#'it's so exhausting being the protagonist but i GUESS this isn't all that bad????'

[touchmycoat]

my tummy still hurts from laughing, ending with the oh sh*t moment of whoops. that was a gift from WHO?!

HAHAHAHAHAHA GOD BLESS

[snakeunderyourboot]

can I talk about about Miraculous Team from s2 finale? I'm going to talk about Mireaculous Team from s2 finale

IT HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL

Like, narratively, at the end of s2 Hawkmoth got a new powerful ally Mayura, who can create senti-beings, which makes Akuma much more powerful than before. Even if LB and CN know that the peacock miraculous is damaged, they don't know to what extent and how exactly it affects its holder. The fact that Mayura even goes through wielding damaged miraculous already shows her huge trust and support of Hawkmoth and whatever his plan is.

So as the power of the antagonist grows, the protagonists also need to become stronger. The antagonist should always be a step ahead, BUT the protagonist should follow not so far after them because if not, it would be atomic bomb vs coughing baby. So LB and CN on their side, have themselves, a box of miraculouses, master Fu(debatable but okay), and some power-up additions. Only the 5-min rule after transformation is still present, they can't go around to give away all miraculouses because then it would be a repeat of the butterfly miraculous situation, and master FU isn't exactly helpful(especially later in the season where he is literally hunted by HM)

So. LB and CN need help

And if bad guys can team up, why can't good guys team up too?

And so we have a Mirauculous Team with now extended use of mirauclouses! We have Rena Rouge, who is secretly Alya, best friend of Marinette (or secterly LB), whose lifelong dream was to be a superhero. Now, I am sure, that being a superhero and having access to ALLL information that was hidden from the public, would go great for a young journalist who already had some fuck-ups and posting not great information. Also, sometimes your dream of a superhero doesn't match with reality! So is it really worth it to be a superhero? Sure, you want to help but are you really capable of providing such help if your first thought is content for your blog? Also also NOW IT"S YOUR TURN TO LIE TO YOUR FRIENDS. How does that feel?

And we have Carapace, who is Nino, best friend of Adrien, whose literal definition is being chill. Sure when needed, he will rise to the occasion, but again - is it really worth being a hero? Nino is a good person, he fought tooth and nail to get Adrien his birthday party, but saving the whole world? Nino?? The simple guy who just loves his friends and family and wants them to be okay??? That guy???? Also also LB and even sometimes CN would talk hours about responsibility and how important miraculouses are, but like...aren't they making it worse? Maybe the HM would fuck off after awhile, if other miraculouses didn't show up. Maybe the path of least resistence IS sometimes a good path. Why no one talks about it?

And last but not least we have Queen Bee or Chloe Bourgeois, the person who literally no one wanted to have a miraculous in the first place but it happened so we ball I guess. Chloe really admires LB but you know how idols tend to be when you actually meet them. And yeah okay, Chloe fucks up a lot in the first months of having a miraculous on semi-permanent base and LB criticize her, but she always tries to make up with expensive goods and screaming how much LB is better than anyone else. She doesn't understand why LB keeps asking her to treat normally. How LADYBUG can be a normal person??? She is a goddess, someone so cool and realized and everyone loves her and she keeps getting praise for just existing and...why does LB sometimes seem to be so human, so exhausted and stressed? That doesn't make sense...also also now that Chloe has miraculous she can't lose it. She needs to be better, to keep miraculous. But what does this "better" entitle? Better at battle, at powers, at SCHOOL?? How would famous Abry react to that I wonder?

As a cherry on top, we have LB and CN trying to learn how is it to work in a bigger team, to share responsibility and to help each other. It was them for a while and now there are new people and change is scary. How would that affect the love square?

The most important bit is that all members of the Miraculous Team have connections to LB and CN civilian life. They are all intervened, and they are all people we know and love and want to know more about! Sure, a lot of conflicts I brought up based on some of my vague ideas, but they could be explored!

The arc where Alya posts some crucial miraculous info on her blog, which HM notices and uses in the next battle, which hurts some of the members of the team. The arc where Nino is so convinced he is not cut out for hero life he practically searches for excuses to be put out of the team (one of the battles really scared his little brother and Nino wasn't there to help. If he cannot help his brother, how can he help the whole city?). The arc where Chloe tries to be good, is more or less okay at it, and then fails spectacularly(does it mean they will take her miraculous please no she can't lose pollen she can't lose someone who loves her as she is pleas no)

As a bonus, we could have had a Master FU BEING AN ACTUAL MENTOR INSTEAD OF just some lore-exposition guy. If he is so guilty about his past mistakes, well, here are 5 traumatized teenagers, the least you could do is actually help them. And no, not only Marinette, give others some advice too.

By the end of s2 we would have a good team of characters we already loved and now love even more, that are complicated and interesting AND GUESS WHAT the formula of "marinette has a problem with her life, akuma somehow related to it happens, LB fight it, everything is resolved, Marinette has some real-life lesson" STILL WORKS. Just now we can pair up Marinette with some other characters and if they happen to learn something too then GOOD. Kids can draw parallels and understand the lesson regardless

I just love those kids....I think they had a really good opportunity to spice up the show but leave the premise more or less the same.

And yeah we have "Miraculous Team" in s6 now, but all the points I mentioned before are non-existent now. There are too many people, for an antagonist who is so far less threatening than HM. It can change but that wouldn't fix the whole issue. All of Marinette's class doesn't have this much connection to her, as her literal best friend, her childhood friend, her crush and her rival/bully.

Anyway

I gushed enough(I didn't, but I am sleepy)

[kozachenko]

Ok managed to catch up on Cheating Detective Satori... surprisingly quickly! Was it as bad as I thought?

....I mean, not really but it's still not... the best. Full review under the keep reading tag. Huge spoilers for the manga, of course.

Ok so, for the first bit before Mizuchi's reveal was... honestly kinda bad, like, Satori could've just... solved the case at the mansion quicker if she just read Sakuya's mind and went "ah yes she had no motive but did it anyway she was possessed" because like, if Mizuchi had been pulling shit like that before in former Hell, shouldn't she have said something? That's kind of a problem in this manga, the characters who should be telling us something are just so "vaguey no explainey". And also, why the fuck wasn't she at the scene more often? Like, why wasn't she the one who interviewed Sakuya? Why Orin? Why does Satori barely show up in a manga called Cheating Detective Satori? I mean, I don't mind it as a narrative choice but with the title it just feels like false advertising at this point.

