#i may not do well on dps but. we Will Not die

[leowifefang]

isurd <3333333 the guy ever..........

[evilminji]

Behold! o/ The Face Of Benevolent Evil!

Mr. Principle! A professional hero and educator!

Also possibly some sort of stoat hybrid! Certainly a chimera of Japanese fauna! With the Quirk High Specs, he is one of, if not THE, smartest beings on the planet of which he resides! With a background perfectly justifying a decent into hatred and villiany, he instead chose to channel his incredible world shaking intellect into the shaping of future generations!

He likes to fuck with people!

For FUNSIES~☆!

What can he say? It keeps a man young and mentally stimulated! Plus the hysterical screaming of his staff and students is HILARIOUS. He can even argue it makes for good reaction training! Unforseen situations, children! React!!! *psychotic chortling*

Mmmmm, yes. We all have our trauma responses. Ways we deal with them. He should probably find other means... but he won't! Tea and tormenting the student body make for good future heroes, you know! They adapt!

But! You may ask! Why am I introducing you to this... *polite yet somehow deeply threatening smile* c-completely sane and normal individual!? Esteemed educator that he is! Ha ha...

A good and not at a under threat question!

Villains? Are fuuuuuckin STUPID!

Doesn't matter how many PHDs you possess! In fact! That makes it WORSE! You moron! You absolute fool! No traveling circus would have you, you sub-rate CLOWN of a jingle jangle dunce jester! You have a god damn PHD! Possibly MULTIPLE PHD!

And you thought "ooooh I should go into cwiiiiime~☆"?

Do you hear yourself when you talk? DO YOU?! Ooooh boohoo. They won't let you study what you WANT to study. It's called an ETHICS BOARD. And YEAH, NO SHIT! Maybe get over it and keep you fucked up fantasies to your SELF.

Or? If you REALLY can't hold it in? Lay the ground work like EVERYONE FUCKING ELSE! You're not special! Everyone wants to play god! It's FUN! They let you have the COOL toys! But you have to EARN that shit! Not jump straight from graduation to "fucked up superscience"!

And? If it's NOT the Ethics Board? But just some bureaucrat on a power trip? You don't have to fucking STAY. This? This RIGHT HERE? Is why I-Island fucking EXSISTS.

APPLY.

They are SO MANY countries you could move too. SO MANY other labs. You actual DUMBASS.

But NO! You decided to commit to a fucked up underground Villian Lab. As though HUNTING THOSE isn't the PERSONAL fucking passion project of THE SMARTEST BEING IN JAPAN. Frankly? You deserve this. You deserve this and our school doesn't know you. Never heard of you. You whoms't?

Coulda changed the world. But instead all you did was piss of The Fuzzy White Demon Lord of UA. Rest in pieces. *click*

*sound of doors smashing open*

*violent Raid Upon Your Labs noises*

But! You may ask? What's IN the Lab?

What MAKES this a DP crossover?

I like your question asking spirit! Good one! And the answer? You know what's better then ONE(1) Nedzu? A second one that you can ACTUALLY control this time! After all! You could consider Mr. Principle a prototype. A proof of concept, if you will. If you were able to make ANOTHER.....

Well, you would set off EVERY. SINGLE. ALARM. Nedzu has set up!

All of them!

Because he don't PLAY THAT.

He has long last trauma from the labs and is the SOLE FUCKING SURVIVOR. There WERE others. They Did Not make it. And their slow agonizing deaths are carved into his brain for the rest of his life. Truely "The living shall envy the dead"; it was a place that made hell seem merciful.

When he declare Never Again?

He fucking MEANT Never Again. He will BURN your empires to ash, with you in them. No More Labs.

So :) You can IMAGINE :) HOW HAPPY HE IS :)

That someone out there is trying to RECREATE his SUPER traumatic childhood, on ANOTHER CHILD. Ha ha! Gonna be a second Nedzu huh? Planning to torture HIM like you did me, HUH? Shove him in a cage and treat him like an animal? Force him to watch as the others die? Collars and whips and cattle prods? Mazes?!

Nedzu may lose his shit.

Juuuuust a little bit.

But if anyone there knows what good for them? They saw NOTHING. What's a little PTSD flashback between friends? Now what is the baby?

Smashcut to said baby!

Because it was a TEAM effort, Danny was successful in "Nuh Uh!"ing out of Rulership. But NOT out of governance. Since he DID help. He's a Councilman now. It's? Not as bad as it could be, honestly. Since it's opened the Zone up to a more democratic system.

Still held by "kick the ass of the person you wanna replace" but still!

Babysteps.

Thing is? There was apparently this weird? Leak? Like a couple hundred years ago, in this one area, that was never addressed. Everyone just moved their doors and stuff. Treated it like the floors flooded. But now that they HAVE someone to complain too?

They all want their territories back.

"Go fix it!" What are we? Janitors?

Danny looses the rock, paper, scissors competition. He's pretty sure Boxy cheated. But like? Dude has a kid to go home too, so Danny doesn't fight him to hard on this. Uuuuuugh. Just remember the Spider-Man motto. Great power~ blah blah blaaaah~

And? Wow is it fucked out there.

The whole PLANET has to be limnal as FUCK. Yikes.

Problem is? When he and his team (Because YES, he HAS learned from his mistakes, Jazz.) get close to the... frankly the Zone here looks like distorted spiderwebbing. With him leading the charge, obviously.

....something happens.

It's... it's not a portal. Wrong color. It's like someone USED the weird spiderwebbing effect to... to reach INTO the Zone? But they are severally Limnal. Clawed hands, blue tint. But that's not the problem.

No, the problem.

The Horror.

The thing that his team can only watch on in agonized terror as it plays out... is that hand? It shoots out of nowhere. Ghostlike in the Zone. Meaning it must be living. And PLUNGES directly into Danny's chest to wrap around his core.

Time seems to slow.

He can't even scream in pain. At the violation. His team, acquaintances, yes, but friendly ones. Can not even cry out in horror, as they watch their friend and team lead be butchered before them. Before that uncaring hand is ripping back. Perfect ice and starlight in its uncaring grip.

For a terrible moment... he is in two places at once.

Then he is crushed in a burning grip. Like molten bars. Watching his own body dissolve into nothing in an instant, pain and horror still etched upon his face. The beginnings of screams ripping from his team as they jerk away from the nightmarish threat.

Then he can not think at all.

He... he TRIES. Knows he has been captured. Is certainly not the sort to give up easily. But... he's so tired. His body feels? Weird. Not wrong, per say. It's HIS. But... small and weird. Like he's shape shifted into a new form and hasn't adjusted yet.

....

.......

...........

He's getting really sick of all the goop against his whiskers and in his ears. It feels WEIRD against his fu- WAIT a second... did those assholes shove him into an animal? Why?! To contain him? Ha! Jokes on them! He's DONE THIS before!

For FUN!

He once spent a whole ass summer as a tiny dragon just 'CAUSE!

Unfortunately, said assholes notice him waking up. Dump him in a glorified hamster cage. But like.... a SHITTY "I don't care about the pet I bought" hamster cage. Dude. And he's naked.

Is that Japanese? Ooooh! It IS! Thank you, Tucker's Weeb phase.

......actually, never mind. Lotta dehumanizing language there, my guys. What is this? The GIW international? You couldn't even give me PANTS? Swear to God, call me an "it" ONE more time and the next time I have to go? I am going to aim through the bars at your-! *alarms going off*

....wasn't me.

I mean, be all means, ha ha and get fucked, but? Wasn't me. Oh hey! Some one exploded the doo-

AND? In Lab 4?

Nedzu finds a child with fluffy, ungroomed black and white fur, and the curious yet cautious eyes of a survivor. They are the most magnificent green, pale and luminous they glow in the laboratories lighting. Paws too big for his small frame, delicate ears on the swivel, equally large. Yet to grow into either. Adolescent, at best.

He watches the child take him in. Note his features and the chaos behind him. The injured scientist under his feet. Come to him conclusion. Nedzu will not rush him. Now that he... he stand the chance to be the hero he himself never had. It is a strange feeling. At once cathartic and unbearably painful.

He is given the equivalent of a cheerful grin, as the lad points the the lock on the cage. Is asked if he happened to bring a spare pair of pants. He can not help his amused chortle as he makes quick work of the lock. The unbearable RELIEF he feels.

He... he was not too late.

These monsters had no chance to crush the boy's light. To make a monster of him, like they did with him. He survived his laboratory, his hell. But not all of him left that terrible place. He knows that. Some innocence, some goodness, died alone in the dark. But here? He insured there would be no chance.

With amusement, he watches the boy turn the lab upside down until he finds spare scrubs. Triumphant, he then considers his own, tiny claws. Dismisses them. Attempts to hop up on a chair to retrieve something sharp. It? Is unbearably cute. To watch him rip and shred, problem solve. His little mind churning away. Whiskers twitching as his eyes dart around, considering his options.

Nedzu offers one of his spare knives.

Watches him light up.

Adorable~

@legitimatesatanspawn @hdgnj @nerdpoe @babbling-babull @lolottes

[krossan]

So here is the THING...

People often wonder why Dan is my favorite character and the “built-in-character” I often create for him. Most of these questions came after one of my favorite mini-story-panel of Phantom grieving his sister’s grave. I’m refering to this one:

Comments like “why Phantom SHOULD be grieving his sister if he was the one who killed them in the first place?” Well, for this essay, I hope I can change your perception and mind of what truly happen but SPOILER: HE WASN’T THE ONE WHO KILLED THEM. What a shocker. Why I came up with that conclusion, you ask? Let’s dive in with some information given to us in the show and how MADDENING stories that involve time-traveling are.

For starters, I HATE TIME-TRAVEL. I feel like tiime travel is like a simple excuse to misdirect the reader into thinking “Oh, that happened so I shouldn’t think much from that.” TUE is backed up from that which is infuriating to me and how the episode developed itself doesn’t make too much sense. I’m going to leave a quote mention on the DP wikia of exaclty what im talking about:

THIS right here is one of the MOST MEGA FLAW of the show itself. Yes. We know the events that led to Dark Danny was Danny cheating on the C.A.T. and then the NB explosion happen. But DAN DIDN’T CAUSE THE EXPLOSION! Dan didn’t trap his family just to blew up. Dan was out of the equation!

Erase from your minds the fact that Dan was involved on Danny’s timeline for a second and rewind things a bit. It is impossible for Dan to caused that because DAN DID NOT EXIST YET. The events were just about to unfold. For us to follow Dan’s timeline, Danny had NEVER talked to VLAD abt it. He NEVER had any sort of GUIDANCE to prove that he cheating on the C.A.T. was the thing that caused all of it. As the quoted statement of the DP wikia says: maybe what transpire in the Nasty Burger was a COMPLETELY different event that let to one of the boilers to blow. What if- this particular event- maybe the observants send someone else to put a stop to Danny (this also bringing the fact why Clockwork-in a way-is mad at them and you can feel this hatred towards them. And of course as stated by himself, the observants can only see one outcome while Clockwork can see variables.) Now, imagine the loss Danny may have felt after that unprecedented explosion. He had nowhere to go... and so the rest of Dan’s story begins. The only reason why Dan traveled back in time was because he knew this “Danny” from this alternate timeline had guidance from Clockwork. He new that if he cheated, a catastrophy would occur and he would do ANYTHING to prevent it... that was the GUIDANCE Dan NEVER HAD. HE HAD TO WITNESS HIS LOVED ONES DIE.

DAN NEVER HAD THAT “SECOND CHANCE” CLOCKWORK GAVE TO DANNY. OF COURSE DAN WILL BE BLOODY MAD ABT IT. -“I LOST MY FAMILY SO YOU MUST SUFFER THE SAME WAY”

But the overall ending of the episode feels stupid. Like after Danny speaking to Vlad and Clockwork and HE HIMSELF witnessing what was the cause for his family to die... Even if Dan succeded (which may I remind you Dan DID win but Clockwork had to interviene/cheat)

WHY WOULD DANNY GO BACK TO VLAD, GET RID OF HIS HUMANITY... AND BOOM! Have yourself another Dan.

The reasonable explanation to this is, again the OUTCOME.

What if on this case, if everyhing happened the way it was Danny now wanted his ghost to be removed because of the potential risks Phantom had.

He may have became Dark Danny but maybe a different one. One different from the one we all know.

This is my ranting of putting myself on Dan’s shoes for a moment. I hate time traveling episodes just so that they can just “go with it and make a mess out of the story but hey... it’s a cartoon, kids are not going to question anything”. You probably say that I’m overthinking this whole situation but I was once a writer and it is too frustating to me this type of subjects are just not fully solved.

Now with all this, Can you look at the panels and its meaning the same way now? Can you look at Dan the same way?

[one-additional-time]

Daft Punk in Chronic'art 2007/2008 - scans & translated interview

Here it is, the long-awaited monster interview that sat untouched on my bookshelf for 6 years. I bought this magazine on eBay in 2017, fresh off the Grammys performance with The Weeknd, and I was really excited when I realized it was a huge 10 page spread... Until I started translating and realized the content was extremely in-depth and complicated. So, it got put to the side and accidentally left there for many years.

Anyway, here we go. Buckle in for a long read! Please note that I did not translate the extra sections of the article titled "Discovered" and "Very Disco" as these are just basic information about DP's discography and samples they've used- they are not part of the interview.

My usual disclaimer- I am not French, nor am I fluent in French, so some of this may be incorrect or interpreted differently than the author intended. If you find any glaring errors, my ask box is open for feedback and I can update the post/files as needed. (Post updated May 2023 with corrections)

Feel free to repost to other platforms/social media sites, but I humbly beg that you link back here or give me credit because I really spent a lot of time slaving over this (like 50+ hours).

Thank you so much for sticking around my blog after so many years. I really appreciate this fandom and community and I'm excited to experience new music with you all soon!

(Trigger warning for discussion of suicide [Electroma] in the interview!)

Download full scans and translation at my Dropbox.

Full translation below the cut.

In ten years, from Homework in 1997 to Alive 2007 and Electroma, the electro duo Daft Punk have popularized electronic music, launched fads (the French Touch, filtered house, monumental live shows), and transformed a simple music project into a verifiable universal, even metaphysical, concept. Are Daft Punk dropping the helmets?

BY: WILFRIED PARIS & OLIVIER LAMM | PHOTOS: © MAUD BERNOS

SCANS AND TRANSLATION BY STEPH @ ONE-ADDITIONAL-TIME.TUMBLR.COM

(Please see the downloadable PDF file for translation notes/comments)

Everyone has been hearing about Daft Punk for the last two months, because their live CD (Alive 2007, from EMI) and the DVD of their robotic road-movie Electroma are being released for the holidays. We wanted to go a little bit beyond the obligated promo, and the repeated wooden language found in all the media, by trapping Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo for an hour and a half in a restaurant in the Latin Quarter, subjecting them to questioning, and if possible, making them drop the helmets a little bit, over ten pages and many questions.

