#It's just that vibe of two dudes who are in love but don't let themselves be in love

[fangirlfortress]

I love ships where it's like. They're your best friend. They're at times your most bitter enemy. You're two sides of the same coin. You trust them explicitly, would die for them, kill for them, and they for you. They are your fiercest protector, and you theirs. They've worked in the shadows, have done things you don't even know about, for the sake of your safety. And you don't know - you don't go looking - but sometimes they come back after a journey and they have something dark shielded behind their eyes, an adoration you refuse to look too closely at. You long to touch, but you can't. You don't let yourself. You don't let yourself even think about it. They don't either, though sometimes they fail, they put a hand on your shoulder and linger. You let them to trace the shape of your face for a few seconds, allow yourself the brief weakness, but nothing more than that. You push away, you say, "don't." because this can't be. It could. You could reach out, could fight, could love each other. You could reach out. You don't, you never will. You kiss someone else, a pretty girl, someone you love very much, but there they are, behind her, staring at you. And you open your eyes as you open your mouth, look them in the eye, watch their still face - this is a song you've both danced to before - as you press your mouth to another's, not thinking of anything at all but looking, looking. And in another life, one where everything weren't so complicated, where you weren't so twisted up inside with all the worries that were placed inside you when you were young - legitimate worries, ones you still carry today, that you will always carry. If your positions were different, if there weren't so much history - so many secrets. If, if, if.

[sturnsdarling]

'Stay the fuck away from her'

{based on this ask I left in @sturnioz inbox} fratboy!chris leaves shy!reader alone at a party for the first time and it goes south, quickly.

vibe check: fighting, violence etc, pressure to do drugs, fratboy!chris being a guard dog, fratboy!matt being a lil bruiser (i love him) a TINY bit of fluff bc I cant help myself and I'm a sucker for an asshole (fb!chris) with a soft spot (s!reader)

1.6k words

A/N: based on cas' fratboy!chris au. FUCK I love this. I had this idea after cas' lil blurb about jealous!fbchris and she told me to write it so mother gets what mother wants. another day another slay y'all lets fucking go. PART TWO HERE

love and cigs, merc

The frat house was nearly vibrating with the movement of hundreds of people, all moving, dancing, fucking and taking drugs in every millimetre of the house.

Chris and Matt were off doing their rounds with the freshers, Chris handing out his new stuff to all the sorority girls that pushed themselves against him before palming them off to Matt, who was just as uninterested in them but of course, made the moves to make the sale.

Tonight was a big night, it being the first party back after Christmas break so, the boys actually left you by yourself for the first time ever to make their rounds. Of course, Chris had instructed Nate to watch over you, but he was so faded that he could barely look after himself.

You were sat on a smelly couch in a back room, pressed in between two rival frat brothers to Chris' frat, both of them fawning over you as you sat there uncomfortably, shifting in your skin at the sensation of them peppering encouraging touches over you.

"come on, baby, one lil pill wont hurt you" one said, holding a small white pill in front of your face, your eyes nearly crossing as you stared at it.

"yeah, it'll be fun, and don't worry, we'll look after you" the other said, menacingly smirking at his frat brother

you shook your head, "I'm alright, I don't do drugs like that" you said, trying to crane your head back from them.

"theres a first time for everything, baby" one of the boys said, pressing his thumb into your chin, attempting to open your mouth as his friend moved the pill closer to your lips.

Nate was sat on the other side of the room, two girls draped over his lap as he sucked on one of their necks, palming the other ones ass.

"oh fuck" he said as he looked over to you, pressed between two frat boys as they waved a pill in front of your face.

He pushed the girls off him and they whined in a huff. He lifted his lips and pulled his phone from his pocket, opening it and calling Chris.

"Chris, dude, theres some guys here n'there all over your girl, touchin' her n'shit, one of them has a pill and kid is basically forcing it in her mouth" he said down the phone.

Chris didn't reply, only hung up the phone with a tsk sound and summoned Matt to follow him.

Within seconds, Chris was in the room, searching around the sea of bodies for you. He met Nates eyes first, who was once again sandwiched between two blondes. Nate pointed over to the other side of the room to you. The sight made Chris' blood boil, a villainous smile etched across his face, shaking his head and pressing his tongue to the side of his mouth as the thought of what he was gonna do to that kid raced through his mind. You were desperately trying to free yourself from the trap the boys had laid for you, squirming as they touched you and edged a pill closer and closer to your lips.

Chris stormed over, taking a long drag of his joint before tossing it to the floor. Just as quick as he arrived at the sofa, his hands were wrapped around one of the boys shirts, pulling him off the sofa and throwing him on the floor. Everyone gasped, moving out the way and gawking at the sight of Chris coming to stand over him.

"dude what th-" the guys questioning was cut off by Chris coming down on him and clocking him round the jaw with a swift punch.

"Chris!" You shouted, jumping off the sofa and grabbing his shoulders.

He shoved you off him and turned back to the kid underneath him, swinging down once more and cracking his jaw off his knuckles.

"y'think you're hard 'cuz you pressure girls into taking your shit pills? huh, kid? y'think you're a fuckin' gangsta?" Chris screamed as he laid into him.

The guy was borderline unconscious as you screamed Chris' name over and over again. Matt came up behind you, grabbing you by the shoulders, "go stand with Nate" Matt said, pushing you in Nates direction.

You nearly fell forward as you stumbled over to Nate, unable to tear your eyes of Chris as he continued to hit the boy beneath him, never letting up despite the boys pleads.

"yo, get the fuck off him" His frat brother shouted, coming to grab Chris by the shoulders. His movements quickly cut off by Matt, pulling him backwards and shoving him back to the sofa.

"watch ya hands, tough guy" Matt chuckled, grabbing the guy by the scruff of his shirt and nutting him, cracking his nose off his forehead. The guy recoiled, blood pouring from his nose instantly as his hands flew to his face.

Matt pushed him back as he stumbled, meeting him on the floor with a brutal clock across his jaw.

Chris got up off the guy and pulled him up with him, holding his bloodied and swollen face inches from his, "think you're a fuckin' big dog, yeah?" He turned and threw the nearly limp guy on the sofa.

The boy shook his head frantically, holding his hands up as Chris stood over him. "no, no, I don't, I don't, I didn't know she was your girl dude, m'sorry" He stuttered.

"well, now you do, so stay the fuck away from her, yeah?" he spat, moving as if he was going to hit him again.

The boy flinched and whimpered, running away, leaving his frat brother to fend for himself as Matt continued to pummel into him. He was relentless, near enough laughing as the boy lost consciousness underneath him.

"you wanna force girls into doing shit? you wanna be a tough guy n'drug girls jus' so they'll fuck you?" Matt said, pulling the guy up off the ground by his shirt, "hows it feel bein' a fuckin' loser, huh? tell me kid, hows it feel?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" the guy cried and Matt just laughed in his face.

Chris panted as he watched the guy he near enough battered run away. He turned round to Matt, placing a hand on his shoulder and tapping him.

"s'enough, Matt, y'gonna kill him" he said, pulling Matt off the bloodied and battered boy on the floor.

Chris eyes immediately searched for you, finding you tucked into Nate, scared shitless of what you had just witnessed. He walked over to you, everyone in the room still staring at him as he did.

When he reached you, he grabbed you by the back of the neck and pulled you round to face him, taking your face into his bloodied hands.

"did they give you anything? huh? did they do anything t'you?" His eyes searched your face for any signs of drugs or bruises.

"no" you shook your head, brows furrowed as tears welled in your eyes.

Chris sighed and pulled you into his chest, wrapping his arms around you in a tight hug. It was weird, Chris never hugged you like this, but as if on instinct you sunk into him, wrapping your hands around his waist.

"m'so sorry I left you alone, y'not leaving my side ever again, okay?" he muttered into your hair.

You nodded into his chest, whimpering slightly at the sensation of Chris breaking the hug.

"and you-" Chris spat, pushing Nate by the shoulders, "y'were s'possed to look after, her not let sketty fuckin' sorority girls distract you, fuckin' idiot" Chris said, insulting the girls as if they weren't right there.

"chill man, it all turned out peachy" Nate chuckled, stepping backwards with his hands up in surrender.

"get the fuck out my face, dude, can't even look at you" Chris spat, turning back to face you, taking your face in his hand once more.

"y'sure you're okay, kid?" he asked, soft eyes baring into yours.

you nodded, leaning into his gentle touch, the smell of iron lingering on his hand as it caressed your face.

"you didn't need to go that hard, Chris, you could have gotten hurt" you said, bringing a soft hand up to wrap around his wrist.

Chris chuckled, soothing a thumb over your face and raising his brows. "does it look like that kid could'a hurt me?" he asked, a prideful grin spread across his face.

You returned his smile and shook your head, gripping his wrist tighter.

"besides, you're important t'me, or whatever, so, I wasn't gonna let that fuckin' loser be all over you like that"

"I'm important to you?" you cheesed

"yeah, whatever, kid, try not to pull a muscle from cheesin' so hard" he rolled his eyes with a smirk.

