#since apparently some of them want to get salty about my post

[kyouka-supremacy]

Mmmhh...

[chiisana-sukima]

nine people i want to get to know better

Thank you for the tag, @slutsons-blog! Starting a new post because I'm autistic and therefore mostly only care about the "Current Obsession" question, and want to ramble excessively as usual in that one.

Last song: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team: Pokemon Square because I'm currently playing Pokemon Mystery Dungeon with my daughter. Otherwise I honestly couldn't tell you. Whatever was on in my car.

Fave color: Purple

Currently watching: Star Trek Discovery

Last movie: Knives Out

Sweet/spicy/savory: Sweet, tart, salty

Relationship: married x 27 years

Last thing I googled: the word "dependent", for spelling assistance. which is a good thing because I spelled it "dependant".

Current Obsession: it's been spn since 2016. Truly we are the Hotel California of media franchises. I did recently play Disco Elysium twice in a row in quick succession, and I follow the DE tag. I can't recommend the game highly enough.... but I can feel my Special Interest-level obsession with it fading already. Spn has never faded even a tiny bit and I wonder if it ever will.

@slutsons-blog I feel after reading that you're watching spn for the first time, that I did you a bit of a disservice with my Sam takes to you before in that I mostly talked about Sam's evolution as a character as the show goes on and very little about him from the first five seasons.

Gotta be honest and tell you that although I liked both brothers all along, I was a Dean girl until the end of s6/beginning of s7, when the balance of who gets whumped the most started shifting and my subconscious suddenly decided to switch allegiances. It's not that I liked Dean any less; my id just loves a sopping wet pathetic kitten of a man who has been sexually abused, and Sam got suddenly way more kitteny and pathetic after the Cage. So I don't actually have a ton of takes on "what to love about Sam in the early seasons". I do love early seasons Sam too--she is my beautiful baby princess--but my early seasons takes are a lot more inchoate.

I count myself lucky about my id's sudden defection though, because I think we have limited control of who our blorbos are, and having Dean as a blorbo is a tough row to hoe as the later seasons go along. You know how you noticed that in s6, Dean suddenly gets a lot more assholey without apparent reason? Unfortunately he never gets better again, and in fact keeps getting worse and worse as the years go by, until by the last seasons he is openly far more abusive to their joint child(-in-an-adult body) than John was to him and Sam. It's a realistic picture of what can happen when trauma keeps piling up on people, but it's also honestly pretty distressing, especially if he's your blorbo.

If one is in it for the ship, there's some good destiel content in the later seasons, but if you're in it for Dean, you're left either 1) dealing with the fact he's got extremely significant interpersonal problems that he never gets much of anywhere on solving and that negatively impact his chosen family in profound ways, or 2) pretending he's the same character he was in s1 and Sam is the same Sam from s1, only more boring, and Dean is just trying to put up with him because he was brainwashed by John (or ig 3- something in the middle between those two. But that seldom seems to happen in practice for whatever reason). These two versions of the show are poorly compatible, and that's how the Sam girls and the Dean girls end up in isolated silos. A few people manage to live in both, but not many.

Anyway, I feel like without the context of how Sam and Dean change in the mid to late seasons, the two fics I recc'd as Sam character studies are going to seem insanely Dean-critical, so if you haven't read them yet, you might want to wait until s10. In the meantime, the general recs are fun reads and hopefully do a good job of showcasing both characters earlier on.

Tagging (but I would be a huge hypocrite if I didn't specify there's no pressure to respond, since I almost always fail at responding to tag games myself): @adihildilid @aliusfrater @quietwingsinthesky @sammygender @ardentpoop

@peanutbutterandbananasandwichs @schizosamwincester @normalbrothershow @jellybracelet.

[utilitycaster]

The wildest part about people being mad on Imogen's behalf is Imogen herself understood Keyleth's position in spite of her own wishful thinking, helps acquire the blue flowers for her, was the first to acknowledge the Changebringer's help, and the first to say "I'm sorry" to Orym losing more of his people. I'm really baffled to read these "Orym is manipulative" takes and that it was dangerous of Keyleth to validate his anger. Do you think it goes back to the god stuff, or is it just Imodna?

I think a little of column A, little of column B, little of several other things. Since I've been on the "hey could we consider that Imogen and Laudna are adult women who are responsible for their own actions" train for over a year, the specific "Imogen can be mean-spirited as well as unintentionally insensitive" train since at least this past February, and the "Orym is correct and Bor'Dor signed his own death warrant by casting Vitriolic Sphere at a group of people who were not violent towards him" train for a month, let's break it down.

There are a small handful of people in the fandom who just really hate Liam. Per a very salty rant I put into my drafts shortly after 3x63 to describe this type of person, it is a small, scattered, bizarre group of people who for no apparent reason have decided to be foaming-at-the-mouth levels of furious because, as far as I can tell, a nerdy Gen X-er dad who went to Tisch is kind of corny sometimes. Anyway nothing he does will ever sit well with them so we can ignore them forever. Moving on.

Some is Imodna; I thought the whole issue of Imogen and Laudna as agency-less infants against a cruel world would have been ameliorated by them entering a canon relationship (one currently compatible with the 2013 Pinterest board vibes of fanon no less) but it appears to have not been the case. For more on this, see this still relevant post and, while I personally haven't ever written something up, there's just, again, a complete black hole of empathy from a segment of the fandom when it comes to any of the other characters; my post from this morning about Imogen as compared to Caleb touches upon it. You know the Far Side cartoon where a guy is talking to his dog and the dog only recognizes a small handful of words? I feel this is similar, like, they see that Imogen wanted one thing and Orym and Keyleth wanted another thing that wasn't even, as you point out, terribly incompatible, and then the "well if not thing Imogen wants and not 100% deferential to her then BAD BAD BAD" attitude kicked in.

But I do think, in the end, a lot of it does come back to if not the gods exactly, the idea that the Vanguard is, unmistakably, the enemy. They are not the revolution here to usher in a new era of rule by the people. Keyleth is not here to raze Vasselheim to the ground but to have a diplomatic discussion; neither is she here to grant any leniency to the woman who attacked Vax regardless of her connection to Imogen. And she finds the idea of a world without the gods, regardless of her own personal feelings, to be one to be avoided. [sidebar: I hope we get Matt on 4SD; I am wondering, after the one-two-three punch of Hevestro, the Raven Queen, and Keyleth all placing a heavy thumb on the scale opposing the Vanguard if he did not expect the party to be as conflicted about the role of the gods and is trying to wind up an argument that I think as of last episode reached the end of its useful life.] When you couple that with Orym's positive attitude towards the gods, that explains the animosity towards him.

The undermining of Orym's position over the past few episodes has always been one of emotion. First he was not objective - as if anyone else was objective! As if any moral decision is ever 100% objective! We all have biases! What kind of early 2000s atheist forum shit are you on to claim perfect rationality that conveniently matches the ideas that apparently came to you in a godless vision? It's insane. Then it was his grief; grief makes you irrational (unless you're Imogen grieving Laudna, in which case you are objectively right at all times, even as you shout down every other suggestion, beseech Laudna's first murderer, not a month later consider the potential validity of the her second, and try to to undo her immutable past) and remember, moral decisions must be made by the rational. Then it was his impatience (nevermind that Imogen has absolutely no patience). And now it's his anger, and he's apparently been manipulating the party the whole time by...having suggestions for the group which he mentions, and openly stating what he was feeling and what he wanted, and not intuiting that Laudna reawoke Delilah with his approximately no magical ability and then encouraging her to finish a job she had started herself. Because god Rational Objective Conceptual Being forbid women do anything; it is the role of the man to protect their fragile souls from all consequences.

Even more generally I think a lot of people- not just in this fandom, though certainly within this fandom - are terrified of anger. Like, they think they like it - they say they love barbarians (though rage is its own beast and I think very different from the anger Orym and Keyleth exhibit) but most of the discussion of them tends to veer more into angst, and most players of barbarians are often exploring emotions like grief, self-pity (as Ashton says), or frustration just as much if not more so than anger. I think a lot of people perceive anger as this awful thing inside them to be controlled and denied, or alternately to only be let out for whatever they think is a sufficiently righteous cause, and instead sit in an increasingly toxic stew of simmering resentment and conflict avoidance until they begin to think this is not just normal but aspirational - anything but that awful beast they call anger. It's not new in discussions of Keyleth, and it's not limited to her and Orym; I can point to nearly every single character who has had even the slightest of outbursts - even something as mild and controlled as Orym's whispered profanity or less - and I promise you there's been pearl-clutching for every single one of them.

Anyway, you make great points! One of the things that struck me about this episode and prompted my frustration and my post earlier today is that Imogen has changed. I think she's been mulling over Liliana since her appeals to her during the Key's activation were unsuccessful; she hesitantly told Chetney when he asked in Uthodurn that yes, if Liliana's death is necessary, she understands; and I think seeing the utter devastation and pain that was inflicted on Keyleth brought it into focus. She was much more open to FCG and the coin as well. And, you know, if one had embraced Imogen's moral ambiguity in the leadup to the solstice, and the possibility that she could betray the party, instead of shouting that down? Then one could see this as a beautiful moment of growth for Imogen. One could, in fact, if one was so inclined, attribute it to her new sense of ease thanks to her circlet, or even to her nascent romantic relationship. If one, of course, had wholeheartedly embraced Imogen's past moral ambiguity and the possibility of her betrayal.

