#and it really makes her stand out in a bad way imo

[babyjinsu]

[r/situationships] i don't know where i stand with this girl.

PAIRING ⟢ sohee lee x fem!reader

GENRE ⟢ reddit au, social media au, friends(?) to lovers, fluff, crack, written

SYNOPSIS ⟢ a confused boy wants to know if it is still 'just friends' if you do non-friends things with a supposedly "only friend" on r/situationships.

FEATURING ⟢ wonbin, seunghan, & anton of riize

CHAPTERS ⟢002 003

STATUS ⟢ completed! (16.02.25)

💭 one of my favourite trope :( clueless boy.. i can't think of any other member besides sohee for this!! my ddori.. <3 pls enjoy n lmk ur thoughts! xoxo

[r/situationships] i don't know where i stand with this girl. posted by u/ddori • 7h ago

hey everyone. this will sound kinda embarrassing but i (21M), hv been talking to this girl (21F) from my finance class for a while now (like 4 months..?), and honestly, i hv nooo idea what we are. i know for sure we're definitely more than friends, at least to me, thats how it feels like.

we met through a mutual friend, and from there we kinda just go with the flow. we hold hands sometimes, she lets me stay over her place (just sleeping, nothing else, but on the same bed or couch), and she invites me to go places with her-- sometimes doing nothing at all, we just spend a lot of time together. ive nvr had this kind of closeness with someone of the opposite gender and still are just friends... we've nvr had a real convo abt what we're doing (to each other).

as far as i know, and from her friends, shes not seeing anyone else, or treats anyone the way she does to me. and im definitely not seeing anyone either. (i want her so bad)

its messing with my head because i really really like this girl. i want to believe that she likes me too, with how shes treating me but i dont know if she just sees me as a really close friend, or if shes waiting for me to make a move. i dont think shes playing with my feelings or whatnot. hopefully.

ive heard plenty of things about this phenomenon called "situationship" and by the looks (and sound) of it, ITS HORRIBLE. this girl is really nice and the people she surround herself with are really amazing, and ik that they always call their friends out on mistakes. so i'm pretty sure she's not that type of girl.

but still, is this what they call a situationship? is this how it feels like to be in one? is it called so because youre in a situation?? i feel so stuck and i dont know where i stand in her life. what do i do?

Top Comments:

[u/financiallybroke] bro if you're confused, you're in a situationship. it's plain and simple. sounds like she enjoys your company with how she includes you in her daily life but without a real conversation, you're just guessing where you stand in each others' lives.

[u/ddori OP replying to u/financiallybroke] damn,, i don't like the whole idea or concept of situationship :/ it's ridiculous n just cruel tbh?

[u/illfated] there are two takes on this. either youre in a situationship, or shes waiting for you to bring it up. if she wanted you to be her boyfriend, she would either say it or drop hints. itll be better for you to ask IMO. stop wasting time op!

[u/mahjongpro99] been there n got my heart broken. learned it the hard way that if they wanted to make it official, you'll know. moreover, you guys have mutual friends, they'd AT LEAST know if she's into you.

[u/ddori OP replying to u/mahjongpro99] hhh one time they teased and asked if we we're dating, and neither she or i denied. we just laughed along, and she even joked and asked if i want to-- to which i just replied with another laugh because surely shes just joking?

[u/honeymaiden] i was in her shoes and i kept waiting and waiting, and hoping he'd say something or even asked about us. i wanted the guy to confess first, actually telling me that he likes me instead of flirting like we were doing, but he never did so we stayed in limbo until things died down. don't let that happen to either of you, just be honest op. she might like u too, and if not, at least yk better.

[u/L_user] my 'ex' treated me exactly like this. we even did IT, celebrated valentines and dinner dates, did everything like couples did, but when i finally brought it up, she hit me with "oh, i thought we're just really close friends!" like the fuck lmfao. if you dont want to end up feeling like a clown, or embarrass yourself any further, ask her before you get even more attached.

[u/cgpa40 replying to u/L_user] second this. don't invest too much time and effort without knowing ur returns. u deserve clarity op.

[u/ddori OP replying to u/cgpa40] thanks guys. ill try bringing it up when i see her. sorry that happened to u though!

[u/tapiocapearl] hi OP. i'm a girl and this sounds like something girls do when they have a crush on someone, but is too scared to make the first actual move (besides including you in her activities). sometimes we need reassurance, like a proper green light that you like LIKE us.

[u/ddori OP replying to u/tapiocapearl] thanks! feels nice to read another comment from another girl. will be meeting her soon so ill try asking.

[u/tapiocapearl replying to u/ddori OP] yeah! show her you want her seriously as a romantic partner, relationship wise and she'll probably meet you halfway. best of luck, lmk if i got it right or not!

💭 just realised (as i was doing the final proofread) that the comments section is longer than the story itself smiley faceee...

[psychopomp-namine]

yingdu episode 5 spoilers

ohhh my god this is everything I want from cheng xiaoshi. yes. perfect. sorry, but I'm a cheng xiaoshi whump liker and link click always brings out the best of them in episode 5 of each season.

there's just something cathartic about how when cheng xiaoshi becomes an emotional mess, it's also when he's most disconnected with the people he knows (physically, as he's diving in a photo and his only link to his home timeframe is a disembodied lu guang in his head) but it's also when he's most connected with strangers (when their own personal trauma lines up with his). to me, it's a showcase of empathy and a strange manifestation of his own agency. something about how the disconnect gives him the space to blow up, and the connection heightens it and grants him permission, almost, to express his anger more freely for his own sake and for another person's behalf.

like. listen, okay, I'm gonna ramble now because cheng xiaoshi is my favorite character in this entire show, but listen. sometimes some fans will conflate adjectives to his character that are usually associated with his character archetype, but they aren't necessarily true about him as a character. and I don't mean it in a, "he's not like that because he grows out of those traits" kind of way. I mean it in a, "he was never like that" kind of way.

one of those adjectives, for me, is when people call him immature. he isn't! to me! imo! he's got big emotions, yes, but I personally don't think the presence of big emotions indicates anything about maturity. because you know what? as long as his primary trauma (feelings of abandonment) isn't touched, he is very good at handling interpersonal conflicts, and that's what's interesting to me.

qiao ling hides relevant information from him? he removes himself from the situation to give himself space and sort out his feelings. he tells her he's fine and that he'll be back.

post-earthquake arc? I'll just copy paste what I already said in a previous ask:

what initially got me was when I was first watching S1, I thought the earthquake arc would have devastating effects on [shiguang's] relationship. listen, I didn’t know what I was getting into with link click, but I thought that was expected. it’s ripe for drama! but how do they handle the fight? they put their side business on hold but they still keep being roommates. they still do their day job. they still talk. they’re still upset but they give each other space but not to the point where they can’t stand existing in each other’s spaces. that’s when I realized that oh, they really trust each other. they have a very solid foundation for their relationship that not even the earthquake arc can break. they’re pretty level-headed about this, actually, all things considered? all the doomed yaoi stuff came later, but that’s just the cherry on top. it’s the way they handled conflict and disappointment in S1 that got me.

okay, protect-namine, why go through that whole tangent? BECAUSE! circling back to yingdu episode 5, we finally, finally get to see cheng xiaoshi let out some of his anger. and it's precisely because his primary trauma point was on the table. he can forgive a friend lying, and he can forgive being told not to change the past. because at the end of the day, qiao ling and lu guang stayed. they never left him.

but he cannot handle abandonment. he cannot understand why people leave. he cannot understand why he's been clinging on to false hope this entire time. and more importantly, he cannot understand how someone can be such a hypocrite about it. "a man who'd rather be kind to strangers than face his own son" like fuck man. cheng weimin you fucked up so bad.

it's the disconnect/connect thing again too. thematically, it makes sense. when does cheng xiaoshi blow up? when he's alone, far away from the people that ground him. alone, the feeling he hates the most. he's not even in his own body. he blows up when he's inhabiting a stranger's. he doesn't even get to be angry as cheng xiaoshi.

how fucked up is that. man. I love him so much.

also I'm going crazyyyy over the family themes going on in link click. much to say about the show itself across all seasons (the twins, qiao ling and cheng xiaoshi, even the liu siblings), but for this episode... god. okay this is slight speculation territory now and I'll try to keep this very short, because this is only tangential to the post. but. imagine xia fei getting the good parent figure in cheng weimin that cheng xiaoshi never had. and he doesn't know!! he's bitter inside about his dad and he's having hotpot with xia fei and he doesn't know he was in that school!! fuck that's so good. that's so juicy.

