#in an additional way the idea of that godlike being having feelings of any kind for the person at the center of the story they're relying

[reredram]

Experimental thingy, gonna try to make some iterator\travel logs for my iterator oc Bright Scale Among the Feathers ━┅━┅━┅━┅━┅━┅━┅━┅━┅━━┅━┅━┅━┅━┅━┅ After disconnecting himself from his superstructure to avoid death due collapse, rebuilding his body to adapt onto traversing big distances in harsh conditions and autonomy support of life without help of superstructure, Scale makes logs to keep the track of his adventure in search for answers about his group and The Samsara Experiment.

Log number 32-DF-1\4-07 Cycles after collapse:15 I am proceeding through my former territory, so far the main problem is still excessively low temperatures and the landscape destroyed by time. The idea to build an iterator high in the mountains, in a subzero temperature zone, is undoubtedly a good solution that removes the problem of overheating of our mechanisms and eliminates the need for constant access to a water source, but as soon as my superstructure stopped functioning, ceasing to heat the air in the area, snowstorms became a deadly threat, reducing the additional time for movement between cycles to minimum indicators. Surprisingly, even at such ultra-low temperatures, there are extremophile plants on my way that live in hardly suitable conditions. As my colleague, Roaming Ram, used to say, nature will always find a way. The reserves of resources taken from the superstructure are inexorably running out, but no signs of fauna or edible flora have been found. I need to focus on finding food, otherwise I'll die here, covered in snow, under my own superstructure.

Log number 32-DF-1\4-08 Cycles after collapse:21 The resources completely ran out 3 cycles ago, and this body is starting to fail. The remaining energy is barely enough to keep moving in short dashes from shelter to shelter. Recently, I almost fell off a ledge, tripping and rolling down in the snow. It would be unpleasant to end my journey on such a humiliating note. No signs of any kind of life have been detected so far. I tried to eat one of the extremophilic plants, but its bitterness almost made me vomit. There is no benefit. It's terrible to feel so helpless. Once such a powerful being, almost godlike, is dying the hell where, alone, wrapped in a metal tail to at least keep warm a little. What a pathetic sight. How low I've fallen.

Log number 32-DF-1\4-09 Cycles after collapse:29 After wandering for a long time through the lifeless snow-covered wastelands, I found a small region, which is a bunker built underground. It's not as cold as it is outside, and there are even some areas with spears on which lanterns are strung. Surprisingly, despite the fact that this primitive structure consists of luminous slime and a transparent shell, it emits enough heat to keep warm in a small radius from itself. I need to keep a couple of these in my pocket, then I'll forget the worries about my life support systems disabling due to extreme cold. However, the most important thing is that I found signs of life. I met a lone scavenger, and despite the fact that I didn't show any aggression towards him, he attacked me anyway. I tried to respond with same, launching a rapid attack, but he managed to dodge my spear, as a result of which I had to hastily retreat so that he would not injure me, this is the last thing I need. Scavengers have never been known for their love for iterators, on the contrary, these dim-witted primates were constantly an annoying problem, either damaging the exterior of my hyperstructure for weapons in the form of spears, or knocking down and destroying my overseers. I heard the news that some iterators had entire infestations of scavengers, who flooded their cities, deserted by from ancients, causing chaos there. An unenviable fate. However, I will not just leave this humiliation. I'll wait out the cycle to regain some strength and kill this obnoxious parasite.

Log number 32-DF-1\4-10 Cycles after collapse:30 Justice has been done. I cornered this scavenger, and despite his attempts to fight back, one precise blow to the body, and he's dead. My body almost shut down in the process due to lack of resources, but the deflection system worked, repelling his attack. Upon closer examination of the corpse, I found explosives on it, collected, dried and crushed fruits of explosive cherries, tightly stuffed into a dark shell. Primitive, but effective, it's good that he didn't think to throw it at me in such a narrow room, I don't think that in a weakened state my body would have survived the explosion. And now, I was faced with a dilemma. On the one hand, the corpse of an intelligent being lies in front of me. Scavengers have tribes, hierarchies, and some kind of culture. Eating the corpse of an intelligent being, even if it shows aggression towards me, is unethical and simply disgusting. On the other hand, if I don't consume AT LEAST SOMETHING, then my systems will completely run out and fail to work, and, technically speaking, I will "die". ... To hell with morality and ethics. I don't want to die.

[pyrrhiccomedy]

hey so I’m realizing from the questions coming into my inbox that some of you are both (1) very interested in Heretic and (2) have no idea what Heretic is.

Heretic is a homebrew tabletop RPG that I created during lockdown to play with my fiance. It takes inspiration from Alexis Kennedy’s very good game “Cultist Simulator” for a lot of its flavor. It’s designed for 1:1 play: you recruit a party of NPCs that you control in combat. It uses a d10 system like Godlike (where the goal is to roll pairs or three of a kind). I’ve also borrowed the discipline scaling system from VtM, & a number of stealth & influence systems from Blades in the Dark. There is also a stress system that takes inspiration from Trail of Cthulhu.

The combat system had to be pretty much totally homebrewed, as very few games are designed with 1:1 play in mind. It has a 3-2-1 combat system (meaning all combat resolves in 3 rounds and then the outcome is narrated based on the results) and combat for each character resolves with a single roll (meaning, one roll tells you if you hit, how much damage you dealt, if you get additional actions, & how effective your additional actions are). 

My fiance is a medievalist, and I’ve studied religion & divinity, & we’re both interested in (as an academic subject, not as a personal practice) historical occultism. So as a game setting Heretic is a lot weirder than anything I’d make for a wider audience. That’s the fun of making a game for one person you know really well. “Let’s go really, really deep on medieval eschatology” is not, like, a normal or desirable state for a Saturday night for most people. 

There are a lot of things about the mindset of playing Heretic that I don’t bother to explain because Emily would never need it explained to her that, for example, in the 1300s, an encounter with demonic power would nevertheless be understood as an encounter with the numinous, worthy of reverence and containing wisdom. Or that the medieval mind would not attempt to rationalize it or determine if what they experienced ‘really happened’ in the same way as we would post-Enlightenment or even post-Renaissance. What would matter is that it was experienced, and therefore contains truth. From the medieval point of view, our modern definitions of ‘truth’ and what is ‘real’ are shockingly limited and unimaginative. Playing Heretic means stepping into a more medieval state of mind. I would not ask that of players at any other table! But I can do that with Emily.

There are lots of other things about Heretic that show that it’s a game system made by one person, for one other specific person. It’s super gay, and fucks around a lot with gender. It has sex and violence and dark shit in it. Sometimes there’s a big twist based on knowing that Mary doesn’t appear in the Gospel of Mark. I’m not designing it so that you can play it without being made to feel confused or uncomfortable, I’m designing it so that Emily and I have the most fun possible on Saturday night.

I am sure there are other people out there who would really enjoy playing Heretic! And I think that’s great. I’m slowly putting together a source book for the handful of you out there who might want to try.

If you don’t care about Heretic and you’re tired of seeing me talk about Heretic, cool. Block the #heretic tag.

If you send me asks demanding that I go into laborious detail about something Heretic-related, I will probably ignore them. This isn’t a product I’m selling. I’m not trying to ‘get Heretic out there.’ This is my blog, where I talk about the things I’m interested in, so I blog about Heretic in the way somebody else might blog about a big knitting project they’re working on. Your interest in the project is flattering, but ultimately, it’s my blanket, that I’m making for me and my partner, for fun. 

If you like seeing the occasional bizarre Heretic moodboard, or seeing me answer an ask in a totally obscure, borderline incomprehensible, occultish way, great. Enjoy the vibes!

[scottymcgeesterwrites]

ScottyMcGeester Plays Every Final Fantasy Game*

*Okay, all the main games except 11 and 14 since they are online only, and also no spinoffs or sequels.

THE INTRODUCTION

Years ago, I had a goal to finish every Final Fantasy game. As of December 30, 2020, I finally reached that goal. I originally started posting these reviews way back in 2017 on VGF(VIdeo Game Forums), and posted one review after another as I completed each game. I had already finished a few before I started reviewing the series, such as Final Fantasy I, II, VI, IX, and X.

Final Fantasy X was my very first Final Fantasy game, way back when it first came out on the PS2. It took me years to finish that game, mostly because I was still a novice at RPGs and I didn’t quite know what I was doing. Still, the world and concepts of Final Fantasy gripped me. As a sci-fi/fantasy writer, they inspired tons of elements in my stories. The series spans a multitude of genre-bending stories – sci-fi, fantasy, some steampunk, modern fantasy, space, traditional fantasy with knights in armor – and a whole lot of crystals. I wrote these reviews as if you have no idea what Final Fantasy is – whether you are a gamer or non-gamer. This first post is a general introduction to the series as a whole, but even if you are a die-hard fan already, there are some things that I explore that I hope you'll find interesting. What is Final Fantasy? Final Fantasy is a roleplay video game series that started back in 1987. The first game was reminiscent of Dungeons and Dragons, where you could choose one of six roles for a team of four: White Mage, Black Mage, Red Mage, Thief, Monk and Warrior. Square, now known as Square Enix, developed the game. A legendary rumor about the title “Final Fantasy” comes from the story that they were on the verge of bankruptcy. They only had money for one more game, a fantasy game. They dubbed it “Final Fantasy.” This apocryphal story is nowhere near true. Square had made video games before and they didn’t do well, but the company itself wasn’t on the verge of bankruptcy. What happened was that the developer, Hironobu Sakaguchi, had planned to retire. He didn’t see any foreseeable future in video gaming with Square’s mediocre performance. He wanted to make a fantasy game and dubbed it “Final Fantasy”, since it was to be his personal last work. He also wanted the game to be abbreviated as “FF” – they originally had “Fighting Fantasy” in mind but that name was already trademarked by a board game. Final Fantasy initially sold 400,000 copies in Japan and became and instant hit. Nintendo of America approached Square to release a localized version for the states. Final Fantasy became far from Sakaguchi’s last game. What’s Final Fantasy about? Every main Final Fantasy game has a new story with new characters and even new gameplay. Some games have direct sequels and are recognizable with a subtitle, or an additional number following a dash. For example, there is Final Fantasy VII, and the direct sequel to that Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII. There's a direct sequel to Final Fantasy X titled Final Fantasy X-2. But even though each Final Fantasy game is different, there are still central elements that make them a Final Fantasy game. You can’t just write up a random fantasy story and slap the Final Fantasy name on it. The following elements are what make a Final Fantasy game. Some are obvious while others not so much. Chocobos:

Chocobos were first introduced in Final Fantasy II, but have been present ever since. They are cute, large birds that the characters often ride across fields or sometimes call into battle. They have practically become the mascot of the series. Moogles, Cactuars and Tonberries – oh my!

Moogles (pictured above) are telepathic creatures that help the players, or sometimes they can be a playable character. They debuted in Final Fantasy III.

Cactuars (right) and Tonberries (left) are cute, unassuming enemies that are actually highly dangerous, killing you in one shot if you are not careful or fast enough. The former debuted in Final Fantasy VI while the latter debuted in Final Fantasy V. Summons:

Sometimes they go by different names, like eidolons or espers. Summons are massive, fantastic beasts that you can call upon to aide you in battle to fight the enemy. Summons became a staple ever since Final Fantasy III. In some games, they are merely there to call into battle, while in other games they are central to the story. Airships:

Airships have been present since the first game. They are massive boat-looking airplanes. In the more recent games, airships look almost like spaceships.

Cid:

With the exception of the original Final Fantasy (except in later remakes), every game has a character named Cid. Cid is typically the character who owns an airship.

Items and Magic Spells:

Each game shares virtually all the same items and magic spells. Antidotes. Eye drops. Maiden's kiss. Holy water. Phoenix Down is well-known for reviving knocked-out characters in battle. The spells follow a hierarchy of levels. For example, Cure is the basic spell to heal somebody. The second level spell for healing is Cura. Then Curaga. Then finally Curaja. Most other spells follow the same format. The same high-level spells also frequently appear throughout the games, such as Holy and Flare.

Crystals:

With a few exceptions, crystals appear in nearly every game. They often serve as plot devices, whether they be the force that protects the planet or powerful objects coveted by the enemy. They also oftentimes have a consciousness of their own, communicating with the characters and calling them to their destiny.

