#and even if gg thinks that one person can't change the team I think that he himself proves that idea wrong

[myauditionfordrphil]

Gautam Gambhir's return to KKR has improved the team dynamics and strategies by a mile and even if I'm not that fond of his opinions it is undeniable that he's a brilliant cricketer with a very sharp mind who knows his stuff thoroughly.

[accio-victuuri]

CPN : 3/24 LRLG Post

As if the excitement that we all have today, the eve of Weibo Night where they will be at the same event isn’t enough, LRLG had to go ahead and bless us with an update. A very recent one at that. Usually, the contributions shared to us are events that happened months ago. This is why we are able to match which is which fairly easily or notice something we haven’t before.

It starts of saying “today”, meaning this happened 3/24, XZ’s arrival in Shanghai. I have thoughts on LRLG deciding to share this today and who allowed it. If we’re going by the assumption/speculation/clownery— whatever you wanna call it, that these contributions are sent out with xz/wyb’s “blessing” then there must be a reason why they are switching from the usual pattern. They could have easily shared this after the whole weibo night craziness. As what they did in previous events, but they didn’t. So what’s changed? I’m not looking at this as a negative in any way, I am just curious. Did they see how excited BXGs are so decided to give us something? Are they also just dying to be in one place again so they are sharing this happiness to us? No matter the answer, All I can say is : “Bless Shanghai!🙏🏼”

now onto the fake rumor itself. same disclaimer applies. this is all fan fiction. ‼️

It starts with a phone conversation ( i think ) between the boys and it’s mostly yibo. As you will notice in this entire scene/s, it’s all on WYB’s perspective ( literally only one red circle in the entire post ) so again, we have an additional “clue” that this lrlg person is from wyb’s team.

WYB: "Wear more when you come"

XZ: "Okay, I'll use it for you..."

WYB : "sock"

WYB: "I can't see your news anymore, you tell xx"

WYB: "good"

This exchange is so simple and sweet. Their love language is being attentive towards each other and what the other might need, even as “simple” as needing extra clothes to wear because of the weather. And so GG decides to wear a Tod’s biker jacket that makes him look so sexy instead ( as seen in photos / videos of him boarding the plane today and arriving ). 😂😂😂 I mean, WYB & I are not complaining with his choice of clothes but I hope it does keep him warm. and GG’s “ i’ll use it for you..” he really can’t say No to his puppy. He will do it if his puppy wants it. I just. I’m done with them.

The next part is his staff ( a woman based on the emoji ) is saying how unfortunate it is that he has work today and he is mildly pissed that has to because if he didn’t, then he can pick GG up at the airport. I mean. That’s interesting. I wonder if he did that before and i’m surprised at how brave he is to even consider “planning” to do that out of all days. It’s the day before WB night, paps are waiting for all the celebrities to arrive at the airport so if he goes — there is a higher chance for him to get spotted compared to just the normal day. Or maybe he knows the ins & outs already as he’s almost always filming in Shanghai over the past years so he might know how to make it happen.

Then you have a scene where people are playing cards, and I think there is drinks involved. but he ( wyb ) can’t come and join because he has works. The people are telling him to try and join because tomorrow ( WB night ) is busy and there will be lots of material to shoot. I just love WYB’s dedication to work and cackling at the emojis LRLG is using for him — I can totally picture his face like this and going “what are you all doing???”

in the meantime when the subject is XZ, he all sweet smiles.

and this exchange is just too much —

WYB: "Get me the power bank"

👧"Hurry up and play, you won't be interested in playing with your phone tomorrow.

WYB: What are you talking about?"

👧: Would you like to see how you smile now

WYB: XZ is coming why won’t i be smiling.

and he goes on to say 恋爱脑 with that smiley face. I don’t know if he’s fuckin trolling himself at this point, because this is same/similar label said about him by that yangyang paparazzi. the same one he refuted was false because they were saying he single then the next sentence has ambiguous relationship with an older woman and so on.

so i am looking at this like, he’s trolling and this only applies to GG. It’s not necessarily real for him, cause i highly doubt it— looking at how they live and thrive as individuals too. He’s using it and also making fun of that ridiculous rumor spread about him.

HIS SMILE THO MUST BE LIKE THIS :

he just smiles differently when it’s connected to ZZ. I think no one can deny that. It’s so radiant ✨✨✨

I AM ALSO CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT THIS EXCHANGE MIGHT MEAN: ( the people talking aside from wyb is his staff )

“Those who didn’t know thought that xx stole our boss”

"they're here"

"it's here"

WYB : "Finish xx this afternoon, we will record together tomorrow"

"I have sorted it out and sent it to xx for confirmation, no problem with me

WYB "Good job"

WYB "What time will the filming be, you can tell me when the time comes"

Shoot with who? I mean, I’m not really expecting XZS to share a bts of XZ’s photoshoot because they are together soooo ( based on this cpn ).

The next is his his ( wyb ) staff telling him they will prepare food for him and put it in the car cause it will be hard to eat tomo because of the show and how busy it would be. They said they will fix just small things he can carry and also provide him warmer. Awwww. They are so sweet and caring of Bobo 🥹

AND LAST IS THIS EXCHANGE :

👩🏻‍🦰: “you are really so happy today”

🟢: “im happy every day”

👩🏻‍🦰: “nonono there is a difference”

🟢: “😊”

👩🏻‍🦰: “that’s great”

I’m thinking this girl who commented is probably part of the cast/crew. not sure why i get the feeling, cause the emoji is different form his staff. lol. I’m so giddy thinking about yibo being all radiant and happy knowing that he will be with ZZ very soon. ☺️

LRLG also has a message for us at the end:

Be Safe. Have a long and fun weekend!

What a great treat to all turtles, setting all of us in a good mood before the day of the show. I have no expectations. I’m looking forward to seeing what they will wear and to see the photos. I’m proud of the awards/ recognition they will get — all well deserved. everything else is just a bonus. 💕

-END.

