Penny stardewvalley makes me so sad because she's SO sensitive to, like, basically everything you tell her (telling her that you can't stand children while two children are nearby is a pretty lousy move but -1500 friendship?? being a jerk to other characters' faces typically loses you about 50 points, and if you choose the option labeled "creepy" and ask Leah for a kiss in her 2 heart event she physically hits you and kicks you out of her house but that's only -100 friendship…) and so if you want to befriend her it's a whole lot of lying and tiptoeing around her feelings (2 hearts: George was right but saying that makes her feel bad. 6 hearts: her food sucks but even if you try to be polite about it she feels like a failure; only a bald-faced lie pleases her. 8 hearts: saying you don't want to be tied down with a family loses you a little bit of friendship and she's only happy if you say you want kids) and I can't help but think she's a product of her environment. She lives in a trailer with only her mother, who gets drunk every night and has something of a temper. Penny's like a skittish rescue animal who won’t even come out from hiding under something unless you leave her lots of treats

When discussing or analyzing Dazai, one thing I hope you will keep in mind when reading anything I write about him is that from my perspective, he is always, always both.

What do I mean by this? Well, I find there tends to be a general split among people who hold the opinion that "he's a manipulator and will always be manipulative" and "he's doing his best to be good and helpful and live up to Oda's last wishes for him", of which, neither is completely right - because he is both. But even among the people who hold to this dual-nature interpretation, I find that his individual actions and motivations still tend to be thought of in a dichotomous manner - is it manipulative, or genuine?

Again, I think it's always both.

Dazai has a very pragmatic view on a lot of things - he is always looking for the usefulness of things and people so that the situation turns out in his favour. He's incredibly adept at this, and his prediction and placement and careful reveals are all manipulation tactics to get his allies and enemies doing exactly what he needs them to. I don't think anyone can contest this since we see it over and over in the series.

But that's not all there is to it. He's not solely manipulative and he does, to some extent, sympathize with others - I think there are several instances of this in the series, but I want to stress that this has been apparent since Chapter 1!

For context, Dazai is recalling what Atsushi said to him a few minutes earlier, but it's very interesting that it should be this specific part of the conversation. He could've flashed back to the part where Atsushi said he had nowhere to go; no money, no food - he is about to trick him into joining, after all, and this is the key piece he uses to basically force Atsushi into the Agency. But instead it's Atsushi's self-deprecation that catches his attention, and it really does, because even during the conversation, he turns to look at him after he says this with an odd expression.

You could say that this makes Atsushi easier to manipulate, if that's your angle, but that can't be solely it, because in the later conversation with Hirotsu, we know Dazai was planning to bring Atsushi into the Agency and set him up as one half of the new Double Black the moment he met him. The panel shown there is the riverbank, set much earlier in the day than this scene. He was already planning to pair him with Akutagawa since he figured out he was the tiger, so what's with this reaction?

Well. Sometimes the simplest explanation is the best.

He manipulated Atsushi into joining with the intention of utilizing him in his future plans. He also helped him and gave him a place to belong, and importantly, he likes this kid! It's both.

I think much of it might be that his brain just kinda works way too fast - he's such a natural at crafting these elaborate plots and seeing how things connect and gathering useful people like resources that it's practically automatic - though this is not a great means when you're trying to be a kinder person. There's an omake, I believe, that has him saying "I like using my head for justice", i.e. using these underhanded means to act for the better. Not great, but those are the kind of gifts he has. He's way more suited to exploitation, but is choosing to use these tactics to save people now, which is quite reminiscent of what he tells Kyouka. Kyouka's talents lie in killing people - when what you're good at isn't who you want to be, what do you do? Well, I expect you use what you have, even if it's not ideal.

Now, about the current situation with Sigma - I think he definitely likes him, and is intrigued by him and his situation. We did get a little thought bubble where the guy amusedly compares him to Atsushi, and you can't tell me he doesn't care about Atsushi (listen to the onsen drama cd, or read 55 Minutes if you somehow don't believe me). But also, it's undeniable that Sigma is in a very vulnerable position of being homeless and having had no one be genuinely kind to him before. His trust is very easy to earn, and with the latest chapter, Dazai has now saved his life multiple times. There is, as always, a practical purpose he needs him for. And I have to be somewhat amused because Dazai is quite literally telling Sigma everything he ever wanted and needed to hear. It's a brilliant means of quickly endearing himself to Sigma - but I don't think that's all it is.

Look. The most honest moments we get in this series from Dazai are, interestingly for an expert manipulator, when people are at their most vulnerable. In spite of every pointlessly cruel act he inflicted on Akutagawa, his first meeting with him was open and transparent; much like the orphanage director, it seems he thought this treatment would make him strong and adaptable (he's wrong but that's not the point of this). He cuts Kyouka off in irritation and says "don't give me that" when she implies that she would fail the entrance exam. He tells Atsushi it's normal to cry after losing a father figure and to feel however you feel, even if that person caused you nothing but incredible pain and cannot be forgiven. He refuses to entertain Sigma's assumptions that Dazai sees himself as a superior being to him.

Selective honesty can also be utilized to great effect; Mori does this, and undoubtedly it serves this purpose for Dazai too. But I want to stress that I do sincerely believe this is all still honesty from him. Manipulation, or genuine?

Both. It's both.

Two weeks of straight studying made this cathartic

I'm not even upset that Vanessa and Mike are in love or whatever- I'm really just upset that they're rushing into it

Vanessa refers to their meeting as a "meet cute" and Mike tries to kiss her mid-trauma dump- like is that??? Really necessary????

