#but just to fix their stats because the standard is just... bad

[championsandheroes]

Ten? TEN?! Larian, please. You can't let everyone and their mom go on about how beefy and strong Halsin is when he's got a measly 10 in strength. I understand if the men are impressed, but every single one of the ladies are stronger than him!

Over at Patreon and society6 we appreciate the strong women though. Respectfully.

[shadowxamyweek]

Just wanted to mention how much I liked your Great write-up on the Amy rose eating disorder post. I haven’t even thought of her maybe having something like that. Though, it also makes me think of a scenario where shadow would learn about this. Him of all people should know the affect malnutrition has on the body, because of his time spent around Maria being sick on the ark. So just him reacting to Amy basically starving herself for beauty standards (and “sonic”) would be interesting to see.

(For context, in relation to this)

That is awesome to hear. I'm really glad it struck a cord with you.

I will say- it's fascinating to me the line of delineation between people who never thought of Amy in that light and people who have. I must add, most of what I have seen in the notes or my inbox about people who are like, 'I THOUGHT AMY HAD AN ED TOO!' also have had an eating disorder so like... interesting... interesting trend there. Got no stats for it, but like... yeah.

Is that confirmation bias? Is that just recognizing the signs? No idea. Haven't the faintest.

To your second point:

Shadow. Would. Be. Upset.

I'm not gonna say 'angry' because this wouldn't be just 'anger,' you know? This is that full body 'upset' where like, your bones hurt, your heart aches, your brain overheats trying to work out this puzzle of 'fucking why?' and it just can't. It might manifest at points in anger, but there's no place to realistically direct that anger at. Even if they're angry at how Sonic factors into this, it's not Sonic's fault. If Shadow was going to be angry about the lack of care and notice Amy's condition had raised, they'd be angry at everyone, because everyone either failed to notice or chose to do nothing.

That includes Shadow.

But also, that's still not the cause of what Amy is going through.

Everything about a situation like this just fucking sucks. Nobody wants to see someone they care for- in any capacity- hurt. Especially not like this.

But Shadow throws themselves into what they do. They like fixing things. They kinda need to, you know? Their identity is wrapped up in it (in a bad way- not gonna lie- want that critter to go to therapy but here we are.) What good are they as the ultimate life form if they can't wrangle the universe with their own two hands to produce a solution?

Frankly, I think most people are that way. That's why they ask, 'can I help?' even if there's nothing that can be physically done to help. I know I do that, too. It fucking sucks but sometimes, the best thing to just do is listen.

You can't take someone's sadness out of them and curb stomp it. You can't rip out someone's desire to hurt themself and snap it's neck. You can't take a person's body dysmorphia leave it bleeding in the streets. You wish you can, you'd give everything to be able to, but you can't.

And talking isn't much better. Lecturing would do nothing to help. Scolding and chiding is going to be bad. Browbeating would get the exact opposite effect desired. Threatening, bargaining, arguing, schooling- none of that will work. Furthermore, all of these come from a place of anger. We don't need anger in this moment. The person suffering through this is already angry enough- with themselves.

It just may be that Shadow listens and kneads dough at the same time, and when all the cooking is done, Shadow waits patiently for Amy to take the first bite before they, too, eat.

[thydungeongal]

Hey you love talking about Rolemaster right? It's old right? What parts of it, the original version if it matters, straight up dont work? It's an older RPG, they ALWAYS have a handful (or even more) of small things that just dont actually work how they're supposed to, or even at all. So what little dud rules Rolemaster got?

I think Rolemaster, for all its complexity, is actually a remarkably well-designed game, but having said that that doesn't mean it doesn't have its quirks. Bearing in mind that my frame of reference is mostly Rolemaster 2e and that most of these have been fixed in RMU:

There are a few places where the game's math factors in the same variable twice. I've spoken previously about how the attack tables make it so that characters are easier to hit while in heavy armor in addition to the fact that armor already penalizes your Dodge Bonus, meaning that the heaviness of armor is accounted for twice. In addition to this the Swimming skill states that maneuvering in armor penalties should be tripled for armor while swimming WHILE ALSO determining the difficulty column used on swimming maneuvers based on armor. I know swimming in armor is difficult, but this is the goofy tables game we're talking about c'mon

Elves and halflings are bad at hiding by the book. Because elves and halflings get a penalty to their Self-Discipline attribute which is the attribute that Hiding is keyed to, these famously stealthy folks are actually really bad at hiding. (Why do elves have a penalty to Self-Discipline? Rolemaster Companion I has a whole section dedicated to it.)

Due to a number of factors spell-casters start out really weak and will be so for a very long time until they suddenly start to meteorically rise in power. First of all, Rolemaster uses a system of Power Points. If you're a spell-casting class you can count on getting at least 1 (because you can set your casting stat at a minimum of 90 in character creation and 1 PP is what a stat of 90 nets you) per level. You will at most have 4 per level if you get really lucky with your rolls at character creation and during advancement. That already isn't great, cause it means you'll be relegated to a support role at low levels. The compounding factor is that XP for kills is the best source of XP by the book and the game assumes individual XP rewards. You can gain XP for casting spells AND even gain kill XP if your spell is instrumental in taking down an enemy, but the default spell XP is 1 point per PP spent. You need 10,000 XP to advance from level 1 to level 2. It's nonsense

That's just to name a few. That last issue I feel is the biggest because it penalizes playing a spell-caster to an extreme degree, but it's easily fixed by using the supplemental XP tables in Character Law as well as the PP Development skill from Companion II (and said skill has been part of the core game since Standard System and was also present in Rolemaster Classic [a revised reprint of RM2e]).

There aren't any completely nonfunctional rules in RM, and even the aforementioned rules could be said to be perfectly fine and good and my feelings about them simply a matter of perception, but like... seeing that newer versions of RM have sought to fix those yeah I'm going to call them acknowledged issues.

[exeggcute]

sometimes i get so mad about online advertising being so lawless compared to other mediums (ex. television ads occupying specific spots in programming or a small fraction of the screen while online ads can sprawl wherever the hell they want And bog down computer performance) i find myself wishing for someone to enact legislation leading to their regulation, but how likely of a possibility do you think that actually is?

it depends tbh. we do have related stuff like CCPA and GDPR (obligatory meme that I have saved on my phone:)

...so it's not impossible for further laws/regulations to crop up down the line. my main thoughts here are that (1) adtech changes so rapidly that I think any specific legislation is almost certainly doomed to become obsolete before long (compounded further by the fact that most lawmakers barely seem to understand the internet, let alone a fucking RTB supply chain lol), (2) enforcement would be a nightmare considering there are literally several hundred billion bid requests generated EVERY SINGLE DAY (googled this stat to make sure I wasn't misremembering and got another dr. fou link lol. can't escape this guy) and (3) believe it or not, the online advertising industry is largely self-governing... or at least tries to be.

an organization called the IAB (interactive advertising bureau) sets a ton of standards around not only the logistics of buying and selling ads (they are, for example, the creators of the OpenRTB protocol for real-time auctions), but also the quality of the ads and ad space being sold. there are tons of initiatives they've proposed that have widespread buy-in among the industry, like ads.txt, which everybody who's anybody uses these days.

you do, of course, have to buy in to what the IAB is metaphorically selling, but their decrees hold a lot of weight among all sections of the ads supply chain—both reputable buyers and reputable sellers regularly adjust their behavior based on IAB guidelines. for example, two of the things you mentioned:

"ads can sprawl wherever they want": the IAB has about a million guidelines for where ads can physically go on a page, how they can run (e.g., video ads must be muted by default or they aren't IAB compliant), and what percentage of the visual real estate they can use up. publishers obviously can and do violate these guidelines, but third-party tools exist to make sure your ads aren't running on pages that pull that shit. and as a rule, advertisers actively dislike buying ad space on awful cluttered pages because they know the pages are shitty and the impressions are less valuable.

"big down computer performance": people call those heavy ads! the IAB sets standards around ad performance (the lighter the better, basically) and google chrome even implemented a feature that automatically kills heavy ads before they eat up your whole CPU. some performance based-issues are also caused by malvertising which is uhhh a whole other thing but no one likes it and everyone who matters is trying to stop it.

which isn't to be naive here or an industry shill or whatever because Fucking Obviously these problems persist. I actually had to email the advertising division at conde nast recently because I kept getting malicious redirect ads on their mobile site (they haven't responded yet... return my calls bitch!) so clearly even well-meaning reputable websites and ad platforms and advertisers continue to have issues with IVT and whatnot. the struggle is eternal.

but arguably so is the struggle against basically anything that's legislated, like property crime or whatever. I'm admittedly not optimistic that formal laws would fix digital advertising, only put a slightly hotter fire under people's asses to clean up their respective acts better. which is certainly a good thing, it's just a rapidly evolving game where the bad actors are always coming up with new tactics.

fun and related example: I read a recent retrospective about the kids behind the mirai botnet, which originally started out as a DDoS-for-hire scheme but pivoted to ad fraud when it turned out that was way more profitable. possibly the largest botnet ever (don't quote me on that though) and it was spun up by three teenagers!!!

[clatterbane]

That was fun. I woke up to what in context I was guessing were likely plumber noises. (Yep!)

Can't actually find when I posted about it the first time our persistent drain problem (which is down to the building plumbing 🙄) really needed professional intervention. But yeah, the main sewage drain has kept getting blocked up through nothing we can control, and it was pretty bad again when I went to bed.

(Weird backflow keeps blocking things up where our plumbing meets the main line. It's apparently at a terrible angle or something. We are also on the bottom floor, just to make it better.)

After working on it pretty much the whole time I was gone last night (not least with a bunch of drain cleaner, after going out yesterday evening to get more before the store closed). No luck, and we were hoping it would unblock overnight like it's done before.

No such luck. He came out this morning, and accidentally left one of the toilets running after flushing it again. (I think that needs a valve replacement or something, because it keeps sticking open and needing the flusher jiggled.) He can't really hear it when it is running, though the noise drives me crazy. Anyway, then he came back a little bit later to find nasty water starting to spill out into the hall. 😱

For context, this is indeed a basic Swedish standard wet room setup we're talking about, with a slightly sloping floor leading toward a big floor drain that the bathtub empties into and a lip at the threshold.

Every previously dry towel in the house is heaped in the tub now. He has actually gone to IKEA to buy more, because Out Of Towels Error. Those sodden filthy ones will also need to be hauled to the basement laundry room whenever we can book a time. 😩

That's how we get Sewage Lake going whenever that drain backs up. It just comes up that floor drain under the tub.

Similar deal in the current wreck of a small bathroom, though it doesn't have a floor drain which is why there is still some standing water after the plumber came. Otherwise a wet room setup, and (thankfully cleaner) water managed to start overflowing the sill because that was the stuck-running toilet culprit.

At any rate, he saw that little flood and was going "oh shit, we really need a plumber STAT!" when apparently some essentially condo association staff person came a'knockin' to see if we had a leak. Because someone had already reported water dripping in the laundry room right under us.

So yeah, at least this time they did arrange to get a plumber in stat! Dude apparently had to pump the horrible water out into an outdoor drain, and no wonder they were here so long.

The blockage did get successfully rooted out, and Mr. C already cleaned the big bathroom floor out with bleach so it's vaguely usable. The small one still has a bit of standing water for the moment, because Out Of Towels Error. I may have to thoroughly clean them both myself before my actual OCD feels relatively OK with not treating them like particularly nasty public restrooms in my own house.

With the disgusting flood actually breaching containment and leaking through outside our apartment, hopefully this will make them more inclined to fix that plumbing junction which is causing the issue. Can't say I'm holding my breath, though. 🤨 This has to be a long-term thing already, and I would be amazed if previous owners hadn't kept having the exact same issue. And possibly getting nasty floor water dripping down to the laundry room, which frankly may have been considered lower priority since it isn't somebody else's apartment under there.

[emberwood-if]

A bit of random questions but will the choices be only three options and if not can one of them be for an mc whos not much of a talker or like more uses body language to speak (not sure if i explained it right!) Or maybe needs others to lead the conversations instead. My mcs more of the shy awkward type whose extremely intimidated and nervous entering a group dynamic but is still willing to be nice. That sorta thing! Just wanted to kinda put myself in their shoes and that's kinda how i am! ❤

hey! And with chapter two and beyond, there will be a variety of choices, especially more silent, quiet options. I actually finally figured out the stat system I wanted to use and it diverts away from percentage stats and towards more general stats of someone's personality.

I think doing it in that way takes away the pressure of readers having to choose a certain choice and will better help me with the ~flavor text~ and helps them mold the MC's personality as they see fit more freely and with more of a range of options instead of having to stick to the obvious "silent" option or the obvious "bold" option if that makes sense.

I never liked percentage stats, it's only in chapter one because I didn't take time to think of other methods of displaying one's personality. It feels limiting, and seeing the bar go up and down makes me feel like I'm being coerced into choosing certain options. Of course, this is the game standard with COG games, so it's not too bad, but if I found an option that can keep me away from that, I'll go for it lol

I much prefer descriptor stats like these, where you get a general sense of your MC. Plus, I will be adding more than one stat to options in certain times, and it'll reflect in a way where you're not scrambling to fix it or change it :)

I rambled a bit sorry lol, but I do get asks about the MC and their personality quite frequently. A lot of people want MC's that are so vastly different from each other that I had to figure a wide range of options that still remained under the umbrella of the percentage stats I put...which I didn't like. Stats like these make it easier for me.

thank you for the ask! Do not worry; you will surely get what you're asking for in the next update!

[inktheory3]

How would you fix the brellas, and how would you make a new brella?

A really good question and a topic I've been meaning to talk about!

First we need to identify the problems with the Brella class as a whole, and you'll find out soon enough that their problems aren't really that deep.

~

The first Brella, the Splat Brella, released on August 12th, 2017, a few weeks after the launch of Splatoon 2. But we should notice something from before they released.

In Splatoon 1 and the early weeks of Splatoon 2, shooters were strong. They've always been the most accessible and versatile weapon class and they naturally draw in players.

Shooters never really had a definitive counter in the frontline. They outranged Rollers and Brushes, they could close the gap on Blasters and capitalise on their inaccuracy and were much more accurate and forgiving to use than Sloshers. Splatoon 2 was no different in the beginning; Shooters consistent movement and damage outclasses the Dualies burst movement and damage.

So what you end up seeing in this time period was all these weapon classes ended up having different matchups with eachother, but Shooters were the best and had enough tools to deal with everything else, the 'apex predator' in this ecosystem.

And then the Splat Brella released and it shifted the ecosystem. Brellas, at their peak, were weapons that Shooters could not handle on their own, but Dualies and Blasters etc., could handle Brellas. This shifted the meta and created a really nice sort of weapon triangle.

Shooters get beat by Brellas, Brellas got beat by everything else, and everything else got beat by Shooters. Suddenly there was no one answer to everything and every weapon had a place in the meta. To continue the ecosystem analogy, Brellas were the keystone species of the Splatoon 2 meta. If they were taken out of the equation, Shooters run wild.

Now we know what happened in Splatoon 2's meta. Shooters got buffed, again and again and again. And Brellas got nerfed, again and again and again. Every update Shooters got slightly better at dealing with Brellas and they slowly got pushed out of the meta. Which brings us to today, in Splatoon 3 where Brellas are still completely pushed out of the meta.

Another thing to note is the kits that weapons are given. A kit can make or break a weapon. For example, the Splash-o-Matic. Even if the Splash, the Burst Bomb AND the Crab Tank all receive heavy nerfs, the Splash-o-Matic won't be irrelevant simply because the kit synergises well with eachother. A thousand people have already explained why this kit synergises so well so I won't go over it here.

On the other hand, Brellas don't get good kits. Undercover Brellas kit is objectively awful. Splat Brellas kit is held up purely by Triple Inkstrike being strong, but they don't synergise with eachother. For what its worth, Tenta Brellas kit is good, its just hit the hardest by my final point.

Brellas are buggy. The past 6 months of patch notes have not begun to scratch the surface of how buggy Brellas are. I could go on forever but I won't. The most important thing to know is that bugs cause inconsistency, and even if a weapon has objectively good stats, being inconsistent will make it feel bad to play.

In summary:

Shooters were overbuffed.

Brellas were overnerfed.

Brellas have worse kits on average.

Brellas are buggy.

There really isn't an inspired solution for the problem of Brellas being bad. Sometimes you just need to analyse why something is the way it is and the solution appears in front of you; balance the game without giving bias towards certain weapon classes, give worse weapons better kits and fix bugs.

New main weapons?

Now that this is out of the way, lets talk about new main weapons, along with a short analysis on how main weapons are decided.

Every weapon class has its hallmark, standard weapon. The Shooters have the Splattershot, the Chargers have the Splat Charger, and the Rollers have the Splat Roller. These weapons don't tend to do anything special, but they're consistent and they showcase the class as a whole. Once you see a Splat Roller in action, you have a general idea for what the Roller class is like.