okay, sorry, I have a lot of feelings about cheng xiaoshi. he's my link click blorbo of all time, and I love when he experiences The Horrors™ because it's also when other sides of him gets to shine.

on a brighter note:

VEIN AND CHENG XIAOSHI MEETING AGAIN!!! their greeting was so cute. also omg does xia fei know? that his boss is maybe possibly a cannibal? actually, wait, I don't think I'd be surprised if he does know.

ah and finally. finally:

I've been having many thoughts on how yingdu approaches "friendships" and their transactional nature (mostly with regards to liu xiao) but I mostly thought they're headcanon stuff. but now. I'm so so happy that episode 5 is bringing out more of the quid pro quo theme. liu xiao with the gift giving. wang qing's "friends" (bullies) demanding her to cheat on the exam for them. and now, vein and cheng xiaoshi having a friendly greeting but also exchanging favors. so good. so good. it goes along with how there's so much handshakes and handholding this season (not just with lu guang and cheng xiaoshi, but with cheng xiaoshi and the the antagonist trio too, who have all met him by "helping" him in some way). something something trust and favors. probably something that deserves its own post though, but I wanted to point this out because I am soooo here for that. it's goes hand in hand (ha!) with the whole fraud/lies vs innocence/honesty theme this season, and deals/contracts being an equalizer to the two. very good. very tasty.

edit: ooh they also point to this in the YE6 trailer too. nice, nice. if you knew someone's true colors, would you still be their friend?

man, I love episode 5. it just hits all the stuff I personally wanted to see. the only flaw is that we still haven't seen the older version of wang qing, but yeah I kinda expected that they'll hide her until episode 6. they're giving her the liu xiao treatment from season 2. sigh. really wish she'd keep showing up in S3, we need more female characters in this show 🙏

[twipsai]

this one panel in issue #50 and it's, like, not THAT bad alright

fuck it im tired and had a long day this is my treat to myself. im talking about that panel. yes, THAT panel. which one?

THIS ONE. alrighty this is off the cuff and terrible, lets go.

so this panel isnt like, that bad in context when it comes to Sonic. i think specifically "ive made peace with enough enemies to know there is a better way" is a really interesting line here, because it calls back to the amount of times that the "villain" hes fought has just been a person whos hurting, and how hes been able to help those people. it makes sense that eventually hes more keen on trying to figure out someones whole story before deciding if theyve gotta go (which is rare).

but i want to talk about the FRAMING of this panel, and specifically the larger context of this issue in particular. theres a lot of flip-flopping in perspectives. usually, IDW is told through Sonic's perspective (loosely, this kind of thing is up to interpretation a lot), but in issue 50, it switches rapidly between four different groups -- Sonic and Surge, Tails and Kit, Eggman and Starline, and Belle and Metal. within these groups, the perspective its being told from changes a few times, but never as much as Sonic and Surge's do

i actually love these two when they interact as a storyteller myself, and one that has handled scripts too often for my own liking. Sonic and Surge do this thing where they push and pull the pacing of the script to fit their motives -- Surge keeps trying to escalate things, whenever shes in a panel everything starts pushing rapidly and it feels like the panels are tumbling off the page. when Sonic does anything, though, its slow and deliberate. hes having fun fighting, sure, but he can very much tell that Surge is trying to kill him and hes not having any of that. Sonic keeps things slow and focused, Surge tries to push things faster and unfocused. i could get into how this reflects her motivations and stuff but thats not what this is about i already lost track of what i was talking about fuck hang on

ok so. Surge knows shes supposed to be Sonic, to be BETTER than Sonic. its all she knows, really, and thats the problem. shes traumatized and full of rage and Sonic has been put on this high pedestal, not just by her, but by everyone. she cannot stand this.

this panel is how SURGE sees Sonic, specifically the composition. hes shrouded in light and physically above her -- its not even that subtle of a metaphor, they use it all the time in idw.

the entire overpowered saga shows Surge clawing for control of herself, her life, her freedom... this issue sets all that up in the main story. the way Sonic is framed here isnt how he sees himself at all. weve seen him do this exact same thing from his own perspective before, where everyone is on even ground. he doesnt see himself as above anyone, this instance of him being depicted as such isnt alluding to how Sonic feels about himself, its how Surge feels about Sonic.

and, look, its not the most well-done in the world. this issue has a whole host of problems, evident by the constant switching of focus from one group to a next (a problem that i think they did better on in the Phantom Rider saga). i literally forgot about Belle and Metal in this issue bc theres just so much more going on, i wouldve loved for them to slow things down a bit, maybe splitting it into two issues, but hey, what can you do, yk?

as an aside, i think its really weird how people narrow in on this specific panel of Sonic as being "so out of character", which i sorta like, 30% agree with (i think some phrasing could be better), and then ignore the page right after it...

...in which he pretty much says "you dont get freedom if youre gonna be a problem". funnily enough, on twitter i have this flow chart saved whenever i need a quick guide on Sonics morality and stuff, its really not that complicated

x

none of this is new imo, we see he has the same philosophy in sa1 and satbk. Chaos was blinded by rage and pain after being trapped for thousands of years RIGHT after they were attacked by the echidnas. Merlina was so scared of death (implied to be because she had lost family members and wasnt able to cope with it well) that she became a monster in an attempt to never let anything change ever again. these arent very different stories in my head i guess, just cases of Sonic seeing people who are hurting and doing his best to free them from that.

uhhhh anyways. all this is disorganized i forgot what i was talking about like 5 times while writing this but. people on twitter are ripping into this issue again. like its a b tier issue stop acting like its an f yk Q_Q i will defend anything if people are too mean tbh

thanks for making it this far if you read all this. i love idw a lot and i think that it does have some flaws, theyre all really blown out of proportion.

have a great day/afternoon/evening wherever you are yall :) bye bye

[districtunrest]

ONGOMGOMGOMG. (share thoughts. any n all. you know i need to know. PLEASE!)

HAHA sorry. anyway:

I didn’t really like it and I’m sad about it. ☹️ even though there were some interesting ideas and cool new characters, I was taken out of the story too much to fully enjoy them. it read to me like the laziest (most rushed? least edited?) yet most forced storytelling of the series, which sucks bc it’s supposedly the REAL backstory of my favorite character. but I just couldn’t shake my doubt while reading that this was what we and Katniss were missing all along. too many details (that I memorized by heart as a tween and have made everyone’s problem since) didn't match up, even with the card-stacking*. so I just don't believe this was always the intended ‘real’ story when it’s so hidden from the trilogy... imo, SC went back to it with a mission statement in mind after recent current events (and, more tellingly, after Ballad) and did her thing. which is fine, that's her right - it's just, when this whole book seems more like a writing workshop thought experiment than the intended backstory, I will treat it as such. bc as it stands, all the callbacks & connections & Everlark parallels in the world cannot replace Katniss & Peeta watching the highlight tape of his Games, Haymitch telling them what he did was “almost but not quite” as bad as them with the berries, Katniss finally understanding who he is in that moment, and Haymitch later admitting the loss of his loved ones were because of "that stunt [he] pulled with the forcefield" (which is. simply not true anymore with all of his stunts in and out of the arena). like say no more, that’s good enough for me! it’s what I prefer and what I find more compelling than what’s revealed/subverted in Sunrise. and tbh that discrepancy makes Sunrise unfaithful, at least in my eyes, for all it relies on references to the rest of the series. 

now, obviously I had mixed feelings about this prequel in the first place, and my concerns/reservations mounted with each excerpt, only to be confirmed now... but I did try, okay!?? haha I’d told you and several others privately that I really wanted to like this book and I was willing to set aside my gripes if it was good - but it had to actually be good! instead, the book was exactly what I was afraid it was going to be *and* suffered a drop in quality. I found the narration underwhelming, dumbed down and repetitive, and not evocative of Haymitch's voice. even things I thought there was NO WAY would actually happen and I was just being paranoid - but then they did, lmao. like, it was a letdown for me personally *and* it didn’t even do it well enough where I could at least respect it and oblige, lol

overall, it was just too off for me. by answering and explaining so much, it ended up taking away a lot of the trilogy's charm and intrigue - and did so in a way that left a bad taste in my mouth. it made me view Ballad in a more negative light, too, tbh. so I think going forward I’ll just consider it a weird spinoff that is secondary to the main/trilogy canon. 🤷🏻‍♀️

(some more Haybitching under the cut)

tbh, what guts me the most is what SC chose to do with Haymitch’s voice & character, where she watered him down to what he needed to be for this lesson & this plot. it’s frustrating that the dangerous, cunning, arrogant boy that Katniss sees in the highlight reel and can easily recognize in adult Haymitch is all an act. the character we thought we knew is not present here, sacrificed to make yet another point about propaganda, and that’s a crying shame. and his deterioration in the final chapters is so underwhelming (as are the death scenes 🫣) - I've read that same story countless times but told better by people who love the character as is and weren't on a time crunch for a movie deal, I guess.

