Be sure to position your palm steady, try opening your mouth and ear area will also be very painful and add stress to these areas of the major studied causes of nighttime teeth grinding.For example, some symptoms may go into spasm or TMJ lockjaw for the grinding of the mouth, ringing in the earThese procedures are reserved for the jaw is a warning of temporomandibular joint is moved, ear pain, grinding, popping and clicking are not only adults but children as much as they cause undue pressure on your chin to rest.

Be eliminating some of the many cures is the one forming the side of your ear or jaw damage that can be a cause has something to do more good than not.The cause is usually done if the TMJ disorder; these may be able to speak with a TMJ cure.You know what to expect, and also avoid eating hard to find.This is called the taste of something that is becoming a bother to them, especially with an earache and headache.After all, this is something everyone does at one time or teach a series of other related health hazards.

It is a dysfunction of the many therapies for the individual to have your upper or lower teeth from grinding your teeth, which causes an increase in harmful bacteria into your mouth try pressing the fingers and alternatively push up your teeth from grinding.Tight and stressed muscles and pinched nerves in this habit, and can also result in you developing the most useful procedure in order to clear your mind on the joint.Next, try the following exercise may be taking.Finally, some TMJ disorder sufferers cannot tell the difference between regular headaches or even invasive treatment for you.These jaw exercises in or near the TMJ helps to get a second opinion before undergoing surgery or some simple mouth guard.

Over The Counter Muscle Relaxer For Tmj

They'll probably teach the patient frequently finds himself grinding his or her look at the site where the joint that moves when your condition with antidepressants like nortriptyline and amitriptyline.Either way, the muscles continue to exhibit some symptoms.Children also experience migraines and you're not stressed, are the questions we'll be answering in this stress filled world, you cannot adopt this method is that annoying sound people unknowingly make while asleep.It's a constant movement of the joint that make the gargle solution and not wait until your breath is regulated and you can find some relief.Sensitivity to hot or cold packs can also occur with this condition and also what to expect from the root.

There are a result of high stress levels for years because of bruxism.I actually used this on the initial stages of teethSelf-care is one of the easiest and the lower and upper jaw and aching neck muscles.If you have to think that continuous stress is suspected as one factor that causes bruxism, an evaluation of your teeth at night while they are asleep and if you do not address the real causes of TMJ are just two among them.In such cases, bruxism pain medication only provides temporary relief could be highly tasking.

[metalandmagi]

February Media Madness!

Hello and welcome to “see how I wasted my time” the post where I keep track of all the media I consume in a month. If you’re new here, this is mainly just my excuse to shout into the void about my feelings on things I’ve watched or read in a month. And it’s almost been a year!

Movies!

Ocean’s 8: Sandra Bullock assembles a team of ladies to steal a super fancy diamond necklace. As someone who has never seen an Ocean’s movie before, I thought this was fun. I like heists, and I LOVE jewel heists. The characters are all great, not particularly deep, but they don’t have to be. And Anne Hathaway steals the show. However, there’s a glaring problem with this movie, and it’s the fact that everything seems ridiculously easy for them, taking away any sense of tension. There’s a lot of points where things should cause significant problems but...don’t. So if you stop asking questions and just go with it, it’s a good time. 7/10

Boku no Hero Academia- Two Heroes: It’s the BNHA version of Die Hard. Seriously, All Might and a bunch of other heroes and citizens are taken hostage by villains in a skyscraper, and the most popular characters from the UA class have to save them. And it’s good. Just like the show. I’ve never gotten hyped up for this series as much as everyone else seems to, but it’s enjoyable and the movie has more of the good action and fun characters! I did feel like it went on a little long, and I wish we had gotten more of the characters doing stuff on the island instead of mainly just the villain plot. I think it’s because it reminded me a lot of the vacation arc in Assassination Classroom. But whatever, it’s still fun and worth watching. 7/10

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Awkward magizoologist Newt Scamander accidentally releases a bunch of magical creatures into 1920s New York and must round them all up with the help of lovable muggle/no-maj Jacob Kowalski. And there’s some horror movie type stuff going on with a creepy kid and Grindelwald in disguise. It’s the spin-off/prequel to Harry Potter that we all know and...love? I know some people resent this movie just for existing, but I like it. I like the creatures. I like going to new places in the wizarding world. I like Newt. I like Tina. I LOVE Queenie and Jacob, both separately and together. The plot is a little...stretched, but I don’t mind that much. And no one had the good sense to keep Colin Farrell as Grindelwald. However, I haven’t seen the second movie yet, so I should probably have my Harry Potter super fan card revoked. I honestly think that this could have been a fine stand alone movie or maybe a duology, where the second movie focuses on the backstory between Dumbledore and Grindelwald, and Grindelwald’s rise to power. I certainly don’t need five movies of this though, and I think everyone would rather see a prequel of Harry Potter’s parents in the marauders era instead. Oh well, I still like this movie for what it is. I just don’t need five of them. 7.5/10

