Ok, I and probably a lot of other fans have theorized and dearly hoped that Tae Yamada will awaken in the future. One prime reason is that her voice actress, Kotono Misuishi, did the lead character for Sailor Moon who was a great singer. Therefore they are probably saving her for later.
Anyways, I came across the most tantalizing hint about what she sounds like in series. During Yugiri's flashback we encounter girls who like and sound exactly like the rest of the girls, presumably ancestors. Tae's ancestor is apparently of local nobility or something, being pulled around in a cart. She briefly gives a sound of surprise at a local love-struck idiot (look up Kiichi), revealing a voice that is sweet and girly but mature. This effect carries over into the English dub as well.
Anyways, I was just looking at Kotono-san's profile. Known as the "woman of a thousand voices", a couple of prominent roles stick out. Such as Misato Katsuragi of the Neon Genesis Evangelion series, who I find has a frightening number of similarities to Tae. With similar hair (Tae's may have been purple orginally) and only slightly shorter in height, and is 29 years old in the first series (Tae's age at death). She serves as a stern cold military leader against the "Angels", supernatural(?) monsters of varying appearances (like the Sagako). She both resents her father for being neglectful towards her with his work in fighting the Angels and the Angels themselves for his death and what they did to her. She represses a lot of her true emotions and mostly vents them away from work. She is described as being a broken-hearted child inside, who does not get to be with the love of her life. Later she even dies with a heroic sacrifice. How much of Tae is not in there? I will say that Tae actually seems more stable in comparison, with Misato drinking regularly and being very vain and lashing out.
Bonus, Boa Hancock of One piece also shares the same VA. She herself is a troubled beautiful woman (childhood trauma) with an age of 30 and black hair and well-developed body. I'm sensing a pattern here.
Coincidence?? I think NOT!

When I turned 12 I started having contact with my father. My mother said to him he was a bad guy and he ruined her life so I was a little more fearful. You have to know about me that I already had PTSD and dissociative disorder this time. My father was an immigrant so he can hardly speak German. (He talks German like I am writing English here) Because of that I had to talk to him in easy language and mediated between him and native speakers. I had to do that despite the fact he lives here for 25 years. Everytime I wanted to talk to him seriously, he did not understand me. In my opinion he does not want to understand German. However, first he seemed to be nice but when we both spent time together he always said how bad my mother ruined his mind and how long he fighted for me and that I should be grateful. I listed to him as he said he felt so misunderstood by the police because his mother accused him of having raped her (he obviously had not raped my mother). I accepted this because of my people pleasing character traits. Because I had depression and dissociative disorder that time it happned often that I feel nothing. That caused much stress because he said I would do nothing and that I would be ungrateful to him. He did not want me to be his son at that time. He clamed I said I preferred my educators that time. What did he expect? I had a severe trauma that time and I could not trust much people at once. Because of that he spread lies about me and broke up contact with me when I was 16. (My abusive mother took advantage on it and continued contacting me). So yeah, last year we started texting again and he did not changed. He blamed my mother he broke up contact with me although it harmed me more than my mother. I tried to cheer him up and listem to him as he said his mother died and he had a lot to do. But when I said I was flashbacking and depressed again he just said I should do more sport. As you see, I do not have a clear opinion about him. I did not know what I had to do better to be a better son to him becaus ehe said he fought so long for me and he bought my first smartphone. My educators, yes the same educators who looked away when my housemate molested me, also blamed me to be ungrateful to him. I am really desperate because my heart says something else.

When I turned 12 I started having contact with my father. My mother said to him he was a bad guy and he ruined her life so I was a little more fearful. You have to know about me that I already had PTSD and dissociative disorder this time. My father was an immigrant so he can hardly speak German. (He talks German like I am writing English here) Because of that I had to talk to him in easy language and mediated between him and native speakers. I had to do that despite the fact he lives here for 25 years. Everytime I wanted to talk to him seriously, he did not understand me. In my opinion he does not want to understand German. However, first he seemed to be nice but when we both spent time together he always said how bad my mother ruined his mind and how long he fighted for me and that I should be grateful. I listed to him as he said he felt so misunderstood by the police because his mother accused him of having raped her (he obviously had not raped my mother). I accepted this because of my people pleasing character traits. Because I had depression and dissociative disorder that time it happned often that I feel nothing. That caused much stress because he said I would do nothing and that I would be ungrateful to him. He did not want me to be his son at that time. He clamed I said I preferred my educators that time. What did he expect? I had a severe trauma that time and I could not trust much people at once. Because of that he spread lies about me and broke up contact with me when I was 16. (My abusive mother took advantage on it and continued contacting me). So yeah, last year we started texting again and he did not changed. He blamed my mother he broke up contact with me although it harmed me more than my mother. I tried to cheer him up and listem to him as he said his mother died and he had a lot to do. But when I said I was flashbacking and depressed again he just said I should do more sport. As you see, I do not have a clear opinion about him. I did not know what I had to do better to be a better son to him becaus ehe said he fought so long for me and he bought my first smartphone. My educators, yes the same educators who looked away when my housemate molested me, also blamed me to be ungrateful to him. I am really desperate because my heart says something else.

All of us are fully vaccinated, adults are boosted. We went on our first unmasked outing Friday morning 3/24. We have been extra careful for a long time as our best friend died from Covid in summer 2021, leaving behind his wife and 3 children.
4 year old boy: Woke us up Sunday night 3/26 with a temp of 104, vomiting everywhere, listless, chills. Tylenol/cool wet washcloths ineffective. Called on-call pediatrician while pulling up directions to children’s hospital. They said supportive care and rotate Tylenol and Motrin. After Motrin was added, we pretty much hung out 102-103 all night. Tested positive immediately on home test Monday morning 3/27. Runny nose and congestion started that day. Fevers, fatigue continued until Thursday, 3/30. Random vomiting and diarrhea has continued, there was another vomiting episode last night 3/31 after going almost 1 full day without GI stuff.
5 year old girl: Seemed slightly off 3/28, woke up in the middle of the night with chills and 102.5 fever. Tested positive immediately at home the morning of 3/29. Runny nose, fatigue set in. Weird sleep stuff started 3/30. Normally sleeps well, now fusses constantly, tosses/turns, kicks, talks, gets disoriented and freaks out for the past two nights in a row. Has no memory of it in the mornings. Fever is low-grade when present at all, like 99.0, and we discontinued Motrin and Tylenol in case it has been messing sleep up (I read it can), but I think it is probably just another lovely Covid symptom.
40 year old woman: Feeling off 3/28, sore muscles, aching neck. Test had a weird very light dye kinda C shape on the test line. 3/29 woke up with a sore throat, definitely fatigued and achy. Strong positive on home test immediately. Runny nose, fever of 101.8, congestion as the day goes on, start Paxlovid that night, throat is SUPER sore, dry cough sets in. Feel worse, same symptoms, sore throat is unbelievable 3/30-3/31, lost voice. Today, 4/1 spotting has turned into full bleeding though period isn’t due for 1-2 more weeks. Covid is so weird. Throat is absolutely on fire, coughing a lot. Completed 3/5 days of Paxlovid so far.
39 year old man: No symptoms as of 3/30 even though was helping with vomiting snotty kids, etc. Masked around the rest of the humans, trying to stay well. Tested negative 3/31, but throat feeling a little scratchy. Tested positive this morning 4/1, feeling achy, mild sore throat.
Questions: Anyone else’s little kids struggling with sleep after Covid that were good sleepers before? How long did weird GI stuff last for them?
For the adults, how long did Paxlovid take to work?
Thank you.

I finally finished reading the Q&A from Fanbook 7 and thought I’d share what I found were some of the more interesting pieces of information. I don’t a hundred percent guarantee accuracy, so if anyone wants the Japanese text for any of the questions to double-check for themselves, please just ask.
Gods:

• The first question was asking how blessings worked from the gods’ perspective: was it like the gods paying dividends for prayers or liking a favourite. The answer was that that’s a good way to think of it: basically, a blessing is a sort of return on investment or dividend. The blessing is proportionate to the amount of mana that was dedicated. Also, those who dedicate an outstanding amount of mana, or who dedicate a lot while others don’t dedicate anything are sort of registered as the gods’ favourites.
  
• Men can receive the blessing of Entrinduge, goddess of childbirth, by praying for the safe delivery of any of their female relatives.
  
• Yurgenschmidt has small stars that move about like meteors and larger stars that stay in a single position. Sailors use the larger ones to navigate by night.
  
• What happens to mana users outside of Yurgenschmidt if Ewigeliebe finds them? He drains them of mana and they die.
  

Golden Shumil:

• The Golden Shumil’s selection criteria to let someone pass and see Erwaermen are a thirst for knowledge and whether or not that person is violent. If you don’t want knowledge, you don’t deserve the Book of Mestionora, and if you like violently oppressing others, then you’re not fit to be Zent.
  
• The visions people see are of the things and spending the time they hold most precious. And yes, if it shows scenes of ditter (=violence), you fail the test.
  

Mana:

• Mana sensing relates to the size of people’s mana-storing organs, not to the quantity of mana they have at any given time. So if, for example, an archnoble uses up almost all their mana, a mednoble who normally wouldn’t be able to sense them still wouldn’t be able to do so, because the size of the mana-storing organ hasn’t changed.
  
• When Erwaermen talks about Rozemyne’s vessel being than before, he is referring to her mana-storing organ, not her physical body.
  
• The Gods first take notice of someone’s existence when their medals are registered.
  
• Ferdinand and Rozemyne’s mana are so similar that even the gods find it a bit confusing. Given that they have eyes to see, they don’t mistake them for one another like Erwaermen does, but still, they’re confusingly similar.
  
• Normally, nobles dyed by another’s mana return to their own colour after a month. The Starbind causes a small but permanent influence on spouses though, so they never fully return to their original mana unless they divorce (at the cost of making it difficult to get the blessings of the head gods).
  
• All-attribute nobles being born was more common before the civil war.
  

Devouring:

• A devourer’s default colour is nearly transparent all-attributes, but Rozemyne, who has the Mark of Ewigeliebe, was dyed by Ferdinand, including mana clumps and mana-storing organ. As a result, her default colour is practically the same as the person who dyed her. Having been dyed, her mana-storing organ won’t return to a transparent colour. Her default colour can be changed by someone with more mana than Ferdinand.
  
• All nobles are influenced by their spouse’s mana, and Rozemyne is no exception, so if she married say Sigiswald or Wilfried, she would have the same colour-dying as other wives, and would go back to her default mana colour (=Ferdinand’s) after a month.
  
• Devourers, including those with the Mark of Ewigeliebe, are easily dyed no matter who they are with. That means they can easily be dyed even when there is a difference in the amounts of mana, but it doesn’t change their default colour.
  
• Because their attributes are too weak, devourers normally can’t obtain any divine protections.
  
• Devouring children are born randomly but it tends to happen more often in territories with country gates.
  
• Why are devouring children not affected by their birth season but by the land they are born in? Answer: maybe because they were hidden away at the hands of the gods.
  

