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litg Lucas is so incredibly fine and the fact I can no longer romance him is a crime against my very humanity

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"hotest couple in the villa"

[i guess this is an AU where Rewan doesn't get dumped and does get with MC at some point and also that the sashes make more sense]

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season 12 volume 7 thoughts

FUSEBOX YOH GOT THE WRONG TAKEAWAY FROM LI USA S7

anyway first impressions of casa boys summarized by tori accidentally saying out loud how hot the boys are when Dante walked out. but like the islanders all look so good this season so far weakest boy is maybe Nathan and girl tori (or mei but I just don't like her bangs lol)

main takeaway from casa is aside from Archie (who's like a smaller version of Dean), the casa guys kinda just occupy the same spaces as the OG boys if that makes sense? like Dante is the guy that's into Tori (even though you could flirt with him initially im kinda getting the vibe he's more like how Kenzo was unromanceable, but i could be wrong and he could be exactly like Nathan); Joshua is the awkward one conflicted with MC and Keziah like your boy bestie; Archie is the one who's embarrassing himself by being forced to be with Rosalie like whichever of your top two you didn't pick; and Matt is like MC's partner

I'm conflicted because I wasn't a big fan of having the OG guys be so interchangeable from the jump and having these set characters definitely gives them personality, like I was living for the first part of the volume, but having them set in stone no branching is annoying too, because it doesn't make sense everyone's MC is compatible with Matt if we're all picking different options. Like i wish there was some branching there or we continued with their personalities. Like there's gotta be a good mix between this.

Because also up until they actually did the recoupling, I kinda thought it would be MC gets pulled aside by one of the girls and she says who she thinks she's most compatible with, then whichever girl that was predetermined to be with that guy would instead be surprisingly stuck with Archie.

speaking of crumbs of personality, the dates were cute and I like they actually gave them opinions because with Dante I picked rock music and he said I'll get you into indie and Matt said he'd go on a museum date only because MC would've wanted it. Also his response after not wanting someone so agreeable and exactly the same, yeah ok I like him now. so it's fun while still making sure the characters the reader picks aren't so dismissive. They've done this in previous seasons too (maybe 7,8?) and briefly in s10 when they were pretending we were "winning hearts" but I think because it wasn't really a thing in the beginning of the season it's nice to see it back.

Side note, Archie reminds me of Dean immediately, which once again proves my theory that this is just the slightly improved version of S10. Looks wise he's very much adding cross between Dean and Jace though.

the visual image of Archie failing the swimming challenge in raunchy races was so funny to me though

also in raunchy races they imply the girls think Darin is the smartest and I don't remember what his job is so maybe that's why but in my game this is the boy bestie? the same person that did the whip cream prank on mc and didn't fess up bc he thought it was a bad idea? you can say it's cowardly but i also think it's stupid????

I appreciate the little attention to detail that Dante designs watches and is always wearing a nice one lol. I did want to couple with him initially, but then his secret came out that he's game playing and he says it's a misunderstanding, and then this never gets addressed again so I never romanced him after that and I don't know if it's like that for anyone else or if he just always goes towards Tori instead of MC.

speaking of attention to detail I noticed the baenimite boxers in episode 3 of this volume I'm kinda dead 🤣

Joshua is adorable but the scene where if you share a bed with him and he nervously talks until you fall asleep was definitely supposed to make him less likable but I thought it was funny. Also the way he revealed he was into both MC and Keziah was odd so im almost leaning towards he's not a love interest, but I'll hold out hope he gets a chance. I'm absolutely only giving him a pass because I think he's cute (pretty privilege oops) and hes proven enough to be a nervous wreck so maybe hes just nervous and said the wrong thing.

also i fully relate to this comment by joshua

I really didn't want to go for Matt because he looks kinda like Rewan, he's not fully rendered i think? like the shading on his chest isn't the way they do the other guys, and then also because he was into Keziah and I was like oh that's a hot couple. But eventually he and Joshua switch and idk if that's because of my choices or what, but then he kinda had me giggling by the end of the second volume, so im not mad at coupling with him, but only because it seems like the other guys aren't as interested so that's absolutely by design (the same way you can't choose your casa boys in s11 it's always dominic) (oh fuck I just realized I put myself in a blond boy versus casa dark haired boy situation)

sneaking out at night scene with him was cute like better than the scene j just drew with gryff BTW like if I did not do that as soon as the volume came out he would look different

in case you're wondering yes I did read the party would have special guests and think it would be rewan just for a split second