[woodchipp]

feeling salty today, so.

"the fact he didn't know she was poor"

Backstage's Aubrey does seem to imply the real Aubrey opened up to Sunny more than she did to the rest of her friends, though. I think we can reasonably infer she also opened up about her rough home life to him as part of that.

"Sunny's pretty observant, I think."

Sunny, being the awesome and observant friend he is, apparently did nothing of substance to help.

The game doesn't show him even trying to help. We don't get to see him... idk, maybe bringing Aubrey some decent food since the fridge in her house apparently contains mold. Despite Basil also describing Sunny as "a good listener", we don't get to see any flashbacks that'd have shown him listening to and supporting Aubrey.

The way OMORI's narrative seems to present it, Sunny being a "good listener" basically amounted to him being an equivalent of the rubber duck programmers explain their code to in their attempts to debug it. We get repeatedly told that he's supportive, but nothing of the sort is ever shown, which brings me to my next point

"Wonder if Sunny's subconsciously fulfilled her wants in Headspace to make up for seeing them never filled in the real world."

Even though I recognize that this statement is a fairly neutral one, I want to use it to address something else. I've seen people insisting that Sunny loves his friends and - somehow - using Headspace as evidence.

This sort of argument seems to stem from a particular problem with the game's writing - it often forgets that Sunny's imagination has no impact on reality. The secret post-credits cutscene is emblematic of this since you only obtain it by consistently watering Basil's plants in Headspace, which the game seems to equate to Sunny doing a nice thing for Basil in reality for some reason.

That brings me to my overall point - Sunny giving Aubrey everything she wishes for in Headspace doesn't matter at all. Sunny creating an ideal world for himself and his friends in his head is not indicative of his strong love for them.

Nothing Sunny does in his head matters.

What defines you are your actions, not your thoughts. The game can tell me Sunny loves his friends all it wants, but Sunny's actions (lying to his friends by omission, ruining Basil's photo album, leaving Basil himself alone during the latter's breakdown in the bathroom) simply don't match.

[retrowaving1]

I noticed people creating such descriptions on Tumblr, I assumed that I could do the same so that the people who visit my blog would be less confused about what they're seeing here. After all, I'm really open to communication, but it's probably better if you know what to expect from me:)

So, who the h am I?

> Obviously, Ohiko Amok is not my real name. Not only do I have Eastern/Central European origins, nobody can have a surname which stands for an aggressive dissociative behavioral syndrome (i guess).

I don't want to go by my real name on the internet unless it comes up in conversation with my mutuals.

> I'm a person of many professions: (1) personal tutor teaching adults with dyslexia, adhd, Asperger's etc.; to speak English (2) Marketing professional; (3) Graphic designer; (4) Apparently, I become an HR manager as well???

Sometimes I post some funny observations connected with my professional background, and even though some of them might seem tiny bit salty, I love my occupations wholeheartedly (except for some episodes of working with people, people are truly annoying sometimes).

> I have lots of hobbies; I like cooking (I'll gladly exchange recipes with anyone interested in mine), I like painting and drawing (both digitally and traditionally), I do yoga, I like reading (and sometimes even writing) and I like learning about skin issues (lol, I even have a certificate that I finished a course teaching about acne and how to properly deal with it xd). I also play a number of very simple computer games and enjoy board games, but I wouldn't call myself an enthusiast of neither. What I do adore is music - I'm the only person in my family who haven't had any musical trainings in the past, but being a daughter of a choir singer and a guy whose friends call him "Orchestra" for playing multiple instruments, together with being a sister of a sound designer and a former rock band frontman, I do have a strong appreciation for music. My taste in music is very vast and it'll be difficult to limit it to one genre or a group of artists, but I can easily name some of the most influential performers for me: Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Leonard Cohen, Dusty Springfield, Judy Garland, Fleetwood Mac, Czesław Niemen, Marek Grechuta, Volodymyr Ivasyuk, Okean Elzy, Skryabin, Shocking Blue..

I would love to bond over music with anyone with similar tastes <3

I also absolutely ADORE cats, they are my "spirit animals", so they are going to appear in my blog sometimes.

> I do not identify myself through pronouns, sexuality, belonging to a certain movement. I think all of those labels are secondary and often limit person to a certain degree. Biologically, I'm a woman. I'm bisexual, but I do not consider myself to be a part of LGBTQ community. I'm not religious. I'm not a feminist of any kind. I have my own strong ideas developed through the years living in a certain context, my own preferences and worldview, but I don't want to label them in any way, as it seems redundant.

> I come from Poland<3 If at some point you might get confused by my posts' being inspired by both Polish and Ukrainian popular culture and historical background, it's because I was born in Ukraine (albeit in a Polish family) and feel a strong connection and love to both countries.

> Since I've started to post on Tumblr regularly, I very often get some horny messages (i'm talking about real people, not porn bots), so here's one bit of information which I feel obliged to add to my account description: I'm currently engaged and I'm not looking for any relationships aside from friendly ones

> I don't reply to messages in russian

> I've recently created another blog called @retrowaving-vents to just write random stuff there. Welcome, if you are interested in some random stream of consciousness.

Cheers, if you've managed to read this whole post, I hope you'll enjoy the content I post on this account<3 Feel free to ask any questions that might come to your mind, I really like talking xd

[aerialworms]

hello dear mutual! I have a question. I'm no longer in the fandom but I like watching from the sidelines. there was a poll asking if destiel will still be made canon and my question is: how. isn't the prequel planned about the parents? I would love an explanation cause I don't understand. thank you so much!!

Hello there friend!! I'm happy to explain, I love rambling about this batshit show so much!

So yes, the prequel is about the parents, but I'm not sure how much you know about it so here's a little primer: from what I've seen, it's actually Dean telling the story of how his parents met and fell in love, presumably while he's up in Heaven post-finale (y'know, where Cas is also supposed to be). Jensen and his wife Daneel are executive producing, and the prequel is being showrun by Robbie Thompson, known for writing such episodes as Goodbye Stranger (the crypt scene my beloved!!!!!!), Meta Fiction ("What makes a story work? Is it the plot, the characters, the text? The subtext?"), and Fan Fiction (the musical ep! With Sam teasing Dean about destiel!). So from the get-go everyone was like 👀 because Robbie has always been a destiel-positive writer! Plus, apparently, Daneel's favourite character is Cas, so it would make sense for them to bring Cas back if they (and Misha) wanted!

Please bear in mind that I haven't actually watched any of the prequel, i've just been living vicariously through my dash. People who have actually watched it/know more than me please feel free to add on/correct me!

So, to my knowledge, the reasons people are thinking they might make Destiel canon in the prequel are (in no particular order):

a) A few weeks ago there was an episode that had Gabriel (as played by Richard Speight Jr) as the MOTW and also had a background cameo from Rob Benedict in a very bad wig (unclear if that was Chuck or not), and there have been quotes from (i think) Robbie saying that they're only having cameos from OG SPN actors if it's relevant to the story they want to tell (and since the Rob cameo was not explained or plot-relevant people are thinking they're possibly going to do a Chuck won scenario? It could turn out that he was never actually defeated in 15.19 and now Dean has to show up to fight him again (and get Cas back?? maybe??))

b) In that same episode, there was a scene where Mary and John look at a picture of some dude who'd given them a clue or talked to John or something - it was Dean! So he's alive again, briefly, in the 70s. Could be time travel, could be he's escaped from Heaven. So if Dean is around in the show, whether just as narrator or as a character in the story, he has the potential to go rogue and look for Cas, or be telling the story to Cas up in Heaven. In either case, there is the potential for canon destiel, if they (Jensen, Daneel, Robbie, Misha, etc.) decide they want to do that.

c) Jensen has said various things at cons recently which are kinda 👀, including that he'd have been happy to keep going on SPN for another 6 years, and, most recently (this weekend), which I think sparked the poll you were talking about - that if Dean and Cas reunited Dean would say "Hey, can we talk about that goodbye a little bit?" and then joked that nah, it would be more like "hey, buddy, good to see you, old pal" but THEN said "I don't know, maybe we'll get to see that, that would be interesting" (Here's a gifset of him saying that if you're interested)

Also this:

[ID: Tweet from Toni @JensFloofHair.

JENSEN WANTS TO FILM A NEW ENDING FOR SUPERNATURAL, THE ONE HE HAD DREAMED OF. ABOUT A 2 DAY SHOOTING, HE SAYS.

Misha: I mean, you have the Impala.

Damn right, nothing stopping them!!

#JIB11 /End ID]

It's no secret that Jensen Did Not like the finale, apparently Eric Kripke had to talk him into it and he still makes salty jokes about it even now. Add the fact that he got someone else to film the confession for him because he wanted to have a record of it, and has said they cut out key parts of his performance in that scene (which is why the editing of it is so janky). So it's possible that he intended for there to be actual reciprocation in that scene and, well, now he's got the reins. He could do it if he wanted!!!

d) The prequel finale - airing next Tuesday, Jack help us - is titled "Hey, that's no way to say goodbye". Which was already kinda 👀 before the con this weekend, but combined with Jensen saying Dean would say "can we talk about that goodbye a little bit?" is um. Look I don't wanna get my hopes up. But also........ 👀👀👀

I think the prevailing theories at the moment (from what I've seen on my dash) are that either:

a) They're baiting us to keep interest in the prequel (I trust Robbie but I don't really trust Jensen, so this seems likely)

b) They really are gonna bring Cas back, either as him being the one Dean is telling this story to up in Heaven, or using that Rob Benedict cameo to retcon the finale and make the show about breaking free of Chuck's control for realsies this time (which hopefully means Cas actually showing up and not being explained away in one line like the finale)

Like I said, I don't wanna get my hopes up because I don't quite trust Jensen. But. Given Robbie Thompson showrunning and Daneel loving Cas and Jensen dropping all these maybe-maybe-not hints. If they DID make destiel canon. I would not be surprised.

