#because this is Joker's reaction to their romance

[average-mako-enjoyer]

You know what the Citadel DLC party is missing? A scene like this:

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Weird Strange Warmth, Thailand

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Sept 2024 Week 2

Ongoing Series - Thai

Jack & Joker (Thai Mon IQIYI) ep 1 of 12 - Oh it’s fucking great. What a fantastic start! It’s a fun cast too. I adore seeing all of the familiar faces. This is a lot more fun than Kidnap (sorry GMMTV, do better). I mean both shows are serving the same kind of concept but with completely different energy. I love that War is playing phi in this series. I think it suits him much better. In fact. I really like these rolls for this pair. I think they’re gonna knock it outta the park. I am so happy this is good. I wanted it to be good. And it’s good!

Monster Next Door (Thai Thurs Gaga ) ep 8 of 12 - Oh no! He read the journal. No snooping! Well I guess they needed to get some tension for these 2 from somewhere, otherwise they are too good to each other. Meanwhile, I’m not sure about the sides in this particular series. I don’t hate them. The laundry jealousy moment was pretty well done. But I'm not sold, either.

Addicted Heroin (Thai Tues WeTV) ep 5 of 10 - I forgot that we were already on the ICONIC kidnapping section of the narrative. I miss Gu Hai's OBEY sweatshirt from the original. (Someday I will own that sweatshirt.) Hero should at least be wearing an OBEY T-shirt. Frankly I miss the harshness of the original too. Johnny Huang was just so massive, August doesn't have the physicality to carry this scene off. Nor does Thailand have the guts to push it into the creepy obsessive territory that made the first version so thrilling to watch.

The thing about the original kidnapping bit was we could feel Gu Hai's vibrating need to possess overriding everything else (including his sense of humor and frustration with himself). Gu Hai KNOWS kidnapping was an over reaction, he KNOWS he is being absurd, he just doesn't care. Because he doesn't just want to fuck Bai Luo Yin he wants to consume him.

We didn't get any of that from Hero. Hero, as a character, just isn't edgy enough to carry off a kidnapping, he's been softened too much in this new Thai form.

And then... An around the back of head not-kiss? Interesting choice. (Checks to see if BoomPeak are hanging out nearby.) Is that because the actor is under age? We in that head space for this whole show? (Pun intended.) Not sure how I feel about any of it.

It’s a much milder confession this time around, because it’s Thailand, but it’s still warped. So I’m still here for the weird strange warmth of this damn show. I did laugh a lot during this episode. 

Kidnap (Fri YT) ep 2 of 12 - Oh I am very much enjoying this.

"You’re the worst kidnapper I ever ever met" is an apt accusation.

Battle of the Writers (Sun YT) ep 7 of 12 - I kinda enjoyed the little side romance story (wealthy writer intellectual + poor local salt-of-the-earth boy = Love Seaing all over my damn screen). It came outta nowhere but... okay.

I honestly have no idea what’s going on with this show. But the kisses are nice. And I pretty much like all of the couples. It’s wild how disjointed it is but simultaneously how pretty. It’s like Star Hunter got hold of Mame’s budget and aesthetic. 

I Saw You in My Dream (Weds Gaga) ep 9 of 12 - Boyfriend era to the max. Production is still ignoring the whole "dreaming the future" POINT OF THIS SHOW.

The Trainee (Sun YT) ep 11 of 12 - Jane is VERY COOL. Like tay-style cool… as it were. I like their dynamic when they're given one to play with. It’s the rest of this show I don’t enjoy. 

Live in Love (Sun Gaga) ep 2 of 5 - It cute. Bit odd but cute. I like the language play, of course. It’s an interesting pair to watch flirt because it’s all language play so that's fun but otherwise, I'm not convinced.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

The On1y One (Taiwan Thurs Gaga) eps 7-8 of 12 - This BL doesn’t drink from the water bottle to show off its neck. It quietly hands you the water bottle and expects you to understand that is not an act of generosity but of polite distancing. It's about the delicacy of the messaging, and the way themes are conveyed with such nuance.

This story is entirely about the two of them figuring out about each other, and then trying to be what the other person needs based on that information. It means they (and therefore we) are on this journey of discovering affection together. It's brilliant.

I must talk about the physical acting of these two for a second. That scene where they’re fighting over the book and then fall into the pool. That was one take. That’s amazing. These two are really fucking stellar not only at acting but hitting their marks. And let's be clear, that is NOT the same thing. I bet they both have stage training.

Define irony: watching two abandoned kids counsel their respective parents through abandonment issues.

Sugar Dog Life (Japan Sun grey) ep 6 of 10 - It is stupid cute and utterly charming. They are total boyfriends. It’s just that one of them wants to be and one of them assumes they already are. Actually, nevermind boyfriends, they’re married.

I Hear the Sunspot AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru (Japan Weds Gaga) ep 12fin - It made me whimper a lot because they’re both hurting so much. But in the end it was... fine.

Summation

The compassionate story of a college kid going deaf and the one boy he can hear. I love this manga and was let down by the first adaptation (Silhouette of Your Voice), so I was expecting a lot from this BL. I expected the soundscapes in this one to be fantastic, and the were, but I didn’t expect the filming to be something special too. But it really is. The acting is great too. But the story? It was just fine. They spent far too much time on the build to a relationship, then wallowed in their separation and a problematic girl character, when they should have been showcasing Taichi's character arc and his capacity for connection. Perhaps Japan should pass this one off to Thailand, It's a soft story centering on "food as love" so they might do better with it. I am, yet again, disappointed. 8/10 but I want to give it a 7/10

First Note Of Love (Taiwan Mon Gaga) eps 9-10 of 12 - It’s fine. it’s cute. I enjoyed getting some backstory. More of the sides, please.

Seoul Blues (Korea Fri? YouTube) ep 7 - Honestly, why don’t they just call this entire series The Cheating Diaries and have done with it? I’m only watching it because there’s basically nothing else from Korea right now. But I’m generally mad about it. Including the fact that everybody is so pretty and the acting is so good in the series, but the stories are so terrible.

It's airing but...

The Hidden Moon (Sat WeTV) ep 1 of 10 - This is a supernatural romance (my ghost boyfriend trope) by Violet Rain (I Feel You Linger). A man is hired to write an article about an old mansion in Chiang Mai being converted into a café. He sees the ghosts of people who died at the mansion, falls in love with one of them. Was substantially recast. I loved IFYLITA except the ending so I think I'll let this one run it's course you can tell me if it's work tracking down... if they managed to land it. I have my doubts.

Happy of the End (Japan Tues Gaga) - A boy is disowned for being gay, dumped by his boyfriend, and ends up in a dysfunctional co-dependant relationship with his would-be kidnapper. We were due for another messy JBL and it's exactly as expected. I do not like it at all. And ya know what? There is plenty airing. DNF 

In case you missed it

The Time of Fever (Korea iQIYI & Viki) 6 eps - Side couple from Unintentional Love Story, HoTae & DongHee, return for a spin off backstory show.

It started out fantastic. And it was a relief to have a good Korean BL finally back on my screen, even a high angst one. But I did spend a lot of time trying trying to figure out whether they’re going to rehash or reboot from the previous series. Are we in Between Us territory or Don't Say No or (heaven forbid) To My Star 2?

None of the above, it turns out.

