#They’re all so different and diverse yet they’re the same person

[thesillyexpresser]

Ngl but the worldwide Miku trend kinda reminds me of all the different versions of Mary

[mywitchyblog]

Adressing the Race-Changing Discourse

It seems that a debate has been stirred up within the Shiftblr community, and my recent posts might have unintentionally added fuel to the fire. So, let me clear up where I stand.

First off, do I race change? No, I don’t. It’s just not something I’ve felt the need to do in my shifting practice. But do I support others who choose to race change? Absolutely, as long as they’re doing it with respect and not for some fetishizing bullshit.

There are two things everyone needs to keep in mind when it comes to this whole controversy:

Respect for Opinions: Everyone is entitled to their own damn opinion. If someone doesn’t like the idea of race changing, that’s their business. But what we can’t stand for is bullying, harassing, or insulting someone just because they see things differently. Everyone’s perspective deserves respect, even if you don’t agree with it.

Diverse Preferences: Just like some people don’t like using face claims or prefer not to mess with certain Desired Realities (DRs), some people don’t like race changing. And that’s perfectly fine! It’s called freedom of speech and opinion, and it’s a fundamental right—only limited when you start screwing with someone else’s rights.

Now, here’s where things get real problematic:

If you’re cussing people out, insulting them, or harassing them because they disagree with you, you’ve crossed a line. No one has the right to attack others over their opinions. Period.

To those who oppose race changing: I get it. I understand that you might feel uncomfortable with it, and that’s completely within your rights. HOWEVER, it’s crucial to recognize that not everyone who shifts to a different race is doing it to fetishize or sexualize that race. That’s a fact that needs to be acknowledged, no ifs, ands, or buts.

Yes, there are people who misuse the practice of race changing, but you’ve also got to recognize the other side of the coin—the respectful and beneficial aspects of this practice within the shifting community. Here’s the thing: nothing in reality shifting is inherently good or bad, black or white. It’s all shades of grey, full of infinite nuances.

And let’s be real—some of you are being downright hypocritical.

Yeah, I said it. You can argue or debate in the comments all you want, but the truth is, some of you are cool with people shifting to become Mermaids, Animals, Aliens, Na’vi, and whatnot, but then you turn around and label anyone who changes their ethnicity as weird or wrong.

That, my friends, is the textbook definition of a hypocritical double standard. It’s the same damn thing.

If I were to ask why you shift to become a Na’vi, a dragon, a god, or an alien, I’m sure your reasons would be rooted in curiosity and exploration—not to sexualize or fetishize that race, right? The same logic applies to those who shift into a different human ethnicity.

You can’t claim that one side of the apple is bad while the other is perfectly fine. It doesn’t work that way. If one side’s rotten, the whole damn apple is.

Yet, while shifting to become a fictional or non-human race is often celebrated as a form of exploration and creativity, shifting to become a different human race is slapped with labels like wrong or offensive. This criticism completely ignores the potential for personal growth, empathy development, and deeper understanding that comes from experiencing life through the lens of a different racial identity. Just like with age changing, race changing in shifting can be a powerful tool for healing, exploration, and expanding your consciousness.

The hypocrisy here is glaring: the same people who criticize race changing as cultural appropriation or fetishization often have no problem with the idea of embodying entirely "fictional races", which can involve similar, if not greater, levels of stereotyping and romanticization. Keep in mind that in the context of reality shifting it is not fictional nothing is.

Imagine if someone discovered that you shifted to be their race and they are discriminated and persecuted and you shifted because of it (looking at you Avatar shifters that shift to be a Na Vi you are litterally shifting to be Native american but with a blue paint on top be fucking for real, you cannot ignore the fact that they litterally inspired at 99% by Native culture and their struggle against colonial forces The remaining 1% is the fictional setting, remove that and its just human history from this reality).

If the argument is that adopting another race’s identity is wrong because it involves stepping into experiences not your own, then the same damn logic should apply to any form of identity transformation in shifting. But it doesn’t—and that’s where the double standard lies.

This hypocritical double standard also reminds me of how teenage shifters react when they hear about adults aging themselves down to be minors. They immediately assume the worst—yet have no problem aging themselves up to 30-something parents in one DR and then being 16 in the next. This inconsistency shows a deeper misunderstanding of what shifting truly involves and how it allows us to explore different aspects of identity and experience with respect and intention.

[moonselune]

Ahh!! I just read that Karlach and chubby reader thing, and I'm not the rq'er, but I was wondering if I could get something similar with Wyll? Doesn't need to be the same concept at all. If not, introducing Drow reader to his father? I feel like both could be so interesting, and cute. Mainly bc of the whole Drow kidnapping, and bc the swish of the upper city, where Wyll's from, doesn't have much body diversity.

omg omg i kinda merged it into two, hope you like it!

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

Wyll x Drow!F!reader | Out of Place

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

You’d never been more uncomfortable in your life.

The silks of the formal dress clung to your skin, tailored to fit your figure perfectly, yet somehow still managing to feel foreign. You were no stranger to fine clothing—after all, Drow society placed heavy emphasis on appearances—but this wasn’t the Underdark, and this wasn’t an occasion of your choosing. The lavishness of Baldur's Gate's Upper City felt different. Stifling, even. You stood at Wyll’s side, his hand resting gently on your lower back, his touch a steadying anchor amidst the sea of judgmental stares cast your way.

"Relax," Wyll murmured, sensing the tension in your body. "They’re just not used to seeing someone as radiant as you."

You scoffed, shooting him a sideways glance.

“Radiant, you say? I think you mean 'out of place.'” You smoothed a hand over the silk that clung to your curves, painfully aware of the way fabric strained over your hips and how you stood out among the slim, pale, and perfectly coiffed humans that filled the ballroom.

Wyll's smile was crooked, one of those rare, genuine grins that never failed to make your heart skip a beat.

"Yes, out of place, but in the most beautiful way," he whispered, leaning in to kiss your temple. His gesture was tender, and it did little to alleviate the tension thrumming through you, but it did remind you why you were here. For him. You would endure this world of sneers and judgment because it meant standing by Wyll's side.

You’d known this wouldn’t be easy from the moment he invited you to meet his father, Duke Ravengard. The Duke was a powerful man, well-respected and admired, and your relationship with his son would undoubtedly come under scrutiny. Add the fact that you were Drow—a race notorious for its bloody history and enslavement raids—and it became clear why so many eyes lingered on you, flicking to the scars that traced your arms and shoulders, the deep hue of your skin, and the curve of your frame.

It was a little too easy to tell what they were thinking: 'What's someone like her doing here?' or 'How could she ever belong with him?' You'd faced similar prejudice in the past, but something about being here, in Wyll's world, made it feel sharper, more personal.

“We can leave if you want,” Wyll offered, his voice gentle. He always knew when you were on the verge of running, of lashing out. “My father can wait. There’s no rush.”

“No,” you said, squaring your shoulders, though you could feel the weight of every stare. “We’re doing this. I can handle a few condescending looks.” You managed a small smile, hoping it was more convincing than it felt. “I’d rather face a room full of judgmental nobles than another mind flayer colony, but only just.”

He laughed at that, a soft, genuine sound that warmed your heart.

“There’s the fire I love.” Wyll gave you a quick, reassuring squeeze before leading you deeper into the crowd, navigating the sea of glittering gowns and tailored suits with a practiced ease that reminded you just how different your upbringings were.

And then you saw him: Duke Ulder Ravengard, standing near a marble column, an imposing figure despite his age. He was every bit as intimidating as you'd imagined, his presence commanding the space around him. His eyes, sharp and calculating, turned to you the moment Wyll approached, and you felt the full force of that scrutiny, like a weight pressing down on your chest.

“Father,” Wyll began, his tone respectful yet warm. “This is—”

“I know who she is,” the Duke interrupted, his gaze never leaving yours. “You’ve spoken enough about her in your letters.”

There was no warmth in his tone, no sign of approval or disapproval. Just that same unyielding, unreadable stare.

You dipped into a low, formal bow, hoping the gesture conveyed more confidence than you felt. “It’s an honor to meet you, Duke Ravengard.”

“Is it?” he replied, and for a moment, you could feel the silence in the ballroom intensify, as if every eye had turned to witness this exchange. “I wonder if you understand what an honor truly is, coming from your… background.”

Your heart skipped a beat, and your fingers curled into fists at your sides, but Wyll stepped in before you could respond, his voice calm but firm. “Father, she’s fought alongside me, protected this city, and saved countless lives. She is as deserving of honor as anyone here.”

The Duke’s eyes shifted to Wyll, and something passed between them—something that spoke of years of unspoken words, unvoiced expectations.

“And yet, she is not of this world,” he said, a hint of steel in his voice. “She does not belong.”

You felt your temper flare, a surge of anger that reminded you of the worst parts of your past, the times when you’d been dismissed, overlooked, or cast aside because of what you were. But before you could say anything, Wyll took your hand, interlacing his fingers with yours.

“You’re wrong,” Wyll said, and there was no hesitation in his voice, no uncertainty. “She belongs with me. And I’d like you to try to find someone more deserving of that place.”

The Duke was silent for a moment, and you could feel your pulse hammering in your ears. Finally, he sighed, a deep, weary sound that seemed to echo in the vast space.

“You have always been stubborn,” he muttered, rubbing a hand over his face. When his eyes met yours again, they were softer, if only just. “Tell me, what was your life before this? Before you met my son?”

You took a breath, steadying yourself. “I was a warrior, a wanderer. I fought to survive in the Underdark and then on the surface. I have been many things, Duke Ravengard, but none of them matter as much as being here now, with Wyll.”

For a moment, you thought he might dismiss you entirely. But then, something shifted in his expression—a flicker of understanding, of respect.

“Well, if you’re to be in my son’s life, you may as well get used to being part of mine,” he said gruffly, though there was a hint of a smile tugging at his lips. “The people here won’t accept you overnight, but you’ve faced worse, haven’t you?”

