#basically the struggle is real; and please talk to me about lambda

[certainwill]

help me i am fixating on lambdadelta so bad and i don’t know what to do ;~;

[mystech-master]

Ragna in the other BBTAG worlds

I asked a while ago for ideas as to where Ragna could end up post-CF as his “retirement” world, I’ve gotten like 3 suggestions; Bleach (mainly to pair him with Kukaku Shiba, but given everything else happening in that world he’ll have no chill there), Animal Crossing, and Mario Galaxy (on the Comet Observatory with Rosalina and the Lumas)

but today, I want to take a look at how he’d fare living in the worlds presented to us in BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle. Just for the hell of it:

Long post bellow

Persona: if Ragna were to end up living in the Persona world thing might be difficult at first, he grew up in the middle of nowhere and the woods and lived in a post-apocalyptic dystopian future, so there will be a bit of a culture shock. But if Akihiko can run around shirtless then this world will be fine with someone like Ragna. I think he might end up working with the Shadow Operatives, hey he was raised to fight so may as well put his supernatural power and fighting ability to use against the Shadows right? I mean the Kirijo group managed to make an identity for Aigis when she attended Gekkoukan High in P3, so they could make Ragna have an identity. Since the dude has Son Goku levels of education I ‘d find it funny if Mitsuru put his ass through some kind of education program or something. I mean it is never too late to get an education and I’m sure there are many real-life examples of people who couldn’t go to school for some reason or another. Also, I’ve said this before, Ragna might give of serious “Shinjiro” vibes to the Shadow Operatives, so they might be able to navigate his personality a bit better. Mitsuru can be the cool-headed one w/o being a bitch like Rachel, Akihiko would make a good sparring partner, he’ll treat Aigis and Labrys right since he treats the Murakumos like people, Yukari is pretty normal compared to most of them and can also get annoyed by their antics so Ragna might like her (he enjoys the company of average/normal people since they aren’t too zany for his tastes), Ken is pretty mature for his age, but Junpei might get on his nerves. But also, if Ragna enters around P4 Arena time, then if he stays there a few years he could be present for the Persona 5 story, and THAT would be a fun setting to play in with Ragna.

Under Night In-Birth: it being a modern world won’t be too much of an issue, like with Persona there’ll be some culture shock but lots of the people there are also kind of weirdoes. If he ends up with the main good guys (Hyde, Linne, Waldstein, and Vatista) we can just add another guy bumming around Hyde’s house.  Helping train Hyde, spar with Wald, cook for Linne (give her actual good food and she’ll be worshiping you I bet), and Vatista May remind him of Lambda so he’d be chill around her. But another idea could be him being a mercenary like Gordeau, like maybe the two becoming friendly rivals or something (I just liked how chill he was with Ragna in BBTAG’s story oka, sue me). Also, I could totally see Hilda trying to recruit Ragna into Amnesia because she hears about him being the SS-Class criminal trying to take down the keepers of the order of his world, much like how she is trying to do to Licht Kreis, she tries to get a little flirty with him, but Ragna declines b/c 1. When he was taking on the N.O.L. he was doing it for revenge, Hilda is just doing it for shits and giggles (10 points to whoever gets that reference), 2. Ragna can totally sense danger coming to from this chick, and 3. the dude is at least smart enough not to stick his dick in crazy. He and Merkava would have an interesting conversation, Merkava being a beast with a man within, and Ragna being a man with a beast within.

