#((and who knows how gg would feel about the whole thing; considering they don't want much to do with chucky))

[theheadlessgroom]

@beatingheart-bride

"Well, I can understand that," Wilhelm replied with a little, sitting Randall down beside Emily as he resumed his own seat-as he sat down, Randall couldn't help but think to himself, You don't even know the half of it, Pa...

"I like to hope those hooligans weren't hanging around, looking to get even, but I'm also glad both of you were vigilant," June sighed with relief, trying not to think of what might've happened had they not flagged down that taxi when they did. "Even if there wasn't anyone there, you still did the right thing, leaving when you did!"

She'd had those bad "gut feelings" before, that unshakable pit in the bottom of her stomach that told her she needed to leave, to take her family elsewhere, to just get away from the area, and even if nothing came of leaving, that no disaster struck after they left, it still made her feel better, and so she understood where Emily was coming from. Especially after what happened a couple of weeks ago-the last thing she wanted was to see her son hurt like that again.

"You want me to watch the window for a little bit?" Wilhelm asked-if those muggers who'd attacked his boy were lurking out there, looking to get a little payback, then he'd gladly sit vigil for a while by the window; he had a permit for these sorts of situations. However, Randall put his hand up and said gently, "I-I really don't think that'll be necessary, Pa, I...I'm sure it's fine..."

"You sure? It's no problem for me," Wilhelm reassured, as Randall looked to Emily with a bit of uncertainty-would it bring them a little peace of mind, if nothing else, having him keep watch for a little while?

[mikailys]

MCL NewGen Ep 8 Commentary

Ik it's late and that several days have passed since the episode's release, but I wanted to wait a bit to let my thoughts simmer and write my review with a cool head. I need to rant about it so sit tight 'cause this one in particular is though lol.

As it was advertised, the whole episode revolves around Roy and a peculiar hobby of his: skinny dipping. Thomas is the one who spills the beans -as always- and everyone is curious about it. Roy explains that he only does it after the swimming pool closing hour and you know what: that is fine by me. Is it weird? Yes, but I'm not supposed to care what my co-workers do in their freetime so I personally don't mind.

And, unfortunately, that's all. To sum up, the plot is "co-workers try to go undercover to spy on their other coworker while he's skinny dipping :|

Since I don't like Roy, the premise of this ep didn't really appeal to me at all. But, weirdly enough, it had the opposite effect 'cause I've spent its whole duration feeling sorry for him. He gets the possibility once a month to train alone in a professional pool, and the six of us -which I recall you are his co-workers and his boss- have nothing better to do than to go spying on him? Just because they thought he subtly implied he wanted them to come see him?!

One. It is false since during the whole workday they kept "catcalling" him and joking about it and he wasn't really pleased to say the least. He put on a brave face, endured the working hours, and then left the office asap.

Two. You're adults, fully grown adults that are acting like literally teens. It's not normal for grown-ups to feel excited, see Elenda and Thomas, to play spies to see your co-worker naked. It is weird and creepy.

I'm glad at least I wasn't the only sane person to comprehend this was wrong and absurd on so many levels. Paradoxically enough, the only one I found myself agreeing with was Amanda, a character I couldn't stand until now, she gained a tons of points in my eyes + she's also a girl's girlie so gg.

Also, special mention to the hint of peer pressure put on Candy and Amanda by the quartet. I didn't like it at all and it shouldn't be even a thing considering the context.

No is no, even if Roy supposedly enjoys voyeurism, I personally do not.

This is really a shame cause they butchered so many characters with this unnecessary sketch, Thomas being the worst of them in my eyes. I'm not sure if my perception of him was wrong from the start, but I don't recognize this character at all. Silly jokes, creepy hobbies, and an immature, teenage-like attitude were never traits I would have attributed to him. I know I keep repeating myself but it's truly a shame that such poor writing has impacted the perception and development of the characters, which now seems clearly different from how they were portrayed in the beginning...

Going forward, I made then the choice to leave with Amanda and warn Roy about their ambush. It was nice to have that option tbh. The whole scene afterwards, sneaking into the public pool and hiding in the lockers, was utterly embarrassing because it’s not the kind of behavior you’d expect from people in their late twenties, but whatever the problem it's the whole context so I can't complain about it too much.

Then Roy catches the sextet and pulls off his counter-prank. After snitching on us, we all decided it was a good time to play with water guns. Again, the idea was fun and silly in a good way, but context-wise mmh...

Now the long-awaited moment I've been patiently waiting for: the encounter with Jason.

Look at him I love him sm nsgsg

I had no idea how they would include him in the episode since he practically had nothing to do with the Devenemential gang. And honestly -unpopular opinion- they probably should have left him out of this messy episode because the reason they gave for his involvement didn’t fully convince me, and the special scene was disappointing.

Apparently, he also has deals with the guards -worst security protocol ever if you ask me- and he goes there once a week to train. And here I was thinking that the CEO of a famous and well-known company would have a private pool or the means to rent one lol. Looks like everyone's feeling the pinch these days. Good job Jason, saving money like the rest of us poor unfortunate souls, such a relatable boss.

Fun fact, it appears one of his dreams is to defeat Roy? In a swimming competition?? Like, okay? I'll gladly be there to root for you the day you actually succeed then dear.

Well maybe not everyone shares the same hobbies as you and Roy, Candy. Besides, why would he know about Roy's interests?? He's not as deranged as Thomas, who keeps tabs on his colleagues' private lives...

ANYWAY. Candy feels cold and needs to get out of the pool if she doesn’t want to catch pneumonia. Jason offers to help her by closing his eyes, but she’s not fully convinced. Again, NOT EVERYONE IS A PERV, CANDY. You're just the unlucky girl who's got to work with them. In fact you should bring him to Devenemential to have him teach your colleagues the art of not being crazy maniacs, I'm sure that could be of help.

I won't spend too many words on the next scene since I've already made a whole ass post ranting about it and sharing my headcanon. However, regarding the mistress scene, I will say that yes, it was poorly executed. But if the entire episode had followed this direction I would have gladly signed off on it because, all things considered, it’s not even remotely comparable to the plot we've endured so far.

Now for the special scene I am conflicted. Ngl I really thought for a split second that we actually managed to kiss him, but I quickly snapped back to reality when I realized it was just Candy being delusional and I am just as much as her. She must have ingested way too much chlorine to be having such a mental trip lol. Anyway, I didn't like it very much because it was clear that BV didn't know what to come up with. The fact that they managed to incorporate Jason into the plot was something, but asking for a well-written special scene was apparently too much.

On a side note, I’m DEAD TIRED of having to endure the worst humiliations in every single episode when we’re on Jason’s route. It's pretty embarrassing, and, at lest for me, it’s not easy to move forward without cringing every few minutes. Moreover, it always seems like he has to have the upper hand in every situation. When is our Candy going to stop acting like a fool and step up her game??

And that's all, the episode ends with Candy leaving the pool, wondering if she and Jason will ever stop meeting in the most weird way spoiler: you won't i assure you.

Now for the next episode I fear we’re in for another ‘fun’ plot since it’s called A Child at Heart, but honestly I have no idea what these interns will actually get up to. Maybe the theme will revolve around generational differences, since they seem to be Gen Z while our colleagues are more on the border of being Millennials? Idk but I do really hope the writing will be better than in this ep.

All things considered, I still have faith in BV. I know they have the ability to write a good story with a solid foundation when they want to—it’s just that I don’t know what’s happening with this series in particular. As other players have pointed out, it feels like this plot was originally conceived when NG was still set in a high school, and now they’re trying to repurpose it in a more 'adult' way. The problem is, it’s just not working.

The Halloween event is approaching, and let’s hope it can alleviate some of the discontent in the community. Hopefully the upcoming episodes will be better since they’ve addressed the topic in the forums but we'll see.