This was a pure prequel about lost first love. As such, it has no real finale beyond what we got in ULS. Which, for this pair, wasn't satisfying. Putting my disappointment over this aspect aside, it is enjoyable on the strength of the characters, actors, and chemistry (if not story). Yes I said chemistry, the kissing is fantastic, sometimes KBL can do that. This one featured the "teach me to kiss trope"!!!! Plus language play. Both favorites of mine. It is all angst, ache, repression, and miles of subtext. It did fudge the ending by not skipping forward and over the events in ULS to depict what happened next (what, no year long time jump when we actually need it, Korea?) It's a worthy companion piece, but should be watched BEFORE ULS for maximum satisfaction, and even then you're going to be left feeling like HoTae & DongHee's relationship was never adequately discussed or depicted in order to achieve resolution.

The little cameo of my baby in ep 5 was much appreciated. But the motorcycle should’ve been set up a little bit more. Of course I wanted it to be about them getting together after the events in the first series. But this was all backstory from start to finish. And while it was good backstory, it wasn’t ultimately satisfying for these characters. Still it’s a good little series. 8/10 

Meet You at the Blossom (China) - I'm eating crow, binging the fucker, and live blogging. It's just taking me some time. This isn't really a bingable show, not for me anyway. It's A LOT to take all at once. No new one this week.

4 Minutes (Gaga) Ended - Spies reported in to say the ending was not-exactly-unhappy and mostly lackluster. I'm torn over whether to watch. My natural disinclination to binge, meets my dissatisfaction with wishy-washy, is going up against my love for fabulous high heat and pretty pretty men.

Mitsuya-sensei no keimakutekina ezuke finished and it’s reported to be solid. Age gap treated with respect. I'm curious, so I'll check it out. Not doing very well on binging and catching up but it's on the docket...

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

Still Coming Sept 2024:

9/15 Love Sick 2024 (Thai Sun iQIYI) 15 eps - Remake of the original. I'm scared too.

9/15 Bad Guy My Boss (Thai Sun Gaga) 10 eps - Assistant to a player boss who is in love with that boss decides to quit to save himself. The boss then makes a move. (A gay What's up with Secretary Kim?)

9/17 Love is Like a Poison AKA Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru (Japan Tues Netflix?) 10 eps - Lawyer and a con artist meet at a bar, pair up, fall in love.

9/28 Teenager Judge (Vietnam Sat YouTube) ?? eps - oh I don't know just Ba Vinh doing his thing with pretty boys again.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Love a teach me to kiss, teach me to fuck, whatever moment. (I Saw You In My Dreams sides)

Not gonna lie. I laughed. Addicted.

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

Sigh, Tumblr in its infinite wisdom doesn't like too many at-ings.

[thefloatingstone]

It's interesting how people have different reactions to Liara. I never even once considered her to be anything else besides Shepard's ride or die and borderline adopted sister.

I remember Liara as the person who saved Shepard's life between ME1 and ME2, I remember her as the person who basically pushed her desk out of the way to hug Shepard after not seeing her for 2 years. and most importantly, I remember her as the person who would more than once come to Shepard's cabin for something unrelated, see Shepard was in a bad place, and put everything aside to take time and ask "Are you ok?"

VERY few characters do the "Are you ok?" moment with Shepard because most of them just take it for granted that she is. Garrus does it more than once because he's an awkward nerd who worries. Joker does it because he's Joker and he's awesome (and because he has EDI monitoring Shepard's sress levels because he's worried about her but has no social skills to try and speak to her until those bottled up feelings finally burst). But Liara is the one I remember coming to the cabin and spending LONG moments with Shepard, in her own space, talking her through a lot of her stress and sadness.

My point is, I am NEVER the person to point and go "No! Your experiences are WRONG actually!". Because like ????? uhm ????? HOW??? 'I experienced something." "lol no you didn't"

Yeah I don't play that way.

I just find it very interesting how some people see Liara as uncaring and having no empathy for Shepard, whereas I remember her most impactful moments are spending time with Shepard in the most intimate ways without romancing her.

It's just interesting to me what sticks with different people. I think it's a sign of good writing. Because it's one thing to write a character everybody likes because they were written to be likeable. And it's another thing to have a character with a fleshed out personality that is SO well written that some people dislike her because they'd dislike her if she was a real person too, and some people REALLY like her because they'd get along with her if she was a real person.

And I think that's actually pretty neat.

[innepttia]

@spookyvalentine has FOUR sets of “50 questions about Shepard” list and this is the third!!

Maeve Shepard

First 50 Questions | Second 50 Questions

TW: mentions of alcohol abuse & canon typical death

(Art by tumblr: @/milton-chamberlain)

1. How often does Shepard use the omni-blade?

Omni-blade, not a lot but it’s her favorite weapon to use (ok I know this is contradictory but just go with me). Omni-tool – ALL THE TIME.

2. What does the Virmire Survivor think of Shepard?

Ashley! I think she wishes they were closer, because they really would get along if they both gave it a shot. If Shepard didn’t die, they’d probably have become besties at some point and perhaps Shepard could have still soothed over some of that xenophobic nature of Ashley’s.

3. Top three comfort movies:

Howl’s Moving Castle

Princess Bride

Shallow Grave

4. How many languages can they speak (without the translator)?

Oh, I love that Spooky has asked this in the Mass Effect discord we’re in because I already know the answer now!!

English, ASL (which doesn’t really count for translator-use), and – in my own HC – spacers have a language similar to The Expanse’s Belter Creole.

5. Does Shepard keep a log/journal?

No. Which is a boring answer, but no.

6. What kind of driver is Shepard?

I like to HC that she actually would rather have others drive so she can tinker with something. So, instead of driver, she’s a passenger princess.

7. Shepard witnesses a petty crime. What is their response?

She ignores it! Maeve really cultivates an air of: “If this doesn’t affect me, then I don’t care.”

8. Revenge, or the high road?

REVENGE, BABEEYYYYY – but only in her head because she’s a busy lady and doesn’t have time to really properly act out her revenge.

9. What will always distract them?

Thane, Thane, Thane, Thane, alcohol, Thane, Thane, Joker, Thane, Thane, Thane, etc.

10. Does Shepard ascribe to any sort of faith?

No, but she becomes interested in Thanes.

11. Fondest childhood memory?

By ME2, she isn’t sure her childhood memories are really hers, so she tries to forget them.

12. Most embarrassing adult memory?

In ME2, before Thane’s romance was locked in, she got so drunk one day and drunk-messaged Ashley trying to flirt with her. Then when that was completely rejected, she went straight to Zaeed to try and flirt with him, but she became so distracted in the garbage compactor that she missed her one chance with that old merc. Joker was 100% watching the vid feeds and EDI was monitoring her messages to Ashley.

13. What does Shepard choose to do about Gavin Archer?

THIS mothafuckin guy THIS GUY ohhhhh my god. I think canon choice was “your brother is going to Grissom Academy and you can fuck right off” but the unhinged, more correct choice is: iron pressed against his temple and ending it all then and there for Gavin.

14. Is Shepard the type to gossip?

If it’s gossip with Kasumi, yes, because Kasumi has the best tea and tells the best story. Anyone else, probably not.

15. How does Shepard react to Garrus’s Archangel reveal?

I’m just going to go with the canon-neutral reaction.

16. What was the N7 program like for Shepard?

This was when she was A Good Soldier and A Good Person (pre-ME1), so it went pretty well, all things considered. She was focused and driven and wanted to be the best she could be.

17. Go-to karaoke song?

ANOTHER ONE I CAN ANSWER BECAUSE OF DISCORD thank god. This song because it’s mostly shouting instead of singing:

Fire Woman – The Cult

18. What choice does Shepard make on Rannoch?

Okay so, this one might get me a lot of hate BUT I’ve always accidentally (I’m so serious about this) picked the option here Tali throws herself off the cliff. Like, I’m not joking. It doesn’t matter how many years are between play throughs, or if I’m like, OKAY THIS TIME…!!! I always manage to pick that option. In an AU, I’d really like for the Geth and the Quarians to make peace and build the planet together and I’m just inept at making Good Choices.

