#this is a bit to be clear i don't think this is actually that contradictory

[to-shards-you-say]

odium is still SO funny for being like 'i don't care for false displays of reverence' when he met taravangian and then behaving like That with vyre. like sir WHERE is his passion again, can you remind me?

[toffeebrew]

eughhh sleepiness is taking over must write about inky boy. ink sans is by @/comyet

i think upon reanalyzing some asks and the FAQ i have begun to understand how inks err emotions work a little better. a bunch of this is me kinda theorizing sooo yeah. it's not as uhh clear as my other rants are

His emotions aren't really "fake". at least my definition of fake. He still feels.

Instead, their main struggle is to balance and understand his emotions. Like in this ask:

So, he can definitely have quote on quote "normal relationships" with other people

One day you may ask him and he'll be like yeah i care about them alot and the next he doesn't feel very attached at all. As i interpreted "not making sense" as to not understanding why or how he even cares for these people. It seems really dependent on his internal emotional balance. The pretending comes in to play where he may exaggerate or lie about his emotions. Perhaps because he himself wants to have these attachments. Or because he wants to spare others feelings.

more yappage under the cut

According to his FAQ, he realizes his soullessness is an advantage (and theres not any realistic/non morally dubious means to obtain one) and wouldn't change that. However, i don't believe he is completely content with some of the drawbacks. He feels the need to hide his soullessness, as indicated in his design notes. But it "shows through". He feels the need to "pretend to have a soul" -from his backstory comic. This may be because he feels insecure in some way. believing his own emotions are less than others. Or his feelings are invalid or fake because he doesn't have a soul. Or at the very least not as real as others. Because he doesn't feel emotions the way others do, it must be wrong. Because hes chaotic neutral, i don't think these are things others contributed to his line of thought. Rather, something hes internalized himself. not that he would ever tell anyone that.

He may also hide this fact not the freak people out. Man does enjoy a bit of mischief, but it probably be kinda hard to work with other people if you have a large chance they may be scared of/don't trust you. I also think he doesn't actually want to like...petrify people. Which i would imagine many monsters would struggle, if they knew. given what people may assume of him. Or at least that's what he thinks ig shsksh.

Given he fears loneliness i think both of these reasons may contribute. He doesn't want people to abandon him. abandonment issues caused by trauma he can't remember.

But he can definitely feel extremes as well. being "overexcited" so much so he forgets consequences. He vomits up ink when shocked or overly passionate. I didn't expand on this as much because i feel like others have explained better than i ever could.

as his FAQ indicates his emotions can be separate from his morality. so its not necessarily contradictory for him to have these big emotions but still have uhh ig a more neutral way of looking at things. ig

btw this post was inspired from this analysis!! i tried to add my own spin on my commentary

[luveline]

i think an eddie blurb about getting stuck under the mistletoe could be reallllllly cute, maybe w plus size!reader! but really whatever tickles ur fancy!! thank u if you do and thank u if you don’t :)

thank you for requesting!! ♡

Considering that the party is being hosted by Nancy Wheeler, things are getting pretty rowdy. 

You hadn't expected so many people, or the lights to be low like this, and you definitely hadn't expected the loud music, but it's been a great time so far. Your friends are here, Nancy's having a good time for once, and Eddie Munson has not only said hello to you, he's actually reeled you in for conversation. Which isn't something pretty boys like him always bother doing with you. 

"You want a drink?" he asks.

That's overly friendly, and it makes your heart skip. "Yes, please." 

"Sure. What do you want? You don't look like a corona girl." 

You shake your head, afraid to ruin this by being too contradictory. "I'll drink anything." 

"Alright." He gives you a smile, and it's important because it's nervous like your own. Excited. 

He ditches the couch where you're sitting and you watch him retreat into the kitchen, soon his head is out of view and you're left replaying his smile in your head. His smile, his rough laugh. He's so theatrical, you hadn't known. You'd thought he was intimidating before you met him, and now you're starting to think he's a total dork. You like dork. 

It's lucky you hear him over the noise. 

"Hey, sweet thing," he calls, grin like a Cheshire cat's where he's standing in the doorway, "this okay?" 

He holds up a can of something you probably won't like but everything's going so well that you can't make yourself ask for anything else. 

"That's fine," you say brightly. 

"What? I can't hear you!" 

"I said, that's fine!" 

He shrugs sheepishly and gestures to his ear. 

You get up quickly and make your way toward the kitchen. It's a short walk but hard to manoeuvre, bodies everywhere. 

"I said it's fine," you start when you're close enough for Eddie to hear, "it's fine. Sorry, it's so loud in here." 

He steps closer to you. You duck your head a tiny bit, shyness creeping in. 

"Listen," he says, "I totally lied, sorry. I could hear you just fine." 

You blink. "Okay…" 

"Because-" He looks up. 

You look up too. 

Mistletoe hangs from the frame, green and slightly wilted. Your heart catapults, and you try to move away from him because there's this phenomena, wherein the fat girl shows that she likes someone, and suddenly she's demonised, she's creepy, and you don't think you can stand to see it on his face — but you can't move. Too many people stand either side. You're stuck here. 

He's watching your squirming with something unknowable on his lips. The tiniest hint of a frown. 

"Sorry," he says. "You don't have to. I think I got the signals wrong." 

"What?" 

"You don't have to kiss me." 

"You want to kiss me?" you ask. 

"Hold this," he says, handing you your drink. Chilled, he brings his hand to your cheek, and the calluses scratch your skin. "If I wanted to, could I?" 

He could. You tell him as much, and you're glowing from the inside out when he moves in. He kisses like he talks, happy, hyper, imprecise and shockingly sweet. A rainbow of Christmas lights splash over his cheek as he edges back, just enough to meet your eye. His breath fans over your tingling lips. 

"I wanted to. You know, if that wasn't clear." 

You close your eyes from smiling so hard. Eddie leans in for another kiss. 

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

Mini & Moni Music was... interesting, kind of concerning? We really know so little about the members - especially if you're like me and don't watch all the lives and documentaries, and read every book or interview. Even if I did all that, though, I wouldn't know much. The more honest they are, the more obvious it is they're "hiding" so much from us and how little we know them. This honesty unintentionally increases the disconnect between us and them, throwing every memory of them in a different light. A lot of the intimacy we feel/felt isn't real because, sometimes, when they look happy they're actually struggling while we enjoy ourselves and their "happiness".

The thing about RM for me is I've struggled to understand him, even if I probably have more in common with him than other members. The way he expresses himself is very opaque to me. I lack the sensibility, or context, I guess, to understand his thought process.

