#virtual gang masters

[thepastisalreadywritten]

(CNN) — Jack Latham was on a mission to photograph farms in Vietnam — not the country’s sprawling plantations or rice terraces but its “click farms.”

Last year, the British photographer spent a month in the capital Hanoi documenting some of the shadowy enterprises that help clients artificially boost online traffic and social media engagement in the hope of manipulating algorithms and user perceptions.

The resulting images, which feature in his new book “Beggar’s Honey,” provide rare insight into the workshops that hire low-paid workers to cultivate likes, comments and shares for businesses and individuals globally.

“When most people are on social media, they want nothing but attention — they’re begging for it,” Latham said in a phone interview, explaining his book’s title.

“With social media, our attention is a product for advertisers and marketers.”

In the 2000s, the growing popularity of social media sites — including Facebook and Twitter, now called X — created a new market for well-curated digital profiles, with companies and brands vying to maximize visibility and influence.

Though it is unclear when click farms began proliferating, tech experts warned about “virtual gang masters” operating them from low-income countries as early as 2007.

In the following decades, click farms exploded in number — particularly in Asia, where they can be found across India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, and beyond.

Regulations have often failed to keep pace: While some countries, like China, have attempted to crack down on operations (the China Advertising Association banned the use of click farms for commercial gain in 2020), they continue to flourish around the continent, especially in places where low labor and electricity costs make it affordable to power hundreds of devices simultaneously.

‘Like Silicon Valley startups’

Latham’s project took him to five click farms in Vietnam.

(The click farmers he hoped to photograph in Hong Kong “got cold feet,” he said, and pandemic-related travel restrictions dashed his plans to document the practice in mainland China).

On the outskirts of Hanoi, Latham visited workshops operating from residential properties and hotels.

Some had a traditional setup with hundreds of manually operated phones, while others used a newer, compact method called “box farming” — a phrase used by the click farmers Latham visited — where several phones, without screens and batteries, are wired together and linked to a computer interface.

Latham said one of the click farms he visited was a family-run business, though the others appeared more like a tech companies.

Most workers were in their 20s and 30s, he added.

“They all looked like Silicon Valley startups,” he said. “There was a tremendous amount of hardware … whole walls of phones.”

Some of Latham’s photos depict — albeit anonymously — workers tasked with harvesting clicks.

In one image, a man is seen stationed amid a sea of gadgets in what appears to be a lonely and monotonous task.

“It only takes one person to control large amounts of phones,” Latham said. “One person can very quickly (do the work of) 10,000. It’s both solitary and crowded.”

At the farms Lathan visited, individuals were usually in charge of a particular social media platforms.

For instance, one “farmer” would be responsible for mass posting and commenting on Facebook accounts, or setting up YouTube platforms where they post and watch videos on loop.

The photographer added that TikTok is now the most popular platform at the click farms he visited.

The click farmers Latham spoke to mostly advertised their services online for less than one cent per click, view or interaction.

And despite the fraudulent nature of their tasks, they seemed to treat it like just another job, the photographer said.

‘There was an understanding they were just providing a service,” he added. “There wasn’t a shadiness. What they’re offering is shortcuts.”

Deceptive perception

Across its 134 pages, “Beggar’s Honey” includes a collection of abstract photographs — some seductive, others contemplative — depicting videos that appeared on Latham’s TikTok feed.

He included them in the book to represent the kind of content he saw being boosted by click farms.

But many of his photos focus on the hardware used to manipulate social media —webs of wires, phones and computers.

“A lot of my work is about conspiracies,” Latham said. ” Trying to ‘document the machines used to spread disinformation’ is the tagline of the project. The bigger picture is often the thing we don’t see.”

Click farms around the world are also used to amplify political messages and spread disinformation during elections.

In 2016, Cambodia’s then-prime minister Hun Sen was accused of buying Facebook friends and likes, which according to the BBC he denied, while shadowy operations in North Macedonia were found to have spread pro-Donald Trump posts and articles during that year’s US presidential election.

While researching, Latham said he found that algorithms — a topic of his previous book, “Latent Bloom” — often recommended videos that he said got increasingly “extreme” with each click.

“If you only digest a diet of that, it’s a matter of time you become diabetically conspiratorial,” he said.

“The spreading of disinformation is the worst thing. It happens in your pocket, not newspapers, and it’s terrifying that it’s tailored to your kind of neurosis.”

Hoping to raise awareness of the phenomenon and its dangers, Latham is planning to exhibit his own home version of a click farm — a small box with several phones attached to a computer interface — at the 2024 Images Vevey Festival in Switzerland.

He bought the gadget in Vietnam for the equivalent of about $1,000 and has occasionally experimented with it on his social media accounts.

On Instagram, Latham’s photos usually attract anywhere from a few dozen to couple hundred likes.

But when he deployed his personal click farm to announce his latest book, the post generated more than 6,600 likes.

The photographer wants people to realize that there’s more to what they see on social media — and that metrics aren’t a measurement of authenticity.

“When people are better equipped with knowledge of how things work, they can make more informed decisions,” he said.

“Beggar’s Honey,” co-published by Here Press and Images Vevey, is available now.

[daytaker]

The Gang React to Weed

Happy 4/20, here's a thing.

(I'm imagining that demons have the same reactions to weed that humans do. I don't think they actually would have the same reactions, but theoretically...)

Oh, and to make my own bias clear: I'm not a fan, personally. I can't think about weed without thinking about the smell. The stink. So I'm not sure if the focus on the smell in these comes off as weird or not, but it's so powerful in my mind, it must be addressed.

Lucifer hates weed. Don't call that the Devil's lettuce, he wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. It smells like skunk. It's revolting. Don't use it in his house. Don't use it in his presence. Don't use it. It's antithetical to everything he believes in.

Mammon...would stone. I see him as someone who uses one of those vape pens on the DL (not nearly as smelly, so much safer to use in the House of Lamentation) but he'd also like gummies and weed brownies. Being stoned is just fun. It's pleasant. It's relaxing. Chill out, Lucifer, you're harshing the vibes, man.

Leviathan is nervous about weed. He has this idea that there's a way he's supposed to react to cannabis, and when he doesn't, he feels like there's something wrong with him. He's supposed to feel all chill and groovy, right? So why does he just feel dizzy? Why is he not relaxed? Why isn't he chill?! Why isn't he groovy?!?!?! He probably psyches himself out too much to enjoy it. He's too nervous about the social expectations.

Satan is kind of ambivalent to weed. He doesn't particularly enjoy it. I don't think he'd like feeling intoxicated in general because of the lack of control. But at the same time.... it pisses Lucifer off so much, how can he not appreciate that? He doesn't like the smell either, so if it wasn't for Lucifer, he'd be the one complaining about it, but as it stands, he's perfectly willing to enable his brothers who do like it.

Asmodeus doesn't mind it in moderation, and only in edibles. Again... the smell. He will not tolerate smelling like anything less than a bouquet of roses. He only really uses it socially.

Beelzebub can't have cannabis. And I know you know why. The cravings. You can't just take gluttony and make it hungrier. It Devours. Once, Mammon left some weed brownies unattended, and he was strung up by Lucifer for days, not because he brought pot into the house, but because Beelzebub ate them and went on a mindless rampage through the Devildom, eating his way through various businesses and even a few historic landmarks. Everything was game: stone, dirt, wood, you name it. The bottomless pit just became bottomless-er.

Belphegor likes it. Similar to Mammon, he doesn't want the hassle of Lucifer getting on his case, so he prefers the vape pen, since it's less smelly and also Beel-safe. It makes him feel cozy and relaxed, because if Belphie needs anything, it's something to help him fall asleep more easily.

Diavolo loves it! But since Lucifer hates it, he doesn't use it very often. I actually imagine he and Solomon occasionally hang out and smoke. Only very rarely, because he's much too busy to be fucking off with some tricksy wizard and getting high, but it happens from time to time.

Barbatos is indifferent to it. What's some intoxication in the face of millions of years of experiences and virtual omniscience? It won't affect him. But please, young master, if you must indulge, change your clothes after. The scent has a way of clinging to fabric...

Solomon loves weed! It's so fun. What a great way to take the edge off. Mind-altering substances are very fun for a guy who's seen it all, even if cannabis is relatively lowkey. When he senses that the moment is right, he'll whisk Diavolo away every now and then and hang out in some scenic location while smoking. He has a fantasy that one day, Diavolo will spontaneously suggest they make a pact during such an occasion. It hasn't happened yet.

Simeon isn't interested in getting high. It's not for him, or for any angels, really. I wish I had a more nuanced picture of him for this prompt, but I'm just picturing a meme with Simeon's face saying "Don't get high: get saved."

Luke is a literal child.

"What's that awful smell, Simeon?"

"Oh, that's just some Devil-grass burning. Some demons enjoy the sensations inhaling the smoke causes."

"Demons would like something like that!"

[askblueandviolet]

To our lovely duo: 

*a Bai He doll appears along with a tiny Mao and Hershey figurine*

Now the gang is complete! :D

Would it be alright if I could get a head pat from one of you guys? You don’t have to if you don’t want to tho-

For our amazing Hershey: *gives her a little icy blue bow with violets embroidered onto it*

To our darling author: *gives you a virtual hug and a basket full of baked goodies cuz you deserve it*

And that folks, is the final ask in the box!!! Sorry that you had to wait so long, but I have finally done it, haha!