Well maybe a little bit but in an "I can't believe I was right" way.

[zaenaris]

Ch.278: what a weird feeling and weird finale... it’s so happy that it is almost sad.

Reflection on it and and the overall manga

Premise: I still love what this manga gave to me, I know I’ll sound harsh in some… many moments, but I still love the characters I had the chance to know, so I’m just kind of disappointed in how the ending was done but not surprised (for the real salt, you should have seen me when Game of Thrones and How I Met Your Mother ended lol).

EDIT: I wrote this the previous days when I knew something about the ending  but I didn’t read the chapter yet. Against all odds, idk if it’s because I’m in a good mood today, but i’m not as salty as i thought i’d be. 

Because, even if these characters are not my beloved one, that I’ve learnt to know and love, it was… nice, seeing them like this, in this version. So while I’m not as mad as I thought I’d be, and I get both sides, the ones that hated this and the ones that loved it, I can’t help to be both sad and… kinda okay, but not really? This is not the ending I wanted, I didn’t want any revival arc since I had accepted the death of all these characters, but this is what we got. For good or worse, it’s over and even if I couldn’t see my beloved characters healing and growing… I still have those emotions that these characters and this story gave me

So bear with me, if you want.

So, as I said in my previous posts, I’ve never been a fan of the reset theory (when it was a theory) and I wasn’t fond of it when it became reality. Why?

Because Wakui’s strength, imho, is not the plot (I’ll talk about it later) but is his characters. They feel real, alive, relatable and you get attached to them. “Erasing” them it’s such a shame (again, later I'll write better what I mean with that).

But again, while I’ve never been a fan of the reset, I understood that, if handled better, could have  been satisfactory. If what happens in ch.278 had been the ending, but in the meanwhile we’d had a whole damn arc that explained us how we arrived there, and who these characters from the new timeline were, I’d probably have been more satisfied.

Because yes, everyone is alive and got their happy ending, but these people, except Mikey Takemichi and Chifuyu, are strangers to me (also, why does Chifuyu remembers? because he’s the second most popular in Japan so the editors knew they couldn’t fuck him up too much?  it’s so random lol. Yes, his narration was emotional and all, I'm glad he’s still Takemichi’s partner since he remembers  but it makes no sense lol). 

I know that, if we assume TR is not a multiverse and all the previous timelines have been erased, these are “genetically” the same people that now had the  chance to live a better life and we’ve seen the potential of these people, but I don’t know who they are. What are their struggles, dreams, insecurities, little quirks and habits?

I grew fond of these characters because they were the underdogs, they failed, but kept fighting. I was rooting for them because we’ve seen they still had a heart and tried their best to go on. I knew them, I cared about them and, as I said before, I was ready for a more mature massage, something along the line of, “life is not fair, but it’s worth living it, you’re allowed to fail, grieve and moving on” but the overall message was more like “never give up”. That it’s okay  for a shonen, but again, it’s the execution that was lacking.

I never wanted a reset because, while I was sad for the death of many characters, I had accepted it, because life is not fair nor perfect, and you have to learn to go on even if not everything went as you would have wanted. I’d prefer to see the characters that survived learning to live with their past and improve, like Kazutora did in the previous timelines.

Again, while this is how I would have probably handled the story, this is not my story and if Wakui wanted a reset, of course he could do it, but like this it felt empty. Because why should I care about people I don’t know and that apparently have perfect and happy lives? Maybe they have their demons, but I don’t know them, these characters are strangers.

It’s like walking in the street, seeing someone that is getting married and you think “Good for them”. You know it is a happy day for those strangers, but you’re not invested. Again, see before, I know maybe it’s not technically the case, but it could have been handled better.

Some people are happy because they can imagine whatever they want, and I mean, good for them, but I don’t want these characters to be my OCs, when I read/watch a story, I want to know the characters, and later, when I have a solid foundation, it is fun to imagine thighs.(I will still make HCs since it’s really the only thing we have left, but still, I’d had preferred to have something canon behind it, you know?)

And I know that the argumentation of people that are super happy with the ending is “you guys are cruel/weird, you want them to suffer!”

Not necessarily? But I mean, I just like some good angst and angst with a  happy ending?

 It’s just the suffering was what the manga was about: suffering, trying to heal and moving on. I wanted my characters to be happy of course, but in a more organic and better written way. Again, reset could have worked if I had time to grow fond of these people again. 

But this is for me, everyone is free to enjoy fiction how they prefer, I mean we’re not talking about the greatest systems.

Until this moment I tried to let many things slide, story-wise, thinking that maybe we would have got  an explanation later,  but now that is over, we have to call things by their names: plot holes.

With all due respect for Wakui, he honestly never did anything revolutionary on the storytelling side. He didn’t invent time travel and he’s not the first that talks about Bōsōzoku and Japanese young criminals. But that’s okay, tropes are not bad per se, you can write what other people have already done, the important thing is that you leave your mark. And while understanding Wakui the writer and Wakui the employee of a big company that must respect some company policies, I knew immediately that I couldn’t expect anything revolutionary from his writing. But I love the story for its characters, and no one will take that away from me. 

Now back  to the plot holes:

the first one I can remember is in the Valhalla arc:  Baji not realizing he and Tora were stealing from Shin’s shop. 

“But it was the consequence of dark impulses (DI)!!!” people could say. 

Maybe? But it seems that everything in this story is the DI’s fault lol. 

I can understand events involving Shin and Mikey, but the fire at the Inupi’s house? Kazutora’s abusive father and his terrible life at home? Mama Shiba’s illness and death? South? I could go on. For what we know, it seems everything bad in this world, from me getting a paper cut to climate change, was the DI’s fault and that Takemichi and Mikey fixed everything. They could have saved princess Diana as well in this TL lol (sorry I just saw a gifset from the new season of The Crown).

While the Black Dragon and Tenjiku arc are probably the best and most loved arcs, we have problems there as well.

Izana: he’s not the problem, it’s how he was introduced in the story. We know Emma talked about Izana, Mikey forgot (... like, really Wakui/editors?) and Shin, that had no legal right over Izana somehow found him but never explained how?

The twin motors that Shin found in Manila? Why was he there? Never explained, I guess Manila is just a cool and “exotic” location for Japanese people.

Sanzu: if he was so important, since he’s literally Shin’s trigger and Shin inadvertently started all this mess, why was he introduced properly so late in the story? It doesn’t make sense he’s not a Toman founder. We can “justify” everything with the dark impulses, but it is a weak as hell justification and it is not even addressed by the author.

I personally don’t care about South and I think his mini arc was useless, but his entire character was a waste of time. It ended nowhere. 

Even the original Black Dragons! Sure, Takeomi and Waka are, in some chapters, the “Mr. Exposition” to let us readers know some things, but Waka, that apparently knew about time travels, did nothing but explain the situation??

Why did Waka and Benkei join Mikey only recently if Waka already knew about DI? (it’s funny cause even Inupi, my beloved, in-universe, asked them wtf they were doing in KMG and they never answered him lol).

I understand the “show, don’t tell”m but this is too extreme. This is not planning a single thing. We has so many chapters in  this last arc that added absolutely nothing to the story and later others that explained too much in too little time (and it’s not a criticism against an arc after Bonten, I stand by my opinion that Bonten couldn’t be the last arc because it felt incomplete, I’m saying that the last part wasn’t handled well). So many characters and sub plot are introduced and never explained, from South to Mikey’s parents, even Senju and the original Black Dragon. I loved seeing them on screen but what was their point lol? There’s so much potential lore/drama and nothing was said

Another thing I let slide until now is the management of the “magic system”. 

Wakui, for the great part of his manga never explained how time leaping works, except at the beginning when Naoto gave us the basic rules that we kept with us for the majority of the time. And that was okay, I didn’t need to have a book with rules like in Death Note for example, it was just a narrative expedient. What happens to the “actual present” characters when the “spirit” of the time leaper comes back to their timeline (basically, for example, does 15 y/o Takemichi remembers what 26 y/o Takemichi did with his body when his soul/spirit whatever traveled to the past? What happens to the actual person while the time leaper takes the wheel? Never cared to explain. Again, I understand they are narratives expedients but again, it should have been handled better.)

Since Wakui never cared to explain to us the rules of time leaping, I feared a reset because nowhere it was explained that you couldn’t leap “twice” like Takemichi and Mikey did in ch.277. It  doesn’t really contradict anything (and that’s why I feared it), but it’s too easy like this since, once again, after the reset we didn’t have time to see how we arrived at the happy ending and to know these characters. 

It’s a happy ending, and I actually felt kind of happy while reading it, I can’t deny it,  but it’s also empty. I love the “get your happy ending” trope precisely because I saw my characters struggling to arrive at their deserved happy ending, I struggled with them, I rooted for them, I suffered with them and in the end we got our prize, the happy ending.

