#sorry for such a long post. oops.

[baked-bread]

Anime North 2023 - Haul

Total cost: $335 (all prices are in CAD)

Figures:

Total cost: $185 + 150

Love Live! Sunshine!! - Mari Ohara - Super Premium Figure - The First of Aquors (SPM) - $30

I think that she's so cute! I was having a difficult time deciding between a few Mari prize figures, but I definitely like this one a lot. :)

Fate stay/night - Saber - Nendoroid (#250) 10th Anniversary Edition (Good Smile) - $60

I bought her at the Nominoichi! I've never owned a full-size Nendoroid so I'm really happy to own her, especially at this price. :) She hasn't been unboxed in over 10 years... The seller was originally selling her for $70, but I was really happy to see the price drop near the end of the night, and that's what ended up cementing my decision. I love Saber so much and I'm really happy about this one. :D

Hatsune Miku - BiCute Bunnies - ~White Bunny Baby Pink~ (FuRyu) - $50

She's so cute.... and also now the largest figure I own. The stockings are made of real material (which is a cool touch), but the fabric pills a lot in the back. I don't think the stockings were executed well at all. Regardless, I think she's adorable and I absolutely love her. >_<

Hatsune Miku - Noodle Stopper Figure - Sporty Maid Ver. (FuRyu) - $45

I absolutely love the noodle stopper figures that have released recently. I love maid outfits, so I'm so overjoyed to have this one. >_< She's so cute.... it makes me want to buy cup noodles on purpose so I can take a picture of her with it. For now, she sits quite nicely on the edge of a shelf. I think I actually prefer this style a lot over figures with stands.

Manga:

Total cost: $20

From top to bottom:

Persona 3 - volumes 8 and 9

Persona 4 - volumes 7 - 10

Steins;Gate 0 - volumes 2 and 3

The Beguiling's stand at Anime North has select volumes of manga for 4/$10 every year, and I always look forward to it! I already own volumes 1-6 of both the Persona 3 and Persona 4 manga from their stand in 2019 (the last time that I attended the convention), so I'm up to 10 on P4 and I'm missing 7 on the P3 one! I don't own volume one of the Steins;Gate 0 manga, so I'll end up pirating it online. Overall, I'm always really happy to get them so cheap, especially since most of the manga I've accumulated over the years is actually from them at this price.

Artist Goods:

Separate page for full artist links is located here: ♡

Total cost: $120

From left to right:

NIJISANJI - Millie Parfait - acrylic charm (moecinna) - $15

NIJISANJI - Yugo Asuma + Millie Parfait - acrylic charms (NIKOORIN) - $25

I love these charms a lot! I was so excited to see one for Yugo. :O There were a lot of artists selling Nijisanji merch, but OP was the only one with him. >_< I have moecinna's charm on my keys and NIKOORIN's charms attached to the backpack that I take to work! They're all so cute! I put moecinna's charm on the lanyard with my badge, and I got some compliments on it while waiting in line for a panel, too. :)

Project SEKAI COLORFUL STAGE! - Nightcord at 25:00 - print (Nemururin) - $20

Her art was so pretty! I really wanted the Luxiem print, but it was sold out by the time I decided on the purchase. :( Spent my last $20 here! I was debating on whether or not I'd get her Wonderland x Showtime print or her Nightcord at 25:00 print, and Nightcord won out. If I ever see the Luxiem print up for sale again... 👀

Ichigo Magazine Tee - shirt (Ocean In Space) - $50

I absolutely love her art! I saw a post online a week before the event saying that she'd be there and I was so excited, except I couldn't find her in the artist alley. It took me an embarrassing amount of time to realize that her booth was in the dealer's room. >_< The shirt itself is really comfy, and the fact that it's mostly polyester is a godsend to me! (I have a lot of texture issues with cotton and don't wear it unless I'm leaving the house.) I normally wear a medium, so I bought that, and it definitely does come really oversized! I think that makes it even more comfortable, honestly. It was an intense debate on which shirt to buy, but I'm really happy with this one and I think it's so cute. ^^

Sanrio - Cinnamoroll - phone grip (uukipi) - $10

(Phone case not included, LMAO.) A ton of artists were selling phone grips this year, which was super cool! I've never used a popsocket-type phone grip, but it's actually pretty nice. :O All of the phone grips from uukipi were super cute, too, which makes me really happy. :)