[userlaylivia]

it's been so long since I watched a gg episode so I'll probably start over gilmore girls because I can't stand going so long in between episodes and it's been so many years since I watched idk if I'll like rogan now I just can't see it because they were such a huge notp for me, like I quit watching because of them and I'm older but I just can't see myself liking them like I'll give it a chance and we'll see but even if somehow I do I'll always be team jess and rory/jess are my bbs forever and one of my biggest otps so I don't think I will like rogan like I'll watch s5 and see but it's har to see it and also as much as I love matt I also couldn't stand logan that's partly why I couldn't ship rogan, he cheated on her multiple times, he turned her into someone who did things she never would've, he never took accountability or changed imo like you can say what you want about jess - no he wasn't perfect yes he treated her badly at times but he was a messed up teenager who was pretty much abandoned by his dad and even his mother he didn't have it easy but he grew and matured and became a better person and imo without rory I don't think that would've happened, he literally wrote a book because she inspired him!! amy said once that r/j were supposed to be endgame but then she left and milo didn't come back and the revival happened but milo/alexis used to date so that would've been awkward probably but my point is jess/rory are my babies and even if I like rogan a little more than I used to when I rewatch it'll never ever come close to my love for j/r!!

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

Feel like making a giant post of some of the new songs I've heard in the past weeks... None of them are particularly good...

Let's start with Eunbi, because I like her. As usual, her music has that kind of tacky, dated sound that somehow charms while sounding cheap. I can't tell if I hate it or like it. She hasn't topped Glitch by a long mile, but she's very consistent. I think Sabotage is as good as any of her previous releases, like Underwater, but I remember liking her albums and this one, which is just 3 songs, isn't great. Unnatural is very forgettable, Bad Blood is better but also forgettable.

Let's talk about the Sabotage MV and choreo for a sec. The MV confused me, because I'm shit at understanding the obvious, but it seemed like she was hooking up with a guy and a girl, separately, and then found out that the girl and guy were hooking up alone and that was "sabotage" lmao? The lesbian subtext was pretty much text. It was certainly a bold video. Had me hooked. The choreo was... a choice. It's mostly pretty average gg choreo, but I really don't get the choice to have her support herself on a male dancer and twerk her ass at the audience, or the choice to have her dramatically lipsync two high notes like it was even remotely realistic (hate it when idols do this, it looks so fucking ridiculous and like they're insulting our intelligence), or why the song ends with a guy twirling a chair on the floor - where does the chair even come from? Can't even remember seeing it in the choreo... Anyway, choices.

Moving on to SVT, I wanted to talk about two songs. They're doing a lot of unit stuff now, it seems. I honestly only enjoy their tts - most of their music is very mid to me, and I don't get how they're overflowing with talent. A lot of the members don't have amazing stage presence, vocals, or anything and it's the half that does that people brag about. Anyway, Wonwoo and Jeonghan did a song together, which was... not great to me. They went all out on the MV, and the song itself isn't terrible, but Jeonghan has very weak vocals and can't carry a song by himself with just another person. Wonwoo is also nothing special imo. I watched their M Countdown stage and it was pretty boring.

The performance team released a song a while back, Spell, and it was... another choice... I thought the MV was lowkey pretty ridiculous - it was well edited, had some cool visuals, but the outfits were so outlandish and it was so maximalist... I think I'm being prejudiced because that much makeup and femininity was a bit uncomfortable to me, and I would probably like the video more if it was a gg - but, Dino saying "everyday I'll give it to you" while dramatically thrusting his hips was hilarious. You have 4 guys who, imo, are not sexy, trying to make a sexy song. Their vocals also aren't anything special, apart from Hoshi's. But kudos on them for making a bold MV - especially Jun, for his cropped top, short shorts and knee high boots combo - but, performance wise, nothing about it worked for me. The song itself is okay? It's probably a grower.

I've listened to so many other songs...

WayV She a Wolf - what a mess. Some parts were good, but some of the choreo and that antidrop chorus were a disaster. Only heard the song once though. Kudos to them for nailing the Korean.

RIIZE Boom Boom Bass - I started paying more attention to them when I saw they are all adults (young, but still). Their last song was better imo, but this one was pretty decent. Very Exo instead of NCT, which is different for SM.

Everglow Zombie - I liked the song on first listen because I was expecting worse, but it's pretty plain. I feel bad for them. They had their first comeback in a year or more, they don't tour... How do they make money?? (They probably don't). I imagine they're close to disbanding even if they're pretty well known among kpop fans. I thought fans would appreciate the chiller song after Pirate, but maybe not. Kpop fans always hate it when groups "change concept", but stop liking said concepts when they become dated... Have to listen to their other new tracks.

ARTMS Virtual Angel - An okay song... Nice... But the MV was... the strangest I've seen, like it was on actual crack. Have to listen to the album.

Treasure King Kong - First time I listened to it I had second hand embarrassment and couldn't understand why 2nd gen music was making a comeback. It has a certain charm - it's very camp, very kpop - but it's also the type of song people think of when they mock kpop. Wouldn't in a million years show it to a non kpoppie...

XG Woke Up - Choreo slaps in it's simplicity, the girl always doing the chorus has sick facial expressions (that smile), the girls are actually pretty good rappers, and some verses are amazing. But XG are definitely hard to digest. It's all about shock value. A lot of their lyrics are painfully cringe, and the whole wolf concept they did was both brilliant and yikes (MV was magnetic in it's weirdness - they made the members look kinda ugly and didn't care, but it was also so cringe; definitely for the shock value - those teeth... why are idols doing this now?).

WOOAH Pom Pom Pom - Have to listen to it again, but it didn't sound great, and, wow, they really went for the sexiness, I guess. Very different for them.

H1-Key Let it Burn - Please stop with the pop rock in kpop.

There are a million other releases I could comment on, but I'll stop here.