19. Which kind of reaper do they think is the ugliest?

That stupid Human-Reaper from ME2.

20. Can they dance?

She can sway to music really well.

21. What is Shepard’s relationship with Hackett?

Mostly annoyed at him. In her eyes, Hackett is up there with TIM.

22. What’s their alignment? Paragon, renegade, a mix…

Renegade all the way. Light up her face with scars.

23. Got any allergies? How bad?

No, because I honestly just won’t remember she has them.

24. When’s their birthday, and how old are they?

Canon birthday and canon age!

25. Trash talk or potty mouth

BOTH!

26. What’s their temper like?

Flares hot, but then it dies down pretty quickly because she’s either smothering it with alcohol or she’s already moved on to the next crisis.

27. What does Shepard think of Bakara?

EVEEEE and not my clone named Eve!!!!! She adores her and will do anything for her.

28. A reoccurring nightmare:

Indoctrination. She can’t shake the feeling that, even after everything, she’s indoctrinated.

And Moon’s Haunted fic.

29. Which news correspondent/journalist does Shepard bring on the Normandy? What’s their relationship like?

Diana Allers and it’s a relationship of: Maeve forgets she’s there until Diana reminds her.

30. Who’s got the biggest crush on Shepard?

Ummm ME!!! Hmm definitely Joker in all 3 games, Garrus in 1 and 2, (and finally a HC) the Geth (and OC) she messages all throughout ME3.

31. What kind of relationship do they have with Dr. Chakwas? Which doctor do they bring her on board for 3, and why?

Good! They’re drinking buddies, except Dr. Chakwas is obviously less unhinged about it.

32. Who has Shepard’s grudging respect?

Javik & Zaeed.

33. Reaction to the window over their sr-2 bed

Kill Bill sirens.

34. Does Shepard want children?

Not just no, but hell no.

35. What does Shepard consider their greatest mistake?

Joining the Alliance.

36. Did Shepard enjoy the heists with Kasumi?

Yes, this was her favorite mission. I think I mentioned this in one of the previous 50 questions, but she was excited for the heist. She was excited to dress up and to have even the slightest potential to not kill anyone.

37. Does Shepard ever play matchmaker?

Ngl, I like Liara and Javik together so I’d like to imagine she helped with that somehow.

38. A silly daydream:

While she was on house arrest after ME2 and before ME3, she daydreamed that Joker would come visit her and they’d rekindle whatever they had before.

Or, she’d imagine Thane would come rescue her like a damsel in distress.

(god these aren’t really “silly” are they?!)

39. What kind of media do they consume the most?

Tech news, but she’s pretty off mainstream media content. She prefers to spend time with her crew in person.

40. Favorite ice cream flavor

Cookies and cream.

41. If Shepard has a LI, what would they say are a couple of Shepard’s flaws? And strengths?

I think we all like to imagine our LI’s being over the moon about our Sheps, and my HCs are no different.

Thane sees her as the spitting image of one of his goddesses. She’s strong, relentless, ruthless, and determined, which are all qualities he admires. In private, she’s soft and a puddle of mush most of the time. I like to think he enjoys taking care of her (e.g. blanket over the shoulders, a good cuddle session, sharing food).

Her flaws come through pretty starkly in all these sets of 50 questions: she can make REALLY poor choices, she can get tunnel vision on certain missions, she can be too brash.

42. Are they quick to laugh, or slow to smile?

Okay, I’m probably going to be annoying with this but I’m going to say both to this one too (like the potty mouth or trash talking one). I think she’s quick to laugh, but it isn’t always genuine. She’ll laugh when she feels like there’s a social cue she needs to meet. She’s slow to smile because those would be her true, genuine feelings.

43. What does it take to earn Shepard’s trust?

Most people have her trust from the beginning. She doesn’t feel like she has time to be untrusting, so her initial trust is easy to get. As long as that isn’t broken, then all’s golden. If the initiate trust is broken then it’s near impossible to get it back.

44. Top three people Shepard thinks are hotties:

Samara

Nyreen

Zaeed

+Thane because he’s her Li so that’s a given

45. What’s the easiest way to gross them out?

Throw up. THAT’S ALL hahahaha but fr gross.

46. What are some of their favorite combo moves with team members out on the field?

Oooohh this is embarrassing for her and me. I always forget team members and Shepard can do combo moves together, so I never do it. So lets go with: she’s a lone wolf who likes to do her own tech combos herself.

47. Can they forgive easily, or are they the type to hold a grudge?

Neither! She’d rather just forget.

48. Does Shepard have a good sense of direction?

She relies solely on her HUD that she doesn’t know anymore!

49. Did they enjoy their party on the Citadel?

Yes, it was nice getting everyone together, but she really missed Thane.

50. What is Shepard’s ending?

Maeve, beloved, goes full destroy ending, which includes destroying herself. I’ve talked about this a lot in the server so I’m not going to get too much in the weeds but… she’s very content with this choice.

+1 …got any kinks?

*looks back at question 33* yes – a choking kink whoops

[supervillain-smut]

Top five sexiest gotham rogues and why?

I had two reactions upon reading this request. 1. YES I love being asked my opinions and I love doing top 5's. 2. GOTHAM??? Ya couldn't have asked Central City? /joking.

WARNING: Opinions and biases ahead lmao. In no particular order, btw, just 5 I can actually list lol. Below the cut so I don't kill your dash lol.

Jonathan Crane AKA The Scarecrow

Cillian Murphy Scarecrow my beloved... For a screen adaptation. My favourite is actually Year One Crane. Why Crane? IDK honestly. I have a few theories, not all of them solid. Blue eyes? Tall? (optional for a favourite of mine tbh) Just crazy? Probably, I mean look at the others I write for lmao. Definitely have a thing for smart guys. Brain > Brawn, but a nice mix of both doesn't hurt. Confident in most universes, submissive in others. He's so fun to daydream about.

2. Edward Nygma AKA The Riddler.

Best design was his New 52 Riddler #1 look. Always happy to see the Arkham versions, too. Not Knight though, They did him dirty in Knight. Paul Dano's Riddler does nothing for me either, no offence to those that like him. Why do I like him? BRAT. Absolute brat. That's all.

3. Harleen Quinzel AKA Harley Quinn

A hot Harley is a confident and Joker-free Harley. Harlivy for the win. Love her animated series look. Favorite on-screen version is Birds of Prey Harley. Honestly, picked Harley because 1. Pure vibes alone and 2. You gave me GOTHAM. To pick from. Of course she was going to be here. There's something in the water with the women in Gotham, as you shall soon find out.

4. Selina Kyle AKA Catwoman

MEOW IS RIGHT. Michelle Pfeiffer Catwoman For. The. Win. Not really a fan of the BatCat romance, but I don't exactly have any better suggestions. Love her cunning, independence, and her skill with a whip.

5. Pamela Isley AKA Poison Ivy

Honestly, like I said, you gave me Gotham, lol. Of course she was going to be here. But it's not for naught! Her levels of confidence are SO HOT, her designs are top tier like 90% of the time. Also, we love an eco-friendly gal. A little overboard with it, but this is Gotham. That happens like every Tuesday.

Okay, I love and appreciate you so much for this ask. Thank you x1000. If you want to add on, or make your own, feel free to!

[icespur]

(I apologize if someone already had this idea)

So Akechi's Metaverse attire gives him a bird like mask and his codename is "Crow".

I propose two funny ShuAke scenarios....