But, since these moments were skipped, it doesn’t have the same emotional impact.

It has an impact, won’t deny it, but maybe because I know it’s over, and overall, this manga gave me a lot and I grew fond of it, regardless its flaws 

I already explained how rushed everything was and how so cliché, “shonen” and “Disney” this finale is here and how weird it is that Takemichi and Mikey are so much older then everyone else right now here. (imho, it’s basically another curse to be adult and living in children’s body)

I’m not saying that people from different generations cannot be friends, but still, how can you be surrounded by 7-8 y/o kids and treating them as friends when you are a young adult and you could be their babysitter, big brother, young uncle? Also, I want to believe in this TL Takemichi met Hina when she was in college or something since he’s mentally 20 years older than her, holy shit. I know the narration doesn’t question their relationship in the slightest and Takemichi is a good man, but still this is weird. (Again, I talk as a mutishipper here, so I’m not trying to invalidate any ship).

As I feared, I’m asking too many questions that clearly will never be addressed because otherwise you realize nothing makes sense lol. 

So many things could have been handled better, but a mix of being a shonen with the main target of teenagers (I agree so much with this post, that if TR were a seinen we probably could have seen so much more but probably wouldn't have been so popular) and rushed ending for whatever reason didn’t allowed it.

I guess that in order to actually enjoy TR in its entirety, you have to switch off your brain and just feel it lol.

Now, I don’t want to say this is all Wakui’s fault. Again, I still love the characters I had the chance to know before the rushed ending and the previous arcs and I’m aware that probably something behind the scenes happened. 

The manga industry is ruthless, mangakas work in terrible conditions and, unfortunately, it’s not unusual for them to have health problems due to the terrible rhythms and the environment. 

Beside that, the author is not always free to do what they want with their story, there are the editors, the publishing company that of course can and will tell the authors what is better for the company  and, ultimately, the publisher only thinks about the money. 

We don’t know the contract Wakui has with Kodansha (public company of Tokyo Revengers), we don’t know Wakui’s actual conditions, we don’t know and will never know what really happened to have such a rushed, poorly handled and written ending.

So I’m not saying that people that 100% enjoyed this are wrong, by all means, good for them, once again, we’re not talking about the greatest system, for us readers this is just a manga and if you’re happy like this, good for you. But since this is a story that, emotionally, gave me a lot, I would have preferred to see it handled better, especially from a purely writing point of view.

What I know is that  this story made me feel alive, made me feel in general, and I’m still grateful for those feelings. The whole, you know “Don't cry because it's ending, smile because it happened” kind of thing. So, be nice with each other, regardless, and remember that behind a story there’s an author and many other people, and we don’t know the actual dynamics of everything. 

So yeah, it’s over but not really because people at Kodansha like money (I guess Wakui like it too lol, I mean who doesn’t?) so now we’ll get other collateral things, so I guess we’ll hear about TR for a while. And of course the second season of the anime will start soon. I don’t know if TR will get an “expanded universe” like many franchises do recently or if it will slowly die. We will see in time I guess, but in the meanwhile, I think we’ll still get some content, in a way or another. 

[corner-stories]

new york is not just a town that you'll never lose

Bart Allen. Tom Bronson. New York Subways. Arm Chairs. Post-Graduation Possibilities. 2554 words. (ao3.)

It had been five days since Bart Allen had begun his “internship” with the Justice Society of America and only five days since he first arrived in Manhattan. 

On top of staying in the Battery Park brownstone free of charge, Bart was attending team meetings, participating in training sessions with the old man in the cat suit, and making sure to carve out time to appreciate the city.

New York was certainly a change of pace from the Bay Area university he had called home. Gone was the lively campus and salty sea air outside of his dorm. Now when he stepped out the door Bart was greeted to the sound of people yelling over rush hour traffic. 

During the last five days, Bart was fortunate to have lived through a handful of quintessential New York experiences. 

He had walked past an influencer recording a video of some kind of colorful, gimmicky instagrammable food item. He had gotten yelled at by a Yankees fan for daring to don his Keystone Salamanders baseball cap in public. He had visited the fabled “bodegas” that New Yorkers talked so lovingly about, only to be disappointed to discover that they were essentially family-owned corner stores. He had also tried the “chopped cheese sandwich” that the locals claimed was superior to every other American sandwich, and was even more disappointed to discover that it was essentially a deconstructed hamburger. 

Today Bart was going through something that he didn’t see on the various listicles and articles regarding “authentic” New York experiences.

Tom Bronson, Ted Grant’s son and the better-looking Wildcat, had found a “friggin’ steal” on Craigslist. Some NYU drop-out drowning in student debt was in desperate need to get rid of the furniture in their dorm. Apparently, after flunking out of school he needed to move out of the city ASAP and couldn’t bring most of his things. As Tom had been wanting an armchair for his room for the last few months, he had stalked the original posting until the last minute, when the original poster finally had no choice but to give the chair away for free just to get things over with. 

With most other JSA members too busy to help Tom with his errand, he had enlisted the team’s fresh meat to get the job done. Always down for an adventure and a reason to avoid training with the older Wildcat, Bart didn’t hesitate to say yes. 

Carrying the armchair out of the NYU dorm proved to be the easy part, as both the pretty boy Wildcat and the gangly Speedster had enough strength to lift the furniture down the flight of stairs. They didn’t even need to scream “PIVOT!” once.

Even walking through Washington Square Park wasn’t that difficult. Most of the New Yorkers in the area were too busy with themselves to pay attention to the two pretty boys playing the role of movers for the day. 

However, the difficult part was carrying the chair into the subway station. 

Tommy yelled every curse in the English language as he and Bart struggled to get the armchair over the turnstile. As Bart awkwardly held onto the legs of the item and tried to remain on his feet, he noticed that Tommy’s Brooklyn accent got even thicker with every word. 

The fact that the two hadn’t been stopped by security was some kind of miracle. 

After the nightmare that was getting the armchair past the entrance and swiping their metro passes, the plucky duo carried the furniture down a flight of stairs and onto the train platform. The only people that paid attention to them were the ones that bumped into the chair. Even then, the only words being exchanged were variations of the phrase “outta my way” or “ move, dickhead.” 

Due to both his cavalcade of curse words and the physical strain of carrying the armchair, Tommy was out of breath as they walked to the edge of the platform. 

“Okay…” he said, breathing in and out. “Just… drop it… here…”

From the other side of the chair, Bart nodded and did as he was told. Once the item was on the ground, Bart watched Tom collapse, just barely catching himself on the arm of the furniture. 

“Welp, that’s one for the bucket list,” said Bart as he glanced around the area. At this hour of the morning, the place wasn’t too crowded. 

“Yeah… can we… take five…?” Tom begged as struggled to pull himself onto the chair.

Once again, Bart nodded, then reached over to pull the Pretty Boy Wildcat off the platform. 

“Here, lemme help.” 

Tom looked relieved as Bart plopped him onto the chair. “Thank you,” he said, still struggling to get air into his lungs. 

Bart grinned as he rested his bottom against the arm of the chair. Despite Tommy heaving like a Prius driving up a hill, Bart felt assured to know that there was someone in the world with less upper-body strength than him. 

A few minutes passed as Tom recovered and Bart watched the trains move past the platforms. Still being new to the city, he had been relying on Google Maps just to get from A to B, and even then it was difficult to pinpoint exactly where he needed to go. 

It was times like these where Bart was thankful to have a local help him get around, as he had possibly no way to decipher which train would bring them back to the Battery. In fact, Bart was pretty sure he was just one mistake away from hopping on the wrong subway and disappearing into Queens forever. 

A few more trains passed by before Bart checked his phone for the time. He then turned to Tommy and asked, “So… which one’s ours?” 

Now in a much less tired state, Tom nodded his head towards the train just pulling up to the platform and pulled his ass off the armchair. 

“This one. Come on!” 

Once the subway train stopped at the track and opened its doors, Tommy and Bart lifted the armchair and rushed it to the car. Somehow the impossible was achieved and they managed to get it in with significantly less hassle then with the turnstile. And by the grace of the subway gods there were not too many passengers on this particular train. 

“Alright, set it here,” Tommy said as he lowered the chair. 

Just like before, Bart did what he was told. Once the chair was down on the ground, there was just enough time for Tommy to flop himself onto the cushions before the subway doors closed. The train began to move as Bart found a nearby seat. 

While Tommy reveled in a well-earned rest, Bart looked out the window to see nothing but the moving darkness of New York’s underbelly. Internally, he compared it to the Bay Area Rapid Transit system he used back at university, the train he had gotten used to riding for the last two years. 

Frankly, the smells and vibes were all the same, the only difference being that New York’s trains were a lot louder and more prone to two young men feeling a bit silly that day. 

Speaking of which, Bart glanced over to Tommy, who was grinning from ear to ear as he took in the sight of the Speedster on the train. 

“Look at you, Allen!” Tommy said enthusiastically. “Lookin’ like a real New Yorker already!”

Bart let out a chuckle. “I don’t think so, I haven’t yelled ‘I’m walkin’ here!’ at a total stranger yet.” Upon hearing his attempt at an angry New York accent, Bart internally noted that his Christopher Walken impression needed some work. 

“True, true,” Tommy replied, shrugging and leaning back in his chair. “You’ll probably do that by the end of the week.”

