#also!! this isn't meant to be some rude remark about the game

[ink-going-insane]

"Hey can I play Muse Dash?" "We have Muse Dash at home." Muse Dash at home:

[year2000electronics]

YEAH ABSOLUTELY! like i never think the toads are being actively malicious but i think a lot of people are absolutely right to dunk on certain toads for being rude as heck

not necessary.

NOT necessary.

SUPER NOT NECESSARY.

it was also on my mind since i played partners in time, you have a moment like this-

this is probably one of my favourite "teasing luigi" moments i think- it display the clear fact that people DO really like teasing luigi- e gadd and starlow similarly do that, and even bowser doesnt namedrop luigi in m&l until like. brothership i wanna say. and the toads here, they joke about luigi being a house-sitter but then you see they tell him they're just kidding and then give him a big ol' welcome back. i think it's a nice balance! i think that's a great way to have characters joke about luigi while still implying they, y'know, like him!

i think toads have always been meant to be these very comedic characters, the comic relief of various games- y'know, since they're plentiful and you can use 'em for any sort of bit-jokes, so that ends up making for a very witty type of species. and i think i like that! i think i wouldnt wanna lose it. but i think the bros do take a lot of verbal beatings from the toads as a result because of the culture clash but also just because the bros are honestly just too nice to shut em down. the toads are small and cute and that remark just slipped out so quickly itd just be a HASSLE to correct, right?

i do think the poor toads get a bad rap though. as much as there's this complicated question of what you consider "character actions" and what you consider "writer actions", but like. it's similar with starlow, right. when a lot of toads and starlow AND most of the slapstick comedy AND people like the baby versions of the bros ALL end up dunking on luigi, the more i'm inclined to be like "ok this isn't toads or starlow hating luigi, this is the writers thinking it's funny to be mean to luigi" so i cant be TOO mad at them (and i think its a little silly to go as extreme as being like 'IM GLAD OLLY TRIED TO DESTROY THE TOADS THEY ALL SUCK' or 'STARLOW LITERALLY HATES LUIGI I WANT HER CRUSHED INTO A PULP' but also there are some moments where im like. come on man. be nice.

SUPER DUPER NOT NECESSARY.

ANYWAYS. this has been my toad ramble!

Thinking about Bleck fam visiting Luigi in the Mushroom Kingdom. And how all of them would ON SIGHT anyone being mean to Luigi/Mr. L.

Mimi especially is like Trauma is Rated E for Everyone.

What’s also funny is like if it’s some of the Toads being rude… what are they gonna do about it? Go running to Mario or Peach about the “monsters” attacking them? Then having to explain to Mario this all started because they were being jerks to his little brother? To a friend of their Princess? Once they get more details?

HAHAHAHA personally, one of my headcanons on toad culture is that they have a different sense of what's polite/courteous compared to human culture, so being blunt/straightforward is their version of fondness (cos they won't lie to you like villains do! as such a 'powerless' species, they're always getting attacked by Liars yknow) so maybe all their luigi teasing is how they express their fondness for him, but, ah... WELL. IT CLEARLY DOESN'T ALWAYS TRANSLATE.

especially since team bleck's never met any toads before haha. culture shock

[wanderlustpeach]

Meant to be — bucky barnes.

PAIRING: bucky barnes x reader

SUMMARY: some people are meant to be, and some are not. theres never a inbetween.

WARNING: second guessing love, cheating/infidelity. 

WORD COUNT: 1.4k

[PART TWO] [MAIN MASTERLIST]

“He's the love of your life isn't he?"

"Yeah he is. He's just everything I'm looking for in a man." You sighed out glancing over at the man you called your boyfriend. The love of your life. Bucky barnes, the man that stole your heart. The man of the hour. The star of the show today.

It was his birthday.

"How old are you now old man?" You giggled, tapping on the shoulder of the birthday boy.