We’re not going to harp on what you already know (the French touch, the robot helmets, the live pyrotechnics), we’ll just say that we wanted to do this thorough interview with Daft Punk because they’re more than a CD or a DVD, more than music, more than any current pop group. They are an essential symbol of our post-post-modern times, speaking in a very clear yet always paradoxical voice (between hedonistic joy and profound existential sadness) on the human condition, no less. Over the ten years of their career (Homework, like Chronic’art, again, decidedly, appeared in 1997), Daft Punk have invented a new way of presenting music to the world. The robot helmets reveal (social uniformity) more than they cover (buried humanity) and have given them perfect anonymity, which seems like the anonymity of those who succeeded, not in annihilating the self, but becoming self-less. This anonymity accentuates the dominance of the art over the artist, and it has made Daft Punk a universally well-liked and famous group.

A conceptual, pop, philosophical, even metaphysical group, Daft Punk mixes Andy Warhol (seriality, pop art, emptiness) and Friedrich Nietzsche (the man who wanted to die in Electroma, the superhuman for and against technology), mass culture (disco, Albator, Star Wars) and esoteric symbols (the masonic pyramid), the dancing body and thinking brain. In that respect, they are a purely manufactured product of our culture and likely represent the completion of the pop figure began by the Beatles: fragmented culture (the sample) and repetition, theatricality and abstraction, universalism and experimentation, technological innovation and advanced marketing, refusal of the embodiment and worship of the personality…

The current tour (Alive can also mean “en vie”) also refers to an interstellar voyage, like Discovery and Interstella, which seemed to mean that humanity is, by nature, dispossessed, that humans do not belong on Earth but came from Heaven and are destined to return there, that they are “stardust.” They themselves [Daft Punk] are probably not aware of the symbolic and almost metaphysical significance of their creations, and they always prefer to talk about “emotions” rather than thoughts, the heart instead of the head, and they act as the “guinea pigs” for their own experiments. Listening to them, we realized that Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo do not really theorize their work, their music, or their image, but that they react to the infinite accumulation of data from our culture of abundance, that they are indeed the guinea pigs of an experience that has outrun them, marionettes played by “high culture,” pop culture, and the entertainment industry. Maybe Daft Punk really are robots, and no one is pulling the strings, certainly not them.

Chronic’art: Between Homework, which would correspond to your schoolwork or your learning phase, Discovery, which would represent your adolescence, the discovery of the world, microscopic to macroscopic, and Human After All, a moment of reset before a new cycle, it seems to us like you have come full circle, which would be represented by the mirroring of your two live albums, in 1997 and in 2007. Could you have scripted your career?

Thomas Bangalter: It’s strange. We have never written out any part of our career, because even ten years ago we didn’t think we would do this for a long time. After the fact, without having planned it, we realize more that we had sort of reset prior to the live show from 2007. For us, these concerts, this tour, this CD, they are more of a new step than a conclusion. We had not done concerts for 10 years, and there was something very exciting about doing things that weren’t technologically possible when we started. With the last live, we wanted to produce something original, that could predict what might become the norm of tomorrow. We know that we’ve done certain things in the past that were five years ahead of their time, and we are happy to be trying something no one else has done right now. We feel like, during each album, we’ve started back at zero and have had to create a new process, even if it’s true that there is a consistency which emerges in the straight line of our career. But this consistency is not defined a priori, we just emphasize working on projects that can become sort of a realignment of everything we’ve accomplished until now. Interstella was consistent with Discovery, the live show was consistent with our third album compared to the two previous albums, but each step represents, in the moment, the desire to start a new cycle. As for Human After All and Electroma, they’re about something darker, less celebratory… Maybe the live show is a loop; our record label released a Best Of last year, but the concert itself and the way we worked on it is more a way of combining things and expressing them in a new way, rather than celebrating a sort of anniversary or something from the past. We definitely didn’t want to give people the impression that they were in 1997, in a continuation of past music: we instead wanted to give them the chance to feel like they were really in 2007.

During the live shows, you mix together your own tracks, referencing and quoting yourselves. It’s like being simultaneously and precisely between 1997 and 2007, as if the past and the present were merging. All of your songs evolving in a sort of loop…

T.B.: It’s almost the third generation of sampling: us sampling ourselves. At the same time, it’s like having created a universe and an aesthetic that is more than the music, or that the music isn’t actually a central vector. Our approach isn’t at all demonstrative, it’s entirely sensory. There isn’t another message to understand. That being said, there is a desire for cohesion, to make sure that each element added to the structure resonates with the others, with the little mythology that governs this universe. It’s a bit like in a video game, each new element opens a new level in a new environment rather than replacing an older element. We wanted, for example, to break these things with Human After All, but in the end we realized that the album was very cohesive in the continuity of our work.

There is a very strong sense of nostalgia, mixed with a strangeness, in the timeless juxtapositions listeners are subjected to in the tracks. They seem to be complementing and responding to each other, as much musically as thematically… 

Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo: It’s especially very exciting to see that twelve or thirteen years after our first maxi, our music has not aged too much. There is a sense of nostalgia1, but it still works in the present, and it’s very strange to see that we can mix four tracks from four different eras simultaneously, and not a single one kills the mood. Right after we started making music, we were seeking timelessness. It’s the same with Electroma. At our core, we are fans of timeless things. If you listen to the Beatles, aside from their very first period which is a little bit stuck in the past, you notice that time doesn’t touch their music. We are following that: we are trying to move through time without getting stuck in it. In the same way, we are trying to make sure that our music can be listened to by a lot of different people, without having to worry about languages or genres.

The Beatles were, for that matter, the first group to reference themselves, for example in All You Need is Love, where John Lennon sings She Loves You… 

G-M.H-C.: We don’t compare ourselves to the Beatles, either… 

T.B.: The idea is constructing a cohesive universe from a series of spontaneous attempts. If you watch Star Wars, people don’t seem to come from when the film was made. It’s as if the 70s have no effect on the film’s universe. Its atmosphere is its own, even if mixes a lot of things together. For about five or six years we have tried not to let the times we live in make an impression on us.

You are very privileged to be in a time when everything moves so fast, or everything ages so fast, right in the middle of acceleration. For example, you did a massive world tour without having an album to promote… 

G-M.H-C.: The day before the first concert of the tour, at Coachella, we were terrified, we weren’t sure of anything. Every time we try something new, we start back at zero.

T.B.: It’s the live show that sparked the craze, I think, truly. The success was really unintentional. Separate from that, being immersed in a certain underground before our first album taught us a lot. We’ve seen all the trends come and go—jungle, speed garage, electroclash, new rave, French touch, revival—and we are really surprised to have slipped by all of that. We didn’t want to be specifically concentrated on music, we only released three albums in 15 years, and we had a lot of luck. The legitimacy of our music, the future of our music lives in the combination of different forms of expression, the scope of influences, the mixing of techno with funk, with metal, the intermingling of rules and cliches. A lot of important decisions have been roughly made; also by means of spending time solidifying this roughness in order to share it. In fact, electronic music, in the 90s, put you in a state of experimentation, urgency, innovation, it literally prohibited you from repeating yourself. Electronic music was still very elitist, because it was expensive—you had to go to the library to find out about these musicians, you had to go to Beaubourg to make photocopies of books on filmmakers, you had to go to small shops to buy old drum machines. We know what changed, we’re familiar with the saturation that followed. We were also lucky because actually there wasn’t much of that happening when we started out.

The permanence of Daft Punk is also really linked to your image. People don’t only dance to your music, they dance with your personas, with the robots, like you predicted the fatal characteristic of the embodiment of rock (John Lennon, Kurt Cobain). With your robot helmets, you have made the entire process of love, requisition, and the sacrificial reclaiming in your place impossible. You come across as impersonal and therefore verifiably impossible to sacrifice. Not gods, rockers, heroes, nor rulers. The helmet prohibits any kind of identification process. When put on, they show the listener-viewer their own reflection. By giving nothing, the helmet says (silently), “Know thyself.” Can your work be considered an invitation for people to know themselves?

G-M.H-C.: Yes, I agree with that interpretation. At least, that’s what happens with our concerts. Audience members, rather than being lost in the view of a far-off guy, Mick Jagger or another inaccessible idol above the audience, find themselves between us, or even with themselves. It’s kind of like a rave, without superstars, like in the era of anonymity. The robots don’t give the audience much except music. There are robots in a pyramid, but the audience enjoys it in a more selfish, more self-centered way.

T.B.: It’s a mixture—the chance to show the listener their own reflection, to respond to a question with another question, but also the opportunity to go back to a fiction, in a cult that isn’t the cult of a personality, but of an art, of an image, of an aesthetic. Without personification. Then we can let ourselves to be two robots in a pyramid of light. If our faces were uncovered, it would be the most megalomaniacal thing in the world; with the helmets, no one sees us because we stay within the fiction. And without wanting to make a joke, there is also a degree of separation, a distance. A distance from the reflection, like in Electroma, or a distance from the entertainment, softer.

All the lines from Human After All work in the same way. They recall Kraftwerk, but Kraftwerk developed a precise message about celebrating, in a way, the immediate future. Your messages are a lot more ambiguous: are they critical, ironic, devoid of meaning? Like we see so well in Electroma, your helmets are, above all else, mirrors…

T.B.: Ambiguity is good, because it allows for a certain interaction between the viewer and the artist; between what the viewer interprets and what the artist is trying to depict. It’s very participative, and that comes from a desire to go against the demonstration. We are the first consumers of our music, and we hold the view that we can’t make any judgement values by calling things into question. In speaking about technology, about consumer society, which completely inhabits our art, we don’t want to teach a lesson, or offer a point of view or a judgement, we just want to find paradoxes and point them out as is. For example, we’re dependent on consumer society and it’s so appealing, productive, optimized, and at the same time totally terrifying, horrible, and very funny.

Your work is dialectical: sometimes it seems to denounce a sort of robotic totalitarianism (like in the Technologic video which depicts propaganda of a robot on top of a pyramid) and at the same time it plays with this imagery, strikingly. The video for Around The World also shows how robots surround and surveil the population; they are in the last circle, and they are the ones who chant the phrase “Around The World.” Does the video denounce the surveillance of us by nonhumans, or does it condition us to accept it? We never know if you’re denouncing a conspiracy against humanity or if you’re participating in it. You use of language is equally dialectical. Your language is refined, born from catchphrases and words of totalitarian order (Technologic), and if taken literally, it’s this: the phrase “Television Rules The Nation” can be taken as the assertion of an established fact. It then becomes constraint, manipulation. At the same time, the distance imposed by the performance can give the words a double meaning, and adds to them a critique of this established fact, even the denunciation of a totalitarian power. This recalls the “doublethink” in Orwell’s 1984: the capacity to simultaneously accept two opposing points of view and thereby put critical thinking on the back burner. Where do you situate yourselves in this in-betweenness?

T.B.: But it’s inside this paradox where we progress. In terms of our experimentation, we are in fact the heart of the system; it would be totally obscene to lean more to one side or the other, to claim to be part of a totalitarian system, as if we were giving lectures. It’s because this is so interesting that we refused to do any promotion for Human After All, because there couldn’t be a willingness on our part to encourage people to buy the album, because of this paradox. Because it’s like an unbiased opinion on technology, on consumer society. The video for Technologic actually gives you the keys to derive an ironic and scary message from the track, but it has since been used by Apple in a commercial for the iPod, and there the lyrics turned into blind praise for technology! It’s funny seeing to what extent the double meaning has effectively functioned. That’s why we so often refer to Andy Warhol who had an experimental approach through his connection to pop culture that, depending on the project, had as much a place in very elitist and private circles as it did on supermarket shelves. Creating with perplexity, in short.

Nevertheless, you use very strongly significant symbols, like the robots or the pyramid. The pyramid that you use on stage is a Masonic symbol. It is on the dollar bill, with George Washington and the note, “New World Order.” The pyramid represents the structure of society, from the masses up to the elites and the leaders. The cornerstone with the “all-seeing eye” surely represents the summation of technology which, though it could be plainly operational, will make sure that the “New World Order” can truly start coming forward and establishing itself on Earth. Some interpret it like the construction of a new technology, a technologic eye that would see all, through a generalized surveillance. With that said, the presence of robots like operators of this pyramid makes a lot of sense. How do you fit in with regard to these symbols and this story?

T.B.: We work a lot with the senses, with the power of symbols on the subconscious, and the pyramid, in effect, is a very heavy symbol, in terms of the senses. We don’t want to discuss the details of the symbolism, but to question its power without its history. The pyramid has become a symbol because, geometrically, harmonically, it’s a magical, occult, mysterious object. There is also this mysterious and occult, on the verge of paranormal, power in music. No one can really theorize about the effects of music on the body and mind, so it’s incredible. We just try to pass on that magic in a rather empirical way. Moreover, we could carry out experiments on the way in which light or sound intensity acts on the body and on crowds, to see which types of sensations or emotions are provoked by one frequency or another. But we could never really explain the reason for these effects.

G-M.H-C.: We are the guinea pigs of our own universe. We managed to create a sort of self-sufficiency between the two of us, which lets us experiment with a consistent voice, and what works for us tends to work for the audience, it’s like a small miracle. We put a pyramid on stage because we think it’s cool, and it makes everyone trip out.

When you talk about guinea pigs, it’s as if you were manipulated from the outside, by a mysterious third-party, as if you were also puppets. There is a determinism there, but one that serves humanity. According to the Laws of Robotics by Isaac Asimov, it’s humankind who constructed the robot, and the robot is at its service…

T.B.: Above all we want to express a paradox on the discussion of human dependency on technology. We’re not virtuosos and we rely on technology like a crutch. We could never do it without technology, and at the same time, we try to value, like any artists, the human element in our work. The process we’ve used for these fifteen years has been to try merging the machines and us. We are the operators of these machines, the editors of the experiments: we select them, we choose them, and we decide to keep them or not. Daft Punk is the product of a tug of war between human and technology, always questioning the place of technology in the project.

Electroma addresses this discussion between human and machine, in a sort of grand general inversion. Electroma seems to be the account of a traumatic experience: in the world of robots, the two characters presented a human face to the others, in openness, generosity, expressiveness. The result of this demonstration of humanity leaves them ostracized, chased, and reduced to aimlessness and suicide. Do you think that showing your humanity is dangerous?

T.B.: Yes, that’s the background of the film. But speaking more broadly, formally, it’s part of the same approach as what we’ve been able to do before; to know how to create emotion while using machines, in a creative process. Without actors, without a script, without a real plotline, but with photography, color, framing, made from machines, objects, just like a still life. We began with creating an environment around the spectator, who is almost like the only actor in the film, and wondering how to make them experience these emotions, which are not the same as those on the dancefloor, but aesthetic emotions, where the spectator can project onto themselves. The film is totally open, and we thought a lot about Magritte when making the plans. What you can see in Electroma is essentially sensation, that’s a lot more at the level of the gut or the eyes than of the brain…

Robots After All by Philippe Katerine was clearly inspired by your album Human After All and touches on the idea that human society has attained such a degree of conditioning and conforming that humanity became a species of robot, a determined creature, ruled by automation, in their language as much as their everyday comportment. When we recently asked what he thought about your music, Katerine told us, “I hear nothingness in it, so I want to find a place there.” Is the universality of your music due to the fact that it’s also, in a sense, empty?