[exocynraku]

hi! no idea if this has been answered, but have you considered how groups of seals think about queerness as a whole? are there trans seals? how do they perceive gayness or a complete disinterest in sexual relations (and, tying into this-seals who have no desire to have a partner, whether or not it's platonic?) no pressure to respond d: love ur little guys the gene sheet is so cool

Short answer: our human concepts of gayness and transgendism don’t properly/fully apply to caeseal societies because gender is not a concept that exists. It’s just never been invented. sex-based genders (boy and girl), masculinity/felinity and tradtional gender roles don't exist. The only thing that does exist is different ways seals will PERSONNALY refer to themselves (pronoun wise i talk about mostly). I say personally because the pronouns seals use are ALWAYS DIFFERENT! specifically catered to the singular seal! (with the except of it/its which you'll have to read my long answer for if you want to understand that) Our human concepts of asexualism/aromanticism/things akin to that DO exist but play a more prominent role in pods. Hunts are kind of an odd ball, lol. Long answer: caeseals and their relationships with sexuality and gender are a lot more different than ours, mostly because:

 caeseals have little to no physical difference between sexes excluding reproducing organs. i'm still debating if i want to add any sort of sex-linked gene(s). this is very unlike most real species of seals but i decided on it mostly because i . Like it more than normal sexual dimorphism? that's sort of it. 

with no obvious sexual differences there also isn’t really a concept of ‘masculinity’ or ‘femininity’, and traditional gender roles haven’t been invented. 

and this all does play a part in caeseal society. how sexuality and “gender” both work differ between pod and hunt groups ! 

hunts: with mates being assigned, what we know as traditional romance is pretty much nonexistent. hunt seal romance is more akin to friendly rivalries.

sexual and romantic attraction really isn’t something that cross hunt seals minds. it does occur, but very few will act on them until later in their life (after they’ve mated, when they can do whatever they want). Excluding a distaste towards sex, which they’ll usually act on sometime after getting paired up by killing their partner.

the sex of hunt seals is known by the leader of the hunt. since they are the ones who choose pairings, they need to keep track of everybody to make sure pairings would be able to reproduce. 

all hunt seals start their lives being called ‘it’ (it/its). this also works as a catch-all term if you need to refer to a seal you don’t know the gender of.

most hunt seals will eventually stray away from 'it' as they grow. there are many reasons one may, and i couldn't list them all. but, as they stray away, the terms they choose are usually entirely unrelated to their sex. instead, it's usually related to their fighting style! 

all seals, no matter the group, attack by biting. but attacking is not all you need to know, especially in hunts. hunts teach all sorts of specialized moves, ranging from defense techniques, knowing your limits & how to use your differences to your advantage, surprise attacks, how to use your surroundings, etc etc. and a lot of seals have somethint they specialize in.

hunt seals use this when choosing how to refer to themselves. have you ever heard of kiki and bouba? how kiki sounds sharp and pointy and bouba sounds soft and round? hunt seals apply the vibes and feelings of different noises (letters) to the vibes and feelings of the thing they specialize in. 

a seal who specializes in surprise attacks would go for something short and sudden sounding (ex: t/k/v/j), maybe a noise that'd instil a feeling of dread. (ex: ss/ee) 

a seal who specializes in a battering-ram style charges to throw opponents around would want something that starts slower (oo, uu, aa, hh, gg) and ends solid, but not sharp. (d/g/b/m) 

etc etc, i could make a million examples. hunt seals who specialize in multiple styles could use multiple pronouns or mix two together. if a hunt seal's style changes over time, so could how they refer to themselves. 

what feeling a certain letter evokes does vary SLIGHTLY hunt to hunt, but that doesn't matter, and a hunt seal wouldn't introduce themselves to a seal from a different hunt. they'd just fight each other. 

i’ll probably make a guide for what letters hunt seals associate different things to. but that’ll be later

pods: pod culture around relationships is a LOT more complex than hunts and is a bit hard to define. Gender is . still a bit complex but it’s definitely easier to understand than their relationships

similar to hunts, pod seals begin their lives being referred to as it (it/its). but the way pod seals figure out what terms they’ll be referred to as isn’t actually determined by them. as seals grow up, the people around them and the people they’re close to, usually immediate family, will start referring to them in different ways. whatever their family thinks fits them. as time goes on, eventually certain terms will fall off and others will stick. and eventually, usually when they’re about halfway thru their juvenality, one will REALLY stick. that’ll be how this seal refers to themselves.

similar to hunts, these terms are usually made up, but not related to sounds. they’re related to things that the seals family associates with them. usually physical objects/things or ‘vibes’. this is a little hard to explain, but eventually i’ll make an easier guide/make examples.

If a seal for whatever reason doesn’t like the term that’s been decided for them, they can ask for more suggestions/pick a different one their family recommended/make one up themselves/etc. It’s rare for this to happen but it’ll show up every so often. 

Pods relationships are open and ‘cheating’ is not a concept that exists in their society. Seals who never end up in relationships with other seals do exist but they’re hard to find. Most seals are able to keep track of who they’re in a relationship with but those who like having lots of partners will occasionally keep lists. 

Most seals end up in relationships with those who they grew up with but meeting someone totally new does happen. And when i mean meeting someone new, i mean both from a different pod and inside your OWN pod. This might seem crazy but, i think i’ve mentioned it, pods can get VERY BIG!!!! There is most DEFINITELY a chance there’ll be some seals you don’t meet for a long time or are only acquaintances with. 

Pod relationships are pretty complex but CAN be understood if you put a bit of brain into it. The only relationship that’s not hard to figure out are familial relationships as those just work as. That’s my family. That’s not my family. Otherwise, pod seal relationships usually consist of offshoots of platonic, romantic or sexual. (ps: when i say platonic i don’t mean stuff like friends or acquaintances those are their own thing that word just how they do normally in real life) to give a few examples, someone could have a solely romantic relationship with another seal, but be open to romantic or sexual relationships. Someone could like romantic relationships but only with people they don’t know very well. I could quite literally go on forever. 

But, when referring to another seal, pod seals will generally say ‘i don’t know that seal/we’re acquaintances/we’re friends’ or ‘we have a relationship/we are partners��� and then expand further or not depending on comfort. I’m not sure if i explained that well (like ive done with most of the stuff in this post putting my thoughts into words is brain melting) but i’ll have to cap it here before i die in some sort of way. But i’ll get around to making nice guides eventually, probably when school stops swamping me (who knows when that’ll be though) 

[skydigiblogs]

sky and co's seeker thoughts (ch 2)

ough, okay, quick thoughts on chapter 2. will try to be brief but i'll likely elaborate on these at a later point once i finish the whole novel (which, yeah, i am still gonna force myself through even though i am disliking it; i did the same for next, and it'll keep me occupied at work lmao)

so, first thing's first: i really do not like the worldbuilding of seekers. there's a lot going on that makes me very uncomfortable. that is:

everything to do with nation x. introducing it and describing it only through its low GDP, state-sponsored terrorism, and dictator, is uh. hm. it just doesn't sit right with me to strip a nation down to strictly these things, because unfortunately even if you call it "nation x," those characteristics have real world geopolitical connotations. to put it lightly, guys that feels a bit racist of you.

following on that, uh, hey, you know what also doesn't look great? SoC is introduced as "A militant organization that is considered to be the right wing of the code cracking team." SoC is described as a terrorist group itself (and i genuinely can't tell if this is the writer trying to write it so that this is supposed to be slanderous).

and one of their top execs is also the only person of color we have in the novel. right, right, cool, um. hey. like i love marvin's characterization so far dgmr, he is an actual person, but i really hope seekers tries to do anything to counter the fact it literally described SoC as a right wing, terrorist group??

final worldbuilding note: i don't like the fact that seekers hinges on us believing that the fuckin metaverse took off enough that there's a crypto rivaling the USD. this is the only worldbuilding note i am willing to let slide, since it is, at the end of the day, in service of giving us more of a reason why digimon can affect the real world at all (since, afaik, digimon can't realize in the real world, only hololize). other series like CS and GG did it just fine without this shit but i will let it slide for now. i may not be so kind on it in the inevitable essay about the whole thing.

i fucking hate sad white boy (leon). just straight up thumbs down i hate everything about him and how he is used narratively. this is because he is described as a blonde, blue eyed man with a tragic past whose fit physique is thanks to him working out to bury that "weakness" (his trauma). he has a savior complex and is an american and god holy fucking shit i hate him.

reason why i hate sad white boy number 2: sad white boy in chapter 2 is, by the end of it, almost explicitly meant to represent an ideal of his that is in conflict with eiji. that's to say, sad white boy is "justice," and eiji is "freedom." this is practically handed to us in chapter 2-9. i am aware that takemikazuchi mode exists so i know obviously at some point these two have to make amends, but seeing how chapter 2 ended with eiji crying over sad white boy martyring himself to save him (we'll get back to THAT in a sec), implying that he would even consider relenting his idea of "freedom" for sad white boy is. hm.

reason 3: following on that last point, sad white boy is by definition privileged. seekers isn't hesitant to point this out, which i do like! what i don't like, however, is that them doing so feels hollow after sad white boy's martyring at the end of chapter 2. this is especially so thanks to the fact that it's also coming after loogarmon's dark digivolution, which, in the text, feels like the narrative trying to condemn eiji for his resentment towards leon (something which, for a kid like eiji who has lost so fucking much makes sense!).

(side note: i know in general digimon has a habit of using dark digivolution as a way of like, condemning certain emotions. i would love to unpack that in a longer essay, to be honest.)

i love eiji though. dumb little shit.

still not sure what the narrative wants me to think about the police though. by the end of it i'm probably going to have a lot of notes about it. certainly feels sour on the reading palate considering what police actually do though. yesterday i mentioned how much i hated the narrative putting a line about colonialism right next to a scene that, at least imo, felt like it was trying to paint the digipol as the good guys. like, irl, cops function as an extension of colonialism, so it just. idk.

tl;dr: savers i miss you. savers please.

