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welcomingdisaster · 6 months ago

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Rec List: Favorite Fics of the Year!

hey hey hey! here are my favorite fics that I read this year. This is not an all-encompassing list, and I know I am missing some fics I read and loved. I always appreciate more fics recs. That said, here are some things that really stuck with me this year!

before the black gate by TheChasm ( @thelordofgifs)

Lôminzil would mark her, if she could: leave the indentations of her fingers on Abraphêl’s hips and thighs and kiss-bruises on her neck, carve her name into Abraphêl’s flawless skin so that all who set eyes upon her might know to whom she belongs.

Lôminzil does not much like her job as one of Tar-Míriel's attendants, but there are consolations. Her secret work spying on the Queen for Ar-Pharazôn, for one: and Abraphêl, too.

This list in in particular order, but I am putting this one first because I believe it is CRIMINALLY underrated. The odds are stacked against it as a femslash, original character, Numenor centric fic but listen it is SO good. The tragedy and inevitability is SO peak Silmarillion to me. The character work is delicate and intense at once. It is both soft and violent at the same time. It makes me feral. It makes me cry. Please read it.

Also, because I feel weird recc'ing ghosti without including any M&M fics (which are all excellent!) - her little one shot, crowns and other trinkets, somehow stuck with me a lot. It's quiet and understated and just catches something about the characters to me.

A Common Chord by sallysavestheday ( @sallysavestheday)

I loved him first, Maglor liked to tell himself. Fingon and Maglor and Maedhros, loving.

Just so obsessed with this dynamic. Sally's language is as always so creative and vivid and good to read; the characters in this are so vivid and breathing. This fic is warm and cold at once. Please read it.

Silence Stretched as a Shadow Between the Trees by Melesta ( @melestasflight)

This is what Maedhros wanted all along, this is why he selfishly stole Fingon from his duties and brought him here at the edges of Beleriand. Because here, there are no houses or banners, no wars to fight, no rules of propriety. They are not the eldest sons of great fathers, nor lords of mighty kingdoms. To the forest and its cycle, they are no more worthy than the mayflies that emerge and die within a single turning of the Sun.

A late entry, published a few days ago; but I've already read it twice, so I think it has to count. I'm always a sucker for art writing and location writing, and this has both in droves. Just really beautiful writing and great character work; this is kind of cheating as a compliment to Melesta, but what a wonderful wonderful Fingon. Aurgh. Love the osanwë work in this as well.

I was also going to include Red by the same author, but I think I actually read it last year. Go read it anyways.

Oh everybody waits so long by polutropos ( @polutrope)

In the summer of 2017, Fingon is called to the scene of hit-and-run while on duty. He's shocked to discover the victim is Maedhros, his ex-boyfriend he hasn't spoken to in two years. Over the next six months, they stumble and fumble their way back to each other.

I am jealous of this fic's ability to render the Silmarillion believably in a totally different world. It takes a lot of writing chops and a lot of brain juice to do an AU this different, and boy do you pull it off. This is emotional, intense, and quite often funny. I think about it a lot.

The ficlet collection in this universe is also so so fun!

On the same note - Hearken Still Unsated by the same author.

“For how many years have we two listened for the echoes of the Music of Creation in the oceans and lakes and rivers? And yet we will never be sated. Like the water in which they say it lives, the Song does not rest but ever moves and changes. It may pool in a great lake for an age and then pour down into the Sea in another. It fills whatever spaces it can and flows by whatever paths most easily open before it.”

When the Noldor return to Middle-earth to make war on Morgoth, only rumours reach Menegroth of their reasons for coming, but Doriath's minstrel experiences their loss and longing through his connection to Music and the gift of his Queen. Years later, he is sent to the Feast of Reuniting and meets the Elf whose grief he felt. A story about the Eldar returning home, their connection to the land and to each other, and their relationship to Music and fate, love and free will.

Not a fic from 2024, but I did read it in 2024. One of the most lovingly-crafted, carefully made fics I've read. No word is out of place. Foundational to the ship. Check it out.

arrangement of flute and harp by jouissant ( @jouissants)

“What sort of man leaves his lover abed with his brother? Fingon, hast thou ever heard of such a thing?”

Incredibly tasty character dynamics in a lot of ways. The writing is delicious and vivid and extremely witty at the same time. I love the character voices in this most of all - so sharp and well-defined, fitting for the ebb and flow of the fic. The way the characters are intertwined and tangled up together is so striking. And the smut was really hot, which goes without saying for the author.

Mockingbird by littlewhitemouse @littlewhitemouseagain

One of his captains had asked him, “Maglor, do you not sleep beside with your brother when visiting him?” and Maglor had replied, “I do, as it makes it easier for me to sleep,” and his captain had said, “Which is good, because you do not usually sleep,” and Maglor had said, “I do not.” But his captain had then asked, “but doesn’t Prince Fingon also bed with him, on account of their completely secret and frankly astounding incestuous affair that no one knows about (and I certainly don’t myself)?” and Maglor had replied, “Yes, and that makes it harder to sleep.” On account of that being a full and complete explanation, Maglor’s captain had said, “Ah,” and that was the end of that conversation.

This caught me from the absolutely-hilarious description and kept me for each word. You can probably tell this is a very funny fic, but it is also an extremely thoughtful and earnest fic, an incredible Maglor character exploration, and a gorgeous rendering of the world and customs and clothing and jewelry and AHHH. Love this fic. Frequent re-read.

In Memory to Dwell by EilinelsGhost ( @eilinelsghost)

"I was healed, they told me. As ready as a soul could be." Bitterness laced through Finrod's words and he drew the robe close about him once more. "In what way is this readiness? Is there no longer healing in Námo’s halls?"

Immediately after his reembodiment, Finrod shuts himself within his chambers and allows none but his mother to come near. When Eärwen is called away, Finarfin must navigate his grief at this new separation and both father and son wrangle together with the toll the First Age has left upon them.

Really thoughtful and carefully crafted examination of elven culture, disability, reembodiment. The author is extremely precise with her language and her characterization; the little details in the text really make this fic very striking and real. I loved how this balanced the family dynamic (and Finarfin's longing for his son as a child again) against the adult separation. Bittersweet in the best way.

And a lot of philosophy, which is suitable for Finrod, ha.

Finrod/Sauron One Thousand Nights Esque AU by am_fae @meadowlarkx

In which Finrod does not die at Tol-in-Gaurhoth, but begins an extended game of wills as Sauron's captive. Mairon is intrigued by the mysterious Elf singer. That's all there is to it.

Cheating by posting the whole series but GAUGH this is just so good. I was chomping at the bit to learn how Lark was going to wrap this one up and it SO delivered. This is tender, brutal, and so crisp. It left me wanting so many contradictory things for the characters (escape. love him. escape. stay) and dug at the core of goodness and corruption in such an interesting way. As always I am blown away by Lark's dialogue and POV writing. Just really great stuff.

And that is all, for now! I unfortunately read less fic than I wanted to this year, so I know I missed out on some gems. I'm thinking of putting together a quick list of some favorite short fics and drabbles, if I can find them (I have lost more than I thought) - keep an eye out for that! And always feel free to add on to this post with your own recs. :)

#lena speaks #silm recs #silm fanfic #the silmarillion

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pinkshiftbites · 5 months ago

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2024 is over but not without....

December's blog post. I've honestly been spending all month trying to come up with something, anything, to write. I even stopped journaling for a couple weeks, save for the few entries I made to take notes on my astrological youtube tarot readings.

2024 was honestly... I don't quite understand it still. Yes, I am still currently sitting in that, even as I type this out, on New Years Eve, on the floor of my apartment. I have certainly grown, both as a person, and an artist. 2024 was our longest period of time at home and off-tour since before the pandemic. It bent me and broke me and tested me and stretched me and showed me that I was capable of things that scared me. Sometimes, it stretched me too far, and broke me in half - like when a friend of mine suddenly passed at the beginning of summer. I thought there would be more time, and suddenly there just wasn't. Sometimes, it presented me with opportunities that I never thought possible - like when I sang our songs to thousands of people every night opening for the largest tour we had ever done.

This year twisted my guts, over and over, and yet, time kept moving forward. Time keeps moving forward. Tonight it will be 2025, proving that time will never cease to move forward.

I gained a healthy fear of how temporary my experience on earth truly is, and everyone else's - I still fear that the things I love could be gone at any moment. What's hilarious is that this fear is absolutely true. In fact, nothing is permanent. Every song I've written this year has been part of my journey to unravel this truth. I want to be at peace within this truth, I want to move and morph and speak and heal in tandem with the movement that is always moving in nature of this truth.

If you are reading this far, thank you. I love you. Thank you for your support this year, and for making Pinkshift part of your world. Next year, we plan to guide you into a new world - one of growth, mourning, change, peace, and confidence. I cannot wait to share more of this world with you.

Until then, I have put together a list of my own favorite albums this year. Many of them were not released this year, and I did not finish this list, so I am looking forward to listeing to more next year. If you have any favorite albums this year, albums that left you obsessed - please drop them in the comments. I'll make this post available to all tiers this month. From now on- blog posts will be snack tier and playlists will be breakfast tier. Thank you.

ALBUMS I'VE LOVED IN 2024 IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

In Rainbows - Radiohead: October 2024; I listened to this album a lot during my 14 hour flight between here and India. I listened to this album because I read a Birds in Row interview where they said they were very influenced by Radiohead. Mostly becase the sound is so different I didn't expect that. But I am glad it made me give Radiohead a chance. I liked this album because each song feels like it has a unique color, vibe, groove, and identity. It inspired me in groove based structure that's primarily atmospherically driven rather than lyrically driven. Favorite song: Reckoner (I like the wet sound in this song. Reminds me of Otherside by RHCP)

Gris Klein - Birds in Row: July 2024; I listened to this record after coming back home from our shows in Germany & the UK, where we opened for Birds in Row and La Dispute in Berlin. I didn't know them at the time. When I heard them play, I was immediately inspired by the way their songs abandoned the typical Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus structure that I felt so chained to at the time. Pinkshift had just started writing songs together again for LP2 right before that tour, and structure was my biggest creative block. I felt that the typical verse/chorus structure was really diluting the new music we were writing, but we didn't know where to go from there. Watching BIR, I was very inspired by how every song felt like a feeling, and how those emotions built themselves up through the songs. Plus, the lyrics were so punk - they were talking about real shit, real issues, and the way they presented them was so moving. Their lyrics were cathartic, well written, poetic, and meaningful. Their record has inspired me (and the rest of the band) a lot and put us back into a creative flow with our own art. Favorite Song: Noah & Cathedrals

When The Pawn... - Fiona Apple: February 2024; I really got into this album early in the year. It was my go-to album for a long drive or flight. I have a memory of going ot our old practice space and cleaning it out, sitting on the drum kit, and trying to play along with this record. (I don't play drums). I got pretty into it and I remember it being fun. Favorite Song: Love Ridden

Empathogen - WILLOW: May 2024; I got super into this record when it came out this year. I felt like the themes of nature and magic and self realization were the themes that I was writing about myself in my art, but I hadn't yet heard a modern artist speak to those feelings in the way that she did. I really related to this album. It was great timing for me. I kept wanting to scream from the rooftops that I was writing songs about the same things! I really felt at peace when flipping this on, I feel like I got to know this record really well. The instrumentals and melodies were also interesting and captivating. Listening inspired me to wish more about what I could create, and I carried those small wishes into my own writing. Favorite Song: Symptom of Life

BRAT - Charli XCX: June 2024; I really loved this album pretty much the day it dropped. I remember listening to in full and immediately sending it to an old friend I had recently reconnected with. (girl, so confusing coded). Then after like a week or two, the album blew up and it was suddenly everywhere, and everyone was having a "BRAT summer". The album itself was such a pick-me-up, lyrically very real and explored stuff about growing up that I related to. It was so danceable & dynamic. It brought up an undercurrent of club that I was hearing at all the best clubs and parties in Baltimore and Berlin, and immortalized it. Favorite song: Von Dutch

So.... to be continued, this is getting pretty long <3 I'll come back to ya in January with the second half of this list. See you in 2025!!

December's blog post. For just $5/month, you can buy me a cup of coffee through patreon, and have access to exclusive material every month. Cheers <3

#blog #new years #reflective #pinkshift #artists on tumblr #words #patreon #musicians on tumblr

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gunkbaby · 1 year ago

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Do you have any tips for writing Shuu?

This is the best ask I’ve ever had thank you anon!!! I am honoured to have been asked this, sorry it took me so long to answer, I was getting my thoughts in order! I have a few general tips!! Idk how useful they’ll be tho! :P (this is very long but i have tried to make myself as concise as possible…sorry anon…bear in mind this is all my opinion!)

Shuu, is dreadfully mischaracterised. So it’s tricky, especially because it depends on what exactly ur writing. If ur using headcanons that drastically change him anyway, then the rules are looser ofc, but if as close to canon is the aim, then I would take all fanon Shuu with a grain of salt. Not a slight to anyone at all, but I find different people interpret the character really differently, and I don’t agree with most of it (especially anything pre-2018), so I don’t interact with fanon, especially when writing. Idk what’s currently fanon tho, maybe it’s real af!

A very general tip but it cannot be understated with Shuu - always refer to canon. I have a notebook where I make notes of things I have noticed in his canon appearances, notes from the wiki, the light novels, films, everything. I always cross-reference when planning, and adjust my plot accordingly, during the writing stage, so I can alter my writing process, and upon editing/re-drafts, which I find is where Shuu really becomes himself. I would say write him as best as you can in a first draft, and allow yourself time to redraft and fine tune him afterwards. :)

Another tip for general character writing is to write diary entries from that character’s POV - regardless of whether that is the ultimate protagonist or not - this helps get inside their head. Shuu’s blog entries are helpful starting points.

So, some things to avoid (note: i haven’t read fic in years, so this isn’t in reference to any writer/fic in particular, just things I did notice/have noticed that i dislike when I see him characterised.)

I used to see a lot of flanderisation with Shuu. People really overestimate the amount of French he uses, so I guess a tip there is to limit that - or half the amount you think is enough. You can always add it in later if it is too little. He obviously does use it, but it’s not to the point I’ve seen. Also remember that Shuu doesn’t just speak French - he speaks Italian and English too! (Ik he speaks German, but this only comes up once. Unless ur writing a fic with Kanae I would say it’s less important). A good starting point for adding French/Italian/English to his dialogue/inner monologue would be to look at a list of common francophones, Latin phrases, or older English turn of phrase (not modern Bri’ish, shuu is not a roadman). If I find a list I will add some links 4 u. :)

With regard to general speech/train of thought, try use a wide vocabulary of colourful adjectives - words that are maybe rare or perhaps too fancy for normal conversation. I read a lot, so if I find a new fancy word I write it down. Normally this ends up going to Shuu’s passages in my work :) (I think a great example of this was when I read A Certain Hunger - the protagonist was a food critic, so she was very helpful with colourful language in relation to food!) I also think imagining his anime VAs saying any dialogue really helps me check dialogue too! Food is worth mentioning too, obviously, I think a Shuu-specific tip is to use terms that could be food-related in otherwise unrelated actions - one can devour a book, salivate in anticipation, or go out for a delicious walk! That kind of thing. Don’t be afraid to make it a little silly. Shuu is very fun to write, so have fun! The key is just to toe the line between silly and fun, to caricature. I think if you intend to write him properly, then you inherently sort of avoid that tho.

