#which yeah i definitely see the similarities

[winnie-wine]

Fantasy First Aid Common Mistakes

This is going to be about some first aid mistakes I see in the fantasy genre, but specifically before the magic fix its and stuff, where the first aid is a bit more grounded. This applies to fantasy because this similar type of WRITING (not medical) advice from paramedics is all through a lense of "it's going to get fixed in a hospital in like 20 min anyway" while wilderness medicine is "I may be out here for days before receiving any kind of help." An EMT in a city can throw on a sam splint and an ace wrap on a broken arm and it's fine for the 30 min drive+waiting room time, but that is not acceptable to be worn for hours-days in the wilderness because it gets too uncomfortable after a while, and may rub and chafe, for instance.

So who am I, and why can I talk about this? I am a Wilderness First Responder. This is a certification, NOT a medical license, and I am giving advice for WRITING injury treatment, not treating them irl. Brad Mondo gives tutorials about cutting and dyeing hair and we all have SEEN from his hairdresser reacts videos that the ability to do it comes from PRACTICE, not how-to's, or he'd be out of his youtube career, frankly. So, I'm going to tell you guys what I know so you can write a good field medicine scene, and you guys aren't going to sue me because we all acknowledge you aren't getting hands on practice through a tumblr post, deal?

So that being said, the topics I'm yapping about will be: Moving the patient, concussions and sleeping, CPR, broken bones, and arrow wounds.

So let's jump in. Your healer, uhhh Hallie, we'll say, finds a patient, Patty. First question

Do we stay, or do we go?

And the answer depends on "is there substantial benefit to moving the patient?" If you're in an actively erupting volcano, yeah, move. If Hallie is in a quiet forest, she doesn't need to move her to bandage her up, unless the bandages aren't with them, in which case, if say her leg is broken, Hallie might consider going and grabbing them, while Patty stays there with a weapon, depending on how far away camp is. Did Patty fall off a cliff, and her spine is broken, and in the process of moving her, Hallie will make Patty paralyzed, but Magnus the Magic Healer can do the macarena and fix anything wrong? If so, don't worry about the temporary inconvenience of being paralyzed, get her to help! It's all about "will moving the patient help them?"

One time I read a fic where a patient had a seizure. They were already lying on a mattress, and I suspect the author had heard "if someone is going to have a seizure, lie them on the ground" but hadn't thought through that that advice is because you don't want a standing patient to fall down, not that the floor has inherent seizure-healing properties. It would be better to leave them on the bed, clear of obstacles, because a seizing patient is going to get less bruises and less of a concussion banging their head against a mattress than a hard floor.

Concussions- should the patient sleep?

yeah. The wive's tale of "don't sleep with a concussion" comes from people getting a hit to their head, falling asleep, and dying. They attributed the death to the concussion. In actuality, it came from intracranial bleeding increasing pressure on the brain until it basically squeezes the brain through the spinal columnn like a tube of toothpaste.

This is not a problem that can be solved by keeping the patient awake. To be honest, if you're in a wilderness context (delayed access to definitive care, hostile environment, limited resources), this isn't a problem I could really fix at all. I would get them out of the field at the concussion, and hope that's all it is. But, that may not be an option in your fictional world, so unless you have magic that can treat this, the patient won't do very well.

So how do you write this? If Hallie is supposed to be a medical professional, she would let Patty sleep, because sleep helps a concussion, which Patty definitely has. Hallie would also periodically wake Patty up to see if Patty is getting more confused, less alert, less coordinated, etc. and otherwise mentally compromised. If that happens, Patty either gets magical treatment or dies ig.

CPR

CPR is chest compressions combined with rescue breaths. The compression-only CPR was a COVID compromise that acknowledged no one wanted the mouth to mouth contact, and said that compressions are better than nothing.

Let's just play fact or fiction with common things I've seen in writing

"Patty isn't breathing! Hallie should start CPR!" FICTION. Hallie should check for a pulse. If no pulse, CPR is appropriate. If there IS a pulse, then Hallie only needs to do the rescue breaths part of CPR. DO NOT give CPR to a patient that HAS A PULSE. Plz.

"Good CPR will always break the ribs" FICTION. It usually does, though, to the point that if the ribs AREN'T broken, it probably wasn't good CPR, so go ahead and write some broken ribs into your story. We love whump : )

"The ratio of compressions to breath is 30:2" FACT. Yep. I once read a fic where the healer only did like 4 compressions in each cycle and that will do nothing, because it takes like 8 or so to build up enough pressure to pump blood.

"Sing 'Stayin Alive' For the right rate!" FACT. Yep. The range of good CPR is 100-120 bpm. Stayin alive is 120. I will caution that you tend t rush it, so personally I aim a little slower. Also, you're probably not going to have Fantasy Bee Gee's so I will also say that a lot of military marches, Sousa marches in particular, are also in the 120 range, and more likely for your healer character to have heard and kinda vaguely remember.

Setting Bones

Patty has a broken leg and the bone is sticking out. I have seen people write the healer pushing the bone back in and oh my god it was so painful. So you know when you break a stick and it has jagged edges? That's ur bones too. When Hallie pushes it in, she's going to break off more bone, which is the opposite of helpful. Hallie needs to pull the ends apart to allow them to line back up.

Pardon me, I tried. What happens when the bone is pushed in, is that it breaks off more fragments to float around in the injury. Please don't do that.

Arrow wounds/Impaled Objects

This one's really fun because we're getting to the end of my scope of practice. I cannot close wounds, by sewing them, glueing them, etc. I am taught to control bleeding, stabilize, and then evacuate. This is a good first step for Hallie, and then her Magic Land Medical License can let her or someone else stitch them up later. But what I'm going to talk about still holds.

If someone has been impaled but not all the way through, should someone:

Cut the arrow shaft off? If they're stabilizing it until Patty gets to Hallie, then maybe? The thing is, if Hallie's just going to pull it out, it doesn't really matter how long or short the shaft is, if it's an arrow or javelin. If it's debris and pinning Patty in a position Hallie can't help her, then yeah cut it. But cutting it will jerk around and aggravate the wound and if you, the author, can't see the benefit of your healer doing it, there probably isn't one.

