#as many things about LOM do

[lomappreciationblog]

This one is a little speculation post, but...I've noticed that the game keeps it very vague as to where exactly the protagonist comes from. You wake up in your fully furnished home after having a dream call from the Mana Goddess, boom, that's it, go rebuild Fa'Diel now. Simple and straight to the point as far as intros go, haha, no exposition or anything (though, if you read all of the History tome, there's a complex backstory that explains a lot of things the game itself doesn't show).

The fact that Domina is your second location after Home and some of the resident's familiarity, and the bgm for it being named "Hometown of Domina" seems to indicate the protagonist was based there, but it's not conclusive...actually, the residents' interactions with you differ, some of them introduce themselves to you as if they don't know you, while some of them do indicate familiarity (say, the entry about Rachel reveals her strained relationship to her dad, as if the protagonist grew up with them).

Aside from that, for some reason, Shiloh/Serafina are skilled in quite a lot of skills and weapons from the get-go, and they can use artifacts to rebuild Fa'Diel (which is sort of a big deal because some of Nunuzac's dialogue in the Cage of Dreams, and the History tome, again, indicates that magic of that level is something like a forgotten art).

It makes me wonder if Shiloh/Serafina are in some way, a piece of the Mana Goddess who represents the light part of her, a representative of her that spreads healing rather than strife. ...though, all things considered, Shiloh/Serafina aren't all pure kindhearted heroes, you kinda majorly screw over some characters (temporarily in the Dragon Arc and permanently in Niccolo's Business Unusual). So in that aspect, that makes them living humans of Fa'Diel, just one who happened to hear the Goddess's call.

I guess I'm bringing it up because I just noticed when I finished LOM HD that in the cinematics for the credits, the protagonist doesn't appear, and when Niccolo comes over to bring flowers, the protagonist isn't shown, so a part of me wonders if, since Fa'Diel is renewed in the ending, if Shiloh/Serafina disappeared since their role is done.

In the other adaptations, they do present a bit more backstory. In the Teardrop Crystal anime, Shiloh was raised by residents of Domina, and he's good friends with Duelle, even. The anime also reveals that his home was a gift given to him by the Domina residents (I think the anime also indicated he's 15, which. Wow, the Mana Goddess really recruited a teenager to do the whole rebuilding the world thing huh). Though, the anime doesn't say exactly how Shiloh came to Domina, but it does sound like he's something like a child they found. Serafina...has special circumstances which I won't talk about in this post since spoilers for the anime.

The manga made a whole other backstory, though I'm going off fanlations so my info might be inaccurate. Though, basically, the manga seems to indicate Toto and Imu are humans who were gifted artificers ever since they were kids. They're also siblings in the manga, and...well, saying more would be spoilers, but they do have a connection to the Mana Tree. Though, the manga seems to ignore the Mana Goddess entirely?

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Can I ask, why do you love BL romance better than het romance? What makes them better? I did not mean anything negative, and I know everyone have their own like and dislike but I want to know your thoughts....

Also what do you think that made Asian MLM (BL manga/manhwa/manhua/tv series/movies) romances better than western MLM romances?

Hello! Yes you are more than welcome to ask :) I truly, truly love getting asks in my inbox and have been having so much fun with the fact I’ve actually been getting some recently! Warning this is long (but i have TL;DRs for everything)

___

I think the fastest answer for me is that I am queer, and therefore I find I have a lot more enjoyment and interest in watching queer stories compared to heterosexual ones.

Also, I find a lot of heterosexual romances to be steeped in misogyny, and have low-key or high-key abusive dynamics. And again, do not get me wrong, there are plenty of queer shows where there are abusive dynamics in play, but it is much harder for misogyny to be committed between two men than it is for misogyny to be placed on a male/female pairing. (I love GLs cause, you know…women, but there are a lot more complex dynamics going in to stories written about two women and those can get much trickier for me, and unfortunately many narratives love punishing lesbains with death so.... Anyway, I’m trying to stick mostly to BLs since that is primarily what this ask is about.)

Additionally, I love BLs more than heterosexual romances because of how BLs treat men. Men in heterosexual romances, especially in the West are extremely masculine, often unable to be in touch with their emotions, jaded, misogynistic, they have to be extremely muscular, and we almost never see femme boys or men.

BLs have such a vast range of men, they have twinks, they have femmes, they have gym bros. They have the clowns, and the super masculine boys. There are shows that let boys be boys, be stupid, and stinky, and fucking gross (hey Pat from Bad Buddy), they let boys be angry and aggressive and express their emotions that way (Sean and Yok’s fight in Not Me, Han Baram and Im Hantae’s conversation in the boxing ring in Sing My Crush, Lom and Nuea in The Wedding Plan, Patts in La Pluie), they let boys fight and wrestle and play (Bad Buddy, My School President, Moonlight Chicken, Only Friends). I love queer stories that let men be gay and ensure through the story that that never undermines their masculinity. I love that there are shows that focus on the progress older men can make in their relationships (What Did You Eat Yesterday?) THEY ARE ALSO ALLOWED TO CRY!!!!

And though it is still kind of rare, Asian BLs actually do have femme boys, and while I am sure femme boys exist in Western shows, I think Pose and fucking Glee are like…the only two shows with queer people that I have seen in the last decade that have an femme boy representation at all. On the flip side, I love how often GMMTV puts their boys in drag and that doesn’t even have to be in a queer show. I also generally love the fact that most of the male actors in Asian BLs, and again, especially in Thailand embrace their femme sides in photoshoots and whatnot, that they wear earrings, and jewelry, and makeup and they look hot as fuck, because it helps me with my own gender identity. I feel and see myself much more masculine (and have less dysphoria) when I have an earring or a necklace or makeup on, now that I have seen so many boys do the same. 

TL;DR: I am queer, and heterosexual romances are frequently misogynistic, and men are extremely masculine and rarely allowed to be soft. Asian BLs give us a very broad range of masculinity, but often let boys be boys while also kissing boys. And actors embracing their femme sides helps me feel more masculine when I lean in to my femme side.

___

As for Asian MLM romances compared to Western MLM romances, obviously this is not a cut and dry thing, not all Asian BLs are going to be better than Western BLs but I find I have a tendency to enjoy Asian BLs/queer media more for a few reasons, generally in order of most to least important for me:

Reason One- Family

This may seem somewhat surprising because the first, and honestly biggest reason I tend to like Asian BLs more than Western BLs has much less to do with the queer aspect. It's actually the family dynamics. I think Western media very frequently has a tendency to be very binary in their portrayal of family dynamics, if family is at all included in Western narratives the relationships that characters have to their family is either almost wholly good, or almost wholly bad. You either have a very abusive household that a character is trying to avoid or flee, or you have a traditional, happy, nuclear family, and when characters have a strained relationship to their family, I have noticed a lot more narrative support for leaving that family behind. But for the most part, family does not play a huge role in most Western shows (and, wild concept to me, it’s part of why I think shows like Succession are so successful, because that is all about complex, fucked up, and loving relationships within a family). 

Whereas, in Asian media, far more frequently family and family dynamics play a huge role in the character’s lives, behaviors, and can influence the story. And because filial piety is such an important aspect to many Asian cultures, you get a lot more interesting parent/child relationships out of Asian media than you do with Western content. And I am a white Westerner, but I am fundamentally, culturally a Southerner and despite no longer being a woman, I will never shed the mantle of Eldest Daughter. And that has resulted in a sense of family responsibility and piety that ends up making it very very easy for me to understand the motivations of the characters that remain loyal to their family even when their family is asking for things from them that run counter to their own desires or happiness (I’ve actually had this conversation a lot with @waitmyturtles about the intersections of Southern culture and Asian culture).