This special content between Jimin and Namjoon was a bit sad. RM doesn't seem happy. Every year, I feel like he reveals that he wasn't happy in the previous year. Has there been any year where Namjoon didn't suddenly reveal he'd been struggling? Because last year he made it seem as if he'd been doing pretty well, and I guess he was better at some point, while working on RPWP, but he'd been having a really rough time. Hearing him say he had to distance himself from BTS in order to heal (I think in 2023, after Indigo, but also applies to chapter 2 in general?) and Jimin saying the members thought he liked them less now... was sad.

RM really had(s) been struggling with the group. I know Hobi really wanted a chance to do something solo, but Festa dinner still feels mostly like it was brought on by Namjoon. I'm pretty sure Jungkook, Jimin, Jin, Suga, and V would've been fine carrying on with group activities with little to no solo activities, and Hobi only wanted a chance to do something different, not necessarily a big break from the group (I think; I haven't watched a lot of chapter 2 solo content, maybe I'm wrong). But RM was truly "done", to the point where the members felt him pulling away from them... RM popping up during one of Jungkook's live and their whole interaction kind of takes on a new meaning. Jungkook had been really happy to talk to Namjoon, and Namjoon said he missed Jungkook and that they needed to hang out. At the time maybe RM had already created distance between himself and the members so they missed each other a lot and there was a kind of uncertainty in their relationship.

I believe in BTS, but this content has made RM, the leader, seem the least excited about BTS, which may be untrue - contradictory and conflicted feelings can coexist. I kind of became concerned about how they'll return as a group (and what that will sound like...) if RM just looks so burnt out and even regretful about many things in their past (like his seriousness before). I know that each member struggled a lot, and for every hard moment there is a good one RM remembers, but I hope that when he comes back he learns how to enjoy being in the group again (or maybe for the first time; maybe he never really knew how to love the group without feeling weighted down by it). Like he says, RM speaks for the group. Most of Festa seems like him speaking for the group while the group itself didn't share his feelings completely but wanted to support him. It's ironic because RM said he feared that the group only represented his thoughts and not the group's, but I really want to know what the other members think. Suga, for example, has always blamed their hiatus on the enlistment, whereas Namjoon has made it clear that wasn't the main reason.

I don't know, I know the group has been through a lot, including the time they almost disbanded (I say almost, but how close were they, truly? Thinking heavily about something and having the intention of doing it are quite different), but this made me lose confidence in the group a bit, at least in RM. In the eyes of the members he's equated to BTS, but it seems like he's drifted apart from them. That's life, but as a fan it was hard to hear. Maybe they all feel the same, and I'm putting it all on Namjoon... This conversation with Jimin was very negative, but that's not the whole truth, and I shouldn't forget that.

[crowleysgirl56]

Hi, your post about "How did we go from “There must be something I can do for you” to “You go too fast for me Crowley”." made me remember something I have thought about many times and you seem like a good person to mention this to. Maybe it was already talked about in the fandom? I don't know.

So, can we talk about how Aziraphale goes between calling Crowley evil and calling him kind and not evil? He often says things like "I've always said that you are a kind person.", or "None of this would have been possible if you weren't just a little bit of a good person." (I'm paraphrasing.) But then he says, like in the Scotland minisode: "I am good, you, I'm afraid, are evil." I know that we were sad when he said in the last episode "You are the bad guys", but he kind of said things like that in the past already? And it was especially noticeable because in the next minisode, he said "If you truly were as evil as you like to paint yourself..." like, hello, isn't this a bit contradictory? (I know that different people wrote each minisode, but still.)

Anyway, sorry to ramble in your mailbox, just wanted to finally write this down and ask if anyone has noticed it and has any thoughts.

Thanks for the interesting thoughts. Aziraphale is such a complex character, and the subtext behind why he says certain things can sometimes be a little difficult to parse. I’d say a lot of it comes from being scared and traumatised by Heaven, and probably at first from believing the things he says out of habit (much earlier on), and then later on saying them more of a disguise to his true feelings?

That casual “you’re the bad guys” line from the final 15 just kills me though. Everything else can be explained away as him protecting Crowley or keeping him safe but the actual delivery of that line, still makes it seem like he believes what he says and I just don’t know how to take that (can someone’s pleas ask Michael Sheen what he was thinking in that moment?!). I know it’s been spoken about in great detail by other people and I think any thought I have will not match up with a lot of people, so I’ve tried to steer clear of specific thoughts about the final 15. This is why I look forward to season 3 because I want to see what the answer given is. And if it’s satisfying compared to everything else I’ve seen.

I’ve probably rambled on a lot here myself too, but thank you for the ask!

[lotus-tower]

Why do we talk like that about Gintama?

So this is something I've already talked about a lot here and there, but I thought I would condense my thoughts on the topic in its own post.

We've joked a lot about math zeitgeist, but why in the world are we furiously mathposting about Gintama? Why did I write 28 pages of actual essay for it? Where does kraniumet get all those images from? (I've always wondered this.) Essentially, what's driving us to analyze these themes and motifs over and over again... and why can they be analyzed over and over again?

When I first wrote My Orochi Stood Up, I made it clear that this was an original framework made for the same purpose as all analytical frameworks and models: to enable me to gain certain key insights about the series, to account for all of its innumerable bits and pieces, and to arrange their relationships to one another in a cohesive, legible way. In short, as I wrote in my essay, it provides me with symbolic technology.

In the same vein, when I wrote my spontaneous math post, I said that so much of math is about things that don’t exist and yet become real, not just because they help you articulate something but because they help you arrive at a solution. This is the purpose of things like imaginary numbers--or negative numbers for that matter.

I know that we should never live life in accordance with the fake hater in our heads that we imagine saying stupid things to us so that we can respond to them in smart, cool ways. I'm sure Zura lives like that though, and we all think he's charming, so maybe we should reconsider this idea. What I mean to get at is that I've never once tried to claim that Sorachi literally intended any of what I describe in my ouroboros framework. I don't think he sat down one day and planned to make his motifs compatible with western alchemy, I don't think he had the creation myth of the island of Japan in mind, and I don't actually think he read Barthes.

But what's undeniable is that there is something so bizarrely consistent, coherent, and plentiful about Gintama's thematic flourishes--even though in many, many ways, Gintama is filled with bad, and worse, mediocre, writing. What sets Gintama apart from other series isn't the inherent quality of its writing (which has stark ups and downs). If you'll forgive the confusing and somewhat contradictory wording, what makes Gintama distinct isn't a quantitative difference (as in, more goodness), but a qualitative difference. What does this qualitative difference boil down to?

