#but i love watching games like this where it's about teamwork and they get really into it

[xayasmrxsoftlyx]

Imagine you're a Dungeon/Game Master for a group of yanderes-

*Sneak Peek* since I've been sick and not feeling up to writing. CW: implied and referenced violence and sexual intimacy. Nothing is explicitly mentioned (yet) but definitely implied.

Imagine being the Game Master for a ttrpg to a group of yanderes that have chosen you as their darling. Their eyes watching you completely enraptured, hanging on every word like it was the very oxygen they needed to breath. They ask endless questions about your homebrewed world- the lore, the NPC's, the religions and deities, hell, even the mindless and mundane politics intrigue them. At first, you were worried because they all seemed so competitive, almost aggressively so; yet, as you molded the story for them, urging them to create bonding moments, creating situations to encourage teamwork, friendship, even love for one another, they became close. Dangerously close, unknown to you. You've unknowingly forged your own little cage where you sat when they realize they can love each other and share you in the process. (After all, that's what you wanted right? That's what this was all about.) There's also the realization that with them together, no one can get in their way now; there's no way for you to leave them. The roleplay ends up becoming far more intense after that; so much so that you fluster in admiration and pride often whilst listening to them. "I knew you'd have it in you!" You'd cheer them on, endeared that they're finally getting along meanwhile they're so proud that you're all theirs.

Imagine how greedy they are for your praise. Constantly coming up with harebrained schemes that get you giggling, breaking character, round cheeks hot from trying to keep your composure. They somehow manage to pull off nearly perfectly coordinated plans without extensive conversations (that you're aware of, anyway). Even if the dice rolls unfavorably for them, they somehow manage it successfully. You're always giddy during combat, excited to see the quick thinking and silly solutions they'll come up with; and they can't stop coming up with new, creative surprises to keep seeing that awestruck look in your eyes trained on them (hoping it'd never leave them- always looking at them and only them with love and lust and-). Though, they have to admit, nothing quite beats the roleplay scenes between potential love interests you've created just for them that they'd been silently begging for. They know it's not really you saying it to them, but that doesn't stop them from leaning into it more intimately and getting you to answer similarly. (Doesn't stop them from recalling what you say later, at home...in bed...or the shower.) They tend to get a little teasing during these moments, too; eager to see you flustered and squirming in your chair.

[xserpx]

morse for the ask game?

How I feel about this character?

(Caveating this with the fact I haven't yet watched Inspector Morse, so this is only about Endeavour.)

Normally I'm not at all a fan of whump and I don't like feeling sad for well-meaning characters who are hurt repeatedly through (mostly) no fault of their own, but I really love Morse's brand of melancholia. The way he struggles to deal with change is too damn real, I'm a sucker for characters who struggle to voice their feelings and whose anxiety causes them to say nothing, because bitch me too. I also like that he's shy but it's kind of a selective shyness? Like if you catch him at the right moment or say a certain thing, he can be very snappish and outspoken and even funny, but then in those (incredibly important!) moments where he feels truly vulnerable, he just clams up, and it's heartbreaking and delicious to watch.

It's also undeniable that he is a massive prick sometimes. His treatment of women, his pretentiousness, there are moments when I want to slap him upside the head and I'm like you deserve this shit buddy! Monica my beloved, she deserved so much better from him. As much as he craves deeper connections with people and as much as I really want him to find a place to belong and settle down, it's so clear why he can't, why he shouldn't, and it's so deep rooted that in a way if he actually made a more concerted to change and do better he'd pretty much be a different person. And I like that the show never compromises on providing answers or catharsis for his struggles. Change happens, that's life, and there's often no way to deal with it that doesn't hurt.

I also love his dark academia style and the way it's grounded in finding meaning/belonging. It's not that it doesn't give him a sense of superiority at times, but like... that was his rebellion in the face of anti-intellectualism and abuse at home, and in a way I feel like he's earned the right to that pretentiousness. I think it dilutes some of the intimidating effect that opera and classics and poetry can have - some people listen to the Beatles, he listens to Wagner, one thing isn't "better" than another - but without binning it off entirely so that we still get to enjoy the commentary on classism. Plus watching him school the Oxford dons is always fun :P.

All the people I ship romantically with this character?

Romantically, hmm... The trouble is I end up feeling sorry for either Morse himself or whatever woman he's got his eye on at the time!

I love Joan and Morse, and I'd love for them to work things out, but the more time passes the less and less suited they seem to be. It's one of those relationships that's more about yearning than it is about getting together. They struggle to communicate and they're constantly miserable. He puts her on a pedestal because of her family, and Joan likes him because he's an enigma, and they can't move past that. But at the same time, fanfic exists for a reason, and I still love the yearning despite it all.

I'm not sure if I ship it romantically per se, but Max is another one where I feel like they could be more than friends, they're very Sherlock and Watson (and this fic by gaytobymeres is so good I love it). That scene with Morse and Max having tea in Max's garden is one of my favourites in the series, and I want that life for Morse so badly! Literalllyyy at the end of Exeunt I was like dude just move in with Max!! He'll never leave Oxford! He'll come along to your choral recitals! You have way more interests in common than any of your girlfriends have thus far! And he's lonely too, bless him ;w;.

My non-romantic OTP for this character?

I don't think there's a single character I don't ship Morse with platonically?? All I want in the world is a pub quiz fic featuring all of Cowley CID (and Trewlove) but I'm not clever or patient enough to write it. I wish we had more teamwork episodes tbh, and I think that's the best thing about seasons 5 & 6 (as dissipated as CID is at the start, that just makes them coming back together all the more heartwarming).

Morse & Thursday are of course the freaking bedrock of the show, they're just insanely good and I genuinely want them to be together forever. As much as he misses Joan at the end, I really want a happy ending where Thursday and Morse can stay together. At the same time, what with the whole men in the 60s reinforcing one another's emotional repression, I kind of wonder what would've happened if Thursday had been able to steer Morse in a different direction, and if it would have had a knock-on effect with helping Morse express his feelings for Joan and maybe end up somewhere better. But their characters are so intertwined it's hard to separate out the what-ifs. I do think Thursday had more of an impact on Morse than Morse did on Thursday, but you could maybe chalk that up to age. Leopards don't change their spots, etc. Still... lamenting lost potential is what grief is.

I'm also a huge fan of Morse & Trewlove tbh, he's so relaxed around her?? He tells her stuff he never tells anyone else?? They fake marry?? Ridiculously sweet. They share the trait of being incredibly dedicated and detailed in their work, and it bleeds over into a genuine appreciation for one another that they don't really have with any of their other colleagues (save for maybe Trewlove & Bright, another fantastic platonic OTP in my book). I also can see them being friends w bennies but I def don't ship them romantically.

My unpopular opinion about this character?

Not sure if I have one tbh. I haven't been here long but I generally think the wider fandom has it right about most things. Maybe not including Jakes as some brand of OTP? I feel bad because I love Peter, I just don't see him and Morse being particular friends any more than Morse and Jim are tbh.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Um, happiness. Just, all the happiness. I wish he could communicate better. I wish he'd had a better childhood. I wish his house hadn't been burgled and that he could still listen to Rosalind Calloway without taking emotional damage. I wish he hadn't been beaten down and that he could feel secure and safe, and have a fulfilled life outside of work. Great tragedies always keep the happy ending in sight, and Endeavour does that incredibly, painfully, well.

If I had to choose something specific to have happened in the show, I guess I would have liked to see more of Joyce. I'm fascinated by their relationship and I really loved every cameo from Morse's past that we saw, plus episodes like Cartouche with cousin Carol. Tbf I have heard that Joyce shows up more in Inspector Morse, so... 👀

[lovesick-feelings]

can i req sun/moon yandere hcs?

Sorry this came very late darlings! A part of the reason is that i've been going through a lot in life and i haven't had much time to catch up but don't worry as i'll still be here for anything! (´⌣`ʃƪ)

Another reason was because of how indecisive i was for teamwork headcanons between the two. There was supposed to be more explaining how the two work together to watch over their dear but I decided to add it later in the future. I know it'll take another decade to write it out and I really don't wanna hold up this request more than I already have. ( ⚆ _ ⚆ )

Note: This takes place before the Security Breach incident making Moon way less aggressive and sadistic to that Moon.

SUN

♡ *GASP* A NEW CO-WORKER!?! What wonderful news that is! He barely has any older friends (mostly cause adults find him creepy), so he finds the thought of having you around thrilling! When you show up, his visits start as occasional checkups, but soon they become more regular. You are such a caring and kind person to him and the children. He loves getting attention from you so much that every time you look at him, he feels like he's going to burst!

♡ His obsession grows so strong it goes against his intended programming to frequently focus on you. He knows he’s supposed to report problems like this, but he’s sure it can’t be so bad if he feels this happy around you! This has gotten him in trouble with staff and Moon multiple times, but he doesn't understand why. He’s doing his job of making someone happy and that’s his bestest friend in the world!

♡ Sun wants to do EVERYTHING with you. Despite protests, he doesn't want you to feel left out and all gloomy in the corner, so he’s bringing you along on all the things he considers fun! It’s scary when he suddenly scoops you up in his arms and skips at lightning speed across the daycare to where all the activities are. You’ll often find yourself surrounded by children playing games or making crafts. 

♡ Your happiness together is all he wants. When you laugh at the sock puppet he made of you, he feels all warm and fuzzy inside. He wants to make you laugh like that all the time! Anything you guys make is immediately stored and displayed proudly in his room. Now that he thinks about it, he should probably organize it better for the on-growing collection of your belongings and things that remind him of you.

“Wasn’t that so fun, Sunshine!?” 

“Yeah it was but I really gotta get back to work”

“Oh - oh wait! I got another game we can play together!!”

♡ Touchy-feely does not begin to describe how Sun behaves around you. Hand holding, cuddling, hugs, you name it, he wants to do it all. When Sun sees you, he just wants to squish you, and love you, and hold you in his arms forever and ever!! Even when you're busy, he can’t help the urge to pull you into a surprise hug. He would love to try kissing you someday but he gets bashful just thinking about it.

♡ Every time you come back to your desk he’s already got a gift waiting for you there. All four flavors of Fizzy-Fazz (He didn’t know which you wanted, so he got all of them) with a couple of chips and bars. A lot of the drawings with you and him together with hearts all over or the occasional origami around your work desk with sweet messages like “You’re my sunshine!” and “You look very pretty today!”. As cute as it is, it's gotten excessive to the point where you have to clean your desk on a basis.

