#BUT EVEN MORE FINESSED. ITS CRAZY

[miquellah]

wolfgang grimmer

THE INCREDIBLE PART is that ever since i was first seeing him around, just by his face and smile, i was always thinking “oh huh! this guy looks sooo fishy. i wonder what’s up with him?”

and then 3957384 years later i finally meet him in the anime. and he’s presented as the kindest, most compassionate person, a direct foil to tenma and his own compassion. and i was like oh shit, he seems really earnest and forthright in this, actually, i guess i was just making assumptions that weren’t there?

and then you get the lore reveal. he cant feel anything. he had to practice that smile. its not genuine, so of course it DOES look fishy, actually. ohhhh ym godddd. incredible fucking character work even just in that aspect alone

but also been going insane about his personal life, yeah. he only got married because he knew itd make him look more Normal. he had a son. his son died, but he still did all he could to save him. he didnt even feel anything when his son died. he didnt even know how he was supposed to act at the funeral

he only genuinely EXPRESSES emotion (and even then, who knows how much he actually Felt?) when another child is beginning the same experiences of Becoming Like Him. he cries there. he still asks tenma is he’s doing “the right things”, saying “the right words”, asking whether or not he has “the correct expression”

im insane in the head. godddd he wasnt just a foil for tenma. he was also a foil for JOHAN. im insane about urasawa’s character work to no end

[goldfades]

★ FANGIRLING ─── PB⁵ ft. UCONN WBB MANAGER

❪ requested -> "r is nicknamed the archer bc her shooting accuracy goes crazy and whenever she makes a big three she does like a quick celebration making a bow and arrow motion and when she goes up against uconn she points and winks to paige after bc she was assigned to guard her. post-game, an interviewer asks paige how she feels abt r and she basically rants abt how cool she is - her energy, skills, etc like a fangirl moment. later the same interviewer asks r the same question and r does the literal exact same thing paige did. interviewer tells r what paige said and r lowk flirts w her thru an interview ykwim?" ❫ for my disco nonnie!!!!!

─ pairing | paige bueckers x fem!reader

─ warnings | just some banter and flirting, nothing else!

⇨ missing out on updates? check out my wcbb masterlist!

"AND THERE SHE GOES again, folks, Y/N L/N with yet another remarkable display of skill! This basketball prodigy seems to have an innate sense of the game, weaving through defenders with unmatched precision."

Your teammate patted you on the back as you jogged back to your position on the court, a grin of satisfaction spreading across your face. The crowd's roar filled the arena, echoing the excitement of your electrifying performance.

You were breathless and excitement was coursing through your veins ─ these moments reminded you why you loved the game so much. Paige quickly jogged up in front of as she guarded you, but you stayed focus. There was a smile on your face (and not the cocky, self-satisfied kind), but one that reflected the pure joy of playing the game you adored.

Paige's intense defense didn't faze you; if anything, it fueled your determination even more. You were focused, your eyes locked on the hoop as you dribbled, feeling the rhythm of the game pulsing through your veins. With a swift step-back move, you created just enough space between you and Paige, giving you the perfect opportunity to unleash your shot.

With a flick of your wrist, the ball left your fingertips, soaring through the air in a perfect arc. Time seemed to slow down as you watched it sail toward the basket, every nerve in your body tingling with nervousness.

And then, with a satisfying swish, the ball found its mark, dropping cleanly through the net. The crowd erupted into cheers, the sound washing over you like a wave of euphoria.

"And there she goes, folks, L/N with nerves of steel, sinking a jaw-dropping three-pointer right in the face of intense defensive pressure! That was pure finesse, a display of skill that leaves us all in awe. Despite UConn's relentless defense, L/N stayed cool, calm, and collected, executing a flawless step-back move to create just enough space for the shot.

The precision of that shot was nothing short of remarkable, the ball leaving her fingertips with perfect form and trajectory. And when it dropped cleanly through the net, the crowd erupted into a deafening roar of approval.

And that is another reminder of why she is nicknamed the Archer, in case you needed any further confirmation! L/N's ability to hit those long-range shots with pinpoint accuracy is truly unparalleled. It's like she's wielding a bow and arrow out there on the court, picking off her targets with deadly precision."

You jogged back to your position as Paige shook her head, more in amusement rather than genuine hurt. You could see the grin on her face and you couldn't help but wink her direction, Paige shaking her head, her grin widening as she acknowledged your wink.

──

"Paige, tough game out there tonight. What are your thoughts on your opponent, Y/N L/N?" The reporter asked, microphone in hand, ready to capture Paige's post-game reflections.

Paige let out a nervous laugh as she shook her head, her gaze shifting toward the table. "Well uh, first of all, she was absolutely insane. Like, absolutely jaw-droppingly amazing," the reporters in room laughed at her description, causing Paige's lips to quirk up into a smile.

"Just being around someone who not only uh, plays fair but has genuine love for basketball was just… refreshing, you know?" Paige's voice took on a tone of genuine admiration as she spoke. "Y/N's energy on the court is infectious, and it pushes everyone around her to step up their game."

Paige paused, collecting her thoughts before continuing. "And that move she pulled off in the second quarter? I swear, it was like she had eyes in the back of her head. I thought I had her boxed in, but she just... slipped right through my defense like it was nothing."

"And don't even get me started on that three-pointer," she added with a chuckle. "I mean, who sinks a shot like that under that kind of pressure? It was... impressive, to say the least."

Paige paused, a fond smile playing on her lips. "She's not just a great player, she's a true ambassador for the game. And let me tell you, it was an honor to share the court with her tonight."

"Aww, that was a sweet moment. It looks like despite the loss, you still got to take something out of it." The reporter smiled before glancing down at the paper, "Okay, next question. What adjustments do you think your team needs to make moving forward in the season?"

──

"Y/N! Great game out there tonight. What are your thoughts on your opponent, Paige Bueckers?" The reporter asked, a smile on her face as your eyes widened.

You laughed. "She was amazing! I mean, her performance was out of this world. And uh, don't tell coach but I've definitely binged her highlights a couple times before."

"Oh! So you're a huge fan of her and her skills?" The reporter continued.

You chuckled, a sheepish grin spreading across your face. "Yeah, you could say that. I mean, who wouldn't be? Paige is just... incredible. The way she moves on the court, her vision, her shot-making ability — it's all top-notch."

As you spoke, you couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. "I have so much respect for Paige and what she brings to the game. Playing against her tonight was a real honor, and I definitely learned a thing or two from watching her in action."

The reporter's smile widened at your genuine praise for your opponent. "That's great to hear! It's always refreshing to see female athletes appreciating each other's talents. Do you think facing off against someone like Paige pushes you to elevate your own game?"

"Definitely," you replied without hesitation. "When you're up against players of Paige's caliber, you know you have to bring your A-game. It pushes you to dig deeper, to push past your limits, and to strive for greatness. So yeah, facing off against someone like Paige is not only a challenge, but it's also an opportunity to grow as a player."

"That's funny because Paige said the same thing about you," the reporter chuckled as you felt warmth rush to your face. "You guys are both fangirls, it's just adorable to see."

The room erupted into laughter as you shook your head in amusement, trying to distract your mind from the way your stomach jumped at the prospect of Paige fangirling about you.

"Well, I guess great minds think alike, huh?" you replied with a playful grin, hoping to deflect some of the attention away from your blushing face. "If Paige ever wants to go play sometime, my dms are always open for a talented player like her."

The reporter laughed as she shook her head. "Feeling a little confident after the win?"

You laughed, your cheeks still tinged with warmth from the unexpected compliment from Paige. "Well, I wouldn't say no to a friendly game of one-on-one with her," you replied with a smirk.

The room erupted into laughter at your playful banter, the tension from the intense game slowly melting away.

"And who knows," you added with a wink, "maybe we'll both learn a thing or two from each other on the court."

The reporter chuckled, nodding in agreement. "Maybe off the court, too?"

"I mean," you put your hands up as the reporter laughed. "I know what you're doing, Holly, and I'm not complaining."

"I call it how I see it," the reporter winked as she glanced down at the paper. "Moving on..."

──

Paige 💕 (paigebueckers) wants to send you a message.

I'm down for some friendly 1v1 😁 When are you in Connecticut?

↳ make sure to check out my navigation or masterlist if you enjoyed! any interaction is greatly appreciated !