You allowed yourself a small smile. “Yes. Yes, I have.”

As the Duke gave a small nod and turned to engage Wyll in another conversation, you let out a breath you hadn’t realized you’d been holding. Wyll’s hand squeezed yours, and when you glanced up at him, you found him beaming at you, pride shining in his eyes.

“See?” he murmured. “I told you he’d come around.”

You huffed, feeling the weight of the moment begin to lift. “I’m still not sure I won’t have to prove myself to every single person in this room.”

“Then let them look,” Wyll replied, bringing your hand to his lips and pressing a soft kiss to your knuckles. “Because you are the most incredible person here, and they’d be fools not to see it.”

And in that moment, surrounded by silks and sneers, you felt, for the first time, that perhaps you really did belong, belong with Wyll.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

Made Ulder a bit harsher in this, but I hope you guys liked it! - Seluney xox

If you want to support me in other ways | Help keep this moonmaiden caffeinated x

[lady-raziel]

Do you also find it annoying how people will trash talk the USA by using statistics for the whole country instead of looking at them by state?

Like, for example, how they’ll claim we have terrible standards for paid maternity leave, but they’ll use the baseline for it and completely ignore the fact that paid maternity leave is different in each state.

Yeah. I think it’s difficult for people from other countries, especially smaller countries who are geographically small and overall more culturally cohesive, to grapple with the idea that America as a whole is a very challenging country to generalize. Like, yes, ok. I work at a government agency that looks at federal level statistics— the work my coworkers are required to do by statute requires them to look only at federal level data and draw conclusions based on that data. With large scale statistical analysis, you CAN say “based on census data of everybody, the AVERAGE demographics are x, y, and z and the AVERAGE income is x, the AVERAGE person pays this much in taxes, etc.” And those sorts of conclusions are valuable in certain senses and in certain situations.

However, making generalizations like that for a country of 333 million people is really only a very narrow view of the whole picture. People have said before that it’s more like America is actually 50 small countries in a trenchcoat, and honestly that’s not far off! It is pretty difficult to say “all Americans are x” when conditions in Alabama and Colorado can be literal opposite ends of the spectrum.

Even the “red state” and “blue state” generalizations can be pretty misleading— take Colorado again, for example. Colorado is widely considered a “blue/liberal state” because of the large high-population density progressive cities on the front range of the Rocky Mountains where most of the residents of the state are. However, this discounts the fact that in the rest of the rural areas of the state, especially the eastern half bordering Kansas, attitudes and policies are much more conservative.

Here’s a map that might be illustrative:

These are Colorado’s 8 congressional districts. Congressional districts are required to have approximately equal levels of population—therefore, you have geographically tiny districts in population centers and geographically large districts in rural areas. So the ENTIRE purple portion of District 3? That has the SAME number of people living in it as the tiny district 1 that contains the capitol of Denver. I’ll add another layer— despite Colorado being a “blue state,” that purple district is represented by Lauren Boebert, a notable MAGA conservative. So really, even in Colorado it’s hard to generalize and say “all Coloradans are x” because no they’re not—you have a variety even in the same state.

If you want to get EVEN more in the weeds, you can have wildly different types of demographics even within Congressional districts.

Here’s the map for Colorado’s 6th congressional district, currently represented by Jason Crow, a Democrat.

This district includes the city of Aurora— known for being a highly diverse area that has a high refugee population. You might also know the city of Aurora for being the site of the 2012 theatre shooting as well as being the home of Elijah McClain, a young African-American man murdered by police officers in 2019. So this Congressional district contains a large POC population and is not homogeneous. But this district is also interesting in that it also encompasses the WEALTHIEST CITY IN THE STATE, the 96% white Cherry Hills Village— which, considering Colorado has highly wealthy mountain resort towns like Aspen and Vail, is saying quite a lot. And this city is mere miles away from Aurora, where economic outcomes tend to be very different. Yet they are in the same Congressional district— so even on a local level its hard to make sweeping generalizations about most things and say “this is the one number or set of numbers that represents everything for everyone.”

Now imagine situations like this in every state and every congressional district across America. There is, of course, a place for large statistics, but such wide generalizations especially with context removed really don’t say much of anything unless you’re a data analyst studying something specific. It is hard to say definitively, especially on national data, that all Americans are a certain thing. This isn’t just an American problem with statistics, of course, not all people in any given country or population are going to be the same. Generalizing statistics can be good at a VERY broad overview that represent things worth conducting more specific crosscutting analysis to form more specific conclusions. However, a lot of people tend to view large stats as ways of stereotyping or confirming biases about groups of people in a way that SEEMS scientific or data based. They remove all context or specific crosstabs that actually paint a more accurate, but often messier, picture.

Big clean numbers are nice. But they rarely tell the full story or allow for nuance.

[jgroffdaily]

‘A Nice Indian Boy’ will be released theatrically early next year, and then will be available on streaming (no further details available yet)

Jonathan Groff singing Bollywood tunes is the centerpiece of “A Nice Indian Boy,” a groundbreaking gay rom-com that’s heating up the BFI London Film Festival.

Director Roshan Sethi and stars Groff (“Mindhunter,” “Glee,” “Doctor Who”) and Karan Soni (the “Deadpool” franchise) are challenging Hollywood norms with their cross-cultural love story, which debuted at SXSW. It aims to bring a fresh perspective to both LGBTQ+ and South Asian representation on screen.

The genesis of the project traces back to 2019, when Levantine Films optioned Madhuri Shekar’s play of the same name and Eric Randall adapted it as a screenplay. Sethi came aboard in 2021 after the producers saw his previous film “7 Days.” He then approached his real-life partner Soni to co-star. Groff signed on after watching “7 Days.”

“I do think what’s interesting about the current era of ‘diversity films’ is that they tend to be very homogeneous. They’re all Asian or they’re all Indian, or they’re all black or they’re all white, in the exact opposite case, and the reality of our world is that we’re all mixed up with each other in tangled, messy ways. And this movie very much reflects that, because you have a meeting of cultures,” Sethi says.

For Groff, who plays a white character adopted by Indian parents, the role required immersing himself in a culture he was largely unfamiliar with. “I had never seen a Bollywood movie. I didn’t know anything about this culture in general,” Groff says. His preparation included watching the Bollywood classic “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” (DDLJ) to nail a pivotal musical moment in the film.

This scene, featuring Groff’s character singing the evergreen “Tujhe Dekha To Ye Jana Sanam” from “DDLJ,” is a highlight of the film. “I didn’t know that he was going to do, like, a falsetto, la, la, la, la, la – that trilling thing,” Sethi says. “Everyone was turned on,” Soni adds.

Despite the cultural specificity, Groff found the family dynamics surprisingly relatable. “I, immediately from the first take of the first scene, couldn’t believe how familiar it all felt,” he says. “Even though there was a stark difference in culture, it was so heartwarming to see that families are families, no matter what culture you’re in.”

The production faced significant challenges, primarily due to a compressed timeline. Sethi reveals they had just four weeks of pre-production and a 21-day shoot with six-day weeks. “We were just like this tiny indie movie that was crammed in between these other much larger, broader circumstances,” he says, referring to Soni’s commitment to “Deadpool” and the then-looming SAG-AFTRA strike.

Financing the film also proved difficult. “We barely got this movie made. We barely found the money. We struggled for years,” Sethi says. He notes that Groff’s involvement was crucial in securing funding. “None of the Indian actors are deemed meaningful enough to obtain financing,” Sethi explains, calling Hollywood “one of the most racist industries in America.”

For Sethi, who still practices medicine, the film represents a personal milestone. “I was closeted six years ago, and now I got to make this movie, which is highly personal,” he says. “I could never have imagined when I was like, walking around the hospital as a straight doctor, watching [HBO’s] ‘Looking,’ that I was going to like be out, much less like be making this movie.”

“A Nice Indian Boy” is set for a theatrical release in the first quarter of next year, with streaming plans to follow. The filmmakers are optimistic about its commercial prospects, citing positive responses from diverse test audiences. “When we were testing the movie among audiences, the highest scoring audience was always white women,” Sethi notes.

The team hopes the film will resonate beyond niche audiences. “Part of the other issue with the so-called diverse film and representation movements is that they’ve made those movies feel like they are for niche audiences,” Sethi says. “The truth is diversity should be an opening up of storytelling where you’re finding more and more interesting and more new stories to tell people, but just vitalize art. They don’t splinter it, they don’t make it more niche. They vitalize it.”

As they prepare for the film’s wider release, the cast is moving on to new projects. Soni is set to star in the thriller “Fade to Black,” while Sethi is working on a new romantic comedy script where he’s “going back to straight people.” Groff, fresh off his Tony win for “Merrily We Roll Along” on Broadway, is returning to the Great White Way with “Just In Time,” a new musical about the life and times of singer Bobby Darin.

[thetypedwriter]

The Grandest Game Book Review

The Grandest Game Book Review by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

I feel like I’m writing about Jennifer Lynn Barnes constantly. 

Thankfully, this is not a case of diminishing returns. 

In fact, this might be Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ best novel yet, which is astounding to me. 

The Grandest Game is now the…fifth book in the Inheritance Games series which is insane, but it’s also the first installment in a spinoff series.

So related but not a direct sequel, although you would be lacking in a significant amount of understanding if you had not read the first four books of the Inheritance Games.

At this point, Jennifer Lynn Barnes is becoming the new Cassandra Clare.

But back to The Grandest Game, one of the key differences is instead of focusing on Avery and the Hawthorne brothers, this novel focuses on other players that have either been invited to play or won themselves a nomination. 

The Grandest Game itself is not that noteworthy, but the plot essentially boils down to this: Avery has set up a competition game where the prize money is $26 million.

Most of the game includes the players getting involuntarily put into teams and trying to solve a series of riddles and puzzles while attempting escape-room antics. 