First is structure. This part we've gone over a lot, so I'll try to keep it brief (or novel?). Gintama is a series with basically just one favoured literary technique, and it uses it again. and again. and again. and again. and again. Parallels upon parallels upon parallels--and there are only a few key thematic ideas that Sorachi is interested in exploring. You can describe it as consistency, or, if you want to be uncharitable, repetitiveness. But it is, frankly, absurd the amount of parallels--or rather, the degree of parallelism--this series contains. What's interesting about it is its effects on how we engage with the story.

By making it obvious that this is a conscious and explicit writing decision (through various means, mainly dialogue), any characters with suitable parallelism to a prototypical character A are all connected to one other--let's call these the A-sided characters. This holds even if they're all a bit different from each other. Imagine all these A-sided characters spread out in line, like hostages tied to each track of a train track or the rungs on a ladder. They lose similarity with each rung, like loss of clarity in a game of telephone--let's call this "reflection lossiness." Even though characters in the top rung and the bottom rung may not have much in common, they may both be within "lossiness range" (<- I just made this up) of a character in a middle rung, and therefore able to communicate indirectly with one another.

Moreover, because the prototypical character A has a foil in prototypical character B, all A-sided characters are also connected not only to any individual foils they may have, but potentially to all other B-sided characters. Since it's easier to identify characters' thematic affiliations through their interactions and dynamics with other characters, the consistency of the A-B foil formula, when combined with the fact that animanga foils are generally made very obvious, helps us perceive these diagonal relationships. Thus, the reader can squint at the interactions of almost the entirety of Gintama's enormous cast with valid suspicion, with less difficulty than in other works with more complex structures. The series' sheer length also ensures that there is an abundance of material to comb through, so much so in fact that this careful inspection, through rereading again and again, becomes necessary.

For instance, the interactions between any given pair of characters may not seem directly relevant to our protagonist at first glance, but once you know the magic A | B schema, you may notice that that pair's interactions resonate with that of a different pair, one involving an A-sided character with less reflection lossiness from the top and who therefore reflects much more of what happens to them onto Gintoki. In this way, the original pair, who are probably just a couple of minor side characters who appear once in a weird arc and then never show up again, can make you go, "hey wait a minute. what if?"

What if?

Let's look at a concrete example. Housen and Utsuro don't seem to have much to do with each other at first glance. However, because we know that he parallels Kamui, and that Kamui | Kagura parallel Takasugi | Gintoki, who in turn can be mapped onto Utsuro | Shouyou, we can arrive at a Housen-Utsuro connection that wasn't previously obvious. What is the utility of this connection? For one, it sharpens our ability to articulate how the hole-sided flee from the things they fear and yearn for by adding Housen's infamous avoidance of the sun into the analysis. It also provides new ground for exploring potential ideas comparing, say, Kamui choosing to leave with the Harusame and walk in Housen's footsteps, with Oboro's resigned embrace of the Naraku and Utsuro. Additionally, since Housen was defeated in Hinowa's lap, this also helps us draw a Hinowa -> Kagura connection, which helps us arrive at a Hinowa-Shouyou connection, which helps to reify that Shouyou is a milf.

By inserting one or two blatant instances of foreshadowing and parallelism early on in the series, instances that are impossible to pass off as coincidence, Gintama primes the reader to suspect that similar nuggets might be hiding anywhere, to check every garbage can we encounter from there on out like in the Pokemon games.

Whoops. In attempting to explain the math zeitgeist I succumbed to using math in my explanation. It's irresistible.

But that's structure. Let's move on now to something arguably even more important: motifs.

It's undeniable that for a shounen series that's half gag-manga, Gintama has a strange amount of analyzable motifs, and a clear loyalty to them. Regardless of how extravagantly people on tumblr dot com may want to overanalyze their favourite Shounen Jump series, their efforts are usually restrained to theme and characterization. Their ravings do not usually resemble the ravings of the Gintama Salon. If you've read this far, I don't think I need to explain this to you, or what Gintama's most prominent motifs are. But why is Gintama so motif-ful? The sword's importance is obvious, expected even, but what differentiates Gintama from, say, Bleach, where the characters' swords also literally represent their souls in a way?

In the end the answer is what I already discussed in My Orochi Stood Up, the foundation of my entire framework, in fact its very title: the dick joke.

Sorachi's immature sense of humour is the glue holding the entire thematic and narrative structure of Gintama together. Why do we search obsessively for meaning in the flotsam of Gintama's less narratively charged moments? Because, quite frankly, many things are phallic. The sword is no longer simply a sword--by being imbued with the spirit of the dick joke, it becomes not only valid but textual to associate it with the head of the nation (shadow juice squirt), the motif of the dragon (thank you Elizabeth), and castration. What I mean is not whether the sword can be read as a dick--obviously, phallic logic has been prominent through all of human history--but the way in which Gintama's sexual humour gives us--and itself--an impetus to equate motifs in the first place.

Comparing very serious things to dicks is funny--the more abrupt, the more shocking, the more mood whiplash, the funnier is. Therefore, for Gintama's toilet humour to be as effective as possible, tone dissonance is ideal, pushing it towards the intermingling of comedy and tragedy that we know it so well for today. This in turn validates and reinforces the meaning-making role that these phallic jokes play in the story as a hole. It is not only that we cannot separate the dick jokes from the serious delivery of the plot, but that in many arcs important information is given to us through ridiculous gag devices (ball gags?).

The logic of basic sex jokes is extremely simple, intuitive, and easy to understand. The prominence of the pole necessarily implies the presence of the hole. I've talked about that enough in my essays, so I won't go into detail here, but the reason that I wrote my essays in the first place is because of how easy it is to map a procreative framework onto a series filled from beginning to end with phallic gags. As much as I may joke about it, the underlying logic of "the pole and the hole" is powerful and compelling, providing connective tissue to seemingly disparate motifs with ease. When combined with the "sorting" power of the A | B structure, the ability to associate any particular character with any particular motif easily gives us the ability to analyze how a given set of characters interacts with a motif; equally, where the motif sits in Gintama's playing ground of phallicism can inform a given character's dynamic with others.

I've already written at length about the role that wordplay plays in this as well. To save on time, I'll just quote from My Orochi Stood Up:

Gintama’s insistence on wordplay enables interesting meaning to be derived from these dirty jokes and their interaction with other motifs in the story. After all, the name of the series itself elevates the spirit of the balls joke, even if unintentionally, to the same level as the other metaphor in the title: “silver."

