#correlation analysis

[economicshomework]

How Can Understanding Effect Sizes Improve Your Statistics Homework

When working on your stats assignment, you’ve probably encountered situations where you’re asked to decide whether a result is significant. Maybe you ran a t-test and got a p-value of 0.03. That’s significant at the 0.05 level—but does that really tell you how big the result is?

This is where effect sizes come in. They go beyond a simple “yes or no” answer from statistical significance and give you a way to interpret results. Understanding effect sizes can not only improve your stats thinking but also make your stats homework more informative and precise.

In this article, we’ll break down effect sizes in a way that makes sense, using real-life examples. So, next time you think, “Can someone help me for statistics homework on effect sizes?”—you’ll already have the answers!

Why Effect Size Matters More Than Just Statistical Significance in Your Stats Homework

A common misconception among students is that a statistically significant result always means a big or important result. That’s just not true.

Here’s an example:

Suppose you compare the test scores of two groups of students and find that Group A scores higher than Group B, with a p-value of 0.049. Significant? Yes.

But what if the actual difference between the means of the two groups is just 0.5 points on a 100-point test? Meaningful? Not really.

Effect size tells us how big or important this difference is, not just whether it exists. This makes your stats assignments more nuanced and complete.

Types of Effect Sizes and When to Use Them in Your Stats Assignments

Depending on the type of analysis you’re doing, there are different measures of effect size you can use. Let’s go through the most common ones you’ll encounter.

1. Cohen’s d: How Much of a Difference Between Two Groups?

If you’re working with t-tests (comparing two groups), Cohen’s d is your go-to effect size measure. It tells you how far apart the two group means are in terms of standard deviations.

Formula for Cohen’s d:

d = (Mean of Group 1−Mean of Group 2)/Pooled Standard Deviation

Example:

You’re comparing the test scores of two different teaching methods:

Old Method: Mean = 75, SD = 10

New Method: Mean = 80, SD = 10

d=80−75/10=0.5

According to rules of thumb:

0.2 = Small

0.5 = Medium

0.8+ = Large

So, here we have a medium effect size, so the new method has some impact.

2. Pearson’s r: How Strong is the Relationship Between Variables

When you’re doing correlation analysis, Pearson’s r measures the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables.

Example:

If you analyze the relationship between study hours and exam scores and find r = 0.6, that means there’s a moderate to strong positive correlation—more study hours means higher scores.

But if r = 0.1, even though it’s statistically significant, the effect size is so small that studying more won’t make much of a difference.

3. R² (Coefficient of Determination): How Well Does Your Model Explain Variance

In regression analysis, R² tells you how much of the variance in the dependent variable is explained by the independent variable(s).

Example:

If you build a model predicting final exam scores based on attendance rate, and R² = 0.85, that means 85% of the variance in exam scores is explained by attendance—very strong!

If R² = 0.20, only 20% of the variance is explained, so there’s other factors to consider.

How Knowing Effect Size Helps You Score Higher on Statistics Assignments

You might be wondering—how does knowing effect sizes actually help me on my statistics assignments?

1. Helps You Interpret Results Better

Just reporting a p-value without an effect size is incomplete. Professors love when you go the extra mile to explain how big a result is, not just whether it’s statistically significant.

2. Avoids Misleading Conclusions

If you only focus on statistical significance, you might misconstrue a result. A tiny but statistically significant effect doesn’t mean it’s important in practice.

3. Strengthens Your Research and Data Analysis Skills

Effect sizes are used in real research, psychology, medicine, economics. Master them now and you’ll be ahead when dealing with real data in your future career.

Hands-On Example: Let’s Apply Effect Size to a Simple Statistics Homework

Problem: Comparing Two Study Methods

Suppose you do a study comparing two study techniques:

Your t-test gives a p-value = 0.04, so the difference is statistically significant. But let’s calculate the effect size (Cohen’s d):

d = (82−78)/{(12+10)/2}=411≈0.36

A d of 0.36 means small to moderate effect size. While the result is statistically significant, the actual effect of study methods isn’t big.

This extra layer of explanation will impress your professor and help you shine in your statistics homework!

Conclusion: Next Time You Think “Help Me for Statistics Homework,” Remember Effect Sizes

Effect sizes add depth to your statistical analysis. They go beyond “significant vs. not significant” and help you understand the practical impact of your results. So next time you work on a statistical problem or look for someone who can help you with statistics assignment, don’t just stop at the p-value—calculate the effect size and make your analysis more meaningful!