Overall, the first portion of the manga with the endless "but who's being possessed next?" is honesly kinda frustrating. Also, Reimu, you are literally a shrine maiden and you have experience with ghosts and the like, what's stopping you from using some kind of spiritual techniques to try and track Mizuchi down? Like, why?

And now for the somewhat controversial reveal of Mizuchi...and honestly? I'm fine with it not being Mima. Like, it would have contradicted with her character from the PC-98 games anyways, and also because MORE MIZUCHI PLEASE HOLY FUCKING SHIT HAVE I BEEN CONVERTED TO THE MIZUCHI ENJOYERS CLUB OH MY FUCKING GOD-

Yeah so Mizuchi is my diamond in the rough that is Cheating Detective Satori. I like her character a lot and the parts where she's in it are some of my favourite parts in the manga. However, I think her sudden escalations in power are... well a bit much to say the least? Like, in the Eientei arc they mention how "we don't really know how the jailbreak king posses people" and my first reaction was, "REIMU YOU HAVE SEEN NOT ONE, NOT TWO, BUT 4 PEOPLE GET PASS OUT AFTER DRINKING SOMETHING, MAYBE YOU COULD INFER THAT THIS JAILBREAK KING CAN ONLY GET TO YOU IF YOU DRINK SOMETHING AND SO YOU MAKE SURE NO ONE DRINKS ANYTHING EVEN IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE EXACT CAUSE OF IT-" which, I guess it was never really properly established but fine, it leads to a cool moment where Mokou gets possesed and all but still. Mizuchi doesn't really have any weaknesses and kinda gets more and more powerful as the manga goes on.

However, if ZUN plays his cards right this could turn into a good thing JUST HEAR ME OUT, PLEASE-

Ok so, before I read the manga I saw the idea that Okina had something to do with Mizuchi getting loose and I fucking love that idea. Mizuchi's rampage in Gensokyo being enabled by Okina (albeit unknowingly) could also help explain the sudden power ups she gets.

[EDIT]: Ok as I was still organizing my thoughts on the manga after this, I realized that the limitation of Mizuchi only being able to posses people who have a grudge on the Hakurei shrine is pretty smart and could be used for some good character conflicts. But I think this is something that's kind of underutilized in the actual manga, despite the fact that it maybe limits who Mizuchi can posses in Gensokyo.

Anyways, the manga is kind of just wallowing with the story, like, why did the protagonists just let Mizuchi get away into former Hell when they could've just... exterminated her then and there. Like, if you still wanted Mizuchi to get away somehow, you could just extend the fight to where Mizuchi swaps from body to body as she makes everyone fight each other for her, so that by the end, everyone is too exhausted to go after her. Other than that, I actually liked the Myouren Temple arc a lot. Like, it isn't perfect per say but I liked it the most. I also liked how in the most recent chapter, we (kind of) learn what Mizuchi's deal is, mainly that something about Gensokyo's creation royally screwed her over. I also think that the twist with her being a member of a family that served the Hakurei shrine was really cool too. I have always liked the idea of there being something darker going on behind Gensokyo's creation. I honest to god don't know how the fuck ZUN is gonna end the manga though. Like, I just wanna know how the hell things are gonna go now, especially with the sealing off of former Hell. Which, side note, but I love how pissed off Yuugi is in the most recent chapter, like, this is the second time now that someone who was meant to take care of the place just ended up ditching it. Of course she's gonna be mad. I'm not against the idea of Former Hell needing to be sealed up, it's just how it gets there that's kind of messy. Like, it's such a drastic decision that just feels to rash for Satori to make, especially considering the fact that Mizuchi was RIGHT FUCKING THERE I'M STILL PISSED OFF THAT THEY JUST LET HER GET AWAY LIKE THAT LIKE WHY?! I feel like that's where a lot of problems with this manga lie, a lot of really interesting plot points and events that are very messily connected.

[EDIT]: Ok so about that last point I missed something with the latest chapter and yeah, Satori planning on getting Reimu to confront Mizuchi personally is a good way narratively to recover from what would normally be something out of character for Satori (This whole post was made in a bit of a hurry after I finished the most recent chapter so the information still needs to set in my brain a little).

Now for my thoughts on the artstyle. I'll be honest, the early artstyle for the manga was really pretty, but didn't really work for a manga style story. It's really nice looking for illustrations, but other than that it's just kinda eh. The page layouts were kind of boring and I think that's what made the earlier chapters feel boring. It also somehow fucked up the way each character talked if that makes any sense??? Like, since there wasn't really much expression in the character's faces, they all kind of started to blend together, even with the dialogue they all felt like they thought and reacted in the exact same way. Not to mention Sakuya's STUPID RINKY DINK LITTLE MAID CROWN WHY IS IT VERTICAL- sorry had to go off on that tangent there, that's always bothered me.

However, the manga's new style is so much better oh my god. Like, everyone translated pretty well into the style, even if it is a teensy bit inconsistent. The page layouts were also really creative and made things a lot easier to read. It only got better as the manga went on too. Can I talk about how beautiful Yuugi looks? Ok so Yuugi looks fucking gorgeous in this manga, like, the artist clearly liked her the most because she just looks *muah* chef's kiss. Also, the fights in this manga are so well done, like, this is EXACTLY what I was missing in Lotus Eaters. Like, all the hits feel weighty and impactful, and not to mention how expressive the characters are. The newer style isn't afraid to give us some really fucking unhinged expressions and I LOVE THAT. It helped make the manga more tolerable.

I said in my review of Lotus Eaters that I would compare the two mangas in terms of writing styles so I'm gonna do that. Lotus Eaters represents a lot of ZUN's strengths in writing, i.e. shorter more character driven stories that wrap themselves up nicely in the end. I think this is probably because ZUN is more experienced with this style of writing, since from what I've gathered, a lot of the other mangas and literary works follow this similar principal. I feel like ZUN doesn't have trouble with writing good characters, but instead struggles with finding ways to make them act consistently throughout a longer narrative. Like, I feel like that's the best way to put it. I feel like a good way to rectify this issue for ZUN is if he tried writing more longer printed works (mainly just to get experience with the format) take what he learned from CDS and apply that.