(for context: i started my rewatch of savers because i wanted to see how DATS was treated in terms of portraying police. savers pleasantly surprised me considering it quite explicitly showed that the government can and will enable genocidal behavior. like, kurata wasn't a "bad apple," he was enabled by the impatience of the japanese government and a LOT OF TROOPS.)

(also savers did the privileged character clashing with the more hot-headed/loose main character thing way better than my experience is feeling at the end of chapter 2 with eiji and sad white boy.)

[lenteur]

bias tag game

rules: you're going to pick 10 of your biases (or as many biases as you have and then fill in the rest of the spots with idols you like) and number them 1-10. then answer the questions below! try not to look at the questions before you make your list!

tagged by @yoohyeontual (not gonna lie, i'm still tempted to write @/korimi4) ♡ tagging: @byunbaekhyunie @kangseulqi @kingdomtual @kjisoos @kwon-eunbi @psyoungs @seulggi @soraenun @urons @venompinks and anyone who wants to do this game, consider yourself tagged

yes i am aware most of the biases listed below are no longer active idols but they still hold a special place in my heart ❤️

1.krystal / 2. suzy / 3. yeri / 4. yerin baek / 5. hikaru / 6. kang mina / 7. yeonjun / 8. nana (from woo!ah!) / 9. ahn sohee / 10. luna

1. between 7 and 5, who did you bias first? considering he debuted first, this one goes for yeonjun.

2. between 2 and 6, who are you more attached to? bae suzy ♡ i've grown up with her and i don't think i'll ever stop ulting her

3. if you were to spend the day with either 3 or 1, who would you choose and what would you do? i was hoping to not end up with this kind of question because i know i'm way too awkward and wouldn't know what to say/do. other than that, the only instance where i'd want to meet one of my biases is at a concert, that's it! with that in mind, and after some consideration, i'm choosing krystal because i feel like we relate to some degree with each other. and she'd show me cool places with beautiful architecture.

4. what is your favorite physical feature about 9? i've always thought her face was stunning. i just don't know how to explain it but yeah, beautiful face!

5. what is your favorite part of 6's personality? i'll say her perseverance (had to check the spelling). she went through the whole produce 101 situation, ended up in the final gg. and then she went on to debut with gugudan and had to go through her company not paying enough attention to the group as a whole. when her contract ended, she then chose to pursue a career in acting. and i think that's beautiful because you can see how much effort she puts to reach her goals.

6. if you were to tell 8 anything you wanted, what would you tell them? so many things i want to say... first, i'd like to tell her to never lose her smile because her joy is contagious. also, she is an incredible performer. whenever i watch woo!ah! fancams, my attention is drawn to her because her stage presence is amazing. and you can see how much she likes being on stage and performing songs with her group. so, all in all, nana you're such a fantastic performer and i can't wait to see you perform other songs.

7. between 1 and 2, whose closet would you raid? ... ..... .............. ...................................... it was a rather difficult choice because i like both of their styles but i'm going to go with suzy, especially her guess outfits. they're cute! and the carin glasses were amazing as well. oh and she's also a new longines ambassafor and i'm a big fan of watches so yeah :D suzy wins this one ^^

8. what is a style that you want to see 3 try? i don't know if it's already happened but i totally see yeri rock a retro (60s/70s/80s) concept. and i'm talking about both clothing and music. i think she'd pull it off well. i'm curious to see that

9. between 5 and 4, who are you closer to in height? i really thought it was hikaru but no, it's yerin baek. i'm actually in the middle between the two.

10. between 10 and 9, whose music do you like the best? considering ahn sohee hasn't released solo music, i'll go with luna. even if i had to choose between wonder girls and f(x), i'd still choose f(x) because i like their music better (just a tiny bit)

[wegonbealright-09]

Jimin getting that number gagged everybody hey!

Him going number one on BB100 had everybody chocking on their D. The whole of kpop was gagged, the members were gagged and someone at the company was losing his hair.

The whole of kpop was gagged because the biggest GG in kpop still doesn't have a BB no1 and jimin is considered to not be that popular in SK for certain reasons, him getting something that veteran kpop idols and groups couldn't get so unexpectedly and made it seem so easy gagged them. And I think the members were gagged because as much as he's known to be "the third most biased member" they didn't except that from him, they expected the kind of response Tae got because most of the fandom is tkk shippers and they don't like jimin even the members know that. Them being gagged got them bitter and jealous in the process.

I'm going to start with namjoon for various reasons. This guy last year seemed so done with bts, like he was so done being the leader and he wanted this freedom, he was so excited to go solo. He then released indigo which was beautiful but also mehh. His album pulled better numbers that BTS's own. He was so happy you could see the glow in he's eyes he was genuinely happy. He was considered the next bts by various articles he was so happy. Then face was announced and happened all of sudden he's not satisfied with his numbers he wants to pull more numbers he's releasing Collab after Collab. He released sprite with that girl during the same period and Vibe and then another one during jimin's debut. What was he hoping to achieve, more numbers, more listeners. He then became obviously bitter when LC went number 1 posted a story saying he wrote lyrics. A simple congratulations would have been enough what was he hoping for, recognition? What? He already got a paycheck he's credited as a write we know. He was so done with the group last year he looked so done, in his debut he didn't mention BTS at all literally now all of a sudden he's mentioning BTS every second because being arrogant and idgaf only works for certain members and he started feeling insecure about his numbers after Face, okay.

Then there's Tae who's only friends with jimin when it benefits him. Well he grew up poor( they all did except Jin but this is about him) and as a person who grew up poor like me you try to fit in to get the bag because at all costs you tryna get the bag, you have to secure the bag. But at what cost. He's basically losing himself he doesn't know if wants to be cute, sexy or a bad boy or whatever because his personality is made up he's just fabricated because he's genuinely such a boring person you can tell by his voice. Before FACE when smfpt2 was about to be released he posted something in weverse about looking forward to midnight or something idk. But it was about smfpt2. Then he went missing literally he posted nothing after that, imagine your best friend, your soulmate achieving such a feat and as someone who's chronically online you don't post about it? Tell me how. He was gagged I'm sure he kept on clapping hands every five minutes because he couldn't believe it. How jimin achieved this before his gf's group, how he achieved it when the fandom literally doesn't like him.

Then there's jk and yoongi whom I have a lot to say about but I won't say anything at all because I'm just tired of these two like literally. When's yoongi going to the military like nigga move your scrawny legs to the fking military he's probably not going to be in the field like others because of his shoulder thing meaning he's going to serve more months than others yet he's still here doing lord knows what just go please for the love of God and everything holy just go. Then jeon jungkook I've talked quiet alot about him to the point where my little blog started to feel a bit toxic, and it seemed like I was a jk anti whereas this is just a mere jimin focused blog nothing else. As for Hybe I'm done talking about them hell no.

And as for jimin. I hope he one day gives back the same energy he receives but the reason why he looks younger than all of them and doesn't even need a face routine for glowing skin is because he truly give zero fucks.

Anyways I'm just ranting because whilst having a glass of wine I was thinking and I wish Tumblr had voice record option because typing tires me

[kichimiangra]

You mentioned that you might hypothetically write a story for Digimon Ghost Game. What would be the plot of that potential fanfic?

I mean, I probably won't actually write it because me and writing don't always get along.... it's why I have more art than text for Nannersverse at this point. I'm just trying to force myself to write more for the sake of being able to shit out scripts for comics quicker. Nannersverse would have totally ended up a comic if I didn't stop myself! Then it would take so long that it would eventually get set on the backburner as another unfinished comic :<

BUT!

If I did do a Ghost Game fic it would probably be an attempt at a fictional "Season 2" where I collect all the loose ends or things I personally would want to see expanded on, so the main main plot would be a whole "Gulus can't count, the endbringer is coming and it's only been 2 years" but opening with a few episodic chapters that feel like episodes to establish how the world is now that Digimon are kinda an open thing and not a secret, how people reac to their existance. and what the GG Gangs normal lives have been since then. Maybe Jellymon and Angoramon have hit that point in their development by now that they no longer default to Rookie form, but are permanently Champions to show that even if it's only been 2 years the relationship to their humans have had a substantial effect on their growth? But more importantly because I'm bias as fuck, the early chapter highlights would be on specifically how Hiro and Gammamon's lives are effected by the constant existence of Big brother Gulus popping up unannounced for almost anything, going from who was originally a background character in their lives to a constant element needing getting used to, such as watching Gammamon seemingly hold a two way conversation with himself with only the black eyes being an indicator he isn't going full Gollum. Plus the fun that they are trying to get Gulus to be good but he is VERY resistant to behaving good.