[fist-of-vengeance]

just saw someone on tiktok discussing whether or not a character "deserved a redemption arc" and i am losing my mind. we as a society have lost sight of what a redemption arc IS. it doesn't mean a character is rewarded by the narrative. it doesn't mean the other characters forgive them. it only refers to a character acknowledging their mistakes and choosing to better themselves, which any person can do, no matter how terrible. of course there's no shortage of badly executed redemption arcs, and a character who willfully committed countless atrocities having a change of heart after a single conversation about the power of friendship is simply poor writing and unrealistic. not every character who CAN change WILL. but there is zero value in debating whether a character "deserved" to be redeemed. no one in fiction or reality needs to be "worthy" of making better choices. there is no fixed point where a person is "too evil" and therefore forbidden from doing anything differently. it's always worth it to change, and implying otherwise is both a genuinely harmful ideology and bad literary analysis

[rainy-matcha]

Something I love about Mob Psycho is that Reigen is a fraud, but not in the way you'd originally think. He still helps people, just not in the way they think he's helping them. Any non spiritual problems he can solve for his clients, he will, and he even makes a point not to take money he feels like he didn't earn.

This applies to his mentorship with Mob; although, yes, he's using Mob's powers to his own personal gain, his original promise to help Mob learn to control his powers is still fulfilled. Mob's powers are directly tied to his emotions; and we can see that clearly throughout the series. Regulation of Mob's emotions in turn regulates his powers. Reigen's guidance is a large part of that regulation. The lessons he instills in Mob (don't use your powers on other people, your powers are just a trait and they don't make you inherently worth more or entitled to more than anyone else, and several others he learns from Reigen over the course of the series) are a huge part in putting Mob on the right path in regards to the use of his powers. It shapes his mindset and strong morals surrounding them, and this mindset shapes his emotions and power regulation. He would likely not be the same controlled and morally sound person he is by the end of the series without Reigen.

[supa-kuwameshi-bros]

team urameshi’s moral alignments, and how that impacts the kuwameshi dynamic (and also some stuff about hiei)

not quite the promised narrative parallels follow up just yet, but hopefully this is good enough in the meantime!

given yusuke and kuwabara’s nature as rivals first and foremost, i’ve found their dynamic at its core is largely defined by their contrasting values/moral codes (or lack thereof.) these differences, i believe, are a key factor in why they make such a good duo, both romantically and otherwise.

something i’ve always really loved about kuwabara, for instance, is how he is constantly a tether to yusuke’s humanity, showing how kuwabara is willing to challenge him not only physically, but philosophically. and yes ik that’s likely a needlessly fancy way of phrasing it but hear me out, right?

i’ve found that team urameshi exists on a scale of humanitarianism: the left side being where hiei resides, and the right, kuwabara. kurama exists somewhere between the middle and left, still compassionate enough to seek out mercy wherever viable, but willing to get his hands dirty if the situation demands it. i believe yusuke exists in the exact middle of this scale, which reflects his status as a half-demon, allowing him to swing one way or the other depending on the situation. spontaneous as always!

i actually went ahead and made a little visual accompaniment to better illustrate what i’m talking abt here, bc im a goddamn nerd

it’s very rough looking but whatever it’s a tumblr post. would very much like to know any greater thoughts anyone has on the placements made here, particularly kurama bc he is easily the most morally layered out of these four. i live for the discussion aspect of these things hehehehehe

ANYWAY back to the aforementioned twink (more of a twunk, really.) the interesting part about this application of the scale metaphor is that it more or less visualizes hiei and kuwabara as the theoretical devil and angel on yusuke's shoulders, which may not be too far off from the roles they play in yusuke's life, something we see most often shown in the dark tournament.

for hiei, this manifests as him often being the one to push yusuke to finish things quickly, without consideration for greater consequence because either it’s more efficient or “it must be done.” hell, most of the time he goes beyond that and just. does it himself. bc he’s hiei and yk what we love him for that. this attitude fed into yusuke’s affinity for doing things the easy way, rather than the “right” or most traditionally morally upright way, which one could argue only further chipped away at yusuke’s already fraying tether to his humanity.

in particular, i think of the moments just before kuwabara vs. risho, where yusuke and hiei had more or less decided they were just gonna blow the whole stadium sky-high when faced with possible disqualification.

in response to yusuke’s increasing anger, hiei — being the absolute anarchist he is — is quick to suggest they do away with the tournament as a whole, securing themselves a victory by relying on survival of the fittest, something hiei is quite familiar with given his hephaestus trauma and general upbringing in makai. basically, “fuck that noise, this shit is rigged anyway. lets pop SEVERAL caps in their asses and be done with it.”