Book of Mestionora:

• People with enough mana to enter the book have their deeds recorded in the book from the moment they acquire their schtappe up until their time of death. If their schtappe is destroyed (for example, because they committed a crime), the record stops with its destruction.
  
• Mestionora edits the book, so if for example several people experienced the same events, she might decide to delete or merge versions of the events, or she might decided to keep the separate accounts if they’re interesting enough.
  
• Thoughts and feelings are not recorded.
  

It is finally done! My horror novel is live on KDU and the hardcover and paperback versions just got approved. I started writing this book years ago. It took a layoff from my job and a strange dream where my dead grandfather told me “hurry up and finish the damn thing!” to actually motivate myself to sit down and write. I spent a long time researching the self-publishing space and also got some advice from mutual friends that make six and seven figures a year self-publishing in my genre, and I thought I’d share my experiences so far!
A piece of advice that got hammered in over and over was that the cover had to be amazing. It seems true enough, a family member owns a small bookstore, and it is always the books with the fancy covers that get bought. From what I’ve heard, the majority that are purchased don’t even get read, so it just drives the point that it is the cover that sells the thing. I have the luck of having a professional graphic designer for a girlfriend who has designed posters and graphics for TV and musicians, and she put together an awesome cover and website for me.
I also work in TV and film as my day job, so I’m lucky that I know a lot of creative people that have helped me along the way with editing and beta reading. I used Vellum to format my book ($250) and that has been the biggest cost so far, which allowed me to put some money towards ARC readers. Much of the advice I’d heard came back to finding ARC readers, since it’s almost impossible to build hype as a nobody. They say to cast a wide net, and so I signed up with a few services and prepped a plan for release. What I underestimated, however, was the extent to which many of these services cater primarily to romance and erotica… A lot of YouTubers and self-publishing gurus play up these services, which might be great for other genres, but for horror I’m not too convinced.
​
ARCS:
​
Hidden Gems – I was very excited to get a slot close to my release day! Less than 10 picked up my book. For reference, some authors claim to get upwards of 50 reviews per book off here. I don’t know how many picked mine up, but the owner emailed me to apologize and said that horror isn’t very popular on the site, and that they are working to grow their network of reviewers. He also kindly said if anyone else would sign up, it would come at no extra charge. No reviews yet but maybe a couple will trickle in. I will update if they do.
BookSprouts – 4 sign-ups, and 3 reviews so far. I got two 4-star reviews and one 5-star review. The 5-star review was super thoughtful, and honestly made this site worth it. That reviewer posted it to Amazon as well, but so far, the others haven’t appeared. One of the 4-star reviews was lazy… The reviewer just copied and pasted my blurb and put “good read. Slow but readable.” at the end. Looking at their profile, they used the same review for many other books.
BookSirens – Only one person signed up to read it, no review yet.
​
Editorial Reviews:
I did a lot of digging on editorial reviews, and most didn't seem worth it for me. Several huge companies are running what are borderline scams, where reviews aren’t even guaranteed despite exorbitant prices. I only went with one, Reader’s Favorite, and got a very detailed five- star review with some great quotes for my Amazon page and a seal to put on my book.
​
Marketing:
The hard part! I’ve been sticking mostly to Facebook, but I need to start marketing more. Facebook seems incredibly random. For example, I posted my blurb and a photo of my cover art which somehow got 94 likes from strangers, and then when I posted that the book was released, it got maybe 3 likes. And those were from friends! I asked some of my friends who follow the page if my posts were showing up, and for a few, they weren’t. I’d guess that because I don’t have many followers yet my content is getting buried. I’ve tried a couple boosts and promos (just throwing $5 at it and targeting horror fans) and it’s gotten a few followers, but it doesn’t seem worth it since those haven’t translated into sales.
​
Sales:
My book has only been live for a couple days, and the paperback and hardcover were just approved, but it has gotten a few organic sales despite only having one review on the Amazon page so far. I can see a few people have started reading the KDU version as well.
​
Overall, it feels pretty good and I’m proud of the book! I'm also excited to work on the next one!

Hello, so like, what is the actuall number of SPARTAN IIs in Halo?
I read in the wiki and there seems to be some conflicted information about it
75 children were chosen for the SPARTAN program, 30 died in the augmentations, 12 failed the augmentation procedure, 33 succeeded and some washouts would later become SPARTANS II anway
However, there seems to be quite the contradiction. By my counts, there seem to be 37 registered SPARTANS who succeeded the augmentation process and 15 wash outs (3 which Include the Red Team from Halo Wars), both numbers are higher then the confirmed amount
Is that just a product of the expanded universe and how it can normally have contradictory lore? Are there any Spartans considered of "Non-Cannon"?

When I turned 12 I started having contact with my father. My mother said to him he was a bad guy and he ruined her life so I was a little more fearful. You have to know about me that I already had PTSD and dissociative disorder this time. My father was an immigrant so he can hardly speak German. (He talks German like I am writing English here) Because of that I had to talk to him in easy language and mediated between him and native speakers. I had to do that despite the fact he lives here for 25 years. Everytime I wanted to talk to him seriously, he did not understand me. In my opinion he does not want to understand German. However, first he seemed to be nice but when we both spent time together he always said how bad my mother ruined his mind and how long he fighted for me and that I should be grateful. I listed to him as he said he felt so misunderstood by the police because his mother accused him of having raped her (he obviously had not raped my mother). I accepted this because of my people pleasing character traits. Because I had depression and dissociative disorder that time it happned often that I feel nothing. That caused much stress because he said I would do nothing and that I would be ungrateful to him. He did not want me to be his son at that time. He clamed I said I preferred my educators that time. What did he expect? I had a severe trauma that time and I could not trust much people at once. Because of that he spread lies about me and broke up contact with me when I was 16. (My abusive mother took advantage on it and continued contacting me). So yeah, last year we started texting again and he did not changed. He blamed my mother he broke up contact with me although it harmed me more than my mother. I tried to cheer him up and listem to him as he said his mother died and he had a lot to do. But when I said I was flashbacking and depressed again he just said I should do more sport. As you see, I do not have a clear opinion about him. I did not know what I had to do better to be a better son to him becaus ehe said he fought so long for me and he bought my first smartphone. My educators, yes the same educators who looked away when my housemate molested me, also blamed me to be ungrateful to him. I am really desperate because my heart says something else.

When I turned 12 I started having contact with my father. My mother said to him he was a bad guy and he ruined her life so I was a little more fearful. You have to know about me that I already had PTSD and dissociative disorder this time. My father was an immigrant so he can hardly speak German. (He talks German like I am writing English here) Because of that I had to talk to him in easy language and mediated between him and native speakers. I had to do that despite the fact he lives here for 25 years. Everytime I wanted to talk to him seriously, he did not understand me. In my opinion he does not want to understand German. However, first he seemed to be nice but when we both spent time together he always said how bad my mother ruined his mind and how long he fighted for me and that I should be grateful. I listed to him as he said he felt so misunderstood by the police because his mother accused him of having raped her (he obviously had not raped my mother). I accepted this because of my people pleasing character traits. Because I had depression and dissociative disorder that time it happned often that I feel nothing. That caused much stress because he said I would do nothing and that I would be ungrateful to him. He did not want me to be his son at that time. He clamed I said I preferred my educators that time. What did he expect? I had a severe trauma that time and I could not trust much people at once. Because of that he spread lies about me and broke up contact with me when I was 16. (My abusive mother took advantage on it and continued contacting me). So yeah, last year we started texting again and he did not changed. He blamed my mother he broke up contact with me although it harmed me more than my mother. I tried to cheer him up and listem to him as he said his mother died and he had a lot to do. But when I said I was flashbacking and depressed again he just said I should do more sport. As you see, I do not have a clear opinion about him. I did not know what I had to do better to be a better son to him becaus ehe said he fought so long for me and he bought my first smartphone. My educators, yes the same educators who looked away when my housemate molested me, also blamed me to be ungrateful to him. I am really desperate because my heart says something else.

“Do you love me?”
He placed his cup onto the table with enough force that she knew he was annoyed by the question.
“You know you don’t have to ask that.”
She nodded, but then immediately shook her head.
“It’s just that you never say it. You’ve never said it.”
He looked out the window.
“It’s…hard.”
She leaned over and placed her hand in his.
“I know it’s tough for you. I’m not trying to replace her, I promise. I know I never could. I just wish you could say it. I feel as if I’m just here as a poor attempt at replacing her.”
He looked her in the eyes.
“That’s not it at all. If we’d broken up or something like that, it would be different.”
She sighed in defeat.
“I know.”
“Can we please talk about something else?”
She gave a single nod but said nothing else. Awkward conversation was replaced with awkward silence.
She began to tap on the table with the tips of her fingernails. He could see something was eating at her.
He sighed with irritation.
“You clearly have something else to say, so just say it.”
Her tapping stopped. She paused for longer than she had wanted to, working up the courage to speak her mind.
“Sometimes you act like you’re the only one who has lost someone. Yes, you lost the woman you loved. But do you really think I haven’t lost just as much?”
He looked out the window again.
“I never said that.”
“No, but you act like it. You act like you had this fairy tale romance before she died. It’s constantly rubbed in my face how little I compare to her, how I can never be even close to what she was. You don’t need to say it, your attitude says enough.”
He sipped at his coffee.
“I’m sorry you feel that way.”
She snapped.
“Oh, fuck you. I am so sorry I’m not your perfect little princess. Little Miss Wonderful who never did anything wrong. Admit it, you blame me for her death. And I swear if you lie to me now, I’ll never speak to you again.”
He continued to look out the window. She hated that he couldn’t even look at her.
“I do. I blame you. If I hadn’t been with you that night, then…”
She felt hot tears gather in her eyes.
“You are such a piece of shit. You can’t take responsibility for your own actions, so you blame everyone else. You came to me that night, not the other way around. She may have done no wrong in your relationship, but you can’t act like it was the same from your end.”
He didn’t respond. He was still staring out the window, refusing to acknowledge her.
She slammed her fist on the table.
“If you hadn’t come into my room that night, she would have never seen us together. She could have been asleep in your arms, instead of driving in those conditions. You knew I liked you, and you acted upon that. I am to blame, I don’t for one second pretend that I’m not, but you are too.”
She let the tears fall freely now.
“She was my sister, goddamnit. If I have to carry the weight of guilt, then you do too.”
Finally, he turned to her. His own eyes were bloodshot and filled with tears.
“You’re right. You’re not her, and you’ll never be her. I don’t why I ever thought this could work. I want you to leave.”
She stood and turned in anger, knocking her coffee over as she did.
“I hate you. I hate you so damn much.”
He nodded and then turned away from her.
Neither of them looked back as she left.
Follow https://frankfloyd.home.blog for more stories!

Hello everyone! This post is following the previous meta thread. I was meaning to make this post shortly after the survey linked to in that thread closed.
53 responses were received. In the future, I am hoping that I can find a way to do a survey without requiring signing into Google.

Questions

Which Subreddits are you currently subscribed to?