"The Plot" would eventually show up and the episodic chapters would end to focus instead on a serialized narrative of trying to put an end to the end bringer, maybe it kills or captures Quantumon? It wouldn't be a fast arrival, Maybe the Gulus Virus that had been going around the digital world was technically caused by the end bringer (So like, back on Krypton Gulus was just a normal Gammamon before he himself got infected, but instead of 'infection' he 'devoured' the virus, writing it into his own digital code thus birthing his permanent evolution into Gulusgammamon) and with the virus spreading around the digimon in both the digital and human worlds all eyes are on Hiro, Gamma, and Gulus as nobody really trusts Gulus to not be the active cause of this spreading virus, with the only one believing in him being Hiro and Gamma? This way later there can be like... the narrative buddy fight, so to speak. (Though I don't think Hiro would buddy fight :/ He's so passive...)

I'd have to chew on it a bit more to think of what I would do for "The Plot-Plot" but I do know I would want a Huge amount of focus to be on Hiro and his two Gamma's, as what Ghost Game did well was it's smaller personal character moments and also I'm bias as fuck.

-------------------

About a week after your original ask of "If I wrote a digimon fic what would it be?" and my answer was GG but only if I found there was a story that I wanted to tell with the characters, I remembered that there actually WAS a digimon fic I had considered writing but it was also in a "still chewing on it" point of existence, but I had already answered the ask so cuz psuedo on topic I'll add it here!

A while Back KarnEX did a video discussing the early concept for Digimon Frontier I found myself biting my lip because I liked the original idea, so I had started ideating the vague idea of a digimon fic using the concept. (Although once again my brain is like "But what if.... comic...?")

A report is seen on the tv about 'more' children/teens/whatevs going missing, establishing an ongoing crisis. The Protag is going somewhere or something or whatever maybe a travelling circus or music show or SOMETHING to get a moderate group of kids in a single place and a group of Digimon appear and kidnap protag and the other kids; isekai'ing them to the digital world (though the kids don't know they're not in kansas anymore yet.) end of setup.

Here in the digital world for the first act, it follows a Ratchet and Clank: Deadlocked plot: They have been kidnapped by the Digimon who work for a gladitory arena and are being forced to compete for the entertainment and profit of the arena owners (Captialism is the true villain lol). The Arena has Digimon competetors but the arena has found that the more interesting fights come from capturing humans and making them Fuse/Biomerge evolve with a digimon competitor, many of which have ALSO been forced into the arena against their will. From there protag ends up meeting their partner and it becomse kinda like a tournament fighter shounen manga as protag meets other competetors and their own issues trying to survive the arena (characters and storylines like "The Pacifist won't fight but has to learn it's okay sometimes" or the "Dog eat dog competitor" or "The Competitor who is a cinnamon role paired up with a bad or abusive human/digimon partner" etc.) Eventually after the first arena tournament round ends and the second begins; round two requires team fighting and protag manages to create a team of merry misfits and their digimon partners that he befriended/ gained the respect of during round one. They start realizing that they think they can escape the arena via a very specific escape route and try to get back to civilization and call the police on this child-monster-battle-thing. Most of their group get's out, accidentally leaving one of their own behind, maybe there's a forced "Dark Biomerge Digivolution" forced upon the kid or maybe there's a "They left you behind like bad friends!" or maybe there's a "He stayed behind for a reason!" I dunno this character is probably the Ken/Matt/Rika/that one friend who has baggage that digimon likes to have. It's a good character trait I love it.

Now that (most) of the main group has escaped the arena the second act begins where they are effectively let loose out in the digital world, realize that they infact got isekai'd, maybe they have to collect some kind of Macguffins? Maybe the arena is actually run by Satanists summoning the Digital Devil? either way the arena was bad but it was all a front for something worse and the kids need to find a way to stop it, save the other competetors in the arena and go home without the world being destroyed all while some drama plot is being set up with the left behind character. I don't have all the bugs worked out with the second act, I just know it's the big adventure act where they get to explore the whole open digital world while realizing just how close they were to something very very bad happenning to them back at the arena, but also how once you get out of the corruption of the arena this world is beautiful and worth saving.

Act three would be finishing up anything that needs to be done in the overworld, maybe a classic "I have the chance to abandon my friends and go home alone" plot of temptation the the protag gives up and then return to the arena for a final showdown and liberation of the other humans and digimon. Just finishing stuff up y'know.

It's an Idea that could be told with completely original characters but could also be fun to make all the missing kids into known characters from the franchises Anime/Manga/Games/ etc., not in like.... a Xros wars "All the protags are visiting the episode from their own worlds" way but in a "This universe's version of the character" way. Y'know full AU. Also I could put Jerri there and then NOT kill her Leomon.....

Also I had an idea for a mysterious Arena Champion who is a baddass but you learn that they're not in sync in the fusion, the Digimon is repressing their human and steering the whole fusion themselves because they aren't gonna let their human, who is too nice, to get themselves killed so they do what they have to do, repressing the human part of the biomerge in order to take all the hardship themselves. Was gonna consider Koichi from Frontier but I don't think I can do much more than Frontier already did with him and make it interesting. Was gonna consider Ken and Wormmon, having Wormmon repress Ken in the fusion in order to protect him and do the bad stuff himself or vise versa. But then I watched Ghost Game and ngl Hiro with Gamma and Gulus as the champion where Gulus convinced Gamma to help repress and placate Hiro in the fusion so Gulus can fly the plane because he thinks the other two are so soft it'll get them all killed sounds fun and I am biased as fuck.

[nicascurls]

hey im new to your blog. sorry if these are repetitive questions!!!

first off i love your username. i am intrigued on your thoughts about niffany as i personally hate them with all my being. like genuinely it makes me sick people actually ship them .

second off id love to hear all your thoughts on GG theyre my beloved and their relationship with nica is so precious to me

third off i dont have any friends to discuss chucky with except one but she doesn’t really like the show so im rambling but ive wondered if its just me whos noticed the weird sexual scenes with the kids like in s2 when lexy is making out with that guy like isnt she 15?? and in s3 when jevon get intimate and all their making out scenes are so uncomfortable like tf is going on????

anyways i hope this isnt annoying and you have a nice day

Hi! 👋

There is no need to apologise. This ask has made me so happy! So, to answer your questions:

1. I do not like the idea of Niffany as a ship at all. Nica has been put through WAY too much and deserves a break and the ability to form some healthy relationships of any form, certainly not a romantic one with one of her abusers. (I adore Fiona and Jennifer, and their chemistry is great, but the characters being together or even just getting along is a big old no for me) That’s not even mentioning the creepy and tragic parallel of Tiffany being obsessed with Nica, the same way that Chucky was obsessed with Sarah. If others like it, that's their business, but personally, I certainly don't think it should be canon ever.

2. I love GG they are the sweetest, and I am so glad that they still have a relationship with Nica. I honestly think that right now, in the series, Nica's close bond and daily contact with GG is the only thing that is keeping her somewhat grounded. Although, I would have also preferred for the twins to stay in their human form (maybe in a way that GG the doll could still be alive but their own person if that makes sense)

3. You are absolutely not the only one, I definitely find it weird how much all 3 of the trio are sexualized. I mean, even in season 1, it was implied that Lexy was wanting to have sex and some of her dialogue felt way too sexual. Especially considering that Alyvia would have only been 13 when they started filming season one! And then, yeah, she had that scene at the start of season 2 and then the whole thing about making 'thirst trap' tiktoks in season 3 and Jake describing her as a 'sex pot'. Once again, Alyvia would have only been 15 when filming that scene. It just feels so unnecessary. (Don't even get me started on how Alyvia was 15/16 whilst Jackson who plays Grant was 21/22, I'm not blaming the actors but the creators being okay with that feels icky to me).

Then we have the very obvious increased sexualisation of Jake in season 3 that seems to be purely because of Zach having been working out more. He is still a minor, and the constant scenes of him shirtless or in tight shirts once again feels unnecessary considering that.

And yes, the Jevon sex scene and cringey dialogue also feels unnecessary. I know teens have sex and that's normal, but that doesn't mean it needs to be shown on national TV. If I'm honest, I feel uncomfortable enough watching scenes like that when the actors are adults but playing characters who are minors. But when the actors themselves are minors too, Zach would have been 16/17 when filming, and Bjorgvin would have been 17 or literally just turned 18 within the past week or so.

It's not so much what is shown or implied that I have the biggest problem with, more the context that it is grown adults who are thinking of and writing the scenes for minors and directing minors to do that in front of a camera.

Anyway, thank you so much for your ask, anon, you're not annoying me at all, and I'm glad you like my username. Have a nice day! 😊

[rainbowsky]

Hi, I was the turtle asked about 520 endorsements cpns..