"thankyou, for protecting me, Chris" you said, tugging at his wrist slightly.

"always" he said simply, before pulling you into a soft and quick kiss, his mouth slotting perfectly over yours, the taste of weed and shit beer lingering on his breath.

You chased the taste, whimpering slightly as he pulled away and dropped his hand from your face. You were smiling from ear to ear as he shifted his weight between his feet.

"wipe that smile off ya face, kid, s'not happenin' again" Chris said, referring to the kiss as he wiped a wet spot off your lip with his thumb.

taglist: @sturniozalt@mattslolita@shaquilles-0atmeal@blahbel668@sleepysturniolo@le4hsblog @sarosfilms @joemamaaa42069 @2muchofaslvt @seluky10

[tinyowlthoughts]

Emotional Level Today: Crying over video game cutscenes

I've been playing Palia for a while now - started two years ago, took a break a year ago, restarted my game a few months ago, and just reached the Acceptance Ceremony. (And I am kicking myself for not recording it!!! There's no way to rewatch it!)

Anyway basically, in-game (it's an MMO, with Stardew Valley & Animal Crossing vibes IMO), humans were previously wiped out from the planet due to Flow (wibbly-wobbly magic-wagic stuff) and now for some reason, thousand(s) of years later, humans are remerging! The Majiri (purple/pink-skinned bipedal race who have taken over) are very confused. You wind up in a little village called Kilima and, over the course of the beginning plot, are invited to become an official member of the village by choosing one of the characters as a Shepp - basically a mentor who will help you continue on your path of growth.

I chose Zeki:

Spoiler Alert: His species, Grimalkin, are literally ALIENS who to the planet in between the great human extinction and the Majiri race taking over. They stuck around and FORGOT THEIR WAY HOME TO THEIR PLANET.

Tell me that isn't orange-cat-one-brain-cell energy.

There was also some kind of trade war in the past between Grimalkin and Majiri, and it was decided that Grimalkin don't have the same restrictions concerning Flow that the Majiri have. Flow is seen as 'dangerous' and is not to be messed with - only the Order can use it. (Kinda dystopian, but humanity managed to wipe themselves out with it so also kinda makes sense from a 'lets keep our species alive' standpoint?)

Zeki runs the general store, AND the underground black market, where he sells special furniture, runs a Hot Pot minigame, and traffics in illegal Flow devices and other magic odds-and-ends. There is this whole background of the cartels and illegal trade routes and such, which I'm certain are going to be hugely important to the plot going forward (they just now released the end of the prologue, so there's a TON of game left to explore!).

So, like, he should be this gruff, rude, 'mind your own business kid' kinda guy, right? Running an illegal business and already being suspected of it by the towns magistrate?

Nope. Zeki is a generally nice dude. He regrets getting another village member tangled up in the illegal mess. His inventions, which are to benefit him, would also benefit Majiri kind as a whole. He's funny, charming, not above some jabs and teasing, but overall a swell guy. I LOVE him so much, so I chose him to be my Shepp.

(Which the magistrate looked horrified at! The character designs and modeling in this game are pretty amazing, especially the beautiful cutscenes!)

So today I finished the acceptance quest, and got to have my special Welcome Home cutscene, and I'm kicking myself for not recording because I cried.

It's one of those things where like, yeah, it's just a game, but the characters are well written and interesting and I've spent time with them - getting to this point takes a LOT of in-game time. You've got to work at building relationships. You can't choose a Shepp until you're at a level 4 relationship, and that's weeks of daily chats and gifts and such! Seeing all these characters celebrating my character becoming a permanent part of their village, of their lives - it made me so happy I cried.

I only grabbed a screenshot at the beginning of the scene - my character starting the walk towards the dias where Zeki was waiting for me. The integration of player avatars into cutscenes is really well done too - it feels like you, specifically, are part of the story, not just puppeting a doll through conversations.

I don't know why I'm rambling about this today - I just wanted to share. if you need a community-focused MMO that is FREE (funded through their cosmetic store, which is pricy but SO worth it!!!), I highly recommend it. The whole game gives you a sense of community, belonging, of being seen and valued.

I guess that's just what I really needed this morning.

[mysticstarlightduck]

OC in 15 or less Tag

Thank you for the Tag, @cowboybrunch (here)! <3

Rules: Share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an OC, ideally lines that capture the character/personality/vibe of the OC. Bonus points for just using the dialogue without other details about the scene, but you're free to include those as well!

I'm doing half of this for my OC Cory Blythe, from Mutant Inquiries, and the other half for Augustus Grimmure, from Enchanted Illusions for this tag!

Cory Blythe

"Listen, douchebag, I'm far too sober to deal with whatever this bullshit is right now and I'm already running late for my fucking job - by the way, I'm far more scared of my boss than I am of you. So how about you go mug someone else and I don't stab you with these heels?"

"And you seriously thought involving 'Miss Trust Fund' over here in our mess was a good idea? No! You just signed our early death certificate." [...] "Why? Oh my god, I don't know, Becky... maybe because her infamously overprotective dad is the CEO of a fucking multimillionaire enterprise and you just dragged his only daughter to the middle of a conspiracy?! I don't care if she wants to help! That's Violet Villarosa, for fuck's sake. We're dead now, we're so dead - I'll have a closed casket for sure."

"The more I live, the more I realize I might be the sanest person in this group of idiots. And that scares me."

"Are any of you going to explain why there's a random dude bleeding out in my brand-new car? No? Okay then."

"Becky," [they take a deep breath] "My best friend, my surrogate sister, the caffeinated cutie-pie of my life, I say this in the most polite way possible - I'd rather be waterboarded with lava than hear that plan ever again."

"Teague, let's make one thing very fucking clear - I'm following my side of the contract, so you can do whatever you want to me in the meantime. But my friends - my family - they're off limits, and if I ever find out you sent any one of your thugs after Rebecca or any of them again, it'll be the last goddamn thing you do. I don't care if you're the head of the mob, or if I'll be food for the fishes afterward - you're not the only one here with a pocketknife, fucker."

"I call dibs on the fluffy socks and the cereal!"

"Look, just because I'm not a mutant like you guys doesn't mean I can't seriously fuck somebody up with a shotgun. Now, one of you might want to take the wheel of this car 'cause I'm about to do just that."

Augustus Grimmure

Augustus felt rejuvenated - like he’d just woken up from a nice nap, adjusting his bloodstained dapper suit and glaring at the now soulless corpse. “Oh -" He looked down, noticing the crimson splatters on his coat "That’s just nonsense! Look at this, it's all ruined and covered in blood! It was my new suit! How dare he stab me.”

"My, my, it's a great deal of a fall from up here. I'm not so sure about this anymore, Hattie-" He looked over the speeding train's railing, turning to Harriet with a shaky, nervous chuckle. As he did, he noticed the outline of the two goons clambering into the wagon behind them, guns ready. "Oh, well, as some say - ladies first!" Before she could say anything, Augustus pushed her over the railing - summoning a portal beneath her. Two bullets flew past the spot where she'd just been standing, instead lodging themselves in the young necromancer, who jumped into the portal just before it closed.

"Well, you could attack us, boys, and I'll merely consume all your souls - string by string, painstakingly severing the cord between your life and afterlife until you're all empty husks. You know who I am, and what I can do to mercenaries who threaten people I hold dear." His eyes glowed in the dark, the mark on his wrist causing the mercenaries to stumble back in shock, as shadows swirled around him. "Now, are you sure this is a wise decision to make in the name of your boss, a man who was too lazy to even come get his own hands dirty?"

"I can't tell you more about it, love." He shook his head with a dejected smile, clutching his own arms in a vice grip. "About my deal, about the Deathbringer and what I did. I can't. It's, no - they're just too dangerous, and I made a mistake. I fear it... it won't end well."

"For some reason, I don't think your cousin likes me very much, Harriet." Augustus spoke under his breath after Vincent stormed out, a playful but somewhat serious lilt to his words, concerned. [She replies "It's not about you, per se. Vincent doesn't really like anyone"] The necromancer chuckled. "No, this seems so very personal."

"My grandma used to bring me to this place, when I was a kid." He mused, fiddling with the blue flower between his fingers, before placing it inside the book. "For a lonely commoner kid with a strange magic that everyone was afraid of, these dusty books were paradise. A world where maybe I really could be anyone."

"May I have this dance, darling? We may as well enjoy this uppity evening on our own terms, before anyone makes it otherwise."

Tagging - @oh-no-another-idea, @dreaminggoblin, @mitchell-nihil, @starlit-hopes-and-dreams,@yet-another-heathen @talesofsorrowandofruin, @thetruearchmagos, @writernopal, @i-can-even-burn-salad, @clairelsonao3, @little-peril-stories, @memento-morri-writes and @saltysupercomputer

[apostateoverrubies]

Yeah, my mother is really going off the deep end and becoming susceptible to all sorts of superstitions because she is convinced we're living in the end times.

Now, she genuinely believes in stuff like generational curses and, to some extent, only bad people dying from diseases and so on.

Yeah, it doesn't take rocket science to figure out why those mindsets are problematic.