RWBY: Okay this might depend on where in the timeline he’s put (Pre-Volume 3 like in BBTAG, or Pre-Volume 6 like what I’ve been thinking of), but let’s stick with the Beacon arc-like in BBTAG. The current state of the world is: Cinder and her team are in disguise as Haven students, Roman is arrested, everyone thinks the threat is gone and that the Breach was the big plan, but the Ozluminati know better and are just trying to keep the peace. Ragna is a very aggressive person and easily angered, not a good thing when dealing with Grimm, which are attracted to negative emotions. Also, may I remind you that the Grimm have no souls, and thus are immune to Ragna's Soul Eater power drive which is partially what has allowed him to be such a dangerous threat in his world. In fact, his power is WAY more suitable for fighting people, considering the Huntsmen and Huntresses powers come from their Aura which comes from their soul. Like, he just grabs them and watches that Aura meter just drop FAST. Also, I’m not sure if he’d even be able to gain Aura and a Semblance himself with the Azure Grimoire also fucking his soul up. Ironwood might just say to kill/imprison this guy before he becomes a threat while Ozpin might try and be a bit more diplomatic if he at least hears about his nicer exploits (maybe from Ruby). And no, I do not know how his Soul Eater power could be used on the Maiden Powers or Ozpin’s reincarnating soul. MAYBE it could be used to kill Salem by consuming HER immortal soul instead of just physically killing her, but I do not know if it could be used to rip the Maiden Powers out of their hosts. He and Qrow might talk about their shitty lives but when Qrow offers him a drink Ragna declines b.c Ragna’s Azure Grimoire healing factor also works on toxins (seen in the Variable Heart manga where he shrugs of Shiori’s poison), also I think Ragna views Alchohol as a bitch’s way of dealing with problems. A fight between him and Raven would be interesting also, like them giving each other lectures about family: Ragna giving Raven shit for abandoning Yang (who I assume he might bond with), while Raven says that he has no right to talk about family considering the state of HIS.

There’s probably a lot more that could happen but I can’t think of anything else atm.

I’ll be skipping Arcana Heart since A. I barely know jack fuck about that series (the second game isn't even localized), B. the main powerset in that game seems to only go to girls, which leads to C. there are NO male characters, not even side NPCs, so Ragna would stick out WAY too much.

Senran Kagura: Much like Arcana Heart I don’t know much but I looked through character descriptions and some basic plot summaries here and there (mostly from TVTropes so please forgive me if I fuck something up, which I will) , so I at least get the BASIC gist of things going on. The only place I could think of Ragna going is him looking after or palling around with the Homura Crimson Squad. He isn’t one to join some big organization (the Good Ninja side won’t accept him after his MASSIVE body count in his world, and the Hebijo guys are way too intense), and depending on the timeline he could either help protect the Crimson Squad from the Hebijo team out to kill them for deserting, or he also likes to be independent and train/fight his own way. He could help Homura train for her next fight with her rival Asuka (plus she’ll be a fan of his meat cooking). He might try to get Yomi to add some more variety to her food instead of bean sprouts (cue fight). Hikage might freak him out since she looks like almost a female Hazama/Terumi, but she also struggles with socializing and likes to cook for her friends so after the initial awkwardness they might get along. Mirai hates being ignored so this might cause some annoyance to Ragna, but she’s also a bully victim. I could see him being annoyed by her but then later sees her getting picked on and his big-brother instinct kicks in and he helps, then they gain a sort of understanding. Haruka is the real beast here, the dominatrix sadist scientist who wants to make people her dolls, so Ragna might need to step up a bit to keep her under control (like I said I only know the bare minimum, she might not actually be that bad post-character development but I don’t know). Finally, just for the sake of it, I’m not too sure where on the power scale Ragna would fall in the SK universe. The most powerful person there is Sayuri/Jasmine, with I think Rin and Daidōji both sharing the second strongest spot. I’ll say Ragna is around Daidōji and Rin’s level because Sayuri/Jasmine would most likely be like Jubei level. Also because the power scaling in Blazblue is absurd so comparing the Shinobi (of whom only a few have unique powers) to the Blazblue cast (who have magical weapons and reality-fucking powers) is kind of unfair, plus it gives Ragna a sort of cap so he won’t be too unstoppable in this world. Finally, not too keen on shipping. I’ve been using the “half your age plus seven” rule of dating so to not make things weird, Ragna is 22 in my HC and the minimum age is 18 (lots of people say once your over 18 you can date whoever you want that’s older, but........no), but while a few girls in SK are 18 they are still in high school (the birthdays and ages don’t match up with their school years, and that angers me) so.....no, he just has a big brother instinct for the Crimson Squad.