Did you know that birds have a special mating ritual? Where they dance?

So 1: Akechi embracing his codename and performing a Crow mating dance to woo AkiRen

Or----

Akiren/Joker performing a literal Crow dance in front of Akechi for either pure funzies just to see his reaction if they are just Friends/Frienemies

Or the Romance route, Joker having feelings for Akechi, does a dance because "I will confess my feelings in your language!"

And Akechi is just---

"What the hell are you doing?"

The rest of the Phantom Thieves are equally bewildered, frozen, just silently in the background while watching their leader Unapologetically make a fool of himself, dancing in the middle of what was originally a battle.

[akechi-stole-my-heart]

If I may ask: how would you have written/rewritten Sumire's confident story? 😊 Unless it's too close to what you did in code violet, sorry 😂 Personnally, I thought the first half wasn't THAT boring, she was endearing but I felt like she was either in denial or hiding her grief about her sister's death - and then I got the truth 😂 I've become a shusumi fan quickly but I still think there's *something* lacking for it to click. And the last scene we see Sumire was underwhelming imho 🥲

yeah! there are a lot of similarities to what i do in code violet, but it's not identical, since I have a lot more freedom in my fic than there is in the game.

i wouldn't change much if anything about the first half. i agree it isn't that boring, what really makes it seem that way are (1) high expectations for the New Special Girl to be exceptional since she wasn't in the original game and (2) comparing her to the other team members who you're already invested in, her conflict just isn't as interesting (at least to me). basically, you start out every other thief confidant already knowing the core of their conflict because of their palace, so you're already invested in their arcs, while with sumire that is reversed, where you don't learn what's actually going on with her later. so, the "boringness" of the confidant is really exaggerated by that. if you didn't like the way they inserted her into the opening sequence (i never had an issue with it, but royal was my first experience, though i did know the stuff with her was added in the rerelease) so she made a bad impression on you, then it's understandable why people wouldn't like her (at first, anyway)

but let's get to the point. my issues with her confidant. they can basically be summed up in 2 points, and the two of them intersect quite a bit (1) the way she idolizes both kasumi and joker and rely on them for her self worth is not properly unpacked and (2) her role as the waifu REALLY impedes her arc.

basically, sumire idolizes joker. her outfit mirrors his exactly, and her arc in third sem is all about...learning that since joker loves her, she wants to both rise to his expectations and can learn to value herself. and that's not bad, but certain lines about how she wants joker to see her really rub me the wrong way. specifically in her rank when they go to the mall and she picks an outfit for herself. i like the part about her wanting to be seen as herself, and the part about joker's reaction ultimately being irrelevant to whether she likes the outfit, and i would emphasize those points more strongly. but the parts about her wanting joker to see her feel a little like she's trying to be a person he will like? rather than being the person that she is. some of the dialogue is pretty meh, and it feels like she's getting her self worth from joker.

the bones of the confidant are good. great, even. but there's just subtleties in the execution that make it not quite land for me. choosing the romance route ends up feeling unhealthy for both of them, where sumire is putting too much of her worth in someone else and joker is entering an unequal relationship where sumire doesn't give him as much as he gives her because he just isn't in a place to. and i think that's a shame.

for me to get behind shusumi, sumire needs to be on equal ground with akira, and she just isn't. and the game is even aware of this--sumire says on white day that she isn't, but that she wants to be someday. and like, it could be her being self deprecating, but either way it's not what either of them deserve. i wish we could get a moment where she's there for akira like he's there for her, but atlus is allergic to joker's friends being there for him so we never get that.

so honestly, i really wouldn't change much. i'd leave the first half how it is, tweak some dialogue in the second half so it seems less like sumire is getting her self worth from joker, and add a moment where sumire explicitly says she's there for joker and wants to be there for him as much as he's been there for her, so they're on emotionally equal ground with each other.

finally, i do wish we got to see more of her journey, since she really is just at the very beginning of her arc of recovery at the end of the game. but i think it's okay that we don't. there is only so much time allotted to watch her grow, and we see her grow a lot in that time. there's questions she could ask herself that she doesn't have the time to get to, like if she really wants to be a gymnast for herself, or if she's just doing it for her sister. that sort of thing. but again, i think it's okay we don't get to that. i might add a line or two where she says she wants to be a gymnast for herself because she enjoys it, though.

and i guess that's it? i'm sorry for how disorganized this answer is. i haven't really thought in depth about what i'd change if restricted by the confines of the game, and so it's kind of difficult to do a rewrite when that's different than just having problems with what exists. a lot of what i would change can be found in code violet, like how i emphasize that it's "joker makes me want to be seen for who i am, and see him in return" rather than the one-way dynamic of "joker makes me want to be seen and so i will try to be a person he likes" which some of her lines really come across as sometimes. honestly, i think the entire confidant could have been improved by leaning more into the rivalry dynamic. sumire and akechi already have plenty of similarities/parallels, and joker kind of inherits kasumi's role as sumire's rival. so i think it'd have been really powerful if they leaned into that and made it clear that this time, sumire and her rival are equals.

but yeah! sorry this is so rambly. i'm going to end the post now

[phantom-chirp]

Oh sorry the last part was exaggerated as a joke I didn't mean it in like, a combative way? Idk if It came off that way I also like Crow btw fhfjdkfkf. But I mean I do strongly feel his det. Prince teen idol persona is nominally "supposed" to encourage the public to Support The Police's Valiant Fight To Capture Those Evil Phantom Thieves (TM)! (and increase support for shido but when the PT enter the scene those become intertwined). of course we later know that akechi doesn't really give a shit about the police as anything more than a stepping stone for his eventual revenge against shido (he calls them incompetent), but I mean, the public is supposed to think he earnestly believes in his justice as a police detective, aren't they? And he makes some comment in his first TV station appearance about how he's helping the police to capture the Phantom thieves because their existence is a threat to society or something (I'm sorry, I don't have the exact wording on me) and I dont think fact that he is technically using the detective position to cover up crimes changes the fact that it's his day job or anything yknow? But that's because they had to have made him part of law enforcement in some sense since he's joker's rival and at some point plays the part of an antagonist, and joker is a criminal rebelling against the justice system etc (even if akechi doesnt like that system in the end – the Detective Prince has to)

So I also do think that the police, who don't KNOW who akechi really is, are using him and his prettyboy persona to appeal to the public and to a teenage demographic in particular (though we know that some adults supported akechi as well, of course). The phantom thieves case IS a police case, after all. It's because they need to sway the public to their side and away from supporting their thieves – even when that stops being necessary after okumura, they can still take advantage of akechi to generate more hype for the arrest

W/ the romance thing, it makes sense to appeal to his fans there because it makes him sound like someone who’s knowledgeable about romance. I hate what im about to say but it feels like. Kind of supposed to mix the princely goodboy act with an undercurrent of like. "oooooh he'll play with your heartstrings isn't that spicyfjekgkfk I hate typing that I hate thinking about teen idol tropes /lighthearted. I mean I don't Think that to be clear that's the reaction I think the TV show is trying to provoke augh. But anyway I'm not trying to say this is the only interpretation or that he's not gay and sad 24/7 LMAO, it just works for me because especially after killing joker he has to establish himself as a hero and an icon and. The whole celebrity thing of a desirable/unattainable boyfriend to keep appealing to that audience... Oh my god is this too many words I'm so sorry

(ask related to this post and this post)

The amount of words is fine no need to apologize, honestly I like longer written things in discussions like this because it leaves less room for misunderstandings. I also write a lot often so I don't mind