A thing that seems random but that I used to see constantly in fanon Shuu was him swearing a lot. Off the top of my head, Shuu properly swears once in Tokyo Ghoul - depends on the translation. He also says damn/damned a few times. That’s about as much as I ever write him saying. Again, I would use more colourful language to express his anger or strong emotions. Thinking to him slagging off Rize - that sort of posh-boy anger. You could probably use swearing very sparingly to pack a comedic punch. He doesn’t swear flippantly, that’s very important imo.

Shuu’s motivations are really important. I’ve seen him written as this sort of caricature so many times. People often refer to Shuu as this sort of narcissistic creep - but I think that’s a mischaracterisation. I think he’s vain, but I think that his vanity and pride is covering up some repressed guilt about what he has to eat - his earliest documented interaction with food is that of guilt. Shuu sees himself not as some kind of monster - but as very strong predator. I think he’s more matter-of-fact than people initially realise. He views the world as dog-eat-dog. He’s hunting Kaneki because he is predator - not in the sense of a creep, but as a lion. His justification for his existence is merciless in that fact - man is not typically sympathetic to the hens in batteries, served pre-plucked en mass in a Tescos, but Shuu, who hunts his prey properly, as a true animal should, is supposed to believe he is lesser than them. I think that makes him much more understanding. I think that’s why other ghouls also fail to understand him, because though he pretends to be better, more civilised, he has a very savage mindset. (Sorry. Long Character analysis there, remember what I said about taking fanon with salt earlier?). :p)

TLDR: I think people think Shuu leans far more into a ‘villain’ role than he actually does. An animal is an animal. I wrote a whole load of paragraphs about his character on Instagram a while ago. I will try and rewrite them and post them here if they would be helpful. (Again, all just my opinion)

In regards to Shuu’s obsession with Kaneki - if this is what you’re writing - this isn’t something I’ve ever written (sorry!) but I have written a similar relationship with him and an oc, and I also have BPD (shocking!), so I can relate to this kind of thing…Kind of. I’ve never wanted to eat anyone! I find expressing this kind of obsession very difficult to verbalise - it’s like, full of over-idealisation. You get so swept up in the idea of someone, you forget they’re a flawed human being who you actually might not know as much as you’d like. And when that idealisation inevitably implodes, it’s very devastating. Shuu’s depression and anorexia after ‘losing’ Kaneki, is something I heavily relate to. It might be worth examining what other people with similar conditions have said about this kind of obsession in particular (in bpd we refer to it as having ‘favourite people’) - im not saying Shuu has BPD, I’m simply saying that looking into real life examples for similar kinds of things, in ways that are expressed by people much wiser than me. :) I think it’s important to have empathy for people like this when writing them, because we do exist out here! Having empathy for Shuu when writing is very important, imo.

I think with his relationships, it’s key to remember that Shuu does not understand what he is feeling. He does not understand that he actually genuinely likes Kaneki and enjoys his company, or Hinami’s company, or Hori. This is despite him going out of his way to comfort them, lend them books, buy them gifts, and (importantly) flowers - which Shuu says he links directly with feelings of happiness. People have said this is creepy, but I think this is wrong. Shuu does not understand how relationships work, but he understands that material objects can make people happy. I think people viewing Shuu’s exchange of gifts as something impure are kind of missing the point - understandable if you’ve only read TG and not :re, tbf.

This is just my opinion, so listen liberally, but considering Shuu refers to his actual friends as pets - I think it’s a somewhat reasonable assumption to make that Shuu’s only relationships outside of his home have been with animals or plants. I write Shuu’s relationships as if he were interacting with animals. With :re based stories this is a little different, but you can generally use the same rule. Referring to my earlier point about Shuu viewing himself as an animal - he probably doesn’t think this perspective is as offensive as it might be.

****

I think this is everything off the top of my head. In general, it all comes back to referring to canon, that’s your main thing. Thinking about, and analysing the character in your own way, and coming to your own conclusions. You can utilise other people’s ideas- as long as it’s not offensive, I don’t think it’s so bad, but I try not to. Also, having empathy for the character and taking the time to get to know him. Sometimes I just listen to what Shuu is telling me - if a story arc is too difficult to write, maybe it just isn’t his! Sorry for rambling so much - was this even helpful at all? I feel like I have simply waffled!

Just a few notes: I have written/am writing Shuu at stages Tokyo Ghoul does not document (when he is19/20, and after the end of :Re at age 30+). So most of my work is my estimation of where he might be.

Bear in mind I also haven’t posted anything in a loooong time so none of this has been subject to any criticism aside from my own! I can post some extracts of my current work if it would be helpful. I can also post some pages from my Shuu notebook if you need inspiration, or my instagram analyses, or whatever might help! Feel free to send more asks if needed too! As you can see I like to talk!!!

i hope this was semi-helpful!!!! thank you anon!!! This was such a lovely ask, thank you, merci beaucoup!!! Bisous!!! <3

#Tysm for this wonderful ask anon!#I have spent so long thinking about it!#I hope this is at least…coherent? Helpful?#Sorry.#but thank youuuu!#Feel free to add onto this if anyone has useful tips in the reblogs!!!#I feel like i am so useless for someone who calls themselves a shuu fic writer :p #Bisous!#Asks #shuucore #shuu tsukiyama #gunk #tg gunk #tokyo ghoul

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gairofkami · 10 months ago

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Magia day news translation (with google translate) :

"Magia Day 2024" event with an audience to be held! It has been decided that "Magia Day 2024" will be held with an audience.

We will bring you the latest information on "Puella Magi Madoka Magica Magia Exedra" with a stellar cast of guests. Details are as follows.

[Summary] ◆Event title: "Magia Day 2024" ◆Cast: Akari Komiyama (role: Namae), Aoi Yuki (role: Kaname Madoka), Kaori Mizuhashi (role: Tomoe Mami), Eri Kitamura (role: Miki Sayaka), Ai Nonaka (role: Sakura Kyoko), Emiri Kato (role: Kyubey), Momo Asakura (role: Tamaki Iroha), Sora Amamiya (role: Nanami Yachiyo), Shiina Natsukawa (role: Yui Tsuruno) MC: Haruka Mori ※Titles omitted, in no particular order ◆Date and time: Sunday, August 25, 2024, doors open at 16:45, performance begins at 17:30 ※Doors and performance times may change due to circumstances. ◆Ticket price: All seats reserved ￥3,000 (tax included) ◆Venue: Yurakucho Asahi Hall ◆Inquiries regarding the performance: Hot Stuff Promotion 050-5211-6077 (Weekdays 12:00-18:00) ◆Inquiries regarding tickets: ePlus FAQ https://support-qa.eplus.jp/ (PC and smartphone compatible)

[Ticket advance lottery reception]

■ Reception period: 21:00, Tuesday, July 2, 2024 to 23:59, Monday, July 15, 2024

■ Reception URL: https://eplus.jp/magia-exedra-0825/ (PC and smartphone compatible)

■ Winner notification: 13:00, Friday, July 19, 2024 -

■ Payment period (only if you win): 13:00, Friday, July 19, 2024 to 21:00, Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Registration as an e+ (eplus) member (free) is required for reception.

・Please apply at the reception-only URL above during the reception period. Applications can be made from PCs and smartphones.

If you choose to receive electronic tickets, you can only apply from smartphones.

・Up to two tickets can be applied for per person. ・This is a pre-order (lottery system). It is not first-come, first-served, so please apply at a time that is convenient for you during the application period. ・Winners and seats will be determined by lottery from among those who apply during the period, not on a first-come, first-served basis. ・Seat designation is not possible. Please check the ticket face. ・Application details can only be changed or cancelled during the application period. Please note that changes or cancellations (declining purchase) after winning will not be accepted. ・Winners must make payment within the payment period. Please note that if payment is not confirmed, your win will be invalid. ・Please set your email filter settings to receive emails from "@eplus.co.jp". ・We will also send you emails notifying you of the lottery results, but you must check the results yourself by checking "Application Status Inquiry" from the start of the result confirmation period. ・Please check the fees for payment and ticket issuance at the time of application. ・Reselling purchased tickets (including listing on online auction sites, buying and selling at prices higher than the retail price, etc.) and any attempt to do so is a violation of the contract. Please note that tickets that have been resold will be invalid and you will be denied entry.

[General sale] ■Application period: Saturday, July 27, 2024, 10:00- ■Application URL: https://eplus.jp/magia-exedra-0825/ (PC and smartphone compatible)

*You will need to register as an e+ (eplus) member (free of charge) to apply. *You can apply for up to two tickets per person. *General sale will be on a first-come, first-served basis. If the planned number of tickets is reached, applications will close. *Payment by credit card only. *Tickets will be issued from 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 20, 2024. *Please note that we will not accept any refunds, seat transfers, or complaints after purchase.

[LIVE STREAMING] This event will be streamed live on YouTube. ■Streaming date and time: Scheduled for Sunday, August 25, 2024 from 17:30 ■Streaming channel: Official YouTube channel for "Puella Magi Madoka Magica Magia Exedra" (https://www.youtube.com/@madoka_exedra) *The URL for watching the program will be announced later on the official Twitter account for "Puella Magi Madoka Magica Magia Exedra" (@madoka_exedra). *You can watch the archive for a certain period of time after the program ends. *You can watch the YouTube Live broadcast for free, but you will be responsible for any communication and packet charges for internet connection.

[ATEENTION] *The latest information on this event will be announced on the official website (https://madoka-exedra.com/) and the official X (@madoka_exedra) from time to time. *There is no cloakroom at the venue. Please note that we cannot store your luggage. *Preschool children are not allowed to enter. *If you are using a wheelchair, please contact the following office after purchasing your ticket.

Hot Stuff Promotion 050-5211-6077 (Weekdays 12:00-18:00)

*For the purpose of this performance, there will be camera equipment in the venue. In addition, there is a possibility that you may be captured on the live camera. Please be aware of this in advance.

*You will be asked to confirm your identity when you enter the venue on the day. For details, please see [About identity confirmation] below.

[About identity confirmation]

To prevent resale, we ask for your cooperation in confirming the identity of the visitor (the person who applied) and accompanying person when entering the venue.

★For those who purchased electronic tickets Go to "Sma Ticket" from the "Ticket" tab at the bottom of the ePlus app and present the admission screen and your ID to the staff.

*You will not be able to enter with a screenshot of the ticket.

*If you have purchased two electronic tickets, please distribute the tickets to your accompanying person in advance. *For details on electronic tickets, click here (https://eplus.jp/sf/guide/spticket)

★For those who purchased paper tickets Please bring your pre-issued ticket and identification.

[Prohibition on resale for profit] Tickets cannot be sold or transferred to third parties, including friends and family, for profit. The name entered at the time of application will be printed on the ticket. When purchasing, please make sure to purchase under the name of the person attending and the name of the person accompanying you. We are not responsible for any troubles related to tickets obtained by other than the official purchase method.

On the day of the performance, please be sure to bring a "ticket" with your name on it and a "photo ID" that can verify that your name is the same as the name on the ticket. If you do not bring your "ticket" or "identification", or if it is lost, stolen, or incomplete, you will be denied entry for any reason. In that case, we will not refund the ticket or cover transportation costs. Thank you for your understanding. *We will check the ID of the purchaser and accompanying person at the time of entry. Please be sure to bring your ID. *If there is a discrepancy in the confirmation, you may have to wait for a while for the confirmation.

[About ID] Please bring the ID of the purchaser and accompanying person registered at the time of application.

If you do not bring your "ticket" or "ID", or if it is lost, stolen, or incomplete, you will be denied entry for any reason.

In that case, we will not refund the ticket or cover transportation costs. Please note in advance.

*If we cannot confirm that the "purchaser" and "company registered at the time of purchase" are the same as the "attendee", or if we find that they have been resold or transferred, you will be denied entry.

*We are not responsible for any troubles related to tickets obtained through methods other than the official purchase method. *If there is a discrepancy in the confirmation, you may have to wait for a while for the confirmation. *Please note that it may be very crowded just before the start of the show due to identity verification, and you may not be able to enter the venue in time for the show, so please enter the venue early.

〇Identification accepted for admission to this show (copies/handwritten/expired/unusable items are not accepted) You can be verified with one item. ① Passport ② Driver's license ③ Student ID ④ My Number card (with photo) ⑤ Disability certificate ⑥ Residence card ⑦ Special permanent resident certificate ⑧ Basic resident registration card

*When using your My Number card as identification, please only present the front (the side with your photo). Please be careful not to present the back (the side with your personal number printed on it). Please note that the back of your My Number card will not be seen when verifying your identity. *Your personal number notification card (a paper card with your personal number printed on it and no photo) cannot be used as identification. If you do not have any of the above ① to ⑧, we will verify your identity using the following method [A] or [B]. [A]: Please bring two "official documents" [B]: Please bring one "official document" and one or more "items with your name printed on them" (you will not be allowed to enter with only one official document) One document is not acceptable. Two of the following are required for verification. [Insurance card, copy of resident's certificate, certified copy of family register, extract of family register, seal registration certificate, pension book] *Please bring all official documents in the same state as when they were officially issued. Also, resident's certificate, certified copy of family register, and extract of family register must have been issued within six months. One document is not acceptable. In addition to the above, one other official document is required for verification. [Employee ID cards, student ID cards without a photo, credit cards, cash cards, medical cards, commuter passes]

*Utility bills (electricity/water, etc.) and various mail items are not accepted, even if your name is printed on them.

We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause you, but we appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

#puella magi madoka magica #madoka magica #mahou shojo madoka magica #magia exedra

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crusherthedoctor · 2 years ago

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Get a Load of Traits - PART 1: Sonic the Hedgehog

Way back during my Tumblr infancy, I made a series by the mouthful of What Makes For A Good Incarnation, in which I listed the main noteworthy traits that I consider integral for crafting, at the very worst, a still above-average portrayal of the character in question. By "series", I meant I did exactly three of them, then forgot all about it. In the words of Moneybags, I seemed to have temporarily forgotten.

In the years since however, I've went back and forth on going back and redoing them - as well as providing entries for those who didn't get one the first time around - because shall we say, a few recent portrayals have caused me to believe they're in need of some additional points or further elaboration. So now here I am to actually do it.