T.B.: It’s empty because it’s more sensory than significance, yes. Theoretically devoid of sense, it allows people to see something from nothing and project themselves there. We just heard Katerine’s single. Our music is open, it can be interpreted and taken in different ways.

The musical abstraction and loops that by and large make up your music allow each person to take possession of the music and go beyond it. There is a shamanic aspect in this usage of emptiness and repetition. As a matter of fact, musicians like Animal Collective, who were inspired by shamanic trances, now cite you as an influence. Also, you could interpret the end of Electroma, when the two robots die by explosion and combustion, as referring to shamanic initiation rituals, in which one goes through a symbolic death by division of the body or self-combustion. Could you say that the end of Electroma represents, in some sort, this symbolic and initiatory death? In other words, do you perceive a shamanic side to your music?

T.B.: Yes, it’s a trance: the loop, the heartbeats… We use samples to express the desire of prolonging a strong sensation that comes during one or two seconds in a track, and wanting to repeat this sensation, not only feeling it for ten minutes, but also seeing what consequences come from ten minutes of that feeling, how everything unfolds. Visually, with Electroma, our desire is the same: to create images or an assembly of images that produce a physical sensation, a feeling of hypnosis, wandering, or weariness; in any case a state of mind that you can only reach by feeling this sensation for a certain time, for quite a long time. 

Wandering, loss of identity, and expropriation are pop themes in a sense. If you think of the Beatles, the “Magical Mystery Tour,” the transformation of the Beatles into the “Lonely Hearts Club Band.” As of now, you are a group that “turns,” that travels, to those “lonely hearts.” Is there a “trip” pop?

T.B.: It’s true that during this tour, we felt a little bit of a psychedelic thing: there are people who saw and re-watched the concert multiple times, almost like a Grateful Dead concert, with this idea of there being, during the concert, something imperceptible that you can never capture on disc or on film: an experience which was unique and can only live in reality, at a time where everything is virtualized. We felt like people wanted happenings, concrete experiences, which could consequently be produced by advanced technology: we could multiply the giant screens, have a very strong sound, and combine everything into these unprecedented audiovisual processes, which had never been seen anywhere before. Even a film projected in an IMAX theater could be no more than the “ghettoblaster” from another experiment with new technologies. Our music is moving: it was within an industrial system which ended, it was dependent on the economy. And the economy was destroying itself, it influenced new formats and new ways of creation, like the tours we’re doing currently.

Today, music needs to find new ways for distribution, with the death of the record industry and the virtualization of music. The live show, as a unique experience, is a response to this situation. You were the first to start a download site on the internet, with the Daft Club in 2001, which didn’t work out. Was it five years too early?

T.B.: Being current five years too early is really better than we can hope for. It’s good to be precursory, it’s almost our principal objective. Speaking about the musical economy, I think that music has never been as important as it is now, and the concert isn’t a response to difficulty selling CDs nowadays, because live shows are also very expensive. Economic upheavals are interesting: I read a book recently by Jacques Attali, Bruits, which talks about the musical economy and its power since the Middle Ages, and if you look at the place of music in the world in the last 2 thousand or 3 thousand years, the place of the record and pop music industries will have not been an end in itself, compared to music as a whole. It’s interesting to try to find out where music will go and what it will generate, in the sense that it is often a precursor of the relationship to come between social and economic powers. But we define ourselves less as musicians than as artists and creators, in trying to combine things and experiment with new formats and new technologies. We aren’t uniquely musicians.

Homework represents a sort of pinnacle of the age where a certain technologic novelty was expressed directly through music. You could literally hear knobs being turned. Does Daft Punk necessarily have to excel technologically in an age where all these methods have become normalized? Were the concerts from your new tour sort of like an advantage?

T.B.: It’s not an advantage, it’s a set of challenges that could be technological, actually. You wind up with a concert that looks sort of futuristic, like a remake of Close Encounters of the Third Kind or a mix of a Grateful Dead and a Kraftwerk concert. Making something that we couldn’t make before. We pick up the tools, we manipulate them, we try to progress. Electronic music in itself, in 2007, doesn’t seem to me to be very conducive to experimentation from a strictly musical point of view. I’m waiting for the new generations to prove to me otherwise… We pay attention to technological developments because we’re interested in them, and because they are at the heart of our art. Musical instruments are advanced technologies which have continuously reinvented music.

Since Human After All was released online, there were a lot of rumors about the album, which was an indication that people were waiting for you. In that context, are you able to feel free as musicians? Have you produced things in reaction to the public’s expectations?

T.B.: Actually, we aren’t free relative to our own expectations. We can’t totally set the public aside, but we have our own demands and we respond to our own vision of what we make, while taking into account paradoxes, contradictions, restarts, new beginnings. But we don’t think about the public: it’s both selfish and more respectful for people because we don’t have the pretentiousness of putting ourselves in their shoes.

G-M.H-C.: We are our own fans. We work until we find moments of pleasure in our work, and when we save those moments and explore them on an album or in a film which we release, that resonates for people. But within those moments, which are like lightning, we are like spectators—we feel like we’re revealing something, and discovering something we created at the same time. In this way we are ourselves in the position of spectators and fans. I imagine that this process is even more evident in painting: you have a piece of canvas in front of you, and there is a tangible process of creation. Creation is a mystery and you can really speak about magic when it comes to music or art.

Could the image of the pyramid that you use be a graphic representation of your music? With its foundations, progressions, ascents, and its climax? Bercy, it so happens, also has a pyramid shape…

G-M.H-C.: Not all of our songs follow a progression. We have flat songs, square songs, round songs… And in the live show, there are a few final moments where the tension comes back down. Bercy really does have a pyramid shape, but the top is missing. And it’s true that we would have really liked to play on top of it (laughs)…

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Dragon Reborn! Chapter 6: The Hunt Begins

Another day, another chapter. Don't read if you don't want spoilers for literally everything that has ever or will ever happen (in The Wheel of Time).

This chapter has a Wheel icon now that Rand's embraced his destiny and ditched the party - and because Perrin will be embracing his as well.

“Rand is gone,” was all Lan said before he left at a run, but it was more than enough.

When Lan's hustling, you know hell is breaking loose.

“You’re from his village,” Masema said hoarsely. “You must know. Why did the Lord Dragon abandon us? What sin did we commit?”

You didn't kill those Shadowspawn quickly enough, Masema. Rand only hangs out with people whose DPS is in the three digits.

Min sat cross-legged on the dirt floor beside the door that led to Moiraine’s room, while the Aes Sedai paced back and forth in thought. Dark thoughts, they must have been. Three paces each way was all she had, but she made vigorous use of the space, the calm on her face belied by the quickness of her step.

Moiraine has got to be really tired of Rand going off her script, since she still has not learned that she does not get to direct the plot.

He made himself meet her look with one just as level and firm. It was not easy. He loomed over her, but she was Aes Sedai. “Is this of your making, Moiraine? Did you rein him in until he was so impatient he’d go anywhere, do anything, just to stop sitting still?”

Perrin is being extra petty here considering he understands her state of mind at this state of affairs just fine.

What I do, I do because there is no other way. He is hunting me again, and this time one of us has to die, I think. There is no need for those around me to die, also. Too many have died for me already. I do not want to die either, and will not, if I can manage it. There are lies in dreams, and death, but dreams hold truth, too.

Perrin is right though that Moiraine's holding Rand in place is why he's snapped so hard from the dream pressure, though in her defense she probably was not remotely aware of the level of influence that the Forsaken were wielding because the boys never tell her anything. Already we can see how the distrust among the light side is causing them problems.

“I’ll go easy when she answers me. Well, Moiraine?” “He is what he is,” she said sharply.

You can't blame Perrin for not trusting Moiraine for refusing to communicate openly with him, and you can't blame Moiraine for being pissed that she's still being treated with outright hostility when she's shown she's firmly on their side. That said, it is Moiraine who needs to change more, because the Aes Sedai attitude contributes nothing to the proceedings.

The seals are weakening, Perrin. Some are broken, though the world does not know that. Must not know that. The Father of Lies is not free. Yet. But as the seals weaken, more and more, which of the Forsaken may be loosed already? Lanfear? Sammael? Asmodean, or Be’lal, or Ravhin? Ishamael himself, the Betrayer of Hope? They were thirteen altogether, Perrin, and bound in the sealing, not in the prison that holds the Dark One. Thirteen of the most powerful Aes Sedai of the Age of Legends, the weakest of them stronger than the ten strongest Aes Sedai living today, the most ignorant with all the knowledge of the Age of Legends. And every man and woman of them gave up the Light and dedicated their souls to the Shadow. What if they are free, and out there waiting for him? I will not let them have him.”

And Perrin, for his part, needs to appreciate when Moiraine is being relatively open. It makes sense that she's frozen up a bit in fear of the Forsaken being loose, especially since she doesn't know that Rand's already been grappling with Ish or Lanfear. Sadly, Perrin's not really ready for the full understanding of what the Last Battle being upon them.

He looked at the others—they were all watching him fixedly, even Min—then hesitantly told of the one dream that seemed unusual to him, the dream that came every night. The dream of the sword he could not touch. He did not mention the wolf that had appeared in the last.

Note as well that where Moiraine's open caginess causes problems with everyone because they know they can't trust her, she's constantly getting surprised by their quiet caginess. Some real hypocrisy by the boys.

“My dreams are always the same, Moiraine Sedai. The groves, and the Great Trees, and the stedding. We Ogier always dream of the stedding when we are away from them.”

I wonder if they're true dreams in T'A'R and if perhaps humans who get too far away from the Earth have similar dreams.

What does it mean that he ‘shall slay his people with the sword of peace, and destroy them with the leaf’? What does it meant that he ‘shall bind the nine moons to serve him’? Yet these are given equal weight with Callandor in the Cycle. There are others. What ‘wounds of madness and cutting of hope’ has he healed? What chains has he broken, and who put into chains?

These are much more straightforward prophecies to intrepret than some, at least, referring as they do to the Aiel, binding the Seanchan to the peace, the cleansing of saidin, and the general societal upheavals he brings about.

Perrin grunted softly. The Stone would never fall till the Dragon Reborn held Callandor. How in the Light is he supposed to reach it—inside a bloody fortress!—before the fortress falls? It is madness!

Even ignoring the "sneak in" approach that Rand ultimately takes, it's not like he couldn't just get hired as a guard or servant who works there and find his way to Callandor. The people in-universe treat this sequence of events like it's a lot more paradoxical than it really is.

Especially on those who are—susceptible. I do not believe Rand did it on purpose, but the dreams of those touching the True Source can be powerful. For one as strong as he, they could possibly seize an entire village, or perhaps even a city. He knows little of what he does, and even less of how to control it.”

I guess this is a better explanation than wolf dream, considering that half the Shienarians have it. One wonders why Min was exempt though, besides the plot contrivance that she'd definitely have told Moiraine after the second night.

“There’s always something new from you,” Perrin growled. “Can’t you tell us what to expect once in a while, instead of explaining after it happens?” Uno looked as though he was trying to think of a reason to leave.

Uno wishes he had a pipe to study.

Lan looked at Uno, and the one-eyed man shrugged in dismay. “I bloody forgot, with all this flaming talk about bloo—” He cleared his throat, shooting a glance at Moiraine. She looked back expectantly, and he went on.

Uno should be allowed to swear more.

“Watch your tongue, blacksmith,” Lan growled, all ice and stone.

I'm glad someone will call out Perrin on his bullshit a bit because he's being very annoying at this point. You'd think Min at least would speak up.

Few women seek audiences with the Amyrlin herself, but it does happen, and it should occasion no great comment.

Moiraine, have you forgotten that folks already know who Min is? Ms. Unknown Power coming back after having disappeared with three runaways and making a request few women do will be all over the Tower within half an hour of her walking through the city gates AND SHE WON'T HAVE EVEN HAD TIME TO GET TO THE TOWER BY THAT POINT.

Once outside, Min hung back for a moment to address Lan with a too-sweet smile. “And is there any message you want carried? To Nynaeve, perhaps?”

Min, I know you're pissed at Moiraine, but don't take it out on Lan. He's relatively innocent.

Loial shook his head. “I think she asked because she knew what we would answer, Min. Moiraine seems able to read Perrin and me; she knows what we’ll do. But you are a closed book to her.”

Min getting constant supernatural intervention does make her harder to predict, it's true.

“Don’t be more thickheaded than you have to be, Perrin. Back there, right after you said you’d go. They were not there before. They must have to do with this journey. Or at least with you deciding to go.”

The question is, does the Pattern allow him to not go (and thus... end up at Two Rivers early and have to deal with the Whitecloaks stuff solo), or does the Pattern only give him the chance to go willingly and it's still going to drag him along regardless, just in a much more humiliating fashion?

“An Aielman in a cage,” she said promptly. “A Tuatha’an with a sword. A falcon and a hawk, perching on your shoulders. Both female, I think. And all the rest, of course. What is always there. Darkness swirling ’round you, and—”

The former, then. If Perrin hadn't gone with Moiraine, he'd either never meet Gaul, Aram, Faile or Berelain or at least wouldn't have them relevant in his life until later. Thank you Min, for having such easy visions for a change.

“One more thing,” she said slowly. “If you meet a woman—the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen—run!”

Perrin won't, of course. I wonder what encounter with Lanfear Jordan must have had in mind.

Perrin did not like jumping to conclusions—it was one of the reasons some people thought him slow-witted—but he totaled up a number of things Min had said in the last few days and came to a startling conclusion.

His conclusion is that Min is in love with him. Perrin, to think you were slow-witted would imply you had wits at all. You take five days to come to the least plausible conclusion.

“I’m bound to him as surely as a stave is bound to the barrel. But I can’t see if he’ll ever love me in return. And I am not the only one.”

Of course, Min doesn't seem to realize that Rand definitely has the hots for her, so Perrin still isn't the stupidest person in this conversation. Perrin Aybara for Two Rivers King! Most Competent Man in the West! (By Default)

“If there’s no safety in Tar Valon, there’s no safety anywhere.”

Now you're getting it!

Next time: We finally get this show on the road.

[suffarustuffaru]

I love your otto brainrot. He's favorite person to gush about in this series. I also love your analysis about one of the latest chapters and regarding Otto! ust, chef's kiss.

Anyhow, I would also like to add a crack theory about why otto never talked about his dp allowing him to talk to infants too. In this moment, it very much be because, as you said, he wants Spica to be eliminated. But! We're thinking small here. My question morphs into a more general perspective; why would Otto, and tappei to an extent, keep such information about his dp under wraps for this long, way before these Spica shenanigans? And I feel like the author may want to expand on that regard. Because as far as the rest of the crew knows (and as far as I remember), they know he can only talk to animals. But that chapter states he can talk to any living being (?), which I think may hint to it being a bigger fucking deal than we may realize. Like outside the Louis development, as well as Otto's frustration development, this power in of itself can cause a ripple of what Otto's capabilities are, and to not underestimate it.

