#no doubt they are limited to what they can outright say

[michaun]

Lucy Tara in Serve and Protect

[karniss-bg3]

The Tragedy of Faith

So between tumblr and twitter I've read various takes on Kar'niss and what draws people to him. For some it's the monster fucking appeal, for others it's the desire to fix a clearly broken individual. There are in-betweens and of course this is subjective and depends on the person. Act 2 spoilers ahead. Where my personal interest comes from is how good Larian communicated the tragedy of faith and what a cult can do to a person. Kar'niss is a creature that has been broken by not one God, but two. Lolth broke him physically, the Absolute broke him mentally. His entire identity has been lost to a deity to the point he raises her in his speech. Referring to her as "Majesty" and "Queen", two terms you don't really hear anyone else address her as, he has elevated her to his final savior and leader. He also often refers to himself as "we" and "us", cementing him as part of the hive mind rather than holding any individuality of his own. When he does refer to himself as "I", it's mostly to show further loyalty to the Absolute, to maintain a position of importance in his fractured mind. Cults are notorious for targeting the most vulnerable in society as they are the easiest to mold and manipulate to their doctrine. The fact that goblins are one of the main races that fall to the Absolute's influence is telling in that regard, as they are often dismissed by the other races. Kar'niss was ripe for the picking, an easy target to lure into her arms. No doubt he was found shortly after Lolth twisted him into a drider and banished him, he didn't stand a chance.

Not even taking those elements into account, Kar'niss came from a society that is infamous for cruelty and violence, especially toward males of their species. Drow greatest hits include, but are not limited to: -Killing their young if they are not aesthetically pleasing enough. In other words, ugly. -Sacrificing every third born son to Lolth.

-If a male finds the favor of two competing females, it often doesn't end well for the male. The rival woman will kill the male and chuck his dead body into his opponents bedchambers, just for the sake of being petty.

-Love and emotions of any sort are in short supply, if not outright unseen as a general rule. The nature of drow to backstab and seek to rise in the ranks makes it near impossible to be anything other than fierce and domineering.

With these things in mind, it's easy to assume that Kar'niss had a turbulent upbringing and likely suffered untold abuse from many around him. It's not to say that good or reasonable drow don't exist, it's just not commonplace in a Lolthite society. Unfortunately, the game doesn't give us a great deal to go on as far as his past. What little he reveals only happens after he's dead, and even then its really a cliffs notes version. What we do know is that his devotion is intense and unwavering. He's willing to die for the Absolute because in his mind the Absolute are the only ones who care about him. We even see fellow followers talk down to him, dismiss him, and verbally eye-roll the guy. To them, his fanaticism is over the top and they follow the same God he does.

All told, this leads me to the conclusion that Kar'niss has never, or rarely, known true compassion in his entire life. He's been used as a puppet for one deity or another, and likely mocked or cast aside even when he did everything right. It doesn't surprise me that there are folks who desire a romance option, or barring that a side venture to break him free of the Absolute's hold. We don't know if Kar'niss did terrible things in his past, or where his moral compass sits as his entire personality revolves around God. But I'd love to know, and I crave more background on him in one form or another.

I've spent too much time thinking about different paths that could happen in-game. I also understand it's incredibly unlikely he'll ever become a companion. The sheer amount of time and resources needed to give a character a satisfying arc is likely more than Larian can do with other constraints, but maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised. So Kar'niss lovers, platonic, romantic, or everything in-between...I gotchu fam. We stan the spooder bby. Someone get that man a blanket and a nice mug of hot cocoa. And a cult de-programming kit, one of those would be good.

[celerydays]

Hi! I have been following you for some time and I notice you draw more and more Sebastian and Ominis doing stuff that makes me... uncomfortable.....

Sebastian and Ominis are best friends, why people are obsessed with drawing them into weird gay stuff? Seriously.... Why can't be friends.... without all Sebinis... Just stop it...

Normally I would delete messages or simply ignore the things that make me feel uncomfortable–

But, you're on anon and this is my ask inbox, so I can only assume you want an actual, public response. So alright. Fine.

Like I said: normally I would just remove odd, uncomfortable, or even outright rude messages without making a whole thing of it. I curate my own online experience and I try my best to live by that rule.

However, I've now gotten multiple unsolicited DMs over the course of a couple of months expressing the exact same sentiment (and nearly word-for-word as this ask, so I highly suspect I already know who you are). I have duly ignored or glossed over them hoping that the person/people would take the hint to simply stop engaging with the same message over and over again. But an anon ask is my last straw, I guess.

So if you are the same person as in my DMs, I'm finally giving you a response (and if you're not the same person – which I highly doubt – then I'm speaking to both of you).

Firstly, I want to say that I am sorry that your worldview is so limited that this is your stance and feelings on gay/queer ship content for Sebastian and Ominis.

Next, I ask that you please:

Don't make your homophobia anyone else's issue but your own. Don't come into DMs/ask inboxes/comments to make your discomfort with the content I create my problem. I don't know what you hoped to accomplish by sending this message but it's unlikely that you'll find the same feelings or sympathy from the person who is actively creating queer/sebinis content.

Curate your own online experience. Once again, do not make your content consumption anyone else's problem but your own. The "unfollow" button is there. Tumblr has a tag filtering system and I try to tag my art and content as accurately as possible. If you do not like something/it makes you uncomfortable, then do not continue to consume it. And if you still decide to stick around for whatever reason, then please keep your thoughts/opinions on this matter to yourself because I can promise that I don't actually care why you would continue to be here and looking at my art if it makes you unhappy.

Widen your worldview and try to reframe your perspective. Consider that Sebastian x Ominis is just as canon as Sebastian x f!MC or Ominis x f!MC. As much as we like to ship our various MCs with the canon characters, MC never actually amounts to canonically being confirmed as anything but being just friends with everyone. Using the "they are just best friends" / "why can't they just be portrayed only as friends" could literally be applied to just about any other non-canon/non-confirmed ship between friends regardless of gender. If even one of them, Ominis or Sebastian, was portrayed as cis female in canon, I would suspect that you would better "understand" why a ship between these two "friends" may exist. Then also consider a cis male MC; it's possible you may suddenly reframe all the interactions between Ominis x m!MC or Sebastian x m!MC in your head to be "totally platonic/friendly". Your issue is certainly not with their canon relationship vs. fandom portrayal (but I think we both know that).

Educate yourself. Go outside and meet and talk to people, I dunno. It is 2024 my dude. I don't even know how you're on Tumblr – the most queer-friendly social media site – with those kind of narrowed views and stigma.

I would like to finish by saying: I don't wish you the best. What I do wish is for you to learn, grow, and be better than this.

