#also sorry for hating on so much i just do not invest in romance much at all

[copepods]

did the dsmp ship tierlist by @conarcoin ^_^

[notedchampagne]

Trick or Treat! I haven't read tlt yet, and I'm sure I would like it, but my pet peeve is that most of the "synopses" I see are basically just "lesbian necromancers in space!" and even the back of the book that I've seen just doesn't give me much of an idea of the plot? I'm sure I would like it, but it's hard to know what it's actually About 😔

treat. thats a similar gripe i have as well! i think its good for attracting an audience but it doesnt do much to get them hooked aside from "it has lesbians in it". if you want to get a genuine tlt fic rec from me i wrote this in goodreads. yes sorry i started a goodreads i just needed to keep track of what books i read:

the locked tomb series is about the horrors of love, the tragedy of relationships beyond romance, why codependency is not as fun as you think, the joy of sacrifices, how imperialism affects culture affects people affects imperialism, and most importantly: the humor of not knowing what the fuck is going on. i PROMISE you that tamsyn ties all of these together perfectly.

gideon the ninth is about the intimacy of hating someone youve known your whole life, the all-consuming desire to make something out of yourself and how it can destroy you if youre not careful, how no man is an island, and how you are not immune to propaganda. it is also a murder mystery. i ALSO promise tamsyn writes this all in efficiently.

throughout the series, muir's gimmick is choosing the person least equipped to narrate objectively: the points of view are opinionated, ignorant, humorous, and challenging to get through if you're someone that asks "can this PLEASE be explained now??" she sets up dominoes in seemingly random places at random times, and then knocks it all over in a beautiful cascade of information that makes you feel thrilled and sick. the series is incredibly rereadable from the layers of foreshadowing and theming between all three (soon to be four) books, but for your first run you HAVE to be patient. you HAVE to be willing to be entertained. the payoff of being invested in this series is glorious; it's red-string 'am i crazy' hype. i have a google doc listing off theme connections and details that i started for fun. the characters are MEAN, which i value with my life. gideon and harrowhark are 17 and 18 years old and they act like it: they're funny, theyre self-flagellating, theyre bitchy, theyre unreasonable, etc etc. every character flaw is consistent with their being.

my biggest gripes with the series is that the worldbuilding is too weak for what i can see it being and the memes can be a little niche. the setting and necromancy is moreso a tool for the characters, so theres a lot of beautiful tidbits and descriptions, but you're not going to get any rules or meta beyond surface-level aesthetics. personally, "lesbian necromancers in space" does not cut it for me. if you were raised catholic though, this book might strike a chord with you. if you were raised catholic AND you are a lesbian, youre the target audience. i hope you have fun YOU WILL LIKE THIS SERIES/BOOK IF YOU LIKE: tragedy, character juxtaposition, the teen butch struggle, the exploration of love and toxic dynamics, mystery, sci-fi written like a fantasy novel, catholic theming, death theming, enemies to lovers but worse, freaky white girls, dyke drama, lesbians that have problems bigger than dyke drama, swordfighting, character duos, morally gray characters YOU MIGHT NOT LIKE THIS BOOK/SERIES IF YOU DISLIKE: being confused, being left in the dark for too long, unreliable narrators, morally gray characters, loose/light worldbuilding

[infiniteetcetera]

Potentially controversial statement here but I swear this is not an attack just a genuine question: why do people assume Lucien will genuinely want/be heartbroken by Elain???

A point I see so often attacking Elain/defending Elucien is that Lucien has “been through too much to be heartbroken again” and “deserves happiness” and “SJM loves his character and wouldn’t just take his mate away” but like…why do we equate mates with happiness and Lucien with liking Elain at all??

Obviously, Lucien is far more willing to try out the bond than Elain is. We know he’s attracted to her physically (but let’s be fr she’s obviously attracted to him too, our fox boy is hot) but beyond that there’s like…nothing to it?? They don’t talk, he doesn’t know her particularly well, the time they spend together is awkward, and Elains initial impression on a lot of people is being simple/boring (I am NOT saying Elain actually is these things, just that’s the vibe she gives off to people as other characters have noted).

I think Lucien is definitely curious about Elain, he grew up believing a mating bond was this big powerful perfect thing and thought he lost his mate ages ago. Elain doesn’t make sense as a mate to him, which seems to make him all the more curious about her. I think there’s also a lot of guilt tied up between them too, we know Lucien feels bad about what he did to Feyre and how he was involved with what happened to the sisters. We also know Lucien is a well bred polite courtier of a man. All these things together make it seem perfectly reasonable why Lucien still tries to speak to Elain, buy her gifts, acts how one would expect a male to act with his mate, is put off by her cold shoulder, etc but I genuinely don’t believe he has real feelings for her beyond the bond (yetttt) because…literally how could he???

Again this really isn’t me hating on Elain, she’s lovely but a pretty private/complex character as well and Lucien doesn’t know her. I’ve seen so many posts lately about how “Lucien would be so crushed to know what happened on Solstice” or “Elain has to grovel for liking Azriel because it’s wrong” or even just the insinuation (which silly goofy characters like Rhys make themselves) that Lucien is ready to blood duel and start throwing hands for Elain and again I just REALLY DONT SEE IT. I think he’s curious about the bond and willing to see the whole mess through but Lucien really has no reason to want Elain any more than she wants him. I know apparently the bonds “effect the males more” or whatever but if Cassian’s ridiculous “I’ll let Rhys threaten my mate any day” self has taught us anything it’s that it’s reallyyyyyy not that simple.

I don’t know I just feel like there’s this weird babying of Lucien’s character I’ve seen a lot in the fandom recently that completely misunderstands him. Like our boy was spitting 10/10 rizz in the first book and gets called hot by 90% of the characters, he is not some underdog here. Elain is not above him and he really doesn’t need her. The love triangle is really more a fandom thing than some actual competition between the characters. Even if Azriel wasn’t involved Elain would still act the same way toward Lucien and I honestly think if he really wanted her/ if they had a connection prior to being told they are mates he’d be handling the situation differently. For now, I think people are assuming he’s a lot more invested than he actually is.

Obviously this is a romance series and there will be drama involving the Elain/Lucien/Azriel love triangle in the next book because that’s been what’s laid out, but if Elain just turned around and said “sorry respectfully I want someone else let’s break this bond” I really don’t think Lucien would be “heartbroken” or “crushed” over it. Again, there’s this whole weird “mating bonds drive males crazy” thing up in the air but I’ve failed to see any real examples in the ACOTAR universe that show me these bonds are a good thing so I’ll believe it when I see it🤧

IDK, overall I know this series is about the sisters but I love Lucien’s character so much and really want to see more of him (and believe there’s a lot to unravel there) and people threatening to not read the rest of the series if next book is Elriel because “Lucien’s been through enough” just seems silly to me because I think his happy ending has nothing to do with Elain. It might involve Elain, yes, but Lucien also has a father, a mother, and a brother out there who are all decent people that would love him which he hasn’t gotten to explore yet. I’m also convinced this man could pull any male or female in Prythian if he wanted so I don’t think just because she’s framed as his big love interest now Elain is his only option.

I know a lot of people feel strongly about their side of the love triangle but I just really want to see all these characters happy and think a lot of people are overthinking it😭 I think SJM has equal probability of making Elucien a great 10/10 ship and ruining their potential and making them Nessian 2.0 so I’m much more concerned with these characters being written well and getting a real happy ending than who that ending is with. I also think ACOTAR has been very limited in scope thus far and Lucien is one of the few characters with the possibly to break out of that mold and get us out of the night court for a bit (yes this is me once again asking for a Lucien TOD book😔✨) . He could still 100% wind up with Elain, but I really just don’t imagine the love triangle/build up to that being as dramatic as people think. Lucien and Az are both decent respectful males and as long as neither oversteps I really just see it coming down to what Elain wants and whatever her choice is I think both characters will respect it and be able to move on perfectly fine.