While I'm letting it all out, Nayeon's performances have been so dull. She has bright vocals and a fun personality, but on stage she's been emotionless and stiff. ABCD is a powerful song, supposedly mature and sexy, but she's unconfident on stage. She's just doing the choreo and moving her lips. It doesn't look like she's happy, and it's not sexy or cool at all. She doesn't have the skillset to pull off this choreo and song. The MV was one thing, but live... And her performance video was bad. JYPE tried to be hip and failed.

Okay, goodbye now.

[hugintheraven]

I think that if you make Sophia not Shadow Stalker, you've changed the character enough that it's a different char. And it's arguable that you need that severe a change to eliminate the fact that she's an obvious racist caricature, but it also feels like we can do better than eliminating and replacing her.

One thing you haven't addressed is the Wards. Because while SS vs GG is an obvious parallel, I think a big part of the issue is that SS is viewed as an aberration. Worm says that most of the Wards/Protectorate are trying to do the right thing(poorly), and rehabilitating Shadow Stalker/Assault/etc even if those chars are still assholes is part of that. As long as GG and SS are the exceptions, you can't get a solid portrayal of police violence, period, no matter what you do to those two characters.

A better approach might be a slight rewrite of the initial Bank Robbery and aftermath. Make the whole Wards team more callous about hostage injuries and using lethal force against the Undersiders. Piggot openly disregards not just the property damage, but actual civilian injuries as irrelevant except that they were witnessed.

If we do that, then SS using lethal ammunition against orders isn't "The Wards are failing to control her", it's "they want her to kill people and have given themselves plausible deniability." You can play up the different approaches various members take(Kid Win just wants to use his guns, ClockBlocker and Vista are going along with excessive violence against their own consciences, Shadow Stalker and Gallant are actively enjoying excessive power, etc). IDK, I barely remember the individual Wards ATM, but I think her being black and an asshole matters less if she's surrounded by other assholes.

Once we have that part fixed, we can address...well, everything else with her character. I don't think her being physically-oriented is removable without changing the char, but give her an actual personality and an arc, as a start. There's a lot of interesting stuff you can do with a POC from the bad part of town who becomes a cop superhero, especially once we get into her family disapproving.

(and it goes without saying that we need to excise a lot of the negative in-universe commentary on her that's just racism)

Yes, this is a more extensive rewrite than just swapping which of Taylor's asshole bullies is also an asshole superhero. I just think it's a more surgical fix, changing only things which need to be changed in order to get the desired result.

i'm just saying shit but i think if you swapped sophia out with madison (i.e made madison the one secretly doing police brutality) it would make literally everything wildbow was trying to say about police brutality using sophia better

[potteresque-ire]

Hello! I have a question related to your answer for your previous anon's question (WQ and WWX backup plan).

So the book fans knew about the backup plan and the actress who played W/Q got cyberbullied. I wanna ask why did that happened (sry if this is a dumb question), because even though she's the one who's playing W/Q, wasn't she just went with the script? I mean she wasn't the one who get to decide wether to film a backup or not.

I can understand the displeasure of the book fans, but is it 'normal' (I can't find the right word for it, English isn't my first language, sry) to get to the point where she was bullied for that? Is there any similar incidents occured to other actor(s)/actress(es) in the past because of the change of script/story?

Hello Anons! I apologise for the especially long wait for one of you. I was debating for a while whether I’d like to get into the old rumours surrounding The Untamed that weren’t immediately related to the genre of its source material. 

I’m not really a follower of the finer details of c-ent—my interest in it wanes rapidly with the subject’s distance from Gg, Dd and BL/Dangai as a genre. I’m also a very late comer into the BJYX fandom, and I’m never quite in The Untamed fandom to begin with. 

The more important reason, however, is this: it’s very difficult to pull out facts. There are just so many rumours, so many lies told about … everything and everyone. All for the sake of profit.

So this is likely the last time I’ll address rumours concerning the actors of the show. I’m answering these asks as you two reached me before I make this statement.

First of all, I’d like to kindly ask everyone to please consider disregarding the negative things said about The Untamed’s development and its participants. The series is about to reach its 2 years old birthday by airing date, and 3 years old by its start-of-filming date. Many things ... don’t really matter anymore. The Untamed has become an international success, and whatever was told about anyone has very likely changed.

(People change.)

To answer these asks, it’s important to understand that despite being a Communist country by name, China is at heart a highly capitalistic society, and money REALLY talks in the major industries including c-ent. Corruption is also rampant and is often associated with families with political power; anti-corruption laws are inconsistently and selectively enforced. Both the acts of corruption and the acts against corruption are therefore intimately tied to politics and related to politics, something that I haven’t talked about largely because it’s highly complex and my knowledge of it is limited — the infighting between the different factions of the Chinese Communist Party. Supporters and beneficiaries of one leader—a faction—competing for power, for money and resources with the supporters and beneficiaries of another, often equally powerful leader.

The main point of mentioning Chinese factional politics here is this: what seems to be a regular business war in c-ent, a simple competition for viewership and profit by different media companies, can actually be a battlefront of top political factions fighting for power, or more accurately, for the money that comes from with the power—not only the profit, but the bribes paid to different departments to make things happen, to bypass different laws and regulations. 

Facts about the cash flow in c-ent are therefore very difficult to track down, as both the powers-that-be and the media they control make sure the political ties and conflicts, the under-the-table negotiations and the money changing hands, are kept well away from the public eye. Example: c-ent used to be an even more lucrative industry than it is now, before President Xi began an anti-corruption campaign around 2018. There have been whispers that while corruption was indeed a major issue in the industry, the campaign was also a ploy to funnel c-ent’s profit, a significant fraction of which was once held in the hands of the Jiang faction (supporters of former President Jiang Zemin), into the hands of Xi faction (supporters of President Xi). (Here’s a good article about the once top actress Fan Bing Bing, who was made an example in the anti-corruption campaign, and how the campaign affected the people who actually worked in the industry). 