Mythological References:

Final Fantasy is riddled with mythological references. Many summons and creatures take the names of mythological creatures or deities, such as Shiva, Bahamut, Leviathan, Behemoth, Odin, and Ifrit. Certain villains share the names of mythological figures or they are derived from certain mythological concepts, such as Gilgamesh and Sephiroth. Many of the games have legendary weapons you can find near the end of the journey. These are typically named after legendary Japanese figures, such as Masamune and Yoichi, or other world mythologies, such as Thor’s hammer Mjolnir. Saving the World:

Final Fantasy isn’t about saving a particular princess, or person for that matter. The ultimate goal is to save the entire world, or even the very fabric of reality. Evil spreads in many ways, such as a sealed darkness trying to break free, empires with ambitious goals, villainous subordinates who pull the strings of politics, or empires destroying the environment. Typically, the main cast consists of characters from all walks of life. They all have to learn to work together and get through their personal struggles to save the world. Existential Crisis (or Startling Revelation):

By the time you reach the third act of a Final Fantasy game, some startling revelation forces the characters to question their very existence. A villain is revealed to be a hero’s family member, a main character realizes they're a clone, another realizes that they cannot live without magic, etc. Typically, the main character questions the nature of their soul, if they die like regular beings and become part of some greater life force, or blink out into oblivion. Whatever the revelation may be – it serves as a final crisis that the characters have to overcome. The Descent into Hell:

Every third act of a Final Fantasy game ends with what I like to call a “descent into hell”. The final dungeon is always some kind of bizarre world. In Final Fantasy II, you literally descend into hell to fight the Emperor. Throughout the series, hell is more metaphorical. The final dungeons can be a massive, sprawling tower or dreadnought, or a strange dimension that appears to have no rhyme or reason. Sometimes I'm reminded of M.C. Escher’s work, “Relativity”, or sometimes it reminds me of some cosmic horror featured in the Cthulhu Mythos. These final dungeons can be inter-dimensional rifts between space and times, pockets in reality, subterranean depths, insane worlds that the villain created, and worlds of darkness. (Final Fantasy IX's Memoria)

(M.C. Escher's “Relativity”)

These stylistic approaches for the final dungeon represent the oncoming battle with the forces of chaos. Fighting God:

After venturing through the surreal and hellish final dungeon, you face the main villain. The main villain always achieves godlike status or the characters actually have to defeat a god in order to save the world from its oppressive reign. Many stories appear to throw in a last minute ultimate god who was pulling the strings of the plot the entire time. The purpose of dealing with gods and goddesses represents the characters’ desire to control their own fate and alter their destiny. Most of these bosses are strange and grotesque, definitely getting a Cthulhu vibe from them. I looked at them and thought, "Christ, what the hell is THAT supposed to be?"

It always feels like THE final fantasy:

Each game, no matter what happens or how it happens, feels like the be-all-end-all of its story – its fictional universe. Direct sequels were unheard of until Final Fantasy X-2, which while fun, was wildly different in tone from the original game, and critics pointed out that it ruined the finality of Final Fantasy X. This is one reason why I think direct sequels to Final Fantasy games fail – what else could the main characters possibly face that is more dangerous than the one they just encountered? Anything else would feel like child’s play to them. NOTABLE PEOPLE Aside from the characters, stories and games themselves, the people behind the series have achieved legendary status. Nobuo Uematsu:

The original composer of Final Fantasy. Uematsu single-handedly scored the first 9 Final Fantasy games. Uematsu surprisingly never had any formal training in music – a trait that would ostracize any composer, such as Danny Elfman. I find that the those who haven't had any formal training usually break the mold with music. Uematsu started working for Square at around 25 for the first Final Fantasy game, starting out with nothing and never suspecting his job would lead him where he is now. His music is unique for incorporating elements of classic and progressive rock, specifically in the battle themes. Uematsu’s themes for each game have achieved instant recognition in the gaming world, as recognizable as the theme to Star Wars or James Bond. Tetsuya Nomura:

Tetsuya Nomura is a video game designer and director who started at Square in 1990. He rose to prominence when he was given full control of designing the characters for Final Fantasy VII – arguably the most popular Final Fantasy game to date because of its characters: Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart, Vincent Valentine and Sephiroth. Nomura went on to create more legendary characters for Final Fantasy VIII, X and XIII. Yoshitaka Amano:

Amano is the artist whose work is most known now in Final Fantasy. He has done concept art and design for every game in the series. His style is instantly recognizable. He has also drawn for many anime shows, comics and mangas, such as Vampire Hunter D and Sandman: The Dream Hunters.

And last but certainly not least - THE MUSIC Final Fantasy has left its mark in the musical soundtrack of video games. Each game more or less shares three of the same memorable tracks.

The Prelude:

The Victory Fanfare:

The Final Fantasy Main Theme:

THE REVIEWS

Each review I post will critique major aspects of each Final Fantasy game, such as its gameplay, graphics, story, and music. Today is currently January 3, 2020 (technically the 4th when I post this because it’s past midnight), and I will be posting one review per day so as to not lose my sanity editing and formatting everything at once here. So look forward to the very first review tomorrow starting with the very first Final Fantasy game.

[soloragoldsun]

What I Preferred in Age of Resistance

So, I’ve mentioned already that Age of Resistance and J.M. Lee’s The Dark Crystal book series have several differences concerning how certain events play out. I decided to go into detail about what I liked most in both versions. Overall, I preferred the books, but I still find Age of Resistance to be an incredible, necessary part of the lore of Thra. Here are some plot points and inclusions that I preferred in the show.

-Rian, Deet, and Brea: This is an obvious one, as the show was specifically about this trio, while Lee’s books focused on Naia, Kylan, and Amri. Rian was a figure who came in and out of the plotline throughout the books. He was there just enough to get a basic idea concerning his character and struggles. Brea was seen only twice, and Deet didn’t appear until the end of Flames.

In the show, we really see the struggles Rian faces, along with the horror of what he has witnessed (more on that shortly). Brea provides a closer look at the Vapra than what we were given with Tavra in the books, and is a perfect example of a person of privilege changing her views of the world. And Deet is just marvelous in every possible way. (I think I have a thing for the Grottan. I mean, Amri is my fav in the books while Deet is my fav in the show.)

More character development is always a plus, so these three were an absolute win for me.

-The Skeksis: Since each book was only told from the point of view of one Gelfling (Naia, Kylan, Amri, then Naia again), there were certain things that weren’t explored. We only saw a Skeksis when they were directly interacting with the characters, or being shown in a dreamfast.

In Age of Resistance, we get to see the politics within the Castle. We get to see just how intelligent and conniving skekSil is. We get to see how skekTek lost his eye and was turned into the psychopath we know and love. An intimate look at the Skeksis was needed in order to truly understand the state of Thra at this point in time, and the show did an incredible job.

Also, the show went above and beyond in making the Skeksis truly vile, disgusting, evil creatures (except for skekGra, of course). I mean, the scene where Mira is getting drained was downright terrifying. As I mentioned before, the de-crowning of Seladon was a scene I had to skip altogether. We also find out that skekTek lost his eye in a sadistic punishment devised by his own kind! Every moment with these villains was golden, and made me hate and fear them even more.

-Hup and the Podlings: The Podlings only made a brief appearance in the books, and it wasn’t significant in any way. In the show, however, we were given a glimpse of the class system that makes up Thra. We see how Podling villages apparently are treated to forced baths by interloping Gelfling who see it as their “duty” to clean the “filthy” citizens. We see how Hup is immediately arrested for the brawl in Stone-in-the-Wood based on the word of the local Gelfling. Podlings are second-class citizens on Thra, and I really hope season 2 explores this fact even more.

As for Hup himself... Do I even need to say anything? He’s a precious little paladin who will kick ass with his spoon and defend Deet with his life. He is perfection, and Age of Resistance gets heavy points for his mere existence.

-Aughra: She plays a much more active role in the show, and I am so happy about it! She actually goes looking for answers, has genuine flaws, and shows so much emotion in each scene she’s in. You can really feel her love for the Gelfling, as well as the snappy personality she is known for. Hell, she actually offers up her life in exchange for the imprisoned Gelfling, temporarily dying as a result!

In the books, her main contribution is giving Kylan the book that tells him of the bone firca (a plot point that’s entirely book-specific, which I’ll talk about in my post on what I liked more about the book series). Later on, she summons the various Gelfling to the dreamscape, and is gone until after the battle in Stone-in-the-Wood. She is seen as more of a motherly, godlike figure who returns to the Gelfling when they finally open their eyes and ears to her again.

Personally, I prefer the flawed Aughra who realizes her mistake in abandoning the Gelfling and attempts to actually fix things on a more active level.

-The Heretic and the Wanderer: skekGra and urGoh’s relationship is an incredible addition to the lore of Thra. Their union shows that the Skeksis aren’t simply evil by nature. It is possible for the two halves to come together and cooperate, and it’s not just the Mystics who want that!

Also, they were definitely the most entertaining characters in the series. I loved them as soon as they appeared, and will continue to love them whenever I rewatch the series and write my fanfics. Everything about their scene, from skekGra’s first appearance, to the puppet show, was masterful and hilarious!

-Seladon: Due to the limited perspectives of the books, we only hear about Seladon’s betrayal second-hand. She is clearly being manipulated by the Skeksis, but joins the fight when the Vapran flame is lit. She is quickly forgiven by the other maudras, and that’s that.

In the show, we see her full descent. We see how she was taught to put her position as the All-Maudra first, no matter what. We see how determined she is to protect the Gelfling as a whole, no matter the cost, because she truly sees the Skeksis as invulnerable lords.

Her development was incredible, and I will forever be a Seladon stan!

-The Arathim: Making the spiders into allies was not something I expected, especially since the book depicted them as unquestioning servants to skekSo. I’m glad that the show explored the fact that Domrak was originally home for the Arathim, and showed how the Skeksis tried to turn two oppressed groups against each other to further their own plans.

Also, we got to see Gurjin hugging a giant spider.

So, yeah. Those are a few of the things that Age of Resistance did better. I’ll be back at you with book details later!

[derangedsilence]

Karlheinz

Permissions

Please feel free to check any of the Sakamaki Bros.’ permission lists.  It’s pretty repetitively the same.

The only exceptions:

Shipping - Within any verse he’s participating in, it’s entirely possible for him to form romantic and/or sexual partnerships with anyone who suits his needs, fancy, etc.  Canonically had three wives, you know what you’re signing up for if you aim for this.  However, as Karlheinz is very good at controlling his partners to suit his needs, I would prefer that many of his romances not get commented on by the public unless they’re somewhere they could be witnessed or if the individual themselves talks about it.  Feel free to ask me!

Participation - Hop into getting involved in plots and storylines!  Just do the dashboard commentary thing and tag this blog so I can be sure to see it.  This much is the same.  However, for some people, plots will need to have certain secrets kept, etc. until later.  You’re still welcome to get involved, but it might be better to discuss with me and any other involved players how to participate instead of commenting on the grapevine for those particular plot aspects.

Biography / Stats

FULL NAME. Karlheinz ALIAS. Tougo Sakamaki, Reinhart AGE. Appears 35-45 || Actually significantly older at 2000+ BIRTHDAY. Unknown  GENDER & PRONOUNS. Male, he/him ORIENTATION. Heteroflexible.  He’ll play it up for whoever can be used. SPECIES. Vampire. OCCUPATION. Vampire King (of the demon world), Japanese politician, school nurse... RESIDENCE. Someplace in the demon world, but visits the Sakamaki household from time to time.

HAIR. White, reddish/purple-ish EYES. Golden BUILD. “What the fuck, man, it’s like you’re photoshopped.” HEIGHT. 6'2'' ADDITIONAL NOTES. A known shapeshifter, not even his sons are sure they’ve seen his real form.  He can easily appear as a man, a woman, etc. to suit his needs.

ZODIAC. I Hate You, Vampire Dad is a zodiac, right? ALIGNMENT. Unknown.  POSITIVE TRAITS.  intelligent, charming, goal-oriented NEGATIVE TRAITS. merciless, sees people as means to an end, lacks the ability to feel deep emotional attachment 

BIRTH PLACE. Japan NATIONALITY. Japanese PARENTS. Unknown SIBLINGS. Sibling: Richter.  Wives: Beatrix, Cordelia, Christa (also his cousin).  Sons: Shuu, Reiji, Ayato, Kanato, Laito and Subaru Sakamaki EXTENDED FAMILY. Adopted Sons: Ruki, Kou, Azusa and Yuma Mukami.  Bastards: Kino, apparently? EDUCATION. Unknown SPECIES. Vampire NOTABLE SKILLS. Being the worst dad ever, running extremely complicated and often successful experiments, is charming enough to be able to convince people who are fully aware of his nature that he really is sincere for them specifically, etc.  LANGUAGES. All of them  FAVORITE FOOD. The fruits of his labor

PUREBLOOD. Inhuman strength, increased speed, vision, hearing, and smell. Fast healing & healing saliva. TELEPORTATION. Can teleport instantaneously. FLYING. He can fly. SWORDSMANSHIP. S OTHER. In addition to the racial abilities of a pureborn vampire, he also possesses the highest level of magic in the Demon World and his power is considered by his race, as a whole, as well as his sons, as “Godlike”.  Karlheinz is capable of unleashing his magic and destroying the entire Demon World.  In addition, he can shapeshift and change his appearance as it suits him.  Oh, did we mention he also has the ability to MANIPULATE TIME and REVERSE EVENTS until he’s satisfied?   WEAKNESSES. None?   DISLIKES.  People not doing what he wants them to do in his experiments.

