#don't think anyone's made a version of this meme with them yet

[rosies-den]

They lost focus and had a consensual workplace relationship

[legandairy-horror]

Does anyone else feel a strange sort of dread waiting for new deltarune chapters?

It sounds crazy right? I admit it's a weird feeling for sure, and I'm not even 100% sure if dread is the right way to describe it. But as more info is revealed and the next chapter inevitably gets closer and closer to releasing I can't help but feel a strange sort of, melancholy? Longing? The only way I can describe it is "when you know the goodbye is coming". The strange somber feeling when you know you’re going to have to leave stuff behind, but aren't quite ready for it yet.

warning: words. Homestuck

In 3 months Chapter 1 will be 6 years old, and in 2 months Chapter 2 will be 3 years old. Deltarune is ostensibly in Early Access but this release schedule puts new chapters closer in time scale to whole sequals if anything, which they most assuredly are not trying to be. This has created a strange situation in the fanbase that I don't think I've ever truly seen anywhere else. One where, In the time between chapters It feels like everyone has had their own chance to decide what Deltarune is to them. To create their own version of this story, to write their own themes that they want to see explored, to imagine their own events and plot twists they want to see play out.

@lynxgriffin Paper Trail Comic Being an Alternate Story following off of chapter 1

@lilybug-02 The Chara Timeline Being one of many interpretations on the popular Asriel & Chara roommates headcannon.

@huecycles Andromeda Chapters being their interpretation on the full game

The innumerable Deltarune Theorists and analysts like HalfBreadChaos, Andrew Cunningham, Stuffed Alpaca, etc. etc.

@vyletbunni Deltatraveler being a whole ass fangame based around a chapter 2 meme that it has long since outlived

And that's kinda the thing isn't it? Once more deltarune comes out, a ton of these projects will just become outdated, it's an inevitability. So what will happen to them? will they become forgotten? maybe, maybe not, it's impossible to tell. but either way it feels kinda sad to think about yknow? that one day all the time and effort spent and all the memories made might one day just cease to exist.

There's a lot more I could say on this topic if given the chance but to keep this tumblr post from morphing into a 2 hour long video essay in text form let me leave off with this.

In the age of the internet and social media there will always be a fan of something. Nothing truly dies quite like it used to anymore, regardless of whatever influencers want you to believe. But that doesn't mean things stop changing, that there wasn't a past that has since been left behind. I'm a Homestuck fan. more specifically I'm a Late Homestuck fan, one who came in after the comic had already ended and it's peak in popularity was long behind it. The fandom's still around all these years later. But it'd be foolish to admit that, 8 years after the comics controversial end, the inescapable trend of new fans replacing old fans has left the fandom wholly disconnected from the monolith that it once was. the only remnants of which lie in decades old discourse and fanfiction. Like old relics of a long forgotten city, waiting to be excavated under a fine layer of dirt.

Before I close out here I just want to make it clear: I'm not saying that we should be trying to return to some nebulous "glorious past" that never really existed. I'm not trying to deride Toby Fox for not working in the sweatshop hard enough to produce more content™, or whatever you wanna try and spin-doctor this post into. It's just a thought that creeps into my head every now that I wanted to share, see if anyone feels the same, yknow?

Besides it's not all doom and gloom. For those of you OG Homestucks who read till the end. You remember Heinoustuck? Guidestuck? Nightfall? Fucking Ke$haStuck? yeah those are still going by the way! after years of inactivity they've now started back up again. some under new authors and some by the same author but still!

You could say a lot about that but to me at least, it makes me feels hopeful in a way. That, even if not everything will survive. we'll at least have some mementos to remember what came before.

[14dayswithyou]

💖 Slight 14DWY + Blog Changes! 💖

(16/12/23)

Leon will now move away from Corland Bay when he’s 10 years old. Originally, I never really put that much thought into it because it won't be explicitly mentioned in the game, but I figured I might as well make it more accurate now ^^;

Teo is now 26 (instead of 27). Again, zero thought went into this aside from wanting a wider range of ages for the cast — but now I want him to be closer to Jae and Violet’s age — especially considering they were all childhood friends and Violet was in the grade below them.

Elanor is now 30 and Kiara is 29. In the 2017 version, Elanor was originally the eldest sister, but it just didn't feel right to change it in the 2020 version. Day 3 will still be lore accurate, but everything on this blog will need to be retconned.

14DWY Purple (unofficial) will now be changing from #A14BF4 to #9D64FD.

Not a change, but adding more clarification: Angel will still attend university (and Jae and Teo will still be their university friend), but whether or not they enrolled will remain ambiguous! Day 1/2 kinda insinuates that they studied something ("Teo attended some of their classes"), but I wanted it to imply that they could've attended orientation and/or took "mock classes" after high school to see what it's like as well. I may change a few lines in the demo (in the future) to reflect that.

Egg

I'd like to (hopefully) try to remind everyone that whenever I write about Angel on this blog, they are gender neutral. Because if my ass had a dollar for every time someone assumed they were female because of the cutesy/pink themes or how "soft" I made the MC, I'd have enough money to fund voice actors, translators, custom soundtrack, and pay the $100 Steam fee /hj

Changed the crackpot theory tag into an actual tag!! About time sdghjdg

(07/01/24)

Also not a change, but to solidify Haruko's appearance + Ren's likeness a bit more... Haruko is supposed to be an anime character with pink/blue hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. He's a modern day "sorcerer" (a reference to JJK, not a literal fantasy wizard lmao) from an anime called "Attack on Giants" (another reference to "Attack on Titan"); and is very kind, ditzy, and empathetic. All Ren has copied is his hairstyle, vibe, and demeanour. Ren isn't outright cosplaying Haruko, and it'd take an avid anime enjoyer to notice that Ren is attempting to mimic Haruko.

I'll make a poll one day, but I might change Ren's left sleeve tattoo to the spoiler-free placeholder I used in this artwork. A lot of people seem to prefer it, but I'll wait until the poll to make any final decisions.

I might also make another poll to see if perhaps a new BGM theme would better suit the demo. Because in my mind, the "summer/beach location" = acoustic guitar (rather than piano) — and for some reason I get lo-fi vibes from 14DWY??

I don't think anyone has picked up on this subtle shift yet, but Ren will mainly use "he/him" over "he/they" now (since Haruko is a he/him enjoyer 👍). [REDACTED], however, will still greatly prefer "they/he", and will continue to use them interchangeably.