But perhaps the singularly most important example is the -tama in Gintama, with its plethora of potential meanings, each of them just silly and dirty enough that you have to take it seriously. Beyond the obvious joke on kintama (balls) and the “silver soul” meaning, we’ve seen that tama is also easily conflated with atama (head), and even with tamago (egg). This is clearly demonstrated with the series’ fixation on beheading leading to the salvation of the soul, and the bodyswap arc hinging on the pun between soul and egg.

In short, it is the comedic aspect of Gintama that fuels the series' own willingness to conflate and play with its motifs, and that validates--provokes--our mad efforts as readers to draw unlikely connections and dig through dirt. Though it may seem more ridiculous on the surface to be taking such a magnifying glass to such a profoundly silly series, it is in fact more justified for Gintama than it would likely be for a more serious series, one where the paths between motifs are not pre-paved, let alone lubricated with shadow squirt juice.

I was recently introduced to a theory of comedy where comedy was posited as an interplay between excess and lack. How this maps on to Gintama is obvious; but one thing that comes to mind now is how easy it would be to characterize our scholarly efforts in examining Gintama, a series one could humorously characterize as "lacking", as a kind of excess. Which is to say, I think Gintama has pulled its penultimate trick on us (because it's still coming out with more stuff for the anniversary. I believe it.) by making us part of its comedy.

[galedekarios]

that interview is driving me insane i've been thinking about it for the past hour and i still can't wrap my head around it. i think what really gets under my skin is it just... contradicts with the text of the game. the most positive possible reading of the ending where gale blows himself up is that it was an unavoidable tragedy dictated by fate but even that's a stretch. to say it's a good ending?? or a satisfying conclusion to his arc?? i call bull. it's more infuriating because there is such a clear good ending for gale's character arc and it's the professor ending! his arc was about learning to accept himself as he was, to value who he is as he is flaws and all, and he's done that in the professor ending! and the god of ambition ending is a bad end for him but still ties into his overall arc in a satisfying if sad way (imo). the ending where he dies just... doesn't. which is fine as a tragedy but to imply it isn't exactly that, a tragedy, is wild to me. and it being so blatantly contradictory to the actual events of the game makes me think that whole thing was just catering to people who hate gale which like... why? people who don't like him don't care about his story so why pander to them like this?

uhg. i am sorry for blowing up your inbox like this i just feel like i'm gonna rip my hair out and need to express that to a fellow gale appreciator. i love gale's epilogue SO MUCH it made me feel for a bit like maybe the writers had actually changed how they felt about him but. nope! silly of me to hope for that. wish i could memory wipe that whole interview from my brain dark urge style.

don't be sorry at all! 🖤 i feel the same way in a lot of ways. altho i feel the need to mention that gale's writer, jan van dosselaer, was not involved in this interview.

i started to make a meta post about this yesterday, but reading things like this from gale:

act ii [after elminster] Player: An old man with a craving for cheese. Hardly the great wizard of legend. Gale: A wizard doesn't reach Elminster's age without enjoying their home comforts. Those who seek danger over cheese don't tend to live as long. Gale: For Mystra to have sent him... The severity of her bidding could not be clearer. Or weigh more heavily on me. devnote: reflecting on mystra sending elminster, of all people - a powerful individual, becoming reflective. Gale: Time seems so infinite when you are young... a month is an age, a year is a lifetime... it is a strange feeling, to realise how little of it one might have left. Player: You're seriously considering doing what Elminster said?   Gale: Of course - he offered the clearest solution to our problem. All I have to do is find the right place and time, close my eyes, and let go... devnote: Trying to sound upbeat, not fully engaging with what he's saying (that he's going to kill himself). Gale: Then the slate will be clean, wrongs will be righted, the Absolute will be gone... devnote: Trying to sound upbeat, not fully engaging with what he's saying (that he's going to kill himself). Gale: ...and I along with it. devnote: Still trying to sound upbeat, though this time the reality that this means he will die weighs a bit heavier

and:

act ii [act ii romance scene] Gale: I am terrified - I will not claim otherwise. My face could scarcely conceal it even if my words sought to deny it. nodecontext: Hushed, vulnerable Gale: There is no point in running from the inevitable. Better to meet it, on my own terms. nodecontext: Resigned

as well as this:

act ii [act ii friendship version] Gale: Yes... but there is so much to live for, and so few moments in which to house it all. Gale: Damn you. Damn you for giving me so much to care about. Our friends, our adventures... this would have been so much easier if it was just me. But it isn't. Gale: If there is a way - any way - to save all that's grown dear to me, I want to seize it. I just cannot fathom what that might be, other than to fail Mystra and condemn the world. Gale: Stay with me, will you? I don't want to think of it any more, but I don't want to be alone either.

act iii [before the netherbrain] Player: Gale... I think we should consider using the orb as Mystra intended. To blow up the Netherbrain. Gale: I'm getting rather tired of how often those I care about seem to reach the same conclusion.

when you have this:

and i just... couldn't finish the meta.

it's absolutely beyond comprehension for me how anyone could try to frame this as an ending that is the right one in "many ways", as the "guy who starts off annoying everyone", eating your "most priced possessions", having to "give back to the world".

for the founder of the company to say he wasn't "ready" the "first time", but he's finally "ready" now.

gale's death isn't only unnecessary, an instruction given to him by his former mentor on the behalf of a goddess, who would've sacrificed not only him but thousands of others to achieve her own goals, he doesn't want to die. he's terrified. he wants to live. he is offering this because he believes that his time has run out. because he wants his death to have purpose if it must happen. because he feels he made a mistake far bigger than he can ever make up for. because he doesn't want others to waste their chance at life like he feels he has. the will he leaves behind in the epilogue if he sacrifices himself isn't finished because he thought there would be more time. i could go on and on.

and again, the question is too... for what exactly does he need to "give back to the world"?

being perceived as annoying after coming out of what is presented as isolation and depression? asking for help with a now chronic impairment that feeds on his very soul and wreaks havoc on his body? for making a mistake? by that logic every companion deserves the same fate.

which brings me to the contrast to how most of the other companions are framed in this interview: k*rlach, "the labrador of the party". l*e'zel, "she's so young". ast*rion, "much of what he does it out of fear". sh*dowheart, "the jason bourne" and "victim of religous trauma". w*ll, "the true baldur's gate hero".

the difference is staggering. there's empathy here. there's at least a surface level understanding and/or appreciation of the characters there.

...and then you have gale.

it's alienating and disappointing to see devs have so little respect and care for their own character, as well as for the parts of their fandom who have grown attached to the character exactly for the strengths and flaws he has, for the struggles he faces and for the healing journey he can have if he is helped and lives.