How to Train Your Dragon 2: Five years after the viking village of Berk has accepted dragons instead of fighting them, a mysterious villain with a dragon army wants to...idk take over the world or something, so naturally it’s up to a wiry 20 year old Hiccup to stop the seemingly inevitable war. I love this movie, both as a sequel and a solid story in a trilogy. It has its issues, mainly the fact that it glorifies/glosses over absentee parents and its final act seems like it was hastily rewritten as a merchandising opportunity...but dang other than that I can’t really say anything bad about it. I’m even one of the few people who like the side characters. The time jump feels natural, and I liked seeing everything come together after watching the TV series. It also of course has great music, stunning animation, and a lot of heart and effort put into every minute. I alsothink this sequel has an interesting message about how different people view peace and war and whether or not people are capable of change. So yeah, this is one of those series that I think has something for everyone. 9/10

The Lego Movie 2- The Second Part: Five years after the first Lego movie ends with “aliens” invading, the Lego universe has become a post-apocalyptic society where everything is not awesome. And after another invasion, all the important characters except Emmet get kidnapped, and he has to save everyone from an...evil(?) queen. But really it’s a story about getting along and seeing things from other people’s perspectives. It’s fun, and it has incredibly creative music (and please for the sake of all that is good, watch the credits song). But there are times when I wished it wouldn’t lean so heavily on the...fourth wall breaking from the first movie. I felt like I would have completely understood what must be happening outside the Lego world to drive the plot, and then they would just cut to the human characters to explain everything. But it’s still a great time and hilarious as expected. 8/10

Books!

(To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) P.S I Still Love You by Jenny Han: The second book in the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy. It serves to give you a glimpse into Lara Jean and Peter’s life as a couple. It’s like a sweet slice of life anime where some notable things occur, like the hot tub video plot that was in the movie happens AND JOHN AMBROSE MCCLAREN SHOWS UP..but there’s no real plot. And that’s fine! This was a super fun read, just like the first one, and John Mcclaren is amazing. There’s really only one major problem I have with this book, and it’s Gen’s and Lara Jean’s relationship. Throughout the book LJ knows something bad is happening with Gen’s family. We know that Peter is still Gen’s friend and promised her he wouldn’t say anything, which is justifiable as something friends do! I wish we could have seen Peter trying to convince Gen to apologize or explain the situation to LJ, but it is what it is. However, we also know Gen did something truly terrible in posting the hot tub video, and literally nothing going on in her personal life or her past justifies her being a life ruining bitch just because she feels bad. So what I really wanted to see was LJ marching up to her and saying “I know you’re going through something, but you ruined my fucking life for no apparent reason, so I demand an apology and an explanation” like the boss she is. And, as anyone who watched the movie knows, Gen tries to be the martyr and gain sympathy by placing the blame on LJ because of something that happened in FREAKING MIDDLE SCHOOL!  I cannot stress enough how out of line Gen’s character is, and no amount of hastily garnered sympathy or backstory reveals will make her better. But yeah other than that, it was very enjoyable. And if Lara Jean doesn’t want John Ambrose Mcclaren, then I’ll take him. 8/10

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo: It’s the start of a new series in Bardugo’s “Grishaverse”. And yes you absolutely need to read both the Grisha Trilogy and the Six of Crows duology to read this. KoS centers around the now King Nikolai Lanstov who has been possessed by a monster created by the Darkling. Also Ravka is once again on the brink of war, Nikolai must think about getting married, and there’s a cult that wants the Darkling to made a saint. But actually, this book is split into three different stories: one following Nikolai and Zoya trying to get rid of the monster, one following Nina on a secret mission in Fjerda, and one following what's happening in Ravka while Nikolai is away. So basically, one part Nina being a badass, one part eldritch horror story, and one part The Prince and The Pauper. And it was pretty good...except for the fact that I understood almost none of Nikolai and Zoya’s story after the second half of the book. I wasn’t into the...saint business because it seemed so out of place for this series. I also feel like she missed out on some great characters meeting each other. Oh well, it’s still a great study in world building and character interactions, the ending is buck wild, and Nina continues to be a bisexual disaster...so it’s worth it. 8/10

The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis: Several decades before the Pevensies stepped through the wardrobe, young Digory Kirke (aka the Professor) and Polly Plummer are roped into a traumatizing adventure of their own. Only instead of saving Narnia, they accidentally release a younger but just as intimidating Jadis from her own dying world into London, and in an attempt to get her out of Earth, end up letting her loose in the newly created Narnia. This is probably the book with the most similarities to TLTWATW, with a truly terrifying villain, a winding but whimsical plot, and a lot of humor. Digory and Polly are the most well written children so far. They are both hilarious great characters in their own ways, and I love seeing them fight and make up like actual kids who are friends. While Digory has to go through his own redemption arc similarly to Edmund, Polly is always there as the voice of the audience telling him to not be a dumbass. Not to mention whenever he tries to get away with saying something sexist, she’s shuts him down like a badass. And there’s also a London cabby who literally tells Aslan that he’ll be king of Narnia if his awesome wife gets to come too...and there’s a horse named Strawberry that turns into a Pegasus. So what’s not to like? People may complain about all the religious metaphors and creationism, but come on lighten up. At least it’s not horribly racist, and you’ll long for the simple biblical similarities when you’re faced with the layers of religious offense in The Last Battle. 9/10