Avery and the Hawthrone brothers are in the novel, but they’re in the periphery and largely unimportant other than the history they have with the players and the fact that they have masterminded the game. 

However, I can not emphasize enough how much better the book is by not focusing on them. Avery was never much more than a Mary-Sue from the get go and the Hawthorne brothers were all largely one-dimensional cliches.

The side characters who take center stage in this novel are a huge improvement, personality and interest wise. 

Rohan we know from the last book, The Brother Hawthorne, and his POV is fascinating. I’ve always had a soft spot for characters who are selfish and conniving, two characteristics Rohan has in droves. 

However, he also has a good motivation for playing the Grandest Game—getting money to take over the Devil’s Mercy, a secret club that he’s been a part of since he was a child. His penchant for winning always makes his POV fun to read. 

His relationship with Savannah, while predictable, was also really charming. I love relationships that are fierce and fiery, have cat-and-mouse banter, and are between two very stubborn people who don’t want to admit defeat. Every chapter with them working as a team was titillating. 

The POV I enjoyed the most was Gigi’s. Her fun, bubbly personality and bright way of connecting with people and seeing the world was fresh, fun, and authentic.

Her interactions with Knox and Brady were hilarious, but also strangely deep and intriguing, as they were both new characters with a sordid and complicated past with each other. 

Gigi’s intellect shone through while others constantly underestimated her, a plot point that never got old. Gigi trying to piece together what happened with Knox and Brady, while at the same time learning she’s bugged and trying to untangle the larger mystery of who’s on the island, was the most riveting part of the story for me. 

The last POV was for a character named Lyra Kane. Essentially, she’s Avery 2.0. I disliked her POV the most, especially as her motivation to win–saving her childhood home—while nice, was boring.

She also had the hackneyed story arc of being attracted to Grayson Hawthorne while incessantly telling herself to stay away from him (without success). 

The most interesting part of this POV was Grayson’s and Lyra’s interaction with their third teammate, Odette, an older woman who was once involved with Tobias Hawthorne.

I liked Odette’s backstory and the diversity of having an older character, but she was too cryptic throughout the whole novel and then decided to give up her spot at the end, a choice that riddled me with frustration and made her character dip in the favorite department. 

That being said, these three POV’s were still a huge improvement from the banality of Avery’s mind and the vapid love triangle she found herself in of the previous books. 

Instead, we have two interesting perspectives (plus Lyra) to carry this new spinoff series forward, a journey I am wholeheartedly ready to embark on.

Plus, all the riddles are a lot of fun to try and piece together as a reader. It may not be the most complicated of plots, but it’s entertaining and the characters propel it forward with their intersecting relationships and personal motivations. 

Recommendation: The best Jennifer Lynn Barnes novel yet. Read it and try to solve as many of the puzzles as you can (I got two of them!).

Score: 8/10

[bambimeadows]

Black OPs 6 campaign review/analysis, obvious spoilers under the cut. This is long, so thank you if you indulge me 🙂‍↕️ I speak about Adler towards the end

Honestly where to start, I think I’ll need to play it through again because it was kind of a whirlwind, I think I was too caught up in the excitement of having Adler back. But here are my initial thoughts

I’ll start with some positives. The new characters, Marshall, Sevati and Felix. Love. Love all three of them, they’re brilliant. They’re well written and actually have some strong, unique and discernible personalities. They’re fleshed out and seem very much human, the absence of that has been an issue with call of duty characters in the past so I’m glad to see they’re pulling us in a new direction and understand they need characters like this to carry out effective story telling. If I had to pick a favourite it would be Marshall. He’s a strong and determined leader, but still fresh enough to not be completely war hardened and I like that. Felix and his perpetual anxiousness, melancholy hidden by a bright personality and aversion to being violent is intriguing (side note, he in particular conveyed so much with his facial expressions, especially when speaking with him in the safehouse amazing work there) Sevati’s back story is a little cliche but I still became very fond of her and her sharpness and her wit. I do ultimately enjoy the three more than park, sims and that other one (can’t remember his name don’t care lol) as a team. Jane was a somewhat adequate antagonist, I guess, but maybe just a bit cookie cutter and cliche - the unusually elaborate and unnecessarily long sequence surrounding her back story didn’t do much to change that I’m afraid. But more on that later.

Some of the missions were quite good, I’m not that good at critiquing actual gameplay but all I know is for the most part they were genuinely exciting and introduced us to a diverse range of environments. They’ve gone in quite a different direction, giving us quite a few actual spy missions with the gunslinging. It’s a funny juxtaposition to be in a war torn battle ground with tanks and helicopters and boom boom boom one minute and then in a swanky casino playing poker the next. I can imagine some who are looking for a hard hitting action game might have an issue with this and even I raised an eyebrow at first, but in all truth it stops things getting repetitive and gives us a chance to experience new aspects of the black ops universe.

Now I’m aware COD campaigns have a very limited amount of hours, and yet some of the missions were frustratingly time consuming and made no sense, nor added anything to the story or fit in smoothly. I’m so conscious of time ticking by as I play through COD campaigns, knowing the ending is always near. They implicated zombie mode into the main campaign in a very lengthy and out of place mission and I can’t say I appreciated it. They obviously kept the continuity by not actually inserting zombies into the canonical world of black Ops, but rather telling us we were hallucinating off some toxic gas and that’s why we were seeing zombies. Lord give me strength, THAT is lazy and forced. We have a whole mode to fuck up some zombies. I found it pointless, wasting precious time on what should have been spent on something else. It’s the same with the mission towards the end where they inject Jane with the drug and have us travel through her psyche. Look it was somewhat interesting, but why do we have to have like an hour worth of gameplay (depending on your speed) doing an in-depth deep dive into this woman’s background when we don’t actually really care about her? (Maybe some of you do I’m not sure) And all of that, just to kill her off so unceremoniously? why invest so much time into her then? why couldn’t her motives be explained in a more cohesive and less time consuming way that doesn’t just completely take us out of the game? And it left a glaring plot hole. She believed Adler killed her parents for YEARS and obviously had good intel to believe this. This provoked her into enacting her big diabolical plan against the CIA, and then when she was injected with the drug she suddenly realised it wasn’t him? What do you mean??? Did he do it or didn’t he? And what’s more, if Adler and Jane had some sort of past, where he “took her under his wing” why do we not get to see them interact or even acknowledge each other once? Why were her parents attacked from the inside? What’s with the weird alter ego shtick? Are they implying she’s suffering from some sort of personality disorder and she’s not actually responsible for any of her own actions? This section of the campaign was put in place to answer all the questions but it just left me with more. Idk, Overall that whole part was messy. It had me rolling my eyes. It seems the writers are being a lot more experimental but sometimes it just falls flats.

The ending was awful to me to the point I don’t even have the need to feel angry about it, just indifferent. I don’t have much to say about it. Anti-climatic is the optimal word here. They stopped the bombs, Case promptly kills Jane. Yaddah yaddah yaddah who cares. And obviously we have the end scene setting up the next campaign and that’s just kind of whatever, see you in four or more years I guess. OR, it will just be material for half assed plot lines for multiplayer and warzone with the new seasons, that’s something that recently occurred to me. I really hope that’s not the case.

Now onto Adler. I don’t think the campaign was Adler centric in the way we wanted it to be, but to be honest I think his side character role was generous and fair enough, it made sense and he fit in with the story very smoothly. I can totally see why he took a minor backseat. But with the time he did have in the campaign, I think they’ve done a good job with him. He’s completely different and I’m not exaggerating, this is not the Adler I know, this is not the Adler I struggled to write a semblance of personality for and still felt he was out of character when I did. I noticed a hint of change the moment I met him at the beginning of the game, and then realised he’s had somewhat of a personality transplant. He’s no longer completely cold, mysterious and closed off, he’s even dare I say kind of nicer, sometimes? if not much more charismatic. Don’t get me wrong, obviously he’s not the life and soul of the party and still a complete asshole and very veryyyy much lacking in morals and empathy, but this Adler is more receptive, animated, lighthearted, playful, constantly cracking jokes? It’s crazy. I know many of us have already realised that he likely acted so robotic in Cold War due to Bell, consequently he seems much more at ease with Case who is sort of the Bell of this game, they share quite a few parallels. We still didn’t really learn that much about Adler (apart from him being born in San Diego oooh) but he does show some weakness, a smidge of humility and human errors if you squint, and glimmers of emotions, primarily towards Woods. They both hint at their bond, friendship and respect for each other throughout the campaign, which is a nice touch. For example, the subtle genuine concern in his voice when he stays behind to be with Woods when he’s wounded is groundbreaking for him, a small little thing that somehow speaks volumes due to how little he’s previously shown us. This is already too long and I’m not going to speak about every single thing, but I’ll say Woods is perfect in this as a supporting character, but he’s always been one of the best things about black ops, he’s an icon. They’ve been tactful and realistic in writing him adjusting to his life out of the field and becoming disabled while still keeping his trademark funny and snarky attitude. I’m really glad he was with us!

And as for Case? Meh. We didn’t get much in regards to him. He’s no Bell that’s for sure and I’m more than ready to write him off.

All in all I’ll give the campaign 2.8/5 stars. Somewhat refreshing, great characters both new and old, cool settings (that safehouse was a LOT nicer to explore than the Cold War one huh?) average plot tarnished by a terrible ending, it was certainly an interesting concept but not executed as well as it could have been and somehow not really explored enough? Everything was kind of vague in a way that didn’t seem to be an issue that Cold War had. All in all they could have done more, could have utilised the runtime of the campaign more effectively. Stuff should have been added, a lot of stuff should have been cut.

[willkimurashat]

Exactly 0 people asked-

Oh, never mind, Andy wants to know, so here I am yet again, rating Love Island the Game: Double Trouble this time!