↳ thank you for reading all the way through, as always ♡

[fettuccin-e]

Right Here, Right Now

Kinktober Day 2: Public

Tags: Miguel O'Hara x Reader, afab!fem!reader, unprotected piv (wrap it up irl omg please), public sex, fingering, its just desperate sex with Mig in an alleyway lol (w/c: 1.3K)

A/N: I have actually had this as a WIP for a long, long time but I modified it to fit this prompt! Glad to finally get some use out of it. Miguel can and will always have me in a chokehold I love him so so much. (I am following prompts from this list by flightlessangelwings!)

You’ve both been apart for too long, far too fucking long. Always away on missions without each other, falling asleep without each other and leaving again with only a quick kiss goodbye, nothing more.

It’s got Miguel a little stir crazy, desperate, and you’re just the same way. So, on the odd mission where you’re actually together, you don’t protest when he crowds you against a brick wall in some dark, dank alleyway, and kisses the god damn life out of you. It’s intoxicating, mind-melting, and fuck, it’s not enough for either of you. 

Miguel growls against your mouth, reaching a clawed hand to the seam of your suit, and rips it, exposing the wetness of your aching pussy to the cool night air. He cups you without any finesse, just pure need, and you gasp wetly into his kiss.

“Miguel,” you whine, but you can’t stop your hips from humping forward into his hand, “we can’t— we can’t, baby, they’re going to start looking for us, oh fuck, they’re gonna see—“

“Shh,” he coos, “just real quick, real quick, sweetheart.” His chest heaves, so broad and thick and clouding your vision as he rubs quick circles into your achy clit with a calloused finger.

“Just- just let me feel you, just for a second, please, baby, mi amor, por favor, tan perfecta, te necesito,” he mumbles, lost in it, and you find yourself nodding along with his words.

He whines at your permission, and you barely manage to utter a “just for a second, just a second, Miguel,” before his suit dissipates around the bulge of this thick cock, and he’s sinking into you, pressing so fucking deep he forces the air from your lungs.

“Fuck, baby,” he breathes into the crook of your neck, his hips stuttering forward as he stretches your pussy around him. “There’s my perfect girl, my beautiful girl, fuck, fuck, missed this pussy so bad, baby.”

It’s hard to breathe like this, Miguel pressing you into the brick wall, curling around you until all you know is him. All you know is the way his scent invades your lungs, the way his fangs graze your throat just barely. The way he pulls his hips back, just a little bit, before shoving forward again, bullying his thick cock so fucking deep inside your little cunt. You can’t get out the words, the sensations all too much for you to bear. There hasn’t been any prep, anything to lead up to you taking Miguel like you usually do. 

No, there's only the adrenaline coursing through your bodies, the desperation stemming from being apart for far too long, and the ache of him settling deep, deep inside you. It’s where you both belong.

So you stutter out aborted little whines of “Mig- Miguel,” and “so-so big,” between overwhelmed sobs into his strong body as he holds you, impaling you on him again and again. He’s mumbling, incessant and slurred as he fucks you into the brick, something about how hot you are, how wet and tight and about how he can’t wait to get you home, how he’s going to fuck you for days. It’s all so hard to understand, you’re not even sure that Miguel knows what he’s saying, if he even wants you to hear all of the deep, dark thoughts spilling from his overwhelmed mouth.

Your body burns, the coarse hair at the base of his cock rubbing at your clit so perfect, so right. It’s all slick and wet and you’re sure that you’re dripping down his fat cock as it slides in and out of you, dripping down his balls. You can at least thank God that his suit isn’t made out of actual fabric; that he won’t have to return to HQ with your wetness staining his front. Not that he’d really mind.

It’s intoxicating, the way he fills you, surrounds you. So much so that you don’t realize how much time has passed until you hear Jessica’s voice from both of your watches, cutting through your whines and Miguel’s growls and the lewd sounds of your bodies meeting. “O’Hara, what’s your position?”

“Fuck,” he snarls, driving into you just a little faster, a little harder, “fuck, not yet, not yet.” He doesn’t respond to Jess, leaning down to capture your lips in a bruising kiss that mostly contains teeth and spit.

“Mig-Miguel, they’re going to be looking, c’mon, baby, we’ve got to g-” you hiccup into his mouth, but your hips move of their own accord, meeting him thrust for thrust as he drives desperately into you.

“Not. Yet.” He growls, punctuating his words with his hips. “Just a little longer, little- little longer, jus’ let me-” he fucks himself into you, so furious and devastating that tears finally manage to spill from your eyes.

“Spiderman 2099, what is your position?” Jessica asks again, and you can hear Pavitr ask you the same thing from your watch, both oblivious to the fact that their leader, your leader, is fucking you into the wall in some dirty back alley in a universe that neither of you know, that neither of you care to know. All you know is Miguel’s body against yours, exchanging desperate breaths as he thrusts deep into your sticky pussy, curling your hands into his hair as he digs his fingers into your waist, his claws nearly tearing the fabric of your suit.

“Miguel,” you moan, “we have to go, please we have to go, they’re looking for us, they’re gonna see-”

“No,” Miguel whines, and you want to fall to your knees with how absolutely devastated he sounds, “can’t- you can’t go, ‘s too soon, baby, let me have you, let me have you,” he’s slurring around his fangs, his eyes burning red at the edges as his eyes meet yours. He grabs at the watch on your wrist, cutting it off with a deft claw, and you choke on your spit as he crushes it easily in his palm. 

“Miguel-” you start, but he cups a thick hand over your mouth, and you can only watch as he raises his watch to his face and says, far more collected than he’s been this entire night, “Anomaly neutralized, returning to HQ. Meet tomorrow for a debrief.”

“Not tonight?” Pav chirps, and Miguel ruts into you hard, his gaze burning into yours.

“Tomorrow.” He growls, before he shuts his watch off completely, tucking his face into the crook of your neck again, sucking dark marks into your skin. His hands find your hips once again, pulling you onto his cock over and over and over as tears slide down your cheeks, choked little moans ripping out of your throat.

“That’s right, beautiful, squeeze this cock, make a mess for me. Can’t wait to get you home, going to fuck you all fucking night, needed this sweet pussy so fucking bad, bebita, por favor, ah-” he groans into your skin, and his cock sinks into you so perfect, stretching you exactly how you’ve needed it for so long, and fuck, your orgasm nearly makes you black out. You thrash against the wall, crying out so loud that Miguel has no choice but to seal his mouth over yours in a sticky kiss, swallowing your noises. 

“Fuck, that’s right, make a mess for me, eres tan perfecta, mi amor, mi vida, fuck,” he fucks into you, once, two more times, before he’s following you over that peak, his hips twitching as he fills you up.

You both can only rock against each other for a minute, riding the aftershocks of bliss. How had you gone without this for so long? How could you have deprived yourself of heaven?

“Let’s go home, Miguel,” you whisper, resting your forehead against his. He nods, switching his watch back on and opening a portal behind himself. He slips out of you, his suit reforming over himself. You, unfortunately don’t have the same luxury, the night air still cool against your used and achy core. 

“You’re making me a new suit, by the way,” you say, tilting your head up to smile at him. “And a new watch.”

He only chuckles, lifting you into his arms, turning to walk you both into your shared apartment in Nueva York, where you haven't been together in too damn long. “Anything you want.”

[tmwcs]

so i had a thought when i read your new heelel scenario while jungwon and realena were in earth with helan how would helan react if someone tried to approach his mom and flirt with her would he tell his dad so they can both deal with it ?

oh yooooo...Helan....is a crazy little boy. He's just as obsessive and possessive like his daddy. He takes after heelel so much, so now you not only have a yandere husband, but you have a yandere child. Obviously helan loves you in a manner that is not romantic, just really clingy, loves and is obsessed with his mommy, and being the son of the devil.......boy might get a little demonic and violent, just like Heelel. Here's how i foresee that scenario going down....

"Look away...."

Warnings: some gore, demon child, demon spawn, obsessive and possessive love, hints of non/dub con smut towards the end.

"Mommy can we go here?" Helan asks as he holds onto your hand, skipping along as he points towards a candy store.

"Sure baby." you softly respond. Today, you decided to take Helan to Earth and roam against the mortals. Despite Helan being a child, there were some qualities about him that was far advanced, which is why it surprised you when your husband admitted for you and Helan to go to Earth alone, considering that Heeseung would never let you out of his sight. Even when at times, where he couldn't be with you, which wasn't often, he'd normally have one of his brothers to keep an eye on you. Yet here he was, allowing the task of your own child to hold the responsibility in keeping you safe....or from running off.