[mohgreal]

I always saw the jokes about Mogh as being like. the fandom being stupid, because it obviously isn't why Mogh took Miquella, it was established as Mogh kidnapping Miquella for the sake of power, people just made the easy loli jokes. Now you get 50 "he beat the allegations" and "Mogh is actually biggest victim" posts.

I've also seen people just claim that Miquella's love drove Mogh insane, even though even stuff like the pureblood knights medal specifically talks about a new Dynasty. You aren't really gonna feel sad for the blood cultist being used for a new age. I like the idea of Miquella utilizing his power because he was kidnapped and had to change his plans. I really liked the theory of using the blood to get away from the Greater Will. It's just so. forced?

If Miquella had this whole enchant Mogh plan, why did almost no one know where he went? Why was he in the cocoon? How long has it been since he was taken? I also feel like the compelling power isn't established as brainwashing, it's just enhancing his natural charm, it's his allure that has to latch onto something, like Mogh's desire for a dynasty. In the end it's a bit pointless to even discuss this because it's just. clear they threw away the already established lore and ideas for Miquella for the sake of disappointing new stuff, they went with the most passive and boring direction, instead of properly exploring blood lore and all of Miquella's lore.

longish but good read anon. and yes, it feels very forced and weird to me as well and probably alot of people from what I know. I guess people in fandoms will always be stupid so i'll brush that aside for a moment;

the lore has always been messy but I feel they fucked it up with SOTE lore by making everything so contradictory. Why does no one know where he went if he told Malenia about his plans to marry Radahn and become a god? What's the point of the cocoon now??? Why Mohg and not someone else? How does that act as a passage to the land of shadow and so on. It feels like such messy writing and I can smell the hardcore fromsoftware simps from a mile away about to tell me that it's SUPPOSED to be obscured, but idk if the basic things in the lore don't make sense and contradict each other is that really good writing? I would argue not, at least after SOTE lore.

I used to think Elden Ring had really good writing and interesting lore, but SOTE messes it up a-lot and ruins the main point of fromsoftware games's story-- interpretation.

It DOES feel very bland. like boring level of taking reddit theories that never made sense and making them into canon does not mesh. There were so many fun and interesting ways they could've gone with Miquella and Mohg lore, but choose not to.

oh well

[veliseraptor]

one thing I was thinking about today is the...coagulation? of characterization and headcanons in new fandoms. I feel like I see this...idk, arc, when a fandom is getting started, where there's a wide range of perspectives and ways of writing a character and headcanons that are directly contradictory/go in different directions, and over time things sort of coalesce and...congeal, perhaps, into a loose/fuzzy kind of "fandom consensus" (never actually a consensus, to be clear; but a dominant singular interpretation), and once that takes hold it begins to exert a strong gravitational pull on everything around it such that, I think even unconsciously, people start to curve toward that "consensus" understanding. like, the clearest example of what I'm talking about is how this is how popular fanons spread, but I feel like I also see it in finer points of characterization and the way people choose to write/the things people choose to write.

the positive side of this is the way it can work in a very "yes, and" sort of way, where people are close enough to each other to feel like they're talking about the same character, and there's a general feeling that the character is recognizable in fandom as themselves (or, alas, not recognizable). it's the same potential benefit of any kind of standardization, I guess.

the drawback is that this is where I'd attribute the kind of cross-fandom generic sameness people complain about. because, by nature, a "consensus" kind of build is going to simplify a character in order to make them more broadly intelligible (it's harder to get people to agree on specific details about a character than it is about broad strokes). and thus. and on an individual level people can find that very frustrating and irritating but at the same time I think it's hard to break out of, for the same reason breaking out of any standard configuration is hard - human beings have an urge to conform and it can feel bad not to. and sometimes it's the thing where somebody might not even realize what they're doing.

none of this is particularly revolutionary, I think; the thing I haven't seen people talk about is the way that this feels like a bit of a time-triggered phenomenon - a fandom starts out with more variety and, as it ages, begins to narrow into a more set form. and I wonder how many fandom fights might be...better...if there was less of a pressure to shape characters (or stories) into a suitable mold for the sake of seeking a consistent base mold that very few people are actually happy about.

I see this in myself on and individual level, too, the way that I feel like I start with much more fluid and flexible ideas of a character that gradually over time become more fixed, and I don't necessarily know that I feel like that's a good thing - I think there's a loss in there. but I don't know that it's necessarily a completely bad thing, either.

[idiotwhowritesshipstuff]

I just gotta say, I really love your work~. Anyway~ can I you do yandere Sonia nevermind and yandere Peko pekoyama dating their darling headcanons? I gotta say I really think sonia has a lot of yandere potential

Very interesting for you to be picking some of the nicher yanderes from the ones I've allowed.

So sorry for how late I am to answer asks, I had a lot of family over then caught COVID (for the third time how am I still alive) so I have either not had much time or have not been in the mood to write until today. I really want to get this request done so this post is more general but I hope you still enjoy.

Mod Monaca

Yandere Sonia Nevermind and Peko Pekoyama dating their darlings headcanons

Sonia as a yandere is an interesting case because the relationship she wants with you is extremely contradictory to how she handles her obsession with you.

Her wish is for you two to have a romance similar to what she sees in the Japanese romance films she watches yet she also wants you to be able to be with her in Novoselic as her partner which means learning the numerous languages she knows and being taught about the military.

Now Sonia isn't ridiculous, she's been trained to be a member of the royal family ever since she was little so she won't expect you to be at her or her family's level immediately and will often cut lessons short as she wants to spend time with you. It's not like you need to be on her level to be by her side, just enough that you can stand next to her since she'll handle the rest.

You're essentially just a figurehead that stands next to the soon to be queen of an absolute monarchy. It's not all bad as ruling a kingdom is something that takes years of experience and just one wrong move can make you hated by thousands so having the Ultimate handle all of it is a bit reassuring but you're stuck just sitting around and looking pretty until Sonia comes over to spend time with you as the servants of the palace keep their distance from you as Sonia can be quite jealous and doesn't like anyone monopolizing your time except her so everyone in the palace is polite and courteous with you but the distance is clear.

Peko as a yandere doesn't believe she can actually date you. She believes that the only relationship meant for you two is that of a master/servant with her as the loyal servant who won't let anyone come near you.

She isolates you from your peers, insisting that they are threats. The only people she backs off on isolating you from are family members you have a positive relationship with, Fuyuhiko and any childhood friends. She'll force them to get away if they try to get you away from her but she'll let them stay if they decide not to question Peko.