Then these standard weapons get expanded upon with a lightweight weapon (faster, more efficient, less range, less damage) and a heavyweight weapon (slower, less efficient, more range, more damage), that are simply variations. They don't really change the mechanics; The Splattershot Jr. and Splattershot Pro work identically to the Splattershot, they're just light and heavy variations.

These 3 weapons build the core of a class, and the next main weapons in a class change and expand upon mechanics drastically to provide a more unique experience. The Squiffer, Splat Charger and E-Liter 4K are all similar weapons functionally, but the Bamboozler, Goo Tuber and Snipewriter are much more varied.

Looking at the Brella class, we have a standard weapon (the Splat Brella) and a heavyweight (the Tenta Brella). We don't actually have a lightweight Brella. The Undercover Brella isn't a simple variation of the standard Brellas, it has unique mechanics. It can shoot while flaring up its shield, and is the only Brella that can regenerate its shield early (by splatting or assisting a splat on an opponent).

So we need a lightweight Brella, and I'm also thinking we need another unique Brella, and luckily I have ideas for both!

Parasella:

This is a lightweight Brella! Unlike other lightweight weapons, it doesn't have much less range than the Splat Brella, it instead has a little less damage, far less shot spread and more damage fall off, forcing you to be more accurate for longer periods of time.

What sets it apart is the Brella itself. 0.5 seconds after holding down ZR, the Brella will shoot off and move fast and far. Of course it doesn't have a lot of health, only 200, and enemies can take care of it easily. (this is identical to the Undercover Brellas current health, but ideally, every other Brella would be getting health buffs) Finally, the Brella shield would regenerate after 2.5 seconds, allowing you to deploy multiple Brella shields at once on the field.

I imagine a supportive kit for this weapon, something like Autobomb/Killer Wail 5.1 or Fizzy Bomb/Zipcaster with a similar playstyle to the Custom Splattershot Jr. It would bombard enemies with deployables and chip damage and go in for the kill once they're distracted.

Octogami Brella:

The Undercover Brella adds new mechanics to the Brella class, namely shooting while shielding and regenerating your shield. I want to create a Brella that expands on a mechanic, contact damage. Brella shields deal contact damage, but it isn't a main part of the Brella playstyle.

The Octogami Brella has a large square shield, made out of paper. Holding down ZR after shooting causes the shield to start to fold up into the shape of an Octoling! It decreases in size, but due to it compacting, the health of the shield dramatically increases! The shield deploys after 2 seconds and it moves very quickly and has a large hitbox, forcing enemies to move out of the way or take serious damage. Finally, if enemies don't destroy the Octoling shield fast enough, it'll explode once it decays.

I don't really have stats for this weapon in particular, just a strong concept behind it, so feel free to suggest anything you like for it!

As always, thanks for reading everyone!

[soloprayers]

I don’t follow you. I stumbled across your blog through a rabbithole and I checked out your recent series of asks. And at first I was disinclined to post an ask at all, because it’s so easy to have anything a random person has to say to the diatribe you’ve been spewing as mansplaining at best, or misogynistic even worse.

But I think your opinions and stats that you’ve cited is remarkably biased and short sighted. Ignore the fact that you’re citing American stats - which is also to be expected as the typical yankee thinking their country is the centre of the universe - have you even once regarded world stats? Have you understood - truly understood - just how bad the violence against women problem is worldwide? How in Canada rape allegations are typically pursued and believed in core cities but dismissed in rural areas, or how frequent rape is in Africa, or how women are constantly groped in Japan and just expected to stay meek and silent?

These problems are societal, institutional and it’s going to take hundreds of years if not thousands to overcome.

But it’s not so simple as just violence against women. 1 in 7 men experience violence in intimate relationships. Men fight and kill eachother and the violence done against women - however heartbreaking it might be - pales in comparison to the violence men do against other men.

But… I think it’s really easy to be angry at men. At face value blanket statements like “men fucking suck” are such a fucking cop out. There are abusive women, I don’t need to cite examples about the teachers, and prison guards and criminals and so forth. I could just as easily say “women fucking suck” - to which the only retort you really have that matters is “yeah but not as much as men”.

Even yourself. You don’t want “fat and ugly” men hitting on you, which is you doing the exact same to them that they’re doing to you. They’re hitting on you because they’re projecting their attraction. You’re rejecting them because they don’t meet your standards. It’s different sides of the same coin!

I think you’re young. You haven’t lived enough to truly understand how bad it is. I am not being dismissive of what happens to YOU. No one should receive nasty comments when they post a picture. You’re not meat. I’m not saying that your viewpoint isn’t valid. I’m saying that you’ve got a fraction of the information you need.

But some of us men are out here, fighting the fight. Trying to affect change. Creating dialogues, actively pursuing a difference in the world. Alongside the women who want the same things. And as a 40ish man who has been doing this for 20 years… chill. The. Fuck. Out. You’re going to burn yourself out before you make any significant impact. It’s going to take the entire human race to change these problems.

I’m staying in anonymous not because I’m a “pussy”, but because I’m never going to think of you again and it’s not about me. I just hope I gave you something to think about.

quite frankly, you’ve given me nothing to think about. once again, you’re proving my point that men are violent and gross. ofc men have male on male crime, they’re scientifically more violent. i could’ve told you that from the beginning lmao. why would i be sympathetic towards that situation when i already knew that men were violent, as i’ve stated before?

and yes i used american statistics, i live in fucking america??? am i supposed to use statistics for other countries? and like i JUST SAID, YOURE PROVING MY POINT FURTHER. I KNOW MEN R4PE, I KNOW MEN ARE VIOLENT IN OTHER COUNTRIES AS WELL.

and yes i will fat shame because you don’t understand how gross it is when a man that’s old enough to be your dad is hitting on you. especially when you’re a minor. i never invited attractive men into my life either though, they’re just as gross and bad.

now you wanna say i don’t understand the severity of the problem but i’m literally the one trying to fix it, you’re proving my point but think you’re not because you are literally mansplaining. i’m putting my emotions out there, these emotions have been created by FUCKING MEN. would i be this angry if i’d never been r4ped, assaulted, abused, or manipulated? hmmmmmm probably not. look at yourself, you called me a piece of meat and then retracted it when i pulled out a sensible argument. you’re just as stupid as anyone else in your kind :) you can’t say things and then take it back when you wanna act all high and mighty. i’m 18 years old, it’s sad that i have such strong feelings on this already in my life. i will protect everyone i can, i don’t give a fuck if that bothers you. it doesn’t take the entire human race, i will not stop. you don’t know what i’ve seen and how many children i’ve already saved and how many predators i’ve already put in jail. you don’t fucking know me or what i’ve been through or if i’ll burn out. use the bullshit excuse that i’m young, it’s not like old men are any more sensible than a 12 year old boy. age isn’t a factor here, i’ve already been shown how the world is. i will not stop until i get all of you motherfuckers.

[rebeccasabot]

Roofing: Repair or Replace?

Article From HouseLogic.com By: Jeanne Huber Published: August 18, 2016

Deciding whether to repair or replace roofing is largely an exercise in timing -- you don't want to reroof too soon and waste money, but you don't want to wait too long either.

Eventually, all roofs wear out and need to be replaced. In a tight economy, the decision about when to repair it is especially weighty. If you do it too soon, you'll waste money. But if you wait too long, you'll end up with leaks and expensive water damage. To get the timing right, you need to know how to assess your roof's overall condition. That way, you can identify early signs of roof failure.

A new roof was the exterior remodeling project with the highest ROI (tying with a new garage door), according to the National Association of REALTORS? 2022 "Remodeling Impact Report."? The ROI came in at $12,000, matching the project's $12,000 average national cost. More than half of the consumers surveyed said they invested in a new roof because they wanted to upgrade worn-out surfaces, finishes, and materials. They were happy with the results, giving the project a joy score of 9.2 out of 10.

Despite those impressive stats, if most of your roof is still in good shape, a spot repair makes sense. But if the roof shows signs of wearing out or is more than 20 years old, replacing it may be the smarter choice.

Be Alert to Early Signs of a Roof Leak

If you check your roof's condition at least annually, you should be able to plan for necessary repairs. Early signs of trouble include:

• Dark areas on ceilings • Peeling paint on the underside of roof overhangs • Damp spots alongside fireplaces • Water stains on pipes venting the water heater or furnace

From the outside, you can assess your roof's health by viewing it through binoculars. Warning signs include:

• Cracked caulk or rust spots on flashing • Shingles that are buckling, curling, or blistering • Worn areas around chimneys, pipes, and skylights

If you find piles of grit from asphalt roof tiles in the gutters, that's a bad sign. The granules shield the roof from the sun's damaging ultraviolet rays. Black algae stains are just cosmetic, but masses of moss and lichen could signal decay underneath the roof.

If you're inspecting on your own and find worrisome signs, get a professional assessment. That's an especially good idea if the roof is old or there has been a storm with heavy wind or hail. The national average cost is $210. Some roofing companies will do a very basic inspection for free before performing the work. Certified roof professionals from the National Roof Certification and Inspection Association charge based on the market.

When Repairs Make Sense

You can usually repair a leak in a roof that is otherwise sound. The cost might range from $10 if you just need to squirt some roofing mastic into a gap alongside chimney flashing, to $300 to $1,000 to fix a leak in a roof valley. If something sudden and unforeseen, like a windstorm, causes a leak to appear, your homeowner's insurance will probably cover the repairs. But you're still responsible for limiting the damage, so put out buckets and try to get a local roofer to spread a tarp while you arrange for repairs. Insurance may not cover problems that stem from a worn-out roof or lack of maintenance.

The Cost of Re-roofing

Stripping off old roofing and starting over typically costs about $4 a square foot for an asphalt roof on a one-story house with no penetrations or valleys. Or, you may be able to leave an existing single layer and add a second layer on top of it. A roof overlay is significantly less expensive and could cost 20% to 40% less than a replacement. This might seem like a smart way to save, but unless you're so pressed for cash that your only other option is to risk leaks, it's false economy.

The second layer won't last as long -- only about 15 years rather than the standard 20. And you won't get new flashing or underlayment or the opportunity to upgrade to features that make a roof stronger. Plus, when you sell, your re-covered roof will look a little lumpy, and potential buyers may interpret the two layers as a sign that other home improvements were also done on the cheap.

Make Sure to Factor in Hidden Costs

When you evaluate bids, don't just look at the total. A bare-bones estimate might include a single layer of 15-pound building paper under the roofing. However, a better but more expensive bid includes 30-pound paper plus self-stick rubbery material along the eaves to protect against damage from ice dams. Bids might also differ in whether they include the cost of disposing of the old roofing, hourly rates for structural repairs, and gutter-related costs.

Once you settle on a contractor, check whether the company is licensed and insured. Also discuss how the crew will minimize landscaping damage and who will pay for any that occurs. Schedule the roof work during dry weather if possible, so your lawn takes less of a beating. You'll sleep better, too, if you're not worrying about rain coming in when the roof is half-done.

Get the Most From a New Roof

A new roof isn't something most families are thrilled to buy. But getting multiple benefits from it makes it easier to shell out the money. As part of a new roofing project, you can incorporate many features that make your home more environmentally friendly. Some of those may qualify for a federal tax credit to offset the cost, using IRS Form 5965. You can also choose roofing that's more resistant to fire or damage from wind and hail. And that may qualify you for a discount on your homeowner's insurance policy.

[ekotonki]

Outguess 1.3

Outguess 1.3 code#

An algorithm estimates the capacity for hidden data without the distortions of the decoy data becoming apparent. net Forum - General Game Discussion : derekedit via Audiogames-reflector net Forum - General Game Discussion : The Imaginatrix via Audiogames-reflector net Forum - General Game Discussion : Dungeon Diver via Audiogames-reflector net Forum - General Game Discussion : BlindNinja via Audiogames-reflector net Forum - General Game Discussion : josephweakland via Audiogames-reflector net Forum - General Game Discussion : Mitch via Audiogames-reflector net Forum - General Game Discussion : Aaron Baker via Audiogames-reflector net Forum - General Game Discussion : Alduin via Audiogames-reflector net Forum - General Game Discussion : FeatheryPeachKitsune via Audiogames-reflector net Forum - General Game Discussion : Vazbol via Audiogames-reflector net Forum - General Game Discussion : Jayde via Audiogames-reflector My advice is to own it, because the community already has. It would be foolish to say I'm a bad chef because of that one dish, and thus I'm not saying you're a bad dev for making one bad ability. If I were a restaurant owner and I cooked two hundred and ninety-nine meals, and my three hundredth made someone recoil and spit the food out, guess what? I'm on the hook for that. You can't justify the latter by claiming that you have enough of the former. There are neat gimmicks and there are just plain-old bad gimmicks. Yes, dude, that happens, and it's not cool. Standard and shadow works decently well.ahem, until you get tri-kicked to death by something eight levels lower than you because of Erratic Battler. Given the type diversity in this game, being able to switch after you wail on something is really kind of essential, even if you have gargantuan attack, because it's easy to run into a type you don't want to be facing. Sheepskin Outfit helps Wolfsyre out, and actually helps my argument because it further encourages not evolving into Werewolfsyre. If a pokemon had an ability this bad, it would be relegated to the never-used tier, no matter how good its base stats were.ĭomestress, at least, has slightly boosted stats and a Domestress-only item that makes her usable. You can be proud of a lot of things, including a lot of customization elsewhere, Aaron, but you absolutely cannot defend this one. The inability to switch busts this ability. The lowering stats on their own are bad enough. You have no idea how insanely punishing that is. You basically get one round where you have boosted stats, then you're at neutral, then you're a liability. See, here's the thing, right? I haven't seen a single person besides you saying Erratic Battler is worthwhile, and I've seen about half a dozens, self included, who dislike it. I have absolutely no idea what broke in version 1.3.0 and what you improved in 1.3.1, so it makes me curious why I want to keep updating.Īlso, you posted while I was doing it, so here we go. And if you actually did stuff like improve moves/accuracy/abilities, we kinda really wanna know about that.

Outguess 1.3 code#

I'm not saying you have to include mathematical formulas in every update, not by any stretch, but even something like "optimized code to minimize latency in online battles" would be cool. This is an issue you've had since the original manamon and beyond, and it's not doing you any favours. I know you don't want to be spoilery, but sometimes if something is improved, we'd kind of like to know what it is. Misc bug fixes and improvements is.not all that descriptive. Aaron, for the love of crumbcake, dude, please, please, please write better change logs.

[meimae]

Language Learning Through Immersion: One & a Half Years Japanese Update

11/9/21

Today marks 1.5 years of learning Japanese through immersion. ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ✧

Some things have changed since my 1 year update, mostly in how I use Anki and in the way I've been selecting my immersion material. Still very much enjoying this method of learning, but I think its good to reassess and plan how I'd like to proceed every half year.

In a span of 6 months, I managed to add another 734.62 hours of immersion to my overall count. I somehow ended up immersing a similar amount of hours (367.04 for listening, 367.58 for reading) for both skills, reading beating listening for exactly 10.8 minutes. I also have 270.01 hours of passive listening (JPN subbed content), so I’ve actually immersed a total of 2231.28 hours, 1961.27 hours of which are active, averaging 3.99 hours for the past 6 months or 3.57 for the past 1.5 years of everyday Japanese language immersion. I've also spent another 390.76 total hours on word and grammar reviews on Anki.

I don’t feel like I’ve hit a wall in my immersion yet, as in not having enough material to immerse with anymore, but I’ve started to understand what I do like in Japanese media and it really is a matter of always having something I like lined up so I don’t “run out”. 

At this stage, I also feel like it’s impossible to hit the intermediate plateau with immersion learning. There’s just so many new words to discover, grammar to learn, and output skills to enhance that the thought of language learning plateauing with a method like this seems silly. I haven’t even grazed the surface especially if going by my standard of learning words alone - learn every Japanese equivalent or similar word I know in my NL and in English - the ceiling is actually quite high. 

That’s why I’d like to finally tap into my output ability. Being able to read and understand conversations in a language is really fun, but the real challenge is to actually use it outside of media consumption, to actually communicate with native speakers through text or speech.

So as a call back to my 1 year update, do I feel fluent after 2,200 hours of immersion learning? No, but it definitely has at least made me proficient in listening and reading faster than if I continued learning with traditional methods, which back then at the 1.5 mark was me still learning the most basic words, grammar, and Kanji.

ANKI STATS, GRAMMAR, OUTPUT, AND OTHER GOALS

ANKI

It has been several months, and I think it's safe to say that switching to vocabulary cards from sentence cards have worked wonders for my retention and my overall time spent on Anki. Still think it could be better, but I'm happy that I'm not gouging my eyes out anymore trying to figure out why my retention was so bad.

Longer learning steps seems to be the key for me for better mature retention (10 480 1440/10). For a while, I stopped adding new cards so I could figure out what was wrong, so I only managed to add a few more words to my deck since my 1 year update. For full disclosure, I also have a bank of 3350 mature 片仮名 in a separate deck. No reason to split them from my deck other that it seemed a bit weird to keep them mixed with my 漢字 deck. It still gets reviewed when it turns up. Still keeping my overall streak going, too!