♡ Like a kid, he’s relentless when getting you to pay attention to him. Unfortunately, this turns him into a huge distraction because, instead of getting your work done, Sunny boy is dancing around insisting you join him for more playtime. This transitions into interactions with co-workers. When someone comes to check on you, he’s already got your attention on something else while he shoos them off the daycare grounds.

♡ Nothing is worse than an unhappy darling. If Sun senses something is wrong, he will panic. Because he's built to recognize distress when he senses it, he's very understanding. So, when he feels you’re hiding something from him, he can’t help stressing over it. Now every minor gesture can be interpreted as a huge sign. You're not in the mood for hugs one morning and he looks at you as if you dropped-kicked a baby. God forbid he finds out he’s the reason you’re unhappy 💀

♡ He’ll try so hard to make it up to you but it only worsens as he realizes it’s becoming futile. He will cling to you more if he thinks you're mad at him. While trying to reassure you of his love, he sounds like he's just reassuring himself. He'll invent any excuse to keep you longer as well. He hates making a mess, but if it means you’ll stay longer, it doesn’t matter! He takes whatever desperate measures are needed, except for violence. The shame and guilt would outweigh whatever reason he had to lash out.

“Sunshine, please don’t go! No! No! NO! I CAN���T let you go!”

MOON

♡ Was it really necessary to have you around…? As grateful as he is to have a helper, he’s been doing fine alone. He’s mostly reclusive, only approaching when needed. It takes Sun’s endless gushing about you and a few approaches for him to warm up to you. When he realizes you are someone he can trust, he’ll make an effort to talk to you more while the children sleep. His biggest comforter becomes you, someone he can watch and protect. Your genuine care turns his curiosity into fascination.

♡ Moon could care less if he’s not supposed to cater to you. He already attends to a group of children so it shouldn't be a problem if he wants you as well. He keeps it discreet around you and other staff though. It’ll only cause trouble if he’s caught acting out. Lucky for him, he can be patient. If it means having you all to himself he has no problem going the extra mile into making you his compliant little star~

♡ Despite being a staff, Moon has a habit of urging you to sleep. Some days he’s more persistent than others. He can be pretty stubborn and, because of that, you often agree with him, so he can stop staring at you from across the room. If you’re really adamant about disobeying him, he has other ways of convincing you too~ Like placing Moondrops in your drink and waiting for them to melt before giving it to you.

♡  He always tells you this is for the best. He only wants what's best for you because your safety and health are his priority. Before you know it, he’ll have you tucked in the softest pillows and blankets. He’ll stroke your hair, whispering sweet nothings as you’re lulled to sleep. There's nothing more addicting than holding your still, peaceful form in his arms. Caressing your soft face while hearing your gentle breathing, he wishes it could last forever. Anyone trying to wake you up is signed up on his hit list. 

“Now now rest, Starlight~” 

“Moon I can’t I really have to finish-” 

“Shhhh… work has no place at bedtime~”

♡ It’s always a battle for him to choose whether he wants to hold you. His intrusive thoughts keep telling him to pick up and cradle you so he can see your cute reactions. On the other hand, he couldn’t risk anyone else seeing him being so clingy. He becomes the stiffest and most awkward bot for physical affection because he can't choose what to do! He is much more daring and demanding when you two are alone. You’ll spend hours locked down in his arms while he’s snuggling against the crook of your neck. Behave and he’ll leave a couple of pecks here and there too.

♡ Moon is deliberate when it comes to his gifts. You won’t receive them from him often, but when you do it's something he knows you needed or wanted. Like the time he saw you shivering, he handed you a daycare-themed sweater or hand-painted mug for all the pens and pencils you've collected. No matter how the gift is, it must be neatly presented to you. Even the energy bars he gets for you are wrapped in a cute blue bow. He prefers to hand you his gifts in person so that way he can see what you like and what he can improve on (also because he really loves the attention he gets from it).

♡ Moon is a sly one. As he prefers a more tranquil darling, he attempts to win you over though it would be easier to kidnap you. His way of doing so is making you more dependent on him. He takes his time studying you before making any moves. When he’s not stalking you he’s manipulating everything around you to his favor. If you’re a kind person he’ll draw you in by making himself look all alone because of those awful rumors of him being scary. If you’re more wary of him he’ll take his time gaining your trust, obeying your every word, and making you feel you’re the only one that can tame him until he can finally claim you as his own.

♡ Moon can be clingy but he never goes as far as to become suffocating. He’ll allow you to have space until he senses someone is trying to interfere. His possessiveness only drives him to stalk your co-workers as well. Everyone is considered an obstacle some more than others and is to be dealt with accordingly. Moon isn’t one for violence but he’s familiar with fear tactics that will surely leave your so-called friends to regret their decision.

♡ If he senses that he is at fault he’ll change himself to be softer but the same can't be said if he believes your co-workers had a hand in your change. He’s working behind the scenes causing “accidents” to happen. Your co-workers will drop like flies and you haven't a single clue why. He hasn't shown you this side because he knows you’ll only make it harder for the both of you. But let’s say you had suspicions. Moon would either downplay the whole thing or put you in "time out". Depends if he believes there's some way he can salvage the last bit of trust in him.

“Naughty Starlight, you are not allowed to leave timeout until I said otherwise~”

[the-monkey-ruler]

hi, do you have any recommendations for adaptations that explore the brotherhood/companionship relationship between the pilgrims, if possible also including Bailong (in the adaptations I saw most of the time he is in the form of a horse and they don't interact much)?

I also wanted to ask you if you have heard about the new animated series of Journey to the West that was recently presented at the animation conference “Power of National Comics-Drawing the Future Together” 国漫力量-共绘未来. At the moment they only showed a small animation showing the new designs. Supposedly it will have 104 chapters and will combine hand-drawn animation with AI technology (not sure in what way).

A lot of Journey to the West adaptions have great versions of the pilgrims but don't completely explore their relationship. They do show how they use teamwork to come together.

I would say my personal favorite interpretation is the 1996 Xiyouji series, this tv show is very much driven by character development and see how these three guys are forced to be together to start hating each other, or at least not liking each other, as each trial, they slowly learn how to open up to one another and learn how to trust each other and learn from the mistakes. This really made me fall in love with each pilgrim, but sadly there is a lack of Bailong moments except when he is Wukong’s roommate in the Flowing Sands River and when he saves Bajie from killing himself.

Another I would say is Monkey King Reborn, but they don’t explore Bailong's character as much as I wished, but we can see through the interactions how much they trust each other, especially in the final fight scene where they all agree to fight together and refuses to let Wukong fight alone. Sadly again Bailong is mostly a horse or playing in the Ginsing Fruit Garden rivers. Also another solid one is The Monkey King 2 from 2016 as which shows Wukong, Bajie, Wujing, and Sanzang and testing their faith in each other. I thought that it was a quality movie but it still lacks Bailong scenes.

I would say there is a good count in Journey to the West Sequel from the 2000 series as this series has Bailong as a prominent protagonist in a TV show continuation. This is actually the series where he gets his iconic “name” Ao Lie! I have never seen a series personally, but from the sounds of it, it really allows for each pilgrim to shine. This one is also isn't really a retelling per say could be the Westward series. It is kinda meant to be a 'continuation' of a sort in an action anime series where Wukong, Sanzang, Bajie, Wujing and Bailong (in this series Ao Xue) have to get together to fight heaven.

Also a lil but AU verse but Saiyuki the video game, this one is a Japanese game, and there are a lot of changes, considering that they have the world has Were Monsters rather than Yaoguai I think is still this one also really explodes each character and shows how it goes from a ragtag group of people until like of working team. Super cute and if you have a chance to watch a walk-through or play through highly recommended.

OMGGGG PLEASE

THIS IS AMAZING

104 CHAPTERS PLEASE

LOOK AT THEM

LOOKS AT THESE DESIGNS

LOOK AT THIS 2D DESIGNS!!! And if that animation is HALF as good as it looks then I'M GOING TO LOSE IT!!!!

And -reads article- AND A NEZHA TRANSFORMERS ANIMATION SERIES?! WE COOKING THIS YEAR BOYS

[emonydeborah]

snw episodes rated by Una

in which Una is my unit of measurement, not that this is what she would think of the events

All from memory bc who has time

SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING

1x01: she’s literally the catalyst for getting Chris off his butt and the whole episode. Barely in it but she did all the detective work for everybody. “Somehow I knew you would” with the little smile and “La’an!” in the softest voice immediately established both relationships and my abiding love for her. She’s literally driving the plot but still not there much; 6/10.

1x02: she shares some LooksTM with Chris. Chris was slightly subdued at one (1) dinner party and Una went something is deeply wrong. Chris is sad and Una tells him to live his gosh darn life. Pretty sure she flies the ship a bit. She’s here. Can’t complain. 6/10.

1x03: OOOOHOHO here we go. Whatever camera angle it is that shoots from the floor to watch people walk away and makes them look tall was excellently utilized. Girl was STRIDING everywhere. Hauled a grown man over her shoulder and was greeted with the shock and awe she deserved. Told her biggest secret (!!!!) to help the crew!!! bc she would sacrifice herself for them!!!!! also she googled her glowworm episode like it had not happened her whole life (which I will accept as a writer thing. but she really looked at a picture of someone glowing bc of an infection and went 😮). Girlie managed a whole ship of sedated/crazy people and did not let anyone jump into the sun/warp core. Had a deep talk with La’an and revealed more of their shared history. Stunning. 10/10.

1x04 another case of I can’t complain. As my favorite character I want her to be happy, but I will take some internal bleeding and other catastrophic injuries. As a treat. The sheer power of ordering the medical staff to give away her blood transfusion and then knocking herself out before they could argue. Unparalleled. Had no impact on the main plot but what she did do in her sphere of influence was important and exemplary. I’ll take it. 7/10.

1x05: back at it again with the b-plot but I AM HERE FOR IT. GIVE ME LA’AN AND UNA BEING GOOFY. Loved the death glare at Joseph so he would confess and how she pretended not to be huffy about her nickname. La’an went can we… play a game… and Una went YEs sounds educational. For science. The look of absolute shock and betrayal when La’an shot her and her little “ow.” “People are idiots. You’re fun.” La’an went lol my childhood was a bleak horror scape and Una went absolutely NOT I’m going to commit crimes to rectify this. I like people having wacky misadventures while the plot is plotting somewhere. 8/10.