“one hundred six but whose counting. But you also know it's rude to ask someone age these days." He stated shaking his head glancing down at you, with his blue doe eyes with a smile gracing his pink plump lips.

“there he is! Bring him here!"

Glancing over at Bucky with a smile, " it seems you have been called upon my love. "

"No. Just plain and simple no. I don't do these things. I didn't even want to be here but u know how persistent tony is. could I really say no?"

"No buddy. I would just say get this over with the quicker the better for the both of us." Steve told him, with a grim look on his face. Sipping on his bourbon on ice.

"I never win do i."

"No now suck it up!" You laughed pushing bucky up to the stage with tony stood with his hands reached out, slowly grabbing it bucky climbed on stage. In front of staff and friend. He was the main star today. The main attraction.

"Today here, we have the almighty bucky barnes or former know as the winter soldier."

"I’ve retired front that name tony." Bucky cut in mid way through Tony's speech.

"Yeah, yeah what're ever anyways. We are here to celebrate his 106 birthday. He's kinda old if I say so." With the last remark tony pushed him off stage, " anyways back to me, I hope you all have an amazing party. Don't forget that I was the one who throw it."

"The one and only playboy millionaire tony starks."

As tony want on a rant about himself, you pulled bucky back to the small corner they once resided at was now filled with Natasha, Steve and Sam.

"Well isn't it the man of the hour." Sam taunted.

“Shut up bird brain.”

"Oh you want to go there. now do you." Sam antagonize ready to start problems. It was funny to him, to see Bucky all riled up. It was his own sweet medicine.

"Stop it Sam. not today." Steve told him jokingly, pushing his shoulder. Two people how act like they hate each other guts were attacked at the hip like no other.

"He started it." Bucky replied childishly, with his face scrunched up in a frown.

The hours flew by drink after drink, y/n was off her rocker. Quite out of it, as she clings onto for dear life. Scanning the room for her boyfriend.

"Where could he have gone." You breathlessly asked, looking around the room like a mad women. What man who let his significant other getting blackout drunk.

Overlooks the two couple in the corner making out, you slowly walked to your shared room. Never being the man and women a second glance. the man that looked oddly similarly to your boyfriend statuary and height. It couldn't be him or her. They would never do that to you. how could they, she’s your bestfriend.

Maybe it was your mind playing game with you, but the women looking oddly similar to Natasha. The women you called you your soul sister, the girl who break the fingers of you ex after he threatened to blackmail your nudes.

They couldn't do this to you. Could they?

As the night went on, bucky finally came to the room. Dazy and confused. Smelling of another's women perfume. A smell you couldn't wash from your brain. Vanilla, with a hint of musk.

"Hey baby." He smiled, staring down at you as you laid loosely across the bed you both shared.

"Where have you been?" You asked already knowing the answer, you had time to put it together. The smell, the bold red lipstick marks on his neck. Ones he didn't even try to cover before coming in the room. Like he was proud of his infidel. Like it was a long runny joke to him.

"I was with the boys. You know how they like to be." He reassure shrugging of his shirt, throwing it into the pile of clothes that was cascade across the floor in the corner of the room next to their three year anniversary photo.

Where did you go wrong? Was the sex, the clinginess, we're you to overbearing.

"come to sleep I missed you." you asked sadly overlooking, the pain u held in your throat as he bent down and kissed you with the lips, that touched another women. A women who wasn't you.

"Give me a moment. I have to take a shower, they boys really gave me a run for my money." He smiled shacking his head.

"Yeah the boys." you grimy said, looking above you at the ceiling, as a stray tear rolled down your cheek. Maybe just maybe this wasn't meant to be.

It's been weeks since the incident, you sweep it under the rug. With the false hope that thing would get better over time, maybe he would grow to love you like he used to. Maybe if his eyes didn't glow the way the used to at you, at Natasha. The women who acted like nothing happened between the two on the night of his birthday.

It was like they were playing you for the fool, the sneaky glances. The long touches and overly caring words for each other. It seemed like it was only them in the room.