You really didn't have any inclinations in running away, there was no purpose. Your husband knew all and would find you in a heartbeat, no doubt admitting a series of punishments for straying once he caught you. Besides....it's not like you really could live and go back to your normal life, you were immortal, had a child, and did end up falling in love with your husband.....more than you would have ever thought.

"Mommy? Can I get some candy?" Helan asks, and you nodded in response as you smile down at your loving little boy. He grins and releases your hand, straying off to pick out his favorites while you stayed nearby.

Watching as Helan picked out a variety of sweet treats, you sensed the presence of two large males as they breached closely from behind. Turning around in a snap, you looked at them rather harshly as you tried to signal for them to keep their distance. Yet, to your dismay, they did not take the hint.

"Wow......where do they make women like you at?"

"Dude, she's a hottie with a body."

"You here alone? Oh...you got a kid with you. Damn.....so someone took you off the market? Well thats cool....i mean....if its all good with you, I wont tell."

"Yeah, neither will I."

Both men displayed total ignorance and lack of humility as they came up with their presumptuous attitude in thinking that you would ever consider cheating on your husband. Not only did you learn to love Heeseung...or rather...you fell into the force of loving him as he kept you, you also knew that aside from that.......in the chance where you were not in love and had wanted to stray away, there was absolutely no way that he wouldn't find out, since....you were married to the Devil.

"Please stop. I have my child with me, leave us alone."

"Damn....her voice is sexy. Bet you can sound real good in bed."

What was with these guys? The audacity of these two sauntering up with such an obnoxious attitude. It was sickening. Rolling your eyes, you turn away to focus on Helan, when suddenly you felt a hand on your shoulder.

"hey, don't turn away. Come talk to us. Wanna go out tonight?"

"You like to party? We know of a place where we can take you."

Now, you felt confident in handling these two idiots on your own, after all, you were well adjusted to becoming immortal and had gained strength, precision, finesse, and supernatural powers that the Devil breathed into you when he brought you back to life. However, before you were able to discreetly handle the situation, you watched as Helan shoots up and places himself in between you and the two brutes.

"You should look away." Helan merely states. His child like voice was somewhat eerie and his eyes grew wide with the sadistic glare of rage and jealousy.

"Oh what's this? little boy, doesn't your sexy mom teach you to not get into the way of adults when they're talking?"

Smirking, Helan reaches up and takes the man hand. Confused, the man merely laughs out nervously. "What are you up to little kid?"

Just then, you watched as your little boy rips the mans fingers off. Grabbing a bunch with his teeth, he tears them off the palm and smiles as he lets each one fall out and on to the floor. The man screams out and panics, bumping into each sweet stand and knocking down myriads of candy onto the floor.

"Fuck!!!! What the fuck!!!!! My fingers!!!!" the man screams. The other man to his side stood in shock, rendering himself to become easy prey as Helan jumps up in a levitating state and slashes the man's throat with protruding claws, nearly decapitating him. You were stunned as you heard the store clerks panicking and calling the police, claiming that a murderous child was rampaging causing mayhem....much as you hated to admit it, it was true. Your son, a side of him that you've never seen, was tearing flesh, causing a fountain of blood to splatter all over as he leaps from one body to the other.

"H-Helan!! That's enough!" you panicked as you stuttered out your words, completely shocked and scared yourself. Though, despite him being chaotic, he minded you well as he immediately stopped and ran over to you with his arms high, signifying that he wanted to be held by you.

"C...c-come to mommy...come here." leaning down, you pick him up and held him close as you turned over to see the store clerks screaming and cursing as they demanded you to take your child and leave. At a loss for words, you started to head for the exit when Helan tells you to "Wait mommy." Stopping in your tracks at the deep childish tone he emitted, he taps your arms to signal for you to put him down. Once his feet hit the ground, he goes over and picks out a couple of candies, before walking over to the front counter where the clerks all backed away in great fear as they watched the little boy, covered in blood, reach up and place some money on the edge of the counter, barely reaching. "Here." Helan's high pitch and cherub like voice emits as he smiles gleefully while holding onto his candy. "Thank you!" he calls out as he waves at the clerks while running back over to you.

Taking you by the hand, he looks up at you with his face displaying a rather eerie smile...once again.

"Time to go home...mommy."

Nodding rather nervously, he pick him up and felt his small arms wrap around your neck and hair as he leans his head against your shoulder, and begins sucking his thumb, taking in the delightful taste of blood that coated it. Walking out, the moment your foot hits the pavement outside, you summoned the powers to transport you and your son back to Hell, where he jovially runs up to his father.

Sitting on the throne, casually relaxed, Heeseung smirks as he watches his darling, little baby boy run up to him with the candy pieces in his hands, his entire body covered with blood.

"Did you have fun?" Heeseung deeply chuckles out as he picks the boy up and sits him on his lap.

"Uh huh!" Helan smiles and responds.

"Did you take care of mommy for daddy?" Heeseung softly speaks as he brushes his fingers through the boy's hair.

"Yes daddy, i did." with his high pitch coming back, Helan speaks with an innocent tone.

"Good boy. Time for bed." Tucking Helan in, he closes the curtains around his small crib to seclude his sights from everything else.

Turning back to you, Heeseung walks over and wiht one hand, he caresses your waist while the other softly cradles your cheek. Noting the look of fear in your eyes, he coos you.

"Shhh......its okay baby. He just loves his mommy so much. Nothing wrong with that." he speaks against your forehead. Nodding, you return the embrace, still nervous and uneasy from the brutal display that just occurred. No wonder Heeseung was okay with you going to earth by yourself with Helan, he knew that your son, who took after him, would do the job in his stead when it came to protecting you.....or keeping you in check.

"you'll get used to it baby." heeseung darkly emits as he stares at you with soulless eyes, a sadistic glare as he bites down his lip and smirks out a lustful smile.

".....how?" you asked earnestly.

Rubbing your stomach with the back of his palm, he looks down before leaning in and brushing his lips against yours. "you didn't think helan was going to be an only child, did you?"

Slightly shaking your head, you faintly pull yourself away as you gathered the hint of where Heeseung was going with his words. You were still too shocked and nervous to think about sex, let alone doing it. Yet your husband was adamant about it.

"Come here......lets fuck until the new moon comes in."

[doyouevenshipbr0]

10 strongest earthbenders

i did this with waterbenders a little while ago and while i dont feel AS passionately about earthbending as i do waterbending, i still wanna give my thoughts bc i love atla and i love yapping duhhhh

rules: not including avatars and not including anything from yangchen or kiyoshi (havent read those) and honestlyyyyyy i cant think of a character from the comics in general that would make this list but im not gonna include ppl we meet in the comics either bc to be so honest 1 i havent read the lok comics and 2 i have only read the atla comics once and i read them as they came out so it was years ago. STRICTLY GOING OFF THE SHOWS!

realizing i def shouldve made this list right after my most recent lok rewatch (its been a couple months atp)

ANYWAYS lets go

honorable mentions: tbh the only one i wanna say here is the dai li. they probably could be like number 8/9 but idrk how to rank a whole group of ppl? but the way they use earthbending is super cool. in general, im realizing there are not nearly as many overwhelming earthbending forces as there are in waterbending? so this list starts a little shaky.

10. xin fu/master yu- so like. not sure what to say/how i would even differentiate. they are both masters. duh. we didn’t see much of them but we know they are easily outclassed by the rest of this list soooo… sorry! moving on

9. general fong- alright u might be wondering “who is this” so its the guy in the episode where they try to force aang into the avatar state in the beginning of book 2 to try and make him fight the firelord sooner. literally nothing of interest to note EXCEPT when he does that super baller move where he makes katara sink into the earth?!?!!?!?! logistically i dont think this makes much sense bc how tf did she not get crushed and i think this method would make earthbending kinda super broken lmfao so they literally only ever used it this one time (from what i remember) but it is suchhhh a cool move and it is SCARY! so props to this guy for being the only earthbender we see do this super sick move!

8. wei and wing- HEAR ME OUT!!!!!! they are soooo much more useful than u remember them being. they always are holding their own with their mom and aunt and all the other amazing earthbenders around them. theyre nothing super spectacular and are not given much time to shine since theyre such minor characters, but if u pay attention to the screen time they do have, they are really really good. the fact that they can earthbend so easily alongside their mom and keep up with her is really all u need to know. they WILL pull up!!!!!!!