Appearance

*Will be updated as various ‘personae’ are implemented.

As ‘Karlheinz’, at least as most of his sons know him: A pale-haired, golden-eyed figure who dresses in extravagant capes.  His hair falls past his knees in waves and he looks absolutely ethereal.

As ‘Reinhart’, the school nurse, he is pale with blond hair wrapped into a ponytail and wears glasses.

Personality

One of the most powerful creatures in the demon world, he is viewed by the vampires (the bat clan) as a God.  Which may or may not affect his personality, but the fact is that it is universally understood that a man that’s over 2000 years old is in want of a new life goal.  Or death.

INTELLIGENT AND MANIPULATIVE: Karlheinz rarely directly engages these days, usually pulling strings in the background.  He manipulates for the better and for worse, only determined to get closer to his personal goals.  If that heals some and hurts others, so be it. 

AFFECTION: It’s well-known that demons do not experience the same emotions as humans, or at least, they do not act on nor feel them the way humans would.  Even within the “emotions” and “bonds” of demons, Karlheinz is incapable of deep affectionate sentiments and believes that all demons are similarly incapable.  He is obsessed with human emotions despite or because of his inability, glorifying them and incorporating them into his new demonkind 3.0 ideas.  His inability to feel this deep affection doesn’t save him from confusion and hesitant behavior on the rare occasion his plans and experiments are not succeeding.

It’s worth noting that he is considerably kinder when engaging with humans, as he blatantly punishes his own kind for their very nature (of which he is entirely aware).  However, humans break much more easily, so this may be a necessity for engaging those tools compared to his sons.

FAMILY: His sons, wives, etc. are all tools and test subjects with which to create a new race and “save” the Demon World.  If they become failed experiments, he has no issue disposing of them himself.  When it comes to his kids, he’s extremely neglectful but does not hesitate to order their punishment when they displease him.  He’s imprisoned Laito, sent Shuu to the North Pole, and tossed Subaru into the ocean.  Most of his abuse was directly on his wives and directly affected how they would raise their sons, however, for which most of the Sakamaki children loathe him.  

PRINCE CHARMING: Karlheinz excels at charming and manipulating others.  As with Cordelia, he promises everything to obtain them, spoils them, and then acts in whatever manner best executes his experiment.

History

Under construction.  

Quick summary: Really good contender for ‘worst dad’ and ‘worst vampire dad’ awards.

Verses

Brief summaries of the verses for Karlheinz along with potential links for those less familiar with Diabolik Lovers but still want to interact with him.  For the sake of keeping things clean, encouraging community-wide and cooperative storytelling in roleplay, and not letting things get too crazy, verses will be limited.  More may be made over time as needed.

Summaries:

| DL Anime | DL More Blood Anime | Haunted Dark Bridal | More Blood | (Coming Soon)

VERSE - HAUNTED DARK BRIDAL

Karlheinz is...somewhere.  Doing things.  Like usual.

*This verse will be typically be the default, 'main verse'. In this, it is assumed that Yui Komori is staying at the Sakamaki household with some version of the first game having taken place. If the second game is included, it's with the idea that Yui stayed with the Sakamakis.

Verse Details | Tag: #V; KARLHEINZ; HAUNTED DARK BRIDAL

VERSE - MORE BLOOD

Karlheinz is somewhere doing things, but now there’s Mukamis!

If for some reason it's absolutely necessary to differentiate between the verse above and a verse where More Blood has certainly occured, but Yui did not (at least initially) stay with the Sakamakis and instead is currently living with the Mukamis or was, until recently, still living with the Mukamis.  Rivalry abounds and attempts to procure Yui are likely.

Verse Details | Tag: #V; KARLHEINZ; MORE BLOOD

VERSE - MISC.

Posts that could take place in the Sakamaki or Mukami verses but involve duplicates (whether Yui or others) in the same scene in a manner that would be hard to pass off as typical flow for those verses.  Also includes nearly ANY time fellow characters are staying at the mansion, otherwise we’d end up with verses of 20+ additional characters hanging out in the Sakamaki villa.  

Verse Details | Tag:#V; KARLHEINZ; MISC

SITUATIONAL VERSE TAGS

#V; KARLHEINZ; UNIVERSAL

Posts that can easily be assumed to have occured in either the Sakamaki or Mukami verses, typically answering asks, etc. that aren’t directly related to events unique to their timelines.

#V; KARLHEINZ; WHAT IFS & #V; KARLHEINZ; ONESHOTS

Likely reserved for one-off threads exploring a “what if”, a romantic meme that would otherwise be inappropriate, etc.  If a meme doesn’t quite fit with one of the existing timelines, it’ll get one of these.

Trivia

Successfully cucked by Richter for years, but he kind of encouraged it to begin with so who really loses?

Can and will wear you out in the bedroom and leave you a flower to wake up to in the morning.

Gave Reiji a pocketwatch that shows how much time is left until the end of the world.  Demon world?  Human world?  Who knows.

Really just wanted to know if Shuu would actually fight back against polar bears when he sent him to the north pole.  Now he knows.

“Even when he loses, he wins” is a theme with this guy.  I hate him, too.  I know.

Tags

THREAD / WRITING TAG: #echoes in the halls; karlheinz

HEADCANONS:  #hc; dialovers; karlheinz

IMAGES: #itt // karlheinz

MUSIC:  #music; dialovers; karlheinz

[seirundevir-blog]

Seirun DeVir

The Basics ––– –

Age:  23.

Birthday: 3rd Sun of the 4th Umbral Moon (Leo).

Race: Hyur (Midlander).

Gender: Male.

Sexuality: Pansexual.

Marital Status: Omissis.

Physical Appearance ––– –

Hair: Light Brown.

Eyes: Dirty Green.

Height: Quite short even for a Midlander.

Build: Dry, Athletic.

Distinguishing Marks:  Apart from the stature and a rather youthful face there are no particular marks about his figure, at a first glance.

Common Accessories:  Gloves, that he appears to wear at all times and in any situation, usually fingerless. He generally has at least a small notepad and a stylus hidden somewhere on his person, and often carries a waterskin with him. Rarely seen unarmed.

Personal ––– –

Profession: Adventurer, of sorts; Odd jobs, Flames contractor; Meddler. 

Hobbies:  Studying Aether in its various forms and applications, reading, learning as much as possible about the world, learning about Magitek, gazing at the stars, travelling, exploring, making friends, tea drinking.

Residence: Limsa Lominsa / Ul’dah.

Birthplace: Omissis.

Religion: None.

Patron Deity: None?

Fears: Being powerless, finding himself in situations where he has no control, losing what he holds dear, his past.

Traits ––– -

* Bold your character’s answer.

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between / Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard-working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal

Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful

Additional information ––– –

Smoking Habit: No.

Drugs: No.

Alcohol: Sometimes.

Socialite: Seirun is an extroverted, friendly hyur, always ready to lend a hand to those stumbling in his way (if it doesn’t cost him too much), and butting into situations and problems that are none of his business (often much to the irritation of the bystanders). He finds himself at ease in social situations, and his mannerism and vocabulary seems to flow and change with ease as the situation demands, from the most formal etiquette of noble gatherings to the tuggish and lowlife cant of the darkest corners of Ul’dah. He is quite opinionated, and hardly ever afraid to share his opinions with the world at large on all and every subject. Reserved on his past: He doesn’t often talk about his past, and if pressed tries to dodge questions and change topic as quickly as he can. It is quite difficult for him to open up about it, and will only do so with those he considers closest and most trustworthy. Endless Curiosity: He seems to posses an endless curiosity for the world and everything in it; demonstrating knowledge he does not posses is a sure way to get his attention... as well as countless questions.

RP Hooks ––– –

Ul’Dah Based - He is not quite a fixture of the city, but is nonetheless generally easy to find him around Ul’Dah, especially resting and trying to find someone to bombard with questions in and around the Quicksands, where most adventurers seem to converge.

Socialite - It is quite possible that, if there is a social event and he heard about it, the minute hyur could be found there, doing what he does best and trying to mingle and make acquaintances.

Aether study - He has an almost inextinguishable thirst for knowledge, especially about everything related to the Aether. Anyone offering knowledge in the field is sure to attract his attention, as well as his countless questions.

Flames Contractor, Adventurer - Although not quite an Immortal Flame as of yet he is an external contractor, often taking bounties and missions from the board, generally patrolling around Ul’dah. He could certainly be interested in more exotic and dangerous expeditions as well, should the opportunity present itself. 

Storyteller - Seirun adores making up and sharing stories. He will gladly partake in the activity with anyone that nudges him or displays the inclination.

Contact Information And OOC Notes ––– –

Message me on tumblr, or in game on Seirun Devir on Mateus. Thank you for checking out my character’s (muse?) blog! Is still a work in progress so do not be alarmed if it changes several times in the coming days (hopefully for the better). I am looking for all kinds of connections, contacts, RP partners and so on for Seirun, my little Hyur on Mateus. I prefer mature, dark themed and complex RP, but am open for anything really! I like coherent RP the most, I usually never decide what is supposed to happen to my characters in advance, I prefer to mold them around ideas and personalities and see where it brings them interacting with others. I am open to most ideas, including the death of my characters, as long as there is appropriate discussion and communication between the parties involved; I am not a fan of godmodding though, nor of godlike characters and the likes I am afraid, so perhaps that is something to keep in mind? Not sure. Anyway feel free to hit me up with anything, worst case scenario I will refuse a scene, but will make sure to give you at least the reasons! I am open to RP on Discord too if need be and we already established contact, but keep in mind I am from the EU (although I mostly live by american hours) and work 6 days a week. Now, a little something about myself. My name is Simone (don’t think about it too much, it’s just Simon, but in Italian), and I have been RPing on various formats for more than a good two decades. I have... a number of issues relating to people OOCly, ranging from personal problems that I have yet to work out. I have severe social anxiety and insecurities, as well as severe trust problems and... more. Please do not be offended if I keep my distance OOCly, I am just... not very socially able, unlike my toon. But I will try to reply and answer everything I can!

[cookiefonster666]

Thoughts on the Homestuck Epilogues (Tumblr Edition)

I predicted the future!

Might as well adapt this Blogspot post I made about a week ago into Tumblr form, why not. With a few minor changes. I don’t like using Tumblr but I figure it’s a good additional platform to share my surprisingly positive views on the Homestuck Epilogues.

The epilogues have a lot of controversial content, most of which I avoid talking about here.

BRIEF SUMMARY

4/20, read through Meat: epilogues pretty good

4/20, started Candy: what the fuck

4/21, stopped: aaaaaaaaughhhhh bluh i hate everything

4/24-ish, continued Candy: epilogues alright i guess also i am sad now

4/27-ish, finished: I LOVE HOMESTUCK

BRIEF-ISH SUMMARY

Meat was a wild ride that started as cool plot stuff and things that make you go "OH FUCK", continued as basically chapters 7-9 of Detective Pony (which I naturally enjoyed a lot), and ended as a mess of sheer chaos and destruction. My thought process ended as, "oh duh, this is the bad ending, candy must be the good ending". I was in for quite the nasty surprise.

I quit reading Candy just a few pages in. It didn't take long for it to suddenly become the weirdest fanfiction ever. Frustrated, I started skipping and searching through later parts and got rather salty when it turned out both sides were the "bad ending". I saw firsthand what vfromhomestuck meant by "clear your whole week": this is not something most people can just read in one sitting. Then I recovered a few days and read Candy in earnest, in a somewhat anachronous order and with many parts read multiple times. Slowly, I started to hope that the epilogues would be followed up with a true happy ending for real this time. I may or may not have written a snippet of some form of fanfiction paving the way for a happy ending.

Once I finally accomplished the equivalent of reading Candy as intended, I got hit HARD with feels. I accepted that the epilogues have many issues but as a whole (not just the sum of parts) are an absolute masterwork, sometimes because of those issues. It didn't take me long to realize the brilliant duality either. Meat is a side-splitting metafictional farce that (for me at least) is impossible to treat as anything resembling a story of people doing things. Candy is a tale of FEELS, and I don't use the word FEELS lightly. FEELS means I almost cried, like I did when I watched the Futurama episode Luck of the Fryrish.