[diamondcitydarlin]

i think probably the worst part of the whole thing is that I just don't really care anymore, the investment I had at the end of season 1 just straight up no longer exists. no, it's not just bc a blorbo got killed off (and there's a lot of reasons to be angry about that), it's mainly bc most of the characters at this point feel like hollow shells of who they were a season ago, including the stede x ed pairing as a whole (which I really just don't care about anymore at all, sorry). and no it's not bc 'Izzy got all the development and there was no time for anyone else' like of course there was time for everyone else, provided that they hadn't opened the season on all those characters making 180 character changes with no real explanation, provided they hadn't overloaded the damn season with nonsense that goes nowhere. JimxOlu was my OTP after StedexEd in season one, both of them were some of my faves, and not only did neither of them even really resemble who they were in s1, their relationship which was of such great importance in the former just suddenly...is something else now. Not people in love, but 'friends who have fucked once lol' and are wingmen for each other now because...??? Oh but Jim's dating Archie who...*checks notes* was in a Snake Cult? I think? That's about all we get on her, apart from the fact that she likes making out with Jim I guess. And I guess Zheng can't just be a powerful woman character that exists in this narrative without a romance of her own, so let's just toss her together with Olu and never explore or explain that with any kind of depth. Jim has neither trust issues anymore nor do they have ANY interest or investment in their revenge scheme or the Siete Gallos (REMEMBER THAT PLOTLINE?? REMEMBER?? APPARENTLY THE WRITERS DON'T) they're just kind of goofy all the time now for no reason. Olu's leadership arc? His being a confidant to Stede? Where the fuck did any of that go? Are they all a polycule or are they all just separate couple friends? IDK WHO CARES THIS IS HOW IT IS NOW I GUESS. Like, why am I supposed to care about any of that? It doesn't even feel like the characters I watched before.

And StedexEd. Jfc there's so much to say that other people have said better but the constant bringing up of conflicts, breakups, and then immediately resolving those issues with heartfelt reunions/kissing as if that's supposed to be sufficient got really old for me after awhile. The lack of explaining how their 'whim-prone' romance to this point was bad, the lack of explaining how they reconcile their different goals was also bad, but oh they can just go RUN AN INN NOW! Yay happily ever after! ????? "Ed, you've got family" which he immediately leaves to go try another life path he's probably going to suck at and hate WOW so romance. Like either figure it out or break up for good, it just makes them an obnoxious toxic couple who never seem to communicate or bother to try but are supposed to be the one we love the most and are rooting for. And that sucks, because I loved them once! GARBAGE!

There's only so much blame one can put on external factors for this. I worked in production once, I edited scripts and was a go-between for notes and writers, and this is the exact kind of thing I would've felt compelled to point out; we only have x amount of time and x amount of episodes to properly tell these stories, we know this, so maybe lets be realistic about what we can fit in here and do justice and what we can't. Maybe let's not just throw every fucking thing we think of at the wall to see what sticks while completely ignoring/retconning character traits and stories we set up in season 1. But nah, that's what happened!

Like, what is there to watch for at this point if s3 gets greenlit? I fail to find anything that I'd care about seeing continued, even the peripheral characters like Frenchie and Wee John and Roach, whom I also loved before and still do but barely did anything, so I guess I can tune in to watch them do more of nothing? Idk man it sucks when it's not just 'wow that was bad I hope next season is better' but instead 'wow that was so boring and incohesive I have no more interest or emotional investment in this to continue'

[emptymasks]

so.. i sure feel like i invested a lot into a show just for them to not care in the end. and this isn't a 'wah they killed of my fave character so show bad'.

the pacing felt weird, right? i wonder if they wanted 10 episodes but the network only gave them 8? or maybe they just didn't know how to end the show. maybe they're scared they won't get a season 3 and so rushed the end of season 2?

but to build up izzy, to have him talk about belonging to something... only to have him die without anyone telling him they love him. yeah ed said they're family but like. the whole thing felt so sudden, from him being the one with richard to getting shot to dying and then to suddenly haha the silly guitar music is playing guys its funny joke time. like. ed was upset as izzy was dying but then it seemed at his burial that no one really cared. it would have been more impactful if his death had been the final scene of the season.

but wouldn't it have been much better to show izzy finding a family? to have him captain the revenge? to contrast with season 1 and how the crew hated him when he was in charge. to end season 2, end the show, with him captaining the crew and having their respect and their love?

because it really didn't feel like he died for the crew, for his family. because he push someone else out of the way to save them he just got outsmarted by richard (since when is izzy that stupid or not strong enough to hold onto a man?) and got shot. like idk you could have had him die protecting ed or stede or the crew. how on earth could izzy not hold onto a man who's physically weaker than him and how the hell did he let someone else grab his fucking gun. or wait im re-watching it looks like richard just.. grabbed a gun out of his own coat.. i.. did no one search this man and take his weapons off him.. what the fuck.. no im sorry there's no excuse that doesn't make sense for no one to have taken his weapons away that just seems like bad writing.

if you were going to kill him off he deserved a better death.

but he deserved a better ending than this. what's the point of him having this arc of finally caring about people if he dies and it seems no one really cared other than ed and fang?

omg i just read as i'm writing this that jenkins does have a plan for a season 3. okay so now it's only acceptable if con wanted to leave the show so they had to kill off izzy but they still should have done it better. have him fending off the english so the crew can escape. have him taking a bullet for ed. something that means something. omg.

and ed and stede... i don't feel like they're ready for this yet. the only way they should be living together is the end of the show. not the end of a season. they literally only just got back together they need time to grow together.

you really said its a show about people finding love and happiness and then killed off the queer disabled character who got to die while telling his abuser that he loved him. the ending feels like the show saying 'actually not everyone deserved love, if you were an izzy fan you were right to get hate' like. he deserved to be loved by the crew, to be told that they cared. but he didn't get that.

also um?? the crew dont love ed. he literally only just finished torturing them, some of them have ptsd and trauma from what he did to them, and even if they want to forgive him they certainly do not love him yet. they cared much more about you izzy than they did about ed.

and then to have him shot in the left side, the place that ed showed in season 1 was a 'safe place' to get injured i. what.

where the fuck was roach? just watching? not trying to help? does he either not care or not think it's worth trying to save him??

IM SORRY BUTTONS CAN TRANSFORM INTO A BIRD, AUNTIE CAN SURVIVE AN EXPLOSION, JACKIE AND SWEDE ARE IMMUNE TO POISON, BUT IZZY GETTING SHOT IN HIS LEFT SIDE UH OH THAT'S DEATH SORRY.

i love the crew, i love zheng. i like stede and ed's romance but they're never the reason i watched the show. but i found izzy's arc the most meaningful to me. and i. i really don't think i'm going to watch a season 3 if there is one. not just because izzy's not there, but that last episode just felt like they don't care or don't know how to write anymore in a way that i enjoy at least.

to see someone like izzy (who's backstory i thought we would get, at least who the ring belongs too that he wears around his neck but no okay) he disliked because he has to be, he doesn't know how to be soft and be loved or how to love others. to show that a person who has been hurt so much and built themself so hard and buried their real self so far below.. to see that person be able to find themself again, to love others, to let themself be loved, to others see who they are. that meant so much.

so much for this being a happy queer show. for a lot of people he felt like this representation of an older queer man who's just coming out of the closet, exploring himself, there's not another character like that. the disability representation with him this season i've seen has meant a lot of people. his arc isn't the same as any others and a lot of people have found something very personal to connect to in that and i think they have a right to be upset.

to say it makes sense for him to be killed off for the narrative because ed needed to let him go... sounds cruel? izzy is a person, he's not a narrative object to make ed feel better about himself. to have ed abuse izzy, physically abuse him, and then izzy's arc ending with him apologising as if it was his fault (yes he encouraged blackbeard, but please let's not victim blame, let's take male victims of abuse seriously) and saying he still loved ed i just..

to say it makes sense narratively for him to get killed off for other reasons i don't fully disagree, but i think it was too soon, and i think at least it should have been in a way that made sense like him protecting the crew, not allowing richard to STILL HAVE HIS GUN ON HIM DID NO ONE CONFISCATE HIS WEAPONS?? or did he take izzy's gun in which case HOW how would izzy allow richard to take his gun. he's smart and a capable fighter what is this.

i saw someone else say izzy's death had no meaning and no consequence. and they're right. the crew moved on straight away and forgot about him (apart from fang, shout out to fang), and seemed like they didn't care. they aren't seeking revenge. they aren't angry. so it's for.. ed and stede to get together? izzy deserves more than that. and they could have still gotten together anyway... if it's for ed to move on then fuck that. an abuser doesn't get to move on from the abuse he caused because his victim fucking died.

i'd been looking forward to this episode all week after i really terrible week and well. should have known nothing this week was going to plan.