So, now I wonder, would tappei utilize this tidbit for more development about Otto's power? What do you think?

aa thank you for liking my otto stuff!! i adore him a lot and arc 8 has me even more fixated on him bc his development is so Fascinating.... and also my fictional character type has always been the weird fucked up ones with terrible morals HAH.

OK ALSO LIKE i love your crack theory to bits. i think like the idea of his capabilities being A Little More Massive than they already are hasnt really occurred to me if only bc 1. i have like one braincell at a time and 2. ottos unhinged anger and various ugly habits (ie: doing things behind his friends backs HAH) were smth i was distracted by (positive) bc its so fascinating and now Finally everyone reading rezero knows hes crazy For Sure and 3. i think like. idk ive always kind of thought that his power is like super crazy like once you think about it. like iirc theres the canonical fact that other people in the fantasy world whove had ottos dp have gone like insane from it, so hes Basically the outlier here. and also hes insane anyway but his dp absolutely has partly to do with it. not only bc it like affects so much of his life with the constant overstimulation he experienced for a big chunk of his childhood along with the other effects it had with how he was behind his peers for a while and it made him socially awkward and anxious - but also like.

animals Are insane. a lot. genuinely. and then you have a power that allows you to understand them and hear their voices all the time. (more under read more bc its Long.)

theres so many fucked up animal facts out there HAH so i suppose that could just take like a couple google searches (god.... if oceans were in the fantasy world otto might go a little insane with all those sea creatures if he ever came close...) but i always feel like ottos learned at least a bit of his ruthlessness from that. and hes Definitely seen and heard shit (dont forget stuff like livestock ahah T^TT or bug infestations or something aljsdfls or the fact that otto would probably be seeing animal friends eat other animal friends or before he even knew he had his dp he could be eating some cattle he had a convo with like twenty minutes ago and ALSO garf and fred have their meat pie recipe that they adore and its like. that meat came from an animal and otto has most likely seen them make their meat pie before). but like nature is nature. its not always. Nice. survival of the fittest and things just die sometimes (ottos made various animal friends throughout his life and Many animals have smaller lifespans than him as well + some, such as bugs, are more fragile than him) and animals take actions according to their Nature (even if its. Bad, by human moral standards.) and all that - so i think the double whammy of ottos dp and him taking on merchant ideals is very much partly why hes so insane fr HAH.

I WENT A LITTLE OFF TOPIC BUT no yeah i agree. and i just think his dp has always been such a huge factor in what makes him so dangerous - its not only helped mold him into who he is as a person (especially when you remember that the rest of his family are Normal People and he Very Much Is Not Normal) but also like you said. his dp makes him extremely dangerous especially with the new information that he understands babies. iirc otto didnt Necessarily keep that bit of info under wraps - at least not before he met the emilia camp, bc the text said something about how hed take on side jobs where he babysat infants and hed be good at it bc he can understand the intent behind their wordless "words". and i definitely think otto - and tappei - havent really said anything on his ability to talk to infants before this bc it just hasnt come up in much relevant context until now. BUT I ALSO THINK YOU HAVE A POINT bc this does open like. a bit of a can of worms. theres these 2019 tappei qnas where he talks a bit about otto understanding "intent" -

Q: Is Otto's Blessing of the Spirit of Words limited to sounds that the speaker understands? Can he translate something Subaru wrote down in Japanese, or something that someone reads out loud phonetically without understanding it's meaning?

A: He can't. It's a blessing that conveys the intent of the other person's words, so if you said something like "Honbaradaratodetta", it wouldn't mean anything. It's just that, if Subaru had been saying "Honbaradaratodetta" for years to mean "What's for dinner?", it would convey that.

Q: About the "Blessing of the Spirit of Words" that Otto has, in cases where the same word can contain different meanings, can he discern the difference? (The English word 'servant' and a servant from Fate, etc.)

A: It's not the letters, but the speaker's intent that he picks up, so he could tell the difference.

--

but no yeah like........ ottos dp is specifically about Animals and well. humans and demihumans ARE animals. so it makes sense that it carries into humans and demihumans a bit so the whole catching someones intent thing is super fascinating and i feel like he could Definitely utilize it for more of his schemes?? esp when you combine that with the usual ways he uses his dp with animals - his power is Perfect for spying on others and gathering info in general. from my understanding of his power though, animals have to agree to help him, but given he can communicate with them and hes. well hes a good talker and also a bit of a manipulative bitch (affectionate) so like getting animals to help him doesnt seem like too much of an issue usually for him. so no but yeah his power is like. Off the Charts. and now we got big confirmation in the main story that he can UNDERSTAND PEOPLES INTENT BEHIND THEIR WORDS....? no yeah i think tappei will at least utilize it for the louis-spica plot things (ie otto wants her dead so hes just not gonna say anything about how he knows her true intent isnt to actually hurt anyone).

but i feel like otto could possibly use it for plans... or accidentally catch tidbits of info he shouldnt. im not entirely sure how, but. well. roswaal still hasnt delivered on his promise to kill everyone if even one person subaru cares about dies and Now roswaal knows that 1. otto plans to continue opposing subaru and emilia and keep pulling strings and 2. subaru wants louis to stay alive because he cares about her. it seems like massive emilia camp inner conflict is bound to happen at some point hah... the current situation is a ticking time bomb T^T and thats ON TOP of otto still working on restoring the book of wisdom... it all makes me wonder if otto will overhear a convo he shouldnt and catch the true underlying intent to otherwise innocent dialogue. or something like that.... or if louis's intent fluctuates in some way which otto will be Very aware of. if that happens. or if someone else somehow figures out ottos hiding the fact that he knows louis is innocent via his dp alsdjflsjdf. or maybe roswaal hints at his genocide plan and otto figures out the intent???? everyone is at a stalemate atm fr and im fascinated to see what comes next.

though. ok given otto went insane hearing the white whale..... well you could just fling mabeasts at him and maybe he'll shut up lajsdlfj bc using his dp (especially when overusing it gives him nosebleeds and headaches and pain and etc etc) against him is a Viable strategy to stop him among many others but like. the problem with otto is that hes persistent and Will hold a grudge against you if you wrong him. like i really do feel like he will hunt you down if you do which is the big Thing with otto. T^T hes unpredictable!!! especially now with arc 8 where hes been dragged through all these dangerous situations he did not sign up for and he just wants him and his friends to be safe but said friends want to save a whole country and NOW a sin archbishop alsdjflsjd.

like i really feel that hes so tired of things happening throughout his life out of control (remember his bad luck T^T and the way his dp used to fuck him over in his childhood? yeah T^T) that hes been trying to exert more and more control over his camp. bc like. vincent asking the emilia camp for help was nudged into that direction by otto. ottos also stepped a bit out of line by being hostile to julius and anastasia bc. otto that shit was unncessary aljsdlfjd theyre your camps allies!!!! and now ottos letting his camp be sus of louis by keeping quiet about her true intent. like otto is straight up like. hes kind of possessive of his camp isnt he? bc hes so fixated on making things go the way he wants (not that he wanted to help vollachia, but he wanted to help subaru and emilia which is why he pushed things in that direction, and now he wants to kill louis). it all makes me wonder if he'll ever have to use his dp against his camp given hes. kind of already doing that by lying to them - though itd probably be difficult to use his dp more actively against them if only bc they all already know what his dp is. theres no element of surprise there, but i think with the right circumstances he could possibly use it to figure out Something at least. bc like while he Does feel guilty, there is next to nothing stopping him from doing more shit on top of the shit hes been doing so far in arc 8 HAH. his moral compass is just literally broken and pointing straight down to hell. that mixed with his stubbornness and intellect and anger is like. well anyone going against otto is pretty fucked.

like. what is stopping him from sending a little bug to spy on subaru at all times. probably the fact that subaru and co. have a high chance of maybe noticing it and noticing that ottos keeping. too close of an eye on them. which would stop otto and his new declared "i walk in darkness" goal but all of this keeps making me wonder what lines otto WONT cross. and how far hes willing to go to do what he thinks is necessary to save his camp. and also what the consequences of his decisions will be.

but also like............................................... ok time for a crack theory of my own are you ready. anyway. can you imagine if ottos dp extended into fucking mind reading or something............ HAH.

[mdhwrites]

The Good of Penacony

I said I wanted to make a blog about the positive elements of Penacony and I meant it, especially since I really enjoyed the new content pretty much until after the first new boss. Some of what came after makes it hard for me to still enjoy what came before but there is plenty of good still, even in this main content.

So, of course, Star Rail 2.0 Spoilers ahead.

So a LOT of what's good is centered around Firefly. For as much as in my original blog I railed against her death, she is this bad trope done EXCEPTIONALLY well. Her scene on the rooftop is the best in all of Star Rail, hands down. Not only that but she doesn't feel like a cinnamon meant to die. She has a real personality, can be distrusting, isn't a complete airhead, still had her own secrets until she died and her own motives and desires. As far as Star Rail characters go, she is genuinely one of the best.

It's why her death hurts so much. I see people trying to joke about it and it causes twinges in my chest. I see people celebrating her and feel joy about it. She is a character who I'm really unhappy to have gone. If the writing was truly just bad, this wouldn't have happened.

A large part of what helps in all of this is that during the time you spend with her, the game drops the mysteries, mostly, and drops its pretensions to genuinely be fun. Instead, it is enthusiastic about its setting in a way we haven't been before. Firefly truly, genuinely loves the dream of Penacony and has a good reason to since it's the only place she can truly live now. She makes the biggest argument anyone could for why the dream must stay. Why it would be such a tragedy for it all to collapse.

I think the time with Sampo is really the only lull with the time with her. 'Sampo' isn't bad mind you. Sparkle may be no fun, part of why I don't like her, but while pretending to be a fun character she gives some good chances to snark and some good jokes. She also introduces neat mechanics and while the Tatalov stuff is entirely pointless, it's a fine distraction. It helps sell the absurdity of dreams.

The dungeons help in this regard too. The dreamscape that's being worked on is majestic and the bird's eye view you have to take to traverse it only helps you drink in the grandeur to this new addition to Penacony. The shooting stars like streaming fireworks are awe inspiring and Firefly is just the cutest little thing with each and every one that you do with her. It's honestly the first time that our party has truly helped add to the atmosphere of a dungeon.

This isn't as true for the Child Dreamscape but that's okay as now we descend into the uncertainty and horror of dreams. This is also part of Penacony's strength from a design perspective. I never felt like the Loufu really supported its own themes too well, nor enhanced its storytelling, with its dungeons. You go through too bland, faceless of environments for that. Penacony is entirely different. The enemies, world design and even how you traverse are genuinely trying to work in parallel with what they're trying to go with for the concept of the planet.

And man... Something Unto Death is a masterfully designed boss. My brother and I were assuming that if Sam was the boss that made sustainers shine (which kind of is true. Sam is awkward as far as a boss fight goes and I'm curious what consensus on him will be) then Unto Death would be the boss for multi-DPS teams. That it was anti-hyper carry.

Which, arguably, it still is. It still wants you rocking at least two DPSes but specifically MULTI target DPSes. Erudition isn't completely the king here though. Because they're starting to acknowledge DoTs as still dealing damage, it's really the Nihility boss and I like that there is one in main content that is specifically weakest to that group. DoT teams struggle after all in the current DPS test focused end game content and having a boss that makes them feel more relevant is a great addition.

Also, I will shout out that despite the fandom thinking the era of Hunt is over, Sam currently appears to be best fought against with Hunt characters. Their speed helps them keep up with Sam, their ults chunking so much weakness off of him is extremely useful if you don't want to have to burn down your own health to get him out of his super state and their overall extremely high damage even outside of ults against this single target mean they can make him suffer the hardest. For as much as I think the Sam fight currently feels like a giant slog, and I worry what a phase 2 and 3 will look like with him, I still respect what they're trying to do with him. If arguably Argenti is a better version of the Yanqing fight though, I'm excited to see what the better Sam fight is.

And there's still plenty of other characters I do like. Gallagher was great in his brief appearance. Misha is adorable and I'm sad we're not getting a companion quest with him. Black Swan might be an idiot right at the end but she is the most competent manipulator amongst the cast of manipulators and at least when she tells me that she's doing it for good reasons, I actually believe her. Heck, I even liked when I first met Aventurine. It's genuinely a problem for me that he's being built up to be the super cool hero of this story next to us that makes me dislike him so much because nothing about his previous appearances sold him that way. An idiot who has gotten too much power, too quickly, and is used to relying on his status getting shut down because he's finally having to deal with people with real power and skills though? I was excited for that with his first couple appearances.

I genuinely really want to like Penacony. The fact that so many things took a step up (I didn't even mention how while the elites might be easy, I think their gameplay and visual designs are amazing) is a really great thing that helped add to the possibility space to the writing. It even started trying to ape Shakespeare by trying to tell us how the story would go from the beginning.

It's just... Nothing about the patch has me excited for where it goes except for the potential for Firefly to come back. Not from the main story at least. That's just a real shame, especially after I actually did manage to get on the hype train for Penacony. I don't usually get to do that.

The last note I'll leave on is my theory for Acheron: If she is an emanator, she is the Emanator of Nihility. She brings things to an end but more importantly for this: She herself is constantly being emptied out. Her lack of memory? Her ability to get lost so easily? Those come from parts of her mind literally being consumed by her nature. It would also explain why she potentially might not know she's an emanator (that's speculation) but also be why she reacts to you the way she does. Not enough of HER is there to not be affected and changed by how you treat her and the emotions you put out. Hence the red text that changes for different players.

And I'll admit that I am excited to see if I'm right. Acheron is probably my favorite Penacony character currently who is still alive and I'll still be pulling on her banner (after it took 160 pulls for Black Swan *sobs*). I just hope Penacony improves, leans more into the dream rather than the mystery and honestly that for a while, Star Rail just stops trying to do mysteries because I don't think they're good at it. Ratio's continuance sucked for it and the thin veneer of it here is dragging everything down.

And that's a shame when so much of it is so high.

======+++++======

For those who want to see me being angrier about it, and talking about how terrible both Firefly and Robin's deaths are, you can find that blog over here. That was admittedly done with a lot more emotion than this blog was but I still stand by it for the most part.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[movedraptor5913]

Let's talk a bit about Refraction Railway 2

I'm like a month late on this post, but time means nothing when the track loops infinitely (or at least until the next one comes out). I'm going to give a few thoughts and insights on bosses and mechanics that appear and try to scrape what useful info I can out of my 157-turn first clear. Note that this won't be super in-depth info, just some useful stuff.

Get to the point, how hard is it?

Well, I can't answer that accurately, as I meta-played my way through my first clear (Charge team hits hard). If we compare it to Mirror Dungeon 2 Hard, I'd say it waves around the difficulty of floor 3's fights. The challenge mostly comes from doing it quickly and with few options for healing. There aren't very many attacks I would consider to be "use EGO or die" like there are in later stages of MD2H, but there are some like that.

Overall, if you can consistently clear MD2H in a reasonable amount of time, you probably don't even need my advice to get a sub-200 run. Just take your Mirror Dungeon dream team and send it. If you can only get about halfway in MD2H, you can honestly still probably do this, albeit with some effort. The only caveat about team comp worth mentioning is that Tanks aren't very necessary. You mainly need to worry about winning clashes and hitting things very hard.

