#i was so motivated in the beginning and then became a loser and then it was suddenly ... February 10th..... and Secret life had been over

[sososososouspicious]

It's mostly empty but that's okay bc i just wanted my Life!series designs out there please bear with me

Here’s some (sort of?????) close ups:

[nyerusnova]

Glad to see that Tim being a giant Dick Grayson fanboy is finally being highlighted again, and sparking more discussion especially on their early relationship! (Please gimme more!!! I love them so much, augh!)

Probably as a result of that surge, there seems to be reciprocal chatter on the topic of how young Tim actually felt towards Jason, too. It's honestly pretty interesting, because it's more nuanced than it appears at first glance.

Which means it's very fun to dissect! ✨

There's a degree of subjectivity to keep in mind, because readers are going to have different interpretations of the same scenes, or will pull from entirely different scenes than one another to form their individual view on this topic. That's just how it is in comic book fandom, for many things! Regardless, in this case... if the scale ranges from the extreme of "Jason was Tim's Robin" to the other extreme of "Tim actually hated Jason [as Robin] or thought he was a loser that got himself killed" — the actual truth is closer to the middle, as is often the case.

At least, in my opinion.

Mainly I want to focus on those relatively early days with this post, to highlight Tim's initial(-ish) feelings towards his heroes, and touch on the point at which they really begin to change. This turned into a very long post, though. Brevity is beyond my skill, so grab snacks and water lol. Transcripts for each image will be posted at the very end under the cut.

So, the two storylines I want to cover are "Rite of Passage," which is rolls into "Identity Crisis." (NOT to be confused with the major crossover event "Identity Crisis™" which came years later, and is where Jack Drake dies.... But it sure is an interesting coincidence that Tim deals with the loss of each parent in two similarly named stories!) These take place before Tim is even Robin, and I'll be considering them as one arc for this post.

Detective Comics vol. 1 #618 (July, 1990) -- Pages 1 & 2

"When Gotham needed him, he was there. When the Batman needed him, he was there. He was a hero."

"One day, I'll be as good as Jason. One day I'll wear the suit."

To start off, we have this opening from "Rite of Passage." Tim is still in training here, mainly helping Bruce with minor stuff from the cave. His parents are off traveling, alive and well as of these next few pages. He's still bright-eyed and full of wonder. An extraordinarily weird but ultimately innocent kid.

So his view on Jason is positive and fairly simple: a hero, and someone to look up to as Robin. Clearly, Tim here doesn't think Jason was deficient in his role, either as a protector of Gotham or as Batman's trusted partner.

Moreover, Tim already held Dick in very high regard because he was amazingly skilled before he became Robin. To Tim, that's not something he'll ever be able to achieve. Meanwhile, Jason wasn't like that. He was a regular kid without crazy acrobatic training since practically birth. Yet he still went on to be a hero—which is obviously motivational for Tim who finds himself in similar shoes.

It's true that Tim only ever knew or thought of Jason as Robin, and idolized him in that regard. But that's kind of all that mattered to him at that point, because he was this kid who was utterly star-struck by his heroes. Even if he's technically aware of their shortcomings as people, it's overshadowed by the hero-worship.

It was kind of the same with Bruce as Batman at first. (Which was still enough for Tim to risk life and limb to help his beloved hero, before Bruce even knew his name.) Dick was the only one Tim had any sort of "personal" relationship with beforehand, so there is an extra level of attachment—and hence why it was the nidus for his obsession with Batman. Yet even then, it wasn't like he actually knew anything about Dick as a person until later. Until then, Tim's ideas of him were all he had, too. With Jason, Tim just didn't get to know him at any point before his return (oof), apart from what he heard over the years secondhand (also oof).

Ultimately, it's the loss of innocence—along with the ricocheting bullet that is the unresolved guilt of those around him—that begins to change Tim's perception. Not just of Jason, but of things in general.

Batman vol. 1 #455 (Oct., 1990) -- Page 13

"I know why they do it now. Why they put on the suits, and the masks, and go out into the night. They're angry, they're full of rage. They want to hit back."

Losing his mother was a major shift for Tim, obviously. This is right after the previous storyline, and Tim's had the worst week or two of his life (so far). His monologue here is a reference to what happened to both Dick and Jason. The unbearable pain of loss, the rage masking the grief underneath. And importantly, that he feels both of them were justified in their anger. (And Bruce too, indirectly.)

The major theme of the aptly named "Identity Crisis" is to mirror aspects of Dick and Jason and Tim's lives—to show how they converged onto the same tragic road. It's something that Tim notices early in the story, and was frightened by. Now, horrifically, it's become a part of him as well. His parents are gone, and he was entirely helpless to do anything about it. Dick was the same way, Jason was the same way. The cycle is repeated.

In particular, the part about him wanting to go to Haiti for revenge—for his mother—sort of struck me as being an intentional parallel to Jason and Ethiopia. It's a bit of a stretch, especially in isolation, so others may see it differently (e.g. the angry ramblings of a grieving child that does sound like something anyone might say). But it always stuck out to me because of how much Tim is compared directly to Jason in this arc. More on that below.

It's not something I can really give an accurate feel of because it's a lot of subtle things that begin to add up, so I'd encourage folks to read this arc themselves to see what I mean. (Or maybe you'll still disagree which is fine too lol.) Again, many things are in reference to both Dick and Jason in relation to Tim, but it's weighted more on Jason's side.

Batman vol. 1 #455 (Oct., 1990) -- Page 18

"You think my anger will boil over, the way Jason's did. I can assure you, it won't!"

Tim's grief has begun to pull away the veil of idealism that enshrouded his heroes in his mind. It doesn't apply only to Jason, but to the rest of them. Plus add the fact that Tim's keenly aware that he's being managed, even if the adults around him are careful to not outright say certain things. He still knows.

Bruce, Dick, and Alfred are all worried about Tim potentially turning into "another Jason." They (and mainly Bruce) caution Tim to not ignore his emotions, but they're still concerned that he may be overly eager to prove himself in order to cope, and could get hurt or killed as a result. While they aren't wrong for their caution—especially at how unsettlingly similar all the circumstances are—they aren't very subtle about the elephant in the room.

Imagine how that would affect Tim's perception of his predecessor, especially when he's in the midst of a traumatic event he hasn't had time to fully process. The negative association is pretty much inevitable.

Tim's known from day one that he's walking in Jason's shadow, and now it's become inescapable. Tim went from seeing Jason as a goal to reach, to feeling that unless he surpasses him, he wasn't going to be taken seriously by anyone. However, as of this arc, Tim doesn't even fully come to that point yet.

Batman vol. 1 #456 (Nov., 1990) -- Pages 14 & 15

"Drop-outs don't make it. And dead heroes are no use to anyone!"

It's really easy to take away "Tim totally thought Jason got himself killed" as the main thing here, but I think that's missing the forest for the trees.

First some context: Bruce has gone out on a mission to get Scarecrow, and expressly forbade Tim from doing any shenanigans. Meanwhile, Tim is grappling with wanting to prove himself and trying to help Bruce from the cave, all while trying to deal with his emotions. At some point, he falls asleep and ends up having like... exhaustion-grief hallucinations of Dick!Robin and Jason!Robin who confusingly caution yet encourage him. The main theme of this part is facing your fears.

Depending on how you want to interpret the intent of Jason's dialogue here, you could go several ways with it. Ranging from "writer's feelings towards Jason" to "a peek into Tim's mind as his fears manifest as visions of his heroes" or some mixture thereof.

Though Tim argues with Bruce that Batman needs a Robin, we're shown that Tim is understandably scared of joining Batman's "war." He's still not willing to let Bruce go it alone, though, and that's something he feels more strongly than his fear.

Meanwhile, hallucination!Jason's warnings are a lamentation of what happened to him in a way, but it actually exactly describes Tim's current situation even more so. Unlike Jason, Tim is under-trained, under-experienced, doesn't even have a suit of his own yet. But like Jason, he can't sit by and do nothing while someone he cares about is in danger. Tim knows that if he goes out there, he will probably get himself killed, and it will be his own fault. So he's about to disobey Batman's orders, and fly right into danger. If that got Jason killed, then Tim—who is in a way worse position experience-wise—has every chance of ending up the same.

Like... it's about Jason, but it's also about Tim. It's Tim's worst fears made manifest, via the representation of why he is even here in the first place (Jason's death).

That's my theory anyway, but perhaps this is an overly charitable reading of this scene on my end. (Not that I think that makes me wrong lol.) However given that Grant wrote both parts of this arc, and the beginning of which is especially favorable towards Jason, it certainly is something to ponder. I have a lot of thoughts on it I can't expand on here tbh but perhaps that'll be another post.

Anyway, returning to the point of the similarities vs differences between Tim and Jason: since this is the arc that solidified Tim as the next Robin in comic continuity, it makes sense that the writers really pushed the comparisons between the two of them, specifically. (Even though Dick was pretty similar, as going against Batman's orders is the Robin thing to do, it's not his shoes Tim is directly filling.) So making Tim's "debut" story arc mirror Jason's "swansong" is an obvious narrative choice.

To drive home the parallels, I wanted to include this panel from just a few pages prior to the "daydream":

Batman vol. 1 #456 (Nov., 1990) -- Page 9

"The suit is magic."

That so distressingly close to Jason's famous "being Robin gives me magic" line (Batman #385, page 6). Given all the previous context, it's hard for me to just dismiss it as pure coincidence. Even if it is, the point still stands. Tim is shown having the some of the same heartbreakingly naive views as Jason once did, right in front of Jason's memorial, just as he's about to go and run off into the night against orders.

I think that speaks for itself. There's a lot to take away from it, if you so choose. Especially given the context of that specific Jason arc.

Alright, back to the main course:

So in the end, Tim actually goes out in civvies and a ski mask because if he fails, then at least he wouldn't bring shame to Robin's legacy™. When he gets fear gassed saving Batman, it's once again both Dick and Jason that he hallucinates encouraging him to push past his fear. (Shout out to the fact that he's literally more afraid of tarnishing the legacy of Batman & Robin than he is of dying.... I'm sure this will not be a recurring thing for him in the future.)

Tim's ideology is shown to be similar to Jason's, and the actions Tim ultimately takes are similar to Jason's... but the outcome is different. And it really isn't just "Tim succeeded where Jason failed." At least, that's not what I took away from this. Rather, Tim had no reason to succeed any more than he had to fail, just that he did. Luck combined with caution because he knew what happened to his predecessor, and the fact that Batman was there to finish the job all made the difference.

You could say (and I know some will) that it's just classic Jason character assassination and the writers trying to implore readers that this new kid is different we promise pls don't hate us look how much better he is! But in this case, that feels like it undermines the whole point of this story. It doesn't fit with what the characters actually say.