[titsthedamnseason]

cobalt empire couples ranking by most anticipated???

also do you read any ce fics on ao3?

hmmmm interesting and super hard to say. weirdly eliot or beckett are maybe my most anticipated.

i LOVE eliot’s trope and this is the first TRUE forbidden love story we will see from kbr (they have sort of claimed to have done it in the past but i think this is the most authentically polarized couple they have done. like yes raisy and marrow were sort of forbidden and so were all the bodyguards technically but eliot and winnifred are straight up ENEMIES their families will be RAGING and the DRAMA i will be living for it)

and beckett i’m really excited for because i love him but we dont get to see that much of him in other books. he is super private and busy and of course we should have seen him way more in sulli’s books but i’ve already ranted enough about that for a lifetime. i also love his initial set up with BOTH jo and leo and am happy kbr are writing another poly romance. i simply wasn’t invested in kitsuletti but i ship beckettjoleo (i know they have a better ship name that im simply too tired to remember rn) way more off the bat and since i liked sulli’s books more on the reread im hopeful im going to have a better reading experience this time. poly rep is super important but also way oversexualized so im super curious to see how they handle it and how ill like it this time around

next is probably ben. you may know but i used to be a harriet HATER until my recent reread of luna’s books and then i realized im just a miserable human and i gave her a makeover in my head bc kbr gave her a fugly style and now i recognize the queen that she is. super excited to see ben’s dynamics with his family firsthand and see how him bringing a girlfriend into the fold will go down

begrudgingly i will put charlie next. we all know i have a love hate relationship with this man but i can’t deny that makes me want to read his book so maybe i finally decide one way or the other. or maybe im just meant to have complicated feelings about this character forever idk. but i also know ill enjoy reading charlie and beckett’s twin bond, his dynamic with his parents, his relationship with ben, and whatever drama him and roxanne will cause with beckett (this plot line is a little confusing to me tbh but i want to see how it unfolds. like high key why does beckett even care i feel like the protectiveness they are setting up is baseless and will fizzle out quickly but im curious regardless)

audrey next because MY GIRL!! she shouldn’t be this low but in fairness we don’t even know WHO she will be with so there’s not much to anticipate 😭 but it does make me strongly wonder who her love interest will be and i love when hopeless romantic characters get their happily ever after bc im cheesy like that

sorry to tom i have no idea why im not invested in the threads kbr have been laying out for him but hopefully that will change. adore him as a character but his trope / storyline hasn’t hooked me so far and tbh i think phoenix is a bad name i wish the love interest was called something different LMAO

sorry that you asked for a simple ranking and i wrote a full essay we all know i can’t be normal about kbr books but i numbered my ramblings for you to make it easier to read (and of course by “read,” i do mean “skip”)

and as for the fic - nooooo i didn’t even know such a thing existed tbh. the last time i checked for addicted / like us fics years ago out of pure curiosity there were like 3 lol. truthfully i likely will never read any. i never ever read fic for a series or couple that is unreleased because it almost always ruins the reading experience for me / i have very little desire to and would much prefer to wait for the real thing. with kbr books in particular i have never felt the need to seek out fanfic because they write so much fan service already (this is usually a diss but i mean it as purely a compliment. they write SUCH entertaining scenes that you could only find in fanfic for any other fandom) and since i have their patreon that is so much bonus content i would never dream of needing more. their stuff is already perfectly written and has such high reread value that ive never felt the need to look for something extra that i felt was lacking from my reading experience

[mikuni14]

The Sign - Ep 1

Ok, but The Sign has everything I like (at least for now):

coherent plot

good pacing and editing

good acting

great chemistry, relationship, interactions, scenes of the main couple

the actors and the plot sell me the romance

I support the main couple, I am so invested in their romance and story

both main actors and both characters are EQUALLY interesting and attractive to me, this is unfortunately very rare in my case

novelty of the story, unusual for BL series main couple, more reminiscent of Manner of Death than traditional BL

authentic, effortless sexiness of the romance, scenes, characters and actors

very good side characters

a well-shown "men's world" with everything: competition, proving one's worth and masculinity, cockiness, silly conversations, jokes about sex, making fun of each other, but also brotherly bonds and supporting each other

already in the first episode we have so much of good stuff: a romance between interesting guys, a whole lot of other relationships, a truly repulsive villain, a murder, mystery and fantasy. As if the series was specially created for me 😍

good balance between fun, humor, silly tropes like falling with a kiss or running away holding hands 😆, and serious scenes. The funny scenes don't overshadow/ruin the serious scenes, which unfortunately happens all the fucking time in other series

this is the third series recently with virginity discussed and the first in which a person who has not yet had a sexual debut is 1) not forced to do so, 2) not ridiculed, comments are limited to light teasing, 3) Tharn is simply asked about it and he has a chance to say why and is heard without judgment

I like literally everything

Chart is an extremely bad character, at first I hated him because I was programmed that way by ThanType. But no, he deserves complete contempt, and no Tharn, he is not a good cop and never will be, this man should be eliminated from the cop selection at this stage, he will get people killed.

Did the murder actually happen? Is this maybe one of the training sessions like we thought they were actually freeing the hostage at the beginning of the episode? 🤔🤡

Anyway, give me Billy, an equally lovely and cool actor to match, a compelling love story, a water dragon and I'll be fed with it for weeks. (also, the scene in the bathroom when Tharn reacts to Phaya's voice, the hug from behind is, I'm sorry, I don't want to offend fans of other series at all! but it is hotter than other high-heat series currently airing. Heh! even the way Tharn looks at Phaya's hand on his shoulder was hotter to me than the entire last episode of Playboyy, sorry, it's not a diss, Playboyy is fun! but, well, that's just how I feel 😉)

This is my fav series currently airing 💖💖💖💖💖

[thegeminisage]

ok, i'm getting behind on ym star trek updates. last sunday we watched ds9's "sanctuary" and tng's "parallels," monday we watched ds9's "rivals" and tng's "the pegasus" (out of order!!! ��) and last night we watched ds9's "the alternate" and tng's "homeward." we were supposed to do "rivals" and "the alternate" monday, and then the "pegasus" and "homeward" last night and i really wish we had bc i was not in the correct headspace to really enjoy the alternate but that's what i get for forgetting to check my spreadsheet!! ANYWAY.

sanctuary (ds9):

i love sisko in this episode. he has the same vibe w his subordinates as he does with jake, that he will back them up even if they're breaking rules but also when kira didn't do her homework he does have to lay down the law a little bit. lovingly, but he does. and since he never does it w/o a reason and w/o compassion nobody really minds

i'm sorry but the reverse sexism was really funny. thank you 90s tv for being brave. especially with her having multiple husbands. get it girl

kira and haneek should have explored each others bodies also

quark picking up the nephew like yeah hes gonna do it again. poor odo

literally it was such a good little conundrum bc all the logical reasons they gave for bajor not being able to support more people were like correct or whatever BUT THEY WERE FARMERS. you get the idea they really could have helped and that kid didn't have to die but inherent, knee-jerk suspicion of new/foreign people just got in the way in both cases. like you had the solution right there!! unfortunately, as we know, people

why is it ALWAYS kira's episodes that go this hard also. it's always like "here's a thing about the complex and ugly truth of the human(oid) nature and how we just have to live with ourselves" and every time it pops off

parallels (tng):

we were just saying "there's no ways tng would have the pussy to do something like this" when tng came on and also was really good

first of all, my worf e deanna DREAMS are coming true. sorry to the actors ik they hated it but i know in my heart worf e riker e deanna is real..............

i read the episode summary for this one but it said AMNESIA not WORF SWITCHING REALITIES. so i had fun going wait the cake WAS chocolate earlier and being gaslit along with worf

his little surprise party hat. please.

i didnt notice data's eyes being blue at the time but going back and looking at the pics is WILD

my baby boy wesley crusher was there also........i missed him sm

the universe worf left was crazy. picard dead, geordi dead, deanna forever without her husband...jesus christ

but my FAVORITE part (aside from the romance) was the bit there the zillion enterprises showed up and the crazy borg-hunted riker was like NO NO WE'LL NEVER GO BACK girl i was like oh but i wanna see inside those other enterprises! actually no i didn't

worf finding out deanna began having the potential to develop feelings for him after the ritual suicide thing and then IMMEDIATELY turning around to seduce her when he got back to his universe...so true. i would have done the same thing. i know he's gonna get w dax later and deanna will eventually marry riker so he's GONNA fumble it but don't fumble it!!!

rivals (ds9):

have only seen princess bridge 1 time when i was a teenager so i was not able to enjoy the biggest appeal of this episode rip

actually i thought the a plot of this episode kind of sucked ass. i didn't find the conman particularly funny or charming but i also didn't hate him enough to get invested in his downfall. also, it was so stupid that he took that machine when the guy explained that it had literally killed him............like, girl, are you stupid? obviously ds9 can save it with endearing characters and like, Acting, but i wasn't having much fun with it

i DID love the obrien bashir racketball matches though. first of all the fact that luck decided who won and not actual skill and no we'll never know...but secondly, bashir like Oh No I'm Going To Kill Him With Tennis. like, my guy, you could have just showed off less out of the gate. it went against his twink instincts though

keiko's go-get-em-tiger was really good. he would have won anyway i just know it

quark trying to DRUG A DOCTOR. his audacity truly knows no bounds. i hope those orphans got their blankets

i do like also that when they figured out the matches had been rigged they weren't even mad about it, they were both just curious and trying to experiment. i love when obrien and bashir hang out it's really great

the pegasus (tng):