IDK if I gave Lotus Eaters a rating but I'll do so for CDS. I'd say it's a 4.5/10 if we're being generous. It frustrated me to no end because of how many missed opportunities it had, and it had so much potential to be amazing, even though it has some good qualities that made the experience a bit less painful than what I was expecting. I mean, it's still ongoing so it could get better, but now I'm just more curious to see how it sticks the landing. My math question comparison that I made in my Lotus Eaters review still holds up tho lol.

I remember a post on here saying that JoJo Part 4 is basically just CDS but good. And honestly, now that I've actually read the manga I see what that person meant now lol.

[ghostofasecretary]

weird day. Monday. 12.5.22. yes.

stuff i did today!

- wore an outfit from the List Of Outfits That Would Be Cool i made yesterday

- lost phone. went on a stupid quest to get phone again and got rewarded with an outfit compliment and my phone. am v glad i have phone

- [work bs static noises]

- made list of possible gifts to get work gift exchange person

- got news of my grandma's dx. not great!

- cooked dinner and my dad and i enjoyed it

- on Saturday i told my stylist my part was in a different place than it actually is (fatal error) so to fix it a little i cut some of my hair with kitchen shears (a centimeter too short) but also did not cut enough of it (fix later)

- called friends and played cards and vibed, that was great

- bought new glasses because apparently i need new glasses every like 4-6 months now

- was too Exhausted to call other people or send the texts i was meaning to send (sorry frondos) (maybe i can fix one of these problems later)

- watched the new episode of Bleach! really enjoying TYBW so far even though i do not remember enjoying reading the manga that much

- hugged my parents

- watered my plants

that's a nice list of things. or, y'know, there are at least two terrible things on it but i mostly did stuff!

i'm in that, like, "everything is horrible because One Big Thing is horrible but also there are other awful things in the background too" spot where any small thing is devastating? like i almost cried about losing my phone this morning and i was SO mad about it and then about all the other bullshit. and then the news was just--haha ok. ok. well. gonna uhhh kneel with my head on my bed like a Victorian protagonist, i guess! feeling overwhelmed and lifeless!

i want the things in my life to stop being in my life. and to welcome other better things into my life. and to have a fucking break.

the current level of anxiety and bad shit is horrid but it's not going to immediately kill me or fuck up my work life. i want better things for myself than this, but my current goal is to make it to February, see if sticking around was worth it and if not screech a lot, and then either way jump shit to a hopefully better situation. and also i'll keep an eye out for nicer ships that i might be able to jump to for, like, January. i can make it till the holidays. i can make it through December.

oh jesus fuck i'm getting hives on my feet now??? rude

anyways. um. i can also quit at any time and take a holiday because of the lifestyle choices i'm making and the privileges i have, so that's an option to remember. it would not be easy or long-term smart but it is a real option if i need to snap. and maybe the more pressing of the two bullshit issues will resolve soon and i will be less stressed and have a little more time for living and soul-nourishing study and stuff like that. we'll see. did i mention today was weird? today was weird. but hey, i did it! go me

there isn't really a nice conclusion to this ramble i just need to get my thoughts down somewhere and public felt better than private for whatever reason, so, here you go

[pos-syscourse]

Saturday Songs!

Kangaroo Court by Capital Cities! TW for gore and animal violence.

This song is a bit... graphic, if you know the proper meaning behind it. The music video makes it more obvious!

Kangaroo Courts are loaded courts; they are a court where you are guilty the instant you step in. There is no "innocent until proven guilty." The judgement is predetermined based on evidence that doesn't exist.

Lately, in syscourse, I see a lot of kangaroo-courting going on. People have made judgement calls about others, coming into the system community with preconceived notions, and they are not open to seeing the other person as anything other than what they predetermined. There is no evidence to point to the other person being "bad" by any measure, but because of the judgement they came into the space with, they have already determined what 'sort of person' the other party is.

The thing I find so remarkable about this song is... the protagonist accepts it from the very start. "I've got every excuse to dance these blues away - ain't coming home, I ain't coming home." He knows he will be found guilty for a crime. He knows that defending himself won't work in a kangaroo court, but he goes anyways, despite all the risks. He stands up for himself, but it gets exhausting. "Too weak to fight," he says.

Then the "judge pulls him aside" and tells him to "let his darker side out to feed." I feel like that happens often here, too; people feel backed into a corner, like they have to fight, and those around them say, "everyone will believe you're guilty whatever you do, so just fight without caring about them. What do you care about someone who will just see you as guilty anyways?"

But isn't that the same thing that happened, in reverse? You've set up this notion that the other side will do nothing but see you as guilty in every case, so... what, you set yourself up to be a monster?

I find the actions of the protagonist at the end to be the most admirable conclusion, even though it ends poorly for him. Because he admits who he is, proudly, and says what he's actually guilty of.

"I commit the crime of wasting time always trying to rhyme, yes I am guilty, but don't misunderstand me."

The crime is wasting so much of your life trying to follow in other people's footsteps; to play along with the court.

Even though it ends in misery and tragedy here... The news report in the music video shows riots. Shows progress, however grim.

I guess what I'm trying to get at (as I write this somewhat late at night -- sorry y'all!) is that people are coming into these spaces with preconceived notions, and playing into those preconceived notions very firmly. How is this helping anything? Is it really doing anything to play along with the crowd?

Yes, there is some value in labels and judging people based on them. But... at the end of the day, following the norm is not always best, and playing along with those norms just allows the norms that harm groups to be... well... normalized!

I hope that makes a little bit of sense.

[tiredassmage]

Ouuuggh. I feel like if I dig too much into this one, I might get myself tripped up somewhere, but... it Is kind of interesting to see this be a debate when... even single player games still have some back and forth on whether or not a protagonist should be voiced. And by 'interesting,' I... generally find this kind of tail chasing exhausting which is... why I love to avoid the actual forums, lol.

I feel less that I have specific feedback on the matter rather than... maybe I'd just like to chip something a little more positive into the endless void, so this is... probably mostly opinion and can just be treated as such. Just your tired mut wanting to have a little faith in devstreams and posts from the team, I guess. xD

I sorta already pitched my thoughts about 7.5, but since that's relevant again here, I'm just gonna throw gumballs at the wall about it, I guess.