and of course, given his temperament and previously stated leanings, yusuke is quick to concede to hiei’s point regardless of the fact it would be endangering literally everyone in the vicinity including their allies in the stands. but neither of them consider that— or perhaps, they just don’t care in this moment. which could honestly lead me into a whole other analysis of how fundamentally similar yusuke and hiei are, BUT THATS FOR ANOTHER DAY….

either way, yusuke definitely would’ve gone through with this plan if not for kuwabara volunteering himself for the round in spite of his debilitating injuries, which leads me to kuwabara’s opposing force, and (finally,) the kuwameshi aspect to all of this.

kuwabara’s a character known for his strict moral code, and he’s no stranger to preaching openly to others about said “honor code.” and of course, as his rival, yusuke is far from an exception to this. at multiple points throughout the series he can be seen lambasting yusuke’s amoral behavior, such as what is seen in the build up to kuwabara v. risho.

it’s common knowledge to anyone who’s read/watched yu yu hakusho that yusuke is a character who behaves almost entirely upon impulse; it’s something established as early as chapter 15!

as a consequence, he’s extremely reckless; one could even say inconsiderate or hedonistic. it’s one of the fundamentals of his character! he’s incredibly flawed, and his morality is painted in shades of grey as a direct result. and here, we see kuwabara challenging this directly. it’s done in a way that speaks volumes to what these two mean to each other, as well, given the fact that shortly after, we see that yusuke has allowed kuwabara to step up to the plate.

kuwabara holds a unique position when it comes to yusuke in the sense that he remains a constant tether to yusuke’s morality. granted, keiko also holds a similar position, but while her tether to his humanity is more physical, given her role as the “girl at home,” kuwabara’s is an ethical one, in how his philosophy has shaped yusuke and pushes him to do better. though granted, they’re both emotional tethers to yusuke’s humanity. keiko and kuwabara stop paralleling each other challenge. it’s rlly not helping yusuke beat the bisexual allegations.

either way, kuwabara’s bullheaded determination to go the straight and narrow no matter the seeming futility of it is something that has left a noticeable mark on yusuke, enough so that when he sees that effort be tossed aside or taken for granted, yusuke— for lack of a better term— crashes the fuck out.

it means a lot to him! that fundamental goodness in kuwabara that yusuke didn’t even see himself, until chapter 7 showed him plain and simple that kuwabara’s genuinely just a great guy. and so even though yusuke’s own internal philosophy tends to align more with hiei’s “survival of the fittest” outlook on the world, he still finds real value in kuwabara’s beliefs, remaining fiercely protective of those ideals and the boy that holds them. enter the eternal cycle of: kuwabara tries to do heroic shit, gets absolutely blasted, yusuke has a full on fucking crash out, powers up, wins, repeat. still, kuwabara will always challenge yusuke in this way, and yusuke will in turn always challenge him. it’s what makes their bond so special, because really, all yusuke wants is someone who can match his pace and shove back when he pushes. and luckily for him, while yusuke’s certainly stubborn, kuwabara may be even more so.

it harkens back to the earliest days of their relationship, the quintessential example of unstoppable force (kuwabara) vs. immovable object (yusuke.) only now, while he has yet to overcome yusuke physically, kuwabara (likely without even realizing it himself) has earned yusuke’s respect enough that when he tells yusuke that winning the tournament the clean way is the best route, yusuke listens— which, getting yusuke to listen to ANYONE other than himself is a goddamn miracle. he won’t even listen to KEIKO, and that girl’s got him wrapped around her finger approx. 13 times over.

kuwabara pushes yusuke to be better, basically, and yusuke is receptive to that because he genuinely respects kuwabara’s input in spite of all the ribbing they engage in (though i do maintain that he definitely has some… thoughts on kuwabara’s methods. cough cough ichigaki.) im contrasting this aspect of kuwabara with hiei, here, but really, a much more explicitly kuwameshi adjacent parallel that makes me even crazier is kuwabara and itsuki, but that could be a whole post on its own.

this is something the source material (IN THE DUB) may have acknowledged, too, with genkai’s parting words to kuwabara before her demise at the hands of toguro. she tells kuwabara, “You have a gentle heart. Use it.” what exactly this could be referring to specifically remains ambiguous (likely bc it’s a dub specific piece of dialogue), but given how the line is framed by genkai requesting kuwabara tell yusuke not to follow her, and the camera panning to yusuke’s sleeping face to conclude the scene, i’d figure it involves him. in specific, i believe this is in reference to the crux of this analysis: kuwabara’s influence over yusuke’s moral decisions. perhaps she felt kuwabara may have been able to sway yusuke, or at the very least hold him off from doing something too rash and marching right into death. who knows? this line doesn’t even rlly matter anyway bc it’s not even present in the original translation but WTVR my analysis my rules.