I’m so impressed with your detailed answer.. you are a very rational thinker who can open my mind. Thank you very much 🙏🙏

However during 520, do you think lan quiren actor’s post and TU music director’s wuji post are significant candies??

This is in reference to a previous post.

I'm glad that you found the post helpful!

As for the 520 stuff, I linked to my posts about them in my response to you, so you should be able to find them there.

Fake, fan fiction, CPN.

I think posts from their friends/colleagues are always more interesting than brand candies, at the very least. Although we don't know how close they are to any of those people, so we can't go too crazy with our assumptions about it. We know that the core Untamed cast and crew are all part of a WeChat group together, so they're at least able to stay in touch, but we don't know how much GG and DD interact there.

Lin Hai's posts are always cute and joyful, and I think all turtles look forward to them. They're never bombs, but they're always sweet.

Huang Ziteng's post, on the other hand... that was very 👀. For reasons I outlined in one of my posts about it, I think that image was created by GG. It's possible GG shared it to the WeChat group and HZT posted it publicly without GG's permission, but I hope that's not the case (and I think he would have likely taken it down if it had caused any upset, but it's still up there).

It's more likely that he posted that somehow with GG's permission. And to me, given the imagery, given the leaks about DD's travels and the covid testing, and given that the image has a frickin' covid swab on it, and given the whole crazy thing... it's just very 👀👀👀👀👀💣💣💣, and one of the biggest unwashable candies to come out in a while. This is just the sort of bomb GG is known for.

But it’s also understandable that GG would want to say something about it. I’ve talked to a lot of people about it who feel that it’s INCREDIBLY romantic and over-the-top, massive, grand gesture of love that DD would drive 12-16 hours (turtle reports of the distance vary LOL), into a borderline quarantine zone (after everything Shanghai has been through), to be with GG. Married people say they wouldn’t even considering risking being caught up in a lockdown to do that for their spouses. 😅

People view that whole thing as massive proof of how in love DD is, and I totally agree. It’s the sweetest candy since the sneakers and ice cream post, AFAIAC, even if it’s a bit of a guilty pleasure given how it came out of some pretty major violations of GGDD’s privacy.

Not much more to say about it than that.

EDIT: Xiaoman M posted a video about this that people might find interesting.

Edit: More on fan perceptions here.

Update: HZT posted a hilarious video related to this candy (and connecting it to the phone case candy) on the following 520.

[sylenth-l]

Hi, I really love a lot of the headcanons you post on this blog! It gives a really sweet & truly in-depth look to some of the interactions we see. I wanted to ask, do you have anything of the sort for Stasis?

Ah, thank you, sweet anon! I'm glad you manage to find some interest in my ramblings here (ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ)💙✨

Regarding Stasis - oh, I adore Stasis! It's easily my 2nd favorite after Void (and the only thing I ever switch to from it, lol). I love everything about it - first of all, it's deep blue, therefore perfect the concept, how it looks, how it feels and - most of all - how it sounds. Lore-wise though I don't think I have much to say about it, aside from the general info?.. Most of time, if I'm thinking about Stasis, I'm thinking about how some characters would react to it and who would've used it.

For example, when it comes to the Hunter gang, I think Tevis would've jumped right into it, because fuck Traveler, that's why. Fuck Darkness too, of course, but for that he had Void. A perfect balance right here! At the same time, due to his rather... grim… mental state, it seems like it could've been pretty dangerous for him. But I think he'd be fine as long as he had reliable "Light anchors" aka his friends.

Shiro, being the most sensible and reasonable Hunter ever, would certainly see how useful Stasis can be. He wouldn't switch to it from Arc ofc, but could use it no problem, if needed - I think he'd be more interested in creating some cool gun with it though. He already proved himself to be capable of using dangerous things (like SIVA), so it could've been the same for Stasis. (I'm really curious about what he thinks about this whole situation with Darkness, btw; I hope we're gonna get some lore about it evetually)

For Andal it's pretty much canon that he didn't really like all that Darkness stuff, but at the same time realised it could be used for good. So I think it would've been the same for Stasis - he probably would've tried it to just know what he's dealing with (or more like what his fellow Hunters are dealing with), but never really used it due to personal distaste.

Cayde though would've absolutely hated it and never touched anything Darkness related even with a 10-foot pole. I think he'd be too scared of the influence it could've had on him; from what he wrote in his diary about trying to be a better person, I got that he didn't trust himself much on that matter. So his hatred and fear towards using Darkness would've made a perfect sense. Maybe he could've tolerated others using it to some extent, thanks to Andal and Shiro convincing him it'd be okay, but that's it.

I also thought about who's gonna use Stasis in my "Dredgen fireteam" (lol), consisting of Vale, Bane and Hope. Surely not Teben, I refuse to see him use anything other than the Soulfire (a girl can dream, okay??), so it's either Vale or Hope. Considering Drifter's fun relationship with cold and ice it could've been interesting, but in the end I decided to give Stasis to Orsa. I like how drastically it contrasts with Shin's significant Solar Light and it's also kinda hot in terms of Shin/Drifter ship, so It leaves Drifter with his shady Taken-related stuff, which is a well fit imo.

Oh, I'm a bit sad that there are no ~legendary~ Guardians, who are well known for their Stasis abilities. You know, like Shin's GG, Saint's foul shell bubble, etc. It's understandable, of course, since Stasis wasn't around for a long time and now some crazy bitches run around and kill everyone who uses it, but still. Would've been nice to see some named & badass Revenants, Shadebinders and Behemoths.

[gear-project]

I'm going to ask a question that I think some people fear to ask: Why are so many staples of Guilty Gear being stripped and simplified? I hate to sound like a conspiracy theorist (because this is just based on emotion than any fact), but it feels like ever since Katano's gotten onboard, several mechanics that have defined GG for ages are being removed or made more generic. If it's not the IKs, it's the lack of personalized rival intros/outros, the removal of Win/Lose quotes, etc.

First and foremost, the 'blame' does not lie solely on Katano's shoulders.

Ishiwatari said in interviews that he wanted a game that could appeal to everyone of all walks of life.

You have to understand the 'logic' behind what that means.

When someone decides to play a game like Guilty Gear (a game they may have never played before), their first expectations might be intrepidation and concern for how difficult it is to get in and play the game.

This, right here, is the fundamental reason why previous Guilty Gear series games were never as popular compared to mainstream fighting games.

Not GG1, not GGX, not GGXX, not Reload, not Isuka, not Accent Core, not GG2, and not even Xrd Sign, or Xrd Revelator 2.

None of these games (not ONE), can be considered a "simple game" to pick up and play.

Even if you explained to a newbie that Rev2 has a "simple 'Stylish' input mode"… that's going to go right over their heads in terms of fundamentals, gameplay concepts, and not only that has a coddling effect on them, meaning they have to learn a completely different way to play the game AFTER they master Stylish Mode.

So, why does a game like Tekken 7 with its "huge movelists" and "complicated inputs" still maintain popularity?

You don't really need to know those things about the game to go in and start mashing buttons and doing things.

That's the primary and fundamental difference.

Take a character like Ky Kiske for example:

He started out with… 5 special moves and 1 Overdrive (excluding his Instant Kill).

But in the transition from GG1 to GGXX, his gamut of normal attack movements (not including his specials and Overdrives) nearly doubled.

Even for a casual button-masher, it was not easy to use him. Some moves required a forward input, others required a jump or a crouch input, and so on.

Now, transition to Accent Core Plus R: looking at Ky's move entries (courtesy of Dustloop Wiki):

43 Entries.

43 moves that a beginner has to learn. For Ky. Not including generic mechanics or matchup knowledge.

Each and every move has their own nuance too.

Most people who play a game like Accent Core play it for "precisely" that reason:

The complexity.

But what do you tell a beginner? Where do you get them to start?

You can't tell them to button mash, because that's not a smart thing to do in this game… it might work on the A.I. sometimes, but not always.

What motivates a player to keep playing, it's usually different for everyone.

For me, it was because I could cancel one move in to another (Gatling combos and Roman Cancels). That was what motivated me.

What Ishiwatari has DONE to Guilty Gear Strive is THIS:

Taken all of the "complexity" and boiled it down to the most "fundamental" things you need to know about a character.

Of course, that's not all he did.

He made it so that Ky could do things and "get away" with things that no other character (but Ky) can do.

The things we need to know about this game are broken down in to smaller, more digestible bites.

And yes, perhaps that has done some "damage" to the matchup meta… perhaps things are lot more homogenized now that 6P dominates the battlefield as a universal anti-air (in most cases), and disjointed hitboxes rule the neutral space.

But let me ask you this:

If you were going to teach someone how to play Guilty Gear for the first time… what game would you pick?

Out of the whole gamut of games that exist… what game would you get them to learn things from?

GG1? Someone laughs every time I bring that game up.

GGX? Maybe for old times' sake, but it's outdated.