TNG HAD PUSSY TWO EPISODES IN A ROW EVEN

picard day really good. yes. be miserable. i love riker getting to dunk on him

i really really REALLY enjoyed riker's energy when his old captain came aboard. jonathan frakes isn't the most technically accomplished actor on that cast, but he does such a fantastic job with that shift - riker is normally such an easygoing, funny, down to clown guy that whenever he gets :| you notice RIGHT away. episodes where he gets to be serious and angry wouldn't work if he got them all the time (though my lament for tng is that we don't get character stuff more often...), but BECAUSE they're rare, even a little too rare, you take notice all the more

i wish we had gotten to see riker sparring with worf <3

argument between riker and picard was FUNNNN i don't like picard but i DO like it when sir patrick stewart acts and i think him being on his game and jonathan frakes also being on his game was wonderful. first of all, i love it when they say the m-word, and secondly, riker grinding his teeth because he WANTS to tell and all his instincts are screaming at him to tell and he CAN'T because his loyalties are divided or whatever...delicious.

beaming aboard the ship frozen in rock with the perfectly preserved bodies. mwah. dead bodies won't even age. i know it was a budget thing and space probably wouldn't really keep them from decomposing THAT well but it quite literally took riker back to the scene of the crime and he was like yeah no i'm not having it. GOOD for him.

bonus when riker gets locked into the brig <3

the alternate (ds9):

ODO...................................

i recognized the scientist by his hair!!! he mentioned before he copied it from him

dr mora die challenge. it's not exactly that he "abused" odo in the traditional sense but he did put him in a cage, and he dehumanized him with his experiments, and every single word out of his mouth was either dehumanizing or patronizing. i love how quick they both were to correct the assumption about this guy being odo's dad - like yeah maybe an adoptive dad in a way but odo wasn't a "child" he was just so different from humanoids he had to figure out communication from scratch

like, this mf commenting on odo not having gotten the ears, or like wow you can tell what emotions people are displaying just by looking! say that again to my face i'll kill you.

dax was so weird in this episode. i kept wondering if she was possessed or something because she showed up out of nowhere and offered to buy drinks with bashir and said something about the pillar being moved. a red herring which was perhaps unintentional but unsettling nonetheless. her personality is still fluctuating a lot - at times she's prissy and at other times she's just one of the guys! but at least now she has one, from time to time. not in this episode though

i felt. SO BAD for that little life form they kidnapped. you suffocated it to death :(

i also felt terrible for odo. firstly, he deserves to kill that guy. secondly, how humiliating for him to be seen in goop form by half the station...he doesn't like being seen like that :(

i still blame dr mora though for basically triggering that last transformation...i was so mad at the end when odo was like yeah we can reconcile :) like i get loving the people who "raised" you even when they "abused" you but this wasn't quite that. i wish we had got more of a sense of them having, at any point, actually ever liked working together to solve the mysteries of shape shifters. i looked him up on imdb though and he DOES come back so maybe better luck next time

homeward (tng):

i fucking hated this episode.

firstly, who brought worf to his parents? i thought it was their adult son who was in starfleet, but was it worf's dad who brought him home? cuz this guy is worf's age and was not officially in starfleet...

secondly, there should be a clause in the prime directive about "if everybody is about to die save them with the least interference possible." i get that that runs the risk of like, being written down in their bible as jesus and altering their culture, but the idea that the culture is better off totally annihilated than altered is a little bit missing the forest for the trees. like, putting those machines on the planet in the first place would have been WAY less inference than having worf and his brother lead them to safety.

ALSO, I CANNOT BELIEVE WORF'S BROTHER KNOCKED THAT WOMAN UP. like, this kid is not gonna pop out of the womb with his surgical alterations!!

also, that guy who killed himself didn't get his special document delivered back to his people...worf KEPT IT as a souvenir? one of the only surviving documents from their old culture??

furthermore, his brother did not "won up to responsibility" by staying with those people. he's further contaminating their culture with his outside influence including the HALF HUMAN BABY and since he's marooned there he will never see his parents or brother ever again. because he got the awooga eyes. like, yes, he saved them when starfleet (picard in particular) were being horrible, but also, he didn't save their culture even a little bit, and he's lying to himself if he thinks he did. and WE COULD HAVE SAVED THEIR CULTURE WITH THE MACHINES. that was so much lower risk...................

redeeming factor of this episode was that worf is HANDSOME under all that klingon makeup. like i knew he was attractive because i've seen like headshots online but i like never saw him moving his face and acting without it. he's actually really expressive..........why do you hire a man this beautiful and then put him under all of that. like he's absolutely stunning i was so shocked

TONIGHT: ds9's "armageddon game" and tng's "sub rosa," which i have seen celebrated online for some reason? something about sexy ghosts??

[remnant-verse-if]

Ahhhh.... so I read the update for before the incident....

Not that I wanted to... but I kinda had to choice because you forced me to by updating the damn thing 😑

I have aloot to say so welcome to a rant! 😏

1. I loved the update. Reluctantly so.

No seriously I really realllly reallllly enjoyed it!

2. And it was so long!

3. I loved the fact that you actually referenced A if you confessed and having guilt when it comes to picking any romance options.

4. Lots of action and The flashback with MC and A in high school was actually so great and I love the lore.

5. Love how MC and literally just be a vengeful little goblin.. it's alil scary but I like it.

6. I adore your humor in certain passages and the fact that MC doesn't just go along with everything but questions things.

7. I actually like Syo and tenth so much the dynamic between them is very sibling like.

8. Being told I'm not a rebound was tough. 🤦🏻‍♀️

9. I kinda am hugely crushing on H tho knowing you they are gonna be a villain and I'm gonna hate it 😑🙄

10. That dream about A was too sad..why the hell would you do that 😭

All in all this game is becoming a bit of me. I really do love your writing and I enjoy it more with each update. It almost makes up for the trauma you put me through losing A and then making me sad with each flashback with them.

I do have one question tho:

Is it at all a possibility to have a bit of unintentional romance? Like an obliviousish MC. Gentle touches, weird connection, very much in denial we are just friends/i dont care/antagonistic type MC. Not even noticing they are even falling inlove or care about anyone especially the MC that confessed to A. Because they aren't ready to move on, they don't intend to fall for anyone. It just happens.

I get that the shyish MC options when you aren't boldly flirting especially again if you confessed to A or they confessed to you are there. But to me that's more of an MC that just wants to move on, rebound as you said it that just wants to kind of forget. And throw themselves into someone else to help them heal leading them to actually caring for real. Some of those options like asking H out just screams let me see if I can pretend none of this happened and feeling guilty about it. Because asking out someone to dinner like right after they died seems kinda.. like it's a bit quick. Same with the Shy 💜 options with syo. Which is why it actually perfectly screams rebound vibes and where ROs would be rightly cautious to get involved with a still grieving MC that romanced A.

This is all just my opinion tho so if not I completely get it. I just had that thought. But thank you for the really great update and sorry this is so long. Like I said when I like something I tend to over analyze it 😅🤣♥️

Ooo, I'm really happy that you're invested in this IF! It shows me that it's worth working on 😁😁

It's good that you like the new characters! I'm also happy that you appreciate the extra effort I went through to add extra lines if you romanced A and then tried to flirt with someone else. It just felt right to include because it would be super jarring if the MC just moved on without acknowledging their past relationship. It was kinda satisfying writing a character calling out the MC about the rebound thing haha 😁

I'm surprised about your point 4. I thought it was minimal action since I only included one fight in the update which is much less compared to my other IF. Although, I definitely approached fights a lot more intelligently when I was writing this IF.

For your point 5, all I can say is that the journey will be as arduous as the other MC in Remnant 21 : V

For your point 6, I'm surprised you caught that. It was an additional scene I added since I wanted the MC to go to the fog, but ended up in the haunted house. At first, I planned to make the MC just go with it, but then I thought it would be nice to add a little friction with MC and Syo. Good eye!

Me reading point 9: 🌝

For your point 10, the angst has to be there 😔😔😔

As for your long question, that would be interesting to explore (Where an MC slowly realizes they are falling for someone). I would say there's a possible chance for a character to do this. Probably not all the ROs would have this option, but maybe one or two. Like a choice with [❤ ?] next to the option. That would be interesting.

As for your mention of H's date offer, I realized I should have probably changed it to lunch rather than dinner. I forgot the implications of dinner vs. lunch in that context :V I definitely will change that to lunch!