And similarly, I find that a lot of Western media with queer characters at least in the time frame that I have been able to find content with queer characters is either wholly homophobic, or wholly accepting. And do not get me wrong, we get family dynamics like that in Asian BLs too, but we also get parents who are upset about their child’s queerness, and will voice that, and yet who still take care of their children. I’m thinking of the film I watched just the other day called Margarita with a Straw where the main character’s mother can barely look or talk to her daughter when she comes out, but because she is disabled, her mother is still there preparing food for her, bathing her, etc. because even if she is upset about her child’s queerness she can’t stop taking care of her. And those aren’t dynamics I often see in Western media. 

I don’t see relationships like Sawismol and Wang in Western media, where a mother can look at her child and say, out loud that she is disappointed, and to be upset, and to still, despite everything, be the person that her son goes to for comfort when he is absolutely devastated, and I don’t see Western parents sitting there and performing that comfort even when they are disappointed in their children’s queerness.

TL;DR: Family dynamics feel a lot more built out, realistic, and complex in many Asian BLs/media that I’ve seen, than they do in many Western shows. Until I started watching Asian media, I had not seen the dynamics I have with my mother or my father played out on screen. 

Reason Two- Casual Trans Inclusion 

And, as a trans person myself, part of what makes Asian BL shows, Thai shows much more specifically, so important, interesting, and influential to me when compared to Western BLs is the casual inclusion of trans people. Like, that is just something Western media is barely ready for. It’s not non-existent. We have and have had shows like The Fosters, Sense8, Pose, The Owl House, and Heartstopper that have some trans rep. But a lot of those shows have a hefty component to them that shows the struggles of being trans.

In The Fosters we have to watch Cole nearly die trying to get his hands on testosterone, in Sense8 we have to watch Nomi be kept as a medical prisoner and stripped of her autonomy and almost lobotomized, in Pose we are constantly exposed to the very real dangers that trans women of color experience including murder, in Heartstopper we are spared from having to witness the transphobia Elle went through, but it is mentioned. I think the only one of these shows that doesn’t have some element of struggle because a character is trans is The Owl House and let us not forget that Raine Whispers goes through fucking hell in that show. And these conversations, and the demonstrations of struggle to just survive and thrive despite that is vitally important in a society that is pushing closer and closer towards genocide against trans people. Stories that show the struggles of trans people exist for the sake of realism but also serve as an attempt to try to garner empathy towards trans people by cisgender viewers. 

Thailand does have stories where a trans character experiences transphobia (3 Will Be Free, The Warp Effect, Secret Crush on You), but they also have so many stories where trans people are literally just vibing. Do you know how revolutionary it was for me when I watched KinnPorsche and saw Yok, and she was happy, and beautiful, and fun, and her entire plot centered around her running that bar, flirting with boys, and playing surrogate mother to Porsche? Or just to see trans women existing, who aren’t even central to the plot, but are just there? (Payu’s secretary at the auto shop is a trans woman, Golf Tanwarin was at the inclusive cafe in The Eclipse, Golf Kittipat had an illustrious career as a music producer in My School President). Like that shit is SO important to me, and I never, never see it in Western media. 

TL;DR: There are many Thai shows especially where trans people just exist, and they have plots that aren’t always centered around them being trans. Which is revolutionary, coming in as a trans Western viewer where the majority of trans rep in Western shows makes me eventually have to watch trans people suffer. 

Reason Three- Passion Projects

The film industry is huge and pervasive in Western culture, and in the US especially, and with that comes big budget projects that stretch out as long as they can squeeze a cent out of a fan base. As a result you get shows that are too long, you get shows that ruin their premise in the last season after five to fifteen years of dragging the shambling corpse of a story along. And again, do not get me wrong, there are plenty plenty of Asian BLs that are cash grabs, that are terrible, where the actors aren’t really in it. But, most BLs in Asia are one season, they get in, they get out, and you forget it if it’s bad, or you hate it forever if it’s objectively bigoted. But the time commitment to terrible pieces is a lot shorter. 

That said, when you have a low budget, and a story you want to tell, it makes my love so much more. Because it means the crew, the writers, the director, and often time the actors are there because they want to be there, because they like the story they are telling, because they have a story they want to tell. It’s part of why I love shows like The Eclipse so much, because that show was made with a budget mainly comprised of pocket lint and hope, because Golf Tanwarin had something they wanted to say.  Most if not all of Aof Nopparnach’s shows give genuinely, inherently queer stories that speak to queer people. Jojo Tichakorn makes pieces that are so full of queer lenses you could never deny the inherent queerness in his shows, even if the story is primarily focused on a straight person/relationship (Mama Gogo). There are so many shows in the Asian BL world where you can just tell that everyone is having fun. LIsten, Fish Upon the Sky is an extremely problematic show, but for me it felt like everyone had a great time goofing off on that set. You can tell EV-ER-Y-BOD-Y in the cast of Mama Gogo  was having the time of their motherfucking lives. 

I also think the West is very self-congratulatory and tends to hold themselves as the standard of televisions and acting, when I am over here watching Asian BLs with some of the strongest acting from young people I have ever seen, and having it be written off because its a) low budget b) gay and c) in another language. Like, when I try to get people in to BL I start with shows like KinnPorsche (which I know drives @bnegiyo mad) cause it has a much higher production value than many other Asian BLs without being prestige and therefore can’t radically alter the perception of what BL is (hello ITSAY/IPYTM and 180 Degrees), Thai BLs especially. And I figure that is the only way to show someone the level of absurdity and camp that comes from a lot of BLs, while also maintaining their interest because it has a higher production value, so that if they end up enjoying that they are more willing to watch the low budget shows. 

TL;DR: Many Asian BLs are pretty low budget, compared to like any Western show, which I find to mean we have more stories in Asian BL that people actually want to tell. (there are still very many shows that people seem to just kinda show up for, or get bored with partway through [looking at you Tee] but.)

Reason Four- Abundance

There are 

So 

Many 

Asian 

BLs 

Here's a fraction of my watch list

I have watched 81 in roughly the last year, and there are so many more on my Plan to Watch list, and there are more coming out all the time. The West has given me like…two, maybe three. And when we do get good queer shows in the West, they are frequently canceled before completion. Especially if they are on Netflix. 

We lost Sense8, fans had to fight for Out Flag Means Death to get renewed, The Owl House got cancelled by Disney after giving their main character a girlfriend, ND Stevenson had to write two ending to She-Ra and fought tooth and fucking nail to get the gay one, Legend of Korra had to save the gay kiss until the end just like She-Ra had to. If you want to get depressed here is a link to an article ‘50 TV shows with Lesbian, Bisexual, and Queer characters cancelled after one season’. Because most Asian BLs are meant to be only one season, we actually get complete stories, rather than ending with unresolved tension, or cliffhangers. 

TL;DR: there is a metric fuck ton of Asian BLs

Reason Five- Sex

The West, especially the US, tends to have a very puritanical view of sex (which makes sense because the Puritans were some of the first colonizers…I mean colonials…to murder everyone and occupy…uh, I mean settle the United States (I would also like to place blame on the Italians and Spanish [hey Columbus] and their Catholicism AND PROTESTANT CALVINISM that also influenced the pervasive societal views of sex and especially gay sex in the United States).  