Option	Amount
/PSO2NGS	4
/PSO2	0
Both /PSO2NGS and /PSO2	41
Neither	8

What kinds of posts do you like to look at the most on the Subreddit? Select at most 3.

This was optional and got 53 responses.

Option	Amount
Discussion	44
Phasion/Cosplay	12
Video	2
Artwork	9
Humor	4
Meme	10
Map	15
Guide	13
News	32
Megathread	11

Many responded saying they they like to look at discussion posts and game news, while few mentioned they like to look at video, humor and artwork posts.

If you do post to the Subreddit, what kind of posts do you create the most?

This was an optional question and got 28 responses.

Option	Amount
Discussion	21
Phasion/Cosplay	8
Video	2
Artwork	2
Humor	2
Meme	3
Map	0
Guide	1
News	3

Most participants said that they make discussion posts, with fashion posts being second. The Discussion post flair is a flair used for many kinds of posts that do not fall into the other post flair categories.
Fashion was the second highest that respondents selected. With the amount of these posts that are made on the subreddit, this is not a surprise.

Which of these types of posts do you feel are posted too frequently by users? Select at most 3.

Option	Amount
Discussion	5
Phasion/Cosplay	36
Video	10
Artwork	8
Humor	6
Meme	13
Map	4
Guide	0
News	1

Fashion posts are frequently posted along with discussion posts, so the results here are not surprising. Fashion is one of the game's selling points after all.
Respondents also said they feel that meme and video posts are too frequent too.

What is your opinion on the Subreddit's current rules?

Option	Amount
The rules do not need to be changed	48
The rules should be made stricter	5
The rules should be loosened	0

Most said that the rules do not need to be changed, while some said they should be made stricter. A later question asked those that said the rules need to be changed for clarification on what should be changed. I'll detail them below.

What do you feel about the current moderation of the Subreddit?

"10 and 11 ought to be enforced properly."

This is referring to Rule 10 "Low-effort memes/content", and Rule 11 "Keep screenshot/art/video posts to one per day".
For Rule 10, this is something that we have not been proactive enough on, and there are posts that have slipped through that go against this rule that should have been removed. This is something that I wish we can improve on.
For Rule 11, earlier this year we added a new bot to the subreddit that should help enforce this rule automatically for us, but checking the modlog, it doesn't appear to be working correctly. We have removed posts that go against this rule when we spot them.
Please remember though to use reddit's reporting feature if you feel that a post or comment goes against the subreddit's rules. There should be an option to specify what rule the post or comment goes against.

"More strictness toward doomposting and the like"

For any posts and comments that are intentionally negative to a point where they want the game to do poorly, shut down or discourage those from playing it because "game bad" with no explanation, then yes we do remove these as we spot them. Genuine criticism doesn't have a reason to be removed as long as it sticks to the subreddit's rules.

"Fashion, video, and meme posts should be limited to megathreads."

I cannot say that I agree with this. A lot of the subreddit's activity comes from these posts. Restricting them to megathreads would tuck them away into places where less will see them.
If your method of browsing reddit allows you to filter posts by flair, you can use that to hide types of posts you don't want to see. You can also type criteria into the search bar like flair:"Discussion" to only show a specific type of post.

"What remains irksome to me are low value, low effort, low IQ posts; I don't know how one could filter these out, so I'm not sure it's feasible to increase strictness of rules. Here are a couple recent examples. (removed two links to posts from different users)"

The first post really should have been in the weekly questions megathread. The second was just a suggestion that didn't really have anything wrong with it.

"Less spam of fashion and video only posts (example, guide/news/advice with only a video and no text summarizing video)"

Please see my response to the megathreads question above regarding fashion posts.
For the video-only posts, I do agree with you for the most part. There are YouTube video posts where a "content creator" just posts a link to their video and peace out, without making an effort to interact with the community here. We do remove these posts if done excessively. I don't think all videos posted here need such a preamble though. I will bring this up with the mod team.
Thank you to the 5 people that submitted this feedback. It is very helpful.

On a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest, how do you rate the current moderation of the Subreddit by the Subreddit's moderators?

Rating	Amount
1	1
2	0
3	15
4	20
5	17

Most responded with 4, with 5 and 3 behind. One submitted a rating of 1.

What do you feel about the current moderation of the Subreddit?

I won't go over each of the 13 responses, but here are the ones that I feel I can respond to:

"don't like mods deleting comments even if they break the rules because everything loses context and makes it look like silencing opinions, just locking/banning should be enough"

Often the users making these comments that break the subreddit rules do not deserve more attention to their comments, and we also remove the comments from other users in response to those to help prevent further disruption. You can use a service like Unddit to see removed comments if you like.

"It is fine, a bit too many fashion posts/some "humor" posts like (hidden user) that I ignore and move on, wish there were more discussions, the lore, gameplay, prediction and community discussions are always good reads."

"Mostly fine. But there have been times when a mod will "speak as a mod" and pin the comment for things outside of moderation or subreddit business"

raises hand Guilty. This is something I have been meaning to prevent myself from misusing. This is the first subreddit that I have done moderation on, and before then I've experienced various styles of moderation both hands-off and hands-off, both silly and serious. I hope this has improved in the past months.

"Never had a problem, post variety is good and there isn't a massive clutter of the same type of post. I would say there is more cosplay/fashion than other posts, but that is the nature of the game/community."

It's good to hear that the post variety is good.

"Thank you for reducing drama since release; this was my largest frustration with the subreddit and it's manageable now."

Thank you for sticking around and for the complement :)

"i'd like to see the datamine rules loosened. fashion posts should have no more than 4 images (look breakdowns excluded)"

For the datamining rules, I do wish we could too, but like I said before, I don't want us to get in trouble because somebody posted an unreleased DOLLS' ass-cheek. I'm not sure why images should be limited to 4. Do they take up too much room on your screen, or do you think it is unfair?

"Appreciate the 1 time per day rule on screenshot/art/video."

I hope we can continue to enforce it.

"They are pretty good about negating very angry and condescending comments. Otherwise there isn't enough activity on the Reddit to really worry about much. Activity on the Reddit follows the low activity in the game there's just not much going on at any given time."

Yeah, with how the game is in terms of the pace of updates and the niche community, this subreddit is rather slow. I actually do like.
I think in the future, if the subreddit does get more activity, we can perhaps look at bolstering our moderation team.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to type these response, really thank you. We appreciate it.

What kinds of resources would you like to see added to the Subreddit?

This was an optional question that got 48 responses.

Option	Amount
Links to guides on other websites written by community members, such as for getting started, class guides, skill trees, etc..	35
Links to high-quality video creators on websites like YouTube, Twitch, etc..	16
Links to communities on other websites like forums, Mastodon (the fediverse), etc..	15

Many want guides to be linked to, and this is something that I would love to do, perhaps by using the subreddit wiki feature. In the meantime, the Phantasy Star Fleet Discord server has guide channels dedicated to both NGS and base PSO2.
For the "high-quality video creators on websites", somebody actually gave a length custom response that I'll put below:

Content creators do not belong in the sidebar. That's nothing but drama drama drama. Because at some point, someone has to set a "high quality" standard, and it's always arbitrary and someone will get hurt/mad/ostracized/whathaveyou. It could even lead to people abandoning the subreddit and forming a new one if the wrong creator is supported. What can work though, is linking to Sega's list of partnered creators (puts the drama on Sega rather than individuals), this seems to work fine in other gaming subreddits.

Agreed. We can set up a link to the "NGS Official Creators" page handled by SEGA. That makes more sense than maintaining our own. Thank you for reminding me that it exists :D
For the "links to other communities", if anybody has any suggestions on what to add, we can look at and add them if we feel they are worth adding to the subreddit wiki and "new reddit" menu. We've already done that for the PSO-World forums and Phantasy Star Fleet. I should add the "Arks Cafe" Misskey (Fediverse) server as well.
I'll also list the other custom responses here:

"Weapon guides w/ the class guides; Maybe guides or references to moneymaking strategies (PSE burst tech, note farming, etc.). Maybe a link to the NGS Official Creators page."

Please see my responses above.

"A stickied post for commonly asked questions"

The weekly questions megathread does have some links that should help out, but this is something we can improve on. We do have a FAQ wiki page that I created but I have admittedly neglected it...

"Link to the Arks Visiphone wiki as a high quality source of information about the game. May answer a lot of questions that eople may otherwise post on the subreddit"

We already do have links to this in some places, but we can look at making it more obvious

"A video game"

sir this is a community-run subreddit

"Possibly a news bot or a dedicated poseter for pso2 website articles to cut down on repetitive questions"

We are already looking into this :)

How did you originally find the Subreddit? Select all that apply.

This was an optional question and got 52 responses.

Option	Amount
Social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.)	1
Video websites (YouTube, Twitch, Niconico, etc.)	0
Instant Messaging (Discord, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, etc.)	0
Search engine (Google, Bing, Qwant, etc.)	10
In-game	0
Recommended by reddit	6
The /pso2 Subreddit	39

Thank you for answering this question. Many said they came from the /pso2 subreddit, with the rest coming from search engines, recommendations and social media. The following custom responses were given too:

• "Searching Reddit for PSO2 Subreddits"
• "Been a reddit user since the demise of Digg, if I play a game, I seek out its subreddit."
• "I started playing and then is searched it ip on reddit"

Ooh a Digg user. I never used it, but I've heard how it essentially self-destructed.

What servers do you play on for PSO2:NGS?

This was multi-choice.

Option	Amount
Global	49
JP	9

Naturally many users here play on the Global server, but some, including me, play on the Japanese server.

If your feedback has not already been covered by the previous questions, please write it below.

• "You're doing a great job!"
• "Keep up the good work!"
• "I've never understood what the "Out of context Central" posts are. If someone could put them in context when they get posted, that would be great."
• "The community is going good so keep it up"
• "I'd like to share some outfits eventually but posting the breakdowns is a little bit much many times."

Thank you sooooo much to everyone who took part in this survey. I am hoping to do something like this again next year.

Ok ok, now we all gotta remember season 1 right.... how the undercover actually went over brought him expensive alcohol I forgot her name the one misty kidnapped and killed. Anywho lottie would not of been there due to the fact she did state she saw him the night b4 his death, now if that was the case lottie would have just missed her if she is telling the truth, and not only that travis drinking that much he would of been drunk even seeing lottie. I mean she knew what Nat was gonna do with the gun, so it's fair to say lottie has surveillance on them all! So the fact Nat didn't even question her makes me somewhat believe lottie did successfully manipulate Nat into thinking this is how he died. When in fact she wasn't that far off when she went to Travis's work place and saw him hanging. Now mind you I'm guessing if lotties story is true, misty and Nat saw travis within the time frame lottie was around. So it's not really Plausible for her the even be at the barn. But then again she didnt admit to seeing laura lee so therefore how can you even believe anything she said. I will admit this season is more predictable than the first and I'm disappointed

One of the most common pieces of rhetoric related to East Asian geopolitics that I hear online, in headlines, and in real life is the looming suspension that China will invade Taiwan at any moment. The Russian invasion of Ukraine served as excellent fuel to the fire that the new “axis of evil” was planning complete world domination via expanding its borders in a way similar to the archaic pre-ww1 era of geopolitics. It’s such a warhawkish and completely foolish way of looking at the world and I have yet to see any damning evidence of it besides some ballistic CPC official saying nonsense like a US politician would. The Chinese government is not idiotic and would not risk the entire country’s security and stability over the island.
I am ready to change my mind on anything here provided you give reliable, credible sources and not emotional rhetoric.
​

• 1. China gains nothing economically from taking Taiwan and military action will only serve to collapse the progress people fought tooth and nail for.