Here’s the rating post I did for s5, for anyone curious:)

I just wanna preface this by saying, I love this game. I know it is greatly flawed and I get frustrated, annoyed, irritated, riled up very often, but it’s still my comfort place and I enjoy playing it so very much. I am aware that fusebox as a company has many issues and I am not thrilled that they might be using AI to write their scripts, even if it's just a speculation. I don't spend any money on the game and I play it on plane mode, so I don't get any ads. Additionally, I think it’s long established that nothing will ever repeat the success of s2, the one hit wonder I’m afraid, so I choose to not compare it to earlier seasons to not ruin my expectations. However, my one hope for s6 was for it to not be worse than s5. Did it fail my expectations? No. Did it exceed them? Also no. But it did meet them exactly where I set them, so to me, this season was generally a success. But not without its issues, of course.

Disclaimer: I tried to be as objective as I can, but at the end of the day, I’m a mere human and these are all just my humble, subjective opinions. Feel free to agree/disagree/add on/make your own:)

Also, beware of the potential spoilers ahead:)

So, without a further ado, shall we?

Character Design: 9/10

Lots of hotties this season, that is for sure. The design team (I think/hope/want to believe that a human did the art for the most part at least) worked very well this time and the art style is wonderful. I personally found myself attracted to most of the islanders - Bella, Jamal, Ozzy/Marshall, Chloe, Andy of course… Their faces look proportional, I love most of their facial expressions, the blushing faces are just so adorable (especially Andy’s, but I may be a little bit biased lol). Took the point off for some weird poses though (*ahem* Andy *ahem*), some odd expressions, Ryan’s mop of hair that just doesn’t sit right on him, and for the fact that both sets of twins have the exact same sprite - I understand that they’re identical and share the same face, but like, give them a different pose at least?

Character Personality: 6/10

This is where my main issue lies: they’ve given us so many fun characters with distinct personalities, and then they merged them into one. Why? Less work, I assume. How can a bad boy wannabe Jamal who never settles for a relationship act the exact same way as a golden retriever footballer Lewie? Conversely, how can a golden retriever Lewie become a villain in the same exact way that a suave, confident pilot Roberto became? Why do we never learn about their personalities besides the first date in the first volume and then through random sprinkling of one sentence facts about them to give a slight illusion of variety? Why are all their personalities boiled down to recollection of past events that were so surface-leveled and so superficial that even talking about them in later episodes feels like an afterthought, or, dare I say, a chore? Why do all the og’s personalities revolve around love bombing? So much potential down the drain.

Personally, my favorite islanders this season are Casa Amor people. To me it seemed that that’s where the most energy went when creating the season. Everyone in Casa was their own person with unique personalities and stayed that way for the longest time. Correct me if I’m wrong, but they all had unique dialogue and shared bits about their life, their worries and concerns about relationships and life that helped me get to know them better, understand them as people, as characters with personalities. And even after being merged post casa, though they suffered from the merging as well, Flo remained the most interesting girl and Marshall kept his snarkiness still.

Character Diversity: 5/10

This section brings me great sadness, I can't lie. Yes, this is about Grace. You've talked about it, I've talked about it - we're all in consensus that the way her character was treated is absolutely wrong. How many times can Fusebox step on the same rake to finally get it in their heads and stop villainizing women of color? It is frustrating. The treatment of Black women in the fandom is already... not great, even if the characters themselves did absolutely nothing wrong (Thabi, Genevieve). So, of course, let's perpetuate the stereotypes, let's make the one Black woman in the game possessive, territorial, immature, and the main rival to MC if you're romancing Ozzy. Why? What reason does it serve? Who hurt you, fusebox?

Let's look further. LGBTQ+ players were downright neglected this season. All three queer women in the game share the same route - it's not really a choice to keep eliminating women so that you're only stuck with one per wlw route and basically pre-pick who you like most solely based on looks. Why can't we have them all in the villa at the same time and get to actually learn who they are, then ruminate on who we like the most, and toss and turn in our sleep, and then pick amongst them? Why couldn't we couple up with Bella right away? There was literally no obstacle to do that, it's just ridiculous that we can bring her to the hideaway, but not couple up. Why can’t it be done in equal measure to, you know, picking male li’s?

Overall, I’m glad the cast is diverse, but I still wish we’d gotten a better look into everyone’s culture and identity, and I would’ve loved to see at least some nod to their cultures throughout the game.

MC Design: 9.5/10

MC is beautiful. Every single MC I’ve seen is absolutely gorgeous and none look the same. She fits in with the cast, she stands out as a true love islander, she looks fantastic in a couple with any and all LI’s. Might even say, s6 MC is the most beautiful and unique MC we’ve ever had. Half a point off for reusing s5 pose - while it didn’t bother me at all, that is a little bit of a lazy move.

MC Personality: 8/10

Well, I'm glad she has one. If I were to compare her to myself - we are completely different people, but that doesn't make her any less fun and/or entertaining to watch/play as. Let's put aside for a moment her generic comments a la "oh yeah?" or "oh really?" because she has said many a gems this season. She's not afraid of putting people in their spot, she's telling it like it is, she's an instigator, she is fun and fiery and so unashamedly herself that I strive to be more like her. Truly. You cannot tell me she doesn't cuss like a sailor and I love her for it. If I knew her irl or even if she were one of the npc's, I'd probably love to hate her because frankly, she's a bit rude, but that's what makes her loveable. Or a loveable bitch, so to speak.

MC Customization: 7.5/10

I was easily able to make my MC look like myself (more or less), but I am a white cis girl and can’t speak to experiences of bipoc players. I will be honest and say that I didn’t register the prices for any of the customization choices because my game has unlimited amount of gems, so there might have been choices for more diverse hairstyles that were gem blocked, as has definitely happened before. I thought the game had a lovely range of facial features and hairs to choose from, though I’d love to have seen more color choices for hair. The outfits were hit or miss - some I loved, others I cringed at, the shoes were outright ugly, but I’m just glad we put granny fashion to rest and no glass shard bikini was detected. I’m glad they kept the choice for a curvier or skinnier body, but I think they can definitely do a bit better, for example giving us a choice of feminine/masculine presenting figures, variety of curvy body types, allowing us to pick pronouns - here’s already typos and inconsistencies in the script, I don’t see how that could make it worse.

Challenges: 6/10

Is it bad that I can’t really remember much of them? Yeah, I’d say that’s a bad sign… The challenges were so… forgettable? And just not done correctly? Couples quiz - over too quickly and I didn’t learn anything about anyone. The doghouse whatever it was - I don’t even know the purpose of it. What were those categories in villa vs. villa? “The sportiest girl?” “The most well traveled?” Is this a joke? Why are we having a snogathon in casa amor? How is movie night not giving us the most tea and why is it not stirring any pots? How can you manage to make the baby challenge so.. boring? And just fleeting? I would say, the heart rate challenge was the most elaborate and fun, Snog, Marry, Pie was okay, but nothing to write home about, unfortunately. Fusebox, you have good ideas, but just see them through to the end next time please. Oh, and maybe watch the show for inspo? You know, as a suggestion.

Drama: 5/10

I know you don’t want to hear it, but I think fusebox definitely took our feedback regarding drama. Of course, Ivy’s pettiness and twin mix up is.. annoying to say the least, and Grozzy-MC love triangle is tiring, especially if you’re not on Ozzy’s route, but otherwise we are able to have a chill summer of love, just like you signed up for. Personally, I love drama only when it has nothing to do with me, and that’s how I felt about playing this season. If you want to be a little more involved in it - by all means, go for Ozzy and pick ruthless choices, but if you want to sit it out - sweep all the arguments under the rug, couple up with an og for a loyal route, or play around in casa amor with no repercussions and couple up with someone there to enjoy the rest of your a chill summer. The choice is yours. After the disaster of s5, this felt quite refreshing and exactly what I wanted, but I wouldn’t say the drama was so otherworldly that it kept me very invested… Therefore, I’m afraid by toning things down they ran into another problem - they made it a tad boring.

Relationships: 6.5/10

I touched upon this already, but I’ll just say this, I strongly dislike the merged routes. In my humble opinion, the og route was written for Lewie, the post-casa route was written for Andy (or I can also see Elliot sharing some dialogue with him), and the only other unique route is Ozzy. Oh, and I suppose there is a Bella/Chloe/Flo route (you see how sad this is that they don’t even feel unique enough for me to consider them as a separate route? Yeah, sad.) I personally think casa amor li’s/Elliot are the best relationships, if you’re looking for a sweet, loving route with no drama, where your li is head over heels with you in a cute kind of way, and you learn a lot about them that isn’t just rehashing past events and/or love bombing. It progresses so naturally and realistically, in my opinion. That romance just makes sense and I love it. I haven’t played other routes, of course, but from what I’ve seen, they just feel a bit lacking in something. They feel superficial, perhaps boring. I don’t think they did a good job with their attempted slow burn route with Ozzy either - all his chats became so repetitive that it didn’t interest me enough to pursue his route. That being said, I appreciate that we could have a completely loyal route this time, with no backstabbing, no persistent exes, and no drastic change of personalities.

Friendships-wise… Did we have any? I know all the girls are kind of friends and all the boys too, but I feel like after the first few volumes where I could definitely tell the islanders were all bonding and having their lil bro moments, it all kind of vanished with time. Of course, we had those moments of gossiping with the girls and the boys, but yet again, it felt a bit surface-level. It was just not enough. In addition, I would love to see relationships bud between the islanders I didn’t interact with as much. It can’t be that mc is the only one who developed feelings for one other person - what about others? Why are they just extras? Why aren’t there bromances and romances and girlmances happening among the rest? We need those background friendships and couples who are genuinely in love to make it feel more realistic and more interesting and more fulfilling.