And also please stop sending me messages of this nature, because the next ask or DM I get like this, we're moving on to blocking at this point. And if your purpose was to get me to stop, I can tell you that these messages have only fueled the explicit sebinis smut maker in me. 😤

[ddarker-dreams]

lock!!! I need ur thoughts on Wriothesley

holding myself hostage to not go on another panopticon tangent

wriothesley has piqued my interest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the underwater prison in particular adds so many unique possibilities to him as a yandere. one of my absolute favorite horror experiences is the game soma, with its decrepit submarines and the intense claustrophobia from being stuck underwater... i find the ocean terrifying. like wtf is going on down there. what is a leviathan. why are giant sea beasts mentioned consistently throughout so many ancient cultures. Why are there noises picked up in the ocean that cannot be sourced. why are anglerfish. why why why.

as it relates to yan wriothesley — the fortress of meropide would have a subjugating presence that rivals his. creaking metal vents, dripping pipes, the all-consuming scent of saltwater and rust; running back to his arms would be a temptation. it'd play an integral role to ensuring your cooperation. wriothesley doesn't demand complete submission. he knows human nature, the tenacity sentience imbues, for better or for worse. he doesn't see the appeal in dampening the flames that burn within you. he'd rather build a perimeter around it that'll keep the fire from spreading and burning too hot.

total transparency isn't how he operates, though. he'll clue you in, build the maze you're to navigate, but won't hand over the blueprints. you're free to traverse the fortress as you please. you can talk to whoever you want, say whatever you want, such is your prerogative. at first, you can't help but find him naively arrogant. he might be "the duke," but even he must have limitations.

or so you think.

the vacant areas that guards seemingly overlook wind and stretch for miles. each step diminishes your hope, little by little. will your provisions last? do you really have the expertise to pull off a successful dive and ascent? why did a prudent man such as wriothesley leave a potential escape route unobstructed? these doubts are weights that drag you down, and, inevitably, back to where he waits.

this leaves pleading your case to your fellow inmates or the guards. the first time you try, it's a rush of adrenaline, stumbling over your words just in case he'd come dragging you back at a moment's notice. this incoherent accusation of his grace forging false evidence to keep you here, in the depths where he'd like you, doesn't go as you dreamed. you're either met with awkward apprehension or outright ignored. in the case of the former, it's safe to assume they think you're having a break from reality. the latter is worse, more cruel; they can see where you're coming from and elect to do nothing about it. why should they endanger themselves for your sake? it's a dog-eat-dog world in the fortress.

defeated and humiliated, you return to the administrative area 'willingly.' there he waits, the door unlocked to show he anticipated your return, leisurely sipping his tea. he isn't angry, bitter, or vicious. he just simply asks,

"did you have a nice chat?"

[cienie-isengardu]

Does Bi-Han really has no idea where his brothers are living now?

To me, the most funny thing about the origin of the MK1 Shirai Ryu clan is Kuai Liang and Tomas' assumption that Bi-Han has no idea where their new clan is stationed.

We know from intros, Scorpion and Smoke do not share its location even with their allies so that Lin Kuei can't find it.

Kenshi: Why keep the Shirai Ryu's location secret? Smoke: So that the Lin Kuei can't find it.

But then we have Kuai Liang's ending:

"No sooner had Titan Shang Tsung had been defeated than Bi-Han and his loyalists hunted us down. Outnumbered, we fled to Japan. There we sought refuge from an old family friend. As children, we played together. But Harumi Shirai was a woman now, the head of her clan. Her strength, beauty, and intellect awed me. Also incensed by Bi-Han's betrayal, Harumi agreed to help me forge a new clan. One that would stand against him and defend Earthrealm. Her aid proved invaluable. And as time went on, we grew closer. To honor Harumi and pay respects to my new bride, I named the clan after her, calling it the Shirai Ryu. Now the battle against my brother begins in earnest. The Shirai Ryu won't rest until Bi-Han is defeated and the Lin Kuei's honor restored."

in which:

A) Kuai Liang and Tomas fled to Japan and sought refuge from Harumi Shirai who is called an "old family friend"

B) she and Kuai played together as a children

C) Harumi is the head of her own clan living in Japan so between Scorpion and Smoke and her, it is Harumi who own land, money and/or necessary goods for a clan to prospere AND to fund Kuai Liang's new clan

D) Kuai Liang named his clan, Shirai Ryu, in honor of Harumi.

With such a description, the chances that Bi-Han is not familiar with Harumi are pretty slim to none. He already knows Scorpion and Smoke are in Japan, as they were hunted down by Sub-Zero's loyalists. Kuai has no money so for him to start a new clan, he needs to ally himself with someone who can fund it and support the two former Lin Kuei - and Harumi Shirai is an obvious choice, as the old family friend.

But even if that was not the first Bi-Han's conclusion, the fact that Kuai Liang married Harumi Shirai AND named his clan the Shirai Ryu makes it clear where he is - around Harumi. Scorpion's clan may go into hiding but I doubt Harumi would abaddon her land and clan or force everyone under her rule/protection into hiding so Bi-Han doesn’t even need to search for his brothers, he needs find only Harumi, as Scorpion and Smoke will come to protect her against Lin Kuei.

Since these days it seems everyone, including Outworld and Netherrealm characters, know about Kuai Liang's marriage and Bi-Han is A) operating in Sun Do, the capital of Mileena's Empire and B) is know to collect secrets, it is no surprise he knows about brother's relationship with Harumi. As even intro dialogues outright says so

Scorpion: Stay away from Harumi. Sub-Zero: In this war, family isn't off limits.

and look, putting aside the threat, Bi-Han already considers Harumi part of the family even if they are enemies.

So yeah, the whole "keep Shirai Ryu's location in secret" is so hilarious to me, because the Shirai name is total opposite of secret for Bi-Han, as he knows Harumi and where she is living, if Kuai Liang and Tomas knew where they should go while fleeing to Japan.

Good job, Kuai! 

But you know what is even more hilarious? The fact that Kuai Liang has no real idea where is currently his older brother and goes asking allies and enemies alike for help or information. Like yes, he and Tomas know the Lin Kuei clan is operating somewhere in Sun Do, but Li Mei found them and confronted them about Shirai Ryu activity in her city, while they did not capture Bi-Han there. And sure, Sub-Zero may not stay in one place for too long, however his own ending

"I had broken the Lin Kuei free of Liu Kang's enslavement. We were now masters of our destiny and could take our place among Earthrealm's greatest nations. But taking and holding territory would require a vast army. I needed more fighters to make our presence felt. Then I recalled Shang Tsung's dragon warriors. An army of them would be unstoppable. But trafficking in such strong magic would surely draw Liu Kang's attention. Sektor advised me that we avoid detection by building our army using science, not sorcery. We've invested much time in this endeavor, and we are beginning to see results. Once again proving the depths of Sektor's genius. When we are done, all of Earthrealm will honor our desires and heed our demands. If not, they will face the Lin Kuei's wrath."

says Bi-Han wanted to take and hold territory for his clan and so Lin Kuei invested time and energy into building an army based on magic Dragon warriors. Though it is not specified, I think it is right to assume the building of the army happened on Lin Kuei territory,

as that was their best secured base of operation. Like sure, Liu Kang and Shirai Ryu knew where Lin Kuei home was based but as the clan was living in hiding for centuries, their land was probably well guarded and the headquarter was located in a naturally defensive place.