So many good people, very forgiving people too, die from stuff like cancer. So many good families lose loved ones despite doing nothing wrong.

Likewise, there are many horrible people who live long and fulfilling lives. And there are horrible families who don't have to go through the pain of losing a loved one too soon.

Also, she thinks she can legit tell when someone holds resentment by their faces and believes she knows people who died because they chose not to forgive someone.

Which just gives me body language guru vibes.

But if all of this is true, this is just more proof of God being a hypocrite.

He expects us to be so forgiving even to people not worthy of it. But contrary to what the Bible says, God is not as forgiving as it lets on.

And if you want to know how many people God has killed and even compare his kill count to the Devil, Friendly Atheists has an over two hour long video going over how many people God has killed in the Bible.

Even biblical characters aren't very forgiving because a dude deadass set bears out to maul boys for making fun of him.

Anyways, fuck this bullcrap! I get to be as resentful as I want! The only time I will consider forgiveness is if the person is actually making strides to better themselves and wants it for reasons other than saving their own skin. Even then, I don't have to forgive them!

And if God kills me for it, so be it! At least I die knowing I'm not a hypocrite in that regard!

[dreamedofyou]

OF Favourites Rankings (Halfway Point)

Got tagged by @thatgirl4815 and thought it'd be fun to do but as usual I'm a bit late, as this was supposed to be done before ep 7 aired. 😅 Ah well, I'm still going to rank the characters only up to the halfway point of the series (aka the end of ep 6) so bear in mind that this was my list before ep 7 (and it did slightly change since).

Ok, let's get into the rankings, from last to first place:

7. Boston

Said this before and I'll say it again: I enjoy having Boston on my screen because he always makes things interesting and entertaining. He's just a character I absolutely love to hate. As a person, though, he is just so rancid that he takes my last spot in the ranking and I base most of that on the way he treats his friends tbh. If this is the shit he does to people he's supposed to be close with and care about, then I dread to think how he treats those that mean absolutely nothing to him. The thing is I'm usually a huge fan of characters who do bad/toxic stuff (as you will see later on in my ranking) but they need to have reasons other than their ego for it and at the halfway point I don't see that in Boston. This might change by the end of the show, of course.

6. Cheum

I have two main reasons why she's so low on this list, the first of which being that she simply doesn't have enough screentime/storylines for me to form a strong attachment to her character, and the other being that she sometimes annoys me with her remarks. I enjoyed the conflict we got between her and April but it was so brief, I wish the female characters got the same treatment as the male ones instead of feeling like an afterthought. This is actually my one major criticism of the show but unfortunately it's a problem most BL shows suffer from.

5. Nick

I sympathise with Nick but at the same time I'm also like "you kind of brought this on yourself, my guy." The way he's either blinded by Boston's sweet-talk or just doesn't mind Boston's assholery frustrates me so much sometimes, which is why he's only nr. 5 for me. That and the fact that we don't know that much about him (yet) either. I need more to fully connect.

4. Top

I feel like this is an unpopular opinion but I think Top gets too much shit from the fandom. Yes, the reason he started pursuing Mew was shitty, but along the way he did genuinely develop feelings for Mew and imo him wanting to change and settle down is sincere. I'm a big believer in second chances if people are genuinely willing to change and better themselves, which I do think Top wants. Obviously, him sleeping with Boston (and lying to Mew) was shitty and it's one of the reasons why the nr. 4 spot is probably as high as he can go for me but I'm way more lenient there than most people because he was heavily manipulated into it by Boston and then regretted it and felt guilty about it. This isn't an excuse on my part, btw, I'm not absolving him of blame, but context makes a difference for me personally. I also think his character has the potential to grow a lot and I'm a hoe for character development (as you'll also see later).

3. Mew

Same as with Top, I feel like my opinion on Mew is somewhat unpopular, especially when it comes to his relationship with Ray. Basically, I don't think he's a bad friend at all and I believe he genuinely wants to help Ray but sometimes goes about it the wrong way (possibly due to previous experience). I think his heart is in the right place when it comes to most things and he's just like... a pretty normal dude, which I appreciate. That doesn't mean he has no flaws and can't be petty or nasty if he wants to be, however. I guess my one problem with him is I sometimes struggle to see why he fell so hard for Top specifically (what was so special about Top) because we weren't really given much of a reason. Unless it's just one of those situations where you fall for someone's looks/vibes and like that they're nice/sweet to you, and it isn't much deeper than that (because that happens to people, but Mew doesn't seem like the type to fall for those reasons). Basically, I like Mew much more when he isn't with/around Top.

2. Sand

I don't even have much to say here because I literally love everything about Sand, flaws and all. The only thing that slightly irritates me sometimes is the fact that he (unintentionally) self-sabotages by not wanting to talk about his feelings, probably because he wants to appear as if he's fine all the time even when he's clearly not. Sand is also the character I relate to most. Honestly, if it wasn't for my tendency to obsess over "broken" characters who do destructive things but are otherwise not bad people (and have a huge character development potential) then Sand would be my nr. 1. But, alas...

1. Ray

Ah, yes, we've arrived to the aforementioned "broken" character. This man has more issues than all the other characters combined and it's exactly what makes him my favourite character, oops. Unlike Boston's shitty behaviour, which is driven by ego, Ray's is driven by loneliness, abandonment issues, a lack of love, the list goes on. I genuinely think he's not a bad person, but he's self-destructive (which ends up endangering others as well) and obsessive/unable to let go (particularly when it comes to Mew), which is a recipe for disaster. He wants to be loved so badly but he wants it from the wrong person (Mew) in the wrong manner (romantic). As I said before, I'm a hoe for character development and Ray's potential on that front is off the charts. I want to see him deal with his numerous issues and grow from it as a person. What can I say, I'm just a sucker for those types of characters.

I want to conclude this by saying that there are two wolves inside me: one is a Sand Protector and the other is a Ray Apologist. They are at constant war with each other. Whichever one wins a battle at any given moment determines which of the two characters is currently my nr. 1 and which my nr. 2. That is all. 🙃

Since I'm late with this, I won't be tagging anyone but if you see this post and want to do your own ranking, feel free to consider yourself tagged.

I wonder if my list will change after the series finale.

[boysplanetrecaps]

Build Up, Episode 5: First Eliminations

Welcome back to the recap series that’s never early: BPR Recaps MNET’s Build Up! In the previous one, we covered the four performances that MNET chose not to cover. In this one, we’ll cover the elimination that took place in the middle of episode 5 and give some love to the ten eliminated contestants. Let's do it!

Here we see all our candidates for elimination. 

Top row: Donghyun, Sunyoul; Neon, Seunghwan from CIX; Bitsaeon from M.O.N.T., Jay; Seokhwa from WEi, Woong from AB6IX; Kim Sungjung the musical actor and Lee Gwangseok the freelance model.

Bottom row: Hong Sungjeong, Kim Seohyung; Taehwan from Vanner and Hong Sungwon; Trainee Park Joohee and Kwon Euibin; KNK’s Jeong Inseong and FAVE1’s Hyukjin; and Hwanhee from Up10tion and soldier Jo Hwanji.

The other 20 are safe. 

Of those twenty, if I could keep 10, I’d keep:

Jay

Bitsaeon from M.O.N.T.

Woong from AB6IX

Taehwan from Vanner

Neon

Hong Sungwon

Kwon Euibin

Jeong Inseong from KNK

Lee Hwanhee from Up10tion

Kim Seohyung

I don’t like having to choose though, and my heart would want to keep all of them. But those are the ten I’d pick if push came to shove. I’d especially feel sad about losing Donghun, Sunyoul, Seokhwa, and Hyukjin, because I’m worried about Donghun’s mental health, because Sunyoul and Seokhwa are super lovable dudes, and because Hyukjin’s path as an idol is extremely heartbreaking. But I just chose based on whose singing I want to hear again the most. 

So, this whole time, I’ve been wondering, how will the surviving 10 be chosen from those 20? I assumed that the fan voting would matter in some way, but nope, apparently, it’s the judges. Yeesh. Why is voting happening again, then? 

VCG, who is apparently the head judge, says that they’ve taken the situation seriously and discussed it carefully amongst themselves before they made a decision. Well, I should hope so.

The first survivor is someone who the judges say has an unfairly good voice, a different vibe, and a nice physique. That’s obviously Jay.

Everyone is just like, well, yeah, obviously. It would be pretty unfair if Jay was sent home after that performance, especially when his team outscored every other team except for the team they went up against.

Jay interviews, “I showed that I can sing pop music well, but next time I want to show them proper Korean style singing.” I mean, if you must.

Correctly, the judges also save Neon and Bitsaeon, both of whom did really well. And I’m not that mad that they also save Seunghun from CIX, especially since the fan vote for him is strong. But I'd have saved someone else when there are limited spots.

Bitsaeon interviews, “It wasn’t just Jay – I thought I also showed something in that performance.” You did, Bit, don't worry. Jay interviews that Bitsaeon also being chosen to survive lifted a weight off his shoulders. 