Most of the ~feedback of it being "why is this encroaching more and more on msq" feels... maybe bad faith to me, I guess. SWTOR's dev communication could possibly benefit from being a bit more proactive and in-depth with the community; FFXIV's already name-dropped in here and the live letters and whatnot are kind of my primary yardstick for judging the few ongoing live-service games I do play. Then clarification and follow-up still happens when necessary, but maybe it clips a bit of speculation in the bud. I really wouldn't mind them including more technical stuff even if it's not language that's readily understood at a glance (ie, what are they up to with the graphical work) because I enjoy knowing what the team's working on, and I think that level of communication benefits FFXIV, and I think it might do SWTOR some good, too. Of course story details and all still wouldn't be a 'before their time' kind of thing, but more of this about what the team's working on I think would help ease a little bit of some of I guess the other thing that tends to get wrapped up in this discussion that wears me out fast - whether the game's going into maintenance or downhill or whatever else the doomsday assessment of the time might be. You'd think I'd be better acquainted with navigating this given most of my online game experience are all games around 10 years old and older, yet here I am anyway akdnfl;sadf.

But. Anyway. I saw enough of their vision with their inclusion of the KOTOR-style cinematics in 7.5. The spirit of including a broader berth of options than being limited to the infamous three I think was beneficial to the story they were trying to tell in this update. Widening the focus area by reducing some of those black bars I think would be helpful, especially as they focus on upgrading the graphical appearance of the game. It's refreshing to hear a suggestion on the matter that I can actually get behind. Those scenes might include less of an animation and scene load for the devs as described in their post, but I'd still love to be able to admire as much of their work as possible, lol. Especially when it does involve any kind of action. (A side scene from the... Voss update? Old Wounds, was it? Comes to mind - the confrontation with Czerka, I believe. And I think a scene from GS 5. Sometimes those black bars cut off a little bit of the action they do show and that's not always as fun as it could be with a wider frame.)

Which really I guess... what compelled me to add thoughts to this post is really just the sentiment that I don't mind. I like the idea of the devs being able to add more variance to the story. Up to 8 dialogue options giving more room for class-references and other minor decision alterations we can make along the way is good flavor. Voiced to un-voiced isn't... really that jarring to me when it does good for the story. BG3 sports a protagonist whose only voice clips are for some interactions and movement around the map and it's been a thoroughly enjoyed game by myself and plenty others, clearly enough. I understand it breaks the mold of what SWTOR did in vanilla, but it was also hugely fucking ambitious of the game to be like that, especially as an ongoing game, I think.

So the 'argument,' if you will, presented by the devs checks out to me. If it's more sustainable for their workload and allows them more nuance in the story, I'm all for it. And I think the graphical updates and recasting a player character voice actor (even if the handling, I will give, was a little... interesting of them to not announce sooner than they did or in a clearer fashion, but that's not this post) tells me, at least, that the team's still dedicated to working on what's here. They want to continue and I don't think any of that is a sign of the game going anywhere away any faster from a dev standpoint.

But that's why we're all hidey-holed on here in a tumblr corner than out in big swathes of fandom life, after all.

I'm mixed on the KOTOR cutscenes myself, and a lot of what people are saying in the forums is reasonable (reduce black bars, make it more visually appealing and less stiff) but I'd rather, for lack of elegant metaphors, navigate Makeb without a map than go back to dull voiced cutscenes of 30 second PR meetings where Lana reads your itinerary for you. I don't really understand the sentiment that you want less story when other MMO's get to have tons of content unvoiced (see FFXIV, etc.) and people praise it up and down-- if voice work is holding it back, then I'm for less rather than more. We've been getting better story steadily, and I'd hate to see that change back to what we were given at the beginning of LotS, which people seem to forget quite easily.

I think what it could use as a compromise rather than alignment dialogue is class specific dialogue, if they're able to implement that many choices from 3 to 8. Then it'd be less of a yes - neutral - no situation, and players might feel satisfied that it's not just the same responses dressed up. But that's my opinion on it, and it's a small niche issue at that.

Also, unintentional comedy at being able to rate a team response like UberEats???

[space-malex]

There's lots of back and forth on who Victor should be with, but all s1 and s2 showed me is that Victor isn't cut out to be anyone's partner at this point in his life. He did Mia dirty and couldn't even properly apologize for it in s2 and the Victor who actually prioritized Benji's happiness and tried to take all responsibility for their kiss with Derek so they can keep dating disappeared in s2. He couldn't even articulate that breaking Benji's trust was wrong with spilling his secret to Rahim, let alone understand him at any point during the season. I don't know if it's supposed to be an international character flaw to be worked on or if the writers think having everything from Victor's POV is a good excuse, but it bothers me a lot. I really thought Malex was the height of showrunner bias and uneven writing, but Venji is so much worse. Alex at least always had a POV and a well-defined personality I could easily empathize with. You can't pile a ton of trauma on a character and never explore it, especially if it's supposed to be half of your main ship. I don't know how reflective a Twitter poll is of the audience split (the one they did on Instagram was much more overwhelmingly in favour of Venji, but they also don't show how many people voted), but it's not surprising that a dynamic that was basically written to be pretty much perfect so far and a fun alternative for the main ship's drama is appealing to so many people. They could have easily sold Venji better this season as a couple. They can lay a better foundation for future romantic them if they spend real time together platonically in s3 and stop putting each other on pedestals. They can also ruin what's appealing about Vahim with drama in s3. It's anyone's guess how s3 is going to play out. All I know is if Venji is still the endgame, I don't want a redo of s1 with Victor trying to work harder at a relationship he ultimately doesn't want to be in than he ever tried to make it work with the guy he's supposedly in love with. That's a recipe for disaster. A lot of shows are guilty of never showing us an endgame ship actually working on screen before putting them back together at the end of the show. I really want better here.

A lot to unpack

Victor did apologize to Mia, said he loves her and never meant to hurt her. It’s a bit complicated because Victor never went into the relationship with bad intentions and it took him the majority of the season to come to terms with his sexuality. Yes, he should’ve ended it right away when he figured it out, and he shouldn’t have kissed Benji when he was still with her. But still, there is a fine line here because there’s only so much of an apology Victor can give without it feeling like he’s apologizing for who he is, for being gay, and that’s not something he needs to feel sorry for. I think we should also keep in mind that Mia had her little thing with Andrew at the same time and never told Victor about it. She didn’t cheat or anything (or when he kissed her she stopped it) but she had obvious feelings for Andrew that she hadn’t dealt with. Luckily they finally got resolved in s2 but they were definitely there when she was still with Victor.