Now, since the Blue and Violet Series is on hiatus, I have decided that as of now, the ask box shall remain closed :'))). At the very latest it will open again when the new instalment for the series comes out, but who knows! Maybe I will bring back the ask blog sooner.

If I counted right, then we have had a total of a whopping 147 asks! Far more than I could have ever expected. So thank you to everyone who sent asks to this blog and following, it's been a real pleasure entertaining you all (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠).

Until next time everyone!!!

MASTER POST

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[stitchlingbelle]

Watching Halo, Episode 6

We kick off with the immediate aftermath of the battle, and they do a good job of showing the human cost here—my baby Kai screaming in pain, the long, long lines of the injured and dead being carried into the base. The Master Chief claims that he’s fine and Cortana tells him he’s full of shit, which I appreciated. Makee is unconscious—sedated? I assume she couldn’t just sleep through this—and speaking Sangheili (I finally looked up how to spell it).

As everyone but Halsey is off the ship, Master Chief locks her in and gets TALKY as he threatens to murder her. I’m not gonna lie, I adored this scene. There have been throwaway lines about the Spartans’ intelligence, but this is the first time we really see Master Chief show off his specialist knowledge and problem-solving skills. He’s positively chatty in a very unnerving way as he explains how Halsey will die—if Cortana doesn’t take over his body and stop him, which she doesn’t. He doesn’t go through with killing Halsey (unfortunately, though I very uncharitably enjoyed listening to her panicked screams. A+ acting). I’m not entirely convinced that his test actually proved what he wanted it to—we know Cortana is programmed to take him over completely if needed. Is her access to that function still blocked by Halsey, or did Cortana choose not to use it? If it’s still blocked, was Halsey unable or unwilling to give that access in time to save herself? (She, or her clone, has already shown herself willing to die for her vision if necessary.) Chief seems to assume Cortana would do anything to save Halsey because she’s her creator—but is that true? What does Cortana want?

Makee, like the sledgehammer she is, is going straight past subtle and demanding to speak to the Master Chief and no one else to give up Covenant secrets. How does she even know who he is, gang? If this weren’t a 9-episode season I would have enjoyed them screwing with her by trotting out every other Master Chief in the UNSC before finally letting her talk to John, but we gotta keep things moving, instead. His tough-guy act lasts all of thirty seconds before she drops the term “blessed one” and he crumbles. If she’s so important, Chief, how did she get away? (Also, did she have star charts memorized as a kid and access to nav data as a prisoner? How does she know what the human name of this star system is? I know, if she didn’t we wouldn’t have a show, blah blah blah.) She also gets a cool new human outfit this episode, which I assume is a standard-issue thing, but appears conveniently fashionable, well-fitted, and cleavage-revealing.

Meanwhile, there’s politics and the brass backstabbing each other because their brainwashing & slavery program isn’t running as smoothly as they hoped. (No one reads history OR scifi around here.) (Are the Spartans even paid? What do they spend it on? They need a union.) Consequences are catching up to Halsey in the form of some sort of interrogation (mar dhea, as we say in Irish—as if! I’m certain she’ll wriggle out somehow). Aaaand John interrupts thirty seconds in, which is probably not how the military or the law usually works and in the real world would almost certainly be enough to get her off scot-free, to question her while Parangosky and Keyes watch virtually. “He’s going to think we’re complicit!”/ “Margaret, we ARE complicit!” made me laugh in a very dark way. Miranda slips in at one point, too.

Villain monologue! I have to say, I HATE this sort of villain more than any other. Humanity is too violent, so I, supergenius, had the ~unprecedented~ idea to make a group that’s even MORE violent! No one’s ever thought of that before! Babe, you just reinvented the military and cops, except now they have bigger guns and less connection to their home communities. When we say in PoliSci that one of the definitions of a state is “the entity that maintains a monopoly on violence”, this is literally what we mean. So other groups are now incentivized to create their own Spartan programs to compete with you, or some other arms-race solution? (And this is leaving out all the child abuse, fascism, and “who decides?” of deploying a hyperviolent solution.) Dear Halsey, your ideas are unoriginal, inefficient, do not scale well, and are ultimately ineffective. Please see me after class.

Speaking of the child abuse, holy God, the rest of her explanation was truly horrific. Flash clone kids, created just to die in pain? That’s just sick.

I feel for Miranda, who just got her entire vision of her mother as anything other than a monster ripped from her, and I appreciate that her response isn’t to make it about herself, it’s to offer sympathy to John and then snap to when he asks her for help. How much of this is also a revelation for Cortana, given that she keeps saying that Spartan records don’t exist? Whether she knew and is having that knowledge recontextualized, or whether she’s hearing all this for the first time, she’s about to have choices to make herself. John wonders how much control Cortana has over him, and I’m over here wondering how much control Halsey has over her. The other person who gets to learn all of this is poor Kai, who gets the less-than-comforting reassurance from Master Chief that they’re still Spartans, and the even-less-comforting words, “Get better, 125. I’m gonna need you.”

Back with Halsey, she faces her first-ever consequences when Parangosky reassigns her and has her kicked out, giving her lab, the Spartans, and the artifact over to Miranda. I still don’t trust it will last, but it’s nice to see her outmaneuvered at least once. (Referring to John’s very real anger and anguish as “theatrics” and laughing over the idea that anyone could possibly arrest her? Someone push her into a volcano. Preferably right after she watches Miranda comes up with some brilliant breakthrough that leaves everything she did in the dust, and more, shows it for the flawed bullshit it is.) (Can you tell I am starting to REALLY dislike this woman.)

Miranda gets the lab, which is stark and huge with giant screens, much more glamorous than her previous cluttered, normal-monitor-filled premises. Nice set design there. I’m not sure if she realizes it’s also her invitation to become as complicit as her parents. (The Spartan program is being questioned, but if it’s not shut down, how do you get more Spartans? How will she justify keeping  those pellets in the other Spartans’ backs? Or is she about to start a little rebellion of her own?) But of course, her access is immediately compromised by her mom demanding to see her. *insert Admiral Ackbar gif here*

It absolutely is a trap, as expected. I assumed it would be a bug planted on Miranda to take back to the lab, but it seems Halsey used a high-tech contact lens to copy her daughter’s retinal data. 1. I am surprised she didn’t have that already, weirdo that she is, and 2. This is why biometric data is a disaster. It sounds super fancy and science fiction-y and unhackable, but the problem isn’t your body being hackable, it’s the MACHINE being hackable. It doesn’t know where the data is coming from, just that it IS the correct data, and you can change your passwords BUT YOU CAN’T CHANGE YOUR EYEBALLS.

Ahem. Meanwhile, in terms of character work, Halsey pulls this all off by pretending to get emotional, but does it in such a weird and off-putting way that it’s believable for her. I have so many questions about this woman. Why and how did she even end up with Keyes? Why did she even HAVE a kid? (Oh god, she didn’t originally have Miranda for the Spartan program, did she? Is that why she’s so hostile towards her, because she washed out and is therefore ‘flawed’?) Telling Miranda “I’m sorry that you’re upset that I’m a sociopath” was a hell of a move.

Eventually Cortana breaks through to Halsey (who is debuting her new line of loungewear, incidentally). Interesting that Halsey takes credit for Adun’s work. Cortana, you really, really need to consider your life choices right now…

Meanwhile, there’s some drama around finding the planet Makee told them about, which gives me a bit more of the worldbuilding—they’re using telescopes to find it, not relying on previous charting missions or sending a ship in person. Humanity is still limited in its explorations and knowledge of the greater galaxy. (Could they find friendly aliens at some point? Allies against the Covenant?)

The doubt is enough to send Master Chief and Miranda running to the artifact, fortunately not with Makee in tow just yet. (John’s level of suspicion is pleasantly surprising.) Clearly Kai’s humanizing of the team worked, because Miranda is obviously worried about John as a person as they argue over him touching the artifact again. Halsey, Adun, and Cortana all watch as John nearly fries his brain—and Makee’s as she goes into an instantaneous, identical medical crisis. He inevitably remembers her words and is able to accept the power and suddenly they’re both having a vision of a ring planet of some kind. Aaand it immediately turns into a “We See Each Other” moment. Of course it does.

[probably-iron-deficiency]

TWST x Kingdom Keepers #1

Idia Shroud

Welcome to my first official twst x kingdom keepers AU post!! I have,,, m a n y,,, thoughts for this AU, but my storyline for Idia is the most fleshed out right now. This is my VERY (very) rough sketch for him!!

AU/Character Notes below!!

Firstly…

What IS kingdom keepers?

It’s a book series from the early 2000s set in Disney World, but eventually expands to other disney locations as well. Following a group of middle schoolers, Disney has kids auditon to be part of their new “DHI” program (Disney Host Interactive), in which the kids will be motion captured and projected into the parks as holograms to act as virtual tour guides. However, the kids who become DHIs wake up in the parks in their hologram form after they sleep, and realize that all the rides/characters/animatronics/etc are REAL and come to life. Oh yeah also the disney villains have formed a coalition group called the Overtakers and they want to take over the world.

Obviously this series has some connections to TWST, so I think it’d be fun to explore the characters there! (Plus I make a TWST au for everything so-)

general au notes:

Scroll to next section if you just want AU Idia Lore!

these will be compiled in a master post later, but for some context here:

All characters are aged down in this AU!! First years are ages 11-12, second years are 13-14, and third years are around 15-16 (Leona being the oldest). There are some exceptions to this, though!