And I admit, the whole idea that Bi-Han knows perfectly well where his brothers are hiding while Kuai Liang and Tomas have no idea about Sub-Zero's whereabouts and can't find him because none of them thought - or dared - to check Lin Kuei home is way too more hilarious than it should be.

People may make fun of Bi-Han not being smart during story mode but damn, Kuai Liang for sure is no mastermind either. 

[moibakadesu]

Cw/ suicide

I've seen people say that Fuuta is acting like it would be "a minor inconvenience" that Haruka is planning to end his life.

I think these people are interpreting this TL convo wrong.

I highly doubt Haruka has outright told Fuuta that he wants to commit. Maybe his plan even entails something else.

Because this is FUUTA we are talking about. If anything, this convo makes it clear again that he cares so much for Haruka, he never stopped being kind to him, even though we always see just very limited fractions of interactions between prisoners.

So do you really think Fuuta Kajiyama who's very own personal sin is that someone committed suicide BECAUSE of him would just stand by or give up if someone he deeply cares about has the same plan? No, no he absolutely wouldn't. If they would write him like that they would have fucked up a core principle of Fuuta's character, and I have trust in Ymnk that he is NOT doing that.

I see this as Fuuta not fully grasping yet or is being misdirected in what Haruka revealed to him (remember, Haruka even talked to Kotoko to make sure nobody gets between his plan, he wouldn't just go and spill it to someone else). But I am almost certain that as soon as Haruka takes action in doing anything to himself it will be Fuuta to stop him. This is setting up so much to it.

You know, at the start of April I was delulu enough to predict this convo, predicting further that Haruka's bday convo will be these two again, this time Fuuta comforting him after the failed attempt. Mark my words, I was right once, I can will it into existence twice.

Anyway, I am still feeling insane about this convo. These two are my everything. I am not a fan of the cult arc happening, but if Fuuta drags Haruka with him an keeps him safe I can at least accept it. And putting that earbud voiceline with the tearful apology to Amane in that context ... yeah, 010308 t3 cult seems to be a very viable thing.

[doonalli]

Ranmaru: Doubts in Humanity, and Humanity in Doubts (Ranmaru Character Analysis)

Ranmaru is a character who is already talked about lots in the community so I am not too sure how much I can add to the discussion, but I am sure gonna try.

Ranmaru's character is one that slowly doubts his humanity more and more as the chapter goes on, but even with that he shows an aspect of humanity like all the dummies do. He shows it though his doubts, and his doubt in his own humanity is one major component of that. 

His doubts start off small when we first meet him, not being very confident in his first conversations, and during the obstructor fight he is surprised when his plan ends up working out, and this lack of confidence continues throughout the chapter. When first entering the discussion room Ranmaru asks Sara an important question, he asks

and he adds that

however anyone who has played the game can tell you that this mentality doesn't last for long, because by the time the truth of the consent form is revealed, Ranmaru IS willing to kill. He even says as much 

So what changed? Why is Ranmaru now willing to kill? I'd argue it's because he has had doubts placed in him, since the scene in the discussion room played out it has been proven to Ranmaru that he IS in fact a doll, and he's become aware of the time limit placed on him through his battery and saw Kurumada get heavily injured, causing him to realise he doesn’t want to die.

Beyond that he also has a reason now, a goal, right before the fight with Maple she tells Sara and Ranmaru about the final round rule and Ranmaru finds out that there is a way he can leave alongside Sara, Ranmaru makes it clear that when he is with Sara, he feels more and more of a strive to live,

This moment shows just how much of Ranmaru’s own self value is tied to Sara. Her power to inspire is now put into a negative context, by inspiring Ranmaru, who at first didn’t even care for life, (shown in his victim video,) to want to live, it pushed him into a corner where there is only one way out. A way marked with murder. 

It recontextualises all the previous moments in the game where it was up to Sara to inspire the others like with Kanna or Nao or during the second Main Game by showing how it can just as much affect someone in a much more negative way. In the way Sara can inspire Nao to “overcome any difficulty” she can just as much push someone like Ranmaru into a situation where this want to live can lead to the worst scenario.

and this will to live is shown even before this moment. 

When Kurumada is injured and attached to the charger he tells everyone that the charger would be better used to extend the lives of the dummies, Ranmaru ends up being the only one present who doesn't speak up against it no matter what, Anzu does it by default, Hayasaka takes her place if she is dead and if they both ended up dying its Hinako who steps in, but Ranmaru always stays silent, even literally having a dialogue box in the logic route where he just goes

in place of where Kanna spoke against Kurumada in her route, right after he tries to give up the charger. It makes sense considering just how close we are to the scene where he outright tells Sara he is afraid to die.

When he brings up the idea of winning Sara at first refutes the idea, claiming she wants everyone to escape together, and Ranmaru agrees... until his doubts start to set in again, asking

He cites that the more he is with Sara the more and more he wants to live and the more afraid he gets to die. Sara responds by telling him that everyone feels the same, he says that that's exactly why they need to win, claiming that while he can't imagine killing Sara, he is sure he could kill anyone else pleading Sara to win for him. From this point on Ranmaru's actions and arc are defined by Sara's response. Starting with the Emotion route Sara tells Ranmaru that they are all allies and they overcome hardship together she makes it clear that Reko/Alice Qtaro Kanna and Gin would never do anything like that, and Ranmaru simply responds with

to Ranmaru Sara just compared him to all the humans, to her allies, and told him, while he is still struggling with his sense of humanity, that the HUMANS would never do what he tried to do, and Ranmaru takes it that way, claiming that he has no right to be her "friend", or "ally". while it was definitely not her intention as shown by the scene afterwards where she realizes that she was the one who gave him hope, even after he already gave up, and promises that while she can't make a choice like that, she won't abandon anyone, including Ranmaru, nonetheless the damage was already dealt and the effects of that are shown going forward...

We continue to see Ranmaru's doubts when he is faced with the choice to tag Kurumada, in the end however despite getting permission from Kurumada he decides what he is doing is wrong but that he lost the will to fight back against Midori, still unsure and doubting what he should do Hinako walks in to help.

After beating the charge collar game Ranmaru apologizes to everyone, or at least he tries to before Yabusame steps in and tells him that that's not what he says here, he then thanks everyone instead.

Later when interacting with Keiji's coffin and Sara thinks Keiji might have died Ranmaru is the one to step up in this route and tells Sara to not give up hope, while he isn't sure HOW Keiji got out, he is confident in his assertion that Keiji is alive, shutting down the doubts others have now instead of being the one who doubts.

The next major scene is Ranmaru's confrontation with Keiji. By calling Keiji through a fake announcement using his voice he confronts him in the classroom, hearing he killed Kurumada (or so he thought) he calls Keiji out for supposedly being a part of Asu-naro. He tells him Sara trusted him even signing the form for his sake, and in the end, he still brought Sara into the death game. Keiji calls him out for his jealousy claiming that he just wants to be the one to protect Sara, the one closest to her, even if he isn't in the right, but on this route Ranmaru denies it saying he doesn't matter in this and that he just wants to help Sara. Keiji responds that he can't be that person, and on this route only, specifically saying

Ranmaru responds in shocked silence, before saying of course he knows that and asking him to hand over Midori's head. Again, Ranmaru is told to his face that he is a doll and again he is told that he can't be close to Sara because of that, and he just accepts it now, feeding into that lack of humanity he felt and into his doubts from the previous time he was in the classroom, with Sara instead of Keiji. 