Bart gave a smile as Tommy looked at his newfound chair. Now that he wasn’t trying to catch his breath or cursing like the Brooklyner he was, he finally had time to bask in the glory of a good deal. 

“Damn, can you believe the quality of this thing?” he said as he ran his fingertips against the pristine, unblemished leather of the chair. “NYU trust fund babies really spare no expense.” 

Bart chuckled, amused. “I’m gonna assume that you’re not an alumni?”

“Me? Nah, I’m too smart for that,” Tommy laughed off. He crossed his legs as he settled into his seat, then pointed to his chest with both his thumbs. “Hunter College, represent!” 

“What’d you study?”

“Music… with an emphasis on composition and performance,” Tommy said with an air of ease. He then shrugged. “‘Cause why the fuck not, right?”

The Speedster let out a laugh. Bart had only been friends with the better-looking Wildcat for a handful of days, but during that time he learned three specific things about Thomas J. Bronson. 

He played a multitude of musical instruments and sang like a young Chet Baker. He worked two different shitty bar jobs while attending college part-time. He also had a killer stash hidden inside of his room at the Brownstone, something he used as both musical inspiration and to help him cope with the unbearable stress of being alive. 

Apparently, the old farts of the JSA were okay with it — their only complaints pertained to the smell. 

Taking in a breath of the not-so-fresh New York underground air, Bart quickly checked his phone. He swiped away a few of his university emails, promising himself to read them later, and quickly answered a text from Jesse, who was asking where he was. Unsurprisingly, Jay had wondered where Bart had run off to but was too technologically inept to figure out his smartphone and send a text. 

Smirking, Bart made sure that his reply was as blunt as possible. Knowing Jesse, it was very possible for her to interpret "riding the subway with Tomcat and an armchair we took from NYU” as Bart messing with her, which was exactly what he wanted. 

“So… when are you graduating again?” 

Bart looked up to see Tommy still relaxing in his chair. 

“Year and a half,” he replied as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. “Why do you ask?”

“Just curious,” Tom explained. He sat up in his chair just slightly. “I think it’d be cool if you came by more often, we could do more shit like this.” 

“Well, nothing’s ever far from me,” Bart assured with a simple smile. “I’m sure I could find the time no matter where I am. New York is pretty sick.” 

“Yeah, lived here my whole life,” Tom said. He placed one of his hands behind his head. “It never gets old, just more expensive.” 

Bart did not hesitate to nod along. “Oh, definitely. Why the hell is boba eight dollars over here?!” he said in genuine disbelief. “The economy’s in fuckin’ shambles!”

Somehow, Tommy managed a laugh, which prompted Bart to do the same. 

He had visited New York in the past, and every time he had been utterly enchanted by the city that never sleeps. In his heart he had held some affection for all the places he had lived — Manchester, Keystone, Central, Denver, even his sporadic stays in San Francisco — but there was something alluring about New York. 

There was a kind of spark to the city that Bart couldn’t deny, a spark that reminded him of the thunder in his heart before each adventure. He felt it in the sounds, the sights, and even the smells, as pungent as some of them may be. 

As Bart gave Tommy a smile, his mind pondered the possibility of New York being in his post-graduation future. Most people in his university department headed straight to Silicon Valley to begin start-ups or work for them, but the ones who didn’t either went to grad school or found their calling elsewhere. 

Bart wondered if his future could be the same. Many of his professors spoke at length about how much they enjoyed earning a master’s degree, some had gone on to study robotics while others had synthesized their engineering skills to explore the field of applied physics. 

Over the last few months, Bart had caught himself rifling through grad school brochures more than once. 

Sure, more school meant more tuition and Bart didn’t want to abuse the Official Bank of Jessica Belle Chambers for longer than he should. Besides, Jesse and Rick were likely putting away some money for little Johnny’s college fund. The last thing Bart wanted to do was to harm the future of his favorite nephew. 

Perhaps Bart would be lucky enough to find his own way to make it through. A dual degree in electrical engineering and computer science could certainly get him places, even if it was just a bachelor’s. 

New York was certainly one hell of a tech hub. Heck, during his first breakfast at the JSA Brownstone, Power Girl herself had encouraged him to apply to her company after he graduated. Apparently, Starrware prided itself on its robust, fulfilling internship programs specifically tailored towards fresh college grads. It would have to take a force of lovecraftian proportions to refuse an offer like that. 

It would also be nice to have a reason to be near the JSA again. 

“Yo, we’re comin’ up soon,” Tommy spoke, his words breaking Bart out of his thoughts. 

The Speedster glanced over to see Tommy standing up from his chair. Bart blinked as the mumbled, canned subway audio announced that the train was approaching Bowling Green station. 

“Come on!” said Tommy, and to that Bart nodded along and got onto his two feet. 

Fortunately for the plucky duo, the process of taking their precious armchair off the subway was slightly easier than getting it back on. Just like before, the stream of New Yorkers matriculating onto the platform paid no attention to the two randos carrying an armchair off the train. 

Bart looked to Tom for guidance again. The Pretty Boy Wildcat led the Pretty Boy Speedster to the nearby staircase, trying to not drop the chair as they went. Tom sucked in a breath as he and Bart worked together to slowly move the piece of furniture upwards, moving step by step to avoid death by staircase tumble. 

Once they got to the top, Tom and Bart set the armchair down on the ground as they both looked upon the next obstacle standing in their path — the final turnstile.

Tommy sucked in a breath as he glared at the gate, staring at it like it was the final boss in a video game he had sunk too many hours into. 

“Alright, just one more to go…”

He then looked towards Bart. “Yo, in engineering, you learn like… physics and shit too?”

Running a hand through his hair, Bart nodded. “Yeah, it’s part of the course.” 

“Good, then put that to use!” 

Without warning, Tom grabbed his side of the chair, prompting Bart to immediately do the same. 

As the pair of pretty boys made haste and rushed the armchair towards the turnstile, Bart held his breath as he prepared for the unknown. In the few seconds before truly hitting the barrier, Bart let out words that — amongst the chaos — he prayed that the subway gods would hear. 

“And they say university is hard…”

[bakiuwu]

If you saw the bullshit that happened yesterday on Baki Tumblr, I'll gladly give a summary of the "drama" that happened.

@yandere-writer-momo got salty tha I blocked her and so she made a passive-aggressive call-out post about it

calling me a "cop" and making me look like a bad person who just calls out people for no reason and is a big meanie-head. She talk about how I "police people on what they should or shouldn't like" and judges people on their ship. then uses the example when I informed her about the artist (banano-san ew) that she was praising in a post. She's making it seem like I'm policing and being judgmental when I was letting her know about how that artist is a fucking weirdo but apparently wanting to warn someone about a person who fucking disgusting is a crime.

WHAT'S REALLY INTRESTING is that after I commented tha you dm me about it, agreeing thats shit was weird, so how come now you're making seem like I'm big meanie-head for warning you about them?? seems ass-backwards to me.

Who is the artist that is being discussed? Who is she defending? that artist being banano-san. A weirdo I call-out a few months ago for their gross behavior in the baki Fandom, but for some reason, shes acting like I call out an innocent baki artist who's done nothing wrong???

I was bringing their gross actions to light to warn normal fans about their weirdo behavior, especially since they're mainly on tumblr/ I saw a bunch of people i was following praise them. If you dont know, there's a lot of weird/disgusting artists in the baki community. Artist like

Stvd-ships incest(baki x yujiro,Jack x baki), also pedophile (baki x tha 12 year old boy)

Chyiomm-ships baki x yujiro

There's too many of these weirdos in this small fandom, but banano-san is one of them. If you would like to see that post, it's pinned on my account. Where I basically go over screenshots of their disgusting behavior that's out in the open and is allowed to be judged because yall know it's public, duh.

What's also funny is that you say, " I can't judge cause I also dabble in taboo subjects. "....so you're grouping yourself with a bunch of incest likers?? That's very weirdo of you to admit that you wouldn't judge someone's whos fine with incest and pedophile

But if we're using momo and her brain-dead followers' logic, I shouldn't judge and be sympathetic and understanding about why a person would post and say such things🤓

I JUST LOVE how you're trying to make it seem like this hateful person. How cute, also you bring up "you need to understand tha people aren't going to agree with your opinions"........are you fucking dumb, why are acting like the my opinion on incest and pedophile can be something that can be debated, this shows how much of an weirdo you are cause what normal sane person would say tha about those very fuck up topics.

Also putting "they told me to stop writing.😅" Oh brother, did you or did you not vent to me about the weird request you were getting for non-con???? And how uncomfortable people were making you I told you to take a break from writing and figure other things to write. Don't make it seem like I was trying to be a dick

Like come now

MOST IMPORTANTLY, this whole dumbass theard is basically her trying to "educate" me on how I can ruin someone life because of calling them out for they're disgusting behavior and making nothing but excuses for these weirdos.

That I should sugar-coded theses types of weirdos who are in the baki Fandom. Don't even get me start on the weirdos agreeing with her in the comments making me and my friend look like we were wrong for having these opinions. The Fandom itself is small and honesty not that good(especially with all the dudebros), but lord forbid I warn people about fuckers like banano-sana.

Apparently, that makes me a cop now. Also don't try act all calm in proper in the reblogs "I won't use insults" when you was being a bitch in tha rude ass post trying to make me look like I witch-hunt innocent people, girl fuck you. I don't appreciate that type of petty ass behavior.