every time they asked if MC was bothered by gryff I simply did not care lol

also did not care about Tori being hypocritical like I love her messy ass but for the peace I think I'll say nothing 😅

casa amor being 1 volume only feels criminal but the season is short and going by fast especially since we really only had 2 bombshells prior and they showed up at the same time so maybe the pacing works out idk. I just think it should be 1.5 volumes minimum, gives us the audience a chance to think about the new boys for a week but if we're not getting a choice maybe it doesn't matter

oh I guess big thing is the decoupling everyone situation, which I guess bc MC was not single makes sense bc you can't force the reader to couple up but I'm still gonna be mad about both that idea and that they still haven't figured out how to bring back branching for even just this. like in my head it max affects 1 or 2 volumes because they can reset by the next dumping/recoupling so the numbers even out again or whatever. is that not what Rosalie is for, to be the extra girl to round out numbers?

but yeah I'm kinda surprised they had the same twist as the most recent love island USA season because they probably already wrote this season before LIUSA S7 Casa where everyone is split and forced to choose someone to bring back to the villa. And that means there are like dozens of thinkpieces online telling you why it sucked to remove the pressure from the Casa islanders to graft, which is not a problem in the fictional prewritten version, but still removes the drama. In the USA version I think they realized it wasn't working early enough on that bringing back people from the villa lasted for like twenty minutes and then they had a reformatted version of stick or twist basically.

but yeah that was the worst part of the volume, but I kinda glossed over it because I would've picked Matt anyway like even if there was a stay loyal option😅 just lucky ig

anyway yeah I liked this volume overall though!

also I normally shut my brain off to skip through the narration jokes at the beginning but this one I liked so good job this one time

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I did it. Took me so long after such a long pause in drawing hot boys, but Matt inspired me, yay! 😍

I love that his sprite has birthmarks, i studied them all thoroughly lol (so unlike his hand that looks so wrong despite me using so many references, they are very accurate haha)

Also drawing leather is a challenge 😩

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rip gryff

he's not dead but i did just see the new casa guys

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maybeeee I'm working on some rewan fanart but I need a girl in it too

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if im being real, not my favorite fanart I've done but hey I finished a thing AND it's for the new season! wild because the last thing I drew for a current season was probably Hamish so S9 (almost a year ago) 🫠

I think I know what I'd fix but hey if I post it now I can move on and do some other fanart I want to do instead (cough cough Nathan and and Rewan but you didn't hear that from me bc i might quit halfway through)

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litg season 12 volume 6 thoughts

no one talk to me I'm in my junior detective phase

I mean like why is every volume a mystery with these secrets now AND we still have the sleepover villa like i just hate the gimmicks but if we're gonna have a gimmick keep it in the season I don't like there are just random off screen bombshells that never make it on

anyway so gryff was at the sleepover villa and rewan and mei knew but decided to try to get mc and gryff to break up bc they're gameplayers

this has been happening in the recent seasons so I've likely said it before, but it annoys me when the characters are just evil to be evil. like i get sometimes on love island people can come across as playing the game, but to not even pretend to be trying to find love and specifically targeting people for no reason is lame and doesn't really happen often. I will say, at least the gameplaying aspect with Mei and Rewan who are pretending to be a strong couple makes them a better antagonist than some other of fusebox's attempts at antagonists (worst case, Jonny/Nicolas 🙄) but like when Bobby and Priya tried to break up a couple, at least Bobby was claiming he was concerned they got too serious too fast and Priya kinda had feelings for Noah and was willing to cause drama over it. Which I think is why I was hoping Rewan and Mei were stirring shit up because they secretly liked MC/Gryff (...not just because i personally wanted an enemies to lovers ith rewan 😅). Even if it ended up the same result where they both get dumped, it would make their characters more sympathetic (although I guess fusebox doesn't care about making nuanced characters).

the scenes of them wandering around the villa at night looking for gryff was just filler but it did bother me because im like well the producers will yell at y'all to just go to bed, surely.

I don't know if your options during the kissing challenge matter, but I went for a playful kiss with Gryff and he thought it was Mei, which ngl, I found very funny but it never gets addressed again, but I did in retaliation pick the most intense option for the other guys.

omg Rosalie my girlllllll

rewan gave MC a one, I don't care, still want him

Lowkey I feel betrayed Nathan and Tori went to investigate the break up note without MC, like hey I thought we were the detective duo, Nathan

oh and Rewan and Mei get dumped 🙃

Rewan runs away? ok track star

don't care for mei's apology. I wonder if fusebox knows they have a bad track record with female characters and that's why they tried to give her an apology moment where she blamed everything on rewan. Anyway I personally felt like she was more shady and backhanded than rewan so that's why I didn't care for her. Also I like Rewan for the potential and he's funny that he's stupid, but this volume definitely he was starting to piss me off again.