Thank you again for reading my story! Do not worry about sending long asks, it shows me that you're invested in my story which I really appreciate ❤ Not only that, it's nice that you caught all the small little details I added to the story. I hope you enjoy the next update in the future!

[yuukei-yikes]

It’s me back in the ask box again for another super important question:

What “cringe” fandoms would the mekadan have been into as kids. Like we know Marry was a black butler girlie but I need to know the rest. Who was deeply invested in the fnaf lore, who was cosplaying as homestuck trolls, who was shipping creepypastas. I am desperate for answers only you can provide.

EXCELENT question. i ADORE this question.

ayano is into homestuck. used to role play warrior cats. loves the marvel cinematic universe, and just any superhero comic book stuff in general. canonically into jojo.

kido's is BANDS. specifically bands considered emo back in 2013 or something. my chemical romance. blink 189. black veil brides. that was their shit. also im sorry but they were a superwholock. sorryyyyyy i also think they'd be into medical dramas like grey's anatomy and dr house LMAO

i dont think seto did or does fandoms. i think seto goes outside too much. he's the only one who has no idea what being in a fandom is like, also the least online definitely (I'll get to mary)

kano would be into youtubers/celebrities. he's so into celebrity gossip it's impossible to talk to him he knows of names youve never even heard of.

like u said mary is a black butler girlie but i guess she could like other mangas... i also think she'd watch medical dramas with kido. BUT she doesnt internet so she has no idea about any of it she just lore dumps everyone instead about any book she's reading. she finds out black butler is actually animated and forces everyone to sit down and watch it with her

momo was the one shipping creepypastas btw. i also think she's a sims girlie she's obsessed with its lore and loves making ocs in there and ends up obsessed with her own sims families (commissions haruka a bunch)

shintaro is into magical girls animes. like any of them. but i also think he'd like some popular cartoons like steven universe LOLLL he was probably furiously defending pearl online. also i think he used to make youtube poops and sparta remixes when he was like 14

haruka and takane are the fnaf lore guys especially haruka i seriously think he arrives to school one day after he stayed up all night watching fnaf lore videos and told takane all about it. they're the ones lining up for the movie rn. they also probably roleplayed undertale together in highschool. also i think takane likes analog horror which is horrible for haruka bc i think he hates horror but he's also weirdly fascinated by it so he's watching through his fingers anything takane puts on lol. they tend to share their fandoms especially in hs because haruka was furiously googling anything takane mentioned to have conversation topics with her

hiyori's obviously into idols. i think like kido she loves bands too but she's from the directioner bts stan vibes. and hibiya i LOVE to make jokes abt him being into whatever 12 year olds are into (fortnite, among us, fnaf) and seriously i do love that and i think gamer hibiya is possible with the power of him making the effort to learn to use his phone and the internet bc all his friends live far away and in the process learns abt all that. but before that he was like seto he has no idea what it feels like to be in a fandom and cannot understand hiyori's visions. he's still not SUPER online though

i loved this question. more questions like this i beg

[ayebibs]

I just finished Veilguard. I have so many thoughts. Very raw and unpolished under the cut. I have no one to talk about this with so my dash must suffer. Probably will ramble on more later too.

Tldr; I am highly critical but I had a fun enough time and still love dragon age.

Definitely felt the loss of my world state choices. Especially if this is a soft relaunch and I may never have my characters or thedas mentioned ever again.

Hot take, I don't care for Morrigan that much. She's fine and I like her, but I love Varric more and would much rather have seen other past companions. Someone give me back fenris and merrill. Also, why is Isabela in basically every game. I like her but? I cannot determine the reason. Am I missing lore?

Speaking of Varric, I clocked his death immediately (no one but rook ever spoke to him?) His death felt cheapened by the poorly executed twist for me. Disappointing and annoying to me.

So much good lore (and much of it wasted). Why did everything feel so surface level except in the crossroads? That part of the narrative was so much tighter. So much could have been done with the Titans, in my opinion, and I think so little of that was explored.

Such a satisfying ending, but the rest of the game could be such a slog sometimes? Like, the ending lowkey reminded me of Origins and fighting the darkspawn and archdemon with the help of the people you built relationships with along the way, which was very cool. But I felt like all of those faction relationships were very shallow. Maybe we should have been able to talk to more people (with menus and branching dialogue) in the factions and do more sidequests to feel more attached?

So much marketing about the focus on companions but the romance was less of a focus than it has ever been and I didn't feel connected to, like, anyone except for Davrin and Assan. I didn't feel a single ounce of regret with my choices (I'm sorry, I don't get the hype around Harding... she was fine in inquisition but really didn't stand out to me. She had little depth imo as well...). We barely got to talk to them and learn their history and likes outside of caracitures of who they were. Yes, I get it Neve is a noir detective, Lucas is coffee man and spite is coffee demon, bellara is quirky and autistic coded. And none of those things make well-rounded characters.

Really wished I had romanced anyone but Lucanis because I thought he was bland (sue me) and Zevran doesn't exist for whatever is going on in that revisionist take on the crows. Also, I hate the sleeping together before the final battle trope. So much of that build up and romance should have happened earlier. The romance simply felt new to me and I didn't feel invested at all.

Speaking of revisionist history, how the hell was the enslavement of elves in tevinter barely mentioned? Or racism? I saw an excuse about someone having to write that and like... bffr. You can't just ignore hard topics. That is where the depth and nuance in dragon age comes from (not nuance in slavery mind you, but think fenris' opinion on mages because of his history). As the inquisitor, my lavellan constantly experienced racism and I loved it because I am female minority and have experience with those issues. Working around it or plowing though sometimes was gratifying and fun. I don't people see racism in a video game and automatically think "oh no bioware is racist?" If that's the issue.

Davrin was my favorite companion and i really wished I had romanced him. Might replay as a grey warden man and do that because I think that would be very cool plot wise. I think I also got what I wanted out of his companion quests. Like, they answered what I wanted and had a satisfying ending.

Also, I liked Bellara so much more than I thought I would, especially because I chose her at the very end and she becomes blighted. Her dialogue is very rough though and not appropriate for the tone of this game 97% of the time.

Still cannot get over how bad the dialogue was. Truly egregious. Very anachronistic and took me out of the story nearly every time some characters opened their mouths. The main offender being my Rook who could literally only be nice and very "go team." She sounded like my manager trying to convince me that our job is made of one big, happy family no matter what dialogue I chose. Also, I wanted to throw my controller at my monitor every time Neve said "the job."

Taash's storyline really could have been something great because there were glimmers when I really loved them, but the anachronistic phrases and lack of skill with their storyline really killed it for me. I have a lot of thoughts on this because I really think it was EXTREMELY lazy and showed a real lack of care for either nonbinary rep (which can still happen with own voices) or simply writing for a piece of existing media. I could think of many easy ways to improve it. Some glimmers are even in the game. Like when the spirit addresses Taash as cousin instead of sister? Why not more of this? Also what was with the push ups for misgendering and then immediately being like, oh saying sorry a bunch makes it more for the person who fucked up? Like... the pushups are different?? And definitely don't draw more attention to an insulting or dysphoric moment?

All that aside, I was decently happy as a solalavellan girlie. I can 100% see why people don't like Solas and might have chosen endings that end badly for him, but I feel strongly that he was the best written character in he last two games.

Had a fun enough time. Happy the game finally got made. Ending really saved this from being a 5/10 for me. Would rank around 7/10 rounded up.

Don't think the game needs a dlc, but there is always a part of me that wants to play through rebuilding in the aftermath of a near world ending fight that destroyed everything. Like, take me to Ferelden. Is my husband, the king, okay?

Desperately, desperately hoping that there is another game that is a true return to form to the first three games (yes, even 2 because the characters are so, so well loved) and more like the ending of veilguard. Also that we get a return of world states meaning something. Hate to be that bitch, but genuinely hoping Baldur's Gate raised expectations for story-based, rpg games and Bioware survives to bring back my favorite game series to what I loved so much.

Fingers crossed the next one (is made at all) doesn't take 10 years.

[nightofthelivingmeme]

Started First Class, y'all

Wait but I kind of love JLaw's Raven? She's adorable

But knowing how it ends up I do not enjoy the flirting with Hank because he's everything to meeee

But nbd those feet are a little freaky it's okay because I l o v e him.

How many goddamn mutations does Emma have?

This is giving me back my Kevin Bacon boner sorry everyone.

Fucking Erik interupting this weird little romance; and also kick starting a love triangle that's going to fall apart violently?

"What an adorable lab rat you make." How flirty.

The fucking hair I'm cdfbafaf and how worried Erik is when Cerebro starts.