Now, what is it with this Victor slander in my house? He and Benji were pretty much constantly arguing or making up, but I’ve rarely seen people apologize to someone else as many times as Victor did to Benji about things that weren’t even his fault. He spent all season apologizing for his mother, even though he has no control over what she thinks or does, but also assured Benji that she is trying and that she is getting better. And he would know that better than Benji because he knows his mother and Benji does not. Or apologizing for not being ready to come out to everyone. And then turned around and did it anyway, which was what he wanted to do, but it also felt a lot about Benji and something he was doing for him as well. Which, fine, it’s Victor’s decision and he didn’t regret doing it. But then when there were consequences that hurt him by his team being homophobic, Benji first shrugs them off and then encourages Victor to quit the team so that he’s not around homophobic people. Which okay, first of all homophobes exist everywhere but I digress. Victor was miserable after he quit the basketball team. It’s not actually what he wanted to do, and he loves basketball, and Benji had no respect for that either. He acted like basketball with some kind of leftover heteroness that needed to be expelled from Victor. And he talked shit about it with his friends right in front of Victor. In fact, every time Victor tried to express himself, he would be essentially shut down by Benji and end up apologizing. Until episode 6 with the birthday and episode 8 after Isabel caught them together.

So look, I don’t think Benji had to tell Victor anything about his alcoholism because it’s his personal business and it’s really difficult to talk about something like that and it was definitely up to him when he wanted to open up. But then he turned around and was basically pissed at Victor for knowing even though Victor found out by accident. And then he refused to talk about it. And then when Victor expressed his hurt that Benji didn’t want to talk to him, Benji responded by completely attacking Victor and straight up saying it was exhausting work being with him bc he’s got a religious homophobic mom and is newly gay. Like….what?? 

Benji judged Victor for 1) being a jock 2) his mother and 3) being a baby gay. Victor never once judged Benji for his alcohol problems, he was just hurt Benji didn’t share with him. He didn’t judge Benji for anything else for that matter. He definitely shouldn’t have told Rahim about Benji, even though I do understand he needed someone to open up to and he trusts Rahim, it was a violation of Benji’s trust and not okay. But that’s like…the only bad thing Victor has done all season.

As for the pov thing- it wouldn’t be such a big deal if they actually developed Benji as a character, which they have not. We get no moments of him where he’s not with Victor (except the one conversation with Isabel, which was about Victor). If you’re going to have a character not share about their life to the protagonist, you need to find another way to share it with the audience. It leads to a disconnect and lack of emotional investment in Benji for many people. The fact that I feel I know Rahim better after 5 episodes than I do Benji after 20 is saying something. But the writing has given Rahim development that it hasn’t given Benji. It’s not surprising a lot of people in the audience are feeling more connected to Rahim as a result. Polls are never the most reliable thing since it depends on who sees them and how many people (twitters was about 20k respondents iirc but no idea about ig). I see a lot of vahim shipping on twitter and ig, tumblr not so much. But I will say I’ve seen people coming around on vahim who are watching the season now, as opposed to the smaller number who immediately watched the moment it came out, went in shipping Victor and Benji and had a knee jerk reaction about the possibility of another romance for Victor.

This is not comparable to malex in any way so I have no clue why you’re bringing them up.

And personally, I was never invested in Victor and Benji’s relationship. Even in s1 I was like 🤷🏻‍♀️ And now, with or without vahim, I think Victor and Benji should break up. They’re just not a great couple and I feel like the show would do well to make it okay for your first relationship to not necessarily be right for you. Especially for a gay couple because that like…NEVER happens on tv. It doesn’t take anything away from what v*nji mean to each other. Sometimes people just aren’t compatible. I didn’t start shipping vahim bc of anything with v*nji directly, I just loved their dynamic. I love seeing Victor light up. I love seeing him comfortable instead of constantly feeling insecure and apologetic. To me, vahim connect in a way v*nji do not.

Victor did not develop feelings for Rahim just because he was having issues with Benji. Just like Benji did not develop feelings for Victor just because he was having issues with Derek. Implying that does a disservice to both relationships and kinda takes agency away from a character and their feelings. But I want him and Benji to end things for real before anything happens with Rahim. Which might mean trying to make it work for a while longer. 

We will see!!

[02cm]

Here, a Drinking Game idea: Take a shot every time you read a MDZS fan saying "morally grey"

#//the way that discourse don't exhaust them is something to admire I guess...#What I don't admire and just makes my eyes roll is the idea that such concept automatically means something is good、sorry but it's not.#Not necessarily.#For something to be good、it depends of a lot of different factors and my unpopular opinion is that mdzs doesn't even have it as a topic#I mean、no more than、well... us real people who are morally grey in any case. So ofc under extreme circumstances...#(it's only natural we'll show this ~oh so called morally grey~ side under certain circumstances、duh)#so my point is that it's obvious that it'll be present、like in any other story where there's a war or something、that side of us as human#and still、there is good and bad people and mdzs shows clearly who in the story is which of those#On the other hand、that life can be unfair and society sucks? That's how real world works and A LOT of fiction approaches on the matter#But all in all、karma bites everyone's ass in mdzs、in this way、making the message clear who was in the correct and who wasn't...#So talk to me about mdzs and grey morality when the ending isn't 'every single one of the bad guys are dead just as they deserved it;#and our protagonists、who are GOOD people、lived happily ever after. Oh and then there's this one guy who wasn't that bad#but will be forever alone because he too deserved that as the antagonist he also was. The End.'#(BTW、there's this other concept I can't stand anymore tho I confess I used it in the past *sighs*#but I can't with 'more human' as -again- a way of saying a character is better anymore. Bye)#(oh and I'm NOT complaining about mdzs for being -imo- like that but that should be obvious with what I said at the beginning)#(right RIGHT it should also be obvious I'm not questioning 'morally grey' characters either but the thought that they are ALWAYS better#ignoring that it's not necessarily like that and blablablá like I already said; and that it's how MUCH this fandom obsess over it)

[kevynthedevylman]

The three Nitpicky things that irk me about Gundam Build Divers

Let's be real, Build Divers is definitely not as engaging or fun as Fighters and Try. It just isn't. There are reasons for this, not the least of which being bland protagonists, but here I intend to list three things that just irritate me to no end about the series. Take this as nitpicking or overanalyzing if you must, and feel free to disagree.