I’ll also skip Akatsuki Blitzkampf b/c A. Like Arcana Heart above I barely know the story, and B. What little I have seen of the story isn’t.......much. Story Isn’t exactly a big factor in this series.

Lemme know what you guys think Ragna would get up to in these other worlds. I might add to this if another series is added to BBTAG.

[officialcolumbiauniversity]

Surviving, No, Thriving, in NSOP

Summer school’s ending this week, which means you! already! know! what’s coming up! I’m sure this is all you’ve ever thought about for the past two months at least. If you’re lucky and you got accepted ED like me, let’s increase that time to like 6 months. The first week of school is terrifying no matter the age, but for college students, the added stress of being on your own makes dealing with the bustle a bit more complicated than you’d expect. To assuage your doubts and concerns, I’m bringing you a comprehensive and general look at what the New Student Orientation Program, NSOP, will mean for you as someone trying hard to transition from pre-frosh to freshbait. The first week of school hardly even counts as real school because it’s all orientation, but tips for the journey won’t hurt. Let’s get started.

What You Should Know Before Getting Here

Of which there are a few things. If you’re at all interested in the things I’m about to mention, even just a lil bit, you should go to the events for them during NSOP. It’s easier to get your foot in the door now and then drop out if you don’t care than try to weasel your foot in a few months later. I learned this the hard way. These few things include:

pre-health (aka pre-med)

Greek life

placing higher in any track or out of certain tracks (like the language requirement)

buying a fridge, printer, microwave, or some class books

CCSC or ESC (student council aka SGA)

Actually, anything you are even slightly interested in you should attend. The information is invaluable as the year goes on, and it’s better to have it as early as possible. For pre-med and Greek life, you should go to the information sessions. For the placement tests, go to the sessions when they’re happening and try your best. For buying a fridge or the like, go to the EcoReps sale, all of them, and see what’s around. Yeah the line is long but if you really want to save money it’s worth it.

Another thing you should be thinking about before coming here is the matter of illegal identification. Yep, fakes. Fakes are crucial in New York life because all the fun happens at bars and in clubs (I might be saying this somewhat ironically). You also can’t buy alcohol here without having a fake, so your fun might be completely cancelled if you don’t have one. Of course, you could always get someone to buy you alcohol and pay them back, and you’ll be having to do that anyway while you wait for your fake to arrive. But this is something that you definitely want to be thinking about as you come here. Most people order fakes with 3-5 friends, because prices are cheapest that way. So find your people on campus, or put a post up on your Unofficial Facebook group over the summer. Fakes take about 2 months to come through.

You Made It, Baby! Now What?

Alright, so you drove up on 116th, maybe the only time during the whole school year you’re allowed to do that, and got a Blue Bin and finished moving in (mostly)! Left to your own devices, you probably have little idea what to do. So here’s what you’re gonna do.

For the most part, you’re going to know no one. Hopefully you know at least one person, and you’re going to tag along with them everywhere they go. If you don’t know literally anyone, check out my post on making friends during NSOP.

Go to all the frat parties, but definitely with friends. Especially if you’re a girl. Even at Ivies, guys have a tendency to get sleazier at night than they would in broad daylight. That being said, there’s really nothing like a frat party, so you should definitely party it up while you can, because no one goes to frat parties after freshman year.

Figure out what classes you’re taking. Sign up for the earliest possible appointment with your advisor, and talk it out. I was an undecided major when I came in, and my biggest regret was not taking chemistry because now, as a chem major, I’m doing a lot of catching up. My advisor helped me a ton in that she recommended I take calculus and a bunch of other classes that undecided majors usually end up finding beneficial for their major. You gotta sort this out as early as possible so that you know exactly what you’re looking for when registering for classes. Class registration is a fucking battlefield. Remember to use things like Vergil and CULPA to figure out your best schedule.

So many faces so few places. You’re going to meet a lot of people in a really short time period, so you need to get really comfortable with saying “oh yeah we met last night… sorry I was drunk, what’s your name again?” Don’t be afraid of using people as crutches to get to know other people, because there’s no such thing as knowing too many people.