What this also means is this: c-ent is an industry where rumours and lies can REALLY thrive, their spread propagated by powerful commercial interests that are often (secretly) backed by even more powerful government interests. These are people who can afford to pay, who often have the right connections to not have to worry about the legal consequences. 

With these two factors alone, they can make almost any rumour sound true. 

I’ve looked more closely into c-ent in the recent months, and as of today, the lesson I’ve learned is this—I can’t believe in almost any of its so-called “entertainment news”. For every article that sells a viewpoint, a set of facts, there’s another one that sells exactly the opposite, and the pair of articles happily sit beside each other, waiting for their readers to pick the one they wish to read—the one praising the show and actors they like; the one dissing the shows and actors they don’t. 

Yxh, water armies...c-ent is an industry where “facts” are often constructed by money.

Entertainers are often swept into the whirlpool of falsehoods just because they happen to work on a project / for a company another side or faction wants to take down. With the exception of a very few, they don’t have much of a way to defend themselves. There have also been longstanding whispers that beautiful actors and actresses are often forced to … service, for lack of a better word, the higher-ups in the government / commercial forces (and their families) in exchange for opportunities or even survival in the industry. While such “unspoken rule” (潛規則) is, to a certain extent, true in many entertainment industries around the world, that the higher-ups in China hold very concentrated power makes it much more difficult for the entertainers to refuse to cooperate, or ask for help.

That entertainers are traditionally held in very low regard—their “career ancestors”, 戲子 (roughly, “showperson”), being one of the “lowest 9 professions” (下九流) that included prostitutes—doesn’t help their case.

Back to your questions, Anons: the consequence of c-ent money flow often being hush-hush and potentially politically sensitive is that, when a production team receives money, it doesn’t always try to look very hard at where the money comes from. Because of this, it’s easy for Yxh and Antis to make up rumours about participants of a project bringing in cash in exchange for making themselves more at the centre of the spotlight—increase the screen time for an actor / actress, for example. And when it’s pointed out that a starlet, in particular, cannot possibly have that kind of money to bring into a project, the rumour mill can conveniently explain away this lapse in logic by implying that the starlet is sleeping with someone.

This was essentially what happened to the actress who played WQ, despite her denying the rumour with a public statement and no evidences existed to suggest any truth in the rumour — that she‘d brought in money into The Untamed’s production team in exchange for a romantic plot w/ WWX as the female lead. She wasn’t paired with WWX in final version of The Untamed; WQ died pretty early on in the show. Nonetheless, the rumour (and the poor reputation it brought) has stuck with her since. It can still be found on the internet.

About the actor who played Wen Ning… I haven’t really paid much attention to him (sorry!). A quick search online shows that at some point, he said something that was interpreted to be not as friendly towards Gg, compared to how much he seemed to like Dd. After 227, however, he spoke out for Gg and personally, I think that’s what really counts because anyone who spoke out for Gg at the time also risked being harassed and boycotted. I don’t know of any successful effort in creating a popular cp between him and Dd. Since all that is required to create a supertopic on Weibo, including a cp supertopic, is sufficient seed membership (10 people) plus a moderator with demonstrated familiarity and popularity in the platform, however, is it possible that this cp, if it existed at some point, was simply because some fans wanted to explore this rare pair? I don’t know (if anyone would like to jump in with more info, please do!). But I think it doesn’t have to translate into judgement of the actor’s character at all.

[angelfireeast]

The Flash: Armageddon 8x01

We have entered Iris West-Allen's news media empire era

My Thoughts as the episode aired

Saving money on CGI right out the gate changing the baddie into a human.

Caitlin asking questions the same from one she would ask in s1. This so cringe. It's like they don't know what to write for Caitlin so they going over old ground. How hard is it to write for women?

Omg not Frost and ChillLame garbage 🤮 She's dragged out this toxic relationship with her stalker all summer and fall? Barry said she was always a romance? Really?😒🙄

Barry doesn't give a rats about Caitlin's love life. He's so disinterested. The writing is flat in the scene and GG is giving nothing. It feels like Caitlin is living out s1/s2. Eric rebooted Frost in s6 & s7 to stories she should gotten in s4 as if YEARS hadn't past which left a very cringe and jarring story. When I say rebooted I mean in s6 Frost was being mentored by Barry to be apart of TF two years LATE. S7 Frost realized she should take responsibility for her criminal actions after the cops came for her YEARS LATE. It feels like that is happening with Caitlin now. As if her life hasn't been paused for 7 years and just pretending those years didn't happen.

Omg not Frost and ChillLame garbage 🤮 She's dragged out this toxic relationship with her stalker all summer and fall? Barry said she was always a romance? Really?😒

Sue brought the whole building and now Iris has her sign on the outside but I think they only are renting/taking up one floor. I could be wrong

The new CCC expanded:

3 new reporters 

A office manger 

A intern too 

Allegra senior editor

podcast

More office space

Glad Frost was sent away for 2 weeks. Wish she was sent away longer but I know she will be back sooner since this takes place over 7 days.

Last season took place over like a month and they did a time jump over summer and fall between s7 and s8.

Poor Ray deserves better from the Legends. I'm glad he's thriving in his research career and with his wife. I hope Ray and Jax get to hang out with their families. Ray is such a nice guy. I hope Chester and Ray get to be besties.

I'm glad Ray is happy not to start another tech business. He gave his business to FeFe the man doesn't have good business sense. 😂 Chester wanted to pitch a business didn't he? That's why he's so upset?

Mentor Iris is the best! She's so good with people and she brings out the best in them.

Why was Chester's comment about 'being dead to Ray' so offensive to Ceclie? Can someone explain?

Caitlin literally offered nothing in that team scene in SL. She starred at board. Asked questions and offered no help. Chester and Barry came up with all the answers. Even Ceclie did more. The writers really don't know what to do with Caitlin it's so cringe. It's sad that they can't come up with anything.

Iris interviewing Ray! Loving it! This what I want.