Despite their relationship on paper, China and Taiwan are close economic partners of one another and in 2022 Taiwan ranked 4th among China’s trading partners by volume, not including the EU and ASEAN, to the point where it currently has a trade deficit with them. When looking at China as a trading partner of Taiwan, the PRC currently makes up over 25% percent of all its international trade. They are closely linked economically and both would suffer severely(admittedly Taiwan much more) if war ever began between the two.
Furthermore, the Chinese government is not full of warhawk fools. I will concede that they’re prone to flexing their muscles by repetitively forcing its neighbours to scramble fighters and that there are certainly vocal members who make grand proclamations and threats, but this is far from indicative of a militaristic expansionist policy. They have likely always been well aware, much more now because of the Russian-Ukraine War, that a violation of the de-facto sovereignty of Taiwan would mean worldwide economic isolation and a subsequent rollback on the progress the economy has made since Deng Xiaoping. China’s largest trading partners besides ASEAN and Taiwan are the EU, South Korea, Japan, and the US all of which would close their doors to China if it acted against Taiwan. Furthermore, China would have hell on their hands trying to un-entrench all of the Japanese/American dominated business partnerships which exist in the country's various industries. The only potential material objective of a war, hegemony over chipmaking, could easily be sabotaged and denied outright.
The Chinese government, while one party and authoritarian, does possess a degree of popular sovereignty. The people see economic progress as a source of immense national pride and they continue to support the government because they've made that happen. They contributed to the end of Gang of Four through mass protests against the wretched Cultural Evolution in 1976. Furthermore there are elections and “parties'' within the CPC, at a local level, who then proceed up the ladder of civil servitude through the modernised examination system similar to the imperial keju. This is still nothing close to a liberal democracy, but the people do have a degree of control over the power of their government. If the Chinese economy collapses and Chinese die fighting Chinese in Taiwan, it will no doubt pose a greater threat to the power of the CPC than any foreign actor could.
TL;DR: China is economically intertwined with Taiwan and the “Western” bloc and would suffer immensely if they invaded Taiwan, leading to potential regime change by its own people.
​

• 2. China suffers militarily if it invades Taiwan, even in the event of complete and swift total victory.

In the improbable scenario that China miraculously takes Taiwan without much struggle, what happens next? (besides endless sanctions and diplomatic isolation, of course). China now directly faces a Pacific completely dominated by the United States and to a lesser extent EU states and Japan. This would not only give the US an excuse to greatly expand its military expenditure and presence in the pacific, but also be a shock that could pave the way for the increasing nationalist militarisation of Japan that has been occurring in the last two decades. Both of these things would negate any real gains China would see by controlling the island.
A common misconception that I see is that China remains entrenched in the ill-trained, ill-armed “human wave” tactics of the Korean war. China’s military has advanced exponentially and is now a modern, specialised fighting force capable of limited global power projection. That being said, their navy is nowhere close to being able to challenge the US on open waters. You can point to China’s silent economic battle in the pacific island nations as an attempt to expand, but these nations are still de-facto US satellites and there is no amount of money you could pay to them to attempt to challenge that by authorising a Chinese navy base of some kind. Taiwan would be a deadend for the Chinese military and would serve little to no purpose for power projection.
In a realistic scenario, an amphibious invasion of Taiwan would likely see a similar situation to Ukraine, where western bloc economies funnel money and eventually weapons to the country. It’s not as if the PLA can cross a border and start fighting, they have 180km of strait to move across before they can even begin the fighting man-to-man. Furthermore, Taiwan is a strategic location for the US and it would seek to gain much more by pumping as much into the fight as its able to and the mobilisation of the Chinese Military could act as a causa-belli for the US to become directly involved. Even if somehow they didn’t, Taiwan’s military is not made of paper even if it isn’t fantastic and China would require nothing less than a complete and total, non-pyrrhic victory. The island could be eventually pacified but at the cost of potential millions of lives over years.
TL;DR: Even if China somehow invades Taiwan without struggle, it will come face to face with the US, Japan, and potentially more. It has no military incentive to have one less buffer state between it and its “enemies.” Outside of that scenario, an amphibious invasion of a highly developed and militarised country would not be easy.
​

• 3. China would suffer domestically and diplomatically if it invaded Taiwan and end its position as a “neutral” global power.

Despite the antagonistic face both states put on towards one another on a higher level, Chinese and Taiwanese do not simply see the other as a demonised enemy. For instance, China and Taiwan enjoyed extensive tourism from one another before COVID. What could justify the slaughter of the Chinese inhabitants of Taiwan in the event of an invasion, the brothers and sisters that they love to hate?
In addition to the domestic situation on the Mainland, an evitable partisan insurgency, whether astroturfed or organic, would be a multi-million strong ulcer sticking directly in the face of Japan and the US Pacific who’d probably love to add fuel to the fire given that the population of Taiwan already loves the both of them. Furthermore, Chinese failure to maintain control and a subsequent retreat would give an excuse for the US and Japan to move militarily into the region and give an empirical, legal backing for de-jure Taiwanese independence in the eyes of the world.
China has sought the avenue of soft-power and purely economic deals as a means to expand its influence and has done so successfully. This can be seen especially by the recent signing of the Chinese-facilitated Saudi-Iran agreement to restore diplomatic relations, which has major implications for the geopolitical landscape of a Middle East traditionally dominated by the hard power of the US. military and economy. A sudden military campaign would undermine any facade that China is a peaceful nation seeking neutrality and destroy decades of work on the international stage.
In addition to all of this, putting away all the emotionally charged rhetoric about democracy vs. authoritarianism, Taiwan’s current place in the global order is a bargaining chip between the US. and China. Both sides can use the island’s de-jure political status as a means to intimidate, provoke, or bargain on all kinds of matters. For instance, the US could basically give China a greenlight to begin a forceful integration into the country via a Two Systems One China policy in exchange for the forgiveness of X% of US debt or China could de-jure recognise of Taiwanese sovereignty in exchange for extensive trade expansion in favour of Chinese interests. Why would China or the US just throw a powerful card like this away?
TL;DR: China only gains the rise of domestic unrest, the loss of a major bargaining chip, the end of neutrality, and over 20 million potential insurgents in a province separated by 180 km of water.
​
Some common rebuttals I see related to a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

• China does more than just say things, it actually flies jets into their airspace and flies missiles over the island all the time.

Fair point, but this is not a pretext to an invasion or signs that it plans to act militarily against the island. It’s more like a dude puffing up his chest and pressing someone to look tough and intimidating than an actual threat, it’s a mind game of intimidation and message sending. If a US diplomat visited Taiwan and China instead did nothing, what would that say about China’s strength, is it shrinking back from the US and Taiwanese claims? The country has to remain neutral but also show its not afraid of showing force.

• Why would the US give away Taiwan for debt, isn't that basically trading democracy for X amount of money?

Due to the international grey area Taiwan sits in, the US cannot go in and just start setting up military bases or move mass amounts of military into their waters as it would be an indirect affront to China. Taiwan has no formal military contracts with any nation. It cannot be a true US strategic ally for this reason, so would require a green light from China or a war for the US to make a proclamation one way or another. The US is also not above trading democracy for other motives and has promoted much worse throughout its recent history, this would not be a surprising move.

• Taiwan is much smaller than the Ukraine has no land borders with friendly countries, it would be a much different situation in regards to aid due to the fact Taiwan is an island

This is true, but remember who controls virtually all the seas and air east of Taiwan. If you and I can understand that, a government of 1.4 billion probably can too. China would risk all out war and further isolation if it struck civilian shipping vessels, invoking “Remember the Lusitania!” 100 years later.

• The “NATO encirclement” theory in the Ukraine can also apply to Taiwan as China is already surrounded by almost 100,000 US troops and two powerful US allies. A further move by the US into the island could cement cause for war

As previous stated, Taiwan is an international grey area. They are de-facto independent but not in the eyes of the UN or any international organisation of any weight. You can’t start attempting to enlarge something like an unofficial Pacific Alliance Treaty Organisation without seriously stoking fires and causing an international crisis. Due to the economic relationship between the US, China, and other regional pacific powers, I don’t think there's much of a reason to antagonise China by an attempted encroachment through Taiwan.

• China has a lot of ideological reasons for war and could easily drum up nationalistic support for it if it needed to, especially if the government was in dire need of a morale boost.

Yes the Chinese government loves their nationalist righteous propaganda and could paint Taiwan as a country “occupied by vile capitalists exploiting the Chinese,” but it's not 1960-70s anymore. The whole righteous fight idea is over, and China is settling into becoming a first-world nation in major cities such as Beijing. People want China to fight for progress economically and developmentally, it's now a social market economy and those in cities live with the luxuries of capitalist life; Mao’s red banner fell with Deng Xiaoping. I would like to assume China is far above invading another country in the name of drumming up public morale, it did not work for Argentina in 1982 nor for King Charles X in 1830, it would be foolish to try again.

• People made the same points I made about Russia when they began to build up their military on the Ukraine’s border.

