#The correct way to do Christmas imo

[yourmoodboards-areonfiirree]

Dikrats moodboard with Tacky/Chaotic Christmas inspo!

☼︎ rq'd by anon! ☼︎

(All images found on pinterest)

[all-pacas]

you are so correct for the taub having dad vibes thing. taub reminds me of my own vaguely jewish in an ethnic sense but still celebrates the big holidays medical(ish) field father (minus. the cheating.). he gets hyped around christmas just because he likes to drive us 3 hours north into a state park to cut down our own tree. i don’t think taub would do this because he’s doesn’t have enough willpower (also i don’t know if NJ has an appropriate place to do so) but it is something he would have on his bucket list imo. love your blog so much thank you for sharing your thoughts ❤️

would he force his kids into hebrew school? yes. would he never one time go to temple himself? yes. taub really nails the jewish dad vibes and i love it for him. there's no way he'd drive to a state park for a tree but the local rotary club would put up a bunch in a parking lot somewhere and he'd get really into picking it out, the girls got to have a great christmas, he knows nothing about what makes a good christmas tree and makes foreman come along to help out. he does do a halfhearted sedar for passover but has never once kept properly kosher but also loves to force all his work pals to eat matzo (before going home and having a real sandwich for dinner). he likes to have a good complaint session with the other old men most mornings and offer unsolicited advice and if you complain he deadass is all "you can't disrespect my religion like that"

[synthient]

So the Doctor runs past Mrs. Flood twice - once while racing in to check that the time travel worked and Ruby exists again, and once while racing back out to save Davina McCall (on a first watch I absolutely thought she was a made up doctor who character lol. flew straight over my head that "merry christmas Davina McCall :)" was supposed to hit like "merry christmas Oprah :)"). Anyway, both times Mrs. Flood tries to get his attention, and he completely ignores her.

This is her reaction by the 2nd time:

I'm ready to play booboo the fool here: I don't think Mrs. Flood is a villain. I think she's Misunderstood and My Friend From TV. Anyway the vibes here are very Clara or Missy (or Romana? Me? someone else I'm not familiar with?) being both pissed and amused that he doesn't recognize her.

The Doctor returns a third time:

Another bit that I don't think fully clicked for me on a first watch: he's ready to jauntily run back to Ruby. But his face falls, he looks up at her attic. And he talks himself out of going back in. If Ruby hadn't come looking for him, he would've left without saying goodbye.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Flood literally has to wolf whistle to get his attention:

^ he does a little lip quiver here like he's holding back tears. btw.

If we assume that Mrs. Flood is aware they're all stuck in a narrative of the Doctor's making, then this is him expressing to her its thesis: "Maybe I'm the bad luck." She knows his story is going to end in terror, because she knows him, and she knows what kind of story he's telling himself about himself.

The affect is still 'trying not to cry & twisting it into a smile.' We get a shot where Mrs. Flood's fakey-innocent enthusiasm gives way to what looks like more genuine concern (though if she is evil, it could just as easily be wait, you can't leave without the companion I planted for you)

And whether she's good or evil, she did very much plant Ruby:

Again, I think the vibe here is that Mrs. Flood once thought the Doctor was "amazing in his big leather coat," and is now pretty over it. Not in a seething way, but in a wry way.

Which imo points to Clara (plus the Clara Shirt making its first appearance here, plus "run you clever boy," plus the Companion Planting itself). But could be pretty much anyone who knows him well

Anyway, Mrs. Flood nods Ruby toward the tardis:

And watches Ruby do the Bigger On The Inside dance, with an air of having done this before herself:

And, of course:

The impression that I get (bwa bwa, bwa bwa): Mrs. Flood isn't controlling the story, but she knows she's in one, and she knows who is controlling it: the Doctor. Unconsciously. Probably via his half-correct perception filter theory (where the mistake was that Sutekh was a symptom, not the cause).

She might be trying to use that knowledge to her advantage, Evilly, or she might be trying to help. But either way, the real "big bad" is the Doctor's self-loathing.

[miggydiaz]

An additional thought...

Even though Buddie still is my endgame, I am pretty sure I would've been more on board with EddieTommy than I am with BuckTommy in the short term.

Not to say I am anti BuckTommy because I'm truly not. I think in another time, they could be really good together. But honestly, I think Buck needs to not be in a relationship for a little while. It's been Abby, then Taylor, then Ali, then Taylor, then Lucy, then Taylor, then Natalia...

And one of Buck's biggest character traits is that he feels he needs to go above and beyond to make himself worthwhile of love and attention. He thinks that if he's not giving all of himself to someone/something, if he's not doing THE MOST, that he's expendable. IMO, I think Buck really needs to work on learning to love himself and accept that other people can love him for just being him, without him having to turn himself into whatever he thinks they need or risk life and limb to earn that love. And that's a journey you take on your own, with your therapist, with your chosen family and friends who have been there to love and support you... it's not something you figure out through romantic relationships.

Buck's issues with relationship aren't that he can't find someone who will love him and appreciate him for who he is. It's that Buck hasn't figured out how to love and appreciate himself first. And no romantic relationship is going to fix that. It could *help* him figure it out, especially if he's with someone who has bore witness to Buck's chronic low self-esteem and has always (although maybe not always as gently as he should) tried to dispel Buck of those notions... but in the end, that lesson has to be one that Buck learns on his own. Which I don't think he's ever going to do, especially if he keeps looking for love and acceptance from romantic partners to fill that void. I think EddieTommy would've worked better just because Eddie is at a different place in his journey than Buck is. Eddie's problem isn't feeling like he's not enough anymore. Once upon a time, it was (his conversation with Bobby after Shannon died and his devastation that before she died, she told him she wanted a divorce). But now, Eddie's issue is he keeps trying to recreate the same dynamic he had with Shannon because he thinks that's what is correct for him. He's romanticized a lot of his relationship with Shannon -- and I say that as someone who truly believes he loved her and was in love with her -- and he's trying to get back to that brief stint of time where the two of them and Chris were happy. And because that looks very specific to him, he's trying to find a woman who can slide into that place in his life. The one who makes him want to wrap his arms around her and his boy on Christmas morning, and makes his heart squeeze every time he looks at pictures of her.

But Eddie's trying to recreate something that never existed in the first place. Not in the way his brain has romanticized it anyway. Because underneath those feelings of wistful melancholy, he and Shannon still had real problems that they never worked through. Shannon knew that, which is why she asked for a divorce. But to Eddie, who was ready to re-propose to her, things were good again. If Shannon hadn't have died, I think Eddie would've realized that wasn't the case, but since she did die... he can just hold onto that idea of them. The one where things were good and could have eventually been perfect, just like things could be perfect again if only he could find a new Shannon.

He needs someone to shock him right out of that 'doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity' situation he keeps finding himself in, and you know who would've been really great for that? Tommy. Full on record scratch moment for him. Simply *because* Tommy is a man.

Now, do I think Eddie also has a notion that he's in love with his best friend? Yeah, I do. I just don't think he realizes that's what it is yet. Right now Buck is... Buck. The person who shows up for Eddie, and for Christopher, the person who dragged him to safety after being shot, the person who was there when he had his breakdown, the person he couldn't even look at when they were dying in the hospital because he cannot deal with that level of loss again. I think, somewhere in his mind, Eddie knows that Buck is MORE than just a best friend... he just doesn't have the vocabulary to really name what that thing is. Primarily because he's trapped in this very Catholic idea of what sex and family and romance should look like for himself.