Not Barry giving a speech to prop up team flop when it’s held him back for so long.

The CGI hasn't improved😬 keep him human looking

Barry leveled up but got taken down so easy🙄

Ray is founding a foundation in chester's father's name🥺

Let Chester become a business icon. Let him have have his own company not someone else's company. Give my man the things Cisco was denied!

They keep updating us on Frost's relationship with ChillLAME and not one person cares. Not Frost's stans, not general viewers and not the rest of us. Can Eric stop trying to make fetch happen? No one is feeling it. No one wants it.🤮

Allegra got a lot of growth in her professional life in this episode. I hope they remember that Allegra has career through the season.

This ep really highlighted how much I miss Ray Palmer. How much I miss Brandon. He's too good and always underused. If they cut those flashbacks then we could have had more time with Ray.

Why should Caitlin's scans mean jack when her scans in Elseworld said Oliver!Barry was man "fine" too. Ceclie had more to offer

There Barry goes revealing himself to a villian. 🙄 Fans don't have to worry about Barry revealing himself at the end of series like SG cause everyone will know by then.

Iris doing the heavy hitting interviews like she should! With Ray. She on the podcast. She still being published in the newspaper. This what I've always wanted. I wish building CCC media being built up didn't happen off screen but I'll take what I can get.

Iris has so much going on in her life! She's expanded her business in different media, new employees, a great mentor to Allegra, getting great interviews, & trying for a baby & still involved in the hero business. The leading lady has a BOSS life! Thriving. Boss ass bitch

[retphienix]

I Have A Lot To Say So I'll Read More This.

The short of it?

I'm glad I played Joker- I played it because I wanted to know how DQM evolved when it reached the DS and I got my answer.

It's mediocre. Not bad exactly, I enjoyed playing it, it adds some REALLY appreciated features to the DQM series and if you were playing it at release it had online play which plays well with the post game content which I haven't touched by the time I wrote this:

-but there are some engine/console specific things that made it a drag and there are some parts of the game that are just weaker than the previous games which is amusing since the previous games were simple GBC titles.

And finally, I don't really recommend playing through Joker 1. Can't speak on the sequels, but Joker 1 was a pretty middling experience for me so I'm the wrong person to get a positive recommendation from.

And since the opportunity presents itself: If you like monster RPGs and haven't tried it- go emulate Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 for the GBC, it's really good and also if you emulate you can fast forward the GBC era grind if that's your taste- really a win all around.

On to my rambling:

I debated on writing, rewriting, rewriting, and better presenting my thoughts on this game and the series as a whole but nah, Joker ain't getting that, I'm ramblin'- lol

I will split it slightly between "The ending" and "The game as a whole" though.

Ending:

1:07 - This is slightly a 'game a a whole' thing but honestly it's funny to me that you unlock a permanent repel in this game by doing the main quest. I entered this dungeon feeling strong enough to beat the game, so I just avoided 90% of encounters entirely.

5:00 - I genuinely got a laugh out of Sparkpug's whole deal in this finale. Not story wise, that's fine, no complaints- I mean that Sparkpug is clearly built to be a monster that can carry an ineffective team. He's clearly meant to be bred a few times and a god tier member of a potentially inexperienced player's team- but I literally never used him after the intro.

So during this scene it's supposed to be like "I'm a demi-god monster, you can't possibly beat me" and I'm thinking "Dude, you're like level 10 and shit tier, you can't win, this is hilarious."

Obviously it's a real boss fight and not 'face the monster you once had' but I was having fun roasting him behind the scenes of this recording.

45:00 - What an entirely unexpected change of pace.

Like, I had it spoiled for me by a screenshot that Dr. Snap becomes a monster or something- but I thought maybe he was always a monster or something, and also I got a bad look at him.

HE TURNS INTO A BODY HORROR BEAST, THAT'S NUTS.

Genuinely a highlight of the game.

52:00 - I fucking laughed what a meaningless exchange where the payoff is saying "He was stupid!", it's honestly just silly and dumb but not necessarily bad just dumb lol

55:00 - Not a great 'you won' victory lap. Like at all. Kinda feels like they should have just made this all a cutscene where I appear back at town and see that Solitaire is the leader now etc etc.

I kinda don't understand why it's a victory lap at all? Because all anyone says is "They picked a weird successor to Snap >:(" or "Snap went to the island? I bet he was stopping the calamity :)"

If you have 2 lines of dialogue prepared, maybe don't make a victory lap???

1:00:00 - What a fucking stupid payoff lol

Like sincerely, Solitaire does NOTHING the entire game! She's meaningless from start to finish! And the 'surprise' is that she's the new commish??? And she got the position because she's a rich spoiled brat??? Like LITERALLY that's why????????

What a stupid fucking ending lol

Now her proposed evolution of the contest is fair enough, I mean it's childish as hell, but to be fair- more contests is a fine idea especially since prior games and this game demonstrated the public's interest in watching monster fights. And the goal being to fight her as the final fight is fucking egotistical and stupid- BUT- it does play into the fact that the player didn't get to fight her the whole game so it's whatever?

1:03:00 - This is both the best and worst lol.

This game has no story, like at all, it's fucking empty front to back, and only explodes with like- 1 event at the very end.

This moment is a montage of memorable moments with your 'best friend' Sparkpug. It's cinematically very nice to be honest! Even includes a moment I don't remember at the arena which probably didn't happen lol.

So visually it's cool- I dig seeing the camera zoom out as we run across the beach, and the flashback moments intersplice over us making our way to the scout memorial- that's very well done.

The content is empty lol

As I said there's no story, these moments are nothing lol

And that's that.

All said the ending was a very nice challenge to face with my team- I had to abuse items like mad but I MADE IT! It was a GOOD fight.

The rest I've already said.

On to the game as a whole:

I have issues with this game, but there's good too. It's really like 4 steps forward 6-7 steps back it's weird, it's really weird.