Annoyance 1: This isn't Dunbine Build Divers!

Okay, so GBD has shifted genres from a Collectable Battle Anime like YuGiOh and Beyblade to an MMO anime like SAO. Whatever. I mean that's a bit lame, but fine. As long as we still get unique battles and cool variant MS to enjoy I guess it's...

Oh dear God.

Okay, I know I earlier made light of the fact that there are Furries in GBD. However, upon further reflection, I've found myself asking, "Why?" Why are there Elf and Oni and Furry character classes in a GUNDAM MMORPG? Why would you have fantasy character designs in a sci-fi game based on a franchise that doesn't even have aliens? (Except 00).

Honestly, this is the least of my annoyances. I just think, if you're going to do an MMO based on Gundam, you'd draw from the lore to decide your character class, not just throw in fantasy stuff because "RPG=Fantasy". That is just silly and renders GBN just another stereotypical RPG setting that wouldn't likely appeal to Gundam fans playing to feel like real MS pilots.

Annoyance 2: Inconsistent Rules!

In Episode 4, we learn that GBN players don't experience exhaustion or pain while playing.

Episode 5...

Was a story editor even hired for this show?

They also seem to spend hours training at Tigerwolf's temple before the episode ends, even though there's a rule forbidding students from playing more than two hours. Now maybe days are shorter in the game and night and day pass super fast, or maybe they come back several times. Whatever the case, it's extremely unclear and it really makes it look like the writers have no clue what the rules are from episode to episode.

Annoyance 3:

Okay, you how I said earlier how the change of genre was no big deal and whatever, it doesn't matter? Well that was a Fucking Lie because this is the part that irritates me the most!

Why the fuck would an MMO replace Plavski Particle machines? VR is not more impressive than this! It's like how the newest Yu-Gi-Oh series replaced holograms with Augmented Reality. It's a step backwards, technologically!

Why should the quality of your build matter when you aren't actually fighting with your Gunpla? You're fighting with a 3D scanned model of your Gunpla, which is probably based on a pre-rendered base. There's no drama if it's damaged because you don't need to repair it. You just have to endure an arbitrary wait time in the game that you can probably pay to skip. It removes the personal element and tension of a fight when you stand to lose nothing but time! There's never going to be an instant where repairing the Gunpla quickly decides victory or defeat because everything is based on computer generated MS that realistically don't need a real model to be based on. It removes all the stuff that made Gunpla Battle entertaining and replaces it with bullshit!

So, yeah...

That's what I think of this. If you like this series, all the power to you, I have nothing bad to say about you. Feel free to disagree.

[feline17ff]

leaving the bartender gawking in her wake.

The poor bartender lol -- he goes to his superior and they're like "what, are you new? same shizz as always" *chugs their carton of milk and instantly falls asleep*

“Oh, yes! This is Sam Wallace,

Had a LotR day yesterday so this reminded me of Sam Gamgee lol

recruited by one of those dodgy ‘superhero’ agencies — you know, those ones that got shut down because they really mistreated their employees and recruits, by like, locking them in rooms with rats and whatnot to scare them into submission?

What the heck?

They live just up the road from here, they’re really cool.”

What the double heck? Why would you do that? Stranger danger and privacy and all that

Sam had been locked in a tiny little room, surrounded by rats. She knew that that was exactly what they had done to them as a child, as well as the hidden fear they would exhibit for weeks after — the shaking hands and waking nightmares that etched exhaustion into their sallow cheeks.

Nooooooo 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 What sicko would do that!!!

Then, after a pause, “That was a fucking plot point.”

Made me laugh out loud XD

Being stuck in the dream had forced her into a living situation; she had had to get a job in order to rent a room and buy food.

That... that was exactly what she wished against!!! Well, shoot. You had one job, strange magic man, one job.

“My cousin worked for that Ryker bloke, said there weren’t nothing wrong with him.

ReAlLy??? Your singular cousin said so about their boss who they only saw maybe during working hours? Are you not aware of him traumatizing, ahem, I'm sorry, RE-traumatizing poor Sammy??? You're an idiot, and so is your cousin, if you guys don't actually do your research before blaming the victims!!!!!! 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

One of them — Mary — went off and became a nurse at St. Dall’s in the city. Harry became a firefighter, Dana an optician.

WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!?! DON'T YOU KNOW THE CONCEPT OF SECRET IDENTITIES???????

First of all there were explosions in the main six different opticians across the city, followed by a half-build apartment building — which was also doused in a hearty amount of kerosene to make sure it burned good and proper — and finally, St. Dall’s hospital.

My brain on the first read: Hey, that's the nurse's hospital! And isn't kerosene a fire thing? Someone's trying to blame the firefighter? Why would they target opticians though *rereads* OH!!! They're targeting the heroes! Because someone *glares at protagonist* couldn't keep her mouth shut!

“Cashier at a local village shop,” he sneered.

IT'S THE SAME GUY! HE BOMBED A HOSPITAL???? Didn't he care about his cousin? Was he just looking for the first sign to indulge in his serial killer whims????

Once or twice, she attempted to tell them of what she knew

NO, YOU IDIOT!!! WHY??? LIKE IT WORKED SO WELL BEFORE!

It was wonderful to be able to explain the extremely niche details of an extraordinarily beloved series.

Oh. Well... I guess I see where you're coming from. But c'mon. Why would you tell people about the sad stuff, tell them about the fluff! But, that's just the type of fan I am. Not an angst person, more of hurt/comfort, fluff and humor person.

“I just want to go home.”

✨There's no place like home, there's no place like home ✨

Oof! This was stressing! (In a good way, this stress is different because it was ✨escapist✨ stress :)

This talkative protag really did a number on the poor heroes, didn't she? Just... wow. Those poor heroes. And no happy ending. 💔 Ryker, the construction worker, online groups -- these poor heroes are surrounded by sadists.

And the protagonist is so different from me since she preferred to sit back and watch instead of trying to stop the bad parts. Not that it would have 100% worked anyway, since destiny magic and all.

But oof, the angst. I need to cleanse my brain with some fluff now.

And how did you write this whole thing in like 3 days?!?!?! Incredible!