In conclusion, this shit all starts because of a distasteful call-out post all because I have her annoying ass blocked and her portraying me as a mean-ass who judges innocent people on the internet. At the end of the day, you're defending a freak. I had her block for a very simple reason......CAUSE SHE WAS FILLING UP THE DAMN BAKI TAG. I was tired of seeing post after post after post, shit was getting annoying, so I blocked her. Apparently thats wasnt allowed, so she made that dumbass post. Finally, that's all I have to say, and that's the "drama" summarized and explained.

[everlasting-elegy]

FINALLY ANOTHER INTERESTING STORYTIME I CAN CONTINUOUSLY TALK ABOUT !! the most stressful and funny 4hrs of my life as of recently

this old friend kept on texting for four hours, I mean it was interesting somewhat but 👁👁💧 its so random because we don't talk on a daily basis he replies to a lot of my WhatsApp statuses which I randomly post on from time to time. I told hoebae and my bffie about it at the same time we all were talking, my bffie already knows him because we all went to the same elementary but he doesnt know buma even though they follow each other on insta just because they both know me, he msg them both on insta, buma because i told him to troll buma with a wet soaked owl picture lol he freely messaged my bffie because she kept asking me to tell him shes good at aussie slang, because he reminded me he's half australian and japanese. before, a while ago when i told my bffie he's randomly texting me she said wow he so nice compared to the other guys our age, like they're raging at girls for no reasons like, who asked/no one cares type of stuff LOL but apparently when he dmed Lois she suddenly said he was being mean lol and Buma said he sounded dry and rude 💀 idk where she got the feeling of rude from since I just saw the first few msgs exchanged which was some sillies

^ my bffie being salty ig 😞 but like she was like going on and on about aussie slang 😭

I found this whole interaction with everyone really funny 😋

- 🎎/Ko

YAYAYAY MORE KO ANTICS but also don't feel pressured to have interesting things happen, you could literally send me a one hour vid of paint drying and I'll talk about it LMAO

NAH HONESTLY I GET YOU there's a guy who messages me and he's nice to me but then he was such an ass to some of my friends. If I didn't have to do work with him/have so many mutuals I'd have blocked him by now 😩😩

And Aussie slang??? Let me know if your friends want a test, I can grade them. I can be very Aussie when I wanna be 😌

(ALSO one of my cyber security subjects, I was investigating a fake hard drive. And in this hard drive the main user was your name and I was like "omg ko what have you done this time" JKJK)

[silver-wield]

I think it was you that proposed the theories, but I have some questions: 1) What was your thoughts on the idea of Argento possibly being Tifa's mom & that they're from Wutai (due to her maybe putting Leviathan's Materia in the town well)? I DID look & Argento seems to have blue eyes (eye because eye patch) from the shots I could make out from them. Plus the only info we DO know about Tifa's mom is that she dies from an illness & we haven't physically seen her any from what I'm aware of.

2) Do you think they'll ever go into why Tifa has red eyes in the games? And/or if they'll hint to her & Vincent maybe being related somehow, like that they're cousins or something? I DO know that I saw your post where you pointed out they were the "original versions" of what would end up being Aerith & Sephiroth in the early "relationship chart" concept pic. (I don't know if her also being related to Yuffie somehow due to Wutai ties would be too much.)

3) Do you think Usher (the Dirge multiplayer character's guide) could have been turned into the Restrictor we meet in its story mode? We know who the VA of the latter is but we don't know about Usher's from what I was able to find, & it's been a bit since I've watched the cutscenes so I haven't compare them.

4) Do you think they could repurpose the plot point of the Player Tsviet being able to resist the Restrictor's control being either the previous Usher connection idea where his SOLDIER version is him trying to help & guide the player, or possibly Hojo trying out a "prototype" version of the plot he tries to preform with Weiss where he tries to mentally hijack him?

Hi 👋👋👋 welcome to the random weirdness that is my Tumblr 🤣

So the theory about Argento came before we got any info from ToTP, where we see that Tifa's mother is called Thea and she grew up in Nibelheim. It really was just a random shot in the dark all based on this one fact that Argento came from Wutai and looked a bit like Tifa and I have a weakness for super cool badasses. So it wasn't really anything serious, outside of looking up a bit of character info and connecting some very tenuous dots for fun and fanfiction fodder. I think I did actually use that HC in a fanfiction, so some of what I said at the time wound up being because I was working out stuff for that reason and thought it was a fun topic to talk about. There's so many characters and stories in ffvii and a lot of them get overlooked for the main cast or because salty dumdums don't want anybody to acknowledge anything, besides what they decide is important. So, it's actually a fact that Argento isn't Tifa's mother and isn't responsible for anything that happens in Nibelheim. We never find out why there's a materia in the water tower, but apparently it's been there for a long time.

Turns out that Nomura originally chose red eyes for Tifa because he liked the colour on her and how it fit with her aesthetic. Doesn't go any further than that with her design. Nojima is the one who had to work that into the world build, and I think at the time they didn't really pay it any mind and thought most people wouldn't either. Somewhere down the line they understood people's curiosity about Tifa's eyes, especially when they couldn't match the colour in AC and made them brown, so that really put attention on that aspect. With the expansion of world building through the compilation, we see several other characters with red eyes. Besides Vincent Valentine, there's also Rosso the Crimson from Dirge of Cerberus, and Matt Winsford from First Soldier, so I think the devs are trying to make an effort to normalise the eye colour while still getting the impression across that it's a fairly rare shade. And yeah, in early development Tifa and Vincent were brother and sister, and that's why they both have dark hair and red eyes, but they're clearly not related by the end of development, especially since Vincent is old enough to be her grandfather. As for Yuffie being Tifa's relative, that was a HC based mostly on ffx Yuna and Rikku being related because Nojima wrote both scenarios. I doubt it'd be true, but it's fun for fanfiction.

I honestly can't remember anything about the multi player mode for Dirge, so I can't really answer this. Last time I looked anything up for it was about 2yrs ago and it wasn't all that interesting for me so I very likely purged it from my brain 🤣

I doubt Nojima will pull any of the player aspect of Dirge from the game because that would take focus away from ffvii. At most, the devs have said they want to include a few references and locations from the compilation.

[risu5waffles]

Holy shite, i missed a (ten) spot!

When i tell you i actually panicked a bit when i realized i'd not put up a recap post. It took me a hot minute to figure out that i was only a day late, but still.

This level is so loud. Like, thankfully it's also pretty short, but it's still awful damned loud. i try not to get on creators' cases about sound balancing; my ears are so bad, whenever i use music or sfx they're either too loud or too soft, because i honestly can't tell? But even still, i wish more creators would fiddle wiv the volume a bit, especially when they're using community-made tracks; they're always way too loud. Otherwise, this level is, it's fine really. Nothing that really stands out about the gameplay or presentation, but it's fun enough for a couple of minutes. i do have to say it was interesting they used this section of The Cosmos backdrop, 'cause i hardly ever see it. Usually folx (myself included, mind you) pull it down to the arcade cabinets, or mid-way up to the more space-y section. This part is kind of neat too.

This one's such a neat idea, and really well presented too, right down to the music (tho', if i remember right, Baile-Flamenco was kind of known for that). Kind of half-in-half-out on puzzles and platforming, where you can transfer movability to objects by grabbing them (the in-universe explanation is you're painting them wiv a puddle of blood). i love the little diorama bit toward the end, wiv all the world's monsters, including... YOU! The Sadako climbing out the telly is a top notch bit. i also really appreciate that the creator went to such lengths to put the level in English. It's not perfect, maybe, but their writing/speaking style has a lot of charm, and doing that kind of thing is hard work.

Just a simple little bounce around the screen grabbing point bubbles and avoiding bombs kind of gig. It's well presented, tho', and the home-brew bounce pads are still functioning mostly right, which isn't always the case wiv LBP1 levels in LBP3.

i may have gotten on a bit of a taka061 kick that week of recording, but his levels are so good. It does raise a bit of an issue for me, 'cause sometimes i'd really like to just record a bunch of levels by one creator, but wiv only one episode a day, i feel a bit like i'm taking space from other folx? Honestly, i'd love to just take two weeks and play all of chronos' stuff for the archives. The only thing of note here, aside from the level just being really, really good, is i wound up having to record it again a few days after the episode went live, because i needed some b-roll for my LittleBite-sizedPlanet look at Tic Tac Sunset, and that playthrough was way better than the one we have here. Just a little salty about that.

Kind of weird we had two levels based around colouring the environment in the same chunk of ten. That wasn't planned at all. Neither was my having a pseudo-y Roman-y motif-y kind of level to be published on the Ides of March. Just happy accidents all over, i guess. This one is nice enough, but it is just a bit too much, and i felt like it'd worn its welcome out by the end (tho', in fairness, that was on me since i wanted everything i could get for the archive). Now i really appreciate that the creator apparently had the same idea, and gives the player two chances to bounce early. That's not me giving a backhanded compliment, i really do think that's a cool thing to do. There've been plenty of levels i've played, even quite good ones, where i've found myself thinking "please, just give me a scoreboard already." One interesting thing wiv this one, or at least how it dovetails wiv the LittleBite-sizedPlanet for this upcoming Friday, is how if you make too many things interactable, your brain (or mine, at least), just starts to actively not care? Because there are just too many things going on to track, or for any one of them to have real importance in comparison to any of the others.