DETECTIVE PONY AND METAFICTION

Before I move on and talk about the CHARACTERS, I'm going to discuss the meat epilogue's resemblance to sonnetstuck's Detective Pony. I love everything about Detective Pony, more than almost anything else in existence. My abnormal love for that godlike fanwork probably skewed my perception of Meat a bit. Starting from page 17, Dirk takes over the narration then fights over it with god tier Calliope; both do rather questionable deeds and Dirk was hit hard by fans as a result. Seeing other fans react towards that character with such hostility gave me a very distinct feeling of "what, am I missing something?" Dirk's takeover felt like a lengthy work of comedy to me; a story that never strips away from the fact that it's fiction, in a vein near identical to that of Detective Pony. I like to think I am in the right for perceiving that arc this way, because I think everyone who has read Homestuck should read Detective Pony. One of the epilogue authors read Detective Pony after writing the epilogues and was struck by it; I take this accidental mirroring of (post-)canon as proof that sonnetstuck understands Hussie's ways through and through. I like to think I have a solid understanding of Hussie's ways by now, but this guy is on a whole new level.

That said, the meat epilogue gets a bit carried away with metafiction to the point of making me think, "god when will things go back to normal". Towards the end of Detective Pony, Dirk goes through an existential crisis followed by a powerful revelation, and then resolves to do whatever it takes to erase his abominable creation. But the meat epilogue ends with (both figurative and literal) crashing and burning; no ultimate redemption for our poor Strider. Homestuck doesn't usually have much of a problem with getting carried away with stupid nonsense; maybe a few rare occasions in cases like Hussie's self-insert scenes. But getting carried away is a major criticism I have with cool and new web comic. I love that comic to death, but the parts that take a long time to dwell on the cool and new characters being creepy or weird are a chore to go through. o (the author of CaNWC) seems to have improved in that regard; the cool and new trolls' arc is much more to-the-point with such nonsense.

Meat getting carried away with metafiction is a major cause of my initial burnout shortly after starting Candy. I was sick of this mass dump of metafiction and expected Candy to be a refreshing change of pace. Haha, if only. My fault for reading Meat first. At night I sometimes ponder in envy of the parallel universe me that started with Candy. Actually I don't do that, I just thought it was a funny thing to say. Though I have on more than a few occasions sat in bed fantasizing about how awesome my life probably is in some parallel universe. What point was I making again? Oh whatever, it doesn't matter. I guess I should write a similar overview of Candy's narrative nature. Here goes:

LUCK OF THE FRYRISH AND SADSTUCK

Sad things are sad.

^ There, that's my candy overview. How hard was that?

With the two summaries out of the way, I figure the best way to dump out my residual thoughts on the epilogues is going character by character. I won't do every character, mostly just the ones who played large roles and were already characters in Homestuck proper. I'm sorting these characters in tiers of how well I think the epilogues handle them, mostly from worst to best.

N-TIER

N is not the lowest tier; it's the tier that cannot be ranked. N stands for two things here: "Not Applicable" and "Narrators". Naturally enough, two characters fit into that tier.

Dirk Strider: I've already talked about this guy quite a bit. I have a fondness for Dirk's character and I think his dialogue and narration in meat do a good job portraying some ascended, ultimate version of his character without straying from his voice, the tone that makes him Dirk. That said, I'm a bit peeved that "normal Dirk", the one iteration of Dirk Strider that isn't total bonkers and just wants his friends to be happy, doesn't exist in this story. In Candy, Rose suddenly loses the memories of her alternate selves, but for some reason Dirk keeps those memories and soon after commits suicide; he's left out of the picture until Candy's postscript, which I guess is a reasonable balance considering his indulgence throughout Meat. But why is only one of the succulently verbose Strilondes let off the hook? Some readers imagine Dave as the comic's protagonist and Dirk as the antagonist; I've toyed with that idea myself and can see it symbolized, but it just feels so wrong to me. Maybe the authors did too good a job writing Dirk for me to be complacent with such a shift in role. His conversations with Rose were just as delightful as I had hoped and they aren't weighed down too much in light of his shift in role, at least not for me.

Alt Calliope: The narrative rival to Dirk, as I mentioned previously. I'm not totally sure what to say about her, other than that one could see her as a counterpart to let's say Anna Harley; a necessary piece in the Detective Pony analogy. Alt Calliope's narrative arguments with Dirk were hilarious and that's all there is to say on the matter.

G-TIER

I'm lucky Gamzee's name starts with a G, because this means I can give him a tier of his own worse than F. As an individual arc that is; he'd get a much higher rating when taken as part of a whole.

Gamzee Makara: Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I despised reading every word that came out of this guy's mouth as soon as his """redemption arc""" started. But I can clearly tell that was the point and that the suffering that is reading his words has a much greater purpose. Before you deem me a masochist or the kind that insists everything is "bad on purpose", know that I am neither of those things but really do mean what I say here. Gamzee's role in Candy draws tension between individuality and the whole. Reading this guy's hogwash is suffering in and of itself, but ultimately it serves a role of showing us how fucked up the world of Candy is and helps the reader experience John's existential crisis with him.

F-TIER

As before, these tiers are strictly about character arcs in isolation and not the big picture. This tier is home to none other than the legendary...

Jane Crocker: Boy did I predict the future on that one. A bit like Dirk, I would've liked it more if in only one epilogue did sweet innocent little Jane become such a monster. No way in hell am I going to run through the asshole things she does; it's a load of sensitive topics I'm not comfortable discussing in any capacity. Instead, I'll say that if I had to choose only one epilogue where Jane ran through her crazy presidential campaign it would be Candy; as with Gamzee's arc, this campaign serves well as a part of John's existential crisis. What's weird here is that in Candy she originally cancelled all this, but later ended up basically doing it anyway with Dirk gone. I can imagine Jane going back to normal in Meat, maybe? Or in the hypothetical "true ending" I discussed prior.

D-TIER

Better known as "meh" tier. Mostly the characters that don't do much and I wished did more.

Meenah Peixes: Needed more screen time, god damn it. She survives the Furthest Ring apocalypse, nabs the Ring of Life, then makes her way to Candy Earth and joins Karkat in the rebellion. Maybe it makes sense that her and Karkat teaming up in war is relegated to the background, to show how far the shouty guy has come in comparison to everyone else. I'll come back to this point when I talked about Karkat.

Roxy Lalonde: Doesn't do too much in either side, but does go through some touchy topics I'm not sure what to think about; I'm most certainly not ready to talk about those topics now. And regardless, Roxy's role in the epilogues is better discussed when I talk about John and Terezi a few tiers up.

Calliope: Doesn't do all that much either, full circle to being the exposition alien with mysterious morality. I'm actually pretty OK with that. Certainly beats out the slog of endless "ur pretty" conversations. Calliope pretty much fades into the background on both sides, which is sad but fitting.

(About pronouns: I'll keep referring to Roxy and Calliope as "she" unless I find reason to talk about the little those two do in Meat. I just avoided using pronouns in those paragraphs above.)

C-TIER

Better known as "meh" tier, but with a more positive "meh" than before. It's the "meh" that indicates lukewarm satisfaction rather than annoyance at mediocrity.

Jade Harley: Really should be on a lower tier, because she did dick squat other than being horny and painfully oblivious to all the nonsense going on. But I'm a sucker for Jade being "Jade" and was happy to see even a trace of that early in Meat. As before, I'll avoid the controversial topics surrounding Jade in the epilogues, aside from pointing out that this post reads very different now.

Karkat Vantas: This guy's a bit of an odd spot. His leadership role is addressed in the absolute last way I expected. Could've gotten more attention from the story I suppose, but damn if his character arc didn't get the most triumphant return imaginable.

Kanaya Maryam: I touched upon Rose and Kanaya's relationship when I discussed the "buddy system" in my first epilogues post and I still stand by what I said there. Her strong attachment to Rose is integrated well into Meat without seeming like fluff or defining her entire character, because she actually does other things there too. In Candy they remain a stable happy relationship and I guess I'm cool with that.

Aradia Megido: Role is the same as ever and I'm fine with that. Death fangirl who works for predestination and has ambiguous morality. Her arc with alt Calliope ends with a cliffhanger that is easily the biggest reason to hope for a follow-up to the epilogues; if such a follow-up were to happen, I really look forward to hearing more from Aradia.

Sollux Captor: Sollux is by nature the other guy, that's an immutable fact of life. He doesn't do much other than snarking at whoever's nearby and I can't imagine it any other way.

Jake English: If not for a scene near the end of Candy, I'd put Jake at D-tier. Through all of Meat and most of Candy, Jake's role is one of the oddest spots of all and it's pretty hard to pinpoint what the authors were going for, lest I dabble in controversial topics some more. But Jake's scene with John near the end of Candy is uniquely touching and makes the most out of his role as a second John. He moves in with John, bringing his son Tavros with him, and encourages John to reconcile with his former wife and make amends of sorts, ultimately giving a small portion of the cast a pseudo-happy ending. That whole part of Candy made me tear up.

Talking about the really GOOD parts is a perfect point for me to move on to...

B-TIER

Stuff that didn't make it into A-Tier, which I've reserved for what struck me HARD.

Dave Strider: In both epilogues, Dave's behavior generally seems based on how he acted in Act 6 Act 6 Intermission 5, which is actually a LOT better than it sounds and hell if I know why that is. Dave's rants about politics and sexuality now have a charm I can't quite describe. His absurd fixation specifically on the economy matches shockingly well with the nature of Homestuck. The three-way romance between him, Karkat, and Jade goes in very different directions on either side, which I'll discuss a bit later. The epilogues even made Dave x Karkat an actually decent ship, how crazy is that??? The writers deserve a big badge of honor for doing that. Not sure what to say about specific things, but Dave was really well-written in an unexpected way.

Rose Lalonde: Again not sure what to say about anything in specific. Just really enjoyed reading Rose on both sides of the story. Shoutout to the heartwarming moment with John near the end.

A-TIER

Oh boy. Oh boy. Time for the big guns.

Vriska Serket: My mind hurts to process just how good Vriska's appearance in Candy was, after leaving the Furthest Ring and landing on Earth. First she talks with John rather aggravated, then she brutally murders Gamzee, then she sits down and has an honest talk with her ectobiological clone raised by Rose and Kanaya, and in the end gets in touch with Terezi which leads to a cliffhanger. The story somehow created the PERFECT balance of sincere reflections and typical Vriska flavor, which was deeply lacking in A6A6I5 with its horrific polar opposite versions of Vriska. Two Vriskas converse once again late in Candy and this time it's incredibly endearing and almost feels like an apology for the controversial Vriska/Vriska encounter back then. I accept the apology with open arms. Why is everything always so wonderful?

John Egbert: <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3. WHY IS EVERYTHING ALWAYS SO WONDERFUL? John gets a deep meaningful existential crisis arc in both epilogues; both cases I easily latched onto and found a bit of myself in. I absolutely loved seeing him and Terezi interact as a duo of people with some perception of canonicity; I'll get back to that point soon enough. John's marriage to Roxy not working out is a testament to both his issues with canon and Roxy's issues dealing with harsh situations. Roxy latches onto John and their son as a huge carefree pushover and he doesn't like that at all. And that's actually cool with me because John x Terezi is better in every way, as the epilogues made me realize. If that wasn't enough, the end of Candy spoils our little hearts by having John reconcile with Roxy anyway and give hope for a better future. Though a part of me does want to see a true happy ending where John and Roxy date with their delightful dynamic from their first interactions, I'm beyond pleased with the epilogues' handling of John either way. Swaying deep into some rather sad territory while remaining 100% faithful to his character that I've always loved so much.

Terezi Pyrope: FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES. Every scene with Terezi in the epilogues was so goddamn awesome. Her interactions with John were such a blast to read, with exactly the mix of humor and touching aspects that make both of the big John/girl ships what they are. How did the authors pull it off, making deeply emotional scenes without ever sacrificing that goofy Terezi flavor???

S-TIER

S in rating systems these days is way misused in my eyes. Normally A is meant to be the highest rating and S is used for the very rare absolutely exceptional case A doesn't do justice. But now you see shit like SS, SSS, SSSS everywhere like one S isn't the ultimate badge of honor? S is a rating I'd gladly give Detective Pony and may or may not give cool and new web comic. Same goes for my very favorite Futurama episodes. I'd give a few of Neil Cicierega's works that rating if I'm feeling up to it. In this post, I've reserved the S rating for:

Barack Obama: THE BEST PART OF THE EPILOGUES, HANDS DOWN. His conversation with Dave near the end of Candy is perfect in every way, it really transcends words. Humor, emotional touching, plot revelations, and straight up "Homestuck feel" are blended into the most delicious melting pot imaginable. When Dave confesses that he might be gay and explains troubles in his three-way romance, Obama responds with a truly inspiring speech about identity that raises an excellent point about the differences between the epilogues involving aspects of people that may seem immutable to some. I think Obama's speech leaves a powerful message I never expected Homestuck of all things to convey so well. I hope readers take that speech's message into account, though I know many will probably be a bit naive about it.