Thank you for clarifying. Specifically in relation to the Phantom Thieves it makes more sense to me what you were getting at, I see. The distinction between the Detective Prince and Goro Akechi is important here, because personally those wouldn't be his motivations and his personal feelings regarding the Detective Prince thing play into his childhood and such so that's why I had a more negative reaction to that part of your original ask so I apologize for that

With the romance thing, again I can understand that reading of those lines but it still isn't an interpretation that fully makes sense in my brain? The idea that it's intentionally meant to play more into the... as I can best word it right now, badboy-esque behaviour (I understand anon I hated even typing that lmao) but that's also never really an aspect of his Detective Prince persona that he ever actively played into before I don't think? Might be forgetting and even if I'm not it doesn't mean it's impossible for him to ever actively do so, but still

The public opinion of the Phantom Thieves had already gone basically fully down by the time that interview happened so I just don't see how likely it is for Akechi to play into an aspect of his fame he himself didn't even seem to like from what I recall since I feel like it would be easy to get the public back on his side and all that without doing so. Though Akechi's emotions were probably all messed up after killing Ren so it's hard to say, Akechi is a real difficult character to try to look at analytically because we get very little insight into some of the aspects of his character and he's really complicated

As I said in the tags of the original post I do have an interpretation of it that I think somewhat works and can explain why he made that connection but I do worry it could just be because I'm biased towards shuake. Despite all I've said I will say that your interpretation does make sense as a way to view why he said that, especially with the added information from this ask, but personally it just doesn't click with my brain for some reason

[lucius-the-sinful]

been kinda chewing on some of my problems with baldur's gate 3 recently as im wrapping up my durge playthrough. i took a bit of hiatus from the game for about a month but ah, there's still just some things that kinda bum me out. and i know i just usually reblog silly goofy things and draw my edgy d&d characters but i think i need to post about this. it is my blog and i decide when its time for some serious discussion (we will return to your regularly scheduled silly goose hours later) (yes this post will contain spoilers throughout the entire game. i think)

Its time for proper capitalization and punctuation because I am wanting to get a bit serious for a minute. I want to start with my biggest issue, the thing that turns me off from the game from time to time. What I truly desire in a video game with significant characters and story is for those characters and story to feel like they co-exist with one another, instead of within their own vacuums. I think Baldur's Gate 3 is decent at this, but it leaves so much to be desired. One thing that really bugs me is it feels less like this is a group that was haphazardly thrown together with similar goals to which they are very desperate to complete (removing the tadpole, stopping the spread of the Absolute), and more like each character is an outside observer to the other's struggles. Even when the struggles of these characters intercept, such as Karlach and Wyll, we get mere morsels. Karlach says she is Wyll's friend, but outside of the few times they speak to one another in the overworld, and the few cutscenes we have in camp... how can that constitute friendship? Seriously, its great Wyll can be convinced to stick his neck out for Karlach, but that alone doesn't build a friendship. Am I supposed to believe there are conversations between characters happening off screen? Perhaps. However: there are ways to sprinkle in characters directly interacting with each other without involving the player character. The conversations in the overworld, for one, are great. I just wish there was more. I deeply desire banter, I desire for these characters to develop relationships on the same level with one another as Tav/Durge does with them.

I always find myself comparing BG3 to the Mass Effect trilogy. One thing I love about Mass Effect 3 specifically, is that Shepard can walk around the Normandy and run into the crew in the middle of their own conversations. One of my favorites is if you have Kaidan and you're able to recruit him, he can be found in a poker match with James and they reference playing with Joker. I love it! I wish that sort of thing was in BG3. You wander about camp and find some of your party members playing a game (I'm imagining Wyll and Karlach trying to teach Lae'zel a game of Faerun, and she compares it to "games" of her cresh... it would be an interesting look into Lae'zel's culture and what the gith would consider "games" plus we get to see how the others would introduce their culture to her). I just kinda hate going to camp, exhausting dialogue with each other the companions and then there's really nothing else to see or do beyond that.

I also wish there was more reaction to the romance from the others. I mean, maybe I'm just silly and haven't gotten the proper triggers but in each of my playthroughs no one has anything to say about it. I absolutely do want to sit there and give Shadowheart the details of my night with Halsin. I don't know just, give me a little something.

Speaking of the wild-shaped elephant in the room. The poly relationships. Look, I am personally monogamous, I am in a monogamous relationship and my partner and I will likely remain monogamous until our deaths. That being said... ugh? And I mean ugh in the sense these don't feel like they could be real relationships. If Halsin is truly the best we can do then I think we're doing pretty mediocre. I think its a step in the right direction, we get our other partner's consent, Halsin is respectful of you and your partner's boundaries and from what I have seen, your other partner respects your identity and boundaries (no, I do not buy that Astarion specifically is "coerced" into the relationship, this is not what this is about but I have seen that particular line of thought. Also, if you want to read a pretty good post that sums up the Astarion-Halsin polymance debate, I recommend this one by veilkeeper, I don't agree with every point but it's pretty well written). There's just something odd about how all of it is written, again pointing to how some of these events and characters feel like they exist within a vacuum and I think that is why the "poly" relationships feel very... ugh. I'm a little on the fence about this particular post, but if you want to read how a non-monogamous goober (like myself) views the poly non-relationships, I recommend this one by hungerofhadarr.

Okay so, last little thing. This bothers me in a much more obvious fashion, but, hi, I play D&D 3.5 homebrew. I am actually not super familiar with Faerun before I played Baldur's Gate 3, as my group mainly plays in original settings created by my partner/our DM. I have been a part of the same group for about four years now, and we have actually managed to complete a campaign this year. So I understand that the way me and my group play D&D is very different from how most people play in 2023. That being said: what the fuck is with the fantasy racism? Why do fantasy worlds keep relying on it so heavily to propel how cultures interact with one another? Has anyone else played a drow, or even a half-drow? Oh my god. I don't really feel like I should comment too much on this other than, um, yikes? And, I'm not going to act like I don't know about D&D's history with fantasy racism. I am a little familiar, but I just feel like Wizards, and now by extension Larian, cannot disconnect themselves from this.

this is about as articulate as im going to get on all this but uhhh yeah. screaming into the void and hope it doesn't breach containment lmao

[thevindicativevordan]

Comics this week ?

Very light week, but I made up for it by ordering some Superman trades.

Superman ‘78: The Metal Curtain #1 - Sad to see Torres go, but Guidry is a solid replacement. Extremely decompressed, to the issue’s detriment I think. Could’ve trimmed the amount of pages used for the rescue scene and put some pages towards building up the new Metallo. Enjoyable despite that, I smiled at the Bizarro World cameo, and there’s an interesting premise here. Venditti seems to have gone with Lois’ father being a General here, and he may even have been the one to commission the Metallo suit in the first place given the Soviets stole it from the Americans. Since the Metallo suit has the Luthor “symbol” on it, perhaps Sam even recruited or pressganged Lex into working for him to build anti-Superman weapons. If so, Venditti might be setting up a conflict where the Soviets want to bring down Supes because he’s a symbol of America, but Supes is pissed off at the feds himself because they’re working with Luthor and view him as a threat too. Superman caught between the Soviet military and the American military, each viewing him as someone who needs to be taken down, is a great concept.

Batman #139 - Seems DC has decided to designate Three Jokers as non-canon and do another story in-canon to address that plot thread with Zdarsky. Probably played a role in why Johns departed again (unless they did this in reaction to him leaving?). Hope whatever Zdarsky is doing is less stupid than what Johns did, maybe the Three Jokers are just the three personalities in Joker - similar to how Batman now houses multiple Zurs? Least Jimenez makes everything gorgeous to look at.