It's a little weird that this level leads off wiv that wee robot-y(?) character being very clear that you have to turn every valve, and then half the valves in the level not actually doing anything. i wonder if that was on purpose, or if something went a bit sideways in the translation from LBP2 to LBP3. i liked this one fairly well; it's got a really solid material and decoration set that get put to good use, tho' i'd say they're presented best when the camera is pulled in a bit more. That happens a lot, i find. It's rare for a creator to get a big environment looking real good, even when it's necessary for gameplay to have a pulled out view. That's not meant to be a knock on any creators, just that it seems a tough trick to pull off.

We talked about this on Friday, and i stand by everything i said there.

i wound up really enjoying this one, and i'd like to give the LBP1 level it's adapted from a play on stream. The swimming bits were a little hard to navigate, on account of them being dark, and my always forgetting you can't just change layers underwater, but i really don't have any big complaints about this one.

Gameplay-wise there's nothing too flash in this one, but i really found myself charmed by the environment. kome managed to nail a scale that felt just right. The incidental details really put in a lot of work too. Like, those terrariums? <chef's kiss> i did discouver thanks to this one (we'd actually played it on stream before i recorded it for the archive) that Twitch mutes the audio in the VoD download file, not just the VoDs that are up on Twitch, and i hate that like the devil hates sin. i'd suspected it to be the case, but i never listen to my streams once they're up. Even searching for a thumbnail i tend to have it on mute. It just popped in my brain to make a point of checking this time, and sure enough. i tell you that really frazzles my frizzles.

Dry tree yo. Just.. Dry tree. i don't even really know what to say aside from it is so very, very good. The fact that it has still, somehow, managed to not be Team Picked (despite having picked up a Level of the Day nod) is, quite possibly, honestly a sin. If it weren't for the fact that some of the Team Picks are actually very much quality, i'd assume Sumo were throwing darts at a list of creators they already liked. i played through this one so many times trying to get a run wiv all the secrets, which is a difficult feat on account of i never put any points into Spot Hidden, but i did finally manage to pull it off. Gotta say it felt pretty good.

So that's another 10 down, yeah. After the kerfluffle wiv my level last week, i've got the feeling it's going to be a little late to justify an every 50 schedule for a hub publish. i kinda had that feeling tho'. i do think this build is going to go more quickly, since there are a lot of parts to it that i'm keeping from the previous one. Trying it out in dThermo is a bit of a worry; i've never had particular luck wiv that system. Based on what i've heard, tho', at least some of it was just me honestly using it wrong. Thankfully i've got chat helping out, and @mellangard , especially, has a lot of experience wiv dThermo, and his advice has been invaluable.

i don't know that anyone watches the episodes all the way to the end to notice, but i think i changed up the end card somewhere in this stack. Nothing really too drastic, just tossed a progress flag up instead of the black background i'd been using. i don't change the tagline every episode like i do wiv LittleBite-sizedPlanet, and i think we'll probably be sticking wiv "For Fierce Trans Joy" for at least a little while longer. Times have been rough for us, and look to be getting rougher depending on where you live (my trans sibs in Missouri, just... fucking hell); but i want us to have our joy, even if we have to claw it out raw and bloody.

[martianbugsbunny]

Live-Action Herc

This movie will most likely be a disaster. There, I said it, that out of the way. Also, I will be throwing a little extra shade in this post, because this is my way of playing worst-case scenario.

MEG

I don’t trust modern writers to pull of Meg in any good way. These days it seems nobody can understand the difference between sardonic wit and unkindness, so Meg will probably be insulting people left and right for no reason, which of course we’re supposed to laud her for, bc she’s just a salty queen, right? Yeah no. I want a nuanced Meg, like I had in the original. I want Meg with a dry wit and a hopeless situation but a good, if hardened, heart. Actually, getting Meg who is indebted to Hades and yes, needs help, needs saving, is going to be dubious enough. Because heaven forbid a woman is anything but completely in control *sarcastic*

HADES

He’s an icon. I love him. I also don’t know if I’m going to like any new version of him that I’m given. If he’s skinny, I riot. There’s a preoccupation in movies these days (although people would die rather than admit it) in having every character be a very specific kind of attractive--which for guys, often ends up placing them smack-dab between slim and BUILT. I think a Hades who looks more like the cartoon version, who’s fat and has a sharp nose and grey skin would be attractive. (*certain exclusions may apply, as even with these traits I may not find the specific actor attractive* *good characterization may balance out physical attractiveness in this event as well*) Also, I love his loud personality, because a lot of Disney villains are threatening in a more subtle way. Hades knows he’s powerful and he’s very obvious about knowing it.

HERCULES

Hercules is BUILT. That’s kinda the point of Hercules. But he’s still a pretty gentle man, and I fear what modern writers might do to him. Gentle women are written poorly enough; gentle men haven’t been written well since Aragorn. *for legal purposes, I am kidding* But he’s not all quippy and sarcastic, like so many male superheroes are, and I love him for it. A gentle man wins my heart much more quickly than a guy who makes obnoxious jokes at every chance he gets. Also, his love is what defines him. His love for Meg is what saves them both. His willingness to risk his life in the impossible hope that he can save her life saves both of them. A man like that is a rare find in modern cinema.

Also, if they make the romantic plot something about Herc being a real player until he meets Meg, at which point he decides to mend his ways, I will scream. That trope is so played out it’s not even interesting anymore.

VISUAL EFFECTS

They gotta pay their artists well for this one, and give them reasonable deadlines, because there will end up being a lot of visual effects. Cerberus, the Hydra, Hades’ hair--these are all things that cannot be created without at least some computer input. And if the movie is not aesthetically pleasing, or if it looks jarring or fake, I’m not going to enjoy it no matter how good the plot is. If it makes my eyeballs and my brain want to crawl out of my skull and die, the plot cannot save it. In short, I don’t want it to look as lackluster as She-Hulk did. I want it to be a cinematic masterpiece. Maybe use some practical effects, because those are underused and underrated in modern Hollywood as well. This movie should be pretty, because it’s a fantasy-type story about heroes and gods and great deeds and for Pete’s sake such high subject matter should be beautiful! AND FINALLY, THE APPARENT TIKTOK VIBE

If the dialogue is as such that the characters say things like ‘yeet’ or ‘bestie’ in normal conversation, I’m done. That’s not how people talk in actual conversations with each other. There is a legitimate difference between online dialect and in-person dialect and if the makers of this movie fail to grasp that, it’s going to be the kind of cringe that gives me secondhand embarrassment just from watching. And believe me, that makes me so uncomfortable I will not go back to watch the movie ever again. The characters should talk like regular fricking people.

Also, if there is an excess of TikTok dancing, I may cry.

Basically, TikTok provides short videos. They are meant to be short videos and short videos alone. These are not designed to provide an enduring experience like a two-hour-long movie. They are designed to grab you for the brief amount of time before your attention span fails and you move on. Trying to extend TikTok energy into a whole movie? Not gonna work, because that goes against the fundamental principles of what TikTok was made to do.

[theworld-accordingtocasey]

Mannnn tell me how I woke up and I’m STILL mad at them. Then they posted that cornball ass annoying 💚D–6💚 shit and I wanted to comment “😒” on it SO bad but I decided I’m in a cold shoulder mood more than I’m in a snarky mood, so they got no engagement whatsoever. I ain’t even click on the tweet and open the app, I could see it from the notification tab so I slid left and finished my breakfast. How about I took a nap and when I woke up 4 hours later to get my bunny his morning salad, I was STILL mad. Stirring my coffee. Thinking of how audacious it is to be wealthy in NYC talm bout some damn “I’m bored” boy if you catch the ferry to the island and go see Lady Liberty or some shit!? All the places they see in movies & he ain’t wanna go look at the shit irl or something?? And then Mr. “I missed Korean food as soon as the plane took off” nigga if you don’t walk over to Woori Jib! I ate there during a few of my trips to NY. If MY Floridian ass knows it exists, your manager should have been able to stumble across that information without trying. Yes you’re allowed to miss home but you just got off the plane!! Not too mad at Jeff cus he hardly talks to anyone or posts anyway. He is a man who for the most part is an Equal Opportunity Non-communicator. I’m salty at mark cus of his “finally” shit but at least while they were here he put some enthusiasm in his tweets and did so IN ENGLISH *first*, since ya know, he was supposed to be talking to US anglophones (glares at Ty and Doyoung). I heard there’s a TikTok going around of him saying how he’s happy to see all the diversity in the crowds or something to that effect. I’ll probably be un-mad at him first, unless there is an apology (which we know won’t happen) from Ty or anyone in the group. SM apparently only responds to boycotts, so i feel like justified in more ways than one for thinking that the next album’s songs can stay in Korea and in Korean charts & shows too, since they wanna gatekeep new performances for only precious kfans 🤡 Saw a post last night that stan twt cooking up a plan to make sure next release, probably a repackage, doesn’t come anywhere near the Billboard charts and ykw? GOOD.

[[MORE]]

Your treat for us was to perform the 2 songs you literally have just finished promoting in SK within 3 days of arriving to LA & that’s…it? & music from 2 releases ago or more which means most of the setlist was more than 2 years old. Yeah everyone wanted Sticker and Favorite but that was over a year ago lol. Collabs have happened since then & recent NEW solos. Not even a mini or EP but a whole ass album that we helped shoot sales through the roof, came out, like!!?