Force the arrow through the rest of the way? No! Why would that help? If the arrow has a jagged head, and they can literally see it through the skin I can see the argument, but flesh is soft, and if it went in, it can come out with some careful digging. Pull the arrow out. Please. Cause here's the thing: Stitches won't control bleeding deeper down. Packing the wound will, and packing it takes a LOOOOT of shoving gauze in. If there's two holes, the gauze will go in one and out the other. If there's only one, then the gauze will stop at the end of the wound, and thus Hallie can get enough pressure to control the bleed.

@sirenwriterxxx you mentioned that this would be cool. Here it is!

[devildom-moss]

Flowers for Them (Mammon)

Continuation of a request where MC returns the favor for the characters giving them roses. Kind of a sequel series for the Roses for You series (links here)

Mammon x gn!MC

Word Count: +1.2k

Yellow Sunflowers

“Hey, MC.” Mammon tried to act cool as he hopped over the back of the couch and landed next to you with an almost choreographed grace. “Ya busy tomorrow night?”

“No, not really.”

“Well, ya are now.” He pulled a laminated VIP pass from his pocket and held it out to you between two fingers like he was buying something expensive and telling you to put it on his card. Although, to Mammon, your time was worth more than he could ever afford. “Here. I’m modelin’ on a runway tomorrow evening. You should come watch me. The Great Mammon will even take ya out afterwards to reward ya for showin’ support. Besides, I’m eager to start spendin’ that modelin’ cash.”

“I’d love to watch you work the catwalk,” you admitted, taking the pass from him.

“Did you say something about cats?” Satan popped his head into the common room on his way from the library.

“Catwalk, ya nosy–” Mammon started.

“Never mind. Not interested.” Satan shrugged and continued on his way but quickly turned around and added, “Wait. Who’s going to be on the catwalk?”

“The Great Mammon, of course.”

“Yeah, definitely not interested.” Satan disappeared down the hall.

You could tell Mammon was annoyed, so you jumped in, “well, I am interested.”

“’Course ya are. I’ll send ya the details. I’d offer to walk ya there, but they’re havin’ me come in a few hours before the show. But all this work’s gonna be worth it.” Mammon pulled out his D.D.D. and forwarded you the time and location. When he looked up at you from his phone, he had a frown on his face. “Man, I’d love to hang out a while longer, but I gotta go to a rehearsal soon. Don’t lose that pass, got it?”

“I’ll keep it safe.” You smiled.

“Ya better.” Mammon stood up and ruffled your hair aggressively – as if you were too cute for him to be gentle with.

The thought of going to Mammon’s gig without some kind of present felt off – not wrong, necessarily, but you knew you’d be missing an opportunity to make him feel loved. You couldn’t bear the thought of it. So, you made a stop at a particularly friendly demon’s shop.

“Stolas,” you called out as you entered the flower shop. A gentle chirp from above brought your attention to the demon, standing atop a shelf with a watering can.

“Oh, so the sweet little human has learned my name,” he grinned wickedly – flirtatiously if flirting involved a degree of danger. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence today?”

Stolas hopped down from the shelf and landed gracefully in front of you. He looked so much taller without the counter separating you.

“Do you have any scorching sunflowers?”

“Afraid not. My next delivery isn’t until next week, and I don’t grow them here – too much of a hassle. Can I interest you in something else?”

“Oh.” You immediately looked disappointed, which threw Stolas off.

He scrambled for a solution, “I can save some for you when the delivery comes. Or I can get you something else. I have dozens of gorgeous flowers, and some have a similar warming effect if you need it for a spell.”

“No, that’s okay – it’s just – how much do you know about human world flowers?”

“A good deal more than you, I’d assume. Missing the flora of your realm?”

“I need something similar to a human world sunflower to do the transfiguration spell. I really wanted to give sunflowers to someone close to me today,” you admitted.

Stolas sighed, “is that all? Come with me to the green room.”

He walked towards the room near the back of the shop. You followed, only slightly cautious of him. When he reached the door, he held it open for you. Even without stepping in the room, the scent of greenery was particularly strong. A fountain could be heard and you could see plants filling the room from ceiling to floor. As you entered, it was a beautiful sanctuary for life – as if the walls of the room encouraged growth and abundance.

“Now, I wouldn’t normally do this, but there is a way to create the flowers you desire without a Devildom equivalent. It’s more advanced, and I may need to borrow some of your magic to do it.”

Stolas instructed you to grab a petal the same color you wanted the sunflowers to be – a vibrant golden yellow – and bury it in the magic pot he placed on the workbench. You both placed your hands on the pot as Stolas whispered ancient incantations. You felt your magic being drained from your hands, but before long, sunflowers sprouted up from the pot – nearly two dozen of them. Stolas trimmed them and wrapped them up for you. As you took your wallet out to pay, his hand gently pressed over yours.

“I can’t sell flowers made purely from magic to you. You can have them,” Stolas smiled weakly.

“Surely I can repay you somehow, right?”

A number of ideas bloomed in his mind, but he settled on this instead: “Bring me some flowers sometime and we’ll call it even.”

You nodded and held the sunflowers close to your chest. With that, you headed to Mammon’s show.

Mammon was such a handsome demon, especially when he was in his element. They put him in some flashy numbers that complemented his vibrant white hair and beautifully hued skin. You could tell that the stylist hadn’t wanted just any demon; they wanted him to be their model, and it showed. As focused as he was, Mammon spotted you in the crowd – right where he left your name card on the chair – and gave you a wink. He was a crowd favorite, and you were so proud of him.

When the show concluded, you pulled the bouquet out from under your chair. They still look beautiful, you sighed in relief. Mammon was impatiently waiting for you backstage, scanning every face that entered with a pass until a smile glowed on his lips.

“Hey~ There’s my human,” Mammon shouted at you the second you stepped through the door. You tucked the bouquet behind your back. “What’d ya think of the Great Mammon? Devilishly handsome, ay?”

“Cool as ever, Mammon! You looked amazing out there.” You grinned and pulled the sunflowers out as you spoke, “I got these for you to congratulate you on a job well done.”

Mammon’s cool grin dropped as he felt his face burn. He took the flowers from your hands, “Ya got me sunflowers? These don’t look like scorching sunflowers, but my skin feels warm. Did ya enchant these?”

“No, silly. Although, a little magic was involved. Do you like them?”

“Hell yeah! What made ya think to get me these?” Mammon admired their beautiful golden hues as he asked. No one had ever given him sunflowers before.