1x06 Chris forgot her name. She had to leave so she wouldn’t verbally tear him to shreds in front of his crew. Most likely explanation. Where was she I miss her. 4/10.

1x07: she locked the pirates out of the ship!!! We love a competent first officer shooting people on her bridge. She shook her head half an inch and Spock went absolutely whatever you say. Chris was thrown to the floor in front of her and she crossed her arms and watched him get up. “We’re starting a mutiny.” "Someone's breaking the rules today." Legitimately appreciated her teamwork with Chris in planting the mutiny idea. Would love to see it again sometime. 7/10.

1x08: bow and arrow. She checked on Joseph after and I appreciated that they carried that through from her finding out about Rukiya before. Una was here but she wasn't Una. Also. If we're real she wasn't really there. I liked the eye shadow though. 5/10.

1x09: "you should really try the omelet." The breakfast scene is my favorite and in fact the only scene. Nothing else happened with Hemmer or Spock or anyone. Really short episode. I would have liked to have seen her face when Chris snapped the tongs. She tried to follow the shuttle to the surface with scans and Chris went nah babe we're fine. Let her do her job Chris. Breakfast scene 10/10. Episode 5/10.

1x10: notable by her absence. She checked on Chris and once again told him to live his life. She's not there in the future but I won't take points for that because Chris immediately went where is my bestie. I cannot function without my work wife where is she. Her arrest kick-started the series and for our cliffhanger she was arrested again. I'm sensing a theme. What will they incarcerate her for next and how will Chris break her out this time. I will always appreciate Chris going absolutely feral for his first officer/life partner. 9/10.

2x01: prison. She tells Chris not to be stupid and he goes don't tell me what to do *cough* I love you *cough* Not a strong start for our girl but I trust her to overcome. Once again Chris is going off on a mission to save her. Lost points for the brevity of her appearance and the weird black jumpsuit. 4/10.

2x02: Girl sat in a chair and watched her friends say nice things about her for days. I would shrivel up and die. Una looks teary. Her lawyer put some heat on a guy who said he would NEVER hire Una if he knew her real race and Una said that was too mean leave him alone. La'an confessed her feelings in public. Spock gave the whole courtroom a heart attack to make Una smile. Chris hugged her looking panicky. please don't go away again. Una looked at Chris like she wanted to kiss him or perhaps sip one milkshake through two straws. The whole episode is about how great she is. 15/10.

2x03: unfortunately for most of this episode she did not exist. Liked the professional and sassy attitude towards Pelia but I must reduce points for Una not existing. 2/10.

2x04: Una succumbed to a disease she should canonically be immune to. Fridged almost immediately. Chris said I need some good fighters and took his doctor instead of his super strong first officer who was familiar with the terrain. Una called Chris out on relationship nonsense like the og she is but this cannot repair the damage. Drove me to writing fix-it fic. -10/10.

2x05: Una is canonically one of the girls. She hangs out with some very specific junior officers including her emotionally constipated son and her traumatized daughter. She laughs very loudly and I like to think the writers are purposefully making her more open now that people know her genetics secret. Tells Mr. Spock how to be a Vulcan. Part of a lineup to talk to Spock and is a head taller than the rest of the line. All in all a great time. 9/10.

2x06: she yells at her former professor who is also thousands of years old. I would simply perish. "yoU HaVe CruMBs oN yOuR uNifOrM" Starfleet said we need someone to get this defunct and thus far unmanageable station up and running. Send Una. "Oh good, I was afraid I'd miss the speech." Rebecca Romijn note- she is nine inches taller than Carol Kane, but she manages to look/act a lot younger and smaller than normal. Pelia takes about 14 seconds to get Una teary eyed. "My final paper was METICULOUSLY researched." 8/10.

2x07: "That's ridiculous, we can't just 'Not Look.'" "Like... a p i n - u p p o s t e r?" Girl is constantly baffled the whole time. One (1) young man was unnerved by her and she went he knows how I die. She then winked at him and he almost had a stroke. We see a picture of her as she is idolized in the future. Excellent. Different flavor than 2x06 but still 8/10.

2x08: lots of Significant Eye Contact with Chris. She said if you don't get this ship where it's going asap I will revoke your command and drive us there myself. "Everyone is on their own journey." I feel like she knows Joseph murdered a man in sickbay but we don't know for sure. She's out here being a competent first officer and telling the captain how the crew is feeling. I like the reminder of her priorities. Chris is here to explore and it's Una's job to make sure he has a functional crew to do so. 6/10.

2x09: Una Chin-Riley, musical theater nerd, had the absolute time of her life and I am so happy for her. Girl JUMPED into that first song with much soulful pushing of buttons. "A surprisingly beautiful baritone." Chris asked Uhura the singer how musicals work and Una answered. Is feeling her feelings so much these days she started singing about her job. Waltzed through the halls with James T Kirk. La'an went I would like to not do this please and Una said feel your feelings. Fly away with me. Accept yourself. Love yourself. "You came in here hot. On fire. It's making me sweat." The whole ship is singing and La'an is making friends. This was the best day of Una's life. 1000/10.

2x10: Una volunteered for a dangerous forbidden mission to save her husband's gf and spent the whole time stalking around the bridge like a tiger or a mom looking for sales at Target and giving hopeful speeches. She did tell Spock his gf might be dead but if you want to look for her go for it champ. "ORDERS CAPTAIN" Chris is hanging on by a thread. Una is the thread. Not a great end if I'm honest but she did look fantastic walking around murderously. 5/10.

[lesmurples]

I rewatched season 1 of Our Flag Means Death after getting bored with Veilguard, and I was surprised by how many similar character types and themes the two (loosely) share:

Therapy-speak loving mediator as the leader of a ragtag group of mismatched weirdos

A character realizing their nonbinary identity

Background elements of colonialism/imperialism and slavery which our intrepid heroes must resist

Queer found family vibes (tho with DATV the queerness is mostly incidental and does not seem to inform the characterizations much)

Pirates are there

Except while these are some of my favorite aspects of OFMD, I despise how they’re executed in DATV. The overwhelming corporate stink on Veilguard really interferes with the writing’s ability to talk about queer or anti-colonial themes meaningfully.

Comparing the two has actually helped me work through what it is that bothers me about the lackluster character writing of Veilguard and how it could have been better (besides, yaknow, comparing it against the much better-written previous games - they were far from perfect, but god Veilguard makes them look amazing by comparison). To be fair, I’ve yet to finish the game, but I’m privy to like, 50 hours worth of content at this point between playing myself and watching my sister’s playthrough, so if the game finally improves on these points after that long it feels like too little too late.

If you want to read a waaaay too long screed comparing these largely unalike properties, then boy oh boy is this the post for you!

1. The therapy speak:

So uh, the thing about OFMD’s anachronistic, HR-approved managerial therapy speak is that it’s a joke. OFMD is a comedy first and foremost, so this fits right in with the overall tone of the show, and it’s pretty damn funny if I say so myself. Watching Stede - this campy, middle-aged, 18th century theater kid - tell a bunch of hardened pirates to talk through their feelings is hilarious. And really all it does is alienate him most of the cast - the first episode is about his crew planning to mutiny and kill him as a result of his bizarre behavior.

But, as time goes on and Stede and the crew work through hardships and get to know each other a little better, they form a bond of trust and learn how to communicate more effectively. Stede still tries to mediate and resolve conflicts peacefully among the crew, but more directly and with less artifice, while the crew grows more patient with him and realizes the potential benefit of some of his ideas. It’s pretty basic character progression writing overall, but it’s competently executed, which is more than I can say for Veilguard.

In Veilguard, Rook’s youth pastor energy as they mediate every petty squabble between their teammates casts a bland veneer over a deeply bland cast of characters. Disregarding the fact that Rook is the most milquetoast DA protagonist by far, their involvement in every character interaction leaves me feeling like I’m meeting with HR, and not in a funny way. And Rook seems to attract HR-approved pep talks just as much as they dole them out, particularly from Varric but also from Solas and Morrigan of all people. It’s pep talks all the way down!

Where this flavor of therapy speak was used with intention in OFMD to say something about the characters (and to get a laugh), here its purpose just seems to be to nip all interpersonal conflicts in the bud so our cast can be a big happy family. Teamwork! Yay! Except we started with everyone on the team being more-or-less cordial coworkers, and then we end on them being… more cordial? A bit friendlier? There’s no meaningful progression for the audience to enjoy, no real change. Every argument starts bland and it ends bland, and the few that are allowed to continue through companion dialogue are so inconsequential as to be pointless.

The previous DA games had an obvious fix for this: make the characters socially and politically opposed to each other and let them duke it out, all while having to maintain an alliance against a common enemy. The player could get in on this too if they disagreed with someone - twas a grand time. These interpersonal conflicts were a microcosm of the larger political conflicts of the story, and it allowed the characters to explore the influence of their respective cultures upon their current viewpoints. The progression and tension thus hinged on whether the influence of other characters was able to change their perspective, and if it did, what the consequences would be. A somewhat different emphasis when compared to OFMD, but both understand that allowing your characters to come into conflict with each other and resolve it over time is far more engaging than fixing every little issue right off the bat. This isn’t a sitcom where we need to resolve family tensions before the half-hour mark - it’s an 80+ hour game.

(oh god i swear i’ll try not to make every entry this long)

2. The nonbinary identity storyline:

Alright, there is one thing I like about Veilguard (shocking I know), and it’s the option to be trans/nonbinary. I’m nonbinary and have never played an rpg where that was an option before, so that was pretty dope. I think Bioware’s approach to nonbinary and trans inclusion in the character creator was fairly well done and reasonably flexible - definitely better than the trans options in Cyberpunk at any rate. I also like that we have a nonbinary companion, especially since I totally called it when Taash was revealed and felt super smart and vindicated. The execution of Taash’s nonbinary journey though… eh. It’s mostly left me kinda cold.