Tommy would've been a safe person to jar him out of those notions -- that his family and his romantic life has to look this certain way because that's what it looked like before -- because Tommy already disrupts that thinking just by being a man. It forces Eddie to consider that maybe his ideas of what a perfect family for him should look like aren't the end all be all. And, if Eddie freaks out, or it doesn't work out, it doesn't hurt his friendship with Buck at all. It may, in fact, help Eddie figure out that while he's not going to have that kind of relationship with Tommy, he's already got that relationship he's been looking for... it's just with BUCK, who he never consciously considered as an option because Buck is a man. I know there's no going back now, because BuckTommy is a thing, and Eddie is trapped in Catholic hangups hell with M*risol, but the more I think about it, the more bummed I am that this wasn't the route they took. I hope Eddie still gets a queer story arc, and I obviously hope Buddie is endgame, but damn, we really could've had EddieTommy helping Eddie figure out how to put a name to the thing he's had for Buck forever and Buck acting like an insane person until he figured out that who he's really in love with is the person who always makes him feel like he's enough and not expendable, the person who accepts him for exactly who he is and indulges all of his quirks and doesn't ask him to change a thing.

[littlemisslift123]

tips on how to lyft from u1ta/ s3ph0ra??

So where I live we don't have u1ta but we do have s3ph0ra (cause where isn't there s3ph0ra?)

I actually have gotten away with quite a lot at s3ph0ra, like I don't do huge hauls from there but I do manage to get some stuff.

My tips are as follows:

chat up the workers, and ask questions. if you brush them off it seems sus IMO but you don't have to be tooooooo chatty. just be nice, ask questions about stuff, and ask for a color match maybe.

the second tip is the magic bag/long sleeves trick. so I have this lunchbox that allows me to slip things in very discretely. like the strap is very close to the opening and so if I hold it like at my wrist, and I'm wearing long sleeves which cover the "hole", it's pretty easy to just slip whatever in there.

3- the squat and conceal. Wear a coat or a sweater for this. you squat down with something discretely in your hand (or basket) and either on your way down/ or already down, slip this in your purse. hold your purse close to your body, and "in" your open sweater. you'll squat down and pretend to look at the bottom row of products. maybe swatch a bit, read ingredients, whatever, just make it believable that you're actually just squatting to check something out.

four! the sleeve-in. easy, been there, done that, just be discrete.

5- don't get too greedy. especially if you're new at lyfting.

six- their security system- at least at my location- is a joke. they use visible (but discreet) RFID stickers. I have never seen an RFID inside a box so far. AGAIN I SAY SO FAR BECAUSE MAYBE THERE ARE SOME I JUST HAVEN'T SEEN. Always, always, always, look inside the box. just make sure. you can never be too safe. always carefully inspect the box from the outside, peel off any RFID. I notice they're always just simple white stickers with an electromagnetic chip inside.

test things out, swatch, whatever. even shit you don't want. so that you really look like you're looking around and aren't going in for specific items that *suddenly* vanish from their stock.

if they ask if you need help or guidance, what I like to do is tell them that I got a gift card for Christmas/my birthday or whatever, and I'm trying to figure out what to buy with it. I say that I don't really wear any makeup so I'm just looking around until something pops out to me. I accept to look at whatever they offer. (till this one bitch showed me a color corrector for my naturally red cheeks. ma'am, it's built-in blush why would I color correct that?)

Anyways: here's the stuff I got from there over the last six-ish months.

skincare:

m1lk makeup c00ling water stick

gl0w recipe avocado nyacinimide dr0ps

lan3ige lip mask in berry

lan3ige primer in that sparkly little pink bottle



makeup:

di0r backstage pink blush

di0r backstage concealer (not a fan, creases like crazy, but the applicator is out of this fucking world. considering emptying it and filling it with my favorite concealer)

di0r lip glow in 001 light pink (can you tell I like di0r???)

di0r lip glow oil in cherry (meh I don't love the tint it leaves behind)

b3n3tint (LOOVE i'm feral for b3n3fit)

b3n3fit highlighter in tickle (LOVE LOVE LOVE)

b3n3fit H00la (too dark for me because i'm literally so fucking pale)

b3n3fit moonsomething blush (too light somehow? maybe i'm just doing it wrong though)

1l1a concealer

i'm forgetting stuff

fragrances:

jul1et has a gun mini

g00cci the pink one in a mini rollerball cause I have the big one but i hate carrying it around.



[maaruin]

The mass on Christmas this year felt different... I was less into it, more distanced from it. Part of it was that the Church didn't use candles and that I wish we could have sung more than 2 or 3 verses of the hymns we sung (if it is a good hymn, please let me sing the whole thing, I'm not in a hurry). Part of it is that this Christmas came at the wrong moment for me emotionally. But another factor was that while I have fewer doubts about Christianity than in the past, these doubts have become more specific. And they specifically hit Christmas. Three points: 1. I have settled on an answer to the Problem of Suffering/Evil. I think that God creates for the benefit of the creatures he creates, and if he does that he will create every (sentient) creature for whom existence is preferable to non-existence, even if that existence includes a lot of suffering. This is IMO a good answer (and I will try to publish it in an academic article next year). But it has the problem that many creatures who hope for eternal life will not experience it. They will have a good life, but will hope for something they may not receive - and I could very well be one of these creatures. There is perhaps a way out of this in Christian theology - maybe "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." (1 Corinthians 15:26) means that Jesus' ressurrection somehow makes death - going from existence into non-existence - impossible. But I do not know how and if such a thing would even be logically possible. (In addition, it hinges on a specific bible verse, which I view as problematic - see point 3.)

2. An understanding of God that seems plausible to me is that God is a being that has all true properties to the fullest extent, and that creatures are differentiated from God by not sharing all of his properties to the full extend. For example, humans have the property of knowledge and existence, but not of omniscient. Elementary particles have no knowledge but still share the property of existence with God. (This requires a depravation-theory of evil: evil is not a true property, but the lack of some property.) The problem with this, however, is that if God and humans are differentiated by God having some properties that humans lack, how can God become human?

God becoming human is what is celebrated on Christmas, and it is difficult to celebrate something that you are not certain is possible.

3. If I was confident that 2 is just a lack of understanding but that I could trust revelation that God did actually become human, maybe that would be enough. But I am not confident that everything the Bible says/everything the Church teaches is correct. I think the general events described in the New Testament likely happend, but the individual verses reflect the respective authors understanding, they aren't dictated by God. And I am not confident that the general events described necessarily lead to the conclusion that Jesus was God. In the Church the divinity of Christ was disputed until at least the end of the fourth century.

I do plan to do my doctoral research (if I get the opportunity) on the epistemology of religious revelations. Maybe I will end up with a sufficient justification for beliving in the divinity of Christ. Maybe I will realize ther is no such justification. But right now I simply don't know.

In the past, Christmas was often a sort of religious escapism for me. For a few days I would simply affirm what I hoped to be true, because I was uncertain about so many things that I felt it didn't matter, and the incarnation is very appealing as a concept. But now I am much more secure in many of my beliefs, so the points where I am not sure have become a lot more noticable and specified.

[youandthemountains]

So a long time ago, I promised @cookietastic a rec list of danzen fics, and bc I am treating myself today I'm finally making it. First, complete works, all fairly short:

Aftercare: a drabble by @libertinepast for everyone craving something based off of Chozen's proclivity for getting his hands on Daniel

Untitled by @iamtheremin - look, you can really never go wrong reading anything by theremin, but her danzen fics are particularly beautiful imo. This is - I almost don't want to reveal too much because the build up is so beautifully done so let's say it's about Daniel bounding out as he does, curious and open and half-cocked even as an old man, and what comes of that.