21/02/24 — or search through Obsidian. (Future Sai here.... I have no clue what this means???? What??? T_T)

I'm gonna cut down on the Teo and Ren bullying on this blog (and in general). I don't find it fun anymore, and it genuinely upsets me when people put down certain characters to make others look better (i.e. "Ren has no ass which makes Leon superior >:)" Just say you like Leon... I beg T_T). It also makes me doubt whether Ren is genuinely a good character or not, and it's gross seeing y'all tear down people who genuinely enjoy Teo. Be kind.

(11/01/24)

Eventually, I'd like to turn this meme into an event in the 14DWY Discord to help create an actual landlord for Day 3. The current landlord has always been a meme-y placeholder (I thought the idea would be funny), but looking at how the game is currently, I want 14DWY to be more "serious". The current landlord will eventually be turned into an easter egg!!

Whether or not Jae had bottom surgery will now remain ambiguous. Everyone is now free to headcanon whatever they'd like, so long as it's not offensive or too OOC.

From now on, I'll also try my best to remind everyone that Jae is gay and Kiara is lesbian. I tried not to bring it up frequently because I was afraid it'd come across like "being gay" was their only defining personality trait, but I'm tired of people sending in asks that don't apply to these characters ^^;

I might move all of the curiouscat questions to this blog and archive the account. It's becoming too much of a hassle for me to manage 3+ social media accounts sgkshjj

[evilkitten3]

when you think about it. madara is just. so. niasndladnsndlnls

as soon as he shows up he starts his "can't rely on any of these losers smh" crap and he keeps doing it. he constantly has to do things himself bc his minions are all fuck-ups or have entirely separate agendas or are fuck-ups with entirely separate agendas. and yet

again and again and again and AGAIN he trusts people. not even for good reasons sometimes. he genuinely seems to believe he can't rely on anyone other than himself and yet he repeatedly puts faith in people. some of them are complete strangers

"oh yeah this kid i trapped in my divorce dungeon after replacing half his body with my ex's dna? i'm going to psychologically traumatize him, sell him my identity, and hope he takes care of things while i'm busy being dead for the next couple decades. even tho he has no reason to bring me back, hates my guts, and as far as either of us is aware could probably pull off our masterplan without any more help from me. i am also going to assume that the version of him in his 30s is the same as the teenager version of him i knew even tho not only have i myself been through puberty but also i have firsthand experience of how people can change from when they were teenagers bc my ex broke up with me via literally stabbing me in the back and killing me when i realized our dream wasn't going where we wanted. he knew to go for my back bc i told him it was my weakness as a child. also i don't wear armor there bc i don't usually need it. i'm sure this kid would never do that to oh hey he's stabbing me"

"hey this weird plant zombie thing showed up and said he's an extension of my will or something. i have absolutely no way of verifying this but i am cool as hell so i'm just going to assume it's telling the truth and not using me as a pawn in some greater plan as it is encouraging me to do to others. it would never do that to ah hell in the back again"

"my brother is dead but my only friend who is now my enemy and who is also the older brother of my brother's killer wants to make an alliance even tho our families hate each other and my family also hates me and i also hate me and would rather he just kill me already which is also what everyone else wants. except for him bc we're ninja romeo and juliet but with fascism and if romeo had been able to put aside tybalt killing mercutio and if juliet had instead of drinking poison stabbed romeo to death with a sword. and then tybalt took over the city after she died and made decisions which eventually led to all the montagues except one getting massacred by his shitidiot older brother on a propaganda high. but hashirama would not ever do that to me and if i pushed him to a place where he needed me dead he would surely do it honorably and not in the back and that's a wood clone isn't it"

"hello small uzumaki child that i have not ever spoken to and do not intend to interact with directly i am going to break into your home and steal your eyeballs and replace them with my own significantly cooler eyeballs (they used to be my little brother's so please be careful with them) and you can play around with them while you do my minion/replacement's bidding until you use them to bring me back to life even though this will kill you and you don't even know me and will in fact think that someone else is me anyway and why is this edo tensei wtf do you mean nagato's dead. who the fuck is naruto"

it's like if the "rip to ur grandma but i'm different" meme was a person. and that person was simultaneously the speaker, the person being addressed, and the grandma.

[vdragon-creations]

TMayNT Day 13: Best Don

Day 13 of @tmaynt Prompt: Best Don!

Oh my sweet, how I've waited for this day! It should probably come as no surprise to anyone who fallows me or anyone who saw my Day 1 entry that Donnie is my favorite turtle! Hands down, no contest!

But here comes the hard part. Choosing my favorite! Gunna be honest, it's a very hard decision. Each Donnie has a quality to them that I just adore! Intelligence! I don't like to think of myself as that smart, at least not in the way Donnie is! And I love me some soft nerdy types! And when it comes to personality, it gets even harder to pick, because literally ALL of them are just precious.

87 is smart but a bit of a dork! 2003 is...goals. Sweet, kind, has a tiny bit of spice to him, and still has the skills to pay the bills! 2007, while not having much screen time, is a reliable man.

IDW, tbh, I've yet to read the comics in full, but from what I can see, he seems a lot like a mix of both 2003, 2007, and 87 Don. As in, while he's a little more softspoken then the others, he can still hold his own in a fight! And despite having been through some clearly otherworldly shit, he's a skeptic when it comes to magic. But I love the way they wrote him! (And his death scene still makes me cry! And seeing him still deal with pain from that incident is just *Chef's kiss*!)

2012....well...I don't have much to say about him. Frankly he's my least favorite out of the bunch, and all because the writers really wanted to play fanfic writer and they leaned whyyyyy too hard into the nerd stereotype. Resulting in making him borderline creepy to April. (Not that she's perfect either because goddess on a stick I'm not getting into that today.) The one thing I'll give him is that his sarcasm in this one made his very funny to hear in banter, and I apricate that they were trying to do more then just change the skin colors to make the boys stand out from one another. (But guys...really....the gap in the teeth was just not necessary..)