7. bolin- so like. its tricky right bc he is THEE earth bender in the legend of korra but honestly he really is not THAT great. obviously he is great and that’s why he makes this list but yknow what i mean. he has lavabending!!!!!! which is super sick. he also has tonsssss of raw strength and agility which is probably his biggest strength. but honestly i think what keeps him low is his lack of skill, finesse, and honestly meaningful fight scenes that go in his favor. feels like his character maybe suffers from a littttttle bit of being sidelined bending wise bc he was SUCH the comedic relief. its almost like the writers didnt have time to make him a super fleshed out earthbender because they were too busy trying to make him funny?? idk im rambling but bolin is just a tricky one. still amazing! just not as amazing as the rest of the list.

6. lin- dont fight me istg. i can FULLY admit that my biases are coming into play here but im still gonna defend my point. here are the facts: i kind of cant stand lin and i LOVE su yin. i do understand that realistically, the fact that lin is the chief of police and has dedicated pretty much her entire life to it would make her crazy strong, and it does! shes the chief of republic city police for a reason. she has a fuck ton of combat experience which helps her to be as strong as she is. i just cannot, in good faith, have her any higher. from what i have seen from numbers 5-1, they seem better than lin.

5. su yin- ah su yin. i love su yin. and if im being logical, lin would be a stronger earthbender because she has (from what we know) farrrrrrrrrrr more direct combat experience. but if im being honest, when i look at them earthbend, su yin’s earthbending looks better. its more interesting, she looks like she uses more skill, shes more creative, she seems more resourceful, and she seems more adaptable as well. she killed p’li!!! also she was kicking lin’s ass in their 1 v 1 but it feels wrong to count that bc lin was like on her deathbed lmfao. still, although lin seems like she has more experience and probably a greater battle IQ, su yin just seems better. maybe its the bias! (it def is)

4. ghazan- lava bending. he is the best at it. just everyone in the red lotus is scary strong. i rly dont need to tell u why he’s this high. it is so obvious.

3. bumi- mf took back omashu all by himselffffff. i feel like bumi is by far the earthbender we see across both shows that has the most raw strength. hes also wise and shit!!! absolute beast. i know a handful of people think hes number 1, and i know MOST people think hes at least number 2, but he’s just not in my opinion. obviously still one of the best of the best.

2. kuvira- i just. wow. i feel like on my most recent rewatch i realllllyyyyyy saw how EXCELLENT of an earthbender she is. like ok first of all yes she was the villain of this season so she was definitely going to be strong but she is literally just beating the shit out of everyone for the entire season. like no one, not even korra until the last couple eps, can even compete on the same playing field. (i know korra was dealing with a lot of personal beef but STILL). the amount of skill and precision and effectiveness she has is the best we see in earthbending in legend of korra. she genuinely seems like she isnt even giving it her all in most of her fights and she is still just mopping the floor with everyone. she was a dictator for a reason ok like who is beating my girl?!?!?!? (other than thee mother of all of earthbending ofc).

1. toph- i mean. i dont want to even explain. no earthbender has a better connection, understanding, and natural ability with earth like toph. her bending is an extension of herself to the very fullest. invented metalbending. cultivated metalbending into the martial art it is today. was (kind of) a self taught master by 12. and the stuff that she DID learn she learned when she was practically a toddler from the original benders, the badger moles. i feel like some people try to argue her spot bc she isnt always as flashy as other earthbenders (bumi, ghazan, kuvira) but she is by FAR the most effective. and not just in a day to day basis, but in fights too. hence why shes the strongest. i dont think many would argue this position but yeah. GOAT.

[centrally-unplanned]

I think George Washington is a good ask here because there's a variety of different perspectives to evaluate him from, as well as insights into how each is considered to matter. Like, did he make the British colonies in North America more or less likely to become independent? Did he make the new state more or less secure? Was it a good or bad thing that the 13 colonies became independent? How good of a job do you think he did at whatever goals he personally had in mind? What did he have in mind, anyway - just rent-seeking for Virginian aristocrats or some more idealistic definition of "good" that bears resemblance to something we'd appreciate?

George Washington is a very interesting figure, because he is a classic "consensus leader" in some ways, but in an era where "consensus" is in fact very hard to come across and takes unique talent to be forged. I think we can bucket him: As a military leader he is only "fine": not bad, don't get me wrong, but he has no core tactical innovations or operational finesse on display. He certainly does deserve credit for his "wait them out" approach, and its true that he received political pressure from groups like the Continental Congress that he resisted. But this is a classic VOR moment: of course the distant, political actors demanded infeasible military action that the on-the-ground, faced-with-the-consequences-of-defeat guy would resist. That is a classic dynamic. Other generals in the war faced similar demands and similarly resisted. Again, he was an able commander, just nothing amazing.

I don't view him as being overly crucial in the core "state making" moments for the US in forming the constitution and all that- essentially the dynamics of the war of independence, the strength of their state rivals, and how the colonial economy functioned made a unified state the natural course. So here its not controversial to claim his VOR is pretty low.

However, I give him very high VOR for his presidency in the core process of interpreting that constitutional foundation through the lends of a strong federalized government with legalist, cohesive norms. He is not an innovator (people like Hamilton are doing that work) but he really was the One Guy In The Room who could bring the crazy factions together and stake his prestige on necessary tax reforms, financial reform, and crushing rebellion. VOR here matters - someone would have done something in the face of these, but the alt timeline is that states gain more and more autonomy. I think few people but Washington could have set the the federal government up as well as he.

So overall I would give him... lets go with A-, he plays a similar role as Lee Kuan Yew, if via very different tactics.

Demerits though for his lack of future planning on things like political parties & strong electoral politics. In that category he is pretty much VOR-less, he did what the default man would do and failed to exert any agency over it.

As for his own goals, he is very idealistic, and was actually, truly concerned with the idea of a strong, independent republic - he was born rich, he could afford to do that of course. And vis a vis slavery the strength of the union and the federal government was the only way it would be ended in the south on the timeline it was. The process of abolition in the south was very much a product of northern abolitionists forcing change onto resisting foreign polities. Colonizing them, if you will, with their own culture & systems. So he was a net good for this cause, even if it was not at all his own personal agenda.

[maxemilianver]

im so bored so what i expect from the new season (mean edition):

-lewis and george crash (silver arrows edition) and camera pans to nico rosberg

-lewis fans calling george racist

-checo moving for max quietly at the first race, max is faster than you checo

-max lapping checo (if in mexico, mexicans booing)

-toto crowdsurfing with george after lewis not winning one single race (once again)

-max saying something stupid to media to make everyone go crazy (once again)

-charles making more mistakes and his self confidence just disappearing but its ok he gets a free pass from the slanders bcs he is handsome

-charles quits f1 to become a full time ferrari influencer in social media

-george and lewis playing toxic mindgames to each other on sky and ted having a panik attack over it bcs he cannot decide who to back up (he chooses george and gets kicked out of sky for being racist)

-fernando actually being chill with lance (its a bad thing imo)

-carlos only there to thirst trap other drivers and fans (oh that is his every year in f1 already, nothing new!)

-checo retires (i hate him, he needs to go back to his kitchen and make some sandwiches for his rich wife after rb kicks him and he is jobless)

-yuki becomes a max in performance and personality and says a bad word but in japanese so i can excuse his kusogaki behavior with saying bad translation guys he meant well

-devries actually causing debris (we are all so bored of this little man at this point that we beg him to crash so we can cultivate some boring memes)

-lando being jealous of oscar having the media attention over him (plus if oscar performs better)

-pierre and ocon actually gets along bcs pierre underperforms so badly (please fight every race i beg u i need ocon to be pushed, plus point if pierre does it like max)

-kmag having a podium for haas before hulk ever gets his first after crashing out hulk in the last lap

-charles having his 839447th breakdown that memes are just moldy at this point that even ferrari considers carlos as their main driver

-zhou is unproblematic (do SOMETHING UR FROM CHINA)

-bottas retires to ride bikes or his gf idk idgaf

-max actually losing the wdc because he is bored of f1 and he wants to play his sim and race in wec

-red bull not cheating (horner pls win this year with a bigger controversy)

-hulk and max doing it (i cant prove that but they already did it)

-nothing bad to say abt estie bestie all i can say that he will try to finesse his ass to that rb seat (personal agenda) so i expect him to perform SO WELL

-max winning every single race (since that is the worst thing that can happen to mv0 girlies here)

[kbookblurbs]

The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson (Stormlight Archive #1)

4.75/5 - Kaladin my beloved!!! Shallan my beloved!!! Jasnah my crazy weird older sister!! truly my love for this book knows no bounds; fewer pace issues than I remember; really solid start to the series

Minor spoilers for Words of Radiance!