True, but the dynamics of China and Taiwan are completely different than Russia and the Ukraine. Russia was/is a fading star on a world stage and had been in decline for decades prior to the war. A west-leaning Ukraine has always presented a direct threat to Russia which is why it did all it could to neuter the Ukraine’s power and diminish influence from western powers. I don’t excuse Russia’s invasion as justified by any means but I do think it’s not a good idea to entirely rule out the idea of feeling “encircled” by anti-Russian governments. Moscow is basically a straight 800 km march from Kiev through open plains.
Contrast this to China, a country on the rise and a global cornerstone with much more to lose than Russia. Taiwan is also much more economically integrated with its neighbours and the world than the Ukraine was. Ukraine barely made up 2% of Russia's total imports and did not serve as a pillar in several industries before the war. When the Ukraine was invaded, all western consumers felt was a minor price hike on wheat but if Taiwan was invaded, they'd feel it in any sector that requires chip manufacturing. A completely hostile Taiwan can also not pose the same threat to China as the Ukraine did to Russia, largely due to the 180km strait seperating the two.
Also, China generally avoids using its military anywhere but its own borders unless it’s being an asshole on international waters. Russia’s policy, on the other hand, has been much more direct and heavy-handed post-USSR as can be seen in Syria, Libya, Georgia, CAR, the Ukraine in 2014, etc etc. If China suddenly was poised to invade the Kinmen and Matsu islands or borderlands of Central Asia I’d start sounding expansionist alarms, but this has not ever been the case despite the ease with which it would have probably been done.
Sources: (more can be provided upon request)
Trade by country in 2018 (PRC)
http://www.customs.gov.cn/customs/302249/zfxxgk/2799825/302274/302275/4794352/index.html
Tourists by country to PRC (2018)
https://data.stats.gov.cn/easyquery.htm?cn=C01&zb=A0K01&sj=2018
Tourists by country to Taiwan (2018)
https://admin.taiwan.net.tw/Handlers/FileHandler.ashx?fid=0ce1616b-6af8-4190-9bd9-c324e6752bc8&type=4&no=1
p. 51 for information on the capabilities of the Chinese navy and power projection (2022)
https://media.defense.gov/2022/Nov/29/2003122279/-1/-1/1/2022-MILITARY-AND-SECURITY-DEVELOPMENTS-INVOLVING-THE-PEOPLES-REPUBLIC-OF-CHINA.PDF
Ex. Japanese-Taiwanese relations
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taiwan-pledges-deeper-japan-security-cooperation-senior-lawmaker-visits-2022-12-10/
Taiwanese outlook on Japan, (survey is small)
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/03/18/national/taiwan-affinity-japan/
Brief thread on the Taiwanese military
https://www.reddit.com/CredibleDefense/comments/wah0u6/dispelling\_the\_myth\_of\_taiwan\_military\_competency/

[SPOILER WARNING: THIS POST IS OBVIOUSLY GOING TO HAVE SOME PRETTY BIG SPOILERS FOR NEEDLEMOUSE, SO I RECOMMEND WATCHING THE SERIES BEFORE READING THIS POST IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE SO ALREADY (trust me, it's good).
Though it's also being rebooted with a rewritten story since the creator wasn't satisfied with how the old one turned out so eh, do what you want.]
Hi everyone, Whoce here. Today I've got a new theory to bring to y'all, one which I find to be very interesting and plausible.
Needlem0use is a YouTube Analogue horror series created by ShutUpJojo, which aims to act as a rewrite of the old and infamous creepypasta Sonic.exe, which was (and it still is) mocked for being of low quality, to turn it into something better.
That said, the story deviates away quite a bit from its original source material as instead of the classic cosmic Void entity that we all know and hate, this series follows [warning: in-depth story summary] a young woman named Sarah Henderson, who fell in love with another woman named Lily King. Sarah was born sometime in the 40s and started going to college in the early 60s, a time period where LGBTQ+ relationships were heavily discriminated against, much more so than today, and as a result Sarah and Lily would have to keep their relationship a secret. Sarah also had her own friend group, known as "The Fun Gang", who she was incredibly close to, so much so that they're the only people (that we know of) who Sarah trusted enough to know about her and Lily's relationship. The Fun Gang was composed of Sarah and three guys named Luther, Michael and Martin. One day, while Luther and Sarah were chatting, she brings up a college party that her and Lily want to attend, but she's worried due to their aforementioned relationship, so she asks Luther to come with them and help them cover up. Luther accepts and on the day of the party ends up bring Martin and Michael with him as well. During the party, the friends end up having a bit too many and get into a fight. One thing leads to another, and soon enough Sarah ends up dropping dead on the carpet. Realizing what just happened, the three dudes then decide to hide the body by burying it near a lake and never say anything out of fear of being arrested, a decision which will go on to haunt them for the rest of their lives.
Nearly thirty years later SEGA creates their now renowned mascot Sonic the Hedgehog along with his game series, which brings the company a ton of success. One of their buildings would wind up being built over the site where Sarah was buried. To add insult to injury, Luther would be hired to work at that very same building. This leads to Sarah's soul becoming stuck to a disc compilation of the 4 Sonic SEGA Genesis games and posssessing Sonic's spritesheet. Incredibly furious at her former friends for the fact that she was basically murdered by them, she lures all three of them into playing the game, kills them and locks their souls inside of the other characters, proceeding to then torture them for the rest of time. That is until 2008 when Luther's son Thomas discovers the old disc, along with his friend Kyle. Sarah goes after them and kills Kyle, but the series ultimately ends with the Tom surviving and everyone, including Sarah, being freed and passing on to the afterlife.
But why would I think this creepypasta series is canon to FNaF? Well, it's simple!

Piece of evidence numero uno: incredibly similar stories

The story of Needlem0use is that of a murder victim who came back by possessing and turning into a ghostly cartoon character to get revenge on her killers, killing and trapping them in her own made up hell for the rest of eternity, where she can torture them forever. Does that sound familiar? That's right, that's just UCN but with Sonic! Sarah acts just like Cassidy.
Not even to mention how Sarah shoved Luther's soul into Tails, Sonic's best friend, just like how William ended up dying inside of Spring Bonnie, Fredbear's best friend, because of Cassidy chasing him down.
And Sarah also goes after Tom and Kyle despite the fact that neither of them have anything to do with her murder, they weren't even alive back then, Sarah just wants to make sure that no one knows about her or any of the others. Similarly to how Cassidy, along with the other kids, go after William's son, Mike, thinking that he's harmful in some way, like wanting to take away their Happiest Day or even actually being William. They also go after other innocent security guards thinking that they're William.
Sarah attacking Tom and Kyle to hide the existence of the disc in fear of someone trying to destroy it could also be compared to how A̵͔͚̙̼̞͓͙͍̝̫͌͛n̶̡̜̻͎͍̜̙͑͋̓̌̓̀͒̎̎̀͆͛̚͝d̷̢̼̼̳̼̹̼̥͔͍͕̗̐̌̈̎͗͂͐̌̏͂̀̅̕͝͝r̵̖͂̌̾̌̆è̶̗͖͕̰͙̤̮̺̟͋̌̐̃̋̀̕͝w̶̢͙͇̪͉̝̲̹͓̯̙͋̍̆̊͒̔̔͛͑ ̷̨̨̜̹̯̲͔̮̟̰̠͍̗̑̊g̴̨̻̰̟͎̩̒̽̂̈́̎̋͂̊̾̅̕͝͠ͅo̷̡̮͂̉͆̿̓̈́̒͒ẽ̶̛͎͍̘̀̍̏̆̈́ș̴̨̣̳̫̱͈̝̝̼̩̱͙̋̈́͑͑̽̔̔̊̽͠ ̵͇͈̜͖̹̺͆̏̋̇̓͆̈́̕a̴̗̱̩͆̉̐̆͐̈́̇͗̀͗̈́̓f̶̡̨̨̗̜̩̪̤̼̩̦̫̘̀ͅṱ̸̡͕̱̫̯̭̥̱̙͔̈͜͝͠ê̷̟̹͕͐́͜͜͠ͅr̸̡̧̳̲͈͔̝̗̖͓̮̀̂̓̏̔ ̴̨̧̙̜̟̲̈́͛̈͜t̸̺̱̃̄̎̋̈̑̽͝͝h̸̡̨̳̺͚͔͎̼͉̼̀̓̃̀̀͜͝ͅě̴̺͔̦͖͊̃͒̇̅͒͗̅͘͜ ̶̡͚̬͖̝͈̻̼̳͖͊̆̉͐̔̃̊̅̐̒̊̄̄ͅn̵̢͔͚̜̙͉̗̺͕̱̦̯͎̂͐́̋͐̀̎́́̓̑̍̚͝u̶̮͋̑͋͐̓̚ŗ̴̭̣̳͎͙̯̲̹̲̰͐̒̓́̀̾̄̋̆̈́̿̚͜͝s̷̹̬̭̞͗̏̓̑̄ͅe̶̢͔͓̣͖̳̘̰͉̽̉̽̌̃͆̃̾̽͊̆̕̚͝ŝ̵̨̰̞̣̲̺͔̞̘̼̰̈́̑́̆̀̽̕͜͝ͅ ̸͉̮̤̩̻̞̳̯͍̪̀̓̂̉̌̃̀̆́́͌͑͝a̴̹̩͉͎̣͚͇͍̺͘s̶͔̼̯̠̄̑͂͐̊̕ ̶̰͕̤̒̈͋̈́͆͗̒̓̊̃͛̈̕͝͝ţ̴̢̛̝͕̭͍̟̩̘͎̩̾̂̇͊̾͂̓̋̏͋͌͝ờ̷̖͓̼̖̃͆̊̌̒̓͂̾̄̏ͅ ̴̳̱͔̮͌͑͋͛͌̐͂̓͐̑͝ś̷̮̺͈̀ͅť̴͚̱̻̲̗͙͌̅̕ó̶̡̘̻̹̹̜̱̠̟͓͚̖̲̈́̆̃̈͂̀͘p̷̜̠̫̠̋̓̽̕͝ ̶̡̡̲̬̬͇̹͖̗̗͓̙̙̑͌̏̒̔̕͘͜͜t̵̰͕͛̓̐͆h̴̢̡̨̧̨̩͚̼̼̻̘̺̟̤̐͛̀̕̕ĕ̵̛̤̖̄̀́͗̇̔̄͘̚̕̕ͅm̷̨̖̫̟͇̖̮̖̞̜̔̅̓͜͠ ̶̧̖̠͉̻̱̼̻̎͑́̓͌͊̈̈́͐̋̽̄̕͘͜f̴̨̢͙͚̱͑̽ȓ̷̨͕͍̙͍͉̖̼̍̋̇͝o̵̢̞̟̭̝̱͚͍̳̩̍͂͛̊̇̓̿̓̌̌͋̈́́̐͘m̵̡͙̠̪͙͖̮͇͎͙͈͈͛̂͒͌̃̉́̈́́̒͗̍̇͜͝ ̶̧̻̫̖̭̪͕̤͙̼̃̍̚̚k̸̢̡͖̣̱̣̳̥̐͘į̸̹̫͓͎͍̯̌̊͐̂͗̒̃̋̌̌͆̕̕̚l̴͚̖̊̈͋̆̂͐̍͑̂͗̐̄͌͝l̴͈͉͖̼̦̼̟̟̼̜̬̃̈́̅̓͜ͅi̶̖̅̋͆ņ̸̨͈͍͉̖̥̖̮̱̍̍̀̋̚g̸͈̫̹̺͎͉̩͕̦͎̦̋͊̀̀̃̊͐̆̾͒ ̶̛͙̪̭̭̩̯͉̼̖͕̖̀̐̒̆͐̈́̐͝W̸̻͔̙͇̹͕͚̤̤̗͙̒͒ͅḯ̵̠̖̜̻̀̍͌̅̅̽̚͠l̷̘͙̙͂͒́̊͆̚͝l̸̡͇̮̮͙͋̉̽̄̓́̌̉̎̀̏͆̍̕i̸̢̢̡̱̰̥̺̟̻͖͔̗͂̿̎͐͂̀̍̅̕ͅa̷̟̦̎̒͌͌̏̍̉́̽͝m̴̖͚̥̃̂́̾̐̉̆̿͗̀--
No character known as "Andrew" exists, has existed or will ever exist. The Fazbear Frights are nothing but an elaborate coverup, an extensive effort to brainwash the populace and conceal the truth. I request that you cease believing their lies or I'll be forced to take immediate action.
ShutUpJojo has also said in a tweet that I can't find anymore that Needlemouse is "basically FNaF".