The next person they’re going to save is someone who made a mistake, but Solar says that the judges wanted to hear his voice again anyway. They tease us that it might be Seokhwa...

... but of course it isn't. Who else could it be but wild horse Lee Gwangseok? I just knew the judges would save him. They also save Park Joohee, despite his crying moment. 

Musical actor and Best Sweater winner Hong Sungwon interviews that as the names are being called (and his isn’t,) he feels like he’s being shot. “One person, bang. Second person, bang.”

The next two people the judges are saving are (1) someone with a unique voice and (2) someone else with a pretty low-pitched voice: Sunyoul and Kim Seohyung. I can’t be mad at them saving Sunyoul, as he also has a great voice and I find him particularly lovable. And I had Seohyung on my list too, so again, decent choice. 

Neither of them can believe it.

Sunyoul interviews that it’s hard to be happy since Donghun’s name hasn’t been called. (No loyalty to Hwanhee? I don't notice the two of them interacting much.)  But then the ninth name is called, and it’s Donghun! Again, I’m not mad at it – Donghun also has a great voice.

As for the tenth survivor, they say it’s someone who hasn’t shown his talent yet, so they’ve decided to give him another chance. We see the judges discussing it, and Solar says, “Regardless of the skill level, there are people who attract the audience.” Oh, so we’re picking an idol, I guess? VCG wonders what would happen if this person teamed up with a different guy? (Throughout, the translation says “friend” because they’re saying “chingoo”, but a better translation would be “guy” instead of "friend".)

And I mean, it’s obviously Woong. For one thing, the previews have shown him in the next portion of the show, and for another, the description fits really well – a popular idol who has more talent than what he’s shown and should be teamed up with different people. And sure enough, they call Woong. 

I'm glad, because I actually really like Woong's singing voice a lot and agree with the judges that he hasn't really shown it yet. He bows to everyone and vows to do his best.

So, here are the ten survivors.

So, the ten eliminated guys are still great vocalists and took the time to be on your show and do their best, so obviously the least MNET could do is give them a chance to give a brief goodbye speech.

Oh, wait, sorry, I'm getting word that... no. No, MNET is not doing that. No, instead they've decided to... what's that? oh yes, I understand now. They're just going to NEVER SHOW THE OTHER TEN GUYS EVER AGAIN.

So we lost Seokhwa, our leaping lizard Kim Seongjeong, Hong Seongjun from BDC, smiley Taehwan from Vanner, Hong Sungwon of the ombre blue sweater, Kwon Euibin, Jeong Inseong from KNK, Hyukjin from Fave1, Lee Hwanhee from Up10tion, and Jo Hwanji the soldier.

Ok, let’s talk some math for a bit. A few “ifs” to explore…

If...

they had just chosen the top fifteen teams based on scores, rather than having this rivalry thing, then the ten eliminated candidates would have been (and I’ll put the ones who didn’t really get eliminated in bold):

Lim Junhyeok and Yeo One

Taehwan from Vanner and Sungwon of the blue sweater

Hyukjin and Inseong

Hwanhee and Hwanji

Seokhwa and Woong 

This would have meant keeping the following guys who we didn’t actually get to keep:

Kim Seongjung, the leaping lizard

Hong Seongjun from BDC

Kwon Euibin

I would have been sad to lose Woong, but it would have been worth it to keep Kwon Euibin, and I think both Kim Seongjung and Hong Seongjun are stronger singers than either Lim Junhyeok or Yeo One. 

If...

they had decided the rounds based on average score, throwing out one high score and one low score, then Taehwan and Sungwon would have won their round. (All other results would have been the same.) 

If....

Team Hwan-hee-ji had challenged Seokhwa and Woong, and the maknae had gone up against Sanghyun and Taewoo, then team Hwanheeji would have won and the maknae would have lost. 

Ok, that's enough "ifs" for now.

It’s a bummer that any of them have to go home. It’s especially galling that Inseong, Hyukjin, Hwanhee, and Jo Hwanji not only get sent home like this, but also didn’t get to have their performance really shown. I hope that the experience of being on the show was ok for all of them, and that every one of them finds a nice soft place to land. And let’s all try to support them in whatever they do next, ok?

I’m really going to miss Taehwan’s smile, but luckily I can watch Vanner MVs any time I want. Here is Vanner performing Adore U (my favorite song by Seventeen) live in Busan. Their mics are ON. 

If you’d like to give Hyukjin a stream, his group’s latest single has only 4,733 views at time of writing. The video was shot on (I assume) an Iphone 5, at a warehouse near a train station (I assume). Let’s all give him a stream or two, ok? If everyone who reads my recaps watches their video, we could get that total up to maybe 4,740 or something. That’d be awesome! And here's Hyukjin's Instagram.

If you want to check out KNK to support Inseong, here's the song of theirs I remember hearing a few times in the past -- Sunset. It's full on house music, if you like that kind of thing. I do.

If you want to check out BDC to support Hong Seongjun -- I mean, the group is basically disbanded (I think they might still perform in Japan?) but he might get residuals -- my favorite song of theirs is Moon Rider.

If you want to check out WEi to support Seokhwa, my favorite song of theirs is Spray.

If you want to check out Up10tion, I will again say that I really like their song Spin Off. And here is Hwanhee's instagram -- at least, I think it's his. It has a blue check.

Here's a performance of Kwon Euibin on a previous show. He talks 10x more on this show than he does on Build Up. Turns out he used to be a baseball player, but he kept getting injured and got interested in music while he was rehabbing.  Then he sings Tomboy by Hyukoh, the same song that was done in the Pre-4 mission round of Build Up. He sounds great! And here's his Instagram, teasing an upcoming single.

Here's a performance of Jo Hwanji singing a year ago or so. He's wearing a military outfit here too, and singing to a group of soldiers. His MyDrama List page has this photo of him with longer hair, which blows my mind for some reason.

I found what I think is his Spotify page if you want to check it out.

Kim Sungjung and Hong Sungwon are both musical actors, meaning that they perform in live theater in Korea, and I couldn't find any social media or anything for them. If you find some, let me know!

So, that's it for now. In the next one, I'm going to award some BRAPPIES! Something to look forward to. See you soon!

[meirimerens]

Do you have more khotkin/notkhan lore... I'm intrigued...

Sorry for late reply was aseep. Sure 👍 warning I don't think about their relationship that much (they just ball + are in cringefail teenage crushes we've all been there [cavernous voice]) to think of as much little details as I do the grown-ups but I have a vague timeline in my head I can elaborate on for you so here

14-15 years of age (current time as of the game)

Embarrassing like back and forth, both disliking (or pretending to dislike to save face) the other while wanting to mend the bond. Pride coming in the way/wanting the other to apologize because doing so would be an admission of fault or guilt and can't have that... 💯 "He's a decent enough guy [said in the voice of a guy who'd love to sit next to him and do the "inconspicuous arm around the shoulder while yawning" move]". "I'm not holding your hand [in the House of Death] because I want to dude I do it because you're shaking you're so scared bro. I'm doing this for you. Stop being a pussy and I'll let your hand go [doesn't do that even as the other has calmed down]." "Also who walks around in shorts and rolled sleeves in the middle of the night [voice of a guy who would lend his coat but is too prideful to try + that'd be like admitting """defeat""" and he wants to retain some sort of power]"<- happens here. Everyone around is just kinda

here especially Capella who Knows they kiss in the future but she can't guess when so she just kinda has to like. Wait and sit.

15-16 years of age (post-plague)

Attempt at a resolution. With the Polyhedron gone they just kinda have to like. Hang out together again so everyone kinda makes it so they come face to face. They're exhausted from the plague + meds combination so they don't have it in them to catfight with the other anymore. "Napping huddled together with his big leather coat as a blanket over the both of you" event happens here. [They might blame it on the plague + meds exhaustion but everyone knows.....] Ragingly blushing as they sit next to each other / pretend they didn't in fact nap huddled together etc. People around them are like "aw they're reconciliating 🫶 love wins" and they're like WHAT WINS???? and the people are like "platonic love... friendship... friendship is magic... calm down boss... [knows]"

Cringe fail kiss like two weird fish happens 6 months after that and then they don't talk about it again. Everyone is just like Smile and nod yall Smile and nod. Sticky owes Capella money/items because they had a bet on when and of course she wins & some dogheads & Dualsouls owe stuff among themselves too. They refuse to make it like "official"/weird vibes in general. But everyone knows. Everyone has known.

16-17 years of age

Attempt at a resolution 2/continuation. Go to the Broken Heart once on a date that's relatively uncringe for two people who used to tell each other to kill themselves. I think Khan reintegrated the Kain household by then. He invites Notkin over once and Victor is just like Smile and nod yall. (Victor learned to stop having a problem with his son being gay. He now has a problem with him having bad taste.) Still refuse to make it official.

17-18 years of age.