With ever increasing homophobia and transphobia, so many shows are trying, in my own personal opinion, to garner empathy, sympathy, and acceptance for queer characters by cisgender and/or heterosexual viewers by making their queer characters flat, two-dimensional, virginal, perfect people. But homophobes and transphobes consider holding hands to be just as grotesque and inappropriate as full on porn. With Western, and especially US based, views of sex, many queer characters are sanitized, sex scenes are rare, and if they do exist at all they are usually in shows that have mature ratings. 

That is not the case with Asian BLs. Like, do not get me wrong, there are plenty of pure, virginal, don’t kiss, barely touch BLs out there, but because there are so many BLs, there are also plenty of shows with lots of physical intimacy and multiple make out scenes that aren’t maturely rated, as well as plenty of maturely rated shows that have multiple sex scenes AND CAN INCLUDE KINK WHICH LIKE!!!!! I rarely see in the Western media I’ve watched. Hell, Sense8 is a sexual liberation show that includes multiple orgies, but there is not even a hint of any other kink (besides whatever Dani, Lito, and Hernando have going on).

gif by @radishayuan

Meanwhile, The Warp Effect has fucking puppy play, Bed Friend has pet play, Laws of Attraction which has a couple pretty chaste kisses shows handcuffs to at least imply kink, there’s a ball gag and a fucking leash in Big Dragon, I haven’t seen it but Unforgotten Night has a lot of BDSM themes in it, Rain and Payu have a dom/sub dynamic going on, we have daddy kinks abound, I also haven’t seen this one but I know there is some belt bondage in War of Y. And even if it isn’t shown, kink and bondage specifically are often referenced in passing in shows with sex.

Also, there are very very very few Western shows I have seen that treat sex workers kindly, and Jojo Tichakorn is right there giving us sex workers as main characters multiple times in a row. Taiwan has great physical chemistry, the very few things I have seen from the Phillipines are so fucking queer, Japan even when they aren’t including sex at all have some extremely queer narratives, and when they are including sex? Holy fuck. South Korea is developing, but I have liked what I’ve seen so far, and it’s been fun seeing very rapid progressions in the level of physical intimacy characters are allowed to have, Thailand has been making a name for itself.  

TL;DR: There is a very broad range of physical intimacy in Asian BLs from no sex to lots of sex, but the abundance of content means I am seeing more shows with gay sex in them in like…a month or two, than shows I have seen in the West with gay characters at all in like…the past year. (This is of course, subjective, don’t ask me for real numbers). 

And, you know, in case this response wasn’t long enough, the amount of queer content, the types of stories being told, the rapid and continued development of BL is super interesting to observe in its own right. Sure, it may be driven by marketability and sales, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some truly important, realistic, vital, and beautiful pieces of queer media being created and shared with the world, a lot of which is much more accessible to audiences than Western media. I go heavy on the Thai shows in part because they are available for free on YouTube. 

I also think the West seems to think that having gay marriage is the be all, end all of queer inclusivity, and that they do not realize that countries without gay marriage are creating some of the most realistic queer content out there right now. The West has a lot it can learn from Asian BLs, but in my opinion, we’ve got our heads too far up our asses to be following their lead.

[kdrama-mama]

Just sitting here thinking about how I don’t understand why Wedding Plan wasn’t more popular. The story was sweet, chemistry was excellent between the couples, it highlighted a real world issue many queer folks have to navigate, the NC scenes were sexy as hell - it was up there with one of the best BLs I’ve watched honestly.

I find it so weird how people shit on Mame so often for being “problematic” and yet they didn’t want to watch a series she put out that was totally unproblematic? The worst thing is Lom misleading Nuea and his mother, but if you listen, you realize he was very carefully *not* lying, and simply skirting the truth because he was in a very difficult situation. (Do they really love the “problematic” content but feel the need to publicly loudly pretend otherwise? Maybe)

Or they wrote it off completely because they didn’t like the kiss between the GL couple? It makes zero sense to me, and I have seen many people say that. There was a whole discussion on one Reddit thread I saw. And yeah, I agree that Katheryn did not do a good job with the kissing - Aya was clearly trying, but wasn’t given much to work with. But they weren’t the main couple, the main couple had excellent kisses, and they were so freaking adorable in all their other scenes. I really want to see Aya in a GL where she’s the lead.

Whenever I tried to engage on Twitter or a bit on here, it was like nobody was talking about it. Aya liked some of my tweets, and I honestly think she saw it just because so few people were tweeting about the episodes!

Or there’s people who wouldn’t watch it bc they thought Mame was using Boss, Noeul, Fort, and Peat for “clout,” when their cameos made perfect sense and were incredibly sweet moments for two of my favorite BL couples! I was so happy to have those sweet moments of closure for their stories.

Anyway, if you didn’t watch Wedding Plan for whatever reason, I highly encourage you to watch it! I’m sad I can’t get the special episode legally in the US, I would have bought it. I suspect she didn’t have it available in as many countries as Love in the Air because it was less popular.

[the-skull-breaker]

MCL New Gen ep 4 spoliers !

alright alright ! the new episode is out for VIPs, and just like the previous one I got to play Roy's route early, I'll play Thomas' once the ep releases for everyone !

without further ado, click on "keep reading" to see my full opinion !

so first we got to go to the Cosy Bear for potentially meet Castiel serving, but sadly we've arrived late and didn't get to actually meet him, we did get to see Lynn however, tho I understand how Castiel's fans must be disappointed, like I would have loved o see how mister rockstar deals with serving customers, it could be really funny !

then Lynn and Thomas have a small discussion and Thomas just casually told her he was in love with her in he past (I will not go into details about him because, again, I'll make another post about his route later) which led to the topic of romantic relationships. now there was a quick scene with Brune before going to the cafe about her relationship with Roy and the bet the night before, and honestly I was kinda worried about it with the way she approached us but it turns out she's not mad about the kiss, so that was a relief.

to go back at the cafe discussion we got to know each characters' relationship statues and, surely, we got to Roy and Brune's, and while I did expect them to not have an actual serious relationship, I was surprised by how honest they were about their true feelings, and I was ESPECIALLY surprised by the fact that THEY DID NOT EVEN KISS. so anyway they ended up breaking up in a calm and mature way, which I did no expect but honestly ? as uncomfortable as the whole thing was I'm glad it turned that way instead of being messy, however it seemed like both Thomas and Devon were pretty disappointed with the lack of drama which is hilarious.

now we get to Candy's relationship with her ex and we've got the choice to got into details or not, I've chosen the first option which raised my LOM with Roy and as much as I should have expected this I did NOT expect how nice our coworkers were, especially Roy and Devon ! first Roy saying that he hopes karma will get to our ex is the sweetest thing, I'm even more in love with him ! then Devon who says they will not make business with our ex-workplace which is so awesome from him, couldn't ask for a better boss than him !

then we see Jason and the topic of why he's our enemy is brought up and honestly ? I hate him even more... basically his company is just to spite the fact he was disqualified to the contest because... he cheated... and took the opportunity of working with the city hall so he could copy Devon's project... good job, dickhead, you've played yourself ! now I want even more to mess with his plans and drive him to ruin ! *insert maniacal laugh*. now about his past relationships is none of my business, he can have many conquests I don't care, I'm definitely not into him anyway. (anyway sorry for those who do like him, nothing against you, I just don' like him at all)

and FINALLY we get to the illus scene which in the case of Roy happens in the bus and wow, I do wish I was in the place of Candy there ! the way he holds us close to him so we wouldn't fall while potentially not thinking much about it just because he might think it's just normal I just... aaaaaahhhh I love him ! then we discuss more about our expectations in a relationship and it's clear he would be such a good partner, I wish I had one like him...

and here you go, many people may think nothing much happened but remember that we're still in an introduction state, this episode was clearly about learning the LIs' view on relationship, and from what I see on the preview it seems like the next episode might make things more serious in terms of story, so hold on, be patient, it could still be great !

anyway, that's all for me, have a nice day !