Blue Beetle #3 - On one hand it was nice to get some acknowledgment of the Traci 13/Jaime romance as being a thing that existed. On the other hand it’s frustrating that they don’t say *why* they broke up. Did Traci realize she was gay or is she just bi and they split for another reason? The Blood Scarab having ties to Dan Garret is neat, they rarely explore that far back into the Blue Beetle legacy. Guessing Scarab is the Pharaoh who was imprisoned long ago.

[fuckyeahgakuenheaven]

Hello! I just wanted to thank you for translating GH2! I've been wanting to play GH (any) since forever, and you guys did such a great job with Double Scramble. I just finished it and I can't stop thinkin about it. Could you both rank the boys in order from favourite storyline to least favourite? I'm really curious because I ended up really surprised with quite a few of the stories, and some really touched me unexpectedly, most notably Hayato (my best boy) and Arata.

Hi and sorry for the incredibly late reply. I actually can't see when this question was sent because I guess tumblr doesn't think that's important information anymore. Suuuure.

Interesting to think about the storylines versus characters, because the entire planet knows who my favorite character is, heh. It's hard to rank them because there are good and bad things about each of them and I feel like it's unfair to simply put them in order and then peace out without explaining my reasoning. Some are written better than others, some are more emotional, some are more believable, some are more personally relatable...

Maybe I should just say my favorite parts of each because it's so hard to rank them in any way!

Kuya: Dude, this kid is just SO realistically sad, complete with his weird imaginative ways of compartmentalizing it. His "my feelings that time" is heartbreaking. That miserable wail in the middle of it always fucks me up.

Takato: Best writing quality in the game by far. You can definitely tell who TAMAMI's favorite character was. Great take on the sexy/kinky glasses dude trope.

Joker: Another great representation of a realistic reaction to trauma. Also love the duality of how he can go from sweet to rage at a moment's notice. Chaotic neutral at its finest.

Sonoda: Classic self-blaming child of divorce. That scene with the knife fucked me up so bad the first time. When he spills his entire story and Yuki just loves him anyway... teary eyes every time.

Chiba: You think he's going to be a shallow idiot and then he's this poor kid who never processed a friend's murder. I don't agree with the inclusion of supernatural elements in his route but I love the tender scene with Yuki that follows. AND OH MY GOD THE SLEEPOVER. That's the best part, will fight anyone who disagrees.

Arata: For the longest time I didn't like his route at all but my most recent replay was just... bam. It hits harder when you're not angry about editing the longest (by far) route in the game. And finally an actually gay character who KNOWS he's gay and has known since he was a kid.

Tomo: Weakest romance in the game but everything else is so good. Watching him grow from someone who literally ran from his past to the ABSOLUTE BADASS who completely destroyed Sakaki's brother was so satisfying. Love his relationship with his bro, too.

Yagami: Sloppy writing/plot imo (needs editing pls) but it's so fun to see the tough guy character who just... isn't. His shy embarrassment throughout the route is adorable.

Sakaki: I mean his route is like a shitty afterthought but I love this dude so whatever. Best part is the flashback of flirting shooting the shit with Nao on the roof, and near the end when he tells his brother to eff off. Dude got destroyed by a teenager AND his (formerly) spineless little bro in the same day, and I love it.

So I think my favorite storyline is Takato followed closely by Sonoda, and least favorite is Yagami. But I like parts of all of them and all of them have flaws too, so it's hard to rank!

[average-mako-enjoyer]

Or Mordin (for the character ask) since we're having Mordin feels this morning.

From the character ask game.

This is very, very interesting, thank you! Finally, I have a chance to talk about him.

Favorite thing about them He's one of The Characters. One of my top 3.

He's so complex, so morally ambiguous, so intelligent and yet so short-sighted at times.

He heals and he kills, but not with medicine.

He has to see the results of his actions for himself, to see with his own eyes the people whose lives he has impacted.

He's passionate, he's asexual, he's ruthless, he's one of the most compassionate people you'll ever meet.

He's everything at once.

Love him, love him, love him. Least favorite thing about them Don't get me wrong, I like his redemption arc, but it feels half-baked and toothless to me.

He's the best damn character in ME2, and I feel that ME3 kinda forgets how badass he actually is. So he takes a back seat in his own ME3 story until the final climactic moment and that's it.

I think this is the only instance where making completely atrocious renegade choices (killing or betraying Wrex, killing Maelon, destroying his data and thus killing Bakara, and pushing Mordin to sabotage the cure) feels more rewarding because it has the same moral ambiguity that is an essential part of Mordin's character. Favorite line "Life is a negotiation. We all want. We all give to get what we want."

"No tests on species with members capable of calculus. Simple rule, never broke it."

"Hard to see big picture behind pile of corpses." brOTP Bakara, obviously.

I think their relationship is incredible. It's based on mutual respect and care, and I think it's one of the rare cases where Mordin doesn't just see her as a patient or a curious piece of research, but as a person, and that person interests him as much as her genetics and physiological reactions. OTP I've seen someone suggesting Aria/Mordin, and yes, this sounds like FUN.

But realistically? Mordin/Immortality. Just give my man all the time in the universe so he can continue his studies.

I think he would have been fascinated by the post-control ending Shepard. nOTP Mordin/Shep.

I've seen some cute art, but… how about no? He's clearly not interested in romance or fucking, leave him be. Random headcanon He's also a painter and he does abstract art with names like "The Presumption of Anger p.3", and you look at it and it's just a long vertical black line on a purple background. And he's very serious about this stuff. Unpopular opinion I don't think it's that unpopular, but Gilbert and Sullivan plus the seashells quote did some irreparable damage to his image in the eyes of the fandom.

Yeah, the games portray him as this quirky, babbling genius. Oh, he tests biological weapons, but not on the crew, of course not, why are you so nervous, Joker? But that's just the surface.

There's so much to Mordin behind his mannerisms and behind his sweet relationship with Bakara. There's really so much darkness in him. And all that just gets ignored, and it's so shitty?

He gets babyfied a lot, and considering the fact that he's also a positive autistic+ADHD rep in these games, it's a little insulting tbh. Song i associate with them I don't really have one, but in the spirit of pulling random indie music recommendations out of my ass, I think he would've enjoyed the sheer ridiculousness of Hydrogenuine by USS Favorite picture of them This one.

[chrissmou]

The Ranking and rambling of the Bridgerton Books

The promised Book Ranking of the Bridgerton Series books. Eight books are presented according to my preference from my favorite to my least favorite. You will find a summary of each book and my personal opinion on it, as well as a link to Goodreads (there you can find more on the books): 

The ranking after the cut, because I ramble a lot.

1.      The Viscount who loved me (Book 2): Kate and Anthony. Classic enemies-to-lovers plot with well-written characters who manage to fill you with all kinds of emotions throughout the book. You can see how vulnerable they are, the challenging family bonds, and the need to preserve their social status while protecting the family. The way the book is played out makes you love it even more.

2.      It’s In his kiss (Book 7): Gareth and Hyacinth. Here Garreth and Hyacinth are an investigative couple, and the book’s plot revolves around this relationship. What is fascinating is the fact that Lady Danbury is Garreth’s grandmother. You'll enjoy Hyacinth’s delightful wit and view of the world. Stay prepared for a story full of surprises and suspense.

3.      On the way to the wedding (Book 8): Gregory and Lucy. In this book, Gregory finds himself in a love confusion, as he ends up proclaiming his love to someone unexpected, someone many wouldn’t probably approve of. of the detail you’re gonna love in this book is the character build and illustration; Kate’s cool appearance, Hyacinth’s curiosity Violet’s nurturing and supportive role towards Gregory, and of course, Gregory’s “Prince Charming” behavior.