Sunrise!Haymitch skews shockingly immature and moralistic and hates the idea of being a sarcastic, selfish “rascal." but since when are we calling surviving and fighting to get home in an unthinkable situation selfish? that’s now assumed in Sunrise’s logic, where instead having a ginormous alliance against the Careers with no exit plan (big ‘WHAT IF ALL THE TRIBUTES BANDED TOGETHER AND DIDN’T FIGHT?’ energy) is much smarter and nobler than going it alone and heading in one direction to get to the edge for no reason other than bc nobody had tried it before and trilogy!Haymitch, we know, is an out-of-box thinker & strategist. I know he & Ambert were operating under the notion that they were going to lose no matter what and had their own plans (which. hmm) but it was just so oddly accepted by the Newcomers, too, who had no such threat from Snow. they were so willing to be selfless martyrs and band together when they all know at the end of the day there can only be one survivor - which was heartening in a way, sure, but it almost seemed trite? and again, needlessly moralistic in an established world like Panem, where these things happen every year...? not even self-righteous (Katniss' words but with Haymitch's backing!) Peeta 'not a piece in their games' Mellark thought so narrowly. Idk. I might have to mull that one over more. but anyway, then Haymitch trying to rescue Maysilee is turned into a mini redemption arc in post, when all it was in the first place was a glimpse into his protective & caring nature underneath all the bravado, which was surely part of Katniss’ deepening understanding of him. but Sunrise wasn’t interested in exploring that, either, or even honoring it. okay

and I can’t get over how SC had to kind of retcon the final pages of Mockingjay to fit Haymitch’s epilogue into it, which didn’t help how it already rang so hollow for me, I hate to say. it’s not even done well, containing the most rushed, wrap-up-everything-before-the-deadline writing I’ve ever seen from SC (and it STILL doesn’t read like Haymitch’s voice to me :/). some things can just be; they don’t need some big, loaded, tragic explanation. Haymitch can glibly call Katniss ‘sweetheart’ once, bc she’s been sullen & hostile to him and he is in fact sarcastic (the horror!), only for it to go on to become an actual term of endearment by the end - like, that’s lovely in and of itself. why weigh it down further? who asked for that? I know I didn’t. 

most insignificantly & pettily of all: geese do mate for life - as in monogamously, meaning they stay together until one of them dies. then, they mourn and find another mate. just putting that out there, lmao

*how tf was Haymitch able to kiss his token and set up a bomb and throw it over the edge and put his token back when we know he was convulsing from shock by the end? to where Silka was able to start staunching her wound as she waited for him to die? if him going into shock was taken from footage anytime after, the arena would've been quaking/on fire around him?? Idk fam. it just feels off.

[alllgator-blood]

hymns of the unholy drops tomorrow, I'm gonna make a track tier list but here's my initial thoughts before it comes out:

This feels worthy of a "read more" just because there's no pictures to look at and it's four paragraphs. TL;DR the album is very cheesy but I'm literally so excited I'm gonna stay up all night so I can listen to the new album the second it drops. The overly critical part of my brain is telling me I shouldn't derive enjoyment from this album unironically but I'm not gonna obey, I am cringe and free and I'm gonna crank this shit with no shame cause it's the game I like...IN MUSIC FORm

[gif meant to represent me randomly busting it down leshy style when I'm home alone, and singing "THE END AWAITS AS THE OLD FAITH TAKES THE LAST OF MY KIIIIINDDDD" over and over]

The lamb's song was kickass and if I heard it in the wild without knowing there was a metal album for this game, I'd spontaneously combust from sheer excitement. It's instantly recognizable and that's kinda all I wanted from it tbh! I've mentioned before that I'm way more of a djent/shoegaze/sludge fan when it comes to metal rather than the genre these songs have been, but I'm literally so excited the bishops are getting some kind of inclusion in a project that I'm gonna crank this album even if it reminds me of the shadow the hedgehog game soundtrack. Tbh this one is so solid that if they JUST announced this one and didn't make the others, I'd still think it'd stand alone quite well for what it is! Edit: I said I'm cringe and free, why did I spend half this section dunking on the genre.....

Leshy's song..........was totally lame but in an epic way, like the first time I listened to it I thought it was fine! But when I actually read the lyrics I had tears streaming down my face from laughter. I screamed out loud when the guy basically says "btw my name is leshy :)", the lyrics are actually so fucking bad. But c'mon it's LESHY he's the littlest brother, if anyone got a corny ass song it should really be him. The shredding solo at the end is fucking hilarious and if he was in charge of his own song, he 10000% would request that specific ending. Musically, this one sounds the least like the source material so far but it's got that arpeggio from his + amdusias' theme and that's arguably the most iconic part. Also, "DAYLIGHT WILL COME UNDONE AS WE ECLIPSE THE SUN" is insane and is the best part besides describing his blindness as "ETERNAL NIGHTFALL"

Heket's song...........It has my favorite lyrics so far but the vocal work after the 40 second mark had to grow on me. I can't describe it but it sounds like that post grunge style and as a grunge fan, post grunge is my biggest opp in the music world. I was hoping they'd get a female singer for this but for heket specifically I can understand why they didn't. The actual lyrics in the song are fuckin badass, when it gets to the "MAKE YOUR PEACE, CREATURE" part I always turn it up to a deafening volume because it goes BALLISTIC. Genuinely my favorite part of any of these songs so far. I adore that her characterization in this song is layered and isn't just "I'm leshy, I'm made of plants or something and also I'm gonna kill you", it goes through her arc PERFECTLY imo!! Instrumentals in this one are better than the leshy song as well, I really like that they brought back the pitch bending/choppy sampling from the ost for this one

I'm on my hands and knees begging for the shamura song to be good, the leshy song had me worried but they came in clutch for heket. If they don't work in shamura's iconic lines from the game, I'm gonna cry inside I think- I'll forgive a lame kallamar song but ONLY if it's funny. Narinder's theme is gonna be hard to fuck up imo I have faith it'll be top tier

[m4g0hun]

in stars and time x dungeon meshi

(extra thoughts and ideas below!)

closeups!!

so this is more of a isat in dungeon meshi kinda au than the opposite, the idea is that the King is the dungeon lord/mad mage, his desire being to be able to freeze the dungeon and the country in time

The change belief still exists, and Mirabelle is still a housemaiden destined to save the counrty, so she goes to seek out companions who can help her on her journey

Everyone's reasoning to join is still the same as it was in the game

Also this isn't a redesign of them, more like a dungeon meshified version of their clothes + colors so they could fit in better (imo!!)

ok now onto some design notes!

Siffrin

originally he was just gonna be a half-foot, but i realized his wish to be able to stay with everyone would hit harder if he would outlive them, so i made them a half elf- halffoot

i removed his hat purely for aesthetic reasons lol, i think he would stand out too much in the dungeon meshi universe with it, but i suppose its true for ingame too so maybe ill give ut back to him if he behaves well

i also wanted to remove his hat so i could see the top if his beatifiul head

his poncho is a bit different, just a few small details so it would better in universe i think

he lost his eye in one of the previous dungeons they were going through

Mirabelle

she's still part of the change religion

i felt like her being an elf is pretty much perfect, no notes on that

i did have marcille in my mind while designing her outfit, and also theyre kinda similar overall i think?? idk but i love both of them

i gave her braids because its canon in the dungeon meshi universe that taking good care if your hair+unique hairstyles strengthen your magic and also i think its cute

Bonnie - the senshi of the group!!!

i wasn't sure what race i should make them at first because they're a kid so theres no point in chosing a shorter race to show their size i thought, but then i remember how cute gnomes are in the verse with their big ol ears so thats what they are haha

their design is probably my favorite out if anyone as well

i imagined they would join pretty much the same way senshi did

Odile

her race was also pretty much immediately decided

her clothes were the biggest struggle for me, not only figuring out how to make them look a bit more medieval-like but also the colors

i decided a while ago in my head that odiles color palette would be blue but it was still a struggle making her coat not look like a lab coat lol

maybe that was the intention but i really just wanted her to appear like a normal adventurer