Truly I forgot just how much happens in this book. 1200 pages of straight insanity.

Anyway, I do think this is a very intriguing entry into an epic fantasy. Everything that Mistborn does well in the introduction to its magic system, Stormlight does with more finesse and tWoK is truly a masterclass on character introduction.

I also appreciate how rich each of the side characters feel. Each of them clearly have conflicting motivations and independent goals and they never feel like they only exist to prop up our central POV characters. They challenge not only the characters' beliefs on what is right and wrong, but the beliefs that we, as audience members, absorb from reading in specific POVs.

More than the side characters, whom I love dearly, I just cannot heap enough praise on the characterization of both Kaladin and Shallan. To have two characters, both so clearly traumatized, and show them reacting to that in different ways and having that play on their strengths and weaknesses, flaws and skills, is something very rarely undertaken and even more rarely pulled off. The tension between a character who is so open about their feelings and their failures and another who seeks to hide her past and parts of herself is such a delightful payoff in WoR.

Furthermore, I do enjoy the little pictures and interludes that Sanderson includes. In my opinion, the addition of these small things really elevates the novel from his past work and makes it feel very lived in. Just because we're focusing on the Shattered Plains and Kharbranth because our main characters are there does not mean that those are the only places with things going on. I found it really refreshing to be reminded that this is a large world and our story takes place in only a small part of it.

Docked 0.25 of a point because I always find that Dalinar's sections drag on a bit. No shade to him, I just don't particularly care about his sections at the beginning, especially when they're sandwiched between Kaladin and Shallan POV chapters. However, they are necessary for understanding the plot/stakes and they help the plot marinate a little bit. An epic can't be an epic if it doesn't take a while to tell.

[sohannabarberaesque]

Postcards from Snagglepuss

Lippy the Lion in summer camp diving counsellor mode

ON WEST LAKE OKOBOJI, IOWA, WELL INTO THE NIGHT: "You are not going to believe this, folks," observed Lippy the Lion around the campfire of the summer cabin we were sharing with the Three Wolves on West Lake Okoboji, "but yours truly happens to be the diving counsellor for a summer camp out on Spirit Lake this summer!"

The news of which certainly impressed our whole company.

"Admittedly," Lippy continued in his Joe E. Brown goloss, "Spirit Lake may be but 25 feet at its deepest point, but for such a shallow lake, the diving can be REMARKABLE, and then some ... especially with but a simple mask/snorkel combination!"

"Though we do acknowledge, Lippy," Hokey Wolf remarked, "SCUBA has dominated our diving escapades here at such an anamoly as this in the Hawkeye State! Not to mention the old-school two-hose air lines and glass oval masks as well!"

"Presumably restored at great cost," Huckleberry Hound was quick to point out.

"Make no mistake about that!" Mildew Wolf chimed in.

"So what explains your appeal with summer campers, Lippy?" asked Huckleberry.

"As much my charm and positivity," Lippy harrumphed, "as my gracefulness underwater ... especially wearing just myself and letting my butt show big time! The campers can't help but like me for such underwater finesse!"

Which certainly brought out the wolf whistles of disbelief among our lupine diving brethren ... and Ding-a-Ling to recollect that diving counsellor at a lupine summer camp in the Boundary Waters of northern Minnesota as mentored him all the more in lupine diving technique, "especially after that rather crazy dare about diving to the bottom of the lake on which the camp was located; some half-crazy camper had this notion that the lake was about 50, 100 feet deep ... but yours truly stunned that boaster and pointed out that the lake was probably 20 to 25 feet at its deepest!"

"Which, for a wolf like yourself," Lippy was quick to remark, "was something to be rather proud of!"

Ding-a-Ling continued: "That deep dive, even for a wolf pup like myself, was rather impressive ... enough for the counsellor, sensing my somewhat feral background, to have him take me in under his proverbial wing and coach me in diving technique."

"That's certainly my Ding there!" was how Hokey Wolf responded.

Another round of s'mores with dark chocolate, and all's right with the world on a warm Iowan summer night. Or is it exactly?

*************

@warnerbrosentertainment @passionateclown @iheartgod175 @joey-gatorman @theweekenddigest @artistic-octopus @funtasticworld @archive-archives @themineralyoucrave @hanna-barbera-land @thylordshipofbutts @hanna-barberians @screamingtoosoftly @hanna-barbera-blog @thebigdingle @warnerbros-blog1 @groovybribri @aquablock68 @jellystone-enjoyer @zodiacfan32 @moonrock1973 @warnerbrosent-blog

[hammythehanner]

ok i was bored so heres my slugcat tierlist judged entirely by gameplay/the campaign. not many people are prolly gonna read any of this but i love rambling anyways💥💥full downpour spoilers ahead!

RAHHHH I LOVE RIV AND SAINT THE MOVEMENT IS ONE OF MY FAV THINGS ABT THE GAMEPLAY RIGHT NEXT TO KILLING EVERYTHING THAT CROSSES MY PATH (except scavs but i will get to that later) riv is the first dp slug i played on the day the dlc came out and i finished it the same day and bro my expectations were blown out of the water holy FUCK. i wanted to explore rotting pebbles soooo bad and i actually got to do that!!! it was hard of course but i had fun!!!! i liked having to look at rooms and having to carefully calculate how i would get through them. it made pebbles funner to explore bc i wasnt stuck in 0g baby jail all the time. submerged superstructure was cool as hell too but i kept getting super lost in it while trying to find rhe right way to go… exploring after the campaign though was rlly fun!

basically riv is the most slug ever but oh man. does saint come close. it was BRUTAL getting out of sky islands and farm arrays (i didnt have a lantern, i didnt know it would warm u up) but once i did and i acquired a lantern it was fun! finessing predators with your epic tongue swinging skills. but at the same time man i have NEVER gotten a more overwhelming sense of dread from playing a video game before. especially at the part where i went to go to the wall and it just. wasnt there. i had to just pause and stare at the screen because What. and then when i went to shaded citadel, only to realize it wasnt. uh. shaded anymore. and connecting the lore dots in my head right before getting to the husk. gahdam. finding pebbles made me want to cry and throw up so hard (but i didnt. yet) and yeah. that ending. ehat the fukc. shit went crazy. didnt cry tho until i was watching a saint playthrough on youtube and like. bro wasnt even at the end of the game or doing anything in particular but MAN i just started sobbing for like an hour when i thought abt the ending again. i dont rlly even know why in particular the saint ending just Does that to a mf i guess. also shoutout to that one echo that says “I put my faith into the hands of random gods. Now I must endure it to the end” rawest line ever. goes so hard

SPEARMASTER WAS REALLY AWESOME TOO i lovvedddd being the predator and kill die kill kill slurp up everything i see with straw spear. i love how each of the slugcats makes u think like the slug ur playing, and spearmaster does that so well. i love that it makes u think like a ruthless predator, and i love playin on my save file every now and then to see how many kills i can get in a cycle. also exploring moon before she collapses was just as incredible as discovering five pebbles for the first time AIAGSJSGSJ i love her version of random gods so much it goes so crazy. also the bisexual lighting is cool. i hope the miros birds in her underhang explode tho i love being one shot before i can react at all

hunter. i love and hate the cycle limit. on one hand its super unique and changes up how u play the game alot. u gotta plan for stuff and be able to improvise sometimes. but also its really stressful LMAO. right before dp came out i did a hunter run so that i could unlock riv as soon as possible. and like bro wtf shit gave me heart palpitations. i wasnt even close to failing either i deadass ascended with like 9 cycles left idfk why i was shittif myself so hard at certain points. also why can slugpups spawn in their campaign bro thats mean.