My Kanji Grid got a lot bluer since my 1 year update. Despite not learning a lot of new words, I somehow managed to add about 30% more new Kanji in the N1 and Non-JLPT tables.

I’ve also learned a total 9768 cards so far, much less than what I was hoping for. If I hadn't reassessed and continued using sentence cards, I would have been at more than 10k words by now, but at the cost of overall retention and longer Anki time. I'd like to think that it doesn't bother me, but it was months of wasted time because of doubt and frustration in myself. It wasn't good mindset to be in and I needed to fix it.

"New cards" here are previously learned cards that were giving me trouble and that I'm now slowly relearning. I find that I know them in immersion, but trip up on them in Anki a lot.

GRAMMAR

I'm still slowly going through my grammar deck of the Dictionary of Japanese Grammar series, and still looking grammar points up while reading. I still don't know if this is the best way to go about learning grammar, I just find studying it as religiously as you would in a classroom setting very boring. I do recognize though that I have to keep at it if I want to pursue output soon.

I still have this ridiculous notion whenever I'm attempting to output to follow grammar rules as if they're formulas, like they haven't quite clicked in my brain as it would with native speakers. Whenever I'm immersing, a lot of the sentences makes sense, and I understand them, but I keep choking when I attempt output. It's probably just me being anxious about making mistakes and maybe feeling like I still haven't covered enough grammar, so I really have to strive to gain the confidence I need to just let my thoughts flow.

OUTPUT

Now, I'm not going to pretend that I have a game plan for this.

When you've been following traditional methods, output is a no brainer - whether you sound stupid or not, you have to try to say something coherent in the language by just using the grammar structures taught to you by your teachers and textbooks. I went through this for about a year as a beginner, failing miserably at every turn and unfortunately embarrasing myself in front of a native Japanese teacher too many times. I also made attempts at online language exchange after this, but because they want to learn English and I want to learn Japanese, we always fall back to using our NLs to communicate. It was interesting, but ultimately unproductive.

With immersion methods, the guides to output are kind of vague - read and listen a lot, and you'll magically be able to output - this was my whole reasoning behind taking a more listening based immersion approach. I wanted to be able to imitate how natives sound and construct their sentences as much as I could.

To be completely honest with you, I don't feel like I have the comfort level, capacity, and capability to output speaking yet. Writing output, however, I could make more attempts of. It's a situation very similar with my NL and English actually. I feel most comfort speaking in my NL, but my English writing ability far exceeds that of my NL. Obviously, I can read, write, speak, and understand well in those two languages, it's more of what I end up defaulting to when put in certain situations. With Japanese, I want to find a nice balance of all these skills, so I'm being particularly hard on myself.

Anyway, for speaking output, people suggest shadowing a parent, and I did this in school for English, but again it was very boring and monotonous so I doubt that I could keep up with it. It also kind of requires you to perfectly hear every word so you can repeat them, and I'm not so sure if that's gonna go down well. Again, need more input.

Instead, I'm planning on continuing watching Dogen's Pitch Accent series, so I can learn about it in a more structured manner, also paying more attention to pitch while reviewing them on Anki. I think I'll also play around with the idea of pitch training with kotu.io, and maybe practice speaking aloud while reading some simple SoL stories.

As for writing, I plan on just writing simple diary or blog entries as practice. Maybe write 感想s in Japanese instead of English for once when I get confident. Other than that there is a 漢字検定 writing deck that I plan on starting, just 5 cards at a time so it doesn't add too much to my reviews. I'm not planning on taking the Kanken anytime soon, geez, I can't even take the JLPT because it keeps getting cancelled, but I'd like to start practicing now. I'm hoping my previous trad RTK studies will make this attempt at writing a smooth experience. These are just a few things I'd like to try out to get the output muscles warmed up and moving.

OTHER GOALS/PLANS

(not time restricted)

15k-20k vocabulary cards on Anki, finish DoJG deck and look into other grammar resources, continue immersion (4000 total hours) preferably with harder material, take some practice tests before the next JLPT is made available

-☆-

I know I kind of babbled a lot, because I'm mostly winging this whole learning process, but hey, it has been somehow working out! (；´∀｀) Thanks for reading and updates in the future as always.

[bnhaficsforthesoul]

BNHA characters and their genshin experiences

I've been way into genshin for the past couple months, if anyone wants to play with me message me (I'm lvl 45 rn) but be warned I have shitty internet and am a partial razor main

but this is mainly characters I can see actually putting time into genshin

Bakugou

Mains: Yanfei

his main has probably been most every pyro character at some point

he wants diluc so bad, whenever someone else complains that diluc ruined their pity he wants to ruin their existence

before yanfei his main was probably hu Tao

hed definitely play klee if he had her lmao but he doesnt and is patiently waiting for her rerun

he has a lot of 5 star characters and is f2p, he can always get banner characters within at least the first pity, but for standard 5 stars hes gotten keqing and qiqi way too many times and hes livid

especially as a previous hu tao main, he was begging for Jean, still has yet to come home

hes probably a very high level, not fully maxed out considering he hasnt been playing all that long, he was probably forced to start when the rest of the bakusquad started playing it and he just took off

has really shitty artifact luck though, like his characters arent bad or anything but they could be so, so much better

and ugh hes livid

explores everything, has 100% exploration everywhere, but hes not bored hes still got artifact farming to do and he enjoys terrorizing enemies

in co op he will set you and everything around you on fire. cope.

Todoroki

Mains: Xiao or Ganyu

probably only started playing because Izuku asked him to

kaeya has also been on his team since day 1 and he is never leaving doesnt matter his friendship has been level 10 for weeks now who cares

was f2p until xiao, who didnt want to come home at all, and he finally got him on his 180th pull

now he doesnt care and will buy primogems whenever hes bored

he has a lot of constellations on kaeya and hes so proud of that, probably c4, is considering buying way too many primogems just so that he can hopefully get his c6

now his artifact luck is godly, you'll go into a domain with him and be like ugh I got nothing and hes like I got a 4 piece set with all attack or crit rate/damage main stats like haha I hate you

but yeah his characters are very strong cause of this, but he doesnt put effort into building a lot of them, he only levels up and gives good artifacts to his team and a couple other characters he likes but everyone else just sits there for a while

hes not super obsessed with the game, but he does think its funny seeing bakugou get so upset whenever they do domains together

doesnt even bother doing daily tasks really unless hes trying to save primogems

Midoriya

Mains: Venti

hes so good at building characters, like he looks up builds online and watches those "do INSANE damage with these tips" videos - and he sets out to get them done and he does

bakugou is once again livid whenever they play together, because Izuku barely has to try and can do so much more damage than him

he does have to put in a lot of work for his artifacts though because he doesnt settle for the okay ones he needs the absolute best

he builds his favorite characters the most ofc, but he evenly distributes things to other characters he knows can be useful- those characters might not have insane stats but they're still good

will not kill timmies pigeons, hell hunt birds in the wild for fun though

definitely a food hoarder

also does a lot of exploring and probably has at least 90% for each area

Kaminari

Mains: Lisa

he is 1000% in love with Lisa, he took her quest very seriously

and so many people say shes horrible, he hates it, hes made her crazy strong out of spite

his team consists of only his wifus- meaning lisa, beidou, rosaria, and mona

for a long time beidou was his second but then rosaria came along and hes like ugh big tiddy goth gf, but lisa still remains queen

these are the only characters hes built though, save for a couple like probably razor and xiangling that he used before he fully got this team

is an ayaka saver

he doesnt care too much about most 5 stars but will sometimes get them just to say he has them, but they end up just sitting there rotting away because he never puts work into them

he does have hu tao though and would get ganyu if she ever had a rerun

Kirishima

Mains: Diluc Razor or Beidou

they're all on his team, the last person switches out but it's most likely zhongli or childe

hes all about dps, support who, he just wants to hit hard and do insane damage , so yes he made dps zhongli

except his builds arent that great, with some help his builds are decent, but on his own hell be like ugh that's some sexy 300 damage

probably didnt know what 90% of the stats even meant and just put random attack ones on people and went yeah that looks good

doesnt really care though and is just having fun so hell play how he wants (as he should) but he does have to ask for help when farming bosses

loves exploring but misses so much, hell get distracted easily and end up just messing around

honestly probably hasnt bothered to ascend his world since he got to level 35, if he did the quest hed probably go straight to 45 and even then hed still have extra exp because hes been there for so long oml

but eventually he would have to and hed be trying to do it like :,) this is fine and it takes him a lot of tries but he gets there eventually,,, only to immediately have another one waiting for him poor baby

Mina

Mains: Klee or Xiangling

thinks baizhu is hot (and is correct) so shes desperately waiting for him

was a I must play 24/7 player until after the last story quest, then she got kinda bored but still plays frequently so she can save primogems and likes playing co op

goes into random peoples worlds a lot

shes got some pretty strong characters and is proud of her account

definitely makes tiktoks of her playing with the bakusquad cause it's always v chaotic (it's probably only denki and kirishima most of the time, but sometimes either bakugou or sero will join in)

does all the genshin tiktok trends

shes a pretty high level since shes probably been playing for a while and has most everything done

she loves helping lower level people though she thinks it's so cute and loves the power she feels when she one shots things

Sero

Mains: Xingqui

hes a pretty casual player, kinda only plays when hes bored or the others make him play with them

but his stats arent too bad, they're fairly average but he gets by

has so many primogems because he doesnt bother to wish on anyone, probably wants kazuha though

he does get super invested into the story though, hes so curious about the world and where the story is gonna lead

probably watches a lot of genshin theory videos and now he over thinks everything in the game

he explores a lot, not so much to find every single thing but more so just because he likes looking at everything, hes very excited for all the new places

Shinsou

Mains: Childe

hes a very thorough player, he explores a lot and puts a lot of work into building his characters

most of them arent all that great but he has plans to fix them

his main team is very well built, not the best, but still good

he struggles when he has to switch someone out for a domain or something because his other characters are so painfully mediocre right now and he feels so bad

shinsou, playing a character that can do like max 200 physical damage and biggest damage is like 2 thousand, repeatedly saying I'm sorry, I'm sorry, you deserve so much better, I'm so sorry

even if it's not the worst damage by far, he feels bad about anything under his main team's stats because they're just so much higher

broke. has no primogems. spent them all on childe and his constellations. does he regret it? well he sure does appreciate his c6 so- hell manage

yes he spent real money on his stupid mass murderer who he loves very much

fights childe every day even though he already collected the treasure, he is but a humble simp

probably decently lucky with wishing like he can beat the 50/50 almost every time

Tamaki

Mains: Chongyun and Sucrose

he only started playing recently, probably kirishima got him into it, but he immediately fell in love

kirishima was like tell me when you're level 16 so we can play together !!! and 2 days later tamaki was level 16 and kiri was shook because how the hell did he do it so fast

hates domains, the dread he feels when he realizes the lower level isnt going to give him anything anymore, and he has to move up to the next, and the next,,

asks kirishima to help him only to realize he isnt much help, is too nice to say that so he let's kiri keep trying- one day kiri gets deku to play with the two of them and tamaki almost cries because finally he can get through the level 90 domain and actually get things ugh

cannot get xingqui to save his life he refuses to come home and poor tamaki is so sad he wants him a lot hes even got all his materials saved up

Monoma

Mains: Ningguang

honestly doesnt play all that much but takes pride in making his account seem v good, is a whale

but hes very good at the game, didnt know what the artifacts were for at first and gave people ones based on how they looked but once he figured it out hes fixed them

is a very standard player, logs in every day to do his commissions and use his resin then logs out, he doesnt put too much time into the game and doesnt worry if he misses a day or two

worships ningguang, also really likes xinyan, his other team members are probably venti and albedo

has every single banner 5 star that has come out since he started playing, probably doesnt have klee though and is v upset about it, and is thanking the heavens for all the reruns lately

also doesnt have keqing and wants her a lot cause he likes her

accepts every single co op request he gets, and despite what a lot may think hes actually a very nice person to play with, not toxic at all - unless you're someone he knows then he might be mean to you shshshsh

Shigaraki

Mains: Razor

haha isnt it so odd that they sound so similar haha (if you dont know they have the same japanese va and I'm guessing hed play it in Japanese)

obviously he can be kinda busy ya know being a criminal and all that but when hes not he puts a lot of time into genshin

sadly doesnt have very good luck when it comes to characters or artifacts, but hes doing his best even with 0 primogems and his 50% crit rate

doesnt explore all that much, most of the exploring hes done came from him trying to get all the oculus

his razor is so good though, except that's the only character hes put tons of effort into

except for now zhongli, hes not replacing razor but ugh does he love zhongli

but his other characters are pretty mediocre at best, he could build them if he wanted to, hes good enough at gaming to figure it out, he just doesnt have the time to spend to do it so he focuses on his main team

also (spoiler alert kinda) when we had to go to the wolf spirit to fight the abyss herald and razor was there, afterwards how razor was saying how he was too weak and stuff and was super sad, at that very moment shiggy decided the entire abyss order had to be destroyed - sorry aether (he chose lumine) but razor is more important than you

[averykedavra]

All I Want is Serenity

*ahem* Yes, thank you for gathering here tonight. I know I’m supposed to be working on my millions of unfinished fics. However, let me propose some, *ahem ahem* Roman angst? Perhaps, perhaps. Thanks to @becca-becky for not judging when I asked for “weird crab facts, stat.”

You can find this fic on Ao3 here.

(Title is from 'dreamin by The Score.)

Words: 13019 (I’m so sorry, I swear this was supposed to be like 5k)

Pairings: platonic DLAMPRT

Warnings: food mentions, missed sleep, missed eating, self-deprecation and self-hatred, sympathetic everyone including Remus, disassociation, brief suicidal ideation (although only referring to “ducking out”), slightly unreliable narrator, verbal abuse, anxiety, panic attack, sensory overload, spiraling thoughts, discussions of time and losing track of time, touch-starvation but it’s pretty brief, extra limbs but also very brief, maybe some light PTSD? The sides are portrayed as somewhat unsympathetic in Roman’s own mind, but they are not, he just views them as more hateful than they are. (I want to say this isn’t as bad as the warnings make it sound, but...it’s not great. There’s a happy ending, though, I promise!)

Summary: Roman knows the only way to keep the Sides from hating him is to make sure he’s perfect. He needs to say the right things, act the right way, and smile at the right times. But his endless practicing, high standards, and ugly thoughts are only making him screw up more. He needs to get a handle on things and become the perfect prince they want, or he’ll be kicked out for good.

It was cold in Thomas’ living room. Roman shivered as soon as he rose up. He’d try and fix the temperature, but there wasn’t time, not with everyone’s eyes on him.

Usually he loved attention, or was good at pretending that he did. But with Logan’s cold stare, Virgil’s glower, Patton’s shaky smile, and Thomas’ blank expression tearing through him, his skin crawled and he hid his shaking hands behind his back. He was ready for this. He was.

“Greetings,” he said, trying for a smile and his usual confidence. Was that the right way to go about this? Could he even maintain the facade anymore? Should he just let down his guard and stop being so insufferably extra all the time?

“Roman,” said Janus, and Roman flinched. Why did he do that? He knew Janus would be there, a few feet from Logan, yet he found himself unable to even look in Janus’ direction.

“We need to talk,” Thomas said, and Roman nodded. He knew.

“About the last episode.” Logan adjusted his glasses and Roman felt a little flicker of comfort at the familiar motion. "Clearly there are some things we need to sort out.”

Roman opened his mouth to apologize. Was that the right way to do this? Apologize right off the bat? The idea rankled at him, the fragments of his pride trying to stop him from throwing it all away, but maybe it would help to get everything out of the way.

“I’m sorry,” he blurted out. “I was rude and very unprincely towards Janus, and I hope he can forgive me.”

Janus watched Roman for a moment before inclining his head. Not forgiveness, but acknowledgement, which was better than Roman expected.

“That’s good, kiddo,” Patton said, his smile growing a little more real. “Now what about the rest of us?”

Roman swallowed. “The rest of us?” he repeated, wishing desperately he had chosen to do anything else, wondering why he thought this was ever a good idea.

“Well, yeah.” Virgil’s arms were curled around his knees and he was sitting instead of standing on the stairs. Rather out-of-character for him, but it helped ground Roman, not having everyone here be perfect and unaffected by the situation. “You’re...y’know...”

Virgil blew his bangs away from his eyes. Now that was classic Virgil, and it made Roman’s heart clench.

“You need to apologize to all of us,” Virgil finished, shrugging. “Sorry, dude, but...you messed up. Big-time.”

“I...” Roman nodded. “Of course. Logan, I am so sorry for insulting you by pushing the Ignorant button. That was a rude and insensitive joke and I’m sorry.”

Logan’s eyes softened, just a little bit.

“Patton, I...” Roman bit his lip. “I’m sorry for pushing you so much. We went into territory you were clearly uncomfortable with, and instead of hearing your concerns, I led you to have a breakdown.”