If you refuse to read the epilogues at all costs, then I implore you to read Dave and Obama's conversation anyway. You won't be disappointed.

CONCLUSION

epilogues good

that’s all there is to say on the matter

though if you don’t like them that’s also fine

[sanguine-super-mea-nomini]

Oh, Lazarus | 4

“He’s dressed a little too fashionably to be a hunter, don’t you think?”

You recently escaped from a facility that had ran various experiments on you, but not without leaving behind a few bodies. Taehyung is sent to track you down and kill you. However, he soon discovers he’s a little in over his head and not all is what it seems to be…

Pairing: Taehyung x Reader

Genre: Romance, Crime AU, Supernatural AU (not the show)

Warnings: Violence, swearing, eventual smut

Word Count: 2,340

A/N: I bought Rise of the Tomb Raider and got distracted. Whoops. It’s a smaller chapter because it’s about to segue into a much larger one >.>

“How’s it coming along?” You asked, watching as Yoongi visibly jumped in his chair. You had come up on him quietly, as you usually did. 

“God damnit Y/N. Why are you always sneaking up on me?”

“I wasn’t sneaking,” you replied innocently, laying your hands across his shoulders.

“Sure. Anyways. We’ve made some progress. I can now discern between nouns and verbs. Adjectives are still a little iffy.” 

“But you have no idea what they mean?”

“None whatsoever.”

“Well...no one’s perfect.”

“Anyways, I wouldn’t have been able to get this far without Jungkook.”

“And how is he?” You asked, peering over at the youth with his face far too close the the screen surely. 

“I like him. He reliable. He’s efficient and precise.”

“Add durable to that and you’ve got yourself a new watch. As always, let me know if anything changes.” You patted the man on his shoulders and moved to leave.

“You know this would go much faster with that Taehyung guy!”

“Hoseok first,” you threw over your shoulder. 

“What’s the deal with this Hoseok guy anyways? Jilted lover?” Jungkook asked with a cocky smirk after you left, of course.

“He’s her brother.”

He promptly wiped the smirk off, “Oh. That was awkward.”

“He’s adopted,” Yoongi replied back not the slightest bit phased by the topic of conversation. 

“Ah. So she’s single?”

“Oh my God, would you please focus.”

“What! Like you never thought about it?”

Yoongi ignored him and kept on with his research. Jungkook waved him off and went back to his own work. He’s definitely thought about it.

You went up to your room and started packing a weekend bag. You had a lot on your plate but one thing at a time. You needed to go back to Japan and see Father Namjoon but you also needed to find Hoseok. There was no way you were going to send Taehyung off on his own. You had given him the last thing Hoseok wore before he took off. The trail had definitely gone cold but Taehyung found the last place in Germany you had tracked him to. You could at least verify that. 

So now the two of you were off to Berlin. If Jin wasn’t protesting, then Jimin was. He sat crossed legged on the couch as you moved in and out of your closet. “What if you’re walking into a trap?”

“I’m well prepared for that.” You countered.

“Shouldn’t at least one of us go with you?”

“Don’t you know three’s a crowd?” You asked with a smirk.

Jimin sighed. “What if he tries to seduce you?”

You looked at him incredulously, “He’s not my type.”

“You have a type?”

“Look,” you took a seat next to him, taking his hand in yours, “do you feel that?”

Jimin’s expression changed, expressing externally, the inner turmoil you were under. “Pain, frustration, betrayal, sadness, anger...love.”

“Yes. My life is complicated and it’s more than just feelings. You’ve been very helpful to me personally and I thank you for that but please understand that what I do...I do for a reason. Hoseok means a lot to me. We haven’t always seen eye to eye but we’re still family. However, he stole from me and it pissed me off. I can’t let him do anything stupid. So, I will do what it takes to find him. Even if that means trusting a hunter that was previously sent to kill me. Not that I actually trust him but...I think he understands what this means to me.”

Jimin nodded, “What did Hoseok steal if you don’t mind me asking.”

“An ancient artifact my father found. It is said to be the heart of a god. I’m not sure I believe that but given that we exist...well. Anyways, this heart is supposedly imbued with magical powers and if consumed, would give a person almighty powers. They themselves would become godlike but not fully. It’s a dangerous power to wield. I don’t know what Hoseok is up to and that’s what bothers me the most. He’s not interested in power. This is something else.” You trailed off and stared down at the floor, thoughts and theories flying around at the speed of light. 

Jimin took in everything you said while gently rubbing the back of your hand. “I don’t want you to think that I’m trying to hold you back, or that I worry about you too much. It’s just...for the first time in my life, being here makes sense. You choose to do what you do. I never had a choice. Even when I hid at the church, I did it because I didn’t have a choice. People always used me for my abilities; for good and for bad. Then I met you and I knew; my path would be the same as yours. Thank you for not sending me back. I like being here. I like using my abilities to help other people.”

You gave him a warm smile and pulled him into a hug. You weren’t much of a sentimentalist nor were you very good with emotions but you knew how to comfort people and keep them grounded. You built a team of people you could trust with not only your life, but also your secrets. You could be vulnerable around them and that was important. Jimin and Jungkook were very quickly proving themselves and were a welcome addition to the family. 

Jimin soon took his leave to go to bed as the night was wearing on. You made sure everything was in order for tomorrow, before retreating to the library. Behind the desk was a window seat that typically doubled as a bed whenever you were here...and you were always here. Your father’s obsessions had become your own; mainly the origins of specials. He believed the ancient race your mother belonged to were the first of their kind, remnants of a species from Old Earth. Of course, finding anything to prove that such people existed was difficult at best. Hardly any texts from so long ago survived and the few immortals from that time were, well, few and extremely secretive. Your father was lucky enough to meet your mother that fateful day in Rome. 

You pulled out one of his more recent journals and poured over it. The last thing he was trying to do was find the burial place of Gilgamesh, whom he was convinced, was more than just a historical king. In fact, your father had several boards across the library with pictures and tidbits of info on various people he suspected to be real and to have had abilities. Both your parents were immortal but they weren’t unkillable like you. No, your mother was killed and your father...well, no one knows what happened to him. He was an old man when he went off into the mountains of the Hindu Kush. That was nearly two centuries ago. 

You sighed and leaned back in your chair. You wish things hadn’t gone sour between you and Hoseok. Adopted or not, he was your brother and you loved him. You had been through so much together. You wondered where it all went wrong. You eventually drifted off to sleep, your head laying upon the desk. 

You dreamt about a time when you and Hoseok were on the trail of Marco Polo’s expedition. You were treasure hunters and thrill seekers. His powers of telekinesis always came in handy. The people who hired you believed there was something more to Polo’s story; that he had found something and then subsequently hid it from the world on his way to Persia. 

“A lost city perhaps?” Hoseok asked with an intrigued smile before slamming back a shot. The two of you were resting from a successful gig in Caribbeans.

You thumbed through one of Marco’s old leather journals, looking for clues. It had been provided to you by said employers. “The Polo’s lost a lot of their wealth before they could return to Italy. Set upon by thieves apparently. Maybe they stumbled upon the final resting place of Alexander the Great?” 

Hoseok chortled, “Yeah right. Or maybe it was the Ark of the Covenant?”

“Oh that I will find one day, don’t you worry.”

“Dream on. C’mon! Put that thing down and have a shot with me.”

You smiled fondly at him and shoved the journal back into your bag. “You do remember that you’re a lightweight correct? I don’t want to help you nurse a hangover in the morning.”

“I’ll be fine,” Hoseok stated, waving off your complaint as he poured two shots of tequila. God this was a terrible idea. 

He handed one over to you and raised his in a toast, “To us and our escapades. May our spirit of adventure never die and may we always do what we love.”

“Well that I can drink to.” You clinked your glass with his and knocked it back. You sucked through your teeth as the burning sensation hit your throat and radiated warmth throughout your body. 

“So, we have a long road ahead of us. We’ve got three flights to make before we get to Shanghai.”

The man grunted, “That’s two days worth of travelling huh. Yikes.”

“At least we have Kirill’s seaplane. That makes things a great deal easier.” You finished the rest of your beer, peering around to make sure you two weren’t being watched. It was easy enough having enemies as a special. It was a double whammy being in your line of business. The competition was fierce but with the two of you as partners, you gave people a run for their money. You were the best. You were a team. “Let’s go to bed. I want to leave early.”

You woke up in your bed around 6am, dawn’s early light cracking through your window. How did I get here? You felt a warmth next to you and assumed it was Jimin. However, when you rolled over, you were face to face with blonde hair and blue eyes. Taehyung smiled at you and you rolled your eyes. “Of course.”

“Your fault for falling asleep on your desk. I went to see what the itinerary was going to be and found you there. So naturally I carried you back here.” His deep, husky voice was somehow an octave lower in the mornings. You didn’t think that was possible. He had been given a room and had only been in the house two weeks. Everyone kept a watchful eye on him in case he was playing the long game. Certain parts of the house he wasn’t allowed near. Like the computer one for example. You didn’t want him knowing any more than he needed to know and what he needed to know strictly pertained to finding your brother. 

However he made himself annoyingly comfortable and tried to ingratiate himself to everyone, especially to you. You half wondered if this really was the same hunter that had tried to kill you. You knew, though, how to be two sides of the same coin. There was you, the real you, and then there was the person you needed to be for the job. It was like a switch. The man you first met was vicious and tenacious, now the man laying next to you was practically a puppy. He intrigued you to say the least. You found yourself staring at him, trying to figure him out. He reached over and gingerly tucked stray hairs behind your ear, “Y/N, if you keep looking at me like that, I might have to kiss you.”

You snapped out of your thoughts and rolled away, getting up. “Are you packed?”

He smiled and nodded, “Ready and waiting, babe.”

You tutted and went to your closet to change, “Get your things and meet me at the car.”

Taehyung’s smile remained as he pushed himself off your bed. He was obviously smitten with you. It was not bragging to say that you were used to this kind of reaction from people. It frankly annoyed you. You weren’t a flirt and you never led anyone on and yet, you attracted interest like bees to flowers. You didn’t consider yourself beautiful. Fairly attractive, yes, but that couldn’t have been it. Perhaps it was your insouciance everyone found so appealing. Either way, you didn’t quite care. You didn’t have time or the energy nor the patience for romance. Even casual flings weren’t your cup of tea. You were married to your way of life.

Taehyung met you by the car as instructed. He wore a navy, military jacket over black pants and it suited his style quite well. “Are we taking that seaplane I shot up?” He asked, lowering his sunglasses to peer over the rim.

“As a matter of fact, yes. It’s a four hour flight to Berlin from here.” 

Jin had joined you shortly afterwards, playing chauffeur for the day. You took the passenger seat while Taehyung sat in the back. He observed you both as you were deep in conversation about Hoseok and what to do once you did find him. 

“Do I need to worry about this guy?” Taehyung asked.

“Not really. He’s dangerous in his own right but he’s not stupid. You just need to find him. I’ll handle the rest. I’ll take you to where I last saw him. Hopefully you’ll be able to trace something.”

“I found you well enough after a few months. I might be able to find him.”

Jin eyed the man through the rear view mirror. He certainly didn’t like the kid all that much but Jin listened to you and respected your opinions. If you believed Hoseok could be found, then he would be, no matter what. He had been with the family long enough to understand the weight of the situation. Unbeknownst to anyone, though, someone else was after Hoseok. They knew what he had and they were desperate to get their hands on it, for it held the key to a new world order.

[waqasamjadme]

What is Platonic Love and How Far is Romance From it?

 What is Platonic Love and How Far is Romance From it?

Typically two wholesome, sexually-active adults might be shut associates with one another with out there being any intercourse concerned.

Though many individuals consider such unions are unimaginable, they do exist and in reality present sound expertise that may profit partakers once they do get into sexually-intimate relationships.

1 What's Platonic Love?

2 Platonic Love vs. Romantic Love

3 Platonic Love vs. Friendship

4 Well-known Quotes about Platonic Love

WHAT IS PLATONIC LOVE?

The unique idea of platonic love shouldn't be as it's interpreted as we speak. The entire concept was created by the traditional Greek thinker Plato, and it was used to explain the love an individual has for “the divine” facet of life. In different phrases, an individual who needs to grow to be godlike by way of the pursuit and achievement of non secular objectives was stated to be motivated by platonic love.

As time went on, platonic love grew to become the time period related to the idea of a robust but non-sexual cross-sex friendship. Nevertheless the “divine” factor was nonetheless concerned, as this attraction was stated to nonetheless be based mostly on the pursuit of advantage although by way of affiliation with the actual pal concerned. In different phrases platonic love meant an individual was attracted to a different based mostly on what they perceived as the opposite individual’s increased stage of spirituality.