overall, this is just one example of how yusuke and kuwabara make up for one another’s individual shortcomings/blind spots to create a better whole. in soso many ways, they make each other better!! but they can also make each other worse, and i’m not just talking about the insane codependency that kuwabara develops by the time three kings begins. ALAS, i have not the time to divulge right now. either way, these two mean so much to each other, and honestly, i think they should kiss about it. hold hands, maybe. i know their asses were cuddling during the dark tournament. they should get married but instead of kissing after their “i do”s they punch each other in the mouth.

that’s pretty much all i’ve gotta say on this subject as of right now. this ended up way longer than i anticipated uhhh whoops. tune in next time for how yusuke’s negative traits rub off on kuwabara, as opposed to kuwabara’s positive traits rubbing off on yusuke and HOPEFULLY that plot analysis that’ll give more context to what i’m talking about here. do hope this was more kuwameshi specific than my last little analysis bc it was. barely shippy at all. forgive me.

OH YEAH ALSO if any of yall have any thoughts on this, whether it be adding onto this analysis or even pointing out something you personally disagree with, i’d love to hear your input!! discussion makes me go YIPPIE and i’d love to engage :D

[not-a-font]

There's a neat bit of foreshadowing/symbolism in Arcane s1 e3 that I noticed.

The first shot we see after Jayce and Viktor successfully harness hextech for the first time is of Viktor's broken cain that he was using to barricade the door.

In the moment that it happens, this represents Viktor and Jayce's discovery of Hextech being more important than Viktor's status as a Zaunite cripple. It's a follow-through of Viktor's assertion that through believing in himself he was able to climb higher than he thought possible.

That said, I think that Viktor's mobility aids can be interpreted as representing Viktor's own state of being. I say this because Viktor's crutch in S1 A2 is used as a visual indicator that his disease has progressed. Alongside that, when Viktor's transformed by the Hexcore, his crutch changes with him.

It changes from a crutch to a walking stick, showing that this form is far more able-bodied than it was previously.

It also shifts again post act 2 timeskip.

This time, it doesn't even resemble his old crutch, which is visual shorthand for how Viktor himself changed in that time. Since it doesn't resemble a mobility aid at all this time, we can assume that Viktor is now comfortable in his new form.

Perhaps it even indicates that he's losing some of his connection with humanity given how Jayce's final speech in episode 9 basically equated Viktor's disability with his humanity. I think it could also communicate some of Viktor's resentment regarding his disease since having a magic staff that looks like a crutch probably reminds him of his disability.

This tracks with the final design of his staff, which he doesn't even use like a walking stick. His act 2 staff at least has the D shape at the top that vaguely resembled his crutch but his final staff is all twisty and spirally because it's not a mobility aid, and Viktor isn't really human anymore.

Going back to the original scene where the cane broke with this interpretation means that the breaking of the cane foreshadows how Viktor will lose his humanity because of the magic he just helped discover.

[welcome-to-green-hills]

Won’t lie I have thought about that

Sonic and shadow are like lightning and thunder to me hear me out.

Sonic is bright, his power is illuminating, he lights up the world, and can absorb its electricity and energy causing the area to go dark, he’s super energetic, he’s powerful, he goes from one place to another, his sparks are hard to miss, and in a dark space, he’s a spice of light and static electricity

Shadow is subtle, intimidating, he’s a threat you don’t know is coming until it’s there, he shakes the world, he commands attention to his powers, he can wipe out the area, he’s confident like thunder comes first, he is the danger you feel shake you to the core, and like his powers, he can bring the storm later, in moments where it’s needed, his power is only the beginning

Hi Hon!❤️✨

This is a great comparison between the two. I like it! And together they make a perfect storm.

[darius-shack]

glass animals released an album on how our perspective of love is skewed and is a lot more work than it seems. theres songs about being in abusive relationships especially, and the song Show Pony is an overview of the whole album from an outsider's perspecive, perhaps in love with the victim of abuse.

first chorus is how they met, second chorus is getting suspicious of the mistreatment and overlooking it, and chorus three is remembering the abuse and pointing out that the hurt was there from the very beginning.

AND NOW if i may make a connection to the abusive relationship ford was deceived into bc of Bill's lies. first chorus, they met, they flirted and literally referred to each other as 'Partners', had good times clearly (gave him rats on his birthday, got him hammered and the rest you know.)

second chorus, the way he wouldnt show up for weeks at a time and especially didnt help during the Krampus incident because Bill was probably jealous of Fiddleford and could tell he was attracted to Ford.

third chorus, the heavy abuse of Bill taking Ford's body on a joy ride on the VHS tape. the tacky tattoo, eating things you shouldn't, obtaining a criminal record, the physical toll on ford's body through all that. the hurt from the very beginning? the warning sign when it was already too late? the right eye bleeding, taking a toll on Ford already.