And of course, we can’t talk about s6 and not talk about family (insert a Dom Torreto gif). Introducing a twin to our mc was a risky move, but we’ll talk about that later. I’ll just say, family relationships are complicated and nuanced and their attempt at doing that kind of failed. Amelia could’ve been our saving grace, she could’ve been our confidant, she could’ve been our best friend. Or, she could’ve been our rival, our source of unresolved family drama, or at least our shared attempt at building bridges. We, on the other hand, got none of it. The twins seem neither close nor distant - they are just paid improv actors who pretend to like each other, but just don’t share any sentimentalities. I was hoping they’d tap into why they seem so estranged, but instead they just kept on talking about Zeph, which turned out to be the most worthless and meaningless plot point ever. They could’ve just made MC’s relationship with Amelia very close and non-problematic, that’d be so easy and lovely to have an instant bestie in the villa. Or, they could’ve let us shape our relationship through the choices MC makes - become closer or more distant or remain neutral - but instead, we got a very superficial relationship yet again, where Amelia is hopelessly desperate no matter what your choices are, and MC is deeply uninterested in what she has to say.

Recouplings: 4/10

It’s funny because I don’t actually have much to say about recouplings this time. Nothing extra disastrous happened, nothing drama worthy - just rather predictable. Yes, we could pick who we wanted, more or less, but at the same time, recouplings are a great way to stir the pot and we didn’t have that. Did the boys pick at least once? I can’t remember… And the way we had recouplings so close to each other in the beginning and then they barely meant anything in the end - meh. Also, I still don’t understand why we couldn’t couple up with Bella early on - she went first that one time and could have definitely picked us, but for some reason that was too much to allow for us…

Finale: 7/10

The finale did what it set out to do and checked off all the required boxes, so technically, I have nothing to complain about. We got the final dates, the prom prep, the speeches, the winners, the love or money, a spicy scene on the swings, and even a little lighthearted pranking moment with the girls that I enjoyed. I would have actually liked to see the afterparty this time because I truly loved the characters, but I guess it’s too many personalities for fusebox to handle at once. Fine. The final date was nothing special and didn’t differ from any other dates we had, although the overall vibe of the date was quite sweet, I can’t lie. The declarations of love were cute as well, we got to make things official, although no “l-bombs” were dropped, which is a little sad, if not disappointing. Massive bonus points for bringing back Hamish as the host - he is such a perfect showman, I think that was actually a great decision! He’s hilarious and no one takes him seriously and that added a lot of charm to the final, in my opinion.

Structure: 5.5/10

The structure of this season was so odd to me, I can’t lie. It just needed more volumes and more chapters to be better paced and to really take time with the storyline and all the twists they set up, give us the character development we deserve. The beginning started so well and promising, then everything was incredibly rushed, then Casa Amor happened - the best three volumes in my humble opinion, and then the plot just dragged on to the point where I just didn’t feel excited to play the episodes. The challenges were rushed and some were nonsensical, the recouplings oddly sprinkled throughout, gossiping around the villa was just weird, when we could’ve just asked the islanders concerned straight on. Though I loved Casa Amor, it also felt weird how we could go on dates during our time there or to the hideaway, and none of the challenges were done correctly either: the raunchy races were weird, and the beer pong not substantial enough, and the snogathon doesn’t really happen in casa. The beach huts are completely abandoned at this point, which I hate because it was one of my favorite things, but at least we had the hideaway this time and the box with spicy trinkets, so I’ll give them that. The finale hit all the necessary points, so that’s good I guess. I don’t know, I just want them to draw more inspiration from the show itself, I suppose, which they are not doing as much anymore.

Storyline: 5/10

Double Trouble. Amelia. Our beloved. Or beloathed - however you choose to look at it lol. Like I mentioned previously, giving us a twin was a risky move. I’m an only child who always wondered what it would be like to have a sibling, or a twin at that, so I was madly excited about this sibling plot line. On the other hand, again, like I said, families are complex and nuanced and are not always sunshine and rainbows. Much like the ex storyline, the family one could be just as triggering. Moreover, deciding MC’s identity and background story for us, the players, is far from a good choice. Even if we pretend it was done well, which it wasn’t, not everyone wants to have a sibling steal their thunder in the game where we are the main character. Not everyone identifies as a woman, but giving us an identical twin forces us to be so. You see where I’m going? The interactive game is becoming more and more of a visual novel and we are just living in that story instead of creating our own.

Overall, the storyline of the game was just not pushed enough, not elaborated enough, not drawn out enough. Of course, they’ve beaten to death the Grozzy thing, and the sister chats, and Tobelia, but everything else… Zeph - the most anticlimactic and useless plot point. Ozzy and Marshall - so much fuss and completely unrewarding resolution. The fake dumping plot twist - wasted potential. Casa Amor - no consequences. Movie night - I ran out of synonyms for “useless” and “wasted potential.” What saddens me is that they had so many interesting ideas and just did not see them through - they gave up too quickly, untwisting the twists too easily, which made the plot, yet again, superficial and a tad boring.

Writing: 4.5/10

I know I said I don’t like comparing, but I was replaying s4 at the same time as s6, and even though back then s4 felt like a downgrade, the difference in writing is humongous. With the speculations that fusebox is using AI to write their game, I feel like I could exactly point out to where it was written by a robot and where a human hand was involved. All the superficial, going in circles, love-bombing moments (which make up about 70% of the season) were definitely the product of a computer, but I think the moments where we learn something personal about our li was written by people. The first couple of volumes were written by people, when the characters still felt unique. Casa Amor islanders were written by people, I’ll stand by that because that’s where characters had the most charm. MC’s telling off moments were written by people, I am sure. But right as we got back to love bombing and all those “hey remember when *something superficial that happened before*” and every! time! a sentence! ended! with! exclamation! points! it all went back to AI. I wouldn’t say in general the writing got worse, but it didn’t exactly get better either. No raw animalistic NSFW display of passions happened, and the spicy scenes seemed a bit better this time, but as with what seems to be my main concern with the season, it felt very superficial a lot of the times.

Replayability: 4/10

Initially, when they’ve given us the illusion of branching routes, I was very excited to go back and replay for other characters, but I have since changed my mind. I lost any interest I may have had in Ozzy’s route, and I fell out of love with Jamal, who was my og li because they made him (and other og’s) boring. Knowing Elliot shares his route with Andy turned off any temptations I had for pursuing him either, especially because I like Andy more than any other character in s6. The girls routes? *sigh* I was curious about them, but not anymore, sadly. But you know what? Despite all that and my hatred for shared routes, I can see myself replaying this season. They’ve given me Andy, who has become one of my favorite (if not the favorite) li’s of all time and I would absolutely replay the game to relive his moments again. Plus, there’s so many scenes that I genuinely found funny that I’d play again to have a little laugh for myself. I can see s6 becoming a comfort season on par with s4 for me (at least the Casa Amor bits).

Overall Score: 6.2/10

This season had a lot of pressure on its shoulders - it had to convince us that things could be better than s5. Some people loved it, others - hated it, and as for me, it was okay. They tried to do better, I could tell, and maybe they were careful not push it too far for the sake of preserving whatever the thing that fans keep coming back for, yet not without making heaps of mistakes along the way. I think that’s the main problem with s6, it had an interesting cast, a fun premise, a promising start, curious twists - everything needed to pique our interest, and then they just didn’t use any of it to its full potential. I appreciate that we could have lovely, loyal li’s, and they’ve given us the best casa cast, they’ve given me Andy lol, and I definitely had a fair share of laughs throughout the game. I think after s5, Double Trouble felt refreshing, which created the illusion that it’s better. I’m not saying it’s much worse, not at all, but it’s positively mediocre, which I would still take over s5 every time.

Thank you for reading through this sheet of text, if you did! I’ll definitely be here for s7 because I don’t have that much respect for myself lol. And I’ll still be here in between the seasons - we have the fanfics to get through, don’t we? But until then,

Stay hydrated, islanders. xoxo

[ariainstars]

Red, White and Royal Blue: A Movie Like an English Waltz with a Kick

I had practically given up on watching stories about same-sex relationships some time ago; for a while, I thought the reason for my growing indifference was that not belonging to the LGBT+ community, I am not directly involved. It took me a while to realize that I was simply sick of watching stories with sad endings, good as they may be otherwise.

Same-sex love stories in my experience very often have a tragic ending, with the possible exception of the Netflix show Heartstopper, which is nice and interesting to watch without being overdramatic. Also, there were Beautiful Thing and Maurice, two enjoyable movies that most viewers today probably hardly remember. Despite their positive ending they are serious in tone however, not exactly fun.

Red, White and Royal Blue burst into my world catching me by surprise and all but sweeping me off my feet; I immediately fell in love with the movie and am fully on page with anyone who is already asking for a sequel.

First off, I must say that this is one of the few cases where I found the movie to be better than the novel. I read it after having watched the movie, but I could not bring myself to like the characters.

The novel is told from Alex’ point of view, so we never get to know Henry’s; and I got the impression of following a bunch of rich kids without regular lives and routines having fun being noisy and obnoxious when they’re not busy with wanting to save the world, all of them equipped with their personal therapists and consuming this or another substance. I found it heartbreaking that Henry had been in love with Alex for a long time, never hoping that his feelings could be requited; and it did not shed a good light on Alex that for a long time, he did not realize that being intimate with Henry felt so good because he was with someone who actually cared for him.

The tone and story development of the movie is different and, in my opinion, superior. These Alex and Henry are about ten years older than in the novel: the actors are neither groomed to look younger nor do they act like they were. These are two adults, grown men who know what they’re doing; the feelings between them deepen very quickly (in the book, for Alex at the beginning it seems to be nothing more than a cross between a diversion and a challenge); and they soon take responsibility for each other and their families respectively political surroundings.

Nothing shows this more than the airport scene where they actually exchange ring and key, contrarily to the book where Alex keeps the ring together with the key around his neck. His official speech after their forced coming-out was much more straightforward and convincing than in the book, and he had written it himself, not his sister; also early in the movie, the Texas campaign is his very own initiative, contrarily to the novel where his mother sets him up to do it. All of these are narrative choices which in my opinion make the story much more enticing and the characters more relatable.