As for EGOs, it's a good idea to have some healing ones available like Fluid Sac, Pursuance or Lantern (Sinclair). Fluid Sac will always be the best option for this since it affects everyone and also restores SP. You'll also want some AoE EGOs, if possible, as they'll help trivialize some boss summons and hit multiple parts. Overall, EGOs are going to play a large role in lowering your turn count and keeping your DPS high, so bring a variety, if possible.

About looping

If you're like me, you expected the line to loop from start to finish every time. Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is you don't have to do the full rotation every time. The bad news is that you're going to see those first three bosses more often than you'd like. Each loop adds more stops until you reach Cycle 5, but you'll always start with the same three bosses. Before we get into them, let's talk about-

Choosing Buffs

Each loop, you'll get a selection of 2 buffs: one for you and one for the enemies. The buffs you choose might not seem huge at first, but you start to feel them as time goes on. Ally buffs you pick will be unavailable for the next loop, but you can pick them again the loop afterwards. Enemy buffs are chosen once each until loop 5. You also get a free revive at the end of Cycle 4, in case one of your units drops dead before you enter the final fight.

For Ally buffs, you'll want to work around your playstyle. Have a lot of a sin affinity or damage type on your field team? Pick buffs that correspond to those. Mileage with effect buffs may vary, as some bosses have caps on how high the count can go for certain effects. I'd strongly suggest not going for the one-off heals if you can avoid it, as you're getting that heal at the cost of DPS in a mode that encourages DPS. If you take a hit you don't think you can recover from via passives/EGO in a fight, there's a retry button built in now. A case can be made for picking Heal All on the stop before Terminus, but that's only if you think you need a full heal before the final boss.

For Enemy buffs, my order is Opportunistic, Inhaling, Accelerating, Thirsting, Hardening. Opportunistic is basically free. There's rarely a point where you don't want to deal HP damage to the enemy. Accelerating and Inhaling are both mildly annoying but can ultimately be relatively harmless. Thirsting and Hardening sit better at the end since Thirsting drains your resources faster and Hardening makes the fights longer. What order you pick them exactly should depend on what you're most confident won't have a high impact on your turn count, but generally, this is what you're going to pick.

The First Stop - So That No One Will Cry

The name apparently stems from it beating you to death. Nobody can cry when they're dead.

The Talisman Doll is the first boss of the railway. This first encounter is probably one of the harder fights due only to a lack of resources. This fight will mark the first and most noteworthy instance of my personal mantra for low odds clashing: "They only need to lose one coin toss." When you clash with multiple coins against bad odds, try to ensure you can at least beat their lowest roll with just one coin.

The Doll will enter a block phase on turn 3, during which it becomes near untouchable. During the block phase, you can use sinners with Curse Talisman on them to attack the blocking parts to force larger stacks of Reattached Talismans on the doll. The event gives it 5 Reattached Talisman on success, so you can either give it 6 beforehand to inflict Bind or give it more than that to give it Attack Power Down. Breaking its arm reduces its Attack Power by 1.

The only scary part about this fight beyond getting your sanity up at the start is the three 17 +2 *5 hits it does on turn 4. It having 10+ Reattached Talismans reduces the coin power by 1, making it 17 +1 *5. Use either EGO or a sufficiently big normal hit to clash, because the Doll's multi-coin attacks hurt.

Steam Transport Machine

If you put a faucet on it, it'll be a time sink in more ways than one.

This dude is the first big sack of hit points you'll fight. It gains bonuses depending on the current total turn count of the run, gaining Protection and Attack Power Down on even turns and Fragile and Attack Power Up on odd turns. Later on, it gains a passive heal and extra skill slots.

Break its Steam Blaster to make it gain Fragile every time it gains Poise. You can't target the blaster once it breaks. Once its main body breaks, it gains Ineffective resistances to everything, and the fight slows to a crawl as your attacks do .25x damage. You'll want to dump as much damage as possible into it the same turn you break the body. Any attacks after that are going to be entirely dependent on Fragile to deal meaningful damage.

Alternatively, you can stack damaging debuffs on it, such as Burn, Bleed, Sinking or Rupture. Burn and Bleed have limits on their stacks against it and Sinking does half damage due to it being Gloom affinity, so Rupture works best of the bunch. Hex Nail can also be useful here if you're running a team with a lot of Envy or Pierce damage.

Drifting Fox

Whoever keeps giving that fox umbrellas, can you knock it off? It's getting angrier.

The Fox itself is pretty straightforward: clash the hits, punch the face. The only noteworthy part is the umbrella summon phase, where it Counters and gains Thorns (reflect 50% damage dealt). More umbrellas are summoned each cycle. The umbrellas power up the big scary hit that occurs the following turn (adding Clash Power +2 to a 16 +6 *1 attack), so kill them quickly.

Big AoE EGOs (Sunshower (Yi Sang) in particular) are useful here on later cycles, even if you accidentally hit the Fox's counter. If you're creative with your targeting, you can wipe out all the umbrellas in the same turn with a combination of AoEs and normal attacks while minimizing stray hits going to the Fox. While I don't know if it changes anything for sure, you can use faster units to take out surviving umbrellas before clashing with the big hit.

Cycle 1 - T Corp. Class 3 Collectors

Unsurprisingly, the only humans in the otherwise all-monster lineup feel a bit lackluster by comparison.

T Corp is the only fight with an enemy sanity gauge in the entire railway, but it only goes down with Sinking. Not much to write home about here in terms of difficulty. You know the drill.

If they end the turn with 6%-24% health, they'll be back up to 80% next turn, so try to knock them to around half on turn 1, then wipe them out on turn 2. On my first run, I fairly consistently killed them in 3 turns due to the healing mechanic until I got used to dealing with it. From Cycle 3 onwards, there's a second wave. It's just the same two dudes again, so 2 turn them again.

Cycle 2 - Faelantern

I have no joke. This is a DPS check and nothing else.

At the start of the fight and any turn when the Fairy is alive, some of your sinners will be charmed and unable to deal damage (the number of which increases with Cycle count). You can't clash with anything until the Fairy dies, so just hit it.

Deal enough damage to kill the Fairy in a turn, then nuke the tree. The Fairy revives the following turn unless the body is staggered. Rinse and repeat until the tree dies. Not the most interesting fight.

Shock Centipede

"Even in death, I stall."

Shock Centipede is a straightforward fight with its main gimmick being Self-Charge. It gains Self-Charge at the start of the fight, at Combat Start with most of its skills, and when it hits you if you have Charge. It having high Self-Charge means it gets more shield when it coils up and its big scary hit becomes bigger and scarier. When it uses High Voltage Discharge (the big hit), try to delay it to the end of the turn to prevent it from benefitting from the Self-Charge it gets at the start of combat from its other skills. When it coils up, hit it in the head to wear down its self-charge. Break its Head to remove its passive Protection and reduce the amount of shield it gets from Coil Up. If you fight it with an Envy-heavy team like I did, Hex Nail can be helpful here. Otherwise, you'll want to have someone who does good Gloom damage or inflicts Sinking to exploit its Gloom weakness.

When the Centipede dies, it doubles however much Self-Charge it had and become invincible. At this point, all you can do is win clashes to wear it out faster. In the best case, you can try to kill the Centipede during a Coil Up to skip this part.

Cycle 3 - Fairy Gentleman (Cycle 4 + Fairy-Long-Legs)

Take a breather, this one's on the house.

Nothing to talk about here, really. Break his arm and take the wine when it's available. Let him use his big scary hit to hit a Tipsy sinner for 0 damage and take the free stagger on him that follows. Just don't let the Tipsy sinner get targeted with multiple big hits, because only the first one will be 0 damage.

When Fairy-Long-Legs joins on Cycle 4, break his arm to lower his Attack Power. When he summons his clover, ignore it and deal with Fairy Gentleman and his gimmick first. FLL will stand there spamming Counter until the clover is destroyed. Just try not to let either of them heal off of you while the clover is alive. Alternatively, kill FLL before he gets the chance to summon the clover. The goal is to get one down before the other.

Cycle 4 - Wayward Passenger

Local Dead Space extra misunderstands "Make us whole", makes holes.

Break its blades to reduce its damage and limit its ability to charge. Be mindful of its Counter and manage who you want to eat the hit from it, because hits are going to hurt this far into the run.

After turn 2, it will disappear and leave behind portals. Break these within 2 turns. If you need to decide which ones to prioritize, focus on the green and blue portals, as they buff Passenger's health and coin power respectively if left alone. After the portals go away, it reemerges and can be hit again. It'll disappear again after being exposed for a turn, but breaking all the rifts forces it to expose itself early. The Passenger's big scary hit is High-Speed Rip Space, which powers up the more rifts you fail to close. You'll only have to deal with it when the Passenger is <30% HP, so it's not unmanageable.

Terminus - Sign of Roses

No matter what happens, at least it'll be over fast.

Sign of Roses gets more health but deals less damage the more cycles you wait to fight it. On turn 2, the Sign summons 7 Roses. This is where you'll want to spam AoE EGOs to kill them quickly, as each flower does a fixed 25% HP in damage to whatever sinner is attached to it by the color of their skill 1. You'll want to kill red Roses with a relatively weak hit, as the damage that kills it will be dealt back to the attacker.

The event that repeats throughout the fight has three outcomes: Refuse to dye the flowers to reduce the damage taken and damage dealt by 10%, Accept to either increase damage dealt and damage taken from the color used to pass the check by 10% or, on a failed check, have nothing happen. If you're going for speed, there's no reason to not Accept every time and just nuke its flesh once the threat of the Roses is managed.

End of the Line

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I'm definitely going to have to challenge the Railway again to see one of two things: Can I do it with a lower turn count, or can I do it with a more specialized team? My first clear was a Charge team and that's the current meta (W Corp Don/Ryoshu and Rabbit Heathcliff are the epitome of "hit it very hard"). I'm currently in the process of building a Sinking team, but I might wait until the 10/11 patch to actually use it since Sunshower Heathcliff is getting his Protection changed. A Rupture team would also be fun to try, but I'd need more resources to get that team uptied.

My only complaint is that solo/<7 unit fights are dead since you can't gain skill slots in RR2, so we can't meme on the bosses as hard anymore. Imagine the madness that could have ensued now that Sinclair can heal himself with Lantern corrosion. (As I write this, I found this clip of Yi Sang soloing the doll. Solo boss memeing isn't quite dead yet, it seems.) Otherwise, I think Refraction Railway 2 is pretty alright. It's a bit of a time investment and it's still the gameplay you're likely used to at this point, but it's something different to do.

[kedreeva]

Hey Ked! I hope youre doing well. I was just curious if you think/ or have thought of the chance of Steve dying in season 5? I also want to say that I adore your meta analyses and have gone absolutely feral over them multiple times. Thank you for your time and effort you have put into them. Wishing you and all your animals well wishes

Thank you for the well wishes! I wish my answer was similarly kind.

I don't honestly see Steve surviving season 5, nor El. Not because they shouldn't, but because the writers are aware those two deaths would have some of the biggest shock ("shock" maybe more like outrage) value. Or perhaps I should say, it would greatly surprise me if either or both of them survive it.

Narratively, I can see some very, very good reasons and ways for El to die. I love her but my favorite pet theory about all of the storyline does necessitate her death (or least permanent disappearance). I hope they find a way to let her live, but also I don't think they want to, which complicates things.

Steve, as far as I understand, was not supposed to survive season 1. Which means even if they say they had the whole story planned from the start (which is what they said), Steve then wouldn't have factored into that originally, and they've kind of proven they can't think on their feet. Couple that with them having said that audience reaction won't stop them from killing Steve if they want to, and the fact that we just got to hear he had a hope and a dream for a happy ending future (typically a thing writers do to make a death that much more painful)... Well. I don't hold much hope.

He's a very good boy with a deep desire to protect the party and unfortunately any tank worth their salt knows that unless the party is standing in the fire, no one should be going down in the boss fight before the tank, and the tank doesn't go down if the healer is any good.

Unfortunately, they just lost the healer because he ran right into the bat AoE dressed as DPS.

So I think he may be pretty screwed.

The good news is, there's no season 6, so once 5 is over, however it goes, they're all ours and we can do whatever we want with them. Canon is just the highest budget fanfiction at that point.

[sparklingbluerose]

What If... #1

Genshin Impact is a popular game in Twisted Wonderland, and recently a new banner has been released. You are a 5 Star Character. What happens then?

A/N: Let me just start a damn taglist TvT

☆

TW: None! A bit of cursing on my side XD also some things maybe wrong since i haven't played Genshin in a while! I HOPE I DIDN'T PUT ANYTHING "SHE" RELATED I'M SORRY–

GN! (Y/N) 《Other Genders Will Also Be Made》

☆

Riddle Roseheart:

His team used to have Yanfei as DPS.

But look at that, your banner caught his eye.

Mans just did a bit of research on your character and DAMN, he pulled immediately.

Your skill and burst was best for him, he literally thought it was so cool and needed to get you.

Though he'd be a little raging tomato if he lost the 50/50 to Qiqi, he still managed to get you anyways.

Still has Yanfei on the team, expect you're now DPS.

Literally took him only 5 minutes to level you to 90, hell he was glad he won't spend hours grinding for your ascension materials, he already had them STOCKED.

He's not that good at dodging please help him.

Always has a healer or a shielder in his team with you, kinda hates it hearing your fallen line and death.

Sometimes it be like that, but he actually built you well. Tries to get your constellations on your rerun, and ended up with a C1 (Y/N) ♡

At least he got one, i'll give him that. Does like, 10K damage with you. Trey helped him choose the right artifacts.

Knows decent about it but honestly once tried to give Kaeya Diluc's artifacts. Please don't let him play alone.

Always struggled with regisvines as a noob player, but now that he got you with him he'll never die.

Also bought a (Y/N) figurine but let's not get to that...

Trey Clover:

Xiangling main turned (Y/N) main.

Kinda funny how he somehow manages to pull you twice in the same 10 pull out of sheer luck–

Makes an effort to build you since you're a 5 star. Doesn't mind much but he loves admiring your attacks.

Like omg you do more damage than any asian mother's slipper hitting your face. Went to spiral abyss on floor 10, obliterated every enemy almost in seconds with you.

Please i headcannon him to always feed you even if your health bar is more than half full. I love it.

Maybe sometimes stops moving just to hear your idle/chat voice lines. He'd be like "Aw ♡ you're nice". Then proceed to keep admiring your design like Mihoyo given a 5 star rating.

Once went Co-op with Cater just as he finished doing commissions and just went feral when he saw you–

"Trey omg!? Her banner just started 30 minutes ago!"

Yes Cater, we know. He's been saving up for his moment.

Checked to see if you have any voice lines about Xiangling and you do, you're besties. He loves you more now.

Probably triple crowned you, who knows.

Cater Diamond:

LMAO he got you 7 minutes before your banner ended.

Yes, he basically used up all his wishes tryna pull for Ayaka last time and lost the 50/50. Oh well, he got you.