Where did you go wrong, the million dollar questionnaire you replied in your head everyday.

"Hey bucky can we talk?" You asked as Steve was going over the strategy, with them. he had known had you been feeling, it seemed like he was the only one you could confided. The best friend of the man that was casually stomping out your heart, like it meant nothing to him.

"Can it wait for the second, we have t go over the plan." He irritating replied back, barely glancing up from the board.

"It's fine. I think it's best for your guys to talk." Steve pleaded , looking over at you with a smile grim smile. He knew what was coming, he could imagine all the drama and pain that was going to unfold in a the matter of a few minutes. To have yours and his world come crushing down at your feets. but who could blame you.

"Okay, let's talk then y/n."

"Some people aren't meant to be, maybe we aren't. maybe we aren't good for each other. " you cried out, moving out of his reach. He knew what was coming the moment you asked to speak, in a close off part of the tower. no cameras. no witnesses.

your were done, dried up. Tired, tired of grasping at something that was no longer yours.

"Doll we can work this out. I'll change. I promise." He cried out reaching for you. He couldn't loss you, it's was like losing a piece of himself.

"you can't fix what is already done. You cheated plain and simple. With the women you so called had a past with, the women who I called my best-friend." You screamed, shaking from the adrenaline rushing through you body, you had to leave you couldn't be here anymore. Not around him or her, who knows what could happen.

"it's for the better. Maybe we can work this out in a few years or months even. you need to fix yourself before we start being us again. "

"it's for the better." You whispered closing the door on the man you once called the love for your life. The man who claimed you were his world. the man who cheated, the one who stepped out the relationship.

maybe some people just aren't meant to be.

[itsclydebitches]

She's the kind to be like "i'll kill for you", it's all fun and games until she actually means and/or does it. I'm assuming it's the same if not similar in the books? it's just so annoying to see a character treat everyone, including the man she is supposed to be in love with like shit and have it just be "well that just makes her a good mum" like idk this kind of devotion isn't healthy for her or Ciri either.

I read a lot of posts all over talking about yen and why people do and don't like her and it's all "you have to get past the cold rude arrogant outside to learn deep down she does care", or there was this one said people take what she says as who she is over what she does, as if she isn't saying AND doing terrible things, but there was this other one that was "actions don't define you as a person" that was a fucking ride to read through.

Anyway I'm just kinda miffed cause I went in to this trying really hard and wanting to like yen but she's so unlikable it's crazy. Maybe if her first few scenes weren't her being rude to Geralt for no real reason (and that snark about him and amnesia like BRO??) there wouldve been something to build off? Idkkkk

tysm for letting me talk about this! there's still so much within the series to look at and I adore it. apart from some things lmao BUT as with everything, there'll be bits you really just hate I guess.

You kidding? I love chatting about all this! XD

From what I've read myself and encountered elsewhere (I've gotten a lot of snippets from the later books as fans post excerpts for various arguments) Yen is a bit more complex in the novels than she's presented in TW3, especially depending on which dialogue options you choose. I mean, it's eight books. There are absolutely moments where I've gone, "Oh yeah, that's cute/sensible/romantic/heroic/etc." of her. She'd have to be a pretty static character to have that much content and not produce those reactions at least some of the time. That being said... she's definitely too similar in the books for my taste. Really, Yen was going to be an issue for me from the start, just given how her and Geralt's meeting goes in "The Last Wish." Her cruelty, brainwashing, and nearly getting him killed aside - because let's be real, an enemies to lovers-esque dynamic can be great - the wish itself always tainted their interactions for me. Yeah, yeah, I understand the theme of Geralt choosing his family regardless of what destiny or magic might say about it... but that doesn't erase that they are ambiguously bound by some kind of magic. We can read Yen's "You've condemned yourself to me" as just a lack of self-confidence, Geralt's love remaining a true thing no matter what any genies might have to say about it, but I personally can't ignore the very real, in-world, magical influence here. Every time the books discuss how often they've split, cheated on each other, fought, betrayed... but deep down they were still meant for one another, I'm thinking, "Are they? Or is that just the magical wish keeping two incompatible people tethered?" We can read them finding joy in one another despite the magic as something beautiful, or something tragic because what other choice did they have? Given how central that rocky relationship is to our protagonist's characterization and how awful Yen can be in general, yeah, she's still an acquired taste lol. She does get better later on, but how better I think depends on how you perceive her attitude at the start. Idk if you're into My Hero Academia or not, but I often compare her to Bakugo. Those who were already inclined to excuse his behavior hail the amazing growth he undergoes; those who couldn't stand him from the start (me) find the comparative improvement to still equal a pretty unlikable person. They're both undoubtedly better... but if you're starting that low, "better" won't necessarily be enough.