For the DX: Director's Cut, and for the sake of not dragging them out too much, I've decided to keep it all thematically consistent by sticking with 9 main points per character, in terms of what I personally consider the highest priorities for each of them. These will usually not be listed in any particular order of importance or relevance unless stated otherwise, and while there may be other major traits that might not get mentioned (in which case, feel free to bring them up yourself if you see fit), this keeps things simple and focuses on the points that have the most flexibility with how much of the character they encapsulate.

It should also be noted that these posts will be made with the game portrayals in mind, because the games mark the core of the franchise, and as such, they objectively contain the purest essence of the cast. Adaptations generally like to play by their own rules, some more gratuitously and inexcusably than others, and this will inevitably crop up with certain entries. All that being said however, I'll attempt to stay focused rather than devolve into another rant about this adaptation or that adaptation, only directly referring to them if I feel it's necessary for the point being made.

So without further ado, for today's installment, we're jumping right into the main Crush 40 enthusiast himself: Sonic.

Since Sonic was one of the characters covered in the past, much of this will be retreading old ground. If you know me well though, I'm sure you'll be able to tell which of it is new or expanded upon.

He's meant to be fun.

"Psst, the mandates don't exist."

We'll start with one so easy to get that you'd have to be purposefully contemptuous of the franchise and the character to suggest otherwise: Sonic is a fun character. He's all about having fun. He looks at virtually everything, no matter how precarious, as a thrill ride first and foremost. He is perpetually filled with a carefree love for all that life has to offer, has never been shy about it, and is known to enjoy fighting the baddies as well. Nothing keeps him down.

It's a large factor into why the franchise itself commonly boasts a sense of energy and wonder. If you don't acknowledge this aspect of Sonic's character... what are you even doing here? Why are you writing for him? What character are you seeing?

But he also knows when it's time to get serious.

Oh look, Super Sonic when it still had milk left in it.

Sonic's knack for making snarky quips of debatable quality can lead some into thinking he's incapable of taking anything seriously at all. This is how we get writers who seek to humble him for it... but unfortunately for them, they're not breaking any new ground: Sonic does get down to business when the situation calls for it, and even when he's joking around with whatever villain he's currently facing, he's always got his wits sharp, never going out of his way to be sloppy. And no, this isn't limited to the one-off villains and Godzilla-type Pokemon we know and begrudgingly tolerate: he more than acknowledges the very serious threat and crimes of the deceptively jovial Eggman's actions as well.

After all, do we not recall some of the near-death situations that Eggman has found himself in upon defeat, and how Sonic usually shows no concern over whether he survives or not? Do we not recall Sonic interrogating Zor over what happened to Tails? Do we not recall what he did to the Erazor Djinn when he refused to YouTube Apologise for abusing his former lover?

Sonic takes a lot of things quite seriously. More than he tends to let on. He just also likes to have fun at the same time.

He does not loathe technology.

"You're telling me this board was made with... SCIENCE...?"

Yes, Sonic is the nature foil to Eggman's scientific scheming. It's been a constant with the franchise since its inception, all the way to modern entries like Colours. But if Sonic hated technology itself, he wouldn't be best friends with a tinkerer. Nor would he own a plane.

The series as a whole has always been sensible about the matter compared to other green aesop-spewing media of the 90's. Rather than demonize technology outright, it understood the strengths it had, and how it could be used for nature's benefit rather than its detriment. Sonic CD visualized this wonderfully, as the Good Futures were fond of showing them side-by-side, in perfect harmony, with no cost to the land's health and beauty.

So with Sonic, he doesn't oppose technology. He opposes Eggman, whose methods involve technology. If you want Sonic to preach about the evils of tech as he drops a mahogany log in the woods and scrambles for a leaf to wipe his ass with, just go on DeviantART. Or watch SatAM.

He has selfish needs, but he's not a selfish person.

"Shit, I forgot the third paragraph of my principle monologue."

Sonic knows what he wants, and that something is his freedom. He's not going to be anchored down, he's not going to live a mundane life, and he's going to adventure and explore the world and beyond for as long as he can. This goes both ways: it's further reason why he confronts oppressive sorts like Eggman, but on the other hand, it can be hard to keep up with him at times, and since Amy has a clear vision on how she would want their future lives to be like as a couple, it's no wonder Sonic hasn't shown much serious interest in his friend in that particular way.

Don't get the wrong idea though; this doesn't mean Sonic is a selfish person full stop. In part thanks to several adaptations, a common misconception with the Blue Blur is mistaking him for a pure egotist through and through, who only cares about his adrenaline-fueled ecstasy and nothing else. Cause y'know, he's firm about his needs, and he has a cocky side, therefore he's full of himself, right?

Well no, not at all: his opposition to big bad villains would surely be enough on its own to confirm that he cares about everyone else's freedom too, so long as said people aren't doing anything malicious themselves. Yes, he fights villains because it's fun to him, but he also has a genuine hatred for injustice. He doesn't think like a typical superhero, where he fights evil and saves lives because he feels he has an obligation to do so, he does it simply because he wants to. How is that not selfless?

But it's even more than that: he's proven himself to be humble in spite of his cockiness, right down to dismissing any and all formal terms for himself when others use them. Half the time he tells the people he's saved to not sweat it, and the other half, he's already bolted before they can even thank him. Sonic largely doesn't care about the fame and attention that comes with being a repeated world saviour, and in more intimate situations, he's full of compassion there too. Hell, even in Black Knight, despite initially intending to slice Merlina in half in a furious response to her betrayal, he was later willing to show empathy to her defeated self, recognizing that she was an extremist, but not like the other villains he had faced.

Also, he doesn't have a history of treating his friends and accomplices like garbage. He might not see them all that often due to his globe trotting ways ("Long time no see!"), but he clearly values each of them. Even the ones he pokes light fun at on occasion, like Knuckles and Shadow.

He's impulsive, but intelligent.

Remember when Eggman had a conch? Starline didn't.

Like any character, Sonic does indeed have faults. Sonic is a guy who, when he sets out to do something, he'll do it, no questions asked. If Sonic thinks he knows the solution to sorting everything out, then that's all there is to it. This has worked in his favor more often than not, but it can also just as easily lead to mishaps, like the moment pictured above from Lost World. His cockiness has also been taken advantage of on several occasions, like in SA2 and Unleashed. Both of those were by Eggman, by the way. Just wanted to throw that out there.

However, Sonic is not an idiot. Just because he's a speedster doesn't mean he can't think straight, and his moments of recklessness are often born out of not knowing the full story rather than blindly charging in after already knowing better. If he makes a mistake, he'll acknowledge it and attempt to rectify it as soon as possible, and if he thinks someone else has good advice, then he'll be willing to hear them out, especially if it's coming from his life-long buddy, Tails.

To put it generously, Sonic's intelligence is prone to be heavily downplayed in certain adaptations, most notably in SatAM and Prime. This is usually done for the sake of forcing him to learn a lesson that a character like him doesn't really need to learn, or to prop up another character as the brains behind his operation. Or because Hurr Hurr Vroom Vroom Character Dumb. In reality though, Sonic is actually very intelligent: certainly not a super-genius like Tails or Eggman, but he's quick to pick up on details, and experience has taught him how to optimize his speed and acrobatics effectively and gracefully, while making it look completely effortless. He's also emotionally intelligent, being able to read a room with little issue, and when placed in a new situation, it doesn't take long for him to adapt.

So Sonic is a very bright person who just so happens to occasionally make impulsive decisions, for better or for worse. This does not translate to him being a Funny Penis Man. That's a vast simplification that tends to come from people who take the archetype that describes him at face value.

He only cares about how others perceive him when it's based on deception.

"Surrounded by evil knights and a girl I've never met before... better inhale the worst cuisine they've ever seen with my goatse mouth."

To paraphrase the hedgehog himself, he doesn't mind having to play the bad guy if it's necessary to do what he thinks is right. This doesn't apply in a meta sense - WE know he's doing the right thing - but what it means is that in-universe, he understands that some people might think he's the villain due to their perspective on the situation. And he accepts that, because he doesn't care about how his true blue self is perceived by strangers one way or the other. He doesn't expect or demand the rest of the world to live by his own personal beliefs unlike some iterations, but since they're his own, he holds no shame in sticking with them personally. He can only be who he truly is, and if some people have a problem with that, then he'll just have to take it smoothly with a Winston break.

But, as proven with Shadow inadvertently framing him in SA2, he does care when it involves Shit That Isn't True. Because if you're going to judge him, it better be for stuff he's actually done, and for who he actually is. Sonic doesn't care about attention, but he does evidently care about his identity.

The real super power of teamwork.

"Because... we're Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric!"

Sonic Heroes is a game that frequently gets referenced in side-material, which is an impressive feat considering it condemned itself by dressing Metal Sonic like a wanker. Yet for some curious reason, despite all the Heroes referencing, writers have trouble remembering the entire theme of the game, because their idea of Sonic needing to learn the benefits of teamwork and friendship is... lol...? Lmao...? Dare I even say... rofl...?

Sonic is the last person on the goddamn planet who needs to learn this, and you'd know that even if you weren't familiar with Heroes. Other games have shown time and time again that he appreciates the contributions of his allies, and gives them the appropriate kudos with no shred of reluctance, all without placing himself above them in the process. And while he may not be quick to ask for help, he's usually willing to accept it when it's offered to him. Like in '06, in which he casually allowed Trunks the Hedgehog to help out despite his attempting to kill him when they last met.

Sonic knows the super power of teamwork just fine. It's in his business card. Him of all people needing to learn this aesop is a non-development, a cheap way to make it seem like the writers are doing something ~deep~ with him. Giving back something he should have had to begin with is not character development.

His thing about emotions.

"A tall girl. My weakness."

Despite his outward demeanour, Sonic has a lot of introversion deep down, what with showing himself a contemplative side on a regular basis, and most of his dialogue being fairly straight and to-the-point. As it happens, this extends to how he manages his emotions, aside from his alleged temper. Sonic is obviously not stoic, but you're not likely to see him break down in hysterics, or publicly show tears at all unless it's in private.

Some writers and artists - or should I say, certain writers and artists - consider this an abominable sin that must be rectified. They'll get it into their heads that Sonic shows no emotion at all, but never fear boys and girls, they'll fix that pronto. They'll give him the emotions that SEGA couldn't. And what do you know, the end results end up looking absolutely ridiculous, and simply not in-line with who and what our hero is. Fact of the matter is, not everyone wears their emotions on their sleeve, and not breaking out the waterworks is not the same as being an unfeeling machine altogether. As it applies to real life, it applies as well to fictional characters. Because they're not all going to be the same.

His introversion doesn't just relate to himself though. It also seeps into his visible discomfort in dealing with the complex emotions of others, especially those who can't shake themselves off as easily as he can. Notice how, during moments where someone else is upset by something he can't easily fix - such as Tails lamenting Emerl's demise, or Shahra grieving over Majin Ganondorf despite him being a terminal shithead - he often finds himself at a loss, needing a moment or two to think of what he should say or do to console them.

It's possible that, with his canonical tendency to not be all that open about whatever might be troubling him, under the belief of not wanting to make his problem their problem by extension, he might not consider himself the most well-equipped for someone else's anguish. Or maybe that's just a Game Theory. Either way, whatever awkwardness there may be on his part, he always does his best regardless, as he would for any other situation.

...unless it involves one-sided sadness. Then he's not as sympathetic.

He's an ideal.

"Fuck sake, another argument over voice actors."

Sonic is a static character. Deliberately so. He is also not meant to be a relatable character, at least not in the sense of what Twitter members who have never played a Sonic game in their life consider relatable, which is basically making the character exactly the same as them, beat for beat, including the mismatched haircut, announcing their pronouns every three sentences, and the compulsive thirst to speak to the manager.

Needless to say, this doesn't work with the fastest thing alive. Everything about Sonic - his refusal to give up, his refusal to let distress overwhelm him, his freedom to go where the wind takes him - all of it, and more, serves to make him an inspiration. And guess what? Characters are allowed to be that. Inspirational characters are just as important as relatable ones, because by seeing what they can accomplish, we can strive to become our best selves. Why would you want to take that away?

Every character, the good ones anyway, have a defined purpose. Sonic has his. Other characters in the series might be considered relatable, but that's not where Sonic himself lies. It's better to leave that occupation for others, such as those who were inspired in-universe by Sonic himself, like Tails and Amy.

------

If you understand all of these points, and if you can take to them, then I believe you should have what it takes to write a good, or even great, portrayal of Say Yes to the Dress the Hedgehog. No portrayal is going to be one-and-one with that of another, there'll always be subtle distinctions depending on the writer, but you'll be fine as long as he's not a holier-than-thou dipshit who speaks more words than The Great Gatsby.

#Get a Load of Traits #Opinion #Sonic the Hedgehog

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crepe-of-wrath · 2 years ago

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I've Actually Been Sticking to a Writing Task! (Or, the Half-Year Shouta Saturday Retrospective)

So I know this is really not a big deal for most people, but as someone who has a ton of unfinished fics, three or four original novels that are 85% completed or more, and even a few incomplete nonfiction projects, having consistently put something out, even if it was short or even if it was rushed, every Saturday for 26 weeks is actually something I'm kind of proud of.

Readership is not the only thing that keeps me writing--to my eternal shame (because I'm letting people down), some of my unfinished fics have had a lot of support and people who still ask me if I will finish them--but it certainly helps, so I first want to express my appreciation to every single person who has read any of these.

Thanks also to Horikoshi and all the awesome Aizawa fan writers and artists out there for helping me discover my muse, hahaha.

So, what are the most popular Shouta Saturday fics? Which ones are my personal favorites? Which ones didn't please and sparkle quite as much as the rest? Find out below the cut!

The Top 5 Shouta Saturday Fics (by # of notes):

Aizawa gives Reader her first real orgasm

Vigorous sex with Aizawa

Aizawa ties Reader to the bedpost

Betten Court-inspired AU I

Vigilante AU I

I think the Vox Populi has pretty good taste and discernment: these are definitely some of the best mixes of smut, heart, and a (tiny) dash of plot that I have produced since starting this.

The Bottom 5 Shouta Saturday Fics (by # of notes): (fics must be at least a month old)

5. Sensual Light Bondage 4. Aizawa indulgently comforting Reader 3. Short Older Aizawa x Older Reader 2. Courtly Love AU I 1. Hero Patrol Soft Yandere I

Again, I think the Vox Populi are pretty fair here. #5-3 were all honestly pieces I wrote under the gun because I was having writer's block or because I was in a very specific mood (#4) and they don't have the development of the more popular entries in the series. Courtly Love AU I is all set up and I haven't posted any updates to it because I'm not going to post more of the story until it is ALL done. Hero Patrol Soft Yandere I is one I actually quite like though... 😭😭😭 Speaking of that...