Miscellaneous:

Total cost: $30

Love Live! μ’s x SNOW MIKU 2016 (Bellplans) - clear file - $3

I wasn't aware that this collab even existed! I really like Love Live! and I really like Vocaloid, this is like a collab made in heaven. The file's still in it's original packaging (which I haven't removed), so it was a bit difficult to get a good picture of it! I'm surprised that I got it so cheap at the Nominoichi, but I'm really glad that I did. :)

From top to bottom/left to right:

Code:Realize - Cardia Beckford - rubber strap - $2

Diabolik Lovers: More,Blood - Ayato Sakamaki - deka keyholder

Love Live! Sunshine!! - Yoshiko Tsushima - acrylic keychain

Love Live! Sunshine!! - Kanan Matsuura - acrylic keychain - all keychains for $5

I can't even explain how much joy I had when I found Code:Realize merch! :O I love the keychains so much, too... The girl running the table was really nice, and a lot of things were discounted right before the end of the Nominoichi, and the keychains on the bottom were 3/$5!

From left to right:

Pokémon Scarlet/Violet - lanyard - given to me by @form-sweet-form! Thank you so much!

Café Delish 2023 - Zelda heart pin, rubber bracelet, maid café ticket - $20 (for admission to the maid café)

This year, I attended the con with someone that I'd met in a DMMd server! She was super nice and it was so fun hanging out with her. :D Her cosplay of Aoba Seragaki was so good, too... She gave me this lanyard when we met up with each other! I had to wait in line for an hour and a half to get tickets for Café Delish for the both of us... it was so worth it though, it was so fun! ^^ I should've shown up even earlier, we couldn't get tickets at the same table by the time I made it... As souvenirs, I have a pin, a rubber bracelet, and a Polaroid with the maid at my table (which I will not be posting on Tumblr, as I'm not exactly eager to post my face here). I definitely wish to buy tickets for Café Delish again, and I hope to see her in the future as well!

Bandori! - 8th live - mini file map

Everything here and below were free goods given at the Nominoichi for whoever wanted them!

From the same Nominoichi seller that sold me the keychains: a whole bunch of goods given for free (originally $2 each) at the end of the night! I took a lot of them, so I ended up handing her some money (separate from the keychains LMAO) as thanks. I didn't realize until I'd gotten home that I accidentally took two of one of the envelopes. >_< If anyone happens to want the spare, I don't mind mailing it as long as you can pay shipping. Interestingly enough, the back of them has the 7-Eleven logo? These envelopes are made of plastic (clear file material) and super cute. :)

From left to right/top to bottom:

Tsukipro - Yaegashi Kensuke - Alive & Growth fan club card collection

Uma Musume Pretty Derby - Mejiro McQueen - tin

Senran Kagura - Yumi - acrylic keychain ver. A

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai - Kobato Hasegawa - mirror

Ocean in Space - sticker

Pins:

Fire Emblem Awakening - Tharja, Gaius, Henry, Chrom

Fire Emblem Fates - Xander

Dream Daddy - Damien Bloodmarch

DRAMAtical Murder - Clear, Virus, Trip

(Pin artist - unknown. If anyone can find out who drew any of these, please let me know!)

Everything from the top (except the sticker, that one came free with the shirt purchase) is from the keychain seller! All of the pins are from another seller that had a box of pins they were giving away for free. I actually don't know much about the shows and games that they're from... I think that I want to look into Tsukipro especially! I do think that all of the goods are super cute, though. :) I was especially surprised when I peeled off the backing of the Kobato metal and found out that it was a mirror, I didn't expect that at all. :O They had other DRAMAtical Murder pins, too! I gave the Aoba and Koujaku to Raphaela (from form-sweet-form), since those were the only ones that she wanted. :) The other DMMd pins are over here, in her Anime North post! Especially happy about the Clear, Virus, Henry, and Damien pins, since I love those characters especially. :)

From left to right:

Akuyaku Reijou wa Ringoku no Outaishi ni Dekiai Sareru - postcard

5-Toubun no Hanayome ∬ - postcard

(I have no idea what the third one is from. If anyone knows, please let me know!)

Postcards! I think that they're super cute, so I picked these up from the keychain seller as well. I've never heard of any of the medias that they're from, though. The maid one is especially adorable.... I'm such a huge fan...