➡️➡️Ortho is 9 (truly a little baby😭😭). Lilia is 17, making him the oldest (ancient) member of the DHI kids.

Rather than just one area, the DHI gang were scouted/auditioned from all over the world. By chance, some of the characters already know eachother or are aware of eachother (similar to canon). When they all showed up for audiovisual recording to be done, it was a little chaotic.

In order to theme their hosts in accordance with the parks, these DHIs were assigned to different units that correspond to different disney properties.

Each unit acts as the hosts for different areas of the magic kingdom, corresponding to their theming. (Ex. Ignihyde/Tomorrowland) however, in later updates to these DHIs, and due to their popularity, guests can choose which DHI to interact with in ANY area of the park through their smartphones.

Unlike the original book, some DHIs were given altered appearances in order to better suit the theming (I.E, Heartslabyul members having card suit face paint, Ignihyde members having blue flame hair).

Each unit also has a unit leader, who serves as the default host selection in their respective regions. These are the house wardens in canon.

notes about Idia:

He is 15 in this AU! Still a gamer though.

His parents are pretty high and mighty in the tech industry, leading him and Ortho to be interested in pursuing it as well.

He’s always wearing the same exact pajamas, barring his constantly rotating armada of cringe 2010s hot topic anime tshirts. (Vil has tried to convince him to get some other clothes. This does not go well).

Him and Ortho made matching friendship bracelets for eachother when they were young, and haven’t taken them off since!

The yellow around his (and ortho’s) iris’ are almost neon, and will shine in the dark like an animals. This gives them a vaguely cat like appearance.

Him and Ortho were homeschooled through very expensive tutors, for better or worse (definitely worse)

Once they begin meeting the other DHI units, Idia begins sleeping with his noise cancelling headphones so they spawn in with him. These people are just too loud.

some Idia origin story notes (not everything!! I wanna write some fics detailing the events more):

The Shroud bros decided to audition to be DHIs out of their mutual want to “become heroes” like in their favorite games and Disney movies (and because they were interested in the new tech)

They both passed the audition, and recorded their lines and mocap stuff smoothly! Unfortunately, soon after the brothers were in an accident that left Ortho near death.

He survived, but has since been comatose, with the doctors projecting an extremely low chance of survival. Although Idia’s parents aren’t hopeful about the circumstances, they agree to keep him on life support because of Idia’s mental state.

(despite the tragic event, the Shroud bros DHIs roll out anyways, and Idia uses the money to pay off the hospital bills. His parents could afford it, but Idia feels responsible)

Since then, Idia has been staying with Ortho in the hospital, never once leaving his side. With his parent’s weight in medical tech, it was pretty easy to allow him to stay there.

When Idia wakes up in the park, the first thing he notices is that his DHI’s flaming blue hair seems to have carried to him. Naturally, he assumes he’s dreaming.

Not long after waking in the park, he felt a familiar tug on the back of his hoodie. Turning, he was face to face with Ortho. Notably, Ortho was completely inhabiting his holographic form, not wearing pajamas but dressed in the style of his DHI.

OK THATS ALL FOR NOW BYE FEEL FREE TO SHARE ANY THOUGHTS OR WHATEVER (scuttles away)

[ghostoftheyear]

What is DRAMAtical Murder?

I’m actually a little surprised to be writing this myself, in the year of our lord 2023, but why not? I didn’t know about it myself until recently, and now that it’s available with an official English translation, it’s a lot more accessible.

First of all, DRAMAtical Murder (or DMMd for short) is a visual novel that came out in 2012 in Japan. It was published by Nitro+CHIRAL, features art by Honyarara, and has some amazing music as well (the theme song is by Goatbed, with ending songs by them, Itou Kanako, VERTUEUX, and Seizi Kimura). It is a boys’ love or BL visual novel, probably the softest of the Nitro+CHIRAL titles; since its publication, it has received several additional pieces of media: a fandisk (Re:Connect), a sanitized version for the PSVita (Re:Code), and even an anime which... is certainly one way to get into it.

In 2021, Jast Blue made an official translation which was released both on Steam (censored) and their own website (uncensored). A patch is available on their website to restore the uncensored content for those who purchased it on Steam, which still allows the player to receive all the achievements. There was also a fan translation lovingly created many years ago, and the controversy over which version is better rages on. I won’t comment about it here; just know that whichever version you prefer, that is your right.

But what is DMMd about? Well... this is gonna get long, so let’s buckle in.

DMMd is set in a near-future cyberpunk setting, generally positive and colorful rather than dystopian. The story takes place on an island off the coast of Japan, Midorijima (literally “green island”), where many of the residents have been forced off the island due to the building of a gigantic sort of adult playground, Platinum Jail, where the rich and elite party like there’s no tomorrow. The remaining residents of the island live in what’s left of the city, though the owner of Platinum Jail, Tatsuo Toue, seems to be trying to grasp the remaining land as well for his own purposes.

Some of the residents have taken to forming gangs called Ribstiez, which control different parts of the Residential District. Others play a virtual game called Rhyme that takes place entirely within the players’ minds. This is facilitated through the use of Allmates, small robotic creatures that can look like anything the user desires and have multiple functions -- some manage social media, some help their owners with their daily schedules, etc.

Our protagonist is the young man known as Aoba Seragaki.

Aoba, 23 years old and single at the start of the game, works at Heibon Junk Shop. He is demonstrated to have an unusually persuasive voice when he chooses to, but -- aside from that, and his hair having sensation in it -- he seems to be an ordinary young man just trying to live a simple life. He lives with his grandmother, Tae, as his parents left Midorijima when he was young, and he has an Allmate: a small, fluffy, blue dog resembling a Japanese Spitz, named Ren.

Aoba has four potential love interests (plus a secret one whose route is unlocked as you play through the others’ routes).

First up is Koujaku.

Koujaku is an old childhood friend of Aoba’s. He had to leave the island when they were young, but came back around three years prior to the start of the story. He leads the Ribstiez gang known as Beni-Shigure and has a red sparrow Allmate named Beni. To supplement his income, he works as a wandering hairdresser and sets up on the street to cut hair. He and Aoba have a comfortable friendship that gets tested in his route.

Next, we have Clear.

Clear is a mysterious stranger who literally falls out of the sky the first time he and Aoba meet. He refers to Aoba as “Master” and refuses to take his gas mask off under any circumstances. To say any more about him would spoil literally his entire route.

Next up is Noiz:

Noiz appears first when he challenges Aoba to a match in Rhyme, insisting that Aoba is an old player of the game despite the fact that Aoba doesn’t remember ever having played Rhyme in the past. Noiz is part of a Rhyme gang known as the Ruff Rabbitz, and his Allmate is a small black-and-green cube called Usagimodoki. It’s entirely possible he has several of them, since they can be seen hanging in chains from his belt. Noiz works as an information broker to earn an income on Midorijima, but he’s not originally from there, as we learn on his route.

Finally, we have Mink.

Mink is a complicated character, as he doesn’t speak too much and when he does, it tends to be in riddles. He’s also not originally from Midorijima; while it’s not specified, his aesthetic is very much Native American. He has a pink cockatoo Allmate who is not named during the main game. Mink runs a Rib gang called Scratch made up of escaped convicts. His reasons for wanting Aoba on his side are his own, only revealed far into his route. His is the darkest of the routes, and I would say a trigger warning is in order for this one.

As for the final love interest, I won’t talk about it here. More fun to find out for yourself, right? Just remember: there’s some weird shit in this game.

Lest I forget, I must mention some other important characters. First up, Aoba’s friend Mizuki.

Mizuki runs the largest Ribstiez gang on Midorijima, Dry Juice. He’s a tattoo artist and owns a combination tattoo parlor and bar, the Black Needle.

There’s also Virus and Trip.

Virus and Trip (who are emphatically not twins) are a pair of yakuza who seem to show up a lot around Aoba. They claim to be his biggest fans.

Of course, there’s also Tae, as well as Aoba’s boss Haga (who has a robotic Allmate named Junker), Yoshie (who runs a courier service and owns a sleek dog Allmate, Clara), and a trio of young siblings who torment Aoba at his work - Mio, Nao, and Kio. In addition, one of the most corrupt cops on the island, Akushima, regularly pops up to bother the characters.

As the common route progresses, Aoba learns more about himself and his past -- and realizes he has to stop what’s happening before it’s too late. He eventually heads into Platinum Jail no matter which love interest’s route is chosen; the events that unfold change depending on which route you’re on, but playing through all of them and unlocking the secret route will finally reveal the truth of it all.

Re:Connect, as befits a fandisk, explores more with each of the love interest routes after their good endings (and also a bit more of the bad endings). It also has a route specifically to fill in Aoba’s backstory and youth. Re:Code is basically the same game, but sanitized -- all of the sex scenes were removed and given “cleaner” CGs. It did add a route for Mizuki, which involved more of Aoba’s backstory. Finally, the anime was passable, though it compressed all the love interests’ stories into an episode each and went with the secret route for the ending. It is absolutely unwatchable in dub, except for laughs and memes. Re:Connect can be found and played with the fan translation online, and is absolutely worth locating. Re:Code, unfortunately, is still only available to play on the PSVita and has not been translated at all.