Don't expect much support from Fuyuhiko in this situation, in this scenario he's her best friend and supports Peko going off and doing her own thing. He is completely blind to just how messed up you and Peko's situation is and will always be willing to listen to her side before yours.

Despite Peko claiming to be nothing more than your humble servant, she maintains a lot of authority over your life. She firmly believes that she knows what's best for you and will do what she deems is the best way to keep you "safe" even if it upsets you because it is her sworn duty to protect you as your tool.

[synchodai]

Just finished the Fallout TV show! Observations and spoilers under the cut:

GOOD: It's actually pretty lore accurate and canon compliant.

I don't understand the complaints that it retcons New Vegas? People argue that the Battle of Hoover Dam and "the fall of Shady Sands" both happening in 2277 renders FNV non-canonical, but that's not necessarily the case? It was clear from the chalkboard the fall of Shady Sands and the nukes dropping are two separate events? Meaning Shady Sands "falling," whatever that entails, doesn't necessarily contradict the NCR presence in the Mojave. Shady Sands is the capital of the NCR — not the entire NCR. Even without control of Shady Sands, they would still have rangers and citizens in their other settlements.

I think this is because people are so invested in this narrative that Bethesda hates FNV, and yes, they could have treated Obsidian way better and shafted them in numerous ways during game development, but developer Tim Cain himself said that Todd Howard loves FNV.

Yes, certain details in the show can be contradictory to its source text, specifically with how they handle ghoulification, but it wasn't like the games ever had a clear canon explanation for ghoul biology either. Fallout 4 showed that exposure to radiation isn't even the only way to turn into a ghoul — and I was certain the previous games emphasized that ghouls are ghouls because of overexposure to radiation.

All in all, the little details they do get right — the brand names, the music, the general vibe of how each faction operates — vastly outnumbers the ones that are a bit iffy.

BAD: They revealed who dropped the bombs and it doesn't make sense.

The twist of the entire series is that Vault Tec dropped the nukes because it wanted to increase sales and recreate the USA as a utopian, monopolistic corporatocracy. This doesn't exactly contradict established canon. In fact, with Mr. House being part of the corpo meetings discussing this, it explains how he was able to predict the nukes and shield his beloved Vegas before the bombs fell.

What this mainly contradicts for me is just...logic. This show clearly wants to tell its audience that corporations will prioritize profit over public welfare every time. It's a good, clear, and necessary message. However, corporations — no matter how evil they are — just wouldn't wipe out their own customer base, right? Who would they make profits from if 90% of Americans were dead? And let's say they don't care about the poors who couldn't afford their products and services anyway — they've just significantly reduced even the one-percenters' purchasing power by basically scorching the earth. Capitalists want to extract as much resources as possible. They will abuse and torture their golden goose so that it'll lay more eggs, but they will never just...kill their own goose.

There could have been a more logical scenario here. War is a one of the most lucrative times for corporations like Vault Tec. And American corpos ARE known for orchestrating wars and destabilizing entire regions, BUT they always do so outside the US — a safe, far distance from the paying customers and away from the company's executives.

If that board meeting talked about purposefully disrupting the hardearned peacetimes they were in and dropping a bomb ON ANOTHER COUNTRY just to incite people to buy more vaults, then yes, I can see that happening. I can even see them anticipating nuclear retaliation, but they're too blinded by greed and the need for infinite growth that they're willing to take that risk. Add some dialogue about how this is their way of manufacturing and exporting American nuclear annihilation anxiety so they can take their tech global, and we have something that's closer to reality than just....one-step self-immolation.

House in FNV more or less had the same motivations to recreate the world as a technocrat dictatorship, but FNV handled it better in that House knew that people, even rivals like the tribes, were better kept alive and converted to paying customers and/or employees than outright exterminated.

Unfortunately, since the entire theme is about how corporate capitalism can lead to the destruction of the world, the show portraying the "fidicuiary incentive" as akin to an ideology (a set of beliefs on how the world should be structured) is misguided I think. A corporation profit motive isn't ideological because only people can have ideologies and corporations are not people. They don't prioritize profit because they think this is the best system we have to achieve a utopian society — they do it because it is what corporate systems are designed to do. They do not care about societal good anymore than a cancer cell cares about the body it is in. All they want is to grow exponentially.

Corporations like Vault Tec and its ilk are more like machines made to churn money, and that has resulted in sometimes progress and sometimes destruction. But it is always uncaring of those consequences and the methods it has to utilize as long as it fulfills its end goal of continually making profit — and THAT'S the problem of capitalism. Not that corporate execs want total political control. Because if lax control meant they could continuing exploiting and siphoning resources and pleasing shareholders, they wouldn't care about governance or politics at all.

STRAY THOUGHTS

Mr. House at that table gave me everything I wanted. I'm so excited for season 2 being New Vegas centered.

I love the portrayal of vault dwellers. They all had quirky and distinguishable characters and there wasn't a vault dweller character I wasn't entertained by.

Vault 4 is such a good episode! It was so funny and such a good way to show Lucy and Maximus that kindness is still possible in the wasteland without making it uncharacteristically sappy or too after-school special.

Norm is such a compelling character. I didn't expect him to be such a big part of the story but I'm glad he was.

They did justice to the scenery. I love the deer because it shows it's been a while since the atomic bombs and how life inevitably recolonizes the land.

The twist that Hank Maclean helped nuke Shady Sands because his wife escaped to it? It's kind of a weak excuse to nuke an entire area again. I hope this gets elaborated on in season 2 and why Vault Tec decided to let the NCR become a full-blown national power before taking action.

Cooper Howard? No notes. Perfect performance.

I'm not a big fight scene person, but I appreciate the tribute to the games with the splattered body parts and how main characters didn't just curbstomp their opponents.

The vault scenes were the funniest but I hope they also lean in more to how weird the wasteland can be too.

A lot of threads left hanging. Who is Lee Moldover and why are the refugees of Shady Sands worshipping her? Why did she need whatever was in the Enclave scientist's head? Whatever happened to Vault 33's problem with their destroyed water chip? Why did Hank give Moldover the code just because Lucy told him to? WHERE IS FINAL PAM???

CONCLUSION

Amazing adaptation. Well-written characters that felt very at-home with the setting. It understood the games deeply enough to know that Vault Tec is the overarching villain of the series. Plot has holes and logical inconsistencies, but aside from what I've already discussed, these aren't egregious enough to take away from character arcs and the show's themes for me.