Crepe's Favorite Shouta Saturday Fics (aka, the list where I tell on my kinks/preferences)

Yandere Aizawa x Stockholm Syndrome Reader

Sensual Bathing with Aizawa

Hero Patrol Soft Yandere II

Betten Court-inspired AU I

Undercover AU II

Crepe's Favorite Specific Shouta Saturday Moments (not in any particular order)

Aizawa insouciantly batting away the sex toy because he's here now and so Reader doesn't need it any longer, from Betten Court-inspired AU II

Reader shivering on the rooftop as she is tightly bound in Aizawa's scarf on the rooftop, from Hero Patrol Soft Yandere I

Aizawa putting on Reader's collar and then softly running his hands down her back, from Yandere Aizawa x Stockholm Syndrome Reader

Aizawa fondling Reader's wet body in the natural bathing pool, from Aizawa takes Reader to the Beach

Aizawa pinning Reader to the wall, from Vigilante AU I

All 26 Shouta Saturday Fics so far (by # of notes as of mid-July '23) (a * indicates the fic is less than a month old as of this post)

Aizawa gives Reader her first real orgasm

Vigorous sex with Aizawa

Aizawa ties Reader to the bedpost

Betten Court-inspired AU I

Vigilante AU I

Dom Daddyzawa with (slightly) bratty Sub Reader

The First One

Hero Patrol Soft Yandere II

Very Shy Shouta

Sensual Bathing with Aizawa

Reader takes care of exhausted Aizawa

Yandere Aizawa x Stockholm Syndrome Reader

Vigilante AU II

Undercover AU I

The Really Short One

Undercover AU II

Aizawa takes care (wink wink) of Reader

Betten Court-inspired AU II *

Sensual Light Bondage

Aizawa indulgently comforting Reader

Aizawa takes Reader to the Beach *

Short Older Aizawa x Older Reader

Courtly Love AU I

Hero Patrol Soft Yandere I

Reader's HS crush on Aizawa *

Domestic Aizawa *

Again, thank you all!

#aizawa x reader #aizawa shouta #aizawa smut #aizawa fluff #bnha aizawa

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1moreff-creator · 1 year ago

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(03) David Chiem - First Trial (DRDT - Milgram AU)

IMPORTANT: This had to be reposted due to technical issues (it wasn't showing up on tags). There were two votes on the original before I privated it to avoid confusion. Please check you've voted if this disclaimer wasn't there when you first saw the post.

Another entry in this crossover AU! This time David, with his VD Nebula, and his MV Star in the Night! Wait. David… MV? David MV? Oh God no not again I don’t wanna go back no-! (/joke)

Thumbnail:

So for the content warnings, you know what, I’ll just make an universal list of all the content warnings I think the AU will need, hopefully I don’t miss anything. So, here are the universal CWs! Not all of them apply to David, but I do this to prevent sorta spoiling things in the CWs. In no particular order:

Universal CWs: Violent murder, suicide, self-harm, stabbing, strangling, poisoning, gun violence, fire, child abuse, animal death, bullying, road accidents, betrayals, transphobia, mass death, conspiracy to harm.

By the way, important note: when I originally made the Undercover post, I fucked up with his kill-shot. The victim was supposed to have one shoe off, and I forgot to mention it, oops. I’ve edited it, but just in case you hadn’t seen the edit, keep that in mind.

Voice Drama: Nebula

(Why is David so hard to write send help. Hope he's not too ooc)

*Footsteps*

Es: Hi!

David: Hello there! My name is David Chiem. A pleasure!

E: And I’m Es! Nice to meet you, David!

D: I hope you don’t mind me asking, but you are the Warden of Milgram, right?

E: That’s right! Why do you ask?

D: Well, I wanted to know if I could bring certain… issues, to your attention. After all, you are an authority figure here, from what I understand.

E: Oh! Of course! Is there something wrong? Are any of the other prisoners causing you trouble?

D: Oh, no! Nothing like that. It’s just, well. See, you’ve claimed every person here is a murderer, right?

E: That’s right, yeah.

D: Well, it seems there’s been a mistake. But don’t worry! I won’t hold it against you!

E: A mistake? What do you mean?

D: Well, how do I put this? I… have been wrongly imprisoned, you see. I’ve never… killed anyone.

E: Huh, really? You know, it’s funny. You’re not the first to say that.

D: Oh? Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were other innocent people here. But it’s fine! Mistakes can be corrected. It’s not difficult to change, if you’re willing to!

E: … Is that so? You know… you seem pretty calm about all this.

D: Hm, I guess you could say that. But it’s just who I am. See, I try to be as positive as I can, since I know there's a lot of people that don't get the privilege.

E: Really now? And you don’t think a situation like this merits being at least a little bit worried?

D: Ah, I guess so. I…am worried, deep down. But being negative can only make things worse, right? When it feels like everything else is against you, the least you can do is help yourself.

E: Hm…

D: A lot of the people here are extremely distressed, understandably so. And I have to think, well, these people might have bigger issues than me, yes? I live a pretty good life, I can look forward to returning to it whenever this all blows over. So it’s my responsibility to keep morale high!

E: Alright… And what does your life look like that you are seemingly so content with it?

D: Want to count my blessings, huh? Well, let’s see. Although I’m an only child, I have a good relationship with the rest of my family, and I have good connections with people outside of it as well. I consider myself talented, there are some things I’m quite good at! I am quite wealthy thanks to my work as a professional inspirational speaker, so I don’t have any financial concerns. In fact, one of the other murderers even recognized me!

E: Oh! What a coincidence!

D: Yeah, right? I was surprised too-

E: So why did you call them a murderer?

D: *Sputter* I’m sorry?

E: You said they were “one of the other murderers.” I thought you said you believed some of the others could have been wrongfully imprisoned? I would imagine someone as positive as you would only want to assume the very best, right?

D: *Sharp breath*

E: *Slightly smug* Not to mention, “other murderers?” I thought you hadn’t killed anyone, David.

D: Yes, that’s right! I’m- I’m sorry, it was a slip of the tongue.

E: Is that really it? You seem nervous about something.

D: *Nervous chuckle* Didn’t you tell me I should feel worried about my situation? But now you’re suddenly concerned with a bit of stress over false accusations. *Fake-sounding chuckle* You’re giving me contradictory information, Warden!

E: *Cheery* Well, at that point you hadn’t revealed you knew you were a murderer!

D: Huh? What do you mean, know I’m a murderer?

E: Well, sorry! But you are a murderer.

D: … Are you- Are you serious? I make one little mistake, just misspeak once, and you immediately assume the worst?

E: …

D: You know, things like this have happened before. People like to pretend I’ve said things I haven’t said, misinterpret actions and statements… That can hurt people, you know?

E: …

D: Just jumping to conclusions… all of you are the same. You hear only what you want to hear, and then decide I’m a murderer just because I misspoke-

E: No, that’s wrong.

D: …What?

E: I don’t think you’re a murderer just because of what you said. I just never believed you from the start. Again, sorry!

D: … Excuse me?

E: You are a prisoner in Milgram. That is all the proof I need to know your actions have led to someone’s death. Because of that, when you told me you weren’t a murderer, I knew there were only three options.

D: … Do enlighten me, please.

E: One option is that you are mistaken. Maybe you don’t consider what you did murder, when in the eyes of Milgram, it could be judged as such. The second is that you were lying to yourself, in an attempt to protect yourself from your actions.

D: …

E: The third is that you were lying to me.

D: …

E: That Freudian slip of yours was enough to tell me you do consider yourself a murderer. So you’re not mistaken, and you’re not lying to yourself. Therefore, you must have been lying to me!

D: … I see.

E: So you admit to it?

D: … Admit to it? Admit to what? Your reasoning only works if you assume this accursed prison can’t get things wrong, which is just delusional.

E: Perhaps you feel that way. Except, I know you don’t, since you consider the others murderers as well.

D: Will you just-?! *Deep breath*

E: Listen, David. I’m not mad at you. I understand your murder must have been traumatic-

D: I didn’t-

E: But lying and hiding it all isn’t going to help you here. I will find out the truth anyways, so being honest is probably your best bet!

D: Being- *Mix between a chuckle and a short wheeze* Do you even know what you’re asking me to do?

E: I don’t think I’m asking too much! Just tell me what you did and-

D: You really don’t understand anything, huh?

E: … Your eyes…

D: Oh? Are the stars gone? Yeah, they do that.

E: N-Nevermind that. What do you mean I don’t understand anything?

D: … Well. How do I put this? I can’t have you- You shouldn’t be allowed to know everything about my life, right? What gives you the right to invade my privacy? Nothing!

E: That’s unfortunate for you, then! I will find the truth, whether you like it or not.

D: … *sigh, his voice is filled with poison* You really are arrogant, huh?

E: … And you aren’t really as positive as you say, right?

D: …

E: David?

D: Ah! Apologies. It seems I was losing track of myself there. I apologize if I said something hurtful.

E: *Sputter* The stars-

D: In any case, if I may, I’ll once again state. Nothing I've ever done could be considered murder, and I wholeheartedly believe that.

E: But that's a lie.

D: Perhaps. But, you see... If you do find the truth…

E: …

D: Then you might as well just kill me on the spot!

*Machinery whirs*

E: Huh? Wait, what do you mean?

D: Oh, it seems the extraction process starts now, right? That’s unfortunate.

E: Wait, I still have questions! I just need more time!

D: Ha… well, we all want what we can’t have, I guess.

E: Huh?

D: Ah! Sorry, maybe that came off a bit depressing. In any case, I want to leave you with one last message, a quote from Shakespeare’s Othello.

E: What are you-

D: “To mourn a mischief that is past and gone is the next way to draw new mischief on.”

E: Huh?

D: "Holding grudges and focusing on the past will only lead to misfortune." It is better to focus on the future and-!

E: Are you serious?! Stop trying to convince me into not doing my job! It’s not going to work.

MonoTV: Well, it sorta is! Why are you taking so long? We’re on a schedule here.

D: *Chuckle*

E: Urgh…

E: Prisoner 03, David Chiem, sing your sins!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trial 1 Cover: Magical Girl and Chocolate by PinnochioP

(Listen I saw the chance to play into the magical girl joke and had to do it)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Music Video: Star in the Night

(By the way, I reference Chinese tally marks quite a bit, so here they are for reference. Also to clarify they are used in other countries but I'm calling them that because their origin is Chinese (from what I understand I hope I'm not getting this too wrong), I don't know if there's a better term for them, sorry)

(I also call out real books by name, which I hope isn’t too immersion breaking, but I felt it was fitting considering who we’re dealing with lol. Now the song)

[The music sounds like a pretty standard “inspirational” pop song. Think Firework by Katy Perry]

[David speaks the first few lines]

Welcome ladies, gentlemen, and everyone else! It’s the start of another wonderful day! Let us make the most of it! I hope you can trust me when I say, It will all be alright

The video starts on a shot of an empty stage, the front row seats barely visible around it. In the center stands David, who looks small in comparison to the stage. Several spotlights shine on him, his arms out beside him. He’s wearing his canon outfit (pre-CH2 EP11), as well as a white domino mask with golden highlights (the one from the thumbnail) over his eyes. He also wears a pin on his right, which looks like a pink camellia. A red dot is visible on the top left of the screen, alongside the word REC.

The camera slowly zooms in, and David puts his left hand over his chest as he continues talking. He smiles wide and bright as the opener ends, and the camera glitches.

[Now he starts singing. I’m still basing this off Firework tbh]

Waking up again, Watching the sun rise, (I) Another brand new start, Another breath of air! (II)

(I) We get a shot of David sitting up on a bed with a deep blue blanket decorated with stars. The walls are grey, but there’s a window with purple curtains in the background, which lets in sunlight. His head is off frame, but he’s reaching up towards it with his left hand. There’s a nightstand off to the left. On it we see a simple lamp, a photograph frame (the photograph is obscured), and a phone with a blue case. There’s a grey circle visible in the top left of the screen.

(II) We zoom in on the phone, the grey circle at the top right still visible. The phone screen lights up with a message.

Edward W.

Good morning. Remember we signed an agreement for an advertisement with…

After that message arrives, David’s hand appears on screen and grabs the phone.

Burning ever bright, the passion for your life. (I) Don’t ever put it down, And hope will never drown! (II)

(I) We’re back at the stage, the same scene as before, but now we’re looking at David’s back. The seats for the audience are visible, and on them sit a bunch of grey figures with no discernible features. The circle at the top left is red again, and once more the REC word appears next to it.

(II) Grey circle again, as we switch to a scene with a pure white background. A hand with the following bracelet appears from the top right, holding the white domino mask.

(Please pretend that's not the shittiest image ever made)

Another, smaller hand appears from the bottom left, grabbing the mask and taking it off screen.

[Pre-chorus, the instrumental builds]

See a quasar that now spins Emitting hope, emitting dreams! (I) The center, truly irrelevant When the light is all we see! So- (II)

(I) Grey circle. Back to a front-facing shot of David, who is holding the mask with his right hand. The shot starts with the mask covering the screen, but David swiftly brings the mask closer to him. His eyes lack stars. His expression is neutral-to-dead inside, and he looks down at the mask for a few seconds.

(II) He takes a breath. Then, he brings his head down at the same time he brings the mask up, covering his face with his hand. He holds that position for a moment, and as the song says “light”, spotlights begin shining on him. At the same time, the circle turns red with REC again. When the “so” plays, David brings his hand up and we zoom in as he points to the sky.

[Chorus!]

Tally up the good things like dots in the sky! (I) You’ll find there’s always hope if you’re willing to try! (II) And even when you feel that you’re lost in the dark, (III) Then I offer my advice, allow me in your heart And then let me be your star in the night! (IV)

(I) Thumbnail image, except the tally symbols start off as yellow dots that look like stars before turning into the tally symbols we see in said image.

(II) David continues singing, but we get different angles to make the shots a bit more interesting.

(III) Front-facing shot of David again. His right hand is over his chest as he sings with a slightly less enthusiastic smile. The stars in his eyes fade out. When the song says “dark”, there’s a quick flash to another scene. The background is now black instead of blue, and while David is standing in the same position, his appearance is a bit different. Hair clips off, messy hair, tie undone, black circles around his pupils. He’s wearing a black and blue domino mask, similar to the other one he was wearing before. The pink camellia pin has disappeared, but now he’s wearing a black rose pin on his left. He looks vaguely frustrated. The circle is grey.

(IV) After only a moment, we’re back to the previous scene, and David continues singing as the camera slowly zooms out. Just as the chorus ends, the camera glitches a bit. We see this for a moment:

(Okay so there was an image here, but it gets the post shadowbanned for unknowable reasons. I'll just put the image description here:

"David stands neutrally, with his white mask outfit. He's in front of a green screen on a grey wall. It looks as if he's being recorded by a camera which shows things such as the time of recording, the camera battery, the pixel size, etcetera. Red REC circle on the top left.")

Then, the camera suddenly goes dark with a bright flash at the center, as if it had been turned off.