Oh, and there was also a stage play! Remarkably, they produced a butai in 2019, well after the games had come out, with the different love interest routes portrayed on alternate days. I would be happy to make a post babbling about that if there’s interest. Apparently the original run did well enough that a new production was announced earlier this year, which will be happening at the end of April. A new route was added for Virus and Trip, and the whole thing is supposed to be a “supercharged” version, not just a retread of the original.

OH I FORGOT there are also drama CDs that continued all of the love interests’ stories and had even more new music, as well as some other fun things like a special drama CD for the anime release, an April Fool’s game that basically parodied Mother (Earthbound), and manga. And there’s a webtoon now. And lots of merch. And figures. Basically there’s just a lot of fun stuff to find.

And that’s DMMd! I obviously love it quite a bit, but I certainly acknowledge that it has its flaws and difficult scenes. I’d still recommend it, though. I think the writing is very well handled and the sex scenes are hot as fuck.

[sirthisisa-wendys]

That left me in absolute TEARS 🤧 you are the best and I absolutely appreciate you writing out my requests ❤️ I hope you are doing well!

(p.s. you should do a part two on what happened to Rins family, my heart is holding on by a string, go ahead and rip it out the rest of the way ❤️)

Life is Lovely Lonely: A Ran Haitani Short

wc: 1.4k

tw: violence, sooooo much angsttttt

Life is Lonely Lovely (previous context)

masterlist

Ran's never been the family type.

For his whole life, family meant Rindou and him, not Rindou, him, and other people. And when Rindou disappears, Ran feels empty.

Nothing can fill the void his brother once filled, not even the plethora of girls and the gang of guys he continued to spend his time around. Missing his younger brother - the "tag-along", as Sanzu liked to call him - just didn't feel... good.

So when he discovered that Rindou had booked a one-way ticket out of his life and into another... Well. Things weren't the same. Losing his brother was the worst thing that could ever happen to him.

Ran does the work, though, to find him. Sleepless nights are spent on the edge of Roppongi, white powder rimming his nostril before he wipes it off and keeps looking. Internet search history pieces together the remnants of the Haitani brothers, and their mugshots bring Ran to his breaking point.

They had been a team for so long. How could Rindou do this to him?

Sanzu is the first to notice that Ran's not his usual brand of jovial and unaffected. But the fiend shrugs and scratches his forehead with his pistol, eyes pinpointed in the dimming sunlight. "I don't know what to tell you," he murmured. But Ran knew what to do.

After a year of searching, Ran finds his brother. And hope blooms in his chest. But then he sees other names. Names he doesn't know associated with Rindou. A woman's name. Two boys' names. Another family.

Ran gathers himself off the floor and wipes his tears on the way to the airport with only three changes of clothes and a pair of binoculars. And when he lands in the United States, Ran drives hours to see his brother one last time.

One last time.

What a difference a year and a box of black hair dye can make.

Ran sits in the fake delivery vehicle, spying on Rin's - his - family, watching the two blonde boys run down the stairs to greet their father in the morning. He watches you - his wife - kiss Rindou on the lips and touch his face lovingly.

And for a brief second, Ran sees himself in that position. What if he had his own family, like Rindou? Truthfully, he came to take Rindou back with him to Tokyo. But what if...

When his brother's car finally leaves the house, Ran sketches a quick plan. Plan B. Plan A was to take Rindou. Plan B is looking a little less brotherly.

When Ran rings the doorbell, he's greeted by your face. You're whispering - the kids might be taking their midday nap - but you hold your hands out for the box anyways, smiling.

The fight is too easy for Ran to win. With a short burst of blunt force to your head, you drop to the floor, and Ran's second phase of the plan - get the kids - is realized.

Sudubing the kids was more of a struggle. With two little boys running for their lives, Ran doesn't know how Rin can do it. The boys dash into the master bedroom closet, and a lock flips, effectively blocking any access. Keeping up with them was virtually impossible; even more so when you come up the stairs, head bleeding from the encounter at the door.

"Don't you fucking touch my kids," you shout, holding a gun in your hands. Ran chuckles to himself.

"Rindou taught you how to fight," he breathes, taking off his delivery man hat. "Good for him." Ran switches gears as you frown, hands shaking.

"How do you know Rindou?" you mutter, blood trickling down your face.

"He's my brother," Ran admits, smiling sheepishly. "And that means you're my sister-in-law."

"Rindou doesn't have a brother," you spit, holding your gun tighter.

"That's what he told you?" Ran wonders. Ran pulls out his phone and flips to his photos. He turns the phone toward you, and for a brief second, your eyes adjust to the scene before you. Your grip on the gun wavers.

"H-how--"

"I'll tell you everything if you just come with me. We have so much catching up to do," Ran whispers. "You're the family I never knew about, and I'm sure you're feeling the same way."

"Explain right here," you grunt. "Right now."

Ran does. His motives aren't pure, obviously. He hit you in the head with a baton, for Christ's sake. But you can tell - and Ran can tell - that you believe him and the story he weaves for you about two inseparable brothers and a gang that took over Tokyo.

When you ask why Rindou would leave, Ran has no answer. But when he looks at the house and thinks about all of the things he's missed out on, Ran suddenly understands.

"My associates are coming for him," Ran lies. "They're going to bring him back to Tokyo. You should come with me so you won't be left behind."

"We'll meet with him in Tokyo?" Your question is innocent. You're almost fully convinced Ran isn't lying. That's enough for him.

"Yeah. But only if you come with me now. They'll stage a disappearance for Rindou. It would be smart if you came, so you wouldn't have to pretend or wonder where he is."

It would be smart.

That gets you on the last plane to Tokyo with your frightened boys, who look at Ran like he's the devil incarnate.

It would be smart.

That phrase keeps you in the house in Roppongi, where Ran reassures you Rindou is coming every week.

It would be smart.

That's how you learn Rindou's been captured by police, his own "reluctance to come and be with his family" dooming him to an investigation where he's been framed for your disappearance and possible murder.

Ran looks at Rin's family, trapped in the delusion of his making, with some pride. His nephews are adorable. His sister-in-law is beautiful and smart. That is... smart enough to shut up and pretend she doesn't see the plot. Ran provides for you like you're his own wife and his nephews are his own sons, but the memory of his brother can't be erased. Not even with his offspring near.

If I can't have you, no one can.

Ran finds his way back to the US with a picture tucked away in his pocket, humming to himself as he's buzzed into the prison. His suit is crisp, and his face is dry, unlike the time he found out what Rindou had been doing behind his back.

Rindou's hair - once black - is now back to its light blonde shade. The shade Ran likes. Ran's hair is not that color anymore, but that's not Rindou's business. When Rindou sees his brother on the other side of the glass, he presses his fingers to the divider and lets out a sharp cry. Tears escape his eyes, and he fumbles for the phone, breathing heavily.

"Ran, Ran--"

"Hello, Rindou," Ran answers smoothly, crossing his legs and holding the phone aloof.

"Ran," Rindou chokes out. "What have you done to my family?"

Ran says nothing. Rindou stands up from his chair and begins to shout explicatives into the receiver. Ran tilts the phone away from his ear and - unmoved - watches a guard come behind his shaken brother and order him to sit down.

"You're playing by my rules," Ran replies, smiling. Then the picture of you and your sons feeding ducks is slapped on the glass. Rindou stares and stares and stares. After a while, his fingers reach up to touch the glass as if he could pluck his loved ones out of the pictures. "You abandoned me."

"I left because of Bonten, not you," Rindou whimpers, still staring at the picture. "I... I-I should have told you. Should've tried to help you understand."

"You should have," Ran replies, still unaffected. "You really should have." Ran slips the picture back into his pocket. Rindou looks as if he wishes he could slip through the holes in the phone and take the photo away, but Ran's had enough. Time for this charade to be over.

"You'll sit here and rot until you decide you're ready to return to me without your wife and kids. You'll demand a divorce, send them packing back to this... shithole you call a country, and come back to Bonten. No negotiations." Ran stands, dusting his suit jacket off as Rin pales, his face dropping into shock. "I'll be waiting for your call. You have more than enough money on your books, right?"

Ran places the phone back on the wall and turns away, buttoning his suit jacket as his brother breaks out into a fresh set of wails; wails that can be heard beyond the glass and in Ran's dreams.