At this point I think both Capella and Khan go to college to get more knowledge. (Khan strikes me as a linguistics or maybe economic sciences guy) again weird floaty evasive relationship behavior. Notkin comes to Khans dorm like twice and they go out in the town as like #buddies as like #pals [Khan pays for their food and drinks even if at this point I think Notkin makes some kind of money in Town. I'd love for him to be a vet but I think he's too #sensitive to deal with animal pain and death. In my mind's when I imagine a modern AU he's doing a car mechanic internship. Nothing to do with that timeline just wanted to share.]

18 years of age and onwards

Finally 👍 they are normal about it. I don't think they have a big announcement like We Are Together but they admit it to each other at least. Have from there on a shockingly normal relationship. For people who used to tell the other to kill themselves. Love wins. Etc

[depressedhatakekakashi]

I had head canons for Soldier Gai in GOS, and was wondering if any of it sounded right to you.

Since his life is shorter, it has to focus more on his younger years, but that doesn't mean its not interesting!

I could see him born into a family of knights. He had two moms and they used another knight buddy as a surrogate (Because why not XD) and these two were very strong and high ranking, so they had the means to give Gai a good life, education, and training to make him to be the best warrior in the land. He was going to be their only heir since neither of them wanted to lose too much time training/ rising up the ranks being pregnant. So Gai was raised very loved, doted on, and with a firm sense of responsibility and duty poured into him.

With all this, Gai was given all he needed to be a prodigy soldier, and his natural battle instincts from past lives, made the boy an absolute BEAST by the time he was 11! Which got him noticed by the royal family. Gai even may have been asked to help spar with the royal children to help them learn how to defend themselves from someone their own age who could relate to them.

This also got him and his moms up close and really friendly with the royal family, which he couldn't explain why, but the royals almost also felt like extended family. Like uncles, aunties and cousins he never met and loved. He especially got close to a princess at the time, who became smitten with Gai, but for some reason Gai never could explain, he never felt anything like that back for her.

Still with her trying to show off and get his attention, she often showed him ancient books of history they could read together. They spent time running around the secret tunnels of the castle, and at one point, Gai probably saw the greedy merchant and got some...bad vibes from the dude. He asked about him/ tried to warn his friend of the bad vibes but was assured he was a close family friend and there was nothing to worry about. In fact he was coming up with new business strategies to help bring more money to the kingdom!

As he grows older, he gets stronger. And the Princess' feelings deepen. Even after Gai finds someone he likes in the army. A cute but slightly older boy, the son of another general, and the princess is jelous but she tries not to let it affect her... until she ends up venting to one of her friends at some point and the merchant ends up over hearing and uses it as another tool to twist her mind.

"You're right. You are so much better than that other boy. What madness is Gai not seeing it."

"What a shame that boy was in the picture, otherwise you would have Gai's full attention."

"If only something were to happen...then he would be all yours again. No one can resist the power/ riches the thrown grants. And likewise no one can resist you."

The greedy merchant gets into her ear and she grows more spoiled, which in turn has Gai distancing himself more until one day, she demands he love her. He tells her "no and that I don't even recognize you anymore!" And leaves out a secret tunnel because she was blocking an exit to try and force him to stay. They end up going down the tunnel and end up stopping when they hear the merchant talking about his evil scheme. Just part of it but both have that "oh shit" moment, and go to inform the king-

Only... the princess has been bad mouthing Gai for months. He's lost a lot of credibility for hurting her feelings. And even when the princess tries to tell them what they heard, they blame Gai for twisting things after they came out of a wall together; no boy and girl at their ages should be alone together! And, obviously he used her feelings for him to manipulate her into spewing such false accusations. Besides, the declaration of war is already on its way. They will have to gather their army and fight.

Gai tries to plead his case but is silenced and sent to the front lines. The Princess begs their dad to change his mind but its too late. Whether or not he stops now enemies are on their way to attack. It can no longer be stopped. The princess begs one last attempt to let Gai stay as a royal guard. To be left behind and protect them and Gai is offered the spot... but he denies it. His boyfriend, mothers, friends and comrades in arms shall be fighting. He needs to be out there to defend them and the people of this kingdome. This gets Gai and the princess into one last fight and she says something cruel about his boyfriend she can not take back... and Gai leaves her to join the battle.

From there on Gai will eventually be the last to die after everyone he cares for perishes. Having to use the dragon's power to sneak in a stalemate, and seeing his favourite god Kakashi, for the first and only time before he dies. (Of course he was a devoted worshiper but that didn't make it into this story).

After the merchant's death by the hands/ rain of Kakashi, his FULL plan was revealed, and it shakes the royal family to their core. Thanks to one man they lost their entire army, a very specific style of martial arts/combat, their people are near defenseless, they lost many foreign allies, the land itself is forever changed with a new lake in the city, the GODS are mad at them, and they have no money because it all went to war. They will need to resort to desperate measures for them and the kingdom to recover,

With this a seed has been planted, Kakazu can start taking advantage of these desperate times, especially as revenge after Kakash killed one of his best worshipers. He was going to slowly dip more poison in the royals ears, taking over the decendants of the lover Kakashionce had (prince Gai), and had oh so recently lost.

Still the royal family are not evil yet, but these desperate times may lead them to desperate measures that will eventually make them lose their way. As for the princess, she lives in both shame for her foolishness while also trying to deny she had any fault in the matter because she was young, naive and manipulated. Her being unable to admit fault in what she did, will be a inherited factor that will lead to worst times for all...

What do you think?

I really like the princess falling for Gai and becoming bitter and angry when he does not return her feelings. I don’t think a boyfriend is needed for that though. I think Gai just only ever seeing her as a friend and her being upset over this because everyone but the boy she wants is smitten with her

That would be more than enough for the merchant to start manipulating her. To convince her that more power and more riches will surely capture her knights attention

Also add a lil spice from the old stories of prince Gai that they have, where he claimed to have ‘fallen for a knight’ (Kakashi disguised as a knight) and only married someone else out of necessity for the kingdom (he actually loved his queen very much and would be horrified to find out people wrote stories where he didn’t love her)

Surely the princess wants to be like her ancestor but better

She wants the prize that her ancestor couldn’t have. The handsome knight.

And to get that prize she needs money and power

So she falls into the merchants trap and starts working with him, never once thinking about what Gai might want or caring that he’s not interested in ruining the friendship they have.

After Gai’s death and the merchants drowning the Princess falls into despair. Her actions cost her the man she loved, in more ways than one, and now her village is suffering. Yes she still has that cruel voice in her ear telling her it’s not her fault.

Assuring her none of this would have happened if she’d just been given what she ‘deserved’

And that starts to become her character. A greedy monarch who forgets about her people and spends money carelessly on parties rather than rebuilding her village.

Her son becomes greedy, and slowly but surely the old gods they followed are set to the side and Kakuzu takes their place

Kakashi’s now out for blood because Kakuzu is being a smug shit about this all

[candyskiez]

1,6,9,10 for su guestions thing (circa 2017)

Fell free to ramble :3 you always make such well written things about characters and themes, and I love reading those

Feel free to ignore if you dont want to do this.

Just did nine, but happy to do the others! Also,thank you!!!

1: Honestly? Kinda hard to say. I don't really remember. I think episode two? I tried to watch the show a few times before and just couldn't get into it, but once I was actually in the right headspace? It grabbed me so fast. The dialogue, the subtle details about Rose, the bond between Greg and Steven, it's just a lovely episode that sets up a lot of future shit.

6: Dude you're asking me to choose. On THE character design show. Seriously??? /Lh, okay hm. This is a hard one. I think imma have to go with Lapis? She just has SUCH a pretty design. The water wings, her hair, it fits her personality so well! She's elegant but also it really fits with her bitter, sad vibes. Her color scheme is so pretty, and the wings lend themselves to a lot of dramatic scenes. And also just. Oh my god. Her post reform design is the best. She looks so much happier just by looking at her. Baggy pants, that SMILE, seeing my girl finally happy makes me so happy.

10. Behold, Pandora's box! As anyone who knows me probably isn't surprised by, Pearl! I fucking love Pearl! Oh my god! I started off hattttinnnnngggggg her and it did such an excellent job of developing her and explaining what was up with her at the same time. The way Pearls are treated on homeworld and the way that influenced her dynamic with Rose is FASCINATING. A thing I love is that it lets "Rose has good intentions and is not a monster" co exist with "Pearl needs to be separated from Rose to be able to heal." And it's just. It's so hard to find a story like that. There's so much of a stigma around taking a break from a relationship or cutting someone off when sometimes, you need to take a break from each other. Rose and Pearl were not in a position to love each other healthily and the show addressing that means everything to me. She's just such a GOOD character. Her biases about Rose and herself tainting how she raises Steven is INTERESTING. The reason I love Pearl is that the show lets her suck sometimes. It lets her do awful things. It lets her make massive mistakes. It lets her be flawed and messy and emotional and still treats her as someone who deserves to heal and get better. It doesn't act like someone could grow in an environment like homeworld and not come out with some toxic attributes, and then it shows her unlearning them. It lets Pearl absolutely fucking SUCK and then shows her learning to not suck! It's so well done! She's honestly the most interesting out of the main cast to me because it lets her be absolutely insufferable at first and doesn't try to make you love her immediately. It lets her be allowed to be a mess! And THEN she grows as a person! Her feeling like she's incapable of change, that she does not deserve to exist without Rose, is just...man. It hits so hard and she's just such an excellent character. Her becoming a good friend, a good mentor, just a good person in general hits so well. Her becoming better to Greg and Amethyst and Steven and Garnet and just. God. Pearls healing being shown in the form of Pearl being more compassionate to the world around her. It's so. Man. MAN. I fucking love Pearl.