This fucking gathering montage is killing me. And then there's goddamn Logan <3

this stupid little team bonding is fucking wonderful and WHOOPS party time. And more importantly, what the fuck is Hank doing

that leg pat was intimacy sorry I don't make the rules. The bending of the barbed wire was a. Frightening choice

Not only am I sad that my sweet lil mutant team is being ogled but I really don't love the choice of horrific attack and murder :(

Not here to hurt you, just to completely traumatize you. Angel took no hesitation in just noping the fuck out.

Goddamn they just offed Darwin almost as fast as they found him; and he looked so SAD and I am S A D

Honestly, I'm with Dadneto on the avengersing

"The law applies to humans." Every gen of Stryker is a fucking d o u c h e b a g

I love Raven and Charles' dynamic as kids, I just-

He loves his sister so much

I have to say I am very impressed by the careful enfolding of historical events into superhero lore.

Bruh, just kiss already. Turns out I'm definitely down for Cherik lol

I fucking adore McAvoy's Charles, he really encompasses psychotically loving teacher.

Banshee's chicken squawk just gave me a coughing fit

Alex you fucking odfjsdojgsor. anpxdkfidfg Erik has such a good point and I'm really struggling don't make me like you sir and all the Hank content got me blushing like an idiot and I am officially a full Nicholas Hoult girl.

but also "Say nothing." is a mood, I too keep talking sweet McCoy.

This cast has just a really incredible capability in their emotional range and ow, my heart.

I see Shaw has replaced his plaything. and I mean I truly love Zoe Kravitz so like I kinda get it?

Wowowow okay thank you Dr. Hank "Foot, meet mouth" McCoy that was fucking mean. "You're beautiful now." Boy, you saying you don't like her in her neutral state?

The entire night before cuba is just a lover's tragedy all over this damn house, then?

I L O V E my favorite blue man, but fabulously this scene really was truy the perfection of Jekyll & Hyde.

stop making me love these two fucking hot messes goddamn; but also like yeah real Raven is hot as fuck.

I am so glad they improved beast's full design throughout this movie series because love him, this first one is a little rough.

I just want to squeeze Banshee's little cheeks.

We know that silly helmet is goofy looking; I think Kevin Bacon is by far the silliest looking in the helmet.

Even my cat paused to watch the submarine lift.

The screaming while crashing is not funny. Not at all; and yet every single time that happens in the series I start wheezing.

Wow got very invested in this conflict; but also not me shouting repeatedly "Erik the helmet is metal. Erik the helmet is METAL."

Okay, that's a way to do it.

I don't agree with blatant murder BUT I really do feel it was the only way for that man not to use his absorbed nuclear power.

And many a year ago I might have said this was a dramatization of how unkind and cruel humanity can be but I live in the fucking United States in the year 2025 and yeah, my government would absolutely attack the people who stopped a nuclear war. I hate it here.

THIS. ROMEO AND JULIET TRAGEDY. It's breaking my HEART.

Unrelated, the last half of this movie Michael Fassbender's accent is really coming out and it is such a satisfying sound. I am soothed by the timbre. The timbre as well that can make the name "Magneto" sound cool?

The I can't feel my legs really hurt my insides. And also the fact that he wiped Moira's mind because he's afraid for her and also fuck you mr. "No Place for a woman."

[lorillee]

ok yakuza 4 thoughts time............ as always it's gonna be egregiously unorganized and mostly sorted by things i remember first

ok well for starters the ost was reallyyyyyyyyyyyyy good this game. Like not to say it was bad for the others but some of the tracks really stood out really quite enjoyed. if im honest

the plot i think was a lot more tightly woven this time which i really really liked - like because youd think with four different protagonists the level of convolution and largely pointless rug pulling ive grown accustomed to at this point would worsen but in actuality it. seriously improved. Like a whole lot

like at this point im convinced the biggest struggle with past few plots is that the writers are given a length for the storyline they need to meet but the actual plot does not have the bandwidth to sustain a story that long, so they stretch it out by introducing a whole lot of loose strands and "omg THIS was the mastermind behind it all.... no actually it was THAT GUY............ But Wait: There's More" types of events.

that being said by having to split the plot amongst four different guys they didnt have to stretch things out because . well when youre dealing with four concurrent storylines it stretches out quite naturally on its own

as always there were some things i wish had gotten a little more time to get fleshed out - daigos entire situation definitely couldve benefited from some more screentime i think in both clarifying what was going on and fleshing out why he felt the need to take such drastic measures. but daigo usually gets the short end of the stick so its not particularly new but still disappointing. to all the people who want a daigo gaiden. i understand you. i agree even. hope sega gets on that sometime

well we'll just go about this in a somewhat orderly fashion i guess. first off we're gonna talk about tanimura Mostly because i dont have that much to say on him

hes like. Ok i guess. one thing that pissed me off kind of was how everybody was like omg....... Hes like the one true honest cop............................. <- When like the first thing we learn about him is that he runs around exploiting criminals for money so that he wont report them. And also beating people up who tell on him to his boss. like i guess in comparison to the crap everybody else in this department is pulling its pretty small potatoes but like also Well i wouldnt go as far as to say hes a particualrly upstanding member of society

but whatever. his plot was pretty solid though i dont really have many complaints. the buildup slotted nicely into everybody else's ongoing storylines, his final boss made sense for his character arc and was someone he had a tangible and relevant connection to, both in-story and like narratively speaking

i dont hate him as much as i did when he was first introduced but id be fine if we never saw him again. That being said i know we do but like again im not particularly disappointed by that fact. currently my opinion on him is Deeply Neutral.

sooooooooooo lets talk about some guy who my opinion on is NOT Deeply Neutral!

its kind of insanely funny they dont even attempt to explain where akiyama gets his money from after the initial millennium tower explosion incident and im deeply obsessed with it. i hope they never change this.

akiyama is like. an egregiously fun character i actually quite like him. honestly i think in another universe where majima didnt exist he very well mightve ended up as my favorite character. his relationship with hana is also insanely funny and i really hope we get to see more of them in the next game

that being said his relationship with yasuko is like deeply underdeveloped and does not particularly compel me at all. as is the case with most of these sorts of things they throw the romance in there with the expectation that the audience will just go "Oh theyre in love. Woaw!" <- and then automatically be invested. But like sorry i kindaaaaaaaa dgaf. they will literally never make another majimako honestly if/when i replay y0 after getting thru the rest of the games in this series i very well may end up making a long and detailed post about why i think their relationship works and why the other pairings this series keeps dumping on me do not compel me even in the slightest. But this is a post for a later time.

i do wish they had done more in terms of giving him and arai more of like a reason to fight at the end. like because obviously its important that yasuko plays a siginficant role in his plot because she and saejima and their relationship is a major part of the centerpiece holding this game together so of course you cant cut her relevancy out of akiyama's storyline, but the romance was insanely weak and Okay because this is the issue. maybe this is just a me thing but i frankly wouldve found the relationship to be a lot more compelling if there were no romantic feelings involved.

like in the sense that i feel like their connection is stronger if akiyama doesnt really have anything to get out of it i guess? im trying to figure out how to word this idrk. of course also the romance was so borderline irrelevant its not like cutting it makes a difference time wise i just think it shouldve happened. LOL

anywyas back on track i wish they had done more with arai and akiyama's relationship even if it was just making them more like foils or something. feel like we couldve put a little more effort into that. Or alternatively made his opponent kido because that is a relationship we spent a lot more time developing on screen

aaaaaand of course what would a yakuza game be without kiryu. honestly though he's more incidentally relevant to the plot than a particularly relevant driving factor - his storyline is mostly just used to tie together everybody else's so theres not too much to say

Again this kind of goes back to the daigo issue - i wish they had spent a bit of kiryu's storyline on doing something with that bc i feel like it wouldve made both of them. feel more relevant LOL

like we dont really feel the tojo clan struggling as badly as daigo clearly seems to think it is and i think it kind of does a disservice to making his stake in this feel . well again actually relevant. which again is kind of a shame

i also said it during the liveblog but im actually like still obsessed with haruka literally not caring even the slightest bit about whatever was going on with the file and the millennium tower melodrama because she just wants kiryu to stay away from the tojo because every time he goes back to deal with some issue he literally always almost dies. crazy about it even

okieeeeeeeeeeee Lets Discuss: The Saejimas

i know i already made that joke about it in the liveblog but genuinely insanely funny to make saejima and majima worlds worst hitmen. like jaw droppingly funny You guys are so bad at this. truly brothers in arms

and on a more serious note im actually like. well honestly im crazy person insane about them making YASUKO be the one with an actual on screen bodycount because like. ok we've gone thru these games together and also presumably have watched at least a few of the same things if youre here. They dont like letting women kill and especially not in a setting as male-dominated as the literal yakuza

like because theres the ever present underlying kind of idea that women dont really belong in organized crime because theyre inherently purer or whatever and its like treated as a woman playing around in a man's world which she doesnt really understand and certainly doesnt belong in. like basically whatever was going on with sayama