[tetrakys]

Hey Tetra, so how is the beta? What do you think of the game so far?

Sorry anon, I know I've been silent here, every time I think I want to make a post I never have enough time to make it as detailed as I used to, but never mind I'm going to give my quick opinion and then write something more in depth later.

So, first of all, I agree with everyone that the way the AP system is at the moment is too expensive. We pay 2AP for line of dialogue and many APs for choices. We get more free APs than in the past with the daily login, so that's a plus, but the choices are way too costly, especially the very basic ones (here called neutral choices), I shouldn't have to spend 40 APs to say I want a cup of tea! All that being said, I'm not too worried about it because I know that Chino has already reported this issue to management, and while these decisions are not up to her I know she sees the player's perspective and will do everything she can to make our voices heard.

Now, AP system aside, there are some things I really love!

Firstly, the website looks amazing, in the end it was worth the wait. It works super smoothly, and it's very pretty to look at.

And the closet/shop part is really easy to navigate, it's pretty much like the Sims so I'm used to it.

Also, the millennial in me who can't afford to buy her own home is really into the room decoration feature

I also enjoy the minigames. One is just like the explorations in Eldarya, but with no pet to feed, so it's a win to me. The other is outfit contests, we receive a theme and we can dress up our Candy and enrol in it. I am TERRIBLE at it, but even if you don't make it top3 you still win some APs and diamonds just for participating. You can also win stuff just by voting in the contest.

Now, to the story. The first episode was mostly an introduction so nothing much really happens, we just meet 4 of the LIs. It was cute, the mechanic is a bit tricky because we can't see immediately if the LoM increases or not, we find out at the end of the episode, but it's not nearly as bad as in ML, so I can deal with it. It's also possible to understand if the LI liked the interaction from their reactions. I think I'm starting to understand their personalities so I hope I'll get the hang of it when the game releases. I'm going to make a separate post about my impressions on the LIs, but I'm quite happy so far.

Something else I want to mention before ending this is a final pro and cons.

Cons, I don't like the "fairy". It's MC's godfather which is a cool character, apparently he is Agatha's cousin, that's nice. But he only brings gifts to Taki which I really don't care about, my duck will remain naked as nature intended. Or, anyway, I won't spend APs on it. I'm gonna try hard to avoid this guy, also because we have a choice to make with him and we can't skip it once we run into him.

The pro is instead the VIP system. From what I've seen, it looks very convenient. We get extra APs and diamonds every day, especially the diamonds it's a really good amount, which we can then exchange for more APs or cumulate to buy extra scenes (which are longer scenes with the LI). We also get some extra perks like an outfit, skip button for the replays, and extra jokers, which are little useful features that can be used in game. We don't know yet how much the VIP subscription costs, but if they stuck to the same prices as other game companies, it shouldn't be more than 10-15$.

And you anon, did you play the beta? Let me guys know what you think. People seem to be happy about most things except the AP system.

[edge-oftheworld]

5sos fanblog with a twist!

hi!! welcome to the chaos :) you can call me ariel or silver and I’m a punk violist from sydney, australia, and tbh I’m still figuring out what that is.

here I post my projects: ideas, in progress, and when they’re done I’ll put them up somewhere you can hear! project requests on at all times, can’t guarantee I’ll def do it but I will always think about it and get back to you with ideas even if I can’t make it myself. I mostly make orchestral arrangements as I’m classically trained and can read too many clefs. but keen to experiment with anything! if you want me to arrange something for you to play please include your instrument and I will assign you which 5sos member or sierra or brandy I see your instrument as too for a bit of fun.

find me over at @faithfromanewperspective for less specifically music things! but you’ll find me blogging all my thoughts here too so hope u like!

PROJECTS IN PROGRESS:

FINAL EDITS: - orchestral arrangement of CALM minus no shame and easier and kmt plus ghost of you (teeth/lie to me/nitsw//lom/goy/lonely heart//old me/best years/wildflower/high/red desert) here - (nessa barrett) plane to paris orchestral

IDEAS: - vapor/lie to me/wwylm/bad omens for @ghost-of-you - efyts rock version for @ghost-of-you’s anon - something with tgwcw or os/co or airplanes idk - easier/more plus youngblood, no shame, kmt for me - red line (hornsby version) idea i got listening to ash's voice memo - (Taylor swift) dwoht/labyrinth for @speaknowtaylorsversions

COMPLETED: -only ever completed my child of the universe (delta goodrem) violin/viola duet which is what got me into this to start with!

on this account I fully immerse myself into the mood of the songs so you’ll see some heavy stuff, I use trigger warnings and tags, and reference neurodivergence and urban design and my own experiences. it’s all for the art and connection and I hope it might be encouraging for you too

p.s. check out the exclusive photo of the sunrise in sydney that’s burning for days

[maybeimavillain-byleif]

Okay it took me longer than I expected but I played the beta test. First I'd like to talk about some things I liked starting from the characters. They are all so nice, there's literally no one I don't like. Also, we have this uncle, Archibald, who is like aunt Agatha which we know, thanks to him, that she's a cousin of him so that means our two Candies are somehow related🤔 if you give him the right answer you can get gifts from him (just like aunt Agatha) for example, clothes for Taki. Now, I don't think I have much to say about the characters😂 Regarding our Candy, I like that we can put different skin color, this is something new that we already saw and it's very good. Of course you can change her hair not only for the color but also the style, just like old MCL so same for the eyes and the facial expression. You also have different things to change the room. For all these things (anything for Candy, room and pet) in the description they tell you how you can obtain a certain thing. It doesn't seem so bad for now. I also tried the mini-games and I think they work like when you send your companion in exploration in Eldarya, you have to wait for like 20min or so and you get something from there but in this I don't exactly remember how it works with the energy but seems like you can exchange gems (blue hearts) for energy. Now we're getting on things not very well explained. First of all I have no idea how many APs and gems we get every day but there's a calendar where you can receive APs, gems, hearts and items every day. I also saw that there are Jokers, but I have no idea of what those are and how do we use them, it's only written that we will be able to use it on ep 2. So regarding all this we need more explanations. About the episode: I honestly liked it, very simple, it explains why we moved from a company to this one, we get to know Roy and Thomas first then we get introduced to the other crushes and Elenda and Brune. Meanwhile Taki explains things to us while playing, but I don't really understand this thing: why do we have to pay APs when we have multiple choices? And the more the answer is close to what we decided our personality is the less the cost(which is still just a bit more than 100APs). Plus, there are positive, neutral and critical answers that are marked with a green, yellow or red triangle and these affect the lom that isn't shown right next to the character, you can find it on the library, just like in Eldarya. Now, about the illustration, as I saw some of you posting it, they aren't visible, there's only this little image of Taki putting on the wall a photo of her with another goose so I think there's a problem here😅 about the special scene, yes you have to pay for it and you get this special scene with the crush that you can replay for free when you go to the library and click on the illustration. All in all, I liked it, sure there are things that weren't exactly explained well but it's not too bad, it's actually pretty good, you can see how much they worked on it to put many things in there. That's it for now, if you have questions you can ask me and if I have something else to say I'll post it😆

[mclmora]

✧ maaruutinaa’s profile ✧

here are my outifts!