Thus, we return to the question of how Tim felt towards his predecessor. And the answer is different from where we started, because Tim is different. Not that different though. Because even though at this point Tim—like all the adults around him—has probably attributed Jason "going off on his own" being what led to his death, Tim still thought of him as a hero to look up to. It's about Robin, first and foremost, yes. But Tim is fully aware of the people who made that suit mean what it does, because it's all intertwined.

Batman vol. 1 #457 (Dec., 1990) -- Page 20

"I mean--Dick made it into a symbol the whole world knows. Jason gave his life for it."

Even further, Tim thinks of it in terms of Jason having given his life for what he believed in, for the legacy that now falls to Tim. There's a sense of gravitas there. He's afraid of failing both the Robins who came before him.

Ultimately do I think Tim adored and loved Jason on the same level as Dick or something? No. It's not comparable. (Dick was like part of some of Tim's earliest memories and everything! They have a really unique bond ok.) Yet Tim was also far from thinking poorly of Jason so early on. Frankly, it seems that Tim thought of Jason as a noble hero and a cautionary tale. Yes he took risks and sometimes went too far, generally stuff that Tim doesn't want to repeat and all that. At the same time, Tim still saw him as someone whose legacy and memory was worth honoring.

It's complicated, which is why I like it so much—because it feels real. Having conflicting feelings towards someone is... so human. Especially someone you never got to know, yet who plays such an integral role in your life via the shadow of their death. How can you feel anything but complicated towards them?

It has to be said that, yes, Tim's views—even before Jason's return—change over the years. He becomes more jaded as a person and is surrounded by people who are even more jaded than him... and who often mention Jason as the "failed Robin." It's something that's hung over Tim's head all the damn time. The curse of the Robin mantle.

So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Tim's idea of him becomes more akin to "sounds like a skill issue" as the years go by. All bets are off after Jason's return, and the Titans Tower Incident™. At that point it's firmly "I am better than you, loser" lmao.

And... that's all without getting too into things like authorial intent and general "moods" of different DC writers towards Jason at a given point. Or retcons that played a role in his characterization and how other characters talk about him, depending on what "era" you're reading. That's way beyond the scope of this post though!

TLDR; even though young Tim Drake was obsessed with Dick Grayson as Robin, he still looked up to Jason Todd as well. He didn't think of Jason as a cringefail loser until later. :)

(image dialogue transcripts under cut ↓)

Dialogue Transcript for Image 1 (Detective Comics vol. 1 #618 -- Page 1):

Narration box (Tim): When Gotham needed him, he was there. When the Batman needed him, he was there. He was a hero.

Dialogue Transcript for Image 2 (Detective Comics vol. 1 #618 -- Page 2):

(Scene continued from previous page)

Narration box: But he was nothing special, really. Just a boy, who was taught--trained--brought to his full potential by someone who knew how. Just a boy... like me. I know I can do it. I know I can. One day I'll be as good as Jason. One day I'll wear the suit. One day I'll be a hero.

Dialogue Transcript for Image 3 (Batman vol. 1 #455 -- Page 13):

Tim: I hate him! I hate him! I know why they do it now. Why they put on the suits, and the masks, and go out into the night. They're angry. Full of rage. They want to hit back. They want to fill the hole that's burning inside them.

Bruce: There's more to it than that, son. Much more.

Tim: I know. It's just--I feel--like going to Haiti myself and strangling that creep with my bare hands!

Bruce: The Obeah Man will spend the rest of his life in a prison hospital. He's history. Forget him! But don't fight against your anger. It's natural. Accept it. Live with it. One day it'll be your friend.

Dialogue Transcript for Image 4 (Batman vol. 1 #455 -- Panels from page 18):

Tim: Because you think my mother's death has upset me too much. Well, it did. But I've taken your words to heart. I can cope. You think my anger will boil over, the way Jason's did. I can assure you, it won't. But that doesn't make any difference, does it? Why can't you have a little faith in me?

Dialogue Transcript for Image 5 (Batman vol. 1 #456 -- Page 14):

Narration box (Tim): Blast it! My head's starting to swim. I'm about ready to give up. I almost wish I'd never heard of Batman and Robin!

Vision Dick: Heroes never give up, Tim.

Vision Jason: You know that.

Tim: Dick--! Jason Todd!

Vision Dick: You're training to fight in a war, Tim. It'll last all your life. No matter what, you have to go on fighting.

Vision Jason: Drop-outs don't make it. And dead heroes are no use to anyone! I thought I knew better than Batman. I thought I could run before I could walk. I killed myself, Tim. Because I couldn't wait. Because I couldn't think it through.

Dialogue Transcript for Image 6 (Batman vol. 1 #456 -- Page 15):

(Scene continued from previous page)

Vision Dick: Think, Tim. Concentrate!

Vision Jason: You can do it.

Both: You can do it!

Tim, waking up: What--? Robin...?

Narration box (Tim): I must have been daydreaming. They're right, though. There's a solution to everything. I can find it! So here I go again... Whim. Caprice. Doing something without forethought.

Dialogue Transcript for Image 7 (Batman vol. 1 #456 -- Panel from page 9):

Narration box (Tim): The suit is magic. It gives you power. It hides your weakness. It makes you give it everything you've got. It makes you a hero. If only I could!

Dialogue Transcript for Image 8 (Batman vol. 1 #457 -- Page 20):

Bruce: Are you afraid of it?

Tim: No. It isn't fear. It's more... the suit carries so much history. I mean--Dick made it into a symbol the whole world knows. Jason gave his life for it. Failing them--what they fought so hard to build--that's what worries me!

Bruce: I appreciate that, Tim. That costume weighs a whole lot more than any symbol should... and I'd be failing you if I expected you to bear that weight. So... let me know what you think.

Narration box: A mask has a double edged, he said. It hides your own anxiety as it strikes fear into your enemy.

[pinazee]

Psy vs. Psy

I genuinely think that if they were going to bring back any psych villian, Lindsay Leikin would pose the biggest threat. She knows Shawn isn’t psychic, she has adequate motivation to target him personally, and has the skills to prove he’s a fraud and do it slyly as she is also highly skilled in deductive reasoning (she did manage to get them to the counterfeiter to begin with so she has legitimate talent). She could even orchestrate it from prison. Maybe her parole was denied again so, like, what else is she going to do? Plus, she’s kind of nuts. Faking being a psychic with the FBI is a whole other level of bold compared to a local precinct, then she met a counterfeiter and was like yes please, more crime, then killed him when he tried to run, slept with Shawn that same night, then tried to take him hostage when she got caught. Its just a shame she wasn’t a bit more charismatic or eccentric. They had her play it as a very normal girl swept into a life of crime because of a guy (probably because she was a “love interest” for Shawn) when the receipts show she was an absolute lunatic (look at her face after they found the guy she killed. This bitch is smiling).

Also, she just kinda gave up when she was caught. I wish she’d have been screaming “he’s a fraud!” as she was taken to the car or even had a heart to heart moment with Lou Diamond Phillips because she did betray him after all. Idk, i just wanted more. (But i think maybe the writers recognized this and thats how we get Declan later??)

Gus is basically siri at this point. Between the archeology, safes, online poker, the law, tennis players, space, comic books, of course pharmaceuticals, and now studies tender from all over the world- its a smaller list of what Gus doesn’t know. Gus clearly likes learning. I’m surprised he never thought of becoming a teacher or college professor, to try to pass that love of learning to the next generation. Though i guess we see he’s not that great with people surprisingly, considering he’s a successful salesman. (OH MY GOD WHAT IF THIS WHOLE TIME GUS ACTUALLY HAD LIVED UP TO HIS POTENTIAL AND BECAME AN INTERNATIONAL SPY. He knows all these things because of his job, psychs only been able to stay open because Gus can fund it from his spy job, joining psych was a good front but he was also lonely from never getting to be himself. I kid, i kid, but its a fun idea for me haha)

No fucking way shawn doesn’t know what a drill is. Henry definitely would have beat that kind of man stuff into him. The military time too. I just felt the need to point this out. its like the show itself is dissing my boy and i have to defend him lol

I love when Gus is proud and smarmy over shawns talent. Look at his face here. My boy about to prove you wrong.

And do you think Shawn is actually afraid of competition or do you think he learned at an early age from his father that he didn’t have value unless he was the best? Huh Henry, huh???(Weekend warriors “you don’t want to be a loser” comes to mind)

Henry trying some reverse psychology here. I can’t tell if its because Henry is actually concerned for Shawns safety like he said he wasn’t in the previous episode, or if he’s still taking it personally that Shawns using the gifts he “gave” him to be psychic. Probably both. We know he was really bothered by his motorcycle accident, so i wonder if he’s been kind of spiraling, and adding up all the crazy situations he’s been in. (Which, i don’t think Shawn tells him about. i think Gus calls him like a weekly report haha) I think the fact that shawns cases are becoming more dangerous he suddenly doesn’t like the idea of him being a detective, well a detective this way at least, because i think in his mind he’d be safer if he was an actual cop where he had a partner with a gun, and back up, and rules, and training. I mean we know he wouldn’t be, (look at what happens to Lassie and Juliet)

I just wanted to gif this because it’s one of my fave jokes in the episode!

Mildred to the rescue! Im not entirely sure how this worked but it did and thats what matters haha

*Appropriate reaction is appropriate*

[downtofragglerock]

Let's talk about Spiriah

Yeah, I'm pumping out another one of these

So Spiriah am I right?

Despite being a tertiary makuta, we actually know quite a bit about him

Namely his defining trait: he's a complete fuckup

Spiriah is a character defined by failure, to the point where is name became an in universe slang term for cringefail loser

While Bitil feels like a weak link in the brotherhood, Spiriah is the weak link

This can even be seen in a meta sense as well, since Spiriah's combo model is really weak and lazy, not to Gaardus levels, but close

When it comes to rahi making, all bs01 has to say is that he "lacked the skill to do so", he most certainly tried in the beginning, probably came up with hundreds of rahi ideas, but nearly all of them probably melted or broke down immediately after creation, leaving a small handful of actually successful creations that were still probably pretty weak and flimsy

But there was a canon rahi that I took interest of for its potential connection to Spiriah

Namely in "How has this rahi not outright confirmed to have been made by him?"