Overall, I had so much fun attending Anime North, and I'm really happy about the merchandise that I picked up from the convention! I've never had the money to own larger figures (over the many cons I've been to, I have two prize figures, one of which was a gift), so I'm so happy that I can actually collect them now! There are so many Miku figures that I want... Going to a convention as an adult with a job is such a freeing experience. I hope to go again next year, check out more panels, buy a lot, and hopefully go with a friend or two again!

[milolovesbmc]

It’s Marvin’s Bar Mitzvah!

Little extra Marvin In Trousers :)

[sojutrait]

lil family get together at the park for the kids!! chu hua got to see her nephew joshua now that he's aged up and also cuss out some paps

[nyxofdemons]

unable to get behind the idea that fizz "forgave blitz too quickly" or that it was a writing flaw how easily he accepted blitz's version of the story or whatever like. no!!! it makes sense!!!

blitz was his best friend!! of COURSE he wouldn't want to believe that blitz tried to hurt him so badly!! blitz tells him what happened and fizz IMMEDIATELY softens in the way he's looking at him. he doesn't even look mad or like he thinks he's being lied to, like -

LOOK AT HIS FACE HE WANTED TO FORGIVE BLITZ SO BADLY. HE NEVER WANTED TO BELIEVE THAT BLITZ DID THIS TO HIM ON PURPOSE.

even all his little microexpressions in this one scene say SO MUCH

fizz probably spent SO LONG trying to rationalize or explain what happened to him, he probably spent AGES hoping so badly that there was an explanation that DIDN'T involve his best friend hating him so much he tried to kill him as painfully as possible

and to say it feels contrived; i just. fizz CARES!! the same way blitz has always CARED!! they never wanted to stop being in each other's lives - they both suffered a major trauma and were made to believe that the other one hated them, but they were BEST friends and always had been. how could either of them ever not jump at the chance that it was a mistake? how could fizz not cling to the possibility that his best friend might be able to still be his best friend?

[starcurtain]

Hello! I just saw your latest post and you might have been referring to my ask if it was the one about Ratiorine's differing philosophies or of what philosophies they abide by (existentialism, absurdism, etc) then that's me! If you weren't referring to that I apologize for the confusion. Sending it off anon this time so maybe it doesn't disappear 🥲

Sorry for the ask disappearing the first time; I'm not sure what happened, and I was so sad because I had been carefully holding on to it to answer it! I'm glad you were able to resend.

I do have to say first that philosophy is not my area of expertise, so there may be much more qualified philosophy buffs out there who can answer this more accurately than me, but I'll give it a go with my personal understandings of the characters:

First, Ratio is the easier of the two I think. As many people have said, he's a good fit for existentialism. His entire shtick is basically believing in the power of the individual to improve and enrich their own life, to fight valiantly regardless of the hardships imposed by their life's circumstances, and to make themself into a better person by their own choices.

It's important to underscore that this means Ratio believes in self-determination, in the idea that people's lives are not foreordained but are actually actively shaped each day by personal decisions. Therefore, people have inherent freedom to decide the course of their own lives by accepting what they approve of, refusing to accept what they disapprove of, and harnessing their own individual power to ultimately achieve self-actualization.

Essentially, Ratio works under the impression that life is not guided by something as intangible as destiny, and no matter where you start off in life, what ultimately happens to you is within your control (or at least within the control of whoever controls you). This is likely a small part of why it grates on him so badly that he wasn't recognized by Nous, because the fact that one can dedicate everything to a goal and still not achieve that goal runs contrary to his central philosophy.

If he believes that people have the power to determine the course of their own lives, then what does it say about him, who fought so hard to do exactly as he claims even idiots can do--seize control his own fate--and yet didn't succeed? Are there some things outside of man's power? It's enough to make even a renowned doctor question himself, and Ratio decided to come out on the side of "It's a personal failing, not a flaw in my philosophy." He literally said "Skill issue" to himself.

Changing tack a tiny bit here, I think it's also important to emphasize that there is a difference between existentialism and nihilism even though these philosophies dovetail. Again, I'm not an expert in philosophy, so my understanding is very limited, but the basic idea of existentialism is that "existence comes before essence"--that is, things start as a blank slate and gain nature and meaning after the fact. We are not created by some grand design, nor is there any inherent "purpose for living." Things just exist because they exist.