HOWEVER. to have the reveal that saejima's (whose entire like reputation and legend is founded on the hit) hands are actually clean and YASUKO is the one whos personally offed multiple guys........... CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZYYYY?!??!?!!? IM CRAZY ABOUT IT?!?!?!?!?! AND HOW WE GET TO SEE HER PERSONALLY KILL THAT GUY ON SCREEN AFTER SAEJIMA REFUSES...... HELLOOOOOOOOOO!?!!??!?!!!!?!?!? BOOOOOOOOOONKERS. IM OBSESSED . THANK YOU?!??!?!!?! THAAAAAAANK YOUUUUUUU

additionally i love her insane codependent relationship with saejima and it like actively kills me we didnt get to see them interact more on screen. LIKE HELLO??????????????????? sooooooooooooooooooooooo so good. additionally i also insanely appreciate how deeply irrelevant her romance subplot with akiyama was at the end of her story <- I will never forget whatever was going on at the end of kiwami 2.Ever

this all being said lowkey i do wish they had pushed her death to the climax of the story id have to actually sit down and think about how to work that but i feel like it wouldnt be that hard. like i understand why they set it up the way it did but i feel like because she dies before the climax it makes the climax itself feel a little disjointed i guess. i dont know

and you already KNOWWWWWWWWWWW i mean ok if u scrolled through my liveblog even alittle bit u already know saejima and majimas relationship and interactions made me start seeing devils. additionally while i know that he's not a main character in this story and as a result they needed to put him into prison so that he would stay out of the final battle lowkey pisses me off he didnt even get to go to the little mini memorial they had for yasuko. but whatever (kicks rocks

^like i understand why plot-wise this could not have happened. But like well i would have liked . to see it

anwyays i think thats all for now? I dont know maybe ill have something else to say later but in conclusion definitely my favorite yakuza game so far after 0. i i think for me the ranking currently stands y0 <- y5 <- k1 <- y3 <- k2(Not including majima storyline)

^problem with ranking k2 is that i love the majima story so much it makes me want to start attacking people in the streets But also like i cant in good faith rank it on its own. but this is neither here nor there

[twisted-in-underland]

I have no self control…I made a TWST!Genie 🫣

Meet my lovely Maram Grant! I’m still fleshing out my idea for the genies as a species but I’ll include some of my current ideas later in this post! [edit to make include link to coloured info card]

Note: did this one traditional because I didn’t have my iPad with me, sorry if it looks a little messy and that it’s not in colour 😅.

Some basic info about Maram;

They’re genderfluid, and have no pronoun preference, but will make “did you just assume my gender???” jokes with people they’re close with.

Maram is a Djinn/Jinn, aka a genie. Since my take on genies is fae adjacent/are an offshoot of the fae species, genies live much longer. Maram’s actual age is unknown, but they would be considered 17 in “human” years so to speak.

I chose the name “Maram” because, from my research, it means “wish” or “desire” in Arabic which I thought was fitting for a genie! It’s also gender neutral which I thought fit for a genderfluid character

Someone on my Reddit post about genies in TWST had mentioned the idea that TWST!Genie was one of Jamil’s middle school friends and I’m rolling with it.

Maram is friends with both Jamil and Kalim. They met Jamil first and then met Kalim through Jamil. Jamil and Maram had a bit of a falling out before they moved on to high school and haven’t really hung out since.

Maram is also friends with Amir Ali (my TWST!Aladdin) and they hang out often when they’re not at school.

Maram’s personality is very similar to Genies in both the live-action and animated movies. They’re a fun-loving and loyal person. They can be a little bit of a prankster but their pranks are all in good fun and never cause harm. Maram is also very invested in pop culture and will make movie/TV show references all the time. They’re also the type to use humour to ease tension or comfort a friend.

Maram is also a sucker for romance novels and love stories. They’re often the ones Amir goes to for advice on how to impress TWST!Jasmine (I haven’t come up with a name for her yet :’D)

Because of Maram’s outgoing personality, they make friends rather quickly. However, they don’t throw around the term “best friend” willy-nilly; there are only a small handful of people Maram would consider their best friends.

In terms of overall appearance; Maram generally takes a more humanoid form to blend in better. Their appearance is similar to the live-action version of Genie in terms of skin tone and general hairstyle, same with their clothing colour palette.

Maram also loves to sing and dance, I think it’s one of the things they bonded over with Jamil originally. I also love the idea that Maram gets introduced to some of the other NRC characters through a fun little rendition of Arabian Nights (the 2019 version b/c I really like that one). Perhaps Maram was doing some kind of performance in the bazaar when the NRC group passed by or something.

Maram is claustrophobic and hates tight spaces; being at the bazaars when it is busy is not fun for them. They also hate guavas; Maram got sick after eating one once as a kid and developed a full-on food aversion to anything guava-related. They can’t eat or drink anything with guava, even the smell makes them gag 🤧

The info I have on genies as a species will be under the cut!

Like I said before, I’m still fleshing out genies as a species, but here is what I have in mind so far;

The real names for genies are Djinn or Jinn (depending on who you ask), though the term “Genie” became popular due to the Scalding Sands legend of the Beautiful Princess and the kindhearted thief (ie, the TWST tale of the Aladdin film) which used the word “genie” to describe the being that helped the thief. The Djinn don’t have a preference over what their species is called since it’s all relatively the same. I'm going to use "genie" for the sake of ease.

Genies are fae-like magical beings who have a wide variety of abilities. It’s said that they are notably skilled in conjugation and illusionary magic due to their “vivid imaginations”.

I imagine a genie's ability to shapeshift is similar to Lillia's ability to fly without a broom; it's a natural ability that doesn't require much magical energy.

Genies share a few physical traits with their fae cousins such as sharp nails, pointed ears, short fangs, and occasionally slit pupils. Genies can also sometimes show traits similar to scorpions, snakes, or lizards, though not ALL genies have these traits.

Genies can change their physical appearance to whatever they desire and not accumulate blot. There are rumours that genies have naturally colourful skin (ie. Pink or blue) but change their appearance to appear more human-like to blend in.

This is true of Maram, who has a naturally blue complexion but often changes their skin tone to match humans so they stand out less.

Genies live incredibly long lives, so it’s not uncommon for some to become sentimental and even take on traits of friends or loved ones that have since passed to stay connected to them.

While there are slight differences, Maram’s hair colour and the little fringe they have are reminiscent of Jamil’s. Even though they aren’t close anymore, Maram still values Jamil’s friendship and this is one way they feel connected to Jamil.

Genie magic is similar to fae magic with the strongest genies having magical powers similar in strength to Malleus or his grandmother.

When it comes to normal spell casting (think the conjuring spells Genie did on his own, separate from Aladdin's wishes in the movie), blot accumulation isn’t that different from the fae or even other mages. Genies are not “all-powerful” though they do tend to possess a lot more magical powers than humans or beastmen.

One difference, however, is that genies don’t rely on mage stones to deal with blot. They actually use a combination of their lamps and bracelets to cast magic and decrease blot.

The lamp is what accumulates blot - the more tarnished the lamp looks, the more blot there is - while they use their bracelets similar to how NRC students use their magical pens.

Genies almost ALWAYS have their lamps on them to keep them safe. The lamps are very important to them so if they lose them it can be terrible for the genie.

The lamps can also act as “recharge” stations of sorts, but only for the genie who’s connected to the lamp. Maram cannot enter another genie's lamp to recharge their magic or diminish their blot and vice versa. They can only use their own lamp.

Now this is where I don’t have everything completely fleshed out; schooling and the three wishes idea.

I mentioned in my discussion post on genies in TWST, but how would their schooling work? Part of me thinks that genies wouldn’t attend normal mage schools like NRC or RSA. Their magic is different enough that it's easier to learn from other genies.

This is particularly true when it’s taken into consideration that they use lamps and bracelets to cast magic and monitor blot rather than mage stones and magical pens.

I think perhaps young genies start schooling when their powers start getting stronger. This is also when they would first receive their lamp and bracelets. Though this concept is open to change, I don’t have much figured out yet.

For the wishes things; I have this idea that genies can access more powerful magic through the use of their lamps. This would be something unique to genies and would be similar to a mage's unique magic. Genies refer to this magic as “wishes”

I mentioned earlier that genies aren’t all-powerful, normally. This magic they can access through their lamps, however, is a lot closer to “all-powerful” than their normal magical powers. However, because of the strength of these spells, it’s easy to overblot.