So Spiriah's big defining fuckup took place on Zakaz, home of the Skakdi, who at the time were a peaceful people. Spiriah had been put in charge of Zakaz after all the makuta got their own territories. Spiriah, presumably fancying himself a ruler, saw potential in making the Skakdi his own personal army. Possibly for his own motivations, possibly because the brotherhood told him too, Spiriah began experimenting on the Skakdi, resulting in them developing new abilities. Unfortunately, there was an itty-bitty little side effect of basically driving all the Skakdi crazy and violence hungry and they engaged an eternal war with themselves, rendering Zakaz a wasteland

Because of his colossal fuckup (and also to probably cover up the rest of the unethical experiments the brotherhood was doing at the time) Spiriah was exiled, with a presumed execution order on him, should he ever show his face again

The question though, is how? How did a makuta who was utter crap at the science aspect of the brotherhood even accomplish this?

I believe I may have the answer

The Spine Slug is a parasitic rahi that was known to inhabit Zakaz, where they established a "relationship" with the Skakdi.

bs01 has this to say about their abilities: "Although Spine Slugs are parasitical, they are harmless to their Skakdi victims. Spine Slugs latch onto the spines of a Skakdi, and seem to be nourished by the Skakdi's battle rage. Some believe that the slugs actually feed that rage, causing the Skakdi to continue fighting and providing more nourishment"

Harmless, you sure about that?

I think I may have found the smoking gun, and the most "successful" rahi Spiriah ever made

[laugtherhyena]

Today i spent a lot of time think about what's happening in chainsaw man part 2, why are these forcers stripping Denji from his identity as Chainsaw man? We know they want to use him, that part is obvious, but what exactly do they gain by prohibiting him from being Chainsaw man and putting others to kill devils so that his presence is no longer needed?

After stirring those questions around my brain for several hours i think i have an idea on why, i think public safety wants to use Chainsaw man the same way they used the Gun devil.

So by this point i feel like there's no way that public safety and the chainsaw man church aren't tied to one another, Fumi and Yoshida are both working towards the same goal of getting Denji to stop transforming and not expose his identity as Chainsaw man, and we know they're affiliated with the church and public safety respectively. If the two entities really are working together, then at the end of the day this all goes back to being orchestrated by the government.

Now let's think back to part 1, there we hear multiple times that a lot of people became devil hunters because they wanted to kill the Gun devil, that was what Aki dedicated his whole life to and the reason that Himeno, all of her deceased partners, and god knows how many other people joined public safety to begin with. The idea of being able to get back at the thing that destroyed their lives, a revenge.

The Gun devil was their motivation, their goal, the reason why so many were willing to risk their lives and public safety knew that.

In reality, the thing had already been defeated a long time ago, pretty much out of the picture by now. Yet that's something only a select few knew, the masses were never told that, they were led to believe that the Gun devil was somewhere out there and were fed this idea that if they joined public safety they could work towards retrieving pieces of his flesh so that one day they could find the bastard and finally put an end to creature that brought them so much suffering.

Public safety used their desire for revenge to get more and more hunters to use as their tools, but now everyone knows that the Gun devil is gone, they can no longer use him. And that's when Chainsaw man comes into the picture.

People see Chainsaw man as a hero, someone who gets back up no matter how many times he is knocked down, and they want to be like him. We see this with Yuko who was to become a devil hunter so that she could be like Chainsaw man, her hero.

Public safety knows that, and they want to use this newfound admiration for him as a way to get people to join their forces; "Join us and become a devil hunter so that you too can be like Chainsaw man!"

But in order for that to work he needs to have a good reputation. Do you think people would wanna be like Chainsaw man is they knew that he's actually some loser 17 year old that bends over to be some random girl's chair if paid like 10 bucks? Hell no! But if Chainsaw man is a hero, a righteous savioir, a god to be worshipped, then people will absolutely strive to be like him and fall into the government's hands.

That's why they can't have Denji running around telling the world that he's Chainsaw man, it would ruin all the work they've put into this.

[the-ultimate-wish]

Coming to you straight from Drama's art archive! It's:

A Dante Healy redesign~!

Look, we're all really attached to this design. I know this, because it was so freaking hard to make him look a certain way after changing up his lore. There's something about this look of Dante that screams: big nerd loser who's cynical towards others but takes his potion study very seriously and thinks he's better than you. Also he baby. It's confirmed:

BUT

Like I said, I changed his lore. And because I've waited too long because I didn't want to spoil anything, I'm gonna spill all the beans. So here we go, Dante's updated lore and why I'm changing his design. Please continue to the read more.

Old Dante

So, this is the beloved iconic look of Dante:

Very basic bare bones outfit, in fact, it was from his Undertale days. The purple became so attached, I decided to keep his old look into the fandomless world. He was supposed to be a potioneer/spell caster in this world, becoming the first human to control magic. Which is a VITAL story anchor to what motivates him and why he helps the other teens in the world of magic. He was supposed to be able to "create" a new form of magic, which I dubbed witchcraft. But like, it was way too obscure. So I began thinking about magic in the world, and wanted to take a different approach to how Dante discovers magic, and how could he replicate it for other humans to follow in his path, but also be more taboo.

So science inclined Dante? Scrapped. Going in the bin. I want ghostly, gloomy, magical history geek Dante. But... that look was hard to get. And ultimately, I'm still not satisfied with the look.

And so, I got inspiration from Chongyun from Genshin Impact, who's an exorcist. I had made an entire magic category that has to do with ghosts, undead, exorcists, and the like. I also have included things from Avatar the Last Airbender, where spirits used to possess people and completely change them when the first avatar was around. So long story short, I wanted Dante to have that ghostly look, and that lead to completely changing how he interacted with magic.

New Dante

But some key features of note: I was going to remove his glasses. It gave too much anime nerd vibe, and not cool mysterious vibe. Funny cuz I've drawn "cool Dante" without glasses too before.

Also, he NEEDED to have two accessories that would serve to be story telling design elements. See, Dante is now cursed. He was big on magical artifacts, collecting a ton and messing around with them to figure out what gave them their magical properties. Lo and behold, one of those were cursed, and contained a powerful Mi'shynayim spirit. It had tried almost immediately to take over Dante's body- again humans can't control magic, so he would've gone insane- but Dante was quick to grab multiple blessed/holy artifacts he collected. It tamed the spirit. Now usually, when a human gets possessed by magic, where it overtakes their body and begins to change them (like atla), they call upon exorcists and completely expell the spirit and magic. But Dante realized in that instant the balance that was in his control now. There would be several more times he would attempt control. But eventually his family found out about this and disowned him, because he refused to get exorcised. So that's how he ends up at the group home.

I didn't know exactly what to make the cursed item, but I knew the blessed object he'd keep on him to help tame the spirit would be a bracelet. And eventually, I figured the cursed object had to also stay on him, so that he could easily access it. And then just now, I took another crack into redesigning Dante, and we get this:

I might still change the cursed object because only now am I realizing it looks a little... like a vagina. But I want it to be something big enough to fit in his palm, but flat enough to punch a hole through so he could wear it as a necklace.

But also!!! He's now going to be tall! Tall boi! I don't know how much taller compared to the other tall boys, but I wanted that lanky vibe as well. Oh!!! And I also changed his hair, because again, it was too iconic and connected to the nerd vibe. But hey, who knows if I'll be satisfied with this as well.

With this change, it also changes the way Dante and Kaipo learn about magic together, and thus makes it much more shocking as to why Kaipo can cast spells every now and then. Because it's no longer because Dante has been teaching them spells; Dante is still trying to learn them on his own. Perhaps the spirit is exuding a magical aura, affecting the others?? Who knows~? :)

[gintrinsic-writing]

can we get the BTS for DoR? favorite scene from the latest chapter or the fic overall - your pick!

Lol so what IMMEDIATELY came to mind isn't my favorite scene from the fic overall, but it is a scene that had a running inside joke behind its conception, so I'll talk about that as well as my favorite from the latest chapter so I'm still following the prompt request haha. I'm not even sure what my favorite scene overall is, tbh!

In chapter 10, Overture, Wild is making some elixirs when the topic of "weirdest thing you've ever eaten" is discussed by the group. Wild announces that he's eaten hylian, and the heroes react in vastly different ways. The snippet started out as a goof, and I fully intended for it to end with it being clear that Wild WAS joking, but then the topic came up in a small LU server... We laughed about it, then I was informed that cannibalism was a banned topic in Main, and someone else (I'm keeping this vague in case people don't want to be name-dropped lol) said they wondered "who is out here talking about cannibalism in relation to LU?!" for it to be banned at all? Then of course we realized WE were, and like all mature adults, this led to us making wayyyy more jokes about it. Cannibalism eventually became the server running gag for a long, long time. We had a counter and everything i.e. "14 days since cannibalism was last mentioned." And after that, I made sure that the end of this scene was MUCH more vague/ominous, and I've loved hoarding the truth of Wild's statement hahaha. (Because yes, he has.)

Regarding the latest chapter, the very end is my favorite part! I've had that bit with Twilight planned for a while. I wanted it to be a reflection of Wild's first time meeting the chain---all the tension, violence, confusion, except THIS time the source of strife was compounded by different influences and agencies, and his emotional ties to the heroes now also contained the beginning of genuine love and trust (even if it was all completely fucked up by everything else going on). I wanted that sad loser BROKEN DOWN by the end, so when he turns that arrow on Twilight readers wouldn't know how it was going to turn out. Wild/Karusa was absolutely desperate for help, but even his desperation was soured by physical and mental trauma. I personally loved the line about his arrow coveting Twilight's heart. His decision to take that painful step toward more vulnerability in the aftermath of being attacked was huge for his future, for good or bad.

Also, in the initial draft, he was going to be mentally attacked one last time by Big Grouch, and he was actually going to release the arrow---but through sheer will power, he was going to jerk his aim to the side, and end up striking Twilight in the shoulder just inches above where the first arrow landed. But I figured this would derail things too much, and require too much explanation for the heroes as to his motivations by that point, and it wasn't the direction I wanted things to go.

[tokiro07]

Not sure if you had talked about this before, but I feel like at least early on, Tozuka had some sort of hate boner for the “generic virgin loser” archetype, specifically for Chikara and Sean.

Them being foils of each other(lowest rank in their team, powers involving sight, both confirmed can be hit by Unchaste, Tzk even making them battle bros in loop 101 and Chikara would likely end up like Sean had he been a Quest objective instead) means there is this kind of character that Tzk write to test reader’s likings.

I think due to the positive reception of Chikara after a few chapters that Tzk gives him more prominent roles and we just can’t have 2 losers in this story so Sean had to go. Only after the fanbase liking the random invisible jackass that doesn’t even have an official pic that Tzk features him in the do-over era.

Or maybe the author’s opinion of that character type just changed over the years. I kinda want to know what you’d make of this.