Set a good impression with your RA. Y’all really need to be friends. Don’t drink or smoke in front of them, don’t throw outrageously loud parties the first week, don’t throw up in the bathroom bc you’re hungover but forget to lock the door (guilty). Become friends with your RA so that they feel awkward getting you in trouble and you can basically do what you want for the rest of the year.

Leave your door(s) open. The best way to meet people on your floor genuinely is to hop in their room and comment on their taste in music. So blast some Frank Ocean and rake in the friends.

Lastly...

Potholes and Rat Traps: What to Avoid

Columbia isn’t just a matter of what to do: there’s a whole lot of shit you’ve gotta watch out for, because no one tells you this right off the bat.

Don’t go to Welcome Week, whatever you hear about it. It’s really not worth commuting back, on the subway, at night, wasted, with minimal knowledge of New York at night. And the parties aren’t great anyway.

Don’t dress up for parties, regardless of whether you’re a guy or a girl. I don’t even have a rationalization for this one, Just...please. Don’t.

Don’t take notes during that first “Lit Hum class.” You know, the one in Roone Auditorium. No one read the stuff and you look like a tool.

Don’t spend all your time on campus. Be sure to go off campus with your friends, a new group each time, as much as possible, into the city, because you won’t have the time or energy to do so later.

Don’t spend all your time with friends. Find your favorite spots on campus all by yourself, so that you have a recluse whenever you need it. It’s good to get to know campus by yourself.

Do NOT go around hooking up with every cute girl you see. Or boy. Rape is a harder line to draw when it’s orientation week and everyone’s drunk and it’s easy to convince someone to do something that they would say no to in 3 weeks’ time. The rationalization for this is not dealing with the awkwardness the next day, but rather dealing with the fact that you might end up a rapist.

Don’t believe or become any of those “entrepreneurs” during NSOP, aka those kids who have a “startup” and want to advertise their thing or whatever. Believe me, they’re not going anywhere any time soon. It’s great to have ideas, and to have ambition, and to have motivation, but don’t get ahead of yourself and leave a buttload of embarrassing memories for the next few years. Save branding yourself for second semester.

Learning to pace yourself while drinking is an important step in moving from messy ‘man to sophisticated soph. Okay so I might have just made those phrases up. But for real, everyone can tell a freshman who has never drunk a lot before because they take seven shots of vodka in 10 minutes, and in another 15 they’re struggling to keep their dinner down. So yes, you will make an embarrassing alcohol mistake sometime during your freshman career. But it does not need to be that embarrassing.

More embarrassing than puking is letting your friend feel horrible the next day because you didn’t take care of them. You must call CAVA if a friend is puking, and if they black out, that’s also a sure sign. I know you’re going to freeze up when the time comes because it’s so hard to put a finger on it and say, yep, we’ve crossed the line, she doesn’t look fine, we need to call CAVA. No one wants to be the friend who called CAVA. At least not freshmen. But you have to do it. Freshmen are the most likely to get alcohol poisoning, and not calling CAVA because you “think” she’ll be alright seriously puts your friend’s health in danger.

Be careful with the jungle juice. Usually it’s fine, and at some frats like Lambda the jungle juice gets you the perfect amount of fucked up, but there are some frats that are known for putting drugs in their actual jungle juice, not just drugging individual drinks. Boys, I don’t know why you think you’re exempt because it happens to guys too. Both my friend and I got seriously messed up with jungle juice from a frat that I’m not going to name, and it’s almost as scary as I would imagine getting roofied is.

My last “don’t” is to not be so quick to make judgements about your situation. During NSOP literally every single person feels like they genuinely can’t handle it here, they won’t succeed at Columbia. I promise you that feeling goes away in the coming months. And if you don’t get it during NSOP, that feeling will come in a few months. And it’ll go away too. Don’t ever give up because you think it’s too much, because I guarantee you can handle it. NSOP just really sucks. It hurts like a bitch and you will definitely cry at least once, but you’ll settle into a routine no matter how long it takes and you will come out feeling incredible. We all do.~