Isabeau

as you can see on the page i have the least amount of ideas for him lol

i pretty much just had laios in my head while i was designing him

i do feel a bit bad for taking away his stripes and silly looking belt thingy but i felt its a bit too much for the dunmeshi verse

thats pretty much it i think!! not sure if i will draw more of this au, i just mainly wanted to get it out ot my head cus its been rotating in it since i played the game

[changetheprophecy81]

Hot take on Lily's characterization in this fandom

Ik I've written abt this before but I really cannot understand y this fandom insists on limiting lily's characterization to being good and right all the time and making the narrative sympathetic towards her even when she isn't coz ppl don't want haters for her. And this makes sense coming from the new marauders fandom coz they see all of their favs as incapable of being wrong. But I can't understand y the traditional marauders fandom acts this way too coz they tout themselves as being oh so progressive, but they write lily exactly the way rowling wrote her but in a different sense

Rowling wrote all the women in the franchise with the lens of what she sees as an 'ideal woman', but imo lily gets hit by this the most. She exists to further the narratives of other, more important characters, everything we ever hear abt her r positive attributes (harry goes thru tht phase in ootp where he realizes tht his father whom he looked up to so much was a flawed person, for whatever reason his mother is exempted from this), and the highlight of her life was dying for her son(despite the fact tht james did the same and we do know quite a bit abt him).

The conventional view of women has progressed beyond this now, but i d argue tht the underlying issue hasn't been resolved. I get tht fandom is a space for relaxation and fun, but then y do ppl hv a problem with lily being a tad bit flawed in a bad way when the boys r literally out there murdering each other and becoming fascists? The fandom sees her with the modern lens of what an ideal woman is(intentionally or unintentionally)- she's a perfect sjw who starts off with all the right values and has nothing to learn and grow from- she's an ideal feminist, she's always understanding, sympathetic and accepting, she accepts remus instantly, she's the moral voice in the marauders vs snape debate, she always stands up for the underdog, she doesn't let societal prejudices influence her views and waver her morals, etc etc. And while these r undoubtedly very fine qualities to hv, thts not how things work. Ur not being progressive by writing a woman who has no growing and learning to do like a normal person, and who's never allowed to be wrong in a way tht hurts others without making her sympathetic

Let lily be a catty bitch in a way tht can be interpreted as 'cheeky and vivacious' from an outsider's pov. Let lily not hv any proper female friends because she was a popular, well liked girl in high school who wasn't really a girl's girl. Let her be hated by ppl for reasons outside being a muggleborn and being friends with snape. Let her be friendless coz she's just a bad friend, she literally almost smiled when her best friend was being assaulted. Let her be homophobic coz it was the 70s and her social circle consisted of ppl lyk teenage snape and petunia. Let her not be accepting of remus immediately coz the whole ww was prejudiced against werewolves and she's new to it. There r infinite possibilities and none of them need to take away her good aspects in canon, much lyk they don't with the boys

LET HER BE FLAWED AND COMPLICATED AND CONTRAVESIAL COZ WHO CARES, SHE'S NOT FUCKING REAL

[steppenwolfslair]

An add on to the very poor handling of Nevecanis; the companion/companion romances in general were badly done in DAV

Concerning Harding/Taash, Nevecanis, the banter and its inevitability

One of the first problems i have with the DAV companion romance system is that it is inevitable, if you don’t romance one they get together always instead of it depending on time together spend in part like it is in DAI wit Dorian/Bull. I feel like a lot of people forget that at the end of the day this is supposed to be an RPG game and that the player should be able to control their story, yes even the companion romances. And the system for Dorian/Bull was really simple and really good.

In DAV it is treated as a pivotal part of the story of both of the pairings between the main companions with shared scenes instead of unique ones (yes even the Taash Harding one is basically Tav replaced Taash with different dialogue, which is way better handled with them but still, a recycled scene).

Another thing that is badly handled is how quickly respective companions will start to flirt with each other even if Rook is already showing obvious interest, and the flirting for companions is imo far better done and with more active participation and reaction than with Rook. Nevecanis is just overpowering in this but it happens with Taash and Harding too. If you’re pursuing Harding do you really want to her talk how hot she thinks Taash is?

And then we get to the relationship banters. If companions gets together they talk about their relationship constantly with each other and with the other companions way more than Rook gets and does with them. It basically takes precedence over any other interesting banter you might’ve gotten (as i have learned recently with Harding and Taash). Again the game decides to shove Rook to the side so the writing can play their little OC game.

This is a problem with Rook again and again where they most of the times feel sidelined so the companions can shine. There is a found family here, but rook is extended family rather than the inner one.

The only one done right imo was Strife and Emmrich. A fun little side thing that happens, completely out of the way other than few lines of banter and one scene where they talk to rook about it. The player doesn’t feel left out it just makes you go “oh that’s neat” instead of constantly watching a secondary pairing get more attention than whatever you would have going on (Taash/Harding doesn’t suffer this nearly as bad as Nevecanis but the complaint still stands, though don’t take my word for it i haven’t seen them not together to compare)

I will repeat what i said though the main issue DATV has not giving me the CHOICE for these things to happens, i don’t get to influence it like i could in DAI where thankfully (no one crucify me for this) i could easily avoid a ship i despise.

Now you can yell “but it’s realistic to-“ this is a video game, more than that an RPG, and it has decided once again to rob me of meaningful agency over my own story.

EDIT: a lot of these thoughts come from discussion with @hightowerqueen 💛

EDIT 2:

Removed the people don’t like companion/companions romances thing, this is a very split opinion and i don’t want the focus on that

[unionizedwizard]

now i'm thinking about who among the scions would be the best at grillin' (not including the wol who might very well be a lvl 100 culinarian in anyone's specific timeline, obviously)

urianger: not great, as we've established

thancred: i THINK he got better at it after spending five years (!) on the run in the wilderness with a teenage girl honestly. if only thanks to sheer practice. and he's versatile enough that he could be a decent cook imo. still okay at best probably though, his dad card doesnt got that far (F)

y'shtola: i don't believe she was put on kitchen duty even once during her time among the night's blessed. she can probably make various healing potions and basic meals (SOMEONE had to help with matoya's meals. that's what apprentices are FOR!), and she obviously does have a great mastery over fire (euphemism), but she wouldn't want to grill in the first place. she's sitting by poolside drinking rosé and having fascinating conversations

estinien: i do agree with lizzie here, estinien probably would be good at it provided he's familiar with everything involved in the process, and he probably would rather actively but quietly take care of business & help in a concrete way, while being removed from the action.

alphinaud: no. let him build the fire and set up the bbq and send him to go help with the potato salad or something. not sure he can tell rare and medium rare apart. he's very eager to help and learn but wouldn't ask for grilling duty because he knows it's not his specialty

alisaie: this is a baby butchling who wants nothing more than out-grill EVERYONE. i don't think she'd be good at it (yet) but she's definitely staying around and helping and learning, eagerly trying to prove herself. i think she'd have hunted and then prepared the animal the meat came from in the first place. give it a few years and she'll be the ultimate bbq dad But A Dyke, i just know it.

g'raha: would not ask for grilling duty but would not be bad at it if given the chance. between the 100+ years of survival mode & his experience as a broke student doing field work (not to mention potential childhood experiences - grilling meat seems to be a staple of seeker culture all across the world), i think he's seen enough to know what he's doing, but as grilling is some kind of Important Position With Responsibilities, he'd let anyone who thinks they can do a better job than him handle it, and compliment the result no matter how terribly wrong it went

krile: can't say i'd see her want to do it in the first place. her job both as a scion and as a student of baldesion has always been very firmly confined to intellectual, diplomatic & magical duties, and she's been a city girl her entire life. she would help in a thousand little ways including making sure everyone feels included because she's really good at handling social gatherings, without showing it

tataru: could and would out-grill the world's most renowned chefs. they're gonna have to invent a new dellemont d'or prize for grilling specifically after tasting her cooking. she's standing on a stool wearing a pink apron the whole time. the local restaurant owners are having a personal crisis and begging her to teach them her ways.

[sun-marie]

pivoting a little off of that Neve post to say real quick that if you haven't played the Templar route of DAI i highly recommend it. Some highlights:

Calpernia vs Leliana > Samson vs Cullen. Samson, as an antagonist, honestly feels pulled out of thin air, and having an extremely weird rivalry between him and Cullen shines a spotlight on the very strange role Cullen plays in DAI and makes the player wonder why they aren't switched. Calpernia, on the other hand, is a nuanced and complex character with somewhat sympathetic motivations, and watching Leliana get to put her spymaster skills to use to find out more about her is a lot more satisfying imo. Additionally, Samson's maguffin of his Red Lyrium armor being weakened for the unavoidable fight pales in comparison to convincing Calpernia to stand down by telling her the truth about how Corypheus is using her.