[bbnibini]

apothecary diaries anon again! sorry for replying late, the past few days were busy. 😭

I ENCOURAGE READING THE MANGA, THERE ARE SO MANY GREAT EXPRESSIONS!! it's also great with mood whiplash scenes; one moment i can be fawning over how pretty the art is, the next i'm staring in awed silence at the dark parts of the story. like, the scene where maomao is at lihua/rifa's palace is AMAZING. (i totally get what you mean with manga too! i don't buy manga as much any more because digital tends to have better quality and is easier for me to read. plus, there's something about having a novel in my hands that doesn't compare to holding manga, if that makes sense?)

no problem; i'm glad to share the good news about the LN! i usually buy just the paperback and read that in bed because 1. comfy cosy vibes, and 2. easier on my eyes. (i also don't think it's weird; i've bought multiple copies of games over the years because i enjoy having access to it on different consoles (and enjoy modding them, in case of games on pc.))

agreed! the love triangle / having two people compete over a third person dynamic in isekai is just… awkward. especially in some manga/manhwa where it's obvious who the main couple is? it makes all the interactions so forced and usually leaves me either annoyed with the plot or the characters themselves (and not in the way the author probably intended). ngl, i am a lover of morally ambiguous male characters, but it's so weird how people condemn female characters for being rude, but the dudes all get 'oh, but he has ✨reasons✨' or grasp at straws to justify it. even when the women also have reasons or backstories to explain why they do what they do?

i also get annoyed when i see the female lead get bashed in comments for not being 'strong enough' when usually the FL has either been abused, traumatised, or just?? cries because they've been through so much??? it's like the FL can only be praised if they're going through their struggles the 'right' way, and emotions aren't allowed. like, no! give me all the characters and their responses; give me the characters who repress their feelings AND the characters who wear their hearts on their sleeves!

let women support women! 👏👏👏

unrelated to the above, i started ascendance of a bookworm! i was at chapter 13 and crying from lutz and myne's friendship + wanting otto's love and citizenship in a side story. then i read further and started crying for an entirely different reason and OW MY SOUL. currently up to chapter 26, i'm both proud of my kids and just want to hug them. (also, i love how they deal with myne having a weak body; i have issues with my own body, and it's nice to see it taken seriously and also not instantly cured via plot magic.)

hope sleep and work has been better for you!

Aaaaa sorry if this got buried in my notifs! I only saw this now after logging in to tumblr desktop!! YOU GET ME FR- 🤝I think it also has to do with its formatting?? Collecting manhwa is okay for me for certain series, but reading manga backwards is just really awkward. I can't get used to its physical formatting. Using the panels as reference for practicing art had been my goal buying manga and manhwa but I really just don't enjoy the drawing process. ;;v;; I think it also has to do with that lol. I love art but I get giddier and enjoy reading pretty words better!! I love reading in bed too but my optometrist scolded me for doing that cause it made my eyes really bad xD. I do still read in bed but not as much anymore cause of that ssh don't tell her /s

Right?? It's just so sad misogyny is still blatant in fiction. It's already happening irl and you can't even use fiction as escapism cause it's there too. :'( I like it when series write good characters. Ultimately for me, that's what how you can tell a writing is good; if they can separate that. That's why I love Apothecary Diaries; you fall in love with Maomao as a person. She's a great character who just happens to be a girl. You love her for who she is, and not because she's a woman, or the narrative tells you a bajillion times she is a "badass female protagonist so you should love her!!!" (which she is ofc but that's not the entirety of Maomao's personality. She's more than that!! And I love her for more than just that.) JgdghgjI I just love female friendships so much. I wish we have more in shoujo and series in general. I want platonic female friendships; sapphic relationships, all of them. I love women. Funny you mentioned that cause I wish people would stop seeing femininity as a weakness cause it's not!! It's really ironic seeing people say a female character is "strong" because she's physically strong and have masculine traits, but have no substance or character development beyond that. To strengthen my point above, a female character is a great character because she was a great character to begin with and does not depend on harmful stereotypes just so they can be written lazily as "female" (I hope I'm making sense).

I'm so happy you liked it! Bookworm is so well-written and incredibly detailed in worldbuilding, lore and character development it's almost intimidating! I love its realistic portrayal of human relationships and disability; of found family and loneliness. Its focus on the world and the people around it makes the characters a lot more...believable(?) Like you can feel that they have lives outside of their interactions with Myne. Myne is just a heartbeat of a human life trying to survive in the unfair caste system she is born in. assidfsf. Fr I feel like I'm Myne's parent; seeing her grow, seeing her achieve her dreams and be happy and live like a normal girl makes me cry. I really recommend reading the LN of part 2 especially the last volume. I bawled like a baby in one of the scenes. Her family is just so wholesome. ;;v;; Sorry for rambling. I love this series so much and I've been trying to hold back reading my backlog cause I know I would finish it in just a few days.

[twodollarhero]

More like "that demo was sick"-min 4

So I just got done playing the demo for Pikmin 4 and it was like... REALLY cool!

My relationship with Pikmin has always been kinda weird. I've always merely liked the series a lot, when I've always felt that I should love it. On paper, it's exactly what I love about Nintendo: weird, interesting perspectives on a genre that takes a well-worn concept and makes it clean and accessible. Splatoon is the "Nintendo-ified shooter" just as Pikmin is the "Nintendo-ified RTS" or whatever... so why don't I love Pikmin in the same way that I love something like Splatoon? I really haven't ever been able to put my finger on it. My best guess is that I've never really vibed with the world, the story or the characters. Not because the games have been completely devoid of those things, but there's just enough of a wall of glass between it and me to leave my handprints on the windowpane, begging to be let in. Couple that with one or two too many unfriendly design decisions that have long been innate to the franchise and I think I always come away feeling that Pikmin and I would always be like the couple who date, break up and keep trying because - hey, maybe this time it'll work out.

Like any toxic relationship, Pikmin has done a lot of work on themselves and I really think they've changed this time. Playing the demo for Pikmin 4 has graduated my excitement from a tepid "ah shit here we go again" to actual, factual hype. While it isn't a completely frictionless experience, it solves practically every major problem I've ever had with the franchise and - for once - the glass wall has been shattered and I'm able to tip-toe around the shards on the floor.

First of all, the story setup is actually pretty fucking cool this time around? Look, I get it: diehard Pikmin fans are annoyed that it seemingly retcons the scraps of connected lore the series has had leading up to this point. I can sympathize with that, actually -- it would annoy me if that happened to a franchise whose story or lore I was really invested in. But, looking at it from the outside? I genuinely feel like taking our familiarity with Olimar and using his rescue - and possibly "death"? - as a narrative device to set us out in this new entry is a pretty cool idea! I think it gives people a great jumping on point for Pikmin, which I think absolutely feels like Pikmin 4's mission through-and-through. To the point where they even let you just play as your own character this time around. And while the character creator is simple, I really liked being able to make my own weird little guy for a change. All Pikmin characters look like gross, fleshy homunculi, but this one is mine!

So yeah, I like having my little weirdo here and I'd love to see yours. But it's the new gameplay additions that really turn my crank. The core of it is still very much Pikmin, but they've added some really nice quality of life stuff into this one in addition to just putting together a really pleasurable loop. You aren't just trying to survive and you aren't even really just trying to rescue -- everything you're collecting feeds into satisfying, measurable improvements. Honestly, just the feedback loop that Oatchi alone provides is satisfying enough to carry it for me: rescue enough lost members of your Rescue Corps (or stranded civilians), earn a point of "Pup Drive" and spend those points to make Oatchi even more useful than he is as a baseline, which is already very fucking useful. Uncover raw materials in the world for the weird scientist dude to turn into interesting traversal applications, puzzle solving applications AND player improvement applications, like new pieces of gear that'll allow you to withstand elemental effects. Rather than needing to forage for food every day, you're instead gathering household items in the name of "Sparklium" to repair your ship, which ultimately just rewards you with new cool areas to explore, i.e. it rewards you with more Pikmin 4. And even just in the demo, you've got an expansive little mini open-world to play in that feels super tight and well designed! But that's before you even touch on the caves.

Oh man, the caves. Apparently this is a returning feature from Pikmin 2, but it's been like 15 years since I've played that game so it feels super fresh to me. Even still, according to Pikipedia, Pikmin 2 only had like 14 caves in total. These feel like Pikmin 4's versions of Shrines in Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom. Little sections of the game that are ripe with rewards, but also super concise little puzzles and challenges that are off the beaten path. And, like Shrines, the sense of elation from seeing one of those blue lids makes me want to stop everything I'm doing to go explore them. The game knows that you'll want to explore them too, by slowing the day's time counter to 1/6th speed. Pikmin 4 has also integrated a system where you can straight up rewind the clock back a few minutes if you want. Like, the game is autosaving every 2-3 minutes and if something crazy happens, you can just rewind back to that previous save state. It's one of those accessibility things that hardcore fans can totally choose not to engage with, but someone like me is happy to have it when I accidentally got all of my Red Pikmin killed and would've been soft locked. It's the little things!