[More spoken words]

There will be times in your life, when you feel that (I) you don’t have anything worth living for. (II) This will always be false. (III) Let me tell you some, uh, paraphrased quotes from books I like, which help me maintain a positive attitude! (IV)

(I) We see David from a POV to his right. He’s sitting on a comfortable looking blue and yellow chair as he talks with a calm smile, wearing the white mask and pin with the red REC circle visible. He’s in a small room, with star decorations hanging from the ceiling. On the blue walls, there’s a poster of David (white mask and all) holding a book with a big smile on his face, alongside some unreadable text. The book has David's face on the cover.

(II) The screen glitches, and we’re now looking at David from the left. He’s still sitting on a similar chair, except it’s black and purple. He’s back to his bed-hair, black mask, dark circles around pupils, black rose pin costume. He’s smirking as he talks. The background is completely black, but the circle is still red with REC.

(III) Screen glitches again, and we’re back at the same scene from (I).

(IV) We’re now in a different room, with a wooden floor and blue walls decorated with stars. Red circle with REC. The back of David’s head covers most of the screen, a hand with the same bracelet as before on his shoulder. In the background, there are four blurry, white silhouettes of people.

[Back to singing]

One: (I) Being harmed by cotton wool, Happiness scares the weak (II)

(I) We see a grey background with a horizontal line glowing bright yellow in the middle. There is a small table in the foreground, which shows a book with a pink cover and a black silhouette on front. The side reads “No Longer Human.”

(II) Red REC circle. We see one of the white silhouettes, with long hair, holding up a daisy flower as David (white mask) gives a thumbs up with a wide smile. The background is completely blue.

Two: (I) Our doubts, traitorous Make us lose what we may win (II)

(I) Same grey background as before, but now the glowing symbol in the background is the Chinese tally mark for 2. “No Longer Human” is still there, but now there’s a book standing next to it. It’s orange and has a scale on the front, alongside the words “Measure for Measure.”

(II) Grey circle. The screen is split in two. On the left, David without his hairpins (post-reveal hair), but also without a mask, is staring blankly at his phone. The background has the grey walls and purple curtains from his bedroom. On the right, we see someone in a suit with a pin which looks exactly like David’s hairpins accepting money being handed to them by a white silhouette. The white silhouette has similar pins on their other hand. The background there is blue.

Three: (I) Time and the hour, Run through even rough things (II)

(I) Same scene with the books, but now the symbol is the Chinese tally mark for 3 and there’s a new addition. A book with a red cover with a skull and a crown, labeled “Macbeth.”

(II) We see a white silhouette with short hair slouched over on a desk, in a dark room. They’re looking at a computer screen showing David’s white-masked, smiling face. The circle isn’t visible in its usual spot, but it’s on the computer screen, red with REC. The desk the computer is on has discarded candy wrappings all around the keyboard, as well as a white mug with a yellow star drawn on it.

Four: (I) Time soothes sorrows, Be content you have known me. (II)

(I) Book shot. The symbol is now the Chinese tally mark for 4. Apart from the books which were already there, there’s now a white book off to the side, with a small, stylized drawing of a person with blond hair and green clothes standing on a grey sphere. We can barely see the words “The Little Prince.”

(II) Another white silhouette in a blue background, a book with David's face on the cover beside them. Red REC circle. The silhouette is on the floor, their hand outstretched towards (white-mask) David, who is leaning down over them and offering them a hand with a placid smile. It looks as if David is trying to help them stand up.

Five: (I) There’s relief when you know, You won’t carry burdens, see…

(I) The same scene as before, except all the books are gone. The symbol in the background is the Chinese tally mark for 5. On the table stands a book with a dark cover showing a big house, with the title “And Then There Were None.”

(II) We see David’s face (white mask, but hair undone), with a smile that doesn’t reach his (starless) eyes, as he accepts his usual hairpins being handed to him by a hand with the previously shown bracelet.

[Pre-chorus]

And there is so much, so much more (I) So many reasons to carry on (II) Even when the world’s against you You just have to find your hope! (III) So (IV)

(I) Back to the scene with the comfortable looking chair for a moment. Red REC circle again.

(II) Grey circle. We see David’s back (post-EP11 hair) as he looks out the window of his bedroom, which shows a pitch black sky, the purple curtains framing the shot.

(III) David walks off frame, but his reflection remains still on the window. It’s David with the black mask outfit, smirking.

(IV) Screen glitches, and the window disappears, but David (black mask) is still there, on a black background. The circle turns red with REC, and spotlights begin shining on him.

(I) David (still black mask, black rose pin, black circles around pupils, no hairpins and post-CH11 hair) points up, the camera zooms in on his hand. It quickly goes back to showing his full upper body, he’s still smirking. The background remains completely black, but the circle is still red with REC.

(II) We zoom in a bit. David tilts his head and rolls his eyes behind his mask.

(III) We change to the back of David’s head. We see the four white silhouettes on the black background, looking as taken aback as silhouettes can look.

(IV) Screen glitches, we see a side shot of white mask David holding his hand out with a bright smile. Screen glitches again, now black mask David is standing in the same position.

(V) We see this:

[There’s a small guitar solo, as the music suddenly switches to a very fast-paced rock style instrumental. David can be heard laughing]

Still with his black mask outfit, David sits down on the same comfortable looking purple and black chair from before. He’s laughing.

[The next lines are sung very quickly]

One: (I) I wonder, does it make me a villain… (II) Two: (III) If I choose to discard the ideal? (IV) Three: (V) Should I regret what is true now? (VI) Four: (VII) Is it my fault? Does it make me inhuman? (VIII) Ah… hahaha! … (IX) “Correct” (X)

(I) Back to the grey background with a table in the foreground. We again see a horizontal line glowing bright yellow in the background, but now there’s a withered daisy laying on top of the table.

(II) Screen is split, the circle is gone. To the left, David (black mask) has his mouth open in a smirk as he points to his head in a finger gun gesture. There is blood on his hand. To the right, we see the long haired white silhouette’s head laying on the ground with their head turned to the side, a splatter of a pink liquid under it.

(III) Grey background with Chinese tally mark for 2 glowing. The withered daisy is still there, but now there’s also a broken pin beside it which looks very similar to David’s.

(IV) Screen is split again. To the right, a side shot of David holding his now bloodied neck with both hands, again with a big smirk. To the left, another white silhouette laying on the ground, face down with their hands to their sides, and without any pink liquid visible.

(V) Chinese tally mark for three on the grey background. Alongside the withered daisy and the pin, we see the broken pieces of a white mug with a star drawn on it.

(VI) In the bottom left, a shot from David’s left, where he’s giving a thumbs down with a bloody hand, the blood still on his hands and neck. On the top right, another white silhouette laying on a pool of pink liquid on the ground, their limbs bent in unnatural positions.

(VII) Chinese tally mark for 4 in the grey background. Alongside the other objects, we see the book with David's face. It’s completely drenched in water, several pages ripped out and strewn around the table.

(VIII) To the right, a side shot of David pinching his nose, still smirking. On the left, another of the white silhouettes lays on the ground with their head tilted to the side, again without pink liquid.

(IX) We see David’s upper body as he stands up and cackles, throwing his arms out to the sides. As the laugh trails off, the screen glitches. David changes a bit. His hairstyle turns into his pre-Ch11 hairstyle, but he doesn’t have the hairpins. His eyes have neither stars nor dark circles around the pupils, though he does have eyebags. He’s not wearing a mask or a pin, and his tie is undone. He’s looking at the camera with a horrified expression. The grey circle returns. The screen fades to black as the laugh fully disappears and there’s silence for a moment.

(X) An image fades in from the black. It’s the same table from before, but lit more dimly. The grey background shows the Chinese tally symbol for five written in blood. The only thing in the table is the bracelet, stained with blood.

[Bridge, the instrumental slows down again]

Count up my mistakes, like stars in daylight. You will find “me” again, if you’re willing to try. And even when it feels it’s all lost to the dark (I) Then I beg you, I beg you… (II)

(I) Screen fades in again, and we see David standing in the stage from chorus one. Grey circle, no spotlights. The shot is zoomed out, so David’s face is impossible to see, but his arms are to his side neutrally, and his head is tilted down. His hairpins and chest pins are missing, and his tie is undone. There is a stool next to him, the white mask laying on it.

As he stands still, words appear behind him, slowly rising from the ground and scrolling to the top of the screen.

CREDITS

Main cast:

Chiem D. 正 Williams E.

Producers:

Chiem D. Williams E. MILGRAM

Script-writing:

Williams E. Chiem D.

Camera Operator:

Chiem D.

Original Idea:

Chiem D.

Special Thanks:

Background Characters:

As the credits scroll, David brings his hands to his chest and fumbles around a bit. When he moves them away, his tie is now done correctly and his pink camellia pin is back up. He then takes something out of his pocket, and brings his hands to his hair. After removing the hands, his hair pins are back up.

(II) Right as “Background Characters” appears on screen, we cut. Zoom in on the white mask on the stool, and David grabs it. Shot switches to David’s face, his eyes closed and mouth pressed in a thin line. He slaps the mask on his face, and quickly swipes his hand up. As he does, his mouth twists into a big smile, the circle turns red with REC, and the spotlights begin shining on him again.

Tally up the good things like dots in the sky! You’ll find there’s always hope if you’re willing to try! And even when you feel that you’re lost in the dark, (I) Then I offer my advice, (II) allow me in your heart (III) And then let me be your star in the night! (IV)

(I) The camera zooms out slightly to show David’s upper body, as he points up. The credits behind him now start scrolling backwards (top to bottom). He’s singing cheerily, but there are no stars in his eyes. Right as he says “lost in the dark”, the credits fully disappear from the screen.

(II) Cut to the ‘正’ symbol, written in blood, on a grey wall. Grey circle.

(III) David’s hands appear on frame, holding a mirror with a golden frame. He puts it over the ‘正’ symbol, covering it completely. In the reflection, we see white mask David frowning at the mirror with starless eyes.

(IV) Screen glitches, and we’re back to the same screen as before (white mask - no stars - spotlights - red REC circle - stage). David finishes singing, but he’s still breathing quickly.

[Instrumental begins to wind down]

The camera zooms out as David continues breathing heavily.

Let me be your star in the night!

The camera fades to static before suddenly cutting off.

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MonoTV: On the topic of inspirational speaking, do you need any encouragement?

Es: Uhm, I guess it couldn’t hurt?

M: Too bad! I’m not gonna be nice to you!

E: Who are you talking to again?

M: The only encouragement I’ll ever give you is when it comes time to cast your verdict. And speaking of that, it’s… g

VOTING TIME!!!

#drdt #david chiem #milgram #drdt milgram crossover au

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danggirlronpa · 2 years ago

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Three entries to Merch Monday this week!

The first is a set of prints from @cactuskhee, who has a tumblr but isn't really active - its better to keep an eye on her Twitter to see when her store (komahina.com) opens! I only ordered the Junko/Miu print but Khee sent along extras for me which was SO sweet of her. (And the exclusive prom group art, which I was hoping SO BAD to get!!) The print with both girls is a little stiffer than others I've bought, which made it more susceptible to bending - if you look reeeeally closely you can see where my scissors brushed against the edge while I opened it and it got a little wrinkled. The products themselves are super high quality, just be careful opening them!

The Kaede/Maki stickers are from RegrettableMonster on Etsy! These came with a note to be careful peeling them, and it was definitely right; these are some really thin stickers! I didn't have any significant problems though, and they shipped SUPER fast, especially considering how inexpensive they were! This is another one that has several ship options - Saimatsu, Tojouma, Kiiouma, Training Trio, Gonta/Kokichi, Saimami, Oumota, and Saiouma are the others listed, but you can request unlisted ships, too! (EDIT: These stickers peeled up pretty hard over time! Since they're so cheap, it makes sense, but it's something to keep in mind.)

The third entry snuck in an hour before this post was queued, and it's my RedBubble stickers! RedBubble takes a pretty big chunk from earnings before the artists get to make anything, so I try to buy in bulk when possible, or at least more than one at a time. The first page of stickers is from @chibigaia-art, the second is from @trillmunch, and the third is from @jolee! These are pretty big stickers, so make sure you check the dimensions when ordering it. If you want a link to any of these stickers in particular, let me know!

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dailycharacteroption · 4 months ago

Text

Book Review: Faiths of Balance

And now it’s time to do another one of the “Faiths of” series, which covers the various major deities of the Inner Sea Region, not by focusing on the deity themselves, but rather on the mortals that devote themselves to them. Last time we looked at the various goodly deities of the set, and now we’ll focus on the morally neutral gods and their faiths.

Now, a bit of a flummoxing thing about series like this is that the specifics of what each books talks about are mostly the same, though I’ll be sure to highlight any major differences.

I will say that given that these deities are not all otivated by the same desire to uphold righteousness and goodliness, they end up being a bit more diverse than the previous group as well as the group yet to come, so that’s notable.

Like the previous book in this series, it focuses on several deities of the Inner Sea Region, this time being the neutral ones. Each entry details the sort of adventurers that follow the faith, what classes see value in them, the motivations of such followers, how they show their faith and devotion, and so on. These deities include the progress-oriented Abadar, the passionate and vengeful Calistria, bloodthirsty Gorum, primal nature deity Gozreh, self-perfecting Irori, knowledge-seeking Nethys, stern judge of the dead Pharasma, and the deity-less nature religion of the Green Faith.

The book also acknowledges several other minor deities, such as Alseta, Besmara, Brigh, Groteus, and more, as well as noting the fey Eldest as well

Naturally, the book also has a list of sects and organizations for their faiths with specific goals, and you might be surprised to hear that several of those listed are outright benevolent despite being associated with morally neutral gods, such as the Reborn House working to better the name of magic as a whole through healing and aiding others and putting down monstrosities created by the more violent side of magic, or the Sacred Order of Archivists seeking to undermine the propaganda and historical revisionism of tyrannical nations.

While not as expansive as in the Faiths of Purity book, there is a selection of combat feats associated with various deities.

Meanwhile, Channel foci make a return from Adventurer’s Armory, providing a new slew of mystical items associated with the faiths in the book.

There’s also a selection of new magic items and spells for each of these faiths as well, providing various useful effects reflecting the goals and areas of concern of each deity, and respectively, their followers, such as a spell to predict the weather from Gozreh, or a spell that makes foes glimpse their waiting final reward from Pharasma.

No faith is complete without holy days, and there is a list in this book of exactly those, detailing what they are meant to celebrate and why they are important to the faithful.

The book only has one set of paladin codes for Abadar, claiming that only he of the neutral gods supports such holy warriors. This is a bit odd because Irori definitely supports paladins, and there’s even a prestige class associated with the faith that is all about blending monk and paladin abilities together for that sweet multiclass. Still, it’s nice to see they remembered it.