The Bayverse Donnie was one that had to grow on me a little, cause I'm part of the crowed that thought they looked a bit rough. But I agree that that's kinda the point, they're mutants. They more then likely would be a little rough looking irl. But after aa bit, he does start looking pretty cute anyway! And his voice is on par with 2003, in that he just sounds so sweet! I wanna hug him! (PLUS, THE FUCKER IS 6'8"! I'M 5'3"! And I do have a weakness for taller dudes. Bonus if they wear glasses! :3)

Now, for Rise. I was once part of the Cowaboomer crowed that thought that since RISE was so different from the other versions, it was there for ruined. I've since watched it, and the movie, and if anything, I've proven that I no longer think this way! RISE Donnie tho...he had to grow on me. At first I really didn't like him. His personality was such a stark contrast from all the other versions that it was almost like he was a whole new character! And with the art style of RISE being so different, his design was quite a jolt too. (The eyebrows are...a choice.) But after a while, that smug fucking smile had me feeling a type of way. The way he'd make me laugh was starting to become infectious! And the next thing I knew, I fell for this version too! Pretty hard I might say. And while 2003 Donnie is the sweetest bean to ever grace my screen, RISE became the living definition of the meme "I'm a luxury few can afford!"! And I love him!

After that, we had the batman cross over that brought us another Donnie! Once that I'm happy didn't lean too heavy on the other versions. He looked a little like 2012, but was like a gentle mix or 2003 and Bayverse! He also got a lot more lines and personality in that movie! (As well as a broken arm! RIP)

Then Mutant Mayhem showed up, and oh my god if he isn't the same insufferable anime fan I was when I was a teen! He made me laugh, and was still an adorable little dork!

And then we have Fortnite Donnie, who...i gotta be honest, I don't play Fortnite. So I'm not sure if he or the others get much of a personality or story outside of the same story of the turtles that we all know by now. So i can't judge him based on personality. But...I do like his design. Tho I will continue to say Fortnite had NO RIGHT to make him THAT damn fine!

In the end, I love all Donnies! Some more then others, but they all mean something to me! And it was hard to choose! but in the end, I chose the two that had the most influence on me!

[barrenclan]

I think catabolic seed by the scary jokes is very slugpelt, maybe about her life in general?

Yeah, I think so! I like the themes in this song about trying to take control of your life by reaching out to other people, but getting denied. That's very Slugpelt.

Also, check out this awesome PMV with Catabolic Seed, which I just have to show off cause I love it so much.

"But is bad luck really such a crime? If you won't be my valentine, could you at least give me a little bit of sympathy?"

"I don't care if I'm losing myself in the garden of earthly delights I could drop dead right where I stand, and I wouldn't mind"

You guys always find such interesting songs. I like this one. It's definitely got good Rainhaze energy.

"even through the pain animals cannot change dance with the skeletons and float away"

"eat and then die all your siblings cast aside too"

"see with new eyes a world ready to despise you"

No, no one's recommended this Hannibal fansong yet. But nice call for Ranger talking to Rainhaze!

"So look in the mirror And tell me, who do you see? Is it still you? Or is it me?"

"Do you feel the hunger Does it howl inside? Does it terrify you? Or do you feel alive?"

That's a good classic ask, back from the beginning of the blog. Never forget Christmas music Daff.

"Underground, boxed and glum Left you there for rot All my fears are overgrown Will someone burn this grove?"

"Welcome home! It's been a while Do you miss your head? With your tattered clothes and your bloody nose?"

I LOVE Vulture Culture! That song is great. I've been wanting to do a version of its animation meme for years now with a fandom I'm in. Maybe someday.

It can be a Rainhaze song and a Defiance song. They're so interlinked now, right?

"We live and die in a vulture culture We crucify anyone we hunger Gemini and a broken brother We live and die, my friend"

"Well, I guess I made my bed Now I gotta lie in it Like a suicidal kiss I got a guilty conscience"

BarrenClan is a cursed land!...

"The curse ruled from the underground, down by the shore And their hope grew with a hunger to live unlike before"

"If they called on every soul in the land, on the moon Only then would they know a blessing in disguise"

Asphodelpaw's themesong is a MARINA song, so you're already halfway there! I also agree with you about the idea of Asphodel feeling like she has to put on a strong front and pretend like she doesn't have any genuine feelings.

"It's okay to say you've got a weak spot You don't always have to be on top Better to be hated Than loved loved loved for what your not"

"You're vulnerable, you're vulnerable You are not a robot You're lovable, so lovable But you're just troubled"

What a wonderful title for a song. I also love mashing my OCs into any vaguely related song to them.

"I bid the sunshine adieu! In 1872 When the girl that I liked Made me a creature of the night"

"On the shortest night of the year I told him he’d nothing to fear As I bit his throat and crooned as he choked “Together forever my dear”

I'm certain this song has been suggested before, but that's only because any song from The Crane Wives discography could fit into PATFW.

"He taught me that the hand that feeds Deserves to be bitten when it beats He taught me how to break my chains And that money ain't worth a thing"

"Reminding me how little I have But as for time, as for time It's mine, it's mine"

Poor Pinepaw! He really does know too much, often envious of who he used to be.

...yeah, that's going on the playlist.

"Everything here is built on bones

Everything everything everything

And men will do as they’re foretold

Everything everything everything

Visions you don’t want to see

Everything everything everything

Hide your face from prophecy"

If I'm being real - since this song is so desert-themed, it's giving much bigger Saltburn's Clan energy, especially with the line about "mountain cats". (Blasting beams into the 3 people who read this's head to go read SBC at @nanistar)

If you want my opinion, I would say Slugpelt.

"So, if I can wait five more In this shape that I abhor I'll sleep with an open door Knowing you haven't touched a cell on my body"

"Now, my love carries the task Of handling the aftermath Can you smooth the looping lines Of fingerprints before your time?"

Lol I ran out of video embeds

[bokettochild]

so I noticed that you seem to have never mentioned anything about what the bad guys do in your Opera House au so I thought maybe they are just critics that have big vendettas against the chain and are always looking for things to pick on when they go to their shows? Idk random thoughts you can ignore this if you like *yeets self out of window*

-Window anon

Hmmmm...

I'm going to say that Ganon at least is a business tycoon of a rival company to Flora's father, and while, on one hand, he is actively trying to topple their company for his own gain, there is also the fact that his little sister Riju is constantly undermining him? And he can't even confront her about it because she inevitably manages to distract him with something else (like talking about boys, he is a VERY protective older brother, no you are NOT dating another loser Hylian boy, young lady!). I would't say he's evil, I just think he's rich and has power and doesn't always use it to benefit the people who need it, so it's more that the media hates his guts.

Hmmmm.....basically, if you know anything about American Politics, he's a slightly less horrible version of Trump. Like, if Trump knew that respecting women was possible and good for your health. So yeah, the entirety of the young generation makes so many memes about this guy, and he kinda deserves it.

As for the rest!