Having all these doubts pile on him, from Keiji, from Sara, from himself, he shocks both Sara and Keiji and takes Keiji away from there, making sure to take the ID card in the process, he makes his way to the AI-ciever and attempts to upload the Joe AI into him. He claims that he couldn't be anything after all, as if this thing, this inherently inhuman thing, was the only value he could give to Sara at this point as a doll. After all, leading up to this point he already has been useful to Sara through the use of his steam spray upgrade part. Throughout the chapter again and again Ranmaru is told that he can’t be Sara’s ally, that he can’t be the one closest to her, all things that Joe is. Ranmaru, in an effort to provide value to Sara and actually become that person, he literally almost loses himself in that process by giving up his own consciousness and replacing it with Joe’s, someone who was Sara’s friend, someone who can be the closest to her.

During the pre-Banquet Sara can ask Ranmaru 3 things, 2 of them directly being related to him as a doll, being his battery and asking him if he wants to change upgrade parts, even afterwards Ranmaru asks a simple question.

No longer really valuing himself as a human, but talking about himself as though he is a tool.

If all the dummies survived and Yabusame starts singing their song Ranmaru will have a moment of true happiness not stuck to his usefulness, He doesn’t feel the need to take something on himself, but instead he just tries to sit back, listening to the others, and he genuinely enjoys it.

However, if all the dummies survived and Yabusame starts singing their song Ranmaru will have a moment of true happiness not stuck to his usefulness, He doesn’t feel the need to take something on himself, but instead he just tries to sit back, listening to the others, and he genuinely enjoys it.

and if Kurumada dies he claims

Resolving himself, and when entering the coffins he either goes in with no complaints or he is actively the one telling everyone to enter, specifically if Kurumada is the only dummy to die he will say

Before going into the Banquet however, I think it's time to talk about the other route. In this route, when Ranmaru asks about winning, Sara instead of denying him like in the Emotion route, incites him into doing it himself, albeit implicitly. She tells Ranmaru SHE could never kill an ally causing Ranmaru to say he could do it himself, acting as a dark mirror to Sara's claim that they are all allies and that they wouldn't ever kill each other, she continues to tell Ranmaru that she wouldn't want to make Ranmaru do such a thing, but at this point Ranmaru has already decided to do it on his "own" so Sara isn't really fighting his remarks, finally Sara tells Ranmaru that she wouldn't want to hurt him, and that he is her precious friend. From the other route we could tell how much Ranmaru places value on his "friendship" and the same goes here, ultimately Sara breaks out of her mindset after Ranmaru brings up Keiji, but the damage is already done and Ranmaru got enough encouragement to start thinking of his plan.

In the way the Emotion Route shows the negative aspects of Sara inspiring everyone the Logic route shows the negative outcome of placing all this pressure on Sara through the overreliance on her, in a moment of weakness where she wants to be relieved of the pressure of her allies she ends up manipulating Ranmaru into taking that responsibility to have the two of them escape together on himself and relieve her of the pressure from her allies.

Until then though, the next time a big split between the routes happens is when Keiji is thought to be killed in his coffin. Instead of comforting Sara here Ranmaru does the exact opposite, despite Sou telling Sara he can't believe Keiji died Ranmaru doubts it, telling Sou that Keiji must be here since the shutter is still closed, using the same excuse he fought against in the other route, and he tells Sou to not give Sara half-hearted hope, Sou asks Ranmaru is he doesn't want Sara to have hope, which he denies before reluctantly agreeing to search for Keiji.

Finally, during his confrontation with Keiji, once he calls him out for wanting to be the one closest to Sara instead of denying it he asks his

which Keiji responds with by simply saying he can't, this time not even calling him a doll, or himself a murderer, just a

Ranmaru tells him to shut up and the rest of the interaction continues as normal with Sara being stunned alongside Keiji (although now Ranmaru claims he is going to save Keiji for last).

When Sara awakes Ranmaru shows up to reveal Kurumada "died" however this is proven false once Kurumada barges in and punches Ranmaru, he shouts at everyone to hurry to the lower floor locker room, and everyone does... Once entering Sara sees something horrible...

Yabusame dead, hanged by the ceiling trap in the room. Kurumada calls Ranmaru out for being the one who killed them, as he heard him over the transceiver saying something about winning, finally Ranmaru drops his facade and outright tells everyone he did it, much to the dismay of all the dummies, Midori enters and Ranmaru gives him back his ID card, asking him to get rid of the dummies in the process, which he obliges to by bringing Maple 2.0 to fight the survivors. After the fight, when Maple tries to kill Midori, Ranmaru will stun her causing her to fall and explode. Seeing how Ranmaru changes makes so much sense when considering things from his point of view, waking up as a doll the first thing he sees is a video of him dying, and in it all he can say to himself is 

something so tired, something so uncaring of whether you lived or died right until the end, having to see something like that coming from yourself would be so horrible to experience, and right after that he is told he can have another chance at life, as long as he can kill Sara. However when he meets Sara she ends up being someone who Ranmaru in his own words, makes him feel more and more like he wants to live, Ranmaru placed and his life's value on Sara but isn't able to live alongside her until Maple gives him an option that lets him escape alongside her and actually live. Sara's answer, whether it's encouragement or rejection, affects Ranmaru so deeply because of how much value he places on Sara.

It sort of plays into his whole speech about "making your own choices'', because despite his words of THAT being what defines a human, when he later takes off his hand, he still takes it as confirmation he isn't human, but even past that he continues to not make his own choices, now the choices are Sara's to make, or when he thinks about tagging Kurumada he never actually makes any choice, he just hesitates and doubts himself. Even going forward his confrontation with Keiji and what he does with the Joe AI is all for Sara's sake, not for his own, and him killing Yabusame, while partially for his own survival as called out by Hinako

is under the notion of protecting Sara and them BOTH escaping together. Even being instigated by Sara in the first place.

This lack of humanity continues into the Banquet where Ranmaru out right states it himself, even reveling in it on the Logic route.

However there is one moment in particular that shows a bit of growth on Ranmaru’s behalf, specifically in the emotion route.

When Anzu’s coffin is about to be picked Ranmaru will ask Midori to change his choice, telling him

and even when the other dummies express their doubts, saying that they could be picked instead, Ranmaru stands firm on his belief, not from a lack of value in himself, but from a belief Keiji’s coffin could be hit instead. Expanding his view from exclusively being about Sara to actually try and protect someone else, making good on his promise to not complain anymore and learning from the determination of the dummies.

Ultimately he still dies, dispelling Sara’s doubts in the emotion route, and asking for someone to save both Sara and Gin, or regretting not being able to get his “happy ending” he believed in during the logic route.