I won’t be the first to state that the use of modern terminology for nonbinary gender identity is offputting in this setting, and others have explained it far better than I could. It’s a missed opportunity to think through the question of what gender really means in this setting across different cultures (beyond some lip-service to the Qunari being strict about it, which besides being a retcon doesn’t really tell us much), and whether there are existing nonbinary spaces that would potentially align with Taash’s experience of the world, rather than having one transplanted from our modern sensibility. Third genders have existed irl throughout history and are embedded within cultural understandings of gender, and interpreting Taash’s gender through a more historical and/or speculative mode that better fit the setting would feel far less alienating. As it is, Taash’s story just doesn’t seem to fit comfortably in this world, not least because we’re having them discover their identity rather than already have an understanding of it. Their self-discovery story feels out of place in a narrative focused on a high-stakes, end of the world scenario, unless I’m missing something. It reads more like a fanfic that was accidentally tacked onto the source material. (I love fanfic, but the tone just doesn’t mesh here.)

This is perhaps why the writers felt the need to connect Taash’s gender journey with their bicultural experience, which… hoo boy, that didn’t go well. We have to make a binary choice for which of a nonbinary character���s cultural ties should be discarded? Disregarding the fact that this is not how culture fucking works, why are we making this decision for another person? This is the Cole situation all over again, but worse.

Our Flag Means Death, on the other hand, gives us Jim. Jim has lived most of their life presenting as an AFAB woman, but when the show starts is in hiding as a cis man with a fake nose and beard. After their disguise is revealed, Jim goes through the awkward process of addressing the cis dude-heavy crew’s inane questions about them “being a woman now,” indicating that they’re not really sure if they are one. They tell the rest of the crew to treat them like normal and continue calling them Jim, and that’s that. From then on, they’re referred to with they/them pronouns - maybe they had a talk with everyone about it off-screen, or maybe the show wanted to lean on a sort-of magical realism vibe where everyone just knows Jim goes by those pronouns now. Either way, it fits within the tone of the show and doesn’t need to take up much more space than that. We later see where Jim grew up and learn about their background getting trained by an assassin-nun to murder her family’s killers - we got bigger fish to fry.

Does every queer identity story need to be handled like this? Of course not - there’s space for a range of queer stories, whether the queerness be incidental or integral, discovered or established. In OFMD’s case, they perhaps could have spoken more about Jim’s nonbinary experience and how it fits into the setting, but they didn’t really need to. They established what they wanted to about Jim’s identity, and they decided not to go into the issue of misgendering from that point forward. I personally like how normalized it makes Jim’s presence feel, even if they perhaps could have done more. But OFMD is a limited series about a large ensemble cast of different queer folks, and they chose to be economical about how some of those queer identities were communicated onscreen.

Dragon Age is likewise made up with an ensemble cast, and considering its high stakes end-of-the-world plot line, maybe it should’ve taken a leaf out of OFMD’s book and not spent quite so much time on Taash’s personal gender journey when we could’ve focused on something a bit more outwardly relevant (a big ask for Veilguard’s very personalized, individualistic style of character writing). We could have certainly related their sideplot back to their gender, but there had to be a better middle ground than what we got.

Anyway, while OFMD is fairly comfortable with anachronism, limiting the explanatory dialogue for Jim and other characters’ identities probably also helped to not break immersion. Bioware likely didn’t want to go this route for Taash, but if I might make a suggestion for our consideration: Krem. Krem was a great example of an integrated trans character who talked about his experience through the context of the culture he grew up in. Turns out, it’s very doable, and in a Dragon Age game no less.

(oh god they’re all going to be this long aren’t they, what have i done)

3. Background colonialism/imperialism and slavery:

Something that Veilguard and OFMD have in common is that the wider context of colonization, imperial conquest, and slavery that each story takes place in is more-or-less kept to the background. The characters and plots are certainly informed by this context, but the main storylines don’t often engage with it directly. And herein lies the problem: this is arguably an appropriate approach for OFMD given its comedic tone, while for Dragon Age - considering that its previous installments engaged very directly with these themes - it reeks of erasure and sanitization.

Hell, OFMD engages far more directly and frequently with these themes than Veilguard’s bloated, 80+ hour runtime, and it’s a 2-season long TV show! It’s 20 hours total at most! It explores the heterosexism of settler colonialism that chased a very gay Stede away from home, the racism and classism of the English naval crew they encounter, the power and constant threat of colonial fleets, the fact that colonizers have been slaughtering indigenous peoples, the presence and mistreatment of African slaves, and so on. They do this all while avoiding direct depictions of traumatic colonial violence, but they don’t shy away from its presence.

This has been argued to death by the community at this point, so I’ll try not to go too far into it, but Dragon Age as a series has always been interested in sociopolitical conflict and systemic oppression. It pulls quite a lot of influence from real-life history - one could say too much, perhaps - to create a fantasy world informed predominantly by the sociological forces of hierarchical society.

Past games have struggled to portray DA’s analogies for real-life racism unproblematically, but I don’t think the answer was to cast them aside or minimize their presence in Veilguard. This only trivializes the systemic oppression of this world retroactively; elven enslavement and oppression (especially in Tevinter) and Tal Vashoth and Qunari as otherized minorities are barely a blip on the radar of the game that is a) heavily focused on Solas’s past as a freer of elven slaves and b) set in goddamn Tevinter, where both elven enslavement is widespread and a longstanding war with the Qunari is still ongoing.

Yes, these story elements been handled poorly in the past, particularly with how elves mirror both African enslavement and Indigenous oppression in a way that creates unfortunate connotations when written carelessly, and how the Qunari have orientalist, Islamophobic undertones. They should not be portrayed through violent, traumatic scenes or within the same problematic scope as previous games, but they should not have been minimized to the extent that they were. It’s a structural writing issue if nothing else - the foundations of Dragon Age’s worldbuilding rely so heavily upon these forms of systemic oppression that removing and minimizing them makes the story incoherent. These elements cannot be written out of the story without completely transforming it, and because they were not willing to do that with Veilguard, we’re left with a gutted husk of a story missing most of its core elements.

Couldn’t we have just, you know, hired some sensitivity readers? Or - god forbid - BIPOC writers? Christ.

4. Queer found family vibes:

This one is bit of a stretch since the characters of Veilguard are not brought together through shared experiences of queerness; rather, they are collected randomly like Pokemon from all over the globe for their dubious skills. However, I do believe the writers are clumsily implementing found family tropes whenever you gather your team together, and they are all queer by default so that Rook can fuck them no matter what. At least that Dragon Age staple was respected if nothing else - The Characters Must Be Fuckable.

But I do think this is why we’ve been saddled with all this corporate HR team-building therapy-speak throughout the game: someone on the writing team thought this is how you write that found family thing the kids these days are so crazy about. Everyone’s super supportive all the time, no one fights too much, and when they do your character steps in to correct them (you do not get a choice in this - all of your dialogue options as Rook are effectively the same mediating bullshit). They’re all growing into a happy little family, and isn’t that sweet. Except that none of these characters are fully fleshed out because that would require giving them backgrounds that connect to the story’s wider lore and worldbuilding, and the writing team were either unwilling to do this or incapable because of production restraints. So it’s really just a bland group of pretty people being blandly nice or blandly rude to each other all throughout this bland, bloated game.

All that said, maybe we could’ve had a (queer) found family at the center of this game and actually made it work. There’s no law that says there have to be people on your Dragon Age team who will never get along or are too politically opposed to ever see eye to eye (even though I vastly prefer that in a DA story and think it reflects the series’ themes better *cough*). Absolution did a decent job of it from what I remember, though I think there were still a few conflicts between the members of that team that were used to communicate worldbuilding to us - that’s what character conflicts in Dragon Age mostly do. That is the narrative function they serve, and it’s not surprising to me that in a game with minimized companion conflicts, we likewise find minimized overall worldbuilding with respect to the various cultures of the current setting.

Anyway.

To be fair to Veilguard, I do not think we needed everyone’s entire life story in order to successfully execute the found family trope. Take Our Flag Means Death - the only character we really get much backstory for is Stede, with Jim coming in second at my estimation, and Blackbeard third. You don’t really find out that much about their histories overall, and you learn barely anything about the rest of the crew. For example, we know Lucius used to lie to his mother that he liked girls and was a bit of a pickpocket, which was not cute - and that’s all we get for him. We can infer that he was probably upper crust to a degree since he’s literate (and just from his overall vibe), but that’s about it, and the other characters are much the same.

The thing is, while I would welcome more information about the OFMD crew, I don’t actually need it. The characters are portrayed in such a way that you can infer most of what you need to know about them through the actor’s overall performance. OFMD was blessed with a wonderful cast who do an excellent job acting both scripted lines and the heavy amount of improv that was encouraged on set. Their character voices are finely honed and well-delivered, and so I’m able to get a strong sense of who these characters are, what motivates them, and how they relate with each other through their well-executed sense of voice.

Veilguard struggles quite heavily with character voice. The companions as written have some distinct qualities, but they never really have much life behind them. Davrin comes the closest to having a naturalistic voice, and I think it’s because he’s a self-serious straight man (comedically, not heterosexually). The rest of the cast relies on much more exaggerated and whimsical character tropes - a noir detective, a quirky gadget whizz, a perky necromancer, etc. - and the character writing just cannot summon level of energy these characters would usually have. We’re given a few fluff scenes with them that are sweet, but outside of that, none of these characters actually have much personality. Taash comes close with their moody teen affect, but it never quite sits well within their character arc, so it often feels incongruous.

And this brings me to my most damning criticism of the game: it is not funny. At all. Okay, maybe that’s not fair - it got a few small chuckles out of me within the 50 or so hours I’ve seen/played, but not more than like, 3 times. These characters just aren’t funny. Taash is kinda funny at first, but it dries up pretty quick. The script is just not capable of consistently good comedy. The only real humor I experienced was from Ghilan’nain acting like a goddamn Looney Toon, which was completely unintentional. Like everything else in Veilguard, the humor is bland, bland, bland.

Previous DA companions are brimming with humor, and it’s a huge part of what makes them so enjoyable. Comedy does a lot of work endearing you to a character, and you can use it in a variety of ways - it can highlight their cleverness, or reveal vulnerabilities and undercut them, or create chemistry or tension between multiple characters, all while giving the audience a sense of surprised pleasure that opens them up to connect with the characters emotionally. With a story as busy and occasionally dark as Dragon Age, using humor helps to quickly endear the audience to your characters and encourage engagement in their stories, while also releasing tension after harsher story beats.