Veran and Onyx are Ganon's trusted business partners overseas. They're technically under his mothers' supervision, but they also answer to him. They're not evil, even if they have made it their personal mission between the three of them to get the notorious street artist Sheik and his(her?) little sidekick arrested, mainly just because Sheik keeps leaving street art on their buildings specifically.(Lullaby and Ganon have beef. It's not even big beef, they're just both petty.)

Onyx and Veran also have beef with Legend, not for any good reason even, they just do. He's purposefully annoying whenever he and Lullaby have to be around the three of them, and Ganon genuinely will call off a meeting if he sees Lullaby's pet brat waiting for her.

Then we have Vaati. Vaati is....well, to put it short (pfft), Four's rival. Four is the Mr. Fix-It at the opera but he also dabbles and creates in his own time. Vaati and he met at an expo where Vaati's mentor, Ezlo, took a shine to Four and thus sparked jealousy from his then-student. They're never violent, just extremely aggressively trying to one up each other all the time.

That said, Vaati's actually pretty chill to anyone who's not Four! Although he does tend to flirt with Dot whenever he sees her. His little brother is the opposite: edgy and grouchy to everyone OTHER than Four, although whether that started as a way to piss off his big brother or because he genuinely enjoyed Four's company is yet to be determined. Vaati hates it though, so, either way, mission success!

Zant is just a online troll who likes bashing successful people and tends to target the opera mostly to spite Midna, because he knows her ex and her bestie both work there. The crew actually love reading his posts online though and enjoy laughing at him. He's basically harmless, and while Midna hates it, Twilight loves reading how Zant is going to bash him on any given day.

Yuga is a really shitty art professor at Hilda's art school who likes trying to manipulate her and who Legend and Ravio kinda think is hitting on her. They hate him, she just thinks he's "strange but talented". His art is very unique though, they can't deny it. Ledge signed up to take his class just to keep an eye on him, so Yuga kinda hates his guts now, but also he can't fail him, because Ledge is actually good, so he kinda hates his guts instead and tries to make life difficult for him instead.

As for Cia? She's a fangirl. She's one of the more loud and outspoken fans that Warriors has, and slightly insane? They think? He had to take out a restraining order on her, and she violates it routinely. They don't know what, precisely, was the final straw to make him file for the order, but there is a history of drama there that only newbies don't know not to ask about.

I will say that Octavio is a musician who goes out of his way to point out every flaw or fault the opera has. He could be a critic? Maybe? He's a well regarded musician at any rate and has made his opinions very public. He doesn't damage their reputation a lot, but sometimes he gets on the team's nerves.

Malludus is the ghost that Spirit says is haunting the mechanic shop. He has no proof, he's never seen it, but he swears that it's the reason stuff is always a mess there. Wind's one of the only people who believes him, but he also believes Ravio about the ghosts that the Lorulian says haunt the opera, so....

As for Ghirahim? I'm not sure..... I'm wracking my brain, but I got nothing. Suggestions.

[jannwrites]

tv show ask meme : TRIGUN STAMPEDE (2023). (3/3)

a selection of lines taken from the 2023 anime trigun stampede. quotes taken from the english dub version. modified slightly for rp purposes.

do you care to fill me in?

you heard them crying out, didn't you?

i only want to hear your screams.

no matter how comfortable they might be, chains are still chains.

what are you planning?

let her be your first casualty in our crusade.

all this time and you're still just as useless without me.

you don't get to take anyone else away from me!

must you rip him time and again from me!?

stay away from him!

every time i see your mug you've slaughtered my masterpiece.

i'll figure out a way to save everyone.

the days gonna come when you have to pick a side. i hope you pick right.

you think they'll let me smoke here?

we have more interesting things to discuss.

who should i let live?

you call this "saving?" i'm not so sure i'm convinced.

you! i remember you!

you may have a death wish but i don't.

your morality comes at a price, i see.

i know how they treat you.

they hate you yet you take bullets for them.

my body moves before i can even think about it.

i guess you figured me out.

nothing i did demeaned them in anyway.

who are you to pity the likes of me?

you should hear the way [name] speaks about you.

i did this to you.

the only reason we get to live is because somebody else died.

you're so eager to die.

what did you come here for?

you dare accuse me?

do you now feel you're able to lay down your cross?

i thought more of you.

calm yourself down.

i'm done playing.

remember the vow i made that day?

is all of that necessary?

you promised you would save me.

you think we're better off as monsters than we are dead?

you're no hero who's strong enough to save them.

you won't escape me. not again.

don't lose sleep over it.

and yet again, she gets to you.

comparison is the thief of joy,

did she mean nothing to you all this time?

you have to be curious, too.

i can see why you hate them.

that is but a grain of sand in their desert of misdeeds.

just try. try to have faith in them.

they only loved your tricks. your charm.

misplaced devotion is a trap. i had to save you from it.

everything that i did was for you.

she sold you on excuses and disguised them as love.

no, don't leave me. stay here.

you've finally come back to me.

may caution guide you.

so this is how it ends.

not every day i see you flustered.

have a nice death, [name].

don't you give up on me!

you'll be so much happier if you stay here.

i'm so sorry i left you alone.

it's not over. not until i say so!

if you hadn't shown up, nobody would have died.

your very existence is a contradiction.

you think i haven't realized that yet?

i won't stop until they believe in me.

i'm ready to do whatever i have to. i don't care what happens to me.

i don't think i know you anymore.

how long will you remain the hunted?

i'll run, and i'll run, and i'll keep on running for another lifetime if i have to.

after everything calms down, i'll always go back to their side.

it'll kill you!

i'll win it someday. a home, for you and me.

just know. i'm always watching you.

[cat-of-starlight]

Ok-

In the wake of the new Limbus Brainrot because Canto 4 ended, I've been seeing a certain... Dante related theory... making the rounds again and I wanted to post my thoughts about it.

Putting it under the cut for length reasons- No specific spoilers?, I just don't wanna blast people with the text wall lmao

I gotta say, I really hate the Dante = Ayin theory. Desperately.

Not any hate to the people theorizing- not like that, I just already have a deep hatred of [x person is actually y person]/Reincarnation/etc. theories.

Why, you may ask? Well, in the case of this theory specifically, I have three main reasons.

1 - The vibes of the two characters themselves

Important note, I actually like both characters. I know some people have A Lot to say about Ayin, and honestly so do I (Probably different things but yea), but I generally don't mind him as much as some other people seem to.

I also love Dante.