Untitled 2 by @iamtheremin - A missing scene fic for season 5, Chozen POV. god it's got everything - a wonderful Kumiko and some understanding of Damiko's whole deal too. A play on the infamous NINY scene with a happier ending. WINGMAN JOHNNY god might be my actual favorite and nearly impossible to find thing. Misunderstandings. It's just so lovely.

draw the curtain, come back to bed by @youandthemountains - yes, me. Look, I know it's got to be in bad taste to recommend yourself, but. I do reread this constantly. I really gave myself what I wanted and I actually feel good that I communicatrd what I wanted to. It's also a missing scenes fic for s5, but this one is about quiet intimacy and rest.

@phoomwhoosh 's Danzen 90s AU - look it's what it says in the title, and it's so dreamy and sugarspun - in every way, sweet and hot. Enjoy a lovely Kumiko cameo in the second part.

I Know We're Karate Cousins But... by @merv606 - speaking of hot, some fantastic Amanda/Daniel/Chozen smut. Love this vision of the Larussos.

Old Acquaintance by @iamtheremin - As the luckiest person in the world, this was a fantastic birthday gift last year. Chozen reminisces about old loves and old selves as he enjoys his new present.

Last Thoughts by @danielslaw - beautiful missing scene fic about the aftermath of the final Silver fight. Wounds and near-death love confessions.

Putting Out the Fire by @idontknowkaratebutiknowcrazy - man, let me tell you. This fic. So empathetic to both Chozen and Daniel. So funny and lively. So sweet and charged. It's set in s5, during the cut the head off the snake scene. Finally Daniel's adoring smile there gets the good hard kiss it deserves in response.

Anything to be Your Baby by @macchiatosdumptruck - again speaking of smut, if you're looking for sugarbaby Daniel in a kind of Crime AU, you've got it here.

And now the amazing WIPs - some a little longer, but all so worth it imo

I Forget Where We Were by @ladyifrit - FIC OF ALL TIME. A fantastic secret santa, this is a Daniel/Amanda, Daniel/Chozen and eventual Daniel/Amanda/Chozen fic exploring the missing scenes from the aftermath of Daniel's beating at Stingray's house. It's such a good character study of Amanda and exploration of the Larussos, I love it so much.

Pictures of You by @chwheeler - WHAT IF young Daniel and Chozen got into sexting before it was cool, and became odd pen pals who exchanged softcore hot photographs instead of letters because vulnerability hard? WHAT IF you were craving a fic that felt like a Carly Rae Jepsen song? WHAT IF you wanted to read about the cast of kk2 with real, full lives and feelings and humor?

And some shameless WIP plugs of mine:

Like Tears in the Rain for CK Halloween (I know...) a loose Blade Runner AU. What if Terry Silver used those riches to work with an evil tech company to build a Daniel Android? What if there are multiple Daniels, only one flesh and blood one, and all of them feel like the real Danie to themselves? What if that sense of something wrong with them is correct for some of them? Endgame is Daniel/Chozen and Daniel/Amanda, but two different types of Daniel's.

Serei no Mai for the Secret Santa - a Daniel/Kumiko/Chozen endgame AU of the Lindsey Lohan Christmas movie. Daniel moved to Okinawa in the 90s where he helped a married Yukie and Miyagi run a hotel. Chozen ended up following Kumiko on tour as she followed her ballerina dreams. He hasn't been back to Okinawa since his exile, but when he's called to return home, a series of events leads to him being an amnesiac in a conflicted Daniel's bed.

[tekutiger]

For the past week or so, I've been logging in to Disney Dreamlight Valley again (after a 2 month hiatus 😅). They have a "Haunted Holiday Star Path" event going on right now. When it comes to games I genuinely like, I do actually have fomo and I hate it, lol. So, here I am 🙃

I've been playing a bit of catch up. Like, they added Beauty and the Beast! That was my favorite OG Disney movie growing up. And then Mulan came along and I was like !!! Okay now those two are my favorites (because I couldn't decide between the two).

I also finally watched the live action Beauty and the Beast for the first time. It's been out for a while now, I know... I'm just slow when it comes to watching movies or anything on tv. In my opinion it was very well done! I'm not a harsh critic though.

I also watched the live action Little Mermaid and I really loved it. It gave the characters so much more depth, and displayed more marine creatures than I thought they would have. The actors put so much life and emotion into their vocals in their songs, I was very impressed.

And I touch on this a bit below, but being an octo-nerd, there were things about Ursula that they added to the movie, that was not in the original, and I was like holy crap! I wonder how many people are going to catch onto that? It's when she's shuffling through her ingredient cabinets to create one of her concoctions and her 'arms' (she refers to them as 'tentacles', probably because younger audiences will be like ??? if she says arms, but the correct term is actually 'arms'). They are acting independently from her because octopuses have nine brains. One brain in each arm and one in the mantle (head). So each arm thinks for itself. When she says she can't find anything, everything always gets lost, it's probably because her eight arms are putting things back on the shelves however they please and her main-brain (mantle i.e. head) isn't paying attention to keep track of it all 😅

Okay- weird thing that I complain about often to my friends cause we all play this, and unrelated to the live action movie. Eric, in this game, stalks me, and it's flippen weird. I think everyone who plays this has a character that stalks them though, as if it's in the programming and it's RNG of who it is. I say that because I'll go to Twitch and watch it happen to streamers, and they'll make comments about their 'stalker'. It's just somehow my 'stalker' ended up being Eric 🤷🏻‍♀️. For some, it's Kristoff. Others, it's Maui. I dunno... it's weird.

(For the record, I know they're all programmed to come and find you, but I mean- in this case, there's ONE specific character that follows you WAY MORE than usual.)

Anyone who knows me, knows I have this obsession with the Ocean (also space) and octopuses, and jellyfish... hence why I have the Ursula attire (she's the Octo Queen!). Her quest line, should you put out the moonstones and buy her bundle, is worth it imo, but I'm also biased as heck. I just find it ironic that I'm literally dressed like Ursula 2.0 and Eric stalks me more than half the time I'm in-game, lol 😓. The sound of his flute puts me in that state of like 🙀 -startled cat, eyes wide, looking everywhere, ducking behind furniture-

Ariel, go pay more attention to your man plskthx. I will give it to the live action production for the movie. The actor who plays Eric is handsome and plays the role well 👌🏻 (doesn't make me wanna hide any less though in-game 😑)

I totally veered off course of why I'm writing this post. My rambling is getting worse, akjdhjs.

SO. The star path...!

Last year when we got the first Halloween star path, if memory serves, I recall it not having any Tim Burton, The Nightmare Before Christmas items at all and being really bummed out about it. I figured it was because they couldn't get a contract signed, permission, copyright something or other. The game was still very new afterall.

There's a biome in DDLV named the Forgotten Lands and it's mostly purple hues. I knew the aesthetics would be perfect for The Nightmare Before Christmas if I just waited for it... and now this year a handful of items are in the Star Path event. I've been so ready.

Oh, and we also get... !!

😄

With the new items, I totally remodeled my biome. It's looking cute~

Here's some better shots of a couple Nightmare Before Christmas outdoor furniture pieces (just a couple but they're big pieces). The notorious Skellington's Hill and the popular Frightful Fountain. 👇🏻

And the great thing about this game is, we're just going to continue to get even more fun items and grow as the game develops. We also have the Christmas Star path coming up, at some point. Wonder if there's going to be some interesting items in that 🤔

Oh yeah, I got a cutie Pirate Parrot from this Star Path too ❤️

One Final Edit: On Twitter they mentioned that they added an "AUTUMNBUNDLE" code. If you're playing and missed it, you can copy and paste that in for some furniture pieces.

Should be in the Settings menu > Help > Code box (under 'import avatar') > hit 'claim' after typing it in.

[pocket-mobster]

1-11 & 46

1. who is/are your comfort character(s)?