Positives are neat!

> First and foremost- TRAITS!

Monsters in Dragon Quest Monsters have always had a problem with keeping their identity for long. The way I'd explain it to an outsider to the series is that Monsters DO have special stat variance and intended movesets and all that jazz- but the breeding system completely and entirely destroys that relatively early into the game.

While a monster might normally have really high defense and low other stats while knowing buffing magic- breeding, EVEN UNINTENTIONALLY, will have that same monster come out with 9 billion attack and all ice magic.

Monsters in DQM have a habit of becoming canvases for the breeding effects rather than their own mons- and this is undeniably a downside. It makes the game feel unique, it doesn't 'hurt' it, but when by mid-game monsters are more easily identified as sprites rather than strengths and weaknesses or even types (family) it's a slight downer on the series.

Traits fix this a lot by making every specific monster have unchangeable traits which offer things like "immunity to x type of damage" or "higher crit chance"- it's small, but it gives each monster more identity.

> Second and secondmost- SKILLS!

The older games didn't use trees, it used each individual spell as a potential pass on during breeding.

Each monster could have 8 spells, and when you breed two monsters you pass on all 16 spells to the offspring (they don't learn them all at once, they learn them as they level up) as well as the natural spells the monster would learn by level up.

So in the older games it is really easy to end up with a refined and overpowered list of 8 spells on each of your monsters.

Now spells are tied to Skill trees and your monsters can have 3 skill trees total (which are passed on as OPTIONS when breeding).

All to say skills do a lot for removing the "Master of all, weakness of none" spell lists that the older games made trivial to make, now you have to limit your builds and be more specialized- also they added skills like "Attack up" to add more variance to a build- instead of having spells you might just have high stat buffs as skill trees.

Overall I think Skills are an improvement because coupled with Traits it makes each monster feel much more specialized and unique and less like a sprite with no identity.

> Breeding is improved.

This is very much because of skills and traits- again- but also the system is just improved in general. Instead of being told "That's a monster you haven't had before!" and judging your decisions based on the name of the offspring breed, now you get to see a small sprite of the resulting monster to help you decide- ALSO instead of getting 1 result for every combo (to the point where you have to back out and choose Monster A + Monster B and Monster B + Monster A as separate options), you now get up to 3 results to pick between for every breeding opportunity.

It's just better.

> The engine is impressive.

At least to me. This is a DS title using (from what I read) a rework of the DQ8 PS2 game's engine- it certainly looks like it.

Combat models are nice, using moves looks nice, overworld exploration looks nice- it looks nice.

Now for some negative and general nonsense- all of which is more often than not 'weird'.

> I gotta be unfair and say "The Story" first and foremost.

DQM 1 and 2 are not intense story games. They aren't.

But they both knew how to handle their story well for what they wanted to tell, I can and will praise both for their narratives because they know what they are and do it well.

DQM:J does not. It's fucking bad.

Basically: The overall story doesn't exist- you're told to be a spy, but that comes up 1 time towards the end of the game and LITERALLY doesn't matter at any other moment INCLUDING the one time it comes up.

You have NO meaningful objective from the start up until near the end of the game. You show up and have no goal- so you get told to get some crystals with no meaning behind it (not even a lie because they are clearly evil- not even a lie to motivate you! NO MEANING IS PRESENTED! JUST DO IT! TO DO THE CONTEST I GUESS! WHY? SHUT UP!)

So 90% of the game time you're not doing anything meaningful. So what about the islands? Any small narratives to keep things moving?

NO!

NOT AT ALL!

So you go 90% of the game having no real objective, just kinda wandering forward mindlessly- and then the game suddenly goes "Oh! Guy who seemed sus! He's evil! He's gonna unleash the calamity that you were 'kinda but not directly' working towards with your dog! You know, that plot point that's kept vague and paid 0% attention to the entire game? Yeah it's happening! Aaaaand you're done! GG!"

Basically there's just nothing going on in this game, it's all background noise until the last 10% of the game. And that's lame.

DQM1 had a light story- but from the very intro cutscene you have a clear objective which makes every action you do seem relevant as you are working towards that goal.

From the start of the game you know "My sister is gone! The king says a magic wish can get her back! I'll go do that!" and then you do!

DQM2 has a much better story!

You have a goal from the start (The kingdom is physically dying and you have to save it by getting a new plug!) AND it has stories for each world you visit!

THAT'S MILES BETTER! THIS GAME COULD HAVE DONE THAT FOR THE ISLANDS!

Anywho. Story is lacking and empty and lame especially when DQM2 has a similar format but does every part better- you have a clear objective you're working towards AND side stories to keep the light narrative moving!

WTH!

The spy plotline doesn't matter! It could have been used to build suspicion on who's the good guy!

The islands are so empty of story!

DQM2 has a fun mix on how a rival character works which makes every world interesting to see how they get involved!

This game has a rival that does NOTHING!!!!!!!!!

It's just such a step back from the previous games, it's weird to see DQM 1 land a solid simple story and DQM 2 build a great format to expand the story going forward- and then DQM:J just slams its head into the dirt and wipes out.

> Game's slow.

The engine switch is a good thing overall, but it makes combat slower (a lot), adds loading screens to combat (primarily), and they didn't bother speeding up the grind from previous games.

Because of the grind still existing which isn't a problem in and of itself- the game becomes SLOW AS HELL because the engine makes that grind take longer.

Also world exploration is slow which is to be expected when moving from 2d to 3d, but this is countered by adding things to the world to find or do- and Joker tries but it's still noticeable. The world exploration isn't a problem, it just stands out alongside the combat being slow as hell.

The engine change was a great thing- but it feels like they should have put more work into speeding up combat to counter the slowdown of load times and flashy animations.

A GOOD WAY TO FIX THAT MIGHT BE XP!

> Music ain't great in my opinion.