Patton’s eyes flashed. Okay, bad choice of words. Roman made a mental note to avoid calling it a breakdown.

“Thomas.” Roman tried to remember what to say. He’d wronged Thomas, hadn’t he? How? “The wedding,” he guessed, hoping Thomas would give him a cue.

Thomas nodded slowly.

Okay. Good. He was on the right track. “I shouldn’t have forced you to go to the wedding,” Roman continued, keeping his voice level. “It wasn’t what you wanted to do, and I let my own fears of siding with Janus get in the way of doing the right thing for you. I sacrificed your dreams, and for that, I apologize.”

Roman could have made a snarky comment about how they were his dreams too, and really he was only trying his best, but he had a feeling that wouldn’t go over well. Maybe he’d try it later, when he was tired and looking to let out some anger, but for now he was giving this his best shot.

“And Virgil.” Roman let all his sorrow and guilt flood his voice. “Virgil, I...I’m so sorry for ever treating you like the villain, for not listening to you, for being so prejudiced against the ‘Dark Sides.’ I’m sorry for even making up that name. I’ve been a terrible prince and an even worse friend, and I hope you--all of you--can forgive me.”

For a second, Virgil looked about to smile. Had Roman done it? Had he made his way through with no mistakes?

Then a sharp voice cut through his fog of hope. A sharp side to cut through all the bull. A sharp tongue and sharp eyes, slicing Roman back down to size.

“Why would we?”

Roman’s mouth went dry. He swallowed a few times. Stay tall, Roman. He was born for the stage, the spotlight. He was a master of improv. So why did this specific scenario get him so off-kilter?

“Why would we forgive you,” Janus continued, stepping forward, “when you’ve been lying this whole time?”

“What?” Roman whispered.

“You’re not actually sorry.” Janus’ voice was louder than Roman’s heartbeat, but only by a little. “You’re just apologizing so we’ll forgive you and you can start getting what you want again. I can taste lies, Roman, and you’re coated in them.”

“I-I’m not...” Roman took a step back. “I’m not lying!”

It was a weak line. A weak comeback. But Roman had always been weak.

“I’m not going to forgive you,” Janus said, and there it was. A simple statement that stabbed into Roman’s heart. “You’ve apologized before and you’ve never tried to change your ways. The fact is, you can’t change, because you don’t even believe you’ve done anything wrong.”

“How could you say that?” Roman protested. Yes and, his own mind whispered at him. Improvisation is yes-and, not blind denial. But how could he agree to that and still survive this? How could agree to that and get the good ending? “I’ve done so many things wrong! I’ve--”

“You have,” Janus agreed, stepping forward again. Roman felt his back hit the wall. The TV was between them, he noticed dimly, and cursed himself for the thought. Janus wouldn’t attack him! What kind of unsavory fear was that? So much for thinking of Janus as a good guy.

Still, even if the real Janus would never attack him, Roman had a sickening feeling that right now, all bets were off.

“You’ve made a million mistakes,” Janus said. Something we’re both familiar with, Roman remembered, but that was just a line to flatter Roman, make him let his guard down. There was no flattery now. “But you’re not sorry. I can tell.”

“Of course I am! I--” Roman paused, doubt squirming into his head. Was he sorry? Sure, he acted like he was, he told himself he was. But was he really apologetic? Or did he just want to get rid of the guilt that ate him up every night, the loaded glances everyone gave each other when he entered the room, the bite in everyone’s voice when they greeted him? Was he so selfish that he didn’t care about his friends’ feelings, only his own?

“Finally, an epiphany.” Janus smirked. “I knew it would take a while to get through that idiotic head of yours. But now that you’ve finally caught up with the big kids, do you know what it means that you’re only thinking of yourself?”

Roman knew. Roman knew. He didn’t want Janus to say it, but Janus was going to, because everything was out of Roman’s control. Why had he wanted it like this? Why did he think he could handle it?

“Evil,” Janus said, relishing each letter. “You’re the evil twin, Roman.”

Roman glanced around wildly, hoping for some scrap of support. He knew there wouldn’t be any. He knew their faces would cut him even deeper. But he looked around anyway, and he hoped, because Roman had always been pretty stupid.

Logan’s face, stern and cold, eyes flashing. Virgil, glaring at Roman like he did long ago back when they were enemies, baring his teeth. Patton, smile finally slipping off his face, looking at Roman with furrowed brows and a pout. Disappointment.

And Thomas. His Center. His person. The one he did everything for, the one he dreamed for, the one he lived for. Thomas looked at Roman, shook his head, and looked away.

Roman tried to scrounge up some sort of fight. He needed to get them to forgive him! Or at least continue the conversation! He couldn’t just give up now. Giving up wasn’t something heroes did, and if Roman wanted the slightest chance of success, he had to brave this out.

But Janus’ eyes were gleaming and sharp like the edge of a knife. The script had been torn to pieces long ago, and the more Roman stood among the people that resembled his friends, the more it tore him up inside.

He sighed, slumped against the wall, and waved his hand. “Cut.”

The room dissolved around him. He sunk to the ground, or what might have been ground. It was hard to tell when the Imagination was between worlds. Everything was the same shade of parchment white. He ran his hand down the wall and felt the roughness. Usually this place invigorated him, an empty canvas, a blank slate to create wondrous worlds and spin scintillating stories. Now it just reminded him of his failure.

Ugh. The first round was always the worst, but he thought he’d be able to handle it a little better than that. But no. He’d frozen, choked, run dry. One malicious monologue and he got tongue-tied? Pathetic. And he was supposed to be an actor.

Well. Maybe it would take longer than he expected. Ten rounds instead of five, maybe even twenty or thirty. But he’d figure it out. He’d be able to brace himself for the hatred. Or better yet, find the good ending. If there was one to get at all. He certainly didn’t deserve their forgiveness. Perhaps, though...perhaps if he found the right words, he’d manage to salvage their tolerance.

Either way, he knew when he finally had this conversation in real life, he’d be prepared. He’d be insulated from the harm of any stinging words thrown his way. He’d be fine.

Practice made perfect, after all.

Roman hauled himself to his feet and waved his hand, building the living room from scratch. He put the finishing touches on Virgil’s patchwork hoodie, Logan’s striped tie, Janus’ scales, Patton’s smile. Maybe it would hurt less if he made it less realistic, didn’t pour all his love and knowledge into each creation, but it was supposed to hurt. It wasn’t practice if he didn’t feel the weight of the real situation, didn’t feel the pressure on his lungs and the shake of his hands, didn’t feel the shame of being ridiculed.

“From the top,” Roman muttered, clapping his hands. And the scene started again.

“Greetings,” Roman said, smiling as wide as he could, ready for another try.

“Logically, there is no reason to forgive your apology. I hold no affection for you and you have sidelined me on multiple occasions.”

"Cut. From the top.”

“Kiddo, I’ve always supported you, but don’t you think you’re getting in Thomas’ way? I really think I should take the driver’s seat on this one. Maybe you can take some alone time and think through how you can be better.”

“Cut. From--from the top.”

“Oh, hey, bro! Whatcha up to? See, we’ve decided you’re not really all that, so we’re trying the other Creativity out as the good twin. Just take a backseat and be a nuisance, which shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Cut! From the top!”

“Jeez, Princey, can you pump the brakes? And I thought I was a bad guy. Hate to say it, but maybe you should just duck out and stop corrupting him.”

“C-cut. From...from the top.”

“You’ve never been my hero, Roman, and you never will be.”

Roman couldn’t even say “Cut” after that. He was too busy crying.

Eventually, though, after a million wrong choices and a billion broken smiles, he found his way to some semblance of the good ending. No jolly good fellows and cheering citizens, no happily-ever-after, just a version that didn’t make Roman want to curl into a corner and hide forever. His fake smile got better with every round. His apologies grew more polished, and even though they felt less and less sincere, they got better and better results. Soon he was just running through the words like he was reading off a teleprompter, bobbing his head along to a script he knew by heart.

He knew what to say. He knew where to pause, where to let his voice crack, when to smile and when to let someone else talk. He learned to wait his turn, to accept the first two insults from Logan but push back at the third, because if he didn’t, Janus would accuse him of taking things lying down which would lead to an entire diatribe from Virgil about Roman never fighting for himself anymore. It was a delicate balance between meek and egotistical, quiet and loud, apologetic and confident. One slip of the tongue and he’d be berated again, kicked out, encouraged to just duck out and save everyone the trouble of his company.

Still, it stung less after the tenth time. Roman barely even flinched after the twentieth. By the thirtieth, he was able to just nod and smile, swallowing the hurt. By the fiftieth--fortieth? Fiftieth? How many times had he remade this room, polished up these characters, and tried again? He didn’t remember--by the time he stopped, it didn’t hurt at all.

He was tired, he realized as he finally put away the living room for good. His eyes ached and his head swam. He must have been doing this for several hours. Time was hard in the Imagination. Well, no longer should he deny himself his beauty sleep! Usually he’d have a walk into town to reward himself for succeeding, have a chat with some characters or slay a mighty dragon or just enjoy the wind on his skin. But he didn’t really feel like he deserved a reward right now. And he definitely wasn’t up for any dragon-slaying. Or socializing.

Roman summoned a quill and scratched out a door in red ink. Maybe it was overkill when he could just sink into his room, but he enjoyed watching the ink spread over the surface of the wall and sink into a three-dimensional figure. It was one of his favorite parts of the Imagination, the way he could will anything into existence, plant a seed and let it have a life of its own.

Or it usually was. Not when the Imagination supplied biting words and cold eyes, going above and beyond even Roman’s worst fears, forcing him to confront every possible worst-case scenario.

Other than that, though, it was a fun place.

Roman opened the door to his bedroom. It was dim and empty, smelling almost stale. How long had been away? Didn’t matter, he was tired. And hungry, he realized as his stomach growled, but sleep before food. Did he even have any food? He’d been storing as much as possible under his bed so he wouldn’t have to attend meals too much, but he was pretty sure he’d eaten the last chicken wrap this morning. Or maybe yesterday morning.

Roman collapsed on his bed with a sigh. The food issue could wait for now. His eyes were already closing. He pulled his quilt over him and sunk into his pillow, breathing another sigh of relief. Goodness, he felt like he could pull an Aurora and sleep for a hundred years. All that crying must have been exhausting.

But just as Roman drifted off, he felt a tug in his chest.

Thomas.

Oh, no.

Roman’s eyes flew open. He thought he still had a day before this! That’s what Logan’s schedule said, and Logan’s schedule never lied. Why would they push it earlier?

Roman glanced out the window at the sunny day. His alarm clock read 4:30. The little red x’s over the previous days on his calendar proclaimed it to be a day before the Talk. Maybe he’d gotten the date wrong, misread it somehow. That would be just like Roman, to be such an idiot he messed up a simple date.

Well, no time to worry about it now. Thomas was summoning him again, the tug stronger and almost painful. Roman quickly jumped out of bed, waited for the room to stop tilting, and strode over to his full-length mirror. He looked like a hot mess. Nay, not hot, cool. Nay, not cool, uncool. An uncool mess.

Roman quickly snapped his fingers and straightened the wrinkles from his outfit, combed the tangles from his hair, and dried the tear tracks on his face. He practiced a smile, a grand pose, and recited his part in his head. He knew what he was doing. He was ready, he was prepared, he was numb. This would be fine.

When he felt another tug he took his chance, rising up in the real world and beaming at everyone. “Greetings,” he said, going a little quiet on the second syllable and purposefully softening his smile when he was done.

It was warm. No surprise, it was late spring in Florida, but Roman had gotten used to the icy chill of the Imagination. He’d never bothered to fix it. Maybe he should have, because the warmth was throwing Roman off, reminding him that this was the real thing and if he messed up, he got no do-overs.

“Hi, Thomas,” he said after a two-and-a-half-seconds pause. “Everyone.”

“Roman.” Janus’ voice cut in, right on time.

Roman nodded at Janus, lifting his lips slightly. Janus didn’t smile back, but he didn’t until later. So everything was going to plan.

“Where have you been?” Thomas burst out, his eyebrows furrowed. “Nobody’s seen you for days!”

Oh. Okay. That was off-script.

“I’ve been in the Imagination,” Roman said quickly. Not a lie, so Janus couldn’t see right through him. Just a layered truth. “What would you like to talk about, Thomas?”

Thomas pressed his lips together. “I think you know.”

Roman carefully let his smile fall, just a bit. “I know.”

“Yeah.” Thomas looked around. “We need to talk about the last episode, Roman.”

“We’ve already spoken about it,” Logan said carefully. “Just...not with you.”

“You weren’t answering us,” Virgil said, curling into himself, just a bit. “We, um--I. I was worried. But you’re here now, so--so that’s good.”

“So.” Patton tugged at the sleeves of his cardigan, looking nervous. The same nervous smile as Roman expected. “I--”

“I’m sorry,” Roman said, reciting the speech he perfected, the one tailored to ruin his friendships with the least people. “I messed up, and I’m sorry. Janus, I shouldn’t have laughed at your name--I actually like it, it’s very dramatic and it suits you.” End the compliments there, before Janus thought he was laying it on thick, or worse, figured anything Roman liked had to be terrible. “Patton.” Pause for emphasis, keep his voice level. “That video was kind of a mess, and that was my fault.” Don’t add any ‘maybes’ or ‘partiallys’ or ‘kind ofs’. Don’t imply it was Patton’s fault or everyone will get mad. “Logan, I’m sorry for cutting you off. I do that far too much--” Not ‘we’, ‘I’, because the last time he said ‘we’ Virgil got mad that Roman thought Virgil ignored Logan. “--and I would benefit from listening to you more.”

It was Virgil’s turn now. Roman didn’t have to say much to Virgil--too much, and he’d send Virgil into a panic attack like he did in the Imagination. “Virgil, I’m sorry for all the times I’ve been cruel to you. I haven’t ever apologized for those before, and that was my bad. You’re...you’ll always be one of us.” Oh, no. He’d gone off-script. But he just couldn’t help it! Hopefully the extra compliment wouldn’t be seen as too forthright, and no one could get mad at Roman for assuming that there was an “us” and Roman was part of it.

Everyone was silent. Roman let his words ring for a second or two. He didn’t meet anyone’s eyes, instead turning to Thomas. Thomas had an unreadable expression on his face, and Roman knew how quickly it could turn to anger, disappointment, fear, disgust. He had to do this right.

“Thomas.” Roman carefully shifted from one foot to another, a small sign of weakness that would make him seem a little less egotistical than usual. “I...I’m so sorry.”

He didn’t add anything else. No chances for misunderstandings with Thomas. He was a part of Thomas, all of them were, and Thomas would know exactly what he meant.

And Thomas did. His eyes softened. “I forgive you, Roman. Thanks for saying that.”

“Great!” Roman knew a cue to leave when he heard it. Sticking around too long had never ended well. They’d gotten their apologies, which meant he was no longer necessary. “Now, I’m afraid a noble quest awaits me, so I shall take my leave. Farewell!”

He gave a little flourish of the hand and sunk out, leaving the rest of them frozen in the living room.

“Wait--” Virgil started to say, but Roman was already gone.

Roman spent the rest of the afternoon dozing, watching TV, and scribbling down the first lines of stories he knew he’d never finished. At some point, maybe two hours or so after the dinner he skipped by insisting “I ate earlier, Padre, and I’m awfully busy right now,” he learned why the Talk had taken place a day early. Or rather, that it hadn’t. He’d been in the Imagination for a whole day without realizing.

Well, that happened sometimes. A day or so, and Roman would be back to his fabulous self. And he’d navigated that conversation with barely a hiccup, a real achievement. He usually messed up somewhere, the panic getting to him, lashing out at someone or feigning too much confidence and coming off as egotistical. And of course, before he started doing this, he’d been a mess.

He’d gotten the idea during Can Lying Be Good?, and although that episode was a disaster after Deceit showed up--Janus, his name was Janus, a change that still sent Roman’s stomach tumbling whenever he was reminded of it--it was still a good idea to work through possible options before making a choice.

So it started small. Roman practicing monologues on an empty stage, Roman working through a few different scenarios before deciding on the play to audition for, Roman conjuring up another Side and practicing asking them for help or thanking them for their assistance or apologizing for a wrongdoing. Slowly he started building worlds, polishing off characters, holding full conversations. There were more and more choices now. Everything was a choice. Every word was a choice that led to good or bad, happiness or hatred. Was this how Virgil saw the world, every sentence a pitfall? Roman hated it.

Yet made things a little better, made Roman feel a little better, a little more in control. Like a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure story, paging through each option before making his choice, messing up and being able to stumble back to the last moment of solid ground, searching for that good ending. Like a video game with infinite lives.

Ugh, a video game. That carried bad memories thanks to the disastrous episode after the wedding. Roman had gone in there completely blind, since he had no time to prepare with a few run-throughs, and it had gone off the rails. What was that analogy with Thomas’ dead friends? Why had he pushed Patton into blowing up? Why had he even tried to contribute to a discussion about morality, which he knew wasn’t his area of expertise? And why had...why had he laughed at Janus’ name?