GGXX? Even if they learned anything would it apply to other games?

Xrd? There's a ton of people who hate Xrd mechanics.

AC+R? If you have the patience of a saint, maybe.

Let me just say this… in light of everything I have stated… while GGStrive has its shortcomings… some of which are mechanical errors that still need fixing… I do know that a LOT of players are playing Guilty Gear for the first time with this title.

Is it the only Guilty Gear game out there? NOPE!

Can you spend time to learn other GG games? YUP.

Even if the only reason you hate this game is because of Leo Whitefang and his crossups and parries… Leo isn't the only character in the game. And you could even go so far as to counterpick Leo WITH Leo as a mirror match!

So yeah… there's still a lot that needs to be done with Guilty Gear (as a series).

Was ROME built in a DAY? NOPE!

Can ROME still be BUILT? It takes time, passion, patience, and a STRONG WILL TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.

GUTS! As Ishiwatari once said.

[theggning]

So… how’s the fic going? 😜 I was very intrigued by the little tease snippet you posted recently from the bootyverse, is that top of the pile or are there other things you’re working on? (And if you have more passages to share I’m on pins and needles of course!!)

Hahaha, yes, Bootyverse 4 is on top of the pile!

I took a break from fic for a few months (actually I swapped over to working on an original story) because ngl Bootyerse 3 kicked the hell out of me. I'm really proud of how it turned out but I struggled a LOT with the setup and structure. I was also feeling really stuck in that Bootyverse 4 is going to necessarily involve the Sole Survivor, Nate Herrera, who (idk if this is obvious or not...) I do not give much of a damn about. I invented him FOR the Bootyverse because I wanted a clean slate/not to have to think around Nora (from AATW, my actual "canon" Sole) when I was only planning on writing one little story.

So far I've just been keeping him out of the way. But as Game Plot starts occurring I have to bring the Sole into focus, and I was stressing out because I'm stuck having to write around this character that I don't know or have much attachment to*. For a while, I was mad at myself for inventing Nate in the first place and half-considered going back and swapping Nora in instead.

BUT I've done some more thinking, and come up with some more ideas for him. So actually, Nate is going to give me an opportunity to do some narrative things I could never do with Nora. He's a very different kind of Sole than her, and his relationship with Piper, Danse, and the BoS is very different than hers, which means I get to explore some different storylines around the whole situation. I had some revelations that have given me some direction and kickstarted things again when I was feeling a bit tired and stalled out.

So... it's IN PROGRESS. I don't have any more snippets just yet but I'm happy to tease you a bit. >:3

* I've decided that Nate Herrera is the husband of Nora Casey, so the Bootyverse, in my own dumb GG Fallout Ficciverse Extended Universe**, is the "what if" of what would happen if their roles were swapped.

** For the record there are three "AUs" in the GG Ficciverse: 1. Canon Compliant (AATW, Danse/Nora endgame.)

2. Bootycall of Steel (Nate instead of Nora, Danse/Piper endgame)

3. My OTPs, Everything is Perfect and Nothing Hurts (Nick/Nora, Danse/Piper endgame.)

[lilyclawthorne]

Hunting Palismen Thoughts

y'all I absolutely loved this episode

oh we're JUMPING right in with day of unity stuff huh. we didn't go from 0 to 10 we started at 10.

anyways, starting off, this whole thing is fascinating to me. I mean this literally looks like a small human city. who are the worthy that get to live here according to belos. if its a unification of the realms, what happens to the humans? do they live here too? how does this affect society?? so many questions

kiki is pissed and im starting to predict that the reason Lilith, GG, and Kiki were all apart of the same slide in the title isn't because Lilith will slide backwards like some were worried about, but that all three of them are people who will have betrayed the emperor at some point

what the fuck is belos. the thumping/punching he made was in time with the beat of a heart. makes me think of the heart behind his throne and how are they connected.

UNCLE?? OUR FAMILY IS GONE BECAUSE OF WILD MAGIC??

TITLE CARD CHANGES AHHH

oh im so worried amity's not there because her mom's mad about her hair. that being said, some of the students here I assumed were a bit older (like jerbo and viney) and ed & em also aren't here. could potentially be that their parents didn't want any of them involved with this palismen adoption? or maybe im trying hard to be hopeful she's not in huge trouble over the hair

FREWIN!! this is the outcome for the little guy in Bump's head is better than anything I could've thought of. Aside from his legitimate use of helping Bump see, I am curious though if this is a bit of a "hidden in plain sight" kind of thing as well to protect the little guy.

PALISMAN ADOPTION DAY!! I WAS RIGHT!! I guessed the forest palismen would get adopted and I'm so glad about it.

I love Eda's blazer. She's trying to look professional. I love that this is what she planned on her favor from BQ being. Just to help out some young witches and some lost palismen. She cares so much 🥺

ok but if the unification of the realms does end up happening, I totally see Gus being an ambassador to the human realm.

There's a lot of attention of Luz here, and I'm just imagining how a similar situation might've gone down on the human realm. I don't blame her for getting anxious here, because I feel like in the past attention like this would've gone far worse at her school. I appreciate that most people here are just calm asking questions that are intended to help (except you Boscha) or Eda just checking in on her.

"I've read stories like this, the main character always has to return home" very interesting. seeing how this show has emphasized how life isn't like fiction.

Eda's just listening in like a mom concerned about her child

Tired Luz is adorable.

LMAO WHY IS GG WHISTLING THE THEME SONG

These two have such an insane amount of sibling energy I love it. This situation? Me and my brothers have done this way too many times.

uh so can a coven mark actually be removed?? since the EC one is also on the wrist but Lilith definitely hasn't been seen with anything there? that's kind of a relief since I was worried that since coven marks can help control magic that her still having one could be bad for her

It's not unsurprising that GG, as a powerless witch, would be interested in wild magic and Luz's glyphs. the kind of stuff you don't need a bile sac for. that kinda sucks he knows there's something out there he probably could use, but isn't allowed to do so

Hunter!! I don't need to do a name meaning here this one's obvious. Also, this boy's gonna crack and swap sides I can tell.

This is the most shit-eating grin I think I've ever seen on Eda. She's so proud of herself and she should be!

I also love this because we literally started this show with Luz helping Eda and King rob the conformatorium, and now we're at King and Eda robbing somewhere to do something special for Luz 🥺

Kiki and GG are so petty with each other, it's not just Kiki and Lilith. This is the whole workplace dynamic isn't it.

GG's room design definitely came from the Lilith bedroom design didn't it. Also I love the little Sprig plush!! I think that's a Big City Greens reference in there too but I've never watched that show.

I am very concerned about him and this palisman too. Not about him but just about Belos finding the palisman.

My one other thing I wanted to mention is I definitely feel like I'm seeing more and more disability metaphor in the show. If we see Eda's curse and her subsequent loss of a power as a disability, then GG/Hunter being born without magic could be considered a disability too. He's only been given access to one way of doing magic and it seems to limit him, he's being cut off from a different way of doing magic, the glyphs that Eda is learning, which clearly seem to be able to allow the user to do magic almost anywhere and could be more effective than Belos' artificial magic.

I'm also curious about Bump, he has the kind of palisman Belos wants to do away with, but it's not just a way to do magic for him. It's an aide for his vision. Belos' ideals would also be taking away something from him or other witches who may also be using their palismen as an aide.

[zhansww]

I decided to switch to an ask, hope that's okay. So one big reason why I commented in the first place because I thought of you as some crazy shipper, but after talking to you for a while I saw it's not really true. That was purely me being wrong and I apologise. I just went through your whole pinned post and a lot of it was stuff that I already expected and I still don't think I can change you mind but really, a lot of that stuff is things that friends could do. 1/?

Getting dinner together, giving somebody a necklace etc. friends can do that too. Some might even see it as an elaborate marketing strategy. You see it as romantic, because you want to. And most of the stuff, like posting something at a certain date or time of the day or changing song lyrics is just pure speculation. They might be coincidence. Some things might not even have anything to do with them together but something completely else. 2/? You say that you try to not see hints where there are none, but stuff like that, analyzing dates and looking for clues in what exact time of the day a certain thing was posted in sm is just that.You see those things as romance because you want to see them as such, not because they objectively are. That's exactly it, seeing things where there are none. 3/3

I said this more than once already but I am open to having my mind changed. If I didn't, I wouldn't ask for discussions in my pinned post. To have a proper discussion, though, both parties should 1) have the same amount of knowledge on the subject, 2) leave their emotions out of it and 3) be open to the possibility of being wrong. So again; I am open to having a rational discussion about this. If you aren’t, please let me know.

Getting dinner together, giving somebody a necklace etc. friends can do that too.