[charles-leclerc-official]

will u write race analyses this year queen?

Yes!

I have been working out a new format that I think will be more manageable for me.

Summer might be tricky because I am gonna be out of service for multiple days at a time, but aside from that yes.

I think I have decided to stay far more Ferrari focused, so we'll be looking in depth at Charles' and Lewis' races each weekend and also where the SF-25 is at.

And then if there is something else important for other drivers probably post separately about that if it bears discussion (ie Max vs Lando on track battles etc)

Staying focused on the team and taking glances at other drivers/teams when relevant.

Bare minimum we must talk about Charles' race. Also super super interested to see where the car lands this year, this car is critical to Ferrari's immediate future.

But yes I am very excited to do more technical talk this season with you all!

[3billiondreams]

i don't know why my brain associates america with yumeko jabami. its not the gambling thing but i think it's the fact her thoughts always go unnarrated... no one can tell what shes thinking... shes totally unpredictable. idk minds a mess

[hellsvestibule]

Seee if nobody else got me I know @zeravmeta got me. Please please pleaseee….I…insane clown p-ussy...

I think in his interactions w Anyone really. he needs to be read as pretentiously playing the “devil you know.” Like, as you mentioned here for Jeanne this takes the form of like, an unhinged desperate man turning to her for forgiveness. But he changes his personality up a bit w everyone he talks to in a way that mirrors their perceived insecurities. All of its genuinely Him because he has a strong personality, but he also has very strong paralels to every character I can think about him having any sustained interaction w. I can’t even really get into all of them cuz I’d be here forever but I’ll rant a bit about some scenes he has w Jeanne, mash, the one valentines scene w Kama, his general shtick w nursery rhyme. And how murder at the kogetsukan is actually imo important to understanding who he is at heart.

The thing is in each case I can think of where he does this, the reality is he’s more similar to the person he’s trying to disturb than the person whose evil behavior he’s imitating. Or is equally similar to both and kind of bridges the theological gap between them a bit maybe. Like, w jeanne, it’s not just that he’s behaving like Gilles, he is also situationally a lot like Jalter, he himself is some weird horny old man’s botched lab experiment out to avenge himself and others like him, but also, his approach to this feels more abstract and inhuman than Jalter , more adjascent to jeanne herself, and I think that’s meaningful bc she sort of theologically distances herself from Jalter but here is a guy who is batshit in both ways. He enacts good will through force of evil deeds which distance him from being able to hold normal relationships, the type of morality I don’t think Jeanne who holds tight to goodness for goodness sake, or even most normal people, can really begin to comprehend, but it’s also, the same way others can’t comprehend her insistence that she’d hold tight to goodness no matter what is done to her. Both are simultaneously, totally reasonable for latching onto the abstract concepts of good and evil within their own perspective. But totally incomprehensible to anyone who isn’t also. like that. Sure Mephy may have the “selfish” Jalter adjacent motives of a victim lashing out to avenge himself in an undignified attempt to gain dignity. But also, like, fatalistic understanding of the will of god as something he serves at his own expense, means he kind of is a saint and martyr in his own weird way. When I say serving the will of god I don’t mean happily so, he even says to guda he wants to help them kill god, bc. Well, he’s the worst Big Daddy upstairs of them all. But he’s still a big daddy who can smite you like an insect, so you have to play by his rules. Mephy wants to make everyone think he’s evil, bc he wants to become a real devil, bc that’s what he thinks he exists to be, what will give him power to avenge himself, and so he’s purposely denigrating himself to an inhuman construct to achieve it, and a portion of the audience apparently buys it, bc just being an arrogant asshole dressed like a creepy clown is enough to rub a lot of people the wrong way. But imo he holds a similar type of arrogance as Jeanne’s in this regard. He’s holding himself to an impossible standard of both good and evil so he kind of had the right to call it out in her even if he’s a hypocrite, which he is in every interaction w everyone. And also, even the parallel to Gilles has multi tiered meaning, since Faust is often portrayed as a child abuser, and so is mephisto in the Goethe play, and he sort of ends said play lamenting his obsession w innocence and purity and inability to ever possess it being his downfall... and like, our Mephy, i would guess, despite the conflicting framing of him, probably doesn’t want to become that, but might sort of think this is his natural disposition or fate, simply bc the things he’s implied about Faust or at least how he perceives him. So only Jeanne can save him from becoming and committing evil like that right? But like. No. She can’t. Bc he’s not her devil. And she shouldn’t even really be held responsible for Gilles, or any other unhinged guy needing her forgiveness. Mephy is pointing out how many people approach her w this whim that she can make them fucking normal if she just hits them hard in the head w a brick. This is normal to her but it’s pitiful it’s normal and she accepts it as such, which he probably wants her to admit, bc his repeated theme across these interactions is that he just wants people to be happy and reject creeps like him, but tells them in the cruelest way possible. which brings me to. Mash!! Bc it paralels his behavior towards her too.