• In addition, Sonic.exe, the creepypasta that Needlemouse is derivative of, has a fairly similar story to FNaF as well.

It details an entity known as X, who takes on the form of Sonic and uses a Sonic game disc to lure in players. He then kills said players, takes their souls and turns them into their favourite Sonic character. Thus, you could say that overall X is very similar in his tactics to William, who puts on a Spring Bonnie suit to lure kids who love the character. He then kills those kids and they end up stuffed inside of the other animatronics, with their souls possessing them.
The newest official iteration of X, Xenophanes, created by the new owner of the creepypasta, Astranomicon/Shei, is also ourple
And don't even get me started on Glitchtrap or his supposed "cult", which is very reminiscent of the Cult of X.

• Furthermore, Foxy.exe exists, showing an official connection between FNaF and Sonic.exe.

So now that we've established Needlemouse (and Sonic.exe in general) as a piece of FNaF content, what exactly makes it canon to the FNaF game timeline?

Piece of evidence numero dos: incredibly similar supernatural laws

Let's start with an obvious one; possession. Sarah possesses the Sonic disc and she's able to shove her friends' spirits into the disc as well. While in the disc she can show up on-screen as a distorted version of Sonic, just like William is able to show up in The Freddy Fazbear Virtual Experience as a distorted version of Spring Bonnie after his soul got scanned into the game.
Sarah can also appear as herself and sometimes as a distorted version of herself, just like how in the Happiest Day minigames, which are seemingly arcade games haunted by the agony of the kids, you can see and interact with the missing children themselves. And Cassidy is also seemingly able to appear as what is seemingly a version of herself in Princess Quest.
Sarah locking her friends in the game after attacking them could also be compared to Glitchtrap locking Vanessa's mind in the VR game at the end of Help Wanted.
Sarah being able to show up in the real world, outside of the game also isn't that crazy of an idea and it seems to be perfectly consistent with what we know is possible in FNaF as well. She seems to be doing the same thing that Golden Freddy is doing with how he projects himself out of the Fredbear suit (as FNaF 2 confirms that an actual FredbeaGolden Freddy suit exists), as evidenced by the fact that Sarah has similar powers/abilities to Golden Freddy while she's outside of the disc.
Sure, the thing about Sarah possessing the disc after SEGA built one of their buildings over her corpse may seem farfetched in FNaF, but it's not impossible. After all, Take Cake to the Children and SAVETHEM both suggest that William kills his victims before stuffing them into the suits and that stuffing their already dead bodies still ultimately results in their souls possessing the animatronics. In his latest timeline video, MatPat has also proposed the idea that Charlotte was able to possess the PizzaPlex after it was built over her resting place in the FFPS location, explaining stuff like the presence of the weird Nightmarionne plushies and STAFF bots, the Puppet-like colouring of the power cords etc. so that could also explain how Sarah was able to ultimately possess the disc.
As everyone is passing on at the end of Season 2 of Needlemouse, they seem to enter a state that is kinda similar to Happiest Day and/or potentially even to what happens with Susie at the end of Coming Home.

• But the biggest similarity between the paranormal rules of Needlemouse and those of FNaF has to be the existence of Shadow characters.

As we all should know, in FNaF there exists the elusive Shadow animatronics. From what we know of them they're most likely reflections of certain people or events created out of Dark Remnant (aka negative emotional energy, like agony and rage). For example, we know from one of Shadow Freddy's/Nightmare's lines in UCN ("I am your wickedness, made of flesh.") that he's made out of William's wickedness, and he certainly acts like it as well.
In FNaF 3, he appears during the Follow Me minigames, where he can be seen luring the animatronics to William, who's hiding in the safe room, in a very similar manner to how William lured the MCI victims to the safe room. He even uses the exact same line that William used, that being "Follow me.", as seen in Fruity Maze and Henry refers to him as a trap that William set for the missing kids. In FNaF 1-3 he also appears in the exact same places that William did. We first see him in FNaF 2, where we know William worked the nightshift and killed 5 more kids the week prior and during the course of the game now works the dayshift. We also see him in Follow Me and during the office gameplay in FNaF 3, where William is obviously present as Springtrap. He doesn't appear in FNaF 1, which could be explained as William not being present there in any capacity.
There's also Eleanor, who needs no introduction. She's a dark chaotic force created out of William's wickedness, similarly to Shadow Freddy (hence why some people think that they're connected/the same entity), who throughout the course of several stories like Into the Pit, Count the Ways etc imitates William or one of his creations. She also helps William become the Amalgamation in Epilogue #6.
Likewise, Needlemouse has a very similar entity in the form of Atem, a dark malicious being created out of Sarah's rage, built up over the course of the 30 years that she's spent rotting under the ground near the lake. Similarly to how Shadow Freddy takes the form of Fredbear, Atem takes the form of a skeletal Sonic the Hedgehog.
Similarly to Shadow Freddy behaving like William, the way Atem acts perfectly mimics Sarah while in an angry state. Throughout the series he only ever really appears while Sarah is in a state where she feels remorse/regret as opposed to rage, like just after she murdered Kyle, after which she breaks down crying over the fact that she just murdered an innocent person. Atem then appears in front of her and starts saying things like "You're the victim here.", something which Sarah obviously believes in within the context of what happened between her and her former friends. Afterwards, after fully coming into control of Mecha-Sonic MK II, Kyle tries to confront Sarah, at which point Atem disappears and Sarah goes wicked once again, successfully striking Kyle down in the next few scenes. This suggests that Atem caused Sarah to regain her rage, at least for a brief period of time.
Then, once Sarah tries to kill Tom, Luther stops her and tells her that she's the murderer here and she's only making everything worse, at which point Sarah starts to feel regret over everything again. Then Atem starts telling Sarah stuff like "You've been through so much... and now that you have a chance to be happy... he wants to take it away.", something which also mimics Sarah's attititude at the end of Season 1, where she says that now that she trapped all 3 of her friends in the disc with her they'll be together forever and she'll never be alone again. He also reminds her that "It is their fault you're dead."
Atem then offers to help her out by holding Luther off while she goes to kill Tom. During the Finale we see Atem trying to mentally break Luther by making him that he's a murderer as well and that he's just as bad as Sarah, an obvious call-back to what he said to her.

Piece of evidence numero tres: Sarah and Cassidy are the same person

As stated above in the section about FNaF and Needlemouse/Sonic.exe having similar stories, Sarah and Cassidy have incredibly similar personalities and commit similar actions, both being vengeful spirits who trap their murderers in their own artificial hells featuring cartoon characters. But the personality is not the only thing that connects these two together.
Here's how Sarah looks like:
https://preview.redd.it/tr5le0srm9ra1.jpg?width=195&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4f86b4d47e69ddcf974cd4bbabef3e06803e7f7f
A woman with long, black hair. Now how was Cassidy described to look like in The Fourth Closet again?

"And that's Cassidy." A girl with long black hair approached, carrying more pictures in her arms.

Aditionally Cassidy also seems to make an appearance in The Survival Logbook, where she takes on an appearance that is consistent with the way she looks like in TFC. Yes, she has pigtails which she doesn't have in the book, but you need long hair to make pigtails, so it's not an inconsistency in my eyes.
But how would Sarah and Cassidy be the same person if Sarah died in the 60s as a young woman and Cassidy died in the 80s as a little kid? The answer is incredibly simple; Cassidy is a rebuilt android version of Sarah, which we know to be possible due to Gregory being a rebuilt android version of the Bite of '83 Victim given what is probably a different name for who the hell knows what reason.
In that same vein, it's possible someone who knew Sarah was knowledgeable enough to be able to try to "recreate" Sarah in a way by building robots made in her image, though with a different name for who the hell knows what reason. And who knows, maybe they decided to make versions representing her at all sorts of ages, so that the people she was close to can relive all their happy moments with her.
But what the hell is Golden Freddy then? Cassidy wouldn't have a soul if she was a robot! But y'know, that's not necessarily true. After all, Charlie in the novels does have a soul. An artificial one made out of Henry's grief, but still a soul. We know that a ton of people were really upset by Sarah being declared missing, especially Lily, so it's possible an artificial Cassidy soul could be created out of their collective grief.
In this case, Golden Freddy would be like a weird cross-section between a soul and the Shadow animatronics, which tbh makes sense, given how he's able to do stuff like teleporting, fading out of existence, crashing the game et cetera, stuff that the Shadow animatronics are also able to do.
And that ladies and gents has been "Needlemouse is canon to the FNaF universe". I hope you enjoyed this totally serious theory and I wish you all a great rest of your day!

Hisagi is probably a lot of people’s unlikely favorite character. If you told me that the guy who was defeated off-screen by Yumichika would go on to be so awesome (and become one of my favorites) during the Fake Karakura Town Arc I wouldn’t have believed you; but he did. Unfortunately this is the coolest Hisagi will ever be. Despite the promise of him using his recently learned Bankai, the only thing we see him do in TYBW arc is get beaten up.
https://preview.redd.it/f2671bc9v9ra1.png?width=949&format=png&auto=webp&s=28889036a2eaf9f3f70c43ddb6de9db834656ff4
It’s obvious that Kubo had bigger plans for Hisagi that he had to cut short, probably due to his health or to avoid repetition, as evident by his role of the main character in the (in)famous Can’t Fear Your Own World novel. I know the novel revealed his Bankai and “did him Justice” but I want to “do him Justice” in the Manga, during the Thousand-Year Blood War; and there is a super easy way to do it.