I didn't think remembering your choices was gonna matter bc fusebox loves merging routes but I did try to vote Kami and Rosalie out and in the dressing room she's upset, but there's no way to confess so I do wonder if that'll come up later. There's only a few couples so I don't see how they wouldn't be able to figure it out quickly but I want it to cause drama actually. Especially because Gryff did not agree with MC when I got the choice to send the text so I just think it would be good drama in line with what you expect from love island.

omg the dress you can wear at the compatibility challenge is so nice even though in gryffs color you look like lady liberty

the scene where MC is chatting with Nathan and Darin (boy bestie) is the closest crumb we've gotten to a friendly chill chat where you get to know the islanders again. but also the confession scene after very cute.

didn't screenshot but when your partner is shaken by the mystery islander thing one of the options is "tell him to get a grip" and I thought that was so funny i think we should be allowed to be meaner.

anyway not a bad volume, we got a date and a confession, I'm just salty about the rewan dumping and the gimmicks each season but lowkey that's to be expected.

I wonder if the casa boys are actually unique based off your compatibility answers or are they like kami/gryff/darin where you can choose based off looks and they'll tell you your number one is the most compatible.

also I wish we got a new bombshell before casa, like i knew it was coming up bc we're halfway, but Nathan shouldn't count as a bombshell and Rewan and Mei were just messy so I don't think they should count either.

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how it feels every volume having to find out whose secret was just revealed

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but now that rewan has confessed his messiness for the sake of being messy and no longer trusts Mei, he can come back post casa and beg forgiveness, and no one gives it to him until he proves he's there for love this time and gives genuine apologies

THEN he can admit he told Mei he needed to break up MC and her partner because they were a threat but also he was a little jealous and he can continue his redemption arc with MC (or leave, or if we need to figure out the numbers like if MC is with Nathan then he can be with Tori)

so like actually it's all coming to plan

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Ramblings 🗣️

The reason characters like Rewan and Nathan are so compelling is because they are unique. They have their own personalities and story lines. Fb is stuck on continually merging the OG boys which is so boring and uninteresting. Like if I want to post about Gryff saying something cute, that’s somebody else’s Darin or Kami saying the same thing. How are we supposed to be excited about these pixels, if they don’t even have their own character?

It’s not like this is new, but it’s just gotten worse through the seasons. It’s why we end up wanting the unromanceable characters because we can band together and blab about why we love/hate them so much 🖤 That used to be such a large (and fun) part of the game, and I miss it 😿

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Rewan appreciation post

He’s such a himbo and here for the drama 💪🍿

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in case you're wondering how quickly I changed my mind on rewan

volume 2 -> volume 4 (wasn't a fan)

volume 5 (!!!)

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scrolling through my own blog to look for something and saw i have a post with "mature content"

yeah ok Tumblr lol

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s12 vol 5 thought

there's so much time to fuck up but I kinda like this season so far

or I like it for what it's potentially setting up

so business as per usual

i forgot what secret i picked so I was also surprised when Darin said mc ghosted his friend before a big trip. kinda sketchy mc...

and Darin said explanation about his friend is fine enough. I do like the detail added that he did tell one of the boys but Nathan told him to keep quiet about it to give mc a fair chance, like I wouldn't belive otherwise that Darin didn't straight up say it to MC that he remembers her otherwise

Keziah also voices literally the exact same problems I have with Darin pulling this untrustworthy business and the bed thing, so I feel very heard. love that. Also that MC can stand up for herself. And I can't believe I gotta be defending rewan rn

and then mc's other secret coming out right after that she dated her friend's ex is really a one two punch like I get why gryff needed space but I'm playing my mc as not thinking either was a big deal and that along with him not saying anything? they're a bit mad yeah but the resulting them taking it slow and staying open is good for narrative bc now mc can explore some other connections less guilty

somehow the way this was done though with gryff forgiving mc pretty quickly and talking about it is better than in recent memory certain love interests being distant and uncommunicative after hearing for example mc was previously engaged when he himself previously revealed he broke off a long relationship too (I'm being vague bc I cannot for the life of me remember if this was season 10 or 11, they just blend together)

speaking of, the notes! don't really get the game but whatever because it is revealed someone has a crush on MC

refusing to pay for the secrets reveals because im just hoping they're relevant enough to be revealed later but like it is annoying we don't get to know. pay to win lol.