I'm not really sure what you mean

Nothing that happened in Chikara's story tells me what Tozuka didn't like him, he just set him up as someone who needed the motivation to develop the courage needed to stand up for himself and others. Unmove requiring standing still is a perfect visualization of this, making him not only someone who's legs don't buckle under pressure, but also someone who won't back down when it's important to stand up

Sean, meanwhile, is just as much of a tragic figure as anyone else in the story, someone who so badly wanted to stand out that he became easy to overlook. He felt generic, but only because we didn't actually know him; Tozuka was clearly planning the loop since the beginning, you can even work it out as early as the Victor fight if you think hard enough about it, so we can be sure that when Sean was introduced, Tozuka already had an idea of how his character arc was going to go. He's Unseen, hence why we literally never see hide no hair of him until he literally dies and loses the power. He very deliberately plays no part in the story because doing so would be giving him what he wants, time in the spotlight, which he needs to earn first in the final loop

Now, if you mean that Tozuka doesn't like seeing characters depicted as losers because he feels some level of sympathy for them or something to that effect, then I can absolutely agree with that. No one in Undead Unluck is defined by a single action or their appearance, so while Chikara and Sean could easily be written off by their initial introductions, to do so would be to ignore everything they say and do after the fact

The fact that Chikara has had multiple great moments as the central focus and Sean has been the most consistently used teammate of Loop 101 tells me that Tozuka absolutely loves these two, and I really don't think he had to learn to do so or is only doing it because of fan response

[whoever-the-heck]

On Daisy Jones and The Six

I love books and tv shows and movies that make me question my morals and have me rethinking my life principles. This is one of the reasons why I really loved the book Daisy Jones and The Six even before it became super mainstream. Ahh, the character development! The clashing motivations - morality stopped being either/or and became a spectrum of rightness and wrongness. The unique format is so refreshing too, and it didn't hurt that it had a gripping storyline that switched from being a mystery about rock and roll band abruptly dissolving at the height of its fame to being all about the complicated human relationships that fueled both its success and downfall. I am still so happy I read it without any idea about it going in (recommended by a boss, so I wished to impress, ha) because it surprised me in the best way possible.

Best of all, I have really complicated feelings about Daisy, Billy and Camilla - and I still enjoy analyzing those feelings to this day especially with tv show out.

Each of them has a very strong personality, and I already kind of saw it coming that the three of them together was bound to implode one way or another; there was just no way they could coexist in the same circle for long.

Something - or someone - has got to give, was what I thought.

Camilla loved Billy, yes, but her motivations ran deeper than that. Above all, she loved herself. She simply had to get her due - she felt that she had earned her ideal life, and she would have it at whatever cost because she deserved it. Billy was part of that ideal, partly because she stuck with him through thick and thin, partly because his being a changed man (sober) was largely due to her. Without her, he was nothing. And Camilla knew it very well.

In short, he was in her possession.

Billy loved Camilla. No question about it. He had been crazy about her from the beginning. Then he let himself get carried away by fear of being tied down and of fatherhood that he resolved to drop to his lowest so she would cut him loose, thus freeing him. But she didn't do that! She gave him a chance and a choice, and he chose to get better and stay on the right lane for her and their family. Because of that commitment, he was saved - from being wasted away, from becoming his father. She became his guiding light and his strength.

In short, he was indebted to her.

Daisy's love was... drugs. Then she met Billy. Her match in every way. Creatively, passionately, intellectually. They couldn't be more different, yet they couldn't be more alike. For the first time she encountered someone on her wavelength, someone who could actually handle her, and not just <i>handle</i> her. He respected her talent, he celebrated it, he helped her discover more depths to it, and never resented her for it. Not only that - he also understood her addiction. It was only a matter of time before she fell for him deeply and hopelessly, incredibly aware of his unavailability and his unwavering commitment to his wife and children. But could she give him up? When he was <i>it</i> for her?

And now the strangest thing and perhaps the most painful question. What was Daisy to Billy? Did he love her? Like, really love her? Or was that just lust? Desire for the unattainable? Desire for what he couldn't have - like the booze/drugs lifestyle he gave up for his family?

Daisy was not an alternative to Camilla, but the alternate version of himself.

She was what he could be when he's... not sober.

So was Billy in love with her or did he only see himself in her? Was she a temptation to his heart, or to his addiction?

In that triangle, it was always Daisy who was the loser. While Camilla and Billy loved each other and Daisy loved Billy, Billy's feelings for Daisy had been obscure.

But ultimately, it was not Daisy - it was Billy. Billy had always been the weakest link between the three of them. He was always going to be the one who would eventually give in, and Camilla knew that. So she stepped up and told Daisy to walk.

Time would eventually give Billy a wider perspective, allowing him to dissect his feelings for Daisy without the haze of booze and drugs in the forefront of his mind.

But poor Daisy never quite got the amount of love she gave.

This is why the TV show is working for me. It has a different take on this dynamic, balancing out the triangle, although it never quite portrays Billy's love and indebtedness to Camilla correctly or even remotely similar to the book. I want to see that take shape. I want them to show Billy's complicated feelings about Daisy, that it's not simply just lust or love for her as a woman. And I want to see Daisy's hopelessness when it came to Billy.

Jury's still out!

[redacted-nights]

I forgot to post here as well but I wrote a Fluff with Albedo and Scaramouche for Scara’s birthday!! Enjoy🥹

CW: domestic fluff, suggestive themes, forehead kisses, love, scaramouche laughing

——————————————————————————

Happy Birthday Scara!!🤭

“Happy Birthday love, I made you some breakfast,”

Scara began to groan as his partner whispered, walking into their bedroom holding a tray full of delicious treats and pastries. Scara wasn’t much of a morning person but since it was his birthday Albedo wanted to give him part of his present early.

Albedo sat down on the edge of the bed as he thought about the day he had planned for the two of them. They’d start with breakfast in bed, then make their way into town to visit with their friends and eventually make it back home where Albedo planned on-

Hands began to make their way down Albedo’s chest snapping him back to reality. Scara had sluggishly found his boyfriend and was trying to climb his way to him. Barely hanging off of his back, Scara moaned again.

“Mmmnh, get back in bed, loser . I want to cuddle with you….”

Scara tried to pull himself up to plant kisses on Albedo’s cheek but was met with air as Albedo stood to place the tray of breakfast he was holding down.

When he was done he crawled into bed to be with his boyfriend. Albedo nestled under the covers and let Scara find his arms to snuggle into. He was so cute when he woke up in the morning and surprisingly warm as well.

Albedo had begun to gently stroke his hands through Scara’s hair as he spoke to him.

“We can’t stay in bed forever love, we have to get out at some point you know?”

Albedo laughed to himself. The two had been cuddling for about 5 minutes and while Albedo would do anything to be able to have Scara all to himself, he was excited to get started on his birthday plans.

Scaramouche turned his back to Albedo as he grabbed a pillow and planned on drifting back to sleep.

“Shut up, it’s my birthday so I should be able to do what I want right?” Scara snapped back, still somewhat drowsy.

Albedo sighed as he sat up to look at his adorable boyfriend. He thought of another way to motivate him to get up, so being the caring boyfriend he was he snatched the pillow from under Scara and smacked him with it.

“You’re so difficult sometimes, but if you insist, I suppose we can spend your birthday in bed.”

Scara rubbed his head after being smacked and sat up as Albedo rejoined him. Instantly Albedo had his hands over Scara, practically jumping on top of him to plant kisses all over his face, His forehead, cheeks, nose, lips, even his eyes were kissed.

Scara began to giggle and laugh from how ridiculous Albedo was. It seemed no matter how difficult he was Albedo would always shower him with love. That’s just how he was. Full of love, not only for him but for their friends and colleagues as well.

When Albedo was done with his attack of kisses he moved to more sensual motives, beginning to slowly move his hands across Scara’s waist, causing the boy to blush from the sudden change in emotion.

Scara was taken aback with Albedo’s softness in his touches. He began to treat Scara as if he was a porcelain doll, careful to hold on to him without letting him shatter.

Scara placed his hands on Albedo’s cheeks snd pulled him into a brief strong kiss, pulling away he said.

“You know sex is a pretty lame gift, but if it’s from you I’ll take it…”

Albedo smirked and responded.

“Well I was gonna tease you all day because of how annoying you were being but I guess since it is your birthday we can…have a little taste…”

Scaramouche found his cheeks red and hot yet again from Albedo’s bluntness. What did he mean he was already planning on teasing me he thought to himself. Nonetheless the two became wrapped in each other. So much so that the blankets themselves ended up tangled from their movements.

When the pair could barely move they broke out into laughter, relishing in how their love for each other got them into a tangled mess.

“Maybe this is a sign Scara, let’s wait for later okay? We have to meet up with the others soon and you know how they hate it when we’re late…”

Albedo chuckled as he tried to help Scara unfold himself out of the sheets. His now grouchy boyfriend responded to him, slightly upset that he got riled up this early in the morning for nothing.

“I feel like that was all on purpose Bedo…”

Albedo, now standing and untangled from bed, stood as he helped Scara stand with him, Reaching down he ruffled his hair and pulled his waist into him and planted one final kiss on the top of his head.

“Absolutely it was my love.”

Albedo ran off before Scara could get a rebuttal in, and begrudgingly he headed to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

Happy Birthday to me…. He sang to himself.