1. Damsel in Distress

The manga already does a good job setting up the idea of Hisagi learning Bankai with him training with Kensei and Mashiro, so the only thing that changes here would be just adding some stuff.
https://preview.redd.it/wafguvoux9ra1.png?width=669&format=png&auto=webp&s=f90ba05d27ec128bd6697faa8a4d480ece7da171
After being beaten up by Driscoll, Hisagi will be confronted by Kensei about how he constantly needs to be saved. Hisagi was on the ground, unresponsive and demoralized as a bunch of Soldats were approaching him. It’s like the 3rd time Kensei has come to his rescue and now even the Captain-Commander was forced to save him. He gives him more of the “tough love” that Kensei is known for and, before going off to fight a Sternritter, he tells Hisagi that if he were to survive this Invasion, there is training need to be done because he isn't always going to be there to save him. Hisagi of course survives and then goes on to train for Bankai with Kensei.
https://preview.redd.it/srm3t0xbv9ra1.png?width=709&format=png&auto=webp&s=d444827f94e5bf3901c4b026693630b8771a5697
Yes, with Kensei; NOT with Mashiro. If Hisagi is training to achieve Bankai then it’s only natural for him to train against someone who has it. Mashiro can still participate but at some point, Kensei should take over because their training should be used to build a better relationship between the two. Kensei is the reason why Hisagi became a Soul Reaper; he is his Hero, the man he looks up to and strives to be.
https://preview.redd.it/uku0nsdev9ra1.png?width=949&format=png&auto=webp&s=27a4b20b5f60c81ff7ee6caac2a7b0006dab4021

2. Never Meet Your Heroes

There are many instances with Hisagi where he fights someone, so any of those could be a good pick for a rewrite. However, there is no better pick for Hisagi’s opponent than…
https://preview.redd.it/dhgyp5ffv9ra1.png?width=949&format=png&auto=webp&s=df3007d2fe8c865c5c6b06c61102e5ddca797b4c
Now, this might seems like an absolutely nonsense pick at first, and it is, but the reason as to why he is the best pick is not because of PePe himself but rather when the fight takes place and who he takes control of – Kensei Muguruma.
Reminder that he only failed to do this in the manga because Mayuri took control of the Zombies (and his Zombies know no love), which will no longer be the case here.
At this point in the story there is a big battle between the Sternritters and the Gotei 13, and Kensei has been turned into a Zombie. PePe is going to take control of that Zombie (just how he tried in the manga) and have him fight Hisagi during that big battle.
https://preview.redd.it/nxne8f2iv9ra1.png?width=949&format=png&auto=webp&s=24b6ec9bc12a98aab2de3b546af91618a885b0e7
Where originally, Byakuya would’ve fought brainwashed Hisagi, now, Hisagi is going to fight brainwashed Zombie Kensei. He will now be facing off against his Captain (and PePe); a sight that he is sadly quite familiar with…
https://preview.redd.it/0hwbscqkv9ra1.png?width=949&format=png&auto=webp&s=5ac75869fb93d19294a8b512919ed05097e7ed93

3. Done With the Wind

Hisagi is yet again facing his Captain in battle, all be it, a mind-controlled one this time. Then again, he considers what Aizen did to Tōusen as a form of mind-control. As the fight continues, Hisagi is naturally outmatched by his Captain. Kensei is a stronger Hakuda fighter, Hisagi knows that all too well, so he dominates the fight even without his Zanpakuto, let alone when he activates his Shikai, Tachikaze.
https://preview.redd.it/4aafq36mv9ra1.png?width=562&format=png&auto=webp&s=f20d77c90b156b273706ee62117ec4f37ca8f2ef
Hisagi somehow manages to match his Captain with his own Shikai, Kazeshini, despite receiving a serious beating.
In CFYOW novel, it is revealed that Kazeshini actually had a special ability this whole time. Its true form is not the two blades connected with a chain; it’s the chain that connects the two blades. Kazeshini represents the true essence of a Soul Reaper as its blades it represents “death” and with its chain it represents “life”, something Hisagi has finally come to turn with. The chain has healing properties which is how Hisagi was able to survive his many wounds from the fight with Tōusen.
https://preview.redd.it/7foy5mcnv9ra1.png?width=949&format=png&auto=webp&s=2c783d8a820798065606096868918681f1451c21
However, this only lasts as long as Hisagi has enough Reiatsu and he is running out of it fast, especially as Zombie Kensei activates his Bankai (we see Zombies use Bankai).
Not my best work...
In response, Hisagi has no other option but activates his… He spent so much time training his Bankai with Kensei that he never imagined he would be the one he would use it against; Ironic…
Bankai, Fushi no Kōjō (Wind of Death Hangman’s Noose)

4. The Hangman

The ability of Fushi no Kōjō extends the healing ability of Kazeshini to the enemy Shuhei connects with himself. Their Reiatus is combined and is drained equally as both of them take damage. Except the target won’t be Kensei but rather PePe himself.
https://preview.redd.it/582vpelky9ra1.png?width=957&format=png&auto=webp&s=89745a1f8d00f77df3714cd48b972a5769e335b9
Bankai Kensei keeps beating Hisagi up and Fushi no Kōjō keeps healing him as their combined Reiatsu is being drained. By the time he is done, there is no Reiatsu left and both Shuhei and PePe are lying exhausted on the ground. PePe, while he might be exhausted, can still order Kensei to finish him off. This is the catch with Hisagi’s Bankai. While it is good to fight stronger opponents it can only end in a draw and Hisagi requires someone else to finish the fight for him. It just so happens he has that someone else. Before PePe can order his Zombie to attack Hisagi, he is stabbed in the neck from behind by someone - Yumichika.
https://preview.redd.it/gljbah4uv9ra1.png?width=755&format=png&auto=webp&s=a6dc7016d28da14f50d4a1f1bdfdf7a79a2b6bef
This whole time Hisagi was counting on distracting PePe long enough for Yumichika to deal the finishing blow. Yumichika calls the nickname of his Zanpakuto, Fuji Kujaku “Blooms” and decapitates PePe. I thought giving Yumichika a chance to shine, as small as it is, a nice thing considering how little he does in the arc and I think a little callback to his fight with Hisagi would be nice. After Pepe's death, Mayuri takes over Zombie Kensei and uses him to defeat Giselle.
Altough, this could also be done with any other Zombie.

5. Can’t Fear The Primordial World

According to CFYOW, The Reishi around Fushi no Kōjō stagnates, which is why PePe was unable to absorb it from the surrounding as he fought Hisagi, and is said to replicate the conditions of the original world from millions of years ago.
Hisagi’s fight will be used to showcase what the World Yhwach wants to make (or rather return to) looks like. This will give narrative purpose to Hisagi’s fight as it will now push the story forward. Hisagi would then continue his journey the same way he did in the original and meet his fate when Lille shoots him.
https://preview.redd.it/yj769ecwv9ra1.png?width=949&format=png&auto=webp&s=541db4526fd6f3493415cb62c030a3a2f3539f7a
u/Ok-Two5775
u/RajahDLajah
u/Evo_Shiv

Hey guys! I have never met/talked with another Sanderson fan around my age, and just thought, considering a large demographic of Sanderson consumers are (no offence intended by this) a lot older than me, I thought I'd give my thoughts on Mistborn Era 1 (I finished Hero of Ages at 1am last night), as I don't know if Sanderson is aware (I doubt he will see this but it would be amazing if he did) whether his books are being read and enjoyed by a new generation or not. PS - sorry if I am violating this subs rules by being this age and posting, but I cannot see any violation.
The Final Empire - I gave this a 4 on my Goodreads. It was excellent! The dynamic between the crew, and Vin being an awesome protagonist really shine. I became conscious of the fact that I should not be so fond towards Kelsier, though I couldn't help myself. The magic system was phenomenal (I had never read, as Sanderson has coined, a hard magic system like this before), and I found myself confused with its rules in the first 50-100 pages. However, by the end of this book, understanding them became like second nature. I thought the Lord Ruler was great, and whilst Kelsier was probably my favourite character, I found myself most intrigued by Marsh's storyline (something that gets a proper payoff in later books). I want to avoid spoilers, hence the rather vague praises. I did have a few criticisms, which I am sure Sanderson is completely aware of: lack of female characters; I read somewhere where he addressed this and said something about being influenced by all the heist movies he watched. Sorry if I'm misquoting. I think this can be almost completely forgiven, due to how well written Vin is. She truly shines in this book. The prose was another slight issue, for my favourite author for prose is Gene Wolfe, so I do like quite flowery (which I think is the wrong word, but those of you who have read Wolfe will hopefully understand) writing. The prose in this book was concise and reminded me of how McCarthy and Rooney have the ability to make their incredibly precise prose really elegant and touching. Now the prose was not on their level, but certainly made this book accessible, easy to read, and a complete pleasure to enjoy. My only other slight problem, and bear in mind that I read this roughly 5 months ago, was the fact that something - I'll avoid spoilers - was never hinted at but appeared in the final conflict (if I remember correctly), which felt out of sync with the excellent foreshadowing used in this book. Apart from those few issues, this was an excellent book.
The Well of Ascension - 5*. I think, after finishing, this was my favourite of the trilogy, which is weird as it has the lowest rating on GR? I'm not really sure why, because I found the story relieving itself from the fast paced first entry, and becoming a deeper, more intimate and personal sequel. Vin completely shined here, and my heart never beat so fast with that scene with Cett, and that scene in the courthouse. The ending here, I think the fandom calls it the Sanderlanche, was PHENOMENAL. My jaw was on the floor for the last 200 pages, and I was properly shocked by those who died. RIP to the one character who got combo'd (we all know who that is). I loved the theological aspect of this book and was happy to see it explored even more with book 3. The prose was better, there were more female characters, greater stakes, boundaries of the magic system being pushed, many different antagonists. Zane was incredible. I love the Kandra. By this time I am just droning on, but I can't talk about much more without giving away heavy spoilers. Just know that this was as good as book 3, and they are constantly fighting over 1st place in my mind. The only slight criticism i can think of is that Elend is quite a bland character. Again Sazed was awesome.
The Hero of Ages - 5*. this was phenomenal. I was worried when I saw how Sazed would be presented, as depression is really hard to characterise in a relatively quick-paced fantasy story, however I found every scene with Sazed to be a delight, adding a little bit of philosophy, and some great introspection. His arc is definitely the best in this series. I really cannot say much about those final 200 pages but wow.... I am in awe. My jaw was on the floor for the last 50 pages, and it was 1am. I loved the development of the religions, and how Yomen really wasn't at fault at all. the Kandra were a delight, as I wasn't expecting to like their storyline, but I did massively. I felt the Beldre stuff to be a bit rushed, and some of the prose to be a bit clunky, but apart from that, it serves as a beautiful, and bittersweet ending to what I can now say is one of my favourite fantasy series.
Overall, this was phenomenal, which I think I've said over and over, but it's true. Mr. Sanderson, if you do see this, I would like you to know that you completely inspire me to be an author, and I hope one day I'll be able to meet you if you come to the UK. This series transcends just one generation, and I feel it will be as approachable in 100 years as it is now. Thank you very much for this incredible series and giving me so much enjoyment. I convinced my dad to buy me the Alloy of Law yesterday, and I can't wait to read that. I can't wait to read all the Cosmere (I've already started saving up!), and one day I really hope I can write in an acknowledgement for a book that says how I owe so much of my passion and desire to write to you. Thanks