Ranmaru's character ends up so far removed from "humanity", but at the same time so different from where he started. Despite starting off by claiming to not be able to kill anyone, after seeing Kurumada injured, seeing his own battery was running out, and accepting he isn't human, Ranmaru brings up the idea and even possibly goes through with it, all due to his doubts of there being any other way of making it out with Sara. 

Despite this however I still think Ranmaru is human, because it's human to doubt your worth to the others around you, it's human to want more from your life, and it's human to doubt in yourself. Even if time and time again Ranmaru is shown to physically be a doll, and even if he thinks that proves his inhumanity, Ranmaru is still human, and his doubts are the very thing that proves it.

In a way I love how Ranmaru’s relationship with Sara evolves into something romantic, from Maple's words to the symbolism of the red string of fate to the very concept of the final round rule. It acts as an opposite to Joe’s platonic relationship with Sara in how he tries to be who Joe was, being the one closest to her, who protects her, despite never being able to, but I also love it because love is commonly portrayed as the most human emotion, the highest form of connection with someone, or else the best thing that could happen to someone, a “happy ending”.

But that isn’t the case with YTTD and following this “happy ending” ends up sending Ranmaru into a downwards spiral, but in a way that also prove his humanity, because YTTD makes it clear again and again through characters like Q-taro, like Sou, and of course, like Ranmaru, since humanity isn’t just about the best aspects of someone, but also the worst.

================================================

Wow I finally finished this lmao, took long enough. HOPEFULLY Mai and Hinako's will come out quicker but no more promises from me lol.

I was worried I wouldn't be able to add too much to the discussion around Ranmaru since he is obviously probably the MOST discussed when it comes to the Dummies or just 3-1 in general ngl (except Midori maybe lol) but I hope I managed to actually do it well in the end. If you did enjoy this though I would recommend checking out my posts on Anzu, Hayasaka, and Kuruamada too! I think I had more to say with them personally.

also you might have noticed a lack of me talking about the whole entire Yabusame death scene and the aftermath of that, I'm planning to make a whole post just about it because ITS SO GOOD ISTG and yet at the same time I see it so slandered, but I want to finish this series of posts first.

I also want to thank Crazy Sunshine for helping me with proof reading!!

and that's all! so thank you for reading!! hope you enjoyed!!!!

[luffy-is-aroace]

Do you have the source in which Luffy was confirmed aroace? I’m making a project on the ace and aro communities that includes a list of aro, ace, and aroace rep in media and I can’t find where it was confirmed, but I hear everyone say he is. Thank you.

luffy is very very much aroace coded but neither he nor the author have ever directly said the words "luffy is asexual" - one piece's canonical queer rep is limited to transgender characters

that being said, here's the relevant passages, and some context if its needed:

in chapter 516/episode 411, luffy stumbles across boa hancock, the worlds most beautiful woman, in the bath. she has an ability to turn people to stone when they feel some amount of "love, lust, or adoration" to her; ie. when they are attracted to her. heres how it goes:

this is the first time hancock meets a man who isnt affected by her power. it basically suggests that, by not turning to stone, hes not attracted to her at all.

eventually, she develops a crush on him, and she wants to marry him, which he outright rejects (chapter 598)

in regard to the "mero mero" moment, a fan noticed a discrepancy, and asked the author about it in the SBS corner from volume 54. luffy had previously responded to the naked body of a woman the way all the other guys did. oda decided to blame it on luffy imitating his friend

"That's not the Luffy we know." "When Luffy is alone, his reaction is what it was with Hancock. He's interested, but he's not entranced by her." Luffy acting in a certain way because Usopp does - going along with the mood of the moment, or performing, or however you want to say it - feels awfully aspec to me. It's definitely a common aspec experience to try and force yourself into amatonormative - or, in this case, I guess allonormative? - behavior.

In the SBS for volume 88, oda was asked about why luffy called a woman a "beauty" at one point. The response:

Luffy understanding physical attractiveness as a classification, understanding it but not caring about it - that suggests he probably doesn't experience aesthetic attraction (appreciating someones appearance, disconnected from sexual/romantic attraction). this definitely speaks to my experience as an aroace individual.

also, this isnt necessarily evidence for luffy specifically, but moreso a general answer - in the SBS for volume 34, oda was asked if there would be romance between the main characters, and he brushed it off:

my impression, personally, is that Oda is generally fairly uninterested in pursuing any romantic relationships between his main characters.

in conclusion, I personally feel like the evidence here suggests that luffy is aroace, or at least aspec, given some of Oda's wording (which is probably a little up to interpretation, given it's been translated from japanese). His answer in volume 54 has always felt like a retcon to me, like Oda only came to a conclusion of sorts on this when Luffy met Hancock, and had to go back and find some reasoning for why Luffy would have responded that way. Luffy, more than anything, wants to have an adventure, and romance and sex aren't part of that for him.

I'm not gonna try to police how people view Luffy. it's not healthy for me to do that - luffy and his aroaceness is something that's very very personal to me and itd be way too messy. In addition, in the past I've had people point out that this evidence would only necessarily suggest luffy isnt attracted to women, and he could be gay; I personally don't see him that way, and I seriously doubt Oda would make that choice in canon, but people can do what they want. I think, however, it's pretty telling that a lot of aroace and aspec people see themselves in him.

This morphed into something of a modern take on my thesis here instead of just answering your question; sorry about that. I'd be interested to see your project when you're done, if you're able and willing to share!

[raayllum]

One of the things that craziest to me about Aaravos is in 5x09 is how much his own overconfidence in Claudia got in his way. (Whether things went the way he actually wanted/secretly planned and he was saying shit about his faith in her to mess up Viren is up in the air, but I doubt it, given his anger at Viren in the end does seem legitimate at being turned over / 'disobeyed').

Before the season came out, I wondered how Claudia as a solo mage would fare against presumably at least three combat opponents - Soren, Callum, Rayla - in addition to Ezran. It seems just the trio (+ Stella) were enough to foil her plans and leave her badly injured with heavy losses all around.

However, Claudia literally could've had the easiest walk in the park getting the prison if Aaravos had just channelled his magic through her the way he did with Viren in 2x09. He'd been nothing but a dark mage, but was able to use all six arcanum like he'd been connected all his life, Aaravos manifesting it through him seamlessly.

Aaravos can channel any (all) of his magics through his pawns by the body/soul-sharing quasi or outright possession shit. There doesn't seem to be any kind of time limit with the possession. He could've had Claudia breathe underwater in a way that couldn't be removed. He could've given her access and help through six arcanum, something the trio definitely would've had a difficult time defeating (they, to be fair, barely defeated her in the first place). Having powerful, capable pawns is useful in terms of carrying out his plans when Aaravos doesn't feel like directly intervening, but it is absolutely not necessary for them to be ultra-powerful so long as Aaravos has a hold on them. Which makes sense - if you're ultra-powerful, what do you really need him for, as a pull, as a lure? If Claudia could just save her father herself, why bother with Aaravos at all?