This is where existentialism intersects with nihilism, at the starting point that existence is inherently meaningless. But, in my personal opinion, nihilism as a philosophy fails to move beyond that. Pure nihilism is ultimately self-defeating because it leaves us with no motivation to commit to growth. It's a philosophy antithetical to the continuation of life as we know it. Existence is meaningless and any meaning you personally derive from existence is also meaningless, so why bother attempting to derive any meaning at all? This complete apathy is the Device IX that Star Rail paints as so dangerous.

And Ratio is not this way at all. His philosophy absolutely reaffirms that life can have meaning, so long as people create that meaning for themselves. He simultaneously asserts that anything that people create is not meaningless ...which basically means that meaning itself cannot be meaningless. (If that makes any sense to anyone.)

Frankly, I would argue that this philosophy may be a core part of why Ratio has not been recognized by Nous so far, rather than simply his "being a good person." (Nous is a robotic AI super-computer, why would THEY care about the presence or lack of human empathy?) Ultimately, Ratio's central philosophy about people being capable of determining their own fates and purposes also applies to his understanding of knowledge--knowledge is not something which is inherent in certain beings from birth or limited to the purview of the "special" (geniuses), but is attainable by all people. People are not "born talented" or "born untalented," they are simply "educated" or "uneducated," with the only barrier between these categories being one's own personal willingness to change. The mundane can become the divine--if they work hard enough at it.

Thus, knowledge is not wealth to be hoarded, but a currency to be spent to enrich other members of humanity.

(By the way, completely random aside--it also surprises me that everyone relates Ratio to Alhaitham from Genshin when they literally have such a glaring fundamental discrepancy in their understanding of the concept of wisdom... But anyway, back on topic!)

Ratio may (sort of) respect the members of the Genius Society, may recognize their incredible knowledge and abilities, but at the heart of the matter lies a single all-important question: Does Ratio even really believe in "genius" as a distinction (other than as a concept to insult himself)? Does he truly believe there is barrier between brilliance and idiocy that "ordinary people" can never cross?

He speaks convincingly about geniuses being different from "the ordinary," but if his core belief is that people have the power to pull themselves up out of despair and achieve greatness through effort and self-development, rather than some form of luck or god-given talent at birth, then... do born "geniuses" even really exist? Is there really an insurmountable difference between brilliant and mundane?

If knowledge is the equalizer of all sentient beings, do we not all have at least the initial capacity to become geniuses?

I personally think this central distinction about the capacity for knowledge among all humanity is the actual deciding factor in Ratio's rejection from the Genius Society, because, at the end of the day... how do you become a member of the "Genius Society" when you fundamentally reject the distinction of "genius" as an exclusive category from the start?

Ratio wants to share knowledge and uplift everyone (even if he thinks most people are starting off at the rock bottom known as idiocy).

His mission is diametrically opposed to the concept of a "Genius Society" in the first place.

He wanted in to the cool kids club because he desperately craves validation and acceptance, but the philosophical values of the Genius Society are ultimately incompatible with his own. In short, he would have to cease to be "Veritas Ratio" to succeed in joining the geniuses.

Okay, okay, back to the original point again, and just one more note about Ratio: Even though existentialism also goes hand-in-hand with absurdism, I don't think Ratio is far enough down the philosophical rabbit hole to believe in the wider definition of absurdism. Although I think he does agree with the inherent meaninglessness of existence, I don't think he views existence itself as truly irrational and the universe as as manifestation of unknowable chaos. I think he'd at least like to imagine that there are some ontological principles and inherent laws governing the operations of reality, and I think he does believe that certain things can be predicted with the application of enough thought... He certainly seems to believe in some form of "objective truth," at the very least.

I think he'd at least like to believe the universe is semi-orderly, even if he might deep down admit this is also wishful thinking.

So, to me he reads as a strong metaphor for pure existentialism, with deliberate rejections to both nihilism's apathy and absurdism's lean toward solely subjective reality.

PHEW, this is already long and I still have a whole other character to talk about... I had more to say about this topic than I thought. Sorry for the long read!

Anyway... Aventurine.

I've seen all sorts of things thrown around for Aventurine's philosophy, and while I think he does inherit a bit of Acheron's absurdism by the end of 2.1, I actually don't think Aventurine is an absurdist, an existentialist, or a nihilist.

I think Aventurine is a struggling fatalist.

He doesn't like it. We see him actively question it, but ultimately, he does come back to the concept of destiny over and over.