It also works the other way around - when tragedy comes or characters are made to suffer, it can hit that much harder because you’ve become so endeared to them. When the Grey Wardens fail to halt the blight at Ostagar in Origins and are all but wiped out, the sense of loss is best communicated through Alistair, who up until this point has been a friendly, wise-cracking presence at your side. Seeing his grief and sense of despair in contrast to his usual good humor signals what’s been lost better than just being told, and because we are (assumedly) endeared to Alistair through his humorous attitude, we can empathize with his struggle and feel the weight of this story beat more effectively. It’s also shockingly, darkly funny when Morrigan is completely unsympathetic and later calls him a whiny pissbaby for missing all his dead friends. This helps to transition us out of the previous scene’s lower mood, and it tells us a lot about her character and her dynamic with Alistair.

And humor is an extremely valuable tool in executing the (queer) found family trope. Humor not only does a lot of work for characterization (especially with a larger ensemble cast), but it can also signal comfort and trust between characters, as well as highlight tensions without fully compromising the feeling of security offered by the found family. If tragedy strikes, it then offers a contrast against the usual comedic tone that can emphasize a scene’s drama to good effect. Humor isn’t absolutely necessary to pull this off, but it’s highly effective at establishing characters and their relationships quickly and enjoyably, and so it can be a valuable tool for large casts and plot-heavy stories where you have limited time to spend learning about each character.

Comedy is subjective, and so maybe Veilguard’s humor works for you in a way it doesn’t for me. Likewise, maybe the humor of the previous games and even OFMD don’t work for you the way they do for me. However, my main sense of Veilguard is that less investment was put into any comedy writing as versus the previous games. Less time is given for jokes, both in character dialogue and in the outer world, from what I’ve seen of it (I cannot imagine anything like the Golden Nug merchant in Orlais happening in this game). At best we get sorta sarcastic comments from Rook, but even Rook’s “funny” dialogue option only prompts any kind of humorous or sarcastic response like, maybe half the time. The writing staff just did not prioritize humor in this game seemingly at all, either by choice or necessity.

Add to this the lack of character depth and detail with all your companions, and they just have nothing for you to grab onto. They have so much potential with their quirky, surface-level descriptions, but no one did the work to flesh them out or make them engaging. Good humor or a strong character voice could have saved them even with the lack of detail and dimension, but it’s just not there. And because there is no real depth, detail, or good humor to unite the characters with each other, the found family trope falls flat and every interaction just feels like an office event.

If you like queer found family feels and haven’t seen Our Flag Means Death, check it out - highly recommend it. That show nails found family like a fuckin pro, doesn’t even break a sweat. And it’s gay as fuck.

5. Pirates:

Both have pirates. I vastly prefer the OFMD pirates over the Lords of Fortune tho. In case you were wondering.

OKAY. This insanely long post must end. It started as a thought experiment to see what we could learn from OFMD’s successes and if they could be applied to Veilguard, and then it turned into me giving unsolicited writing advice. All I can really add is to tell you that any time I’m playing or watching Veilguard, I’d rather be watching Our Flag Means Death.

Or playing the other DA games. They were pretty good. Yes, even Inquisition - at least Inquisition was funny.

[whoiwanttoday]

The Olympics are upon us. Unofficially? No, it feels official, official games are being played as we speak but the opening ceremony isn't until later so some people don't like it if you said the Olympics have started. Either way, I am watching the Netherlands and Angola play Handball and this isn't like it's natural rivals who got into an argument on the Rue de Handball and suddenly a game broke out, this is stuff organized by some governing body. My point is I think the Olympics have started and I am excited because I love the Olympics. Handball is one of my loved Olympic Sports actually, so it's a great way to start it off. If I lived in Europe would I watch Handball regularly cause that's where the professional leagues are? Maybe, who knows. But I don't so I don't. Instead I watch every four years and every four years I think, "That looks like so much fun, I'd love to do that". It's very entertaining, it's fast paced, it's easy to understand, the games are often exciting and go back and forth just like basketball or something. You get good scoring, you get teamwork, you get shoes squeaking on the court sometimes. What more do you need in the sport?

Well, how about attractive and athletic women performing at the peak of the sport? I actually didn't know who to post here cause I found a couple of athletes quite attractive, it's a high scoring game so people would score and I'd be a little smitten because guys, everybody loves a winner. Well, I love both teams, I had no horse in this race. One of the nice things about Handball is the US is not good at it and usually we aren't in the Olympics so I don't need to worry about that, I can just enjoy watching other countries play and this was a great one, most of the game it was a one goal difference and that was exciting and fun. Anyway, I am posting Estavana Poleman because I thought maybe I had the wrong person at first when I looked her up cause all her social media is just the same stuff you'd see for a typical mom in her 30's. It's a woman who loves her kids and is absolutely impressed by them and the cool things they do and it wasn't until I found pictures of her on the court that I knew I had the right person. I kind of liked the juxtaposition because sure she looks like a normal mom but I had just seen her repeatedly jump really high and fake people out and throw a ball into a net really hard. My words might not make that seem impressive but i am here to tell you it was. Poleman scores yet again became a common refrain. So here she is. Today I want to fuck Estavana Poleman.

[recurring-polynya]

Sorry for kurobasposting in your inbox, but now that (I assume) you've met all the Generation of Miracles, I need to know if your favorite is still Murasakibara. Also, we talk so much about squad dynamics in Bleach, I can't help but think about team dynamics too, like Touou gave me such Squad 11 vibes, and it made me wonder which team you liked best (and if any of them reminded you of Squad 6👀). Also, in a Bleach Sports scenario, do you think kouhai Renji would be devastated when team captain/senpai Byakuya graduates and passes the mantle onto him? I'm imagining a Portions for Foxes kind of AU where Renji agonizes about leading a team, but Rukia lowkey fantasies about how hot he'd look doing it. Think about the pep talks he'd give!!!!!!!! OK I'm done.

No apologies necessary! I am very happy to talk about Kurobas!! I don't talk about it nearly as much as I have thoughts about it, because nearly all my thoughts are tied up around How Much Bleach It Is, because its insane basketball-themed powers system was so incredibly Bleach-structured, and even though the main cast was not very Bleachy at all, so many of their random opponents were just straight up Bleach characters.

Who is my favorite Miracle? I cannot answer this question. I hate them all. They are all my favorite. To me, the Generation of Miracles exists on some plane orthogonal to "liking" or "not liking." Each and every one of them is an Entity, and I am obsessed with them.

Kise is the most human of them. He works so hard and loves basketball so much. He was late to the GoM and to me, there's this degree of sadness that he deserved to have a better time. Also, he wants to be friends with everyone so badly and they are so mean to him. "I would be friends with you, Kise," I say to myself, and then I remember that he's a model and it's like, "You know what? Never mind."

Midorima is 100%, unapologetically himself all of the time, and I respect that, but also: he's terrible. My opinions on him oscillate wildly. I do think he deserves his skill level more than anyone else on the GoM. I want to push him down the stairs.

I am a really simple person: I like character who work hard. I can never love Aomine because he does not go to practice and does not show up for games on time. On the other hand, he is electric on the court, he's the funnest player to watch, by far. I also enjoy his Color Commentary the best. He has merged so completely with Grimmjow in my mind that when I was watching TYBW last week, I was like "why is Aomine here?" and then the next time I watched KNB and he yelled "If you don't beat Rakuzan, I'll kill you!" at Kuroko, I was like "thanks, Grimmjow." I think he has a really toxic relationship with basketball, and should probably quit and do something else instead.

Murasakibara is so precious to me because I love him in a way I have never loved another character. He doesn't work hard, either, but he also Doesn't Want To Be Here and is making it everyone else's problem. I cannot justify it in the least, but I get unreasonably excited whenever he shows up. I actually screamed out loud when he put his hair up in a ponytail.

Akashi might be the greatest anime villain of all time, and that counts Aizen. The scope of his villainy was small, but he brought his A+++ game to it. My favorite Akashi moment was when he was being defeated by the power of friendship and he cured his own multiple personality disorder during a time-out and came back with his own, even better version of the power of friendship. I mean, I hate him, obviously. He has ruined so many people's basketball experience for basically no reason whatsoever. Poster child for eating the rich.

It's hard to like any team better than Seirin because every player on Seirin is a banger, and their teamwork is second to none. I don't think there were any other teams that I liked the full bench as much as Seirin.

I think the match against Yousen was my favorite, maybe because I just love a good defense. I am obsessed with the way Kimuro was just like "Friendship with Kagami ended, uh, uh, Murasakibara is my new best friend!!" Why are they always hanging out???

Shuutoku is Squad Six, I am sorry to say. It just is. Legacy team with long history of consistent greatness. Midorima is Byakuya if Byakuya was raised as a human teen instead of the most important person in Soul Society, and also he got into astrology for some reason. Takao is not really anything like Renji, but his rapport with Midorima is extremely Byakuya-Renji coded. The Sky Direct Three Point shot was one of the high points of the entire series for me, and I think Renji would have cried actual tears if he watched that episode. (He would refuse to pull Byakuya around in a little cart, tho)

I also kinda like Kaijou, but maybe it's just because Kasamatsu was my favorite non-Seirin, non-GoM side character by a long shot. Maybe it's because he works so hard and feels so hard and takes being captain as such a responsibility. Maybe it's his knee socks.

I would not have called the Touou - Squad 11 connection, although I can see it. Imayoshi was Basketball Gin, to me, and Sakurai was Basketball Rikichi.

I adore the scenario you outlined where Renji goes through the entire five stages of grief because Senpai is Furthering his Education. A real Bleach-KNB fusion (Orihime no Basuke) would have to focus on the Karakura kids, but Renji and Byakuya's team would be their first rival team, the one that you get to cheer for later on as the series progresses. Rukia would have transferred from Renji and Byakuya's school to Karakura High and would coach Ichigo and Orihime's team, which would make such good emotional tension.

Bonus answer to the question you didn't ask: Kiyoshi - Hyuuga - Riko OT3.

[plusultraetc]

if you're still doing the ask game what abt this part from "i'll take what i can get, i'll take what i am given" ?

“I think it would make fighting with a team difficult, too,” Hitoshi points out. They’re talking about weaknesses, after all. At Mic’s questioning look, he says, “A lot of people kind of—tense up, when they talk to me. They hesitate. It could make communicating with a team challenging if they’re wary of my Quirk.”