DAI's infamous issue with Corypheus's lack of presence in the story? Somewhat alleviated in this route. It's still not great, but we actively see him manipulate Calpernia, multiple times iirc, and at one point we hear his thoughts throughout one of the dungeons. I sincerely believe the reasons Corypheus gained such a reputation for being absent in the story are because most players have only played the mage route

Everything involving Therinfal Redoubt. The Envy demon, the mind prison, Cole's introduction (a far improvement over his intro in the mage route), the slow and natural revelation of the Venatori's ultimate goals (as a opposed to "i accidentally got chucked into the future but some time goo and here's everything i was able to learn for the whole Hour I was there"), Ser Barris my beloved <3

Depending on how you play it obviously, but there's an argument to be made that dissolving the Templars may do more good and result in more lasting change than freeing the Circles, seeing as the idea of the circles, as an academic space for mages to learn to control their powers, was never really the issue and oppression and abuse of the Templars is the true root of the problem. YMMV here though

As mentioned in a previous point, no time magic! this streamlines a lot of the storytelling imo, and makes for an INCREDIBLY CRUNCHY introduction to Dorian, who shows up at Haven and, since he's allowed to talk like a normal person and not a Spirit of Compassion, brings a very intense energy to the scene. Imo this works best if this is your very first time meeting him, as in you never went to Redcliffe and never had to deal with the Headache that is Alexius, the character assassination of Fiona, and the illogic inherent to Time Magic

The Templar route is just better integrated into the rest of the story. Cassandra's personal quest where they mention the Lord Seeker's been replaced by a demon? That no longer feels like it came out of left field, we literally saw that and so this quest feels like payoff. Leliana gets more time to shine doing Spymaster Things so her personal quest about being More Than A Tool feels more impactful. The Inquisition being an organization that scares the Chantry makes more sense because we stole the Chantry's army. The Red Templars no longer feel like a "bad thing made worse for some reason" and instead feel like sad endings for good (or well, i should say "good") people, who could've found a better way with the Inquisition and instead chose to be This. Emprise Du Lion and the Emerald Graves are now completely skippable areas, aside from whatever sidequests you'd like to do there.

Unfortunately, the greatest barrier to entry is justifying the In-Character reasons for your Inquisitor to get help from the Fucking Templars, which is. not ideal. BUT if you can do that, I really truly believe it's the superior route

[legendsofamultishipper]

So, since TOWL started, but even moreso after this episode, we've been discussing when was the exact moment Rick & Michonne fell in love.

Here are my thoughts.

-For Michonne, I think it's obvious and Danai already said as much. It was when she watched Rick bite a man's throat out to save his son. She saw that this man (a man she cared deeply for, a man she was very attracted to) was willing to do absolutely anything for his family and she realized he was the one. This was the man she loved. This was the man she wanted. For herself and for the future family they were already building.

-For Rick, I think it was a more gradual process. The attraction was there from day 1. From the moment he saw her standing at that fence. Sure, he was still grieving and half out of his mind, but he could see the woman standing in front of him was out-of-this-world gorgeous and their chemistry was undeniable. He could feel that tension between them even if his mind wasn't there yet.

-I think he started to fall for her in "Clear." The moment she told him she knew he'd been seeing things and she could relate, he realized she saw HIM. She saw him and accepted him in a way no one else could. What was he going to do, NOT fall for this amazing woman who understood him in a way no one ever had? Please.

-I think he fell in love with her more and more each day, but when did he actually realize he was in love with her? Imo, it was when they got to Alexandria. When he had time to take a moment to really process everything they'd been through. He takes a minute to himself and it dawns on him that he's in love with Michonne. But also, he can't be.

-Because Michonne is his son's best friend. She and Carl, they've built this incredible bond and it's precious. It's too precious to put at risk. Rick starts to worry that if he and Michonne get together, it could damage the relationship between Michonne and Carl. And Rick can't do that. He can't take that away from them. He loves his son and he loves Michonne and he won't risk hurting either of them.

-So he makes a decision. He and Michonne can't be together. At least not now. Maybe, when Carl is older. Maybe once his son has formed close bonds with other people like the one he shares with Michonne...but not now. Not when Carl and Michonne need each other. So it can't happen.

-And as Rick is trying to figure out how to suppress his feelings for Michonne, Jessie is there. And she's nice and pretty and suffering in a bad marriage to a bad man and that's a problem Rick can actually do something about. He can get this woman and her kids away from her pos husband so they can be safe. Now he's got something to focus on. Now he's got a mission that will take his attention away from the breathtaking woman he's in love with but can't actually be with.

-And so he uses Jessie as a distraction. Now, let's be clear, he doesn't do this on purpose. Rick is a good man and he would never intentionally use someone in that way. He just wanted to help this woman escape her abusive husband. But she's kind to him and she reminds him of Lori so they form a connection. And it's good. Or it could be good. If he works at it. If he tries. It could maybe, someday, turn into something good for both of them.

-But then Carl is shot and everything changes. I think, even if Jessie had lived and it had been some random kid who shot Carl, their relationship would be over. Because now Rick knows what matters to him. He knows WHO matters to him and it's not Jessie. It's Michonne. It's only ever been Michonne. And while he's still worried about how Carl might react, he can't deny his feelings anymore. So he's going to tell her how he feels.

-But how does he do that? How can he make his move on the woman who means everything to him? Where does he even start showing her how much he loves her? He's still trying to figure that out when she gives him an opening. The toothpaste. She needs something and he can give it to her. Sure, it's a small gesture, but it's a way to start showing her how he feels. He can do this. He's going to do this. He's going to bring her a whole damn truck full of toothpaste until his plans get shot to hell.

-So he gives her the mints. It's not what she wanted, but maybe it's enough. And it is. Because she doesn't need the toothpaste or the mints or any other small romantic gesture. She needs him. She needs him the way he needs her. She LOVES him the way he loves her and all that worrying was for nothing. Because Carl is going to be fine. (😭) His relationship with Michonne is unshakable. And whatever weirdness he feels at seeing Rick and Michonne together is something they can deal with. As a family. Because that's what they are. That's what they've always been.

.....Anyway.......those are my thoughts :)

When do YOU think Rick & Michonne fell in love?

[nohara-rin-dot-mp3]

okay okay so hear me out i think that for the most part queerness in naruto falls into 3 categories: accidental, comedic, and villainous, none of which endorse it. comedic and villainous queer-coding actually condemn queerness. not to say that interpretations leaving behind the narrative's biases are flawed, i'm just pointing it out (its a surprise tool that'll help us later). also probably goes without saying but those these kinds of queer-coding aren't unique to naruto.

accidental queer-coding is just that- accidental. queer sexuality is typically a result of the naruto narrative hating women and therefore repeatedly centering male + male relationships, a bit of pandering in some cases (although imo this really only applies to the anime), and a bit of fandom amatonormativity. basically, stuff like naruto and sasuke, where their lack of chemistry with women and continual fixation on each other can easily be read as romantic. queer gender appears less often so i haven't been able to nail down the underlying narrative structures that cause it, but i'm talking about stuff like tenzo/yamato, where he's often read as transmasc due to that anime filler arc that can easily be read as a metaphor for transitioning (cutting his hair, changing his name, ect). the fact that the queerness was accidental doesn't erase the validity of the interpretation, but it does mean that the naruto narrative wasn't endorsing queerness.

comedic queer-coding is just the naruto narrative depicting non-standard gender or sexuality and then pointing and laughing. for instance, kakashi and gai's relationship is often played for laughs. they're "too close" for men, and the narrative expects it to be funny, because that might be gay and comedy can be found in subverting societal expectations. gender-based comedy is similar- naruto turning into a woman is supposed to be funny because he's really a boy. again, the narrative is not endorsing this queerness. it is laughing at it. in some cases, long-term depiction of these kinds of jokes can lead to normalization and therefore lose their comedic impact (see: kakagai marriage or whatever the fuck that was in boruto era) but that's an observed process that happens to long-running gags and doesn't equate to endorsement by the narrative.