Just like the previous book in this series, the art in this book focuses entirely on worshippers of the various respective faiths rather than on the deities themselves or their divine servants, and we’ve got some nice variety too, including the likes of an orcish worshipper of Gozreh and so on. Much like before, this helps solidify that these are deities worshipped by people, and are meaningful to them.

Overall this is another good example of how well this particular book format works out, providing excellent worldbuilding for each of these religions and how they fit into the cultures of the world.

And just like before I have very little negative to say about the book, though it is out of date in regard to the deity Gorum, who was slain recently in Second Edition. However, not really a complaint but a warning I have is the book does have a paragraph devoted to Naderi, who is basically the entire Romeo and Juliet the play personified, with all the trigger warnings that implies, so keep that in mind if you’re sensitive to that subject.

We’re in the home stretch, but tomorrow we’ll be finishing up with a book that does a deep dive into everyone’s favorite icon of the Pathfinder System!

#pathfinder #book review #Faiths of Balance

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mmoneystones · 1 year ago

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Citrinne Land Meta 01(?) - The Most Important One

Because who else will try to map out Citrinne's land if IS is too afraid to do it.

For those unaware, the main reason for me having this stupid idea comes right from one of Citrinne's notes in her Ally Notebook entry, that being:

Personality: Compassionate and thoughtful. Raised in great comfort, now uses her wealth to pamper allies. Has a resting scowl. Owns more land than any other ally. (Citrinne Ally Notebook A-Rank Entry)

Now yes, not everyone else in the Fire Emblem universe, let alone Engage itself, is flaunting their wealth so gung-ho to try matching this claim. But...more land than any other ally??? What does this even mean. And what does this actually say about Citrinne's wealth?

I'm not an economics major, nor do I own a single plot of land. Let's look at this together!!

Part 1: In-Game Evidence

To start, let us simply take a look at every line of dialogue that can refer to or confirm Citrinne's land ownerships. Starting with every support chain she has, then bond conversations with Emblems, and finally miscellaneous dialogue. Supports will be listed by recruitment order (ie Alear, then Clanne, then Chloé, etc.)

ALEAR SUPPORT - "Yeah I'll buy you an entire island what of it"

[Citrinne] Aha! A gift idea has just come to me. [Citrinne] An acquaintance of the Brodian royal family is looking to sell their private island─at cost! [Citrinne] What would you say to your own private island getaway? My treat, of course. (Citrinne/Alear C Support)

Now, this act in particular is in a bit of a grey area, as Citrinne never truly purchases the private island mentioned in this C support since Alear's support chain transitions to the true value of a gift. However, this support easily gives us a reference for what Citrinne is capable of purchasing land-wise. It might even come to bite back in the future...

LAPIS SUPPORT - "So this is where Luigi's extra mansion went"

[Lapis] A note? No, an address. What is this? [Citrinne] That's the mailing address for one of my family's spare manors in the heart of town. [Citrinne] We haven't lived there in quite a while, so it's only staffed by grounds- and housekeepers. Citrinne/Lapis A Support)

By the end of their support together, Citrinne offers one of her vacant manors to assist in hiding Lapis' commoner background.

"One of my family's spare manors." One. This is huge chat.

Snippets of dialogue from Citrinne's Somniel flavor text include suggestions of Citrinne living in several manors or castles throughout her life.

This may rival the cooking from my manor back home! Such culinary skill must be hard-earned… (OK Food Dialogue for Citrinne)I’ve enjoyed staying in mansions and castles, but this is a far more exciting place to live. (Fond of Somniel for Citrinne)

Combined with the above evidence, it is apparent that Citrinne's family owns many mansions or luxurious homes, and even has the hired help to maintain them while not in use. How much exactly is "many," though? That's a good question. Anyway.

VEYLE SUPPORT - "Ah fuck she actually bought that island"

[Veyle] And why did you hand me this deed saying I own "a deserted island with beautiful beaches"? [Citrinne] It also says, "private villa included." A pretty dress deserves a pretty escape, don't you think? (Citrinne/Veyle B Support)

So, we can take this exchange in two ways. One, Citrinne is once again offering the island she mentioned previously in Alear's support. Which, honestly, I would find really cute that Citrinne offers the same plot of land to two dragon allies. She can even be giving her the deed in advance and hasn't purchased a private island yet, similar to how she only offered the island in Alear's C Support.

However, there is option two, which I personally think suits this situation. Not only has Citrinne already bought out and mapped this "deserted island with beautiful beaches," but this is a different island to what she offered Alear. Now if this land was also from a family friend or just vacant land she believed Veyle deserved, that can be up for debate. But nevertheless, this is a heavy change for the Citrinne land ownership game.

This is where the supports end for land-specific ventures. Many other supports go to show Citrinne's vast wealth which can be adjacent to how much land she owns, though that is more suited for a real different meta.

BOND CONVERSATIONS - "Some side purchases"

Likewise, and more realistically, the bond conversations with Emblems are usually too short or brief to truly reflect on Citrinne's land-purchasing capabilities. However, both Eirika and Byleth's conversations end up with some decent enough clues.

[Citrinne] There must be some gift I can offer you, Eirika. Shall I buy you a mountain? Rent out the coast? [Eirika] Um, those would both be a bit much, but I can sense your sincerity. Let me think it over. (Citrinne/Eirika B Bond)

I have no idea how much acts of buying out a mountain would cost, but it's something Citrinne feels comfortable offering for a mythical being! Surely must be realistic.

[Citrinne] I'd love to hear one of your lessons, Professor. I think I'll pay for a lecture hall to be built here... [Byleth] Just for one of my lectures? What's wrong with the buildings we already have? (Citrinne/Byleth B Bond) [Citrinne] Oh, of course! Increased attendance calls for a proper school. I'll begin the preparations now! [Byleth] An entire school just for my lectures? That's a bit much...but I trust you'll do it right, Citrinne. (Citrinne/Byleth A Bond)

Regardless if Citrinne ended up paying for that lecture hall in the B Bond, she definitely is confident in having the resources to construct structures. The choice of a lecture hall and school in these, while fitting for Byleth, is also a great nod toward how Citrinne tries to use her funds to assist the people in Brodia from all corners of life.

SIDE QUOTES - "And here's extra!"

This final section aims to cover Citrinne's Exploration and Somniel lines in particular. Though if I have missed a certain type of dialogue that reveals even more of Citrinne's coverage, please let me know! More proof only brings the possibility of Citrinne buying out the entire world closer to reality.

Most dialogue here mainly serves to reinforce Citrinne's glandular wealth, though hints of potential ownership do show themselves.

We claimed the Emblem Ring here, so…why not restore this fortress to be a bit less gloomy? (Northern Fortress for Citrinne)

Further proof that Citrinne not shy to utilize money to not only own but refine fortresses.

The sea is so beautiful! I’d love to buy this land, but a peaceful spot like this should remain free. (Azure Coast for Citrinne)

She's going to still buy the coast, probably. I don't trust her.

Please, you must allow me to help restore this beautiful port town… I’ll assist every way I can. (Florra Port for Citrinne)

More serves as backup for her desire to use funds for the good of others, but this felt important to highlight for the scope said funds can handle.

When the war ends, I hope to throw a party on this ship. Just allow me one tiny, naive dream… (Route to Elusia for Citrinne)

Weezer cruise? Weezer cruise.

Part 2: Jesus how do I liquidate this

So real quick, let's sum up all that Citrinne potentially owns throughout or by the end of Engage:

1-2 private/deserted island escapes (Alear/Veyle supports)

Multiple manors, which possibly even extends to castles/forts (Lapis support + Somniel lines)

And here is what she can theoretically buy or purchase on a whim:

Mountains and coastlines?? Maybe mines (Eirika bond)

Infrastructure and the ability to maintain it (Byleth bond + Exploration lines)

Without even considering exchange rates between their real life value and Elyos' gold/currency, it would be nice to know how much this turns out to be, both in money and distance. Let's use everyone's savior (Google), for some frame from reference.

Ignoring potential costs such as keeping the island in shape, the staff required for such a task, and any other bonus expidentures, private islands seem to generally range from $200,000 to $200 million depending on their size. Clearly a large range of price, though at least it's something!

Similiarly, a manor or mansion's cost heavily depends on how large it is, with small ones potentially being as cheap as $500,000 while much larger ones can go to tens of millions of dollars. Not even considering the several facilities some of the grander manors of the Brodian royal family possibly contain.

I was unable to find anything truly concrete for a mountain purchase, although one site makes a good point in mountains technically being government-assigned land when not being put to use. So in reality, the price of a hill Citrinne desires would depend on how much the rulers of Brodia are willing to sell it for...considering the heavy emphasis on gem deposits in Brodia, this wouldn't be a mere penny. Coastlines result in lesser results.

As for infrastructure, I kept to the concept of the Byleth bond conversation and checked costs for an average school. For an elementary school, this would be around $295 per square foot, with middle schools raising the rate to $325 and high schools to $359. Universities are much more expensive, so let's keep it to lower education, potentially what can assist Brodian youth. These buildings can be tens of thousands of square feet.

With all of this random information combined, I'd like to at least try assigning all of this a number.

For the islands, as I am assuming Citrinne can purchase both the "private" (Alear) and "deserted" (Veyle) islands, let's assume the former is the worst case of $200 million and the latter is a less greedy $200,000 thanks to the "deserted" tagline. Actually, raise that by another million due to the promised private villa.

Trying to guess how many manors Citrinne's family owns and their values can get messy quick. It is also important to consider she likely doesn't own every manor she's been to while mentioning that in her Somniel text. For a frame of reference, let's total this to 6 family manors and a total of $50 million.

Let's assume Citrinne's mountain offer to Eirika is a best-case scenario, where the mountain in question lacks purpose for mining or other use. Probably still a decent cost...$3 million?

Finally, the school will be about 90 thousand square feet with the rate of a middle school. That still ends up being a hefty $29.25 million!

In sum, this approximates to...$283,450,000????

Converting this to a proper in-game price would be a nightmare when trying to understand the value of smaller items in FE economy results in headaches. This is also a very, very gross estimation that is meant to be a joke, but...maybe we can derive some meaning from it?

Part 3: So, my muse is a public multi-millionaire. Now what?

Let's be honest, I'm probably low-balling it here and Citrinne is actually a billionaire in-universe.

And as much as I wanted to compare Citrinne's potential wealth to that of Scrooge McDuck, it turns out that the duck is living on a much higher paycheck than a couple of billions.

Without naming names, a quick search seems to imply that some billionaires (at least, when limited to the US) own just over 2 million acres in raw land. While it would be nice to leave the assumptions at that, perhaps round down the number a little, I just had the realization - does Brodia even have enough land for 2 million acres??

Kind of hard to say when we only see like, 2 to 3 locations of Brodia in-game tops. Though I think the most logical conclusion here (and one that makes me realize how pointless this entire rambling meta has been) is that Citrinne might not own it all, but it is clear that her position allows her to influence all of Brodia, at the very least. Assuming a clean economic conversion between lands in Elyos, this likely even extends to similar lands in each country.

In all honesty, all of the estimates and number jumbling is just an extensive way to state "she sure owns a lot!" Expressions of such within Engage are clearly meant to be lofty exaggerations to further illustrate the lesson that money doesn't buy anything. So who would I be to keep trying to slap value on something truly priceless?

...okay but do you think she can buy out Brodia Cast-

Conclusion

How much land does Citrinne truly own? In the end, it really depends on the reach of her own family, which just turns out to be the royal family. The limits aren't endless, but with her statements and offers to own and exchange isolated islands, mansions and potentially castles, Citrinne's reach is truly wide. "Owning more land than any other ally" was, thankfully, not a lie.

To be real this idea started off as just analyzing the dialogue implying Citrinne owns land but then spiraled into this stupid real life connection and I had to rein it in before it went too far. I hope...it was funny to think about at the very least?

Addendum: Neku how did you forget Heroes exists

Hey so thanks to Nat on Discord for reminding me that Citrinne in fact appears in Fire Emblem Heroes to yap more about what she owns. I won't go to the silly lengths of estimating the value of what any of this means, but here are the highlights to add to her possession:

I'd like us to become friends, so let me start off with a gift. Oh, I know! What would you say to your very own island getaway? (Citrinne Status Page)

Another mention of an island venue. While I did headcanon that the islands Citrinne offers to Alear and Veyle are different, I will put my foot down here and merely assume Citrinne can be referring to the same islands she offered to the dragons previously. Mainly because Heroes makes it clear that most status page lines such as this are fanservice to the source game.

Unless you really want Citrinne to have a series of island ready for giveaway. Go crazy!

Gems are Brodia’s main export. My family owns several mines, so we have a steady supply. (Unworked Pride Citrinne Forging Bonds B)

Here is a piece of land that is much more linked to Brodia itself: gem mines. It is nice to have more literal proof that Citrinne has a decent few of them directly under her family's possession.

It’s a deed to a piece of land in Brodia—a territory high in the mountains, atop a scenic plateau. (Unworked Pride Citrinne Forging Bonds A)

Yes, the land that feh!Anna sells like NFTs to the rest of the Order of Heroes. This can be most closely compared to the manors mentioned in her Lapis supports, although it is more implied here that this land has not been worked on or at least isn't one-to-one a mansion just yet. Maybe this could be undeveloped land that Citrinne holds close for times of need, such as this Forging Bonds event?

I am glad that Heroes did provide some more information regarding this topic, without going comically over the top! If anything, these new bits contribute further to her capabilities of helping the poorer with her wealth.

#$ ooc #$ headcanons #$ metas #(expect an actual serious stats and/or lore meta later this month)#(this was one of those “neku had a dream” moments)

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mysterycharacterbracket · 1 year ago

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Mystery Character Bracket Season 2!!

We are starting the second season of the Mystery Character Bracket! In order to fix a few problems we had last time, and to shake things up a bit, I've made some new rules:

Rules about who and what you can submit:

If you feel the need to submit a short and long description, please keep the short description... you know... short.

For privacy reasons, please do not submit yourself or anyone you know in real life. Unless they're famous, in which case you can submit them based on their fame.

All entries must be submitted before the form closes. At that time, I will make a list of all the descriptions submitted. And if you do not see your submission there, notify me immediately!

If a character is submitted multiple times, we will rotate through descriptions of that character for each round. (Meaning, they will have one description in the first round, a different description in the second round, etc.) If we run out of descriptions for a particular character we will simply rotate back to the first description.

In order to give other fandoms a chance, I ask that you do not submit anyone from Keeper of the Lost Cities this time.

And a few technical requirements:

Please do not include any notes in the propaganda or in the image question. There will be a separate question to submit any notes you may have.

Please submit an image with each character. If there is no image available, then say that.

On that note, please do not submit a Google search, just an image link.

If you use bullet points, use dashes. If you just hit enter and write each point on a separate line, the computer will think you're writing a run on sentence.

Please do not include a section labeled "To be deleted if you keep for bracket," because I will keep every submitted character for the bracket that follows the above rules.