✦────── · · · · player since: 12/23/18

name: mora | nationality: italian

b-day: april 13th | zodiac sign: aries

favorite flirts: castiel, nathaniel, priya

✦────── · · · ·

currently playing castiel’s university life route.

✦────── · · · ·

high school life – 30th episode

flirts’ lom levels!

nathaniel, 44%

castiel, 110% (💘)

lysander, 100%

armin, 80%

kentin, 100%

⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀answering questions!

which club did you pick?

i picked the basketball club! it’s a sport i quite enjoy and dajan is a very cool character too.

which is your favorite episode?

hands down episode 23. i loved the idea of going to nathaniel’s house and having him confess his problems to us, it’s the episode that got me completely focused from the beginning to the end.

which non-dateable character you like most?

that’s a tough one. tbh i love all characters, exept a few ones here and there. i’d die to have a rosalya in my life, she’s absolutely amazing, i love her personality so much. alexy as well, he’s the sweetest boy ever, i’m so glad he was written to be candy’s male best friend. however... i do have a very big soft spot for kim and violette. they’re so cute, i wish there would’ve been more scenes with them.

✦────── · · · ·

university life – 13th episode

flirts’ lom levels!

nathaniel, 100%

castiel, 110% (💘)

priya, 100%

hyun, 85%

rayan, -25%

⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀answering questions!

what do you think of the removal of kentin, lysander & armin?

although i love them a lot, they’re not my first options, so, even if i was sad, i got over it quickly. it made me so sad, though, to see so many candies deleting their accounts because of this.

which one is your first episode?

since i didn’t complete the season yet, i’ll answer based off of the episodes i played since now. and the answer is absolutely the 9th!! omg the illustrations were such a sight lmao. but honestly the whole idea of the event was so nice, i loved it.

is there something you don’t like about this season?

err, yes. how short it is? i mean, high school season has 40 episodes. the build up was amazing, i think there was such a beautiful development of the relationship between candy and the chosen flirt. i think university life is rather rushed up, things could’ve been slower imo.

✦────── · · · ·

love life – to start

✦────── · · · ·

alternate life

-

lysander: to start.

armin: to start.

kentin: to start.

✦────── · · · ·

⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ three of my favorite non-dateable characters ⁀➴

yeleen⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ raphael ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀chani

( click here to see the template )

[nifflering]

Part two Beware spoilers for life on mars series one and two

Hello, hello, hello (some brainrotted fellows will understand this reference) Welcome to another edition of

*me rambling at you about life on mars (the UK version)*

Most important thing: this is my interpretation/analysis.

So, these are my personal, quite uneducated opinions. Also: I bought the series on DVD. No one will be safe.

Today, we'll be talking about the usage of colours in lom in general. If I do start and finish a rewatch and find some interesting scenes – I will add my commentary on them.

Like I already said many times before – there aren’t really many scenes in 2006/2007.

The shooting script of the first episode (I found it while floundering around on the waybackmachine) originally includes a scene in Sam and Maya’s appartement. (Context my beloved: Sammy boy is being kind of an ass, too busy with his job to solve his issues with Maya. She attempts talking to him but fails. I don’t know why they deleted it, because it would have really provided more context to their relationship and – most importantly, for my cause, a sneak peek of their apartment – I imagine it as very clean and kind of impersonal, a few personal touches, Maya’s attempt to brighten up the place. I think they’re both really busy, they started decorating but then Sam became DCI and he got too busy to use the apartment for anything except for sleeping. #Overwhelmed king)

Anyway, let’s take a look at.... a shot that to me represents a big theme of the show and some ✨️colors✨️.

After Sam gets hit by the car , he wakes up in this construction site with a poster of the soon to come high way. An image of the Future.

There’s a really distinct difference between the colour palates. The “future” sky is a nice light-blue, not a cloud to be seen, with some touches of orange and green. Everything is all white, clean and perfect – and it’s all coming soon(er or later).

Of course, it’s a very idealized version of the future. Because it’s how Sam perceives it – at this point in time, he’s very desperate to return.

(Just look at the scene where he first gets contacted through the math programme through the TV. The way Sam crawls towards the TV….. SIR, YOUR ACTING CHOICES. PLEAAASEEE.)

But it’s still surprisingly accurate. However, the idealistic picture of the future is quickly shattered, if you consider that – let’s squint our eyes - to see little Sam’s limp body lying on the ground. Surprisingly, in the 1970s we don’t really see a person being hit by a car (as far as I can remember - except Sam ofc)- But – let’s be honest in 1973 the streets are just every ground that is remotely driveable on.

The past still contains traces of those colours, mostly orange as seen in the dirty underneath the bridge. The air is heavy and greyish, trash and building material is littered on the ground.

The only bits of white are the high-flats in the background, but they are far far away.

Those buildings and streets are still being built – everything’s in flux. Things can change. But, should they? Sam is generally really unsure in that whole department but that’s the thing about it:

We never actually find out, (side note: I haven’t yet seen ashes to ashes) if Sam’s choices actually make an impact in the present. It certainly gives you the impression – his father staying away, his mentor teaching him those lessons, Maya’s birth, etc. etc.. But does it really matter in the end?

Or is it just all in his head? Is he still Sam Tyler in a hospital bed in 2006 or is he an amnesiac Sam Williams in 1973 on an undercover operation?

In the past, there are several buildings – bound to Sam Tyler’s identity, and which I will be further explaining in another ramble.

Let’s get back to colours. Two examples where a similar concept applies: The interrogation room and the general office space of the police department.

The room is flooded with light – courtesy of the huge windows (side note: privacy??? What’s that?). The situation is very transparent as the interrogation is literally being recorded. The person being interrogated has their whole support team with them, including lawyer, social worker and psychiatrist. This scenario is as by the books as you can get it.

I also really like that little shot of Sam adjusting the pens, character go brr.

Same thing in the general offices – a 2010s fever dream with all those clunky computers – which school computer lab have you magically transported me to?

Imagine the absolute horror that Sam feels when he sees the past police department.

Look at it

Without considering the lighting and furniture, the room looks sort of modern – it has a lot of windows and could be causing the same effect as the interrogation room on a visitor.

The officers are working diligently and carefully through every case and issue – investigating every clue and they never rest until they catch the perpetrator.

But that’s wishful thinking - In reality (at least in the past)the room is tinged with brownish yellow lighting, there’s no order to the tables, paper strewn all over the desks and even spending a second in this room will lead you to smelling like smoke for the next 55 years. I would faint. And I’m not even talking about the consequences of not being a white straight guy….

This police department doesn’t even have an interrogation room, they also rarely record any interrogations (leaving a lot of room for interpretation or using some creativity to catch the suspect or get an important lead) and mishandle, don't notice or even collect crucial evidence.

In the lost and found

Even asking for a lawyer – leads to being laughed at and insulted by the literal governor of the department. It’s quite dark and very cramped – it’s quite private – so no one will notice you beating up an innocent person….

But I still feel the office feels very lived in.

There’s a giant dart board, random trophies, dirty dishes strewn about… Good luck getting your case solved. Where’s the evidence that could solve your murder? It’s probably buried under some spicy magazines and a bunch of cigarette buds.