[the-firebird69]

So he's trying to blame my husband for what the clans are doing to try and threaten It off it's only going to make it worse I was going to lose a lot more hardware because we're going to make that happen as a result they're going to take from him so they can sit there and smirk all at once it's a huge huge a****** and loser and he lost probably 50% of his bases last night a lot of it was due to massive massive rants and yelling and he's going to lose a lot more now

-there's a few more things we need to take care of one is that it is like him keep getting jammed up against my husband and it's like a huge pile of moron any demand stuff and they lose it and they don't care so we're going to go after them and make sure that they don't and he wants us to redouble our efforts on these idiots and to clear them out of sensitive areas were going to go ahead and do that. He's playing certain rock and roll and suggesting that they're on the move and we detected where and we're going to use heavy

-it's another waste of time what they're doing but they like to annoy him and they think it's beneficial for themselves to do so but most of his army no half of it will be wiped out shortly because that's what he gets for doing it

-he's also going to be in several movies one of them tonight it's one way of John Gallagher shoots him with a rifle and he doesn't think so but he's seen the signs he's coming up pretty quick

-there's a couple other groups that are being fired and laid off today and one of them is pretty big and it is part of the county Charlotte county and it is the Parks and recreation department and the firing half of them a lot of it is due to Tommy f demanding chaos and he's trying to get them fired the whole time is people having doing nothing and taking things and they're getting caught too and they're getting fired slowly 90% of the clones that get fired go to the incinerator. And large military groups are moving down here the Max and foreigners and us and we're going to pull these idiots out and in moments

More shortly

Hera

It's just really a stinking retard and his stuff is now crap and they suck at the job real bad and they're in fights so much so useless and they're just handing stuff to the empire well let's have to take it seriously and hunker down and take the stuff before they can their fleet is huge already

Zues

To calculate that they have 25 million more of stands powerful fleet and that's about 30% and there are a lot more ships coming out today because the assholes are motivated and they're going after Stan's bases there's some left in the Western hemisphere there are three left in the eastern hemisphere after today Star wars the movie begins the preamble just for the next couple days and he will start hitting with death stars and other. And right next door looking at what the more life I've been doing for years to try and threaten people now the a****** is doing it to his father who's driving the bus and he's ridiculous moron it's not fat down the blues pallets and it's garbage and some it's flying off it already and you can get arrested for it and you should

Thor Freya

Olympus

It's totally incompetence and Tommy F doesn't care and he says we're losing it to the empire too and they're losing hardware to them from below and it was a good percentage about 20% last week and this week but that's mostly the only hardware they lost and they lost a lot of it before that it's still a lot and they don't care but they'll be gone because of it. Makes a big difference. And they became useless very quickly but haven't useless for a long time to he and I it's disgusting they're going around California from him everyday cuz they're so cool and they get nothing but lose their stuff and they lose it to the empire they're most hated enemy. I want them gone because of it and I want them gone now

Hera

And the truth is on the bus and you're saying is going after us so we're going after him we're taking his people down he doesn't have much of a choice but to guy huge numbers of his the following in the Midwest and mostly are fighting Trump and Trump is driving the vehicle this is how stupid it is they belong in a mental institution and they're fooling around with all this equipment so going after them hard and we broke out the heavy that's a good thing too and most of what they built is not really that great and substandard and we're trashing it and them. It's a ridiculous scene what's going on here and we're going to send in troops now

Thor Freya

Olympus

[knowlessman]

benny no hill adventures (bnha) s2e17-20

why DOES this man have no nose, anyway?

think this OP's growing on me more than the other ones tbh

"look properly at what you want to be" damn I wish I wanted to be anything

hm. is Stain cleaned up, then? nobody's been dying so far, I doubt they did him in by accident (in spite of, y'know, covering him with fire, which can fry your lungs like instantly according to a CSI episode I saw once)

okay, now THAT is either a dead nomu or Mr X, no way that's not lethal force

huh, Brooklyn has a hostage (starting to kind of miss that show, but dang did Goliath Chronicles get boring) -- elemental spears? who are you, Gwyn?

"the fight with Stain probably only took ten minutes" I've played DnD. ten minutes is forever. heck, ONE minute is a long time.

…whut

-- well I guess that one's explicitly a dead nomu

handface's costume just kind of looks like nothing when he's only got the one hand on him. looks like a shitty onesie. thought wearing baby clothes was mineta's bag

:O he DOES have a nose. I guess it was burned off, maybe? kinda looks like michael jackson's, tbh

"at that moment, a broken rib pierced his lung" …deku did you just kill a man

"on that water tower. are those onlookers? why's one of them wearing a black onesie?" wait I think it's not a onesie, I think it's a black long-sleeved shirt with completely featureless black pants but wow is that just not even a look, especially next to portal guy's fucking classy bartender getup

-- googles sorry, apparently what I thought it was was a romper

the piece of chileaf is a dog man. …idk, tracks (as it were) I guess? one of the detectives is a catperson.

-- …this "we have to punish you for intervening but only if this is made public" bit is very long-winded and, tbph, not really understandable. hell, the kids were doing some kind of ride-along thing to begin with, and considering they're all effectively armed and far closer to combat-ready than makes any sense outside of shonen… yeah this kind of just feels like a waste of time. although I guess, realistically, if superpowers became the norm it'd take hella long for any country's laws to be able to change enough for anything to make sense

-- …come to think of it, america would probably encourage this kind of thing but holy shit the place would just look like a pile of warring apocalypses by a couple generations in, the life expectancy would be down the toilet

there was some kid's show that had dog heads on top of human bodies, it was a bit terrifying and I have no earthly idea what it was called but I'm sure it was real. might've just been one segment of a different show

this random newscaster guy either is part tiefling or just wandered in from jojo part 6

DANCING BOY. IT'S THE DANCING BOY, THE BOY WHO DANCES. IS HE THE GUY MAKING NOMUS, DON'T TELL ME -- wait, nomu. yoshimitsu soul calibur, that's what it's been reminding me of. 's one of his mantras.

if a radio buzzes in the forest and no one is around to hear it - oh nvm, apparently alt-color Blanka is around to hear it

ohey it's knife girl… shit, I've sort of heard a little bit about her quirk, wonder if she's a relative of stain's

…wait, handface was literally just competing for ratings? what a loser.

hehehehehe bakugo still has that boy band reject 'do

'XD (todoroki going "I must be cursed, people around me keep fucking up their hands!")

(all might's ringtone) "I AM… ANSWERING THE PHONE LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"

"stain's Cha stat is too high" krisma. bags of it. -- "those puny little ants outnumber us a hundred to one. and if they ever figure that out…" um, good thing Stain and Every Villain is Losers have nothing in common then.

I thought facepalm's only motive was killing all might. stain apparently thinks All Might's "the only true hero." …shrugs Well, I guess we haven't seen any of these copycats or whatnot actually interacting with the League yet, so maybe those auditions won't go anywhere and they'll have to start their own thing

todoroki: "they said endeavor defeated the killer when he didn't actually do anything. I want to see his expression." deku (to himself, thankfully): "you become kind of mean when it comes to endeavor, huh todoroki?" …! deku. deku wtf, you say the weirdest fucking things

…jeanist's costume is so friggin weird, it has a built-in cone of shame and the cone has a belt on it, I can't get over it

bakugo's fucking internship hair tho 'XD he looks like a snooty nepo baby, rather than… well, the opposite I guess… but anyway, rather than a guy who had to be put in a Hannibal costume after winning first place

jeanist's cone of shame has fucking back pockets, really tho wtf

'XDDD the fucking slime monster hostage thing again, bakugo is gonna be hit over the head with that for the rest of his life and it is gonna be hilarious every time -- "I wasn't captured, I was strategizing" "he's too proud" water's damp

gonna say. earphone jack's costume might be my favorite. it's just regular fucking clothes. it's, like, idk, stylish-(?)-but-not-overstated, normal-ass, comfortable-looking clothes that you can run in. (I might have already said this, not sure)

(froppy's internship with the smugglers or whatnot) "Boss Innsmouth" oh, that bodes well -- Innsmouth must be the Parent Inkling, judging by the size of that tentacle -- …hm. aye, that was fun

next one's a loredump, judging from the title, but let's have it

it's not a big thing, but I swear I don't remember iida always waving his arms around like this in season 1. he just kinda started doing it around the beginning of season 2. still feels kinda weird tbh.

let yaoyozorazoru - …let quiet metal gear (sorry) wear clothes challenge whatever year this was

(rescue race) "who do you think will win?" "deku will be last!" 'XD bakugo could be watching a competition with neither him nor deku in it and he'd still say that

all might with the american thighs. gonna be honest, was not expecting buttcam in this show.

(worst character found something) oh, for fuck's sake -- (kyoka put his eye out) damn straight.

("you remember how One for All is transferred, right?") uhhh… -- JESUS CHRIST

…well dang, ancient evil and everything huh (well, if a handful of generations counts as "ancient." a forgotten evil anyways) -- "as long as you're with me, I can do anything!" you're talking to a guy who coughs up blood every coupla minutes when he's not in super mode

seems like a decent stopping point. -- …they hid more episode after the ending; I coulda missed this bit. : / …I coulda missed mineta yelling about hot springs, anyway. is there anything here that I wouldn't just get from the next episode? -- "that kid will be the next me" dint know orochimaru was in this show

"here's the preview!" thanks for the warning deku; aye, this's my stop

[elizabethsaige]

friends helping friends

Steve Harrington x Platonic!Reader, Robin Buckley x Reader

Word Count: 2425

Warnings: homophobia implied (time centric)

A/N: steve and eddie are canon in this, i just needed it after volume 2 :’( also, i just love steve and feel like he's such a redeemable person, i wanna expand on the friendship of reader and steve as much as the relationship of reader and robin

i will be probably making this into a series but i wanted to get the beginning out before i lose motivation 

*gif not mine

Family Video was unusually slow on this particular day. No one but the usual few customers have come in and out of the store, browsing the isles filled with basically any movie they could think of. You and Steve were on the schedule for the day. Usually, Robin would have been here but she wasn’t feeling that great so you decided to cover her shift. 

Although you just started at Family Video a few weeks ago, you and Steve have gotten to spend a lot of time together. You even considered him one of, if not your best friend, which would not have been the case a few years ago. Luckily for you, he had graduated from his douchebag days and now he was an alright guy.  

You’d known Steve since you were about 8 or 9 years old. Back then, you were best friends and never figured you’d be anything less. But around middle school, Steve climbed the social ladder and became popular, leaving you in the dust with all of the other “losers”, as he called them. Then around freshman year, you were unfortunately the subject of Steve, Tommy, and Carol’s bullying. Tommy and Carol, of course, did most of the work, but Steve did his fair share. The Steve you once knew was no more, instead he was someone you didn’t even recognize. 

You knew his home situation, how his dad was an asshole through and through. Steve always promised himself that he’d never become like him, but assholery apparently ran in the family. 

While he could be a total jerk, Steve really was just angry and the only way he knew how to take it out was on others. Eventually, he was broken up with by Nancy Wheeler and realized he couldn’t be the same person anymore. So, he dumped Tommy and Carol and found a few new good friends, ones that helped him work through his anger and realize he didn’t have to be like his dad anymore.

Soon after that, during junior year, Steve showed up on your front porch with flowers. The gift came with a hefty apology, saying how much he hated himself for being so cruel to you and how you didn’t deserve any of it. 

“Steve, what are you doing here?”

“I need to apologize to you, Y/N. I was an asshole to you for the past few years and you don’t have to forgive me, but I need you to know that I regret it more than anything. You were my best friend and I ruined that and I’m so so sorry. You didn’t deserve any of it.”

“Come inside, let’s talk.”

Eventually you forgave him, understanding what peer pressure and a dominating father can do to a person. He had grown and done a lot of thinking, but you still checked him any time he accidentally slipped up and said anything mean. You too had grown and learned to stand up for yourself and other people. 

The two of you hung out all the time. Well, when he wasn’t with Robin. Steve made friends with Robin Buckley, who was a “loser” like you, according to the old Steve. But once she and Steve began working together, they were inseparable. 