He’d panicked. That’s what he’d done. He’d panicked and made all the worst choices he could. He’d panicked and showed his true colors as a thoughtless, heartless, egotistical villain. Honestly, it was a miracle he hadn’t been kicked out of the Light Sides on the spot.

But it was fine now. He’d managed to scrounge up some compassion from the others, they’d forgiven him, and it was fine. Well, he hadn’t stuck around to see whether they’d forgive him--expecting something in return wasn’t very kind of him. He didn’t need them to forgive him. Thomas forgave him, and that was more than enough.

So now all he had to do was not mess it up again.

Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.

Roman was already avoiding the other Sides as much as possible, but he dialed it up to eleven. He sneaked into the kitchen and stole a week’s worth of food. For some reason, it was depleted in three days. Either he’d miscounted the food or the days. But it was fine. He ate in the Imagination, and he felt full in there until he left, upon which his stomach would feel like it was trying to devour itself. After the third time he fainted, he figured he might want to start eating dinner with the others again.

So he spent half the afternoon practicing, ranging from best-case scenario of being politely tolerated to worst-case scenario of being stabbed by a fork. At least, he thought it was half the afternoon. It turned out to be twice as long as he’d aimed for. He’d missed dinner altogether. So Roman spent another night starving until he stumbled into the kitchen and grabbed a bowl of cereal. He hoped that no one would be there. But Patton was already flipping pancakes.

When in doubt, he’d learned from all the scenarios he’d ran through, smile and nod. So Roman smiled, nodded, and started to take his cereal back to his room.

“Stay,” Patton insisted, looking far happier to see him than usual. That probably meant trouble. “The others will be down soon, and we’ve all missed having you here for breakfast!”

Okay, that definitely meant trouble. And engage in conversation before finding the right things to say? Roman would be kicked out before anyone had the chance to finish their pancakes.

“I appreciate the gesture,” Roman said, trying for an ingratiating smile, “but I truly do have things to attend to--”

“You’ve been saying that for days.” Patton slid a few pancakes onto a plate. “Kiddo, what’s going on in that head of yours? There’s no reason for you to be working this hard.”

Ah, there was his angle. He was wondering what Roman was up to. As Thomas’ Creativity, any issues with creative output could affect everyone. That made sense, and that was a conversation Roman knew how to handle. He’d practiced this very scenario, what, two weeks ago? One week? It had been a Tuesday, he was sure of that, but he didn’t know which Tuesday. Well, whatever, he remembered how to handle this. Assure Patton that everything was fine on the creative front, that as far as he knew there were no issues with burnout, and thank him for his concern.

But then Logan stumbled into the room, yawning, and Roman’s plan went out the window. Logan was a new variable, and a volatile one at that. Logan hated him. Logan thought he was dramatic and worthless and annoying. More than once, Logan had ended up yelling at him in the Imagination. And in real life, if Roman was being honest. He couldn’t blame Logan, but sometimes it got on his nerves how seriously Logan took every little jab.

Still, it was just Patton and Logan. Logan would surely react well if Roman spoke of organization, promised to follow the schedule, and maybe slipped in a compliment or two. It was kind of sad how much Logan was flattered by compliments, even backhanded ones. Still, it wasn’t Roman’s place to check on his self-esteem. All Roman had to do was play into Logan’s hands.

This was fine. It was only two of them, it was only breakfast, and things would be fine.

And then Virgil slouched through the door, sat on the counter, and poured himself an ungodly amount of coffee.

Okay. Problem.

Virgil, for lack of a better word, was the most confusing side. He was run by a myriad of internal inconsistencies and perfected paranoia, his operating system a hodgepodge of self-consciousness, worry, and a million little tweaks and complexities. Roman could make a good imitation of Virgil on the outside--just slap in some gravely remarks and a general I-would-rather-be-sleeping attitude, and he had himself a decent Anxiety--but on the inside? He was lost. Virgil followed his own rules. There was no telling whether Virgil would freak out over something, no playbook for whether or not he lashed out, no step-by-step manual for how to keep Virgil happy. Virgil was always on edge, always on his toes, and always saying just a fragment of what he really thought.

Roman liked that, in a way. Virgil was different, but he liked that Virgil was different. Virgil could surprise him. Virgil could understand him. Virgil was a good friend.

However, with Patton and Logan already in the room, Roman really did not want to have Virgil around, too.

He cast around for an excuse that would be nice enough for Patton, serious enough for Logan, and not too suspicious so Virgil wouldn’t narrow his eyes and ask “who did you think you were fooling?” That had happened...more than once in the Imagination. Sometimes it was paired with a crack about Roman’s acting skills, which always stung.

Before Roman could find an adequate alibi, the door opened again.

“Apologies for being late,” Janus said, sliding into a chair, Remus following like a lost puppy. A puppy covered in green slime and sucking on a jar. “Remus wouldn’t stop throwing octopi at my head.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here now!” Patton slid plates of pancakes onto the table. “Enjoy, kiddos!”

Roman looked around at the room. Five people. Five chances to mess up. He couldn’t do this. He hadn’t practiced. There was no safety net to keep him from falling off the tightrope.

“Roman?” That was Janus’ voice. Smooth and suave and seeing right through him.

I can taste lies, Roman, and you’re coated in them.

Roman stood up abruptly. Everyone was looking at him now. Why had he ever grabbed the spotlight? This clinging attention made him want to curl up and hide.

“I-I need to go,” he stammered out. Before he could receive the consequences for his rudeness-abruptness-hesitance-everything, he sunk out. He left the bowl of cereal half-empty on the table.

The rest of his morning, which he’d planned to use to write, ended up alternating between hyperventilating and staring at the ceiling. He was doomed. Absolutely doomed. He’d made a fool of himself and probably offended, annoyed, angered or upset everyone there. Why had he even tried? Such a ridiculous idea, inserting himself in their lives like he belonged, like he was worthy to sit at their table and take up their time.

But he was greedy and selfish and didn’t want to just hide forever. It would be easiest to cut himself off. It would be easiest to lock his door and stay in his room unless summoned. It would be easiest to--no. He wouldn’t duck out. He couldn’t. He might be a defective Creativity, but he was the only Creativity Thomas had. Other than Remus, and Roman did not want to leave Remus in charge.

Then again, he couldn’t possibly mess up more than Roman had. If Roman wasn’t the hero, maybe Remus wasn’t the villain, and maybe Roman should just--

Ugh. Roman rubbed his eyes and tried to scrub the thoughts from his head. They’d always lurked in the back of his skull like an itch he couldn’t scratch, but ever since the court case, they’d returned with a vengeance. And after the latest episode? It took all his power to keep them at bay.

Well. Breakfast may have been disastrous, but this wasn’t the end of things. He would just have to practice more, is all. He wouldn’t freeze up if he had a better handle on how his friends really acted. This would be fine as soon as he was perfect at it.

So he practiced. Every day, he practiced. He did the work for Thomas and ate a meal or two, then spent the rest of his time fabricating conversations. He had one-on-ones with all the Sides. He talked to them in groups. He practiced dissolving tense situations and coming to compromises and not getting yelled at for being an idiot. He learned his way around Patton and Virgil and Logan and Remus and Janus and Thomas. He found the best cadence, the best tone, the best vocabulary.

And he messed up. Over and over and over again. At his best, he managed to avoid full-on blowouts, but after he got tired? He was berated. He was mocked. He was laughed-at and shunned and told to “just leave and make the world a better place.” He cried and that just made the situations worse, he said “Cut” and felt like a coward who couldn’t face the truth, he ran out of the Imagination and curled up on his bed and tried to get his breathing back under control. Some days, it was like a nightmare he could never wake from.

But it was worth it. On the miraculous occasions when Roman did everything right, he would get praise. Patton would beam at him. Janus would apologize for hurting him. Logan would give him a little nod. Virgil would smirk and say he “really wasn’t so bad.” And Thomas...Thomas would look at Roman the way he used to, like Roman was still his hero.

Once he even got a hug from Patton. It made his arms burn and his insides go cold and hollow. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been hugged. Patton used to mandate group hugs, but everything was so tense now, and everyone avoided everyone else. Or perhaps they just avoided Roman. That would make sense.

When Roman played his cards right, he got the good ending. Which meant it was possible to get in real life, too. It was possible to maintain peace and remain accepted and even manage to be a good friend. However, the real world always threw Roman off. He panicked, froze like a deer in headlights, and his tongue curled up whenever he had to speak. He fumbled through conversations, conscious of the weight of the eyes on him, and retreated to the safety of his room.

He just needed more practice, he told himself. It would be fine.

He spent whole days in the Imagination. He brought his lunch in there with him, so he could practice eating and talking. He slept in there some nights, conjuring up a bed because he was too tired to make his way back to his real room. Sleeping in the Imagination was strange because he never knew when he’d woken up again. Everything was dreamlike and artificial. He’d stumble into his real room and pinch himself over and over again until he was sure he’d woken up.

Logan assigned Roman a brainstorming session. Roman made a note of the date and spent the day before it prepping. He had a few ideas, none of them fantastic, but hopefully Logan would be able to expand on them.

“Where have you been?” Logan asked when Roman showed up in the living room. “The session was supposed to be two days ago.”

“What?” Roman blinked and mentally ran through what he’d been doing for the past week. Oh. He must have lost track of time in the Imagination again. “I...it’s...what day is it?”

The date he got in response, along with a confused expression, cemented the truth. He was two days late.

“I'm so sorry,” Roman blurted out. “Completely lost track of time.”

“It’s perfectly alright,” Logan said, but he was still eyeing Roman suspiciously. Roman quickly quieted to hear what Logan was going to do.

“I’m free now.” Logan patted the couch next to him. “We can brainstorm now, if you would like.”

Which answer was the correct one? Logan could be annoyed about the whole thing and looking for a chance to insult Roman. But he looked earnest enough. He probably wanted to get things over with and give Thomas some good ideas. Okay, that was fine. This was fine! Roman was doing great already. The ‘missed the date’ thing wasn’t optimal, but other than that, this was going so much better than it usually did.

So Roman shared his ideas. He made sure to hesitate before each one, so Logan could stop him if need be. He peppered in a few compliments, kept his voice level, and pointed out the flaws before Logan could. Everything was efficient. Logan tried to make conversation at some point, but Roman knew that was a trap and would just lead to Logan getting annoyed at Roman “getting off-track” or “not taking this seriously.” So Roman didn’t take the bait, only talking about the ideas. Logan frowned a bit but followed his lead.

As soon as the ideas were finished with, Roman cleared up his space and stood up. Lingering after he was needed never ended well.

“You’re leaving?” Logan asked.

“We’re done, are we not?”

“Of course,” Logan said, but he didn’t look convinced. Oh no. Roman had done something wrong and now Logan was going to yell at him.

“Is there something you need?” Roman asked after a few seconds of silence. He tried to sound polite instead of dismissive, but the tone didn’t come off how he liked, and he winced.

“No, I--” Logan paused. “We’re...we’re watching the filmed version of Hamilton tomorrow night. If you’d like to join us, that...would be adequate.”

“I--” Roman tried very hard to keep from squealing and jumping around the room in excitement. “Sure! I’d love to.”

Was that too eager? No, Logan just looked...relieved. Almost happy. Patton had put him up to this, probably, and he didn’t want to fail at even a simple task. Well, Roman was glad he could give Specs an ego-boost for the day.

Roman quickly excused himself before Logan could take the invitation back. He closed the door behind him, hopped up and down, and squealed. He shook his fists and twirled around and hummed a few lines of Hamilton. Because it was Hamilton! And someone wanted him to be there! He would get to watch Hamilton with his whole fam-ILY!

He was going to watch Hamilton.

With everyone.

Oh, no.

This was bad. This was very, very bad. It was tomorrow night. He would be watching the Hamilfilm with everyone. So, so many chances to mess up. And  he’d never practiced a movie night scenario before. He’d figured it would never actually happen in real life.

But here it was. He was invited. And he only had a day to prepare.

So Roman spent an entire day in the Imagination, watching Hamilton over and over with the other Sides surrounding him. He practiced eating just enough popcorn, laughing quietly, and making jokes. What he found? The best way to maintain peace was to simply shut up. No snippy comments, they annoyed Logan, who was trying to focus. No singing, it got on Virgil’s nerves. No trying to talk to Patton, who sat next to him. Patton didn’t want to talk to Roman. Every time he opened his mouth, things went wrong, and he was left curled up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and Lin-Manuel Miranda singing onscreen.

It was a good film. The close-ups were fun and the choreography was top-notch. Maybe Roman would watch it on his own later and actually get to sing along. Then again, he’d seen it ten times or more now, thanks to all his run-throughs of every possible scenario. Any magic the show possessed at first had drained away.

He wasn’t late to the movie night, thank goodness. Patton smiled and made room for him on the couch. Roman took just the right amount of popcorn, ignoring the yowling of his stomach, and settled in to watch. They were all in the positions he’d practiced with. Patton curled up on the couch, Virgil perched on top of it, Janus sprawled on the floor, Logan in the chair nearby, and Remus behind the TV. Patton was giggling over all the puns, Virgil was trying not to look excited and failing, Logan was monologuing under his breath, Janus was rapping along, and Remus was digging around between his toes.

And Roman stayed silent. He tamped down his excitement and simply nodded along to the music. He let Logan rant about the costume design and Virgil poke fun at some of the jokes. He let Janus hum the tunes and Remus shout out all the innuendos. It ached to just sit there, almost as if he wasn’t present, but he knew that being invisible was the only way he could leech off this comfort and familiarity. He had been included, and he wasn’t going to mess this up.

“Hey, Roman?” Patton asked during the intermission. “You doing okay?”

“Of course!” Roman declared. “Why do you ask?”

“You’ve been kind of...quiet?” Patton’s eyebrows were furrowed. “I thought you’d like this. I know how much you love Hamilton.”

And what could Roman say? That he’d already seen this exact film a dozen times in preparation? That he’d seen every ending where he spoke up, and none of them were good? That he really wasn’t in the mood to be yelled at when he couldn’t just stop the scenario and cry on his own?

“Apologies,” Roman said instead. “I’m...I’m just tired.”

Patton looked about to continue the conversation, but What’d I Miss had begun to play, so he turned back to the TV and let it be. Roman settled in for the second act. He really wished he could just leave, but he still liked being surrounded by his friends, and they’d think it was rude if he said goodnight early.

He kept quiet, despite Patton’s confusion. He caught Virgil giving him weird looks, Janus pausing before every song like he expected Roman to join in, and even Logan eventually ran out of steam and fell almost silent.

“This is such a good song!” Patton exclaimed, humming the upper part. Janus took the lower. “Does anyone else want to sing with us?”

It was a completely transparent attempt to get Roman to sing. But no. Even if Patton seemed to want it, he’d quickly tire of Roman’s dramatics, and Virgil and Logan would hate Roman for being such a nuisance. So Roman just shrugged and smiled, enjoying Patton’s cheerful humming and Janus’ smooth vocals, pretending he didn’t wish that he could slip in between them and sing along.

Pretending was all Roman was good at, wasn’t it?

When Hamilton ended, Patton smiled and said “Wanna watch something else, guys?”

“How about Disney?” Virgil asked, watching Roman carefully. “I know one of us would like that.”

“Actually,” Roman said, standing up and stretching, “I'm quite fatigued, and a prince needs his beauty sleep. You can continue without me! I hope you have a wonderful night.”

Everyone shared glances, but Roman didn’t stick around to figure out what they meant. He waved and sunk out, returning to his room and sitting on the floor for a long, long time.

That was all he’d ever wanted. A chance to be part of the group. And he hadn’t even messed it up. So why did it feel so empty?

Roman was struck with a horrible thought. Had he left the Imagination? Was that the real movie night? Or was it just another scenario? Maybe he hadn’t watched the real Hamilton at all. That would explain why everyone was acting so strangely, all quiet and hesitant. No, it wouldn’t, because they would act the same as he expected, that was how the Imagination worked--

Roman reached out and ran his fingers over the carpet. This was real. That was real. Everything had happened for real. He couldn’t imagine the little details, like the reflections of the TV in Patton’s glasses, the threadbare edge of Virgil’s hoodie, the time Logan started singing along and immediately flushed bright red.

Still, the next morning, he casually mentioned to Patton the Hamilton movie. Just to make sure.

And Patton laughed and agreed. So it had really happened. That was good.

It apparently hadn’t a week or so later, after a long session of possible-movie-nights so he could be prepared if he was invited again.

“Did you know female crabs lay between 1,000 and 2,000 eggs?” Remus asked in the middle of lunch. “What I’m saying is, there are enough crabs to take over the world and make us all their servants.”

“You already told us that,” Roman said, smiling.

“I did?”

“Yeah, during Moana, remember?”

That got Roman a long, blank stare. Then Remus finally said, “I haven’t watched Moana in months, bro. And I’ve never watched it with you.”

“Huh?” Roman thought back to when he’d seen Moana. It was a dark night with storms on the horizon, and Patton had fallen asleep during the first song, and Logan had gotten annoyed at Roman hiccuping so Roman started over--

Oh.