Of course they can. But do friends feel the need to be secretive about it? When it comes to their dates in June 2018 and December 2019, they spent the night together. Not to mention, they went out of their way to spend 520 - Lunar Valentine's Day - together. Would friends do that? Right after the date in Dec 2019, Yibo wore a pink hoodie to the airport, which as far as we know was the first time he wore pink of his own volition. In his interview with Cosmo two months later, he got asked "what's the first thing that comes to your mind when hearing the word romance?" and his reply was "pink pink". Cp fans think this means that gg was the one who gave him that hoodie since dd himself doesn't like pink. But even if he didn't receive it from gg, Yibo must have been in a romantic mood to be wearing pink - and that, after being with XZ, his “friend”. Regarding the necklace, if it was given by a friend, then why does Yibo constantly wear it yet hide it? To compare, he wears the necklace and ring Han-ge gave him at any event/recording and he wears those openly, too, the way you're supposed to wear jewelry, right? He wears the ox head necklace at events and also in private, in selfies, in between schedules, during rehearsals etc and he started hiding it, i.e. wearing it under his shirts, after fans started fighting about it. Surely, you know that Yibo is an honest/straightforward/blunt person. If we cp fans were wrong with our theory, he would definitely call us out and simultaneously please his solo fans by telling them they're right, thus putting an end to drama among his fans - but he hasn't. The only thing that explains this is assuming he received it from a romantic partner cuz being involved is something that Yibo’s company would not allow him to go public with so instead, he has to hide the necklace as well as his relationship. Likewise, he surely wouldn’t be wearing the necklace all the time if the one who gave it to him wasn’t even closer to his heart than Han-ge is.

Some might even see it as an elaborate marketing strategy.

Marketing what exactly? CQL is over and done with and they don't have other projects together. Not to mention that their connection has brought more harm to their reputations than good and they have way more solo fans than cp fans. Thinking ggdd would go through so much or any trouble just to give credibility to a lie implies that they do it for clout (which neither of them needs or wants) or that they think that queer relationships is something to make fun of or else, that they have no integrity. What exactly is it about them that makes you think they would be such people? They both starred in a BL. Yibo even insisted on trying for that role although he got rejected twice. XZ has shown his support of the lgbt community before. Given Yibo’s entire attitude and e.g. his song lyrics in WuGan, he doesn’t care about fame/clout. He does what he’s passionate about because he’s passionate about it and for money, according to himself. And I don’t think I even need to point out why XZ has clearly no need for more attention. (In fact, his studio asked fans in a recent statement to stop their fan support and voting etc - as a result, his supertopic dropped several spots from the #1, after having been there for months).

And most of the stuff, like posting something at a certain date or time of the day or changing song lyrics is just pure speculation. They might be coincidence.

So what is the limit? How many coincidences do there need to be exactly for them to stop being coincidences? How can posting something at precisely minute 3 or minute 8 always be a coincidence? Especially when XZ wrote in an older weibo post that he uses kadian. He posted at 13:28 in two of his latest updates. On TTXS, Yibo got asked what romantic things he’d do for his partner and he literally said he’d remember certain dates and times and do something surprising. In a more recent weibo, Yibo made a post in support of Han-ge at precisely 21:00 - the kadian of which means "ai ni", love you. He once posted an ad for his mobile game at 18:21 which means "Yi Bo ai ni" and which could have been directed at his fans. Some of their kadian might be but not all of them are reaching and the sheer quantity of all the kadian they've been using proves that those are not coincidences either. Regarding the changing of song lyrics, yes those are speculation. Gg never actually said he'd do that. But the circumstances around those is what makes it seem meaningful. And that time when he changed the lyrics to have the letters ybxz in the beginnings of lines seems meaningful and obvious enough as is.

Some things might not even have anything to do with them together but something completely else.

Of course that is a possibility and one that I am well aware of. I can and do obviously only base my judgement on what we see and know. If there’s something I don’t know that would somehow make my pov wrong, I would be willing to admit that and change my mind. When it comes to things like XZ, changing lyrics to ybxz or Yibo, posting at 10:05 (gg’s birthday) or talking about ordering clothes home to share and then seeing gg in those clothes or gg posting at times that have Yibo’s name or dd, posting at times that have XZ’s name - make it unmistakable to me that they are each other’s special someone and not anyone else’s. Since those things only fit each other.

You see those things as romance because you want to see them as such, not because they objectively are. That's exactly it, seeing things where there are none.

At the beginning of your message, you apologized for assuming I’m a crazy shipper but you end the message with this. “Seeing things where there are none” is what I’d consider crazy shipping so that last sentence sounds like an insult to me. I don’t know what to make of this, lol. Your assumption that I want to see those things as romance is wrong. They’d have it soooo much easier if they were just friends, why in God’s name would I want them to have it more difficult? They wouldn’t feel the need to hide so much, to be so distant in public. We’d probably get fanservice and selfies and joined endorsements. The scandal from February may not have ever happened cuz they’d definitely have fewer cp fans. It’d be awesome if they were nothing more than friends. Not to mention that making wrong claims about a relationship between two real people, solely based on what my desires are, is selfish - it’s about what I want instead of what is. I do not have that attitude. The fact that I wanted to believe they’re just friends is precisely why it took me several months to concede that I must be wrong. I kept dismissing all that I saw as coincidences or as platonic. I do not want ggdd to be lovers but I also don’t want to deny reality. I know that my perception may be fallible, though, so of course I am open to discussing this. I would welcome being proven wrong about this. You don’t properly back up your claims and your arguments don’t take all that we know into consideration. Which is why so far, at least, you haven’t made me see differently.

[zalrb]

hi! same anon from before, hahah. first of all thank u so much for answering - i'm a big steve mcqueen fan too and i was wondering if you were ever interested in reviewing your favourite mcqueen movies? a few words for each kinda thing. i love your movie reviews because way more often than not, i find myself agreeing with you and you seem to find the exact right words. of course, it's merely a request you don't *have* to take seriously.i hope u have a great day!

OK so here is my list, starting from favourite to least favourite. The only feature film of his that I haven’t seen is Hunger.

What I will say are general Steve McQueen characteristics that I like about all of the movies is the fact that his films require patience and attention. If I’m tired or not really in the mood to devote my focus but I want to watch something, I’m not putting on a Steve McQueen film. I want to be fully present. His work demands that. I appreciate that.

I have also come to respect that there are what you would consider holes in his movies. Like we don’t really know anything about Brandon’s backstory in Shame, we know his sister says that they come from a bad place but we don’t know what that place is and the movie doesn’t find it necessary to divulge that information. Widows has a lot of loose ends that a typical heist movie may at least attempt to sort out but I don’t think McQueen really concerns himself with those details, he concerns himself with the emotional present and he concerns himself with the present to such an intimate and almost unbearable degree that it can make you flinch and cringe as a viewer because it’s uncomfortable to kind of stew in emotional truth like that, it’s uncomfortable to stew in the present that way.

There is an artistry and a poetry to his movies, it reminds me of paintings and I can say without irony or without being corny or without being pretentious, that these movies really do examine the human condition, do deep dives into emotion or deep dives into emotions that a particular event or issue would bring about.

1. Lovers Rock

I love this movie for so many different reasons. It means so much to me as a woman of Jamaican descent to see an ode to Caribbean party culture in the diaspora

and even though it’s in London and even though it was in the 80s, there is so much overlap in Canada, it was basically like a spiritual experience watching this movie and on twitter, there was so much outpour of gratitude and feeling seen by Caribbean Canadians, it was like a whole moment, so this movie makes me super emotional.

Like this scene, where they yell “Jah!” “Rastafari!” it got me in my chest and I had never experienced feeling so seen in film before because it’s specifically Caribbean, in this case Jamaican, and what I usually see is African American or movies from the Continent and this was diasporic and it was Caribbean

But what I also love about it is that even though it takes place over one night, it’s a love story between two young dark-skinned Black people and it’s handled with the kind of grace and beauty and weight that I like in my love stories, like it’s not Atonement, it’s not POTC, but it’s this culturally specific courting and coming together and it’s super sweet and just very nice

2. Alex Wheatle

There is this scene in this movie that is excruciating to me in its simplicity and it’s one of McQueen’s techniques or choices. So this installation in Small Axe is about Alex Wheatle who is an author and in the beginning we see his life in an orphanage and how he’s abused and ridiculed and how as a child he would be thrown in a room for hours just lying on his side

Then we get to him as an adult and we see the way the police harass Black youth and they take Alex throw him in the back of their van and he’s bloodied and beaten and he’s just lying on his side for hours. And I cried because that callback to his childhood was so brutal to me even though we don’t see excessive violence onscreen, it was just him lying on his side like when he was a kid and how systems upon systems are failing him and failing Black children, Black people and I didn’t need that spelled out for me, I just needed to see him lying on his side for minutes. And that’s kind of the power of McQueen’s directing/storytelling to me?