Within the trendy world, platonic love is usually outlined as a robust relationship between two members of the alternative intercourse who're inside suitable and certainly expected-mating ages. However regardless of what would usually seem as an intimate relationship, the 2 events usually are not engaged in sexual exercise or any actions that might point out an precise romantic relationship.

That stated, this doesn't imply the idea of sexual intimacy is completely absent in platonic relationships. As an example, contributors might jokingly flirt with one another.

PLATONIC LOVE VS. ROMANTIC LOVE

Platonic love differs from romantic love in that in a romance there's some stage of precise or outrightly meant sexual intimacy.

Thus the manifestation of a platonic love is completely different from that of a romantic one. As an example, since there is no such thing as a intimacy concerned, contributors are extra cognizant to respect one another’s private area. Furthermore, since there's little prospect of an enduring intimate relationship ever creating, contributors are much less inclined to impose their private wills onto the opposite individual. Alongside the identical vein this lack of high-level private attachment additionally permits contributors to be themselves extra, as in they aren’t afraid to show their true mannerisms and beliefs since there's much less concern of the opposite individual abandoning them. In different phrases, the primary causes an individual might really feel extra snug round their platonic versus romantic love, regardless that logic would dictate the reverse be true, is that platonic relationships have fewer expectations and guidelines concerned, which in flip means contributors might make really feel freer. And this freedom in fact can translate to an elevated sense of happiness or enjoyable.

Finally the easiest way to establish the distinction between a platonic and romantic love could also be by learning the objectives of the contributors. Put in another way, if even one member has the lively aspiration to sleep with the opposite, than it's secure to say that his or her sturdy affection could also be based mostly in romance than commonplace friendship.

When one individual in a platonic relationship begins to develop sexual emotions, this may threaten the character of the connection and certainly put your entire affiliation in danger. If one of many contributors in a platonic relationship is feeling with discontent together with his or her romantic love, this might encourage them to view their non-intimate, platonic pal in a doubtlessly romantic capability.

Some argue that throughout the course of a platonic love, it's inevitable that at the least one of many contributors develops intimate, sexually-based emotions for the opposite. It's the pervasiveness of this perception which explains why many individuals have a tough time accepting the concept of a purely non-sexual cross-sex love.

Platonic loves may also be used as foundations of romantic ones. In different phrases, the communication expertise and sensible information one attains by having a platonic love can help them in coping with the alternative intercourse once they really do embark on a romance, even when it isn't with the identical individual.

PLATONIC LOVE VS. FRIENDSHIP

Platonic love positively has a robust factor of friendship. For instance, folks concerned in a platonic relationship are sometimes described as “simply associates”. Nevertheless, one of many major variations is that in platonic love there's a normal notion of their being an intimate relationship whereas such might not exist in a friendship. In different phrases, two folks, even of the alternative intercourse, might be associates with out it being platonic love if as an illustration, they're co-workers who affiliate as a consequence of circumstance or associates from early childhood who folks wouldn't usually view as potential lovers.

There's a skinny line between the notion of a platonic love and of a normal cross-sex friendship. Nevertheless, since within the former, the phrase “love” is concerned, it may be gleaned {that a} platonic love is extra intimate than a standard friendship, even when no intercourse is concerned. Merely put, having a platonic love is greater than the standard pal. It’s like having a bestie of the alternative intercourse. Beneath such circumstances and given common ideologies on courtship, these fortunate sufficient to expertise a platonic love may even should take care of the distractions of societal pressures that dictate the 2 of them must be sexually concerned.

A powerful friendship between two relations of childbearing age belonging to the alternative intercourse, particularly when they don't seem to be siblings, could also be outlined as a platonic love. Nevertheless, usually they don't seem to be referred to as so. The first motive is that in such associations, simply the concept of the potential to get sexually concerned doesn’t exist, as there are usually taboos in opposition to such practices between blood-related relations who might naturally share shut ties.

Even when contributors in a platonic love determine to take it to the following stage and truly have sexual activity, they usually select to not interact in an all-out, ongoing romantic relationship. The rationale for that is that they worth the friendship factor of the connection a lot that they don't wish to jeopardize it by participating in a doubtlessly fleeting romance.

FAMOUS QUOTES ABOUT PLATONIC LOVE

Under is a compilation of some well-known quotations about platonic love:

Even earlier than I met you I used to be removed from detached to you. Oscar Wilde

He reached out and took her hand. Neither cared that somebody would possibly see. They'd been taught all their lives that the one deep emotions between women and men have been sexual, however now they knew that it was a lie. They have been associates and so they cherished each other, and their hand-holding was completely harmless. It was yet another factor to rejoice in, yet another approach through which that they had risen above the system, above the machine. William Sleator

Platonic or Divine Love: The boy is so good-looking! God has created him so superbly! Vulgar or Earthly Love: The woman is so scorching! I want I might kiss her! Md. Ziaul Haque

[A]s individuals are starting to see that the sexes type in a sure sense a steady group, so they're starting to see that Love and Friendship which have been so usually set aside from one another as issues distinct are in actuality carefully associated and shade imperceptibly into one another. Girls are starting to demand that Marriage shall imply Friendship in addition to Ardour; {that a} comrade-like Equality shall be included within the phrase Love; and it's recognised that from the one excessive of a ‘Platonic’ friendship (usually between individuals of the identical intercourse) as much as the opposite excessive of passionate love (usually between individuals of reverse intercourse) no onerous and quick line can at any level be drawn successfully separating the completely different sorts of attachment. We all know, in actual fact, of Friendships so romantic in sentiment that they verge into love; we all know of Loves so mental and non secular that they hardly dwell within the sphere of Ardour. Edward Carpenter

For love is a celestial concord Of doubtless hearts compos’d of stars’ concent, Which be part of collectively in candy sympathy, To work one another’s pleasure and true content material, Which they've harbour’d since their first descent Out of their heavenly bowers, the place they did see And know one another right here belov’d to be. Edmund Spenser

And people who solely know the non-platonic love haven't any want to speak of tragedy. In such love there might be no kind of tragedy. Leo Tolstoy

Ah, mate. My soul loves yours. It does. However this lifetime, my physique received’t get on board. Molly Ringle

I’ve been questioning if in actual fact superb platonic love isn’t simply an intensely concentrated type of what evokes one of the best academics. Edmund Marlowe

They see nothing indecent in sexual activity, whether or not heterosexual or gay, and take pleasure in it fairly overtly, in full view of everybody. The one exception was Socrates, who was all the time swearing that his relations with younger males have been purely Platonic, however no one believed him for a second, and Hyacinthus and Narcissus gave first-hand proof on the contrary. Lucian of Samosata

That males of this type despise ladies, although a not unusual perception, is one which hardly seems to be justified. Certainly, although naturally not inclined to ‘fall in love’ on this course, such males are by their nature drawn quite close to to ladies, and it might appear# that they usually really feel a singular appreciation and understanding of the emotional wants and destinies of the opposite intercourse, main in lots of circumstances to a real although what is known as ‘Platonic’ friendship. There's little doubt that they're usually instinctively wanted by ladies, who, with out suspecting the true trigger, are acutely aware of a sympathetic chord within the homogenic which they miss within the regular man. Edward Carpenter

I've felt so many loves so deeply: love of associates, love someplace between friendship and romance that our society doesn’t outline, love of artwork, love of life, love of dying, love of language, so many loves such a mess greater than romance. But I've by no means been in a “relationship”. Noella Handley

It might appear possible that the attachment of such a one is of a young and profound character; certainly, it's potential that on this class of males now we have the love sentiment in considered one of its most good types—a type through which from the requirements of the scenario the sensuous factor, although current, is exquisitely subordinated to the non secular. Edward Carpenter

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[inazuma-eleven-translations]

Animage January 2014 Translation

Best Eleven Nationwide Vote Results

GOALKEEPER FIRST PLACE - Endou Mamoru RUNNER UP - Ibuki Munemasa

Akiyama: Endou is the cream of the crop. He won by a landslide. Hino: Inazuma = Endou. He’s the most iconic character of the series. Like Goku is for Dragon Ball.

Q Why is Endou now a coach instead of a player?

Hino: Endou used to be active in the Pro League overseas, but he got injured. At the same time it happened by chance that he was requested to come and be the coach for Raimon.

Q That’s what’s written in the novel but it’s not explained in the anime series!

Hino: That’s true, I’m sorry about that, haha. I can answer any questions you have!

FORWARD FIRST PLACE - Gouenji Shuuya SECOND PLACE - Shuu THIRD PLACE - Tsurugi Kyousuke RUNNER UP - Fubuki Shirou

Hino: Gouenji in first place, well - that’s an expected result. At the time the Fire and Blizzard games were released, the instant Goenji returned to the anime the orders for Fire went through the roof. Up until then, Blizzard had been more popular and suddenly the opposite was true.

Akiyama: The kids were really waiting to see Gouenji.

Endou’s voice actress exclaimed ‘Gouenji!’ in a happy shriek, haha.

Q Where did his false name Ishido Shuuji come from?

Hino: I’m fussy about names but I just had a feeling about this one, haha. It’s not an anagram or anything. By the way, his name was originally going to be Gouenji Harusuke. We were going to name the players after the seasons.

Akiyama: I was surprised Shuu was popular enough to get second place.

Hino: He must have made a huge impact in the movie.

Akiyama: In addition, Shuu in the first game is very strong. I wonder if he’s popular with kids too? …I was completely shocked that Fubuki wasn’t chosen. Even if Gouenji was missing, I thought Fubuki would definitely be chosen.

Hino: It was really surprising he didn’t get chosen…

Akiyama: I’m amused Tsurugi got third place. I like him, haha.

Hino: Tsurugi is a tsundere you know, haha. Even though when he first appeared he had a very dark aura, he’s suddenly turned into a very polite boy. The Tsurugi from the first series is nostalgic. I kind of miss him.

Akiyama: But in this fight, he’ll be bringing some of the old him back. Enjoy~

MID-FIELDER FIRST PLACE - Matsukaze Tenma SECOND PLACE - Kidou Yuuto THIRD PLACE - Aphrodi FOURTH PLACE - Shindou Takuto RUNNER-UP - Sakuma Jirou

Hino: I’m so glad a main character got first place!

Akiyama: It’s no surprise that someone as pure as Tenma is popular with kids!

Hino: Kidou from the first series of Endou’s story got second place, because of his main character status.

Akiyama: Kidou was a key figure in the first season. Half of his story is told through Endou.

Q Why are Kidou’s eyes completely red? Even though his sister Haruna’s eyes are grey.

Hino: It wasn’t my orders but it was decided his eyes would be red.

Akiyama: We got an order from staff members that even when he becomes an adult to keep his eyes hidden.

Hino: Third place was Aphrodi. He’s really this popular…

Akiyama: It’s definitely because he’s pretty.

Hino: Beautiful characters are often popular not just for their looks but when they’re worrying about something it makes them seem human, and that draws out their popularity. Yet Aphrodi’s never showed he’s particularly worried about anything, and he’s quite mysterious.

Akiyama: It’s because of his godlikeness.

Hino: He can even fly, haha.

Q As for Shindou who got fourth place, was Ibuki written to intentionally contrast against him?

Hino: Rather than contrast, they were supposed to have a bond. I thought bringing out the differences in their personality would be interesting.

Akiyama: Shindou’s the commander so in order to win he has to train the goalkeeper well. The goalkeeper is the last line of defence. And Ibuki hates to lose so he’ll work hard for Shindou.

Q Ibuki seems kind of like a puppy around Shindou

Akiyama: Right, isn’t it cute? ‘How was that, Shindou? Are you looking? Shindou?’

SUPER SUB FIRST PLACE - Endou Kanon RUNNER UP - Suzuno Fusuke (Gazel)

Q Who did you want to be chosen as the super sub?

Akiyama: Burn and Gazel, and they’ve gotta be chosen as a set. As for Kanon, now Junko-san has to play two roles and it’s hard work.

Q That’s the reason??

Hino: If we’re talking in terms of voice actors, shouldn’t Fideo’s voice actor come?

Akiyama: Fideo would be good. He’s a bright, friendly kid.

Hino: Alright, I pick Fideo!

DEFENDER FIRST PLACE - Nanobana Kinako SECOND PLACE - Kazemaru Ichirouta THIRD PLACE - Kirino Ranmaru FOURTH PLACE - Tsunami Jousuke

Akiyama: I was surprised Kinako got first place, but she’s popular with elementary school girls I guess. Hino: Kinako was a character I was very fussy about when it came to creating her. We gave her a distinctive way of speaking, ‘Yan ne~’ which she says too much. Her special move mochi mochi kinako mochi is amusing.