“I learned that sunflowers symbolize loyalty; they represent enduring bonds and commitments and can be given for happy relationships based on truth and longevity. How could I not think of you when I read that. You’re faithful, we adore each other, and you always brighten my mood. They’re perfect for you.”

Mammon’s eyes felt misty, and he blinked away the threatening tears with a smile. He pulled you into a tight hug. He was so warm.

“’Course ya’d choose sunflowers for the Great Mammon! After all, you’re the main source of light in my life, and I’ll always turn to face ya, sunshine.” Your heart melted.

Lucifer | Leviathan | Satan | Asmodeus | Beelzebub | Belphegor | the others

A/N: I'm going to try to slowly come back over the next few months. I hope you all will welcome me back after being gone for so long. And I hope you like my OC as he makes yet another appearance.

[writing-for-life]

The Weight of Goodbye

Dream’s SoM-meetings with Hob Gadling, Lyta & Daniel Hall and his subjects

Sorry not sorry for using this one again, because I’m Jon J Muth’s no. 1 fan, plus it helps me to get over Kelley Jones’ art which I find… challenging 🤣

I’ve been thinking about The Sandman #22 for our reread, and while there are many gut-wrenching issues, this is one of the most quietly devastating ones. It’s a bit like Dream writing his will while pretending he’s just going on a business trip (and of course we get something similar again later on in The Kindly Ones 🥺)

The Speech to His Subjects

Dream addresses the denizens of The Dreaming before departing for Hell. He frames it a bit as instructions for his absence (and sounds super awkward when admitting he made mistakes—it’s honestly like car crash TV), but the emotional undertones suggest something far more permanent:

He tells them about how to maintain the realm if certain situations arise (like him not coming back, either because he dies or because he gets captured) and presents it like contingency planning (for lack of better term). But the truth of the matter is that he’s putting his affairs in order. The formality of it, the careful way he addresses potential concerns: This isn’t just someone covering all bases, this is a ruler preparing his kingdom for the real possibility that he won’t return. And it’s the first time we get told, in no uncertain terms, that if he gets destroyed (his choice of words, not mine), another aspect of Dream will take over.

[Also: Is it just me who thinks that Kelley Jones draws him at his most beautiful when he’s vulnerable? Because some of his other artistic choices are… well, definitely choices 🙈🤣]

What truly gets me is the narrative use of Matthew. He’s concerned, but he doesn’t grasp the hint of finality in Dream’s tone. And at this stage, the reader may not either (we need to remember that we didn’t have the type of hindsight we have now back when the comics first came out; we didn’t know how the whole run would end). So Matthew is, once again, a stand-in for us, the reader (that always makes me think of The Wake, and even after decades, I’m still not over Matthew's speech and his grief). It doesn't help that we’re starting to see their growing bond, and the cracks in Dream’s armour he hid only a minute ago when everyone else was still there:

“I wanted to stick around. Do you mind?” “No.” 😩

The Meeting with Lyta and Daniel

Dream’s visit to Lyta Hall and baby Daniel often gets brushed to the side a bit, and without the knowledge of what’s going to happen, I get it.

But of course we do know what has already happened in The Doll’s House. Even there, it was painfully obvious that Dream, at least on some level, had plans for Daniel. So yeah, this is not a social call; he’s checking in on his replacement (for lack of better term). They have a bond because Daniel was conceived (show)/gestated (comics) in the Dreaming. It’s not Morpheus who gives Daniel his name—it’s most likely Daniel who told him his name.

Lyta’s discomfort throughout the scene isn’t just about supernatural entities dropping by unannounced, or about her deep-seated hatred of Dream because she considers him responsible for Hector’s death. She knows, on an intuitive level, that he is marking Daniel in some way because he already told her back in The Doll’s House that he’ll one day come for the child. At the same time, he’s acknowledging here that this might be the last time he sees the child for a very long time, and that he means Lyta no harm (“today” 🙄). And maybe that’s the only explanation for this:

Because I don’t know about you: If a strange guy whom I deem responsible for my husband’s death tells me the “true” name of my yet unnamed child, I'd certainly not consider that name and smile about it happily…

Hob Gadling and the Toast

Dream appears to Hob in a dream, and that’s a deeply significant choice. He could have met him in the waking world just like Lyta, but instead, he chooses to visit Hob in his own domain, where he has absolute power. But he doesn’t really use that power here, other than for getting in contact in the first place. He rather reveals something that could almost be considered vulnerability:

That’s the same Dream who stormed off in a huff in 1889 because Hob dared to suggest they were friends. The same Dream who tentatively acknowledged that friendship in 1989. The same Dream who now decides to say goodbye to the one person he actually considers a friend. For someone whose entire existence is built on pride and hierarchy, this shows character growth. But it also shows how desperately alone he really is, and that he doesn't want to be a burden to anyone (and that's compounded to the umpteenth degree when they meet the next time 😔).

But there’s subtext here that’s even more heartbreaking: Dream is settling his accounts. He’s making sure that if he doesn’t return from Hell, Hob won’t spend the next century wondering where Dream is, or if their friendship was real. By choosing to appear in Hob’s dreams, he’s giving him something lasting: a memory. And many of us know that this will be one of the cornerstones of Sunday Mourning.

The tragedy is that Hob doesn’t even truly realise this is a goodbye, and he hopes he’ll be back “eventually”. He's happy to have seen his friend, even if it was "just a silly dream"...

Patterns...

When you read these three sequences together, you can't help but see that Dream is systematically saying goodbye to the, at least at this point, three most important cornerstones of his existence: his successor (Daniel), his one true friendship (Hob), and his realm.

This isn’t the behaviour of someone who expects to return unchanged from his mission. This is someone who understands that going to Hell to demand the release of an ex-lover he condemned 10,000 years ago is likely to have consequences he may not survive.

Which brings us to the most important question of this issue:

Does Dream already know he will die?

I don’t think he knows, at this point, specifically how or when. But I think he does understand that his existence is reaching some kind of conclusion. The family intervention, the guilt over what he has done to Nada which makes him return to Hell: They’re really only the culmination of ten billion years of accumulated mistakes and regrets, and it’s only going to get worse from here.

The paradox is that Dream is finally ready to change, but change is antithetical to how he perceives himself. So perhaps, on some level, he understands that real change might require becoming someone else entirely. And that is something I think he does know at this point.