When he first meets Mash in garden of order, he says a bunch of things that are brought back as specific notes of contention within her dynamic w Beryl during the lostbelts (and also Pepe and Kadoc to some degree) He says he’s like her big brother in an attempt to get her guard down, which Fujimaru chips in instead of letting it fly as ironic or cruel like yeah yeah, you’re like her big brother, encouraging him in a positive way bc Fujimaru believes in everyone’s capacity to be equals, flying in the face of mephistos assumptions Fujimaru only likes mash bc her lack of agency and rebelliousness, so they would consequently hate him for being. Not a nice sweet submissive person. This is true of Mash in this point of the story, she has little agency in the earlier chapters, and if you understand his character you understand he actually relates to this and is genuinely horrified on her behalf, but is phrasing it more like it’s in a pitiful inconvenience than w the kindness it actually needs to be said, the same thing kadoc did which is why I point out it’s not just beryl even if it’s mostly beryl.

Bc he also says he watched his roommate repeatedly sever the arms of his family members every night, and due to his conditioning by Faust sacrificing humans (supposedly to aid in his creation) doesn’t know if this is done as an act of abuse or love, specifically adjascent to what beryl does to her and what she asks after. At this point in the story you haven’t met Beryl, but Mash still clearly dislikes this, she becomes visibly uncomfortable and for a short bit after that is slightly hesitant towards mephisto, but she also like, gets over it really quickly after she sees him attack his “bad” selves, stepping in to be like, oh, ok, I see you are trying to become a better person despite having been mislead and used as a proxy for other peoples violence. She Gets it. She’s the first to sort of commit to the repeated theme w Mephy, that everyone he attempts to harass is actually hesitantly accepting and compassionate towards him and willing to relate to him, he’s the one who most struggles to accept this possibility of having normal loved ones who care and understand him and not just bc they are naive and mislead by him. Bc if everyone trusts him not due to naïveté but due to recognition of everything he embodies. He loses power as a (theoretical) devil. He is obviously, regardless of his status as a know it all, mostly just a petulant traumatized child, with no real power over anyone. That’s both the sad and hopeful thing. Power is bad for him, it’s the corrupting force which will help him actualize into a real devil. But conversely he’s the easiest villain to defeat and in some ways purposefully so, because deep in his heart he doesn’t actually want to win. He just wants to be innocent, if someone does not give him any power over them by reacting with violence or hate, he utterly flounders. Devils only exist if you will them too, but nobody here wants the devil, they want Mephy to be whoever Mephy actually is, some sort of, weird pathetic clown guy who is sort of sweet and sort of an asshole? and that’s incredibly agonizing to him bc he doesn’t know who the fuck that is without Faust. He has very little personhood outside of Faust and yet constantly boasts his independence and freedom, for understandable reasons.

Preoccupation with avenging lost innocence is a good segueway to the valentines scene with Kama I think. Also note, I use Kama and Sakura sort of interchangeably here but I recognize they still separate characters. To me this scene reads as the character Kama wanting to offer something nice to the character child Sakura. But I sort of mush them together when discussing them.

IMO if you don’t understand these characters backstories still haunt them, this scene might fly totally past the radar as anything important, because Kama is trying to downplay her engagement in any of these scenes, so it’s played for silly and awkward in context. But that’s just any scene Mephy is in, and you have to look past it for what it really is. Kama is pretending to be a child at the park w her dad, sort of, mimicking maybe one of the last happy memories of childhood Sakura has, and Mephy is clearly here to play the villain, he doesn’t even really have to Try to be sakuras devil bc he’s already at glance an amalgamation of the worst traits of all the family members who hurt her but. Also. He’s a stranger,,, or more so, they sort of imply they concocted this scenario ahead of time and are just really bad actors motivated by the same wants, who are using each other as pawns for each others evil ends (showing the hypocrisy central to their approach).