SO ANYWAYS, TL;DR... I really, really dug the Pikmin 4 demo in a way I wasn't expecting. And as someone that was kind of disenfranchised with AAA games - even Nintendo ones - for the first half of 2023... it feels really good to be excited about big budget games again. I love loving stuff.

[hislittleraincloud]

Aww it looks like you have fans, my dear! https://x.com/astridsinclair_/status/1863612898360111464?s=46&t=sjzE9yJDPIIrx07d8gwl7g

They're always too scared to engage or ask questions. They just chatter amongst themselves about the Creepy Weird Guy Who Ships Wednesday and Donovan.

They don't understand because they don't have it in them to see what I can see in canon and run with the little loose bits I can find to explore relationship dynamics. It's the same thing anyone else does for the media that attracts their attention/devotion.

(Re: WEIRD shit happening again, AHAHAHAHAHA I AM ABOUT TO WRITE ABOUT THIS SCENE** ON MY SCREEN RIGHT NOW, OMG)

I was and probably still am going to write a love letter to the nature of Ortega and McShane's scenes together, and how intimate they are, and how it all served as the basis for Satisfying Afterburn.

It wasn't just the way Burton or Monteiro chose to film the Weems Office Alone Scene or the Swifty Cat Scene, it was the way Ortega chose to have Wednesday interact with McShane/Galpin. In most other interactions on screen, she is caustic with her barbs, particularly annoyed around her peers, but pretty defiant towards both Weems and Kinbott (the two authority figs she dealt with most on screen). She's standoffish and clearly looks like she'd rather be elsewhere when there are people around. She's a literal juvenile delinquent with a criminal record.

Yet, for some strange fuckin' reason, said delinquent absolutely cannot get enough of being around a cop/head cop of the town. And not only can she not get enough of being around this cop, she is always softer/more respectful and treated him more like an equal, since she gave off the vibes that she wanted to be treated as more than "just a kid/teenager" [who wants to be let in on a murder investigation that would be by the freaking way a direct conflict of interest for both of them, so there's that].

Ortega said that Wednesday really wanted to be an investigator, so who would be a better choice to stalk than one who is supposed to investigate. She has a genuine, observable interest in solving mysteries with someone who can stomach body parts strewn on a campsite as well as she can tolerate body parts in glass jars. Ortega's Wednesday also has a genuine, observable softness that she only brought out in Wednesday in her scenes with McShane/Galpin.

***The softness could be construed as manipulation. However, it was present not just in this beginning interaction, but it was continued, even in the throes of adversity when Donovan was harsh with her during Swifty Cat.

Am I crazy? Sure, but not about this. Watch the show again, paying particular attention to how Wednesday interacts with each individual. She is literally said and shown via duct tape, for example to hate people in her orbit/physical space and hates crowds/being around a lot of people.

Yet Galpin's the one whose space she keeps invading. In the above scene, in his crime scenes, multiple times in his office, in his suspected crime scenes, in his HOUSE and subsequently in his TRUCK. And THEN she teamed up with him in an elaborate sting operation to entrap an (albeit unknown to them as) innocent boy into confessing a crime he didn't commit. A sting operation that had to be planned after Wednesday had a long chat with Donovan, which we didn't see on screen. THEY WERE BOTH COMMITTED TO THAT 🤣🤣🤣 Christ, I'm wheezing over here.

That is what she actually preferred to fucking do, over anything to do with fucking Enid. She goddamn stated it outright after the Gates Mansion debacle for fuck's sake

"Now I am one step closer to solving this case. That is what is important."

"THAT" being her solving crimes for Donovan versus her stupid Girl's Night Out. EMPHASIS HERS 😭

Now I'm just all riled up. But that's good because I've been avoiding writing one scene that I gotta put in there so I can move it along and get it out there soon.

And dude, Wenovan Argument at the Gates Mansion is now on my screen. Am I cursed? What's going on? What is this? I need food.

[thebonesofhoudini]

Honestly, family, I don't even listen to Hip-Hop like that anymore. I turned 40 two months ago and other than my old school 90s and 2000s shit, I have not really been interested in listening to new rap.

I don't feel like listening to rappers almost half my age rap about stuff they haven't really experienced. I can't relate to that.

Plus I grew up in the 90s, when we actually had serious rappers, and hip-hop was taken serious. It's hard to get into this new music when you grew up listening to Nas, Wu Tang, Biggie, 2pac, Mobb Deep, Jeru Tha Damaja, Gangstarr, Killah Priest, Brand Nubian, Outkast, Scarface, Snoop, Dre, Cypress Hill, E-40, etc. And at one point in my early 20s, I definitely carried myself like an elitist "Real Hip-Hop" backpacker who only listened to underground/independent rappers. And looked at graffiti magazines. And tried to be a B-Boy and breakdance at one point.

I actually started losing interest in HipHop in 2000s because of that. NY rap was dying in the mainstream, The South rose to prominence, and dare I say it, Rap started to get really dumbed down. And I've wasn't really feeling the negative content either.

I was collecting House and Techno records all throughout the 2000s. While collecting Hip-Hop vinyl and Funk, Soul, Reggae, Ambient, Drum & Bass, Jungle, IdM, etc.

I actually used to do both once upon a time. Between 2007-2008.

I would go and play in bars and clubs and play 90s hip-hop instrumentals mixed w/ downtempo and hip hop instrumentals. It was inspired by "Mushroom Jazz" by Mark Farina. The crowd I was playing for at time like that stuff liked it because it was something cool that you could talk to your lady to or have a conversation to or even rap over.

But then around this time, I started to get more interested in playing House Music and producing House Music. This was around the late 2000s when Blog House was taking over the internet and all of these DJs were popping up all over due to Serato and CDJs.

Let me tell you something even back then. Some people for as many people as there were that loved when I did house there were a lot of people too that got pissed off when I played it. They would say things like "play some Hip-Hop" like that's all Black People should be playing or listening to. Even back then, as much of a "Head" as I considered myself, I found that thought process so fucking ignorant. And these comments were coming from both Black ppl and White ppl.

Well now I am 27 years in the production game and 25 years in the DJ game.

I'm happy to say I'm still DJing and still making music.

Personally, I like House music because I can just vibe to it, chill to it, dance to it. Etc. And I don't really gotta think too much about it. Plus I'm kind of a goofy dude that doesn't like to take themselves too seriously and likes to dance, and that's the type of approach I have to my music. I feel it fits my personality more.

Recently I don't know. Between all the Rico/Fed cases, the stupid gossip and drama, the shootings, the killings, the constant negativity, the ignorance, all the all these fucking podcasts, these Peter pan syndrome ass dudes in their 30s and 40s, and all of these so-called rap "fans" that don't even take the rappers they listen to seriously, I am sooooo not interested in Rap/Hip-Hop anymore. Especially as much as I used to be interested in it when I was a teen and in my early 20s.

[veryflirtytransportalate]

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"Wow. This is going to be a great story! Just wait till you see this in print. You won't regret this, Blue." - Piper

Oh, Piper. Always there. Always chilling. Always ready for whatever. I cannot stand how she is about me stealing stuff, but other than that we get along great. She runs a newspaper with her little sister, although she's been following me because she wants to publish my story. In exchange, she takes some pics for me to post here. We all win.

She and Dogmeat get along really well. I'm actually kind of confused about Dogmeat on the whole. He's... I met him on the road one day out of the blue, and ever since, he's been following me. I'm not saying we met, got to know each other, I literally looked at him and went, "Hey," and he just made himself my dog. I don't feed him. I pet him, stab him with Stim when he needs it, but I don't know where he gets water from. I've never seen him poop. He can take a .303 round like a champ, too. He is also a vicious murderer who attacks anyone I get into a scrap with. That's true friend material right there and also, maybe, a, robot, I'm suddenly realizing. That's cool, actually, robo-dog. Why do Stimpa-eh they work on Nick too, funk it, like anything else makes any sense here.

Honestly, I get why people are falling over themselves to be with me (see: my legs, my torso, my face), but I'm sometimes weirded out by how into me they can get? And it does not take a long time. Preston made me dad of his local cub scouts after knowing me for fifteen minutes. All I'd done up to that point was get high, kill like two dozen dudes in a suit of armor (I think one of them turned into a dragonman but I was pretty up there), and insult his old lady friend right to her face. Hell, Strong Mad can't stand me, and he still spends all day riding my Red Rocket. ...okay hold on, I just meant he hangs out where I told him to, okay, me and Strong Mad aren't... we... well... let me go to the Red Rocket, and take a good hard look at him, and get back to you. There... may be potential there.

(Outfit credits, my thoughts, and a few more shots below the cut.)