What makes issue #22 so powerful is how it recontextualises everything that comes after. When he eventually faces his final choice in The Kindly Ones, we can look back and see that he was already preparing himself here (and if you know me, you will also know that I staunchly insist he already made an, albeit subconscious, choice in #8). Maybe it’s a masterclass in dramatic irony: Dream thinks he’s being practical with making his contingency plans. But we can see him subconsciously preparing for an ending he hasn’t yet acknowledged to himself. But he also has...

Kelley Jones’ Art

I just briefly want to brush (no pun intended) on how Kelley Jones’s art reinforces these themes. His Dream is somehow always in shadow, even if it’s just his face. There’s a weight to him in every panel, a sense of someone carrying an enormous burden. I am generally not a fan of Jones' art (sorry), and I find his constantly changing Dream difficult to get used to (but I guess that's the point, and I totally get it on a conceptual level). But one thing stands out to me: The way he draws Dream against various backgrounds (Lyta’s apartment, the dreamscape with Hob, the throne room) consistently makes him seem isolated, separate, already partially absent. Even when he’s surrounded by other people/beings. But maybe I'm just reading too much into it…

Anyway, to put it all in a nutshell: The real tragedy, but also the deeper meaning of The Sandman, is that Dream tries to make amends for a lifetime of mistakes, only to discover that some changes require transformation so complete that the self doesn’t survive the process. But in metaphorical terms, the death of the ego is also a beautiful and necessary thing…

[genericpuff]

Hi, I'm new to this. I wanted to ask if you'd do more similar stories after Lore Rekindled. Honestly, I find your writing style incredible. (P.S. I don't speak English, so I'm sorry if it's not clear. Greetings from Mexico.) (･_-｡ )

Oii your English is great! <3 And please, don't ever be afraid to write to me in your native language if that's easier, we have the technology to translate 😆💓 (and if you need me to translate anything that I write here for clarity, please lmk! just apologies in advance if it's not perfect because it'll just be through Google Translate which I know isn't perfect haha)

To answer your question, Lore Rekindled is far from being my first comic, I honestly definitely wouldn't have been able to make it to this degree if I didn't already have past projects under my belt. That said, it's definitely helped me level up my writing and art a lot :'3 though the "vibe" of my writing is still present in my older projects, I didn't have it all quite "figured out" yet if that makes sense? (and honestly I feel like I still don't, I'm always still looking for ways to improve!)

All that said, you can find my older works online with a bit of digging, I've gotten a little more lax with sharing some of my OC's and stuff here (I originally made this account as a sock puppet to keep them separate but as time's gone on and I've met a lot of cool people here, I've become less anxious about intermingling them).

My biggest endeavour is definitely Time Gate, it's a very personal project that I've been working on gradually for over a decade. It's a looot darker than Rekindled is (at least so far, we'll see how it compares when Rekindled's over LMAO) but it's also pretty corny on account of its anime / manga influences and the art is pretty dated compared to what I'm doing now 😆

That said, I do have some folks who've started reading it since finding me through Rekindled and a lot of them seem to enjoy it regardless of its flaws on account of lack of experience at the time, so it might be up your alley! Just don't expect it to be quite the same vibe as Rekindled, it has some romance but it puts more of its emphasis on individual character development and action-based storytelling.

And I'm actually currently working on a sort-of remake of the first part of the series (Reaper) as well as a continuation of its sequel [AFTERBIRTH], so even if the older version of it seems dated now, rest assured, it'll have its redemption in due time ;3

(the more things change, the more they stay the same (°▽°) )

Soo yeah! Rekindled isn't my first go at it and it def won't be my last! Even once it's inevitably over, I've got plenty of other stuff planned, including original work and some extra Rekindled stuff after the main story is over (but I'm not making any promises for that atm because it's still a ways off). I'm glad you enjoy my writing enough to ask about other stuff, I hope if you do decide to check out my older projects (or future ones as they release) that you enjoy them just as much as Rekindled! ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～ ♡

[dividedheartkeeper]

going very so much insane over the fact that the beasts, once called the Five VIRTUES. hmm. hmmmmmmmmmm

yeah no they aren't. "virtues" yeah that's going in the dumpster.

a theory: the beasts were given ABSTRACT CONCEPTS as their powers. abstract powers, likely disguised with "virtue" as a label.

there's so much i could/should say about this but lowkey...

if we define "virtue" as "having high moral standards" or "the quality of being morally good" there's some things we can see here

for example... knowledge, if we define it as "facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject" (taken from google definitions)

as you can see. having knowledge isn't explicitly defined as "being virtuous". however, apparently having knowledge is a FACTOR for being virtuous. or being morally good, in that sense.

because you can apply knowledge anywhere. both in good and bad ways. you can learn something "good" or "bad" it's how people act on that knowledge is whether it can be considered "virtuous". and even that's a morally grey ocean i'm not going to even dive into yet.

but as you can see with Shadow milk and Pure vanilla (and also their diverged forms) there's a HUGE difference.

Shadow milk uses deceit for his own selfish desires, and that being hurting others. and it's glaringly obvious he doesn't give two shits about anyone other than himself and those on his side.

the Sage, while seemingly different than shadow milk, leads others to the cruel truth (and he KNOWS it's cruel) but he could care less anyhow. he doesn't care because all he does care about is enlightenment. because what is there to fear when you know the real truth?

Pure vanilla uses truth for the good of others. he seeks the truth for this purpose. though, he knows how terrible it can be, shown with Recluse in canon. BUT, after both embracing truth and deceit when awakening, PV carefully treads the line of how to use his own knowledge to help others because he cares about them.