But it does make me curious as to where Aaravos and Claudia will go as a dynamic. In arc 1, Claudia's main 'failure' she was trying to make up for was to her dad for losing the dragon egg. Now, she's majorly failed Aaravos, but he's also failed her, and he'll have to spin it delicately (revenge wise) to keep her fully on his side now that he doesn't have a Viren carrot to dangle over her.

It also makes me think about what will happen the next time Aaravos possesses Callum, as it will, inevitably, happen. He has two arcanums down, of course, but nowhere near Aaravos' knowledge overall, and it means he'll be a particular force to be reckoned with if Aaravos is channelling all six arcanum through him. The first time, Aaravos used Callum to verbally hit his friends where it hurts; I expect the second time, it'll be a much more brutal, physically grisly manner with magic.

After all: Aaravos won't make the same mistake of overconfidence twice (at least, not until after he's free).

[molsno]

hajime hinata is such an egg. people like to say he's really masculine because he speaks very assertively by using 俺 as his first person pronoun, saying それは違うぞ instead of それは違うよ, etc but hinata is not a confident person at all and that's blatantly obvious to anyone who actually pays attention to him as a character rather than viewing him as like, a player stand-in.

having a massive inferiority complex is one of hinata's defining characteristics. he feels like a nobody due to having no talent - nothing to set him apart as unique - and his self-esteem drops considerably once komaeda reveals he never had a talent to begin with. his manner of speech is no doubt a cover for his deep insecurities. he's so deeply insecure that he did what he was told and gave up his entire self for a coercive operation to turn him into the height of privilege, the ultra-talented ultimate hope, izuru kamukura. in doing so, he became a hollow shell of a person, an emotionless husk who had no interest in the world, no purpose beyond what was assigned to him, no emotions, and no real personality.

finding out what became of him in the outside world, it's no surprise that anything remaining of hinata's pretense of confidence instantly melted away. he fell to despair instantly, seeing no prospect of ever being happy if he had to return to that world. this world, where he came to feel emotions, to be accepted and respected by his peers despite his lack of anything to make him unique, would completely cease to exist if he chose to activate the forced shutdown sequence. he would have to go back to being that empty, hopeless shell; a fate worse than death, as he would die without even the memory of his true self persisting.

it took speaking with nanami, who at that point was nothing more than a memory existing in his head, to make him realize that an alternative was possible, that he could create a better future with his own hands by outright refusing the limited options that other people have to offer. in a way, the scene where hinata shouts それは違うぞ！ alongside nanami reads to me as the girl inside hinata coming out to refute enoshima's assertion that she'll never be able to create a world where she can be happy.

basically, what I'm trying to say is, estrogen can save her.

[project-sekai-facts]

ight. now that wxs disband arc is (hopefully) over what do u think will their next arc about? (got inspired by that one niigo ask)

shout out to the otori brothers for outright stating what's gonna happen in the next arc.

so at the end of the event they mention that they managed to get WxS contacts with three other theatre groups. i doubt any of these will be arcland again so that probably means three new groups and new NPCs and such. i'm assuming we'll get another event for tsukasa to improve his acting and maybe he'll actually get to meet his idol who was brought up/appeared in the more recent events? maybe one of the theatre groups is the one that guy belongs to, although maybe that's a bit of a stretch since WxS is at a much lower level. nene will probably get a similar event if it's three groups. so smth like tsukasa -> rui -> nene, or maybe more spread out.

i reckon the first event will be finding their footing like MMJ had when they first started freelancing. maybe that could be a rui event actually? like it was his idea to do this so it'd make sense. i wanna know if we can get rui october unit event for the 4th year in a row. oh and we'll probably go back to wonder stage at some point and in my mind that would make a good emu event.

just something i want to happen and not necessarily something i am confident will happen: i want the group to get closer as friends and not just coworkers. they're definitely starting to become more open about their feelings with each other (see pandemonium, our happy ending), but there's still a bit of lack of closeness both emotionally and just generally. they are close friends and it's very clear but there's still a lot that they don't say out loud and they rarely do things together that aren't just for the sake of work in a story that isn't a card story or an area conversation. because a lot of the bonding that's happened has been limited to that and it's kinda annoying lol. i guess we did have close game/offline and pandemonium as events for them to do more general, not-work-related friend things but neither of those were the whole unit. give them a same dreams same colors is what i'm trying to say (which is possible because they're freelancing now which means employment comes and goes and they will have spare time on their hands).

oh and obviously there's the fact that eventually tsukasa and rui are going to have to start thinking about college and tsukasa's probably gonna have to choose between going abroad like he's mentioned he wants to do a few times before or staying in japan and obviously he'll stay in japan so we can avoid the group disbanding but that's still probably gonna be a thing although maybe not in 3rd arc that seems too soon so maybe that's a 4th arc thing.

[yuurei20]

Riddle Info Compilation part 7: Intelligence vs Common Sense(pt1)

While clearly book-smart Riddle seems to occasionally lack common sense, particularly when it comes to cooking: in addition to adding oyster sauce to the strawberry tart he bakes in Book 1 he struggles throughout the Culinary Crucible when he tries to make cabbage leaves uniform in size, weigh water for parboiling and to measure the width of mincemeat.

A chef ghost asks Riddle outright why he signed up for the course in the first place and Riddle explains that “a housewarden should be the best at both academics AND cooking,” but also, “It makes sense to get a head start on living independently.”

Riddle is met with a chopped onion for what might be the first time in his life during Culinary Crucible: He reacts with confusion when his eyes begin to water and rubs them with his hands, which makes it worse, also to his surprise.

Riddle struggles with his cabbage rolls despite memorizing the recipe and acknowledges, “Even beyond cooking, there are plenty of things in this world beyond the limited aggregate of my experience. Today was a good reminder to stay humble.”

Riddle has another cooking adventure in a vignette where he attempts to craft a soup for an ill Trey.

Lilia offers his support, giving advice such as adding four spoonfuls of soup stock per cup of water.

Riddle expresses frustration with being told that cooking involves a lot of intuition, and doubts that good food can come from pure instinct.

Lilia recommends ingredients such as strawberry tarts, bananas and yogurt as “the more nutrients you put in, the faster he’ll recover.” Seeing nothing strange about this logic, Riddle says, “Then a heavy hand would be wise here.”

Riddle says he “let thoughts of Trey” guide his intuition with the soup, but it is “giving off a rather…pungent odor.”

Azul explains Riddle’s curious gap between academic performance and logic with, “Riddle’s always been better at written exams than applied ones.”

We also see that Riddle is completely ignorant to popular trends, though Cater defends Riddle when Ace expresses surprise, saying that Riddle has simply never cared.

When Ace tries to explain Cater’s phone case design Riddle refuses to listen, insisting that he has “never once been inconvenienced by this gap in knowledge!”

Later, Riddle reflects that it might not hurt to look into the trend.