[reides]

for the gen7 portion of his ribbon master journey, reides the kingdra left the familiar lands and seas of hoenn for a region that was entirely new to him: alola!

alola is a region that is extremely close to my heart. since i'm from the caribbean, i'm very fond of island settings - they always have such a cozy, home-like vibe to me. the hype leading up to sun and moon's release was also probably one of my favorite periods of time in the pokemon fandom ever... and the games totally lived up to all of my expectations. tbh, they surpassed them! so... as reides arrived in my copy of pokemon sun - with his same ol' goal of gathering all of the ribbons that the gen had to offer - i hoped that his time in alola would add to my lovely memories of the region.

i still haven't set up a definitive index for my ribbon master posts on my personal site, but that WILL exist in the (hopefully near) future. i have a placeholder set aside in my pokemon shrine and everything. until then, like always... you can see them all over on that site's blog page. (i worked really hard on making that WHOLE site responsive on mobile devices recently!!! so those posts are now way easier to read on mobile hehe.) alternatively, you can just peek in my ribbon master tag here on tumblr.

if you're all caught up to speed on my lovely kingdra's journey, welcome to the next installment of it!!! give it up for gen7!!!

much like my copy of y version, i had a post-game set up in my copy of pokemon sun. this - paired with the literal handful of ribbons that alola has to offer - would serve to make reides' time in alola pretty short... unless something Awful happened. in gen6, the battle maison's difficulty totally blindsided me, so i was a bit wary as we went into the gen7 portion of this journey. despite having a post-game file, i never once even stepped foot near the battle tree... that portion of poni island was virtually untouched. LMFAO. i wasn't in a hurry to get to that, so i decided i'd leave it for last. the first ribbon i'd handle would be the battle royal (yes, 'royal'... not 'royale'... if i typo it as such, i apologize. number one victory royale yeah fortnite we bout to get down, etc) master ribbon.

much like my predicament with the battle tree, i'd never taken this game mode on (beyond the battle that they essentially force you into during the plot), so i wasn't sure what to expect. i also wanted to take advantage of a new feature that was added in for the gen7 games before involving reides in any battles. i checked my bag to be sure that i could do it, and, lo and behold...

...i had a gold bottlecap! this was a really welcome sight because reides' ivs were all PRETTY shabby (i'm talking, like, single-digits shabby. ftr, a pokemon's ivs per stat can cap at 31, so... yeah). it makes his stellar performance in all the battle towers thus far all the more impressive, but i still wanted to treat him to something truly special.

there isn't a ribbon linked to hyper training a pokemon (in this gen or in any future gens up to the current one), but this was still really lovely to see. with reides now achieving a maxed-out stat of 31 in each of his ivs, we headed on over to the battle royal dome on akala island.

the battle royal game mode is pretty interesting. your pokemon basically enters a wacky battle against 3 other pokemon. they're not specifically ganging up on you, though. according to serebii.net: you go in with 3 pokémon, and as soon as one player has lost each of their pokémon, then the battle is over. to determine the winner, the results are tallied up based on how many pokémon each player managed to take out, as well as how many pokémon they have remaining.

now, i'm not gonna lie. i went into this game mode COMPLETELY clueless as to what was going on. i did virtually no prep for it, instead just using albatross the latios, persana the suicune, and, of course, reides for each of the battles. to give you an idea of how 'out of it' i was... whenever i take on these challenges, i like to give each of my pokemon an item to help them out. even if it's just a sitrus berry, i think the extra support is really good for a pokemon to have. this challenge was no different; i decided that i'd give albatross a latiosite and that i'd mega-evolve him during the battle royals. and, uh... it turns out that i somehow gave him a protector (yes, the item that serves no purpose aside from evolving rhydon) because it just-so-happened to be in my bag right next to my latiosite. i didn't even notice for all 4 of the battles i took part in within the dome. (i just assumed i couldn't mega-evolve him because i didn't meet some weird standard in the game. i simply did not question it. and i definitely didn't even try to amend it...)

...anyway, my weird blunders aside, the battles themselves were pretty fun! i wasn't a fan of how laggy they could get, but i really enjoyed the sheer chaos that they presented, haha! furthermore, taking part in them reminded me of incineroar, who's one of my all-time fav pokemon, so that was awesome. i climbed the ranks easily, only losing the hyper-rank and master-rank battles once each. fsr, i didn't take a single picture of these battles - but i DID take one of a victory screen.

the grind to the ribbon was a short one, and, soon, reides had his very first ribbon from the alola region.

right after getting this ribbon, reides and i headed over to the summit of mount lanakila so that i could defend my status as the champion of the alola league! this meant being tested by each of the members of the elite four - including the iconic acerola, who had a bit of a ghostly moment thanks to my top-tier 3ds photography skills.

after fighting our way through everyone, i approached my throne.

i took a seat upon it... and was soon approached in turn!

it was awesome to face hau again after all these years!! he's such an incredible rival; taking on his team had me feeling so nostalgic. of course, reides, who was at level 100, managed to sweep his way through everyone (sorry, guys) - but it was still a whole lot of fun!

for helping me defend my title as the alolan champion, reides was granted membership into the alolan hall of fame... and, for that, he got the alola champion ribbon!

the only two ribbons left for reides in alola were the ones linked to the battle tree. it was time for me to brave the rest of poni island and finally unlock it!

but, before that... i actually decided to send reides to my copy of ultra sun! much like my copy of sun, i hadn't unlocked the battle tree over there, either... but there was a crucial difference in this file. you see, i had WAY more pokemon left in my pc boxes in ultra sun compared to my boxes in sun. this is because i moved most of my pokemon over to ultra sun when the ultra sun & ultra moon games released. (i also NEEDED to take photos in the pokemon studios that were added to the region in those ultra games - but i'll write more about that later!) i figured that if the battle tree ended up giving me a lot of trouble, i'd need access to a wider pool of pokemon so that i could teambuild. it was basically a precaution above all else!

once reides was finally in this expanded-on version of alola, we headed on over to poni island and got to exploring.

upon approaching the battle tree, we ran into two familiar faces!

red and gr- um, i mean, blue - were here! (kind of hilarious that they localized his name as 'blue' when his pants and shoes are very clearly green as a nod to the original japanese green version, but i get it... it's a nod to the north american red & blue versions... so it's Understandable!!!) the return of the original kanto region champions is one of the most hype things ever. i knew about this from before, as it blew everyone's minds back when the info came out. it had me PRAYING for a similar cameo for the johto trainers in a future generation. sadly, that cameo hasn't happened yet, but i'm still hoping for an updated, future-silver design someday!

anyway - immediately, blue asked if i'd like to challenge him or red as a little 'welcome to the battle tree' present. i opted to fight blue, since i had just fought red during the soulsilver part of reides' journey and i decided that alternating between the two would be cool.

he was absolutely serving in said battle, let me tell you. he was pretty challenging even with the level difference between us, but reides still managed to emerge victorious.

after our battle, blue revealed his and red's shared purpose for arriving in the alola region. it was really nice to see them together again after the state of their relationship in soulsilver, where red was basically hiding himself away on mt. silver.

since we passed the little test that blue and red presented to us, reides and i finally entered the battle tree properly.

much like the battle maison ribbons, there are two ribbons available for achieving specific streaks in the battle tree. the first one - the battle tree great ribbon - required a steak of 20 wins in the normal battle mode (which includes beating a 'battle legend' on battle #20). i figured that this ribbon was similar to the skillful battler ribbon over in kalos; that the battles wouldn't be particularly challenging when compared to the following 50-steak ribbon awaiting me. i was kind of right in that it was pretty easy to get through these battles, but i do think that the normal mode got a bit of a difficulty boost when compared to the battle maison's normal mode.

i used this team for this part of the battle tree:

chips the kangaskhan (kangaskanite) ability: scrappy --> parental bond nature: jolly evs: 252 atk, 252 speed, 4 def - fake out - return - crunch - power-up punch

donatella the durant (choice scarf) ability: truant nature: jolly evs: 252 atk, 252 speed, 4 sp. defense - entrainment - toxic - x-scissor - iron head

applause the cloyster (focus sash) ability: skill link nature: adamant evs: 252 atk, 252 speed, 4 sp. defense - shell smash - icicle spear - ice shard (for landorus) - protect

since the ol' truant durant strat (that i detailed in my last post) works for the battle tree, i decided to take donatella and applause along for the ride, but chips did a great job and pretty much got through the normal mode of the battle tree all on her own. i was delighted, because mega-kangaskhan's whole gimmick where the baby kangaskhan gets powered-up is just so cute!

for the 20th battle, i swapped out donatella the durant for reides... and ended up running into none other than the legendary red, himself!

i absolutely love how gen7 stuck to keeping red completely silent; it's an absolutely crucial part of his character, imo.

after beating red and securing the great ribbon, it was time for the true challenge... the battle tree master ribbon! this one was the classic 50-streaker. again, like its respective battle maison ribbon, i'd have to maintain this streak in the super battle mode - which meant stronger opponents and tougher battles.

i was absolutely not messing around for these battles, let me tell you. i opted for a slight variation of my battle maison team; rather than following donatella up with venus, i swapped them around and followed her up with applause the cloyster.

donatella the durant (choice scarf) ability: truant nature: jolly evs: 252 atk, 252 speed, 4 sp. defense - entrainment - toxic - x-scissor - iron head

applause the cloyster (focus sash) ability: skill link nature: adamant evs: 252 atk, 252 speed, 4 sp. defense - shell smash - icicle spear - spike canon (ideally, i'd have liked rock blast, but that's an egg move) - protect

venus the dragonite (lum berry) ability: multiscale nature: adamant evs: 252 atk, 252 speed, 4 sp. defense - earthquake - fire punch - dragon dance - protect

by following up my durant with cloyster, it reduced the amount of time needed to max out its buffed stats, as shell smash only requires 3 uses as opposed to dragon dance's 6. since i had a plan of action and simply had to execute it, my climb was a whole lot faster than the trials which the battle maison presented to me!!

since my climb was faster, i don't have too many horror stories to share regarding the stuff that i faced within it.

this guy didn't take losing very well. i think he also somehow possessed my camera, because i have NO IDEA why the glare is so bad in this picture.