Awesome writing, awesome story, awesome plot -- I'm being honest, it doesn't seem like it was rushed out in 3 days, it actually reads as very refined and well-thought out! (but I'm a fledgling writer so there's stuff I don't even know I don't know so good luck to both of us with that :P)

Thank you for writing my ask! I would love to send more asks, hehehe maybe even my own prompts, maybe even fluff from my own prompts hehehe, you don't know what can of worms you opened, friendo 😈

For your 1-year anniversary, how about a fill of this prompt:

You gain the power to travel to fictional worlds, so you immediately decide to travel into your favourite novel, only to then find out that you’re the inter-dimensional evil they’ve been foreshadowing for the past 3 books

Only if you want to ofc, no pressure, please and thank you! 💖

First of all, I’m so sorry I got really carried away with this and it’s about three times longer than I initially intended, so I’m literally going to have to post it in three bits because it’s too long for one post, and I also got a little bit carried away with the plot of the favourite novel. Secondly, I hope you like it!!

[tw: a bit of violence and blood mentioned, childhood trauma and what I guess is very mild psychological horror]

———

She never meant to end up there, that much is true, but she most definitely wanted to. Reading has and always will be a form of escapism; therefore it should not be a surprise that everyone who does it may wish to disappear into the world inside those pages. This is, of course, just a fantasy. Wishing to be in a world born from someone else’s imagination is nothing more than a fun thought experiment; something to waste time while you’re riding the bus. It has never been an achievable feat. That is, until a few months ago.

The pages of her book fluttered half-heartedly as another train rushed past. Her hair was not so well secured, so it swam irritatingly in front of her eyes, forcing her to turn her attention away from the words on the page in order to swipe it away. She scowled.

It was not as though she were at a particularly interesting point in the book yet, but the interruption was still as unwanted as they often are. She returned her gaze to where her thumb held the book open at the spine. It was still in the developing portion; none of the major action had occurred yet, but something was brewing. Something had been brewing for a while, by then.

The book was the fourth and final instalment in a series that she had practically gobbled up. It was a wonderful story. The books revolved around five people who had all been the heroes of their own stories long ago, but had long since been forgotten as all but children's bedtime stories. They were ageing and greying and fiercely protective of each other and their thankless world who did not notice their help.

Each enemy they had faced thus far had known a frankly concerning amount about each of them, yet had refused to reveal their source. The similar information and attitude had led the group to theorise that they were all from a single group or organisation hell bent on what, they weren’t quite sure. It unnerved them greatly.

Despite everything, they concluded their adventures successfully. Although, there was a refreshing sense of realism to the story; as you could easily sense how much each fight was grating on them. They were being consumed by their own narrative.

They had surpassed the horizon of their own stories many years ago and were becoming nothing but hollow shells and reanimated corpses, dragged through a story they had never meant to inhabit. The desperation of the cause, of being meaningful, was all-consuming and slowly devouring them. Their paranoia — of a greater enemy that they knew only the outline of; from shambled, half-false scraps of information and near-forgotten folk tales of shadow people in shadow worlds — was driving them insane. Weariness was a constant companion to their souls.

Another train rushed past in a flurry.

She continued to read. One of the characters was becoming aware that there was something in the dark and she was almost certain it was observing her. Yes, she thought, something is most definitely brewing.

At last, her own train arrived and she stood from her seat on one of the platform benches. A crowd was massing around each of the doors to what she could see were also rather full carriages. It was going to be a long day.

She opened her bag and began putting away the book when she overheard someone pleading to get onto the train. She looked up to see a rather ramshackle-looking man half off the platform, trying to get into the already packed carriage.

Distantly she heard one of the accusing voices within the train call the man “grimy,” and frowned. He was obviously desperate to get onto the train; they didn’t have to be cruel about it.

At last, someone gave a great shove and the man went tumbling backwards. Instinctively, she lurched forward to stop him from smashing into the concrete, catching him just before he hit the floor. The doors of the train snapped shut and a moment later it sped off into the dark, leaving her attempting to haul the man onto his feet.

“Sorry about that,” she said, still in shock of the other passengers, “I can’t believe they did that. I — I should report them, they assaulted—”

“Thank you,” the man proclaimed sincerely, breaking her rambling train of thought, “However can I repay you?”

“Oh, uh,” she scrambled for a reply. In her peripheral vision she could still see the receding tail end of the train and winced, “Give me the ability to run off into a fantasy world where I don’t have to go to work this morning,” she joked, thinking of the look she knew that her manager would be wearing when she attempted to excuse her third late arrival that week. Something inside of her twisted at the thought.

“Alright.” The man replied, a flat tone to his voice and a sincere expression to his gaunt features. “As you wish.”

“You— what?”

Another train rushed past, drawing her attention away. When she turned back, the man had disappeared into the encroaching crowd waiting for the next train. Her brow crinkled and her lips parted lightly, but more and more people were arriving and she had already lost sight of the man.

The next train was equally as crowded as the first, but miraculously, she had managed to snag a window seat. The glass was cool against the clammy skin of her forehead and it soothed the encroaching headache from the hustle and bustle in the carriage. She supposed that the headache was also, in part, to do with the strange man who had offered she the ability to run into fictional worlds. Perhaps he was mad.

Absentmindedly, she began to wonder what it would be like if she could disappear into the world of one of her books. She wondered who she would be, an antagonist or a hero or no one at all. She wondered if she would reinvent herself or be painfully truthful to her own nature — of which would make her more trustworthy. She wondered if it would be fun, or if she would wind up as the same, hollow, shell of herself that the characters did; if she would return as somebody entirely different.

A heavy exhaustion suddenly began to weigh on her chest, a pressure that squeezed her ribs like an enormous pair of hands or a snake constricting around its prey. With heavy-lidded eyes and a gently throbbing head, she let the comforting lull of sleep sweep her away.

Sunshine tickled delicately at her fluttering eyelids. It was soft and warm against her face, reminiscent of summer picnics during childhood spent lying on a hillside looking up at the vast, blue sky — the sort that were more dream than memory. Licks of grass brushed against her neck almost reverently, soft and dry but prickled just enough to make it tickle. The coolness of glass and the odd softness of the synthetic seat material of the train was entirely replaced.

She opened her eyes and sure enough the sky was very blue and she was very still atop a hill of wild grass.