And that's it! The submission form is linked below:

Because of the way my schedule works out, I've decided to keep the form open until at least Thursday, May 30th. Exact time TBD.

Format is also TBD depending on how many submissions we get, but it will probably be similar to the first time, where every character was entered into the first round and then seeded based on their results.

(For reference, here's a link to the completed brackets for the first tournament)

#mystery character bracket #season 2 #mcb2 #will be the new tag

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everythingismadeofchaos · 6 months ago

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Couple things. These are ideas for Stellaris.

Well maybe three.

First of all, you can include a text file with each save file; note functionality within the game. That is, you start playing, and then maybe you start taking notes for yourself in this little file, and then when you save the game the file is saved with it, so that when you reload the game a year later you can see what you were planning on doing. While you're playing you can pull up a note window and it's just controlling a text file directly. I try to encode notes for myself in the save game names but there's not much room, and anyway I just continue the game when I start it. I just think this would be cool.

Secondly. Is there some way to change in the game what happens when specific notifications pop up? If I have a newly founded colony notification I would like the game to pause. There are probably other notifications this would be good for.

If you could alphabetize the planets in the slave market menu, that would be great. Or give us the list in some other order. Or better yet let us change the order depending on preference, or search the whole list with the planet name, or sort by size, or sort by something. And let us double-click the entry in that list to open the planet window. That would be very helpful.

I think you guys are underplaying your hand with the leaders. I'm playing a big giant sprawling easy game just to explore the functionality and try to learn more what's going on and what I should be aiming for and I'm using a huge number of leaders. I never knew the names of my leaders or really paid that much attention when I only had a few, because the number is so restricted. Now I've got this big sprawling giant empire and I could really use like a couple dozen more and I really notice what their strengths are and so forth. I have so many and I'm using the crap out of them, but they're costing me all these penalties, but I don't really need them; I just think they're cool and I want to have them. This is engagement with the game and kind of fun. It reminds me of when I was playing Star Wars: Rebellion in 1999 and you could send armies and ships and stuff all over the Galaxy, but you could also send Han Solo or Princess Leia or a whole bunch of guys who only had names on their action figures, but they were real guys with real names in the movies and it promoted the lore. If you would use whatever system you're using to generate people's names and generate 10,000 or 20,000 of them with permanent starting statistics, people would start to recognize them and notice them over and over again, game after game, especially if you increase the number of aliens that are available. Hell, give every race in the game that's not currently playing the current a 1% chance for a leader; then you hire him and find the whole galaxy but there's this mysterious culture somewhere in the Galaxy that nobody knows where it is and you spend the whole game trying to solve the mystery of how there is no human empire and there never was any human empire because you're playing an all robot playthrough or something, I don't know if you can even do that, but somehow these humans cropped up from somewhere. No population, no home planets, just some guy, eg Gaius Baltar.

I feel like if you had permanent characters like this you might start getting fan fiction. Is there Stellaris fan fiction? I don't know. Then maybe in 5 years there would be a movie deal. It would also give you the opportunity for more sci-fi in jokes because you could give people names that were secretly hints at other pieces of sci-fi or fantasy or even anything at all, like having a commander who's really good at hunting one particular type of space fauna and his name is Ahab. Or maybe Quint, the guy from Jaws. Or if you can't refer to a specific person, like you can't put Captain Kirk in the game obviously, you could have somebody who's secretly an homage to that person, like having a Captain Church whose icon is a brown haired white guy. "Kirk" is the word "church" in some other language; I can't remember which one and I don't want to lose my train of thought to go look it up but just as another in joke you have his opening line when you get him hired is he talks with an accent in that language. I think that would be funny, because almost nobody would get it and then somebody would and they would tell everybody and the information would spread. You could put a lot of in jokes in that way. The robot from Lost in Space. Hal 9000. Could be fun.

God I am having so much fucking fun playing this game. I don't get stoned all the time or anything, just once or twice a week for the anxiety, but I've discovered I can still stay functional enough to play the game if I microdose and play at a low difficulty level. And I am having a super fun time, let me tell you.

Sorry this is so long-winded. I can't play this game for more than a month or two, but I always find myself going back to it, and there are only three or four video games I can actually enjoy these days. Cranking the difficulty down just makes this so relaxing and fun and I can just enjoy all the content and interactions with my neighbors, who are all friendly because it's so easy for me to be heavily armed.

Thanks so much you guys for making this game

#Stellaris

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sleepy-crows · 6 months ago

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So, @calamitaswrath tagged me for some tag game about video game backlogs... Personally, I prefer the name "pile of shame", but here we go I guess. Note: These 'lists' are in no particular order.

So first, there are my "running projects", means games I started and I am also technically playing currently or taking a break from:

Boktai-Series: To keep it short, the second Game in that Series is my favorite video game ever! And I started replaying it recently. I also want to play the third game which only ever released in Japan, so I need to find a patched rom for that... And then there is the Fan-Made 5th entrie in the Series, called Kura5 (go check it out right now!) which recently got finished, so that's also on my bucket list.

YU-GI-OH GX Spiritcaller: I already forgot again what brought me back into old school Yu-Gi-Oh, but this is the game I currently spend the most time for. I finally have a somewhat working Deck that's specialiced on a single type! Lets see how long I will see it through before I put it away again because I end up only grinding for better cards (which is still playing the Card-Game, so...)

Armored Core VI: My very first AC-Game since I am already done with the Soulsborne-Games. A nioce, typical Fromsoft-Game, with cool robots. I am also somewhat capable to handle the face paced combat. I paused it because I started Baldur's Gate

Baldur's Gate III: Everybody talked about the game and I like the DnD-Setting. Turns out it is only half the fun if you're going at it alone and your OC has no agenda/backstory whatsoever (or any lines besides Dialog-Options). It seems also quite big and has to many decisions. That's scary. For some reason it doesn't scratch that itch for me like it apparently is for everybody else...

Pokémon Crystal: I started it on the N64 when everybody talked about Pokémon Violet and the other red color. It's way better than these, I still need to do Kanto, but I am kinda drustrated that I can't find a Waterstone for my Eevee.

The Legend of Zelda - Tears of the Kingdom: I still think taking the weapon durability-'feature' from Fire Emblem and put it into a Zelda-Game is dumb. Sure, finding new weapons because your old ones broke is a good way to fill an open world, but it is annoying. Even when the vehicle/warmachine-building is funny (tho I suck at it), I prefer the old, classic way with like 10+ dungeons per game.

Final Fantasy XVI - There is the DLC which I haven't played yet but I already started another run to get there!

Final Fantasy XIV - Dawntrail: For how much I love this game, it is surprising that I am still at the beginning of the expansion. But Viper is cool and fun to play, it really did take over the Dragoons spot for me (but I will never forget you Dragoon-Job, my one true love. And I am still the better Azure Dragoon!) But I actually told myself that this is the next game I'm gonna finish!

Elden Ring - Shadow of the Erdtree: Remember how I said I finished the Soulsborne-Games? Welp, the DLC for Elden RIng is still not done, I tend to get lost in this world... So my problem beating this game is literally that I can't find the way. So I either have to keep smashing my head against walls until I find the right path, or to get a friend of mine roped in to show me the way (And no, looking it up online is not an option!) The game I probably will actually finish next, sorry FFXIV.

Dragon's Dogma 2: Kinda on a weird spot here. I literally finished the game this morning, but the ending was a bit odd and there is at leats one Trophy still open which kinda hints at and alternative ending, or at leats a kinda important quest I haven't done. So I might play it again. Tho it took me like 100 hours playtime to beat it....

Remnant - From the Ashes: It's a Souls-like, with guns. I like those games and it's fun. No idea why I haven't finished it yet. Probably because I wanted to play it with friends but they never have time or stuff!

Little Witch Nobeta: A witch themed Souls-like with a cute little witch as Protagonist. The combat is also neat and fun and it has some good puzzles in it too. I really wanna finish this game somewhat soon. Or even start playing it for real.

Astral Chain: My biggest blemish. I bought this games year ago when it came out and even pulled through to the endgame. I think I am in the last or pre-last chapter of it? But for some reason I put it to hold and when I picked it up some time ago again, I had no idea how to play. So I ghuess I have to go through it all again to relearn the mechanics and everything. Which is something I masterfully procrastionate right now.

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles: I am on the third case currently. I thought the Cases in the Phoenix Wright games have a tendancy to get extended, but these right here are on a whole different level!

Touhou - Mystia's Izakaya: A funny, pretty and cute spin-off. And the Touhou-Game that apparently will get the first "official" anime, at least non that's fanmade.

Touhou - Imperishable Night: It's the eight game in the mainline touhou series. You know, the games with all the bullets that are near impossible to dodge and have little to no Yuri in it. I will finish this game at least on normal difficulty some day! And people say Dark Souls is hard...

There are also a couple of games (mostly Metroidvania-games or other Souls-likes) I have started and not finished yet, but if I start naming them all, this will get to long.

Then there is the "Next-in-line"-list of games, means games I bought but haven't even started yet:

Star Wars Jedi Survivor: The first game was nice. It's Star Wars and a Souls-like, so the combat is also neat. No idea why I haven't even started it yet. Oh right, there are already several other games on the burner.

Esperia ~ Uprising of the Scarlet Witch: A Fire Emblem-like. Looks cool and stuff, bought it year sago when it released. Haven't touched it yet. Don't ask me why.

Ender Lilies: A Metroidvania I was looking forward to for a long time. Then it released, i bought it and never even started it yet. I always tell myself: I'll finish that game first before I start this one too. Works good!

Honestly, I think listing those games is also futile. I have a really bad habit of buying games and never really playing them. My steam library has roughly 250 games in it. How many have I finished of those? Like 15 maybe? And I am sure 5 of these are VNs. Okay, I got a couple Rogue-lites and Farmsims and Survival-games, so these don't really have an end, but my point still stands.

And then there is the list of games I call "Uh-oh, there's more coming", means games that I actually haven't bought or aren't released yet but I do wanna play them:

Xenoblade Chronicles X - I have played the game for the WiiU, never finished it, but that's because I kinda softlocked myself in the very last mission right before the final boss-battle(s). I also never really understood the Combat-system or how to improve the Skells correctly. So I want to try it again on the Switch!

Final Fantasy VII - Remake Part 3: I NEED to know how it ends! The first part teased us with it maybe taking a different path than the original game, which brings up my hopes as the typical Zack-enjoyer, but the second part seemed like it pulled the rug from under our feet and goes back to the original route, so I really want to know how it goes on! (also I never played the original game, only all the spin-offs, but I know it's story. But with the end of Part 2 also ends my somehwhat informed knowledge about the story. All I know about the last part is that there is an infamous snowboarding minigame that's mandatory, Sephi calling down a huge ass meteor and then getting beaten up by Cloud in the lifestream.)

Monster Hunter Wilds: Looks like it has some more than overdue improvments in it's bags and I like these games in general. Even more if I can play them with friends.

Monomyth: it's a King's Field-like (King's Field are the games FromSoft made before AC and the Souls-Games) and it looked pretty fun and liek something new when IronPineapple introduced it in one of his videos.

Castlevania: I especially wanna play Alucard's game. But also the one with Shanoa looks quite interesting. I like those types of games and also retro games, so I just wait for this Dominus Collection to have a good price, then I'll probably buy it. When I might play them is a totally different question.

Ace Attorney Investigation: I played the first part as a rom on my phone, I wanna play the second game too! Playing as Miles is a nice change of pace and Kay is the best weird little girl side-kick in my opinion!

Honestly, this list would also get to long if I keep naming every game, my evidence: My Steam-Wishlist is over 100 entries long. And that's just steam, leaving out Nintendo and Play Station-exclusive titles...

So, after all that unnecessary rambling, I guess I have to tag some other people now too? Pretty sure nobody cares about my opinions and plans and will spend the time to read my stuff. So, if you made it until here, congratulations, feel yourself tagged!

#how do you even tag this stuff?#stupid rambling about video games?#who cares anyway

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spectre-ship · 7 months ago

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weird rabbit hole for the day: I love this book, Henry Hartshorne's "Household Cyclopædia". this book is one of many 19th century recipe books to eschew the traditional focus on cooking recipes and instead instruct on a bafflingly wide variety of topics—I've seen ones that are basically a list of instructions on manufacturing chemicals with the occasional entry on tastefully arranging the furniture in your house.

anyway a bunch of the stuff in this book and its many contemporaries is certainly very, very dodgy and probably quite dangerous; 19th century recipe books, even authoritative ones, are overflowing with half-remembered, secondhand, and untested recipes (I think very frequently about a Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management recipe for macaroni soup that calls for boiling the pasta for 45 minutes.) in addition, a number of the recipes call for things that are now pretty difficult to source, and in particular many of them can no longer be recreated exactly without poaching a sperm whale somehow. but I think these old recipe books are fascinating to skim through! I love seeing the writer's assumptions of what you have access to and do not have access to, in order for the book to be useful; the weird home remedies; the odds and ends of 'practical advice' (this one has, among other things, instructions on correcting proofs, a couple knitting patterns, and an exploration of lithography.) and as I enjoy a bit of experimental archæology, I'd like to see if its recipes for, say, boot-blacking or homemade ink are any good.

so I went looking around for any reprints of this book. I could just reference a pdf off my phone, or get an original at great expense, but I want something that can get a little beaten up, which I can reference "in the field" so to speak. and wouldn't you know it, there is one! one only, as far as I can tell, ignoring the clearly bot storefronts that will in my experience send you a book no human ever touched that's missing half its pages.

it's edited though. maybe this guy added an introduction, or maybe noted things that aren't advisable to try at home? added recipes from newer editions? better check his website.

mhm. i see.

well, i don't really want to buy it from this guy, but nevertheless, i could get it from a reseller and tear his additions out of the text block. at least it's the same book—

ah.

#i do not recommend looking the guy up incidentally. he appears to be mega racist. (what a shock)#good riddance to him and his shitty edition of a perfectly good weird old book #anyway i'll probably just try to track down one of the book's many contemporaries instead #probably a lot of the recipes are found in other books. copying recipes out of competitors' books was standard practice for these

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crusherthedoctor · 2 years ago

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Get a Load of Traits - PART 2: Dr. Eggman

It's that time again, folks. Time for another analysis you didn't ask for.

I explained how the setup goes with my previous installment revolving around Sonic, but to recap: for the sake of not dragging things out too much, I’ve decided to keep it all thematically consistent by sticking with 9 main points per character, in terms of what I personally consider the highest priorities for each of them. These will usually not be listed in any particular order of importance or relevance unless stated otherwise, and while there may be other major traits that might not get mentioned (in which case, feel free to bring them up yourself if you see fit), this keeps things simple and focuses on the points that have the most flexibility with how much of the character they encapsulate.