**Fallout games I've played:

Fallout 2

Fallout 3 (only got through half of the game)

Fallout: New Vegas

Fallout 4

[chronicallychthonic]

weirdness has continued. lights going on and off by themselves, strange drops in temperature. I did do a pendulum session... it was the most clear one I've ever done. sometimes I do get some false positives/contradictory results but not this time. I actually feel quite shaken? I noted down the answers as we went:

Me: Is there somebody there? Answer: Yes Me: Are you the spirit of a person who lived in this apartment? Answer: No Me: Are you a spirit who lived in this building? Answer: Yes Me: Did you die in the 1990s? Answer: No Me: 2000s? Answer: No Me: 2010s? Answer: No Me: ...2020s? Answer: Yes Me: 2020? Answer: No Me: 2021? Answer: No Me: 2022? Answer: No Me: 2023? Answer: No Me: ...2024? Answer: Yes

That freaked me out a bit because that would mean that I was living here during that time.

Me: You died in 2024? Answer: Yes Me: Was it a violent death? Answer: Yes Me: Were you murdered? Answer: Yes Me: Were you killed in this building? Answer: (there was a long hesitation before the pendulum moved to say 'No') Me: Okay so was it nearby? Answer: Yes Me: Does your killer live in the building? Answer: No Me: Did they once? Answer: Yes

i had to stop here. I was feeling so drained and my headache had returned. I don't know what to think about all of this. I fear that something really terrible happened here.

[bluegekk0]

So in a previous ask you talked about how Ghost was the no nonsense type and would only do stuff that would bring them closer to their goal? In the same ask you said they don't get attached to other bugs either. But if that is the case then why would Ghost bring Elderbug the delicate flower? Is it cause he was the only constant in their ever changing life in Hallownest? Along with this question why would they bring the delicate flower to the Traitors Child? Unless the Grey Mourner would have said there was a reward if they had done this, then Ghost wouldn't have done it, I think?

Hi, I admit that some of my responses may be a tad confusing and seem contradictory at times, but I'm always willing to clear things up, so apologies for any confusion!

I said that they were focused on their objective, yes, but I also mentioned that they're willing to help others out if it doesn't delay their main goal too much, not that they only do things that bring them closer to it. That is another part of their personality that is quite important, to the point where I stated that if they survived, helping others in need would likely have become their pastime. They don't like staying still, that is why domestic life isn't for them, but that doesn't mean they're completely ignorant to others if they need help. And helping others, to them, doesn't mean getting attached, they see it as small favors, or something they do to show gratitude.

The latter of which would be the reason why they gave Elderbug the Delicate Flower. Elderbug was incredibly helpful to them during their journey, he'd mention points of interests that were important in their mission, even if his goal was to discourage them from putting themselves in danger. He offered a lot of helpful advice, and so they figured that if they got a chance, they'd give him something, as a token of gratitude, before they continue with their journey (one that, as it turned out, they wouldn't return from).

With the Grey Mourner, the flower quest simply overlapped with their own path. They were looking for their mother, the Queen, and Ze'mer's lover was buried in her gardens. Why not help her out, since they were already planning to go there? That's what they thought, at least. I don't think the quest itself took them too long, the flower getting destroyed when taking damage is in my eyes just a game mechanic, not something that actually happened, though the flower itself was still very fragile so they had to be careful. So they took it, and brought it to the Traitor's Child's grave. Then, perhaps as they were walking back from the gardens, they got another flower from the grave, one that they would then give to Elderbug. Or maybe they were given one by Ze'mer as a sign of gratitude? The former is more in line with the game's canon, since more flowers grow at the grave after completing the quest, but the latter would be a nice gesture on Ze'mer's part (and, since Ghost had no use for the flower, it would also make a nice gift to Elderbug in their eyes). I quite like the second option, personally.

I hope this clears things out a little bit. In short, Ghost doesn't get very attached to others, that is correct. But they wouldn't walk past someone in need, and if they can help them without bringing their main objective to a halt, they'll do it. And in Elderbug's case, it shows that they understand the concept of gratitude, which just adds to the idea that a "pure vessel" was a foolish concept in the first place - they do have thoughts and feelings, they just appear more distant and focused, kind of like their mother.

[burinazar]

(This post is mostly a direct copy-paste with edits of my twitter thread about the same thing, so you don't need to bother reading it if you've seen that already. Contains spoilers for MiA season 2!)

ahhh. the abyss wiki has one of Irumyuui's occupations listed as this. (Ebil takes 1000hp mental damage and expires)

Now i personally have been known to talk a lot more often about how "made a symbolic religious sacrifice" is what the Ganja and most directly Waz and Vue did to Belaf, but that's because i'm trying to point out something that isn't obvious. Meanwhile i don't usually point out that deification is also what they all did to Irumyuui because, well...duh! This one seems blindingly obvious in being the conclusion the narrative wants us to reach. Elevation, idolatry, cast in the role of savior and praised as a "queen"...for all intents and purposes just another form of dehumanization, if less physical and literal than the other that she suffered.

The sages, and Irumyuui. A prophet and a savior and a sacrifice -- "we sought to become something more than human" -- and, of course, one who was human until the end...

But, to be more precise i think the Three Idiots themselves weren't actually able to find self-deceiving refuge in a view of Iru as a holy savior instead of an exploited child. When Vueko says 'people can get used to anything, even hell', I take it as referring to (among other things) how the rest of the Squad were able to rationalize and live with this. The non-sage Ganja seem a lot more likely to fall into that kind of thinking, from the bits we see -- the taking of the children seems to become a sort of ritual for them.

Vueko and Belaf were never able to think of her as a holy savior for a second, both of them literally tried to kill themselves because they were TOO aware their 'salvation' was not divine providence but the product of making a child (THEIR CHILD!) suffer. And I think Waz is uhh. very realistic about what they were doing. Also, I get the sense that HE didn't view himself as having a 'righteous' heavenly mandate -- while he feels moved by a higher power that 'gathered' them all, i don't at allthink that he would claim moral absolution on those grounds the way religiously or spiritually motivated characters doing bad things in fiction are sometimes seen to do. (Relatedly, I speculate he wouldn't really see it in terms of absolution or culpability at all -- I believe his sense of personal responsibility and free will may be very skewed by his prophet situation, but that's getting into the weeds of Waz speculation that i could write several posts on alone...)

No, I think all three of them understood more clearly than all their followers that Irumyuui was just a child thrust into the role of savior.

Meanwhile the rest of them, the ones we see kneel and pray at various junctures...them... there is a strong sense that the rest -- just as, i suspect, they believed in 'the nameless god' more than the sages actually did -- accepted everything that happened as divine providence. If they thought about Iru's personal suffering at all (and that's quite a big if) they may have regarded it as her preordained role, the reason she was sent to them...