And Specifically, I'll say- I like them both for Incredibly Different Reasons. Different enough reasons that I feel that mixing the two would ruin them both. I mean sure, Dante CLEARLY has something going on in the memories they can't yet remember, but honestly? Ayin already had his arc. HAD his chance in the spotlight- a whole game of it. I wouldn't mind a cameo, or reason for him to be important in some way, but I'd be crushed if all the reasons I've come to love Dante were smothered by "oops all Ayin"

I feel like it would make it almost... Pointless? "Oh yea this character may have had their whole character arc, but surprise! They aren't REALLY their own person and are instead this dude who already had his character arc!"

2 - They/Them Dante Supremacy™

Now, considering that the meme They/Them Dante post that I made blew up and is now my most popular post on my blog, I think its safe to say where I stand on the Dante's Pronouns part of everything-

I think it would be kind of... dismissive of that to make "Oh yea they were they/them to hide their identity" Because uhhh. Their identity is already hidden. We can't see their face. Literally anyone could have their head taken, a clock replaced, and that outfit slapped on and it generally wouldn't matter-

I feel like it kind of would send the message of "They can only count as they/them because their everything is hidden and we can't tell anyway" which??? No??? Even once Dante's actual head gets revealed, if people start switching calling them to whatever gender they look the most like and the game still uses they/them I'm Going To Bite People.

3 - ??

The least plot relevant, and the most just vibe based is- I just kinda feel like this type of reveal in writing often kinda feels like a cop out? I mean, I'm sure there's probably a well done version of one of these, but I sure as hell haven't found it yet-

I mean, in a BIG city with TONS of characters, there is SO MUCH plot that a character can have, without needing to jump back to a character that they already have. Sure- Project Moon Protags often have a Big Reveal, and its often Shocking- but does it really need to be a rehashed reveal from the first game? "boo he's old news get new material" ya know?

--

Anyway yea. I don't like the theory- Never have from the first time I saw a post about it.

If you like it, feel free to keep on with it- I don't mean this to say "If you theorize this, you suck" or anything, I just keep seeing it, and felt the desire to put my own two cents in~

But yea, keep on with it if you like it? Maybe tag it something specific and I'll just block the tag lmao

[idkanymorefandom]

Here's some things I have to say about the ending of Handplates 🤚SPOILER WARNING! Also this is the end of my HP retrospective and its also not a final draft but I just wanted to share! I love everyone in the undertale/handplates community and I love seeing all this art, edits, cosplay, memes, and fanfics! I know that just because HP ended that all of those things won't go away. Thank you everyone letting me be apart of this community and that you Zarla for creating it.

We’ve had some hints of seeing Zarla’s persona before, especially when we saw Frisk, Gaster and Sans could see them being controlled by Zarla herself. Zarla always mentions how personal Handplates is to her, and how connected the comic is to her experience with playing Undertale. Like how she uses the older version of the game where you have to manually change files to find Gaster and other goner people as a plot point in Handplates. But in the episode “So many others”, we actually get a full fourth wall break and a visual of Zarla drowning in a sea of sorrows but then she reaches for a rope, a rope that turns into a pen. Then we actually get to see Zarla drawing the first episode of Handplates.  Zarla says this to that same episode “I started Handplates during a really difficult time in my life... no matter what happened, no matter how much things felt like they were falling apart around me or I was going to lose my mind or it all was just too much to bear, there’d always be another Handplates comic to do.” This episode nearly made me cry but not just because of the thought that Handplates is going to end. But because I truly have an understanding of being drowned in sadness. Sometimes I feel like I can’t escape. Near the end of my highschool year  and near the end of a friendship, I was in the middle of doing a play. During this is when I started talking to a guy. That guy would see me cry backstage more than once. Things were really hard and I really don't know what I would do if he wasn't in my life right now. I am thankful for all the support I have, especially in my family. 

Someone noted that it's interesting how the ending is more about the reader than Sans and Papyrus. The story has always been about them and yes it is but I also see it this way. Sans and Papyrus are happy and have had their stories told and completed, we've come full circle. So I actually like the story turning out this way, it's definitely not what anyone would have expected. 

The very last episode. The main points of this episode is that Gaster finishes his conversation with Frisk, he ends it with “We can all make choices.” Frisk leaves and it starts to rain. This is the first time Gaster has seen rain in a long time. A raindrop lands on a flower and we see a hint of yellow.

This was the last piece of the puzzle. As I said, the story has been all about Sans and Papyrus getting their happy ending, I think we actually got that a long time ago when Sans and Papyrus got adjusted to their house. And now we have Gaster’s happy ending. Frisk is just a representation of the readers, they are leaving because it's time to go, it's time to end. 

Handplates is a comic that is all about choices. Every single character has choices that they need to make. For Gaster, other choices were right there, free, no one stopping him from choosing them but yet he decided to choose the bad option. People try to better him but he chooses not to listen. He blocks everything out. But remember, that is what Undertale is all about, is you as a player of the game, making decisions, the game's ending relies  on you and the choices you make. Everything is about making choices.

[voxofthevoid]

hello - hope you've been feeling better lately! has anyone asked about nanami × yuuji yet for the ask game? if not, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

I am! Knocking wood each time I say that though.

And nope, no one's asked for nanaita yet! Here we go:

Ship It

What made you ship it?

Their canon dynamic was ridiculously easy to get into. From the initial meeting to the final parting, they had me in a chokehold—still do. Nanaita actually gets the credit for being the ship that made me realize I'm crazy enough about JJK, and Yuuji in particular, to actually write for multiple pairings. With one or two exceptions that were mostly writing experiments, I've never done that for any fandom before.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

I've lost my mind about this before, I think, but I love how indulgent Nanami is of Yuuji, in a way that seems against his own will. Like how he lets Yuuji get away with calling him Nanamin—protests one(1) time and that's that. He's Nanamin now. On a more serious note, I enjoy how their relationship develops rather quickly from one between awkward, slightly clashing colleagues to a partnership/mentorship based on mutual trust, respect, and affection. Plus, I'm a sucker for a good tragedy, and a significant part of what drives me insane about these two is the way Nanami dies in front of Yuuji: the way he smiles so sweetly, those parting words and the faith in them, how it never stops haunting Yuuji.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I don't know whether this is unpopular (again, this isn't a tag I check), but the approach I like to take with Nanami and his desire for Yuuji is essentially a serious version of this meme:

Nanami: I can't believe I'm going to fuck/date a child. His conscience, probably: You don't have to. Nanami: No, I'm gonna.