Oof yeah, I've seen those threads lol. One of my favorites was a discussion about whether Yen was a "bitch" or not (it also doesn't help when conversations about her character devolve into generic accusations of misogyny) and there was a response to the effect of, "Just because she's cold, judgmental, makes cruel remarks, and doesn't listen to Geralt doesn't mean..." and it's like okay, so we're just supposed to ignore all those traits - bypass them - to reach a "Yen is actually a kind person" reading? I have trouble with that lol. Honestly, the majority of my respect goes to those who are just in their fandom corners with their John Mulaney voice going, "Yen is a bitch and I love her SO MUCH." Like yeah!! I love lots of mean, awful, bitchy characters too!! There's no need to bend over backwards trying to prove they're actually a uwu poor baby whose every action was justified (outside of, you know, fandom joking like the "I've done nothing wrong ever in my life" meme). But yeah, I WANT to like her too! I don't enjoy being a part of a franchise where such a core, prominent character is someone I don't like spending time with. Who would want that?? So I've given her so many tries since getting into Witcher... and it just never sticks for me. I tried in the comics too only to come across a panel where Geralt dreams of Yen, but isn't sure if it was an actual dream, or a magical vision where they literally met. Vesemir asks if Yen was kind to him and when he responds that she was, he's like, "It was a dream lol." And yeah, that's the characterization! Geralt knows he didn't actually meet with Yen because the real Yen wouldn't have been that nice to him. And it's not in a funny "My real lover ALWAYS teasingly insults me as an act of kindness!" way but a much more literal, "Yeeeaaah. Yen just isn't that nice a person most of the time" and the examples we can point to when she is kind don't outweigh/erase everything else for me. In TW3 at least, she's very much the kind of person who will, completely seriously, blame you for getting amnesia. And you know the best part? She had it too! Not only that, but she actually recovers her memories earlier than Geralt and never looked for him and you also learn in the second game that she had a relationship with another guy while trying to remember who she was... so the fact that she's pissed at Geralt for going through the exact same thing (not seeking her out/relationship with Triss - only Triss was actively seducing him, so) is just wild to me.

But yeah, TW3 is a MASSIVE game that deliberately plays with different choices and perspectives. To say nothing of its "Life is hard and people need to be harder" worldbuilding. It would be a miracle if we liked every single thing in it lol. Like, Blood and Wine is probably my favorite bit of gaming ever and yet I just fundamentally disagree with CDPR's idea of a happy ending there. For both the main questline and a particular side quest the game goes, "This one is the correct choice ;)" and I'm like, "Lol not to my mind I'll take one of the 'bad' endings thanks!" Yen is just another example of that. The game clearly wants us to like her - she and Geralt are canon in the source material - but giving us the ability to decide who Geralt is means that we might just go, "Nope. Sorry. This 'correct' choice is one I'm passing by."

[aienna]

I agree with the opinions of the Reddit posts. Although they have said everything much better than I ever could, I will do my best to rephrase their sentiments on why the depiction of racism with regards to Van Zieks is problematic.