Akiyama: It was written in Hino-san’s original project. Because Kinako has the same pronunciation as kinako (Japanese sweet) haha.

Hino: Kazemaru was a close second but he’s always been suuuper popular. No new character can win against Kazemaru’s popularity.

Akiyama: Kazemaru’s kind of like a samurai, so there are a lot of kids who would love to become friends with him.

Hino: He’s the kind of character you really want to become friends with.

Akiyama: Originally Kazemaru used to be called Kabeyama and Kabeyama used to be called Kazemaru, despite his big body.

Hino: That’s right. But the names didn’t suit them, so we switched them. You can see evidence of his old name in the DVD extra graduation album!

Q By the way, are Kazemaru and Endou childhood friends?

Hino: Yes, that’s right. They went to the same elementary school. Kirino and Shindou are also childhood friends.

Akiyama: Kazemaru was in the track club and Endou was in he soccer club in elementary school, but Kirino and Shindou were always together in the soccer club. They sit in Shindou’s piano room, drinking black tea.

Hino: Wasn’t them being childhood friends shown in the anime?

Q It wasn’t. And neither was the idea that Kirino hates looking like a girl.

Hino: Oh, really? Well then, I’ll confirm it now!

Akiyama: Even though Kirino himself still stubbornly wears those girly twin tails, haha.

Hino: A masculine hairstyle wouldn’t suit Kirino. When we tried to give him a ponytail, you couldn’t see him as anything but a girl, haha.

[howtohero]

#247 Shared Identities

A lot of stock is put into superhero names. They need to be cool. They need to be identity-concealing. They can’t just be your own name with the word “super” in front of them. Even if that would actually make a really cool codename. Like, if your birth name was Krusher your superhero name couldn’t be Super Krusher. Which sucks. But the reality is that with superheroes having been around for decades (if not centuries, it depends who you ask) most of the really cool codenames have already been taken. This has led to some heroes becoming legacies, taking on the name of an older, retired (or dead {or zapped into the Zeroth Dimension for all time}) hero. Other heroes have said “Bah! Why wait for someone to die? There’s no reason we can’t start sharing codenames now!” These heroes have established shared identities, or collective pseudonyms as they are sometimes called.

(Shared identities should not be confused with the concept of “standins” where a hero will don the identity of a colleague while that hero is on vacation or temporarily deceased.)

One of the most famous shared identities dates back to 1935 when a group of French (well, mostly French, one of them was a cone-headed alien but that’s basically the same thing) mathematicians decided that none of them had cool enough names to get published on their own so they banded together under the name, Nicolas Bourbaki, which is still not like the coolest name, but Super Krusher was already taken so. At first, the members of this Bourbaki Group did nothing more than rigorously study and make major breakthroughs in mathematics. (Along with pulling the occasional prank, which is exactly what you would do too if you could attach someone else’s name to it and remain completely blameless.) Then, one day, rather coincidentally, all nine founders of the group gained superpowers.

(Ok, I’m sure you’re gonna ask about this so let’s just get this out of the way: Henri Cartan: struck dead on by a radioactive meteor. Claude Chevalley: Sneezed weirdly. Jean Coulromb: Made a deal with Satan which gave him beautiful hair forever and also the power to shoot flames from his hands. Jean Dieudonné: Legally adopted, as an adult, by a tribe of magical leopards who taught him how to use their magical leopard powers for good. Charles Ehresmann: Made a wish on a shooting star. {actually the radioactive meteor that struck Henri Cartan.} René de Possel: During a freak mathematical accident, the number 8 came to life and offered her a chance to become a godlike being and she took it. Szolem Mandelbrojt: Secretly had superpowers the entire time but once everyone else showed up with powers, he pretended that he’d also just gotten them too. André Weil: Didn’t actually get powers but he pretended he did for a surprisingly long time.)

With these newfound powers the members of Nicolas Bourbaki decided to fight crime in addition to their way boring math day jobs. Realizing that they had a chance to not only create a legendary mathematician, but also a legendary superhero, they decided to operate under a single superheroic moniker: Nicolas Bourbaki Woman. (René de Possel won a nine-way game of rock/paper/scissors for the privilege of choosing that name.) Together Nicolas Bourbaki Woman became one of the most successful French superheroes of all time. Since they were actually nine people they gave the appearance of being able to be in nine places at once which severely curbed any criminal’s desire to even attempt a crime in France.

That’s generally the motivation behind any shared identity superhero, expanded reach. If you share an identity with other people, then you can pretty much eliminate many of the human problems that affect most superheroes. You can be in multiple places at once. There never needs to be a break in your coverage, since when one person needs to rest, someone else can simply take over. Your superhero identity can even appear next your civilian identity as long as one of your partners is wearing the costume, thus ensuring that nobody ever guesses any of your secret identities.

Another reason why many heroes might choose to operate under a single identity is to spread out the privileges and reputation of one great hero over many individuals. Think of it like this: let’s say you get a Netflix account. Then you share the password with your brother, who then shares it with his boyfriend, who then shares it with his roommate, who then shares it with his weird aunt who can’t get enough of those Adam Sandler movies. You now have many individuals operating under a single Netflix username. What was once only accessible to one person is now accessible to the whole dang community because they’re all using the same information. Avid followers of this blog will remember that we actually set up a shared police officer identity that any superhero can use for exactly this purpose. (For those of you who don’t remember, Claude Von Howitzer is a police officer who is famous for constantly changing his appearance save for his incredibly fake looking mustache. Other things Officer Von Howitzer is famous for is losing evidence that might incriminate superheroes and always offering his fellow police officers free cupcakes. You can can become him whenever you need! For free! You’re welcome.)

If you’re going to create a collective pseudonym, it is important to keep track of who is part of the collective. We don’t want a repeat of what happened in Clifftown, Illinois. Clifftown was home to a superhero named The Blue Violet (of “roses are red, violets are blue” fame) who, unbeknownst to the rest of the world, was actually a sixteen-member improv group. (They’d accidentally “yes, and”ed themselves into becoming crime fighters, as often happens.) As time went on, they made great strides in their community and inspired people all around them to be the best versions of themselves that they could be. As it would happen, for many of those people, being the best version of themselves meant becoming superheroes, and each of the members of The Blue Violet ended up inducting several other citizens into the collective. Long story short, eventually the entire city was just The Blue Violet, unbeknownst to most everybody else in the city. Gosh, you should’ve seen their faces when they realized that they were all wearing the costume in their spare time. Priceless.

You also don’t want a supervillain to worm their way into the collective. (You also do not want a worm to supervillain their way into the collective, but that rarely happens so we hardly need to go into any more detail about what that might entail.) If a supervillain manages to start using your name and costume they can easily undo all the good your shared identity has done. It only takes someone wearing your costume shooting one mayoral candidate on live television to wipe away any goodwill the rest of you may have generated. So you also want to make sure that nobody in your shared identity turns evil later on. To prevent this, regularly check in with your fellow identity-bearers. Make sure they’re doing ok, and just generally chat with them about life. If they seem like they’re feeling down, advise them to take some time off. After all, that’s part of the beauty of having multiple people use one identity. If everyone in your group feels seen and cared for, the odds of them one day snapping and becoming a supervillain dramatically decreases. Or you can make everybody sign a contract in their blood to promise that they’ll never use your shared identity for evil. Both options are equally valid. (But they are not equally kind and they are not equally hardcore.)

Shared identities are useful but they are not for everybody. If you’ve ever wanted to rack up the accomplishments and acclaim of nine superheroes while only doing one ninth of the work, then you should look into forming a shared identity. If you don’t like the idea of someone else wearing your costume and having any sort of influence over how the public perceives you, then you should not do that and you’ll have to come up with your own unique identity. (If you live in Clifftown, Illinois, you are already part of a shared identity. You just don’t know it yet!) 

[milynya]

Deer in the headlights (Enjoltaire)

My first Enjoltaire-fanfic (actually my first fanfic in the Les mis-fandom) and I’m not a native English-speaker, so I’m sorry if there are some severe mistakes. Anyways: Enjoy, if it’s a little enjoyable, I certainly hope so ^^;

——-

“Met a [boy] in the parking lot And all I did was say hello [His] pepper spray made it rather hard For me to walk [him] home But I guess that’s the way it goes“

It really wasn’t a good story to tell. He fell in love on a goddamn parking lot in the middle of the night, how could that possibly be exciting? Grantaire remembered that he had felt down the whole day, hadn’t eaten since yesterday, hadn’t slept for three days and hadn’t shaved properly for a week. Actually, he was looking for a gas station to buy a drink while trying to convince himself he didn’t need one. Well, he failed gloriously. Who would have expected such a surprising development in the sad story of his life? Probably everybody who ever met him. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and followed the line of parking cars. He wouldn’t make the day without drinking, again. What happened to the bright kid he used to be? All that was left was a wrecked shell, barely able to live. Sometimes Grantaire wished he could become one with the shadow inside the hood of his jacket und just stop existing. He watched his feet walking on and on automatically. It took some seconds toll notice, that there was the sound of another pair of shoes meeting the pavement, much faster than his own. He spotted the back of a guy a little taller than him. Neat suit jacket, nice haircut and a really appealing backside. Maybe that guy knew the closest gas station. He had to have a car parked here after all. Grantaire tried to collect his senses to at least attempt a working conversation. He didn’t come any further than a raspy “He…“ and a thought like ‘Goddamn, I met a fucking angel’ when the guy turned on his heels and something hit him in the eyes, burning like fucking hell chose to make itself a nice new home there. He pressed his hands over his eyes and cursed like his life depended on it. “Shit, are you crazy? Is that pepper spray? Why did you do that?“, he babbled. Must be the shock. What kind of devil was this angel going around spraying people in the eye with pepper spray?! “Jesus“, muttered said angel. “So you’re not one of this homeless-gang-whatever-guys attacking and robbing people around here?“ Well, that hurt almost more than the pepper spray. Grantaire blinked, he still couldn’t see anything and his eyeballs burned like fire. At least angel-boy had been shit at aiming, Grantaire had had worse things meeting his eye properly. “You really know how to compliment a guy“, he answered as drily as he managed. “You don’t happen to have some water that I can wash out my eyes?“ He kept blinking and reached out to steady himself on the car to his right. There had been a car, hadn’t it? “I do actually“, said angel-boy, his voice sounding much smaller than before. Grantaire felt a bottle been pressed into his hand and he let the water dripp onto his eyeball. A reliefed sigh escaped him as the world reappeared before him. Then he saw angel-boy and that was that. As easy as breathing, he fell in love. Well, not quite as easy, it was a lot more painful. Maybe it was a good story to tell after all.

“Tell me again, was it love at first sight When I walked by and you caught my eye? Didn’t you know love could shine this bright? Well, smile because you’re the deer in headlights.“

Oh, and what a complete asshole In-love-him was. Teasing, arguing, insulting to cover up how completly vulnerable he felt. Goddammit, he couldn’t even handle his life when nothing happened and now he should cope with it with everything happening at once? Because a lot began to change and it started with the angel insisting to drag him along to a bar to meet a friend of his who should take a look at his eyes. Grantaire joined their strange club faster than he could pronounce 'cult’. Luckily for him, it wasn’t a cult after all, but just a naive idea by a bunch of young people. He probably would have joined it anyway, he never knew what was good for him and what wasn’t and he had an angel-like, no, godlike reason to bear whatever shit they were planning to do, just so he could drool a while. He even remembered to shower sometimes and relearned to make conversation with the weird people his favourite god collected. Granted, he rather liked them. They were intruiging unconcerened what others thought about them. But yeah, back to him being an asshole. He just couldn’t shut up, keep his stupid opinions to himself. In the unbelievably short time of two minutes mere presence and two sentences, he managed to upset Angel-Enjolras so much, that he outright shouted at him and in addition cause a chaotic discussion among the rest of his friends. So much for drooling silently. But hey, Enjolras was breathtaking anyway and his fury was like being in the middle of a thunderstorm, frightening and electrifying at the same time. Like a deer in the headlights. He hadn’t felt this alive for a long time. Love at first side with a force of nature. He was so screwed.