Oh, and I think Yuuji should fuck that man to sleep. Please, it'd fix them both (it won't).

Ask can be found game here.

[skitskatdacat63]

For your lore a day, I know you’ve made separate portraits of Vettonso but how would they react to a joint portrait? I feel like they’d argue on their poses seeing that their image is important to them

— Penalanon

misc lore drop day 38/?

Ahhhhhhh oh my god penalanon ilysm, thank you for the prompt, I really appreciate it!!! <3  Funny you should ask this specifically though when I'm already dr- no no, spoilers, I shan't. Also, I like how one of the first sketches for this AU was a joint portrait but...it never got past the sketch stage sigh.

You know them so well!! I think they'd debate over every aspect of the portrait, there's just so many crucial elements. Fernando constantly micromanaging the painter, and Seb's like, don't worry he's always like this. Then proceeds to contradict every specification Fernando gave. Though please do note that having joint portraits is very important to them, since they need to portray they’re a very functional, efficient, combined unit. But as you said, it’s tough to decide how to portray themselves. Because Seb is very much: this is an era of peace, let’s look very friendly and magnanimous! And Fernando on the other hand thinks people should be in awe and a bit of terror upon seeing the painting, like wow, I don’t wanna mess with these guys. They can’t figure out whether to wear matching outfits or opposing colors both to represent their kingdoms but also broadcast that they’re very much individuals. Matching colors would represent that we’re a unified front, Seb says. I’d rather die than wear your colors, says Fernando. So they’d have to settle on a midground, maybe neutrals but with special accents for each of them. Okay that’s sorted, what next? 

Oh no, they’re arguing over what color the background and/or seating should be. A neutral, okay okay. Now how do they pose? This is the part where their obsession over image comes into play. They don’t really have to agree on anything jointly necessarily, but you know they'll still snipe at each other. Seb would probably sit all demure, very coy, and Fernando’s like “...are you sure you’re the Emperor…?” Then Fernando sits in a way which he says “exudes confidence and manhood.” But it’s like the most uncouth thing ever, like that meme about “pussy facing the world.” He cares a lot about decorum but he also cares a lot about being front and center, and taking up all the space. Borderline trying to shove Seb out of frame, is this a couple’s portrait or solo, asks the artist. Also you know how when you take group pics, the photographer is like, “now a silly one!!” That's what Seb is constantly trying to pull. Fernando thinks they should be stoic, Seb thinks they should smile, as he said before, it’s an era of peace after all! They see the progress of the portrait after, and are like, “why does Fernando look so constipated, and why does Seb look so mischievous?” So yeah, they have a few kinks to work out before the next painting session. 

Also Fernando would get so annoyed at the fact Seb can't keep a straight face, or keep his pose consistent across multiple sessions. YET Fernando's the one who keeps whispering things to Seb and subtly poking him. And then gets fake annoyed like, "OH MY LORD, SEB, CAN'T YOU KEEP STILL!?" The artist is probably like, don’t worry, I’ve got it down mostly! Seb then pretends to get all huffy and annoyed, and threatens to get up and leave the session. Then they have that iconic wrist-grabbing moment, “No, stay stay Sebastian.” They look at the version of the portrait after that session and start dying together over how it looks like they’re eye-fucking each other. “Hey, no, it shows we get along!!” “We cannot let anyone see this Seb…” Rest in peace the artist who has to start over because that particular work in progress “went missing.”

[butch-reidentified]

I know frequently the “anti terf” people lie about this straight up but sometimes they don’t. Here’s an example where clearly there are links between “disagree with trans ideology due to feminism” < - > “like anything “transphobic” because edgy” < - > “disagree with trans ideology due to trad/mra racist alt right views”

https://www.tumblr.com/ladiablesse/729815657616736257/the-fact-that-this-post-of-all-things-ended-up-on

As fucking typical the right wing n word saying bullshit starts right after https://www.tumblr.com/americanette reblogs it

She doesn’t say it but she does say some mra bullshit about how the real sadness here is men aren’t protecting women as they rightly should 🙄

Then within the next hour here come

https://costcohotdogandsoda.tumblr.com/

(Also with Bible verse in bio)

Saying “average n*gger behavior.”

And https://www.tumblr.com/anew-jackson

Saying ““black men are inherently violent”

radfem 🫱🏽‍🫲🏻 radright”

Where op is still off base is the majority of the notes on her post are actually radfems or adjacent and none of them at all lead to right wing blogs picking it up

Plus of course some people just don’t look at who follows them and of course there are right wing assholes who deliberately try to pick off anyone with the slightest disagreement with the main leftist view.

I can’t blog about issues to do with Palestine for example without a bunch of antisemites following me and trying to convince me to be antisemitic about it. That doesn’t prove my views about Palestine are inherently antisemitic — they very much aren’t. Same for how radfems/gc end up being with attracting a lot of right wing actually-transphobic (and sexist and racist and homophobic) attention.

But please people if you are at all connected to blogs like americanette that shit seriously — taking time to disengage our arguments and discussion in all spaces online and off from the right wing will do more for us than the next 10 gc memes you bother to make and post. Don’t lie, you’ve got the time.

This also isn’t like working with your normie right leaning cousin on abortion because she agrees with you about that. You aren’t making connections here you are being made a patsy to keep you alienated from the left and to keep more women on the left from joining us in an actually revolutionary feminist movement. Right wing people online absolutely know the more they get you to openly connect with them the more they can use that to keep young women in particular away from listening to you about feminism.