The movie Red, White and Royal Blue lives largely from the chemistry between the two protagonists; there is playful banter between them and lots of fun scenes and quips that I looked for in the novel in vain. (Except for a few jokes at Philips’ expense, pitifully.) Even in their most intimate moments, there always seems to be a twinkle in their eyes; the teasing begins when they’re not even friends yet. Their happiness is joyful and carefree, not founded on the intensity of feelings of couples who know they will be torn apart. The movie’s tone is a perfect balance: funny without being silly; serious without being admonishing; romantic without being sappy.

Some well-known clichés obviously are all there: having to talk to one another due to being locked in a room, a first kiss while both are tipsy, the lover hiding in the closet, the intolerant parent (grandparent in this case), the understanding sister… Nevertheless, the story is fresh, well-paced and never boring.

In my personal view, this movie will be remembered as marking a break in the storytelling of same-sex relationships: light-footed, entertaining and touching. While the book is a self-indulgent fanfiction, the movie is in its tone, set-up and storyline for all intents and purposes a fairy tale, except that instead of a princess we have a prince.

One of the things I loved most was that in the end, the couple does not reunite in a castle or a similar luxurious environment, but that for their happy ending they leave their wealth behind and retire to a simple, comfortable home and an everyday life.

I had a smile on my face almost the entire time while watching this movie. And I hope there will be many more light-hearted movies and novels centered on same-sex relationships following this, instead of the usual heart-wrenching dramas. It’s high time.

[f1extras]

Annoying? Nah! I love to read the tags, it’s fascinating. Plus I’m that person who writes a novel in the tags 😂

I expected them to get along, Oscar is super chill and as you said Lando’s is literally everyone’s bestie in the paddock. Why wouldn’t they get along? Some delusional fans and the media tried to make us believe that Lando and Daniel didn’t get along and had this weird vibe around them. While they’re having the time of their life even now. Maybe the age difference made that partnership a little weird.

If I’m correct Lando mentioned in his very recent beyond the grid podcast that it’s good for the team that Oscar is hardworking because they both push the team and each other to be better, but also have respect for each other and that’s a healthy working environment right there.

Oscar would’ve been angry in Hungary when Lando got ahead after the pitstop yet he just keep his head down and continued. He knew that Lando was quicker so Lando would’ve overtaken him on track a few laps after. Team order could ruin their dynamic tho in the future but I think they’re both mature to handle the situation like champs.

Daniel got a win before Lando in a Mclaren and yet there is no bad blood between them. And I assume Lando would be genuinely happy for Oscar if that happens. He was there with the team smiling and celebrating Oscar’s second place finish in Spa while he didn’t have the easiest sprint. Also immediately went to him after the race to congratulate him. Respect is there between them and I adore it so much.

The team seems to be satisfied with both of their drivers and they’re being so loved and happy that matters to me the most. And I hope it stays like that.

It's true that Lando and Daniel seemed a bit off for the first couple of months but then they're two people with very different personalities, from different generations and at very diverse points in their careers, they just needed time. I think Daniel tried very hard to get closer to Lando but Lando is quite an introvert and he probably needs longer to trust people. Fortunately it all worked out at the end.

As you said Lando has mentioned several times that he's happy that Oscar is close to him because that pushes them both to be better, and also he's very happy because apparently their feedback for the engineers is quite similar and they like the same things in the car. That was one of the main problems of the past 2 years. Daniel and Lando have very different driving styles and they demanded different things to improve the car performance, so that drove engineers a bit crazy because you can't suit a car to opposite styles. They tried to meet a bit in the middle and that didn't help any of the drivers.

Lando was such a good sport in Spa but it's not a surprise, we've always seen him happy whenever his teammates do well. He even went to congratulate Lewis on his victory #100 in Sochi despite of being heartbroken for his victory loss. Oscar also seems to be that way, happy for Lando in Silverstone despite his podium being ruined by a badly-timed safety car. I hope next time they're celebrating a podium together.

It's great to see that healthy competition and I trust them to keep it that way, they seem mature enough for it.

[madama-noctule]

𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐈 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐀 𝐍𝐎𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐄 𝐒𝟐:

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN’T SEEN NETFLIX’S CASTLEVANIA NOCTURNE.

𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐈𝐅:

After finishing the series, I couldn’t help but feel there was so much more that they could have added/implemented. I DO like the series at the moment but I feel there can be some room for improvement - it has so much more potential.

___________________

NOCTURNE CRITICISM:

PROS:

- The animation was absolutely Gorgeous and I loved all the watercolour scenes - I thought that was a good touch. It still felt like I was watching Castlevania

- I adored the character designs - especially Drolta’s look. It’s a different take from the original series and it stands out a lot; it’s also one of my personal favourites. I loved seeing the different takes of characters as well.

- The music and soundtrack was just as good as ever. I especially loved hearing “Opposing bloodlines”.

- I like how some of the characters were written. However, they don’t come off as strong as the original. Regardless, they were okay and at the same time likeable.

I especially enjoyed most of the characters including Orlox and the newest: Edouard. Not forgetting to mention his lovely voice. He helps make scenes more emotional and come off stronger. I love the diversity and cultures Castlevania has to offer and has added; I love every single one of the characters. It’s so great to see all different beautiful cultures.

- I noticed along with some other friends that there were some popular anime references snuck into the show which I really liked. Although I don’t watch anime, it’s still pretty cool and fun to see!

- And of course the ending. I was over the moon when I saw Alucard appear again and it was the cherry on the top for me. At the same time, it was bitter sweet but at the same time I was sort of expecting it. He’s one of my favourite characters of all time so there’s nothing bad I want to say here. Definitely a cheeky but yet great way for engagement, for the die hard fans and Alucard-lovers ( such as yours truly). Something everyone can enjoy and look forward to.

CONS:

- The pacing wasn’t the best. I feel Nocturne was very rushed and the writers didn’t allow enough time for more character development and arcs.

For example Richter’s character development wasn’t all that. I wished he got more screen time as I also feel like 95% of the show is about Annette. Really in writing you’re supposed to show a character a lot of they have a significant impact in the story ( I know she’s a main character and all but what ties?) she is a great character and has her flaws she needs to overcome but I feel the writers are forgetting Richter is the star of the show. I know she’s a love interest and I don’t know if they’re trying to make the audience like her more by showing us more things about her but he barely got any screen time at all, in my opinion.

Another thing I’d like to add is Juste’s out-of-the-blue appearance. He just randomly appears for two episodes and we never see him again nor know where he went. Like what was the point? I assume he was a pillar for Richter’s development but so much more could have been done here! I know many fans like him as a character by himself and it’s quite a risky move to have 2 Belmonts in one show. His appearance was okay but I feel like it didn’t tie to the story very well. I felt like there could have been more episodes with the two to strengthen their bond.

Looking back at the main cast, I can understand why people are unhappy with Richter’s character. It’s okay to give a character weakness and trauma and they’ve done it well but what makes me laugh is how Annette mocks his PTSD. To be honest, Annette’s character has a lot of flaws. I get she’s supposed to be a strong female lead but she comes to him for help yet jeers and says he doesn’t need him? Also that blushing scene was well out of the blue and at a bad time. I do like her but she has so much more work needing to be done.

And when Richter got his powers back. Where was the climax for that? It felt very rushed and there was no build up AT ALL. Stuff like that would take time and building - it all felt too rushed. There wasn’t enough emotion and build up for that to happen. It happen far too quickly.

Maria was absolutely fine and I enjoyed the mother’s backstory, regardless.

I wasn’t too keen of the main villain. I like her design and how she ties to vampiric history and thought it was clever but what was her goal again? I feel like it’s another one of those they’re-just-evil cliches but that’s the worst way to write a villain. One of the main (and many) goals is to conquer the sun; which is cliche. Like why? What’s her backstory? Another thing that made me hesitant was that she’s an ( or a representation idk which) of an Egyptian God. Now I can see why some people can be upset about this. Some people out there worship deities and in some beliefs and religions, people can take offence. While I find it to be a different take, I still find it a bit lazy. I feel like Erzebet is portrayed as “ Big bad vampire goddess lady, be scared” but I’m not scared? I get most of the characters are afraid of her but I don’t feel like her presence is THAT impactful and worthy yet. Even Dracula and Carmilla had a better goal s and ones we can sympathise with. We understood what they did and why they did it. I’m afraid I’m just not warming up to her yet. It feels very bland to me and left very confused on her complicated lore.

OTHER NOTES:

I get many people are calling it woke. To be fair, Castlevania has always added religion as an opposing impact. The show tries to set the tone and story as historically accurate as they can, I’ve noticed.

People forget everyone was delusional back then and hyper-religious. Back then religions were taken more seriously and many people suffered more due to paranoia: take witch trials for example. Nocturne DOES stick to some important key elements of what the French Revolution was like back then ( of course the real life one had less vampires) but I do also like that as well.

I appreciate the attempt of twisting history with fiction but they need to be more careful. I still found it lazy and repetitive for a plot. I thought it was far too cliche and washed.

WHAT I WOULD SUGGEST:

If season 2 ever comes, here as my thoughts and things I would like to see:

- A slower storyline:

I get animation is a tedious process with all the story writing, composing, money etc ( I’m also an animation student myself). But I can wait a bit longer for so the series can get to its full glory. Good things come with time and less mistakes will be made.

- More humour:

This is what was missing. True, it does have some humour but the original feels less forced the some of the lines we receive. I would love to see more sarcasm and silly jokes like in the original. They need to have more fun.

- Trevor, Sypha and Alucard:

Now I know these characters are unfortunately long gone but I would like to perhaps see some scenes of the triofacing off against a threat which leads up to this series or just having a laugh for old times same. It would make more sense why Alucard is there, apart from another world threat. There is so much they can do here. Especially since Alucard is going to see a lot of his old friends on Richter. It would be nice for him to tell him more about his ancestors.