“Whoops!” Roman laughed. “That didn’t actually happen. My bad.”

Remus was looking at him like he was insane, which was strange, because usually Remus was the one who was probably insane.

“Gotta go,” Roman said quickly, and disappeared. He spent the rest of the day berating himself for being an idiot and telling himself everything was fine. He’d just gotten a little confused, is all. He’d get some sleep tonight and he’d be fine tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow morning, he hadn’t slept a wink, and he wasn’t even sure it was tomorrow morning. Time was starting to blend together. Roman woke up and he didn’t know what day it was. Roman forgot he could say “Cut” in the Imagination because he forgot it was the Imagination. Roman said “Cut” in the middle of a conversation in the real world and had to quickly cover for it. Roman showed up for a deadline a week early. Roman made a joke about something Virgil hadn’t actually said. Roman flinched when Patton entered the room after a long lecture from Patton that hadn’t actually happened. Roman assumed one conversation hadn’t happened until it was referenced again and he realized it was real. Roman found himself panicking in the middle of the day, unable to name whether things were real or not.

Yes, he could feel everything around him, but was he really here? Was this the Imagination? He felt disconnected from his own body, unable to make any choices, unable to settle his thoughts. He found himself curled on the floor, shaking, running his hands over his outfit and trying to tell himself it really existed. Trying to stop himself from crying.

Everything was fine. His interactions with the Sides were good, nobody hated him, everything was peaceful. It didn’t matter if Roman felt like the world was careening around him. All that mattered was serenity for the Sides and success for Thomas. If everyone else was happy, it was fine.

Roman tried mentioning it to them. In the Imagination, of course, so there would be no real-world impact. Everyone was mad.

It was Janus who stuck out to Roman the most, because Janus was the one who grabbed Roman by the arm and said he was being selfish, didn’t he want to be better than a villain, clearly they had made a mistake allowing him to stick around. And he tossed Roman into the Subconscious, screaming. That would be where Roman woke up, if this was a nightmare, but it wasn’t. He had to snap his fingers and crumple to the ground in his room, gasping for breath.

Janus showed up at his door a few days later. Roman said “Just a minute!” so he could run through some breathing exercises and calm his shaking hands and recite the pointers for interacting with Janus. Let Janus have control of the conversation, apologize whenever necessary, and don’t rise to any of his bait.

“Roman?” Janus asked.

“Why, hello!” Roman said, opening the door just a bit so Janus couldn’t see the mess. He hadn’t spent any time cleaning his room. He’d been busy practicing. “What brings you here, Janus?” No clever nickname. Clever nicknames had been generally frowned upon in the Imagination.

“I...” Janus looked uncharacteristically...nervous. “I wanted to talk to you. Check on you.”

“Oh?” Roman asked, his stomach dropping. “And why is that?”

“I can sense lies,” Janus said. “As you know. And...I--you--”

Roman froze.

“I’m not accusing you of anything,” Janus said quickly, “I’m just concerned. We all are. I know you’re upset with me for what happened, and I’m truly sorry about that. We all are. Just...we would appreciate, even if you can’t forgive us, for you to tolerate us? You haven’t been yourself lately, and we’d appreciate--I’d appreciate--to know how we can make it up to you.”

Roman needed to answer. But all he could see was Janus grabbing him with an angry light in his eyes, Janus snapping at him when he said the wrong thing, Janus saying he was selfish and evil and not worth anyone’s time, Janus laughing at Roman’s discomfort, Janus calling him the evil twin, Janus sending him to the Subconscious and telling him to never come back--

“Roman?” Janus was stepping forward, concern on his face, but all Roman heard was the rushing of blood in his ears. All he saw was Janus’ twisted smile as he tore Roman down.

“I--” Roman stumbled backwards. “Don’t--”

“Don’t what?” Janus asked.

“I have to go.” Roman turned away so Janus couldn’t see the tears in his eyes. He fumbled with his doorknob and slammed the door in Janus’ face, sinking down as soon as it was closed, leaning on the wood. Breathe. He needed to breathe. Count from one to ten and back to one, in and out, big breaths. He needed to stop crying.

“Roman?” he heard from the other side of the door. Oh, no. He’d forgotten to make sure his room was soundproof.

Janus had heard him. He’d heard him crying.

Roman dug his fingers into his arm. Stupid.

“Roman, are you okay?”

Roman tried to muster up a “Yes, sorry, I’m busy/tired/alright.” Tried to find the perfect cadence and the perfect words. But he was so far from perfect right now.

“Go away,” he said to the door.

“Roman--”

“Go away!” he screamed. “Leave me alone!”

There was silence. Maybe Janus had listened to someone else for once in his life. Roman laughed a bit and found himself crying again. He’d messed up. He’d messed up for good. He hadn’t followed the script, he’d allowed himself to be weak, and now Janus would never talk to him again.

Roman didn’t even bother to practice that night. He curled up in his bed and listened to his playlist of breakup songs and cried his eyes out. By morning, his face was red and blotchy and the searing pain in his heart had turned to a dull ache. He wasn’t ready to face the other sides by any means, of course, but he felt a little more prepared to accept his fate.

So when he heard a hesitant knock on his door and a “Kiddo, can you come downstairs for a bit?” Roman braced himself and obeyed the order.

He immediately stiffened when he saw all five of the Sides, plus Thomas, sitting in the living room. Great. Thomas was here. He could be told by his Center that he was useless. All he’d ever dreamed of.

“You okay?” Patton asked. “If--if you just want to talk to one of us, or only some of us, that’s fine. Just say the word, kiddo.”

“It’s fine,” Roman said, even though it wasn’t. “Where do I sit?”

Virgil gestured at the middle of the couch. Roman slowly sat down, surrounded by the people he used to call friends, the same organization as movie nights. As all the fake scenarios he’d run. He felt so unprepared now, so naked, laid bare for everyone to see. He hadn’t even bothered to make sure his face was clear. At least he wasn’t panicking. He just felt numb and adrift.

“Greetings,” Roman said, smiling at everyone.

“Roman,” Janus said, and Roman flinched.

“We need to talk,” Thomas said, and Roman nodded. He knew.

“Clearly there are some things we need to sort out.” Logan adjusted his glasses. “About last night, and, well, the past few months.”

Roman swallowed. “I’m sorry. I’m--I’m so sorry.”

“What?” Virgil frowned. “What’re you sorry for? We were gonna say that we were sorry.”

Roman lost his train of thought. “What?” he finally stammered, looking around for a clue.

“We’re sorry,” Thomas said. “Clearly you’ve been hurting and angry with us, and we assumed that would change on its own if we gave you time, but--”

“It just made things worse.” Patton smiled softly. “So...we’re sorry. Really sorry.”

“You’re sorry,” Roman repeated blankly. “All of you?”

“I know it doesn’t mean much.” Roman looked to Logan, who was fidgeting with his tie, staring at his feet. “But we hope we can make up for...mistakes. We might have made. Prior.”

“That episode was not ideal,” Janus said. “And despite my anger, I should not have said the things I did. So yes. We are sorry. I am sorry.”

“I’m not apologizing,” Remus said from where he was sandblasting a sculpture of male anatomy. “Didn’t do anything wrong. But seriously bro, you’re acting really freaky and not in the fun way, so yeah. Talk it out or whatever.”

“Thanks, Remus,” Patton said, and he actually sounded thankful.

“I--” Roman regretted opening his mouth the moment all heads swung back towards him. “What?”

“Um, we’re sorry?” Virgil gave him a weird look. “Thought we made it pretty clear, Princey.”

Roman looked at each of them. They all looked sincere. They all watched him with varying degrees of concern and apologetic hesitation. Their eyes burned into his skin. He felt like he was floating off the couch. He dug his hands into the fabric but he couldn’t feel it between his fingers.

“I...I forgive you,” he said slowly, the movements of his mouth not matching the words. Why did everything feel like it was underwater? Why did everything seem so far away? He tried to figure out whether he was breathing. Yes, he was breathing, his chest kept contracting. He didn’t feel like he was breathing.

Something was wrong. Something was wrong, something was wrong, something was wrong--

“Roman?” Logan asked. Stood up. Stepped forward.

Roman pressed himself back against the couch.

Logan stopped. Held up his hands. Did Roman look scared? Was Roman scared? Maybe. He should be, he knew that, but everything was spinning.

Was he breathing?

No. He wasn’t breathing. He tried to take a deep breath but it turned out he had been breathing all along, and now his chest hurt. His heartbeat pounded in his ears.

Virgil was saying something. Roman flinched away from him. He didn’t want to get yelled at. Not yet. He just needed some time to remember how to move. He’d moved a second ago. Why wasn’t it working now?

“Roman!” cut through the haze in his mind. Virgil was sitting in front of him. That was weird. Virgil had been on top of the couch a second ago, right?

“Breathe,” Virgil was repeating. He reached for Roman’s hand and Roman flinched away involuntarily. A little spasm of hurt crossed Virgil’s face. Ugh, he’d made Virgil upset, stupid, stupid--

“Breathe, Roman, breathe!”

He was breathing, why couldn’t they see that? He was breathing fine.

“I’m fine,” Roman forced out. It felt like a punch in the stomach. And all of a sudden, everything fell back into place. His hands, clenching around the couch for dear life. His knees pressed together. His shoulders tensed. Virgil sitting near him, trying to get him to breathe, Janus and Logan and Patton and Thomas staring at him, shocked and worried.

“You’re not,” Virgil said.

Roman tried to fight back.

But he hadn’t been breathing this whole time.

And his chest was too tight to form words.

“Breathe,” Virgil said again, and Roman closed his eyes and breathed.

It hurt. It shouldn’t hurt this much to breathe. It shouldn’t make his head spin and his eyes water. But he breathed. He breathed in and out and let the air fill him up, travel to every corner of his body. He could feel everything now. Everything was real. Everything was too real, grating on him, pressing down around him. He could feel a million things. The air smelled like a million scents.

That exercise. Name five things, four things, three things. He felt everything. He heard everything. He tasted too much.

Everything was way too much.

It took too much effort to raise a hand.

He sunk out.

He crept into the Imagination, white upon white, nothing there but possibility and emptiness. He sat there and let the itchy wrong pour out of him, until he was wrung out on the floor, empty and exhausted. He curled up on the ground and slept. He could have gone to his bed, but he didn’t want the choking cover of sheets over him, the rustles of air around him. Here in the Imagination, it was quiet and still and he could just wait.

When he woke up, he’d crafted the living room in his head while he slept, because there was everyone right before he’d sunk out. Concerned and frozen and helpless. They were just trying to help, and he’d panicked for no reason.

Although. Now that he was awake, the whole situation was just weird. They were apologizing. To him. Why? Why on earth would they try to apologize? And why had Roman felt so off-kilter from the start? Why was everything so wrong?

Unless--

It hadn’t really happened.

Roman looked around at the facsimile he’d created. Down to the smallest details, it was perfect. He wouldn’t be able to tell the difference if he looked at it and the real room side-by-side.

It hadn’t happened, had it?

Roman didn’t know why that felt like such a blow. Of course it hadn’t happened. Why would it? There had been no signs of it happening before then, and it didn’t match what any of the Sides really thought of him. They wouldn’t apologize to him. They’d done nothing wrong! And they wouldn’t have been so scared and worried when Roman freaked out.

Great. His subconscious was desperate for validation and made him a nice little scenario. He didn’t realize he was that much of a pathetic, selfish, greedy mess.

But this was good! It meant there wouldn’t be any humiliation or strange looks when he returned to the real world. He could continue maintaining his facade, and none of them would judge him for his weakness. Or worse, feel forced to tolerate him out of pity.

Roman’s stomach growled. Well, fantastic. He didn’t want to face the Sides again, but he’d probably faint if he didn’t have any food. Was it even breakfast time? Maybe not. Time was an illusion anyway.

Well. He climbed to his feet, vanished the living room, and stretched his arms and legs. Then he tore a little door in the side of the Imagination and strolled into his own room. He checked himself in the mirror. He looked surprisingly good for someone who just had a breakdown surrounded by manufactured figments of his imagination that resembled the other Sides.

The kitchen wasn’t empty like he’d hoped. Patton and Logan were having a hushed conversation, Janus was occasionally adding to it while fixing up several mugs of tea, and Remus and Virgil were sprawled on the floor together, watching what seemed to be Coraline on Virgil’s phone. It was really sweet. Roman smiled to himself as he walked in, stepping carefully over Remus’ feet.

Patton and Logan froze as soon as Roman walked in. Janus looked around and almost dropped the mugs.

“Hello!” Roman said brightly, opening the cupboard and grabbing some cereal. “Sorry to disturb you, I’m just getting some cereal. Carry on!”

Virgil made a small choking noise. Roman looked over and saw that he was struggling to his feet, staring at Roman with wide eyes.

“What is it?” Roman asked after a few seconds when it became clear Virgil wasn’t going to talk. “Is there something wrong?”

“Where have you been?” everyone yelled simultaneously.

Roman blinked. “Oh? I--how long have I been gone? I truly didn’t mean for it to be that long. Is there something I missed?”

“We were so worried!” Patton was babbling, running up to Roman and looking him over. “You just sunk out, and we couldn’t find you anywhere, and Remus said you weren’t letting him into the Imagination, and--”

“What?” Roman asked. “When did I sink out?”

“Yesterday,” Logan said. “After our conversation in the living room? You appeared distressed and sunk out before we could continue it.”

“Our conversation in the--” Roman froze. He thought he’d left the Imagination behind! Had he only fooled himself into leaving? Had he just sliced through one layer and tumbled into another, tossed between different pages of a book? Perhaps he was still dreaming, even. No, even his lucid dreaming wasn’t as realistic as this.

“Roman?” Patton asked, reaching forward but stopping himself, the concern painfully obvious in his face.

“Cut,” Roman murmured, waiting for the scene to change.

Nothing happened.

“What did you say?” Logan asked, frowning.

“Nothing,” Roman blurted out, stepping backwards. He tried to mentally tear the scene apart, go back to the start, rewind, pause, anything. There was no movement. All the Sides continued to stare at him.

There was something wrong. Why wasn’t the Imagination answering him? It was attuned to his every thought, molded by assumption and creation, a place where Roman was in complete control. It wouldn’t just not listen to him. Unless--

Unless this was real after all.

Which meant...

“We talked yesterday,” Roman said slowly, gauging the reactions. “That was real?”

“What?” Virgil asked. “Of course it was real, what are you talking about?”

It was real.

He’d really been in that room. They’d really apologized to him. And he’d really had a breakdown on the couch in front of everyone he knew.

“Wonderful,” Roman said. “Fantastic. Amazing. I have to go.”

“Wait,” Janus said.

Roman did not wait. He turned on his heel and practically sprinted out of the kitchen. Cereal be damned. He should have sunk out, but his thoughts were too fragmented to picture his own room, and he was afraid that the shifting of worlds around him would throw him off again. He’d just managed to get a handle on reality. He wasn’t in a mood to mess with it.

That was his mistake, though. Because as he bolted down the hallway, a figure collided with his chest and sent him to the ground.

“What--” Roman rubbed his shoulder and stared up at Remus. Remus stuck out his tongue, hands on his hips. Two octopus tentacles wrapped around Roman’s chest and held him in place.

“Remus!” Roman cried in annoyance.

“Got him!” Remus yelled.

There were footsteps behind him. Roman looked around and saw the other Sides approaching. He tried to wriggle out of Remus’ grasp, then tried to sink out, but the stupid slimy tentacles kept him in place.

“Let me go,” Roman complained as a bit of goop slipped down his leg.

“Only if you promise not to run again, bro.”

Roman sighed. “Promise. Now let me go.”

The tentacles made a little slurping noise and disappeared into Remus’ back. Roman jumped up and started wiping the slime off his uniform. Ugh, it was a mess. He’d need to conjure a new costume now! Yes, he could just snap the stains away, but he’d still feel the uncleanness in his soul.

“Disgusting,” Roman said as his fingers came away green and slippery. “Seriously. Did you have to do that?”

“You high-tailed it the heck out of there,” Patton said apologetically. “And we really need to talk.”

Roman bit his lip. “Yeah. I--I know.”

“Do you think...” Logan looked around. “Speaking in the hallway is not an optimal place. Perhaps we should go to the living room.”

“Or the real world.” Virgil curled into himself the moment everyone looked his direction. “What? I think Thomas should be there.”

Roman flinched at the mention of Thomas, and now all eyes were on him again, cloying and cloaking him in concern.

“Not if you don’t want to,” Virgil added. “Duh.”

“I--sure.” It would hurt to see Thomas, to have Thomas finally condemn him, but it was best to get everything out of the way at once. Like ripping off a bandaid or the sword from the stone. “That works for me.”

“Is he busy?” Patton asked.

“He’s watching Parks and Recreation,” Janus said. “Honestly, I think we’ll be doing him a favor by interrupting.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Logan said firmly. “This is important.”