Another reason I really like Alex Wheatle - and the Small Axe anthology as a whole - is showcasing Black history in other countries

and it’s a great story about identity and figuring out your history, your roots, where you come from and how it informs you

3. 12 Years A Slave

I didn’t know if I was going to watch 12 Years A Slave or not, I kind of make it a point not to watch movies about enslavement now and I haven’t seen a movie about enslavement since (I did watch the show Underground though). What I love about this movie is how it examines the human condition, how it examines resilience, how it examines the soul, really, through many of the characters but particularly Solomon. It’s that unflinching portrayal of emotion and the present that really stuck out to me. And also again some of McQueen’s choices, like when they’re on the slave ship, for a lot of it we don’t see inside, we see the rudders

but that inspired such dread in me? We see the trees a lot.

We see the setting. We see the environment and that just adds a whole other layer, Lupita Nyong’o spoke about that when filming, about just thinking about the trees and what they witnessed. But I watched it, I didn’t cry until the third act then I wouldn’t stop crying then I pulled myself together and a week later, my roommate was playing it in her room and I could hear it and I was trying to write for workshop and it was just the score that I could hear and I got so emotional I had to ask her to put her earphones in so I could work.

4. Education

This installment of Small Axe was again an educational one for me (pun intended) because I know the ways in which the education system in my country and in my province and in my city fail Black children and I know enough about how that happens in the States, I didn’t know so much about how it happened in England and this was very illuminating for me without it taking on the tone of a docu. There is this scene that is just so uncomfortable to watch because it’s long and it’s boring and it’s irritating and that’s exactly what you’re supposed to feel because you’re supposed to feel exactly what the characters would feel in those moments:

Education also has a scene where we hear an entire song, but it’s deliberately not fun, when the teacher torments all the kids with his acoustic version of “House of the Rising Sun.” Why that song? That happened with me!

Oh my god. The teacher brought in his guitar, and he started to strum. We’re this captive audience. That was it. But it’s interesting, about that sequence. Because it’s funny, and then it gets irritating, and then you get bored. You have to go through boredom to get to the other side of it, and then you get to something else. And then there’s another understanding of it. So it had to play out that way, in real time.

and you know by the end, the movie explores how to engage children, how to encourage children, how to advocate for children and the different ways you can educate children so it’s an optimistic movie and I appreciated that

5. Widows

My second best experience at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) was watching Widows. TIFF screenings tend to be very quiet. But there’s a scene in Widows where after the protagonists (four women) do the work and get the money, Daniel Kaluuya watches them, holds them at gunpoint and takes the money, then leaves in his car. Then you’re with him in this car and he’s feeling good about himself and he’s laughing and he’s listening to this speech his brother makes then you see another car gain on him, run into him and it’s the protagonists and they take their money back and the entire theatre cheered and clapped and it was awesome. And that is the type of “girl power” scenes I like that aren’t “girl power” scenes? Where it’s just this man thought he could take what he wanted from these women and leave and they were like ummmmmmm?

I would say Widows is McQueen’s most commercial movie and it still doesn’t read very commercial and unfortunately Liam Neeson is in it but again I like the choices he made, I like that when Colin Farrell’s character is going on this racist rant in his car, we see the exterior of the car with his dialogue as a voiceover.

I like how controlled and tight the direction is and how throughout the movie I was on the edge of my seat in a different way, I was just tense until it was all over. It was also interesting watching his direction with Gillian Flynn’s screenplay interact with each other.

I had issues with this movie, mainly one moment which is when Alice, who is white, slaps Veronica (Viola Davis) -- Veronica slaps Alice first but Alice is a character who has been abused and who has been controlled by the men in her life, by her mother and she’s finding independence and so she exerts that by slapping Veronica back and I just thought there were other ways to show that.

6. Red, White and Blue

Another installment of Small Axe. My first husband stars in it and won a GG for it

and has this gem in it

It’s a good representation of what it looks like trying to right a system from the inside, since this is about Leroy Logan who became a police officer and ended up policing the neighbourhood he grew up in and how he was trying to be a positive change in the environment and in the police force and the racism he experienced as an officer

7. Mangrove

The first installment of Small Axe. To be quite honest I wanted to like Mangrove more than I did. It’s Steve McQueen so it’s a good movie, although the accents had some Trini people I know be like mmmmmmmmmmmmno, and again it’s also an educational movie because you learn about the Mangrove restaurant which was a Caribbean restaurant and hub for the community and for artists and authors and the police saw it as a threat so they constantly harassed the costumers and did raids and did everything in their power to shut it down.

And there are some great lines in this movie, I was most compelled when it became a courtroom drama, because that was some masterful directing

8. Shame

Shame was definitely uncomfortable for me to watch haha and it’s interesting because there were reviews that were like the title doesn’t match what we see because are we really expected to believe that the protagonist feels shame when we see him in New York having anonymous sex with [conventionally] attractive strangers and he has awkward moments with his sister and I was just like ............ if there’s anything McQueen is able to do is show how mechanical and compulsive Brandon’s sexual conquests are and his inability to actually connect because once he does he becomes impotent and pushes Marrianne away, his life is sterile and unfulfilling

so, I don’t know, some of the reviews had me like, what movie were you watching?

[mrs-nate-humphrey]

idk how far along you are watching "you" but do u think Joe's just a meta progression of dan. I don't. Gossip dan? sure but otherwise no. Also I feel like if one has a dan hc chances are there's a Joe scene for that lol. But they are wildly similar just attitude wise.

agreed! i do not think joe is a progression of dan. i know penn has joked about it and about like, joe being “dan with a knife”, but he’s talking about gossip girl dan specifically, and i REALLY think he’s being sarcastic and joking because he is talking about how gossip dan doesn’t make sense. THIS QUOTE! the sass. i love it.

so, to me, I think having to consider that reality which obviously the last ten minutes of an entire series wasn't able to do, you know to whatever degree that anybody wants to connect those dots and draw the parallels and connect the... make a throughline (?) - maybe it exists a little bit.

sorry abt linking this interview KLHDKLFH i couldn’t resist! it is just so good. elizabeth lail’s reaction to everything penn is saying about gossip dan is just. SAME!!! okay, enough piggybacking on penn badgley’s opinions, time to do the ivy-blogging now.  

i think the person joe pretends to be is the person dan actually is? bookstore clerk, nice to kids, “hey, can i recommend you a book,” look at my garden, bruh, i am so cottagecore, *stares intentely at people with those doe eyes* - these are all dan humphrey traits! they are all joe goldberg traits, too, but joe is actively using them as a cover. 

joe to me is - i haven’t watched enough of you, im just 9 eps in, so this is based off that, of course - he’s like. violent on the inside, but actively presents as non-threatening and sweet in order to get away with it? (which is what abusers irl do, which is why i actually LOVE the show because im like. yes! it’s a show about abuse that shows people how FUCKED up abuse is while also playing around with the whole idea of “romance”!!! fascinating stuff. ) 

dan on the other hand isn’t pretending to be sweet or anything, dan cares about being a good person. but when things get fucked up for dan, he can be sneaky and resort to behaving in shady ways, which isn’t who he wants to be, it’s just a coping mechanism (not justifying, just analysing.) so i would maybe even say that like dan is the opposite of joe in that way - he cares so deeply about people and wants to help them and loves so much, too much, and to shield himself from getting hurt, he can resort to being shady and doing things that he knows are wrong. on the contrary, joe is past caring about people, the part of him that cared about people just doesn’t exist anymore (if it ever did, i have to watch more of this show to say?). joe uses being nice as a cover to hide that he is evil. and dan uses being evil as a cover to hide that he is actually nice!! 

this is only tangentially related, but i gotta say it. my friend @mydearestprongs​ said something jokingly about how s6 dan is actually joe, and conversation moved from there to like, the idea of a post s5 au in which joe kills dan and pretends to be him, which i think was her idea, but i haven’t been able to stop thinking about. it makes so much sense! joe goldberg is gossip girl!! remember how he lurks on social media to stalk beck? this is a skill he canonically has! and he is evil enough to actually do everything gg did and feel no remorse!

anyway.... it’s been months since we spoke about this and she did sort of give me permission to write a s6 au in which dan is dead and joe is pretending to be dan. this is also a concept my sister and i discussed in great detail. we came up with the following:

serena would also end up dying. RIP. i just think that joe would kill her, but i hate that. maybe after the derena wedding. uh... “derena” wedding. joerena wedding? dksllkfhfg goodBYE.

nate would be the only person who realises something is wrong with “dan.” the moment joe realises that this is what’s happening, nate is killed, too. 

there was some subplot involving blair and chuck that i don’t remember 

i think jenny kills joe in the end.

yeah, you can see why i didn’t write it. WORSE ENDING THAN S6 FINALE AND BOYYY, THAT’S REALLY SAYING SOMETHING! :(