Hypothetical you btw I am sending this to a few different blogs because I bothered writing it and don’t have a rf blog to put it on yet. I’m pretty new. Not as a reader but as someone agreeing. I know this works because it worked to keep me away from learning more about rf for a long time. Not the rumor of racism and FAR right wing connections being ignored or celebrated but seeing the evidence. It was actually seeing americanette suggested as a blog within moments of following rf blogs that put me off for another few months. Was there going to be another issue I was forced to sit through racist attacks from “my own” side over?? Seems to be yes but maybe it’s getting better.

so i'm not 100% following here bc i can't see the link at the beginning but i think i got the gist.

the op blocked me so i cannot click the first link but this is an earlier version of the post in question

first: yes racism is a problem among radfems (i've yet to encounter any mixed race environment where it isn't a problem), but i will say i see a bit more effort to combat it here than in most online spaces i've been around. not that that's a high bar, lbh.

tumblr recommendeds should not be trusted, though, and they don't necessarily mean much. the algorithms aren't exactly unbiased. and keep in mind sock accounts to vilify radfems are very real and present, as are troll accounts. i don't know who any of the people you linked to are tho so i can't speak on that, and 2 have me blocked or maybe i blocked them ages ago and don't remember. i do typically block right wing blogs on sight,so it's possible. also it seems some of the stuff you linked to was maybe deleted?

i will say unequivocally that being intentionally "transphobic" in an edgy way is not productive and should not be supported in radfem spaces. we are here to criticize and analyze, not to be outright cruel for the sake of being cruel. many people seem to forget this.

i do not personally know any women here who engages with right wing blogs, even in argument. i'm sure they exist, but not in my sphere - though i don't actually spend very much time online. i think most folks ik on here just block and move on.

as a side note, i used to look at who follows me etc but i have like 3500 followers now bc i've been here a long time and make original posts pretty often, so it is no longer realistic to monitor who's following me - i really don't have THAT kind of time or energy. but if i see someone reblogging from me who's shit, i block. i have no idea what the typical follower count is on radblr but generally speaking, i think people should only be held so responsible for who follows them. making an effort is important, but i don't think it's reasonable to expect everyone to be online enough to thoroughly check all their followers.

as for this^ this stuff is said deliberately to get a reaction from radfems and/or to discredit us. unless a radfem im blocked by or have blocked said so in the notes, i didn't see anything implying "black men are inherently violent." this kind of post is usually making shit up to antagonize radfems or misrepresent radical feminism as an ideology. this is not to say there's no radfem who believes wildly racist bullshit like that - in fact, i'm confident there are, since they're everywhere. it's just not at all a staple of radfems like this implies.

but yes, bottom line, radblr is far from immune to racism, but isn't the worst i've seen either, and things like "recommendeds" or shitty people reblogging from radfems should be taken with a grain of salt as neither of those inherently indicates an endorsement from the rad blog connected to the incident, if that makes sense. my brain is mush rn after driving 4 hours.

[outoftheirdifferences]

(For the mun questions meme! Have you ever written a canon muse that you first thought of ‘meh’ when they appeared in their canon show/movie/book? Who is your favorite OC? Have you ever developed a ship based on writing with a certain other character / mun?)

Questions for the mun.

Have you ever written a canon muse that you first thought of ‘meh’ when they appeared in their canon show/movie/book?

Hm. I want to say definitely, I'm sure I remember doing that... but it took me a while to actually place any characters who match that definition. I think a couple of main examples would have to be, firstly, Janja (Lion Guard), who I played on one site for a little bit; I hadn't found him a compelling character at all when I'd watched the show, but decided to try him there for whatever reason and found him surprisingly fun to write as.

The other would probably be Flutt.ershy (ML.P). I mean, granted, I kinda first thought "meh" about the entire show when I first learned about it and only started watching it because someone told me that I was most like Twilight out of the cast so I got curious; but I know Flutt.ershy took me longer to warm up to than any of the others. Then at some point she abruptly grew on me (was it because of a certain episode that made me like her more? I honestly don't remember) and - after previously only having written her Discord-corrupted mean version as a joke character once - I played as her on several sites in rapid succession because of that!

Who is your favorite OC?

Of my own OCs... I think I know who everyone's probably expecting me to say, since Lauren's the only OC I have on this blog. But honestly I think the answer has to be Cinnamon, from my doggie characters story idea. Cutie little mail delivery puppy who's super serious about her job but also a big sweetheart, I just love her so much :D

Have you ever developed a ship based on writing with a certain other character / mun?

Oh, for sure. I know for just one example, Margo / Antonio (Desp.icable Me) was one. I started Margo's blog absolutely convinced that I was never going to play any such relationship between the two after the way he ditched her in canon... and yet, interacting with this one Antonio roleplayer, bouncing them off each other, I just really came to love the dynamic we were building; and by the time she reached the point of forgiving him when he was genuinely regretful, I was fully on board shipping it! (Albeit only with that one mun; writing with anyone else who portrayed the character would definitely have had to start from step one all over again.)

I mean, come to think of it, that was where my absolute OTP Patch/Angel ship came from too! I'd never even considered the characters together before they began bouncing off each other with Patch's first player on that one site; but even though I was still VERY much a RPing newbie at the time, and I would cringe to look back at those posts now, every interaction the two of them had made me fall in love with them as a pair. Thirteen-and-a-half years later I'm still shipping them, so you could say it definitely left an impression on me! xD

[generalherasyndulla]

the bingo meme but exclusively villains from visual novels

SO to keep this simple I'm sticking to one villain per VN and I'm being strict in what I even define as a VN (so no danganronpa, zero escape, aini or ace attorney. although if anyone WANTS my opinion on character from those series my askbox is open)

That said except for a few exception most VN villains (at least from VNs I've played are kinda uhhhhh boring) so don't expect much interesting ANYWAY let's begin under the cut

Takano from Higurashi

You know you'd think I'd have more to see about Takano but like I don't. She's a good character and she works WELL within Higurashi but like I don't particularly love her, that said I also don't hate her. I even get why other people love her she doesn't really click for me in a way that other villains or even in a way that other higurashi characters do. She's a great character just not a blorbo at least for me.

Bernkastel from Umineko

Starting to realize this is gonna become repetitive because once again I like Bern, but most of this doesn't really apply to how I feel about her. She's good I like her character, but that's as deep as that goes.

Mitake Toujirou from Ciconia

So Ciconia is not complete yet so thoughts COULD change but for now GOD this man sucks but in an interesting way so far. I think the contrast between him seemingly being a doting and embarrassing father (in a society where parenthood isn't even a thing anymore) and being the kind of person who would just control his child's body to murder one of his friends makes for a very hateable dude. We don't know much about his motives yet but what we do see so far fucking uhhhhh sucks

Rikako Uematsu from Raging Loop

So I have mixed feelings on this one. Because on the one hand, Rikako is one of the only interesting characters in Raging Loop that has some form of depth. On the other hand that depth is underwritten within its narrative and is very grossly and unnecessarily sexualized. And even then she's made sympathetic and redeemed in a way that doesn't really work at least for me. Then again a lot of Raging's Loop's ending doesn't work for me AT ALL. I do think it's funny that there's like only one route she wins because she's just really bad at making her plan succeed. The concept of a failgirl villain is conceptually funny so she has that going for her!