DQ has amazing music. This game has some weak renditions in my opinion. The CELL HQ theme song is a pretty good poster child for the worst there is, but just in general even the better music is lacking compared to the chiptunes of the GBC or the better mixes of the main series.

Maybe it's unfair, it's a DS game, I don't know, I just know I ended up just muting most of the game because it didn't sound great. I played the GBC games OSTs instead for a large portion of my playthrough. I listened to videos instead for the bulk of the game.

It's just not pleasant to me, sorry to say.

> XP!!!!!!!

I'm being a spoiled ass on this but yeah!

XP SUCKS IN THIS!

There aren't good placed to grind until you beat the game! (apparently)

The first level blatantly has too low xp which makes you grind before you can tackle the boss of the island- and the late game has you mindlessly grinding low xp rewards in order to be ready to face the final boss.

It's WEIRD!

Why is it so low!

> Tech is weird!

I could ramble on this alone but here's the short version:

DQ has a unique fantasy world aesthetic that each game has explored in its own way. It's basically "swords, magic, monsters, and charm- things feel light but aren't afraid to get scary sometimes :)"

This game... doesn't.

This game has fuckin' tech watches, jet skis, TOWER PCS????

This ISN'T dragon quest on a world building level.

It's like, contemporary modern world but with slimes.

And that could be good I guess, but it feels so fucking weird to see PCs right alongside swords and axes and a dracky.

Like... why?

It's a poor aesthetic according to my tastes. Maybe I'm an ass for that. The tech is weird.

All to say, in a poor rambling "I gotta get this out of me" kinda way, is Joker was fine.

I enjoyed breeding. I enjoyed seeing the engine. I enjoyed the unique additions like a 'hero monster'.

But I also had to grind mindlessly on a slower game.

I had to endure a story that forgot to show up until the very end.

I sat there thinking about replaying the older ones the whole time.

It was fine.

It's mediocre.

I'm glad I played it.

I'm done now :)

[rainbowsky]

It's been really difficult adjusting to how different things have become from even just a couple years ago. 😔

DISCLAIMER: If ever there was a written passage that is an 'opinion', what follows is a perfect example. This is my own personal opinion. Speculation and conjecture. I could be totally wrong. None of us knows what GG really thinks, or has any insight into his motives.

I agree with you - these decisions would be part personal, part political. Every artist has to use their own discretion on how they handle these issues.

In the case of DD's birthday, there was no way he could have posted anything birthday-related at that time. The government was posturing for war (we saw how [thankfully] hollow that was, but the nation still experienced some of that tone).

With GG's birthday he might have been able to get away with posting something modest if he wasn't GG. But he's GG, and that changes things for him:

He has by far the most active fan base on Weibo (see diagram below), a fan base - let's be honest - that can't be trusted to do what's best for him.

The stakes are much higher for him than for other artists, because 2/27 made him the involuntary poster boy for toxic fan/celebrity culture. Any further slip-ups and he could be cancelled.

GG has a triple diamond level ranking on Weibo, with more than 30% more active fans than the next-highest male celebrity (DD at diamond level 1).

The combination of those two factors make his situation extremely tricky and sticky, and the calculations he must make are much more complex than the ones other artists have to make.

I believe that GG has been intentionally lying low lately. It's a personal decision, one that's likely based in pragmatism and an abundance of caution. And it makes a lot of sense. Not only are stars being held directly accountable for the behavior of their fans in ways they hadn't been before, stars are also being held financially liable for their own cancellation.

Yes, you heard me right. A star that is cancelled is now held financially and legally liable for any losses incurred by the brands, production teams, etc. they are connected with.

Add to that the fact that he is likely trying to tone down his 'traffic star' status to some degree, and be taken more seriously as an actor, and it just means he's going to have to be careful about his fans.

And this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. Let me remind everyone of the statement he made on the first anniversary of 2/27 (his statement is here, my thoughts on it are here). He made it pretty clear that he felt he had learned something from it, and he had seen ways that he might have better managed his fans.

I believe that this is part of how he has chosen to do that. By lying low he can help moderate the behavior of his fans.

As I am constantly saying, "You can't control what other people do, say or think. The only thing you have any control over is how you respond to what other people do, say or think." GG has said many times that he's not anyone's parent. He's never going to be the guy to yell at his fans. He offers guidance in various ways, but he ultimately can't control his fans. Only they can control themselves.

But he does have control over his own behavior, and that's what I think he's chosen to do. Use his own behavior to shape/curb the behavior of his fans.

And this isn't just about fans. It's about the government and how they've chosen to tighten the noose around the neck of every person in the public eye in China. Including stars, including corporate leaders, etc. etc. Simply put: the burden of popularity has become heavier and heavier for anyone 'fortunate' enough to carry it.

The government wants to be the one in control. Fandom makes them extremely nervous. Too much of a wild card, too fast-moving. They treat popular stars and industries like dangerous rivals for the hearts and minds of the nation.

Don't forget we are less than a week away from the start of the National Congress and related activities. The political climate hangs over the heads of everyone who is in the public eye.

I do think it's likely that GG and DD talk about their careers with each other, and I think it's likely that they have come to some joint decisions on type of care they want to take with these issues. They both want fans to focus on their works and on their own lives, rather than everything always being about them. They are smart, sensible, cautious and good.

Just a reminder to disappointed fans that GG and DD are doing what's in their best interests. It may make us sad that they can't do things the way we would like them to be able to, but ultimately they're looking out for their own well-being, and what more can we ask for as fans?

On birthday woes : why zz/wyb decided to stay quiet on their special day 🎂🎁

I’ve been wanting to put all my thoughts regarding this whole topic in one place as I try to make sense of it. also if anyone wants to know what I think, then feel free to read along. please don’t take my word for it. this is just my brain dump.