Can we not wait until they know each other a bit better????? Have some nice character moments outside of their traumatic experiences at Freddy's?????????? Please???????????????

I'm just so sick of romance being rushed, can we PLEASE get some nice character moments before we start having the protagonists fall in love I'm BEGGING

Money, time, vacation days, etc etc are not an issue (anything that would be an issue is not in this scenario). Where would you go on vacation right now?

Beach. Cold beach. Where the rocks are unforgiving and the wind bites. I'd watch the waves crash against the sand until I felt a part of my soul come back out of hiding

nothing like getting very minorly told off at work to make me feel physically ill for the rest of the day

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really nothing more detestable than a coward

Hmmmm actually 🤔

For new people who wanna know your ocs, how's a brief rundown of your lovely guyss?

Sure! and thanks for the ask!

First is K-1! First guy i finalized. He's based off of beefy orc designs (and yes his primary inspiration is Knack from Knack but shut up we're moving on). He's essentially a cyborg, a combination of goblin and human DNA (which is a simple way of explaining the orc like appearance) along with cybernetic enhancements and mysterious ancient technology (seen in his spikes and core). He was created government contracted bio laboratory with the goal of developing a unbeatable super soldier. And they succeeded! He's incredibly strong and dependable, and has never lost a single battle. But he's also easygoing so he knows not to take things too far. The most likely to walk through a entrance sideways

Next is Ing (no torso cause i just love this headshot so much)! He (and Cho) are also products of the same laboratory experiments, but to differing results than K-1. Ing is the combination of the elusive blood of a shadow dragon (the most rare, impervious, and violent species) and the DNA of various beasts needed to keep him alive in the early stages of his development (mainly tiger). Because of all the other elements diluting his draconic essence, the end result was a great lack of any desired traits (wings, protective scales, immense strength, etc.) Deemed a failure by the governement for his lacking potential, he spends his days at the facility at which he was born, helping the researchers and training to be stronger while his friends go off into battle. I made him cause the urge for a tiger oc overtook me, but i couldn't just make i tiger, i needed more. My first 'fursona' i suppose. He is more reserved and quiet than the others but he loves learning and isn't shy about his appearance (though intimacy does get to him sometimes~). Has the least noticeable yawns.

And now Chocoa! You know him, you all wanna fuck him, i get it, it's understandable. He's a bull/bear hybrid, and a chimera like Ing. I saw a artist's interpretation of the mix, thought "Seriously? ", and created him in a feverish stupor. Though the third oc, he was the first successful experiment and had many years of victories before K-1 came along. Developed in a separate facility than the others, he's a an arrogant, bullheaded, boorish, crass, and unpleasant guy, just a right asshole. And his lovely personality shines just as bright on the battlefield, earning him many wins and just as many injuries. There's not really much to him past that; loves to fight, loves to smash, he's a jerk, but can get real soft with enough time. Takes the longest showers.

Onwards to Beryl. He's a lynel, those vicious dudes from Breath of the Wild, yeah? But he was born with a mutation, so his horse half is a lion half instead. Which made him docile as a result. I saw art on twitter of a beartaur i believe and was stricken by a mighty need. And i remembered that lynels are like, so fucking cool. He spends his days mining for jewlel and ore, and trading with passerbys for rupees (which he also admires (cause shiny)). He doesn't really like company and finds being friendly with others awkward (especially cause he cant talk). Never wins a staring contest.

(and yeah just his torso doesn't really do him justice but i very bad at drawing animal legs so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

And finally it's Mozi. He's a forest cryptid, mainly a moose dude. The idea for him sprung up randomly from chatting with a certain someone (⬆) and it stuck in me brain from how good it was. For 7 months. He was so hard to finalize for some reason oh my god. But I managed eventually and i freaking love him. He's just a silly moose guy, wandering the woods and napping. The slowest walker and the fastest sprinter. Though, no one has seen him do either...

And that's that! For now. My mind's always working on new angles and ideas after all. But let it be known i fucking adore all these dudes and seeing other people be like "whoa that's cool!" never fails to make me smile~

do u like solas in a straight way or a gay way??

spoiler alert: everyone I like is in a queer way

double spoilers: if someone likes me, it's also in a queer way

Also, I don't care what game mechanic/character creator binaries allow, Solas absolutely does not care about gender

Events of last night:

Me: *crying*

My girlfriend: what's wrong?? :(

Me: *struggling to form words* intrusive thoughts are bad... I don't want to talk about them because then I'm scared that they're true and you might think I'm awful

My girlfriend: ah I actually get that. I have those a lot. It doesn't mean anything though, intrusive thoughts are just like dreams. Like the things you do in them aren't really things you want to do, it's just stuff your brain comes up with.

Pacing back and forth rapidly rambling to my parents like a mad man trying to figure out whether or not I experienced sexism at film school today or if these guys are just assholes in a different way

Just how big was Teng Xiao if Cirrus calls Jing Yuan a "lightweight"???

Now the question is did Vegas purposely (consciously or unconsciously) leave the key on the bed, and the door unlocked so that Pete could escape.

Or was that just careless behaviour resulting from being distraught over his pet and having his guard down after spending so much time with Pete.

Im leaning towards it just being the second but the implications of the first are delicious. Especially if it was an unconscious decision to let Pete go...

2am thinking about death and violence but my cat sensed it and came running in here to scream and stand on me

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