“Met a [guy] with a graceful charm But when beauty met the beast he froze Got the sense I was not [his] type By the black eye and bloody nose But I guess that’s the way it goes.“

Enjolras was fuming. They had about Jehan, about his long hair and his wide trousers and colourful shirts. He liked to think that a lot of things could be resolved by talking and explaining. But dear god above, a fist was so much more effective sometimes. He wiped the bit of blood of his face that was dripping out of his nose and eyed his bruising hand. He had to calm down, to breath. They had paid for their stupid, narrow-minded mobbing-campaign. Now he had to find somebody to look after his hand and he was a little reluctant to call Combeferre again. He felt guilty for always making his best friend patch him up, especially because he had warned him to solve problems this way. And yes, he knew it too, that it was wrong trying to beat some sense into idiots, but he just couldn’t see Jehans look again, every time they had to pass this part of the city. It just…wasn’t fair. Wait, didn’t Grantaire live around here? He did and his look was more shocked than Enjolras had ever seen him. “Hello, Grantaire“, was everything that came out of his mouth. Wordlessly Grantaire let him enter and he continued to be silent, until he had cared for every single wound and Enjolras had thought about a dozen time, that even Combeferre’s lecture would have been better than this. This silence, the gritted teeth and the looks. Jesus, he knew he had a black eye, but was it really that bad? Usually, Grantaire liked to watch him and Enjolras liked that Grantaire liked to watch him and how he liked to watch him. Just a little bit. But it seemed like a black eye and a bloody nose weren’t exactly his type. He wasn’t disappointed, or was he?

“Tell me again, was it love at first sight When I walked by and you caught my eye? Didn’t you know love could shine this bright? Well, smile because you’re the deer in headlights.“

Enjolras confusion had just begun then. He didn’t know before how careful Grantaires fingers felt on a bruise or on his cheek. He didn’t know the concentration in his eyes while cleaning the last rest of blood of his face and he certainly didn’t know how much he liked to watch this man himself. And of course by watching he couldn’t help but notice a few things. How he had trimmed his beard to an atttactive stubble. How he wore clothes with less questionable stains on them and how he drank less. And he liked what he saw, how gentle Grantaire was with his friends, making them laugh and cheering them up. How well he fit into the group and after all: How he had grown onto Enjolras himself. He liked to have his strong voice speaking against him. He liked how he keeps teasing and testing until they argue and he even more liked it, when they get along well again after the steam is out of their arguements. It hurts sometimes, but it’s part of their strange friendship. Enjolras wouldn’t want to miss it and he finds himself standing before this thought wide-eyed like a deer in the headlights.

“It’s suffocating to say But the […]male mystique takes my breath away So give me a smile or give me a sneer 'Cause I’m trying to guess here. […]“

His first try bringing it up Bossuet hit his head so hard on the table by accident, that he fell unconscious. Enjolras felt a little reliefed, he didn’t feel prepared for this conversation at all. The second try, Grantaire had a really bad day. They ended screaming at each other, then avoided each other for two days, till they both made some shitty attempts at apologizing. Enjolras felt irritated, but not yet in a bad way. The third try, Enjolras was called by his co-worker mid-sentence and he had to leave to help at his work-place. He started to feel mildly annoyed. And then the fourth try, Courfeyrac joined their table telling a terrible joke and the right mood was gone. Enjolras was frustrated, outright frustrated. So, no wonder that at fifth try, he didn’t want to give anything a chance to get between Grantaire and his love confession, so he just kissed him hard, lifting him up by his homeless-person-jacket. Grantaire froze for a total of two seconds, before he kissed back with all the force of his short-grown existence. The first thing he said after breaking the kiss was: “I should have brought a pepper spray.“ Was that… a rejection? Enjolras frowned till Grantaires face nearly split in half as the biggest of smiles found his lips and he pulled Enjolras down to kiss him again very enthusiastically.

“Tell me again, was it love at first sight When I walked by and you caught my eye? Didn’t you know love could shine this bright? If life was a game you would never play nice If love was a beam, you’d be blind in both eyes Put your sunglasses on 'Cause you’re the deer in the headlights […]“

[theshitireadincomics-blog]

Comics in College.

After an amazing Christmas break, it is back to school time. I currently teach first-year composition at a university and community college in the St. Louis area and I am currently prepping my lesson plans and syllabi for the coming spring semester. In addition to the writing classes, I have what has become my “fun class.” This is a college reading class that is designed to bring student’s reading comprehension levels up to whatever the system calls “standards” this year. The reason this class is my most enjoyable is because it is a sixteen week semester in which I am allowed to plan the entire course reading list. Now, I try hard to fill the schedule with classics you traditionally find in college and readings with vital social and educational issues, but I save a couple of spots for the literature that made me who I am today—comics. 

Now, saying “made me who I am” is not some great claim. I am only been teaching college for five years and have yet to find my greatness and often question if it is even out there. But I know I would not be in front of a college classroom without finding comics as a child—hell, I would probably never made it into college as a student either, as I hated reading before figuring out that Batman and Spider-Man weren’t just cartoons. My goal with using comics as a learning tool is to try to show these students that there are other forms of literature and reading that are not in those intimidating old books with hundreds of pages. Not that these students can’t handle “regular” books. They can. Most of the students in my reading class kick ass, but struggle on their reading testing because they become easily distracted or just have always hated the idea of reading. Or, they are just bad test takers. I know how it is first-hand. I came from the same reading class when I started college and did not place well either. That is why I try to create a nice blend of traditional literature with comics, science fiction, memoirs, and other writings that will hopefully grab someone’s attention (that is a glossed over summary of the course, as there are other parameters and aspects of the class that are far too monotonous to mention here). 

When I say that comics are my favorite form of literature, it comes with a disclaimer. I understand that the groundbreaking works of Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, and others have brought comic books and graphic novels into academia, but I am not necessarily talking about those stories that are commonly accepted as literature. I argue constantly that me sitting down and reading a random issue of Green Lantern can be as beneficial and literary as when I sit down to read Shakespeare (which should be soon, since it’s been ages). Granted, I may not be able to find as many perplexities in a fight between Hal Jordan and the Sinestro Corps that lie in King Lear, but there will usually be something that will enlighten me or someone else! 

This is where I am not a fan of the college graphic literature classes that I have seen. They are full of awesome books like Maus or Understanding Comics—and that is great! But the closest these classes usually get to superheroes is Watchmen. I love Watchmen and think it is a one of the greatest stories of all time, but I also have to count it as being overrated. How can one thing be praised that much without there being an alternate view or reaction? Kind of like the Beatles (which I personally hate). Even more vital to the discussion of Watchmen being the sole representation of superheroes in a class curriculum, is the notion that the story itself cannot be completely understood or appreciated without understanding the groundwork of traditional superheroes that inspired it. Sure you can read, enjoy, or digest the story, but without that super-hero dynamic in your consciousness you are missing out (this idea is also shared by Walter Hudsick in his essay “Reassembling the Components in the Correct Sequence: Why You Shouldn’t Read Watchmen First,” which can be found in the book Minutes to Midnight: Twelve Essays on Watchmen). I am not arguing that these college classes be stripped of their copies of Persepolis and replaced with dollar bin issues of Cloak and Dagger, but maybe that the superhero comic should get its own class and focus. There are many schools out there that do use these types of stories. I am just throwing out my two cents for more of that, as I was looked down on for reading those types comics in school as a kid, and told the comic stories I wrote in college were not “literary” enough. 

In the aforementioned class that I use comics in, last semester we tackled Batman the Killing Joke and the first volume of the Walking Dead. Both readings were well received and I had a few students that had never read a comic before. Both of these books have many different aspects and facets that we discussed throughout the sections. In Killing Joke, we discussed the parallels of the characters Batman and Joker and the complexities of their relationship. We looked at the stereotypical usage of Barbara Gordon/Batgirl and how she was impacted by the events in the story and we questioned what happened in the ambiguous ending (check out the Grant Morrison episodes on Kevin Smith’s Fatman on Batman podcast for his awesome take). While we dissected these aspects in the same way we examined Poe’s “the Black Cat” a month earlier, we still stopped to look at how badass it was to see Batman leap out of the Batmobile to rescue Commissioner Gordon. We discussed the coolness of seeing that final slugfest between Batman and Joker—maybe for the final time. When looking at the Walking Dead, we discussed the people in the story and their constant need to recover their civilization and humanity, but we also made time to stop and talk about our fondness of flesh-eating zombies and those types of films! 

My point is that all of this can be done (and maybe should be done) together. You don’t have to read your comics with the purpose of analyzing Deadpool’s commentary on the human condition—but you can! I would like to see more comics (of any genre or type) used as educational tools. Just because something is fun, colorful, and relevant in pop culture does not eliminate it from being scholarly. That is a ridiculous idea, yet I would get frowns from college creative writing instructors when I mentioned writing a comic and I was once told that a play with zombies in it was not serious enough. I had an entire class laugh at me when I made the comment that I would be happy getting a job writing a Conan the Barbarian novel. I don’t even know enough about Conan to fill a novel, but who the hell wouldn’t take a job being paid to write about that shit?!? Maybe the fact that our summer theaters and television screens are flooded with superheroes can translate into a little academic love for our spandex wearing characters. You can find a lot about humanity, society, and yourself when reading about these godlike people who constantly fight between good and evil.

 I haven’t written one of these posts in a while, but I am feeling a little bit like giving it another go. Next, I intend on digging into some of the stuff that has inspired me to create this blog, exploring some of the greatness and garbage I have ran across during my days reading comics.

 - Stephyn.

[newsdaysclub]

Critical Thinking: Do Some Celebrities Have To Go Along With The Agenda To Stay Relevant?

From the outside, it can seem as though certain celebrities have it all. This is because the average celebrity can be talented, good looking, have plenty of money and millions of people all over the world can admire them. And when it comes to a celebrity like this, one can believe that they just happened to get lucky and to hit the big time. That is, of course, unless one believes that someone like this is ‘special’. In Control Yet, regardless of whether one believes that someone like this is lucky or special, they can see them as being in charge of their life. Unlike the average person who has a boss who tells them what to do, they will be the master of their own destiny. This can be seen as something that takes place as a result of them having so much money and power. Therefore, if they don’t want to do something, they won’t do it, and, if they are not given this option, they will be able to walk away. The Only Downside Nonetheless, what could cross their mind is that even though they have so much going for them, what they can’t avoid is getting older. In additional to this, one could be only too aware that they will still experience loss. So, as much as their life will be radically different to the average person’s life, there will be a number of things that will be the same. Ultimately, no matter how much money they have, they won’t be able to have complete control over what happens to them. Extreme Pressure One thing that someone like this can experience is a strong need to not only look good, but to also look young. The big trouble with this is that their appearance will change as time goes by, meaning that it is impossible for them to look young forever. Even so, this is not to say that they won’t try to delay the inevitable by having surgery or inserting chemicals into their skin. There will come a point, however, when this approach will no longer cut it. A Heavy Burden Getting older can be something that will cause them to worry about whether or not their fans will lose interest in them and they can fear that someone younger will take their place. Due to how much pressure they experience, it can be hard for them to enjoy what they have. There may even be moments in their life when think about how they would trade it all in for a normal life; a life where they don’t experience so much pressure or need to maintain a certain appearance. At times, then, they could feel as though their level of success has imprisoned them. Strongly Attached But, thanks to how long they have experienced life in this way, there is the chance that they wouldn’t know who they were unless they were famous. Not being famous would then be experienced as a loss and it would be as if they had died. Being a world famous celebrity is then not free from challenges; in fact, it can be a very empty existence. What can also cross their mind is that other people only like them based on the idea that they have formed of them, not on what they are actually like as a person. Another Side Having said this, a celebrity might not actually have as much power as they appear to have. The reason for this is that there can be people above them who have far more power than they do. Thus, while it can seem as though a celebrity is their own boss, they can simply be an employee. Compared to the average person they can appear to be at the top, but in reality, they can still be well below the people who exercise a lot of influence over the planet. Two Jobs That’s not to say that these people actually have all the power; it’s just that so many people are kept in ignorance. These people have all kinds of ways to keep the masses distracted and oblivious to what is going on behind the scenes. A celebrity can then spend a lot of their life singing or acting, for instance, and they can be told that there are other things they will need to do. What this could mean is that they will have to go along with whatever narrative the establishment wants them to promote. An Important Role The work that someone does as an actor or a singer could be just a way for them to pull people in. After all, if it wasn’t for the fact that they looked good and had a talent, there is a strong chance that very few people would pay attention to them. In order for them to have as much influence as they do, it would have been necessary to build them into a godlike figure. It would have been clear that once this had taken place, millions of people would happily go along with what they say, irrespective of how crazy or irrational it was. Selling Out Right from the beginning, someone may have been told that the only way they would make it was if they were willing to lose themselves to gain the world. Behaving in ways that are in alignment with what other people want may have meant that they have lost touch with their true essence. Their need to maintain their status could be all consuming, which could mean that they are not even aware of how this is causing them to compromise who they are. Then again, they could be only to aware of what would happen if they were to exert their own will. Conclusion It has been said that things are not always as they seem, and this could be an appropriate saying when it comes to certain celebrities. These people are simply human beings; they are not gods or goddesses. ​ To place someone like this at this level doesn’t make any sense. The only way it can make sense is if someone is projecting a lot of things onto these people and is unable to see them as just human beings.

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