First, I think it's important to draw a clear distinction between Ratio and Aventurine: Ratio's existentialism is a philosophy that technically works even in a theological vacuum. Nous doesn't have to exist for Ratio's philosophy to function. Ratio's belief in the self-determination of humanity is, in fact, somewhat opposed to belief in aeons in the first place, and only works because technically the aeons of Star Rail used to be human (or were originally human creations). It's essentially an atheist viewpoint.

But Aventurine is a religious character. Like, he's just... religious. That's a fact about him. Even though we do hear his doubts, at the end of the day, he actually believes in Gaiathra, and believing in a omniscient supernatural being that is not human in origin (is from outside the aeon system) comes with a whole set of philosophical foundations that most aeon-worshipping characters just don't have in Star Rail. (Sunday is the obvious exception here, by the way.)

Kakavasha's like the one practicing pagan in the middle of an atheist convention. Awkward.

Being more serious: Religion requires faith. Faith requires the ability to believe in things you cannot verify with empirical facts. To believe in things you can only feel, never see. The belief that a goddess is watching over you, blessing you, and guiding you requires you to also accept the idea that events in your life are not always in your own control--that some of what occurs to you is decided by powers beyond your comprehension.

In essence, faith requires belief in fate. And that leads to fatalism.

No matter how much he doesn't like it, no matter how much we see him struggle with it, Aventurine does actually seem to believe in the concept of fate. He believes that some events in life are destined to occur, that some things are outside of individuals' control, and that ultimately not everything can be changed.

This is the dead opposite of Ratio's mindset: No matter how hard we fight, how far we push ourselves... in the end, sometimes people fail. Sometimes the only answer to our endless struggles is that we die, as we were destined to, before ever achieving the greatness we sought or the futures we were promised.

As an aside, I don't think faith or religion are necessarily the only factors connecting Aventurine to this particular philosophy either. Even removing theological aspects from the conversation, his extreme focus on the gambling aesthetic suggests a strong connection to fatalism too--if not a goddess, then one's fate may as well be in the hands of luck itself, of the whims of the rolling dice--or the push and pull of "powers that be," those figures of authority in the room where it happens, who make their shady deals according to preset rules and expectations, every bet resulting in an ultimately predictable outcome.

(He keeps gambling and gambling, hoping that he'll get a different result than the one he knows is inevitable...)

This is, of course, an inherently pessimistic mindset, a perfect dark-mirror to Ratio's deep-down optimism. Fatalism puts humanity into a position of powerlessness. All hopes and dreams are given over to the goddess, by whose judgment and whims the actual events of one's life are decided. Pain and poverty are inevitable trials. Suffering and death are foreordained.

And yet Aventurine has to cling to this, as much as he doubts it, as much as he hates the idea that things in his life are beyond his power to control.

Because if fate doesn't exist... If it wasn't destiny, if the tragedies of his life weren't trials from the goddess, if things weren't supposed to go this way... Then every single thing in his life really is meaningless. Everything he suffered, everyone he loved and loss, his mother's and sister's sacrifices, the torment he went through--just sheer bad luck. All of it, completely and utterly meaningless.

How can you convince yourself to keep living, in the face of such supreme and all-encompassing Nihility?

This is the central struggle of Aventurine's character, the actual mental and emotional journey we see him undertaking from 2.0 to 2.1. He is literally on the precipice, swinging between a viewpoint that he hates--his fatalistic belief in destiny--and an entirely self-defeating philosophy--nihilism--whose only possible final outcome is suicide.

This is what his talk with Acheron at the end of 2.1 is all about. This is how she saves him. In that final cutscene, we witness Aventurine reach a mental compromise, managing to finally reconcile his necessary faith in the concept of destiny with the reality that life may truly begin meaningless--but beginning meaningless does not mean staying meaningless, and believing in destiny does not bar you from making your own choices or finding your own purpose in life.

Later on in Penacony's story, we literally see Acheron use Ratio's philosophy to reject the same nihility that crept into Aventurine's:

Acheron wards off nihility's apathy through an absurdism all her own, but one which manages to enclose both Ratio's and Aventurine's otherwise incompatible mindsets: We have no way of ever knowing for certain whether the events of our lives are fated or mere nonsense. We have no way of knowing if our choices are our own or foreordained. But we don't need to know this to find meaning and value in them. Whether life is nothing more than unpredictable chaos or a predetermined pattern of cause and effect, what matters is what you make of it.