Aimee Joubert The House in Fata Morgana

So Fatamoru is one of those series I'd argue doesn't really have a main villain. Like sure Morgana takes an antagonistic role in the game but like the whole point of its final door is to save her, and is about how even the men she cursed who did horrible things to her are still people and not complete monsters. Aimee however is only in Michel's chapter and is just an unlikeable person who tortures Michel because she can and has zero redeeming qualities. The backstage extra of fatamoru even call her the most evil woman in the game and yeah I agree she sucks SO much but that's the point.

Kimijima Kou from Robotic;sNote

Shout out to Kimijima for being them most memorable and interesting villain in the entire sciadv series. There's really one other sciadv villain I'm gonna talk about her but like purely going off of canon Kimijima is the best written villain. It's hard to really talk about him since what works about him is the plot twist that he actually is a villain but it works really well! He sucks but he's fun to hate. A solid villain for a deeply underrated VN

Wakui from Chaos;Child

So there's not a really a lot of Wakui in canon and he's not even well developed or anything. BUT as you the bitch asking this question know we have talked a LOT about chaos;child and various headcanons and I'm just attached to our version of Wakui that we expanded canon off of so I appreciate him because of that (and the dog that we decided he definitely has)

Maya from Slow Damage

There are technically other characters I could have chosen for Slow Damage but I think Maya is the most interesting of the Slow Damage villains. Sure she's dead before the start of the VN but she really just haunts the game, especially in Fujieda's route, as the awful manipulative person who tried to groom her son into being just like her. She's vile and will gladly hurt others to achieve what she wants, including Towa but she's not just a one-dimensional hate-sink. Towa finding her diary does help give more depth to her in a way that doesn't remotely excuse her actions or tries to redeem her. In fact it's just an effective to show how she has failed because Towa is not like her. He's not alone like she was and he never will be. (and god slow damage is SO fucking good y'all.)

Alphard from 428 Shibuya Scramble

Alphard is such a FUN villain I don't have much to say about her if only because she's more of a plot twist villain BUT the reveal is done SO well and she has SUCH a presence when the reveal happens too. She also kinda wins at the end which is fascinating and really sells the whole brilliant criminal mastermind thing. Even when she loses she wins!!! Also I haven't watched the anime spinoff yet but whatever the fuck is happening with Canaan is probably gay so good for her. She sucks but also we love a girlboss!

Shuu from Hatoful Boyfriend

Yeah I can't justify anything here I just really love Shuu he sucks SO much but also he genuinely doesn't know any other way of being. Sometimes you fuck up EVERYTHING because you're gay and thought genocide was the best way to help a child???? Literally there is SO much wrong with him and I love that for him <33 Also his human design is kinda hot so there's that going for him too.

Ryouta from Lucid9

He sure is a murder man and that's about it really. He sucks but he serves his purpose in the game well so. meh

Toue from drammatical murder

It's been years since I played dmmd and all I remember about him is his line about being able to "stylishly and drammatically murder someone" that's never fucking elaborated on. the fuck was he talking about????

Monika from doki doki literature club

My opinion on ddlc is mainly that it's fine for what it is but Monika's a pretty good character within it not gonna lie. Idk I have a soft spot for her and she makes me :)

Inubushi Keiko from Remember11

Wow a serial killer with DID how groundbreaking :/ Tbh the only interesting thing about her is that she's involved in the whole body swap through time thing so sometimes she is possessed by a fucking baby and a real woman who is freezing to death and ultimately dies. Idk she doesn't do much for me and as a character herself shes one of the weaker aspects of remember11

and that's all I could think of VN villains (besides some sciadv ones I left out because eh sciadv villain are mostly boring). Enioy whatever this is :)

[a-student-out-of-time]

Tbh, I do agree with your theory about David being the blackened of this chapter, only because he can't really 'do antagonistic things' from here on out. People say he was set up to be a rival character, but now that everyone knows he's a manipulative scumbag, he can't manipulate anyone in the future. So I can't really see how he can be an antagonist other than just being a pain in the ass for Teruko (and everyone else ig) cause I really don't think you can manipulate someone that knows you are manipulative. I don't even want to say he's extremely well written, nor do I want to say he's poorly written cause it's only been 15 minutes that we've seen this 'new David'. Don't get me wrong, I do think there is more to him than just 'lmao I'm evil' but if people think that he's going to be the main rival? Nah. We already have Teruko playing both the protag and antag

//The thing about opposition to my theory that really perplexes me is that people will say "We can't predict where the story is going" (yes we can), but then they'll fall back into the same formulaic tropes as old DR for characters, like David being the rival.

//Except, as you've pointed out, nobody is ever going to trust David again after this. You're right, we've only seen a fraction of this version of the character here, so it's hard to say what he's really like, but even just from a logical perspective, I don't think he really could serve as a good rival.

//Even with characters like Kokichi or Nagito, who nobody in-story liked, they still served a thematic role as a continuous part of the narrative. Some people forget Nagito wasn't just the funny meme man, he was an antagonistic force that represented the polar opposite of Junko: someone being so obsessed with hope that he was willing to kill for it. That came to a head when he found out he and everyone save Chiaki were all despairs.

//Same with Kokichi, who was the walking epitome of a liar and thus was the total opposition to people like Kaede, Shuichi and Kaito. While he was usually just a gremlin for most of the game, he wound up poking holes in their camaraderie and nearly drove the survivors past the despair event horizon in Chapter 5. And ultimately, he played a role in bringing the game to its end by revealing it was all a lie.

//Even Byakuya served an effective rival role because he was clearly far more invested in the game and outmaneuvering everyone else, while Makoto and Kyoko were far more focused on trying to put a stop to it before everyone died. He finally got the picture after Sakura's death, especially when it was made clear his inability to comprehend sacrifice or altruism nearly got him and everyone else killed.

//They all had a major role in the story which counterbalanced that of the protags. They were in thematic or ideological opposition and could challenge them on some level.

//By contrast, Teruko and David already share many of the same views. They're both distrustful and have a low opinion of others, only looking out for themselves. The difference is that, while Teruko keeps to herself, David uses people to get what he wants. Yet both of them are ultimately resigned to their fates from the sound of it.

//Instead of a rival, I think David would serve a better role as a foil for Teruko. She gets to see the logical outcome of her choice not to trust others, leading her down a path of nihilistic fatalism and misanthropy, where all she cares about is protecting what she has. When you lose that, you have nothing left and you no longer care.

//David is everything she could become, but if this trial goes where I believe it might, him being the Blackened would be a major object lesson for her.