However. Your feelings of dread are kind of mitigated by the obvious fact no one here wants to play out a depraved or traumatic scenario bc it clearly hits them too close to home. I think the implication given by their backstories is they are waiting to see if you are a creepy or innept dad towards child kama, because Mephy as we know from how he talks about Vicky Frank in London, is basically itching to smash literally every shitty dads shitty face in. but of course guda isn’t a shitty dad, so they’re left w nothing but a really awkward setup they’re trying to play off as meaningless that kinda screams like, this isnt meaningless and petty at all actually, both really wish their fucking parental figures had taken them to oniland instead of committing human rights violations. They did not get to have normal childhoods and so they implicitly. want this nice little fantasy to play out for child Sakura. without phrasing it as such bc that kind of open admission of vulnerability is forbidden, so mephisto, as usual, will play the villain to his dying breath, bc he won’t ever directly admit he’s traumatized. Neither will Kama of course, but this is -their- valentines scene, which necessitates them revealing more than he does. It goes to show how hard mephisto will self denigrate until the other party confronts their inner demons, and that’s bc the clown in him that exists to be humiliated and despised, which Kama has to give in to bc a god of love can only go so far in that capacity. So it feels like Kama is both. Irritated by the pretentiousness of this . He ends up being less like shinji or his father or zouken and more like Kariya, and that’s still shitty and traumatizing in its own way. Mephisto prefaces this scene as him being creepy but what he’s really doing is going oh poor baby whatever you’re going through is more important than having my own similar problems be understood. And of all things, that’s what fucks this scene up. She’s trying to brush off why this scenario or any of these scenarios exist bc she’s never dealt w this pain and assumed she could preface all of this w ironic detatchment. But still! Going to a park is something kariya and her mom used to do w her and her sister, showing she might not have actually totally forgotten what this type of thing means and holds sentimental attatchemt to the idea of it (a theme park just ups the ante and the fantasy aspect of it) But also do you really think Kama would admit they want this sort of sentimental thing unironically? So Mephy the clown must prove he is a worse more traumatized asshole than Kama , so she can admit by proxy she just wants to act like a normal innocent kid for a day, she doesn’t have to thank him for this role or even care about him, but she still points out hes not evil, that he does this as a pretentious part of being what he is, and she focuses on the one thing that’s Not familiar. Clown. he’s sticking to the act of a horrible despicable clown, even on Valentine’s Day, bc hes a very pathetic man scared of being loved, and would probably sooner die than admit that. kama does the big person thing, accepts the shallow pretense they brought you here w for the paradoxical depth it has, this is a normal scenario of a little girl at the theme park with her dad, who had a brush in with a creepy clown and just wants to feel protected and loved. Both of them are too detatched to tell Why you any of this was necessary, it’s the context of what they’ve said and done before now you need to read into, It actually makes me really sad to think about.

Also this is why I’m convinced Mephy is concious and self aware in murder at the kogetsukan. Even the naming convention and setup follows everything you see from the established patterns of interactions, the names of the violet family have a lot of biblical conventions which feel too convoluted to ignore the symbolism of. (Also, that dancing with Eve and Lilith is something he and Faust do in the play, and gorgon taking Margaret’s face in the same scene, there’s just a lot of weird little meta bits in here) Mephy’s character is named Cain, which imo gives him an excuse to break the fourth wall 4th wall and literally just be a self possessed actor rather than narratively lacking self awareness. Named after Gods grandson, whom God dismisses because his sacrifice of plant instead of meat is deemed less significant, and so he becomes possessed by the devil and enraged, and imo this is paraleling mephistos preoccupation w his doll body, how it implicitly makes him feel inherently objectified and worthless and inhuman. Like. Valentines day he gives you a pet which will explode and simulate artificial death, and tells you he wants you to see it as a mascot more worthy than fou. Or when you give him chocolate he’s like (clown screech) my heart valve is pumping. Constantly reminding you he isn’t human and feels awful about it. He thinks his own life and death is meaningless because he is artificial which is why he’s a self sacrificing individual. While maybe not concious and self aware. Ignore everything Moriarty says abt the faces not being significant? They are, Lancelot is cast as and is subsequently the perfect father to this stand in for mephisto bc he’s also struggling w these same feelings and told it all to kariya back in fate zero, and he’s worried he’s a bad dad who would objectify or traumatize his kid, something you see Moriarty needle him for in grand carnival albeit played for laughs at the fact that usually Lancelot is the one who ends up objectified, but Moriarty is also someone who needles peoples trauma when trying to help them. But Lancelot’s like, not what people assume him to be, he’s a genuinely loving person, and so is his character by proxy, so the second “Cain” realizes this, he has a massive sentimental breakdown where he says he loves his family and wants to save them, and I think this is important not to distance the characters 100% from the npcs in this moment bc it shows major facets of Mephisto and Lancelot that often get ignored or misunderstood, and lets mephisto actually commit to his genuine issue of just wanting a dad who loves him normally and showcases that Lancelot actually is so good he wouldn’t care if he’s in a family unit wher he’s a cuckold or his kid is a crazy loser like him, the things people sort of assume he’s preoccupied w being like the possession of another man’s wife or having the perfect child, but like, no, he genuinely just wants to love the people he’s with in the moment but is hesitant to attempt it. the event isn’t totally uncorrelated to the faces the npcs have at all. For some people at least (Mephy, Lancelot, Moriarty, and Mordred off the top of my head) all had some deep seated desire or other fulfilled by this scenario . (Sherlock npc dies, mordred npc has a dick) I can’t really rationalize the others but these 4 at least are super obvious, and it’s part of why I want to “blame” mephisto bc I think out of everyone his reasons for wanting this and ability to put it into place as a mythological wish granter who concocts dreams, makes the most sense motive wise, and also, the deadly fever guda falls under as well as the fantasy concocted are both things mephistos poison is capable of in faust. But I might be missing something, it’s possible like the drama Cd or something I don’t remember revealed a culprit behind the “it was all a dream” thing, but I just think it’s notable that for mephisto there is no barrier between dreams and reality.