Ultimately, I think that this post has really helped me recognize just how well Aventurine and Ratio work as philosophical foils.

They really are perfect opposites.

Aventurine's fatalism is deterministic, while Ratio's existentialism is self-deterministic. Aventurine's philosophy is inherently pessimistic; Ratio's is inherently optimistic. Ratio's philosophy operates on a core belief in the freedom of humanity to decide their own paths in life, while Aventurine hates but does ultimately believe that people aren't really in control, that even if no gods are guiding us, we can't rise above our own natures. Ratio's philosophy makes meaning from growth; Aventurine's makes meaning from loss...

And they both struggle with fundamental doubts in their own philosophies, core questions that are directly tied to their own lives. Aventurine worries that his faith might be misplaced, that destiny might not exist, and that everything he suffered might have been in pointless, empty vain. Ratio faces the crisis of recognizing that his core belief in the power of humankind to determine their own paths and make their own meaning might not actually apply to everyone--because it doesn't seem to apply to himself.

It's literally only by bridging this philosophical binary with Acheron's anti-Nihility absurdist rhetoric that we can reach some sort of healthy outcome. That's why it takes both Ratio's note and Acheron's comments to finally lead Aventurine to acceptance. Ratio probably needs a little bit of Aventurine's "If you didn't make it into the Genius Society, there's got to be a reason" mindset to finally reach some peace with his situation too.

I'm not even a philosophy expert and even I can see that there's really only one takeaway here: These two characters were totally written with each other in mind.

Aventurine and Ratio need each other on core metaphysical levels! 😂

It's so good guys. You can't see it, but I'm making chef's kisses, I promise.

[thisfuckingdeadlife]

🐰bunny bun being full of charm

[operationandre]

andre’s first time smoking.

andre noticed that cal started smoking more and more. first it was cigarettes but it quickly turned into cigarettes and weed. in a weird way, he felt left out. he knew that cal smoked with rachel often and wondered if he wasn’t cool enough or if cal didn’t feel comfortable around him.

sometimes cal did smoke in front of andre. he’d open the window in his room when he got bored or tired of doing homework and sit in the windowsill with a joint. the way the smoke rose in the air and quickly blew out of cal’s nose and mouth entranced andre.

one afternoon, when cal and andre had finished a full pizza and watched one or two of their favorite movies, cal stood up to go smoke. he grabbed a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his dresser and walked outside. his parents weren’t home yet, so he was able to enjoy the breeze while he smoked.

he didn’t expect andre to follow him outside, and he definitely didn’t expect to see andre with an outstretched hand, asking for a cigarette. he sat down in one of the gabriel’s lawn chairs and looked up at andre incredulously.

“you’re joking, right?”

andre shook his head. he was dead serious.

cal scoffed but complied still. he placed the cigarette in andre’s hand and watched as the older boy fiddled with it, unsure of how to hold it.

“sit down. i’ll show you.”

andre followed cal’s demands and sat across from him. their knees touched as cal adjusted the cigarette, placing it between two of andre’s fingers. cal pushed andre’s hand up, silently telling him to put the cigarette in his mouth.

cal fished his lighter out of his pocket and lit his own cigarette, but he didn’t hand it to andre after. he simply leant forward and pressed the hot end of his cigarette to the cold end of andre’s, a struggle considering the way their knees were knocking together. he could feel andre’s breath on his face as he lit andre’s cigarette with his own.

it was an intimate moment, one neither of the boys were prepared for. when cal pulled away, andre sat wide eyed. the next breath he took made him cough as if he had forgotten about the smoke in the midst of the moment.

cal brought his knees up to his chest and leant back in his chair. his giggles were quiet but still shook his entire body. andre swatted at him but soon focused back on the cigarette in his mouth. the serious look on his face made cal laugh even harder.

[askchuuyanakahara]

why cant he go to the cinema :(

Dazai: "Hmf.."

@megaroniandcheez

Chuuya: "You're acting really strange, y'know."

Chuuya: "After all, you don't get all fussy when I go out with Akutagawa or Kajii."

Chuuya: "Hey.."

Chuuya: "You haven't made any dumb or stupid remarks in the past 5 minutes and you're awfully warm.."