Suprised NRC entirely when you came out honestly. You being the absolute heaven you are. He actually pulled for you like a few times until he had like one ten pull left.

Probably searched for a (Y/N) summoning ritual and watched some.

And yay, he went over to your nation archon's statue of the seven and pulled there. Screamed when he got a gold.

Literally skipped and just saw you in all your glory.

Time to build! He may have stolen some artifacts from a character but...they were probably useless to him now.

Probably took you out on expeditions all the time just so he could raise friendship lvl and know more about you.

Will Co-op and show off his lvl 90 (Y/N). Don't stop him, he's so happy. Try not to let him know about your C6 (Y/N).

I'm talking to all of you damn wHaLes–

Anyways, since he hated Childe's guts for trying to put chaos upon Liyue he beat him up with you LMAO

Really thinks you're cool and bought a lot of merch. Cause he does tons of damage with you why not? Dedicated simp.

His phone case is basically fanart of you and your burst.

Ace Trappola:

Built your vision build instead of physical.

Doesn't wanna admit it but also tested you out and made you climb some mountains...you know it, Genshin players. Tried it with Lisa, gonna try it with you.

I also think he'd be the type to nonchalantly reply to your chat lines or burst. When you say your burst he be like...

"Damn go off, (Y/N). Kick some ruin guard ass."

Somehow manages to make decent damage with you even though he's kind of shit with building. Pretty okay.

Isn't much of the type to help other players, but when he got you almost immediately he was in a good mood and built you to help others too.

Lvl 79 (Y/N) vs Lvl 40 Cryo Regisvine...

Yes i said 79, man didn't even bother for 80. Mans too lazy to keep leveling excuse me..

HELP HE SHIPS YOU WITH HIMSELF/HIS TRAVELER–

He's the kinda guy to probably secretly look up (Y/N) x Traveler fanart or fanfiction by secret.

Still doesn't know how to get your good ending in your hangout event..somehow always ends up making you sad and absolutely despises it.

Always uses emojis to chat with Deuce, what a mood.

Deuce Spade:

The one who goes to your lines in the menu and listens to everyone single one including your battle voice lines. Only a legend like him wouldn't get lazy listening to it all...

Doesn't have your own weapon, but he gave you a pretty good 4 star weapon anyway. More decent than Ace.

Is very troubled with certain bosses but since you're now his main life made everything for him so much easier.

Came back immediately and maxed you out to 90.

Doesn't have any of your constellations but pretty fine for him to have a C6 Qiqi.

I can feel his pain of gacha luck but wowie...you love him.

And so you came home. Pairs you up in a team with the two best Genshin characters he ships you with + a healer LMAO.

You may be doing 900 dmg but he has never been more proud of himself to actually be doing damage. Until he found out he forgot to level your talents and artifacts...Ace laughed at him so much.

"Shut it you orange you can't even properly use Beidou–"

Really shut him up so well that time.

When he met you in the archon quest, he could not be any happier and would be the player who screenshots that moment with their favs and stay until they have to go :(

Okay but when he saw an epic (Y/N) cutscene HE COULDN'T HELP BUT SCREAM IN HIS ROOM–

That scene remains played in his head the entire month.

Definitely had looked at some fanfiction with Ace lmao..

Leona Kingscholar:

Doesn't main, hell never even planned to pull for you.

But since our ultimate (Y/N) simp, Ruggie, was not taking any of that bullshit from him lol.

Made a bet with him and purposely won so the lazy lion would pull for you. And he reluctantly did. Even though you're a 5 star he used to think you weren't that good.

Until he watched some videos and now keeps you in his main team with Gorou XD

Doesn't Co-op, but did so once when Ruggie and Jack wanted to play together with him.

Gets chills when he activates your burst, it's so good.

The animation lives in his mind forever. Memorized your splash art and definitely knows your entire design.

Crowned you, triple crowned lol. You are respected.

Won't admit it but got attached to you and used you for everything. Expedition, cooking, fighting, even MINING–

He grew on you and you should be happy ♡

Never does his commissions but when he saw your story quest, he didn't want to do it but went like "whatever" and did it anyway XD

May or may not have also bought (Y/N) merch..

Ruggie Bucchi:

Since he's broke of course he's an F2P.

Saved for an entire year until your banner came. You were already guaranteed so uh...congrats bruv.

He only has a bunch of 4 star characters and weapons, but has Itto and Tighnari so it's pretty much fine. Look he love those two so much BAHAHA–

A good player. Doesn't have insane gacha luck but manages to at least get the characters he wants everytime.

You're the only one with 5 star artifacts because um favoritism ♡ just like my Kaeya TvT..

Somehow zooms through the entire exploration of the nation you reside in and it's all 100% TvT

I wish i was less lazy to actually be playing Genshin rn..

When someone slanders you they 'bout to be prepared, their food is going to get taken the next day at the cafeteria.

A pretty nice player, helps others but not often.

His favorite thing to do is probably explore Sumeru around with you, and screenshot a photo of you and Tighnari, the fluffy ear boi beside each other.

When he's in a bad mood literally goes to auto join Co-op and take stuff without asking and only say thanks LMAO–

Like pls stop and just ask first oh my God.

Fears nothing. Just has a resting bitch face while playing.

Jack Howl:

Softie alert.

Doesn't know much about you since you were just released but you're from his favorite nation so why not?

Probably wanting to save for Scaramouche but...

He still has enough time for the update, so just prays and of course, with the blessing of the archons he got you. Thinks your idle animations and entertainment.

OKAY but when he finally finished Sumeru he just remembered you had a hangout event. Man rlly just forgot to do it.

Thinks you're fun to play. Help he kicked Raiden's ass with you and just you no healers or anything whatsoever–

Just a lvl 70 (Y/N) coming to beat God's ass ToT...normal..

Don't ask how he even got through the second phase, it took him around a few tries but managed to do it.

Co-ops with ADeuce + Epel pretty often.

If he was ever a youtuber w/ the other three they'd probably do stuff like "Smashing Teyvat With Four (Y/N)s" LOL

Likes Itto since he's buff and has a cool personality, so he's still in his team but (Y/N) remains superior.

Probably apologizes when you die aww TvT ♡

Because he also has Zhongli always shields you. Even if there's no fight like man does it to make sure you're safe.

Subscribes to Voltyea, ItsPaikon, Tuonto & Antonychenn. Awesome Genshin youtubers, you should too ;)

Azul Ashengrotto:

Sigh, look man....he..

He thinks you're hot. Like went wide eyed at your banner even after he thought Ayato was the best.

Also saw people using you and those players were strong af. Really likes it when you just burst it down in one go, like man he wants a (Y/N) like that.

Doesn't have much luck in pulling so spent money since there was only a few days left for your banner sgsjgsvis–

If you also have another character skin in the future you'd bet he'd buy it too. Would like how you look in anything ♡

Co-ops with the tweels + Idia. They have to carry him lol.

The only player that loves fighting Oceanid all the time.

Switches to walk mode sometimes and loves seeing you walkng like oh my God, fictional simp.

Has an all Hydro team, please don't ask why. I headcannon him to be a little inexperienced, but as time goes on he picks it up real fast and slowly gets really good.

So yeah. Usually ends up with over 5 million mora so if you fight him prepare for consequences.

Sometimes toxic people Co-op with him.

But he knows how to fight back. Shows them his (Y/N) build and they shut up.

Here's to a (Y/N) that does a shit ton of damage.

Jade Leech:

As people always say, insane gacha luck.

I wouldn't know who he mains but probably between some sort of tall handsome character or hydro character. Ayato? Zhongli? Childe? Never know.

Has every character in the game except the ones that he doesn't want. Definition of whale. Probably has C6 of almost every character.

Also another boy that crowns you cause why not ♡

Very good at bosses and dodging. This mischievous ass also makes you climb mountains...God save you, (Y/N).

Sometimes just makes you stop moving and keep his focus on you, staring right through the screen as if he thinks that would magically isekai you into TWST–

...Yeah, i'll make this a fanfic for another time.

Does your hangout event and attempts to get all endings.

And by your guessing, he might have did so. Yes, he did. All of the endings. It took a few hours but he did it.

Likes dragging hilichurls to the water and using Raiden or any electro character to electrocute them. Finds amusement in it. Mother i'm scared.

Waiting for the harbingers to get them all. I just feel the connection...for some reason. Really scary but hot vibes.

Floyd Leech:

Probably has multiple accounts, all in which have you in it.

Doesn't main you, but keeps you. He just wants to have you around. Made you a sub DPS.

I can see both him and Jade playing spiral abyss. Might rage a few times if he doesn't get 3 stars but cools down a bit after attempting one or two more times.

"Ne~ (Y/N), do your idle animation again."

Always says that when he's bored and used up all his resin. Reminds of that meme–

That guy poking a rock with a stick saying the same thing.

Anyways, plays Genshin all night usually. Finds entertainment in playing you and sometimes dares himself to even be using only you fighting weekly bosses AHHH–

Likes to put Klee, the destructive child and Kaeya, the handsome sly man with you in a team.

Got lazy to get your ascension materials for lvl 902 but when it was your birthday guess he wanted to do it somewhat as a birthday present lol.

Why do i feel like he watches (Y/N) MMD dances–

Kalim Al Asim:

Loves playing Genshin so much! Thinks it's fun.

Doesn't like seeing his characters die so probably makes a lot of food in advance before fighting bosses and stuff.

Overall shit player but gets better little by little! Sometimes forgets he gave you a 3 star weapon so quickly exits the domain just to put it back c'mon ToT

Likes using the wind glider with you probably. Reminds him of his flying carpet and thinks the plunge is cool.

Tell him to stop spending all his money for primos :>

Like you can spend in this game, yes but man probably wanted all the characters + you so bad he kinda spent over 20,000 madol the whole year...

Triple crowned C6 (Y/N). OH GOD.

Not to worry, Jamil stopped him though. A good sport. His (Y/N) does like 200 with burst damage. Had to learn about talents and stuff–

And yay he's no longer shit /j

I'm not a Kalim slander, okay don't be mad XD

I just play Genshin like a few days every month to a year so i have no idea how anything works anymore save me.

Pretty good at doing the time challenges, somehow ended up beating the ascension quest at the electro hypostasis with one second left–

His (Y/N) does 20K ♡ while my Kaeya does so much less ♡

Heart been broke so many times.

Jamil Viper:

A really good player, probably somewhat like Jade. At the start he probably mained Kaeya or something. Went straight to Diluc when he got him.

But boy oh boy you hit different cause you're (Y/N).

An F2P or a low spender, somewhere like that. Memorized all patterns and phases of Raiden, Childe & Signora.

Since he's okay it may just take him uh...probably around 10-15 minutes to beat up Raiden with you.

Once went across a (Y/N) slander account online.

God knows how or when that account got deleted but whohoo they're gone :)

Likes using you, takes you out on expeditions and God who knew he'd use your burst to kill Timmie's pigeons. Well he just saw a video about it and tried it haha bullying–

Probably went in a small state of shock seeing you in the archon quest like HELLO?? (Y/N) SIMPS ASSEMBLE??

Seeing you do all that big ass jumping and being hot..

Kinda reminded him of a second Eula or Zhongli idk–

So basically, probably tried to get some constellations on your rerun but it's up to you to know how much he got.

...C1.

Vil Schoenheit:

Time where he actually likes a character design other than Kokomi or Raiden.

Pretty much pulled for you and yea all that whatnot, we all know he'd get you XD if he has his eyes on something you'd bet he deserves to have it.

And there you are, lvl 90 (Y/N) in all it's glory.

Since doesn't have enough primogems or fates he asked Idia what weapon you should be using. Also asked for one that would be aesthetically pleasing for your character.

Crit Rate 65.3%– he's a chill player.

Mihoyo releases a new (Y/N) skin? Yes. He'll get it if he really likes it, but if it's you he'd still take it anyway. I mean like you're his best character and all, so gotta make it worth.

Never goes broke on mora #2. If being broke ever crossed your mind to him then you're very wrong.

Actually as rich in game as in real life, damn.

Not a whale though, maybe just a dolphin. Likes Yunjin too so has her with you. I'm jealous of his team, jk.

Like he ain't gonna be number two in anything, sissy.

Probably audibly gasped when he witnessed Venti get kicked by La Signora but went "Omg slay" after–

Whoever said (Y/N) is trash, he'll prove them wrong.

Rook Hunt:

I'm sorry but WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT DAMAGE–

Bro just started playing Genshin like for a few hours and already got himself a good Lisa build...

...Speedy thunder weird creature is this man?

Though higher AR means stronger enemies he does not give a shit and will absolutely fight back with his awesome skills. Took himself to Adventure Rank 60. UNLIKE ME–

Knows how to save unlike you guys and got you on your banner when he heard of your release.

Loves playing you honestly. He made you so well–

Better than any other (Y/N) main could possibly do. Yours does 15K? Bruh, this hunter does 30K ToT

Teach me your ways master Rook. Earlier about Ace and Deuce i said they read fanfiction right? Well, this guy is the one who makes the fanfiction.

Wastes no time to download Twisttpad on his laptop and his fingers typed so quick even Raiden was INFERIOR.

...Okay lame reference but at least i got that out of my head.

Doesn't give a care, even if he had a lvl 40 (Y/N) with the most terrible build ever he'd be using that in Co-op boss fights. And oh my sevens–

Somehow everyone else who was like lvl 70-80 died and he solos it and somehow manages to kill it and survive. Jade may be a good dodger, but this man is the GOD of dodging.

Never underestimate no matter how hard it may be.

Well he brought some food with him anyways. Often plays with Vil and Epel.

Epel Felmier:

PLS– the first years are literally going feral debating about which one of them has the best (Y/N).

Until Epel comes out with his and they go pikachu shocked.

Of course he didn't do it alone with his own experience. Trusted Rook to help him with it and man did it work wonders. Probably uses healer artifacts for you...why–

Well unless you ARE a healer then yay, you'll be replacing his dear 'ol Barbara.

Keeps Beidou because y e s. He chose it himself.

The fact that he's actually the most normal Genshin player in the entire fandom of Genshin makes it hilarious. Please stop bringing lvl 1 characters to lvl 90 domains–

But i once did that myself, could say it was fun though...

Much like Deuce and Jamil...and less like Vil, he is very vulgar when someone trash talks you.

Literally spits it in their face that his (Y/N) is better than your Diluc. Will not stand for any mean slander. Loves you and forever does.

Always keeps a healer like Barbara or Kokomi even if he replaces them with you, he'll probably go like...

"Alright, now protect my (Y/N). Okay?" CUTE AHDGSHW–

Kinda sad when he finds out you're shipped with other Genshin characters. Then shakes it off afterwards, he isn't gonna fall in love with a fictional charater sadly.

You're his main DPS, naturally. He didn't crown you tho.

Didn't because he doesn't have any lol. Barely plays Genshins on weekdays, usually on weekends and maybe rarely Friday too.

Idia Shroud:

The Genshin God of TWST and the biggest whale.

Don't even start on you. Just a bit of grinding and leveling, boom C6 lvl 90 (Y/N) with your weapon.