• boba fett (star wars)

• pete dinunzio (the eltingville club)

• engineer (team fortress 2)

• pyro (team fortress 2)

• jacket (hotline miami)

• ice pick joe (goncharov)

there's probably more but that's all i can think of right now

2. lighter or matches?

lighter (id love to get around to buying one someday even if id have no real use for one)

3. do you leave the window open at night?

no my screens have been broken for Years, and im so not used to having it open that it'd feel Weird and Wrong

4. which cryptyd being do you believe in?

jinkx monsoon

5. what color are your eyes?

a mild, not-super-aggressive greenish-blue

6. why did you do that?

heavy-handed character development

7. hair-ties or scrunchies?

clippers. i would never let my hair get anywhere near long enough for either of those to be an option

8. how many water bottles are in your room right now?

4 empty, 3 of varying degrees of fullness

9. which do you prefer, hot coffee or cold coffee?

iced, but 95% of the time i have it hot cuz it weirdly feels easier even tho its not. like somehow id rather steam milk than just like... pour in the cold milk. tho ive been worried that pouring espresso shots directly into a glass is a bad idea, and i havent gotten around to finding out if thats true and if so what the Correct method is.

10. would you slaughter the rich?

who's askin (NOT A LEGALLY VIABLE ADMISSION OF GUILT FOR ANY PAST, PRESENT OR FUTURE CRIMES THAT MAY BE CONNECTED TO ME IN SOME WAY)

11. favorite extracurricular activity?

im real fickle with hobbies, but my most consistent one is thinking about making music without actually doing it. ive been at it for about 8 years which is really long for me. the thing i actually do the most (that isnt doomscrolling) is good ol vidya. jubeat's the current favorite, but microsoft excel is a perennial classic

46. favorite holiday film?

ive never really had strong opinions on any of them, but i guess i like the nightmare before christmas more than the others? if we broaden the scope of the question to include (american) thanksgiving—since it essentially marks the beginning of the holiday season imo—then id say fantastic mr. fox on a slight technicality since it's my favorite film of all time, period

[mangled-by-disuse]

i just have to rant about the elf on a shelf for a sec

(why? i've never had one, i don't have kids and if i did that wee smug snitching fucker would still not feature in my life. AND YET so many of my parent friends are stressed out of their minds over the damn thing)

but like. I know the obvious (and correct) take is that the elf on the shelf is horrifying because it primes small children to accept constant surveillance as not only normal but positively benign, and the elf on the shelf is a fucking grass.

but I think there are more practical, sometimes more pernicious ways that it affects all aspects of the Christmas season, to whit:

Adding stress. like for fucking real do parents of small children not have enough to do in december must we also make it a social norm to move a doll into interesting places and keep it out of reach of pets and whatever the fuck else.

Making Santa less magical. like ok back in my day Santa did not need to send spies. Santa just knows shit. Santa does not require practical explanations. Santa is a jolly old elf who is slightly less omniscient than Jesus but only because he's seasonal. How does Santa know if you've been naughty or nice if the elves don't tell him? because he's fucking SANTA CLAUS that's it that's the whole reason. stop bringing your empiricism and logic into my childhood whimsy. Also, relatedly:

Giving children a loophole. The elf on a shelf is how Santa knows whether to bring you presents, yes? the elf on a shelf spies on children to feed back to Santa on whether they have been naughty or nice? Q.E.D. if I am sure that the elf is NOT in eyeline, I can be as naughty as I want and Santa will never know. is what I would absolutely have concluded as a child, thereby spoiling any positive behavioural effects of Santa mythos. or i would have attempted to bribe the elf. or... make him go away.

Preparing children for a lifetime of performance evaluations (derogatory). because I want to be clear that I do in fact have a problem with the underlying concept of "he knows if you've been bad or good" in the first place. shut up. another way in which santa is like jesus is that he doesn't actually need to care if you were Good. in my humble opinion Santa Claus doesn't give a fuck about your behaviour he just likes to give presents to children as many lonely old people do. (also binaries of good and bad are pretty harmful actually imo, where is the boundary for "naughty" and does it perhaps undermine the behavioural guidance if you are consistently told that Santa's love is conditional BUT that you have never once failed to pass the conditions? anyway we're getting off the topic at hand.)

Adding yet more plastic tat to the "necessary Christmas traditions" box. yes yes i am decades behind the times in complaining about the commercialisation of christmas. but i am also passionately frustrated by it. ooh we must have chocolate advent calendars (plastic trays)! we must have an elf on the shelf! we must go to a christmas market and buy more tat! let's have a christmas eve box and a (plastic) ugly christmas jumper and fucking. christmas earrings we'll wear one day a year and then lose. more! more christmas tat!!! MORE, I SAY!!!

Why he look like that?

it's such a punchable face. and yet, too small to punch. i see your unseemly enjoyment of your espionage, you perverted wee fucker. you delight in the suffering of overworked parents and overseen children alike. you disgust me.

anyway fuck elf on a shelf end broadcast

[rainbow-connexion]

Final thoughts on Yumi's Cells S2 from 2022

Putting my YumBab thoughts here after- part of my closure.

The earthquake was really bad and heartbreaking and infuriating. I understand how Yumi feels, esp since it's one of her non-negotiables. I'm not a Babi apologist, but for some reason, I can't seem to totally crucify drama Babi. He tried to be nice and perfect, but he's human. Things like that happen, even to the best people. It was wrong and he realized it was wrong. And he took steps to correct it- selling his house, moving, then that somewhat rude goodbye to the girl. And he decided to remain committed to Yumi. To me that counts for something. But for Yumi, it was too late. Her trust was already broken. But more than being swayed or having a crush, the deal breaker for me was keeping everything from Yumi. Babi tried to "fix" everything by himself, yet whether he liked it or not, Yumi was involved. But that's me. Of course, it's different for Yumi. Admittedly, their LDR made their situation more difficult. Imagine if Babi had told Yumi about it over one of their Zoom dinners. Yikes! But it has to be done. Or he could have gone to Seoul. If it was serious enough for him to decide to sell his house, then it's serious enough for him to fly to Seoul to tell Yumi. Tell her you had a crush but didn't act on it. Apologize. Tell her you are committed to your relationship. Tell her your plans and maybe ask her if she thinks you're doing the right thing. Easier said than done, I know. Pero kasalanan mo. Pinabayaan mong lumaki yung daeun bulletin board mo eh. Now you gotta face the consequences. I don't know how Yumi would react, but it was best to be honest with her. Ang problem ng YumBab IMO, wala talagang open communication. Even after a year, nahihiya pa rin si Yumi ipakita na kaya nyang magmura.They don't share their real-est and deepest feelings. They don't show their "dark" sides. I read a tweet that said they always try to avoid confrontation. Agree with that. They both wanted to be the perfect bf/gf. Why are they both so scared of a little fight when that's part of a healthy relationship? Laging dinadaan sa kisses and hugs. Doubt was growing in Yumi after that first meeting with daeun. But instead of processing that feeling, she downplayed it. She allowed herself to be pacified by Babi's sweetness. When Yumi left Jeju, Babi said he wished that Yumi trusted him the way he trusted her. Gusto kong sigawan, eh itinago mo kasi eh! At least Yumi was willing to tell him about Woong on their first Christmas together. Babi should have come clean with Yumi. I don't know if that would have changed things, but being honest and upfront would have been better for both of them. Nadala nga ng emotions si Yumi nung nag reconcile sila. Pero yun pa rin ang tanong, pinag-usapan ba nila yung nangyari? Did they try to thresh out their issues? I was all for giving Babi another chance, pero naman, talk about what happened first. Deal with your issues, because they won't solve themselves. Parang they just got back together but didn't really try to work out those uncomfortable matters. They were just second guessing each other. Take the ring, for example. Puro assumptions sila. Tapos magpapakasal sila??!! Hawaii small wedding. Yan na naman si Babi thinking that a passionate kiss and a proposal would make everything alright. The reconciliation was good in the sense that it helped them realize that it wasn't meant to be. No more what ifs. I'm glad they still tried. Pero itong si Babi mukhang forever Yumi pa rin. TOTGA talaga. But this is all very ideal, of course. That doesn't and can't always happen irl. Many times we let emotions get the better of us. And that's not always a bad thing. I think YC showed that. But we continue to find our happiness and strive to live a good life.