Roman swallowed down the lump of ice in his throat. Yeah, he supposed it was important. They’d finally seen how weak and worthless his Creativity was, and they needed to decide what to do immediately, before Roman’s problems affected Thomas’ creative performance.

“Glad we’re decided.” Janus clapped his hands. Half of them rose up in the living room and the other half appeared in the living room. Roman was in his usual spot by the crooked lamp, Virgil stood by the stairs, Logan in front of the kitchen, Patton by the blinds. Remus sprawled on the floor near Roman and Janus stood by the sofa.

“Thomas?” Logan asked.

Thomas, true to Janus’ word, had been watching Parks and Recreation. When Logan called his name, he paused the TV, jumping up.

“Hey, guys!” Thomas said. “What’s the matter? Thought we didn’t have that filming session until later.”

Virgil winced. “Yeah. Um. There’s...there’s a bit of a...situation?”

“A what?” Thomas looked around and seemed to finally see the serious looks on everyone’s faces. “What happened?”

“Who’d like to tell him?” Janus asked, his eyes lingering on Roman. A clear invitation.

"I--” Roman’s voice cracked, and he swallowed. “I can regale him with the tale, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Go for it, kiddo.” Patton’s usual encouraging smile was nowhere to be found. It made Roman feel strangely empty.

Roman could easily tell a lie. Leave things out. But Janus was staring right at him, so he knew even a lie of omission would be detected.

And besides, they deserved to know just how much of a screwup he was.

“So.” Roman placed a hand on his chest. “I, as the prince of your dreams, possess a land known as the Imagination. It is a place where I can conjure creations and sift through stories until an idea sticks. Remus has his own version.”

“Damn straight,” Remus agreed, sticking a lollipop up his nose. “Mine has all the cool stuff. Roman just uses his for rescue missions and heroic quests or whatever.”

“They’re fun,” Roman argued, before he remembered talking back was not the way to handle any conversation. Thankfully, Remus seemed occupied with shoving the lollipop nearer to his brain, and didn’t fight him on it.

“Well, yes, that’s the general idea,” Roman continued, turning back to the others. “I also use it, sometimes, to practice. Run through scenarios. A rehearsal of sorts before any big discussion.”

“Like what we did after I missed Joan’s performance?” Thomas asked.

“Exactly! That was what gave me the idea, actually.” Roman waved a hand. “It helps me feel more in control of the situation and avoid messing things up. I can predict how you will all react and find the best way to navigate a conversation.”

“Okay,” Virgil said slowly, “I can already predict where this might go wrong, but keep talking.”

“Then, you know, we had...” Roman scratched at the back of his neck. “The most recent episode. In which I said some rather unsavory and unprincely things to our snaky sixth side, which I am truly and deeply sorry for.”

“You’re forgiven,” Janus said almost instantly. Everyone stared at him. “What?” he asked. “It’s been months. Roman was upset and lashed out, I understand he didn’t mean to hurt me. Quite honestly, I was more concerned that he hadn’t forgiven me.”

Roman tried to hide his complete and utter shock. He didn’t realize Janus was such a good person as to feel guilty for that! Well, Janus needed all the Sides to tolerate him in order to help Thomas, that was probably the reason.

“Of course I’ve forgiven you!” Roman declared. “You were upset and you fired back, and the jab was not uncalled for. You have nothing to be sorry about.”

Janus frowned slightly.

“Anyway,” Roman said, looking back at Thomas. “After that, I started practicing more often, and...I began losing track of time? Also, being exposed to that amount of rejection a day was--draining. My creative processes have suffered thanks to the amount of time I’ve spent improving my interpersonal expertise. So I apologize for that, deeply and sincerely. I promise I’ll be on-track soon--”

“Wait.” Logan looked deep in thought. “What do you mean, ‘that amount of rejection?’”

“Oh.” Virgil winced. “Knew it was gonna be something like that.”

“What?” Patton asked.

“Okay, Princey. Tell me if this sounds familiar.” Virgil blew his bangs out of his eyes. “You’re basically running through worse-case scenarios. Sure, you tell yourself they’re all accurate, but they’re the worst kind of accurate. They’re the stuff that wouldn’t actually happen. Probably on some level you get that it’s completely ridiculous to think you’d ever get that response or be in that situation, but it still seems plausible, so you keep doing it. And you start overthinking every little choice until you’re convinced you’re doomed to failure and think everyone hates you even though in real life, everyone thinks you’re great.”

Roman stared at Virgil for a very long time. There was a lot to unpack there. “How did you--”

“I’m literally Anxiety,” Virgil said, smirking. “That’s exactly what I do. Like every day.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound healthy,” Patton murmured.

“No, it isn’t,” Virgil said, giving Roman a pointed look. “Anyway. Continue.”

“Um. Alright.” Roman braced himself. “So I was having the conversation with the other Sides and you and I may-have-not-known-whether-it-was-real-or-not-and-it-was-rather-terrifying.”

“What happened?” Thomas asked quietly.

“He had a panic attack,” Logan said. It could have been blunt, but it wasn’t. It was hesitant and soft, softer than Roman had ever heard Logan be, save for when Virgil was upset.

Thomas looked at Roman, and Roman pointedly stared at the floor, clasping his hands behind his back and trying not to bounce nervously.

“He’s been acting strangely for a while,” Janus added. Again, his voice was strangely soft. “It would...it would make sense, his apprehension whenever we talked to him, if Virgil’s theory is correct and he’s worried that we hate him.”

Roman frowned. “Wait, you don’t?”

That got everyone’s attention. Roman’s stomach dropped to the floor as Patton made a little sad noise, Virgil grimaced, and Logan stepped back like he’d been punched.

“No!” Thomas exclaimed. “Of course not!”

Roman laughed a little, waiting for the punch line. None came.

“We don’t hate you!” Patton managed, his eyes filling with tears. “Oh my goodness, Roman, we love you!”

“You’re fun to stab,” Remus said from the floor. “And, like, fun. In general.”

“You’re intelligent and thoughtful and creative...” Logan waved his hands. “I envy you and your ability to fight for your ideas and create such impactful stories. I have always valued you.”

“You’re...” Virgil swallowed. “You make us better. Make me better. Always.”

“I--” Roman covered his mouth. “You’re lying. You can’t--”

“I can taste lies, remember?” Janus smiled at Roman, a smile so different than his usual smirk, reassuring and steady. “They’re not.”

Roman couldn’t stop a little whimper from escaping. “I didn’t mess up?”

“No,” Thomas said, face open and caring and so, so soft. “You’re still you. You’re not perfect, but none of us are. You’re clearly so remorseful about your mistakes. Roman...you’re my hero. Always have been, always will be.”

Roman tried to take a deep breath and steady himself, but it caught in his throat. “You--” He shook his head and found words spilling from his lips. “I thought I ruined everything, you said I did, you said I was selfish and evil and worthless and I should just duck out and--”

“We never said any of that.” Logan shook his head. “We would never say any of that. Those are blatant falsehoods.”

“That’s not us,” Virgil said. “That’s what you were telling yourself.”

“The Imagination isn’t realistic.” Remus gave Roman a long look. “Never has been. It’s not what life is really like. It’s always warped by how we see the world. So basically, Raggedy Ann is right. That stuff you thought we’d say to you? Total bull. You unreliable-narrator-ed yourself, bro-bro.” Remus smiled a little bit. “Happens to the best of us.”

“You’re amazing.” Patton’s jaw was set. “You’re wonderful and special and worth the world. I love you. We love you and we need you here. And--and I’m so sorry we didn’t see you were hurting.”

“It’s not your fault,” Roman said. “I’ve always been a good actor, right?”

That got another long silence.

“Kiddo,” Patton said, “would you like a hug?”

“What?” Roman asked.

“A hug,” Patton clarified, but that didn’t make any more sense. Why would Patton want to hug Roman?

“Hugs have been scientifically proven to increase mood,” Logan added.

Thomas just opened his arms.

Roman stumbled forward, waiting for Thomas to pull away from him, but nothing happened.

Roman sunk into Thomas’ arms.

Warm. Fire. Burning up and down his skin, heating him up from the inside. Roman buried his face in Thomas’ shoulder as Thomas’ arms came up and circled Roman. Thomas rubbed at Roman’s back. Roman whined--embarrassing, but it felt so good.

And then there was more. Patton, wrapping around his waist and pressing his cheek into Roman’s sash. Logan, running his hands through Roman’s hair. Virgil, curling up into Roman’s side and pressing against his chest. Remus, a little exuberant but surprisingly gentle, ruffling Roman’s hair and placing his head on Roman’s shoulder. A gloved hand traced Roman’s cheek, and Roman reached up to hold it. Janus smiled back at him.

“Guys, you--” Roman choked on his own words and realized he was going to cry. Great. Just what the moment needed--Roman ruining it by being sensitive--

“Hey.” Thomas squeezed him tighter. “It’s okay, Roman. Let it out.”

“Really?” Roman asked, his voice small.

“You seem to need it,” Logan said.

“So go ahead.” Virgil smiled. “No judgement here.”

Roman closed his eyes and a few hot tears dripped down his face. He took a deep, shaky breath. Then Janus ran a thumb across his cheekbone, burning and soft, and Roman broke. He sobbed into Thomas’ shoulder, holding onto his friends--his friends--for dear life. Patton made a few little encouraging noises, and Thomas whispered little things. It’s alright. It’s okay. You’re safe, we’re real, we love you.

Roman grasped on the words like they were his lifelines.

He didn’t really believe them. Not yet. But oh, how he wanted to.

“We should...” Logan said after a long time, after Roman’s tears had long dried but he’d remained in the hug to soak up the warmth. “We need to talk about this. We need to...make a plan. Find out how to be better.”

“Later.” That was Janus. “For now, I think we could all use a movie night.”

Virgil snorted. “It’s like ten in the morning.”

“Movie morning, then.” Janus looked to Thomas. “Does that sound good?”

“It sounds great.” Thomas smiled as Patton snapped his fingers and onesies replaced their usual outfits. Even Logan was wearing his unicorn onesie. “What do you guys want to watch?”

“Uh--” Roman waved a hand hesitantly. “Um. Can I--”

“Go ahead,” Patton said.

“I’d...I’d like to watch Hamilton? I...I knew--I thought. I thought you wouldn’t like it if I sang, and I, um. I didn’t enjoy it that much.”

“Neither did we,” Virgil said. “Missed having you rapping along.”

“That sounds adequate,” Logan said, flashing Roman a smile and leading the way to the couch. “I’ll get it ready. Thomas, some snacks?”

Thomas walked into the kitchen with Patton, and they pulled some snacks out of the cupboard. Roman sat down with Logan, Remus, Virgil, and Janus. Virgil sat by his shoulder and pressed his leg against Roman’s side. Janus lay a hand on Roman’s. Remus lay across Roman’s feet. And Logan bumped shoulders with Roman. The touch was warm and fiery and made Roman want to giggle uncontrollably. So he did, just a bit. Nobody seemed to mind.

Thomas and Patton came back with snacks, distributing them. Logan turned on the TV. And the first lines of Hamilton started to play.

It took Roman three songs to work up the courage to sing along. When he did, Patton’s smile lit up the room. Janus dipped lower to harmonize. Virgil huffed happily. Remus clapped his hands. And Logan consented to add a few notes in, here and there.

Thomas just stared at Roman, and for once, the attention wasn’t stifling. Because for once, Roman knew he wouldn’t be judged.

“This is real,” he whispered to no one. “Right?”

"It’s real, Princey.” Virgil reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “We’ve got you.”

Roman smiled.

And for the first time in months, he felt at peace.

Taglist (ask to be included or removed!):

@the17thmeatball

@most-likely-fandom

@csi-baker-street-babes

@caffeinated-cryptid

@thefivecalls

@ollyollyoxinfree

@the-gay-is-back

Taglist as sourced from @the-taglist-repository:

@k1ngtok1 @just-your-typical-trans-guy @itsabsurd-and-terrifying @cottonwoolsocks @idont-freaking-know @hitmewiththatfanart33 @legendsgates @nonasficcollection @enby-phoenix @evoodo123  @hekking-happy-nonsense @demoniccheese83  @rainbowbowtie @10moonymhrivertam @katelynn-a-fan @dwbh888 @royal-stormcloud @ananonsplace @brain-deadx0 @the-grounded-raven @grouptalekindnesssoul @the-hoely-bleach @anvil527up @fanficloverinthesun @smileyzs @robinwritesshitposts @thatgaydemigodnerd @callboxkat @potatsanderssides @just-a-random-enb  @demoniccheese83 @somehow-i-got-an-account @silverobsidion-speaks  @a-fandom-trashdump 

[pickedproducttblr-blog]

7 best cheap golf simulators Under $1000 in 2021 – [Tested]

The golfer would love to have their own golf simulator setup, but unfortunately many aren’t able to afford mid-range simulators because the mid-range simulator price near about $5000. On the other hand, many golfers want to practice day or night but aren’t willing to pay more than $1000.

If you belong in this category then this article suits you. However, as golf simulator technology has advanced, very cheap solutions have appeared in the market.

There are some cheapest golf simulators available in the market to help you improve or enjoy golf in this COVID-19 situation, and in this article, I’ll review and compare our picks for the best golf simulator for under $1000 and some even are less than $500 bucks.

Things you should keep in mind before choosing best cheap golf simulators

Before we go further, you ought to understand that you'll get a limited experience with these sorts of cheap golf simulators. Some devices measures some shot data, simulation software, and maybe a net or mat, but not much more than this. Detailed shot data and more extra features you will get on a high-budgets simulator like SkyTark Golf Simulator, Trackman Golf, etc. But you don’t get advanced features on the cheap golf simulators. However, you’ll still get good experience and these cheap golf simulators can get your job done in terms of improving your game. We have tested all of those simulator setups. Some offer fewer features than others, but all of them give an exceptional home/outdoor golf simulators experience for the cost.

1. OptiShot 2 Golf Simulator for Home | Golf in A Box Series

Key Features:

Expanding library with 15 world-class golf courses.

Ability to play up to 4 players.

3D realistic environment.

Hit all shots from tee to hole.

Play with your own setup.

Practice shots from anywhere on the course.

Size: 1.5M long x 1.2M wide

High-quality dense foam and turf

Lightweight, easy to store, and has firm foam-based.

What’s Included:

Golf Simulation Software by Dancin’ Dogg

Infrared Optical Golf Simulator Swing Pad

OptiShot Practice Net.

OptiShot Hitting Mat

USB Cable, 10 feet long.

2 foam practice balls.

2 adjustable rubber tees.

Pros

Best visuals and course options

Training academy adds to the practice options

Only true studio system under $1000.

Comes as a package box and just plug it in and play

Swing stats with distance, speed, path, and clubface angle

Play online against other golfers

Cons

Doesn’t track actual ball flight, so you can miss launch angle

Graphics aren’t as good as other simulator sets

2. Rapsodo Mobile Launch Monitor for Golf Indoor and Outdoor

Key Features:

Professional-level accuracy: Distance accuracy is within 2.5% similar to Trackman, which is more than $30,000.

Set up within the 30s — Simply open the app, connect to your device via Bluetooth and start playing.

The instant real-time video feedback comes with a shot trace and data overlay which makes it easier to understand cause and effect.

Access your history to view averages, trajectory, dispersion, and standard deviation for each of your clubs.

Gps satellite view.

You can use it at home and outdoor also.

Pros

Very cheap price, under $500.

High quality and accurate

Whatever you needed, included in the box.

Can use your own sets

100% portability

Cons

Only compatible with ios(iPhone, iPad) devices.

Need a computer for a permanent home setup.

3. Rapsodo R-Motion and The Golf Club Simulator and Swing Analyzer

Key Features:

Play real rounds of golf with your friends by attaching your own clubs.

15 top courses included.

Incredibly accurate club and ball data.

Runs on your PC — no launch monitor or projector needed. 4 hours long battery life.

Extremely easy to use — just provide your own mat and net and start playing!

Play any time, no matter the weather.

What’s Included:

1 sensor

Clip

USB dongle

Charging cord

Pros

The incredible accuracy of the simulator

High-quality graphics

Software quality is also good

Cons

Don’t support Mac

Some users failed to connect to PC

4. FlightScope Mevo — Portable Personal Launch Monitor for Golf

Key Features:

You can use it at home, on the driving range, or even on the course.

MEASURE: It provides accurate real-time performance data to help you train and improve with every club in the bag.

EVALUATE Data parameters that include carrying distance, clubhead speed, ball speed, smash factor, vertical launch angle, spin, apex height, and flight time.

Automatically capture data and video on your mobile device.

Save and compare data over time to trace your progress.

Your videos and data are captured and stored automatically, allowing you to review each session, share together with your coach, and analyze your progress over time.

Real-Time Performance Data includes:

Carry distance

Clubhead speed

Ball speed

Spin rate

Launch angle

Smash factor

Apex height

Flight time

Pros

Very affordable

Usable on all OS

Truly portable system, using GPS for swing data analysis

A small device fits in your pocket or golf bag.