Maxed out right artifacts and triple crowned. Don't ask. The only C6 he doesn't have is Kaeya, Lisa and Amber. Look even he has his own hardships. C2 Kaeya though.

Insanely good at patterns and dodging.

One-faces La Signora regularly with no problems. Even more so he loves using you for looking hot while fighting.

His room is half-filled with (Y/N) posters, plushies, figurines, etc. you name it. Never forgets daily commissions and uses only you because he's a gamer God lol.

Has Diluc, Fischl, Barbara & Jean's other skins. And if you also have one he'll be the 3rd to have it (Azul & Vil yknow)...

Never underestimate an otaku and pro gamer.

Probably plays challenges with Lilia on a live stream like who can kill Raiden the fastest, who can kill a cryo resgisvine without breaking the corrolla, stuff like that...

It always ends so intense that fans are going crazy smh.

And sometimes there's a catch that they only have to use one or two characters. Both always use you LMAO–

Always expect better things each day in his streams.

Ortho Shroud:

Usually watches instead of plays, but Idia encouraged him to play so both could have fun.

He pulled you and Kequing ♡ first two 5 stars.

Of course a pro gamer as well like, he gives me those player vs AI robot battle vibes so much– except he's the AI and not actually bad TvT

Has lots of fun in the archon quests and weekly bosses. Expect him to get to Raiden's second face in 5 seconds.

Mihoyo has no idea wtf happened and how he did it.

Always helps other players! And when streaming, he also sometimes joins Idia and Lilia in playing. Who knows, maybe Cater as well if he has time.

Best (Y/N) build next to Idia you wouldn't believe it.

Not a C6, but somewhere near that. He'd probably get it if you get a rerun.

Also probably gives players good gacha luck and like damn thank him properly. Even if he has no idea what's going on he'll say "you're welcome" anyways.

Finds spiral abyss fun. Obtained a Xiangling and he felt happy about that.

Will literally find excitement in anything about you–

You're a 5 star. How nice! You give bonuses when cooking? That's awesome~ He's such a sunshine omg..

Loves your hangout event. Finished it immediately.

You are a character to be appreciated. Everyone agrees!

Malleus Draconia:

HE'S SO SHIT AT THIS GAME HELP LMAO–

Mostly finds the artifacts very confusing. Which ones should be used for (Y/N)? Should Lisa use travelling doctor? What does the +0 mean?

Lilia is always there to explain, and Malleus slowly understands. When i say slow, very slow.

But we'll be getting there soon nonetheless.

Amused when he pulled a 5 star which was you– like man didn't even try for the standard banner.

Wants to see if he'll get a limited character and he did. Probably has like three or four 5 star characters overall.

Does 5K damage, but that's good enough for him he says.

Probably the only TWST character that is most invested and interested in the Genshin lore. Maybe even your backstory, who knows.

If you have a really sad backstory like the others...

He'll feel bad. Always tries to remember it's fiction but can't stop feeling about it for you. Soft dragon.

When he first met you in game, i mean your cutscene–

He was both given a shock and wave of happiness. His favorite character is finally here! Very cool. Enjoyed the scene while it lasted and immediately ran to talk to you.

Two (Y/N)s up against each other...pff. Never does hangout events, actually too busy theorizing about Teyvat–

Just like anyone else. Unknown God? Celestia? The Fatui Harbingers & Tsaritsa? Expect him to be making lots of theories all the time. Sebek wholeheartedly agrees.

Lilia Vanrouge:

Not a Genshin god but could be a Genshin king probably. Another dolphin, mildly spends a little.

Pulled you on your rerun instead because he used all his primos for Zhongli. Used to main him too, always gets reminded of Malleus for some reason. Anyone else?

Doesn't even try. Can build you with his eyes closed, like do not even bLiNk and you're probably clashing dmg with Idia–

Which is why the streams are always so fun.

Co-op weekend nights with Diasomnia, in his world. He's at AR 60 and the others are probably around 50.

Will take a simple selfie with you admiring your character during the archon quest. If some epic cutscene happens he'll be very amused.

Little beastie is so strong~ he should make an entire cake dedicated to you! That's it.

Doesn't understand why everyone stopped him though.

Poor guy still doesn't know his cooking is shit but he tries– Also the one who makes the (Y/N) fanfiction.

But there's a twist to that. It's all smut. LMAO bestie doesn't even get fazed when he writes or reads lemons.

If it's you, then he gives no shit. Loves everything about your character and has a team dedicated to support you the entire time lol.

Often has to have C6 Qiqi to revive you. And probably has to always stick to Malleus incase well...stuff happens.

Overall likes your hangout event most. Good screenshots!

Sebek Zigvolt:

Very loud and obnoxious when it comes to you.

Will definitely show you off the other players with his nicely built (Y/N) thanks to Lilia, but never his first year friends because feels it's embarassing...

Manages to fight weekly bosses on his own, takes two or three tries but it's okay. He's a decent one

Imagine he bought a plushie of you and cuddles it AWW– nah that would seriously be so cute. (Y/N) simp.

Doesn't like Scaramouche for that one time he met with Traveler but wants his banner anyway...i mean, cool. Often updated with stuff and watches youtube Genshin leaks–

Asks Lilia or Silver for advice when doing puzzles.

Saw Dottore in the Sumeru trailer AND FREAKED OUT.

Another harbinger!? Damn, he'll be waiting for it. If anyonr of you want to see that trailer just message me!

Wait...are you shipped with any harbinger? Let him see.

Probably used to main someone tall and intimidating like his waka-sama...Zhongli, Kaeya, Diluc, Ayato, who knows.

Kinda felt mad when Traveler's sibling just left when they saw each other again. Hopes Genshin won't have a terrible ending and cry his crocodile tears.

Honestly same Sebek, same. Don't jinx it though.

Silver:

Used to main any hydro character or healer maybe. Thinks Kokomi is calming and cute.

But only for you he switched because like...(Y/N). That's all i have to say for you to understand. (Y/N).

Never even has to try when fighting bosses. Like–

Literally somehow obliterates them with his sheer luck. He almost falls asleep during Childe's boss fight and almost didn't manage to dodge the big whale LMAO.

Lucky he has food. Precious food for you worries. Saves some of your fanart on his phone.

So whenever he wants to sleep, he'll just look at your face and falls asleep peacefully ♡ prolly predicted you getting isekai'd in TWST so he has no problems loving you..

...Don't ask how he also has a C6 (Y/N).

Dies in the middle of an archon quest when he trials you because he just got shocked he saw you then just really stopped moving.

But oh well, that's not a problem. Say hello to steak. Or tevyat fried eggs...who knows.

Doesn't fight Raiden often. He falls asleep and dies.

Ends up snapping when he hears your soothing voice in his earphones though. Just smiles and continues playing like PLEASE I LOVE HIM HE'S SO PRECIOUS–

Mm, we love the power of (Y/N). Very delicious.

Just please always have Sebek wake him up when he falls asleep in playing, gets dejected when you die– just opens the Paimon menu everytime he feels like dozing off.

Cause y'know, Paimon's mysterious way of stopping time.

(I'M SORRY AGAIN FOR ERRORS THIS IS SO HALF ASSED..want to be added in a taglist? Just say it!)

Taglist: @stygianoir

[mrcaesarino]

just a little jojo theory on doppio and diavolo

so, do you all remember that one theory that doppio is the real personality? let me explain. that theory is based on real d.i.d pyschology shit cause doppio is like the submissive one while diavolo is the dominant one. the research says that the dominant one is almost always the fake identity or second personality and the submissive one is the real personality who has no control or decisions over the second personality. the real personality or doppio on the other hand, can make decisions for himself but for most of the time, he gets commanded by diavolo to do this that and whatever more.

but...

what if i tell you...

that there is one more personality?

and that is the true identity between diavolo and doppio?

it just a theory i made okay dont attack me and say its not canon, its called a theory for a reason. okay?

so anyways, like doppio, the third personality maybe submissive like him, or broken, too broken in fact. watching everything unravel like a movie but the movie involves him as the character that is going to die. maybe. and don't question me with, "but why didnt he showed up if he existed?" that's the thing, he cant do anything because he has no power or control over anything because of diavolo. or... he may simply had enough of so much bad karma over his entire lifetime he just simply gives up and snaps, creating diavolo allowing the second and most dominant personality in control. think about it, there are so much similarities of the third in diavolo and doppio even though he didnt develop doppio himself but diavolo did. doppio gets bad karma like him and also looks quite like him while diavolo is the anger or murderous tendencies that the third personality has when their on the verge of a breaking point but the event where they plotted on killing their father?? thats how diavolo was made. doppio was made from diavolo because he needed somebody as a cover or double to do his business while he hides his own identity away from the world. you get it? doppios name, doppio, mean double in italian. and its also quite ironic that he also hid his third personality. and your wondering, who is the third personality??

th third personality is...

solido naso.

🤡🤡🤡

I KNOW IT SOUNDS STUPID BUT PLEASE LISTEN. SOLIDO NASO LOOKS LIKE DIAVOLO OF COURSE, (WITH COURTESY FROM DAVID PRODUCTIONS) BECAUSE HE IS THE PERSONALITY HE MADE. BUT... DOPPIO LOOKS ABSOLUTELY LIKE HIM, IN SEVERAL ARTS. LIKE A FUCKING THROWBACK. HERE.

just like diavolo, he has green eyes but his hair, attire and mostly his face is just like doppio. the only difference is the eyes which represents diavolo. in the anime dp or David production made solido naso look more like diavolo but as a teen.

there, you see that? diavolo and doppio are the splitting images of him. in the manga he looks like doppio but in the anime, diavolo is the one who looks like him.

i also like to think that diavolo and doppio has some kind of brotherly relationship with him. here. fanon version of my theory lol

everything was going so well, the new found riches they had when the drug dealing association they made, passione, was going off, made solido naso's pain go away... for now. cause, diavolo right? diavolo decided to pull a, "why not keep in touch with a chick named donatella and fuck with her in the midst of my growing success only for me to remember years later that she existed and got pregnant with my baby and the baby we had together is going to be a threat to my empire bcuz shes related to me thus making or existing a mini me out on this world and at the same time maybe the potential key or push needed for a gang such as bucciaratis and risotto neros to rebel because of my horrible decision making" lol this was so long, but anyways... yeah solido knew of it once the news of la squdra rebelling against passione was out and um yeah... hes crying. my poor trauma bby kitten meow meow 🥺🥺

see the third pic again for solido crying and getting comforted by douchebag diavolo and best boi doppio ❤

but back to the topic, the third pic also has something interesting, the three are trying to comfort solido yet, they are also crying... weird. because since the original ver of them, solido, is crying and sad, they are also bound to feel the same thing. diavolo referring to solido as a kid is his preference to on naming him because he views solido as a a kid and that same goes to doppio. diavolo's determination to eliminate the traitors may also come from solido unaccepting it because he doesnt want this to happen, he just had gotten out of his horrible, horrible life in his opinion that was constantly tormenting him everyday as a reminder which doppio, unfortunately, inherits and aim to fix it because "boss said so." because no matter what happens...

Solido's happiness is the true number one priority of Diavolo, because nobody, I mean nobody, is going to put him in pain again, And the arrow filled with unfathomable power fueled them even more.

so... yuh. thats how uh.. raccoon mafia boss and best boi was made.

IN MY THEORY OKAY. DONT TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY I DONT MEAN TO OFFEND ANYONE AND I MEAN ANYONE OR THEIR THEORIES. and i damn well know that this is very confusing but you kinda get gist of it.. right?? but yeah this was so fun to make and represents what i think, very intricate to explain making it sound confusing lol but i actually think this is a good writing experience too because i plan on making a fanfic based on jjba, if it blows up, ill tell yall my account. but if it flops, then no ❤

but ill let you guys have a hint,

King of hearts ❤

[crystalelemental]

Unit Teambuilding - Rose

Alright, listen.  Galar Villain Arc is happening earlier than expected.  I had thought this would be like Hoenn last year, and take up all of August, but apparently this is a two-month affair.  Which means next month has another opening for the lead-up to anniversary.  And I’m just saying.  Maxie is getting a rerun, so like...Roxanne alt?  It’d get me to spend, DeNA.  Just think about it.

Anyway, the VA starts off by actually introducing the villains of Rose and Oleana.  Hoping this means the latter half is just introducing a windfall of first-time arrivals.  If we get Opal I’ll die.  If we get Kabu or Peony, my wife will die.  But for now, Rose and Oleana.  No one is surprised.  What is surprising to many is that they’re both PokeFairs.  Apparently a lot of people expected Oleana to be a general pool?  Naive fools.  Rose is a bit more surprising to me, since I don’t think he’s all that popular, but let’s see if Copperajah lives up to the title.

General Overview I can sum up whether you want to pull on Rose in a single question: How do you feel about SS Giovanni?

Rose and SS Giovanni operate identically.  While Giovanni focuses on higher single-target DPS and on-type Max Moves, Rose makes the honestly smarter trade of getting AoE on moves and Max Moves, in exchange for slightly less single-target power.  At time of writing, we don’t know how much extra damage he gets for Steel-type, but it’s presumed to be a lot.  I’m literally betting 50%.  If it is...he might be better than SS Giovanni, even in the areas he was already good at.  Like, SS Giovanni is a bit of a struggle when off-type.  Rose’s tradeoff may actually be to his benefit, as he’s got an easier time off-typing thanks to serious boosting of his Iron Head, which also flinches.

The downside is he’s an extreme Giovanni in both the good and the bad.  Specifically, Rose is slower, and hits himself with a -2 speed penalty on trainer move.  If Giovanni was so bad at gauges that my only real solution in Gauntlet was “max team speed,” Rose feels like more of the same.  This guy is going to downright struggle with gauges no matter what you do.  He does get a merciful MGR9 on Iron Head, but any serious gauge savings come from 5/5, where he gets Free Moves Next every action under Steel Damage Field.  Which means one use, and he has to take his Steel-type Max Move.

Rose is fascinating to me.  Despite my dislike of SS Giovanni, I really love Rose’s kit.  I think it’s just...the personality.  Like, this is a man who cannot wait to save his life.  He needs immediate, overwhelming, decisive action to be taken, and provided the course is sane, he wins.  If it’s not, then immediately following failure, he may as well give up.  The gauges aren’t there, he can’t act, he’s just...lost outright.  Which is exactly like Rose.  Take a big risk on solving the energy crisis forever, and if Plan A fails, you have no backup.  I dunno.  I like when the kit of a Pokemon matches the personality of the trainer in a serious way.  That said...Rose is probably the worst of the major four sync pairs.  Tate and Liza have wildly exceeded expectations, and Oleana is exceptional.  Rose will be unbelievable in CS, but his Gauntlet performance will suck ass and there’s very little he can do to fix it.  As someone who values pairs that are good at both, having a pair that’s exceptional in one at the cost of basically all utility in the other is never a fantastic trade.  At least Liza has reusable Free Moves Next with +80% damage every use of it.