...I really want to know what Pakkoyan thought about this. She's the most demonstrably 'faithful' out of the named characters -- in the anime she's notably the one who assigns a spiritual meaning (absolution and the forgiveness of sin) to the village. That seems pretty clear confirmation to me that she's inclined to buy into the mindset described above. BUT. She is also close to Vueko and must know how Vue was taking it. Does this strike her as contradictory? Does it disturb her that the person she loved was disgusted by what she and the rest of the Ganja saw as holy salvation?

...now that i wrote "she must know how Vue was taking it", i'm wondering if she actually did or not lmao. given that i often picture Pakko having an idealized view of Vueko (the continuity with Vueko's idealized view of Belaf and Belaf's of Wazukyan pleases me) she may not have realized how horribly Vue was doing lol.

Anyway I got a little lost at the end there in Pakkospeculation (listen it's the narrative's fault for barely characterizing her ok) but. Yeah. This is my general view on the in-story deification of Iru and how the sages versus everyone else may have felt on it

[fallinfl0wers]

i've never actually done this so this is kind of new haha. i might be doing this wrong? >.< your writing is really cool so im a bit nervous to send this. :'D would it be possible if i requested heizou with a reader who is a hopeless romantic but is really dense to signs of affection and flirting and stuff like that so they don't know heizou really likes them? preferably a male reader if that's alright. thank you and take care! <3

fandom: genshin impact characters: heizou reader type: hopeless romantic, dense!male reader summary: heizou can piece together many mysteries, but your contradictory, adorable self, is not one of them. genre: fluff warnings: none i think. notes: thank you for your compliment <3 lemme tell you my friend, I FEEL THIS REQUEST IN MY HEART! oh boy, i feel you, i get it!!! its me i'm the hopeless romantic dense dumbass who can't tell when someone's flirting with them! <': here you go, hopeless romantic, yet denser than a rock fellow <3

Heizou wonders how can a person be so smart, yet so astonishingly dumb at the same time?

He wonders this, sighing again, while he sees you excitedly discussing with one of your friends the plot of a romance light novel you've been reading.

You smile and blush so cutely, saying how these two HAVE to end up together because the male lead has been so blatantly obvious with his flirting and the other love interest just doesn't treat the main girl right-

And Heizou just slaps his face with endearing desperation towards you.

Simply put, you're Heizou's crush. You've been his crush for a very long time.

It is quite unfortunate, but you don't have Heizou's intuition or deduction skills to figure out his feelings for you...

But, really, dude? He's very obvious with his intentions! How can you not see it?

The world may never have an answer to that question...

You're the most hopeless romantic man he's ever met.

And also the densest man he's ever met.

Because one moment he'll hear you say all these things about soulmates and what the ideal relationship is for you or how you define what love in a romantic relationship is and all things of the like-

-And the next he'll be asking you out on a date to have dinner together and you're just smiling at him like "Sure, Heizou! I'm always happy to have dinner with my best friend!"

Or saying something like "Ah, you're feeling lonely? That's cute~ But don't feel lonely, I'm here for you, my friend!"

Heizou will stop at nothing to drill it into your thick skull that he likes you! Not as a friend, not as a buddy, definitely not as a bro!

He likes you like a husband likes his spouse- likes you in the "i want to hold your hand and hug you and kiss you in a not platonic way"- likes you romantically!!

...But you don't get it, so poor Heizou lol

You're annoying (/pos) and endearing, so he won't pressure you and will keep trying his best to make his feelings clear!

If somehow all his hints and flirting keep fling above your head (yes)

Expect to one day be at the receiving end of a kabedon coming from a blushing Heizou spelling it very slowly for you: "I like you a lot and want you to be my lover. And I am serious."

fallinfl0wers. 2022.

[shepherds-of-haven]

Okok so I came across this post and it said Riel is pretty good at singing (even better than Lavinet 😳😳😳). But on this post Riel is rated below a lot of ROs 🤔

Since both posts are long ago (and I remember you mention Riel has pitch perfect at some point), I gotta do my due diligence 😤🫡 and ask you again: on a scale of 1-10, how good are the ROs + Halek at singing?

Ah, you caught me in my many contradictory statements! 😂😂 Thank you for your question, I'll try to be more definitive now haha! Let me think...

On a scale of 1-10, it goes:

Blade: 3. He's not completely tone-deaf, but he's awkward and his voice has a weird rasp to it. Listening to him sing wouldn't be so much unpleasant as it would be excruciatingly awkward due to his sheer discomfort

Trouble: 4. He's good for, like, chanties and tavern songs where he's more "yelling in tune" than outright singing, but don't ask him to solo... He's actually more out-of-tune than Blade, but I give him points for sheer enthusiasm

Tallys: 8. Gorgeous singer with a low, clear voice, but she doesn't do it often and doesn't project very loudly, her singing is a bit reserved to be truly the star of the show (but is excellent backup vocals)!

Shery: 8 or 9. Her voice is sweet and high, but she never sings in front of others unless it's within the chorus of a church! She could easily solo but can't force herself to sing while others are watching!

Riel: 7. He is a good singer (he does have perfect pitch and has taken to composing in his spare time, so his musical sense is probably the best among the group), but his physical voice is a bit too thin and wavery to truly carry a performance. Plus, he'd rather fall on a sword than sing in front of anyone

Chase: 7 or 8. Good singer whose theatrics can entertain where his vocals don't. He regularly plays the tsirai for others, and his voice is good enough that it's enjoyable to listen to; not on a professional level by any means, but it's pleasant and melodious! However, his lyrics can be so embarrassing that people have mixed feelings about his performances lol

Red: 8. Strong, smooth voice, but little interest in singing outside of humming to himself absently while he works

Ayla: 5. She's enthusiastic and can keep a tune, but her singing quickly turns hoarse and develops a squawk. She prefers the chanties where she's "yelling in tune" rather than operatically belting lyrics out!

Briony: 6. Her voice seems to be made for singing, smooth and clear like a bell, but her sense of pitch is quite off... Like 60% of the time she hits the right notes, but that seems to be due to sheer luck, and 40% of the time she's just a teensy bit off-key, but having fun nonetheless lol

Lavinet: 10. The only classically-trained singer of the lot who took a lot of vocal lessons, she could literally get up on a stage and do a solo and absolutely kill it (and has done so many times). Sometimes I think Riel has private designs to farm her out as a debutante opera singer and orchestrate a whole career for her out of it LOL

Halek: 5. Perfectly decent, neither wildly out-of-key or unpleasant but also not notably really good. It could develop into a 7 if he put more effort into it, though!