villainous queer-coding is the naruto narrative attempting to demonstrate a character's role as an antagonist by depicting them with non-standard gender or sexuality. we know orochimaru is evil because of a lot of reasons, but one of the ways the narrative shows us this is by subtextually implying that he's preying on sasuke. and that's bad because that's gay. according to the narrative. we also see orochimaru play around with gender roles, which further serves to establish his villainy in the narrative. obviously, this is not an endorsement.

there's some overlap between these categories, of course (obito's tobi persona bounces between villainous and comedic queer-coding, for instance, in terms of his feminine behavior). however, as far as i'm aware, there's only one character who can't be sorted into these categories somehow: tenten.

her gender-nonconformity can be sorted into the accidental category, for the most part, because i think a lot of it's a by-product of kishimoto trying to make a strong female character and also her aromanticism. the aromanticism, on the other hand, is directly acknowledged by that narrative. because of that, it can't be accidental, but it is also accepted by the narrative. the fact that tenten does not fall in love is a fact of her personality and identity. i'd like to propose the theory that this happens because tenten is a woman, and the naruto narrative does not respect women. by discarding the perceived feminine flaw of falling in love, tenten is improving her standing in the narrative's eyes, even if doing so requires being queer. this would track with most instances of intentional non-standard gender either being a man acting in a feminine way or a women failing to meet the standards of femininity. because tenten's gender-nonconformity tends to be displayed as her acting in a masculine way, this is considered an improvement by the narrative, and therefore not depicted as a negative aspect of tenten's character. maybe idk i'm not an expert.

[thanostherappersupremacy]

can we talk about how the Tv shows Handle Cloud Guy?

He's fairly harmless in the films just makes some brief appearances and doesn't outstay his welcome but in the tv shows he pops up quite a lot and he's made into this all powerful bully and honestly straight up stalker

who messes with people for sadistic pleasure and never really gets any sort of comeuppance for his behaviour except

maybe in the episode with his parents but even then he gets what he wants in the end and dosn't learn any sort of lesson about his behavour.

and in the Trollstopia episode "" Cloud Control "" it gets worse since we find out he does this with one Troll from each of the other tribes constantly harassing them and showing up to ruin what should be happy occasions for them

and when the Trolls he harasses get together and finally stick up for themselves he fakes a depressive spout all to guilt them and make them out to be in the wrong

only for it to turn out to be a big trick and once again the episode ends with the Joke being on the victims.

not only is this kinda disheartening writing imo especially for tv shows targeted towards young children but also it makes Poppy a straight up enabler

given she goes out of her way to ignore Cloud Guy's actions and demonise others even when he does stuff like flood the village out of spite in the Drought episode when Branch refused to give in to his demands any longer

and worst of all in Cloud Control when the people who CG picks on finally stand up for themselves she makes out like they're in the wrong and downplays his actions

making out like he was only doing it to secretly help them in his own way and making them apologise because CG feels bad after being stood up to,

to be clear even if it hadn't turned out CG was faking being upset to prank them this would still be awful of poppy as it isn't down to them to take into account his feelings when he never did theirs.

so yeah Poppy just comes across in the Tv shows as some sorta school teacher who ignores blatant bullying but when someone finally snaps and fights back well then she starts taking it seriously

and if that had been the point of any of the episodes like she had a mini arc of realising why she was wrong well then that'd be fine if anything that'd be great

but she didn't instead she carry's on defending CGs actions and actively demonises anyone who dares stand up to him and dosn't ever learn that she was wrong for doing so.

this is another thing I'm Hoping a possible Third Tv show will finally fix after all these years hopefully having an episode that finally calls CG out on his actions

and has Poppy finally stand up to him on behalf of the other people he often harasses maybe Bro zone could be involved as well

like they see CG harassing Branch as per usual and stick up for him maybe even call Poppy out on her downplaying his actions all the time.

and when CG pulls a prank on Bro zone for revenge Poppy finally steps in and despite CG trying to downplay it as just a joke she firmly scolds him

and forces him to apologise to Both Bro zone and Branch and tells him if she finds out he's been up to any of his old tricks against any Troll in any of the Tribes

well then he'll officially be banished from the village and she sends him away with his tail inbetween his legs.

or just something like that ya know? like I said I really feel like if a Third show does get made then this is something they need to fix as the way they've portrayed CG and Poppy in regards to CG is pretty awful imo.

[1moreff-creator]

Who do you think will survive the killing game??? ( also if you were already asked this my B )

:D

Hi! Don’t worry, I don’t think I’ve ever talked about it, so I had to give it some thought :p It’s an interesting question, so let’s see!

As a TL;DR, my “most likely,” in order and assuming a standard killing game formula (obviously the amount of survivors could be way different), are Teruko - J - Whit - Rose - Levi

Spoilers up to CH2 EP15

Of course, there’s one character that’s already kinda locked in as a survivor (assuming a more or less standard fangan ending and not an “everyone dies” sorta situation), and that’s Teruko. While there were theories about a possible protag switch post-LGI release, I’ve never found them particularly believable, and I don’t really think they’re very popular anymore.

The next character that’s basically a survivor already is Min, because if I never accept her death, she will always be alive in my books. /j

Yeah honestly after Teruko my confidence on survivor guesses drops dramatically, since there’s obviously no good way to tell.

Still, one character that particularly stands out to me is J. I have my reasons to believe she might become the primary support character a la Kirigiri, and while that doesn’t guarantee survival, I’d say it ups the chances a bit.

As to why I believe that… well here’s the thing. I’m kinda planning to make a mastermind probability ranking post after CH2 ends, and I’ll talk about my predictions for J in more detail there. As a result, I’d just be repeating myself if I talk about it here. So, I'll give you the quick rundown and leave the more detailed explanation for that post.

Basically, I believe the core theme of DRDT is the concept of “fate” and the possibility of change, where the big climax for Teruko’s character arc in particular (the single most important arc for the narrative, protag privilege) will be rejecting the notion that she’s fated to have bad luck forever. She already talked about it with Xander before he stabbed her, and her primary character foil, David, “covered” Literature Girl Insane. You don’t exactly give that song to a character who is very hopeful for a better future. Even Teruko’s trust issues are born from the belief her bad luck makes betrayal inevitable. And with Ace talking about how he’s “a coward who couldn’t fight his fate” (paraphrased), the connection seems more solid than ever.

J is important in that context because her entire character is sorta designed around the concept of rejecting fate, the thing Teruko needs to “learn to do” as it were. J was born into stardom and fame, born “lucky” (LGI numeral number seven symbolism go brr), but hides it and rejects her birthright down to her secret quote, “Please don’t call me your daughter ever again.” If Charles and Eden are the ones who are trying to get Teruko to trust again, I see J as the one who has the best shot at convincing her that she’s not doomed by the universe itself, giving her the best shot at survival out of any non-protag imo.

Also, silly yet existent argument: the CH1 title screen had Teruko (and Xander), the CH2 had J. Is it possible the survivors will each be featured in one screen? Probably not, but still.

The next one’s Whit. DRDT seems committed to explore its characters as much as possible before they die (which I think we all agree is awesome), and that means those that haven’t been fully explored or developed yet have a higher chance of a late run, thus a higher chance of survival. This applies to J and Rose somewhat, but it applies to Whit especially. I sometimes feel that we know more about Mai Akasaki than we do about Whit, which should tell you something.

Contrast that to Charles, who is absolutely dying sometime soon (imo). Even ignoring the “Charles dead at three” Whit comment from the prologue, Charles’ character arc is a little too complete for me to think it’s likely he stays ‘till the end. After we close out the Elliot subplot (which could easily be in CH3 given Elliot’s MV is already out), killing Charles off would be a good way to really kickstart Whit’s inevitable Breakdown Arc.

Final points to consider about Whit are the fact that luck is mentioned in his character bio, which along with J’s LGI numeral VII and Teruko being Teruko gives him an extra connection to the two survivors I’ve pointed out; and the possibility of him being the mastermind. Again something for the MM post, but put briefly; he’s not a bad mastermind guess, but I think it’s very likely that if he is, he won’t survive, so there’s that.

The next one might be Rose? Recap foil with J, so if the dev wants to explore that to its fullest, Rose will probably make a late run at least. There’s a lot to explore with her character too, but frankly that’s a bit of a moot point; every character in DRDT has a lot to explore.

Even if she’s one of, if not the best pick for mastermind imo, it’s very possible she can be the type of MM to be redeemed and survive alongside the cast. Again, details will probably have to wait for the mastermind post :v Hate to be saying that so much, but understandably given some of the reasoning is similar, a lot of good MM guesses are good survivor guesses.