It should also be noted that these posts are made with the game portrayals in mind, because the games mark the core of the franchise, and as such, they objectively contain the purest essence of the cast. Adaptations generally like to play by their own rules, some more gratuitously and inexcusably than others, and this will inevitably crop up with certain entries. All that being said however, I’ll attempt to stay focused rather than devolve into another rant about this adaptation or that adaptation, only directly referring to them if I feel it’s necessary for the point being made.

Anyhow, for today’s installment, the spotlight shines on everyone's favourite villain that they pretend isn't a villain: Dr. Eggman.

He's larger than life.

Where could he be???

He's shaped like an egg. He laughs and bellows like it's going out of fashion. He proudly announces when he's in the room for no other reason than to inform everyone that he's in the room. He takes sadistic glee when you don't have enough memory in the memory card. Why would you want to sawdust away this side of him? What are you, a Hollywood writer?

Just as Sonic is a fun hero, it's integral that Eggman is a fun villain. He's all about the colour, the spectacle, the raw energy. This is non-negotiable. If you approach this character and think he needs to be made grounded because he has a silly name or something, then you are going about this the completely wrong way. Villains like Eggman get praised all the time for being vibrant and wacky, so frankly, there is no excuse to write him off for it.

He is genuinely smart.

"Oh yeah? Well if you played nice, I wouldn't need to transform you into a tedious gameplay mechanic that appeals to furries and is guaranteed to give this game negative reviews from IGN. Haha, gottem."

Look at the screencap above. He was able to turn the tables against Super Sonic right when it looked as though he was thoroughly cornered. How was he able to achieve this? By planning.

*leans closer to the mic*

P L A N N I N G.

Yes, he is not literally omniscient. Yes, he can be prone to the occasional oversight. Yes, unexpected events can transpire that would be difficult if not impossible for him to account for. But all that aside, Eggman is a genius. He does have an IQ of 300. He talks a big game, but with all the amazing tech he's created over the years, and with all the ways he's pulled a fast one over the heroes, he has proven that he can play the big game. Need I remind you that this is a human, and his arch-nemesis is the fastest thing alive, not some dude on the street. He would need to be on his A-game in order to last.

And yes, it is indeed him who does all that brainstorming. Ever since day 1, he's always been very hands-on with his operations, not needing to steal the credit from another scientist or force a hostage to do it all for him. His plans? His weapons? They're all him. Would a mere bumbler be able to subdue the Time Eater?

He is genuinely evil.

"What's this shite I'm hearing about a Mr. Tinker...?"

We've got the Triforce of Funny Man. We've got the Triforce of Real Intelligence. Now here comes the hardest pill to swallow: the Triforce of Actually Malevolent.

For reasons that can be pinned on certain portrayals that are coincidentally more commonly found in adaptations, fans are all too willing to remove agency from Eggman's villainy. When they're not claiming an amnesiac personality that peaced out as quickly as it arrived is his true self, they're claiming he has all these heated gamer moments for the purpose of avenging his Wasted™ grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik. Or they claim he's not as bad as other villains in the franchise because he "only" wants to conquer the world, rather than destroy it.

Now how can I put this gently...

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No, I am not just saying this because I personally happen to favor Eggmen with proper villainous balls to their name rather than glorified frenemies with Sonic at best. Even when exorcising myself of all potential bias, the Eggman we see in the games is still a very different fellow from what a concerning number of fans say with a straight face he is.

He stuffs animals inside robots on a regular basis. He lies, cheats, and backstabs on a regular basis. He fired a laser at the planet with the intent to fracture it, with no consideration for destruction or fatalities. He conquered other planets just to reduce them to self-indulgent attractions for his theme park. He drove a friendly robot to insanity after they were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He wanted to destroy Station Square right out the gate, with the only difference come the end of his rope being that he changed tactics to more suicidal means out of desperation. When the Deadly Six were defeated, and the world remained in a dire state, his only reaction was to express relief that there was still something for him to lord over. And although Forces may have glossed over much of his rule, it's clear that it wasn't pleasant for anyone other than himself. Throughout all of this, he rarely brings up Gerald in a consistent manner outside of SA2 and ShtH, and in fact, even in those games, it's pretty clear that he only cares about Gerald's scientific legacy and how that makes him special in the process due to being his grandson. He's never been shown to give a damn about the rest of Gerald as a person, including the philanthropist he was at heart prior to his last days.

Not wanting to destroy the world is not an act of kindness. It's simple logic: he can't conquer something that's not there. And is treating the population to a lifetime of slavery really that softer than a quick and (relatively) painless death? I'm sure TV Tropes would say yes, but what do you think?

He's a self-made man.

Egg Jameson confirmed.

Our horizontally enlightened fiend did not start with a kingdom of his own. He was not a test tube baby who could shoot lasers out of his hands from day one. He was not born a demon, nor did he hail from a bloodline of gods. When he began his path in life of being a furry shamer, he had only his gadgets and tools to work with. Yet, he has managed to carve himself a bountiful list of pro gamer moves over the years despite his mortal human status, including harnessing the Time Eater as mentioned, bringing his dream Eggmanland to life in all its glory, and the engineering marvel that is Metal Sonic... and almost never suffering from financial troubles despite the frequent destruction of his machines at Sonic's hands. (Keep Sonic 4's name out your fuckin' mouth.)

And speaking of that last part, there has been evidence across the series that he has more than one way of ensuring the moolah keeps rolling in. We've seen him set up casinos, carnivals, Extreme Gear companies, newspaper factories, and other facilities to extend his reach. We've seen his robots mine for resources all over the world, and occasionally other worlds. We've seen him own a literal ocean of oil. We've even seen him sell his stripped down robots to chumps who don't know any better. For all his childish ways and penchant for plagiarizing the Death Star, he's surprisingly good at money management.

Then there's his specific approach to scheming and beating Sonic. Winning on its own is never enough for him: he wants to win on his terms, by doing things his way. So he might steal a shiny gem, but he'll use it to power the tech that he made. He might wake up a sleeping beast, but he'll have an Egg Carrier operating alongside it. The doc is always pulling his weight no matter the game, because if he didn't, how could he back up his self-admired intellect without it ringing hollow? You know he wouldn't be having that.

All of this goes a long way to explaining how he grew a knack for being so pro-active as a villain in the present day of the games proper. Instead of having it easy by being born an almighty superbeing, he had to work his way up using nothing but his brain. Because Dr. Eggman is a man with quite a few admirable qualities. Just a shame that morality is not one of them, no matter how much I've been gaslit by fans into believing otherwise.

His ego is his motive.

Don't say it.

As we discussed, for all his manufactured admiration of his late grandad's genius, he doesn't mention him as often across the franchise as fans would lead you to believe. But you know which moustached gentleman he does mention a lot throughout the franchise...?

An overfilled sense of pride is to be expected for a pure villain. Regardless of their motive and their means to fulfill said motives, they're expected to think highly of themselves to some degree. But Eggman is not your everyday egotist: he IS the ego. Many villains have made statues of themselves, but how many do you know who have defaced historical monuments and plastered their visage on them? How many villains do you know who call half of their machines Egg Something? How many villains do you know who make up every single boss in more than one installment?

That's because Eggman's ego isn't just part of his character: it's the source of his drive. Everything he does, everything he wants to do, is fueled by how much he loves himself, and how displeased he is that the rest of the world does not feel the same way. He wants everyone to bow down to his excellence, he wants to conquer the world to satisfy his lust, and even that wouldn't keep him satiated forever, since evidence has shown that he would just make a grab for the whole universe if he got bored. He cannot picture a world where anyone else matters, because they're not him. Over the span of three decades, his inflated self-worth at the cost of everyone else's agency and wellbeing has not diminished one iota, and unless SEGA decides to pander hard to the Eggdad standom, this is not likely to change anytime soon.

Which leads me to my next point...

The consequences are irrelevant to him.

Quote by Billy Mitchell.

Part of the recurring problem with Eggman being woefully mischaracterized as not such a bad guy when you get to know him is because people like to suggest that since he rarely shows outright sadism while committing his evil deeds (except this is also not true; see Tails' story in SA1, or the sheer ecstasy in his tone when he betrayed Emerl's trust in Battle), that means the results that spring from them are more excusable than the likes of Mephiles, Starline, Disney, etc.

Putting aside the fact that he's still willingly committing these deeds to begin with - with no regret at that - let's assume they mean in reference to ordinary citizens and the like. Now maybe it's true that he's not known to dedicate much of his career to making things personal with random nobodies. But let me ask you something: when he declared his intent to destroy Station Square with Chaos so he could build ROBOTNIKLAND THE ULTIMATE CITY WHERE I WILL RULE IT AAAALLLL COME ON CHAOS LET'S FIND ANOTHER EMERALD SHALL WE Eggmanland over its remains... did he say anything about letting the residents evacuate? Did he provide a means to help them evacuate?

What you need to keep in mind is that Eggman showing little interest goes both ways. He doesn't give any thought to these folk period. If his giant mech killed people who were in his way, or he fired a cannon at Whocaresville and the people living there didn't have time to get out of dodge, he's not going to shed a tear and call for a moment of silence. Because, as we've already established, the only person that matters is him. So long as he gets what he wants, and so long as there are still other people out there to worship him, what's the big deal if some kid is now without a parent or a home?

He is not a good master.

"Also, I did create a vaccine. That's what you get for listening to our loving fans who hate us."

Well, at least he shows a more caring side to his creations, right? Sure... if you don't pay any attention to how it plays out onscreen.

My dude is certainly willing to shower his creations with high praise, but what advocates of Good Guy Eggman fail to note is that he praises them because he made them. An achievement for them is an achievement for him, because how would they be so brilliant and competent if it weren't for who built them that way? And you know what else? That praise conveniently only manifests when the creation is doing their job: the moment they fall short of his lofty standards, he flips like a switch. Can it truly be considered sincere and from the heart if he's that willing to turn on them that easily?

Of his many robotic stooges over the years, two that he held in high esteem were the E-Series and Metal Sonic. He made a show of tasking the former with an important mission, and the latter has been recognized repeatedly as one of his crowning masterpieces. And yet, all of the E-Series bar Gamma were discarded and essentially left to fend for themself in an unfamiliar world, with Beta being forcibly modified without a second thought. Gamma was only spared because, you guessed it, he was the one with a victory to his name. As for Metal Sonic, for all his longevity and special treatment, he too is not immune to punishment in the event of failure or disobedience.

And Infinite? His prized right-hand man during his six month conquest? Whisked away without a word after one bruh moment too many, followed by making a point to show off his own mastery over the (real) Phantom Ruby.

Needless to say, this is a stark contrast from the goofy dad you often see in fanart.

His will is equal to Sonic's.

"I'm gonna have to reset, that was a practice run."

Being a regular human does not serve as a limitation for Eggman's status and capabilities, unless you're a hack writer who believes superficial power levels are the instant-win key to a good antagonist, or a well-crafted story in general. On paper, a hedgehog with Sonic's level of power should have dealt with this silly old man once and then never again. That happened with aliens. It happened with gods. It happened with talking ballsacks. Yet Eggman is still around. Despite being subjected to a wide selection of situations that should have Big Oof'd him, with Sonic normally not considering saving him from said perils a high priority, Eggman keeps surviving, and he keeps trucking on.

Why? Because main villain immunity, yes, but compared to Bowser the fire-breathing turtle, and Ganon the occasional boar-shaped demigod, a human scientist managing to persist for as long as he has is still impressive even without the out-of-universe justification. This detail of his character is even incorporated into his boss fights: the Egg Viper battle ends with a kamikaze attack. The Mega Death Egg Robot had a second machine stored inside it, keeping up where the fight left off as the first one conks out. S3&K in its entirety was practically dedicated to his absolute refusal to call it quits.

He doesn't give up. He never gives up. And he's not the type to piss his pants either. When the odds are stacked against him, he will either give it his all with much gnashing of teeth, or he'll retreat because it's the tactically sound thing to do. What he doesn't do is show fear and plead for his life. (Unleashed doesn't count, that was a Wily ploy.)

He hates Sonic.

Or else he wouldn't have made this.

You would think this would go without saying. You have not spent enough time in the Sonic community. I wish I was you. (Then again, I met my friends through it...)

There are many people - many, many, many people - who will vehemently drill into your head with the trustworthy assurance of a SonicTuber that Dr. Eggman, arch-nemesis of Sonic the Hedgehog, world's longest Attempted Sonic Murderer champion, secretly likes the guy deep down, and would never wish for the Blue Blur to actually kick the bucket for good. They claim that when push comes to shove, the old doctor would never fully commit to world domination, because he simply enjoys his bouts with Sonic too much.

For X!Eggman? Probably.

Boom Eggman? Definitely.

Game Eggman? The Eggman? No.

Eggman hates Sonic. Eggman loathes Sonic, and he loathes the rest of his multicolored accomplices just as fiercely. The amount of times he has tried to bust a cap in Sonic's ass is plausibly in the triple digits. He has subjected Sonic to all kinds of threatening, terrifying situations with the explicit purpose of either killing him or hitting him where it hurts. He shows happiness when Sonic is in pain, or has appeared to have been vanquished by his efforts. What about any of this suggests that he likes him? Because of respect?

Now yes, that much is true. It's evident that Eggman respects Sonic as an opponent who can keep up with him, and it's true that he enjoys their battles to an extent. That's not the same thing as actually liking the guy on a personal level. For all the respect he may wield, he would still gladly rid himself of the hedgehog the first chance he gets. Remember the big moment in SA2 in which he launched Sonic into space? He bid his farewell, in a semi-mocking tone, then went right back to business like it was nothing. And what about Forces? What did he plan on doing with Sonic once he got bored of waving his victory in his enemy's face? That's right, he planned on slamming the red button on him. Sorry you had to find out this way, that's what happens when you don't Play The Game.

Ivo Robotnik is a jovial man, but his goals are dead serious. He wants his empire more than anything else in the world, and he will get it. For whatever thrills their encounters may provide, he would piss on Sonic's grave without a moment's hesitation in order to make progress with his ambitions. If he wasn't serious about taking over the world... why the fuck would he do all that he does? Do you really think he spends all that time researching ancient tablets because he wants to be Sonic's friend? Do you think he enslaves alien races because it's not like he likes Sonic or anything baka kawaii desu (please don't unfollow me, I won't do it again)? I don't think so, chum. There'd be no game, and no franchise, if Eggman wasn't coming up with ways to put him in an early grave. And then probably vandalize the grave after.

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If you understand all of these points, and if you can take to them, then I believe you should have what it takes to write a good, or even great, portrayal of Dr. Ivo "EDP445" Robotnik. No portrayal is going to be one-and-one with that of another, there'll always be subtle distinctions depending on the writer, but you'll be fine as long as he's not a softie or a fool who only exists to be replaced with a gay platypus.

Oh and, one last thing...

Heroes manual lied to you. Sorry, English fandom.

#Get a Load of Traits #Opinion #Dr. Eggman

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