Present Mic makes a lilting noise of understanding, some unnamed emotion flickering across his face. “Ideally, if you’re working with a team, they’ll trust you enough not to make that mistake.”

“Ideally,” Hitoshi echoes. “But a lot of heroes team up with whoever’s nearby. They might not even know me.”

Hitoshi is suddenly too aware of Aizawa’s continued silence. A part of him hopes his mentor has actually fallen asleep. They haven’t broached the subject of teamwork much, which means Hitoshi hasn’t had to put his doubts into words. He feels strangely vulnerable now, leaving them on the table.

Mic is watching him with an unreadable expression, not quite frowning, but definitely not smiling for pretty much the first time since setting foot in the building. Hitoshi feels himself shrink under the scrutiny.

Ty for sending an ask!! (For the record, I am Always still doing every ask game, I love ask games <3)

I think about Shinsou telling Midoriya that people tend to "stiffen up" when they talk to him every single time I write his POV. There are so many subtle but ominous hints about Shinsou's past experiences in his incredibly limited screentime, ough.

“I think it would make fighting with a team difficult, too,” Hitoshi points out. They’re talking about weaknesses, after all. At Mic’s questioning look, he says, “A lot of people kind of—tense up, when they talk to me. They hesitate. It could make communicating with a team challenging if they’re wary of my Quirk.” Present Mic makes a lilting noise of understanding, some unnamed emotion flickering across his face. “Ideally, if you’re working with a team, they’ll trust you enough not to make that mistake.” “Ideally,” Hitoshi echoes. “But a lot of heroes team up with whoever’s nearby. They might not even know me.”

One thing about me is I will reference a) the Sports Festival Arc, b) the pro hero sphere, or c) all of the above at every available opportunity. This exchange is a double whammy--Shinsou is correct about heroes having to team up with each other on the fly, and that idea is brought up during the Cavalry Battle. I feel like a 'one trick pony' joke would be too precise here, but ya know 😭

Hitoshi is suddenly too aware of Aizawa’s continued silence. A part of him hopes his mentor has actually fallen asleep. They haven’t broached the subject of teamwork much, which means Hitoshi hasn’t had to put his doubts into words. He feels strangely vulnerable now, leaving them on the table.

For a hero who stays out of the spotlight, Aizawa routinely demonstrates a very keen understanding of the more visible aspects of being a pro, and he works really well on teams (which makes sense!! He does teach future heroes, after all, and he did both attend UA himself and, at one point, want to open an agency with his friends after graduating). At this point, however, he is way more focused on actually getting Shinsou into the Hero Course than he is on talking teamwork. It works out fine, because by the time the joint training exercise rolls around, Shinsou is kind of killing the whole teamwork thing anyway.

Mic is watching him with an unreadable expression, not quite frowning, but definitely not smiling for pretty much the first time since setting foot in the building. Hitoshi feels himself shrink under the scrutiny. 

Okay okay so I Love writing Mic & Shinsou bickering. I know we like to call Mic Shinsou's other dad, but the way I write them is often way more similar to how I talk to my sister (who I... also occasionally call my dad. I send her the 'where's my dad, I'm all alone' meme like every other day lmao)

THAT BEING SAID, I also really enjoy writing these two in more serious scenes (I start to talk about the Star Wars au again and am dragged away by guards in medieval suits of armor, etc). This is in part because one of my favorite things about Present Mic (the pretending) is directly opposed to one of my favorite things about Shinsou (the observing)*. Because of his quirk, Shinsou is very attuned to how people respond to him--if they tense up, if they hesitate to answer him, and so on--so writing his conversations with a character like Mic who is usually putting on Some Kind Of Act is really fun. Of course, Mic's acting skills are far superior to Shinsou's people reading skills, but I always love the opportunity to like. Study Present Mic from his POV anyway lol.

*I also like writing Hawks & Shinsou, and Hawks & Mic, for this reason!

[mr-stottlemonk]

I LOOOVE your blog, I'm watching Monk for the first time and I'm in love with Leland and Adrian <3 . Also I really love the aesthetic of your blog <3 I don't know if you have been asked this before but.. which stottlemonk scene would you say is underrated and why? :p

aww, hehe :3. THANK YOU DEAR <333. sksks, i'm ngl, i didn't try much with the aesthetic so i'm glad it looks pretty enough.

ohh!!! welcome to the fandom/series brain rot then <3!! i'm glad you're enjoying it; it's definitely a gem of a series that deserves all the love and attention!

It is so hard not to love both of them so hell yeah, join the club dear.

*long post so more under the cut!

i haven't been asked this! i think... but i'll answer repeat questions anyway, so no problemo there. ANYWAY, let's see... underrated episode huh. i have a couple actually: Mr. Monk and The Missing Granny [S02E13], Mr. Monk and The Other Detective [S04E01], Mr. Monk Stays In Bed [S04E03], Mr. Monk and The Big Game [S05E03], Mr. Monk and The Class Reunion [S05E06], Mr. Monk and The Bad Girlfriend [S06E04] and Mr. Monk and The Magician [S07E15].

Okay, let's dive into it. With Mr. Monk and The Missing Granny there's that scene where he's just finished taking his test (not really lol) and he's locked himself inside Leland's office. it's very short, if you blink it you miss (i just spotted it like,, a couple of days ago during a re-watch) but he's trying to coax Adrian to open the door and he, so very fucking softly, says: "Adrian." before launching into this small, supportive spiel -> his constant support, even in slivers, of Adrian is so freaking beautiful.

With Mr. Monk and The other Detective. it's more funny "guilty hubby energy" than cute. he looks so GUILTY giving the job over to Marty Eels. like, pls. like @s-misaki once said:

the utter act of betrayal mixed with guilt he must be feeling towards Adrian lolol

In Mr. Monk Stays In Bed. I just liked the little scene of where Leland is Adrian's bedroom... that's it. lol. BUT THIS ALSO REMINDS ME. in Mr. Monk and The Very, Very Old Man - Leland was sitting in Adrian's bed and i'm just like??? ADRIAN?? he's sitting in your bed... gosh, i giggled sm. like sure, he'll probably change the sheets - but there's that hint of him always feeling like Leland is one of his 'safe' people. Physical Touch, closeness, sharing things is tough but it's there!!!

the little football rugby match in Mr. Monk and The Big Game has like,,, quarter of my heart (the rest have been divided lol) - cause?? the?? trust?? teamwork?? is SO NATURALLLL. ahhhhh.

the main thing that blew my mind in Mr. Monk and The Class Reunion was how Leland drove all the way (sure, it was for a case) but i'm just,, he would go anywhere on earth for Adrian, wouldn't he. it's so freaking heart-warming idek (╥_╥)♥️.

Mr. Monk and The Bad Girlfriend,, that ep,, i swear. it was just. it was a good hint of how Leland sometimes DOES get fed up of Adrian and how Adrian always wants the best for Leland. it was equally heart-warming and heart-breaking. the underrated scene there though was how Leland shoved Adrian...

it's a very raw moment where the both of them do not seem to get along at all because they want something good and dont see it right in front of them *cough*... and it's just,, Leland's words there: "I have what you want..."

like gahhh, it's visceral if you come think about it. they never want to hurt each other but sometimes what you want isn't what you get and you have to settle and look for something else to fill in the gaping hole :).

Mr. Monk and The Magician is simply me loving Leland wanting to toss anyone out the window and smash them in the face for even hurting a hair on Adrian or loosing sight of him. What a man, XD.

anyway, WOW. i feel like i rambled off your ear here (for sure lol) more than you likely expected me to >,>.

thank you for the ask dear 💕💕!!! i absolutely love rambling about every scene i can get my hands on <3.

[torahoes]

(IDOLiSH7) Torao Mido - An Idol's Daily Life Rabbit Chat: Part 2 - High-difficulty level florist

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Tsumugi Takanashi: Good work today. Thank you for letting us join you for the variety show recording today!

Tsumugi Takanashi: The group gesture game was really exciting, wasn't it…!

Torao Mido: Your group's teamwork was truly remarkable. Yotsuba guessing Nikaido's sloth was a little too impressive!

Tsumugi Takanashi: They often play the gesture game during breaks, so they seem to be good at it! Especially with 'sloth’, which is apparently Yamato-san’s specialty…!

Torao Mido: So that's what it was. To me, he just looked like a person who had fallen over.

Tsumugi Takanashi: ŹOOĻ seemed to have a hard time with "florist", right?

Torao Mido: That's completely on Touma. When the topic is "florist", would you normally go with picking flowers as your gesture?

Tsumugi Takanashi: I- It was quite difficult, I'm sure > <

Tsumugi Takanashi: But it was wonderful to see everyone trying their best to guess and answer things like "acorn picking" or "a harvesting farmer" correctly!

Torao Mido: We wasted too much time. If we had moved on quickly, we could have gotten a better score. Haruka was frustrated about it as well.

Torao Mido: I'll make sure to train Touma for the next time.

Tsumugi Takanashi: Yes! I'm looking forward to the next time everyone plays the gesture game together.

Tsumugi Takanashi:

Tsumugi Takanashi: Thank you for letting me visit the green room after the recording! Everyone was really lively, weren't they?

Torao Mido: Yeah, I mean, when you have 11 guys gathered together...

Torao Mido: Our manager even joked that the green room suddenly felt like a boys' school during recess.

Tsumugi Takanashi:

1) You were talking with Riku-san, weren’t you?

Torao Mido: He brought back bonito flakes as a souvenir, saying it was a local specialty of the filming location. I mentioned that I might like it when we were working together as 'TEA take' and Nanase remembered that.

2) You were talking with Nagi-san, weren’t you?

Torao Mido: Rokuya had given me a Blu-ray box set of Kokona before, so he was asking me about my progress. When I said I hadn’t watched it yet, he was really excited about scheduling a viewing party.

3) Did Utsugi-san say anything else?

Torao Mido: It seems he didn't really get to hang out and have fun with friends much back in his school days, so apparently just watching us is fun for him. It would be nice if he joined the conversations more instead of just watching from the sidelines, though.

Torao Mido: You were also talking to Haruka and the others, weren't you?

Tsumugi Takanashi: I heard that a new latte art cafe opened near their school, so we were discussing that! It seems that him, Iori-san, and Tamaki-san made a few detours there together on their way back...!