I asked a really good guy friend who's not really into k-drama to watch YC2. Anyway, I mention him because we discussed YumBab's 1st breakup bec I wanted a male perspective. We agreed that Babi was wrong, but that they should have discussed the matter first. But he thinks Yumi's decision was too abrupt. When I said it was because of those little things about Babi that she initially dismissed, but eventually could no longer ignore, sabi nya she could have processed her growing anger instead of rationalizing. Yumi could still have given Babi another chance. To let that situation be a learning experience for both of them. When I told him that she was cheated on by an ex ex bf kaya ang taas na ng standards nya, he said we really should hold ourselves to high standards. But Yumi's was unrealistic na. He said ang ganda ng relationship nila and Babi has been a good bf. Yumi fought for herself, but she didn't even try to fight for their love. And their love is bigger and more precious than their mistakes. That was after the first breakup.

When he saw Ep12, he was surprised that Babi lied about the accident. My friend kept saying that what Babi did was wrong.

But all in all, I'm proud of Yumi for not giving up on herself and her dream despite everything she went through. It's so heartwarming to see her grow and mature into a strong woman who still has a healthy amount of self-doubt.

[k-s-morgan]

Was Hannibal jealous when he found Will’s gift for Abigail in his bag? The one he got her out of anger. He also hinted if Christmas came early or late to see if Will had gotten him anything IMO. What are your thoughts? Hope you and your family are safe and doing okay. Sorry you’re having to deal with so much and I wish you all the love and best. xoxo, An Internet Stranger

Hey! Thank you so much for your lovely message <3 Fortunately, things are bearable for now, and I hope they stay this way.

I don’t think Hannibal was jealous when he saw Will’s gift for Abigail - on the contrary, I think he was thrilled. It was his plan to push Will and Abigail closer, to facilitate his own bonding with Will through her. Hannibal was the one to start drawing Will's attention to Abigail - before him, Will wasn't particularly interested in the idea of seeing her as something more than a girl he wronged. Hannibal indicated how Abigail is now his and Will's surrogate daughter in E2, and Will was obviously startled by this. In E4, he mentioned a family: Will immediately started talking about dogs and Hannibal corrected him and forced him to think about Abigail instead.

Here, Hannibal is following the same pattern. 

Hannibal: Teaching her how to fish. Her father taught her how to hunt ... Feeling paternal, Will?

Will snaps at him defensively.

Will: Aren’t you?

Hannibal: Yes.

So Hannibal continues to push his Murder Family plan, and Will having paternal feelings for Abigail falls right into it. 

I do agree that Hannibal would have loved to get a gift from Will, too. Though he sort of does when Will brings him that wine :D I have an ask about it in my inbox, so I’ll cover it a bit more later.

Funnily, in the script to this episode, there is a deleted scene. 

Hannibal: You bare gifts when you’re angry?

Will: Better gifts than teeth.

I think the mispelling is intentional for the context. Meanwhile, Hannibal is probably thinking wistfully, “But I would so love for you to bare your teeth, Will, and to let me see it.”  :D 

[matan4il]

I'm looking at that "Clothes (colors) of 5x13" post again, and having seen the trailer for tonight, yeah, someone in the production chain is playing games with us.

Oh hon, thank you so much for reading my 513 clothes meta! I’m so glad if you found it useful in any way. And TBH, I think production probably knows about us more than we’d like to be aware of, so there might def be some playing games going on there! But I’m always curious to hear more of your perspective and what exactly you had in mind. Hope you’re having a great day! xoxox

And if it’s okay, I’ll add in here another lovely ask -

Hi there, I'm the anon who asked you where you come from (so sorry to hear about that in Israel, I'm from Italy and I've been to your beautiful country few years ago. I hope they will stop with all those wars and I hope you stay safe.) and your fav episode (mine is Eddie begin and definitely 4*14, even if I agreee, yesterday's one is going to be on this list).

Anyway, I wait for your meta like a child waits for Christmas and I was wondering if you could help me  analyze a little bit more the look Eddie gives buck in the heart drawing scene. He looks up and his look is so... Weird. I can't quite gasp what were Ryan's directions tbh. I know you can help me.

No need to help me deciphering bucks look. He's so in love you can probably tell from the moon xD

Thank you and again, love your takes.

Italian anon

Awwwww, hi Italian anon! It’s so lovely to get to meet you! :D I’ve been to your country as well, and it’s one of my faves in the world. The food alone is just... *chef’s kiss* But then I also adore the language and culture. One of my fave movies ever is about falling in love in and with Italy. ;) I’m so happy to hear you’ve enjoyed Israel’s beauty as well, and thank you for the caring and kind words! We’ve had two more rounds of firing into Israel since that last post, and NGL, it’s all very stressful. And the saddest thing is that this is all so redundant, because I have no doubt that most people here want peace and coexistence. But knowing that there are kind people out there who care, that’s amazing and it helps more than you know! *hugs you SO big*

I’m overjoyed to learn that you enjoy my meta posts so much! I’m NGL, they take a lot out of me, so it’s incredible to know that they can bring so much joy to wonderful people like yourself! And ksdfjhskdjfh HOW DID I FORGET TO MENTION 315? It was, together with eps like 309, 413 and 414, one of moments where, when I was watching it live, I was wondering if this is real and not fanfiction, and how are we being blessed with so much goodness? So yes, another reason why I can’t choose just one ep! I love discussing this with you and thank you for sharing your own thoughts on this!

Oh, that’s such a good question! Okay, so at first Eddie is looking at what he thinks is Christopher’s drawing (but is actually Buck’s) and his expression seems to be both fond and a little puzzled:

But then Buck confesses that it’s his and offers, “I misunderstood the assignment” as an explanation for why his drawing is the one that looks more child-like. Upon hearing this, Eddie looks up from Christopher’s actual (anatomically correct) drawing at Buck like this:

So I think the first thing is to consider Eddie is teasing Buck with a bit of a judgmental look. I do believe this look contains that to a degree, but it’s not the only thing there, IMO. Otherwise, Eddie might have also added some verbal teasing, because that’s usually been his M.O, he’s never been shy or non-verbal about fondly teasing Buck. But I think there’s also an honest surprise there. Buck’s drawing is sweet and loving and soft, not to mention cute as heck. It’s in a sense such a good representation of the kind of person Buck is, and the kindheartedness and love he has brought into the lives of the Diaz boys. Eddie is shown a physical representation of why no one will ever match him better than Buck will. And maybe for a sec that takes him by surprise or is even a little too much to contain, because Eddie has just returned from therapy, and he’s not exactly in a great place by his own admission after (in his words) having cracked himself open for 50 minutes and having walked out feeling like he was hit by a bus. If in this moment he thinks too closely about what this drawing says about who Buck is and what he means in the Diaz home, Eddie might just have to admit some things to himself. So instead he gives in to his fatigue and expresses his sense of hopelessness:

Maybe he does it in part to avoid really thinking about what Buck means to him. And maybe he also does it in part because this drawing is a reminder that this is the optimistic man that is there to love and support Eddie, and it’s okay to let go in his presence and confess the biggest, scariest of doubts. Buck’s gonna handle them with that shining love he has, Eddie’s heart is safe in his hands.