You didn’t really know Robin all that well. You knew she was smart and funny, and pretty, but that’s all you really knew about the girl. Steve tried to get her to hang out with you guys all the time, but Robin would always make up some lame excuse, like having to give her cat a bath. You weren’t even sure she had a cat, but if she did, that was one poor animal, considering how many times Robin had to bathe it. 

Truthfully, you figured she didn’t really like you. The few times you did hang out with her were mostly during work, and even then, she’d barely talk to you. She was always a stuttering mess, messing up her words and blushing like crazy before eventually giving up and shutting her mouth for the rest of the shift. 

And it didn’t matter how many times you asked her questions or tried to get to know her, it was always the same short answers or words that weren’t actual words. Steve would always say, “Oh, don’t mind Robin. She’s just nervous around pretty girls” to which you would roll your eyes and brush it off.

 But again, he did know her better than you, not that you didn’t want to be friends with her. She just didn’t give you the chance. 

“Y/N, pass me that tape,” Steve said, reaching his hand to the copy of The Breakfast Club sitting on the counter beside you. You grabbed the tape and lightly tossed it to him, causing him to fumble and drop the movie. 

A cackle came out of your mouth before you called him an idiot. “Thank you for that.”

“Oh it was my pleasure, really,” you replied, leaning your back against the counter. Slow days were your favorites because you got to chat with coworkers and watch movies all day long. But this one just seemed to drag by. 

Steve came around the counter and took a seat on top of it, his leg hitting your arm. “I forgot to mention, Eddie and I are going to a movie tomorrow, you should come.” 

Looking up at him, you rolled your eyes and looked back at the TV screen. “What, so I can be your third wheel? No, thank you.” 

“It’s not a third wheel if we’re not dating, Y/N. How many times do I have to tell you?”

Steve was obviously in denial about his feelings for Eddie Munson. I guess it makes sense though, no one in town would approve of two guys getting together, especially not Steve Harrington and Eddie Munson. From the outside, those two were nothing alike. But little did anyone know, they had a lot more in common than what meets the eye. 

“And how many times do I have to tell you that he’s into you? I mean, if the heart eyes weren’t an obvious giveaway, he also calls you baby girl,” you teased, making Steve look away with a blush and sputter out a quiet “whatever”.

A few teens came running into the stop, making a B-line to the copies of Sixteen Candles, before running to the counter to get them checked out.

“I think you should go for it, Steve. I mean, what do you have to lose?”

A shush came from the boy, warning you to lower your voice so the customers wouldn’t catch on.

The minute they left, you turned back around to face Steve who had his head down. “You of all people know what I have to lose. I mean, it’s not like I haven’t thought about it, but c’mon. Let’s be real,” he explained while sorting stacks of movies.

Of course you knew what he meant. Hawkins wouldn’t be Hawkins without the homophobic people that resided in it. It was definitely unfortunate that people couldn’t see past their hatred, but you were used to it. You knew that sometimes it just wasn’t worth it to try and prove to other people who were ignorant that you deserved rights just like them.

You nodded slowly, sad for your friend. “I get it, Steve. It’s scary to put yourself out there, but believe me when I say this, it’s so worth it. But I’ll leave it alone if you really want me to.”

“It’s okay, I know you’re just looking out for me. I’ll figure it out some day, but for now, are you coming with us or not? You could bring someone if you want!”

A puzzling look appeared on your face. “And who exactly would I bring? I don’t really have a long list of girls throwing themselves at me”

Steve looked your way and flashed you a knowing smiled. “Bring Robin.”

You scrunched your face in confusion. “Why would I do that? She doesn’t even like me,” you said, questioning your friend’s idea. 

Steve let out a laugh before crossing his arms across his chest. “She tell you that?” 

“Not directly, but she never talks to me and when she does, it’s always the shortest responses. And she never wants to hang out with me. Believe me, she doesn’t like me. I just..don’t know what I did.” 

An even louder laugh came from Steve as he walked over to the horror movie aisle to finish putting away scattered movies. “Okay, well not that you heard this from me, but she definitely doesn’t hate you. Like I told you, she gets nervous around pretty girls.”

Still confused, you rounded the counter and joined him, not to help with the movies, but to question him further. “I don’t understand what that has to do with anything.”

“Are you really that dense, Y/N? She likes you,” Steve said, clearly annoyed that you didn’t connect the dots. 

You shook your head, still not believing it. “I - what? No, there’s no way, she doesn’t even speak to me.”

Without turning his head, Steve side-eyed you, looking at the confused expression that he caused. The crease on your forehead was giving him a good laugh, he really thought you knew. 

“Well, she speaks of you, a lot. Like 80% of the time, you’re the topic of conversation, it’s getting kind of old honestly, so if you could do me a favor and just ask her out already, that would be great,” Steven finished the conversation before heading behind and through the door to the back room, leaving you standing there like an idiot. 

//

It’s not like you haven’t thought about it before. I mean, Robin is super pretty and like the only out lesbian in your town that you knew of, so the thought has crossed your mind once or twice. But knowing now that she liked you opened up a whole new door of possibilities. Ones you didn’t even know could become a reality for you. 

After work, Steve dropped you off at your house since you weren’t planning on needing the car you shared with your brother. 

The car pulled up your driveway and came to a stop. “Thanks for the ride.”

Steve nodded a silent “you’re welcome” to you before you opened the door to get out. Once you were out of the car and shut the door, you heard the window roll down and Steve’s voice to get your attention. 

“Hey, I was serious about asking Robin out. She really likes you, and I want you to be happy too. Listen to your own advice, what do you have to lose?” He was right, but before you could say anything, he rolled up his window. With that, he backed out of the driveway, but waited at the bottom until you got inside your house. 

You replayed his words through your head as you made your way inside and to your room, stopping by the kitchen to say hello to your mom and dad, who were cleaning up from dinner. Your dad let you know there was a plate for you in the microwave, to which you thanked them and said you’d eat in a little bit. 

As you entered your bedroom, you flipped the light switch on, illuminating your dark bedroom. Setting your things down on the floor, you sat down on your bed and reached for your landline phone that was on the nightstand.

The perks of having a job is that your parents let you have a landline in your bedroom, as they knew how much you worked and wanted to reward you. 

Your shaking hands grabbed your notebook and flipped to the page filled with all of your friend’s phone numbers, your finger sliding down the page until you found Robin’s. 

A deep sigh in and out came from you as you contemplated not giving the girl a call. 

“She really likes you, and I want you to be happy too.” 

Steve really was right, what did you have to lose? 

You dialed her number and waited as the phone rang on the line. Every ring was agonizing, you getting more nervous the longer you had to wait.

 Finally, the line clicked as someone picked up the phone. “Buckley household, what can I do for you?”

A smile came to your face as you heard the raspy voice of the girl you were trying to reach. 

“Robin! Hi, it’s Y/N!”

“Y/N? Hey, what’s up? I mean, how are you?”

You chuckled, clutching the cord of the phone and sitting back against your pillows. “I’m good, I just wanted to ask you something, if that’s okay?”

“Um, yeah, sure,” Robin said, you could tell by her voice that she was nervous.

 “So, Steve, Eddie, and I are going to the movies on Friday. Would you want to come with me so I don’t have to be their awkward third wheel?”

The silence on the other end of the line made you sweat, worrying that you said something wrong. “Robin, are you there?”

“Yes! Yes, sorry, I’m still here, I just had to make sure I heard you right.”

Nodding to yourself, you sat up and hugged your knees, resting your chin on top of them. Your thumb came to your mouth as you chewed on the finger nail nervously. 

“So, what do you say?”

“Absolutely, I - I’d love to! But, is this like a date?”

“I’d like it to be, yeah.” You could hear her smiling on the other end, if that is even possible. You yourself were cautiously grinning, hoping she’d want it to be a date too. 

“Really? I mean, yes, I’d love to go with you!” Your cheeks rose as your smile got wider, amused by her enthusiasm. 

“Cool, then it’s a date. I’ll pick you up at 6,” you said confidently, standing up from your bed.

“Rad,” was all she said before hanging up. You smiled to yourself as you put the phone back on the nightstand. 

Hearing how cute she sounded on the phone and how excited she seemed made you feel giddy, like a little kid who just asked their crush out for the first time. 

An excited feeling bubbled in your stomach as you looked at yourself in your mirror, surprised at the deep blush that had crept up on your cheeks. I made you feel silly, but also really happy. 

God, wait until Steve hears about this.

[emeraldenha]

TRUST FUND BABY

pairing: ex!taehyun x gn!reader | genre: the five stages of grief (bargaining), breakup au, lovers to exes, angst | w/c: +780 words | warnings: none <3

click here to check out the Thursday’s Child series masterlist!

When you told Taehyun that it might be best to part ways, he didn’t quite understand.

It was so out of the blue — no signs, no warnings. He didn’t even get a chance to see or talk to you one last time. All he found was a handwritten letter and your half of this month’s rent waiting for him back at your shared apartment. The place felt so empty. The closet that used to be cluttered with all your clothes was suddenly filled with space, one pillow instead of two on the bed, your toothbrush no longer by the bathroom sink. When he tried to call your phone number, it automatically went to voicemail. You were gone without a trace.

Seated at the kitchen counter, letter in hand, he almost didn’t want to open it. Opening it would be acknowledging that this was real, that the bubble Taehyun was living in — thinking that everything had been fine — would be shattered. He took his time processing the words you wrote that felt so definite and of defeat, the paper also slightly tattered which told him that you had been planning this for a while.

He didn’t realize how much you were hurting. It was honestly a complete slap in the face. You wrote about how much things have changed since the beginning of his and your relationship, specifically how much he’s changed. You said it wasn't his fault; you weren’t mad. It was just that the future he had in mind clashed with yours and it was only a matter of time before separating paths. 

When you and Taehyun first met, neither of you were considerably good people. You became friends through hanging out with the wrong crowd and would often spend time together to escape the realities you both were avoiding. Though as much as you embraced the worst in each other, it wasn’t long until that surface level fun turned into something deeper, confiding in each other’s every secret and learning a newfound sensation of happiness through falling in love.

You promised him that you’d work on improving yourself, and he promised you the same.

Looking back, Taehyun wished he appreciated you more. You were the reason he stopped crashing at his friends’ places and settled down on a decent apartment, you were the reason he got a stable job, you were the reason he wasn’t afraid to love again. He used to thank you every chance he could but now he’s so busy drowning himself in work that he oftentimes falls asleep at the office and barely ever returns home, home to you. He was like a ghost.

To Taehyun, that was normal. He was admittedly obsessed with money more than anything as he refused to be the loser that hit rock bottom like before. Devoting himself to his job was how he kept himself motivated from falling into old habits. That didn’t mean he never loved or missed you when he was away, he just happened to prefer the subtle moments. Eating makeshift dinners because you’re both too exhausted to cook or falling asleep next to you on the couch while you were watching one of your shows — that was enough for him.