this guy also summed up the exact reason why i'm doing this ribbon master challenge in the first place. He Gets It. that's what pokemon is all about, babey! the battle tree also has a neat little mechanic wherein you face special trainers every 10 battles. during my climb, the special trainers that i faced were plumeria, cynthia, kukui and grimsley! (cynthia also almost broke my streak, because of fucking course she would scare me like that. her garchomp really is a force to be reckoned with; i love the two of them so much.)

grimsley is one of my favorite pokemon characters of all-time, so it's really wild that he's just... inexplicably in alola. i remember stumbling upon him during my first playthrough - COMPLETELY unspoilt about him even being in the game - and literally doing a double-take! either way, i'm so happy that he showed up during my ribbon master challenge, as i didn't get to take him on in unova due to the lack of ribbons over there.

once i beat battle 49, it was time to swap out venus the dragonite for reides the kingdra. i braced myself for battle 50; another battle versus red and his team!

he was pretty shocked to see me again and was a bit confused after losing, but i really enjoyed the match, myself! between the battle versus him in soulsilver and these two battles within the tree, i truly love how present red has been for this ribbon master challenge, haha.

defeating red and achieving a 50-battle streak in the battle tree's super mode meant reides got the final ribbon that he'd need in alola: the battle tree master ribbon. i was so relieved that the battle tree went a lot better than the battle maison, and that i didn't face the threat of getting hardstuck within a battle tower-esque zone...!! i had a lot of fun with it and, since i used cloyster with my durant instead of dragonite, the process was a whole lot faster, too.

reides and i weren't ready to leave alola just yet, though. we had one more task to handle. one more task... within the alola photo club.

this may not be relevant to the ribbon master challenge, but it was absolutely IMPERATIVE that we stopped by for a photoshoot together at the photo club! i rushed over to the receptionist, super excited about being able to take photos with reides, and got a really, REALLY surprising bit of dialogue from her.

i had NO IDEA that you could unlock special backdrops if you transferred pokemon from different games into alola... and, furthermore, i had no idea that hoenn's respective backdrop would be none other than the SEAFLOOR CAVERN!!! at first, i wondered if it changed based on your pokemon's original met location - because i HATCHED reides in the seafloor cavern, all the way back in emerald version!! but, no; it was simply a totally serendipitous surprise! naturally, we HAD to go there for our photoshoot.

i made sure to decorate the photos that we took in a fitting manner.

with those beautiful pictures taken and saved, reides was ready to move on to the next part of his ribbon master quest. moving on to gen8 required taking a huge step: one from the 3ds to none other than the NINTENDO SWITCH!!! how absolutely CRAZY is that?!?! it feels like just yesterday that i was booting up my beloved grey brick of a ds so that i could play emerald on it. admittedly, it was also quite the relief to transfer reides out of pokemon bank and into pokemon home, as the future of pokemon bank is rather precarious at the moment (even if it was confirmed that it'd outlast the general online feature shutdown in april 2024). i ended up taking all of the pals who have accompanied reides so far on his journey with him, too.

and so, with alola's ribbons safely pinned onto him, reides set his sights on the wonderful galar region! hopefully, i'll have my gen8 update ready for everyone soon. until then - i gotta extend yet another huge 'thank you' to you all for cheering reides on through his long, long journey!! until next time!

[golvio]

I haven’t actually made it to Master Kohga yet, but there are certain things about his dialogue (and just him in general) that make me extremely suspicious about whether he’s actually dead + whether his role in the story is actually a lot bigger than we thought.

Who the heck are you? And what are you doing in my napping spot?!

...You mean the “napping spot” with the giant, creepy hole cordoned off with sacred ropes leading underground that the camera very insistently pans to at the beginning of the cutscene?

And, of course, since he’s part of the Sheikah Diaspora, he knows Link’s the Chosen Hero based on the fancy gadget on his hip. But...

Yeah, IT’S YOU! You’re that Link guy I’ve been looking for!

Sure, his gang’s a bunch of self-proclaimed allies of Ganon, so of course he’d be looking for the Hero, but...how exactly did he know when Link was going to wake up? The only people who not only knew who Link was but immediately sensed Link’s reawakening were Rhoam and Zelda. Despite that, depending on who you talk to, you might run into Yiga assassins in the countryside well before you reach Kakariko village and Dorian has the chance to snitch that Link’s come back.

So who, exactly, told Kohga to look for “that Link guy?”

Sure, you can say one of his relatives might’ve told him about the legends, but that overlooks another important fact: this guy was alive over 100 years ago, and has not visibly aged.

Here he is 100 years ago in Age of Calamity:

Even if it does take a hundred years, it will be mine! Just you wait!

And here he is 100 + how ever many years between Present Sooga and Baby Sooga were between this flashback and Age of Calamity:

That was a great nap!

Virtually unchanged. Hasn’t aged a day, still as spry as ever.

But it does explain a few things about the organization. Kohga’s a fairly charismatic leader when he’s under pressure, sure, but there’s nothing particularly remarkable about him that would’ve prevented him from being ousted if there was some kind of power struggle between him and a more capable, ambitious member of the clan if he were just some regular mortal guy who randomly inherited his position from one of the previous clan heads.

However, if he were not only an immortal, but also regularly received dream-visions with suspiciously accurate information about what the clan needed to do next from a source that may or may not be the clan’s actual patron deity, that would be a different story. Of course you’d have multiple generations of people who were affected by the diaspora remain loyal to a guy who had actual proof he was blessed with some kind of miracle by the spooky evil vengeance ghost your organization worships.

I hope he shows up in TotK, if only so we can finally figure out what the heck’s going on with this guy and Ganondorf.

[scotianostra]

The Poet and author George MacDonald died on September 18th 1905.

George MacDonald might not be a name you are familiar with, but he was friends and was admired by some of the 19th century’s most famous writers, as seen in the group pic.

After being raised in Huntley, Aberdeenshire, by devout Calvinist parents, he attended King's College in Aberdeen. At Highbury Theological College, he received his divinity degree, and in 1850 he became a pastor of a Congregational church in Arundel. Early the following year, he married Louisa Powell, with whom he enjoyed a long and happy marriage.

McDonald was forced to resign his pulpit in 1853 because he liked to dabble in "German theology," meaning the new higher critical approach to biblical studies emerging from that country. He never took another church but spent the rest of his life lecturing, preaching, and especially writing.

Between 1851 and 1897, he wrote over 50 books in all manner of genre: novels, plays, essays, sermons, poems, and fairy tales. And then there were his two fantasies for adults, Phantastes and Lilith. During these years, Lewis Carroll became a good friend and gave him the first manuscript of Alice in Wonderland to read to his children. Other British literary luminaries—like John Ruskin, Charles Kingsley, Lord Tennyson, and Matthew Arnold—were among his associates and admirers.

When McDonald visited the United States in 1872 for a lecture tour, the likes of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Mark Twain paid him homage. After his stay in New York City, one large Fifth Avenue church offered him the almost unheard of salary of $20,000 a year to become its pastor. MacDonald thought the idea preposterous.

His success did not exempt him from more-than-ordinary suffering. Poverty plagued him so much that his family occasionally faced literal starvation. His own lungs were diseased, and tuberculosis killed two brothers and two half-sisters. It also ravaged his children, four of whom died before him. He himself had a stroke at age 74 and lapsed into virtual silence for the last seven years of his life.

C.S. Lewis who wrote that he regarded MacDonald as his "master": "Picking up a copy of Phantastes one day at a train-station bookstall, I began to read. A few hours later," said Lewis, "I knew that I had crossed a great frontier” G K Chesterton cited The Princess and the Goblin as a book that had "made a difference to my whole existence."

Looking through George McDonalds poems I found amongst them two very famous one, Little Boy Blue, and Little Bo Peep. Now am not sure if he first created them, but just to see these was an eye opener. Most of his verse is religious, but I found one I really like in the Scots Tongue.

ANE BY ANE.

Ane by ane they gang awa’,

The Getherer gethers grit an smaa;

Ane by ane maks ane an aa.

Aye whan ane sets doun the cup

Ane ahint maun tak it up:

Yet thegither thy will sup!

Goulden-heidit, ripe an strang,

Shorn will be the hairst or lang:

Syne begins a better sang!

[ja-mi-sa]

Analysis of the meaning of the symbolism of the “Team Walhalla” from Tokyo Revengers.

Gang of Walhalla. A gang of delinquents that was created by Kisaki to carry out his plan to control Mikey. The gang was led by Hanma, with former Mobius members becoming members. The event associated with Walhalla - Bloody Halloween is one of the most important in the manga, whose consequences still have to be dealt with.

The emblem of Valhalla is a headless angel with "芭流覇羅" written underneath. On their bomber jackets, the name is already written on the top as “Team Walhalla”.

Walhalla. Walhalla (Scand. Valhǫll - "chamber of the dead", "palace of the slain") - in German-Scandinavian mythology, a heavenly chamber in Asgard, where soldiers who fell in battle fall after death, and where they continue their former heroic life. Warriors who have fallen into Valhalla are called einherjar.

Einheri literally means "one who fights alone".

Virtually no one from Walhalla can be called a warrior. Not former Mobius members, not Hanma, not Kazutora. They do not have the qualities that are characteristic of a warrior. Nobility, courage, bravery is what is inherent in a true warrior. They respect the code of honor and adhere to it. That was Keisuke Baji, the man who fought against Kisaki and his pawns even though he was alone.