This is kind of why there’s the “three wishes” rule; typically it takes three wishes to reach the stopping point of build-up up, any more and overblot is likely to happen.

The thing I don’t have figured out is how to tie in the classic “the master rubs the lamp and makes a wish” troupe to this. I think that having a “master” (ie. Someone that is not a genie) being a requirement to access this power helps to make it less overpowering.

It would mean the genie has to find someone they trust with their lamp to be able to access more powerful spells. I just don’t have the specifics figured out yet.

I do think it would be funny if Maram tried to play off this ability as their unique magic by calling it “Friend like me” or something. That or maybe some younger genies think it would be cool to give this power a name or something like other mages. Idk, it’s just a silly little hc of mine.

This is all I have figured out so far! Like I said I’m open to ideas or suggestions because this seems like such a fun and vast topic to me! This is just my take on genies and isn’t anything set in stone 100%. I tried to stick close to the movies while also fitting it into the Twisted Wonderland lore without it being over powered. I have a tendency to try and balance out seemingly over powered abilities with really specific limitations and/or drawbacks.

Let me know if anyone would want to see a proper info card for Maram!

[which-hospital]

Sinking Ships - Day 2 (22/06/24)

I like that it's finally warm but my hayfever has been terrible all day. I wanted to get back to watching series 4 tonight but I'm too uncomfortable to pay attention so I think I'll just rewatch some 2000s romcoms instead.

How long has it been since I did an actual episode review post? I feel like it’s been since before Charlie left. I’m not writing this because I particularly liked the episode, more because I was able to and I haven't felt able to for months.

I’m never concise so it’s all below the cut, like usual. Collected, probably incomplete, Teddy Thoughts are at the end.

I think I audibly gasped at the reveal that Rich is married to Siobhan. They did a good job at keeping it out of the spoilers and now we know it feels kinda obvious that they’d do that but I was very much shocked. Honestly, I am looking forward to Stevie getting into relationship drama with Siobhan’s husband - still misery, but fun inconsequential romance drama misery! Anyway, thank you Sandra Mute (and Andrew Ponting) for giving us the start of affair drama all those many years ago… “She shouldn't be seeing him, if his wife finds out it- it'll-.” “Well, you should've thought about that before you went with him!” projecting-onto-a-patient scene and all that. I suppose at least Sandra didn’t work with Beryl (though they had apparently met). I also just generally enjoyed Stevie and Siobhan's stuff in this episode, I like seeing how different characters approach being clinical lead and how it affects their relationships with everyone else.

Ngozi is my shining star, I love her so much. That scene with her, Rida and Stevie where they were talking about Dervla? Great.

Cam… I’m glad people are enjoying his stuff but I’m not super invested in it. I thought Cam was alright early on, then he didn’t do much but mope around about Jodie for a year and it prevented me from developing much actual interest.

Teddy. I am always happy to see him and yet I wish the show would leave him alone. I don't like that of all the things they could choose to carry forward and remember about Teddy, they're holding onto all the OOC stuff he did last miniseries. (And then acting like to be ‘redeemed’ for it, he must act like all the people who treated him terribly didn’t do that.) Take the opportunity to drop it, it's not like they don't already constantly decide not to follow through with Teddy. REMEMBER GETHIN DYING? Because in-universe we're coming up on a year since that happened. Hey, they remembered he's turned 25 (which facilitates my 'Teddy being happy' birthday thoughts), at least.

Incredibly petty and really the least of my concerns with Casualty lately but I still hate Teddy/Jodie!! Their relationship makes me cringe. He got to smile in this episode and I wasn't expecting that but it was in a cringe Teddy/Jodie scene. I know I'm being impossible to please and I don't even care!

Iain and Faith stuff also happened. I wish it hadn’t. I don’t understand the obsession the show has with telling us (almost literally TELLING US through Faith at one point in the episode) that Iain is so very special and nice and brilliant and acting like he’s got such a special relationship with every other paramedic. It bothered me when they’d do that with Jacob, Sah and Jan, it bothers me even more that they’ve started doing that with him and Teddy because Teddy is the character it makes the least sense for. Also, what was Teddy thanking him for? I’m sorry, I think the way Iain was in Teddy’s storyline last miniseries was terrible and that Teddy owes him precisely nothing. I am really not looking forward to another miniseries of Iain/Faith and 'Iain Criticises Others For Playing The Hero While He Does The Same But He Gets To Do It Because He’s Not Like Other Paramedics' but whatever. Anyway, I wish they’d had Jacob work with Teddy considering he was clearly at work. Oh, yeah, also GO AWAY FAITH.

[rachelfoleyisntdead]

Thoughts on MK1 girlies:

Sindel - she's such a mom. I don't even mean it in a disparaging way. Moreso that watching her interact with Mileena was like watching my own mom and big sister fight. She is stressed™. I mean, her husband(and apparently love of her life, since she seems torn to shreds over him) was murdered,with seemingly no rhyme or reason as to why. Then Mileena goes and catches Tarkat. Now she's got people in her own court trying to threaten not just her rule,but her daughter's rule as well. Sis is going through It™. But outside of that, I enjoyed her.

Mileena - my insufferable girl rep. I just know she used to terrorize both of her parents growing up. Borderlines on bratty as hell at times(rather that than the weird childlike behaviour they had her going for in prior games). Also this game proves how love-starved Mileena was in prior timelines, because look at how she blossomed in a healthy home environment with people that love her. Don't love how she treated Li Mei, but like.......she thinks that Li Mei's getting away with murder,literally. I would be spicy too if the person that appears to be responsible for my father's death is just waltzing the streets with seemingly no consequences.

Kitana - best girl™. Literal sweetheart. Low-key spoiled as hell, but sweet despite it. And she's very clearly a daddy's girl(her little reunion with Ermac/Jerrod was very cute). Would have been really nice if she actually had something to do.

Nitara - This is one case where I think she was better in her OG game. That's one thing MK:DA did pretty well. Give Nitara something to do, I beg. Also, OG Nitara would have never agreed to work with Quan Chi. She would have sat down, plotted and planned and gotten shit done on her own. Let her be a self-serving bitch in peace.

Ashrah - surprisingly quite fun. I really enjoy her and she seems to be having a good time,which we love to see.

Tanya - give this woman something to do, part 3. Her and Mileena were cute. Wish we got more than just meaningful looks™, but we ball.

Li Mei - deserves so much more. Where is this woman's apology? Half of the female cast,plus the Umgadi needs to apologize for how they treated her. I mean the groveling kind of apology, not just a quick sorry either. That's Kitana and Mileena's pseudo-auntie that y'all did like that.

Yeah I mostly agree with this.

While I hate how Sindel treated Li Mei (and let's be honest, Mileena and Kitana were just following her example), I did love seeing her yank on Shao's leash. I think everything she did to help Mileena is actually fine and her story overall was fine... except for the ending. Lame. Also the love story between her and Jerrod is kinda boring. I don't know why the game is investing in romances involving dead NPCs instead of ones that have chemistry and history.

Li Mei and Ashrah are long time favorites, so I'm thrilled to see them shining. But Ashrah has some messed up perspectives that I want them to explore more (killing your own kind to purify yourself? Sis???). I get a heavy self loathing vibe that I want them to lean into. Li Mei deserves several thousand apologies, girl literally did nothing wrong and if she had heel turned I would've supported her. She's literally best girl, my beloved wife. Ashrah and Syzoth are random but kinda cute, I won't lie. AshRep and Mileenya > Jerrod/Sindel and Kuai/Harumi

I sorta disagree with you about Kitana. In real life, I would probably like Kitana fine but as a character in a story, she doesn't do it for me. She's just kinda boring, in my opinion. The scene of her stroking Mileena's face was so sweet though, one of my fave moments. I do like her new dynamic with Mileena.

Mileena's story needs more detail. I have no idea why people were supposedly supporting Kitana over her??? I get that Mileena had a lot going on between the Tarkat and the forbidden romance with Tanya, but they said that and then like. never followed up with details about why people didn't support Mileena pre-Tarkat. She confirmed has the support of the Empress, the Constabulary and Umgadi, and there's nothing to indicate that she didn't have Shao or Rain's support prior to Shang Tsung showing up (and they wouldn't have supported Kitana anyway)... so like??? Who was against her???

100% agree about Tanya. Also Liu Kang bragging that 'his Tanya' was much improved was really weird.

Nitara definitely has potential, they just did nothing with her. She brings up a great point that just bc her people need blood to survive does not mean they deserve to be exterminated. She's just kinda there bc Quan Chi needed lackeys.

I can't wait for Sareena to show up, her interactions with Ashrah, Nitara and everyone from Earthrealm are gonna be so good.