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Cait is here too! I use Koozebane's Loving Cait mod (opens in new tab) to change her general vibe some. Piper's hat is Niero's CROSS_MojaveManhunter mod (opens in new tab).

Fallout 4 companions, dude. I've only ever gotten as far as Virgil's cave so I haven't met most of them, but like... bro, they are in rough shape.

Cait's storyline I think lays it out the best, which is to say, is one of the worst: it combines a desire to tell a deeply empathetic story of sorrow and trauma and regret and redemption, but that desire is so mishandled and poorly considered that it feels more like an insult to people who have lived experiences similar to her's - if you've ever been told 'you're so brave' by someone and suddenly felt a not terribly intense form of insulted, that's the exact emotional response I think this combination elicits. Her description of the physiological and mental effects of her intoxicated lifestyle feels like only a rough impression of what long-term functional intoxication feels like in the body, she doesn't follow the rules of addiction the player does, her story has to actively ignore the magical addiction cures around every corner*, but then plops a science-magic chair McGuffin into play with the same 'it's an instant cure' handwaving that the rest of the game already does as a deus ex machina to a story that could have been about the redemptive power of self-forgiveness, and there's not even time to mention that the story of the Vault you find the chair in implies that a group of addicts would turn kill mode over a single stash of drugs so fast that they'd storm in and murder an entire therapy group in their chairs, implying a discovery to murder timeline of less than an hour, and the fact that someone signed off on the only Irish character in all of Fallout just to have her be defined by violence and addiction and red hair and an accent feels funking nasty. Irish people in post apocalyptic Boston? Super fun. Thematic. Represents the reality of Boston and would have been an excellent addition! But Cait... the elements of her story could have been something really powerful to explore in a second person narrative, but instead, the writing placed on top of her damages the cohesiveness of the world in every place it touches.

We're all on the same page here**, and literally all of the characters are like this, although most other companions don't have narratives nearly so long or with nearly such personal themes (thank goodness). Nick is a hardboiled detective who smokes cigarettes. He does not have lungs. He also has memories of his previous life? I never do his quest. Piper is a scrappy reporter lady. She is upbeat and supportive and cares about her sister. The end. Codsworth is a robot who is a butler. Mr. Handycock is a ghoul dressed like a red coat, and, in his free time, something like a character. McGravy is a merc and a lazy Fallout 3 callback. Strong Mad is just Fawkes again but worse, which is ridiculous when we could have had Fawkes be the lazy call back, or another lazy call back, I guess. Danse is the words "semper fi" injection molded into a human shape (with a hot face). Preston is... actually a fun combo of dorky dude in a bad situation with good intentions, Preston gets... ugh, as much of a pass as I'll give anyone, even though he holds the terrible distinction of radiant quest giver. You never wanna be the radiant quest giver, okay, even Mike Rowe wouldn't do that dirty job. Lucky for him I kind of like the radiant quests, but that's only because the un-radiant quests usually have writing in them, and I have a hard limit on the amount of Fallout 4 writing I can stomach (I can't remember if I've ever through mods or whatever gotten to the Institute but I remember the cutscene with Father where you meet him and I Just... oh wow... if... if I was in a class, and someone presented that scene as a project, I'd be so embarrassed for them).

I downloaded a few mod companions (the super mutant lady, an Enclave general, and someone else, I forget), but they don't quite fit in with the general mood I'm trying to tweak Fallout 4 into: this Cowboy Bebop-esque colorful and bombastic adventure world with weird tech and sexy badasses.

I'm going to keep trying to Collect 'Um All! but... I don't have high hopes.

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*Addictol, which I carry on me at all times, doctors, who are in every town we stop at, a special tea from the chemistry station, or a funking omelet can cure addiction and if you don't believe me well than (opens in new tab) - your move, funko.

**Oh my gosh I just Googled "why is cait irish fallout 4" and the top answer suggested by Google was "The reason Cait has a (terrible, stereotypical) 'Irish' accent is because Bethesda didn't stop to think about how little sense it would make." YES, JUST RIP THEM APART. Oh, internet, you weird commercialized corpse of a thing - thank you so much, that made my day.

[muertawrites]

D, W, X, Y, Z for sfw and nsfw?

SFW:

d i have already answered!

Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

No. Eddie has a very good sense of himself and he's comfortable with who he is.

Does that mean he doesn't love you in a way that's totally earth-shattering? Not at all. When he met you, he swears he heard "I Just Died in Your Arms" and everything went slow mo for a minute and he forgot his own name. And yes, if you were gone, a very important part of his life would be missing, and it would be hard to move on from and adjust to.

But feeling like he as a person isn't whole without you? No. That's an extremely unhealthy way to think. He doesn't want you to feel like you aren't whole without him, either.

Xtra (A random headcanon for them)

God, I feel like there aren't many headcanons for him that I haven't already spat out on this blog at random? I guess the only one I really have is that I doubt he'd ever drink any kind of caffeine. No coffee, no energy drinks, not even tea. He's hyperactive enough as it is - caffeine just makes him feel out of control.

That and I also doubt he'd ever dabble in hard drugs. Based on his family background, it makes sense that he might have had a friend or relative or two struggle with addiction to heavy substances and knows how hard it is to live with. I truly think he uses pot and alcohol as a means of coping but is ultimately responsible about his consumption. He really doesn't want to live up to the Munson name as well as people think he will.

Totally owns a D.A.R.E. t-shirt. For the jokes.

Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

Well y'all already know how I feel about Eddie and basic bitches. He hates them. Any person who doesn't have much personality, or is ashamed of him, or uses him for some ulterior motive, or thinks he's just some big scary dude like everyone else does is a total turnoff for him. He likes people who can form their own opinions and are perfectly comfortable and happy being themselves, no matter what other people may think about it.

Hates wearing shorts, even in summer. Idk why. I just get that from him.

On this subject I also feel like he doesn't hate pop music or other genres of rock as much as he acts like he does. He's just too proud to admit that he listens to Lovesong by The Cure alone in his room at night on a regular basis. (I feel like he'd vibe with The Cure)

Modern headcanon is that he really likes Blink-182. All The Small Things is lowkey your song.

Zzz (What are some sleep habits of theirs?)

Sleeps in his boxers.

Doesn't brush his teeth before bed - doesn't see the point.

Definitely snores. Not excessively, but enough to be adorable or annoying, depending on how you feel.

Can fall asleep anywhere. Also sleeps in super weird positions. Moves around a lot.

Blanket hog.

[nsfw below the cut]

NSFW:

Dirty secret (pretty self-explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

How long do you have?

Man's a perv, ok. We love him, but he's so horny.

Biggest one is that he doesn't just steal your panties as trophies, but he uses them. He loves to masturbate with one pair wrapped around his fist, the other stuffed into his face so he can smell the traces of you in the fabric. He does return them. And washes them before because god he doesn't want you to know how much of a creep he is for getting high off the smell of your pussy and cumming into your used panties.

Not dirty but definitely not common for the time and his circles, but Eddie actually doesn't like the idea of casual sex? It weirds him out. He's not very trusting as it is, and it's hard to do as much exploring as he likes to do with someone you don't trust. And trust takes emotions. So he'd rather have sex with a partner, because it's way more fun cumming with someone who you still want to hang with afterward.

Makes heart eyes at Steve whenever they're together. Thinks about having a three way with you and him often. That's not a secret but you let him think it is.

Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

He laughs after he cums. I was talking about this with @the-ivory-rabbit last night and we both agree that he totally gets giggly after an orgasm. Also says "heck" during sex.

Either that or he cries. Like he's holding you in his arms after you've fucked each other senseless and is so overcome by how much he loves and adores you and the fact that you feel that way for him that he just. Weeps. Tells you you're beautiful. Begs you never to leave him. Kind of a wreck but it's sweet.

X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

Eddie's cock is as pretty as he is. I've already mentioned that he's got a porn star cock in both a fic and a request, and I stand by that. He's uncircumcised. Doesn't manscape. I would give a part of my soul to watch this man masturbate.

Beyond his gorgeous pubic zone, his body is average but in a way that's amazing. He's not ripped, and he's got a little bit of baby fat, but his shoulders are broad and his chest is defined and he's got those cute back dimples above his butt.

Speaking of which, his butt is a bit on the flat side. But it's nice enough and good for grabbing while he rails you, so no complaints. Even Eddie can't be perfect.

Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

Proper care of your Eddie insists that sex be performed daily to ensure he doesn't become too full of the natural perv hormones in his system and subsequently burst with a little "pop!" into a cloud of glitter. When traditional sex is not possible, oral or hand-operated maintenance will suffice.

Your Eddie is capable of releasing his perv hormones on his own, so glitter explosions are unlikely. However, to ensure the utmost happiness for your Eddie, it is recommended that sex be performed together as often as possible.

(High. His sex drive is high.)

Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterward)

He doesn't. Eddie does not get tired from sex. He'll fuck you silly then go work a full shift at Thacher Tire before coming home and fucking you again. Maybe once more before bed if he can swing it.

Dude's a fucking rabbit.