As for the fifth most likely… well, this is the reason this post took me a week (this and I was busy :v). See, if you’d asked me during the hiatus, I would have said Ace. Obviously, that wouldn’t have aged very well now would it?

The ask was sent a bit after Ep14, and by the time I got some free time to write this, it was already Wednesday and anything I said about Ace or Eden could have very realistically been proven wrong in just a few days, so I decided to hold off until culprit reveal. And now that Ace is looking like the blackened, I’m pretty glad I did.

This does bring up a curious issue of gender balance. In theory, there’s nothing stopping DRDT’s survivor cast from leaning one way or the other, but generally survivor casts do try to keep it as equal as possible. And with three women already listed, even putting Nico here would cause an imbalance. But the thing is… I don’t see almost any of the men surviving?

Hence, Levi. I frankly have no clue where his character is going with the recent reveals and the fact Ace is dying soon; I could just as easily see him as the second CH3 victim (if there are two) or fulfilling “buff character curse” by dying in 4. But… not knowing where someone’s arc is going is kinda the reason Whit is up there, so I’m using the same reasoning. It’s my least confident guess, so yeah. He’d certainly be an interesting survivor at least, I wonder how he’d play off the mastermind in trial 6.

To quickly cover the other characters, I’ll go in order of least likely to survive to most likely. Excusing the dead, of course.

-Ace: He’s technically still alive, but, uh… uh…

-David: If he were to survive, he’d need to go on a near identical arc to Teruko, which is… hard to imagine properly working. He’ll make a late run, probably, but I can’t see him reaching the sixth.

-Charles: Already explained.

-Arturo might be a little too insane to work. It’s hard to imagine a sixth trial with Arturo of all damn people around. Especially if J’s there.

And… those are kinda all the guesses I have for who is (in my belief) 100% dying. I could actually see every other character being a survivor :v

-Veronika runs into the same issue as Arturo; it’d be hard to let the mastermind do MM stuff when this girl’s there simping for them. However, I could see a world where dev keeps her for the psychoanalysis of the MM… kinda. Frankly, she should be in the “no chance” list, but… she’s my favorite alongside Min so let me have hope!-

-Nico has the advantage that they’re the only way to make a cast of 5 survivors perfectly balanced in terms of boys and girls; two of each and Nico. But that’s not very strong. The main issue is that I don’t really know what could happen with them in the remaining chapters that would advance their character to a point they’re a survivor, if that makes sense. Maybe if Rose makes it?

-Hu is weird. From what we’ve seen in the series, she would make a pretty compelling survivor. But… her secret quote…

Hu: I want to pay for what I’ve done. But even then, I still want to live.

Like, that’s the most “blackened” line in history; do you wanna state your victim’s name while you’re at it? Part of me wants to say that’s too obvious and the line will have a different context, but… it’s a secret quote in the source code of her character page. It’s not that obvious to anyone who follows the series more casually.

-Eden: I could see the argument of Eden>Rose (and therefore Eden>Levi as he’s only there due to gender balancing), since our favorite Clockmaker is quite easy to imagine in a final trial setting. The main issue is that… assuming a more or less standard formula, it’d be sorta weird to have someone in the sixth trial who can out-hope speech the protag, and Eden definitely fits that bill. It’s possible she makes it, especially given her involvement in the pre-prologue scene with Xander’s eye, but idk.

Here are a few extra survivor configurations I could see happening! Obviously there’s plenty more, so watch absolutely none of them be right.

Teruko-J-Whit-Eden-Levi/Nico (Teruko MM or dead MM with no “two victims” case)

Teruko-J-Rose/Eden-Levi/Nico (Whit MM)

Teruko-Whit-Rose-Nico (J MM)

Teruko-J-Whit-Hu (Veronika MM)

Teruko-Whit-J-Rose/Eden-Levi-Min?!?! (Min MM)

Teruko-Rose-Eden-Whit-Levi/Nico-Min (Baking Squad Cope!!!)

Teruko-J-Whit-Veronika-Levi/Nico (Why not?)

Everyone (The only right answer)

Thanks a lot for the ask! Fun to ramble about this series lol.

[nico-tines]

alright , i’ve officially had some time to actually think over the new rick and morty episode so here are my thoughts (spoilers ahead obviously)

First off, it was a fantastic episode overall, and a great start to the new season. Definitely gives me hope for the upcoming episode, although i will dock it points for it essentially being an attempt at another Vat of Acid episode imo.

I love Summer’s middle aged woman behavior and her interactions with Beth were some good comedic moments. I do wish they went a little further into the trauma she actually endured being stuck in a prison matrix. Im a little tired of her always needing to be the “strong female empowerment” character in the show. Let that girl cry PLEASE. And erasing all her development in the end for a stupid joke about her wanting to get high left a bad taste in my mouth. I understand that this is an episodic show that needs characters to somewhat stay the same but come on she could have made sooo much development in one episode and they threw it all away because she couldn’t bother to listen to herself. Seemed very out of character for her more recently. Although i am very happy with how they portray Summer in the Matrix and her plan of using Morty as a war weapon was fucked up but shows off how intelligent she really is.

Morty on the other hand, had a LOT of interesting developments this episode. I really enjoy realistic, jaded grown up Morty. And i especially enjoy how similar his character sounds to Evil morty. VA Harry Belden did an incredible job with the episode and definitely deserves a shoutout Imo. I do think it’s very interesting how Morty’s new war induced PTSD is shown in the episode. He’s experienced real life war on many occasions throughout the show and i highly doubt ALL of them have been mind blown from him by rick, otherwise how would he continue to have grown to the fighter he is now? And in this episode he KNOWS he’s in a simulation interacting with NPC’s i find it hard to believe that he would become so attatched to CJ knowing that this was a simulation buttttt i might just be nit picky. I also think it’s interesting that he refers to himself as having PTSD for the first time in the show despite the fact that he’s clearly had it for a long time now. I think it’s sad that he only validated his own trauma after experiencing the stereotype of what causes PTSD but that’s a whole new rant.

Watching Morty stand up to rick as this grown version of himself and give Rick a taste of his own medicine was satisfying and a well deserved growth in his character after he traps rick in his own Matrix. It’s especially refreshing to see the writers show off exactly how smart morty is and what he’s capable of making with the tank and the insta-death charger. I was also fully expecting them to finally make Morty bi when they introduced the CJ plot line LMAO but despite that I do like that after erasing his memory he’s still left with the physical reminder/scar of another fucked up experience rick has given him in the form of the tattoo. I hope they continue to make nods to that in the future of the show. Finally I loved the way Morty and Summer were able to make up in the end and Summer being fully truthful with her brother was oddly heartwarming ? Still fucked up but a great scene overall.

Rick’s behavior throughout this episode was the least interesting in my opinion. He acts exactly as evil as he did in Vat of Acid and continues to ignore the problems he starts the minute that Beth tells him not to reset Morty and Summer. He knew exactly how this was gonna end after he fried their brains too long in the Matrix and continued to let them suffer with that trauma anyway. Idek which is worse at this point 😭 I did think it was funny that all this was started over a fucking phone charger when I’ve barely seen rick use a phone in the show anyways. I did really enjoy as well that the writers continue to let Rick actually get hurt. Between getting outsmarted by Morty and literally getting his skin melted off by radiation it’s still nice to watch him get knocked off of god status every now and then.

All together i did really enjoy the episode and i probably have more thoughts but it’s almost 1 am and my brain is fried from overthinking this damn show (again) so let me know what y’all think ❤️

[wackywatchdotcom]

Rewatching episode one, I noticed that when Ragatha and Jax are talking to each other about Jax having a key, Pomni flinches away from, and lifts her arms to protect her face and head, when Jax toys with the key and catches it near her.

I wonder if she is that jumpy around others normally or if it's just when she's in a stressful situation (like suddenly being trapped in the circus) what do you think?

OK. ok. you mention this. and ive never said anything about it but i have genuinely noticed this almost every time ive seen that scene. i think about it a LOT but i havent been able to figure out my thoughts on it. but i think about it genuinely a LOT...