Diverged Recluse is similar in that vein but he's all for avoiding the cruel truth for the good of others. he doesn't want to see them get hurt. and while he embraces deceit, he leads others away from what will hurt them. Recluse uses his knowledge of the truth because, like PV, he cares about them.

if you notice, shadow milk/sage does not care about whether their actions are being "good". and, well. pure vanilla/recluse does. very much. tying it back to the definition of "virtue", you can say that pv/recluse is "virtuous". and smilk/sage is not.

the fount of knowledge is a bit of a grey, foggy area since we don't know much about him specifically, but going by the notion of he does what he's created to do, which is spread and teach knowledge to the cookies - he's most likely unaware of what the potential consequences of knowing can do. that potential being hurting others, though it mostly helps them. presumably, it's because he was never told this side of it so.

fount's just doing what he's been told to do, and not because it will help or hurt others necessarily. and if we try to apply the definition of "being virtuous" to him it gets confusing. there's not necessarily a motivator for him to care about others, especially since he's an omniscient-like Cookie and revered for his power. he's so distanced from his followers it's likely he doesn't care about them on the level like Pure vanilla does. not because he hates them (or does he?) it's just because there's no close connections forming.

which brings up some... interesting things.

like... at this point, can you even call knowledge itself a virtue?

because it's supposedly not. it's an abstract, subjective concept. anyone can take a concept and twist it into something good or bad. it's how people act on the knowledge is being "virtuous."

this can be applied to happiness, volition, change, and solidarity, (though solidarity's a bit of a vague one since silent salt's not released yet, and also it involves unity/agreement between people. but i guess that's another topic for another day)

i'm not going to go into depth with those since i'm tired but i'll probably expand on that later. but anyway.

the beasts were given abstract concepts, labeled falsely as "virtues" and were likely, only taught the neutral/good things about their "virtue". that's why when discovering the "bad" side they got corrupted, since they literally DID NOT KNOW that the side of their concept existed in the first place. because it was there, all along. they were given SUBJECTIVE powers, with the potential for being seen as "bad."

man the witches are really being the narrator from slay the princess rn, slapping labels on their creations without thinking WHAT THEY ACTUALLY ARE. can we put them in a mirror. and shatter them please /ref

i can be wrong about this though, after all! i definitely missed some details with this (and also it's my interpretation of smilk and pv, all of this anyhow)

also i'm just some deranged idiot rambling about this stupid ass theory when i should be sleeping, and i'm like. dead tired rn lmao (also first post on this blog... a ramble... yayyy...)

very curious what other people think of it all though!!! even this theory is subjective lol, i'm literally only (softly) yelling this out here to a void because talking directly to other people about my weird as hell philosophical ramblings frightens me haha... and i'm going to explode if i don't drag anyone into my eldritch horror reality with me somehow at some point, intentionally or unintentionally. welcome to my world!!! /silly

[adaonline]

A Different Take on Mai Akasaki's Secret Quotes

Hello! It's time for me to hop back on my regularly scheduled bullshit! Enjoy!

Since Chapter 3 is currently in development, I decided it was a good time to rewatch DRDT and refresh myself on the content and mysteries we have so far. Obviously, the mother of all Despair Time mysteries surrounds the one and only Mai Akasaki, the seventeenth student.

What do you actually know about Mai? Well, we have a canon design, we have some vague messages hidden in the code, we have a very vague music video starring both her and Teruko, and... that's about it...

There's a lot of assumptions going around about Mai that a lot of people have taken as canon, not realizing how much is complete speculation. It's inferred, but not confirmed, that she's the unnamed student in Min and Xander's bonus episodes, it's inferred but not confirmed that she was a part of some revolution regarding Hope's Peak, etc...

Point being, we have a lot of clues pointing to Mai being involved in the killing game, or at least being a catalyst of sorts for what went wrong with the class, but until the DRDT Dev reveals their master plan, nothing can be taken as 100% fact.

Take the hidden messages, for example.

When you find Mai Akasaki's bio on the tumblr, her "quote" changes every time you refresh the page. Each "quote" corresponds to one of the cast, and if you dig through the source code, the quotes are actually labeled with which student they belong to.

["Some years ago, she was searching for someone named 'Teruko Tawaki.'",

["run script(teruko)"

(forgive my bad copy/paste skills, but this is what I'm talking about, for those unaware, this format is the same for every student.)

While the quote above is obviously connected to Teruko, even without the clarification, there are definitely several that are a bit more... subjective... This has lead to multiple different interpretations of what these quotes could mean, such as each statement is Mai's personal thoughts on the cast, or some sort of mockery of the cast's worst attributes or fears. My interpretation is somewhat different, and while someone has likely posted something similar to this before, I haven't run across it.

To me, I think the best explanation for the quotes is that they are what the cast most admire about Mai, or remember her for. You'll see what I mean.

First, Teruko. This is one self explanatory. Some years ago, Mai went looking for Teruko Tawaki. We don't know WHY she was looking for Teruko, and I imagine it wasn't an easy task, given how under the radar Teruko likes to stay. So when thinking about it, it was likely a memorable moment for Teruko, especially if their first meeting is indeed the cross walk scene from chapter 1.

"A girl who loves her family" This is Charles's quote. Charles doesn't say anything negative about his family, but his main plot revolves around him forgetting the existence of an older brother who died under unknown circumstances. We know nothing about Mai's family, but from the LGI music video, where her portrait is referred to as "somebody dearly loved" I imagine that she was adored by friends and family alike, and she returned that kindness in turn. Charles (speculation incoming) might have admired that about her, and thus this is why this quote is connected to him. It was the thing he admired most about her.

"She remembers everything that is important to others." This is Rose's quote. Rose has a photographic memory, so it's easy to equate this quote to be about her, but from the actions we see of Rose in game, while she has an amazing memory, she's pretty nonchalant to what goes on around her. Don't get me wrong, she's still a sweet girl, but "remember's everything important to others" yeah... no... but Mai, see "dearly loved" was as compassionate and thoughtful as she's made out to be, it's an easy connection to make that she'd be attentive to her friends, likely being a soundboard and a confidant. Rose, with her financial troubles and insecurity over her artwork, would likely remember a girl who took the time to listen and check up on her quite fondly.

"A girl who sees beauty in everyone." This is Arturo's quote. Arturo does NOT see beauty in everyone, this is one of the first things we learn about him. Dude's standards for beauty are in the stratosphere. This causes him to be dismissed and disregarded by the cast due to his annoying personality and weird behavior, especially towards J. However, one thing that most everyone agrees about when it comes to Mai is that she would have been friends with the entire class, and that'd include Arturo. It's hard being an outcast, even when it's of your own making. Sometimes, having a stubborn person repeatedly take a sledgehammer to your walls, refusing to leave you behind even if you want to be, means more than anything. If this WAS their relationship, then Arturo would naturally recall Mai as someone who saw beauty in even the harshest personalities, don't you think?

"A girl with a floral tattoo on her arm" This is Levi's quote. Okay, this through me through a loop when trying to equate this to my theory. This is always the odd man out of secret quotes, as there's no way to relate it to Levi. The floral tattoo is intrinsically linked to MAI. Even the popular theory that the cast all have hidden tattoos on their arms falls flat seeing as we can see the arms of several students and there's no tattoo to be seen.