- Character improvement:

So, so much more can be done! The pacing hinders the story as a whole and makes the writing looks rushed, sloppy and confusing. Some of the characters were fine and would be fine kept the way there are but Richter definitely needs his times in the spotlight.

I feel like it should take more episodes for him to get his powers back and to fight the f antagonist. The other episodes can be revolved around him and him learning more about his past and on his self discovery; especially since he has ptsd. You can’t build a character on just that - it’s lazy and boring. He needs more wit and more experiences. He already has a weakness but how will he overcome it? Make Olrox tease him more maybe? Maybe throw him into more situations where he get triggers? Some people who suffer with mental illness would like a character to look up to and relate. Making him just have PTSD isn’t great character building at all. I can see where they’re trying to go with the build ups and that but it just isn’t working. Maybe Juste can also help him more? He needs more relevance than just “being there” have some Grandfather and Grandson time and hey maybe get Alucard involved to train him and shape him into the Belmont he’s supposed to be. Obviously he can’t be like Trevor and is his own character but he’s had very little scenes.

- Alucard:

Although it is highly unlikely and as much as I hate to say it but something drastic should happen to Alucard. He’s a very powerful character but why could he need Richter’s help? He literally took down one of the strongest antagonists in seconds when the others were struggling. Hopefully the tables turn and we see Richter save Alucard instead of the other way around.

- Erzebet development:

I feel her character needs a whole rewrite. She needs a better goal other than “conquering the sun” and “feeding”. Like why does she want to do that? Was she betrayed? Turned? Made that way? Or maybe just pure evil. She also needs more impact and scenes of where the characters are effected by her actions. I know she’s based of a real historical figure but making her a goddess or whatever seems very out of the blue. I feel even Drolta is a better written character than the actual villain.

Maybe Erzebet grew up poor herself and is taking advantage of the rich? Maybe she was promised something by someone and taking back what she is owed. Just making her evil isn’t executing enough. Hopefully we get more explanation in future.

- The “Wokeness”:

They can perhaps turn thing down a tad. I feel this series is revolved around god a bit too much and deities we don’t need. Also the Abbot doesn’t make much sense. I’m still confused why he’s doing what he does. I liked the twist with Maria but everything can’t just be “In the name of God”. Need to be a bit more imaginative.

I could go into more depth of what I would add but I could ramble forever. I’ve tried my best to list down the main things I’d do. Other than that I still enjoyed this series and felt S1 as more of an introduction.

————————-

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐝𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭. 𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥.

Other than that, I still tip my hat to everyone’s hard work and hopefully they can get the rest they’ve earned. I would love to see what happens next.

Thank you all for bringing back my beloved series 🖤🖤

[danbisroom]

Ep. 20 - Let’s Run Together, I’ll Be Your Oasis

Hello my beloved fellow souls,

welcome back to Danbi’s Room, your weekly dose of safe space. Go grab a cup of something warm and get yourself cosy.

I hope you’ve been well. I’m really sorry for my repeated and lengthy absence. In the past few weeks my life has shape-shifted quite a bit and my Sundays have been pretty hectic. I wasn’t in the mindset to hold safe space for you guys so I just went on a break. Now I am definitely on the way to be back on track, and I totally am on this platform, but with a slight change: Danbi’s Room is going to be moved permanently to Mondays. There are two main reasons for this decision: it’s easier for me to be consistent given my weekly routine; secondly, after all, Sunday is still Chan’s Room day, and in hopefully manifesting it will come back someday, I prefer switching to Monday. Maybe is out of respect, or also to differentiate, I don’t know, I’m just following my guts.

So, how have you felt the energies of this Solstice? It’s been two weeks now, so we’ve fully settled into the new season. The Sun is waning in the Boreal Emisphere and waxing in the Austral Emisphere. It’s a time of great changes and I hope you can welcome them all. We have a lot of resistances inside of us. I’m not talking about being strong and resilient, that’s always positive. What I’m referring to is everything which is frozen and tense in our heart: we’re immensely hurt by all of that, yet it is often too hard to acknowledge those wounds in the first place. Let alone loving them. Even more difficult to let them go. Or, better, to untangle them, to untie all of those knots. We’ve grown morbidly attached to these lumps and we’re terrified of letting them loose. What is going to happen? Will we be swept away by the avalanche of awareness the knots were safely holding in walls? We’re numb even to the physical pain at this point. It hurts but we quickly turn our attention away from the blades and the thorns tormenting our muscles, forcing them to an extreme, unnatural tension. I know, everything and anything might happen and that is far beyond terrifying. But I believe there’s a detail that might make it a bit more bearable. We automatically assume we’d have to let go of literally everything, leave all behind, untie all the knots at the same time and come out as a complete new and different person.

Pause.

Why the hell would you do that?

First and foremost, everybody has their own pace and they’re all equally valid. There’s no such a thing as the “right” pace. Even if you run slowly it’s fine. If you crawl it’s fine. If you’re still it’s fine. If you’re stuck it’s fine. This things all have their place in our personal paths. Most importantly, we’re still ourselves. We change, we shift, we find out new things and we rediscover others but it still us. And as diverse as the outcomes can be our steps are still all consequential. Even if we leap over a chasm, that leap is still after the step before. We can’t go and erase something just because. That’s unrealistic and noxious. Everybody has their own particular story. This means that there is a false narrative we can get rid of and we can be able to embrace the fact that we don’t have to abandon our post for something new. We have two hands: we can grab the new while still gently holding the old until we’re able to dance all together in a circle where we become all the same as one. The blur leaves space to the appearance of the oasis, oxygen comes back to our tired lungs and the going in and out, back and forth, inspiring and exhaling, composes a new melody. We go into each other’s heart to warm it up so it doesn’t ache anymore. And since we share the same dreams, if you’re tired, let me be your respirator.

Today’s song recommendation is Respirator by Han and Seungmin. It is about pain that takes your breath away, but that can be overcome together.

I hope you enjoyed this episode and that you have a beautiful week ahead of you!

I’ll see you in the next one, big hug!

With love, yours,

Danbi

[rhymeswithfart]

Hello hello! Just dropping in to say that your different Sonic SATAM verses are really really cool and your art is lovely! It’s so pretty! ;u;

I’m so interested in these verses now. I was wondering, do you have a story, or a comic, or a post about the lore of them? They’re just so neat I wanna know more! It’s so interesting!

Have a great day! :)

Thanks so much!!! 💖💖💖💖 I'm so glad you like it!

(I actually forget if I made an actual lore post with all the stuff in one place rip) my lore is also pretty disorganized for most stuff, I'm just doin whatever, but here's some of the more fleshed out lore I have.

The reverse aus mostly follow similar storyline points to canon, with diversions due to the characters having different personalities. The satam one is based on that plot point where Robotnik and Snively are the sole survivors of a space colony, while the Archie one is based on the overlander-mobian war thing.

Both Satam and Archie reverse have a bloody war (which Julian served in as a medic before becoming Minister of Medical Science) that ends in The Great Peace, ushered in by Jules Hedgehog. However the "peace" is only in name, as the empire of anti-King Acorn is fraught with oppression and state violence. The lower classes starve while being crushed under Acorn's brutal rule. Julian and Johnny, along with several other revolutionaries, succeed in overthrowing the tyrant, but the kingdom is thrown into turmoil in the process. Princess Alicia, (anti-Sally), takes this opportunity to throw her father into the Zone of Silence with the help of anti-Sonic (this happens later than Robotnik's coup in the canon universe).

The Suppression Squad (anti-FF) is either staging a coup, being mercenaries for whichever forces are fighting for power, or just being general troublemakers at this point. Anti-Sonic hasn't yet become known as Scourge. Julian retires from his position as minister and sets up his clinic. Johnny manages the security and more actively fights against any would-be tyrants/terrorists. He doesn't have the same code against violence as Julian.

As the Suppression Squad gets more violent powerful, and Scourge starts his conquest of Moebius in earnest, Johnny and Julian flee into the Great Forest and create a force-field that makes their encampment invisible to unwanted guests. They take refugees and injured people in.

Here's some of my reverse StC lore. It follows the "Ovi Kintobor was transformed into Doctor Robotnik in an accident" storyline, but it has Kintobor being part of a very suppressive, fascist ideology. Robotnik is the product of Kintobor's repressed kindness and compassion, things that Kintobor would see as weakness and treachery. The badniks (goodniks?) in this au are like ai life support systems and mobility devices for disabled Moebians, as well as protection from danger. They're like mech suits that protect their little buddies.

Reverse Sonic Underground is based on some of my conjecture about the ppl from the Six is a Crowd episode. Robotnik was once the music teacher for the triplets. Anti-Aleena ruled over a society similar to the "Great Peace" I described in Satam/Archie, where the upper classes thrived and the average citizen struggled in poverty. Robotnik was part of the lower class, and suffered from an ailment which he couldn't afford to have looked at (also lived in a dirty-ass apartment with nasty water and mold probably). Despite this, he did genuinely care about the triplets, even being closer to them as a parental figure than their mother. At some point, his illness caused him to develop necrosis in his arms and legs (or something I'm still figuring it out) and he had to have them all amputated, nearly dying in the process. Aleena arranged for him to have cybernetic limbs attached, and moved him out of his deathtrap apartment and into the palace. (that's the backstory and I'm still figuring out how they got to the point in the episode)

[perahn]

4, 10, 18, 19, 20 for Varash!

4. What hobbies does your Tav have? How did they acquire these interests?

Varash’s mother, Zhriinvar, is essentially a librarian (I haven’t quite worked out what they call it in gith, and how it differs, apart from deciding that not all the items in the library are books, in tir’su or otherwise; some are blocks of stone with memories psionically imprinted into them for others to experience. The oldest of these date back to the first years of the rebellion against the illithid). Varash reads a great deal and free ranging in a library led to other interests. The most important of these was her obsession with Faerûnian ecology – more of that at the proper question.