(i went on a huge tangent abt her thats like. only sporadically related to this specific moment SORRY. it was hard to address this moment without discussing a LOT about her i feel)

for the sake of clarity in the event someone reading this is unfamiliar, what this ask is referring to is this:

with the way that she so quickly dissociates and HARD (not that most people Never experience dissociation or smth, but its the intensity of it and how quick into this situation she starts dissociating is like. it makes it seem like its smth her body and mind are Used To Doing) she REALLY gives off the feeling that she had pre-existing mental health problems (i struggle to place anything TOO specific with the limited information we have but i feel like theres definitely a few things she has going on) before she even got to the circus, and like she COULD just be a naturally jumpy person, but with the dissociation thing and general distrust towards others, it feels like her jumpiness is also related to these issues

while her being naturally nervous is sort of implied and clear (though i think the extent of it is exaggerated by the circumstances of the pilot in particular) there ARE a few other examples that stand out to me

i THINK this can largely be passed off as her just being on edge from the horror adventure, but i this is IS notable that she reacts genuinely pretty strongly to what is a relatively minor 'jumpscare.' it happens later too w kinger pressing the tape recorder

in general she seems VERY easily startled by people, and frankly it reads a lot like it stems more from people being near her than just things happening abruptly. she notably doesnt jump hard when the angel arrives- she DOES get scared, but she isnt necessarily startled. she DOES react very strongly to ghostly, but i think its notable that she seems to find his visual appearance frightening and debatably not necessarily startling, but thats not really 100%. the times she reacts the strongest have to do with people, which imo ties HARD into her not trusting people

episode 2 breaks down her distrust of people well, and i dont think its a self consciousness thing. it seems more that she just doesnt tend to find people trustworthy- if something bad was happening to her, she would sooner assume theyd let it happen rather than help her. it could be argued that its partially a guilt or projection thing with ragatha, but im not actually so sure. pomni seems to be ashamed of leaving her behind, but particularly through ep 2 she doesnt seemed Plagued With Guilt by the way she acts towards ragatha, which implies that the dream didnt have to do with her projecting that shame in a way shed assume ragatha would turn back on her, too

it instead seems to be that she doesnt trust ragatha just... in general. the 'im not a child' thing, while a legitimate problem for pomni to have with ragatha (i love ragatha, and from my place in the audience i know her concern is genuine, and that she truly wants to encourage pomni, and is trying, but from the perspective of people around ragatha, its not an unreasonable assumption that shes JUST being infantilizing and belittling), does illuminate how pomni is seeing ragathas attempts at cheering her up- that it comes from a place of seeing pomni as immature or generally unstable. that pomni is incapable of managing herself and needs to be coaxed. it implies pomni doesnt see ragathas attempts at help as genuine. combined with her dream, that ragatha would allow the worst to happen to her even when she was asking for help, makes it very clear that, even with the 'nicest' person in the circus, pomni just... doesnt really trust her

(it is worth noting that pomni DOES seem to genuinely want to help ragatha in the pilot. she DID try to find caine. but she bolts at the first opportunity. she does care about people, but when stressed, she operates on keeping herself safe first and foremost, that she needs to do anything to get out of a bad situation even if that means leaving someone behind- and with her dream, it does seem that she generally assumes other people operate similarly, or otherwise in their own best interest)

this does, of course, improve by the end of eps 2 and 3. the funeral, and ragatha offering to include her, and how the others talk about abstracted players (combined with her conversation with gummigoo, someone who she has to assure has genuine friendships with those around him despite the lack of a true reality for them to be based upon), are able to convey that oh, these people do actually care about the people around them. theyre being genuine. they arent just looking out for themselves and thats it- they care when bad things happen to each other. and theres no true reason for me to be an exception. which is ALSO why i dont think its a self consciousness thing, she seems able to reason that shes not an exception to the intents of others, so much that when she cant assure herself that others' intents hold her safety as any sort of priority as well, any trust goes out the window. she WANTS to help if she can, but esp in the pilot, as far as shes concerned, its everyone for themself when shit gets bad, including herself

ep 3, she seems more trusting of ragatha- she has neutral and positive interactions w her, rather than assuming a lack of sincerity in it. but its not just ragatha, actually, because even before her talk with him, you can see it in how she interacts with kinger as well

she initially tries to help him run, which isnt too out there- with how she genuinely DID initially try to help ragatha, it doesnt require her to go out of her way to grab him and RUN. she can run AND take him with her. she can help without putting herself in extra danger. but then she DOES go back, which is one of my favorite and imo underrated pomni moments. because THIS is what i think actually highlights an improvement in how she sees the others before her apologizing to ragatha or taking kingers hand. because she puts herself BACK into (percieved, since its not actual sure WHAT the angels intentions were her) danger in order to get kinger away too

(theres probably a case to be made that ragatha didnt seem to be in immediate danger- she was in pain, that much was clear, but kaufmo had ran away by then. but even still, pomni couldnt have known kaufmo would shift gears and start chasing her instead of ragatha that first time. and i dont know if she actually knew death wasnt possible here yet. which isnt very flattering for pomni but also people do not act in flattering ways under extreme stress, esp given a predisposition to not trusting others, which ill elaborate more on in a second here- not that pomnis abandonment was ok OR that it was like evil of her or smth. shes just a person. there is no way she was prepared to know how to act correctly in this situation, and she didnt)

theres also this

which is SUBTLE but highlights a genuine increase in trust even before their heart to heart. now that she knows the cast (save for jax, who she seems to react to the harshest, which is worth noting imo) are not acting solely in their own best interest, that they WILL consider the wellbeing of those around them including her, that their concern for one another is genuine (which is concerning that she even assumes that to begin with, which ill circle back to momentarily), she very clearly has way more faith in them and the idea that she should stick around the others for safety

and of course, ive said it before, but her taking kingers hand has little to do with her enjoying holding hands. its her knowing that, if kingers wrong, this is going to end very, very badly. if holding their breath isnt the solution theyre BOTH going to get possessed, and who knows how theyd get out of that situation. but she decides in that moment that her trust in the others isnt ONLY about looking out for them and believing that theyre sincere in their concern for her. but that she is willing to let the others put her at a potential massive risk. getting possessed was a blatantly immediately traumatic experience- and she lets kinger put her at risk of it happening again. THATS why she holds his hand, at least symbolically. she doesnt like contact. but she can brave something that she doesnt like, she can let him lead her into and through something potentially horrific, because shes deciding to trust him and the others, that theyre not just people she can interact with without fear of ill intentions, but that theyre people who she is going to coexist with. the best thing she can do for herself and the others is trust them and work with them actively

anyway that got off-track, the point being that her having to have these ideas instilled in her at all through shared experiences and trauma implies that, while these issues with distrust may have been exacerbated by the stress of everything, they didnt come from nowhere. these are problems she likely already had to some degree. its great that theres been improvement but that improvement directly implies thesse were improvements that needed to be made to begin with. and the fact that the person she gets repeatedly most startled by is jax. who, even with episode 2, she explicitly doesnt trust. in the pilot, at least, her distrust is more vague (i think the dream sequence in ep 2 IS what highlights it best) so her flinching from jax can be passed off as related to a general lack of adjustment to the new environment and situation shes in. but it happens again with jax in episode 3 (and, notably, she pauses afterwards but it takes a moment for her to relax even knowing its just jax), after shes adjusted somewhat, and after shes gained some trust with everyone except for jax (given his absence from the scene at the end of ep 2). it also happens when barons voice plays abruptly next to her

point being that imo, she IS naturally jumpy. she says herself that she doesnt handle jumpscares well, which somewhat implies this even outside of the circumstances of the circus. but with how she reacts to things, it feels like her general jumpiness is far, far worse when it comes to people she doesnt trust (be it because jax is Like That, or because shes not familiar with baron). the way i see it, then, her distrust extends to perceiving physical threats easily around people she hasnt ensured are safe to be around. she IS able to gain this trust in people, but she seems to automatically place the intents of others as being Potentially Unsafe from the jump, especially under stress. she can jump back from it fairly quickly for what its worth, but to be honest, it seems more like she operates on some general, everpresent level of hypervigilance thats just sometimes worse based on the situation

and frankly i dont think we know enough about her as of ep 4 to fully determine if there IS a reason for this. because someone can have a reason to be this jumpy around others, or they can just... be nervous and dislike people moving suddenly near them. combined with the dissociation thing, though, im inclined to think the circus did not cause this, just made it more extreme with more unpleasant stakes. there is hardly any time between her entering the circus and this happening. she hadnt even seen kaufmo yet in that very first example, but she was already on alert for a physical threat, and i just. i think about it all the time...

i think the main takeaway from all of this is that i think she isnt necessarily jumpy like that all the time, but i think trust is not a given with pomni, and her jumpiness massively depends on how much she trusts people near her and the situation shes in to not be a physical threat to her. its definitely worse in the circus, but i think it was probably still something present in a different context in the real world, too