Then, it hit me. This is literally the only theory that perfectly explains this quote. Because Levi doesn't experience emotion. He has no love for his classmates. He does care in his own way, but he's apathetic towards the majority of his classmates' plights, only engaging because he should, not because he wants to. So, if asked to name the thing he most remembers about a beloved classmate, of course this is the kind of thing Levi would say. It's something physical that he can see, admire, and associate with the person with it and them alone. This is the quote that cemented this theory as being likely in my eyes.

"A girl with many friends" This is Whit's quote. Not as specific as many of the others, but still, personality wise, Whit tries to get along with everyone, even breaking down Charles's walls in less that three days. Imagine the power of friendship that'd form in Whit "extrovert" Young and Mai "dearly beloved" Akasaki joined forces. IDK it fits.

"She kept calling the number, even though no one picked it up" this is Eden's quote. (Speculation ahead, you know the drill) This is another confusing one. Some people think Eden is the one calling the number, other's think it's Mai. I, personally, think it's Mai.

Eden's secret quote is about kissing a friend and then becoming worried that it'd ruin her friendship. In storytelling, you don't want to introduce too many plotlines that have no barring on the plot, and this is one that I feel, based on vibes, might come back. If Mai was Eden's classmate, it's likely they were friends, and if they, say, kissed, and Eden freaked out because she was afraid of losing Mai if she wasn't interested, and maybe.... avoided answering the phone even though Mai kept calling to tell her it was alright, maybe because she feared Mai was angry at her, then this would be the first thing Eden would think of when Mai is brought up. The friend she was terrified to lose, and unintentionally drove away. But Mai kept calling the number, because she didn't want to lose Eden either. This interpretation is one of the more "fanon" ones that I'll list here though, so feel free to disregard it.

"She kept it a secret, and told no one." This is J's secret, obviously relating to her being Mariabella's daughter. We see in chapter 2 how betraying J feels when her secret is revealed, she values her independence and privacy greatly, for her to willingly share that tidbit about herself, she'd have to trust Mai greatly. It'd mean the world for Mai to listen, and keep her promise that she wouldn't tell. This one feels as straightforward as Teruko's to me.

"A girl who wanted to keep everyone safe" This is Hu's quote. Hu is a character that needs to be needed. We know this from how she treats Nico and others in game. But who's taking care of Hu? We know Mai is a sort of "therapist friend" from context clues, so I can see her genuinely caring for Hu and showing her healthier outlets for her to express herself than smothering those around her. This was likely the healthiest friendship is Hu's life, by my estimation.

"Everyone confided in her" This is Nico's quote. We know Nico's secret is that he's non-binary, and that he wasn't ready to come out yet. Nobody in game "confides" in Nico, so the best way I can connect the quote to him is that he potentially became comfortable enough around Mai to come out to her, similar to J and her secret, because Mai would keep a secret.

"A girl who had a bright future" This is Ace's quote. Ace is a character who believes he doomed. His only talent is something that causes him great distress, he has an eating disorder due to the strict weight regulations on jockeys. His body is falling apart and his nerves are in shambles, and he takes it out on everyone around him. For Ace, he's got no escape from the live he's living. But here comes Mai, this girl who has it all together, people love her, and she loves them. She's kind to everyone and is an successful ultimate. She's everything Ace isn't, but she still cares for him anyways. Of course when thinking of her, he'd think of all the things she could do with her live, and the good she could bring to the world.

"She doesn't like it when her friends fight." This is Arei's quote. Arei's entire arc in Chapter 2 is about her wrestling with her childhood and the dog eat dog mentality she adopted in order to survive. She's abrasive and mean because to be soft is a death sentence. Then she gets to Hope's Peak and she meets Mai, a girl who, like Eden in game, shatters that ideology with a sledgehammer and shows Arei a different path. She hates seeing her friends fight, and shows Arei why. Remember, the cast have lost time. Arei could have had a similiar arc when she was at Hope's Peak that she did in game, except with Mai as the catalyst instead of Eden.

"An average girl with nothing special about her at all." This is Min's quote. This, at first, feels way more Min-coded than Mai-coded, but I'd disagree. We don't know what talent Mai had, she's literally the ultimate ???. It's possible that her talent wasn't anything extraordinary seeming like Ultimate Rebel or Ultimate Plastic Surgeon. She could have had a talent similar to Min's, for all we know. Her talent likely didn't have anything to do with why people loved her, and that might've been an inspirating to Min, who was drilled to believe her worth was directly related to her talent. So, while speculative, I believe this can still work.

"She couldn't stand to do nothing." This is Xander's quote. Xander fights injustice on the regular, overthrowing corrupt officials and advocating for those who can't advocate for themselves. He values those qualities immensely, and for Mai to feel the same, that would put her on David levels of worship in his eyes.

"A girl who didn't foresee the consequences." This is Veronika's quote. Similar to Min's, this feels like something someone would say about Veronika over Mai, but I don't agree. On Veronika's page, her secret quote is "Once something is broken, it can never be pieced together in quite the same way again. The same goes for people" and she monologues to Teruko about how she likes horror because of fictional consequences, but that she often worries about real world consequences to actions. That doesn't stop her from being, well, Veronika, but consequences is a theme heavily tied to her. We already established that Mai "couldn't stand to do nothing" but, in conjunction with a quote we'll talk about shortly, I can see all the good Mai did becoming void in Veronika's eyes because on one misjudged action that led to a domino effect, one that I speculate landed the gang in a killing game (more on that later)

"She forgives everyone" This is David's quote. Oh David, my guy. Dude did a heel-face turn in chapter 2, losing the trust of the entire group and ruining in career in one fell swoop. Regardless of whether or not you believe that his breakdown was just another persona, or that this is the one true David, it's likely that he either had a similar episode in Hope's Peak or confided in the Secret Keeper TM about his true feelings about the world. David, who sees the worst in everyone, and believes that he won't be excepted if he reveals his true colors, being excepted by Mai and forgiven in the event that he takes things too far would be an world-shifting event for him in the event that this actually happened. It would naturally be the first thing he'd think of when remembering Mai.

"It's all your fault" This is MonoTV's quote. Oh boy. I highly doubt MonoTV was a student (that'd be weird even for Danganronpa) but for them to have a quote linked to Mai, directly blaming her for something, and we already know Mai couldn't stand to do nothing and didn't foresee the consequences of it, it's likely that the killing game was her fault.