The lady down the hall suggested I confront him, but what does she know? She may have been born during the war but that doesn’t give her any special powers of deduction. She doesn’t know him like I do, she doesn’t have to endure his nightly torture. I’ve banged on the paper-thin wall that separates our homes many times. I’ve screamed at the top of my lungs for silence. Still the incessant cacophony of slammed doors and of television channels turned too loud continued to haunt me. Yet these other forms of audio pandemonium paled in comparison to his infernal whistling. An off-key melody that feels familiar yet is impossible to place. When he isn’t screaming at the television set with wrong answers to quiz shows, his whistling is a constant. A piercing trill that travels through my ears and stabs like a dagger into my brain. The lady down the hall says he’s hard of hearing, that may be so, but I know he hears me. I know he knows his actions are driving me to the brink of insanity. I sense his malicious intent. I sense him plotting my demise.
The thought has crossed my mind, before you ask. Yet the fact that it has must mean that I’m not. I once heard that if you think you’re mad, you cannot be. That the insane have lost the faculty to notice their insanity. What the rational mind believes to be insanity, the insane know to be reality. It felt like the slow descent into madness, I was aware of that feeling. So at least I wasn’t completely gone yet. It felt close though, and I wasn’t sure how to go back to normality.
It had been another tough night. The din from my neighbour’s television thundered through my flat. I laid in bed with my eyes closed tight and wax plugs inserted into my ear canals. These did a little, yet not enough. The boom of each piece of dialogue shook the four walls of my bedroom. The piercing melody of his whistle cutting through the air and into my mind each time he walked to the bathroom. I’d been to the doctors that day, though I’m not sure why. I knew what the outcome would be.
“I’m going to prescribe you some tablets, Mr. Mellin.”
I took the prescription paper and threw it into the bin on my way out. I wanted to vent to someone who had to professionally withhold any judgement. I explained every detail, every feeling and thought that had occurred due to this onslaught of noise and sleep deprivation. Yet I hadn’t wanted a medical solution. Taking a pill was no solution at all. I wanted the noise to end, not to have my sense dulled into acceptance.
The noise would finally stop in the early hours of the morning, the amber glow of the dawn creeping through the curtains. I would sleep for an hour, two at most, before I had to get up for work. My productivity had slipped. Staff meetings where I was once sharp as a tack were now nothing more than an endurance test. Could I remain awake for the next thirty minutes? I’m sure the meetings were important, yet it was such a struggle to stay awake the words refused to settle in my brain. White noise. Everything had become white noise.
One night as the din finally subsided, I heard a voice.
“Hello, Simon.”
The voice sounded as if it was coming from inside of me. I asked who it was, though I believed the voice to be a figment of my imagination. An audio mirage brought on by weeks of sleepless nights.
“I’ve been with you since the beginning, Simon.”
The voice sounded like mine, yet much more ominous. It tried to sound soothing, but the malice oozed through. I asked again who it was.
“I can show you, Simon. Stand up and I will show you who I am.”
I obeyed the instructions of the voice.
“Turn off all the lights.”
I obeyed the instructions of the voice.
“Turn on the bedside lamp and stand in front of it.”
I obeyed the instructions of the voice.
“Now turn around.”
I turned and saw my room. Nothing different, nothing out of place. No extra body within the space, my shadow stood against the wall.
Then my shadow waved.
I checked my own hand, expecting to see it raised and waving. Yet it remained motionless at my side.
“Simon, we need to talk. I’ve never had to appear this way to you before, but now I need to.”
I shook my head and wiped my eyes, trying to dispel the visage before me. Still my shadow remained, now pacing along the wall, and waiting for me to accept this reality. I still clung to the fact that I felt as if I was going mad. I felt as if I was losing my sanity. If I felt that, then I must have still had at least one hand on the steering wheel of sanity.
“We need to end this problem. You’re not well, Simon. If you’re not well, then I’m at risk too. This situation with your neighbour must end now. We need to act. You need to act. He won’t listen to reason, so now is the time for something more… forceful.”
A rage exploded within me. I despised the man who lived next door, yet to take the step towards violence was not something I wanted to do.
“It’s a matter of survival, Simon. If you don’t end him, he will end you. This has been his game all along. A slow demise that no one could blame him for. He wants you to fall into madness, to get to the point where you can no longer go on. The person next door is not a man, but a parasite. He has chosen this building as his host, and he plans to spread throughout. Once he has you out of the way, he’ll knock down the paper-thin wall and make your flat his own. He’ll continue to do this until he owns the entire building. This isn’t about you, Simon. It’s about everyone in this building. It’s about the lady down the hall. You need to be the hero. You need to end this virus.”
I’d heard enough. I went into the kitchen, yet my shadow didn’t follow. He remained projected against the paper-thin wall of my bedroom. I took the largest knife from the drawer and returned, my shadow waiting for me. Without a word I drove the knife into my shadow, into the paper-thin wall. My shadow split in two and vanished, leaving behind a large tear in the wall where the knife had struck. I removed the knife and peered through the hole. I could see into my neighbour’s flat, yet he was nowhere I could see. His flat was almost empty. The only visible items the television that had caused me so much pain, and a large fleshy pod in the middle of the room. I stared at the pink cocoon, what looked like veins seemed to run across it like a road map. It pulsated, as if it were breathing. No, not like breath. It was more like the throbbing of a heart. I was so disturbed by this thing before me, yet I couldn’t look away. A small tear opened in the flesh cocoon and that’s when I felt a terror like nothing before. That familiar whistle crept out from inside the cocoon. A single red eye appeared in the opening and stared at me.
I covered the tear in my wall with tape. It wasn’t the best solution, yet it was the quickest I had to hand. The following night there was silence. No noise from the other side of the paper-thin wall, no slamming of doors or blaring of voices from the television. No off-key whistle. I should have been happy, yet the silence disturbed be more. Sleep soon took me, the adrenaline of anxiety only able to stay at its zenith for so long. I woke in the darkness, disturbed by the sound of scratching against the paper-thin wall. As the tape covering the tear broke, a slither of light broke into my room. I saw a long finger searching around the wound in my wall.
Then I heard it. The death rattle whistle. That god-awful shrill song once again stinging my ears. The finger returned to my neighbour’s side of the wall, but the whistling remained. The thin slit of light disappeared, and my room was once again blanketed in darkness. I stared at the spot where I thought the tear in the wall was. A sense of dread brewed inside of me.
The red eye appeared in the opening and stared at me once again.
I flung my body over and covered my head with the quilt. I prayed for sleep, for this dread to end, yet when morning arrived, I was still filled with fear. I checked the hole in the wall, and it was once again sealed with tape.
The shadow came again the following night. The usual noises had all ended, except for the whistle. This was now constant, an eternal loop that stung my mind with each rotation.
“You see now, Simon. You see why you must end this.”
I nodded.
“Take the knife you tried to stab me with. Take it and kill this parasite.”
There was still a lingering worry in my mind that this was all projections of my decaying sanity. Yet either way, I felt I had to act. Either way, this was the only option. If I was insane, then this would be the alarm bell that would let the world know. They would throw me into a room where I couldn’t hurt anyone. If I was insane, that would be for the best. If I wasn’t, and this was real, then the same outcome could occur. If they couldn’t explain the monster next door, they might convince the world I was mad. That way there would be no questions. Yet even if locked away, I would have done something good with my life. The old lady down the hall was irritating but she didn’t deserve to the horror of this parasite.
I took the knife and plunged it once again into the wall, creating another small tear next to the first. I continued this until the paper-thin wall was nothing but slits. If I’d have known how flimsy these walls were, I would have complained. But my mind had more pressing issues to focus on. I pressed my back against the door of my bedroom, facing the wall head on. I charged towards it. Though I felt a harsh pain as my shoulder connected, the wall fell through on the first attempt.
The moonlight shone through the windows. My shadow to appeared against the walls of the monster’s flat.
“Don’t doubt yourself now, Simon. This needs to end.”
The flesh cocoon was still in the middle of the room, still pulsating. The whistling grew louder the closer I moved towards the pod. When I was inches away the noise was so painful it became difficult to continue. I covered my ears and took the last steps towards it.
Then it stopped.
No more whistling.
The only noise a deep bass hum. Was this noise from the flesh cocoon? Was it the aftermath of the damage caused by the whistle to my hearing? I wasn’t sure but I let that mystery fall to the wayside and focussed on what was before me. I plunged the knife into the flesh cocoon and the pod let out an ungodly cry. The pod writhed in pain. It never moved from its spot, yet its upper half swung violently around in anguish.
I stabbed it again.
And again.
I continued to stab until the flesh began to fall away. It fell to the floor and dissolved. It bubbled like acid yet left no mark on the wooden floorboards. When all the flesh had fallen, I realised what I had done. Sat in a chair facing the television was my neighbour. Not a monstrous parasite, but a man. Now the flesh cocoon had gone, only the man remained. The knife was still inside of him. I began to panic. I turned to my shadow projected on the wall and asked for clarification. Yet my shadow did not respond. I pulled the knife from my neighbour and threw it to the floor. Shaking him with both hands I screamed for him to wake. There was no sign of life. I realised then that I was mad. That the last vestiges of my sanity had crumbled away, and I was left only with the realisation of my madness. I picked the knife from the floor and wiped the blood onto my shirt. There was no point in trying to hide what I’d done. I didn’t want that. I deserved to be locked away forever. That was the only way. I began to walk back towards my own flat, through the broken wall, and to the comfort of my bed. Though I would be drowning in my madness, perhaps I could now find some quiet. Perhaps now I could find some peace. Perhaps now I could sleep.
Then I heard him whistle.
The same off-key melody started up again as I walked away. I tightened my grip around the knife and turned to face my neighbour. He was stood now, though his body still appeared limp. He looked more like a puppet held up by strings than a man. A single eye was open, the burning red of its iris staring at me.
Was I mad?
I’d come this far already. If I was already past the point of no return, then what harm could a few more steps have?
I raised the knife and ran towards the creature.
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I watched 2 Movies and 3 Shows over the past three months
Movies:
The Menu [2022]
It's pretty twisted and darkly fun take on the celebrity chef concept, and Ralph Fiennes is as good as he usually is. 4/5
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania [2023]
Maybe I'm just starved for even mediocre marvel content at this point, or maybe I just don't watch enough cinema anymore, because I thought this was pretty good, at least compared to the past four marvel releases. Maybe some of the poorer writing is easier for me to write off in Ant-Man because of the general vibe this subseries has had. I suppose in writing about it now, I'm thinking about it more and more, and liking it less and less, because why is the worldbuilding of the quantum realm so bad, like a gross chimera of Star Wars and Marvel. Paul Rudd is a charming lad though and Kang is the first new MCU villain I've enjoyed at all in awhile. Though for the feature film debut of the next big bad, he doesn't yet strike me as the same level of threat that Thanos posed. 3/5
TV Shows:
Slow Horses [2022]- Seasons 1 and 2
Gary Oldman and spy shit is one of my favorite combinations. This isn't as well written and a fair bit less serious than Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (the film, based on the book, that starred Gary Oldman), but both seasons offer as solid espionage intrigue as I've seen in some time. 4/5
Ted Lasso [2020]- Season 1
Seeing Jason Sudeikis play an actual character and not himself caught me off guard, but this show just has an infectious positive energy about it. I don't know if it's technically all that good, nor do I think I like how the overarching plot is shaking out, but the vibe and moment to moment writing makes all its issues easier to swallow. 5/5
Andor [2022]- Season 1
Andor is simply the best Star Wars has been since KOTOR, and before that the original trilogy. It's probably too fresh in my mind to truly surpass those films, but I enjoyed almost everything about it. The Mandalorian gets a lot of hype, but it's so average, I almost didn't watch this. The first few episodes of Andor start off fairly slow, and you think you know how the season's going to end, but the show really picks up the pace from there and what you thought the show was building to was really only the beginning. 5/5