4.      Romancing Mister Bridgerton (Book 4): Penelope and Colin. I was very reluctant to rank this book because it was so much fan and had a different status in a classic trope, in love with best friend’s brother. Also, in the series' previous books, you see a different characterization for both Colin and Penelope, with him being the aloof joker and her the wallflower everyone is sad about. In this one, Penelope has a secret and doing everything in her power to protect herselgf and everyone from it. On the other hand, Colin is very confused about the future contracts with the immaturity and the boyishness that he presents in the first three books.

5.      An Offer From a gentleman (Book 3): Sophie and Benedict. The only reason for the position of this one is that I couldn’t be inside the first part of this book, which explains why Sophie is in this position with her stepfamily. I loved the second part and the reveal of the identity. I love the characterization of Sophie and the whole Cinderella eyed especially the relationship with Benedict. I did not like the pace of the beginning

6.      The Duke and I (Book 1): Daphne and Simon. I liked the fake dating trope; the characters are a good introduction to the series.  What I liked most in this one is the introduction to the two main characters, especially Simon’s reactions to finding this was Anthony’s little sister, Daphne, as it always makes me laugh. The fears, on Simon’s side about his father, are portrayed with a reality you need to understand. On the other hand, Daphne is a very good character but naive and a little boring with perfection which sometimes made me cringe.

7.      To Sir Philip, With Love (Book 5): Eloise and Philip. I have to say, I read the books after I saw the first season of the TV Show, and I love Eloise as a character in the series, she is funny and independent, something I am drawn to. She has something of that in the books, especially in this and in the previous one. I liked that and the plot of how they met via a letter, but it didn’t have the impact I was expecting from a book. I love the twins and the pranks, but it was a little intimidating for the character of Philip.

8.      When he was wicked (Book 6): Michael and Francesca. I made the mistake to read the reviews of this book before the actual book and it made me anticipate it more than the other books in the series, but in the end, I was disappointed in the whole plot. The plot is of the second time Francesca is getting married and how she copes with the depression of her first husband’s death. You see a character who has to decide what she wants to do but also wants to fulfill her dreams. I liked that but I was underwhelmed by how unappreciated she was of her surroundings, especially Michael, and that makes her a little boring. The good thing was that Michael is an interesting character and has this way to make you love him even if he has womanizing ways.

[timptoe]

Here at the End of Everything

I finished my first-ever playthrough of the Mass Effect trilogy this past July, and it broke my brain. I had a visceral reaction to the ending that surprised me, a sweet melancholy that lasted weeks, which had never happened to me before. I’ve spent the last several months working through those emotions trying to figure out why. Some of it’s wrapped up in my personal life--I recently left a career I’d worked in for twenty years because I’d been burned one too many times, and I hadn’t mourned that loss as thoroughly as I’d thought.

That might be why I kept coming back to the question, “How is it possible that Joker leaves Shepard behind on the Crucible?” I get it mechanically (Shepard dies in two of the three endings, so why script out Joker coming back for just Destroy), but narratively, it flies in the face of everything the story tells us about who Joker is, what his background is, and what his relationship with Shepard is built on.

I turned to free writing to figure it out, something I haven’t done in years. I was a professional creative in my former career; the work drained me so much that I did almost nothing creative outside of it. Writing in the last couple of months has been therapy in more ways than one, and diving into the deep end of the ME fandom here has been a blessing beyond measure.

So here’s what I’ve got: a longfic that follows Joker in the last hours before the triggering of the Crucible, and how his decisions and state of mind are informed by his past. Most of this will be canon-compliant but exploring scenes the game never chooses to show. It’s my attempt to put my brain back together and figure out if leaving is ever really worth it.

Chapter 1 is below; it’s the intro, setting up Joker’s frame of mind in the moments as Hackett gives the order to retreat. I’ll post chapter 2 tomorrow, and the rest as they get finished in the coming months, all of which deal with the pieces of Joker’s thought process as he decides to leave. Both chapters 1 and 2 are already up on Ao3. And it’ll eventually have an mshenko chapter, because the Shepard/Kaidan romance did so much to heal my soul.

If I’ve learned anything from this fandom in the last few months, it’s what Anthony Olivera says: be brave enough to be kind. Thanks for putting your work out there, friends; your bravery’s made me more kind.

Chapter 1: The Damage Is Done

Slowly, then all at once The dark clouds depart  And the damage is done  - Sleeping at Last, “Sorrow”

Sol System, Earth, SSV Normandy SR-2 The final moments of the Reaper War

It’s an information processing problem.

“All fleets!”

He just needs more time.

Joker tunes out the chaos behind him in the CIC, the tension in the cockpit around him. This far into the battle for Earth, there’s a lot of chaos. Crewmen running back and forth tracking Reaper movements, looking for targets. Adams shouting through the comm about heat generation. Traynor trying her level best to coordinate with the rest of the fleet. The recovered ground team crowding around his console, silent, watching. Waiting.

Tunes out isn’t exactly right. It’s more that he lets it wash over him, lets the noise and energy swirl together with the information on the lit panels in front of him, the feedback in the haptic nodes of his chair, a hurricane of input with him right at the center. Where he should be. Where he wants to be. He thrives in chaos, wears it like the hardsuit Alenko’s wearing in the co-pilot’s seat next to him.

Maybe better. Alenko’s hardsuit isn’t looking so great. 

“The Crucible is armed.”

His hands fly over the haptic panels, searching for a solution. He can do this. Joker‘s the best pilot in the Alliance, full stop. This isn’t bravado. It’s fact. Highest scores on the entrance aptitude test of anyone in his class by an order of magnitude. First recruit to actually solve the Jakarta simulation—before he was officially a cadet, to boot. Stole a damned prototype stealth ship out from under his superiors’ noses, twice, and oh yeah took the first-ever killshot on a Reaper in the middle of a literal warzone without getting hit once. 

Okay, sure, maybe there’s a little bit of bravado. But he’s earned it. Flying a frigate like the Normandy isn’t something everyone can do. Hell, it’s not something anyone can do. Just him.

He’s earned it.

With every broken bone, every sideways glance, every “fuck you just watch me do it,” he’s earned it. Because he’s clever. He’s perceptive.

He’s fast.

“Disengage and head to the rendezvous point.”

Someone grips his shoulder roughly, and he shakes them off. Don’t they know he’s in his element? Finding solutions to problems no one else can? There’s always a way. They just need to stop bothering him and give him a moment. He can figure this out. Flying isn’t about strength or toughness or whatever it is the marines onboard are always hoo-rah!-ing about. It’s about speed—speed of thought. And Joker is, by a mile, the fastest thinker on the ship. 

The thing about flying a ship like the Normandy is that you’ve gotta be thinking about a million little things at any given moment. You have to be able to take information, process it, and act on it in a split second. And that information changes all the time, so you have to constantly be processing. Because if you don’t? People die. Like they did on the SR-1.

Like he did on the SR-1.

What’s more, this is Joker’s responsibility now. It has to be him. He knows what his job is, and he’s not going to fuck it up again. He can do this. He just needs more time.

“I repeat: disengage and get the hell out of here!”

He’s not leaving without Shepard.

How could he?

[spyridonya]

When people say humans are boring this is likely what they mean: the VS is boring. And here's why.

Mass Effect 1

It's true that all the aliens but Liara and Wrex were pretty boring. Wrex has a distinct personality connects quickly to the plot and Liara is an LI so she's more forgiving by fans. Ashley is young, impulsive, and has anger issues that she projects on aliens more so than the military that actually blacklisted her family, but she's passionate and loyal and she's a great character for it. Kaidan is clearly one of the two adults in the room who has his shit together, and straight dudes don't like him hitting on their Lez Shep or have an issue with his VA.