The quote itself reminds me of the secret David got in Chapter 2, the one he claims was Xander's but many believe is Teruko's. I mostly believe the Teruko explanation, but I also have a crack theory I plan to make at a later date that is absolutely insane but might lend credence to David telling "the truth" about who's secret it was.

Remember, that secret was "How could I even select what secret to be your motive? Just about everything you've done in your life is worth killing for. This killing game is all your fault."

There's not a ton left I can say about this without delving into pure headcannon territory.

That's all the hidden quotes related to Mai. Sorry I don't have a TLDR or a summation of all this for ya'll to read here. Your just going to have to parse through yourselves. I'm tired of typing.

Let me know if you think this is a good theory or lambast my reasoning in the comments, I don't care, I like debates. I'm just a girl excited for Chapter 3, at the end of the day : )

Thanks for reading!!!

[pop-raine]

Im more of a threads-of-fate person (especially if the characters are fighting and having a big angst thing and are using it to choke and trip and beat one another up with it. AND IT LEAVES SCARS??? And killing someone with the very thing that demands you two be drawn together??? Symbolism and such. And scissors. Oh my god, scissors cutting it and people tying them together and cutting off a soulmate and tying your string with another person AHHHHHH) but, OMGGGGG, TWIN FLAMES? UNDER USED. I love stuff like that. Because it also creates conflict. (Can you tell I like conflict?) A soul split in half does NOT mean that those two people are going to work perfectly all the time 24/7. It means they're going to be so similar and they might not be able to stand it.

I think the best fic with soulmates I ever read was one of those. There was a background couple in it, one of the character's parents. Soulmates were hard to find because there's so many people in the world, but her parents found each other! But they were too similar. They fought about everything, and it was toxic and horrible and it was such an interesting look into a relationship between two halves of a whole.

I feel like having two people who slot perfectly together is definitely an appealing and fun thing to mess around with. But one soul split into two? Two people who stare at one another and just see themself? There are so, so many places you could go with that.

I do like the fluff that comes with it, though. The warmth that comes from knowing that your partner knows you better than you know yourself, the security of knowing that they'll be a part of you no matter what, the comfort of knowing thay somewhere out there, there's someone. And that someone is like you, a you from a different scenario.

Yeah, threads of fate is such a nice trope too! (Dw anon I love conflict and angst too 😝)

Fighting against the system that demands that some stranger is your destined partner whether that be romantically or platonically is something I enjoy a lot in soulmate fics which you will be seeing a bit of while reading this fic. (Wink wink)

Just know this is will be slow burn bcz I live for slow burn and the yearning and longing always makes for good conflict 🤭

But they're just looking at what's essentially a mirror of themselves is just SOOO yk? These guys are going to hate each other at first LMAO

I honestly can't wait to flesh this world out and I hope people will enjoy it as much as I'm loving writing it right now. I'm sorry for the bit of delay (ive been busy ☹️) but I'd like to at least get a couple of chapters written before I post the prologue + chapter 1

Please be patient with me 💔

[aliusfrater]

i was originally gonna make a joke about how 'even crowley's quote unquote intervention is less violent that sam's (x2). he gets company at least <3' but the differences and similarities within these two dynamics is actually super interesting to watch back to back

[greenvillainredemption]

One thing I love about mutant mayhem is that Leo has a crush on an April who’s not conventionally attractive. It almost feels like, because of the turtles’ isolated upbringing* he hasn’t been influenced by the popular western beauty ideals and just thinks this ordinary human is beautiful! And I think that’s really cool! Because she is!

*though they’ve clearly been exposed to celebrities and other pop culture so ?? idk lol

[hana-bobo-finch]

Started rereading thg for the probably eighth time in preparation for SOTR’s release next month and Oh Boy the hyperfixation is creeping back up on me

[milkweedman]

Genuinely spending 2 hours a day just prepping the fiber, RIP

To be fair at least a third of that time is pushing the executive function button so I can start the next nest. They're unfortunately one of those activities that has enough steps that each one feels like it's own separate thing, so I have to Start Task each damn time. So there's a 5-10 minute cooldown between them.

Got 9 nests, I think (on top), middle is some fleece that's already had a lot of locks picked out so it's kind of jumbled, bottom is combing waste.

[hyperfixation-or-death]

A series of headcanons:

Victor Deslandes was a Gifted Child™ in elementary school, and hit burnout in middle school.

Sam Deslandes was a Gifted Child™ in middle school, and hit burnout in high school.

Bilal Belkebirs was canonically highly academically and professionally successful before time traveling back to save his friends. However, in the post-canon timeline, he experiences burnout in university due to feeling somewhat directionless.

Romane Berthauds, in the timeline she and Victor traveled back from, had no friends and decided to focus most of her time and effort into academic success. The Romane from Bilal's timeline also put a lot of effort into schoolwork, but after her mom died, her studying habits became really unhealthy and excessive as she tried to cope with the loss. Post-canon Romane does not experience academic burnout (she has sooo many other problems, though). However, the Romane from Bilal's timeline (who the show unfortunately doesn't acknowledge again) will have a midlife crisis at some point.

[omegamoo]

found some of my essays from a world history class i took... you know the essays you spend two nights prepping and panicking for and then scramble to write during the bell period... well i found one about the universal nature of war in response to a class project and What the Fuck was I On when writing that. What The Fuck

[frostedturquoise]

forgot i had dnd yesterday and squandered my last day of decent internet (whoops) Weeelll i wouldn't quite say it was fully squandered but i once again stumbled into the character creation dillemma that was 'went into it with an halfassed idea then pulled an entirely different idea out of my ass because i clicked on something i didn't intend to click on'

To be fair i was fretting over the OC i had in mind being too oddball but its nice that im not the only person pulling funny/silly/slightly odd concepts out my ass here. (since we are playing a series of small running mini-adventures while waiting on shit to be polished for other games or things get polished and tweaked if we decide to do an epilogue for the one that kinda recently ended)

I hate how i cant play most of my OC's because its impractical or ill fitting for the setting or shit that wont fly or would take basically commiting more than 'adaptation to new setting' surgery given how the hell i worked shit for my setting since dnd is far more loose leaf than 'SO there s several modifiers and factors that determine who has access to what magic' and most spells just feel so utterly impractical and weird to give that i would rather make up some poor fuck on the spot and roll with it because plopping almost any one of anyone else in one of my brothers best friends game is literally a 'and this is steve' scenario. For once though, i would like not to be the healer though. It is not the first time also that i started as the healer and ended up with more hit points than the party tank. Druid is different from cleric, heals are taking the side shelf but next time im going to outright say 'before anyone does anything im not going healer make of that what you will' straight out the door lmao. Outside character creation stuff if things stay calm enough i might be able to start chewing at w.i.p's again before vomiting out the words to finish them before i get overwhelmed by to much going on at once too often always in stupid wonky ways and the resident grouch 'its fine if i do it but not anyone else' starts nattering on over stupid inconsequential shit who hates it when people say irrelevant shit but the shit that comes out of that old ladys mouth makes the dogshit bad faith tldr but made my own assumptions piss on the poor shit that happens on this website look not that terrible actually.