GOURMAND. oh gourmand. this is the one i thought i was gonna hate but ended up really enjoying. the tuckered out mechanic isnt usually that big a deal. also bro is a straight up killing machine wtf 3 spear damage????? i didnt use the crafting mechanic much but it was pretty cool when i remembered it existed in a sticky situation and it saved me. also their endgame region….. oh my god that shit is BEAUTIFUL. i could just stare at some of the rooms for hours. and that big tree with a view of pebbles and the communications array? gorgeous. the food quest was fun and the ending is super cute.

survivor was my first experience with the game! i took multiple long breaks because of how frustrated i got at points, i even had to restart my first playthrough cuz i got stuck in filtration without max karma, but i just. kept coming back. the game just kept sucking me back in. i had the biggest ragequit ever at the jump to the wall in chimney canopy (didnt know about throwboosting so i died like 84538363 times. not just to the jump of course you know how chimney is) but i was back literally the next day. i could Not quit. not too much else to say abt them other than that ive replayed survivor like 4 times since it was all i could really do before downpour came out LOL. theyre the standard campaign so it goes in tha middle tier.

arti and monk were originally swapped but i judged arti too harshly i think. i loved the double jump so much, but when i played it i had scav kill squad leniency off and i had no idea how to parry. (also that one long trek between those two shelters in the upper section of metropolis (on the way to house of braids) can fuck right off to hell. ik i could have taken a diff route but ouygh my gowd) artis story is so cool and the ending art is SO badass i love it but scav combat sucks so bad. also i dont like killing them anyways theyre silly and i always get chieftain in my playthroughs :(

monk isnt actually even bad really. its just “ez baby mode”, which is fine! i think monk serves their purpose very well but honestly its not for me, esp after downpour. im a sweaty gamer guys i admit it im so so sorry plz forgive me💔💔💔🥀 i love monks cutscenes tho theyre very cute. a simple but effective story👍👍👍👍awesom

wow ok i wrote way more than i meant to erm. hi. im 🙂🙂normal.🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

[quirkthieves]

whats like, crazy to me is how many of these incidents weve had this year, and like. okay, say youre delusional enough to think youre in the right for whatever reason right sure whatever two sides. but how have people not learned at this point that regardless of if people would side with you or not the moment you start being weird and start sending anonymous messages to people you will lose literally any respect from anyone in the community even if they wouldve agreed with you in the first place. say what you will about some of the people ive had beef with but i know a lot of them wouldnt wanna kick it with a desperate little freak either like it just isnt a move that works. for anyone. ever. how does this keep happening guys you have to find a new tactic. please. study rhetoric or something maybe go outside join a book club make some friends? make some friends in real life this will help you. the worst part is now that bnha is over 10 years old all of us are old so you know its all grown adults doing this .

like. ok level with me man one to one look at me eye to eye. lets say hypothetically youre right. you are so right you are so correct. the audacity of the cunt on the other side. how could they. i am talking to you as a beef veteran ok seasoned. marinated, even. fought in the battle of Wellington earned the rank of Shepherd's Pie level of beef veteran i have been in arguments the stupidity of which have never been seen before and will never be seen again. you will not win like this. this is not a tactic that works. whoever is telling you that it is is lying to you and is not to be trusted, because they are probably a spy from your enemy liege lord. you will not win this way. you are fucking. vlad dracula iii tepes here okay you are not fighting to win you are fighting so they dont win and those are very different things. you are metaphorically impaling 22k of your own people just to hopefully dissuade the conquering ottomans who have so much more to gain and so much less to lose. you have to handle these things with a certain level of poise of finesse etc etc you have to be able to play the game. taking the high road isnt just a matter of morals its a matter of reputation which for a collaborative writing hobby is kind of important. listen to me im talking to you as the ghost of discourse past listen to me ebeneezer this isnt going to work you have to stoppppppppppppp why is this the tactic of 2024

[algds]

had a completely cooked day today. gfs car got stolen on sunday. policw knocked on the door at 5 this morning, less than an hour after wed finished smoking cones, they had found the car and since we ignored them for so long and we couldnt afford to get it towed they took it to the police station for free (we finessed them.) when we went to pick it up the NZ POLICE showed us how to start it with a screwdriver since the ignition was fucked. and they said even with no wof or rego it was fine to drive it. with a screwdriver. and then all the shit that the people who stole it had shoplifted was left inside so we got a bunch of free stuff. theres even more details but fuck its been crazy. now im back to work for the night.

[waraningyo]

The bitter taste of defeat, Megumi remembered that. A belly full of blood and guilt. A heart which wanted to tear itself apart upon seeing Yuuji die with a hollow chest cavity, Megumi remembered every detail. What he could not recall however, was carrying the limp and macabre body of their fallen friend to their driver nor the gruesome drive back to Tokyo's Jujutsu Technical campus . . nor the couple of days proceeding the death — a mess of regrets and mourning which could not take full shape. Was Nobara as broken up about it as he? Megumi suffered on three levels having lost Orochi, Shiro, and, most grievous, failing to protect Yuuji.

With gloom clinging into every pore of his body, the onyx haired teenager emerged from the hermit-like dormancy of his room and attempted to move through the shared living area as stealthily as a shadow. Reclusive plans were shattered the instant eye contact was accidentally initiated from across the room. He didn't know how to feel, he didn't know how to react; he always guarded his feelings from the outside world and even from his own self. Gaze dropped to the wooden floor, and the teenager shuffled his feet with uncomfortable energy. ❛ How are . . you . . Kugisaki? ❜

just how long had it been since she allowed herself to feel so utterly saddened by something well out of her control? only twice: this was one time, a bygone happening in her past ... when saori's parents saw it fit to move her out of the village and away from nobara because of all the harrassment received due to them not being from there, them being gossipped about, them sticking out as much as she in their little non-jujutsushi way. them being outsiders.

she had been age seven then and at age seven, saori and her family were gone.

at an age that young, being the jujutsushi child that she was, emotional regulation was something that she was taught with a more refined finesse. it'd had spell disastrous if she ended up cursing the villagers for their act of transgession against her childhood friend, so she did what all children did when their hearts were broken and she cried in front of saori's abandoned home instead, hand holding fumi's.

the seat she reserved for saori became empty, vacant, and the pain twisting her heart like a knife stab turned into resolve over the years. sure, fumi was still seated at her table but it wasn't the same. it wasn't like saori died or anything, and she promised to meet up with both her and fumi when she got to tōkyō, but still — —

it's been near a week or so following itadori's demise and sleep doesn't find nobara any easier than it did a few days ago. put out early in their mission, she had to learn of its aftermath through a visit from fushiguro while recovering in the hospital from injuries sustained on their mission in eishu.

just how long had it been since she allowed herself to feel so utterly saddened by something well out of her control? only twice: this was the one other time. only more recent and the stakes raised were higher, the probability of meeting again lesser because death was always hot on your heels.

itadori had died and left their group down to just them two, only her and fushiguro. but the seat itadori dragged to her table of his own volition was one decidedly bolted to the floor by none other than nobara herself. she puts up a good front, attends classes with as straight a face she could manage, but at night instead of scrolling social media she'd sometimes find herself poring over the text thread in the groupchat she shared with fushiguro and itadori.

instead of reading messages over and over that equally made you cry or laugh, any sane person would have just left, however nobara is crazy and honestly? it'd feel a little wrong leaving. kinda like an unspoken betrayal, so no: she wouldn't. still groggy with sleep and emerged from her room, palms knead her eyes in an attempt to further wake herself up. a pick-me-up was so needed and she moves, a young woman with purpose, only to pause when:

she sees that familiar dark haired mop of spikes. fushiguro, he'd been there when itadori had ... they both felt his loss, were kindred in that. isn't it tragicomic how history repeats itself? fushiguro's more visibly shaken up about it than she is and she doesn't blame him. after all, he witnessed the ordeal and it'd been the first time he'd lost a classmate in the way he did. the way they both did.