[chaifootsteps]

I am one of those people who did not want to call Miss Medrano a terrible person. Yes, we have a bunch of different material in our hands about her attitude towards others, how she constantly sees herself as a victim, what a narcissist she is, but I WANTED to believe that things were taken out of context, that in real life she might not actually an angel in the flesh, but at least a pleasant person to talk to (and still a terrible creator. For me personally, she has become an image of the WORST things I can see in modern animation). However, everything has a limit. And the situation with Salem and Viv's recent tweet has already pissed me off.

We need to listen to victims of violence, but if they talk about Viv or someone from her team, like that fucking pervert Raph, then everything they say is a lie, provocation and hate? And if you also support victims of violence or simply do not throw rotten tomatoes at them, then you are also a hater and a bastard who DARE to think badly of Medrano? And, of course, we should just close our eyes to the bunch of screenshots, rumors and stories that have been accumulating around Vivienne for YEARS. And I may say something stupid, but there cannot be so many scandals surrounding an innocent person. I can still believe that some stories are embellished or exaggerated, but once is an accident, two times is a coincidence, and the third time is a pattern.

And I have a question for Viv and her team. They, of course, won’t see this or will simply not care, but still: aren’t you ashamed of your behavior? You constantly make excuses, engage in outright self-admiration (Viv's recent like about the success of TADC, for example), outright lie, shit on others and allow your crazy fan base to harass, insult and threaten ANYONE who even slightly disagrees with you . Do you really like that the Hellaverse fanbase is despised and hated by everyone around you? And no, I'm not exaggerating. In many other fandoms, it is Vivienne's fandom that is considered crap and the most glaring example of what the audience is a mirror of their favorite artists.

And these people are followed by millions? Are they an example for someone? These pathetic narcissists who just happened to be popular? I really don't want to belittle other people's achievements (especially poor animators), but after all these behind-the-scenes stories, I no longer have any sympathy or respect for them.

That's one of the crazy, awful things about it, isn't it? So many people really did do everything in their power to give Vivzie the benefit of the doubt -- hell, I even did it for a long time -- and then there comes a moment when you realize no, she really is that bad. She's worse.

She's got her nutcase fanbase, but she also hijacks something fundamentally good in people, the part that wants to believe in underdog success stories (also a lie on Vivzie's part, she was always rich as hell) and defend those who are being kicked around. And that's so fucked up.

[incarnadinedreams]

Jiang Cheng was silent, as though he had finally become calmer. Wei WuXian put his hand on his shoulder again, "In the future, you'll be the sect leader, and I'll be your subordinate, like your father and my father. So what if the GusuLan Sect has its Two Jades? The Yunmeng Jiang Sect will have its Two Prides! So, shut up. Who said that you don't deserve to be the sect leader? Nobody can say this, even you can't either. If you do you're looking for a beating."

Jiang Cheng snorted, "You see how you are right now? Who can you beat up?"

-- Ch. 56, ExR translation

I've seen the take around that Wei Wuxian never broke any promises to Jiang Cheng, because in the 'Twin Heroes of Yunmeng' promise he said they would be like their fathers. Since Wei Changze left Yunmeng, then Wei Wuxian was never intending to actually be Jiang Cheng's right-hand man, and therefore no broken promises. Easy peasy.

And I personally just can't get behind that interpretation. I do think that in a more meta sense the parallel is interesting; that's part of the whole tragic irony of the situation. And that only works if Wei Wuxian didn't mean it that way, but it ended up becoming true anyway, in the most horrible and unpleasant ways. And I do think there can be some interesting exploration of the way promises can mean different things to different people without either of them really being wrong.

But I feel like it's doing a huge disservice to Wei Wuxian's character to run with the take that he actually meant to have some sort of loophole in there. It's very much a miss the forest for the trees kind of thing. Sure, you've successfully gotten him out of one broken promise... but what would that mean, if it were true?

I just don't think the line about their fathers was some sort of tricksy, cunning thing he inserted as a gotcha. He wasn't trying to legalese his way out of it, he wasn't trying to pull one over on Jiang Cheng. Viewing it that way kind of destroys what was, for me, one of the most emotionally poignant moments of the novel. If it were the case, he'd be rather shallow and manipulative for it, and that just doesn't resonate with me. Not to mention it doesn't make much sense to carefully insert a loophole into a promise he never needed to make in the first place.

As a Yunmeng Shuangjie Enjoyer, for me this scene is like the valiant last stand of innocence. Up to this point, our plucky protagonist and friends have escaped every trial largely unscathed. The comically evil villain has been resoundingly humiliated (for now), the big angry turtle of slaughter has been slaughtered, everyone made it home in one piece after a romantic(?) cave interlude, more or less. It was difficult, sure, but our heroes prevailed in the end. A few injuries, some scars, but nothing really bad - yet.

There's drama, there's strife, but at this point it's of a more personal, domestic nature: Jiang Cheng's sadness at what he feels is his father's dislike, his sense of inadequacy and being overlooked, his mother's scolding, the stress and discord within the household regarding rumors and Wei Wuxian's ambiguous role, and the pain of being pulled in between his parents. Painful, to be sure, just very limited in scope compared to what we know is coming.

But in the midst of that turmoil, this scene is Wei Wuxian giving Jiang Cheng hope for a future where he can forge his own path. That they can create something different but wonderful, with Wei Wuxian by his side, where it doesn't matter what rumors are going around or what mistakes their parents have made. It's an 'us against the world' moment; it's an outright declaration of a bond that had been, as far as we know, largely unspoken and assumed up to this point.

Whatever type of bond you read into them having, it solidifies something between them. It's putting into words his confidence in Jiang Cheng's potential when he believes his father doubts him. This is one of the few ways he is allowed to express unwavering support for Jiang Cheng in a sea of ambiguous ties and fraught relationships.

It's supposed to be tragic. It's supposed to be the shining light that gets snuffed out by the darkness and horrors that follow. The tragedy is that promises earnestly made sometimes must be broken, no matter how good the intentions were when they were made. The tragedy is that it's the enormity of their sacrifices for each other that, unknowingly, drive them apart. It's the secrets they keep to spare one another, it's the slow building of a death-spiral of conflicting priorities and duties, it's the very roles the promise was meant to bridge the gap between that makes this promise untenable, impossible to keep.

And I believe that's why we see, so much later, that this promise is the crux of Jiang Cheng's breakdown at Guanyin Temple, even after everything else that had happened.

Jiang Cheng cried soundlessly, but tears had already streaked across his face. To cry in such an unsightly way in front of others was almost impossible for him in the past. But every single moment that passed from now on, as long as the golden core remained in his body, as long as it could still revolve, he'd forever remember this feeling.

He choked, "... You said I'd be the sect leader and you'd be my subordinate, you said you'd help me your whole life, you said you'd never betray the YunmengJiang Sect... You said so yourself."

"..." After a moment of silence, Wei WuXian replied, "I'm sorry. I broke my promise."

-- Ch. 102

I believe what Jiang Cheng is really grieving is that bright-eyed, optimistic vision of the future they'd shared in that moment, us against the world, together, and there are so few ways they're allowed to express the weight of everything they mean to each other that he can only cling to a promise that represents the distillation of their ties to one another.