I hope this helps, please don’t hesitate to let me know one way or another, Italian anon! xoxox

(I got an influx of asks, I WILL answer all of them, but it might take a sec. If anyone wants to check whether I've already answered theirs or to read my replies, here's my ask tag. Thank you! xoxox)

[bobgoesw00t]

Top 10 Video Games of All Time: bobgoesw00t Edition (Part 08)

Quick update before I get to my revealing my Number 3 Video Game of All Time! My immediate family is coming over on Christmas Eve and we're opening our presents that night, so I'll either be posting Number 2 then and Number 1 on Christmas, OR I'll be posting 2 on Sunday and 1 on Tuesday...OK now onto the actual game.

I had a hard time picking this one and I kept alternating between it and my Number 2 pick being in the other’s spot, but in the end I had to put the Game of the Year winner at The Game Awards 2022 here. So this means if you haven't heard by now, Number 3 goes to:

That's right, the MASSIVE behemoth from the brilliant (and partially masochistic) minds at FromSoftware that some people will say stole the GotY award from Dad of Boy Ragnarok, Elden Ring.

Now I feel like I need to mention that this is the first FromSoftware/SoulsBorne/Seikiro game I've legit owned, but I DID however play a bit of Dark Souls Remastered on my Switch to help prepare for when I started this game. I didn't beat Dark Souls (didn't even get past the first main area xD) but I got enough of a feel for it that I felt ready to tackle whatever The Lands Between.

And I did a good job...at first... I made a Warrior and made the mistake of going straight for Stormveil Castle and got my ass handed to me by Margit. SO after going, "FUCK THIS", I ran around the did stuff in the Weeping Peninsula and even opened that damn teleport trap in the Dragon-Burnt Ruins, ended up in Caelid and yeeted myself out of that damn mine ASAP. I eventually managed to get past Margit and cleared Stormveil Castle and headed into the next area (and discovered the hidden side route to it a bit later)...which is when it started to go south.

After a bit of struggling, I managed to get to Rennala and was able to kill her first stage without any struggle when OH BOY, SHE FUCKED ME UP IN THE SECOND STAGE!!!!! No matter what I tried, I couldn't kill her so I tried to find the back way to the Altus Plateau (cause I knew there HAD to be one as Liurnia and Caelid both had one) only to get stuck on one of the enemies and after 24 hours, I decided to make a different character (cause I had wanted to try out the magic in the game), made an Astrologer and in the end, she's the Tarnished who has since become Elden Lord twice (once with the Age of the Stars and again with the Age of the Duskborn). Already on my third run with her and I'm debating on which ending to go with but enough about MY journey.

People will tell you that Elden Ring is "HARD" just like the other FromSoftware games of late, but I'm here to tell you the game is only as hard as you make it 95% of the time. As long as you take your time going through areas, make sure not to over aggro and get overwhelmed, you won't have much of a problem taking out regular enemies. Bosses are a bit trickier obviously, but if you know how to exploit various parts of the game (the Bleed status can be VERY fucking powerful) and use the correct Spirit Ash Summon (those are in the game for a reason idiots who insist that they "break the game"), bosses can also be somewhat easier to kill.

The Lands Between are BEAUTIFUL (the only open world game that's prettier IMO is Ghost of Tsushima and dare I say it, the last three Assassin's Creed games), MASSIVE and full of locations to check out, which is one of the games main strengths. If you get stuck on a boss, back track a bit, explore a different part of the world, and come back when you've leveled up a bit and/or have upgraded your weapons. There's a high chance that you'll be able to kill the boss then and DAMN does it feel satisfying. Hell, you might do what I did on Haruka (my Astrologer) and spend so much time exploring other areas (I FINALLY found the back way onto the Altus Plateau and spent a good chuck on time up there. I also managed to find the greatest location in the entire game IMO: Dominula, Windmill Village...if you need any proof, I present the following video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=_JthoRyAb2Y&feature=shares) that when you go back to fight said boss, you'll be a bit OVER leveled and totally fuck them up...which is what happened to Rennala...and it was perfection!!!

There's also a large amount of weapons to try out and it won't be long before you find the one piece of equipment that you'll carry for the rest of the game. I ended up with Moonveil (fully upgraded to +10), and the Meteorite Staff to abuse it's boost to Gravity Magic...quite a few bosses don't stand a chance if you spam Rock Sling while using this staff. Spam the spell until you break their poise, run in for the Critical Hit, RUN AWAAAAAAAAAY, and then repeat until the boss goes "BLEH".

Armor, while not doing much at times, is also important at times as the passive increases to the resistance stats can make a big difference if Poison, Scarlet Rot and what not stack enough to be inflicted. Not to mention some of the armor is REALLY FUCKING COOL LOOKING, with my special shout-out going to the Black Knife Set for having a cloak that makes you partially invisible.

Then there's the various usable items and good god some of them are totally fucking hysterical...I'm talking of course about the Mimic's Veil, the item that turns you into a JPEG of a random object you'll find in the world. This is what got me to the Red Wolf of Radagon my first run! I tossed a throwing knife/dagger at a foe, broke line of sight, used the Mimic's Veil to hide and when the dumb ass came over to find me they go, "HMMM, THERE'S NOTHING HERE BUT A RANDOM TREE THAT SHOULDN'T BE HERE...OH WELL! I GUESS SHE'S GONE!", proceed to slowing walk away which is when I go "BAM", stab them in the back and they die. It's even funnier if you've been turned into a Weeping Angel like what happened to me one time: https://twitter.com/bobgoesw00t/status/1500987346421956613

I want to talk about the music now before I give the summary, some additional notes and the score. The various composers NAILED the soundtrack and I actually spent a good amount of time in the Character Creator the first time simply because of the pretty music that plays on it. The Final Battle track is STUPIDLY EPIC cause it's a more layered version of the Title Screen music and once it transitions to the Elden Beast, you hear a subtle, but still GORGEOUS bit of music that has a majestic feel to it, but NOTHING, and I mean, NOTHING can top the Regal Ancestor Spirit. HOLY MOTHER FUCKING HELL does that track give you goosebumps the first time you hear it. That boss fight isn't really that hard in comparison to some of the others due to how unique it looks and the music only helps make it the more memorable. I won't post a link to the track for those who haven't played the game cause I really don't want to spoil it for them.

Lastly, I want to talk about the two of the main boss fights, both of which are optional but are insane. Gonna talk about the badass bitch in The Lands Between first...you know her, you've talked about her, you've seen people rage quit/throw their controller/uninstall the game because of her, and just two weeks ago, Animal revealed that he thirsts for her at The Game Awards. I'm talking of course about none other than Malenia Blade of Miquella. A few months ago before G4 got shut down again, X-Play had an entire stream where Froskurrin tied for almost two hours to kill this badass mofo and she couldn't do it. My take on Malenia is this: don't even bother trying to kill her on your first run of the game. I managed to get to her on my first run, tried twice, and she fucked me up so quickly that I went, "NOPE!!! NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE, FUCK THIS, I'LL TRY IN THE NEXT RUN!!!!!" Which is when I nailed the Goddess of Rot and celebrated.