“ i'm ... okay, but jeez, you look like you haven't slept a wink. wanna go get coffee with me? it'll be my treat just this one time. ”

[confinesofmy]

i am 7hrs into bg3 and do not feel strongly about it. but i do like complaining! 😄

it's weird and foreign to me in a lot of ways, firstly because i'm unfamiliar with baldur's gate and secondly because i've never really played a game that's trying so hard, graphically speaking. maybe i'm too old, maybe i'm betraying how irregular it is for me to play a $60 game, but i do NOT need that much realistic detail. it's distracting and makes it hard to orient myself and differentiate between background noise and important objects. it would be better if it wasn't desperately trying to show me every single individual hair on every head.

love the characters. obviously love the characters. even though now that my party is full, when i meet a new pc they immediately get banished to the far-off lands of the camp.

also it's insane that i'm playing 4 pcs in every combat. it would also be insane if the ai was playing my companions for me though, so i get why this is happening. it's just so exhausting to level up four characters at once. if i was unfamiliar with dnd i assume i'd be fuucked. it would be like reading a textbook. i've seen people who play dnd for money be bad at figuring out how to finesse their character class and now i'm expected to get into the groove of playing a fighter a cleric a rogue and my druid all at the same time? are you crazy? if i'd chosen to play a wizard and kept gale in my party i'd be dead. 💀

the combat isn't bad though! i'm enjoying the combat much more than i thought i would. it's pretty engaging at the moment because it's.. not difficult exactly, i've only had characters fall unconscious twice and both times they were back up within a turn. but it takes a lot of concentration to capitalise on four different character classes' most optimised styles. if it gets monotonous i'll try either increasing or decreasing the difficulty setting.

i don't think i'm really in the groove of things yet. what i've played, i've played over the course of a week, the first two hours last weekend, the next five this weekend, which doesn't seem to be how everyone else played it. i think i'm too accustomed to games like binding of isaac or hades, where technically a "full" playthrough takes an hour (then you do it again. and again. and again.) or games like fnv where i can put it down and pick it up because it's my fifth playthrough and i'm really just doing a reunion tour. my attention span is absolutely shot rn, i don't think i remember how to play a game that had some people reaching a hundred hours in its opening week.

[queer-starwars-bracket]

Queer Star Wars Characters (Round 2): General Bracket Match 28

Sky Graf | Identity: non-binary | Media: The High Republic Quest for Planet X

Sky Graf was a young member of the wealthy Graf family. A year before the Night of Sorrow, their father went missing looking for Planet X. To prove themselves to their family and possibly find their father, they stole their older brother’s ship the Brightbird and deemed up with Dass Leffbruk (who had previously made it to Planet X) and the Jedi padawan Rooper Nitani to use a Force artifact to try to find Planet X during the great hyperspace race. The Force artifact brought them backwards through the planets Dass had recently visited, where they face challenges while also trying to outrun Sky’s brother. During their journey, they also had to take the Path of the Open Hand member Fel Ix as a hostage. Fel Ix began to break through his cult programming, and when the news of a possible battle between the Path and the Republic reached the crew of the Brightbird, he convinced Sky to give up the search for Planet X to travel to Dalna. Fel Ix succeeded by appealing to Sky’s connection with their father by pointing out how he was a father himself. Working with Fel Ix, Sky helped defeat the Graf code that was corrupting the communication buoys in the Dalna sector, preventing more violence during the Night of Sorrow. Their brother, Helis, eventually caught up with them. But the siblings were able to talk about their feelings and reconcile. The two of them would fly the Brightbird together and continue to prospect. But Sky would no longer chase their father’s ghost.

Sky’s lifestyle was a combination of the hard and technical life of a pilot and hyperspace prospector combined with the luxury of their family’s level of wealth. They are very intelligent when it comes to science. They are confident, with a prickly exterior. They didn’t connect with Fel Ix the way Dass or Rooper did until the end, not wanting to try to understand the perspective of someone who tried to kill them. When things got serious, they showed a surprising capacity of violence and a willingness to do anything to achieve their goals. They only felt like they had unconditional love from their father, his disappearance driving them even further in conflict with their family. At the end of the book, they are more at peace, but still eager to make their own name separate from the Graf dynasty. Unusually for transgender characters in Star Wars, there is explicit discussion in their internal monolog about how they felt gender dysphoria when they started to go through puberty and how their father got them a binder.

Amara Kel/Howlrunner | Identity: wlw couple | Media: “Amara Kel’s Rules for TIE Pilot Survival (Probably)”

Amara Kel is the narrator of the short story “Amara Kel’s Rules for TIE PIlot Survival (Probably)” which is her internal thoughts about how to survive as a line TIE Pilot. This military satire story also details her relationship with another pilot, nicknamed Howlrunner. Amara Kel is snarky and cynical, dissoluted with the Imperial Navy but without the kind of spark that would lead her to defecting. She is happy to stay in the background, staying alive without promotion and glory. However, Howl’s skilled flying inspires in her a sense of love and respect for the TIE fighter and the wire thin finesse in its flying.

Amara and Howl’s Theta Squadron was one of the squadrons dispatched to hunt the Millenium Falcon through the asteroid field around Hoth. In spite of rule number one “Don’t Get Attached”, Howl pulls off some crazy flying maneuvers and saves Amara from being eaten by the exogorth. Miraculously, they both survive that deployment.

[stormfang-gnash]

I have 700+ hours in Skyrim across ten years, but ever since Starfield came out and was absolute ass, I've been freed from Skyrim hypnosis. Skyrim is not inherently a good game, it's just the only game of its caliber on the market. There isn't really another open world fantasy arpg with an actually rewarding exploration system and fun quests that lets you make a character and choose how you want to play the game yourself that isn't a Soulsborne/Soulslike, or at least I haven't found one yet. I realized I don't love Skyrim for what it is, because there is certainly a reason why the mere thought of a completely unmodded run makes me cringe into my soul, I love the idea of Skyrim, what it could be if it wasn't held back by so many broken or unfleshed systems. I have so many thoughts about this game, click the read more if you dare.

I could start like everyone else does, by talking about the bugs, and I think they are important to mention. Bethesda always gets off the hook for bugs when we wouldn't accept this level of bugginess from any other studio, and I think it is time we acknowledge that. And it's not like all the bugs that happen are funny mammoths falling out of the sky, there were multiple gamebreaking bugs that if you didn't have a recent manual save, you could lose hours of progress, including in the main questline itself. I distinctly remember getting the glitch where you talk to Esbern through the door in the Ratway in the main quest and he's says "ok let me open the door and we'll talk" or whatever, but the door never opened. This was long before I started modding too, so I was either straight up vanilla or vanilla plus the unofficical patch - which is crazy to me that modders need to patch the game because Bethesda won't, but I digress. The bugs are an issue, but are unintentional. I think Skyrim isn't good not just because of the bugs, but moreso because what WAS intended wasn't great, even for the time.

All three major forms of combat are bland in their own respective ways, for starters. For melee, its literally just hold the attack button with the occasional power move to break shields and very little variety in how you can approach combat. Even if you stealth in, once you enter melee combat its just swing, swing, swing, open a menu and eat a wheel of cheese, he's blocking so hit with a heavy attack, swing, swing, block, swing, swing, swing... You don't have to read movements, no riposte, no dodge or parry or anything crazy. I don't think it's a tall ask to give me a dodge and reward me for using it, give me a parry that I can use to punish an overly aggressive enemy, but I can still just hold block if I'm not able to learn how to do those techniques, but also pressure me to learn to engage with the combat system by having enemies break my block/stun me with heavies unless you parry. It could have learned a few things from beat em ups or hack-n-slashes of the time, tbqh. Not to mention every weapon in the game is the same, something I noticed after adding the Immersive Weapons mod. There's much cooler LOOKING weapons, but an axe is just a stronger and slower sword and a mace is just a stronger and slower axe, and the same is true for two handed weapons. There's no variance to playstyle, something that had been true in other titles of its day. Monster Hunter comes to mind, with unique movesets for all of its weapons so no two feel the same. They didn't have to go hard in the paint, but make my choice meaningful. And because the damage bumps are fixed to whether or not you choose sword, axe, or mace, they can't really get too creative with anything else, which dumbs it down into the realm of boringness. There's no room for reach weapons like polearms, fun but impractical fantasy weapons like scythes or buster swords, chained weapons like flails, thrown daggers or kunai, finesse swords like katanas or rapiers, different damage types and resistances, nothing. Combat feels the same for you no matter what weapon you pick up and I think that's one of the worst choices they made. It makes it so it's super easy to pick up as a new gamer, but once you've been playing for long enough, there's nothing to delve deeper into to keep you interested in it.