For all the time the police spend at the office, they sure do know when to stop and start going to the pub.

One scene in the later seasons – in the episode about the false imprisonment of the teenager who murdered his younger girlfriend, Gene Hunt is determined to catch her killer for good. He’s made a promise to her father and he’s willing to do almost everything to make his city a safer place (any means necessary). He urges the police men to do anything they can, work day and night and not sleep a wink until they’ve put the right person in prison.

And then, he peeks at his watch and drops everything because they need to get drunk in the pub.

and that's it, hope you enjoyed :)

BONUS: have some cinematic shots

For u @roxannepolice <3

featuring: desperation, isolation and crippling loneliness

lom 1

lom 2

[floripire]

NPC FILES > FELLOW TRIAD DETENTION FACILITY PRETERNATURALS, OR: THE SITTING DUCKS

Davos E. Crane (T/imothy I/nnes) is a vampire though he cannot remember for the life of him who turned him. He suspects it was a one night stand gone wrong. He can, however, remember exactly how he ended up in Triad's detention facility: it's simple, really; all that was needed was one phone call. Davos remembers his parents, begging Triad to take him away because their only child had been turned into a monster. And as much as he loves stories, that's the one he'll never tell.

His favorite pasttime includes heckling Flori, Frannie and Zander with tall tales about the Morts-Vivants, among many others. What else is there to do in a cell - sorry, holding space - but let your imagination run wild? It's not like you, yourself, can run.

Frances 'Frannie' Decatur (J/essica A/lexander) is a witch with a penchant for locator spells as well as a love for the pain infliction spell. Out of all of them, Frannie got taken away the most to do locator spells and other such things. Out of all of them, Frannie is the most fragile even though she doesn't look like it. And out of all of them, Frannie is the one who itches for revenge the most, ranting and raving and always dreaming up scenarios of how she'd hurt everyone at Triad for hurting her and her loved ones first whenever she made it back to her cell.

A firm believer in the Soulmate Principle, Frannie is convinced that Zander is the one for her. She bonded with Floribeth over a shared belief in the Soulmate Principle and the silver cord that is said to connect soulmates to one another.

Zander Benvenuto (G/ijs B/lom) is a werewolf of Dutch and Italian descent. Ever torn between the desire to find his pack - if they're even still out there - and stay with Frannie forever, Zander often spends time watching, waiting, ruminating. Calm, quiet and collected, he doesn't say much. But whenever he does speak, people listen.

To this day, Floribeth hopes and prays that all three of them made it out somehow. One of her biggest regrets is not going back for them. Even though they all made a pact to run like hell and don't look back, should they ever get out.

[lomappreciationblog]

I have all the screenshots for assorted quests I've finished, so here's to posting some!

The Pursuit of Wisdoms is a very tricky quest to finish, and it took me many, many replays of the game to find out how to do it, and then how to do it the optimal way.

Fortunately, four of the Wisdoms are always in the same place. These being: -Gaeus/Gaia at Luon Highway -Tote at Lake Kilma -Olbohn in the Underworld -Rosiotti in the Jungle

The Gorgon Eye will always be triggered when you enter Lake Kilma, while to go freely to the Underworld requires you to finish The Fallen Emperor at least, but once those quests are out of the way it's easy enough to find the Wisdoms in that area (Tote is always on the cliff after The Gorgon Eye!)

However, the last two members of the Wisdoms are much more tricky to find as they only appear in certain quests or moments.

Pokiehl always appears the first time you go to Lumina, so I highly encourage those wanting to finish this quest to keep that in mind. He will disappear after that, but if you missed him there, he appears in a couple other quests, so don't fret. He appears in: Diddle's Had It!, The Cage of Dreams, Pokiehl Dream Teller, and Mine Your Own Business (I suggest this one to catch him since he doesn't move). Technically, Pokiehl also appears in Legend of Mana, but you have to go back home to finish the quest, so this won't count.

The last one, Selva, is the most obscure and probably the most aggravating, because he only appears in Gato once you do a number of quests in the Star-Crossed Lovers arc, and even then he'll disappear after a certain quest. I can't remember for sure, but in my folders he appears just before the Star-Crossed Lovers quest, but a guide will probably be better at explaining when and where he appears. For sure, he appears at Heaven's Gate quest, but if you bring along Bud that means you'll have to let go of either Daena or Escad, depending on your choices, which will kill them. And if he was your last Wisdom, and you talk to him with Bud at the Heaven's Gate quest, this might lock you out of a Lil Cactus diary for Heaven's Gate, so as much as possible talk to him when he appears before the Star Crossed Lovers quest.

All that in mind, my personal advice for this quest is to leave one of the permanent Wisdoms as your last one and prioritize getting Pokiehl and Selva. Unless you're confident in what you're doing, jumbling the order of quests involved with these characters can lock you out a Li'l Cactus diary, so be careful! Speaking of which, the Li'l Cactus quest can interfere with this too, so be aware of that.

With that in mind, here's the dialogue for each Wisdom encounter!

First one is is Gaeus/Gaia.

If you check the World History tome, Halciet is the last mage who fought against Annuella, but when the mages he led began to fought amongst themselves, he left the battle in disgust. It's interesting to hear this from Gaeus/Gaia, because Annuella was the one who brought him to life, but in spite of this he speaks well of Halciet. Just like Gaeus says, Halciet has been largely forgotten, as he doesn't appear again in the history tome after he defected from the Mage-Faerie War.

Next is Pokiehl:

Pokiehl's dialogue is interesting, because it seems like he encourages us to question the Mana Goddess. But if you look at it with the bigger picture in mind that the Mana Goddess is Love, there's a whole theme going on in LoM about the choices we make for love and its consequences, but that love itself isn't a bad thing and in fact makes our lives rich. Pokiehl speaks about this more in The Cage of Dreams.

With that in mind, it seems like he's encouraging Bud, and Shiloh/Serafina as well as the player, to find out our own reason for loving.

Next is Tote!

It's short and sweet, but also I love how consistent this is to Tote's characterization. He is perhaps the humblest of the Wisdoms and in The Gorgon Eye, he even says he's just a turtle.

Next is Rosiotti:

Rosiotti's advice seems more straightforward as advice to a mage. I do love the variation in their responses and how it fits each one's personalities.

As for Olbohn:

His is also more of life advice. I do like the sentiment for his, it's that you have the potential, but never forget about the others around you, too.

Last one is Selva!

As annoying as it can be to track down Selva, he's got a really good point. Where Pokiehl's dialogues have a theme around choice and love, Selva speaks about change, and in fact is the only Wisdom who addresses the events unfolding in all three arcs - the world changing.

Once all Wisdoms are talked to, go back Home to finish the quest!

Heh, but the Li'l Cactus commentary for this one.

Oh, you sneaky Li'l Cactus.

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Top 5 BL KISSES of 2023!

You’re so cool! Love you! 😘

💋

Love this question, but I tend to be really really in love with the like smaller kisses in shows some times cause of the #tenderness and #domesticity, but since there are so many good kisses and you think I'm cool, I'll give you 5 big and 5 small kisses 😘

5 Big Kisses

The Ultimate Winner- Yai and Jom, I Feel You Linger in the Air, Ep 7

What a phenomenal way to break the tension. Bright and Nonkul cycled through so many emotions in this entire scene fleeing the party, and I remember how well done this kiss was not only for the kiss itself but because everyone I knew was tense as hell seeing these boys kissing out in the open where anyone might see them.