Baji is an Einheri who gave his life for the sake of his friends and what is dear to him, he fulfilled his duty as a warrior. He ends his life doing seppuku.

Seppuku is ritual suicide by ripping open the abdomen, adopted among the samurai. This could be a measure of punishment (sentence), a sign of loyalty to one's daimyo (master) or one's ideals, as well as the defense of a warrior's honor, ideals.

Baji defended his ideals. Ideals that his friends should not be at enmity, because they are his treasure.

Pah-chin, Mitsuya, Draken, Mikey, Kazutora. Toman's founding members are my treasure. I wanted to fix this on my own. But, I just couldn't. I died on my own.

When Emma first came to the Sano household, Baji and Manjiro came up with nicknames for themselves. Baji took the nickname "Edward". Edward is the "guardian of wealth, happiness" (ead means "happy, prosperous", and weard is translated as "guardian").

Headless angel.

An angel without a head, with a childish physique and outstretched arms is the symbol of the Valhalla gang.

Angels and children are most often associated with the pure, innocent and holy. That they beheaded this angel is their mockery of this purity. They show they are capable of “killing” holiness.

And Manjiro acts as an angel. His nickname "Mikey" comes from the name "Michael". Archangel Michael, head of angels and archangels. The name Michael means "one who is like God."

Mikey is an angel who has been beheaded.

The warrior dies and ends up in Walhalla, the angel loses his head. Baji commits seppuku, Mikey goes crazy.

Outstretched arms of an angel. This gesture has several meanings. Maika's vulnerability and openness after Baji's death, as well as Maika's sincerity towards Kazutora.

I can also say that the outstretched arms of the angel refer to Jesus Christ.

Jesus and Judas. Mikey and Kazutora.

We all know about the betrayal of Jesus by Judas, and this analogy can be seen in the relationship between Kazutora and Mikey.

Judas followed Jesus. Kazutora followed Mikey.

Judas sins before Jesus, he sells him. But later he understands the mistake, and atones for guilt through death.

Kazutora kills Mikey's brother and injures Baji (this is somewhat of a betrayal, although not intentional). Then he takes responsibility for staying with Baji's body, and ends up in prison again.

Jesus forgives Judas. Mikey forgives Kazutora.

Judah means: “Praise be to the Lord,” “he praises the Lord.”

Jesus means, "God saves."

Kazutora admires and respects Mikey, even when he wants to kill (according to the character book).

Mikey saving Kazutora from a tough father, from former "friends", from the Black Dragon, from a cruel world. After all, it was when Mikey came to his aid and extended his hand to him that Kazutora slowly opened up to his friends.

I think if Kazutora and Mikey talked in a normal setting, Bloody Halloween wouldn't have happened. This thought always makes me sad, because they love each other. (I'm sure they each blame themselves for Baji's death.)

Outcome.

From the start, Kisaki's goal was to make Mikey more susceptible to his manipulations, and he succeeded. Because of the death of Baji, Mikey "loses his head." This is seen in the Christmas Battle when Mikey starts raving about Baji and Shin. The death of a childhood friend unsettled Mikey, thereby making him as vulnerable as a lost child. However, he forgives Kazutora and tries to be strong for his friends. Kazutora, on the other hand, discards his blind hatred and follows the path of correction.

I admire how Wakui-san intertwines different cultures in his creation.

P.s. In fact, there are more references to Jesus in the form of Mikey. I'm going to write about all the religious (Shinto, Christianity, Buddhism) and cultural references in Tokyo Rengers.

[vacantgodling]

some train master chidori worldbuilding

i need to lay some more groundwork for this wip (like naming the city and world and figuring out the ocean situation and shit idk)

but here's some actually well put together shit

TRAIN MASTER LICENSE

once graduating from the train academy with a train master’s specialization, you attain a train master’s license. it must be updated and renewed every 2 years but you can go ON-HOLO and on the academy’s website to reconfirm your license. the ranks are as follows:

E — PARCEL ⟶ mail, cargo, etc.

D — LIVING LOAD 1 ⟶ livestock

C — LIVING LOAD 2 ⟶ public transport

B — VALET ⟶ paid transport, usually doubles as an overnight license

A — UNDERWATER ⟶ underwater train transport including mail, cargo, livestock, and public transport. underwater transport requires special equipment training and is not for the faint of heart. most train masters stop before rank a if they don’t want to deal with being under the water.

S — DIAMOND ⟶ celebrities, government officials, private high security transport

Z — SPECIAL OPS ⟶ z-class train masters have security clearance and take on jobs that most other train masters are supremely unaware of such as high stake government ops jobs, stealth missions, gang busts, extermination missions, etc. 

licenses also come with specific colors that are present on the license. while it is not mandatory to wear these colors on your specialized uniform, many train masters incorporate their rank into their clothing (as its custom made) and then update their wardrobe with their promotions and pay raises.

E — RED / PINK

D — ORANGE

C — YELLOW

B — GREEN

A — BLUE

S — PURPLE

Z — MONOCHROME (BLACK/WHITE)

another reason that many train masters wear different colors is because bright colors are an easy marker on high altitudes or under the water (as many train masters work in the train network either high in the sky or underwater). its an easy identifier of rank and can help younger train masters know who to go to speak with for guidance (ie: who is a rank above them and so on).

ON-HOLO — or this world’s internet

HOLO is this world’s version of the internet. the slang term for going online is going “on-holo”

typical ways HOLO is accessed is through holographic screen displays connected to HOLO-magnifiers or HMs

HMs are akin to ipads or cellphones depending on the size, even flashdrives that with a push of a button can pull up holo). 

the holographic screens of holo make it easy to voice search and there are holo-accessible screens everywhere/you can use holo on virtually any flat surface that can be projected on or straight in the air itself.

[theodorevg923]

Hello! Can I request a Monty x Fem! Reader who is a shy singer/artist who gets embarrassed when she is caught singing or drawing?

Also have a virtual cookie for being awesome!

Aww thank you! ♡

A/N: I did both versions for ya as each have different talents and reactions!

Monty Gator x Fem Shy Reader with Artistic Talent

Main Master List

FNAF Requests

Inspirational Song

No warnings, just fluff!

- Under the cut for length!

Monty Gator

Singer

When Monty first hears your singing, he might be a lot a bit jealous as he isn't the best singer and to hear your melodic voice irks him, at first.

But when Monty finds out it's you, one of his hatchlings, or his peach, he'll do his best to stay out of sight, embarrassment overheating his wires as how jealous he was.

Monty's embarrassment will quickly overload his system and turn to rage so you'll hear him rampage and go quiet.

Monty's rage is only further infuriated by that, and he'll stalk off before he scares you again destroys anything else.

But every time Monty hears you secretly singing, it'll draw him in. He finds your voice soothing to him, cooling down the ever present pain in his processors.

Monty will figure out from how you only sing in private, quiet times that you're quite shy about it, so it'll take some time for him to approach.

But once Monty does find the courage to approach, everything about his attitude changes in your presence. No longer the aggressive monster, but a soft bellied alligator.

Monty understands your shy about your voice, but slowly, gently he'll convince you to sing for him once more, a sound that he's delight to hear.

Once you start singing around him, Monty will seek you out anytime his anger reaches a point he can't control it any longer. He'll sit quietly, unwilling to let you see his anger and scare you off again, he still remembers the first time it happened.

As you sing for Monty, his anger diminishes, replaced with warm memories and a sense of comfort.

But Monty won't seek you out only in times of his need; as time has passed, he's started to understand there are songs you sing when you're happy, sad, lonely and seeking help.

All of your songs are memorized, and Monty will be there for each of them. When he hears one of your happy ones, the joy in your voice, he'll pitch in as best as he can with his bass.

Sad and lonely songs, Monty will be there to comfort you as you sing your songs of pain and frustration. There at your side, holding you close him, tail wrapped around as he gently wipes away your tears.

Monty won't ever push you to sing in front of the others, but if you want to, he'll be there at your side to give you the courage you need to overcome your stage fright.

Artist

How Monty finds out about your artsy side could happen a couple different ways; running into him late to clock in and contents spill out of your arms or bag, sketch book fluttered open.

Or Monty finds you on break, security office, or deep in Gator Golf, sketching away, oblivious to the sudden company.

Either way, Monty will be shocked to find such a hidden talent in one of his hatchlings, or his peach, and wants to see more of it.

Monty will hunt you down after you run off, embarrassment flooding your mind at the fact that he found out.

Despite being an aggravated alligator, Monty won't push if you say no. But he will occasionally ask until you cave.

When you finally show him your sketches, paintings, doodles, Monty will love each of them as they're something you created.

Stuck in a canal with artist's block, Monty will do his best to help you, giving you ideas or just giving you the much needed break and play his bass for you.

Now if Monty happens to find your secret book, filled with your favorite personal pieces or sketches of him and his gang, whatever you keep secret, he'll pretend he never saw it.

Though Monty won't know it's a secret book unless it states as such, or you tell him. But he'll still sneak a few peaks when you aren't looking.

If you ever have an artist's block, Monty will do his best to help you out of it. Going so far as to steal borrow coloring supplies from the daycare.

Monty will sit and color with you for hours, drawing doodles as best he can, giving you a much needed break.

Stay Cruel Until The End - Theodore

Posted Jun 24 '22

[terrence-silver]

Okay, okay, some headcanons concerning Season 5.