Mass Effect 2

This part of the series is Character Development the Game. Almost the entire squad has a life changing field trip with Shepard, and everything we love about the characters comes from this game. With most of the new cast, the writers learned to develop the characters far better and that holds true with everyone save Jacob and the DLC additions - the DLC cast have to deal with programming limitations and Jacob suffered from bad and timid writing due to his race.

Of the original cast, Tali and Garrus continue to be loyal companions that you can romance. Wrex gets a wonderful placement as a secondary character and Liara is central to the most popular DLC of the series. They all are delighted to see Shepard again. In contrast VS survivor is the only one of your companions from ME1 who has a negative reaction upon seeing Shepard again and their personalities get mushed together so the plot can follow the same beats. And then they fly off. You barely interact with them for five minutes in the game.

Mass Effect 3

This is likely the game when people complain about the humans. The VS didn't get to have the life changing field trip with Shepard, so they feel out of place and their personalities are a little more grey because the writers want them to follow the same story beats even though it doesn't quite fit either of them. Kaidan loses a little of his chill while Ashley becomes more placid.

The new cast is something of a mixed bag: James is fantastic, but he misses out on two other games of development and used for the introduction for new players, not to mention not everyone saw the OVA giving more to his background. EDI is honestly a bit bland despite her Pinocchio plot and serves more as a satellite for Joker than herself. Javik bucks the trend because he's such an authoritarian asshole that no one in or out of universe expected and the writers make fun of the walking alien encyclopedia moments of ME1.

Of the returning cast, Garrus, Tali, and Liara have major screen time in all three games and all three can be LIs. Wrex continues to have major development as a character despite still remaining secondary in appearances because his writing was so damn good across the trilogy without being an LI. Almost all the characters from ME2 get really interesting secondary moments, save the DLC characters and Jacob - who is absolutely done dirty by the writers.

It's really not as simple as 'humans are boring' or 'aliens are boring'.

It's 'who was in Mass Effect 2 longer than five minutes' with Javik and Jacob being the exceptions to the rules.

[swings a baseball bat directly into a hornets nest]

[distort-opia]

Hi! First of all, you have an amazing blog! Your batjokes reflections are among the most accurate and profound. I wanted to ask you what you think about "The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing"? Do you have any idea why the Joker stopped laughing and is it related to your thoughts that he decided to finally give up his humanity? Does it still seem to me that he is suffering because Bruce, trying to be the best Batman (as the clown wanted) in the Joker's War, chose Gotham over the clown? Do you think they will be able to survive this crisis, as they once survived the death of Jason, or is DC trying to put an end to this relationship(I mean in terms of romance/care/affection)?

Hey! Again, thank you so much for your kind words and appreciation, and my apologies for answering so late.

Tbh, I am wildly curious about The Man Who Stopped Laughing, October can't come quicker. The writers and artists involved are promising, and the official description of it is highly intriguing:

What do you mean, DC, that Batman might be in on the joke? Is it even Batman to begin with? [squinted eyes] And what the hell is Mirror Master doing in all this? The cover seems to suggest he might influence Joker, perhaps get in his head somehow, but to what purpose?

Putting the rest of my thoughts and speculations under the cut. Warning for spoilers of Batman #126 and of The Joker (2021), just in case.

I'm also hoping it'll deal with Joker's reaction to the ending of Batman #100 somehow. The Joker (2021) has been much more focused on Jim Gordon, than the actual titular character -- but we do get some clues to Joker's mental state, and it doesn't seem terribly good. He got framed for A-day and discovered that he was being cloned without his permission, which is absolutely something Joker would hate: there being duplicates of him controlled by someone else. The last issue of the comic has Joker say this:

That's quite the self-destructive response. Taking this into account, and the events of Joker War, in which Joker asserts more than once that Gotham (and him, clearly) is disappointed... to me, like I mentioned in my response to your other ask, it feels like Joker is tired. Bruce leaving him behind in Batman (2016) #100 is a huge part of it, but it's not all of it. That was just the culmination of Bruce not rising to Joker's needs, to his Batman-related standards, adding onto Joker's existing anger and bitterness. As to why he stops laughing... this has happened before, in Batman (1940) #450-451 and The War of Jokes and Riddles more recently. In these stories, what is always put at the forefront is Joker having lost the joke. He struggles to find anything funny again, which is the core of his Joker identity. Joker laughs at the world, and if he cannot laugh, who is he?

In Batman (1940) #450, his struggle with becoming Joker again is more framed within the context of trauma (having murdered Jason, being shot and surviving it in Batman: Death in the Family) -- but I think it's not a coincidence that it happens after Bruce leaves him to die in that helicopter... which is also the end of Batman (2016) #100. However, in TWOJAR, Joker has lost the joke not because of trauma or Batman leaving him to die, but because Batman has become too predictable:

So. What's happening now, is that Joker was left to die by Bruce again (though tbh, it's not as bad as in DitF; when Bruce left Joker to crash with the helicopter, Joker's death was much more likely than when he left Joker strapped to the bomb after literally making sure Joker had the tools to disarm it). And not only that, Joker's also disappointed in Batman; he's too predictable again. It does make sense for Joker to stop laughing, if you take these two past intances it happened into account. The first time, Joker became himself again because he was forced to -- there was a Joker impostor and Joker needed to take back his identity again. And the second time, what got Joker to laugh again was having to do something entirely unexpected: stopping Bruce from killing Riddler.

Taking into account the whole cloning subplot of The Joker (2021), who knows, maybe Joker will have to defend his identity from an impostor (a clone of himself) again. Hell, even Mirror Master might play a similar narrative role to Riddler in TWOJAR. But more interestingly... Bruce going against what Joker expects, doing something surprising that would help Joker find the joke once more, might also actually happen. Which is the part I'm actually cautiously excited about.

Bruce is not doing very well either in the mental health department, right now. He's shown to have become the Batman of Zurr-en-Arrh, as shown in Batman (2016) #126:

So... maybe this is what's hinted at with "Or is he in on the joke?" in the official description of The Man Who Stopped Laughing. Maybe it won't be Batman as we know him chasing Joker down, it'll be the grinning Batman of Zurr-en-Arrh. In Batman: R.I.P, this is who this Batman is described as:

He's what Batman becomes when Bruce is taken out of the equation. And ironically, it seems it's him who's designed Failsafe, a robot meant to kill Batman. So, we've got a Joker who's overtly suicidal, and a Batman who's overtly suicidal... as you've put it, they've both lost balance in their fight against the abyss. But in Batman: R.I.P, Joker helped in bringing Batman back (which ironically enough, he's also done in TWOJAR when he stopped Bruce from killing Riddler -- he preserved the existence of Batman). I'm not holding out too much hope, but it'd be cool if Batman of Zurr-en-Arrh and Joker interacted, and if Joker actually helped Bruce find his way back to himself somehow -- in the process restoring meaning to his identity as well. Helping Bruce, in whatever unexpected form, might make him laugh again.

To summarize, I do think they will "survive" this ongoing story arc; mostly because, as I've said elsewhere, I don't think DC will ever have the balls to separate Batman and Joker entirely. Their dynamic has fascinated from the moment they were created, and it doesn't seem like interest is dying down, let's be honest. DC will only "break them up" or end their stories when they stop bringing in money. The question, to me, is more if the way they survive it this time will be interesting. And I hope it is! I'm only speculating for fun in the above, but it'd definitely be great if we got an interesting psychological story; if we get Batman and Joker consolidating each other's identities again, being each other's constant.