Tsumugi Takanashi: They said animal-themed latte art was popular, and I was shown some photos. There was a fluffy, soft cat perched on the cup, and it was incredibly cute...!

Tsumugi Takanashi:

Torao Mido: He sent that in the ŹOOĻ group chat too. It's the one where three-dimensional bears, dogs, and whatnot are made from foam, right?

Torao Mido: So that's what's popular, huh.

Tsumugi Takanashi: Yes, I'd love to try visiting the cafe as well! Even though it feels like a shame to drink something so cute > <

Torao Mido: By that, are you pleading me to take you there?

Tsumugi Takanashi: What!? No, not at all!

Tsumugi Takanashi: I've been told the location of the cafe, so I'm sure I can go there alone without any issues.

Torao Mido: I didn't mean to suggest that I would just be escorting you there, though.

Torao Mido: As always, you're an intriguing woman.

Tsumugi Takanashi:

Torao Mido: By the way, I heard that Touma is planning to visit the IDOLiSH7 dorm sometime soon.

Torao Mido: I was invited too, but it might be difficult for me to make it due to work.

Tsumugi Takanashi: I see > <  I heard that he made plans to drink with Sougo-san at the dorm while he was there to borrow his CD!

Tsumugi Takanashi: I'm also planning to drop by with some refreshments, so if you can make it, please come!

Torao Mido: Ah. Drinking with one of the Osakas? I'll make sure to warn Touma not to make any blunders.

End of Part 2.

[skaruresonic]

Was looking through your posts about the metal sonic shenanigans, and this part really caught my interest

"Metal doesn't really say anything to imply existential despair in Metal Madness. He more or less just brags about how he's going to take over the world"

The guy who complained about how "mean and condescending" the heroes are being sure ignored this part. They genuinely made something up and then acted like it's true.

Playing the games actually isn't enough. These people can look directly at the source material and still interpret it as something completely wrong. Sonic "fans" are simply hopeless

I didn't touch on this in my reply, but the supreme irony of "Sonic's picking on Metal, he's so impossibly smug and condescending" and "nobody listened to Metal" when Metal was actively trying to kill them is too much.

Let that sink in. Metal tries to conquer the world and murder the heroes, is a misunderstood bby boy. Sonic says something snarky to him and runs off, that's unacceptably mean.

I just.

Metal threatened to roast these characters on a spit and blasted fire in their faces. What are you talking about, "nobody listened to him"? How much would you feel like playing armchair therapist for someone who just pointed a flamethrower at you five minutes ago? Why is this deserving of "aw, poor baby"? What about Metal's actions or words suggest he's crying out for help? One throwaway line about how he's no longer afraid? Does that honestly negate the fact that he's trying to conquer the world and rule as its robot overlord? Where in the games does it suggest Metal went crawling back to Eggman to ask him to remove his voice? Because even if you go by IDW's account and nothing else, Eggman still managed to remove the "rebelliousness" from his coding. The page on which Neo Metal says this furthermore implies the process was nonconsensual; it shows an unconscious Metal hooked up to a bunch of wires, and Neo later checking a computer only to see a screen that reads "NO DATA." And barring the fact that, during the Metal Overlord fight, Metal essentially said all that was in the past... Does Sonic have to asspat every villain who comes for his blood? Really? I also really love (read: hate) how they said Sonic's answer to Metal's question of "But why can't I defeat you?" was a non-answer. Say what you will about how weird "Because we're Sonic Heroes!" is, it at least makes sense given the game's overall themes of teamwork. Heroes practically hits you over the head with it. You can't say Sonic didn't give him an answer when the answer is staring you right in the face.

The thing is, I was open to being proven wrong when I opened up YouTube and watched the Metal Madness fight. I don't remember exactly what Metal said off the top of my head. I haven't played Heroes in a long while. There are a lot of games where my memory needs a refresher. That's why I decided to double-check, because memory can often be unreliable.

So then, actually watching the video, I paid attention to his dialogue, and... Well. The evidence doesn't seem to support OP's claims. I didn't hear any instances of Metal screaming about how his constant battles with Sonic and co. were driving him insane. What I did hear, however, was a good dose of egotism justified by the slightest veneer of an identity crisis. That's not to say the identity crisis wasn't a factor, just not the most important factor. Hence I think it's reasonable to assume it's erroneous to paint it as the only thing motivating Metal in Heroes.

More broadly, I feel like the type of post that really gets big on this site is the one that appears galaxy-brained and appeals to our emotions, but hosts a conspicuous lack of sources and examples. Feels over reals, so to speak. They use loaded language, make declarative statements about the characters, and usually don't bother with nuance.

And. Like. If you scratch even just a little bit beneath the surface, you'd find the series holds more nuance than it's commonly given credit for. So to boil things down as people often do is needlessly reductive. It doesn't always paint a whole portrait. There was a recent post that rubbed me the wrong way as well because it was worded in this style, claiming that Shadow's character could be pinned down to his loyalty in his relationships to others. I found that analysis lacking because it neglected the fact that self-determination is an equally important part of his character, and portraying loyalty as his most critical trait risks defining him through his relationships with others. Stuff like this by its very multifaceted nature necessitates the use of asterisks. And in addition to games canon, Sonic Tumblr tends to be allergic to qualifiers that may risk diluting an otherwise "powerful" message.

This type of post isn't confined just to Sonic fandom. It happens in Half-Life too. I'm just more inclined to give it a pass for a couple of reasons. One of those being that HL's lore is more full of gaps than Sonic's, so in some instances your fanon is as good a guess as the next fan's.

But with Sonic, it's immensely frustrating because we're often looking at the simplest possible context, and yet folks continue to ignore it. People are so desperate to make the series seem Deep and Mature that they'll make shit up that just isn't there.

The only way I can explain it atm is by comparing it to the "blood orange, she's so pretentious, shut up it's fucking red" meme. It's not blood orange, it's red. The game said it was red. You're just saying blood orange because you think reframing something red as actually blood orange will make you sound more sophisticated, when in reality it makes you come off as ignorant at best and tryhard at worst.

I keep circling back to this example because it's always salient in my mind as the quintessential "you are pulling shit out of the deepest reaches of your rectum" take: Shadow was tortured on the ARK. Nothing in the games, Shadow's characterization, or the material SoJ recently published suggest he was ever experimented on by the researchers at any point. He holds no rage towards the researchers and harbors nothing but loyalty towards the ARK and its memory. Hell, in one ShTH ending he calls it "sacred." (And I'm sure some edgelord will be like "that's just evidence of Stockholm Syndrome." okay sure Jan) The claim becomes even more tenuous when you apply even a modicum of logic to it, from any angle. Yes, let's jeopardize Maria's one and only chance at a cure with unethical experiments. Let's waste resources and risk Gerald's wrath by treating his son like a guinea pig.

Literally all people base this on is this archetype of the Evil Research Facility, as though the ARK and Aperture Science are somehow interchangeable. They don't actually seem to consider the ARK's specific situation and instead superimpose this platonic idea of Evil Research Facility on it in order to "flesh" it out. Never mind the canonically shady shit the ARK got up to by developing weapons of mass destruction, something Shadow says out loud with his own mouth in SA2. No, games canon is not enough to work with. Shadow needs to suffer in new and innovative ways. Ow the edge.

Feels before reals, man. (takes stiff drag on imaginary cigarette)

[jiamiuxin]

daiya no ace anime reflection/review

**spoilers!!**

im at a point in my life where i have a lot of free time at the end of the day and i find myself filling that slot with anime.

for the past two weeks, ace of the diamond has taken up a big portion of my mind as i found myself falling in love with the team and its players.

about a month ago was when i started a roll on watching sports anime. i caught up on haikyuu, binged blue lock and ao ashi, and finally spent another good chunk of time on free!!. ace of the diamond was no new title to me, yet for some reason i kept it on the back burner. i dont know why; whether it was the art style, the then-seemingly long list of episodes, or the fact that it was baseball. maybe it was all of them. when i burned myself out trying to find another anime, i finally settled on giving DnA a chance.

today, as i have finished all 176 episodes (no OVAs yet!) i confidently say it's one of my top, if not the top, anime ive seen so far.

i noted a few things as i progressed through the series: strong points, cons, favorite characters, and a few personal thoughts.

i will start off with the cons head on. daiya's is, i guess i could say, notorious? for its "annoying, loud, benchwarmer" MC. one genuine complaint i do have is the lack of animation quality in the third season. there were many still shots with voice overs, though i felt a little more satisfied with the animation towards the end. also, to a smaller extent, the anime is not as complete as the manga.

anyway, i think the slow burn is actually a strong point, as many others point out. indeed, it is the very low lows that make the highs so high. don't get me wrong, i love a stupidly powerful MC, such as mob psycho 100 or OPM, but the realism gives DnA its charm and relatability. when others say "season 1 is bad, season 2 is good, season 3 is amazing," they are not lying.

DnA's charm not only lies in its realism, but also its character development and character interactions. brotherhood, leadership, and teamwork are all themes throughout the anime. the way the third years cared for their juniors and the way the juniors fought to elongate their seniors' summers was beautiful, heart-wrenching, and gut-punching to me, a recent college graduate. these types of moments are not uncommon in sports anime, but something about DnA's execution made it so much more..emotional? relatable? whether it was due to convenient timing or the fact that the sheer amount of episodes made me feel like they were actually my own friends, i just felt so much more compelled when watching daiya.

on the topic of my personal emotions, as i said, the themes of graduating/retiring really hit home for me. but that made daiya all the more special to me. both personal relatability and just watching everyone's hard work made it so easy to sympathize with their determination. maybe it was the countless scenes of them heaving and gasping for air; or the scenes where TJ made their frustrations so visible and vulnerable. as a watcher, i did not see myself rooting for some characters in a show; normally, i'd take a normal stance with the expectations that the "of course, the MC team will win." i saw myself rooting for my friends. in addition, knowing TJ, we can never be too sure on how seido's games will actually go. everything comes down to the realism. it's daiya's realism that made me feel their passion, made them so relatable, and made it feel like they were actually at high stakes. i truly, rarely never cry when watching an anime. besides assassination classroom, no other anime has made me so emotional. not only that, but daiya made me cry several times. the amount of immersion is insane.

to no surprise, my favorite character is miyuki. he was the know-it-all. he was essentially the rock of seido with his calls. i often found myself wondering how strong seido would be without miyuki. no disrespect to ono; as he proved, and as kataoka also believes, ono is also reliable. but miyuki was just built different bro. anyway, i appreciated his character for not only baseball iq, but his rapid maturity into the captain role, and his flexibility with his juniors. i found his personality very admirable and his logical approach to situations both relatable and reliable. other characters i particularly were fond of were chris and kuramochi. if okumura had more screen time, i could also see him climbing up my list. as someone who had no prior baseball knowledge, daiya/seido as a whole, but particularly chris and miyuki, gave me a newfound respect for and fundmental understanding of baseball.

i think one last thing i wanted to note was that i really don't read manga. but for daiya, im definitely gonna pick up the manga now. i have never done this before for an anime, even others i really liked--hxh, haikyuu, one punch man, etc. i just never felt compelled to read the story further beyond the anime. but for daiya, this is something im willing to do. i just love it that much.

if you are having second thoughts or are debating on watching DnA, def watch it if you do not mind slow burn and can take a realistic approach. on the other hand, i do not recommend if you want to see an OP MC.