She is also a singer, in a way; I headcanon that githzerai music is both choral and highly abstract, so to hear her sing her part without the others would just sound weird and probably unpleasant. I think she’s interested in Alfira’s music but does not fundamentally get it – where are the other singers? why is a machine involved? and the scale/harmonies do not make sense to her ears.

10. What would your Tav consider to be their greatest skill? Is this accurate?

A trained will. Among the githzerai, she has received a little more training than most but isn’t anything very special. Out on the Prime, it’s very off-putting for her that not only does it not matter in quite the same way (Prime reality does not reshape itself solely in response to concentrated will) but mostly her companions grumble about how stubborn she is. Like it’s a bad thing.

She is not entirely wrong, but probably only because she sees everything else as governed by her will. Observation, memory, even compassion to a degree – they’re all aspects of what she wills to be.

18. What is your Tav’s greatest fear?

She’s basically living it during the game. Culturally there is nothing the githzerai fear more than to be slaves, again under the thrall of the illithids. She has a ghaik tadpole in her brain, a ghaik lying and manipulating her, and a ghaik abomination trying to destroy the world she loves. She has only the narrowest hope that she can do anything about any of it, and she fears that she and Lae’zel will not be able to kill the others and each other before they turn.

19. What is your Tav’s greatest desire?

To be whole, free of the parasite, and with Halsin in this beautiful world she left her own to explore.

20. What is your Tav’s greatest regret?

Hard to say! I’m not sure she really experiences regret, or would recognise it if she did. There are certainly aspects of the endgame that made her doubt that she had done the right thing, in a way she had probably never known before, but I don’t think it’s regret.

WELL I had to leave this overnight and I remembered one, although I haven’t quite decided yet whether it’s canon. In the game as I played it, Varash never found Halsin in the goblin camp. She killed off the leaders, scoured the place but somehow missed that one important door, and by the time I’d given up and found a guide, Halsin had rescued himself and gone home. I even think it was part of her initial respect for him, and the impression she received in the shadow-cursed lands of a person who knew what he needed to do and was 80% of the way there, but needed a little assistance over that last 20% - he needs someone to keep the portal open for him, not to do the research and the rescue; he needed someone to just get him enough of a diversion that he could get out.

But then he tells her about his captivity under the drow matron, and as she thinks about it later she thinks about how nobody came for him then, he just had to fight his way free when finally there was a diversion, and that the exact same thing happened in the goblin camp, and she – wishes she had found him, and decides that it will never happen again (Probably just as well that Orin took Lae’zel).

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

as a show-only (I'm NOT reading all that...yet), I'm curious what you think of the casting in the wheel of time show?

I can’t tell if it’s a direction thing as opposed to a fault of the casting but I found the main kids pretty bland compared to their book counterparts? I find book!rand very compelling! but he’s just kind of there in the show. similarly, matt, perrin, egwene and nynaeve feel incredibly subdued and lacking in the distinctiveness in their respective personalities to me. they’re kind of just generic protagonists?

I do LOVE how they cast all the aes sedai and the foresaken though.

rosamund pike is soooo good. and lan’s actor was such a galaxy brained choice. he’s fantastic!

suian had vaguely different vibes but I’m here for it. same with lanfear. I think the actress brought a lot to the table and made her way way more fun.

I love how much more diverse the cast is compared to the books! but I will say I feel that they shot themselves in the foot a couple times with like casting black actors specifically for a few storylines that ended up feeling like racial stereotypes? like the perrin wolf storyline and padan fain’s entire deal suffered from this I think? I wish they’d been a bit more careful

so all in all kind of a mixed bag imo but most of my personal faves were cast excellently!

[garuda4321]

Another Luminous post! This time, not story. Entirely solo dives and wonderings I now have. And I have discovered more tablets (and figured out how those blasted circles work!) so, just like last time, there are probably (undoubtedly) spoilers ahead.

Alright. So in some of the promo material, we were shown structures and ruins and icebergs and caves and all that. And having played more, I can confirm a lot more legendaries made it to Luminous than I had anticipated (still no Maga Tapa sadly, maybe he’ll be a UML? Doubtful but hey, I just wanna see him again outside of Manoa Lao).

Now, regarding biomes. I will admit, each square on the map seems to be a different tile set. This does provide variety but at some point you see some of them and no what is in it and where it all is. I don’t mind this personally, treasure isn’t always the same. Tablets… those seems to be the same and can be repeated in the same map, so that’s less fun. I’ll get to those in a bit though. Continuing on with these tiles, they are usually not the same ones touching one another. Sometimes they’re a single tile such as the “there is literally nothing but sand” one. Sometimes they’re a 2x2 segment (micro atoll, some rocky canyons, some kelp forests, and more). However, from the maps I’ve seen, there is usually one specific 5x5 area that is an entire biome. These are the ones I REALLY want to talk about as the 2x2 and 1x1 can be called most of the “normal” sea.

Frozen Sea. As you might guess, this is an iceberg area. Now you can simply travel under it and, yeah, there’s some stuff under it, crabs and small fish, but most stuff is either around it (dolphins and narwhals), but most is IN it. Dolphins, Greenland Sharks, Silverfish, Orcas, and more. There is even an ice cave inside this cave. Now, finding the entrance/exit… can take a while. I will admit I passed it twice before I found it. Overall a rather enjoyable segment.

Freshwater Caves. Another one where you do need to know where the entrance is. I’d say it’s an expansive network of caves except it isn’t. It’s more like the iceberg. You have an entrance, it dumps you into a larger interior, and there is a smaller cave inside. However, this biome is where you will find your catfish and other freshwater fish. So, all else being equal, it’s about the same as the frozen sea, just a slightly different tile set and species list. Still an enjoyable area though.

The Abyss. Haaa… I don’t like the abyss. Not because it’s a bad biome! I just don’t like being that deep with those creatures. Especially Praya Dubia… *shudder*. Anyways, ignoring that… THING… it’s a very diverse biome surprisingly for being at a depth of 180 meters. From the itsy bitsy critters (there are some TINY ones down there) all the way up to… THAT… there’s a bit for everyone here! Potentially even a Thanatos (I swear, had a dive site with 3 of him… so Threenatos?). This is a good moment for me to explain circles as this is where I figured them out. The circles are all the same, brown and interactable. They all tell you to return with a creature. In this specific case, it was to find the white insect that lived on the floor. A giant isopod. Simply find what is requested (giant isopod), hope you have the capacity for it, and then have the creature follow you to the circle and you’re done! Mystery solved! Future circles with the same thing will tell you that it’s already been done and what mystery it was. But yes, the abyss. Deep, dark, some creatures I don’t like and others I do, overall a very well done biome.

Last biome I’ve discovered (also possibly the last unique biome, can’t quite say yet). Ruins. The game calls it the Ancient Sea, and I understand why, but the ruins are just as important (more on that next with the tablets). Now, these ruins are likely old (as in at least ten thousand years). Now, the creatures we can discover here… that’s also the case. Definitely old. As in there are creatures that date back to the Devonian Period. (To save you the trouble, Devonian ended 359 million years ago and began 416 million years ago) Needless to say, there’s a lot of dinosaurs in this area! Plesiosaurs, Coelacanths, Nautiloids, and a LOT more. As someone that was once very knowledgeable with dinosaurs and such, WOW did I explore the daylights out of that place. The giant tower/lighthouse, the collapsed buildings, the stone boxes, all of it. This is my FAVORITE biome (yes it’s because it’s an ancient civilization inhabited by dinosaurs).

Time for the tablets! Now, I’ve discovered some of the tablets, definitely not all of them. There were a people before the Oannes (see previous Luminous post) called the Apkallu that created a massive lighthouse (think Tower of Babel height, the thing is and was massive). Now, there are other tablets about some God(?) named Ea. Ea created(?) everything(?) and then sent seven sages. I think I’m missing a tablet around here personally because the next logical one is that one of those seven left(?) or was unhappy(?). However, before the Apkallu became the Oannes, they left behind a “two pronged key”. Quick salvage note, the anchor coin is described as a two prong, so chances are this key was an anchor. Ridiculous, but not Okeanos protecting the Pacifica Treasure ridiculous (seriously, the only way to reach it is by swimming meaning it had to flood so you could reach it). Continuing, apparently the “foolish kings” saw the two pronged key as useless and salvage. Then the tower fell into the ocean because the Oannes were unable to control the power(??). As stated, I’m definitely missing some tablets and pages of this story. But it is intriguing! And it is reminiscent of the Okeanides, which is no surprise considering the amount of callbacks to Blue World (a model of Jean Eric’s boat, a birthday note to Oceanne, Daniel essentially being another GG, all the returning Blue World Legendaries).

Now with all that being said and done, there are still things I’m wondering about. Specifically the Dragon’s Eyes (salvage). Allegedly the rumor is that these are made from an actual dragon’s eye and that when you look at it it feels as if it’s looking back at you. I have three. How many eyes does this dragon have? How many dragons are there? Are they the singing dragon’s eyes? And why did this dragon have so much stuff? Statues, rings, even a coin!

Another one I wonder about, the philosopher’s stone. I’ve found two of them. How many did Nicholas Flamel create and why did they decide throwing them in the ocean was the best call in the long run? Did Dumbledore just request some student to take the stone and toss it into the ocean or something?

Alright, that’s the end of my ramblings. Gonna be fairly quiet next week (Destiny fans, don’t worry, I’ll still tell you the nightfall, raid, and dungeon) but expect to see more stuff after that! (Maybe I’ll remember to start taking pictures when I dive so I can actually show what I mean instead of a wall of text). And yes, there will be a lengthy post on UMLs (there seem to be quite a few of them), the completed tablets and circles, and the rest of the story.