I feel let down tbh, that both of them are not celebrating their birthdays like the previous years. If you think about it, it shouldn’t be a big deal. I guess most people even antis & passerby will be fine with them being all over weibo on the day of their birthday. No matter what is going on in the country. It’s not exactly classified as “entertainment”, tho they are part of that circle. It’s a personal celebration and fans who support them will want to give their greetings. but that’s just me talking. selfish me who was so spoiled for the past years ( bring 2020 celebration back! ). I know they have a good reason to do so and I wouldn’t be such a fan if these two weren’t so self aware and responsible. now let me write about the possible reasons and a bit of cpn.

• Political Timing ⏱

Yibo’s birthday week fell on Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan ( August 2 ) and the whole political nightmare that created. Tensions were high and people were talking about possible retaliation from China’s side. Add the hyper nationalists who were posting “crying” ( I don’t know how else to call it ) videos on Douyin because Pelosi landed in Taiwan, despite XJP’s regime making them believe that they will shoot down any United States plane that will try and make an independent visit to Taiwan.

All over weibo, you saw people and celebrities sharing the One China ( policy ) post — showing their support to their country. Posts about China’s military, hinting that they are ready for whatever happens. Finally, the morning of Bobo’s birthday, China released their sanctions to the US for what happened. So overall, it wasn’t a good look to be plastering Yibo’s place all over all Weibo. Or in major cities like Beijing or Shanghai for that matter. Tho as i said earlier, a simple personal birthday post or selfie from him wouldn’t hurt— I guess it was just an executive decision to stay quiet.

GG’s day on the other hand, comes right after the National Day Holiday. Also weeks before the National Congress that @rainbowsky mentioned here and if you don’t know the importance of this then let me direct you to @potteresque-ire explanation here. While I do understand how extra careful GG and his team are, also sensitive to current events, I feel like they could still get away with posting a personal photo. It’s also worth mentioning that there are other big-name celebrities who posted birthday content weeks/ days before GG ( Yangmi and WJK for example ). Even someone who posted on the same day as GG ( TJC ).

• Qinglang call & personal decisions

The literal meaning of QingLang (清朗) is “cleansed and uncontaminated.” Originally, the program was presented as aimed at the “control of chaos” (乱象治理的通) in the cyberspace. It was explained that the “chaos” was mostly created by the fan groups of celebrities, where “fanaticism” was on display and inappropriate comments were published on a variety of items.

To those who are not familiar with this, it’s a campaign started back in May 2021 regarding responsible online behavior. You might also remember the boys’ studios mentioning this when they share posts related to fan behavior. particularly with Yibo last year, his studio posted about adhering to rules set by the campaign.

It is important to point out that these rules are not only aimed at celebrities but to big network platforms & companies as well. and as detailed below:

The 4 major points of Qinglang 2022:

• Companies “deepen their understanding’ of the QingLang campaign. They should “effectively improve the political position” and “fight a tough, protracted and overall battle” to make sure that all that is posted expresses loyalty to “the CCP and the Country.”

• The companies should assume and assign responsibility. If something disloyal to the CCP and the Country is posted, the Party wants to know who was responsible for it. “Each responsibility should be assigned to specific positions and personnel to ensure that all stages of work are carried out without compromise.”

• Once the responsible personnel has been clearly identified, it should “control key sections such as topics, groups, and circles.” Further “chaos” will not be tolerated, meaning that posts should be “cleaned up” and if necessary edited or cancelled immediately.

• The companies should “strengthen security. It is necessary to continuously improve the community rules,” and also “improve the political commitment” of company executives. There should be CCP cells in each company office. The Internet companies should acknowledge “the political leading role of Party organizations,” and cooperate in case of “special operations”.

It’s all in the glory of the CCP and gives the impression that everything not aligned to CCP’s ideals is considered chaos. No surprise there.

I actually thought Yibo’s move was something Yuehua recommended and their artists are doing. Since they are, after all, a company that should adhere to the same Qinglang call for suppressing fan behavior. But No. I saw his other label mates posting on their birthday this year ( 2022 ) ( for example Hangeng ).

Which leads me to the conclusion of it’s a mix of this campaign and a personal decision. Let’s face it, these rules were created for fandoms like what ZZ/WYB have. Their solo fandoms are known to be really extravagant when it comes to their birthday ( among other things ) + they have a strong CP following too. Also add the brands they endorse on the mix — they can sponsor birthday events and release special edition bday products. It’s this whole “excessiveness” that the boys and their own studios are ( what I think ) avoiding to happen. It’s a small price to pay for two people who are notoriously private and have always been humble about their fame. The public’s view on celebrities have not been good for the past years — amidst the scandals that happened — it is a conscious choice to not flaunt anything lavish.

Having a quiet and simple birthday isn’t so bad, compared to possible “trouble” they can get into if the celebrations and fan activities are misunderstood.

I’m wondering if the personal part of this decision was discussed between the two of them. It’s not even CPN, even if you don’t think they’re dating, as close friends — they can ask each other. They have celebrity friends i’m sure or even “seniors” to consult but no one in that circle knows what it’s like to be in the position they’re in than each other. Plus they’ve aways had this “understanding” between them from when they met in CQL shoot and beyond. I’m thinking about them sitting down and seriously looking at what they can actively do to be less of a “celebrity” and the first thing that came to mind is give up the whole birthday extravagance. They may have different career paths now but their values are still the same — those of us who pay attention can clearly see that. This is why they work so well together.

I am not privy to what other c-ent celebrities are like but there is a reason why both of them have the fan following they have. They are good people. They ( mostly ) inspire their fans to be better. ZZ/WYB have always tried to set a good example, and oftentimes at the expense of their comfort. It’s so easy to repost propaganda content. It’s easy to attend state approved events. It’s easy to film VCRs/films/dramas to lend “support” to whatever projects the state is pushing. What’s hard is to look into yourself and see what you can let go from all the excess. I am comforted by the knowledge that they can still celebrate their birthday quietly, and that’s how they want it to be. What’s important is they had a good day.

I think the best birthday gift we can give zz/wyb is to have fun on their day. Go out and spend time outside. Have a day to ourselves and not be online.

-END.