I could go into why but it could easily be summed up as holy shit this is the baby cordial version of most of the reasons why as a teen i rarely talked' cant even make a neutral observation about the weather or the grass being mowed today, or asking if the mail guy had been yet without copping shit, its fucking unreal. I don't even need to be talking to her she'll just come up butt in and start being a idiot all over the place not just to me but probably also whoever the fuck i was talking to.

[sirfrogsworth]

How do you take a photo of time?

I've been watching the track events at the Olympics since I was a wee lad. It was a tradition in our family. We'd gather around our ancient low-definition 19 inch CRT television and watch tiny blobs compete against other tiny blobs and root for our country.

It was a bit like watching YouTube on your phone in 144p.

Several heroes emerged.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee was amazing.

You can't forget about Flo-Jo.

And then the Olympics decided NBA players were allowed in the competition.

Which formed... The Dream Team.

Was this fair?

Well... they won each game by an average of 44 points.

So... no. It was not fair.

Though it became more fair as time went on.

But, umm... yeah. The other teams looked like the Washington Generals and the US looked like the Harlem Globetrotters if they stopped screwing around half of the game.

But my absolute favorite Olympian was a runner named Michael Johnson.

He was cool as heck.

For one thing... gold shoes.

But he also had this crazy, upright, Tom Cruise-ish sprinting style that just made him look like a running robot on the track.

And in the 1996 Atlanta games he just trounced EVERYONE. I mean, it wasn't even close.

Yikes. Those losing blobs are probably really embarrassed.

Last night I decided to invigorate my nostalgia and watch the track events again. And I got to see one of the wildest races in history.

It didn't even last 10 seconds but it was one of the most exciting sporting events I've ever witnessed. Almost every runner won the race.

After I saw that initially, I was like... who the heck won???

Even in slow motion I wasn't sure.

This was one of the closest finishes in history. There has never been a race where all 8 runners were within this margin.

The arena was silent as the winner was being confirmed. The runners just kind of paced around waiting for official word. My best guess was the Jamaican runner, Kishane Thompson. But then the loudspeaker announced Noah Lyles.

The last tiny morsel of American pride burst out of me with a big "Wooooo!"

I forgot what it was like to be proud of my country. I wish it happened more often. But this young man, despite being last place in the first 3rd of the race, turned on the afterburners and won in a photo finish.

And that's when my inner nerd took over.

Because when they showed the photo finish image, it looked super weird.

Why is the track white?

Why do all of the runners look all warpy like that QWOP game?

So I went down a research rabbit hole to figure this out.

Photo finishes are actually fascinating. The first photo finish captured the end of a horse race in 1890. But that was mostly luck and timing. The actual photo finish mechanisms weren't used until 1937.

Originally they would film the finish line through a physical slit.

And the first horsie head that appeared in that slit would be the winner. This technology ended a huge aspect of corruption in horse race fixing almost overnight.

But we have come a long way since then. And I'd like to introduce you to the Omega Scan 'O' Vision Ultimate.

This slow motion camera sits fixed on the finish line of every race. The concept of the photo finish has remained remarkably similar to the 1930s approach. The camera sensor is specially designed to only record a vertical slit.

Only the finish line itself is actually captured.

And because it limits what it records to only that slit, it can capture 40,000 frames per second to get amazing temporal resolution.

So why don't the photo finishes just look like, well... this?

That is because the camera takes a picture of time more-so than dimensional space. I guess it would be more accurate to say it *assembles* a picture of time.

As the runners cross the finish line, the camera combines all of the little strips of pictures into a single image.

It's almost like if you tried to reassemble a piece of paper after it had been shredded.

Imagine each strip of paper is a picture of ONLY the finish line, just at a slightly different point in time.

What if someone stopped on the finish line and didn't move... what would that look like?

Once they got there, the same part of their body would just be repeated.

So the right side of the photo finish picture represents earlier in time and it just assembles the image strip by strip as time passes and you literally get a picture of time itself.

NEAT!

Okay, but how do they determine the winner from the photo finish?

I mean, that shoe looks like it is ahead of Noah Lyles!

Clavicles!

The IAFF rules state the foremost part of the torso must cross the finish line first. And the endpoint of the torso is the outer end of the clavicle.

So if you get this bone across the finish line first, you win the race.

Two more fun facts!

The start of the race is actually just as carefully timed as the end of the race. There are sensors in the starting blocks of each runner.

The starting gun also has an electronic sensor.

They have determined the fastest a human can react to the sound of a gun is roughly 100 milliseconds. So if you start running before 100 milliseconds they know you didn't actually hear the gun, you just got antsy and started running too early.

And the final fun fact...

Did you notice the Omega logo at the top of the photo finish?

That isn't superimposed or added after the fact. That is captured by the camera.

But if this image is composed only of tiny little slivers, how did they get the Omega logo to show up?

That is a little display. And it is synchronized with the Scan 'O' Vision Ultimate to show a little sliver of the Omega logo for each frame captured.

So when the final image is stitched together, it looks like a cohesive logo at the top of the photo.

Pretty clever, Omega!

[arolesbianism]

Sigh. Thinking abt isat eg au again. Head in hands comic Frin taking on King's name after the third universe reboot erases him in an attempt to hold onto what was previously the last remnant of their original version of the universe only to have that memory fade with the rest by the time isat Siffrin starts doing king quest stuff leaving them left with a name that isn't their own nor the person it originally belonged to with none of the meaning left behind