Ray and Sand, Only Friends, Ep 2

Again, love or hate Only Friends does not matter to me, but I was absolutely obsessed with this kiss for quite awhile because I love the visual metaphor of things heating up between Sand and Ray by having smoke pour out of their mouths around the kiss. Like they were literally smoking hot, and I thought that was cool as fuck.

Yamato and Kakeru, I Can't Reach You, Ep 8

So many chances to lock lips, so many interruptions, and finally, fucking FINALLY that curtain came around both of them and the possible interruptions didn't matter any more. If you are going to save any kissing until the very last episode, this is how it should be done.

Lom and Nuea, Wedding Plan, Ep 6

I'm just going to leave this here. I really loved their sex scene in this episode. The Me Mind Y boys have some killer sex scene game.

King and Uea, Bed Friend, Ep. 9

gif by @gunsatthaphan

There are a near infinite number of KingUea kisses that I love with my entire being, but I think what takes the cake for me with this kiss in the bathroom in Episode 9 is the teasing, begging, and nuzzling. Like it just feels so familiar, domestic, and still full of desire and I appreciate that these boys getting together did not decrease their sex drive over time like a lot of BLs tend to do.

5 Small Kisses

King and Uea, Bed Friend, Ep. 4, 6, & 9

gif by @gunsatthaphan

I love boys that simp for their boyfriends, and though King and Uea are not officially boyfriends yet, these little moments, the little kisses and stuff really make King's interest in Uea feel real, and it's cute as fuck. I also love that Uea mirrors this kiss near the end of the show.

I also love the forehead kiss that Uea gives King during the pet play scene in Episode 6. I don't know why but it just feels almost sacred in a way, similarly to the Ep 4 kiss, the smaller quick kisses feel like something beyond just a casual hook up or friends with benefits situation. Now, we should know King has been interested in Uea for year, but he really starts leaning in to that around the time that I'm pretty sure Uea's feelings for King really start to solidify, and coming out of that pet play scene, these two are ready to be boyfriends. So I just love that little moment

And Ep 9 I love the forehead kiss that King plants on Uea after his stepfather is arrested. I just love Uea resting his head on King's shoulder, and King running his thumb across Uea's knee to comfort him, it feels domestic.

Han Baram and Im Han Tae, Sing My Crush, Ep.

gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul

IM HAN TAE DOES NOT EVEN REALIZE THAT HE HAS ROMANTIC FEELINGS FOR HAN BARAM HERE. IM HAN TAE IS FULLY JUST ACCIDENTALLY TORTURING THIS POOR, SAD GAY BOY! But I love this kiss so much, it's so sweet, it's so much fun, and you know what Han Baram deserves little kisses like this.

Phaya and Tharn, The Sign, Ep. 3

gif by @crispywizardtale

These two are so obsessed with each other it's disgusting. It's also the first real kiss they've had in 5 episodes and I found it very fun and sweet. Phaya said "oh you seem to be struggling to actually tell me you like me, let's kiss about it" and honestly, love that for him.

Tinn and Charn, Laws of Attraction, Ep 7

gif by @spicyvampire

Okay so this is technically not a kiss, but it is one of my favorite TinnCharn moments so I am counting it. Thank you for older gays, and also thank you for having fun and being playful with each other after sex. I love when people do stupid shit like this, and Tinn is just the biggest loser and he deserves to bite Charn as a little treat.

Shin Ki Tae and Lee Wan, Our Dating Sim, Ep 6

gif by @hanjiwoos

THE GIGGLES

THE GIGGLES HE GIGGLED

This scene was so sweet and I really really need to rewatch this show.

ASK ME MY TOP 5 OF ANYTHING BL 2023

[dajaregambler]

HeliosR - Sing in the darkness - Chapter 2 - Part 23

Translation of Sing in the darkness from ‘Helios Rising Heroes’, a new side arc alongside the current main story arc Like the dawning light.

Sage: Senseeeei!!!

Robin: Someone’s full of energy

Robin: Joining the parade, doing the LOM… I thought you’d be more tuckered out

Sage: As if I could! Or wait, maybe it’s because of all the adrenaline flowing through me?

Sage: Our first ever event competition finished smoothly, no doubt my excitement can’t be contained

Robin: It’s wonderful to see things turned out well

Sage: I honestly still don’t get what’s so amazing about league points yet, but the enjoyment of the audience did come through

Sage: Especially how well received the costumes that Bianchi-san made were… 

Robin: It’s as you said, the audience's reaction was quite favorable. There’s no need to worry about the league points. 

Robin: To obtain such results from your first event competition… You did well, Sage

Sage: …!

Robin: And you were able to achieve your goal of connecting with your teammates too, no?

Robin: Compared to how it was not too long ago, the team is looking more lively these days.

Sage: Really? I’m so glad… If Sensei says so, then I’m confident about it too

Sage: Ah! We’re going to be taking a picture together now, Sensei do please join us

Robin: A picture?

Sage: As a commemoration how we did our best… No, for how much fun we had♪

Robin: I see

Sage: Ah, everyone! Over here~!

-

Bianchi: Aaah~ Sei-chan and Nico-chan are so cute I could eat them right up♡

Sage: Bianchi-san, how many times have you said that by now

Bianchi: Ufufu, I’ll say it time and time again♪ I couldn’t be more happier about how everyone is wearing the costumes that I made

Jude: My heart is also leaping with joy. That I can dressed in clothing made by Bianchi 

Jude: Will there other chances like this going forward? In that case, I truly made the right call with becoming a hero… 

Bianchi: I wonder if there is some kind of way to not make anything just for him. 

Sage: Ahaha, come on now…

Sage: Seeing Bianchi-san and Jude-kun enjoying themselves is making me happy too. I seriously am glad from the bottom of my heart that we all could participate in this event. 

Sage: …and you, Nico?

Nico: Hm?

Sage: Do you feel happy at the moment, Nico?

Nico: Happy…

Nico: I guess so? Didn’t think of it as unpleasant

Sage: …!

Robin: Fufu. How nice for you, Sage---

[heretherebedork]

I love Im so much right now. She has risen to hero of the ages and I love that she manages to actually understand Nuea and care about him and know what matters to him. This is what caring about a person should look like!

I don't care about Lom's supposed guilt in all of this. He's had far, far too many chances to tell the truth and has just outright refused, again and again, to actually say anything. And then he fucks Nuea and expects everything to be peachy keen in the morning and for Nuea to keep planning his marriage to Yiwa when he's still never told him this isn't a love marriage? Seriously?!

A Hero.

That we absolutely deserve, seriously, Nuea deserves her 100%.

And that's all he says?! Doesn't acknowledge any of what Im told him? Doesn't even pretend remorse or apologize or say anything? Just 'But I wanna see hiiiiim.' Jackass. Fuck face. Seriously? Im just explained to you how much you hurt Nuea and all you can say is that you want to see him? Why the fuck would she even consider telling you?

Nuea's coworkers are the heroes he deserves and I love them all so much. I'm just going to ignore the explanation part because that's literally everyone else doing the work he needed to do but decided not to do because he fucking sucks and doesn't change a single thing about the situation.

[oneinathousand]

Are you a newer fan of Treasure Island 1988 and are hungry for something else that’ll scratch that itch? Then you oughta check out the 13 episode-long 1970′s series The Adventures of Captain Vrungel, which was also directed by David Cherkassky, if you haven’t already. As someone who only watched it for the first time a few days ago, I can confirm that it holds up pretty well, and although it’s not as flashy as Treasure Island, and it’s not something that I personally would care to rewatch as much as Treasure Island, it has its own distinct charms and memorable characters that are worth experiencing, if only so you can see the genesis for the style that would be expanded on later. 