Cons

Accuracy can be affected sometimes by monitor placement.

Metallic stickers must be attached to every ball hit, which can take time

5. tittle X Home Golf Simulator 2021

Key Features:

The best home cheapest golf simulator has E6 Connect with 4K ultra-high definition.

Provides real screen golf experiences in various practice modes.

An impressive reaction rate of 0.1 sec provides no delay in data transfer.

The smart stick offers the ability to play golf at home.

Up to 8 people can play golf with this simulator.

Title X home simulator analyzes your swing with a fancy designed lightweight sensor.

What’s Included:

Title X Device

Swing Stick

E6 Connect Product Key

Charger Cable and Manual

Multi Clip and Bands

Fixed 4 Clips

Pros

Simple design, easy to use

12 courses included with purchase

Instant, live feedback on every swing.

Cons

Without a computer, you can analyze data

6. Phigolf Mobile and Home Smart Golf Game Simulator

Key Features:

Connect the app to your TV and immerse yourself in realistic golf courses available fully HD.

Enjoy a round of golf without the necessity for extra setup. Use the swing trainer included within the Phigolf WGT Edition and begin playing without nets or balls.

With the swing trainer measuring only 2 ft, Phigolf WGT Edition allows you to enjoy golf in your own front room.

Bad weather won’t stop you from having fun. Play golf anytime, anywhere; challenge your friends online — all at the comfort of your house.

What’s Included:

Game Simulator

Swing Stick

Pros

Realistic

Can play in your home

Has multiple practice options

Really cheap

Cons

Doesn’t allow the use of real clubs or balls

Can only be used indoors and not on range or course

7. Matro Home Screen Golf Practice and Playing Simulator Tmax Swing Baro

Key Features:

You can play golf at your home or office or wherever together with your loved ones at any time.

Courses and Ranges Are ahead of You — This amazing unit can bring the golf courses and driving ranges into your home or office, wherever you’re in by TV connection.

Easy reference to TV and Just Play Golf — Connect main body with TV by HDMI cable and just play golf, no need internet or computer.

Perfect Equipment for The Novice and Experienced Golfer — it’s great to play and practice golf for both the novice and therefore the experienced golfer.

What’s Included:

Playing Simulator Tmax Swing Baro

Sensor, sensor clip

Practice stick

Pros

Multi-functional

Usable at home

Very easy to set-up

Affordable

Cons

Doesn’t allow the use of real clubs or balls

Can’t be used on range or course

Conclusion

Golf simulators became a lot more accessible and affordable over the past decade, and this suggests more golfers than ever before are ready to have their own personal setup.

Even a cheap golf simulator is often a huge boon to your golf toolkit. Finding a simulator package that may meet your needs is certainly possible with some research.

Each of the simulator options reviewed above offers excellent value for the price. We’ve given you the information you would like to create a decision; now it’s up to you to go the remainder of the way.

While it’s likely that no golf simulator setup will tick all of your boxes, some will come pretty near to doing so. If you wish for an excellent better experience, consider increasing your budget.

We highly recommend reading consumer and professional reviews of golf simulators to accumulate useful insights on how they really perform. this can assist you a lot within the decision-making process.

FAQ

What type of computer do I need? Can it be used on a Mac/iPhone/iPad?

Each system will have its own list of minimum system requirements. generally, though, you’ll need Windows 7 or later, 4gig of RAM, and a minimum of 1gig of disk drive space. an honest graphics card is going to be required to point out the courses in high definition, and you’ll need a powerful processor just like the Intel i5 or newer. Most of the listed systems here will work on Mac also as Windows PCs. However, you ought to double-check with the manufacturer before making a sale.

Will, I should buy these golf simulators?

No. Each listed simulator comes with everything you want to have to play, with the exception of mobile apps and computers. Of course, you’ll also need your own golf clubs to play, and you’ll always prefer to purchase more courses.

[crazynekochan]

Dangan Persona Palace #8 (holy shit, this's a long one)

[Haven't written for this AU in ages but college sucks. Thank god for summer] Ruled by Hajime Hinata/Izuru Kamukura (it’s a weird mix). Captives are Chiaki Nanami and Nagito Komaeda (will be trapped forever if not rescued in time). This one is rather odd since, in the original timeline, Hajime and Izuru share the same body while in this timeline, as facilitated by the big bad, Izuru is his own person. Hajime's shadow is rather basic, he's the king of the castle, self-aggrandizing, and yet clearly insecure about himself. But Izuru's shadow is where things start going sideways then take a sharp corkscrew on different axes because he's the head patient of the facility, bound up in a straitjacket over a hospital gown, representing how Izuru (either version), just feels like some sick experiment. But there’s something off: Izuru in this version as his own person is just bad with emotions, but the shadow represents both universes’ versions of Izuru, so the shadow Izuru switches between being very emotional yet showing it poorly and having no emotions at all. In addition, the shadows also fuse into a combined form on occasion, looking like a filthy mental patient with a crown on their head that shocks them on occasion (like electroshock therapy that Hajime was subjected to as part of the IK project). In his boss form, the shadows split into 2 enemies: the Beggar King with 10K Faces (shadow Hajime, representing him as the Wild Card with a ton of Personas) and the Faceless 100-armed Mad God (shadow Izuru, representing how even with his many talents, he feels emotionless and empty). The actual palace itself is a strange mix of a standard fancy castle and an abandoned hospital where horrific experiments were performed on the patients. Many of the rooms and puzzles rely on the mixing of the 2. The enemy shadows mostly are various gods and deities, generally high-ranking ones, or absolute horror shows. What is very significant are the 2 mini-boss fights of this palace: a Shadow Nagito and Shadow Chiaki, set near the end of the hospital side and castle side respectively. This is technically related to plot developments a bit later on in the story but for the moment let's just call it "magic fuckery" and move on. Basically, Shadow Nagito is considered the model patient of the asylum while Shadow Chiaki is the "King's" closest advisor. The fight against Shadow Nagito is honestly really sad because it's very clear that he doesn't really understand what's going on or why he's hurting people, with this overwhelming sense of dread and misery coming from the Shadow. The fight itself is just as bad as you'd expect fighting a version of Nagito with his insane luck. His boss form is a torn to all hell voodoo doll of himself with a massive pin straight through his head among others. He uses Curse and Bless skills and almost every turn, he either misses or gets crits, with actually hitting him being a similar pain in the ass for anyone without a high luck stat or right after he got a critical hit on someone. Fortunately, his terrible health means that the Shadow has similar bad health and frankly, his defense is absolutely godawful, so if you can actually hit him, it would be a short fight. He's beaten down and honestly so fucking sad that they just have to take him to his room to rest and just take the key off of him to the final area. Now the fight against Shadow Chiaki, that's the real son of a bitch right there. The shadow is sincerely, incredibly bored by pretty much anything that comes to her path and she just wants shit to be over with already, sheesh, completely against how much real Chiaki cares. Because she's partially based on the original human Chiaki and there's some of the AI Chiaki from DR2, so when her actual fight comes, the Shadow's form (a spin on Sleeping Beauty where she's more of a very bored hikikomori, still in PJs and not even bothering to try sitting up) is glitching like a video game. That's not the worst part of it, though. The worst part comes when Akane, as one of the ones with the best speed, makes her first

attack and turns out, the glitching makes Akane glitch out as well, which is pretty much a special status where you act as erratically as possible and pretty much scrambles the metaphorical controls to hell and back. Akane tried to grab an item to cure the status and threw Kazuichi at the Shadow too, making him a liability too. So now part of the party is "glitched" and since they don't know how to fix them without possibly hurting them or risking getting infected in case it's a contagious effect, it's pretty much persona skills and items only until the fight ends. A detail made significantly harder by the fact that Shadow Chiaki, like regular Chiaki, knows everything about video games and basically it's a ton of meta bullshit that makes it one of the most annoying fights in the history of Persona or even the MegaTen franchise. By some great fortune, she's got bad defense and speed stats so if you can outspeed her, you can kill her fast. After the battle, shadow Chiaki retreats right away, conveniently leaving the key to the final boss room. In the final room, the 2 shadows are bickering while Nagito and Chiaki are in 2 cells behind them, respectively furnished like a very fancy hospital room and an awesome gamer pad. Which would be very nice if they weren't being held captive by the manifestations of their best friends' (lover in Nagito's case about Hajime) worst repressed parts of themselves in a parallel world. They confront the Shadows, both of them highly unamused with their "real" counterparts and especially taking time to just eviscerate pretty much every failing the Hinata-Kamukuras ever had, in this timeline and the original. Then, with that all resolved, they morph into the boss forms and thus start one of the hardest battles the party had ever faced because my god, these fuckers will just not go down! But that's not the end of everything, sadly, because there's a 2nd fight after this that I will elaborate on in the next part because this is getting way too long

---

Mod: The fighting against all the shadows must be pure hell. Because Nagito's BS luck is straight up unfair in every way there is. Chiaki's glitch status effect is disturbingly scary. And fighting against Hajime and especially Izuru is basically god tier level of difficult, since in the original (canon game) timeline he is basically superhuman and unbeatable. Also the designs you came up with rock! I can't even say with one I like the most, since all sound so awesome and fitting to them all. Well done

Going through the palace must be so confusing for the party. Because they can understand Hajime's part. He has one hell of an ego and thinks he's better than everyone else despite him really not being any better than anyone and being rather average. However Izuru makes no sense to them until they at some point find out the truth of the new time line, since Izuru isn't an experiment here after all unlike before

[miraculouscontent]

Askplosion #12 1/4:

.:Asks Referring to Previous Miraculous Posts:.

Anonymous said:

I think that story with Delmar, Sabrina and Alya is only type of Alya demonization you accept.

(the post this anon is referring to)

Absolutely.

I also accept “demonization” for like--comedic purposes. For example, if they had Alya be all in on the love square and all no Marinette you’re not allowed to give up on Adrien if it’s Lukanette endgame and Alya’s (and possibly the rest of the girl squad) “demonization” is for the sake of their dramatic reactions to the mere idea that Marinette would be both not into Adrien anymore and also into someone else.

I just think the idea of turning things on its head by making the people around Marinette the subject of jokes instead of it being Marinette herself.

Anonymous said:

Alya going "Need Some Help?" reminds me of Karma and Nagisa from Assassination Classroom(I said it right this time!). Obviously Alya is Karma and Sabrina is Nagisa(and now Karma's jazzy motif is playing in my head). And Delmar is probably(and by probably I mean almost fucking definitely) Kayano. For real though, I didn't even know Delmar's name until I read that ask/response now. I mean, like, that's how forgettable and underutilized he was. And no, Ms. Bustier isn't worthy of being Koro-sensei.

(the post this anon is referring to)

Still not familiar with Assassination Classroom so I will let the other anons who are familiar with the series silently judge for themselves. ;P

As for Delmar, don’t feel bad; his name actually isn’t mentioned in the special to my knowledge, and it was a tweet that confirmed his name.

Anonymous said:

Oh yeah, the "Astruc gets hit with a washboard" was SUPPOSED to be a shout-out to Koro-Sensei Quest, in which Karma gets hit with a washboard(don't ask where it came from or where they go when they hit the ground, the world may never know) every time he acts like a smug-ass little bitch. You know, like Astruc. Often, the washboard will ricochet off his head and hit a red button, which then opens up a pit which Karma then falls in. In other words, Karma getting Karma! If only Astruc could too.

(the post this anon is referring to)

khfjdgdg ahhh, yeah, thanks for explaining! I’ve always said that I’m not very media-savvy so sometimes I don’t know about more popular shows.

Anonymous said:

Eventually Salty Decadent Court

(the post this anon is referring to)

lol we just slowly upgrade our way through the salt ranks

Anonymous said:

I was thinking about your edit of Desperada, and how I would definitely love to edit the ATLA finale to cut out Kat/aang and Mai/ko stuff lol.

(the post this anon is referring to)

Oh yeah, that’d be amazing! I imagine it’d be difficult, but not impossible. Sometimes it might be better to sacrifice good shots or move scenes around for the sake of making things cohesive.

Anonymous said:

Kagami when adrien its back from NY: I'm sorry adrien, but I have feelings for two blueberries, we have to broke up

Adrien: eh? Broke up? We were dating?

(the post this anon is referring to)

I like how this ask doesn’t specify whether the joke is that Adrien might’ve just been way too “friendly” with Kagami and gave her the impression that they were dating, or a joke on the fact that the show itself doesn’t specify that they’re dating, or both.

A+ 10/10

Anonymous said:

If Adrien does get akumatised because of jealousy about Marinette, I hope someone (Kagami would be great) points out that Marinette was never akumatised for that reason even though she had waaay more scenarios that could have turned out that way. So don't blame yourself, Marinette!! (I also hope Kagami yells at anyone else *cough*Alya*cough* who tries to blame Marinette.

(the “Didn’t Need Burrow” that this anon is referring to)

We just want someone unambiguously on Marinette’s side, is that too much to ask?

Anonymous said:

"It's difficult to animate" hasn't stopped others before (Lord Shen, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, etc). You may do it as a hobby, but this are professionals who should have done more than the bare minimun.

(the post this anon is referring to)

I agree. I’m just trying to keep things like budget in mind. A bunch of free-flowing clothing is fine but I’m basically like--okay, but you don’t NEED the stuff that would hamper the budget to make things look good.

Anonymous said:

I don't know why, but I'm picturing Ladybug confronting Chat Noir after he gets back from New York like a mother scolding her teenage daughter for sneaking out at night.

(the post this anon is referring to)

Honestly? Accurate.

Anonymous said:

Clara Nightengale: I sensed Marinette was in trouble, so I came to this school on the doub-- Jagged Stone: It's okay, I already got her.

(the post this anon is referring to)

jdhgdjkfgkjfg Jagged and Clara walking down the street together all cool, Jagged still having Marinette slung over his shoulder, and everyone watching is just, “??????”

passivedecept said:

Honestly

After reading your last bit i feel cheated that Jagged isnt included more

But it may be better that he isnt like luka's dad.

Can you imagion?

Luka: dad. I like someone.

Jagged: who?

Luka: a real nice and talented girl name marinette and- who are you calling?

Jagged: penny because we need a place for your wedding STAT!

Because i firmly believe if jagged had a son who was dating marinette he would do everything to get mari as his daughter in law.

Okay that was it. Love every fic and small bit you make. And i was wondering if you had your own fav. Like. What have your written so far that you like the best yourself?

(the post this anon is referring to)

Do you mean it’d be better because love square is endgame so it’d be messy? Because otherwise, not gonna lie, Jagged meddling and being super supportive sounds fun. :P I’m not here for love square meddling but Lukanette meddling is cute because both parties would be mutually aware of it and also be into it.

As for my favorite fic I’ve written? That’s probably too tough to answer, ahaha. For sure, it’s something Lukanette-based, but I know that doesn’t narrow it down much at all. It would also probably be one of my fix-its/canon divergences because I’m crazy for multiverse/alternate timeline stuff (I hate time travel, but I’m all about multiverse, I adore that stuff).

Anonymous said:

In one of your Didn't Need Burrow masterposts, when someone said that Marinette and Adrien had kids and a hamster who'll get Miraculouses, I somehow misread that as "the kids as well as the hamster itself will all get Miraculouses".

(the post this anon is referring to)

I’m sure at least one of my anons would snap back at that with a joke like, “well, with the standards set for who gets a miraculous, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

rogueinthedigitalworld said:

Would like to pop in for a second to say that yes, Maribat *did* start out as a spite ship, because the original creator was a heavy Adrien salter and wanted someone to replace him… and chose Damian Wayne, for some reason. Since then, Marinette has been shipped with all the Robins (and from I can tell, they’re all warped into actuallynice!Adrien with two gimmicks added from the *actual* characters). I’m pretty sure I’m forgetting something, but that’s the gist of it.

(the post this person is referring to)

Thank you for the response! Yeah, I didn’t know if it was like Spider-man and Ladybug - which I don’t think is a spite ship but I might be wrong - so I didn’t want to say that it was a spite ship without being sure (and obviously, some shippers of it could be just genuine shippers, who knows).

Anonymous said:

Okay, but seriously, when I first joined the ml fandom I was so confused about the maribat. I'm not really a big fan of either romance or comics (except for sandman lol) so I kind of filtered them out but it's kind of an experience tbh. I'm pretty sure it started on tumblr though- everyone sites it as the ozmav au

(the post this person is referring to)

Thank you for the extra clarification, anon! Yeah, I have that ship blacklisted (so I don’t see it around) but not really out of hatred for it; I tend to blacklist names/people/ships that I’m either indifferent to or don’t like (I immediately blacklist people who write angst, people who cross tag, and people who do onesided-Lukanette and don’t tag it that, even if it’s just one offense; I don’t play games, lol, if anyone does something I don’t like, I filter it out because I filter everything).

Anonymous said:

Your images of Luka and Marinette kissing are so super kyute! What program do you use to render them?

(the post this person is referring to)

Thank you! I made them myself!

The program I use is MikuMikuDance, using an edited version of the shader “GreenerShader 1.14″