Spells are worse though, because the damage doesn't scale with your level literally at all. There's very little difference between a level 100 destruction mage casting flames and a level 15 destruction mage doing it. The only damage amp spell casters get is a paltry non-scaling 25% to one particular element (meaning if you want to use all 3 kinds of damage spells (excluding radiant since its not a primary type, another piece of squandered potential) you have to spend 3 skill points to get max damage on each), one other small bump if you dual cast, but that shuts out other playstyles, like spellswording or even just having ice spike in one hand and lightning bolt in the other. So the only way to keep scaling your damage to enemies is to sink all your stat points into magicka so you can cast highier tier spells that will actually hurt high level enemies like draugr deathlords. You can't even augment your damage via enchanting, all it does is reduce mana cost so you can cast more. And you'll need to cast more, cause the aiming is ass. You know how DnD/BG3 has point and click spells like Magic Missle or Scorching Ray? None of that. Everything is an actual projectile, and the projectile is SLOW. I have no issue hitting moving targets with arrows, but with a spell? Forget it. And iirc unless you have a mod to turn off friendly fire, stuff like chain lightning WILL hit your followers/nonhostiles, which is fine in DnD to make you weigh the cost of using a high impact spell at the cost of allied HP vs switching to something with less or no AOE and less damage, but annoying in Skyrim when Fireball and Chain Lightning are the only spells at that level and the enemy is a deathlord.

Even the stealth archer that is the best way to play isn't as engaging as it could be, because there's no incentive to be GOOD at stealth. There's no red alert phase enemies go into if evidence of your presence is found, they just see a dead comrade, look for you for a minute and a half, then go "🤷‍♀️ must've run off" and that's it! And the AI is so bad if you have a few levels in sneak they can be looking right at you and STILL not see you. The gameplay as a sneak archer is similar to the melee in that its just get a pick, pick, oops they saw me so I'll hide now, pick, pick, pick, run and hide, pick, pick, miniboss so kite around it/switch to melee and the dungeon is clear. I noticed as I was writing this that I have never had a save where I was a straight up melee or magic combat user and actually continued playing it. Every character I have that I played to level 30 besides the wizard where I was hoping it would get fun eventually (it didn't) is some sort of hybrid spellsword or paladin because doing just one or the other highkey... is Boring! But I'm not sure if it's worse than having to stop combat to open a menu and switch spells. Even with SkyUI, this shit is gross and clunky to use, and it makes combat come to a screeching halt.

Crime is another thing I feel is... eh? It doesn't really feel like people's opinion of you changes based on your actions like they do in Morrowind or even Oblivion. In fact, the entire Speech tree is completely useless beyond lowering shop prices and fencing items, because you can almost never use it to fish out information from people, manipulate people, piss people off, or get a read on someone's opinion of you because that information is literally irrelevant. Everyone's disposition towards you is just "you're the main character so I guess I'll just dump 5 sentences of exposition on you without any hesitation". If I attack Nazeem in broad daylight and serve my sentence or pay my fine, the guards may comment, but nothing of value is lost. No one seems to dislike the player for their actions, or refuse them service or anything. You might lock yourself out of a quest or follower, but it never felt like anyone had much to say if I did commit crimes, unless it's LITTERING, because THEN people will come up to you and either tell you to knock it off or ask to take what you dropped. Even when you're obviously trashing a room, they just ask you to stop, they don't get aggressive. It's not like even RDR2 where the townsfolk will loathe you after you've done a crime, but bringing your honor back up clears the hatred townsfolk hold towards you. People aren't distrustful of you if you're a werewolf or vampire unless you're caught doing explicitly non-human things even if you're in the monster hunter guild, if you are a non-Nord dragonborn, you experience no racism, like there's just... so much that could've been done here. Speech is the most underwhelming skill because it's never utilized beyond things relating to gold - intimidation or persuasion are such rare dialogue choices, why even bother? It's rare that you can actually defuse a situation with words anyway, and it's telling that the only way to really be able to raise speech is to buy and sell over and over rather than just talking to people and trying to glean information from them, being able to defuse arguments, or pick fights.

The characters lack depth I didn't know was possible until Baldur's. I can talk to a lot of major NPCs and companions and get the jist of their life story in BG3, but what can I say about Lydia, or the wood elf you can pick up in Riverwood who is so forgettable I can't even remember his name? Major players in the story like Ulfric or Jarl Balgruf? Even my beloved Kharjo, what do I actually know about him? He's in Skyrim because he blew all his money on gambling while wasted on Skooma, and he has his mom's amulet. That's it. There is ONE fleshed out follower and its Serana. And she ironically is the ONLY NPC you could really and truly get attached to, the only one with a shred of personality, and she rejects your marriage proposal. You can't make this shit up. I get its partly because they have so many companions, but I'd rather have just one masc and femme follower of each race that have fully finished character sheets with ideals and motivations than 50 stubs with non-existant personalities (and this way at least the "uglier" races have more options bc there's so few Khajiit, Argonian, and Orc romances you could count them on 2 hands). And genuinely, this is the central issue with what's wrong with I think most of their titles after Skyrim. They focus too much on having more, more, more, that what they do have winds up uninteresting because it wasn't developed enough. Wide as an ocean with so much you COULD potentially do and how much it offers, deep as a puddle with how much everything is lacking because of a lack of focus on the smaller details. You don't earn your romance, you just wear an amulet and talk to the npc you want to marry. You barely interact with any adopted kids other than "yes bring that skeever home" "no go to bed" "ok ill play tag with you". Even one of the tasks I do every game almost, building the homestead, what is really the difference between buying and furnishing a house in a major hold versus the homestead, other than it being time consuming and slightly modular? Unless you grow plants, prebuilt homes offer the same amenities except the forge/smelter iirc, and your spouse will occasionally hand you gold from stuff they've "sold" despite you never stocking the store. There's such a missed opportunity to actually RUN a store that you have to keep stocked, giving you a decent way to earn passive income with all the trinkets, armor, and weapons you loot. Your spouse and kids should make occasional trips to town for fun and supplies, and you could easily have small optional quests to do for them, almost like a Haruka's Requests system. You don't have to do everything she asks (I sure don't when it's Koi-Koi), but it raises your bond if you do.

The one thing I can say with confidence the game got right is exploration. You can pick up a quest in Whiterun to go kill someone near Riften, and while you're making the trip, you run past 20 different dungeons you could stop in and get new loot, you might find more sidequests along the way, kill a dragon, run into a radiant encounter, pick new herbs for poisons, fill soul gems for enchanting later, etc, etc. It's a positive loop that keeps you locked in like "ok I'll just do this one last small thing" but that thing is so connected to everything else that it builds on itself to keep you invested. It's a truly brilliant way of handling exploration, and I see it echoed in BotW and TotK and I'm glad for it, it is truly the best thing to come out of the game. Truly a journey-not-destination kind of thing, and because of that I don't fast travel nearly as much as I walk places. But everything else.... sucks.

And I really do hate that it sucks, I'm not a hater just because, as evidenced by my playtime, once upon a time Skyrim was my favorite game, and stayed in my top 5 for years. I want to keep enjoying it, but partially because I've been milking dopamine out of it for 10 years, and partly because I can see behind the veneer, it doesn't hit the same anymore. And the central issue I have with coming back to Skyrim now is the same issue I have with Starfield - I've seen every system and idea that's lacking done so much better by other titles. No Man's Sky did everything Starfield wanted to do with space travel MILES better than Starfield and I don't even play NMS anymore, and it was 8 years old when Starfield launched. And because I'm not a broke 15 year old with a shitty laptop anymore and I can actually play all kinds of newer titles and emulate older ones, I've seen everything that Skyrim tries to do done better by so many other games that it's impossible to go back, even by its contemporaries in 2011. I try not to judge the lack of meaningful stealth mechanics too harshly, but Splinter Cell and MGS3 had already set the bar on that many years prior; I try not to judge the NPCs/companions, but Mass Effect is often praised for it's cast of colorful characters and the ways you can romance them too, and it predates Skyrim by a few years; melee combat had been so iterated upon by this point that they could have pulled out any popular non-FPS title and chosen that to look at, or even referred back to the original DnD blueprint; and I've ALWAYS hated that vanilla had no way of either being able to keep track of or summon your horse when Red Dead Redmption came out a year prior and had an icon to to show the horse on your map, and Ocarina of Time, a game that was then as old as Skyrim is now, gave you a method to summon the fucking horse on command. And it is hard to not look at newer titles like Red Dead Redemption 2, or Baldur's Gate 3, both of which are absolute masterclasses on open worlds with strong narratives and compelling NPCs and companions even despite some of their flaws, and NOT judge Skyrim now that I've seen what COULD have been with more care and attention to detail, and probably an engine that isn't Creation. Especially now after Starfield and even FO76 where I can clearly see that Skyrim wasn't overly ambitious and just couldn't achieve all it wanted to do before it had to be shipped (though it plays a part, I'm sure), but everything is the way it is by design.

now its time to bring the haterism

if you think multiple are bad vote for the one you hate the most <3