We let a wholeeeee lotta shit slide over the years but I’m seriously over it dude. SM half-assed this “tour” with poorly planned show appearances, badly organized fan event, sketchy staff…Wtf is this “new music only for Korea concert” shit?! SM fr needs to work on their marketing tactics cus this “Kfans first, kfans only” style plan, this “do whatever it takes to stay in not only the good graces of, but rather, the best graces of Korean fans (when ifans have carried them since mf 00:01 of Firetruck and we all know it. Also, we have long confirmed music sales aren’t the bulk of musicians income, it’s TOURING) who absolutely are gonna drop like a bug near a can of Raid when someone goes public with a relationship, is NOT the move.

It’s like they got too comfortable just like a guy does in a relationship. If we wanted to be ignored we can go stan a kpop group with NO foreigners & a company who can’t afford staff to ensure immediate subtitles and regular comebacks, etc. Or even someone from a midsize company who aspires to have a global audience whether they have foreigners in the group or not & is willing to put in more than the bare minimum. Like wtf is SM doing, why are they self-sabotaging when *globalalization* is supposed to be the point of 127 to begin with??

Idc what any group says, BTS’ fame is what they want. Why the hell wouldn’t it be? There’s no shame in admitting, there’s no shame in wanting to be a household name around the world lol. if you want to be at the top fr then you need to stay humble & respect all your fans, cus as someone who helped make it happen, I most certainly did not bust my ass and go that hard for them while feeling disrespected, like??Bighit (it’s past tense so I’m calling them BH) could’ve done better because there were times when they just let us do all the work without promoting the boys well but the boys themselves made it feel worth it because they were happy and thankful to be surpassing levels, that when they became trainees didn’t even register as doable. BH could’ve done better on merch for us too instead of only giving the good shit to JPN army, but that’s a separate issue & again, wasn’t BTS’ choice. Even with Namjoon’s minor goof (I think ppl who aren’t Black &/or debut stans know about it. & I sincerely think at the time that when it came out of his mouth he didn’t understand why it’s problematic…and also I mean. He wasn’t wrong…) and major goof (you know the one) and the WOH incident, he earned forgiveness because he seemed to work with sincerity. AHL definitely helped and to this day no one has done that extent of hiphop boot camp (yes, I am saying that Svt’s lil trip doesn’t compare, you interpreted that correctly).

Do I think there’s a magic formula to get a “““next BTS”””? Hell nah lol That there was a perfect storm (Bigbang had laid the framework, BAP fell off (a big fuck u to their record label btw. We don’t speak the name of that dirtbag but they were doing REALLY good intl especially over here), BlockB messing up w/ the SE fans + Zico fucking up (over… & over… again) + not playing their cards right at ALL, the consistency of their sound rather than it being a 1 era dress-up party, sns (on a shared account mind you! They didn’t have personals!) & talking to all of us not just kfans, AHL, making connections w/ Black artists & maintaining them, having a solid anglophone, helping make their own music frequently, doing their endorsements all or nothing without having 1 known member– I could go on. Point is, the exact formula isn’t possible but it’s not completely unobtainable to be in the ballpark. Neos could be in the ballpark even w/o compromising their 127-ess & sound if they worked at balancing their fandom ((+ not acting like Europe (and Africa, but idt kpop will hit that for a min)) doesn’t exist). The pandemic didn’t help them but they didn’t try to make up for not being able to travel to non-Korean fans.

Ffs kpop is becoming almost trendy instead of just a niche! And the top group is on an official hiatus! & no one has enlisted yet! There’s a void- STRIKE WHILE THE IRON IS HOT YOU FOOLS!! It’s not even just SM to blame, they have their own personal accts in various sites, they let the staff have the power by not pushing harder for using the English speakers they have more & obeying when they get told to only speak in Korean. What’s SM gonna do, yank them from the lineup?? If you have fans either as a group or akgaes & they are so flaky that you communicating in multiple languages makes them angry enough to not buy albums like I Superhuman era & leave, let them go!! You’ll get more fans just out of appreciation for the fact that you did the right thing instead of caving in to spoiled nonsensical brattiness. I am so incredibly annoyed by them having no backbones bro. Get a spine or always stay at the mercy of unreasonable ppl willing to drop you for being a fair person and a good idol.

[this-has-returned]

So apparently someone used one of my fan remixes as part of a scientific test to judge how effective content copyright bots are when correctly identifying overlapping songs, lol.

For context, I wasn't emailed about this (they don't need my permission for a fan-made remix that dances with copyright infringement; I wouldn't have asked for an email anyways). I only learned about this because my dad keeps googling my name every two weeks to see what my Internet footprint is like, and this paper came up.

I've read through it twice, and it seems interesting, but I haven't looked into this person's other work so this isn't me posting an opinion on it or anything; I just think it's funny that something I had a hand in is being used as target practice for someone else's experiment.

The only bit of opinion and context that I'm gonna include here:

I only uploaded the song because (at the time) the Expanse fandom was begging the show producers to release this track for download, but time had passed without any reply or additional information on possible plans to release it at all.

So I had taken audio clips from the show and compiled a "complete" version of the song, and then mixed it to include more high-end that was missing from the audio format of the streaming service, on top of other techniques.

I showed it to some friends, and—days later—I was suddenly getting a LOT of messages from strangers down the grape vine begging me to upload it to SoundCloud and post it to Reddit.

So I did.

I have not made any money from it. I do not WANT to make money from it. I was simply performing a service because the fandom really wanted this song, and nobody on the production team would so much as indicate that they were paying any attention to this. In the description on SoundCloud, I left as much credit to anyone I could find who could have been involved in making the original song.

Other people have reposted the song to YouTube and tried to claim it as their own, and—of course—they did not give any credit to anyone on the production staff. I won't link them here.

I know they reposted parts of my mix specifically, because I had added a slight phaser to some drums to reinforce the music at certain parts of the source audio, and I heard that exact phaser in the reposts. I'm not salty because they reposted my mix in particular; I'm salty because they did not credit any of their sources, and opted to not participate in the paper trail leading back to the Expanse production team.

Since posting the song on SoundCloud, I also have not seen an uptick in traffic to my usual music site, so I haven't benefited from any traffic, either.

Again, I did not make the song to cash in on fame or fortune. I was simply filling a niche in the fandom, and happened to be the first to do it. It was an easy enough task that anyone else could have done it, too.

[obeymycok]

MC’s Demon Form - Mammon

Just to be clear, MC can use all their forms. This is just the one that the brothers first saw MC in. If you haven’t read the setup for these headcanons, as well as the pact headcanons that explain what’s happening here, I strongly recommend you do so (they will be linked below) Otherwise, on with the reactions! Sorry for the delay on Mammon’s but I finally have a few days off work for my bday so I can grind out some more.

Taglist: @trashlord-007  @waldeinsamkeit600  @simpinginthecorner  

Pact Headcanons     Setup

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

“MC!!!” Mammon shouted as he sprinted to the fallen beast followed closely by the rest of the brothers. Apparently, too close. Mammon stopped dead in his tracks, feet still sliding over the dirt as his brothers crashed into him at full force. They all got up ready to curse him out, but the sight in front of them quickly shut them up.

There you were, but you looked like..?

Mammon...

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

Lucifer

He is reminded of his respect for Mammon as he sees you standing next to your kill

Those golden eyes awaken the fear he forgot he had for his little brother

His pride is also a little hurt, thinking you only got the form of your first pact

He’s elated when he sees your pride form but honestly, he likes seeing Mammon’s greatness in whatever form it may take

The fact that it paired with you was perfect

Mammon

“Of course you’d wanna be like The Great Mammon!”

He’s just so happy and awestruck

A little salty when he finds out you have other demon forms, but he basks in the glory for as long as possible

He wants to go flying with you and maybe even spar a little to see what you’ve learned about his power

Leviathan

Oh god, oh fuck, whY HIM??!! is the only thing crossing his mind

He is literally steaming, you could mistake him for the Avatar of Wrath

“Even the fucking scumbag is closer to MC than a gross yucky otaku like me. I mean who am I kidding I’m worthless and-”

Please stop his spiral of hatred and play a game with him later

Gets used to it quickly and starts making you new outfits to accommodate your new heights

Satan

*Looooong sigh*

It’s not Lucifer, but come on

Still, he’s amazed at the transformation and doesn’t hesitate on asking questions

Definitely wants to use your speed as an escape from Lucifer after a successful prank

Lowkey just wants to fly with you since he’s always been curious

Asmodeus

*pouty face*

“MCCCC why didn’t you want to look like yours truly??”

Just show him your lust form and he’ll stop bashing Mammon

He’ll actually start complimenting BOTH of you and prepping all of you for pictures 

He just HAS to post the hottest trio in existence on his Devilgram!!

Beelzebub

He’s so happy that Mammon is off the walls with excitement

Also very proud of how much you’ve grown and excited to see what you can do up close

100% asks to help you train and I mean, how could you say no?

Please just don’t steal his food

Belphegor

Grumpy baby of the family

Surprisingly not mean to Mammon though, since he’s the only brother who didn’t threaten or hurt you

Also rediscovers his fear of Mammon’s power and shows him a newfound respect

For once, he’s not a little shit