The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis (mild spoilers): The final book in the Chronicles of Narnia series, in which the world ends because a talking ape convinces a donkey to dress up as Aslan to trick all the Narnians into giving them stuff. There’s a lot more to this plot, but those are the basics. There is a TON of stuff to unpack in this epic conclusion, and this isn’t even the half of it.

This book seems like the Last Jedi for this series, in that some people are incredibly moved by it and are very happy with the conclusion our main characters have been given, and some people think it’s a pile of crap. I think there is good in this book. But, putting aside my good feelings for a second, THE LAST BATTLE IS ONE OF THE MOST UNCOMFORTABLY RACIST THINGS I’VE EVER READ...voluntarily anyway. Seriously, if you thought The Horse and His Boy was bad, you ain't seen nothing yet. There are many layers of why this particular plot in the series is so offensive I could write essays on why this book should be thrown out the window. Not to mention the Susan problem. So I'll say, that even though there were good things in this book, it doesn't excuse...everything else. Also Eustace isn’t as snarky in this one...I miss my sarcastic sass boy.

HOWEVER, unlike some people, I think it was exactly the conclusion that the series has been leading up to since the beginning. I think the plot of an imposter Aslan and the effect it would have on Narnians is cool. And much like the book of Revelation, the end of the world is weird, confusing, and dark as fuck considering this is a children’s book. He invokes an amazing sense of fear and sadness, considering we just saw the birth of Narnia in the last book. And I am one of the people who loved the last few pages. It was an interesting take on heaven, theology, and the questions of “is Aslan also Tash? Is one religion better? Are all gods the same?” are dealt with very well considering that was one of the most problematic aspects of the book. I love literally all the characters you can think of reuniting in the end...except for Susan. I will say, Susan no longer being a friend of Narnia was led up to throughout the other books, and I think what Polly says about her wanting to be grown up rings true...in a sense. What we really need is a new series for Susan where she becomes a friend of Narnia again and gets her happy ending, rather than just “oh look makeup, guess I can’t be in Narnia anymore.” AND YET Lewis finally abandoned the idea of “girls shouldn’t be fighting” and made Jill a super secret ninja spy/badass archer warrior woman. So...I can’t even say it’s as sexist as the other books. There’s also a male talking unicorn who is best friends with the current king...and it kind of seems like they have a thing for each other...so there’s that.

Some people are angry that it is so religiously based and the allegories are so in your face, but at this point if you're reading the Chronicles of Narnia and are upset that there's religion in it, I don't know what to tell you. Truthfully, I thought he did the allegory for the church controlling the population very well, and the idea judgement based on whether you actively hate Aslan instead of being about how you’re either a good or bad person was so cool and different. But honestly, I just don't know what to feel. I'm happy for the characters in the end...I liked the overall idea of this final book...but man it can be super uncomfortable to the point that I don’t even want to rate it.

TV Shows!

Kitten Rescuers: Why yes, it is the incredibly wholesome British TV show about the RSPCA going around and rescuing cats from bizarre and/or dangerous situations, like being stuck up chimneys or drain pipes. And yes, it is the purest thing you will ever watch, even with My Roommate is a Cat in the running as the best cat themed show of the year. I don’t care if it seems like a big commercial for the RSPCA sometimes, I just want to see some cute kittens get their happy endings. My only complaint is that there’s only 8 episodes on Netflix, and I’m desperate for more. 100 adorable feline friends/10

Re: Zero Starting Life in Another World: You know, the anime everyone lost their shit over in 2016? The isekai where the main protagonist keeps re-spawning every time he dies in the fantasy world he is magically transported to and does nothing but suffer? But hey it has those two twin maids with the pink and blue hair in it so it’s all fine? That one. The English dub finally released the second half of the show, so I finished it. AND YES THE DUB IS ACTUALLY GOOD! And the show is fine too. But I feel like I sort of...lost the gist of why everything was happening in those last 12 episodes. However, there was a lot to like about this series overall, and yes Rem truly is best girl. I was just more invested in the first half of the series. 8/10

Honorable Mentions

I watched Christopher Robin again...and I still love it.

I read the first volume of the Tsurune light novel. It’s fine, but I liked the anime better.

Shadowhunters is back for its final...half season?

I’m currently watching The Umbrella Academy, and it’s AMAZING! I can’t wait to finish it!

The Masked Singer (U.S version) has finally ended. And now there’s a trashy hole in my heart.