Dreaming, she concluded, was what was happening at that moment. It was simply a very, very, vivid dream. A light wind brushed across her cheeks and the delicate scent of the wildflowers, mixed with the cloying smother of midday heat invaded her nostrils. She could hear a cricket somewhere in the underbrush and cars shimmying along a road somewhere down below; the whooshing rather similar to that of a violent river or cacophonous wind. A very, very vivid dream.

She got up brusquely and looked about herself. At the top of the hill was a squat, white building with a slated roof and what appeared to be gold writing embossed on its side, but which was too far away to read. Curious and with little elsewhere to explore, she made her way swiftly up the hill.

The long grass pulled and caught on her boots as she walked and she tried determinedly not to think of the disturbingly realistic quality to it. Slowly, the building grew closer and closer, and the words began to become increasingly clear. “The New Inn,” they read. Absentmindedly she remembered someone telling she that words in dreams were incomprehensible and began to wonder why those were not.

‘The New Inn’ was a pub similar to any that she had seen before: thus she decided that it was simply her subconscious taking old memories of random pubs and recreating them. The bar was the first thing that she saw when she walked in through the door; it stretched the length of the first room with an array of colourful bottles behind it and empty cups upturned on the work surface. Each of them had the signature brand label on the front but none of them were recognisable to her. Similarly, the alcohol all seemed to be completely unknown brands.

The bartender: a young man with dark hair and wire-rimmed glasses looked up at her arrival and asked if they could be of assistance.

“Where am I?” She asked dumbly, tongue thick with disbelief and utter confusion.

“This is the New Inn,” he answered quickly. He had a deep voice, rumbling but soft; it didn’t quite suit him.

“What town though? Where are we nearest to?”

He frowned curiously and recited the name of the three surrounding towns. She almost laughed in his face. The towns that he had named featured heavily in the first two books of the series that she had been reading. The author had wanted to create a world that was similar but not quite the same as her own and had thus made up the names of each of their towns and cities — as well as avoiding references to pop culture.

“Are you sure?” She asked him.

“Quite.”

She reminded herself that she was surely dreaming and left quickly the way she came. A sudden thought crossed her mind; if it was indeed the world within her books that she currently resided, then she could probably catch the protagonists hanging around somewhere. It depends on the date, she thought.

Suddenly very curious, she slipped quickly back into the pub. “Sorry, yes, and er, what’s the date?”

The bartender offered her and increasingly exasperated glance but answered anyway. “August 4th.”

“Mmhmm,” she hummed, “Year?”

“Ye- you don’t know what year it is?”

“Humour me.”

The bartender sighed and pushed his glasses further up his nose. “It’s 2026.”

She grinned feverishly. She was standing right at the beginning of the narrative; the first day of the story, just before everything began to come together. “Cheers,” she exclaimed and dashed out of the door once again, leaving the bartender gawking in her wake.

She knew exactly which town to go to in order to observe the unfolding story and thankfully there were road signs outside of the pub. As she walked, the strange man from the train station and the sincerity of his words returned to her, almost like a warning and they rattled around inside her head. Perhaps it wasn’t a dream. She laughed; of course it was a dream. It had to be a dream. This is just what you get from binge-reading something, she thought.

It was only a short walk, ten minutes or so — or at least what felt like ten minutes; in a dream state that could have been hours. She remembered the church being a particularly well embellished monument within the opening description of the scenery, so that was what she headed for. It was a great, towering structure that loomed over the surroundings with a watchful eye. The ancient clock settled below its domed roof counted backwards for a reason unknown to anyone at all, yet had never been fixed for that was how it had always been.

It was about half an hour before she spotted them; bespectacled, with freckles spattered across their face like constellations, hair and eyebrows just starting to go grey — the spitting image of how the book had described them. She grinned.

Behind by about a hundred and fifty metres, she followed them to the small shop where she knew would be the scene of the first skirmish of the book — as well as the reader’s first introduction to their character.

As to not be injured by the impending fight, she waited outside, watching through the window. A punch was quickly thrown, then another, then she barely had time to step aside as the offending party was thrown through the front window. The offender sputtered and staggered in the broken glass and peered up as a hand gripped hold of their shirt and wrenched them up. She winced. Despite knowing the offender deserved to be put in place for harassing the cashier, she couldn’t help but pity the for the beating they were getting.

A few others had come to watch. Beside her stood a tall man in a black suit, his hair was gelled back and he looked as though he was going somewhere important. “You know,” she murmured conspiratorially, “They were a hero once.” The man raised his eyebrows above the dark glasses that she hadn’t noticed he was wearing in a questioning manner. She took that as her cue to continue. “Yeah, years ago by now, but they’re still trying to do their hero stuff,” the offender’s back thudded against the wall and she winced again, “as you can see.”

“Pray tell, do you know much more about them?”

Excited, she began to babble. “Oh, yes! This is Sam Wallace, no one really knows them much anymore but they saved god knows how many people back when they were a kid and recruited by one of those dodgy ‘superhero’ agencies — you know, those ones that got shut down because they really mistreated their employees and recruits, by like, locking them in rooms with rats and whatnot to scare them into submission? They live just up the road from here, they’re really cool.”

The man smiled to himself and turned away, “Thank you ever so much for the information, I’m sure I will find it vital in future.”

Too caught up in watching the fight, she waved the man off with a quick, “sure, anytime,” without any deeper inspection of the odd comment.

The police arrived soon after to take the retired superhero away, but so did a suspicious-looking, black SUV with some obviously government employees inside — who told the police that it was under their jurisdiction from then on. She couldn’t stop smiling; everything was happening just as it was in the book.

Over the following two weeks, she followed the group of retirees and half-forgotten legends through their escapades, until they finally discovered the antagonists base of operations. It was a rather decrepit warehouse in a forgettable corner of a generic industrial estate. Wide and squat, with a jutting roof and signature damp, concrete floor, it was by no means conspicuous. The unassuming nature of the building made it rather perfect as a lair.

The antagonists name was Ryker, or at least that was what he called himself. She crept in after the group in order to get a good look, hidden by the shadows of the towering, metal shelves. It worked. He was a tall man, half his face was cast in shadow, accentuating the angular properties of it and his sleek, black hair was swept backwards and gelled in place. He looked oddly familiar, but she put it down to reading his description in the books.