He knew to an extent that this bothered you. While he relied on his workplace to be his safe haven from the past, you relied on Taehyun. You hated seeming pushy, but you craved his attention. You used to nag at him constantly for his repeatedly short responses or halfhearted efforts. Taehyun would try to accommodate, but at the end of the day, he brushed off the issue thinking it wasn’t a big deal.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers to no one while curled in bed, facing the side you once occupied. “I won’t be greedy anymore. I’ll remember every second to love you like you’re the only person on earth. I’ll talk to you about my day when you ask, make something for us to eat even though it might not be edible, whatever you want. I’ll tell you all the things I think but never say. Just please come back.”

Taehyun was tired of being a loser, because in his world, there was no such thing as happy endings for losers like himself. That’s why he tried so hard to no longer be the person he once was.

But despite all that, without his lover, he felt like the same old loser nonetheless.

A tear falls from the corner of his eye, silently. “If only I could turn back the clock… I would’ve never let you go that easily. I would’ve never let you go until you really knew how much I love you. I’m sorry, at least know that I'm sorry.”

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[greysfall]

My 4444-word review of NEO TWEWY (with personal illustration + heavy spoilers)

My overall critical score for the game is 7.5/10, while my personal enjoyment score is 8.5/10. This review is posted as I have 80% completed the game, got the secret ending and achieved the Angel psychic rank. I’ll first start with the main pros and cons as follows.

PROS:

-        Enjoyable as a whole, still upholding the first game’s spirit in world building and sharing the same backbone - which was mostly revealed in the Secret Reports, it’s impossible to grasp the story without reading them.

-        The new cast and new game is charming in their own way

-        The old cast’s return is one of the biggest highlights for sure, it was fun and impactful. Everyone stays true to themselves and also had their own stories wrapped up nicely.

-        Boss designs are cool, new pins are fun to use and collect

-        The connection between the old and new cast is well written and executed, including but are not limited to the tension between the old and new protagonist, the weird but fun interaction between the 2 Composers, the new friendships revealed and formed

-        Sho being in the main cast is something so uniquely TWEWY and uniquely Sho

-        Still good music

-        Still many fun side quests, some of them really uphold the same quirky spirit of the old game and some are surprisingly touching

-        Many new nice stores and yummy looking foods to explore

-        The map is really easy to memorize for me, it’s fun to travel around the “current” Shibuya to see all the differences compared to the past

-        The social network is crazy and interesting to read through

-        Has an anti-frustration system to help 100% complete the game more easily and earn money faster, so post-game is relatively managable.

-        Overall, I really feel the efforts the team poured into making this as their passion project, not just during the development process but for all the last 14 years. They showed the vision of what they wanted to make, at the same time giving something to both the old as well as new fans.

CONS:

-        The biggest problem with the game is scenario writing. The story is so heavily back-loaded. The director himself thought it would be better to balance out the tension flow by adding more at the beginning but gave in to the scenario writer in the end, probably due to time pressure. This results in an underwhelming execution of characterization and lots of wasted potentials for the first half of the game.  

-        I struggle to view it as a stand-alone game, since the backstory and the old cast both play such an important role in the core of the game. If someone plays this game without having played the OG, they can only enjoy it on surface value at best.

-        The new cast is nice but most of them aren’t quite as intriguing as the old cast, maybe it’s cuz they’re all too nice deep down that they lack a little bit of an edge, of that batshit craziness that everyone in the OG used to have? I think some characters (Fret, Nagi) ended up weaker in terms of characterization because the writer is too afraid of making them unlikeable – which kind of backlashed cuz they only became likable in the most expectable way to cater for a specific group of fans. I would have wished for the other team leaders to be more crazy too, had they not suffered 30+ loops of the Game…

-        The CAMERAWORK IS HELL.

-        Gameplay does get tedious at certain points with all the time travels.

-        Shiba is so badly written as a villain, some Shinjuku characters should be given more screentime cutting into Shiba’s– like Hishima or Kaie or even, Hazuki (though his limited presence also solidified his importance).

-        Some of the main character designs, for example Beat’s hairstyle and his food reactions are hilariously bad. What’s the point of covering up most of his unique facial features?

-        Some of the minor/side characters’ design are too cool for them to have such a small role (eg: Ayano, Eiru). Ryoji did get much screentime but is nowhere as fun as Makoto was.

-        Overall the scope of this game is made a little too big for the team to handle as perfectly as the last game that was very compact, it felt somewhat rushed in development too so the missing pieces are clearly there in the final picture

The entry fee versus paying for it all in the end

An important difference between the Neo game and the original Shibuya game was that the Shibuya rule asked for an entry fee that is the Player’s most important asset, stated as a chance the Composer gives them to reexamine themselves. Meanwhile, the Shinjuku rule neither encourages nor allows personal growth and ultimately aims to erase as many Players as possible. It’s a pity we were never introduced to the full Shinjuku rulebook, as it seems like the system there focuses more on building up power and a grand government to compare with the individuality-driven system of Shibuya.

When you have to compare the new game and the original game (OG), this is an important factor to consider. Also, the OG has a serious storyline running through and through, locked with a different partner/GM creating unique atmosphere for each week and you don’t get to see your old partners again until the end. NEO’s team system does not allow such deep insight and communication between the Players. All of your teammates are always there throughout, the dynamic does change with each new addition but it is not as prominent as a partner change.

Another important factor is how the OG was built from scratch for a new platform as “something no one has ever seen before”, while Neo recycled a lot of old unused ideas from the previous development (check out this interview for more details). The development team for NEO lacks 2 key members and had a change of writer so the final product is not as strongly bound together as the last game.

The new cast is definitely inspired by today’s teenagers (from the view of creators), compared to the old cast they’re more sociable and always seem to take whatever works for them despite feeling unstable inside. They are all innocent and genuinely nice kids, avoiding to hurt each other to a degree that they end up keeping some sort of distance. They’re also unable to communicate at deeper levels, always stagnant at this half-baked stage of equilibrium without any motivation to get to the core of things. That is the cost of entering the game without an entry fee, without even dying or having a reason to be there/to fight seriously. These kids were stolen from the RG into a Game that was decidedly the worst environment for them to change or develop, just wandering around cluelessly to find a way “out” until tragedies started to unfold one by one and they ended up being charged the total sum of the price for their actions – ultimately losing everything in the end.

That is, I believe, a story arc which can resonate more to the youth of today rather than of my generation. If the message of the old game was to “listen”, enjoy life to the fullest and accept to trust others, the message of the new game is to “speak up” from the inside, trying to understand yourself and take actions instead of just going with the flow and finally, to take responsibility for such actions.

If Neku was handpicked by the Composer for being the special one with an all-dense soul to ensure victory of the game then Rindo was just a normal kid chosen out of random by Kubo to be his back-up plan, who just happened to have a high enough imagination to awaken the incredible power from his pin. Rindo was then officially chosen by the Composer as Josh picked up and handed the pin to him again, this time not as Josh’s personal Proxy – but as the Proxy to represent the normal people of Shibuya and via whom he could gamble if humans can fight for their own fate.

The underworld heroine and the hero with little of his own

Shoka is for me a refreshing and layered heroine. She’s the kind of character that took at least 3 trials of creators to form as a complete individual – that included Nomura who gave her the base design and Reaper background, Gen who gave a more cunning touch and the writers who made her English dialogues more punchy. Dishonesty equals “tsundere” is such a cliché, so the English writers tried really hard to avoid that trope in my opinion, while still letting her good intention come through.

She serves as the character who is informed of everything the players should have known, and there was almost nothing she could do about it. Almost. Until she met Rindo.

They were drawn to each other by sharing a state of “not having anything of their own”. They both started out with not being able to truly know themselves, Shoka even hated her RG life but also managed to mature from that stage before Rindo. She must have vibed with Shiki’s love and passion in the Gatto Nero threads, initiating her connection with Shibuya and understanding herself more. With Shoka as Swallow, they were able to open up to each other and offer mental support… but was still not getting to the centre of their problems because for all this time, Shoka could not tell Rindo the most important things about herself.

How did Shoka feel when she met Rindo at the UG? She probably didn’t want to hope that he would live the day until she witnessed the Twisters’ potentials. From the very beginning, they were both incredibly conscious of each other and also constantly frustrated that the person they happened to “notice” was such a condescending bitch/a clueless loser. The Shinjuku Reapers are overall quite drunk in power and uncompassionate to Players, Shoka included. She is also a master of dissociation, which results in her constant boredom, tone swings, haughtiness and subconsciously distancing herself from the friend – the boy she cares about – from false hope, as she judged from facts that it was a hopeless situation where nothing could ever be. Maybe she is naturally a bit of a chameleon just like her name suggests (Shoka 紫陽花 = hydrangea, the color-changing flower), so putting on an act and always dissociating herself from what’s important was easy, while hiding her contradiction was impossible. It was the ex-Reaper Beat who broke it out to her, that she should decide whether she really cared and wanted to do something for a change. He knew how it felt like to cross that line, and knew she wanted to too.  

Shoka is endeared by many of the Shinjuku Reapers and has shown independent acts of kindness (the Shinjuku ghost), proving that her kind and truthful side is as real as her harsh and dishonest side – which makes her a nice mirror to the previous heroine Shiki, who also embraced a dichotomy of self-complex and self-love within her character. In the end, she was the first of the new cast to ultimately accept all that is important to her and independently made the decision to help save Shibuya despite all costs.

She was jealous at Rindo’s interaction with Tsugumi and Kanon but remained silent cuz she wasn’t at a place to have any say about it. She also didn’t reveal about Swallow because that would only add an awkward irrelevance to their current situation, as she was too ready to face erasure at the end of the Game. She only wished to “play a game” with him, be it FanGo or the Reapers’ Game. The tension that the team could only feel at the end, she’s felt it the entire time. The song “DIVIDE” is applicable to not just one bond in the game, but it always makes me think of theirs. There is always a “divide” between her and Rindo throughout the course of their journey, as the living and the dead, as a Player and Reaper, as someone who has a place to return to and someone who doesn’t, someone who knows little but wields too much power and someone who knows a lot despite not being able to do much.

“If only I had the chance to connect with you on the other side

But time goes on, and without us realizing it

The battle is getting heated

Time goes on, and without us realiazing it

Divided again”

To be honest, maybe I didn’t grow any affection for the new main cast from Rindo’s perspective but from Shoka’s. Since I started to sympathize with Shoka, I started to see the boy in a more “real” way. The real Rindo, behind his peaceful façade with others, would lash out on Shoka for her unfairly harsh attitude while none of the others cared. He could also subtly feel that mantle of unspoken secrets from her, her own contradictions, the unresolved chemistry between themselves – and not knowing what to do with it rather than to feel angry with all the unfairness he could not process. (As a Libra too, he’s triggered the most by unfairness!)