[hellsite-detective]

Hellsite Detective in…

The Miku Bind

sometimes, a detective has got to do some work for herself. and i decided it was time to go after one of my white whales…

it was a cool, rainy afternoon in Tumblr City, like always. i had just wrapped up doin’ some cases and i was broodin’ out the window. but one image kept flashin’ in my mind. a vocaloid lovin’ foundin’ father that i’ve sought for my whole career. the fabled Thomas Jefferson Miku Binder.

to start my journey, i went down to the Search Bar, a night club in the heart of the city. neon lights shined on the sign out front and music could be heard pourin’ out the front door. i stepped in, drippin’ wet from the rain outside. the place was lively as ever, groups minglin’ and dancin’ to the music. and there, in a corner booth away from everyone else, was Don Google. that big time mob boss that acts as my informant. they sat there playin’ poker with a couple of lackeys, no one of note from what i could tell. they saw me walkin’ up and immediately called out to the waiter for another drink.

“well well! if it ain’t my buddy, Miss Detective! whatcha here for?”

i’m here for personal business, actually. i’m lookin’ for this…

i slid a photograph across the table. the photo that was so well known, it made even the Don pull back. they knew this was serious business.

“you sure you want this one?”

i’m sure, Don. you got it or not?

“oh, i got it. but it’ll cost ya.”

i wasn’t about to have my victory snatched away by this selfish old fool. the Don lookin’ for a deal was never a good sign, but i was desperate.

what do you want?

“oh, nothin’ much, doll. just do me a favor sometime down the line. then we’ll call it even. capisce?”

bein’ in debt to the Don was not something i wanted. whatever they asked me to do, i knew it’d be bad. but either way i needed this post. i needed to solve the case. so i made what would possibly be the worst mistake of my life…

it’s a deal.

“glad we could reach an agreement, Miss. i believe this is what you’re lookin’ for?”

they pulled out their black leather briefcase, their name engraved on it in multicolored letters. it would seem tacky on anyone else. but the Don had a style to them that made it work. poppin’ it open, they handed me the file i was lookin’ for. just sittin’ there at the top, like they knew i was here for it. i grabbed it, thanked the Don, and got up to leave. that’s when they grabbed my sleeve.

“Miss Detective. don’t forget about our arrangement.”

i pulled away, scoffed, and went on my way. whatever they wanted me to do, i’m sure it wasn’t great. either way, the job was done. and i finally had what i wanted. i went back to my dingy office, alone, and filed the post away. the rain still poundin’ down against the window.

Post Case: Closed

[bunthebreadboy]

i saw a fanart on pinterest when i decided to change my entire phone theme and i can’t get it out of my head.

the art was just after the zuko and ozai agni kai. zuko was knocked out, iroh was getting ready to take him and leave, and azula just came in and said “i took care of it”. if anyone knows what i’m talking about and has it saved or knows the og artist pls lmk!!

anyways. it got me thinking about an expansion of this au (that i will never write because i have neither the patience nor the time to do that) that (unsurprisingly) results in disasterlesbian!azula

so hear me out on this one. there would need to be an entire plot. like. what’s aang going to do??

azula killed ozai by electrocuting him. it’s the first time she discovers her lightning bending. it looks like he had a heart attack in his sleep. (don’t get too wrapped up in the details. azula’s a prodigy she can be overpowered for a bit)

why did she kill her dad? she’ll swear up and down that it was because “he really should have picked on someone with a better fighting ability than zuzu. honestly, it’s stupid he didn’t lose his honor after frying my pathetic firebender of a brother to a crisp.” it’s actually because she kind of sort of loves zuko. she will NEVER admit that.

iroh becomes fire lord, albeit a bit reluctantly. he spends the next three years attempting to end the war, stop the spread of propaganda in the fire nation, and deal with his niece and nephew bickering all the time.

so aang comes out of the iceberg. meets katara and sokka. katara convinces him to take her to the north pole because he’s the avatar, he still should probably master all four elements war or not. all of the traveling is the same (except zuko chasing them) until they get to omashu and king bumi is like “what’s up my dude, welcome back. we’re recovering from a war, so you should probably learn politics and how to not offend anyone while you master the elements!!”