The other boss is probably the most epic fight in the entire game, the demigod that fought Malenia to a standstill and turned all of Caelid into a land of Scarlet Rot, Starscourge Radahn. What makes this battle so memorable is how you aren't supposed to take him on by yourself, but instead rally the various NPC allies to draw aggro away from you (even Patches who OF COURSE, nopes out of there within ten seconds of calling him xD) while they chip away at his health. Not to mention how the second phase starts with him leaping into the stratosphere, only to come CRASHING DOWN LIKE A METEOR and take out anyone dumb enough to be in the landing zone. This is also when you can totally cheese him by standing next to the edge of the ocean and if you position yourself correctly, you can get him to drown himself when he comes screeching back down to Earth. Now I have NO idea if they've patched this out yet (like they did with the two cheese methods the Fire Giant had) as I have yet to get to that fight in my current run of the game but if it's still there...I totally intend to do it. The battle is also hysterical in the fact that THE ENTIRE TIME you and your allies are fighting him, he's being carried around by a tiny, skinny horse that he is WAAAAY TOO BIG TO BE RIDING ON (and is only able to do so because of Gravity Magic) and it flails around like a Muppet every time it moves. Don't believe me, HERE'S THE PROOF: https://youtube.com/watch?v=OxvrVbV6RkU&feature=shares&t=588

In the end, Elden Ring TOTALLY deserved it's Game of the Year win at The Game Awards for not only having a MASSIVE world to explore with a large variety of places to explore, beautiful music, the traditional SoulsBorne combat with new additions (like being able to jump xD) and fine tuning to perfection. It also has a world created with help from George RR Martin, tutorials that are much clearer and can be re-read at any given time if need, abilities that are given at a good pace and some of the most intense boss fights ever. It certainly won my personal Game of the Year and is getting 5 Critical Hits out of 5: 5/5

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Dad of Boy/God of War (2018): While I'm talking about God of War Ragnarok, I want to mention the 2018 Game of the Year winner. Dad of Boy is a MASTERPIECE of story telling (a TRILLION times more so than the likes of Uncharted and The Last of Us. The latter being a good game with a good story, but it's nowhere NEAR a MASTER CLASS IN STORY TELLING. HELL, THE ORIGINAL RESIDENT EVIL ON THE PLAYSTATION HAS A BETTER STORY EVEN WITH THE CRINGEY DIALOG, "YOU WERE ALMOST A JILL SANDWICH" being a particular highlight xD), Atreus/Loki/BOY is a pure and precious cinnamon roll for most of the game and the fact that the entire game is done in a single take is impressive.

inFamous 2:Sucker Punch took everything from the first game, perfected it, upped the stakes in terms of the plot, gave it REALLY good soundtrack, a greater variety of powers (all of which are fun to use) and two endings totally worth playing this baby twice to get.

[goldenchocobo]

It's been a long three week break, but we're back!

It had been a DAY for Dog, but he was still up for Kingdom Hearts.

I told them that the area they're in is combat-free, so they can explore and re-familiarise themselves with the controls, since it had been 3 weeks.

Isopod accidentally wasted a potion whilst 'committing arson' on the stalls trying to get puzzle pieces, and Dog was taking his time menuing and sorting out his stuff.

"Ngl soundtrack kinda banger... kinda... kinda Hollywood Arabic. Love it" -Dog

I explained the superiorness of Reflect to Dog, whilst Isopod was away, and he rearranged all his shortcut commands while I talked it up. "I like how on Isopod's stream, Sora's been staring at the corner for like.. 5 minues" -Me "I know, it's cannon haha" -Dog Isopod came back... with watermelon?

"You guys can continue of you want..." -Me "I'm alright just hanging out here..." -Dog

"I love how they show this..." -Isopod

They struggled to find the Peddler's shop, and Dog needed direct instruction to find it.

"They're so cute!" -Dog, talking about the silver rock heartless "They're annoying bastards!" -Me "They're cute!"-Dog insisted.

"You know those Large Body Heartless you struggled against in Beasts' Castle? they breathe fire now." -Me Isopod then proceeds to make a seconds long noise of agony. "They also can't be stunlocked"-Dog, currently fighting one.

"Why does it look like a Mario level in here?" "What the fu- you're entirely correct"- Isopod and Dog upon entering the Cave of Wonders.

They fought against the one of the worst Heartless, the Fortuneteller (imo) and agreed that they were indeed, one of the worst heartless.

They then did the fighting challenge, which Isopod hated, because they missed a puzzle piece on the way down.

"I AM WRATH ENCARNATE- AAHAAAAAA!!!!" -Dog fighting the 50 Heartless mini boss fight in the treasure room, then discovering the 3 fat bandits. "The lots a little guys was fun, but-" "Evil- that was objectively evil." -Isopod and Dog. Isopod had a REALLY hard time with this fight, the 3 Bandits at the end especially, needing reflect to help them with the Fat Bandits.

The boss fight against the Volcanic and Blizzard Lords went easily. Dog enjoyed it, finding it silly- liking their designs. "They're kind of snatched though- I see it there."-Isopod "Isopod..." -Me, slight disappointment. After the Kairi and Axel cutscene where Kairi is sent to Twilight Town, I told them straight; "You've got a choice of three- if you do Twilight Town now, you can't do the two worlds, you haven't done until the end. But you've got-" -Isopod gasps- "Yes, Halloween town or-" "I KNOW WHAT THIS IS! I FUCK- I FUCKING KNOW WHAT THIS IS!"- Dog's excitement at the final Disney World.

They then proceeded to do the Gummi gate to open the Pridelands. "Happy Pride!!!"-Isopod "Wrong time of year"-Dog "Happy Priiddeeee"-Isopod

"What button was it to auto-lock?" -Isopod's meek question. "I dunno- uhm... wait- I don't know you're not using a controller!"-My response. "When people say that, just give them the controller command, not my/our fault you don't use a controller"-Dog "R1, then"-Me "What button? like you said before 'the dash button or'"-Isopod "Idk, the lock on, I think? but you don't use it, so I don't know it."-Me

Isopod was excited to start Halloween Town, and was happy to see SDG's costumes.

I explained that their costumes were a combination of two things; Isopod and Dog thought about what they were and together, they got all but Goofy's right. "Goofy is Frankenstein and... a zombie?"-Isopod "Close. Frankenstein and werewolf"-Me "Ohh riiighttt He's a dog..."-both Isopod and Dog.

Christmas Town held a similar, fun reaction- with both wondering... why wasn't Donald a penguin?

"The hand jack-in-the-boxes are cool... I like their little hands"-Isopod "They're menaces..."-Me "oh, they have a gun."-Isopod, getting shot.

The Prison Keeper boss was on two levels for them. Dog was good at blocking and getting long aerial combos, whilst Isopod... struggled, until they got the hang of it.

Then I remembered... I gave up on Oogy's boss fight. That was where I stopped my own playthrough, due to the frustration of its mechanics. I lamented about the fight whilst they did it; and they joined in. However, they beat Oogy fairly quickly, which I was happy about.

They landed in Pridelands; and there was EXCITMENT. They loved the SDG designs, and they enjoyed the faithfulness to the animation of Simba's dream; as well as the; "I liked the gif-animated hyenas that I saw floating."-Dog "I saw a hyena clip through the wall"-Isopod "yeah! I saw that too"- Dog, laughing. Then, they saved and quit- ready for next time. Overall, Id say they enjoyed this session out of all of them so far, with Dog's reasoning being that he enjoyed the worlds. Which, to me, is ironic because I'm not the biggest fan of Agrabah or Halloween Town; I usually find them to be a bit of a slog to get through, not to mention Agrabah's infamy among KH players.

So me and two of my friends have started a Gaming Culture Exchange. It’s where we give one game that means a lot to us, or embodies us as a person for the other two to play. I, of course- picked Kingdom Hearts.