And if Wei Wuxian never really meant any of it, if he'd been planning an out from the beginning, if he'd never shared the dream too, that would just be kinda shitty and boring instead of compellingly tragic.

[dailycharacteroption]

Roleplaying Races 15: Munavri

(art by Catilus on DeviantArt)

On Monday we looked at the caligni, and now it’s time to look at one final example of Azlanti survivors that were changed by their exodus. However, unlike many such survivors, the muavri were not corrupted or degenerated by the transformation, and are a rare bastion of good and righteousness in the often cutthroat world that is the Darklands.

Descended from Azlanti sailors that were ambushed and abducted by the alghollthu in the wake of Earthfall, they were dragged down into the depths along the Braid, a supernatural waterspout that connects the Arcadian Ocean of the surface to the Sightless Sea in the Orv layer of the Darklands below.

Though no doubt the alghollthu had sinister plans for these abductees, perhaps planning on turning them into something similar to the azarketi gillmen, these Azlanti escaped and made use of their skill as sailors to ply the dark ocean aboard violet-sailed vessels made from carved ivory, where they settled on floating islands of a strange, jade-like substance.

This jade is highly psychically reactive, which made it unbearable for the alghollthu and many of their minions to approach, making it a sanctuary for these survivors. Over the generations, they adapted to the darkness and constant psychic power around them, becoming powerful and canny mystics in their own right as they prove a nearly inassailable nuisance to drow, alghollthu, urdefhans, and other villainous cultures in the depths.

Munavri look mostly human of Azlanti ethnicity, but their skin and hair is bleached of all color, making them seem at first glance to be albino. What’s more, their eyes radiate light from their natural psychic power. They typically wear jade armor chipped form the very gemstones they reside on, as well as leathers tanned from subterranean beasts.

It’s no exaggeration to say that the munavri represent the best of response to hardship a society can have, forging close-knit communities that are there for each other and treat each other like family beyond the bonds of blood, and forgoing brutality for carefully organized resolution of conflicts between their own. They also typically worship the various empyreal lords, with three spiritual leaders, each representing the empyreal lords of a particular celestial clade. Meanwhile, large family units are led by a protector-marshal that governs in the best interest of their people. That’s not to say that there are not dissenters or no room for individuality, but they often do focus on community first and foremost. Additionally, they treat friendly outsiders very well, and are eager to hear about the world outside their lightless nautical realm, especially the surface world.

As beings descended directly from the incredibly hale and brilliant Azlanti, the Munavri boast superior minds and bodies (particularly agility) with the exception of their strength, which is on the weaker side.

They also possess exceptionally long-ranged night-sight as well.

This, however, is coupled with a sensitivity to bright light.

Imbued with psychic magic, munavri have a knack for reading the psychic echoes on objects in particular, gleaning information from them.

They are able to take this even further, however, by reading the memories of how the object was used, allowing them to use unfamiliar weapons and tools with a surprising level of competence for a short while.

Like many Darklands residents, they also possess a bit of innate spell resistance as well, making them hard to affect with hostile magic.

Their psychic abilities also grant them telepathy, though it is limited to communication with other munavri only.

With having a positive bonus to every single stat except for strength, munavri characters can literally excel at any class or archetype combination, even strength-based stuff like barbarians with a little work. Which… will give a lot of GMs pause, and I can imagine many straight-up banning the ancestry outright because of that, or at least restricting it to games where everyone is playing something similarly powerful or higher-level games where such traits are less of an issue. If you do get to play one, consider that nautical options are appropriate for their life on a sunless sea, as well as various classes and archetypes that grant psychic magic as well. But again, they can excel in pretty much any field, so feel free to pick any class combination you like!

[katzkinder]

Misdirection

Doing some rereading to get back into the swing of things, and the chapter I happened to start with immediately gave me some very interesting, juicy pieces

From Volume 8, chapter 38, "The Method Called Me"

This sequence of panels caught my attention immediately because initially my first reaction was to go "Lily you FUCKING liar" (understandable lel)

But then Mahiru's portion happened on the next page and I realized that Lily never actually said what question Tsubaki asked him. Mahiru merely assumes he knows what it was, and through him, we readers are ALSO certain that the question Lily was asked was, of course, the same one posed to him and Kuro.

And then immediately after this, while Misono is wracking his brain about how it should have been impossible for Tsubaki to make the journey from between the Alicein grounds and the hotel in such a short period of time, Tetsu interrupts his thoughts to ask Tsubaki "Do you know what happened to Hugh?"

And, well

Tsubaki misleads him. Never does he actually SAY that that is Hugh, as other characters later realize when the trick is revealed. A trick which is very similar, in practice, to the one Belkia used to get Hugh away from them in the first place. I'm going to place the whole next page, both because I find the effects given to the page, what with its smoke and obscuring scribbles (the attention here is flawless btw. Reading back over this scene it's riddled with such clear visual clues that the whole conversation is cluttered and obscured with tricks befitting Tsubaki's animal form, a kitsune, and that we the readers should have been more wary)

The other reason I'm sharing the whole page is because L M A O Strike is the funniest person on earth y'all, they must have been giggling and heehee'ing SO MUCH when putting this scene together. I would not have the patience to hold off on revealing the joke for as long as they did god bless. The joke, of course, being that Hugh and Tetsu's relationship is one built entirely on lies.

The way Tsubaki directs the conversation is also pretty masterful, as every doubt Misono raises is quickly dealt with, reassuring the readers that every seeming mystery we're being presented with has an adequate explanation at hand. Tsubaki himself being an illusion as well is just icing on the cake.

My god though, this panel of the fox obscuring Misono's vision is just mEAN knowing what we do now.

Anyway, back to what I said before, about how Tsubaki uses words in a similar way to how a magician misleads an audience to perform a vanishing act. If you've ever seen someone perform sleight of hand or seen a stage show, you'll know immediately what I'm talking about. Magicians make use of misdirection and lies of omission, of making you focus elsewhere or not telling you the whole truth, in order to perform their tricks. When an audience is hyped up with excitement and eager to watch the magician perform, they will easily follow commands, hoping to catch the moment of the "trick," or else follow along with how the magician is moving without meaning to. In a similar fashion, Tsubaki leads the conversation, not allowing the other characters to think too deeply about things in a situation that is already extremely high tension, given that he has hold of Lawless's Item.

Which brings me to the final page, and something that if not an outright lie, potentially paints a sobering picture of how Tsubaki's views himself

If the only "person" who can create a Servamp is Germaine, and Tsubaki intends to revive him, then either Germaine will not be brought back as a Servamp, or...

Tsubaki doesn't see himself as a "person".

This view of his seems to be further reinforced with how he speaks in volume 15, chapter 87, "If you are going to leave me behind"

When he speaks of Servamps and their distance limit, he predicates his words with "To the instruments in this world, to the systems" and speaks of how he believes the distance limit is a prayer to never be apart again. Earlier in the chapter, he also claims that he believes his purpose for existing, the reason he was created, is to make Kuro "complete."

He wasn't born for himself, but for the sake of another.

Doesn't that just... Sound too sad?