Also I should probably mention the importance of his dynamic w nursery rhyme mirroring the absense of what he and Kama don’t have? She calls him uncle mephy and is clearly like, trying to talk him out of his nihilistic suicidal outlook of reality. Bc well whatever, they are both helpless broken dolls but also, she has reason to form sentimental attatchment to clowns, they -are- familiar to her, Faust was one of the first plays put on by pantomime, clown theatre, as was the goose that laid the golden egg, a story about sacrificing something loyal to you so you can reap the immediate benefits of its labor. and I think the latter was one of the performances where mother goose went from a folklore figure to having a canon physical appearance (and you can see as of fgo she still does not, she’s still using Alice’s appearance) and there’s even more nameplay going on w the paralels to kariya she’s invoking w the uncle Mephy shtick making them like kariya and Sakura, kariyas name means “wild goose” and being sent on a wild goose chase is a euphemism for becoming lost in pursuit of something you desire. Mephy doesn’t seem to accept anything in reality as anything but nonsense and farce, yet he constantly imbues every attempt at nonsense and trivializing peoples problems w a huge load of painful sincerity. mother goose is, itself, a book of mostly nonsense. But its sentimental purpose as a familiar children’s book and folklore brushes against his, saying “you have a home here” something he’s obviously in severe denial of wanting but also manages to make 90% of his personality. Mephisto at the start of faust is literally just a lost dog looking for a home. @zeravmeta mentioned how little of Mephy is even allowed to be himself, and he exists mostly through others and like, yeah! There’s more paralels than there is Mephy at a certain point. every “joke” scene Mephy is in is actually majorly sad and fucked up the moment you take a minute to dissect it. Bc he’s convinced trauma makes him funny, when it only paradoxically makes him funny by sheer force of how unfunny he is.

[sayheykid]

i genuinely don't think a story's worldbuilding and lore has ever drawn me in the way that check please did. it's been years and i still think about it every day. the characters and plot were always superb but i think what has stuck with me the most is the depth of the settings and how everything feels so lived in and tangible. everyone wants to make a fake world and town and university but no one else has EVER done it that well

[lord-shitbox]

If you're neutral towards Leander or chess, I recommend you vote no

[ineedfairypee]

I’m off to explore! 🎒

[whitestopper]

I wish Heartstopper got (more) into the reason(s) why Elle decided to go to Higgs and then Lambert.

She doesn't want to be known as the trans girl by S2, but if she felt the same in S1, then Higgs was the worst place to choose due to the Higgs-Truham relationship. Hell, Imogen probably even saw Harry saying stuff towards Elle pre-series if she made a habit out of joining the boys in the morning.

And then of course we never actually see her interact with other Higgs girls, whom we know to be lesbophobes as a whole (to an almost comical and cocky degree, though I won't say it's wholly unrealistic). The closest we get is when Tara starts a conversation with Elle by asking about how she used to go to Truham, and it's never really treated as something by which Elle is worried or caught off-guard. So there's really no proof that she's seen as the trans girl in any way.

Of course, realistically, she would be seen as the trans girl. But the series refuses to get into that, and Elle's narrative feels so underwhelming as a result.

[allaboutforexworld]

Pair Trading: Forex Trading Strategy Explained

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[fumifooms]

Shogun 2024 is really good holy shit