- Terry’s new, re-vamped dojo functions very much like a cult or a gang, where the new applicants sign fully fledged contracts when joining (virtual vows of silence packaged neatly in a clever, deceitful bureaucratic language by Terry’s lawyers and PR people so it is not outright noticeable to the untrained eye) to ensure that whatever happens in Cobra Kai literally stays in Cobra Kai. Or you’ll be hit by a lawsuit you cannot win.

- Furthermore, once inside the actual dojo, students have elaborate secret rituals Terry makes them go through (or, optionally, the senior students make the junior students go through, enforcing a sort of hierarchy) to ensure their eligibility and to vet them as 100% viable material for the school...or, if we’re realistic, torture them under the excuse of ‘hardening them’. One of such rituals can be mastering the arduous pain that is the Quicksilver method.

- Cobra Kai members are entirely encouraged to snitch and spy on each other if they notice behaviour stepping outside of Cobra Kai norms even when such behaviours happens outside of school, during day-to-day civilian life. Terry knows all, because they all report back to him. He knows who does what, when, how, why and with how. Nothing passes his notice. He’s virtually Big Brother.

- Joining is easy. Getting out is impossible. One can cease paying their monthly fees for participating, but it doesn’t matter, because actually leaving Cobra Kai, is again, a bureaucratic nightmare. Which is, again, very much a deliberate effort to ensure nothing that happens inside of this exclusive club gets leaked out to the public by a whistleblower who will literally be mobbed back into Cobra Kai. Or threatened. Or hurt. Badly.

- Speaking of easy joining --- such is not the case for everyone. Terry and Terry’s front desk people reject whoever they want to reject and while some people are drawn in smoothly, others are continuously pushed away from ever applying, which is honestly probably for the best anyway. Dodged a bullet without even realizing. Whoever is rejected will just think Cobra Kai is super exclusive --- which it is.

- Terry develops a major cult of personality (or rather, he lets it be on full display, if we’re more accurate, because I believe he’s always had one) with his face and likeness on dojo walls, in commercials, front and centre, on billboards all across The Valley, interviews during his grand opening. You name it! He’s so prevalent in this aggressive marketing tactic that people know what Cobra Kai is just through cultural osmosis.

- Cobra Kai rings? Cobra Kai pendants? Cobra Kai ink? If a Grand Lodge and all its ritual trappings also had martial arts in the mix, you’d pretty much get Cobra Kai, as it functions under Terry Silver’s specific tenure, seeing as how I literally envision him awarding his students with these recognizable markers once they reach a certain level of proficiency and mastery in their training, or if they leak enough intel back to him like good foot-soldiers. Secret society vibes? Secret society vibes.

- But, it probably has a club! A diner adjoined to the actual training area! Cobra Kai smoothies at the bar to draw the kiddies in! A re-creational pool! Terry invests a smaller fortune into making this place inviting and fun. Fun in that harmful way too much sugar is fun. Insidious thing is that it works. It works so amazingly. Cobra Kai is just this really fun place downtown...except it ain’t. Students in the senior studios are drinking cobra blood for initiation while milkshakes are distributed for free during the opening.

- The said senior members (and even the children, yes) very much function like Terry’s own bodyguards. Not that he cannot pay for a highly professional security detail. Oh, he can! He very much does. He just finds particular satisfaction (and gleeful amusement) in having an army of people loyal to him on the basis on ideology and belief alone. Oh, how that takes him back to his own military days. The devotion of that is delectable.

[brokehorrorfan]

4K Ultra HD Review: Candyman

Candyman is not only one of the best horror movies of the 1990s, holding its own among game changers like Scream and The Blair Witch Project, it's also one of the most important. Master of horror Clive Barker laid the groundwork with his short story "The Forbidden," published in 1985's Books of Blood: Volume 5. Writer-director Bernard Rose transposed the story into a screenplay — the first he ever wrote! — brilliantly reinventing the Bloody Mary urban legend with a dash of The Hook for good measure.

Candyman works for a variety of reasons, timing paramount among them — although it holds up spectacularly 30 years later. By 1992, the horror genre was in dire need for new blood after being dominated by an influx of slashers with diminishing returns throughout the 1980s. Like Barker's Hellraiser, Candyman is often lumped in with slashers (mostly due to sequels' attempts at franchising) but is far more nuanced. Rose's embracing of familiar elements makes it easily accessible, while the mythological aspects bleed into the narrative, leaving some plot points ambiguous.

Arriving in a time of racial unrest, Candyman was released mere months after the Rodney King riots. It's impossible to discuss the film without addressing its racial themes, including a rare Black horror icon in Tony Todd. Its urban Chicago setting is a dynamic contrast to the secluded suburbia of predecessors like Halloween, Friday the 13th, and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Child's Play is also set in Chicago, but Candyman adds another dimension of danger with on-location filming at Cabrini-Green, a public housing project notorious for its gang activity.

In the film, Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen, Sideways), a graduate student working on her thesis in urban legends, learns about Candyman (Todd), a vengeful spirit that allegedly kills anyone who says his name five times in front of a mirror. The titular antagonist doesn't appear until 45 minutes into the 101-minute runtime, and his total screen time is under 10 minutes, but his presence is felt throughout. Candyman's singular introduction is almost perfunctory — a wide shot in a parking garage, backlit by daylight — yet carries undeniable weight.

Like Frakenstein's monster and many of the other best boogeymen, Candyman is rooted in tragedy. He also shares a seductive magnetism with Helen, who is otherwise presented as virtually androgynous; never sexualized even in nude scenes. Madsen delivers one of the most vulnerable horror protagonist performances of the era. She underwent hypnosis for certain shots, resulting in a glassy-eyed, vacant state.

The support casting includes Xander Berkeley (Terminator 2: Judgment Day) as Helen's oily husband, Kasi Lemmons (The Silence of the Lambs) as Helen's research partner and confidant, Vanessa Williams (who reprised her role in last year's reboot) in a small but powerful part as a mother whose infant is kidnapped, Michael Culkin (who, other than Todd, is the only recurring character in the second and third installments) as a pompous academic, and Ted Raimi (Evil Dead II) going against type as a leather jacket-clad stud in the cold open.

Director of photography Anthony B. Richmond (Legally Blonde, Don't Look Now) gives the film something of a neo-gothic atmosphere, with graffiti-laden projects in place of a haunted castle. The influential Philip Glass' (The Illusionist, Koyaanisqatsi) score, consisting of choral voices, organ, and piano, is used sparingly but effectively. Bob Keen (Hellraiser, Highlander) crafts the special effects.

Candyman has been newly mastered in 4K from the original negative, supervised and approved by Rose and director of photography Anthony B. Richmond, presented in Dolby Vision HDR with Dolby Atmos audio for Scream Factory's 4K Ultra HD release. The three-disc set includes both the R-rated theatrical cut and the uncut version (featuring HD inserts from an archival print) on 4K UHD and Blu-ray. From bees to bonfires, the film has never looked better.

Four audio commentaries are included, each of which covers different ground. A cast and crew track from the 2004 DVD features Rose, Barker, Todd, Madsen, Lemmons, and producer Alan Poul. They were recorded separately then edited together, so it's rarely scene specific, but there's no shortage of wisdom from all involved. Another commentary finds Rose with directors Adam Green (Hatchet) and Joe Lynch (Wrong Turn 2), recorded as part of The Movie Crypt podcast's 48-hour charity marathon in 2016. The hosts’ sleep deprivation doesn't affect their enthusiasm, leading to an entertaining conversation among filmmakers.

Rose and Todd's commentary from the 2018 Blu-ray release is a fun one. They share some anecdotes, but since everything you've ever wanted to know about the production is covered elsewhere, the highlights of the track are their casual conversations. They riff on movies (Todd wasn't impressed by Avengers: Infinity War but likes A Quiet Place; they both sing the praises of The Devils, Don't Look Now, and Get Out), fame, social media, and race. Film historians Stephen Jones and Kim Newman's track, also from the 2018 Blu-ray, is a casual yet analytical look at the film. Both participants are friendly with Barker from the literary world. They also compare and contrast the film with the original story, which differs significantly, and even point out plot holes.

The set features a new, 15-minute interview with Williams, who's able to discuss the legacy of the original film with the context of Nia DaCosta's reboot. There are also archival interviews with Todd (two, in fact), Madsen, Lemmons, actor DeJuan Guy, production designer Jane Ann Stewart (The Descendants, Sideways), Keen, and special makeup effects artists Gary J. Tunnicliffe and Mark Coulier. No one has a single negative thing to say about the production, the final product, or anyone involved.

Other extras include: "Urban Legend: Unwrapping Candyman," a fascinating, critical analysis from Black perspectives by writers Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes; "A Story To Tell: Clive Barker’s The Forbidden," in which Douglas E. Winter, writer of the biography Clive Barker: The Dark Fantastic, dissects the source story; "Sweets to the Sweet: The Candyman Mythos," a 2004 featurette with ample insight from Rose, Barker, Todd, Madsen, Lemmons, and Poul; "Clive Barker: Raising Hell," which serves as a brief crash-course in the works of Barker featuring the man himself; Rose's storyboards; the theatrical trailer; three TV spots; a still gallery; and the original script (accessible via BD-ROM).

Candyman is available now on 4K Ultra HD via Scream Factory.