Here are the biggest Reddit arguments, btw:

Spoilers for all of TGAA + TGAA2

I agree with you that it definitely makes no sense that Barok wouldn't be racist before meeting Genshin. However, the game doesn't seem to take that position. In G2-3, Van Zieks states that his hatred towards the Japanese comes from the Professor. In G2-4, after Van Zieks talks again about how his "hate festered" following his "betrayal" from Genshin, Ryunosuke responds with "And I can understand why, now that I know the history" implying through Ryunosuke that we are meant to take this as the reason why he hates Japanese people. The game, either on purpose or through not doing anything to clarify that he was always racist, sends the message that Barok's racism is a result of trauma, a message that's nonsense because, as you pointed out, it doesn't make sense for a young, sheltered, British noble to not harbor the racist sentiment of his culture. In addition, Barok would not have come to the conclusion that all Japanese people are treacherous and that he's entitled to treat them badly if he wasn't already racist.

Yes, the game absolutely should have shown Ryunosuke react to Barok's racism either out loud or through his inner thoughts. The fact that he had no response at all, not even in his head is strange. You'd think he would feel angry, disheartened, alienated, dehumanized, etc. Look to real-life victims like Soseki Natsume to see how victims react. Showing no reaction from him beyond "Hmm, I wonder why Van Zieks is a racist..." and "Yeah, I understand why you're racist :)" implicitly conveys the message that racism is an annoyance at worst that doesn't mentally affect its victims.

And Ryunosuke, while on the easygoing side, isn't a complete pushover. He's willing to stand up against the witnesses and jury, Herlock, Strongheart, Kazuma, etc. Hell, he even makes a couple snarky remarks at Barok, even though they didn't address the racism. There's no reason why Ryunosuke couldn't call Barok out.

There's also the matter of his vindictive trial conduct to consider. He prosecuted Soseki twice because he's Japanese and, in the second of the trials, implied twice that his previous acquittal was a mistake and fed lies to Shamspeare. The game never acknowledges this beyond him apologizing for his "discourtesies" as if his racism amounted to nothing more than being rude. It's possible to slam a character's actions while still portraying them sympathetically. Kazuma is an example of this.

In spite of all this, Ryunosuke ignores Barok's transgressions and goes out of his way to reach out and help Barok. This is what causes Barok to reconsider his racist views. This narrative also presents a problem as it positions Ryunosuke's actions of reaching out to a racist as the correct thing to do, when it's actually very damaging, at the very least mentally, to be in the presence of a bigot and the best thing for people in Ryu's situation to take care of their own safety. In addition, being "one of the good ones" doesn't always even "fix" racism and often causes the racist to think "you're not like them".

Overall, the game presents a romanticized, unrealistic version of racism where the racist's racism is sympathetic because it developed through trauma, where the victims are not very adversely affected, where the racist can be chanced if a victim shows unrealistic levels of patience and reaches out to the racist. This sells a message that is heavily biased in favor of the racist and severely undercuts the negative impact racism can have in favor of sympathizing with the racist.

And a lot of fans seem to buy it. Obviously, some fans are able to recognize that tragedy alone doesn't make a racist and that Ryunosuke's lack of reaction is strange, like you for instance. But how many times have you seen the sentiment that Van Zieks' racism is "realistic" or that the game portrays "historically accurate racism"? How many times have you seen fans undercut Barok's actions as "saying mean things"? The worst part of the message the game unintentionally sends is not that just it's false; it's that it's convincing.

I keep seeing numerous takes on Reddit of people thinking that Barok’s depiction of racism and his character development are rushed, a “colossal failure” and an insult (one finished their essay with “being patient with bigots is suicidial”).

I have half a mind to put black on white my unpopular opinion that everything in his backstory explains his mindset rather well and he is more than “Edgeworth but racist” :)

(I am a bit on the fence when it comes to Ryuu’s thoughts about him, I’ll give them that)