EX and Move Level? To be honest, Rose might be one of those “one and done” types.  While he offers a lot at 3/5, I feel like spread Max Moves are a really strong point in his favor, and that he’s probably completely fine without move level or EX.  EX on a striker with Extend Range is a known problem, too.  What, you’re going to AoE blast your opponents when the sides are already dead?  Idiot.  But move level does have some consideration.  Hit the Gas 5 stacks with move level damage increases, so each successive level makes him that much stronger.  Is it necessary?  No.  But is it funny?  That’s for you to decide.

Team 1: Rose, Marley, Tech Magneton Rose wants for incredibly little, and on a budget for on-type, Marley is a great pick thanks to how fast she caps team speed.  She isn’t really needed for much else, but that speed will get you where Rose needs to go.  Magneton is chosen because frankly, the DPS and Max Move will clear sides just fine.  All you want is to maximize your target damage on center via Screech, and Magneton has matched theme skills without being too terribly slow.  Congrats on clearing Steel, Ground, and Rock stages, friend.

Team 2: Rose, W!Jasmine/C!Red, Colress But if you want to be COOL?  Winter Jasmine strats.  SEUN can be applied to Max Moves for absurd damage, and nothing solves his basic single-target DPS issues like a multiplicative 50% bonus.  Colress has AoE Screech, because sometimes you just need to see a funny number pop.  In this scenario, Jasmine takes sync to maximize Rose.  While gauge issues are generally a nightmare, Colress does get Infliction Freebie so it’ll get the job done on-type.

Team 3: Rose, P!Marnie, Skyla As an off-type option focused on Steel, P!Marnie does work well with Rose, thanks to her defense debuffs and Steel Wish.  That said, holy hell the gauges.  That’s why we brought Skyla.   For physical stages, the combination of her defense boosts and Marnie’s Growl really keeps the team going, while solving gauge issues.

Team 4: Rose, Courtney/SS Diantha, Ingo And now the other two off-type.  Courtney and SS Diantha work very well with Rose’s physical focus, and Rose does get Sandstorm tiles to help manage gauge.  Rose can set his own Sandstorm with Rockfall, but also...Ingo.  Ingo buffs speed per action in Sand, and has the absolute chaos of multiple free moves next effects.  I know he functions well, but if Dojo Gloria can get a grid expansion, when’s Ingo?  Give him Sand Alert 5.  I want to see people go nuts.

Team 5: Rose, SS Steven (Speed), Tech Magneton I mentioned that Rose is SS Giovanni.  That means SS Giovanni solutions apply to him too, and we can look directly at my man Sygna Suit Steven’s Speed Forme, which has such unbelievable gauge generation that you’ll go crazy trying to think about it.  Rose does have limitations compared to Giovanni for Gauntlet purposes, specifically the worse single-target DPS, but Screech should, should solve it, since Steven as an evade tank also has Recover.

Final Thoughts Guys.  I’m not gonna lie.  I actually really like this kit.  I think this is fun.  I dunno man, I wasn’t impressed when SS Giovanni did the Hit the Gas 3-types Max Move thing, and I wasn’t impressed when Victor did the AoE Max Moves thing.  I have no idea why I’m so invested in this Rose.  Like legitimately, I do not get it, I am setting myself up for disappointment so badly.

I think at least in part, it’s hope.  Masters does really, really well with characters on the whole.  When allowed to write a fun event, they nail it every time.  The VA has largely been disappointing because they keep shifting focus back to Giovanni, and if they can just keep attention on Rose and Oleana for a bit?  I feel like they could sell me on them.  Make something work.  And I’d love for that to be the case.  I am a Galar Hater at heart, but my wife loves it, it was her first real Pokemon experience so she’s super attached, and I would love to share in that attachment.  They’ve done a decent job with other members of the cast.  They got me to like Bede.  Maybe they can pull something off with Rose too.

[mlobsters]

supernatural s13e10 wayward sisters (w. robert berens, andrew dabb)

is this a spinoff setup attempt? not sure i have the... whatever. to watch it. another longer than necessary recap but at least the music is mixed better than 13x09. but this is made more like a music video (or fanvid), can't say i'm feelin the music they picked but whatever. usually their pre-ep recaps are (sometimes too) snappy. is this the same editor as 09 i wonder. they had the same DP forever basically. so yes, it is the same editor and he only did 27 episodes in the series, definitely gonna keep that in mind as i slog my way through the end of the series. see if i can pick up the tells like i was doing and not realizing with the composers 🤪

generally down for claire being a badass and all, but like. being outnumbered with monsters that have physical advantages and her not having been doing it very long, is a little hard to swallow. generally the show presents hunting as something that should be done not-alone? and if she's gonna get into a wrestling match with a werewolf instead of just shooting it... whatever. whatever whatever

well, at least jody is freaking out/yelling at her about it. but like, jody can't be her hunting partner fulltime, so maybe she needs to get set up with one of the other hunters they know.

another scar comparison for bonding moment (11x15 which was more a direct jaws scar comparison reference)

SAM No no no, don’t tell me it tastes like chicken. DEAN No, Sam it’s a lizard. It tastes like a lizard.

all right that got a chuckle out of me

cute cute

CLAIRE Yeah. Jody always said I’d get myself killed, hunting, and I’d be like, good. If I’m going to go out then that’s how I want to do it, doing something great

yeah need a smidge more self-preservation skills i think before doing this alone

these uh, bad place monster guys are. something. very predator movie monster vibes with the jaw situation, stringy bits and clicky noises

that big skull is so goofy looking.

is there some reason they just didn't run straight into the nexus no stopping. wtf. kaia had to die first for no reason

JODY No, this isn’t on you, not all of it, I told you to go. CLAIRE No. I didn’t even think, I just raced in, no plan. I said I’d protect her. I get it now, why you are the way you are, with me. Because of the… this feeling…

all righty. kaia had to die for claire to learn a lesson.

CLAIRE I came back to Sioux Falls to save Sam and Dean Winchester and I did. No, we did, we saved Sam and Dean. All of these amazing women, my family. They don’t know it yet, they think I’m staying because I’m broken but I’m staying because I need them, my family, my army. The thing that killed Kaia is still out there and I don’t care if I have to tear another hole in the universe, we’re going to find it. And I’m going to kill it.

LOL omg the diary and voiceover. how very vampire diaries

i mean, it's sweet

uh huh 🥴

(wiki)

On May 11, 2018 it was announced that Wayward Sisters would not go to series, with network president Mark Pedowitz citing on May 17th: “We are big fans of the characters and the women who played those characters… We hope they continue on as guest stars on Supernatural… But we did not feel creatively that the show was where we wanted it to be. And we felt we had a better shot with [Originals spin-off] Legacies.”

isn't the originals a spinoff of the vampire diaries? lol spinoff of a spinoff had better potential 😬made it 4 seasons!

[sophieinwonderland]

so r u one of those 'radqueers' now or smth ?? (ill just. die if u start supporting transabled or smth lmao)

i mean u dont actually think being attracted to actual animals is ok right? im talking irl animals w/ animal brains-

like if someones attracted to a lion headmate (as a human or not) its fine to date them (given its not like pedophillia/underage or whatever) bc they have human brain, (and if they do nsfw things then its ok bc they can consent)

but like u dont also think that uh being romantically attracted to animals (animal brains, animal bodies, actual animals) is ok- right??? like u r against that yes. i am trying to understand

and if someones attracted to animals irl actual animals then they need therapy-

I am against people being romantically involved with biological animals.

My understanding is that there's a wide spectrum of experiences of "attraction."

At the most severe end are people who have actual paraphiliac disorders. These people have difficulty controlling themselves, and it is usually overwhelming to the point of negatively impacting their lives. In these cases, these are mental disorders that desperately need to be treated so that they can get better.

At the lesser end, you may have people who have minor attractions or kinks. Like, it's going to be a turn on and they might engage in animal play with other humans. But they have self-control and probably a moral compass, and wouldn't hurt an actual animal. In this case, it wouldn't rise to the level of being a paraphilia.

I'm sure a lot of people have fantasized about hurting someone else, stealing, or maybe even murder. We actually even glorify this in media, with so many stories of protagonists who go around hurting other people.

Do you believe that fantasizing about hurting people makes someone a bad person?

My philosophy is that thoughts are amoral. A bad thought doesn't make you make a bad person while bad actions do. (On the flip side, a good thought not acted on doesn't make you a good person.)

Attraction is immoral if it leads to caused harm to others. Attraction is bad for yourself (but still amoral) if it's persistent and causes problems in your daily life. In the former case, that should result in criminal prosecution. In the latter, it should result in therapy to help cope.

I'm not sure how much you can actually separate the different parts of the animal someone is attracted to because I think it's probably different for different groups. Some might be attracted to specific physical features of an animal. For some, it may be certain animal-like behavior.

I'm going to guess based on your comments that if the attraction itself is wrong, then you would consider art or written works immoral as well.

My question is where does this moral standard leave us in the virtual world, where we stigmatize the attraction rather than the action? How do we differentiate between people who are attracted to physical animals while still allowing animal-identifying headmates and alterhumans to identify as animals, appear as animals virtually, act like animals as much as they want, and still be allowed to engage in sexual activity without that association attached?

Because yes, there's a good chance that a lot of people willing to be in a consensual relationship with someone in a virtual world who looks like an animal, acts like an animal and identifies as an animal... might have at least some attraction to animals. And stigmatizing the thought itself also will further stigmatize these consensual relationships.

VR will present the opportunity for headmates and alterhumans to be whatever they want, and I don't think that our right to consent should be tied to how we choose to appear or identify.

(Complete aside, because I'm tagging this as mature for sexual themes and don't want to make another post, but I was browsing the VRChat sub today and had the displeasure of learning what "DPS" means.)

[jeremy-ken-anderson]

FFXIV Tips

Some things I’ve learned that aren’t super well-explained in-game.

Interrupts: Put interrupts (Interject on tanks and Head Graze on ranged DPS) somewhere you can get at them easily, but out of the way. Interruptible actions flash when they’re filling up. This isn’t just some old deprecated system! There’s a boss in Endwalker who casts Bravery (that is, Damage Up) on himself and you can block the effect utterly, drastically reducing his damage for the following thirty seconds! In earlier dungeons it’s not important to interrupt stuff because nothing’s terribly difficult, but it’s a good habit to get into and besides it makes your experience more interesting.

Esuna: Most people know this one, but for those who don’t...You can tell which debuffs can be healed with Esuna because they’ll have a little silver bar over them. This is especially important because Doom is sometimes Esunable (that’s a word now) and sometimes not. If it’s not, there’s some other mechanic for removing it (like standing on a glowing pressure plate) but if it can be Esuna’d, the game probably expects you to remove it that way and your Doomed allies may be salty if you ignore the debuff and they die five or ten seconds later. As a side note, in case you haven’t noticed: Buffs have a bit of an up-arrow shape to them while debuffs have a vaguely down-arrow shape.

Ctrl: If you’re playing with a keyboard, press the Ctrl key! There are a lot of weird little tooltips about things that get revealed when you do so. If you’re on the map Ctrl will bring Aetherytes to the front to allow for easier teleporting even when you’ve got a bunch of unfinished sidequests.

Comfort: Gremlins are in five or six dungeons - including ones as recent as SHB - and inflict a demoralize status that isn’t Esunable. However, anyone other than the afflicted character can remove it using /comfort if they’re in close range. Given that the time you’ll need to do this is mid-combat I recommend making a /comfort macro, perhaps with a “There there, <t>, we care about you!” Including <t> in the quotes will cause the target’s name to appear in your text when you use the ability. It’s how you see healers rez people and call them by name at the same time! Honestly this isn’t a serious tip. Gremlins aren’t a serious enough threat to make a macro for them. But it is an interesting nearly-deprecated system that you happen to still be able to interact with, like a living piece of FFXIV historical trivia that can also help keep your tank healthy in the middle of Holminster Switch.

Macros: Most macros aren’t worth it. Macros can’t be precast the way your regular skills can (if you hit the button for an attack up to a quarter-second before it’s off cooldown it’ll preload and cast as soon as its CD finishes. A macro of the same attack won’t.), which means you’re usually losing time by casting them instead of using the regular ability buttons. The most notable exception is rezzing, because a good rez macro can save you the trouble of targeting your allies for the rez. It looks like this: /micon Resurrection /merror off /ac Swiftcast /wait 1 /ac Resurrection <2> <-Repeat this line for numbers 3-8 Replace “Resurrection” with whatever your class’ rez is. If it’s Verraise, you can skip the bit with Swiftcast because you don’t need it, just cast any spell to get Dualcast and you’re already skipping the cast timer, you fantastic RDM you. It may be worth including another /wait 1 and /ac “Lucid Dreaming” at the end of the macro, because rezzing costs 1/4 of your max mana bar, so your mana recovery skill (which everyone who can currently rez has, and thankfully always has the same name) will always be useful right after it. You have to include the 1-second delay because macros skip later actions if it tries to cast them when they’re invalid - either because the target isn’t dead (the thing that makes this macro so powerful in the first place is the fact that it instantly cycles to whoever just died) OR because you’re in the middle of another action or the chosen action is on CD when you make the attempt.

Hotbar Emotes: Beckon is great to have available, because then you can one-button for all those stupid Leves where you have to drag escort an NPC across a zone. Lookout and Sit are also hugely valuable. You don’t need to macro these; You can just select them in the Emotes menu and choose Add to Hotbar from the dropdown.

[treadmilltreats]

Staying in positivity

Since I'm on a roll this week talking about gratitude and being blessed, I figured I'd might as well talk about positively. As this goes hand in hand with these other things.

There are actual health benefits of positive thinking. It lowers the rate of depression. It also lowers the levels of distress and pain. When you think positive, you have greater resistance to illnesses and a better psychological and physical well-being.

This being said, I don't understand why so many people are negative. Why hold on to anger and bitterness? Why be hateful? Why always look at the bad instead of trying to find the good? I don't get it.

While speaking to a friend this weekend, we were talking about someone who was in my situation. Living a big life, then getting divorced and having your whole life change. She is still bitter and angry years later. And she even got a lot of child support and even got alimony, which I got neither.

She's bitter and I'm happy, same situation, different outcome.

I chose to learn how to get past my anger because trust me, in the beginning, I was pissed. But I learned that my anger was only affecting me, not him. Why was I wasting all my time on this? It wasn't going to change anything. Except I was killing myself by taking the poison and hoping he would die. It was stupid, and I was wasting my life and my happiness on this.

Look, 99% of us had a shitty childhood, and we went through most of the same shit. Being hurt, dumped, shit on, or abused. Many of us turned to drugs and alcohol to overcome our pain. I always say insert your sob story here…

And as mean as that may sound, it's the truth. You can't let your past control your future.

So today my friends I am here to say that if you are positive, if you are grateful and you feel that you are blessed even for the little things in your life, you can literally change your life and your health. It's never too late to do this. Old dogs may not be able to learn new tricks, but old people sure can. And like I say at the end of every blog…only you can be the change you want to see.

@TreadmillTreats

"Be the change you want to see"

@Treadmilltreats

"And just when the caterpillar thought his life over...he turned into a beautiful butterfly"

**Now released my latest book**

The Blessing in Disguise.... revealed

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