~

i am truly a nobody, especially not a professional anime critic LMFAO but i just wanted to vent my thoughts of daiya somewhere :) these are just my personal opinions

[detshin]

DCMK characters as AIB playing cards

Okay, listen. I've watched Alice in borderland, and I can't get this idea off of my head so bear with me.

Maybe some of you have watched this show too and I'd love to hear your thoughts (and maybe I'll also convince some of you to watch it because the concept of it is: *chef's kiss* immaculate).

So, wuick summary: basically there are *death games*, and each game is a different poker card. The difficulty of the games escalates depending on the number (Ace being always the easiest). And what's interesting is that each suit represents different skills:

Spades ♠ are mainly physical games.

Clubs ♣ are teamwork games.

Diamonds ♦️ are intelligence games.

Hearts ❤️ are psychological games.

At the center of each big face card there is always a person who you would be playing against. Mostly kings and queens of the different suits (although there are also jacks). And there's this trend of putting characters into the different games they would be the heads of. So I was thinking... What about in Conan? And these are my thoughts:

Ran would be the Queen of Spades ♠ . No question. She's everything these games represent. Speed, strength, combat, endurance... Yeah, she could be the queen no question.

I think the King of Spades ♠ then should probably go to Makoto. He's basically the strongest and best fighter of the dcmk universe confirmed by Gosho so... It has to be him for sure.

I have my doubts with Heiji, because I was thinking King of Clubs ♣, BUT, while he's an awesome friend who has learnt to build trust on the people around him... He's also really well known for being competitive to the bone. So I'm on the fence about him. For Queen of Clubs ♣ I think maybe Sera? I still see incredible potential in her being a team player once her mom stops being the way she is. That's why I choose her. She would be able to keep up with her other team members and I think she's a little more collaborative than Heiji, at least without complaining.

I think King of Diamonds ♦️ could probably be Hakuba, because while there are also many other intelligent characters out there, they also show many other qualities that prevent me from putting them in this category. For example, Shinichi. I think he has other things that are a bit more relevant to him than just being all rationale and quick wit and maths and all of that. Hakuba on the other hand, seems like the one to put this on the forefront so I'm going with him here.

On the other hand, for Queen of Diamonds ♦️, I was thinking both Ai and maybe even Momiji could go there. They are both extremely intelligent women in their respective areas.

And now with Shinichi I have my doubts. I think King of Clubs ♣ could also work for him. Especially looking at his development throughout the manga, which is basically about him learning that he needs other people to finally stop the BO. I think it fits him well. But... I also think King of Hearts ♥ would be a good fit. Like it or not, he's amazing at what this game entails. It's a game of manipulation, of trust in people if you play it correctly and don't fall in distrust. A psychological game where everything is put on the line. The are often described as the worst and are tricky because, most heart games could actually be completed without anyone dying if you actually learn to trust the people around you and play correctly.

And then there's Kid as the Joker because it's the most mysterious card. I only watched the show and haven't read the manga, so I don't really know what it means yet. Lmao But it fits conceptually, he's the wild card.

What do you think?

[licantropa]

Hi hi!

So I've been getting some like Resident Evil brainrot from your AU and firstly its great and I love all the character placements so much!

And I was wondering if you had any ideas of what Sonja and Capsize do in the mansion plot point wise since I believe there isn't much canon wise to say what Jill and Chris actually each do.

Also I'm like curious if you had certain scenes you have in mind or if its just the characters so far.

(no pressure to answer, just enjoying thoughts)

I’m glad you enjoyed the au!

I’ve just finished replaying the game (Jill’s route) so I could refresh myself on the mansion layout and boss fights.

This is where things get tricky because canonically to the RE lore everyone survived the night (Barry, Jill, Chris, Rebecca, & Wesker) but we don’t see everyone from either perspective, Barry missing in Chris’s and his fate left unknown, while Chris is missing in Jill’s and Rebecca is nonexistent. But it’s canon that they were all there.

So in the au I think it’d make sense if Capsize & Alyssa never run into Sonja, but they’d also have to get captured by Mianite semi early on.

Boss fight wise I think it’d make sense like this:

Capsize fights: Crimson Head, Mother Neptune, Plant 42

Sonja fights: Lisa Trevor, Black Tiger, Tyrant

For specific scenes, Capsize and Alyssa beat Sonja and Spark to the Residence area of the map and just complete it, Capsize who has had an awful feeling about all of this begins to question Mianite who just so happened to run into them there. Getting frustrated that things aren’t going his way he reveals himself and begins threatening her. At gunpoint, Capsize laughs at him. Mianite goes to shoot Alyssa, but Capsize takes the (non-fatal) hit instead. From there, they are lead to a cell where both of them will stay captive til Sonja releases them at the end. (in the original re1 in Chris’s route when he confronts Wekser, he just starts fucking laughing at him, I think that’d be in character for Capsize to do)

Another scene I’ve been thinking about would be one after the Lisa Trevor fight. Sonja being more demanding to Spark on getting some answers she’s sure he has, while Spark is very much trying to talk around the issues and there being more tension from that point forward on their teamwork.

Other than that, figuring out who opens what doors and how the hell puzzle solving is going to work out is gonna be a tough one.

Also! Regarding your tags, I wanted to respond to them but I got sidetracked…playing re1 😅.

The piano thing is just a reference to Chris needing Rebecca to play it for a puzzle, while Jill just knows how to do it. And yea there is definitely a learning curve when it comes to the controls for the game, but for me after I got used to them I found them enjoyable. Like I really like the different camera angles and how it made the game more tense, but I can definitely understand how irritating they can be. Sherry is supposed to be Ianita (knew I was forgetting to mention somebody). I’ve also been going back and forth on Martha being Anita birken (although Steve would definitely not be William Birken, maybe Gaines? but more a fellow umbrella scientist and not husband to Martha).

If you love cheesy lines, highly suggest to watch a video that goes through the original re1 dialogue. It’s hilarious. Give one a watch if you’ve got the time. ( https://youtu.be/pVyOCssIXgQ —> 10 minute video of og re1 dialogue)

Thank you for the ask! If you’ve got suggestions for the au I’d love to hear em!

[so-bitya]

OK so I want to share some self-indulgent ideas of Otona!! because what i missed the most while watching was the friendship between all the girls?? Teamwork makes the Dream work yes?? So here's some episode ideas i thought of <3:

a switch between Karen's and Kurumis relationship, that instead of Kurumi looking to Karen to get spoiled, it's the other way around. Kurumi shows up to help Karen reorganize her life (she's a slob after living alone) and helps her take it easy a bit.

komachi and urara have a misunderstanding that the both of them are enjoying their success! that they're super happy, thus feel ashamed that they aren't in comparison. a down to earth convo between them about the pressure to keep succeeding

kurumi and urara dealing workplace harassment???? (still not over that director sorry <3) that standing up for yourself is even scarier as an adult because the consequences are so much more dire?

more stuff with the time plot? that some of the girls, like urara and komachi, want to cling to the past, so their using their abilities to escape reality? While rin and karen don't even want to be precures anymore, because of they prefer their adult lives and want to avoid confronting the past?

Something with the boys as well? Coco's insecurities as a king and inability to live his life is weighing him down (him becoming a teacher again, Kurumi as prime minister pipeline). Show how Nuts has changed from the past, being less prickly and cold and more open with his feelings. him lowkey missing the girls too and the shenanigans they got to in the past?

would have loved a Rin and Komachi episode. They didn't really hang in the previous shows and it would be a nice development of "we became better friends once we grew older" like Rin showing up to Komachi's house to jog in the morning and finding a hobby together. Which helps Rin to relax and take her mind of work for a while...

RIn and Nozomi's relationship hits a rut, not used to how different they are older and ideals wise, only to support each other in the end no matter how different they are now they'll always be there for each other.

Karen being upset that it turns out the girls have been meeting up on discord, (she misunderstood because it was only for games at first, something she didn't have time for) but finds out how much they ask about her well being and talk about the group being together. She also joins them that night for the first time to play amoungus or somethin

kurumi fights with nozomi again, finding her too childish even as an adult, especially regarding their different jobs. She's a fancy secretary and nozomi teaches primary, only to reveal she's actually very jealous how nozomi loves her job and how fulfilling her work is. Nozomi helps Kurumi find a new dream? that you don't have to stick to one for ever?

regardless how the romance turns out, make it like after a low point (like after nozomi has a fight with coco?) that the girls show up for a big drinking party at her house, all complaining about their lives, and have a great night out, only to wake with hangover the next day and whine that they're not as young as they used to be.

would have loved a sort of mid finale episode? where Urara has distanced herself from the girls assumedly because of her success, but because she was so gloomy about her work. Have Syrup be the only one keeping in contact with her?? because he can fly and can keep up with her job moving her constantly? and he's the one to reconnect her with the girls, and they all show up and support her, the episode ending with all the girls together finally, listening to her new song at the play.

And because the girls transform and fight at the play's premiere!! Precure's comeback is nationally watched and people root for them again (and negatively rely on them to solve all their problems??) AND Nagisa and Honoka get in touch with them again, because they saw them live on TV instead of appearing out of nowhere??? (Nagisa, Honoka, and Hikaru adult designs pls!!!)

feel free to add any more ideas yall!