(“there was a WAR?!?!!!” -aang, probably)

so now aang does a deep dive into all of the nation’s politics while also training. katara doesn’t really attend his meetings, but sokka’s a total nerd and is sat for every single one. first is waterbending at the north pole. insert canon things but add in a meeting with arnook.

this is where we introduce the REAL enemy, because the enemy can’t be the gaang attempting to learn international law at 12, 14, and 15 years old. during the full moon someone assassinates the moon spirit! (sorry yue, i love you but you still die in this au…)

so after mastering waterbending the gaang heads to the earth kingdom. they meet toph and she joins. they head to ba sing se, which, after trying to talk politics with the king, they realize is still completely unaware of the war. while in the earth kingdom, we get a name for the big bad. the dai li. after realizing that ba sing se is basically a military dictatorship, the gaang escapes and head to the fire nation.

that’s where zuko, azula, and iroh get reintroduced. aang and sokka consistently come back from meetings with the royals complaining about “oh my god, the princess is such a bitch. seriously, how is she allowed to help run this country??”

katara eventually goes with the boys to a meeting to get them to shut up. toph makes fun of her for being a people pleaser, but katara will do literally anything to get her brother and best friend to stop yapping about the same topic at her every. single. day.

azula (disaster lesbian) doesn’t say a single word throughout the entire meeting. sokka and aang walk out feeling like they were in the twilight zone. katara shows up to more and more meetings. why? definitely not cause the princess is sort of kind of somewhat cute intriguing.

insert azula’s gay awakening crisis here. she eventually starts talking at the meetings, but she’s only ever nice to katara lmao. katara does realize that azula’s an actual genius, though. she decides that the two of them could probably like, take over the entirety of ba sing se in a day if they tried hard enough. but of course that is purely hypothetical.

so one day a meeting gets interrupted by a literal dai li assassin trying to kill aang. he barely escapes the resulting fight.

so the dai li send more assassins. and even more assassins. until finally zuko gets fed up and is just like “alright i’m tired of dealing with these guys. can we please go kick their leader’s ass??”

that is how azula and zuko end up joining the gaang. and how azula can eventually lay siege over ba sing se (even if she reluctantly gives it back when katara tells her to).

—

other misc key points:

- azula and katara get together right before they fight with long feng. it happens cause katara notices that azula is nervous (nobody else would be able to tell) and so she’s like “zula. you’ve got this. we’ve got this” and kisses her lmao

- toph and azula are best friends, to katara’s obvious dismay

- the second azula calls zuko “zuzu” in front of sokka he immediately starts rolling on the floor and laughing. katara has to make sure his lungs are okay afterwards

- zuko: “im literally not gay??” sokka: “yeah, and toph can see”

- toph regularly comes back to wherever the gaang is staying with bags of money. she knows how to find every single illegal fighting ring in the world.

- this is a loooooong term plot. since there’s no reason to worry about the comet it can take place over many years. which also means that katara and azula literally pine for each other until they’re like 20 and everyone around them, especially (and surprisingly) aang, is like “oh my god make it stop”

[metamatronic]

System Memory Retrieval Error—Match Not Found. Rerouting to Next Available Host. System Memory Placement Error—Parent Host Unavailable. Rerouting To Next Available Host.

(Pt. 2)

I’ve been rotating this idea in my head like a rotisserie chicken for a while. Made this whole comic on stream!

[spoilers-hideout-stuff]

i have finally feed you all, tumblr side of ghost and pals fandom.,.,.

[milolovesbmc]

bites you… dilf whizzer is on my mind again

Whizzer Brown the man you are……..

[klaunee]

Quip-Spider is my spidersona inspired by Harlequin of the commedia dell'arte and the Hawaiian happy-face spider (Theridion grallator). Her name is a pun based on Whip Spider, a type of arachnid, and 'quip' - a joke. She would be animated in the UPA Revival art style of early 2000's cartoons. She fights using synthetic explosive balls which she can inflate for a bigger explosion. She has a very chaotic fighting style and an irritating personality. She's also capable of distorting the space around her using her slapstick to match the style of her own world - a reference to Harlequin's slapstick being used to change the scenery of the play.

[quinn-pop]

astral things…(aka orb cats)

y’know that cute thing cats do where they sleep with their paws out??? yeah

[zaukiel]

long post, but here's a comic i've worked on over the past 2-3 years. i used to only work on it during my 15 mins breaks at work but i took the time this year to power through and finish it.

it takes place after sachiel saves vik's ass from getting killed- the two have a conversation at a bar where sachi can loosen up a bit from his usual stoic persona.