The plot, which eventually becomes somewhat more complicated than meets the eye, concerns a global boat race taking place in the early 20th century. The titular Captain Vrungel, a level-headed but often oblivious teacher, decides to participate and takes his student, Lom, as First Mate; right before the race begins, the two recruit the mild-mannered Fuchs as their third crew member. 

Unbeknownst to Vrungel and Lom, however, Fuchs, a gambler in dire financial straits, recently stole the Venus de Milo statue at the behest of the mysterious criminal Chief, and is now smuggling the statue aboard Vrungel’s ship, the Trouble. Chief sends two of his goons, Bandito and Gangsterito, to chase the crew down and retrieve the statue, but are themselves constantly pursued by Agent 00X, a man who never quits; all the while, Vrungel and Lom are blissfully unaware of Fuch’s crime and of the true nature of the race they’re taking part in. Each episode sees the crew come up against everything from natural sea phenomena, to illness, to Bandito and Gangsterito’s various schemes, that they have to think their way out of.

Tonally, the show is distinct from Treasure Island in that while it also maintains a generally comedic vibe throughout, this is less of a rapid-fire, over-the-top kind of thing, and more of a laid-back, amiable type of comedy, with even the slapstick being laid-back. It’s the kind of comedy to me where you might not laugh out loud, but it might put a smile on your face with it’s cleverness, although maybe for you it’ll split your guts laughing, who’s to say? Captain Vrungel has a slower pacing typical to a lot of older animation that you don’t really see as much anymore that lets the audience sit back and soak in the vibes, I don’t really know how to put it into words.

Part of Captain Vrungel’s more understated comedy comes from it’s mostly paper doll animation style, where by it’s very nature slapstick can’t really have the same oomph as other types of animation, so it doesn’t rely on physical humor as much to tell jokes.

For those of you who might not have cared for those few sections in Treasure Island where they would temporarily switch to a paper doll style and are hesitant to watch Captain Vrungel because you might miss having cel animation, I can say in my opinion that the character designs for Vrungel are done in a more visually appealing way than those parts of TI were, and it’s worth seeing how intricate it is. For more complicated shots, they do occasionally switch to cel animation, and even though they are less polished than what would come later on, they still often utilize inventive perspective shots that are fun to look at and provide visual interest for the show as a whole.

Another thing to note about Captain Vrungel is that it’s also a musical, with most episodes having one or even two numbers where the characters will burst into song, the rest of the soundtrack being orchestrated in contrast to the synths of Treasure Island. Not all the songs are memorable, since there’s so many of them, but the standouts will get stuck in your head. I think I’m gonna remember “We Bandito Gangsterito” and Agent 00X’s theme song till the day I die.

All that being said, one of the best parts of The Adventures of Captain Vrungel are probably the characters; as with every other aspect of the show I’ve discussed so far, most of them are not as eccentric as the cast of Treasure Island, nobody’s gonna be unironically making edited clips of the show set to phonk music making them look like gigachad badasses; however, most of them either do their job as a character just fine or are memorable in their own way.

Captain Vrungel himself is the straight man contrasting the other characters, lacking the quirks of fellow straight man protagonist Jim Hawkins, but he brings a calming presence that grounds the story. He’s very much like a father or grandfatherly figure, being wise and welcoming to others, sometimes exasperated at the silly things happening around him, but also sometimes participating in them if he feels like it. He does exactly what he needs to.

First Mate Lom is an early example of a himbo, being loyal and hard-working but not very bright. Of all the main characters, he gets the least to do, being the strong guy most of the time, which is a shame since he’s performed by Dr. Livesey’s voice actor (though Papernny did also get to voice the main villain, Chief, though I can’t really discuss him because it would spoil things).

Speaking of Treasure Island voice actors, the other prominent one from there who showed up here is Blind Pew’s VA playing the co-lead Fuchs, and although the character has a few visual similarities to Pew, the two have very different personalities. In short, he is what you might call a “woobie”, a “scrunkly blorbo”, or maybe even a “poor little meow-meow”, in the same genre of character as Tack from The Thief in the Cobbler, someone you would want to give a big hug if he were real. Without giving anything away, I’ll just say Fuchs goes through a nice character arc.

Three characters, however, come close to stealing the whole show, and could have easily had their own spinoff series based on their dynamic, and that’s the goons Bandito and Gangsterito, and Agent 00X. If you’re a fan of the “two minions who always hang out and have a surprisingly wholesome friendship despite being villains” trope, you’ll enjoy Bandito and Gangsterito as a duo. Are they totally stereotypical Italian gangster types? Oh yes, but they’re the Team Fortress 2 kind of stereotype where they’re so over the top it goes back around to being funny to me, but if you’re irritated by them for that reason, I understand.

As for Agent 00X, think of Captain Smollett’s ability to take any punishment thrown at him and turn it up to 11. No matter what Bandito and Gangsterito do to shake him off, he always comes back with a laugh and a smile on his face. Of all the Vrungel characters, he’s the one who’s most similar to the Treasure Island characters, and it’s with him that the animators do a lot of the test runs with his humor and animation that they would use more and more later on.

If anything I’ve written here has intrigued you enough to check out the series, as of this posting there’s one video of the whole series in English subtitles that I’ve been able to find so far which doesn’t have as good of video or audio quality as other uploads that are only in Russian, and the subtitles have some mistakes throughout, but it does well enough with translating the jokes that those technical shortcomings won’t impede your viewing experience too much.

The show takes a few episodes for the characters and overall plot to get set into place, but if you view it as a 2 hour-long movie, the pacing flows more smoothly.

[spacerhapsody]

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

for Adam?

You know which media I absolutely wouldn't put him into xD

Okay, so the crack theory of "Der Fluch des Geldes" just being Leo's coma dream, because he actually got hit by this car in the beginning, brought me back on my Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes bullshit (obviously Leo and Adam are so connected that they both have to be put there together, sorry, I don't make the rules).

So, Leo gets shot that one time we only hear about where he himself doesn't shoot, and Adam probably does something reckless at work (later it turns out it was to protect someone tbh), and the afterlife/cop limbo/whatever is actually were they meet again for the first time since Adam left all those years ago. (It might even happen exactly the same way.)

Also, since both LoM and A2A are set in the decade of the protagonists' childhoods, this means IT'S 90s (and maybe early 2000s) TIME, BABY. Horrible 90s clothes. Endless references. THE SOUNDTRACK!!

Also, Gene Hunt and the core team just are German now, because the homoerotic tension between everyone would be off the charts.

Leo and Gene have the typical "let's do proper police work" vs. "I have a gut feeling" conflict, and while Adam and Gene are both kind of okay with not doing things by the book, the ways they do this differ too much for them not clashing a lot, either. And Leo and Adam are just themselves, plus the added jealousy.

And of course Adam finally gets to work through his childhood trauma. Maybe the whole spade incident is even part of the plot and they get to experience again/change the whole outcome. Adult!Adam being the one that hits his father? So many possibilities!

Also: I somehow want to put him into Digimon, and I think it would have to be a Frontier scenario where he's basically Kouji, and later on we meet a corrupted Leo as Kouichi.

And! Since they actually aren't related this time, they can fully lead into whatever the fuck was going on there without having to worry about the whole twincest thing. XD

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