I also feel like the reasons everyone has for being angry in their couples, while technically is repetitive, I do like how it was presented this volume. Like it makes sense to me that Tori believes Nathan is conspiring with MC and that Rosalie is still mad at Kami (not at MC!) for his feelings towards MC even though MC has moved on.

I compare this season a lot to season 10 but it does kind of feel like season 10 improved especially with the lies Tristan and Sofia (Rewan and Mei) are spreading. but, again, MC standing up for herself and being heard? Season 10 MC could never.

Break them up note I just feel like is Mei. We've had too much heat recently on your boy bestie and Rewan, so unless they're preparing a storyline to get us mad/feel bad for Rosalie/Kami because they're getting dumped next volume, I think it's Mei causing chaos. But all signs point to her so maybe there's some misdirection at play. (why is this season just a constant whodunnit lol)

part of me is holding out hope that Mei or Rewan wrote the note to the other because both have crushes on MC's partner/MC respectively and after how everyone was so angry in their couples except MC and her partner this was them telling the other what they needed to do

I did kinda like partnering with Nathan for this investigation stuff though that's fun to develop a friendship with him before he finally confesses his feelings

which im hoping is sooner than later and then maybe boy bestie will have the longer friends to lovers route because at least with him it makes sense he wouldn't confess his feelings for MC right away because of his friend Sam (god please do not put Sam in the villa or casa amor or smth im sick of that lol) and then by the time he got over it and understood her, he felt it was too late because she's now with someone else

bed challenge was fun too I don't understand how you lose that even with everything right but whatever.

so much of this volume alone got me kinda excited like I might actually make some fanart again 🫣... like it feels the same way about this season so far as i felt about s9 which like not that bad of a season

I don't remember if it was a couple dumping or just one girl one guy, because in the case it's the latter, I'd hope theyd get rid of Mei for causing chaos and Kami because he clearly doesn't want to be there with Rosalie. And it might work, since Rosalie and Rewan seem to be into each other before. But if it's a couple getting dumped, I know I don't like Mei, but I think it's gonna have to be Kami and Rosalie out because he's not into her but at least Mei and Rewan seem to like each other and explore other connections, so in canon they could feasibly be saved, but narratively they also cause more drama and Kami's storyline is done now that MC chose Gryff. just hate to see Rosalie go.

i think Mei maybe left her panties in the bed "on accident" to stir shit, or maybe they'll claim she's going for Gryff idk. But the like two seconds Rewan woke up to tell mc has my delusional ass thinking oh this is gonna be Mei breaking his heart bc he actually DID want to get back together with her and he's gonna pursue a new bombshell or one of the other girls and start his character arc where he's slowly falling for MC which makes sense since theyre the best dressed and have the wit and banter to keep each other guessing HEAR ME OUT-

overall I really liked this volume and I think it's in the details. so far the season 10 retry going well lol

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other parallels:

the guy is close friends with the wannabe short rapper (tim/ace)

at one point said short rapper early on was coupled with curly haired goddess fan favorite (lowkey could be Amaya or Chelly lmao)

very insecure from previous relationships and kinda ruining the vibe of the villa especially from her trying to prove she's got the best relationship by being extra showy and a bit possessive (allegra)

ok ok if you think about it nic and olandria (love island usa s7) are kinda giving jake and mc from litg s1

two OG's, kinda into each other and have chemistry but dont act on it,

at one point coupled up before deciding to be just friends

but it's because the girl is busy chasing a guy that doesn't seem to be as invested in the relationship (MC going for Levi/Mason; Olandria sticking with Taylor)

until they finally choose each other (Levi/Mason choosing MC over Jen/Cherry; Olandria choosing Taylor over Jalen)

and then their partner proves to be unfaithful (Levi/Mason kissing Cherry; Taylor picking Clarke)

and then the guy to be there for her platonically (Jake comforting MC post cherrygate; Nic defending Olandria when they were choosing who to dump post Casa)

And only in the final recoupling they decide they see the light, ditch their partners, and give it a real shot

Now I guess this doesn't include Cherry being forcibly removed from the show for saying a slur

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didn't get the tristan appeal but rewan why he kinda 🫣