It is actually a positive development as he’s at least “reacting” to something strongly now rather than to keep evading his problems. During my replay, I clearly saw the difficult situation Shoka was in, her remaining harshness after the Motoi incident was due to her internal struggle with a mission to save her own life, versus a chance to really be with the team. Her decision was to do both at the risk of losing favour from both sides. Rindo started to accept her layer by layer, as the person who resonated the most to her contradicting nature from the start and knew that via learning her resolve, he has learnt his too.

Later into the game, she even got too much of his attention. Maybe even without knowing she’s Swallow, he’s familiar with her thinking direction and Swallow had always been closer to him than any other friend. It was only after she had to betray her important ones twice that she could start being truly honest. The scene when she died a 2nd time left a strong impression in me, the little reveal let Rindo know that he is also losing Swallow as he’s losing Shoka – and that only death could drive the last secret out of her. Her final “Later, loser” echoed through Rindo as it was the final truth, with only him remaining to hear it: they had actually, already lost everything.

Rindo was the boy who never dared to face all that matters to him until he lost it all, fighting an unfair battle in the faith that they would somehow still win. Shoka was the girl who always knew what was dear to her, but never dared to think she could be together with them ever after and still threw her all into a battle she knew was losing. I think they stir each other on naturally to fill out their gaps, similar to what the Shibuya game partner systerm would have aimed for. The end reward was a little divine intervention to help close up the divide between them once and for all.  

During the game there was not enough space to process anything personal so at the ending when they officially became “friends”, it was an important affirmation of their bond. Some people complained it was friendzoning but it’s not, they just have arrived at the perfect place to start something more. “From now on, we will truly be together” – I read it as that kind of message.  

The heroine from a lost battle, with her story taken away

After reading the secret reports and playing the game to be surprised of how small a role Tsugumi had in the main game despite being the “Hype-chan” thought to be a major character of the next TWEWY installment, many fans would feel sad at a missed opportunity to see the Shinjuku arc in full depiction.

It was shown clearly that, a Shinjuku arc was very carefully planned out and is a vital part of the whole story, yet it could not be made due to various circumstances behind the development scene. I would assume, that the team were not able to make a TWEWY game that ended on a despairing note, but it already happened in their mind, thus becoming a mental burden that forced them to break away from it and started the game anew with NEO. A significant part of NEO became the healing arc for the Shinjuku characters, especially for Tsugumi though I really wished more emphasis should have been placed on her rather than Shiba. We didn’t even get to see her brother – Shinjuku’s Conductor who had a vital role and instead was given the clueless Shiba, who had absolutely no idea what’s going on all the way until the last day in NEO. It’s as if Tsugumi has had her story stolen away from her, because her own battle ended with a saddening loss.

I think every time the game creators look at Tsugumi, they would feel that sadness too. Maybe to them, she is a bigger character than what is seen by the fans, as despite their failed effort to depict her story, she’s lived in their mind for all these years through periods of destruction, healing and rebuild.  Though it is a pity we could not get to experience the full scope of the Shinjuku story, the creators was clear about the place they wished for it to arrive at.    

Individuality, connection and the social network

The team system adapted from Shinjuku rulebook does not allow much room for personal development, as the team dynamic is closer to a work relationship forced to bear results, than a spiritual bond to max out all corners of understanding as found in the partnership system. The old Shibuya system allowed only 1 winner and 1 week limit per game, while the new rule declares for a 1 winning team and only the team at last place will be erased – the other teams will enter another loop. Furthermore, whichever team to challenge the unwinnable Ruinbringers will face the risk of ending up dead last followed by erasure. As a result, the longest-standing teams are most likely not the strongest ever recorded, but the ones who have figured out a strategy to simply survive until something changes, enjoying their newly found social constructs while they are at it. Basically, it is a system to hypnotise players into the illusion that they are still “living”.

Therefore, we as players would not get to the core of each Player individually as fast and directly as we did in the last game. The Twisters were able to stand out not because they’re powerful, they only started to have a real chance after growing enough to each form a meaningful and personal connection to another teammate. It did not come as a team, nor did it intiate from the existing friendship between Rindo and Fret. In fact, I did not find much solidity or anything truly note-worthy about the main team and new characters within themselves until they started clashing with other team members, Reapers and new recruits from week 2 onwards. Rindo found his personal development with Shoka (via a clash with Motoi and pretty much a mini dating sim between them), then via the confrontation of his role with Neku; Fret found his with Kanon then Nagi, the team learned about the real Neku via Beat, Neku entered the UG via Coco’s wish to save Tsugumi… it was not the team but their personal links that empowered them to fight and solve each of their problems.

The other team leaders may have failed because they did not form such personal links, after 30+ hopeless loops Fuya’s team all fell apart to pursue their own interest even at the cost of erasure, Motoi quit his KOL façade to work like a dog for the Reapers (probably to save just his own ass not his team), while Kanon dropped her tricks to find changes via honest cooperation in acceptance of a fair loss. The despairing note in that is huge without making much of a scene because their failure didn’t happen at their best effort to “win”, but in their last attempt to find a way “out”. Even Shiba got his way “out” in the end thanked to his personal friendship with Hishima and Tsugumi.

Something has shifted in the mindset of the game creators in the last 14 years, as both games are about “connection vs individuality” but the last game focuses more on connection between just individuals and this one on the overall network that is formed out of those individual connections.

The introduction of Beat into the main cast was truly the bridge between old and new, they helped each other out in several turns before officially recruiting him. Beat is a character whom a lot of fans including myself have felt somewhat concerned about after Neku disappeared from the RG, so when the new kids welcomed Beat with warm and organic interaction and Beat seemed happy, I started to feel like I wanted to help them out too! I think the overall team chemistry is enjoyable enough for new players, but I could warm up to the new kids more from the pov of a returning character – whom I’m glad to be Beat, as the older brother figure who is genuinely kind, fun, serious and upbeat at the same time; who is needed and needs the kids in return.

The social network is a fun and refreshing feature. You can read all of the crazy tidbits about Shibuya and the links each character have formed with the town people, it’s also fun to visualize how the characters act off screen. Characters’ profiles provide extra insight into their background too, like how it reveals Tsugumi has been friend with Coco during her time in the RG. During the game when not all characters have showed up, you can sometimes guess which empty spot will belong to whom. For example there is a 1 character linking to Neky that is not linked to anyone else, so I could guess that was Joshua, and that another character linking only to Joshua was probably Hazuki, hinting that the 2 Composers are related before either of them even showed up.

Hazuki only showed up for 5 minutes, but his presence is so vital and true to the game that I think he is the most memorable out of the new cast. The two Composers have such an intriguing bond, with their yin/yang or phoenix/dragon themes, opposite color design, the sempai/kouhai tone and the way they keep some sort of distance/work relationship as if it’s mandatory between Higher beings, yet at the same time they can talk so casually because they are truly equal – and different from one another. I have written a separate meta on them here.

Some people pointed out, that all Shinjuku characters’ names and themes are based off Hanafuda cards and the Phoenix in Hanafuda belongs to the Paulownia suit – which is Joshua’s name flower. This is so interesting because it feels like the creators somehow saw it as a sign to interweave the Shibuya and Shinjuku storylines together. Though it doesn’t come out much on the surface, it’s fascinating nonetheless considering both Josh and Haz had at some point interfered with the other town’s affairs.

“Shibuya tour with Haz” was such a special scene, as it happened between 2 characters who do not/no longer have a reason to care about Shibuya, on the subject of what is worth saving about Shibuya. Hazuki carried out the purification of Shinjuku and stepped in to restore Shibuya just as part of his job and unlike Hanekoma or Joshua who both possess profound understanding of humanity, he really didn’t know humans at all. Rindo’s irrational wish invoked in him a sense of curiosity, to try gambling on something irrationally and learning a bit of what his senior have experienced. With all the pieces put together, it provides an overview on Higher beings as a whole, and that Joshua and Hanekoma are really the odd ones out with Hazuki being somewhere in between them and the rest.        

The old friends

It’s easy to have returning characters overshadow the new cast as they have already matured out of their personal story arc and stayed in our hearts for all this time. In the end, I have managed to enjoy both the old and new cast separately and altogether, and they will both find their own place in our memory of this game for the long term.

Sho is truly as crazy as ever, the game wouldn’t be the same if Sho is any less of what he is. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like Neky or Beat is younger than Nagi at all, with moments when it seems like Neky has aged 14 years instead of 3 years. His friendship with Coco surprised me pleasantly, and their interaction together with Beat was fun to watch. Rhyme’s found a new dream and her friendship with Kaie is precious too, especially considering that she can still talk to him online after the game ended. Josh and Neku’s interaction suggested that they have resolved the past and are on equal terms now, they even parted ways in good spirit and I don’t feel any worry about them like I did before.

Neku and Shiki’s reunion scene was beautiful, theirs is such a special bond that it has grown and supported them even without being able to see each other. I am so happy to see them all again and that they stay true to who they are, albeit looking more grown up, cooler and happier than ever before.  

Overall, NEO can’t become a classic on par with the OG, but is definitely a good sequel and a good game in its own rights. I’m happy with whether or not there will be a 3rd game to complete the 3 monkeys theme, but if there will be – I hope the creators can really find the time to learn from the last 2 games and start over with a fresh mindset and strong core.  

[languageisgrapejuiceuponthelips]

the harley quinn show’s characterization of bruce will never cease to perplex me. like it’s just so simple, which is fine obviously, like i understand this is a comedy show in which batman is a background character. but when it became clear that this season was literally all about bruce i got so excited that they were going to finally treat his character with some depth—like especially after batman begins forever. they just… never did.

at this point, trying to understand his character or his motivations at all literally makes my brain itch. he’s pathetic but heroic but Completely Self-Centered but misunderstood but a Cookie Cutter White Billionaire. i adore the contradictions of batman but this is ridiculous. his personality literally changes completely depending on the joke that needs to be made. and again, it’s a comedy i know i know, but at this point i’m even talking about the serious things. like we dedicate a whole episode to explore his particular trauma about it his parents death, but then immediately after that, when he’s making zombie parents, he’s doing it because selina dumped him. the finale ends with him being arrested for *tax evasion* but he’s embracing it as an opportunity to… confront his trauma?

every Batman joke this season has been either a) pathetic loser dumped by his girlfriend, b) haha dead parents, c) Billionaires Bad. i’m sick of pretending that these things have literally a single thing to do with each other.