It took a bit of thought to whittle it down, but in the end, I chose to get my friends to play KHII.  Because 1) it’s a fan favourite, 2) It has MUCH better combat and fluidity of controls than KHI, and 3) While yeah- you should play KHII and CoM, you can still glean the story; which is what I wanted them to play for. And if they don't understand anything- I'm here.

We meet up every Saturday night, and they play for 2-3 hours whilst I watch and act as a guide/tip-giver.

I wanted to document their experiences because they’re (mostly) fresh eyes in ‘24. This took so long to do because I kept forgetting to ask their permission to do this. How long? When we devised this, the KH series was announced that it was coming to steam during the VC call. I kind of laughed at the irony.

For now, let me introduce you to my friends! I’m not using any of their real names/what I call them due to identity.

Isopod: She/They: We get along really well and often watch shows together, play games or hang out. They’re more of a slow-paced gamer, liking farming sims and the less action-heavy Minecraft parts, but overall she loves genetic sims/ family tree games (wobbledogs, niece etc…). She’s seen little bits of KH, but doesn’t know a whole bunch. Their game for this exchange is Rainworld.

Dog: He/Him: We’re good friends that can get on each other's nerves and argue over pedantic stuff. He likes grimdark things and was the one who introduced me to Berserk. We, along with Isopod, watched Dungeon Meshi together, and I got him to watch Demon Slayer, which he’s enjoying. He actively dislikes/is uninterested in KH, not liking the style clash. His game for this exchange is Eldenring.

Due to the lag with getting permissions, each new entry will be each day until I've caught up, then every Sunday. Each day will be a reblog of this post with a Keep reading spoiler tag so that it doesn't clutter, but can be read in order.

Now that the stage is set, the journey starts below;

-

The game starts, and we jam out to Sanctuary. Isopod already kind of remembers who Roxas is and why he's here, but Dog doesn't- instead, he comments on the 'Gaming Rig' Roxas has got set up (the weird contraption with the light up star in his room) while Isopod laments that they'll never own a lamp as cool as his fish one.

'oh no, our ___ are gone!' "Your WHAT" -Dog

"I thought my audio glitched for a second" -Isopod

We then have to wait because Dog needed to eat dinner because his timing with that is impeccable, let me tell you. This let Isopod explore a bit and examine Roxas' outfit- which she concludes is a 'disaster'(lovingly).

It's then noted that Isopod is playing with Keyboard and mouse, and I m horrified. Dog is playing with an X-box controller and I lovingly refer to him as a heathen.

When Dog came back, the tutorial was completed, but I noticed that Dog... never really read the text. "I read it when Isopod has it up on her stream" he says. This'll bean important fact later.

During the Siefer fight, Isopod picks magic and Dog picks defence.

"woah whatda-" "Demon! actual demon!" Isopod and Dog during their first sighting of a Dusk. Quickly followed up with Isopod saying "why's he got cheeks though???"

The Dusk fight was quickly finished, and they both liked the reaction command (important for later).

"Why are they not calling for an adult. This (strange man) had pictures of children. That's VERY concerning" -Isopod "Yeah, the adults in this aren't very reliable" -Me, all knowing.

"COUNT DOOKU WHAT'RE YOU DOING HERE?!" -Dog upon hearing DiZ.

I then let the two do a few chores for munny. Dog does the Cargo Climb, and Isopod the Mail Delivery.

After a short while, I could hear them bemoan doing the same thing over and over; then I say 'yeah- you don't have to collect the full amount, you can go now', which fills the conversation with relief.

"Oh my god Roxas is hallucinating now" - Isopod "I think his friends are gaslighting him" -Dog upon the Pickpocket scene.

The Namine scenes had some interesting reactions:

"Why is there a GIRL braking into his room?!" -Isopod "Puberty is sometimes like that" -Dog

"That is a note an adult leaves when they want to kidnap children." -Dog upon reading Hayner's note "Yeah, I wouldn't trust it" -Isopod. "is she a Jojo???" -Isopod Dog then imitates Dio -during Namine's meeting with Roxas where she freezes time.

Then, in the Dive to the Heart, Isopod picks Attack, and Dog picks Defence. Isopod is able to beat Twilight Thorn straight away, but Dog takes two attempts.

The Fourth day is where everything fell apart. The tournament was easy, and neither struggled against Hayner or Vivi. Then came along Axel.

Isopod beat Axel fairly quickly. I thought they'd struggle, but they didn't. Dog, however struggled. I noticed that when he attacked Axel after parrying or blocking, Axel would retaliate- I told him what I saw, but Dog complained 'I can't attack him otherwise'. It took Dog going from Crit to Proud to beat Axel. "Wow Golden, you're cruel to put a new player on the hardest difficulty" you say, and you would be right, but Dog typically loves very hard games, and boasts that it took him 8 solid hours to beat a boss in Eldren Ring and that 'it was awesome', so I suggested Crit to him.

When Axel was beaten, Dog was VERY tired of Kingdom Hearts, and actively tried his best to dislike it, talking bad about the combat and how 'you're locked into an action'. Isopod did not share this, and was enjoying her time. I could tell that Dog wanted this done, but I urged them forward because they were nearing the finale of the prologue.

They did the wonders, made fun of Roxas' friends gaslighting him into thinking he didn't fall off the clocktower, and they both beat Axel fairly easily second go around. They then made fun of Sora's shoes for 5 minutes straight, and ended the session.

-

It was fun seeing people's first reactions to KHII. Dog's reaction was nothing new to me, as I knew this wouldn't be his favourite, and is only playing so me and Isopod play Eldenring. I'm hoping in the future, he'll warm up to it. Isopod is enjoying her time with the game, which is good to hear.

[chainofclovers]

Ted Lasso 2x4 Thoughts

I don’t think it would be possible to be objective about the fourth episode of season two of Ted Lasso! I really want to capture my thoughts after each episode of this season to have a record for when I go back to watch it as a whole, but honestly, I’ve put off writing this one because I don’t really have very many thoughts about it?!

That is a lie. I have many thoughts about it. But they’re all just, like, messy feelings about fictional people.

Ted is so sad and Rebecca sees it!

Dani/Mrs. Higgins/Tequila!

All the Higginses! Yay!

The team! (I told you this was not going to be hard-hitting episode commentary.)

I don’t need the missing scene in which Keeley talks to Rebecca about Sexy Christmas, but I love the evidence that they’ve already talked about it in great detail!

All the Ted/Rebecca smiling and fidgeting and “What now?” and talking about how hot Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz are = extreme first date energy but with a large side serving of all the extremely intimate moments that have happened in their friendship already, ahhhhhhhh

I will always until the end of time be a little bit in love with the moment in which Rebecca Welton, in an elf hat, encourages Ted Lasso to do a little bit of improv about the thing that happened to the Christmas presents

ROY AND KEELEY AND PHOEBE...yes, some of these people are blood relatives, but the found family of it all!!!!!

This season is going to a dark place (many individual caves, one could say) and that is the correct thing for this big old story these people are telling and it is blowing my mind that there are mean people on the internet criticizing this episode for having no conflict or connection to the larger narrative. Maybe they just had their eyes closed while Ted Lasso slumps drunkenly on his couch watching George Bailey consider suicide?

At the same time, this was very much a filler episode (I don't mean that as an insult, it's just true), freed from the constraints of time much as Christmas itself can feel. They leaned into the filler holiday episode vibes and IMO it paid off. Jason Sudeikis talked (in a cast interview for The Wrap) about the different philosophies and takeaways people share with him about the show and how he pretty much affirms them all because they’re “pro-human and pro-empathy” (I think those are the words he used) and my biggest takeaway is that silliness and sadness co-exist in pretty much everyone and Christmas is the perfect way to explore that.

FEELINGS! I HAVE SO MANY OF THEM!